Blog Archive

The Pentagon has indicated that the remains of seventeen airmen killed in the crash of their C-124 Globemaster in 1952 in Alaska were recently located and recovered. The crash killed another 35 service members, whose bodies have not yet been located. Source

The wreck of an AD-4 Skyraider was recently rediscovered in the Florida Everglades. The aircraft, BuNo 128988, crashed there on 19 May 1955, killing its pilot Lt Norman Dolsen of VMA-324. The Marines recovered Dolsen’s body at the time, but the wreckage was not. Source

The world’s only airworthy F-86A Sabre, Duxford-based s/n 48-178, will return shortly to the US. Source

Wing Commander Archie Boyd, who has died aged 95, flew during the Battle of Britain and was later one of the RAF’s most successful night fighter leaders. Read his obituary on the Telegraph.

Lieutenant ‘Flash’ Allen, who has died aged 92,  was a fighter pilot who saved British wartime convoys in the Bay of Biscay and en route to Murmansk and was twice decorated for gallantry. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

On July 26, 1942, Flying Officer Mobsby and four American crew took off from Port Moresby to attack Japanese flying boats at Gasmata, New Britain. Their B-25 Mitchell was shot down by Japanese fighters, killing all on board. All the American crew members were posthumously awarded the American Silver Star, but F/O Mobsby was left …

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Dennis Kirby, who has died aged 90, was a wartime Seafire pilot then colonial officer who later built towns in Scotland. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

Flight Lieutenant Ian MacLennan was a Spitfire pilot who applied his duck-shooting skills to destroy seven enemy aircraft during the Siege of Malta. Read his obituary on the Telegraph’s website.

Lt-Cdr Don Ridgway was a Fleet Air Arm observer who helped cover the Arctic convoys and survived the sinking of the carrier Dasher. Read his obituary on the Telegraph.

Group Captain Ronnie Churcher was deputy to Guy Gibson, hero of the Dam Buster raid, on the fateful mission in which Gibson was killed. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

The North American B-25J Mitchell 44-28932 “Tondelayo” has been leased by the Collings Foundation to the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation. Source

The nose section of the world’s only surviving Comet Mk 2 airliner has been saved by the Boscombe Down Aviation  Museum. Source

Ron Clark was a pilot whose Lancaster, Phantom of the Ruhr, was one of just 35 – out of 7,373 – to survive 100 flights in the war. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

Wing Commander Jimmy Flint was a bomber pilot who, uniquely, won two gallantry awards for his actions on a single hellish flight. Read his obituary on The Telegraph.

Air Commodore Peter Merriman was a Spitfire pilot who flew alongside Douglas Bader as Fighter Command went on the offensive over France Source: The Telegraph