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Evolution timescale debunked by science. by Truth in science

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Rapid strata formation in soft sand (field evidence).

Photo of strata formation in soft sand on a beach, created by tidal action of the sea.

Formed in a single, high tidal event. Stunning evidence which displays multiple strata/layers.

Why this is so important ....

It has long been assumed, ever since the 17th century, that layers/strata observed in sedimentary rocks were built up gradually, layer upon layer, over many years. It certainly seemed logical at the time, from just looking at rocks, that lower layers would always be older than the layers above them, i.e. that lower layers were always laid down first followed, in time, by successive layers on top.

This was assumed to be true and became known as the superposition principle.

It was also assumed that a layer comprising a different material from a previous layer, represented a change in environmental conditions/factors.

These changes in composition of layers or strata were considered to represent different, geological eras on a global scale, spanning millions of years. This formed the basis for the Geologic Column, which is used to date rocks and also fossils. The evolutionary, 'fossil record' was based on the vast ages and assumed geological eras of the Geologic Column.

There was also circular reasoning applied with the assumed age of 'index' fossils (based on evolutionary beliefs & preconceptions) used to date strata in the Geologic Column. Dating strata from the assumed age of (index) fossils is known as Biostratigraphy.

We now know that, although these assumptions seemed logical, they are not supported by the evidence.

At the time, the mechanics of stratification were not properly known or studied.

An additional factor was that this assumed superposition and uniformitarian model became essential, with the wide acceptance of Darwinism, for the long ages required for progressive microbes-to-human evolution. There was no incentive to question or challenge the superposition, uniformitarian model, because the presumed, fossil 'record' had become dependant on it, and any change in the accepted model would present devastating implications for Darwinism.

This had the unfortunate effect of linking the study of geology so closely to Darwinism, that any study independent of Darwinian considerations was effectively stymied. This link of geology with Darwinian preconceptions is known as biostratigraphy.

Some other field evidence can be observed here: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

and also in the links to stunning, experimental evidence, carried out by sedimentologists, given later.

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GEOLOGIC PRINCIPLES (established by Nicholas Steno in the 17th Century):

What Nicolas Steno believed about strata formation is the basis of the principle of Superposition and the principle of Original Horizontality.

dictionary.sensagent.com/Law_of_superposition/en-en/

“Assuming that all rocks and minerals had once been fluid, Nicolas Steno reasoned that rock strata were formed when particles in a fluid such as water fell to the bottom. This process would leave horizontal layers. Thus Steno's principle of original horizontality states that rock layers form in the horizontal position, and any deviations from this horizontal position are due to the rocks being disturbed later.”)

BEDDING PLANES.

'Bedding plane' describes the surface in between each stratum which are formed during sediment deposition.

science.jrank.org/pages/6533/Strata.html

“Strata form during sediment deposition, that is, the laying down of sediment. Meanwhile, if a change in current speed or sediment grain size occurs or perhaps the sediment supply is cut off, a bedding plane forms. Bedding planes are surfaces that separate one stratum from another. Bedding planes can also form when the upper part of a sediment layer is eroded away before the next episode of deposition. Strata separated by a bedding plane may have different grain sizes, grain compositions, or colours. Sometimes these other traits are better indicators of stratification as bedding planes may be very subtle.”

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Several catastrophic events, flash floods, volcanic eruptions etc. have forced Darwinian, influenced geologists to admit to rapid stratification in some instances. However they claim it is a rare phenomenon, which they have known about for many years, and which does nothing to invalidate the Geologic Column, the fossil record, evolutionary timescale, or any of the old assumptions regarding strata formation, sedimentation and the superposition principle. They fail to face up to the fact that rapid stratification is not an extraordinary phenonemon, but rather the prevailing and normal mechanism of sedimentary deposition whenever and wherever there is moving, sediment-laden water. The experimental evidence demonstrates the mechanism and a mass of field evidence in normal (non-catastrophic) conditions shows it is a normal everyday occurrence.

It is clear from the experimental evidence that the usual process of stratification is - that strata are not formed by horizontal layers being laid on top of each other in succession, as was assumed. But by sediment being sorted in the flowing water and laid down diagonally in the direction of flow. See diagram:

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/39821536092/in/dat...

The field evidence (in the image) presented here - of rapid, simultaneous stratification refutes the Superposition Principle and the Principle of Lateral Continuity.

We now know, the Superposition Principle only applies on a rare occasion where sedimentary deposits are laid down in still water.

Superposition is required for the long evolutionary timescale, but the evidence shows it is not the general rule, as was once believed. Most sediment is laid down in moving water, where particle segregation is the general rule, resulting in the simultaneous deposition of strata/layers as shown in the photo.

See many other examples of rapid stratification (with geological features): www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

Rapid, simultaneous formation of layers/strata, through particle segregation in moving water, is so easily created it has even been described by sedimentologists (working on flume experiments) as a law ...

"Upon filling the tank with water and pouring in sediments, we immediately saw what was to become the rule: The sediments sorted themselves out in very clear layers. This became so common that by the end of two weeks, we jokingly referred to Andrew's law as "It's difficult not to make layers," and Clark's law as "It's easy to make layers." Later on, I proposed the "law" that liquefaction destroys layers, as much to my surprise as that was." Ian Juby, www.ianjuby.org/sedimentation/

The example in the photo is the result of normal, everyday tidal action in a single incident. Where the water current or movement is more turbulent, violent, or catastrophic, great depths (many metres) of stratified sediment can be laid down in a short time. Certainly not the many millions of years assumed by evolutionists.

The composition of strata formed in any deposition event. is related to whatever materials are in the sediment mix, not to any particular timescale. Whatever is in the mix will be automatically sorted into strata/layers. It could be sand, or other material added from mud slides, erosion of chalk deposits, coastal erosion, volcanic ash etc. Any organic material (potential fossils), alive or dead, engulfed by, or swept into, a turbulent sediment mix, will also be sorted and buried within the rapidly, forming layers.

See many other examples of rapid stratification with geological features: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

Stratified, soft sand deposit. demonstrates the rapid, stratification principle.

Important, field evidence which supports the work of the eminent, sedimentologist Dr Guy Berthault MIAS - Member of the International Association of Sedimentologists.

(Dr Berthault's experiments (www.sedimentology.fr/)

And also the experimental work of Dr M.E. Clark (Professor Emeritus, U of Illinois @ Urbana), Andrew Rodenbeck and Dr. Henry Voss, (www.ianjuby.org/sedimentation/)

Location: Sandown, Isle of Wight. Formed 06/06/2018, This field evidence demonstrates that multiple strata in sedimentary deposits do not need millions of years to form and can be formed rapidly. This natural example confirms the principle demonstrated by the sedimentation experiments carried out by Dr Guy Berthault and other sedimentologists. It calls into question the standard, multi-million year dating of sedimentary rocks, and the dating of fossils by depth of burial or position in the strata.

Mulltiple strata/layers are evident in this example.

Dr Berthault's experiments (www.sedimentology.fr/) and other experiments (www.ianjuby.org/sedimentation/) and field studies of floods and volcanic action show that, rather than being formed by gradual, slow deposition of sucessive layers superimposed upon previous layers, with the strata or layers representing a particular timescale, particle segregation in moving water or airborne particles can form strata or layers very quickly, frequently, in a single event.

youtu.be/wFST2C32hMQ

youtu.be/SE8NtWvNBKI

And, most importantly, lower strata are not older than upper strata, they are the same age, having been created in the same sedimentary episode.

Such field studies confirm experiments which have shown that there is no longer any reason to conclude that strata/layers in sedimentary rocks relate to different geological eras and/or a multi-million year timescale. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PVnBaqqQw8&feature=share&amp.... they also show that the relative position of fossils in rocks is not indicative of an order of evolutionary succession. Obviously, the uniformitarian principle, on which the geologic column is based, can no longer be considered valid. And the multi-million, year dating of sedimentary rocks and fossils needs to be reassessed. Rapid deposition of stratified sediments also explains the enigma of polystrate fossils, i.e. large fossils that intersect several strata. In some cases, tree trunk fossils are found which intersect the strata of sedimentary rock up to forty feet in depth. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Lycopsi... They must have been buried in stratified sediment in a short time (certainly not millions, thousands, or even hundreds of years), or they would have rotted away. youtu.be/vnzHU9VsliQ

In fact, the vast majority of fossils are found in good, intact condition, which is testament to their rapid burial. You don't get good fossils from gradual burial, because they would be damaged or destroyed by decay, predation or erosion. The existence of so many fossils in sedimentary rock on a global scale is stunning evidence for the rapid depostion of sedimentary rock as the general rule. It is obvious that all rock containing good intact fossils was formed from sediment laid down in a very short time, not millions, or even thousands of years.

See set of photos of other examples of rapid stratification: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

Carbon dating of coal should not be possible if it is millions of years old, yet significant amounts of Carbon 14 have been detected in coal and other fossil material, which indicates that it is less than 50,000 years old. www.ldolphin.org/sewell/c14dating.html

www.grisda.org/origins/51006.htm

Evolutionists confidently cite multi-million year ages for rocks and fossils, but what most people don't realise is that no one actually knows the age of sedimentary rocks or the fossils found within them. So how are evolutionists so sure of the ages they so confidently quote? The astonishing thing is they aren't. Sedimentary rocks cannot be dated by radiometric methods*, and fossils can only be dated to less than 50,000 years with Carbon 14 dating. The method evolutionists use is based entirely on assumptions. Unbelievably, fossils are dated by the assumed age of rocks, and rocks are dated by the assumed age of fossils, that's right ... it is known as circular reasoning.

* Regarding the radiometric dating of igneous rocks, which is claimed to be relevant to the dating of sedimentary rocks, in an occasional instance there is an igneous intrusion associated with a sedimentary deposit -

Prof. Aubouin says in his Précis de Géologie: "Each radioactive element disintegrates in a characteristic and constant manner, which depends neither on the physical state (no variation with pressure or temperature or any other external constraint) nor on the chemical state (identical for an oxide or a phosphate)."

"Rocks form when magma crystallizes. Crystallisation depends on pressure and temperature, from which radioactivity is independent. So, there is no relationship between radioactivity and crystallisation.

Consequently, radioactivity doesn't date the formation of rocks. Moreover, daughter elements contained in rocks result mainly from radioactivity in magma where gravity separates the heavier parent element, from the lighter daughter element. Thus radiometric dating has no chronological signification." Dr. Guy Berthault www.sciencevsevolution.org/Berthault.htm

Visit the fossil museum:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157641367196613/

Just how good are peer reviews of scientific papers?

www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/60.full

www.examiner.com/article/want-to-publish-science-paper-ju...

The neo-Darwinian idea that the human genome consists entirely of an accumulation of billions of mutations is, quite obviously, completely bonkers. Nevertheless, it is compulsorily taught in schools and universities as 'science'.

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/35505679183

Lancaster Thumper Mk III by darrenmccall007

Lancaster Thumper Mk III

The RAF BBMF Lancaster, PA474, is currently painted to represent an aircraft which served with No 617 Squadron after the Dams Raid. This is the story of the original aircraft and its wartime pilot and crew.

Some of the specially-modified Type 464 Lancasters, which survived the Dams Raid, remained in service with No 617 Squadron afterwards. However, these aircraft were not suitable for all operations and the Squadron needed replacement, standard Lancasters, as well as replacement crews to make up losses. One of the brand-new aircraft delivered to the unit to meet this need was Lancaster B1 DV385.

Lancaster DV385

Lancaster DV385 was built by Metropolitan-Vickers Ltd at Trafford Park, Manchester, at a stage of the war when the average build time for a Lancaster was 8 weeks. DV385 rolled off the production line in October 1943. It was delivered to No 617 Squadron at RAF Coningsby (by a quirk of fate now the home to the RAF BBMF Lancaster PA474) in November 1943 and given the squadron codes ‘KC-A’. The aircraft was retro-fitted with bulged bomb-bay doors enabling it to carry one of the huge 12,000-lb HC ‘thin-case’ ‘blockbuster’ blast bombs or a 12,000-lb ‘Tallboy’ bomb internally. DV385’s first bombing mission was flown on 16th December 1943; this was the first of four ‘ops’ it flew from Coningsby, three of them captained by Flight Lieutenant Tom O’Shaughnessy to drop 12,000-lb HC bombs against V-weapon sites in France. On 9th January 1944, 617 Squadron moved the few miles north to Woodhall Spa, taking DV385 with them.

Bob Knights and his Crew

Another Lancaster squadron, No 619, was already based at Woodhall Spa and moved to Coningsby to make way for 617 Squadron. One of the 619 Squadron crews, led by pilot Bob Knights, was coming towards the end of their tour at the close of 1943. Some of the crew were going to reach the ‘magic’ end-of-tour figure of 30 ‘ops’ slightly before the others and they did not want to be split up, reasoning that they were safer together. So they had decided to volunteer for a second operational tour with No 617 Squadron. Knights and his crew were about to become very familiar with Lancaster DV385.

Robert (‘Bob’) Edgar Knights was born in January 1921, in London. He volunteered for service as a pilot with the RAF and was eventually called up in March 1941, aged 20. He completed his flying training in America under the ‘Arnold Scheme’, flying Stearman PT17s, Vultee BT13s and AT6A ‘Texans’. In May 1942, after returning to England to complete his training, he crashed an Airspeed Oxford twin-engine aircraft. Bob badly injured his hand in the accident and this kept him off flying for 6 months. In June 1943, with 474 hours flying under his belt, Pilot Officer Bob Knights and his crew – Sergeants Rhude (navigator), Bell (bomb aimer), Twells (flight engineer), Rowan (wireless operator), Hobbs (mid-upper gunner) and Derham (rear gunner) – joined No 619 Squadron to fly Lancasters on bombing operations.

Before he could fly operationally with his own crew, Bob Knights had to complete the traditional ‘second dickey’ ‘op’ with an experienced crew to ‘learn the ropes’. He flew with Flt Lt ‘Ted’ Dampier-Crossley DFC, a New Zealander in the Royal Australian Air Force, who was flying with the RAF on 619 Squadron. Dampier-Crossley’s aircraft was Lancaster EE112, it wore the code letters ‘PG-T’ (normally ‘T’ for ‘Tommy’) and the crew had named it ’T’ for “Thumper” and painted the Walt Disney rabbit character, from the 1942 Walt Disney film Bambi, on the nose. Dampier-Crossley was an experienced operational bomber pilot and he taught Bob Knights some useful tricks and tactics, such as never flying straight and level but weaving constantly, which Bob’s crew subsequently credited with helping to keep them alive. Sadly, a couple of months later, on the night of 10/11th August 1943, Dampier-Crossley and his entire crew were killed during a raid on Nuremburg. A replacement Lancaster coded ‘PG-T’ arrived on the squadron and was allocated to Knights and his crew, who decided to name it “Thumper Mk II” in honour of Ted Dampier-Crossley and his crew. The so-called ‘Battle of Berlin’ began shortly afterwards and the Bob Knights crew made eight attacks against the "Big City", raids in which Bomber Command's losses were particularly high. On another occasion the crew was en route to bomb Hamburg when one of the engines failed shortly after reaching the Dutch coast. They would have been justified in turning back, but pressed on and bombed the target successfully from only 10,000 feet.

As a Lancaster had only a single pilot, Bob Knights decided that he would train his bomb-aimer, John Bell, to fly the aircraft in case he was killed or incapacitated. He felt that the bomb-aimer could most easily be spared from his other duties in such an eventuality. John Bell, who is the only surviving member of the crew, told the editor, during a visit to the BBMF at Coningsby in September 2012, that he spent several hours in all at the controls of a Lancaster with Bob standing beside him advising him. It is unlikely that such a novice Lancaster pilot, with no other piloting experience, would ever have been able to land the aircraft if his pilot was rendered ‘hors de combat’, but at least he might have been able to fly it back over friendly territory before the crew took to their ‘chutes’. John also said that he always seemed to over-control the aircraft, finding it difficult to keep it steady. When he was flying it, he said, “The rest of the crew were not best pleased!”

617 Squadron

By the end of 1943 the crew was approaching the required 30 ‘ops’ of a full operational tour with 619 squadron; they were due for a well-earned rest tour, but, instead, they volunteered for a second operational tour with No 617 Squadron. After they had been interviewed by 617’s Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, the crew was posted to the elite unit in January 1944.

On the night of 20th January 1944, Flight Lieutenant Tom O’Shaughnessy, who had so far been the regular pilot of DV385, was killed in a training accident at Snettisham, Norfolk, along with his navigator Flying Officer Holding. He was flying one of the original Type 464 ‘Dams Raid’ Lancasters (ED918) and crashed into the sand dunes at the Wash bombing ranges, whilst practising for a proposed raid on an Italian dam that did not, in fact, go ahead. After Tom O’Shaughnessy’s tragic death, DV385 needed a new crew and it was allocated to Bob Knights. He and his crew immediately decided that their new aircraft should be named “Thumper Mk III” and the artwork – the cartoon rabbit holding a foaming pint of beer – was duly painted on the nose.

They also started the ‘bomb log’ under the cockpit with a bomb symbol for each ‘op’ successfully completed by “Thumper Mk III”. The aircraft eventually flew 36 successful operations before it was retired from service in March 1945 (35 bomb symbols are painted on PA474 replicating a wartime photograph). It also flew an additional 13 sorties on which it reached the target, but circumstances prevented the bombs being dropped and they were brought back, as the Squadron’s precision role sometimes demanded.

Bob Knights and his crew first flew “Thumper Mk III” operationally on the night of 8th February 1944, as part of a force of 12 Lancasters which carried out an outstandingly accurate and successful night bombing raid against the Gnome-Rhone aero engine factory at Limoges. Four nights later the crew took part in a long-range attack on the Antheor viaduct, on the railway line between Toulon & Cannes, in an attempt to destroy the strategically important coastal rail link between France and Italy. The target was heavily defended and opposing ground fire was intense as the crew dropped their first 12,000-lb HC bomb. During February, March and April 1944, mostly flown by Bob Knights, “Thumper” was used to attack factories and industrial sites producing vital war materials and equipment for the Germans. In April 1944, having completed more than 30 operations Bob Knights was awarded the DFC.

D-Day – Operation ‘Taxable’

On the eve of D-Day, 5-6th June 1944, Knights and his crew flew “Thumper Mk III” on the highly-secret, deception raid, Operation ‘Taxable’ (the ‘op’ being recorded with a letter ‘D’ on the bomb symbol on the aircraft’s mission tally). The object of this operation was to convince the Germans that the main invasion fleet was heading for the Pas de Calais. Creating this illusion required the precise flying of elongated circuits, whilst bundles of radar-reflective, aluminium-foil strips of pre-determined and varying lengths – ‘window’ – were dropped through the flare chute every 5 seconds. Another, similar, spoof operation, codenamed ‘Glimmer’, was conducted by Short Stirlings of No 218 Squadron in the Boulogne area. Both were successful and, by daybreak on 6th June, the German High Command was trying to react across an unnecessarily broad front. Many of the best German troops were kept on the wrong side of the Seine and the confusion caused by these operations undoubtedly helped the Allies to gain a vital foothold in Normandy on D-Day.

‘Tallboy’

On 15 occasions, 10 of them with Bob Knights at the controls, “Thumper Mk III” was used to drop the 12,000-lb ‘Tallboy’ deep-penetration, ‘earthquake’ bombs against high value targets. Designed by Barnes Wallis, the ‘Tallboy’ was a remarkable weapon, combining the explosive force of a large, high-capacity bomb and the penetrating power of armour-piercing munitions. When it was introduced it was the only weapon in the Royal Air Force’s inventory capable of breaking through the thick concrete structures of the German U-boat shelters, E-boat pens and V-weapon sites. ‘Tallboy’ measured 21 feet (6 metres) long and contained 5,200 lbs of Torpex explosive. With a streamlined (ogival) shape, it was fitted with a long, light-alloy, conical tail with 4 small square fins. These fins were offset by 5 degrees, causing the bomb to spin during its fall, aiding stability and improving its accuracy. To increase its penetrative power, the nose of the bomb contained a specially-hardened and precisely-machined, steel plug. ‘Tallboy’ was ballistically perfect and in consequence had a very high terminal velocity. Released from an altitude of 18,000 feet, a ‘Tallboy’ took only 37 seconds to fall to ground; when it hit, it was supersonic and still accelerating. It could penetrate 16 feet (5 m) of concrete and made a crater 80 feet (24 m) deep and 100 feet (30 m) across, which would have taken 5,000 tons of earth to fill. The bomb was designed to detonate below ground, transferring all of its energy into the target structure. This 'earthquake' effect caused more damage than a direct hit, as it shook the whole target structure, causing major damage to all parts of it and making repair impossible or uneconomic. The fuses in the rear of the bomb could be set to give it sufficient time to penetrate before exploding. The time delay could be set to between 11 seconds and 30 minutes after impact.

Saumur Rail Tunnel

The first time that the Bob Knights crew dropped a ‘Tallboy’ from “Thumper Mk III” was the operational debut for the new bomb on the night of 8/9th June 1944 (D-Day+2). The target for the new weapon was the Saumur railway tunnel in France, some 125 miles to the south of the Normandy battle area. This raid was prepared in great haste, as intelligence indicated that a German Panzer unit was expected to move by train through the tunnel. The aim was to prevent these and any other German reinforcements reaching Normandy from the south. The target area was illuminated with flares by four Lancasters of 83 Squadron and then marked at low level by two Mosquitos of 617 Squadron. Twenty-five Lancasters of 617 Squadron, 19 carrying ‘Tallboys’, dropped their bombs with great accuracy. One ‘Tallboy’ actually pierced the roof of the tunnel and brought down a huge quantity of rock and soil. The tunnel was blocked for a considerable period and the Panzer unit was badly delayed. No aircraft were lost on this raid.

Special Bomb Sight (SABS)

To achieve accuracy with these large single bombs, 617 Squadron used a special bombsight – the Stabilising Automatic Bomb Sight (SABS) Mk IIA – which, for the first time in the RAF’s history, permitted true precision bombing from medium altitude. These special bomb sights were hand-made, precision instruments, produced in small numbers and used only in specialist roles. With a well-trained and practiced bomb-aimer, able to keep the SABS aiming graticule exactly over the aiming point during the approach to the target, the sight automatically calculated the aircraft’s ground speed and wind drift. These were the principal factors which led to inaccuracies with earlier bomb sights, like the Mk XIV in use with the rest of Bomber Command. The SABS fed information to a Bombing Direction Indicator mounted in front of the pilot, which showed him whether any course correction, left or right, was required. It also calculated the bomb release point and released the bomb automatically at the correct moment. Given optimum conditions, a well-trained crew could reliably place a bomb within 80 yards of the target from 18,000 feet. Achieving this level of precision required extremely accurate flying. Unfortunately, it also required a long straight run-up to the target of between 5 and 10 minutes, during which no evasive action was possible, making the Lancaster a sitting target for the defences, especially radar-directed ‘predicted’ flak. The combination of SABS and ‘Tallboy’ was effective only if the aiming point could be clearly identified and tracked visually by the bomb aimer. Some missions were aborted or unsuccessful because this was not possible and, due to the cost and complexity of their manufacture, ‘Tallboy’ bombs which were not dropped were brought back to base.

“Thumper Mk III” bomb aimer, John Bell, said that the first time that they dropped practice bombs using the SABS, he scored direct hits on the aiming triangle on the bombing range in the Wash with the first two bombs. On the third run, John felt that things were not quite going right and he took over manually, missing the target by 75 yards. “I learned from that,” he said, “the automatics were better than me”. He went on to say, “When everything was going right, there was no need for communication between the bomb aimer and the pilot, as the Bomb Direction Indicator mounted in front of the pilot gave him all the steering information needed. It was only if it drifted off that the bomb aimer needed to give the pilot heading corrections to make the pilot’s indication live again.”

“Thumper” Fights On

During a daylight raid against E-boat pens at Le Havre on 14th June 1944 “Thumper Mk III” was hit by flak but only lightly damaged. It was flying again the next day, dropping a ‘Tallboy’ against the E-boat pens at Boulogne.

Most of the aircraft’s ‘ops’ over the next few weeks were ‘Tallboy’ raids against various V-weapon sites, including a V1 bomb store, various V2 rocket sites and the V3 long-range-gun construction site at Mimoyecques. John Bell remembers the direct hit with ‘his’ Tallboy on the north-west edge of the concrete dome at the V2 rocket site at Wizerne on 17th Jul 44. He watched the bomb all the way down to impact. This attack caused severe damage to the site, which was still under construction. Three Tallboys, including the one dropped from “Thumper”, exploded next to the tunnels, one burst just under the dome, and another burst in the mouth of one tunnel. The whole hillside collapsed, undermining the dome support, and burying the entrances to the V2 launch tunnels. Although the concrete dome was unscathed, the buttresses supporting it were dislodged and the dome tilted, jeopardising the bunker from underneath. The site was abandoned a few weeks later. (The site is now the ‘La Coupole’ museum.)

The last ‘op’ that Bob Knights flew in “Thumper” was on 5th August 1944, dropping a ‘Tallboy’ on the U-boat submarine pens at Brest. On 7th August he delivered the aircraft to Coningsby for servicing and modifications to be carried out; subsequently Lancaster LM482 ‘KC-Q’ became his aircraft. This was the point at which bomb aimer John Bell DFC left the crew and the squadron for a ground job. By this time he had flown 50 ‘ops’ and decided enough was enough; his luck had held, but now was the time to stop. He became an Admin (Accounts) Officer for 6 years and then he subsequently served as a Photographic Interpreter for the rest of his career, leaving the RAF on retirement in 1977 as a Wing Commander MBE DFC and with two Korean War medals.

Tirpitz and After

“Thumper Mk III” (now coded ‘KC-V’) returned to operations on 3rd October, piloted by Flying Officer James Castagnola (later Flight Lieutenant Castagnola DSO DFC). On 28th October and 12th November 1944 he captained “Thumper” on the final raids against the powerful German battleship Tirpitz, mooredat Tromso. In common with all the Lancasters used on these missions “Thumper” was modified for long-range flying. The mid-upper turret was removed along with many other internal fittings, and ex-Vickers Wellington overload fuel tanks were fitted, along with a Mosquito long-range tank, increasing the fuel capacity from 2,154 to 2,406 gallons, giving a range of 2,250 miles. On the last of these missions, the Castagnola crew reported a direct hit with their ‘Tallboy’ against the battleship’s superstructure and the mighty ship capsized. For “Thumper Mk III” the war was almost but not quite over, and a swastika on the 32nd bomb symbol on the mission log indicated a German fighter shot down by its gunners – its luck was still holding. The heavy-hitting bomber flew its last successful ‘op’ dropping a ‘Tallboy’ against the Bielefeld viaduct on 22nd February 1945 and then, in March 1945, as the war approached its end, “Thumper” was retired. DV385 ended its life at No 46 Maintenance Unit, where it was eventually struck off charge and scrapped after the war had ended.

Bob Knights DSO DFC

Bob Knights flew 41 ‘ops’ with 617 Squadron, 29 of them in “Thumper Mk III”, and many of them amongst the unit’s most challenging precision bombing operations. He also took part in all three Lancaster raids against the Tirpitz. In December 1944, after flying an official total of 67 bombing operations,Bob was rested. In January 1945, he was awarded the DSO. During his 10 months with 617 Squadron, 8 of the unit’s Lancasters had failed to return from ‘ops’ and another had been lost in an accident. Thirty-two of his fellow squadron aircrew had been killed and more had been injured or become prisoners of war. In April 1945 Bob was seconded to BOAC; he stayed with the airline for 32 years, retiring in 1976 as a Boeing 747 training captain. Bob Knights DSO DFC died in December 2004, aged 83.

Christine | #inmyexperience by Nikki Massaj: Portrait Therapist

Ok so it all started when I was born - literally. My parents were young when they had me, just 19 years old. My grandparents got guardianship of my brother and I when I was about three years old. My family has a history of mental illness on both sides, so I was "doomed" naturally. Schizophrenia, bipolar, manic depression, all disorders someone in my family was diagnosed with. My maternal grandmother is manic depressive, and things were very difficult growing up because it wasn't addressed. She didn't believe in therapy and thought that nothing was wrong. Therapy was only for "messed up" people, and she had an extreme stigma about it. There are so many instances of verbal and emotional abuse towards my grandfather, my brother, my mother, and myself. But if you spoke up, it was even worse, you wouldn't dare speak up against it. It was always better to endure it and hope the next day would be better. She was, and still can be, very unpredictable. You'd think everything was dandy, until it wasn't. Things could switch in a moment into a screaming, "you-don't-care-about-me-how-come-no-one-cares-for-me" mess. I never wanted someone to ever go through that, or to feel like they couldn't speak up. I was often the one to speak up, so my grandmother and I would fight often. Hence, the anxiety, people-pleasing, wanting to always keep the peace mindset that I have as an adult. She's always needed help for her mental health, but you can't make someone do something they don't want. If they won't address what's hurting, things can't progress.

My grandfather, my grandmother, my brother, and I tried going to group therapy once. It didn't go well, and was entirely unproductive in creating any change. The time was spent with my grandmother asking why she was always the bad guy and how no one ever talked about how they hurt her, and essentially made for a bad time for awhile at home. I did go to counseling in school for awhile, but it was in a group setting so it wasn't as exclusive as going to one-on-one therapy. As a teenager, I did got to therapy for a little bit, but I stopped going because my therapists kept leaving for other practices. And I felt like I was "fine". Plus, what good does it do when you live somewhere that's always stressful and you feel like you can't really talk about your feelings anyways? I didn't want that for my life, ever. I knew that I wanted to be different. I was always sad as a kid that I didn't live with my parents. I never had an answer when people asked me why I didn't live with them, honestly I still am not sure completely why I didn't and I'll be 29 this year .

My mother ended up having a drug addiction problem when I was in sixth grade. My mother is also bipolar, although I don't know exactly when this was discovered. My grandmother hated my dad, for whatever reason. So I just had no pull in my desire to want to live with a parent. My mother had always been around, and she lived with us and my grandparents at times. I saw my dad on the weekends and holidays. In the beginning of her addiction, my grandparents got emergency custody of my brother Jacob. So now they were raising three kids. When my mother made the decision to get clean from heroin, I was about 11 (I think, not sure of my exact age). I loved her so much, and I'll always remember driving down the road with her one day as she was crying and saying "I love you, you know I do, right?" I was the one sitting with her in the bathroom while she went through withdrawal. It was hard to see my mother so sick. I stayed by her side and slept in the same room as her at night because I was so happy she was back home. I also went to NA and AA meetings with her. I liked the cookies and snacks they'd have. I really had no business being around so much adult information at my age, but as I see it I was the support in my mother's recovery, because everyone else was just mad at her. Naturally, it makes sense that as an adult my mother uses me as support often. She's better now and has been clean for over 10 years.

Eventually, I did get the chance to live with my father and my step-mom the summer before seventh grade. For whatever reason, my grandmother had a moment and agreed to let me live with them. I was ecstatic! I remember hopping onto the computer and instant messaging my step-mom on AIM. I lived with them from the beginning of seventh grade to halfway through my freshman year of high school. Living there was such a change from what I was used to; more routine and structure, more "normalcy". I moved back in with my grandparents halfway through my freshman year of high school. Around that time is when my father was really starting to struggle with his mental health (that I know of). There was one night I remember he got so angry that my step-mom and I went in the basement with our dog. He'd torn off the keyboard holder from the computer desk, ripped the sliding door off the track, and threw the board into the pool. He wasn't going to hurt us and I think we knew that, but he was just SO aggressively upset. I remember he left and that night I woke up to the sound of him crying in the bathroom pleading to God. He got diagnosed bipolar around that time. I didn't leave because he was struggling, but because I felt like me being there was too stressful and I missed being with my grandparents. Things were still the same when I moved back in, it's like I never left. I think part of me is always going to feel guilty for leaving my brothers there, even though getting out made such a change in me.

I met a junior boy, C is what we will call him, when I moved back. He was my second boyfriend. I'd only dated one person when I lived in Leominster, and it wasn't for long. I didn't really know much about dating, or sex, or how any of it worked really. I feel like I just figured out a lot of it on my own, leading to many poor decisions. Part of the issue is that my grandmother believed that any talk of sex, birth control, or even asking to be on birth control would automatically lead to pregnancy. And most of what I saw growing up was not-so-healthy relationships. C broke up with me shortly after I made the decision to have sex with him, through a note, passing me in the hallway to lunch. One of my first poor decisions, and it got worse because my grandmother found out about it and threatened to bring him to court for statutory rape. For whatever reason I thought that having sex with someone meant love. I don't know where I came up with that, but it was what I thought mattered. And I also couldn't stand to be alone, I somehow put all my worth in being with someone else.

A few boyfriends later, I met P at a little music release basement party for a mutual friend. We were a hit instantly, and I completely ignored all of my friends when they told me the next morning to not get involved with him. Another poor decision. We became boyfriend and girlfriend. I was with him for 3 years almost. We smoked a lot of pot, he skipped a lot of college, he would call out of work to stay with me. My grandmother would call me out sick from school so I could spend a week with him at his dorm in Boston. He practically lived at my grandparent's house with me at one point. It was very toxic. We were very clingy to one another and I had no freedom. I couldn't even really hang out with my friends if he wasn't there too. He didn't like when I colored my hair without asking. One time, I dyed it black without asking and he screamed at me for a good hour through the phone. My friend that was with me had to answer the phone at one point and tell him to stop calling. All my worth and who I was was determined by him. I wanted to stretch my ears but didn't because he got upset and told me that I only wanted to do that so I could fuck his friends. He was extremely emotionally and verbally abusive, narcissistic if you will. And he needed help with mental health, yet another non-believer of therapy in my life, and meds would just make you a zombie so forget that.

When I got to college, P had failed out of New England Institute of Art and ended up at The Mount with me. This was problematic. We had a lot of the same classes and friends. I ended up getting very close to another guy, A, who showed interest in me being who I wanted. I remember being told by A that I was being treated like property. I wasn't happy with P anymore, but I didn't know how to leave. I ended up cheating, which is absolutely against my morals. P found out because A was angry I wouldn't leave P and told him everything. It was a nasty breakup and there was a lot of fighting. We had all the same friends and so there was some division and tension. I failed out of college because I skipped classes so I wouldn't have to see him. But even after the breakup, P found a way to always be involved in my business.

While I was dating P, I stopped talking to my father for about a year. My father was trying to look out for me in a particular circumstance and went to P's house on his lunch one day to talk with him. I was a dumb teenager so I chose my boyfriend over my father. During that year my father tried to commit suicide. I only found out because of someone anonymous on the internet. My father did not succeed and is much better these days.

After P, I had a lot of small relationships. I was trying to find myself and who I wanted to be. I stretched my ears. I went to a lot of shows, and I did get to live with my mother by the way, when I turned 18. Things were hard and she didn't exactly like who I was. A lot of criticism for my boyfriends, who I dated, who my friends were. Because I was already an adult, her trying to parent me didn't exactly mesh. I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. I was very stressed all the time. I lost my best friend after P, but I also was so caught up in myself I didn't see how awful of a friend I was. She even ended up dating P for a few years, and that was very hard for me. I never took accountability. I was an anxious mess, that couldn't just be by herself. A lot of my relationships felt like I was a "light" for the other person who was looking to fill a void or get over someone else. And even knowing that so many times, I'd just stay sometimes because I was "needed".

Eventually, I would meet my now husband Joe a year (roughly) after P. Joe and I were best friends first. We knew each other first, and hung out as friends first. He would drive from Dracut to Athol almost every day, that's like 2 hours just to get to me, then 2 hours home. We would sit in my room and watch Friend Zone on MTV (how fitting, right?) One day we found ourselves just casually holding hands. This was new for me. I didn't see it coming. Our relationship crept up and blossomed instead of my usual just jumping into a relationship. Joe was the only one to ever stand up to P and tell him he didn't have a place in my life anymore. The only person where I never doubted if I was just filling a void from someone else. Joe cared about my interests and what I enjoyed, and has continued to throughout our 9 year relationship. He showed me what being valued as myself was like. This is love. And I am grateful, because he gives me space to figure out who I am and change if I feel like it.

The lesson from this is that I finally learned that I was enough as me. I didn't have to try to be anyone's ex, I didn't have to try to be anyone but myself. I learned that I had value as a person, and that I could be who I wanted, because I WANTED to be that person. I could be a light in someone's life, without putting out my own light. I learned that my body was not the only thing someone should want in a relationship, and that sex does not mean love. And most importantly, I learned that I didn't need to fill a void in someone, or try to have someone to fill a void in myself. Things don't work that way. You cannot fix a person, you can only be there for them. As far as mental health goes, my intention was always to break the cycle and take care of myself. I knew it from very early in my life. I mentioned that I stopped going to therapy for awhile. Two years ago I did start going to counseling again. After having our second child, I realized that I was really struggling and things were getting hard, I felt like I was falling apart inside. I couldn't cope strictly by myself. Last year I was diagnosed as bipolar 2. My counselor knew a bit sooner than when he told me, but I respect his reasoning. When he diagnosed me, he said that he did not tell me right away when he knew, because he knew that I would have been devastated, since he knew I did not want to be like my family. But I am not like my family. I love my family, and they are not bad people, they just needed help. I am the change in the cycle. I wanted better and I am creating better. I want my children to know stability and that mental health is as important as physical health. I am still working at being better every day, I will always have to, that's okay. I am open, I am accepting of myself, I know healing isn't linear. In healing, I have learned forgiveness.

Evolution multi-million year timescale debunked by field & experimental evidence by Truth in science

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