Picture of the day

From Swiss sources;
During WWII the following numbers of airplanes came down in Switzerland. This can be by a normal landing (a force down) or a shot down or crash.
1 French
1 Hungarian
4 Italian
12 English
59 German
167 USA
 
Sporting Lad said:
How about defectors/early surrenders? "Take my plane. Please. Ja, und interne me also , bitte!"
Or escapees like James Garner and Donald Pleasance (nearly)? Or... the von Trapp family??

.
Click to expand...

Or "the Cooler King" Steve McQueen on his BMW/Triumph.
[youtube]Y9lMVDmGth4[/youtube]

There is an interesting backstory about the stunt, the bike and who actually did the jumps. Funny thing was in some scenes McQueen is used to chase himself.
 
"Climb every mountaaaaaiiiinnn..." :)

This from Wikipedia:

Switzerland took delivery of the first of its 115 Bf 109s in 1938 when ten Bf 109Ds were delivered. After this, 80 109 E-3s were purchased which arrived from April 1939 until just before the German invasion of France in summer 1940. During the war, a further four 109s (two Fs and two Gs) were acquired by the Swiss Air Force through internment. The 109Es were supplemented by eight aircraft licence manufactured from spare parts by Doflug at Altenrhein, delivered in 1944.

In April 1944, 12 further G-6s were acquired in exchange for the destruction of a highly secret Messerschmitt Bf 110G night fighter which made an emergency landing in Switzerland. The new 109Gs suffered from numerous manufacturing defects and after problematic service were withdrawn from use by May 1948. The 109Es continued in service until December 1949
Click to expand...
 
Sporting Lad said:
How about defectors/early surrenders? "Take my plane. Please. Ja, und interne me also , bitte!"
Or escapees like James Garner and Donald Pleasance (nearly)? Or... the von Trapp family??

.
Click to expand...
An interesting back story to Donald Pleasance. During the filming of the "Great Escape", he was trying to tell the director a bit about POW camps. He was rudely dismissed untill it was found that he had in fact been in the RAF an a POW. Quite a few of the actors were vets
 
points said:
An interesting back story to Donald Pleasance. During the filming of the "Great Escape", he was trying to tell the director a bit about POW camps. He was rudely dismissed untill it was found that he had in fact been in the RAF an a POW. Quite a few of the actors were vets
Click to expand...

That movie was always a family favourite, and so was Donald Pleasance. Thanks for that story- I hadn't heard that before.
 
points said:
An interesting back story to Donald Pleasance. During the filming of the "Great Escape", he was trying to tell the director a bit about POW camps. He was rudely dismissed untill it was found that he had in fact been in the RAF an a POW. Quite a few of the actors were vets
Click to expand...
True, his Lancaster was shot down bombing Agenville on Aug31 1944 then he was sent to Stalag Luft 1 till liberated by the Red Army.
 
On a tangentally related note, Relic from The Beachcombers flew for Bomber Command:

p_clothier1.jpg


He's third from the right, holding a pistol.

More info here:
http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/s,robertclothier.html
 
I did not know that about 'Relic'! And look, he's the only one who's not wearing a life jacket.
Wow, and to think--they had to wear shirts and ties when they flew combat missions??
Must keep up appearances, what?
 
Here's another crew having a break with the NAAFI truck:

Halifax-ceylon.jpg


Interesting nose art. I think the aircraft is a Manchester, the 2 engined immediate precursor to the Lancaster. Not sure, though - the cowling's a bit off, and the nose is faired over kinda weird.

Any ideas?
 
I don't know if any of you spotted this, but if you look at the bomb's painted on the nose of Relics bomber and tally them, they will indicate that Relic and his crew, at the time the picture was taken, had successfully flown 32 bombing missions
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Here's another crew having a break with the NAAFI truck:

Halifax-ceylon.jpg


Interesting nose art. I think the aircraft is a Manchester, the 2 engined immediate precursor to the Lancaster. Not sure, though - the cowling's a bit off, and the nose is faired over kinda weird.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

It's a Handley Page Halifax as is "Relic's" bomber. Various models of the Halifax were built, some using radial engines while others used the in-line Rolls-Royce Merlin. The Halifax didn't grab the headlines to the same extent as the Lancaster, but it was a workhorse for both the RAF and the RCAF.
 
Quite right, purple - thanks for that. here's another pic showing the wonky cowlings:

Handley_Page_Halifax.jpg


Wikipedia tells us this:

Halifax B.II Series I (Special), SOE
Special version for Special Operations Executive (SOE) used to drop supplies over Europe. Nose armament and dorsal turret removed, the nose being faired over, as well as changes to the fuel vent pipes and exhaust shrouds.

Halifax B.II Series I (Special)
Generally similar to the aircraft used by the SOE, these were employed in the bombing role. These aircraft were more varied in appearance, especially concerning the fitting of dorsal armament with some aircraft retaining the standard Boulton Paul "Type C" turret in different mounts with others mounting a "Type A" turret. There were also examples with no dorsal turret, similar to the SOE-aircraft.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the faired-over, non-glazed nose marks this as one of these B.II Series 1 Specials, likely the non-SOE one as it appears these boys have been dropping bombs, not French girls named Marguerite.

And here's some interesting news:
n August 1945, while on weather patrol, the aging Halifax bomber LW170 from No. 518 Squadron RAF sprang a fuel leak and, while trying to return to base, was forced to ditch off the Hebrides Islands west of Scotland. A project is currently underway with the stated aim of finding, recovering and restoring Halifax LW170. When it is recovered it will be restored and displayed at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta, Canada.
Click to expand...

More info on that here:
http://www.57rescuecanada.com/
 
Dark A. Dan, where do you keep on finding these great old photos?

I used to have a copy of "Small Arms of the World" back in the late '50s. I think I had it memorized after a few years.
It must've been the First Edition. Now I've just got something called "Small Arms Visual Encyclopedia" (and Wiki!).
 
Thanks for the info, vanDoo. More here:
http://www.hungariae.com/Danu43.htm

Danu43.jpg


8+ pounds unloaded. Must have been some controllable. I had no idea such a thing existed, nor its cartridge, the 9x25 Mauser. Learn something new every day! :)

Sporting, I just stumble around the internet until stuff falls in my face. Natural curiosity does the rest. Ain't the internet something? :)
 
Last edited:
Dark Alley Dan said:
Thanks for the info, vanDoo. More here:
http://www.hungariae.com/Danu43.htm

Danu43.jpg


8+ pounds unloaded. Must have been some controllable. I had no idea such a thing existed, nor its cartridge, the 9x25 Mauser. Learn something new every day! :)



Sporting, I just stumble around the internet until stuff falls in my face. Natural curiosity does the rest. Ain't the internet something? :)
Click to expand...

I agree the Internet is an Amazing source of info and a Fantastic vehicle for stumbling on something new; yet, somehow, pulling out an old reference book to convince yourself you know you've seen this before 30 yrs ago: Priceless:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom