Remote Peakland Crash Site Remembered

This article was submitted by Derbyshire Volunteer Co-ordinator, Roy Branson
Many aeroplanes crashed in the UK during the Second World War, some as direct casualties of conflict shot down by anti-aircraft fire or in aerial combat, some because they just could not get back to base after sustaining earlier damage. What is lesser known is that in the years immediately following the war navigational [...]

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Tempelhof Airlift airport to close

There was news last week that Tempelhof airport in Berlin is to close in October 2008.  The vast, semi-circular terminal buildings (one of the largest free standing structures in the world) were built in the late 1930s as a centre piece of the Nazi redevelopment of Germany.  Tempelhof played a vital role during the Berlin Airlift of June [...]

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90th anniversary of the Royal Air Force

It’s 90 years to the day that the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were merged to form the Royal Air Force (RAF).   There are a great many war memorials that commemorate the members and actions of the RAF – over 800 if we search the database for ‘RAF’.
One notable, recent memorial (unveiled in 2005) is the [...]

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‘I am the enemy you killed, my friend…’

Today’s blog post was written by one of our volunteers, Richard.
‘I am the enemy you killed, my friend…’
Wilfred Owen ‘Strange Meeting’
The reference in an earlier blog post to memorials to nationals of enemy countries may seem strange, although in recent times new memorials have been erected with inscriptions intended not to cause offence by referring to [...]

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How we remember

Following up on the story we covered yesterday (the new award issued to members of the Air Transport Auxiliary who served during the Second World War) there is an interesting interview on the BBC website with Margaret Frost, one of the women pilots who served in the ATA.  Click to read the full interview
Margaret said:
“It is marvellous to get the recognition but I [...]

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WW2 Air Transport Auxiliary recognised

Members of the Air Transport Auxiliary – pilots who ferried planes in the Second World War – are to receive a new award recognising their contribution to the war effort.
Read more from BBC News
The ATA was made up of trained pilots who were ineligible for a combat flying role.  This included men who were too old or [...]

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Plan for memorial to England rugby player killed in WW2

Plans are underway to erect a memorial in Ipswich to Prince Alexander Obolensky.  Obolensky was the first England rugby international to be killed in the Second World War when his Hurricane crashed during a training flight in March 1940.  The son of Russian nobility who fled to London after the 1917 Russian Revolution, he had played rugby for England [...]

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The Channel Dash

A memorial service has been held in the English Channel to mark the anniversary of the ‘Channel Dash’.  Watch a report about the service from BBC News.
The Channel Dash is the name given to an action that took place during the Second World War.  For several months, from early 1941, three German ships (the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and [...]

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New memorial at RAF Leconfield

A new memorial has been unveiled this week at RAF Leconfield to commemorate air crews who flew from the base during its seventy year history as an airfield.
The memorial consists of a garden of remembrance in which the centre piece is an upright frame salvaged from one the old hangers.  The hanger was attacked by a Luftwaffe plane during the [...]

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Royal Flying Corps veteran dies aged 107

William Young, the last known veteran of the Royal Flying Corps, died last month aged 107.
Read more from Daily Telegraph
The Royal Flying Corps  was formed in May 1912 and saw service throughout the First World War.  On 1st April 1918 it was combined with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force.
Casualty rates were [...]

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