The Links Page - Where do you want to go today?!

57 Rescue are a Scottish based group who promote interest in, and preservation of, the Handley Page Halifax. An interesting web site, with a "Halifax of the week page", a "help page" for people looking for and offering help, a most useful and comprehensive list of Scottish Aviation Heritage sites, a "57 Rescue mascot page" that seems to be growing to encompass mascots for various organisations around the world, and various other pages packed to the gunnels with information that all come together to make your visit to Jill and Ian's site an enjoyable and sometimes humourous one. Membership of 57 Rescue is available via the site, which includes a newsletter sent out to members several times a year. Membership of the group is a must if only to take advantage of the numerous "social" events organised throughout the year by Jill and Ian. Take it from me, they are thoroughly enjoyable, and with who else would you get the chance to visit Betty's Tea Rooms in York, "Just Jane" at East Kirby, and the Dambusters Heritage Centre at Scampton all in one weekend?

Christel is the contact in Holland for the Bomber Command Association. Her web pages are full of interesting pictures of aircraft recovery, and also details of the excellent work she carries out in tracing the relatives of airmen who were officially posted as "missing in action", but whose remains have since been found and buried with the full military honours that their supreme sacrifice rightly affords them. If you are seeking details of any Bomber Command loss that occured in Holland, then Christel should probably be your first point of call - if she can't help you then she almost certainly will know someone who can!!

Bob and Michele are two very good friends of ours who carry out excellent research on Bomber Command. If you are looking for a grave reference for a particular airman, or squadron ID letters carried by a particular aircraft, then Bob and Michele should be your first port of call. Pay them a visit, and see examples of the research work that they offer.

This group researches the airwar in Holland, and its web pages give an interesting insight into the work they do. A links page is also provided that is seemingly endless!! Pay them a visit, and see how hard our colleagues in Europe have been working!!

Larry keeps an informative and eyecatching site updated frequently. From pages that specialise in the wartime exploits of 617 Squadron and an "exploded" Lancaster view showing how the mighty WW2 bomber fitted together through to a comprehensive links page, a visit to Larry's site is both informative and enjoyable.

Nanton Lancaster Society are based at Nanton in Canada, and have their very own Lancaster on permanent display in the Nanton Lancaster Museum. Another site packed full of interesting and informative information, very easy to navigate around, and a very nice administrator who answers every email sent to him. Membership of the Nanton Lancaster Society is available - check out the pages for details; membership includes a splendid newsletter sent out twice a year. Not to be missed!!

Perhaps more than any other military leader this century, Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris was surrounded by controversy. During the Blitz on London, whilst stood on the roof of the Air Ministry in London watching the flames of the many fires that blazed out of control, it is said that he remarked with reference to Germany, "They have sown the wind, and now they shall reap the whirlwind." His Airmen, or "Old Lags" as he affectionately referred to them, for the most part held him in great respect. And no-one could deny that after he took over the reigns of Bomber Command in 1942, that its fortunes changed. Visit the Bomber Harris Trust and read of their attempts to redress the balance of poor public opinion of Bomber Command in the Second World War.

The Yorkshire Air Museum is situated at Elvington, just outside York. Their website is chock a block full of pictures of the various aircraft in their collection, and has a seperate section dealing solely with perhaps their most famous resident, the Halifax rebuild "LV907" "Friday the 13th".

This site literally brims with photos of Western Union Lancaster WU21 / NX664. In both its Western Union guise, and RAF guise, photos abound. There are also some photos of the plane whilst it was abandoned, and recent photos of its restoration. The page takes a little while to load, but be patient, it is well worth the wait!!

Whilst we pay tribute to "The Many", let us not forget "The Few". In the Summer and Autumn of 1940, the brave young men of Fighter Command defended our shores from certain invasion, "turning the tide of the War by their prowess and by their devotion". What more can I add? Visit the Battle of Britain Society's site, and remind yourself of an age where not everyone lived for himself.

Wim has amassed a wealth of information over the years appertaining to Lancaster and Manchester crashes in Belgium. His site is packed full of useful information, is well worth a visit, and take the opportunity to contact Wim himself from the site - a thoroughly approachable chap who is always more than happy to help if he can. If you have a problem that has even a vague connection with a Bomber Command loss in Belgium, I can almost guarantee Wim will have the answer to your question.

The Royal Air Force Association has a comprehensive web site that offers all sorts of useful information and links. Always thoroughly approachable and helpful, the RAFA is the very first organisation that any researcher or someone with an interest in the RAF should consider joining. You don't have to have served in the RAF to join - Associate Membership is available to anyone wishing to join who didn't serve, and you will be made more than welcome. Before I moved from Exeter earlier this year, I was a member of the Exeter branch, and I was always made more than welcome at their meetings.

For those of us with an interest, however developed it may be, in Bomber Command, membership of the BCA is an absolute must. Details are available via their website, and as with the RAFA, Associate Membership is available to those who didn't serve in the Command, but who have an interest in its activities and wish to see them promoted. A twice-yearly Newsletter is included in the cost of membership and, unusually amongst many organisations to whom Associate Membership is available, an Associate Members blazer badge is available which we can wear with pride. Many other items are offered for sale in the BCA catalogue, and I often find that I am not wondering what to buy, but what not to buy. There is so much of interest, and buying everything would give my already stressed Bank Manager a coronary overload!!

Looking for an old comrade, or for details of an event that may be happening soon? Or perhaps you just want to pay your respects to the fallen. Visit the Royal British Legion site for details of all these things.

Want to know the final resting place of a fallen colleague or relative? If they have been tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commision, then the chances are they will be able to tell you exactly where they are. Working sometimes from little more than a surname, they are able to tell you exactly where they are buried, right down to the plot within one of the expansive War Graves Cemeteries in Europe, or indeed the rest of the world. Visit there site, and not only will you be able to find out details like those described above, but you will be able to see first hand the fantastic work that they do to keep the names of our fallen heroes in the minds of those of us left who are grateful for what they did.

Encompassing several sites around the country, the Imperial War Museum is unique in its coverage of conflicts, from the First World War to the present day, particularly those which have involved Britain and the Commonwealth. Follow this link to the IWM homepage, where you will find links to the four sites which make up the Imperial War Museum - HMS Belfast, Duxford, the Cabinet War Rooms, and the main site at Lambeth, London.

The Spitfire and Hurricane memorial at the former RAF Manston in Kent exists to ensure that the memory of those who gave so much in the dark days of the Second World War is perpetuated. Plenty of superb pictures of Spits and Hurricanes to look at, and many informative pages within the site too. All told, an absolutely first-class site, well worth a visit.

Phil's pages are an excellent resource for locating information on the Second World War in general. For anyone wishing to find out more of the War, or perhaps a particular aspect of it, the answer should be found in either Phil's page, or in one of the many useful links from it.

Frank Raeman runs a site that is dedicated to the many Allied airmen who are buried in Belgium, and what a site it is!! Looking for an airman who was buried in Belgium and you want to know exactly where? Then Frank is your man. Send him as many details as you can, and he will be glad to help. Or conversley, perhaps you have some information that you think may be of some use to him - he will be only too delighted to hear from you.

Whilst it may have been the pilot who had to get the Bomber to the target and back with careful use of his flying skill, lets not forget those brave boys "behind the Brownings bark". Their ever watching eyes quartering the night sky for the first sign of an enemy fighter, fending them off with a quick burst of .303 when neccasary, undoubtedly kept the number of Bomber losses down. To them we give thanks, not just for keeping the enemy away from the rest of the crew, but for that now immortal phrase, forever written in the annals of history, "Corkscrew port Skipper......GO!!!" Visit the web site of the A.G.A., it's worth it.

Not for nothing is Lincolnshire known as "Bomber County". By the end of hostilities in 1945, no fewer than 49 Bomber Command bases were in residence within the County, mostly playing host to the Lancaster squadrons of 1 and 5 Groups, together with some of the 8 Group squadrons of Pathfinder Force. Even today, the RAF maintains a strong presence there, and it is difficult to drive more than a few miles without passing an airfield. Many of the World War two airfields have long since returned to agriculture, but their buildings and runways often still remain, and driving along the windswept roads of the County it is not unusual to find an old Watch Tower looming up out of the crops. Visit this site for a history lesson on Lincolnshire and its aviation past, and its aviation present.

The museum at East Kirby is part of a farm owned by the famous Panton brothers (who lost a brother on the infamous Nuremburg raid of March 30/31st 1944), but was a wartime Bomber Command airfield and home to 57 and 630 Squadrons. It plays host to a a vast range of artefacts from the Second World War, and includes a fully renovated Watch Tower, period vehicles that are fully operational, including an old airfield tractor, and displays of photos and memorabilia of the time. Perhaps the most famous resident however, is Lancaster NX611 "Just Jane". Maintained in full taxiing condition, she is, quite simply, beautiful. I went there with Ian and Jill from "57 Rescue" in the Spring of 1998, and just as we were paying our modest entry fee, we heard the unmistakable sound of a Merlin spluttering into life. You didn't see Ian and I for dust as we left Jill paying for the three of us!! One by one, the other three Merlins growled into life, and I don't think Ian and I were the only ones with a lump in our throats and tears in our eyes as the throttles were advanced and the air around us reverberated with the sound of "Merlins Thunder". Visit this site for news of what is going on over at East Kirby, and maybe even take time to download the sound file of the number four engine being started!! Magic!!

The remarkable story of Lancaster NX611, or "Just Jane" as described in the link above. From production line roll-off, right up to the present and her place as star attraction in the museum at East Kirby, this site will tell you everything that you need to know about her.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), based at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, flies an array of historic RAF aircraft, including Spitfires, Hurricanes, and a Dakota. However, perhaps their most famous charge, and the one with which we are interested, is the Lancaster, known colloquially on the Flight and to those of us with more than a passing interest as "The Bomber". PA474 "City of Lincoln" is the only flying Lancaster to be seen on this side of the Atlantic (the only other flying example in the world is to be found in Canada), and every Summer she can be seen at countless airshows, flypasts, etc. From the biggest events such as the Royal International Air Tattoo, right down to the smallest event such as a flypast over a village fete, the Flight try to cover as many events as they can. Visit this site for an overview of what the Flight are all about, and how it came into existence.

Camp X was the Special Agents training school during the Second World War. Lynn Hodgson has written a book about it, based on his own research and interviews with the people who were there. Visit his website to see excerpts from the book, and oodles of information relating to Camp X, a hitherto little known aspect of the dangerous espionage campaign of the Second World war.

Certainly on our (UK) side of the Atlantic, their seems to be less exposure afforded the "Yank Air Force" of World War Two. Although the greater interest in RAF Bomber Command may be understandable, in an attempt to redress the balance, we present here Hugh Walker's 391st Bomb Group Homepage. An excellent collection of well-researched pages should present the reader with a balanced view of the way the Americans took the bombing campaign to the enemy. The site is also linked to the vast University of Akron's archive - a staggering 100,000 items are currently contained in its catalogue and it is constantly growing.

We'll let Dave describe his own site, brand new to the web and well worth a look at:-

"My site will be covering the history of RAF Wickenby and 626 Squadron. It will also tell the story of Lancaster UM-E2 NG244 and it’s crew. My research is ongoing and the site will be updated regularly, so please call back from time to time for updates. I would also welcome any information on RAF Wickenby, 626 Squadron and the Squadron aircraft, especially Lancaster NG244. I would be particularly interested in any documents or photographs which would assist with my research."

Have a look at Dave's site today, and see for yourself the excellent work he is doing in researching the history of one of his family - surely an excellent example for anyone wishing to do the same to follow.

"No 19 Operational Training Unit was originally formed at Royal Air Force Kinloss on 27 May 1940 as part of No 6 Group Bomber Command. The unit converted crews to the Whitley Aircraft, the majority destined for No 4 Group Bomber Command."

Paul Warrener's web site is full of useful information on an oft-forgotten area of Bomber Command's history, and is well worth a visit just to brush up on our knowledge of what went before the harrowing nights of operations in an airmans career.

The official web page of the 7 Squadron Association provides ex-members of 7 Squadron the opportunity to meet and discuss past and future events. The web paage is still under development, but pay it a visit and see what they are up to.

A site deicted to 51 Squadron, and their activities during World War two. Well worth a visit, and a pleasure to see nother Haalifax site appearing to challenge all those Lancaster ones out there in the ether!!

A site detailing the fortunes of the above two squadrons during the last war. Includes good histories of the two squadrons, bombing photos, etc., definately a site not to be missed.

This site details the history of this squadron that flew in such diverse roles as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force, various UK based airfields as part of 1 Group Bomber Command, and as part of the Midle East Force flying from Algeria.

Wim Govaerts site gives a good history of this 8 Group Pathfinder Force squadron. Of interest, is that 156 squadron flew the most sorties of any of the Pathfinder squadrons equipped with "heavies", and was one of the original squadrons in 8 Group when the PFF was first formed in August 1942.

Dedicated to the crew of Wellington HF596, and all members of 166 Squadron.

A good history of 207 squadron, along with various links to other good aviation-based sites and plenty of good photos. Well worth a visit.

The work of Stirling and 3 Group researcher extrordinaire, Mr. Steve Smith, this is the 218 (Gold Coast) web site. Steve really knows his bacon when it comes to 3 Group and the Stirling bomber, and if you need to know anything within these criteria, Steve should be your first port of call. This is an absolutely first-class web site, well worth a visit, and certainly worth adding to your favourites list.

Site giving a potted history of the RCAF squadron in WW2.

Wellingtons, Halifaxes and Lancasters flew with this RCAF squadron during the Second World War - read all about their trials and tribulations at this site.

A site that gives a good history of 434 squadron, from its days as a Heavy Bomber squadron in 6 Group during the Second World War, up to the present day flying fast jets.

Gordon Stooke's 460 (Australian) Squadron Site

Two good sites listing the history of this famous RAAF squadron which incurred the highest totals for sorties flown and losses in 1 Group, as well as having the honour of dropping the highest tonnage of bombs in all of Bomber Command. Lancaster R5868, "Old Sugar", which is now on display in the Bomber Command Hall at the RAF Museum in Hendon, spent at least part of her operational career on the strength of 460 Squadron.