Browse Items (190 total)

  • Contributor is exactly "Carolyn Emery"

MCruickshankG629128-150428-270001.jpg
BBC 78 RPM vinyl disk Gordon Cruickshank recorded in August 1944.

Gordon joined the RAF in 1938 and Bomber Command in 1941 as an air gunner. He started operations in 1942 and completed his first tour of 31 trips at the end of November 1942. He…

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AAn00202-150907.mp3
The interviewee was born in London and worked for some time as a clerk until joining the Royal Air Force. He did not like the idea of serving in the Army or in the Navy but - as a Londoner - he was keen to take part in the war, having experienced the…

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ABuxtonAG220823.mp3
Alan was born in Parramatta, Sydney, in Australia. After going to the Middle East with the army, he returned to Australia, when Japan entered the war, and transferred to the RAF in November 1942. Alan was posted to Bradfield Park for training and…

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AHubermanA160329.mp3
Alfred Huberman volunteered for the RAF when he was 18 and trained as an air gunner. He describes the training and emphasises how physically hard it was. He flew 31 operations in Lancasters, from RAF Elsham Wolds. These included operations over the…

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AMarshallAH161012.mp3
Alfred Marshall volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was called up to serve with two others from his hometown of Birtley, neither of whom survived the war. He flew operations as a navigator with 192 Squadron from RAF Foulsham, including Special…

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AWrigleyA160826.mp3
Alice Wrigley's husband , James Wrigley, was a wireless operator on Lancasters. She talks about her early life after losing her mother, her marriage to Jim and how war work enabled her to become independent by sorting out somewhere to live whilst he…

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ACouperAJ151208.mp3
Allan Joseph Couper grew up in Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He was employed by the State Electricity Company until he volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was accepted for aircrew training as a pilot and…

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ACollerAS160803.mp3
Alan Coller joined the Air Training Corps in 1941, eventually joining the Royal Air Force in 1943, aged 18. He was sent to RAF Skegness for his initial training, after which he was transferred to RAF Barnham, near Mildenhall, where he was assigned to…

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AAn00086-150722.mp3
This interviewee was working at Chatham dockyard before being accepted by the RAF as a mechanic. He then re-mustered as a flight engineer which fulfilled his hopes to be aircrew. While waiting for a place on the training course at St Athan he did…

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AAn00509-160424.mp3
The interviewee was born in Berlin in 1924, his father being a British Army surgeon who was posted there treating badly wounded soldiers. He went to school in France then attended boarding school in Hertfordshire. He volunteered for the Royal Air…

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AAn01137-170710.mp3
Anon, from Scarborough was keen to join the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot. Disappointed that he didn’t meet the height requirement, he joined the RAF and began training as an electrician. His aim was to travel abroad with the service but, to his…

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PBarronAJK1901.jpg
Andrew recalls that during leisure time the crew drank, sang silly songs but didn’t really socialise much. He remembers an occasion when the Germans sent in about 200 night fighters infiltrating the main force on its way home. They shot down a…

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PBarronAJK1901.jpg
Andrew hitchhiked from Edmonton to Calgary and then on to Mountain View by train. Gunnery training was in a Bolingbroke, which had a mid-upper turret; bombing training was done in an Anson. Andrew was then posted to navigation school in Quebec for…

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AHulyerA.jpg
Arthur Hulyer talks about his experience in the RAF and recalls working in an engineering firm before joining the Air Force. He was sent to America for pilot training in Oklahoma and tells of how he trained to become a pilot but then ended up as a…

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PHarrisB1604.jpg
Bernie Harris joined the Air Training Corps and volunteered for the Royal Air Force, joining in April 1943 and training to become an air gunner. He mentions his father serving in the Royal Flying Corps. As a young boy, Bernie witnessed the London…

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PHowB1601.jpg
Bernie How was 14 when war was declared and remembers aircrew socialising at his father's pub. He volunteered for the RAF at 17 and trained as a flight engineer on Stirlings. He describes a crash on take-off in a Stirling. He completed 35 operations,…

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PHammondBF1901.jpg
Upon volunteering for aircrew, Bert Hammond completed basic training and formed a crew at 26 Operational Training Unit, RAF Wing. He joined 514 Squadron based at RAF Waterbeach and completed 30 operations, before instructing at RAF Manby. Despite…

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PWeltonB1501.jpg
Betty Welton was born in 1924. She left school at the age of 14 and, at the age of 17 and a half, joined the Women’s Land Army. She saw this as an opportunity to escape her home circumstances. On receiving her papers, she travelled from her home…

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PBallantyneWM1901.jpg
Bill Ballantyne was in his first year at Cambridge University and a member of the Air Squadron when war was declared out in 1939. Upon joining the Air Force, he was posted to South Africa, where he trained as a pilot on Tiger Moths. He joined 267…

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ABiltonW[Date]-01.mp3
William (Bill) Bilton recounts his 6 years of service in the RAF Marine Section, from 1940-1946. During his time in Air Sea Rescue, he served in the UK and Europe, assisting RAF operations from the waters. At his first posting in Dover, William was…

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PLeckieW1901.jpg
Bill Leckie Bill was born in Glasgow but moved to the countryside, as his father suffered from bronchitis. Initially, working as a cinema projectionist, Bill joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 18, enlisting at St John’s Wood in London as a…

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PLeckieW1901.jpg
Bill would spend his school holidays with his grandmother in Scotland. He went to St Edward Island in Canada to do a reconnaissance course, after which he went to Harrogate to await posting. He completed another course on Chipmunks before being…

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PLucasWE1501.jpg
W E (Bill) Lucas joined the Royal Air Force in 1940, where he trained as a fighter pilot flying Miles Magisters and Miles Masters, before being posted to RAF Lossiemouth and moving into Bomber Command where he flew the Vickers Wellington 1C. He flew…

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ALucasWE170208.mp3
Bill Lucas DFC was born on the 16 January 1917 and lived in Upper Tooting. He left school at the age of 15 and went to work in an Insurance Company, before joining the Royal Air Force in 1939. Bill was sent to 16 EFTS at Derby and then to an Advanced…

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PViolletW1602.jpg
Warrant Officer Bill Viollet was born in Reigate in Surrey in 1921, the second oldest of four boys. His brother, Bob, joined the Royal Air Force and Bill wanted to follow him into the service. Bill wanted to be aircrew so he trained as a wireless…
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