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Posts on (mostly) Second World War aviation and naval history. See ALT text for picture credits and additional information!
#OTD in 1960, the decommissioned HMS Vanguard was on her way to the breakers yard when she apparently decided to go for a final pint. The Royal Navy's last battleship ran aground next to the Still & West pub in Portsmouth. It took an hour for 5 tugs to pull her away.
Nostalgia all the way!
Regia Marina heavy cruisers Trento & Trieste with the funnels of the liner Conte de Savoia visible behind. Conte di Cavour-class battleship lurks in the background. #navalhistory
With evidence provided from the French and his surviving crewmen, Bazalgette’s VC was announced on 17th August, 1945. The citation read, in part: “His heroic sacrifice marked the climax of a long career… His courage and devotion to duty were beyond praise.” 🧵10/10
Subsequently, villagers returned to the crash site to lay flowers and managed to recover partial remains of Ian Bazalgette, which they hid until the arrival of Allied forces. He was buried with military honours in the churchyard on October 8th, with his sister in attendance. 🧵9/10
The bodies of the bomb aimer, Flt/Lt Hibbert and the mid upper gunner, Flt/Sgt Vernon Leeder were recovered by the French and taken to the church at Senantes. They were then removed by the Germans and buried at Marissel, near Beauvais, despite the objections of the locals. 🧵8/10
All 4 crewmen who did bale out, however, survived despite the low altitude and evaded capture with the assistance of the French resistance. This has been their pilot’s 58th operation, yet his entire crew had already agreed to volunteer for a rare third tour with ‘Baz’. 🧵7/10
Now alone, he searched for a place to land. With the Lancaster trailing flames from the starboard wing, Bazalgette made a textbook forced landing near Senantes. But the aircraft was almost immediately engulfed by a huge explosion as the remaining fuel ignited, killing all three men on board. 🧵6/10
At this point, the port inner engine also failed. Told by his flight engineer that the aircraft was finished, Bazalgette ordered the crew to bale out but had no intention of abandoning the injured bomb aimer and unconscious mid-upper gunner, who could not do so. 🧵5/10
Suddenly, the Lancaster entered a spin and lost a considerable amount of altitude before Bazalgette regained control. The bomb aimer was moved to the rest bunk. But now fuel from the holed wing tanks was pooling in the rear fuselage and the fumes had incapacitated the mid upper gunner. 🧵4/10
