Bombers moon

[Soupdragon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjNIphFyO8Y

 

[MAINJAFAD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjNIphFyO8Y

Mike Harding wrote the song as tribute to his father, Flt Sgt Louis Arthur 'Curly' Harding. From what I can find, He was a Navigator on 9 Squadron at RAF Bardney and was Killed on the night of the 24th September 1944, when his Lancaster LL901 'WS-V' was lost over Holland.

 

[stingray888]

Still a bit of a tear jerker.

 

[Dave-exfairy]

The sheer bloody courage of those in Bomber Command to get in an aircraft and to fly out night after night, never knowing if or how you will meet your end. What was it? Half a million men died?
RIP to all.

 

[Rikster]

The sheer bloody courage of those in Bomber Command to get in an aircraft and to fly out night after night, never knowing if or how you will meet your end. What was it? Half a million men died?
RIP to all.

half a million????????????????????????????Jeepers man.
try 55,000, A hell of a lot but half a million is pushing it a bit.
We didn't lose half a million total in WWII, I think it was just under.
if you look at :
USSR losing 20-23 million
Germany 7+ million

we got off "lightly"

 

[MAINJAFAD]

half a million????????????????????????????Jeepers man.
try 55,000, A hell of a lot but half a million is pushing it a bit.
We didn't lose half a million total in WWII, I think it was just under.
if you look at :
USSR losing 20-23 million
Germany 7+ million

we got off "lightly"

In the case of Bomber Command, 49,000+ on Ops and just under 6000 in training (OCU ops, other flying training and air test on the operational squadrons). A few more thousands of the Command’s personnel on top of the 55,000 figure were lost in the form of Ground Crew killed in accidents while working on aircraft (a lot were killed by bombs exploding while being loaded).

 

[Dave-exfairy]

half a million????????????????????????????Jeepers man.
try 55,000, A hell of a lot but half a million is pushing it a bit.
We didn't lose half a million total in WWII, I think it was just under.
if you look at :
USSR losing 20-23 million
Germany 7+ million

we got off "lightly"

Allright, so the figure was grossly over put. I knew it was half a something, and as for "lightly" as you put it, it still took balls for people to climb into those aircraft night after night.

 

[MontyPlumbs]

Imagine doing a see-off knowing your kite was unlikely to come back, and even if it did, some of the guys on it may be dead or wounded - I can't imagine it for a second, a different generation.

 

[Dave-exfairy]

Imagine doing a see-off knowing your kite was unlikely to come back, and even if it did, some of the guys on it may be dead or wounded - I can't imagine it for a second, a different generation.

I was visiting the American exhibit hall at Duxford a couple of years ago and whilst looking around the B-17 I got talking to a Spam who was ex-ground crew, he talked about hosing out what was left of some the tailgunners after a raid to a heavily defended target. When he walked away he had tears in his eyes, as you say, different generation.

 

[joncollier]

Quite a haunting image still one fact I remember was that more aircrew were lost in one night on Bomber Command ops as were lost in the entire Battle Of Britain-true as ever Fighter pilots make movies whilst Bomber crews make history not bad going when most were just turned 20 & 25+ made you the FOG cannot image todays young ASBO wasters voleentering for that.
Bomber Command kept their nerve holding the right of the line, just a pitty politicans bottled it at the end of the war, just what did they think were being perfected over 5 years-you would think as surviving aircrew numbers dwindle that they would finally get the campaign medal they deserve. Nice to know that politicians of today have same LMF as ever still wont be the last thing our forces are stabbed in the back by dual faced politicians.

 

[Douglas Bader's Right Leg]

I had the pleasure a few months back of talking to Sqn Ldr (Ret'd) Patrick Carden DFC, an ex pathfinder pilot, who mentioned, completely off-hand, that he had come back from one op and the first thing he did on landing was help the groundcrew clear the remains of his gunner from the upper turret: a "right mess" in his words. For the groundcrew dealing with the remains of crewmen was a daily task and one that would take its toll in later years.

My Grandfather was an armourer on Hurricanes at Tangmere in 1940 and was haunted until the day he died last year by images of pilots burning to death in their aircraft on the ground. Physical wounds heal much quicker and easier.

 

[Ex-Bay]

The sheer bloody courage of those in Bomber Command to get in an aircraft and to fly out night after night, never knowing if or how you will meet your end. What was it? Half a million men died?
RIP to all.

I thought the figure was about 67,000.
Whatever, it was too many.

Mike Harding wrote a book of Poetry called 'Bomber's Moon'. I think this poem was in it.

As for guts, I wonder how many of England's Youth would do it today ?
Not many.

DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[MontyPlumbs]

I thought the figure was about 67,000.
Whatever, it was too many.

Mike Harding wrote a book of Poetry called 'Bomber's Moon'. I think this poem was in it.

As for guts, I wonder how many of England's Youth would do it today ?
Not many.

DT_Xtremez_09:

There are still a few that would stand up to be counted EB, look at the guys and girls in Iraq/Afghanistan.

 

[Ex-Bay]

There are still a few that would stand up to be counted EB, look at the guys and girls in Iraq/Afghanistan.

I hadn't thought of it qite that way.
I was thinking of crews of 7 or more as in a Lanc. I did not mean to imply that those young'uns fighting today would not be counted. God Bless 'em all and bring 'em back safe & well.

DT_Xtremez_28:

 

[patmac]

A visit to any church graveyard near an airfield is an eye opener, and very moving.
Kenley's little church, in the village, has an Airman's Corner where all the dead from the war are buried and its amazing just to read the ages. Most were just boys, and they came from all over the world-South African, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, all the home nations, and from further afield, places like India, The West Indies, Rhodesia. All fighting for what was then, even to them, called The Homeland. We owe them a huge debt.

 

[Highflight]

In the case of Bomber Command, 49,000+ on Ops and just under 6000 in training (OCU ops, other flying training and air test on the operational squadrons). A few more thousands of the Command’s personnel on top of the 55,000 figure were lost in the form of Ground Crew killed in accidents while working on aircraft (a lot were killed by bombs exploding while being loaded).

55000 is a good quoteable figure. But you must remember that between 1939 and 1945 only 125000 served as aircrew in Bomber Command. So you can see that these men only had a slightly better chance of 50% of not being killed.
I think Bomber Command had the highest percentage casualties of any service group/organisation in WW2.

 

[Highflight]

55000 is a good quoteable figure. But you must remember that between 1939 and 1945 only 125000 served as aircrew in Bomber Command. So you can see that these men only had a slightly better chance of 50% of not being killed.
I think Bomber Command had the highest percentage casualties of any service group/organisation in WW2.

I had a relation killed as a Sergeant Observer in a Wellington on the 1000 bomber raid on Cologne.