1 25 8 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2468/47200/BWhymarkRJWhymarkJPv1.pdf 057aae0b06d3eb354e70d8e22f88f6ac Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Whymark, Jack John Percy Whymark Description An account of the resource 56 items. <br /><br />The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Jack Whymark DSO DFC (1920 -1945, 616289, 53481 Royal Air Force) and contains a<span>n oral history with his son, Robert Whymark.&nbsp;</span><br /><br />He joined 17 Squadron in 1939 and took part in Operation Aerial in 1940.&nbsp;<br /><br />He flew operations as an air gunner in Europe and North Africa with 101, 103, 106, 148 and 149 Squadrons and was killed 04 October 1945 during Operation Dodge. <br /><br />The collection was donated to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Graham Thurlow and Robert Whymark and catalogued by Lynn Corrigan. <br /><br /><span>Additional information on Jack Whymark is available via the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/230288/">IBCC Losses Database.</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-11-03 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Whymark, JP Requires A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence. [his log book, correspondence, documents, objects and photographs]. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Air Ministry regrets Description An account of the resource A resume of 'Jack' Whymark's family and service career. Includes extracts from Jack’s diaries, details from his logbook and histories of the crew and passengers of Lancaster PA278. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Robert Whymark Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-10 Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-10-04 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Civilian Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command British Army Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Personal research Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 68 sheets Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending text-based transcription Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BWhymarkRJWhymarkJPv1 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Buckinghamshire England--Cambridgeshire England--Essex England--Lincolnshire England--London England--Norfolk England--Oxfordshire England--London England--Rutland England--Staffordshire England--Suffolk England--Wiltshire England--Yorkshire Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway Scotland--Moray Scotland--Ross and Cromarty Wales--Carmarthenshire Wales--Glamorgan Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Jersey Germany Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Aachen Germany--Augsburg Germany--Berlin Germany--Bottrop Germany--Bremen Germany--Chemnitz Germany--Cologne Germany--Dortmund Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Essen Germany--Frankfurt am Main Germany--Friedrichshafen Germany--Gelsenkirchen Germany--Hamburg Germany--Hannover Germany--Karlsruhe Germany--Kiel Germany--Leipzig Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein Germany--Mannheim Germany--Merseburg Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Paderborn Germany--Schweinfurt Germany--Stuttgart Germany--Wanne-Eickel Germany--Wilhelmshaven France France--Aulnoye-Aymeries France--Brest France--Cherbourg France--Dinard France--Le Mans France--Lorient France--Marseille France--Orléans France--Saint-Malo Italy Italy--Messina Italy--Naples Italy--Palermo Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco Italy--Ragusa Malta Denmark Denmark--Samsø Netherlands Netherlands--Hasselt Netherlands--Rotterdam Netherlands--Texel Belgium Belgium--Brussels Belgium--Zellik North Africa Egypt Egypt--Cairo Egypt--Fukah Egypt--Ismailia (Province) Egypt--Kibrit Egypt--Suez Canal Libya Libya--Bardiyah Libya--Banghāzī Libya--Darnah Libya--Gazala Libya--Tripoli Poland Poland--Gdańsk Greece Greece--Ērakleion Greece--Karpathos (Municipality) Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea) Germany--Stuttgart Italy--Sicily Italy--Sicily Europe--Frisian Islands Atlantic Ocean--English Channel Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive 101 Squadron 103 Squadron 106 Squadron 148 Squadron 149 Squadron 38 Squadron 50 Squadron 540 Squadron 627 Squadron air gunner Air Gunnery School Air Observers School Anson Battle Blenheim bomb aimer bombing bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944) Botha Churchill, Winston (1874-1965) crash Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Service Order ditching Dominie evacuation firefighting flight engineer George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952) ground crew ground personnel Halifax Hampden Hurricane killed in action Lancaster love and romance mine laying missing in action Mosquito navigator Oboe Operation Dodge (1945) Operation Exodus (1945) Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945) Pathfinders pilot prisoner of war RAF Abingdon RAF Abu Sueir RAF Benson RAF Bentley Priory RAF Boscombe Down RAF Cottesmore RAF Debden RAF Elsham Wolds RAF Evanton RAF Glatton RAF Ingham RAF Kabrit RAF Leconfield RAF Lossiemouth RAF Ludford Magna RAF Luqa RAF Manby RAF Martlesham Heath RAF Mildenhall RAF North Weald RAF Northolt RAF Old Sarum RAF Pembrey RAF Scampton RAF Shallufa RAF St Athan RAF Sutton Bridge RAF Swanton Morley RAF Syerston RAF Uxbridge RAF West Freugh RAF Westcott RAF Woodbridge RAF Yatesbury Spitfire Swordfish Tirpitz training Wallis, Barnes Neville (1887-1979) Wellington Women’s Auxiliary Air Force https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2585/44717/PLaneEO19030010.1.jpg 9e1edbc74800fa3ade014be641c71550 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lane, Ernest Olaf. Album Description An account of the resource One album with photos of personnel, aircraft and North Africa scenes. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-01-10 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Lane, EO Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Aircraft and North Africa scenes Description An account of the resource Top right four uniformed men standing under the nose of a Wellington in a desert landscape. <br />Middle left looking down Bardiyah coastline. A moustachioed man wearing traditional dress in a desert landscape with pitched tents beyond. <br />Bottom left a group of four uniformed men standing around the nose of a Wellington. Two of the men are wearing flying boots and there are is a ladder leaning against the starboard side of the cockpit. <br />Bottom right a P-40 Tomahawk in a desert landscape with a second aircraft in the distance. <br /><br />Identification kindly provided by David Byrden of the Finding the location WW1 &amp; WW2 Facebook group. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. North Africa Libya Libya--Bardiyah Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Five b/w photographs on an album page Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Geolocated Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PLaneEO19030010 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. aircrew P-40 Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2585/44714/PLaneEO19030007.1.jpg 09fc6835a4a1173eae25e2d6f57839ee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lane, Ernest Olaf. Album Description An account of the resource One album with photos of personnel, aircraft and North Africa scenes. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-01-10 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Lane, EO Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource North Africa scenes Description An account of the resource Top left, top right and bottom right aerial views of the coast line near Bardiyah showing roads and buildings. Middle left a burial site with 63 individual Afrika Korps graves marked with names on the crossbars. The graves are in an open space with a man standing to the right. Several single-engined aircraft and buildings are in the distance. Middle right is a view of an aircraft flying through layers of clouds. Bottom left a view of cliffs looking across to a lower landscape across a body of sea. Identification kindly provided by David Byrden of the Finding the location WW1 & WW2 Facebook group. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. North Africa Libya Libya--Bardiyah Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Wehrmacht Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Six b/w photographs on an album page Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Geolocated Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PLaneEO19030007 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. aerial photograph final resting place killed in action https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2330/43393/LClarkHA532059v2.pdf 5b3fb05ff0650d27a3ac2e68c5cf300c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clark, Herbert Ashton Description An account of the resource 11 items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Herbert Ashton Clark (b. 1911, 532059, 43414 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books and photographs. He flew operations as a pilot with 37 Squadron from the UK and North Africa. The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Wayne Clark and catalogued by Nick Cornwell-Smith and Barry Hunter. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-12-02 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Clark, HA Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LClarkHA532059v2 Language A language of the resource eng Title A name given to the resource Herbert Ashton Clark's pilots flying log book. Two Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Description An account of the resource Pilot’s flying log book for Flight Sergeant Herbert Ashton Clark from 8 March 1937 to 20 August 1956. Detailing operational posting in Iraq with 70 Squadron. On return to England further training with 215 Squadron. Conversion to the Wellington at 11 OTU followed by posting to 37 Squadron in August 1940. Posted to the Middle East in November 1940. Promoted to Squadron Leader and then Wing Commander during this posting. Awarded DSO and DFC. Stationed at RAF Hinaidi, RAF Driffield, RAF Manston, RAF Honington, RAF Bramcote, RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Feltwell, RAF Shallufa. Returned to England post-war staying in the RAF. Aircraft flown were Valentia, Harrow, Wellington, Magister, Lysander, Maryland, Fiat CR42, B26, Harvard, Auster, Proctor, Anson, and Prentice. He flew 1 propaganda leaflet drop with 11 OTU, 1 day and 21 night operations with 37 Squadron in Europe. Targets were St Omer, Eindhoven, Soest, Osnabruck, Frankfurt, Stockum, Bottrop, Hannover, the Black Forest, Gelsenkirchen, Hamm, Flushing, Bitterfeld, Rotterdam, Mannheim, Leipzig, Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin. 12 day and 18 night operations with 37 Squadron and 257 Wing in the Middle East. Targets were Benina, El Adem, Derna, Berca, Bardia, Tobruk, Benghazi, Rhodes, Brindisi, Halfaya, Marble Arch landing ground, Heraklion, Misurata, Homs, Palermo, Gabes, the Mareth Line, El Hamma, Kourba, Pantelleria, Villa San Giovanni, Vibo Valentia, Adrano, Cape Peloro. Posted to HQ RAF Middle East where carried out 28 day supply dropping operations. Post war career included postings to Air Division Control Commission Germany, Flying Training Command, 41 Group, 22 Maintenance Unit and RAF Negombo, Sri Lanka. Log book also contains Form 3921 – Aircrew Qualification Record, a 1949 calendar and Form 2745 Record of Service, Educational and Professional Qualifications. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1940-08-09 1940-08-10 1940-08-15 1940-08-16 1940-08-17 1940-08-18 1940-08-19 1940-08-20 1940-08-24 1940-08-25 1940-08-26 1940-08-27 1940-08-29 1940-08-30 1940-09-01 1940-09-02 1940-09-04 1940-09-05 1940-09-07 1940-09-08 1940-09-12 1940-09-13 1940-09-14 1940-09-15 1940-09-20 1940-09-21 1940-09-29 1940-09-30 1940-10-02 1940-10-03 1940-10-05 1940-10-08 1940-10-09 1940-10-10 1940-10-11 1940-10-14 1940-10-15 1940-10-16 1940-10-17 1940-10-21 1940-10-22 1940-10-23 1940-10-24 1940-10-25 1940-10-26 1940-12-08 1940-12-10 1940-12-11 1940-12-13 1940-12-14 1940-12-17 1940-12-18 1940-12-20 1940-12-21 1941-01-02 1941-01-05 1941-01-13 1941-01-14 1941-01-20 1941-01-22 1941-02-16 1942-11-07 1942-11-08 1942-11-25 1942-11-26 1942-12-02 1942-12-03 1942-12-22 1942-12-23 1943-01-08 1943-01-16 1943-01-17 1943-02-03 1943-02-04 1943-02-24 1943-02-25 1943-03-17 1943-03-19 1943-03-20 1943-03-25 1943-03-26 1943-04-13 1943-04-14 1943-06-10 1943-06-27 1943-06-28 1943-07-15 1943-07-16 1943-08-01 1943-08-08 1943-08-09 1944-02-29 1944-03-02 1944-03-25 1944-05-05 1944-05-15 1944-05-31 1944-06-01 1944-06-02 1944-06-09 1944-06-10 1944-06-16 1944-06-27 1944-07-03 1944-07-12 1944-07-25 1944-07-27 1944-08-03 1944-08-15 1944-08-17 1944-08-19 1944-08-22 1944-08-25 1944-08-29 1944-09-07 1944-09-12 1944-09-16 1944-10-13 1944-10-21 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Cambridgeshire England--Yorkshire England--Kent England--Norfolk England--Suffolk England--Warwickshire France France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) Germany Germany--Berlin Germany--Bitterfeld-Wolfen Germany--Black Forest Germany--Bottrop Germany--Frankfurt am Main Germany--Gelsenkirchen Germany--Hamburg Germany--Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia) Germany--Hannover Germany--Kiel Germany--Leipzig Germany--Mannheim Germany--Osnabrück Germany--Soest Greece Greece--Ērakleion Greece--Rhodes (Island) Iraq Italy Italy--Adrano Italy--Brindisi Italy--Palermo Italy--Pantelleria Island Italy--Vibo Valentia Italy--Villa San Giovanni Libya Libya--Al Adm Libya--Banghāzī Libya--Bardiyah Libya--Darnah Libya--Miṣrātah Libya--Ra's Lanuf Libya--Tobruk Netherlands Netherlands--Eindhoven Netherlands--Rotterdam Netherlands--Vlissingen Tunisia Tunisia--Mareth Line Tunisia--Qābis North Africa Germany--Ruhr (Region) Italy--Sicily Italy--Sicily Germany--Düsseldorf Italy--Capo Peloro Libya--Al-Khums Egypt--Halfaya Pass Tunisia--El Hamma Tunisia--Korba Egypt Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nick Cornwell-Smith Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 11 OTU 215 Squadron 37 Squadron 70 Squadron 9 Squadron aircrew Anson B-26 bombing Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Service Order Harrow Harvard Lysander Magister Operational Training Unit pilot Proctor RAF Bassingbourn RAF Bramcote RAF Digby RAF Driffield RAF El Adem RAF Feltwell RAF Hinaidi RAF Honington RAF Leconfield RAF Manston RAF Shallufa RAF Silloth training Wellington Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Libya--Bardiyah Title A name given to the resource Bardiyah [entry point] Bardia, El Burdi Description An account of the resource This page is an entry point for a place. Please use the links below to see all relevant documents available in the Archive. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1339/20887/SValentineJRM1251404v10027.1.jpg ca25d3c9dbc4e94964e7c317e9dd0b19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Valentine, John. Ursula Valentine's newspaper cutting scrapbook Description An account of the resource 131 items contained in a scrapbook. Mainly newspaper cuttings of events from May 1942 to 1945. Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document THE TIMES SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14 1942 RECAPTURE OF TOBRUCK SOLLUM AND BARDIA ALSO OCCUPIED BY EIGHTH ARMY TROOP-CARRIERS FILLED WITH GERMANS SHOT DOWN IN SEA Tobruk is again in the hands of the Eighth Army, and Sollum and Bardia have also fallen. Six large Axis troop-carriers, filled with Germans, have been shot down into the Mediterranean while flying north from Tunisia. PACE OF PURSUIT 130 MILES IN TWO DAYS From Our Special Correspondent 21st Panzer division, 90th Light division, 164th Light division. Tenth Italian Corps. – Brescia division, Pavia division, Folgore division. Twentieth Italian Corps. –Ariete armoured division. Littorio armoured division, Trieste division, Twenty-first Italian Corps. – Trento division, Bologna division. “Prisoners captured number 30,000, including nine generals. The amount of tanks, artillery, anti-tank guns, transport, aircraft &c., destroyed or captured. [map] Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Recapture of Tobruk Description An account of the resource Article. Headlines: recapture of Tobruk, Sollum and Bardia also occupied by eighth army, troop-carriers filled with Germans shot down in sea mentions six large aircraft shot down flying north from Tunisa, pace of pursuit 130 miles in two days. Sketch map showing landings area in Morocco and Algeria. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Times IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1942-11-14 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Two newspaper cuttings mounted on a scrapbook page Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Map Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SValentineJRM1251404v10027 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Wehrmacht Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe British Army Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Libya Libya--Tobruk Tunisia North Africa Libya--Bardiyah Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource David Bloomfield Claire Monk Requires A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence. Workflow A completed https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1339/20870/SValentineJRM1251404v10010.2.jpg 6bb11a2f1399710b12e1051b8c077075 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Valentine, John. Ursula Valentine's newspaper cutting scrapbook Description An account of the resource 131 items contained in a scrapbook. Mainly newspaper cuttings of events from May 1942 to 1945. Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document THE TIMES MONDAY JUNE 22 1942 FALL OF TOBRUK PERIMETER BREACHED BY AIR AND TANK ATTACK DEFENDERS’ DETERMINED RESISTANCE BARDIA REPORTED IN ENEMY HANDS The War Office confirmed early this morning that Tobruk has fallen. The German and Italian High Commands claim that the fortress was captured yesterday morning. Earlier British announcement said that the enemy, attacking in great strength, had penetrated the defences on Saturday, and, in spite of determined resistance, had occupied a large area within the perimeter. The Axis reports stated that 25,000 prisoners and much booty had been taken and that Rommel’s forces had pressed eastward and occupied Bardia and Bir el Gobi. SHEER WEIGHT OF METAL DEFENCE LINES CRUSHED From Our Special Correspondent LIBYAN FRONT, June 21 The Libyan battle suddenly took a new turn yesterday. After a pause of two or three days the enemy attacked Tobruk in full force and achieved such successes as to render it impossible to hold that port Attacking in a north-easterly direction the enemy penetrated the outer perimete[missing letter] defences to a considerable depth. The assault started soon after the firs[missing letter] light yesterday, when enemy aircraft fle[missing letter] over in large numbers and opened a concentrated bombing attack as the gun stationed round the defences rained in [missing word] hail of shells. When this barrage die[missing letter] down, tanks, believed to be the bulk o[missing letter] the enemy’s armoured strength, comin[missing letter] up from the El Adem and Ed Duda directions, drove through the defences, crushing down the gallant and determined resistance by sheer weight of metal. Following the tanks, infantry in lorries, with machine-guns, consolidated the gains while tanks drew off to refuel and replenish their ammunition; the tanks then went in again and made further advances. By nightfall great gaps had been made in our defences and the enemy troops were preparing their dispositions to renew the attack to-day. Round the western side of the perimeter, it is believed, the Italian troops were formed up, not so much to join in the attack as to prevent a break-out in that direction and also to hold any positions taken. Undoubtedly Rommel threw all his forces into this attack. ROMMEL’S MANOEUVRE The attack on Tobruk came suddenly after two or three days in which there had been relatively little fighting but a considerable movement of troops. The Eighth Army was regrouping, taking up new positions, and gathering together the units scattered in the confusion of the battle last week-end. Rommel, the morning after the Free French forces had withdrawn from Bir Hakeim, dispatched his armoured units to the north-east, with the intention of resuming the drive against El Adem, Acroma, and then Tobruk. Greater success greeted his arms than had been the case in the opening days of the campaign, and after bitter fighting the first objectives were taken. It might then have been expected that he would go “all out” for Tobruk. By an exceedingly dashing and skilfully executed manoeuvre the threatened allied garrisons of the Gazala sector – the South Africans and the 50th Division – had been withdrawn safely eastwards, leaving the enemy no opposition along the western perimeter of Tobruk; our two strong points south of Tobruk had fallen; and the bulk of the Eighth Army had moved in the direction of the Egyptian frontier. There seemed to be nothing to hold up the immediate attack on Tobruk. Instead the enemy columns advanced towards the frontier, as if to attack our new positions there, and came within striking distance of our forward troops. Not till then did he turn his attention to Tobruk, withdrawing his advanced columns from the frontier. What his losses were in yesterday’s attack is not yet known but they may have been considerable. VICTORY OF PRESTIGE The capture of Tobruk is not only a victory of prestige for the enemy, of which the most will be made, but it will also give him clear lines of communication along the coastal road. There are many well-informed people who consider that our defence of Tobruk last year, glorious though it was, was a mistaken policy, on the ground that the cost in various directions of keeping the garrison supplied far outweighed any advantages gained. This time no decision had been taken whether or not Tobruk would be defended. If there seemed a good prospect that we could be ready to counter-attack within a short space of time, it was thought that steps would be taken to reinforce the garrison and hold Tobruk. On the other hand there was no inclination to embark again upon a lengthy and costly defence. Rommel forced our hand and made up our minds for us by striking with all his strength before the defences were perfected. The presence in this area of new heavy American bombers and of units of the American Navy, combined with the probability that our Mediterranean Fleet will before long be reinforced by the return to service of ships damaged in last year’s engagements give ground for hope that Tobruk will not be of much use to the enemy as a port. Whether Rommel is in a position to follow up this latest success by marching on to Egypt is a matter for speculation. Exactly what his present strength may be is difficult to tell; but it is clear that we inflicted considerable damage in the earlier engagements, and these have now been increased by losses before Tobruk. As the enemy is in possession of the battlefield, he will be able to recover a number of his own damaged tanks and some of ours. This will help him to build up his armoured strength; but in the meantime we shall be able to get up reserves from our bases and also to bring back to the field tanks which were too badly damaged for repair in the forward areas and had been sent back to the workshops. The fall of Tobruk constitutes the crowning disappointment of a campaign which, after giving rise to high hopes that at last a decision would be reached in Libya, has now gone against us. The disappointment may be tempered by the consideration that in this see-saw of desert warfare the only way in which a lasting victory can be won is by the possession of overwhelming armoured and mobile superiority, sufficient not only to beat the enemy on the battlefield but to follow him up and destroy him. In the vast desert spaces, with few facilities for maintenance and supply, it is always the most mobile and most hard-hitting force that wins. Its tanks armed with a considerably heavier gun than ours and also equipped with much thicker armour, the Afrika Korps was able to recover from what was nearly a knock-out blow, delivered solely by the skill and dash of our tank commanders. It might have been a vastly different story if after the third day of the battle all our remaining armour had been thrown in to administer the [italics] coup de grâce [/italics] to the enemy, who was visibly reeling, whose supplies were running short, and whose transport columns had suffered heavy losse[missing letter] and were utterly disorganized. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fall of Tobruk Description An account of the resource Sub headlines: perimeter breached by air and tank attack, defenders determined resistance, Bardia reported in enemy hands. Article contains account of fall of Tobruk to German forces on 21 June 1942. States 25000 prisoners and German forces in Bardia and Bir El Gobi. Sections: Sheer weight of metal, defence lines crushed, Rommel's manoeuvre, victory of prestige. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Times IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1942-06-22 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One newspaper cutting mounted on a scrapbook page Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SValentineJRM1251404v10010 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Wehrmacht British Army Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Libya Libya--Tobruk North Africa Libya--Bardiyah Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942-06-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource David Bloomfield Steve Baldwin Requires A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence. Workflow A completed https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/807/10788/PDunbarR1801.1.jpg c38f885fabde34a9f89d47e0ba505fc8 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/807/10788/ADunbarR180624.2.mp3 d7cdd125daadfc734bce7f179423743d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dunbar, Reg R Dunbar Description An account of the resource An oral history interview with Squadron Leader Reginald Dunbar DFM (b. 1921, 50747 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a wireless operator / air gunner with 37 and 100 Squadrons. The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-06-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Dunbar, R Transcribed audio recording A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document JB: This interview is being carried out for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Jennifer Barraclough. The interviewee is Reginald Dunbar. The date is the 24th of June 2018 and we are at Mr Dunbar’s Apartment in Albany near Auckland. Ok. Thank you very much Mr Dunbar. Could you start by telling us a little about your early life and how you came to join up with the Air Force? RD: Yes. Of course. It’s a pleasure. My name is Reginald Dunbar. I am a wing commander retired. I think I’d best start with when I was born. I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and moved across to Liverpool when I was six months old. I wouldn’t say that I was thrown out of Ireland but it felt like that [laughs] I attended a normal sort of school. Nothing particularly clever. Just normal schooling until I was seventeen and a half. But during that time I moved around a bit because my father was a baker on the White Star Line that used to go out to America and he stayed out there for a while at one stage to my mother’s rather disappointment. But however, I got a, I left school at fourteen and got a job in a shoe shop which was situated in Liverpool city. I persevered in that job until I was seventeen and a half and at that stage I was at the time a member of a church choir in Liverpool, namely, Emanuel Church. And while there I joined the Church Lad’s Brigade and although you may not heard of it, it was a sort of semi-military affair and they were issued with rifles of all things at the time which we marched off to church with at this, whatever the attention was. What it was called? Anyway, when I reached the age of seventeen and a half I was a bandsman in the Church Lad’s Brigade and used to sort of do a lot of work with my colleagues in the band doing, doing sort of training really for armaments which seemed strange for a church organisation. However, a colleague of mine named Norman King decided he would leave the Church Lad’s Brigade and join the Air Force. Now, he was six months older than me and he decided to leave and I followed him after, about six months after he’d left and left. And when I arrived at the recruiting office in Liverpool I asked if I could be a pilot and they checked on my background and said well, no. They thought something less [pause] less difficult than that and they suggested I join as a wireless operator with a six month training session. So, anyway I did that and left and joined up via a place called [pause] a place called, what was the name of the — ? Other: [unclear] RD: Where the R101 were based. Other: Cardington. RD: Cardington. That’s right. Cardington. And that’s where they had their recruiting set up and there was nothing in there apart from rows and rows of tables with plates on the table. Six plates on each table. This was for recruits and they had these sort of well, odd looking meals on board. They were sort of cow heels I think they were called. They were white, you know. Obviously the way they’d been cooked. However, sufficient to say at the end of a meal we found that the bins outside the buildings were full of these cow heels [laughs] Nobody had touched them. Anyway, we went from there to our training unit and my unit was, training unit for training was Yatesbury. Yatesbury was down in [pause] where was Yatesbury? Down in the south of England anyway. And I always remember the place because it was hilly around there and they had on the hills these white horses printed you know, and I used to spend a lot of my spare time sitting up on the hill enjoying life. You know, when I didn’t have to be doing any training. I seemed to be sort of by myself a lot. I didn’t make a lot of friends there to be quite truthful. I was by myself most of the time. I met a lot of people that lived local and they seemed to take a lot of care. They’d invite me out for meals and things you know when they saw me in uniform sitting doing nothing there. However, it was quite a comprehensive training they gave you including of course the Morse Code, everything and taught you all about training. And I had a good six months training and when I’d finished I was posted to a place. Where was it? I think it was over in Lincoln as a, on ground, ground equipment. Actually, I was posted to train on teleprinters. They’re the things like a printer, you know and that was shortly before the war broke out. Well, when the war broke out I was, I had volunteered for wartime training for Bomber Command. They were after, they were after volunteers and at that time I was only, what was it? Seventeen and a half approximately. And I went to South Wales to do my gunner training because you couldn’t be a wireless operator by itself. It had to be with the training as a gunner, an air gunner. Well, I went down to South Wales. I’ve forgotten the place it was but I remember doing my training down there which consisted of training on aircraft which was, which trailed a sort of a what would you call it? Other: Kite? Kite? RD: It was trailed. A sort of a target. It was a target. It was sort of a round sort of [pause] the idea was you hit it as many times as you could from a distance of over two hundred yards. And I remember the pilot putting up that aircraft putting in a bit of a complaint about me as a gunner as he didn’t know whether I was trying to hit him or the drogue. That’s what it was called. It was called a drogue. I don’t think he was too, he was too happy with me. Anyway, things mellowed and I did, let’s see, I suppose two months training as a gunner and we were trained from an open, open, an open [pause] an open seated. It wasn’t closed in or anything. We were just firing from the, from the side of the aircraft. It was a two seater. A very early one. Anyway, we’ll pass over that one but when I, when I had finished I was posted to Number 37 Bomber Squadron which was a Wellington aircraft. A Wellington aircraft was a two engined aircraft, and it was a geo traffic, a sort of cross of [pause] what was it made of? Aluminium and it was made in crossing and it was covered with fabric and two engined. And it sounds as though it was a very frail aircraft but believe me it was one of the workers of the Air Force. It was a very good aircraft. When you got, if you got a hit, if you got a hit and it made a hole in the side of the aircraft you got back alright because the whole sort of, the whole sort of make of the aircraft held together and sort of stuck together. You know what I mean? And so it sort of saved you from crashing or anything. So that was very helpful. But I, I was consigned to the rear gunner’s position because the crew that I was assigned with, when I was assigned to them had already done fifteen raids on Germany, and a number of raids that they did before they were sent home for a month’s rest was thirty, and they had already done fifteen. So when I’d done fifteen they had already done their thirty. You see what I mean. And the captain was a Flying Officer Warner who’d a big system of clothing shops in England, and I was his rear gunner because the rear gunner that he had at that stage had been dismissed from the Air Force because he had medical problems. Well, of course being at the start there I didn’t know much about it but I soon learned because the raids that we took part in were over Moers, the Ruhr Valley, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Black Forest North, Bremen, Waalhaven, Emden, [Gottensburg?] Hamburg, Munchengladbach twice, Sonnendorf, Soest, [Rossel?] and Rostock. And if you want to know why I remember those it’s only because I took them from my logbook which I haven’t got to show you because my eldest son has it and he’s sent it to me but it hasn’t reached me yet. So I have to apologise for that. JB: Ok. RD: But luckily I had made this. And from there I was transferred over to another squadron because I’d only done fifteen raids and I went to a squadron, same squadron of Wellingtons only it was commanded by a Squadron Leader Golding. Squadron Leader Golding was a regular officer and he was a very sort of experienced man and I was very pleased to have been allocated to him. With his aircraft I was posted not as a gunner but as a wireless operator which was my basic trade of course and he must have been quite pleased with me because he gave me an instant first operator’s job and I guided the aircraft by wireless over Hanover, Black Forest twice, Emden. I don’t know whether you want to know all this do you? JB: Yes. RD: Flushing, Berlin, Bottrop, Rotterdam, Hamburg, [Benroth] Hamburg, Berlin, Cuxhaven, Hamburg and Kiel. And after this that was my fifteen. So altogether I’d done thirty ops so I had to leave that squadron. They had to do another fifteen before they had it but I was sent on my way to do a month’s rest. So with, I was a sergeant at that time and I packed my kitbag and went to Euston Station on my way to Liverpool, but while I was on the station platform waiting for my train a message came over the tannoy system, ‘Would Sergeant Dunbar please report to the station master’s office on platform 1.’ So I thought to myself well what the heck would I have to report that I’m on my way for a leave.’ However, I made my way across to see what they wanted and the station master said, ‘I’ve had a report from — ’ I’ve forgotten my station. Feltwell. RAF Feltwell, where we were stationed. The squadron were stationed — ‘Asking you to return back to base.’ I wasn’t very pleased with that of course. So I got the train back and when I went back there and I saw the wing commander in his office and he said, ‘I don’t want you to be worried, Reg.’ He called me by my first name so I thought there was something funny. So I sat down on the chair and he said, ‘37 Squadron is going out to Middle East to operate there in North Africa and your erstwhile captain, Squadron Leader Golding asked me to contact you to see if you would be his wireless operator to go out to Middle East with him. And if you don’t want to go you just say so.’ So, I just quickly thought to myself the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know, because if I had gone on my leave when I came back I’d have to be put on another squadron see, and I knew him and he knew me and we got on well together. And so I said, ‘Well, all things being equal, sir.’ [unclear] RD: It’s ok. JB: ‘All things being equal, sir I think I’ll go out with the squadron as first wireless operator.’ And I trotted around to the squadron commander’s office and shook hands with Squadron Leader Golding who welcomed me like a long lost son. And we had to do some sort of training where, sort of radio training, you know where we would go away from base and he’d ask me to sort of guide him back to the middle of the airfield. Which I did by using my own sort of loop and everything and he was very pleased with that. So, anyway we were all set to go and we set out in January. January ’41 I think it was. Excuse me if I’m a little out on the dates. JB: That’s ok. RD: But out to Middle East. Right. Now, I was first wireless operator. Now, we went from Feltwell and we flew by night and we got to Malta where we were, Malta was our first stop. Malta. RAF Malta. And from there the station commander was a group captain and he was a little concerned at the times the Italians had attacked Malta and seeing the local population being housed in the caves in Malta because there were lots of caves there and they were pushed in there when there was a warning. And he asked Air Ministry I presume if he could hold on to 37 Squadron to get a bit of their own back on Italy. And from there we were, we attacked Taranto twice. That was the Naval base. And Naples which was effective of course, and Castel Benito and they were the total. And then we went and we were released from there. He let us go after that and we went on. We went on to our base at Shallufa which was on the [pause] I was based on the, there as the [pause] excuse me while I just — JB: That’s ok. RD: What do they call the canal? Other: Suez. RD: The canal. You know the — JB: The Suez Canal. RD: The Suez Canal. The Suez Canal that was, yeah. Well, that’s where Shallufa was built. It was an air force base and it was built solely to meet the needs of the Air Force and they were, we were, we were stationed in Shallufa, the squadron and we were used as a sort of heavy bomber squadron to bomb bases on the north, north of the, the [pause] you know the, the north shore of the north. You know where. Oh, well if I give you these actual targets you’ll probably know where it was — JB: Yes, don’t worry. RD: Hmm? JB: Don’t worry. RD: Yes. Well, we were sent out in a bomber. From there we bombed Bardia, twice. Bardia is a port on the north coast of North Africa. So we did two on Bardia, Derna which is further along the coast. Tobruk, Benghazi, Fouka, Benghazi again. Tobruk again. Rhodes and Fouka again. So we did our fair share of that. After that just the bottom [unclear] I was recalled, personally recalled to the UK when I was sent back by ship. When I got back I was posted to the first, 15. I thought that was first. It was 15. Number 15 Operational Training Unit and that was training people coming on to bombers which was at RAF Harwell. That’s where they later had the chemical — JB: Yeah. RD: You remember that. JB: Yeah. RD: Right. Well, that was on the 30th posted there to train others. Well, on the 30th of May 1942 we were in our bomber. The bomber that we were allocated to. Oh, I’ll tell you the background of that. The prime minister who you know. The prime minster wanted to get his own back a little bit on Germany and decided he would like to have the Air Force hold thousand bomber operations over Cologne. Just to give them a bit of their own back. To do that he had to shut down the operational flying of the RAF Bomber Command while they got the aircraft serviced because it would have to include training aircraft as well. He wouldn’t have enough otherwise. And so they had to have a sort of a competition and you had to have a sort of a pick, pick, pick [pause] You had to have all these aircraft of one squadron put in a hat, their numbers and you picked one. And some got operational flying Mark 2 Merlin engine modern Wellingtons, and others got aircraft that were old ones and only being used for circuits and bumps. That’s training pilots to, you know land. And unfortunately the one that we picked for the Cologne operation was one of the old ones and the sergeant, the flight sergeant who was the pilot of this first thousand bomber operation to Cologne was a bit, well fed up with it because when we were doing training for this operation he couldn’t get it to fly higher than eight thousand feet which isn’t very much. Anyway, the way he overcome that was on the operation itself. Instead of taking the aircraft to the city he kept it on the outskirts and instructed the bomb aimer to drop his bombs when he did a split, if you excuse my language split arse turn around and, to let his bomb go when his [unclear] And of course the super thing carried the bombs into the centre of the city or as near as he could get them because he wasn’t going to check. He wasn’t going to take any risks with the aircraft because he was too low. So anyway, we got back alright obviously. Well, we went on training. Training the, and in the, what was the prime minister’s name in those days? Other: Churchill. RD: The prime minister’s name. Other: Churchill. JB: Churchill. Winston Churchill. RD: Churchill. JB: Winston Churchill. RD: Yeah. He was, he was so pleased with the efforts of this that he decided he’d like another one. So they’d done a second thousand bomber operation to go to Essen. Not all that far from Cologne. That’s where they had all the armaments. Well, we were sitting, and we went on this Bomber Command operation, a thousand bomber. It was successful and we did it and we got a few holes in the aircraft to satisfy us. Or satisfy the Germans I should say. We got back alright, and would you believe it that was on the 11th of June 1942, only a month later. Well, would you believe it there was no satisfying the prime minister was there? He decided he’d like to try a third one if you remember. Anyway, we were sitting in the briefing room. I remember sitting next to my friend who was also a wireless operator, a fella named Harry Jordan, and the chap came on and they had a big briefing room for these things you know and they tell you what the weather’s like and what the targets are. It was a typical Bomber Command briefing room and when this chap he got up to start his briefing another chap came on from the Ministry, the Air Ministry and he excused himself and obviously they had arranged it between them because it was his job to put to the audience volunteers for special duties of just wireless, and young pilots. Young pilots. I’ll tell you why in a minute. So I turned to my comrade and I said, ‘How do you feel about volunteering for special duties? I’m fed up with these thousand bomber raids.’ He said, ‘Yeah, alright.’ So we were two of the volunteers, and we went up to a place. I won’t bore you with what happened afterwards but eventually we were sent up to a place called RAF Drem which was a little south of Edinburgh, and we were briefed there. And we eventually, we were posted on to [pause] oh the aircraft there were Defiants. They were fighters. Now, the reason they happened to be fighters, Defiants was because they had been used as night fighters originally but the Germans had soon, they were fighter aircraft with a turret in the top and Germans had learned how to get at them coming underneath. So it didn’t take them long for the RAF to discount them, and so they gave them to us. They had nothing else for them and so they used them to, used them for daylight operations called Moonshine and this, how they did this, the Defiant squadron they had usually around about twelve aircraft, and they had the pilot and the likes of me who was acting as a wireless gunner. If we were attacked we attacked them from the, from the turret. But our wireless job was in the back of the aircraft. We’d have to get down out of the turret and work our way in to utilise our skills on the radio stuff. Now, how it worked was this, you might like to know. I think this is still secret. How it works was this. When we got, when we got up to about a thousand or, how many was it? I think it was about eight thousand feet. Around about that. We were, we were over the south coast and we were met by a squadron of Spitfires or some fighters, and we were waiting there and at that stage we were flying out over the German coast, and we would have had the information to turn on our electrical stuff which comprised of equipment which gave the impression when switched on of there being a sort of a wing of bomber aircraft going out there. It wasn’t of course. It was only us. The Germans, hearing this would take off as a squadron of fighters to attack this incoming lot, which we weren’t and they would be flying this way and when they were over here where we were the Spitfires, who were on a higher level would take up with them, and would sort of have a dogfight with them I suppose. And in the interim period the American squadrons would go out from where they were arranged to go from on the daylights. Now, that’s about all I’m going to say about that but they were, but we went to France, Holland, France, Belgium, France calibration, calibration. That’s where we had to do calibration. Make sure that the equipment was still right. Holland, France, Germany, France, calibration, Holland, France. Oh, and then we crashed at Heathrow [laughs] We got back alright but France and Holland and that was all we did on the daylight. Then we did night operations. Now, a night operation were absolutely different. Dutch, French coast were divided into eight positions of ten miles. It doesn’t matter how long they were, but they were limited and each aircraft of ours — [knocking on the door - recording pause] JB: Carry on. RD: Each aircraft of ours was, was sent to a different position. So we were stationed at, what’s that RAF station near London? Other: Northolt. RD: Hmm? Other: Northolt. RD: Northolt. We were based at Northolt. But on the days when there was going to be a big bomber attack at night we were sent to the forward landing grounds that we’d been allocated to. Refuelled. Did everything right. And that night when the Bomber Command, the bombers were going out there we were allocated to our different positions and we switched on our equipment from, but we didn’t switch it from, we were sitting in our turret and when we were given the instruction swe lowered the seat which was just a crossbar and got in to the back of the aircraft and switched on our equipment, and this equipment was just jamming equipment. It jammed the German radar and when it, we didn’t do that until we knew the RAF were going over. But when they were going over we switched on and it stopped the Germans being able to sort of get on to our people who were coming out. It’s a very vague way of explaining it, I’m sorry. JB: That’s alright. RD: I’ve forgotten most of it. JB: That’s fine. RD: And they did that. All I’ve got here is eight positions which were the positions we were in. Position 7 6 7 1 1 1 8 5 7 7. Just all the numbers on the different nights that the Bomber Command aircraft were going out there. And in the end they took me off it and sent me up to Scotland to train others which I didn’t like particularly but then I think it’s in that thing that Richard’s got. Other: Dumfries. Dumfries. RD: Dumfries, that’s right. RAF Dumfries. We used to go out taking pilots and crew. Training them, you know. And we, it was while we were up there we heard about the landings in France, you know. We didn’t take part in those. We were probably told that we had done enough. And that’s about it. JB: That’s about it. RD: And from there I was taken on as a flight lieutenant in the RAF, given a permanent commission and what did I end up as? Wing commander wasn’t it? Wing commander. And I left the Royal Air Force when I found that I couldn’t get any further, and I went in to the Australian Air Force and did some manpower planning for them which I in the meantime had become expert in. And from there I did a short term engagement with them. I extended a couple of years. They asked me if I’d stay on for a while in Australia which I did. My wife didn’t mind, in fact she was a real wonder isn’t she? She’s a wonder. She stayed. She didn’t mind. And yeah, and from there I came back to England. And from England we went out oh [pause] and we came out to New Zealand and stayed out here. We got permission to stay out here. So that’s about it. JB: That’s it. Thank you. That was splendid. RD: [unclear] JB: It was excellent. I really enjoyed that. RD: Oh, well I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve got — Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Reg Dunbar Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jennifer Barraclough Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-06-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ADunbarR180624, PDunbarR1801 Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 00:48:26 audio recording Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Description An account of the resource Reg Dunbar enlisted for the RAF in Liverpool and it was suggested that he join as a wireless operator. He went to RAF Cardington initially and then to RAF Yatesbury for training. He also trained as an air gunner, and after training was posted to 37 Squadron flying Wellingtons. When he had completed 30 operations and was heading home on leave he received a message at Euston station to return to base. His pilot requested that he join his crew and that they were being posted to the Middle East. They flew to RAF Shallufa via Malta to commence bombing operations. He was recalled back to UK and was posted to 15 OTU at RAF Harwell and it was from here that he took part in the first 1,000 bomber operation on Cologne in 1942. Reg volunteered for operations at RAF Drem flying in Defiants as part of Moonshine operations to jam enemy radar. He was given a permanent commission and joined the RAAF attaining the rank of Wing Commander. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Julie Williams Maureen Clarke Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Egypt France Germany Great Britain Malta North Africa Egypt--Suez Canal Region England--Bedfordshire England--Oxfordshire England--Wiltshire Germany--Cologne Germany--Ruhr (Region) Libya Libya--Bardiyah Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942-05-30 1942-06-11 100 Squadron 15 OTU 37 Squadron aircrew bombing bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942) Defiant Operational Training Unit RAF Cardington RAF Drem RAF Dumfries RAF Harwell RAF Shallufa RAF Yatesbury training Wellington wireless operator / air gunner