James Oates 13.07.1921 - 13.09.2009

BWelshGOatesJv1.jpg

Title

James Oates 13.07.1921 - 13.09.2009

Description

A brief biography of Jimmy.

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Format

One printed sheet

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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

Identifier

BWelshGOatesJv1

Transcription

James Oates 13.07.1921 – 13.09.2009

[symbol] James Oates was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
[symbol] He attended Pipworth Road Boys School and Marcliffe Intermediate School, Sheffield. He left school age 14 years.
[symbol] James was interested in art and technical drawing and he trained to become a draughtsman.
[symbol] James joined the RAF in 1942 as Sergeant Oates 1489922, he was 20 years old. He qualified as a Navigator on 10.05.1942 and was released on 12.09.1946 with the rank of Warrant Officer.
[symbol] He served with 196 Squadron and flew in a variety of aircraft (listed at the back of his log book) including Wellington, Stirling and Halifax. His log book is very detailed and informative.
[symbol] James returned home to Sheffield in 1946 and became a Draughtsman/Civil Engineer.
[symbol] James worked at Henry Matthews and Sons (Transport LTD). This was the largest haulage contractor in Sheffield in the 1950s and 1960s. Immediately after the war Henry Matthews and Sons helped to clear the aftermath of the bombings in Sheffield and James was involved with the logistics of the excavation and demolition in and around Sheffield. James was promoted in 1957 to Company Secretary.
[symbol] James was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in his early 40s, unfortunately by the time he was 50 he had serious problems with his balance, arm and leg movement and as the condition progressed with sensation and vision. James became immobile and bedridden and passed away peacefully at his home in South Yorkshire in September 2009.

James, known to us as Uncle Jim married my Auntie Evelyn late in life following a long relationship and they did not have children.

James never spoke about his time the RAF although my Auntie always said he was proud to serve his King and Country. We knew he was a navigator and he told us that when he passed away he would leave his log book and medals to us for us to look at and for safe keeping.

Collection

Citation

“James Oates 13.07.1921 - 13.09.2009,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 9, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/38065.

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