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The Dambusters.

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posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 04:49 AM
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There was a great show on discovery wings last night about the dambusters.It was a group of young RAF pilots training on a lancaster simulator for the same amount of time as the real pilots did back in ww2.
the documentary was packed full of intresting facts and footage from the real raids....BOY...were these guys daring!!..training was based around flying at 50ft sometimes lower at night around England getting a feel for the heavy Lancasters....what was actually really suprising was the detail that went into working out the heights and speeds at which to drop Barns wallace's bouncing bomb.....on one practice run the 'splash' from the bomb first hitting the water ripped the tail of the lancaster open like a sardine tin!
Once the exact heights were worked out and approach speeds calculated the crew of the lancs had to deal with avoiding heavy flackl and radar coverage not to mention accidentley getting picked up by the luftwaffes night fighters!!
Such draing and engineering engineunuity has always impressed me...does anyone have any stories or facts on any other similar style projects during world war 2?....

regards.



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 05:38 AM
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Ok, this isnt an aerial raid, but it was a damn impressive raid nonetheless.

The British needed to prevent the German battleship Tirpitz from operating in the North Atlantic because otherwise the Northern Convoys were doomed. To do this they needed to put the dry docks at St Nazaire out of order, because if she couldnt dock there for repairs, she was stuck in the North Sea as the only other docks capable of supporting her were in Norway and they would have cut a huge chunk of operational range from the Tirpitz if she was forced to use them.

So, on the 28th March, 1942 the British launched a commando raid on the port of St Nazaire, with the objective of destroying hte docks. Bear in mind that this was a heavily defended port in enemy territory.

The British rammed an old cruiser, the HMS Campbelltown which was loaded with several tonnes of explosives, into the dry dock locks and detonated them via delayed fuse a couple of hours later.

The raid put the docks out of action until 1948, a whole 5 years!

www.royal-navy.mod.uk...



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 05:52 AM
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Here's a quite celebrated and daring raid, the following text is lifted straight off the RAF website;

18 Feb 1944 - Mosquitoes, escorted by Typhoon fighter-bombers, launch a daylight low-level attack on the prison at Amiens, France, in order release French patriots; 258 prisoners escaped (including many criminals), but 102 inmates were killed.

TheMosquito's involved in the raid came from three squadrons, one squadron each of British, NZ and Australian crews.




[edit on 10-3-2005 by waynos]



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 06:18 AM
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The Thousand Bomber Raids?

Bomber Command managed to put together a force of 1047 aircraft for three daring raids on German cities, including many training aircraft and incomplete aircraft just rolling out of factories.

On the night of 30 May, 890 bombers reached Cologne. According to German figures, 469 people were killed and 45,000 made homeless. Only 41 aircraft were lost.

'Bomber' Harris followed through with a second raid two nights later, fielding 956 bombers against the industrial town of Essen.

A third raid, in which 960 bombers targeted the coastal town of Bremen, took place on 25 June. Damage was more extensive than in Essen, although it fell far below the levels of the Cologne raid. While some military installations and several shipyards were hit, most of the damage was to residential areas.

And that was without the USAF!



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 06:25 AM
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Originally posted by waynos

TheMosquito's involved in the raid came from three squadrons, one squadron each of British, NZ and Australian crews.


Interesting tidbit about the Mosquito - it could carry the same bombload as the B-17 bomber (between 4,000lb and 6,000lbs) all the way to Berlin, get there faster and using less fuel. Indeed the Mosquito could operate over France with a 21,000lb bombload, which is over 4 times the weight it was origionally designed for. It remained the fastest RAF bomber in service until 1951.

www.home.gil.com.au...



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 06:33 AM
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The Mosquito was without doubt the best light bomber of the war, amazing that it could outrun every front line fighter as well when it went into service. Amazing that DH had to do it all by themselves as the Air Ministry thought it would be useless!



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 08:07 AM
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TextThe Mosquito was without doubt the best light bomber of the war, amazing that it could outrun every front line fighter as well when it went into service. Amazing that DH had to do it all by themselves as the Air Ministry thought it would be useless!


thanks guys.....i love the mosquito...air frame was made of ash tree.....

636 squadron springst to mind!!



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 08:53 AM
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The mosqito was also made mainly out of wood and had very little armor. And the Aiemens prison break was probly the first example of percision bombing. TOok out a wall, but didn't damage any of the buildings... except the one with the germans in it.

The Dam Busters is a great example of Ingenuity and Guts, these guys were flying the bombers like fighter planes on strafing runs.

In both of these cases these were great morale boosters for England, and probly helped end the war quicker.

Another daring raid was the Doolittle Raid on April 18th 1942. Loading up the deck with B-25s by crane. Then Launching a one way long range sneak-attack bombing run, not so much to do damage on Japanese soil, but to raise morale of the US troops and citezans




posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:07 AM
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That was pretty herioc in itself, flying a B-25 off a carrier! Then add on the raid itself for even greater effect.



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:09 AM
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here is an act of gallantry that i think is very impressive..this man won a VC for his actions..well deserverd methinks...


Cain appeared to have developed an intense loathing of tanks after the bitter experiences of his Battalion on Tuesday 19th, and he personally saw to it that as many were destroyed as possible. If ever armour approached then he would grab the nearest PIAT and set out to deal with it himself. On one occasion, two Tiger tanks approached the South Staffords position, and Cain lay in wait in a slit trench while Lieutenant Ian Meikle of the Light Regiment gave him bearings from a house above him. The first tank fired at the house and killed Meikle, while the chimney collapsed and almost fell on top of Major Cain. He still held his position until it was 100 yards away, whereupon he fired at it. The tank immediately returned fire with its machinegun and wounded Cain, who took refuge in a nearby shed from where he fired another round, which exploded beneath the tank and disabled it. The crew abandoned the vehicle but all were gunned down as they bailed out. Cain fired at the second tank, but the bomb was faulty and exploded directly in front of him. It blew him off his feet and left him blind with metal fragments in his blackened face. As his men dragged him off, Cain recalls yelling like a hooligan and calling for somebody to get hold of the PIAT and deal with the tank. One of the Light Regiment's 75mm guns was brought forward and it blew the tank apart.

Half an hour later though, Cain's sight returned, and against doctor's advice he refused to stay with the wounded and declared himself fit for duty. He also refused morphia (which was in very short supply) to ease the pain he had. Instead he armed himself with another PIAT and went in search of tanks, frequently alone. Tigers continued to harass the Lonsdale Force, and upon hearing that one was in the area, Major Cain raced out to an anti-tank gun and began to drag it into position. A gunner saw him and ran over to assist, and the two men succeeded in disabling it. Cain wanted to fire another shot to make sure that it was finished off, but the gunner informed him that the blast had destroyed the gun's recoil mechanism and it could no longer fire.

On Friday 22nd, his eardrums burst from his constant firing, but he continued to take on any tanks he encountered, contenting himself with merely stuffing pieces of field dressing into his ears. Nevertheless he never ceased to urge his men on, and was seen by his driver, Private Grainger, giving a man his last cigarette.

Monday 25th saw very heavy fighting in the area occupied by the Lonsdale Force. Self-propelled guns, flame thrower tanks, and infantry took great interest in Cain's position. By this time there were no more PIAT's available to the Major. Undeterred, he armed himself with a two inch mortar and added further trophies to his collection, while his brilliant leadership ensured that the South Staffords gave no ground and drove the enemy off in complete disorder. By the end of the Battle, Cain had been responsible for the destruction or disabling of six tanks, four of which were Tigers, as well as a number of self-propelled guns.

As the Division was about to withdraw, some men were encouraged to shave before crossing the river, determined to leave looking like British soldiers. Robert found a razor and some water and proceeded to remove a week's growth of beard from his face, drying himself on his filthy, blood-stained Denison smock. His effort was noticed by Brigadier Hicks who remarked "Well, there's one officer, at least, who's shaved". Cain happily replied that he had been well brought up.

i think the only reason we got the freedom we got now is because of these heroes...its a shame todays generation have a different type of hero


en.wikipedia.org...

never forget


[edit on 10-3-2005 by Heratix]



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 09:16 AM
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Was that on a programme on BBC once with jeremy clarkson presenting it? Turns out the guy is his father-in-law?



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 10:46 AM
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Thats the 1 m8...i just got so interested i decided to look up some other writings on him



posted on Mar, 10 2005 @ 02:39 PM
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That programme was excellent, JC has a sensitive side after all. The best part was "I'd love to have met that man for 2 reasons 1) He's a hero and 2) I married his daughter"



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