Wing Commander Kenneth John Lawson
Wing Commander Lawson was a member of the Path Finder Force and was awarded the DSO as both a Navigator and a Pilot
Object stories
Delve deeper into our collections and archives and find out more about the RAF Story.
The Baerlein Brothers
Richard and Anthony Baerlein were brothers, who both served as RAF pilots during the Second World War. On completion of training, Anthony was posted to 51 Squadron, flying Whitley bomber aircraft. He died on 22 October 1941, when his aircraft crashed in Yorkshire. Richard survived the war and went on to become a well-known horse… Read more »
Memorial of a Disaster
October 2024 will mark the 94th anniversary of a disaster that changed the future of travel. On 5 October 1930 the rigid airship the R101 crashed just after 2am near Beauvais in France and immediately caught fire. The largest airship in the world was reduced to a skeleton of metal in minutes. This crash was… Read more »
Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, VC
Scarf’s Victoria Cross was one of only twenty-two awarded to the RAF in the Second World War and the only such award made to the RAF for service in the Far East during the War.
American Experiences in England
In November 1940 two Americans arrived in the United Kingdom. They were employees of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, and with them they carried their company’s latest, highly secret product: a new piece of bomb-aiming equipment. It would be their job to train RAF aircrews to use this equipment, and to evaluate its performance in combat.… Read more »
The Far East Flight
In 1927 the Far East Flight (FEF) was formed to demonstrate that long-range RAF aircraft based in the UK could fly to any part of the British Empire whenever they were needed.
The Importance of a Jerrycan
The RAF is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and achieving net zero by 2040. In support of this aim, the RAF has worked with Zero Petroleum to produce a synthetic aircraft fuel. In November 2021, an Ikarus C42 aircraft, flown by Group Captain Peter Hackett, completed the first flight to be made using synthetic… Read more »
The Battle of Britain – Never Forgotten
Entries in the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour are stories of bravery, courage, loss and grief
The Battle of Britain – Help from Overseas
The Battle of Britain was a diverse effort from people from across the seas and not just English pilots
