Half a million views!

Half a million views!

I must take this opportunity to let everybody know, that today, 75nzsquadron.com passed the incredible milestone of 500,000 views. This amazing figure has taken almost 7 years to reach, but it has truly been worth the wait, given the amazing journey that many others and I have enjoyed in the mean time.

The growth and success of the blog has really been remarkable – I have said it before – but I certainly never dreamt that it would grow the way it has and been able to engage so many people – as I write, the blog contains 721 posts, is followed across all platforms by 852 people and has been visited over 123,000 times.

The interest in the Squadron seems unabated and it’s my plan to get back to the old days of regular posts – we have a lot of new material in the pipeline which will all be share in due course. We have now complete all the large structural projects, so as new information appears, it can all be added to what is possibly the most detailed record of an RAF Bomber Squadron that exists.

This wonderful event in the site’s history is perhaps a timely point to make another important announcement:

Project ORB is complete!

Five and a half years ago I began the slow transcription of the Squadron’s Form 540 “Operations Carried Out” for the duration of 75(NZ) Squadrons existence. Many have contributed, but special thanks must go to Hubert, David and Brian for their protracted efforts to complete certain years. In recent months I have turned my attention to 1942, and the latter months of 1940 – finally it is finished.

Whilst other Squadrons have already had their diary documents transcribed in whole, this is the first time that it has been achieved for 75(NZ) Squadron – an other first for the site!

I have also added a little navigation to make the reading of the individual months a little easier. Clicking in the “75(NZ) Squadron RAF Records” section in the top menu and then clicking on any specific year will give you a page with links to all months in that particular years (as opposed to holding on a year to get the jump off menu that will take you to a certain month).

In addition, at the foot of each month is a link which will take you automatically to the next month – at December you will progress to the following year.

For ease of entry to the records, please click below to go to the relevant year sets:

1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945

Project ORB – July 1940 – completed

Many thanks to Brian for his stalwart efforts with regards to the 1940 Operational Record Books – and I am pleased to announce that July is now complete and can be viewed here.

I must confess, my efforts in the past few years to complete the database and the subsequent creation of the Crew Op History pages has at times perhaps let me forget the ORB project. However, existing as it does as the primary record and reference for the Squadron’s activities during the War, it’s a resource that needs to be valued and ultimately, it’s transcription needs to be completed.

Please, if any of you out there want to help, contact me – there is still a lot to do, but, relative to the number of people who follow this blog, and reflected in this, a daily traffic of about 200 views, the task could actually be completed in perhaps a couple of months……….

fingers crossed………

Project ORB update – Form 540 July 1945 complete – 1945 complete

The final page of the 1945 Form 540, announcing the disbandment of 75(NZ) Squadron, on the 15th October 1945. © The National Archives

I am really pleased and proud, to announce that with the completion of the July Form 540 by Brian, we now have a complete set of Form 540’s for 1945.

Read Form 540 July 1945 here.

This has been a remarkable effort and I feel so proud for the completion of this first year from the ORB records of 75(NZ) Squadron RAF, because I had absolutely no hand in doing it whatsoever – it was entirely completed by people who volunteered to do the job! A massive thank you to all those who completed portions or full months to make this possible;

So massive thanks to the following people:
Brian
Martyn
Gemma
Sarah
Jane

As I  always say  when I make an announcement about the completion of another month of the ORB, please, if you want to contribute something by way of taking a month to do,  contact me! More people read these pages when they are published than have so far stepped forward to help transcribe them, so without wanting to sound arsey on such an upbeat post, maybe its time to put something back into the project!

Thanks again to all those that helped make the completion of 1945 possible

Simon

 

Project ORB update – Form 540 January 1945 complete.

My  thanks as always to Brian for his continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present  another  new complete Form 540 for January 1945.

We now only need July completed and the whole of the 1945 Form 540 is complete.

I will once again, repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Brian, Hubert and Martyn in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View January here.

Form 540 March 1944 and April 1945, added to Project ORB

My repeated  thanks  to Hubert and Martyn  for their continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present  another  2 new, complete Form 540’s, for March 1944 and April 1945.

I will once again, repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Brian, Hubert and Martyn  in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View Form 540 March 1944 here.
View Form 540 April 1945 here.

Form 540 May complete for Project ORB

My  thanks again to Brian for his continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present  another  new complete Form 540 for May 1945.

I will once again, repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Brian, Hubert, Martyn and Dave in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View May here.

Form 540 January, February 1944 and February 1945 – complete for Project ORB

My repeated  thanks to Hubert for his continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present  another 2 new complete Form 540′s for January and February 1944.

Many thanks also to Brian for completing Form 540 for February 1945, which is also now presented within the ORB project collection

I will once again, repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Hubert, Martyn, Dave and Brian in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View January 1944 here.
View February 1944 here.
View February 1945 here.

Form 540 November & December 1944 complete for Project ORB

My repeated  thanks to Hubert for his continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present  another 2 new complete Form 540′s for November and December 1944.

I will once again, repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Hubert, Martyn and Dave in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View November here
View December here.

Form 540 March 1945 complete for Project ORB

Many thanks to Martyn for completing a new month for the ORB project. I am pleased to announce and present a new complete Form 540 for March 1945.

This is Martyn’s first experience at a transcription activity and he noted in his email with the month that the concentrated process of reading, typing and reviewing  made him feel that he was actually within the events being described on the pages of the document – I know this feeling and from personal experience, I have also felt a real sense of sadness when a crew, who through a protracted transcription activity, becomes a regular and familiar set of names, are it feels, suddenly lost again in front of your eyes.

I was told repeatedly at school, that the best way to learn and understand something is to copy it down – I think this is doubly true for the ORB’s.

There are plenty of pages left – maybe some of you might like to see the events of a month with the Squadron in a new light.

See March 1945 here.

Form 540 September & October 1944 complete for Project ORB

Many thanks to Hubert for his continuing efforts transcribing the Squadron ORB’s. I am pleased to announce and present 2 new complete Form 540’s for September and October 1944.

I will repeat my call out to all of you for volunteers to join Hubert, Martyn and Dave in the ORB project – every month that someone finds the time to transcribe, completes another small part of the overall Squadron record and provides more information for people visiting the website.

View September hereView October here.

2 new months for Project ORB – July 1944 & August 1944

Many thanks indeed to Hubert, son of Hubert Rees, lost on the Homberg raid of the 20th November 1944, for kindly taking the time to add another 2 months to the ORB Form 540 Archive. Having done a number myself, Hubert’s effort and patience in transcribing these 2 months is fully appreciated.

If we have any other masochists out there that would perhaps like to give some time to add a another month to the archive – please feel free to contact me and I will give you some homework!

July 1944 can be seen here
August 1944 can be seen here

Project ORB

Many thanks to Sarah for her efforts! Form 540 complete for August and September 1945.

Its interesting to compare and contract the size and relative detail of the Form 540 between the early part of the war and the end. Whilst the Forms from 1943 show an astonishing and (for the typist) frustratingly high level of detail regarding crew movements, by 1945 the detail becomes very scant indeed – good for a transcriber, but very frustrating indeed for the researcher.

Read Form 540 August 1945 here
Read Form 540 September 1945 here

Project ORB

National Archive ©

Very early in my research I discovered the Squadron Operational Record Books (ORB). The ORB’s are actually 2 documents, Form 540 ‘Operations Record Book’  which records the daily activities of the Squadron and Form 541 ‘Detail of Work Carried Out’ which records details of individual operations, including crew lists, a/c serial numbers and designator letters.

The Operation Record Books (ORB’s) of 75(NZ) Squadron (as will all operational units) provide a very good first source of information for the squadron enthusiast and aircrew researcher. This said, whilst the ORB’s provide a very good historical framework, they should certainly not be seen as definitive. Often filled in some time after a raid, by overworked and stressed staff, it is known that errors exist – my father was not listed in the  ’45 ORB for his first op back at 75(NZ) and on another occasion, an Australian crew member with the same surname was transplanted into the crew list. Having said this, that’s what research is all about – test what you know against these records. You will either be proved right, or you might just prove them wrong!

It was while I was reading through the ORB’s I began to wonder about the practicality of transcribing the documents and putting them online as part of the main 75(NZ) website as a searchable database.

The transcription of the Squadron ORB’s is a significant undertaking and it certainly is not something that will be completed quickly. For purely personal reasons I have initially concentrated on the records that cover the periods my father was with the squadron and they will extend beyond those periods as I get the time. From page to page the legibility and quality varies astonishingly. Wherever there is a question regarding the legibility of a name or information it will be identified in red with, when appropriate, alternatives of what that word might be – if the letter or word is utterly indecipherable,  it will be marked with a red ‘x’.

If you have any portions of these records already transcribed, or you would like to transcribe some for the benefit of the wider 75(NZ) Squadron community, please get in contact with me and I will supply you with a few sheets.

So far, to be honest the project has been a bit slow, and is spread over a few months of a few years, though I must give thanks for all those brave typists that have so far given their time and their eyesight to push this project on a bit further.

Some spare time over the holiday period has allowed me to complete Form 540 – the Daily Diaries for January, February, March, April and May 1943. I have decided not to try to put up the Form 541 sections of each month on this blog – formatting limitations would make it very difficult to meaningfully navigate through the crew/ raid lists – these will have to wait for the website proper….

view the completed months so far;January 1943  here
February 1943 here
March 1943 here
April 1943 here
May 1943 here