Picture of the day

Stumbled upon this doing research on San Antonio, TX. headed down for the eclipse in April:

1920px-Women%27s_Army_Corps%2C_Randolph_Field%2C_Texas%2C_1944.jpg


"Women's Army Corps, Randolph Field, 1944"

Great uniforms. The Corporal looks like she forgot something and just remembered.
 
NAA said:
After the war, Stigler immigrated to Canada. And lived on the Lower Mainland of B.C.

My Dad, who was an artist, who's one passion was aviation art, was friends with Stigler. He did a painting of the famous flight. As well as a single of Stigler's ME 109 & also a portait of Stigler. My Dad also corresponded with Charles Brown in Florida & send him pencil drawings of the B-17 so he could put in the battle damage for the painting.
Click to expand...

Found some pics of paintings my Dad did on this topic:

Dad.jpg

Stigler & Brown 1024768.jpg

Sigler ME109 1024768.jpg

Stigler cr 1024768.jpg

NAA said:
In the time my Dad knew Stigler, when he lived on the Lower Mainland of B.C. for the remainder of his life, he had some involvement with the "ME262 Project" in Washington State.

One time my Dad & I did a trip down to Washington we got a personal tour of the ME262 Project build area due to that connection with Mr. Stigler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_262_Project
Click to expand...

A little more digging, I might find some pics of our visit to the ME 262 Project.

----------
NAA.
 

Attachments

  • Dad.jpg
    Dad.jpg
    23.7 KB · Views: 681
  • Stigler & Brown 1024768.jpg
    Stigler & Brown 1024768.jpg
    68.7 KB · Views: 678
  • Sigler ME109 1024768.jpg
    Sigler ME109 1024768.jpg
    52.4 KB · Views: 680
  • Stigler cr 1024768.jpg
    Stigler cr 1024768.jpg
    72.5 KB · Views: 679
2560px-Napalm_explosion_on_C%C3%A9zembre_island_%28Britanny%2C_France%29%2C_31_August_1944.jpg


Allied napalm attack, St Malo, August 31, 1944.

The garrison commander, "Chief of the coastal naval battery "Ile de Cézembre" in the Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung 608" Richard Seuss, rejected the offered terms of surrender, even after the so called 'Mad Colonel' Aulock surrendered at the Citadel with the 400 survivors of his unit on August 17, 1944 after recieving a massive pummelling by Allied heavy siege artillery.

In late August 1944, Allied Command decided to put an end to all Axis resistance on Cezembre.

Due to the massive and well prepared nature of the fortification, and the professionalism of the troops, the Axis garrison only had light casualties. Seuss surrendered himself and his men on September 2, 1944.



The clean up and reconstruction of St. Malo started immediately after the Allied forces turned over the town to Free French authorities, the ruins deemed not useful as a supply port. The finishing touches on the reconstruction were not complete until 1971. They say the town never fully recovered.

Brest met a similar fate.

MG_Charles_D.W._Canham.jpg


Major General Charles Draper William Canham

"These are my credentials"

^The correct answer to ignorant German arrogance
 
Last edited:
On the night of 10th April 1945, less than a month before the end of the war, Lancaster ME315 / LQ-K of RCAF 405 Sqd. led a raid against the marshaling yards at Leipzig. The pilot was Sqr. Ldr. C.H Mussels of Montreal.

405-squadron-lancaster-iii-me315-lq-k-crew-w800-w800.jpg


#4 is Mussels, #5, Mellstrom. P/O Ryan DFC, the flight engineer, is #2.

The aircraft was attacked by an ME163 piloted by Lt. Friedrich Kelb. The Komet was armed with "Jagerfaust", a set of four 50mm barrels mounted vertically in the port wing, angled forward and fired by an optical switch. They each fired a 1kg shell.

Mussels was on his second pass when Kelb flew beneath his Lanc at a range of approximately 100 meters. All four guns fired. Results were profound.

405-squadron-lancaster-iii-me315-lq-k-1-w800.jpg


405-squadron-lancaster-iii-me315-lq-k-1-w800-w800.jpg


Lost in the attack was rear gunner Ft. Lt. Melborn Mellstrom DFC of Red Deer, Alberta. He was 31 when he died, and left behind a wife. In 2004, Mellstrom Lake was named after him. He's buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery.

fllt-melborn-leslie-mellstrom-dfc-j18414-rcaf-age-31-grave-w800-w800.jpg


From Mussels' DSO citation:

'On 10 April 1945, this officer was pilot of an aircraft detailed to make a daylight attack against Leipzig. Whilst orbiting the target to complete a second run the aircraft was attacked by an enemy fighter. The rear turret and the starboard rudder were completely shot away, the port rudder shattered and both elevators damaged to such an extent that they offered no control surface. The Mid-upper Gunner was severely wounded in the combat.

The aircraft lost speed suddenly and, almost completely out of control, dived some 4,000 feet. Squadron Leader Mussells attempting to pull out of the dive found the trimming controls completely useless, but with considerable difficulty - and with his full strength - eventually pulled out and the control column then had to be lashed by rope to keep the nose of the aircraft up. The aircraft could only turn to port but by using the ailerons could be eased to starboard, the constant tendency to turn to port still persisted.

By his sound judgment and skillful airmanship, Squadron Mussells regained partial control of his aircraft, and set course for base. For the first hour of the return journey he flew at 13,000 feet, crossed the Belgian coast at 10,000 feet and eventually crossed the English coast at 5,000 feet, when he instructed his crew, with the exception of the wounded Mid-upper Gunner, to bale out. He then carried out a masterly landing at Woodbridge without flaps, and with the control column still lashed back. On landing the tail would not go down and the aircraft did four very big bounces before finally coming to a rest.
Click to expand...

P/O Ryan won the DFC by staying in the cockpit with Mussels and wrestling with the controls to maintain a modicum of stability. His citation:

Flying Officer Ryan was flight engineer of a Lancaster aircraft which took part on a daylight attack on Leipzig on 10th April,1945. During the second run over the target, an enemy fighter attacked and caused severe damage to the aircraft. The rear turret and starboard rudder were completely shot away, the port rudder shattered and both elevators damaged to such an extent that that they became almost useless. In the course of the attack, the mid upper gunner was seriously wounded.

The aircraft immediately dived out of control and, only by means of the able assistance of the flight engineer - Flying Officer Ryan - was the pilot able to regain control. The control column was then lashed fully back. During the return flight it became increasingly difficult to maintain a speed at which the aircraft neither stalled nor continued to break up and, until the English coast was reached, it was only kept under control because Flying Officer Ryan anticipated its reactions to turbulent weather with exceptional skill and accuracy.

As the coast was crossed, the captain ordered the crew, with the exception of Flying Officer Ryan and the wounded mid-upper gunner, to abandon the aircraft whilst he attempted a crash landing. Flying Officer Ryan’s hands by this time were torn and bleeding, lacerated by the rope with which he was manipulating the control column. Despite this he showed no discouragement but remained cheerful and continued to give the captain the maximum of assistance. When the undercarriage had been lowered the aircraft commenced to descend very rapidly but a successful crash landing was made.

Up to the last moment, Ryan helped the pilot by every means in his power. Without his assistance it would have been impossible to fly the aircraft back to this country. He also knew that the crash landing, which was the only means of saving the life of the wounded gunner, was an extremely dangerous operation. This, however, did not deter him in any way. He readily accepted all risks in order to help the pilot and it was largely due to his efforts that the aircraft was flown safely to the United Kingdom and that the crash landing was successful.”
Click to expand...

Mussells survived the war and made a career of the RCAF. He retired ad a Brigadier General. His medals:

mussells-medal-collection-w800.jpg


Ryan made it, too. Got married, had kids, worked as a teacher.

Bomber Command aircrew were something else. They knew the odds and persisted nonetheless. Night after night for years, sometimes. The chance of seeing the end of their tour was remote, and yet many signed up for second tours. Remarkable.

More info here: https://aircrewremembered.com/mellstrom-melborn.html
 
The story of Mussels is one I'd never seen previously. I met Mussels when I was a young Lt when he was in charge of the new DND Canex exchange system after integration. Shortly after Canex opened our base was announced for closure and Mussels agreed to let us run our Canex on a no profit basis with no kickbacks paid to the central system. It was a pretty good deal for the troops.
 
Lynn_Garrison_in_cockpit_1966.jpg


Lynn Garrison

I wonder if it was PET who was behind the guy who shot up his bedroom while armed with an Uzi in Haiti?

It is probably not likely but it is always good to blow spitballs at 'his legacy.'

Garrison reportedly struck the gunman with accurate return fire. I wonder how the rest of that story went?
 
Last edited:
serb3.jpg


Biljana Vrhovac, a 20-year-old Bosnian Serb, lies in agony in Sarajevo
after a Serb mortar attack on July 20, 1992. Her father and dog were both killed.
Click to expand...

As you pour yourself a scotch,
crush a roach, or scratch your crotch,
as your hand adjusts your tie,
people die.
In the towns with funny names,
hit by bullets, caught in flames,
by and large not knowing why,
people die.
In small places you don't know
of, yet big for having no
chance to scream or say good-bye,
people die.
People die as you elect
brand-new dudes who preach neglect,
self-restraint, etc. –whereby
people die.
Too far off to practice love
for thy neighbor/brother Slav,
where your cherubs dread to fly,
people die.
While the statues disagree,
Cain's version, history
for its fuel tends to buy
those who die.
As you watch the athletes score,
check your latest statement, or
sing your child a lullaby,
people die.
Time, whose sharp bloodthirsty quill
parts the killed from those who kill,
will pronounce the latter band
as your brand.

Joseph Brodsky
Click to expand...
...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom