https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/298/10070/LMcClementsR1796607v1.pdf f8efc45259288361bfa45e77486a57ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource McClements, Robert Robert McClements R McClements Description An account of the resource 19 items. Two oral history interviews with Robert McClements (-2022, 1796607 Royal Air Force), one with his wife, Iris McClements (1926 - 2025), and one with his son John Robert Dobson McClements. The collection also contains his log book, service documents, photographs and a model of his Halifax. He completed a tour of operations as a mid-upper gunner with 10 Squadron from RAF Melbourne. The log book belonging to L Kirrage, his flight engineer, is also included. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Robert McClements and catalogued by Barry Hunter and David Leitch. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-09-21 2015-10-21 2018-02-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context McClements, R Requires A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence. 1943: Volunteered for the RAF 19 December 1943 -11 February 1944: RAF Pembrey, No.1 AGS, flying Anson aircraft 23 April 1944 - 20 May 1944: RAF Lossiemouth, No. 20 OTU, Flying Gunnery Flight, flying Wellington aircraft 8 July 1944 - 23 July 1944: 1658 RAF Ricall, 1658 HCU, flying Halifax aircraft 30 July 1944 - 18 February 1945: RAF Melbourne, 10 Squadron, flying Halifax aircraft July 1944 - February 1945: served on 10 Sqn as a Flight Sergeant Air gunner. 3 March 1947: RAF Kirkham, Released from Service, having attained the rank of Temporary Warrant Officer Chris Cann Robert McClements was born on 6 December 1924, in Belfast. He left school at the age of 14 and worked various jobs to help support his family. While there was no conscription in Northern Ireland, in late 1943 while working at the Harland and Wolff shipyard he volunteered to join the RAF, as aircrew. Following basic training at RAF Bridlington and then initial gunnery training at RAF Bridgnorth, he was posted to RAF Pembry to join No 1 AGS and train as an air gunner. Air gunners course · IBCC Digital Archive (lincoln.ac.uk) He completed the gunnery course in February 1944 and was posted to No 20 OTU at RAF Lossiemouth and then on to 1658 HCU, at RAF Ricall, to train on Halifax aircraft. In July 1944, with all training finally completed, he began his operational flying with 10 Squadron at RAF Melbourne flying Halifax aircraft. His early operational trips passed without incident, but on one operation the aircraft experienced heavy icing, causing it to lose all lift and go into an uncontrolled descent. With the aircraft going straight down the order to ‘Bale out’ was given, Robert managed to get out of his gunner position, but then found himself forced to the floor unable to move. In the cockpit, the pilot engaged full power and he and his engineer battled with the control column to pull the aircraft out of its dive. The flight home passed uneventfully although the engineer reported that the aircraft never ever flew again. Throughout the rest of his tour there were other eventful sorties. On one, two of the bombs ‘hung up’ and they had to release them from the carrier units using an axe. On another, the bomb aimer forgot to press the bomb-release button so they had to go around again. Luck was again on his side when, on a night raid, another aircraft on a turning point swung across the top of his Halifax, narrowly missing the top of his gun turret. Robert went on to complete a full operational flying tour of 38 operational sorties over Belgium, France and Germany amassing over 200 flying hours. PMcClementsR1503.2.jpg (1600×1299) (lincoln.ac.uk) After his operational tour, Robert was released from flying duties. He remained at RAF Melbourne and trained as a Unit Fire Officer and he and his flight engineer took charge of the station warrant officer’s office. During a routine site inspection, he met a German prisoner of war who was making a wooden model of a Catalina aircraft for the officers’ mess. Robert asked him to make a model of his Halifax aircraft for him. The aircraft, remarkable in its detail, has been a treasured memento of his time served in the RAF. Robert McClements and his model of Halifax ZA-V · IBCC Digital Archive (lincoln.ac.uk) Robert met his future wife, Iris, on a visit to the Observer Corp HQ at York where she was a serving member. He left the RAF in 1947 having attained the rank of Temporary Warrant Officer. He and Iris settled in England where they worked with her father, in York. Latterly, he and Iris set up their own business in Wakefield selling motor vehicles. Chris Cann Iris McClements (nee Dobson) remembers, at the age of 11, being issued with a gas mask before the war had started. When she was about 13 years of age, her family moved to Eldwick to avoid the bombs. She was a member of the Home Guard before joining the Women’s Junior Air Corp where she attained the rank of sergeant. She recalled wearing a grey uniform, being issued with a bucket, stirrup pump and helmet for fire watching and learning the theory of the internal combustion engine. In 1944, she passed the entrance exam to join the Royal Observer Corps and was based in York, as a plotter. Her role was to listen to information from the spotters via headphones and place it on to the plotting table. This included the number of aircraft, direction of travel, height, and whether they were friendly or hostile. This was to give warning of enemy operations or to track operations heading to Germany. She worked eight-hour shifts which changed each week. The spotters in the outposts were also watching for aircraft that were going to crash-land, so that the crash sites could be identified. Iris visited a couple of these sites. She met her husband to be, Robert, on one of his visits to the Royal Observer Corp HQ in York. She lived on an ex-World War One motor launch in York that the family had used for recreation. When off duty she would often travel into York to go dancing, swimming and to the cinema. After the war she and Robert worked with her father in the motor trade. She then set up business with Robert in Wakefield. Chris Cann Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert McClements' Flying Log Book for Navigators, Air Bombers, Air Gunners, Flight Engineers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text. Log book and record book Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LMcClementsR1796607v1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Review Oct 2024 Description An account of the resource Robert McClements' Flying Log Book for Navigators, Air Bombers, Air Gunners, Flight Engineers’, from 2 January 1944 to 18 February 1945. Details training schedule and operations flown. He served at RAF Pembrey, RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Riccall and RAF Melbourne. Aircraft flown were Anson, Wellington, Halifax Mk 2 and Halifax Mk 3. He carried out a total of 38 operations in one tour with 10 Squadron as an air gunner on the following targets in Belgium, France and Germany: Bingen, Bochum, Bonn, Boulogne, Brest, Calais, Chemnitz, Cologne, Essen, Falaise, Gelsenkirchen, Goch, Hagen, Hanau, Homberg, Kiel, Kleve, Le Havre, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mülheim, Münster, Neuss, Nieppe Forest, Osnabrück, Saarbrücken, Scholven, Soest, Stuttgart, Tienen, Wanne-Eickel and Wesel. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Grant and Pilot Officer Moss. Remarks include notes on targets such as oil refineries, steel works, rail centres, marshalling yards, industrial areas, shipping, troop concentrations, airfields, V-1 sites, and dropping supplies. Notes include Operation Tractable, FIDO and one operation was carried out on only three engines. Robert McClement was assessed as 'a quiet and hardworking cadet' at 1 Air Gunnery School. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Atlantic Ocean Belgium England France Germany Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay Atlantic Ocean--English Channel England--Yorkshire Scotland--Moray Wales--Carmarthenshire Belgium--Tienen France--Boulogne-sur-Mer France--Brest France--Calais France--Falaise France--Le Havre France--Nieppe Forest Germany--Bingen (Rhineland-Palatinate) Germany--Bochum Germany--Bonn Germany--Chemnitz Germany--Cologne Germany--Essen Germany--Gelsenkirchen Germany--Goch Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg) Germany--Hanau Germany--Homberg (Kassel) Germany--Kiel Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia) Germany--Magdeburg Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate) Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany--Münster in Westfalen Germany--Neuss Germany--Osnabrück Germany--Saarbrücken Germany--Soest Germany--Stuttgart Germany--Wanne-Eickel Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) Great Britain Great Britain Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Scholven France--Pas-de-Calais Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1944 1945 1944-08-05 1944-08-14 1944-08-15 1944-08-17 1944-08-27 1944-09-10 1944-09-12 1944-09-13 1944-09-15 1944-09-16 1944-09-17 1944-09-23 1944-09-24 1944-09-26 1944-09-27 1944-10-16 1944-10-17 1944-10-23 1944-10-25 1944-10-28 1944-10-30 1944-11-04 1944-11-18 1944-11-29 1944-12-02 1944-12-03 1944-12-05 1944-12-06 1944-12-22 1944-12-24 1945-01-06 1945-01-14 1945-01-16 1945-01-17 1945-01-28 1945-01-29 1945-02-01 1945-02-02 1945-02-04 1945-02-05 1945-02-07 1945-02-08 1945-02-14 1945-02-15 1945-02-17 10 Squadron 1658 HCU 20 OTU air gunner Air Gunnery School aircrew Anson bombing bombing of Luftwaffe night-fighter airfields (15 August 1944) FIDO Halifax Halifax Mk 2 Halifax Mk 3 Heavy Conversion Unit Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944) Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945) Operational Training Unit RAF Lossiemouth RAF Melbourne RAF Pembrey RAF Riccall tactical support for Normandy troops training V-1 V-weapon Wellington