Browse Items (698 total)

  • Contributor is exactly "Julie Williams "

SHarriganD[Ser#-DoB]v530002.mp3
Terry Hodson was conscripted to the RAF towards the end of the Second World War. He started in the airfield construction team doing work as and when needed. He was involved in preparing the area in London for the Victory Parade. He left the RAF…

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AAn01134-170717.mp3
She tells of her life in Berlin before, during and after the war. She lived with her mother in a block of flats close to the home of her grandparents. Her father died when she was nine years old. During the war she collected shrapnel as souvenirs…

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SBondS-RichardsonAv10014.MP3
Jock begins the interview with joining up and first flying on 201 Squadron, with Flying Boats from Sullom Voe. He then, briefly, covers training as wireless operator/air gunner. He was posted to 38 Squadron on Wellingtons in July 1940 at RAF Marham…

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SBondS-RichardsonAv10015.MP3
Alan Richardson begins half way through a story of an aircraft losing wings flying through the Needles. S Bond then tells a couple of stories about crew who ditched a Wellington and an air gunner taken off ops. Alan finishes with some comment on log…

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AFarrAA170712.mp3
Allan Avery Farr was working at the Birmingham market before he joined the RAF. He wanted the quickest entry to see action and so trained as an air gunner. He trained in Canada where he was offered a post as an instructor but he wanted to serve with…

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ACoburnA180509.mp3
Alan Coburn’s father was killed in the First World War when he was one year old and his brother was not yet born. He attended a prep school in London and then Rugby before gaining a degree at Oxford University. The insurance brokerage associated with…

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ABuxtonAG220823.mp3
Alan was born in Parramatta, Sydney, in Australia. After going to the Middle East with the army, he returned to Australia when Japan entered the war, and transferred to the RAF in November 1942. Alan was posted to Bradfield Park for training and…

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AJuryAR171222.mp3
Alan Jury began his career with the RAF as an engineering apprentice at RAF Halton. When he retired from the RAF he joined the Parish Council at his local village and was informed that a Lancaster had crashed in the village in March 1945. After a…

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AMannA160130.mp3
Alan Mann was born in 1926 and was 12 when war was declared. At age 14 he began an apprenticeship at RAF Kidbrooke at the maintenance unit and balloon barrage centre. His first job was repairing Merlin engines, which lasted for two years. Mann wanted…

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AMorganA170413.mp3
Alan Morgan was working in a reserved occupation as an apprentice toolmaker when he volunteered for aircrew with his friend and fellow apprentice. His friend was killed on his first operation. Alan trained as a flight engineer. On one operation the…

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APayneAJ150811.mp3
Alan Payne was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. He volunteered for aircrew with the Royal Air Force and, after initial training, was sent to South Africa where he trained as an observer. When he returned to the UK, he was allocated the role of bomb…

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APughA160625.mp3
Alan was born in Western Victoria in Australia. After two years in the Air Training Corps, he applied to the Royal Australian Air Force, and was selected to go to Somers No. 2 Initial Training School on No. 46 course. Alan chose to be a navigator/air…

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APriceA240327.mp3
Interview with Alistair Price about his father, Kenneth George Price. He was the station navigation officer on 35 Squadron at RAF Wyton. He flew 58 operations before he was shot down and became a prisoner of war.

Alistair Price is the son of…

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ASmithA171018.mp3
Albert was born in Aberdeenshire. Before the war he worked as an apprentice in an engineering firm. In 1943 he volunteered for the Royal Air Force, trained at London, RAF Bridlington and RAF Newquay before going for mechanical and engineering…

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AJenkinsAE160709.mp3
Alex was fostered by the cricketer Bill Woodfull and studied at Melbourne University. He had to go from Somers Camp to defend his decision to join up in 1942. He trained at Benalla and converted onto Wirraways at Deniliquin where he qualified as a…

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PLambAM1702.jpg
Alexander (known as Alistair) worked in the Civil Service before and after the war. He joined the Royal Air Force in March 1944. After a medical in Edinburgh, he went down to the Air Crew Reception Centre at St John’s Wood. He did his initial…

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Alexander Lamb left school in Edinburgh and became a messenger for the War Department. He then took a clerical post with the Department before reaching the age to volunteer for the RAF. He trained as an air gunner and was posted to RAF Mildenhall…

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AMartinA170830.mp3
Alfie Martin was born near Belfast in 1920. He applied for the Air Force but his mother was worried about the dangers and so he withdrew his application. He joined the army and, when the RAF advertised for soldiers to transfer the RAF, he…

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When Alfred’s mother’s house was destroyed during a Luftwaffe bombing, he was determined to join the RAF and fight back. He trained as a gunner and completed two tours and a spell as an instructor. After his final tour of operations, he joined the…

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AWalkerAJ180810.mp3
Alfred lived near RAF Upwood when he was a young child. Alfred’s father was in the army and worked on the Burmese railway. Alfred remembered aircraft going over his grandmother’s house and landing on the runway nearby. One morning an aircraft flew…

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AMarshallAH161012.mp3
Alfred Marshall volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was called up to serve with two others from his hometown of Birtley, neither of whom survived the war. He flew operations as a navigator with 192 Squadron from RAF Foulsham, including Special…

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AMeadowsA161021.mp3
Alfred Meadows was born in London and was keen to join the RAF as aircrew but failed the medical. He was posted, as a driver, to RAF Old Sarum from where he witnessed the bombing of Southampton. He was then posted to South Africa. He describes one…

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ACouperAJ151208.mp3
Allan Joseph Couper grew up in Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He was employed by the State Electricity Company until he volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was accepted for aircrew training as a pilot and…

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AAn00086-150722.mp3
This interviewee was working at Chatham dockyard before being accepted by the RAF as a mechanic. He then re-mustered as a flight engineer which fulfilled his hopes to be aircrew. While waiting for a place on the training course at St Athan he did…

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AAn01137-170710.mp3
Anon, from Scarborough was keen to join the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot. Disappointed that he didn’t meet the height requirement, he joined the RAF and began training as an electrician. His aim was to travel abroad with the service but, to his…

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