Trainbusting

[TormodChristiansen]

This attack could be related to the picture:

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:_...rbo+1945&hl=no

"March 27 1945.
Flight Lieutenant Yourg, while flying an armed patrol of the Utsire—Naze area came across, and attacked a freight train near Naerbo, strafing it with cannon and machine gun fire."

Nærbø/Naerboe isn't far from Stavanger, and one sidetracks on this line was also used for German railroad artillery stationed there.

regards.
Tormod Christiansen.

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by TormodChristiansen

The Plane is most probably a Beaufighter, try to compare the picture with this one:

I thought it was clear - it is definetelly a Beaufighter (look at the tail) and with such a markings it is T.X.

[SteveB]

This is an interesting question but I think one that is not easily answered. It seems to me that the a/c is clearly a Beaufighter with the dihedral tailplane. Clearly there are at least two a/c involved in this incident including the a/c that took the photo. The appearance of the roundels is very likely to be the result of "flare" that as Franek says occurs a lot in B&W photos and from my experience can be exaggerated when photos are enlarged (as may be the case with this).

I wonder whether the style of the buildings might give some clues as to the locality are they generically "alpine" or specifically Norwegian? There are a lot of strike photos like this that were taken during Beaufighter operations over the Balkans in the winter of 1944/45.

Steve

[TormodChristiansen]

Regarding the Architecture, I haven't been able to spot typically signs as Station buildings or Churches which is easiest way to identify the originating country/part of Europe. But I found some pictures from Nærbø/Naerboe.
Some of buildings on the attack picture are however clustered around a small area, which is very typical for a "Gaardstun" (farms) with some adjoining barns.

http://home.online.no/~pjhaalan/naerbo1.jpg
http://x-object.blockwatne.no/1/Webg...6113022697.jpg

regards,
Tormod Christiansen.

[fsbofk]

I agree that the plane is most likely a Beaufighter, but the version in the posted 3-view conflicts with a major recognition feature of the later model Beau in the photo - the pronounced dihedral of the rear stabilizers. Those roundels still puzzle me though.

[Smithy]

[quote=TormodChristiansen]This attack could be related to the picture:

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:_...rbo+1945&hl=no

"March 27 1945.
Flight Lieutenant Yourg, while flying an armed patrol of the Utsire—Naze area came across, and attacked a freight train near Naerbo, strafing it with cannon and machine gun fire."[quote]

Tormod, I´m not so sure that this raid is what you are looking for. I´m pretty sure that "Yourg" is a misspelling and if so then this refers to Flight Lieutenant R.G. Young who was a Mosquito pilot in 248.

Interesting discussion.

[TormodChristiansen]

Smithy, thanks for correcting me on this. I posted a picture of this attack on NUAV.net, hoping perhaps Andy Bird or other experts on the Norwegian air
war could recognize this attack, but I haven't heard anything yet.



Here's some higher resolution pictures as promised, (both tif and jpeg)

http://home.no.net/tormchri/web/beaularge-tif.tif


Regards,
Tormod Christiansen.

[Smithy]

Hi Tormod,

I´m 90% certain now that this is Norway from looking more closely at the houses in the background of the picture, especially the roof shapes of these. There´s even one in the left background which looks very like a nordlandshus (although I´m not so sure whether if this is Norway that it is that far north).

Hopefully you´ll get some more definite answers from NUAV.net. I´d certainly love to know for sure.

[atckyrre]

Sorry Tormod, I actually think this is from Yugoslavia. There are certain houses in the background that has an alpine feel to them, with rather tall buildings with sharp roofs.

I am from Stavanger in the Southwest. The typical houses of the area around Nærbø and Jæren would be more low and drawn out, while some of the houses in that pic seem to be quite large, more like they'd be in the East of Norway.
Nordlandshouses are higher and more narrow as Smithy said, but we're talking about 1000 km off when it comes to location.
Another thing is the snow. While 44/45 maybe was a cold winter you'll seldom see snow covering the area like you do in that picture. Once in a while, yes, but it is/was rare. Admittedly it WAS colder with more lasting snow in the beginning/mid last century.
Compare the pic to what you see in this one showing IIRC 16 Sqn SAAF Beaufighters busting trains etc in Yugoslavia early 1945.



What are your thoughts?

Regards,
Kyrre
Harstad, Norway.

[atckyrre]

Originally Posted by TormodChristiansen

Regarding the picture, I know about attacks on trains during the Norwegian campaign april-june 1940, but attacks AFTER this date on rolling stock in Norway was pretty scarce, or I'am wrong here? The point is that traveling in Norway (very generalized) excluding Coastal Shipping after 1942/43 and train riding in march-may 1945 (sabotage actions) was pretty safe, even for German soldiers. But I can't find any information from the Norwegian Railways (NSB, the same organization then as today) that such a attack was done on their Trains. Could the caption be wrong?

Tormod, just as a sidenote I thought I'd add that apparently the only attack made on Norwegian soil by a Norwegian Pilot after 1940 was when a 333 Sqn Mosquito bombed a bridge on the railroad Flåmbanen. Don't remember the details, though I have them somewhere. Maybe in the book Flyalarm?

Kyrre