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15th Sept 1943


antarmike

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My wife recorded something last week looking at the people building the aircraft that beat the Germans.

 

I saw a clip that showed a bomber (the story concentrated in the first half on Spitfires and on Lancs in the second half, but some of the clips were Stirlings and Halifaxes and one might even have been a Liberator) dumping its load on a target. I had read about a typical load comprising a single cookie or a blockbuster or something and the balance of the load in dozens of incendiaries. The big one was supposed to blows roofs off and the incendiaries would set the inside alight.

 

This film showed this load being dropped. The big one was BIG. It looked like a number of 45 gallon drums end-to-end. Never seen that before.

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The cookie was a 4000lb bomb. It was doubled up to make an 8000lb bomb, but the Lanc's long bombay, and huge weight carrying abitity led to the bomb being tripled.

 

It is almost the same weight as tallboy, but with tallboy half the weight was in the casing. This was designed to bury itself deep underground before exploding.

 

The !2,000 high Capacity bomb only had a light thin case, and although carrying twice the explosive was less effective against most targets Most of the blast ending in the air.

 

bombs.jpg

 

The High Capacity bombs (2000, 4000, 8000 and 12000) were pretty inaccurate. the Bomb was not aerodynamic, and all exept the 12000 were used without tail fins. As such they were mainly used for area bombing of cities.

 

Presumably this is another reason why the Dortmung_Ems attack was at low level.

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Strange but true My wife is from Dortmund and in the late 70s had a friend who went with her on a trip out in Clochester an old man noticed the german speek and said I`v been to Germany her friend said oh where and he replied Dortmund mostly she quiped up oh I live there where did you stay to which he replied oh we never stayed, we use to bomb the place.Also the only words spoken to the wife by my Grandfather was "I was a Guest of your country. taken prioner in france 1940 He died that night. some things never leave you.

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There is an apocryphal story (one of a large series about communications between airliners and control towers). BEA pilot is on final approach at Frankfurt and asks a question which the controller considers rather bone.

 

"Haff you never been to Frankfurt before?"

"Yes but it was 1944 and I didn't stop."

 

Another. Lufthansa pilot in a Fokker Friendship to tower. "Bitte wie komme ich nach Flugbahn Zwei?"

"In Englisch please for ze benefit of the other aircraft."

"How do I taxi to runway 2 please?" Pause, followed by a muttered "I am a German pilot flying a German aeroplane for a German airline at a German airport. Why must I speak in Englisch?"

Unknown station with a BBC accent in the stack: "Because we won the war."

 

I could go on ...

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There is an apocryphal story (one of a large series about communications between airliners and control towers). BEA pilot is on final approach at Frankfurt and asks a question which the controller considers rather bone.

 

"Haff you never been to Frankfurt before?"

"Yes but it was 1944 and I didn't stop."

 

Another. Lufthansa pilot in a Fokker Friendship to tower. "Bitte wie komme ich nach Flugbahn Zwei?"

"In Englisch please for ze benefit of the other aircraft."

"How do I taxi to runway 2 please?" Pause, followed by a muttered "I am a German pilot flying a German aeroplane for a German airline at a German airport. Why must I speak in Englisch?"

Unknown station with a BBC accent in the stack: "Because we won the war."

 

I could go on ...

 

 

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

More please!!!!!!

 

Mark :cool:

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