Browse Items (129 total)

  • Tags: military ethos

EBainAWilliamson[Mr]430720-0001.jpg
Letter in which Andrew describes how he feels about life in the squadron and how Isabel has now left the WAAF and is looking after uncle and his son.

Tags: ; ;

MNealeETH1395951-150731-0140001.jpg
A call from the German Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus to his comrades and to the German people via radio 'Freies Deutschland' while he is a prisoner of war in Russia. After a call for reflection in August 1944 he feels he has to speak again despite…

Tags: ; ;

BNealeETHNealeETHv06.pdf
#1 Ted Neale's account of a train trip in South Africa. Ted and his tall friend were attacked in Bloemfontein by a group of six locals.
#2 Designated pilots-navigators or bomb aimers at Heaton Park then sent to Bridgnorth to await a ship to South…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400912-0001.jpg
A letter from Harry Redgrave to his wife Jessie. Harry writes in detail about the funeral of two airmen in which he was a pall bearer. He also discusses plans for getting to Southend.

Tags: ; ; ; ;

PWatsonJ1501.jpg
John Robert Watson joined RAF Bomber Command in 1943, volunteering after he witnessed his next-door neighbour's house being destroyed by a bomb. Against his father's wishes, John joined Bomber Command, initially, as a wireless operator, before…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ATyrellLR150929.mp3
Leonard Ralph Tyrell mentions always being keen on aircraft since he was a boy. He was sent to RAF Syerston near Nottingham for Lancaster Finishing School, and then an advanced flying unit near Wolverhampton, before heading to number 17 OTU at RAF…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PMortensenJC1803.jpg
Born on 27 December 1924 in Aigburth Liverpool, James was 15 when war broke out in Europe. He intended to join as a pilot, navigator, bomber aimer in 1943 but, due to shorter waiting list and training time, he trained to become a wireless operator at…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ATrotmanPJ180604.mp3
Applying for RAF Bomber Command in May 1940, Percival Trotman was called up in September 1940, training as a pilot at RAF Towyn in Aberystwyth. Being present at Coventry when the town was bombed, he recalls deciding that the Germans deserved to have…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ATompsonA160125.mp3
Anthony Tompson worked as an engineer for the Post Office before he volunteered for the Air Force. While training as a pilot in Canada it was discovered he had a difficulty with perception and he trained instead as a navigator. On return to the Great…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PStonemanMW1801.jpg
Maurice Stoneman was posted to 57 Squadron at RAF East Kirkby as the flight engineer on Lancasters in 1943. He recalls that, on returning from operations, they used to fly around the Boston Stump and around Lincoln Cathedral before finally landing.…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

APayneGA170528.mp3
Geoff Payne has his first experience of the Royal Air Force with the Air Training Corps, at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire, where he had one of his first experiences of military humour. He joined in 1943 at the age of 17 and a half hoping to become a…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AMearsCE170921.mp3
Charles left school with no formal qualifications and was undertaking further education when the Second World War commenced. Being too young to enlist, he joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps, eventually joining when he was aged 18. He was detached to…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PLambAM1509.jpg
Alexander Lamb left school in Edinburgh and became a messenger for the War Department. He then took a clerical post with the Department before reaching the age to volunteer for the RAF. He trained as an air gunner and was posted to RAF Mildenhall…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AJohnsonM160830.mp3
Mark Johnson reminisces about John Blair, his great-uncle. He discusses family life in rural Jamaica as a mixed-ethnicity person, highly respected by everyone. He was a qualified teacher, a lawyer, and a farmer. He reminisces about other Caribbeans…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AInstoneTS160407.mp3
Thomas (Stan) Instone was working at a factory making Bristol Hercules engines but volunteered to be aircrew as soon as he was of age. Initially his application was unsuccessful but he persevered and trained as ground crew. He later re-mustered as a…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AHanksJ160622.mp3
John Hanks joined the RAF and served as an armourer. He describes his role and his duties and tells of his postings at RAF Swinderby and RAF East Kirkby. John gives a graphic and vivid account of an aircraft crash at RAF Swinderby and describes…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AGrayG160223.mp3
Gilbert Gray grew up in Dunfermline, joined the Air Training Corps before enlisting in the Royal Air Force as a flight engineer in 1940, aged 18 years. He trained at RAF St Athan in Wales, graduated as a sergeant and was posted onto Lancasters. He…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AGallagherGCK170925.mp3
Charles Gallagher was born in a small village outside Nottingham, where his father was rector of the local church. At the age of six the family moved to South Brent on Dartmoor where Charles enjoyed country sports and helped with the local hunt. At…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ADavidsonTA170717.mp3
Born in Gateshead, Thomas was an apprentice railroad engineer. With the war beginning three days after his 16th birthday, Thomas feels very passionately about the British experience of the Second World War, as his only brother was killed. He claims…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PCookJH1701.jpg
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…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PCookJA1701.jpg
Being in a reserved occupation at the outbreak of war, Jack eventually volunteered for the Royal Air Force, although, it would take the majority of the war before he joined. Having eventually been called up for Bomber Command in 1944, Jack trained as…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

BFraserDKFraserDKv1.pdf
Memoir describing his life and service career in the RAF. He also gives a list of 29 operations he participated in with notes on specific operations, and recounts a brief history of the Lancaster.

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ABassettFG180517.mp3
Frank was brought up in Woolwich, joined the RAF at the age of 18 and became an armourer. Frank describes the difficult physical work, loading and unloading bombs. He served 617 Squadron and loaded bouncing bombs, which were different. He remembers…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AAn01137-170710.mp3
Anon, from Scarborough was keen to join the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot. Disappointed that he didn’t meet the height requirement, he joined the RAF and began training as an electrician. His aim was to travel abroad with the service but, to his…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AAn00509-160424.mp3
The interviewee was born in Berlin in 1924, his father being a British Army surgeon who was posted there treating badly wounded soldiers. He went to school in France then attended boarding school in Hertfordshire. He volunteered for the Royal Air…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

Output Formats

atom, dc-rdf, dcmes-xml, json, omeka-xml, rss2