No. 35 Squadron (RAF)
 

I am in the process of building up an archive and piecing together a non commercial, educational website on the History of No 35 Squadron and I would be interested to hear from anyone who can provide information, photographs, ephemera relating to its post war history which can be included on the site.

Initially I am interested in obtaining an overview of its structure and details of the aircraft that were on strength, along with its training regimes / exercises from 1946 up until the time of its disbandment.

It is a slow process as it has to be fitted around day to day life and enquiries from relatives looking for information on a family member who served with the squadron but any help would be much appreciated.

Regards

Pete
No. 35 Squadron - From Thetford to Scampton | This is a non-commercial, educational site, aimed at providing a consolidated history of No. 35 Squadron (RAF).

I've got happy memories of my time on 35 from '79 till '82 as a badly behaved 23 year old Vulcan captain ;-)

Thanks to everyone for your responses on-line and in private messages.

I have been asked to provide some background to the project, so hopefully the following puts it into context:

My interest in No 35 Squadron stems from the fact that my partner's grandfather was KIA in 1945 whilst flying as a FE with the squadron.

Having researched his loss for my partner's mother (who was only two when he was killed) I caught the "research bug" and decided that I would use some of my spare time to help other families understand the service record of their relatives and/or the circumstances surrounding their loss.

As my archive grew I thought it would be a useful resource for others, hence the No. 35 Squadron website.

Sadly, the post war Operations Record Books held at the TNA are not digitised and I have been quoted £100's to have them copied, which is beyond my budget.

I would therefore appreciate any help that can be offered which will enable me to fill in the blanks and obtain a decent framework for the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their interest in the thread.

Regards

Pete

Perhaps you should plan a personal visit to the National Archives? You are permitted to use a personal camera to photograph most documents. Have a look at the conditions here.

I would agree with MrBernoulli on this, having recently done something similar with a number of non-digitised Station 540s as part of a larger research project I'm working on.

The reading room has a number of tables with very solid camera stands on which enable you to set up your camera perfectly to capture each page, then it's merely a matter of turning the pages and pressing the shutter button. Between 2 of us, we photographed around 4000 pages in less than 4 days, so creating your own digitised version of the Squadron's 540 is eminently do-able for very little outlay.

Regards

U-M

Are not the Operations Record Books on microfilm?


If so it might be possible to buy microfilm copies, plus of course you need a microfilm reader.

Don't forget you need the 541 as well

Thanks for the responses.

Unfortunately with my commitments and location it is not easy for me to get to Kew.

It was suggested that I posted a thread on this forum to try to get some input from those who had connections with the squadron.

I am receiving extremely useful input from one former squadron member (1969 - 1974 era); hopefully there are others who can help me create a framework for the remaining periods, so that the history of the squadron is available for all to see.

Regards

Pete

Specaircrew

Would you be happy to provide me with a listing of the exercises that you participated in during that period, along with copies of any photographs, ephemera that you may have?

Regards

Pete