Created 20-May-17
Modified 20-May-17
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In contrast to what was said in the intro to the previous photo set, this photo set shows that war can clearly be Hell for many if not most. And Dad lived though some of it, first at sea off Normandy and later in Antwerp, as the first photo in this set certifies. For 175 days from early October 1944 to the end of March 1945 Germany rained more than 1000 V1 and V2 rocket propelled bombs onto Antwerp and its surrounding countryside. These rocket bombs were filled with sufficient fuel to allow them just to reach the skies above their general targets. When the rocket fuel ran out, the bombs would then fall from the sky to destroy whatever was below. Range finding test rockets were first sent to determine the amount of fuel needed, then waves of rockets would follow for days later and for weeks after that. These rocket bombs were used with greatest effect first on London and later on Antwerp. The next photo shows a V1 falling from the sky. As the photo caption on the back says, that was the last photo made by that cameraman. Dad said that friends of the late photographer had the film roll developed and then sold copies of this photo, which we now have a couple of copies; the proceeds from the sale were then sent to the photographer’s unfortunate widow. The next two photos show the size of these bombs, two of which that had failed to explode. Next, this map shows where in Antwerp the bombs fell. Due to their design and their lacking a navigation system, areas of destruction rained across much of Antwerp, most falling on commercial and residential areas instead of military targets. The greatest mortality from a single bomb occurred when it fell on an occupied movie theater. The remaining photos in this set show the magnitude of the destruction produced where the bombs fell from the sky. Terrifying! (If you like to learn more about this, I suggest you Google “Antwerp V1”.)

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