1 25 50 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/998/10352/PWardEM16010019.1.jpg 01cc3da27ef866bdcd0fc70790441818 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 Ward, Mary. Album 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 2015-12-14 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 Ward, EM Description An account of the resource 42 items. The album concerns the work of 517 Squadron Meteorological Flight at RAF Shawbury, RAF Chivenor and RAF Brawdy. It contains photographs of aircraft and staff at work and on leave. 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 Isle of Man Description An account of the resource Oblique aerial photograph showing countryside and a cloud formation. Captioned 'T2147', '4F42', '66007', '517/6' and 'July 1945', 'Isle of Man'. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One b/w photograph on an album page Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PWardEM16010019 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. 517 Squadron aerial photograph https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/998/10368/PWardEM16010009.2.jpg 1068bbbb761132d0a02c1bc43b450244 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 Ward, Mary. Album 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 2015-12-14 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 Ward, EM Description An account of the resource 42 items. The album concerns the work of 517 Squadron Meteorological Flight at RAF Shawbury, RAF Chivenor and RAF Brawdy. It contains photographs of aircraft and staff at work and on leave. 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 Christmas 1944 and summer 1945 Description An account of the resource Top left shows coastline with rocky headlands and individuals seated on the grass looking at the view, captioned 'Steve Hughes', ' Christmas Day 1944', 'Newgale Solva'. top right shows RAF officer in uniform walking down hill side path, captioned 'Steve Hughes', 'Christmas day 1944', 'Brawdy'. Middle left shows coastline with rocky headlands with three individuals sitting on the grass looking at the view, captioned 'Christmas Day 1944', 'Newgale, Solva'. Middle right has small Austin saloon car, by the side of the road with two RAF officers in uniform standing next to it. Country side and coastline in background captioned, [undecipherable] Heckey & Steve Hughes', '1945', 'Newgale'. Bottom left has small Austin drophead car with RAF officer in uniform standing beside it, part of large building in background, captioned 'John Skinner', '1945', 'Brawdy'. Bottom right has two RAF officers, upper torso, in uniform, sitting or leaning on a bank, St David's Cathedral tower in background. Captioned '[undecipherable] & Roy', 'July 1945', 'St Davids'. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-12-25 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Six b/w photographs on an album page Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PWardEM16010009 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Wales--Pembrokeshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1944-12-25 1945-07 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 pilot RAF Brawdy https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/779/10633/EPitcherRSWeeksD450704.2.jpg b2d94242a4e8ac6b2b78b0d051fddccc 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 Payne, Malcolm Malcolm H Payne M H Payne Description An account of the resource 54 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Malcolm L Payne (417512 Royal Australian Air Force). He flew operations from RAF Bardney as an air gunner with 9 Squadron and was killed in action along with other members of his crew on 13 July 1944. The collection consists of his letters to Miss Doris Weeks, letters from Doris Weeks to Malcolm Payne's mother after his death and official letters to Doris Weeks from the Royal Australian Air Force concerning his death, grave and bequeaths. <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Debbie Brown and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br />Additional information on Malcolm L Payne is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/118239/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. 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 2018-05-18 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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Payne, MH Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document 4TH July, 1945. Dear Miss Weeks, [underlined] Aus/417512 Flight Sergeant PAYNE, M.H. [/underlined] In reply to your letter of the 1st July, 1945, it is advised with deep regret that Flight Sergeant PAYNE and the members of his crew are buried in the Local Cemetery of Cour L’Eveque. Flight Sergeant PAYNE’S grave is No.1. Yours faithfully R S PITCHER (R.S. PITCHER), Flight Lieutenant, For Air Vice Marshal, [underlined]Air Officer Commanding.[/underlined] Miss D. Weeks, 37, Hawthorne Road, Bunkers Hill, [underlined] LINCOLN[/underlined] 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 Letter to Doris weeks from Royal Australian Air Force Description An account of the resource Note advising her that Flight Sergeant Payne M H and members of his crew are buried in the local cemetery of Court L'Eveque. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource RR S Pitcher Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Correspondence Text. Service material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EPitcherRSWeeksD450704 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. Bomber Command Royal Australian Air Force Royal Air Force Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Lincoln France France--Haute-Marne France--Arc-en-Barrois Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Claire Monk Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One-page typewritten letter final resting place killed in action https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/751/10750/PCookJH1701.jpg 81323cdafc31bb66e836e5b0ba2201ff https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/751/10750/ACookJH170118.mp3 85280a29406287aa006ef455c66449b1 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 Cook, Joseph Henry J H Cook Description An account of the resource An oral history interview with Warrant Officer (1925 - 2018, 1894875 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a n air gunner with 630 Squadron. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Joseph Cook and 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 2017-01-18 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 Cook, JH Transcribed audio recording A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document CJ: We’re on. Ok. This is Chris Johnson and I’m interviewing Joe Cook today for the International Bomber Command Centre’s Digital Archive. We’re at Joe’s home in Kent and it’s Wednesday 18th of January 2017. Thank you, Joe for agreeing to talk to me today. Also present at the interview are Vi Jarmin, Joe’s partner. Joe’s daughter Beverley Maltby and her husband Michael. So Joe, thanks very much for talking to us today. Perhaps you could start by telling us about your early life and where and when you were born and your family background. JC: Very, very simple. I was born in Sidcup in Kent on the 2nd of June 1925. I’m, I’m living with my grandparents for a little while and my mother and father and then we moved. And we moved to Brockley and more or less orientated around Brockley. My early life. I went to school at Blackfen. And then of course I went to the, what do they call it? Basic school. Elementary school. And, and then I got a scholarship for going to Brockley Central School. Brockley Central School was a marvellous school because we took the Oxford General School Certificate and we took the London Chamber of Commerce Certificate of which I’m proud to say I got the Oxford Certificate and I got the forces of it with the London Chamber of Commerce with a Book Keeping Distinction. That was my basic education. Because of the background I was able to go straight into a job. And I went to, oh [pause] I went in to a solicitors I think it was. Something like that. I was only there a couple of days and it fizzled out. Something went wrong. I then ended up in Twentieth Century Fox Films. I found my own job because it paid twice the money that the others did. So, at Twentieth Century Fox Films I was working in the assistant, whatever, I forget what they call it now. Anyway, it was logging films and how much they would produce and etcetera. I was there until I went in the services. I met my first wife, my wife there and we were married obviously in 1945. I wouldn’t marry her until I finished flying because I said, ‘You can’t get married to a cinder.’ Because all aircrew got terribly burned. So therefore I married in 1945. 20th of October. And I produced eventually [laughs] a long time my daughter who is over there. And that is all I’ve produced because my wife had trouble with TB etcetera. So I wouldn’t let her have another child. My fault. I wouldn’t let her have another child. And I was married for forty six years. My partner over there God bless her heart. I’ve been with her for twenty five years. I’m sorry. And I’m still with her. [recording paused] CJ: So, Joe. You were working at Twentieth Century Fox after leaving school. So how did you come to join the RAF and when was that? JC: Well, after leaving school I was conned into the war because I was a fire watcher etcetera. And every night I had to sit up all night fire watching. And then, and what did I do then? How did I, you said how did I come to get in the Air Force? Well, it’s quite simple really. I didn’t want to go in the Army. Quite simple. But I always fancied flying. I wanted to fly. But I, at that time there was no vehicle to take me flying so I joined the RAF. Now, I had to volunteer for aircrew. As you know they were all volunteers. I volunteered and they accepted me straightaway because of my education. And I had no problem with that. My three days medical at Euston House went through ok. Fine. No problem. So there I am. I am sent to St John’s Wood, in the recently completed flats as, as a base. And I did my three weeks square bashing and knocking me into making me. They knocked you down so that you [pause] sort of thing was you’d clean your shoes. By the way aircrew always wore shoes. You’d clean your shoes and they were, oh you know you’d bone them and all the rest of it. And then the corporal would come in in the morning and inspect. ‘They’re bloody filthy your shoes. Get them cleaned.’ They, it was there to break you. Right. Then you want me to carry on now? From St John’s Wood I went up to Bridgnorth. Initial training. Which was square bashing and all sorts of funny things. From Bridgnorth I went to Bridlington where I did such things as Morse Code. I had to send and receive Morse Code at ten words a minute. Then Bridlington was a learning base for the, as I said Morse Code and other attributes for the Air Force. I then went from Bridlington. Remember that? Where did I go from Bridlington? Oh, I know. Bridgnorth. Not Bridgnorth. I can’t quite get it. CJ: Was it Evanton? JC: Huh? CJ: Evanton in Scotland. Was that it? JC: No. No. I went to Scotland for my AGS. I’m just trying to think where I went. [recording paused] CJ: So you did your basic training in Bridgnorth, Joe. JC: Yeah. CJ: And then Bridlington. JC: Yes. CJ: So, how did the training go from there and how were you picked for a particular role? JC: Well, I wasn’t, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But what I wanted to do was kick Jerry up the rear. And the only way to do it was get in the Air Force and get flying. Well, as I say I went to 8 AGS near Evanton. I was trained as an AG. I was flying in Ansons and then, I always remember flying in the Anson. The first flight I ever made they lined us up. Sprogs. Right. There’s a few of us. Eight of us, I think. We were going to fly that morning. ‘Right. You. You. You and you,’ and then it came, ‘You.’ Me. They gave me a handle. And I looked at it and I said, ‘What’s it?’ He said, ‘Up on the wing.’ I had to get up on the wing. Put this handle in the socket and turn it around to start the engine [laughs] Oh dear. And of course once you got one going on an Anson you can get the other one going. But I was sliding about on the wing because it was frosty that morning. You know what Scotland’s like early morning. CJ: So how did you come to be selected as an air gunner rather than any other role? JC: Ah. That was at Euston House. CJ: Ok. JC: You were in front of a load of gold braid and he, he said to me, ‘Right. We’ve assessed you. You’ve got everything. We have decided that you will be pilot, navigator or bomb aimer.’ And I said to him, ‘I don’t want it.’ He looked at me. He said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I don’t want it. I want to kick Jerry up the rear,’ as I said. So, he said, ‘Well, we’re losing so many AGs.’ I said, ‘I’ll have it.’ So that’s how I became an air gunner. I had all the qualifications to be a pilot but I didn’t want it. And I said, ‘It will take at least nearly a year to train me as a pilot. It’s too late. The war will be over.’ That was the reason. And he looked at me, the groupie and he said, ‘You silly little sod,’ because at that rate they were losing them, losing them so rapid. Anyway, I decided that I would do that. CJ: So you were training on Ansons in Scotland. And how long was the training for? JC: Oh. I got up there in [pause] oh around about Christmas time. And then I was trained at D-Day. Now, I’ve got a little story I can tell you about that. I got my AG brevet. Very proud of it. Parade. Get your brevet. And then we were posted to Operational Training Unit, Silverstone. We got on the train but we didn’t go to Silverstone. The bloody thing kept, sorry it kept going and going and we ended up at Tarrant Rushton in Devon. When we got there they said, ‘You are not allowed to go outside the camp. You are confined to camp. You cannot write any letters. You cannot use the telephone. You cannot do anything.’ Everything hush hush. Of course, we didn’t know. We didn’t realise what was going on. They didn’t tell you, did they? They didn’t tell you anything. Why I was sitting on the train suddenly, oh stay on the train because you’re carrying on. And so therefore what we didn’t know was this, that it was about oh a few days, quite a few days before D-Day. Why were we sent to Tarrant Rushton? It was quite simple. This. They gathered together all the people who had just been, got their wings. Pilots and all the rest of it and they’d sent us to Tarrant Rushton and they sent us to fly clapped out bloody Stirlings. And they were clapped. And when we got there we said, ‘What’s all this? Why are we doing this?’ They said, ‘You’ll find out.’ Wouldn’t say a thing. They found, we found out alright because we had to load these Stirlings up with leaflets. Fly over to Calais. Drop them on Calais and Boulogne etcetera and we were chucking these bales of leaflets out and one bloke said to me, ‘What’s all this about? What are these leaflets saying?’ He said, ‘It’s in French.’ I said, ‘That’s alright. I’ll read it to you.’ And what it was saying, “Get out of Calais. Get out of Boulogne because we are invading and we are going to bomb like hell.” So please, Froggies get out. ‘Get out of Calais,’ etcetera. That’s what it was all about because you know as well as I do it was a spoof. Well, we were chucking these leaflets out and it counted as an op because we were going over, over enemy territory really. That was the first four. And chucking these leaflets out and on the way back of course this bloody old Stirling packed up. One engine packed up. And then we thought well blow this. Nursed it back over the peninsula. The Devon Peninsula. And then another one went. And on a Stirling no chance. Got to get out of it. Got to jump. Which I had to do. So I jumped out of it and come down on a tree. With a Land Girl with a pitch fork at the base of the tree to ram it in me. Wouldn’t believe that I was English. Got the, they sent, a lorry came around and there was the rest of the bods in it. And they took us to the farmhouse and obviously then to the station. But that, that was my initiation. That’s what D-Day was to me. Dropping leaflets for four days on Calais, Boulogne, Liege etcetera. So I had only just been trained. And it was so daft that when D-Day had been going for about a week or two we were posted and we were posted to the Operational Training Unit to be trained [laughs] You know. And went there and went on to Wellingtons. The old Wimpy. God bless her. And I did my training on that. We did cross countries. We did ten hour trips. Not ten hour trips. Eight hour trips etcetera. And I finished my OTU and how did we get crewed up? Easy. Big hangar. Type 2 hangar. Right. A hundred engineers. A hundred AGs, a hundred pilots all in this hangar and then the group captain gets up, gives a little speech and then says, ‘Right. Form yourselves into crews.’ He said, ‘Mingle amongst each other, walk around, pick who you think would be a good one.’ So I, I had a friend with me and I said to him, ‘It seems to me that the tall ones, the pilots, are bloody good. They seem to survive.’ So we looked for a tall pilot. And it happened to be a Canadian. And Mac, so we looked up at him and said, ‘Oi. You got two gunners?’ So he said, ‘No.’ ‘Do you want two?’ He said, ‘How good are you?’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I got eighty four percent on my passing out.’ He said, ‘Oh. I’ll have you.’ So, that’s how it was done. In this big hangar. Then you walked out of there and you were a crew and you were brothers together and just went through it all. You were so close. I can’t explain it. Closer than brothers. The sort of thing was we were booked for ops and then all of a sudden our engineer went sick and he went, turned around to the flight commander and said, ‘I’m not flying.’ He said, ‘No?’ ‘No. Mitch has gone sick. Won’t fly without him.’ ‘Oh. Alright,’ He said, ‘We’ll put a spare crew on.’ That’s how it was. [recording paused] CJ: So Joe, you tell me how you were all in a hangar together and sorted yourselves out as a six man crew. So where did you go from there? JC: Well, this was done at Silverstone. Silverstone in [pause] where was it? I’ve forgotten the name of the county. Anyway, it was at Silverstone. The race track then as it was. And we were flying Wellingtons. As I said a six man crew because it didn’t have a mid-upper turret so you just, you carried the other bloke but you were the one in the turret. Then we, we did all the usual things. Training. Long trips. High level bombing. Gunnery. Etcetera etcetera. And finally you were posted to a squadron and — no. Sorry. Missed a bit. From Silverstone you went to Wigsley. Wigsley was a Conversion Unit. You went from two engines to four. To Wigsley, flying Stirlings. I hate the things. And then from Wigsley you went to a Lancaster Finishing School. And then and at that point we knew we were going on Lancasters. We dreaded the thought of going on Stirlings or Halifax. Halifaxes. So we went to Number 5 Lancaster Finishing School at Syerston. All around Lincolnshire. And then from there we were posted to the squadron. And that’s when I went to East Kirkby. I did all my operations, well twenty six of them. I think, I don’t know. I think it was twenty six from East Kirkby. But I’d already done four from Tarrant Rushton so I’d done my thirty. We were now a fully-fledged crew on a squadron. And on my first trip we’re getting on to this are we? My first trip was the Dortmund Ems Canal. The dear old Dortmund Ems Canal. We used to come up time and time. As fast as they built it up we knocked it down. That was my first trip. You’ll find it in my diary that I wrote. Every time I came back from a trip I sat with pen and ink. Where is it? I sat with pen and ink and wrote down how I felt and all the rest of it. I can’t see it. Oh. [pause] JC: There it is. One diary. Now, there’s I’ve lost the other book so there’s only twenty trips in here. I don’t know where it went to. It’s the last one. Last twenty. As I said, Dortmund Ems Canal was five and a half hours. “I felt nervous but got on ok. Saw a Lanc go down and burst into flames in the ground. We did not get coned by tracer or searchlights. I felt pretty fatigued when we got back.” Now, I won’t go right through this because there is too much of it. Now, people say to me, ‘What were the fascinating ones that I did?’ Well, there weren’t really. There was only one target that I personally thought I’d got my lot and that was Politz. Now, Politz is an oil manufacturing conversion place near the Russian border. I went to Politz twice. The second time, and it was a long trip. Ten hours. The second time on the run up to bomb we were running up, steady, steady and all the rest of it and all of a sudden out, a bloody ME Messerschmitt 262 jet came for us and he was putting shells through the top of my turret. He didn’t, he missed us because I had already given Mac evasive action. And as you probably know once you’re attacked the tail gunner takes control of the aircraft and he has to do what he was told. And I gave him a corkscrew and we were lucky there. He went over the top. I’m watching this bloke and it was fifty nine degrees below zero that night. So I’m watching him and let him come in and then I went to open fire and all my four guns were frozen. The oil on the breech blocks, very thin bit of oil had frozen and not one breech block went forward so the guns didn’t fire. And I yelled out to Mac, I said, ‘I can’t fire. I can’t fire. The gun’s useless.’ And he said, ‘Oh. Oh. What’s he doing?’ I said, ‘He’s wheeling around. Wheeling around. He’s coming in for the kill now because he knows that we’re defenceless. My turret has no defensive fire.’ So, I said, ‘That’s it.’ And Mac said, ‘Right. Prepare to abandon aircraft.’ I can remember his words today. So I went to open my turret doors and they’d jammed. I thought. That’s it. This is it. I’m stuck in here. I’ve got an ME262 wheeling around, coming in for the kill. It’s my lot. This is death. This is what death is all about. And then all of a sudden there was a bloody great explosion. We were splattered with bits. What had happened the rear gunner and I didn’t even know the Lanc was there. He got him in his fuel tanks and up he went. And we were splattered with debris. And I yelled out to Mac, ‘Enemy aircraft destroyed. Enemy aircraft destroyed.’ These are my actual words because I can remember them as if it was yesterday. And he said. ‘Right. Resume stations.’ Thank Christ for that otherwise I’d still be up there. And that’s my worst trip. Politz. I had others. Now, in, in here you will see that Heimbach Dam. Even, we went to a dam to blow it up which we were a success at blowing up. In my diary I say, “ME109 sighted just before target. Focke Wulf 190 passed underneath at two hundred feet. Attacked another aircraft to starboard.” Then as we, once again we used bombs on this. Not the bouncing bomb. Heimbach Dam. We ran up to the dam and there was a bloke, well a kite further down. We were on the run up. And they’d got two blooming great guns on the ramparts and they were pointing at a set point of our, where would go in for a run up. So that bloke I said was ahead of us. They got him. Blew him to bits. I thought ooh. But they couldn’t reload the guns quick enough because they were a heavy gun. We went over the top. We dropped our bombs and I saw the dam go. I saw it break and go. We, we got a direct hit fortunately and it was well worth it to see that dam go. But then people would say, ‘Oh, you were a Dambuster.’ No. I was not. I was not a Dambuster. Yes, I went and blew a dam up yeah but that doesn’t make me a Dambuster. When you think of a Dambuster you think of 617 squadron and nothing else. CJ: So what was it like on the station for — perhaps you can take us through when you knew when you were going on ops. What was the atmosphere like? And what sort of preparation did you do before you went out on a trip? JC: Before you went out on a trip if you were billed for ops that night then you went to the crew room and your flight commander of each section like gunnery, like engineering, like w/ops etcetera. You were all [pause] what’s the word? You were, you were given all the, all the gen and all the griff and the big map on the wall and that was the first time that you knew where you were going. There’s a sequel to that because we never knew where we were going. Blooming ground staff did. Because we used to go up to the ground staff and say, ‘Oi. What’s the petrol load?’ And he’d turn around and he’d say, ‘Sixteen eighty.’ Oh, got a short trip tonight. Oh, lovely. But if he turned around and he said, ‘Twenty one fifty four.’ That’s two thousand one hundred and fifty four gallons of fuel. That is a long trip. You’re going to be up there just over ten hours. And in the cold, I mean I below zero all the time virtually. Thirty below zero. But you wore an electrically heated suit. The trouble was typical of a lot of equipment your right hand would burn, your left hand would freeze. Your right foot would be [laughs] the same conditions sort of thing. And in the end you used to switch if off. But you had another suit under it. And under that you had silk underwear etcetera. And a naval white sweater. So it was just about tolerable. I never got frostbite fortunately but I had five pairs of gloves on. You’d wonder how I pulled the triggers but I did. It was the cold that used to get you. Now, when you look at the turret the one I used to fly in anyway, you will see that all the Perspex has been taken out. There’s nothing there. It’s to open air. Completely. Now, why did we do that? Simple. If you got a tiny mark on that Perspex, just a little mark or whatever you’d be there. So took all the Perspex out for clear vision and you were to open air. CJ: And this was the mid-upper turret you were in. JC: No. The rear gunner. CJ: The rear. I beg your pardon. JC: I had four Browning machine guns. Just to sequel that I had four Browning machine guns. I had five thousand rounds per gun. I had twenty thousand rounds of ammunition and I could only fire a few seconds. Otherwise they get red hot. CJ: So you were saying about the briefings and when the curtain was pulled back — JC: Yeah. CJ: You knew where you were going. JC: Yeah. CJ: Do I assume that some places were considered easier targets than others? JC: Oh yes. Yeah. Because you sort of think the tape, the red tape would be going across the map and it would end at Chemnitz. And you’d hear the blokes go ahh. Or Berlin again. Because this friend of mine, Johnny Chatterton, he went to Berlin so many times that they gave him a season ticket. Oh dear. CJ: So that, are there any other notable raids that you remember? Any notable trips? JC: Any notable trips? CJ: Trips that you went on that stood out there. JC: Yes. There’s another one in here. I went to Rositz. Synthetic oil. I went to Politz. I went to a lot of them. Now, at Politz where I nearly copped my lot and I really did. Now, I’m saying there if I may just briefly read this, “Target Politz oil installation. Flak fairly heavy. Red cannon fire continuous over Sweden. Searchlights. Some in target area and over Denmark. Fighters. Two JU88s seen over target. JU88 shot down and destroyed by us.” What really happened was that the JU88, he came up and I said to the skipper, ‘Whatever he does, you do.’ And if he, in other words if he dives you dive with him and keep him in the sights all the time. So mid-upper gunner and myself I raked the canopy. Killed the crew instantly. And that was it. Down she went. CJ: Ok. JC: That was a JU88, and that was at Politz. CJ: So then you, you said you finished your thirtieth op with that squadron because you’d already done four before. JC: Yeah. CJ: So, how did it feel when you’d all done your thirtieth? JC: Well, I can’t explain it because you see we were so used to expecting to die. You didn’t expect to come back. You didn’t expect to do thirty. You were elated. Yeah. Obviously you went in the mess and got a few sherbets down [laughs] Oh, what was I going to say? [pause] There’s little incidents that happened all the time. Such as crew bus. Two crews in the bus. The old crew bus. And it just started going around the perimeter track and one crew their bomb aimer more or less, I don’t know what he was doing. Ah. So he ran after the bus and tried to jump on it. He didn’t. He missed. Cracked his skull. That was it. And of course you’d the sequel of the egg. You know about the egg. Of course you do. When you came back from an op you got an egg. You didn’t get bacon. You got an egg. And it was looked forward to. ‘Cor, crikey I’ve got an egg tonight [laughs] you know, when you got back. But the jokey, jokey thing is that this actually happened. The bloke next to you and he says, ‘Eh mate,’ he said, ‘If you don’t get back tonight can I have your egg?’ And then another thing that happened which aircrew were very boisterous. One bloke went round the back of the servery and he pulled the string of the WAAF’s overall. Well, it was so hot in the mess the overall opened, didn’t it? And she’s leaning forward putting an egg with a slice. You can imagine can’t you. Plop. Now, the other thing concerning WAAFs was we were always playing tricks. One bloke had the brilliant idea he got a bit of wood square and in every hut there was an iron, oh what do you call it? Fire. CJ: Stove. JC: Stove. Yeah. So what does he do? He climbs up on to the roof. It was a flat roof for the WAAF quarters. He climbs up on the roof. He gets this bit of wood and puts it on the chimney and holds it down. Then he [laughs] after a few minutes the doors fly open and all the WAAFs come charging out in their underwear. And it was, it was funny you know because they’d got their civvy underwear on. CJ: How did you feel Joe when you had, when you came back and there were empty tables? JC: Well — BM: He didn’t think about it. JC: I didn’t think about it. I’ll give you an instance of it. Two crews to a hut virtually. Then two crews to a hut. You come back after an op. You’re dead tired. You’d had your egg. You’d gone up the road to the hut, get in the hut, get in the pit as we used to call bed and put your head down and you’d sleep. And then all of a sudden there’s a noise. Clank bang bang bong. You put your head up and there’s a whole bunch of SPs. You could always tell because of the arm bands. You’d look up and you’d say, ‘What the bloody hell are you doing?’ ‘Oh, won’t be long. Won’t be long, chiefy.’ That’s what a flight sergeant was called. ‘Won’t be long chiefy. Just taking the other crew’s gear out.’ This is 3 o’clock in the morning. ‘Well, what’s happened?’ ‘Oh. Well, they got the chop last night.’ Put your head down and go to sleep again. CJ: So, you finished your thirty ops. And what did you do after that? After you’d over your sherbets. JC: Well, I wanted a job obviously. I applied to Cossor to Lissen, all, all the old radio manufacturers because of, that’s another thing you didn’t know. I was a radio amateur as well and I had a radio amateur’s licence. So I applied and I thought I’d be in there. Didn’t want to know. ‘Sorry. Can’t give you the job.’ Well, what’s wrong?’ You know, ‘I’ve got City and Guilds in radio.’ ‘What’s — ’ ‘Sorry can’t give you. The reason being. You’re ex-aircrew.’ That was the reason. You were a bloody pariah. You’d been killing people sort of thing. Of course, they’d been over here killing us. I mean I used to say to them, ‘Exeter, Plymouth, Hull,’ etcetera. Shall I go on?’ But of course that [pause] funny us English. CJ: So after your thirty ops you were demobbed then, were you? JC: Yeah. Yeah. CJ: Ok. And then you were looking for a job. JC: Yeah. And I couldn’t get one. So there was, friends of mine had come out of the Army. A couple of them. They were in to radio and whatnot and we discovered that radiograms as we used to call them or if you could get a radiogram so we said there’s a market here. We’re in. What we did we got hold of all the old turntables. Plenty of them about. And then we built the radio part and the amplifier and we had, knew a bloke who made cabinets. So wooden cabinets to house the radiogram and we were making a damned good business out of it. And then what happened then? Oh yeah. [pause] Because of the radio business a firm down in Barking, Essex they’d heard of me because a, once again a friend of a friend and they said, ‘Well, would you come and set up our radio equipment?’ Which I did. Then I thought to myself well I don’t know. I can do better than this really. Because I’d got the, what do you call it the [pause] the knowledge as well as being able to make the radios and all the rest of it. I got all that so we, I decided I could do better. And I just put a word around and before I knew it Vidor at Vidor at Erith came after me and said, we want you sort of thing. And I went to Erith, Vidor as a buyer. Because of my knowledge and because of my mechanical aptitude I became a technical buyer at Vidor when they were making the little portables. And then while I was there I was head hunted by Decca. And Decca came after me and said, ‘We’ve heard all about you. We know what you do and you know, makes you tick,’ and I became the, in the Decca radio and television side I became the chief buyer for the bits and pieces. And then to finish the story I, I was there, oh quite got a long time. And then once again a friend of mine I worked with at Vidor he wanted to come and see me. He did and he stayed until about midnight and I wondered what the hell was going on. And then I said, ‘Hey Jim, what are you up to?’ So he said, ‘I’m offering you a job ain’t I?’ And I said, ‘But you can’t match what Decca’s giving me at the moment.’ He said, ‘Try me.’ And I did. And he said, ‘Right. I want you. I want you to set up a company with departments and all the rest of it because we have a device which we — ’ A device which they’d patented. How to measure or weigh by means of air pressure. Not electric but air pressure. Now, this was a good thing. I saw the potential because all the big manufacturers of, that were using, making things which were explosive. That was the answer. So we got going into a very good business and it, it really went well until, until twenty years later. The electronic boys found out how to do it. Make it spark. Spark positive. Whatever you’d like to call it. In other words if there was a spark there wouldn’t be an explosion. So they were beating us then at our own game and unfortunately we went down this pan. Or the company did. By that time I was a director of that company. I was also a director of five others. So I took their little engraving, well part it we owned was an engraving company. So I took that and I went up to Leicester. That’s where it was based. There was only two people. I made the third. And I worked away and I got contracts for BBC. People like that. Big contracts. And once again I was doing all right. So I worked away there and sort of set myself up for a pension by an annuity which I’ve still got today. And then of course time to retire. There you have it. CJ: There you go. And I think you said earlier that you, you didn’t marry until the war was over. Was that right? JC: That’s right. I said to my late wife, ‘I will not marry you. Not until I finish flying because I don’t want you to be left with a cinder.’ Because aircrew used to get horribly burned and I wasn’t going to have that. That’s why I didn’t. So October ’45 we were married. And that’s the bit. Married. The vicar was available. Just got hold of him. It was the big church in Brixton. Acre Lane where the big church was and we were married in that church. Now, we managed to get the vicar but we didn’t have a choir, we didn’t have anything like that. We didn’t, we didn’t even have a car to take us. We had a car but halfway there because of the war and bald tyres it got a puncture and we had to walk the rest of the way to the church. And we got married the 20th of October 1945. And I was married for forty six years. Forty seven years. Then you know this. I’ve told you the story about Vi and I and the motorbikes. CJ: So I think you said you had a common love of motorbikes. JC: Yeah. CJ: And Vi lost her husband as well. JC: Yeah. What I did, when we said oh well we’ll get together we did. But to get married was such a mishmash I can’t, I don’t, I won’t explain it now but it caused a lot of problems or would have done. So we became partners. And I said to Vi, ‘We’re going to have a look at the world.’ And she’d not, so she’d been to Israel. Where else did you go love? You went to Israel. Where else? VJ: Everywhere that we could. JC: Eh? VJ: Everywhere that we possibly could get. JC: Well, yeah that’s when I said to her, ‘Right. Well, we’re going to see as much of the world as we can,’ and we did. And we went, that’s why we’ve been to Canada, the states. You name it. CJ: And did you carry on biking on after the war? JC: Oh yeah, yeah. Carried on biking. After the war. You see because my friend Stanley was Vi’s husband. CJ: So what was your favourite bike? JC: Hmmn? CJ: What was your favourite bike? JC: Well, my favourite bike was a Vinny. A Vincent. But my wife wouldn’t let me. They had them. They had one. They had a Vincent. Look. There’s one on the wall up there. They had them. But my wife said, ‘No. No. It’s too fast. No. No,’ she said, ‘I’ll leave you if you get one of those.’ No. I didn’t have one. I had a Triumph. A Triumph 650. Which wasn’t bad. I used to get a fair old speed out of it. CJ: And coming back to the RAF did you keep in touch with the rest of the crew after the war? JC: Oh yeah. Yes. I did. But gradually, unfortunately the engineer died of [pause] Oh dear. Cancer. It was cancer, wasn’t it? VJ: Yeah. JC: He died. And then I lost touch because well a lot of them disappeared. I’ve since discovered that I’m the only one alive. The rest have gone. MM: When did Mac die? JC: Eh? MM: When did Mac die? JC: I can’t remember. VJ: About three or four years. JC: When was it? VJ: About four years ago. JC: Eh? VJ: Four. Four years. CJ: Four years ago. JC: Four years ago. Yeah. CJ: So I gather you went up to East Kirkby for Mac. Is that correct? CJ: Yes. CJ: What was that all about? JC: Well, his daughter was scattering his ashes in the little field of Remembrance up there. That’s why I went up there. We all went up there. There was a gang of us. Of course, scattered his ashes. I simply broke down. CJ: And were you in a Squadron Association? JC: Oh yes. It’s in this. Plenty of them. I’m in the Squadron Association and I still get a newsletter every year. I used to go up to the dinner and dance and whatnot. I used to. Now, I couldn’t. So — MM: You tell him about Johnny Chatterton and Mike Chatterton. JC: Well, Johnny Chatterton was the test pilot 630 Squadron. He’d just finished his second tour. He was looking for a crew. We’d finished ours and he said, ‘I’m going to take you over pro tem.’ And he did. He took us over for [pause] oh, I don’t know. About a year. Something like that. And finished our time at 630. Disbanded in July. July ’45. So when we disbanded that was it. Johnny tried to get the rest of the crew to go with him but they wouldn’t have it. They wouldn’t have it. MM: But his son flew the Memorial Flight, didn’t he? JC: Oh yeah. Mike Chatterton was, was also in the flying game if you like and he, he used to fly the Lanc. Not fly it. Well, he did but — CJ: This was the BBMF Lancaster. JC: Yeah. He flew that but the one at East Kirkby when they first got it running, the four engines and he did the first taxi run. When he finished the taxi run he said, ‘I had a bloody hard job to hold it down,’ he said, ‘It wanted to get in the air. Wanted to take off. I had to hold it down.’ Now, Mike Chatterton, he became a wing commander I think. He’s retired now, of course. The Chattertons own the farm which is near East Kirkby actually. Now, that’s a funny thing you see because Johnny Chatterton was born in a little house which is in, was in the middle of East Kirkby. CJ: What a coincidence. JC: Yeah. CJ: Now, have you anything else you’d like to tell us, Joe? JC: I’m just having a think. What I’m me and my, my beloved partner are carrying on. We’re still together and we don’t know how long because she’s eighty seven. Aren’t you? VJ: Six. JC: Eighty six. MM: She’ll kill you if you don’t know. JC: And of course I’m ninety one. You had to be that age to do what we’d done because it was at the end of the war. I can add, people say, ‘Well, were you frightened?’ Etcetera. No. Not a bit. MM: Would you do it again, Joe? JC: Oh, of course not. I’ve got more sense. CJ: Well, thanks very much for talking to us today, Joe. That was brilliant. Thank you very much indeed. JC: Yeah. Right. [recording paused] CJ: So, tell me Joe did you ever get wounded when you were flying on ops? JC: Very slightly. I wouldn’t say I really got wounded. What happened was that the flak that came up, came through the turret and caught my right outer gun. In doing so it knocked the back plate off which has the return spring etcetera. And it’s the buffer plate for the [pause] oh dear. I’ve forgotten the name of the — CJ: The breech. JC: Eh? CJ: The breech. JC: No. It goes backwards and forwards. CJ: The bolt. JC: At a fast rate. CJ: Ok. The firing pin. JC: Eh? CJ: The firing pin. JC: No. No. No. It’s the breech block. CJ: Ok. JC: And the breach block came back and came straight out and landed in my lap actually after it had hit the side of my head. Taken my helmet. It took, you know the helmet round bit. The telephones, if you like. Took that off and creased the side of my head and when we went to get debriefed chappy there said, ‘Oh, come on,’ he said, ‘Debrief quick,’ he said, ‘You’ve got to, better go up sick quarters because you’re bleeding.’ I went up sick quarters and the, I don’t know who it was in charge. I can’t remember. But they cleaned up the, where the wound if you like. Cleaned it up and then looked at it and he put an adhesive plaster or a tape on it. Took one step back and said, ‘Yeah. Yeah. Fit for flying tomorrow.’ CJ: Well, thank you for that Joe. [recording paused] CJ: So, Joe would you like to tell us about any incident when you actually shot an aircraft down? JC: Yes. I can because I have my diary which I wrote in. Every time I came back I wrote what it was like. So I can tell you that on the 8th and 9th of February ’45 the target was Politz which was an oil installation north of Stettin. And I go on to say, “The flak was fairly heavy. Red cannon fire continuous over Sweden. Searchlights, some in target area and over Denmark. Two Junkers 88s seen over target. Then Junkers 88 shot down and destroyed by the mid-upper gunner and myself and the bomb aimer two minutes before bombs gone. This was a very tiring trip being airborne for nine hours forty five minutes. Flown over for, eighteen hundred miles. Crossing Sweden and Denmark and the Baltic. The Swedish AA fire was very accurate and a lot of ‘dive ports’ had to be given to avoid it. That was two minutes from the run up to the bombing run. Then the mid-upper sighted a Junkers 88 on port beam level. The mid-upper and bomb aimer opened fire. The 88 tried to drop behind. I yelled out to the skipper, ‘Throttle back. Whatever he does you do. Don’t let don’t let him go up or down or sideways or anything.’ And then at approximately range is seventy five yards I fired in to the canopy and killed the crew. Both the gunners, the other two other than myself kept firing and strikes observed on both engines and it eventually broke away and the bomb aimer saw it crash in the target area. And it was reported also by other crews. Numerous explosions and thick black smoke with flames intermingled came up from the target. Visibility was very good. No cloud. And marking was bang on. No doubt Politz was well and truly pranged this time. It seemed ages in the air. Especially on the return across the North Sea. There was not much AA fire over Denmark but Swedish gunners were very active. No fighters were, were observed after the 88. This provided enjoyment of aerial warfare.” Well, thanks very much Joe. 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 Joseph Henry Cook Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chris Johnson 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 2017-01-18 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 ACookJH170118, PCookJH1701 Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Pending revision of OH transcription Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 01:04:02 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 Having completed school and moved on to work at 20th Century Fox Films, Joe worked as a fire watcher at the beginning of the war, before joining the Royal Air Force. He states that he did so because he always wanted to fly and did not want to join the Army. He was sent to St. John’s Wood for square bashing, which he thought was to ‘break’ the aircrews, before completing his initial training at RAF Bridgnorth and then onto RAF Bridlington to learn Morse code. He turned down being a bomb aimer in Anson and trained as an air gunner instead, after learning that they had the highest loss rate. He eventually travelled to RAF Tarrant Rushton just before the D-Day landings, being sent to drop leaflets over France in old Stirlings. Upon completing one of his first four operations, he baled out and landed in a tree. Joe was transferred to Wellingtons, flying training eight-hour trips. Joe also recounts several experiences on operations, including two near misses and flying at low temperatures. He didn’t think about losses, purely as they were so tired. Decommissioned in July 1945, Joe struggled to find work following the war, thinking that no-one was keen to hire him as they believed he had killed people. He remained in touch with his crew and he also joined the squadron association. He states that he was never frightened throughout the war, but that he would not do it again, as he has more sense now. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sam Harper-Coulson Julie Williams Maureen Clarke Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. France Great Britain Germany Poland England--Shropshire England--Yorkshire Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal Germany--Urft Dam Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie) Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 630 Squadron air gunner Air Gunnery School aircrew bale out bombing crewing up fear Fw 190 Initial Training Wing Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School Me 109 Me 262 military ethos military service conditions Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944) Operational Training Unit perception of bombing war propaganda RAF Bridgnorth RAF Bridlington RAF East Kirkby RAF Silverstone RAF Syerston RAF Tarrant Rushton RAF Wigsley Stirling training Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/753/10751/ACotterJDP180828.1.mp3 e9a1567a26e03578b2f197371ed79bd9 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 Cotter, John David Pennington J D P Cotter Description An account of the resource Three items. The collection concerns Wing Commander John Cotter DFC (b. 1923, Royal Canadian Air Force) and contains an oral history interview, his log book and a memoir. He flew operations as a pilot with 158 and 640 Squadrons. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Cotter and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. 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 2018-08-28 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 Cotter, JDP Transcribed audio recording A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document JC: Yes, here we are. PS: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Patricia Selby and the interview is John Cotter and the interview is taking place at his home. Can you give me your address [tone] and the time is 2.25. Where, when were you born John? JC: They came over to England. PS: No, when were you born? PS: Yes, when we came over to England. Apparently I was, my mother was pregnant with me on the voyage over and when we got here they put me in to St Mary’s Hospital Paddington, where I was born. PS: So Paddington. So how did your childhood go on from there? JC: They bought a house in Hendon, just by Hendon Central tube station, a brand new house, on a mortgage and they were surviving on my mother’s money really. My father decided he’d leave the sea, big mistake of his, and he had a little tobacconist by the station and things went downhill from there. And eventually the Halifax Building Society foreclosed on the mortgage in about 1928, by which time I was five, and they repossessed the house and so they moved to a, the family to a flat in Finchley Road, near Swiss Cottage, and I remember that clearly because we were there about a year and things hadn’t got any better and my father had had to take commercial jobs going round selling things and in 1930 we had to, my parents were Christian Scientists and they got help from the Christian Science Church. When they were completely broke, had no money at all, all my mother’s money had gone, we had to go down to a place called Roe Green in, near Colindale and people, Christian Scientists, in council houses for example, were putting us up and the family was split up a couple of times with my brother and my mother in one house and my father and myself in another house. Eventually my father must have got a loan and he purchased a car in 1932, a little Swift, 1923 Swift, and he paid five pounds for it, I remember that. And he started selling eggs from this car. He’d go round the villages, selling eggs. And from that he progressed to a dirty garage, in Baker Street, where he was fitting tyres. We had the car at home and he would be spending his days fitting tyres on car wheels, motor cars, and eventually he got his own business and he bought it at Neasden, in Blackbird Cross at Neasden, he had a shop called the Boat House Tyre Service I think. And he had about three employees there, including one of my uncles, who’d also fallen on hard times, and things were going very well and so we moved into a very large flat in Edgware, with four huge bedrooms and three living rooms and it was up on the third floor of a block and we were over a block of shops, and we were over a shop called Gilbert Reeves in Edgware, Station Road, Edgware and we were now living very well. I passed my scholarship to a grammar school and in 1935 I went to the Kingsbury County School, grammar school. I’d done very well at ordinary school, elementary school, I’d always been top of the class. I now, for some reason, became almost the bottom of the class in the grammar school. I found that the competition was very heavy and I wasn’t doing very well. However, I hung on and I started in, there in August ’35 and August ’39 came along and war was declared in September the 3rd, by which time I’d decided I was going to join the Junior League of Oswald Mosley’s Fascist movement. Outside Edgware Station, which was a big station, the end of the Northern Line, so a big station, and one side of the station would be the Communist Party, workers selling the Daily Worker, and the other side would be the Fascists, Oswald Mosley’s man and I always liked him better, Oswald Mosley’s men, always looked better, smarter. And civil war in Spain had been going on for some time and we, my parents had a great friend called Mr Auty, who was a Spaniard and an olive oil importer and he said that the Fascist Party were the only hope for Spain and so I supported General Franco and led to numerous fights with me at school as nobody else seemed to support General Franco, except me. By the time the war broke out I was coming up to sixteen and that year I was supposed to take my School Certificate and I knew I’d do badly at it, so the war was a sort of relief for me. But I decided I’d better not join the Fascist Party as they’d now declared war on Hitler and my parents might be upset about that, me joining Oswald Mosely. Anyway the schools were closed, no sign of opening, so I said to my mother I’m not doing very well at school, I’d better get a job, and she said yes you should get a job and then you support the household by giving some rent. So I didn’t get a job, cause I didn’t know how to get a job, so she got a job for me. Mummy got me my job in a paper firm in Upper Thames Street, just off Blackfriars in London, at twelve and six a week and I went up there and worked there. And then mummy was always saying to me, John, you must get a job with a pension, you must have a pension. So she decided that the job in Upper Thames Street wasn’t paying, going to pay a pension so she’d get me a job in the Civil Service, which she did! She produced this job for me in the Clothing Office, in Whitehall and she said you start there in I think it was June 1940, which I did. And it was quite nice job, with a pension [chuckle] and I had my own responsibilities there, I was doing something all day. I was dealing with, the war was on, so I was dealing with requests from all the colonies when we had a big Empire then, for permission to export goods to certain countries were banned from receiving any goods, anything from Germany, so they had to apply to London. They come down through me, a little sixteen year old in the clothing office, and I was then circulating them to the correct department. I was quite happy doing that and the bombing started. I used to walk down Whitehall in the evenings, six o’clock in the evening, when we finished work, and the bombing had started, mainly in the East End, but some in the centre of London, and I’d get on the tube at The Strand, to go home, and I’d come out at the end of the tunnel which was at Golders Green, and you’d immediately be into the bombing again, because you’d been safe while you were in the underground but now the bombing had started. You’d see the searchlights and it was all going on, and I got fed up of this and then they started rationing as well. Whereas rationing hadn’t been very severe and I’d had plenty of chocolate and things like that to carry on with, you could get them in all the shops, now things started disappearing and you couldn’t get them any longer. I used to attend parties where a lot of, this is in Edgware, where a lot of the people, the youngsters, were joining the services. I saw these advertisements which said: ‘You too can bomb Berlin” and advertising for pilots and I got interested in this and I noticed that the qualification to be a pilot, to be in training as a pilot, if you were selected, you had to have an education up to School Certificate standard. Didn’t say you had to have the School Certificate, you had to be educated to the standard. So, mind [indecipherable], look around and thought jolly good, I could join the Air Force and I decided I would join and take the invitation to go and bomb Berlin. ”You too can bomb Berlin” and it showed you a man in pilot’s uniform, officer’s uniform, standing and leaning on a post in a nice building in Berlin and the building was crumbling from the bombing, and so I said to my younger brother who was about eighteen months younger than me, I said to Paul I’m going off to bomb Berlin, join the Air Force and he said right, I’ll come as well. I said you can’t, because you’re too young, you’re fifteen and the minimum age is seventeen, which I was, and he said I know, but what about if I put on my age to seventeen and you put, I said I’d have to put my age up and he said yes. So eventually we decided yes, he could join with me and I said you haven’t got to school certificate standard and you won’t have it. He said doesn’t matter I’ll join as well, I’ll try and join. So in February 1941, the two of us went down to the Air Force Recruiting Office in Deansbrook Road, Edgware. And we went in and I went in first and the recruiting sergeant asked me what I wanted to be and I said I wanted to be a pilot, and he said where were you educated, and I said Kingsbury County School, just about to take the school certificate and of course the schools were closed and so I left. He said that’s good enough, he said yes, we’ll send you up to Uxbridge and you’ll be interviewed there and if you’re satisfactory, you’ll be a pilot, you’ll be training for a pilot, I was nineteen according to my reckoning, and out I went and my brother went in after me. He was accepted as well, but not as a pilot, they said he could be a rear gunner, or a gunner, or a wireless operator. So he said he’d be a wireless operator do they said you’re going to Uxbridge as well. Funnily enough, a friend of his who was the correct age completely, went in after him, was sent back to his mother to get his birth certificate. They hadn’t looked for my birth certificate, or Paul’s. So we both went to Uxbridge the following day and there we were assessed and I was accepted for training as a pilot and Paul was accepted for training as a wireless operator and we were told to go home, carry on with our jobs and they’d call us up when they had room for us. That was in February, and I waited, carried on at the Clothes Office and I waited and waited and couple of chaps at the Clothing Office had, friends of mine, who’d also joined the Air Force, they were called up and I was still waiting. Anyway, the time came: July 7th 1941. I was told to report to Lords Cricket Ground, St Johns Wood, and I did, and there I was taken into the Air Force and I’d been a great cricket fan. Am I going on too long? PS: No, it’s fine. It’s really good. JC: Great cricket fan and I’d been to Lords many times and in those days only the poshest amateurs, proper amateurs were allowed to use the main pavilion at Lords. The professionals, the really top class cricketers, the p[professionals, had to use the side gate and this pavilion at Lords was a place that only MCC members were allowed in and I met some cricketers. And we were all marched in on the second day there at Lords, into this temple, where only amateur players were allowed in. Told to drop our trousers round to our ankles and lift our shirts up to our necks while a Medical Officer walked down the line inspecting us. [Chuckle] Then we were passed fit, obviously, and we used to go down to, you got, billeted in flats, blocks of flats that had obviously been commandeered and the tenant told to leave, and we were billeted in these flats and we used to march down to the zoo for our meals and march back again. So you’d march down for breakfast, and back to wherever you were working, march down for lunch and dinner. And then we were sent on an Initial Training Wing course and I went across to a proper RAF station at Brize Norton, which is still going, for my initial training course and when I came back from that, I was sent down to Brighton here, into the Hotel Metropole to await further instructions And obviously the further instructions were going to be to train, start flying training. We were obviously going overseas for that because most of the flying training was in Canada or South Africa. And I was down here for about four weeks in the Metropole Hotel and then I was shipped off to Manchester for a while, and from Manchester I was taken up to the docks at Glasgow, and put on a little old ship that had been carrying cargo obviously and we now had about twelve hundred chaps on board, and we were setting sail for North America and we were in a convoy, and it took us twelve days to get across the Atlantic. And the first four days I was so sick, I used to lie upstairs on the deck, near the lifeboats, and hope that the submarines would come and torpedo us, so put me out of my misery. After four days I perked up and I’ve never been sick since. We were billeted down in the holds with a lot of rough men who swore most of the time. I’d never heard much swearing in my life, certainly not at school, and swearing and cursing, these rough chaps were. They weren’t aircrew, they were going out to do other jobs, whatever they were. Some in the Navy and a lot in the Air Force obviously to man RAF stations in Canada or North America and I finished up in Saskatchewan, Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, for my initial flying course on Tiger Moths. You had to be capable of going solo on the aircraft after six hours training and the maximum you could do was twelve hours, and if you hadn’t gone solo after twelve hours, you’d, you weren’t considered good enough to be pilot and you’d be sent off for training as a navigator possibly, or something else, and after twelve hours I hadn’t gone solo. All the other people, all my friends had failed, as pilots, and I had no friends left there, they had all failed and gone off, sent off somewhere, and so it was only me and the people who’d gone solo, going flying away on little Tiger Moths and me, not allowed to go solo cause I wasn’t good enough. My instructor must have had faith in me because he asked the CO if I could have another two hours and the CO said yes, but after two hours, if I hadn’t gone solo I would be off, off the course, and after fourteen hours I still hadn’t gone solo so he asked to CO again for a further extension, he must have had great faith in me, and the CO said I’ve got to go to Calgary, get a message through to Calgary ask permission from the C in C, and got that permission and I had one last flight and he sent me solo. And I went solo and on my third landing I landed on top of my friend, who was in another plane and smashed the planes up. But they’d had such a time getting me through so far, they let me carry on. None of us, neither of us were injured, but we’d done considerable damage to the planes. I landed on top of him, I hadn’t seen him, on the runway, he was beneath me and I was landing my Tiger Moth, I thought I was clear on the runway, there was a big crunch and I hit his plane. However they had spent so much time getting me there to this stage they thought I’d carry on, so I carried on and finished the course and passed out, quite well, and I was sent up to another base at Saskatoon and, North Battleford actually, and did an Oxford course where I had no trouble whatsoever. I went solo in about four hours and finished the course quite well and at the end of the course, because they needed pilots in Canada and North America because there was training in, over in the States as well though the war hadn’t started in, America wasn’t in the war yet, most of the pilots who passed out were, thought they were going to stay in Canada or North America as instructors or staff pilots, except for the bottom sixteen of us, who were to go home, and I was sixteenth from the bottom of course, so I was one of the ones that came home. And this time instead of going across the Atlantic on an old steamer, we were sent down to New York by train and we arrived in New York one evening at about six o’clock and we were marched from Pennsylvania Station to the other station in New York, erm, not to the other station, to the docks, and we marched down to the docks and on board, and marched on board the Queen Mary, which was empty except for us, which was about sixty of us and nobody on board. And twelve of us were sent to this cabin, one large cabin, and said we were in this cabin and we said well the place is empty why can’t we have some, a cabin each? They said no you’re twelve of you in here. There are only six bunks and so the arrangement is you will have a bunk every other night and the rest of the time you sleep on the floor. And this is the Air Force so you had to be, do as you were told. And then on the first night we were there, just started to sleep and we heard this marching and boots coming on, and the Queen Mary was filling up with American troops: war had broken out and they were one of the first detachments to come to England. They filled up the plane, the ship completely, so much so that we realised why we were all in this one cabin, cause everywhere else were American troops. The Queen Mary set sail, in four days and we were across the Atlantic. Didn’t come in a convoy, just set sail by itself, and it went so fast that it crossed the Atlantic in four days and discharged all its troops and then came whistling back. Did this all throughout the rest of the war and neither the Queen Mary nor the Queen Elizabeth were sunk. So they got all the troops across. So we were back in England now and after many tribulations I got up to [pause] Wymeswold to start my training and that’s where I start that, in February 1943. PS: So you did more training again, when you got back to England. JC: Oh yes. Yes. You’d only done enough training on small aircraft. So now they were deciding where you were going and it was pretty obvious that most of us would be going into Bomber Command because it was a big command now. They’d had the Battle of Britain. The fighter boys had defeated the Germans in the Battle of Britain, by air, and now Bomber Command was getting all the impetus, raids started on Germany and German cities. And I never had any trouble at all, after all that trouble with my first solo, I never had any trouble at all from then on, in training, and I eventually found myself on a squadron, after. I’d come back in August 1942 and I arrived on the squadron a year later, nearly a year later. So I’d done a lot of training, obviously. PS: That was 158 Squadron. JC: 158 Squadron, yes. And I joined a crew, and, a very good crew, there’s a photograph of them out there in the hall, very good crew. Seven of us and certainly myself, I never [emphasis] worried about not coming back from an operation or anything like that. There were people who were worried but I never had any trouble with, at all with my crew, they were all marvellous chaps. We used to go out on our operations and come back, and, as you’ll see in there, we were, we got ourselves, because the accommodation at Lissett was tin sheds, huts, we got ourselves accepted in to an Army Sergeant’s Mess in Bridlington where we lived in a nice house with proper fires and a brick built building on the sea front, at Bridlington which was an Army Sergeant’s Mess and we were adopted, our crew were adopted there and the Army provided, it was a Company Sergeant Major who arranged it, the Army Company Sergeant Major who arranged it, and he said anything you want, and if you’re called back to base, you’ve got to go back to base quickly, we’ll give you the transport back. So they fed us and beered us, gave us beer and we had a marvellous time, our crew. There were, I remember once, we used to go out, say seven thirty in the evening, and we’d all be taking off for a target and there’d be a queue waiting for take off on the runway, and once, just in front of us, something happened. We couldn’t get past this aircraft, it wasn’t moving. It was a great friend of mine, Doug Robinson who I knew was the captain of it, and eventually the Flight Commander came out from Operations and spoke to them on board and then a closed van came out as well, followed I think, and this closed van was there about five minutes and then off it went and the plane then turned round, oh, the plane then turned round and taxied off the tarmac, on to the grass, to allow us to pass. We just passed it and he was sitting there on the grass. And the reason that it had happened, one of his crew came up and said he couldn’t carry on, described he was too much. PS: Too frightened. JC: Too much, too frightening, yeah. I learned that the closed van that had come up, he was put in the van and whisked off and taken off basically, and that was what happened in the war, if you, it was known as Lack of Moral Fibre. Wouldn’t happen now of course, but, wouldn’t call it Lack of Moral Fibre, but in those days, LMF we called it. They were taken off the base immediately because they didn’t’ want him mixing with anybody else. Fortunately nobody in my crew were like that and you see there, we went through the war with no problems whatsoever. Whereas most of our friends were having trouble, you know, getting very damaged aircraft, [pause] horrific experiences and we had nothing like that. JS: How did that make you feel? JC: Hm? JS: How did you feel about that? JC: We were very callous, in the war. When you came back from a trip and you found that three or four aircraft were, hadn’t come back, and it’s friend of yours on one, friends on another aircraft and you would say they’d gone for a Burton, which meant they’d been shot down and killed possibly. Very callous, you’d say: “Well you shouldn’t have joined if you can’t stand a joke.” When shot down, things like that. Horrible really. JS: I was going to say, how did you, now, looking back how did you? JC: Horrible. PS: It was your way of coping, presumably. JC: Yeah. But you see, you see there every six weeks we got leave; a weeks’ leave. We lived like kings really. We got petrol, there was no petrol for other people, we had petrol, we had cars, or motorbikes. You had a petrol allowance. So you’d have enough petrol from Bridlington to go down to London for the weekend. I never did because none of my crew had cars, but other crews had somebody had a motor car and they’d do that, so. We had meals which were eggs and bacon and sausages and goodness knows what, but you couldn’t get in civilian life, you were rationed to all that. And after every trip we had this before we left and when we came back. JS: But you were out for a long time, you must have been hungry when you got back. JC: Oh, we were hungry, yes. PS: You said every six weeks you had a break, in the weeks that you, those six weeks, how many raids would you do? Roughly. JC: I depended, it depends I suppose. I would say when you, you’d go back and you’d do about five raids and then six weeks had gone by, or maybe, or sometimes, we started off our time at the squadron on the Battle of Hamburg. Hamburg, the main port, we did four raids on the city, in about four weeks. Gave them a very heavy raid every week and we reckoned we’d demolished the major part of the city by the end of that time and then we, Bomber Command switched, possibly I think Berlin, or Frankfurt, mainly Berlin after Hamburg, in my time. You’ll see there that I did raids on a lot of German cities, Kassel, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, all over the place. And you did, I did my way, it was all very exciting, all very exciting. And at the end of my tour I was, I remember the last trip I did was to Dusseldorf, and I got back from Dusseldorf and at the briefing, debriefing, you walk into this hut and the Station Commander, whose name was Group Captain Waterhouse, would be standing at the entrance to greet you as you came in, and that last trip he said to me, well young Cotter, that’s you finished. I said I’d like to carry on, sir. He said we’ll see about that. I hadn’t asked my crew, I was so exuberant, hadn’t asked my crew. I think my crew would have followed me on, I hadn’t asked them, I just assumed they would. Anyway we didn’t get it, I didn’t get my request, because within four days I was shipped up, sent on leave for a week then shopped up to the north of Scotland to a place called Lossiemouth, which I had never heard of before. I’d never been to Scotland apart from when I’d gone to Glasgow to board the ship. I was sent up to this place Lossiemouth, to train the, where they were training the French Air Force who, to be in Bomber Command. These were Frenchmen who were from Algeria, French officers and men from Algeria, which hadn’t been conquered of course by the Germans, and they’d had the Free French Air Force there, and now they wanted to operate in Bomber Command and that was my job to help train them, which I liked. Couldn’t speak a word of French cause I’d been a duffer at school where I learned French, but I got on well with them. And I was there till the end of the war. I kept saying to the Wing Commander Flying, I’d like to get back on operations and they used to tell me to get out of the office and not waste their time. And the last one was a nice Wing Commander O’Dwyer and he obviously thought well of me because he commanded a station later and when I wanted to stay in the Air Force when the war ended, he arranged that I got a good job, and I stayed in the Air Force. I’d been married, to my first wife, in July 1945 I got married, and I went for an interview with BOAC and I was accepted by BOAC, and I met my wife who was working in King’s Road, Chelsea. We met in a pub at, in Chelsea, and said, in her lunchtime, and I said I’ve got this job with BOAC and Margaret said how much are they paying you? And I said well initially they’re paying me, I think it was, three hundred and eighty pounds a year as a trainee. She said you’re getting more than that in the Air Force and I said well I am, yes and she said well it’s no contest is it, you stay in the Air Force. I took her advice, because she was older than me, and sensible I thought, so I stayed in the Air Force, and for another twenty years and did quite well there and finished as a Squadron leader and twenty years later, I got a chance to go into civil flying, to retire from the Air Force with a small pension and go into civil flying and that’s what I did. So I went to a firm called Dan Air and I was there for the, till I was sixty, when I, you had to retire as captain of aircraft in those days so that. PS: So you really enjoyed your flying. JC: I did enjoy my flying. PS: You were awarded the DFC. Would you like to tell me how that came about? JC: Yes. In 640 Squadron, oh, 158 Squadron at Lissett, we were C Flight. There were three, two, three flights in the squadron: A, B and C, and we were C Flight and in December 1943 they decided that we would convert onto a more efficient mark of Halifax with new engines, better engines, and C Flight would go across to Leconfield, permanent station, near Beverley, about twenty miles or so from the city, and form a new squadron. And we formed the new squadron called 640, the number 640 and the Squadron Commander was a chap called Ruby Ayres who was very nice, a very good fellow and he’d been sent to Australia in the war, at the beginning of the war, to get the training scheme over there sorted out. So he’d now come back and taken command of 640 Squadron. Brand new squadron and after about six months or so, no about four months, he decided that they’d been through all these operations and nobody had been, got a decoration. So unbeknown to me, I was suddenly called up into the Wing Commander’s office, Wing Commander Ayres, Squadron Commander, and he said now Cotter, you had a difficult time the other night, a difficult time this night, is that right, I said yes, but nothing serious sir, he said no, but it’s very difficult, you carried on, all of this. I didn’t know what he was talking about but anyway, what he was doing was deciding that I would have the DFC, first one in the squadron. And about three weeks later, or four weeks later, I was asleep in the mess after lunch which I normally did, cause they had chairs like this and used to go to sleep, and I was woken by Alan Smart one of the other, my colleagues, who’d had a terrible time in the war, he’d been shot up to pieces and managed to get back each time, and he came in and shook my shoulder and said you’ve got the DFC, John. I said what, he said you’ve got the DFC. I said oh, thanks and went back to sleep as far as I remember. [Laugh] And then, and then I was eventually called to Holyrood House. This is when I was at Lossiemouth, I’d gone to Lossiemouth and I was called to Holyrood House in Edinburgh and I was given the DFC by King George Sixth, think it was the sixth. [Other]: What had you done to get it? What have they said that you’d done? JC: Where’s the book, which I got out, big one there, you see, that one PS: Because I don’t think they just give them out for, sweeties. I’ll, ‘John Cotter. This officer has proved himself to be a most capable and resolute captain of aircraft. He has participated on a large number of attacks on well defended targets, including several against Berlin and Hamburg. One night in February 1944, Pilot Officer Cotter took part in an attack on Schweinfurt? JC: Schweinfurt. PS: On the outward flight, engine trouble developed, but despite this Pilot Officer Cotter continued to target and bomb it and afterwards flew the aircraft back to this country where he made a safe landing at an airfield near the coast. His determination to complete this mission successfully was highly commendable.’ So you did it on three engines. Out and back. That must have made you very tired. JC: Well it was, yes. I remember that, one you were talking about there. I landed at Tangmere, along the coast here. Used to be an airfield there. PS: So what did, after the war when you stayed in the Air Force, what sort of things did you do then? JC: [Laugh] Now, the, they’d just decided, after the war, to have exchange postings with the Americans. Some Americans would come over here and serve with us and some of us would go over there and the first stage postings took place in February 1940, [pause] 7, 1947, and I was on it. They selected me, to go out there and on to an American base. I was a married man of course by this time. The first year they said you can’t take your wife, cause you’re only going to go for a year, you don’t know where you’ll be in America, and they sent us down to, there were four Flight Lieutenants and five Wing Commanders going. Wing commander being about three steps higher than a Flight Lieutenant. Four junior offices and five senior officers. And I remember the four junior officers got together and went down to Air Ministry for a briefing. We got to this briefing at Air Ministry in Kingsway, London and it consisted of this Group Captain coming in and saying now, the best paper for football, English football results, is the New York Times so get that while you’re over there and you’ll get all the results, and that was about it: that was the briefing. So the next thing we knew we were on this liner about to go, going to America. We landed in New York, we landed in Halifax actually, Halifax, Nova Scotia and we were trained down to New York. We got there and they put us up in hotels there, called the Lexington. Lexington Hotel, on Lexington Avenue, known as the Sexy Lexy in the Air Force, the Air Force always used it, and we were there, and of course back home things were, as the war had finished things were even worse than they were during the war. The rationing was more severe and we were really, those post, immediate post war years were a bit thin for food and things and we’re now going to America, the land of plenty, and so we enjoyed ourselves in New York. We were there about four days and then we were bussed down then, down to Washington, Washington DC, and to the Pentagon Building, which is the big military, American Military Headquarters where we had an RAF delegation there. And the things we noticed, I noticed, straight away, was all WAAFs, the Women’s Air Force, were very, very smart, and chic. Where the WAAFs at home had woollen stockings because of rationing of course they couldn’t get silk stockings, all the WAAFs in Washington had silk stockings, or nylon stockings I suppose they were, certainly much smarter and looked a lot cleaner and more with it than our malnourished crowd back home. And so I was sent in to see this Air Marshal, and the first thing he said to me, he said when you come in to see me you are dressed correctly, you don’t have the hat on the back of your head. Go out and dress correctly and come, wait for [indecipherable] to back again. So out I went with my tail between my legs and looked at this very smart WAAF that I’d been admiring, I no longer admired her, cause I thought she should have warned me about that and I did have, my hat on the back of my head, as I had in there. PS: Yeah. JC: Yeah. And it’s not smart, that’s wartime stuff, and I was still on wartime stuff and I quite deserved what I got. Anyway, he decided I wasn’t, I wasn’t suitable material for Washington, for the American Air Force so I was sent home, in disgrace, basically, tail between my legs. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one, there was one of the Wing Commanders as well sent back, some reason. [laughter] So I came back, quite miserable feeling, on the same boat, almost. But again, we were, like the Queen Mary during the war, we had to share cabins, everybody was cooped up. I mean in the cabin on the return journey I remember there was a chap from Preston and his wife. Preston in Lancashire they came from. They’d been in America twenty two years and he was coming home, he and his wife, they’d had enough, you know, of America, after twenty two years. They’d gone out there just after the First World War and he’d been working as a painter and decorator and now he was coming home, he and his wife. Don’t know what they did when they got home, but anyway. We got home and it was the making of me. PS: Pardon? JC: It was the making of me, because I got to Air Ministry and I said [pouring of tea] I’d like to have a good postings, overseas. And they said not a chance! I said why not, and they said, I haven’t been overseas yet on a posting and they said we need people like you. I said why, said you’re a good instructor and we need, and it was just when we were building up the Air Force again, thank you darling. [Other]: Let me give you that. JC: After the war Stalin, er, Churchill had said there’s an Iron Curtain coming down over Europe. Churchill had been out in Washington and he announced it quite, quite strongly there: there’s an Iron Curtain coming down, and so we had started to rearm against the Russian Menace. They needed instructors because they were recruiting people who had just been discharged from the Air Force, and had been working and hadn’t liked it and were coming back in the Air Force and so I obviously was thought of as a good instructor, which I think I was, because I never lost my temper with anybody; I explained things calmly. So I was given this instruction job up in, flying, flying, up in Yorkshire, back in Yorkshire again, in a place near Ripon, Yorkshire, and I progressed from there and I did very well in the Air Force. And when I asked for a permanent commission, a General List Commission as a permanent officer, I got what I wanted and I had no reason to want to leave the Air Force except that I’d been sent to Birmingham, University, to take charge of the University Air Squadron and I was flying light aircraft there, Chipmunks, and I realised that that was, I wouldn’t progress any further getting back on to heavy aircraft again in the Air Force. And so the chance came up for a, after 1962, when I could retire on a small pension and so I arranged with Dan Air to join them. I had friends in Dan Air and so I left the Air Force and retired and became a civil pilot and did that for the rest of, stayed with Dan Air. PS: Do you think staying on in the Air Force made it easier to sort of drift back into normal life after the war? JC: Yes, yeah. I had a very good, very good career. Never out of work, so, never at the Employment Exchange. [Laughter] [Other]: But you lost your brother, didn’t you, sadly, in the war. JC: Hmm? [Other]: You lost your brother, sadly. JC: I lost my brother. PS: So wasn’t without, was some sadness. Was that at the beginning or had he done? JC: No, he’d been sent out to Canada. He’d been, hadn’t been taken into the Air Force. We’d joined together if you remember, but I’d been called up July ’41, he wasn’t called up till ’42, early ’42 and he was a wireless operator, wireless operator/air gunner and he was sent to Canada to join a squadron there, nearing the end of the war and they realised that when Germany collapsed they’d still have Japan to fight. So they’d build up the squadrons in the facing, in the areas facing Japan Vancouver and places like that and my brother was at Vancouver. And one night the aircraft they were in taxied back in again cause it had a fault, and my brother and another chap got out, to have a fag, you weren’t allowed to smoke in RAF aircraft then, in those days, and as happened many times actually, it happened up at Lossiemouth this type of thing as well, the aircraft taxied into them, accidentally [gasp] and they were cut to pieces by the propeller, unfortunately. PS: That must be even harder to cope with. [Other]: He was very young. Where were you dad when this happened, dad? Were you in Scotland, at Lossie? JC: I was in Scotland. I was flying actually, was about two in the morning and I was flying with a French crew and I was called into Control Tower, so I brought the aircraft in, shut it down and I got out, went into the Control Tower and it was my sister on the phone to me from London, saying they knew that Paul had been killed, in Canada, and would I come home, if possible, to support my mother? And I said I will do what I can and I went and saw the CO and he said, “I can’t let you go for very long,” he said, “you can go for the weekend.” So I had to come down for, just to London for the weekend from Scotland, so it was a case of coming down one day and going back the next day basically. But I came down and supported my mother because my father was in the Navy so, in the war, so. PS: She needed someone. JC: Yeah. And my sister was only about seven, no, she was about twelve, twelve. PS: A lot for her to cope with. [Other]: You also told us, do you remember, stories before you joined up when everyone was going down the air raid shelters, when London was being bombed, and you didn’t, did you, your family, you’d drive out to the countryside. JC: No. Oh yes. My father insisted that when the air raids started, in earnest, September 1940, we must [emphasis] go out to St Albans, somewhere clear of London completely. And he used to drive the car out to St Albans and park in a field there and my mother and sister would go and I refused to go and my brother refused to go, and my mother had a Great Aunt, a sister, known as my Great Aunt Nellie, who was mentally deficient, and my mother had brought her back from Australia with her and she looked after all the, I suppose it was a condition of the, her parents’ will that she look after Nellie. So Nellie used to be there with us. She was a nurse maid for us as kids and she was still with us at Edgware and I remember nanny, when the bombs used to start Nellie used to go out on the veranda, look up at the sky and shout: “Bugger you Mr Hitler!” [Laughter] Then she’d come back in again. Well my father and mother used to go to the field at St Albans, and we were admittedly on the fourth and fifth floor of the buildings and nothing happened to us, and there used to be a saying in the war: the bomb won’t hit you unless your name’s put on it or your number’s on it. And I didn’t go into air raid shelters cause it was very smelly. [Other]: What happened to the field where your dad used to drive? JC: Oh. Bomb dropped in the next field! PS: Oh no! JC: Yes! Yes! [Other]: So they all stopped going as well! JC: So they stopped going, yes. [Laughter] So they all came back to the flat. PS: So you’ve enjoyed your life, on the whole. JC: Oh yes. Yes, had no employment problems. I was, I spent half my life in the Air Force. You see the Air Force was the making of me; it educated me really. I was sent on numerous courses in the Air Force: on how to write properly and how to do this, that and the other. I enjoyed my time in the Air Force and again I enjoyed my time in civil flying, flying all over the world. PS: You have been such a pleasure to interview. I’ve really enjoyed interviewing, well I haven’t interviewed you, I have let you talk, [Laughter] it’s been really informative. Thank you very much indeed. Is there anything else you want to talk about, or need a break? JC: Not really, you’ll see in there - [Other]: Would you like to show Pat your medals? PS: Yes. JC: Oh. In there. Fijians, who were in the Army, and taking them up to Malaya to fight in the jungle with us. Because we were fighting communists, Chinese communists in the jungle. PS: Was that after the war? JC: This was after the war, this was 1950 ish. So when you would have been about five, this was going on. PS: Yes. Do you mind if I do this? Now, I’ve got you and your medals. That’s lovely, thank you very much. It doesn’t hurt for me to have them as well. [Other]: Exactly. PS: They are lovely. Did they give you this think to put them? JC: No, no. [Other]: They were hanging off dad. JC: Yeah. I often used to go to my reunions and they medals would be hanging half way down. [Other]: With a nappy pin. [Laughter] JC: This allows you to put, this goes in your pocket. PS: Oh I see! [Other]: Had it redone recently, haven’t you dad. JC: This is a chap over in East Sussex somewhere, just past Eastbourne. [Other]: Eastbourne. PS: He’s very clever. JC: Yes. He’s ex-Army. 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 John David Pennington Cotter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Patricia Selby 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 2018-08-28 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 ACotterJDP180828 Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Pending revision of OH transcription Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 01:16:47 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 Free French Air Force Description An account of the resource John was born in Hendon, London and his family fell on hard times in his early years. John and his brother, Paul, joined the RAF in 1941 as a pilot and wireless operator, respectively. After initial training at RAF Brize Norton, John was trained in Canada, returning to Britain on the Queen Mary with the first detachments of American troops. In 1943 he did more training at RAF Wymeswold, then joined 158 Squadron at RAF Lissett. They carried out several operations to German cities. As part of a new 640 Squadron, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. John then trained the Free French Air Force at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. He stayed in the RAF for 20 years, achieving the rank of squadron leader. He later became a civil pilot at Dan Air. John’s brother was killed in a propeller incident in Vancouver. Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1941-02 1941-07-07 1942-08 1943-02 1943-12 1944-02 1945-07 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Canada Germany Great Britain United States Atlantic Ocean England--London England--Yorkshire Germany--Berlin Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Hamburg Saskatchewan--Saskatoon Scotland--Moray Saskatchewan Germany--Ruhr (Region) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Anne-Marie Watson Sally Coulter Maureen Clarke 158 Squadron 640 Squadron aircrew Distinguished Flying Cross ground personnel lack of moral fibre Oxford pilot RAF Bridlington RAF Lissett RAF Lossiemouth training Women’s Auxiliary Air Force https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1039/11412/AMulhallJE180703.2.mp3 85d2a28ea5d8fdd9060e2bf78191b491 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 Mulhall, James James Edward Mulhall J E Mulhall Description An account of the resource Two oral history interviews with James Mulhall (b. 1924, 224223 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a flight engineer with 75 Squadron before becoming a prisoner of war. 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 2016-08-23 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 Mulhall, JE Transcribed audio recording A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document GT: This is Tuesday the 3rd of July 2018 and I am at the home of Mr James Edward Mulhall, known as Jim. Born 8th July 1924 in Gorton, Manchester, England. Jim joined the RAF at the age of eighteen as an ACHGD mechanic. Later qualifying as a flight engineer serving on 75 New Zealand Squadron Lancasters from Mepal, Cambridgeshire. Jim, thank you for letting me interview you for the IBCC archives. So, please tell me why you joined the RAF and where you did your training. JM: Yeah. The reason I joined the RAF was I got fed up of being bombed by the Germans. Being blown out of bed on a regular basis. So I decided to get a little bit of my own back and I joined up at Dover Street in Manchester and did my initial training at Padgate. GT: And you joined up to, to be a pilot or gunner or what was it? JM: I originally intended to qualify as a pilot and I joined the PNB course. Pilot/navigator/bomb aimer. But my maths weren’t good enough to qualify as a pilot so I was offered the alternative as becoming a flight engineer. And this I accepted and trained at St Athans, in South Wales. GT: How long was your training for, Jim? JM: About three months. GT: And what aircraft did you train on for that? JM: I trained on Stirlings to begin with which I didn’t like. I thought it was underpowered and overweight. And then I got re-mustered because of the losses to Lancasters which I enjoyed very much. But as I’ve mentioned previously going from a four cylinder, fourteen cylinder radial air cooled engines to twelve cylinder liquid cooled engines, the Merlins, was a bit of a leap for me considering I only had a fortnight to qualify in this direction. And I was a bit peeved because I was genning up on night on the various different systems while my mates were out boozing. So, I didn’t take kindly to this. However we got along eventually. GT: So, from, from your training at St Athan did you move to satellite airfields before you joined a crew? JM: Yes. Satellite. Stradishall was one. And Feltwell was the other one. And we did the various training at these two stages on Lancasters. GT: So, how long did that take? Months? A year? JM: Oh no. As I said before it only took a fortnight to qualify as Lancaster crew. That’s the only time we had. GT: No. But let’s, let’s go back to before you joined your crews though, Jim because you were still doing your training by yourself or with other flight engineers were you? JM: Oh, they were trained, all flight engineers at St Athan. GT: Yeah. JM: And when it came to crewing up they pushed all the previous aircrew, who had been together on Wellingtons I might add. Five of them knew each other very well through training on Wellingtons and this, but they all sat down and they shoved, I don’t know, about eighty. Oh not quite that number. Let’s get this nearer to the fact. About twenty. Twenty or thirty flight engineers in to the big cinema with them and said quite briefly, ‘Go and find yourself a crew.’ And that was a bit disconcerting because we’d got all these pudding faces looking at us wondering whether, what kind of a bloke is this that’s going to hoist himself on to us? GT: Yeah. JM: So, I went up to one of them, Hugh Rees and I said, ‘Do you fancy an engineer?’ He said, ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘James.’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘What’s your name?’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘Jim. He said, ‘I’m Hugh. This is Westie. This is Ray. So that was it. We joined up as a crew. Yeah. Most haphazard in its way. GT: Yeah. JM: But none the less it worked. Yeah. GT: So, so from the time you joined to that time you joined a crew how long was that? A couple of years? A year? JM: About a year. Yeah. About a year. I did the Padgate training at Skegness. The square bashing as they called it and we did about a fortnight in Blackpool. In November would you believe. No place Blackpool in November believe me. Its, particularly doing PT at 6 o’clock in the morning in shorts and pumps. Not very kindly to the torso at all. So, that, that was briefly the square bashing bit. GT: So, when you trained as a flight engineer on Stirlings did they have a flight engineer position initially? JM: Yes. Halfway down the aircraft was the flight engineer’s position. But as I said that’s why I lost, when I lost an engine. For the first, for the first six circuits and bumps we had screens. A screened navigator, a screened pilot and a screened engineer. But they left us and the first flight we did circuits and bumps I lost an engine would you believe. I could see the cylinder head’s temperatures going down. And the oil pressure disappearing so I knew the engine was u/s. I called up the pilot. I said, ‘Feather number two,’ and he said, ‘Feathering two. Why?’ I said, ‘The CHT’s going down. I’ve no oil pressure. The engines u/s.’ So, he said, ‘Right. Nobby, call up base. We want an emergency landing on three.’ He greased it and he made a beautiful landing on three and said to me afterwards, ‘I always wanted to do that.’ [laughs] GT: What station was that on? JM: Stradishall. GT: And that’s where you were doing your — JM: Circuits and bumps. GT: The whole crew converted there. JM: Yeah. GT: Into four engines. JM: Yeah. GT: Wow. JM: That’s in Feltwell. We got a fortnight at Feltwell to convert to Merlins and different energy systems for the undercarriage and flaps. And so for flying controls. Aye. GT: So, had you done any operations on Stirlings before that? JM: No. GT: No. JM: No. I never did any. GT: So, the Lancaster finishing school at Feltwell was your first touch of a, of a Lancaster. JM: Yes. We then, we were sent to Mepal to start our operational debut as you might say. GT: On 75 New Zealand Squadron. RAF. JM: Yeah. GT: Yeah. So, what, when you got to Mepal was, was the squadron known by any nicknames or was there — JM: No. We learned later that we got all the mucky jobs that’s for sure. We were known as a chop squadron. But I expect that identification was made among many other squadrons for the same reason. GT: 75 New Zealand certainly had a reputation of, of being assigned a lot of tricky and dangerous targets. JM: Yeah. GT: And the chop squadron was certainly well known back in to 1943 with Stirlings. So, so for you to hear that nickname, carry on and you joined the squadron. Well, for that matter, yes — when did you join the squadron? What month? Date? JM: May. May in 1944. But we didn’t start operating until August. Incidentally, it might be worthwhile recording that we did fly in different aircraft. And we had one aircraft, I think it was the captain’s aircraft of D flight and it had a caption on the front of a scantily clad young maiden astride a bomb. And underneath it said, “She drops them at night,” [laughs] Make your own conclusions. GT: I’ve seen some fabulous nose art and that sounds like another one to add to that list. JM: The ground crew did the nose arts of course. GT: Fabulous. So, your crew. You’ve, you’ve mentioned to me that your mid-upper gunner Ray Alderson he was quite old and had quite an attribute. What — JM: He, he was thirty err he was forty two years old when he should have been at the limit — thirty five. And once we were routed over Denmark at night and he said — ‘Will you bank,’ left, ‘Bank right,’ rather, ‘Right and left. I can see something moving down on the ground.’ And we were around about eight thousand feet. [recording paused] JM: The mid-upper asked the pilot to bank to the right because he’d seen something down below. And bear in mind we’re at about eight thousand feet now but he says he saw some lights travelling along a runway and he’s not sure what it was. But as it happened he followed this, managed to follow this aircraft because it had its nav lights on. It was rising up beside us and he said to the rear gunner, ‘Let me have the first squirt Charlie because it’s my, my thing to see here.’ He said, ‘I’ll open up first and you open up next.’ So, this was done and we imagine that the pilot was looking for our exhaust flames. He’d be looking upwards looking for the blue exhaust flames while he was being vectored on to us. So, he didn’t see us only a hundred yards or so at the side of him. Fifty, a hundred yards or so and so they both had a good squirt at him and he fell away but we don’t know what happened to him. We could only claim it as a probable. But that was how good the mid-upper’s eyesight was. GT: And he was never contested as to being over forty years of age. JM: No. He always said he was thirty five. The lying swine [laughs] he was the best spiv I ever saw as well. He’d start off with a pair of dirty socks on a Monday. He’d finish up with a bike on a Saturday that he sold to a farmer for four pound ten. That’s not bad spivving is it? He never, he never ate in the canteen. He always ate, ate in the guardhouse because he was always bringing in bacon and eggs from the farms around about that he knew so well. So, he always had a fry up in the guardhouse. He never ate with us in the cookhouse. Or I can’t remember it. Oh at breakfast. Yeah. After flight breakfast. Pre-flight breakfast he had with us because he was, he had to because we were silence from the aerodrome. All outward communication ceased. GT: Right. JM: Before an op. GT: So, your, your skipper, Hubert Rees. He did a dicky trip for you. JM: He did. GT: As it were. JM: To Havre. No. Nazaire. I got it wrong. I said Le Havre at first. The sub, U-boat pens at Nazaire. Yeah. That’s when the bomb aimer got a bit excited. Yeah. GT: So, was he always one up for the whole crew. Doing a dicky trip? Did he have always — JM: He must have been, yeah. Must have been one up on his log book. Yeah. But for some reason or other because he did that he was never entered in our logbooks. So, although we did — Mepal have us down as I’d done thirty four but there’s only thirty three logged. As you found out for yourself. GT: That’s right. So, you, you completed thirty three. JM: And a half. GT: Yeah. We’ll get to that. Right. So, now one of the things you’re talking about was your bomb, nicknamed Westie. And on your first op something happened when you were coming in to the run that you’ve told me. Can you tell me what Westie didn’t see it? JM: You want me to repeat that? GT: I do. JM: It’s a bit dodgy. GT: I do. Go on [laughs] JM: It’s as I say we were down under radar for flying close to the sea until we climbed for bombing height for penetration on the pens. And being the third wave in the sky was black with previous ack-ack puffs. Even the birds were flying. They were so close together they frightened the life out of us. And Westie was equally concerned. And when he climbed up to bombing height we had a burst fairly close to the nose but the fragments whip upwards so that’s not really dangerous to the aeroplane. But looking in to the bomb pit I could see Westie crouched over his bomb pit, bombsight and I saw him leap back and shout, ‘F’ing hell, we’ll get killed doing this.’ So [laughs] and we looked at each other over our oxygen masks. The pilot and I could see we were laughing. We had a bit of light relief over the run. So, that took place. That’s really true that is. Yeah. GT: But you finished the op ok. JM: Oh yeah. But we could see flames going down either side of us and oh, it was a tricky business really because they were well defended these U-boat pens as you can well imagine. The eighty eight millimetre guns could catch you up to forty thousand feet. GT: What was your normal bombing height that you would — JM: Around about twenty two thousand. Yeah. Because we carried and eighteen thousand pound bomb load and a four thousand pound Cookie needs six thousand clearance to get out of the blast. So, we were usually between eighteen and twenty two thousand we’d bomb. On normal targets. GT: Was your four thousand pound HC Cookie, was that your largest bomb that the squadron used? JM: Yes. Yeah. We used to use a four thousand pound Cookie, twelve thousand pounders and four cannisters of incendiaries. That was a normal bomb load for a short trip. If we went to Stettin or somewhere like that we’d have to carry more fuel because that was a nine and a half hour trip. So we’d have to reduce the bomb load, the stores as they called it to allow for more fuel. GT: So, as a crew did you go and check the bomb load before you flew? Or you — JM: I did. I checked it to make sure all the pins were in the right position for fusing when we crossed the enemy coast. GT: So, that was the flight engineer’s role. Not the bomb aimers. JM: Well, he did it as well but it was one of my checks as well. He did it to make sure the Mickey Mouse was clean. Clued up. GT: So, who — JM: That was the selector box. The Mickey Mouse. GT: Ah. So, the selector box was on your panel. JM: No. It was on his panel in the bomb pit. I had a jettison button on my combing and the pilots. In case he didn’t make it for any reason. I could open the bomb doors and jettison the bomb. GT: Could you see your bomb load? JM: No. GT: From the cockpit. JM: He could. He had a peep hole in the bulk head because we had a hang up once and I had to get rid of the hang up. Get rid of the carrier as well as the bomb. So that was a bit of a job trying to chisel that out of the way but we got rid of it eventually. GT: So, you moved down through the fuselage and could — JM: Yeah. To get rid of the carrier. Yeah. It was in the forward edge of the bomb bay. I didn’t have far to go and I was on an oxygen bottle. GT: Now, for those that are listening that don’t understand what a carrier is it is the British call them carriers the Americans call them racks. JM: Yeah. GT: And they are what is bolted to the air frame that the bomb is then latched to and in this case most World War One err World War Two bombs had a single lug. JM: Yeah. GT: Lugged. And they were single hooked. JM: Yeah. GT: And they were electro, electro-magnetic or electro magnetically — JM: Fused. GT: Armed or fused. JM: Yeah. Yeah. GT: Yeah. So — JM: A fusing pin came forward and it was selected in the Mickey Mouse. GT: So, can you describe then the way the bombs were fused? JM: There’s a little wire ring piece in the front of the bomb and a needle when it’s selected on the Mickey Mouse in the bomb bay a needle comes forward and fits inside that loop on the wire on the bomb. So that when the bomb falls away that wire is pulled out by that pin. So then the bomb is fused. GT: And the bomb is only fused once it falls from the aircraft and that wire’s pulled out. JM: Correct. GT: So, can the bomb be dropped without the wire being pulled through? In other words can it be dropped safe? Can the, the flight engineer or the bomb aimer drop his load? JM: The bomb aimer can pre, can re-select to pull the needle back but there would be no guarantee that it didn’t get tangled up in the loop. So you wouldn’t know really whether they were fused or not. Sometimes we had to, if we had an abortive trip we’d have to drop the stores as they called them, the bombs, in the North Sea. And they tried to make sure they weren’t fused but there was no guarantee of this. GT: So, the Lancaster could not land back at base with a full stores load. JM: That’s right. We could take off at sixty eight thousand pound. That’s about thirty four tonne. But we had to get down to fifty six thousand pound to land. Otherwise we’d stress the undercarriage too greatly. It would bottom out and probably destroy the aircraft. GT: Was there any cases where aircraft came back in with a heavy load at all? JM: No. No. We never landed with a heavy load. No. The — when we were hit by the incendiaries I had to make a decision as to whether the undercarriage was locked down. And I came to the conclusion by listening to the reservoir tank that the same amount of fluid was going back in the reservoir tank just behind the pilot as was being taken out to lower the undercarriage. And after several occasions of this I came to the conclusion although I had no undercarriage lights, red or green and I decided that we could land at base with a reasonable chance of success. Which we did. And we did succeed. GT: That’s without the undercarriage collapsing once you hit the ground. JM: That’s right. GT: That’s what you were trying to avoid. JM: It didn’t collapse. GT: Yeah. JM: I made the right decision fortunately. GT: Fabulous. Well, let’s go back to the reason why you made that decision. And you said incendiaries. So, you’re saying that the incendiaries were dropped from an aircraft above and went and hit your aircraft. JM: It did. GT: Can you tell me a bit about that please? JM: The aircraft was shook about a bit and my instrument panel on the side of the aircraft, on the starboard side was knocked off its hinges and off its retainers. And the bottom plug down on the floor that carried all the communications that was hit and slid back. But fortunately I was able to get, to find the threads on that and screw it back in to complete the communication so we had intercom and instrument recordings as well. And the incendiaries were only, saved us because they were pinned in by being frozen at the height we were at. So, they didn’t trigger the incendiaries when they hit us. One, in fact hit us in the joint between the rudder and tail plane. Right in that joint there. Which was a bit dodgy really because any severe manoeuvres might have lost the tail, lost the rudder there. GT: So, the incendiaries would have, would have exploded normally within the aircraft if it hit the aircraft or only if it had hit the ground? JM: Yeah. They would have exploded in the aircraft if the pins hadn’t been frozen in. So, we were very lucky in that respect. GT: And when you got back to Mepal did they come and take the flare, the incendiaries out of the aircraft gingerly or — JM: Very very gingerly. We handed them through the door to the ground crew and told them that the pins were open, ‘Don’t drop them or they’ll go off. They’re magnesium flares.’ Yeah. GT: Well, the armourers would have loaded them so the armourers would have taken them away I’m sure. JM: Well, no. Only the ground crew. The armourers kept well away. They knew what might happen. They triggered off. No, no messing. GT: I can’t believe, Jim the armourers would scarper [laughs] JM: Well, you, [laughs] you were in charge of them weren’t you? But they stayed well away I can assure you. They knew it was far more dangerous than the ground crew did. GT: Classic. Now, was there any time that your gunners, other that what you briefly mentioned did they have a chance to shoot at anything other than that one other time they claimed half each? Was there any other? JM: No. The 109 we shot at was the only time the gunners opened up as I can remember. They did open up sometimes on the ground targets if we were going low over the, over France. And they could open, they could open up over convoys that they knew were enemy because of where they were located. GT: Did they ever use the front guns? JM: No. GT: On the Lancaster. JM: No. Westie never used the front guns. GT: So the bomb aimer’s — JM: Not to my knowledge. GT: The bomb aimer’s role was also to mix in as an air gunner. JM: Yeah. GT: And he was trained as such. JM: He was, well I assume he was anyway. He knew what he was doing. Yeah. My skipper wanted to play with them but the back ones. When I was playing with the aircraft he was playing with Ray’s gun err Alan’s guns. Enjoying himself I understand. GT: Jim, did you ever do any flying of your own? On the squadron or in the aircraft? JM: No. No. Never. The first flying I ever did was in a Stirling. GT: But Hubert’s, did Hubert let you take the controls at all when you were in the crew? JM: Oh yes. On several occasions. He would. Particularly if he’d had damage and was on an air test. We were supposed to do an air test two and a half hours and always climb to height to test the oxygen. But we never did climb to height. We could test it at low level just as well as at upper level. So he would then dump me in the seat. On his parachute I might add. I’m sat on his ‘chute and harness. If that isn’t confidence I don’t know what is. While he wandered around the aircraft trying other people’s jobs. Aye. And I’m stuck with it. Sat up front with thirty two ton of aeroplane to play with. GT: Did you write up your hours? JM: No [laughs] did I heck. No. I don’t. I don’t. I think it was frowned upon by CM. That was the publication that was issued to all aircrew as you’re well aware. So, no I did [pause] I must have totalled perhaps two or [pause] two or three hours at the controls I would say overall. Yeah. At half hour intervals or perhaps an hour at one time. But it got to the stage where the navigator used to say, ‘Whoever’s in the pilot’s seat will you turn on to,’ such and such a course. And I’d say, ‘Turning now,’ and watch the DR read off and say, ‘On course now. Thank you.’ GT: So, did you do any link trainer stuff? JM: I did ninety hours link would you believe? The pilot had only done five hours. That’s when it came about. When the pilot said, ‘You’re going to earn your corn from here on in. You can fly the damned thing while I have a wander about.’ Which I did on several occasions amounting to perhaps two or three hours total in flight. Possibly about four altogether. So, I was in charge of the aircraft for that particular time on those particular days. Never on ops I might add. Only when we had an air test to do or testing new equipment. That was the only time I flew it. But I enjoyed it I must admit. It was a bit slow in input and recovery but very stable. A very stable aeroplane. Yeah. GT: So, did you record your link hours in your logbook? JM: No. No. I don’t know why but [pause] I’m not quite sure about that. I might have done. I might have done. GT: So — JM: I can’t remember now whether I did or I didn’t. I probably did. GT: So, tell me about your logbook then. JM: I probably did. Yeah. GT: Tell me about your logbook then because that’s something of interest that I’ve heard from different stories that, from different folk that have said that they were destroyed. So how about your logbook? JM: Well, as I said before that I was at Fenchurch. We landed at Cosford from Germany. Well, from Bristol actually. We flew from Leipzig to Brussels and Brussels to Cosford. To land at Cosford. And what was your original question? I’ve forgotten in my — GT: Ok. So, let’s, let’s go back one because your, your flights. You managed to do how many ops? JM: Thirty three and a half. We didn’t finish the thirty fourth. GT: And what — JM: We only got half way in. GT: Please tell me about your thirty fourth op. JM: That was George Howe work we were doing. We were supposed to pick up a yellow tailed, a Lancaster who had the Oboe equipment on to do this so called George Howe carpet bombing. But we didn’t manage to do this and we were told that we had to get in to the box at the back for fighter protection if we didn’t manage to pick up a yellow tailed aircraft. So we finished up in the box. And we were finally nailed by predicted flak on the run in for the bomb run. As I said before it’s fairly easy to dodge it. If the first burst doesn’t get you you’ve got between five and seven seconds according to your height to dodge it and be privileged to see where it would burst where you should have been but you’ve moved the aircraft so you’re not there any longer. And it’s quite a privilege to see it burst somewhere else. But unfortunately we didn’t outfly it and eventually it caught up with us and blew half the tail away. GT: And the skipper couldn’t control it. You had to abandon ship. JM: No. The navigator said, ‘Turn on to 270.’ But in turning he only had aileron control because he had no elevator or rudder control due to half the tail plane being shot away. But when you turn on ailerons the nose begins to drop off. You’re supposed to ease the stick back because one wing loses lift more than the other. And as it started to dive he said, ‘You’ll have,’ [laughs] We did a lot of parachute bailout, bailout business but Hugh just said, ‘You’ll have to get out lads.’ And so we did. I was the last out by the skipper. I had to watch the wireless op, Nesbitt, the hundredth operation man go past me and Ray. And the two gunners went out the back door. So I was the last out by the skipper. And I just reached for my, my parachute was in a rack behind his seat so I had to undo the bungees, put it on the clips, kneel on the hatch, take my helmet and oxygen mask and everything else off my head so that it didn’t strangle me when I went out. Get hold of the D ring and dive out. And that was goodbye. Cheers. Thirty four tons of junk swept away. GT: And the aircraft was flat and level or was it sunk in a spin? JM: No. It was in a shallow dive which made the skipper very difficult to get out because he went out the top hatch. And he told me later on at Dulag Luft all his fingernails were bloodied where he was trying to pull himself out against the slipstream which must have been about three hundred miles an hour by then because the aircraft is in a more or less vertical dive by that time. Yeah. So — GT: And you all had good ‘chutes. JM: Yes. Aye. All the ‘chutes opened, fortunately. I blacked out in fact. I’d been off oxygen so long that I was twisted and I got hold of the shrouds to untwist and blacked out through lack of oxygen. Anoxia. And I didn’t come to until I was a few feet above a pile of rubble in the centre of Hom with the Wehrmacht waiting for me to unzip all my clothing, pinch me watch and pinch me cigarettes. They didn’t pinch the cigarette case. They put that back in me battledress pocket but pinched my fags. And my watch. The swines. So, somebody got a good watch. My mother bought that as well for me when I started flying. Out of very meagre funds. Yeah. GT: So when you were captured then did they, all your crew landed about the same area. Did you join up together? JM: I understood later on at Dulag Luft we were all picked up within twenty four hours of each other. So, they knew where we were coming down. Don’t forget this is daylight and there would, there would be a Wehrmacht reception committee for everybody that came down. They’d have no chance at all of escaping. Or even do anything for themselves. They took these two. They were in a way they were they were a good thing to happen because civilians weren’t very pleased with us for obvious reasons. They used to call us terror flyers. Overlooking the fact that their flyers did the same thing to us years before. So, however that’s that was by the way. They took me to a police station and locked me in an underground cell. Took me boots off me and all. I were, I’m in bare feet. Well, just socks on. Took me boots off. They were flying boots that you could cut the top off you know and put it around you to keep warm. Yeah. They took those off me. I had to sleep in bare feet on bare boards in a prison cell in a place called Hom. So I understand. Yeah. The next morning the — I didn’t get, didn’t get anything to eat or drink either. I was pretty parched. The next morning they took me upstairs to be interviewed by the sergeant of police there. I forget what his title was but he started the proceedings by unholstering his luger, pointedly pushing the safety catch off — and I’ve fired a luger, I know what a hare trigger it is. And he placed the pistol down with the barrel pointing at me and then started to interrogate me. But between his German and my English we didn’t get very far so he gave it up as a bad job. Put the damned thing back where it belonged. But it was a bit unnerving for a lad of nineteen or so. Twenty. Yeah. To be faced with this. Yeah. I didn’t enjoy it I must admit. GT: But he was Wehrmacht or SS? JM: Oh, he was Wehrmacht. We only had one brief brush with the SS when they were fleeing from the — when we were on the march the Russians were only about five or six miles behind us all the way. And the SS were trying to escape them in ordinary saloon staff cars and one got stuck near us. And the two of them came out waving lugers, ‘Help get us out of the ditch.’ You know. We just walked past them. Bugger them. Let them get themselves out. They did eventually and drove on. But that’s the only brush — oh. They mounted a machine gun on one of the goon towers at Stalag, at Luckenwalde. And a Spandau machine gun on one of the goon towers and aimed it at the compound. But for some reason or other they didn’t open fire or else they’d have nailed a lot of us with that thing before we could get in to the huts or get behind anything. But they didn’t open fire. They packed up again and left. So that was a strange brush with the SS. But we saw them quite clearly. And the Spandau. GT: So what prison camps were you taken to? Put in. JM: The Stalag Luft 7B in Upper Silesia. Bankau, Poland. And then after the march we finished up at Luckenwalde. Thirty kilometres, kilometres south of Berlin. In fact at one stage the Russians and the Germans were swapping shells over the camp. Because we were only a couple of miles apart. One landed in the compound but it didn’t explode funnily enough. We had to roll it to the edge of [laughs] where the tripwire was. Up against the wire. We managed to get out of the, get it out of the gate. GT: So how many of you — JM: It was a five hundred pounder. GT: How many of you were in the camp? How many were in the camp? JM: Two thousand. GT: And were you all RAF? USAF? JM: Yes. I think there was a dotting of Americans and Naval personnel. But very few in number. Only perhaps fifty or so amongst our odd two thousand. GT: So, most of you were RAF Bomber Command. JM: Yes. GT: Or Fighter Command. JM: Or Fighter Command. Yeah. But aircrew anyway. The officers went to an Oflag so we didn’t see three of them after Dulag Luft. After interrogation camp at Dulag Luft. We didn’t see them anymore. They went to an Oflag. I don’t know where. Because they were commissioned officers. GT: What was the conditions like? JM: A bit rough. The food was the main topic of conversation. It’s usually sex or, sex or religion. But at prison camp it was food. All we thought about was food, food, food. We used to get something called sauerkraut which was some kind of cabbage in red vinegar. Disgusting stuff but it was edible. Just. And we had another thing called beetle soup which was supposed to be pea soup but inside every pea was a little beetle and we used to split open a pea and get the beetle out and put them down on the table. And we’d perhaps have a dozen or so little tiny beetles and then we’d eat the peas in the pea soup. Yeah. It’s true that. You couldn’t write that in fiction and get away with it but It’s true. Yeah. So, bread. We had to have a small like a Hovis loaf. Like a small Hovis and you had to divide it between eight men and you used to take turns at doing this in the hut between the eight of us because you got the last slice. And it would obviously be the smallest one so we had to take turns cutting the bread [laughs] How about that? GT: No Red Cross parcels? JM: Oh, we did get — what did we get? One. We got, in fact the SBO the Senior British Officer was in touch with one of the Red Cross officials. He had freedom to move about in Germany this fella. He had his own car. And he would advise the Senior British Officer, SBO that there was two wagons of Red Cross parcels in the sidings down outside the camp. But we only ever got one. The Germans used to pinch them and you couldn’t blame them. They were starving as much as were. GT: Yeah. JM: But we only got one Red Cross, Red Cross parcel between two of us. The only time I ever got a Red Cross parcel I must admit. It was very welcome. Klim milk and all sorts of things. Cigarettes. And dates would you believe. I got used to eating dates because they were very nutritious and they used to get the saliva going in your mouth. And I used to get used to eating dates. Ridiculous isn’t it? Yeah. I wouldn’t touch them in Civvy Street with a bargepole, with a sanitary inspector on the end. GT: Was there any attempts at escaping from the Stalag that you were in? JM: The [pause] we managed to get permission to have a sports field outside the camp. Down a little, on a little lower place so we could play football. We couldn’t do it inside the camp because of the trip wire near the goon boxes. You couldn’t get near that or else you’d get shot. That was about twenty yards inside the main wire. So we got this privilege. I think it was twice a week. And somebody managed to get a pole vault. Vault equipment in several different pieces and secreted it down on to this field. Unbeknown to the rest of us I might add. Only those in the know around about him that helped him to carry these different sections of the pole vault. And when he got down on the field the sentries patrolled outside the field to give us freedom to play football and so forth. And he put this thing together, took a run at the fence that surrounded the field, pole vaulted over the fence and I understand later on — to freedom. In to Switzerland. How about that? You couldn’t write that in fiction and get away with it, could you? But he pole vaulted over the wire. And I understand later on he got to Sweden. Yeah. Incredible isn’t it? GT: Outstanding. So — JM: I don’t even know what happened to the pole vault. Must have left it there. GT: So, it was nothing like Hogan’s Heroes on television then. Yeah? JM: Oh dear. He was, he was a real hero he was. Take my hat off to him. Yeah. GT: Yes. Certainly. JM: He made it. GT: Now, one thing that before you were shot down on one of your ops you mentioned to me earlier that you might have had, you might have been shot at yourself. Your aircraft. JM: Oh yes. We saw tracer one night. And we didn’t reply to it because we didn’t see anything to shoot at. Our gunners didn’t. We just saw the tracer coming towards us. But the following morning the ground crew showed us in the, the tail wheel has deeper slots on it on either side to stop it shimmying. And these slots were about three inches wide and about an inch deep and they showed us they’d dug out a 303 slug from this ridge. So, we were under friendly fire unbeknown to us because this was quite definitely a 303 slug out of a Browning machine gun. GT: From above or below? JM: Above. GT: Better than the tail. JM: It was firing down. Missed us completely. Must have been a rotten gunner. GT: Day or night? JM: Fortunately. GT: Day or night? JM: Oh, it was night time because we could see, saw the tracer. At night. Yeah. Very unfriendly fire. Yeah. It didn’t hit anything else fortunately. Or we didn’t see anything. GT: So, prisoner of war and you knew that the allies were coming from one side and — JM: And the Russians from another. GT: So, what did the Germans — JM: The borderline was the River Elbe. GT: Ok. So what did the Germans do when they knew that their time was come and they — there’s much been talked of the forced march. Can you tell us a bit about that? JM: They, well as I said before it was two hundred and ninety seven kilometres in twenty one days in the worst winter Poland had on record at that time. It really — you couldn’t see anything but snow. The only indication of the road were the telephone wires running alongside the wire. And that’s the only difference between the fields and the road. We were trudging along in snow all the time. We did the last fifty kilometres in a cattle truck. It was for six horses or forty men so you can imagine the crowding in that. The — we were bombed incidentally while in a siding. The Germans used to use a system of stacking. Wherever an engine was going if trucks were going the same they used to attach it to that engine and it would continue its journey with the various trucks it was supposed to take to different camps. And we were in a siding once when the Yanks bombed us. We knew it was the Yanks because of the size of the explosives. And it lifted our truck off the rails and we had to get [laughs] the Germans and all of us to hook it back on to the rails using a sleeper to get it back on to the rails so we could get attached to a train to pull us out of there later on. Imagine German guards and POW trying to get this cattle truck back on the rail. It was so crowded that we used to, half of us used to stand while the others stretched out a bit. You know. And take a twenty minute interval. They’d get up and we’d stretch out a bit because otherwise standing was a bit too much for us, you know on starvation diets. Yeah. They had one little trick. We had a can for urinating in. And there was a breather opening high up on the top side of the cattle truck and we used to fill this thing up between us and wait until we thought one of the guards was going past outside and hurtle this fluid out through the gap. We got one once. He started banging on the side with his butt of his rifle, you know. Cursing us. So we got one of them once. Yeah. You couldn’t write that in fiction could you and get away with it? But it’s true. Yeah. GT: What, what was the reasoning for the Germans to do the forced march? JM: The, Hitler was, we learned later that Hitler was going to use them as hostages to gather them around Berlin as far as he could to determine, to deter the allies from bombing close to Berlin. Because he’d be hitting his own POWs and particularly the tanks that were guarding the bunker itself in Berlin. So we learned that later. That we were going to be used as hostages. There was quite a number of us by then. We queued up with Lamsdorf on the march and there was two and a half thousand of those joined us on the march. So, when we got to Luckenwalde there we were joined by refugees would you believe. They, they were on the road for the same reason as us. They were fleeing in front of the Russians because the Russians never asked questions. If anything was moving in front they just mowed it down. In fact, when we were at Luckenwalde, this is another one you won’t believe but mothers were coming up with their daughters. We stayed in camp when the Germans left. They disappeared one night, overnight and there was no Germans guarding the camp anymore so, we took over guard ourselves. And there were women coming up to the wire with their daughters offering themselves and their daughters to live with them in their houses just to get a British uniform in the house because they knew the Russians had been told not to offend an allied uniform. So, it was their protection to get us to live with them. With an allied uniform in the house. How about that? You couldn’t write that in fiction could you? Some of the blokes did actually go but most of us didn’t. We, we were waiting to get out of the camp altogether in a way. In fact, there’s a, they had, the Yanks were allowing the Russians to cross the Elbe ad lib as they wanted to get back into their own country. But the Russians were stopping allied prisoners from crossing the Elbe in to the American territory until the Americans got wise to this and stopped the Russians. And then the Russians allowed the Americans to bring lorries up to the camp and ferry us by lorry back in to the American zone. Yeah. Leipzig they took us too. You see, it was a wireless school for the Germans. I was looking through the window one day in Leipzig and I saw a boot outside the window. I thought that’s an odd — there must be a one legged man walking about. A boot. Just one boot. And when I looked closely there’s a foot inside it. Would you believe that? I thought oh that’s enough for me. Do you know the Yanks had pineapple chunks and cream. Ordinary cream. On the tables at their camp. Right close to the front line. Pineapple chunks and cream on the tables in their mess. In their cook house. Aye. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We couldn’t touch it because our stomachs were so tender that we were told not to touch it otherwise we’d be violently sick. So it was very tempting but we had to leave it alone [laughs] GT: So are you pretty positive that the Russians moving from one side and the Americans from the other pretty much prevented all you POWs ending up being — JM: Yeah. Yeah. GT: Yeah. JM: In fact the Russians made a great show of mowing the wire down, the outside wire of the camp with a tank. And the following day they put it up again. Put the wire up. We were just pretty much prisoners of the Russians as we’d been of the Germans because they wouldn’t allow us out of the camp. They started, they said it was because there were a lot of Germans loose in amongst us and they wanted to ferret them out. And they started taking all our particulars you know. Writing them down like the Germans had done before at Dulag Luft. But we gave them all sorts of silly answers. I think some of us were circus performers. Somebody rode unicycles [laughs] Things like that. All daft things that they were writing down. GT: So, how many of the RAF Bomber Command chaps would you think were dropped by the wayside and did not survive the forced march? And therefore, what happened to their bodies? JM: I couldn’t even say. I couldn’t know that really. We did see several bodies by the side of the road but you couldn’t tell with the snow covering them who they were. We could see the spread-eagled shapes but, and the bunched-up shapes but we didn’t know who they were or what they were. So quite a lot of them didn’t survive. GT: And the Germans were given orders to shoot? JM: To shoot any prisoners that dropped by the wayside but we were to learn later on that they just fired in the air. As I said it’s an easy death. You just go to sleep with hypothermia. GT: What kept you going, Jim? JM: I really don’t know but I was young. I was only twenty and some of these prisoners had been since Dunkirk. They were very weak and on severe dietery all those years. They just couldn’t survive. You know. They just dropped out ad lib. In fact, some of the blokes that were fitter even than I was had a handcart and they were, they were picking up blokes that had fallen. And they had about six or seven in this handcart. And they knew that the sentries had only fired in the air because they saw them do it. And they were put in this handcart with survivors. How they did that I don’t know. It took me all my time to stay on my feet. Yeah. I had, I had my escape boots had a wrap around of nylon and you could, you had a little pen knife in a slot and you could cut this off leaving you just with the shoes. And I used to use this wrap on the front and the back of my battledress to try and keep me warm. I had a greatcoat on and all as well which the Red Cross issued me at Dulag Luft. In fact, there’s a photograph of me somewhere with my original documents with this greatcoat on. I think Pat’s got it now. I think she’s filched it I think [laughs] I haven’t seen it for years so she must have pinched it. GT: So once you got to pretty much the end of that, of your march you were put into another POW camp and it was from there that the allies rescued you or took you back to what was it? Juvencourt? JM: The lorries took us to a place called Leipzig. This wireless school as I’ve just mentioned. And from there they flew us in Dakotas to Brussels. And then from Brussels in Lancasters, eight at a time back to Cosford in England to be based at Fenchurch. That’s how we arrived back in England. GT: So, was there much time between or was that pretty immediate? JM: I think there was a couple of days. We spent a couple of days in Brussels. We got deloused by the Americans because we were in filthy uniforms and that you know. And they issued us with new uniforms at Brussels and we were able to go into Brussels. Gave us some money and have a haircut. They didn’t half rook us and all, the barbers. They knew we were coming and they knew we had money. Money you know. They rooked us. We had a ride on a tram while we were there for free. They didn’t, we had a ride around Brussels on trams. I think there was three of us. Three or four of us. So that was, that was a bit of an adventure in Brussels because everything was open. You know. Everything were pre-war as it were then. GT: So what were they feeding you then? Because you’d pretty much been starved. So how were they feeding you? Gradually, with good food. JM: Yeah. The — GT: Was it up to you or did they supply it? JM: We had what was known as a progressive diet. It came in a box. And it usually had a pork pie and some bread and butter. And a cake of some kind. As I vaguely remember. And we were allowed to eat this, I think twice a day until our stomachs got used to expanding enough to take better food. And then we got on to corned beef hash and things like that. You know. That our stomachs could manage. That’s why. GT: So, was that sent over to Belgium from England? JM: Yes. Yeah. GT: Oh. I see. JM: The, when we were on at Cosford just normal cookhouse food after that. Yeah. I remember sausages in mash. Oh, Shangri la [ laughs] I personally enjoyed. Yeah. GT: When you left the camps and even after the march did many of your chaps have a chance to grab souvenirs like medals? JM: Well, funnily enough we, I managed to bag a little small Beretta. The German officers used to wear them in a little leather pouch in their dress uniform. Quite a small Italian six shot Beretta. And I can’t remember where I got this from but I got it at Leipzig. From somewhere or other. I got one of the ober feldwebels caps at the same time which I brought home. And when we went to get deloused some swine pinched it. Funnily enough Jack Bagshaw at work, when I was at work at Avro’s he was a motor torpedo mechanic. He had six Packards between decks roaring away in his ear. He was deaf in one lughole. He used to get away with that. That’s another story. And he came, I was telling him this story and he came to work one day and handed me an oily rag and there was this little Beretta. Exactly the same model. He said, ‘You can keep it if you want.’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘I’m not carrying a firearm in the house. You’re responsible. You get it back.’ You know. So I gave it back to Jack Bagshaw. Yeah. But it was exactly the same little six shot Beretta. Italian make. Yeah. It was a lovely little thing. Yeah. GT: The reason I ask you that, Jim is because what one of the chaps on 75 Squadron, Randall Springer — he showed me several years ago a handful of medals that one of the prisoners of war had thrust into his hand as they pulled him on to the Lancasters. And one of them was an Iron Cross. So, that particular chap, POW managed to grab a bunch of medals from someone and they ended up in New Zealand. And I’ve heard of others talk of on the ship that arrived into Wellington or Auckland harbours taking all of the airmen back. A lot of them had firearms or daggers or bayonets and they, they got cold feet and threw them overboard before they, before they landed. So that’s the reason I asked you that question. JM: Yeah. GT: Brilliant. So, once you were back in England you arrived in Cosford you said? JM: Yes. GT: Yes. And they repatriated you pretty much so that — JM: To Fenchurch. Fairly close by. In fact, I rang up directory. My Uncle Tom was a chief electrician of, was head of the Electricity Board in Leeds and I got directory to give me his phone number and I phoned him up. He said, ‘Where are you, Jim?’ I said, ‘I’m on Fenchurch station.’ He said, ‘Well, there’s a clock there. You stand under that clock until I come for you.’ And he took me back to his home and I slept there for, I had a sleeping out pass obviously carrying [unclear] and I slept there a couple of nights while we got acquainted. He took [laughs] he took me to his club that night among a few of his cronies. One of their private clubs, you know. In the city. And they plying me with ale and loosening my tongue you know and about halfway through this Tom said to me, ‘I want to speak to you Jim for a minute. I want to tell you a story. And it’s about a sparrow that got evacuated from London in to the countryside. And he was lost. He didn’t know where to eat or anything,’ he said, ‘And a bull came into the field and asked him what the problem was. So the sparrow told him his tale of woe and this bull said, ‘Oh, I’m fed on the best of stuff. I’ll drop you patch here. You get stuck in to that,’ he said, ‘I’m fed on the finest food there is.’ So, this was agreed. And day by day the sparrow used to climb up the tree singing his heart out ‘til he got right to the top. And he’s singing away his heart out on this rich diet. And a little boy with a new airgun came in and [pop noise] and down came the sparrow.’ He said, ‘There’s a moral to this story, Jim. When you get to the top on bullshit don’t make a song and dance about it.’ To my eternal grief and shame it was two days before I realised who the sparrow was. Me. [laughs] That was my uncle Tom. Yeah. He was, he was instrumental when I had the fire engine I told about. Seeing Walter. He, he, I pulled up one day outside his house in this fire engine and he said, ‘Good God. You can’t leave that.’ It was a [Banjo?] Avenue, you know. ‘You can’t leave that. Nobody can get past.’ ‘Hang on,’ he said, ‘I think I know where that’ll go.’ He came back about ten minutes later. ‘Follow me,’ he said, ‘But be prepared to back up when I tell you to.’ So I backed up. He stopped me about between the vicarage and the church. There was just room for this fire engine to get off the road you know and out of the way of other cars. That’s by the way that but that’s my Uncle Tom. He was instrumental in electrifying many of the Indian railways. GT: Right. Well — JM: Years before. GT: So, from Cosford and the satellite that you were repatriated to did you end up back at Mepal? JM: Only once. For the fire engine. That’s all. Well, funnily enough — GT: No. But you were telling me about your logbooks. So, so what happened about your logbooks? JM: Well, when I was at Fenchurch as I said a fifteen hundred weight opened the double doors at the back end of the cookhouse, backed in and tipped up. It must have been a thousand or more logbooks on to the floor and said, ‘Yours is in that lot. Try and find it.’ GT: So, were these just 75 Squadron logbooks or from all stations? JM: I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t know that. I went to the number that must have been from a number of stations. There wouldn’t have been all from Mepal. No. I had attempted to look through and I thought oh well, I wasn’t interested in a logbook. I’d survived. That’s all I was interested in. GT: And therefore you do not have your logbook today. JM: No. I don’t know where it is or even if it exists. GT: It’s a lot of history. A lot of history to go. Now, the Aircrew Europe Star. We know that the Aircrew Europe Star was stopped at D-Day. JM: A point. Yeah. GT: At a point. And from there on all of those that flew ops in Bomber Command were only eligible for the France Germany Star. JM: Yeah. GT: What’s your thoughts as a person who went on ops across that time? JM: Well, I singled it out as if somebody did one op during the qualifying period they would get the Aircrew Star. I did thirty four. Or thirty three and a half. A fortnight outside the qualifying period and I didn’t get it. And I was a bit peeved about that I must admit. Yeah. But it didn’t come through so that was it. They wrote to me and said that I was a fortnight outside. I’ve got the letter somewhere. Outside the qualifying period so therefore I didn’t qualify for the Aircrew Star. GT: And to continue on from that there was no actual Bomber Command campaign medal although the clasp was introduced as a, an add on. JM: Yeah. GT: An attempted fix. JM: Yeah. I’ve got that. It’s shown up on that photograph there. GT: Brilliant. But what’s your thoughts then on the fact — pretty much I’m guessing it’s the same as what the France Germany versus the Aircrew Europe isn’t it? Bomber Command chaps like yourself never was showing the grace and the sacrifice you guys made by having your own campaign medal. You’ve had a lot of time to think of this, Jim. What’s your thoughts on that? JM: I just dismissed it as the way the cookie crumbles. I wasn’t there when they wanted me to be so that’s the end of it. As I say I was a bit peeved I must admit. For obvious reason. GT: Well, the Bomber Command medal or campaign medal it was decided that there would not be one and that was decided some years after the war. JM: Yeah. GT: So the fact that you guys did not get a campaign medal is, was they made a decision then and we’re stuck with. And there are still some folk still trying to make sure that you do get more recognition than just a clasp. JM: Nice to know. GT: Yeah. And the last piece therefore of medals is that you are eligible for the Legion of Honour from the French. JM: I didn’t know that. GT: And therefore I’m going to make enquiries to ensure that the application is put forward of your, of your service to the French. I have done six gentlemen in New Zealand in the last three or four years. So therefore, noting that at least some of your operations were against Le Havre and other French targets you are eligible. So, we will do something about that, Jim. Now, Jim when you finished obviously with recuperating did you stay in the RAF or did you, or were you demobbed come VJ day? JM: As I said before I went in to MT. Motor Transport. Because I didn’t want to fly a plate washing machine. So, carrying tapes and a crown made me eligible to drive the buses. The thirty two seater Fordsons. And the Thornycroft crane. That was nine and a half ton. I took my wife over to the island when I was in Jurby because we were only married in the July and this was in September. So she had a few months there before I was demobbed the following year in January. I came back to Liverpool to get demobbed and get issued my civvy togs you know. The, there was quite a few things happened there as well. What was the first one? I know I was, I was driving an arctic with furniture. Taking to — from Jurby to Athol, further up the road. And I thought, oh no the wife’s shopping in Ramsey today. I know she said she was going shopping. I’ll go and do a bit of showing off in Ramsey with this Arctic, you know. So I drove off my proper route and went into Ramsey and I got it jack-knifed on one of the corners. A policeman came over and said, ‘What are you trying to do, son?’ I said, ‘Well, I was only married in July and I know the wife’s shopping here. I came, I came down to do a bit of showing off actually and I’ve got jack-knifed here.’ So, he sat back on his heels laughing. He said, ‘In thirty odd years I’ve never heard an excuse like that.’ He said, ‘We’ll get you out of here. I know who these drivers are.’ So they came out and had a good laugh at my expense, shifted their cars and I got this un-jack-knifed and drove out of Ramsey. It wasn’t until about a month later my wife said she’d witnessed all this from one of the shop doorways and kept out of the way [laughs] How about that? Oh dear. I never lived that down. GT: Well, tell me, Jim about your lovely wife then. Where did you meet? And you married in the July of 194 – JM: ’45. GT: ’45. JM: ‘45 GT: Please tell me about your dear wife. JM: We — I was a, I was, I did a lot of roller skating and I had one partner called Jean. She was, I was only, what was I? Thirteen. I think she was twelve. And her mother told me off once because we were, as a gang we were messing about in air raid shelters you know. Lads and girl. And her mother told me off one day. Singled me out and said, ‘You’ve been messing about with my daughter in an air raid shelter. Now, I’m telling you now you’ve got to stop it.’ I said, ‘Alright. Ok. Can I take her skating on Saturday night?’ She said, ‘You’ve got guts lad. I’ll tell you that.’ She said, ‘You’ll have to ask her dad when he comes home.’ So, I said, ‘When’ll he be home?’ She said, ‘About 5 o’clock.’ So, I went and asked him. Got on my bike. I rode back up to [unclear] Drive from Levenshulme and I said, ‘Can I take your daughter?’ He said, ‘Well, she’s got to be home for 10 o’clock at night.’ I said, well he’d got piles very badly, he couldn’t move. He was locked in an armchair. He said, ‘You’d better have her home by 10 o’clock.’ I said, ‘Well, skating doesn’t end, finish ‘til ten and it’ll take us about half an hour to walk home from there. Can we make it half past?’ ‘Not a second later,’ he said, ‘Not a second later.’ And by the skin of our teeth we made it, you know. But after that Mrs Mac used to send him to bed to give us a bit of leeway coming home. So he never knew what time we got home after that. They always gave me a cup of cocoa before I rode home on my bike. I used to take my bike to the rink and walk Jean home and then get on my bike and ride home from their house in Burnage back to Levenshulme. Yeah. She was a brilliant partner too. We had some fun. Len Lee and the, Jack Woodford used to run a skate room at Levenshulme Skating Rink. And they used to, they had two elderly people taught Jean and I how to dance on skates and we taught Len and Jack how to dance on skates. So they picked up partners and liked to copy me and Jean and they learned to dance on skates. And one time we were doing a tango. Well, the skate was rectangular. The rink. And we used to do a figure of eight so that we could have more room on the wood then we would normally just following the rectangle you see. And we used to time it so that we’d pass one another, Len Lee and me in the centre of this eight. And one, the girls used to thump us. We were getting close. We couldn’t see each other. We were going by the standards on the side of the rink. The bar rails, you know. Where we were for the centre of the rink. We couldn’t see each other. And the girls used to thump us. ‘You’re too close. You’re too — ’ We couldn’t see each other. And one night our shirts actually touched. They were billowing out with the speed you know, so the bodies didn’t touch but our shirts actually touched. And I can hear him now, Len Lee ‘Jesus Jim,’ right across the rink, ‘How close is that?’ You know. Because of a closing speed of about twenty miles an hour. Dear. Dear. How we got away with that I’ll never know but that’s by the way. GT: And you had children. JM: Oh yes. Lynn is actually shown with my wife in that small picture there. She was first born. She contracted cancer when she was thirty eight. They gave her six weeks to live and she lasted ‘til she was forty two and then she died. So that was it. But she, she said, ‘When I’m going dad I’m going kicking and screaming,’ [laughs] and I bet she did as well. She once went hiking around the world with her mate Brenda and she’s only five foot two. She was only tiny. And Brenda was only small. And they asked me to drop her outside Altrincham so they could pick up a wagon to get a boat to Holland. And when I looked in my mirror and saw these two tiny figures the kit bags were taller than they were. And the next we heard was five days later with a postcard and a cross on it outside the Blue Mosque. She said later on, ‘The first thing we saw when we got to Baghdad was a van going past — Manchester University Student’s Union.’ Going past them down the street. How about that? You couldn’t write that in fiction could you and get away with it? She got very poorly Brenda. Eating fruit that she hadn’t washed and she was, Lynn was trying to bring her around on the pavement propped against the wall. A bloke stopped and said, ‘What’s the matter?’ So she told him. He said, ‘I’m a medical student. I think I can get her out of this.’ And he did. He laid her down in the prone position and started massaging her and got her, made her sick and got her right. So she was able to stand up again and walk. How about that for coincidence? A medical student. GT: Yeah. JM: Coming across the pair of them in extremis like that. Yeah. That’s another thing you couldn’t write in fiction but it’s true. GT: So when you were MT driving you were given some jobs and one of them was Witchford. JM: Yeah. Oh with the fire engine. Oh, I’ve told you this one already. Yeah. GT: But Witchford is 115 Squadron’s airfield. Right next to Mepal which was 75 Squadron’s airfield. So — JM: Yeah. Their drem systems were five, our drem systems were five miles apart. Yeah. The — I had some food. I collected a fire engine. Then I went for some grub to the canteen and one of the women serving me started crying. One of the WAAFs serving on the other side of the cookhouse bar. And she started crying. She said, ‘I know you. You’re supposed to be dead.’ I said, ‘How do you —’ She said, ‘You were from, you were from Rees’s crew. We were told you were dead.’ I said, ‘Well, I can assure I’m very much alive and I’m hungry.’ But she, how about that? She had tears coming down her face and she’s serving me breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was a unique occasion. Yeah. GT: So, why did they think you were dead? JM: Say again. GT: So, why did they think you were dead then? JM: Well, because of this blown up business with the two aircraft that collided over the target. They thought our aircraft was one of them and that’s how the tale got back to squadron. Through the rear gunner surviving out of one of them. And that’s when I came with Walter and his ghost story. GT: Oh, that was on an operation before you were shot down. JM: Yeah. GT: Ah. Now, what about — JM: Oh no. It was on the same operation. GT: That was that operation. JM: Yeah. Three. GT: Yeah. JM: Three aircraft were lost that day. GT: Oh right. JM: From our squadron. GT: So — JM: Out of eighteen. GT: So, now who — JM: High attrition rate. GT: Who was Walter? JM: Walter was the father of the girl I was friendly with in the village. GT: And what happened when you walked up to him? JM: I’ll repeat this. I’ll repeat this for what it’s worth. There was some slightly rising ground on a hot summer afternoon when even the silence is noisy. You know what I mean. I parked this tender. The camouflaged tender in grey and green under the tree and walked up the slight rise towards Walter. And about twenty yards off I shouted, ‘Hi Walter,’ and Walter turned, looked at me, ‘No. No. No. Jim. No.’ And his son tugged at his leg, he said, It’s alright, dad. He’s real.’ ‘Jesus, don’t ever do that again,’ he said. He came feeling me to make sure I was real. You know. That was Walter. Aye. I was a ghost for three seconds. How about that? Yeah. GT: He thought you were shot down as well. JM: Yeah. GT: And lost. JM: As I say I wasn’t aware of this at the time but Walter was. He was aware of the tale and I wasn’t. GT: And that, you walked up after you’d been repatriated. JM: Yeah. GT: From your POW time. JM: Yeah. GT: So, being taken POW were your family notified immediately or did it take some time? JM: No. They gave us — that was a curious thing. They gave us a letter to write to be forwarded through the Red Cross to say that I was safe and well and a prisoner of war. And the Red Cross was supposed to deliver this to my mother. Which she didn’t get until six months later. But curiously enough a couple up in Scotland had a very powerful shortwave receiver and they used to listen to the Red Cross broadcast of prisoners of war and other items of interest to families. And they found out that I was a prisoner of war through this receiver and contacted the Air Ministry with this information. And the Air Ministry gave them my mother’s address. And six months after I’d been shot down this couple contacted her and told her that I was alive and well. How about that? Through the shortwave receiver they had in operation up in Scotland. In Lossiemouth in Scotland. Yeah. So my mother didn’t know whether I was alive or dead for over six months. That was a bit hard on her. Yeah. GT: And how long were you a POW for? JM: From November in ’44 ‘til April, ‘til May in ’45. GT: Which was practically the whole six months. Yeah. The starvation thing that you endured did that have any lasting effect on you in later life? JM: Only making my stomach small so that it was difficult to get back to eating solid food later on in Leipzig where the Yanks took us. They were aware. We weren’t the first prisoners of war obviously to stay there and they were aware of what was needed to get our stomachs to expand and gave us these feed boxes twice a day as I remember. That contained the necessary things that would make our stomachs bigger and bigger ‘til we could take solid food. GT: So, after the disbanding from the RAF, the demobbing, what did you do as a career for the rest of your days? Your [unclear] days. JM: Well, I was able to get what was called a green card from the AEU because of my service in the RAF. What I did then. And that allowed me to get an engineering job anywhere with the blessing of the AEU with this green card. And the first, first job I had was at Crossley’s in Crossley Road in Levenshulme building buses. I only stopped there for about a month and then I went up to Mirrlees where they made diesel engines and I got into their experimental department and worked there for about eleven years. And after that I was going by bicycle up from here in Ashford Road up to Mirrlees on a bike which wasn’t bad going but was pretty bad coming back up the hill when I was tired. So I got a job at Craven’s making machine tools and I became a machine tool fitter. I was eleven years at Craven’s. I were five years at Mirrlees and eleven years at Craven’s. So I became a machine tool fitter and began travelling up and down the country after a while putting machinery in for Craven’s. I put a fourteen foot borer once at Peter Brotherhood’s at Peterborough. That’s like a big turntable. It was in eight pieces that. Fourteen feet across. Two uprights and a cross slide. And I put that together myself and trimmed it off and that would probably last about a hundred and fifty, two hundred years that because of the way it was made. Yeah. Other things are [unclear] in, down in in Kent. Different places. And Falkirk. The funny thing happened in Falkirk. I was, I was putting a machine in there and I felt very uncomfortable and I thought, I went to the boss of where I was working, I said, ‘I’ve got to go home. I’m sorry. I feel very uncomfortable. There’s something happening at home and I don’t know what it is.’ And I got home later that day and my wife was teetering in the front room trying to hang a piece of wallpaper up and she was just about over balancing on the steps when I grabbed hold of her. I went in silently because I looked through the window first. Saw her as she was teetering and we both finished up on the side of the wall and in a heap on the floor. And she brought me home from Falkirk and I don’t know how or why. If that isn’t mental telepathy I don’t know what is. But she did that and I wasn’t aware of it. That’s true that is. Yeah. We all finished up on a heap on the floor and she had the two bits of wallpaper on the floor [laughs] ‘You made me jump,’ she said. I said, ‘You’d have jumped if you’d have fell over. You were overbalancing then.’ And she was as well. I cut the ropes on the ladder so that she wouldn’t use it again. Chucked it outside. So I went back up to Falkirk and finished my job. GT: You had many lovely years with your wife. JM: Sixty six years we were married. Yeah. As I said before I only, I only signed up for a fortnight. But anyway it was very enjoyable. She was a wonderful wife. She really was. I remember my mother saying, ‘She’s not the girl for you, Jim.’ But she was wrong. She was. She, I learned later I was in the rink, she first spotted me at Birchfield Skating Rink. And she said to a mutual friend of hers, she saw me come in the rink and she said to this friend, this friend told me years later as soon as she saw me walk in the rink she said, ‘I’m having him,’ [laughs] to this friend. And I didn’t even know the woman then, you know. GT: How old was she? JM: She’d be twenty. Twenty two. Yeah. Same age as me. Well, she’s the older one. She’s a month older than me. Her birthday’s in May and mine’s in July but she said to this mutual friend who told me years later, ‘I’m having him.’ And she did and all. I don’t know how but she did. Yeah. Yeah. She, as I say she was a wonderful wife. Wonderful mother. A wonderful person. GT: Yeah. JM: Yeah. GT: [unclear] Jim. JM: I get a bit emotional. GT: Well, it’s understandable and I’m very sad to hear of her loss from dementia. That’s understandable. Jim, the engineering stuff that you learned from the RAF. Did that help you once you’d become a civilian again? JM: Oh yes. Yeah. What I learned engineering on aircraft before I volunteered that served me in very good stead indeed because they had a little training school there for mechanics and they taught you the rudiments of engineering. How to file things, you know. How to fettle things. How to scrape things using a scraper. And that, and that lasted, I think about a month and it stood me in good stead in Civvy Street. Particularly as, oh that was the thing we used, they used to send Hurricanes over from Canada that had been made in Canada and the fuselage was in a big long box with the wings lay alongside it and the tail unit already in place. And we used to get these out, assemble them together and fly them off. And we used to work dinner times because they used to get a lot of fluff in the radiator and that used to seize up and get the engines too warm. So one day we were, we used to work dinner times if we could because we could get a couple of hours off later on you know and eat what we liked. And one day we were changing a radiator on a Hurricane and an Oxford landed. And my mate who was senior to me, he said, ‘Go and wave that in.’ So I went over on to the field and waved this Oxford in and shut it down. And I walked back again and got underneath, got on with this thing, and then we saw three figures walking along in American uniform and the middle one was in civilian dark clothes. And the other American was in American uniform. And he said, ‘Who’s that?’ ‘It’s Bob Hope.’ We’d heard rumours about this. It was Bob Hope. And he came over to us and he bent down underneath and he said, ‘What are you doing, lads?’ So, we said, ‘Well, we’re changing this radiator.’ And he shook hands, I said, dirty hands. And he shook hands with us. Dirty oily hands you know. And he gave us chewing gum. They used to be in little squares in the packet. You didn’t have it in layers. It was in little peppermint coated squares you know. All these tiny squares and a big packet of these. I gave it to the WAAFs later on because I didn’t eat chewing gum. But he did a show I understand in the hangar. He came to bury his grandfather who lived in Hitchin because he, he was British born, Bob Hope. And his grandfather died and that’s why he was up here. He was over with Frances Langford and one or two other. Bing Crosby. Entertaining the troops. In the USO in London, you know. That’s why they were over here. GT: What was that? 1943 or something? JM: Yeah. It was forty — no. It would be ’45 wouldn’t it? Oh no. Forty. No. You’re right. ’43. Yeah. And he gave quite a show in the hangar to everybody and signed a lot of autographs you know. On toilet paper would you believe. And I got one of them. I brought it home. Yeah. Signing autographs on toilet paper. You had to double it over to make sure. He was, he was a great bloke. Yeah. He came to bury his grandfather who died in Hitchin. That was about five miles away from Henlow where we were at the time. It was a peacetime aerodrome. Brick buildings, barrack room jobs. You know. Not Nissen huts. GT: So, when did you retire? What age were you when you retired? Or year I suppose. JM: I retired from Avro’s. I went to work at AV Roe’s because Cincinnati started buying out machines tool people and closing them down so that they could take the orders. Cincinnati in America were closing, closed Richard’s down. And then we knew they were going to close Craven’s down so one of my mates went up to Woodford. And he phoned me about a week later, he said, ‘Get your arse up here a bit quick. It’s money for old rope.’ So, I went up and because of my earlier training in the RAF I got in to experimental at Woodford. So I got in amongst the flying aircraft there and that was quite an enjoyable time to stay there. And I retired from Woodford when I was sixty five. Yeah. GT: So you saw the introduction of the Vulcan. JM: Oh yes. Aye. I’ve worked on the Vulcan. Would you believe a Vulcan is held, the engines in a Vulcan are held by one bolt? It’s about three and a half inches thick and it’s about a foot long and you have to feed it through a, through the engine and through a hangar in the roof of the engine bay. And apart from tags at the front and back to stop it from swivelling that’s the only thing that holds the engine in a Vulcan. Would you believe? One great big bolt. And they’re thirty three thousand horsepower each those engines. Olympus engines. Thirty three thousand horsepower each. GT: Same as the Concorde. JM: And one bolt holds them in. That’s unbelievable isn’t it? GT: So what makes the howl? JM: What makes —? GT: The Vulcan howl. JM: Oh. The — we had diffusers on the drum and they started by air pressure. We have what’s known as a Palouste with a little rover engine at the back and it builds up air pressure. You put this into the aeroplane and it drives the turbines around until they’re fast enough for the fuel to be ignited and then they open up themselves so that they shut it down, did that one by one. AV Roe’s do that. They’d run the engines. Not us. The [pause] I’ve nothing to add to that I don’t think. But these diffusers made the howl go upwards. They were L shaped. Big metal things. And they put out. They could hear us in Bramhall but we couldn’t hear an awful lot here because the sound went up. But they could hear us in Bramhall you know. Yeah. GT: That must have been exciting times with the V force bomber aircraft coming on line and all the experimental little small delta wing aircraft. JM: Yeah. I did the right thing going to Woodford although I went for a few months until I could get back in to the machine tool industry but I was there thirty years in all. And I’ve got a watch to commemorate it. It’s upstairs. GT: Yeah. JM: What did I want to say? GT: What about the Saunders Roe? Did you have anything to do with — which had one of the first ejection seats from Martin-Baker? JM: No. No. I had nothing to do with that at all. GT: That was a Navy one. JM: No. Funnily enough, Poggy the engineer on the Vulcan, he, they had to — there was a quite a reoccurring fault with the buzz bars at the back of the Vulcan and sometimes they used to go off line which left them with an aircraft with no power. They had a RAT an air rotating power unit that they used to drop down out of the wing into the air flow to give them enough time to check instruments and so forth. But he had to bale out as well. Bob Pogson. Anyway, we were able to compare Caterpillars together, you know. We both had the same card. GT: [unclear] JM: Bob Pogson. He baled out of a Vulcan. There was one did and all. They lost another Vulcan with Edwards and he qualified for a Caterpillar. We had three of us in Vulcan qualifying. Showing cards to one another you know and everybody looking and wondering what the hell we were doing. Yeah. The — one of the blokes at that I worked with on the benches, he said, I showed him some photographs some time and he said, ‘You’re my hero.’ I said, ‘Don’t talk shit. Heroes didn’t come back.’ And apparently he showed them around. I got quite a reputation at Woodford because he told other people like the twins and so forth like that. And they did very well really. You must be running out of time on that. GT: One thing that always interested me was the V force bombers always had four — well the pilot and co-pilot always had the ejection seats and the men in the back were facing rearwards without ejection seats. JM: That’s right. GT: And I believe it became an issue that even went to your parliament. Do you recall anything that along that was talked of at the time and they — JM: Well, Poggy told me that they had to drop the aircrew entrance door. That the RAT enabled them to do that because that was the supplying a bit of power. Random Air Turbine. And they dropped that and they dropped the ladder and they climbed down a ladder, turned. Oh, they’d got to turn the seats around obviously to face the gap and they take it in turn, the middle one first and then the other two in progress. Climb down the ladder, turn and face the undercarriage which they dropped down, get a hold of the leg and slide down the leg and roll off the nose wheel and pull the D ring. That’s how they baled out of the Vulcan. The pilots ejected after they had gone. The pilots made sure that they, the three were out before they ejected. So I understand. GT: As long as you had height. JM: Yeah. GT: And good weather. There were quite a few Vulcans that went in. JM: Yeah. GT: That took everyone. JM: That’s the only insurance you’ve got with an aeroplane is height. GT: Yeah. JM: You’ve got time to do things with height. You don’t have any height — oh dear. No insurance. Oh dear. GT: And at that time with still Bomber Command. JM: Yeah. It was. Yeah. GT: The irony of you being in Bomber Command for — JM: Yeah. We were towing an aircraft, a Shackleton across the short runway when a Vulcan was taking off and we had to wait on the short runway and the long runway was going past us like that and we were towing this Shackleton on to the compass point to swing the compass on the other side the aerodrome. And the Vulcan took off and the shockwave with it bent us over. And it’s about fifty yards in front of us. The runway. And yet the shockwave that followed it bent us all over and we stood by the side of the tow truck. How about that. The enormous force that that aircraft generated when it took off. Unbelievable. You wouldn’t believe that but we didn’t grab hold of anything but we were bent over. It was enough to bend us over with the shockwave. Yeah. GT: Did you have anything more to do with Lancasters then once you’d finished? I mean were they — JM: The — when we were at Coningsby. Coningsby. The photograph up there shows us at Coningsby. They invited us up there for the seventy fifth. See there. And put us up at the Petwood Hotel where the Dambusters stayed. There’s all photographs of that as well. And while we were there the — there was a hundred and fifty veterans there with their families in the hangar and the hangar was open wide. And eleven of us were up for gongs and when they read the, quote the citation out they read a bit of your war record. And we went through all these motions and had the clasp that went with it and the gong. And a little while later I was walking underneath the Lancaster. Our Lancaster. The Canadian one was there as well. They flew seven and a half hours over water in a seventy two year old aeroplane. That’s guts for you isn’t it? And they did it on the way back as well. The Canadian crew. Anyway, I’m walking about underneath this Lanc and the crew chief must have been listening and he came to the edge and he said. ‘Do you want to come aboard?’ Do I want to come up? Seventy five years since I’d been aboard a Lanc. Pat has a story. My daughter. She said, ‘You’re creeping about with your walking stick and as soon as he said come aboard you’re like a rat up a drainpipe,’ she said, ‘You couldn’t get in quick enough,’ [laughs] Funnily enough I had a feeling of claustrophobia when I got in. I didn’t realise how close it was inside the Lanc. And I used to get in there in full gear with my bag of tools, my parachute, my clipboard. In full altitude gear, helmet, oxygen mask on and climb over the main spar. And there was only about two feet between the top of the main spar and I used to get over that like a monkey. And I’m holding on to things here trying to get over the fuselage. A one in three slope. I didn’t get over the main spar. I never got on. My son in law did. Later on at Coningsby. He got over the main spar and into the front. He took some photographs of it inside. But I never got over it. Yeah. Silly isn’t it? But Pat’ll tell you that story. Like a rat up a drainpipe. I couldn’t get in at first because there was a step there that carries a dinghy — not a dinghy. Oh, I forget what but you’ve got to reach over this step to get into the Lanc and you’ve got to hang on to the bullet rails, you know. Bullet carrier rails to get in over this step. And I got in. I got over that and I got half up and there’s two two of the crew there watching people don’t do anything you know while they’re in the aircraft. There was two of us in at the time. The other fellow was in the rear looking in the rear turret. He was a rear gunner. I said, ‘Do you show the girl’s the golden rivet?’ He said, ‘Oh aye.’ We used to sneak the girls in at our squadron. Different popsies. You know, girlfriends. With the torchlight. The rest bed is half way down. Just behind the main spar. And the golden rivet is supposed to be over the other end of the rest bed. You know. Down below, underneath. And you get the girls to bend over and you bend over them. It’s Shangri la. You know. Showing them [laughs] He said, ‘We didn’t know about that. We’d have used that.’ But you’d have got done for that and all. We’d have got court martialled if we’d been caught doing that. Getting the girls inside the aircraft. I got Jean in. Yeah. I think, I think Ray got his girl in as well. Yeah. He did. Yeah. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’ve got to get over the back of you to show you where the rivet is.’ [laughs] Shangri la. Oh dear. GT: Jim, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you. And your birthday’s coming up soon. Coming up Saturday. JM: Sunday it is. GT: Sunday. And you will be? JM: Ninety four. GT: Fabulous. And I know that. JM: If I get there. GT: It’s only a few days away. JM: Oh, don’t you start. Pat’s like that. GT: It’s only a few days away. You’ll make it. JM: Many a slip between cup and lip. GT: You’ll make it. Thank you very much for, for telling me some amazing information about your time with Bomber Command. Your time with Bomber Command number two afterwards. And I know the International Bomber Command Centre would be, will be very very pleased to receive your recording here. JM: My pleasure. GT: And its and you know we’ve, we’ve been chatting for one and three quarter hours so it’s a fabulous piece of history that you have, you have displayed with me. JM: I must have happened to thousands of other Bomber Command people. There’s nothing unique about me. Thousands of others have been through the same experiences I’m sure. Or some closely near to it. Yeah. GT: I I would suggest that many haven’t had the opportunity to tell their story. There’s many that do not want to tell their story. You are a gentleman that has been very easy with your story and been very willing to tell it and it’s fabulous. It’s a fabulous piece of history. JM: I suppose its, it’s a matter of boasting I suppose. I survived. GT: No. You — JM: I didn’t intend to boast in any way. It’s all true. GT: You survived by the four letter word that you all taught. JM: Yeah. GT: Luck. JM: That’s it. I was once told that flying was ninety percent boredom and ten percent luck. And that’s how you survive. Not far from the truth in some degree. GT: Yes. It is. It is indeed, Jim. Well, happy birthday for Sunday. JM: Thank you. But the, the youngsters Pat and David are organising a do on Saturday at our local steakhouse and there’s quite a few of us going to be there. The granddaughter, my great granddaughter Alia she’s going to Belgium on the same day, Sunday that my birthday is so to celebrate it we’re having the do on Saturday. We’re doing it then. There’s going to be his mother, Alia’s mother, Alia, David, Pat and myself and Pat’s mother, Mary. Which is quite a few of us. GT: Well, I know your family very much love you and obviously are looking out for you. Caring for you. And you’re a very valuable person to us and the 75 Squadron Associations of New Zealand and UK and I very much have been impressed and thankful for your discussion with me today. JM: I’ve enjoyed your company, Glen. Very much so. You’re a very understanding person and you’ve put me dry dead easy. You must have had some experience of this. One of the interviews I did for the Command people, Pat was listening outside and she came in. She said, ‘I haven’t heard half of this that your telling this fellow. Why don’t you tell me?’ I said, ‘You don’t want to know.’ She said, ‘I do want to know. Alia wants to know. Amy wants to know. Katy wants to know.’ Yeah. GT: Excellent. Yeah. Well, see even your family can give you a right bollocking. Now, one last thing. Could you drive a car when you — JM: I could do. Yes. GT: During, during the time that you were serving on Bomber Command during World War Two. JM: No. I didn’t drive a car then although I had a licence to drive because you were issued with a licence during the wartime years to drive any vehicle without, a provisional licence but without supervision. You could drive. So I did drive a car on several occasions then. Before I entered the RAF. GT: The reason I asked you is because I interviewed a gentleman in New Zealand. A English man who was shot down on his third operation. Not on 75. Another squadron. And survived the POW time, and when the gates were thrown open five of his fellow POWs raced into the local town heading towards the Americans as opposed to away from the Russians and they came across a German driving a Mercedes car. And they hooked him out and he ran away. And then they looked at each other and said, ‘Right who’s going to drive us?’ And there was two pilots of Lancasters, there was a rear gunner, a bomb aimer and a flight engineer. None of those five or six chaps had ever driven a car before and they, they just all had to laugh at each other thinking gosh we’ve just survived all this and now we can’t even drive a car. JM: It’s funny. You’ve triggered one there because I had a, as I say I pinched an ober feldwebels hat and I used to have this on at Leipzig. When we were at Leipzig. I used to carry this on. And I saw four people get out of a pre-war Ford. What the small Ford they had with the pointed nose and I said, ‘Whose is that?’ They said, ‘We’ve had it for a bit but you can have it if you want it. But,’ he said, ‘You’ll have to join up the clips at the back. They’d taken a battery out of a Focke Wulf 190 and put it on the back seat and hot-wired the ignition so as they could use this Ford. So he could start it and stop it. You stopped it by putting it in gear you know and holding the brake on and start it with a starter. So I drove this about for a bit. I quite enjoyed this with this f’ing great, it was about that long on the back seat out of a Focke Wulf 190. So I coupled it up. Got it driving and the Yanks were still bringing prisoners of war off the road on to the camp. And one of them saw me driving up the outside of this column that was going down and I was driving up the outside and he looked up and he saluted. He saw this car. Thought it was an RAF car. I got a Yankee soldier — a salute of a Yankee soldier would you believe. Aye. Yeah. It did happen that. Yeah. Surprising. And I handed it over to another group as I signalled some people out of a back column. Said, ‘Come over here a bit.’ I said, ‘This is what you do.’ ‘Right,’ they said. ‘Leave them off. We’ll do it.’ So, they took it over from me. To fill it up with petrol we just drove up to the Yankee filling station. ‘How much do you want?’ ‘Fill it up.’ He filled it up till it dripped out the side. Put the cap back on. Yeah. GT: Recently I’ve interviewed two chaps. One — both in New Zealand Arthur Askew and Bruce Cunningham and both were POWs. Both with extensive stories to tell as obviously you have too. Recently you also flew with Project Propeller. JM: Yes. GT: By Graham Cowie. A very very worthwhile — JM: That’s where I met Dee. Yeah. GT: Yeah. And in this case, this last Project Propeller you were on two weeks ago. JM: Yeah. GT: You met up with some other fellow POWs I understand. JM: Yeah. I showed you the picture there. They were at Bankau in Upper Silesia in Poland at the same time I was. There was another Caterpillar wearer there. There’s only two of us. And apart from, as far as we know we’re the only survivors that are available at this time of the year. If the others had survived then they can’t make the journey. But the Propeller Club are very good. Mind you we picked the worst day of the whole fortnight. The weather was terrible. Both going and coming back. GT: Yeah. JM: The pilot offered it to me. I said, ‘Not bloody likely. It’s too lively for me that is.’ He’s working hard at it all the time, you know. Shuddering and bumping. And it was the same coming up. We only just made it with the visibility coming back. Somebody going up north said, ‘You’d better get going pretty soon,’ from Halfpenny Green at Wolverhampton, ‘Because it’s closing in up there,’ and it did. I could see the rain streaming back off and you couldn’t see more than about a mile ahead it was so closed in. The weather. But it did begin to get a little bit clearer as we got to Barton and it was clear enough to land there. GT: This was not your first project propeller though. Right? JM: No. We went. We were — we’d gone three years before with a bloke called Duncan Edwards who lives in Bramhall and actually knows David and he had a share in a 72. GT: And David’s your son in law. JM: Yeah. David. And he knew him and but for two years we were stopped by bad weather from flying into the reunion. GT: Yeah. JM: So, it was the third year running. GT: [unclear] JM: That we’d try to get into this reunion. And we got this horrible bad weather to go with it. Bad weather. Aye. It was. GT: So have you been to the International Bomber Command Centre yet? JM: Oh yes. We went there when it first opened. We were invited there. Dee came as well. She gave me a wreath to put on the 75 Squadron gravestone. GT: Brilliant. Dee Boneham’s the treasurer of the 75 Squadron Association in the UK. JM: Yeah. GT: Brilliant. JM: Yeah. She’s a nice person, Dee. GT: So, what’s your impressions of the IBCC Memorial? JM: It’s very impressive isn’t it? Particularly the ring of stones around it. And it’s as high as the Lancaster wing is broad isn’t it? So they say. Yeah. It’s the same height as the width of a Lancaster wing. GT: Did you see the displays inside? JM: Yes I did. Yes. I did. They had a Blenheim come over and what was the other aircraft? Another. Oh, a Vulcan came over. And a Blenheim, whilst we were there. The Vulcan went over to Lincoln and flew over there, I think the Blenheim did as well. So they came and paid their respects as it were. When it was first opened. Yeah. It was very impressive. Particularly inside. Yeah. I can’t remember half the things I saw but it was very impressive I must admit. They’ve done a wonderful job. All volunteers as well isn’t it? Yeah. Not a paid hand amongst them. Incredible. GT: They wish to keep your stories and your experiences alive for those of us in the future and it’s — JM: The kids now don’t want to know do they? They don’t want to know. It’s outside their, it’s on another planet as far as they’re concerned. I think so anyway. Except for Pat and the local family of course. They’re interested. Yeah. Alia brought me back that stick in the hall from Poland. She smuggled it through the guards by putting it up inside her coat. I’ll show you when you go out. It’s all the way from Poland that walking stick. Yeah. GT: Jim, I’ve often asked veterans that — what Bomber Command did and what Churchill and Bomber Harris achieved. Could they have done it any other way? JM: I don’t think so. No. I think Butch Harris was right in as much as he said and I quote, ‘They sowed the wind. They’ll reap the whirlwind,’ unquote. And I think that’s what happened. Yeah. A lot of civilians obviously died. That was unavoidable. A lot of our civilians died. I got blown out of bed a couple of times ‘til I got fed up with it and joined up. A bloke in the next street got decapitated because he stayed. He stayed in bed instead of going down in his shelter. His mother and he used to go down in his shelter, ‘Come on.’ ‘Not I. I’m not going.’ but finished up underneath the bed. He didn’t half get, phew. When the Yanks bombed us in that siding it was terrifying. They were 500s. We were dropping four thousand pound blasters and thousand pounders. Dear oh dear. GT: And your losses. JM: Yeah. Sixty eight thousand operational aircrew. Fifty six thousand died. The highest attrition rate, attrition rate of any force in the world and no record of those who were wounded. Lost arms, or legs or eyes. No record of that. Must be many thousands more. Fifty six thousand. It’s incredible isn’t it? It works out into one in three isn’t it? Oh. No. One in two. One in two. Yeah. Rather less than one in two. We’d had, we’d have a crew move in to our Nissen hut and share handshakes all around. Show them how to operate the lock and particularly how to operate the stove to get the best heat out of it and the next day they’d gone. We’ve got the SPs coming to collect their kit and remove any offensive material, you know that might be in the lockers. Yeah. Gone. And we only had a handshake and they’d gone. That was a bit sobering at times. Yeah. The average life of a crew on squadron was five weeks. Not a lot is it out of a young man’s life? How the hell I survived I’ll never know. Somebody up there wanted me to carry on. I don’t know who but thank you very much. I’ve had a family since then and that’s been a bit of a bonus. Yeah. GT: A great survivor. Thanks Jim. JM: Dee said that once to me. She said, ‘You’re a survivor aren’t you, Jim?’ I said, ‘I hope you’re right.’ She’s a wonderful woman, isn’t she? Dee. GT: Ninety plus, Jim. JM: Aye. GT: That’s awesome. JM: She’s wonderful. GT: Well, there are a bunch of us that are wanting to ensure that you realise and know and feel that we both love you and we also appreciate the service you did for both the king, the country and us. JM: With the many thousands of others don’t forget. You know, there’s nothing unique about me as I repeat. Many thousands of others. And the real heroes are the ones that didn’t come back. They’re the real heroes. They made the sacrifice. We didn’t. GT: Well, your sacrifice was your POW time. JM: Yeah. That was a bit nasty. GT: Yeah. JM: I didn’t like that at all. I thought that was a bit unfair. Making me walk all those miles. Yeah. A bit unfair that [laughs] Trudging through snow. As far as your eye could see was snow. Just the telephone lines to tell you where they road because they were on the right hand side of the road. The only difference between the road and the field as far as the eye could see. Snow. And then the blizzards would start. Your eyelids would freeze. Close an eyelid and it would freeze. Oh dear. Glasses. I didn’t wear glasses then. Oh dear. It’s all [pause] it all seems to have happened to another person. Didn’t seem to have happened to me but it did. It did. Yeah. I showed you that mug, didn’t I? GT: Yes. JM: Yeah. GT: Very good. Jim, let’s, let’s complete our interview now and thank you very much for, for your time and I will make sure your record is posted again with the IBCC and they will send you details of today’s visit and interview with you. So, thank you. JM: I’ve enjoyed our time together, Glen. You’re a wonderful person yourself. Come on. Come on. No false modesty. You’ve done the armaments course. You know everybody that needs to be known and you’ve pumped me dry that’s for sure. With a great deal of skill I might add. Yeah. GT: My special cause is you great gentlemen. So thank you. Righto. Ok. JM: Thanks a lot, Glen. GT: Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Ok. We’ll sign off now. 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/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Glen Turner 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 2018-07-03 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 AMulhallJE180703 Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Pending revision of OH transcription Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 01:57:40 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 James Mulhall trained as a flight engineer and was posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Mepal. On one operation the crew were surprised to be presented by the ground crew with a .303 bullet which proved that they had been the recipient of friendly fire. On their 34th operation their Lancaster was shot down and the crew became prisoners of war. James undertook the long march from Stalag Luft 7 to Luckenwalde. After the war James returned to engineering work and eventually worked on V force aircraft. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Belgium Germany Great Britain Poland Belgium--Brussels England--Cambridgeshire Germany--Homberg (Kassel) Germany--Leipzig Germany--Luckenwalde Germany--Oberursel Poland--Tychowo Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Julie Williams Maureen Clarke Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1943 1944-05 1945-07 Title A name given to the resource Interview with James Mulhall. Two 75 Squadron aircrew bombing Caterpillar Club displaced person Dulag Luft fear flight engineer Fw 190 incendiary device Lancaster memorial perception of bombing war prisoner of war RAF Mepal shot down Stalag 3A Stalag Luft 7 the long march https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1213/11929/[1]DAVID AND THE RAF2 [2].pdf 35b5401702ea96880cafe22e9866fad0 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 Donaldson, David David Donaldson D Donaldson Description An account of the resource 309 Items and a sub-collection of 51 items. Concerns Royal Air Force career of Wing Commander David Donaldson DSO and bar, DFC. A pilot, he joined the Royal Air Force Reserve in 1934. Mobilized in 1939. he undertook tours on 149, 57 and 156 and 192 Squadrons. He was photographed by Cecil Beaton at RAF Mildenhall in 1941. Collection contains a large number of letters to and from family members, friends as well as Royal Air Force personnel. Also included are personal and service documents, and his logbooks. In addition, there are photographs of family, service personnel and aircraft. After the war he became a solicitor. The collection also contains an oral history interview with Frances Grundy, his daughter. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Anna Frances Grundy and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. 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 2015-06-02 2022-10-17 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 Donaldson, D Grundy, AF Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document DAVID AND THE RAF My brother David’s very distinguished wartime career with the RAF - two DSOs and a DFC, and promotion to Wing Commander at 28 - warrants a separate appendix to these family notes. He has kindly helped me to compile it by giving me the run of his log books, and I have supplemented them from a number of other sources. He became interested in flying in the early 1930s. I recall him taking his small brother of 9 or 10 to an air show at Eastleigh and abandoning him while he went up as passenger in a Tiger Moth doing aerobatics. That may well have given him the incentive to join the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1934 as a weekend pilot. He did much of his training at Hamble, on the Solent. When war broke out in September 1939 he was called up immediately and had to abandon his legal training. He spent the “phoney war” towing target drogues at a bombing and gunnery school at Evanton in Scotland. His log books show him rated as an “average” pilot. At the end of April 1940, just before the Germans attacked in the West, he went to Brize Norton for intermediate training (earning an “above-average” rating) and then to Harwell for operational training on Wellingtons, the main twin-engined heavy bomber of the early war years. On 20th September, just as the Battle of Britain was ending, he was posted to his first operational squadron, No 149, part of No 3 Group, at the big pre-war air station at Mildenhall. His first operational sortie was over Calais towards the end of September, no doubt to attack the invasion barges. Over the following five months he took part in some 31 night raids. The German defence at this time was relatively feeble by comparison with what was to follow, and so the tour was correspondingly tolerable; however bitter experience had shown that day bombing was much too costly, and the night bombing techniques were very inaccurate. His first raid on Berlin, at the end of October, was particularly eventful; they got hopelessly lost on their return, came in over Bristol, and ended up over Clacton as dawn was breaking with very little fuel left. There both the Army and the Navy opened up on them, and even the Home Guard succeeded in putting a bullet through the wing. They eventually made a forced crash landing at St Osyth. The Home Guard commander, a retired general, entertained him generously and he finally got back to Mildenhall where his Group Captain forgave him for the damaged aircraft and advised him to go out and get drunk. He took the advice, and in the pub he met a WAAF whom he married eight months later (maybe that is why he remembers that particular day so well.) The gauntlet of Friendly Fire seems to have been a not uncommon hazard to be faced. On another occasion, when he had to make three circuits returning to Mildenhall, the airfield machine gunners opened fire on him from ground level; he thought they were higher up and judged his height accordingly, and narrowly missed the radio masts which were not, as he thought, below him. The longest raids on this tour were trips of over ten hours to Italy: to Venice, which they overflew at low level, and to the Fiat works at Turin. He described the latter raid, and the spectacular views of the Alps it afforded, in a BBC broadcast in December 1940. The commonest targets were the Ruhr and other German cities, and some raids were made at lower level on shipping in French ports. The raid which won him the DFC was on 22nd November, on Merignac aerodrome near Bordeaux, which “difficult target he attacked from a height of 1,500 feet and successfully bombed hangars, causing large fires and explosions. As a result of his efforts the task of following aircraft was made easier ......... He has at all times displayed conspicuous determination and devotion to duty.” It was at Mildenhall that he featured in a series of propaganda photos by Cecil Beaton, “A Day in the Life of a Bomber Pilot”; they were given a good deal of publicity and in fact David appears in one of them on the cover of the recently published video of the 1941 propaganda film “Target for Tonight”, also made with the help of 149 Squadron - though he did not take part in the film. Beaton describes the occasion at some length in his published diaries, though he has thoroughly scrambled the names and personalities, and he “demoted“ David from captain to co-pilot in his scenario. On completion of this tour, early in March 1941, David was detached on secondment to the Air Ministry to assist with buying aircraft in North America, and later to ferry aircraft within North America and across the Atlantic - he flew the Atlantic at least twice in Hudsons, taking 12 hours or more. The “chop rate” in Bomber Command increased substantially during the first half of 1941. [Footnote: The average sortie life of aircrew in the Command was never higher than 9.2 and at one time was as low as eight, and during the dark days of 1941-1943 the average survival chances of anyone starting a 30-sortie tour was consistently under 40% and sometimes under 30%. In one disastrous raid, on Nuremburg in March 1944, 795 planes set out, 94 were shot down and another 12 crashed in Britain. During the war as a whole, out of some 125,000 aircrew who served with Bomber Command, 55,500 died.] This coupled with increasing doubts about the value of the results obtained led to a serious decline in aircrew morale. During the summer of 1941 the Germans had considerable success with intruders - fighter aircraft attacking the bombers as they took off or landed at their own bases. At the end of September David returned to No 3 Group and joined No 57 Squadron at Feltwell, still with Wellingtons. His third raid, over Dusseldorf on October 13th, was particularly difficult; they were badly shot up and with their hydraulics out of action they crash landed at Marham on their return. After two more raids the strain finally proved too much and he was admitted to hospital just before Christmas 1941; for the next two months he was there or on sick leave. From then until mid-July he was Group Tactical Officer at HQ No 3 Group, and not directly involved in operations. In July 1942 he was posted to No 15 Operational Training Unit, at Harwell and Hampstead Norris, where he spent six months as a flight commander flying Ansons and Wellingtons, though he did participate in one raid on Dusseldorf while he was there. In spite of the appointment of Harris early in 1942 and the introduction of the Gee radio navigational aid, results were still considered disappointing, particularly over the Ruhr, and serious questions were raised about the future of Bomber Command. To improve matters, in August 1942 the elite Pathfinder Force was set up under Don Bennett, albeit in the face of considerable opposition from most of the group commanders who were reluctant to lose their best crews to it. At least initially, all the crews joining it had to be volunteers, and to be ready to undertake extended tours. Their task was to fly ahead of the Main Force in four waves: the Supporters, mainly less experienced crew carrying HE bombs, who were to saturate the defences and draw the flak; the Illuminators, who lit up the aiming point with flares; and the Primary Markers and Backers Up who marked the aiming point with indicators. Their methods became more and more refined as the war went on. The increased accuracy required of them, and their position at the head of the bomber stream, inevitably exposed them to greater danger and a higher casualty rate than those of the Main Force. No 156 Squadron was one of the original units in the Force; it operated from the wartime airfield of Warboys with Wellingtons until the end of 1942 and thereafter with 4-engined Lancasters, the very successful heavy bomber which was the mainstay of Bomber Command in the later years. The squadron flew a total of 4,584 sorties with the loss of 143 aircraft - a ratio of 3.12%. David joined it in January 1943, again as a flight commander. In the following four months he carried out a further 23 raids (all but one as a pathfinder) in Lancasters. The log books note occasional problems - “coned”, “shot up on way in”, “slight flak damage”, and so on. [Footnote: "Coned" = caught in a cone of converging searchlights, an experience which he says put him off hunting for life.] Much of the period became known as the Battle of the Ruhr, though other targets were also being attacked. He told me once that the raid he was really proud to have been on was the one where instead of marking the targeted town (I think Dortmund) they marked in error a nearby wood, which the main force behind them duly obliterated; only after the war did the Germans express their admiration for the British Intelligence which had identified the highly secret installation hidden in the wood......... One of the pages in his log book has a cutting from the Times inserted, evidently dated some years later, recalling how in April 1943 the spring came very early and the hedges were billowing with white hawthorn blossom. This puzzled me until I read in a book on 156 Squadron how that blossom had come to have the same significance for them as the Flanders poppies of the 1914-1918 war. David was promoted to Wing Commander half way through the tour (pathfinders rated one rank above the comparable level elsewhere), and awarded the DSO towards the end of it. The recommendation for this said that he had “at all times pressed home his attacks with the utmost determination and courage in the face of heavy ground defences and fighters. As a pilot he shows powers of leadership and airmanship which have set an outstanding example to the rest of the squadron” - and Bennett himself added, noting that David had just flown four operational sorties in the last five days, “he has provided an example of determination and devotion to duty which it would be difficult to equal.” On the end of this tour in June 1943, he was sent to command No 1667 Conversion Unit at Lindholme and later Faldingworth. In December 1943 he transferred to a staff appointment at the headquarters of the newly formed 100 (SD) Group at West Raynham and later Bylaugh Hall. At this stage in the war the methods of attack and defence were growing increasingly complex, and this group was formed as a Bomber Support Group, including nightfighters, deceptive measures, and radio countermeasures (RCM). In June 1944, just after D-Day, he was given command of No 192 (SD) Squadron based at Foulsham, another wartime airfield. This squadron had been formed in January 1943 as a specialist RCM unit, and it pioneered this type of operation in Bomber Command; it flew more sorties and suffered more losses (19 aircraft) than any other RCM squadron. While RCM and electronic intelligence were its primary purpose, its aircraft often carried bombs and dropped them on the Main Force targets. RCM took a number of forms - swamping enemy radar and jamming it with “window” tinfoil, looking for new radar types and gaps in its coverage, deceptive R/T transmissions to nightfighters, and so on - and one of the attractions of the work was the considerable measure of autonomy, and the freedom to plan their own operations. These extended to tasks such as searching for V2 launch sites (recorded as “whizzers” in David’s log book) and trying to identify the radio signals associated with them, and supporting the invasion of Walcheren in September. The squadron was equipped with Wellingtons (phased out at the end of 1944), Halifaxes and Mosquitoes, plus a detachment of USAAF Lightnings. This role was the climax of his career, and lasted until the end of the war and after. It involved him in 25 operational sorties, all in Halifax IIIs, the much improved version of this initially disappointing 4-engined heavy bomber. They carried special electronic equipment and an extra crew member known as the Special Operator. The record of these sorties in the log books, for the most part so formal and statistical up to this point, becomes a little more anecdotal: “rubber-necking on beach” (when he took two senior officers to see the breaching of the dykes at Walcheren), “Munster shambles”, “Lanc blew up and made small hole in aircraft [but only] 4 lost out of 1200!” The furthest east he went was to Gdynia in Poland; on returning from there he had the privilege of becoming the first heavy aircraft to land at Foulsham using the FIDO fog dispersal system. “Finger Finger Fido” was the cryptic comment in the log book. A number of these sorties were daytime; on one of them, on September 13th, he was chased home by two ME109s which made six attacks on him. One of them opened fire but thanks to violent evasive action his aircraft was undamaged: his own gunners never got a chance to fire. No doubt it was skill of this sort, as well as his survival record, which gave his crew great faith in David’s ability to get them home safely. An encounter on December 29th 1944, on a Window patrol over the Ruhr, was not quite so satisfying; they claimed to have damaged a Ju88 which subsequently proved to be an unhurt Mosquito X from Swannington - and the Mosquito had identified them as a Lancaster. The log entry concludes “Oh dear. FIDO landing, flew into ground. What a day.” He was awarded a bar to his DSO in July 1945. The recommendation, made in March, recorded that “since being posted to his present squadron he has carried out every one of his sorties in the same exemplary fashion and has set his crews an extremely high standard of devotion to duty and bravery. This standard has had a direct influence on the whole specialist work of the squadron. “He has been personally responsible for the planning of all the sorties carried out by his special duty unit and by his brilliant understanding and quick appreciation of the everchanging nature of the investigational role of his squadron, much of the success of the investigations performed by his aircraft can be attributed to him. He has shown himself to be fearless and cool in the face of danger, and towards the end of his tour made a point of putting himself on the most arduous and difficult operations. “Both on the ground and in the air he has been untiring and has not spared himself in his efforts to get his squadron up to the high standard which it has now reached.” The squadron was disbanded in September, by which time David had completed 501 hours of operations against the enemy in 86 sorties, the great majority of them as captain of his aircraft. He had no ambition to make a permanent career in the RAF; he has commented to Richard that this fact gave him a degree of independence in his dealing with his superiors that he thinks they appreciated and valued. He was demobilised in November and returned to his interrupted law studies. * * * * * * * * * * I showed these notes to David, who thought them well written but suggested that they gave a twisted view of the reality - a reaction that I can understand. Since then, however, I have managed to contact one man who flew with David: H B (Hank) Cooper DSO DFC, who first met David in 149 Squadron which he joined in January 1941 as a wireless operator / air gunner for his first tour, and later did two tours as a Special Operator in 192 Squadron, the second of them under David's command. On two occasions he flew as a member of David's crew. He has written of David that "he was always completely fearless and outstandingly brave and pressed home his attacks to the uttermost. As the Squadron's CO he generated loyalty and warmth, he was an outstanding model to follow. He spent much trouble and time encouraging his junior air crews as well as helping and seeing to the needs of the ground technicians who serviced the aircraft, generally in cold and difficult conditions. He was completely non-boastful, in fact he belittled his own actions (which were always of the highest order) when discussing air operations. [That rings very true!] He was an outstanding squadron commander in all respects, much liked and completely respected by all his air crews and ground crews." G N D March 2002 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 David and the RAF Description An account of the resource Account of Wing Commander David Donaldson's RAF career from his early interest in flying and joining the Royal Air Force volunteer reserve in 1934, through various postings and operations, to eventually commanding 192 (special duties) squadron. It includes detailed descriptions of all elements of operations and incidents. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders and a Distinguished Flying Cross. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource G N Donaldson Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Four page printed document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BDonaldsonGNDonaldsonDWv1 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Hampshire England--Hamble-le-Rice England--Eastleigh England--Oxfordshire England--Norfolk Scotland--Ross and Cromarty Scotland--Evanton England--Suffolk England--Huntingdonshire England--Lincolnshire England--Bristol England--Essex England--Clacton-on-Sea Italy Italy--Venice Italy--Turin Germany Germany--Berlin Germany--Dortmund Netherlands Netherlands--Walcheren England--Berkshire France France--Bordeaux Region (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) Poland Poland--Gdynia Germany--Münster in Westfalen England--Yorkshire Germany--Ruhr (Region) England--Gloucestershire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1934 1939 1940-04 1940-09-20 1940-10 1940-12 1941-10-22 1941 1941-04 1942 1942-07 1942-08 1943 1943-01 1943-04 1943-06 1944 1944-06 1944-09-13 1944-12-29 1945 1945-07 Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review 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 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Frances Grundy Maureen Clarke 100 Group 149 Squadron 15 OTU 156 Squadron 1667 HCU 192 Squadron 3 Group 57 Squadron aircrew Anson Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986) bombing crash Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Service Order FIDO forced landing Gee Halifax Halifax Mk 3 Heavy Conversion Unit Hudson Ju 88 Lancaster Me 109 Mosquito Operational Training Unit P-38 Pathfinders pilot propaganda RAF Brize Norton RAF Evanton RAF Faldingworth RAF Feltwell RAF Foulsham RAF Hampstead Norris RAF Harwell RAF Lindholme RAF Mildenhall RAF Warboys RAF West Raynham Ruhr Campaign (5 March – 10 July 1943) target indicator training Wellington Window https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1219/15060/ESwainHCAppletonN450720.2.jpg ae2f85d555fcdb1cec95f0750505e973 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 Appleton, Noel Noel Appleton N Appleton Description An account of the resource 5 items. Two photographs and correspondence concerning Noel Appleton DFC (1920 - 2008, 414980 Royal Australian Air Force) and the award of his Distinguished Flying Cross. He conpleted a tour of operations as a pilot with 166 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jane Louise Reynolds and catalogued by Barry Hunter. 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 2018-08-25 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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Appleton, N Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document Wt. 25617/P1434 100,000 Pads 9/43 H.P. 51-7341 R.A.F. Form 1924 [underlined] POSTAGRAM. [/underlined] Originator’s Reference Number: - 13B/S.4904/6/P.1 Date: - 20th July, 1945. To: F/O. N. Appleton, D.F.C., No. 1656 C.U., R.A.F., Lindholme. CONFIDENTIAL. From: Base Commander, Headquarters, No. 13 Base. I would like to offer you my hearty congratulations on the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross. This award is a well deserved recognition of your continuous good work. Originator’s Signature [signature] A/Cdre. Time of Origin 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 Postagram to Noel Appleton Description An account of the resource A notification from No. 13 Base Command to Noel Appleton that he has been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07-20 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Correspondence Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ESwainHCAppletonN450720 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 Royal Australian Air Force 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 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Steve Baldwin aircrew Distinguished Flying Cross RAF Lindholme https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1219/15061/EWingleyKMAppletonN450719.1.jpg fc9dec2b733bb6a187459f73cd7527f1 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 Appleton, Noel Noel Appleton N Appleton Description An account of the resource 5 items. Two photographs and correspondence concerning Noel Appleton DFC (1920 - 2008, 414980 Royal Australian Air Force) and the award of his Distinguished Flying Cross. He conpleted a tour of operations as a pilot with 166 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jane Louise Reynolds and catalogued by Barry Hunter. 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 2018-08-25 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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Appleton, N Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [Commonwealth of Australia Letterhead] IN REPLY PLEASE REFER TO FILE NO 1213/6713/P.2. 19th July, 1945. Flying Officer N. Appleton, D.F.C. (Aus. 414980), No. 1656 C.U. R.A.F. Station, Lindholme, Doncaster, [underlined] Yorks. [/underlined] Dear Appleton I have just received the good news from Air Ministry that you have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. 2. Please accept my heartiest congratulations on this award. 3. With this note I am forwarding a small piece of D.F.C. ribbon, in case you are unable to obtain this locally. Kindest personal regards, Your sincerely, [signature] Air Vice Marshal. Air Officer Commanding. (Encl.) 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 Letter to Noel Appleton from Royal Australian Air Force Description An account of the resource The letter refers to his award of a Distinguished Flying Cross, offers congratulations and includes a medal ribbon. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07-19 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One typewritten sheet Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Correspondence Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EWingleyKMAppletonN450719 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 Royal Australian Air Force 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgie Donaldson Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Australia. Royal Australian Air Force aircrew Distinguished Flying Cross RAF Lindholme https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1219/15062/MAppletonN414980-180825-01.1.jpg 6623f2a82040c428adc199b20839a8d1 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 Appleton, Noel Noel Appleton N Appleton Description An account of the resource 5 items. Two photographs and correspondence concerning Noel Appleton DFC (1920 - 2008, 414980 Royal Australian Air Force) and the award of his Distinguished Flying Cross. He conpleted a tour of operations as a pilot with 166 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jane Louise Reynolds and catalogued by Barry Hunter. 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 2018-08-25 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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Appleton, N Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [underlined] EXTRACT FROM LONDON GAZETTE DATED 17 JULY 1945 [/underlined] THE KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following award in recognition of gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations: [underlined] Distinguished Flying Cross [/underlined] [underlined] Flying Officer Noel APPLETON (Aus 414980) RAAF No 166 Squadron [/underlined] This Australian Officer has now completed a tour of 37 sorties as Captain of Aircraft. Throughout his tour he has given a consistent display of superb airmanship and has never failed to seek out his target, attack it, and return to base. Many of the sorties in which he has taken part have been in adverse weather conditions and in the face of heavy enemy opposition, but these difficulties have not prevented him from pressing home his attacks with damaging effect. By his steady bearing when under fire and gallant conduct under all circumstances he has won the confidence and admiration of his crew and has set a magnificent example to the whole squadron. 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 Extract from London Gazette dated 17 July 1945 Description An account of the resource The extract refers to the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross to Flying Officer Noel Appleton. He has completed a tour of 37 sorties. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One typewritten sheet 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 MAppletonN414980-180825-01 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 Royal Australian Air Force Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07-17 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Laura Morgan 166 Squadron aircrew Distinguished Flying Cross 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 Stephenson, Stuart Stuart Stephenson MBE S Stephenson Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stephenson, S Description An account of the resource 84 items. An oral history interview with Stuart Stephenson MBE, Chairman of the Lincs-Lancaster Association, and issues of 5 Group News. The collection was catalogued by Barry Hunter. In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, some items are available only at the International Bomber Command Centre / University of Lincoln. 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. Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document V GROUP NEWS V [Picture] [Page Break] [Underlined] BASE INTELLIGENCE [/underlined] [Indecipherable] [Drawing] [Stamp] [Underlined] Copies to Stns [/underlined] Base. [Circled] [Indecipherable [/circled] FIVE GROUP NEWS JULY No. 36 1945 [Page break] [Blank page] [Page break] Foreword by A.O.C. At mid-night yesterday, Mr. Attlee, our Prime Minister, our Prime Minister, announced the final cessation of the War with Japan. This is great news. At last the world is at peace. To-day, August 15th, is VJ-Day and there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that we are all greatly relieved that the end of hostilities has at last come. Nevertheless, for some, and particularly those who had volunteered to go to the Far East, there must be a certain sense of disappointment and, no doubt, many will feel annoyed that they personally have not been able to have a crack at the Japs. The future of 5 Group is now very much in the air and I am unable to give you the answer to the many queries you may have at the moment. I doubt if many heavy bomber Squadrons will be required as part of the occupation forces in Japan, although it is more than possible that one or two of the Squadrons will proceed somewhere out to the East in the near future. It is unlikely that the Government and the Air Ministry will be able to review the many difficult problems and agree on new policy for some days, and, until definite orders are received, all Squadrons should continue their normal training and their normal routine of work. More than any other Group, 5 Group has had a particularly difficult time since VE-Day. The Squadrons have undergone many changes; some Squadrons have been disbanded; others moved to new Stations; there has been a vast change round of personnel to ensure that only those fit and eligible for the Far East were left in those Units proceeding overseas. Many others have left the Service but, in spite of all this change, I have noticed that many long and arduous hours of training have been put in by Squadron and Station personnel to prepare themselves for what was to have been a very hard role in the Pacific. In addition to this training, I decided to carry out a series of inspections of all Stations. I have now completed six out of the ten and have been very impressed with the high standard of smartness and efficiency which have been attained at those Stations which I have inspected. I realise that many man hours of hard work have been put in by all ranks, both in the training and preparation of Squadrons for war against Japan and also to attain such a high standard of cleanliness at Stations. Much of the material and information contained in this “5 Group News” is now out of date, but I have, nevertheless, decided to issue it in spite of the fact that all hostilities have now ceased. I thank all ranks for their hard work and fine spirit of co-operation during these last few months, and I know full well that, if 5 Group had managed to reach the Pacific before the end of hostilities, the various Units that have been preparing themselves for War, would have put up a very fine show. MORTON HALL, [Underlined] 15th August, 1945. [/underlined] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Blank Page] [Page break] [Drawing] training The weather, particularly at the beginning of the month, did not prove very helpful in enabling the Group to put in as many flying hours as was hoped for. The G.T.I’s Flying Training Chart shows little or no increase in night flying training from the period 6th – 11th July to the period 23rd – 29th July, while the day flying line shows a steady rise with very few breaks throughout the month. During their visits to Stations and Squadrons throughout the Group, the G.T.I. and his training Specialist Officers have noticed a lethargic attitude in some Squadrons to Tiger training. Such phrases as “We’ve got plenty of time to go yet”, “The War will be finished before we get there”, and “Do you think we’ll go?” have been heard time and time again. It should have become apparent by now that there is only a limited time available for training and that every opportunity should be made to seize every spare hour for ground training and every period of fine weather for air training. Certain Squadrons have already found out that there is even less time than they thought left for training on this side of the world. As for the phrase “The War will be finished before we get there” – unless crews finish their training thoroughly they won’t get there at all, and it is to be borne in mind that there are still immense areas of land and sea yet to be regained. As is well known, the Jap is a fanatical fighter and does not give up until he is dead. There are millions of Japs who have yet to be made to give up in Burma, Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand and French Indo-China, to say nothing of Japan, China and Manchuria, where the Japs are most firmly rooted. As regards to the question “Do you think we’ll go?” – the answer is “Yes”. The G.T.I. and the Training Specialists welcome 460 and 75 Squadrons into the Group. When the G.T.I. first visited these Squadrons and explained the number of hours flying and number of hours ground lectures required from them, one of the first remarks was “What – only 22 1/2 hours training per crew per month: that is 675 hours per Squadron … We shall get over 1,000 hours in next month”. Whilst figures of flying times are not a perfect indication of training done, they provide a fairly sound means of assessing the training efforts of individual Squadrons. Therefore to enable Squadron Commanders to appreciate the position of their Squadron in relation to the rest of the Group, the flying times for June and July are given below:- [Table of Flying Times by Squadron] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] TRAINING [/underlined] [Underlined] OTHER SPECIAL UNITS [/underlined] [Table of Flying Times by Unit] No. 467 Squadron is congratulated on its training effort, particularly since it has been at R.A.F. Metheringham, where it has done over 1,000 hours during July. [Underlined] LINK TRAINER [/underlined] Tiger Squadrons in Nos. 53 and 55 Bases and R.A.F. Stations Syerston are progressing satisfactorily with Link Training in B.A.B.S. and Radio Range. No.54 Base Squadrons, however, are a long way behind and there is room for great improvement. Nos.44 and 619 Squadrons put in a total of 90 hours before they left the Group in the middle of the month. [Table of Aircrew Hours by Base and Squadron] Total hours by Group – 1,285 [Underlined] CATEGORISATION OF PILOTS [/underlined] [Table of Pilot Categorisations by Base] Total Categorised in Group = 270 “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] signals Group Captain Vickers, D.S.O., Chief Signals Officer, Tiger Force, who has just returned from a tour of the American Theatre of Operations, visited this Headquarters on Saturday, 4th August, and gave us a very interesting and descriptive lecture on the Signals facilities in use there. As the Tiger Force will be operating in conjunction with the American Air Forces, the existing facilities are practically those which Tiger Force will be required to adopt. A brief outline of these facilities is given below. [Underlined] AIR-GROUND COMMUNICATIONS [/underlined] Group or Wing (American equivalent to our Group) have W/T control channels in the 3 mc, 6 mc and 8 mc bands, keyed simultaneously throughout the 24 hours, thus affording the air operator three channels of reception, dependent upon the time of day or night the aircraft is airborne. Broadcasts are made at half-hourly intervals and control, in general, is similar to that of our G.C.F. Weather information is broadcast on these channels every hour in the U.C.O. P.A.C. (the weather code used in that theatre). H.F./D.F. facilities are available, but our Wireless Operators must train themselves to request QUJ instead of QDM as used in this country. H.F./D.F. fixing facilities are available in an emergency. MF/DF facilities are not available, but other aids, such as M/F Beacons, Radio Ranges and V.H.F. Homing facilities are numerous. I.F.F. is also carried and can be used for fixing purposes in an emergency. R/T communication is by V.H.F. and each Group or Wing has V.H.F./D.F. facilities for homing when within 100 miles from Base. Weather information is also broadcast by R/T at four minute intervals once aircraft are within 100 miles from Base. [Underlined] CODES AND PUBLICATIONS [/underlined] As all ground W/T Stations already hold C.S.P.1270 (the American Aircraft Code) the problem of supply is greatly reduced if Tiger Force adopt the same code. Wireless Operators will find this code similar to our own C.D.0250 except that it is a four letter code instead of two as in C.D.0250. The lay-out is similar and spare groups are allotted for any specific requirement. In each of these codes, which change about every four days, is an authenticator table which is used extensively. The method of authentication, while not quite similar to that in C.C.B.P.127, is on the same lines, and Wireless Operators should have no difficulty in learning the procedure. Weather information is obtained, normally by the Group or Wing W/T broadcasts, in code, using the U.C.O. P.A.C. – a code similar to our own U.C.O. Request. If a more detailed weather report is required, it can be requested, and this information is supplied in another weather code – W.A.F.3. In any message where the need for speed outweighs the need for security, Q Code or plain language can be used. [Underlined] AIR/SEA RESCUE [/underlined] As most operations involve long hours of flying over water, the facilities for Air/Sea Rescue are well organised. Practically every island in Allied hands has an Air/Sea Rescue Unit located on it. In addition to these units, which maintain a continuous W/T watch on two “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] SIGNALS [/underlined] exclusive distress frequencies, there is an elaborate organisation of Naval aircraft (Dumbos) at rendezvous points along the track. B.29 aircraft (Super Dumbos) are also circling rendezvous points on track, and submarines and destroyers are at pre-arranged stations on the route. Aircraft, surface vessels and submarines all maintain a continuous listening watch on the above two distress frequencies, and in addition on the international distress frequency (500 k/cs). A V.H.F. watch is also maintained so that aircraft in distress have no less than four channels of communication with rescue craft. [Underlined] CLIMACTIC CONDITIONS AFFECTING RADIO RECEPTION [/underlined] The climactic conditions in the theatre where Tiger Force aircraft will be located, will at times adversely affect radio reception, and Wireless Operators must be trained to overcome “atmospherics”. Morse reception through interference must be regularly practiced to enable Wireless Operators to overcome the conditions which prevail. [Underlined] SIGNALS SECURITY [/underlined] W/T and R/T silence are normally maintained throughout an operation, unless otherwise ordered, or when aircraft are in an emergency or distress. [Underlined] BULLSEYES [/underlined] As everyone must know by this time, the latest Bullseye exercise carried out by this Group was practically ruined by another case of inadvertent radiation of intercomm. on V.H.F. The details have been fully covered in this Headquarters letter 5G/S.14500/9/Sigs., dated 3rd August. At the risk, however, of being accused of emphasising the obvious, the main points to be noted are repeated below:- (a) If satisfactory V.H.F. reception is not obtained by H – 10, the whole set is to be switched off. Instructions can still be obtained by W/T. (b) All crews of Marker Force, Flare Force and Master Bomber aircraft are to be reminded of the need to watch the neon “V.H.F. R/T on transmit” indicator lamp from H – 30 until the end of the attack. (c) Captains of Nos. 9 and 617 Squadron aircraft which require V.H.F. for landing, are to ensure that the V.H.F. H/T switch is not put in the “On” position until the aircraft are within 50 miles of Base on return. (d) All crews must receive constant instruction on the contents of 5 Group A.S.I. Part VI, Sigs/1. (e) The transmissions made by the Master Bomber, his deputy and the Link aircraft during the period H – 16 to H – 10 serve as the V.H.F. R/T reception test for all other aircraft. These transmissions must therefore be made in a precise, deliberate manner. All volume controls should be set at maximum volume during this period. [Underlined] WIRLESS OPERATORS (AIR) [/underlined] [Underlined] Tiger Training [/underlined] Throughout July the training of Wireless Operators (Air) for Tiger Force continued satisfactorily and results so far obtained are gratifying. Many Squadrons have almost finished the Ground Training Syllabus and revision will ensure that all Wireless Operators are 100% trained. The results of loop and Radio Range training have been very good – Wireless Operators obtaining good loop bearings and Pilots carrying out successful Beam flying. Perfect- “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] SIGNALS [/underlined] ion in this type of homing to an airfield is absolutely essential in the new theatre and only constant practice at every available opportunity will ensure this. It Is hoped to have all aircraft fitted with American type Radio Range Receiver for use by Pilots only, thus the Wireless Operator will have his Marconi equipment free to use for any other purpose. The training on “Consol” beacons has been held up due to lack of information regarding the beacons in use and for charts to cover them. It is hoped, however, to have all the information of these beacons which are in operation in the European Theatre very soon, so that air training can be carried out, but as there are not yet “Consol” facilities in the new theatre this training should come at the bottom of your priority training list. [Underlined] Squadron Signals Training Trophy [/underlined] The result of the Squadron Signals Training Trophy competition was announced during July. The winner was No.44 Squadron, whose training room was an outstanding example of what can be done to make these rooms places where Wireless Operators can really find inspiration and interest in every phase of their work. Second and third places in the competition were won by 57 and 83 Squadrons respectively. The standard of all Signals training rooms was very high throughout, and showed that Signals Leaders and Wireless Operators really had taken a keen interest in their layout and cleanliness – Good work chaps – keep it up, and remember when you may be in a tent in some far land, that these too can be kept clean, tidy and made places of interest. The same spirit which prevailed in your training rooms here can be maintained despite all they may say about fungus, mosquitoes, sunshine and rain – not to mention some yellow rats which will soon be dealt with. [Underlined] Group W/T Exercise [/underlined] This exercise has been re-arranged, thus enabling the two new Squadrons to No.5 Group to take part. The work carried out during July has been up to standard, though there are still a few cases of incorrect tuning which must be eliminated. Nos.75 and 460 Squadrons will find this exercise their introduction to 5 Group W/T Control, and practice will soon make them quite familiar with the procedure. [Underlined] W/T Controllers’ Test [/underlined] Nos. 83 and 97 Squadrons are to be congratulated on their splendid efforts to get all their Wireless Operators qualified as W/T Controllers. At the end of July only four Operators of 97 Squadron and 7 of 83 Squadron had still to pass the tests laid down in 5 G. S.S.I. No.13. We should like to see a percentage of all Wireless Operators in each Squadron passing out as W/T controllers, as there is always the possibility that they may be called upon to carry out these duties. [Underlined] Signals Leaders [/underlined] We extend a hearty welcome to the two new Signals Leaders to the Group, namely F/Lt Baxter, Signals Leader, No.75 (N.Z.) Squadron and F/O Moir, Signals Leader, No.460 Squadron. We hope that they are now settled down in their new quarters and will soon be familiar with 5 Group Signals technique. [Underlined] RADAR [/underlined] [Underlined] Gee [/underlined] The news came as a bombshell late last month, that as a result of consultations in the Theatre, and the need to conserve shipping space, Gee was not to be used by the Tiger Force. Training in this equipment for both aircrew and maintenance personnel was to cease immediately. Although the consternation of the navigators was great, the maintenance side was no less concerned, because in three years of operational development Gee became a sound and reliable equipment, easy to maintain and relatively fault free. However, the Loran and Rebecca combination will do the work of Gee from the operational point of view. We have had experience of Loran, and if our efforts to obtain Modification IV are successful, with the divider troubles elimin- “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] SIGNALS [/underlined] ated, we can hope for high serviceability. Few of us have had experience with Rebecca, but the equipment was developed by other Commands and with constant practice there should be little difficulty in maintenance. [Underlined] Workshop Convoys [/underlined] At a rather sultry conference at Coningsby the final form of the workshop convoys was decided. Bomber Command rules that the 3 H.P. Motors were not to be removed from the R.V. 421B, although provision could be made to allow this to be done in the Theatre. The only major modification what was approved by Bomber Command was the installation of a scanner on the roof of the R.V.420B, this work to be carried out by Coningsby. The task of the preparation of these vehicles for operational use fell on the No.381 M.U. detachment at Coningsby. The work included the installation of bench sets, the scanner modifications, minor re-arrangement of shelving and other work. Five convoys had to be completed in ten days, and the fact that the work is well up to schedule reflects great credit on F/O Milsom in charge of the job, and the remainder of the personnel concerned. [Underlined] ADMONITORY SONNET [/underlined] O, ye who venture forth in War’s array To fight vile Nippon’s hordes, the yellow foe, From some Pacific islet far away, Know ye that there ye’ll find no G.P.O.? All those of ye with gadget minds take heed, The surplus fittings of the German war Will vanish quite. Austere will be, indeed, Your future days compared with those of yore. Reproach us not in future when you find That telephones are quantitively few, And qualitively very far behind The standards which in England you once knew. One cheerful note! Be very sure we’ll fix That telephones supplied aren’t candlesticks! (Anon. (Circa 1945)) “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] navigation [Underlined] PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION TRAINING [/underlined] The training programme is proceeding satisfactorily. Navigators and Set Operators are making ample use of the aids available with the exception of loop and radio range bearings. These seem to be avoided like a plague, or, if they are not entirely neglected, the Navigators [underlined] do not use them. [/underlined] They lack faith in them. Why? Providing the loop is swung satisfactorily and the Wireless Operator takes great care in obtaining his readings, the resulting bearings should be very accurate. “Alright”, you may say, “but the bearings we get are hopeless, never nearer than 10 miles to the actual position.” Well, you have the solution in your own hands – either the loops are not correctly swung or the Wireless Operator is not doing his job properly. We repeat, the solution is in your own hands. Apart from these two aids, however, the impressive array of navigational aids are being used to full advantage. In fact, too much so in the case of Gee. A few navigators have taken a commonsense attitude towards “Gee” and so not use it unless it is required in an emergency. They navigate with the assistance of the other and more difficult-to-manipulate aids. This is sound common sense and can result in one thing only – a very high standard of efficiency. But what of those people who do not adopt this rightful attitude, who continually obtain Gee fixes even though they have serviceable H2S, Loran and loop? By pursuing this policy they will never attain a high degree of manipulation skill, nor will they gain real confidence in other aids. Therefore, leave Gee alone. Discard it altogether. Use it only in an emergency – then you will quickly gain efficiency – and confidence – in all your other “boxes of tricks”. The Drift Sights and G.P.I’s are not yet available in sufficient quantities to allow fitting to aircraft, and it may not be possible for crews to obtain flying practice with these instruments until Squadrons receive their new aircraft, which is leaving it very late. To compensate for this crews must get the maximum ground practice. It is not quite the same thing, but nearly so. Both these instruments are easy to manipulate and it requires but a little time and effort to become proficient in their use. Therefore, get as much practice as you can, reduce the drills to habit and then you can perform the actions automatically. (A tip here- always try to reduce your work to a series of habits, it then becomes much simpler to perform. If you have to think about a thing before you can do it, you use up energy – a lot of energy. If you can do it habitually then very little energy is required. There is no need to wear yourself out navigating for a few hours – so, make a habit of each and every drill. On every occasion you obtain a fix, go through the complete cycle of obtaining a wind, G/S and E.T.A. check and altering course if necessary. Do this a few times and you have reduced the whole thing to a habit – a very good habit too, because as a result you will be a very reliable and efficient Navigator). To sum up, Navigation training is proceeding satisfactorily, but a little more attention is required in the direction of Loop bearings, Drift Sights and G.P.I’s. Polish off these three and we may “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] NAVIGATION [/underlined] consider the training situation very satisfactory. [Underlined] FAR EASTERN NAVIGATION FLASHES [/underlined] (a) Serviceability of Radar aids ‘out there’ is approximately 92%. (b) Loran ranges fluctuate violently, maximum 1500 nautical miles, minimum 700 nautical miles. (c) Wireless reception satisfactory, no undue interference from any source. Bearings and emergency fixes therefore easily obtainable and reliable. (d) Maps and Charts for the Far East are now ready. Two copies of each sheet are being forwarded to Squadrons for perusal. [Underlined] ASTRO COMPASS [/underlined] Agreement has at last been reached on the position to be occupied by the Astro Compass in Lancaster aircraft. This is on the starboard side of the coaming which is just forward of the Navigator’s table. A trial installation was held at an 8 Group Station recently and this position seemed very satisfactory. It is easy to get at, very easy to manipulate and is also easily stowed. Owing to great pressure of work it may be impossible for the Astro Compass to be mounted in this position in the existing aircraft, but some compensation will be found in the fact that the new aircraft which we shall shortly receive will have the Astro Compass correctly positioned. Crews will, therefore, not have much opportunity of practice in using this instrument in the correct position, but continue to obtain the maximum possible practice whilst it is situated in the present position, so that when you do get the new aircraft you will require only familiarisation., [Underlined] DRIFT SIGHT [/underlined] A final position for the fitting of the U.S. Navy Mark VI Drift Sight into Lancaster aircraft has not yet been decided. The present approved position is aft of the flare chute; it is considered to be far from ideal. We in this Group are therefore experimenting by fitting the sight in different positions in the nose of the aircraft. The most obvious and easily accessible position has been vetoed by the larger escape hatch about to be incorporated in the production line aircraft. A second position just aft of the bomb sight is now being perfected and it is earnestly hoped that it will be satisfactory for everyone. A decision on this matter will be reached before the end of August. Once again, however, no matter what the approved position, it will be impossible to have the sights installed in the existing aircraft, so crews must obtain the maximum practice, ground practice in this instance, on the instructional “mock up”. It is not very difficult to manipulate this new drift sight and fifteen minutes practice should be sufficient to make everyone at least partly proficient. Much experience can be gained of course, either during the short time between the arrival of the new aircraft and the “fly out”, or whilst on the “fly out”. [Underlined] UNION NEWS [/underlined] (a) [Underlined] Station Navigation Officers. [/underlined] 53 BASE – Waddington – S/Ldr Evans, D.F.C. Bardney – S/Ldr Rumbles, D.F.C. Skellingthorpe – S/Ldr Bray, D.F.C. 551 Wing - F/Lt Johnson. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] NAVIGATION [/underlined] 54 BASE – Coningsby – S/Ldr Baxter, D.S.O., D.F.C. Woodhall – S/Ldr Bennett, D.F.M. Metheringham – S/Ldr Martin, D.F.C. 552 Wing – S/Ldr Hatch, D.F.C. 553 Wing – S/Ldr Ayles, D.F.C., D.F.M. 55 BASE East Kirkby – S/Ldr St.Clair Miller, D.F.C. Spilsby – F/Lt McKinnon, D.F.C. SYERSTON – S/Ldr De Friend, D.F.M. (b) [Underlined] Squadron Navigation Officers. [/underlined] 53 BASE 9 Squadron – F/Lt Peasfield 189 Squadron – F/Lt Booth 463 Squadron – F/Lt Markham 617 Squadron – F/Lt Martin 54 BASE 83 Squadron – F/Lt Bowes 97 Squadron – F/Lt Woolcott 106 Squadron – F/Lt Curry 467 Squadron – F/Lt Pickard 627 Squadron – F/Lt Tyce 55 BASE 57 Squadron – F/Lt Bradley 75 Squadron – F/O Parsons 207 Squadron – F/Lt Gully 460 Squadron – F/Lt Young SYERSTON 49 Squadron – F/O Prentice This month we have said goodbye to two stalwarts of the “Union”, namely S/Ldr Mould, D.F.C, and S/Ldr Crowe, D.F.C. Both of them have been with us for a very considerable period and have done outstanding work. They have been responsible in no small part for the progress of Navigation in this Group during the last two years. We are very sorry to see them go, because they will be sorely missed, but we wish them every success and the very best of luck in “civvy street”. [Underlined] BOUQUETS [/underlined] After omitting the “bouquets” for two months, it has been decided to re-introduce them. Below is a list of the two best training efforts from each Base during the month of July. The navigators have been chosen for their consistently accurate work, rigid adherence to system, constant checking of winds, ground speeds and E.T.A’s, and log and chart work, particularly chart work, of a very high order. 53 BASE 1. F/O Burke 463 Squadron 2. F/O MacIntyre 453 Squadron 54 BASE 3. F/Lt Stevens 106 Squadron 4. F/S Barker 97 Squadron 55 BASE 5. F/S Mancer 57 Squadron 6. F/O Huggins 57 Squadron SYERSTON 7. F/O Prentice 49 Squadron No one is barred from this competition. We do not ask for ultra neatness; the qualifications are as stated in the introductory paragraph. All of you can produce exemplary work if you try. You have the knowledge, you have the necessary Navigational aids available, and all that is required is hard work and common sense on your part. You will “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] NAVIGATION [/underlined] see that it is possible for anyone to qualify as one of the seven best Navigators in the Group. You have been given knowledge, now apply it, and produce some really first-class work. We do not like to see the same name appearing each month and are always anxious to replace the “old timers” with a newcomer. Let us therefore see a new list of names next month, and YOU make sure your name is on the list. [Underlined] ALLOCATION OF DUTIES IN THE NAVIGATION SECTION [/underlined] Checks carried out in all Navigation Sections throughout last month have shown that a number of Navigation Officers are loath to appoint the more senior Navigators to assist them in their multifarious tasks. It is the view of a few of them that as they are responsible for the entire section they should do all the work; but this is an unwise policy. It is impossible for a Squadron Navigation Officer to carry out all the necessary work himself. Consequently it is necessary to delegate authority to the senior Navigators in the Section. In nine out of every ten cases it will be found that these people are only too willing to assist the Navigation Officer in any way. Therefore, Squadron Navigation Officers, do not take upon yourselves entirely the burden of the Navigation Section – share this responsibility with your experienced Navigators and make your task, and in fact your life, much easier to bear. A word to you Senior Navigators – do your bit for the “Union” and give your Navigation Officer all the assistance you possibly can. Take over one or two of his minor duties, such as looking after Order Books, supervising stores etc., By such action you will help not only the Squadron Navigation Officer, but you will also improve the efficiency of your Section. [Underlined] PRACTICE BOMBING VECTOR ERRORS [/underlined] The average error for the month was 2.7 knots, an improvement of .3 knots on the last two month’s figures. Once again we are treading the path of progress! By the combined and determined efforts pf every Navigation team the bombing vector error is being systematically reduced to what may well be considered a negligible error. Don’t forget that we set ourselves the task of reducing this error to 2.5 knots. It can be done as five Squadrons have shown this month; press on therefore, and let us obtain our objective immediately. [Table of Vector Errors Ranked by Squadron] No.189 Squadron have dropped with a very big bang from 3rd place last month to bottom of the ladder this month. This month’s vector error is the highest ever obtained by No.189 Squadron since their formation. We hope they will never again obtain such a distinction. Come on now 189 Squadron, make a really determined effort this month and let us see you at the top of the ladder next month! “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] NAVIGATION [/underlined] [Underlined] NAVOGRAPHS [/underlined] Did you decipher the word picture couplets included in last month’s News? If you didn’t here they are:- [Underlined] Couplet No.1 [/underlined] “Destination Tokyo – a very long hop, Maintain track or you’ll get the chop.” [Underlined] Couplet No.2 [/underlined] “Loran, H2S. Rebecca and Gee, Keep your future trouble free.” [Underlined] Couplet No.3 [/underlined] “Accurate winds so timing sound, Target pranged, then homeward bound.” Now, although these word pictures may have provided a very welcome diversion when reading through the News, it was our intention that they should bring home to you, with great force, the morals enclosed therein. Did they have this effect on you, and did you apply the morals immediately? Those of you who did not decipher them and did not, therefore, get the gist of the thing, now have the answers given to you – now it is up to you to apply them immediately [underlined] and always. [/underlined] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] radar nav: [Underlined] GEE [/underlined] Considerable changes have taken place amongst the Gee transmitting stations during the past month – changes intended to standardize [sic] the system in Europe for peace time Air Force flying, for certain operations taking place in the Italian zone, and to bring all frequencies on the same RF Unit. As the majority of these changes have taken place with little or no warning, there may still be doubt amongst some Navigators as to the correct frequencies to use for the now standardized [sic] chains. To counteract this confusion, details of the new frequencies are outlined below. [Table of Gee Chain Frequencies and Ident Blinks] + New chains – not yet working. Information relating to Gee in the Far Eastern Theatre is going to cause considerable heartburning amongst Navigators and Pilots alike, as it is now definitely known that no Gee Chain is to be provided there. To ensure that crews reach a high standard of efficiency in navigating without this aid, it is expected that instructions will shortly be issued for Gee to be taken out of all aircraft. It must, however, be emphasised that Gee is not the be all and end all of navigation and has never superceded [sic] the basic principles of navigation. Therefore, however great the loss of this aid may seem at first, air navigation will not become impossible. Other aids are available, equally as accurate, and crews must develop them to a high standard. When this instruction is issued, Pilots, Navigators and Set Operators must therefore concentrate on Loran, to ensure a higher standard of fixing accuracy, and on Rebecca and Radio Range for more accurate homing. Only by determination and continued training can crews overcome the disadvantages which will necessarily result from the taking out of Gee. [Underlined] H2S [/underlined] The training of crews in H2S Navigation and Blind Bombing is progressing satisfactorily throughout the Group despite the shortages of equipment and the lower serviceability rate. With the expected loss of Gee, H2S is quickly becoming the most accurate method of overland navigation, and much greater importance must be paid to its homing facilities in view of the nature of the Pacific Bases. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] RADAR/NAVIGATION [/underlined] An accuracy in fixing, equal to that of Gee, is not expected but one of less than 1 1/2 miles (this is about the present error) is demanded and can be obtained, providing set operators are made aware of their responsibilities, particularly when using H2S fixes for windfinding. The less accurate a crew is in H2S fixing, the lower will be their standard in blind bombing. No relaxation in H2S training can therefore be allowed, in fact greater effort is essential and instructors and crews alike must take every opportunity of furthering their ability in the use of H2S, both for navigational and blind bombing purposes. On the last Bullseye, instructions were issued for all crews to blind bomb on Bristol and take a P.P.I. photograph within 30 seconds of release. The results obtained were far from gratifying, and it was noted that many operators had forgotten the most elementary principles of blind bombing and P.P.I. photography. It is hard to realise that some crews even attempted bombing on the 30 mile scan, others had too large 10 mile zeros, and many did not make any serious attempt at obtaining a decent photograph. Great emphasis is being placed upon Blind Bombing and P.P.I. photography in the Far East, and results such as these reflect seriously upon the upon the attitude which is being adopted in the training for the Pacific. No.5 Group has been, and is, a precision bombing Group on visual targets, it must retain that distinction in Blind Bombing. Let the results obtained on the next Bullseye prove this beyond doubt. It is up to every crew to see that it turns in the best effort possible, and Instructors must watch their briefing if this is to be achieved. No.97 Squadron have challenged the remainder of the squadrons in 5 Group to a blind bombing competition. This competition to take place as soon as sufficient crews are blind bombing trained and the Plotting Unit at Ipswich is operating. By the use of IPSWICH and the plotting unit all crews will have the same advantages and each aircraft will be plotted within the same degree of accuracy. Conditions of the competition are to be agreed shortly and forwarded to all Units. The results should prove interesting in view of the various types of equipment which will have to be used. [Underlined] REBECCA [/underlined] More Rebecca equipment is becoming available daily, and many crews will soon have the opportunity of testing this aid for themselves. With the likelihood of Gee being taken out of aircraft, Rebecca will be the main Radar homing aid, and if used correctly is far more accurate than Gee. Training is comparatively simple and quick, but requires constant practice. Don’t let the equipment lie forgotten once you’ve learnt how to use it. Make it your job to home on Rebecca to your Base after every flight – you may have need of it someday. [Underlined] LORAN [/underlined] Loran is coming into it’s [sic] own. Gee is out in the Pacific Theatre. This is a plain statement of fact, not to be passed over lightly. Loran facilities in the Far East are not all they ought to be but providing an operator has the basic principles at his finger-tips, can take a fix accurately and can correct simple faults, navigation in the Far East should be just as simple as in Europe. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] RADAR/NAVIGATION [/underlined] It is known that the United States Army Air Forces are obtaining Loran with a reasonable degree of accuracy to the coast of Japan. A further Master Station and Slave are being provided to give position lines running N.E. to S.W. and coupled with the present facilities, reasonable coverage should result. It has been evident from reports received after Cross-countries and other flying exercises that insufficient care is being taken in fixing. Complaints have been made that Loran is inaccurate over this country, fixes being in error etc. Investigations often prove that the wrong skywave has been used, or that the count has been made incorrectly. Watch these points carefully, particularly identification of skywaves, as this will be extremely important in the areas in which you may be operating in the Pacific Theatre. [Underlined] RADAR ALTIMETER SCR718C [/underlined] Supplies of this equipment are extremely short, and up to the present time little use has been made of the aid. There is one little point to stress however. This altimeter can be used to show when an aircraft is over sea or over land. Over sea the reflected pulse is very steady – over land the pulse moves about most irregularly. Watch this point when you have a chance and see if you can detect your change from sea to land. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] air bombing During the month S/Ldr S.J. Abbott relinquished the post of Group Bombing Leader to go back to “Civvy Street” and his old job in the Special Branch, Metropolitan Police Force. Never the spectacular type, as probably became his Police Force training, S/Ldr Abbott’s quiet efficiency was a contributory factor in the Group’s present high standard of bombing accuracy. Much was achieved during his 10 months spell of duty, and, in saying farewell, all of us wish him every success in his new post. His is one job where the bowler hat will be useful anyway!! [Underlined] CATEGORISATION [/underlined] Far too many crews saw the end of July without achieving a bombing category. It is realised that most crews were starting July from scratch, owing to re-shuffling, but every effort must be made to categorise all crews as soon as possible. [Underlined] AN OUTSTANDING RESULT [/underlined] No.97 Squadron (F/Lt Coates) report a magnificent effort on the part of F/Lt Wilkinson and crew. The error achieved was a CREW error of 23 yards converted to 20,000 feet. This is really excellent, particularly so as their Air Bomber is actually a Squadron trained PILOT/FLIGHT ENGINEER; what makes the feat even more remarkable is that it was the first exercise completed by this crew. This is an all time record for No.5 Group, and can’t possibly fall far short of the “best ever” for Mark XIV bombing. Congratulations to:- F/Lt Wilkinson (P) F/Sgt Salter (P/FE) F/O Collins (Nav) not forgetting the Rear Gunner for keeping his turret still!! [Underlined] REMOTE CONTROL INDICATORS [/underlined] No.207 Squadron have been carrying out trials with a Remote Control attachment to the Mark XIV Sighting Head. This attachment is operated by the Navigator who feeds Sighting Angle and Drift to the Sighting Head. The object of the attachment is to cope with winds above those for which the Mark XIV is built (i.e. over 66 knots Indicated) and it is worked in conjunction with the Emergency Computor [sic] You will be hearing more of this later. [Underlined] THE M.P.I. TRAINER [/underlined] The purpose of this trainer is to give Air Bombers practice in judging the Mean Point of Impact of various Target Indicator Patterns. S/Ldr Graham Rogers (No.54 Base Bombing Leader) reports that the Trainer is proving extremely popular and Air Bombers are not finding it easy to judge the centre of a group both quickly and accurately. The trainer works on a similar principle to the A.M.B.T. and is about the size of a “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] AIR BOMBING [/underlined] pin-table (hence its popularity!) Twenty slides are provided, each having a pattern of six Green T.I’s. No.1 slide being a compact group, the groups becoming more scattered as the slide number increases until finally, No.20 requires considerable thought. Errors can be measured both for Line and Range from the scales provided. It is hoped that all Air Bombers will see that they derive maximum benefit from the trainer when it is allocated to their Squadron. [Underlined] NEW INCENDIARY BOMBS [/underlined] Models of new incendiary bombs, which we shall use “out there” will be coming along to all Squadrons. Study these and get all the gen you can on them from your Armament Officer. [Underlined] “GEN” FROM WAINFLEET [/underlined] The N.C.O. i/c Wainfleet Bombing Range reports that 2,286 bombs and 667 T.I’s were plotted during the month. This number could be stepped up considerably if only Squadrons would spread their bombing times more evenly throughout the day. Early morning and evening details are the answer. [Underlined] BEST CREW ERRORS FOR JULY [/underlined] Squadron Pilot Air Bomber Navigator Crew Error 9 F/O Bloodworth F/S Turner F/S Walker 64 – 75 F/O Plowman F/O Frazer F/S Esterman 48 – 57 F/O Myatt F/S Cubitt F/S Smith 62 S/L Blair F/O Skinner F/O Herks 58 57 F/L Nichols F/S Knight F/S Sheldon 72 S/L King F/O Crate F/O Thom 67 F/L Karop F/S Drackett F/S Fishman 76 F/O Wood F/S Crowther F/S Streathfield 72 F/L Appleton F/S Stevens W/O Cobb 68 97 F/L Wilkinson F/S Salter (P/F.E.) F/O Collins 23 463 F/O Houngan F/S Niblock P/O Pepper 58 F/O Ferris F/S Cliff F/O Richardson 74 467 F/L Morris F/S Gillespie F/S Silver 51 617 F/O Taylor F/S Shires F/S Bache 54 F/O Young F/S Hill F/S Howell 53 F/L Martin F/S Tedder P/O Barlow 65 S/L Ward F/L Sumpter F/O Christian 66 [Underlined] SQUADRON BOMBING COMPETITION [/underlined] [Table of Bombing Competition Results] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] AIR BOMBING [/underlined] [Underlined] HIGH LEVEL BOMBING PRACTICE [/underlined] [Table of High Level Bombing Practice Results by Base and Squadron [/underlined] [Underlined] No.627 Squadron [/underlined] 668 T.I’s – Average error 118 yards. 176 Practice Bombs – Average Error 81 yards. F/O George’s average error was 54 yards for 5 exercises – good show! “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] gunnery Since our last issue, Squadrons preparing for service with the Tiger Force have completed 75-80% of the Training Syllabus. This is a remarkably good effort, and Gunnery sections concerned are to be congratulated on the fine showing and the results obtained. During the next few weeks it is hoped that aircraft recognition will be given as much priority as possible, in order that there will be no doubt in the mind of any gunner when called upon to identify aircraft. Most gunners by now have an excellent working knowledge of the .5 and a little study in one’s spare time should be sufficient to keep in touch with this gun. It is refreshing to note that gunners have taken an active interest in subjects dealing with the “other fellow’s jobs” and Base Gunnery Leaders report that of the many gunners questioned, quite 75% have exhibited a marked degree of “gen”. The new type of flying suit has been tested recently and most gunners have commented with enthusiasm on this equipment. The diligence displayed during the test of this clothing has given satisfaction, and we look forward to a general issue of the new suits as and when such issue becomes possible. Owing to the fact that all Squadrons within the Group are conforming to the Tiger Training Syllabus, the “Order of Merit” for Fighter Affiliation Exercises is now cancelled. Trials have been carried out in the FN.82 – reports of which have been submitted to Bomber Command. In the meantime, gunners are advised to rehearse speedy exit from the FN.82 – one or two helpful points being:- (i) Avoiding the V.O.M. adjacent to the right leg. (ii) Ensuring the freedom of the right foot before falling out. (iii) Familiarising oneself with the Hand Rotation Lever (This is difficult to operate in its present position and will call for practice in manipulation). [Underlined] SUMMARY OF AIR TRAINING EXERCISES [/underlined] [Table of Air Training Exercises by Squadron] Total Day Affiliation = 333: Total Night Affiliation = 142. Total Number of Affiliation Exercises for July = 475. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] tactics Recent reports from 21st Bomber Command, U.S.A.A.F., have shown that Japanese night ground defences are rapidly assuming the proportions, if not the accuracy, of the Germans’. Superforts operating at night have reported accurate coning by radar controlled searchlights, with intense concentrations of heavy and light flak in the cones. The Japs’ task is, of course, made easier by the low altitude at which the Superforts operate at night, and also by the very low concentration rate over the target, allowing a large proportion of the attacking aircraft to be engaged individually. Japanese night fighters have still apparently got a lot to learn, and are learning the hard way by attacking with navigation and cockpit lights burning. They have, however, had some success when attacking aircraft illuminated by searchlights, the old German “Wilde Sau” technique, and have on occasion pressed their attacks to very close range. We can expect an increase in this form of attack, as it has the advantages of not needing efficient A.I. and also, day fighters can be used. The latest phenomenon over Japan at night is the “Ball of Fire”. Variously described as a “flaming onion” or “Fiery rocket”, it has all the hallmarks of the rocket projectile used by the Germans in the closing weeks of the war. In fact, one Superfort crew has reported “a small winged projectile with flames emitting from it”. Unless it is a great improvement on the German model it is likely to be merely an interesting addition to the other fireworks commonly seen over a target at night. [Underlined] FIGHTER AFFILIATION ON THE BULLSEYE [/underlined] The one Bullseye flown this month, on the night off the 23rd, showed once again the overwhelming advantage possessed by night-fighters in moonlight conditions. We had 154 Lancasters airborne and the fighters claimed 161 successful combats, a total amassed by only 24 Mosquitos! The fighter pilots reported that our Gunners were keeping a very poor look-out over the Channel, but improved over the land. One Mosquito carried out 12 unseen attacks, although burning navigation lights! The loss of mid-upper gunners has, of course, made the carrying out of a thorough search more difficult, but the figures show that a great many crews either have incompetent gunners or else are not taking sufficient interest in a training exercise designed to increase their chances of survival once they start operating over Japan. It cannot be overemphasised that a Group Bullseye is the best experience a crew can get without risking being shot down, and as such it should be treated as a real operation from take-off to landing. The pilot who thinks that a Bullseye is just another training bind is heading right for a posthumous Pacific Star. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] Jap Fighter Control As yet there is no comparison between Allied and Japanese fighter control, for though the enemy early warning system is considered adequate for giving general warning of the approach of large Allied air formations to Japan, Japanese fighter control is in an undeveloped state. The limited scope of Japanese fighter operations control is demonstrated by the type of fighter reaction experienced on Allied bomber missions over Japanese-held territories and by the poor performance characteristics, for purposes of fighter control, of radar and communications equipment known to be in operational use in the Japanese Air Force. The Japanese have under development a number of special devices for use in ground and air-controlled interception and they have been conducting research and experiments in fighter control organisation and procedure. Eventually, these activities may be expected to result in fighter control operations of wider scope. The present Japanese early warning and fighter control system for air defence, however, is in a state of development roughly comparable to German development in the period from 1939 to 1941. The Germans also used picket boats to supplement the early warning radar and their first night interception system depended on illumination of raiders by searchlights. The Japanese early warning system appears to be adequate for the purpose of giving general warning of the approach of Allied aircraft to Japan. In view of the inferior performance of the radars, however, and of the apparent lack of a well organised filtering system, it is doubtful if accurate and prompt information on pin points, courses, speeds, heights, identifications and strengths is being supplied to Japanese Air Force Control Centres. Without such information, the operations of these Control Centres must be quite restricted, and it is not likely that they are in a position to make material changes in the disposition of fighter squadrons to meet the special tactical requirements of individual raids. As a corollary, it may be stated that Allied diversionary raids staged in connection with bomber attacks against primary targets in Japan probably have little effect on lessening the number of fighters available for attack against the main force. Operations at Japanese Fighter Control Centres appear to consist of scrambling fighters, broadcasting warning to airborne aircraft of the presence of enemy aircraft, and ordering fighters to proceed to designated general areas in the vicinity, most often a target area, for “attack” , or in other cases to take appropriate action for evasion. Night interceptions are accomplished by co-ordination of night fighters with searchlights and in other cases by night fighters free-lancing in the target area, often with no detection aid of any kind. It is possible that in the immediate future the Japanese will perfect a system of air control interception based on homing fighters on to a shadowing aircraft by means of airborne detection finders. This system might be fairly effective for day operations, when spotting and closing can be done visually, but does not seem to be suited for night operations. It is unlikely that the Japanese Air Force will be able “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] JAP FIGHTER CONTROL [/underlined] to organise an effective system for ground control interception or fighter control, especially for night operations until such time as they have in operation ground and airborne radar more suitable for the purpose than any now in operation. It is possible, however, that the Japanese are developing specially designed fighter control radar, perhaps an adaptation of the Giant Wurzburg, and also A.I. equipment possibly adapted from Allied airborne 10-centimetre equipment. [Underlined] Extracted from H.Q. Air Command, S.E. Asia. W.I.S.86. [/underlined] Further light on this subject is now cast by the capture of a document on Luzon which gives a description of Japanese fighter direction methods, as they existed in April, 1944. It is reprinted from A.T.I.S. Translations, No.156. Particularly interesting is the dependence of the Japanese on reconnaissance aircraft – which should make good targets – and on a constant speed and course of the attacking aircraft. The physical system is not unlike our own shore-based system in basic respects. Various radars report to a control station which we should call a filter centre. At this location pilots are displayed and evaluated and action is taken. (Apparently each radar reports bearing and range from itself and does not convert to a common reference point; nor does it appear to use any sort of “grid” system). The Japanese have an organisation designated an “intelligence squad” which would compare to our intercept team. One sketch indicated that D/F equipment is used in some manner for tracking their own intercepting aircraft. Numerous references in the document indicate that Japanese radar bearings and range discrimination are not reliable. Furthermore, the enemy does not seem to have any search radar which is dependable for altitude determination on incoming raids. To compensate for shortcomings in bearing, range and altitude from their radar, scouting aircraft are sent out initially to contact our raids. These scouts shadow and report position, type, strength, altitude etc., as an aid to directing the intercepting group. This would suggest the conclusion that our raids frequently will be spotted by Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, which will act as shadows and not as attacking units. The reconnaissance aircraft represent an important cog in the intercept system. Due to the time element required in the filter centre, the method of radio relay, and the fact that mechanical methods are utilised for computation of vectors, much time is wasted; time lag in plot is an obvious conclusion. All computation is on the premise that the “enemy raids” will remain on almost constant course and speed. This suggests that a few diversionary raids with marked changes in course and speed might create confusion in Japanese intercepts. After their intercepting aircraft are given the initial “vector” and “range” on the “point of encounter” (intercept position), the subsequent changes in vector seem to be given in a manner similar to our clock-code method; e.g. “03.10” equals “right front ten kilometres”. [Underlined] Extracted from H.Q. Air Command, S.E. Asia, W.I.S.87. [/underlined] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] aircrew safety There was no operational activity during the month. Four aircraft of No.54 Base “stood by” for a search on the 24th but were not required. This followed a report by a No.463 Squadron aircraft of what appeared to be a dinghy in the sea off the East Coast, and A.S.R. Warwicks carried out a search although there were no aircraft missing at the time. Casual sightings are going to be just as important in the new theatre as they were over here, maybe more so, and all that is required to ensure a happy ending to someone’s troubles is:- (a) A careful description of what is seen. (b) The most accurate fix possible. (c) The time of the sighting and good signals procedure. Accurate information will assist both those below and those above – if passed quickly. Training on all Squadrons has made good progress during the month. The Mark II Airborne Lifeboat commenced a Group tour, and a mobile parachute instruction unit is also going ahead. Yet a third circus is lining up to spread knowledge on Air Sea Rescue and land and sea survival in all theatres. [Boxed] [Underlined] “CAN YOU SWIM?” [/underlined] (If you can’t you are missing a lot of fun and – by the way – if you ditch you may not reach the dinghy!! [/boxed] As was stated in last month’s News, S/Ldr Becker left this Group to take up a Safety and Rescue appointment with Transport Command. B.B. was one of the earliest members of the team, then led by W/Cdr Dabbs, by whose efforts such vast improvements were made in Air Sea Rescue throughout Bomber Command, and to whom a lot of chaps indirectly owe their present existence. During his long stay with No.5 Group, S/Ldr Becker played a big part in improving both training and equipment, and we wish him the best of luck in his new appointment and also when he returns to his tobacco manufacturing in Southern Rhodesia. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] accidents During July flying accidents in the Group rendered one aircraft Cat. B., one Cat. A., and completely destroyed four others. Three Formal Investigations were convened to inquire into the more serious ones and two of them are still incomplete. Evidence so far places three of the six accidents in the avoidable category, viz:- Swing on take off – 1; Overshoot on landing – 1; Crashed on overshoot on one engine (Mosquito) – 1. In addition one aircraft burst a tyre and crashed on landing; another had an engine failure on take off and crashed with fatal results. The remaining accident in unclassified as results of the investigation are not yet to hand: the aircraft belly landed after engine failure on a three engined practice overshoot. One accident is singled out for special mention this month as the errors made by the pilot provide lessons for all Mosquito pilots in the Group. A Mosquito with the port engine feathered returned to Base and was given permission to land (in daylight) on the 2,000 yards runway. The pilot made a [underlined] right hand [/underlined] circuit and turned in for his approach rather low. He came in too fast and purposely delayed his selection of wheels down. The aircraft levelled off 300 yards along the runway and floated for some 600 yards. At this stage the pilot [underlined] decided to go round again [/underlined] as the wheels had not locked down. Full flap had been applied. The aircraft climbed to approximately 40 feet, at which height the left wing dropped and the aircraft stalled. The pilot was killed and the Navigator seriously injured. The greatest mistake this pilot made was to try to take a Mosquito, with one engine feathered and wheels and flaps down, round again from ground level. Pilots Notes state that going round again in only possible in these circumstances if the decision is made at an early stage in the approach when it is clear that the undercarriage and flaps can be raised and speed increased by diving in the height available. Contributory factors to this crash were the [underlined] right [/underlined] hand circuit and the low, excessively fast approach. Final approach speed should be 122 knots and circuits should be made left handed irrespective of which engine has failed. [Underlined] CASUALTY SIGNALS AND FORMS (765C) [/underlined] Of recent weeks some slackness in the compilation of casualty signals has been evident. Once again Units are reminded that [underlined] every type [/underlined] of damage to an aircraft, including straightforward engine failure, requires notification by signal. Under para. “G” should be stated “765(C) yes” or “765(C) no”. A.M.O. A.1348/43 gives detailed instructions on the compilation of casualty signals. This A.M.O. must be obeyed to the letter. Those Officers who are concerned in any way with signals for aircraft damage must have this A.M.O. by them at all times. [Underlined] STAR AWARDS [/underlined] All Units have Gold Stars this month with the exception of Nos.627 Squadron (Blue) and 97 Squadron (Red). The position of No.106 Squadron is still undecided. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] engineering The following are the main observations made during the Group Engineering Staff Inspection of Stations, prior to the A.O.C’s inspection:- (i) On the whole the Base Servicing Sections and Servicing Wings are organised on sound and efficient lines. (ii) The inevitable chopping and changing between Units of both aircraft and personnel is causing some dislocation in Servicing Wings. (iii) A considerable amount of surplus equipment exists in most Servicing Wings. (iv) M.T. Servicing leaves much to be desired on some Stations. With regard to (ii). It is a well known fact that the standard of servicing in one Unit is not acceptable to another. The spirit behind this is natural and it cannot be expected that anyone will accept full responsibility for the serviceability of a strange part worn aircraft without a very careful and critical inspection. This applies particularly to engine, airframe, instrument and electrical trades, whose responsibility covers almost entirely the safety of the aircraft and a single point overlooked is liable to have most serious consequences for both the aircraft and crew and tradesmen concerned. Although it is appreciated that the swopping od old aircraft is bad business, it is inevitable at this stage and in dealing with this problem the following points should be noted:- (i) In view of possible changes it is now more important than ever that all defects are recorded on F.700. (ii) The servicing of such aircraft on receipt should as far as possible be carried out by experienced tradesmen. (iii) Cases of indifferent servicing by the previous holding Unit should be reported officially, the reports being confined to statement of facts. The surplus equipment referred to in para.1 (iii) should be returned to the Equipment Section on paper and stored under arrangements made by the C.T.O. and equipment Officers pending final disposal. The present shortage of personnel and equipment is undoubtedly reflected in the comparatively low standard of M.T. servicing. This standard has recently improved but there is still room for improvement with the existing resources. It was apparent during the inspection that some C.T.O’s were not keeping up to date with the progress of unserviceable vehicles and where this was the case, the number of unserviceable vehicles was comparatively high. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] ENGINEERING [/underlined] [Underlined] SQUADRON SERVICEABILITY AND FLYING HOURS [/underlined] [Table of Aircraft Serviceability and Hours Flown by Squadron] “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] photography Further information has now been received from Headquarters Tiger Force regarding the requirements and commitments of Photography. The growing importance of careful preparation is further emphasised, and the points enumerated below will prove to be of paramount importance to all concerned. [Underlined] F.60 CAMERAS [/underlined] It can now be stated that the F.60 (35 mm) fully automatic camera with scanner contact, and fitted with visor mounting, will be issued on 100% basis to all aircraft proceeding with Tiger Force. This camera will supercede [sic] the Bantam and Kodak 35 mm now in use, and will entirely eliminate manipulation failures. The camera is on a fixed mounting and is operated by the Bomb Firing Key. This feature will be greatly appreciated by the Set Operator, as he will have no knobs and triggers to bother about, and we are certain that operational photography will be thereby improved. [Underlined] F.67 CAMERAS [/underlined] In addition to the F.60 cameras, each Squadron will be equipped with two F.67 (16 mm) cameras. This camera is similar in operation to the F.60, being fully automatic and operated by the scanner contact making one exposure per second and like the F.60 it is operated by the bomb firing key. [Underlined] TYPE 35 CONTROL DIAL [/underlined] The existing Bromide Paper Control Dial is considered unsuitable for use in all conditions of high humidity. Arrangements have therefore been made for the production of dials manufactured from some suitable plastic material which would stand up to the wear and tear of exacting tropical conditions. The lay-out of the dial has been arranged to suit bombs having a terminal velocity above 1200 feet per second. In order to ensure accuracy, the R.A.E., Farnborough, are checking the dials against a stop watch, and will amend the calibrations as necessary. It is anticipated that 400 of these new dials will be ready for issue at an early date. [Underlined] TYPE 20A, 35 CONTROL [/underlined] In future the No.20 Controls will be fitted with contact springs and will be known as type 20A. These controls will be made a general issue to Units from 1st September, when they will be coming off production at 50 per week. [Underlined] PHOTOGRAPHIC TENT – TRIALS [/underlined] Good progress has been made by Nos. 54 and 55 Bases in the use of the photographic tent, and from the reports so far received, the tents appear very satisfactory. The chief difficulty with the equipment appears to be the limited size of the film drying drum and the fact that it has to be revolved by hand while the film is drying. For this reason the standard portable type 14B/528 complete with motor and belt is being issued instead. It is also hoped to include 3 or more table fans to ensure a speedier method of drying. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] PHOTOGRAPHY [/underlined] [Underlined] HIGH SPEED DAY FILM [/underlined] The poor keeping qualities of High Speed Night Film has rendered it unsuitable for use in the East, and High Speed Day Film is to be issued instead. It will be necessary in the initial stages however, to cut the present 125 exposure lengths into 14 exposure lengths until such times as the manufacturers supply the film in the requisite size. [Underlined] CAMERA – F.24 – TRANSPORTATION [/underlined] It can now be confirmed that cameras will be housed in their storage cases with ancillary equipment and flown out direct to the Theatre of operations. Units have been instructed to demand storage cases for the purposes from the appropriate M.U. [Underlined] INITIAL EQUIPMENT [/underlined] As preparation against any unforeseen emergency, or the delay of equipment arriving by sea, quantities of photographic materials are to be conveyed by other methods ready for immediate use if necessary. Early in the campaign R.A.F. photographers may have to use the American type Photographic Tents pending the arrival of the standard R.A.F. equipment. Some considerable time may elapse before pre-fabricated buildings are erected, and in consequence use will have to be made of these tents until more permanent buildings are available. [Underlined] PHOTOGRAPHIC PERSONNEL [/underlined] Some anxiety has been experienced regarding the ever increasing problem of staff who are eligible for overseas service. The matter has been taken up with Records, and it is thought that we shall soon have a much clearer idea of the personnel required. The confirmed establishment of photographic personnel for two Squadrons proceeding with “Tiger” Force is as follows:- 1 F/Sgt. 1 Sgt. 2 Cpls. 13 A.C’s. [Underlined] WATER SUPPLY [/underlined] It is of interest to note that the estimated consumption of water by the Tiger Force for photographic purposes alone will be approximately 8,000 gallons per day! In order to secure this supply special well boring equipment is being taken to the area. [Underlined] H2S PHOTOGRAPHY [/underlined] Results now being received show a marked improvement in H2S photographs, but it is felt that there is still room for more care and attention in the developing and printing of the films. Special attention is necessary to ensure that each film has the “Start Frame” recorded, and also that cameras are in correct focus. On the last Bullseye training exercise carried out on the night of 23/24th July, several H2S films received at this Headquarters indicate that no attempt had been made to record the “Start Frame”. As pointed out in last month’s News, frank criticism is very necessary, and W/O’s i/c Bases and N.C.O’s i/c Sections should pay particular attention to this, and thereby ensure that such “snags” are brought to light. Bullseye exercises provide excellent training of personnel and it is important that this training is used as fully as possible. [Underlined] CONCLUSION [/underlined] Photography is a recognised indispensable factor in war; “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] PHOTOGRAPHY [/underlined] the article of military intelligence in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica [sic], written by a great military authority, mentions photography as a main source of obtaining information form the enemy. We must always keep this in mind and realise that only by the continuous vigilance of all photographic personnel, and their extreme care and attention to detail, can this be achieved. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] armament [Underlined] 2,000LB. MARK II WINCHES [/underlined] In our last issue we referred to the trials being carried out with the modified Mark II, 2,000lb Bomb Winches. We are pleased to say that these trials have been successful and the modified winches can be positioned on all bomb stations in the Lancaster aircraft. [Underlined] RETURNS – GENERAL [/underlined] Again!! We request Armament Officers to ensure that [underlined] ALL [/underlined] returns to this Headquarters are made on the appropriate days and [underlined] NOT [/underlined] three or four days later. Also, please ensure that the information is accurate. The importance of accuracy cannot be over-emphasised, because all information submitted to this Headquarters is consolidated and passed on to Higher Authority. Finally, to eliminate unnecessary telephone calls to Stations, please submit “NIL” returns where applicable. And, while we are on the subject of telephone calls, may we draw your attention to the paragraph headed “Co-operation” in Issue No.28 of this News. We repeat that we are always prepared to help the Armament Staffs at Bases and Stations in every way possible, but please first try to settle your problems at Station and Base level. If you cannot obtain satisfaction there, then telephone us by all means. A day in this office would convince you that it was never more aptly named than by the word “Madhouse” which appears on one of our telephones. [Underlined] DEMANDS [/underlined] A tip! when a demand has been submitted, do not just sit back and wait. Periodically “chase” those concerned. With the end of the war in Europe, the pressure of work at Maintenance Units and Equipment Sections has, if anything, increased, but we are certain that an occasional reminder, stating fairly the reasons for your inquiry, will be received in the spirit in which it is given. [Underlined] DEFECT REPORTS [/underlined] Here we would like to draw your attention to the Editorial of the August issue of the Bomber Command Armament Bulletin, in which reference is made to Forms 1022 and 1023. Especially do we concur with the last paragraph, having noticed the fall-off in the number of 1023’s received. Please note that we require a “Nil” return, but it is very unlikely that such a return will be necessary. Having relieved ourselves of these moans and as we are talking about the BOMBER COMMAND ARMAMENT BULLETIN – you will by now have received your copy of this month’s bumper issue. It is full of most interesting information. As this Group us carrying out an extensive training programme, we feel sure that the Booklet on the Handling etc., of Practice Bombs, mentioned in the Bulletin, will be most useful in reducing the number of accidents, and look forward to receiving our copies. Another matter likely to be of interest to Armament “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] ARMAMENT [/underlined] Officers in the near future, is the article on Tropical Storage of Explosives. We recommend you study this thoroughly. We are now beginning to receive reports on the effectiveness of our bombing of Germany. A very interesting article on this subject appears on Page 37 of the Bulletin. It is gratifying, to say the least, to know that the work of the Armament Sections throughout the War has yielded such worth while results. To close this month’s News, we should like to wish those Armament Officers who will be leaving us for warmer climes, the best of luck in their new assignments, and hope that their job will not be a long one. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] medical In the forthcoming operations overseas, the following information may prove of value to all personnel concerned. [Underlined] D.D.T. [/underlined] The above initials represent a white, crystalline powder with the full chemical name of dichloro-diphenyl-trichlorethane. It is a comparative newcomer to the field of preventative medicine, but promises to be of the greatest value in the prevention of insect-borne diseases. Supplies of D.D.T. are now adequate for its full use on operational areas overseas. In tropical and sub-tropical areas, many diseases are conveyed by insects which fly or crawl and which transmit the diseases by biting or being crushed into skin abrasions during scratching, and so convey to man the disease which the insect carries. Any substance which will kill insects in an efficient manner will thus help to reduce the incidence of disease. To date D.D.T. is the most effective substance to be discovered. In brief, D.D.T. exercises its lethal effect by producing paralysis of the insect followed by death. The precise way in which D.D.T. reaches the body of the insect is uncertain, but absorption through its feet is believed to be the principal route. Swallowing, during feeding, of D.D.T. is also important. The absorption of D.D.T. is hastened by incorporating it into a liquid such as Kerosene or a water emulsion. The precise way in which D.D.T. is used will vary according to the insect. Thus, it may be dissolved in Kerosene, or in a water emulsion, and used as a spray, or incorporated in a dust with talc, flour or road-dust, and dusted onto the surface requiring such treatment. In the prevention of malaria, the anopheline mosquito which carries the parasite of malaria, is attacked in all its stages. The young mosquito, or larva, may be killed by covering the surface of the water in which the larva breeds with a dust containing D.D.T. Large areas of water may be dusted by aircraft. The adult mosquito is more effectively killed by spraying with a solution containing D.D.T. in Kerosene. Typhus Fever, which is conveyed to man by the body louse, can be most effectively prevented by dusting the skin of people exposed to the disease with a dust of talc and D.D.T. The louse is killed before it can bite. Underclothing, such as shirts, can be impregnated with D.D.T. and is still lethal after a number of washings. The method of dusting was used in Naples in 1943, during an outbreak of typhus, with outstanding success. The whole civil population was dusted, and for the first time in history a typhus outbreak was halted. The above information is only of the briefest, and should not be regarded as in any way exhaustive. [Underlined] SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICUM [/underlined] This disease is likely to be met with in the operational “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] MEDICAL [/underlined] area overseas. The schistosome is a small worm, 1 to 2 1/2 cms in length and is capable of living within the body of a man for long periods. It can cause serious disease unless treated adequately. The young worm leaves the body of man as an egg. This egg will only hatch out in [underlined] fresh [/underlined] water, and the young worm so liberated enters, and lives for a period, in the body of a small water snail. Subsequently, it leaves the snail, and in swimming about, it will readily attach itself to and enter the human skin. Thenceforth it grows to maturity in the body of man, sets up disease, and produces eggs which are voided in the urine or faeces. With the above in mind, it is easy to see how streams, rivers and water holes can easily become infected with the young worm in an area where the native population exercises no sanitary control. To avoid infection one should never bathe in rivers or streams which are likely to be infected. Also, water for drinking or washing should come from an approved source – that is, water which has been filtered and chlorinated. Sea-bathing is quite safe if well away from the mouths of rivers. [Underlined] MALARIA PREVENTION BY SUPPRESSIVE MEPACRINE [/underlined] In view of the lessening of the incidence of malaria in the operational area, it will not be necessary for personnel travelling by sea to take suppressive meparine. Parties travelling by air, however, will still take meparine from the date of their departure from the United Kingdom, as they will be living in malarious zones en route. The improvement has been effected by American anti-malarial unites and by R.A.F. anti-malarial workers already in the theatre. Other anti-malarial precautions, already mentioned in previous articles in this section, will continue to be necessary. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Drawing] decorations The following NON-IMMEDIATE awards were approved during the month:- [Underlined] 9 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/SGT E.W. BAIRD DFM P/O A.J. WILLIAMS DFC F/O J.A. PETERSON, DFC BAR TO DFC P/O A.E. BOON DFC F/SGT F. WHITFIELD DFC F/SGT F. STEBBINGS DFM F/SGT H.R. LYNHAM DFM F/SGT P.R. ASLIN DFM P/O J.C.B. GRAN DFC P/O J.W. SINGER DFC F/SGT P.F. JACKSON DFC [Underlined] 44 SQUADRON [/underlined] W/CDR R.A. NEWMARCH DSO F/L L.W. HAYLER DFC F/O R.T.F. COVENTRY DFC [Underline] 49 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L J.K. NOWRIE DFC [Underlined] 50 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/O R.W. FIRMIN DFC F/O W.J.K. ENDEAN DFC F/O A.H. NISBETT DFC [Underlined] 57 SQUADRON [/underlined] S/LDR E.G. WARD DFC P/O K.G.W. MANTOCK DFC P/O A.G. WEAVER DFC [Underlined] 61 SQUADRON [/underlined] S/LDR I.G. FADDEN DFC F/L P.M.P. CRAMPTON, DFM DFC F/O J.W. ATKINSON DFC [Underlined] 83 SQUADRON [/underlined] S/LDR H.L. CREETH DFC F/O J.W. HUDSON DFC F/L A.H. GIBSON DFC F/O G.E. GAMBLE DFC F/O R.B. PHILLIPS DFC F/L J.E. DUNCAN DFC F/L J.E. CARTWRIGHT DFC P/O L. GRIMSHAW DFC W/O L.R. GOULBURN DFC F/O J.F. PRICE DFC [Underlined] 97 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L D.H. SIMPSON DFC F/L E.F. ROBERTS DFC P/O J. RAYNER DFC F/L F.W.A. HENDRY DFC F/L J. MOLLISON DFC F/SGT J.R. WHITEHEAD DFM F/SGT J. SPRIGGS DFM [Underlined] 106 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L J.K. DANIEL DFC CAPT. A.E. HOWES DFC F/L G.H. EAKINS DFC CAPT. P.C. PECHEY DFC [Underlined] 207 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/O J.E.W. PRICE DFC [Underlined] 227 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L M.R. CROCKER DFC F/L F.E. WILSON DFC P/O J.H. PECK DFC P/O H.R. SEARLE DFC [Underlined] 463 SQUADRON [/underlined] P/O W. SINCLAIR DFC S/LDR H.W. RADFORD, DFC BAR TO DFC [Underlined] 467 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L A.B. EASTON DFC F/O R.C. FAULKES DFC F/SGT H.C. ADAMS DFM [Underlined] 617 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/L A.G. FARTHING DFC P/O J.E. RONALD DFC F/O E.L. McKAY DFC F/SGT G.R. BRADBURY DFM W/O D. HAMILTON DFC F/SGT S.J. HENDERSON DFM F/SGT J.A. DADGE DFM F/O E.G. STROM DFC [Underlined] 619 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/O G.M. PROCTOR DFC P/O W.L. REEVES DFC F/O K.L. KELLY DFC F/O K.R. HICKMOTT DFC F/O R. DICKINSON DFC F/SGT T.T. TURNBULL DFM [Underlined] 627 SQUADRON [/underlined] F/O R.G. BOYDEN, DFC BAR TO DFC [Underlined] 630 SQUADRON [/underlined] W/CDR J.E. GRINDON DSO F/L H.B. ARCHER DFC F/O F.E.H. MILLAR DFC “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] [Underlined] DISTRIBUTION LIST [/underlined] [Underlined] EXTERNAL [/underlined] NO. 53 BASE … 26 NO. 54 BASE … 27 NO. 55 BASE … 23 R.A.F. Station, SYERSTON … 10 No. 75 Base (For attention Base Intelligence Officer) … 4 Headquarters, Bomber Command. … 6 Headquarters, Bomber Command – Eng. Staff … 1 Dr. B.G. Dickins, O.R.S., Headquarters, Bomber Command …1 Headquarters, Flying Training Command … 1 H.Q. P.F.F. Wyton … 1 R.N.Z.A.F. Headquarters, Strand, W.C. (via H.Q.D.C.) … 1 R.A.A.F. Overseas Headquarters, Kodak House, 63 Kingsway, W.C.2. .. 2 Air Ministry, T.O.I. …1 Air Ministry (D.D.T. Nav.) … 2 W/Cdr Nairn, Map Room, 6123, Thames House, Millbank … 1 A/Cdr H.L. Patch, C.B.E., Air Ministry (D.Arm.R.) … 1 G/Capt. C. Dann, O.B.E., M.A.P., Millbank … 1 Air Chief Marshal Sir E.R. Ludlow Hewitt, K.C.B., C.B.E., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.C., A.D.C., 136, Richmond Hill, Richmond, Surrey …1 Air Marshal The Hon. Sir R.A. Cochrane, K.B.E., C.B., A.F.C., A.O.C. in C. , Transport Command … 1 Air Vice Marshal Coryton, C.B., M.V.O., D.F.C., A.O.C., 3rd Tactical Air Force, South East Asia … 1 Air Vice Marshal H.V. Satterly, C.B.E., D.F.C., R.A.F., Bushy Park, Teddington, Middlesex … 1 W/Cdr G.W. Gilpin, D.F.C., R.A.F. Staff College, HAIFA … 1 Headquarters, No.25 Group … 8 Headquarters, Nos.1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 21, 23, 54, 91 Groups … 1 Headquarters No.29 Group … 9 Nos.11, 14, 16, 18 O.T.U’s … 1 No.16 O.T.U. (Intelligence Section) … 2 S.I.O., No.27 O.T.U., Lichfield … 1 S.I.O., No.29 O.T.U., Bruntingthorpe … 1 T.A.D.U., Cardington … 1 Director of Studies, Advanced Armament Course, Fort Halstead, Nr. Sevenoaks, Kent … 1 R.A.F. Station, Jurby … 1 R.A.F. Station, Manby …1 R.A.F. Station, Silverstone … 2 N.C.O. i/c Bombing Range, Wainfleet … 1 No.93 M.U. … 1 R.A.F. Staff College … 1 Polish Air Force Staff College … 1 Empire Air Navigation School, Shawbury … 2 No. 25 Group School of Air Sea Rescue … 1 R.A.E., Farnborough … 1 Headquarters, Tiger Force, R.A.F., Bushy Park, Teddington, Middx. 1 [Underlined] INTERNAL [/underlined] A.O.C. … 1 S.O.A. … 1 OPS. 1. … 1 S. MET. O. … 1 C.S.O. … 2 O.R.S. … 1 G.T.I. … 1 G.F.C.O. … 1 P.R.O. … 1 OPS.RECORD BOOK … 2 CIRCULATION … 4 FILE …1 NO EXTRACTS OR QUOTATIONS MAY BE MADE FROM THIS PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE AUTHORITY OF THE GROUP INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, 5 GROUP. COMMUNICATIONS TO UNAUTHORISED PERSONS IS A BREACH OF THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT. COPIES NOT REQUIRED FOR RECORD PURPOSES AFTER CIRCULATION ARE TO BE DESTROYED AS SECRET WASTE IN ACCORDANCE WITH A.M.O. A.411/41. “V” GROUP NEWS. NO.36. JULY, 1945. [Page break] Recognition Test Here are the 17 aircraft hidden in last month’s puzzle – did you find and name them correctly? [Drawing] [Page break] [Blank page] 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 V Group News, July 1945 5 Group News, July 1945 Description An account of the resource Five Group Newsletter, number 36, July 1945. Includes a foreword by the Air Officer Commanding, and articles on training, signals, navigation, radar navigation, air bombing, gunnery, tactics, Japanese fighter control, air crew safety, accidents, engineering, photography, armament, medical and decorations. In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, this item is available only at the University of Lincoln. 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 1945-07 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Anne-Marie Watson 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. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 41 printed sheets 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 MStephensonS1833673-160205 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain Japan Pacific Ocean England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 5 Group air gunner air sea rescue aircrew bomb aimer bombing Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Flying Medal Distinguished Service Order flight engineer Gee H2S Lancaster Mosquito navigator pilot radar RAF Wainfleet rivalry Tiger force training wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/16/20272/MAtkinsonA1042303-190610-01.2.jpg 100e1986350f816c41a132345666b842 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 Atkinson, Arthur Arthur Atkinson A Atkinson Description An account of the resource Seven items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Arthur Atkinson (1922 - 2020, 1042303 Royal Air Force) his log book, service material and two photographs. Arthur Atkinson trained as a wireless operator and spent eighteen months at RAF Ringway before being flying 34 operations with 61 Squadron from RAF Coningsby and RAF Skellingthorpe. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Arthur Atkinson and 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 2015-06-23 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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Atkinson, A 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 Mess bill Description An account of the resource Arthur Atkinson's mess bill from the Sergeant's Mess RAF Turweston 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 1945-08-01 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. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One typewritten sheet with handwritten annotations Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Correspondence Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MAtkinsonA1042303-190610-01 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Buckinghamshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 mess military living conditions RAF Turweston https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1281/20615/EZagneyFValentineUM4507XX-010001.1.jpg afc982b7e6fa412caefb379033b417f5 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1281/20615/EZagneyFValentineUM4507XX-010002.1.jpg bd5302cd2d37229a05c5f5bf0c1bdfc5 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 John Ross Mckenzie Valentine J R M Valentine Description An account of the resource 674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945. He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. 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 2018-09-06 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 Valentine, JRM Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document Start of transcription Dear Mother, We are breaking up on August 10th when we hope to have some games and a little picnic on the fields. [page break] I shall be home at my usual time. 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 Letter to Ursula Valentine from Daughter Frances Description An account of the resource Writes she will be breaking up on 10 August when they hope to have games and picnic. Will be home at normal time. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource F Zagney Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Two page handwritten letter Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Correspondence Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EZagneyFValentineUM4507XX-01 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 Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27085/SHughesCL1334982v10029-0001.1.jpg 3f25ec6b85f8f78d183f403a587ca50c https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27085/SHughesCL1334982v10029-0002.1.jpg 5d5367d1e8ff24a1c2d180c028d0f06d 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL 9 JUL 1945] 35F5 [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINIGN SCHOOL [/underlined] PRECIS: RELEASE SCHEME References: A.P. 3093 Service and Release Books (Forms 2520, A, B, C, D.) A.M.Q.s [underlined] Scope of the Release Scheme [/underlined] 1. The release scheme at present in operation is a method of re-allocating manpower between the armed forces and industry which will continue until the end of the war with Japan. There is no question of general demobilisation yet; age groups will continue to be called up and released personnel may be recalled. [underlined] Fairness of the Scheme [/underlined] 2. The scheme has the advantage of being simple and priority of release is not normally based on variable factors or factors dependant on opportunity such as marriage, children or overseas service. It is based rather on age and length of service, but the age factor tends to make allowance for marriage and responsibility as older men are more likely to have such responsibility. Compensation for overseas service is given by grants of additional leave on release. 3. All personnel born in 1895 or earlier have absolute priority of release, and married women who make application have absolute priority over single women in the same branch or trade though all married women will not be released immediately. (A.M.O. A.503/45). Other personnel are allocated to groups according to age and length of service with one year of age counting as two months of service. (A.P. 3093 App. II). Service in A.T.A., Merchant Navy etc. (A.M.Os. A.379 & 380/45). 4. The national necessity for manpower in the reconstruction industries and personal necessity on compassionate grounds are catered for by special releases. [underlined] Classes for Release [/underlined] 5. [underlined] Class A. [/underlined] Those in groups whose release has been authorised by Air Ministry promulgation in order of age/service priority. Promulgations are issued monthly and detail immediate and advance groups by branch, category or trade. (A.M.O. A.503/45). Benefits on release include 8 weeks leave with pay and allowances (A.P. 3093 Paras. 290-293). In addition one days leave with pay and allowances for every month of overseas service provided such service exceeds six months. (A.P. 3093 Para. 297). Personnel are transferred to the reserve and are liable for recall. They are able to exercise reinstatement rights or find other employment, but after their release leave is over they may in exceptional cases by directed by the Ministry of Labour. 6. [underlined] Class B. [/underlined] Those who are urgently required for reconstruction work. They are released either by trade in age/service groups or by name. They receive three weeks leave with pay and allowances but not leave for overseas service. Pay and allowances for any such overseas leave which would have been granted under Class A. will be issued at the end of the emergency. Personnel are transferred to the reserve and are liable to recall. If an individual leaves his reconstruction employment without permission he will be recalled and will be granted only 35 days leave on subsequent release in Class A. Class B personnel will be directed by the Ministry of Labour. 7. [underlined] Class C. [/underlined] Those who are released indefinitely on extreme compassionate grounds by authority of A.M. (A.P. 3093 para. 129). They will receive all the benefits of Class A with the exception of 8 weeks leave. [page break] [underlined] Page 2. [/underlined] [underlined] Categories Not to be Classified [/underlined] (A.P. 3093 App. I) 8. (a) Regular officers including re-employed retired officers (b) Officers holding unexpired short service commissions (c) Officers holding emergency commissions who were regular airmen immediately before commissioning and who have not asked to be released under A.M.O. A.482/45. (d) Personnel of the Dominion forces. (e) Personnel of Allied national forces. (f) Airmen on unexpired regular engagements. Group Captains, Group Officers and certain specialist officers are classified but will not go through the normal process of release. (AP. 3093 Ch. XI.) [underlined] Postponement of Release [/underlined] (A.P. 3093 Ch. V.) 9. No person who can be employed and whose application for retention has been approved by A.M. or Records will be released against his will. Postponement may be:- (a) until general demobilisation, or (b) for 6, 12 or 18 months after the individual becomes due for Class A release, or until general demobilisation if this comes sooner. Applications for release under A.M.O. A.114/45 are no longer acceptable. Postponement of release will not affect reinstatement rights (A.M.O. A.339/45). [underlined] Clothing [/underlined] 10. (a) All men who have completed more than 6 months service will be given a complete outfit of civilian clothes on release. A cash allowance in lieu will not be issued. (A.P. 3093 Para 325) (b) All women will be given a cash allowance of £12.10.0d and clothing coupons (c) Airmen and airwomen may retain certain items of service clothing. (A.P. 3093 Para 320) (d) Personnel may inspect a dispersal clothing centre when on leave in the vicinity (A.M.O. A.321/45) [underlined] Post War Credits [/underlined] 11. Post war credits have accrued for airmen and airwomen since 1st January 1942 at the rate of 6d per day for airmen and 4d per day for airwomen. Such credits will be paid into a Post Office Savings Bank account about 60 days after release for Classes A and C and at the end of the emergency for Class B. The distinction between these credits and the rebate of income tax to be paid after the war should be appreciated. [underlined] War Gratuities [/underlined] 12. War Gratuities will also be paid to classes A and C 60 days after release and to Class B at the end of the emergency in the form of a credit to a Post Office Savings Bank Account. A White Paper has been prepared on this scheme but details of its application are not yet available. 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 Officers advanced school - Release scheme Description An account of the resource Gives details of release scheme of RAF personnel. Covers fairness, classes of release, categories not to be classified, postponement of release, clothing, post war credits and war gratuities. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 officers advanced training school Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Two page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10029 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 Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review demobilisation RAF Cranwell https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27095/SHughesCL1334982v10007.2.pdf 31c1eff66eaff76b9c78e95f5cd10fa7 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advanced Training School 5 Jul 1945] 7A5 [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL PRECIS: WELFARE [/underlined] Appendix “A”:- Publications and A.M.O’s on Welfare “ “B”:- R.A.F. Benevolent Fund “ “C”:- Addresses. References:- A.P. 837, Sect. 55 The Airman’s Welfare Comrades in Arms Guide to Service 1. Welfare is concerned with the mental and physical wellbeing of the individual officer and airman or airwoman and with the improvement of his or her efficiency as a member of the R.A.F. or W.A.A.F. It follows that welfare comprises:- (a) The elimination of personal or family worries. (b) The provision of facilities for relaxation and recreation when off duty. (c) The maintenance of the highest possible standard in the conditions of accommodation and messing. (d) Provision of suitable entertainment. 2. Welfare is a means to an end, efficiency. The whole aim is to help commanders of all categories to build up a high standard of morale which can only be founded on happy and contented units. 3. The need for high morale will be even higher on cessation of war in Europe and intensification of war in the Far East when the operational spur will not be so great and many will only be thinking of release. 4. Information is obtainable from:- (a) A.P. 837, Section 55. (b) R.A.F. Welfare Bulletin (Index in No. 13 item 246) (c) Appropriate R.A.F. Regional Welfare Officer (A.M.O. A. 728/44), if the subject concerns welfare off the station. (d) Group or Command for welfare on station. Communication given welfare reference and sent through usual channels. 5. Station Welfare Committee under presidency of C.O. or S.Ad.O should be representative of all units and sections and include W.A.A.F., P.S.I., Entertainments. Should be thoroughly representative of station and have no “dead wood”. 6. Make full use of semi-official organisations. (a) County Welfare Officer (b) W. [deleted] P.C. [/deleted] [inserted] V.S. [/inserted]) (c) Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A.) C.V.W.W. (Council of Voluntary War Work) (d) S.S.A.F.A. See Appendix “C” If you need address of local representatives – ask local Post Office. [underlined] Amendments to this Precis [/underlined] [page break] APPENDIX “A” TO PRECIS ON WELFARE [underlined] PUBLICATIONS AND A.M.Os. ON WELFARE [/underlined] [underlined] Publications and Pamphlets [/underlined] Legal Aid (A.P.F.S.) “The Airman’s Welfare”. “Guide to Service” (A.P.F.S.) Air Ministry List of Welfare A.M.Os – amended from time to time by R.A.F. Welfare Bulletins (D.A.F.W. on D.O. request). Private Hospitality (British Council) Citizens’ Advice Notes (Council of Social Service) Fishing for H.M. Forces (National Association of Fishery Boards). Pamphlets from R.A.F. Benevolent Fund, S.S.A.F. Assocn. [underlined] A.M.Os [/underlined] Welfare Generally – A.240/43 “ of Lodger Units – A.151/44 [underlined] Accommodation [/underlined] Meals for airmen detained in London – A.485/41 – A580/41 – A.661/43 [underlined] Advice [/underlined] Legal – A.1163/42 – A.83/43 – A.168/43 [underlined] Allowances [/underlined] Losses due to enemy action – A.67/42 (Cars) – A.110/42 War Service Grants – A.1032/41 – A.710/42 [underlined] Authorship [/underlined] Publication – A.376/42 – A.652/42 – A.742/42 [underlined] Bicycles [/underlined] Service – A.488/43 – A.841/43 – A.1133/43 [underlined] Bombed Areas [/underlined] Civilian Casualties, information to Service relatives. – A.703/41 – N.1205/43 Free warrants for compassionate leave. – A.898/40 – A.192/41 Information regarding injury or damage to families or houses of R.A.F. personnel. – A.M. Pamphlet No. 126 [underlined] Books [/underlined] Supply of Library Allowance – A.945/43 – A.162/41 [underlined] Civil [/underlined] Liabilities (Hire Purchase, etc.) – A.715/40 – A.1/43 [underlined] Comforts [/underlined] Generally – A.224/40 – A.990/41 – A.946/43 Wireless Sets Battery Sets - A.497/41 Valves – A.1046/42 – A.240/43 [underlined] County Welfare Officers [/underlined] [underlined] Education [/underlined] Correspondence Courses – A.131/42 – N.210/43 [page break] - 2 - [underlined] Education [/underlined] (contd.) Matriculation Examination – A.999/43 – A.3/43 [underlined] Entertainments [/underlined] Screening of Bandsmen – A.1148/42 [underlined] Maternity [/underlined] See Welfare Bulletin Sept. 1944, para. 294 Accommodation for wives of R.A.F. personnel in Maternity Homes and Hospitals – N.253/43 Special Leave for Officers and Airmen for wife’s confinement. – A.1073/42 Payment of Maternity benefit (Officers) – A.1/43 (Airmen) – A.1319/42 – A.433/43 [underlined] Music [/underlined] Dance Band Instruments – A.1248/42 [underlined] Nuffield Fund for W.A.A.F. [/underlined] – A.196/44 [underlined] Post War [/underlined] Credits – A.474/42 – A.301/42 – A.1330/43 [underlined] R.A.F. Benevolent Fund [/underlined] Applications through C.O. to Eaton House, 14, Eaton Rd., Hove, Sussex. (Not Dominion and Allied personnel, for these see A.P. 837, para. 1500). [underlined] Sports Gear [/underlined] Cash Grants – A.150/39 – A.1140/42 – A.495/41 [underlined] Transport [/underlined] Repayment – A.302/42 – A.436/42 – A.608/42 – A.674/43 – A.1249/43 [underlined] War Service Emergency Grants [/underlined] A.1032/41 – A.710/42 – A.112/44 [underlined] INDEX TO WELFARE BULLETIN MAY HELP YOU [/underlined] (See May 1944, item 246) [page break] APPENDIX “B” TO PRECIS ON WELFARE [underlined] THE R.A.F. BENEVOLENT FUND [/underlined] All applications for assistance from the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund from airmen, airwomen and officers must be made through their Commanding Officer, who then makes a recommendation in forwarding the application to Eaton House, 14, Eaton Road, Hove, Sussex. Forms of application may be obtained from that address but if forms are not available on the Station, the following information should be provided when submitting and recommending an application. (a) Service number, rank, surname and Christian names of applicant, Service trade and group. (b) Date of enlistment. (c) Details of family, number and age of children, etc. (d) Combined weekly income of applicant and family:- including pay, allowances, War Service Grant, salary (if any) of wife and grown-up children and amount of voluntary allotment in issue (if any). (e) Details of basic expenditure, including rent, rates, insurances, clothing clubs, hire purchase commitments, etc. (f) Particulars of assistance applied for, supported by estimates, bills, etc. where applicable. (g) Any special reasons occasioning the existing financial difficulties. (h) Amount of assistance recommended and whether grant or loan; if a loan, the rate and date of commencement of repayment. See that full advantage has been taken of any official grants-in-aid (such as War Service Grants) [underlined] before [/underlined] application is made. When submitting applications, endeavour to present a clear and concise picture of the case, supported by details of any extenuating circumstances. Applications for assistance from dependants of personnel serving overseas may be made by the dependants direct to the Fund’s offices at the above address. In the case of all personnel reported killed, missing or died on active service, the Fund automatically receives a casualty notification from Air Ministry. On receipt of this a letter of condolence on behalf of the Council of the Fund is sent to the next-of-kin, advising what allowances from Air Ministry should be in issue and where to apply. At the same time, the dependant is advised to get in touch with the Fund should any financial assistance be needed at present or in the future. [page break] APPENDIX “C” TO PRECIS ON WELFARE [underlined] WELFARE: Addresses [/underlined] [heading] [underlined] Address – Function [/underlined] [/heading] Auxiliary Services Dept. R.C.A.F. Overseas H.Q. 20, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, W.C. – R.C.A.F. Welfare British Drama League, 9, Fitzroy Square, London, W.1 – Scripts and Plays C.E.M.A. 9, Belgrave Square, London, S.W.1 – Concert Artists – Plays R.A.F. Benevolent Fund 14, Eaton Road, Hove. – (See Appendix “B”) R.A.F. Comforts Committee 42, Berkeley Street, London, W.1 – Distribution of Woollen Comforts, Indoor Games, etc. E.N.S.A. (R.A.F. Liaison Officer) Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, S.W.1 – Assists ex-Serving men to resettle in civilian life. Nuffield Fund Committee Air Ministry (A.F.W.12.B) [deleted] Adastral House [/deleted] [inserted] 160-180 ASHLEY GARDENS. London, [deleted] W.C.2 [/deleted] [inserted] W.1. [/inserted] – Grants and Gifts for W.A.A.F. Nuffield Aircrew Leave Scheme Air Ministry (A.F.W. 1 a) [deleted] Adastral House, [/deleted] [inserted] AS ABOVE [/inserted] London, W. [deleted] C.2 [/deleted] [inserted] 1 [/inserted] – Information – allocation of vacancies. (See Welfare Bulletin, Jan. 1944, Item 233) National Council of Social Service 26, Bedford Square, London, W.C.1 – Citizens’ Advice Notes N.A.A.F.I. Ruxley Towers, Claygate Esher, Surrey – N.A.A.F.I. Headquarters Officers Association 8, Easton Square, London, S.W.1 – Employment and aid for ex-officers Ministry of Pensions (Air Ministry Liaison Officer) Adastral House, London, W.C.2 – War Service Grants [page break] - 2 - Performing Rights Society Copyright House, 33, Margaret Street, London, W.1 – Queries re Performing Rights for plays, (see Welfare Bulletin, June 1944, Item 259) R.A.F. Association 105 A, Gloucester Road, London, S.W.7 – Assists members to obtain pensions & employment (see A.M.O. 359/43). S.S.A. Help Society [deleted] 23, Queen Anne’s Gate, [deleted] [inserted] 122 BROMPTON RD SW.3 [/inserted] London, S.W. [deleted] 1 [/deleted] [inserted] 3 [/inserted] – Help and advice to serving men and women. See A.M.O. 511/44. W.A.A.F. Hospitality, see Welfare Bulletin, Aug. 1944 for local representatives. South African Voluntary Service 27, Princes Gate, London, S.W.7 – South African Personnel Welfare Services Central Book Depot, Artillery House, Handel Street, London, W.C.1 – Supply of Books, A.M.O.A. 945/43 Polish Air Force Headquarters Welfare Department 1, Princes Row London, S.W.1 – Polish Welfare [underlined] Allied Personnel’s Hospitality Organisations [/underlined] British Norwegian Institute – Rutland House, Rutland Gate, London, S.W.7 Belgian Institute – 6, Belgrave Square, London, S.W.1 Czechoslovak Institute – 18, Grosvenor Place, London, S.W.1 The Polish Hearth – 45, Belgrave Square, London, S.W.1 Yugoslav House – 2, Lowther Gardens, Exhibition Road, London, S.W.7 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 Officers advanced training school - welfare Description An account of the resource What welfare is, where information is obtainable, station welfare committees, semi-official organisations, list of publications on welfare. Appendixes covers the RAF Benevolent fund, Welfare addresses, allied personnel's hospitality and organsisations Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Six page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10007 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review military living conditions military service conditions RAF Cranwell training https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27107/SHughesCL1334982v10013.2.pdf 7c3e6b18deab489db0a049eb6f8e0479 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advanced Training School Jul 1945] [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL PRECIS: ACCOUNTS (1) [/underlined] 12B5 [underlined] CASH ACCOUNTING [/underlined] References: K.R. & A.C.I. A.P. 837 A.M.Os as quoted hereunder. [underlined] Public and Non-Public Funds [/underlined] 1. Public funds may be regarded as those funds the source of which is the public treasury and non-public funds as those funds the source of which is other than the public treasury. [underlined] Station Commanders Responsibilities [/underlined] 2. (a) Public Funds, K.R. 71 (b) Non-Public Funds, K.R. 70 [underlined] Public Funds [/underlined] 3. Each self accounting unit has a Public Cash Account maintained in a local bank. Public Funds are centralized in this account, which is administered by the Senior Accountant Officer. It is his personal responsibility. 4. Funds are obtained weekly from Air Ministry. Use of Requisition Form (F. 8.). By telephone and wire in emergency. Balance on hand after known requirements is not to exceed £20 per 100 airmen. 5. Principal charge against this fund is airmens’ pay. Note others, as e.g. officers’ allowances, casual purchases, billeting money – all expenses necessarily incurred on public service. [underlined] Responsibilities of C.O. for Public Funds [/underlined] 6. Examination of F. 8. Surprise checks at irregular intervals not exceeding three months. Routine verifications of cash balance on first day of each month. Other checks and safeguards K.R. 71, A.P. 837, paras. 426-432. 7. C.O. may delegate his responsibilities regarding public funds to a Squadron Leader or above. [underlined] Non-Public Funds [/underlined] 8. These are many in number but the three most important are Officers’ Mess Funds, Sergeants’ Mess Funds, Service Institute Funds. 9. Accountant Officer cannot administer a non-public fund. P.S.I. must be a Flight Lieutenant or above. Otherwise any officer may be placed in charge of a non-public fund at the discretion of the C.O. 10. Responsibilities and duties of officers in charge – K.R. 1682, K.R. 1717-20, K.R., Chapter XXI. 11. Full instructions for the keeping of non-public funds – A.Ps. 1407 – 1408 – 1409. (Standard instructions for keeping Non-Public Accounts). 12. Accountant officer should be prepared to give advice, hold cash for safekeeping, sit on Audit Board. [page break] - 2 - [underlined] Responsibilities of C.O. for Non-Public Funds [/underlined] 13. Powers of appointment and veto. Surprise checks. Audit Boards. 14. Surprise checks may be carried out by a Flight Lieutenant or above at C.O’s discretion. [underlined] Audit Boards [/underlined] 15. These boards are concerned only with non-public funds. They have nothing whatever to do with public funds which are audited monthly at Air Ministry. 16. Purpose and particulars of Audit Boards, K.R. 1346. [underlined] Personnel Occurrence Reports [/underlined] 17. Necessity of prompt and accurate P.O.R. action. P.O.Rs are authority for action by the Accountant officer regarding any casualty (promotion, reduction, permission to live out, etc.). Records fall into arrears, often with unfortunate repercussions on Accountant officer, unless P.O.R. action efficient. [underlined] Pay Parades [/underlined] 18. (a) Witness Pay Parade – general procedure para. 2830 et seq., K.R. (b) Detachment Pay Parade – method of payment. Use of F. 1510, para. 2833, K.R. (c) All Pay Parades are Commanding Officer’s parades and should be treated as such. Necessity for well-disciplined parade, punctuality and quietness. [underlined] Accounting under Active Service conditions [/underlined] 19. Under Active Service conditions the system of accounting differs in certain essential respects from the system at home. The main differences briefly stated are as follows. 20. Airmens’ Pay Accounts and Officers’ Allowance Accounts are compiled in a centralized Base Accounts Section and not on units. Consequently Accountant officers are not normally provided on establishments of units in the field. 21. Accounting for cash is the responsibility of the Commanding Officer. He may appoint an officer of the unit as Imprest Holder who will draw cash for the issue of pay to airmen, advances and allowances to officers etc. A simple cash account, known as the Imprest Account, which records all receipts and payments, is maintained by the Imprest Holder and sent monthly to Base Accounts. 22. Group Accountant Officers are the specialist officers in the field and it is their duty to act as a link between the unit Base Accounts, to supply the cash required by the Imprest Holder and generally to give assistance and advice where required. [underlined] Officers’ Pay and Allowances [/underlined] 23. (a) When serving in the field an officer may elect to have a fixed monthly sum made available through the medium of his Pay and Allowances Book (F. 31). This amount will be automatically deducted each month by the Agents from his pay. [page break] - 3 - (b) The F.31 shows detailed particulars of his entitlements to pay and also a record of his cash drawings. (c) Payments can be made by any Imprest Holder, Accountant Officer or Field Cashier on presentation of this Pay and Allowances Books. [underlined] Airmens’ Pay [/underlined] 23. (a) Each airman has a Pay Book (F. 64) in which is shown full detals [sic] of his entitlements to pay and the amounts of any allotments. Amounts are entered therein at the time of payment and the paying officer signs for each entry. (b) Payments are made fortnightly in arrears on Acquittance Rolls (F. 1513) which are signed in duplicate by each airman receiving pay. The original is sent at once to Base Accounts and serves as the basis for entries in the pay ledgers there. The duplicate is the supporting voucher for the necessary entry in the Imprest Account. [underlined] Cash Service Instructions [/underlined] 25. A booklet written as a guide to C.Os and Imprest Holders. It is compiled in a clear, simple and straight forward manner and should supply an answer to the majority of queries raised. [underlined] Amendments to this Precis [/underlined] [page break] [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL CASH ACCOUNTING: QUESTIONS [/underlined] 1. Compare public and non-public funds with regard to:- (a) Their source (b) Their administration (c) Their application (d) The number of accounts. 2. What are the responsibilities of a C.O. with regard to:- (a) Public Funds (b) Non-Public Funds? 3. To whom may a C.O. delegate his responsibilities concerning: (a) Public Funds (b) Non-public funds? 4. How is the Public Cash Account kept in credit? 5. Who signs a cheque drawn on the Public Cash Account? 6. Is there any limitation on the size of the balance which may be in the Public Cash Account? 7. How often must there be a surprise check on the Public Funds? 8. When should a reconciliation be made between the balance shown in the cash book and the balance held in the bank? 9. Who can be placed in charge of a non-public fund? 10. What assistance is available to the holder of a non-public fund? 11. For what purpose are audit boards assembled? 12. Can a C.O. force an Imprest Holder against his judgement to make a payment from Public Funds? 13. What are the duties of a Group Accountant Officer? 14. Must an officer in the field draw the full amount of his fixed monthly advance each month? 15. Alterations in an Airman’s Pay Book are made in the field by whom? On what authority? 16. Why is it necessary to have prompt and accurate P.O.R. action? 17. What are the responsibilities of a witnessing officer at a Pay Parade? 18. Who may be a witnessing officer? 19. Who may be a paying officer? 20. Should the P.S.I. aim to accumulate a large P.S.I. fund? 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 Officers advanced training school - cash accounting Description An account of the resource Covers public/non public funds, station commanders responsibilities for both, personnel occurrence reports, pay parades, accounting under active service conditions, officers' pay and allowances, airmen's' pay, cash service instructions and questions. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Four page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10013 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review military service conditions RAF Cranwell training https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27113/SHughesCL1334982v10019.1.pdf 262f562487562e7ba128fa660e8bfdfc 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advanced Training School Jul 1945] [underlined] 17C5 OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL [/underlined] PRECIS: PROMOTION OF, AND CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS [underlined] ON OFFICERS [/underlined] Reference: K.R. 332 and 1097B. A.M.O. A.1024/44 as amended, A.M.O. A.984/42 as amended. [underlined] PROMOTION OF OFFICERS [/underlined] [underlined] Introductory [/underlined] 1. War-time schemes must vary from peace because R.A.F. in wartime is a large temporary force and the size of the post war force cannot be foreseen. Most promotion therefore, of a temporary nature subject to review at end of war. 2. Temporary scheme must provide for:- (a) Normal promotion for officers whose career is the service (b) A guaranteed rank for officers (c) Promotion to fill war establishments (d) A measure of acting promotion to overcome drafting difficulties. [underlined] The Scheme [/underlined] 3. The requirements of para. 2 (a) to (d) have been dealt with as follows:- (a) Peace establishment promotion to full substantive rank (b) War substantive rank (c) War establishment promotion to temporary rank (d) Appointment to acting rank. [underlined] Peace Establishment Promotion [/underlined] 4. Ordinary peace time promotion for:- (a) Officers holding permanent commissions (b) Officers who had been provisionally selected on 3rd. Sept. 1939 when grant of permanent commissions suspended (c) Officers, (other than those with permanent commissions) retained to complete time for retired pay. Object to give these officers promotion they would have got under peace conditions. No regular recommendations. Vacancies filled on peace establishment of R.A.F. as at 3rd Sept. 1939. Selection boards held every six months at Air Ministry and selections published in London Gazette on 1st January and 1st July each year. [underlined] War Substantive Rank [/underlined] (A.P. 837, paras. 1054, 1063 and 1063A) 5. The only rank guaranteed for duration of emergency. Advancement obtained by:- (a) Time promotion (b) Qualification after holding temporary and acting ranks for certain periods. No recommendations required. Reports only rendered if officer not recommended. Air Ministry promulgate in “London Gazette”. [underlined] War Establishment Promotion [/underlined] (A.P. 837 para. 1055) 6. Promotions to temporary rank made by Air Ministry to fill vacancies in the bulk war establishment. No officer, except medical and dental, is eligible until finished with time promotion, e.g. first temporary rank for G.D. branch is squadron Leader. Selections published twice [page break] - 2 - a year on 1st January and 1st July in “London Gazette”. See para. 11 as to recommendation. [underlined] Appointment to Acting Rank [/underlined] (A.P. 837 paras. 1057 – 1061) 7. When no suitable officer of correct temporary or war substantive rank available for particular post, acting rank may be given to most suitable junior officer. THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN ACTING AND TEMPORARY RANKS. Advancement in acting rank is only advancement which Commands can authorise. Commands can authorise acting ranks up to and including wing commander in all branches except meteorological and R.A.F. Regiment. Pay granted retrospectively after rank held for 21 days. [inserted] NO LONGER APPLICABLE EXCEPT AC. S.E.A. [/inserted] 8. No appointments to acting flying officer allowed in any branch, as flying officer is lowest establishment vacancy. For medical and dental officers, lowest appointment is flight lieutenant; therefore no acting rank below squadron leader can be authorised for these officers. Advancement in acting rank normally one step at a time. [underlined] Relinquishment of Acting Rank [/underlined] (A.P. 837 para. 1059) 9. Imperative that officers understand that acting rank can be held only so long as holder continues performing duties of that rank. There can be no guarantee of continuity of tenure. Relinquishment must be notified to officer concerned IN WRITING. Appeals from officers against recovery of over-issue of pay on account of relinquishment of acting rank are not entertained under any circumstances. [underlined] Promulgation of Acting Rank [/underlined] (A.P. 837 para. 1060) 10. Issue and cessation of pay of acting ranks granted by Air Ministry and Commands at home regulated by posting notices, and acting ranks granted by Commands overseas by entries in P.O.R. All grants and relinquishments must be promulgated in P.O.R. under heading “ACTING RANKS”. This heading appears in front of all other P.O.R. headings and word “NIL” must be inserted below heading if no entries in a particular P.O.R. Acting rank not published in “LONDON GAZETTE” unless to air vice-marshal or above. [underlined] Recommendations for War Establishment Promotion [/underlined] (A.P. 837 para. 1064) 11. Assessments of fitness for temporary promotion submitted to Air Ministry on 1st March and 1st September as follows:- (a) by A.Os. C.-in-C. – for group captains (b) by A.Os. C. – for wing commander and below. Separate lists for each rank and branch submitted and officers assessed “A”, “B”, “C”, “C” Immobile or “D”. “A” indicates “Recommended for immediate promotion”: “B” – “Recommended for promotion in turn”; “C” – “Fitness for promotion in turn doubtful”; “C” Immobile and “D” – “Not recommended for promotion”. Para. 20 of A.M.O. A.1024/44 must be carefully studied before assessments made. “C” (Immobile) to be given if immobility on compassionate or medical grounds is only barrier to promotion. Officer should not be assessed if he has been less than 3 months in Command or Group. [underlined] Prisoners of War and Internees [/underlined] (A.P. 837 para. 1065) 12. P.O.W. and internees retain acting rank and are eligible for war substantive rank, either by time promotion or through holding acting rank. Not eligible for peace or war establishment promotion. [page break] - 3 - [underlined] Comparative Seniority [/underlined] 13. Officers of temporary or war substantive rank take seniority and precedence over similar acting rank, e.g. a wing commander (tempy) [sic] with seniority 1st Jan. 1944 would take precedence over an acting wing commander with seniority 1st Jan. 1943. [underlined] CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS ON OFFICERS [/underlined] [underlined] General Principles [/underlined] 14. Vital for reporting officers to record an honest opinion without regard to consequences. Failure in this respect may have very detrimental effect on efficiency and well-being of the service. [underlined] Rules for Adverse Reports [/underlined] 15. When necessary to make adverse reports on officers, following procedure must be scrupulously observed:- [inserted] KR. 1097B [/inserted] (a) Report must be shown to officer concerned and initialled by him. (b) Officer concerned must be given opportunity to make statement on adverse report. (c) Report and officer’s statement must be sent forward to higher authority. [underlined] Warning to Officer of Shortcomings [/underlined] 16. When officer’s conduct not up to standard but not sufficiently serious for court martial or termination of commission, superior officer must warn him of shortcomings and give opportunity for improvement. Any subsequent formal adverse reports must contain information as to warnings and periods given for improvement. [underlined] Officer Unsuitable for present Posting [/underlined] 17. When officer considered unsuitable for existing posting, action taken under K.R. 332. Reports under K.R. 332 not necessarily adverse but must always be seen and initialled by officer concerned. [underlined] Forms 1369 and W.1369 [/underlined] 18. For details as to confidential reports on R.A.F. officers (Form 1369) and W.A.A.F. officers (W.1369) see A.P. 837, paras. 1072-1075. Forms 1369 and W.1369 are privileged documents retained by Air Ministry after going through channels of Command. Copies not in any circumstances to be retained in unit or headquarters’ offices. [underlined] Amendments to this Precis [/underlined] [page break] [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCE TRAINING SCHOOL [/underlined] QUESTIONS: PROMOTION OF OFFICERS AND CONFIDENTIAL [underlined] REPORTS ON OFFICERS [/underlined] 1. Acting S.L. O. Shux, G.D. Branch commissioned as a P.O. on 10.4.43 was appointed to that rank on 15.6.44. What is the earliest date on which he can qualify for war substantive Flight Lieutenant? 2. F.L. Cluless, G.D. Branch, was granted the war substantive rank of F.L. on 16.3.44. When would his first assessment for temporary S quadron Leader reach the Air Ministry? 3. What rank is guaranteed to an officer for the duration of the emergency? 4. How could an acting Squadron Leader become a war substantive Group Captain? 5. Squadron Leader (T) Jones, A & S.D. Branch was appointed acting Wing Commander on 1.1.43; reverted to Squadron Leader 1.6.43; re-appointed acting Wing Commander 1.2.44. What is the earliest date he can become a war substantive Squadron Leader? 6. If an officer is wounded on operations, for how long can he retain his acting Rank? 7. What grants of acting rank are gazetted? 8. When is form 1369 rendered? 9. In what way are an officer’s personal qualities, in comparison with his brother officer of the same rank, assessed on Form 1369? 10. Who maintains duplicate copies of Form 1369 at Group Headquarters. 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 Officers advanced training school - promotion of, and confidential reports on officers Description An account of the resource Promotion of officers covers introduction, the scheme. peace establishment promotion, war substantive rank, war establishment promotion, appointment to acting rank, relinquishment of acting rank, recommendation for war establishment promotion, prisoners of war and internment and comparative seniority. Confidential reports on officers covers general principles, rules for adverse reports, warning of officer of shortcomings, officer unsuitable for present posting, finally Forms 1369 and W1369 followed by questions. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Four page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10019 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review military service conditions promotion RAF Cranwell training https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27122/SHughesCL1334982v10025.2.pdf 0a397b15ac5dd73f0b1b50e32b6c0d4c 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advanced Training School JUL 1945] 31F5 [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL PRECIS: PERSONNAL TRAINING [/underlined] References:- Kings Regulations. A.P. 1983 A.P. 1972 A.M.Os. [underlined] R.A.F. Educational and Vocational Training Scheme. [/underlined] (AMO. A.434/45) 1. The objects of the E.V.T. scheme may be stated as follows:- (a) To assist in maintaining morale until general demobilisation (b) To satisfy the desire of the individual for training which will be useful on return to civil life. (c) To assist in the national task of returning millions of men and women to civilian life. It should be realised that the scheme is merely one measure to attain the above objects and care should be taken not to be too optimistic about the results. E.V.T. is a step in the right direction, but the major part of training for particular occupations will be undertaken after release under the direction of the Ministry of Labour. 2. The scheme is administered through Commands and Groups, but it can succeed only with the full co-operation of commanding officers for there are problems in the organisation of local facilities. Equally the active interest of all rank is demanded, whether as instructors or pupils, in order to maintain a s [sic] stem which is based on self help. The scope of the scheme will vary in different commands and situations according to local resources and current service commitments. [underlined] Compulsory Nature of E.V.T. [/underlined] 3. One hour a week of resettlement training is compulsory for all non-permanent personnel and for regulars who intend to leave the service in the near future. Participation in educational or vocational training is voluntary, but once a course has been started it must be continued. The aim is to allocate a total of six hours of service time per week to the scheme. [underlined] Application to Individuals [/underlined] 4. E.V.T. does not apply to regular personnel who intend to remain in the service after the war, but it is available for Dominion and Allied personnel. Participation in the scheme either as instructor or pupil will not affect release from the service. [underlined] Types of Training [/underlined] 5. The following types of training are provided:- (a) Resettlement (b) Educational – elementary, secondary and higher (c) Vocational [underlined] Resettlement Training [underlined] 6. Designed to give men an understanding of current problems in preparation for citizenship and to teach them to use their leisure to advantage. Instruction takes the form of discussion groups, lectures, films, broadcasts, classes in arts and crafts. Air Ministry will issue a syllabus, but stations can exercise a measure of discretion. [page break] - 2 - [underlined] Elementary Educational Training [/underlined] 7. Designed to bring education up to the standard of the R.A.F. War Educational Certificate. (A.M.O. A.434/45 App. A). The examination for this certificate demands a pass in any three of he [sic] subjects – English, Mathematics, Current Affairs, and Housewifery, and there are other additional but optional subjects. Instruction is mainly in the form of classes. [underlined] Secondary Educational Training [/underlined] 8. Designed to bring education up to the standard of the Forces Preliminary Examination, success in which is accepted by universities and certain professional bodies as proof of the necessary standard of general education to embark upon a professional training although complete exemption from an entrance examination may not always be granted. It follows that the Forces Preliminary is approximately equivalent to a matriculation examination. (A.M.O. A.434/45 App. B). Instruction is in the form of classes or study under the supervision of qualified educational teachers. [underlined] Higher Educational Training [/underlined] 9. Designed to satisfy those who have attained matriculation standard but wish to begin or continue education on a higher level. There are few cases in which classes are possible and training generally takes the form of supervised study or correspondence courses. [underlined] Vocational Training [/underlined] 10. Non-professional vocational training includes instruction for those who already have some experience of a civilian trade, for those who wish to modify service training for use in civilian life and for those who wish to prepare themselves for further training after release. Those who already have experience of one trade will not be allowed to train for another unless for approved reasons – they cannot return to their former occupation. Those who wish to train for a trade which is completely new to them can do so only in those trades covered by the Ministry of Labour training scheme or in which employment prospects are good. 11. Air Ministry from time to time issue lists of trades for which training may be given to inexperienced men. Courses and syllabuses are laid down after consultations with the Government departments concerned. Trade union rules will not be modified in favour of those who have merely undertaken E.V.T. in the services. 12. Station workshops and other local resources must be used for instruction and mobile demonstration vans are available where necessary. Large stations have resident specialist instructors but much of the work is done by visiting instructors. [underlined] Responsibility for E.V.T. [/underlined] 13. At command and group headquarters, the senior education officer is normally responsible for E.V.T. On stations the C.O. is responsible and the education officer is normally appointed as E.V.T. officer. An E.V.T. committee must be formed under the chairmanship of a senior officer and including all those concerned, such as the education officer and officers of the technical services on the station. [underlined] Conditions of Service for E.V.T. Instructors [/underlined] (A.M.Os. A.120/45 and A.420/45) 14. Instructors are provided by volunteers from serving personnel subject to the following conditions:- (a) Personnel employed as instructors will not receive less pay generally than at present, and their incorporation in the scheme will not affect release from the service. [page break] - 3 - [underlined] Conditions of Service for E.V.T. Instructors [/underlined] (contd) 14. (b) Officers of any branch eligible, but not normally accepted if above the substantive or temporary rank of F.L. Substantive or temporary rank will be retained and instructors will be eligible for the acting rank of F.L. during employment. All will remain in their present branch. (c) Airmen and airwomen of any rank or trade may be employed and will be eligible for the acting rank of Sergeant or Flight Sergeant in the ratio of three Sergeants to one Flight Sergeant. Acting rank of present trade will be relinquished but temporary rank will be retained, and if personnel are eligible for time promotion to temporary rank in their present trade they will not be remustered. (i) Educational instructors paid at rates of present trade group. (ii) Other instructors paid as Flight Sergeant or Sergeant in the trade group corresponding to the civilian occupation in which they are instructing, but they may retain the pay of temporary rank in normal trade if more favourable. Civilian and part time service instructors may eventually be incorporated in the scheme. [underlined] Qualifications for E.V.T. Instructors (A.M.O. A.120/45, A.420/45) [/underlined] 15. Candidates are still required and must possess the following qualifications:- (a) Educational instructors – minimum of School Certificate with three credits. (b) Vocational instructors for professional and semi-professional occupations – the usual qualifications of those occupations. (c) Vocational instructors for non-professional occupations – practical experience, experience as civilian instructor or recognised certificate of training. Schools have been set up in commands to train and grade educational instructors. [underlined] Vocational Advice Service (A.M.O. A.308/45) [/underlined] 16. The vocational Advice Service is designed to perform the following duties:- (a) Giving advice and information on the nature of various civilian occupations. (b) Assessing the occupational aptitude of applicants (c) Assisting E.V.T. staffs to decide on the course of training for an individual. 17. Personnel are to apply for advice to the station E.V.T. staff who may pass them on to the V.A.S. whose advisors either visit stations or maintain offices in various districts. 18. V.A.S. officers are employed under the same conditions as E.V.T. instructors. [underlined] Documentation (A.M.O. A.466/45) [/underlined] 19. In order to co-ordinate the training and provide trainees with appropriate records and certificates, strict documentation must be maintained by E.V.T. staffs [page break] - 4 - [underlined] Maintenance of continuity [/underlined] 20. All new arrivals at a station must report to the Education Officer in accordance with A.M.O. A.268/42. [underlined] Accommodation and Equipment [/underlined] 21. In general, existing accommodation must be used though modifications can be made by Works services. Scales of barrack equipment and training equipment for E.V.T. purposes are being laid down by Air Ministry. Radio sets on the scale of one per station are being provided, and arrangements have been made with the B.B.C. for educational broadcasts to fit into the E.V.T. scheme. [underlined] Books and Stationery [/underlined] 22. The Book Distribution Centre (E.V.T.) has been set up at Innsworth to supply reference and text books for the various courses. Provision has also been made for supplies of stationery. [underlined] General Education Scheme [/underlined] 23. The General Education Scheme will remain in operation for the benefit of regular personnel who are not eligible for E.V.T. [underlined] Duties of Education Officer (A.M.O. A.809/40) [/underlined] 24. Responsible to the C.O. for:- (a) Instruction in technical service subjects. (b) Instruction in general and vocational subjects to occupy leisure time. (c) Assistance to airmen wishing to continue a professional education. [underlined] External Educational Facilities [/underlined] 25. (a) Education Officers should make arrangements with local schools for evening classes under the scheme administered by Central Advisory Council for Adult Education in H.M. Forces. Use of Service transport with Command approval. (K.R. 446). (b) A large variety of correspondence courses in general subjects is available to personnel not able to receive local instruction. (A.P. 1983). Fee of 10s. payable. Postal courses not included in this scheme may be undertaken with financial aid from the Service. (c) A number of educational authorities allow members of H.M. Forces to sit their examinations under special conditions. London Matriculation may be held on stations. Leave may be granted up to 28 days for sitting examinations. (A.M.O. A.257/43). (d) Financial aid up to £3 per airman per year for educational purposes. (A.M.O. 3/43). [underlined] Instruction in Current Affairs [/underlined] 26. (a) Lecturers in current affairs may be obtained from regional committees of Central Advisory Council. (A.M.Os. A.871/41, A.290/42, A.787/42.) [page break] - 5 - [underlined] Instruction in Current Affairs [/underlined] (Contd) 26. (b) Discussion groups are now compulsory during working hours (A.M.O. A.1115/43). [underlined] Station Reference Library [/underlined] 27. Consists of non-fiction books supplied through Education Service. Funds allotted to Commands by Air Ministry on the basis of 1s. per head of establishment per year. (K.Rs. 3379 and 3380). [underlined] Recreation Library [/underlined] 28. Funds supplied through P.S.I. (a) Subscriptions at the rate of 4d. per month or 1d. per book. (K.R. 881) (b) Grant from public funds at the following rates:- For first 1,000 airmen - £1 per year for every 40. For each additional 100 airmen - £1 13s. 4d. per year. (K.R.s 3377, 3378). (c) Supply of books. (A.M.Os. A.334/42, A.1025/42). 29. An information and reading room may be run in conjunction with the libraries. [underlined] Central Library [/underlined] 30. The R.A.F. Central Library will lend text books to station reference libraries for periods up to six months. Catalogues may be obtained from Command Headquarters. [underlined] Training Films [/underlined] 31. Sixteen and thirty five millimetre training films may be obtained from service sources. (A.P. 1972, N. Series A.M.Os., War Office Film Catalogue, Command Film Catalogues). Amendments to this precis:- [page break] [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL QUESTIONS: PERSONNEL TRAINING. [/underlined] 1. What factors in the modern development of the R.A.F. make training so necessary for all branches? 2. Why is it essential that commanders should have a good knowledge of the training and educational facilities available? 3. Where would you look for the titles of instructional films available from service sources? 4. What are the objects of the Vocational Advice Service? 5. What types of instruction come under the heading of Resettlement Training? 6. What methods will be used to conduct Secondary Educational Training in the E.V.T. scheme? 7. What branch of the service will administer E.V.T? 8. How will accommodation be provided for E.V.T.? 9. How could you obtain information for an airman wishing to study commercial advertising presuming that no education officer was available? 10. Would you find fiction books in the Station Reference Library? 11. If you decided that ‘Flight’ and ‘The Aeroplane’ should be made available to the airmen, how would you obtain and pay for these periodicals? 12. What are the three main objects of the E.V.T. scheme? 13. Will E.V.T. be compulsory for permanent commission officers? 14. What are the three types of educational training undertaken by the E.V.T. scheme? 15. What is the civilian equivalent of the Forces Preliminary Examination? 16. Will E.V.T. have any affect [sic] on the release of an individual? 17. How can an airman get advice with regard to vocational training? 18. Can aircrew volunteer for employment as E.V.T. instructors? 19. Will airmen aircrew be remustered if they become E.V.T. instructors? 20. What is the minimum qualification in order to become an educational instructor in the E.V.T. scheme? 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 Officers advanced training school - personnel training Description An account of the resource Covers the RAF education and vocational training (EVT) scheme, the compulsory nature of E.V.T, application to individuals, types of training: resettlement training, elementary educational training, secondary educational training, higher education training, vocations training. Responsibility for E.V.T. conditions of service for E.V.T instructors, qualification for E.V.T instructors, vocational advice service, documentation, maintenance and continuity, accommodation and equipment. books and stationary, duties of education officer, external education facilities, instruction in current affairs, station refence library, recreation library, central library, training films and questions. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Six page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10025 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review military service conditions RAF Cranwell training https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27125/SHughesCL1334982v10028.2.pdf f046bd242f3fb2a6dd2a9a2763b13a3c 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advanced Training School JUL 1945] 34E5 [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL. PRECIS: POSTING AND DOCUMENTATION – OFFICERS: (P.2) [/underlined] REFERENCES:- (A) K.R. Chap. VII. A.P. 837. Section 46. A.M.O. A.418/43, A.419/43. A.M.O. A.1024/44 & A.319/45. [underlined] (A) MANNING POLICY – OFFICERS Introductory [/underlined] 1. Change of policy from peace to war. In peacetime G.D. branch responsible for all duties except those carried out by limited number of specialist Branches such as Equipment, Accounts etc. G.D. Officers specialist in duties such as signals, armament and engineering etc. and obtained antedates for promotion thereby. G.D. Officer did administration work as part of his routine duties, and only got promotion if qualified as ground side sufficiently to pass to pass promotion examinations. Every officer had own K.R. and M.A.F.L. 2. Tendency during rapid expansion has been specialisation on one job only. Administrative Branch formed to provide S.Ad.O’s, Adjutants and Assistant Adjutants to do Administrative work done previously by G.D. Branch. New duties such as Flying Control, Intelligence, Marine Craft, Electrical Engineer etc. undertaken by Specialist officers, leaving G.D. Branch mainly for flying and staff work. [underlined] Sources of Supply of Officers [/underlined] 3. Chief source of supply in peace was by short service commission direct from civil life. Permanent commissions granted to cadets who passed through R.A.F. College, entrants from universities, apprentices and apprentice clerks, N.C.O’s aircrew and to Warrant Officers. Limited number of short service officers selected for permanent commissions and medium service commissions. Also on few stations were Class C.C. officers, or civilian administrators who afterwards joined RAFVR as first entrants of Administrative and Special Duties Branch. 4. Unprecedented expansion after 3.9.1939 caused radical change of policy. Considerable amount of requirements met from W.A.A.F. Commissioning from ranks became almost universal and grant of Short Service and permanent commissions ceased. Present policy provides for flying personnel to go through ranks in first place. Commissions granted to selected cadets completing flying training, and all qualified aircrew reviewed monthly for commissions. Officers for ground duties selected from ranks and go through O.C.T.U. as airmen and airwomen before commissioning. [underlined] Postings – General [/underlined] 5. First principle is officer is posted [underlined] to a particular posted [underlined] to a particular post [/underlined] in unit establishment. Up to September 1941 all postings of officers made by D.G. of P. Air Ministry, but then delegation made to A.Os. C.-in-C. Commands to post within their Commands to a certain extent. Following A.M.O. A.419/43, further delegation made to D.G., R.A.F. Medical Services and D.W.A.A.F. in respect of Medical, Dental, P.M.R.A.F. Nursing Service and W.A.A.F. (G) Officers of rank of Squadron Officer and above. Broadly speaking, position now as follows:- /Contd…….. [page break] - 2 - (i) [underlined] D.G. of Postings [/underlined] – Posts – (a) All R.A.F. and W.A.A.F. (Substitution) Officers of all branches except Medical, Dental W.A.A.F. (G) and P.M.R.A.F.N.S. to posts of Group Captain and Squadron Officer respectively and above. (b) All officers with exception given in (a) above between commands. (c) All officers to special units and formations such as M.A.P. 43 Group etc. (d) All officers on first commissioning with exceptions given in (a) above. (ii) [underlined] D.G. R.A.F. Medical Services [/underlined] Posts all officers of the Medical and Dental Branches and P.M.R.A.F.N.S. (iii) D. W.A.A.F. [/underlined] Post (a) all W.A.A.F. (G) Officers of squadron officer or above (b) below squadron officer between commands (c) all W.A.A.F. Officers between certain special units and formations such as M.A.P., 43 Group etc. (iv) [underlined] A.O.C.-in-C. [/underlined] Posts all R.A.F. officers of Wing Commander and below, and all W.A.A.F. Officers of Flight Officer and below within his command, except Medical, Dental, Meteorological, Technical (Works) R.A.F. Regiment and P.M.R.A.F.N.S. N.B.A.Os.C. operational groups are allowed to post operationally trained aircrew below the rank of Squadron Leader within their particular groups when so empowered by the A.O.C.-in-C. [underlined] Postings – How Notified [/underlined] 6. Postings notified to all concerned by posting notices. Full details of procedure contained in A.M.O. A.418/43. [underlined] Posting Overseas [/underlined] 7. Air Ministry notifies that individual officer is required provisionally for overseas. Notification sent to Command, copies to Group and Unit. At this stage Officer must be medically examined and immediate notification sent to Group if unfit for overseas. 8. When instructions received to proceed to P.D.C. or other assembly station, officer is posted to that unit “Supernumerary” pending posting overseas w.e.f. date he proceeds. This is promulgated in P.O.R. together with retention or relinquishment of acting rank. 9. When officer is posted direct from home unit to overseas unit w.e.f. date on which he embarks, home unit promulgates posting in P.O.R. ……………..contd. [page break] - 3 - 10. Relief for officer posted overseas will not be granted acting rank until his predecessor has been posted to P.D.C. or has embarked. 11. Officers in overseas commands are posted within their commands by Command H.Q. Detailed instructions in regard to the return from overseas of:- (a) Officer of the rank of Flight Lieutenant and below (b) Squadron Leaders and above (c) Aircrew arriving to complete training (d) Special Duty List. (e) Medical & Dental Officer (f) Chaplains. (g) W.A.A.F. Officer. (h) P.M.R.A.F.N.S. (j) Polish Officers. and (k) Invalids. are contained in A.M.O. A.198/43, amended by A723/43 and A.1150/43 12. Generally speaking, an officer reports to Air Ministry or to another specified station, and gets his leave, ration cards, clothing books etc. He is subsequently posted either supernumerary to a Station or to fill an establishment vacancy on termination of overseas leave. [underlined] Posting of Non-Effective Personnel [/underlined] 13. (a) [underlined] Admitted to Hospital [/underlined] Officer held against establishment while in hospital unless relief considered essential, when relief may be provided either by Group or Command and sick officer will be posted to non-effective strength of unit. (b) [underlined] Officers Reported Missing. [/underlined] On receipt of casualty signal Command Headquarters at home posts missing officer to War Casualties N.E. Accounts Depot, (R.C.A.F. Officer to R.C.A.F. U.K.N.E. Unit and Polish officers to Deputy Polish Inspectorate General (N.E.) Overseas,) officer posted to non-effective strength of Command Headquarters. If missing officer subsequently reported internee or P.O.W. action taken as in (c) below. If death is proved or presumed, officer is struck off strength of R.A.F. w.e.f. date of death or presumption of death. (c) [underlined] P.O.W. and Internees [/underlined] Remain on the strength of War Casualties N.E. Accounts Depot, who credit his banking account with any allowances to which he may be entitled monthly in arrears. [underlined] Compassionate Postings [/underlined] 14 A.O.C.-in-C may effect posting son compassionate grounds between units in his command. In submitting application for posting out of the command to Air Ministry A.O.C.-in-C. must certify that his recommendation does not originate in any cause affecting the honour, character or professional efficiency of the officer (K.R. 335). [underlined] Postings under K.R. 332. [/underlined] 15. Reports submitted in duplicate to group headquarters who forward to command headquarters, Command headquarters post officer within command if possible. Duplicate copy of report is forwarded to Air Ministry (D.G. of P) stating action taken, if any, and adding any remarks which may be necessary. ………..contd. [page break] - 4 - [underlined] (D) OFFICERS DOCUMENTS List of Documents [/underlined] 16. Form 373 – Officers Record Card Form 381 – Officers Leave Card Form 48 – Medical History Envelope Form 506 – Record of personal issues of publications (if necessary) Form 5000 etc. Aircrew Training Reports. Form 1788 – Details of Ground defence Training Form 2004 – Command Postings Record Card [underlined] Forms 373 and 381 [/underlined] 17. Raised by station at which individual is serving on first commissioning. Two copies of Form 373 and one copy of Form 381 are raised. One copy of Form 373 is held at Group Headquarters, and the other together with Form 381 is held by the Unit. Instructions regarding these forms in K.R. 2335 as amplified by A.M.O. A.319/45. [underlined] Form 48 [/underlined] 18. Confidential document maintained by M.Os. on stations. Officers commissioned from ranks continue with same Forms 48 they had as airmen. For officers commissioned direct from civil life and officers transferred from Army and Navy, Forms 48 raised initially by Air Ministry. [underlined] Amendments to this Precis: [/underlined] [page break] APPENDIX A TO PRECIS NO. 34 [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL [/underlined] [table of movements and Forms required] [page break] [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL QUESTIONS ON POSTINGS AND DOCUMENTATION – OFFICERS: (P2). [/underlined] 1. What officers in peacetime were granted permanent commissions or appointments? 2. What is the chief source of supply of officers during the war? 3. Which Directors – General and Directors at the Air Ministry may post officers? 4. To what extent may A.Os.C. in C. Commands post the officers under their command? 5. What officers may be posted by A.Os.C. operational groups and to what extent? 6. How are officers’ postings notified to all concerned? 7. What immediate action has to be taken by a unit on receipt of Air Ministry provisional warning for overseas? 8. What is the effective date of an officer’s posting from his home unit to an overseas unit? 9. Who posts officers within an overseas command? 10. If an officer is admitted to hospital and a relief is provided, what is the posting action taken on the sick officer? 11. What posting action is taken on R.A.F. Officer reported missing (a) at home? (b) overseas? 12. If an A.O.C.-in-C. recommends an application compassionate posting to the D.G. of P. Air Ministry, what certificate must he send with the recommendation. 13. An officer is report on by his O.C. under KR.332 and Command post the officer to a Unit in the Command. How many copies of the original report are made and how are they disposed of? 14. Who is responsible for holding Form 48 on a station? 15. How are an officer’s documents (Forms 373, 381 and 48) disposed of (a) on death (b) on becoming a prisoner of war. 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 Officers advanced training school - manning policy officers Description An account of the resource Covers introduction, sources of supply of officers and then , postings/general, postings - how notified, postings/overseas, posting of non-effective personnel, compassionate postings, postings under K.R. 332. Officers documents - list of documents, table showing purpose of documents and page of questions. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Six page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10028 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review military service conditions RAF Cranwell training https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1663/27139/SHughesCL1334982v10036.2.pdf 964c80b2c2a819b5c7b43862ff6ff12f 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 Hughes, Clarence. No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Description An account of the resource 37 items. Precis of subjects covered at No 1 officer's advanced training school at RAF Cranwell in June and July 1945. 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 2016-06-02 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 SHughesCL1334982v1 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [date stamp of No. 1 Officers Advance Training School JUL 1945] 24A5/ [underlined] OFFICERS ADVANCED TRAINING SCHOOL PRECIS: W.A.A.F. ADMINISTRATION [/underlined] References: A.P. 837, Sect. 54 A.P. 3088 (K.R. for W.A.A.F.) A.M.O’s as quoted. [underlined] Policy [/underlined] 1. To economise man-power by substituting women for R.A.F. personnel in as many appointments and trades as possible. Over 70 trades, including some in Group I (latest additions in A.222/44) and about 17 officer branches or sub-branches now established. Possibilities of extending substitution continually under review by Air Ministry standing committee. [underlined] Organisation [/underlined] 2. W.A.A.F. absorbed into armed forces of Crown by Defence (Women’s Forces) Regulations 1941 (A.466/41 amended by A.850/41), A.42/42, A.330/43). Modified form of A.F.A. applied, and Air Council empowered to issue regulations, now published in A.P. 3088, (K.R. & A.C.I. for W.A.A.F.). 3. Under orders of Air Council and R.A.F. commanders at different levels down to unit commanders, with its own women officers responsible for general efficiency, well-being and esprit-de-corps. This responsibility carried out by W.A.A.F. (G) officers and Administrative N.C.O’s. [underlined] Chain of Control [/underlined] 4. (a) [underlined] Director W.A.A.F. [/underlined] (D.W.A.A.F.) responsible, in Department of A.M.P., for well-being of force. (b) [underlined] Inspector of W.A.A.F. [/underlined] On staff of Inspector-General to look after W.A.A.F. aspects of his work. (c) [underlined] W.A.A.F. (G) Staff Officers at Air Ministry [/underlined] established as necessary in service departments of A.M. to control or advise on W.A.A.F. aspects of work of directorates to which appointed. (d) [underlined] W.A.A.F. Standing Conference and W.A.A.F. Advisory Council [/underlined] purposes outlined in A.1392/42. (e) [underlined] W.A.A.F. (G) Staff Officers at Commands and Groups [/underlined] under supervision of senior administrative officer to act as specialist advisers on W.A.A.F. matters to A.O’s.C in C. and A.O’s.C. and their staffs. (f) [underlined] W.A.A.F. (G) Officers i/c W.A.A.F. Sections on Stations [/underlined] responsible to C.O. for general efficiency, discipline, progressive training and well-being of W.A.A.F. personnel. To be regarded as specialist officers in these matters and given status and facilities accordingly, including transport where necessary to visit detachments. Assisted in their work by:- (i) W.A.A.F. Substitution Officers: W.A.A.F. Section to be divided into “Administrative Flights”, each to be run by a W.A.A.F. substitution officer responsible to W.A.A.F. (G) officer. (ii) [underlined] W.A.A.F. Administrative N.C.O’s. [/underlined] responsible to W.A.A.F. (G) officers. (A.83/42 as amended by A.1392/42) [page break] - 2 - [underlined] Administration [/underlined] 5. W.A.A.F. personnel administration broadly similar to R.A.F. Training for and duties of officer posts and airwomen trades identical except for physical limitations. Airwomen under command of appropriate R.A.F. or W.A.A.F. substitution officer for work; for discipline and general efficiency under charge of W.A.A.F. (G) Branch. (A.209/43). [underlined] Channels of Communication [/underlined] 6. Normally as for R.A.F. If W.A.A.F. (G) officer considers orders issued by C.O. adversely affect W.A.A.F., and representations to C.O. unsuccessful, may approach Group W.A.A.F. (G) Staff Officer direct, (sending copies of correspondence to C.O.). Similar direct approach when disagreement arises may be made upwards through Commands to D.W.A.A.F. [underlined] Discipline [/underlined] 7. A.F.A. applied generally to the W.A.A.F. with modifications. Nine of the sections 4 to 41 of A.F.A. applied in modified form to W.A.A.F. under Defence (Women’s Forces) Regulations in 1941 when W.A.A.F. was declared a part of the Armed Forces of the Crown. Serious civil offences dealt with by Civil Courts. All W.A.A.F. personnel can be tried by Court-Martial for offences under section of Air Force Act applied to them. Punishments which can be awarded to W.A.A.F. personnel are as follows:- (a) [underlined] By Court Martial [/underlined] (i) [underlined] Officers [/underlined] (a) Cashiering (b) Dismissal from the Service (c) Forfeiture of seniority (d) Penal deduction from pay (e) Severe reprimand or reprimand N.B. (c) (d) and (e) may be awarded conjointly. (ii) [underlined] W.O.s and N.C.O.s. [/underlined] (a) Reduction in rank (b) Forfeiture of seniority (c) Penal deduction from pay (d) Severe reprimand or reprimand (e) Penal forfeiture of pay up to a maximum of 28 days. N.B. (b) (c), (d) and (e) may be awarded conjointly. (iii) [underlined] Aircraftwomen [/underlined] (a) 28 days’ C.C. (b) 28 days’ penal forfeiture of pay (c) Penal deduction from pay N.B. (a), (b) and (c) may be awarded conjointly. [page break] - 3 - (b) [underlined] By A.O.C. [/underlined] (i) [underlined] Officers of the rank of Flight Officer and below and Warrant Officers [/underlined] (a) Forfeiture of Seniority (b) Severe reprimand or reprimand (c) Penal deductions to make good loss or damage N.B. (a), (b) and (c) may be awarded conjointly. (a) and (c) carry the right to elect trial by Court Martial. (A.O.C. may administer a reproof to officers and warrant officers under K.R. 1154 W). (c) [underlined] By C.O. and Subordinate Commander [/underlined] (i) [underlined] Officers and Warrant Officers [/underlined] None. (C.O. may administer “reproof” under K.R. 1154 W). (ii) [underlined] N.C.Os. and Aircraftwomen [/underlined] See Appendix ‘B’ to Precis of Lecture “Powers of Punishment”. [underlined] Disciplinary Powers and Status of W.A.A.F. Officers and N.C.O’s. [/underlined] 8. W.A.A.F. officers and N.C.Os. have powers of arrest over their juniors in the W.A.A.F. but no powers over R.A.F. personnel. Any W.A.A.F. officer may be delegated powers of punishment as Subordinate Commander over W.A.A.F. personnel but not over R.A.F. personnel. 9. R.A.F. personnel may be placed under the orders of the W.A.A.F. personnel of higher equivalent rank. When this is done, advisable to have clear instructions on the point so that there is no misunderstanding. [underlined] Saluting [/underlined] 10. All W.A.A.F. officers to salute their seniors who are Squadron Officers and above when in uniform. On parade or duty all W.A.A.F. officers salute their seniors of any rank before addressing them. Airwomen salute all W.A.A.F. officers. It is a matter of courtesy if W.A.A.F. personnel salute R.A.F. officers. [underlined] Promotion – Officers [/underlined] 11. Scheme very similar to R.A.F. Time promotion to S.O. after 6 months. Eligible for temporary and acting ranks, but do not get war substantive rank by holding temporary rank. Only advancement in war substantive rank is by time promotion and holding acting rank for 12 months. [underlined] Promotion, Remustering and Reclassification – Airwomen [/underlined] 12. Same principles as airmen. [underlined] Pay [/underlined] 13. Rates for officers in K.R. 3419 W and for airwomen in K.R. 3447 W. Principle is that W.A.A.F. pay is 2/3rds R.A.F. pay. Also eligible for G.C. Badges carrying pay of 2d per badge per diem and other non-substantive pay under same conditions as airmen. [underlined] Amendments to this Precis [/underlined] 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 Officers advanced training school -W.A.A.F administration Description An account of the resource Covers policy, organisation, chain of control, administration, discipline, disciplinary powers and status of W.A.A.F. officers and N.C.O.s, saluting, promotion/officers, promotion/remustering and reclassification - airwomen and pay. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available No 1 Officers Advanced Training School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Four page typewritten document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Service material Text. Training material Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SHughesCL1334982v10036 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 Tricia Marshall Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review ground personnel military discipline military service conditions promotion RAF Cranwell training Women’s Auxiliary Air Force https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1524/30338/PBaxterPD16020049.2.jpg fff9ba7df0394125ce8ec2a2c85d7ec7 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1524/30338/PBaxterPD16020051.2.jpg 2af81976c3c12e5827cc311ac6280b78 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 Baxter, Peter Dennis P D Baxter 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 2016-07-12 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 Baxter, PD Description An account of the resource 63 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Peter Baxter (b. 1922, 52604 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs and documents. He was trained as an airframe apprentice at RAF Halton and served as ground crew before volunteering to become air crew. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 12 and 153 Squadrons. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Michael Baxter and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle. 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 Napoli Description An account of the resource From information provided by the donor. Two photographs taken when Peter was in Naples for the first of his two trips to Italy as part of Operation Dodge to repatriate Allied service personnel, the first is at the beach and the second is in the city. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Two b/w photographs Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PBaxterPD16020049, PBaxterPD16020051 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Italy--Naples England--Lincolnshire Italy Great Britain Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. 153 Squadron Lancaster Operation Dodge (1945) RAF Scampton https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2009/31533/PDentJ20040019.2.jpg fb5b1b7dcd9d761d27e7f5997c6ba986 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2009/31533/PDentJ20040020.2.jpg 6152e86bab4a6b22bd9d03927cdb280b 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 Dent, John. Wedding, family and friends album Description An account of the resource Seventeen items. Contains photographs of wedding as well as of other people and RAF personnel. 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 Dent, J 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 Bridesmaids Description An account of the resource Two women wearing dresses and holding bouquets standing in a garden with a young girl in between them. In the background trees and parts of houses. On the reverse 'John's wedding, July 1945'. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One b/w photograph mounted on an album page Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PDentJ20040019, PDentJ20040020 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 Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. love and romance https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1778/31560/PDentJ2007.1.jpg b7dc9c6fa442f79a1151c81bf43fce85 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 Dent, John J Dent 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 2020-10-23 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 Dent, J Description An account of the resource Forty-two items and two sub-collections containing a total of forty-one items. The collection concerns John Dent (b. 1924, 2206473 Royal Air Force) who flew as a flight engineer on Lancaster of 44 Squadron in late 1944 early 1945. Collection contains documents, his flying log book, course notes, and photographs of people, places and aircraft. Two photograph albums in sub-collections contains images of his wedding as well as aircraft, RAF personnel, and air training corps activities. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Geraldene Dent and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. 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 Tiger Force July 1945 Description An account of the resource On the right side a squadron photograph of a largen number of aircrew sitting and standing in front of a Lancaster. In centre front row a dog sits. Captioned 'Tiger Force, July 1945, RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire O.S. TF450650'. On the left side a 44 (Rhodesia) squadron badge with description text below. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One squadron crest, one text note and one b/w photograph mounted on a single page Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Artwork Text Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PDentJ2007 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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. 44 Squadron animal Lancaster RAF Spilsby Tiger force https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/324/32447/PRogersR1701.2.pdf 9e6f1034f45dc06d19238ec5ee94f03d 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 Rodgers, Ronald R Rodgers Description An account of the resource Two items, An oral history interview and some photographs concerning Ronald Rodgers (432573 Royal Australian Air Force). He served as a mid upper gunner with 460 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ronald Rodgers and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. 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 2017-02-20 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 Rodgers, R 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 Ron Rogers photographs Description An account of the resource Document containing five photographs: 1 - Six aircrew wearing battledress with brevet and peaked or side caps standing and squatting in two rows in front of a Lancaster bomber. Captioned 'Lancaster at Skellingthorpe July 1945. Back row (L-R) Bruce Smith (Rear Gunner), Wal Goodwin (Pilot), Ron Rodgers (Mid Upper Gunner). Front Row (L-R) Robby Robinson (Engineer), Allen Short (Bomb Aimer), Garry Maddrell (WOP)'. 2 - Four airmen wearing tunics with brevet and side caps sitting arm in arm in line on bicycles in a city street. Captioned 'Aussie Boys on leave Brighton April 1944. (L-R) Snow Wilson, Bruce Smith, Bull Redway, Ron Rodgers'. 3 - Seven aircrew wearing parachute harnesses and Mae Wests in two rows in front of the fuselage of a Lancaster. Captioned 'Avro Lancaster 1661 HCU April 1945 Winthorpe. Back row (L-R) W/O Allen Read (FE), W/O Ken Pederson (Nav), F/O Wally Goodwin (P), W/O Allen Short (BA). Front row (L-R) W/O Ron Rodgers (MU), W/O Bruce Smith (RG), W/O Garry Maddrell (WOP)'. 4 - Full length portrait of an airman wearing tunic with air gunner brevet and side cap standing with hand in pocket with part of a fence and building in the background. 5 - Half length portrait of a man wearing jacket with medals and tie. This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-07 1944-04 1945-04 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Five page document with four b/w and one colour photographs Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PRogersR1701 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Nottinghamshire England--Sussex England--Brighton Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 1944-04 1945-04 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. 1661 HCU air gunner aircrew bomb aimer Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster military service conditions navigator pilot RAF Skellingthorpe RAF Winthorpe training wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2046/33126/SScottEW188329v10015.2.jpg 3bfa4f18b48930c6698e93af60ed9871 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2046/33126/SScottEW188329v10016.1.pdf 5364f55a4a25e764f63ce46b2c7eb1bc 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 Scott, Eric William. Album 3 Description An account of the resource Ten items. Contains correspondence, newspaper cuttings, documents and the last issue of the Prisoner of war Journal. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-06 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 Scott, EW 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 Prisoner of War Journal Description An account of the resource Sixteen page journal with text and photographs. The final issue with message from Field Marshal Lord Chetwode, Editorial, article on history of prisoner of war mail/parcels, awards ceremony, prisoner of war students, garden parties, articles about prisoners of war, activities, health, the Red Cross, letters and other articles of interest. 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 1945-07 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Sixteen page printed document with text and photographs Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Text 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 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--London Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1945-07 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 SScottEW188329v10015; SScottEW188329v10016; SScottEW188329v10017; SScottEW188329v10018; SScottEW188329v10019; SScottEW188329v10020; SScottEW188329v10021; SScottEW188329v10022; SScottEW188329v10023; SScottEW188329v10024 demobilisation Operation Exodus (1945) prisoner of war Red Cross Stalag Luft 3