From Colditz to D-Day: Amazing aerial images...by daring Allied pilots...during World War II

Daily Mail ^ | Nov 23, 2009 | David Wilkes

[decimon]

The detail is astonishing. At first it looks like just another castle surrounded by tiny houses and neat fields. But zooming in on the courtyard one can see figures milling around.

They are in fact Allied officers being held in the notorious German PoW camp of Colditz and the photograph is one from an archive of aerial photographs taken by airmen - sometimes flying as low as 50ft - during secret reconnaissance missions in World War II.

Until now the pictures have been kept behind closed doors. But they are revealed to the public for the first time today via the internet amid a painstaking cataloguing process.

[ExTexasRedhead]

FYI - interesting photos

[ExTexasRedhead]

unkus; flat; piquaboy; null and void; NFHale; T.L.Sink; Candor7; JoeMac; Wally-bert; PLD; DooDahhhh; RonRad;

[decimon]

Ping.

Enjoy that cider, ExTexasRedhead. ;-)

[SkyPilot]

Thanks for those - happy Thanksgiving.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

They sure peppered Peenemunde pretty well.

[ADemocratNoMore]

bttt

[decimon]

They sure peppered Peenemunde pretty well.

Looks like it took about a hundred bombs to actually hit something.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I think that was quite typical of bomb placement during that era. IIRC, quite a few rocket scientists were killed and probably lots of wooden surface bldgs were scrunched by shockwave effects. But I would guess that the production facilities and work in progress were much more hardened.

[Dog]

Here you go...

[Kenny Bunk]

Looks like it took about a hundred bombs to actually hit something.,/

Try about a thousand, or 5 thousand! The mythical accuracy of the Norden Bomb Sight was largely propaganda, within a mile was considered pretty darn good! Back in the days of dumb bombs, the shocking truth was that the massive of bombing of Germany didn't have much effect on war production at all!

What it did do was kill workers, make them homeless, or at least keep them up all night! Finally, ('44-45) by our eventual destruction of the transport infrastructure, they ran out of fuel and on the actual fronts, and ran out of fighting men. It took 5 years!

[ExTexasRedhead]

LOL

[mass55th]

My Dad was born in Schoondijke, Holland but came to this country with his parents and two brothers in 1912. Schoondijke was heavily bombed by the allies during the war, and was almost completely destroyed. Canadian Forces liberated it during Operation Switchback. About the only building that survived the bombing was a mill from 1884. This windmill became the headquarters of the Dutch resistance. Owned by the De Hulster family, it was also used to temporarily house downed allied pilots. It's been fully restored by the people of the town. Here's a link to some info about the windmill's role in WWII, along with some photos of veterans at the site, if you're interested:

De Hulster Windmill

In 2006, my oldest son and I visited Schoondijke and saw the mill. Unfortunately, it was only open on the weekends, and we were there during the week. We stayed at the only hotel in the center of the village. They had an aerial photo of Schoondijke showing what it looked like when the war ended. It was nothing but rubble.

So far the Royal Commission has nothing listed for Zeeland Province, but I plan on writing them to see if they may have any aerial shots of Schoondijke in the collection. Thanks for sharing this with us. The photos I have looked at so far are amazing.

[mass55th]

"They sure peppered Peenemunde pretty well."

I just talked to my son who visited that site in 2006. He said they destroyed everything. Nothing was left.

[decimon]

The war was too vast with too many courageous people to be known. But these people know their story.

[ozzymandus]

Most of the destruction at Peenemunde was caused by demolition work after WW2. The bombing destroyed many of the “soft” targets, but the military works were hardened and underground. The main object of bombing the site was to kill the workers and scientists.

[null and void]

Yeah? No kidding. Machines and buildings can be replaced in weeks or months.

[American Constitutionalist]

All of us have seen those bumper stickers that say

" WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER "

but, what those anti-war activist and paciest don't realize is that pacifism is what gave us Adolf Hitler, and a Shepard does not negotiate with wolves.