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Pat_B
How fascinating!
I remember very well hearing these Buzz Bombs, Doodlebugs, Flying Bombs, as they were called.
They were slow, and had a distinctive rasping, sawing sound, which suddenly ceased as their fuel ran out.
That silence before they fell to earth and exploded was literally a new concept of time ; so short and yet such an infinite length! Very scary!
But not half as scary as the V2s, which one never heard ( 'cos they were supersonic ) only a sudden appalling explosion.
A schoofriend and I were going to a cinema, but changed our minds ; it was hit by a V2, killing almost all the audience.
I guess I've quite a lot to be thankful for. Like your father!!! Look at this link.
http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/
posted by
ariel70
on January 11, 2007 at 8:40 AM
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My father was in the navy in WWII,
served on the USS Saratoga, an aircraft carrier, stationed off Scotland for part of the war. He was a gunnery officer, loaned to the Army after the Armed Forces captured Germany and assigned to disarm and figure out a weapon they called buzz bombs.
These anti-personnel weapons were dropped from planes, made a buzzing noise, and were designed to blow up above the ground, sending metal shrapnel bits whirling in all directions: nasty things, bloody and deadly. He gave instructions, was to get outdoors and into a bunker, but too soon they began to tinker and he spent 3 years in a naval hospital suffering from "shell shock."
Sometimes it seems death is not the worst outcome of battle.
posted by
Pat_B
on January 11, 2007 at 8:14 AM
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Pat_B
Thank you. I bet those guys were a mite pleased!
As were the sailors in this link http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/Rescueof300BritishPOWsFro.html
So were we at the time! Our sailor-boys ( my two brothers amongst them ! ) giving them Huns a bloody nose.
Wow! Seems like one hell of a long time ago! Hell, it was a hell of a long time ago!
el viejo, Tel
posted by
ariel70
on January 9, 2007 at 7:12 AM
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Bravo! Very interesting.
I liked the image that came to mind from your description of burning the ship at its moorings and recapturing the stolen crew. Reminded me of my only experience with this kind of image -- movie scenes.
posted by
Pat_B
on January 9, 2007 at 7:06 AM
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Ariel
fascinating bit of history! And this sentence of yours strikes a particularly familiar chord: "a sort of moral paralysis in the face of this threat from a strange and alien source"...
posted by
Nautikos
on January 6, 2007 at 3:48 PM
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Passion
Ouch!!!
A howler. Too tired to edit it right now.
Thanks.
posted by
ariel70
on January 6, 2007 at 2:43 PM
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Interesting post...I DO however want to point out that the purpose
Of ALL words is to give us the ability to distinguish one from the other...
posted by
Passionflower
on January 6, 2007 at 2:38 PM
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