Tank and anti-aircraft gun found in German cellar
Discussion
Negative Creep said:
Not to mention the Nazi high command spent as much time fighting eachother as they did us, and Hitler became increasingly obsessed with a wonder weapon that would win the war. In the last year or so of the war they were building/developing the Ar234, Ba 349, Do 335,He 162,He 219, Me 109, Me 163, Ta 152 and more. Imagine if they'd simply pooled their resources into just the ME262 and FW190D
Yeah, a lot of 'ifs' and 'buts', they were just crazy for infighting and specialisation.One of the books I have read on the subject has hypothesised on how the compartmental system was simply lifted by the US secret services, making sure that no compartment knew what another compartment was really up to.
I think by the time that Hans Kammler got most of the ops under his command it was too late.
Mr_B said:
What a great event and privilege that must be to fly those former pilots to reunions - well done BV !
The Typhoon is I think is my favorite and most interesting aircraft of that period and I can't get enough of hearing about former pilots exploits.
The Falaise pocket attacks and the grim reality of war were best summed up by a Typhoon pilot who said you could smell the death and destruction at ten thousand feet in that area.
The Typhoon always fascinated me from simply looking rather butch to the complexity of that Napier Sabre engine. For some reason I always like it to the BRM V16 GP car, they seem kinda similar in a way. Lets hope Kermit Weeks gets his Tempest V rebuilt and one of his Sabre engine engines running.
Frank told me that at times in Normandy his squadron was based at forward airstrips with the enemy just a field or two away. His log book during the Falaise pocket engagements showed multiple ten minute sorties per day. Take off, rocket enemy armour, land, re-arm, take off, rocket enemy armour, land, re-arm, and so on, all day. Dive the Typhoon to 1000 feet, release the weapons, pull like a bThe Typhoon is I think is my favorite and most interesting aircraft of that period and I can't get enough of hearing about former pilots exploits.
The Falaise pocket attacks and the grim reality of war were best summed up by a Typhoon pilot who said you could smell the death and destruction at ten thousand feet in that area.
The Typhoon always fascinated me from simply looking rather butch to the complexity of that Napier Sabre engine. For some reason I always like it to the BRM V16 GP car, they seem kinda similar in a way. Lets hope Kermit Weeks gets his Tempest V rebuilt and one of his Sabre engine engines running.
d, black out from the G, and wake up at the top of the climb. You were regarded as a softie if your aircraft had any rivets left on its underside after stonking a train. Pull up too late and you would follow the rockets into the target, which was not a good thing. Before Falaise, during a relative lull a little while after D Day, someone flew the sqaudron hack (an Auster, or maybe a Cub) back to Britain to collect the mail and some kegs of beer. This bloke duly returned with the letters and booze, and also brought the squadron dog. Back home, the station was guarded by what the RAF called "Brown Jobs" or "pongos"; that is to say, British infantry. The dog had therefore, naturally enough, been trained by the pilots to bite anyone wearing an army uniform. The problem with this was that the Squadron had bee issued with army battledress to wear whilst deployed at the forward airstrips in France. Thus the dog leaped out of the Auster and set to chasing everyone up and down the field.
You will recall that in the Clostermann book there is a photo of a line of pilots being given medals by some visiting bigwig on a forward airstrip somewhere in Normandy, whilst FW 190s are strafing the other side of the field. Frank recalled something similar happening at his field. His Flight sat drinking beer outside their tents while they cheered as the other Flight a few hundred yards away legged it for the slit trenches as FWs came in over the hedgerows.
Frank was not supposed to do 100 ops, but he was forgotten about by admin. One day just before VE Day the CO asked him what the Hell he was still doing there as he should have been sent home ages ago. So they filled in a form, gave him a DFC and sent him back to London, where he went on the town, a young man, alive and unwounded, with wings and a desirable medal ribbon on his tunic. There were some WRENs about. He had fun. He deserved to have fun. RIP Flying Officer Wheeler DFC.
AFAIK no Stukas are airworthy at present but I recall someone was planning to restore one to flying condition (and maybe already has). It is of course only a machine, but it is so redolent of Nazi terror, of images of lines of refugees being bombed and strafed, that I would prefer it if the remaining Stukas remained on static display in museums and did not fly again.
Breadvan72 said:
AFAIK no Stukas are airworthy at present but I recall someone was planning to restore one to flying condition (and maybe already has). It is of course only a machine, but it is so redolent of Nazi terror, of images of lines of refugees being bombed and strafed, that I would prefer it if the remaining Stukas remained on static display in museums and did not fly again.
but you've no problems with Lancasters? or A10s, or Apaches for that matter?Mr_B said:
What a great event and privilege that must be to fly those former pilots to reunions - well done BV !
The Typhoon is I think is my favorite and most interesting aircraft of that period and I can't get enough of hearing about former pilots exploits.
The Falaise pocket attacks and the grim reality of war were best summed up by a Typhoon pilot who said you could smell the death and destruction at ten thousand feet in that area.
The Typhoon always fascinated me from simply looking rather butch to the complexity of that Napier Sabre engine. For some reason I always like it to the BRM V16 GP car, they seem kinda similar in a way. Lets hope Kermit Weeks gets his Tempest V rebuilt and one of his Sabre engine engines running.
My dad was a driver in the RASC delivering fuel and ammunition in Normandy so experienced the aftermath at ground level. He said they drove around the dead horses and cattle but had to drive over numerous dead bodies.The Typhoon is I think is my favorite and most interesting aircraft of that period and I can't get enough of hearing about former pilots exploits.
The Falaise pocket attacks and the grim reality of war were best summed up by a Typhoon pilot who said you could smell the death and destruction at ten thousand feet in that area.
The Typhoon always fascinated me from simply looking rather butch to the complexity of that Napier Sabre engine. For some reason I always like it to the BRM V16 GP car, they seem kinda similar in a way. Lets hope Kermit Weeks gets his Tempest V rebuilt and one of his Sabre engine engines running.
He had sinus problems later in life and never seemed to have a sense of smell so perhaps this helped a little.
He wasn't much for talking so we only had snippets of information, some sad, some funny and some shocking.
Hugo a Gogo said:
Breadvan72 said:
AFAIK no Stukas are airworthy at present but I recall someone was planning to restore one to flying condition (and maybe already has). It is of course only a machine, but it is so redolent of Nazi terror, of images of lines of refugees being bombed and strafed, that I would prefer it if the remaining Stukas remained on static display in museums and did not fly again.
but you've no problems with Lancasters? or A10s, or Apaches for that matter?I agree, but I don't see why the Lanc gets so much of an 'easy ride' in that respect just because we were 'the good guys'
the royal wedding flyover, ffs, did no-one else think that was slightly bad taste?
why not a guard of honour with Sten guns and Mills bombs? or some celebratory barbed wire
the royal wedding flyover, ffs, did no-one else think that was slightly bad taste?
why not a guard of honour with Sten guns and Mills bombs? or some celebratory barbed wire
Breadvan72 said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
Breadvan72 said:
AFAIK no Stukas are airworthy at present but I recall someone was planning to restore one to flying condition (and maybe already has). It is of course only a machine, but it is so redolent of Nazi terror, of images of lines of refugees being bombed and strafed, that I would prefer it if the remaining Stukas remained on static display in museums and did not fly again.
but you've no problems with Lancasters? or A10s, or Apaches for that matter?an interesting point regarding the Russians... had messrs hitler and 'heini' himmler not been on the bullst racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....
t racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....Breadvan72 said:
As I said, it's just machinery, but we wouldn't restore a gas chamber to working order for display purposes.
Crematorium 1 at Auschwitz was pretty much restored to working order by the Russians as a memorial (as I understand it they used any ovens left etc to put the room back as it was) and is now part of the tour. I didn't know you flew BV, must be a real privilege to get to know these chaps who fought for us all those years ago.
Negative Creep said:
In a way it is odd we revere the spitfire so much when it's sole purpose was to end lives. Perhaps the most beautiful killing machine ever made?
Sole purpose was to shoot down enemy aircraft, surely? A strategic bomber is somewhat different, if the strategy is to bomb civilians.irocfan said:
an interesting point regarding the Russians... had messrs hitler and 'heini' himmler not been on the bullst racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....
Or alternatively, don't split your army into 3 and allow them to get distracted from their primary target of capturing Moscow. And take some gloves.t racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....TEKNOPUG said:
Sole purpose was to shoot down enemy aircraft, surely? A strategic bomber is somewhat different, if the strategy is to bomb civilians.
I read and loved dambusters (and reach for the sky, etc) as a kid, lots of bravery and heroism.Some years later I read about Dresden
While I have a lot of respect for the bomber aircrews, and the Lanc. is an impressive piece of kit, I have mixed feelings about bombers.
irocfan said:
an interesting point regarding the Russians... had messrs hitler and 'heini' himmler not been on the bullst racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....
Invading the USSR in late March 1941 would have been an impossibly muddy experience.t racial purity kick there is a good chance they could have taken the USSR out of the war. When the Germans first invaded there were a LOT of people who welcomed them for 'rescuing' them from uncle Joe. Unfortunately the various psycho squads were worse than what they had before. Imagine all the freed people not tying up the Wehrmacht as partisans, indeed fighting FOR them. Also imagine the Wehrmacht not having to bail out the Italians in Greece and thereby delaying Barbarossa by 3 months.....In any realistic scenario the Germans cannot the defeat the USSR; not enough men, not enough hardware, supply lines too long. Equally, there's no realistic scenario where Japan can defeat the USA for similar reasons.
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