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RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

The Pathfinders & the World they Knew

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  • About the Pathfinders
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    • Harris Chooses Bennett as PFF AOC
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  • PFF Squadrons & Bases
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    • Don Bennett, Air Officer Commanding
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  • Library
    • Library
    • “A CHANCE ENCOUNTER” by Dr Olav Heinemann, Duisburg-Essen University
    • “AN AUSTRALIAN PATHFINDER OVER GERMANY”, by Professor Tim Willasey-Wilsey, King’s College, London
    • GEOFF BAKER, RAAF Pilot with 97 Squadron, by Stan Hurd
    • MARK GLEED, Navigator with 139 Squadron, by Len Gleed
    • The Loss of the Robertson Crew – German Reports
    • THE DANISH SHOULDER FLASH, by Mikkel Plannthin
  • FEATURED ARTICLES
    • A War Artist and the Pathfinders
    • Carrier Pigeons in the Bomber War
    • Christmas 1944 in a POW Camp
    • New Year’s Eve, Stalag IVb, 1944-45.
    • Lancaster Gunners “Hotting Up”
    • Leslie Barr and P/O Prune
  • The Night of the Fog, 16/17 December 1943 (Black Thursday)
    • The Night of the Fog, 16/17 December 1943 (Black Thursday)
    • Why the Archive Began
    • Pathfinder Losses on 16/17 December 1943
    • 97 Squadron Aircrew Flying on 16/17 December 1943
      • De Wesselow Crew
      • Kirkwood Crew
    • 16/17 December 1943: FIDO & Landing Aids
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  • Category: 582 Squadron

    582 Squadron, heavy bombers

  • Navigational Equipment: Captain Field’s Improved Parallel

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on December 12, 2022December 12, 2022

    Dudley Archer was an outstanding navigator who flew two tours with the Pathfinders (see his impressive decorations in The Pathfinder Eagle). He was on the 582 Squadron crew of Ted Swales on the operation in …

    582 Squadron, Equipment
  • “AN AUSTRALIAN PATHFINDER OVER GERMANY”

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on January 7, 2022January 29, 2022

    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 …

    582 Squadron, Dominion & Colonial Airmen
  • Remembrance Sunday: Lewis Austin

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on November 14, 2021July 10, 2022

    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 …

    582 Squadron, ARCHIVE NEWS, PFF REMEMBRANCE
  • Donald Margach and Guy Gibson

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on June 13, 2021

    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 …

    582 Squadron, Pre-PFF Service
  • The Three Pathfinder VCs

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on December 24, 2020July 10, 2022

    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, …

    109 Sqd (M), 582 Squadron, 635 Squadron, Medal Awards & MID, Significant Events: Ops
  • 23 December 1944, “Heroic Endeavour”

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on December 23, 2020July 10, 2022

    On 16 December 1944, German Panzers spearheaded a surprise attack in the Ardennes that smashed through thinly held Allied lines, catching the Allied commanders completely off-guard. The Allied fight-back included the extraordinary feat of heroism …

    109 Sqd (M), 35 Squadron, 582 Squadron, Significant Events: Ops
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