Browse Items (165 total)
- Creator is exactly "Chris Brockbank"
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Interview with Tim Schneider
Tim Schneider lived at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. He describes his life in the village, living in the vicinity of the airfield. After the war Westcott became the…
Interview with Frederick Donovan Say
Frederick Say went to Tottenham County High School and when he left school he went to study agriculture. He joined the RAF and was posted to RAF Tangmere where he worked in the Operations Room as a clerk before being promoted to Leading Aircraftsman…
Interview with Roy Saunders
Roy Saunders was a schoolboy in London when the war started. He witnessed the bombing of London and was amazed when, on emerging from a shelter, he saw the smoke from the docks area. His school friend and family died in the bombing. Roy was…
Interview with Honor Saunders
Born in 1931 in Neasden, Honor Saunders found herself evacuated twice before any bombs had fallen on London. She spent the rest of the war at home with her sister and parents. Despite constant disruption to her education, she passed her 11 Plus and…
Interview with Margaret Saint
Margaret Saint was employed by Airworks Limited as a civilian office worker throughout the Second World War, and met her future husband, Trevor, an air gunner, who she married in June 1945. She was the daughter of a Welsh miner, the family having…
Interview with Gerald Rich
Gerald’s father, Wilfred, joined the Royal Air Force in January 1920 and stayed until around 1927, training as an aircraft fitter. He re-joined in June 1940 at RAF Cardington. In 1944, upon completion of training, he went to No. 1 Air Gunnery School…
Interview with Jeremy Reade
Jeremy Reade recounts the memories of his father, Charles Sturrock Reade, who was born in Belfast and grew up in Portrush. On leaving school, Charles spent a short time working at a solicitor's office, before joining the Royal Ulster Constabulary as…
Interview with Robert Andrew Percival
Robert Percival was the son of a Second World War pilot and so grew up with an interest in aviation. His application to join the RAF as aircrew was not successful so he chose the engineering / technician route in to the service. He was seconded to…
Interview with Jim Penny. Two
After volunteering for the RAF, Jim Penny began his training which also took him to USA. He was present when the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbour was made and all RAF trainees could openly wear their uniforms as the two countries were…
Interview with Philip Peel
Philip Peel gives a detailed account of his father's RAF career, using logbook and letters, as well as recalling his father's anecdotes. Jarvis (then known as Mike) Peel was a Lancaster pilot and served on two squadrons before becoming a prisoner of…
Interview with Evelyn Paine
Two of Evelyn Paine’s three brothers joined the RAF. She discusses the service of her brothers Philip Jenkinson and Peter Raeburn Jenkinson. Philip Jenkinson trained as an air gunner. He was was shot down on his 10th operation and, after evading…
Interview with Sylvia Fraser
Sylvia’s father owned a farm, a pub and coach business. He would take back air force personnel to their stations and they would visit his pub. This included Sylvia’s future husband, Donald, whom she served on his 21st birthday, when he cycled from…
Interview with Ronald Mather
Upon leaving school, Ronald was employed, initially, as a pawnbroker's assistant, and then a butcher's assistant. In 1943, upon reaching the age of 18 he followed his brother's footsteps and enlisted in the Royal Air Force. After initial training, he…
Interview with Maurice William Marriott
Having been interested in aircraft through the Air Training Corps, Maurice joined the Royal Air Force in 1942 and went to RAF Cardington. In July 1943 he went to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground, followed by 17 Initial Training…
Interview with Joan Rosemary Macklin
Joan’s maiden name was Fellows. She speaks of her school days, until leaving at 16 and a half, when she took up an apprenticeship with a dressmaking shop in Hastings. When war was declared the dressmaking business suffered, so she went to Islington…
Interview with George Mackie
George Mackie served in the RAF as a pilot. He flew 44 operations, 15 as a second pilot. He was posted to 15 Squadron in 1941 and critically examines the state of Bomber Command at the time. He was posted to RAF Waterbeach for 18 months, where he…
Interview with Jack Kenneth Lyon
Jack Lyon was a navigator/ bomb aimer and a prisoner of war for almost four years. Born in 1918, he was employed with the London Gas Company as a bookkeeper until August 1939, when he transferred to Shell. Atfter the declaration of war, Shell closed…
Interview with Leslie Grantham Lunn
Leslie Lunn joined the RAF and, after basic training undertook flying training in America. On completing his training, in the UK he joined 129 Spitfire squadron. The squadron later converted to Mustangs. His squadron covered the D-Day landings and…
Interview with Matthew William Adams
Matthew Adams’ family farmed the land which once covered and surrounded the site taken over by RAF Westcott. He describes the reaction of landowners, the details of the takeover and the building of the site for use by the RAF.
Interview with Kenneth Killeen
Ken Kileen was called up and reported to ACRC in London at the beginning of 1942. He started flying as a navigator at 12 Air School, Queenstown in South Africa flying in Oxfords and Ansons. On his return to UK in 1943, he joined 83 OTU at RAF Peplow…
Interview with Edward George Key
Ted Key was a flight engineer. He was born to a large family in London which he remembers coming down from Norfolk to visit. His father was in the Navy as a chief petty officer and away a lot. Ted was in the air defence cadet corps before he joined…
Interview with Alan Jury
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…
Interview with Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson reminisces about John Blair, his great-uncle. He discusses family life in rural Jamaica as a mixed-ethnicity person, highly respected by everyone. He was a qualified teacher, a lawyer, and a farmer. He reminisces about other Caribbeans…
Interview with Andrzej Jeziorski
Andrzej Jeziorski was born in Poland and, when the war began he fled to Britain, where he flew as a pilot with 304 Squadron. He specifially recalls being in Warsaw on the 1st of September 1939. He talks about his father, a Navy officer who served in…
Interview with David Jackson
David Jackson tells of his father, Norman Jackson VC, born in Ealing, London in 1919 who was working in an engineering company when the war broke out. After initially trying to join the navy, he then joined the RAF and classified as a fitter on…