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It is well documented that despite the successful 'D-Day' landings in Normandy on 6th June 1944, and the subsequent advance of the Allies across Europe, the people in London still found themselves having to endure the terror of the V1s crossing the Channel from various launch sites along the coast of the occupied countries. A lesser known fact is that 2 of these 'vengeance weapons' fell on Portsmouth. Whether Portsmouth was the intended target can never be known for sure. What is not in doubt is that the results of both attacks were damaging, and tragic respectively. Early in July 1944, the first V1 to hit Portsmouth fell in Locksway Road, Southsea, destroying several properties and severely damaging many more in the vicinity. Amazingly, there were no casualties. If the residents of Locksway Road were able to count their blessings, however, several of those in Newcomen Road and Winstanley Road, Stamshaw, were in no such position a few days later. At just after midnight on July 15th/16th 1944, a second V1 landed in the back garden of number 89 Winstanley Road. The ensuing detonation of the 850-kilo warhead resulted in the deaths of 15 people, and injury to a further 82. A total of 185 properties received significant or serious damage, with less serious damage to more than 1,900 others in the surrounding area. One of the elevators was recovered from the remaining wreckage of the V1 and is now on display at the ‘D-Day Story’ Collection at Clarence Esplanade, Southsea. This build came about from a combination of circumstances: Firstly, with only a week to go before the next club night, I realised that I had nothing to show! Secondly, and by a strange quirk of fate, one of the competitions on at the meet tonight is the 'Memorial Trophy', which theme this year is 'Portsmouth'. Thirdly, I had recently acquired this little kit with a view to doing a slightly different project, but the simple construction (8 pieces for the aircraft, 9 for the dolly cradle) meant I had a reasonable chance of finishing it in time Fourthly, I felt I needed a bit of a 'palette cleanser' project to preserve the mojo for the trials and tribulations ahead on my Ju52/1m build. The simplicity of the build didn't really warrant a WIP thread - it's built literally out of the box, with no additionals at all. Paints were from the Vallejo 'Model Air' RLM set for top and bottom of the aircraft, and Tamiya gun metal for the dolly cart. A good old all-over wash with Games Workshop sepia wash took the shine off that. That's all there was to it! Anyway, here are some photos of the result, which will be going into the competition tonight! Comments and criticisms as ever most welcome

CVN 75 due to anchor off Gosport Sat 6 Oct, sailing Wed 10 Oct. usually good viewing from Stokes Bay (Gosport) or Gosport Ferry running boat tours out. US CVNs usually drop the pick about 1/2 mile off Gilkicker point (Spit Head). For those that "know", I suspect the usual tours via HMNB Portsmouth are on offer (30 min boat trip + hangar & flight deck tour). Sems to be my lucky week, with a 2 seat spit operating out of Lee-On-Solent, a view of the final Sea King flyby and now just a small number of Hornets parked off the beach........

Hi all, A few more and a different subject. This time a few B&Ws from the Autumn visit by the JFK to Portsmouth in 1976: F-14A "Swordsmen" F-14A "Top Hatters" F-14A "Top Hatters" RF-8G VFP-63, I think.... need to dig my logs out I hope you like and my continued posting.... Martin