Aeroplanes of the Second World War

Yeah I mean why does a fighter have a turret ffs........ I feel really sorry for the lads at the beginning of the war sent out in Battles, Defiants and Gladiators - totally outclassed and they were just cannon fodder really.

My Airfix BP Defiant was in black - night fighter where it at least had a modicum of success.

Blackburn Roc was another turreted fighter, for the Fleet Air Arm.

Blackburn_Roc.jpg
 
The Japanese Zero.

Jap%20Zero.jpg

Made by Mitsubishi - always feel slightly guilty that the first brand new car I ever bought (and quite liked) was a Mitsubishi - used to have to go to my grandads every day after school and he had been a PoW and had an understandable hatred of the japs and refused to have anything Japanese in the house even to the extent of sending the Panasonic from Radio Rentals back for a Philips
 
Madness to just assume a fighter will have no need for forward firing guns...........
I understand the concept comes from a 1930s Air Ministry brief. At the time, attacking bombers were only going to be able to operate over Britain without any fighter escort. It was thought to be a good option to position fighters carefully underneath a bomber formation, and blast away with four-gun turrets from below.
 
Not a subject that I'm into, but I was channel hopping last night, stumbled on a programme on PBS which looked interesting. About a b-24 called Tulsamerican, that crash landed of a Croatian island during the war. Most of the crew survived, three were still missing. A team from the DPAA (group who's purpose is to find people missing in action and to bring them home) underwater archaeologist and with help from the Croatian Navy they sift the wreckage. While they are there a local diver tells them of another American plane, he'd seen close by. Anyhow, I won't give too much away. If you have not seen it seek it out, it's called The Last B-24.
 
I understand the concept comes from a 1930s Air Ministry brief. At the time, attacking bombers were only going to be able to operate over Britain without any fighter escort. It was thought to be a good option to position fighters carefully underneath a bomber formation, and blast away with four-gun turrets from below.

smacks of a hangover of WW1 philosophy doesn't it where planes had a rear gunner/observer behind the pilot firing a trainable machine gun ( though even that trend started with pistols before moving on to rifles ) - unfortunately things got faster a lot quicker than they could have imagined.......developments in war times were always fast and furious.
 
I recently researched my Grandad who was shot down and killed over Monchengladbach. It was 75 years ago on 31st August this year. 31/08/1943). He was 21 years old, and at the time of his death, a rear gunner on a Wellington Bomber for 166 Squadron based at Kirmington in North Lincolnshire. I believe this Squadron were due to start flying Lancaster Bombers from September 1943 so he must have just missed out.
I've been able to locate where his bomber crashed so it would be nice to visit the site at some point. I've still to try and locate a photo of him or of him and his crew so this may be something I research further over the years. His daughter (my mother) is also dead so it's not just a case of asking her for anything.
 

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