Every year at this time we remember the Pathfinder crews lost due to fog and low cloud on Black Thursday, 16/17 December 1943. The Pathfinder dead for fog-related crashes were two from 83 Squadron, six from 156 Squadron, fourteen from 405 Squadron, and twenty-eight from 97 Squadron, fifty men in all. The survivors of these crashes were sometimes critically injured, […]
The Battle of Berlin commenced on the night of 18/19 November 1943. It was thought by Sir Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command, to have got off to a promising start, but the appalling dangers of the flights, over strongly defended enemy territory and across seas patrolled by German fighters, combined […]
For Remembrance Day every year we choose one airman or airwoman to stand for all the Pathfinders who lost their lives in the war. This year it is Taffy Jones who was killed when he was a prisoner of war. James Ellis Jones, known to his friends as Taffy because […]
WING COMMANDER JAMES HARDY MARKS, CO of 35 Squadron, Path Finder Force, died on 19 September 1942. He was a Pathfinding legend. This new article by Sean Feast tells of what happened on the night of his death, as related by an eye-witness on his crew, Bill Higgs. Death of […]
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the raid on the development site for Hitler’s rocket programme. The raid on Peenemunde on the night of 17/18 August 1943 was remarkable for many reasons, not least the incredible skill and bravery shown by the men of the Path Finder Force led, for the […]
Tomorrow, 15 August, is the anniversary of the foundation of the Path Finder Force in 1942. For a change, this year we are marking the anniversary with a feature about some erks, those invaluable hard-working men who toiled in all weathers to keep the aircraft flying. This new webpage concentrates […]
The RAF Pathfinders Archive, which was founded in 2017, has recently undertaken a major reorganisation to take it forward into the next 8-10 years. Perhaps the most significant change has been the move of all the Archive’s physical artefacts to RAF Wyton’s Heritage Centre, where they form a complement to […]
Leading photo: Sean with Ted Stocker, Pathfinder, 2009 Sean Feast has been appointed Chair of The RAF Pathfinders Archive, the charity that seeks to protect the history of the corps d’élite of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. He succeeds Dr Jennie Gray, the founder of the archive, […]
As the end of the war had approached, Bomber Command Lancasters had begun flying to Brussels and other liberated European airfields to collect freed prisoners of war. American aircraft of the USAAF also brought back ex-prisoners. After the German surrender, German airfields could also be used in what was known […]
VE Day on 8 May 1945 was celebrated with huge enthusiasm at the Path Finder Force. We are marking the 80th Anniversary with several new features on the victory. Today the following pages cover how the Air Officer Commanding, Donald Bennett, made the announcement to the Pathfinders, and how victory […]
It is very good news to hear that the memorial to the Coates crew has already been adopted by the local school in Weebosch village. Every 25th March, on the anniversary of the crash, the children will clean the memorial and lay flowers of remembrance for the crew. Ad van […]
The Lancaster of the Coates crew, 97 Squadron, was shot down at Weebosch, near Luyksgestel, Holland, at 12.30 in the morning of 25 March 1944. All seven crew members died. This crew had flown on BLACK THURSDAY, 16/17 December 1943, in Lancaster JA908-OF-N. The aircraft had been badly damaged during the Berlin […]
This morning we are publishing a set of three photographs of the lighting of the candles for all the war graves in Den Berg, Texel, on Christmas Eve. They were sent to us by Jan Nieuwenhuis, who together with Bram van Dijk (very sadly, no longer with us) began this […]
NEWS FLASH: Today, 16 December, there was supposed to be a dedication ceremony at RAF Wyton for the new memorial to Black Thursday, but unfortunately it had to be cancelled on the authority of the Station Commander. A different date will be arranged in the New Year. Every year at […]
There is really excellent news about the long anticipated Black Thursday memorial. This memorial stone was most generously provided by Benoît Howson, who designed it in conjunction with Dr Jennie Mack Gray. It is a very great honour that this memorial will be sited permanently in the Memorial Garden at […]