I don’t know about the dorsal aerial (which might be R/T?) but the dipoles down the side of the fuselage look awfully like ASV to me. These would be the transmitting aerials of a sideways-looking system. Airborne radar isn’t my speciality, and I stand to be corrected, but I’m fairly sure that’s what these aerials were.

Geoff,

Thanks very much for that information. I knew hat not all entries had next-of-kin details, but the handful that I’d looked at since the new format was up and running hadn’t included this information. Since I hadn’t seen any that included it, I started to wonder if they’d removed it. I’m delighted to hear that’s not the case. Thanks very much for setting me straight. The CWGC website is a superb resource and long may it continue to include new features.

Sorry, Steve. I’m afraid my confidence was mis-placed. The new, revised CWGC website doesn’t seem to include the next-of-kin names that it used to. As a result, I’m afraid you can’t find your gran’s friend’s name, unless you want to contact the CWGC direct. Sicne such information has previously been available over the net, I don’t see how they can refuse it to you.

In fact, I’m not just orry, but even sorry! Ooops!

Now here’s a nice dream for you Moggy: how about a formation flypast by a restored Blenheim, a Herc-engined Beaufighter, a Merlin-engined Beaufighter and a Beaufort? I’d pay a lot of money to see that.!:D

Unfortunately, I don’t have the sort of millions of quid required to acutally see a dream like that become reality. Pity!:(

I don’t know if it helps fill in the blanks, but Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson was killed on the night of 19/20 September 1944. I suspect everyone knows the story of how he was acting as Master bobmer that night for a raid on Rheydt. Anyway, with him when his Mosquito XX KB267 AZ-E crashed was Squadron Leader J B Warwick, DFC. He would be your gran’s friend’s son. A check on the CWGC website might produce his parent’s names, which would then give you your gran’s friend’s name.

Thanks for posting this, Lancman. It sounds like you’ve spent a good few happy hours listening to his stories and I for one am grateful to you for sharing this.

I personally have no family connections to the RAF, other than very, very distant relations. However, my mother-in-law was an ATS wireless operator who worked at various Y radio interception stations and received Fish traffic (the code even more secret than Enigma which the Colossus machines were developed at Bletchley for). Needless to say, the mother-in-law had an interesting war!

Originally posted by Merlin3945
East Fortunes display which was a couple of staff sitting there.

Thanks for the details of the display, Scott. It sounds like it is a bit more balanaced than it has been in the past, although I suspect Leuchars are still charging too much for the exhibition space if they’re still having to pad it out a bit.

It’s interesting to know that East Fortune had a stand there – I hadn’t heard they were going to do that. From past experience I suspect the two staff were probably there to try and sell NMS memberships, rather than to promote the Museum of Flight!