The camera can capture some fantastic moments V
Discussion
eldar said:
bigothunter said:
But they prevailed, in part thanks to Miss Shilling's orofice.Blib said:
My father was in the Royal Artillery and was sent to somewhere along the route from the established launch sites to shoot them down. They carried 1-ton of explosives at lowish altitude and his unit wasn't too happy with the possibility of one exploding or crashing with them underneath. They turned one of their guns round to shoot at any aircraft encroaching on their patch, although it was a pyrotechnic. One complaint from the RAF was that his unit got nearer the Spitfire than they ever did a doodlebug. My father's unit was made up of a proportion of Polish refugees and they would happily shoot at anything with wings unless it was confirmed as allied, and sometimes even then. That didn't help inter-service relations.There were AA gunners injured when the wings came off a Spitfire as it fired its cannon at extreme speed, the fuselage crashing to the ground, killing the pilot. The Spitfires had to attack from a significant height so they could gain enough speed to stay with the flying bomb and at that undesigned-for speed, any little disturbance could fracture the airframe. I don't know, but I assume that's why this one, if it is a Spitfire, is trying to bump into it. Later, Tempest or Typhoons were used which were more robust. He saw one that hit the flying bomb with its cannon, causing it to explode and the plane came through the explosion taking enough damage for the pilot to have to jump out, not an easy task. He survived.
The guns were originally 'normal' medium-level AA guns and he had a degree of success, although what degree he couldn't say. A near miss was enough to deflect the bomb slightly, enough to take them off-target. Then they sent them lower, meaning dedicated rapid-fire AA multi-barrel (2 I think) naval guns could be used, which my father, despite being a recruit from before the war, had not fired. The firing of them was no problem but they could be automatically targeted, but at the extreme speed of the flying bomb they lacked precision. A lot of flying bombs were destroyed by the various defensive measures.
Oddly enough, was talking about this with my brother recently and got more info.
johnymac said:
I am fairly sure that I have read somewhere that ground forces destroyed more V1's than all aircraft combined.
Could be imagining it though.
I read many years ago the we captured every German spy and 'turned' many of them. Could be imagining it though.
They were interrogated near to where I grew up, at a place called Trent Park.
The 'turned' spies were told to radio to their handlers that the Doodlebugs and later the V2 rockets were landing beyond London, even though they weren't.
So, the Germans reduced the range and subsequently many V1 & V2 bombs fell short, in Kent.
(I may be making this up. Who knows?)
Blib said:
I read many years ago the we captured every German spy and 'turned' many of them.
They were interrogated near to where I grew up, at a place called Trent Park.
The 'turned' spies were told to radio to their handlers that the Doodlebugs and later the V2 rockets were landing beyond London, even though they weren't.
So, the Germans reduced the range and subsequently many V1 & V2 bombs fell short, in Kent.
(I may be making this up. Who knows?)
My Dad genuinely told me that too.They were interrogated near to where I grew up, at a place called Trent Park.
The 'turned' spies were told to radio to their handlers that the Doodlebugs and later the V2 rockets were landing beyond London, even though they weren't.
So, the Germans reduced the range and subsequently many V1 & V2 bombs fell short, in Kent.
(I may be making this up. Who knows?)
He also told me the sheep of Corfe Castle had shorter legs on one side than the other so they could stand on the steep slopes.
I probably haven’t helped you.
breadvan said:
Blib said:
I read many years ago the we captured every German spy and 'turned' many of them.
They were interrogated near to where I grew up, at a place called Trent Park.
The 'turned' spies were told to radio to their handlers that the Doodlebugs and later the V2 rockets were landing beyond London, even though they weren't.
So, the Germans reduced the range and subsequently many V1 & V2 bombs fell short, in Kent.
(I may be making this up. Who knows?)
My Dad genuinely told me that too.They were interrogated near to where I grew up, at a place called Trent Park.
The 'turned' spies were told to radio to their handlers that the Doodlebugs and later the V2 rockets were landing beyond London, even though they weren't.
So, the Germans reduced the range and subsequently many V1 & V2 bombs fell short, in Kent.
(I may be making this up. Who knows?)
He also told me the sheep of Corfe Castle had shorter legs on one side than the other so they could stand on the steep slopes.
I probably haven’t helped you.
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff