I am currently processing some 150 odd loose photographs of ‘Desert Rat’ the late Sgt Alfred Bell of 22 Brigade (Signals)
Piecing together the images, some with captions on the reverse, a time line evolves of, training, arrival in Alexandria, the Battle of El Alamein, the advance westward across North Africa to Tripoli, briefly in Southern Italy, return to the UK, Normandy and finally ending up at what appears to be Hamburg and the end of hostilities in Europe.
Apart from a shot of a fully erect 109 on the back of an RAF truck there is minimal aviation content, save for this attached image.
Using just a very basic snapshot camera of the time he has captured not less than 130 single engined fighters in one frame. There may well be other squadrons, left and right, out of frame.
This has the look of a victory flypast celebration to me, possibly near Hamburg.
Can anybody confirm?
Mark
By: Malcolm McKay - 13th August 2014 at 12:02
The noise of all those piston engines must have been magnificent.
By: adrian_gray - 13th August 2014 at 10:22
Not a lot of clues in the rest of the picture, unless we have an expert on European telegraph poles and fittings on-forum! About all that I can elucidate is that it’s not in winter, and that it’s somewhere where Elder grows… which I don’t think helps much at all!
Adrian
By: Mark12 - 13th August 2014 at 10:04
Seafuryfan,
Thanks for the clue.
A Google search reveals something pretty big in the way of a Victory Flypast at Copenhagen on or about 19 June 1945.
This seems to have involved units based in Northern Germany at the time, practising formation flying etc.
Mark
By: Seafuryfan - 13th August 2014 at 08:15
The only mass flypast in Europe I’ve read of is that conducted over Holland, described by Pierre Closterman during which he bailed following a collision.
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August 13, 2014 at 7:45 am