Why This Website?

Why this website?

Philip Townsend, the creator of the 625 Squadron Website and the Webmaster, has a special and keen interest in 625 Squadron.  His uncle, his mother's eldest brother, was a pilot of a Lancaster bomber that was based out of the Kelstern station in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.  His name was William Parmenas Cameron.  He was 20 years old when his bomber (JA714) crashed on October 20, 1943 and all of the crew were killed.  This was the first operational loss of the Squadron.  Of special note, his younger brother John "Jack" Cameron died on October 20, 2015.

Philip has felt a special connection with 625 Squadron ever since he was child.  He has done extensive research on what happened to his uncle and his crew.  Philip has visited the station at Kelstern many times and has attended the 625 Squadron Reunion, twice.  Philip has also visited the gravesite of the only crew member, Vernon Albert Snook, whose body was recovered.  Along with his son Cameron, Philip has visited the crash site and sunk a plaque into the Waddenzee at the location of the crash and they visited the memorial at Runnymede.  Philip has flown with his father (an aero mechanic with the RCAF during WW2) in the Lancaster bomber that is based out of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum located at the Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Over the years, Philip has witnessed a tremendous amount of great material that has been made available on the internet about 625 Squadron, but over time, it has become increasingly clear that there is no one website that can be referenced and used as a repository for information about the Squadron and the men and women that served during World War 2.  

There are Facebook sites (625 Squadron Association and Friends of 625 Squadron) but not everyone has or wants to have a Facebook account that is required to access the sites.  Facebook also lacks the tools to gather and present structured data.

After many years of reflection and procrastination, Philip finally decided to create a "full blown" website that can be used to capture information, photos, and stories and to make connections with the families of personnel who have an interest to do so.  The design of the website and the tools used provide the user with the ability to interact with the data that is part of the website.  This is being accomplished through the use of Google Looker Studio, a business intelligence tool.   

This project represents a major undertaking, but over time, he hopes that the website will become a valuable reference site for the families of 625 Squadron personnel and for research.

The website has been developed using Google tools to minimize the costs associated with the website and to leverage the interoperability that is offered by Google. 

There is a Website Finances page which is part of the website.  It will be used to create transparency about the operating costs of the website.  The only immediate cost is the annual domain name registration (about $65 Canadian per year). 

Philip is prepared to cover costs, but if anyone wishes to contribute, they can do so via GoFundMe on the Website Fundraising page.  The proviso will be that contributions will only be accepted up to the amount of the annual cost of operating the website.  This will be the annual domain registration fee and eventually the purchase of additional Google Cloud Storage if and when additional storage is required to accommodate more photos, etc.

Once the total amount of each year's annual operating cost has been covered by contributions, the Website Finances page will confirm this and no more contributions will be accepted until the next year's operating budget is known.  The site's "fiscal year" will run from December 10th to December 10th each year as December 10, 2023 was the date that the www.625squadron.com domain name was purchased.

Philip is prepared to donate his time and skills to make the 625 Squadron Website as useful as possible.

It is hoped that you enjoy your website visit.  Please refer the website to others that may have an interest.