Author Archives
RAF Pathfinders Archive
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Hit by Incendiaries over the Target: the true story of Brock Robertson’s DFC
Brock Robertson won his Distinguished Flying Cross for an operation to Hamburg on 24/25 July 1943, just over a month before his death. What the official citation for the award deliberately omitted to say was that Brock’s aircraft had been… Read More ›
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Brock Robertson & His Crew
Oliver Brock Robertson was an outstanding Canadian pilot who flew with 97 Squadron. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross in unusual circumstances in July 1943, just over a month before his death in action. There is an interesting family background,… Read More ›
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Crisis in Ukraine
The recent terrible events in the Ukraine have raised deeply disturbing echoes of the Second World War. Our Archive works to commemorate the RAF Pathfinders who died or were injured, physically or psychologically, in that bloody conflict. Their sacrifices, and… Read More ›
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H2S and The Pathfinders
H2S was a critical part of the electronics war waged by the Pathfinders. The radar equipment transmitted a directional beam of high-energy impulses outwards and downwards towards the ground. Reflections of its own impulses received from the ground were accepted… Read More ›
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Crash site of Kenneth Brown crew
Following on from the interesting and detailed German eyewitness reports of The Loss of the Robertson Crew, published at the end of January 2022, we have more German eyewitness reports of another 97 Squadron crew, lost in the same month… Read More ›
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635 Squadron – End of War Photograph
Further to our post yesterday about Frederick Jones, a pilot with 635 Squadron, and his earlier time in training (see Frederick Jones, 635 Squadron, & Heaton Park) we have now located the end of war photograph from which his image… Read More ›
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Winston Johnson, navigator, Special Duties
Winston Johnson’s wartime service was as a navigator/specialist wireless operator. He was involved in top-secret work, some of it with 109 Squadron, a founding Mosquito squadron of the Pathfinders. On 31 January 1945, Winston was posted overseas to the BLA,… Read More ›
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An Unknown ex-Pathfinder?
We have recently received this intriguing image, showing a young man seemingly wearing a Pathfinder badge with his specialised clothing. We would welcome any suggestions as to who he is or which task he is engaged in. He is not… Read More ›
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Frederick Jones, 635 Squadron, & Heaton Park
Jonah Jones, centre, second row up. Thought to be from the end of war photograph for 635 Squadron. Frederick S “Jonah” Jones, a pilot of 635 Squadron, wrote a poem when he was in training in 1942 at Heaton Park…. Read More ›
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The Loss of the Robertson Crew
We have just added some interesting and unusually detailed German eyewitness reports of the loss of the Robertson crew after the Nuremburg raid of 27/28 August 1943. Lancaster JA958K crashed at Bubenreuth, near Erlangen, around 16 miles (25.5 kilometres) north… Read More ›
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“AN AUSTRALIAN PATHFINDER OVER GERMANY”
Today we are adding to the Library an article by Tim Willasey-Wilsey, Visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College London. It concerns Hall Mettam, a member of the RAAF, whom Tim met in Beirut in 1974 just before the… Read More ›
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HAPPY XMAS and Best Wishes for 2022
Menu card for the Sergeants’ Mess at RAF Station Graveley, on Christmas Day 1944, when Victory was just beginning to look certain. With our our very best wishes to all our readers and supporters THE RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE team From… Read More ›
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Remembrance: 16/17 December 1943, Black Thursday
On Thursday and Friday this week we remember the 50 Pathfinder aircrew who were killed in crashes in England on Thursday and Friday 78 years ago. The crews had just returned safely from that night’s operation to Berlin when a… Read More ›
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Geoff Baker, RAAF, 97 Squadron.
A further addition to the library today … A personal account by Stan Hurd of a friend, Geoff Baker, “an ordinary person who went to war that changed his life. It tells the story of his experiences flying a Lancaster… Read More ›
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Mark Gleed, 139 Squadron
A new article by Len Gleed about Mark Gleed, a Mosquito navigator, and his service with 139 Squadron, is the second article in our collection of articles which have been written by relatives or members of the public. The list… Read More ›