Browse Items (166 total)

  • Coverage is exactly "Royal New Zealand Air Force"

PParryHP1609.jpg
Hugh Parry was born in Oswestry and joined the Air Force in April 1943 and volunteered to be an air gunner. Knowing that there was a height restriction on air gunners of six feet he hid his height by wearing baggy trousers. After training, he was…

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PPetrieIFP1801.jpg
Ian Petrie found himself struggling to find employment in recession hit New Zealand when he saw the advertisement to fly with the RNZAF. He couldn’t contemplate the thrill of flight at a time when opportunity for such travel was rare. He was…

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ADareI180704.mp3
Iris was born in a village outside Newcastle. At the beginning of 1940 she went to Gosforth to join the Royal Air Force. Iris liked the idea of uniformed service more than the option of becoming a nurse. She was then sent to Swansea for about 18…

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PWarmingtonI1603.jpg
Ivon Warmington was working for the Post Office in his native Cornwall before he volunteered for the RAF. After pilot training he flew a tour of operations with 166 Squadron from RAF Kirmington. His first operation was to Mailly le Camp where the…

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PCookJA1701.jpg
Beginning the war in a reserved occupation, Jack eventually volunteered for the Royal Air Force, however, it would take the majority of the war before he joined. Eventually being called up for Bomber Command in 1944, Jack trained as a wireless…

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PJarmyJFD1703.jpg
Jack Jarmey was born in Romford Essex. At the age of five, following the death of his father, Jack moved to live with his grandparents in Illfracolme. Despite excellent results in all his subjects at Grammar School Jack left school at 15 to work in…

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AMarshallJ180116.mp3
Jack went to New Zealand in 1937 and became a steward in a gentleman’s club in Napier, where he stayed two years until the war broke out. He joined the Royal Air Force and went to England where he did train at RAF Uxbridge to become an air gunner.…

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AMeehanJ150604.mp3
Jack Meehan grew up in New Zealand and worked on the railway before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew operations as a wireless operator / air gunner with 75 Squadron at RAF Mepal.

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PWakefieldJ1601.jpg
Jack Wakefield grew up in New Zealand and volunteered for the Air Force and the Army. He trained as an air gunner on Defiants before being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Feltwell where he completed a tour on Wellingtons, flying operations to locations…

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ABolesKM180212.mp3
Keith Boles left school at the age of fourteen and took an apprenticeship in engineering. He was called up to the Air Force at the end of 1941 and was in Singapore when the Japanese invaded. He arrived in UK via Australia and Canada and after a…

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ARogersLC160822.mp3
Lawrence Rogers joined the Royal Air Force at 17, and trained to become a wireless operator. He served with 218 Squadron at RAF Woolfox Lodge and then with 75 Squadron, flying in both Ansons and Lancasters, He eventually completed 32 operations with…

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PMcNamaraL1502.jpg
Len McNamara was born in Bristol in 1924. An apprentice plumber, he joined the Air Training Corps and volunteered for aircrew. Discusses his initial training at various stations, the gunnery course he passed with merit and honours, an escape and…

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AMunroL150604.mp3
John Leslie Munro was born in the area of Gisborne, New Zealand. He only completed two years of secondary education because of the economic slump and in 1936 began work on a sheep ranch and then a mixed farm. On the outbreak of the Second World War,…

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PHicktonH1701.jpg
Pat Hickton was born in New Zealand. His mother passed away when he was young and he spent his childhood in a number of foster and children’s homes until he started working on the railway. He volunteered for the RAF and began training as a rear…

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AWilliamsRS180115.mp3
Roland Spencer Williams was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wanting to get involved in the war he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. After initial training in New Zealand, as an air gunner, he sailed on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam to San…

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PFlynnRA1601.jpg
Ron Flynn was living in London before he volunteered for the RAF. He trained as a flight engineer and joined a British / New Zealand crew. He was posted to RAF Mepal. There was at least one occasion when a fire in the engines was extinguished by the…

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PMayhillRD1901.jpg
Ron Mayhill was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He joined the Air Training Corp in 1941, automatically entered the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942, trained as a bomb aimer in Canada, and travelled on the Queen Mary to the UK in 1943. While flying…

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YCrawfordJ[Ser#-DoB]v3.jpg
First entries of Jack's journal describing his time as ground staff, refuelling and starting aircraft, taking, and passing the aircrew entrance exams and waiting to sail.

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No…

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SWooleyAJ[Ser#-DoB]v10003.jpg
Half length image of a pilot wearing unbuttoned tunic with trees in the background. Annotated 'Jack Brigham, 20 Pompallier Terrace, Auckland New Zealand.

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PCrawfordJ1702.jpg
Top left, sergeant's mess card and Jacks berthing card;
Bottom left, a collection of autographs;
Centre left from top, a poem, leave pass, list of alcohol purchases and graduation banquet programme;
Centre right, sketches including King Neptune…

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YCrawfordJ[Ser#-DoB]v1.pdf
Covering the period 3 December 1941 to 1945 it details Jack's initial training, sailing from New Zealand to Canada and subsequent train journey, visiting a fox farm, canoeing, taking exams and getting the results and trips in the snow. Qualifying as…

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PCrawfordJ1712.jpg
From top left,
A group of 13 uniformed airmen arranged in two rows outside an open window in a tile fronted building. Seven standing all with half caps and six seated in front, including two officers. The individuals are annotated, from the top…

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MMcGaughranJE427410-171017-13.jpg
A form with brief details of Jim's service.

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MMcGaughranJE427410-171017-020001.jpg
RAF Form 1250, identity card, issued to Jim.

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MMcGaughranJE427410-171017-110001.jpg
RAF Form 1672 issued to Jim for his leave. It includes a railway ticket from Leigh to Brighton.

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