Browse Items (40 total)
- Coverage is exactly "Royal Air Force. Balloon Command"
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Interview with Eddie Humes
During the war, Eddie Humes flew as a navigator on Lancasters with 514 Squadron. In May 1939, he chose to join the RAF instead of going to work in the mines. He was initially expected to be posted as a rigger on aircraft but was then sent to a…
Interview with Audrey Hazel Baker
Audrey Baker had been married to Gordon, her Bomber Command pilot husband for two years when he was killed in action. Gordon had been serving with 50 Squadron. She immediately joined the WAAF as a driver and was posted to Balloon Command. She drove…
Interview with Gladys Gildersleve
Gladys Gildersleve was working for a laboratory when she decided to join the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She began her training at RAF Bridgenorth and at RAF Morecambe. Her first posting was to barrage balloons at Swansea Docks. She eventually…
Interview with Lillian Margaret Bailey
Lillian Margaret Bailey volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and, after a brief time in RAF Balloon Command, was trained as a driver. She served at RAF Elsham Wolds driving aircrews out to their aircraft. She was known as Margaret as there…
Telegram to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Acknowledges previous cable. Mentions returning from visit to Manchester on lovely autumn day.
WAAF Association Christmas card
On the front under Season's Greetings coloured artwork showing a group of three women and a man hauling on rope while a woman wearing overalls and hat stands in charge. In the background a barrage balloon just of the ground below which another group…
Letter from Wing Commander H W Hall
Letter from Wing Commander H W Hall of 930 Squadron [sic] to the commanding officer of 'A' Flight. The letter thanks the special Women's Auxiliary Air Force crew for their patience and skill during filming.
Interview with Iris Dare
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…
G Cruickshank Memoir
Describes life with family from 1918. Joined Army – 4th Queen's Own Hussars on 2nd January 1936. Joined RAF 1938 and trained as balloon operator then applied as air gunner, arriving at RAF Swinderby in December 1941. Took part in 50 Squadron…
Gordon Cruickshank life on squadrons 1940-1944
Mentions time as a balloon operator at Felixstowe and then training as an air gunner. First tour on 50 Squadron RAF Swinderby on Manchesters, but had to wait for aircraft to arrive as squadron still flying Hampden when he arrived later transferred to…
Memoir Flight Lieutenant Gordon Cruickshank D.F.M. RAFRO
Memoir written in 1956 by Flight Lieutenant Cruickshank. It starts with his early childhood and family life. It includes his early time in RAF after enlisting in December 1938 with first job as balloon operator and then training as an air gunner;…
Interview with Margaret Irene Maxwell
Margaret was almost 12 years old and living in Romford, Essex at the outbreak of World War Two. She remembers the announcement being made by Neville Chamberlain on the radio on 3 September 1939. Margaret recalls being issued with a gas mask, and how…
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 Bessie Birkby
Bessie Birkby grew up in Sheffield and volunteered for the Women’s Auxilliary Air Force in 1942. She initially worked in Balloon Command in Scotland and then trained to be a driver in North Wales. She was then posted to 625 Squadron at RAF Binbrook…