After training in York, Bettie was promoted to corporal and became a wireless operator. Following her posting to Trowbridge in Somerset she then went to the War Office Training Board in Leeds and then back to her unit on the Isle of Man. She was due to begin training for a commission when she became pregnant. Jim was posted to South Africa as a wireless operator and on his return became a pilot. Jim did 54 operations with Bomber Command.
Bettie lived in Doncaster with her parents when she had her first child, while Jim was away bringing prisoners of war back home. He was demobbed during that time and went back working for BP. Bettie and Jim lived in Stanwell for 18 months before moving to Nottingham for Jim’s work. He was promoted to administrative Director for BP at the refinery in Scotland. After spending time in Scotland they moved back to Purley, London. Jim left BP and worked for an American company in England until his retirement. The family then lived in Dorset, Minorca and finally Lincoln.
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Heather Hughes]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> British Army]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> England--London]]> England--Nottingham]]> England--Doncaster]]> England--Trowbridge]]> England--York]]> England--Leeds]]> England--Wiltshire]]>
Heather Hughes]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Singapore]]> Malaysia]]> Malaysia--Kuala Lumpur]]> 1947]]> Judy Hodgson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1941-05-09]]> When Jim was about 18, he was called up to go to RAF Halton for aircraft training, after which he was sent for further training at RAF Abingdon Operational Training Unit on Hampden and Witney aircraft. He was then sent back to RAF Halton to do a fitter course and then posted to 23 Operational Training Unit at RAF Pershore working on Wellingtons. After training Jim became a leading aircraftman. In September 1943 Jim was posted to 206 Squadron on the Wirral for about two weeks. The outfit totalled about 1,000 people from the Air Force, Army and Navy. His unit was then sent to the Liverpool docks to join the troop ship Laconia heading for Bangor and then on to Azores where 8206 Maintenance Unit built an Air Force station and runway. They stayed in tents with eight people for up to a year. Over Christmas Jim was in a Portuguese hospital for about three days with a broken finger. The unit went to Casablanca then to Cornwall just before D-Day. He was put on night shift at RAF St Mawgan with 206 Squadron working on Liberators. Following a trip to Scotland they were posted at Dundee with an air salvaging and servicing unit. Here he was made acting corporal and worked with 31 Dakota Squadron. When the war ended, he was flown to Singapore, got a boat to Southampton and was discharged to complete his apprenticeship as a joiner. Jim re-joined the Air Force and went back to RAF Swinderby for four years working on Wellingtons. There he met his future wife. In 1951 the unit went to Singapore to work on Sunderlands before being posted back home. Jim left in 1966 and worked for AV Roe until joining ICL in a management job. ]]> Martyn Horndern]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Wirral]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Dundee]]> Azores]]> North Africa]]> Morocco]]> Morocco--Casablanca]]> Singapore]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1943]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-12]]> 1966]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Text. Personal research]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Gerd Segers]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Eindhoven]]> Netherlands--'s-Hertogenbosch]]> Netherlands--Boxtel]]> 1942-12-06]]> 1943-06-16]]> 1943-06-17]]> 1943-06-21]]> 1943-06-22]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> Bill Bailey]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Free French Air Force]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Norway]]> Poland]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea)]]> England--Birmingham]]> England--Devon]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--London]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France--Domléger-Longvillers]]> France--Ardennes]]> France--Calais]]> France--Cap Gris Nez]]> France--Le Havre]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Freiburg im Breisgau]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Manitoba--Carberry]]> Netherlands--Domburg]]> Netherlands--Eindhoven]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> Norway--Oslo]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> Ontario--Hamilton]]> Ontario--Picton]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Netherlands--Hague]]> France]]> Ontario]]> New Brunswick]]> Nova Scotia]]> Netherlands]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Warwickshire]]> Manitoba]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]> Sue Johnstone]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Peter Schulze]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> John Horsburgh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Derbyshire]]> France]]> France--Orléans]]> Germany]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> 1942]]> 1944-01-19]]> 1945-01]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> 1945-09-16]]> Roy Chadwick]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> M Stopes-Roe]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Southampton]]> 1933-09-06]]> Mary Margaret Vercheres]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> EVerchereMMWhybrowFHT420516-0002,
EVerchereMMWhybrowFHT420516-0003,
EVerchereMMWhybrowFHT420516-0004]]>
Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States]]> Kansas--Fredonia]]> Oklahoma--Miami]]> Kansas]]> Oklahoma]]> 1942-05]]>
Fred Whybrow]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> MWhybrowFHT170690-160926-160002]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940-11]]> Fred Whybrow]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> MWhybrowFHT170690-160926-160004]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Harwich]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> England--Essex]]> T D Hampson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States]]> Kansas--Fredonia]]> Oklahoma--Miami]]> Kansas]]> Oklahoma]]> 1942-06]]> T D Hampson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States]]> Kansas--Fredonia]]> Oklahoma--Miami]]> Kansas]]> Oklahoma]]> 1942-07-04]]> T D Hampson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> United States]]> Kansas--Fredonia]]> Kansas]]> 1942-06]]> T D Hampson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States]]> Kansas--Fredonia]]> Kansas]]> 1945-09]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Germany]]> Japan]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Japan--Hiroshima-shi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Picton]]> Ontario]]> 1942-08-18]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> PWhybrowFHT1611]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1941]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Bradford]]> England--London]]> Wales--Carmarthenshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> 1945]]> Reg Payne]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> MPayneR1435510-150903-010002]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Paris]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> France--Marseille]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-04-05]]> 1944-04-06]]> 1944-04-18]]> 1944-04-19]]>