In the latest update to the SEAC Aircraft Losses Database, the records of Brewster Buffalo losses in Burma and India have been added. 27 losses can be tracked. While the bulk of the Buffalos involvement in the fighting occurred in…
Lysander N1273 , BF-C of No.28 Squadron. Crashed on Take Off Kohat. Sgt RIDLEY attempted to take off in coarse pitch, failed to gain height and crashed outside the airfield perimeter. Pilot escaped unhurt, but aircraft was written off. In…
The SEAC Losses Database has been updated with Bristol Blenheim losses. The update covers Blenheim losses of aircraft whose flights originated in India, Ceylon and Burma. The total entries are around 240.. and assuming some are damaged, recovered later and…
Ross McNeil’s posts at http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13206-RAF-Manpower-and-Deferred-Service Another table from the AHB Monograph on RAF Manning. This table gives snapshots of the number of Officers and Other Ranks serving in the R.A.F. Strength of Officers and Other Ranks (R.A.F. And W.A.A.F.) – September…
In 2012 the MoD undertook a consultation into the views of interested parties in releasing RAF Casualty Packs from the period 1939 to 1945 to public access at The National Archives. These are now known as the AIR81 series .…
This recent original photograph printed on Air Ministry paper went on auction on Ebay and went for record prices originally reserved for something with ‘Spitfire’ in its description! The photo shows a Hawker Tempest Mark II landing at Safdarjang airfield…
Mike Medland contributed over 40 photographs from his father’s collection. His father was then Corporal John McLaren Medland (No. 771763) (1922-2012) who served with the RAF from 1940 till 1946. As Mike recalls about his father: John’s maternal grandparents were…
A few years ago, (actually couple of decades ago) I asked myself – I wonder how many aircraft were lost by the RAF and Commonwealth Air Forces in the SEAC Theatre (- The Indian Subcontinent – covering present day India, Burma, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ceylon). There were no published figures, nor reference material available. The data exists, but is scattered among countless books and sources – not consolidated in one single location.
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© IWM (CF 175) © IWM (CF 176) by Matt Poole, Chris Johnson, Paul Kadwill and Rajeshwor Yumnam The Imperial War Museum website has incorrect captions to two still photos in its collection – CF 175 and CF 176 (seen above)…
1 MAY 2016 • 6:20PM Wing Commander Arthur Gill, who has died aged 100, was one of the few survivors from his squadron after the Japanese overran the Dutch East Indies; he went on to become the RAF’s leading dive-bomber…
We have enhanced the search feature in the RAF serials search tool. When searching for a serial and opting to view the listings in individual aircraft list format, you will notice some icons appear before the serial number. The icons…
Previously we have posted some logbook pages from Flight Lieutenant Raphael L Goldestein, who served with No.28 Squadron on the Burma Front during 1945-46 at http://www.rafcommands.com/archives/logbook-pages-of-flt-lt-raphael-goldstein-no-28-squadron/ Now we have updated the gallery with several photographs from his collection – these show Hurricanes…
RAFCommands contributor and Author Matt Poole writes about his first published book : RAF Liberators over Burma – Flying with 159 Squadron By Bill Kirkness DFM and Matt Poole Fonthill Media, November 2017 – http://fonthillmedia.com Hardcover: 224 pages with 53 black-and-white photographs Publisher: Fonthill…
Courtesy: Joe Baugher The Royal Air Force was supplied with a total of 830 P-47Ds. In RAF service, the “razorback” P-47D was known as the Thunderbolt I and the “bubble canopy” P-47D was known as Thunderbolt II. Thunderbolt Is were…
Photos and Original Text by Philip Jarrett , Aeroplane Monthly (December 2001) – Blue Text is our research TO SUPPORT the large number of RAF and Indian Air Force squadrons flying the Hawker Hurricane in the campaign against the Japanese…
A photo album compiled by the RAF Mauripur association was recently sold on Ebay. Some of the images featured Avro Lancastrian “Aries”, shots of AVro Yorks, Stirlings and other aircraft.
“Clipped Wings” is a Kickstarter book project by Elizabeth Dent, daughter of late Corporal P W Walker. Walker was an airman posted in India and had taken hundreds of interesting photographs during his service. Some of these photographs were previewed…
If you look at the top right portion of the “Research Section” above on the home page, you will notice that the SEAC Aircraft Losses link is active. This new section on the website – covers the Harvard and Hurricane…
Featured in this update are rare photographs from a photo album belonging to an RAF airmen who served with No.27 Squadron RAF, B Flight. The photographs showcase life in the frontier, various aircraft including aircraft that were transitioning through Karachi.…
To be Sold on: 1st & 2nd March 2017 : The outstanding Second World War Wing Leader’s D.S.O. and Bar, fall of France 1940 D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Group Captain A. F. Anderson, Royal Air Force, late Royal…
This book aims to record as many patches as possible from the flying units together with a brief resume of each unit, where known. Phil Camp has collected more than a 1000 patches of the Indian Air Force in an…
With a heavy heart, the members of RAFCommands bid farewell to Bill Walker. Bill was an authority on RCAF aviation history and maintained a site on Canadian Military Serials at http://www.rwrwalker.ca/ . The Forum condolence thread is at http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?20821-Bill-Walker . He passed…
What you see here are three booklets of the “Air Route Information – India” booklets issued sometime in 1945 in the far east. These booklets are a collection of loose sheets tied together with filing thread – the sheets composing…
Robert Brody has published a new book “Runways to Freedom”. The book is about the Tempsford Squadrons – “Runways to Freedom”, is based on years of extensive research and many conversations with veterans and family members: this is the true…
Photographs of the RAF Air Sea Rescue Launches as stationed at RAF Bone in Algeria in 1943. Reproduced with the kind permission of David Gray, whose father took these photographs during his service
The past couple of weeks, Users have been observing the forum to be operating very slowly. This has been identified as an issue with the MySQL Server with the host. While the host was attempting to fix it, they had…
By now everyone would be familiar with the “Bloody Shambles” style of air war books authored by Chris Shore. The latest volume in the Mediterranean Air War Series, Volume 3 (1940-1945)is now currently on sale. The book has been co-authored…
These seven photographs come from the collection of John Stretch. John’s father, Flt Lt A G Stretch DFM, who was the Wing Engineering Leader on Sunderlands at Seletar. These photos were in an envelope amongst a lot of photos of…
Steve Brew‘s latest book “A Ruddy Awful Waste” on the life of RAF ace E S Lock has been published. Read about it in the forum announcement here. Synopsis In early 1939, 19-year-old Salopian Eric Lock joined the RAF Volunteer…
