ⓘWhat do the D1–D5 confidence tiers mean?›
- D1A single attributed public source (museum, council, Historic England, CWGC, mapping data).
- D2Two or more independent public sources corroborate the same facts.
- D3A named coordinator or local reviewer has confirmed the public-source account.
- D4A named observer has personally visited and documented the site — photographs, inscriptions, condition.
- D5An archive or institution has provided written documentation supporting the entry.
A higher tier means more corroborating evidence, not automatic historical certainty. The Discovery layer does not replace archival verification.
RAF Bomber Command directed the strategic bombing effort of the Royal Air Force. Its own records form an entire series at The National Archives: AIR 14, Air Ministry: Bomber Command: Registered Files, which the catalogue describes as consisting of “records of Bomber Command dealing with operational and technical matters”. The series spans 1935 to 1980 — it is the Command's file series, not a wartime-only run, and the dates are given as the catalogue gives them.
One wartime piece within it is AIR 14/2061, Further trials with “Upkeep”, March 1943 to April 1945.
The number of the dead is given differently by the two memorials
The two Bomber Command memorials this archive holds do not agree. The memorial in Green Park commemorates 55,573 aircrew; the International Bomber Command Centre at Lincoln names 57,871 men and women. Both figures are quoted here from the memorials themselves, and the difference is shown rather than resolved: this archive is not the authority that settles it.
What this page does not claim
- This page does not claim a complete roster of the Command. It lists only the people this archive holds, and Bomber Command numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
- It does not claim that any individual named here appears in AIR 14. The reference establishes that the Command's file series exists and what it covers.
- It does not settle which of the two death tolls is correct. Both are quoted from the memorials that give them.
- The catalogue entry was captured from the archive's public interface, not from the documents.
ⓘHow is each connection known?›
- FROM THE RECORDA record on this platform states this connection, quoted here in its own words.
- CITED SOURCEAn external cited source states this connection.
- SEVERAL SOURCESNo single source states this connection; it follows from several independent pieces of evidence, named here.
- OUR CONCLUSIONThe platform's own editorial judgement, not a statement by a source.
This describes one connection, not the page as a whole: the D1-D5 tier at the top of the page says what the record itself rests on. A connection can rest on a direct statement by a source even where the record around it is weakly supported, and the other way round.
Commemorated at
- RAF Bomber Command Memorial — Green Park, London
FROM THE RECORD“The RAF Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, unveiled in 2012, commemorates the 55,573 aircrew of Bomber Command who died in the Second World War — men from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Czechoslovakia and other Allied nations.”
- International Bomber Command Centre — Lincoln
FROM THE RECORD“Opened in 2018, its memorial spire — at 31 metres the wingspan of an Avro Lancaster — is surrounded by walls bearing the names of the 57,871 men and women of RAF Bomber Command who died in the Second World War.”
Personnel
- Dorothy Fenton
FROM THE RECORD“Section Officer Dorothy Fenton served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force at RAF Bomber Command Headquarters in High Wycombe.”
- Stanislaw Kozlowski
FROM THE RECORD“He later served with Bomber Command.”
- Czeslav Novak
FROM THE RECORD“Later he transferred to Bomber Command and flew Lancaster bombers over Germany.”
- Charles Edward King
FROM THE RECORD“Flight Sergeant Charles Edward King from Nottingham was a wireless operator and air gunner with 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.”
- Herbert Sykes
FROM THE RECORD“Warrant Officer Herbert Sykes served as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command, flying 38 missions over Germany in Halifax bombers from RAF Elvington near Leeds.”
- Gwyneth Powell
FROM THE RECORD“Section Officer Gwyneth Powell served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) at RAF Bomber Command headquarters.”
- Richard Fenwick
FROM THE RECORD“Wing Commander Richard Fenwick flew 48 bombing operations over Germany and occupied Europe with Bomber Command.”
- Jan Novak
FROM THE RECORD“He served as a navigator with No. 311 Czechoslovak Squadron, initially on Coastal Command anti-submarine patrols and later on Bomber Command operations over Germany.”
- Ruth Blackwood
FROM THE RECORD“Flight Officer Ruth Blackwood served at Bomber Command headquarters at High Wycombe, where she worked in the operations room coordinating the massive bombing raids over Germany.”
- Leonard Okonkwo
FROM THE RECORD“One of very few Black aircrew in Bomber Command, he earned the Distinguished Flying Medal for his coolness during a mission where his Lancaster was badly damaged by flak over the Ruhr.”
- Cyril Demaine
FROM THE RECORD“He earned the DFC and Bar and the DSO, making him one of Bomber Command's most decorated pilots.”
- Norman Jackson
FROM THE RECORD“Sergeant Norman Jackson of RAF Bomber Command was awarded the Victoria Cross for an extraordinary act of bravery.”
- Rhys Williams
FROM THE RECORD“Leading Aircraftman Rhys Williams served as a wireless operator and air gunner in RAF Bomber Command, flying Stirling bombers from RAF Stradishall.”
- Edna Kirk
FROM THE RECORD“Section Officer Edna Kirk served at the RAF Bomber Command station at Syerston near Nottingham, working as an intelligence officer debriefing bomber crews after their missions over Germany.”
- Seamus O'Connor
FROM THE RECORD“Seamus O'Connor was a Flight Lieutenant from Belfast who served with 83 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, flying Lancasters on night raids over Germany.”
Sources
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