Random Cool Photo Thread

[Micawber]

 

[Smithy]

Susie of 504 Sqn, 1940...

 

[Smithy]

Love this photo, I have a framed copy in the man cave, 2 Sqn, AFC at Savy, France, March 1918. Great image of 2 first pattern Sidcots too.

Squadron cat and hound in attendance too.

 

[Pa12]

Love this photo, I have a framed copy in the man cave, 2 Sqn, AFC at Savy, France, March 1918. Great image of 2 first pattern Sidcots too.

Squadron cat and hound in attendance too.

I’ve often wondered why Billy Bishop is rarely mentioned, even here in Canada. He was the third highest ace of the war and the only one in the top few to actually survive the war.

 

[Smithy]

I’ve often wondered why Billy Bishop is rarely mentioned, even here in Canada. He was the third highest ace of the war and the only one in the top few to actually survive the war.

A very controversial topic Pa.

Bishop's claims are questionable at best in nearly every case and aren't backed up with more recent research into claims correlated with the surviving Luftstreitkräfte records. Many of Bishop's squadron mates thought he was "full of it" and worse a liar. For example one of 60 Sqn's most respected pilots Grid Caldwell came out and said the same. Most now believe the VC aerodrome raid was utter fiction as there's absolutely no record of it. Bishop getting a VC gong without a substantiating witness also is highly questionable.

Here's Alex Revell's article about this very issue...

 

[Pa12]

A very controversial topic Pa.

Bishop's claims are questionable at best in nearly every case and aren't backed up with more recent research into claims correlated with the surviving Luftstreitkräfte records. Many of Bishop's squadron mates thought he was "full of it" and worse a liar. For example one of 60 Sqn's most respected pilots Grid Caldwell came out and said the same. Most now believe the VC aerodrome raid was utter fiction as there's absolutely no record of it. Bishop getting a VC gong without a substantiating witness also is highly questionable.

Here's Alex Revell's article about this very issue...

Interesting. If true, he sure had balls when it came to bullshit.

 

[Pa12]

I do remember reading somewhere that he was not liked by his fellow pilots. The same with buzz beurling in the second ww. But I think that was more because he was not much of a team player. And possibly a bit of a psychopath

 

[Smithy]

Interesting. If true, he sure had balls when it came to bullshit.

Anyone who flew in WWI had guts just to go up and fly in it, Bishop too.

But his claims and what he supposedly did have been rightly questioned by both his squadron mates and by researchers. Every serious WWI aviation historian I've known has told me he was a "bullshit artist".

Unlike any other ace, his claims have no witnesses or matches to the German losses.

If you take a similar British ace like McCudden or Mannock for example, there's witnesses to claims and/or after the war a loss which can be matched to a claim in many cases.

That just doesn't exist for Bishop.

 

[Pa12]

Anyone who flew in WWI had guts just to go up and fly in it, Bishop too.

But his claims and what he supposedly did have been rightly questioned by both his squadron mates and by researchers. Every serious WWI aviation historian I've known has told me he was a "bullshit artist".

Unlike any other ace, his claims have no witnesses or matches to the German losses.

If you take a similar British ace like McCudden or Mannock for example, there's witnesses to claims and/or after the war a loss which can be matched to a claim in many cases.

That just doesn't exist for Bishop.

What a chaotic mess it must have been to be able to bullshit and get away with it like that.

 

[Smithy]

What a chaotic mess it must have been to be able to bullshit and get away with it like that.

Not really. Bishop's claims are almost all whilst he claims to be flying alone.

He was awarded the VC when the Canadian forces were undergoing enormous losses on the Western Front and it's been suggested that this award was to try and raise morale.

That's the only reason that makes sense because he sure as hell didn't strafe a German aerodrome, and his VC is the only in history awarded without a witness, it's just based on what Bishop said. Dodgy? Yes very

 

[Pa12]

Not really. Bishop's claims are almost all whilst he claims to be flying alone.

He was awarded the VC when the Canadian forces were undergoing enormous losses on the Western Front and it's been suggested that this award was to try and raise morale.

That's the only reason that makes sense because he sure as hell didn't strafe a German aerodrome, and his VC is the only in history awarded without a witness, it's just based on what Bishop said. Dodgy? Yes very

Would certainly explain him surviving the war.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

 

[ZuZu]

View attachment 161657

Das ist witzig weil Sie es Kursk meinen!

 

[ZuZu]

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

 

[FlakMagnet]

 

[Micawber]

British Nurse Diana Hotham of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in Italy - October 12, 1944. In the background is a British Red Cross poster. O
riginal Color Picture IWM TR 2609

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

 

[Smithy]

The office of a 4 Sqn, AFC Sopwith Camel at Clairmarais, France in June 1918. Good view of the standard sighting arrangement with the Aldis between the twin Vickers and the ring sight positioned directly above...

 

[Sideslip]

Indeed, the place is a gem and if truth be told I always preferred it to Duxford.

Don’t forget Stow Marie’s, WW1 Aerodrome https://www.stowmaries.org.uk/