Desperate Heroism; The Vickers Vildebeest
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- CORRECTION According to Patreon supporter Lucas, it is pronounced with a "V". As he knows the folks at the RNZAF museum, I'll go with their opinion.
The torpedo bomber saw its heyday during the Second World War, with very mixed results. Well remembered are the desperate attacks by Douglas Devastators at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
But less well remembered are the efforts of another aircraft, one from a previous era that, despite being utterly archaic, was thrown into the maelstrom and flown with tremendous heroism.
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![The Aircraft That Conquered The Atlantic | Vickers Vimy [Aircraft Overview #29]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/h6WC2l48BDU/mqdefault.jpg)
Ed, you do realise the restoration of the Vildebeest is part of the long term plan by RNZAF to reconstitute it's strike arm.
It would be their only armed fixed wing aircraft 🤣😅 as an Australian I say we let NZ pay the price in the next war by not defending their unarmed arses .
@@mathewkelly9968 Except for the Orions. NZ will pay the price in the next war by being stuck with Australian made equipment that doesn't work properly - the frigates, the Steyrs (thankfully gone), the 105mm Light Guns - everything we buy from the Australians is faulty when delivered.
@@iatsd they stuck with the ex Ozzie Skyhawks for years, with upgrades they were quite good.
@@iancurtis1152 The Australians didn't build the Skyhawks and NZ upgraded them to the NZ Kahu standard, so irrelevant to the point I was making: Australian built equipment is ALWAYS crap
@@iatsd I never said they were Ozzie built but they were ex Aus Navy, with their upgrades they were competitive as in war games with other nations. ( I’ve been in Oz for years) are the Sea Sprite Navy choppers still active, the Ozzie ones were scraped years ago. I’ve heard NZ Navy Sprites were flying but not certified for “over water” operations, 🥴can you confirm?
'Wildebeast eh? - is this what the Air Ministry call 'suitably Gnu equipment' for 'a brave gnu world?' 'Er, yes Minister.'
Oh deer
A "Gnu World Disorder."
Its important to remember what the RAF Brass said officially after the last ones went down near Java:
"And that's the end of the Gnus.
Here is the weather".
Ed, it would be really cool to see you do an overview of the air power in the Spanish Civil War. One half may be all borrowed German equipment that we all know already, but I didn't realize the variety of obsolete biplanes that made their way to that conflict. Didn't realize until I heard it over and over again in your obscure aircraft videos, that is.
the Republic flew some french aircraft that might be interesting; obscure anyway
@@aasphaltmueller5178 Hawker Harts, too.
Plenty of Italian machinery in the hands of Nationalists. More than German planes, which were scarce and normally operated by German crews.
The Republicans inherited the major part of existing Spanish Air Force, itself based on early thirties European planes. Later, they were supplied with Soviet planes.
New Zealand again! There's an incredible pool of aircraft restoration expertise down there, what with the restorations and new-build WW1 'replicas'.
Thank Peter Jackson ( the movie guy) for a lot of that.
New~Zeal~Land... pretty much sums it up.
The "Ki" prefix to Japanese Army aircraft designation is a syllable, not two discrete letters. It should be pronounced "Kee". It's the first syllable of the Japanese word for "airframe" which is "Kitai".
Excellent, I'll bear that in mind when I get around to more japanese planes. Thanks for that.
Damn, this is one of my "I was today years old when I learned this". Thanks!
Yes. Thank you. I can see that here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_Japan_during_World_War_II
All the aircraft beginning with Ki - are Army Aircraft.
.
I thought 'Kitai' meant it was home built in Lancashire, Yorkshire or maybe Cumbria or Derbyshire?
Didst mek that thisel then lad?
Kit? Aye.
@@Farweasel Shouldn't the last "t" on "that" - not be there?
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The Vildebeest's name followed the tradition of RAF service aircraft having alliterative names, so the initial V was deliberate and NOT a spelling error, and South Africans speaking Afrikaans pronounced the name the same way that Vickers spelt it. Vickers had difficulty finding more relevant names beginning in V suitable for military aircraft, and must have breathed a sigh of relief when they were informed that their latest RAF order was to be a bomber named Wellesley and their next the Wellington. They reverted to names beginning with V for civilian types built after WW2: Valetta, Viking, Viscount, Vanguard and VC-10.
Well done on telling the story of some the bravest men ever to wear RAF uniform - those who flew the type to attack Endau with little hope of returning alive were, like Esmonde's 'Channel Dash' Swordfish crews, 'courage personified'.
Thanks for doing a piece on this forgotten gem and reminding of the astounding heroism of these young men.
Astounding indeed. They didn't know it, but they were furnishing the Japanese with the template for the kamikaze pilots that were to come later in the war.
I was at Wigram (The RNZAF museum) in 2011 and took photos of the skeleton frame of the Vildebeest, at the time the guide told me that it might have to be a hybrid of various marks and aircraft as not enough parts one mark remain to make a "pure" type rebuild. It was unbelievable to see the dedication of the team there rebuilding a type that no longer exists in any museum!
"Zee"?!
I wasn't aware from your accent that you are American.
In New Zealand as in the UK that's a ZEDD! 😠
You really deserve more subs, always turning out fascinating and well researched videos.
Thanks!
agreed. making steady progress mind. I'm sure you'll hit 100k before long Ed
Yes, the Vildebeest was badly obsolete by 1941. But would the Vildebeest squadrons in SE Asia have done any better if they'd been equipped with state-of-the-art aircraft (say, the Grumman TBF Avenger and Fairey Barracuda - both of which were in trials by this time)? Probably not, I think. The operational circumstances - lots of unescorted, penny-packet attacks - would have combined with the requirement to fly low and slow to successfully deliver torpedoes to produce very similar results.
This is not to take anything away from the crews who flew these aircraft. Just pointing out that the airplane itself wasn't their biggest problem.
Excellent points, and you are almost certainly correct. If theyd got Beauforts, their loss rate may have been better, but suspect you are quite right it wouldve been the same result.
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters There was an officer named Patrick Heenan, a New Zealand Army officer who was a liaison officer with the RAF. He was also a Japanese spy. Repeatedly, Blenheims were shot up as they formed up for attacks, vulnerable on their airfields. So, indeed. Most Vildebeeste operations were bombing rather than torpedo attacks in December-January-February 1942.
Hats off to the valiant crews. Respect from Argentina.
I have been aware of the Vildabeest's deployment in the Far East for many years but had no data on their action other than 'suffering from horrific losses' and 'withdrawn from front line service'. Thanks for your work.
Hopefully I can see the one nearby at the RNZAF Museum restored sooner than later. I've been following the progress for years since I worked there in 2009.
The Subritzky family near Auckland also has a Vickers Vincent restored which is VERY similar to the Vildebeest
You in AKL?
@@thejustice7305 based in Christchurch
You have some great vintage warplanes in NZ, shame about your bat shit crazy prime minister.
@@jonathansteadman7935 hahahahahahahahahahm. Mate it's even worse that she's my 3rd cousin. Haha. Yeah she's just going full throttle now
I've visited the Subritzky Vincent around 2009 , fuselage framed up on its wheels centre section in place. Until seen in the flesh I didn't appreciate just how big they are.
Jacindas just showing the world how it should be done.
In the early 2000's i helped in the attempted recovery of some of the these aircraft in a site just outside Blenheim, in New Zealand. They came from Woodbourne AFB at the end of WWII. They had been cut up, dumped in a hole and set on fire by the airforce.
Great Video Ed. Apparently, the name Vildebeest, the Afrikaans word for Wildebeest, was used because Vickers (international arms-dealing company that it was) had high hopes of selling it to South Africa. There were so many different misspellings of the word, even in official documents, that in 1934 the Air Ministry had to take the unprecedented step of sending out a memo specifying how to spell it. To be fair to Vickers, the Air Ministry had specified that the name had to be that of a land mammal, and since Vickers liked to use alliteration when naming their aircraft there were only a few names to choose from. The other two names considered were "Vicuna" and "Vulpes".
Thanks John, always an education :)
My late Father went to war in Singapore flying the MkIII for 2GR Squadron RNZAF. It was great seeing your video of some flying. Thank you.
Great story, fantastically brave men who flew them. RIP to all that perished in those desparate attacks. Thanks for the posting, would love to see one fly again, keep us informed please, it's worth another video. Cheers
I believe Z is still pronounced zed in New Zealand.🇳🇿 😅
And It doesn't surprise me at all that we had these relics considering we were still flying Bristol F.2 Fighters from WW1 in 1936.
Visiting the RNZAF Museum at Wigram, Christchurch is well worth it. Pity it's not an airfield anymore.
There is also one in a private collection in the North Island
You should have saved your sopwith camels for ww2.
@@davesy6969 Not sure about Camels but still have two Pups and a Snipe.
ruclips.net/video/sXXZYpGVaoQ/видео.html
Basically all Brittish two or three seated biplanes were just enlarged, heavier Bristol F.2 Fighters.
The F.2 was one of the most effective and most versatile combat aircraft of WW1 and it stayed a very effective combat aircraft well into the 1920s. It was the first true multirole combat aircraft in history and it was successful in every role. From that perspective it makes a whole lot of sense to stay on that path and just use the availability of larger engines to increase weapons load and range. For the whole 20s and the first half of the 30s that was not problem at all because all fighters worldwide were also basically enlarged WW1 fighters, made for nothing else than dogfighting in the tightest possible turns and climbing not really fast but very steep. Against fighters like that, F.2 style aircraft never had a hard time standing their ground because they were not much slower, could turn almost as good as the fighters and the flexible mounted rear machine gun was highly effective in that style of combat.
Only after the emerge of aerodynamically advanced high speed bombers in the mid 30s and fast monoplane fighters that were mainly designed to fight these new bombers, the slow biplanes experienced a growing problem. The fighters were not onle able to kill the new and fast bombers but they were also able to use their advantage in speed for deadly hit and run attacks on the much slower biplanes.
The Sowjets later found a new niche for slow biplanes. They used them for night attacks. Flying at tree top level it was almost impossible to kill them.
@@Itsjustme-Justme That make a lot of sense. It also goes a way towards explaining the disaster that was the Fairey Battle.
Reading Patrick Gibbs ‘Torpedo Leader’ it sounds like any torpedo attack, no matter what the aircraft utilised, was extremely hazardous.
By the end of 1944 the US Navy was dropping aerial torpedoes at high speed and 5000' altitude. I don't know if this was a new capability or that it was alway possible and no one thought about until later in the war.
@@johnshepherd8687 Most definitely a new capability. I don't know for sure, but I think the US Navy found a way to add parachutes to torpedoes. This would at the very least reduce the speed at which said torpedoes hit the water. I don't know how they solved the aiming of those torpedoes. Or maybe I'm confusing this method with the one used for anti-submarine self-guiding torpedoes?
In any case, anti-ship torpedoes were a very complex and very delicate piece of machinery and the delivery method (flying low and slow) reflected this very problem.
@@johnshepherd8687 Are you sure about that? I can't find any reference to it. The Japanese Type 91 was launched from as high as 330 ft.. and that was considerd high for the time... Even modern ASW torpedos are launched from low altitude...There is a project underway at Boeing it seems to launch Mk54 torpedos fitted with wings and a guidance system as gliders from high altitude...but thats NOW not 1944! How a WW2 style torpedo could be in ANY way aimed from that height I have no idea..
@@trooperdgb9722 Drachinfel has referenced that. The GLIDETORP concept has been around for a long time. The concept is to drop the torpedo from 20k'+ so the air raft can remain ar altitude. A modern torpedo has sensitive electronics whereas a Mk 13 is a dumb weapon.
@@johnshepherd8687 Thats what I'm curious about. Launch a straight running unguided torpedo from high altitude? How could it possibly be aimed?
Flying these at modern heavily armed ships must have felt like standing in front of a firing squad without a blindfold.
The only way is fly as low as you possibly can and try to get between the ships so the ships aa gunners have a hard time not hitting each other. Now your in and can aim your torpedo. But you still have no way out because once you are not between the ships anymore they will shoot again with everything they have. Basically it is a suicide attack.
As long as no high speed torpedo was availlable, every torpedo bomber had basically the same problem. They could not use their speed because the torpedo had to be dropped at low speed anyway. Only after high speed torpedos became available, fast hit an run style torpedo attacks became possible. I think the US Navy was the first to have torpedos that could be dropped at high airspeeds.
without a blindfold, but at least they were handed a rock to throw at the firing squad.
While it may have felt like that, at times, the heroes who flew the planes, knew they stood a pretty good chance, of surviving, even(possibly even because it was slow) in one of the slowest planes........
Because, as is said in the video, this was shown to be so, when all of the gunners on Bismarck, were unable to knockdown even one of the Fairey Swordfishes that flew against it, and crippled it, so it could be sunk by the rest of the Royal Navy..........
And, they had seen that the Italian shore batteries, were not very effective, when they unintentionally showed the Japanese how to attack Pearl harbour, with the successful attack on the Italian fleet in Taranto..............
@@norrinradd3549 That's a pretty good point. Japanese light guns were notoriously slow to train on target when operated by remote gun directors.
The small size and slow speed would make it hard to keep them "in the sights" from a moving ship.
And AA guns, in general, had to fire hundreds of rounds to even get a hit on targets. (on average)
I sill would be clenched tight with a Volkswagon weight of hot metal in the air around me though :D
@@norrinradd3549 Germans had completely underestimated the impact of naval aviation and Italians were the same or only slightly better. The naval aviation equipment, the naval anti aircraft equipment and the training of the crews in terms of naval air war was well below Brittish, American and Japanese standards.
At sea the Japanese were a much stronger enemy in the first phase of the war. Not only did they know how to use their naval air force effectively. They also knew how dangerous enemy aircraft can be to their own ships and they did invest a lot to protect them. In 1942 flying a torpedo attack against a Japanese ship was much more dangerous than flying a torpedo attack against a similar German ship.
Terrific photo research on this one Ed. I made the Azur kit of the 'Beeste and never could work out what colour the Malaya aircraft were painted. Anyway, the authorities in Singapore were always weak in pressing the case for defences, hence the terrible aircraft available. And before anyone points out the emergency in Europe, this was late 41: Spitfires were basically idle in England with no serious invasion threat. To read of the bravery of these aircrews is humbling.
I never knew about the cat being shot down, thank you for the vid
Huzzah1
and '"Alas."
Brave men condemed to death by duty.
Rest in eternal peace, Brothers.
The V is to accommodate South African Afrikaans, from which the name comes. Pronounced with a V...
I always feel for crews of obsolescent aircraft, tanks or any other weapons system who relied on sheer courage whilst knowing they would likely be killed and their chances of achieving anything slim.
Aircrews with real guts. It’s madness but they went on to do it.
Please if you would do one on the Wellesley, that'd be splendid. Greetings from Germany.
Random stuff I've picked up from watching WWII RUclips videos:
1) Yes, the TBD's paid a terrible price at Midway. They also distracted the IJN ships from a concurrent dive bomber attack which wreaked great havok.
2) The Faery Swordfish were effective vs the Bismarck b/c the latter's tracking radar was incapable of tracking such slow targets.
3) There was a squadron of Female Russian pilots who were also successful b/c they devised tactics around their completely obsolete biplanes' slow speed.
*The Vickers Vildebeest:* an ancient, little-known ancestor to *Britain's V Bombers - Victor, Valiant and Vulcan.*
Which perhaps started with the Vimy. Followed by:
Valentia, Vengence, Vampire, Ventura, Venom & Virgina. And pushing it a bit.,,,,,,,,
Viking, Valetta, Victoria, Varsity, Vernon, Vega Gull, Vigilant and of course the inestimable Vestland Virlvind.
You'd have thought 'Vulture' would have made it to a naming too but sadly no.
Viledbeest: Hopelessly obsolete when 14 years old.
Boeing B-52: Still in frontline service after 70 years.
Yes, the pace of development in the interwar years was incredible!
Your stuff is VERY good!. Well researched and hype free. Excellent histories and accompanying images. Christopher Shore's "Bloody Shambles" II has a detailed account of the Endau attacks, down to all the crew member's names, individual fates and crew losses of the A/C. They went through hell.
The reason for the *’V’* in the apparent misspelling is because the word Wildebeest is pronounced as though it is spelled *Vilderbeest.* The pronunciation is “VILL-DER-BEAST.” Dutch/Afrikaans pronunciation.
Yes indeed
It also alliterates with Vickers.😎
An ancient, little-known ancestor to Britain's V Bombers: Victor, Valiant and Vulcan.
It doesn’t look that big until someone is standing in front of it……a ‘Beast’ of a plane!
The Swordfish is pretty big too- there is one in the Warplane Museum in Hamilton, Ontario.
Thank you, these aircraft were used in a valiant and unsuccessful defence of Malaya during the Japanese invasion in December 1941.
Much respect for the sacrifice of of the RAF , RAAF and RNZAF personnel . God bless them all.
You're forgetting the Dutch!
I hope they do restore the New Zealand one to full flying condition. With the RNZAF having disbanded their Air Combat Force in 2001, it would be the most modern attack aircraft they had !
The Military here in New Zealand is so run down the Royal New Zealand Navy has to use a privately owned MIG 21 to run various testing
IIRC Vincent’s were active over the Red Sea from Aden well into WW2 and were active in the East African campaign and Iraq too.
one can be interested in the machine. but you have to marvel at the bravery and determination of men willing to use it in war.
salute to all the fallen!
Ed your content is the best. I know it must take forever to compile all this information and create these awesome presentations for your fellow curious aviation buffs. I really appreciate your efforts, your production quality is top shelf and the occasional bit of well placed, dry British wit goes perfectly with the thoughtfully presented, well informed and fascinating information. You've got one of the best aviation documentary series of all time going on here, please never quit.
Thank you for the kind words! Hope to carry on with videos for as long as I can :)
Greetings from South Africa. Regarding the name wildebeest is an Afrikaans name and as such the w is pronounced as a v so it would be called a vildebeest spelt with a w. I believe the south African airforce operated a few in North Africa in the early days of that campaign. Abasynia I think.
A few years ago I visited a historic aircraft restoration workshop near Auckland, where they had one of these, a Hawker Hart and a Meteor under restoration. I don't know if it was the same machine that you refer to, but if not, there may be 2 of these rare beasts still in existence.
edit - after reading the posts below, I realise that it may have been a Vincent that I saw, not a Vildebeest. Equally rare, I suspect.
Good one...can I suggest the Vickers Wellesley?
Ed, Lucas is correct. In Afrikaans (and Dutch, as far as I know) "w" is pronounced as a "v".
Not in Dutch. But definitely in German.
One of the observers in No. 36 Squadron on 26 January 1942 was my grandmother's younger brother, Joe Lockhart. He was best friend of my grandfather and was best man at their wedding. He's buried in a military cemetery in Singapore and is how I remember Australia Day on that date.
Ironically, the Vickers Wildebeest was actually faster than the Fairey Swordfish that replaced it. The Swordfish had a maximum airspeed of 138 MPH unlaiden and 75 MPH carrying a torpedo.
And the Swordfish squadrons, on at least one occasion, were outrun by a German surface ship by sailing upwind.
9 aircraft claimed to have torpedoed eight ships? Pretty damn good numbers. I wonder how many were really hit though.
That would seem less unlikely if they were transports at anchor ... but I don't know if they were.
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@@BobSmith-dk8nw Still seems pretty good , would like to see a video/article on that raid.
@@guaporeturns9472 Sound Track's a No Brainer
ruclips.net/video/TthzEy3HUm8/видео.html
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@@BobSmith-dk8nw ?
@@guaporeturns9472 The sound track for the "Video/article" you wanted on the raid by the New Zealand Vildabeest!
.
I think 'Wildebeest' should be pronounced with a 'V'.
So the aircraft is an Anglicised translation.
Never heard of this aircraft, obsolete in service apparently ,but you gotta give kudos to the aircrew flying these.
What doesn't come across so will is how big they were. Beaufighter dimensions. Turns out, to lift a torpedo, three men, and fuel with only about 700 horsepower, you need a LOT of wing.
I've always loved the British “Oh, bloody hell, why not?“ approach to aircraft model designation.
The Fairey Swordfish was an ancient looking biplane but it actually served as a (relatively) heavy-lift STOL. It’s ability to lift a heavy torpedo from a heaving carrier deck and get back to the same heaving deck was unparalleled.
Despite the similarities, Wildebeest was the previous generation design and far less capable.
Funny thing is the Vildebeest had a faster top speed
I think one was used to drop supplies to the Australian 2/19th and 2/29th Battalions at the bridge at Parit Sulong during their epic battle on the Bakri Parit Sulong Road Malaya January 1942
Will tourists ever return to NZ? What happens to a country with zero herd immunity when (if) it finally opens back up?
Yeah about a decade ago I saw the Wing Jig for the RNZAF Vildebeast restoration at the B-24 restoration hangar at Werribee, Australia.
I remember my father saying he collected a prop blade off one that clipped a fence and crashed when he was in the airforce In WW2, he said they were huge lumbering things,
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force - Owen Thetford, (1995 ed) lists the Vilebeest as all fabric covered.
You are British, why are you using the horrendous Americanism Zee for the letter Zed?
Another fascinating video Ed, I had no idea that the venerable Vildebeest had seen action.
My late dad flt ltht bw peryman flew these at wigram new Zealand 1938 he liked them
The swordfish was an absolute unit
Poor pilots sent to their deaths. Very sad.
Another amazing vid, Ed!
It was named by a South Afrikaner. 😬
It’s pronounced “Vilderbeest”. It’s the Afrikaans pronunciation of the animal it’s named after.
The fact that it alliterates with Vickers makes that easy, too.
But they spell it with 'w' in afrikaans? "Wildebees"
When the Afrikaners build a plane and call it Vilderbeest they can pronounce it their way. We say wilderbeast.
@@lakrids-pibe Yes, the W in Afrikaans and other Germanic languages is pronounced like the English V. But I know that most English-speaking people pronounce the wildebeest animal with an English W sound as in "wild".
@@WayneKitching And “V” in German is pronounced as “F” - hence Volkswagen…
There was also an inter-war biplane called the Hawker Hartbees, which is also named after an African antelope. I wonder if this coincidence or not.
Another brilliant episode, Mr. Nash.
Japanese had excellent torpedoes (probably the best of any in WW2) and good pilots. American pilots at Midway in lost squadron Torpedo 8 had crappy torpedoes and no fighter escort due to incompetent flight leader of the mission who flew them the wrong way. The Torpedo 8 boys sacrifice kept the Japanese occupied long enough for the US dive bombers to whack the enemy carriers. Sad story but their effort helped the overall US victory at Midway.
Unfortunately this isnt true, the Japanese CAP had almost 15 minutes to get back to altitude after massacring Torpedo 8, before the next wave arrived. Their sacrifice did nothing but use up ammunition, litteral cannon fodder. Drach's excellent video on Midway covers this in detail.
Cheers MATE, Another great video!
The RAF aircraft were mostly excellent, and beautiful: The Spitfire, the Mosquito, the Lancaster. The Royal Navy, however, had the most ugliest and mediocre aircraft in service. The Fulmar, Skua, Barracuda, and post war Seamew and the ghastly Gannet.The last good plane the RNS ever had was in WWI, with the Sopwith Triplane.
RNS (I guess you mean FAA?) have had many effective aircraft over the years. Ugliness is irrelevant. The Fairey Swordfish was highly valuable during WW2, contributing to many engagements including as mentioned in the video preamble, the sinking of Bismark.
Late war and post war, the Hawker Sea Fury and then the early jet Hawker Sea Hawk, were both capable performers.
In the 80's, the Sea Harrier proved to be an excellent versatile strike and defence fighter.
The F-35B remains to be tested, but potentially stands up with the first rank of modern marine aviation platforms.
The British build either very beautiful or downright ugly airplanes. No middle ground.
Nothing wrong with Fairy Fulmars. Excellent planes.
@@geordiedog1749 Against Italian aircraft, sure. Zeros, not so much. That's why it was replaced by Seafires and Grumman F4F's, designated as Martlets.
@@brucemcintosh68 I admit I have exaggerated some. The Harrier is an excellent aircraft.But that Gannett, brrrrrr!
At 4:41 Did you noticed the huge dent on the torpedo's head under the plane in the right?
Wildebeest is a Boer word - hence V not W :-)
Interesting video, so I subscribed. I bet without fighter cover they flew so slow the ships gunners would have a real problem tracking. Just like the Germans had with the Stringbags.
Mostly attacking barges and small ships in landing situations. The Japanese generally had air cover where it was needed and the RAF rarely managed to co-ordinate fighters and bombers. The speed differential was an issue, but not too hard for the experienced Japanese pilots. The surviving 'Beestes were usually full of holes.
@@lllordllloyd Yes, but some of their newer anti aircraft guns also had a hard time tracking airplanes traveling so slow. The Germans learned how to lead and hold. It did cut the effectiveness of the guns rate of fire
Never have so few,done so much,with so much obsolescence.
"Vildebeest" sounds very much like the German pronunciation of "Wildebeest"? Haha!!
On another note. I once read in a book about an RAF Vildebeest been attacked by I think it was a BF109. The Vildebeest was flying so slowly that the 109 pilot misjudged his speed and flew into the sea. Probably the only kill by a Vildebeest, albeit by default
To go along with that story the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway on Englands south coast was built by a slightly eccentric ex-racing driver who wanted a functional light railway for industrial use but also something that would be suitable for summer tourists so the railway was built with 1/3 size engine and rolling stock.
When WW2 happened the home guard took over the railway, added armour and machine guns to the trains and used them as miniature armoured trains.
Famously an Bf109 tried to strafe what he thought was a full sized locomotive, didnt realise it wasnt a large train far away but a small train really really close, didnt give himself enough space to pull up and lawn darted into the Kent countryside.
Possibly the only combat kill ever by a miniature railway.
@@voiceofraisin3778 Haha, I've heard that one before. It sounds like an episode of Dad's army 🤣
Quite a few forgotten aircraft in Africa and Asia. Vickers Wellesley is another example - went from record breaker to fodder for biplane fighters in 5 years flat
Good video with comprehensive history, enjoyed.
Some wonderful photos in this video.
Hello thanks again for correctly identifying the United States of America 🇺🇸 the USA. Note US is a prefixed utilize in the name of many federations, Examples UNITED STATES OF VENEZUELA 🇻🇪 ( change by comunist ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 🇺🇸 UNITED STATES MEXICANOS 🇲🇽 REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL 🇧🇷, ECT. America is a Continent. Saludos
Hawker Hartebeest next?
Great video, informative and well presented - thanks mate...
It's amazing how the Fairey Swordfish had such a illustrous career during WWII but when came in service but went into service it didn't mark a notable improvement over it's predecessors the Vildebeest and Blackburn Shark.
9:55 zed mate, not zee. You're not from the United States.
Married to a septic. Picked up bad habits.
Great episode 👏.
Awesome video. I'll live not far from Wellington. That's awesome, now I know where to go for a holiday.
MY Great uncle Deryck Milne was in 100 squadron, based in Scotland ,the squadron was transferred to Singapore in 1934. his Vilderbeast was the first one assembled there . at one stage in October 1934 , during a storm, they crashed in the Malaysian jungle in the tree tops .his crew all survived & the aircraft was recovered.
he eventually was requisitioned by the RNZAF to return to NZ & help set up for war in 1939. His brother Cecil Snowy had gone through Cranwell college to become an officer & was shot down in a PRU spitfire on 22 April 1940 over Stuttgart. both brothers survived the war to return to New Zealand.
An improved version of a Vildebeest? Surely a joke. These are the sort of aircraft that are made obsolete in hours not years. You do have to ask yourself what the Air Ministry were doing between 1918 and 1939. I think their grandchildren are working for our Civil Service now.
So vickers had the Vimy, Vagabond, Valentia, Valparaiso, Vampire, Vanguard, Vellore, Vendace, Venture, Vernon, Vespa, Victoria, Vireo, Virginia, Vixen and Vulcan all in the skies by 1928 when the Vildebeest joined the party. Somehow I think the misspelling was to fit a trend but maybe that's just a conspiracy... 🤔😂
Lest we forget.
Churchill: "You must defend our colony by all means".
Local commander: "By what means? Oh, you mean a few prehistoric Vildebeests? I wish us good luck. We'll do our best!"
Good stuff, I like the Wilderbeast, Excited to hear RNZAF are puttin, maybe put one together. just over the ditch from there, although with the pandemic. Thanks m8!
Aircraft name:spelled wrong, pronounced correctly. Admiralty: That'll be fine. Fetch me another Gin and Tonic.
100 Squadron used to be located at RAF Leeming as the Joint Forward Air Controller School Training Unit with BAe Hawk's.
A slow restoration?
Well, appropriate, l suppose...
Perhaps you could consider a video about another glamour-puss of the skies?
Yes, the Boulton Paul Overstrand!
Not actually a spelling error. That's the Boer pronunciation of "V". Wolksvagen, don't cha know.
In my opinion, both the Devastator and Swordfish were hopelessly outdated, not 'relatively modern.'
We must take into account that the aviation industry went through an accellerated progression or even revolution, making some planes from a few years ago (when WW2 started) obsolete while planes that were put into production a year or two after those obsolete planes were first manufactured, were 'just at the right time,' like the Bf-109, the Hurricane and the Spitfire.
If the 'combat simulator' that I played in the 1990s, "Aces of the Pacific" was any indication, trying to use a Devastator in a torpedo attack - without any opposition - was incredibly dangerous in the first place. It's like coming in to land on the sea, you have to get that low and slow to get the torpedo to run correctly.
Nowadays I'm playing FS 2020 but unfortunately no torpedoplanes and no simulated torpedo runs in that one.
I'm pretty sure that in his book 'Spitfire' John Nichols recounts a squadron of 11 or 12 Wildebeasts being despatched cross channel to bomb the Germans advancing on Dunkirk.
One returned having turned back with engine trouble a couple of miles off the English coast. It was the only one which did return.
The pilot requested transfer to Fighters and served in Spitfires until being killed in action.
Some Wildebeest were flown by South Africans. The name is Wildebees(t). The pronuonciation is Afrikaans, where w is pronounced as v. So you say it as you spell it, but the spelling is with a w. The t, at the end, is an older form of the word.
Surprised and disappointed you don't know about the South-african dutch word "Wildebeest"; the animal is also known as the Gnu.
NZ - should be pronounced en zed in standard english.
The decline in spoken english and british culture in general over the past forty years or so distresses me.
Fortunately I don't have long to go.
"en zee one -o-two"!? Zee? ZEE? ... ZED, IT'S ZED !!! I _everyone_ trying to be american now?
I'm married to an American.
I now say "pants" more than "trousers".
Mourn for me, I am already lost 😁
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Ha ha ha Forgiven :-D :-D
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters But you can fight back, even in an obsolete biplane!
Imagine you're selected for pilot's school. You work hard, do well and dream of becoming your country's next fighter ace.
Graduation day is a proud moment. You realise that the war is going to be hard and there's a chance that you might not survive it.
Then you receive your posting notice. Torpedo Bombers. Instantly you know that you won't.
And your decidedly un-sexy plane won't get you any sex while you're waiting to be shot out of the sky.
Happy times.
Wilderbeest is derived from Afrikaans,means wild beast presumably to separate it from domestic cattle?, and in Afrikaans the W is said as a V(V is said as an F)so Vilderbeest probably isn't a misspelling.Perhap a South African was involved in the design of the aircraft?
My late Father served at Bletchley, using signal interception they warned Malaysia, although they could do nothing, they also tracked another group of ships that ended up off pearl harbour. He was always very annoyed that his unit which contained US service men was never given credit for the warning they gave which resulted in the US carriers leaving port. Tbh I think the Americans just ignored them. But moved the carriers just in case then didn't want to admit it. When my late Father managed to talk to an expert at Bletchley he wasn't told he was wrong he was told "shut up, never mention it again"!
Thank you so much for this video, I´m actually a huge fan of the Vildebeest (mainly it´s history during the Spanish Civil War). Curiously, while Spain purchased the Vickers Vildebeest, the neighbor country of Portugal purchased the Blackburn Shark instead. You could make a video about the Blackburn Shark too someday; to give you and idea, the airframes were so badly finished and weak that the Pilots sent from Lisbon to bring the planes from the UK refused to accept them and fly with them. Eventually, the planes were delivered in 1936 but were removed from service in 1938, after the loss of one of these planes in an accident. It seems that even the British hated the Shark too, since it was acquired by the Fleet Air Arm in 1935 but immediately replaced in 1936 by the Swordfish...
Hey Eínon
Guy from NZ who made the lego V bombers. How's you model now?
Talk to ya on flickr
@@thejustice7305 Hi Tomasi! I was about to send you a copy of this video to you when I saw your comment. :D I made some improvements, I shall post the photos in the future.