The 1942 raid on Oslo

Listeners to the podcast know that I am engaged in a group build of the Tamiya Mosquito.  Because I have a great interest in the invasion of Norway in 1940, and the subsequent occupation, I decided to build one of the aircraft that participated in the 1942 raid on the gestapo headquarters in Oslo.  These four aircraft were from 105 Squadron and were the first use of the new Mosquito that were acknowledged in the British press.

The raid was not exactly a success.  However it was the first of many of these precision strikes including the Arhaus raid and the Shellhaus raid.  In fact, the Oslo raid was repeated in late 1944.

I am a fan of Stan Stokes prints, and here is a print of the raid.

More on the raid here.

This is the building today.

More here.

Amazing

This story is amazing. I hope the item gets bought and put in a museum in either the UK or Poland.

Zvezda C-130H

More info on the Zvezda C-130H due to be released soon.  Looks like USANG, Polish, South Korean, British and Japanese markings.

Falklands war

If you have an interest in this conflict, you’ll want to build an Argentinian Mirage IIIEA.  Now you can.  I will be getting one of these, even though I have more kits to build now than I’ll ever finish.

A good idea

This is a very good idea, and is in the interests of all the countries involved, as well as the United States.

Airfix Spitfire Vc

I have always been of the opinion that the Spitfire V was the ugliest Spitfire.  However, I must say, this new Airfix kit looks rather nice, and you know the price will be right.

Valom Firebrand

Valom has released the boxart on their Firebrand TF.V.  Way cool.

Cold war spying

It amazes me how thoroughly the British intelligence serves had been penetrated during the cold war.  Story here.

Intelligence gathering

It is a dirty job.  A great read.

Movie review: The Trench (1999)

I’d never heard of this film before Dr. Hill lent me the DVD.  Apparently it was an independent film made in 1999.  I don’t think it got a very wide release.  I haven’t been able to find any box office numbers for it.  It is a shame that it didn’t get a wider release.  It is a good film.  Not a great film, but a good one. The story centers on a British Army platoon holding a section of forward trench that will be part of the jumping off point for part of the attack on the Somme.  The film’s goal is to illustrate both the boredom and tension that the troops in the forward trenches were under.

The movie stars Daniel Craig in his pre-Bond career as the platoon sergeant who know what stress his troop are under and what awaits them in the coming battle.  He spends the story trying to both educate the men in the skills that will increase their chances of staying alive, while also trying to maintain order and discipline and keep the boredom from degenerating into insubordination.

I liked the movie.  I think it did a decent job of telling the story in a way to keep the viewer interested while imparting the feel of trench warfare.  The movie is a tight 98 minute long and well worth the time to see it.