The photos on the left were taken at the fly-in Blenheim memorial service at Watton aerodrome in August 2000.
A recently published book about RAF life in WW2, “Familiar Voices” was written by an ex-Watton flyer who attended the service. It is a book about the men who trained at St.George’s College , Northampton as under training air
observers and did their practical flying training at Sywell in the late 1930’s. Two of
them are pictured on page 30 in a photo taken at Sywell in August 1939.Later they
flew in Blenheim bombers.
Frank Harbord reported for training at the “Number 6 elementary and reserve flying
training school” as it was in 1939. On page 35 he mentions that his course was the
last course of air observers to be trained at Sywell. During the war many airmen were
trained in that part of the world, sadly many did not survive the war. In chapter 3 the
grim fate of half of the 55 men on the course is outlined. Massacred in France in May
and June 1940. Fortunately Frank Harbord did not suffer that fate.
