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[VXL V6]

and the ROC posts, as mentioned above. I bet there is one near you that you didn't know about. the ones that have lasted can be visited (so long as they are not on private land) and legally opend if you have the correct key (usually a 'T'bar key of FB padlock)
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/category/nuclear-monitoring-posts

 

Been to about 50 now 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

This is a fascinating piece of British history indeed, and I must get to visit one day.

Although the DailyMail article mentions Winston Churchill visiting on August 16th 1940, and afterwards formulating his famous "The few" speech, given in fact on the 20th August, it was his chance visit on the 15th September 1940 that should be noted.

This was the day, now known as The Battle of Britain Day, when the Luftwaffe mounted constant raids en mass, with the RAF ending up with no reserves in place.  All flyable aircraft were either landing, fuelling, in combat, or taking off. It was intense, with no let up, but the brave boys of especially No.11 Group won the day. The OPs Room plot board was saturated with wave after wave of enemy bombers and fighters, along with the RAF squadrons going up to meet them in combat.

Although it was widely reported that 185 German aircraft had been shot down, the reality was different.  In fact 60 had been destroyed over Southern England, with 26 RAF fighters, and 13 pilots lost (not forgetting an unknown number of German aircraft and crew had been lost over the Channel or whilst attempting to land back in France).  But, the Luftwaffe losses were yet another heavy blow to German morale and policy which had been plummeting for weeks with continual losses of machine and air crew.  It was now so bad that on the 16th September Goring ordered that mass formations of bombers would cease, and the fighters would stay with the bombers all the way to the target and back.  This indeed was the beginning of the end of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the RAF, and now they would concentrate on their Blitz of British cities.  Operation SEALION was postponed by Hitler. The course of the war, and history, had changed.

This Ops room plotted that great day on the 15th September and is now a real part of our history.

It is also widely accepted that had Goering continued to attack our fighter airfields, the game may well have been up for us.

Yes, that is very true.  The RAF were being bombed out of their airfields, and if the Luftwaffe had continued to attack them then it is reckoned Fighter Command would have had about two to three weeks left to survive and meet the Luftwaffe formations in any force. Thank God Hitler and Göring decided to change their tactics due to the RAF bombing Berlin and Hitler going into one of his mad rants.

One of many poor decisions made by Hitler that almost guaranteed the Allies won the war!  In fact later in the war Churchill halted a plan to assassinate Hitler as it was felt he was doing such a great job single handedly to lose the war for Germany and he was more of an asset to the Allies than any possible successor would be.

[Rods2]

Lizzie you might be interested in this article in the German newspaper Spiegel they precis a book on Hitler's health.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/medicating-a-madman-a-sober-look-at-hitler-s-health-a-675991.html

[Vamps]

lots of these old war sites about, often we drive past them daily without even knowing they are there.

Old RAF/USAF airfields. Some active some now flats etc http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/

and the ROC posts, as mentioned above. I bet there is one near you that you didn't know about. the ones that have lasted can be visited (so long as they are not on private land) and legally opend if you have the correct key (usually a 'T'bar key of FB padlock)
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/category/nuclear-monitoring-posts

 

I would never have thought there were so many......

[mantahatch]

This is a fascinating piece of British history indeed, and I must get to visit one day.

Although the DailyMail article mentions Winston Churchill visiting on August 16th 1940, and afterwards formulating his famous "The few" speech, given in fact on the 20th August, it was his chance visit on the 15th September 1940 that should be noted.

This was the day, now known as The Battle of Britain Day, when the Luftwaffe mounted constant raids en mass, with the RAF ending up with no reserves in place.  All flyable aircraft were either landing, fuelling, in combat, or taking off. It was intense, with no let up, but the brave boys of especially No.11 Group won the day. The OPs Room plot board was saturated with wave after wave of enemy bombers and fighters, along with the RAF squadrons going up to meet them in combat.

Although it was widely reported that 185 German aircraft had been shot down, the reality was different.  In fact 60 had been destroyed over Southern England, with 26 RAF fighters, and 13 pilots lost (not forgetting an unknown number of German aircraft and crew had been lost over the Channel or whilst attempting to land back in France).  But, the Luftwaffe losses were yet another heavy blow to German morale and policy which had been plummeting for weeks with continual losses of machine and air crew.  It was now so bad that on the 16th September Goring ordered that mass formations of bombers would cease, and the fighters would stay with the bombers all the way to the target and back.  This indeed was the beginning of the end of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the RAF, and now they would concentrate on their Blitz of British cities.  Operation SEALION was postponed by Hitler. The course of the war, and history, had changed.

This Ops room plotted that great day on the 15th September and is now a real part of our history.

Lizzie, as our WW2 fountain of knowledge may I ask a question ? sorry to go off subject. Caught a bit on the Discovery Channels last week saying one of Churchills speeches was not actually recorded until 1946. The original was only spoken to the cabinet at the time. It was reported in the newspapers and the like, buy not actually broadcast by radio until 1946. Cant remember which speech they where on about. But they did say that people of the time say they heard it on the radio during the war, which of course was impossible. Sorry to be a bit vague. Just thought you may have heard about it. 

[aaronjb]

Maybe we could organise an OOF visit if there's sufficient interest?

I'd be up for that, I love places like that, especially RAF installations given my Dad's 26 years in service 

On my bucket list is also the underground bunkers in London used during the war - I know some are publicly accessible but IIRC others aren't, which is a shame.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Lizzie you might be interested in this article in the German newspaper Spiegel they precis a book on Hitler's health.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/medicating-a-madman-a-sober-look-at-hitler-s-health-a-675991.html

Thanks, that is very interesting indeed.

I believe that he was suffering from some form of mental illness.  Apart from the wealth of evidence available to suggest this, with his rants, rages, and irrational decision making, along with inconsistencies in his personality and actions, there is the early observations of his comrades in the trenches during the First World War. It is recorded that many found him a strange, withdrawn figure, who no one was able to get close to. A quiet loner with personality deficiencies.  Witnesses who worked alongside Hitler, or simply met him, all noted his dark, penetrating eyes, that seemed to probe deeply into the person he was talking to.  The whole package points towards a man with mental health troubles, or at worst, a man who was simply full of evil!   

I will be purchasing the book though to learn more!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

This is a fascinating piece of British history indeed, and I must get to visit one day.

Although the DailyMail article mentions Winston Churchill visiting on August 16th 1940, and afterwards formulating his famous "The few" speech, given in fact on the 20th August, it was his chance visit on the 15th September 1940 that should be noted.

This was the day, now known as The Battle of Britain Day, when the Luftwaffe mounted constant raids en mass, with the RAF ending up with no reserves in place.  All flyable aircraft were either landing, fuelling, in combat, or taking off. It was intense, with no let up, but the brave boys of especially No.11 Group won the day. The OPs Room plot board was saturated with wave after wave of enemy bombers and fighters, along with the RAF squadrons going up to meet them in combat.

Although it was widely reported that 185 German aircraft had been shot down, the reality was different.  In fact 60 had been destroyed over Southern England, with 26 RAF fighters, and 13 pilots lost (not forgetting an unknown number of German aircraft and crew had been lost over the Channel or whilst attempting to land back in France).  But, the Luftwaffe losses were yet another heavy blow to German morale and policy which had been plummeting for weeks with continual losses of machine and air crew.  It was now so bad that on the 16th September Goring ordered that mass formations of bombers would cease, and the fighters would stay with the bombers all the way to the target and back.  This indeed was the beginning of the end of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the RAF, and now they would concentrate on their Blitz of British cities.  Operation SEALION was postponed by Hitler. The course of the war, and history, had changed.

This Ops room plotted that great day on the 15th September and is now a real part of our history.

Lizzie, as our WW2 fountain of knowledge may I ask a question ? sorry to go off subject. Caught a bit on the Discovery Channels last week saying one of Churchills speeches was not actually recorded until 1946. The original was only spoken to the cabinet at the time. It was reported in the newspapers and the like, buy not actually broadcast by radio until 1946. Cant remember which speech they where on about. But they did say that people of the time say they heard it on the radio during the war, which of course was impossible. Sorry to be a bit vague. Just thought you may have heard about it. 

Thanks Mantahatch, but I am sorry to say I cannot identify the exact speech that was the subject of that programme.  However, I suspect it could be Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech on the 5th March 1946 in the USA which was recorded then, but had been drafted in basic form by the great man earlier, during late 1945.

Apart from that I cannot yet enlighten us all more, but I will research this subject further.

[Sir Tigger KC]

This is a fascinating piece of British history indeed, and I must get to visit one day.

Although the DailyMail article mentions Winston Churchill visiting on August 16th 1940, and afterwards formulating his famous "The few" speech, given in fact on the 20th August, it was his chance visit on the 15th September 1940 that should be noted.

This was the day, now known as The Battle of Britain Day, when the Luftwaffe mounted constant raids en mass, with the RAF ending up with no reserves in place.  All flyable aircraft were either landing, fuelling, in combat, or taking off. It was intense, with no let up, but the brave boys of especially No.11 Group won the day. The OPs Room plot board was saturated with wave after wave of enemy bombers and fighters, along with the RAF squadrons going up to meet them in combat.

Although it was widely reported that 185 German aircraft had been shot down, the reality was different.  In fact 60 had been destroyed over Southern England, with 26 RAF fighters, and 13 pilots lost (not forgetting an unknown number of German aircraft and crew had been lost over the Channel or whilst attempting to land back in France).  But, the Luftwaffe losses were yet another heavy blow to German morale and policy which had been plummeting for weeks with continual losses of machine and air crew.  It was now so bad that on the 16th September Goring ordered that mass formations of bombers would cease, and the fighters would stay with the bombers all the way to the target and back.  This indeed was the beginning of the end of the Luftwaffe's campaign to destroy the RAF, and now they would concentrate on their Blitz of British cities.  Operation SEALION was postponed by Hitler. The course of the war, and history, had changed.

This Ops room plotted that great day on the 15th September and is now a real part of our history.

Lizzie, as our WW2 fountain of knowledge may I ask a question ? sorry to go off subject. Caught a bit on the Discovery Channels last week saying one of Churchills speeches was not actually recorded until 1946. The original was only spoken to the cabinet at the time. It was reported in the newspapers and the like, buy not actually broadcast by radio until 1946. Cant remember which speech they where on about. But they did say that people of the time say they heard it on the radio during the war, which of course was impossible. Sorry to be a bit vague. Just thought you may have heard about it. 

They were talking about this on Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 show with Vanessa Feltz the other day and I was only listening with half an ear, but I think that it was the famous " We will fight them on the beaches " speech that you are thinking of Manta.

Churchill originally made the speech to Parliament around 1941-42, but as you say it wasn't until 1946 that it was recorded and then broadcast to the nation. 

There are some fascinating website links on this thread. Thanks for sharing!!