Interview with Doug Taylor

Interview with Doug Taylor

Doug Taylor already had a pilot’s licence when he volunteered as RAF aircrew. However, he considered the lengthy training ahead to join the RAF as a pilot, thinking that the war might end before he’d had a chance to join, so he volunteered as an air gunner. He undertook nine operations with his crew while based at RAF East Kirkby with 57 Squadron. After the war he went on to farming in Africa and New Zealand.

2018-10-17

00:12:57 audio recording

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ATaylorDP181017

JB: This interview is being carried for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Jennifer Barraclough. The interviewee is Mr Douglas Taylor and we are at Mr Taylor’s home near Auckland. The date of the interview, the date is 17th of October 2018. Ok, Mr Taylor, thanks for seeing me. Could you tell me just a little about how you came to join up with the RAF?
DT: Flying. Certainly, better than the infantry marching [laughs] I had a private pilot’s licence anyway so the obvious thing was to join the Air Force. But there was an eighteen month delay in call up for pilots because there were so many of them, and then they had to wait until there was a ship going to the United States where they did the training, got their wings then wait for another ship to get back to England. I reckoned the war would be over by then so I volunteered as an air gunner and trained in England. In the west of England. It was only what six months training and then joined a squadron. 57 Squadron. Quite a happy one.
JB: Good. Right.
DT: [unclear] amount of that.
JB: So, tell us a little about your experiences during operations.
DT: Oh, I only did nine because the training took so long and we were never attacked by fighters but the enemy flak was a bit worrying. Quite often you would feel the aircraft give a jump when a shell burst a bit too close. But we were never hit. Not seriously. There were one or two small bits in the fuselage but nothing serious. I only did nine over Germany.
JB: Right.
DT: But all the years of training, one station to another and we only did nine. The tour was thirty.
JB: Yes.
DT: But anyway, that’s many years ago. Long ago and forgotten.
JB: Yeah.
DT: East Kirkby. That was it. That’s where I was stationed. 57 Squadron. A happy squadron.
JB: Good.
DT: But that’s all a long past thank goodness.
JB: Long past.
[pause]
DT: I’d already done first year [BOC] when I joined up. So the generous government paid the other two years [BOC] after I’d served which was very nice of them.
JB: What, what subject was that?
DT: Agriculture. Which of course includes chemistry, geology, fertilisation and animal husbandry. All sorts of things concerned with agriculture. A three year course and ex-service so the government paid. Paid the fees.
JB: Great.
DT: You made a hit with her.
JB: I have haven’t it. The dog is present.
DT: She’s a nice dog. She’s not even ours. Neither of them are.
JB: Really.
DT: They’re my son’s but he parks them on us during the day [laughs]
JB: Right. So, what about your life after the war? What did you do?
DT: Pardon?
JB: After the war what did you do?
DT: Well, I went back to [unclear] and completed the two years of the degree.
JB: Yes. And after that?
DT: Heck. It’s a long time ago. I was doing some advisory work advising farmers.
JB: And you moved to New Zealand. A long time ago. You came to New Zealand.
DT: Oh yes.
JB: Yes.
DT: Yeah. I bought a farm in south Africa and I farmed there. Mainly maize. And then I don’t know. I ended up in New Zealand.
JB: Yeah.
DT: Couldn’t go much further south. South Africa was a lovely country until the black gentry took over and then it wasn’t so good. I had ten years in Kenya. That was a beautiful country because although it was on the equator it wasn’t hot because it was five thousand feet, most of it. I had a farm there. That was, that was a lovely country. But then again it was given back to the Africans and everything went downhill.
JB: And did you continue flying?
DT: I had a private pilot’s licence. Yes. Then I had two years as a senior inspector in Bechuanaland. What is it? Botswana is it now or something or other? It was Bechuana. Bechuanaland then anyway. I could have gone in to the Service in England but that was pretty dull work. Anyway, it was much nicer in Kenya. It was a lovely country, Kenya. Most of it was five thousand feet above sea level. Although you were on the equator it was never too hot. Pleasant climate. Very pleasant. And there again the Africans took over. They wanted our jobs. Well, they didn’t really they wanted the pay and not the job [laughs] So things were going downhill. Hopefully, they’ve picked up since then. What am I doing this interview for anyway?
JB: It’s for the International Bomber Command Centre.
DT: Oh, I see.
JB: In England. Yes. Can you think of anything more at all to say about your wartime service?
DT: Not really. No.
JB: Not really. What, what was it like being on on the operations as a gunner?
DT: Well, the Germans were very short of fuel so we never saw a fighter but they still had plenty of anti-aircraft shells and every so often the plane would give a little judder if it got too close. We had one or two pieces of shrapnel through the fuselage. Not many though. And anyway, if they hit you it was just the luck of the draw.
JB: Yes. So, did you never have to fire a gun?
DT: Never.
JB: Never.
DT: Well, yes. But not in anger.
JB: No.
DT: I had to fire them under training but not —
JB: Just in training but —
DT: No.
JB: Not on operations. Right.
DT: What were they? Each gun was a eleven fifty rounds a minute.
JB: Right.
DT: The rear gunner had four. I sat in the mid-upper and had two. But even then that was a heck of a lot of bullets going out. Thank goodness those days are over.
JB: Yes.
DT: There was a wonderful spirit on the squadron though. Everybody worked together. Just as well. We shared the station with another squadron. That was 630. But there was no antagonism between us at all. We shared it amicably. Thank goodness those days are over.
JB: Did you keep up with any of [pause] did you keep up with any of your friends after the war?
DT: Yes. We had a round robin and one crew member would write a letter enclose it, send it to another crew member. The other crew member added one, took his original one out and it went around and around around until members started to drop of their perch. No. We kept in touch alright. Your bag is being well and truly sniffed. [pause] Are you being kept busy?
JB: With this? Moderately. Yes.
DT: Thank goodness those days are long past.
JB: Yes. Ok. Is there anything else you’d like to say at all?
DT: Well, not really.
JB: No.
DT: You just sprung it on me so I’d have to think about it. I don’t think so.
JB: No.
DT: We said the station. East Kirkby. 617. Not 617. That was the Dambusters. What the hell was it? I can’t remember their number. I’m sure there was six something.
JB: Right.
DT: But two squadrons on a station and we hardly saw any of the other squadron. And then we had leave. Was it every six weeks? I think it was. A week’s leave. Plus travelling time. I’m pretty sure it was very frequent anyway. Those days are long past thank goodness.
JB: Ok. We’ll finish there then.
DT: Right [laughs]