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Stuka shoot down Tripoli WW2

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Stuka shoot down Tripoli WW2

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Old 16th Oct 2021, 09:14
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Stuka shoot down Tripoli WW2

I think aspects of this picture are fake. Namely the smoke, aircraft markings and possibly even the aircraft.
Anyone got the original or know the history of this particular shot?

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Old 16th Oct 2021, 11:19
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The photo appears to be genuine, apart from obviously having been colourised:

"'Exit Stuka', the words written on the back of this dramatic photo which shows a Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber going down trailing thick black smoke over Tripoli harbour while the loader of a 40mm Bofors AA gun looks on.

The photo was taken using a camera owned by Larry Flanagin, a member of the 14th NZ Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the 2nd NZ Division, which would date this photo sometime between 23 January and the very beginning of March 1943. The Stuka appears to be an older B or R model and presumably belonged to III/StG 3, the only Luftwaffe Stuka unit operating in the region at that time.

Many thanks to Larry's grandson, Mitch Turnbull, for sharing his grandfather's amazing photo."
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Old 17th Oct 2021, 09:32
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Where does the smoke trail originate from? The starting point, a very thin beginning, seems to come from the end of the fuselage. If the engine is on fire, or the wing, they are the main combustables, I would expect the plume to be thicker beyond the tail of the Stuka. So, is this photograph a frake after all? Besides, the crouching figure seems to looking slightly beyond the aircraft, and not directly at the aircraft
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Old 17th Oct 2021, 14:04
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Found this: https://resources.stuff.co.nz/conten...9308437329.jpg

The Stuka looks "wrong", fuzzy in all directions, not lust in the direction of flight, and more so than the smoke.
Could be a tiny model hanging in the foreground, og perched on a stick later camouflaged by "smoke" in the dark room.
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Old 17th Oct 2021, 19:43
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The narrative on the this link would suggest that a fair amount of work went into establishing the provenance and authenticity of the photos used.
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Old 18th Oct 2021, 00:01
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I agree the provenance story seems compelling, and I'm pretty sure the gunners and lower portion are real. The Stuka and in particular the smoke just don't look like they are the same picture. I tried to find other pictures of smoking Stukas and none of the pictures of crashing machines seem to have any, or there is a massive amount of flame accompanying it. Not saying that is proof in itself, but the Stuka and the smoke is really bugging me. The smoke looks cartoonish in the colorisation and not enough visible in the B&W to compare it.

The blur on the Stuka does look like pictures associated with gun cameras, in those the whole picture is slightly blurred not just the target.
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