Browse Items (18 total)

  • Tags: RAF Westcott
  • Type is exactly "Sound"

PMayhillRD1901.jpg
Ron Mayhill was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He joined the Air Training Corp in 1941, automatically entered the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942, trained as a bomb aimer in Canada, and travelled on the Queen Mary to the UK in 1943. While flying…

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AWilliamsRS180115.mp3
Roland Spencer Williams was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wanting to get involved in the war he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. After initial training in New Zealand, as an air gunner, he sailed on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam to San…

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PSchneiderT1702.jpg
Tim Schneider lived at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. He describes his life in the village, living in the vicinity of the airfield. After the war Westcott became the…

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PNeechPRR1601.jpg
Peter was born on the 7 January 1925, in West Hampstead, London. He worked in a jewellers in Hammersmith and left his job to join the air cadets at RAF Hendon from 1941 to 1943. On his 18th birthday, he joined the RAF to begin training as an air…

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Matthew Adams’ family farmed the land which once covered and surrounded the site taken over by RAF Westcott. He describes the reaction of landowners, the details of the takeover and the building of the site for use by the RAF.

In accordance with…

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AHollisRE180111.mp3
Richard’s father, Arthur Hollis, went to Dulwich College as a day boy. He left aged 16 to join the Home Guard, then worked for a firm of accountants for a couple of years before joining the Royal Air Force. He was sent to Manchester University for…

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AHamptonJ160831.mp3
James Hampton was born in February 1925. Before the war, he was an apprentice engineer with Laystall Engineering Company. He was in a reserved occupation before joining the Royal Air Force in 1943, where he trained as a flight engineer in Bomber…

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AGossRG170614.mp3
Raymond Goss lived on the family farm at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. One evening a Lancaster collided with a Wellington on the field and both exploded. The Goss…

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ACunninghamAB171104.mp3
Bruce initially joined the territorials but changed to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. After performing very well in navigation exercises at Rosewood, he was quickly progressed to Bell Block, New Plymouth on Tiger Moths. He became a pilot at Wigram…

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AColbeckJC170524.mp3
Joy Colbeck was born in Maidstone, Kent and served within the Women’s Royal Naval Service during the war. Her brother, John, joined the RAF on the 28 April 1943, qualified as an air gunner in April 1944, before being transferred to an Operational…

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AParryHP180723.mp3
Hugh Parry was a member of his local ATC whilst waiting to be able to volunteer for the RAF. His slightly older friends had qualified to train as pilots, navigators or bomb aimers but, because of a backlog of trades, they were given deferred entry. …

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PBarnettWE1701.jpg
William Edwin Barnett talks about his experience of living on the edge of RAF Westcott, near Aylesbury. He remembers starting work on a farm at the age of 14 and describes his everyday life and duties. He tells of being conscripted into the Home…

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AParryHP161011.mp3
Hugh Parry was born in Oswestry and joined the Air Force in April 1943 and volunteered to be an air gunner. Knowing that there was a height restriction of six feet on air gunners, he hid his height by wearing baggy trousers. After training, he was…

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ANeechPRR161013.mp3
Peter was born in London and recalls his home suffering bomb damage during the war. He served in the Air Training Corps until joining the Royal Air Force in 1943. After reporting to the Aircrew Reception Centre at St John’s Wood, he spent a few weeks…

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AMeehanJ150604.mp3
Jack Meehan grew up in New Zealand and worked on the railway before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew operations as a wireless operator/air gunner with 75 Squadron at RAF Mepal.

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ACouperAJ151208.mp3
Allan Joseph Couper grew up in Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He was employed by the State Electricity Company until he volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was accepted for aircrew training as a pilot and…

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AChaplinSR170407.mp3
Susan Chaplin was born in North Marston and was a local teacher. She recounts the story her mother told her as a young girl, about Wellington HE740 which crashed near the village. With her local history group she researched and wrote a book “The…

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PBrownJ1721.jpg
Jeff left school at 15 and became an electrician. Being keen on aircraft he joined the Air Training Corps and volunteered for the RAF when aged 17 to prevent him being randomly sent into the mining industry. Deferred until he was 18, he was initially…

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