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WWII Lancaster bomber and its crewmen's remains discovered in German field [after] 69 years
Daily Mail UK ^ | 21 June 2016 | Jill Reilly

Posted on 06/22/2016 9:29:31 PM PDT by Lorianne

Sixty-nine years after their burning plane plunged to the ground after being shot down by the Germans, the remains of seven Lancaster Bomber crewmen have been recovered.

They were discovered by a team of German historians who spent hours digging a muddy field near Frankfurt looking for the RAF crew after an eyewitness who saw the plane crash guided them to the site.

Lancaster ED427 was one of 327 bombers that took part in a raid on the Skoda armaments works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.

On their return to their base at RAF Fiskerton, Lincs, they came under fire from German anti-aircraft flak.

Eyewitness Peter Menges saw the plane on fire before it crashed into a field outside the village of Laumersheim, near Frankfurt, and exploded into a fireball.

It is not unknown why the men did not manage to parachute from the plane. Reasons could include

Peter Elliott from Royal Air Force Museum said it may have been a case of' too little time, or too much damage.'

'With eyewitnesses reporting the aircraft to be on fire, it seems likely that one or more anti-aircraft shells would have hit the airframe.

'The explosions from these hits, and resulting shrapnel, could well have killed or mortally wounded, or disabled crew members directly.

'The resulting fire and smoke may have also disabled crew members or, possibly, overwhelmed or suffocated them.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: aviation; ww2
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Mile long Daily Mail title shortened

... more details and photos at source

1 posted on 06/22/2016 9:29:31 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

Beautiful planes...appalling losses. RIP


2 posted on 06/22/2016 9:37:33 PM PDT by Ketill Frostbeard ("Where you recognise evil, speak out against it, and give no truces to your enemies." ~ODIN~)
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To: Lorianne

Remember those men when you vote tomorrow, Britain!


3 posted on 06/22/2016 10:12:12 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker

From 39 through very late 44, very, very few airmen in bombers or fighters lived long enough to “collect 25 missions” and be relieved.

The men flying were actually only a small part of the total “air force” though. Most were back at the bases trying to keep them flying.


4 posted on 06/22/2016 10:17:38 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Talisker
think of all the good young men back then who died saving Europe and the world.....

can you imagine present generations putting their lives at risk doing the same?....me neither...

5 posted on 06/22/2016 10:18:00 PM PDT by cherry
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To: Lorianne

2012 article. 69 years ago then was 1943.


6 posted on 06/22/2016 10:28:34 PM PDT by nickedknack
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To: Lorianne

Deepest Regards

alfa6 ;>}

7 posted on 06/22/2016 10:45:12 PM PDT by alfa6
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To: Talisker
Remember those men when you vote tomorrow, Britain!

How my heart sank when I read this. My parallel cousins from ancestors ten or twelve generations back possibly voting to enslave or obliterate themselves. They need our prayers.

8 posted on 06/22/2016 10:48:55 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken! - vote Trump 2016)
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To: nickedknack

Amazing memory of the fellow. I’m called upon sometimes to locate buried stuff. You typically can’t rely on their memories. Although I suppose the memory of a crashing bomber is stronger than where the old septic tank is.

“I’m sorry ma’am - its in the front yard under the driveway now.”

“Oh - I’m SURE it is along the side of the house on the other side!”


9 posted on 06/22/2016 10:58:37 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: Lorianne
It is not unknown why the men did not manage to parachute from the plane.

(This article needs a lot of editing.) In a book by Freeman Dyson, who worked for the British Bomber Command during WWII, he says that the escape hatch on a Lancaster bomber was too small for the average man with a parachute, and this was never fixed.

10 posted on 06/23/2016 12:03:35 AM PDT by wideminded
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To: Lorianne
This article is dated 21 June 2016. 69 years ago, it was 1947. The war had been over for two years
11 posted on 06/23/2016 12:09:02 AM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magntown of horton bat, which is about seven miles from me in us Conservatus)
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To: gigster

Good brain

Send me a hemisphere would ya?


12 posted on 06/23/2016 12:11:38 AM PDT by wardaddy (No wobbly Donald....full steam ahead)
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To: nickedknack
2012 article. Okay, got that. I never go to the Daily Mail. It is a haven for viruses,
13 posted on 06/23/2016 12:13:07 AM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magntown of horton bat, which is about seven miles from me in us Conservatus)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
...25 missions. I don't think Yossarian even made it to 25 missions.
14 posted on 06/23/2016 12:15:56 AM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magntown of horton bat, which is about seven miles from me in us Conservatus)
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To: wardaddy
Send me a hemisphere would ya? Youtube Rush Hemispheres. I don't know how to link to it.
15 posted on 06/23/2016 12:20:40 AM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magntown of horton bat, which is about seven miles from me in us Conservatus)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

...pretty sure Brits had more than 25 to complete.


16 posted on 06/23/2016 12:26:48 AM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: gigster
RUSH - Hemispheres (with cover art of a brain)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uXCfDRddC0

And perhaps more fitting to this thread - “Manhattan Project” with great lyrics about building and using the atomic bomb:

Fan video with historical footage overlain and entwined with concert footage. A decent job really.

“Big bang, shook and took the world. Took down the Rising Sun.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE4MKIXxL0

17 posted on 06/23/2016 12:34:01 AM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: gigster

It’s that kind of crap that makes me appreciate technical correctness in all of its forms.


18 posted on 06/23/2016 1:24:41 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: gigster
I don't think Yossarian even made it to 25 missions.

That's because he refused to fly: They were trying to kill him.

19 posted on 06/23/2016 1:44:07 AM PDT by j. earl carter
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To: cherry

“think of all the good young men back then who died saving Europe and the world.....”

And look at what their countrymen have let happen there since.
Those men must be spinning in their graves.

“can you imagine present generations putting their lives at risk doing the same?....me neither...”

Agreed.


20 posted on 06/23/2016 3:13:29 AM PDT by oldvirginian (If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, fix it right.)
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