New to the Collection
Frank Cardwell collection
29 September 2020
We were thrilled to receive recently the personal collection of Pilot Officer Frank Cardwell, who served as a Navigator with RAF Bomber Command in World War Two. The collection, which was generously donated by his family, includes uniform items and insignia, personal effects, service documents, souvenirs, personal papers and photographs.
Pilot Officer Frank Cardwell served as a Navigator with RAF Bomber Command in World War Two. His first operational posting in July 1944 was with No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, flying Lancasters. In November 1944 he joined No. 617 Squadron RAF, famous for its ‘Dambuster’ raids in 1943 and attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944. Frank took part in the Squadron’s last Tirpitz raid on 12 November 1944, when the ship was finally sunk.
Three standout items in the collection are Frank’s medal group, which includes the Artic Star awarded for serving on the Arctic Convoys north of the Arctic Circle (the only example of this medal in the Air Force Museum collection), the brown leather toy dog that went with him on flights as a good luck charm, and his Navigator’s log book which notably features an entry on the Tirpitz raid.
After returning to New Zealand in July 1945, Frank remained connected to Bomber Command, with a long involvement in groups such as No. 44 Squadron and No. 617 Squadron Associations. He passed away in 2014, aged 94.
