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Dear Fellow Modellers It's been a while since i've built anything. I've had this Airfix kit in the proverbial stash and along came a reason to build it! I've recently become involved with a charity and suggested I might present a history talk for them , online using Zoom. I do like visiting old WW2 airfields mostly in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Herts. It seemed natural to present a talk giving an overview of these airfields and the part they played in the Air War against the Axis. I did the talk in Feb and to my absolute astonishment nearly 500people joined. The organisers were most pleased with the numbers and also with my presenting 'skills'. They liked it so much that they asked for a second talk. This would be a 'Part 2' and concentrate on the role played by Navigation Aids, The use of Electronic counter-measures and Special Duties /SOE squadrons. I knew of the RAF 100 Group activities and thought i would build this RAF 100 Group B17-MkIII as a teaching aid for this second talk. Background The flight crew who were involved in the Air Borne Cigar (ABC) missions were very brave. They were mostly 'yiddish' speakers, German Jews who had escaped the Nazis and due to their unique language skills volunteered for RAF service. They interrupted the German Ground controllers VHF based instructions. Due to the short range of the radio equipment carried there were many 100 Group aircraft incorporated in to the bomber streams on any given raid. 100 Group aircraft I have read experienced one of the highest 'group' casualty rates during missions partly for this reason. Consider that if they were shot down they had a 50% chance of escaping the stricken aircraft for a B17 or B24 (for a Lancaster this was said to be only 15%) .If they were captured they faced almost certain death at the hands of the Nazi state . In my humble opinion ,they deserve generous recognition. To escape their tormentors once and then willingly put themselves in to a position where, if captured by the enemy, they had no options, compared to their fellow RAF aircrew, is quite extraordinary. Anyway here's the finished model... I decided to pose it on a diorama with the Airfix USAAF 1:72nd refuelling set. It's a 'What If..' situation where the RAF B17 on returning from a mission over Germany in 1944 was forced to land away from it's home base at a USAAF Heavy bomber base due to fog. The ex RAF Trolley Acc, inherited by the USAAF, is ready for engine run ups. The Refuelling tanker is making it's gentle way in to position, awaiting the American Technical staff to come from their breakfasts and top off the tanks with some fuel to return to RAF Oulton in Norfolk. A passing B17 bomb load is off to another 'spectacle' loop for a USAAF B17 to be bombed-up for a target in the Pas De Calais.... I made the brick building 20 years ago from a kit it's 1:76 scale for a railway! The WW2 Pill box I scratch built about 30 years ago ( it's probably a bit over scale for 1:72 or 1:76!) I live on the WW2 London Outer Defence Ring ( an anti invasion set of defences to slow the Germans down ) and there are many pill boxes and defensive positions in the district. I recall going out to find one and measuring it to get the size roughly correct. The empanages are covered by steel doors in many of the original pill boxes. Hope you like it? Anyway i hope you enjoy the finished product! I certainly enjoyed making it and the kit was not bad at all. Paints are MIG RAF Brown. Tamiya RAF Green 2. The RAF black comes from a Hataka Red Line WW2 RAF set of paints. It could do a bit of tidying up in places i guess? It was varnished with some sort of floor protector liquid, which i've found to be quite a nice finish, not matt but not full gloss and quite thin . Suggestions and critique welcomed!

I don't know if this has been posted before but it is worthwhile listening to. In 1942 the Japanese were bombing ports in the north of Australia, ranging all the way across the top of the continent from Western Australia to Queensland. Several of those raids were on the city I live in now, Townsville. As it happened one of Australia's great war correspondents, Chester Wilmot, was passing through Townsville on his way to New Guinea and was doing an interview with an American pilot when the third of these raids occurred and was able to capture the sounds and give a commentary. This is from the Australian Broadcasting Commissions archives. http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2009-06-08/archive-audio-eyewitness-report-of-japanese-air/1705516