Picture of the day. (1 Viewer)

GrauGeist · Jun 5, 2018

buffnut453 said:
'Fraid that's a Blackburn Roc and it served in the FAA. It was not a competitor to the Defiant. The Hawker Hotspur was a modified Hawker Henley. The Roc was a (major) adaptation of the Blackburn Skua fighter/dive-bomber.

Seem to be having some issues with the forum today: went to post the Hotspur and ended up with the Roc, as they are next to each other in the album...

KiwiBiggles · Jun 5, 2018

Smokey Stover said:
P-47 Thunderbolt piloted by Captain Raymond M. Walsh of the 406th Fighter Group is silhouetted against the exploding ammunition truck he just strafed, France, 23 June 1944. The image was taken by his wingman's gun camera in the following P-47. I have seen differing dates for this incident, one from early 1945. So if anyone knows different feel free to correct me View attachment 496404

Along similar lines:

ito_wreck_West_Malling_-_Royal_Air_Force_-_Air_Defence_of_Great_Britain_%28adgb%29%2C_1944_CE136.jpg

Fire-damaged De Havilland Mosquito NF Mark XVII, 'O', of No. 85 Squadron RAF, back at its base at West Malling, Kent, following the destruction of an enemy bomber on the night of 24/25 March 1944. Flying Officer E R Hedgecoe (pilot), and Flight Lieutenant N L Bamford (radar operator), flying 'O for Orange' intercepted the Junkers Ju 188 off Hastings, closing to 100 yards to deliver a burst of cannon fire upon which the enemy aircraft suddenly exploded, enveloping the Mosquito in burning oil and debris. The fabric covering of the aircraft caught fire and it was enveloped in flames. Hedgecoe ordered Bamford to bale out, but had second thoughts when the fire went out and he found the Mosquito to be stable in flight, despite the loss of rudder control due to the fabric being burned off. After wiping a clear patch in the soot-blackened cockpit canopy, Hedgecoe flew back to a safe landing at West Malling. Hedgecoe and Bamford were an experienced night-fighting crew, Hedgecoe having shot down eight enemy aircraft and Bamford taking part in the destruction of ten, before both were killed in a flying accident on 1 January 1945.

From the Wikipedia article on Operation Steinbock (the Baby Blitz)