Update Log
Fri April 19, 2024
The aim of this page is to inform returning visitors of new content.
20th March 2024
Thanks to Dave Pickering, the grandson of F/O Fred Wooding, we have a series of photographs of Fred and friends.
Fred was lost flying with the 49Sqn CO, Group Captain Weir in November 1944.
15th January 2024
René Winkelmann was walking along a Danish beach and found what we believe could be the door from the rear turret of JA691.
The details and images are at the bottom of Sgt Bob Slaughter's page.
12th December 2023
Just when you think that new information might be drying up, we receive an email that surprises us.
Gavin MacDonald sent images and details of his father, Sgt (later P/O) J S MacDonald.
A very interesting page!
22nd November 2023
A new image of Sgt Ken Symonds with a picture of his logbook has been added to his page. Ken went on to be a Squadron Leader. Our thanks to Deborah Follett.
9th November 2023
Courtesy of Alan Harby we have a selection of leaflets that were dropped by the squadron during operations in Kenya.
1st November 2023
A missing page produced a broken link but this cloud had a silver lining. Brian Callan spotted the problem with F/O J R Worthington and sent us additional images for the newly constructed page.
30th October 2023
Christine Bennett informed us of her father, LAC Cyril John Bennett, who was a member of the groundcrew with 49Sqn during WW2.
Cyril was missing from our records. These have now been updated with the information and images supplied by Christine.
27th October 2023
Serving RAF sergeant Chris Daykin's uncle (John William Daykin) was an Observer with 49Sqn during WW1 and flew from La Bellvue airfield in France. Chris visited the airfield recently and sent an image of his grandfather and of the information board with an overlay of a DH4.
21st September 2023
The webmaster visited the grave of WO Edward Bradshaw who was a 49Sqn evader. In August 1944 he was killed flying with the SAAF. Click this link to read the interesting details of his loss (the link is also on his page).
28th August 2023
Courtesy of Paul Markham (77Sqn Association) we have image of five members of ED427 (link goes to the pilot, F/S Duncan).
26th August 2023
Association Researcher, Colin Cripps, has added further details to W/O Ted Bradshaw's page........one of only 18 Evaders.
14th July 2023
Cellist Sarah Gaits performs a musical tribute next to the grave of her great uncle, F/L Ralph Allsebrook.
28th June 2023
Thanks to David Bridle we have an image of his grandfather, F/Sgt Nathan Hitchcock.
6th May 2023
Thanks to Colin Henderson we have an extensive range of pictures concerning the crash of his uncle's Lancaster in Denmark.
Visit the page of Sgt Adam Anderson to view the pictures.
28th April 2023
Images of Group Captain Roy Perry have been send to us by his son, Robert Perry. Roy flew 29 operations with 49Sqn as P/O Perry.
3rd April 2023
Marc Brocklehurst (grandson of Sgt Tom Brocklehurst) recently purchased a chair from the briefing room at RAF Fiskerton.
The image is at the bottom of Sgt Brocklehurst's page.
8th March 2023
Courtesy of Sarah Anderson we have an image of her Great Uncle, F/Sgt J H Bentley.
9th February 2023
Thanks to Steve Grinwood we have a colourized image of his great uncle, Owen Bernard McMahon.
21st January 2023
Courtesy of Graham Wade (son-in-law) we have images and additional information about F/Sgt L R Underwood.
10th January 2023
The interesting career of Cadet, later Flight Lieutenant Peter Tutton have been added courtesy of his son, Chris Hesketh-Tutton.
3rd January 2023
Thanks to the research of Tony McQuaid we have a photograph of F/Sgt J M Turnbull as well as an image of his first burial location.
11th December 2022
Details of the burial of P/O E A Russell and the crew of F/O Cyril Beatson have been provided by John Johns.
10th December 2022
Courtesy of Paul Checkland we have a wartime image of Sgt Alf Ridpath and photographs of his 100th birthday party.
4th December 2022
Courtesy of Gareth Hibbitt we have an image of his great uncle, Sgt Albert Hibbitt.
23rd November 2022
Courtesy of the "Sasktoday Newspaper" we have an image of F/L Bernie Schauenberg.
21st October 2022
Another crew photograph to add.......this time for the Singleton crew who were made PoWs after crash landing on Sark.
18th October 2022
We have a new entry for pilot, Sgt C Williams complete with photograph and service record courtesy of his son, Don Williams.
14th September 2022
An 'all important' crew photograph of F/O Pereira's crew has been received courtesy of Steve Perry.
9th September 2022
Via the IBCC we have an image of S/L Drakes with his friend P/O Beauchamp.
This image was initially incorrectly labelled.
20th July 2022
Courtesy of Neil Thompson we have an image of Sgt R C Hill (Neil's great uncle).
18th June 2022
An image (and first name) of PoW F/Sgt Reginald Prinn - via Colin Cripps.
26th May 2022
Via Ashley Hales, we have an image of New Zeaander, Sgt R C Munro.
25th May 2022
Courtesy of his daughter we have an image of Sgt RGA Anderton who flew operations in March 1945.
30th April 2022
Courtesy of Di Abelwhite (IBCC Lincoln) and via Colin Cripps, we have an image of S/L D B Drakes.
9th February 2022
Details of a post-war 49Sqn member with the fascinating 40 years RAFcareer of M/Nav Arthur Collins has been added.
25th November 2021
More images and details of S/L Ken Symonds's career have been added courtesy of Deborah Follett.
19th November 2021
Images of W/C K G Hubbard have been added to his page.
18th November 2021
Details of the October 8th ceremony in the Commercy Forest to unveil a memorial to ED426 have been added.
The page includes a video of the flypast by a French Air Force fighter jet.
2nd November 2021
Crew pictures of the main and stand-by aircraft for Operation Buffalo have been added courtesy of Peter Sharp - 'The Vickers Valiant- The Forgotten One' Association. Links to the two pilots, S/L Flavell and F/L Bob Bates guide you to the rest of the crew.
28th October 2021
A scan of an old 49Sqn newsletter has extracted an image of Sgt Andrew Winton who became a PoW in September 1941.
It is quite rare to find images of former PoWs.
26th October 2021
Courtesy of Rosalyn Slater we have a fine image of F/L Freddie Fisher.
30th September 2021
The Association newsletters (both old and very new) are now viewable via the website. Click the Newsletter menu which is further divided into complete issues and historic extracts.
9th September 2021
Thanks to Roger Romney Brown to we have an amazing high quality image of a Luftwaffe technical team examing the wreckage of Hampden AT148.
5th September 2021
Dale Inns has sent an excellent portrait of F/S M E Whitehill together with a full account of his service (including a shipwreck).
31st August 2021
We now have correctly identified images of Sgt A C Walker. Previous images are now an unknown airman.
19th July 2021
The second part of F/L Chan Chandler's career has been added to the website.......his time with 617Sqn and as a RAF cameraman after the end of the war.
14th July 2021
Another amazing career has been chronicled thanks to the son of S/L T R Fox DFC. A previously empty page has been significantly enhanced.
1st July 2021
The amazing career of F/L Chan Chandler is detailed thanks to his niece, Sarah Wenger.
11th May 2021
Courtesy of the ' Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2' website we have an image of F/O R N Pereira.
A newspaper article gives more details of the death of F/O G K Peacock.....information courtesy of Ashley Hales.
18th February 2021
Courtesy of our 'down-under' researcher, Ashley Hales, we have images of WW2 pilot P/O Brian Harker and WW1 flying instuctor Lt Melville Johnstone.
16th February 2021
Information received from an aviation museum in northern Germany has added siginificantly to our understanding of the loss of JB727 in January 1944. This explanation has been linked to the page of each crew member.
Additionally, we have been given the PoW arrest document for our former Chairman, Sgt Ted Cachart. Ted's Lancaster (JB231) was the other aircraft involved in the loss of JB727.
24th January 2021
Additional details and a link to a video interview have been added for Australian Sgt Marcus 'Spud' Mahony.
22nd January 2021
Thanks to the sleuthing of Ashley Hales we have a WW1 image of Lt F C Aulagnier who was an Observer in the DH4.
2nd January 2021
A contact via Facebook has provided images of Sgt Robert Hind. We previously know very little about Sgt Hind who flew in the final few months of WW2.
23rd December 2020
Thanks to Paul and Terry Gaunt we have a PDF version of their PowerPoint presentation about their father, Sgt Philip Gaunt - known as Tubby. This link takes you to the relevant 'Documents' page.
15th December 2020
Courtesy of Wendy Flemming we have a number of documents regarding F/Sgt Percy Simonson. These include the rather tragic list of personal effects which were cleared from his room. The link to these documents is at the bottom of Percy's page.
10th December 2020
Another set of images researched by Alain Trouplin
F/Sgt L J Capton
Sgt A L Caron
F/S E I Johnston
Sgt W J Marshall
F/Sgt N R Mitchell
P/O J R Truscott
24th November 2020
A chance 'encounter' with a Facebook posting has given us details of Sgt Reginald Beaver who flew 23 Hampden operations with 49Sqn. Image courtesy of his son, Bob Beaver.
18th November 2020
We have a new image of F/Sgt Hiam Murray Magder taken during Navigator training in Canada......our thanks to Moshe Magder.
9th November 2020
Courtesy of Sgt David Reid's daughters, Heather (Reid) Waggoner and Nancy (Reid) Palmer, we have a range of correspondence concerning his initial status of "missing" changing to news of his safe return.
1st November 2020
We once again thank Alain Trouplin for searching for images in the Canandian Veterans Affairs website of the 49 Squadron airmen shown below.
F/Sgt M E Bunn
Sgt D Durrell
F/Sgt J W Gillin
F/Sgt R Losa
27th October 2020
We thank Alain Trouplin for searching for images in the Canandian Veterans Affairs website of the 49 Squadron airmen shown below.
P/O Victor Charles CULLY RCAF
F/O William George Wesley JOHNSON RCAF
WO2 Lonard Thomas KENNEDY RCAF
P/O Gordon Fraser MACGREGOR RCAF
F/O Nicolas MELNICK RCAF
F/Sgt Clarence Edwin RICHARD RCAF
P/O Raymond David SCOTT RCAF
F/Sgt Percy Hardy SIMONSON
18th October 2020
Courtesy of Steve Holmes (Historian - 196 Squadron Association) we have an image of Sgt SJV Philo who, after being an Evader with 49Sqn, was killed flying with 196Sqn in April 1945. Colin Cripps has provided an image of his grave in the Cambridge CWGC cemetery.
14th October 2020
From Andrew Clark and via Ed Norman we have information of an officer missing from our records.
P/O N H Lloyd was the Squadron's Gunnery Analysis Officer.....we await details of what this role involved.
21st September 2020
Courtesy of Steve Cooke we have added a poem written by his father (Sgt W H Cooke) prior to a visit to East Kirkby and an image of Bill's funeral.
17th September 2020
David Meakin has sent a groundcrew squadron photograph which includes his father, Sgt Robert Meakin.
11th September 2020
Courtesy of Henk Brul we have an excellent portrait (and 19 OTU images) of Sgt Alwyn Amos who, after completing a tour with 49Sqn, was killed in March 1945 flying with 75Sqn.
18th August 2020
Stuart Knowles sent a picture of his father Sgt Richard Knowles who was the W/OP with the P/O T Jones crew.
He is shown in an image which includes four other airmen....who are yet to be idenitifed.
17th August 2020
Courtesy of Paula Wood we have a photograph of P/O W C Shackleton who was killed on the "Thousand Bomber Raid" to Essen.
15th June 2020
Courtesy of the daughters of evader Sgt David Reid we have a number of new images of their father.
Alain Trouplin has sent a map of Sgt Reid's evasion route along with a 'pdf file' of postcards showing locations along his route.
10th June 2020
Via a Guestbook contact we have added SAC Eric Sharp to our Personnel Index. Eric was an armourer and recounts some interesting experiences.
3rd June 2020
Courtesy of Josh Howard we have further details of his grandfather Sgt E R Howard a wireless operator who went on to become a commercial airline Captain.
1st June 2020
The reason why Hampden AD719 was named "Istanbul" is revealed - at the bottom of the page.
25th May 2020
Following our monthly Facebook post, we were contacted by Jason Lester who gave us details of his grandfather Ron Lester (rank to be confirmed) who was a member of 49 Squadron's groundcrew.
13th May 2020
Courtesy of Deborah Follett we have images (and other details) of Sgt (later S/L) K W Symonds who flew with the squadron during the last few weeks of the war.
11th May 2020
A crew image can add detail to a number of airmen's pages. Via Ed Norman we have the crew image of P/O Lett.
All but one of the crew are identified directly by name or nickname. Sgt GV MacKew, Sgt DC Irving, Sgt A Morgan, Sgt PA Andrews, Sgt F Campbell.
10th May 2020
The page of Sgt R H Mower was very thin until we were contacted by Harriet Lindley (his grandaughter). Thanks to images sent and information compiled by Ed Norman (Association Archivist) we now have far more details than before.
Following a contact by Phil Lowes we have further details of Lancaster rear-gunner, Sgt Bill Hornigold.
9th May 2020
Courtesy of Ian Fuller we have an image of his father, F/Lt D J Fuller who was a Valiant pilot.
We also have a page taken from his logbook during the Cuban Missile crisis.
4th May 2020
The summary of the 'Over-all' United States Strategic Bombing Survey can be downloaded from our Documents section. The report covers the effects of both the US and RAF campaigns and is extremely readable.
3rd May 2020
Courtesy of researcher Alasdair J Malcolm we have an image of Sgt Andrew Stephen (who was previously unidentified in the F/O Beatson crew image).
2nd May 2020
Thanks to Lynne Parnell, grandaughter of F/Lt W D Kenny we now have his full name, photographs and full details of his service career.
30th April 2020
Courtesy of Michael Keen we have a number of groundcrew images with faces just waiting to be identified. If you can help then please contact the Association Archivist, Ed Norman.
26th April 2020
The full British Bombing Survey Unit report is now downloadable from our website. It is a large document running to 260 pages and often makes for quite uncomfortable reading.
25th April 2020
A PDF file, 'Memories of Bomber Command since 1945' has been added to Postwar Documents. It examines how the conduct of Bomber Command has been viewed over the years since WW2.
The Webmaster found this to be a balanced and very informative document - well worth printing out and reading.
15th April 2020
An image has been discovered showing Lancaster JB466 during an inspection by senior officers.
JB466 was lost during the infamous Nürnberg Raid at the end of March 1944 when flown by F/O W Colhoun and crew.
13th April 2020
Courtesy of Tom Goodwin was have an image of his uncle, Sgt F Degnan.
15th April 2020
Thanks to Paul Sheall we have located another WW2 veteran. Sgt Claude Reynolds was a Lancaster rear gunner in the second half of 1944.
His webpage has been greatly enhanced thanks to the material provided by Paul. There is also a link to Paul's podcast website which includes two interviews with Claude (then 95, now 98).
4th April 2020
Following correspondence with Richard James it was noticed that there was no page for Squadron Leader Barney Millett. This has now been recified. S/L Millett flew one of the nuclear tests carried out close to Christmas Island.
19th March 2020
Details of the ditching incident below have been added to the pages of the other crew members - the pilot was P/O R Allsebrook who nail clippers saved the day!
17th March 2020
I was surprised to see that the webpage of F/L Reg Woolgar - who celebrates his 100th birthday on March 21st - only contained the most basic of details.
The situation has now been remedied and his page contains a lot more information. Reg was awarded the DFC and was rescued from the English Channel when his Hampden ditched.
8th March 2020
Streets in Worthing have been named to honour each member of F/O Essenhigh's crew who were killed when their Lancaster crashed on Worthing beach.
Images courtesy of Bob & Mary Kershaw
1st March 2020
David Gordon has provided us with information about his father, S/L DC Gordon. He was in the "Additionl Names" list but now has his own dedicared page.
17th February 2020
Thanks to the research of Di Ablewhite we have been able to identify the cause of death for two ex-49Sqn airman who were killed in unknown circumstances.
The highly unusual deaths of F/Sgt FT Jowett and Sgt A Young are now recorded.
16th February 2020
Peter Pullen's father was W/O H B Pullen who served with 49Sqn as a W/Op before retraining as a pilot.
13th February 2020
Evan Roberts has sent details of a relative - Canadian F/O H F Arnold who was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross.
11th February 2020
Thanks to Jackie Sinden we have images of her father, Sgt Paddy Fairhall (who trained postwar but wasn't operational until after the war ended).
10th February 2020
The accident report into the loss of Lancaster JB235 in November 1943 had been added to the documents menu and linked to from the crew pages.
JB235 crashed short of the runway attempting to land with FIDO assistance.
30th January 2020
Courtesy of Gerry Panter we have images and additional information about a PoW, Sgt Norman Douglas Panter.
As a punishment Sgt Panter was moved from Stalag 4B to the notorious Fort Zinna - information website linked from his page.
23rd January 2020
Via Clive 'Bob' Thompson we have an image of his father's great friend F/O H F Dod and wartime letters detailing the location of the burial.
3rd January 2020
Courtesy of the daughter of Sgt John Sidebottom we have a portrait, training group and PoW record images.
20th December 2019
Via Tony Hibberd we have a number of additional UK memorials listed on the website.
Aldrington, East Sussex , Bedford College , Broughton Astley, Leicestershire , Chewton Mendip , Clayton,West Yorkshire , Holme-next-the-Sea, Norfolk , Nutley, East Essex , Sandridge, Hertfordshire , Scampton Village Church , Waterfall, Staffordshire , Withington, Gloucestershire .
12th December 2019
Courtesy of the niece of Sgt Dennis Wilson we have several new images including one of her uncle who was killed on his first operation in June 1944.
6th December 2019
Via the RAF Scampton Museum we have an image of South African airman, Sgt D H Barrett who was killed in August 1941.
3rd December 2019
New Zealander F/Sgt F B Reid flew nine operations with 49Sqn before returning to a career with the RNZAF who were operating in the Pacific theatre.
P/O N B Fawcett (another New Zealander) went missing without trace during an early August 1940 raid on Berlin.
Both sets of details were researched by Ashley Hales.
21st November 2019
An error led to the page for New Zealander F/Lt R J Hannan not being created. Sgt Hannan flew with 49Sqn but was killed whilst flying with 207 Sqn.
Thanks to Ashley Hales for noticing the omission and to 49Sqn Researcher, Colin Cripps, for photographing his grave.
20th November 2019
Courtesy of Andrew Kavanagh we have two fine images of his great-uncle, P/O Bernard John Saville......KIA 20th December 1943.
18th November 2019
Courtesy of Ashley Hales we have an image (and the first names) of New Zealander Sgt N Dunsford, a pilot who quickly went on to fly Typhoon fighters.
16th November 2019
The squadron's postwar records are 'not the best' and we have (courtesy of Grahame Mansell-Grace) a new contact.
F/Sgt Geoffrey Grace was an air gunner with 49Sqn from May 1945 but arrived too late to fly WW2 operations.
We know the name of his pilot (Steve Evans) and rear gunner (Tony Neal) but nothing about any of the other crew members.
4th November 2019
Ashley Hales has found images of F/O A B Fischer who, with his crew, died in unusual circumstances in April 1945, tragically close to the end of the war.
30th October 2019
Thanks to Paul Holden, there is a new information panel on the seafront in Worthing that details the bravery of the F/O Essenhigh crew.
19th October 2019
Bruno Geilis, a Belgian researcher, has sent us a series of aircrew images. We now have a good picture of P/O Ronald Robinson, P/O Charles O'Brien and F/Sgt JMW Forster. All three airmen were ex-49Sqn and killed when flying together in a 16 OTU Wellington on a '1000 Bomber Raid' to Essen.
15th October 2019
Another treasured crew photograph has been sent by Deborah Taylor, daughter of F/O G B L Taylor who was shot down and made PoW on the 24th June 1944.
We are hoping to ID the other crewmembers in the photograph.
12th October 2019
Carole King has sent us pictures of her Godfather/Uncle, F/O James King. She also included the all important crew photograph that enables us to add an image to six other airmen.
4th October 2019
A New Zealand born pilot flew 17 operations with 49Sqn and was awarded the DFC before being posted to 207Sqn.
F/L R J Hannan was then killed on the 25th November 1942 returning from a raid. Ashley Hales discovered that details this airman were missing from the website......they have since been added.
3rd October 2019
Our 'down-under' researcher, Ashley Hales, has found images of a number of 49Sqn airmen. Following a crash into the sea, Sgt J Finlayson was posted to 153Sqn and was killed in March 1945.
30th September 2019
Courtesy of Andy Lupton, we have an image of Sgt Robert James Boyce, a Flight Engineer killed in April 1944 aged 20.
31st August 2019
The cause of the loss of Lancaster W4116 has been sent to us by John Jones.
4th August 2019
Improved and hopefully accurately captioned images have been added to the crew of F/L W L Powell of JB701.
27th May 2019
Thanks to Alain Trouplain we have images of the burial of P/O RG Lewis, Sgt WS Collins and Sgt RG Reynolds together with further information concerning the evasion of Sgt E Bradshaw.
10th May 2019
Courtesy of nephew, Mark Cooper, we have images of Sgt Colin Winterborn who went on to serve with 50Sqn.
4th May 2019
Courtesy of the excellent Friesland Wartime History website by Willem de Jong we have an image of Sgt K W Heard and additional details of the raid.
28th April 2019
Courtesy of Aircrew Remembered and the keen eye of Alain Trouplin, we have an image of Flight Lieutenant J N McPhee.
26th April 2019
Details of a WAAF have been added courtesy of Bill Cooke who claims to have only very basic information about Margaret Ball, although he had her photograph!!
26th March 2019
Details from Ed Norman (49Sqn Archivist) have updated the details of F/Sgt Stanley Smith. He was posted to 49Sqn but didn't fly any operations. The reason for this is a story of the utmost courage and bravery.
25th March 2019
Courtesy of Jamie Myers we have the fascinating story of F/O Cecil Myers who, until recently didn't even have a page on the website!
23rd February 2019
The brother of Sgt John (Jack) Greaves has sent a fine selection of photograph including the all important crew image.
4th February 2019
The son of Gordon 'John' Gollege informed us of his father's passing. This has prompted us to move his father's name from the Additional Names list to his own page.
24th January 2019
Frenchman, Joël Charton made contact with the 49Sqn Association. His father-in-law bought a farm near St Ouen-en-Domprot, a village where Lancaster PB 231 crashed in 1944.
The previous owner had witnessed the crash and, remarkably, had kept the "dog-tags" of F/Sgt Wellein in a small coffee tin.
23rd January 2019
Courtesy of Neil Pattemore, the son-in-law of the late F/L Albert Wright we have a magnificent crew image (from his days with 44Sqn) together with F/S R H Bateman, W/O A Holden, W/O V Laker and F/O Q Snow who joined their pilot on a second tour with 49Sqn. There is also a document giving a vivid description of life as a wartime bomber crew.
17th January 2019
Our archivist, Ed Norman, has found further information regarding the earlier career of W/C David Balme, 49Sqn's 24th Commanding Officer.
16th January 2019
Until the Association Researcher delved into the history of RCAF Sgt Brant we knew very little about 10601028 Technical Sgt J W Brant USAAF.
15th January 2019
Via Mary Casteleyne we have an image of Sgt J A Kirwan KIA in July 1944......with a nice story about a suit.
7th January 2019
New from Robin Jordan (son of F/O W F Jordan) is a magnificent crew photograph......this enables us to update a lot of pages!
We also think we have corrected some identification issues.
4th January 2019
From Robin Jordan we have fine images of his father F/O W F Jordan and his Bomb Aimer F/Sgt J Speckman (who was later killed flying with 619Sqn).
2nd January 2019
Courtesy of David Wright we have an image of his father, Sgt C E Wright and another of Sgt J Skidmore, both from the "Lucky Sullings" crew.
24th December 2018
We were contacted via Facebook by Wendy Bloomfield who sent an image of her great uncle.....P/O H J Carrington.
24th November 2018
Courtesy of Mark Cooper, nephew of Sgt C Winterborn, we have a copy of his uncle's logbook. It is interesting to note that following his crash, he was flying again within two weeks.
15th November 2018
Through a contact by Richard Shepherd we have learned of a new WW1 airman. One of the very brave instructors that were posted to 49Sqn in their early Swingate Down days........Flying Officer E L Crowe
2nd November 2018
Thanks to a contact via Facebook we have a picture of Sgt Thomas Price who was badly injured when his Lancaster crashed shortly after takeoff.....the Doddington Memorial. Pictures and information are courtesy of Beverley McGrail (his daughter).
22nd September 2018
An image of "Paddy Mac's final flight" has been added to the page of Sgt John McMahon.
26th August 2018
A large amount of new information has been received concerning F/Sgt Max Makofski, one of 49Sqn's few evaders. We thank his son, Lewis Mack, for the photographs and documents. The crew image has been added to all the other crew pages.
8th August 2018
Thanks to Fiona Louise & Martin Brookes we have images of the Holmfirth War Memorial which contains the name of Fiona's great uncle, Sgt Thomas Brocklehurst.
7th August 2018
Courtesy of the family of Sgt John Jenkins we have a series of images of him during his career.
28th June 2018
The family of F/Lt Bill Nicholls DFC have provided photographs and logbook extracts.
25th June 2018
Courtesy of Ian Fuller we have a photograph of his father, F/L D J Fuller.
23rd June 2018
A photograph of Sgt Thomas Goldie has been discovered by Colin Cripps (49sqn Association Researcher)
22nd June 2018
Courtesy of Jeff Smith we have a number of images of F/O George Illingworth who was killed whilst flying as the second pilot.
Graham Lelliott and his friend Andy Collins have, using a metal detector, recovered parts of Lancaster PB355 which crashed on Worthing beach.
18th June 2018
Courtesy of Vicky Dougal we have an image of Lt Walter Noel Hartley who was KIA almost exactly 100 years ago.
4th June 2018
A Website Guide icon has been added (bottom of the page). This guide leads you to a number of pages that are good examples of the website's content.
3rd June 2018
Courtesy of Pam Nakashima we have two fine images of her father, Douglas Hird, a member of the "Gen Crew".
1st June 2018
Thanks to Kerry Roll we have a picture of her father W/O M W J Munt RAAF and to Dale Inns for an earlier picture of Sgt M E Whitehill.
31st May 2018
The website has new search options.......personnel only or the entire site.
The search icons are at the top right of every page.
30th May 2018
Courtesy of Julianna Smith (nee Storey) we have on image of her great uncle S/L G G Storey added to his page.
23rd May 2018
A photograph of New Zealander, P/O Ernie Hogg and a PDF of memories have been added with the kind permission of Raewyn Fitton.
20th May 2018
Courtesy of Matt Dibble together with the research of Colin Cripps and the photoshop skills of Ed Norman we have an image of Sgt C W Dudley.
10th May 2018
Courtesy of Steve Boyes we have images of his father F/S S G Boyes who flew operations in the final months of WW2.
21st April 2018
A very unusual story has been added.......John Alexander Reid served with 49sqn as groundcrew before retraining and eventually becoming a Mosquito pilot. He was killed in late 1944 when he crashed in the Shetland Islands. His page contains links to the full story of his crash.
16th April 2018
Two PDFs of postwar air and ground crew (containing over 1500 additional names) have been added to the Personnel Index.
These files were created by Ed Norman, the Association Archivist, by examing the squadron ORBs and other documents.
If you find a family member in either list, please contact us and we will add a full webpage for them.
11th April 2018
Courtesy of the Aircrew Remembered website, we have an image of Sgt C Aktins killed in early 1945.
18th March 2018
Martin Gledhill sent in a series of pictures which included images of his grandfather's younger brother......Sgt Edgar Smith.
The identification of the other crew members was rather inconclusive.....fuzzy brevets and badges of rank together with the details in the ORBs helped a little. If any further information comes forward we can correct any errors.
8th March 2018
Courtesy of Chris Beare & Dennis Holwill we have images of the grave of Sgt B F Griggs who was killed following his tour with 49Sqn.
Images kindly sent from Ann & Peter Hogg have added crew abd aircraft images to several pages. The crewmembers have now been linked together.
F/S 'Ernie' Hogg RNZAF was their father.
Mike Mcleod is reseaching the fifteen airmen who were buried in Peenemünde in August 1943 and were not recovered to be reburied in CWGC cemteries. The burial record card for Sgt T Brocklehurst has been added to his page.
20th February 2018
Harald Kreuzer sent details of his uncle, Uffz Albrecht Kreuzer who shot down Lancaster LM337 in August 1943.
From the family of Sgt Vin Howard we have details of this Lancaster pilot who joined the squadron at the end of WW2.
31st January 2018
Courtesy of Graham Lelliott we have a number of reports from the Worthing Herald regarding the death of F/O E G Essenhigh and crew when PB355 crashed close to the beach in Worthing in December 1944.
It is pleasing to mention that the memorial stone to Lt J T Peacock in York Cemetery has been restored.
30th November 2017
Courtesy of John Gillingham and Kenneth Durkin we have further information about ex-49er F/L R E Richman who was killed whilst flying with 149Sqn.
6th November 2017
An image of Sgt Cyril Small (lost without trace) has been sent by his nephew, Phillip Forbes.
Loss details concerning S/L Todd-White and Sgt G Humble have been added courtesy of Ruth Baldasera.
Courtesy of Brian Fuller we have a selection of target photographs taken by his father, F/O R H Fuller, towards the end of the war.
4th November 2017
Following a visit to Bath, the grave of Sgt Ken Bush has been photographed.
21st August 2017
Scott Glen from Invercargill in New Zealand sent a picture of his Uncle when he was at flight school. He became Sgt J H McDonald who flew 16 operations with 49Sqn.
18th August 2017
Additionally, via Sue Ferguson, we now have an image of Lt Peacock and the family memorial in York Cemetery.
1st August 2017
Thanks to the research of Sue Ferguson, we have been able to identify the author of the letter from a WW1 airman as 2Lt John Thomas Peacock (both pages linked to each other).
20th May 2017
Further examination of the RAAF archives by Ed Norman has produced images and operational details of Australian aircrew.
F/S RB True, F/S CW Taylor, F/S AC Steer, F/S ID Stuart, F/Sgt SA Silver, F/S QF Snow, F/S LH Smart, Sgt HA Schaeffer, F/Sgt DJ Ryan & F/O JH Willmot.
A Facebook posting concerning the death of F/L Freddie Ball has allowed a complicated number of corrections to be made.....mostly relating to the S/L Cracknell crew.
3rd May 2017
Via Ed Norman an image of the crashsite of LL908 has been added to the crew pages.
30th April 2017
Courtesy of Sarah Smith we have an image which includes F/O Rowan-Robinson who was KIA in April 1940.
21st April 2017
The Archivist has uncovered an excellent image of Sgt D E Randall who became a PoW on his first operation (Cologne 1000 Bomber Raid).
20th April 2017
The ditching of F/O Harold Coates and crew is described in a letter from the 49Sqn CO to the Air Ministry.
14th April 2017
Ed Norman's searches have uncovered images of F/Sgt John McGuigan who was killed in April 1945, tragically close to the end of the war.
Ed also found early ID images of P/O Herbert McKay.
9th April 2017
Courtesy of Ed Norman (49Sqn Archivist) we have additional or improved images of several RAAF aircrew.......F/S Bob Brooks, Sgt Mervin Holt, F/L Les Hammond, F/L Cecil Howard, F/S Bede King, F/S Stanley Mason, F/O Arthur Grant, Sgt Allan Millard and F/S Walter Morrisby.
Courtesy of Ashley Hales we have another WW1 member.......Australian Lt D G Morrison who was posted to 49Sqn for training before being posted to 68Sqn (where he died of wounds received in combat).
16th March 2017
Quite by coincidence, exactly 100 years since he joined the RFC, we have an image of Air Mechanic William Lloyd Lawrence when he was based in Dover. The excellent photograph is courtesy of Sarah Smith.
28th February 2017
Via Jane Jones we have received information about LAC Cottam (of whom previously little was known).
Via Ed Norman we have an additional WW1 aircrew member.........2/Lt W C Holbrow.
Courtesy of Richard Chambers we have images of Captain William Chambers who was killed during WW1.
31st January 2017
Courtersy of the Aircrew Remembered website we have a picture of F/O Alec Bolter KIA January 1945.
Thanks to a Facebook contact from Chloe Alden-Dennis we have images and details of F/L Charles Marshall was was shot down in April 1942 and made a PoW.
28th January 2017
Via Colin Cripps, we have added a link to the Roll of Honour of Winchester College remembering Andrew Lawson-Tancred.
19th January 2017
Images of Sgt D Falgate, Sgt L J Henley and Sgt J H Ingram have been added and acknowledged.
24th December 2016
Additional details of P/O Laurence Reavell-Carter have been added. Prior to being made a PoW in Germany, Laurence Reavell-Carter won a silver medal at the 1936 Olympics.
17th December 2016
Via Louise Dexter we now have an image of Sgt D Birbeck KIA in March 1944.
14th December 2016
John Carnaby kindly sent details of a memorial in Croxton, Cambridgeshire to Captain Aubrey Charles Finch Hill was died in October 1918.
25th November 2016
At the Remembrance Sunday meeting of the Association at Fiskerton, researcher Colin Cripps had a surprise for the barman!
7th November 2016
Following a trip to Scotland, the headstones of the following 49Sqn and ex-49Sqn airmen have been photographed.
ACM1 W G Gillon (a flu victim following WW1), F/Sgt C J D Smith and P/O A Paterson DFC.
28th October 2016
A new page has been created for F/O D A Clark who was posted in during 1945. He took part in the flights returning PoWs from Italy.
27th September 2016
Researching ex-49Sqn aircrew who were killed with other Units, Colin Cripps discovered that Sgt Idris Hughes has been killed in a tragic accident which also took the lives of two air cadets. Sgt Hughes is buried in a very wild and lonely cemetery at the edge of the Snowdonia National Park.
The kindness of strangers.........Sheena Buchan of Buchan Veterinary Clinics visited the Peterhead Cemetery on our behalf and took images Sgt D Forbes, an ex-49Sqn airman killed with 44Sqn.
24th August 2016:
Courtesy of Terry Deane we have two albums of photographs which give a rich flavour of RAF life between 1950-1954.
Album (part 1) Album (part 2)
23rd August 2016:
Courtesy of Ed Norman, the Squadron Archivist, a large number of small additions (and corrections) have been made to the details of WW1 operations.
One example page would be that of Canadian pilot Lt C C Conover which previously had only a single entry.
19th August 2016
Images of the final reunion are now displayed in Gallery 25.
18th August 2016
Courtesy of Helene McClure we have additional images of her Uncle, Squadron Leader David McClure.
17th August 2016
Matching the Aircrew Index with the index of names in Oliver Clutton-Brock's PoW book has identified 18 airmen who were made PoWs following their service with 49Sqn.
G H Bateman
T W Clarkson
D E Cope
F Elwood
A Ferguson
J M W Forster
C F Hall
R C Hockly
G Lowden
F Lowe
L C Parker
F P Settle
A D Smith
W E Steeper
G R Trench
E W Tickler
W J Watts
C C Wiltshire
14th August 2016
John Ward's eagle eyes have scanned a Squadron photograph and identified a number of airmen.
P/O J K Bennett
F/O P S Butler
F/O L C Deane
F/S J D Gadsby
Sgt A W T Hills
P/O D A J McClure
F/L B A Mitchell
13th August 2016
A lengthy European tour by the Webmaster has completed all of the ex-49Sqn airmen killed flying with other squadrons.
The list of names and cemeteries is listed below.
Bergen op Zoom (NL)
Le Havre (F)
Beaumont le Roger (F)
Essen (Horendonk) (B)
Marissel (F)
Fontaine-l'Étalon (F)
Bergen op Zoom (NL)
St Martin d’Ablois (F)
Queant Road, Buissy (F)
Assen (NL)
Emmen (NL)
Assen (NL)
Amsterdam (NL)
Fillievres (F)
Orleans (F)
Westerbork (NL)
Wevelgem (B)
Adegem (B)
Le Mans (F)
Waasmunster (B)
Harderwijk (NL)
Le Mans (F)
Marissel (F)
Dieppe (F)
Heverlee (B)
Essen (Horendonk) (B)
Essen (Horendonk) (B)
Assen (NL)
Lichtenvoorde (NL)
Heverlee (B)
13th July 2016
Courtesy of Alain Trouplin we have images of three crew members from LM572.........F/O J F Judd, Sgt E A Milligan and Sgt J R Sidebottom.
Thanks to John Ward we have the interesting story of Lincoln SX974.......at the end of Gallery 16
11th July 2016
An additional PoW has been identified and added to the index. F/Sgt A C Steer accidently bailed out during an operation to Bremen in September 1942.
3rd July 2016
Images and information received from Paul Gaunt have allowed us to update "Tubby" Gaunt's page (his father was Sgt P H Gaunt) and also several other connected airmen.......F/Sgt D Block, Sgt K Cameron, Sgt T Freeman, Sgt R Hamer, Sgt B Huggett, Sgt A Pointer, F/Sgt D Pollitt, Cpl T Stocks, Sgt A Walker, P/O T Wood.
It has also led to the "discovery" of another ex-49Sqn airman who was killed flying with another unit......Sgt (later F/O) Ken Bush.
2nd July 2016
A wartime image of Sgt George Bedford in uniform has been added to his page.
17th June 2016
Via Roger Bedford we have images of the Barley village war memorial which includes the name of Sgt Ronald Nineham.
12th June 2016
By comapring two images of the new crew of S/L Hodges we have been able to identify a previously unknown airman.......Sgt Maurice Ash.
Via David Harwood we have received a very clear image of the groundcrew responsible for P/O Edgar's aircraft......we only need to identify a "Taffy" and a "Ginge"!
Those identified are......LAC Harry Bamforth, Sgt Ron Smith, Cpl Fred Outwin and LAC "Nobby" Rydon.
11th June 2016
Thanks to Oliver Clutton-Brock we have four additional images of Hampden P1347 which made an emergency landing in Brittany in September 1940. Two of the crew managed to evade capture and return to the UK. The pilot was F/O LM Hodges....the other crew members are linked from his page.
7th June 2016
Courtesy of Anne Richards we have images and further information about Sgt S J Richards.
Additionally, we now have images of WO Robert Petty (the pilot), Sgt George Lumsden (the Flight Engineer) Sgt Edward Smith who was posted missing.
1st June 2016
Once again, courtesy of David Harwood we have two reunion photographs of the P/O Alan Edgar crew from the 1980s. Each image includes one of the two Australian members. Unfortunately, John Watters, the seventh member of the crew died in 1961.
26th May 2016
With the assistance of David Harwood (son of rear gunner Sgt Don Harwood) we have been able to correct misidentified airmen in several photographs and add correctly labelled images to the pages of additional crewmembers. They are now linked together as they were in 1944.
15th May 2016
Some super sleuthing by John Ward, the Association President, has helped us to identify each member of crew from Bev Harding's photographs of her uncle.......Sgt E T E Sullivan.
11th May 2016
We were contacted by Bev Harding who provided us with additional images and information about Sgt Edward Sullivan and his crew.
22nd April 2016
Courtesy of Mike Keen we have details of an airman who was missing from our records.
His father, LAC Ronald Keen was a Hampden armourer.
27th March 2016
An additional image of F/Sgt J L Cox has been added courtesy of nephew, Paul Cox.
21st March 2016
An amazing set of RCAF crew images have been provided by Michel Beckers from the WW2 Crashsite Research website.
They show the following aircrew.........all sadly were KIA.
- F/L G C Bailey
- F/S M Barrett
- F/S S D Bird
- F/S W L Chatfield
- P/O G E Chute
- P/O R F Cluff
- F/O C M Cottingham
- W/O J T Hill
- F/S R E Labrie
20th March 2016
An image of WW1 early casualty, Lt J H Keeble has been added.
An image and the amazing story of Lt A R Spurling's five victories from WW1 are now described on his page with a link to the air gunner's own account.
A new page with a photograph and career details of Sgt A C Chubbock has been added courtesy of his grandson.
4th March 2016
Courtesy of Aircrew Remembered we have an image of F/O K W Michie who was killed early in the war.
22nd February 2016
Courtesy of Helen Wiliiams we have an image of her uncle P/O W K Williams. The "Chorley reference" on his page gives some very interesting information.
20th February 2016
Courtesy of Mr William Collar, Chairman, Canterbury U3A we have images of the St James's Cemetery in Dover and the graves of Lt H C Baker ,Lt L S Hudson and 2/Lt R S Leventon.
18th February 2016
An excellent series of images (collected by John Ward) showing 49Sqn when they were based at Dover. These have been collated into a new Gallery.
17th February 2016
Following research by Ed Norman, thirteen additional WW1 deaths have been added to our Roll of Honour.
They are (in date order of death):
Dillingham J Cpl
Baker HC Lt
Hartnett JB F/S
Hudson LS Lt
Keeble JH 2Lt
Leventon RS 2Lt
Jackson CA 2Lt
Boyack AI Sgt
Hill ACF Lt
Dodson HL Sgt
Dobbie RS Sgt
Gillon WG 1AM
Pringle RS Private
Amazingly, thanks to Colin Cripps and John Ward, photographs and details of Lt Keeble and Lt Leverton have been discovered.
10th February 2016
An image of F/L Les Hammond and crew (coloured by John Ward) has been added to their pages.
4th February 2016
Thanks to Brendan Wood, son of W/O John Wood RAAF, we have photographs and details of this airman.
11th January 2016
An extra page has been added about Lancaster ED999. This Lancaster was flown by 11 different 49Sqn crews.
This page is linked to from each airman's page.
9th January 2016
Via Association President, John Ward, we have an image of S/L D D Bonnett who was killed when his aircraft crashed in October 1942 returning from Milan.
5th January 2016
A new airman has been added to the Association's Roll of Honour. Sgt R S Dobbie was wounded and died of his wounds in July 1918. His page gives details of the loss. Our thanks go to Russell MacGillivray for bringing this death to our attention.
19th December 2015
With the assiatance of Roy Brocklebank, we now have images and career details for W/C Thomas Dunne, a postwar member of the squadron.
18th December 2015
Thanks to Dan Savident we have a series of WW1 combat reports (from October 1918). They are available via the Documents page of the individual pages of the airmen concerned.
13th December
Courtesy of of Kerrie Evans, we have additional images, information and documents about her grandfather, F/S Tom Webster (later Flight Lieutenant).
18th November 2015
The page of W/C B A Colvin has been updated with a page from his logbook which refers to an "Operation Accent".....details on his page.
W/C Colvin was the squadron's 32nd Commanding Officer.
We thank Neil Smith and 49Sqn Archivist, Ed Norman for the information.
13th November 2015
Courtesy of the Rev Arthur Christie of Anstruther we have images of the grave of P/O W S Pryde who was a pilot with 49Sqn in 1936/37.
His two brothers were also killed in WW2 and their details are linked from the Scottish War Memorials Project.
31st October 2015
Thanks to Geoff Swallow, an RAAF researcher, we have now have an image and much more information about F/O William Mather.
Geoff's information has also enabled us to update the pages of P/O R Richardson, Sgt A Buttel, F/Sgt R Dangerfield and the Stark crew.
29th October 2015
On the 21st October 2015 the recovered crewmembers of ED427 were buried together in the Durnbach Military cemetery. The pages of the crewmembers, now no longer missing, have been updated as well as the Durnbach records. All the crew are linked to each other.
27th October 2015
Courtesy of John Birch we now have a picture of P/O John Crisp. This colourful character was involved with Roderick Learoyd in a prewar flying incident.
13th October 2015
The WW1 images continue to arrive.
Thanks to Nicky Summers we have full details of her great uncle Lieutenant Archibald Shelley. A previously empty page is now full of detail.
12th October 2015
Via The Dunmow Broadcast we have an image of F/L Leonard Ratcliff.
1st September 2015
Courtesy of Paul Cook we have an image of air gunner, P/O T S Cook.
9th August 2015
Via John Ward, additional images have been added to the end of Gallery 2, Gallery 3 and Gallery 6.
Various hyperlink errors have been corrected and the loss of two Hawker Hinds in 1938 have been added to the Aircraft Losses (Other years and By Serial Number)
6th August 2015
The grave of P/O J M D Irvine has been photographed. P/O Irvine had a short but eventful career with 49Sqn before being posted to 106Sqn.........thanks to Ian Woolley of The Friends of London Road Cemetery.
Additional images of Captain Allan Curtis (WW1) have been added.
30th July 2015
A misspelt FNU entry has been corrected......Sgt Thomas Flanagan now has his correct details recorded.
Courtesy of Pauline Crawford, the empty webpage of Sgt John Gunn has been filled with details and photographs.
28th July 2015
Pictures of Sgt Patrick Duffy from his Liverpool University Air Squadron days have been added thanks to John Mellors (via Colin Cripps, Researcher, 49Sqn Association).
25th July 2015
Courtesy of Diane Purrington (niece) we have been able to add two studio portraits of Sgt Arthur Purrington.
19th July 2015
Career details of F/S LG Speak, F/S WCH Ross, F/O HL Motteram and F/S J Baker (PoW) have been added with information received via Dom Howard from the Australian War Memorial.
18th July 2015
Courtesy of Richard Johnson we have images of his father LAC J L Johnson. John served at RAF Scampton and in post war Germany. A picture of the now removed "surrender plaque" is included.
Richard also sent in images of "The Golden Hind"....Hampden AE224 flown by S/L Drakes. The images included a clear picture of P/O V D Beaney.
A further image of F/S A T Lovett and information regarding Sgt K Allen, Sgt J O'Brien, Sgt H W Price and Sgt T McKenna have been discovered by Dom Howard.
13th July 2015
The webmaster has just added images of an ex-49Sqn crew who are now buried in Clermont-Ferrand.
S/L Pike's aircraft was the only loss of a raid on the Michelin factory.
5th July 2015
A link to the Winchester College website has been added that displays an image of and information about F/O Peter Saumarez Butler......thanks to Ashley Hales for spotting this.
Via Dom Howard we have images of the burial service for Sgt A F Buttel and an image of F/Sgt R G Reynolds.
4th July 2015
A new gallery showing a selection of images (and a video) of the Squadron reunion held last month has been added. All photographs were taken by Dom Howard.
Research by Dom Howard has also discovered extensive correspondence regarding the loss of W/O J H Stibbard. Several examples have been added to his page.
29th June 2015
From a one-liner to a page of information regarding LAC Don Hill to a page of information and images courtesy of Steve Hill. A labelled photograph provided by Steve has identified a Hampden crew whose pages have now been updated.
25th June 2015
Ashley Hales has managed to track down a photograph of 2nd Lt H H D Bothamley (WW1 aircrew).
20th June 2015
A link to a memorial in New Zealand containing the name of F/Sgt L E Workman has been added via a link from his page.
New images of Sgt W T Rees and a family visit to his grave and memorial in Holland have been added courtesy of Bryn Thomas (nephew of Sgt Rees).
John Mellors, nephew of Sgt P J Duffy has sent images for his Uncle's webpage.
Details of the loss of LM572 have been added to each crew member's page.....information via Colin Cripps.
1st June 2015
Courtesy of John Matthews (son of Brian Matthews) we have images of Tif O'Connor and Stan Job (Captain and Co-Pilot during Op Grapple).
Also added is an autographed image of their aircraft and a crew reunion photograph.
28th May 2015
Colin Cripps, 49Sqn Researcher, is continuing his quest to find out more about his uncle's pilot, F/O John Hutchison. The Brechin Advertiser has recently published his latest request for information (bottom of the page).
25th May 2015
A new Squadron photograph from (we believe) 1962 has been added. Also, in Documents, is the programme for the Presentation of Standards which was held at RAF Marham in January 1964. Both items added courtesy of Bruce Harvey.
22nd May 2015
Courtesy of Bruce Harvey we have a picture of his father, F/O FGC Harvey and a rare crew picture.
Association President, John Ward, has provided coloured images of F/O L Tebbenham (Fiskerton's "Met Man"), F/O F Wittmer and Sgt Jack Shearing.
29th April 2015
Further information from Heather Sloan have added two pictures of her father Roy Stopani.
27th April 2015
Courtesy of Heather Sloan (formerly Stopani) we have a picture of Sgt (later F/O) Steve Sherman RCAF.
25th April 2015
P/O T D Taylor and fellow airmen (Winstanley, Costello, Stopani, Seddon, Boag and Sherman) have been hyperlinked together as a crew.......with an improved photograph courtesy of Ann Winstanley.
24th April 2015
Ashley Hales has unearthed details of a WW1 member of aircrew, Lt H H D Bothemley, who was serving with the Squadron at Bellevue in March 1918.
20th April 2015
Courtesy of Alain Trouplin, who has been researching the crashes around Massey from the Pommereval raid, we have an accurate map of the crashsite of LM572 (and that of LL975 ZN-H from 106Sqn). The link takes you to the pilot's page.
10th April 2015
With the kind permission of Michael Hardy from the the Ryton and District War Memorials Project we now have an image of Sgt R Thompson who was tragically killed on his first operation.
7th April 2015
Courtesy of Dom Howard, the graves of ten ex-49Sqn aircrew who were killed flying with other units have been photographed.
These aircrew are buried in Becklingen, Hamburg, Kiel and Sage.
There are links from each cemetery to an individual airman's page.
30th March 2015
Colin Cripps (49Sqn Researcher) located the newspaper that reported the loss of Sgt J Hutchison. The newspaper, when viewed in full, has several interesting articles.
25th March 2015
Courtesy of Dom Howard we have a PoW postcard sent by F/L Basil Mitchell. From Colin Cripps we have the loss details of Lancaster ED590 flown by F/O D Southern. Excellent crash-site pictures owned by Chris Goss have been added to the pages of Hampden L4129 flown by Sgt D Imber.
Our "down under" sleuth, Ashley Hales, has located an image of Sgt A R Hendrie who was killed in October 1942. Ashley has also arranged for the ex-49Sqn cemetery of Perry Bar, Birmingham to be photographed.
Finally, our thanks go to the 1st Lustleigh Scouts for their memorial service on Dartmoor for Hampden X3054.
28th February 2015
Thanks to Janet Ann Bisson (nee Dutton).....the niece of Sgt Ronald Leslie James Dutton we have a photograph of this early casualty. His page includes the German records concerning this loss which give a great deal of detail.
29th January 2015
Thanks to a tenacious Colin Cripps (49Sqn Researcher) and his team of 'irregulars' we have tracked down images of all of S/L Todd-White's crew. Links to all the crew follow from this page.
26th January 2015
The logbook of S/L George Gilpin's operations with 49Sqn have been added courtesy of Penny Gilpin and via Alan Parr.
24th January 2015
Pictures and career details of (then) Sgt Alan Vidow, courtesy of his son, John Vidow.
23rd January 2015
Via Colin Cripps and courtesy of Ruth Baldasera (niece of George Humble) we have a picture of six of the crew of S/L Todd-White). Identifications have still to be confirmed.
Another image of P/O Lett added courtesy of David Lett.
22nd January 2015
Image of Sgt Edgar Smith added courtesy of Martin Gledhill (his Grandad, Allan Smith, was Edgar’s older brother). The photograph was taken in Blackpool.
21st January 2015
Via the Bury Grammar School website we have a picture of Sgt John Butterworth killed when he was shot down by an Intruder.
20th January 2015
Via Colin Cripps we have service details of LAC Peter Hammett added to his page.
19th January 2015
Courtesy of Ruth Baldasera (niece of Sgt George Humble) we now have a picture of this airman and his medals.
5th January 2015
A final selection of Christmas Island pictures courtesy of Robert Graham. They include such places as the NAAFI and camp church. The gallery photograph order has been redone to reflect the new content.
3rd January 2015
Additional post war 'Op Grapple' images added to Gallery 20 courtesy of Robert Graham.
24th December 2014
An image of Sgt D Y Carter killed in March 1944 whilst serving with 106Sqn has been added courtesy of Ashley Hales.
15th December 2014
Details of the DFC awarded to Wing Commander H Y Humphreys has been added to his page.
By kind permission from Carol Sewell we have an image F/O Wilfred Pearce displayed on his page.
9th December 2014
Courtesy of Robert Graham we have images of his father Cpl William Graham who served with 49Sqn during the "Op Grapple" period. A number of these images have been added to Gallery 20.
Via Ashley Hales and courtesy of Susan Harrington we have an image of F/Sgt Stanley Upton.
2nd December 2014
Photographs sent by Gloria Lamb have added pictures and details of her father LAC Eric French to his page. Previously he was only known by his surname and FNU (First Name Unknown).
Her pictures have also added improved images of F/L W Healey and F/O R Bailes.
29th November 2014
Peter Harvey has kindly sent in a photograph of the crew of Lancaster PB354 which was lost in November 1944. This photograph has added an identity to another seven aircrew names.
28th November 2014
Thanks to Uwe Benkel, Karen Maul-Harkell and Peter Harvey we have details of a service to commemorate the 70th anniversary of a raid on the Mittelland Canal at Gravenhorst.
26th November 2014
Sometimes the information gates just flood open. Images and full details of Lt V A Fair MC are now recorded on his page. A new cemeteries section has had to be created.......those who served with 49Sqn in WW1 but were killed flying with another unit. Our thanks go to British Medals website for their assistance.
24th November 2014
Whilst checking through our WW1 casualties it was discovered that a Lt V A Fair had been injured whilst flying on a practice flight with 49Sqn. Sadly, his pilot was killed. Lt Fair went on to fly with 212Sqn and was killed on the 29th Septemer 1918. He was originally with the King's Royal Rifle Corps where we believe he was awarded the MC. He was then attached to the RAF. We have requested more information from the KRRC Association.
16th November 2014
Two more cemeteries and headstones have been received from Dom Howard.
Both airmen, Sgt J Hague and Sgt E Sharp are buried in France and both had been posted to 207Sqn.
14th November 2014
Our roving photographer, Dom Howard, has beamed back images of two further ex-49Sqn cemeteries.
Thanks to the 102Sqn Association we also have an photograph of Sgt R W Collins.
Dom also visited Lesquin where F/O S G C Sherman was killed whilst flying a second tour of operations.
4th November 2014
Our thanks go to Luc Cox for images of F/O W L Vanderdasson and an image of a memorial in the church at Sint Lenaarts in Belgium to F/L D J Bacon and crew.
31st October 2014
The webmaster has just returned from Teesside and County Durham where the graves of Sgt J R Appleby, Sgt W Mossop and Pilot Officer R G Cooke are located. Sgt Appleby was posted soon after flying his first operations with 49Sqn but Sgt Mossop and P/O Cooke had over eighty 49Sqn operations between them. Read their full stories by following the links.
27th Ocotber 2014
Thanks to Philippe Ducastelle we have images of the Dieppe Canadian Cemetery.
We thank Robert & Annette McEneaney for visiting the graves of three ex-49Sqn airmen who are buried in North London. One airman was posted immediately away from 49Sqn but the remaining airmen flew many operations with the squadron, only to die in tragic circumstances.
View the graves of Sgt E G Paddick, Sgt P Maloney and Flight Lieutenant W E Frutiger,
25th October 2014
Robert and Annette McEneaney have kindly visited the grave of Sgt P Maloney who is buried in Islington.
Sgt Maloney, as you can read on his page, died in tragic circumstances.
They have also photographed the grave of Flight Lieutenant W E Frutiger, an early member of 49Sqn, who is buried in Bells Hill, Barnet.
23rd October 2014
Courtesy of Dom Howard we have an image of the Hawker Hind which was being flown by Sgt B G Davies when it was involved in a pre-war collision.
Colin & Pam Cripps visited Marham cemetery to photograph the grave of F/O A J Rea who was killed in a Mosquito sometime after his service with 49Sqn. The cemetery also has some unusual German burials.
14th October 2014
Extensive operational details regarding the 12/13th July 1943 raid on Turin have been hyperlinked to the crew pages of Lancaster ED726 (EA-V).
Details of a new memorial in the village of Bolstern have been added courtesy of Robert McEneaney.
The memorial remembers the crew of Lancaster ND474.
Fordham churchyard has been photographed by Paul McEneaney showing the grave of Sgt K A Johnson.
13th October 2014
Dr Christopher Morris, the Honorary Secretary, Archivist & Editor of the RAF Habbaniya Association has provided us with details of the crash which killed W/O P F Higgins in Iraq in 1944.
12th October 2014
Liz Rymill, following a request sent through Facebook, has sent images of Mount Gambier Cemetery (in South Australia) and the grave of F/O G K Peacock who was killed in a training accident.
Liz Waller has visited Amersfoort and Calais Southern Cemetery especially for the website.
Her images of four ex-49Sqn aircrew can be found by following the links from Amersfoort Cemetery and Calais Southern Cemetery.
11th October 2014
Thanks to the generous support of Daniel Kiggins who now lives in Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma) we now have excellent photographs of Squadron Leader L P Massey's headstone and pictures of the Rangoon cemetery where he is buried.
S/L Massey flew 26 operations with 49Sqn and was awared a Bar to his DFC.
The cemetery has many of the features of a European CWGC but very different surroundings.
The Association wishes to thank Daniel for his assistance.
18th September 2014
A video showing the three Lancasters at East Kirkby has been created by Alan Parr, 49 Association Secretary. Similar films will be stored in Reunions and Events......Gallery 23.
16th September 2014
Ashley Hales has located images and newspaper stories relating to three 49Sqn airmen.
P/O G E Price was killed whilst serving with 49Sqn, S/L L P Massey was killed in the Far East serving with 159Sqn and F/Sgt J D Gadsby survived to fly two tours.
Courtesy of Barrie Davies we now have images of the Leopoldsburg War Cemetery and the headstone of Sgt I B Thomas.
14th September 2014
Like Sherlock Holmes, our "Baker Street Irregulars" are combing European cemeteries to photograph the headstones of those who once flew with 49Sqn.
Once more we thank Guy Lapaille for his work with Hotton War Cemetery and the headstones of three ex-49ers who are buried there.
Thanks to Dave Etherton we now have extensive details of his father Sgt H J Etherton who completed two tours of Operations, the first being with 49Sqn.
11th September 2014
Courtesy of Guy Lapaille we now have images of ex-49Sqn aircrew who are buried in the Heverlee War Cemetery in Belgium.
The headstone of F/O R F Keighley who is buried in Hornsea has been added.......we strongly suspect that this airman initially flew with 49Sqn.
8th September 2014
In an extraordinary act of generosity, David Thomas has replaced the memorial plaque to F/L J H Green DFC which was situated on the sea-front in Bournemouth. The old plaque will be restored and later presented to the RAF Heritage Centre at Scampton.
7th September 2014
Courtesy of Ian George, a letter has been sent in that was written in July 1918 by an Observer who was posted in to 49Sqn around the time when the squadron was based in Beauvois before a move to Rozay-en-Brie.
If readers can extract any further 'intelligence' from the document we would be interested to hear from you.
5th September 2014
Thanks to the work of François Saumoneau we now have evidence which confirms the location of the final WW1 49Sqn aerodrome to be identified (Rozay-en-Brie). This has been a complex and confusing process and we are grateful to François for this contribution.
4th September 2014
A combat report has been added for the crew of JB467 piloted by P/O A H Blackmore DFC.
3rd September 2014
Thanks to Wing Commander (Rtd) 'Barney' Bruce and Mrs Liz Bruce we have the headstone of WO E Bardshaw who was one of only 18 evaders. Sadly, WO Bradshaw was killed flying in a different theatre of operations and is now buried in Krakow, Poland.
2nd September 2014
Thanks to Dom Howard we have 18 further headstone images of those ex-49Sqn airmen who are buried in the Reichswald War Cemetery near Kleve in Germany.
1st September 2014
Sgt J M Stewart and F/Sgt D M Thorpe are buried in Terramesnil Communal Cemetery (north of Amiens).
Visited and photographed by Dom Howard.
31st August 2014
Thanks to David Lett we are able to display his father's logbook. This remarkable document clearly shows all 34 operations in only seven pages. Click the link at the bottom of P/O Lett's page.
30th August 2014
The sad story of W/O Walters who flew a full tour with 49Sqn but was then killed in a training accident with 1656 HCU. His grave in Hornchurch, East London has been added to the website.
The names of 54 ex-49ers who were killed with other Units and have no known grave are remembered on the panels at Runnymede. Images of their names have been added to their pages....one name is linked for example.....F/L G A Gumbley.
27th August 2014
Thanks to David Lett and Andrew Davies we have a picture of their fathers P/O J J Lett and Sgt C J Davies.
Barrie Davies has provided us with headstone images of Sgt A Amos (buried in Venray), F/L W C Fitch (buried in Mierlo) and F/Sgt P H M Jones (buried in Uden). All these airmen flew with 49Sqn prior to their loss.
The graves of F/Sgt J C Speckman (Brookwood) and Sgt W M Tansley (Abson near Bristol) have been added.
7th August 2014
Three cemeteries with ex-49Sqn aircrew have been added to the website.
One cemetery (Dinnington) is sandwiched between branches of Tesco and Aldi and contains the grave of Harold Haynes who completed a tour as the Flight Enginner with Ernie Webb.
The other two are Cottingham (near Hull) and Manby, Lincs.
The service record of Sgt A W Black (PoW) has been added courtesy of his grandson, Matt Roach.
2nd August 2014
Courtesy of Geoff Swallow, we have an image of the grave of F/Sgt B J Middleton who completed 31 operations with 49Sqn before being killed in the Far East. A warning to anybody wanting to visit the cemetery as Adelaide River War Cemetery is around 3,000km north of Adelaide city!
1st August 2014
The amazing story of F/L Bernard Geoghegan is told courtesy of his son, Paul.
31st July 2014
A list of airmen whose graves we would like to photograph has been added to the "Can you help?" page.
16th July 2014
While checking the groundcrew pages a link was discovered between an image and the loss of ED620 (scroll to the bottom of the pilot's page).
A photograph of the grave of "evader" R J Mitchell has been provided courtesy of his son.
8th July 2014
Thanks to Christian McCall we have an image of Sgt Jack Court who was killed in January 1945.
7th July 2014
All ex-49 aircrew cemeteries are now included in the main list. There are three new sections.......Europe, UK and Worldwide.
Images of the cemeteries will be added once visited.
6th July 2014
In our continuing project to photograph the graves of those 49ers killed who were killed with other units, Ed Norman has photographed four airmen. Links to their names are at the bottom of the Hannover War Cemetery page.
29th June 2014
An image of Sgt Eric Dumbell with other course members has been added.
20th June 2014
Sgt E H Pearson is remembered on a memorial in Eynsford, Kent.
19th June 2014
In the Gallery there is now a selection of more recent Reunion images.
15th June 2014
Thanks to Dom Howard, we have the headstone images of 15 ex-49Sqn aircrew who are buried in the Berlin CWGC cemetery.
Two examples are F/O O D Blaha and F/S J M Turnbull.
14th June 2014
Images of previous reunions have been added to the Gallery.
29th May 2014
Courtesy of Jonny Taylor, Director of Studies, Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood.we have an image of Lt J G Andrews who was killed in WW1.
Via John Ward we have a picture of Wing Commander Peter Ward-Hunt.
27th May 2014
Thank to Michael Fantuz we have an excellent Dickinson crew cartoon added to each member's page. A large selection of documents are also available detailing the life and death of W/O Norman MacKenzie.
25th May 2014
In November last year we tried (and initially failed) to find the grave of Leonard Sieve. Although Sgt Sieve served with 49Sqn he was posted to 207Sqn before he flew operations. He was killed on the 14th January 1942. Colin Cripps has researched the details of this airman and it has proven to be a tragic story. We would like to thank John Sharp for his assistance in telling the sad story of Sgt Leonard Sieve.
Thanks to Martin Baker compiling a lot of new information, the pages of P/O J R Dickinson's crew have been updated. This includes details of the German nightfighter that shot them down.
24th May 2014
An image of Sgt Eric Dumbell has been added courtesy of his grandaughter, Nicola Dumbell.
This is the first new addition onto the new site.
An image of F/S G R Wall has been added courtesy of Dave and Pat Wall.
16th May 2014
The website has been completely rebuilt using more modern website techniques by Martin Gautier (www.fearofmice.co.uk).
Thousands of pages and images and literally tens of thousands of hyperlinks have been converted.
Our website has "gone live" but please note that not every page has yet been checked.