Operation Crossbow BBC4 20.00 2/1/13

A humorous excerpt from the unpublished memoirs of F/Lt James Taylor “Robbie” ROBSON –

It had no armament so the P.R. pilot relied on ‘keeping his eyes open’. He did carry a large knife down his flying boot in case enemy action or equipment failure caused his seat pack dinghy to inflate. Then it was a quick puncture of the dinghy to prevent being squashed upwards in the cockpit. This was a worry to me as I can’t swim and hoped I hadn’t to ‘ditch’ if I had ruined my dinghy! 🙂

I kept thinking of Robbie while watching this excellent programme.

Dave

I wondered why there was no mention of Babs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Babington_Smith) as being the PI who spotted the V1 on the launch ramp?

In Operation Crossbow it shows colour footage of an American PR Pilot climbing into his Spitfire with both a Back and Seat parachute. Was this standard for PR pilots?

Saw this first time – another highly recommended BBC4 documentary. The book is a helluva good read too.

Another again this evening on BBC4 at 8. Operation Mincemeat.

Operation Crossbow – Night Bombers, Hemswell

An excellent programme on BBC4 last night, and worth catching on iplayer if you missed it, where it is available until 9 January. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011cr8f/Operation_Crossbow/

Not only was Night Bombers filmed at Hemswell – but the station commander was Iliffe Cozens, who had bought Spitfires into RAF service with 19 Squadron, and, as an added snippet, in the credits at the end of the Operation Crossbow programme was a certain Mrs Cozens.

see also http://ftfmagazine.lewcock.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124:air-commod..

Allan

That was an unforgettable forum trip to the north side.

I think one of the reasons the IWM amongst others doesn’t display things like the model is possibly nobody knows they are there.

I bet Ashley does!

Moggy

Thanks Graham and Ed – it never occurred to ask until now.

I think one of the reasons the IWM amongst others doesn’t display things like the model is possibly nobody knows they are there. How many times a year do we read a headline with the words ‘recently discovered’ and ‘thought to be lost’ in, especially when it comes to film stock?

I know first hand that there is nothing more daunting than to be faced with a warehouse full of identical boxes all of which have the marking ‘Aircraft Spares’ on and know that you will open every box until you find the bit you are after in the last one in the place.

Archivists and Storemen often have no idea what the kit is they are carefully putting on the shelf – is it the rare Peenemunde model or is it a concept for a post war industrial estate; is that cathode ray scope from a long forgotten ultra secret airborne radar system or the last bit test kit out of the lecky bay at Scampton?

Perhaps there should be a volunteer group of subject matter experts who go into these places and properly catalogue it all?

Outstanding story well told by the film makers.

It did raise one question in my mind which I have no doubt will be answered in record time here. It featured the stock footage of Lancasters taxiing out past a hangar in colour which has been shown many many times, usually when talking about the 1000 bomber raids. But where was it shot?

Thanks in advance

It was Hemswell and if you want a lot more of that you need to get hold of the colour wartime film called ‘Night Bombers’ Ive got it on VHS and superb is it too.

One surprising omission [ unless I missed it ] there was no mention of the pioneering efforts of Sydney Cotton and Spitfire Photo reconnaissance?
Maybe that would have made the program too long.

BBC4 Operation Crossbow

The second time i have seen this and i agree better the second time around and makes paying your licence fee part way to being worthwhile!
I think its a great shame that the IWM does not display so many of its hidden gems such as the Peenemunde model for all to see even if it is for a limited period, so many fascinating artifacts must be hidden away that wouldnt take too much space or time to display.
This goes for all types, military, aviation and naval.

IIRC it was Hemswell

Outstanding story well told by the film makers.

It did raise one question in my mind which I have no doubt will be answered in record time here. It featured the stock footage of Lancasters taxiing out past a hangar in colour which has been shown many many times, usually when talking about the 1000 bomber raids. But where was it shot?

Thanks in advance

Brilliant programme with some stunning filming of the PR Spitfire.

Moggy

+1

I was however surprised that there was nothing picked up at Bletchley given the amount of material they were able to decrypt by that stage of the war, so that, as someone else said, but for the two generals’ bugged conversation……

And yours truly’s acting debut! 😮

Brilliant programme with some stunning filming of the PR Spitfire.

Moggy

Agreed, fascinating how the operation, and indeed the programme, weaves through and brings together the activities of the PIs at Medmenham, the RAF & USAAF PR pilots, Bomber Command, The 8th Air Force, D Day, German scientists and the most unfortunate slave labourers.
Be interesting to suppose what might have happened had that conversation between two German generals not been bugged and acted upon by the allies!

Better absorbed the second time around. Thanks 🙂