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DIVERS HAVE BEGUN a delicate operation to raise the only German Dornier Do-17 bomber left after World War II from the depths of the English Channel.
The aircraft was shot down during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the operation to retrieve it is the biggest of its kind in British waters, the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum said.
The bomber was only discovered in 2008 when it was spotted by divers at Goodwin Sands, off the coast of Kent in southeast England.
Sonar scans confirmed it was a Dornier Do-17, and experts say it is in a “remarkable condition”.
The painstaking operation to raise it to the surface is expected to take around three weeks.
Divers are building a metal frame around the wreck, which they will use to carefully hoist it the 15 metres from the seabed.
“The discovery and recovery of the Dornier is of national and international importance,” said Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, director general of the RAF Museum.
The aircraft is a unique and unprecedented survivor from the Battle of Britain and the Blitz (the Nazis’ intense bombing of London).
Experts are excited by the find because the bomber is still largely intact, although it is covered in barnacles and some of its aluminium has corroded over the last 70 years.
Amazingly, the main undercarriage tyres remain inflated, but the propellers clearly show the damage that the bomber suffered during its fateful last landing.
Once it is lifted to the surface, work will begin to conserve the Dornier and prepare it for display at the museum’s London site.
Dye said the exhibit would “highlight the sacrifices made by the young men of both air forces and from many nations”.
The Dornier 17 was nicknamed the Luftwaffe’s “flying pencil” because of its narrow fuselage.
The Battle of Britain began on July 10, 1940, and ended on October 31 the same year.
More than 2,900 British, Commonwealth and Allied airmen took part in some 600 planes – less than half the 1,750 German aircraft involved.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe, in what is considered a turning point in World War II.
Hundreds of German bombers were shot down during the battle, but none survived the war – they were all smelted in order to be turned into British aircraft, according to the museum.
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A good kick in the ballacks. Bring any man down
@Brian Dunne: Don’t they do that already? And blame a cow if questioned about it.
@Brian Dunne: excellent suggestion
Knowing is one thing, having the confidence to use it in a situation is another.
Honestly, the people I know who took it up are well able to use their skills and usually don’t even need to. Somehow it shows. Give the new learners time. Part of self defence training is apparently mental prep.
Minding your own business and keeping your mouth shut usually works best …
@Ciaran Dunne: Speak softly and carry a big stick
@Ciaran Dunne: Not the greatest qualities in a prospective Garda
It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, also not every style suits the individual , martial arts like shoes are not a one size fits all.
I support the futon roll up like Japanese police :)
No, but I know where to aim a kick, and thanks to watching some sport during the summer- how to eye gouge.
@Teresa O’Halloran: watching a few fights does not make one proficient in self defence.
If this was the case then we’d all be grand after checking out some YouTube clips.
More public funds wasted…
Better spend time policing themselves first, and put emphasis on violence de-escalation during training.
@Stan Papusa: it’s already in place and obviously doesn’t work, hence the high number of assaults on front line workers
@Disco Inferno: Do frontline workers have time to take it up? Certainly they should have it as part of their training.
It’s 2022 and the Gardaí don’t already have some martial arts training? Yikes!
@Todd Hebert: It says they did and are requesting more training.
In 63 years I haven’t had cause to fight since school.
Going to start boxing soon at my prime
When I went to school we children were told to kick a strange menacing adult on the shins and run away like Billio. No kung fu or judo was mentioned.
Today’s bearded check-shirt wearing gen would be better thought how to make a decent cup of coffee instead of flittering their coinage away on cafemuchachos and beard greese for their 1870′s ungainly growths.
I’m big and loud so I’ve always been grand, but I could fight my way out of a wet paper bag
As James Brown once sang “i dont know karate but i know crazy”
Yes. It’s what’s used when the government make life even harder for you while trying to live a simple life.
The best martial art for Gardai is BJJ. It is a basically submission grappling and the focus is on disabling an opponent without strikes.
i don’t know karate but i know karazy
Ya keep my mouth shut
I don’t know karate but i know crazy
This is great news for them. I worked with summer students who had part-time jobs as bouncers. One took up judo and the difference in him was amazing. It certainly gave him a great deal and he was better off and more cheerful, and oddly enough, in less trouble. Over a couple of months, he grew in confidence and was able to handle himself and de-escalate conflicts all of a sudden. He said himself that he noticed far less drunks trying it on, as if they could see he wasn’t easily daunted.
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