Where the Focke-Wulf am I?

Hello all

Happy Sunday!

A couple of weeks ago, many of us watched the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. Today marks another anniversary of a slightly less solemn nature also relating to World War II.

The date was 23 June 1942. Armin Faber was an Oberleutnant in the German Luftwaffe. He was a proud pilot, having clocked up many hundred hours of flying as an instructor before his current posting to Morlaix in Brittany.

In Brittany, he was flying the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, regarded then as one of the finest fighter planes in the War. The Luftwaffe pilots had faith in the Focke-Wulf; it handled well — particularly at low altitudes —and was heavily armed. As such, it proved a match for the Spitfire V in low-altitude confrontations.

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Armin Faber’s Focke-Wulf in UK: RAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

​There were many other technical and performance details of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 about which the Germans were keen to keep schtum (before you lambast me for drifting into slang, 'schtum' is derived from the German word ’stumm’ meaning mute or silent so I reckon that’s OK?). Nations would go to great lengths to keep the latest design features of their aircraft secret from their enemies, so little was known about the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. But, with a little help from Oberluetnant Armin Faber, that was about to change.

At some point on the 23rd of June, Faber’s unit was scrambled to confront six Boston bombers and their escorts returning over the English Channel from a sortie in Germany. The dogfight was intense, and Faber was separated from his squadron during one particular encounter with a Spitfire. The duel continued across Exeter in Devon until, eventually, Faber shot down the dogged Spitfire.

Exhausted and running low on fuel, Armin urgently needed a landing point. He looked down at the English Channel, aimed for the French coast and safely landed at the first available airstrip.

There was, however, one problem. Faber had mistaken the Bristol Channel for the English Channel so instead of landing at a German-occupied airstrip on the north coast of France, he had inadvertently put down at RAF Pembrey in South Wales. He climbed out of his cockpit, ready for his warm welcome, only to be confronted by the duty pilot, Sergeant Jeffreys, armed only with a flare gun.

Faber’s error provided the RAF with a fully intact Focke-Wulf Fw 190, allowing them unprecedented access to the machine. This directly led to changes in British fighter plane design that were pivotal in the success of the D-Day landings.

As a footnote, Armin Faber visited his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum in Kent in 1991, where he also saw the remains of the Spitfire he shot down that day.

Podcast episode... a look back

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Jackie Robinson. United States Information Agency,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In October last year, I enjoyed a very educational chat with New York environmental and human rights lawyer Rebecca Bratspies. But it wasn’t Rebecca’s legal prowess that I was diving into. She is also an author and last year released her latest book, “Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues, and Heroes Behind New York Place Names” which takes a fascinating look at many of the named bridges, roads, tunnels and parks in New York, delving into the lives of those whose names are commemorated through these entities.

As well as uncovering some colourful characters, Rebecca found that a number of them had slightly dubious backgrounds and started to question the rationale behind the way structures are named. Why do we honour villains and heroes alike?

In the episode, we focused on the life of Jackie Robinson, as in the 'Jackie Robinson Parkway'. Having battled through life against the racial prejudice that existed at the time, Robinson became the first black player in US Major League Baseball in 1947 and ultimately one of the United States’ great heroes and role models. If you get a chance, check out Episode 36. Beyond the Baseball Color Line.

We also talked about George Goethals, after whom the Goethals Bridge in New York is named. Geothals was perhaps best known as the chief engineer overseeing the construction of the Panama Canal from 1908 through to its completion in 1914. The achievement was never fully recognised, as the canal opened a month after the outbreak of World War I in Europe. The naming of the bridge was, therefore, a chance to recognise Goethals’ achievements at this later stage.

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George Goethals talks with US President William Howard Taft during the construction of the Panama Canal. Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Next Saturday marks Goethals’ birthday, 29 June 1858, which also coincides with the opening and naming of the Goethals Bridge on the same day in 1928.

Unfortunately, George wasn’t there to see it - he died earlier that year.

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Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music or just about any other podcast player of your choice. Check out the show notes for the links and transcript to learn more.

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My favourite quotes from the episode...

History is written by the victors. History is written by the powerful, and they tell a version with them at the centre, and them as the heroes.

There's a bridge in New York called the Outerbridge Crossing, and it is the outermost bridge connecting the islands of New York to New Jersey to the mainland. And so everybody assumes that it's called the Outerbridge because it's the outer bridge, but actually it was named after a guy named Eugenius Outerbridge.
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And that's why it's called the Outerbridge Crossing - because Outerbridge bridge would be, you know, ridiculous.

Dates with History...

Tomorrow…

24 June 1314 marks a glorious victory for Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, over King Edward II’s army in the Battle of Bannockburn, part of the First War of Scottish Independence.

Despite being outnumbered by a ratio of approximately 2:1, Bruce outwitted the English through knowledge of his own territory and superior battle tactics with, perhaps, a little help from the inept leadership of Edward II.

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Later this week…

Robert the Bruce was a symbol of resistance against oppression, which could also be argued for Ned Kelly, the infamous Australian bushranger (although to most he was simply a criminal). After a series of bank robberies and murders, on 28 June 1880 Kelly was captured after a last stand at Glenrowan in Victoria.

He was subsequently tried and executed by hanging at the Old Melbourne Gaol later that year. I visited the Old Melbourne Gaol some time back where you can see the trap door through which Kelly was dropped 144 years ago.

25 June 1876 marks another famous last stand; that of General George Armstrong Custer of the US Army. A hero of the American Civil War, Custer was finally killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn while fighting against the Sioux and their leader, Crazy Horse.

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General George Armstrong Custer. Custerportrait.jpg: Unknown derivative work: TheCuriousGnome, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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25 June marks the death of the much-loved ocean explorer, filmmaker, and environmentalist Jacques-Yves Cousteau who died in 1997. Cousteau was the hero who inspired one of my guests, Mark Taylor, to become one of the world’s leading small-submersible pilots, helping David Attenborough, among others, to record extraordinary documentaries such as Blue Planet II. Check out Episode 40. Our Blue Planet Up Close and Personal.

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Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1838 to become better known as Queen Victoria. Unlike modern-day ceremonies, this coronation was marked by a range of mishaps, most notable of which was that Victoria’s coronation ring was measured for her little finger while the Archbishop insisted on forcing it onto her ring finger, no easy feat!

Question of the week...

(answer at bottom of newsletter)

And finally...

A palindrome is a sequence of characters that reads the same, whether forward or backwards. It could be a word, numbers, a series of words or even a whole sentence.

Some simple examples of a palindrome would be: "Anna", "racecar", "radar", "madam", "level", "noon".

Then it can get a little trickier….

Do geese see God?

No lemon, no melon

A Toyota’s a Toyota

Dammit I’m mad

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Believe it or not, Lawrence Levine is reputed to have written a novel “Dr. Awkward & Olson in Oslo” in 1986 where the entire 31,954 word novel is a single palindrome! Not surprisingly, he takes quite a liberty with some unusual names and events and, having checked out some the excerpts forwards and backwards - let’s just say that, for me, the jury is still out.

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Oh, one final palindrome in honour of George Goethals

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama

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Answer to Question of the week: If you are Waltzing Matilda, you're travelling on foot (probably through the Outback) carrying your belongings in some sort of swag bag. The bag is personified as 'Matilda'.

A swagman Waltzing Matilda. Photographic Collection from Australia,
CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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