Warbird Information Exchange

Hi Barry,

Actually the Blenheims were active from Day One of the war.

According to:

Oughton, James D. Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV (Aircraft in Profile 218). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1971.

.....around 50 Blenheims supported the Dunkirk evacuation by harassing enemy forces.

Blenheim squadrons were active from the start of the war through and including the Battle of Britian. One of the lesser covered aspects of the BoB was that Bomber Command was also a part of the battle and they lost heavily.

Thank you for that. Yes I was aware of this but should have explained my original question better. When I viewed the Blenheim scene in the movie it struck me how similar it was in frontal profile to the Heinkel 111 (at first glance), and flying comparatively low over the Channel towards the beaches it would likely have attracted the attention of Royal Navy AA gunners and lots more hot lead from whatever weapons remained in army hands on the beaches themselves. On a support mission to relieve enemy pressure on the allied defensive enclave a reasonable assumption might have been that the Blenheim took a more circuitous route to avoid any friendly fire. In the context of the three different story lines I couldn't understand how much it added to or supported them.

A possible reason for its inclusion could have been to show that the RAF was there supporting the evacuation in other ways.

Having read what I have just written in this post I've probably been guilty of the 'technical nit-picking' that I managed to avoid when watching the movie. In which case I apologise for wasting everyone's time.

Still enjoyed the movie though (including the Blenheim).

Barry

_________________
Little Johnny : "When I grow up I want to be a pilot!"

Johnny's Mother : "Don't be silly Dear - you can't do both!"

- so the He 111's are all miniatures? I didn't realize there were no CASA 2.111's flying anymore??

- did we determine whether or not they really crashed a Buchon for the filming?

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remember the Oogahonk!
old school enthusiast of Civiltary Warbirds and Air Racers

I think the Heinkel shots in the movie were models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVBwEcSI6wA

_________________
Little Johnny : "When I grow up I want to be a pilot!"

Johnny's Mother : "Don't be silly Dear - you can't do both!"

Yup, that was a surprise while I was watching the behind the scenes film clips. A bit of a shock that they couldn't gather up atleast a couple to layer in multi-layer shots of numerous Heinkels for a movie of this scale. In looking at the Preserved Axis Aircraft website most of the flying museums having CASA 2.111's are in a future project state. The CAF lost their flyer tragically years ago and Cavanaugh has stated in the past that their bird is too rare to fly. Can't fault them on that, but there quite a few...hopefully we'll see one of the project birds come back to life eventually. It's such an iconic aircraft of the period and that greenhouse view has one of the best flying seats ever!
Years ago, I read an article on the post war period where the Spanish AF were using them as recon patrol aircraft over the Sahara and that view from the cockpit suited them very well.

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

My first reaction is, "No way the Blenheim has big round engines and the Heinkel has inlines and the silouhette, blah, blah,blah...", but I get yer point. Typhoons and Tempests had various ID marking schemes because they were being confused with FW 190's...go figure? Fog of war....

As for the Blenheim in the movie, I'll betcha the production people were verrrry happy to get the real deal! If the type was there supporting the troops why wouldn't they be represented in the film?

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

No, they didn't. All the crash sequences were done with models.