BBC - Blitz: The Bombing of Coventry

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The statistician in me is not amused. :twisted:

Would this assuage your high dudgeon?

[klr]

...
Well, I guess he confirmed the aircraft was over a country other than blighty before they opened the bomb-bay doors....

Navigation has been known to go awry, like the time a certain Luftwaffe night fighter landed at RAF Woodbridge ...

On 13th July 1944 a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88G-1 nightfighter from Volkel in Holland was an unexpected but extremely welcome visitor to Woodbridge. The crew had become disorientated after failure of their navigational equipment and were convinced that they had landed at an airfield near the Danish and German border. This aircraft was of great interest to the RAF because, as well as being completely intact, it was fitted with the latest Lichtenstein SN-2 interceptor radar and Flensburg and Naxos radar detectors. Within a matter of days the Royal Aircraft Establishment had developed countermeasures for these pieces of equipment. This single mistake provided the RAF and its Allies with examples of some of Germany's most closely guarded secrets.

http://www.bentwaters-as.org.uk/html/wo ... story.html

The statistician in me is not amused. :twisted:

Would this assuage your high dudgeon?

Not until I can readily harvest the tabular data from it ... which I am well practised at.

[Rum]

Goering said he could bomb them into submission. He failed. WSC said the British people would "never give up, never give up, never give up!"
"Bomber Harris" said he could bomb them into submission. He boldly ignored the example of his own country.

That angle is discussed, at least on the British side. The British government greatly feared a collapse in morale, but the people of Coventry recovered very quickly and became defiant instead.

That's as far as that argument seems to get. The bombing of Dresden was, IIRC, meant to be a morale killer. I think it's a matter of war racismTM, "we could take it, but they won't be able to."

The good and even reportedly high morale of British people, particularly Londoners during the Blitz was according to recent more 'revisionist' thinking something of a myth. As with all generalisations the spirit was not the same everywhere and differed from period to period no doubt. I read a book a few years ago called 'The Myth of the Blitz' by Angus Caulder, which made for interesting reading but the basic thesis was that a myth developed that had propaganda value - and therefore seized upon, but underneath it the reality was dark, corrupt, messy and of course deeply terrifying.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Goering said he could bomb them into submission. He failed. WSC said the British people would "never give up, never give up, never give up!"
"Bomber Harris" said he could bomb them into submission. He boldly ignored the example of his own country.

That angle is discussed, at least on the British side. The British government greatly feared a collapse in morale, but the people of Coventry recovered very quickly and became defiant instead.

That's as far as that argument seems to get. The bombing of Dresden was, IIRC, meant to be a morale killer. I think it's a matter of war racismTM, "we could take it, but they won't be able to."

The good and even reportedly high morale of British people, particularly Londoners during the Blitz was according to recent more 'revisionist' thinking something of a myth. As with all generalisations the spirit was not the same everywhere and differed from period to period no doubt. I read a book a few years ago called 'The Myth of the Blitz' by Angus Caulder, which made for interesting reading but the basic thesis was that a myth developed that had propaganda value - and therefore seized upon, but underneath it the reality was dark, corrupt, messy and of course deeply terrifying.

You rarely seen the shitty side of a war, unless it's being inflicted on the enemy. Reality is the best way to fuck up a lovely war.

[Animavore]

Bump.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Bump.

post run attempt in progress?