perce Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 Picked this link up from elsewhere, shows some great footage of how a bomber station was run. http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Nightbombers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 Really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Thanks Perce. Always a treat watching vids like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Thanks Perce , great to see those operational aircraft in colour, makes it seem so much more relevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 (edited) Very good Perce! I love that stuff! Good find! As a pilot I can appreciate the task, Awesome! Too much to tell here! As a bit of a WWII history buff, this is some really good documentary! My two uncles on mom's side were in the war, both gone now. One a radar specialist in Duxford, the other in the pacific theatre, Iwo Jima and such, and he did not like to talk much. Yet it was all a bit ingrained in me in my youth. Kids played Army, and had toy soldiers, you know! Issue of a rifle and game hunting was their favorite task for me. As soon as I was big enough, cannot recall, maybe 8 yrs old? Kids of this era have no idea. Cheers, MC Edited July 19, 2009 by copemech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 As a pilot I can appreciate the task, Awesome! Too much to tell here!Kids of this era have no idea. Excuse me for sounding pious here, but Cope and Perce have struck a chord with me on this subject. There aren't many American philosophers to quote from but George Santayana hit the mark with this: ''Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' Last WW1 British vet dies Keep talking about it fellas...pass it on... Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Excuse me for sounding pious here, but Cope and Perce have struck a chord with me on this subject.There aren't many American philosophers to quote from but George Santayana hit the mark with this: ''Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' Last WW1 British vet dies Keep talking about it fellas...pass it on... Wayne Yes Wayne, it is a bit of a shame. I suppose most all of the WW1 Vets are gone now, with the WW2 Vets going quickly! We have a old fart at (or around) work, that recently retired for about the third time. A WW2 US Marine from the Pacific theatre. He still wears his Purple Heart with pride and he is still getting around pretty well at 85 or so years of age, has a girlfriend that likes to travel! We love him soo! He gets anything he wants! As for WW!!? I did see a recent documentary that showed a lot of degradation of the burial sites throughout specially France, that hold many American, British and others. Seems there are many scattered about, many poorly kept. The mind reels with the thousands of graves. Hell, man, when I was a kid in the 60's, we had drills at school just in the case someone wanted to throw a few Nukes! Personally, I think a bit of this should extend beyond some of the basic history class in schools books. Mind you I have seen way too many war films over my life. But a few key ones well done such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers should be mandatory viewing and education for our teens. An essay required on both. That should fill a semister or so. God only knows, as bad as I am(ADHD) on names and dates, that would take me the year! Done for now, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Henry Allingham was the worlds oldest man & not the last Great War survivor. I believe that Harry Patch is still alive, he was in the trenches & was wounded at Ypres. We've visited most of the Allied Cemeteries in Normandy, a fair few in the Somme region & we've also visited Ypres. I've seen very little sign of vandalism. I have seen occassional press reports of problems, I regularly use The Great War Forum & there are reports on there of problems. have a look on here http://www.cwgc.org/ there's currently a big refurbishment project on replacing the worn stones. We've just got back from a week in Normandy, didn't visit any Cemeteries this time but did get to all the beaches, St Mere Eglise + Pegasus & the Orne bridges. There's a lot of small museums & this year was the first time I've felt ripped off by one. There was very little in it, the most interesting bit was the shop selling artefacts, the museum was Dead Man's Corner. I really wanted to visit the American Airbourne one at St Mere Eglise but we arrived a bit late, it's one of the best Museums in Normandy. On our way home we had a drive across the Somme & ended up at Delville Wood, http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/delville.html we were only 4 hours late for the boat home! Two thirds of the 5000 or so graves in the Cemetery have the words 'Known unto God' on them, try explaining that to your 9 year old son. Saving Private Ryan, the start sequence is great, the bit with the sniper rifle blowing the sandbags away is a bit wierd though. The rest of it's a holliwood yarn, a bit like the magnificent seven really, only the yanks get to squeal when they die, the germans are stone dead when first hit & I'm not right chuffed at the anti british comments. Band of Brothers is much better as long as you realise that Easy Company was a very small bit of a much bigger outfit & they didn't win the war single handed. If anybody fancies reading a very graphic account of being an airbourne infantry man buy Donald Burgett's 'As Eagles Screamed' It takes his career from training until the end of the Normandy campaign. His other books are ok but aren't quite as good. Edited July 20, 2009 by PERCE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Yup ,you're right Perce ,Harry Patch 111 is in a residential home in Somerset and Claude Choules 108 is living in Oz. You're a bit like me when it comes to the Hollywood make-over of WW2 battles but we've got to relax and allow the Yanks a little poetic license , after all they definitely had the sh** end of the stick when it came to Omaha beach . I hear that they're remaking the Dambusters so it will be interesting to see how they work a little US influence into that storyline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Peter Jackson is a history nut, particularly WW1 I believe. I think he'll ensure it's as near as right as possible & I hope Stephen Fry has written a good scrip. Big question is, will they use the N word? Did you know that Scampton didn't a concrete runway at the time of the Dams raid, they took off from grass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Omaha Beach, it's a very nice place to spend a sunny afternoon. It's not really suprising they got the crap knocked out of them because it's badly overlooked. Gold is overlooked as well but the ground doesn't start rising until you get 1/2 a mile or so in land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) Percy just got back from a week in Normandy! You see, this is the type of thing I would never get the chance to do. The wife would pester me to go shopping or something, or just dump me off for the day! Very jealous! I do not disagree with Percy's comments, as movies are just that, and meant to sell tickets for the most part, there are still certain things of historical accuracy in some that are beyond the norm. Extreme detail in many aspects like equipment, uniforms , vehicles and such. The cost incredable! The beach scenes in SPR are pretty nasty, and very possibly the best "feel" for the day represented here. Not that I would want to be there at the time. As far as anti brit comments, I cannot recall from memory, only I do not believe the americans were chuffed by having Monty over the invasion of Normandy! Could be wrong here, but he has been portrayed as a pompous ass! What do I know? Funny thing, the wife was watching "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson ,yesterday, as I was in and out of the house. Makes one think back a bit! All in the times! Insane! And WAY off topic! Good war movie though! Edited July 21, 2009 by copemech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) Peter Jackson is a history nut, particularly WW1 I believe. I think he'll ensure it's as near as right as possible & I hope Stephen Fry has written a good scrip. Big question is, will they use the N word? Did you know that Scampton didn't a concrete runway at the time of the Dams raid, they took off from grass! You mean the sheriff's a Nhh? That word,Gibson's dog as a code word for a successful dam breach? An un-even grass runway , a 9000lb bomb load, bomb doors removed...scary stuff. I seem to remember one of the 'upkeeps' got ripped out by a wave as the Lanc flew so low over the North Sea !! It took a special breed of aircrew to drop a bouncing bomb,trapped in a valley , at night, under heavy flak,flying really low to release (from 60ft). Have you seen the old video of the Americans in an A26 trying to deliver a bouncing bomb? Poor sods, the bomb bounced back and knocked the tailplane clean off. Here's some Mossies and an A26 trying a bombing run: Dangers of the bouncing bomb Edited July 21, 2009 by HAM2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Another Mel Brookes fan? He was in Europe in the infantry during ww2. Best read I've had on the Dams raid is John Sweetman's book, bit heavy going but it does show that the original film was mostly fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Percy just got back from a week in Normandy! You see, this is the type of thing I would never get the chance to do. The wife would pester me to go shopping or something, or just dump me off for the day! Very jealous! The next Normandy trip will be the 10th, if we could afford it we'd have a second home there, it's not just the history we like the scenery. You need to go to realise just how big the whole operation was, it takes a good hour to drive from one end to the other. My wife's Gt Grandad is a WW1 burial in Rouen, Normandy. He's in what was a hospital cemetery & when you look round the 8000+ graves there's virtually every race & religion represented. How about the Germans playing the baddies again & then the rest of us can be friends? Funny thing, the wife was watching "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson ,yesterday, as I was in and out of the house. Makes one think back a bit! All in the times! Insane! And WAY off topic! Good war movie though! Now he's been involved in some classic history B*****ks, Braveheart & Gallipoli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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