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That beer barrel story picture has been used many times..as a fan of beer from barrels I find it hard to swallow. Would the consumers really have the patience to wait a few days while the beer settled after transport? methinks it was aclever pR stunt by the brewery..and it worked!

No need to wait for it to settle if you rack the beer off bright (either out of the secondary fermentation tank or out of a cask) before flying it. It would arrive ready for the tooth 🙂

It was a PR stunt LOL – the beer was mostly carried in converted droppers I believe…

I post the quote without comment – one can believe some or most of it : )

I have a dim memory of reading an article describing how the gunports on hurricanes were found to receive beer bottles with a snug enough fit for them to stay put and one RAF unit in the desert had 8 bottles of cold beer every time the standing CAP landed.

It was a PR stunt LOL – the beer was mostly carried in converted droppers I believe…

In the lighter moments of World War II, the Spitfire was used in an unorthodox role: bringing beer kegs to the men in Normandy.

During the war, the Heneger and Constable brewery donated free beer to the troops. After D-Day, supplying the invasion troops in Normandy with vital supplies was already a challenge. Obviously, there was no room in the logistics chain for such luxuries as beer or other types of refreshments. Some men, often called sourcers, were able to get wine or other niceties from the land or rather from the locals. RAF Spitfire pilots came up with an even better idea.

The Spitfire Mk IX was an evolved version of the Spitfire, with pylons under the wings for bombs or tanks. It was discovered that the bomb pylons could also be modified to carry beer kegs. According to pictures that can be found, various sizes of kegs were used. Whether the kegs could be jettisoned in case of emergency is unknown. If the Spitfire flew high enough, the cold air at altitude would even refresh the beer, making it ready for consumption upon arrival.

A variation of this was a long range fuel tank modified to carry beer instead of fuel. The modification even received the official designation Mod. XXX. Propaganda services were quick to pick up on this, which probably explains the official designation.

As a result, Spitfires equipped with Mod XXX or keg-carrying pylons were often sent back to the U.K. for maintenance or liaison duties. They would then return to Normandy with full beer kegs fitted under the wings. The Spitfire had very little ground clearance with the larger beer kegs.

Typically, the British Ministry of Revenue and Excise stepped in, notifying the brewery that they were in violation of the law by exporting beer without paying the relevant taxes. It seems that Mod. XXX was terminated then, but various squadrons found different ways to refurbish their stocks. Most often, this was done with the unofficial approval of higher echelons.

In his book Dancing in the Skies, Tony Jonsson, the only Icelander pilot in the RAF, recalled beer runs while he was flying with 65 Squadron. Every week a pilot was sent back to the UK to fill some cleaned-up drop tanks with beer and return to the squadron. Jonsson hated the beer runs as every man on the squadron would be watching you upon arrival. Anyone who made a rough landing and dropped the tanks would be the most hated man on the squadron for an entire week.

I post the quote without comment – one can believe some or most of it : )

That beer barrel story picture has been used many times..as a fan of beer from barrels I find it hard to swallow. Would the consumers really have the patience to wait a few days while the beer settled after transport? methinks it was aclever pR stunt by the brewery..and it worked!

…also mentioned here “USAF and VNAF A-1 Skyraider Units of the Vietnam War” by Byron E. Hukee
and photos
http://skyraider.org/skyassn/memberpics/carmichael/maddenkit.JPG
http://a-1combatjournal.com/jpg_gifs/ordims/madden.jpg