Again referring to Wartime Britain 1939 - 1945 by Juliet Gardiner I have been trying to imagine what the sound of 200 German bombers (plus heavy fighter escort) being met by 300 Spitfires was like in the sky above your head. Never mind the bombs dropping and planes crashing, it must have been awful. Any of you older guys able to tell us?
I would have thought the daylight dogfights would hardly be heard on the ground as they were quite high up. Maybe a feint rumble or MG fire, but rarely. As for the sounds actually heard on the ground have a listen to the BBC audio tape BBC - Schoolradio - An air raid in progress during 'the Blitz'
I'll have to wait because I still have no sound. I am surprised though. I always had the impression that children watched the dogfights going on overhead in awe even claiming to see enemy pilots. Still glad I missed it. To make light of what must have been unimagined horror, my husband's claim to fame is that one of the daylight raids blew him off of his potty - scarred him for life! Hope that didn't offend anyone.
There were indeed low level dogfights between individual aircraft - either bombers who had dropped down to ground level to try to escape, or between fighters who had descended low during their chases. And poor thing - did it prolong his training?
