Browse Items (555 total)

  • Contributor is exactly "Julie Williams"

PZoltySP2201.jpg
Peter was born in Erdington, Birmingham. He joined the RAF and was trained at the Empire Air Training School in Canada. He re-mustered as a navigator and was with 49 Squadron for a short time. Peter then joined 106 Squadron and did a tour of 34…

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PFeltonM2201.jpg
Monty grew up in Croydon and became an articled accountant in London before joining the RAF. Training at the Initial Training Wing in Torquay was followed by RAF Bishops Court in Northern Ireland and RAF Kinloss, which had a flight simulation room.…

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Frank was born in London. He describes V-1 coming over and taking shelter in the underground.
Frank talks of his evacuation to the countryside near Croxton Kerrial when he was nearly five. He was accompanied by his two brothers and initially his…

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ADaviesPO221106-AV.mp3
Peter volunteered in 1942 and was accepted early in 1943. He outlines the combat training they received. Talks of the rations he received early in the war and on the RAF station. He describes the autonomy of his anti-aircraft unit. Reflecting on…

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ADaviesPO221105-AV.mp3
Peter was born in Coventry. Although in the army, Peter was stationed on RAF airfields and joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in October 1938, aged 16, transferring to the Royal Artillery. He then joined the Army Air Corps (AAC) and was part of…

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PTouleK2201.jpg
Keith was five at the start of the war and lived in a farm adjoining the airfield at RAF Skellingthorpe. He describes the airfield and how the trees were cut down in the farm belt. The airfield was closed soon after the war, bought by the City…

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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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PAlboneJM2201.jpg
Jan was born on a farm in North Lincolnshire. She went to school in Brigg. She loved the farm, particularly the horses.
Their farm was close to RAF Kirton in Lindsey which was used as a rest home for men from the Battle of Britain. They worked on…

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PBurnsDR2206.jpg
Bob Burns trained as a navigator and was posted to 106 Squadron at RAF Metheringham. His aircraft came under attack from a night fighter and the centrifugal force pinned the crew down and escape was not possible. Suddenly the aircraft broke in to two…

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PBerrillR20220222.jpg
Roy was born in Northampton and was evacuated from Becontree in London to Weston-super-Mare. He gained his degree from Queen Mary College, London, which was evacuated to Cambridge.

After the Air Training Corps, Roy was called up to be a…

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AGuyanS[Date]-01.mp3
'Jock' Guyan comments on his operations. the recording includes audio clips from a documentary including excerpts of Arthur Harris, engine noises and interviews.
Samuel Guyan flew an operational tour with 90 Squadron and a second tour with 115…

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Gunther Rall was raised in Stuttgart and enjoyed outdoor and sporting activities as a youngster and he was also a Boy Scout. He became a cadet in the army, and joined the 13th Infantry Regiment. He met a friend in the air force, and decided it was…

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HS Rawlings grew up in London and on volunteering for the RAF he was accepted for pilot training. He was posted to RAF Tuddenham and so along with regular operations he also flew supplies and agents to France. He was burned when fire erupted in the…

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Cyril Mercier was born in Jersey in 1925. He joined the Home Guard in 1940 and the RAF in 1943. After initial training, and training on gunnery at Bridgnorth he joined 14 Operational training Unit at Abingdon, where he crewed up. He trained on…

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AEllisS-U211116.mp3
Sidney and Una both experienced the effect of the war in Sheffield as a child. When Dunkirk survivors arrived at the nearby Reception Centre Sidney collected many souvenirs such as cap badges and his aunt also took two soldiers in to her home while…

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VSmithNG[Date].mp4
Norman George Smith completed his Australian training as a pilot before being posted to the UK. He was posted to 463 Squadron where he completed ten trips before the war ended. Although he was an officer Norman would borrow his navigator’s jacket…

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PJordanT2101.jpg
Thomas Jordan was born and raised up in Hornsea, East Yorkshire, learning to fly privately at Hedon aerodrome, near Hull and joined the RAF wanting to be a pilot. However, after failing the eyesight requirements, he trained as an armourer, dealing…

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PSymondsKWP2103.jpg
Ken Symonds was in the Air Training Corps when the unit was visited by a flight engineer. This meeting further inspired him, along with his cousin to join the RAF in a ground trade with the expectation of moving on to become a flight engineer. …

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PBarnettA2101.jpg
When Alfred’s mother’s house was destroyed during Luftwaffe bombing, he was determined to join the RAF and fight back. He trained as a gunner and completed two tours and a spell as an instructor. After his final tour of operations, he joined the…

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PStrattenG2101.jpg
Gwyneth Stratten was born in London in 1934. She was briefly evacuated during the war but wrote to her mother to say if she didn’t come and collect her she would walk home. On a visit to a museum in London with her mother she saw a group of badly…

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PSouterKP2131.1.jpg
Kenneth Souter was born in Sunderland. His father ran a business importing wooden pit props. Kenneth learned to fly at Cambridge, and his first air experience flight was on the 5th of July 1939, and after training he went solo on the 31st of July…

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ABiltonGHA960623-0001.pdf
Talks of early life at school and work in Hull. Volunteered as ARP messenger and described duties and air raid damage in Hull. Volunteered as aircrew and initially selected for wireless operator/air gunner but later asked to change to air engineer.…

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AMcCulloughF210621.mp3
Fred McCullough discusses his series of abstract art works which are an homage to his uncle, Sergeant Harry McCullough, a flight engineer with 61 Squadron. He was killed on his tenth operation and is buried at Durnbach Cemetery.

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PCarbyHV2101.jpg
Hazel Carby discusses her father Carl's early life in Jamaica, his experiences training in Canada and serving as aircrew in the RAF, and how he and his family were treated in London in the post war period.

She also discusses her research into her…

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PHarrisonRW2103.jpg
Reg Harrison grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan and enjoyed watching aircraft when they flew over. He had his first flight as a youngster when he was lent five dollars by a shopkeeper. He volunteered for aircrew as soon as he was of age and began his…

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