Multiyear Restoration of the Memphis Belle is complete and will be placed in the National Museum of the US Air Force

[Gun_Brickie]

A bit off topic but my instructor’s dad was passing through Oakland his way home (from Okinawa but that’s another story) in late ‘45 and for $400 you could pick up a factory fresh P-51 and a 55 gal. drum of fuel to get you started.

This conversation came about after we very nearly got swatted by one. About a month ago.

A lot of farmers on the prairies were snapping up surplus Battles, Bolingbrokes and the like for under $100, mainly for the fuel in their tanks and whatever spare parts they could cabbage off the machines.

 

[Deleted 145301]

My generation had the great honour of having in our families survivors of WW1, grandfathers, and great uncles, my family had some, whom I shared a house with in my formative years, My mother told me that he could never stomach November 11th, beacause it brought back the horrors of the trenches, Belgium, France, and later on, Palestine and the Turks. He would never have understood the re-enactors, who have never served in the military, and are truly ignorant of the real face of war.

I remember Army recruiting adverts showing surfing and AT when I was a lad.

Should we follow your tactic of showing the potential reality?

Don't join the Army, don't get your legs blown into different postcodes etc

 

[ExREME..TECH]

A lot of farmers on the prairies were snapping up surplus Battles, Bolingbrokes and the like for under $100, mainly for the fuel in their tanks and whatever spare parts they could cabbage off the machines.

Bristol Bolingbroke - Wikipedia

 

[wheel]

A whole 6, London in the blitz, which lasted 57 days without a break suffered , with the V weapons, 22,000 dead, with tens of thousands made homeless, where in the USA did anything like that on the same scale happen? Watch Quintin Reynolds short film from the time, " London can take it" multiply it a hundred fold for all the citys in England, and a thousand times for the invaded countries in mainland Europe, and tell me again, how many city's and towns in the USA suffered the same type of bombing?

It is not surprising that you were never allowed to work on any communication equipment during your service. Without the help of America we would have been in a world of shit. ( Geddit)
Half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties in World War II were suffered by Eighth Air Force (more than 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead)

 

[CaptainRidiculous]

A lot of farmers on the prairies were snapping up surplus Battles, Bolingbrokes and the like for under $100, mainly for the fuel in their tanks and whatever spare parts they could cabbage off the machines.

Still a fair amount of DC-3/CH-47/RD-4s operating worldwide, all bought post WW2 with a few spare engines thrown in for free!

 

[Gun_Brickie]

Still a fair amount of DC-3/CH-47/RD-4s operating worldwide, all bought post WW2 with a few spare engines thrown in for free!

My aunt and uncle were at this auction in 1970 (looking for a vintage vehicle). Hard to believe that one farmer would have 30 Yales, 6 Swordfish, Cheetah engines, hundreds of motorcycles, etc, etc.
The Ernie Simmons Story

 

[HLD DMR]

My aunt and uncle were at this auction in 1970 (looking for a vintage vehicle). Hard to believe that one farmer would have 30 Yales, 6 Swordfish, Cheetah engines, hundreds of motorcycles, etc, etc.
The Ernie Simmons Story

I do occasional work for a gentleman who acquired aircraft , engines, and skids of parts from that sale, much still in original crates today.

 

[CutLunchCommando]

A lot of farmers on the prairies were snapping up surplus Battles, Bolingbrokes and the like for under $100, mainly for the fuel in their tanks and whatever spare parts they could cabbage off the machines.

A teacher of mine had a relative that used a surplus jeep for ploughing in Fermanagh.

 

[verticalgyro]

You're still wrong and talking out of your hoop.
@verticalgyro , your input is needed.

@A signaller is a bellend.

Fact.

 

[Goldbricker]

25 missions and then mothballed?
Must be nice having an endless supply.

There's always "Flak Bait" a Martin Marauder B-26B -25-NA

Martin B-26B-25-MA Marauder "Flak-Bait"


207 missions enough?


IIRC theres also several Forts with long runs

Thunderbird a B-17G- 112 missions

 

[Goldbricker]

Being bombed, buried alive in rubble, seeing your schoolmates be blown to pieces, watching enemy flying bombs engines cut out, and not knowing if it will fall on you, and being hit with 1 ton of HE without warnings of any kind, The V2's, have a nice day. Get F******real, the septic civvies in the US of A had a wonderful war, no rationing, no bombing, no possible invasion, a booming economy, so tell me, how will you reinact, on American soil, a war that was fought 3000 miles away in the west, and east.?

My Grandma if still alive would be shocked to hear she had not had rationing

Sugar
Coffee
Butter
Cheese
Meat
Cooking oils
Processed foods (Canned)
Jellies
Jams
Lard
LIFE

Does Not include Tires, Gasoline, clothing

Because not only did our lads need the stuff we also had to provide for our Allies from China to Britain

 

[Goldbricker]

Wrong. Started in 1942.

Wrong. Jap balloons, though not effective were still used and are still found on rare occasions.

Wrong. Kiska and Attu were invaded and occupied by the Sons of Nippon.

Oddly there was also a aerial bombings of mainland USA done by the IJN

Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita IJN, bombed Oregon on the 9th and 29th September 1942 flying a Yokosuka E14Y off the I-25

 

[seaweed]

My Grandma if still alive would be shocked to hear she had not had rationing

Sugar
Coffee
Butter
Cheese
Meat
Cooking oils
Processed foods (Canned)
Jellies
Jams
Lard
LIFE

Does Not include Tires, Gasoline, clothing

Because not only did our lads need the stuff we also had to provide for our Allies from China to Britain

What were the weekly quantities?

 

[Retired bloke]

Gasoline,

I understand that she was American, "Gasoline" interesting to know the quantities allowed, in relation to the UK's allowance.

 

[CaptainRidiculous]

I understand that she was American, "Gasoline" interesting to know the quantities allowed, in relation to the UK's allowance.

Google is your friend:

To receive a gasoline ration card, a person had to certify a need for gasoline and ownership of no more than five tires. All tires in excess of five per driver were confiscated by the government, because of rubber shortages.
An "A" sticker on a car was the lowest priority of gasoline rationing and entitled the car owner to 3 to 4 US gallons (11 to 15 l; 2.5 to 3.3 imp gal) of gasoline per week.
B stickers were issued to workers in the military industry, entitling their holder up to 8 US gallons (30 l; 6.7 imp gal) of gasoline per week. C stickers were granted to persons deemed very essential to the war effort, such as doctors.
T rations were made available for truckers.
Lastly, X stickers on cars entitled the holder to unlimited supplies and were the highest priority in the system. Clergy, police, firemen, and civil defense workers were in this category.
A scandal erupted when 200 Congressmen received these X stickers.

I'll dig out some more on this later.
But the biggest joke was that the USA had a fair amount of gasoline available - the main concern was about wastage of tyres, as rubber was considered an even scarcer war essential, especially after the invasion of the Asian rubber areas.
Similar to the collecting frying pans for Spitfires. Wasn't true, but made the public feel that they were making a sacrifice for the war effort.

 

[seaweed]

From 1942 the UK's "gasoline" allowance for private people was NIL. At this point my granny's 1933 Austin 7 was put up on blocks 'or the duration' using a cutting from the Daily Mail entitled 'Little Car What Now?' Every now and again it was swung just to keep the engine lubricated.

Petrol became available again a while after the Normandy invasion. In 1946 the allowance was 200 miles a month for the private user.

 

[Cloth bomber]

A bit off topic but my instructor’s dad was passing through Oakland his way home (from Okinawa but that’s another story) in late ‘45 and for $400 you could pick up a factory fresh P-51 and a 55 gal. drum of fuel to get you started.

This conversation came about after we very nearly got swatted by one. About a month ago.

I’ve mentioned this before but kirkbride had blister hangars (2) full of mk19 spitfires , flown twice ..That went to the aluminium smelter at what is now sellafield in 1949 for the princely sum of 30 Guineas each.
Of the American lend lease , all they wanted back were the DC3’s . Everything else went to kill.

 

[old_n_fat]

No, of course not, but don't idolise one plane beacause it fulfilled its task, without showing, in Photographs, the real outcome of armed conflict, and how it effected the air crew, and the support ground crew, its all part of the same operation. I have never understood the concept of reinacting The murdering chaos of war. By all means admire the machines, but do not forget the men, and teenagers who manned the machines, and died a horrible death, they were an integral part of that machine

Can you please take a few days off. Your inane ramblings make my teeth itch and some respite would be welcome.
Thanks awfully.

 

[Le_addeur_noir]

Also the Japanese planned to use biological weapons against the US mainland.

I find it odd that some people seem to bemoan the Americans for what they did in WW2.

Bad form, really. It needs to be remembered without the Americans being on our side in World War II, Britain's situation would have been dire for a long while. By the end of 1941 I don't think the Nazis were in a position to defeat us, but the war would have gone on far longer, and the Soviet sphere of influence in Europe may well have been as far west as Calais at the conclusion of the war.

 

[Le_addeur_noir]

I’ve mentioned this before but kirkbride had blister hangars (2) full of mk19 spitfires , flown twice ..That went to the aluminium smelter at what is now sellafield in 1949 for the princely sum of 30 Guineas each.
Of the American lend lease , all they wanted back were the DC3’s . Everything else went to kill.

IIRC, the crabs also had a small number of C-54s towards the end of WW2, which the Yanks re-claimed right after VE day.