Picture of the day

Buckmastr said:
A stick of 1,000-lb bombs dropped by a Consolidated Liberator B Mark VI of RAF no 70 Squadron, hit another Liberator B Mark VI, KK320, 'V' Victor, of RAF No 37 Squadron, flying underneath during a daylight raid on the shipbuilding yards at Monfalcone, Trieste, Italy, 1945.

'V' Victor was flying at 12,000 feet when it suffered from 'friendly fire’. Struck by two bombs from a higher Liberator, Sqn Ldr L.С. Saxby and crew in KK320/ V of No 37 Squadron had a miraculous escape.

One bomb struck the port inner engine and sheared off the propeller and the second went through the fuselage just behind the flight deck, narrowly missing the top-turret gunner, P. Off. Walter Lewis and leaving a large hole in the fuselage behind Sqn Ldr L. Saxby, the pilot. Although the bombs had not fallen far enough to become 'live' the perspex of Wally Lewis's mid-upper turret was completely ripped away.

Lewis later described the incident: 'I was looking up and saw a bomb leave an aircraft above us. I saw it getting bigger and bigger as it came towards us. The next thing I realised was that the fuselage had been hit near the flight deck and I seemed to be pushed down in front of my seat. The perspex above me was taken clean off. All that happened to me was a bump on the shoulder.'

The only injury was to Cliff Hurst the radio operator who was injured by flying metal pieces and left unconscious for a while although later on, he worked on his radio sets on the way home.
Saxby pulled the plane out of a steep dive at the last minute, while the crew thought it was going to break up. They started limping home to their Base in Tortorella, more than 300 miles away. They all assumed that on final approach, the wheels were not down so everybody assumed crash positions the Liberator landed smoothly. The aircraft was struck off charge on 26 April 1945.

Squadron Leader Lionel Charles Saxby is the chap leaning out of the hole; the chap sticking his head up out of the top is the navigator, P/OG T. Barker. Both can be seen inspecting the damage.

Flt. Sgt. K.H. Westrope, the tailgunner of 'V' Victor published his memoirs called "A rear gunners tale".

Caption: Cited from: militarian.com/threads/raf-b-24-hit-by-falling-bombs.1765/) and airpages.ru/eng/us/liberator_1.shtml

uSs6tpy.jpg
Click to expand...

Great pic.
 
German signs left behind during the allied liberation of Italy. Private D. J. Mulvihill of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, Italy, 1944.

RKbm1WM.jpg
 
Only one prototype PBY-5T(Twin) Catalina was built and flown in 1944. Due to the vast distances covered in the PTO and noting the 4-engine design configurations of the Japanese Kawanishi H6K (Allied reporting name 'Mavis') and H8K ('Emily'), Consolidated incorporated two PBY-5s from the New Orleans Consolidated Vultee plant and integrated the additional fuel tanks for the four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-82 Twin Wasps.
After a few trials and circuits, despite the promising range, the disadvantages of the configuration meant that within a month of the initial flight, it was scrapped. The reasons were various, including the obvious cost implications making it not economically viable, the additional crew required and the handling difficulties with landing such a configuration on water, particularly during take-offs and landings in rougher seas. In fact, these were so tricky and strenuous that some of Consolidated's test pilots soon derived a range of insulting monikers. Whilst initially dubbed the 'Siamese Cat', Cat-Amaran or 'PB-Why?' by the test pilots, the British Fleet Air Arm test pilot stationed at Consolidated until April 1944 famously called the Twin Cat prototype the '####' for short after a few exceptionally hair-raising touch-and-go landings.
Consolidated's New Orleans plant closed soon after WW2.
( David John Hope )

167509645_949369219141776_3190665296799584062_n.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 167509645_949369219141776_3190665296799584062_n.jpg
    167509645_949369219141776_3190665296799584062_n.jpg
    36.4 KB · Views: 524
#VWS Seen from the boat he just jumped from, a Navy SEAL (Sea Air Land Team Member) hoists his Mk 23 (Stoner 63) high as he makes his way ashore through deep mud during a combat operation in South Vietnam in May 1970. Although it only fired 5.56 mm rounds, at about 13 pounds, the Stoner in its light machine gun (LMG) configuration weighed roughly half of what a comparable M60 machine gun (firing 7.62 mm rounds) weighed, making it much more portable

Original description and photo sourced from:
Chief Photographer's Mate A. Hill/ US Navy photo K-84315/ National Archives and Records Administration via Naval History and Heritage Command

stDW846.jpg
 
ITALY - 1944: British 8th Army officers in command of a Gurkha battalion in the Ortona sector pause for a group shot during a lull in the action on the drive through Italy.
(Photo by George Rodger/The LIFE Picture Collection.

2XaCBym.jpg
 
The photograph is of a team of stretcher bearers struggling through deep mud to carry a wounded man to safety near Boesinghe, on the 1st of August 1917, in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, which was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as the Battle of Passchendaele).

Mud, death and despair, is used to describe this time in WW1.

Stretcher bearers suffered very heavy casualties in WW1.

A famous stretcher bearer and ambulance driver during WW1 was the young Ernest Hemingway (American writer). In1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his novel 'A Farewell to Arms' (1929). There have been a couple of movies made based on his novel. One in 1932, starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes, and one in 1957, starring Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.

One of the most awarded stretcher bearers of WW1 was Lance Corporal William Harold Coltman, VC, DCM & Bar, MM & Bar (17 November 1891 – 29 June 1974). He volunteered for the British Army in January 1915, during the opening months of WW1. He served in The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's), in the 1/6th Battalion.

A very well known person who served in the Australian Army as a stretcher bearer during WW1, was John Kirkpatrick (enlisted as John Simpson; 6 July 1892 – 19 May 1915). He was a stretcher bearer with the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance brigade during the Gallipoli campaign. ‘Simpson and His Donkey’, was taught in schools across Australia. Many believe he should have been awarded the Victoria Cross.

Lest We Forget.

Photograph came from the Imperial War Museums. Image file number IWM Q 5935.

x6SpF8c.jpg
 
����A father and son, both of the 191st Tank Battalion while attached to the 45th Infantry Division at Anzio, bid farewell to each other on March 6, 1944.

Pvt. William R. Loop (left) of Binghamton, N.Y., bids farewell to his father, Cpl. Roderick R. Loop, also of Binghamton, who is leaving Italy for a tour of duty in the United States. Both father and son enlisted together in the Army, and served in the 191st Tank Battalion. Cpl. Roderick served with the 124th Inf, 31st Inf Div, in WWI. Both father and son returned to the United States after the war.

William continued his military career during the Korean War. He was awarded the Korean Service Medal with five bronze stars, and the Combat Infantry Purple Heart Distinguished Unit Citation. Before retiring in 1989, he had been employeed by Watson Manufacturing, Dawson Metal, and Jamestown Metal Corp.
He was a member of the Samuel Derby Post 556 American Legion, Frewsburg, and the Jamestown VFW. William was a lifelong resident of New York and passed away on December 19, 2008 at the age of 84.

Roderick, also a WWI veteran, returned to New York after the war. Corporal Loop was honored with the Silver Star for his bravery during the war. He passed away on March 5, 1969 at the age of 73.


Original description and photos sourced by US National Archive, US Signal Corps Archive

i5PpV8Dl.jpg
 
🇨🇦A Salute to Sergeant H. Marshall and Corporal S. Kormendy of the Calgary Highlanders

Corporal Steven Kormendy and Sergeant Harold A. Marshall of The Calgary Highlanders cleaning the telescopic sights of their No.4 MkI (T) rifles during scouting, stalking and sniping course in Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944. (Photographer Ken Bell, Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit) Ken Bell would go on to profile Marshall in his book, "Not in Vain".

"Harold Marshall was one of the original Calgary Highlanders who sailed for the United Kingdom on S.S. Pasteur in 1940. Four years later, he was part of an elite platoon of scouts and snipers. Specially equipped and trained in stealth and camouflage, they were the forerunners of today’s reconnaissance troops. It was a dangerous job as scouts advanced ahead of troops and snipers were often exposed to enemy fire.”

Harold Marshall suffered a war ending injury on December 15, 1944. He return to Canada and had a career with the City of Calgary Electric System from 1946 until 1975. Harold died just short of his 95th birthday in 2013.

Steven Kormendy was born in Prague and immigrated to Canada at a young age. He enlisted with the Highlanders at the age of 15, following in the footsteps of both his parents who served during World War I. His mother was also a sniper. Corporal Kormendy landed in France on D-Day for the invasion of Normandy. He fought in the liberation of Holland and was later wounded during an air raid in Belgium.

After the war Steve relocated to the Yukon Territory of Canada, making a home in Dawson City. He was a self-made man with a career in trapping and mining. Kormendy married and had a large family and always carried the pride of Remembrance Day in his heart. Steve Kormendy passed away in 2013 at the age of 90. Lest We Forget.



Original description and photo sourced by the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC 3596657), www.yukon-news.com and waretimes.ca

LVGu6ZZ.jpg
 
����Men of the 2/31st Australian Infantry Battalion stop for a rest in the jungle between Nauro and Menari, Papua New Guinea, 1942

Original description and photo sourced by
www.nma.gov.au

lXdaBqn.jpg
 
Buckmastr said:
����A Salute to Sergeant H. Marshall and Corporal S. Kormendy of the Calgary Highlanders

Corporal Steven Kormendy and Sergeant Harold A. Marshall of The Calgary Highlanders cleaning the telescopic sights of their No.4 MkI (T) rifles during scouting, stalking and sniping course in Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944. (Photographer Ken Bell, Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit) Ken Bell would go on to profile Marshall in his book, "Not in Vain".

"Harold Marshall was one of the original Calgary Highlanders who sailed for the United Kingdom on S.S. Pasteur in 1940. Four years later, he was part of an elite platoon of scouts and snipers. Specially equipped and trained in stealth and camouflage, they were the forerunners of today’s reconnaissance troops. It was a dangerous job as scouts advanced ahead of troops and snipers were often exposed to enemy fire.”

Harold Marshall suffered a war ending injury on December 15, 1944. He return to Canada and had a career with the City of Calgary Electric System from 1946 until 1975. Harold died just short of his 95th birthday in 2013.

Steven Kormendy was born in Prague and immigrated to Canada at a young age. He enlisted with the Highlanders at the age of 15, following in the footsteps of both his parents who served during World War I. His mother was also a sniper. Corporal Kormendy landed in France on D-Day for the invasion of Normandy. He fought in the liberation of Holland and was later wounded during an air raid in Belgium.

After the war Steve relocated to the Yukon Territory of Canada, making a home in Dawson City. He was a self-made man with a career in trapping and mining. Kormendy married and had a large family and always carried the pride of Remembrance Day in his heart. Steve Kormendy passed away in 2013 at the age of 90. Lest We Forget.



Original description and photo sourced by the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC 3596657), www.yukon-news.com and waretimes.ca

LVGu6ZZ.jpg
Click to expand...

I bet that Harold Marshall knew my granddad as he was an original Highlander as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom