JF Neilson's memoir
Title
JF Neilson's memoir
A Love/Hate Relationship with a Halibag
Description
Growing Up -The Hard Way WAR -1939
James joined the Local Defence Volunteers at first then realised he did not want to become infantry. He did mount road blocks and fire watches. He applied to join the RAF and was accepted. Training was at Blackpool, then Bicester, then Fairoaks.
At RAF Training - Heaton Park he was assessed as a future Navigator and was sent to Canada, via New York, on the Queen Elizabeth. Then they were sent by train to Three Rivers, Manitoba via Moncton. On completion of that stage of the training he returned via Liverpool. Further training was at RAF Lossiemouth then operations at RAF Leconfield. His aircraft engines started losing power on the way to Stuttgart and he bailed out. After some time they were captured by Germans. They were sent by train to Frankfurt for interrogation then onwards to Stalag Luft VII. As the Russians advanced they were marched to Stalag III. They were eventually helped to escape by the Americans and he ended up in Brussels before being flown to the UK. This section ends with photographs taken during his training.
The Long March.
A document written by a Senior British Officer to the Russian authorities. Food supplies were inadequate and the Russians refused to allow the Americans to release the prisoners. Report of a Forced March made by Occupants of Stalag Luft 7, Germany. The report describes in detail the miseries endured by the POWs on a daily basis.
James joined the Local Defence Volunteers at first then realised he did not want to become infantry. He did mount road blocks and fire watches. He applied to join the RAF and was accepted. Training was at Blackpool, then Bicester, then Fairoaks.
At RAF Training - Heaton Park he was assessed as a future Navigator and was sent to Canada, via New York, on the Queen Elizabeth. Then they were sent by train to Three Rivers, Manitoba via Moncton. On completion of that stage of the training he returned via Liverpool. Further training was at RAF Lossiemouth then operations at RAF Leconfield. His aircraft engines started losing power on the way to Stuttgart and he bailed out. After some time they were captured by Germans. They were sent by train to Frankfurt for interrogation then onwards to Stalag Luft VII. As the Russians advanced they were marched to Stalag III. They were eventually helped to escape by the Americans and he ended up in Brussels before being flown to the UK. This section ends with photographs taken during his training.
The Long March.
A document written by a Senior British Officer to the Russian authorities. Food supplies were inadequate and the Russians refused to allow the Americans to release the prisoners. Report of a Forced March made by Occupants of Stalag Luft 7, Germany. The report describes in detail the miseries endured by the POWs on a daily basis.
Creator
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
28 typewritten sheets
Conforms To
Publisher
Rights
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
BNeilsonJFNeilsonJFv1
Citation
JF Neilson, “JF Neilson's memoir,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 19, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/40182.
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