Jack Wakefield’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
Title
Jack Wakefield’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
Description
Jack Wakefield’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book from 16th May 1940 until 27th July 1944.
Initial training at No. 1 Air Observers School, RNZAF, followed by 5 Operational Training Unit. Posted to 75 (New Zealand) Squadron for operations as an air gunner. June 1941 saw a posting to 23 Operational Training Unit as an air gunner instructor. Further posting to 15 Operational Training Unit in August 1942 and then Ferry Flight.
Second operational posting to 38 Squadron as rear gunner in October 1942 in the Middle East. May 1943 saw a posting to 5 Middle East Torpedo (Training) School before returning to 38 Squadron. Returned to England in August 1943 for posting to 7 Operational Training Unit as an air gunner instructor. Returned to New Zealand in May 1944 to Ground Training School.
Served at RNZAF Ohakea, RAF Aston Down, RAF Feltwell, RAF Pershore, RAF Hampstead Norris, RAF Harwell, RAF Shallufa, RAF Berca (Benghazi), RAF Limavady, RNZAF Delta.
Aircraft flown were Vickers Vincent, Defiant, Blenheim, Wellington, Fairy Gordon, C-47 Dakota, Hudson, Oxford.
He flew 30 night bombing operations with 75 Squadron. Targets included Hamburg, Cologne, Paris, Bremen, Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Wilhelmshaven, Hannover, Boulogne, Lorient, Kiel, Dusseldorf, Brest, Mannheim. His pilots for these operations were Pilot Officers Pownall, Lockwood, Mathieson, Squadron Leader Widdowson and Sergeant Fotheringham,
With 23 OTU he flew 3 operations to Cologne, Essen and Bremen. He was piloted by Pilot Officer Saunders, Squadron Leader Mansfield and Pilot Officer Munroe.
He flew 27 bombing, mine-laying, shipping strike, anti-submarine convoy escort and offensive reconnaissance operations with 38 Squadron (1 day and 26 night). His targets were in the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, Tripoli, Candia Harbour in Crete. His pilots were Flight Lieutenant Wiggins, Sergeant Sismey, Sergeant Gaylord, Pilot Officer Moderwell, Flying Officer Green, Flying Officer Collins, Pilot Officer Thompson and Sergeant Sayer.
On 25th October 1942 his aircraft had a forced landing.
Initial training at No. 1 Air Observers School, RNZAF, followed by 5 Operational Training Unit. Posted to 75 (New Zealand) Squadron for operations as an air gunner. June 1941 saw a posting to 23 Operational Training Unit as an air gunner instructor. Further posting to 15 Operational Training Unit in August 1942 and then Ferry Flight.
Second operational posting to 38 Squadron as rear gunner in October 1942 in the Middle East. May 1943 saw a posting to 5 Middle East Torpedo (Training) School before returning to 38 Squadron. Returned to England in August 1943 for posting to 7 Operational Training Unit as an air gunner instructor. Returned to New Zealand in May 1944 to Ground Training School.
Served at RNZAF Ohakea, RAF Aston Down, RAF Feltwell, RAF Pershore, RAF Hampstead Norris, RAF Harwell, RAF Shallufa, RAF Berca (Benghazi), RAF Limavady, RNZAF Delta.
Aircraft flown were Vickers Vincent, Defiant, Blenheim, Wellington, Fairy Gordon, C-47 Dakota, Hudson, Oxford.
He flew 30 night bombing operations with 75 Squadron. Targets included Hamburg, Cologne, Paris, Bremen, Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Wilhelmshaven, Hannover, Boulogne, Lorient, Kiel, Dusseldorf, Brest, Mannheim. His pilots for these operations were Pilot Officers Pownall, Lockwood, Mathieson, Squadron Leader Widdowson and Sergeant Fotheringham,
With 23 OTU he flew 3 operations to Cologne, Essen and Bremen. He was piloted by Pilot Officer Saunders, Squadron Leader Mansfield and Pilot Officer Munroe.
He flew 27 bombing, mine-laying, shipping strike, anti-submarine convoy escort and offensive reconnaissance operations with 38 Squadron (1 day and 26 night). His targets were in the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, Tripoli, Candia Harbour in Crete. His pilots were Flight Lieutenant Wiggins, Sergeant Sismey, Sergeant Gaylord, Pilot Officer Moderwell, Flying Officer Green, Flying Officer Collins, Pilot Officer Thompson and Sergeant Sayer.
On 25th October 1942 his aircraft had a forced landing.
Creator
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One booklet
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
SBondS-WakefieldHv10002
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Royal Air Force, “Jack Wakefield’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed January 22, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/50704.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.