Author Archives
RAF Pathfinders Archive
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Remembrance Sunday
The total wartime losses for the Path Finder Force were given by their commander, Donald Bennett, as being 3,618 men.[1] It was a large figure for a small Force which only came into existence in the fourth year of the war…. Read More ›
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Remembrance Day, 2021
Remembering all the Pathfinders lost in the war, and those who survived but suffered from terrible memories in after years, and all their friends and families. ONE OF THE MANY PATHFINDER CREWS LOST After three and a half months of… Read More ›
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Remembering Derek
Sometimes it is the smallest items which tell the most. A few old newspaper cuttings, preserved for many years, reveal how greatly Derek Charles Carrott, of the Townsend crew of 405 Squadron, was missed by his family. He was the… Read More ›
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The Moore Crew
The Moore crew were all killed when their aircraft crashed at Gelsenkirchen in June 1943. James Parker McMillin was 97 Squadron’s Navigation Officer, and he had only stepped into the navigator role when the usual crewmember could not fly. Like… Read More ›
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A German Bomber Crew
Dr Olav Heinemann’s article “A Chance Encounter” contains a last section which mentions his grandfather Kurt Heinemann who was a navigator on a Luftwaffe bomber. We very much like the closing paragraph of the article: “While it appeared to me… Read More ›
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“A Chance Encounter” – The Loss of the Moore Crew
Last summer, when lockdown was in progress in many parts of Europe, Dr Olav Heinemann of the University of Duisburg-Essen came across a stone commemorating an RAF crew in his local churchyard at Gelsenkirchen. His curiosity thoroughly aroused, he researched… Read More ›
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Peenemunde Raid, 17/18 August 1943
Coming up to the anniversary of the famous raid on Hitler’s V1 weapon site, we started thinking about what we have in the Archive which is related to this night. It was not difficult to come up with three items,… Read More ›
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Wound Stripes
Another item about uniform ensignia which has been transferred from the old site.
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The Goldfish Club
We are continuing to migrate pages from the old website (amending them when necessary along the way) and here is a particular favourite:
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Pathfinder Aircrew
This book has been 14 years in the making; it contains many personal stories, letters and photographs from the Archive, and has been written by our Chairperson, Jennie Mack Gray. It is on sale in our new Shop from which… Read More ›
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Don Bennett, AOC
Bennett’s dauntless, energetic, driven personality would be inextricably woven throughout the character of the Path Finder Force.
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Donald Margach and Guy Gibson
Donald Sinclair Margach was a bomb aimer from Edinburgh, who died in July 1944 when serving with 582 Squadron of the Pathfinders. Like many Pathfinders, he had had a very interesting flying career prior to joining the PFF.
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Pathfinder Stations: Bourn
Pathfinder stations were very variable in quality, ranging from the prewar stations like Upwood and Wyton, which were well-designed and built for permanency, to the wartime stations like Bourn and Gransden Lodge, which consisted almost solely of prefabs and Nissen… Read More ›
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Working on this New Website
Last year, we began a review of our old website: raf-pathfinders.com It had been added to and expanded for many years, and much of it dated back to a time when the ways of creating and running a website were… Read More ›
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Wartime Opposition to Bombing
During the war, public opinion in Britain and the Dominions was firmly on the side of Bomber Command. However, there was also some determined criticism of Bomber Command’s campaigns, not least by George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, who argued the… Read More ›