Martin any possiblity you can post a scan of the Chemnitz raid map(s) of February 14/15, 45 out of the bomber offensive book now as you have a digi camera ?

have found 1 of the Halifax III's lost due to fire from I./NJG 2 ace Heinz Rökker as confirmed bei Schonau. A total of 9 Nachtjagd claims, 8 not found yet for this very confusing and successful RAF raid. Nothing yet about Theo Boitens Battle with the Nachtjagd as of yet supposed to be due out by years end.....

v/r Erich ~

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Rip it up !

This is about the best I can get it at the moment - not being possessed of a true scanner. The 'barrel' effect isn't the lens - it's the page of the book !

( Details sent by pm ).

[ 22. November 2005, 02:50 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Martin I apprciate your helpfulness...........

thinking seriously of making a personal raid upon KEW to get the mission report and maybe more sometime in the future. the holdings there I have found are tremendous and they have all from 1st janaury 45 till wars end in A-3 page format with full mission report/maps, etc.........

thanks

Erich

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Rip it up !

Re Pathfinder Tactics, the best description I have found so far was a secret german report published in Mahaddies book.

So good I thought that I have included it on my website http://www.156squadron.com under the heading What is a Pathfinder.

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Hello, just wanted to say hello to all through a dormant thread which I found whilst Googling my father's name. I never have before, very odd...

In any event, my father was a Flying Officer on the crew of Capt Edwin Swales, VC; a member of the Pathfinder Force until his death in 2000, and I have his medals, logbook, other books etc.

It was my father who was the last man out of the aircraft, Lancaster 'M Mother' when Swales gave the order to bale out, and who provided the finale to the citation "But for Ted we should not be here". He admitted much later it was the best he could come up with.

Anyway, hope this finds you all well and still active.

Hello rustychisel and a very warm welcome !

I'm very familiar with the story of Ted Swales and have visited Little Staughton airfield on a number of occasions ( it is one of the best-preserved remaining Pathfinder bases in the UK ).

No doubt you have a copy of Sean Feast's book 'Master Bombers' which tells the story of 582 Squadron and includes a chapter about Captain Swales.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Martin,

Great website, I've been checking it out this morning... I have definitely learned more about battle air tactics, and more on the elite Pathfinder group.

Jem

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Teach your kids about 911 ~ Location, phone number, & chief complaint. Saves lives and property

I had the privilege of wandering through the Canadian Lancaster a couple weeks ago at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton.

I think I'm going to spend a dollar or two and actually go for a ride in her.

John

To be honest, I have no idea what books I have now, all of my father's collection to be sure, and he helped a lot of researchers in his latter years with info and photos etc. At present they're all in storage due to an extensive and ongoing house renovation, but I think the end (aka unpacking) is in sight. I've read lots of them over the years, but cannot recall those which were worthy (Ross' snort of approval) and those which were adjudged to be factually inaccurate or sensationalist.

As with most who served, he didn't talk about things at all until the later years of his life (he died in 2000) and never marched at the local ANZAC day march. Yet his loyalty to his Pathfinder mates was absolute; I think there may be only one or two Aussie pathfinders still alive, sadly.

As an aside, can anyone tell me why this forum is down more often than 'up', it seems offline an awful lot. Or perhaps downtime is scheduled for northern hemisphere...

Sorry for going off topic but I live in Hamilton Ontario and I've visited the Canadian Warplane museum and its amazing. From what I've heard is that there are only two working Lancaster's left in the world. It usually flies around the city monthly, its amazing to see it still working. If you pay the right price you can even get to be a passenger on it. Here are some more pictures from their website.CANADIAN WARPLANE HERITAGE