Science and History (media)

[fragger]

 :)

[fragger]

I didn't know where to stick this post, but since it concerns science (loosely represented in the form of Google Earth), history and media, I thought here was as good a place as any :-D

I waste hours sometimes poking around the world on Google Earth and seeing what I can find, and earlier tonight I came across this:

[smg id=8287 align=center width=600]

This bridge, NE of Caen and on the outskirts of Bénouville, France, became known as "Pegasus Bridge" to the British during WWII (named after the shoulder patches on British paratroop uniforms) and was the scene of a remarkable clash on the night before, and morning of, D-Day. A couple of British paratroop units were tasked with securing this bridge and another one a short distance to the east to prevent German armour from crossing the canal and harassing the British invasion forces that would land at "Sword" beach nearby. They came in on Horsa gliders, which were piloted with remarkable skill considering they were flying in the dark and the fact that these gliders were notoriously dangerous to set down safely, and rolled to a stop a mere 50 yards or so from the bridge. The British took and held the bridge throughout the night and the operation was one of the very few instances of success on the part of the Allied paratroop forces (most of them were misdropped all over Normandy and got hopelessly lost). One of the first British paratroops on the bridge was Lieutenant Den Brotheridge, who was killed and became the first Allied casualty on D-Day (as far as is officially known).

Another soldier who was involved with Pegasus Bridge was the actor Richard Todd, who fittingly enough would play the commander of this same operation, Major John Howard, in the movie The Longest Day almost twenty years later. The Pegasus sequence was filmed on the original bridge which was still in use at the time, which must have been a peculiar experience for Todd. If that's not enough, Todd at the time of D-Day was an officer in the 7th Parachute Battalion which didn't actually land at Pegasus but arrived to reinforce Howard's men later in the morning, and Todd was the officer who made contact with Howard. This meeting was depicted in The Longest Day, so in a way, Todd plays a character meeting his younger self - Todd playing Howard meeting Todd. Six years before The Longest Day he played the commander of the 7th in the movie D-Day The Sixth Of June in which the same meeting was depicted - Todd playing the 7th's CO whose subordinate, Todd, meets Howard.

The real commander of the 7th had a bit of an unfortunate name for a military man: Lt. Col. R. G. Pine-Coffin. Sounds like something from Dr. Strangelove :-()

There is a replica of a Horsa glider at upper right in the picture (circled) and this is what clued me in that I had found the right bridge. Just below the glider is the original main structure of the bridge itself, which has been preserved as part of a museum (after I found this on Google Earth I looked up Pegasus Bridge to discover that the original bridge structure is in the outdoor part of the museum, and that the glider is a replica. Almost all of the original gliders had long ago been broken up by French civvies for firewood).

I didn't use the search function to find the bridge but I knew roughly where it had been and was curious to see if it was still there, and if I could find it. Then I saw the Horsa, which led me to notice the old bridge structure nearby, which induced me to find out what the story was there, which led me to discovering the interesting info about Richard Todd.

Amazing what you can stumble across in Google Earth and where it can lead 8)

[Art Blade]

bloody hell, fragger, you should apply for a job at the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.  :-D

+1 :-X for your discoveries.  :)

[fragger]

Thanks muchly Art :)

[Art Blade]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbKYbLUkIpk&index=1&list=PL8hNHC9nbLlwpq5bbCkcODDmAXXFfuSKZ

Above is a playlist of 30 WWII documentaries titled "Battlefield" by NBC that dedicates each episode to a specific theatre or operation such as Market Garden (which were actually two operations named Market and Garden) or the Battle of Britain and so on. It is some sort of analysis of a certain battle that compares both sides, their weapons, their commanders, their tactics and so on.

What I like about them is a somewhat objective narration that doesn't condemn the Germans per se but points out their military achievements as well as their mistakes; same goes for allied forces. I haven't watched all of them yet but those that I did were really good.

[Art Blade]

before fragger can reply, which he is about to, I want to slip in that I compared the episode of Battlefield about Operation Market Garden to a BBC episode about the same operation. I was really disappointed the way the BBC (and for that matter, some other documentaries) tried to show how a complete failure was something short of a proper success and only "by the way" mentioned that it failed in the end. The NBC Battlefield painted a very different picture that was brutally honest by comparison.

[fragger]

Indeed you are correct Art, I was about to reply, then I went for brekkie :-() And thanks for the link mate, I'll be checking those vids out :-X

You are also correct about the way Market Garden is commented upon in many docos. The operation's shortcomings are often glossed-over, whereas in reality it was pretty much an unmitigated Allied disaster that in all probably did more to prolong the war rather than shorten it. It set the Allied effort back for months, achieved next to nothing, and was an absolute comedy of errors, except that it wasn't funny. The book "A Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan is a good read on the matter, he doesn't pull any punches about the Allied blunderings and shoddy planning (the movie of the same name is based on this book, and to its credit the film doesn't gloss things over either - it faithfully depicted some of the many, many mistakes that were made).

I like accounts of the war that tell the story from both sides, objectively and without any opinionated colourings. That's how documentaries should be - sticking to the facts. Both sides made mistakes, and both had successes. In the same way, the only WWII movies I like are ones like Battle of Britain and Tora Tora Tora, where both sides' stories are presented factually with no bugle-blowing propaganda or patriotic hyperbole. Just the events.

[Art Blade]

I very much thought of you when posting that link. You are welcome, old friend :)

They mentioned A Bridge Too Far as a key phrase indicating one if not the crucial flaw of the whole operation. They mentioned indeed quite a few risks that were taken in hope of ending the war before the end of 1944.

Looking at the collection of docos following the link above, there is at least one that is likely to catch your eye: Batllefield S4/E2 - Air War Over Germany. You'll probably enjoy the details provided regarding all sorts of aircraft.  :)

[fragger]

Cheers :)

[nexor]

I often spend time on google earth also, but now you've made me curious fragger    :-D
Fantastic find mate +1 from me also  :-X

[PZ]

Nice post, fragger  :-X +1 from me as well.  I enjoy the history of the world wars

[Art Blade]

I think fragger only now got those comments and kudos for his post that he came up with half a year ago which makes me wonder whether the recent conversation about Battlefield was ignored completely.. normally you guys quote the post you are referring to (even when replying to the post just prior to your own) but now you seem to have skipped the entire Battlefield conversation and picked up on a post way back in this topic in which case this is very confusing

[fragger]

That's cool, I know where nexor is coming from :-X Thanks for the kudo nex :-() There's a place either in New Mexico or Arizona, can't remember which, where you can see dozens of huge craters in the earth. I think they may have done atomic testing there in the past, I'm not sure. Or it may have been the place where they deliberately blew lots of huge holes in the ground in a pattern that closely resembled the craters around the chosen landing sites for early Apollo missions, so that astronauts could fly over them and get familiar with the appearance of their lunar landing sites. This undertaking was covered in, I think, Carl Sagan's "Cosmos"series, but of course since then the Apollo-hoax crowd have fastened on it as the place where the "faked landings" were filmed ::) Don't get me started...

I've been trying to find that place again - if I do, I'll post the coords. It does resemble a lunar surface there.

[PZ]

I think the aliens did it.  In fact, you can ask anyone in Roswell and they'll agree

[Art Blade]

if you can find any of those, that is :-D

[fragger]

Here are those coords, in southern Nevada. Copy and paste them into Google Earth or type them exactly as they are shown here:

37 06.50'N 116 03.32'W

This will drop you into the middle of an atomic bomb test crater field. Zooming out will reveal scores of them all over the landscape.

This region is in fact the infamous Area 51, which among other things has been used as an atomic test site and a Deus Ex level :-() Stealth Bombers and various other experimental aircraft have also been developed and tested here over the years, which has probably given rise to the area's UFO-related reputation. I believe that those in charge have actively encouraged the ufologists. Nothing will better serve to push the public's attention away from something than by allowing it to become a well-known focal point for a publicly-perceived crackpot fringe. Diversionary tactics.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah the Nevada nuclear test range is a favorite spot for me on Google Earth. Just west of the hangars and airstrip of Area 51, over the ridge. So much stuff is hidden in plain view in the deserts around the world.

[PZ]

We passed through Roswell last year on the way to Carlsbad caverns. Largely it was not what I expected, but the general affect of the area was a bit on the strange side.

[mandru]

We passed through Roswell last year on the way to Carlsbad caverns. Largely it was not what I expected, but the general affect of the area was a bit on the strange side.

A bit on the strange side?  ???

Have you Googled Roswell McDonalds and switched to the images tab?  8-X

[fragger]

I just did that... I see what you're getting at mandru ??? :-D

[Art Blade]

https://www.youtube.com/user/Jeskinner1943/videos

Above is a link to Jerry Skinner's channel, an elderly person who I believe used to be a private investigator (he features a little film about how to become one "without the BS" you'd find elsewhere on the net. I watched that one and I think it's indeed straight forward).

However, the reason I post this is the enormous amount of amateur documentaries he made focussing on famous or notorious people who died (I think they're exclusively Americans and apparently they -- at least usually -- lived in the South) whom you may or may not have heard of as well as some historical events.

The films are a mix of his own hand-held camera footage of locations he visited that are related to the person or event he is documenting as well as showing photographs of the person or event in question or pictures that somehow add to the story. I also like his Southern accent speaking voice as he keeps narrating. It's not rushed, and it's somewhat calm.

Go take a look, pick a documentary about someone you know or don't know, and kick back a bit. :)

Here is what he tells us about his channel:

20,121 subscribers • 10,136,047 views
Joined 14 Nov 2011
Description

I am from Mississippi so have a "Southern" accent. Some like it and some don't. At this point in my life I can't change it (ha) so I hope you enjoy the videos anyway.

We have put together these films in the hopes of allowing those who have a passion for "Documentaries" a chance to step back in time for a brief period.  We are by no means professionals, but seeing through the eyes of an amateur is sometimes the best view.                                 
                                                                 
So sit back, let us drive and we will travel back to a time when some of these people walked the earth, and peek into the tragic events that made them who they were.


P.S. We are trying to improve or videos as we make more. We are pretty much learning as we go. You should notice an improvement in the video and audio quality .......or at least we hope you do!

[Art Blade]

fancy some underwater science? :)

The Ocean Exploration Trust was founded in 2008 by Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard to explore the ocean, seeking out new discoveries in the fields of geology, biology, maritime history, archaeology, physics, and chemistry while pushing the boundaries of STEM education and technological innovation. Our international program is launched from aboard the Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus, offering live exploration to participants  on shore and the public via live video, audio, and data feeds. The major 2015 expedition and education sponsors are the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bechtel, the Florida Panthers Foundation, CITGO, Office of Naval Research, the National Geographic Society, University of Rhode Island, and additional private donors. Follow us online at www.nautiluslive.org, on Facebook and Instagram at NautilusLive, and on Twitter as @EVNautilus.

YoutTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1KOOWHthbQVXH2kZue3_xA

Very recent (July 25, 2016) new species discovery "purple orb / purple blob" :)
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