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Interview with Queenie Hall.
Queenie 'Robbie' Hall was born in Suffolk and had wanted to join the WRNS while under age; she bluffed her way into the RAF instead. She describes volunteering, her recruitment and training. At first she worked in kitchens but remustered as a clerk…
Eric Keen with wife and baby daughter
An airman wearing tunic with flight engineer brevet standing alongside a woman holding baby. Submitted with caption 'Eric Keen with wife and baby daughter'.
Birthday postcard to Richard from Todd Hawkins
Colour drawing of Pinocchio and birthday greetings.
Richard and Jessie Hawkins
Drawing portrait of a woman and a boy. Boys wears observer brevet.
Presumably based on photographs. Richard Hawkins would have been 4 or 5 at the time.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Presumably based on photographs. Richard Hawkins would have been 4 or 5 at the time.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Drawing of four engine bomber by Richard
Colour drawing of a four engine bomber and text 'to mummy xmas 1944'.
Birthday card to Richard from daddy
Front shows drawing of Mickey Mouse leaning on a fencepost saying 'Five Huh'. Greetings from Stalag Luft 1. Inside birthday greetings and illustration of five ducks.
Birthday card to Richard from Daddy
Colour drawing of 'Pooky Rabbit' with birthday greetings text.
Birthday card to Richard from Daddy
Drawing of Donald Duck in a single engine fighter with flak. Greetings from Daddy.
Illustrated birthday card
On the front a blue ribbon and a drawing of mickey mouse in a single engine aircraft with test 'greetings from stalag'. On the inside greeting to Richard from Daddy.
Letter from Todd Hawkins to family 29 October 1940
Still no new from home. Asks if son is talking yet and adds family gossip. Speculates on future.
Letter from Todd Hawkins to family 20 October 1940
Still no news from home. Was in good health and learned some German. Gossip about home and family. Wonders if son will know him when he gets back. Hopes all is well at home.
Letter from Todd Hawkins to family 15 August 1940
Now five weeks as prisoner. Had received no word that they knew he was alive and well. Speculates on future activities after the war. Reminds Jess to buy present for Richard's birthday.
Stan and child
Stan in a doorway with a child called 'Pat'.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
The item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive in digital form: no better quality copies are available.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
The item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive in digital form: no better quality copies are available.
Interview with Anna Williams
Rosita Williams nee Semler grew up near Frankfurt during the Second World War. Her education was very disrupted by the war including her piano lessons when there were no local teachers. She was on a train when it was shot up by fighters. She was…
George Edward Gadd
Personal research on George Edward Gadd by his younger brother. It describes how he died and how his parents found out about his death on their way to visit him. It also mentions his amateur boxing and engagement to Kathleen Smith, a farmer's…
Children with crashed aircraft
Two girls standing on the fuselage and a third sitting in a gun turret of a crashed aircraft. The letters QR and K of 61 Squadron are painted on the fuselage.
Interview with Douglas Clark
Doug Clark grew up in Lincolnshire and witnessed the construction of RAF Ludford Magna. He saw the wreckage of a Lancaster crash and recalled the time when Lancasters filled the sky. After he left school, he joined the Royal Observer Corps. He went…
Interview with Beryl Fitter
Beryl Fitter grew up in Birmingham during the war. She recalls the many hours spent in the Anderson or Morrison shelter. She also experienced the Black Market which supplemented the rations. The house across from them was bombed. An incendiary landed…
Interview with Maureen Shirley Lill
Maureen Lill grew up in Louth during the war. She recalls the one night when a bomb destroyed the house of her school friend. Her father was in the Army and she didn’t see him for the duration of the war after he was called up. He had begun to read…
Interview with Peter Brian Edwards
Peter Edwards is the son of a Halton apprentice. His father was based at RAF Wittering as Senior Technical Officer during the war, but his mother moved with him and his brother to Lytham St Anne’s for the duration. American servicemen were frequent…
Interview with Norman Rutherford. Two
Norman Rutherford discusses his schooling during the war and how few male teachers remained. He recollects the scarcity of food and the blackout. As a child he was briefly sent from his home in Cleethorpes to stay with his music teacher at…
Interview with Norman Rutherford. One
Norman Rutherford was born in Cleethorpes in 1931 and remembers as an eight year old child discussing with his cousin as to whether there would be a war. Norman recalls the sound of the air raid sirens and learning his multiplication tables in the…
Interview with Elizabeth Ann Rogers
Elizabeth's earliest memories include the family’s Anderson shelter, later replaced by a Morrison shelter where she slept during air raids. She recalls the sound of planes overhead and the impact of nearby bombings, including shattered windows and…
Commemoration 5 Mai 2010
The commemoration covers Jack Marsden's escape in June 1944, assisted by villagers from Courboin. A second part of the commemoration is a tale about Gaston Charruet who was caught by the Germans for assisting a British airman as witnessed by a child…
Interview with Rudolf Williams about his father, James Raphael Williams
Rudolph describes his father’s (James) life, from his childhood years in Trinidad, through to volunteering for and serving in the RAF in the UK. After demobilisation, James returned briefly to Trinidad before returning to the UK where he worked for…