Your Comments & Stories
We would particularly love to share with our online visitors any stories that former American service personnel have of either serving in the Royal Air Force or working alongside members of the Royal Air Force on various operations during the last century. If you are a member of the USAAF who is currently working on operations with the RAF we would also welcome your insights into both Services.
To share your stories with us please click through to our comment form from the link below.
If you are an online visitor, particularly if you are American, who would like to comment about this exhibition, we would also welcome your feedback. What online exhibitions, would you like the Museum to produce in future? Are there any other individuals that we should be talking about in this online exhibition? Do you have a comment that you would like to make about the Museum after visiting our sites? Please let us know.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Volunteer Staff, Oregon Military Museum
My primary interest is Oregonians in the military. RAF include: Major Albert Burton Mason CO 101 Sq 1918, USMA Class 1915, left to go with CEF 1914, RFC 1917. 1Lt Frank Wilbur Wright 209 Sq April-Nov 1918, age 32! 1916:Pilot; Captain, CO 8th Co, Oregon Coast Artillery; AND Band! F/L Carl L Johnson, 227 Sq, 4 1/3 victories in WW2. There were others...
Philip O. Richart from Portland, Oregon, USA
March 2010
Flt Lt John Worthington Harder
For a number of years, a friend of mine asked me to visit him in Normandy, France, as he had "something he knew I'd be interested to see".
Finally, in 2003, I went. The something?
A panel in a wooden shed covered with the Names, Ranks, Serial Numbers Units & Dates of Capture of 18 Allied Servicemen!
2 American Pilots, 2 American Paratroopers, 13 British Infantrymnen and an RAF Pilot... JW Harder.
My friend knew nothing about them, so I decided that I would find out what I could.
Over the intervening years, I've had some reasonable success, but top of the pile (in one way) has to be John Harder - the wealth of information (photos, letters, etc) retained by the family & willingly shared is huge.
Some of this has been posted on my own website in memory of these servicemen (http://menintheshed.wetpaint.com) and copies of much of the Harder collection placed with the RAF museum at Hendon.
However, to publish this story on the RAF Museum's website is something I could have only dreamed of a short while back!
Thanks to all of those who have contributed to bringing this to the wider community... family, friends and not least Stuart Hadaway at the RAF museum who has shown as much joy and interest in John Harder's story as I have.
Colin Foster from Hyde (England)
6th July 2009
