Help identifying RAF plane??? - Aircraft of World War II

oldboots · 03-12-2008, 02:41 PM

Any help identifying this plane would be greatly appreciated. This was what my dad's squadron flew, but I am not up on identifying planes.
Thanks in advance! Tracii

v2 · 03-12-2008, 03:09 PM

Westland Lysander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

oldboots · 03-12-2008, 03:33 PM

WOW that was fast! Thank you so much!
It is an interesting read. Now my past conversations with my dad are starting to make sense.

Marcel · 03-12-2008, 03:47 PM

You have any stories you could share about your father?

Njaco · 03-12-2008, 08:21 PM

Love to hear some stories. Lysanders sometimes were involved in 'covert' operations!

Matt308 · 03-12-2008, 08:46 PM

And a beautifully purposeful airplane. Reminds me of a prize fighter, with huge neck muscles just waiting for the jab. Over-engineered and rightly so.

oldboots · 03-13-2008, 01:37 PM

My father would not talk much about what he actually did. Tidbits here and there. He has been gone 11 years now. As best as I can remember them, a couple of stories come to mind.

My father gave me a ring made of brass and clear glass stones. Worthless really. But the story goes that when my dad was in some part of Africa (could have been Cameroon's, Cairo or Egypt, I forget the exact place) that a small boy followed him through town trying to sell him this ring. The boy said it was real diamonds and would scratch the windows of shops as they passed them. Dad said no many times. The boy insisted he look at it and that the gold was real. Dad said he looked at it and was sure it was real but gave it back and said no again. Well I guess the boy never let up on my dad, so he gave the kid the money and the boy gave him the ring and ran away. Dad laughed when he looked at the ring again, because the boy must have palmed him another fake ring. It looked the same but was not the real one. Lesson learned, LOL. Unfortunately I lost the ring playing baseball in a neighbours yard. I would love to take a detector there and try to find it. I felt so bad when it flew off my hand. We looked for hours. One regret but I still have the memory.

The other was about camp and how they occupied themselves in down time. Apparently they would use the latrine as the back drop for target practice. Archery was the fun of that day I believe. Well I guess my dad's buddy was in the lou at the time and walked out right on time to catch it in the head. No major harm done, he was okay! I guess it was shocking at the time but funny after the fact. Boys will be boys no matter what age eh!!! LOL

I guess what brought this all to the forefront was that my husband, daughter and I just visited the War Museum in Ottawa. A fabulous display of reminders. There was some 'war art' for lack of a better term, made from spent shells. I have a set of shells that were hammered into canisters that fit one inside the other with a lid. I'd never seen any other shell art besides my own. I believe these were from WW1. I have some lace postcards that my grandfather sent to my grandmother from France during WW1 as well. She gave them to me as a child saying they might be worth something someday. They are worth a million dollars of memories to me..... she was right!

That's all I remember for now. If something else comes to mind I will be sure to post.

DBII · 03-13-2008, 02:41 PM

Welcome and thanks for sharing. Please come back any time.

DBII

Blue Yonder · 06-22-2008, 05:43 PM

Interesting picture of a Lysander. My older brother put one together years ago in 1/32 scale. I thought I heard somewhere that the Lysander was used for "snatch and grabs?" Anyone have some stories of these?

03-12-2008, 03:09 PM	#2
v2 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cracow Posts: 4,207	Westland Lysander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia __________________ "A good fighter pilot, like a good boxer, should have a knockout punch..... You will find one attack you prefer to all others. Work on it till you can do it to perfection... then use it whenever possible." - Captain Reade Tilley, USAAF 7 Victories, WW-II -

03-12-2008, 03:47 PM	#4
Marcel Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Dordrecht Posts: 3,834	You have any stories you could share about your father? __________________ " The knack of flying lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

03-12-2008, 08:21 PM	#5
Njaco The Pop-Tart Whisperer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States Posts: 10,228	Love to hear some stories. Lysanders sometimes were involved in 'covert' operations! __________________ "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/

03-12-2008, 08:46 PM	#6
Matt308 aka Dickcheese Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Washington State Posts: 13,382	And a beautifully purposeful airplane. Reminds me of a prize fighter, with huge neck muscles just waiting for the jab. Over-engineered and rightly so. __________________ "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the [U.S.] Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan Master of Duplicate Posts

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03-12-2008, 03:33 PM	#3
oldboots Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ontario Posts: 3	WOW that was fast! Thank you so much! It is an interesting read. Now my past conversations with my dad are starting to make sense.

03-13-2008, 01:37 PM	#7
oldboots Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ontario Posts: 3	My father would not talk much about what he actually did. Tidbits here and there. He has been gone 11 years now. As best as I can remember them, a couple of stories come to mind. My father gave me a ring made of brass and clear glass stones. Worthless really. But the story goes that when my dad was in some part of Africa (could have been Cameroon's, Cairo or Egypt, I forget the exact place) that a small boy followed him through town trying to sell him this ring. The boy said it was real diamonds and would scratch the windows of shops as they passed them. Dad said no many times. The boy insisted he look at it and that the gold was real. Dad said he looked at it and was sure it was real but gave it back and said no again. Well I guess the boy never let up on my dad, so he gave the kid the money and the boy gave him the ring and ran away. Dad laughed when he looked at the ring again, because the boy must have palmed him another fake ring. It looked the same but was not the real one. Lesson learned, LOL. Unfortunately I lost the ring playing baseball in a neighbours yard. I would love to take a detector there and try to find it. I felt so bad when it flew off my hand. We looked for hours. One regret but I still have the memory. The other was about camp and how they occupied themselves in down time. Apparently they would use the latrine as the back drop for target practice. Archery was the fun of that day I believe. Well I guess my dad's buddy was in the lou at the time and walked out right on time to catch it in the head. No major harm done, he was okay! I guess it was shocking at the time but funny after the fact. Boys will be boys no matter what age eh!!! LOL I guess what brought this all to the forefront was that my husband, daughter and I just visited the War Museum in Ottawa. A fabulous display of reminders. There was some 'war art' for lack of a better term, made from spent shells. I have a set of shells that were hammered into canisters that fit one inside the other with a lid. I'd never seen any other shell art besides my own. I believe these were from WW1. I have some lace postcards that my grandfather sent to my grandmother from France during WW1 as well. She gave them to me as a child saying they might be worth something someday. They are worth a million dollars of memories to me..... she was right! That's all I remember for now. If something else comes to mind I will be sure to post.

03-13-2008, 02:41 PM	#8
DBII Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 1,429	Welcome and thanks for sharing. Please come back any time. DBII

06-22-2008, 05:43 PM	#9
Blue Yonder Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 72	Interesting picture of a Lysander. My older brother put one together years ago in 1/32 scale. I thought I heard somewhere that the Lysander was used for "snatch and grabs?" Anyone have some stories of these?