I am collecting information on RAF Squadron 156 Pathfinder Force, Group 8, based in Warboys and Upwood. I hope to have a web site on this squadron running shortly. Already have prepared Roll of Honor and in conjunction with Alan Chambers have details of nearly 2000 sorties. If you have any details on this Squadron I would be interested in hearing from you.

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A warm welcome to the Forums, 156Squadron !

Any tribute to Path Finder Force is most worthwhile - with the sad but inevitable passing of veterans, memories of PFF in particular seem to be fading.

As you probably know, there has been one book about 156 ( Michael P Wadsworth's 'They Led The Way' , Highgate 1992 ) which was printed as a paperback and is rather fragile ( ie falls apart easily ! ). The book doesn't have a Roll of Honour.

Even the relics of Pathfinder Country are still being relentlessly destroyed - I heard this morning that some of the pitifully few remaining buildings at Bourn ( 97 PFF ) are to be demolished this year..... [img]graemlins/no.gif[/img]

I'll watch out for your site with interest !

[img]graemlins/poppy.gif[/img]

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

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the book on Cranswick, it arrived today. On the back cover he is credited with 107 missions but according to AVM Bennets autobiography the number is 143 sorties, thats quite a variation?. One that I will investigate when I get the chance.

I have a copy of T.L.T.W by Wadsworth which provides some very personal insights into the squadron and would be a must read for those interested in the squadron.

Have been doing some work on the web site this weekend and will advise when the first cut is ready.

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Glad it arrived OK !

It's not easy to find information about Cranswick...there's a little bit in Hamish Mahaddie's memoir 'Hamish - The Story Of A Pathfinder ' . The relevant bit is on p.49 : -

'..Alec Cranswick's death on 5th July, 1944 ended a living legend. Alec Cranswick was the perfect Englishman - quiet and retiring, but as a bomber captain in an exclusive class of his own. At that time he had flown nearly 60 sorties in the Middle East before joining PFF and his total trips are somewhat obscure, but it was certainly not less than 147 ( AVM Bennett, in his book Pathfinder , credits him with 143 ).'

Even with such a noted figure as Guy Gibson, no-one is 100% certain exactly how many sorties he flew...

I've been hunting through the self-published Bomber Command memoirs I have and there doesn't seem to be a single one by a member of 156. So, it's high time someone put the record straight. As I said before, although there are a number of books about PFF and Bennett,there's a danger of the activities of individual PFF Squadrons gradually fading from history. [img]graemlins/no.gif[/img]

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

Rather silly of me...there is, indeed, one very well-known memoir by a 156 Squadron man ; 'Rear Gunner Pathfinders' by sometime poet Ron Smith, DFM.

I was so busy looking through my obscure titles that I missed the obvious one.....

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

Thanks for these titles, Martin. 156, also welcome to the forums from me. I look forward to your website. There are a number of 156 crews buried in the Netherlands but I have as of yet little info on any. There is one crew buried here in Amsterdam. Maybe two crews as some are dated as being killed on 13 June 1943 and others on 12 June.

If I get info on these crews I will let you know.

Regards,

Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Martin

Have all of the mentioned, also

"Only Birds and Fools" By J N Ashton DFC., 103 & 156 sqdn
"Odd Man Out" by Alex Duke, the author was on the first Pathfinder rais.
"No Moon Tonight" by Don Charlwood, not directly involved with 156 but was friend with some who were, see also the web page: http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co....bc/20_men.html

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Stevin
Unfortunately there are a considerable number of 156 Sqn buried in the Netherlands. The crew I believe you are referring to are of Lancaster ED935 lost on a raid to Munster 11/12th June
F/S K L W LAY - Runnymede Memorial
F/O J A COWLEY DFM - Amsterdam New East
Sgt R E RATCLIFF - Runnymede Memorial
P/O R M BRYANT - Amsterdam New East
Sgt D C BAUMAN - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt W J DRAKE - Lemsterland (Lemmer) General
Sgt J R CURTIS - Lemsterland (Lemmer) General

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It's rather like climbing a mountain - there's always one more book ! [img]redface.gif[/img]

'Odd Man Out' is a new one to me....

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

That is the crew, 156. Thanks for completing the names on that crew for me. I have the grave pics of all of them, except of Lay and Ratcliff. There is also a PERREIRA buried in Amsterdam, KIA on 15 June 1942. Will let you know when I find out more.

Thanks again,

Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

hey, id like to help u out with this, my uncle, sgt T stocks DFM was in 156 squad unnfortunatly (well not for me) he was killed over berlin but i have alot of information and documents form the squadron if ud like some help with ur reasearch,

Hi again, sent you a private response earlier, your uncle is mentioned on my site www.156squadron.com (which is still under construction, so if you have a problem try again later). Am most interested in any other details that you have that you might like included on the site.
Regards
Robin

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Hi TNTMusic,

Welcome to the forums. Your uncle's crew consisted of

F/S T G Stephens DFM
Sgt MN William
Sgt T Stocks DFM
Sgt S J Ryan
Sgt H Truscott
Sgt F Phelan
Sgt L Bettany

Plane crashed near Doeberitz area. None have a known grave and are commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial.

Your uncle's DFM citation reads:

Sergeant Thomas STOCKS, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 156 Squadron.
One' night in August, 1943, Sergeants Clegg and Stocks were navigator and wireless operator respectively of an aircraft piloted by Flight Sergeant Stephens detailed for an operation against Berlin.
When approaching the target the aircraft was
illuminated by the searchlights but Flight Sergeant Stephens held to his course to execute
a successful bombing run. Shortly afterwards
the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire which
damaged i of the wings, rendered the inter communication unserviceable and set r engine on fire, while Sergeant Clegg and the mid-upper gunner were wounded. The bomber was then attacked
by an enemy fighter but Flight Sergeant Stephens
skilfully evaded it. A few minutes later, a second
engine caught fire and had to be feathered. Flight
Sergeant Stephens battled on, however, and meanwhile Sergeant Stocks rendered first aid to his comrades. Some time later, Sergeant Clegg recovered sufficiently to plot the position of the
' aircraft' and, from then on, displayed great fortitude to execute his navigational duties. Sergeant Stocks 'accomplished much brilliant work during " the return flight and proved of a great assistance to his pilot who, displaying outstanding deter-mination, succeeded in reaching an airfield in this country. These airmen displayed great skill, courage, and tenacity in exceedingly trying circumstances.

I assume you already know this.

Why was your uncle's death not unfortunate for you, may I ask???

BTW GREAT site, 156!!!! I can't seem to access your forum, though. Get this message:

ADODB.Recordset error '800a0bb9'

Arguments are of the wrong type, are out of acceptable range, or are in conflict with one another.

/Forum/forum.asp, line 329

Also can't seem to e-mail you...


Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Stevin

Thanks for the site feedback, I will look into these problems tomorrow, today it is off to the Pub to watch the FA Cup Final (Manchester United vs Asenal)
Would a roll of honor search by cemetery be of use to you? You seem to be interested in NL instances?
Regards

Robin

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Hi Robin,

Absolutely. Although your roll of honor is very easy to work with and already gives me the info I am looking for anyway. I have been able to complete some crews I was working on.

Would you be interested in pictures of the graves of 156 men in Holland??

regards and thanks,

Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

well it was not unfortunate for me due to some rather strange family circumstances he was married to me grandmother and after his death she actually married his brother (my grandfarther)strange i know, i guess its one of those strange twists of war as if he haddnt been killed my grandmother would not have married my grafather and so i would not exist, all very weird i know and very strange to think that im only alive because he died.

Ah! I see... Well, real life is often stranger than fiction. Like Jim Cary said; "That's the way the cookie crumbles..."

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Stevin

Thanks for the offer of the photos, I am certainly interested, how many do you have? and how big (filesize)?.
The email webmaster on www.156Squadron.com should now be working by the way. Have you had any other site problems? I seem to be getting intermittent faults (ODBC Connection to Access DB) but do not understand why. I come back 30 mins later and all is well again?

Regards

Robin

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Hi Robin,

Everything seems to be working. ALso the forum/messageboard.

I have a Q regarding searching in your database. If I open the roll of honor and click on any person, I get his details. If I then click on List Of Missions Flown, I sometimes get a list which shows that that person was Kia on one mission and PoW the next. SOmetimes there is a mention of a next mission. see, for example http://www.156squadron.com/display_m...p?pcrewid=1588 and http://www.156squadron.com/display_m...p?pcrewid=1364

The first is a person which I think survived his tour and the war, however.

Your database is absolutely great, Robin! [img]graemlins/vc.gif[/img] Must have put a lot of work in that. For me it is a great tool! I will mail you about the pictures.

Stevin

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Stevin

Thanks for the feedback, I will check out the problem (probably tomorrow) and let you know the results.

Regards

Robin

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Well done indeed on getting the website up and running, Robin.

The 8 Group (PFF) Roll of Honour is a superb resource and tribute to the men of the Pathfinder Force ( until now, Mahaddie's memoir seemed to be the only place to find this ).

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

Good job on your site, I like it!

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The objective of war is to not die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his! - General Patton
Older men declare war. It is the youth that must suffer. - General Patton