G L Cheshire]]> Lord Boothby]]> Sir Arthur Harris]]> Air Marshall Broom]]> Wing Commander J A G Skinner]]> Group Captain Willie Tait]]> Major General James Stuart]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1975-05-10]]> 2021-01-30]]> A T Harris]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> North Africa]]> Belgium--Houffalize]]> Belgium--Saint-Vith]]> France--Dunkerque]]> France--Normandy]]> 1945-05-10]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Norway]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)--Yagodnik]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> ]]> Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Maureen Clarke]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> England--London]]> Germany]]> Ireland]]>
Label reads “64”; signed by the author; caption reads “(1) LA TRAGEDIA DEL LAKONIA [sic] 12 SETTEMBRE 1942. Il sommergibile “UI56” al comando di Warner Hartenstein [Werner Hartenstein] in navigazione notturna, alle oer [sic] 21 avvista il Laconia di 20.000 tonnellate in rotta dall’Africa agli Stati Uniti, carico di 1800 prigionieri italiani, più equipaggio e passeggeri. L’U156 lancia 2 siluri colpendo in pieno la nave, aprendo il piu terribile dei drammi del mare, di tutti i tempi. (in basso a destra, una rara cartolina del “Lakonia.)

Caption translates as: “(1) The Tragedy of the Laconia, 12th September 1942. The “U 156” submarine, led by Werner Hartenstein, was sailing at night. At 9 pm it caught sight of the Laconia, 20,000 gross register tonnage, en route from Africa to the United States. It was transporting 1,800 Italian prisoners, along with crew and passengers. The U156 shot two torpedoes, hitting the vessel, and starting one of the most terrible tragedies of the sea of all times. (bottom right-hand side, a rare postcard of the Laconia.)”]]> Angiolino Filiputti]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Francesca Campani]]> Alessandro Pesaro]]> Helen Durham]]> Giulia Banti]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Filiputti, Angiolino. Laconia incident]]> ita]]> Artwork]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> 1942-09-12]]> 1942-09]]>
Label reads “77”; signed by the author; caption reads “GLI ULTIMI TRE SECONDI. Il marinaio che ha scattato queste fotografie sapeva che a lui ed hai suoi compagni restavano solo 3 secondi per vivere. Siamo nel Mar Baltico nel 1943, il sommergibile Tedesco è stato intrappolato, da un incrociatore inglese, sul sommergibile stanno ora scendendo inesorabili le bombe di profondita. Il sommergibile danneggiato non può muoversi, ed attende l’esplosione finale. Ma “.

Caption translates as: “The Last Three Seconds. The sailor who took these photographs knew that he and his comrades only had three more seconds to live. Baltic Sea, 1943. The German submarine was under the fire of a British cruiser. Depth charges were relentlessly descending on the submarine. The damaged boat could not move and waited for the final explosion. But” ]]> Angiolino Filiputti]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Francesca Campani]]> Alessandro Pesaro]]> Helen Durham]]> Giulia Banti]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Filiputti, Angiolino. Submariners trapped at the bottom of the Baltic Sea]]> ita]]> Artwork]]> Royal Navy]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> 1943]]>
Label reads “78”; signed by the author; caption reads “a bordo tutti i sommergibilisti rimangono calmi, uno possiede addirittura, abbastanza sangue freddo da riprendere con la sua macchina fotografica, gli ultimi attimi di vita. Quando il sommergibile affondato è stato ripescato, la pellicola è stata ritrovata intatta, le immagini impresse su di essa rappresentano una delle documentazioni piu drammatiche della Guerra subacquea.

Caption translates as: “on board, all the submariners remained calm. One of them remained so calm and collected that he recorded their last moments with his camera. When the sunken submarine was salvaged, the film was found intact. The images recorded on it are some of the most tragic documents of submarine warfare.”]]> Angiolino Filiputti]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Francesca Campani]]> Alessandro Pesaro]]> Helen Durham]]> Giulia Banti]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Filiputti, Angiolino. Submariners trapped at the bottom of the Baltic Sea]]> ita]]> Artwork]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> 1943]]> Anna Hoyles]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Wehrmacht. Kriegsmarine]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Gibraltar]]> Great Britain]]> Ireland]]> Italy]]> Mediterranean Sea]]> Middle East--Palestine]]> North Africa]]> Scotland--Fife]]> 1939]]> 1945]]> Anne Brodie]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Maureen Clarke]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> Sound]]> Germany]]> Lithuania]]> Zimbabwe]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Mediterranean Sea]]> 1940-09]]> 1944]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Norway]]> South Africa]]> Arctic Ocean--North Pole]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Scotland--Montrose]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Isle of Wight]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Dresden]]> England--Hampshire]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945-02]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Maureen Clarke]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Manchester]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Germany]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1939]]> 1944-08]]> 1946]]> 1948]]> ]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Claire Campbell]]> William Evans]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bradford (West Yorkshire)]]> England--Cumbria]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Doncaster]]> England--Kent]]> England--Oxford]]> United States]]> Florida]]> Florida--Clewiston]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Alistair did five operations with the last one to Bremen. They then dropped supplies to the Dutch for which they received a medal from the Dutch government. He also brought back liberated prisoners of war and describes how organised it was. They participated in Cook’s tours. They carried out several long-range navigation exercises, did drop trials on U-boat pens at Farge and shipping strikes.
]]> Bruce Blanche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Sally Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Suffolk]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Netherlands]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Sally Coulter]]> Maureen Clarke]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cumbria]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> Indian Ocean]]> Indian Ocean--Gulf of Aden]]> Kenya]]> Kenya--Nairobi]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--Oudtshoorn]]> South Africa--Port Alfred]]> Yemen (Republic)]]> Yemen (Republic)--Aden]]> Yemen (Republic)--Socotra]]> Denmark]]> Denmark--Copenhagen]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1944-04-30]]> 1944-05-02]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Canada]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Greenock]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> France]]> France--Dunkerque]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> pol]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Singapore]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Paris]]> Poland--Warsaw]]> Libya--Tripoli]]> Libya]]> North Africa]]> 1939-08-28]]> 1939-09-01]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> Walter Raymond Stevenson volunteered for the RAF as soon as he was 18 and trained as a wireless operator/air gunner, learning Morse code at RAF Yatesbury. He flew with 'sprog' pilots as they trained and was posted to Number 3 Air Gunnery School at RAF Mona. He was flying in Bothas, which he disliked, before converting to Wellingtons. Despite hating the sunshine, he was posted to several locations in the Middle East and Africa. He served with 621 Squadron, whose role was to prevent German submarines from attacking shipping. He details the operation where he sighted submarine U852 which the crew bombed with depth chargers, visibly damaging the submarine. The commander of that submarine was later executed for the war crime of firing upon the survivors of the sinking ship, The Peleus. After demobilisation Walter returned to blacksmithing before switching to car repair work.

]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Walter was ‘called up’ to RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool for ‘square bashing’. Despite being informed that blacksmiths and joiners were desperately needed, but Walter was equally fixed on becoming aircrew. Here he learnt Morse code. Next was RAF Yatesbury to learn wireless telegraphy, before qualifying as a radio operator. He was then posted to 608 Squadron RAF Thornaby, Yorkshire, a Costal Command station. After a year there, Walter went to No 3 Air Gunnery School RAF Mona, Anglesey. Walter trained using the Botha which he thinks is a ‘horrible one’ and became a qualified air gunner. Then came RAF Hooton Part, Wirral Peninsula and OTU RAF Silloth, Cumbria. At Silloth Walter was a W/op AG flying in Wellingtons. Here he met ‘the bravest and daftest pilot in the RAF’, called Bond, James Bond. Walter was now sent to 303 FTU RAF Talbenny, Pembrokeshire.
Walter was sent to RAF Hurn, Bournemouth. From Hurn he flew to Gibraltar and then to RAF Rabat, Cairo, Middle East Command, Egypt. He whole crew then flew via Juba to Mogadishu. Before he could arrive, they were diverted to RAF Eastleigh, Mombasa, Kenya. Walter was to fly from Scusciuban, Somaliland on detachment from the squadron. He feels that this location was ‘diabolical’. There were three W/op AGs in the crew, and they rotated the wireless operator’s role with two hours on the set. The set was technically known as the IT but amongst the crew as ITV.
The navigator knew the U-852 was surfacing and its possible location. The plane was unable to fly high due to low cloud cover, so Walter was able to visually sight the U-Boat from the second dicky seat. He moved to the front air gunner’s position, and after firing on all those in or moving to the U-Boat’s conning tower, it submerged. The plane circled the area thinking that the U-Boat was ‘Whacko’ and saw it re-surface, so depth charges were dropped in a ‘stick’. The gunner aboard opened fire with 37mm. Walter feels that they were poor gunners as the plane was never hit and they were the only aircraft in the sky. After the attack to U-Boat was guided to the shore and breached. The captain was executed with two other officers from the crew as war criminals for their behaviour earlier in the war.
Walter was sent on with his squadron to assist 8 Squadron in Ade, where they received ‘red hot’ gen about the shipping. He was posted to Khormaksar then Transjordan. He was there for about six weeks for the RAF Aircraft instructor’s course, before returning to England.
Walter was never confronted with a case of LMF but is both annoyed by it and understands that it was something never discussed. He describes the differing treatment to NCOs and Officers with LMF as NCOs were punished for it, but Officers were not.
Walter was posted as a warrant officer to RAF Scampton to be the Sports Officer. He was demobbed at either RAF Conningsby or RAF Scampton in August 1946. He returned to blacksmithing, married Lilian at the Town Hall in Wycombe in 1947. Walter is in the Royal British Legion and the RAFA. He no longer attends meetings as he is without a car.

Claire Campbell]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> Kenya]]> Somalia]]> Middle East]]> Indian Ocean]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Kenya--Mombasa]]> Somalia--Mogadishu]]> North Africa]]> Africa]]> South Sudan]]> South Sudan--Juba]]> Sudan]]> 1940-10]]> 1941]]> 1942-05-02]]> 1943-02-24]]> Daily Sketch]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Goodwin Sands]]> 1946-02-02]]> 1946-02-03]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Netherlands]]> 1945-05-08]]> Frank L Gales]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> 1942-09-23]]> 1942-09-24]]> ]]>
This item was provided, in digital form, by a third-party organisation which used technical specifications and operational protocols that may differ from those used by the IBCC Digital Archive.]]> Geoff Burton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Devon]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>