More WW2 stuff

[Steve]

Talking to an old friend/former colleague on Facebook yesterday, and he posted this photo. The shot was taken by his father from his photo-reconnaissance Spitfire during WW2, and it features my friend's grandparents' house. He flew photo missions over the Pas De Calais.... The shot clearly shows people in the front yard of the home, and is very high quality. His dad was stationed in Canada as an instructor pilot, and was posted to fly photo-reconnaissance on his return.

My mate has his father's flight log book, and I shall try to weasel a copy from him somehow.

 

[NutmegCT]

Steve - what a great collection of photos he must have, especially from reconnaissance missions. Really something how important the Spitfire was to Britain.

Once in a meeting with German fighter ace Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe head Hermann Goering asked Galland what equipment he needed to win more air battles. Galland replied: " ... Spitfires." which left Göring speechless. (Kaplan, Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe in WW2)

Thanks for posting the photo; very cool to know the family connection.

Tom

 

[Billm]

Good movie on the Spitfire, free and full length:
https://archive.org/details/TheFirstOfTheFew
BillM

 

[SaxMan]

Very cool stuff. With the numbers of our World War II generation getting smaller every day, it's great to be able to find tidbits like this that bring the human element to the story.

 

[Sherlock]

Awhile back I acquired a very small album by what seems to be a crew member of a WW2 bomber, photos are of rather poor quality, but some were clearly taken from the air looking down to the ground, never scanned any of them due to the poor quality but I still have them... Here's a B24 bomber, as used here in Canada by Canadian crews during WW2, from that album...

 

[mikephillips]

This is one of the big positives of the net, the ability to share portions of the lives of parents, grantparents, friends and so on that might never see the light of day otherwise. It's sad to think of how much stuff of individual historical interest may have been eventually thrown away by family members who didn't have any interest in the documented subject.

 

[NutmegCT]

That is quite an interesting B-24. Look at the side window and nose configuration. I'm wondering if it's one of the special modifications with armament removed, for RAF use in observation and photographic work.

Any chance there are other photos of that aircraft?

Tom

 

[Sherlock]

That is quite an interesting B-24. Look at the side window and nose configuration. I'm wondering if it's one of the special modifications with armament removed, for RAF use in observation and photographic work.

Any chance there are other photos of that aircraft?

Tom

Someone else who commented on the photo dug up this information... I'll directly quote them... "Canada used more than a thousand Liberators during WWII for coastal patrol and U-boat hunting."

And I'm not sure if I have anymore photos of it, I'll take a look when I get a chance...

 

[Banjo]

Steve, What's going on in the upper left of that pic of the farmhouse? There seems to be a couple of very repetitious patterns there, either camouflage or photoshop. There is also a large building hiding in the trees behind the house.
Looking at it again I keep seeing duplicate trees in the upper area, and even the roof of that building seems to be copied. Very bazar.

 

[Steve]

I noticed that. Since it's a period WW2 shot perhaps it was censored/doctored by the RAF?

 

[mikephillips]

Someone else who commented on the photo dug up this information... I'll directly quote them... "Canada used more than a thousand Liberators during WWII for coastal patrol and U-boat hunting."QUOTE]

Looking at what would have been tbe bombardier's position in the nose, looks like there may be a spotlight there in the shadows. Which would probably make it a U-boat hunter.

 

[Sherlock]

Now you've got me going... I tracked down those photos, there aren't very many... Of the small number of photos, include ground photos of RAF Castel Benito (Tripoli, Libya), including one of an bomber... An aerial photo (sort of) of RAF Tempsford (England), an aerial photo of RAF St Mawgan, an aerial photo of Rotterdam, an aerial photo of the bombed out Bordeaux Airfield in France (German of course), and an interesting aerial photo taken over the Mediterranean Sea, none of the photos are even close to professional level... The B-24 bomber I first posted doesn't even seem to belong anywhere here in this collection... All the photos seem to have originated from the same person, perhaps a member of the British Air Force? Clearly part of a bomber crew.... I just scanned a few photos...