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 First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber

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Aediles
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First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Empty
PostSubject: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptySun 27 Feb 2022, 15:14


On June 3 1940 the Luftwaffe bombed Paris killing 254 persons [including schoolchildren], the French were outraged, and there was a strong desire to retaliate, however an attack on the German Capital Berlin was no easy matter, as Berlin was a considerable distance, whereas the Germans already had air strips close to Paris as they advanced on the city.
The one big problem that the French had, was the lack of a long-range bomber capable of reaching Berlin and back, eventually they settled on a compromise, a plane that had been converted into a bomber, and there was only one. The Farman NC 2234 named “Jules Verne”, had a remarkable range of 5,000 miles, it would be very vunerable in combat with enemy fighters, only having one 7.5 mm machine gun on the right side, and a fighter escort was not feasable.
The “Jules Verne” bomber took off in the afternoon of June 7 1940, this was to enable it to arrive over Berlin in the middle of the night, it was carrying 8 2.50kg bombs and eighty 10kg incendiary bombs. The route was via the North sea, Denmark, and the Baltic sea, using the city of Stettin, as a pointer towards Berlin. On approaching Berlin, they were surprised that the city was fully illuminated, there appeared to be no blackout, the Nazis had arrogantly concluded that their capital would never be bombed, in order not to be detected, the bomber performed a fake landing preparation for Tempelhof airfield, this made the Germans believe it was one of their aircraft, then straighned out at an altitude of just 100 meters, proceeding towards its specific target, the Siemens factory in suburban Berlin, some bombs also fell on the administritive district of Pankow. After dropping all its bombs, “Jules Verne” made a successful escape, and suffered very little damage.
The NC 2234 made a safe landing at Orly airfield , near Paris on June 8 1940, after eleven hours and forty minutes of flight. It made headline news in the French newspapers, and was a great propaganda success in those dark hours of June 1940. This was the first bombing of Berlin during WW2, and was over two months before the first RAF bombing of Berlin in late August 1940.

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Meles meles
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First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Empty
PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptySun 27 Feb 2022, 17:49

In June 1940 there was still usually no blackout over Berlin as the Germans were confident that allied aircraft wouldn't get anywhere near the city; in particular the air Reichsmarschall, Hermann Göring, had boasted to Hitler, "If any bombs fall on Germany you can call me Meyer" (sometimes quoted as "if any bombs fall on Berlin ..."). Meyer, or Meier, was a common German name, especially in Göring's native Bavaria and "call me Meyer..." was a common German expression along the lines of "if this happens call me Meyer" similar to saying in English "if this happens I'm a monkey's uncle", ie call me an idiot.

Here's the French aircraft in question, the "Jules Verne", civil registration no. F-ARIN:

First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Jules-Verne-hanger

Along with other aircraft it was destroyed in November 1940 by the Resistance, to prevent it falling into German hands.


Last edited by Meles meles on Sun 27 Feb 2022, 22:11; edited 1 time in total
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PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptySun 27 Feb 2022, 21:33

It is interesting to note that the "Jules Verne" had four engines [not readily visible from the image], there were two engines on each of its two housings, one to the front, the other to the rear, most unusual.
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Meles meles
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PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptySun 27 Feb 2022, 22:10

I didn't know that but yes so it did, how unusual:

First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Jules-verne-bomber-1
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PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptyMon 28 Feb 2022, 08:27

There's a video about the raid. (ignore the first minute, it's a product promotion)

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First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Empty
PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber EmptyMon 28 Feb 2022, 20:52

Pull/push (or push/pull) engine layouts were not that uncommon

see https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Push-pull_configuration

Here's an extract :-

Claudius Dornier embraced the concept, many of his flying boats using variations of the tandem "push-pull" engine layout, including the 1922 Dornier Wal, the 1938 Dornier Do 26, and the massive 1929 Dornier Do X, which had twelve engines driving six tractors and six pushers. A number of Farmans and Fokkers also had push-pull engine installations, such as the Farman F.121 Jabiru and Fokker F.32.
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First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Empty
PostSubject: Re: First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber   First WW2 air raid on Berlin June 7 1940 was carried out by one French bomber Empty

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