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- Coverage is exactly "Royal Air Force. Balloon Command"
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Airman with barrage balloon
An airman standing at the rear of an inflated barrage balloon which is held on the ground by ropes. There are vehicles and equipment either side of the balloon. Behind the balloon is a wire and post fence with woodland beyond.
Airmen and Member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
Group of 11 airmen standing behind two rows of seven kneeling and four member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force sat on the grass. The women are wearing berets and five of the men wear peaked caps and six side caps. Two of the men have half brevets…
Airmen and members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
A group of ten members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and three airmen in front of a Fordson Sussex balloon winch tender. Five of the women are sat in two rows on the ground and the remaining are standing. The airmen are wearing side caps and one…
Airmen and members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
A group of ten airmen standing behind two rows of seven kneeling and four sitting Women's Auxiliary Air Force members. Five airmen wear peak caps and five side caps; two have half brevets on their uniform, one wears corporal stripes and one officer…
Anne
A colleague of Joyce Exton Wallace wearing miniature Polish wings. It is annotated 'To Cpl Exton From Anne'.
Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.
Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.
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…
Group of airmen
Officers and airmen of unnamed unit sitting and standing in five rows all wearing tunic and side or peaked caps. The officer centre front row has half brevet. In the background hangar doors. Captioned between page 9-10 of 1956 Memoir 'Taken…
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 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…
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 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 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 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…
Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Four
Joyce Exton Wallace recalls being put on a charge for insolence to a non commissioned officer. Joyce and her colleagues had missed the last train back to camp at Stanmore after attending a dance. She was reprimanded for reacting inappropriately to…
Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. One
Joyce Exton Wallace recalls reattaching a loose barrage balloon with the help of the commanding officer.
Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Six
Joyce Exton Wallace recalls a conversation with an elderly man who expressed his disgust at women wearing trousers. He had seen her tying a barrage balloon's wing down whilst up a 14 foot ladder in the playing field of St. Edward's school.
Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Three
Joyce Exton Wallace recalls a time when she was with barrage balloons protecting an army barracks in Barry when a dog stole their meat ration. It was subsequently replaced by locals pooling their own meat rations.
Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Two
Joyce Exton Wallace recalls a misunderstanding whist giving orders to inspect the barrage balloon bed wires which was misinterpreted as an order to inspect the wires of the 16 beds in the Nissen hut.
Interview with Lillian Margret 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…
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…
Joyce Exton Wallace
A head and shoulders portrait. She has a shoulder flash and corporal stripes on her uniform and is wearing a crenelated tie pin. On the reverse 'Me aged 18yrs 1940' and the reference B26 941.
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.
Liz Humphrey's service history
![B[Author]HumphreyEv10001.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1002/11309/B[Author]HumphreyEv10001.jpg "B[Author]HumphreyEv10001.jpg")
A summary of Liz Humphrey's service history from January 1942 to 1946. Her service activity included serving in 970 Balloon Squadron, 30 Operational Training Unit at RAF Hixon, 12 Squadron at Wickenby, 1657 Conversion Unit at RAF Stradishall and 1654…