British WWII Aircraft Scrappings?
Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:53 am
Hi all,
I got to thinking about this the other day. We've all seen (and cringed over) the pics of various sites in the U.S. where large numbers of aircraft were gathered for scrapping after the war. There are also many pics of airfeilds crowded with wrecked and abandoned aircraft in occupied Germany and Japan. But I don't think I've ever seen pics of similar scenes in Britain. I realize the Brits didn't have nearly as many surplus aircraft as the U.S., but I'm curious..were they sent to central locactions for scrapping, or simply cut up at the unit level?
Steve
I got to thinking about this the other day. We've all seen (and cringed over) the pics of various sites in the U.S. where large numbers of aircraft were gathered for scrapping after the war. There are also many pics of airfeilds crowded with wrecked and abandoned aircraft in occupied Germany and Japan. But I don't think I've ever seen pics of similar scenes in Britain. I realize the Brits didn't have nearly as many surplus aircraft as the U.S., but I'm curious..were they sent to central locactions for scrapping, or simply cut up at the unit level?
Steve
Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:25 am
The Brits seemed to have the good sense to keep using them into the 1950s & 1960s! The last British Spitfire in combat was in Malasia in the 1950s...
And the IDF used many from both sides- Spitfires flying alongside Me-109s both under the colors of Israel...
Robbie
And the IDF used many from both sides- Spitfires flying alongside Me-109s both under the colors of Israel...
Robbie
Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:31 am
A few years ago one of the Brit magazines had an extensive photo profile of a British scrapping operation. It had photos of Lancasters, Halifaxes etc. getting the chop, literally. Men with axes would chop off the outer wings and smaller parts. There were photos of the smelter which was fitted with racks that would allow the molten aluminum to flow down and would filter out the remaining steel fittings and other bits. They even had photos of stacks of ingots and described how metallurgists certified the alloy types. This was immediately post war too.
On line I have seen photos of Finnish scrapping operations with a photo of stripped out Ju 88s, Do 17s and Bristol Blenhiems waitng their turn.
On line I have seen photos of Finnish scrapping operations with a photo of stripped out Ju 88s, Do 17s and Bristol Blenhiems waitng their turn.
Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:38 am
Hawker Typhoons didn't last long after the end of WW2. Most were scrapped, circa 1946-48. I don't believe there were any Typhoon squadrons left by early 1946.
there is a legend of buried lancasters
Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:09 am
that I have seen a few times. not cut up....just buried in a pit.
Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:54 am
Robbie Roberts wrote:The Brits seemed to have the good sense to keep using them into the 1950s & 1960s! The last British Spitfire in combat was in Malasia in the 1950s...
So what does everybody think the AAF should have done with 1,368 P-40s or 400 P-39s or the tens of thousands of other obviously obsolete warplanes in 1946? Spend tens of millions of dollars (that Congress was not going to allocate) to keep them airworthy without pilots or mechanics to fly them or maintain them; or millions of dollars to put them in storage for what future purpose?; or realize they had no further use for them, and send them off for disposal, which is what it did.
When there are a 500 brand new B-17s sitting in storage, why would you keep 4,000 tired, patched war weary B-17s in the inventory?
Not sure that in the context of 1946 it would have made good sense to do anything except what the government did.
Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:41 pm
Wow, what a tread. Thanks for posting, I have a real morbid fascination with pictures like that. Don't know if thats unusual or not!!
There is some interesting info and pictures of the RAF SEAC Liberators in India being scapped in the following link :-
http://www.rquirk.com/fail/322mu/322mu.htm
Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:46 pm
aerovin wrote:Robbie Roberts wrote:The Brits seemed to have the good sense to keep using them into the 1950s & 1960s! The last British Spitfire in combat was in Malasia in the 1950s...
So what does everybody think the AAF should have done with 1,368 P-40s or 400 P-39s or the tens of thousands of other obviously obsolete warplanes in 1946? Spend tens of millions of dollars (that Congress was not going to allocate) to keep them airworthy without pilots or mechanics to fly them or maintain them; or millions of dollars to put them in storage for what future purpose?; or realize they had no further use for them, and send them off for disposal, which is what it did.
When there are a 500 brand new B-17s sitting in storage, why would you keep 4,000 tired, patched war weary B-17s in the inventory?
Not sure that in the context of 1946 it would have made good sense to do anything except what the government did.
I think it is pecisely because the aircraft are so rare now that there is so much interest. If they were as common as Cessna 152's then people would not be nearly so passionate. The rarety increases the mistique, and intensifies the history and the personal stories associated with them. In my opinion at least. Where would we put 4000 B-17's anyway.... let alone 400. I wish that at least one or two of everything had been saved though, and especially the aircraft with the most dramatic histories. Oh well...
Cheers,
Richard
PS. I've been following that scrapyard thread on Flypast for years... it's absolutely fascinating, and sad that more couldn't have been saved considering how long some of it survived!
Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:48 pm
The Halifax at Radlett is a great case in point in my opinion. 
Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:59 am
Thanks for all the info guys!
While I've always wished a larger effort had been made to preserve a more comprehensive sampling of aircraft from WWII, I can't fault the folks at the time for scrapping the vast majority of them. The aircraft were of no further military use, and the materials from which they were made were too valuable to simply abandon. Plus, the country (and indeed the world) had just been through the most horrific conflict in history, and wanted to put it behind them and focus on a better future. No one really thought about the planes' historic value.
Mind you, there have been some cases where rare and even one-of-a-king aircraft were scrapped years after the war that to me are simply inexcusable. But once again, it was because no one with the political clout or financial resources regarded them as worthy or rescue.
What amazes me are the number of people I run into at airshows and museums who think there are still vast rows of WWII planes lined up in the desert.
SN
While I've always wished a larger effort had been made to preserve a more comprehensive sampling of aircraft from WWII, I can't fault the folks at the time for scrapping the vast majority of them. The aircraft were of no further military use, and the materials from which they were made were too valuable to simply abandon. Plus, the country (and indeed the world) had just been through the most horrific conflict in history, and wanted to put it behind them and focus on a better future. No one really thought about the planes' historic value.
Mind you, there have been some cases where rare and even one-of-a-king aircraft were scrapped years after the war that to me are simply inexcusable. But once again, it was because no one with the political clout or financial resources regarded them as worthy or rescue.
What amazes me are the number of people I run into at airshows and museums who think there are still vast rows of WWII planes lined up in the desert.
SN