Pilot's ephemera

I am the current keeper of an item like those above. It was bought in an antique shop in Sandwich, Kent for the princley sum of five quid…

Air Raid Spotters guide, no date but latest aircraft is 1944 (FW190 varient if memory serves). In the back is a hand written note, presumably from the 50’s or 60’s giving a brief history of where the book came from. I’ll transcript the whole thing later when I get home.

It turns out that the book was owned by an air engineer by the name of Bill Ralph, based at RAF Leconfield on 640Sqn. Having never heard of Leconfield at that point, it was of mild interest. Three weeks after buying the book, I was posted to RAF LECONFIELD….. The interest escalated…

Bill Ralph was killed in action in early 1945 with the rest of his crew, with the exception of the bomb aimer.(again, I’ll update when I get home.) This was the last combat loss of 640 Sqn before the end of the war. They had completed 27 missions together as a crew. Presumably the book would have been in Bill’s locker when it was cleared out following his death, and handed back to his family.

I have placed the book with a painting of the relevant aircraft, transposed the message in tyhe back, and essentially given the book its identity back. I am still trying to find reletives of Bill Ralph to re-unite them with the book.

Family history like that should never be lost.

I know they are personal to you,but have you thought of loaning /donating them to a nearby air museum.Its items like log books that help to build a picture of life within the services,but they often tend to be aquired by private collectors rather than go to museums.

Good point, and as a Yorkshireman, the YAM would be my choice, should they be interested in the comings and goings of a Pongo aircrewman/observer and later, pilot. 🙂

I have to agree with that – I’ve found some extremely useful info from the RAF Museum’s collection of log books for my research. Who knows what information somebody will want in future – and having what you did recorded in an archive is not available to everybody.
The nice thing about the RAF Museum system is that they will copy them and send the originals back – which you can then make use of as you wish, including gving them to a local museum. A museum which makes information available to researchers is always a good option.

I’m not too bothered by this sale since the collection is kept intact. What is really sad are photos of pilots being sold but separated from the information about where it was taken, why and, often, even who the man in the photo is. Once the story is removed from the object, a lot of its interest goes as well.

Allan

One of my biggest regrets was when visiting an antique centre at the old RAF Hemswell circa 1987, I found for sale a DFC+other medals,log books & photo’s which spanned a pilots career from the mid 1930’s to the 1960’s,I wish I had the money at the time as the price was-a mere £350 for the lot.:(

I know they are personal to you,but have you thought of loaning /donating them to a nearby air museum.Its items like log books that help to build a picture of life within the services,but they often tend to be aquired by private collectors rather than go to museums.

I have to agree with that – I’ve found some extremely useful info from the RAF Museum’s collection of log books for my research. Who knows what information somebody will want in future – and having what you did recorded in an archive is not available to everybody.
The nice thing about the RAF Museum system is that they will copy them and send the originals back – which you can then make use of as you wish, including gving them to a local museum. A museum which makes information available to researchers is always a good option.

I’m not too bothered by this sale since the collection is kept intact. What is really sad are photos of pilots being sold but separated from the information about where it was taken, why and, often, even who the man in the photo is. Once the story is removed from the object, a lot of its interest goes as well.

Allan

I quite agree that it is sad when items which meant so much to the original owner seem to loose the interest of those into whose care they have been entrusted. Having said that, we know little about the circumstances which have lead to these artifacts being offered for sale.

I’ve no idea who will get my flying logbooks when I’ve passed away. Certainly, my children will not be getting them. When I retired some 10 years ago, I handed down a bonedome of mine to my son, as he showed a great deal of interest in what I had done whilst wearing it, only to find that he’s now hoping to sell it. While there’s nothing particularly significant about my logbooks and medals, they represent a career full of achievement to me, if no-one else.

It seems that the things we hold dear mean so little to others.

I know they are personal to you,but have you thought of loaning /donating them to a nearby air museum.Its items like log books that help to build a picture of life within the services,but they often tend to be aquired by private collectors rather than go to museums.

I quite agree that it is sad when items which meant so much to the original owner seem to loose the interest of those into whose care they have been entrusted. Having said that, we know little about the circumstances which have lead to these artifacts being offered for sale.

I’ve no idea who will get my flying logbooks when I’ve passed away. Certainly, my children will not be getting them. When I retired some 10 years ago, I handed down a bonedome of mine to my son, as he showed a great deal of interest in what I had done whilst wearing it, only to find that he’s now hoping to sell it. While there’s nothing particularly significant about my logbooks and medals, they represent a career full of achievement to me, if no-one else.

It seems that the things we hold dear mean so little to others.