Akrill, William

Title

Akrill, William
Billy Akrill
W Akrill

Description

132 items. The collection concerns Sergeant William Akrill (1922 - 1943, 1436220 Royal Air Force). He was a navigator with 115 Squadron. His Wellington was shot down by a night-fighter on an operation to Essen and crashed into the Ijsselmeer 12/13 March 1943. The collection contains his photographs, letters, and cartoons as well as an oral history interview  with Michael and Ann Akrill about their uncle. There is also a subcollection of letters written as a teenage boy to his father in hospital. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Michael and Ann Akrill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Additional information on William Akrill is available via the IBCC Losses Database

Date

2017-12-04

Publisher

IBCC Digital Archive

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.

Identifier

Akrill, M-A

Collection Items

Fifty one military personnel
Fifty one personnel of differing ranks, some in the rear are RAF trainees wearing tunic and white flash side caps, other may be staff or from other air forces (Turkish). Personnel in front are sitting and those behind standing. In the background an…

Cover for letters from Billy Akrill
Text on cover reads 'Letters written by W E Akrill (Billy) (aged 13), to his father, who was in hospital in 1935'. Includes two colour drawings taken from Billy Akrill's letters. Top drawing shows a hill with trees on left side and house on top, a…

45 Course bomb aimers
Fourteen airmen sitting and standing in two rows. All are wearing tunic with half brevet and side caps. Captioned '45 Course Bomb Aimers'. Names of men written on their photographs. On the reverse 'Part of 13 Course 4.A.O.S, West Freugh'.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Billy mixes real events with fantasy stories, illustrated with small people and animals.

Thirteen navigators
Thirteen sergeants standing and sitting in two rows. All are wearing tunic with half brevet and side cap. Names are printed over each man. Bill Akrill is end right on front row. Captioned '45 Course Navigators'. On the reverse '45 Course No 16…

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Writes about eating duck and chickens laying eggs. Illustrated with coloured drawings of their garden, including flowers and chickens and two comic strip style cartoons.

Fifty airmen
Fifty airmen wearing tunic and side caps sitting and standing in four rows in a park with trees in the background. On the reverse 'Photograph of flight 9/12 A.C.R.C London, 20/9/41'.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Writes about Stainless Stephen, a thunderstorm ('mother covered up the mirror and fender') and the garden and includes a number of drawings of people and coloured flowers.

No 1 Elementary Air Navigation School course photograph
Fifty one airmen and four staff sitting and standing in six rows in front of Eastbourne College. All students are wearing tunic and side caps. On the reverse 'No 1 Elementary Air Navigation School, Eastbourne, 2 Flight, D Squadron, 7.3.42 - 14.5.42'.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Written in dialect as 'Johnathan Trumpitt', including small illustrations.

6 I.T.W Course
Fifty one airmen sitting and standing in four rows in front of Aberystwyth old town hall. All are wearing tunic and most side caps. Title 'Royal Air Force Aberystwyth, No 4 Squadron, A Flight, 6 I.T.W. November 1941'

Bill Akrill is sixth from…

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Relates a visit to Belvoir Castle, Nottingham and Wollerton (sic) Park via a series of captioned drawings. Then includes a illustrated story or stories.

William Akrill
Head and shoulders portrait of RAF airman with a different small head and shoulders portrait underneath. On the reverse 'Billy Akrill 1941/43'.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Writes of the weather, a visit to Fillingham Castle, acquaintances, new kittens, geese laying and family members. Includes a number of drawings of people, places and animals.

Illustrated envelope
Envelope addressed to Miss Lucy Moody, Welbourn Hall, Lincoln with mushroom silhouette illustration on bottom left entitled 'Autumn'.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Writes about farm animals and a recent visit to the college. Illustrated with pictures of animals and people. The last page is a coloured, comic strip style drawing about chickens on the farm.

Illustrated envelope
Envelope addressed to Miss Lucy Moody, Welbourn Hall, Lincoln with illustration on bottom left of a bunch of primroses.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Lists recently sold calves, prices and the names of their new owners. Comments on the sales process and about taking the pigs to market, includes amounts made from their sale also. Includes drawings of the cow auction and market.

W E Akrill a life in art
Advertising poster entitled 'W E Akrill, 1922-1943, a life in art'.

Portrait photograph of Bill surrounded by artwork including cartoons, silhouettes, figures and Lincoln cathedral.

At Collingham Methodist Church, June 28 & 29 [no year], 9.30…

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Writes about the farm, hatching eggs and the garden, detailing the flowers. Includes illustrations of plants, hatching eggs, animals and people.

Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother
Writes of sending cash and asks about getting savings certificates.

Letter from Billy Akrill to his father
Refers to his mother's new hair style, including a sketch drawing. Also writes about the farm, including looking after the geese and briefly mentions Skegness. Includes some small pencil drawings of people and birds.

Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother
Mentions late arrival time at home and plans to fill in day until train. Mentions navigation, meteorology plotting and medical exams over next couple of days.

Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother
Announces he will be coming home next Friday and states arrival time. Also due further leave. Catches up with family and home news. Hopes they had good Easter, wished he was there. Notes that Eastbourne was crowded over the weekend, weather was good…

Note from Bill Akrill
No addressee. Writes of possible posting notice of 132 observers but he is the only one of his crowd going. He is concerned that none of his friends will be on same posting.
View all 143 items

Collection Tree