Watercolor by Uncle Addie...
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EK II from Berchtesgaden
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...and so does Anton, who couldn't believe I knew who Erich Hartmann was.
He was in Russian POW camp with Hartmann and said the stories were true. Everybody had the upmost respect for Erich,
who never caved in to the Russians wishes to use him as a propaganda tool, despite much mental torture.
Unlike another Diamonds winner, Hermann Graf. They were very disappointed in Graf.
Hartmann's resolve helped inspire Anton to make it through his ordeals of 10 years when 95% of the other inmates were never seen again.
What an honor to meet this sturdy vet!
What a wimp I am. "Mommy!"Attached Files
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Marienplatz with Frauenkirche in distance.
I can imagine a night air raid, sirens going off ...the drone of 800 four engine Lancaster bombers coming in.
Spotlights searching, purple Master beams guided by radar, and light blue secondary beams to join in once
a master beam finds an aircraft.
....then 88mm and 105mm flak opening up...the flak shells burst at a preset altitude and the metal whistles as it rains down back to earth.
The lead plane with the most experienced navigator and aerial radar terrain mapping does their best to mark the aiming point, which is typically the
far side of the altstadt as the old wooden structures burn more easily.
The far side is targeted because the bombers tend to drop their bomb load early (referred to as Creepback) in an attempt to get
the hell out of the hellish spectacle below... as well as around them... with flak bursts, bombers going down on fire or exploding.
Single and twin engine Nachtjägd fighters following them into the nightmare, desperate to stop the attack at all costs.
4000 and 8000 pound bombs fall first shattering windows and ripping roof tiles off for blocks around the impact, which allows embers
to take hold of curtains and to get into the attics...after thousands upon thousands of phosphorus incendiaries are dropped.Attached Files
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That was my feeble attempt to describe a typical Night Area attack by the RAF attempting to create a firestorm.
It was the longest sustained campaign of the war (5 years) and the least known.
On one night raid to Nurnberg in March '44 the Brits lost 94 four engine bombes over the continent. 115 in total.
Over 1000 bombers lost during the winter of 43-44.Attached Files
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Luckily for Munich it was quite a distance away and navigating at night was a real problem once beyond the site distance of the curvature of the earth,
which the only semi-accurate Brit nav device relied on.
Unlike some other cities which were closer to Britain and were repeatedly pounded into sand, Munich wasn't completely flattened.
Here is Wesel.Attached Files
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