Guestbook1

On Sunday the 8th April the RAF Balderton research group held a reunion for all the families of those who served at the Airfield and I have some photo\'s I would like to share with you. We had 2 families of former 408 Squadron aircrew at the event which was attended by over 70 people. We have planted a Red Maple in the memorial garden at Newark Air Museum and we have a plaque placed on a small piece of the runway and we had a service by the tree and I laid a wreath in commemoration of 408 Squadron RCAF with photo\'s of 2 air crew who gave their lives during 1942, they were F/Sgt Clarence Henry Finkbeiner who lost his life in Hampden AE297 EQ-F on the 09/05/1942 and WOII Lionel Greer Chaston who lost his life in Hampden P1244 EQ-Y on the 27/08/1942

My father was a member of the RCAF, 408 Squadron. His plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. The only information I have is the incident report of 2357 Hrs 1/1/44 when LLC631 EQ-G was hit. My father S R Sweetzir was in Stalag 357. There were more than one of these as the records show two locations. Kopernikus and Oerbke? Would like to touch base with other offspring of the surviving aircrew. My father was the tailgunner,so I am living proof the Luftwaffe didn\'t get them all! He never spoke of his ordeal. Also,I don\'t know what the two bars on his Europe Aircrew Medal were for? Fascinating stuff! cheers, Peter Sweetzir

Dear all. My name is Erik Wieman from Germany and I am co-founder of IG Heimatforschung Rheinland-Pfalz / Historical Research Community Rhineland-Ppalatinate, Germany. I spoke to an eyewitness of WW2 in Leistadt and found the crash site of Halifax NP711 / 408 Sqn RCAF. It exploded on impact on a hillside not far from Leistadt/Germany. We already found many small pieces of the aircraft, laying on the surface. The crew, 6 Canadians and one englishman were KIA. We are still at the beginning but we plan to excavate the site in 2018. After the excavation we plan a memorial at the crash site. We would like to contact the descendants of the crew and in many cases we can find the families of all crew members, hopefully also in this case. If anyone could help us with pictures, documents etc. this woukld be very much appreciated. Kind regards from Germany Erik Wieman

Dear members of 408, I\'m hoping that someone may be able to help me in information concerning the Handley Page Halifax in which my Uncle lost his life. The aircraft was EQ-P (JD 216) The crew members were- F/O H.B Lancaster,SGT.J.J Stefanchuck, SGT.J.M McDonald,SGT. W.R Byans,SGT.G.V Reid,SGT.J.H.C McChung,F/O J.W Richardson and my Uncle(Tail gunner) J.W Sturgess. Their aircraft F.T.R from a raid on Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr Valley on the night of 10th/11th of July 1943. As I now have many varying Halifax model kits to make the variant of whatever Mk B 2 EQ-P was. If anyone can help,I\'d be very thankful as I\'d like to build a true representation.

Dear 408 Sqn Association I am a Medical Officer in the RAF. My grandmother\'s half brother was an Englishman called Jack Crammond. He was a Sergeant and was killed on the night of 30-31 Jul 1943 in a Halifax II serial JD365. He was with 408 Sqn. They took off from RAF Leeming. The raid was on Remscheid and apparently caused huge destruction. The aircraft crashed near Düren. His name is recorded on the Runnymede Memorial. I was wondering if the association had any records of this aircraft and its crew? Was everyone lost, or did some survive? Due to the complexities of families it seems little is known about this. I\'m told his wife waited for years in case he came home. Some did after being released from PoW camps. Any information would be gratefully received. Many thanks for your work in keeping the association going. Sqn Ldr Alex Blacklock

Hi, I am looking for any information regarding my uncle, Ronald Ayliffe Schrapel who served two missions in RCAF 408 Squadron. Ron (dec) was Australian but flew with the RCAF, I think he was a rear gunner. I can be contacted at allentaa31@gmail.com. Thank you

I\'m a serving member of the RAF in the UK and I\'m trying to conduct some research into my family history. Ive got a photo that was taken during WW2 in York at the Castle Hotel on Castlegate and the lady in the centre of the picture is my Mums Mum her name was Vera Green she was the landlady at at the Castle Hotel, she\'s sadly now passed on. I would like to try and trace some off the men in the picture, it\'s a long shot but I\'m guessing that they were members of 426 or 408 Sqn as RAF Linton on Ouse is/was the nearest RAF base to York and I know that 426 and 408 served there during WW2. Also could you let me know how I can get the picture published on your website? Many thanks.