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 ›
PFF ORGANISATION
Don Bennett, AOC
Bennett’s dauntless, energetic, driven personality would be inextricably woven throughout the character of the Path Finder Force.
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 ›
Searby & the End of a Kiwi Gunner’s Tour
John Searby (left, with Bennett in 1944, IWM: CH 20628) was one of the best known and most revered of the Pathfinder squadron and station commanders. According to the dates in Bennett’s book Pathfinder, he was: CO of 83 Squadron… Read More ›
Harris, Bennett & Flying Boats
An article about Harris and Bennett at Pembroke Dock in the early 1930s …
The Pathfinder Eagle
A Symbol of Excellence …
The PFF’s Controversial Beginnings
The beginnings of the Path Finder Force were fraught with controversy …
O Valiant Hearts
The epitaphs on many aircrew graves came from the hymn “O Valiant Hearts”. This remarkable and deeply poignant hymn is connected with the death of the outstanding pilot Ernest Deverill, seen here with his wife Joyce on their wedding day.
Being Proud of One’s Country
I was flicking through Donald Bennett’s autobiography Pathfinder yesterday, and came upon this passage, which seemed strangely reminiscent of a certain situation in the British Parliament today. Bennett is writing of the time that, having resigned from the Air Force,… Read More ›
A Matter of Life and Death, 1946
I wonder how many people caught up with the Powell and Pressburger film “A Matter of Life and Death” which was screened on the BBC last Sunday afternoon. Released in 1946, it tells the story of a Pathfinder pilot, Squadron… Read More ›
Ernest Deverill
The night of 16/17 December 1943, afterwards known as Black Thursday, saw the worst RAF bad weather losses of the whole war. A heavy fog caused severe problems for home-coming aircraft and there were multiple fatal crashes, amongst them the… Read More ›