550 Squadron Photos
F/O Cowper & Crew
F/O Cowper DFC and crew wereposted to 550 Sqdn from No. 11 Base w.e.f 16/10/44:
- F/O G G H Cowper (P)
- Sgt R H Whitehead (F/Eng)
- F/O R M Mills RCAF (Nav)
- F/Sgt C H Baldwin RAAF (A/B)
- F/Sgt S E Willis RAAF (W/Op)
- Sgt S E Morrison RCAF (MU/AG)
- Sgt H R Graham RCAF (RG/AG)
The picture below shows F/O Cowper and crew.
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Photo as follows:
Left To Right: F/O Cowper, F/O Mills, F/Sgt Baldwin, Sgt Whitehead, F/Sgt Willis, Sgt Morrison, Sgt Graham. Photo kindly made available by Jim Cameron (son of F/O Les Cameron DFC) |
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F/O Cowper
Kindly made available by Richard James |
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"The Stump"
A poem published in the (Boston) Standard in 1980 Kindly made available by Richard James (received from his cousin, George's sister, Babs) |
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Homage to Bader
Kindly made available by Richard James (again received from his cousin, George's sister, Babs) |
Charlie: A journey from the Aussie bush to battle skies far away
In 2022 a book, "Charlie: A journey from the Aussie bush to battle skies far away", was published by Cheryl Baldwin (daughter of Charles Baldwin (Air-Gunner)).
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"Charlie: A journey from the Aussie bush to battle skies far away" Cheryl Baldwin, 22 Nov. 2022, ISBN 978-0645258615, Publisher: Publicious Pty Ltd
This is the story of a young man, living and working as a Jackaroo in rural Queensland. He'd always wanted to fly. In 1941 Charlie enlisted in the RAAF's Commonwealth Empire Air Pilot Training Scheme, as part of Australia's commitment to Great Britain in its fight against Germany. Charlie's decision would take him on a journey from life on the land to far away places, by ship to Canada and then Britain, where the greatest challenges and dangers he faced were in the battle skies over Europe. A fiery crash during training in England was a setback, Charlie taking months to recover before he continued with training. In an aircrew of two Brits, three Canadians and two Aussies, Charlie would fly more than the tour of 30 missions in Lancaster bombers, his role being the Bomb aimer. |
UK Visit, July 2023
The following photographs, taken during a visit to the UK in July 2023, kindly made available by Annaxue Yang (daughter of Charlie Baldwin, A/B).
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Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirby |
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"Just Jane", Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirby |
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550 Squadron Memorial window, St Denys' Church |
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Hanger, North Killingholme airfield |
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Welcome to North Killingholme |
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RAF Waddington |
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Bomber aimers instruments display, RAF Waddington |
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IBCC, Lincoln |
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Sgt A J Welstead who was killed during a training crash at RAF Hixon, Staffordshire (which Charlie Baldwin survived). IBCC, Lincoln |
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550 Squadron Crest, St Clement Danes Church, The Strand, London |
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Sir Arthur Harris (outside St Clement Danes Church) |
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Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park, London |
The full story of Anna's visit will be published in the October 2023 Newsletter, Issue 86 (due out in September).