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/feat..._aircraft.html

Originally Posted by 322Sqn_Dusty

http://www.archaeology.org/1105/feat..._aircraft.html

'Yes' or 'No' is alot easier.

[Friendly_flyer]

Yes, it happened.

[322Sqn_Dusty]

Originally Posted by machoo

'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!
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/p...laircsites.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]

Originally Posted by Gribbers

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

Yes, that was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands