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 ›
PFF LOSSES & MEMORIALS
PFF losses, including UK crashes; memorials to the lost
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 ›
“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 ›
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 ›
Den Burg, Texel, Xmas Eve
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… Read More ›
16/17 December 1943: RAF Wyton Display
For more details of the display at RAF Wyton Heritage Centre, see this page.
16/17 December 1943: Remembering the Thackway Crew
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… Read More ›
16/17 December 1943: 77th Anniversary
Tomorrow it will be the 77th anniversary of the night which saw terrible bad-weather losses throughout Bomber Command – Black Thursday.
Pathfinder War Losses
The total Pathfinder losses, incurred from August 1942 to May 1945, were given by Donald Bennett, their Air Officer Commanding (AOC), as being 3,618 men. One of those lost was the 21 year old Robert Stewart of the Kirkwood Crew… Read More ›