Newspaper cuttings concerning Paddy Finucane and pilgimage to Nijmegen by Kathleen Wynn
Title
Newspaper cuttings concerning Paddy Finucane and pilgimage to Nijmegen by Kathleen Wynn
Description
1. Title 'To lead wing at 21'. Relates to wartime history of Wing Commander Paddy Finucane. Handwritten note explains his death and that Ian Wynn was his engineer. 2. Title 'Brought Together'. Relates the meeting of Kathleen Harvey and Kathleen Wynn while on pilgrimage to their husbands graves in Holland. Their husbands were shot down on the same day and are buried side by side.
Date
1985-08-29
Temporal Coverage
Language
Type
Format
Two newspaper cuttings mounted on an album page
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
MWynnIA146838-150414-01
Transcription
Paddy Finucane Spitfire fighter pilot at Kenley killed in July 1942 Wing Leader of the Hornchurch Wing was missing after beating up a machine gun post in France. His Spitfire was hit by return fire. He tried to make it back to England, but over the channel his engine failed & he went straight in. Some of his mates circled over his grave for as long as they dared but all they saw was a patch of oil on the [2 words deleted] surface.
Ian was Paddy Finucane’s engineer when he was training (Ian) for air crewe [sic].
[Page break]
When you [underlined] do [/underlined] go home, Tell them of us & say “For your Tomorrow We gave our Today”.
[page break]
[Newspaper article]
[Photograph]
Paddy Finucane
To lead RAF wing at 21
He’s Acting Wing Commander Finucane now.
In other words, Paddy Finucane, Irish fighter pilot of an Australian squadron, holder of the D.S.O., D.F.C. and two bars, champion shooter-up of Nazi airmen, becomes the equivalent of a Lieutenant-Colonel or a Commander at the age of 21.
Promotion from Squadron-Leader to Acting Wing Commander was revealed last night.
Finucane joined the RAF four years ago, and has already shot down thirty-two Nazi planes,..Finucane, promoted squadron-leader in January became engaged last month to Miss Jean Woolford, who lives next door but one to his parents at Richmond, Surrey.
[Page break]
[Newspaper Article]
[Inserted] D.TE 4
29885 [/Inserted]
Brought together
THE LATEST pilgrimage, to Nijmegen in Holland, by relatives of dead British servicemen, has forged a poignant and permanent link between two war widows.
Kathleen Harvey and Kathleen Wynn had never met before the trip, organised jointly by the Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence, and when they started chatting on the coach taking them to Holland they were surprised to discover that their husbands both served in Lancasters belonging to 100 Squadron.
As they talked on they found that both men, Flying Officer Dennis Harvey and Pilot Officer Ian Wynn, were shot down on the same day, May 25, 1943. When the pair arrived at Jonkerbos Cemetery in Nijmegen they were amazed to find that the two men were buried side by side, both members of the crew of the same aircraft.
It was, in the words of the organiser Piers Storey Pugh, “An utterly extraordinary coincidence.”
Ian was Paddy Finucane’s engineer when he was training (Ian) for air crewe [sic].
[Page break]
When you [underlined] do [/underlined] go home, Tell them of us & say “For your Tomorrow We gave our Today”.
[page break]
[Newspaper article]
[Photograph]
Paddy Finucane
To lead RAF wing at 21
He’s Acting Wing Commander Finucane now.
In other words, Paddy Finucane, Irish fighter pilot of an Australian squadron, holder of the D.S.O., D.F.C. and two bars, champion shooter-up of Nazi airmen, becomes the equivalent of a Lieutenant-Colonel or a Commander at the age of 21.
Promotion from Squadron-Leader to Acting Wing Commander was revealed last night.
Finucane joined the RAF four years ago, and has already shot down thirty-two Nazi planes,..Finucane, promoted squadron-leader in January became engaged last month to Miss Jean Woolford, who lives next door but one to his parents at Richmond, Surrey.
[Page break]
[Newspaper Article]
[Inserted] D.TE 4
29885 [/Inserted]
Brought together
THE LATEST pilgrimage, to Nijmegen in Holland, by relatives of dead British servicemen, has forged a poignant and permanent link between two war widows.
Kathleen Harvey and Kathleen Wynn had never met before the trip, organised jointly by the Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence, and when they started chatting on the coach taking them to Holland they were surprised to discover that their husbands both served in Lancasters belonging to 100 Squadron.
As they talked on they found that both men, Flying Officer Dennis Harvey and Pilot Officer Ian Wynn, were shot down on the same day, May 25, 1943. When the pair arrived at Jonkerbos Cemetery in Nijmegen they were amazed to find that the two men were buried side by side, both members of the crew of the same aircraft.
It was, in the words of the organiser Piers Storey Pugh, “An utterly extraordinary coincidence.”
Collection
Citation
“Newspaper cuttings concerning Paddy Finucane and pilgimage to Nijmegen by Kathleen Wynn,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/11479.
Item Relations
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