YouTube historian Catherine Warr tells the story of 77 Squadron and their bombing raid on Sterkrade in Germany during World War II – a raid that went tragically wrong.

While the era of online video has introduced many new and hitherto unseen forms and formats, we can also find just as many tried-and-tested genres revitalised by independent creators putting their spin on the familiar.

Born in Leeds in 1999, Catherine Warr has been making historical documentaries on YouTube since 2018. Initially exploring the history and folklore of her beloved Yorkshire, Warr has since covered a wide span of themes and topics, from battles and invasions, to the birth of the Rugby League, to brewing your own ale from a 100-year-old recipe.

While still recognisably part of the lineage of the television documentary, Warr’s focus on local, regional and underrepresented histories shows how online creators can fill in the gaps left by broadcast commissioning, while her engaging, proudly Northern and working class screen presence is a refreshing alternative to the norm – one just as passionate and well-researched, but with space left for a little humour, and a generous amount of period-appropriate dressing-up.

Warr told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus in 2020: "I'm showing that actually it's for everyone. As someone who's very working class and [talks] with quite a broad accent, I'm trying to change the narrative that presenting documentaries is for the institutional historians." It’s no surprise that, according to her website, she has been dubbed Gen Z’s answer to the legendary steeplejack-turned-television presenter, Fred Dibnah.

In this video, Warr visits the site of RAF Full Sutton in the East Riding of Yorkshire to recount the story of an ill-fated bombing raid undertaken by 77 Squadron in June 1944.