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RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE

The Pathfinders & the World they Knew

  • HOME: latest feature article
  • 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
    • Meteorology and the Pathfinders
    • Publicity and the Pathfinders
    • What’s in a Name? 8 Group or PFF?
    • Development of 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
  • Squadrons, Bases & Ground crew
    • PFF Squadron Names and Codes
    • PFF Bases
    • PFF Mosquito Ground Crew
    • Pathfinder Squadrons in 5 Group
  • Leadership
    • Don Bennett, Air Officer Commanding
      • Harris, Bennett & Flying Boats
      • Bennett and the Tirpitz
      • Bennett, PR and 5 Group
      • 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
  • FEATURE 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
  • 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
  • Archived Articles
    • Frostbite and Flying Boots
    • Pathfinders in Civvie Street
    • The Dangers of the Weather – Icing
  • Support Us
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  • CONTACT
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  • Category: History of the PFF

    Landmarks in the history of the PFF.

  • What’s In a Name? 8 Group or PFF?

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

    80 years ago today, on 13 January 1943, in recognition of the outstanding results that the Path Finder Force had achieved in its first six months, it was given parity with other Bomber Command Groups …

    Donald Bennett, AOC, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY
  • Feature for September 22

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on September 1, 2022

    Bennett was strongly averse to publicity, unlike his great rival Cochrane in 5 Group who had his own PR specialists, one of several reasons why the Dambusters became so enduringly famous. The Feature Page for September …

    5 Group, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY
  • PFF Squadrons in 5 Group

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on September 1, 2022

    A question which comes up perennially about the Pathfinders is why some of them were flying with 5 Group as opposed to 8 Group (as the Pathfinders had become in early 1943) and why they …

    5 Group, 83 Squadron, 97 Squadron, Donald Bennett, AOC, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY
  • Bennett’s Messages to his Force

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on August 13, 2022August 15, 2022

    During his time commanding the Path Finder Force, Donald Bennett only sent two direct personal message to the men, women, squadrons and stations under his command. The first was 0n 22 August 1943, one year …

    Donald Bennett, AOC, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY
  • 80th Anniversary: PFF Losses in First Month, 1942

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on August 4, 2022September 1, 2022

    Amongst the Pathfinders’ early losses was Leslie Barr of 7 Squadron. Other losses in the early days included the Savage crew of 156 Squadron, who were shot down on a Kassel operation on 27/28 August …

    156 Squadron, 7 Squadron, History of the PFF
  • 80th Anniversary: Early Months of the Path Finder Force

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on July 22, 2022July 23, 2022

    A cautious approach was taken towards the creation of the Path Finder Force in summer 1942, reflecting the controversy about whether it was required at all and whether it would manage to live up to …

    ARCHIVE NEWS, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY, PFF GROUND PERSONNEL & BASES
  • 80th Anniversary: Harris’s Attitude to the PFF

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on July 16, 2022

    Sir Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, had been strongly opposed to the setting up of a separate elite target-marking force, believing this would leave to rivalry and jealousy within the non-Pathfinder squadrons …

    ARCHIVE NEWS, Harris, Head of Bomber Command, History of the PFF
  • 80th Anniversary: Bennett chosen to lead the PFF

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on July 13, 2022July 13, 2022

    Donald Bennett was Harris’s personal choice for the command of the Path Finder Force; he took up his post on 15 July 1942, one month before the PFF officially came into existence. Bennett , right, …

    ARCHIVE NEWS, Donald Bennett, AOC, History of the PFF
  • 80th Anniversary: Harris Opposition to PFF

    Posted by RAF Pathfinders Archive on July 8, 2022July 10, 2022

    As part of our 80th Anniversary celebrations, a reminder of just how controversial the creation of the Pathfinders was. When the formation of the Path Finder Force was first being discussed in the first half …

    Harris, Head of Bomber Command, History of the PFF, PFF CHARACTER & HISTORY
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