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Don Nicholson audio recording. Two
The recording starts with the sound of Merlin engines. Don Nicholson lost his first crew when he was grounded on medical grounds and they were killed in action. He became the spare flight engineer on the squadron. He flew with different pilots until…
Don Nicholson audio recording. One
Don was a flight engineer with No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in 1944-45 at RAF Dunholme Lodge and later at RAF Spilsby, and completed 31 operations, which he lists. He recounts how, having arrived for the briefing for his first operation, he was grounded…
Interview with Sheila Wilmet
Sheila Wilmet grew up in Liverpool and was 15 when war was declared. She describes the devastation of bombing in 1941, spending nights in an Anderson shelter, and navigating unexploded bombs during her commute. She volunteered after viewing a…
Interview with Leonard Ralph Tyrell
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…
Interview with Philip Peel
Philip Peel gives a detailed account of his father's RAF career, using logbook and letters, as well as recalling his father's anecdotes. Jarvis (then known as Mike) Peel was a Lancaster pilot and served on two squadrons before becoming a prisoner of…
Interview with Basil Goldstraw
Basil Goldstraw was born in Buxton, Derbyshire. He joined the RAF at aged 17 to do a motor mechanics apprenticeship. He wanted to join aircrew but was grounded due to a medical condition. After training at Number 3 School of Technical Training he…
Interview with Alan William Davis
Alan Davis joined the RNZAF towards the end of the war, training in Canada as a wireless operator and air gunner. He returned to the UK and, after conversion to Lancasters, was posted to 75 New Zealand Squadron. Alan tells of his training, crew…
Interview with Tom Rogers
Born in Fulham, Tom Rogers joined the RAF in 1943 as an air gunner. After training he was posted to 207 Squadron in RAF Spilsby, carrying out 26 operations, shooting down two enemy aircraft and being awarded the Legion d’Honneur. He tells of the…
Interview with Maurice Vivian Askew
Maurice Askew volunteered for the RAF and began training as a flight engineer. He was posted to 207 Squadron at RAF Spilsby and his first operation was to Berlin. On his last operation his aircraft came under attack. He was knocked unconscious as he…
Interview with Rex Alan Austin
Rex Alan Austin was born in Werribee, Victoria, Australia on the 4th of January 1924. Rex’s father served in World War One in the middle east and then transferred to the Australian Flying Corps, later known as the Royal Australian Air Force.…
Interview with Vera Willis
Vera Willis nee Tomlinson volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force because she wanted to be a driver. Her driving career in the RAF involved driving long distances as well as driving aircrew to dispersal. Some crew gave her letters for…
Interview with Jack Cranston
Jack joined the Royal Air Force in Leeds and, after going to St. John’s Wood in London, he trained in Rhodesia where he passed out as a pilot. His training was on Tiger Moths and Oxfords before he was posted to a Wellington RAF station. Jack went on…
Interview with Robert Woodhouse
Robert Woodhouse was living in Pembroke Dock when the bombing of the town began, and after losing their home due to the bombing, the family relocated to Cardiff. In Cardiff, Robert joined the Air Training Corps, to follow in the footsteps of his…
Interview with Eric Varney
Eric Varney completed 28 operations as a mid upper gunner with 207 Squadron from RAF Spilsby. After the war Eric worked as a bus driver, coal miner, long distance lorry driver and coal merchant.
Interview with John Battison
John Battison was a teenager in Skegness during the war and remembers the town being used to train Royal Air Force personnel. He describes hundreds of bombers gathering overhead before setting off on an operation. After the war he joined the Royal…