One of the best WWII documentaries I've seen...aviation oriented.

Captain Winkle Brown is recognized as being one of the best, if not THE best pilot Britain had during WWII.

He fought with the RAF during The Battle of Britain, and as it neared the end, he was seriously concerned that Britain was going to lose.

After the war, he interrogated Goring during the trials. Goring's statistics were an exact match for his own, the Luftwaffe was about (IIRC) two months away from annihilating the RAF.
 
I’ve haven’t seen this one before. Didn’t know the British had any kind of aircraft carrier during WW2. Very interesting!! I would of been a puss flying a fighter back then. I’ve flown in my brothers small 2 seater a couple of times with my rectum puckered the whole time!!
 
Captain Winkle Brown is recognized as being one of the best, if not THE best pilot Britain had during WWII.

He fought with the RAF during The Battle of Britain, and as it neared the end, he was seriously concerned that Britain was going to lose.

After the war, he interrogated Goring during the trials. Goring's statistics were an exact match for his own, the Luftwaffe was about (IIRC) two months away from annihilating the RAF.
This is very interesting, thanks for
sharing. The bit towards the end is a surprise to me, I had always believed although the RAF was rather weary and threadbare, the luftwaffe was no longer the force it once was either. Looking forward to checking this out.
 
Thank you for posting this. I was spellbound the whole time. Talk about a humble man with a extraordinary career.

As an aside it was the British who figured out how to land a F4-U Corsair on a carrier. They showed the US how to bring it in sort of sideways so you could see the deck of the birdfarm. The nose was so long you had virtually no forward vision. The wing was gull shaped to allow clearance for the huge prop. It was 13' and change.

Here's the write up on how the British landed on a carrier.

It was the British who finally worked out a method of landing the Corsair on their carriers in spite of the visibility problems caused by the long nose. Instead of the normal downwind-crosswind-final approach method, the British simply turned downwind, then made a slow, continuous curve which aligned the Corsair with the deck only at the last second before the aircraft touched down and trapped. This method allowed the pilot to keep the Landing Signals Officer in view right up to the moment the plane was over the fan-tail where the LSO gave the sign to either "cut" or make another attempt.

Taken from this page.
http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u.html
 
I love the "mater of fact" tone of Winkle despite the fact he was flying the most exciting airplanes of his age. Something about the British attitude of "we have a job to do, let's get on with it" that is missing today.
 
I’ve haven’t seen this one before. Didn’t know the British had any kind of aircraft carrier during WW2. Very interesting!! I would of been a puss flying a fighter back then. I’ve flown in my brothers small 2 seater a couple of times with my rectum puckered the whole time!!
UK carriers were mostly in the Atlantic so were more compact than the big US Pacific based.
 
The brits actually invented steam catapults for carriers and the angled deck of later carriers.One other thing they did was armored their decks vs U.S.A. using just wood!Any interviewing of her Goring should be taken with a grain of salt ,he was a bombastic self promoting liar right up to the end.
 
I wonder if Winkle Brown is the same as Eric Brown, legendary pilot for the RAF that ended up flying the ME262, the ME163 Komet, and countless other wacky German designs...

Just looked. Yep. I used to own a book he wrote about all those great designs he got to fly. He said the 229 Horton was just stupid-good, and the ME163 Komet, with no landing gear, was just stupid, if technically amazing.

This guy was a boss.
 
I love the "mater of fact" tone of Winkle despite the fact he was flying the most exciting airplanes of his age. Something about the British attitude of "we have a job to do, let's get on with it" that is missing today.
RAF Wing Commander 'Taffy' Holden was a get'er done sort of guy. This is a little bit off topic, as it transpired in 1966.

They were behind schedule doing aircraft repair and maintenance, so he decided to fix a jet fighter himself. He had never flown a jet, just single engine prop jobs. Until this happened:

 
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As a side note, I was lucky enough to have met Douglas Bader of Spitfire fame, the pilot so dedicated that he flew WITHOUT legs. Even handicapped as such, he still was able to attain 22 kills.

Then, as a POW in WWII when knocked out of the air, he escaped so many times they, the Germans, threatened to take away his artificial legs. He'd lost both in 1931 in a aircraft show. Guess the Brits were so desperate, they let him join in the fray.

Anyway, there I was at the opening of a new planetarium, and he was there as a guest speaker. So, there I was outside when this chap came up to me while sitting outside on the newly placed sod. We talked a bit, I didn't know who he was at first. In the following talk, while opening my lunch, of which he kinda looked envy-like at...and of which I shared, he said he was kinda tired after a long flight to Calgary. Guess it was then that I sat back and put his English accent together and his ID, but he was older than the photos that I had seen of him...it was Douglas Bader!

There was no pretence on his part. A exceptional air ace of WWII and probably the most famous person I'd ever meet...and we were having lunch together. In the dialogue that followed, he said little about his exploits of the war. In turn, I offered no questions. Guess I just wanted to enjoy his gentle company at the time and savour the moment. When it came time to get up, he did so with some difficulty. I was tempted to give a hand, but the look I got was, 'No help wanted'. This was my day of luck! I did manage to get his autograph on my opening pamphlet, and have it to this day.

A fine man that took part in a troubled time...and excelled despite his hardship.

Just two blokes, enjoying a lunch together.

Life is strange.

Q
 
This is very interesting, thanks for
sharing. The bit towards the end is a surprise to me, I had always believed although the RAF was rather weary and threadbare, the luftwaffe was no longer the force it once was either. Looking forward to checking this out.
Despite the Allied bombing of Germany, even the targeting of aircraft facilities, the Germans were still repairing and building airplanes faster than the British. It was a war of attrition that Britain was losing, even with support from the USA. Hitler decided to stop the attack on England, and transferred the planes to attack the USSR. Captain Brown attributes the RAF's survival to "pure luck". (I don't believe in luck) I've read that Hitler didn't really want war with England, that he actually admired and respected the country. I'm not saying Hitler had any positive qualities, just talking about what might have influenced his decisions.
The brits actually invented steam catapults for carriers and the angled deck of later carriers.One other thing they did was armored their decks vs U.S.A. using just wood!Any interviewing of her Goring should be taken with a grain of salt ,he was a bombastic self promoting liar right up to the end.
Not that I'm defending Goring, he was awful. He played a lead role in implementing Himmler's Final Solution.

However, Captain Brown had made the same assessment, that the Nazis were going wipe the RAF out within a few months.
 
@Quadman2 Douglas Bader's life would make a hell of a movie, as would Adolf Galland, Pappy Boyington, Francis Gabreski, and all those old school aces.

I was lucky enough back in November of 1996 to attend a Bowling Green Prayer Breakfast, and the speaker was the late Joe Foss (26 kills in the South Pacific, if memory serves).

I shook his hand, and got my picture with him, still on the wall. What a sweet, kind man.
 
As a side note, I was lucky enough to have met Douglas Bader of Spitfire fame, the pilot so dedicated that he flew WITHOUT legs. Even handicapped as such, he still was able to attain 22 kills.

Then, as a POW in WWII when knocked out of the air, he escaped so many times they, the Germans, threatened to take away his artificial legs. He'd lost both in 1931 in a aircraft show. Guess the Brits were so desperate, they let him join in the fray.

Anyway, there I was at the opening of a new planetarium, and he was there as a guest speaker. So, there I was outside when this chap came up to me while sitting outside on the newly placed sod. We talked a bit, I didn't know who he was at first. In the following talk, while opening my lunch, of which he kinda looked envy-like at...and of which I shared, he said he was kinda tired after a long flight to Calgary. Guess it was then that I sat back and put his English accent together and his ID, but he was older than the photos that I had seen of him...it was Douglas Bader!

There was no pretence on his part. A exceptional air ace of WWII and probably the most famous person I'd ever meet...and we were having lunch together. In the dialogue that followed, he said little about his exploits of the war. In turn, I offered no questions. Guess I just wanted to enjoy his gentle company at the time and savour the moment. When it came time to get up, he did so with some difficulty. I was tempted to give a hand, but the look I got was, 'No help wanted'. This was my day of luck! I did manage to get his autograph on my opening pamphlet, and have it to this day.

A fine man that took part in a troubled time...and excelled despite his hardship.

Just two blokes, enjoying a lunch together.

Life is strange.

Q
One of the great legendary pilots of WW-2 if not the greatest, a remarkable memorable encounter!
 
@Quadman2 Douglas Bader's life would make a hell of a movie, as would Adolf Galland, Pappy Boyington, Francis Gabreski, and all those old school aces.

I was lucky enough back in November of 1996 to attend a Bowling Green Prayer Breakfast, and the speaker was the late Joe Foss (26 kills in the South Pacific, if memory serves).

I shook his hand, and got my picture with him, still on the wall. What a sweet, kind man.



Great share oj!:thumbsup: It will stay with you forever. You lucked out as did I.

These greats in history did so much so we could live the way we want today.

Q
 
If I could go back in time and chat with any aces id chose Billy Bishop of my country with 72 kills and Eddie Rickenbacker of the U.S.A. at 26 kills.Just a few short years before they flew, planes were just getting off the ground.No parachutes allowed ! Shows you just how stupid the high command was.Bishop was number 3 in wwi aces behind only the red baron and Rene Foch of France.Id love to fly one of those planes .
 
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