![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
Topic: So much history gone foreverhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-t...layer_embedded |
![]() |
||
![]() |
Quote:
~ 325,000 by USA ~ 177,000 by Britain ~ 136,000 by USSR ~ 134,000 by Germany ~ 72,000 by Japan |
![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
Quote:
|
![]() |
||
![]() |
Quote:
Halifax Survivors: The Yorkshire Air Museum, on the site of the Second World War airfield, RAF Elvington, has a fully restored aircraft re-constructed from a fuselage section of Halifax B.Mk.II HR792 and parts from other aircraft including the wings from an RAF Hastings. It is painted to represent Halifax LV907, "Friday the 13th" from No. 158 Squadron RAF on the port side and "N - Novembre" of 347 "Guyenne" Squadron, Free French Air Force, on the starboard side (RAF Elvington being the home of the only two French heavy bomber squadrons in Bomber Command). Another fully restored Halifax, NA337 of No. 644 Squadron RAF, then based at RAF Tarrant Rushton, is a transport/special duties version, and was retrieved from the bottom of Lake Mjøsa in Norway in 1995 after being shot down in April 1945. It was taken to Canada and restoration was completed in 2005. NA337 is a Halifax A.Mk.VII Special Duties aircraft built by Rootes Motors, at Liverpool Airport and is now preserved at the National Air Force Museum of Canada at CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, near Kingston, Ontario. A third Halifax is a B.Mk.II, serial W1048, 'S' for Sugar of No. 35 Squadron RAF. On the night of the 27/28 April 1942, this aircraft was taking part in a raid on the Tirpitz - its first operational flight. It was hit by anti-aircraft fire after releasing the four 1,000-pound (450 kg) mines it carried and the pilot made a successful belly landing on the frozen surface of Lake Hoklingen. The crew escaped to Sweden with the help of the Norwegian resistance, except for the Flight Engineer who remained behind because of a broken ankle and was taken prisoner. Within hours, the aircraft sank through the ice into 27 metres (89 ft) of water. In the summer of 1973, it was recovered from the lake by a team of divers from the RAF and a Norwegian diving club, and was transported to the UK on a British Army Landing craft tank. It is displayed in its "as recovered" condition in the Bomber Command display at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in London, apart from the nose turret which had already been restored prior to the decision. The front fuselage section of Halifax MkVII PN323, built by Fairey Aviation at Manchester, is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London. PN323 was the final Halifax scrapped, at Radlett, with the forward fuselage being recovered in 1965 and the nose section/crew compartment moved to the IWM 1978. On 26 November 2006, archaeologists from the Warsaw Uprising Museum, Poland, unearthed remains of another Halifax (JP276 "A") from No. 148 Squadron RAF, which was found in southern Poland, near the city of Dąbrowa Tarnowska. It was shot down on the night 4–5 August 1944 while returning from the "air-drop-action" during the Warsaw Uprising. In August 1945, while on weather patrol, the aging Halifax bomber LW170 from No. 518 Squadron RAF sprang a fuel leak and, while trying to return to base, was forced to ditch off the Hebrides Islands west of Scotland. A project is currently underway with the stated aim of finding, recovering and restoring Halifax LW170. When it is recovered it will be restored and displayed at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta, Canada. One side of the nose and cockpit of Halifax Mk. VII NP707, which completed 67 operations with No. 432 Squadron RCAF, was saved when the aircraft was scrapped after the war. It is now owned by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. In December 2014, the discovery of the largely intact remains of a bomber believed to be Halifax W7656 missing following an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz on April 28, 1942 was announced. As two of the crew failed to escape, the aircraft was designated a war grave. |
![]() |
|
![]() |
A customer of mine once ask me why I put so much emphasis on the story of a certain aircraft. I tried (and failed) to convince him that it was the story of the aircraft that was important, not so much the aircraft itself. Viewing a replica or even one of the many that barely made it off the assembly line before the end of the war just doesn't have the same impact as seeing one that has an interesting story behind it.
Many of the subjects of the original video were basically anonymous production numbers that had no real historical significance. It was that hidden gem that had an important story that it took to the smelter that was the real loss. The USAF Museum in Ohio is a great example of what I mean. Its inventory includes a B29 and a couple B17s. That in itself would be interesting, but when the B29 is the "Enola Gay" and the B17s are the "Memphis Belle" and the "Swoose" it makes the place a destination not to be missed in my book. In fact we're making that trip in September and I can't wait. |
![]() |
||
![]() |
Quote:
But my point is if the Enola Gay was put into a group of exact replicas of the Enola Gay none of us could pick it out. We associate items with events, first US bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe=Memphis Belle (even though it was beaten by "Hell's Angels"), Atomic bomb dropped by the Enola Gay etc. etc. but the fact is if they painted Memphis Belle or Enola Gay on any B-17/B-29 we would assume we are looking at the real one. It is the event we remember the aircraft is simply a supporting prop, would you sooner spend an hour getting Paul Tibbets story or an hour looking at the aircraft. |
![]() |
|
![]() |
I personally believe that both the aircraft (many of which were state of the art machines, i.e.: spitfire, P-51, B29) and the experiences of the aircrews are of historical importance.
There were some aircraft whose aircrews were very notable. But let us not forget that their were thousands upon thousands of aircrews that took part in the war and ~ 150,000 allied men didn't make it. They were the real heroes, who paid the ultimate price in histories greatest air war. |
![]() |