More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

I added 9 aerial photos including mystery airfield (?) 8 miles NW of Orleans taken June 7, 1944, several other airfields including Nantes, Brandenburg, Ghent and Kassel-Waldau plus Lille and Kassel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2455401...7609636214338/

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hello!

Thanks for these new photos...Do you still have many to show?

I am wondering about the "Kassel" photo. I have spent some time on GoogleEarth trying to identify around the Kassel area what seems to be some kind of strangely arranged industrial complex, without luck so far. Would you have additional info, like coordinates of the photo, for instance?

Thanks,

JV

JV

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

The pics are really great, the one mentioned above shows how "precise" the Allied bombing could be... but there are other pics revealing devstating effects...

Concerning Kassel:
There is something strange. Kassel-Rothwesten has some barracks even today ("Fritz-Erler-Kaserne"), which clearly show the shape of a (former) airfield:

http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&rlz...num=1&ct=title

But this looks very different.

Maybe a confusion by the Recce-pilot, maybe a falsified airfield, ... ?

EDIT: Some background-info on the AF: http://www.tighar.org/TTracks/11_4/OpSep.html

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hi JV

Keep in mind that the photos are not oriented North South East West which makes finding these places on Google Earth a little difficult. I don't have the coordinates but will check with my father to see if he can recall what the exact target was that day. Maybe someone else on the forum has some idea of what that industrial complex is? As for how many more photos I intend to add it may be somewhere in the vicinity of 100 or so. This set is exclusively photos taken by my father from a Spitfire MK XI. I also have a dozen or more low level oblique photos of V weapons (Noball)sites many of which are annotated. These were taken by other pilots of the 7th PRG, Mt Farm UK from F-5s (P-38 variant).

Regards
Scott

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

You are right Yogy, this is not Rothwesten. However the airfield is genuine: this is Kassel-Waldau airfield, home of Fieseler firma, and this is also one of the places where Fw-190D9 were built in 1944.
Did you notice the nice Flak battery in the lower left corner?

The airfield location is now a industrial zone, but the large hangar in the bottom right still exists and is in use; the concrete taxiway which was used to get access to the hangar still exists for 200 m (as well as a small bit of the one going to the weapon test range and another 100 m of taxiway at 45° angle with the first one...)

JV

PS: Scott, your photos are quite unique you know...it's a pure wonder, and I am also very interested by the oblique ones concerning the Noball targets (this is the area where I live most of the time, and I know this stuff since I am 10 years old...and I'm 51 now!)

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Thanks JV and Yogy. I will change the name of the AF accordingly. Kassel Rothwesten AF was hand written on the back of the photo. Typically is a photo recce pilot was on a mission that deep into Germany they were assigned multiple targets which might include several airfields hence the mistake. The pilot probably took Kassel Rothwesten that day as well but I do not appear to have a copy.

Thanks Again
Scott

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hi JV

I will probably start a new set of Noball target photos with the obliques taken by F-5s as well as some high altitude Spitfire MK XI photos.

Regards
Scott

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Thanks so much...I feel all giddy about it! I am a little bit bizarre that way, y'know...

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Scott
Ghent photo should be rotated 90 deg counterclockwise. Also, are you sure of Mulberry photo? I have shown it to my brother interested in the area, and he says it does not look correct.

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hello Franek

Thanks for the tip on Ghent. I will try to rotate it. The photo recce pilots did not care too much about any directionals. They shot the targets and then let the interpretors figure out which way was North. As for the Mulberry photos I have included I believe sections of Mulberry A and B. These were souvenir photos taken by my father on June 12, 1944 flying a Spit MK XI. He probably took dozens of photos of the beachhead but I only have a few. Maybe there is some Mulberry Harbour expert out there who can comment?

Thanks again
Scott

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Very many thanks for these PR pics.
As a child of 12 at the time I vividly remember watching US bombers being shot down over the Cap Gris Nez area while bombing the V1 sites.
Also seeing one crash not far away from us.
Greatly exciting for us kids, but not so for the crews I guess.
Thanks again

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hello Scott (again)!

I have identified the last "unknown" photo (Nr 29 "Kassel"): this shows the "Henschel Flugmotoren Werk" in Altenbauna, 7 km SSW of Kassel downtown. Note that the photo orientation is South-top...
The site is still a very large Henschel factory but now reshaped beyond recognition. I could identify it only because I found a plan of the factory in 1943!
Knowing where to look, it is still possible to find out the layout of the main tracks, some roads and streets. the most obvious is the workers barracks (long houses in general) neighborhood which was reused basically unchanged and very much recognizable, 1.5 km N of the factory.

JV

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hello one last time for today!

The photo "8miles NWOrléans" shows a temporary airfield of the Luftwaffe with what seems to be Ju-88/188 positioned within emplacements just cut out of the woodline.
This wood (the "Bois de l'Alleu") near the Gérilly farm is not even 3km South of the large Orléans-Bricy airbase.
One can suppose that these aircraft were dispersed close to the base but without any obvious connection to the base after near destruction of Bricy in 1944 bombings.
Note that the photo is South-top.

JV

Re: More Hi Res Aerial Photos ETO
 

Hi,

"Le Bois de L'Alleu" in 2012, near Orléans-Bricy airbase.

Attachment 6904