Deepest Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Posted on 06/22/2016 9:29:31 PM PDT by Lorianne
Sixty-nine years after their burning plane plunged to the ground after being shot down by the Germans, the remains of seven Lancaster Bomber crewmen have been recovered.
They were discovered by a team of German historians who spent hours digging a muddy field near Frankfurt looking for the RAF crew after an eyewitness who saw the plane crash guided them to the site.
Lancaster ED427 was one of 327 bombers that took part in a raid on the Skoda armaments works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.
On their return to their base at RAF Fiskerton, Lincs, they came under fire from German anti-aircraft flak.
Eyewitness Peter Menges saw the plane on fire before it crashed into a field outside the village of Laumersheim, near Frankfurt, and exploded into a fireball.
It is not unknown why the men did not manage to parachute from the plane. Reasons could include
Peter Elliott from Royal Air Force Museum said it may have been a case of' too little time, or too much damage.'
'With eyewitnesses reporting the aircraft to be on fire, it seems likely that one or more anti-aircraft shells would have hit the airframe.
'The explosions from these hits, and resulting shrapnel, could well have killed or mortally wounded, or disabled crew members directly.
'The resulting fire and smoke may have also disabled crew members or, possibly, overwhelmed or suffocated them.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
... more details and photos at source
Beautiful planes...appalling losses. RIP
Remember those men when you vote tomorrow, Britain!
From 39 through very late 44, very, very few airmen in bombers or fighters lived long enough to “collect 25 missions” and be relieved.
The men flying were actually only a small part of the total “air force” though. Most were back at the bases trying to keep them flying.
can you imagine present generations putting their lives at risk doing the same?....me neither...
2012 article. 69 years ago then was 1943.
Deepest Regards
alfa6 ;>}
How my heart sank when I read this. My parallel cousins from ancestors ten or twelve generations back possibly voting to enslave or obliterate themselves. They need our prayers.
Amazing memory of the fellow. I’m called upon sometimes to locate buried stuff. You typically can’t rely on their memories. Although I suppose the memory of a crashing bomber is stronger than where the old septic tank is.
“I’m sorry ma’am - its in the front yard under the driveway now.”
“Oh - I’m SURE it is along the side of the house on the other side!”
(This article needs a lot of editing.) In a book by Freeman Dyson, who worked for the British Bomber Command during WWII, he says that the escape hatch on a Lancaster bomber was too small for the average man with a parachute, and this was never fixed.
Good brain
Send me a hemisphere would ya?
...pretty sure Brits had more than 25 to complete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uXCfDRddC0
And perhaps more fitting to this thread - “Manhattan Project” with great lyrics about building and using the atomic bomb:
Fan video with historical footage overlain and entwined with concert footage. A decent job really.
“Big bang, shook and took the world. Took down the Rising Sun.”
It’s that kind of crap that makes me appreciate technical correctness in all of its forms.
That's because he refused to fly: They were trying to kill him.
“think of all the good young men back then who died saving Europe and the world.....”
And look at what their countrymen have let happen there since.
Those men must be spinning in their graves.
“can you imagine present generations putting their lives at risk doing the same?....me neither...”
Agreed.
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