It is worth remembering, that the increase in the Merlin’s power, was almost exclusively due to a better understanding in supercharger technology, (that and the introduction of 100 octane, and then 150 octane fuel); by the time that the Eagle was under development, blower design was pretty much at its zenith (had to use that word, as the letter “z” has all but seized up), consequently, the jump in horsepower, seen early on in the war, could not have occurred.

I believe that Hives (at RollsRoyce), was at a loss (initially) to understand Stanley Hookers enthusiasm for the Whittle engine, Hooker showed him the figures for the Whittle engine, (at that time giving 1000 lb of thrust); ” that doesn’t sound much” said Hives, Hooker then went on to say, that assuming 70% propellor efficiency, this was roughly equal to a Spitfires Merlin, at full throttle, Hives imediately summoned his secretary, and told her his proposed visit to Lutterworth, August 1940.

I received a copy of that today and wondered, particularly, about this part…..

Since the end of World War II, the HD Committee has maintained a consistent policy that it will not consider the belated institution of awards and medals for service given many years earlier. The reason for this policy is that the present HD Committee cannot put itself in the place of the Committee which made the original decision and which would have been able to take account of the views of all interested parties at the time. A dedicated medal for Bomber Command was considered by the HD Committee of the time and it was decided that the institution of such a medal, or indeed one for Coastal Command, South East Asia Command etc, was not appropriate.

Maybe the reason for this committee to have failed to grant the award of a campaign medal to Bomber Command veterans was because of the lengths to which the Politicians went to distance themselves from Harris and the methods employed by Bomber Command. The Politicians, having more or less said that Bomber Command under Harris had gone too far could then hardly risk being seen to support the efforts of Bomber Command by granting them a special campaign medal.

regards,

kev35

Was the France and Germany star not a “campaign” medal ?; did The RAF receive the France and Germany star?

I see that a medal was issued retrospectively for Suez, on the grounds that the “committee” hadn’t considered it at the time; perhaps they didn’t think it justified a medal…

The trouble with revisionist ideas, is that they are abhorent when you disagree with them, but like a ray of sunshine when you do; would the willfull and systematic extermination of the Jews, have been any worse, if the Nazis’ had only killed 1 million?

Ethnic cleansing (as we now like to refer to it), was the result of a large portion of that countries population, hatred of (in many cases) fellow countrymen, because of their religion, and their perceived “masonic activities”, that allowed some of them a better lifestyle.

The bombing of these cities in Germany, was initially as retaliation for the bombing of our own, and latterly, as an attempt to bring to a quick end, the war, that only Germany (and Japan) wanted, (as an inevitable result of their expansionist aims).

If the yet to be published report is correct, then the undisputed physical damage ,i.e buildings, bridges,factories, would have (and did) slowly crippled the German nation, (however strong their moral), making them substantially less effective as a fighting force, which, was the intention of the campaign.

There was the Viscount cockpit at Hanningfield metals, you never know 27th time lucky !!!

Not again…….

That flying wing with the swastica’s on the upper surfaces, looks amazing; where is that located, (if it still exists)?

I think that part is a REALLY bad idea. Putting 4 hero’s next to a bunch of silly sods in fancy dress is very disrepectful IMO

I would have probably agreed with you, a year or so ago, but I am now of the opinion that the reinactors probably do as much (if not more),than the rest of us to raise public awareness, at these events; the ones I have met recently are total enthusiasts, and my hat is off to them.

I think that WW2 saw a new ethos emerging, previously, inflicting total destruction on your enemy was the done thing, but maybe for the first time, we realised there was a need to clean up our own mess, and in 1945, Germany was just that.

It must have become obvious by this time that Stalin, was not a man to be trusted, not withstanding the old adage “war makes for strange befellows”, and that very probably he wasn’t going to reliquish the territory gained, (nor for that matter were the rest of the allies in the short term); if there wasn’t a need to occupy Germany to stop Stalin taking it all, would we have helped with its reconstruction?

Another aspect was that the Americans were very keen on not causing civillian casualties, (probably because they had no understanding as to what it was actually like to be bombed, and spend X amount of years in an Anderson shelter, half filled with dirty water).

Needless to say that pressure was applied to Churchill to lessen the “colateral damage”; I believe that Churchill went to one or more of the heavily bombed cities in Germany, and was (as to be expected) very moved by that experience, I don’t know if Harris ever visited any of his successful targets, (I suspect not).

It is probably worth remembering that Churchill, (who undoubtably was the best man for the job at that time), allowed the fiasco that was Dowding’s replacement , and Parks relocation, and sent the former on a “good will” tour (a contradiction in terms , if ever there was one) to the US; I think that both Dowding and Harris, didn’t endear themselves to Churchill (both being slightly prickly), and as such he probably had no qualms about letting Harris carry the can.

We need to remember that inspite of being a great leader, Churchill had a very flawed character, and in 1945 was 70 years old, he was well past his prime, he drank heavily to quell the “black dog”, and must have been both physically and mentally exhausted (he very nearly died at least once, during the conflict), and his judgement must have been impaired, on some occasions; we should give thanks that when he was needed, he delivered the goods, much in the same way Dowding and Harris did.