Warbird Information Exchange

.

_________________
“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

man those are dynamic pictures! They are some of the best I've seen!.

_________________
"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

.

_________________
“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

Looks like the prop and a good chunk of the powerplant no longer with the airframe.

_________________
It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Great photos, quite a few new to me. Thanks for posting. The airfield with all the parked aircraft is the Transatlantic Ferry Terminal at Prestwick in SW Scotland. The Lancasters are Candian-built ones. Tail-on in the distance to the right is a silver USAAF C-54.

Sure that's not the attack on Amiens prison?

_________________
Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

I think the picture labelled 'very brave looking Lanc crew' is actually a Halifax B mk2 HR837 'NP-F' of 158 squadron

found this elsewhere
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39411748@N06/6362707457/

Looks very similar!

Some very interesting images. Where are you getting them from? Seems to be some confusion over the subjects...

Actually the Amiens prison raid.

Both Handley Page Halifaxes, not Lancasters. (Wing planform and fin and rudder shapes are distinct.)

The example with a hole was 'friendly fire' - it would have been a bomb from a higher flying RAF bomber falling through the lower flying aircraft, thankfully not far enough to have fused and gone off. Note the plaster on the mid upper gunner's eyebrow where the collapsing turret /bomb hit him on the way through.

On other occasions the rear gunner in his turret was knocked off the aircraft which returned without him.

I suspect (but I'm less certain) that the Hallibag with the missing stbd tail may well have lost it from a stick of bombs as well.

I'm assuming the two pictures are of different Halifaxes as I doubt the one with half the tail missing made it back.


Certainly not Duxford (not hardstanding of that kind there, and it was mainly a fighter base - by this period - 44-45, a USAAF fighter base) and Prestwick seems likely as Dave Smith's said. Canadian built Lancaster's mid-upper turrets were further forward than the British built examples, and lower, simpler cupola type - from memory Martin turrets.


The aircraft is a Martin Baltimore, all too rarely seen, and used mainly in N Africa and the Med.

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

One thing that always impressed me was the number of men it took to crew a Lanc as opposed to a B-17 or B-24.

_________________
Always looking for WW2 Half-Tracks and Parts.

Interesting point. Lancasters and Halifaxes were single pilot aircraft (for eight hour raids) but the Short Stirling had two pilots. But then there was the Flight Engineer role in Lancs and Halis.

Good find, Jim. "None of the crew were injured..." presumably the gunner cut himself shaving very inaccurately...

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

I had never heard about the fate of the "Rex." In an eerie bit of foreshadowing, the ship was en route to New York in 1938 when she was met a few hundred miles off the US coast by a flight of Y1B-17s as a demonstration of the USAAC's new bombers' ability to intercept potential invaders (the Navy was less than pleased about the Army trespassing on their turf.)

SN

.

_________________
“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

.

_________________
“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

James, that is most definitely Prestwick!

Same bird?

_________________
It was a good idea, it just didn't work.