Random Cool Photo Thread

[B-Man2]

Cool?

Maybe not but probably one of the most famous photos from the war of any single soldier, and one which shows the full strain of war on a human being. An SS-Schütze from the Waffen-SS LSSAH during the Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge). He's never been 100% identified but some have said he's 23 year old Hans Tragarsky.

One of those photos taken at the exact perfect time.

Call that a spider? That's a bloody speck of dirt mate

Our garden (and occasionally house) back in Melbourne was infested with these buggers...

Tim
Show them how big these things are .
They’re the size of a Stetson cowboy hat !!!

 

[flyincowboy]

Tim
Show them how big these things are .
They’re the size of a Stetson cowboy hat !!!

it was just a small little spider !!!!

 

[FlakMagnet]

61st Fighter Squadron pilot. Original colors.
View attachment 161413

That’s Nicholas Gamarello. He’s an illustrator and reenactor based in Italy.

https://www.instagram.com/nicholasgamarello?igsh=Z2g5bzVxb2h4Z2Nq

 

[B-Man2]

it was just a small little spider !!!!

Cowboy
I’m talking about the one Tim posted

 

[Smithy]

Tim
Show them how big these things are .
They’re the size of a Stetson cowboy hat !!!

With pleasure Burt

Here's one eating a rat...

...and a small possum...

 

[B-Man2]

With pleasure Burt

Here's one eating a rat...

...and a small possum...

OMG??
I’d have to keep a gun handy and shoot that thing !!

 

[Smithy]

OMG??
I’d have to keep a gun handy and shoot that thing !!

What really freaked me about them is that they're so big you get eye-shine from them when you put a torch/flashlight on them.

Unlike a tarantula they are ludicrously fast too.

Can't say I miss them

 

[flyincowboy]

Yes remember the advice of prudence given about; spiders snakes cockroaches and all these pest ... during our stay in BRISBANE Been in QUEENSLAND for 2 years. Now europeans spiders. snakes look so small.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

 

[ZuZu]

Man, that is one handsome looking A-2.

The A2? Or the guy?

 

[CK90]

The A2? Or the guy?

A-2 Zuzu, very much the A-2. Handsome gent wearing a handsome A-2 no less.

 

[Smithy]

You needed balls the size of beach balls to fly and fight in WWI in flimsy wooden and linen crates, and the attitude to match.

This RFC observer has both in spades.

 

[Pa12]

You needed balls the size of beach balls to fly and fight in WWI in flimsy wooden and linen crates, and the attitude to match.

This RFC observer has both in spades.

And how old you reckon he is. 20?. Looks like he’s 45.

 

[Smithy]

And how old you reckon he is. 20?. Looks like he’s 45.

Flying art obs over the Western Front in '16/'17 like he's been doing would sure do that to you. He probably drank like a fish too - most RFC/RAF airmen in the first war absolutely flew into it.

 

[Pa12]

Flying art obs over the Western Front in '16/'17 like he's been doing would sure do that to you. He probably drank like a fish too - most RFC/RAF airmen in the first war absolutely flew into it.

Whiskey, milk, and the constant shits from castor oil. Takes the romance out of it. Not to mention the short life expectancy.

 

[Smithy]

Whiskey, milk, and the constant shits from castor oil. Takes the romance out of it. Not to mention the short life expectancy.

Exactly.

What I find tragic is that most people have no idea how dangerous flying in WWI was and how uncomfortable. It was, and remains, the most dangerous and deadly airwar ever fought.

Not for your benefit Pa as I know you have a keen knowledge in WWI but I wrote this on here many years ago and it probably bears repeating to the newer whipper-snapper members who don't know this...




Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

 

[Pa12]

Exactly.

What I find tragic is that most people have no idea how dangerous flying in WWI was and how uncomfortable. It was, and remains, the most dangerous and deadly airwar ever fought.

Not for your benefit Pa as I know you have a keen knowledge in WWI but I wrote this on here many years ago and it probably bears repeating to the newer whipper-snapper members who don't know this...




Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

And very difficult to fly let alone having someone shooting at you. As you know, most were killed in training accidents. Difficult to handle and unreliable engines. Dangerous combination indeed.

 

[Smithy]

And very difficult to fly let alone having someone shooting at you. As you know, most were killed in training accidents. Difficult to handle and unreliable engines. Dangerous combination indeed.

As you well know more pilots were killed on Camels during training than in combat.

The word dangerous doesn't even begin to describe what these men did.

 

[Pa12]

As you well know more pilots were killed on Camels during training than in combat.

The word dangerous doesn't even begin to describe what these men did.

I think I mentioned before that a friend of mine runs the Great War flying museum in Brampton Ontario. They have a one and a half strutter, F-D 7, dr-1 and a 7/8 Se5a. He’s current on all of them but said the dr-1 is definitely the most challenging. None of them have the original engines and they all have modern upgrades like brakes and tailwheels. But they’re still a challenge and they’ve had a few mishaps over the years.

 

[Smithy]

I think I mentioned before that a friend of mine runs the Great War flying museum in Brampton Ontario. They have a one and a half strutter, F-D 7, dr-1 and a 7/8 Se5a. He’s current on all of them but said the dr-1 is definitely the most challenging. None of them have the original engines and they all have modern upgrades like brakes and tailwheels. But they’re still a challenge and they’ve had a few mishaps over the years.

I've never flown any of course but from what I've read and been told over the years was that from the Allied side the Pup and the SE were two of the "easier" to fly.

The Dr.I had that torque turn like the Camel but obviously to a lesser degree. Voss (he was flying an F.I but the same basic aircraft) was famous for using the torque to do a "flat spin". He did this several times during his final duel with 56 Sqn's B Flight to their utter amazement and shock.