Surviving photographs of RAF funerals are very rare. Although many were taken officially during the war, so that relatives living abroad could see that their loved ones had been buried with honour, it seems that such photographs were too sad to keep. Norman McIntyre (fourth from left) with two of the men who were killed,
The Le Creusot operation in daylight on 17 October 1942 was one of the most daring of several Bomber Command raids flown that year which were perhaps as much concerned with PR and morale as with military strategy. See: Le Creusot Raid of 17 October 1942 One of those flying on the op was Ernest Deverill,
During the war, the exploits of Bomber Command were celebrated in all the mass media, including newspapers, newsreel, and radio. Two of the most notable operations were the Augsburg raid of April 1942 (in which Ernest Deverill flew), and the Dams Raid of May 1943, led by Guy Gibson. Some of the survivors of the
Photographs of RAF Station Sick Quarters (SSQs) in wartime are extremely rare. These three photographs show the characteristics of an SSQ in a Nissen hut, such as were found on bases like RAF Bourn and RAF Gransden Lodge which had been built in wartime. Above: The Red Cross symbols on the exterior of this SSQ
The lure of flying for people growing up in the 1920s and 1930s is hard to appreciate now when commercial flying is so commonplace. Then, flying was ultra-modern and incredibly glamorous. For aeroplane-mad children, there were a large number of books, comics and magazines, featuring real aviators and fictional ones like the famous Biggles. Many
In 1943, E Colston Shepherd, the editor of The Aeroplane, interviewed Harris both at his office and at home, the latter being Springfields at Great Kingshill, close to High Wycombe’s Bomber Command HQ. In the subsequent article in the Picture Post, Colston Shepherd described Harris as: A caption to the photograph, above, of Harris with
Here is a priceless story told by Harris about the London Blitz in 1940. The sentry whom he describes surely has a direct lineage from Shakespeare’s clowns. During the Blitz, Harris used to go up on the roof of the Air Ministry to watch the sight of London burning. On what was probably the night
