Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Here's a weird bird - HE111 in Chinese markings, re-engined with radials:

Here's a weird bird - HE111 in Chinese markings, re-engined with radials:
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Why would an HE111 have been in storage in the middle of WWII?
Why would an HE111 have been in storage in the middle of WWII?
Pretty sure most all of China was under Japanese control by 1943.
Was it maybe 1953?
Why would an HE111 have been in storage in the middle of WWII?
Pretty sure most all of China was under Japanese control by 1943.
Was it maybe 1953?
The late Jimmy Buffett in the backseat of a VF-102 F-14 Tomcat piloted by John Dickson “Boomer” Stufflebeem.
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Shortly after this photo was taken, Lt Col Felix Sparks stopped the executions by firing his pistol in the air, and kicking the guy behind the .30 cal in the ribs. Because the men were under his command, he was going to be charged with a war crime, but Patton himself dismissed the charges.
18 August 1945: The last U.S. air combat casualty of World War II occurred during mission 230 A-8, when two Consolidated B-32 Dominators of the 386th Bomb Squadron, 312th Bomb Group, launched from Yontan Airfield, Okinawa, for a photo reconnaissance run over Tokyo, Japan. Both bombers were attacked by several Japanese fighters of both the 302nd Naval Air Group at Atsugi and the Yokosuka Air Group that made 10 gunnery passes. Japanese IJNAS aces Sadamu Komachi and Saburō Sakai were part of this attack. The B-32 piloted by 1st Lt. John R. Anderson, was hit at 20,000 feet; cannon fire knocked out the number two (port inner) engine, and three crew were injured, including Sgt. Anthony J. Marchione, 19, of the 20th Reconnaissance Squadron, who took a 20 mm hit to the chest and died 30 minutes later. Tail gunner Sgt. John Houston destroyed one attacker. The lead bomber, Consolidated B-32-20-CF Dominator, 42-108532, "Hobo Queen II", piloted by 1st Lt. James Klein, was not seriously damaged but the second Consolidated B-32-35-CF Dominator, 42-108578, lost an engine, had the upper turret knocked out of action, and partially lost rudder control. Both bombers landed at Yontan Airfield just past ~1800 hrs. having survived the last air combat of the Pacific war. The following day, propellers were removed from Japanese aircraft as part of the surrender agreement. Marchione was buried on Okinawa on 19 August, his body being returned to his Pottstown, Pennsylvania home on 18 March 1949. He was interred in St. Aloysius Old Cemetery with full military honors. "Hobo Queen II" was dismantled at Yonton Airfield following a 9 September nosegear collapse and damage during lifting. B-32, 42-108578, was scrapped at Kingman, Arizona after the war.
Fact: Winners do not commit war crimes.
Sure they do. They just don't get held accountable for them.
Sure they do. They just don't get held accountable for them.
Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming;
Can't you see their spearpoints gleaming?
See their warriors' pennants streaming
To this battlefield.
Men of Cornwall stand ye steady;
It cannot be ever said ye
for the battle were not ready;
Stand and never yield!
Hell of it is, aside from the obvious horrors specific to atomic weapons, Tokyo got it worse.
Operation Meetinghouse did this:
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Yes, it was war, and yes, this is manifestation of the second part of the ancient equation of "fvck around and find out", but there are few old buildings in Tokyo. It was wiped pretty thoroughly from the face of the earth in 1945. Biblical levels of destruction. No stone left atop another, or damned close to it. At risk of kicking off what will doubtless be a lengthy argument on a picture thread, does this constitute a war crime? Had the Japanese found a way to do this to Los Angeles and then lost the war, would they have been prosecuted? Not a hard question to answer.
The victors set the terms and the definitions. One man's war crime is another man's righteous retribution. Based on Dresden, Tokyo, and others, our grandfathers are fortunate to have won.