Interview with Richard Leslie Skepper
Title
Interview with Richard Leslie Skepper
Description
Richard Skepper was born in Sevenoaks and volunteered of the RAF. He served as a flight mechanic on 7 Squadron at RAF Oakington.
Richard Spepper was born in Kent. His ambition was to be a tank driver but his mother escorted him to the RAF Recruitment Centre to enlist. He trained as a flight mechanic and was posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Oakington when he worked on Stirlings and Lancasters.
He enlisted in the RAFVR at his mother’s request despite personally wanting to be a tank driver. He was trained to become a flight mechanic and worked on both Stirlings and Lancasters. Dick talks of some of the work of the WAAF and of needing to have form 700 signed by the aircrew to prove they were satisfied with the current state of the aircraft.
Dick flew in some of the air test flights which were undertaken before an aircraft was deemed flightworthy, but never on an operational flight. Dick’s squadron was involved in Operation Manna flights over Holland. At the end of the Second World War Dick flew on one of the ‘Cook's tour’ flights and saw some of the damage done to area in France and Belgium. He was demobbed in 1947.
Richard Spepper was born in Kent. His ambition was to be a tank driver but his mother escorted him to the RAF Recruitment Centre to enlist. He trained as a flight mechanic and was posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Oakington when he worked on Stirlings and Lancasters.
He enlisted in the RAFVR at his mother’s request despite personally wanting to be a tank driver. He was trained to become a flight mechanic and worked on both Stirlings and Lancasters. Dick talks of some of the work of the WAAF and of needing to have form 700 signed by the aircrew to prove they were satisfied with the current state of the aircraft.
Dick flew in some of the air test flights which were undertaken before an aircraft was deemed flightworthy, but never on an operational flight. Dick’s squadron was involved in Operation Manna flights over Holland. At the end of the Second World War Dick flew on one of the ‘Cook's tour’ flights and saw some of the damage done to area in France and Belgium. He was demobbed in 1947.
Creator
Date
2024-07-10
Temporal Coverage
Language
Type
Format
01:13:50 Audio recording
Publisher
Rights
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
ASkepperRL240710, PSkepperRL2401
Transcription
HB: This is an interview on behalf of the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive with Mr Richard Skepper who is currently living in Warwickshire in a care home and Harry Bartlett a volunteer interviewer. It’s the 10th of July 2024 and the time now is 10:55. Right. Now then, Dick. We can start. Where were you born and brought up, Dick?
RS: Well, I was born in Kent.
HB: Right. Whereabouts in Kent?
RS: That’s a good question.
HB: Try the tricky ones first.
DS: Sevenoaks. You were born in Sevenoaks, dad.
HB: Sevenoaks.
DS: Sevenoaks.
HB: Right. We’ve got present in the room is David Skepper, Dick’s son who will help us out where he can.
RS: Yeah.
HB: But it’s basically down to you now Dick. It’s all in your hands. When you left school can you remember what you did for a job when you first left school?
RS: When I left school. Oh crikey.
HB: It don’t matter if you can’t.
RS: It was in —
HB: We’ll skip that one Dick. We’ll skip that one. What, can you remember what you were doing when you actually joined up?
RS: When I actually joined up it was my mother.
HB: Oh right.
RS: She decided that I was going to join the Air Force. Yeah. And she, that’s where we went. So we went to Croydon and she came with me and that was how I came to you know be in the Air Force and join up. Yeah.
HB: And so, so you volunteered. But your mum volunteered you.
RS: That’s right [laughs]
DS: I think, I think, did you want to be a tank driver, Dad? Was that you wanted?
RS: Eh?
DS: Did you want to be a tank driver?
RS: Oh definitely. Yeah.
DS: That’s what he talked about.
RS: If I had had my way I would have been a tank driver without doubt.
HB: Right. Right. Okay.
RS: It was something that I’d always been interested in. Tanks. Driving.
DS: Yeah.
RS: Things like that.
HB: Right.
RS: In my day.
HB: But mum decided differently.
DS: Yes, she did.
HB: So, mum’s got you to Croydon and you volunteered to join the RAF.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Right. Was that 1940?
RS: Yes, it would be about 1940.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Definitely.
HB: So, you’ve gone to join. How, how did they decide that you would do your job in the RAF? You know, because you were a flight mechanic weren’t you?
RS: I was.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: How, how did they decide you would be a flight mechanic?
[pause]
HB: Had you got experience of working with engines?
RS: It was certain. Let’s think.
[pause]
HB: Yeah. It’s alright Dick if, I mean if you can’t. If you can’t remember that sort of detail don’t worry about it. So you joined the RAF. Right. The war is going on. So, can you remember where you went for training?
[pause]
HB: So there were quite a few training centres for the flight mechanics. I mean there was one in Wales. St Athan.
RS: St Athans.
HB: You did. You went to St Athans.
RS: Yes.
HB: Right.
RS: That’s right.
HB: Yeah.
RS: How did you know St Athans?
HB: It’s almost like I’m telepathic.
RS: Yeah.
HB: St Athans by the time you joined —
RS: Yeah.
HB: The Air Force in 1942 St Athans was probably the biggest training centre for —
RS: Yeah.
HB: Flight mechanics and there was another group there as well. St Athan. Something. It might have been air frame or something like that but yeah. So, so you’re at St Athans.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And you had to learn all about the engines.
RS: Yes, that’s right.
HB: Yeah. Can you remember what you learned?
RS: Well, that’s where I learned [unclear] the —
HB: If I gave you some of the engine names would it help?
[pause]
HB: Vulture. The Vulture engine.
RS: No.
HB: No. Merlin.
RS: Yes. Oh yeah.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The Merlin was the best engine that we owned.
HB: Was it? Right. Did you ever work on the Hercules engine?
RS: On the —
HB: Hercules engine that they had on, they had the Halifax and they had some, some were fitted to.
RS: Not on the Halifax. I never —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I never did work on a Halifax.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: So, so you, you worked, you learned, you’re learning how to work on the Merlin engines.
RS: Yes.
HB: Quite complicated engines aren’t they?
RS: Yeah. Rolls Royce.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. And what, and can, can you remember what your sort of routine work would be on them?
[pause]
HB: Not, not to worry, Dick. Not to worry. It’s just, it’s just different.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Different people remember different things about the Merlin engine, you know.
RS: The Merlin engine was. It was a V engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I always said that it was you know the best V engine that the RAF had really. It was, it was a good, a great engine.
HB: Yeah. Was it, was it air cooled or water cooled? Or glycol cooled?
RS: It was water cooled.
HB: Right.
RS: No. Air cooled, air cooled was Hercules.
HB: Right.
RS: That was the, that was as you say air cooled as opposed to the Merlin one I think.
HB: Did that make it more complicated to work on?
RS: No, I don’t really think so. It was I think — [pause]
HB: It don’t matter. That sort of detail don’t really matter Dick. So, you did your training, you got to the big parade at the end where you passed out and you would be, what would you be? An aircraftsman? Or a leading aircraftsman?
RS: No. I was an aircraftsman.
HB: Right. So, you’ve passed out. You’ve been trained. You’re a flight mechanic and you’re going to work on —
RS: That’s right. Flight mechanic.
HB: Right. And known as a flight mech I’m told.
RS: Yes. True.
HB: So, you then got posted. Did you, did you get posted straight away or did you go somewhere else before you got posted? Can you remember that?
[pause]
RS: Down at St Athans was one of the first places that I went to, you know. To complete my training anyway.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: That’s down in Wales.
HB: That’s right. Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So, so you ended up in 7 Squadron.
RS: I did indeed.
HB: At Oakington.
RS: Oakington.
HB: And so you were there in 1942 and you’ve got your job. It’s all secure. And you’re going to work on the engines. What sort of aircraft did they have at the time?
RS: Good gracious. I should really remember that.
HB: Would it have been the Stirling?
RS: It was the Stirling in, no the Lancaster.
HB: The Lancaster.
RS: That was the plane.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Did you ever get to work on Stirlings?
RS: Yes.
HB: You did.
RS: Yes. In fact, it was one of the first I worked on.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: It was, I suppose. Well. It weren’t the best of them but —
HB: Right. Was it, was it difficult to work on?
RS: I’d much rather work on the Lancaster than that any day.
HB: I’m told it was very high.
RS: Yes, it was. A long way up.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yes, it was indeed. How did you know that?
HB: Oh, it’s amazing what people have told me.
RS: It is. Yeah. It was.
HB: So, so the Stirling is out there. What? Did you used to work on the dispersal areas on the airfield?
RS: Yes. I used to mostly outside, you know and I liked, enjoyed my time on there. It was, I know it wasn’t the best of the Air Force planes not like the Lancaster and all those sort of things.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But I liked the old Stirling.
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was — yeah.
HB: Yeah. And did you, did you used to do the form that they used to give the pilot before they took off?
RS: Yeah, the form 700.
HB: There you go.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So, they’ve all got ready. They’re all going to go on an operation. Your aeroplane’s on the dispersal ready and you’re down there with it. So, what would, what would normally happen then? You’ve been working on the aeroplane. They’re going to go and fly off on an operation. What, what would normally happen then, Dick?
[pause]
HB: Did they run the engines up before they got going or did you stand there while they ran the engines up?
[pause]
RS: Right near the [pause]
HB: That’s not, that’s not that important Dick at all. So, you’re out on the dispersal. They’re going to go out on an operation. You’ve got the engines ready and you’ve got the form 700.
RS: Yeah.
HB: What do you do with the form 700?
RS: The crew signed it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And why did they sign the form? Is that, is there a reason why they have to sign the form?
RS: Yeah, to say that, you know they checked through the, that we had done everything which we needed to do with the plane. So that the crew was happy that it was. That we’d done everything that was necessary for it really. Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Did you always work on the same aeroplane, Dick?
RS: Not always. No. Quite often you know you used to get attached to a particular plane. You know so if the opportunity was there to keep on the same plane you always used to try and do that.
HB: Yeah. Did you have your favourites?
RS: Yes.
HB: I thought you would.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Well can you remember what your favourite was?
RS: [pause] The favourite plane was the Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Without a doubt.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The Stirling was, you know it was a much slower plane.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: It wasn’t one that you could fall in love with.
HB: No. No.
RS: No.
HB: Would you call it a bit of an ugly duckling?
RS: Could do.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Could do quite easily compared with the Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And that sort of thing.
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was. But it was the first four engine plane the RAF had. So it was from that point of view it was very useful because it got everybody used to using four engines and looking after them.
HB: Yeah.
RS: If that was your job on the ground there was you know you’d got to. You used to start off with the port outer engine. That was because it was the, a bare engine as you might call it. It didn’t have any auxiliaries with it or anything like that.
HB: Right.
RS: And that’s how you got to learn about the, you know the aircraft and planes themselves and so that was you know I was really interested in that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I know —
[pause]
HB: Somebody told me once that each of the engines did certain things for the aircraft so so I think one of them did the electrics for, you know the navigator and all that or all the internal electrics. Different engines did different jobs as well as fly the plane. Do you remember any of them? Because the port outer didn’t have anything on it.
RS: The port outer was a bare engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And the one you always used to try to get was the starboard inner.
HB: Starboard inner.
RS: Starboard inner engine. Everybody wanted the starboard engine because it was the, it had all the auxiliaries with it and everything.
HB: Ah right.
RS: You know so when you’d made that you couldn’t go any higher anyway.
HB: Right.
RS: So that’s, that was what everybody wanted.
HB: So how many flight mechs would be working on, on the aircraft?
RS: How many flight mechs?
HB: Yeah.
RS: What? On one?
HB: On say the Stirling.
RS: Well, you’d work on mostly if possible you’d stick with the same one.
HB: Right. The same engine.
RS: Yes, so well no. Not the same engine because as I said you started off with the bare port outer [pause] I’ll get the bloody thing right.
HB: Don’t worry, Dick. Don’t worry about it.
RS: It was.
HB: You tell it how it is.
RS: Yeah, it was the port outer engine and you used to as I said try to keep, work your way up to go from the starboard. It wasn’t the starboard. It was when we used to try to —
HB: You went from the port outer.
RS: To get to the — [pause] yeah [pause]
HB: So you had this ambition to go from the port outer and the ultimate, the real prize was to work on the starboard inner.
RS: The starboard inner.
HB: Yeah. With all the auxiliary power.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Right.
RS: It was the object to get to the starboard engine. Apart from the, like as I say you started off with the port outer which was a bare engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And then you were, your first thing was to try to get to the starboard inner engine which had all the auxiliaries in it and that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And so, you know it was the engine that you wanted to look after.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Because as I said it was everything on it that you wanted.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The, well the aircrew needed and that. Yeah. I know I really enjoyed working on there.
HB: When you were with the Stirlings did you get close to any of the crews?
RS: With the Stirling?
HB: Yeah, when you were on, when you were working on the Stirlings did you get close to any of the actual aircrew flying the aircraft?
RS: Yes. An Australian was, was one that I always remember on our aircrew. He was an Australian bloke. Yeah.
HB: Did you go socialising with them? Did you go down the pub with them?
RS: Did I?
HB: Did you go to the pub with them?
RS: No.
HB: With the aircrew?
RS: No. You used to get, if the opportunity was there to get a flight you’d always take it.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah. Because you, well as I said like you always tried to work on the same plane and the same engine and like if you got attached to a particular plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You always wanted that one.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So if they did, if they flew before they went on an operation if they flew an air test.
RS: Yeah.
HB: That you would try and get a flight with that?
RS: If, yeah because that’s one of the things that they used to do was to take some flights and you know you’d use a good a chance for an opportunity to fly with them on the first flights and that. That wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You was taking off airborne but it was, it wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But it was a nice opportunity to gain.
HB: Did you, did you enjoy it?
RS: Yeah. Yeah.
HB: You did.
RS: I did.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So you weren’t one of those that tried to sneak onboard when they were flying on an operation then.
RS: No.
HB: I’ve heard stories about some of the flight mechanics in particular sneaking onto the aircraft and going off on an operation.
RS: As far as I know they didn’t. I certainly didn’t.
HB: No.
RS: I can’t think of any of the lads, the mechanics like me.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And you know, who did that because you felt really you know you’d got responsibility for the plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Make sure that it was up to date then. You know, you really, it was, well you considered it was your responsibility you know to make sure that everything on that plane before it took off on operational was you’d been out with it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And you used to fly with it then.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But it wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: No. No.
RS: But you know we were, the operational chance was a flight was possible to get air flight with it.
HB: Yeah. Did you [coughs] excuse me so you worked with the ground crew. So, you’d got the fitters and the technicians and those sort of people. Were you, were you sort of friendly with your own crew? Your own ground crew. Were they your mates that worked on the same aeroplane with you? Because there would be a few of you wouldn’t there? They were one or two of you on the ground crew.
RS: Oh, you mean looking after the plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And that. Oh yeah. How many? There would probably be around about seven of us used to be responsible for making sure that everything was right for the plane and that before it went on operational flights. But you didn’t go on an operational flight with them.
HB: No. No.
RS: You did go on plenty of flights.
HB: Yeah.
RS: With them but not operational ones.
HB: Yeah. So, so [coughs] excuse me when you were working on the aeroplane, after you’d finished working on the aeroplanes what would you do? Go to the NAAFI? That sort of thing on the, on the airfield. Is that where you got your meals?
[pause]
HB: It’s not too important Dick. Don’t worry about it.
RS: I’ve got my —
HB: So, as a group, as a group of chaps have you got any, had you got any WAAFs working with you? Had you got any WAAFs working with you? Oh, what’s happened?
DS: I think he’s taken his, leave it dad. Don’t. You won’t hear any, I don’t think you’ll hear any better if you take them off.
RS: Right.
HB: Did you have any WAAFs working with you?
RS: WAAFs. Yeah.
HB: You did.
RS: Oh yeah.
HB: What were they doing?
[pause]
RS: Well, the first thing, I suppose the main thing was the WAAFs and that was all parachutists.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They’d make sure, you know the, that the parachutes and that were properly packed up.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So that you know when they took off and they had their parachutes with them and that. They knew very well that if they had to jump that it was everything was going to be worked alright because the WAAFs and that had made sure that the whole thing was packed up properly.
HB: Did you have any WAAF drivers?
RS: Yes. Oh yeah. Plenty of WAAF drivers. Yeah.
HB: Yeah. What sort of things did they drive?
RS: They used to drive around the airfield. Like that. There was plenty of them. Yeah.
HB: What sort of things were they driving?
RS: Eh?
HB: What sort of things were they driving? What sort of —
RS: What sort of thing? Oh, what vehicles did they drive?
HB: Yeah.
RS: Actually, right from quite small one to very big ones. The WAAFs would drive them.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They were just as good driving the big ones as they were the smaller ones.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They were good drivers. They think the, they had good training and you know they were good drivers.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They really were.
HB: So did you go to dances with the WAAFs? Did you go to dances with the WAAFs?
RS: Did you go to —?
HB: Dances. To a dance on the airfield for entertainment in the evening. For entertainment.
RS: Sorry. I can’t hear you.
HB: Right. What did you do in the evening? Did you go dancing with the WAAFs?
RS: Did you go with a —?
HB: Did you go dancing with the WAAFs?
RS: Oh, dancing. Bloody thing was [pause] I never had any dancing in the wartime. But afterwards I really got to love dancing.
HB: Oh right.
RS: I really did.
HB: Right.
RS: All I say.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I kick myself for not bloody well doing more because once I got used to it I really did like dancing.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: That’s good.
RS: Well, my wife and I did as well and I think that was one of the reasons you know because she enjoyed it and then the two of us went.
HB: Yeah.
RS: We really did have a good time.
HB: So, so you were a bit slow to learn.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. In, so you, when you finished with the Stirling you went to the Lancaster.
RS: Right.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yes. I don’t think there was anything in between that I went —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I went from the Stirling to the Lancaster.
HB: What did you do with the Lanc?
RS: Sorry?
HB: What did you do with the Lancaster?
RS: In the Lancaster it was one of the jobs that I used to always get lumbered with was to sit alongside the pilot. And what I wanted to do was to fly in the bloody rear turret.
HB: The rear turret.
RS: Yeah. If I had an opportunity to fly in the rear turret and that I thought that was great fun to me.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But unfortunately, it was mine was mostly sitting alongside the pilot.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah. The flight engineer.
HB: Yeah.
RS: That was my position.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did you, did you spend time with the flight engineers? Did you spend time with the flight engineer?
RS: Did I spend time with it?
HB: With the engineer. The flight engineer.
RS: Yeah. With the flight engineer. Oh yeah. Yeah, as I said. I did a lot of flying as a flight engineer. I’d have rather have been in different places and as I said —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I would have loved to have been a rear gunner or something like that. You know. I loved shooting. I was good at bloody shooting.
HB: Were you?
RS: I really was. I could hit anything when I was shooting.
HB: Did, did you apply to be an air gunner?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Did you ever apply to be an air gunner?
RS: No. As I said the trouble was that I flew as a flight engineer alongside the pilot.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I think it was because of my engineering side and that that I was always —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Got lumbered with sitting next to the pilot. It used to annoy me at times. But there it was.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You did what you were told to bloody well do.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So you didn’t you didn’t think of volunteering as an air gunner. You didn’t think to volunteer as an air gunner.
RS: Not as an air gunner. I didn’t. No. I think it was mainly because I used to, once I got to fly alongside the pilot I found it quite interesting.
HB: Okay.
RS: Because there was, you had, there were four levers for you know and you used to help the old pilot out but I thought that was a nice position to be in.
HB: Yes.
RS: I did like that. Yeah.
HB: So you were working on [coughs] excuse me again. So you were working on Lancasters, working on the engines and once they’d flown, once they’d taken off and gone on an operation did you used to come back and wait for them to land?
RS: When they had gone as you say on a flight, on an operational flight and such you were always, well I would always liked to know that it was back alright and everything like that. You was interested in that particular plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You’d spend a lot of time you know working on it. Working on the engines.
HB: Yeah.
RS: As far as I was concerned.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But of course, you could be working on a different part of it. It depends on what you were, what they found that you were better at.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And looking afterwards.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I, as I say I did like the Lancaster and that was, it was a good plane.
HB: Yeah. Did you, did you lose many aeroplanes Dick? Did you lose many aeroplanes? Did you lose many aeroplanes?
RS: Did we lose many aeroplanes? Too many as far as I was concerned. We did lose quite a few. Yeah. Yeah. I was always a [pause] something that you really did miss. The fact that you’d lost some of your like the ones the crews that we whether he was ground or flying or anything like that. It was always a particular aircraft that you’d get attached to. I don’t know why because most of the Lancasters they were all the same but they seemed to be different because you used to get so attached to it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I know I used to love the old Lancaster.
HB: Did you, did you —
RS: But I — sorry.
HB: No. No. You carry on.
RS: No, I was just going to say the Halifaxes are nice but I could never get on with that, you know.
HB: Yeah. Did, did you, did you actually go on any of the end of tour, you know when the aircrew did thirty? They did thirty operations and they ended the tour did you ever go out with them to celebrate?
RS: Did I celebrate when they came back or anything like that? No. I can’t recall us doing that. No. I know what you mean now but when the end of an operational flight or anything like that the, I don’t recall us you know all getting in sort of together and go out.
HB: No. No.
RS: No.
HB: No.
RS: The, one of the things they used to love to do was they’d get black smoke and burned flying across the ceilings and that.
HB: What? In the pub?
RS: Yeah. I don’t know why [laughs] but for some reason or other it seemed to be a good thing to do.
HB: Yeah. Did they write their name in it? Did they write their names?
RS: Oh yeah. Yeah.
HB: In it.
RS: They did. Yeah. I thought that was really [pause] I can’t understand why we did some of the things like that but —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I suppose it was just being a [pause]
HB: So, Dick, what else did you get up to? What else did you get up to? [pause] Or is that all a secret?
[pause]
HB: Can you, can you remember where your favourite pub was? Can you? Did you have a favourite pub?
RS: Yeah. The, the favourite pub was just down the road from there. We used to get through a hole in the hedge and off down there. Yeah. Yeah. We did.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah. It was handy because as I say we could break through the old hedge and down there and then to the pub.
HB: Did you ever get caught?
RS: I didn’t anyway. I wouldn’t like to say there weren’t some of them got caught but —
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was your luck I suppose really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So, you carried on working on the Lancasters right through to the end of the war.
RS: Halifaxes no.
HB: No. Lancasters.
RS: Lancasters.
HB: You worked on the Lancaster right to the end of the war.
RS: I did indeed.
HB: Yeah.
RS: A lovely plane. One you —
HB: Did they change? Did they change very much, Dick? Did the Lancaster change very much towards the end of the war?
RS: I think the Lancaster lasted right to the end. It was —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Well, as far as I was concerned right to the end it was the best bomber. It had the best bomb bay. There wasn’t a bomber of any country American or anything that beat it. It was an enormous bomb bay and I think the Lancaster with the size of its enormous bomb bay was fantastic. It really was.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. So as you come towards the end of the war, Dick what, what were you looking forward to as the war was coming to the end? What were you looking forward to?
[pause]
RS: Well, I as you know as far as I was concerned was mostly engineering.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I got attached to being interested or at least, or the main thing I was interested in was aircraft engines and that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I really did like that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Because I liked the old Merlins and they were with the V engines. They were lovely engines to, to work on.
HB: Yeah. Did you, did you, do you remember being demobbed? Do you remember what you had to do for your demob?
RS: Went —
HB: Do you remember what you had to do for your demob? When you finished.
RS: Oh when —
HB: When you actually finished at the end of the war.
RS: When I finished.
HB: Yeah.
DS: I think dad stayed in service until 1947. That’s when he —
HB: Yeah.
DS: He left the RAF in 1947.
HB: So you stayed in after the war then, Dick.
RS: No, I was thinking. I was thinking the period like when the fighting finished.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And all I did was to [pause] become because I know this [pause]
HB: Was there a chance Dick that your squadron might have had to go to the Far East to fight. To fight the Japanese?
RS: Yes. Alec was the one who went out to the Pacific and that was my middle brother.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Right.
RS: And he, he went out there and unfortunately I didn’t get —
HB: You didn’t.
RS: The opportunity.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: Right.
RS: But —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Geoffrey, he got stuck in the Channel with [pause] what was it?
HB: What service was he in? Was he in the Navy?
RS: I know I didn’t get the opportunity that he did.
DS: I think dad’s two brothers were both in the RAF.
HB: Were they?
DS: Yeah.
HB: Right.
DS: Either.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah.
DS: Two brothers there I think.
HB: Oh right.
DS: The one in the bottom left-hand corner is Alec who was posted off to Asia.
HB: Yeah.
DS: And then the one on the, sorry the right-hand corner is Alec posted off to Asia and the bottom left is Geoff. The one dad is talking about there.
HB: Yeah. We’re looking at a picture of a Lancaster. A lovely print of a Lancaster with pictures of Dick and his two brothers.
DS: And his father who fought in the First World War just on the —
HB: Behind the —
DS: In the left-hand corner.
HB: Right.
DS: Yeah.
HB: Wow. That’s a lovely picture, Dick.
RS: It is and our father in the top corner. He was in the First World War and of course when the Second World War came on he didn’t actually take part in the fighting in the Second World War. He did in the First World War but in the second one he, I think he got [laughs] he was getting a bit old probably.
HB: Yeah. Quite probably. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a sad thing isn’t it?
RS: Yeah.
HB: It’s always the youngsters that go to war.
DS: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Just one thing I forgot to ask you, Dick. Did you ever go on one of the Cook’s tour flights?
RS: Oh yeah. Cook’s tour. How did you know about them?
HB: Well —
RS: Yeah. Yeah.
HB: That was in a Lancaster was it?
RS: In a Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And they flew you out. Where did you go? Can you remember? The Ruhr Valley?
[pause]
RS: We went over, over the water there. No, it wasn’t the Channel. It must have been the North Sea.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So it was definitely flying over the North Sea with them. Yeah. Yeah. Of course that was interesting.
HB: Did you see what, did you see much of the damage? Did you see much of the damage that they’d done when they were bombing?
RS: The damage yeah. [pause] France, Belgium, were two areas where we saw quite a bit of damage. Where else was it? Of course, we went down to the Mediterranean and what was that place where I went?
[pause]
HB: It’s not, it’s not too important, Dick. Really. Dick, can I just ask you one thing, Dick? Towards the end of the war did you take part in the, when the, did you get the aeroplanes ready for when they took the food?
RS: Yeah.
HB: To the Dutch.
RS: Yeah. We did. What was I going to say? I’ve forgotten what it was called. Cook’s.
HB: Operation —
RS: Cook’s tour? No.
HB: No. Operation Manna.
RS: Operation Manna. Yes.
HB: And your, did your squadron take part in that?
RS: Yes. Yeah. Yes, it did.
HB: Yeah. That was quite an important job wasn’t it really?
RS: Yeah. It was.
HB: And did they actually fly out from your airfield at Oakenfield? Sorry. Oakington. Did they fly out from Oakington to go to Holland? Or did they go somewhere else to get the food?
RS: Oh, to get the food.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did they fly straight out of Oakington to go to Holland with the food? Can you remember? It’s not important if you don’t you know.
[pause]
HB: Yeah. That’s alright, Dick. You know when the war finished and you stayed in. You stayed in after the war finished.
RS: Yes.
HB: Didn’t you? What were you doing the same job all the way through?
RS: Yeah. Mostly servicing Lancasters.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I can remember doing those.
HB: And was that still at Oakington?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Was that still at Oakington?
RS: Oakington.
HB: Yeah. Were you still at Oakington when you did that?
RS: Let me think. At Oakington [pause] No. It wasn’t at Oakington. It was, what the hell was the name of that place?
HB: It’s not important Dick.
RS: It’s amazing how you lose the track of these bloody places really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I did because I —
HB: Just to take you back a little bit when you, when you were at Oakington with the Lancasters.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did you come across Wing Commander Craig? They used to call him Pathfinder Craig.
RS: No, I can’t recall him.
HB: Right. That’s no —
RS: No. No. No.
HB: He was, he was with the squadron but I didn’t know if you —
RS: Yeah.
HB: If you’d come across his name. Yeah. No, that’s not important. I’ve got some, I’ve got some bits of paper. I don’t know if you can see these very well but I’ve got a, I’ve got a picture of a Lancaster and the pilot was called McCullough and he was an Australian. And that’s got the ground crew with it.
[pause]
HB: Can you see them alright, Dick?
[pause]
HB: Just have a look at that. I didn’t know if, the trouble is the research doesn’t give a lot of details.
DS: No. No.
HB: There’s another one here, Dick. Theres another one there. That’s the, that was the ground crew that did all the radar at Oakington. I didn’t know if you knew any of them.
[pause]
RS: 1945. There’s some WAAFs there.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Blimey [laughs] two, three, four, five, six [pause] that’s odd.
HB: I didn’t know if you recognised any of them.
[pause]
HB: I’ve got another one here, Dick.
[pause]
HB: I’ve got another picture here, Dick of MG-J for Johnny.
RS: MG.
HB: MG J for Johnny.
RS: MG. That was my squadron.
HB: Yeah.
RS: MG.
HB: And that, that’s a crew that was lost.
RS: And J-Johnny.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah, J-Johnny.
HB: That was, that’s got some ground crew in there in that picture. That was, that was lost. I wrote it on the bottom there. That was lost. That was lost in April 1944 that one. The aeroplane was shot down and the crew were lost. But it’s got some ground crew on there and I didn’t know if you knew any of them.
[pause]
RS: There’s no WAAFs in that one at all. Lancaster the bomber behind.
HB: Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
RS: It’s a Lancaster.
HB: Yeah. Oh well. Thanks ever so much for having a look, Dick. I didn’t know if it would jog your memory at all.
RS: MG J-Johnny.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Oh dear.
HB: Did you work, did you work on that aeroplane?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Did you work on that aeroplane?
RS: I was thinking. I’m just trying to recall. MG definitely.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
RS: Yeah, yeah. I worked on most of the MGs. Yeah. I was just looking to see if I could see myself.
HB: Yeah. Well, I wondered. I did wonder.
RS: Yeah.
HB: There’s a couple on there –
RS: Yeah.
HB: Could be you.
RS: Yeah, because I, on the MGs I worked on most of those.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Well –
RS: It would be nice to recognise myself.
HB: Yeah. Well, we’re coming up, we’re coming up to an hour, Dick. We’ve come up to about an hour in the interview now so and it’s not far off dinnertime is it?
RS: Yes, it is. Yeah.
HB: You know when, when you finally came out the RAF, Dick. What did you, what did you do when you came when you finished in the RAF?
[pause]
HB: Did you carry on in engineering?
[pause]
RS: I worked with animals.
HB: With animals?
RS: Yeah.
HB: Oh right. Farm animals?
RS: Farm animals. Yeah.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I did. Yeah. I enjoyed it. My time working with them. Yeah. I don’t know how I came to do that.
DS: Did you work, did you work at Vauxhall as well for a while, dad? In Luton.
RS: Yeah. I wonder why, how I got lumbered with that. But I enjoyed it.
HB: Yeah. So you went to work, you went to work for Vauxhall at Luton. Was it you went to work for Vauxhall at Luton? Vauxhall at Luton.
RS: Luton.
HB: Yeah.
DS: For Vauxhall. Do you remember dad?
RS: Yeah. But no. Well when I say no I was wrong in a way because I did go there but I did not like it.
HB: No.
RS: I went to what was it?
DS: Was it the Rootes Group?
RS: It was [pause] oh dear. I really enjoyed myself there.
DS: At Rootes.
RS: Rootes.
DS: Rootes Group. Yeah. That’s where he was.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah. They were really really good. How did you come to remember that?
DS: Because you’ve told me before. I remembered.
RS: I must have done in actual fact. But I did. Yes. It was really good days.
HB: So that’s when they were making the Hillman cars. The Hillman cars. Rootes Group –
DS: Yes.
HB: Were making Hillmans.
DS: Hillman Minx.
HB: Hillman Minx. Hillman Imp.
DS: The Hillman Imp and The Hillman Minx.
RS: The Hillman Imp.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Oh, yeah. I remember the old Imp. Yeah. It was a lovely little old plane [laughs] plane. It wasn’t a plane. It was a bloody car.
DS: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
HB: So, so after, so after the war. You met your wife after the war.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Had she, had your wife been in in the Services in the war? Had your wife been in the Services in the war? During the war.
RS: Green.
DS: They actually, they got married on the 30th of June 1945.
HB: Right.
DS: Dad was twenty one when they got married. That was his twenty first birthday.
HB: Yeah.
DS: When they got married. I don’t think he remembers that. Do you remember when you got married to mum it was 1945. Your twenty first birthday. So your birthday was the same day that you got married.
RS: My birthday was the 30th.
DS: Yes, and you got married on the 30th of June 1945.
RS: Yes, I did.
DS: Yes.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So did you meet your wife in the RAF?
RS: No. Reine wasn’t in the RAF. I can’t even remember how I —
DS: Did you tell me that story that someone gave you her address to write to? You told me that you, someone gave you, one of your friends gave you her address because you wanted to write to her.
RS: Oh yeah.
DS: A sweetheart.
RS: That’s true. That’s how I got —
DS: That’s how you met her.
RS: Yeah. That’s how I come to because he gave, he said, ‘Write to her.’ That’s right. Yeah. And I ended up by marrying her.
DS: Yes. Cool eh.
RS: Yeah. Sort of, yeah.
HB: Right. Well, I think —
RS: It’s true though.
HB: I think we’ve kept you going long enough, Dick. I would think you’re getting a bit tired now.
RS: Might [laughs] yeah.
HB: Just to finish off have you got a special memory from the war when you were with Bomber Command?
[pause]
HB: It sounds like you enjoyed your job during the war.
RS: I was just looking across to see if it would wake my mind up over there. During the wartime Alec, Geoff and dad was, he didn’t do any fighting. He was fighting in the First World War but not the second.
HB: Yeah. Did both Geoff and Alec survive? Did Geoff and Alec survive the war?
RS: Yes. Alec and Geoff both survived the war. Geoff was in the [pause] it wasn’t the Navy. What was that? Oh gosh.
HB: Oh, was he, was Geoff in the air sea rescue? Was Geoff in the air sea rescue?
RS: Was —?
HB: Air sea rescue.
RS: Aircrew rescue. That was Alec. No. That was Geoff.
HB: Right.
RS: That’s right.
HB: So, so he was, he was in the —
RS: Yeah.
HB: Air sea. Yeah. Right.
RS: Yes, that was Geoff. Yeah.
HB: Right. Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Well, I think —
RS: Queer how you mix them up.
HB: Yeah, well —
RS: Yeah.
HB: I do that all the time. Dick, can I, can I just finish the interview by saying thank you very much.
RS: No, I –
HB: You know.
RS: It’s been quite interesting really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: To go, trying to go back to remember.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You know some of the things that I think in a way we were fortunate during the war because Alec, Geoff and myself and everybody went through alright.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So —
HB: Yeah.
RS: We were from that point of view yeah quite lucky.
HB: That’s a lovely note to finish on.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Thanks ever so much, Dick. I’m going to end the interview now.
RS: Well, I was born in Kent.
HB: Right. Whereabouts in Kent?
RS: That’s a good question.
HB: Try the tricky ones first.
DS: Sevenoaks. You were born in Sevenoaks, dad.
HB: Sevenoaks.
DS: Sevenoaks.
HB: Right. We’ve got present in the room is David Skepper, Dick’s son who will help us out where he can.
RS: Yeah.
HB: But it’s basically down to you now Dick. It’s all in your hands. When you left school can you remember what you did for a job when you first left school?
RS: When I left school. Oh crikey.
HB: It don’t matter if you can’t.
RS: It was in —
HB: We’ll skip that one Dick. We’ll skip that one. What, can you remember what you were doing when you actually joined up?
RS: When I actually joined up it was my mother.
HB: Oh right.
RS: She decided that I was going to join the Air Force. Yeah. And she, that’s where we went. So we went to Croydon and she came with me and that was how I came to you know be in the Air Force and join up. Yeah.
HB: And so, so you volunteered. But your mum volunteered you.
RS: That’s right [laughs]
DS: I think, I think, did you want to be a tank driver, Dad? Was that you wanted?
RS: Eh?
DS: Did you want to be a tank driver?
RS: Oh definitely. Yeah.
DS: That’s what he talked about.
RS: If I had had my way I would have been a tank driver without doubt.
HB: Right. Right. Okay.
RS: It was something that I’d always been interested in. Tanks. Driving.
DS: Yeah.
RS: Things like that.
HB: Right.
RS: In my day.
HB: But mum decided differently.
DS: Yes, she did.
HB: So, mum’s got you to Croydon and you volunteered to join the RAF.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Right. Was that 1940?
RS: Yes, it would be about 1940.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Definitely.
HB: So, you’ve gone to join. How, how did they decide that you would do your job in the RAF? You know, because you were a flight mechanic weren’t you?
RS: I was.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: How, how did they decide you would be a flight mechanic?
[pause]
HB: Had you got experience of working with engines?
RS: It was certain. Let’s think.
[pause]
HB: Yeah. It’s alright Dick if, I mean if you can’t. If you can’t remember that sort of detail don’t worry about it. So you joined the RAF. Right. The war is going on. So, can you remember where you went for training?
[pause]
HB: So there were quite a few training centres for the flight mechanics. I mean there was one in Wales. St Athan.
RS: St Athans.
HB: You did. You went to St Athans.
RS: Yes.
HB: Right.
RS: That’s right.
HB: Yeah.
RS: How did you know St Athans?
HB: It’s almost like I’m telepathic.
RS: Yeah.
HB: St Athans by the time you joined —
RS: Yeah.
HB: The Air Force in 1942 St Athans was probably the biggest training centre for —
RS: Yeah.
HB: Flight mechanics and there was another group there as well. St Athan. Something. It might have been air frame or something like that but yeah. So, so you’re at St Athans.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And you had to learn all about the engines.
RS: Yes, that’s right.
HB: Yeah. Can you remember what you learned?
RS: Well, that’s where I learned [unclear] the —
HB: If I gave you some of the engine names would it help?
[pause]
HB: Vulture. The Vulture engine.
RS: No.
HB: No. Merlin.
RS: Yes. Oh yeah.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The Merlin was the best engine that we owned.
HB: Was it? Right. Did you ever work on the Hercules engine?
RS: On the —
HB: Hercules engine that they had on, they had the Halifax and they had some, some were fitted to.
RS: Not on the Halifax. I never —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I never did work on a Halifax.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: So, so you, you worked, you learned, you’re learning how to work on the Merlin engines.
RS: Yes.
HB: Quite complicated engines aren’t they?
RS: Yeah. Rolls Royce.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. And what, and can, can you remember what your sort of routine work would be on them?
[pause]
HB: Not, not to worry, Dick. Not to worry. It’s just, it’s just different.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Different people remember different things about the Merlin engine, you know.
RS: The Merlin engine was. It was a V engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I always said that it was you know the best V engine that the RAF had really. It was, it was a good, a great engine.
HB: Yeah. Was it, was it air cooled or water cooled? Or glycol cooled?
RS: It was water cooled.
HB: Right.
RS: No. Air cooled, air cooled was Hercules.
HB: Right.
RS: That was the, that was as you say air cooled as opposed to the Merlin one I think.
HB: Did that make it more complicated to work on?
RS: No, I don’t really think so. It was I think — [pause]
HB: It don’t matter. That sort of detail don’t really matter Dick. So, you did your training, you got to the big parade at the end where you passed out and you would be, what would you be? An aircraftsman? Or a leading aircraftsman?
RS: No. I was an aircraftsman.
HB: Right. So, you’ve passed out. You’ve been trained. You’re a flight mechanic and you’re going to work on —
RS: That’s right. Flight mechanic.
HB: Right. And known as a flight mech I’m told.
RS: Yes. True.
HB: So, you then got posted. Did you, did you get posted straight away or did you go somewhere else before you got posted? Can you remember that?
[pause]
RS: Down at St Athans was one of the first places that I went to, you know. To complete my training anyway.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: That’s down in Wales.
HB: That’s right. Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So, so you ended up in 7 Squadron.
RS: I did indeed.
HB: At Oakington.
RS: Oakington.
HB: And so you were there in 1942 and you’ve got your job. It’s all secure. And you’re going to work on the engines. What sort of aircraft did they have at the time?
RS: Good gracious. I should really remember that.
HB: Would it have been the Stirling?
RS: It was the Stirling in, no the Lancaster.
HB: The Lancaster.
RS: That was the plane.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Did you ever get to work on Stirlings?
RS: Yes.
HB: You did.
RS: Yes. In fact, it was one of the first I worked on.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: It was, I suppose. Well. It weren’t the best of them but —
HB: Right. Was it, was it difficult to work on?
RS: I’d much rather work on the Lancaster than that any day.
HB: I’m told it was very high.
RS: Yes, it was. A long way up.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yes, it was indeed. How did you know that?
HB: Oh, it’s amazing what people have told me.
RS: It is. Yeah. It was.
HB: So, so the Stirling is out there. What? Did you used to work on the dispersal areas on the airfield?
RS: Yes. I used to mostly outside, you know and I liked, enjoyed my time on there. It was, I know it wasn’t the best of the Air Force planes not like the Lancaster and all those sort of things.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But I liked the old Stirling.
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was — yeah.
HB: Yeah. And did you, did you used to do the form that they used to give the pilot before they took off?
RS: Yeah, the form 700.
HB: There you go.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So, they’ve all got ready. They’re all going to go on an operation. Your aeroplane’s on the dispersal ready and you’re down there with it. So, what would, what would normally happen then? You’ve been working on the aeroplane. They’re going to go and fly off on an operation. What, what would normally happen then, Dick?
[pause]
HB: Did they run the engines up before they got going or did you stand there while they ran the engines up?
[pause]
RS: Right near the [pause]
HB: That’s not, that’s not that important Dick at all. So, you’re out on the dispersal. They’re going to go out on an operation. You’ve got the engines ready and you’ve got the form 700.
RS: Yeah.
HB: What do you do with the form 700?
RS: The crew signed it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And why did they sign the form? Is that, is there a reason why they have to sign the form?
RS: Yeah, to say that, you know they checked through the, that we had done everything which we needed to do with the plane. So that the crew was happy that it was. That we’d done everything that was necessary for it really. Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Did you always work on the same aeroplane, Dick?
RS: Not always. No. Quite often you know you used to get attached to a particular plane. You know so if the opportunity was there to keep on the same plane you always used to try and do that.
HB: Yeah. Did you have your favourites?
RS: Yes.
HB: I thought you would.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Well can you remember what your favourite was?
RS: [pause] The favourite plane was the Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Without a doubt.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The Stirling was, you know it was a much slower plane.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
RS: It wasn’t one that you could fall in love with.
HB: No. No.
RS: No.
HB: Would you call it a bit of an ugly duckling?
RS: Could do.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Could do quite easily compared with the Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And that sort of thing.
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was. But it was the first four engine plane the RAF had. So it was from that point of view it was very useful because it got everybody used to using four engines and looking after them.
HB: Yeah.
RS: If that was your job on the ground there was you know you’d got to. You used to start off with the port outer engine. That was because it was the, a bare engine as you might call it. It didn’t have any auxiliaries with it or anything like that.
HB: Right.
RS: And that’s how you got to learn about the, you know the aircraft and planes themselves and so that was you know I was really interested in that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I know —
[pause]
HB: Somebody told me once that each of the engines did certain things for the aircraft so so I think one of them did the electrics for, you know the navigator and all that or all the internal electrics. Different engines did different jobs as well as fly the plane. Do you remember any of them? Because the port outer didn’t have anything on it.
RS: The port outer was a bare engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And the one you always used to try to get was the starboard inner.
HB: Starboard inner.
RS: Starboard inner engine. Everybody wanted the starboard engine because it was the, it had all the auxiliaries with it and everything.
HB: Ah right.
RS: You know so when you’d made that you couldn’t go any higher anyway.
HB: Right.
RS: So that’s, that was what everybody wanted.
HB: So how many flight mechs would be working on, on the aircraft?
RS: How many flight mechs?
HB: Yeah.
RS: What? On one?
HB: On say the Stirling.
RS: Well, you’d work on mostly if possible you’d stick with the same one.
HB: Right. The same engine.
RS: Yes, so well no. Not the same engine because as I said you started off with the bare port outer [pause] I’ll get the bloody thing right.
HB: Don’t worry, Dick. Don’t worry about it.
RS: It was.
HB: You tell it how it is.
RS: Yeah, it was the port outer engine and you used to as I said try to keep, work your way up to go from the starboard. It wasn’t the starboard. It was when we used to try to —
HB: You went from the port outer.
RS: To get to the — [pause] yeah [pause]
HB: So you had this ambition to go from the port outer and the ultimate, the real prize was to work on the starboard inner.
RS: The starboard inner.
HB: Yeah. With all the auxiliary power.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Right.
RS: It was the object to get to the starboard engine. Apart from the, like as I say you started off with the port outer which was a bare engine.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And then you were, your first thing was to try to get to the starboard inner engine which had all the auxiliaries in it and that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And so, you know it was the engine that you wanted to look after.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Because as I said it was everything on it that you wanted.
HB: Yeah.
RS: The, well the aircrew needed and that. Yeah. I know I really enjoyed working on there.
HB: When you were with the Stirlings did you get close to any of the crews?
RS: With the Stirling?
HB: Yeah, when you were on, when you were working on the Stirlings did you get close to any of the actual aircrew flying the aircraft?
RS: Yes. An Australian was, was one that I always remember on our aircrew. He was an Australian bloke. Yeah.
HB: Did you go socialising with them? Did you go down the pub with them?
RS: Did I?
HB: Did you go to the pub with them?
RS: No.
HB: With the aircrew?
RS: No. You used to get, if the opportunity was there to get a flight you’d always take it.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah. Because you, well as I said like you always tried to work on the same plane and the same engine and like if you got attached to a particular plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You always wanted that one.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So if they did, if they flew before they went on an operation if they flew an air test.
RS: Yeah.
HB: That you would try and get a flight with that?
RS: If, yeah because that’s one of the things that they used to do was to take some flights and you know you’d use a good a chance for an opportunity to fly with them on the first flights and that. That wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You was taking off airborne but it was, it wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But it was a nice opportunity to gain.
HB: Did you, did you enjoy it?
RS: Yeah. Yeah.
HB: You did.
RS: I did.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So you weren’t one of those that tried to sneak onboard when they were flying on an operation then.
RS: No.
HB: I’ve heard stories about some of the flight mechanics in particular sneaking onto the aircraft and going off on an operation.
RS: As far as I know they didn’t. I certainly didn’t.
HB: No.
RS: I can’t think of any of the lads, the mechanics like me.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And you know, who did that because you felt really you know you’d got responsibility for the plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Make sure that it was up to date then. You know, you really, it was, well you considered it was your responsibility you know to make sure that everything on that plane before it took off on operational was you’d been out with it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And you used to fly with it then.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But it wasn’t an operational flight.
HB: No. No.
RS: But you know we were, the operational chance was a flight was possible to get air flight with it.
HB: Yeah. Did you [coughs] excuse me so you worked with the ground crew. So, you’d got the fitters and the technicians and those sort of people. Were you, were you sort of friendly with your own crew? Your own ground crew. Were they your mates that worked on the same aeroplane with you? Because there would be a few of you wouldn’t there? They were one or two of you on the ground crew.
RS: Oh, you mean looking after the plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And that. Oh yeah. How many? There would probably be around about seven of us used to be responsible for making sure that everything was right for the plane and that before it went on operational flights. But you didn’t go on an operational flight with them.
HB: No. No.
RS: You did go on plenty of flights.
HB: Yeah.
RS: With them but not operational ones.
HB: Yeah. So, so [coughs] excuse me when you were working on the aeroplane, after you’d finished working on the aeroplanes what would you do? Go to the NAAFI? That sort of thing on the, on the airfield. Is that where you got your meals?
[pause]
HB: It’s not too important Dick. Don’t worry about it.
RS: I’ve got my —
HB: So, as a group, as a group of chaps have you got any, had you got any WAAFs working with you? Had you got any WAAFs working with you? Oh, what’s happened?
DS: I think he’s taken his, leave it dad. Don’t. You won’t hear any, I don’t think you’ll hear any better if you take them off.
RS: Right.
HB: Did you have any WAAFs working with you?
RS: WAAFs. Yeah.
HB: You did.
RS: Oh yeah.
HB: What were they doing?
[pause]
RS: Well, the first thing, I suppose the main thing was the WAAFs and that was all parachutists.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They’d make sure, you know the, that the parachutes and that were properly packed up.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So that you know when they took off and they had their parachutes with them and that. They knew very well that if they had to jump that it was everything was going to be worked alright because the WAAFs and that had made sure that the whole thing was packed up properly.
HB: Did you have any WAAF drivers?
RS: Yes. Oh yeah. Plenty of WAAF drivers. Yeah.
HB: Yeah. What sort of things did they drive?
RS: They used to drive around the airfield. Like that. There was plenty of them. Yeah.
HB: What sort of things were they driving?
RS: Eh?
HB: What sort of things were they driving? What sort of —
RS: What sort of thing? Oh, what vehicles did they drive?
HB: Yeah.
RS: Actually, right from quite small one to very big ones. The WAAFs would drive them.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They were just as good driving the big ones as they were the smaller ones.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They were good drivers. They think the, they had good training and you know they were good drivers.
HB: Yeah.
RS: They really were.
HB: So did you go to dances with the WAAFs? Did you go to dances with the WAAFs?
RS: Did you go to —?
HB: Dances. To a dance on the airfield for entertainment in the evening. For entertainment.
RS: Sorry. I can’t hear you.
HB: Right. What did you do in the evening? Did you go dancing with the WAAFs?
RS: Did you go with a —?
HB: Did you go dancing with the WAAFs?
RS: Oh, dancing. Bloody thing was [pause] I never had any dancing in the wartime. But afterwards I really got to love dancing.
HB: Oh right.
RS: I really did.
HB: Right.
RS: All I say.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I kick myself for not bloody well doing more because once I got used to it I really did like dancing.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: That’s good.
RS: Well, my wife and I did as well and I think that was one of the reasons you know because she enjoyed it and then the two of us went.
HB: Yeah.
RS: We really did have a good time.
HB: So, so you were a bit slow to learn.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. In, so you, when you finished with the Stirling you went to the Lancaster.
RS: Right.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yes. I don’t think there was anything in between that I went —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I went from the Stirling to the Lancaster.
HB: What did you do with the Lanc?
RS: Sorry?
HB: What did you do with the Lancaster?
RS: In the Lancaster it was one of the jobs that I used to always get lumbered with was to sit alongside the pilot. And what I wanted to do was to fly in the bloody rear turret.
HB: The rear turret.
RS: Yeah. If I had an opportunity to fly in the rear turret and that I thought that was great fun to me.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But unfortunately, it was mine was mostly sitting alongside the pilot.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah. The flight engineer.
HB: Yeah.
RS: That was my position.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did you, did you spend time with the flight engineers? Did you spend time with the flight engineer?
RS: Did I spend time with it?
HB: With the engineer. The flight engineer.
RS: Yeah. With the flight engineer. Oh yeah. Yeah, as I said. I did a lot of flying as a flight engineer. I’d have rather have been in different places and as I said —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I would have loved to have been a rear gunner or something like that. You know. I loved shooting. I was good at bloody shooting.
HB: Were you?
RS: I really was. I could hit anything when I was shooting.
HB: Did, did you apply to be an air gunner?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Did you ever apply to be an air gunner?
RS: No. As I said the trouble was that I flew as a flight engineer alongside the pilot.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I think it was because of my engineering side and that that I was always —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Got lumbered with sitting next to the pilot. It used to annoy me at times. But there it was.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You did what you were told to bloody well do.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So you didn’t you didn’t think of volunteering as an air gunner. You didn’t think to volunteer as an air gunner.
RS: Not as an air gunner. I didn’t. No. I think it was mainly because I used to, once I got to fly alongside the pilot I found it quite interesting.
HB: Okay.
RS: Because there was, you had, there were four levers for you know and you used to help the old pilot out but I thought that was a nice position to be in.
HB: Yes.
RS: I did like that. Yeah.
HB: So you were working on [coughs] excuse me again. So you were working on Lancasters, working on the engines and once they’d flown, once they’d taken off and gone on an operation did you used to come back and wait for them to land?
RS: When they had gone as you say on a flight, on an operational flight and such you were always, well I would always liked to know that it was back alright and everything like that. You was interested in that particular plane.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You’d spend a lot of time you know working on it. Working on the engines.
HB: Yeah.
RS: As far as I was concerned.
HB: Yeah.
RS: But of course, you could be working on a different part of it. It depends on what you were, what they found that you were better at.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And looking afterwards.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I, as I say I did like the Lancaster and that was, it was a good plane.
HB: Yeah. Did you, did you lose many aeroplanes Dick? Did you lose many aeroplanes? Did you lose many aeroplanes?
RS: Did we lose many aeroplanes? Too many as far as I was concerned. We did lose quite a few. Yeah. Yeah. I was always a [pause] something that you really did miss. The fact that you’d lost some of your like the ones the crews that we whether he was ground or flying or anything like that. It was always a particular aircraft that you’d get attached to. I don’t know why because most of the Lancasters they were all the same but they seemed to be different because you used to get so attached to it.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I know I used to love the old Lancaster.
HB: Did you, did you —
RS: But I — sorry.
HB: No. No. You carry on.
RS: No, I was just going to say the Halifaxes are nice but I could never get on with that, you know.
HB: Yeah. Did, did you, did you actually go on any of the end of tour, you know when the aircrew did thirty? They did thirty operations and they ended the tour did you ever go out with them to celebrate?
RS: Did I celebrate when they came back or anything like that? No. I can’t recall us doing that. No. I know what you mean now but when the end of an operational flight or anything like that the, I don’t recall us you know all getting in sort of together and go out.
HB: No. No.
RS: No.
HB: No.
RS: The, one of the things they used to love to do was they’d get black smoke and burned flying across the ceilings and that.
HB: What? In the pub?
RS: Yeah. I don’t know why [laughs] but for some reason or other it seemed to be a good thing to do.
HB: Yeah. Did they write their name in it? Did they write their names?
RS: Oh yeah. Yeah.
HB: In it.
RS: They did. Yeah. I thought that was really [pause] I can’t understand why we did some of the things like that but —
HB: Yeah.
RS: I suppose it was just being a [pause]
HB: So, Dick, what else did you get up to? What else did you get up to? [pause] Or is that all a secret?
[pause]
HB: Can you, can you remember where your favourite pub was? Can you? Did you have a favourite pub?
RS: Yeah. The, the favourite pub was just down the road from there. We used to get through a hole in the hedge and off down there. Yeah. Yeah. We did.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah. It was handy because as I say we could break through the old hedge and down there and then to the pub.
HB: Did you ever get caught?
RS: I didn’t anyway. I wouldn’t like to say there weren’t some of them got caught but —
HB: Yeah.
RS: It was your luck I suppose really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So, you carried on working on the Lancasters right through to the end of the war.
RS: Halifaxes no.
HB: No. Lancasters.
RS: Lancasters.
HB: You worked on the Lancaster right to the end of the war.
RS: I did indeed.
HB: Yeah.
RS: A lovely plane. One you —
HB: Did they change? Did they change very much, Dick? Did the Lancaster change very much towards the end of the war?
RS: I think the Lancaster lasted right to the end. It was —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Well, as far as I was concerned right to the end it was the best bomber. It had the best bomb bay. There wasn’t a bomber of any country American or anything that beat it. It was an enormous bomb bay and I think the Lancaster with the size of its enormous bomb bay was fantastic. It really was.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. So as you come towards the end of the war, Dick what, what were you looking forward to as the war was coming to the end? What were you looking forward to?
[pause]
RS: Well, I as you know as far as I was concerned was mostly engineering.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And I got attached to being interested or at least, or the main thing I was interested in was aircraft engines and that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I really did like that.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Because I liked the old Merlins and they were with the V engines. They were lovely engines to, to work on.
HB: Yeah. Did you, did you, do you remember being demobbed? Do you remember what you had to do for your demob?
RS: Went —
HB: Do you remember what you had to do for your demob? When you finished.
RS: Oh when —
HB: When you actually finished at the end of the war.
RS: When I finished.
HB: Yeah.
DS: I think dad stayed in service until 1947. That’s when he —
HB: Yeah.
DS: He left the RAF in 1947.
HB: So you stayed in after the war then, Dick.
RS: No, I was thinking. I was thinking the period like when the fighting finished.
HB: Yeah.
RS: And all I did was to [pause] become because I know this [pause]
HB: Was there a chance Dick that your squadron might have had to go to the Far East to fight. To fight the Japanese?
RS: Yes. Alec was the one who went out to the Pacific and that was my middle brother.
HB: Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Right.
RS: And he, he went out there and unfortunately I didn’t get —
HB: You didn’t.
RS: The opportunity.
HB: Right.
RS: No.
HB: Right.
RS: But —
HB: Yeah.
RS: Geoffrey, he got stuck in the Channel with [pause] what was it?
HB: What service was he in? Was he in the Navy?
RS: I know I didn’t get the opportunity that he did.
DS: I think dad’s two brothers were both in the RAF.
HB: Were they?
DS: Yeah.
HB: Right.
DS: Either.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah.
DS: Two brothers there I think.
HB: Oh right.
DS: The one in the bottom left-hand corner is Alec who was posted off to Asia.
HB: Yeah.
DS: And then the one on the, sorry the right-hand corner is Alec posted off to Asia and the bottom left is Geoff. The one dad is talking about there.
HB: Yeah. We’re looking at a picture of a Lancaster. A lovely print of a Lancaster with pictures of Dick and his two brothers.
DS: And his father who fought in the First World War just on the —
HB: Behind the —
DS: In the left-hand corner.
HB: Right.
DS: Yeah.
HB: Wow. That’s a lovely picture, Dick.
RS: It is and our father in the top corner. He was in the First World War and of course when the Second World War came on he didn’t actually take part in the fighting in the Second World War. He did in the First World War but in the second one he, I think he got [laughs] he was getting a bit old probably.
HB: Yeah. Quite probably. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a sad thing isn’t it?
RS: Yeah.
HB: It’s always the youngsters that go to war.
DS: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. Just one thing I forgot to ask you, Dick. Did you ever go on one of the Cook’s tour flights?
RS: Oh yeah. Cook’s tour. How did you know about them?
HB: Well —
RS: Yeah. Yeah.
HB: That was in a Lancaster was it?
RS: In a Lancaster.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: And they flew you out. Where did you go? Can you remember? The Ruhr Valley?
[pause]
RS: We went over, over the water there. No, it wasn’t the Channel. It must have been the North Sea.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So it was definitely flying over the North Sea with them. Yeah. Yeah. Of course that was interesting.
HB: Did you see what, did you see much of the damage? Did you see much of the damage that they’d done when they were bombing?
RS: The damage yeah. [pause] France, Belgium, were two areas where we saw quite a bit of damage. Where else was it? Of course, we went down to the Mediterranean and what was that place where I went?
[pause]
HB: It’s not, it’s not too important, Dick. Really. Dick, can I just ask you one thing, Dick? Towards the end of the war did you take part in the, when the, did you get the aeroplanes ready for when they took the food?
RS: Yeah.
HB: To the Dutch.
RS: Yeah. We did. What was I going to say? I’ve forgotten what it was called. Cook’s.
HB: Operation —
RS: Cook’s tour? No.
HB: No. Operation Manna.
RS: Operation Manna. Yes.
HB: And your, did your squadron take part in that?
RS: Yes. Yeah. Yes, it did.
HB: Yeah. That was quite an important job wasn’t it really?
RS: Yeah. It was.
HB: And did they actually fly out from your airfield at Oakenfield? Sorry. Oakington. Did they fly out from Oakington to go to Holland? Or did they go somewhere else to get the food?
RS: Oh, to get the food.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did they fly straight out of Oakington to go to Holland with the food? Can you remember? It’s not important if you don’t you know.
[pause]
HB: Yeah. That’s alright, Dick. You know when the war finished and you stayed in. You stayed in after the war finished.
RS: Yes.
HB: Didn’t you? What were you doing the same job all the way through?
RS: Yeah. Mostly servicing Lancasters.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I can remember doing those.
HB: And was that still at Oakington?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Was that still at Oakington?
RS: Oakington.
HB: Yeah. Were you still at Oakington when you did that?
RS: Let me think. At Oakington [pause] No. It wasn’t at Oakington. It was, what the hell was the name of that place?
HB: It’s not important Dick.
RS: It’s amazing how you lose the track of these bloody places really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I did because I —
HB: Just to take you back a little bit when you, when you were at Oakington with the Lancasters.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Did you come across Wing Commander Craig? They used to call him Pathfinder Craig.
RS: No, I can’t recall him.
HB: Right. That’s no —
RS: No. No. No.
HB: He was, he was with the squadron but I didn’t know if you —
RS: Yeah.
HB: If you’d come across his name. Yeah. No, that’s not important. I’ve got some, I’ve got some bits of paper. I don’t know if you can see these very well but I’ve got a, I’ve got a picture of a Lancaster and the pilot was called McCullough and he was an Australian. And that’s got the ground crew with it.
[pause]
HB: Can you see them alright, Dick?
[pause]
HB: Just have a look at that. I didn’t know if, the trouble is the research doesn’t give a lot of details.
DS: No. No.
HB: There’s another one here, Dick. Theres another one there. That’s the, that was the ground crew that did all the radar at Oakington. I didn’t know if you knew any of them.
[pause]
RS: 1945. There’s some WAAFs there.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Blimey [laughs] two, three, four, five, six [pause] that’s odd.
HB: I didn’t know if you recognised any of them.
[pause]
HB: I’ve got another one here, Dick.
[pause]
HB: I’ve got another picture here, Dick of MG-J for Johnny.
RS: MG.
HB: MG J for Johnny.
RS: MG. That was my squadron.
HB: Yeah.
RS: MG.
HB: And that, that’s a crew that was lost.
RS: And J-Johnny.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah, J-Johnny.
HB: That was, that’s got some ground crew in there in that picture. That was, that was lost. I wrote it on the bottom there. That was lost. That was lost in April 1944 that one. The aeroplane was shot down and the crew were lost. But it’s got some ground crew on there and I didn’t know if you knew any of them.
[pause]
RS: There’s no WAAFs in that one at all. Lancaster the bomber behind.
HB: Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
RS: It’s a Lancaster.
HB: Yeah. Oh well. Thanks ever so much for having a look, Dick. I didn’t know if it would jog your memory at all.
RS: MG J-Johnny.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Oh dear.
HB: Did you work, did you work on that aeroplane?
RS: Hmmn?
HB: Did you work on that aeroplane?
RS: I was thinking. I’m just trying to recall. MG definitely.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
RS: Yeah, yeah. I worked on most of the MGs. Yeah. I was just looking to see if I could see myself.
HB: Yeah. Well, I wondered. I did wonder.
RS: Yeah.
HB: There’s a couple on there –
RS: Yeah.
HB: Could be you.
RS: Yeah, because I, on the MGs I worked on most of those.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Well –
RS: It would be nice to recognise myself.
HB: Yeah. Well, we’re coming up, we’re coming up to an hour, Dick. We’ve come up to about an hour in the interview now so and it’s not far off dinnertime is it?
RS: Yes, it is. Yeah.
HB: You know when, when you finally came out the RAF, Dick. What did you, what did you do when you came when you finished in the RAF?
[pause]
HB: Did you carry on in engineering?
[pause]
RS: I worked with animals.
HB: With animals?
RS: Yeah.
HB: Oh right. Farm animals?
RS: Farm animals. Yeah.
HB: Yeah.
RS: I did. Yeah. I enjoyed it. My time working with them. Yeah. I don’t know how I came to do that.
DS: Did you work, did you work at Vauxhall as well for a while, dad? In Luton.
RS: Yeah. I wonder why, how I got lumbered with that. But I enjoyed it.
HB: Yeah. So you went to work, you went to work for Vauxhall at Luton. Was it you went to work for Vauxhall at Luton? Vauxhall at Luton.
RS: Luton.
HB: Yeah.
DS: For Vauxhall. Do you remember dad?
RS: Yeah. But no. Well when I say no I was wrong in a way because I did go there but I did not like it.
HB: No.
RS: I went to what was it?
DS: Was it the Rootes Group?
RS: It was [pause] oh dear. I really enjoyed myself there.
DS: At Rootes.
RS: Rootes.
DS: Rootes Group. Yeah. That’s where he was.
HB: Oh right.
RS: Yeah. They were really really good. How did you come to remember that?
DS: Because you’ve told me before. I remembered.
RS: I must have done in actual fact. But I did. Yes. It was really good days.
HB: So that’s when they were making the Hillman cars. The Hillman cars. Rootes Group –
DS: Yes.
HB: Were making Hillmans.
DS: Hillman Minx.
HB: Hillman Minx. Hillman Imp.
DS: The Hillman Imp and The Hillman Minx.
RS: The Hillman Imp.
HB: Yeah.
RS: Oh, yeah. I remember the old Imp. Yeah. It was a lovely little old plane [laughs] plane. It wasn’t a plane. It was a bloody car.
DS: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
HB: So, so after, so after the war. You met your wife after the war.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Had she, had your wife been in in the Services in the war? Had your wife been in the Services in the war? During the war.
RS: Green.
DS: They actually, they got married on the 30th of June 1945.
HB: Right.
DS: Dad was twenty one when they got married. That was his twenty first birthday.
HB: Yeah.
DS: When they got married. I don’t think he remembers that. Do you remember when you got married to mum it was 1945. Your twenty first birthday. So your birthday was the same day that you got married.
RS: My birthday was the 30th.
DS: Yes, and you got married on the 30th of June 1945.
RS: Yes, I did.
DS: Yes.
RS: Yeah.
HB: So did you meet your wife in the RAF?
RS: No. Reine wasn’t in the RAF. I can’t even remember how I —
DS: Did you tell me that story that someone gave you her address to write to? You told me that you, someone gave you, one of your friends gave you her address because you wanted to write to her.
RS: Oh yeah.
DS: A sweetheart.
RS: That’s true. That’s how I got —
DS: That’s how you met her.
RS: Yeah. That’s how I come to because he gave, he said, ‘Write to her.’ That’s right. Yeah. And I ended up by marrying her.
DS: Yes. Cool eh.
RS: Yeah. Sort of, yeah.
HB: Right. Well, I think —
RS: It’s true though.
HB: I think we’ve kept you going long enough, Dick. I would think you’re getting a bit tired now.
RS: Might [laughs] yeah.
HB: Just to finish off have you got a special memory from the war when you were with Bomber Command?
[pause]
HB: It sounds like you enjoyed your job during the war.
RS: I was just looking across to see if it would wake my mind up over there. During the wartime Alec, Geoff and dad was, he didn’t do any fighting. He was fighting in the First World War but not the second.
HB: Yeah. Did both Geoff and Alec survive? Did Geoff and Alec survive the war?
RS: Yes. Alec and Geoff both survived the war. Geoff was in the [pause] it wasn’t the Navy. What was that? Oh gosh.
HB: Oh, was he, was Geoff in the air sea rescue? Was Geoff in the air sea rescue?
RS: Was —?
HB: Air sea rescue.
RS: Aircrew rescue. That was Alec. No. That was Geoff.
HB: Right.
RS: That’s right.
HB: So, so he was, he was in the —
RS: Yeah.
HB: Air sea. Yeah. Right.
RS: Yes, that was Geoff. Yeah.
HB: Right. Right.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Well, I think —
RS: Queer how you mix them up.
HB: Yeah, well —
RS: Yeah.
HB: I do that all the time. Dick, can I, can I just finish the interview by saying thank you very much.
RS: No, I –
HB: You know.
RS: It’s been quite interesting really.
HB: Yeah.
RS: To go, trying to go back to remember.
HB: Yeah.
RS: You know some of the things that I think in a way we were fortunate during the war because Alec, Geoff and myself and everybody went through alright.
HB: Yeah.
RS: So —
HB: Yeah.
RS: We were from that point of view yeah quite lucky.
HB: That’s a lovely note to finish on.
RS: Yeah.
HB: Thanks ever so much, Dick. I’m going to end the interview now.
Collection
Citation
Harry Bartlett, “Interview with Richard Leslie Skepper,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/49884.