I read a memory from a 102 guy who was captured, he and some of his crew were being escorted through a village to the train station by a young soldier. The locals were out with pitch forks wanting to attack the downed airmen and he was panicking, not knowing what to do. The locals were pushing forward and backing the prisoners up on a rampart over the rail line. What was the young guard to do? Shoot at his own people? No, he gave his rifle to one of the crew and they all backed off! They got on the train to Dulagluft and survived to tell the tale.
I can't escape the feeling that the interviewer is just an uninformed child of this century---maybe another millennial who's heard the anti-Bomber Command narrative from friends and the media. My father also was in the war. If he were alive today, I know that he would have no respect for those who now denigrate efforts of Bomber Command and all those who survived to give us this life. It's disgraceful if we only criticize. We're also here able to recognize our liberties as a result of BC's work.
Whilst I was in my 20s when I recorded my interviews with Bomber Command veterans, I did my best to ensure that I was sufficiently informed before meeting them. This included viewing documentaries, such as Who Betrayed The Bomber Boys?, watching debates about the bombing campaign, listening to interviews with Arthur Harris and reading a speech that he gave in 1977 (see PDF link below). I found the 1977 speech very informative and gave copies of it to each Bomber Command veteran that I interviewed. They all reacted positively when reading Harris's words. Ron Davies described it as, "The answer to any and all of his critics." www.460squadronraaf.com/documents/arthur_speech.pdf Harry Irons told me that he was in the audience for the 1977 speech. A recording can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pcmhU1QOnWg.html
@@thomasozel4889 thanks for that, what a fine tribute, especially to have included audio recorded on an actual raid. Getting battered but still chipper!
Great work Thomas I agree with others here that this should be known, and so great to see men like Bert live to 100! My father James joined up in 1939 and served firstly in the Royal Fusiliers and then volunteered for the Paratroops when they formed those Divisions. He told me many things he experienced during the war, really incredible that they could ever lead normal lives on Civie Street after that. He much respected Bomber & Tank Crews & always thought he had a much better lot than those and especially soldiers in the trenches in WWI as his Father-in-law (my maternal grandfather Walter) was a stretcher bearer on the Somme.
Sherman tanks were death traps for allied soldiers, it had zero protection against German tanks shell and anti tank guns, they kept producing these tanks, even though they knew it had a very thin amour, and these young men would get cooked inside them once they were hit. Why didn't US army make better tanks? I think the high command just didn't care, they knew it was a lousy tank. Sherman tank gun couldn't pierce a German tank armor.
@@thodan467 Shermans, Cromwells and Churchills were equivalent to the Mk IV, they could also take out Panthers, Tigers and even the Tiger II (first encountered by the Brits in Normandy). The records prove that. However, if you are actually there, it's your life on the line, you might have a different perspective. If the records show that 15th Panzer (as an example) was totally destroyed as a unit in Normandy, you - as a survivor of seeing your troop of tanks wiped out - might see that period in a different perspective. Normandy was a meatgrinder, at some points it had the highest concentrations of armour vs armour in the war - higher than the Eastern Front by many measures, mainly because the Allies were trying to claw their way out from the beacheads and the Germans were trying to bottleneck them. God Bless Them All.
@@ronhall9039 and the IVs were th standard german MBTs , but if you see the victims of the Tigers, Königstiger und Panthers which not all had been front ready and every armored vehicle is a Tiger you may come to this wrong conclusion
The mystery of the hollow charge monroe effect i think the stream of pressure was some 50k ft second (10miles ) in fact the same speed that TNT explosion is but thats uncontained where hollow charge is focused into thin jet ??Not heat pure pressure wunderbar
War can seem awesome and drive us forward but its reality is ugly and evil and despairing. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”
What a great man and what a memory. My dad told me he stopped using his suit heating elements in the rear turret, he was constantly burned by them. The other big issue was the guns freezing which on one occasion caused them to be shot up badly over Germany, he and the mid upper couldn’t fire back, guns frozen solid.
Crazy to think he would have been 18 in 1943 at the height of the most dangerous period of being in a heavy bomber crew. That's no age to go through that. Thanks for your service. RIP
Extraordinary and humbling story. My condolences to the pilot and gunner who died and their families. It's an unimaginable scenario none of us will ever realise. Also shows the tight camaraderie within these close knit crews, each relying on one another, the captain making the ultimate sacrifice to give his airmen whatever chance possible to survive. All kids in schools must hear these stories, remember and respect the freedom they now enjoy.
In the early 1980s, I worked with an ex-WOP/AG who flew in both Halifaxes and Lancasters. I asked which he preferred. His response: 'Halifax, son. Lots of escape hatches!'.
You are welcome. I visited Peter last September and showed him this video. He was delighted and called it a "first rate compilation". I gave him several DVDs of it for his family to have.
Thank you Thomas . I hope all is well with you . I’ve watched this in the past and again today and find Bernie’s opinion on current affairs as they were then very insightful and bear relevance today . Great thanks to both of you .
