Battle of the River Forth. Germany's First Air Attack on Britain of WW2.
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- October 1939 and Scotland saw the first Luftwaffe Air Raid of World War 2.
On 3rd September 1939, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany. Britain’s armed forces of soldiers, sailors and airmen were mobilised and sent to take on the might of the German war machine.
The residents of Scotland could be forgiven for thinking that this war was taking place many miles from home but on 16th October 1939 they would be proved very wrong.
On a bright Monday morning, the war arrived in Scotland on the Firth of Forth.
The Firth of Forth has long been a safe port for the Royal Navy with the Naval Base and Dockyard at Rosyth on the north bank of the Forth.
On 16th October, a reconnaissance mission of German Heinkel He111s thought they had spotted Battlecruiser HMS Hood in the estuary and a squadron of Junkers Ju 88 bombers were hastily armed and readied for flight.
It was in fact HMS Repulse that had been spotted but the Junkers Ju88 bombers still attacked HMS Mohawk and HMS Southampton that were at anchor close to the Forth Bridge.
Royal Auxiliary Air Force spitfires of 602 City of Glasgow Sqn and 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron stood in the way of what would become the very first time the Luftwaffe would attack Britain during World War 2.
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My Dad was on HMS Mohawk and told me about this.He stayed with the ship until it was sunk in the Med in 1941,by the Italian fleet,just off the coast of north Africa .He survived(I would'nt be here if not) and went on to be involved in the landings at Anzio and D day coxwaining landing craft.I wish I knew more about it but,like most,he didnt say much about it,only anecdotes about what he and his mates got up to.He did say Comander Jolly was a great C.O.I miss my Dad even now after 25 years after he died.RIP all those that died in that conflict.
I didn't realize that Luftwaffe attacks over the UK started so early in the war, especially over the Firth of Forth. An amazing account of the first aerial encounters.
As a resident of Edinburgh, so glad someone finally made a video about this raid.
I heard about this a long time ago, although I was initially told that the bombers were actually trying to target the Forth Bridge, only to then read up later that it was false and that the Bombers always intended to go for the warships. (I mean the passengers on the bridge thought they were the target and so that was pretty understandable for them to think like that). Still a fascinating story and this was certainly the Spitfire's first proper baptism of fire (excluding the "Battle of Barking Creek").
Thanks for the video.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks.
The bridge was always a secondary target - why wouldn't it be ?
My son , who is currently 14 , had a history lesson last year , from an English teacher , who told his class that the first German aircraft shot down during WWII , were over London . I'm pleased to say that Harris ( my son ) pointed out that this was incorrect , and that it had been German bombers attacking ( as I thought , the Forth Bridge , at the time the only bridge so simply called the Forth Bridge ) which were shot down by local squadrons . Fortunately , said teacher checked his facts and admitted at the next lesson that Harris was correct .
My family live in Kirkcaldy up the coast from the Bridge, my grandfather George Taylor witnessed parts of this event and told me about when I was a lad, he would have been 24 and was a reservist in the Cameron Highlanders
My Dad was a pilot of a Ju-88.
He was before with the KG26 flying a He-111.
He was in the KG 30, but I don't know, whether he was part in this attack, too.
In May 1940 he and his crew had to make a belly landing because his left engine was hit by a british fighter in front of the coast of Norway.
At this time he was stationed in Stavanger Sola.
When I was a kid, he told me, that the pilot who shot him down, stopped firering at his plane, when he lowered his langing gear as a sign of surrender. This friendly pilot visited him later in the POW-Camp and they shok hands.
They exchanged their pilot scarfs an my Dad had the blue scarf for many years.
He never forgot this british gentleman pilot for sparing out him and his crew.
He was very happy to survive the war and always said, that he loved to fly, but hated the war.
And now we are facing a new world war! What a stupid thing!
(Little remarks: the Dad of my best Friend flew a Mosquito as a marker for bomb runs and the father of another good friend flew as a bombadier (?) in a Lancaster. Life is sometimes somehow very strange...)
Awesome video and research Bonny lad.. Bravo.
My Grandfather was a Captain In charge of one of the island Gun battery's (Inchmickery I think)
This was my play ground every summer Hols, we used to camp on Cramond Island . It had 2 naval guns on each end of the island facing towards the Forth entrance, it also had many flak machine guns. All the islands had direct communication with each other.
We used to find live bullets and throw them into the camp fire...oh how stupid we were. Cramond island is The real Treasure Island. Robert Louie Stevenson wrote the book whilst staying at the old Cramond inn with a view onto the Forth islands.
My Dad was a lighthouse keeper on the Bass Rock.
Stories like yours are always so welcome to back up these uploads, and historically it is so important to record them; every bit helps in forming a picture of events. The bullets in the campfire were just another form of Russian Roulette but far more exciting.
My father was in charge of a searchlight battery on Inchkeith and witnessed the raid.
My Grandad, Henry Edward Smith was serving on Edinburgh and was one of the 44 injured suffering a shrapnel wound to his chest and shoulder. He never ever spoke of this day.
Spitfire Mk I, had a wooden two blade propeller. All later models had three, (or more) propeller blades.
Don't blame the author for having ahistorical pics though. All surviving Spitfire Mk I had swapped out their props for Hamilton-Standard constant speed (three bladed) propellers by the summer of 1940. Photos of pre-conversion Spits are rare.
You got one over Mark Felton! Hard to do.
I'll take that as high praise! He has an excellent channel. Thanks!
Great story, glad to see the true story come out! So many still think the Rail Bridge was targetted but that was not the case! Well done.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@TheNorthernHistorian i live in inverkeithing
The pilot who shot down the first German aircraft over the British mainland was Flt Lt Archie McKellar born in Paisley he's buried in Eastwood cemetery approximately 500 yards from where I'm writing this not as the records show it was Pinkerton. He was unfortunately killed the morning after the date officially given as the end of the battle of Britain so was excluded from the list of those who died then. Luftwaffe records say they have no record of flights in the area that day giving rise to the story that it was friendly fire.
Thank you, I really enjoyed that. Well researched and exceptionally well presented, with just the right pace of delivery to draw the viewer in without resorting to the overly dramatic or even melodramatic delivery of some of your erstwhile colleagues.
Great Story. My Dad a Royal Marine. Had just arrived up in Scotland on his way to Scapa. When all this went on. Fresh out of Basic Training and heading for his first Posting.
He then realised that Even up and Away from his London home. He was still going to see Some Action.
When he first got news of his Posting. His Dad had Said "You Will be Safe as Houses up there, Boy..!!"
He was just 19yrs old.
Whilst up in Scotland, he Loved the People, Country & life. ( Apart from this Little thing with Hitler, it would've be perfect..!)
Great Story and Godbless all who Served for the UK. & Allies.
And Even though they were Wrong the German Crews Deserve respect for their Bravery. However misguided..!!
Lest we Forget..!!
Cheers kim in Oz.😎
Hi Kim, thanks for the interesting story about your Dad. Like I said at the start of the video, the Scots would not have expected to be straight into the action. I was posted to RAF Leuchars in the 90s and agree that its a beautiful country to be based for your service.
The comment about the Germans being handed over to the police reminds me of the tale where an ME110 crew was shot down, arrested by a local policeman and taken to the station and charged with criminal damage and mischief.
Good grief, imagine having been a passenger on that train over the Forth, only to see a bunch of German bombers barrelling towards you. Absolutely terrifying. Bet the engine driver had that regulator wide open!
Go to say, this channel just goes from strength to strength. I'm really impressed by how high the production standards are getting as well as the general quality of the research.
Imagine if it was now, the driver would stop to video it on his phone and it would be on UA-cam in 5 minute's 🤔
@@rodgeyd6728 nah, the driver would have been fired for that, even for today, phones are strictly forbidden in the drivers cab as even the smallest distraction could have potential fatal consequences, not just for himself, but also for the hundreds of passengers who's lives are at his responsibility or the lives of others outside the train.. That and it's also not recommended for trains to stop on the Forth Bridge (or any bridge).
Another great video, really well presented. My brother-in-law lives in North Berwick, and when I visited him there I travelled through many of the places mentioned, including stopping at East Fortune airfield and the excellent museum. I studied the engineering of the Forth Bridge years ago, and standing under it on the south side was an amazing experience. I look forward to more of your videos!
Thanks very much. I know what you mean about the Forth Bridge. When I was stationed at RAF Leuchars in the 90s I would travel across it quite regularly. Awesome structure.
Another great episode, i remember my grandmother recalling this battle she was only 6 at the time and arched from Arthur’s Seat.
Thank you
My grandmother witnessed the shot down bomber. I remember her telling me about this story and telling me about the spitfire chasing it through the Pentland hills. She was so proud of that moment as she used to work on the avionic components of the spitfires.
I'm a former avionics engineer on Tornado F3. I'd have loved a good conversation with your Grandmother, I expect it would have been fascinating!
Thank you to your gran.
Absolutely excellent video. Full of relevant and detailed factual information. Extremely well narrated
Much appreciated!
Never knew this before, thanks for telling this story.
You're welcome!
Great video. For additional information, RAF Turnhouse is now Edinburgh Airport. First used by the RFC in 1916
My grandfather was thatching stacks at his farm just outside Grangemouth ( a little bit further up the Forth from the rail bridge ) and saw planes around the rail bridge. At te time he thought it was some kind of training exercise but learned later it was deadly serious.
Love to see a video about Edinburgh, my hometown, and the RAF history, my obsession 😀thanks for making this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Never heard of this early attack. I thought it started with attacks on shipping in the Channel, and moved inland from there. Great video! Thanks a lot!
You're welcome. Thanks for the comment
Good video. While everybody knows about the Battle of Britain in the South and London, the rest of the country is often forgotten.
My home city Hull was the most heavily damaged city because it was so easy to find with the Humber estuary was like big arrow point at the city.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_Blitz
My mothers family lived in the town of clydebank by Glasgow, it was almost completely destroyed by 2 nights of heavy bombing
Same for me near Newcastle and many memories watching night battles in the searchlights as the Tyne/ Russia convoys were building up. Whole streets cheering when a plane went down in flames.
Fantastic Video👏👏👏Out in the Forth,Incolm Island has former gun placemants too.Take the ferry ,well worth seeing!
My Mother's First Cousin Pilot Officer Ellis Walter Aries was at Drem with 602 Squadron before they were moved south for the second half of the Battle of Britain to Westhampnett the site of the now Goodwood Motor Racing circuit
You must be very proud of him.
That was a really enjoyable and informative video and as i live in Edinburgh it was really interesting to see what happened. One story i know of is my late grandad and his friend cycled to a crashed he111 site to have a look.
Watching this while looking out over the Forth from Leith - a historic moment well told, Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent video! As a former member of the Royal Observer Corps I thank you for not forgetting the vital work of the Observer Corps. Just a small correction, we were not yet "Royal" in 1939; that honour would be bestowed upon the Observer Corps by King George VI on 9th April 1941 for their service during the Battle of Britain.
Thanks Justyn, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the correction also, I was unaware of that.
Fine research, excellent commentary and visuals. Thank you; I’ve subscribed.
Thanks
Reference to Niall paddens comments about HMS Hood , the hood was not
Britain’s newest ship having been built in 1916 and launched in 1920
She was however the pride of the Royal Navy as a battle cruiser ,
Her weakness was that she had a wooden deck , which was her
Downfall in the battle of the Denmark strait . Bismarck’s superior firepower
Hit the wooden decks and hit the magazine which blew her basically in half
And she sank very quickly , however 3 days later Bismarck was hunted down and destroyed
With the loss of 2000 men .
Excellent research and extremely well presented! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😊😊👍👍
Thank you kindly!
My late aunty was an anti-aircraft gunner at Newport. I do look at all these events with great sadness. All those young men killed in the primes of their lives. It doesn't matter which side - the human tragedy was horrible.
Just a quick point, RAF Turnhouse is now Edinburgh Airport. My family have being going their holidays to Eyemouth since 1936 and one story I remember hearing as this - just before the war a grocer's van was stopped going across Coldingham Moor. A rumour got up locally that this was the RAF testing the 'death ray' which could bring down enemy bombers. This was, in fact, a test of the radar. Suggestion for future video, what about the Zeppelin raids on Edinburgh and Chirnside?
Hi Andrew. To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't include the Turnhouse/Edinburgh airport connection. I'm very familiar with from my time in the RAF. Also thanks for the tip on the zeppelin raids, I'll take a closer look at them.
@@TheNorthernHistorian Speaking of Turnhouse, back in the 60s my late father remembered that when Edinburgh Airport was being resurfaced and extended, you had to be careful on the A1 at Haddington, as East Fortune, the home of the R34, was being used for Edinburgh flights. You could get a fright with a Vickers Viscount or Vanguard passing over your Hillman Minx at zero feet! Actually, I remember seeing an old postcard from the Great War showing a damaged Royal Navy blimp on Coldingham Beach, never found out the story behind that.
Another great video. Production quality always makes me double check the you don't have more subscribers (yet!).
The subs are building.....thanks for your kind comment.
Another well-researched and presented piece of our history.
Thank you!
Except for the pic of a wrong mark Spitfire. Tut..😊
Well done ! You kept it short sharp & to the point!
YT has only just "recommended" this video to me, but its a godsend. I've spent the last few years arguing with nazi sympathisers who insist that Britain dropped the first bombs on the enemy's territory and civilians in WW2. While I'm aware of RAF Bomber Command's early daylight raids on German naval units in the "Jade" estuary off Wilhelmshaven and other North Sea shipping areas, the fact is that they were carried on out naval units at sea AND in broad daylight so as to avoid collateral damage of bombing ships in German ports and to avoid the hitting of neutral shipping in the target sea areas.
From my own research the course of events appears to be as such....
First German bombs dropped on the British mainland?
16th October 1939 saw the very first bombs dropped on Britain when the Germans launched scattered air attacks over port and industrial facilities around the Scottish city of Edinburgh, and the RN naval base at Rosyth.
First bombs dropped by the RAF on German soil?
Although the RAF had launched bomber attacks on Kriegsmarine naval units in the North sea from Sept 3rd 1939 onwards, it was actually the 19th March 1940 that the FIRST RAF bombs landed on German soil... When on 13th November 1939 the luftwaffe bombed RAF Sullom Voe a seaplane base with port facilities in the Shetland Isles (with the resultant death of a rabbit, and no hits on the 9 seaplanes or 2 RN vessels stationed there), the RAF retaliated by hitting the nazi seaplane base at Hörnum on the island of Sylt in the North Sea. These were THE VERY FIRST RAF bombs to land on German soil....5 months AFTER the first German bombs had landed on British soil.
The first British or German civilian casualty caused by the bombing of the opposing side during WW2?
16th March 1940 when German bombs hit the village of "Bridge of Waithe" near Stenness on the Orkney Islands during an attack on the Home Fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow, which killed a 27 year-old County Council employee, James Isbister (luckily, his wife, baby son, and the neighbour James was endeavouring to rescue from her bombed cottage all survived).
First British bombs to drop on the actual German mainland?
11th May 1940, when the British air ministry for the first time allowed the bombing of railway yards, communication centres and bridges west of the Rhine River to interrupt German supply lines supporting their undeclared assault into the NEUTRAL Low countries and France on 10th May 1940. Previous to this date the British air ministry in an effort to stop the inflaming of the conflict had refused to allow the RAF to drop ANY bombs on the German mainland, instead the RAF supplied the German demand for toilet paper by dropping propaganda leaflets on German cities. The RAF attacks on 11th May 1940 had also come after REPEATED attacks against RN installations on the British mainland, most notably at Rosyth near Edinburgh, Cromarty Firth & Scapa Flow all in Scotland throughout the winter of 1939/40.
First British bombs dropped EAST of the Rhine River?
On the night of 23/24th August 1940 the RAF launched an attack on Berlin. This attack directed at the Klingenberg Power Station in Eastern Berlin & Templehof airport was in RETALIATION for REPEATED luftwaffe raids on RAF Fighter Command Sector Airfields within the suburbs of Greater London throughout July and August 1940 that had already caused HUNDREDS of innocent British civilian deaths & casualties (euphemistically known nowadays as "collateral damage") this was inspite of Hitler's previous decrees that no bombs should be dropped within the boundary of Greater London. Obviously that decree had never reached the ears of Herman Goering.
German retaliation for the one night of bombing of Berlin on 23/24th August 1940? The launching of the all out assault against British cities from 7th Sept 1940 onwards, culminating in the world's first attempt to create a "firestorm" during operation "moonlight sonata" on the British city of Coventry on the night of 14/15th Nov 1940, where the luftwaffe sent 575 bombers using their world beating "X-gerat" bombing system (in the Germans own words capable of placing "target indicator" flares with an accuracy of 50 meters at 200 miles range) over the civilian city centre of Coventry dropping 550 tons of high explosive (including hundreds of "flammen" (oil) bombs) followed by over 30,000 incendiary bombs. The final death toll of that single raid? A previously unheard of 568 innocent civilians, this was in addition to the thousands of other British civilians already killed & injured in other cities across Britain over the previous 2 months.
The first British bombing raid directly targetted at German civilians?
"Operation Abigail" on the night of 16/17th December 1940, (3 months AFTER the opening of the nazi "blitz" on British cities) the Dec 16th attack by the RAF was launched against the German city of Mannheim where 100 RAF bombers dropped 100 tons of HE and 14,000 incendiaries inflicting a death toll on the German population of 34 dead and 81 injured.
Not to worry though , the RAF eventually "upped its game" and showed the Germans how to do it properly a year or two later.
Thank you for this very interesting video. Subscribed .
I found this really interesting. I live on the shores of the Forth and was aware of this, but not to the level of detail you gave. Well done on a good informative production.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another excellent documentary, lucid and informative. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My father a policeman with the then Ayrshire Constabulary was on his way to Edinburgh to return a prisoner to Ayr, when the traffic on the Kincardine Bridge was strafed. The car immediately in front of him had a bullet through the roof. No one was injured.
Dear Northern, many thanks for your videos and the amount of information on them. Something I have noticed on this episode is that the great majority of comments are about/from people’s experiences at the time, something not very common on channels of this sort. It also shows British resolve, determination and sacrifice, as the lady mentioned in one if the comments that she had to wear a wig after working at Vickers during the war. Regards and respect from Mexico.
Thanks for the comment. I do enjoy it when I get comments left from people who have either 1st hand experience themselves or close relatives, grandparents.
you mean Scottish resolve , determination and sacrifice since it was in Scotland , not England .
My father’s Royal Engineers searchlight battery had a grandstand view of the raid. They all thought that the Germans were trying to bomb the bridge"
Imagine the train engineer who was right in the middle of the bridge at the time of the bombing attack how terrified he must have felt.
Heinkel 111.... a beautiful aircraft....Hundreds of brave woman and men died in the Battle of Britain so i can say that....Always Remembered
Your Heinkel 111 is a Ju88😊
@@thisisnumber0 Not the 111 i saw !....but i do love the Ju88 though..
@@thisisnumber0 5.20...This is fun !
A very well researched and presented video. Well done mate ! It was a pleasure to watch such a detailed and well put together package of information I had never before heard of. Please keep them coming as they are very well worth watching.
Glad you enjoyed it!
You call Spits with 5-bladed props in 1939 "well researched ?" I call you very ignorant.
I had no idea that the Battle of Britain essentially started over Scotland. How amazing!
It is indeed a little known fact. It's true to say that this raid would have been present in the minds of the planners who were expecting the imminent Battle of Britain.
My late aunty from Queensferry told my father she could render this ,and recalled the noise from the bombs on that day .And down river across from Rosyth. Was port Charlotte ,where my grandfather left on the minesweepers for to begin the operations in the Artic convoys.lot of history here ,and thank you for this video .
My great aunt lived at that time during the war in Beamer Cottage , right under the Forth Bridge in North Queensferry. My mum, dad and grandfather all worked at Rosyth naval base. They stayed in Queensferry road in Inverkeithing and later when I was born in Brock Street , N. Queensferry.
It may of been another attack but when a Heinkel was shot down, my great uncle stole a bit of glass from the the cockpit, nothing big just the square glass at the very front. He then wrote merry Christmas on for a decoration which we still have and use today
Also I think this is one of the first video I have seen of some one pronouncing roysth correctly. They always call it row-siv
Yes, Heinkels returned on 28th October 39. That attack is often confused with this one but it was separate. Quite a keepsake for your Great Uncle and superb he still has it. I'm from NE England but lived 4 years in Scotland as part of my RAF service so I know many local pronunciations such as Rosyth. Thanks for the comments.
@@TheNorthernHistorian my dad (now 95!) witnessed this one. It would be great if you were planning to do another video on it. Cheers, Jim from Melbourne, Australia.
Threre was a lot of detail there and very well presented, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Brilliant video. They get better every time. You really sound like you’re enjoying yourself and it comes across and is infectious:).
First enemy plane shot down by a Spitfire. But…. Not the first kill. That was, alas, a Hurricane in the Thames estuary. Now, there’s a potential story. It was all a bit controversial if memory serves. Well, all blue in blues are but some more than others.
It seems odd that the navy vessels weren’t stood to for the attack and seemed lacklustre in their AA response.
If I’d have been on the train crossing the bridge I’d have been screaming “stop! I want to watch what happens!” (‘Cos I’m an idiot).
Thanks Richard. I am now starting to get into the swing of it and I'm getting confidence in my abilities.
I think that this raid so early in the war may in hindsight have been an important wake up call for British defences, not just Naval defences. I also thought the Air Force response was poor considering the numerical advantage they had. What is this hurricane tale you are referring to??
@@TheNorthernHistorian Well, I did think that too in as much as the interceptions seemed to have an element of guess work and I think you’re spot on in that they were clearly just learning how it all tied together.
As for the ‘1st Spit. kill’ it was another instance of ‘on the job learning’ for fighter direction but with a sad outcome. I think the controversy came from the lack of action taken against the offending pilot. If memory serves he did go on to ‘bag a few Jerries’ later in the war though. He was ??? SA although I could be wrong.
The incident with the Hurricane was known as the "Battle of Barking Creek". One of the pilots involved was the famed Adolph "Sailor" Malan.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barking_Creek
@@DazDaMan Ah Ha! This man know!! Hurrah:)
Cheers for that. I had it in my head he was called Adolf.
Fascinating video!! Had no idea this was the first aerial engagement over Britain!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Super awesome research...On the spot...Excellent video...Thanks very much...!
Glad you liked it!
A most interesting presentation. Your descriptions brought me back to my homeland in the Scottish Borders and my father’s description of a similar raid which he witnessed from Edinburgh.
Excellent video - fascinating. I’ve actually been to Westerland which was the most northern airfield in Germany, and the closest to Scotland.
I'm assuming you're a Geordie (as I am) can you do a video on the bombing of the Central Station? My mother was there and she told me she remembered running away from the carnage. Although doing my own research I could only find the bombing of Newbridge Street goods station.
I’ve never heard of Newcastle Central Station being bombed, but I do know the Manors goods station was hit hard, as were Wallsend and Walker. My Grandad was a labourer in Vickers Scotswood factory and he told me of a German Bomber flying down the Tyne and dropping bombs in the river, presumably trying to hit either the road or rail bridges, or the ammunition factory at Dunstanhaugh or the Vickers factory which at half a mile wide by three miles long, must have presented a small target
@@ianallan8005 My mates mother and father were machinists at Vickers. She was actually scalped by the machine and had to wear a wig all her life.
There's no Central station in Edinburgh ( Central station is in Glasgow ) , and Newbridge never had a station , although there was a canal stop at Ratho .
Very interesting video. Was surprised to learn many years ago that the first WW2 air-raid on the UK was on the Forth. This video includes a lot of interesting detail. I guess with Scapa Flow and Rosyth playing such major roles in WW1 maybe the Germans wanted to neutralise the Royal Navy at least Rosyth. Thanks for uploading.
currently researching for a scotland-based ww2 era fiction novel and this is so helpful! even though the book won't have first-person accounts of events like this, its good to know what would have really been happening at the time! My gran, before she died in 2020, would tell me so many stories of growing up in Glasgow during the war, so the book is a fictional version of her life and all her stories
Glad you find it of some use. Good luck with your novel.
@@TheNorthernHistorian thanks!
Excellent very well told 👍
Thanks
Brilliant account. Sending this to my son who's a gunner with 603 Squadron.
Gunner are you sure about that
@@Andyww08 He's a gunner with 603 Squadron who are now made up of reservists for the RAF Regiment. Yes I'm sure.
@@Gorbyrev 603 a Spifire sqaudron, so no gunners, unless you are talking about Anti Aircraft
@Andyww08 603 was a Spitfire Squadron, the City of Edinburgh Squadron who also fought in the Battle of Britain. During the WWII Winston Churchill saw the need for force protection and encouraged the founding of the RAF Regiment, soldiers whose primary responsibility is yo protect airfields and air assets whilst projecting military strength into the area around those bases. Nicknamed "Rock Apes" their strength is made up of a number of squadrons, some fulltime some reservists. 603 Squadron is now made up of reservists who are part of the RAF Regiment. Their soldiers are known as gunners.
Great vid, Thanks for the hard work.
You're very welcome.
My dad remembers this. He and his brother were at the seafront at Cramond, throwing stones at the Luftwaffe planes (he was 4 at the time...)
Just come back from a trip to Edinburgh and we visited this exact area! Great video, nice one!
Wrote my dissertation topic on this, my childhood bedroom is less than 100m from the southern edge of the Rail Bridge, and a 5 minute walk from where the photo at 0:33 was taken
Very well presented. Thank you
You are welcome!
An old friend of mine was with 609 Squadron based at Drem a little later than your story. He talked about Drem a lot. He was then transferred to 249 Squadron at North Weald. Very interesting to hear his stories..... and yours!!
So the first Luftwaffe attack against Britain was met by "weekend warrior" reservists of RAF Auxiliary units rather than by the full time professionals of the regular RAF squadrons. That alone is a small piece of history worth remembering! BTW, thanks for another great and informative episode. Even as a life long history buff I knew nothing about this.
They were indeed the weekend warriors, Tom. Over the course of the war they certainly earned their respect. Glad you enjoyed the video.
So proud of my Scottish heritage !
Its great seeing photos of Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland coast and the Eildon Hills in the borders taken from Scots View, brings it home really as too how far the Germans bombed into the UK. My father was 7 in 1939 and lived in Cottingham just outside Hull, remembers the heavy raids on the docks.
Very informative video 👍
I never heard of this. Quite a historically significant tale. And well told too. Exciting!
Glad you enjoyed it.
I have to say is that Ant Dec doing their story telling 👍🙌. What a amazing stat to the Battle of Britain
It's a sideline away from Saturday Night Takeaway.
Excellent - incredibly interesting and well told.
Wonderful piece of history, very well told. Brilliant.
Glad you enjoyed it
Good channel Northern Historian! I have subscribed in the hope of watching more. Thank you.
Awesome, thanks John.
Do they call it the battle of the River Forth, because folk struggle with "Firth of Forth"?
The word Firth is not necessarily a widely known term internationally. I do refer to it in the video as much as I use the terms river and estuary.
Its a good video, I was just making an observation I see Wikipedia do the same thing.
Locally it’s known as the Forth Bridge raid.
Good post! To my dying breath I won't forget.
Enjoyed the video BUT you got one piece of historic detail wrong. It is the photo of the train on the Forth Bridge. It painted in early British Rail colours. The photo from the 1950s. In 1939/40 the rail company was London North Eastern Railway mostly using that bridge. They were painted apple green. The Flying Scotsman was one of their most famous locomotives.
He didn't say that this was a period correct photograph - it's just a stock black and white photo of a train on the Forth Road Bridge.
We'll get Northern Historian into his time machine and send him back to get some contemporary pics!
What were amazing were the pics taken from planes...are they from German planes taking part in the raid?
@@richardsimpson3792 As Forth Bridge is a major landmark, many photos been taken over the years. It's a case of searching, look harder and know what you are looking for. If someone doesn't tell the author, how will they learn?
History writing is the same as any functional writing. You should always do your best to get the facts right, with the info you have. If you don't might as well write fantasy and make it up. If you do, that's not going to give your audience much confidence in you as a source.
Ok question for you Richard; how about someone was talking about German WW2 tanks, but used photos of like a Leopard 1 main battle tank to show what their WW2 tanks looked like? I'm sure the internet be all over it! :) Using a photo of a train that is 15 years+ after the war/battle end is no different.
Good to see your subs growing. Keep up the good work, your videos are getting as good as Dr. Mark Felton's. So glad I subscribed. And another excellent video and excellent description with out the BS music and crap involved.
Thanks very much. Always humbling to be compared to Dr Felton.
My father was an RAF motorbike courier, he was on the bridge when it was attacked, he took cover under the bridge. Later he was sent into the hills to recover the bodies of German Airman in a crashed German bomber. He watched Patsy Gifford of Edinburgh 603 squadron shoot down the bomber
I live there and all the fortifications and bunkers are all still there, bricked up and empty but still there. Some islands were completely made into just massive AA bunkers you can sail out to and explore
My father’s searchlight battery was on Inchkeith. He was a member of City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers whose main task was to man the Firth of Forth defences.
Great coverage. I was expecting some mention of the islands in the Forth which I believe still have concrete buildings on them, as simulation of battleships (quite convincing seen through the typical fog). As a boy I did wonder about these empty structures, until told what they were for. But I suppose they would have been a later addition?
Thank you
The island you are thinking about is Inchmickery (Just google it to see various pictures). I don't believe they were trying to make it look like a battleship but it was fortified. Many of the islands were also fortified and there is a ancient Abbey on Inchcolm which can be visited by ferry.
@@iainmalcolm9583 I`m a Fifer and would agree with that. The silhouette from certain angles does look uncannily like a battleship though.
@@markwilkie3677 I'm from Edinburgh. It does look like a ship but I'm sure that was accidental as the various buildings were not all built at the same time.
@@iainmalcolm9583 I agree with you that its accidental Iain.
My Science Teacher told me that as a boy he watched the Air battle above his head. 🏴
Great video. I first read of this incident some years ago, in the excellent book "Birth of the Few".
My grandmother lived in Portobello and showed us shells from the aircraft involved but she was never sure if they were British shells or German. The graves of those killed are in the cemetery near Joppa though this is usually referred to as Portobello cemetery.
Someone, somewhere, has a very brief home movie shot from Princes Street of a JU88 being chased past Edinburgh Castle. It's only about 5 seconds long, but the castle is a very distinctive landmark. I have no idea if this is of one of the raids discussed, but fascinating nonethless. I saw it on the BBC a few years ago, when they showed home movies from WWII filmed in Scotland. Perhaps you can find it with better resources (and luck).
That would be incredible to find that
fairly new sub here. excellent! thanks for the upload
Thanks for subbing, cheers.
Now, how about the "Clydebank Blitz" in 1941? The town of Clydebank in Scotland , just outside Glasgow was a key target because of shipbuilding and armament production. The town was almost completely destroyed with thousands made homeless and over 1200 killed. I could still see the partially destroyed buildings growing up as a kid in the 1950's.
My mother & 2 year old Sister endured that
I remember playing golf on Windyhill Golf Course near Clydebank, (Bearsden) and the course has a lot of huge craters.
It's already a hilly, undulating course, but the enormous craters add to the difficulty.
Fantastic video mate. A big thumbs up.
Thanks a lot!
@@TheNorthernHistorian My Dad (now deceased) remembered as a kid a British bomber crash landing in Suffolk and Americans from a nearby airbase coming to the rescue. He even remembered the wounded 1st officer asking about the welfare of his co-pilot who unfortunately died of his injuries.
Excellent presentation.
However, it was hardly a success for the RAF as stated. Protecting the ships from attack was the mission. Multiple successful attacks is at the RAF door, not the RN (although I am curious about not getting steam up after the first attacks). I would bet that closer scrutiny would show all crew aspects (radar tracking, fighter control and fighter tactics) were all in the early learning curve. Fighters were late to intercept and as a result, poorly positioned (if AA and ship crew spot the bombers before fighters do, radar or fighter control not up to speed, or were the alert fields poorly set up? Seems to me a few months later, un-escorted three ships against well positioned Spitfires would have been a sad day for the bombers.
I tend to agree with you. It was regarded as a success only in that they suffered no losses and despite 4 waves of Ju88 bombers only 3 bombs caused damaged and casualties, 1 direct hit on Southampton and 2 causing shrapnel damage and casualties on Mohawk. I think you're spot on when you say that air defences were in the early learning curve, valuable lessons that would be called upon, particularly in the Battle of Britain.
Thank you for your work and dedication to preserving and sharing our history.
Thanks for watching!
Excellent video. Perfectly paced.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I found your channel recently. I'm a big military history buff, and I subscribed after watching one video. Loving your work. Top notch!
Liked and subbed! I had no knowledge of this important event so thanks for arousing my curiosity. These were very early days of the war and if errors were made then, as it has been said, mistakes are the best teachers. The Spitfires were early versions and likely their crews inexperienced in combat. JU 88’s it seems we’re also earlier versions, but likely their crews were experienced - first in Spain on other aircraft then against Poland to start off WW2. Im only guessing! Also, the 88’s first action was in Poland and 12 were used - same number as at the Forth action. I wonder -
Sounded to me as if the Navy were unprepared . Sadly resulting in lost lives .
Thanks for posting. I'd never heard of this action.
Very nicely done!
Thank you
2nd video I have seen of yours, very good quality and information. You deserve way more subs. Find some War Thunder youtubers to give you a mention.
Thank you
Very good thank you for the video thumbs up and shared.
Thanks very much
That He 111 at 3.06 looked familiar and sure enough its the same aircraft depicted on the Matchbox box art for their 1/72nd scale kit of the 1970's. A1+BT.
Well spotted and you know your stuff. Well done. I am impressed. 😊👍
There is also an old (1976) Matchbox 1/32 kit of a later (1950) MK22-24 Spitfire from 603 sqn,.
i always remember my granny tellin me how she watched this from a school in boness which looks right up the forth
You presentation and knowledge shows you stellar research and better then 90% of other channels run by high school drop outs.
Thanks. I do try to be as accurate as I can. I will make mistakes from time to time but that's the nature of the game I guess.