ResmorohSimon, Hi,
Try either the Rutland County Council Planning Dept “Sites and Monuments Records” (SMR) or, alternatively, Oakham County Museum. But as with all these organisations some are extremely helpful, whilst others are not!!
HTH
Resmoroh
ResmorohBlue Robin,
Try http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/specColl/dob/.
This will give you access to the DoBDA (Defence of Britain Database & Archive). There are nearly 20,000 sites in the database (pillboxes, AA gun-sites, airfields, decoys, etc, etc, etc). From memory (when I was involved in some of the field-work) I think you can search the database by Counties. But I don’t know which historical county boundaries are used. Most of the data are absolutely correct, but there are some which look a bit strange – like a Heavy AA gun site in the grounds of Wexham Park Hospital (Geneva Convention?). And the site is so close to the buildings that when it fired it must have broken every window in the adjacent Ward!!!!
Have fun!
Rgds
Resmoroh
ResmorohI have just read this thread and, being involved in research on allied subjects, would like to say it is a brilliant piece of deduction, investigation, and – as I know from our own work – long hours of painstaking checking (and re-checking!!!) of minor details until the nearest approximation of what actually happened emerges. The profiles are exceptional.
Now comes the down-side. It is fairly obvious that the Dutch SOE networks had, by 1 Jun 1944, been thoroughly compromised by the Germans (Maj Giskes, et al). Not only that but a significant number of people in SOE London knew it (Leo Marks – the code expert – for one). Why his superiors in SOE chose to ignore his (and others’) advice remains a mystery. But it does, very probably, explain why there was a Luftwaffe “reception committee” waiting for this Hudson. A needless waste of 5 brave lives. And in my own quiet way I salute them! Or is there yet more to emerge from this murky world when the Files are eventually released? The fire in the SOE file-room shortly after WW2 may have been co-incidental, but as a committed Conspiracy Theorist, I doubt it!!!
Respects
Resmoroh
ResmorohIn view of the hard words said, in the recent past, by Members of this (and other Fora) with regard to the weather at various events – as if the Met Persons actually controlled it! Can I take it that there will now be some recognition that (a) the weather was good at Duxford, and (b) we got it right. I live in hope.
Rgds
Resmoroh (Retired Met Man)
ResmorohNick,
Where a/c were engaged in German radar/radio frequency/type investigations (or “Y” Service activities) then the original air-to-ground H/F W/T signals are unlikely to have survived. They would probably have been burnt at the receiving station after a period of time. However, where the information sent back was of extreme importance then it is possible that the signals may, subsequently, have been teleprinted from the receiving station(s) to some other analysis centre. Some of these teleprinter page-copies might have survived. R V Jones in “Most Secret War” make several mentions of receiving such signals in London – these were unlikely to have been directly received from the a/c.
HTH
Resmoroh
ResmorohWisley Horse Manure
When the Trans-Atlantic Air Race terminated at Wisley the RAF VC10 lobbed in. The guy with the “ticket” ran down the steps into a waiting chopper to take him to St Pancras (the Customs man was waiting for him in the chopper!!). Meanwhile all the other persons on the VC10 were slowly filing down the steps. A couple of Gp Captains (as I remember it), several Wg Cdrs, and more Squabbling-Bleeders and Flit Loots than you could shake a stick at Tom Cats in a fish market on a Sunday. They had all been described on the FLTEMPLANE as “crew”.
The Lord Trubshaw was stood at the back of the mob in the tower at Wisley, and as all this vast throng of “crew” came down the steps he uttered what I thought was a brilliant comment “S**t”, he said, “I didn’t think we’d made them that difficult to fly!!!”. The tower fell about.
Resmoroh (I was there)
ResmorohWisley Horse Manure
When the Trans-Atlantic Air Race terminated at Wisley the RAF VC10 lobbed in. The guy with the “ticket” ran down the steps into a waiting chopper to take him to St Pancras (the Customs man was waiting for him in the chopper!!). Meanwhile all the other persons on the VC10 were slowly filing down the steps. A couple of Gp Captains (as I remember it), several Wg Cdrs, and more Squabbling-Bleeders and Flit Loots than you could shake at Tom Cats in a fish market on a Sunday. They had all been described on the FLTEMPLANE as “crew”.
The Lord Trubshaw was stood at the back of the mob in the tower at Wisley, and as all this vast throng of “crew” came down the steps he uttered what I thought was a brilliant comment “S**t”, he said, “I didn’t think we’d made them that difficult to fly!!!”. The tower fell about.
Resmoroh (I was there)
ResmorohTsk, Tsk, Moggy,
One of the most valuable sources of info – from which one can correlate other events. Mayhap your availability of appropriate sites needs to be updated – he said delicately (but firmly)!
Resmoroh
ResmorohValiant RATOG
If, as XL391 says, the Valiant and Victor both did RATOG then the Valiant must have been the first. Does anyone know where/when the Valiant trials and operations were conducted? I remember it being used at Wittering but it was not, I think, in connection with ‘heavy’ payloads. It was more to do with getting the beast off the ground in engine-icing take-off conditions! Anybody know?
Resmoroh
ResmorohShame 558 won’t be in the flypast. However – some of us have seen it (or other Vulcans) in the past at airshows – a truly great UK airframe, and the envy of some Air Forces (remember the Giant Voice successes?). Some of us have actually witnessed it dropping 21 x 1000 lb iron bombs – truly frightening (and we were not the ‘enemy). Some of us were involved (even if only as ‘Penguins’) in the Black Buck missions. My abiding memory, on Ascension, was when they all came back (remember the BBC commentator on the Carrier – “I counted them all out, and I counted them all back”) we, in the Penguin (Met) Roost, simply did a very minor and muted ‘high fives’. The Boys had done the ‘bizz’! Whether ‘It’ was tactically successful I doubt it. But strategically it was without comparison. “They” then knew that “We” could stuff them from the air at any time (and even in their Homeland!). Nuff said.
When I retired from RAF/MoD I took up archaeology. One day, when scratching in the muck at Silchester a few years ago, BBMF hove into view. I stood up to attention, and removed my battered sweat-stained hat. Young students nearby asked ‘Why did you do that?”. Answer; “55,000 Bomber Command aircrew losses that allow you to do what you are doing today”.
If 558 ever thunders into the air – then great. But not what it is all actually about. Try flyng the beast on Flight Simulator!!!!!!! That’ll make you sweat!!
Resmoroh
ResmorohWittering
Don’t know what they did at Wittering during WW2 but by the early 1950’s Air Traffic was in what amounted to little more than a greenhouse and a garden shed on the roof of one of the hangars. It did for the Lincolns. I can’t remember when the current “modern” tower was built. Either for the Canberras or (more probably) the Valiants.
Resmoroh
ResmorohAnd smoking a 9-inch cigar would, nowadays, be Court Martial stuff – even for Prime Ministers. Although in my very early days in the RAF although, basically, a Penguin, if you went on a long sortie “if the Skipper smoked so could everyone else”.
When in transit to Egypt as a Nat Svc airman (1954) our York refuelled at Luqa. Just before take-off a drop of liquid descended on my head from the roof of the cabin. T’was petrol! If we’d taken off and the “No Smoking” had been relaxed then we might all have been yet another “unexplained” York prang! They did things in those days that would cause H&S, today, to have the double conniptions!!!
Still alive
Resmoroh
ResmorohWhile most of the filming for BoB was done in UK there were one or two occasions when some of the air-to-air “rushes” were not perfect. Some episodes required to be re-shot. For this the cloud conditions had to be the same as on the original footage. The Film Fellers were prepared to take the whole shootin’ match as far away as Norway to replicate the correct cloud conditions. Whether or not they actually did this I know not, but I do know that the Met Office at RAF Mildenhall (yes, RAF – not USAF) did most of the air-to-air forecasts. I was there.
HTH
Resmoroh
ResmorohSpruce Goose
This is cheating a bit.
A couple of years ago I was on leave in Oregon. We had, for various reasons, to go to McMinville, OR. There is an aircraft museum across the road from McMinville Municipal Airport. Thought it might be worth a ‘shufti’. Went in and -stone me – there was the Spruce Goose. A truly colossal aircraft!
There are only a few areas of that aircraft where the Paying Peasants can go. But to see the diameter of the fuel lines alone was awesome. I also believe that the length of the freight-bay is longer than the Wright Brothers first flight?
So I jumped lightly into the air and flapped my arms. I landed fairly quickly, but – technically speaking – I have ‘flown’ in the Spruce Goose!
OK, joking aside, and to be serious for a moment, how the hell did they transport that massive airframe from wherever to McMinville? I know it must have been in bits – but some of the ‘bits’ would have been impressively large!
My only real contribution to this thread is, as a National Service airman, I flew in the Beverley that used(?) to be at Hendon.
But, Oh Experts, how did they move said Spruce Goose. Would be interested to know.
Regards
Resmoroh
ResmorohLet’s try another tack. Has anyone identified the two a/c in the middle distance (if they are aircraft!!!)? That might just give an additional clue as to where and when the shot was taken
HTH
Resmoroh
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