When I was in the UK fire brigade 20 or so years back, one afternoon I was fitting smoke detectors in the house of an elderly gentleman. While I was filling in the necessary "paperwork" I spotted the familiar blue and white diagonal ribbon of a "Distinguished Flying Cross" framed on a wall of his living room. When I asked him who the DFC had been awarded to, his eyes opened wide with surprise that I would know what it was. He then told me how in 1939 as a Lysander pilot in RAF No.2 Sqd, he had flown observation missions over the French/Belgian border during the 1939/40 "Phoney war". He then told me how in early june 1940 his squadron then got orders at short notice to evacuate to the UK. He said that the last 8 airworthy lysanders took off from north eastern France to hop over the channel, and that during the flight they had been attacked by Me109s. He had managed to evade multiple 109 attacks, and his rear gunner even managed to send one of the attackers banking away with smoke streaming from it. When they arrived in the UK only 4 of the aircraft had made it, the other 4 aircraft and their crews were lost in the channel. It is quite possible that that footage of the Lysander going down was one of his squadron mates. He said he later flew SOE operatives into and out of France during the German occupation and was awarded the DFC in 1944. Just a little old white haired man in his 80s.... and yet an outright bloody HERO. God bless his memory.
The site of the Special Duties aerodrome at Tempsford has long been on my list of places to visit. (The glass case containing the flowers held at my father's funeral has the windscreen panel from a Lysander).
There is another flying Lysander, one of only two flying in the world at the moment, at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, just outside Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, UK. She flies regularly at airshows and is an amazing sight.
I just loved the Lysander as a kid. I don't know why but I remember building a model of it at the age of about twelve in balsa and doped paper. Today the more about its role with SOE makes me love it even more. Good old Westland and nepotism!
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is known as the most versatile plane of WW2 (that alone is worth a video, agree?), but one of the roles it played is unknown by many: in the colors of BOAC, it made several flights to Sweden transporting agents and special cargo in the bomb bay, rescuing pilots and people who wanted to flee occupied Europe to contribute to the Allied war effort. And it was precisely in one of these situations that the Mosquito had its greatest highlight in this role: in October 1943 it transported the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics, Niels Bohr, who would come to participate in the Manhattan Project that created the 1st Atomic Bomb in History. Greetings from Brazil.
Hello Brazil! Yes, the Mossie is def one of my favourites. Because of its innovation, long operational life, and great versatility, I have a feeling that its going to be a BIG (probably multi-part) episode so I'm a little afraid of tackling it! But I will!
@@worldofwarbirds There really are many aspects to be addressed since its unusual gestation, making the prototype in a kitchen (as it was the largest room) in Salibury Hall - a building that had already been used by Churchill's mother and the current headquarters of the de Havilland Museum - incredible operational life , with unthinkable situations for a wooden aircraft such as carrying a 4,000lb bomb, being armed with a 57mm automatic cannon ('Tsetse' version), having a version with a pressurized cockpit (I have several books and magazines about the Mosquito, but until today I have not found more information or even photos that demonstrate how this was done), in addition to, of course, their memorable missions. I look forward to these videos.
Finns noted that Lysander was really sitting duck on day. We used mostly Heinkel He-115 on similar nighttime LRRP retreaval ops. It helps that we have tens of thousands lakes on our side of border, and another on eastern neighbours side.
Thanks for video. An amazingly versatile aircraft. Those SCW pilots must have been quite something - very challenging missions but they managed to do it. Petter spending time to gather operational requirements from crews rather than just meet the Ministry spec. seemed to work out quite nicely at the end of the day.
"spending time to gather...requirements" He was nearly a century ahead of his time. There are several large organisations that could have saved countless millions on failed projects if they had listened to the people who were expected to use the products.
As the Fieseler Storch and the Piper Cub it was a great plane for what it should do, And doubling in as a role for ground attack too. And if you had Gestapo on your neck in France the plane was a beauty to behold.
Yes this was a very unique aeroplane specially designed for the low speed landings and wing lift items and stabilizer position required much pilot expertise . Dropped many spies into the enemy areas
Apparently they flew in pairs so one could land while another circled nearby so its engine noise would conceal that the other had landed? I don’t know if true or how often this happened.
Petter designs were always intriguing - the wonderful Whirlwind for instance - but Westland was always a company that thought out of the box(the Pterodactyl springs to mind). Bit like a British non-Nazi Blohm & Voss (Herr Doktor Vohgt being their Petter equivalent)
You got me! Actually I cheat quite a bit when I cannot find the right image. I’ve even used some AI generated images. I usually get away with it! I should put a disclaimer and sometimes I do
Excellent video the Germans had a good aircraft for this sort of work in the Storch but the 80 mph cruising speed would have been a problem I suspect as Rommel noted which is why he also used a German twin Foche Wulf comparable to the Avro Anson that was also used for similar SOE work on occasion. I hope you do well with this and will sub to you. Another aircraft that might be worth your time is the Fairy Swordfish if that fits in your preferences.
The Storch also lacked range and carrying capacity. The aircraft companies asked to design an army support aircraft tended to make them too big. The US Army had a prototype that was a bit larger than the Lysander and it too failed at it's intended role. The US Army went with the "grasshoppers", helped by generals Bradley, Eisenhower and Patton flying them pre war in training exercises. Patton owned a Piper J-3.
@frosty3693 Hanna Reitsch, brilliant female German test pilot, flew a Storch into Berlin in April 1945, landing in a street near the Fuhrerbunker. She then visited her beloved Hitler and tried to persuade him to leave Berlin. She remained an unapologetic Nazi until her death aged 67 in 1979.
@@peterrebelwithoutamenopaus6962 The Storch was a good aircraft, but I do think it could have worked the same. There is a story of a P-51 pilot trying to shoot one down over a city, not Berlin. It flew down streets below rooftop level and every time the P-51 got close enough to shoot it would turn a corner onto a cross street. The P-51 gave up.
A friend of mine flew one as a target tug he said it was a great plane to fly but the job was a little frightening their is also another one in Canada it at War Time Heritage Museum at Mount Hope Ontario
Back in the 1960's, there was an action war series on British TV called "Moonstrike" which was staged around the special ops and French resistance, and of course a Lysander featured in the series. The programme came in for a bit of a caning because it was very downbeat, the Nazis were shown to be smart and subtle and a match for the allies and often came out on top. So far as I'm aware, none of the episodes survive...
I used to religiously watch Moonstrike every week. Mind you as a youngster I really didn't appreciate the significance of the stories. Unfortunately for the Lysander it was too big and unmanouverable for its original role. A very good book on the subject is Hug Verity's "We Landed By Moonlight".
@@worldofwarbirds I don't think we grow a lot of corn here. Whereas the US (Canada too?) make alcohol (as a renewable fuel) we grow sugar cane for that. corn is never at the forefront of my mind. Nor is cane for that matter.
The Germans were keen to get an intact Lysander for testing. They finally caught one stuck in a field in France recovered it and loaded it on a truck to take it back to base. Ufnortunately the truck got stuck on a railroad crossing and the truck and aircraft were destroyed when they were hit by a train. Bad luck that.
took long enough to get to the Most Important Job of Resistance Suport Behind ENEMY LINES! this system did Very WELL! "I Think!" my brother's Father In Law was one of these pilots! as he imigrated to Canada in about 36, after he paid for his own flight lessons at 17yrs old, then flew for the RCAF, RAF, and the USAC while he had Medals from EVERY Allied government that existed! some Enemy's! got kicked out of the WAR after D Day when he Stole an air ship and flew an Un Autherized Mission into France behind Enemy Lines! and was "Invited" to go Home as a Court Martial would have Very Bad PR! with his Box O Medals!
Have you looked into a well known(in the UK) small 2 stroke engine used in all sorts of garden and light machinery known almost generically as a Petter engine, As a 69yr old Brit motor mechanic I repaired loads in my Civil Plant days,
Funny to see the swastika on a Lizzie. It is not a Nazi, but Finnish Airforce swastika. The FA has stopped using the swastika, in 2020, but the FA use of this symbol predates the rise of National Socialism.
So, the British Air Ministry NEVER specifically sought-after a SOE, clandestine insurgency-use STOL airplane ?? How Short-Sighted of these club-house Politicians. 😂
It's not a function of politicians to specify aircraft, that is down to the technical departments headed by serving airmen. SOE were free to ask for such an aircraft to be designed and built, but time was short and there were many other demands for new aircraft. SOE used a number of types, depending on requirements, including the Lockheed Hudson, specified by Arthur 'Bomber' Harris in 1938, that could land and take off from makeshift airfields. It was used by No. 161 (Special Duties) Squadron and was very effective in the role.
It was stol?, what to you think the wings was designed for, for taking off in fields iin farmers fields near to front lines where no airfield was built yet?, have you seen the boccage?, then you see why the plain was used and it is a (short take Off & landing) plane? STOL...and the reason its big for a stol plane compared to others in ww2, is that it could be decently armed with whats been mentioned carry three people including the pilot and two heavy wireless set in luggage bay or another person lying down and still get airbourne or land in time before hitting a hedge..
@@utrinqueparatus4617hudson could only drop clandestines through the whole in the floor and parachute? they couldnt land to pick them up when they was being hunted or to pick up people of interest , the reason for the lysander usuage for these special operation duties..
When I was in the UK fire brigade 20 or so years back, one afternoon I was fitting smoke detectors in the house of an elderly gentleman. While I was filling in the necessary "paperwork" I spotted the familiar blue and white diagonal ribbon of a "Distinguished Flying Cross" framed on a wall of his living room. When I asked him who the DFC had been awarded to, his eyes opened wide with surprise that I would know what it was.
He then told me how in 1939 as a Lysander pilot in RAF No.2 Sqd, he had flown observation missions over the French/Belgian border during the 1939/40 "Phoney war". He then told me how in early june 1940 his squadron then got orders at short notice to evacuate to the UK. He said that the last 8 airworthy lysanders took off from north eastern France to hop over the channel, and that during the flight they had been attacked by Me109s. He had managed to evade multiple 109 attacks, and his rear gunner even managed to send one of the attackers banking away with smoke streaming from it.
When they arrived in the UK only 4 of the aircraft had made it, the other 4 aircraft and their crews were lost in the channel. It is quite possible that that footage of the Lysander going down was one of his squadron mates. He said he later flew SOE operatives into and out of France during the German occupation and was awarded the DFC in 1944.
Just a little old white haired man in his 80s.... and yet an outright bloody HERO. God bless his memory.
Thanks so much for sharing!
The site of the Special Duties aerodrome at Tempsford has long been on my list of places to visit. (The glass case containing the flowers held at my father's funeral has the windscreen panel from a Lysander).
Great narration with a natural and expressive voice. Thank you for posting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Lizzie, one of my favourite aircraft.
There is another flying Lysander, one of only two flying in the world at the moment, at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, just outside Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, UK. She flies regularly at airshows and is an amazing sight.
Not too far from RAF Tempsford where Lysanders operated from
There's another at Duxford, I saw both of them at the BoB airshow this year.
I built the model from a plastic kit. My first. It hung suspended from the basement for years. Thank you for the story!
I just loved the Lysander as a kid. I don't know why but I remember building a model of it at the age of about twelve in balsa and doped paper. Today the more about its role with SOE makes me love it even more. Good old Westland and nepotism!
The Keil Kraft Lysander was actually a very good flyer.
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is known as the most versatile plane of WW2 (that alone is worth a video, agree?), but one of the roles it played is unknown by many: in the colors of BOAC, it made several flights to Sweden transporting agents and special cargo in the bomb bay, rescuing pilots and people who wanted to flee occupied Europe to contribute to the Allied war effort. And it was precisely in one of these situations that the Mosquito had its greatest highlight in this role: in October 1943 it transported the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics, Niels Bohr, who would come to participate in the Manhattan Project that created the 1st Atomic Bomb in History. Greetings from Brazil.
Hello Brazil! Yes, the Mossie is def one of my favourites. Because of its innovation, long operational life, and great versatility, I have a feeling that its going to be a BIG (probably multi-part) episode so I'm a little afraid of tackling it! But I will!
@@worldofwarbirds There really are many aspects to be addressed since its unusual gestation, making the prototype in a kitchen (as it was the largest room) in Salibury Hall - a building that had already been used by Churchill's mother and the current headquarters of the de Havilland Museum - incredible operational life , with unthinkable situations for a wooden aircraft such as carrying a 4,000lb bomb, being armed with a 57mm automatic cannon ('Tsetse' version), having a version with a pressurized cockpit (I have several books and magazines about the Mosquito, but until today I have not found more information or even photos that demonstrate how this was done), in addition to, of course, their memorable missions. I look forward to these videos.
In fact BOAC Mosquitoes made hundreds of flights to Stockholm, they brought ball bearings back to the UK.
The Junkers 88 did one thing more than the Mosquito
@@noreenbedford7106 What?
Finns noted that Lysander was really sitting duck on day. We used mostly Heinkel He-115 on similar nighttime LRRP retreaval ops. It helps that we have tens of thousands lakes on our side of border, and another on eastern neighbours side.
Excellent video of a LIZZIE.....Thanks so much my friend.....
Shoe🇺🇸
Glad you liked it! I was unsure if anyone would care as it’s not one of the flashy ones!!
Thanks for video. An amazingly versatile aircraft. Those SCW pilots must have been quite something - very challenging missions but they managed to do it.
Petter spending time to gather operational requirements from crews rather than just meet the Ministry spec. seemed to work out quite nicely at the end of the day.
Yes, I wanted to spend more time looking at the secret missions - maybe in a follow up episode!
"spending time to gather...requirements" He was nearly a century ahead of his time. There are several large organisations that could have saved countless millions on failed projects if they had listened to the people who were expected to use the products.
Very interesting and well presented video. Thanks a lot
Colin UK 🇬🇧
Glad you enjoyed it!
Good stuff 👍
Thanks 👍!
Cool video, I hope you make more.
As long as the spirit moves me and people keep watching / liking them, I will!
There is a full-size (non-flying) replica Lysander which was used in a Hollywood film and then donated to Tangmere Museum in West Sussex in England.
I believe that the film was "Allied" starring Brad Pitt.
Beautiful. On the short list of airplanes I would love to be a passenger in.
One of my favorites too.
Agreed!
As the Fieseler Storch and the Piper Cub it was a great plane for what it should do, And doubling in as a role for ground attack too. And if you had Gestapo on your neck in France the plane was a beauty to behold.
Excellent
Beautiful
Yes this was a very unique aeroplane specially designed for the low speed landings and wing lift items and stabilizer position required much pilot expertise . Dropped many spies into the enemy areas
Apparently they flew in pairs so one could land while another circled nearby so its engine noise would conceal that the other had landed? I don’t know if true or how often this happened.
Interesting!
excellent video
Thank you very much!
Well done narrative. Fascinating details.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Petter designs were always intriguing - the wonderful Whirlwind for instance - but Westland was always a company that thought out of the box(the Pterodactyl springs to mind). Bit like a British non-Nazi Blohm & Voss (Herr Doktor Vohgt being their Petter equivalent)
The wing being manufacture at 5:30 are NOT Lysander wings
You got me! Actually I cheat quite a bit when I cannot find the right image. I’ve even used some AI generated images. I usually get away with it! I should put a disclaimer and sometimes I do
Came from the podcast, stayed for the images.
Welcome aboard!
It was used with 161sqn not 138 sqn at Tempsford, they actually flew from Tangmere which was considerably closer to France.
Excellent video the Germans had a good aircraft for this sort of work in the Storch but the 80 mph cruising speed would have been a problem I suspect as Rommel noted which is why he also used a German twin Foche Wulf comparable to the Avro Anson that was also used for similar SOE work on occasion. I hope you do well with this and will sub to you. Another aircraft that might be worth your time is the Fairy Swordfish if that fits in your preferences.
Yes! The Swordfish is definitely on my list! Such an anachronism during WW2, but still kicked butt. I’m looking forward to profiling her.
The Storch also lacked range and carrying capacity.
The aircraft companies asked to design an army support aircraft tended to make them too big. The US Army had a prototype that was a bit larger than the Lysander and it too failed at it's intended role. The US Army went with the "grasshoppers", helped by generals Bradley, Eisenhower and Patton flying them pre war in training exercises. Patton owned a Piper J-3.
@frosty3693 Hanna Reitsch, brilliant female German test pilot, flew a Storch into Berlin in April 1945, landing in a street near the Fuhrerbunker. She then visited her beloved Hitler and tried to persuade him to leave Berlin.
She remained an unapologetic Nazi until her death aged 67 in 1979.
@@peterrebelwithoutamenopaus6962 The Storch was a good aircraft, but I do think it could have worked the same. There is a story of a P-51 pilot trying to shoot one down over a city, not Berlin. It flew down streets below rooftop level and every time the P-51 got close enough to shoot it would turn a corner onto a cross street. The P-51 gave up.
A friend of mine flew one as a target tug he said it was a great plane to fly but the job was a little frightening their is also another one in Canada it at War Time Heritage Museum at Mount Hope Ontario
Yes, having a bunch of noob gunners shooting at your banner must have been disconcerting. Imagine the Pinball pilots!
It was light strong could fly low and at stall speeds it could take in a plough filed ideal for private fops abroad
Excellent.
Is it the Lysander that is pictured in one of the first foo fighter UFO images?
I think I know the image you’re referring to, which shows a low wing airplane. So not the Lizzie.
@@worldofwarbirds would you be able to guess on that foo plane in the picture?
Back in the 1960's, there was an action war series on British TV called "Moonstrike" which was staged around the special ops and French resistance, and of course a Lysander featured in the series. The programme came in for a bit of a caning because it was very downbeat, the Nazis were shown to be smart and subtle and a match for the allies and often came out on top. So far as I'm aware, none of the episodes survive...
I guess at that time they weren’t ready for a nuanced view. I’d love to see some dramatizations of their operations though!
I used to religiously watch Moonstrike every week. Mind you as a youngster I really didn't appreciate the significance of the stories. Unfortunately for the Lysander it was too big and unmanouverable for its original role. A very good book on the subject is Hug Verity's "We Landed By Moonlight".
What is the term used to describe the fuselage? Is it corn cob fuselage? My imagination is obviously not up to scratch. Corn cob ?
Corn cob - like a thick cylinder!
@@worldofwarbirds What an odd way to describe anything. Are you from the US? They grow a lot of corn from memory.
Canada. We grow a lot of corn too. Also it’s in season right now and so I guess it was on my mind 🌽
@@worldofwarbirds I don't think we grow a lot of corn here. Whereas the US (Canada too?) make alcohol (as a renewable fuel) we grow sugar cane for that. corn is never at the forefront of my mind. Nor is cane for that matter.
Where are you located?
The Germans were keen to get an intact Lysander for testing. They finally caught one stuck in a field in France recovered it and loaded it on a truck to take it back to base. Ufnortunately the truck got stuck on a railroad crossing and the truck and aircraft were destroyed when they were hit by a train. Bad luck that.
Devine providence perhaps🧐🥸😂
Never heard of a S.O.E unit called Divine Providence
took long enough to get to the Most Important Job of Resistance Suport Behind ENEMY LINES! this system did Very WELL!
"I Think!" my brother's Father In Law was one of these pilots! as he imigrated to Canada in about 36, after he paid for his own flight lessons at 17yrs old, then flew for the RCAF, RAF, and the USAC while he had Medals from EVERY Allied government that existed! some Enemy's! got kicked out of the WAR after D Day when he Stole an air ship and flew an Un Autherized Mission into France behind Enemy Lines! and was "Invited" to go Home as a Court Martial would have Very Bad PR! with his Box O Medals!
Did he write all of that down? I'd read THAT book!
A super air craft!
The more I looked into this one, the more I appreciated it!
One of these shot down a Heinkel 111 over France.
More like forward facing wings?
It's not fast or sexy but it was reliable and got the job done.
Great to hear a human voice. RUclips is being overrun by AI narrations now.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
“Please and Thank You” … Definitely Canadian
Thanks, eh! 🇨🇦
Have you looked into a well known(in the UK) small 2 stroke engine used in all sorts of garden and light machinery known almost generically as a Petter engine, As a 69yr old Brit motor mechanic I repaired loads in my Civil Plant days,
Were they used in aviation also?
This be Great personal aircraft, maybe downsized by quarter?
Yes! Especially to get into small fields.
Funny to see the swastika on a Lizzie. It is not a Nazi, but Finnish Airforce swastika. The FA has stopped using the swastika, in 2020, but the FA use of this symbol predates the rise of National Socialism.
Yes, we see it in the Beaufighter episode too!
It did exactly what it was meant to do.
One of my all time faves.
It's beautiful in a fugly sort of way
The old girl has really grown on me!
Bravest pilots of WW2, leave England at dusk find a field in southern France in the dark, unload and pick up an agent and get back before dawn.
I don't know how they found individual farmer's feilds in the dark. Damned good navigation and flying!
lt is one of the small number of ugly/beautiful aircraft. another l would nominate is the Fairey Gannet.
It's beautiful and ugly st the same time
So, the British Air Ministry NEVER specifically sought-after a SOE, clandestine insurgency-use STOL airplane ?? How Short-Sighted of these club-house Politicians. 😂
It's not a function of politicians to specify aircraft, that is down to the technical departments headed by serving airmen. SOE were free to ask for such an aircraft to be designed and built, but time was short and there were many other demands for new aircraft. SOE used a number of types, depending on requirements, including the Lockheed Hudson, specified by Arthur 'Bomber' Harris in 1938, that could land and take off from makeshift airfields. It was used by No. 161 (Special Duties) Squadron and was very effective in the role.
It was stol?, what to you think the wings was designed for, for taking off in fields iin farmers fields near to front lines where no airfield was built yet?, have you seen the boccage?, then you see why the plain was used and it is a (short take Off & landing) plane? STOL...and the reason its big for a stol plane compared to others in ww2, is that it could be decently armed with whats been mentioned carry three people including the pilot and two heavy wireless set in luggage bay or another person lying down and still get airbourne or land in time before hitting a hedge..
@@utrinqueparatus4617hudson could only drop clandestines through the whole in the floor and parachute? they couldnt land to pick them up when they was being hunted or to pick up people of interest , the reason for the lysander usuage for these special operation duties..
Love hearing the RAF March Past. Best military march ever.
i would rather fly a lysander than a p 40