Did the British actually shoot down bombers/planes over London?

[the Dutchman]

With the risk of them crashing into buildings and making more victims?
Or did they wait for the enemy after or before reaching London(and any other big cities for that matter)?

[322Sqn_Dusty]

http://www.archaeology.org/1105/features/world_war_II_aircraft.html

[machoo]

http://www.archaeology.org/1105/features/world_war_II_aircraft.html
'Yes' or 'No' is alot easier.

[Friendly_flyer]

Yes, it happened.

[322Sqn_Dusty]

'Yes' or 'No' is alot easier.

True it is. But let's do it like this, give some guidance or info and it's a lot more interesting than 'yes' or 'No' :

Plane: Hawker Hurricane
Pilot affiliation: U.K.
Crash site: Buckingham Palace Road, London
Cause: On September 15, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Royal Air Force pilot Ray Holmes spotted a German Dornier headed straight for Buckingham Palace. Out of ammunition, he chose to run his Hurricane into the German plane, clipping its tail and causing it go down. Holmes parachuted to safety before his aircraft hit the ground at 350 miles per hour.
Excavation: A 13-year effort led by amateur archaeologist Christopher Bennett sought to dig up the plane, which was lodged under a water main beneath Buckingham Palace Road.

Source see earlier post.

[senseispcc]

Yes, they did and one of them, Ray Holmes of No. 504 Squadron RAF, did even receive a decoration after raming down the bomber that was going to bomb Buckingham palace!:rolleyes:
Do not forget they also shot dca guns over London and many ammo did not explode or if it did explode the scrapnel did fall down. So civil population should be in shelters and not only for falling bombs.

[Timberwolf]

Not only german planes but RAF planes aswell Infact there was a case were a hurricane slammed into a bomb crater in the middle of a london street and was covered over with bricks and dirt soon after. In May 2004 the former RAF pilot was on hand as the remains of his aircraft were unearthed to make way for a new water main. Remarkably, part of the incident was captured on film, the tailplane fluttering down and the fuselage section (minus the wings outboard of the engines, which were torn off by aerodynamic forces) plummeting towards the ground. The RAF pilot didn't shoot the bomber down, though; he had run out of ammo when he spotted the bomber apparently trying to attack Buckingham Palace. In desperation, he rammed the bomber, taking off the tailplane. The fuselage then crashed into Victoria Station. Incredibly, he managed to parachute to safety. His own plane rammed into the ground at 350 mph. It was buried so deep that the authorities just left it there.

[BadgerSmedly]

Didn't a Ju88 get brought down onto Victoria Station? I'll have a poke around....

[Gribbers]

Here's a photo (and more details) of the tailless Dornier as it came down over Victoria Station:

http://www.bbm.org.uk/as-holmes.htm

Apparently a ??Dutch?? royal was watching from ground level right next to the station.

Also a link here with a pic of a crumpled 109 that fell onto a London street (see page 4):

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/military-aircraft-crash-sites/milaircsites.pdf

I think many of the civilians rushed to shelters and the tube network when the air raid sirens started, so casualties from aircraft crashes were minimal, apart from the poor pilots who couldn't bail out in time of course.

[322Sqn_Dusty]

Apparently a ??Dutch?? royal was watching from ground level right next to the station.


Yes, that was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

[Gribbers]

Yes, that was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

That's her....I heard about it years ago but couldn't remember and couldn't find any info :)

[katdogfizzow]

With the risk of them crashing into buildings and making more victims?
Or did they wait for the enemy after or before reaching London(and any other big cities for that matter)?


Wait for the enemy to drop 500-1000 pound bombs all over your city?! Are you INSANE? ...When the enemy is dropping 500 pound bombs on your city, you shoot to kill because the entire area is a war zone.

Here is the potential blast radius of the SC500 bomb.

http://howbigreally.com/dimension/worldwar2/german_sc500_bomb_blast

Here are the effects of bombs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Wse0-kknY&feature=related

[SEE]

With the risk of them crashing into buildings and making more victims?
Or did they wait for the enemy after or before reaching London(and any other big cities for that matter)?


The RAF initially wanted to intercept before they reached their targets but Luftwaffe formations were high in numbers. However, Dowding seems to have consdered the lack of fuel problem for the escorting fighters and this was even more of a problem with them protecting the bombers over London itself.

I suspect the RAF used tactical advantage rather consideration of civilian casualties and that the Bombers (due to their large formations) would get through anyway.

[TomcatViP]

The RAF initially wanted to intercept before they reached their targets but Luftwaffe formations were high in numbers. However, Dowding seems to have consdered the lack of fuel problem for the escorting fighters and this was even more of a problem with them protecting the bombers over London itself.

I suspect the RAF used tactical advantage rather consideration of civilian casualties and that the Bombers (due to their large formations) would get through anyway.

They are intercepted over their target simply because it's their converging point and as such any intercept attempt have a greater chance to end successfully around that point (ingress or egress wise)

It's no difference btw a military airfield, ammunition depot or a city.

By the way bombs kills more than crashing planes.