Wednesday, February 13, 2008

"I heard the sound from..."


After the dark dove with the flickering tongue/

Had passed below the horizon homing/


While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin
Over the asphalt where no other sound was(...)

-T. S. Eliot. From Four Quartets, "Little Gidding." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed Stephen Greenblatt. W.W. Norton: New York. 2006. p.2315.

Can you imagine what it would be being in a bombardment? Can you imagine the sounds, the horror, the desperation of being the next? Mr. Eliot achieved that in many of his poems specially in the ones quoted.

Although a previous variant was used for the Battle of Britain, and as T. S. Eliot pictures, it was the predominant Ju-87B-2 that was seen in the airs of southern and central England. The ubiquity of the sound of the siren on the wheel spats was its trademark. It is funny how Eliot's perspective is achieved. Like a normal citizen hearing the sounds of death.
There is a good account on modeling issues, that due to their historical concerns to make a good reenactment use a lot of excellent bibliography. Search for this issue of FineScale Modeler, it has a good bibliography and further reading:

-"Junkers Ju-87B-2Stuka. A legend in its time". Warbird Modeling: Battle of Britain. Kalmbach: Wisconsin. May 2005.

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