Allied Forces?

Yes, the base was called Thorpe Abbotts outside the town of Diss.

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/1-b/100thmus.htm

My dad and I visited the site in 2003. They have a small mueseum
there, the tower is intact and one other building. They also have a
working 1930s flight simulator.

The curators treated my dad like royalty, being a Vet and all that. I
hope to return some day.

Bryan

 

They had the highest monile phone penetration very early on, too. And they
go damncing after work. I've seen this.

Ali

 

- so near to Russia,
So far from Japan,
Quite a long way from Cairo,
Lots of miles from Vietnam.

 

Which is why Internet & Comms, Net User and .Net are the most popular
subscriptions over there.

 

And booze. Getting off the ferry from Stockholm to
Helsinki, it seemed like we were the only adults not
carrying in an armload of vodka.

 

Pretty accurate.

 

It was highly variable, though. One forgotten but successful Bomber
Command raid on Essen (nine aircraft lost) was due to be followed by
one on Brunswick. This was cancelled due to bad weather. The next
target was Nuremburg; ninety-six aicraft lost.

To think of the technological advances: Bomber Command started the war
by navigating by sextant and dead-reckoning - the along came Gee, the
'bomber-stream' to defeat the nightfighter 'box' system; Monica to
warn of aircraft to the rear; H2S for navigation; Fishpond as a
variant of Monica; Pefectos, Jostle, Air Borne Cigar, Oboe,Mandrel,
Darkie, Serrate; But the table were turned as the Germans learned of
each of these devices, and used them to home in on the bomber stream.

So, in the end, five hundred bombers would take off for a target,
loaded with bombs, petrol, and every advanced technological device
that could be provided, but now couldn't use. They would be attacked
by a hundred German nightfighters, countered by fifty British
nightfighters for a total of 650 aircraft in the stream.

It has been said that a Lancaster aircraft cost £40,000 for airframe
and engines; the crew cost £10,000 pounds each to train - at a time
when going to Cambridge University cost £500 a year including tuition,
digs, and a fairly good social life. AFAIIA no-one has costed the
technology used, but it might easily be another £40,000 per aircraft.

What amazing times.

 

Good point sir.

 

Or: my enemy's enemy is my friend. The Finns held their national nose and
allied with the Nazis, only because the Russians invaded Finland when the
rest of the world was somewhat distracted by the Nazi invasion of Poland and
so on. Don't forget that Russia was booted out of the League of Nations as
a consequence of the invasion, and the Finnish resistance was far fiercer
than Stalin had expected.

Lovely country. Lovely people. Impenetrable language!

 

Seen from afar or "in the big picture" that is true. It gets a bit more
complicated when you consider that Finland had something close to
civil war between "reds" and "whites" before the war.
The government that sided with Germany in WW2 were from the
winning "white" side and the military leadership were drinking buddies
with German army officers.
With that ideological background, the continuation war can be seen as
both as righteous force to get their own territory back and participation
in a anti-communist crusade.

To me, the big mystery is how Finland got of so lightly after the war.
What did the western allies trade to keep Stalin's paws off such a
obvious acquisition (German ally [or whatever euphemism one uses] that
had belonged to Russia for 200 years).

 

Especially when the brass wouldn't listen to reason and insisted the
crews could fly daytime raids fine.

The PTSD toll on the surviving crew was a helluva rate, too, but not
recognised as such then.

 

A high death rate but better living conditions than in the trenches......

 

"The Older Gentleman"
message

You say that like it's a bad thing. Even if it's
flexible and brakes dodgy (IME) an Old T-500 has
been known to put me in a swoon on occasion.

--
Keith Schiffner
History does not record anywhere at any time a
religion that has any rational basis. Religion is
a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up
to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff,
most people do have a religion and spend time and
money on it and seem to derive considerable
pleasure from fiddling with it.
Robert Heinlein

 

I saw an estimate somewhere - some book or other - that costed out
Bomber Command as taking fully half Britain's war expenditure during
1943.

 

Well they can fucking moan, I'll give 'em that. Mind ewe, with lager at
close on 5 quid a pint, is it any wonder?


penetration very early on,

The Swedes are up for that, but I didn't know the Finns were too.

too. And they

Well they've got to do *something* when they're not moaning and penetrating.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

A few (many) years ago in Sweden, the gov'mint paid for HUGE community
shelters which were (and still are) used as garages by those closest to
them. A pal of mine had room for 4 cars and a fully equipped workshop in
"his", but one of the terms for using it was that it had to be "emptyable"
(new word?) in about 4 minutes, so everything was on wheels, including his
**** off big lathe and ll his workbenches/toolboxes.

I've used that system in my garage at home for years and it makes keeping
the place clean a real doddle.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Not to mention a great place to hide behind or lie on top of while taking
aim on the "Indians" with your air rifle when your parents thought you were
playing "Cowboys and Indians" with cap guns.



--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Doesn't it look absolutely ridiculous?

*ding*

I think wimmin should get alopecia of the minge when they're 20.



--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Thats been my way of not getting too upset with petrol price
rises.....compare it to how much beer has gone up to how much petrol has
gone up over the last ten years! Some people even pay more for bottled
water than petrol!

Make mine..."Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps, please"

 

That about right, Brits arranged a diversion in Yugoslavia which delayed
the German attack North and they ran into a harsh winter totally
unprepared. They had another problem waiting in the wings. Their maps of
Russia (apparently) didn't look much further East than the Caspian, so
they overlooked the huge industrial capacity beyond the German air
force.... and the huge Soviet *eastern* army. By the time the Germans
advanced close to Moscow the Siberian army had been moved by rail from
near Vladivostok to camps North of the Capital.

They never had much chance of defeating the industrial and numerical
superiority of Russia. Only hope was a rapid strike destroying the
administrative and governmental core.