On Thursday and Friday this week we remember the 50 Pathfinder aircrew who were killed in crashes in England on Thursday and Friday 78 years ago. The crews had just returned safely from that night’s operation to Berlin when a… Read More ›
WAR BACKGROUND
The background to the RAF, Bomber Command and the Pathfinders’ war
A German Bomber Crew
Dr Olav Heinemann’s article “A Chance Encounter” contains a last section which mentions his grandfather Kurt Heinemann who was a navigator on a Luftwaffe bomber. We very much like the closing paragraph of the article: “While it appeared to me… Read More ›
“A Chance Encounter” – The Loss of the Moore Crew
Last summer, when lockdown was in progress in many parts of Europe, Dr Olav Heinemann of the University of Duisburg-Essen came across a stone commemorating an RAF crew in his local churchyard at Gelsenkirchen. His curiosity thoroughly aroused, he researched… Read More ›
Peenemunde Raid, 17/18 August 1943
Coming up to the anniversary of the famous raid on Hitler’s V1 weapon site, we started thinking about what we have in the Archive which is related to this night. It was not difficult to come up with three items,… Read More ›
Wound Stripes
Another item about uniform ensignia which has been transferred from the old site.
Pathfinder Aircrew
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 ›
Wartime Opposition to Bombing
During the war, public opinion in Britain and the Dominions was firmly on the side of Bomber Command. However, there was also some determined criticism of Bomber Command’s campaigns, not least by George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, who argued the… Read More ›
RAF Bombers Deliver More than Bombs …
Bomber aircraft did not just drop bombs, they also dropped counter-propaganda such as the miniature Dutch newspaper De Wervelwind:
Der Feind, The Fiend
This public information poster was printed in Berlin in 1940. The designer was Sander-Herwig. (Information from The Wolfsonian Digital Catalog, Accession number: XX1990.2765) Note the RAF roundel on the wing of the aircraft, and the bomb in the skeleton’s hand…. Read More ›
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: FIDO & Landing Aids
One of the reasons why 16/17 December 1943 was so disastrous was the extreme limitations of landing aids. The only facilities available for such severe bad weather conditions were FIDO and a system known as SBA … 16/17 December 1943 – FIDO &… Read More ›
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 ›
The RAF and the Channel Dash
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 the security of the German-controlled… Read More ›
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.
Bonzo Joined the RAF …
Here is a delightful photograph and story in another of the RAF’s brilliant PR campaigns. BONZO JOINED THE RAF IN ITALY