Avro Lancaster LM658

The Quest Continues…

Alan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:34:47 +0000

Following my approach to the senior features editor of “The Hamilton Spectator” newspaper in Ontario Canada, hometown of our rear gunner: F/O Bruce Arnold David, we have been put in touch with a local RCAF veterans organisation who have agreed to help try and make contact with anyone who knows/knew F/O David post war…Watch this space!!!….

Spam, glorious spam…

dunc — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:44:19 +0000

As an aside…

Did you know we get about 1500 - 2000 attempts every month to spam our guestbook or commentable pages with junk links to rubbish sites?

But we catch ‘em all!

It’s an interesting example of how the bad side of the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation, the art of helping websites rise up the search rankings) industry operates. Ethical SEO is much better for building long lasting benefit and provides value all round – but then as an SEO bod, I would say that wouldn’t I??

(Ooops, went off on a rant there – prompted by binning a junk comment that made it through the first line of defence, a ‘pharmaceutical’ related site…)

LM311 – Bottesford Crash

dunc — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:00:04 +0000

Browsing a completely non-related site & saw a link through to Flight LM311 RAAF 467 Squadron – with a touching & evocative eye-witness account of her crash on return from a raid on Turin.

January 2012 Updates

dunc — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:43:25 +0000

A few of Alan’s typos corrected. (Couldn’t have been mine of course! )

A great photo of Rob Stevens, Son of Stevie Stevens in the pilot’s seat and Alastair Taylor son of Charlie Taylor in the flight engineer’s position on Jim Boyle’s page and some photos of the Germans involved in Gerald Hood & Bote van der Wal’s execution on the Hood Story page.

Best wishes to all our readers for 2012, may you have a peaceful & happy year.

New Photos

dunc — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:11:36 +0000

With many thanks indeed, largely to James Boyle & Brian Angel, we’ve been able to update a number of photos around the site. Have a look at the excellent photos of James Boyle’s crew and there’s a few new photos of the Van de Wal family on the Gerald Hood Story.

Bill Paston-Williams – updated biography

dunc — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:03:47 +0000

Thanks to the assistance of his son Alan, we’re delighted to have updated the biography of Bill Paston-Williams, a consumate aviator.

Alan Barrow’s footnote speaks for all of us involved in telling the story of LM658.

A remarkable (and sinister) coincidence…

Alan — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:40:50 +0000

…have just been advised by Mr Mike Monitz, a former pupil of the Royal Russell School that some of the senior boys used to sometimes take a highly illicit visit to a local pub called “The Sandrock”…surely Gerald Hood would have known of the place, but what he would not have known is that the local pub bore the same name as the man who would supervise his execution in just a few years time!

Latest Updates

dunc — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:41:50 +0000

Some additional information & photos added to the biography of Laurence Roy Watts. We’ll be adding more photos & information into other biographies as we receive them.

Please do sign the guestbook & say hello if you’ve found this site useful, fascinating, though-provoking or even to highlight any typing errors!

If you are reading this….

Alan — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:02:25 +0000

Paddy from “The Fedora Lounge” 1940′s culture forum, we would like to know more about the origins of the very interesting material you have posted, feel free to get in touch sir!

The results keep coming in!

Alan — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:54:57 +0000

Glad to see that the LM 658 website is yeilding the results I had hoped it would! Only recently we have had contact from the family of Flt Lt “Stevie” Stevens who took over as the skipper of the crew left behind by Flt Lt Holland after his tragic loss on his “second dickie” trip. This comes hot on the heels of contact from the family of Flt Lt Carl Woodworth, the original navigator from Gerald Hood’s crew and of course F/O James Boyle and family whose memoirs you can read on here…Mr Boyle was Chris Hollands original navigator!…Keep the contacts coming!