| The Blitz 13:51 - Feb 24 with 1009 views | Sadoldgit |
An interesting documentary on the Blitz on BBC last night. We have all seen the footage of the devastating bombing but the personal stories really brought home the horror of the situation. The Government padlocked the gates of the underground stations at the start to prevent people from taking shelter so that the trains could continue to run. Public pressure out an end to it fortunately but it was interesting to see how badly prepared we were for the bombing campaign. The idea that everyone pulled together was shown to be hollow as anti-semitism reared its ugly head in the Rast End. Photographs in newspapers were doctored and censored as were news reports of the actual damage done and losses. Descriptions of the damage done to the casualties was horrific. My grandparents and parents rarely talked about the Blitz ( they live in London) and you can understand why when you watch this. Fortunately for us Hitler turned his attention towards Russia in 1941 because it is hard to see how London and the other major cities could have survived another prolonged bombing campaign. |  | | |  |
| The Blitz on 17:04 - Feb 26 with 854 views | Ron11 |
Fortunately for us, RAF fighter command with some pilots as young as nineteen, were up there fighting the Battle of Britain in 1940 from July to October and then during the Blitz which ended in May 1941 with final air superiority over the Luftwaffe.Hitler turning to Russia was his second mistake.
Did the BBC choose not to mention the sacrifices made by Fighter and Bomber Command? Of 125,000 Bomber command aircrew for example, over 55,000 lost their lives.
By what you say there, as usual the BBC has portrayed it as a lucky escape with absolutely no consideration for the losses and the bravery involved in turning the Nazis away. Typical of the BBC to highlight 'racism' against Jewish people here when the real crimes against them were being committed by the Nazis. |  | | |
| The Blitz on 17:15 - Feb 26 with 848 views | Sadoldgit |
| The Blitz on 17:04 - Feb 26 by Ron11 |
Fortunately for us, RAF fighter command with some pilots as young as nineteen, were up there fighting the Battle of Britain in 1940 from July to October and then during the Blitz which ended in May 1941 with final air superiority over the Luftwaffe.Hitler turning to Russia was his second mistake.
Did the BBC choose not to mention the sacrifices made by Fighter and Bomber Command? Of 125,000 Bomber command aircrew for example, over 55,000 lost their lives.
By what you say there, as usual the BBC has portrayed it as a lucky escape with absolutely no consideration for the losses and the bravery involved in turning the Nazis away. Typical of the BBC to highlight 'racism' against Jewish people here when the real crimes against them were being committed by the Nazis. |
You seem to have missed the point of the programme Ron. It was about the effect that the Blitz had on ordinary people who lived through it, not about the armed forces. Did you watch it? | | | |
| The Blitz on 17:44 - Feb 26 with 842 views | JaySaint |
ah, real Heroes, fighting real Nazi's (not those who voted to leave a political union) | |
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| The Blitz on 18:17 - Feb 26 with 821 views | DellHero_Would |
I spent some time at Fords many years ago. I read a story recently of the plant being bombed with a significant loss of life as a result. Which led me to find some aerial photos online and you could see where the main impact of the bombing was on the plant. Unbeknown to me at the time of working there in the 80s.
A sobering thought, when I think back to working within yards of what happened there.
Without the RAF we'd almost certainly have been invaded. | |
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| The Blitz on 18:40 - Feb 26 with 797 views | 1885_SFC |
| The Blitz on 18:17 - Feb 26 by DellHero_Would |
I spent some time at Fords many years ago. I read a story recently of the plant being bombed with a significant loss of life as a result. Which led me to find some aerial photos online and you could see where the main impact of the bombing was on the plant. Unbeknown to me at the time of working there in the 80s.
A sobering thought, when I think back to working within yards of what happened there.
Without the RAF we'd almost certainly have been invaded. |
This is a good read:
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/people/southamptons-secret-war-factories-7290 |  |
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| The Blitz on 21:18 - Feb 26 with 736 views | Sadoldgit |
| The Blitz on 18:17 - Feb 26 by DellHero_Would |
I spent some time at Fords many years ago. I read a story recently of the plant being bombed with a significant loss of life as a result. Which led me to find some aerial photos online and you could see where the main impact of the bombing was on the plant. Unbeknown to me at the time of working there in the 80s.
A sobering thought, when I think back to working within yards of what happened there.
Without the RAF we'd almost certainly have been invaded. |
In the film Atonement there is a bit at the end where they mention a bomb that burst a water main which flooded Balham Underground Station and caused over 60 deaths, so even there people weren’t safe. I have a book somewhere about the bombing of Dresden where a firestorm developed which was almost as devastating as the atomic bomb. Seems odd that on one hand you could be found guilty of a war crime for shooting a surrendered prisoner but it was deemed ok to target hundreds of thousands of non combatants from the air with high explosive and incendiary devices. | | | |
| The Blitz on 21:21 - Feb 26 with 731 views | JaySaint |
| The Blitz on 21:18 - Feb 26 by Sadoldgit |
In the film Atonement there is a bit at the end where they mention a bomb that burst a water main which flooded Balham Underground Station and caused over 60 deaths, so even there people weren’t safe. I have a book somewhere about the bombing of Dresden where a firestorm developed which was almost as devastating as the atomic bomb. Seems odd that on one hand you could be found guilty of a war crime for shooting a surrendered prisoner but it was deemed ok to target hundreds of thousands of non combatants from the air with high explosive and incendiary devices. |
Depends on the Rules of Engagement used.
Remember, judging the past by todays standards is a very bizarre thing to do. Only makes you feel better
in 50 years, people will look at our era and think we were very bad people too (and tear down statues of the day I should imagine) | |
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| The Blitz on 09:00 - Feb 27 with 661 views | Sadoldgit |
Not all that long ago battles were fought by armies and civilians rarely got involved. In fact it was uncommon for locals to pitch up and watch two sides battle it out. Once war took to the air and it was decided that you could beat a country by crushing its civilian population we all became fair game. There was a lengthy discussion about whether “Bomber” Harris should be charged with war crimes for the ruthless bombings of cities like Dresden, Hamburg and Cologne, which seems a bit odd given how the Luftwaffe had already been used to bomb civilians to hell from the start of the war, having honed their skills in the Spanish Civil War. I don’t know about Rules of Engagement, but I do know that hundreds of thousands of women and children we mutilated and killed the both the Allis and the Axis forces, culminating in the horrific use of atomic bombs in Japan. | | | |
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