21/06/2010
No Horsemen for Legends...
Just had the word that the P-51 Flight Team AKA "The Horsemen" will not be displaying at Flying Legends this year due to other commitments Stateside.This is a real shame as they certainly bring something special to the show and it would have been nice to hear them 'perform' to the new piece of music specially written by the renowned composer James Horner (see earlier video link).
Disappointment can not be disguised...
18/06/2010
Duxford (Fri)day
Could be a scene from Duxford during WWII - from front to back, TD248, PV202, PL344.(Click image for larger version)
Familiar names...
Today I was watching some film from 1942 when a name popped up that rang a bell. F/O Gentile of 133 Sqdn. Target was a FW 190. I wondered if that was the Don Gentile...
I filed that away to ruminate on later and half way through the film another name appeared. F/Lt Blakeslee also of 133 Sqdn engaging FW190's and a Dornier 217. Now that was two names, could this be Don Blakeslee? It was only a few entries later that "Eagle Squadron" appeared after 133 Sqdn, that the names finally dropped into place. The date of this film was 19/8/1942 and a quick search of the internet revealed a page on Wikipedia -
Don Blakeslee - "During the raid against Dieppe, France on August 18, 1942, Blakeslee shot down a further FW-190, and another probably destroyed on the 19th, thus achieving ace status."
There is a possibility that the clip I had just seen was this very "probable" which gave him "ace status".
Also from Wikipedia - Don Gentile - "Gentile flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mark V with No. 133 Squadron, one of the famed "Eagle Squadron" during 1942. His first kills (Ju 88 & Fw 190) were on August 1, 1942, during Operation Jubilee; and he downed an FW-190 and a JU-88 on August 1, 1942.
In September 1942, the Eagle squadrons transferred to the USAAF, becoming the 4th Fighter Group."
I'm sure that there are many more aces and names that slip by unnoticed, but like the recent clip of Paddy Finucane's penultimate mission, famous names tend to jump out a little more readily, and thanks to the resource of the internet, finding out info is only a matter of a few minutes or mouse clicks....
I filed that away to ruminate on later and half way through the film another name appeared. F/Lt Blakeslee also of 133 Sqdn engaging FW190's and a Dornier 217. Now that was two names, could this be Don Blakeslee? It was only a few entries later that "Eagle Squadron" appeared after 133 Sqdn, that the names finally dropped into place. The date of this film was 19/8/1942 and a quick search of the internet revealed a page on Wikipedia -
Don Blakeslee - "During the raid against Dieppe, France on August 18, 1942, Blakeslee shot down a further FW-190, and another probably destroyed on the 19th, thus achieving ace status."
There is a possibility that the clip I had just seen was this very "probable" which gave him "ace status".
Also from Wikipedia - Don Gentile - "Gentile flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mark V with No. 133 Squadron, one of the famed "Eagle Squadron" during 1942. His first kills (Ju 88 & Fw 190) were on August 1, 1942, during Operation Jubilee; and he downed an FW-190 and a JU-88 on August 1, 1942.
In September 1942, the Eagle squadrons transferred to the USAAF, becoming the 4th Fighter Group."
I'm sure that there are many more aces and names that slip by unnoticed, but like the recent clip of Paddy Finucane's penultimate mission, famous names tend to jump out a little more readily, and thanks to the resource of the internet, finding out info is only a matter of a few minutes or mouse clicks....
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