In article , Peter Stickney
writes
In article ,
Dave Eadsforth writes:
Re. the Ar 234A, I believe that this machine made a number of attacks on
the UK, but I do not know when. Do you happen to have any rough dates?

I don't think the Ar 234s made any bombing attacks over the U.K. They
were used against targetsin Belgium and France in late 1944.

Also, do you happen to know if the Ar 234 (of any mark) was ever used as
a recce machine over the UK prior to D-Day?

Not prior to D-Day. The Ar 234s available in June/July 1944 were the
inital models with a skid landing gear, which used a wheeled trolley
for takeoff.

I've seen a photo - quite a sight.

Immediately following the Invasion, one or two fo these
prototypes were staged to an airfield in France, where a vcertain
logistical weakness was discovered - It's no use having a Jet Recce
airplane that can stage to a forward airfield in an hour when its
takeoff gear and mechanics have to come by truck, through the Allied
Fighter-Bomber cover.

Would it be too awful to suggest that the whole programme was on the
skids?

It took until mid-July to get all the pieces
rounded up so that they could fly missions, and by that time, it was a
matter of shutting the barn door after the horse was gone. (It turns
out that they wouldn't have been able to return any useful intel even
if they could have flown sooner. There weren't enough experienced
photointerpreters to sort through the pictures, so the turnaround time
from flights to intel in the hands of the Staff was on the order of a
couple of weeks. Not much use in mobile warfare.

Hmm, no German equivalent of Constance Babington-Smith then?

If you get a chance, check out Alfred Price's "The Last Year of the
Luftwaffe." It's an excellent account of what the state of German
Airpower was from just before Normandy until the final collapse.

Would you believe I bought a copy last week? I haven't had time to read
it yet - but it's nice to know I have made a good choice!

Thanks,

Dave

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Dave Eadsforth