Had a good laugh at the thought any bailed out pilot/aircrew would be "roaming around" in Southern England in 1940. For people who don't live here, we are talking of only 27 miles to England from France at the narrowest point, add another 70 miles and you're more or less in the centre of London. Same distance wide, no, say 100 miles square, and that's where nearly all of the BOB took place. Only 2/3 of that was land. The British had 9 divisions (900,000 troops!) in Southern England, add to that The Home Guard, local police, farm workers and finally the local population, and any wandering would have been minimal at best. Often the locals, if they got there before the army, administered first aid and tea, to aircrew, or something stronger. Bomber crews who crash landed were often in bad shape, broken limbs and bullet wounds, etc., and were probably just glad to get out of the plane before it blew up, and grateful for any assistance offered. Even if they made it to the coast, they'd have had to be good swimmers! Given the British sense of humour they have let them swim out ten miles before collecting them.
Really looking forward to SOW, Oleg and Co. doing a great job, keep it up!
|
04-16-2010, 12:33 PM
Threaded Mode