Bump for later.
I always thought the Spitfire was prettier than the Hurricane and the Hawker Typhoon prettier than both.
It must have been something to see one of those air battles in person. It’s hard to really reconcile the grainy footage of it with a 21st century photo of the actual planes. Somehow the current photo doesn’t seem like it could possibly have been the real aircraft.
A German pilot was shot down over England, near an RAF base. He was captured by a civilian with a gun and held until the authorities could collect him.
He was picked up and taken under guard to a holding cell on the base he had - a couple of hours earlier - participated in bombing and strafing. As he was being led from the lorry to his cell, he looked at the damage (lots of burning aircraft, huge holes in the runway, a pall of smoke hanging over everything) and said, in English, to the British officer who was guarding him "what do you think of that?"
He was conducted to his cell without comment, where he kept overnight until someone could come and transport him to a POW facility.
The next morning he was to be picked up. The same officer went down to his cell to get him. When he was brought out into the daylight, he the German witnessed a total transformation. The runway was usable, with all the craters filled in. Crews were rapidly re-paving it. Most amazingly, there were dozens of brand-new American-made P-51s standing where the hulks of the bombed and strafed Spitfires and Hurricanes had stood the day before.
The RAF officer said to him: "what do you think of that?
The German replied "that's why you're winning the war."
The Heinkel 111 bombers were in fact Spanish built CASA 2111 bombers, Heinkel 111 H constructed under license, but with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and many other modifications. The Rolls engines were more powerful than the original Junkers Jumo and so the planes had more performance. In fact, all the real airplanes used on the film, except the Junkers Ju 52 (also Spanish built CASA 352) had British-built Rolls Royce Merlin engines.
(emphasis mine)
bttt
Where did they find that many?
I though Hurricanes were all but extinct with only a couple surviving!
I'm surprised to read this, as I'd heard that only one Spitfire is still airworthy. Is it 1+39, or what?
ping
.......Winston Churchill.