Browse Items (149 total)
- Contributor is exactly "Peter Schulze"
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Interview with Harry Inkpen
Harry Inkpen joined Bomber Command in November 1944 and flew 33 operations on Mosquitoes as a pilot on 162 Squadron. Harry tells of how, in his view, his squadron suffered more losses due to bad weather conditions than encounters with the enemy. He…
Interview with Harry Hughes
Harry Hughes volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1940 and trained in America, where he was washed out as a pilot and then retrained as a navigator in Canada, flying Ansons and Wellingtons. In 1942, he converted to Halifaxes and flew operations…
Interview with Harry Algar
Harry Algar worked as an office boy at Hay’s Wharf in London before the war. He entered the Air Training Corps before joining the RAF aged 17. He started his training on Tiger Moths but was then sent to Canada to re-muster as a bomb aimer. Harry…
Interview with Harold Mercer
Harold Mercer worked as a milkman before being called up in April 1942. He served in the RAF, initially as a transport driver and then trained to become an air gunner. He was sent to RAF Weston-super-Mare, where he played in the military band, before…
Interview with Hans-Walter Bendzko
Hans-Walter Bendzko recalls his wartime experiences as a young boy in Berlin, before being evacuated. He describes his time at Wannsee, being properly looked after while surviving one of the Berlin bombings and mentions incendiaries falling into a…
Interview with Guido Toccacieli
Guido Toccaceri remembers his wartime experiences as a schoolboy in Milan: the day war broke out; food shortages; his father working at an airfield near Bergamo; train strafing; basements used as makeshift shelters; being evacuated outside Milan,…
Interview with Guido Dell’Era
Guido Dell’Era recollects daily life in wartime Milan, stressing inadequate war preparation. He describes a disciplined, regimented society which later turned to disillusionment. He recollects the declaration of war, the fall of the fascist regime…
Interview with Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo
Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo recalls attending the Ceriani vocational school in Monfalcone, and every day at the same time the air raid siren went off and the children would run to the nearest shelter. He describes the bombing of 7 March 1944 and the…
Interview with Giuseppe Pirovano
Giuseppe Pirovano describes wartime memories as schoolboy at Affori, a Milan neighbourhood, and daily life in fascist youth organisations, with regimented schooling and political rallies. He talks about children’s games and pastimes, such as…
Interview with Giuliana Birelli
Giuliana Birelli remembers growing up in a family of farmers in Tuscany, at a time when German soldiers raided houses searching for food and harassing women. She tells of various episodes: partisans’ actions; time spent in a makeshift shelter her…
Interview with Gisela Schäfer
Gisela Schäfer (b. 1929) remembers her youth as a schoolgirl in Eberbach. She recalls how unlucky she was, having experienced all major bombings in the area. She remembers spending her school holidays as a farmhand and tells how it was physically…
Interview with Giovanni Delfino
Giovanni Delfino was first evacuated to the Cremona area, where he could see the glow of the distant bombings. He then came back to Milan, only to witness a bomb nearly missing his house and killing factory workers. He describes the gruesome sight of…
Interview with Gino Muratori
Gino Muratori (b. 1929) recollects three Rimini bombings that occurred in November 1944, one of which was aimed at the Ausa river bridge. He mentions his grandmother losing two relatives when their boarding house was destroyed, and recalls how, on 26…
Interview with Gianfranco Nardi
Gianfranco Nardi (b. 1933) recalls the first bombing of Cesenatico in 1944, a night action carried out by 'Pippo'. He explains how the aircraft missed the train station and hit the nearby town centre; he maintains that the pilot was drunk. He…
Interview with Gianfranco Maffucci
Gianfranco Maffucci (b. 1930) recalls episodes of everyday life in wartime: bartering for food; going into the shelter when the alarm sounded; men working in the factories while women went to market. He gives a detailed description of his…
Interview with Gerlinde Keller
Gerlinde Keller (b. 1939) was evacuated in 1942 from Munich to the Altmühltal, in a purpose-built settlement where she lived with her aunt. She explains how the growing intensity of the bombings had made the city unsafe for children and how they…
Interview with Gerda Gentner
Gerda Gentner (b. 1934) recalls the first bombing of Dresden on 7 October 1944, and describes how she, unsuccessfully, tried to persuade a young boy to take shelter with her in the basement; she recalls her feelings when she heard that he had died as…
Interview with Gerald Walter Bell
Gerald Bell worked on a poultry farm before being called up in the RAF, where he served as ground personnel. He remembers his training at RAF Finningley and RAF Balderton. Gerald tells of his posting to North Africa in 1942, where, initially, he was…
Interview with George Rex Armstrong
George Rex Armstrong served in the RAF as a flight engineer. He was born in Belfast and grew up in Donaghadee. He decided to join the RAF because he wanted to follow his brother Ted, who flew 40 operations with 617 Squadron. He mentions being in the…
Interview with George Patrick Smith-Leach
George was born in Chelmsford, Essex. He then moved to Clacton-on-Sea where he went to school before going to a seminary catholic college. When war broke out, he and two other boys aged 15 or 16 ran away from college and went to Ipswich to join the…
Interview with George Mackie
George Mackie served in the RAF as a pilot. He flew 44 operations, 15 as a second pilot. He was posted to 15 Squadron in 1941 and critically examines the state of Bomber Command at the time. He was posted to RAF Waterbeach for 18 months, where he…
Interview with George Hextell
George Hextell joined the RAF as a flight engineer and flew operations with 51 Squadron on Halifaxes. After being shot down over Holland, he became a prisoner of war. He gives a detailed account of his capture, imprisonment and liberation. He also…
Interview with Geoff Payne
Geoff Payne has his first experience of the Royal Air Force with the Air Training Corps, at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire, where he had one of his first experiences of military humour. He joined in 1943 at the age of 17 and a half hoping to become a…
Interview with Gabriella Bisio and Teresa Mascherpa
Gabriella Bisio and Teresa Mascherpa recollect the bombing of Pavia and give a vivid description of its immediate aftermath. They describe food shortages, resorting to eating potatoes with milk and queuing up for a portion of salt. Gabriella tells…
Interview with Günter Lucks
Günter Lucks (b. 1925) describes how he was forced to join the Hitler Youth in 1939, an event that caused a great deal of disturbance in a family with a strong communist background. When his parents moved out, because of his father’s job as…