Wartime photos
This post is really a marker for myself, but it seems an appropriate day for it. I've taken on the task of scanning and uploading (probably to Flickr) my father's wartime photos (WWII). He was an RAF photographer and so has a rather large collection of photos, most of which are unofficial and more of interest in a social history context than a military one. Of course, being mad keen on aircraft there are plenty of shots of them as well. :)
I'd thought of opening a separate account on Flickr for these, but I'll do some experimenting with sizes first and figure out how much storage etc will be needed. On my own paid account I won't have to worry about upload limits, but there would also be advantages to a dedicated unpaid account that would exist in its own right.
In any case I thought I'd mark today with a small sample of photos, which are under the cut. Given the subject matter, it won't be to everyone's taste on my flist, so for those who prefer to move on, here's some gratuitous cat cuteness from WWII.
I'm not sure which Royal Naval airstation this is from, as my father spent most of his wartime career on loan to the Fleet Air Arm, training photographers for the RN. However, the ship's cat (all shore bases are still named HMS and thus are ships) had been provided with its own personal hammock. It just goes to show that even in times of crisis, cat maintain firm control over their human slaves. :)
The following photos show the aftermath of the attack on RAF Ford (West Sussex), 18th August 1940. Official report for the day states:
Ford Aerodrome was attacked by thirteen to fifteen dive-bombers at 1445 and extensive damage was done to two hangars and other buildings. About one third of the men's living huts were destroyed and a large fire was caused to the oil and petrol stores. Four Service deaths are reported as well as ten civilian casualties.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/august18.html
My father's told me stories of 2 air raids he witnessed, I can't tell you which of these this was. In one he was watching from a nearby hillside, in the other he was sunbathing on the airfield and those who were sunbathing with him and didn't believe he could tell the engines weren't British planes, didn't make it to the shelter.
There are a couple more from the same raid in the Flickr set.
The next photos show the other side of wartime service - the opportunity that many people had to see parts of the world they'd never have normally reached. They're from RNAS Tanga in Tanganyika as it was and Tanzania as it is now. Somewhere (it'll turn up eventually) there's a photo which is a combination of these two and shows the tribesmen performing a dance of 'blessing' (for want of a better word) around 2 swordfish aircraft. Father spent quite a bit of time in swordfish as they were still being used for reconnaisance and thus a standard ride for a photographer.
I have no idea who the men are in this photo, they certainly look like conscripted local workers, though I'm sure there are a couple of shields in the middle of that row!
Difficult to tell if these are the same men in silhouette. I thought the propeller blade looked different, but now I see it's just bent and could well be a swordfish prop! In fact the corresponding blade in the first photo does look bent, so I assume it's the same group.
As always, the larger versions can be viewed on my Flickr account, just click on a photo to get through to Flickr.
I consider it my responsibility to get these photos up into public view before all the people who might have some interest, or even recall details, are gone though, given my dad was 23 at the time and is 90 now ... :( In any case, it's something I want to tackle, maybe over the winter.
I'd thought of opening a separate account on Flickr for these, but I'll do some experimenting with sizes first and figure out how much storage etc will be needed. On my own paid account I won't have to worry about upload limits, but there would also be advantages to a dedicated unpaid account that would exist in its own right.
In any case I thought I'd mark today with a small sample of photos, which are under the cut. Given the subject matter, it won't be to everyone's taste on my flist, so for those who prefer to move on, here's some gratuitous cat cuteness from WWII.
I'm not sure which Royal Naval airstation this is from, as my father spent most of his wartime career on loan to the Fleet Air Arm, training photographers for the RN. However, the ship's cat (all shore bases are still named HMS and thus are ships) had been provided with its own personal hammock. It just goes to show that even in times of crisis, cat maintain firm control over their human slaves. :)
The following photos show the aftermath of the attack on RAF Ford (West Sussex), 18th August 1940. Official report for the day states:
Ford Aerodrome was attacked by thirteen to fifteen dive-bombers at 1445 and extensive damage was done to two hangars and other buildings. About one third of the men's living huts were destroyed and a large fire was caused to the oil and petrol stores. Four Service deaths are reported as well as ten civilian casualties.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/august18.html
My father's told me stories of 2 air raids he witnessed, I can't tell you which of these this was. In one he was watching from a nearby hillside, in the other he was sunbathing on the airfield and those who were sunbathing with him and didn't believe he could tell the engines weren't British planes, didn't make it to the shelter.
There are a couple more from the same raid in the Flickr set.
The next photos show the other side of wartime service - the opportunity that many people had to see parts of the world they'd never have normally reached. They're from RNAS Tanga in Tanganyika as it was and Tanzania as it is now. Somewhere (it'll turn up eventually) there's a photo which is a combination of these two and shows the tribesmen performing a dance of 'blessing' (for want of a better word) around 2 swordfish aircraft. Father spent quite a bit of time in swordfish as they were still being used for reconnaisance and thus a standard ride for a photographer.
I have no idea who the men are in this photo, they certainly look like conscripted local workers, though I'm sure there are a couple of shields in the middle of that row!
Difficult to tell if these are the same men in silhouette. I thought the propeller blade looked different, but now I see it's just bent and could well be a swordfish prop! In fact the corresponding blade in the first photo does look bent, so I assume it's the same group.
As always, the larger versions can be viewed on my Flickr account, just click on a photo to get through to Flickr.
I consider it my responsibility to get these photos up into public view before all the people who might have some interest, or even recall details, are gone though, given my dad was 23 at the time and is 90 now ... :( In any case, it's something I want to tackle, maybe over the winter.