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 huts. Read the Full Article: RAF Station Bourn
The Air Ministry Casualty Branch moved to 73-77 Oxford Street in late 1942. The tall Art Deco building had been the showroom for Drage’s before the war, and it appears that some shops remained in the building even in wartime. One account speaks of the Casualty Branch as being in ‘a […]
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 case against area bombing in the House of Lords. (Note: […]
Bomber aircraft did not just drop bombs, they also dropped counter-propaganda such as the miniature Dutch newspaper De Wervelwind. Its main purpose was to sustain Dutch morale, but it was also a reminder to the Germans that they had a most formidable enemy. Read the Full Article: RAF Bombers Deliver […]
This public information poster was printed in Berlin in 1940. The designer was Sander-Herwig. Note the RAF roundel on the wing of the aircraft, and the bomb in the skeleton’s hand. The poster is a forewarning of the later demonisation of the RAF bomber crews as terrorflieger, ‘the terror fliers’, […]
The annual lighting of candles on the 167 graves at the War Cemetery at Den Burg, Texel, took place yesterday evening, Christmas Eve. This is a very simple but extremely moving and quietly spectacular ceremony, and for the last three years we have published photographs of it. Extremely powerful guns […]
From all the team at the RAF Pathfinders Archive Happy Christmas to everyone who has supported us over the years, and may next year, 2021, see life restored to something like normality after the immense problems and sorrows caused by the Corona virus. From the family archive of Bill ‘Worcester’ […]
The three Victoria Crosses awarded to Pathfinders were all gazetted in 1945, some time after the deaths of the recipients. The three men who performed extraordinary feats of heroism and self-sacrifice were Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer, and Edwin Swales. Read the Full Article: The Three Pathfinder Victoria […]
For more details of the display at RAF Wyton Heritage Centre, see this page.
The Archive has its roots in a tragedy which occurred on 16/17 December 1943, afterwards known as Black Thursday. At that time, the crew of Ted Thackway were serving with 97 Squadron, which was stationed at Bourn in Cambridgeshire. The crew’s first operation was to Berlin on 16 December. Returning safely […]
One of the reasons why 16/17 December 1943 was so disastrous was the extreme limitations of landing aids. The only facilities available for such severe bad weather conditions were FIDO and a system known as SBA. Read the Full Article: 16/17 December 1943 – FIDO & Landing Aids
The disastrous night of 16/17 December 1943 came just one month into the Battle of Berlin, Bomber Command’s all-out attempt to win the war by attacking the German capital and other key cities. But it was not the Germans who were responsible for the heavy losses that night, but the RAF’s eternal […]
Some Pathfinders had very unusual – and dramatic – pre-Pathfinder war service. Allan Templeton was one of these. HIs service in ASR was very noteworthy. Read the Full Article: Pre-Pathfinder War Service: Allan Templeton
Norman McIntyre, later of 97 Squadron, PFF, at the ceremony which marked the completion of his training as a navigator: RAAF Navigator receives his Wings
An unusual photograph of trainee aircrew leaving their homeland: RNZAF Boys on Ship to Canada