The German jets didn’t make it into the air earlier because of the raw materials shortages suffered by the Germans during WW2; specifically heat resistant metals.
Poor engine reliability and a very short engine lifespan was the result.
The Me-262 airframe was actually first flown using an old Jumo engine bolted to the nose.
I might be wrong, but I understood that Hitler ordered a bomber, but they made a mere token effort to do so and went ahead and built the fighter anyway. In fact, wasn’t Galland instrumental in getting the fighter version expedited leading to his demotion?
It wouldn’t have won the war. They lost as soon as the Allies got a toehold at Normandy. However, the jets could have made the war more costly to the 8th air force and allowed the Germans a bit of reprieve to build more tanks, aircraft, etc. Still, would have only prolonged the suffering on both sides a little longer.
No, they [we] lost as soon as Hitler failed in knocking Russia out of the war and declaring war on the United States in December of '41…
What about Isoroku Yamamoto going missing after leaving a Japanese base in a Betty???
Manny -
Regarding Leslie Howard. He was very active in making propaganda films for the British. This was his method of serving his country. These films were very popular and angered Hitler. It is said, the Hitler placed a bounty on his head like he did on Marlene Dietrech. If this was a targeted assassination it was against Leslie Howard and not Winston Churchill. The Abwehr could have had intelligence sources who could have sent the information on to KG 40. This group fought long hard battles against the Allied forces over the Bay of Biscay and adjoing portions of the Atlantic Ocean.
For example, during the time of the Torch Landings of North Africa. Jimmy Doolittle was supposed to fly with other high ranking officers from England to Gibraltar then to North Africa to assume their commands. Doolittles’s B-17 had mechanical problems and was delayed. After they finally left, they were intercepted by 2 Ju-88C’s of KG 40 and the B-17 had to resort to defensive manuevers as it had been stripped down on its defensive guns except the top turret and I believe the rear gunner’s position (I am not sure about the ball turret being manned or not.). Jimmy Doolittle sat in the co-pilot’s seat and assisted the pilot through the avoidance manuevers in which the B-17 twisted and turned as best it could. They received a good deal of damage and had given back some as well. The lead Ju-88 came up wing tip to wingtip with the Fortress and waved its wing and left. Smoke was coming from the other Ju-88’s engine and these two may have been on the return leg of their search pattern and because of the battle were short of ammo and fuel (they may have been involved in previous combat as well). This I believe was Jimmy Doolittle’s closest encounter with death during the war.
Mike T.
The only real mystery there is who got the “kill”. Rex Barber and Tom Lanphier argued about it from the moment that they landed until they died.
I’m surprised that Rod Serling did not also use the above for another episode. In 1959 an oil exploration crew discovered the Lady Be Good, a B-24 that had landed deep in the Lybian Desert after getting lost in 1943. In Serling’s story, the plane was changed to a B-25 named King Nine. A real creepy episode.
The real hero of that mission was the flight leader who plotted the route and navigated (and I can’t even remember the man’s name). That was a very long distance flight with many waypoints to avoid Japanese detection. Yet they arrived spot on for the rendezvous with Yamamoto’s flight, in the right place and at the right time. That was incredible navigation, especially in those days.
The book “Lightning Strike” by Don Davis is an excellent read about this mission and the events that led up to it, even if it does start out slow.
Yeah, I know—just trying to bump this M0J0 back up…
Maybe both Barber and Lamphier did shot Yamamoto down. Unless you possess excellent situational awareness you may not know were you squadron mates are and the two of you could be both firing at the same target at teh same time. Without a video replay, let’s call it a tie, as the mission was successful which is what really counted.
The Polish pilots who were trained prior to the war flew aircraft without radios and had to depend on their awareness of where every friend or foe was. After a hairball with the Japanese in China, Witold Urbanowica, who was supposed to be an observer, but acted like he was assigned to the 23rd FS, made his report of the action. The young American pilot who was his wingman on that mission was astounded by how accurate and complete his memory of the action was, especially since the younger pilot couldn’t remember even half of what the veteran pilot did.
Mike T.
Maj John Mitchell was the Squadron Leaders name. 339th FS, 349th FG. He was nominated for the MOH, but the Navy quashed that due to anger over OPSEC leaks by the pilots in the press. IIRC, he had been a member of the Cactus Air Force in the early days on Guadalcanal flying P-39s.
I picked up the book “Get Yamamoto” from a local church fundraiser sale for a couple bucks a few years back. Another excellent read on the mission.
Thanks. Barber and Lamphier got the fame, but nobody knows who Mitchell was. Without him, they would have never got a shot at Admiral Yamamoto.
I’ll have to keep my eye out for that book.
Then there was the Hess Incident…very strange…
But pretty much resolved.
Just sayin’.
Or is it…??? And what about the strange crash of Molders transport aircraft? hmmmmmmmmm…
got nothing new to input… for the moment… but lurking big time…
[Y]
I have always been mystified by why, even during good weather, the troops on the ground in Europe after D-Day did not have constant air support. Everyone speaks of how at Bastogne the rotten weather prevented resupplying and air cover from flying missions, but if you watch any documentary or the superb “Band of Brothers,” which is rigorously historic, on perfectly clear days in France, Belgium and Germany, ground troops were asked to take a town or hamlet and there’s not an Air Force plane in sight to help take out German tanks or troops. Surely not all the planes were bombing Berlin.
Close-air- support in WW2 was much more risky a proposition than it is today…they tried it during Operation Cobra with medium bombers at low to medium altitude and it killed hundreds of US soldiers…interdiction (which is basically close air-support slightly behind the front-lines) was much more common…
The 9th AF should have had P-51s and P-47s available for support. Of course they would have had to fly from England right after the invasion. They could have been socked in there.
The Army and Air Force (AAC) have historically had priority and communications issues when if comes to close air support. That’s why the Marines keep their own air assets.
…and then there was Fritz Todt’s death…
