Hedley Robert Madgett]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Beth Ellin]]> Dave Bloomfield ]]> Alan Hather]]> Sue Smith]]> Debbie Record ]]> Clare Bennett]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Diary]]> Royal Air Force]]> Canada]]> Alberta--Medicine Hat]]> Ontario--Toronto]]> Newfoundland and Labrador--St. John's]]> Ontario--Windsor]]> United States]]> Michigan--Ann Arbor]]> Michigan--Detroit]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Liverpool]]> England--London]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Bournemouth]]> England--Christchurch (Dorset)]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Michigan]]> Ontario]]> Alberta]]> Newfoundland and Labrador]]> 1942]]> Bob volunteered for Bomber Command which had lost a lot of crews. After one air test for Number 9 Bomber Squadron, he went to 149 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall and flew in Wellingtons. He describes the difficulty of targeting well-defended Essen and bombing cruisers in coastal areas, such as Wilhelmshaven.
Bob then transferred to 70 Squadron in RAF Kabrit, Egypt and the Middle East. Water rationing was an issue. They would carry out raids on transport and railway sidings in response to Field Marshal Erich Rommel bringing German forces into the desert via Benghazi.
Bob had instructor stints at the Operational Training Unit at RAF Pershore and Advanced Flying Unit. He went on operational liaison duties to 950 Squadron. Other aircraft in which Bob flew included: Battle, Defiant, Lancasters, Lysanders and Bothas. Bob undertook 73 operations and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 12th March 1943.
He describes the evolution in air gunnery during the war. He also praises Barnes Wallis’s geodetic construction.

]]>
Nigel Moore]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Beth Ellin]]> Sally Coulter]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Thames River]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Kibrit]]> Libya]]> Libya--Banghāzī]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1943]]> 1943-03-12]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>