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.
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