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Thread: Judas Goats

  1. #1
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Default Judas Goats

    I can just hear you asking, "What in the Hell is a Judas Goat, and why should I want to see pictures of such a stinky critter anyways?"

    (If you're not asking that, shame on you - try reading that question aloud, so you can get with the program.)

    I first encountered the term "Judas Goat" when I was in college, studying livestock science. Sometimes also called a "Bellwether" this was a neutered male goat, who would be chained up near the entrance of a slaughterhouse. Because the goat was used to the smells coming from the slaughterhouse, the other animals being led by the goat into the killing ground would be reassured to see another herd animal obviously relaxed in spite of the smells. This would make them easier to handle and slaughter.

    Obviously the term is rather morbid, and has been used metaphorically outside of the livestock trades.

    One of the most colorful uses of the term comes from WWII. Large bombers were dependent upon two things for their protection: the escorting fighters, and their own formation where each bomber would have it's blind spots covered by other aircraft in the same formation. Because of the importance to this formation, the strike groups would not want to actually begin their sortie until they had established it. But with the confusion of as many as several hundred planes taking off at the same time, it could be hard to figure out where in the formation one was supposed to be.

    Which is where the Assembly Ships would come in.

    These aircraft, usually having completed their schedule of active sorties, were painted in bright colors and patterns to be highly visible. The would begin orbiting around the airfield, and as they launched the sortie aircraft would form up on these Assembly Ships. Then, when the formation was complete, the lead ships of the strike would move to take the lead of the sortie, and the Assembly Ships, their jobs done, would return to base - since the very visibility that made them so useful for their role would have been a huge disadvantage in any kind of combat situation.

    The bomber crews had more than merely mixed feelings about these ships, which would set up the strikes, send them off into harm's way, and then go back to the field themselves. Many of these crews came from farmer stock themselves and soon gave these Assembly Ships another name: Judas Goats.

    So, I did a little digging, and her I present to Mellophant, several images of these Judas Goats.


    Here are some images of the Birmingham Blitzkreig









    This aircraft is the Patches II, named for the plane she replaced. After her active bombing runs were done she was converted to an Assembly Ship, with the paint scheme you see here. The crews of the other bombers gave her the nickname Spotted Cow.







    Obviously color shots of these aircraft are pretty rare - the color shots I've shown here are computer reconstructions.

    Here's a few actual color shots of other Assembly Ships:






















    I challenge you to find some more Judas Goats!

  2. #2
    Libertarian Autocrat Vox Imperatoris's avatar
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    That's pretty cool.
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  3. #3
    MOON GIRL FIGHTS CRIME Myrnalene's avatar
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    Wow, this is really interesting. And I find Spotted Cow lovely. She's quite the chic lady.

    Who would usually fly the judas goats?

  4. #4
    Oliphaunt jali's avatar
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    I have SUCH a dirty mind sometimes...

    I love these photos. Thanks for pulling me out of da gutter.
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  5. #5
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Myrnalene View post
    Who would usually fly the judas goats?

    I don't know - I've seen some comments that claim that for the Assembly Ship missions the crew of the aircraft would be a pilot, co-pilot, navigator/radio operator, and one or two flare gunners. Sometimes an observer would be fly with them, to see how well the rest of the sortie was doing keeping position.

    AIUI, most air crew for the Air Corps were flying rotations of fifty missions, after which they would be rotated out of combat. Given that the planes involved were often 'retired' from flying combat missions, I suspect that the crew were given a chance to volunteer for a vital, non-combat role, after they'd finished their fifty missions. Unfortunately, all I can say is that seems logical - which is not the same as saying that's how they did it.

  6. #6
    like Gandalf in a way Nrblex's avatar
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    Whoa, this is seriously cool. I hadn't been aware of this bit of history. Thanks for adding something to my knowledge banks!

  7. #7
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    One more view of the Spotted Cow


  8. #8
    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    duplicate
    Last edited by OtakuLoki; 21 Nov 2009 at 11:20 PM.

  9. #9
    BELOVED BY ALL binks's avatar
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    You mean...there isn't any reason for me to post this?


  10. #10
    Stegodon Papaw's avatar
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    That was quite interesting! I had known about the procedure for assembling the sorties, but had not seen any photos.
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