Browse Items (26 total)
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Interview with Alastair Price
Interview with Alistair Price about his father, Kenneth George Price. He was the station navigation officer on 35 Squadron at RAF Wyton. He flew 58 operations before he was shot down and became a prisoner of war.
Alistair Price is the son of…
Alistair Price is the son of…
Conversation with Norman Didwell - Jens Hansen
Norman relates some of the story of Jens Henning Fisker "Morian" Hansen shooting down a Me 110. He goes on to discuss various prisoners of war, including some who were murdered by the Gestapo after the escape from Stalag Luft 3 in March 1944.
Interview with Les Rutherford
Les Rutherford was called up for the Army just short of his 21st birthday. He was in France at the time of Dunkirk and made it to the beach of St Valery where they were under constant bombardment. He and another soldier found a door and used it to…
Interview with Laura Hickey
Laura Hickey was living in Tottenham at the outbreak of war and was evacuated to Suffolk. Her brother, Charles Henry Clarke joined the RAF and was shot down, becoming a prisoner of war and enduring the Long March. She tells of her times as an…
Interview with Tom and Gabi Wilson
Gabi Wilson grew up in Berlin and was a schoolgirl in 1939. She discusses one brother training as an interpreter and another brother returning from Russian prisoner of war camps. She worked as an apprentice at a publisher firm. She met her husband,…
Interview with Jack Edward Simmonds
Jack Simmonds was the son of an RAF serviceman. As a result, his childhood was spent moving around a great deal, including spending a few years in Egypt. He joined the RAF and began training as a pilot and then he joined 51 Squadron as a Whitley…
Interview with Henry Leslie Shackleton
Henry Shackleton listened to Chamberlain’s speech on the radio and hoped to be a Spitfire pilot. He began his training and was selected as a flying instructor and was posted to Canada. On his return to the UK he was posted to his operational squadron…
Interview with Philip Peel
Mike's son Phillip gives a detailed account of his father's RAF career, using logbook and letters, as well as recalling his father's anecdotes. Mike Peel was a Lancaster pilot and served on two squadrons before becoming a prisoner of war late in…
Interview with Jack Kenneth Lyon
Jack Lyon was a navigator/ bomb aimer and a prisoner of war for almost four years. Born in 1918, he was employed with the London Gas Company as a bookkeeper until August 1939, when he transferred to Shell. At the outbreak of the war, Shell closed…
Interview with Lawrie Lawrence
Jack ‘Lawrie’ Lawrence planned on making a career in the RAF and joined in 1938. He enjoyed those early days when it felt like he belonged to a flying club. This was interrupted by the start of war and operational flying. He flew in Blenheims and…
Interview with Ronald Last
Ronald Last grew up in Dorset and worked as an apprentice for the local Gas and Water company before volunteering for the Air Force. He attended the reception centre at Lord's Cricket Ground and describes the medical tests and inoculations recruits…
Interview with Mark Johnson
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…
Interview with Ernest Holmes
Ernest Holmes joined the RAF and served as a pilot, flying operations first with 76 Squadron and then on Pathfinders. Gives a vivid and detailed account of when he was shot down over Holland: how he was given shelter by a farmer’s family and moved to…
Interview with Bruce Cunningham
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…
Interview with James William Birchall
James Burchill was in the ATC before volunteering for aircrew training. He expected to be deferred but was told he had been chosen for immediate service. On one operation he was injured and, by the time he was ready for operational duties again, he…
Interview with Eric Coling
Eric Coling’s father died when Eric was a child which left his mother to cope on her own, economically. Eric and his sister were sent to live in an orphanage but their mother was able to visit monthly. When Eric left the orphanage he began working…
Interview with Rex Alan Austin
Rex Alan Austin was born in Werribee, Victoria, Australia on 4 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. Schooled in…
Interview with Charles Henry Clarke. Two
Charles Clarke joined the RAF aged 17 and began training as a pilot but he became ill with mumps and later trained as a bomb aimer. His aircraft was shot down on an operation to Schweinfurt and he became a prisoner of war. He took part in the Long…
Interview with Charles Henry Clarke. One
Charles volunteered for the RAF when he was 17 and trained as a bomb-aimer at RAF North Luffenham. After qualifying, he was posted to 619 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa. He was shot down on his 18th operation and he became a prisoner of war. He talks…
Interview with Ron Wade
Ron was born in Stoke-on-Trent. He left school at 14 and tells of his experiences working in a pottery factory doing odd jobs, until he was called up. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 at the age of 22 and trained as an air gunner at RAF…
Interview with Eric Hookings
Eric Hookings joined the RAF and served as ground crew at RAF Newton before training as a pilot in America. He was posted to RAF Bruntingthorpe, flying Wellingtons, Stirlings and Lancasters with 619 Squadron. During an operation an Me 110 shot down…
Interview with David Fraser
David Fraser enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1939 and trained as a mechanic. He re-mustered as soon as he was able and flew four operations as an air gunner with 115 Squadron, before his aircraft was shot down over Hamburg, in May 1941. He spent…
Interview with Les Rutherford. Three
Les Rutherford joined the army and was in the 51st Highland Division which formed the rear-guard defence, allowing for the evacuation of Dunkirk. He escaped out to sea on a barn door and was picked up and taken to England by a French trawler. He…
Interview with Jean Smith
When war broke out, Jean was working in the Ministry of Aircraft Production. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in 1942 and did two months’ training at Innsworth camp. Jean was posted to 27 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lichfield, as…
Interview with Les Rutherford. One
During this interview Les describes his experience as a despatch rider in France in 1940, before escaping from Dunkirk and returning to the United Kingdom, eventually joining the Royal Air Force. He also describes his training in South Africa and his…