97 Squadron, heavy bombers
It is very good news to hear that the memorial to the Coates crew has already been adopted by the local school in Weebosch village. Every 25th March, on the anniversary of the crash, the children will clean the memorial and lay flowers of remembrance for the crew. Ad van […]
NEWS FLASH: Today, 16 December, there was supposed to be a dedication ceremony at RAF Wyton for the new memorial to Black Thursday, but unfortunately it had to be cancelled on the authority of the Station Commander. A different date will be arranged in the New Year. Every year at […]
The close involvement of the Pathfinders in the radar war waged by the Allies is symbolised by the service of two USAAF airmen – 2nd Lieutenant J.E. Russell (Jack) and 2nd Lieutenant R. Wright (Dick) – with 97 Squadron in the summer of 1943. The Americans were at the squadron […]
The memorial stone to the Steven crew, lost on 14 January 1944 on Texel, the largest of the Dutch Frisian islands, stands in a wooded place called Fonteinsnol on the exact spot where the aircraft crashed. Three of the crew were found dead at the scene. It is thought that one of […]
This 97 Squadron crew flew on 16/17 December 1943 (BLACK THURSDAY) in Lancaster OF-S, S-Sugar. Unable to land due to the fog, the crew abandoned the aircraft and parachuted to safety. The crew’s survival on that disastrous night was a piece of great good fortune. Sadly, they were all killed […]
In three months it will be the 80th anniversary of the loss of the Coates crew on 25 March 1944. Prior to this we would be most grateful if friends, relatives, and other interested parties would get in touch. Two kind and dedicated Dutch people, Ad van Zantvoort and Ingrid […]
It has now been confirmed that the Black Thursday memorial stone will be put in place at RAF Wyton on a permanent basis. John Clifford, one of our trustees and senior curator at the Pathfinder Collection, Heritage Centre, RAF Wyton, wrote to me yesterday: We await the construction of a […]
Every year at this time we remember the Pathfinder crews lost due to fog and low cloud on Black Thursday, 16/17 December 1943. The Pathfinder dead for fog-related crashes were two from 83 Squadron, six from 156 Squadron, fourteen from 405 Squadron, and twenty-eight from 97 Squadron, fifty men in all. Memorial stone for the heavy losses suffered by 97 […]
The Edwards crew went missing on the Courtrai operation of 20/21 July 1944. No trace of them was ever found, and they are commemorated on the Runnymede memorial. The bomb aimer on the crew was Jack Skingley. He was married with two children. His daughter, Jackie Maude, recently gave the […]
80TH ANNVERSARY. On 23 June 1943, a Lancaster of 97 Squadron crashed on the Dutch city of Utrecht. The Lancaster broke up while on fire in the air, and five Dutch civilians were killed when huge chunks of flaming debris fell on their houses and set them alight. Five of […]
Following on from our recent feature on Christmas 1944 in a POW Camp, here is the Archive’s farewell to 2022 and welcome to 2023, with another item from Albert East’s time in Stalag IVb: New Year’s Eve, Stalag IVb, 1944/45. From the Archive’s collection of Albert East’s papers and memorabilia, […]
Jan Nieuwenhuis sent the following message late yesterday: “Today late this afternoon, we again placed candle lights in front of all the war graves at the Texel War Cemetery…” With grateful thanks to Jan Nieuwenhuis and all who have helped in this year’s remembrance. Jennie Mack Gray writes: I have […]
See our new Feature Page: Christmas 1944 in a POW Camp To all our supporters and to everyone who has kindly donated information, documents, photographs and artefacts related to the Pathfinders this year, we wish you A Very Happy Christmas and New Year
This detail from a photograph shows part of the funeral procession for 405 Squadron members, mostly Canadians, who were buried on 22 December 1943 at Cambridge City Cemetery. At the rear are Bill Bessent (nearest the camera) whose twin brother Bob was amongst those killed, and the one surviving uninjured […]
When checking through the pages of our old website, in search of images of Pathfinders wearing their PFF badges post-war, I found one of Charles Owen, an outstanding pilot and captain with 97 Squadron in the Pathfinders, 1943-1944. (Note: For an artistic representation of an RAF officer wearing his PFF […]