RAF bomber command losses by plane,target and month at the end of the site mentioned below:

http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/raf_bc/

By target:

1. Berlin
2. Training (!)
3. Minelaying (!!)
4. Essen
....

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That is a very good site. They lost almost as many aircraft to training as they did bombing Berlin. [img]graemlins/salute.gif[/img]

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

note for Essen how close it is to Venlo, one of the prime night fighter network airfields with access from several defence units in the north. Duisburg and Bochum in the outsdie locals of Essen were heavily defended also by numerous 8.8cm's

From Maser´s "Hitler"

Hitler was released from Austrian ( Austro-Hungarian?) army service on Feb 5th 1914 in Salzburg for being too weak to serve ( it is suspected his "lung disease" was the cause ).

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So this means he was not in Germany in order to stay out of army really. But he was not prepared to fight for the Austrian army, but for the German army yes!

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It seems that the German propaganda machine used a term to strengthen the Berlin defence in early 1945 that "The Soviets are as far from Berlin as the German army was from Paris in 1918"...

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Some interesting items here!!:

Cigarette case from Hitler to Skorzeny after Mussolini´s rescue etc.

http://www.museumofworldwarii.com/To...anMilitary.htm

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sry wrong thread

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Police cars carry three agents. The first one can read, the second one can write and the third one keeps watch on those dangerous intellectuals.
Unknown subversive activist - 20th century.

French aircraft carrier Béarn

The Béarn was commissioned in 1927 and was the only aircraft carrier produced by France until after World War II.

During the German invasion of France, Béarn was dispatched to the United States to ferry new aircraft which had been ordered from that country, including Vought Vindicators and Grumman Wildcats. Neither aircraft reached its destination before the surrender of France in 1940, and the Béarn instead sought harbor in Martinique. She was one of a number of French ships that were effectively interned at Martinique, at United States insistence, to prevent their use by Germany.

After German occupation of Vichy France (Case Anton), Bearn was one of several French ships that re-joined the Allies. She was, however, too obsolete to participate in the naval operations of the Free French fleet. Instead, in 1943/44, she was converted to an aircraft transport, a valuable role to the Allied war effort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...ier_B%C3%A9arn



http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNFR_3-50_m1922.htm

It also seems a new carrier named Joffre was 25% when France surrendered June 1940.

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Sure this was discussed somewhere before but just did not find it so:

Giro gun sight ( Gyro?)

http://www.spitfirespares.com/Spitfi.../gunsites.html

Go half-way down the site page


Worked out the deflection for the pilot. Put the X on the target at any angle and you hit the target. Named also Ace maker because of the rapid increase of Aces after intoduction of this sight.

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From Stanley Newcourt-Nowodworski
Black propaganda

In Dec 1938 Propaganda budget was

Germany 5 million £
Italy 1,5 million £
France 1 million £
Britain 50,000 £

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Of the 182 Victoria Crosses awarded during the Second World War, only one was awarded to a foreigner, Anders Lassen.

Citation: On 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio, Italy, Major Lassen was ordered to take a patrol and raid the north shore of the lake, causing as many casualties and as much confusion as possible to give the impression of a major landing. In the face of overwhelming enemy numbers he fulfilled his mission, three positions being wiped out, and when he was mortally wounded he refused to be evacuated so that the withdrawal should not be impeded and his men's lives endangered.

He was killed in this action and awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

http://www.milhist.dk/soldiers/vc/vc.html

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By Sept 1939 almost 3,5 million Volksempfänger 301 sets had been sold in Germany. Thus 70% of German households had a wireless set.

From "Black propaganda" book



Also known as Göbbels´ schnautze ( Göbbels´ snout )

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The Russians demolished the Reich Chancellery after the war and used the stones to build blocks of flats in Moscow and a memorial in Berlin-Treptow.

From
Hitler Phenomenon by Henry Picker et al

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German Armies:

Scarcity of brass resulted in making cartridges out of steel and then lacquering them to prevent rusting.Once the weapons using them got hot, jamming was frequent. Machine guns would have to change barrels after every belt of ammunition used!

Altner " Berlin dance of death"

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Do you have a 'when' and 'where' to go with that Kai?

No.9

I´m afraid the text mentions only "later phase of war" but I´ll check if there´s any further details on this, No.9!

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Many thanks Kai.

No.9

Checked on this and unfortunately no other details on the steel cartridges in the book.

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Fastest construction of a sea-going merchant vessel was Libertyship Robert G Peary : four days and 15 1/2 hours from keel laying to launch and was completed ( fitted out ) just three days later.

http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/WW2Lib...TheBridge.html

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Thank you Kai. Perhaps these munitions went to a reserve and subsiquently weren't issued - war ended? Else, perhaps logisitcs supplied no further than Berlin? Worth keeping in mind in case a remark comes up somewhere about poor quality ammo/jams etc, which this could explain.

No.9

Walther Model coldly ordered divisions like Grossdeutschland into situations, he knew would generate high casualties.He reasoned the elite divisions would be withdrawn, replenished and refitted somewhere in the rear, option not open to his front line units. This tendency was quickly noticed by the officers and men of GD and waffen-SS, which did not endear Model to them.

Hitler´s commander by S newton

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So as usually Hitler created more new formations and only the elite divisions were refitted, Model used this to his advantage...

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Fairey Albacore

One Fairey Albacore claimed to have shot down a JU87 in combat at Kirkenes in 1941, although this does not come clear from this article from the Fleet Air Arm Archive. It is said to be the only kill performed by an Albacore ever. The JU87 was one of several returning to base in Kirkenes from a bomb raid at Murmansk and enganged in the combat against the Albacores almost by accident.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Albacore

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Messerschmitt Me 209-II

Messerschmitt's designation Me 209 was actually used for two separate projects during World War II. The first Me 209 was a record-setting single-engined race plane for which little or no consideration was given to adaptation for combat. The second was the Me 209-II, a proposal for an enhanced version of the highly successful Messerschmitt Bf 109 which served as the Luftwaffe's primary fighter t