20th Century
Oxcart, Part 3
This will be the third and final installment in the Oxcart series. In the first part we looked at the early airborne reconnaissance missions of the Cold War and the requirements which led to the [more…]
Aviation
20th Century
Oxcart, Part 2
In part one of this series we took a look at the early spy flights of the Cold War and the vital intelligence they gathered from behind the Iron Curtain. We mentioned some of the [more…]
20th Century
20th Century
Pobjoy Aero-engines
Born in 1894, Douglas Rudolf Pobjoy later studied engineering locally at Bristol University. Pobjoy abandoned his studies when the first World War broke out by enlisting in the Army Service Corps and was sent to [more…]
20th Century
The Bombing of the Major V-Weapon Sites – The Fortress of Mimoyecques
There were a multitude of Crossbow V-Weapon sites throughout northern France and most were attacked from the air and later overrun by the advancing Allied armies. The light bombers of the Second Tactical Air Force [more…]
20th Century
The Bombing of the Major V-Weapon Sites – The Siracourt V1 Bunker
The Allies could finally claim air superiority over France and Belgium by 1943. It had been a hard-fought battle that started after the Battle of Britain in the Circus and Rhubarb sweeps over France, the [more…]
20th Century
The Bombing of the Major V-Weapon Sites – Wizernes and La Coupole
As discussed in the previous article, the successful air attacks against the Watten bunker forced the German Army to find an alternative location for a V-2 missile launch site nearby. They had already taken possession [more…]
20th Century
The Bombing of the Major V Weapon Sites – The Watten Bunker
Following on from the bombing of Peenemunde in August 1943, the Allied bomber offensive continued to attack precision targets in France with heavy bombers. The “Crossbow” offensive lasted from June until September of 1944, much [more…]
20th Century
The Disappearance of the Lady be Good
The Lady be Good was a B-24 Liberator bomber, newly assigned to the 514th Bomb Squadron, based at Soluch Field in Libya, near Benghazi. The aircraft and its crew arrived at the Libyan base around [more…]