Browse Items (109 total)
- Spatial Coverage is exactly "New Zealand"
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Group of 71 airmen
71 airmen arranged in four rows in front of a single story wooden building. It is captioned 'New Plymouth NZ June 1943 En route to England (most went to Bomber Command)'. On the photograph it is further captioned 'IH58.2 Crago Studio N.P.' On the…
Il tout commencé avec Google
French language account from Tom Donaghy's son John about discovering what happened to his father from a French website and subsequent visit to France.
Interview with Dave Knight
David Knight was a member of the ATC before volunteering for the Royal New Zealand Air Force and beginning training as a navigator. He travelled to Canada, as part of his training, before arriving in the UK and being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF…
Interview with David Rayner Fox
David Rayner Fox grew up in New Zealand and joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. After training, he flew operations as an air gunner with 75 Squadron from RAF Mepal. During one operation his pilot, Dave Moriarty, was terribly injured when…
Interview with Doug Taylor
Doug Taylor already had a pilot’s licence when he volunteered as RAF aircrew. However, he considered the lengthy training ahead to join the RAF as a pilot, thinking that the war might end before he’d had a chance to join, so he volunteered as an air…
Interview with Douglas Stanley Smith
Douglas Smith grew up in New Zealand and, on leaving school, he joined the Post Office. He joined the Air Force and he flew Tiger Moth, and Gypsy Moth aircraft at New Plymouth. On one of his flights there was a warning note in the cockpit not to do…
Interview with Eddie Worsdale
Eddie Worsdale was working as a furniture salesman in Wellington, New Zealand after the Depression era curtailed his education. His brother volunteered for the New Zealand Air Force and so Eddie followed him. After initial training, he continued his…
Interview with Ernest Frederick Gardiner
Fred Gardiner grew up in Oxfordshire and worked in a furniture factory before volunteering for the Royal Air Force. He flew five operations as a wireless operator/air gunner, from RAF Syerston, before his aircraft was shot down. He gives a detailed…
Interview with Francis Neville Selwood
Francis Neville Selwood of Invercargill, New Zealand was fascinated with aeroplanes in his youth and lived near an airfield where he could go and watch the aircraft. He was keen to volunteer as a pilot but an early rugby injury made that impossible.…
Interview with Geoff Bibby
Squadron Leader Geoff Bibby grew up in New Zealand and transferred from the army into the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943. After training in New Zealand and Canada, he flew operations as a navigator with 101 Squadron from RAF Ludford Magna.
Interview with Harrison Stanley Cammish
Harrison Cammish was born in Scarborough in 1923 and, when he was 14, he became an apprentice carpenter and joiner. When war broke out, he joined the Air Training Corps, and the Home Guard, who gave him a rifle and 40 rounds of ammunition. At the…
Interview with Ian Petrie
Ian Petrie found himself struggling to find employment in recession hit New Zealand when he saw the advertisement to fly with the RNZAF. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to become a pilot and went absent without leave, out of disappointment. He…
Interview with Iris Dare
Iris was born in a village outside Newcastle. At the beginning of 1940 she went to Gosforth to join the Royal Air Force. Iris liked the idea of uniformed service more than the option of becoming a nurse. She was then sent to Swansea for about 18…
Interview with Ivon Warmington
Ivon Warmington was working for the Post Office in his native Cornwall before he volunteered for the RAF. After pilot training, he flew a tour of operations with 166 Squadron from RAF Kirmington. His first operation was to Mailly le Camp, where the…
Interview with Jack Marshall
Jack went to New Zealand in 1937 and became a steward in a gentleman’s club in Napier, where he stayed for two years before the war began. He joined the Royal Air Force and went to England where he trained to be an air gunner at RAF Uxbridge. With…
Interview with Jack Meehan
Jack Meehan was born in New Zealand and attend Wellington Technical College. When war broke out, he was working for Wellington Railway Station. He joined the RAF at age 21, completed his training in New Zealand and left the country in January 1940.…
Interview with Jack Wakefield
Jack Wakefield grew up in New Zealand and volunteered for the Air Force and the Army. He trained as an air gunner on Defiants before being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Feltwell where he completed a tour on Wellingtons, flying operations to locations…
Interview with Joan Ilma Massey
Joan Ilma Massey was born in India where her father served with the British Army. She joined the WAAF in 1940, aged 17. She did her initial training at RAF West Drayton and worked in Whitehall for a time. After she was demobbed she went to New…
Interview with John Benjamin Beeching
John Beeching was born in London and joined the RAF in 1941, although his initial training was in Canada. After several escapades John joined 169 Squadron as a night fighter pilot and worked in electronic counter-measures, as well as training crews…
Interview with John Green
John Green was born on the 22 September 1921 in Penge, South East London. He registered for the Royal Air Force to prevent being called up by the Army and was drafted in 1942. He was posted to the Isle of Man, where he volunteered as a drogue…
Interview with John Holtham
At the age of 15, John ran away from home, lied about his age and joined the British Army. In 1917 he joined the Royal Flying Corps, qualified as a pilot and volunteered to join the Royal Naval Air Service. When the Second World War began, he joined…
Interview with Keith Boles
Keith Boles left school at the age of 14 and became an apprentice engineer. He was called up to the Air Force at the end of 1941 and was in Singapore when the Japanese invaded. He arrived in UK, via Australia and Canada, and after a refresher…
Interview with Les Munro
John Leslie Munro was born in the area of Gisborne, New Zealand. He only completed two years of secondary education because of the economic slump and, in 1936, began work on a sheep ranch and then a mixed farm. When the Second World War began he was…
Interview with Pat Hickton
Pat Hickton was born in New Zealand. His mother passed away when he was young and he spent his childhood in a number of foster and children’s homes until he started working on the railway. He volunteered for the RAF and began training as a rear…