Whilst writing ‘Tangible reminders’, I realised that I have not covered the story of the final flight of Wellington Z1410 in any detail. (See ‘VE Day – Patrick’s perspective’ for a brief summary.) On 29th May 1942, as a demonstration of its growing strength, RAF Bomber Command launched the first of the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’.…
All posts tagged WW2
Waltham or Grimsby
I covered the journeys of Patrick’s son-in-law Les Dunn in “More heartbreak for Patrick”. The journeys of Patrick’s son William, known as Bill, have some similarities and almost as many differences. Bill enlisted on 19th July 1940. His entire time in the RAF was spent in England, apart from one month spent at a Gunnery…
Tangible reminders
The human memory is both wonderful and fragile. We can recall distant events in remarkable detail. We can also forget where we put the house keys the day before. A tangible reminder of an event or a person can be a powerful aid to memory. When family history research reveals a connection to RAF service…
National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) at Alrewas in Staffordshire covers 150 acres of land. It is well worth a visit. There are over 400 memorials as well as 25,000 trees. It was officially opened in 2001, but planting had started in 1996. I visited, once more, in November 2025. The main purpose of the visit…
What to believe (3)
Whilst proof reading the final draft for “What to believe (2)”, I had a flash of insight. “Any account of events written more than 40 years later is likely to contain errors. Dates can become mixed up. Events can be forgotten. Others can be, albeit unwittingly, exaggerated. Details become blurred.” Almost all accounts of historic…
What to believe (2)
In the first article titled “What to believe” I looked at the difficulty in verifying some of the facts of history. The claims made during the Battle of Britain were a useful vehicle for making the point. The theme began development somewhat earlier when I picked up a second-hand book. “Dambusters Away” written by Jack…