The Story of Geoffrey Francis Baker
Page 4.
Table of Contents
SYNOPSIS .............................................................................................................................................. 5
HOW I MET GEOFF BAKER .................................................................................................................... 7
THE PRE-WAR PERIOD .......................................................................................................................... 9
THE WAR PERIOD ................................................................................................................................ 10
TRAINING IN AUSTRALIA ................................................................................................................. 10
TRAINING IN THE U.K. ..................................................................................................................... 13
READY FOR WAR ............................................................................................................................. 14
THE SQUADRON 467 ....................................................................................................................... 14
THE SQUADRON 463 ....................................................................................................................... 18
THE SQUADRON 97 - THE PATH FINDER FORCE .............................................................................. 21
THE END OF OPERATIONS ............................................................................................................... 28
DECORATIONS AND AWARDS ......................................................................................................... 28
PROMOTIONS FOR GEOFF BAKER ................................................................................................... 30
SUMMARY OPERATIONAL FLYING DATA ......................................................................................... 30
OVERALL SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 32
THE POST-WAR PERIOD ..................................................................................................................... 33
THE AIRMEN OF BOMBER COMMAND............................................................................................ 33
THE BOMBER COMMAND WAR MEMORIAL ................................................................................... 34
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 35
TIME SCALE OF MAJOR EVENTS .......................................................................................................... 36
APPENDIX 1 - OFFICIAL PHOTOS OF GEOFF BAKER ............................................................................. 37
APPENDIX 2 – AVRO LANCASTER SPECIFICATIONS.............................................................................. 39
APPENDIX 3 - DUTIES PRIOR TO TAKE-OFF.......................................................................................... 40
APPENDIX 4 - INDIVIDUAL TASKS WITHIN SQ 97 THE PATHFINDER FORCE(PFF)................................. 40
APPENDIX 5 – ONE OF THE STORIES GEOFF TOLD ME ........................................................................ 43
APPENDIX 6 – LOG BOOK EXTRACTS ................................................................................................... 44
APPENDIX 7 – OTHER RELATED DOCUMENTS ..................................................................................... 45
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 48