Browse Items (20 total)
- Creator is exactly "Tom Ozel"
Sort by:
Interview with Reginald Walter Jordan. Three.
Liberator pilot Reg Jordan flew with 356 Squadron on the Burma Campaign. Returning from one operation his rear gunner recognised a Japanese fighter beside them performing acrobatics. This was part of a decoy operation as the other Japanese fighters…
Interview with Reginald Walter Jordan. Two.
Reginald Jordan trained as a pilot in Canada before being posted to RAF Hampstead Norris. In this interview he describes his first impression of the RAF selection procedure and his first flights with his squadrons. His first operation was leaflet…
Interview with Reginald Walter Jordan. One.
Reg Jordan volunteered for the RAF on his eighteenth birthday. He initially thought he would apply as a gunner but was trained as a pilot in Canada before being posted to his operational squadron. His first operation was leaflet dropping over…
Interview with Peter Offord Davies. Part Two
Peter volunteered in 1942 and was accepted early in 1943. He outlines the combat training they received and talks of the rations he received early in the war and on the RAF station. He describes the autonomy of his anti-aircraft unit. Reflecting on…
Interview with Peter Offord Davies. Part One
Peter was born in Coventry. Although in the army, Peter was stationed on RAF airfields and joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in October 1938, aged 16, transferring to the Royal Artillery. He then joined the Army Air Corps (AAC) and was part of…
Interview with Norman Freeman
Norman Freeman was born in London. His wartime preference to be a pilot was thwarted by poor eyesight so he became a wireless/radar mechanic. On completing training he served all over Britain, and then France at the end of the war. Norman talks about…
Interview with George Rogers
George Rogers joined the RAF in 1930, aged 16, as an aircraft mechanic. He talks about the build up to war, rationing, and the fall of France. George was sent to India with the Royal Navy. Holidays and relaxation are discussed, with stories from his…
Interview with Muriel Stoves
Muriel was brought up and went to school in Wolverhampton and from the age of six she had wanted to be a teacher. After high school and training college she became a teacher at Low Hill School, mainly teaching English and religious education. She…
Interview with Fred Hooker. Two
Fred Hooker was a mid-upper gunner on 102 Squadron at RAF Pocklington, where he flew three operations before being shot down. Born in Hartley Wintney in 1924, Fred’s first experience of the RAF was visiting RAF Odiham as a member of the Air Training…
Interview with Ronald Davis
Ronald Davis grew up in the East End of London and worked as a solicitor’s office boy. He joined the RAF and trained as a fitter airframe. He was saddened when the pilot of the aircraft he serviced did not return from operation, as they had got along…
Interview with Alan Coburn
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…
Interview with Francis Burtenshaw
Francis grew up in Teddington. After school, he went to Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, where working conditions improved with modernisation. He learnt about Hurricanes, designed by Sydney Camm. They started to build smaller aircraft units over the country…
Interview with Harold Allen
Harold Allen’s parents travelled to the UK to escape the pogroms in Europe and he lived in London during the Blitz. When Harold volunteered for the RAF he trained as a wireless operator on the ground. He did not want to join aircrew because he was…
Interview with Jan Black. One
Jan Black flew operations as an air gunner with 300 Squadron. He was badly burned when his aircraft crashed during a training flight and became a member of the Guinea Pig Club. He underwent 10 operations at East Grinstead Hospital. He describes his…
Interview with Bill Moore. Three
Bill Moore grew up in Scotland and volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He completed 36 operations as a navigator with 138 and 161 Squadrons.
Please note: The veracity of this interview has been called into question. We advise that corroborative…
Please note: The veracity of this interview has been called into question. We advise that corroborative…
Interview with Harold Kirby. Two
Harold Kirby grew up in London and worked in accounts before joining the Royal Air Force. He served as a fitter with 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook before re-mustering as a flight engineer. He flew two tours of operations with 467, 97 and 156…
Interview with Harry Irons. Two
Harry was under age when he joined the RAF in 1940, after witnessing bombing in London. He went to Blackpool in August 1941 and became a rear gunner. Gunnery school for six weeks at RAF Manby followed, and Harry joined 9 Squadron at RAF Waddington.…
Interview with Bernie Harris. Two
Bernie Harris joined the Air Training Corps and volunteered for the Royal Air Force, joining in April 1943 and training to become an air gunner. He mentions his father serving in the Royal Flying Corps. As a young boy, Bernie witnessed the London…
Interview with Charles Henry Clarke. Three
Charles Clarke volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he was 17 years old and flew operations as a bomb aimer with 619 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. His aircraft was shot down on his 18th operation and he became a prisoner of war. He was held at…