More from the fascinating 1957 book Evidence in Camera. Wing Commander Peter Stewart was chosen to command a new Assistant Directorate of Photographic Intelligence in the summer of 1941. At this time reconnaissance photographs were showing how badly Bomber Command was failing in hitting its targets, and the photographic evidence […]
Last Sunday, I went to Goodrich, near Ross-on-Wye, for a talk about the radar aid H2S and the tragic crash which killed its inventor, Alan Blumlein (see H2S AND THE BLUMLEIN CRASH). H2S was critical to Pathfinder navigational accuracy. One of the interesting facts mentioned in the talk was that […]
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, he became a member of Parliament for Middlesborough West, thus […]
A vivid reminder of the terrible dangers of flying on bombing operations, where wounding from machine gun fire, flak fragments or burns from fires on board were an ever-present hazard. Crashes in Britain were also a major hazard. Aircrew were taught emergency First Aid treatment. Advice was given on the […]
“A Matter of Life and Death”, released in 1946, tells the story of a Pathfinder pilot, Squadron Leader Peter Carter, and the American girl, June, he falls in love with. The film starts on the night of 2 May 1945, in other words at the very end of the war […]
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 aircraft of Ernest Deverill. Ernest Deverill – “A Knight of […]
Like the Le Creusot raid of 17 October, the Milan raid of 24 October was flown in daylight. It is not entirely certain on which of the two operations this photograph and three other related photographs were taken, but the fact that the aircraft were flying in formation seems to […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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