Recent content by norbert yeah

A spur off from my rekindled research into the various airmen lost around the Channel Islands has been the discovery of the plans for Operation Blazing. This was a plan hatched by the British high command to land a force of 3,000 troops on the most northerly Channel Island of Alderney in May...

I've been looking for some info on Sqd Ldr Arthur Hey Donaldson DSO DFC ( Bar) AFC, the CO of 263 Sqn from February 1941 to August 1941, and Malta based Wing Commander in charge of 229, 249 and 185 during 1942. He was seriously injured during combat with a number of JU88's on 15th October 1942...

Can't say I have read that one, the majority of these books don't reveal anything new about the occupation and in general cover ground already turned over. Sinels Occupation diary gives a day to day account of the occupation in Jersey, as does Falles for Guernsey. The After the Battle book...

My fathers only other act of defiance was early in the occupation, he and a mate were cycling through the centre of St Helier when they came across a German Soldier, walking casually along with a local girl on his arm (Usually referred to as a JerryBag), his mate spotted a tomato (That dates it...

That's where the nail is hit squarely on the head, and why the British media are so angled towards the Collaboration thing. I think it smarts abit with them, because if the Germans had made it across the Channel in 1940, there would have been elements of British society willing to help the axis...

No real tactical or strategic reason or importance, unlike Malta which controlled the Med, the Channel Islands could in theory control the Bay of St Malo. For the Germans it was more of a propaganda exercise and something of an obsession for Mr Hitler. To be honest the Germans would not have...

There has been a lot of debate about the relative inactivity of resistance within the Channel Islands during WW2, many media types have made an issue of collaboration without actually looking further into the situation the 70,000 channel islands found themselves in, in 1940. The total land...

Unfortunately my father passed away just over three years ago, but you are right he could tell a tale or two, though normally this would be with people who went through the same experiences as him, and not generally to me. I had to be within ear shot to pick up the stories. It's funny how...

Hopefully the whole sorry tale and his website will pass into history in time.

It's funny how the memory can play tricks, I've been saying this somewhere else on the net recently, unfortunately that person won't accept this. My fathers family lived under the Germans in Jersey for 5 years and like all of these events, the Phoney war, Battle of Britiain, Battle of the...

A man with an excellent memory for dates but bad spelling, thought he had been walking by a remote beach one day in 1942 and happened to look up when he was horrified to see a very large airliner, without undercarriage, dive and crash with immense force into the ocean and within minutes...

I agree you could find small bits and pieces, I know I found the remains of a number of stick grenades close to one of the beaches by kicking around in the sand. I also know of a pistol being found in an air duct of a bunker during the 1980's. However it's small fry and not the impression I get...

There appears to be many holes and inaccuracies in the whole story, the dates don't seem to match up to documented events.

Possibly, however there was an obvious clash of personalities between Leigh Mallory/Bader and Park/Dowding over the tactics. Moving Bader under Parks control may have compounded this problem and upset the balance. Big wings took time to formate, time the units to the south of London didn't have...

Without looking at the film again, IIRC the aircraft in the last scene were Harvards or Texans. I don't think any fighter could be mistaken for a Swordfish !!!!