View Full Version : WWII photo article on BBC
hoss183
4th Mar 2016, 10:36
Nice article In pictures: American airmen in England during World War Two - BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-35699521)
NutLoose
4th Mar 2016, 11:05
Excellent, that prop must have been horrendously out of balance, I bet the engine was trying to tear itself out of its mountings , here are some more that was posted over on the flypast forums, an unidentified RAF base
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1720244971554825.1073742292.1634742540105069&type=3
Hangarshuffle
4th Mar 2016, 17:54
Proper thousand yard stare on young Smarts face. Also, what is that actually on his face? Blood? Poor young guy, that must have been a horrendous raid to take part in.
They are really good pictures.
airborne_artist
4th Mar 2016, 21:58
Also, what is that actually on his face? Blood?
Oil/grease?
Danny42C
5th Mar 2016, 04:10
Hangarshuffle (your #3).
Could be pressure marks from a tight fitting mask (and there might have been some grease which had got onto it, as suggested). Don't think blood - at least not his, but he might have been attending to a wounded crewman).
When there's blood, there's usually a lot of it.
But what wonderful photos ! Glad they put in Clark Gable - he was a bit old (early 40s) for aircrew - but what about James Stewart ? - 25+ misions as a 4-engine pilot and finished as a Lt/Col., I believe.
Danny.
Danny42C
7th Mar 2016, 22:21
Hangarshuffle (my #5),
A coincidence: reading "Fall out, Roman Catholics and Jews", by Anthony Haig-Thomas, I came to page 126.
Our hero is ADC to an AOC, and his Boss was going on a visit to Command. H-T was ordered to stay and mind the office, and NOT to go flying till the AVM got back. Of course, being H-T, he disobeyed, and was in a formation of Hunters when he heard on the R/T that his Boss was in the air on his way back home sooner than expected.
He just managed to get back on the ground first and:
......"I tore off my flying kit, donned my uniform and drove the 300 yards to Group HQ at high speed, sprinted down the corridor and made it to my desk. At that moment, I heard the boss coming down the passage and into his office. He pressed the buzzer and I entered. "Everything been quiet while I have been away, Tony ?" "Yes, Sir". He looked at me quizzically. "And how would you know ? You have a great black mark on your face which more or less exactly follows the shape of a Hunter oxygen mask......"
Danny.
sitigeltfel
8th Mar 2016, 12:16
Proper thousand yard stare on young Smarts face. Also, what is that actually on his face? Blood?
As he was a gunner I would suggest it could be cordite residue. Also, with B&W photography, reddening of the skin can produce black tones on the prints.
Good to see US Women's Army Corps members' war work acknowledged in those photos. They're so often overlooked.
Hangarshuffle (your #3).
- but what about James Stewart ? - 25+ misions as a 4-engine pilot and finished as a Lt/Col., I believe.
Danny.
...and a B-52-qualified 1-star general in the post-war reserve USAF.
tartare
9th Mar 2016, 04:00
...and a B-52-qualified 1-star general in the post-war reserve USAF.
..also flew the Hustler!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEKyTxnrXIc
Danny42C
9th Mar 2016, 06:10
Nutloose (your #2).
What a wonderful collection of nostalgic pics ! - thanks for the link.
Now at line 14 down from the top (14/3), third left, and on other shots, there is a strange metal "shroud" over the nose between the exhaust stacks. I flew the Hurricane (only briefly) in '42, and saw scores of them in Burma, and I can't remember ever seeing anything like it. What is it ? - and what was it for ?
At 20/2 no 'jemmy' (or even Terry clips for one) in the Spitfire cockpit flap. I suppose they had yet to learn the hard way !
At 24/1 bombs stacked en masse with the fin sections on. On the Vengeance, we never attached the fins until the bomb was on the trolley, because they are only thin sheet metal and can easily be damaged. At a glance, would say these are 500lb GP H.E.s. (no fuses in yet - they may have been daft, but they weren't stupid !)
27/4, reminds me of a poster I saw (a poet, too ! - is there no end to the man's accomplishments ?):
"Running-up your engine where the dust is very bad
Is most inconsiderate and labels you a cad."
(yes, we still had "cads", "bounders" and "blighters" in those far off P.G.Woodhousian days).
May find more when have time to have a good look.
Note no 'battledress' - they didn't come in till '41 (I think).
Cheers, Danny.