Lancaster Bomber Tribute Video

[Doering]

Enjoy this video I made to remember the efforts of the aircrews who flew the AVRO Lancaster bombers during WWII.
http://www.vimeo.com/13430247

[regi]

Enjoy this video I made to remember the efforts of the aircrews who flew the AVRO Lancaster bombers during WWII.
http://www.vimeo.com/13430247

OK, but in the beginning the images came not fluently.
I liked the marking " Ruhr Express"
detail: during a massive raid in 1944 the entire steel works of Bochumer Verein was blasted away. Well...not exactly. They still have a 100 year old press working every day, and even refurbished last year.
There are many examples of this in Germany. Entire factories were blown to pieces, but the heavy machines remained intact. ( except if a bomb really had landed on top of it ) When the ruble was cleaned up and power restored, the labourers could continue, often in open air.
But there is no doubt about the fact that the ( Lancaster ) bombing campaigns disrupted the military industrial supply chain heavely.

[Doering]

Enjoy this video I made to remember the efforts of the aircrews who flew the AVRO Lancaster bombers during WWII.
http://www.vimeo.com/13430247

OK, but in the beginning the images came not fluently.
I liked the marking " Ruhr Express"
detail: during a massive raid in 1944 the entire steel works of Bochumer Verein was blasted away. Well...not exactly. They still have a 100 year old press working every day, and even refurbished last year.
There are many examples of this in Germany. Entire factories were blown to pieces, but the heavy machines remained intact. ( except if a bomb really had landed on top of it ) When the ruble was cleaned up and power restored, the labourers could continue, often in open air.
But there is no doubt about the fact that the ( Lancaster ) bombing campaigns disrupted the military industrial supply chain heavely.

Thanks regi!
Your comments are very interesting. I have a very good visual for what you are describing. It would be amazing to visit the country side of Germany some day and view this time in history.

[regi]

There were stories in our family of forced labourers. Some hours after a total destruction of a engine factory, the first lathes and drilling machines were pulled out of a collapsed building, put out on the paved courtyard, connected to power and started to make parts again between the stones, bodies and debris.
But those stories become seldom because the survivors mostly did not write down their terrible memoirs as forced labourer. They were just happy to make it back home in the turmoil of the last months of the war.

[Doering]

There were stories in our family of forced labourers. Some hours after a total destruction of a engine factory, the first lathes and drilling machines were pulled out of a collapsed building, put out on the paved courtyard, connected to power and started to make parts again between the stones, bodies and debris.
But those stories become seldom because the survivors mostly did not write down their terrible memoirs as forced labourer. They were just happy to make it back home in the turmoil of the last months of the war.

You have great stories to tell!

[jan_olieslagers]

I remember stories of my mother, who worked in the Gevaert factory in Mortsel when it was bombarded in May 1943. She ran down a stair for all she was worth, carrying an injured person in her arms, and while recovering breath in the open air she witnessed the collapse of the building she had just run from. Still, she was sufficiently recovered two weeks later for the - extremely spartan - marriage ceremony.
Or shall I tell of my father, who worked a lathe in a Junkers factory after they made him an invitation he couldn't refuse? He had only been married for a couple of months, and got his first sight of my sister when she was a toddler. I still have a pluck of hair of hers, that my mother sent - hoping against all odds it might arrive - so that at least he would have something physical of hers...
When the allied bombardments grew worse, the Junkers factory was moved to the tunnels of a saltmine, probably abandoned, near Magdeburg, and the air was so moist from the salt that all the lathes and other machinery had to be heavily greased every day, or they'd be covered in rust by next morning.
But he had been there for close on a year. So that when he was released, to make his way home by any way he could find through the total chaos*, he was close enough with his immediate superior ("Vorarbeiter") to inquire - with genuine concern - what they would be doing the next day ("Was macht Ihr morgen?") and the dry reply was "Morgen machen wir guten Eindrück" ("Tomorrow, we'll make a good impression"). Whether 't was Russians or Yankees approaching, I can't remember, all Germany was hoping Uncle Sam would come first. The stories of the Russian soldiers in ruined Berlin are to me the most horrible of the whole WW2.

*it involved stealing bicycles for his comrade and himself, and when a tube got punctured it was impossible to repair of course, so they stuffed it with his comrade's ample collection of neckties. Not clear for what reason he carried such an extensive set, but everything finds a use sooner or later, in wartime economics.

[jan_olieslagers]

When the ruble was cleaned up

Good stories indeed, Regi, but you really ought to take more care of your spelling. The younger readers might be so confused by such phrases.
True enough, the ruble HAS been cleaned of the bloody hands of Stalin and his shifting clique, even though it got new stains since, of a different nature. But allied bombardments were not needed for this cleansing, and that's a good thing, I believe.

[regi]

Or shall I tell of my father, who worked a lathe in a Junkers factory after they made him an invitation he couldn't refuse?

The way you phrase it...Despite the terrible reality behind it, you brought a smile on my face.

The stories are very similar. Russians had to stay outside during allied bombardments. Foreign labourers were allowed to get into the shelters.
Family members came home weeks or even months after their liberation in conditions as you describe. Without any help, and sometimes harrased by allied soldiers, or even worse, the soldiers of the new armies of France and French speaking militia of the new Belgian army.
( for the foreign younger members: many Belgian labourers were considered to be possible collaborators or even deserters of the Flemish or Walloon Legion. Quite a lot of them got arrested when they finally made it back home. The barracks nearby my home at Sint-Kruis, Bruges, were very much feared for that. Same as with Breendonk. Many completely innoscent people landed in those cells .
The home coming was in many cases a sobering experience. The labourers were looked upon as collaborators. Nobody cared about them. They were malnourished, beaten, mentally broken after years of great hardship as a Nazi slave. The young women who had staid behind had sometimes another man, or even worse, had started something with a German ( to get some food stamps or even to get their husband out of jail)
Back to aviation: dear Jan, I hope that your father- I hope he is still alive - can share your passion for aviation despite he had to do 12 hour shifts, turning parts for Junkers.

[regi]

When the ruble was cleaned up

Good stories indeed, Regi, but you really ought to take more care of your spelling. The younger readers might be so confused by such phrases.
True enough, the ruble HAS been cleaned of the bloody hands of Stalin and his shifting clique, even though it got new stains since, of a different nature. But allied bombardments were not needed for this cleansing, and that's a good thing, I believe.

rubble

[Doering]

You guys could fill a book with these amazing stories!

[Doering]

Hi,
Haven't been around lately. However, it is that time of year again to remember. Just thought I'd re-activate this thread for those new to the forum and for those who have not seen this video honoring the crews of the Lancaster Bombers.
http://vimeo.com/13430247

[Jake81]

sorry here i am not sharing any video but Buxton’s history will roar back to life on Carnival Day when the last flying Lancaster bomber in the UK will fly over the town.

Between 1.50pm and 2pm on carnival day the bomber will perform a fly-past over Buxton in memory of Buxton marine Scott Taylor and all other local men and women who have died or been injured in the name of our country and as a reminder of Buxton’s RAF History.

Many people may not remember the RAF base at Harpur Hill, built on the site of an old quarry.

Work started in 1938 but because of bad weather the unit didn’t become operational until mid 1940. The facility was at one point the largest underground munitions storage facility in the country, covering close to 500 acres, the site included storage of German Gas weapons and V bombs after the war.

Harpur Hill was one of the RAF’s UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) known as X stations. It was manned by a bomb disposal unit who specialised in disarming German gas bombs. They had to dispose of the mustard gas and phosgene on the hills around Buxton by burning it with bleach. This was a most unsatisfactory method as large volumes of smoke were produced and not all the mustard gas was consumed. Some remained as vapour distributed to the atmosphere. It also killed all the vegetation around.

Harpur was also the base for the RAF Mountain Rescue Team who attended many air crashes in the hills around Derbyshire.

Although the site closed in 1960 there are still townspeople who served in the RAF and were stationed at Harpur Hill and there remains a reminder of the RAF with the road names such as Trenchard Drive, Tedder Avenue and Harris Road.