Battle of Britain Day

[Harleyman]

Here is a list from 2007:

 

http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/bobhsoc/aircrew/surviving.html

 

Thanks for that JFK.

 

September 15 1940 was my first birthday and a good day for Britain. The Luftwaffe got a beating

[buck]

Is today, from what I read.

I can remember this day, as a lad in the 50's as there used to be a fly over by a Lancaster Bomber and some Spitfires.

In those days kids were never told anything by their parents, so on the street telegraph, we heard it was Battler Britain Day.

Battler Britain was a hero in The Eagle, a soldier who feared nothing.

So we all thought it was in commemoration of him.

 

With thick kids like us, no wonder the country is going to the dogs.

I believe, unless I'm mistaken , Battle of Britaiin Day is September 15th. It was the day that the RAF scored its biggest number of kills, and caused Hitler to abandon any invasion attempt. Unfortunately, it was the beginning of night bombing attacks against London and major cities. Sheffield's turn came on December 12th 1940, followed by another attack on December 15th.

[Harleyman]

My father was away in the army and ma and I slept on a mattress on the kitchen floor of our house ready for a quick exit to the air raid shelter in the back yard when the air raid alarm sounded.

 

I dont remember anything about it of course as I was one year old then but it must have been freezing in that hole in the ground with just corrugated steel sides and a roof to cover it

[Harleyman]

Think I'm inspired enough to pull the Battle of Britain DVD to watch tonight.

 

That"s the one they made starring Michael Cain and Robert Shaw. Great movie seen it a few times already.

 

Some of the German Heinkel bombers were purchased from the Spanish Air Force for use in th film. Wonder what they did with them after the filming was done.

 

Watched the Tuskegee Airmen a few nights back.

 

Some of those old flyers are still with us also

[HeadingNorth]

Is it just me or are military celebrations and memorials given more publicity now than in the past?

?

 

 

There was a noticeable increase in coverage when it was the 60th anniversary of this, that and the other. Now that it's the 70th anniversary, I'm noticing the same again.

 

There's also the fact that there are fewer and fewer survivors of the times, which perhaps lends some added sharpness to the remembrances. I believe we're now down to one single survivor of those who served in the Great War; even the people who signed up while under age in 1945 must by now be approaching eighty. Perhaps the awareness that hardly anyone is left who was actually there, is prompting some people to make greater efforts to keep these things in the public consciousness.

[buck]

There was a noticeable increase in coverage when it was the 60th anniversary of this, that and the other. Now that it's the 70th anniversary, I'm noticing the same again.

 

There's also the fact that there are fewer and fewer survivors of the times, which perhaps lends some added sharpness to the remembrances. I believe we're now down to one single survivor of those who served in the Great War; even the people who signed up while under age in 1945 must by now be approaching eighty. Perhaps the awareness that hardly anyone is left who was actually there, is prompting some people to make greater efforts to keep these things in the public consciousness.

When the Japanese surrended in August 1945 I was just 14 years old, so you're pretty close. My older brother forged our Dad's signature and went into the Navy at 16 in 1942.

[buck]

My father was away in the army and ma and I slept on a mattress on the kitchen floor of our house ready for a quick exit to the air raid shelter in the back yard when the air raid alarm sounded.

 

I dont remember anything about it of course as I was one year old then but it must have been freezing in that hole in the ground with just corrugated steel sides and a roof to cover it

They were called Anderson shelters. You could get one free from the government but you had to dig the hole yourselves to put them in the ground. Impossible behind our house in Brightside as it was all concrete. My Aunt in Darnall had one and they had set it up nicely with a carpet and a double bunk and parafin heat. Next door had put there's into the ground but had struck a water main making it uninhabitable. On the night of the December 15th attack both families went into my Aunts shelter. A German bomb fell into the yard and exploded. It tore the empty shelter out of the ground and threw it over the wall. None of the people in my Aunts shelter were more hurt than some temporary earing loss. The edge of the crater was less than 2 feet from them. The only casualty was an old man from next door who had gone into his kitchen to brew a cup of tea.

He died. Both houses were destroyed.

[Harleyman]

They were called Anderson shelters. You could get one free from the government but you had to dig the hole yourselves to put them in the ground. Impossible behind our house in Brightside as it was all concrete. My Aunt in Darnall had one and they had set it up nicely with a carpet and a double bunk and parafin heat. Next door had put there's into the ground but had struck a water main making it uninhabitable. On the night of the December 15th attack both families went into my Aunts shelter. A German bomb fell into the yard and exploded. It tore the empty shelter out of the ground and threw it over the wall. None of the people in my Aunts shelter were more hurt than some temporary earing loss. The edge of the crater was less than 2 feet from them. The only casualty was an old man from next door who had gone into his kitchen to brew a cup of tea.

He died. Both houses were destroyed.

 

 

I remember that Anderson shelter of ours was still there in the yard for a few years after the war.

 

We still had the gas masks in their cardboard boxes for years afterwards also

 

Hitler had no intention of using gas anyway. He'd been gassed himself in WW1 and knew all about it

[alchresearch]

I helped a mate take down his Anderson shelter a few years ago. It took some serious hammer over several hours to bring it down.

[HeadingNorth]

Hitler had no intention of using gas anyway. He'd been gassed himself in WW1 and knew all about it

 

 

I don't think anyone would have been justified on gambling that he had no such intention, even though with hindsight it's clear he did not. (I'm pretty sure that he didn't refuse to use it merely because we had taken some precautions.)

 

There seems to be a deep-rooted, and almost universal, aversion to the idea of making war upon breathing. Even now that we've developed non-fatal nerve gases that could incapacitate the entire enemy armed force while killing nobody, it is still considered just about the most heinous of war crimes to actually use them. If even the Nazis, probably the most evil governing party that has ever existed, declined to pour poison gas on the enemy, it clearly goes far deeper than just a moral sense.