18 August 1943 Peenemunde

I was told by the surviving member of my grt uncles crew (whom I havent been able to get hold of in yrs, so I dont know if he’s alive still, a certain woman did but wouldnt let me converse anymore) that someone on his sqn either looped one or rolled it……

Certainly an interesting story.

More here:

http://mileofgold.com/klc/theatre/index.php?id=87

He came home on leave one week and told us he had one ambition,” MacDougall said. “He told his sister and me that he’d like to try to ‘loop’ a Lancaster.
“But I don’t think it could be done”

Can it be done was it ever tried?

Interesting story & very sad for his sister never to know his last resting place.

Some shots of the museum posted on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21532948@N04/sets/72157621788152385/

Interestingly I’ve just finished reading a first hand account of that very raid, from Major General Walter Dornberger of Peenemunde V2…

yellit1,

thanks for those superb then-and-now illustrations/pictures. Peenemünde is, along with Bad Aibling in Bavaria, at the top of my “Must Visit” list!

Peter

A place I’d love to vist. With a proper guide and photo exhibits and relics, it would be a cracking historical site.

The attached show the state of the site in 93/94. The Oxygen plant was only lightly damaged and continued to operate in WW2. It was not repaired to fool photo reconnaissance. The equipment was removed just after the war. The power station was undamaged and still supplies the local electricity.
The V1 ramp was destroyed by charges on the ground in 1945, but is largely still there.

Does anyone know why its not been recovered?

In DDR times this whole peninsula was a military Sperrgebiet; access was resticted and controlled. As with the whole coast it also lay in the Border Control Zone which was closely monitored to prevent DDR citizens from making any escape attempts. This coastal area had three bands of security levels, depending on the distance from the coastline. Peenemunde was in the most restrictive. That apart some parts were salvaged by NVA teams, – an engine and a door, now on display in the nearby HTI museum.
More recent attempts to open up some parts of the former rocket establishment have been blocked by claims of unexploded ordnance making it too dangerous, coupled with a more widespread public rejection of anything to do with WW2

Very interesting that the lancs still there, would have thought the Germans would salvage it for recycling?
Does anyone know why its not been recovered?
Is it classed as a wargrave even though it says no bodies are in it?
If the lads are still in the lake I would have thought the MOD recovery lot would have found them and given them an appropriate burial?
RIght thats enough Q’s 😉

RIP

Certainly an interesting story.

More here:

http://mileofgold.com/klc/theatre/index.php?id=87

Now, that really is spooky….

Incidentally, does anyone have/ know of any pics of the Lancaster that lies in the Kolpinsee? Is she still there?

Hope this helps

Thank you for sharing that with us. Much appreciated.

Incidentally, does anyone have/ know of any pics of the Lancaster that lies in the Kolpinsee? Is she still there?

Hats off to them all, five trips within a fortnight, including Peenemunde, Berlin and Nuremburg!

What a fabulous piece of family history, I’m sure it’s treasured.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Could not agree more!

Eric

PS: Spare a few quiet moments to remember the crews who did not return
(40 aircraft were lost on the operation )

Hats off to them all, five trips within a fortnight, including Peenemunde, Berlin and Nuremburg!

What a fabulous piece of family history, I’m sure it’s treasured.

Thanks for sharing it with us.