Not much immediate help but Ray Sturtivant has been working on an Air Britain book about presentation Spitfires for some while now.

Although Ray has been very much involved, the author of the book is Henry Boot, a good friend of mine.

I have heard that it is now expected to appear this year.

Steve

I’ve heard the same from Henry.

Geoff.

‘The Battle of Britain, then & now’ and ‘Men of The Battle of Britain’ both state that Sqn/Ldr Pinkham’s Spitfire is ‘believed’ to have crashed in Whitehorse Wood, Birling, Kent.

I’ll have a word tomorrow with our curator & see what he knows about this incident. Being as it is so local to us, I’m sure we’d like to do what we can to find out more for the family. It would be nice also to find some way of remembering Philip at the museum.

Geoff

What book is she after???? 😀

Dave,

I’m afraid the above fall outside the coverage of the books I have, as they all seem to be over the sea or in France.

I’d try the 12 o’clock high board first, as being your best bet.

Sorry.

Geoff.

Dennis,

Kew is probably the first place to start. You’ll need to check the Operations Record Book (ORB) for the airfield which covers the period you’re interested in, and also any appendicies to the ORB for the same period. Next will be the ORBs & appendicies for the squadrons and other units based at the airfield during the relevant period, not forgetting squadons that used it as a forward base etc.

The Kew (TNA) website is at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm Here you can search the on-line catalogue to see what is available. If you already have a Reader’s Card you can pre-order documents so they are there when you arrive, although anything on micro-film doesn’t need to be ordered. If you don’t have a Reader’s Card you will need to get one on your first visit, as they can’t be ordered over the Internet.

This will give you a list of names which can be checked against the CWGC website or books such as ‘Bomber Command losses….’ to confirm if aircrew posted missing were killed or not. There are also records relating to POWs, and a book for Bomber Command which lists theirs, at Kew which can also be checked.

It may also be worth checking local wartime Police records, as it seems the local Police were informed of missing aircraft in case they might have come down in the local area.

Using the CWGC website, you could also try checking the churchyards & cemetaries near to your base to look for aircrew who were buried locally rather than taken home. The airfield ORB may well give you the name of the place which was used by the airfield for burials.

This may well pick up ground crew/non-flying personnel who are very unlikely to be mentioned at all in the squadron ORBs, and whose deaths are not always mentioned in the airfield ORB. They are the most difficult to find, but the Internet may well help these days, with a search for ground crew associations etc.

I don’t know how useful Hendon or the AHB would be, but it may be best to save them for checking any names that you can’t confirm from any other source as having lost their lives.

I hope this is helpful to you, and that others will also come up with some ideas for you.

Good hunting!

Geoff.

Saturday went quite well, picked up the Corgi ‘Dooleybird’ Mustang for £14.99, and at the bookshop bought mint copies of ‘One Hurricane, One Raid’ (signed by the author to Bruce Robertson) for £8.50 and a mint copy of ‘How they made Piece of Cake’ for £7.50), plus a couple more useful books.

Sunday at the museum was a bit cold, but good to see some familiar faces, and a reasonable number of visitors. I’m back over there this Sunday, so hoping it’s a bit warmer.

Geoff.

Re-runs of The Goodies! Yes Please.

Ecky Thump rules!