Useful Websites and Books

Useful Websites

These are some of the useful websites I have used for research. The links worked when research was being done but sadly they may not work in the future. These external websites will be opened in a new tab.

http://www.internationalbcc.co.uk/ The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) serves as a point for recognition, remembrance and reconciliation for Bomber Command.

https://www.iwm.org.uk The Imperial War Museum collections of documents and photographs.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ UK National Archives in Kew, London.

www.wickenbymuseum.co.uk RAF Wickenby Memorial Collection.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/12squadron.cfm 12 Squadron RAF.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706054808/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/may44.html Details of RAF Bomber Command operations for May 1944 (archived).

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706054616/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jun44.html Details of RAF Bomber Command operations for June 1944 (archived).

http://www.yorkshireairmuseum.co.uk/ Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, York.

http://www.war-experience.org/index.html The Second World War Experience Centre.

http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/bcww2losses/ Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War by WR Chorley: Amendments and Additions.

http://www.lancaster-archive.com/ The Lancaster and Manchester Bomber Archive.

www.controltowers.co.uk Information on UK airfields.

www.rcafmuseum.on.ca/ The Royal Canadian Air Force.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca Library and Archives of Canada.

www.naa.gov.au National Archives of Australia.

http://francecrashes39-45.net/ Details of Allied aircraft crash sites in France from 1939 to 1945. Includes an entry for ND424 and crew based on and with reference to www.lesfaircloth.co.uk.

http://www.aircrewremembered.com/ Holds searchable databases of RAF aircraft and crews.

http://www.aircrewremembered.com/RunnymedeDatabase/ Search the Runnymede Memorial database.

http://www.rafcommands.com/ Has a forum that allows questions on RAF matters to be posted.

http://12bsqnassociation.weebly.com/ The 12 (Bomber) Squadron Association.

http://www.conscript-heroes.com/ The WWII Escape and Evasion Information Exchange website.

Useful Reference Books and Good Reads

Below are a selection of books I have used to research the subject. The first two are real gems and needed for any RAF Bomber Command aircraft or crew research.

Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – 1944.  Author: W. R. Chorley (1997). ISBN: 0 904597 91 1. Copy owned. This is volume 5 of a series. It contains details of the crew of ND424 and references to evasion and crash report documents held by the National Archive. Some amendments and additions to this book can be found on the web site but Bill Chorley told me it is not maintained: http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2Losses/.

The Bomber Command War Diaries – An Operational Reference Book, 1939-1945. Authors: Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt (1985). ISBN: 978-1-85780-033-3. Copy owned.

Avro Lancaster – The Definitive Record. Author: Harry Holmes. First issue ISBN-13 978-1853107214 (1997), copy owned. Second issue ISBN-13 ‎978-1840372885 (2001).

168 Jump Into Hell – A True Story of Betrayed Allied Airmen. Authors: Arthur G. Kinnis and Stanley Booker MBE (1999). ISBN: 0-9684198. Copy owned. Copies were sent to us from Canada by Robert Pike the son-in-law of the late Joe Sonshine.

Flying into Hell – The Bomber Command Offensive as in WWII. Author: Mel Rolfe. ISBN: 978-1904010890. Contains a version of Doug Jordin’s story. Copy owned.

Jump For It. Author: Gerald Bowman (1955). ISBN: 85617 739 3. Copy owned. Story of the Caterpillar Club & Leslie Irvin’s invention & perfection of a reliable parachute system. Copy owned.

Bomber Command. Author: Sir Max Hastings. ISBN: 978-0330392044. Copy owned.

Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944. Author: Sir Max Hastings. ISBN: 978-0330390125. Copy owned.

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. Author: Antony Beevor. ISBN: 978-0141048130. Copy owned.

The Lancaster Manual: The Official Air Publication for the Lancaster Mk I and III 1942-1945. Author: RAF Museum. ISBN-13: 978-1853675683. Reprinted 2003. Copy owned.

The Nuremberg Raid: 30-31 March 1944. Author: Martin Middlebrook. ISBN-13: 978-1844158751. Copy owned.

Battle Under the Moon: The RAF Raid on Mailly-le-Camp, May 1944. Author: Jack Currie (1995). ISBN-13: 978-0859791090. Crecy Publishing. Copy owned. The author served with 12 Squadron in 1944.

Lancaster: WWII Night Bomber and Dam Buster. Author: Nigel Cawthorne (2009). ISBN-13: 978-1861472861. Copy owned.

MI9: Escape and Evasion. Authors: M. R. D. Foot and J. M. Langley (1979). ISBN-13: 978-1849541312. Copy owned.

The Lancaster Story. Author: Peter Jacobs (1996). ISBN-13: 978-1854092885. Copy owned.

The Resistance – The French Fight Against the Nazis.Author: Mathew Cobb (2009). ISBN-13: 978-1-84739-156-8. Copy owned.

The Bomber Command Memorial. Authors: Robin Gibb, Jim Dooley, Gordon Rayner, Steve Darlow and Sean Feast. ISBN 978 0 957 1163 1 3. First published 2012. Copy owned.

Men of Air (The Doomed Youth of Bomber Command). Author: Kevin Wilson (2007). ISBN 978 0 297 85321 3. Copy owned.

Lincolnshire Airfields in the Second World War. Author: Patrick Otter (1996). ISBN 978 0 1853064241.Copy owned.

RAF Evaders. Author: Oliver Clutton-Brock (2009). ISBN 978-0-753722-79-4. The Comprehensive Story of Thousands of Escapers and Their Escape Lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945. Copy owned.

Ton Up Lancs. Author: Norman Franks (2005). ISBN 978-0-753717-95-0. A photographic history of the 35 RAF Lancasters that each completed 100 sorties. Copy owned.

Lancaster. Author: M. Garbutt and B. Goulding (1971 and 1979). ISBN 1-85648-055 0. This book is two earlier books ‘Lancaster 1’ and ‘Lancaster 2’ combined into one volume, hence the two dates. Copy owned.

Lancaster at War 3. Author: M. Garbutt and B. Goulding (1984). ISBN 9780711013773. Copy owned.

Spies in the Sky. Author: Taylor Downing (2011). ISBN 978-0-349-12340-0. The secret battle for air intelligence during World War II. Copy owned.

Aircraft for the Many. Author: Michael J. F. Bowyer (1995). ISBN 1 85260 427 1. A detailed survey of the RAF’s aircraft in June 1944. Copy owned.

Home Run – Escape from Nazi Europe. Authors: John Nichol and Tony Rennell (2007). ISBN 9-0-141-02419-6. Copy owned. An appendix contains ‘Tips for Evaders and Escapers, Medical and Fieldcraft Hints’ (National Archive Ref. WO208/3268) issued by MI9 to evasion lecturers in July 1944, who would then train RAF crews.

Operation Crossbow – The Untold Story of the Search for Hitler’s Secret Weapons.Author: Allan Williams (2014). ISBN 978 0 0995 5733 3. Copy owned.

1 Group Swift to Attack – Bomber Command’s Unsung Heroes.  Author: Patrick Otter (2012). ISBN 978 1 78159 094 2.

Secret Sunday. Author: Donald Darling (1975). ISBN 13: 978-0718300548. Not owned and not read.

Sunday at Large – Assignments of a Secret Agent. Author: Donald Darling (1977). ISBN 09780718302153. Not owned and not read.

Five Years in World War II. Author: Esmond Farfan (2010). ISBN-13: 978-9768054807. Not owned and not read.

Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939-1945. Authors: John Foreman, Simon W. Parry and Johannes Matthews (2004). ISBN 0-9538061-4-6. Copy owned, bought June 2019.

Nachtjagd Combat Archive. Author by Theo Boiten. A series of volumes containing over 6,000 Luftwaffe night fighter claims and over 2,100 flak (anti aircraft) claims in WW2 which have been matched to RAF Bomber Command losses. See the News tab for a full list. I have bought copies of:

  • 1944 Part One (1 January to 15 March 1944). ISBN 978-1-906592-60-8 (2019).
  • 1944 Part Two (16 March 1944 to 11 May 1944). ISBN 978-1-906592-61-5 (2020).
  • 1944 Part Three (12 MAY 1944 to 23 JULY 1944).  COPY ON ORDER

Lancaster: The Forging of a Very British Legend. Author: John Nichol. ISBN-13 978-1471180491 (2020). Copy owned.