Just by chance, does any of these new records give any details of the crash location of Avro Lancaster lll DV220 AS-J which took off on a mission to Leipzig on 19-20 Feb 1944 ?
My reason for asking is a friend of mine who I used to work with many years ago uncle was Sgt F H Dykes lost in this aircraft after being shot down by a Fw 190 ? . I know he along with WO2 J J Yelland RCAF were never found but are on the wall at Runnymede at panels 253 and 228 so I understand.
Hi. I am currently researching the work of my Grandfather during the war. I attended the annual 166 Sqn memorial service a few days ago with my Dad and was very interested in seeing the log book and photos that my dad brought along belonging to my Grand father.
Both my father and I also have previous service in the RAF. I completed 9 years and my dad completed 32 years. It's a bit of a family tradition! My grandfather died prior to my birth so I never got to speak to him about his work during the war. My Dad is also very protective of the log book and photos that he has and I have never been able to borrow them.
I started some research myself and I have uncovered every sortie that my grandfather took part in, which aircraft he flew on and from the Squadron records held in National Archives, where they were bombing, what bomb loads they had etc.
I am now trying to things a step further and try to find histories of the individual aircraft that he flew in. I have had some success but I'm looking for a list of 166sqn aircraft, their markings and hopefully some photos of them. Even better would be a photo of my grandfather and his crew.
My grandfather was F/o FMG Ricketts, Navigator. His first sortie was 30-10-1944 (Cologne) and his Captain was F/o Wylde. I believe his final sortie was 24-3-1945 (Harpenerweg). Nine out of his last ten sorties were flown on ME499 which I know was one of 35 Lancasters to complete more than 100 sorties. The other aircraft that he flew in his last 10 sorties was ME521 which was shot down the day after my grand fathers last sortie.
If anybody is able to direct me anywhere that I might find photos of my Grandads crew, aircraft or any other information that might not be available through National Archives, I would be most grateful. My Dad does have the 166sqn book that I can use for reference and there is a photo of my Grandad in there at one of the reunions many years ago. I cannot get a copy of the book myself as the cheapest available on Amazon is now £500!
