April issue - Magazine - Page 33
Glenside
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HISTORY
Blue Skies Chased Those Dark Clouds Far Away
On 8 May 1945, at 10.43pm local time in Berlin, the armed
forces of Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the
Allies. It was the end of four years of bloody and destructive
conflict in Europe. The war with Japan ended three months later,
on 15 August, and finally brought World War Two to an end.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of both surrenders and the
celebration of the return of peace by every nation involved will
be reflected in events around the country this month that recall
those wartime years.
could be quickly and relatively cheaply assembled. It took
10,300 man-hours to produce each airframe, for example,
compared to 15,200 for the Spitfire.
Flying Into History
The Supermarine Spitfire
This is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history and the
only one produced continuously throughout World War Two.
Designed by the Supermarine Aviation Works, the Spitfire went
into production in 1938, just in time for the outbreak of war a
year later.
By July 1940, when the German Luftwaffe were attacking
British cities and industrial areas, there were 19 Mk1 Spitfire
squadrons – of usually 12 airplanes each – to repel them. The
Spitfire became the highest performing Allied aircraft in 1940,
the only British fighter capable of meeting the German's
Messerschmitt Bf 109E on equal terms.
The Hawker Hurricane
The Hurricane was a vital partner to the Spitfire during the
Battle of Britain, when it destroyed more enemy aircraft than
other air and ground defences combined.
It was designed by the Hawker Aircraft Company in 1934
and first entered service in 1937. At the outbreak of war in 1939,
several squadrons of Hurricanes were sent to defend France,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. During these
operations, more than a quarter of Fighter Command's aircraft
were destroyed, but the beauty of the Hurricane was that it
The Avro Lancaster
This is the best known and most successful heavy bomber of
World War Two and following the devastating Luftwaffe raids
across Britain it took the war back to the heart of Nazi
Germany. It was primarily a night-time bomber and carried the
largest bombs available to the RAF.
The Lancaster made its maiden flight in January 1941 and
7,376 more aircraft were subsequently manufactured in Britain
and Canada. A staggering 1,100,000 men and women were
involved in working on components for the aircraft, at more
than 920 different companies.
Each Lancaster was flown by a seven-man crew, the
members of which had an average age of only 22 years. Bomber
Command had the highest mortality rate of any of the British
services and every Lancaster only survived an average of 21
missions before it was lost.
Conditions on the flight were not the height of luxury, or
even of reasonable comfort. In the nose of the aircraft the Bomb
Aimer had to lie flat on the floor to use the bomb sight and stand
to shoot the nose turret guns.
The Pilot sat on a raised platform and the Engineer on a
collapsible seat beside him. Behind them, the Navigator shared
a cramped chart table with the Wireless Operator. The Midupper Gunner sat on a rectangle of canvas that was slung under
the glass turret towards the back of the airplane.
At the very end of the fuselage was the Rear Gunner, sitting
in the tail turret where space was so tight he often couldn't wear
his parachute. Both the Rear Gunner and the Mid-upper Gunner
had no heating so without electrically heated flying suits they
risked frostbite and hypothermia.
Images courtesy of the BBMF
Twelve years after the end of hostilities, in July 1957, the Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was inaugurated to preserve
the historic aircraft that played such a vital role in securing
peace. It is a regular RAF unit, manned by RAF personnel and
funded by the Ministry of Defence and it maintains a Lancaster
bomber, a C-47 Dakota, five Spitfires, two Hurricanes and two
de Havilland Chipmunk trainers.
Three of these iconic heroes of 1940s aerial combat will be
performing circuits at the Midsummer Festival on 21st and 22nd
June, assuming favourable weather conditions and the aircraft
being passed fit to fly. On the Saturday the mighty Lancaster
will pass over around lunchtime and on Sunday, at about the
same time, it will be the turn of a Spitfire and a Hurricane.
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