Warbird Information Exchange

Sneaky fellows .... Below are a few photos of Airfield B58, Melsbroek Belgium 1944.



181 Squadron as part or 124 Wing arrived B58, Melsbroek, one of the Brussels airfields, on 6 September 1944. The servicing echelon took up residence in one of the elaborately camouflaged buildings vacated by the Germans. In the foreground is a 181 Squadron Typhoon (EL-U JP672).


Hawker Typhoon Mark IB, MN627 'SF-N', of No. 137 Squadron RAF.


Typhoons undergoing maintenance and repair at Melsbroek (B-58), near Brussels, 10 September 1944. An aircraft from No 247 Squadron.


RAF B-25 180 Sqn in camouflaged hangar at Melsbroek 1944.


RAF B-25 180 Sqn in camouflaged hangar at Melsbroek 1944.

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

Reminds me of the entire neighborhood on the top of the Lockheed plant.

Wow.........fantastic shots.

Nice clear shot of the 'Mickey Mouse' camo applied on the canvas tops of the Bedford QL trucks in the 3rd photo.

The truck isn't pretty enough to be a Bedford , it looks more like a Crossley.

In hindsight, all the efforts the went though seems so futile. If a pilot sees a plane or A RUNWAY aren't they just going to shoot up everything next to it?

_________________
Better is the enemy of Good.

I did specifically say the 3rd photo.....

I agree that the 4th & 5th photos, showing the Mitchell in the hanger does show what looks like a Crossley FWD, which does fit as the RAF were still a user of these antiquated old heaps, as tractor units this late in the war

I am presently reading "No Parachute" by Arthur Gould Lee. His experiences in WWI. He mentions Crossley's all the time. Guess they were pretty long lived.

The Crossley FWD shown in these photo's were not WW1 vintage vehicles, the FWD was first built in 1939 and is a WW2 era vehicle.

They were pretty much only used by the RAF, and in tractor unit form were sometimes used to tow the Queen Mary aircraft trailers.

The haystack hangar and tinshed hangar jobs are pretty good as well that they did..

_________________
If the CO ask,s you to be Tail End Charlie...Just Shoot Him..A Piece of Cake

Mark, I'm sure you have posted a series on the camouflaged US factories. I recall Burbank being especially impressive, with houses, farm fields, etc.

Pretty impressive job, until some recon pilot asks himself "Why are there seven urban rowhouses jammed together in the middle of a big field?"

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Or...

"Where are the outhouses?"