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Dan Ellin

@danellin.bsky.social

3K followers 1K following 1.4K posts

Historian, Gremlinologist, musician, and father. IBCC Digital Archivist. All views my own. He/him.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · Nov 10

My article Lack of Moral Fibre in RAF Bomber Command and Popular Culture @britjnlmilhist.bsky.social is here: journals.gold.ac.uk/index.php/bj...

A ‘Lack of Moral Fibre’ in Royal Air Force Bomber Command and Popular Culture | British Journal for Military History

journals.gold.ac.uk

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 3h

Guess where I've been this morning. @nmtdambusters.bsky.social @jamesjhistory.bsky.social @lydiajane13.bsky.social #History #WW2

The remains of a Lancaster. Interior. the floor and parts of the fuselage have been attached to a metal frame.

Top, Pip Beck's scrap book of photographs.
Bottom left a head and shoulders portrait of Pip Beck in uniform.
Centre, interpretation about Pip Beck.
Bottom right a copy of her book, 'Keeping Watch'.

A copy of Victor comic 'I flew with Braddock, by Day to Augsburg'. Four panels with Lancasters and aircrew in yellow, black, blue, brown and red.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 20h

What does freedom mean to you?
This pic was drawn by Grand-Sprog One...

Image drawn by Liana aged six showing how the mosaic works on different perspectives. She's drawn the world in surrounded by planets, stars, carrots, ice-creams and trees.

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 20h

Follow the link, click upload images, scroll through your camera roll and pick your images then just wait a second for them to upload. (9 at a time)
Or come along to our drop-in session on Friday 17th October at Lincoln Arts Centre to submit in person.

Lincolnshire Mosaic Of Freedom

This autumn, Lincolnshire is creating a giant digital mosaic to mark 80 years since VE Day — and you’re invited to take part. Share an image of what freedom means to you and be part of the artwork unveiled at Lincoln Arts Centre in November.

nowandthenfreedom.com

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 20h

Share as many images as you like: photos, drawings, paintings, or even everyday moments that make you feel free.
It could be a walk with your dog, a family gathering, a quiet moment in nature… anything that captures your sense of freedom.

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 20h

📸 What does freedom mean to you?

As part of the national project Our Freedom: Then & Now, for which we’re creating a giant digital mosaic printed on aluminium to mark 80 years since VE Day and we want you to be part of it.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 22h

Wizard stuff!

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 1d

I've just bought a ticket for this. @lydiajane13.bsky.social @nmtdambusters.bsky.social

IBCC Lecture & Supper Series - The Invisible Campaign - Bomber Command Gardening Operations 1940-1945. - International Bomber Command Centre

The Invisible Campaign – Bomber Command Gardening Operations 1940-1945 with author, Jane Gulliford-Lowes Aerial mining by RAF Bomber Command was a vital part of the Allied war effort, claiming far mor...

internationalbcc.co.uk

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 1d

I expect so. I'll check.

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 1d

I've been asked to do another talk, a webinar 13:00, 15th Oct. "The International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive:
An Inclusive Approach to Dealing with Difficult Heritage" #History #Heritage

Heritage Horizons | Lincoln Conservation

www.lincolnconservation.co.uk

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 2d

Pic from my talk "Penguins and Chop Girls: Remembering RAF Bomber Command ground personnel 1939-45" for the Lincoln Branch of the @histassoc.bsky.social last night. I really enjoyed it, and I got some wizard questions. @uolhumanities.bsky.social @nmtdambusters.bsky.social #History #WW2

Dan on stage gesturing at a slide on a screen. The slide has a photo of off duty WAAFs outside a building. it is captioned 'Gash trades and Dilution: the experience of WAAFs'. Dan is wearing a Never Mind the Dam Busters T-shirt.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 2d

Don't tell him Pike...

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 2d

Target photo

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 3d

'Get up in crate Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufty, don't come back...' @nmtdambusters.bsky.social #History #WW2

Target photograph of Bremen. No details clearly visible, a small number of light streaks and many pin points of light visible. Captioned '3° F', '6B', '3123 SKELL.6/7.10.44//NT.8" 16250' [arrow] 202° 2033. BREMEN RD.A.27X4.27secs.F/O BOON.A.61.'. On the reverse 'F/O.BOON. BREMEN. 6/7.10.44'.
IBCC Digital Archive item 7538

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 5d

It's a bit breezy...

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 7d

The unveiling of the IBCC spire and memorial was 10 years ago today. The archive team didn't see much of the pomp, we stuck our heads out of our tent to watch the flypasts, but most of the time we were meeting veterans and their families. We took in 24 collections.

Volunteers, veterans and staff inside a large frame tent/small marquee.

Helen talking to a veteran and trying to get a signature on the paperwork...

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 7d

I'm really proud of my daughter, she's just done her first live auction mabob of jewellery for her work.

Screen Grab of her saying cheerio. The orange background kind of goes with the dye in her hair.

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 7d

Another book for the TBR list!

The Aviation Show @theaviation.show · 7d

Join me for a terribly filmed video of me unboxing the first proper book I've written for, Airpower and the Normandy Campaign!

Many thanks to @mike-bechthold.bsky.social for including me in the team! The book is out now in the US and on the 30th in the UK. @usni.org

📖 www.usni.org/press/books/...

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 7d

Congratulations!

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 8d

Listen to the interview with 'Mac' McClements in the IBCC Digital archive here: ibccdigitalarchive.omeka.net/items/show/3...

Laurels for Gisela: Echoes of a sacrifice Award nominee Tees Valley International Film Festival 2025

Robert McClements and his model of Halifax ZA-V
IBCC Digital Archive item 9941

Head and shoulders portrait of 'Mac' McClements in blazer and tie.

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 8d

Robert McClements' short film 'Gisela: Echoes of a Sacrifice' has been nominated for best documentary at the Tees Valley International Film Festival. The film includes shots of the IBCC spire and walls and items from the IBCC Digital Archive. @nmtdambusters.bsky.social #WW2 #History

Gisela: Echoes of a Sacrifice

YouTube video by Gisela: Echoes of a Sacrifice

www.youtube.com

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 8d

This morninge I am mostly getting permissions to use images.

Mark Williams as Jessie from The Fast Show looking out of his shed door.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 10d

A couple of volunteers who were in the office when this collection came in the other week have commented on how excited I seemed. Richard's son took some photos; I may look calm, but inside I was singing and dancing...

Dan (left) and Richard (top right). on a table between them is a portfolio of artwork. The top painting is of a surprised German guard shinning a torch on a pow escaping out of a tunnel entrance just outside the wire.

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 11d

I've been putting this talk together over the last week. I have so much to say...

Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 14d

I'm giving a talk "Penguins and Chop Girls: Remembering RAF Bomber Command ground personnel 1939-45" Monday 6th October 2025 at 6.15pm, @uolhumanities.bsky.social Brayford campus (room TBC). #WW2 #History @nmtdambusters.bsky.social cityoflincolnbranchha.wordpress.com/.../branch.../

Historical Association Lincoln Branch
‘Penguins and Chop Girls: Remembering RAF Bomber Command ground personnel 1939 -1945’
For every member of aircrew who flew a bomber aircraft in RAF Bomber Command there were up to ten men and women who served in supporting roles. Their diverse trades included aircraft fitters and mechanics, WAAF clerks, parachute packers and drivers, and the lowly AC2 who emptied the latrines and drove the sanitary truck. ‘Penguins’, as flightless ground personnel were sometimes called, were marginalised in the RAF, and the women of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), were frequently reduced to sexual objects. Women who had dated an airman who failed to return were shunned as bad omens or ‘chop girls.’ However, without the effort of all these personnel, the bombing campaigns would not have got off the ground. Using published and unpublished testimonies including oral histories recorded for the IBCC Digital Archive, Dan examines the lives of ground personnel on operational bomber stations.
Monday 6th October 2025 at 6.15pm, University of Lincoln’s Brayford campus (room TBC). Refreshments before and questions afterwards.
QR code and images of WAAFs

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 12d

Happy Saturday folks.

Four airmen relaxing outside a wooden shingled building. Playing silly buggers they have handkerchiefs on their heads.
IBCC Digital Archive item 23718

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Dan Ellin @danellin.bsky.social · 12d

Bloody auto correct. If I want to write Woodhall and Kinema I will. Don't change it to wood hall and cinema.

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