3 25 62 https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/573/23289/LGardR1852841v1.2.pdf a6303bea6d23e7cd05c2ec0d98c509fb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gard, Ronald Ronald Leslie Gard R L Gard Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gard, R Description An account of the resource Six items. An oral history interview with Flight Sergeant Ronald Gard (-2022, 1852481 Royal Air Force), his log book, correspondence reporting him missing and membership of the caterpillar club. He flew operations as a rear gunner with 463 Squadron and was shot down on an operation to Leipzig. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ronald Gard and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ronald Gard’s flying log book for navigators, air bombers, air gunners, flight engineers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mike Connock Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LGardR1852841v1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Germany Great Britain Netherlands Norway Poland Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean--North Sea England--Buckinghamshire England--Lincolnshire England--Northamptonshire England--Nottinghamshire Germany--Altenburg (Thuringia) Germany--Braunschweig Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal Germany--Düren (Cologne) Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Giessen (Hesse) Germany--Homberg (Kassel) Germany--Merseburg Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Siegen Netherlands--Vlissingen Norway--Bergen Norway--Trondheim Poland--Gdynia Wales--Bridgend Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie) Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Urft Dam Germany--Mittelland Canal Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1944 1945 1944-10-14 1944-10-15 1944-10-19 1944-10-20 1944-10-23 1944-10-28 1944-10-29 1944-11-01 1944-11-02 1944-11-03 1944-11-06 1944-11-07 1944-11-21 1944-11-22 1944-11-23 1944-12-06 1944-12-07 1944-12-08 1944-12-11 1944-12-18 1944-12-19 1945-01-14 1945-01-15 1945-02-01 1945-02-02 1945-02-08 1945-02-09 1945-02-14 1945-02-15 Description An account of the resource Flying log book for navigators, air bombers, air gunners, flight engineers for R Gard, air gunner, covering the period from 7 March 1944 to 14 February 1945 when he went missing on operations. He was stationed at RAF Stormy Down, RAF Turweston, RAF Silverstone, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Syerston and RAF Waddington. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a total of 17 operations with 463 squadron, 4 Daylight and 13 night operations. Targets were Brunswick, Nuremburg, Flushing, Bergen, Homberg, Düsseldorf, Ems-Weser Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Trondheim, Giessen, Heimbach, Gdynia, Merseburg-Leuna, Siegen, Politz and Rositz. His pilot on operations was Flight Lieutenant Padgham. Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 1661 HCU 17 OTU 463 Squadron air gunner Air Gunnery School aircrew Anson Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School missing in action Operational Training Unit RAF Silverstone RAF Stormy Down RAF Syerston RAF Turweston RAF Waddington RAF Winthorpe Stirling training Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/947/10642/LMathersRW55201v1.2.pdf 24e0c69ee38451e3fab05ad8f99499e3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mathers, Ronald R W Mathers Description An account of the resource 20 items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Ronald Mathers DFC (55201 Royal Air Force) and consists of his log books, photographs, correspondence, his decorations, and copies of two letters from Dwight Eisenhower to Sir Arthur Harris. Ronald Mathers completed a tour of operations as a pilot with 9 Squadron from RAF Bardney. After the war he took part in victory flypasts and a Goodwill tour of the United States with 35 Squadron. The collection also contains a scrapbook of the Goodwill Tour to the United States. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Heidi Peace and Ingrid Peters, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-07-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mathers, RW Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [Partial transcription] [Underlined] ADDITONAL DETAILS RELEVANT TO BERLIN OPERATIONS RECORDED ON THIS AND OTHER ADDED PAGES ARE TAKEN FROM ALAN W. COOPERS’ BOOK “BOMBERS OVER BERLIN” FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1985 AND SUB TITLED “THE RAF OFFENSIVE NOV 43 – MAR ’44. [/underlined] [Underlined] 16/17th DEC (The 6th raid of the offensive). [/underlined] Total of 418 Lancs & 9 Mosquitoes on a direct route from Ijmuiden on Dutch coast, due East to target with return north over Denmark. Fuel load normally 1750 galls. T.O.T. 2100hrs 10/10th Cloud. Wanganui marking. 25 a/c lost including two from 9 Sqn. P/O Black & crew + P/O Blayden & crew (all killed). Another 31 crashed on return due to adverse weather (low cloud & poor visibility). [Underlined] 23/24th DEC (7th raid). [/underlined] 326 lancs, 6 Halifax, 6 Mosquitoes on a southern route (Ijmuiden, Aachen skirting Frankfurt, Leipzig + NNE to Δ) with return roughly due west skirting Osnabrϋck. [Inserted] TOT approx. 4.30. [/inserted] Attack was scattered due mainly to H2S U/S. and a total of 1281 tons of bombs were dropped for a loss of 15 a/c (4%) with another 32 damaged. [Underlined] 29/30th Dec (8th raid). [/underlined] 457 Lancs, 252 Halifax, 3 Mosquito on a direct route from Hornsea to just north of Leipzig (approx. 110°) then NNE to Berlin and roughly due west back from north of the city. Weather over Δ expected to be 10/10th cloud tops at 4000’ & winds of 80mph at 25,000’. Diversionary attacks made on Magdeburg & Leipzig. 9 Lancs & 9 Halifax lost (2.8% of total) & 104 damaged (most losses by fighters). (This attack was the 94th raid on Berlin since 1940). Total bombs dropped = 1099 tons HE + 1215 tons Incendiary making a total for the “Battle of Berlin” of 14074 tons and involving 3646 a/c dispatched to Δ. [Page break] [Underlined] DETAILS FROM “BOMBERS OVER BERLIN” CONTINUED. (Added in December 1985) [/underlined] [Underlined]1/2nd JAN (9th Raid). [/underlined] 421 Lancs involved. T/O delayed over 4 hours unril after 23.00hrs by deteriorating weather which gave variable layered cloud increasing to 10/10th over Berlin. Marking sparse & widespread but 9 Sqn thought it good. Route out almost due east and back well south on Cologne via Le Tréport to English south coast. 28 Lancs lost (6.7%) inc P/O Ward of 9 Sqn for total tonnage 1400. Heavy snow fell during and after return. [Underlined] 2/3rd Jan (10th Raid) [/underlined] All available on snow clearing prior to T/O. 383 a/c but 72 returned early due to mistaken recall signal. Route out over Southwold to north of Δ and back slightly south of outward route. Heavy flak over Berlin. 27 lost. [Underlined] 20/21 Jan (11th Raid and heaviest so far). [/underlined] 769 a/c. on northerly route out over Kiel canal, then between Hamburg and Lϋbeck and landfall over Schleswig-Holstein heading south for Berlin. Weather similar to forecast of 10/10th cloud over Δ and fine on return. 2400 tons dropped causing widespread damage, over 700 casualties and 10,000 homeless. 35 a/c lost (13 Lancs, 22 Halifax), 18 known due to fighter attack and 8 to flak damage. [Underlined] 27/28th Jan (12th Raid) [/underlined] I was not on this operation in which 9 Sqn lost F/L James (aged 19) and 4 crew, with 3 becoming POW. Total losses were 32a/c. [Underlined] 28/29th Jan (13th Raid [/underlined] & slightly unlucky for us although we didn’t realise it at the time). Total of 682 a/c inc 432 Lancs. T/o around midnight. Route out past Heligoland & over Denmark, then SE to Δ and return same way. Considerable Flak reported & losses 43. Considered a most effective raid with fires & explosions seen from beyond Baltic coast. [Underlined] 30/31st Jan (14th Raid) [/underlined] 540 a/c on route over Denmark & approaching Berlin from NW, then out southwest for short leg before turning west & returning over Holland. TOT 20.15-20.30. 26 fighter combats recorded over Δ. 32 a/c lost plus 5 crashed or ditched on return. [Page break] [Underlined] 15/16th Feb(15th Raid) [/underlined] Total of 891 a/c (including 561 Lancs, 314 Halifax & 16 Mosquitoes), the largest force ever despatched to the ‘Big City’, plus 24 Lancs to Frankfurt and Mosquito attacks on 7 night fighter airfields. T/O between 5 & 6pm with return about midnight for a northerly route out over Denmark. Heavy flak experienced, particularly over enemy coast and the target. 42 a/c lost plus 4 crashed on return. 2642 tons dropped in 39 minutes. 19/20 Feb. LEIPZIG. [underlined] 78 [/underlined] lost (out of 800 – the second highest loss of the whole “Battle of Berlin”) [Page break] Frankfurt – The Raid on 22/23 March ‘44 816 aircraft took part – 620 Lancasters, 184 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitoes. An indirect routes [sic] was used crossing the Dutch coast north of the Zuider Zee and then due south to Frankfurt. This, and a minelaying diversion at Kiel, confused the Germans for quite some time. Hannover being forecast as the main target. A few fighters eventually found the Bombers. The marking and bombing was accurate and damage being more severe than in the raid 4 nights previous. There was severe damage to the industrial areas along the main road to Mainz. All parts of the city were hit but the full force of the attack fell in the districts to the west. 33 aircraft were lost on this raid – 26 Lancasters and 7 Halifaxes. 4.0% of force lost. Further interesting facts:- 162 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force used Frankfurt as a secondary target when they could not reach Schweinfurt 36 hours after this RAF raid, further damage was caused. The three raids of the 18th, 22nd and 24th March were carried out by a combined plan of the British and American air forces and their combined effect was to deal the worst and most fateful blow of the war to Frankfurt. [Page break] [Obscured text] concentrated between 10.25 and 10.43pm, but it started early and spread over an hour and many early aircraft (including mine) overshot the target on the first run and had to go round again, while others, even earlier, had to orbit & await the TI’s. The scatter caused by the wind broadened the stream from the planned few miles to 180 miles at the Baltic coast & resulted in many aircraft flying over defended areas. Losses were high at 72 (8.9%), of which at least 45 were due to flak, plus 5 crashed on return. [Underlined] SUMMARY: [/underlined] The Battle of Berlin between 18 Nov ’43 & 24/25 March ’44 totalled 16 raids involving over 9000 sorties (1/3rd of total BC sorties in the period) with a tonnage of 30,800 bombs dropped and achieved the devastation of 5500 acres of the city at a cost of 569 a/c lost or crashed and 2938 aircrew killed. This compares with a total of 255 raids, 20407 sorties, 45515 tons of bombs and 870 a/c missing during the entire war against Berlin 1940-45 inc. [Page break] [Underlined] 24/25th March (16th + final raid [/underlined] of the “Battle of Berlin” and the last large scale attack by BC.) This raid was delayed from 21st Mar by unsuitable weather. 811 a/c took part with 147 other from OUT’s on diversions. Weather was forecast as variable medium cloud with clear skies above and light northerly winds. In fact, winds were over 100mph from the north and this was not appreciated until late on, if at all with the result that navigation went hay-wire and aircraft were, literally, as newspaper headlines recorded the next day, but with a different meaning, “out all over Germany”. The route ran down to Berlin from the NW and the attack was planned to be concentrated between 10.25 and 10.43pm, but it started early and spread over an hour and many early aircraft (including mine) overshot the target on the first run and had to go round again, while others, even earlier, had to orbit & await the TI’s. The scatter caused by the wind broadened the stream from the planned few miles to 180 miles at the Baltic coast & resulted in many aircraft flying over defended areas. Losses were high at 72 (8.9%), of which at least 45 were due to flak, plus 5 crashed on return. [Underlined] SUMMARY: [/underlined] The Battle of Berlin between 18 Nov ’43 & 24/25 March ’44 totalled 16 raids involving over 9000 sorties (1/3rd of total BC sorties in the period) with a tonnage of 30,800 bombs dropped and achieved the devastation of 5500 acres of the city at a cost of 569 a/c lost or crashed and 2938 aircrew killed. This compares with a total of 255 raids, 20407 sorties, 45515 tons of bombs and 870 a/c missing during the entire war against Berlin 1940-45 inc. [Page break] The aircraft was then put on disposal until ATA pilot [obscured] it to deliver to the squadron. The Erks got a shock when [obscured] women collected these planes and flew them as good as any male pilot. Then one day, we were all hauled out to put the black and white stripes on our aircraft. We were all half asleep slapping the paint on the wings and tail ends, ready for the invasion of France. We were allowed knitting wool without coupons in air force blue – good job mum was a good knitter as she knitted me stockings to wear under the battle dress, jumpers and gloves which I could wear whilst filling the aircraft. Also a balaclava to keep my cars [sic] warm. Aircraft in disposal were often covered in snow when ATA come to collect, which meant you used a rope one each side of the wing and tired [sic] to pull it to the win [sic] tip. It makes me shiver now to think how we coped with the winters in Scotland. Having to fly with the aircraft you signed for and serviced. We lost 3 airmen from our site which were shot down over the North Sea. Thank god us girls all survived flying. Leaving – Innes House Getting back from the airfield one day we had a notice telling us we were being moved again. We gathered all our gear and [Page break] BERLIN – 24/25th March 1944 811 Aircraft – 577 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes and 18 Mosquitoes. 72 Aircraft – 44 Lancaster and 28 Halifaxes lost. 8.9& of force. The night became known in Bomber Command as ‘the night of the strong winds’. At every stage of the flight a powerful wind from the north carried Bombers south. This wind was not forecast accurately and it was so strong that various methods available to warn crews of wind change during the flight failed to detect the full strength of it. The Bomber stream became very scattered, particularly on the home flight and Radar-predicted Flak batteries at many places were able to score successes. Some of the Bomber force even strayed over the Ruhr defences on the return flight. Approximately 50 of the 72 aircraft lost were destroyed by Flak, most of the remainder being victims of night fighters. A Berlin report says that 14 Bombers were shot down by fighters in the target area. The strong winds caused difficulties in the marking at Berlin with markers being carried beyond the target to the south west of the city. 126 small towns and villages outside Berlin recorded bombs. The majority of the damage in Berlin was in south western districts. No industrial concerns were classed as destroyed but several important ones damaged. 5 military establishments were hit badly including the depot on the Waffen-SS. Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division in Lichterfelde. This was the last major RAF raid on Berlin during the war, but the city was to be bombed many times by small forces of Mosquitoes. Details of the Berlin Raid from the Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ronald Mathers pilots flying log book. One Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mike Connock Anne-Marie Watson Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LMathersRW55201v1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Pending review Review Oct 2024 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Belgium Canada France Germany Great Britain Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay Alberta--De Winton Belgium--Leopoldsburg England--Buckinghamshire England--Leicestershire England--Lincolnshire England--Northamptonshire England--Shropshire England--Somerset England--Yorkshire France--Brest France--Lille France--Mailly-le-Camp France--Marignane France--Saint-Médard-en-Jalles France--Toulouse France--Tours Germany--Berlin Germany--Braunschweig Germany--Duisburg Germany--Essen Germany--Frankfurt am Main Germany--Leipzig Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Schweinfurt Germany--Stuttgart Saskatchewan--Swift Current Saskatchewan Alberta Germany--Ruhr (Region) Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942 1943 1944 1943-12-16 1943-12-17 1943-12-20 1943-12-21 1943-12-23 1943-12-24 1943-12-29 1943-12-30 1944-01-01 1944-01-02 1944-01-03 1944-01-14 1944-01-15 1944-01-20 1944-01-21 1944-01-28 1944-01-29 1944-01-30 1944-01-31 1944-02-15 1944-02-16 1944-02-19 1944-02-20 1944-02-21 1944-03-10 1944-03-11 1944-03-15 1944-03-16 1944-03-22 1944-03-23 1944-03-24 1944-03-25 1944-03-26 1944-03-27 1944-03-30 1944-03-31 1944-04-26 1944-04-27 1944-04-28 1944-04-29 1944-04-30 1944-05-01 1944-05-02 1944-05-03 1944-05-04 1944-05-08 1944-05-09 1944-05-10 1944-05-11 1944-05-12 1944-05-19 1944-05-20 1944-05-21 1944-05-22 1944-05-23 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Description An account of the resource Pilots flying log book for Ronald Mathers covering the period from 8 May 1942 to 30 September 1944. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Sywell, RAF De Winton, RAF Swift Current, RAF Harrogate, RAF Shawbury, RAF Castle Donington, RAF Turweston, RAF Silverstone, RAF Morton Hall, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Bardney, RAF Lulsgate Bottom and RAF Swinderby. Aircraft flown were, Tiger Moth (DH82), Stearman, Oxford, Anson Wellington, Lancaster and Stirling. He flew a total of 30 night operations with 9 squadron. Targets were Berlin, Frankfurt, Braunschweig, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Marignane, Essen, Nuremburg, Schweinfurt, St, Medard en Jalles, Toulouse, Mailly le Camp, Brest, Lille, Bourg Leopold, Tours, Duisburg and Brunswick. His first or second pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Turnbull, Sergeant Ryan, Flying Officer Reeve, Flight Sergeant Redfern and Pilot Officer Campbell. The log book also contains hand written and typed printed notes of the 11 operations carried out to Berlin. Also contains four photographs of crew members, bomb aimer ‘Doc’ Brown, navigator ‘Tom Cave, wireless operator ‘Jock’ Donaldson and rear gunner ‘Nobby’ Bartlett. 1660 HCU 1661 HCU 17 OTU 9 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit air gunner aircrew Anson Berlin Campaign (23 August 1943 – 25 March 1944) bomb aimer bombing bombing of Mailly-le-Camp (3/4 May 1944) bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944) Flying Training School Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster navigator Operational Training Unit Oxford pilot RAF Bardney RAF Castle Donington RAF Morton Hall RAF Shawbury RAF Silverstone RAF Swinderby RAF Sywell RAF Turweston RAF Winthorpe Stearman Stirling Tiger Moth training Wellington wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2752/57838/SAudisRJ[Ser -DoB]v020003.pdf 0e94b312b539c859bd2a28bea307c06b https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2752/57838/SAudisRJ[Ser -DoB]v020002.pdf 7ae3af0d1ffee89493b81ca281a696af Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Audis, Roger J 9 Squadron Association Description An account of the resource 41 items. The collection contains material collected by Roger Audis related to 9 Squadron RAF and airmen who served in the squadron. The collection includes four hand written operational record books, copies of log books, and interviews with Bomber Command veterans.<br /><br />It includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.omeka.net/collections/show/4055">Scrapbook</a> belonging to Ken Rogers.<br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard James and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff, Barry Hunter, and Nick Cornwell-Smith. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-04-27 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Audis, RJ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource S A Morris’ Royal Canadian Air Force Flying Log Book Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SAudisRJ[Ser#-DoB]v020002; SAudisRJ[Ser#-DoB]v020003 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Description An account of the resource S A Morris’ Flying Log Book from 14th May 1943 until 13th May 1946. During this time trained as a bomb aimer and air gunner. Trained at No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School, No. 33 Air Navigation School, 17 Operational Training Unit, 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit, and No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School. Operational posting to 9 Squadron in May 1944. In January 1946 9 Squadron was posted to India. Morris returned to England in April 1946. Served at RCAF Picton, RCAF Mount Hope, RAF Silverstone, RAF Wigsley, RAF Bardney, RAF Waddington, RAF Salbani, RAF Binbrook. Aircraft flown were Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, B17 Flying Fortress. With 9 Squadron, Morris flew 43 bombing operations (21 day, 22 night). His bombing targets included Duisburg, Brunswick, Nantes, St. Martin de Varreville, Argentan, Rennes, Orleans, Poitiers, Aunay-Sur-Odon, Chatellerault, Watten, Gelsenkirchen, Limoges, Vitry-le-François, Pas de Calais, Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, Culmont-Chalindrey, Kiel, St. Cyr - Paris, Givors, Mont-Candon, Trossy St Maximin, Etaples, Lorient, La Pallice, Bordeaux, Brest, Alten Fjord, Munster, Tromso, Bergen, Altenbeken, Dortmund, Arnsberg, Vlotho, Helgoland, Berchtesgaden. He also flew one Cook’s tour and 4 Operation Dodge to Bari. For the operation against the Tirpitz on the 15th September 1944, he flew to and back from Archangel. His pilots were Squadron Leaders Melrose, Pooley, Flying Officers Coster and Mitchell. There are two copies. This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1943 1944-05-21 1944-05-22 1944-05-23 1944-05-27 1944-05-28 1944-05-29 1944-06-06 1944-06-07 1944-06-08 1944-06-09 1944-06-10 1944-06-11 1944-06-12 1944-06-13 1944-06-14 1944-06-15 1944-06-16 1944-06-19 1944-06-20 1944-06-21 1944-06-22 1944-06-23 1944-06-26 1944-06-27 1944-06-28 1944-06-29 1944-07-04 1944-07-05 1944-07-07 1944-07-08 1944-07-12 1944-07-13 1944-07-23 1944-07-24 1944-07-25 1944-07-26 1944-07-27 1944-08-01 1944-08-03 1944-08-04 1944-08-05 1944-08-07 1944-08-09 1944-08-10 1944-08-11 1944-08-13 1944-08-14 1944-08-16 1944-09-11 1944-09-12 1944-09-15 1944-09-16 1944-09-17 1944-09-23 1944-09-24 1944-10-29 1945-01-12 1945-02-06 1945-02-14 1945-02-22 1945-03-12 1945-03-13 1945-03-14 1945-03-19 1945-04-19 1945-04-25 1945-05-31 1945-09-15 1945-09-30 1945-10-15 1945-11-08 1946 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Canada Ontario Ontario--Picton Ontario--Mount Hope Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Northamptonshire England--Nottinghamshire Germany Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Altenbeken Germany--Arnsberg Germany--Berchtesgaden Germany--Braunschweig Germany--Dortmund Germany--Duisburg Germany--Gelsenkirchen Germany--Helgoland Germany--Kiel Germany--Münster in Westfalen Germany--Vlotho France France--Argentan France--Aunay-sur-Odon France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France--Brest France--Châtellerault France--Etaples France--Givors France--La Pallice France--Limoges France--Lorient France--Mont-Candon France--Nantes France--Orléans France--Pas-de-Calais France--Poitiers France--Rennes France--Saint-Leu-d'Esserent France--Saint-Martin-de-Varreville France--Trossy St. Maximin France--Vitry-le-François France--Watten Norway Norway--Altafjord Norway--Bergen Norway--Tromsø Russia (Federation) Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ India India--Kolkata Italy Italy--Bari France--Saint-Cyr-l'Ecole France--Culmont-Chalindrey Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Royal Canadian Air Force Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nick Cornwell-Smith Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 1654 HCU 17 OTU 9 Squadron air gunner Air Observers School aircrew Anson B-17 Bolingbroke bomb aimer bombing Bombing and Gunnery School bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945) bombing of the Creil/St Leu d’Esserent V-1 storage areas (4/5 July 1944) bombing of the Watten V-2 site (19 June 1944) bombing of Trossy St Maximin (3 August 1944) Cook’s tour Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944) Operation Dodge (1945) Operational Training Unit RAF Bardney RAF Binbrook RAF Salbani RAF Silverstone RAF Syerston RAF Turweston RAF Waddington RAF Wigsley RCAF Mount Hope RCAF Picton Stirling tactical support for Normandy troops Tallboy Tirpitz training Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1389/31249/LDixonW2206823v1.pdf 708eeff6860c5633fc1d6aab98548bb0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Connock, Mike Michael Connock M Connock Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-02-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Connock, M Description An account of the resource Eight items. The collection concerns (Royal Air Force) and contains people who served with 50 and 61 Squadrons at RAF Skellingthorpe. They include: W Dixon GR Williamson BV Robinson GA Walker L Barber HJ Whitwell The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mike Connock and catalogued by Barry Hunter. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sergeant W. Dixon’s RAF Navigator’s, Air Bomber’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LDixonW2206823v1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Belgium Germany Great Britain Netherlands Norway Poland Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean--North Sea Belgium--Houffalize England--Buckinghamshire England--Lincolnshire England--Northamptonshire England--Nottinghamshire England--Wiltshire Germany--Altenburg (Thuringia) Germany--Braunschweig Germany--Bremen Germany--Dortmund Germany--Dresden Germany--Düren (Cologne) Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Merseburg Germany--Mittelland Canal Germany--Munich Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia) Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Rheydt Germany--Saxony Germany--Saxony-Anhalt Germany--Siegen Germany--Steinfurt (North Rhine-Westphalia) Germany--Würzburg Netherlands--Vlissingen Northern Ireland--Down (County) Norway--Trondheim Poland--Gdynia Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie) Scotland--Ross and Cromarty Great Britain Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Borna (Leipzig) Germany--Ladbergen Alps Germany--Hörstel Germany--Böhlen Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1943 1944 1945 1944-10-06 1944-10-07 1944-10-11 1944-10-14 1944-10-15 1944-10-19 1944-10-20 1944-11-02 1944-11-03 1944-11-04 1944-11-05 1944-11-06 1944-11-07 1944-11-16 1944-11-21 1944-11-22 1944-11-23 1944-11-24 1944-12-17 1944-12-18 1944-12-19 1944-12-27 1944-12-31 1945-01-01 1945-01-02 1945-01-07 1945-01-08 1945-01-13 1945-01-14 1945-01-15 1945-02-01 1945-02-02 1945-02-07 1945-02-08 1945-02-09 1945-02-13 1945-02-14 1945-02-15 1945-02-19 1945-02-20 1945-02-21 1945-02-22 1945-03-06 1945-03-07 1945-03-12 1945-03-14 1945-03-15 1945-03-16 1945-03-17 1945-04-04 1945-04-07 1945-04-08 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource David Leitch Description An account of the resource Sergeant W. Dixon’s RAF Navigator’s, Air Bomber’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book, from 23rd September 1943 to 4th April 1945, detailing his training and operations as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He was stationed at RAF Yatesbury (No. 2 Radio School), RAF Evanton (8 Air Gunnery School), RAF Bishopscourt (7(O) AFU), RAF Turweston, RAF Silverstone, (17 OTU), RAF Wigsley (1654 HCU), RAF Syerston (5 LFS) and RAF Skellingthorpe (61 Squadron). Aircraft in which flown: Dominie, Proctor, Anson, Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a total of 32 operations (6 day, 26 night). Targets in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Poland were: Bohlen, Bremen, Brunswick, Dortmund, Dresden, Duren, Düsseldorf, Flushing, Gdynia, Gravenhorst, Houffalize, Ladbergen, Lützkendorf, Merseburg, Molbis, Munich, Nordhausen, Nurnberg, Politz, Rheydt, Rositz, Siegen, Trondheim and Würzburg. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Burns, Flying Officer MacFarlane and Flying Officer Lambert. Includes numerous comments on operations, including “COULDN’T CLIMB OVER ALPS OPENED BOMB DOORS & TOBBOGANED (sic) OVER” and “ATTACKED BY 5 JU88’S 2 SHOT DOWN”. Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 1654 HCU 17 OTU 61 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit air gunner Air Gunnery School aircrew Anson bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945) Dominie Heavy Conversion Unit Ju 88 Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School Operational Training Unit Proctor RAF Banff RAF Bishops Court RAF Carnaby RAF Evanton RAF Gransden Lodge RAF Middleton St George RAF Netheravon RAF Silverstone RAF Skellingthorpe RAF Stradishall RAF Syerston RAF Turweston RAF Wigsley RAF Yatesbury Stirling training Wellington wireless operator / air gunner https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/505/52630/LDavisSL1852537v1.1.pdf e49ba479f512a7bb9377226f4545c407 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Davis, Sidney Lawrence S L Davis Laurie Davis Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Davis, SL Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-12-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Description An account of the resource Five items. An oral history interview with Sidney Davis (- 2024), his log book and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 617, 619 and 9 Squadrons. The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Sidney Lawrence Davis and catalogued by Jan Johnstone. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LDavisSL1852537v1 Title A name given to the resource Sidney (Laurie) Davis's Navigator's, Air Bomber's and Air Gunner's Flying Log Book Description An account of the resource Navigator's, Air Bomber's and Air Gunner's Flying Log Book for Wireless Operator Laurie Davis (nickname Red) covering the period 19 November 1943 to 30 April 1946 and detailing training flights and operations. Served at RAF Llandwrog, RAF Silverstone and RAF Waddington. Aircraft flown in were Dominie, Proctor, Anson, Wellington and Lancaster. Pilots flown with included: Flight Sergeant Page, Flight Sergeant Clarke, Pilot Officer Hayley, Flight Sergeant Lind, Flight Sergeant George, Flight Sergeant Jury, Pilot Officer Porter, Sergeant Barton, Sergeant Wilby, Pilot Officer Goldsworthy, Pilot Officer McMaster, Flight Sergeant Mason, Flight Sergeant Thorpe, Pilot Officer Reed, Flying Officer Hawkins, Flying Officer Smith, Sergeant Taylor, Flight Sergeant Moss, Flying Officer Bone, Pilot Officer Davis, Flying Officer Wykes, Flying Officer Blow, Flying Officer West, Flight Lieutenant Langdon, Flight Lieutenant Roberts and Wing Commander Fothergill. His pilot on operations was Flying Officer Taylor. Laurie Davis flew on night operations to Harburg, Lutzkendorf, Würzburg, Bohlen and Wesel. He flew daytime operations to Essen and Dortmund. He flew four Operation Dodge sorties and served in India with 617 Squadron as part of the Tiger Force. This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Cornwall (County) England--Lincolnshire England--Norfolk England--Northamptonshire England--Suffolk Wales--Gwynedd Egypt Egypt--Cairo France France--Istres France--Marignane France--Toulouse Germany Germany--Cologne Germany--Darmstadt Germany--Dortmund Germany--Essen Germany--Frankfurt am Main Germany--Hamburg Germany--Hamburg Germany--Mannheim Germany--Mönchengladbach Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Saarbrücken Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) India India--Kolkata Iraq Iraq--Baṣrah Israel Israel--Tel Aviv Italy Italy--Bari Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco Libya Libya--Tripoli Pakistan Pakistan--Balochistan Pakistan--Digri Pakistan--Karachi Germany--Würzburg North Africa Germany--Böhlen Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1943 1944 1945 1945-03-07 1945-03-11 1945-03-12 1945-03-14 1945-03-16 1945-03-20 1945-03-23 1945-09 1945-10 1946 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jan Johnstone Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 17 OTU 617 Squadron 619 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson bombing Cook’s tour Dominie Lancaster Operation Dodge (1945) Operational Training Unit Proctor RAF Llandwrog RAF Mildenhall RAF Silverstone RAF St Mawgan RAF Tibenham RAF Waddington Tiger force training Wellington wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/641/32464/BSmithJSmithJv1-2.1.pdf fa99ddac1408d0948f187f5b15dccf96 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smith, Jack John George Smith J G Smith Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Smith, JG Description An account of the resource Three items. An oral history interview with John 'Jack' Smith (1921 -2019) and his memoirs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 189 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by John Smith and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-04-08 Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document Sparks in the Air These are the wartime recollections of Pinchbeck resident John George Smith known to his friends as Jack. Jack was born in 1921, the son of George and Bessie Smith. George was the keeper of a smallholding, raising Poultry and assisting a local farmer. [photograph of Jack] As a young teenager growing up in 1930’s England, through the newspapers of the day, Jack was aware of events taking place in Germany and of Britain’s own Fascist problems directed by Oswald Mosley. Although still only a teenager, Jack approached the time he would leave school realising that another war in Europe was inevitable. Jack left Donington Grammar School in1937 his parents and relatives asking the question “What are you going to do?” Jack had an ambition to become a Chartered Accountant however this required any potential candidate to pay an indenture however the cost was prohibitive and Jack decided to try and join the RAF instead. Ironically jack encountered the same obstacles as his Father who had been unable to join up to serve his country during the First World War because of the poor state of his teeth. At the age of 17, Jack had 22 teeth removed! Having seen an advert in the Spalding Free Press for “Well educated youth required by Chartered Accountants, Hodgson, Harris & Co”, a national company who had a small office in Spalding over Gibbs shoe shop, Jack applied and got his first job. There was no payment to the company however it only had a low wage of ten shillings a week. There were no girls in the office and as a consequence Jack had to learn shorthand typing to a standard of 100 words/minute, this alongside learning accountancy. [bold] This is Jacks[sic] account of his wartime memories. [/bold] When war broke out on 3rd September 1939 recruiting for the forces had started at 20 years plus however I was only 18 at the time. Accountancy was not a reserved occupation and in the August of 1940 I and my colleague Bill Taylor who was the same age as me and worked in the same office both decided to volunteer for the RAF as we didn’t fancy the Army or the Navy. In September 1940 we were called to the RAF station at Padgate near Warrington to be attested and undergo a medical. Bill and I undertook intelligence tests but we both knew that we wanted to be Wireless Operators. [page break] Although the war was now into its second year, there had been as yet no air raids in South Lincolnshire. Whilst at Padgate we suffered ten air raid warnings but fortunately no damage was inflicted on the airfield. It was my first experience of an air raid. This took place over the 13th, 14th and 15th of September and later became known as the Battle of Britain weekend when British fighters shot down 185 German planes. After my three days at Padgate I returned home to Lincolnshire and on the 4th November 1940 I and my friend Bill Taylor were required to travel to Blackpool. We left from Donington and travelled by train via Manchester arriving at Blackpool in the late afternoon. We were directed to Offices in the centre of Blackpool where we were officially enrolled in the Royal Air Force. Bill and I were then separated and I was lodged at a boarding house at 30 Reads Avenue Blackpool where another 15 RAF personnel were also residing. I was accommodated in the attic where there was a single fanlight, two beds and a wash basin. The next morning we assembled on the promenade near to the Hotel Metropole. Grouped into Units of approximately thirty, we were placed in the charge of an Acting Corporal. We commenced drill training and were marched around Blackpool for exercise stopping around mid morning at a Café for coffee and buns! As we were potential Wireless Operators we were required to attend the Winter Gardens daily where we were given instruction in radio technicalities and morse training. Due to double Summertime being in operation, it was exceptionally dark when we set out for the day at 8am. I was given the role of marker to the squad and marched at the front carrying a lantern. There was no heating in the Winter Gardens where we sat throughout the day in our greatcoats breaking only for refreshments before finishing training at around 4 to 4.30 pm. The food at the boarding house was acceptable being plain in nature but sufficient. In the evenings we were free to enjoy the night life of Blackpool but we had to be back by 10.30pm. After I had been there for several weeks, I joined a harmonica band consisting of around ten or twelve members and we performed at concerts held in various village halls in the area. The highlight was being able to perform at the Opera House on the same bill as George Formby. After three weeks I moved to 45 Ashburton Road along with three other RAF personnel. It was a much more homely atmosphere there, living and eating with an elderly couple who owned the property. After another three or four weeks I moved further down Ashburton Road but only stayed for a couple of nights as it was overcrowded with five to a room. I then moved to 4 Bank Street off the promenade near to the Hotel Metropole and where I had to parade each morning. This was a private hotel and very comfortable as I shared a room with only one other member of the RAF. it was extremely convenient for excursions into town in the evenings and I was happy to remain there until it was time to move on from Blackpool. [page break] Radio training continued everyday and we were tested each week at the premises of Burtons the Tailors. We were required to increase morse speed by one word per minute each week until a speed of twelve words per minute had been achieved at which point the course in Blackpool was concluded. [RAF Radio School crest] We were then posted to radio schools on normal RAF stations. I was posted to No. 3 radio School at RAF Compton Bassett in Wiltshire which was for ground operators. There was another radio school nearby to Compton Bassett, No. 4 at Yatesbury which was for aircrew operators. I enjoyed life here for the first time on a proper RAF station. My day started at 6:30 am with PT on the parade ground square before starting work at 8:00 am. I was at Compton Bassett from the end of March 1941 to the end of June which was when I qualified as a ground wireless operator and was allowed to wear ‘sparks’ on my right arm. Having successfully completed training I was allowed home for two weeks leave. This was my first leave since travelling to Blackpool the previous November. I thoroughly enjoyed the break and whilst there I received a posting to the RAF station at Bramcote near Nuneaton. This was a regular peacetime station however at this time it was mainly occupied by members of the Polish Air Force. This was my first experience of an operational signals cabin and for the first time working for real with a radio set. After several weeks at Bramcote, at the end of July, I was notified I was going on embarkation leave. After three weeks leave I had to make my way to the RAF station at West Kirby in the Wirral Peninsula. On arrival here, I found that several of my fellow colleagues who had been at radio school were also awaiting the same posting. We were all accommodated in tents. [photograph] POLISH Aircrew RAF - Fairey Battle Mk 1 sun L5427 BH*E of 300 (Polish) Bomb Squadron “Mazoviecka Province” - RAF Bramcote August 1940 - [page break] After several days we were moved by RAF transport into Liverpool for embarkation. The docks were very busy with movement of troops. We marched in units towards the vessel we were to leave England on. This vessel was the Orient Liner SS OTRANTO. Otranto was a 20,000grt passenger vessel that had been modified as a troop carrier. Some 500 RAF personnel embarked along with 3000 men of the Yorkshire Regiment. The decks of the ship went from A to H. RAF personnel were accommodated on E deck which was the last level with portholes. [photograph] There were eighteen on each mess table, we slept in hammocks and the toilets were primitive. Ten toilets without doors so there was no privacy. We knew nothing of our destination as security was so tight. On each mess table, two of the men were nominated as mess orderlies and had to bring the food from the galley. I was lumbered with one of these jobs! After being on board for 24 hours, we departed Liverpool. For me this was quite an experience having never been on a Liner before. It was quite a bright day on 31st August 1941 and our course followed the coast of Northern Ireland. We all started to take a guess at our destination and some of us thought we may be off to Canada to start our Air Crew training. For a day or so we headed due what until we were well clear of the Irish coast and out into the Atlantic. We were under escort of a number of Royal Navy vessels including two Battle Ships, the ill fated HMS REPULSE and HMS PRINCE OF WALES. [photograph] Repulse [photograph] Prince of Wales [page break] There was very little to do onboard and very little reading material available. The only book that seemed to be in circulation was ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’. After some time a number of personnel got sick and went off their food. It reached a point that on my table only myself and one other Mess Orderly were eating. A number of the party were literally very green and extremely poorly. The vessel eventually altered to a southerly course from its westward heading, still under escort, many of us spent a lot of time just sleeping and looking over the side watching the waves. Some spent their time writing letters intending to drop them off at the first port of call. All letters were censored prior to posting and in fact one of my associates was identified by the OIC as having referred to the Commanding Officer as bring “nothing more than a broken down commercial traveller”. As a result he was brough before the CO and given 7 days confinement to barracks which in this case was a cell in the depths of the ship on deck ‘H’. Several days later the vessel changed to an easterly direction giving rise to further speculation as to our destination. Eventually we made landfall on the west coast of Africa, berthing at Freetown where we stayed for a week. This was a very boring seven days as we were not allowed shore leave. We amused ourselves by watching the local boys jumping into the harbour to retrieve coins that were being thrown into the water by army personnel. The temperature was extremely hot and the humidity was high. At the end of the week we left Freetown and the vessel headed in a southerly direction. We now assumed our destination to be South Africa. As we were now in a consistently hot climate, some of us erected our hammocks on deck where it was much cooler to sleep. The next sighting of land was that of “Table Mountain” on the Cape however to our surprise we did not call at Capetown but carried on further along the South African coast eventually calling at Durban. We stayed here for a week and during that time were allowed shore leave daily. We were kindly entertained by South Africans who took us to restaurants and hotels for meals and tours in the neighbouring countryside. The weather was perfect and this was a really enjoyable and welcome break. We were extremely surprised that none of us were staying on in South Africa. We Aircrew thought that we may have been going on to Southern Rhodesia to continue air training – no such luck ,,,,,! At the end of this week we once again set sail along with our escort of Battleships heading east into the Indian Ocean. We sailed for several days before Repulse and Prince of Wales left us. No one could have imagined that only a few months later both these mighty ships had been sent to the bottom of the South China sea sunk by land based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 10th December 1941. In Japan the engagement was referred to as the Naval Battle of Malaya (Mare-oki Kaisen). We were more fortunate with our destination as the Otranto finally docked in Bombay (Mumbai) India. Once again we were alongside for a week and were entertained on pleasure trips. I found Bombay to be a very exciting and busy place. At the end of this week, we Aircrew were taken off the SS Otranto and transferred to a much smaller vessel, the SS KHEDIVE ISMAIL complete with its Lascar crew. Of 7513 grt, formerly the SS ACONCAGUA, built in 1922 as an Ocean Liner and converted to a troop ship in 1940. [page break] We eventually left Bombay heading West and once clear of India we were advised that we were going to Basrah in Iraq. This revelation was our first indication as to our final destination. There was very little comfort onboard and hammocks were again the order of the day. The Lascar crew were very helpful and attentive and at night whilst in our hammocks they would come around with a bucket of tea or chai as they called it. This was very refreshing especially with the temperature as high as it was. Although the food onboard was quite acceptable, the toilet arrangements were primitive, consisting of a trough the width of the vessel with wood seats where you sat side by side with your fellow airmen – Absolutely no privacy whatsoever …..! We were off into the Arabian Sea without any sight of land until we entered the Straits of Hormuz, being the entrance to the Persian Gulf. We now had no escorts and sailed on alone through the tranquil waters of the Persian Gulf in very high temperatures and daily sunshine. [photograph of SS Khedive Ismail] Land eventually came into sight as we approached the Northern end of the Gulf and we eventually arrived at the Port of Basrah which was a very busy port. After disembarking, we were directed to a very large cargo shed on the dockside where we were to stay for the next few days. We only had beds made from boards and raised off the floor on four empty biscuit tins. The luxury was completed with one blanket and a small pillow. The temperature at this point was most uncomfortable. Whilst awaiting a posting, we were able to go into Barrah itself and sample the local life. The authorities were slightly puzzled as there were some fifty of us qualified Wireless Operators and they were not at all sure what to do with us. This took some time to sort out. Eventually a few of us were posted to Shuaiba which is now the second largest port in the State of Kuwait. At that time it was a camp about ten miles out of Basrah which had been a peacetime RAF camp. The accommodation at Shuaiba was of brick constructed buildings having been built partly below ground to try and reduce the heat as during the height of the season temperatures exceeded 40 deg’s. I spent quite some time carrying out general duties until one morning an order for volunteers for anybody who could type was requested. By this time I was rather tired of filling sand bags and doing guard duty. As I could type and do shorthand, I decided I would risk it and volunteered. I immediately became the Squadron typist and carried out all the office work and correspondence for the C.O. After a week or so the Squadron was posted to Sharjah a British Protectorate which is now a part of the United Arab Emirates. The squadron consisted of 18 Blenheim aircraft all of which were ex OUT and were not terribly serviceable. [page break] The Blenheims were required for anto[sic] submarine patrols up and down the Persian Gulf and out into the Indian Ocean. We were moved to Sharjah by boat and disembarked by dhow into the then village of Dubai. We continued by road transport to Sharjah where we were billeted in huts which had the luxury of fans. On the edge of the airport was a stone built structure known as the ‘Fort’. This was well equipped as it was used by BOAC crew for overnight stops. Because of the very high temperatures, the Mechanics could only work on the aircraft until 10am and then cease until 6pm. It was so hot an egg could be fried on the wings of aircraft. Water was in short supply and the only bathing was done in the sea which was about half a mile away. We only had a small supply of fresh water for shaving and tea was rationed. Food was very repetative with many combinations of risoles you have never seen the like of. Once every fortnight we were allowed American beer which equated to about four half pint cans which were consumed in one night. We used to leave the empty cans outside our billets and by morning they would have been removed by the locals. If you then happened to go into the village of Dubai, these cans could be seen on sale as mugs, having had handles attached. Although I was trained wireless operator, I was still being misemployed as Squadron Typist which mean that I could not be reclassified and so remained an AC2. However, I eventually took the AC1 examination and was upgraded. Like all the other Wireless Operators out there, we all wanted to get back to complete our Air Crew training. The Adjutant suggested I re muster as a Radio Observer which meant I could go to Southern Rhodesia for training or alternatively consider obtaining a commission as a Filter Officer. Whilst at Sharjah I suffered quite badly from ‘prickly heat’ which developed into blisters requiring my admission to the base sick bay. I also had heat exhaustion around the time of my 21st birthday, running a temperature of 106 degs. I was taken to the Fort at the edge of the camp which had air conditioned rooms. My skin problems got progressively worse and I had to have by head completely shaved. I received treatment with bread poultices on my arms and legs which became septic. [photograph of an aeroplane] Eventually I was taken by air to the RAF Hospital at Shuaibah and spent 2-3 weeks there recovering in the dermatology ward. At the end of my hospitalisation, I was posted to Tehran in Iran on sick leave. I travelled by road transport through the town of Ahwaz in Iran and then by train to Tehran. This journey took 24 hours. The train was completely full with people sleeping not just on the seats but also on the luggage racks and corridors. [page break] When the train stopped in the early morning there were many locals selling eggs and bread on the platform which was very welcome. On reaching Tehran we were taken to a rest home on the edge of the city. It had pleasant facilities. We used to go into Tehran in groups of 3 or 4 personnel. Towards the end of the two weeks, I developed tonsillitis which resulted in my being taken to the Sick Bay at the RAF Station at Tehran where I remained for a further ten days. The MO allowed me to remain in Tehran until I felt well enough to travel to Basrah but after about a week, I became quite lonely as all my colleagues had by then left. After arriving back in Basrah I was then posted to Habbaniya, a real peacetime RAF station about fifty five miles West of Baghdad. I was extremely pleased to receive this posting as the climate at Sharjah did not suit me at all. Habbaniya was quite a large base, all brick buildings including two cinemas and a range of shops where you could buy clothing etc. Surprisingly even the food in the Airmans[sic] mess was exceptionally good! There were also facilities for sporting activities including tennis courts. We had local youths acting as what we called “cheekos” who did our laundry and kept the village clean. There were 16 men in each billet and we all paid the equivalent of two shillings per week for this domestic assistance. It was always done promptly and efficiently. Each billet had fans as temperatures were around thirty to forty degrees. I was employed as a Ground operator in a Signals Cabin on a shift system, working stations in the UK and India. I found this to be very enjoyable work. [bold] NOTES ON RAF HABBANIYA, IRAQ [/bold] There were numerous billets, messes and a wide range of leisure facilities including swimming pools, cinemas and theatres, sports pitches, tennis courts and riding stables. It was self-contained with its own power station, water purification plant and sewage farm. Within the base was the Civil Cantonment for the civilian workers and their families and the families of the RAF Iraq Levies. Water taken from the Euphrates for the irrigation systems enabled green lawns, flower beds and even ornamental Botanical Gardens. After World War II the families of British personnel started living at Habbaniya and a school was started. The base at Habbaniya was used by the RAF from October 1936 to the end of May 1959, Not quite a year following the July 1958 revolution. In recent years Habbiniya was used for the manufacture of mustard gas which was used against Iranian troops during the Iran Iraq war. [map of the area] [page break] [centred] The Journey Home (Habininyah to the UK) [/centred] On a February morning in 1943, I was sleeping in the billet after having been on a night shift when I was awoken by some excited discussion. This was caused by a sergeant from the Orderly room reading out a list of names of Operators being posted back to the UK to resume Aircrew training and my name was on the list! It was then necessary to get clearance from the OIC of Signals – so off we went! However the Officer said that as we were all experienced Ground Operators, we could not leave until replacements arrived and this took five months until July. There were six of us with our kit bags that were put on to an open lorry to start our return journey to England. We travelled due west over the Iraqi desert. The temperature was around 40 degs C and after about four hours we stopped for refreshment and toilet relief. The stop took place at a point on the “Oil Line” known as H3. We carried on, passing through the small town of Al Rutbah which was the only sign of any habitation that we had thus far seen. Before darkness we stopped for the night somewhere near to the Syrian/Jordanian border, having to make ourselves as comfortable as possible on our kitbags. The next morning we resumed our journey travelling just north of the Dead Sea until we arrived in a small coastal town in Gaza just South of Tel Aviv. We were in a small transit camp with brick billets, completely unfurnished. We had to sleep on a blanket on a stone floor and in the morning we all had a large number of insect bites! After spending a couple of days on a Mediterranean beach we embarked on a train for Cairo. It was a pleasant journey as it followed the coast and at each station there were vendors of eggs and bread. On arrival in Cairo we were taken by truck to the RAF base at Almaza, a few miles out of town. On this occasion we were accommodated in small (2 person) tents whilst we awaited the Liner which would return us to the UK. After ten days in Almaza, we Wireless Operators were taken to Alexandria where we boarded a large Liner. Unfortunately I never knew its name however it apparently was the first ship to go through the Mediterranean since it was closed at the beginning of the war. We docked in Algiers for two days and the day after we sailed away, the Luftwaffe attacked Algiers. Our next stop was Gibralter where every night depth charges were set off at intervals as a deterrent to U-Boats. However during our five night stay there was no air raid. The last leg of the journey was north into the Atlantic and around Ireland into the River Clyde. This was uneventful but as we sailed into Greenock it was wonderful to once again see all the green vegetation. Something that I had missed in the two years I had been away. It was now the end of August, exactly two years since I had left. There was also good news – Italy had surrendered. I was also very happy now to send a phone message to my folks via their neighbours to let them know that I was back in the UK. I travelled by train to RAF West Kirby on the Wirral to leave my tropical kit and get a three week leave pass. The next day I had arrived home to a very happy reunion with Mother and Dad. I spent the next three weeks meeting relatives and friends recounting my travels. [page break] After three weeks disembarkation leave, I was posted to Number 4 Radio School at Madley near Hereford. This was where I was to resume Air Crew training as a Wireless Operator, flying Dominis and Proctors. [photograph] The [bold] Percival Proctor [/bold] was a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor was a single-engined, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model. [photograph] At the start of the Second World War, many (Dragon) Rapides were impressed by the British armed forces and served under the name [bold] de Havilland Dominie [/bold]. They were used for passenger and communications duties. Over 500 further examples were built specifically for military purposes, powered by improved Gipsey[sic] Queen Engines, to bring total production to 731. The Dominies were mainly used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy for radio and navigation training. This was my first experience of flying and operating as a Wireless Operator and here we were flying most days for about one and a half hours carrying out various operation exercises on the radio. RAF Madley was also a peacetime Station and the accommodation was quite good and included bunks for two members each in huts containing about sixteen personnel. Whilst I was here, I was with a number of the men that I had served with in Iraq so I was quite happy with the friends that I already knew. We used to go into the local village in the evenings, frequenting the local hostelries where I had an enjoyable time making up the[sic] for the two years I had spent overseas! The course finished at the end of December 1943 and this is when I passed out and was promoted to Sergeant. At the same time I was also presented with my previ, the letter ‘S’ for Signals in the centre. Previously Wireless Operators had been Air Gunners as well but that had by then been discontinued and a Wireless Operator was purely a Wireless Operator and not required to do a Gunnery course. Having qualified, I was kept on for a few more weeks assisting with the training of other personnel. At the end of April 1944 I was posted along with some of the other Wireless operators to No 9 Advanced Flying Unit at Llandwrog in North Wales which is close to the town of Pwihelli and also close to Caenarfon. The drome here was along the coastline and planes taking off the runway immediately across the Irish sea. [page break] At Llandwrog we were training in Anson aircraft doing cross country exercises, out across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man, back to the Lancashire coast and returning to base in Wales. This was during the month of May 1944 and continued into June until the course was completed on 12th June 1944. By this time, I’d had 43 hours of lectures and about 37 hours of flying time. This had been quite good experience as we had been night flying on a number of occasions and experienced flying in terrific thunderstorms. The whole aircraft having been completely encircled in a blue light including the wings! This was quite an unnerving experience. [photograph] On two occasions whilst stationed at Llandwrog, two of the training aircraft taking off failed to raise into the air and ditched in the sea. Each about 200 -300 metres from the shore. Fortunately the crews survived. During my time there I was kept pretty busy however I did get into the local pub occasionally. There was a bit of a problem in that the pubs closed at 9 o’clock in the evening so you were never late getting back to camp. I was aware that there were certain local farms where airmen could go and have a bacon and egg meal and other enjoyable food but I never managed that. Having completed the advanced w/t course, I was then posted to No. 17 Operational Training Unit at Turweston, Northamptonshire which was also part of RAF Silverstone. Turweston was the satellite drone where I spent my first period operating. It was here at Turweston where we were all selected into different crews which was quite a hit and miss affair. This was because the Pilots were selecting more or less randomly the members of their crew from those present in the room. I was picked by an Australian Pilot, Flight Sergeant Rob Richter. In addition to myself we had a Navigator (Alan Capey) from Stoke on Trent, a Bomb Aimer (Taffy Cross) from Llanelli, an Flight Engineer (Ossy Williams) from New Malden, a Mid Upper Gunner (Price Proctor) from Hartlepool and a Tail Gunner (Paddy McCrum) from Belfast. It seemed strange putting together a crew in such an informal manner but thank goodness it all worked out reasonably well and we all sort of bedded down together in pretty good form. We then started operating together and flew in Vickers Wellington Mk III’s and I was now flying as a Wireless Operator no longer under training. [page break] [photograph] We were accommodated in nissan huts amongst a lot of trees and I was working together with a team for the first time. As we got on so well together we were socialising each evening, visiting the local hostelries in Silverstone and Brackley. The weather at this time was perfect and I was enjoying the experience of flying with a crew in the Wellington aircraft. The flying exercises we were doing began with circuits and landings. We then developed this on to cross country and high level bombing exercises at Wainfleet in Lincs. and also Epperstone in Notts. This included air firing for the benefit of the gunners. At the end of July our crew were moved into the RAF base at Silverstone with more permanent accommodation than we had previously had at Turweston. It was all most comfortable and I was quite content here. We were now mainly doing cross country flights on a regular basis with these being between three and five hours in length. In the middle of August we were sent on a semi operational patrol known as a “Nickel Raid”’ dropping foil paper to interfere with radio in enemy territory. This was a flight to Nantes in France where we unloaded the foil. This was a five hour trip. Two days later we were sent on a “Bullseye” which was a diversionary raid for the benefit of the main force. This was a trip to the coast of Holland to the town of Imjuiden. During the time at Turweston and Silverstone we had experience of 57 hours of daytime flying and 57 hours of night flying. As part of the training we carried out bale out drill, ditching, dinghy and oxygen drills as well as procedures when lost at night. It was the Wireless Operators job to carry the radio transmitter into the dinghy which would be used to transmit any distress signals. I’m pleased to say that this situation never arose. On 24th August 1944 we were sent on two weeks leave after which we were then posted to the Heavy Conversion Unit no. 1661 at RAF Winthorpe near Newark. The planes we used here were Mk III and V Stirlings. We carried out more cross country exercises however we were only here for one month. Our Pilot always likened the Stirling to the equivalent of flying a Double Decker Bus because the undercarriage was so high. [page break] [black and white photograph of a Short Stirling] Short Stirling On the 18th October 1944 we were posted to No. 5 Lancaster finishing school at Syerston, between Newark and Nottingham. This was our first experience of flying Lancasters. We were only here until the 8th November when we were all posted to various squadrons. [Crest of Royal Air Force Syerston] I and my fellow crew were posted to the RAF staion [sic] at Fulbeck which was purely a wartime air station and here we joined No. 189 squadron which is a Base that we shared with No. 59 Squadron. I arrived at RAF Fulbeck on the 9th November 1944. The Station was situated between RAF Cranwell and the villages of Leadenham and Brant Broughton all with good pubs which we visited regularly when off duty. My home in Quadring was only 25 miles away and as I had my bicycle I went home for the evening several times. I left camp at 4pm and by 6pm I was home. At midnight I would return to camp, arriving two hours later. It was a lonely ride but I usually had a pint bottle of beer in my saddle bag for refreshment on the journey! The daily routine in camp commenced about 9am when all crew members reported to their Sections. We were then given the days programme after which it was necessary to check your own particular equipment. At midday we all returned to either the officers or Sergeants mess for lunch. The only flying our crew did in November was a cross country and two high level bombing exercises at Wainfleet and Epperstone. Naturally we were waiting to be called for our first operation and during the month we had the experience of being fully briefed for three trips, all being cancelled before take off which was a bit nerve wrecking. However on the 4th December 1944 when we reported to our Sections we were informed that we would be on ‘Ops’ that night. After lunch the procedure was for all crews to attend the full Squadron briefing between 4pm and 5pm when we were told the target location and purpose of the raid. Depending on the nature of the target, the maximum bomb load was 16,000 lbs and 2,200 gallons of fuel. With a full load of bombs/fuel, the total weight of the plane on take off was 30 tons. The flight plan gave the level at which we would be bombing and could be 8000 to 16000 feet. The more trips you did, then lower was the level at which you bombed. [page break] There were usually several Squadrons - about 200 aircraft on night trips. There was a rendezvous point, either Northampton or Beachy Head, for us to group together. As the whole force would be over the target for thirty minutes, each crew was given a bombing time - H plus 10 or H plus 20 etc. It was an amazing experience in total darkness with no lights on the planes and a complete blackout of all towns and villages below. Our average take off time was 7 to 8pm. As we were not permitted to return to the mess or accommodation after lunch, we had sandwiches and flasks of tea with us. Upon returning to base, often in the early hours of the morning we were first debriefed on the raid. After that we had a very welcome meal of bacon and eggs etc, before going off to bed. Our first trip was to HEILBRON near STUTTGART in the RUHR to bomb the railway marshalling yards. Taking off for your first raid was a rather eerie feeling, not knowing what it would be like or if you would be coming back. However, once airborne your thoughts fall to getting the job done. After three hours we were over the target area giving us a very bumpy ride. Thankfully we were not hit and having dropped our 4000 lb bomb and a load of incendiaries, the yards were glowing with the fires raging. We returned to base safely and satisfied with our first operation. Our next ‘Op’ was GIESSEN near FRANKFURT on 6th December where the target was once again marshalling yards. On the 19th December we went on a long ten hour journey to GDYNIA. All went fairly well until we arrived over the target which was the docks. We should have done a ‘dog leg’ around the target (which we somehow missed!) to enable us to bomb on a northerly heading, coming out of the run over the Baltic Sea. As a consequence we were coned by searchlights and received heavy targeted gunfire from the German Navy below. Fortunately they missed us and we eventually had a successful raid. To avoid the enemy night fighters our Pilot took us down and we flew as low as possible over the Baltic and North Sea, not seeing any other activity although there had been some 200 enemy night fighters in amongst the main stream of bombers on the way home. Two nights later we were sent to POLITZ, not far from GDYNIA which was another ten hour trip. On this occasion we were in heavy gunfire and heavy anti aircraft fire and for the first time we witnessed ‘Scarecrow’ being used by the enemy in order to create panic. Once again we were successful and set out to return home. On the journey back we were informed by radio that Lincolnshire was completely fog bound and we were diverted to RAF Milltown near Elgin. We remained there, as from 21st to 28th December 1944, Lincolnshire continued to be fog bound. Far Right: ‘Scarecrow’ [black and white photograph of a ‘Scarecrow’ exploding] AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL SUK12055 [page break] On the 30th December, we were sent to Houffalize, Belgium which was a town in the middle of the Western Front, south of Liege in the Ardennes. Here we were supposed to bomb the front line which was a rather delicate operation. Although it was a relatively short trip of five hours, we needed a lot of care as to where we were bombing. We learned later that a number of the Polish army had been caught by the bombs on that occasion. On New years Day 1945 we were sent to bomb Gravenhorst for the numerous oil targets that were situated there. Unfortunately we could not return to base and once again returned to Milltown in Scotland where we stayed for a couple of days. On 4th January, I flew with another crew piloted by Flying Officer Martin due to the sickness of their Wireless Operator. On this occasion we went to Royan, a town in the south West of France near to Bordeaux principally to attack the Submarines of the German Navy which were on the river there. This was a seven hour journey to the mouth of the Gironde which was quite uneventful. On the 13th January we were sent to the town of Politz again which was a ten and a half hour trip. We were successful mainly targeting oil and marshalling yards alongside the Navy. Because of the length of the trip, on the return journey the flight engineer indicated that our fuel was not sufficient to get back to base. I made contact with base to establish where we should land given our circumstances and we were directed to make for Carnaby which was the emergency landing strip near to Flamborough Head in Yorkshire. We were fortunate to land there safely as there was virtually no fuel leaf onboard. On the 16th January I was back with my own crew and flew with them to the town of Brux. This was an oil target with a round trip time of nine and a half hours. This was over towards the Polish area. On the 1st and 2nd February we attacked the towns of Siegen and Karlsruhe. Both these trips were bright moonlit nights which made it much easier for the German night fighters to attack us when we were silhouetted against the moon. We did experience interference from night fighters and as always the anti aircraft fire was very intense. On the Karlsruhe trip, out of our 18 aircraft we lost 4 that night. On the 7th February we went to Ladbergen in order to attack the Dortmund-Ems canal. On this occasion we only carried 1000lb bombs with no incendiaries in the hope that we inflicted as much damage as possible to the canal. On the 13th February we had a very long trip to Dresden. This we were told was because the Russians had driven the German Army back and it was encamped in Dresden. This was termed as a “Russian Army co-operation raid”. The American Airforce had been operational during the day and had bombed the target so by the time we were arriving around midnight, the town was ablaze. We were successful over the target but did encounter a lot of the usual anti aircraft and fighter aircraft. On the way back to base over the Alps we were icing up and had to go down as low as possible which was a tricky operation being amongst the mountains. However we were once again able to make it back to base. [page break] Of course after this raid there has been much publicity about it and as the years have passed, the extent of the damage became more apparent and the subject tended to not be mentioned. However being aware of the reasons for the raid, it seemed to me to be a very satisfactory legitimate target and one that was done with extreme efficiency. The very next night on 14th February, we attacked an oil target at Rositz which is near Leipzig. This was another nine hour journey there and back. A few nights later on 19th February we were again in the vicinity of Leipzig over the town of Bohlen and once again it was an oil target. On all these Oil targets we carried a 1000lb’er and a load of incendiaries. On 20th February we went all the way to Gravenhorst but unfortunately the sortie was aborted and we were unable to return to base because of adverse weather conditions and we were diverted to Colerne. On 23rd February we were given a very different target in Horten which were the docks in the Oslo fjord in Norway which had a German Naval base there. This was a comparatively short trip it being only six and half hours and we experienced a lot of intense anti-aircraft fire from the German Naval gunners. On 12th March, we carried out our first raid in daylight and joined a one thousand bomber force. The target that day was the town of Dortmund. This was quite a new experience and rather frightening being amongst so many other bombers, all at the same time and all approaching the same area. However, the raid was successful and we returned without incident in what was a five hour trip. The next trip was to Lutzkendorf, an oil target which was quite a long journey and well into Eastern Germany. This was on 14th March and although the raid was a success, we did lose several aircraft. Once again the weather conditions in Lincolnshire prevented us from returning to base and we were diverted to Manston in Kent where there was an emergency landing strip. Two days later on 16th March we had another oil target to attack in the town of Wurzburg. Here we experienced a lot of fighter activity and heavy anti-aircraft. We were very lucky to get back! On 20th March we returned to raid Bohlen near Leipzig and this was another eight hour trip. On 23rd March we were sent to the town of Wesel to attack the marshalling yards there. This was a mere five and half hour trip which we carried out without incident. On 4th April we were sent on a daylight raid to Nordhausen and this was to attack oil targets and the marshalling yards. On 23rd April we were again raiding in daylight, this time to Flensburg on the Kiel canal. This was to attack the submarine pens there however the sortie was aborted and we returned home without encountering any problems. Three days later we were sent to Brussels to repatriate a group of ex prisoners of war. We managed to pack in twenty four in the fuselage of the aircraft and we flew to Westcott in Buckinghamshire. This made a very pleasant change and the former POW’s were naturally in good spirits. As the war was nearing its conclusion, we found ourselves doing more training exercises for a day or two and on 6th may[sic] we were back in Brussels collecting more former POW’s and this time we brought them home to Dunsfold in Surrey. [page break] We repeated this some six days later on 12th May. On each occasion there were twenty six former POW’s in our fuselage. On 15th April we flew to Lille to repatriate more POW’s. On 16th April 1945 we were sent on a grand tour of Germany to see what damage had been done. This covered the towns and cities of Bremen, Hamburg, Harburg in Bavaria, Brunswick, Cassel, Wurzburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne, Osnabruck and back to base. The whole trip took some eight and a half hours. This was a very interesting and exciting flight to see just what effect the bombing had on Germany. On 1st April 1945, the Squadron had been transferred to Bardney which is nine miles east of Lincoln. This is the RAF station from where we operated the two daylight raids and the trips to collect the former POW’s. Also on this Station was No. 9 Squadron. They specialised in carrying very large bombs which they used to bomb the hiding place of Hitler in the Mountains. On most of the raids I was on, the anti-aircraft fire was quite intense in most places and the night fighters were usually very busy. The one frightening aspect that the defenders of certain targets used was to send up “scarecrows” this giving the impression of one of our bombers exploding and crashing in flames. How this was achieved, I am unsure but it was extremely frightening. Our crew had the unfortunate luck of having to be changed after the third trip as our Rear Gunner had been caught sleeping twice whilst we were still over enemy territory. On the first occasion when the Skipper called to him there was no reply and I was asked to go and find out what the problem was. I found that both the turret doors were open and he was lying back on the shute into the turret with his intercom lead pulled out of the socket. I informed the Skipper that he had not replied because his intercom was out. However on the very next trip the same situation occurred again whilst we were still well over Germany. On that occasion I did report to the Skipper that he was in fact asleep. After that he was removed from the Crew and we had to have substitutes for the remainder of our trips. After the raid on Karlsruhe we had lost four aircraft which I have already referred to but in fact on several trips one or two failed to return however I have no record of the numbers lost in my period of Operations. In the May of 1945, the Crews were being dispersed as our tours had finished with the war coming to an end on 8th May 1945. A number of us volunteered to assist with hay making and I spent about two weeks on a farm near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire after which we were all sent on leave for a few weeks. As we completed the tour, we were then given a rest period and at that point we expected to be going on operations in the Far East at the later stage however the war ended there on 15th August. As I was home on leave, I received a posting to RAF Woodbridge which was an emergency landing strip in Suffolk. There I was more or less just operating in the Flight Control Tower and also assisting in the Officers and Sergeants Mess’s with their accounting systems. I had plenty of spare time and the town of Ipswich was close by. This is where [I] and my friends were going most nights. [page break] One of my close friends at Woodbridge was Warrant Officer Bill Patterson, a pilot who had a lady friend called Rena in Ipswich. I was told that Rena had a lady friend who said that she would like to meet me. A date was duly arranged for the 4th November 1945 for me to meet this lady on the steps of the Post Office in Ipswich at 6 o’clock. The person that turned up was a young lady called Avis Fleet. That evening we went with Bill and Rena as a foursome for a drink in Ipswich and we had a very pleasant time. Consequently I continued to meet Avis on a regular basis and was taken to her home on Norwich Road where I met her parents and young brother Geoffrey who was only eleven at the time. We met very regularly most days as I didn’t have much to do at Woodbridge and our friendship grew until by the end of December we had agreed to get married in 1946. Avis and I went to my parents home in Quadring on Boxing Day and spent a few days there before returning to Ipswich. At the end of December, I was promoted to Warrant Officer which made my weekly pay Six Pounds and Eleven Shillings which at the time was pretty good money. I continued to meet Avis regularly whilst the release groups from the RAF were in number order and I was number thirty five. With the assistance of my friend Bill Patterson who was then in the Release Centre, I went for demobilisation on 3rd April 1946. I collected my civilian outfit and returned to Ipswich to meet Avis again. Of course being released at that time meant that I had a quantity of clothing coupons which helped Avis considerably in getting her wedding outfit etc. The wedding was arranged for the 4th May 1946 and this took place at All Saints Church Ipswich. I continued to receive pay from the RAF until the end of Mat[sic] 1946 by which time I had resumed my work as an accountant with Hodgson Harris in Spalding. [wedding photograph] After living with my parents for 4 or 5 weeks, I managed to obtain a furnished flat in Spalding at 13 High Street which was along by the riverside. [page break] In 1950 when war broke out in Korea I decided to join the RAF Reserve and this meant going to No. 9 Reserve Flying School at Doncaster. I would attend there at weekends, taking part in various flying exercises. In August 1951 as part of Reserve Training, I did two weeks camp at Topcliffe in North Yorkshire and flew in Ansons on cross country exercise which also included a trip to Malta. The last trip I did was in an Anson in a North Sea search for the Spurn Lightship. This was on 1st February 1953. After this I was retired from the Reserve as I was over the age of twenty nine. Whilst on Operations we had nine days leave every six weeks and all received Ten Pounds per week from Lord Nuffield (The boss of Ford Motor Co). In appreciation of our services. Returning from leave sometimes could be worrying. In our huts there would be members from 4 or 5 different Crews and returning home some would be missing from raids. On one occasion there were members of 7 Crews in our hut and on our return from one sortie, 5 were missing. This was a huge shock! I thoroughly enjoyed all of my time with the RAF and would say that it was as good as going to a University. I realise that I am very fortunate to be still alive at the age of 92. I now have the medals of my service history including the Bomber Command Clasp for the 1939-1945 Star. I hope my story will be of interest to whoever may read it. [two pages from 189 Squadron Fulbeck logbook] [page break] [photograph of Andrew Gaunt as sub-postmaster at Pinchbeck] Jacks[sic] WW11 story and experiences have been brought together by Andrew Gaunt former Sub Postmaster of Pinchbeck (2000 to 2014), from recordings made by Jack of his time with the RAF and his personal recollections of events and flying missions that he was sent on. Utilising Jacks[sic] log book and researching events that he has referred to. It seemed appropriate that I brought Jacks[sic] recollections together having myself been a fellow Wireless Operator. Being a Marine Radio Officer from 1975 to 1986 and visiting many of the ports of the Middle East that Jack transited on his journey. Ironically Merchant ships no longer have a requirement to carry an R/O. This position disappeared in the 1990’s whilst the requirement to carry a W/O on aircraft was I believe removed sometime in the 1960’s. My own experiences took me frequently into areas of conflict notably the Persian/Arabian Gulf, regularly through the then dangerous Straits of Hormuz during the Iran/Iraq war and I also have my own vivid recollections of the Iranian Revolution. Acknowledgements are made to the following sources whose photos have been used although there appear to be many copies of the same photos on different sites. Polish Aircrew at RAF Bramcote – polishsquadronsremembered.com Troopship SS Otranto – britisharmedforces.org HMS Repulse – historyofwar.org HMS Prince of Wales – dailymail.co.uk Troopship SS Khedive Ismail – cruiselinehistory.com Blenheim Aircraft – spitfirespares.co.uk WW11 map of Iraq – en.wikipedia.org Percival Proctor Aircraft – en.wikipedia.org De Havilland Dominie Aircraft – rafyatesbury.webs.com Avro Anson Aircraft – uboat.net Vickers Wellington Aircraft – aviationresearch.co.uk Short Stirling Aircraft – aoth.17.dsl.pipex.com “Scarecrow” phenomena – awrm.gov.au Whilst the tragic fate of Repulse and Prince of Wales is a well known WW11 event, a lesser known event but equally tragic story lies in the fate of the SS Khedive Ismail which took Jack into the Persian Gulf in late 1941. The SS Khedive Ismail was sunk by a Japanese submarine on 12th February 1944 with the loss of 1,297 lives. The vessel Sank in just two minutes. For more information on this terrible event visit www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/SSKhediveIsmail.htm The story is also covered in The book “Passage To Destiny” by Paul Watkins. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sparks in the air - Jack Smith's wartime story Description An account of the resource <p>Wartime recollections of John (known to his friends as Jack) George Smith from Pinchbeck. He tells of life before the war, how he went on to volunteer for the RAF in August 1940 and describes his training as a wireless operator. The document includes the radio school crest and a photograph of a Battle aircraft. He describes, in detail, his long voyage from Liverpool via Cape Town, eventually arriving at RAF Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and describes life and work on this station. He tells of medical issues and his subsequent posting to RAF Habbaniya in Iraq. Goes on to describe journey back to England overland via Gaza, Cairo and Alexandria, thence by ship. On returning he continues aircrew training at RAF Madley and Llandwrog in Wales. The document Includes photographs of Proctor, Dominie and Anson. After crewing up and starting operations on Wellington aircraft, he continues with postings to heavy conversion units and Lancaster finishing school before joining 189 Squadron at RAF Fulbeck. He then goes on to describes, in detail, operations from December 1944 to April 1945, including repatriating prisoners of war and Cook's tour to see damage to German cities. He describes life after the war including his marriage. The memoir includes photographs of Wellington. Stirling, night bombing, wedding and a page from logbook.</p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource A Gaunt J Smith Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Twenty page printed book with b/w photographs Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BSmithJSmithJv1-2 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Spalding England--Cheshire England--Lancashire England--Blackpool England--Wiltshire England--Liverpool South Africa South Africa--Cape Town South Africa--Durban India India--Mumbai Iraq Iraq--Baṣrah United Arab Emirates Iraq--Ḥabbānīyah Gaza Strip--Gaza Egypt--Cairo Egypt--Alexandria England--Herefordshire England--Northamptonshire Wales--Gwynedd England--Nottinghamshire Germany Germany--Heilbronn Germany--Giessen (Hesse) Poland Poland--Gdynia Belgium Belgium--Houffalize Germany--Wolfsburg (Lower Saxony) France France--Royan Czech Republic Germany--Karlsruhe Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal Germany--Dresden Germany--Leipzig Germany--Dortmund Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden Germany--Würzburg Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia) Belgium--Brussels Germany--Flensburg Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie) Scotland--Moray Egypt Gaza Strip Germany--Ruhr (Region) Czech Republic--Most North Africa United Arab Emirates--Shāriqah Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1937 1940-09 1940-11-04 1941-03 1941-08-31 1943-02 1943-12 1944-04 1944-06-12 1944-08-24 1944-11-09 1944-12-04 1944-12-06 1944-12-19 1944-12 1944-12-30 1945-01-01 1945-01-04 1945-01-16 1945-01-13 1945-02-01 1945-02-02 1945-02-07 1945-02-13 1945-02-14 1945-02-20 1945-02-23 1945-03-14 1945-03-16 1945-03-20 1945-03-23 1945-04-03 1945-04-23 1945-05-06 1945-05 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource David Bloomfield Maureen Clarke Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive 1661 HCU 17 OTU 189 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson Battle Blenheim bombing bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945) Cook’s tour crewing up Dominie Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School military living conditions Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy Operation Exodus (1945) Operational Training Unit Proctor RAF Bramcote RAF Compton Bassett RAF Fulbeck RAF Llandwrog RAF Madley RAF Milltown RAF Padgate RAF Silverstone RAF Syerston RAF Turweston RAF Winthorpe RAF Woodbridge recruitment Scarecrow Stirling training Wellington wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/641/32465/BSmithJSmithJv1.1.pdf 06d252abf25757870b967f73da7e1fc8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Smith, Jack John George Smith J G Smith Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Smith, JG Description An account of the resource Three items. An oral history interview with John 'Jack' Smith (1921 -2019) and his memoirs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 189 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by John Smith and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-04-08 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sparks in the air - Jack Smith's wartime story Description An account of the resource Second version. Covers life before the war and volunteering for the RAF in August 1940 and continues with an account of training as a wireless operator. The article includes radio school crest and photograph of a Battle aircraft. He describes his voyage from Liverpool via Cape Town, eventually arriving at RAF Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, having travelled through several countries. He describes life and work on this station. Describes medical issues and subsequent posting to RAF Habbaniya in Iraq. Goes on to describe journey back to England overland via Gaza, Cairo and Alexandria thence by ship. Continues aircrew training at RAF Madley and Llandwrog in Wales. Includes photographs of Proctor, Dominie and Anson. Describes crewing up and starting operations on Wellington aircraft. He continues with postings to heavy conversion units and Lancaster finishing school before joining 189 Squadron at RAF Fulbeck. Describes operations from December 1944 to April 1945. Mentions repatriating prisoners of war and Cook's tour to see damage to German cities. Describes life after the war including his marriage. Includes photographs of Wellington. Stirling, night bombing, wedding and page from log book. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource A Gaunt J Smith Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Twenty-eight page printed document Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BSmithJSmithJv1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Spalding England--Cheshire England--Lancashire England--Blackpool England--Wiltshire England--Liverpool South Africa South Africa--Cape Town South Africa--Durban India India--Mumbai Iraq Iraq--Baṣrah United Arab Emirates Iraq--Ḥabbānīyah Gaza Strip--Gaza Egypt--Cairo Egypt--Alexandria England--Herefordshire England--Northamptonshire Wales--Gwynedd England--Nottinghamshire Germany Germany--Heilbronn Germany--Giessen (Hesse) Poland Poland--Gdynia Belgium Belgium--Houffalize Germany--Wolfsburg (Lower Saxony) France France--Royan Czech Republic Germany--Karlsruhe Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal Germany--Dresden Germany--Leipzig Germany--Dortmund Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden Germany--Würzburg Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia) Belgium--Brussels Germany--Flensburg Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie) Scotland--Moray Egypt Gaza Strip Germany--Ruhr (Region) Czech Republic--Most North Africa United Arab Emirates--Shāriqah Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1937 1940-09 1940-11-04 1941-03 1941-08-31 1943-02 1944-04 1944-06-12 1944-08-24 1944-11-09 1944-12-04 1944-12-06 1944-12-19 1944-12 1944-12-30 1945-01-01 1945-01-04 1945-01-16 1945-01-13 1945-02-01 1945-02-02 1945-02-07 1945-02-13 1945-02-14 1945-02-20 1945-02-23 1945-03-14 1945-03-16 1945-03-20 1945-03-23 1945-04-03 1945-04-23 1945-05-06 1945-05 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Maureen Clarke 1661 HCU 17 OTU 189 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson Battle Blenheim bombing bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945) Cook’s tour crewing up Dominie Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School love and romance military living conditions Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy Operation Exodus (1945) Operational Training Unit Proctor RAF Bramcote RAF Compton Bassett RAF Fulbeck RAF Llandwrog RAF Madley RAF Milltown RAF Padgate RAF Silverstone RAF Syerston RAF Turweston RAF Winthorpe RAF Woodbridge recruitment Scarecrow Stirling training Wellington wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/185/3629/LSayerT591744v1.1.pdf 83e258c6faf6ed7815681549299d9b06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sayer, Thomas Tom Sayer T Sayer Description An account of the resource 13 items. An oral history interview with Flying Officer Thomas Sayer DFM (1922 - 2021, 591744 54901 Royal Air Force), two log books, service material, newspaper cuttings and photographs. After training as a pilot in the United States of America, Tom Sayer flew Halifaxes with 102 Squadron at RAF Pocklington. He was commissioned in 1944 and became an instructor. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Tom Sayer and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-02-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Sayer, T Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tom Sayer's Royal Canadian Air Force pilot's flying log book. Book one Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LSayerT591744v1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Royal Air Force. Coastal Command Royal Air Force. Transport Command Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource one booklet Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1941 1942 1943-02-22 1943-02-25 1943-02-28 1943-03-03 1943-03-06 1943-03-09 1943-03-12 1943-03-15 1943-04-30 1943-05-25 1943-05-26 1943-05-27 1943-05-28 1943-05-29 1943-05-30 1943-06-11 1943-06-12 1943-06-19 1943-06-20 1943-06-21 1943-06-22 1943-07-13 1943-07-14 1943-07-15 1943-07-16 1943-07-24 1943-07-25 1943-07-26 1943-07-30 1943-07-31 1943-08-09 1943-08-10 1943-08-11 1943-08-12 1943-08-13 1943-08-17 1943-08-18 1943-08-23 1943-08-24 1943-08-25 1943-08-27 1943-08-28 1943-08-30 1943-08-31 1943-09-01 1943-09-05 1943-09-06 1943-09-27 1943-09-28 1943-09-29 1943-09-30 1943-10-04 1943-10-05 1943-10-08 1943-10-09 1944-07-18 1944-07-19 1944-09-01 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Canada France Germany Great Britain United States Alabama Florida England--Gloucestershire England--Yorkshire Georgia--Atlanta France--Le Creusot France--Montbéliard Germany--Aachen Germany--Berlin Germany--Bochum Germany--Essen Germany--Frankfurt am Main Germany--Hamburg Germany--Hannover Germany--Krefeld Germany--Leverkusen Germany--Mannheim Germany--Munich Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Peenemünde Germany--Wuppertal Italy--Milan Germany--Düsseldorf England--Cornwall (County) Italy Georgia Germany--Ruhr (Region) Description An account of the resource Royal Canadian Air Force pilot's flying log book for Sergeant Tom Sayer from 28 July 1941 to 17 December 1944. Detailing training and operations flown with Coastal Command and Bomber Command. After training in the United States and Canada he served at RAF Linton on Ouse, RAF Marston Moor, RAF Pocklington. Aircraft flown were Stearman, Vultee, Harvard, Oxford, Blenheim, Whitley, Halifax, Anson, Horsa and Stirling. He carried out a total of 35 complete operations as a pilot, eight antisubmarine patrols with 10 OTU from RAF St Eval, one with 76 Squadron from RAF Marston Moor and 25 with 102 Squadron from RAF Pocklington on the following targets in France, Germany and Italy: Aachen, Berlin, Bochum, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Krefeld, Le Creusot, Leverkusen, Mannheim, Milan, Montbéliard, Munich, Nuremberg, Peenemünde and Wuppertal. His first or second pilots on operations were Sergeant Carrie, Sergeant Hewlett, Sergeant Lewis, Pilot Officer Mann, Sergeant Green, Flying Officer Phillips, Sergeant Davis, Sergeant Henderson, Sergeant Thorpe, Sergeant Miller, Flight Sergeant Cummings and Flying Officer Kay. He then became an instructor and glider tug pilot. The log book is well annotated and contains printed training material. He completed one additional special operation 18 July 1944 with 620 Squadron from RAF Fairford ‘(SAS. 3 chutists, 24 containers 4 paniers [sic])’ and 1 September 1944 from RAF Ringway ‘parachute jump 600’ singly into lake.’ Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 10 OTU 102 Squadron 1652 HCU 17 OTU 620 Squadron 76 Squadron 81 OTU Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson Berlin Campaign (23 August 1943 – 25 March 1944) Blenheim bombing bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943) bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943) Flying Training School Halifax Halifax Mk 1 Halifax Mk 2 Halifax Mk 3 Halifax Mk 5 Harvard Heavy Conversion Unit Horsa Operational Training Unit Oxford pilot RAF Fairford RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor RAF Leconfield RAF Linton on Ouse RAF Marston Moor RAF Ossington RAF Pocklington RAF Ringway RAF Sleap RAF St Eval RAF Stanton Harcourt RAF Tilstock RAF Upwood Ruhr Campaign (5 March – 10 July 1943) Stearman Stirling submarine training Whitley https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1451/28020/MMarsdenJ1591984-151027-03.pdf c8627831668dffc3b855d4a27a8f2c8e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Marsden, Jack J Marsden Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-10-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Marsden, Jack Description An account of the resource 89 items. The collection concerns Jack Marsden (1591984 Royal Air Force) and contains documents, objects and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 166 Squadron and was shot down 3/4 May 1944. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Janet Marsden and catalogued by Barry Hunter. Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document Two Days in May 3rd May. Dunholme lodge Lancaster, JB134 PG-G at its dispersal, was one of 300 ordered from AV Roe Chadderton, Between June and December 1943. It had already done over 340 hours of bombing attacks, thirteen to Berlin and many more to similarly well defended targets in Germany and others in enemy held France etc. It had been damaged seven times by Anti air craft fire, had been Bombed by aircraft flying above, attacked by German fighters and damaged at least five times, in return, they shot down two of them! Today, 3rd May 1944, PG-G was going through all the routine of testing, inspection, and arming, in preparation for another operation and soon the bombload would be delivered. The Crew. Weary as they were, having been on “ops“ the previous night were more than “Browned Off” to see that they were “On” again. They were pleased to have been told at briefing however, that it was an “easy target” in France, called Mailly-Camp and also that the radio op Harry Brady & the Gunners Jack Maltby & Freddy Joy, had all been awarded the Immediate Distinguished Flying Medal. Little was made of the fact that the attack was to be in full moonlight and that there at least 5 German Fighter units on the outer & homeward tracks along the way. Just one other point …. The “OP” was only going to be worth one half a Point toward the 30 needed to complete their Tour and a long need rest. PG-G took off from Dunholme at about 10 pm, with the full crew of seven on board, plus one extra, there to “Gain experience” The official records show, “Nothing further was heard from this aircraft.” Courboin village France. There had been no sleep for the villagers on the night of the 3rd May, as later reported by the Schoolmaster., the villagers had been kept awake by the roaring, from 10 pm (??) onward of the R.A.F. aircraft above. At about quarter To [sic] midnight, a massive explosion from the valley just below the village is best reported on by the Schoolmaster, but, it signalled the end of PG-G and the lives of the eight crewmen. Flight Out …. Nothing can be known positively about this from the aircraft, but fragments from un named observers. It is considered however, that PG-G had reached a position over Chateau-Thierry, 50 miles from the target when it was attacked by one of hundreds of German fighters. A running battle ensued, & the Lancaster was next spotted with two engines on fire, over the village of Courboin where it was observed sweep away and subsequently crash and exploded in the valley a hundred yards from the village. The German Fighter then came down low, circled the crash three times exposing his own against the flames. [page break] [underlined] A NEW DAY – MAY 4TH 1944 [/underlined] At Shipley, West Yorkshire, 4th May 1944 dawned, after a quiet night, with sunshine pleasant and normal. Granny was fast asleep, it was only 7.30 a.m and Mum was just about to go out to work and the son of the house wakened to a feeling of apprehension, wondering why and what the day had to hold. The answer was ‘Get up, go to work and find out’. Normality, was already a thing of the past. A telegram at 10.30 a.m confirmed the fact. In the small Village of Courboin, 35 miles south west of Paris, normality also became a thing of the past, at about 11.45 p.m on the 3rd of May, the previous night. By that time the drone of R A F Bombers overhead had long since put an end to any thoughts of sleep for the approximately 200 inhabitants. Within minutes, a huge explosion almost put an end to the village of Courboin as a wounded Lancaster crashed and exploded in the valley perhaps 200 yards away, destroying it, and damaging some remote properties almost 2000 yards away. Of the crew of 8 Airmen, there was no immediate sign, but as the 4th of May dawned it became evident that all 8 were killed. The new day for Courboin had begun. [black and white photograph of villagers coming out of church following two coffins] A “Stolen” photograph of hundreds of villagers from miles around leaving the village Church of [indecipherable word] following the coffins (2) of the Crew to their last resting place in the village Graveyard. [page break] Mr. Michel, of Courboin, Teacher, has written this account, whose authenticity we confirm. Wednesday 3rd May 1944, 10 p.m. A beautiful Spring night, soft, starlit. The moon is shining high in the sky. A milky clarity bathes the sleeping countryside. For a quarter of an hour the powerful R.A.F. bombers have been passing over the village in a roar of thunder, pursued by a number of enemy fighters, skimming over the rooftops, clinging onto their tails like angry, fierce, little terriers. Canon fire, followed by burst of machine gun fire. The battle rages. 10.15 p.m. An aircraft in flames, an absolute torch, comes in from the South West. Suddenly two red missiles light up the sky, then an incredible explosion rents the air. Throughout the entire village, windows shatter, roof tiles tumble off, doors and windows slam. I comprehend what has happened – very close by, one of our poor friends has crashed to earth with its entire load of bombs. We have to rush to render assistance if it is possible. Let us hurry before the Boche [sic] arrive. There are bound to be parachutists to help. We shall hide them. I don’t have time to put on my jacket or my shoes, but I run. It doesn’t take long to run 600 metres. What a sight! Below the cemetery, along a gully, an opaque, red cloud rises up. The forest is burning in over twenty places. The heat is intense. A pungent smell fills the air. Machine gun fire rattles out. Impossible to get close. No-one around. I will come back at dawn. I will be the first. When I get close to the cemetery, I notice a plane flying very low which circles three times above the inferno and disappears in the night. Thursday 4th May. I arrive as day breaks. The sight that meets my eyes is worse than anything I could have imagined. In the middle of a meadow surrounding the woods is a kind of huge crater from which flames and smoke are still escaping. A copse has completely disappeared. The ground is burnt, blackened, devastated over an area more than 2000 metres wide. Within 150 metres of the site, tattered clothes hang here and there, on the branches of mutilated trees, half-charred. Others are strewn around on the ground, mixed with turned clay and human remains. I am sorry to have to report these sad details. On a scrap of material, I read “Wadsworth”. Is this the name of a crew member? Will we ever know anything about these brave boys who gave their youth and their life for our freedom? 8 a.m. Lots of people about. My daughter picks up a wad of partly burned French banknotes, 1800 francs, which she gives to the police. A brave woman gives me an identity tag which I shall keep carefully. It bears the name H. BRADY R.A.F. 120.963. We mustn’t give anything to the Boche. [sic] Soon they arrive. Five of them, accompanied by three French policemen. The report is quickly made. The “Verts-de-gris” are especially keen to find out whether the English plane was brought down in aerial combat. [page break] We refuse to give them this satisfaction (no, an accident). They want us to put the remains of the airmen into a sack for immediate burial. After all, they are only English, no need to stand on ceremony! Once the Boche [sic] have left, our rural policeman arrives. A brave man, who is to spend hours piously collecting the remains of our unfortunate friends. I have to say that he conducted this painful duty with laudable courage and honesty. However he received no payment, the mayor said cynically “Did you see them this time? They came to your house”. The village wheelwright made the coffin, in which we placed the remains of these poor crushed bodies, on the silky whiteness of a parachute. And at midday on Friday 5th May the coffin, which was taken into the chancel of the church, soon disappeared under an avalanche of flowers. I visit the parish priest who lives 5 kilometres away. We agree that we should conduct a religious service for the English airmen which is worthy of their sacrifice. Nothing could be too beautiful for them. We agree on the next day, Saturday. 2 p,m., 6th May The news has spread quickly. At the agreed time, the little church draped in black cloth is full to bursting. Including the school children, more than four hundred people are there. Such a throng has never before been seen here. Two old women have walked more than 10 kilometres for the occasion. After the absolution, the priest delivers the funeral oration in praise of these heroes who displayed such supreme and magnificent courage, in order to save the population of the village, to deliberately manage to crash outside its borders. I am at the head of the eight pallbearers. The man on my right is concerned about the presence of a “Fritz” in the village square. So what! We shall see. In fact right in the middle of the square, a German officer is standing to attention and saluting. At the cemetery, sprays of flowers pile up. The last benediction is said over the coffin. I take a few discreet photographs. The ceremony is over. When I return, I see the Mayor shaking the hand of the Boche [sic] officer. An hour later, an unknown hand has placed a little English flag with the words “To our valiant airmen” on the beflowered grave. One month later, at 11 p.m. on 8th June, I was going up to bed when a car stopped at my door. Two “Verts-de-gris” got out, submachine guns in their hands. It was bound to happen to me. For two years I had been repeatedly singled out, I had had nothing but trouble. On 19th March 1943, an inquiry, my house was searched! On 10th October 1943, a visit from a Gestapo agent, disguised as a priest etc. This time a huge devil of a military policeman put his hand on my collar and pushed me into the car shouting “Now PARISS”. I thought of Fresnes. Half-dressed, head bare, bare feet in my shoes, I only had time to cry out to my children “Goodbye little ones”. With two such brutes, you don’t know what to expect. This time I had committed the crime of encouraging the Resistance by organising a big public event for the English. I was bound to be deported. [page break] But on 10. June, after three interrogations and two bowls of soup which you wouldn’t have offered to a dog, I had the incredible luck, instead of leaving Compiegne, the antechamber of the Nazi paradise, to be given my freedom with these benevolent words: “You have been marked with red ink! Look out! You know what red ink means to us?” Yes, unfortunately! We know, accursed race! The blood of the martyrs cries vengeance! A little true story. An English parachutist came down in the village of Courboin. A small ten year old boy helped to hide him. A little while afterwards, the military police arrived and questioned the little boy. “Did you see any strangers?” “No.” “We’ll give you some sweets if you tell us.” “But I have nothing to tell you.” “We’ll give you three kilos of sweets.” “I don’t know anything at all.” “You can have a big bag of sweets.” “I didn’t see anyone.” The military police went away, heads bowed. [page break] [underlined] 1 [/underlined] Pilot Officer 159050 Douglas Arnold Wadsworth DFC Born 16 February 1921 Age 23. Born Thurlestone, South Yorkshire (!) Attended Penistone Grammar School. Civilian Occ’ Company Rep (Commercial Boilers) Joined RAF 6.3.41. Promotion to P/O effective 10 – March. 1944. 1st Op 30/31 – 8.1943 with 29 OTU. 1st Op with 619 (as 2nd pilot) 29/30.12.43 – Berlin Sgt 1499247 Arthur Naylor. Born in 1922 Age 22 [underlined] First [/underlined] op was to fly as Second Air Bomber with JB134 on the attack on Mailly-le-Camp 3/4 May 44. Nothing else known. At time of death, Mother lived in Blackburn Lancs. A distant relative did not respond to further enquiries. Flight Sgt 1511190 John Dengston. Born 4.5.23 Aged 21 [symbol] in South Shields. Apprentice Joiner ex Air Training Corps. Trained as Air Bomber (Bomb-aimer) in Canada under Empire Training Scheme. Promoted Flight Sgt March 1944 [symbol] Research of timings indicate that JB134 was shot down 15 mins before Johns 21st Birthday. (11.45 pm 3 May) Over [page break] Sgt 1589723 John Raymond Burgess. Born 1925 age 19 Though I located friends of John as a youth, at 19, little was known other than he was a member of ‘The Boys Brigade’ and held a Bronze medal of the Royal Life Saving Society. His Crew position was Flight Engineer. Flight Sgt 1576638 Arthur (?) Clifford Skenlon, age 22 Born 13.7.21. Educated, Alderman Newton Boys Grammar School. Awarded scholarship there 1932. Became a clerk with London North Eastern Railway Co. He had an artistic temperament and also played the piano. Trained in South Africa as Navigator. On return to UK at 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit Wigsley Notts, met up with Sgts Joy and Maltby and shortly after joining 619 sqdn became Navigator to the crew of JB134, replacing the original Nav’ who left the Crew on posting away. [symbol] [symbol] Name & Reason not disclosed – Sgt. 1592172 Jack Harrison Maltby DFM Born 26.12.06 Age 36. Educated Belle-View Grammar school Bradford & Bradford Technical College studying Textiles & Design Quiet type but outgoing cyclist as hobby & Sport. Married, Son born 3 months after 3/4 May 1944. One time member of Home Guard trained as Air Gunner (mid upper) and shot down JU88 along with a second shared on. Brunswick attacks & Munich April 44 [page break] [underlined] 2 [/underlined] Sgt 1397521 Frederick Henry Joy DFM. Age 23. DFM. Born Canterbury 1921. Educated Payne Smith School. I do not know anything re. occupation. Early RAF life & training before 619 Sqdn. No 1 Air Gunnery School, No 17 Operational Training Unit and 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit. Freddie – who I met just once – was also responsible along with Jack Maltby for shooting down the JU88’s. He came home with Jack Maltby on a 48 hour Pass half way through their ‘tour’. They slept for most of the 48 hours! Sgt. 1209681. Henry George Brady. D.F.M. Age ? Henry was married and had – I think, 2 children. As Wireless Operator, he also operated what was in 1944 secret device coded as M.O.N.I.C.A. A type of RADAR which warned of enemy aircraft in the vacinity. [sic] We believe that Henry – like Jack Maltby – was old for a Crew member and had more family responsibility than most. It will be seen from his recommendation for the DFM. that he played a vital part in safe guarding JB134 and the crew during attacks by enemy fighters. In a brief conversation with his Daughter some years ago I told her of his actions as “Wireless Operator” – she said ‘I had no idea that he had such an important job” – which of us did say I.! [underlined] over [/underlined] [page break] The awards of DFC & DFM’s to the Crew members were classed as Immediate Awards, that is, they were awarded for a particular act of bravery or distinguished flying. The recommendations reflect that:- [underlined] Particulars of Meritoreous [sic] Service [/underlined] 3.5.44 [underlined] Henry Brady. [/underlined] On the night of 22/23 April 44 Sgt Brady was Wireless Operator in an attack in an aircraft detailed to bomb Brunswick. Shortly after leaving the target he identified an enemy aircraft by means of special equipment. At the app’ moment, he ordered the pilot to take evasive action, thus preventing fire from the ‘EA’ causin [sic] serious damage to his aircraft. Visibility was poor and the gunners were unable to see the EA untill [sic] it closed to within 500 yards, when they opened fire. The enemy air craft broke away and was lost from sight by the gunners. Sgt Brady kept contact with it and reported its movements so that the gunners were able to identify it as a JU88 and open fire when it made a second attack. It missed their Lancaster, but their return fire was seen to strike the enemy and it broke away. Sgt Brady maintained contact and as the enemy closed for a third attack, he again gave his pilot directions for combat manoeuvres – subsequently, fires from both gunners caused the EA to dive away with smoke pouring from both engines and it has been claimed as probably destroyed. There is no doubt that Sgt Brady’s skill and coolness saved his aircraft from being destroyed or very seriously damaged and enabled the 2 gunners to see the EA at Max’ visibility & probably destroy it. This illustrates the sterling quality of Sgt Brady, who has always set a fine example to his crew comrades and to his Squadron as a whole. I strongly recommend Sgt Brady for an Immediate Award of the DFM. Signed AS Butler Group Capt Commanding RAF Dunholme Lodge & RA Cochrain Air Commodore AOC 5 group RAF [page break] [underlined] 3 [/underlined] [underlined] SGT Jack Harrison Maltby. [/underlined] (3.5.44) Sgty Maltby has now made 19 1/3 operational sorties as Mid-upper gunner against targets in Germany and Occupied Europe. Among targets attacked [deleted] are [/deleted] have been such heavily defended cities as Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. On the night of April 22/23, and shortly after bombing the target, his aircraft was attacked three times in succession by a JU88. By good shooting and excellent co-operation with the rear gunner he drove off the enemy fighter and, finally, shot it down with smoke pouring from both engines. The JU88 is claimed as probably destroyed. Sgt. Matlby’s keenness and efficient crew co-operation have played a large part in making his crew one of the best in the Squadron. The confidence he inspires in the other crew members has greatly assisted them in their completion of many successful sorties, and his teamwork with the Rear Gunner of his crew has enabled the latter to show highly satisfactory combat results. He possesses the offensive spirit to a high degree. I strongly recommend Sgt Maltby for an Immediate Award of the Distinguished Flying Medal. 3.5.44 AS Butler – Group Capt Commander RAF Dunholme Lodge. Recommended for Immediate Award RA Dechain? Air Vice Marshall AOC 5 Group RAF [underlined] Over. [/underlined] Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Two Days in May Description An account of the resource A detailed memoir of the operation to Mailly-le-Camp when Lancaster JB314 crashed, killing all eight crew on board. It includes an eye-witness account by one of the villagers. The remains of the airmen were collected and buried with ceremony. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-05 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 10 typed sheets Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MMarsdenJ1591984-151027-03 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. France France--Château-Thierry France--Mailly-le-Camp Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Tricia Marshall Maureen Clarke Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1944-05 1654 HCU 17 OTU 29 OTU 619 Squadron air gunner Air Gunnery School aircrew anti-aircraft fire bomb aimer bombing bombing of Mailly-le-Camp (3/4 May 1944) childhood in wartime crash Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Flying Medal final resting place flight engineer Heavy Conversion Unit Ju 88 killed in action Lancaster navigator Operational Training Unit pilot RAF Dunholme Lodge RAF Wigsley training wireless operator https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1780/36177/LDidcoteWG574095v1.2.pdf cc2d34efdc71c8d457df3d7ff8c4159a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Didcote, William George W G Didcote Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Didcote, WG Description An account of the resource Three items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader William George Didcote OBE (b. 1922, 574095 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and two photographs. He flew operations as a navigator with 115 Squadron. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Timothy Victor Wilks and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource W G Didcote’s South African Air Force observer’s or air gunner’s log book Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942 1943 1944-02-15 1944-02-16 1944-02-19 1944-02-20 1944-02-21 1944-03-15 1944-03-16 1944-03-30 1944-03-31 1944-04-10 1944-04-11 1944-04-12 1944-04-18 1944-04-19 1944-04-20 1944-04-21 1944-04-22 1944-04-23 1944-04-26 1944-04-27 1944-04-28 1944-05-01 1944-05-02 1944-05-09 1944-05-10 1944-05-11 1944-05-19 1944-05-20 1944-05-21 1944-05-22 1944-05-23 1944-05-27 1944-05-28 1944-05-31 1944-06-01 1944-06-05 1944-06-06 1944-06-07 1944-06-08 1944-06-09 1944-06-10 1944-06-11 1944-06-14 1944-06-15 1944-06-16 1944-06-23 1944-06-24 1944-07-05 1944-07-06 1944-07-07 1944-07-08 1944-07-10 1944-07-12 1945 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Belgium France Germany Great Britain South Africa Atlantic Ocean--English Channel Belgium--Kortrijk England--Cambridgeshire England--Cumbria England--Lincolnshire England--Northamptonshire England--Suffolk France--Audinghen France--Caen Region France--Dreux France--Laon France--Le Havre France--Le Mans France--Lisieux France--Nantes France--Nucourt France--Paris France--Paris Region France--Rouen France--Valenciennes France--Vaires-sur-Marne France--Versailles Region France--Watten Germany--Aachen Germany--Berlin Germany--Cologne Germany--Dortmund Germany--Duisburg Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Essen Germany--Friedrichshafen Germany--Leipzig Germany--Nuremberg Germany--Stuttgart South Africa--Oudtshoorn South Africa--Port Alfred Germany--Ruhr (Region) France--Ouistreham France--Cap Gris Nez France--Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines France--Noordpeene France--Chambly France--Pas-de-Calais Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mike Connock Cara Walmsley Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LDidcoteWG574095v1 Description An account of the resource South African Air Force observer’s or air gunner’s log book for W G Didcote, covering the period from 15 December 1942 to 9 November 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown, instructor duties and duties with 90, 186, 218 and 83 Squadrons. He was stationed at SAAF Oudtshoorn, SAAF Port Alfred, RAF Millom, RAF Silverstone, RAF Wratting Common, RAF Waterbeach, RAF Witchford, RAF Chedburgh, RAF Manby, RAF Tuddenham, RAF Stradishall and RAF Coningsby. Aircraft flown in were Tutor, Botha, Anson, Oxford, Tiger Moth, Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a total of 32 operations with 115 Squadron. His pilots on operations were Flight Sergeant Carter, Flight Sergeant Gibson, Pilot Officer Rowe-Evans, and Pilot Officer Atkin. Targets were Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Laon, Aachen, Rouen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Essen, Friedrichshafen, Chambly, Cap Gris Nez, Courtrai, Le Mans, Duisburg, Dortmund, Trappes, Ouistreham, Lisieux, Paris, Dreux, Nantes, Le Havre, Valenciennes, L’Hey, Watten, Vaires and Nucourt. He also flew one Operation Exodus flight and one Operation Dodge flight. Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 115 Squadron 1651 HCU 1653 HCU 1678 HCU 17 OTU 186 Squadron 218 Squadron 83 Squadron 90 Squadron Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson Berlin Campaign (23 August 1943 – 25 March 1944) bombing bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944) bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944) bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944) Botha Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Lancaster Mk 1 Lancaster Mk 2 Lancaster Mk 3 Me 110 navigator Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944) Operation Dodge (1945) Operation Exodus (1945) Operational Training Unit Oxford RAF Chedburgh RAF Coningsby RAF Manby RAF Millom RAF Silverstone RAF Stradishall RAF Tuddenham RAF Waterbeach RAF Witchford RAF Wratting Common Stirling Tiger Moth training Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2529/48552/LJacksonWHA965484v1.1.pdf 4782ab8730356b40bafd86f7fc37efc7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jackson, William Hugh Anthony W H A Jackson Description An account of the resource Three items. The collection concerns William Hugh Anthony Jackson (b. 1921, 965484 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, and a photograph. He flew operations as a pilot with 105 Squadron. The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Anthony Jackson and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-10-15 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Jackson, WHA Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William Hugh Anthony Jackson's Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book. One Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context LJacksonWHA965484v1 Description An account of the resource William Jackson’s Flying Log Book 1 from 12th July 1940 until 14th February 1943 as a pilot. Training started in No. 15 Elementary Flying Training School, then No. 6 Flying Training School, 17 Operational Training Unit. Posted to 105 Squadron in February 1941 for operations including a detachment to Malta. Posted to Central Flying School in November 1941 to be trained as a flying instructor. Return posting to No. 6 Flying Training School and No. 6 Advanced Flying Unit as instructor. In August 1942 posted to 23 Operational Training Unit. Served at RAF Carlisle, RAF Little Rissington, RAF Upwood, RAF Swanton Morley, RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Luqa, Malta, RAF Church Lawford, RAF Upavon, RAF Pershore. Aircraft flown were Magister, Anson, Blenheim, Tiger Moth, Oxford, Tutor, Boston, Botha, Wellington, Lysander, Defiant. Jackson flew 35 day operations. Many were shipping sweeps and convoy intercepts in the North Sea, Mediterranean and Ionian Seas. His targets included Ostend, Nieuport, Emden, Le Havre, Haarlem, Stockum, Antwerp, Borkum, Helgoland, Norderney, St Omer, Chocques, Dunkirk, Bremen, The Hague, Pantelleria, Tripoli, Catania, Buerat, Homs, Sirte. On 7th July 1941 his aircraft was attacked by a JU-88. The other two crew members were wounded and he had to belly land the aircraft. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Great Britain. Royal Air Force Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1941-04-03 1941-04-04 1941-04-07 1941-04-19 1941-04-21 1941-04-23 1941-04-25 1941-04-27 1941-04-29 1941-05-01 1941-05-03 1941-05-07 1941-05-12 1941-05-22 1941-05-25 1941-05-27 1941-06-11 1941-06-14 1941-06-17 1941-06-19 1941-06-21 1941-06-23 1941-06-26 1941-06-28 1941-06-30 1941-07-04 1941-07-19 1941-07-30 1941-08-07 1941-08-08 1941-08-09 1941-08-11 1941-08-16 1941-08-22 1941-08-23 1941-09-10 1941-09-22 1941-09-25 1942 1943 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Cambridgeshire England--Cumbria England--Gloucestershire England--Norfolk England--Warwickshire England--Wiltshire England--Worcestershire Scotland--Moray Malta Atlantic Ocean--North Sea Mediterranean Sea Belgium Belgium--Antwerp Belgium--Nieuwpoort (West Flanders) Belgium--Ostend Germany Germany--Ruhr (Region) Germany--Borkum Germany--Bremen Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony) Germany--Helgoland France France--Dunkerque France--Le Havre France--Pas-de-Calais France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) Netherlands Netherlands--Haarlem Netherlands--Hague Italy Italy--Catania Italy--Pantelleria Island North Africa Libya Libya--Al-Khums Libya--Surt Libya--Tripoli Italy--Sicily France--Chocques Germany--Norderney Libya--Buerat el Hsun Libya--Al-Khums Libya--Surt Europe--Frisian Islands Europe--Frisian Islands France--Pas-de-Calais Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Log book and record book Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource One booklet Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nick Cornwell-Smith Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Conforms To An established standard to which the described resource conforms. Review Oct 2024 105 Squadron 17 OTU 23 OTU Advanced Flying Unit aircrew Anson Blenheim bombing Boston Botha Defiant Flying Training School Ju 88 Lysander Magister Operational Training Unit Oxford pilot RAF Carlisle RAF Church Lawford RAF Little Rissington RAF Lossiemouth RAF Luqa RAF Pershore RAF Swanton Morley RAF Upavon RAF Upwood Tiger Moth training Wellington https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/1671/30465/BCameronDCameronDv1.pdf b0bff7f94bf1612f872c86b64efb811e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cameron, Don D Cameron Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-08-20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Cameron, D Description An account of the resource 90 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Don Cameron (173516, Royal Air Force) a pilot who flew Lancaster on 115 Squadron. Collection contains his log books, a memoir, a aircrew categorisation card and photographs. The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Neil Cameron and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Access Rights Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies. Permission granted for commercial projects Transcribed document A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Transcription Text transcribed from audio recording or document [Illustration showing Lancaster Bomber with following text superimposed] World War II & Flying Memoirs by Donald Cameron [handwritten] To Neil & Diane With love from Dad Don Cameron June 6, 2000 [/handwritten] [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] [Photo of man in RAF uniform] [bold] How did I get to be in Scotland and England for 15 years? [/bold] Most of you will have heard this story already, but just in case, here it is again. In 1937, my sister, Miriam arranged to spend her summer holidays with a visit to Scotland. I went with Mum and Dad to see her off at Union Station. I don’t think the train was out of sight, when Dad said, “Let’s go off to Scotland too”. I told them that I could not really go, because I had promised to go to a boys’ camp at a farm just north of Klienburg, as nature study leader. This camp was got going by one of my brothers Ken’s friends, Al Richardson. The boys were mostly from Dufferin St. Baptist Church. We had cycled up there quite often in the spring to get things all set up. Of course Ken could not go either, because he was already working. Well my parents quickly arranged for Mrs Mascall to be our housekeeper while they were away and Mum and Dad took off for their holiday in Scotland. 1938 was the year of the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow Scotland and I was hoping that somehow I get to see it. We had friends, Dr. Ernie and Bella Pallet. We knew them as Uncle Ernie was a government veterinarian. He suggested that I should work my way to Scotland on a cattle boat. I went for that in a big way, so he 2 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] arranged the whole thing. I was to start my trip at the stock yards at St. Clair and Keele Street, where I was to get aboard the caboose of the cattle train. Actually I first had to climb up into the shunting engine, while they were hooking up the train, great fun for a sixteen year old. Then I climbed down and changed into the caboose. This part of my journey cost $2.00. There were three of us in the caboose, me and an old Glasgow man, as well as the regular guard. It was quite a ride. Canadian Pacific had started their express freight trains, which was something new at that time. I was surprised to see a spanking new passenger engine on the front of our train. I was able to sit up top and look out over the train and all around as we took off along the CP line across the city just north of Dupont St. very close to home, then out through Agincourt on the line that still comes through Whitby. As night came on I was given a mattress to sleep on and it was on top of what looked like a storage chest, with a flat top. Everything was just dandy until the engineer decided to slam on the brakes. This was no stop like on a passenger train. I went sliding, mattress and all right off the bed place and hit the front of the caboose. The guard had a good laugh. So did I, once I realised that nothing was wrong. This happened just near Trenton. Next day, I had to arrange about signing on as part of the crew of the cattle boat. Apparently I was the youngest of the lot. They decided that that I should be pantry boy and that did not please me at al. I had hoped to be looking after the cattle. Strangely, the cattle were breeding stock. Usually, I thought, Canada imported breeding cattle from Europe, but apparently it worked both ways. One of my duties was to take the brass ventilators off the officers’ cabin doors, polish them, and put them back on. I had them all set up in the pantry, perched myself on a high stool and started to clean them up. Well, the captain came by and started yelling at me. I hadn’t a clue was [sic] he was saying, although I found out later that he came from Port Gordon in Banffshire where my mother was from. Anyway, I got fired as pantry boy and was put with the other cattlemen. I was happy about that. We had a real nice smooth trip across the Atlantic. It was like a mill pond. A big Basking Shark seemed to follow us all the way. I had never seen one of them before. There were all sorts of surprises; we were not strictly a cattle boat; we had other cargo as well. I remember watching as they loaded all sorts of stuff. I remember that there were crates marked Singer Sewing Machines. As we sailed up the Clyde, I was surprised to see the big Singer Sewing Machine factory on the banks of the Clyde. We docked at Princess Dock in Glasgow, right in the centre of the city. We were told to wait board until Customs and Immigration came aboard to clear us. Well I sat for a good half hour and then decided that nobody seemed anxious to see me. So off I went. I had an address to go to and started off on a tram. I was meeting Emily Gault, one of the women who made our house their meeting place. These women were in Toronto in domestic Service. Emily worked in Rosedale. We got together alright and I made some visits to the Empire Exhibition. Then Emily was to take me north to 3 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] visit her family in Thurso, right up in the very north of Scotland. I remember that I had a hard time realising that it could possibly be 11 p.m. and still be quite light. [blank space - missing photo?] My big memory from his visit was my first flight in an aircraft. The lane was a DeHaviland bi-plane with a crew of one, the pilot. The door to the cockpit was left open and I wondered how this guy could fly this plane and take pictures of the WWI battleships that had been scuttles in Scapa Flow back in those old days. After that I went to visit all my relatives in Buckie and Aberchirder. Finally I settled in Aberdeen with Aunt Miriam and Uncle John. I had a great summer holiday. My father had asked me to look at a course with the North of Scotland College of Agriculture. We intended to go into a horticulture business together, once I graduated from my training. I really did not want to train in Scotland and told him that I would much prefer to go to Niagara College for my training. The result was that I suddenly realised that I was due to report in Glasgow for my return trip to Canada, but had never gone to see the college in Aberdeen. Their head office was in an old Victorian building at 41 ½ Union Street on the 5th floor. The elevator was an old fashioned wire covered affair, which did not impress me at all. I took a look at the big mahogany door with frosted glass and gold lettering and decided this was not for me. Before I had turned to come away a woman came up behind me. She said, “You want the North of Scotland College of Agriculture? This way.” She seemed to almost push me through the door. I know she did not actually, but anyhow I was in. Well they did have a good course. One of my spur of the moment decisions made me sign up for the course. So there I was a guest of my aunt and uncle which my Dad had arranged if I should decide to stay. Before I could start my course, they required a year’s experience working in horticulture. If I wanted, I could work without pay, in their experimental gardens at Craibstone. I started almost immediately. As Craibstone was about 5 miles from where I lived in Aberdeen, I soon got permission to buy a bicycle. I well remember the day war was declared. On Sunday, September 3rd, 1939 I came out from morning 4 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs worship service to find that special editions of the Press and Journal were being sold on the street corners. Britain had declared war on Germany after they refused to withdraw from Poland. We had been reading about their Blitzkreig tactics throughout their take over of so many countries in Europe. I thought, “They will sink this little island!” By this time I had finished my year at Craibstone. I started the course and I did finish my first year. Of course by this time Britain was at war with Germany. The government wanted to increase food production as much as possible. I was asked if I would postpone my training until after the war. I told them that I felt sure the answer would be, “Yes”, but as I was here at my father’s expense, it would have to be his answer. His reply to my cable agreed. The college then employed me at Craibstone as one of their gardeners Britain had conscription, so one by one the workers were absorbed into the armed forces. I gradually took over different jobs. The last one I took over was to operate their big Dennis power mower. The lawns were to be cut with light and dark stripes and very straight. Mowing one direction I would make a light stripe. Going back the opposite direction it showed up as dark. The job was to keep all lines straight. Mr. Cox, their head gardener wondered whether I could manage this task. I was willing to try. He watched as I did a few lines and decided that I could do the job just fine. I must admit that they did look good. My age group came along for conscription. I reported, showing my passport to show them my age. They told me that I was not a resident, just a visitor and could not be conscripted. I was amazed and asked if anything could stop me from volunteering. No, I could certainly do that. I made my way to the RAF recruiting office and volunteered for the RAFVR (Volunteer Reserve). Eventually I was asked to report at Lord’s Cricket Grounds in London. We were in a holding centre until we could finally be sent to an ITW (Initial Training Wing). They were really pushing pilot trainees through at this time and all ITW’s were going at capacity. I was sent instead, to a bomber airfield, Hemswell in Lincolnshire, where the education officer did his best to teach us what we had to know. I did manage to pass, although more than half of our course did not make it. They were sent to a regular ITW. After finishing my ITW course at Hemswell in Lincolnshire, I was eventually posted to a holding centre in the Metropole Hotel in Brighton. This seemed to be a place where trainees were kept until somewhere would be available to start them on their flying training. In all I was there for 16 weeks. It was a case of being present for morning parade, where a roll call ensured that you were present. This was followed by a march along the promenade, for no better reason than there was nothing else to do with us. It did not take long for a few of us to find that being in the tail end of this parade, we could easily vanish down a side street and be lost. There was a convenient Lyon’s café, that had delicious crumpets and marmalade. The local YMCA, I think it was, had a good billiard table. I became pretty good with billiards and snooker during this period. I did get a task to do in the post office in the hotel. Apart from sorting out the mail for inmates like myself, we also collected the old newspapers for 5 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs disposal. I started doing the Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle, which developed my liking for good crosswords. We did get really fed up down in Brighton. A posting to Rhodesia came up, so I volunteered to goo there for my flying training. After getting various inoculations for all sorts of diseases, I got a week’s embarkation leave. Then I was told that since I came from overseas, I could not be sent overseas for my training. Apparently they had lost one or two who had just vanished once they were away from Britain. Eventually I did get a posting to an elementary flying training school at Booker, near Marlow in Buckinghamshire. I was happy at last to be flying, but it had taken until March 23rd, 1942 to get to this stage. I thoroughly enjoyed flying. Apart from my actual training there are events that I will never forget. Early in my training my instructor was flying us to an auxiliary field. I decided that my harness was not tight enough. I pulled the release and began to pull them tighter when I noticed that the horizon was beginning to slowly go around. He was doing a slow roll. I had no time to even attempt to do up any of my harness. All I could do was to brace myself on the sides of my cockpit and hold myself from dropping out as the ground went slowly pas as I looked down at it. When I told him what had happened he had a good laugh. Again, early in my flying, it might have been my first flight (but I’m not sure about that), my instructor, an ex-fighter pilot got together with a Boston fighter bomber. The two of them decided to have a mock dog fight. It was great fun, but my poor stomach. It was not accustomed yet to this kind of thing. I sat, holding my stomach, but enjoying the whole thing. My first experience at night flying was quite something. We took off into the inky blackness of the blackout. The idea was to fly a square pattern to the left after getting up to 1000 ft. Then as we turned to complete the square, we should find that we were approaching the landing strip again ready for descending to make a landing. It was a scary feeling, to think that we were actually doing this with no navigation aids at all. However after several circuits it gradually became just the thing to do. I was in real trouble on Easter weekend. The day before the weekend I was flying solo doing circuits and landings. I came in to land, right in front of the commanding officer’s office. There was a gusty sort of wind and I had trouble getting the plane to land. Right away I remembered the important instructions. With any difficulty in landing, give the engine full power and go round again for anther[sic] circuit. I opened up the throttle and got the shock of my life. My port wing just dropped and hit the ground and the poor old Tiger Moth flipped right over, nose to the ground, leaving me hanging upside down in my harness. I quickly released my harness and dropped onto the ground. Then I remembered – turn off the ignition switch. I crawled back under the plane and did so. I was to report to the commanding officer right after Easter weekend. I went into London for the weekend, and spent the time with my brother, Ken. He was stationed at RCAF 6 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs headquarters in London at Canada House. Unfortunately I forgot the the[sic] last train from Marlebone Station left 5 minutes earlier on Sunday nights. I just missed it. In fact I saw it pulling out of the station. We went to Ken’s place overnight, and I got up and made my way to the station, but the train I got was not the first one in the morning. I was on the mat for not being back to base by 11:59 hrs. I had to see the Commanding Officer about that. Well it turned out that he gave me 7 days jankers for that. Then I had to wait to see him about my upside down landing. I was really down in the dumps, thinking I would probably fail as a pilot. What a surprise when he sent a message out that he did not want to see me about this, as he had watched my attempted landing and said I had done everything right. What a relief. I didn’t mind my 7 days of picking up litter etc. after that. After 41 hrs. 5 min. of flying training at Booker there was another change of policy. There would be no more flying training in Britain. All training would be overseas. All pilot trainees were to have a flying test after 8 hours flying to judge whether they should continue as pilot trainees or switch to some other aircrew training. I was told that I was to be sent to the U.S.A. for my training. We got the impression that they were sending the better flyers to the “General Arnold” scheme. I don’t think I was any better than most, but my 8 hour test was done after 41 hours flying. Primary Training, Lakeland Florida. PT 17.(Stearman) I finished flying at Booker EFTS on May 10th, 1942. We were sent overseas in the old ‘Leticia’ which had been converted into a troop transport. We soon found ourselves in Moncton, New Brunswick, awaiting posting to get flying once again. I somehow found that we would be two or three weeks, so applied for leave to visit Mum and Dad in Toronto. I got it! It was great to see them again and to visit with lots of people that I knew. Then it was back to Moncton where we found a good swimming hole beside a railway line, not far from our base. Finally we boarded the troop train, which was to take us to somewhere in the southern States. One of our stops turned out to be in the Union Station in Toronto. It looked as though we would be there for a while, so I phoned home and told Mum which platform we were stuck on. She came down and was able to meet a good few of my friends who were training with me. I think she was able to spend about an hour talking to us all. 7 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs Fourth row, fourth from right: [photograph] Course 43B Lodwick School of Aeronautics[?] 1942. 8 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs worship service to find that special editions of the Press and Journal were being sold on the street corners. Britain had declared war on Germany after they refused to withdraw from Poland. We had been reading about their Blitzkreig tactics throughout their take over of so many countries in Europe. I thought, “They will sink this little island!” By this time I had finished my year at Craibstone. I started the course and I did finish my first year. Of course by this time Britain was at war with Germany. The government wanted to increase food production as much as possible. I was asked if I would postpone my training until after the war. I told them that I felt sure the answer would be, “Yes”, but as I was here at my father’s expense, it would have to be his answer. His reply to my cable agreed. The college then employed me at Craibstone as one of their gardeners Britain had conscription, so one by one the workers were absorbed into the armed forces. I gradually took over different jobs. The last one I took over was to operate their big Dennis power mower. The lawns were to be cut with light and dark stripes and very straight. Mowing one direction I would make a light stripe. Going back the opposite direction it showed up as dark. The job was to keep all lines straight. Mr. Cox, their head gardener wondered whether I could manage this task. I was willing to try. He watched as I did a few lines and decided that I could do the job just fine. I must admit that they did look good. My age group came along for conscription. I reported, showing my passport to show them my age. They told me that I was not a resident, just a visitor and could not be conscripted. I was amazed and asked if anything could stop me from volunteering. No, I could certainly do that. I made my way to the RAF recruiting office and volunteered for the RAFVR (Volunteer Reserve). Eventually I was asked to report at Lord’s Cricket Grounds in London. We were in a holding centre until we could finally be sent to an ITW (Initial Training Wing). They were really pushing pilot trainees through at this time and all ITW’s were going at capacity. I was sent instead, to a bomber airfield, Hemswell in Lincolnshire, where the education officer did his best to teach us what we had to know. I did manage to pass, although more than half of our course did not make it. They were sent to a regular ITW. After finishing my ITW course at Hemswell in Lincolnshire, I was eventually posted to a holding centre in the Metropole Hotel in Brighton. This seemed to be a place where trainees were kept until somewhere would be available to start them on their flying training. In all I was there for 16 weeks. It was a case of being present for morning parade, where a roll call ensured that you were present. This was followed by a march along the promenade, for no better reason than there was nothing else to do with us. It did not take long for a few of us to find that being in the tail end of this parade, we could easily vanish down a side street and be lost. There was a convenient Lyon’s café, that had delicious crumpets and marmalade. The local YMCA, I think it was, had a good billiard table. I became pretty good with billiards and snooker during this period. I did get a task to do in the post office in the hotel. Apart from sorting out the mail for inmates like myself, we also collected the old newspapers for 5 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs disposal. I started doing the Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle, which developed my liking for good crosswords. We did get really fed up down in Brighton. A posting to Rhodesia came up, so I volunteered to goo there for my flying training. After getting various inoculations for all sorts of diseases, I got a week’s embarkation leave. Then I was told that since I came from overseas, I could not be sent overseas for my training. Apparently they had lost one or two who had just vanished once they were away from Britain. Eventually I did get a posting to an elementary flying training school at Booker, near Marlow in Buckinghamshire. I was happy at last to be flying, but it had taken until March 23rd, 1942 to get to this stage. I thoroughly enjoyed flying. Apart from my actual training there are events that I will never forget. Early in my training my instructor was flying us to an auxiliary field. I decided that my harness was not tight enough. I pulled the release and began to pull them tighter when I noticed that the horizon was beginning to slowly go around. He was doing a slow roll. I had no time to even attempt to do up any of my harness. All I could do was to brace myself on the sides of my cockpit and hold myself from dropping out as the ground went slowly pas as I looked down at it. When I told him what had happened he had a good laugh. Again, early in my flying, it might have been my first flight (but I’m not sure about that), my instructor, an ex-fighter pilot got together with a Boston fighter bomber. The two of them decided to have a mock dog fight. It was great fun, but my poor stomach. It was not accustomed yet to this kind of thing. I sat, holding my stomach, but enjoying the whole thing. My first experience at night flying was quite something. We took off into the inky blackness of the blackout. The idea was to fly a square pattern to the left after getting up to 1000 ft. Then as we turned to complete the square, we should find that we were approaching the landing strip again ready for descending to make a landing. It was a scary feeling, to think that we were actually doing this with no navigation aids at all. However after several circuits it gradually became just the thing to do. I was in real trouble on Easter weekend. The day before the weekend I was flying solo doing circuits and landings. I came in to land, right in front of the commanding officer’s office. There was a gusty sort of wind and I had trouble getting the plane to land. Right away I remembered the important instructions. With any difficulty in landing, give the engine full power and go round again for anther[sic] circuit. I opened up the throttle and got the shock of my life. My port wing just dropped and hit the ground and the poor old Tiger Moth flipped right over, nose to the ground, leaving me hanging upside down in my harness. I quickly released my harness and dropped onto the ground. Then I remembered – turn off the ignition switch. I crawled back under the plane and did so. I was to report to the commanding officer right after Easter weekend. I went into London for the weekend, and spent the time with my brother, Ken. He was stationed at RCAF 6 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs headquarters in London at Canada House. Unfortunately I forgot the the[sic] last train from Marlebone Station left 5 minutes earlier on Sunday nights. I just missed it. In fact I saw it pulling out of the station. We went to Ken’s place overnight, and I got up and made my way to the station, but the train I got was not the first one in the morning. I was on the mat for not being back to base by 11:59 hrs. I had to see the Commanding Officer about that. Well it turned out that he gave me 7 days jankers for that. Then I had to wait to see him about my upside down landing. I was really down in the dumps, thinking I would probably fail as a pilot. What a surprise when he sent a message out that he did not want to see me about this, as he had watched my attempted landing and said I had done everything right. What a relief. I didn’t mind my 7 days of picking up litter etc. after that. After 41 hrs. 5 min. of flying training at Booker there was another change of policy. There would be no more flying training in Britain. All training would be overseas. All pilot trainees were to have a flying test after 8 hours flying to judge whether they should continue as pilot trainees or switch to some other aircrew training. I was told that I was to be sent to the U.S.A. for my training. We got the impression that they were sending the better flyers to the “General Arnold” scheme. I don’t think I was any better than most, but my 8 hour test was done after 41 hours flying. Primary Training, Lakeland Florida. PT 17.(Stearman) I finished flying at Booker EFTS on May 10th, 1942. We were sent overseas in the old ‘Leticia’ which had been converted into a troop transport. We soon found ourselves in Moncton, New Brunswick, awaiting posting to get flying once again. I somehow found that we would be two or three weeks, so applied for leave to visit Mum and Dad in Toronto. I got it! It was great to see them again and to visit with lots of people that I knew. Then it was back to Moncton where we found a good swimming hole beside a railway line, not far from our base. Finally we boarded the troop train, which was to take us to somewhere in the southern States. One of our stops turned out to be in the Union Station in Toronto. It looked as though we would be there for a while, so I phoned home and told Mum which platform we were stuck on. She came down and was able to meet a good few of my friends who were training with me. I think she was able to spend about an hour talking to us all. 7 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs Fourth row, fourth from right: [photograph] Course 43B Lodwick School of Aeronautics[?] 1942. 8 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] While flying Oxfords, I was sent to Docking in Norfolk to practice the use of radio beam approach. Off to one side of the beam the radio signal was the letter ‘A’ in Morse code. On the other side it was ’N’. When the dot?dash merged with the dash/dot, they made a constant continuous signal and that was right on the beam. My flying at Windrush was completed on July 20th, 1943. I was given a 72 hour pass, before reporting to No. 26 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at RAF Station Wing. On the train heading up to Aberdeen, a fellow asked what I was doing on this leave. I told him that I only had a three day pass and had no idea whether I was going to my wedding or not. I soon found out. Mary and I were married on July 24, 1943. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday too. It was in the middle of the Aberdeen Trades Week holiday and there were no facilities open for the reception. We had 14 at the reception in Mary’s Aunt’s tenement flat, next door to where Mary lived. My Aunt Barbara happened to be in Aberdeen that weekend. I insisted that she come to the wedding. She said she was ‘Black Affronted’ she had nothing to wear. I insisted that she come in whatever she was wearing. We, of course, had nowhere to go for even a brief honeymoon, but another friend, Jean, got on the telephone to another friend, Jeanie. Jeanie had the hotel in Huntly. The phone call was hilarious. It started something like this, “Is that you Jeanie? Well this is Jean. There’s this couple just newly married. They just have this weekend. Could you put them up?” When we got to Huntly, (incidentally, my Aunt Barbara travelled with us on her way back to Buckie) we found that Jeanie had cleared out the Bridal Suite for us. (Short but sweet, the honeymoon). 13 [page break] [photograph] Operational Training Unit Strangely enough, I was a day late in reporting to No. 26 Operational Training Unit, and even more strangely, nothing was ever said about it. Here, at RAF Station Wing, (Little Horwood) I was crewed up and we flew Wellingtons Mk. 3’s and 10’s. Our flying began on August 16th 1943. We worked up to our special exercise, dropping leaflets on Rouen in France. I have included this with my operational flying in detail. During some of my night flying, I had a new experience. While taking off one night one of my tyres burst. I did manage to get the plane off the ground, but called up to let control know about it. My flight commander came on the 14 [page break] radio and told me to just circle until all night flying was completed. My crew were of differing opinions as to which tyre was gone. I felt that it was the port main wheel. My bomb aimer was sure it was the starboard wheel. I decided to go with my own decision, because I was flying the plane, and it certainly felt like the port wheel. After many tedious hours of circling the airfield I got instructions to land. My flight commander spoke to me, giving me very detailed instructions as to what to do. I was to land using the starboard wheel to land on. I was to try to keep my port wheel off the runway as long as possible. I could expect the plane to veer off the runway as once the port wheel came down. I had to repeat everything back to him. Then he wished me a good landing, and said that he would be right behind me on his motor bike when I landed. Well I got it down on the starboard wheel, but as soon as we lost all lift the port wheel came down we veered into inky blackness. When we finally came to a stop, he was right there. I was calling each of the crew to make sure they were OK. He yelled to me to get out in case of a fire. Luckily there was no fire, but I did find the end of my port propellor imbedded about six inches behind my head. Nobody was hurt! It was while we were here that Mary sent me a telegram telling me that grandmother had died. She did not specify that it had been her grandmother, so I figured I might get some time off. I went in to the commanding officer with the telegram and he gave me a 72 hour pass. I could leave in the morning after finishing all my night flying that night. By the time I arrived in Aberdeen, I had fallen asleep in the train. Mary had come to the station, but no Don. The cleaners came in, because the train had to leave again, so luckily they wakened me and I arrived at 31 Justice Street not very long after Mary and her uncle. That crew of mine was split up after my navigator, Hugh Maher (pronounced Marr) RCAF, was invalided out of the air force and sent home to Montreal. I was posted to No. 17 OTU at Silverstone, to take over a headless crew. Neither they nor I were very happy about this, but we soon got to know each other. They had not completed their OTU training, so I flew with them until they had all completed their various exercises. We advanced from OTU first to 1651 Conversion Unit at RAF Station, Wratting Common, where we all had to get familiar with flying the Short Stirling. We flew the Stirling Mks. 1 and 3. I did not like the Stirling. This took us to January 5th, 1944. 15 [page break] So much for the Stirling; we were off to 1678 C.F. Waterbeach where we were introduced to the Lancaster Mk.2. My first flip in the Lancaster was familiarisation with F/O Coles. Again we had a burst tyre. F/O Coles made a beautiful landing at Newmarket Race Course. On January 25th, 1944 we were sent to 115 Squadron at Witchford, near Ely. I was now a flight sergeant. October 4th, 1943: Special Exercise This was my first flight over enemy occupied Europe. I wondered how I would react. Fortunately I was O.K. On this night there was a raid by 406 aircraft on Frankfurt, with a diversionary 66 Lancasters bombing Ludwigshafen. There were 12 Mosquitoes went to Knapsack power-station, 1 mosquito to Aachen, 5 Stirlings did mine laying in the River Gironde, 8 O.T.U. sorties. There were no losses on the Ludwigshave [sic] raid. On the Frankfurt raid there were 10 RAF aircraft lost, 5 Halifaxes, 3 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings. One of 3 American B17’s was lost. I was one of the 8 O.T.U. sorties. We were not aware of these other activities. At this time I was doing my operational training, flying Wellingtons, at RAF Station, Wing. We were to go on a special exercise, our first time over enemy territory. We were to fly to Rouen in France, then up wind, a distance predetermined by the winds at the time. Then we were to drop our leaflets which would float down to Rouen to inform the French people a bit of what the Allies were doing 2. It was a funny feeling to be flying over enemy controlled territory for the first time. Our route was planned for us, but unlike later bombing raids there was no exact timing. We were to fly south to the Needles (Isle of Wight), then across to Fecampe on the French coast, south to Rouen, and then west, almost to Le Havre, where we were to drop our leaflets. Then we were to turn north east to Fecampe once again, then home via the Isle of Wight. The weather was fully overcast, but the clouds were quite low. We climbed into bright sunlight and headed for the needles. I had a rough idea of how long this should take us and was soon asking my navigator, Hugh Maher (pronounced Marr) if we were nearing our turning point. “No, not yet,” came the reply. It seemed to me that we must have passed the 2 I have included a copy of this leaflet in these memoirs (see page 16). 16 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War 11 and Flying Memoirs [page written in the French language] [page break] needles when I asked again. He had not yet fixed our turning point. Eventually I said to Hugh that by now, I was sure that we must be right across the English Channel and over the Cherbourg Peninsula, and asked what his air plot told him. He told me that he had not maintained his air plot, because this aircraft was fitted with GEE. He had been unable to get a fix with GEE. Great! Now I felt certain that we were lost somewhere over France. After establishing that there was no way he could work out any reckoning of where we were, I had to resort to radio. The Wireless Operator called for a fix – no reply. I asked him to try again with a priority. This he did. Yes, we were over the Cherbourg Peninsula of Normandy. I then told Hugh that we would fly north east from this fix. He was to use only dead reckoning navigation, no GEE. When we reached our intended crossing route of the Channel, he would guide us to Fecampe, Rouen, up wind to dropping point, back to Fecampe and so on. This we did. How ever after leaving the French coast, Hugh decided to get himself a fix using GEE radar. He was really worried. He came on the intercom telling me that he had just got a fix with GEE. We were not over the English Channel, but were over the North Sea. A fix with GEE is a definite thing. I began to doubt Hugh’s ability with his dead reckoning navigation. To reach base we should fly roughly west south west. He gave me the course to fly. Eventually he told me that we should be crossing the cost. It was pitch black but there was no sign of a coastline even though the clouds were no longer below us. I told Hugh that we were certainly not crossing a coastline, but he assured me that he had been doing an air plot, dead reckoning since the Fix. Well I said that we should get an answer on the R.T. That was my job, so I called. No answer, I called using the distress call, “May Day”. No reply. At this point I asked the Wireless Operator to ask for a fix using a priority. No reply. We were fairly low on fuel by this time so I said, “Same again with S.O.S.” Back came an immediate fix. We were over Brittany, in France. To get home I had to turn almost 180 degrees. Then I gave my crew the serious news. One wing was completely empty of fuel. Both engines were using the almost empty port wing tanks. We still had a 60 gallon tank full, not much to fly very far. When the engines stopped we would pull the cross feed to use both engines on this 60 gallon tank. If they stopped after that was gone we would bale out. Once again we were over 10/10 cloud, and as things turned out, this helped up. The airfield at Christchurch, near Bournemouth was having problems with their lighting. My bomb aimer was the first to see clouds off to starboard with lights going on and off, lightening them up. We headed straight for them and I called up to get permission to land, asking what the cloud clearance was. I also told them I was very short of fuel. They told me that I had 800ft clearance under the cloud and told me to land. As we broke through the cloud, incidentally now using the last 60 gallon tank, I found right in front of me a beautiful runway lit with green lights at the beginning, white along the 18 [page break] sides and red towards the far end. I did not care what airfield Command station, Hurn. Later in my career I was based at this field with B.O.A.C. Poor Hugh! Once back at OUT, the navigation boys did a thorough review of his night’s efforts. They credited him with successfully flying to the target area and to the dropping point. It was the GEE fix that was the big error. The chain of stations were designed for the east coast of Britain. They were useless off the south coast, where we were flying. Previously he had suffered a severe bash on his head, coming out of a crew bus with his equipment. The rear slanted doors had slammed on his head. Later, while flying with another crew doing practice bombing with smoke bombs, they apparently had a very heavy landing, which set off one smoke bomb they had not dropped. He was standing in the astro-dome and figured the quickest way out of what seemed to be a burning aircraft was to bash his way through the Perspex dome. They found that he no longer had the ability to navigate. He was invalided out of the RCAF and sent home to Montreal. My entire crew was split up. I was sent to R.A.F. Station Silverstone, where I took over a crew which had no pilot. January 30th, 1944 This is the night I first went on a bombing raid. I did not pilot the aircraft. The pilot was F/Lt. Hallet. He was a Newfie and really wonder how he ever qualified as a pilot. When we crossed the enemy coast on the way home, he this was, I just landed. It turned out to be a Coastal asked me whether I would like to fly right back to base, which of course I gladly did. As we came in to make our landing, he asked me what the green light was, just before the runway. “There has always been a red light there before.” The light, of course was the glide path indicator. If you were high it shone amber. If you were too low it shone red. Right on the correct glide path it shone green. I explained to him what it indicated. On his next bombing trip, he actually hit the top of one of the Drem light poles on the way in. However he was terrific as an operational pilot, and I picked up some valuable tips from him. He pointed out the slight difference between our Pathfinder markers at the target and the decoy markers dropped by the Germans. He also showed me a Lancaster going down in flames and the German oil bomb which simulated this. We called them Scarecrows. Since the end of the war, we found that the Germans had no such things as these scarecrow bombs. They had, however a type of gun and gun sight which fired up from below on an angle. They called it in German, “Slant Music.” Maybe this is what we saw. Before the briefing, we knew it was to be a long tripfull load of fuel. However, it was still a shock to walk into the briefing room. There was a big map of Europe with a red tape running from our base at Witchford, across the North Sea, over Denmark and the Baltic Sea. Then there was a 90 degree turn south to Berlin. The homeward trip was right across Germany, south of Brunswick and Hanover, north of the Ruhr, across Holland and back to our base. I really believed that this was to be the last day of my life here on 19 [page break] earth. Yet there was no thought of not going. After all, this is what all my training had been for. In fact this was some final training for me before I took my crew with me. It proved to be an excellent training trip. I did not know any of this crew I was flying with, but they did a very good job. F/Lt. Halley made a point of showing me various things, some of which I have mentioned. At interrogation after the trip they did a good job of giving an accurate account of what happened. I felt ready now to tackle such a sortie on my own. However on 115 Squadron new pilots always did two trips as second pilot. My next trip would be on February 15th, 1944. This raid was made up of 534 aircraft. There were 440 Lancasters, 82 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitoes. 33 aircraft were lost, 32 Lancasters and 1 Halifax or 6.2% of the force. February 15th, 1944 This was my second sortie as a second pilot. This time I flew with a crew, every one of which had the DFM (Distinguished Flying Medal). The pilot was an excellent flyer, but in my estimation, not a good captain of his crew. I honestly believe they probably got their DFM’s in their fabulous interrogations, or de-briefings. I was really amazed at what I heard. Fortunately it was a quiet trip, as far as contact with enemy fighters or flak were concerned. Again, the target was Berlin and we flew a very similar route to the one on January 30th. All the way along there was very little silence between crew members. One would talk to another and so on. My crew were never like that, even on local flights. On the ground we were just a great bunch of guys, but once inside the aircraft they were a real good crew. There was a very unfortunate occurrence. After we had turned south from the Baltic and were flying towards Berlin, the intercom system broke down. There is a system of light signals for the bomb aimer to let the pilot know how to approach the target, to replace the, “right right” or “left” verbal instructions. Instead, the bomb aimer shouted his instructions from his position down by the bomb sight. The pilot couldn’t hear properly what he had shouted, turned the plane fairly quickly. The bomb aimer presumed they were being attacked by a night-fighter and jettisoned all our bomb load. There was quite a mix up until they set off for home, with bomb doors closed. As I recall, the intercom did come on again, so things settled down more or less. In my judgement, our load of bombs were dropped well east of Berlin. Of course we were not told of other activities that night, but I did see a raid in progress in Frankfurt-on-Oder. I think our load was somewhere between these two targets. Back at base we were ushered in for interrogation. According to that crew we had been attacked while running up to the target. The bomb aimer had taken an opportunity as we levelled off to drop our bombs, he claimed, pretty close to the markers etc. etc. I could not believe my ears. Mind you, from my point of view, I could not have had two second pilot trips with better teaching. The first on January 30th showed me how; this one showed me how not to. From now on I would be skipper of my own crew. 20 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] There were 891 aircraft on this rain, 561 Lancasters, 314 Halifaxes and 16 Mosquitoes [sic]. The records show that on this night, apart from this raid, 23 Mosquitoes [sic] attacked 5 Night-fighter airfields in Holland, 43 Stirlings and 4 Pathfinder Halifaxes carried out mine laying in Keil Bay. Also 24 Lancasters made a diversionary raid on Frankfurt-on-Oder. Total sorties this night were 1070. 45 aircraft were lost, (4.2%). February 24th, 1944 - February 25th, 1944 On the 24th, I flew with my own crew for the first time. We bombed the ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt. Then, on the 25th, we bombed Augsburg. On the Schweinfurt raid there were 734 aircraft involved, 554 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes and 11 Mosquitos. This was the first Bomber Command raid on this target. On the previous day 266 American B17’s had raided this target. Bomber command introduced a new tactic on this night. 392 aircraft and 342 aircraft separated by a two hour interval. The first wave of bombers lost 22 aircraft, 5.6% of the force. The second wave lost only 11 aircraft, 3.2% of the force. Total losses were 33 aircraft, 26 Lancasers [sic], 7 Halifaxes - 4.5% of the force. These sorties were very similar and the same thing happened to us on both trips. It was a weird sort of route and seemed to last forever. Actually it was 7 hrs 45 min on the 24th and 7 hrs 15 min on the 25th. On both occasions we were routed over France and almost to Munich, before turning north to our targets. Many of our bomber stream wandered over Switzerland in error, The Swiss, true to their neutral position, fired anti-aircraft flak, apparently well away from any planes, but giving no excuse for the Nazis to say they were favouring the Allies. We ourselves did not track over Switzerland. Our problem was with the searchlights around Munich. Both nights they got me coned in what were obviously radar controlled lights. One lit up on me and immediately the manually controlled lights swung right onto me as well. So there I was, very new to this job and feeling very naked; on view to the whole of Nazi Germany. To say I was scared would be putting it extremely mildly. I immediately threw the Lancaster into a violent, “Corkscrew” manoeuvre. This is what was drilled into us once we started flying bombers. Mind you, I had never actually done it before, and luckily for me, we were taking part in a second raid that night, on Schweinfurt. What I managed to do was to keep the fires of Schweinfurt somewhere in front of me as I threw that aircraft down to port and up changing to starboard and so on. It seemed like hours that I was in those searchlights. Luckily the smoke from the target area blacked out some of the searchlights, and by this time the radar-controlled lights would be trained on some other unlucky aircraft. Ever since those two sorties I have had a strong aversion to searchlights of any kind, even those used in advertising. Another incident happened on the Augsburg sortie. Before we were caught in the serachlights, I noticed out of the side of my vision that, “Taffy” Jones had his arm up in 22 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] the air. What made me look round, I’ll never know, but we were very fortunate that I did. Taffy was obviously the only one who saw a Messerschmitt 110 attacking us from above and starboard. He was apparently speechless with fear, which is not really surprising, but could have killed the lot of us. As I looked round to see what Taffy was doing, I realised what was happening and gave the stick a quick shove forward. With the Lancaster II, with Bristol Hercules engines you can cut all engines by doing this. I must have dropped a few hundred feet, but we saw all the cannon fire pass overhead. I spoke to Taffy after we got back to base. I asked him to try to poke me, or something if he couldn’t speak. On the Augsburg trip someone had timed our searchlight ordeal. We were coned in searchlights for 10 minutes. Taffy was a very good and very thorough flight engineer. Once we were back at base, my thoughts were to get through our interrogation, then our bacon and eggs and off to bed. Taffy, of course had to give a full report which included dial readings of quite a few dials. He always was last one off the plane. I was always trying to egg him on. Once I had finished our tour, my ground crew, “Chiefy”, told me that they estimated we would last only about three or four sorties. They thought I was always arguing with my flight engineer. Mind you, I felt that we could not possibly get through any of our sorties, even before we got airborne! March 24th, 1944 We set off on March 22nd for a sortie to Frankfurt, but had to return to base shortly after take off because of the failure of our port inner engine. On March 24th, our next sortie was back to Berlin for me and first time for my crew. As it turns out this was the last major bombing raid on Berlin. 811 aircraft took part in this raid, 577 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes, and 18 Mosquitos. 72 aircraft were lost, 44 Lancasters and 28 Halifaxes - 8.9% of the force. In spite of strong winds which were not forecast, we had no difficulty in reaching our target. Our route home was the one I had followed during two previous trips to Berlin. This was south of Brunswick and Hanover. Jog around the north end of the Ruhr, etc. If we had followed the route given me by my navigator, Rex Townsend, we would have flown right across the Ruhr with all its flak. Fortunately, many ahead of us made this mistake, and it was strictly because of a serious error in the forecast winds. At any rate, using the Ruhr searchlights for guidance, we successfully negotiated our way. After that things began to go wrong. First of all our oxygen supply ceased to function. I maintained our height until we crossed the coast and were over the North Sea. This was very likely the cause of our troubles; 20,000 ft is far too high without oxygen. 23 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] [missing photograph or text] [four obscured words] Once over the sea, we came down to under 10,000 ft so that we would not suffer any effects of lack of oxygen. Another unforeseen thing happened. Low cloud had formed over all of East Anglia We must have passed fairly close to our base, judging from the talk we heard on the RT. However my navigator was not able to get us to Witchford, in fact, according to his findings we were still a good distance from Witchford. On we flew, my RT signals were getting fainter. When Rex told me we were approaching base, I realised we were nowhere near and were getting a bit low on fuel. Fog was forming on the ground. As it turned out we were very close to Ludford Magna in Lincolnshire. They were equipped with FIDO, the fog dispersal system of gasoline fires along both sides of the runway. I called up and received permission to land. It was nice to get down onto the ground that night. If this trip of ours to Berlin sounds a bit tame you should watch the video, “Night Bombers.” This is about a sortie to Berlin just a week or so before this. You would get some idea of what all our bombing trips were like. How I Became a Commissioned Officer Sometime between April 14th and April 18th, 1944 I no longer was F/S (flight sergeant) but became P/O (Pilot Officer). This is a crazy, almost unbelievable story. Up until this time on 115 Squadron I was a flight sergeant. My crew were all sergeants. We all used the Sergeants’ Mess. We all lived in one Nissen Hut. This was a very good way to live. 24 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] Our flight commander, Squadron Leader, George Mackie wanted all his pilots to be Commissioned Officers. I was well aware of this, but was quite happy living together with my crew, so did nothing about it. George Mackie was a typical air force guy, complete with a big handle-bar moustache. Incidentally, he was from Aberdeen. His family owned Mackies Dairy in Aberdeen. I got pretty good at avoiding this little business of applying for a commission. However, one morning I made my way to the flight office. Very unusual, the office was empty, except for Mackie. As soon as I went in he said to me. “Ah Cameron, just the man I wanted to see. Take a seat at my desk.” I could see the forms all laid out for me to complete. Mackie went over to a filing cabinet, took out his revolver, put in a full six rounds and pointing it towards me said, “Now fill in those forms.” He was laughing and so was I by this time. I told him that he could very well be court martialed [sic] for threatening me with his revolver. Who would they believe with such a story, you or me?’ Well I pretty well had to fill in the forms for him. This is how I advanced from an NCO to a Pilot Officer. One strange thing about my flight commander, he was not a pilot. He was doing his third tour as a Bomb Aimer. The pilot of his crew never got beyond the rank of Flight Sergeant. They were lost on a trip to LeMans on May 19th, 1944 after he finished his 25 sorties. Apparently, our crew were the only ones who reported seeing a Lancaster going down in flames on that trip. Mackie must have had access to all the interrogations. He told me that I was the only one reporting this. As you can imagine, he was very upset. He asked me whether there was a chance of any survivors. I had to tell him that if they were in that plane, none of them could possibly survive. It just blew up. I was sent on 7 days leave at this time, so that I could purchase my new uniform. A friend of mine, who was in the RCAF, P/O Don McKechnie said that I should not travel in a NCO’s uniform, now that I was a P/O. Mary and I had our photograph taken during this leave. We have it on the wall in our front room. A careful look would show you that the pilot wings are actually RCAF and not RAF. May 9th, 1944 This was a very short trip, just across the Strait of Dover to Cap Griz New. We carried deep penetration bombs. Our instructions were to bring back the bombs if we could not identify the target. Our target this time was one of the rocket launching sites for the V2 rocket which could not be avoided until they exploded in London. 25 [page break] Donald Cameron: World War 11 and Flying Memoirs [photograph] 26 [page break] We found the whole area was covered with 10/10ths. cloud, so we returned with our full load of bombs. Of course, we were still far too heavy to land. Our instruction were to jettison some of our fuel load, so this is what we proceeded to do. We emptied two tanks, one in each wing. One tank emptied just fine, but the other one emptied into the wing. The fuel ran into the bomb bay. The fumes from this fuel filled the whole aircraft. I didn’t realise that these fumes were affecting the crew, except the rear gunner, who was sealed from things in his gun turret. It was not until I started to make my final approach that I began to realise that these fumes had made me a bit drunk. I certainly did not fancy landing without my full capacity to know what I was doing. Don’t ask me why, but I had not brought along my goggles. In any case I had to stick my head out my side window to clear my head. Mind you I had to more or less close them to just a slit because of the speed. Never mind, we made a good landing with our full load of bombs. I made sure that I had my goggles with me after that These are a few other incidents that happened to us during our Bombing tour. Here are one or two incidents during some sorties. Dusseldorf: April 22nd, 1944 597 aircraft took part in this raid. There were 323 Lancasters, 254 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos. On each night bombing raid, one or two squadrons were given the task of being a support to the Pathfinder squadrons, who mark the target for the main force. We still had to try our best to bomb the target aiming point, but this was not our main function. We had two jobs. One was to give the Pathfinders a bit more cover. The other was to toss out lots and lots of, “Window.” Window was strips of foil, the length of which were designed to appear on radar as aircraft. I believe the first time it was used was on a raid to Hamburg. It succeeded, making the German radar showing millions of aircraft. This provided cover for the main force coming behind us, but not for us. We had to try and bomb the aiming point, either by the markers, if available, or by our own recognition of the target. There was no problem; the Pathfinder Force were doing a good job. This was entirely different from bombing with the main force. We were accustomed to a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, but this time it was not a barrage, they were aiming at individual aircraft, and that included us. This was much more scary; this was much more close generally than we were used to. Duisburg: May 22nd, 1944 510 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos carried out the first large raid on this target for a year. 29 Lancasters were lost, 5.5% of the force. 27 [page break] Most of this trip was like any other trip, but two things stick out in my mind. The first was as we approached the target. There were Lancasters circling everywhere, and cloud seemed to cover the whole target. They were obviously having trouble in finding the target. I instructed my Bomb Aimer, Attwood, that we would open the bomb doors as we ran up on the centre of the brightly lit clouds. If the worst came to the worst he should let them go as near to the centre of the searchlights as possible. Actually, this strategy worked in our favour. I soon found out the reason for all the circling. As we approached the centre of the lit up clouds, there was a big hole right down to ground level, and there, right on our path were the target markers. We were able to get an aiming point on our photograph. I was glad that we did not have to circle and try again. Coming out of the target area, we had one of our many narrow escapes, and so did a German night fighter, who was heading into the target area to see what he could do. If he had been even six inches (15 cm) lower, or we had been that much higher, I am sure that we would have scraped each other and probably both planes would have been badly disabled and would have crashed. As he whizzed over us we felt the bump of the change of air pressure. That was the closest I ever got to a Junkers 88. Cologne: April 20th, 1944 357 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos took part in this attack. 4 Lancasters were lost. After our Berlin Raid on March 24th, there was a change in the role of Bomber Command. Although Harris was still our commanding officer, he now came under General Dwight Eisenhower. This meant that the emphasis was no longer that of knocking out German industry, but was more designed to help with the coming, “Second Front.” We had trips to Ville Neuve St. George on April 9th, and Laon on April 10th. We had some flak damage on this trip. Then it was Rouen on April 18th. These were mostly railway marshalling yards, making railway transport more difficult for the Germans. However, on April 20th, it was back to industry in Cologne. The Lancaster we were flying had one bad failing. It was very slow in climbing. All planes had various quirks, but I did not like this one. Our route to Cologne took us to a point due south of Cologne, then we turned north to the target, climbing from 18 to 20 thousand feet. I knew that our aircraft would have no hope of making this climb and keep on time, so I instructed Rex Townsend, my navigator, to make our time at the turning point one minute ahead of the scheduled time. Unfortunately we arrived there one minute late. I could not possibly climb to height without falling behind the bomber stream. I maintained our speed, but we could not gain much height at all. 28 [page break] We went ahead and dropped our bombs on target and were immediately hit, I presumed, by flak. Two fires developed, one in the port wing outboard of the engines. The second one was in the starboard inner engine nacelle. I gave the order, “Prepare to Abandon the Aircraft.” Then several things happened. My indicator light came on which tells me my wheels are down and locked. (I knew they were still up). Another light told me that I had the wrong supercharger gear on for landing. (Good, at 18 thousand feet I was not landing) Through my mind flashed the briefing we had before take off. The winds over the target are from 270 degrees. If we all bailed out, we would float right back into Cologne in our parachutes. I made a spur of the moment decision to blow up with the aircraft along with all my crew. We had it drilled into us that the maximum time we would have was 2 minutes, before the plane would blow up. Even today, I wonder how I could decide to kill all 7 of us. I guess it was the thought of floating back into Cologne in our parachutes. Taffy Jones, my flight engineer, had clipped on his parachute in preparation for bailing out. He had the presence of mind to drag my one out from behind my seat and was holding it up for me to put on. You see, I was one of many pilots who did not have a pilot’s parachute. Instead, I had the same harness as all of my crew. This was clipped onto the chest when being used. Of course there was no room for me to wear mine, while I was flying the aircraft. I said to Taffy, “Just put it down there,” pointing to the floor beside my seat. Taffy told me, when we eventually landed, that when I said that, he was no longer afraid.” If he only knew! Well the fires soon seemed to be dying down and both went out together. A pencil through the covers on my warning lights gave us darkness in the flight deck once again. However what would happen when I landed was anybody’s guess. Would my wheels lock down. I decided to head for our emergency landing field at Woodbridge. This had a runway three times wider than our normal airfields and it was much longer as well. It was also lit up like a Christmas tree. Two bright searchlights pointing up and converging welcomed aircraft that were in trouble. We could see these as we left the enemy coast. We were given permission to land. I instructed all my crew to take up crash positions as I made the approach, which they did. My wheels and flaps seemed to functioning normally, but we could not be sure. Then thankfully we made a perfectly normal landing. What a great relief! Next morning my ground crew were flown in to examine the aircraft – C-Cameron. I never used the call sign C-Charlie. One of my ground crew decided to get up onto the wing. Hoe thought he saw something wrong from the ground. We watched as he reached down through a hole in the wing. He pulled out a live British incendiary bomb from one of our fuel tanks. We had not been hit by flak, but by incendiaries from a plane above us. 29 [page break] D Day: June 5th/6th, 1944. The Normandy Coastal Batteries This day 1012 aircraft took part in raids on the costal batteries at Fontenay, Houlgate, La Pernelle, Longues, Maisy, Merville, Mont Fleury, Pointe-du-Hoe, Ouisterham and St-Martin-de-Varreville. 946 aircraft carried out their bombing tasks. Three aircraft were lost, 2 Halifaxes on the Mont Fleury raid, and 1 Lancaster on the Longues raid. Only two of the targets – La Pernelle and Ouisterham were free of cloud; all other bombing was based on Oboe marking. At least 5000 tons of bombs were dropped, the greatest tonnage in one night so far in the war. Our target was the coastal batteries at Ouisterham. Although we took off in darkness this trip turned out to be our first daylight bombing. We did not use any different tactics which turned out to be a little bit scary. As we flew towards the target it began to get closer to daylight, I remember another plane from 115 Squadron came alongside me and we continued in a sort of loose formation towards the target. Others about us were doing the same, so that when we reached the target and tried to fly over the markers, we would have all collided. I was fortunate that I was able to drop my bombs on target, but there was no way that I could say my photograph would show this. As soon as the bombs were dropped, I climbed above the crowd to avoid collision with other planes. I was due to go on leave on June 6th, but because of this trip, all leave had been cancelled. Mary and I had arranged to meet at Kings Cross Station in London, but instead I was on my way back across the Channel and into bed at Witchford. Fortunately I found someone trustworthy to waken me if leave was on again. As soon as he woke me, I was off to London. I was not too worried about Mary, as she knew where we had arranged to stay. Instead, when Mary arrived at Kings Cross, she saw hundreds of service people but no Don. Somehow she saw this woman in air force officer uniform, but with a different cap to the WAAF of the RAF. She spoke to her and asked whether she were Miriam my sister. Of course she said yes, and that she was there to try to meet Mary. I had not been in touch with Miriam, but of course she knew of our arrangement to meet at Kings Cross. They spent most of the day together. Miriam took her to her office with the RCAF, and introduced her to some of the people she worked with. Mary and I had a very happy week together. We stayed with Mrs. Clark who had a house in the Elephant and Castle area. We had a lucky escape with this leave. The night when I put Mary on the train for Aberdeen, while I made my way back to Witchford, the room we had slept in was demolished by a German bomb. I think it was one of their Doodle Bugs, the ones you could hear approaching and hoped would pass you before its engine stopped. Our room was upstairs. Fortunately Mrs. Clark lived one level below street level, but level with the back garden. She was not hurt, but had to be taken to a decontamination centre to get all the oil cleaned off. This was another of our narrow escapes during WW2. 30 [page break] After D Day June 14th, 1944. Le Havre. There were 221 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos taking part in this raid. It was in two waves, one in daylight and the other later in the evening in darkness. We were in the second wave. The objectives were the fast German motor-torpedo boats (E-boats) and other light naval forces which were threatening Allied shipping off the Normandy beaches only 30 miles away. Both waves were escorted by Spitfires. 1230 tons of bombs were dropped including 22 Lancasters from 617 Squadron, each loaded with a 12000-lb. Tallboy bomb. The E-boat threat to the invasion beaches from this port was almost completely removed by this raid. I reported no problems on this raid, but next morning, Chiefy Williams asked me what had happened. One of the propeller nacelles was bashed in, with the paint from a British bomb on the bashed part, another lucky escape that we were not even aware of at the time. Including this raid on Le Havre, after D Day we did seven night bombing trips, mostly to railway marshalling yards. We also took part in 4 daylight raids, the last one on July 10th, completed our tour of operations. The final six or seven, although quite short trips were very worrying. We all felt that we could not possibly make it to the end of our 30 trips with 115 Squadron and the end of our tour of operations. No. 3 Lancaster Finishing School. RAF Station – Feltwell, etc. After completing my bombing tour at Witchford I was sent to Feltwell. This was not far east of Ely. I was to be an instructor at this school. Crews came here after finishing their operational training, to get enough experience flying Lancasters before going to a bomber Squadron. I had to get experience in handling a Lancaster from a right hand seat, usually occupied by the flight engineer. They extended the connection of the wheel across from the regular control, for the instructor to use. The seat normally was fastened to the pilot’s seat and was clipped onto the right hand side of the aircraft when being used by a flight engineer. It was far from being comfortable. My complete training for this consisted of one afternoon, lasting 1 hour, 5 minutes. Now, I was an instructor. Now that I was no longer flying with a bomber squadron, I found a room in a farmhouse about 5 miles from Feltwell in Methwold. This village consisted of 1 street, with 6 pubs. Our room had one 15 watt bulb for light. The floor slanted down from each side to a sort of trough along the middle. Mary came down from Aberdeen to stay with me. I told her that when I was finishing my flying for a day, I would fly over this house, and rev. up my engines, so that she would know I would be home shortly. This worked just fine until I once did an air test with another of the instructors. “Oh that’s where you live.” Mary never knew when I would be finishing. All my friends would rev their engines over the house. 31 [page break] Mary, from about 500 miles north, could not understand the old man who owned the house. I, from 3000 miles away had to translate. The Norfolk dialect was really different to most English accents. His daughter and her husband kept house for him. They farmed a piece of land not attached to this property. The old man would sell her eggs from his chickens, as well as apples. In turn she would sell him any produce from their land. This was a new kind of family for us to experience. When we went on leave, to Aberdeen the old man would give Mary some apples. “Don’t tell Annie that I have given you these.” Annie had to buy her’s from him. What a way to live. Some of the old Lancasters we flew at Fetwell were in very bad shape. Feltwell was not a paved airfield. We had to land on a grass landing strip. I had taken one crew to a bomber airfield for some experience. We were recalled because some fog was beginning to form at Feltwell. I took over the controls and flew back to base. They had lit some fire flares alongside the landing strip, but I had no difficulty in making my approach and landing. As I tried to turn the plane to starboard into where I was being guided, I could get no power from my port outer engine. I shouted to my guide to look at my port outer, as I could not get any power from it. He shone his light and yelled back that there was no engine there. It had dropped off as we landed. Years later I visited the aeronautical museum in Ottawa, with David, Patricia, Graeme and Heather. David and I were up looking into the cockpit of a Lancaster on exhibit there. Mary spoke to a man who was sitting on a bench looking at this Lancaster exhibit. Mary asked him if he had flown Lancasters. He said that no he had never flown, but he had worked as ground crew on them. He said that he had worked at No. 3 Lancaster Finishing School all the time it was in operation. I asked whether he had been there when the pilot of a plane that had just landed, asked the person directing the plane to shine a light on the port outer engine as he could get no power, and he said there was no engine there at all. He said yes, in fact he was the fellow who told me that there was no engine. What a small world. He belonged to an air force club in Oshawa and was very keen that I should join as well when he found that I lived in Scarborough. These clubs usually turn out to be just a drinking club, so I never did go near it. After January 23rd, 1945, I was transferred to RAF Station Lindholme, near Doncaster in Yorkshire. This was a training station for Lancasters. We flew with crews who had not yet flown heavy bombers. They had a much more involved course of training. I made a point of never looking at the students’ log books. I judged their flying ability from what they did for me. That was until I had one student, a flight lieutenant whom I thought was a danger to his crew. I looked in his log book and found that in his flying career he had never had less than, ‘Above Average’ in his records. I thought perhaps there was something wrong with me, so I asked the flight commander to take him up. He failed this man after a single trip and thanked me for letting him take him for a test. On April 4th, 1945 I was sent on a flying instructors course at F.I.S. (Flying Instructors School) at Lulsgate Bottom, near Bristol, flying Airspeed Oxfords, where I did about 20 hours flying. This consisted of flying with only one 33 [page break] engine, steep turns, really low flying, stalls, flapless landings, and forced landings (no power) – something called precautionary landings. This turned out to be really great fun. I felt that this is how we should have been taught to fly Oxfords when I first started flying twin-engined planes. After this I became a category “C” instructor. While I was here, Miriam, my sister came from London to visit. We were able to take a tour through Cheddar Gorge and the cave. It was very interesting. The course lasted until May 4th, 1945, so of course Glen was born while I there. I was given 7 days leave to visit Mary and Glen in the Osborne Nursing Home in Aberdeen. They had to stay in the nursing home quite a long time because Mary developed a fever. They called it Milk Fever. She could not feed her baby, so he had to be brought up on National Dried Milk. While on my way north I heard the announcement over the loud speakers at Crewe Station, that the war in Europe was finished. Then it was more instructing at Lindholme for a short time. During this short time, I took some air cadets up for a trip in an Oxford. I was still flying Lancasters as an instructor. However there was one interesting break. On July 6th, 1945 I took some passengers on what they termed a Cook’s Tour. The war in Europe had come to an end. My passengers were all service personnel from Lindholme. I took them across the North Sea to the Rhur in Germany, and we flew down over the Rhur to see what Bomber Command had done to German Industry there. In comparison, you would say that London, with it’s blitzes had hardly been scratched. It was absolute devastation. On July 17th, 1945 I was sent to Bomber Command Instructors School at Finningly in Yorkshire. This is here I was paired with John Cooksey. Frankly, this is where I really learned how to fly a Lancaster. This even included how to land a Lancaster with no engines. Mind you, for safety’s sake the engines were left just idling, so that if I goofed we could soon have power. The instructor did the first no power landing and then asked me to try it. I came in with more speed than usual, thinking I was avoiding a stall. But when I leveled[sic] off for a landing I could not hold it down. It just ballooned up and I could do nothing about it. All he said was, “Do you know what you did wrong?” I of course said that I had approached too fast. He told me to try once more, and this time I had no problem. John Cooksey and I got along together just fine. Neither one of us were really interested in becoming instructors. So I would put him through each exercise and he would do the same for me. If we did them OK and we did, we would spend the rest of the time exploring the countryside and coast around there. We were both upgraded to category “B” instructors. This is the highest anyone could be graded at this B.C.I.S. I went back to Lindholme until I was sent to RAF Station, Snaith. This was a B.A.T. flight, where I was introduced to making a beam approach. The beam is a radio beam. On the beam we could hear a constant signal. If we 34 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] were off to one side we heard the morse code for “A” on the other side it was the letter “N”. One was dot - dash. The other was dash - dot, so that when they came together you heard a constant sound. This was done with Oxfords and Link Trainers. 1332 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit) RAF Station Dishforth In February 1946, I was posted to Dishforth, where I flew the Avro York. This was just until I was familiar with handling this aircraft. Transport Command. 246 Squadron. Holmsley South. On March 9th, they sent me to 246 Squadron at Holmsley South. I was now a F/Lt. (Flight Lieutenant) in Transport Command, with my new crew. For the first time in my flying career, I had eco-pilot, and a really good navigator. They made sure that I was familiar with such [photograph] My Transport Command Crew at Cairo (jack Easton, Geof Sames, Gordon Megson, Me, Johnie Ottewell) April 26th, 1946 things as 3 engine landings and overshoots, flawless landings, ground controlled approach. This also included a GEE let down for bad weather approach. Then finally on April 15th, I started my first overseas trip. My route was from base to Castel Benito in North Africa and on to Almaza at Cairo. 35 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] Incidentally, my entire cargo was Sunday newspapers As we stopped at Castle Benito the ground crew were keen to get a copy of some. I told them not to meddle, but said I was off to see about my flight on to Cairo. They were pretty good; the cargo did not appear to be tampered with, but I am sure we had a few less papers. We staged at Cairo for two days, picking up the next plane to come from Britain. From there we flew to Shaibah at Basra. Then a long hop to Mauripur at Kirachi [sic]. Then another two day in Kirachi [sic]. Our next hop was supposed to be to Palam at Delhi, but we were asked to land at Jodhpur. This was my first experience of using a runway which was just a black strip of thick oil. Well I made quite a good approach to land right at the beginning of this strip, because it did not look to be very long. As I arrived over the [photograph] Almaza, Cairo June, 1946 hot black strip ready for a three point landing - the aircraft started to float upward with the very hot air rising from the runway. I was determined to get the plane down so I just waited until we stopped floating up, then gave her lots of power as we started to fall. Hey, we made a nice safe landing after all, even if it was not too smooth. I was glad I had quite a bit of flying experience by this time. On the way home from Delhi, we made the same stops, except for Jodhpur, but when flying on the final stretch across the Mediterranean, we had to call up the station at Istres in the south of France for permission to carry on, depending on the weather in England. We were asked to land, so we had an extra day on our trip. My next trip was the same route, but straight from Kirachi [sic] to Delhi, no stop at Jodhpur. Again we were asked to stop at Istres on the way home. No. 242 Squadron, Oakington The next trip, we carried passengers, service personnel of course. This involved first flying from our base to Lyneham, which was an international base, complete with customs officers. We had seats fitted. They did not look too comfortable to me. We carried troops who were being sent to relieve some who were coming back to Britain. This trip was only to Cairo. On our return journey we were bringing one stretcher case, complete with a woman medical officer. The man had a brain tumour. One officer, a Naval Captain, which is a fairly high rank, did not turn up on time. Well I refused to hold up the trip for him, telling the staff that he could pick up 36 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] his luggage at Lyneham. I felt that getting my stretcher case to hospital in Britain was more important. There were a few fighter pilots among my passengers too. When we landed at Castle Benito, the plane just rolled smoothly along the runway with no kind of any bump. This was a rare thing for an Avro York. They could not be landed without a bump of some sort. My air quarter master (Steward) bragged to these fighter guys that I did this all the time. I reminded him that I still had to land them at Lyneham. By this time I was sure that Istres always asked us to land no matter what the British weather conditions before leaving Castle Benito. Sure enough, they asked us to land. However I told them that I was carrying an urgent Stretcher case and wanted to get him to a hospital as soon as possible. They did not hesitate to allow me to proceed. I realised that I had made one goof. The troops were all wearing tropical dress and wanted to change, but did not wish to embarrass the woman medical officer. I brought her up front with me and had told her that she could hear the various info. I received as we flew. When I pushed for not landing at Istres, she told me not to fly on if the weather was bad. The invalid was not that urgent. I had to tell her that there would be layers of cloud when we got there and maybe a bit of drizzle, but nothing to make it a dangerous landing. Actually we didn’t even have the drizzle, but did I ever bounce in on my landing. Then I was sent with another crew to get some route experience for a trip to Singapore. F/Lt. Audis was the pilot. Well, after we left Basra and were flying down the Persian Gulf, I went back to have a rest. I don’t think I was really asleep, but suddenly I became aware that something was wrong. Even though the aircraft was cruising OK, I went up front and asked what the trouble was. Well the port outer engine was not functioning, something wrong with the supercharger. The pilot had decided to fly lower, so that he could see more closely things at ground level. However at the bottom of the gulf, we would have to climb to over ten thousand feet to get over some hills, before flying along to Kirachi [sic] over the sea. He got permission to land at Sharjah, where we would wait until a replacement engine could be flown to us. We were there from August 19th. to September 1st. Strangely enough a friend from my days on bombers flew the engine to us in a DC3 (Dakota). Apart from one more flight along with another pilot, just doing an air test, that was my last flight with the RAF. I had flown total of 1201 hrs 50 min. My flying with British Overseas Airways Corporation While at Aldermaston, back at school, in training for my various licences, I flew once with Captain Green on an air test in a Viking aircraft , just for 1 Hr 20 min. This was strictly off the record and is not included in my log book. I also went up for an air test in a Dakota with Capt. Levy. This lasted !hr. 30mn. As we approached for a landing he suggested that I try the landing. I didn’t even know the speed to make the approach at. He told me the speed and said to go ahead. I would find that it would pretty well land itself. So I did land it and with a nice smooth landing. I had to do some flying in the York again, which included landing fully loaded. I was sent on a cross country 37 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron: World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] flight with another First Officer, F/O Clink. However I was to be in charge. We had all sorts of different personnel on board. They came and asked if I was ready for dinner. As I was in charge, I was to them Captain. Well you have no idea of the fancy treatment I was given. Of course the stewards were also in training and were being watched. I have never been so handsomely treated to a meal before or since. When I was fully qualified I was sent to Turn, near Bournemouth. My first trip as First Officer started on November 23rd, 1947. Captain Phillips was in charge. We flew to London. On the 24th our route was first to Bordeaux and then to Castel Benito, then on to Lydda. This was a staging Post for the crew. The plane flew on with a different crew. On November 28th we took over a different plane on to Basra and Kirachi [sic]. On November 30th we were off again, this time with a Cast. Maltin. We flew to Dharan at Delhi. When we took off from Delhi, as we were gaining speed for take off, Capt. Maltin suddenly shut the throttles right down and exclaimed, “Holy cow!” This surprised me to hear him say a thing like this, but when I looked to see the problem, there was a cow strolling slowly across the runway. I laughed and said to him, “I have never heard that expression used correctly before.” Captain Maltin flew us as far as Lydda on the way home. We found ourselves as supernumerary crew. In other words there were two crews, but only one plane, so we flew on in the same plane, but with a different crew. That saved us a day, as we stayed with the plane right through to Castle Benito, but were delayed a day, I think by a sandstorm before returning to base. The next flight started on December 24th, 1947. We had two children by this time, so Christmas arrived a wee bit early, but, neither Glen or Patricia were aware of that. The name of the plane was Macduff. G-AGOF. We flew to London late on the 24th. Our take off was on the 25th. None of us in the crew were happy about this. Neither were most of the passengers. Captain Kelly came aboard and looked around at the long faces, and asked the steward if we had Christmas Crackers on board. We did, so he asked that a cracker be given to every passenger and every crew member. There was a tiny decorated tree just at the entrance, which on the York was mid-way up the passenger cabin. When we all had our crackers Captain Kelly said, “Now all of you pull your crackers and put on the paper hat.” That broke the ice and we had a great trip after that. We made landings at Bordeaux for lunch (Christmas Dinner), then on to Castel Benito and Cairo. Both passengers and crew had an overnight stop in Cairo. Then in early morning we flew down to Khartoum. A lovely breakfast was waiting for us in Khartoum. As we flew south from Khartoum, Captain Kelly asked me to go back into the passengers to point out any wild game. He purposely flew fairly low and I pointed out large animals like giraffe and elephant and such like. Two little girls, about nine or ten years old, latched onto me at this time. They had a great time as I showed them quite a few animals on the ground. 38 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] As for me, I was very interested in not only seeing all this wild game, but also we flew low over the Murchison Falls on this branch of the Nile River. We arrived in Nairobi on December 27th and were treated once again to another Christmas Dinner. I am afraid the two little girls ended up sitting on my knees, one on each knee. This was hardly airline etiquette, but by this time passengers and crew were just like one huge family. When we finally returned to base, we received no less than 5 letters, commending the crew for a great trip. Most were being sent out from England on a scheme to grow ground nuts (peanuts), which turned out to be a complete flop in the end. None were very happy about going. After Nairobi we flew past Kilimanjaro, quite a nice sight to Mombasa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Then we headed south over Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. This was our final destination and my first crossing of the equator. There were no celebrations on board. Our return trip was still in the Macduff as far as Cairo. Then we staged, flying on December 31st in a York called Marston, G-AGSO. Between Cairo and Tunisia Captain Kelly gathered the whole crew up front. The radio was tuned to the BBC in London, and as the new year came in we had a bit of a celebration. We were unable to land in London because of fog and were diverted to our base at Hurn. Here was still a lot of cloud below us, but I suddenly spotted our base and gave Cpt. Kelly a nudge. He was determined to land at base, but the passengers must have wondered what was happening. To say the least it was not a normal approach, although to us up front it was certainly not dangerous. So we came to the end of one of my most enjoyable trips. On January 22nd 1948, I did the same route again with Captain Bennett. Then my final trip was to India once again with Captain Buxton. This time we went one more stop after Delhi, to Calcutta. I am not sure which of these trips this incident happened, but on one of our stopovers in Cairo, we arranged with a local man to take us from the Bentley Hotel (I think that was the name) to the Pyramids and Sphinx, with a tour up inside the Great Pyramid. We would pay him for the entire trip. We settled on a price. Everything went very well. I opted to ride an Arabian horse instead of one of their moth-eaten camels. All went very well including the climb up inside the pyramid, until nearly down inside. Then this guide decided he would like a bit more money. If we wouldn’t give him this he would leave us in the dark. He had been lighting our way with magnesium strips. Needless to say the poor guy was completely surrounded by us, and told he had better not try any tricks like that. I think he thought we would take the magnesium and leave him behind, but anyway we got out okay. By this time, my left eye had really started to go blind. I realised that I could not renew my licence and so resigned from BOAC. My total flying time, including air force and civilian was 1455 hrs 55min. 39 [page break] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] [medals and other insignia photographed on a black background] [top] [RAF wings] [1st row L to R] [1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; 1939-45 Defence Medal; 1939-45 War Medal] [2nd row] [Bomber Command Tribute 1939 – 1945] 40 [page break] Campaign Stars, Clasps and Medals instituted in recognition of service in the war of 1939 – 45 [list of awards] [award certificate for those who served in Bomber Command 1939 – 45] 41 [page break]] [italics] Donald Cameron World War II and Flying Memoirs [/italics] [bold] Footnote to My Flying [/bold] Mary and I were at our trailer up near Norland, when we received a phone call from our daughter, Patricia. She asked us what we would be doing on August 19th 2000. I looked at our calendar and told her that we had tickets for the theatre in Lindsay. We were going with some friends. Well we were told to cancel these arrangements. Our three children had combined to give me a trip up in the Lancaster at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. They had joined to purchase membership in this museum for me ($75). As well, they paid $1000 for a flight of about 45 minutes in the Lancaster. It was a real thrill to be back in a Lancaster once again. [colour photo of man and woman in front of a stationary Lancaster] 42 [photograph of Donald Cameron wearing his war medals] [article from the ‘News Advertiser’ dated 3rd September 2000, including photograph of Donald Cameron in front of a Lancaster aircraft] High times for veteran flyer Second World War pilot revisits his glory days By Jane McDonald staff writer When Don Cameron headed towards a certain aircraft on a sunny Saturday, Aug. 19, it was as though 55 years suddenly melted away. “He strutted over that tarmac like a 20 years old,” says Pat Boocock of Ajax, the 53-year-old daughter of Mr Cameron who, with her two brothers arranged for her father to fly once again in a famous Second World War Lancaster. Mr Cameron wasn’t quite 20 years old when he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. Originally from Toronto, he’d gone to Scotland in 1938 to study at an agricultural college. After war broke out the following year, he tried to join the air force when he reached the age of conscription. “They told me, ‘No, you’re not a resident’” recalls the almost 79-year-old Whitby man. He joined anyway as a volunteer and headed for the southern United States to train as a pilot. And although he qualified as a fighter pilot, by the time he got back to England, he was posted to 115 Squadron, part of the RAF’s No. 3 Group Witchford. This meant flying multi-engine aircraft like the Wellington and Stirling. But his favourite by far was the Lancaster. Mr Cameron remembers, with the help of his log book, his first operational trip to Berlin when he piloted a Lancaster, the heavy four-engine bomber, many of which were built at Victory Aircraft, the Canadian Crown corporation at Malton, Ont. [photograph with caption “Don Cameron still hadn’t come back to earth after flying in a Lancaster bomber, the same plane he flew as a pilot with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He went up on Aug. 19.] “I flew five different (Lancaster) planes,” says Mr. Cameron of his time on operational missions. “Then somebody would take one up (when he was off duty) and not come back.” He had his own close calls like a particularly ‘nasty trip’ he made to Cologne, the city in northern Germany on the Rhine River, when his plane had two fires burning as he struggled to get his crew back to England. “Cologne was the scariest,” he admits. It turned out to be British incendiaries that landed on us. We were coming out of Cologne and I gave orders to prepare to abandon the aircraft. Then the whole (pre-flight) briefing came back to me … I realized then that it would be better to blow up there than bail out and drift back into Cologne. That decision saved our lives.” Another time, after landing successfully on a grassy strip, Flight Lieutenant Cameron asked a ground crew member to shine his light on the port outer engine which he thought might have something wrong with it. “There is no engine,” answered the man. But the plane he went up in Aug. 19 had all four engines. Lovingly refurbished by a dedicated group of volunteers, the pride of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Mount Hope Airport in Hamilton is the only airworthy Lancaster in Canada. “I just heard about it on the radio three or four years ago,” says Mrs. Boocock. “I tucked it away in my mind but when my father started having heart problems, I thought we’d better do it soon.” She contacted the museum and was told her father could go up in its Lancaster for a ‘donation’. She and her two brothers came up with $1,000, which she says will be their father’s “birthday and Christmas” gift. Mr. Cameron says he found the flight to be “quite similar” in many respects. “The only thing missing was the piece of armour plating that used to be behind my (the pilot’s) head,” he adds of the 45 minute flight that took him over Niagara Falls. And although it was “bumpy”, there was no need to worry about anti-aircraft flak hitting this Lancaster. One night in 1944, his plane came back from a sortie with 47 holes in it and he lost an eye after the war as a result. “I really haven’t come down to earth yet,” says the happy and grateful family man. “It’s something I just never expected.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource World War II & Flying Memoirs - Don Cameron Description An account of the resource Don describes travelling to Scotland before start of the war and then joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He continues with an account of training in England before going to Lakeland Florida, for primary flying training, Cochran field for basic training and Napier Field (Dothan Alabama) for advanced training on Harvard. He recalls his further training at various UK bases. Don recounts his first operation, 4 October 1943, over Germany while still training at RAF Wing. He then went to 115 Squadron at RAF Whitchford and describes operations undertaken in February and March 1944, as well as operations to Germany and in support of D-Day. He describes his subsequent role as an instructor at RAF Feltwell. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource D Cameron Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Great Britain England--Lincolnshire England--Sussex England--Brighton England--Buckinghamshire England--High Wycombe United States Florida--Lakeland Georgia--Macon Alabama--Dothan England--Gloucestershire England--Buckinghamshire England--Suffolk England--Northamptonshire England--Cambridgeshire Germany Germany--Schweinfurt Germany--Düsseldorf Germany--Duisburg France France--Normandy England--Norfolk France--Le Havre Florida Alabama Georgia Germany--Ruhr (Region) Libya--Tripoli Libya North Africa Temporal Coverage Temporal characteristics of the resource. 1942-03-23 1942-05-10 1942-08-11 1943-05-21 1944-01-05 1944-01-25 1943-10-04 1944-01-30 1944-02-15 1944-02-24 1944-02-25 1944-04-14 1944-06-05 1944-06-06 1944-06-14 1944-06-15 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Thirty-eight page printed document with b/w and colour photographs Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Text. Memoir Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BCameronDCameronDv1 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Civilian Royal Air Force Royal Air Force. Bomber Command Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available IBCC Digital Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource David Bloomfield Maureen Clarke 115 Squadron 1651 HCU 1678 HCU 17 OTU 26 OTU aircrew bomb struck bombing bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944) bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944) Cook’s tour crash Flying Training School Gee Harvard Heavy Conversion Unit incendiary device Initial Training Wing Lancaster Lancaster Finishing School Lancaster Mk 2 love and romance Me 110 Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944) Operational Training Unit Oxford pilot promotion RAF Dishforth RAF Feltwell RAF Hemswell RAF Lindholme RAF Silverstone RAF Waterbeach RAF Windrush RAF Wing RAF Witchford RAF Wratting Common Scarecrow searchlight Stearman Stirling Tiger Moth training Wellington Window York