wabash2800 As a young girl, my mother recalled riding a train to school daily during WWII in Germany, particularly an incident in which they were told to get off the train and lay low a field. She recalled a plane flying low and shooting at them. Even as a young child she thought surely the pilot could have see that they were children. I would suppose that Hitler's train had special armor, etc, to provide some protection in the event it was attacked? Victor A. Baird Fort Wayne, Indiana
As a young girl, my mother recalled riding a train to school daily during WWII in Germany, particularly an incident in which they were told to get off the train and lay low a field. She recalled a plane flying low and shooting at them. Even as a young child she thought surely the pilot could have see that they were children. I would suppose that Hitler's train had special armor, etc, to provide some protection in the event it was attacked?
Victor A. Baird
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fortunate your mother survived. At the speeds WWII aircraft operated and at the altitudes they operated on straffing runs, their attention would only be on their target - not anybody or anything that wasn't their target. Differentiating adults from children would have been well beyond their abilities.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
One of the various history channels had a very good series called "Hitler's Bodyguards" which re-runs from time to time. One of the programs highlighted Hitler's personal train, which was code named "Amerika", of all things.
If I recall correctly, some of the cars, Hitler's especially, were armored. The train also had flak batteries mounted on flatcars at the front and rear of the train.
The use of the train depended on circumstances. If Hitler was in a hurry to get somewhere he flew in a Focke-Wulf FW-200 "Condor" airliner with a heavy fighter escort. If time wasn't an issue he took the train.
Viel gluck. When I saw the post I first thought you were referring to his idea of the big trains he proposed that straddled two tracks, covered some years ago in Trains magazine. As a young girl, my mother recalled riding a train to school daily during WWII in Germany, particularly an incident in which they were told to get off the train and lay low a field. She recalled a plane flying low and shooting at them. Even as a young child she thought surely the pilot could have see that they were children. I would suppose that Hitler's train had special armor, etc, to provide some protection in the event it was attacked?
One interesting story I've heard about Hitlers train was one time the train had to stop for an equipment issue, I think a brake rigging failure on one of the cars.
The crew were repairing the same when they heard a voice asking "So, what's the problem?" They turned around and there was Hitler, not ranting or raving but genuinely curious as to what they were doing. After explaining the problem and what they were doing about it Hitler watched for a while, then said, "All right, do the best you can, we'll proceed when you say it's all right."
Isn't that interesting?
Hi, I am currently researching Hitler's special train and wondered if any members had any interesting photos, information or collectables they would wish to share. See my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Hitlers-Special-Train-734142873383296/timeline
Many thanks
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