A great photograph from World War II, A Boulton-Paul Defiant named "East Godavari III" of the Madras Presidency Squadron (I forget the number).Having travelled around East Godavari several times, I wonder if anyone in that district has any clue that a fighter took to the skies in Great Britain, with their Districts name emblazoned on it?
My friend answers me - the poor sods probably had to pay some tax or were forced to cough up the contribution by the Madras govt, so they would not even have bothered...!!!
But still its a fascinating discovery to find EAST GODAVARI III
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2 comments:
Hello Jagan,
My family is from East Godavari.
My dad was in Kakinada (he was a kid then) during the second world war. Kakinada was an Allied troop base at that time, and apparently, the Japanese bombed Kakinada during the WW2. (My granddad had all the women and kids pack-up and leave the town to nearby villages, I was told)
Actually, we can see one of the bombers left by the Allied forces in KKD Engineering college premises.
So, I guess, the name of the aircraft makes sense!
JD
Hi JD, I am sorry I missed your comment.
The aircraft in KKD Engineering is not a ww2 bomber but a much modern 1970s aircraft called the "Ajeet". It was a development of the famous Gnat jet fighter.
but you are right about the Japanese bombing Kakinada. they did it along with Vizag.
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