WW2 Aerial Photo Question
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Kinfauns, Perthshire
Age: 66
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I agree it's certainly at an altitude more in keeping with the Halifax. The only reason I thought Lancaster, was the slight sweep in the wings, which of course could just be the result of the angle.
Cheers
Stew
Cheers
Stew
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Sydney, NSW,Australia
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It might still be a lanc. For the thirteen 460 RAAF crews this was a complex , eight hour + op. at low level, the majority being flown at 250 AGL and lower. They had to climb to their bombing altitude which was 8000',2000' feet higher than the min. height for dropping a cookie. As previously noted, the Path Finders got it wrong and only one out of 327 crews successfuly bombed the Skoda Factory and had the photos to proove it. That was a 460 crew in C for Charlie. Three 460 crews did not return.
In 2003 I spoke to the navigator of one of the 460 crews, I think he was a teenager in 43 and sixty years later he was still upset that his crew had competely missed the target because they had incorrectly identified a turning point on the Danube. The bomb aimer had been map reading in the bubble and giving the pilot a running commentary on the terrain ahead, he thought an approaching river junction was their turning point and so instructed the pilot , the nav knew that on time and distance this was not correct and so instructed the pilot. The pilot was of course devoting a large amount of his grey material to complying with Rule No.1, Don't hit the Ground, something that he had successfully adhered to in his previous 650 hours of aviation. Confronted with this dilemma he went with the bomb aimer who had a much louder voice on the interphone and had been doing rather well up until then. This wrong decision was to become consequential for the residents of a small German town who had gone to bed with their street lights on. It also nearly became very consequential for a lancaster crew who discovered that 6000 feet was really a bit low to drop the cookie and subsequently had to report that the only damage they suffered on this op. was self inflicted.
In 2003 I spoke to the navigator of one of the 460 crews, I think he was a teenager in 43 and sixty years later he was still upset that his crew had competely missed the target because they had incorrectly identified a turning point on the Danube. The bomb aimer had been map reading in the bubble and giving the pilot a running commentary on the terrain ahead, he thought an approaching river junction was their turning point and so instructed the pilot , the nav knew that on time and distance this was not correct and so instructed the pilot. The pilot was of course devoting a large amount of his grey material to complying with Rule No.1, Don't hit the Ground, something that he had successfully adhered to in his previous 650 hours of aviation. Confronted with this dilemma he went with the bomb aimer who had a much louder voice on the interphone and had been doing rather well up until then. This wrong decision was to become consequential for the residents of a small German town who had gone to bed with their street lights on. It also nearly became very consequential for a lancaster crew who discovered that 6000 feet was really a bit low to drop the cookie and subsequently had to report that the only damage they suffered on this op. was self inflicted.
Last edited by Jackneville; 13th Jul 2008 at 08:20.
