Text 16444, 85 rader
Skriven 2011-04-06 10:41:54 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
  Kommentar till text 16419 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Ärende: Re: Mortsel Ertl VII aircraft plant      was: Navigation
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RW>RW>> The reason Mortsel was bombed was because of the aircraft factory
RW>RW>> that was producing ME-109s (over 4000) and parts. If y'all hadn't
RW>RW>> consorted with the enemy to build weapons of war, y'all would have
RW>RW>> been left alone.
 
RW>WD> You quietly ommit, because you know none of the facts, that most of
RW>WD> the skilled workers in that factory were German.
 
RW> LOL! You're almost right. Most of the workers in that plant were locals
RW> working under superior German supervision.
 
Touching the airplanes hardly. Riding a lorry, sweeping a corridor, cleaning a
toilet, things like that, yes. Engineering work on planes was done by Germans.
 
Too many things went wrong went left to local workers ... a propeller detaching
in flight, plane crashing through its undercarriage due to malfunctioning
hydraulics, steering cables installed in reverse order, engine blowing-up, ...
 
Because of these tiny acts of sabotage, easily to be explained as "I haven't
been trained to do this" many ME109's and FW190's (in my mind a much better
fighter) didn't make it in time or not at all to the flying ranks.
 
RW> BTW, why do Belgians insist on building schools next to the airport?
 
It's the question of the chicken and the egg: which was first.
 
So was the airport, in those days 'airfield' (it was a grass runway), first or
the schools? I put my money on the schools.
 
For your convenience, I have prepared a map of the vicinity and the attack:
 
www.cantincrode.be/erla.jpg
 
A distance-reference could be the runway which is about a mile.
 
So you will see that the Erla-factory is not near the airport, that the 4
encircled schools are not near the airport nor near the target and that in view
of the direction of the attack they were a mile or more off-track ...
 
Contrary to what is written there was no flak. The attack was a complete
surprise and the first really high-altitude bombing. The planes were on a
slightly northerly route at an altitude believed to take them to Germany when
suddenly the formations made a right turn and initiated the bombing.
 
No air raid warning, nothing, people walking in the streets, doing their
grocery shopping for the day, kids at school in the playground looking-up to
the wonderful white stripes made by the planes ... oddly not in an easterly
direction towards Germany but no-one was puzzled by that.
 
My mam and dad saw the attack ... no flak, no German fighters despite what the
reports said. The crews were trying to justify themselves.
 
RW> The above is an excerpt from: A Tale of Two Messerschmitts  By: Richard
RW> Corey
 
That's pretty much correct, except for:
 
RW> All of this activity didn't escape the notice of the Allies and Erla VII
RW> did become a victim of a rather abortive bombing attempt by U.S. forces
 
It wasn't abortive in the least ... they all dropped their load except, I
seem to remember, one plane which was hit earlier or had problems and left
the formation, dropped its bombs in a field and crashlanded.
 
On the Google-image you can still see the old abandoned traintrack and also the
abandoned traintrack to the airfield. Restored planes were put on a train for a
2-mile ride.
 
I've read statements that some 7.000 fighter planes were repaired and/or
rebuilt there which from military point of view made it a valid target.
 
RW> Colateral damage day. Make sure you say a prayor for all of those B17
RW> personel who gave their all to stop the carnage by your uncle Adolph.
 
During the ceremony the American Embassador was there, as he is every year when
there's a Democratic President, and the fallen aircrews were also honoured.
 
Please do not conclude that people have bad feelings about Americans because of
the attack. In later years, surviving crew members were invited here as guests
of honour.
 
 \%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 3.59
 * Origin: Many Glacier / WikiLeaks http://213.251.145.96 / (2:292/854)