Browse Items (23 total)
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Interview with Suzanne Williams about her father John Andrew Cromie
John Andrew Cromie volunteered for the RAF in Australia. He was posted to 460 Squadron. On his thirteenth operation he was shot down and became a prisoner of war. After the war he didn’t talk to his family about his experiences. Upon the death of…
Interview with David Fellowes
David discusses his crew over photograph taken at RAF Hixon and goes on to describe flying and other activities while at OTU. He briefly mentions attending gunnery school and other gunnery training. He recalls their Australian skipper getting…
Interview with Kenneth Ivan Duddell
Ken joined the RAF in January 1942 and qualified as a flight engineer in July 1943 at RAF St Athans. He passed through a number of RAF stations before they were posted to RAF Elsham Wolds and flew operations as a flight engineer with 460, 12 and 103…
Interview with Jeff Mackay
Jeff Mackay was born in 1922 in Ballarat, Australia and was working as a cadet engineer. He joined the Army but decided to join the RAAF when the Japanese entered the war in 1941. After boarding a ship he trained as a navigator in Canada and then…
Interview with David Fellowes. Two
David Fellowes tells of how he used to build model airplanes and fly them in the fields when he was a boy. The son of an engineer, he first joined the Air Training Corps and then volunteered for the Royal Air Force at the age of 17. David describes…
Interview with George Plant
George Plant was a farm worker. Whilst waiting for a bus one day in February 1945 he witnessed a Lancaster PB 812 crash behind Caythorpe Railway Station, with the loss of all lives of the crew. Years later the relative of one of the casualties put an…
Interview with Gerard Norwood
Gerard’s father died when he was very young and, so, he was raised by his mother and his stepfather, who he and his brother disliked. He was working at an engineering factory when the war began and he continued until 1942, at which point most of his…
Interview with Mike Cope
Mike is the adopted brother of James (known as Sonny) who was in the Royal Air Force with 460 Squadron. The crew were all English apart from the Australian pilot. James was a wireless operator/mid-upper air gunner. Mike was seven in 1943 when his…
Interview with Peter Liddle
Peter Liddle was living in Falkirk when he and his twin brother both volunteered for the RAF. Peter became a bomb aimer and was posted to 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook. He was shot down and, as he was descending by parachute, he could see his burning…
Interview with Alan Avery Farr
Allan Avery Farr was working at the Birmingham market before he joined the RAF. He wanted the quickest entry to see action and so trained as an air gunner. He trained in Canada where he was offered a post as an instructor but he wanted to serve with…
Interview with Darwin Evans
Darwin Evans volunteered for aircrew in 1940 and began training as a navigator. Whilst training at RAF Bobbington (later RAF Halfpenny Green) he had an accident which ended his operational flying duties. He retrained as a compass adjuster at RAF…
Interview with Harold Kirby. One
Harold Kirby joined the Royal Air Force, encouraged by two friends, but ended up training as a flight mechanic at RAF Halton on medical grounds. Harold became an airframe fitter, volunteered as a flight engineer, passed the physical but was then…
Interview with Rita Brooks
Rita’s late husband was Flight Lieutenant Edward Brooks DFC, DFM. He was in the Home Guard before enlisting with the Royal Air Force in February 1941, and sometime later went to RAF Uxbridge. Following training at Blackpool, the recruits were…
Interview with Laurie Woods
Flying Officer Laurie Woods DFC was born in Deloraine, Tasmania, in 1922. He grew up in Tasmania, and at the age of 18, despite being in a reserved occupation, he volunteered for aircrew in the Royal Australian Air Force. Initially training in…
Interview with Ernest Truman
Ernest Truman completed his initial training in Australia as a navigator before arriving in the UK. He was posted to 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook. One of his ops was to destroy the oil refinery at Merseburg and he recalls the explosion was so bright…
Interview with Max Spence
Max Spence grew up in Australia and worked in a hardware store before volunteering for the Air Force. He recalls his training in Canada and England, and life on an operational station. He flew 18 operations as a navigator with 460 Squadron.
Interview with Ronald Rodgers
Ronald Rodgers joined the Royal Australian Air Force, aged 17, having previously been in the Air Training Corps. He trained as an air gunner and was posted to 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook but did not fly operationally. On discharge in 1946 Roy worked…
Interview with Harold Kirby. Two
Harold Kirby grew up in London and worked in accounts before joining the Royal Air Force. He served as a fitter with 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook before re-mustering as a flight engineer. He flew two tours of operations with 467, 97 and 156…
Interview with Alexander Elliott Jenkins
Alex was fostered by the cricketer Bill Woodfull and studied at Melbourne University. He had to go from Somers Camp to defend his decision to join up in 1942. He trained at Benalla and converted onto Wirraways at Deniliquin where he qualified as a…
Interview with Douglas "Jim" James
Douglas (Jim) James was born in India and returned to England when he was nine. After leaving school, he joined the RAF as an air gunner, forging his father’s signature on the application. Jim carried out 29 operations with 460 Squadron, flying in…
Interview with Colin Fraser
Colin joined the British Army in December 1941 and, eventually, moved to his preferred Royal Air Force in March 1943. He went to Number 2 Initial Training School at RAAF Bradfield Park in Sydney as a navigator, graduating in February 1944. His first…
Interview with Dave Fellowes
From Number One Air Gunnery School at RAF Pembry, Dave was posted to Number 30 Operational Training Unit at RAF Hixon on Wellingtons. He crewed up with an Australian pilot who knew his aunt. They went to 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Lindholme to…
Interview with Rosemary Dorricott
Rosemary Dorricott is the widow of Leonard William Dorricott DFM. During the war years she was a young child in Skegness. She was six years old when war broke out. She recalls the air raids on the town and the rationing and blackouts that became a…