35 Squadron Pathfinder Crew at Wedding

Update: 14 September 2019

It seldom happens that a photograph with unknown aircrew in it gets even partially identified, but amazingly this has happened with this particular photograph. The man second from the right has been identified by his children as John Graham Walters, a bomb aimer, who was with 35 Squadron at Graveley in the summer of 1944.

It is obvious from other photos of John that this is our man, and the extraordinary thing is that it is possible to roughly date the wedding photograph as he badly broke his nose at a mess party on 15 May 1944 and after some prolonged, and no doubt painful and uncomfortable treatment, finally returned to the squadron at the end of June 1944. By then his nose looked much thicker, as it does in the photograph.

By the time John returned to operations, he was too late to finish his tour with his original pilot, Pilot Officer Hardy, and so his last operations were undertaken was pilots Berndsson and Hausvick. It is possible that the wedding photograph shows one of these crews, as the men in the photograph are definitely not the original crew.

With many thanks to Jonathan Walters for the above information. 

New version of photograph: Paul Smith

pathfindercrewfinished small


Original Page Details, September 2018

Sent by Paul Smith, this delightful informal photograph (see head of page) was taken in early 1944 as Paul’s father, the young boy at the front, was born in April 1942 and is about two years old in the picture. The photograph was taken in London, either going to or coming from a wedding it is believed.

All suggestions welcome!