Nightjar wrote:
On 18/05/2012 13:46, Clive George wrote:
On 18/05/2012 13:39, Roberts wrote:

Many of the V1s shot down by anti aircraft guns fell on houses killing
the occupants.

I agree this is not often mentioned, as one who lived on the
outskirts of
Maidstone for the whole of the second world war. I speak from
experience.
Even with the films of aerial combat you never see a shot down plane
crash
into a house.

It didn't happen that often. If the pilot was alive, he would try to set
down on open ground and even if the aircraft was simply falling from the
sky, even in a densely populated area it would be more likely to hit
open ground than a house. V1s were a different matter, as they carried a
very large warhead and, unlike bombs still in a bomber, it would be
armed when it hit.

In any case, the majority of enemy aircraft were shot down by fighters,
who mostly operated over the Channel and open countryside.

I did wonder about that. I also wondered about all the lead bits flying
through the air - where did they go? (down, obviously, but they're never
mentioned).

Why do you think Air Raid Wardens, Home Guard and Police, who had to be
outside when raids were on, wore steel helmets?


To protect themselves from falling buildings and/or pigeon ****?


Colin Bignell


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.