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RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

The Pathfinders & the World they Knew

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  • LATEST POSTS
  • ABOUT THE ARCHIVE
    • ABOUT THE ARCHIVE
    • Why the Archive Began
    • Collecting Material for the Archive
    • Donating Digital Material – What you need to know.
    • Charity & Contact Details
    • Copyright & Permissions
    • RESEARCH ENQUIRIES
    • Migrating from Old Website
    • Partners: Pathfinder Collection, RAF Wyton
    • Partners: Queensland Air Museum
  • About the Pathfinders
    • The PFF – A Quick Overview
    • PFF – Unique Conditions of Service
    • The Pathfinder Eagle
    • PATHFINDER AIRCREW: Courage, Love and Loss in Bomber Command’s Elite Force
    • Publicity and the Pathfinders
    • The Pathfinders – Controversial Beginnings
    • Harris and the Pathfinders
    • Harris Chooses Bennett as PFF AOC
    • PFF Losses in First Month, 1942
    • Early Months of the Path Finder Force
    • What’s in a Name? 8 Group or PFF?
  • PFF Squadrons & Bases
    • PFF Squadron Names and Codes
    • PFF Bases
    • Pathfinder Squadrons in 5 Group
  • Leadership
    • Don Bennett, Air Officer Commanding
    • Bennett, PR and 5 Group
    • Bennett and the Tirpitz
    • Donald Bennett, IWM Sound Recordings (1986)
    • Hamish Mahaddie, IWM sound recordings (1972 & 1989)
    • Anderson’s Logbook: First PFF Sortie
    • Robert Murray Buchan, Navigation Staff Officer
  • 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: Pre-PFF Service

    Before aircrew joined the PFF, many had had very eventful war service

  • 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
  • Air Sea Rescue – Allan Templeton

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on December 9, 2020September 15, 2022

    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

    156 Squadron, Dominion & Colonial Airmen, Pre-PFF Service
  • Harris, Bennett & Flying Boats

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on October 18, 2020July 10, 2022

    At the beginning of the 1930s, long before he was the chief of Bomber Command, Harris served as Commanding Officer of 210 Squadron, based at Pembroke Dock in Wales, which flew flying boats. Bennett, who …

    Donald Bennett, AOC, Harris, Head of Bomber Command, Pre-PFF Service
  • Mentioned in Despatches

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on October 17, 2020April 5, 2022

    Allan Templeton (his first name was Arthur but he was known by his second name) was a wireless operator from Newfoundland. He had a flying career packed with incident even before he joined the Pathfinders …

    156 Squadron, Dominion & Colonial Airmen, Medal Awards & MID, Pre-PFF Service
  • The RAF and the Channel Dash

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on December 28, 2019July 10, 2022

    On 11 February 1942, the prestigious German battleships the Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau and the Prinz Eugen broke out of the westerly French port of Brest and sailed east, up the English Channel, in a break for …

    83 Squadron, Germany, Pre-PFF Service
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