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Logbooks
Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession?
If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you.
View Logbook entries
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 16th Jan 2025 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
265273 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
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- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
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Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about No. 181 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2203 items tagged No. 181 Squadron Royal Air Force available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Aldridge "Finn" Haddock No. 181 Squadron Aldridge Haddock was a pilot with No. 181 Squadron at RAF Duxford. His Typhoon fighter-bomber was shot down over northern France by five Me109s in July 1943, but he was able to parachute to safety. Although initially sheltered by the French Resistance, he was eventually captured and held in Stalag Luft III, the POW camp made famous in the movie The Great Escape.
His obituary reads: Doctor Aldridge
"Finn" Haddock, wartime fighter pilot, doctor and artist extraordi-naire, has died peacefully at his Grimsby home after a long illness.
He was a general practitioner in the town for many years, but was perhaps just as well-known for his night-
mare-style paintings
which some attribute to his wartime experiences.
Born and educated in County Durham, he started his career as a fighter pilot in the RAF, doing much of his initial training in the United. States. He was eventually posted to 181 squadron at RAF Duxford in Cambridgeshire.
But in July 1943 while on an airfield destroying mission over Northern France his Typhoon fighter-bomber developed engine trouble and was shot down by a formation of five Me109s. He parachuted to safety with only seconds
to spare as his plane
crashed in flames just metres away.
He was eventually picked up by the French Resistance and hid out in several locations for several months. He once travelled about disguised as a football player.
But he was eventually captured by the Germans while hiding out in a large Chateau. Without a uniform or proper identity, he was accused of being a spy and relentlessly interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo to reveal the names of those who hid him and their escape routes.
Despite threats of execution and extreme pain he steadfastly refused to give in.
Dr Haddock was later sent to Stalag Luft III, the camp of Great Escape fame, from where only a few months earlier 50 of the 72 original escapers were shot.
After the war he pursued his original ambition to become a doctor, training at Durham University.
In 1958 he moved south to Grimsby setting up a general practice at Dudley Street where he remained until his retirement in 1992. He was also company doctor for a number of firms including SCM Chemicals and United Biscuits.
A long-time friend, Sdn Ldr Tony Smith, said "He enriched the lives of many people and always had a willingness to help others. In particular he will be remembered for his generosity and his irrepressible zest for life".
An accomplished
artist whose paintings portrayed a distillation of his life, especially his time under torture, Dr Haddock had 32 one-man exhibitions. His works are now held in
private collections
throughout the world including Paris and New York.
He was also a keen sportsman from his earliest days and was well-known in local golfing, squash, tennis and rugby circles.
Dr Haddock leaves a wife, Patricia, daughter Jamanda, son Alexander and three grandchildren. The funeral will be held at St Giles' Church, Scartho at a date still to be announced.
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Flt.Sgt. Roy Alexander Parnell 101 Squadron Roy Parnell was my father's 1st cousin. I have found his name among POWs in a Memorial Garden in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The information for Roy contains his POW number, 1026 and that he was held in Stalag Luft 3. He was with 181 Squadron and later flew missions with the RAF in 101 Squadron. Roy died in 2008 at the age of 80.
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LAC. Anthony Jones 181 Squadron My grandfather Tony Jones was a member of 181 Typhoon Squadron based at RAF Snailwell in 1942. I am trying to locate other members of that squadron.
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F/O. Geoffrey Edwin Hadley 181 Sqdn. Geoffrey Hadley served 1941 to May 1946 mainly flying Typhoons.
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