RE: https://mastodon.social/@ianRobinson/116465330461010595
An amazing film. Still holds up 50+ years after release.
@ottaross I've not looked into this particular incident in detail but there are other cases in the Battle of Britain of clearly intentional ramming, P/O Kenneth Mackenzie being dubbed the "Messerschmitt Rammer" by the press.
The account of the event is pretty harrowing. An RAF pilot rammed the bomber and busted off its tail, then bailed out of his Hurricane and barely survived.
(There was some later debate over whether it was intentional or not)
On 24 August 1940, during the #BattleOfBritain, four 32 Sqn Hurricanes crashed round the village where I grew up. Walking over the footpath from Woodland Road to Brady Road I noticed that the sites of all four are visible from the hill.
It's not unusual for aircraft from the same combat to crash in the same area but what's particularly notable about this is that 32 Sqn were involved in two combats over Lyminge on the same day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
https://battle-of-britain-diary.org.uk/1940/08/24/?tag=32-sqn&order=desc
One of the pages on my #BattleOfBritain site seems more popular than I'd expect, even for a relatively notable event (first Messerschmitt brought down on British soil) and one I've covered in detail with some field research: https://battle-of-britain-diary.org.uk/1940/07/08/lt-johann-boehm-shot-down-near-elham/
I was checking some logs today and found the reason, this particular aircraft has been included as an option in the decal sheet of an #Airfix kit: https://uk.airfix.com/products/messerschmitt-bf109e-3e-4-a05120c
The World at War
Ian Robinson
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