At the end of the war, many Pathfinder squadrons had photographs taken of their aircrew, occasionally including some of the ground crew as well. There are a number of these celebratory photographs on this site under different subject headings, but here in celebration of VE Day tomorrow are three of them grouped together.
Lancaster Squadron – 582 Squadron
This is one of the best, possibly the best, end of war photographs which we have. Unfortunately, we have no key to the names, but so far we know three of the men in the photograph, a detail from which is below.
Back row, far left and fifth from left, : Bill Blackburn (not 100% confirmed) and Donald Barker, see: Donald Schofield Barker, 582 Squadron
Second row: far right, Bill Lapthorn. Given the propensity for crews to stand together in these photographs, it is possible that the man to the left of him is Flying Officer Coombes, which would seem a more likely identification than in this page about the pair of them: POWs brought back from Lubeck, near Kiel, 9 May 1945
For the full photograph:582 Squadron, May 1945
Mosquito Squadrons – 105 and 109 Squadrons
