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Clipped Signature - Pat Carden. - Cranston Military Prints

Clipped Signature - Pat Carden.


Clipped Signature - Pat Carden.

Item Code : CLP0120Clipped Signature - Pat Carden. - Editions Available
DESCRIPTIONSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSPRICEPURCHASINGPACKS
Clipped Signature.
Carden, Pat
NO
PHOTO
AVAILABLE

Died : 2008
Squadron Leader Pat Carden DFC AE (deceased)
Joining the RAF in 1932, after qualifying as a pilot, he served as an instructor until 1942, when he joined 15 Squadron at Mildenhall, flying Lancasters. Volunteering for the Pathfinder Force he joined 35 Squadron at Gravely on Halifaxes, followed by 582 Squadron on Lancasters, taking part in many bombing sorties over Normandy, including two missions on D-Day. He finished the war having completed 66 operations. Pat Carden sadly died 28th June 2008, aged 96.
Signature Value : £45
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PROFILE
 
£45.00

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On August 15th 1942, under the leadership of Don Bennet, a new group was formed from Bomber Command to develop specialised target finding and target  marking. Made up purely from experienced volunteers, this elite and highly trained group of men were known as the Pathfinders. Up until this point the means available to Bomber Command of accurately finding their targets were totally lacking and the task of the Pathfinders was to develop techniques to precisely define these targets ahead of the main force.  Initially made up of four Squadrons  Nos. 7 (Stirlings) 35 (Halifax) 83 (Lancaster) and 156 (Wellingtons)  they were based at a clutch of airfields between Cambridge and Huntingdon. Originally part of No.3 Group Bomber Command the Pathfinder Force was directly answerable to C-in-C Air Marshal Arthur Harris until January 1943 when it became a separate group, No.8 (PFF)  .  Personally selected for the task by Arthur Harris, the Australian born Don Bennet, just 32 years of age proved to be and inspired choice to form the Pathfinders. A navigation expert without peers he was widely experienced in flying all types of aircraft including fighters, flying boats and bombers and already an experienced operational bomber captain. Along with many of his colleagues, such as Hamish Mahaddie and John Searby he was responsible for instilling in his men the Pathfinder Spirit - an intangible quality of dedication which bonded them together.  Pathfinder crews used a combination of personal skill and technical equipment to locate their targets. Often flying against overwhelming odds and in appalling conditions they transformed the performance of a bomber force that in 1941 was dropping almost half its bombs on open countryside.  The first Pathfinder unit to fly the Halifax was 35 Squadron based at Graveley. With some of the greatest Bomber Aircrew amongst their number the unit quickly gained a reputation for excellence that was second to none.  This superb painting from one of the worlds most highly regarded Aviation Artists, Gerald Coulson, depicts a Halifax B.MkII series 1A of 35 (PFF) Squadron on an operation over occupied Europe. Flying at around 20,000 feet and completely alone and unprotected, the crew navigate their bomber well ahead of the main force, leading the way to their target.

Leading the Way by Gerald Coulson.
Winter in Northern Europe brings short days, long nights and, for the most part, appalling weather making navigation difficult and flying hazardous, even by todays electronically sophisticated standards.  Throughout RAF Bomber Commands arduous six year World War II campaign, as if atrocious weather were not enough to contend with, day and night bomber crews faced interceptions by enemy fighters, constant flak over occupied territory, and the real and ever-present danger of mid-air collision.  Add snowstorms, gale force winds, freezing temperatures and the comparatively rudimentary navigational aids available at the time, it seems a miracle they were able to continue at all.  But continue they did, and whenever there was the slimmest chance of hitting an enemy target, unhesitatingly, the aircrews of Bomber Command took up the challenge.  460 Squadron, RAAF was typical of the bomber squadrons under overall command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, squadrons manned by volunteer aircrews from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Rhodesia, South Africa, and many other nations opposed to Hitlers Nazi Germany.  To a man they knew the frightening odds against completing a tour of duty, yet many faked their ages just to join this elite band of wartime flyers.  True to their squadron motto Strike and Return, the artist shows Lancasters of 460 Squadron RAAF, returning to RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire following a daylight raid over Germany in the late winter of 1944.  With the sun almost set, chill evening shadows lengthen on a magnificent winter landscape dusted with snow, Lancaster J-Squared leads the mighty bombers as they descend in the fading light.

Strike and Return by Robert Taylor.
 On August 15th 1942, under the leadership of Don Bennet, a new group was formed from Bomber Command to develop specialised target finding and target  marking. Made up purely from experienced volunteers, this elite and highly trained group of men were known as the Pathfinders. Up until this point the means available to Bomber Command of accurately finding their targets were totally lacking and the task of the Pathfinders was to develop techniques to precisely define these targets ahead of the main force.  Initially made up of four Squadrons  Nos. 7 (Stirlings) 35 (Halifax) 83 (Lancaster) and 156 (Wellingtons)  they were based at a clutch of airfields between Cambridge and Huntingdon. Originally part of No.3 Group Bomber Command the Pathfinder Force was directly answerable to C-in-C Air Marshal Arthur Harris until January 1943 when it became a separate group, No.8 (PFF)  .  Personally selected for the task by Arthur Harris, the Australian born Don Bennet, just 32 years of age proved to be and inspired choice to form the Pathfinders. A navigation expert without peers he was widely experienced in flying all types of aircraft including fighters, flying boats and bombers and already an experienced operational bomber captain. Along with many of his colleagues, such as Hamish Mahaddie and John Searby he was responsible for instilling in his men the Pathfinder Spirit - an intangible quality of dedication which bonded them together.  Pathfinder crews used a combination of personal skill and technical equipment to locate their targets. Often flying against overwhelming odds and in appalling conditions they transformed the performance of a bomber force that in 1941 was dropping almost half its bombs on open countryside.  The first Pathfinder unit to fly the Halifax was 35 Squadron based at Graveley. With some of the greatest Bomber Aircrew amongst their number the unit quickly gained a reputation for excellence that was second to none.  This superb painting from one of the worlds most highly regarded Aviation Artists, Gerald Coulson, depicts a Halifax B.MkII series 1A of 35 (PFF) Squadron on an operation over occupied Europe. Flying at around 20,000 feet and completely alone and unprotected, the crew navigate their bomber well ahead of the main force, leading the way to their target.

Leading the Way by Gerald Coulson.
On August 15th 1942, under the leadership of Don Bennet, a new group was formed from Bomber Command to develop specialised target finding and target  marking. Made up purely from experienced volunteers, this elite and highly trained group of men were known as the Pathfinders. Up until this point the means available to Bomber Command of accurately finding their targets were totally lacking and the task of the Pathfinders was to develop techniques to precisely define these targets ahead of the main force.  Initially made up of four Squadrons  Nos. 7 (Stirlings) 35 (Halifax) 83 (Lancaster) and 156 (Wellingtons)  they were based at a clutch of airfields between Cambridge and Huntingdon. Originally part of No.3 Group Bomber Command the Pathfinder Force was directly answerable to C-in-C Air Marshal Arthur Harris until January 1943 when it became a separate group, No.8 (PFF)  .  Personally selected for the task by Arthur Harris, the Australian born Don Bennet, just 32 years of age proved to be and inspired choice to form the Pathfinders. A navigation expert without peers he was widely experienced in flying all types of aircraft including fighters, flying boats and bombers and already an experienced operational bomber captain. Along with many of his colleagues, such as Hamish Mahaddie and John Searby he was responsible for instilling in his men the Pathfinder Spirit - an intangible quality of dedication which bonded them together.  Pathfinder crews used a combination of personal skill and technical equipment to locate their targets. Often flying against overwhelming odds and in appalling conditions they transformed the performance of a bomber force that in 1941 was dropping almost half its bombs on open countryside.  The first Pathfinder unit to fly the Halifax was 35 Squadron based at Graveley. With some of the greatest Bomber Aircrew amongst their number the unit quickly gained a reputation for excellence that was second to none.  This superb painting from one of the worlds most highly regarded Aviation Artists, Gerald Coulson, depicts a Halifax B.MkII series 1A of 35 (PFF) Squadron on an operation over occupied Europe. Flying at around 20,000 feet and completely alone and unprotected, the crew navigate their bomber well ahead of the main force, leading the way to their target.

Leading the Way by Gerald Coulson.
Signatures on these products
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature and is for the unmatted version where available. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo


Squadron Leader Pat Carden DFC AE (deceased)
Died : 2008
*Signature Value : £45

Editions signed :

Clipped Signature.


Carden, Pat
(Squadron Leader Pat Carden DFC AE (deceased))

Joining the RAF in 1932, after qualifying as a pilot, he served as an instructor until 1942, when he joined 15 Squadron at Mildenhall, flying Lancasters. Volunteering for the Pathfinder Force he joined 35 Squadron at Gravely on Halifaxes, followed by 582 Squadron on Lancasters, taking part in many bombing sorties over Normandy, including two missions on D-Day. He finished the war having completed 66 operations. Pat Carden sadly died 28th June 2008, aged 96.

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