Browse Items (59 total)

  • Creator is exactly "David Kavanagh"

ALinakerJ150924.mp3
Jack Linaker was working in a reserved occupation as a steelworker before volunteering to join the RAF. He was originally told he would be trained as a flight engineer but, frustrated by delays, he began training as a rear gunner. He joined 9…

APragnellJ160526.mp3
Jack Pragnell and his twin brother, Thomas, volunteered together for the RAF and trained together. Jack flew operations as a bomb aimer with 51 Squadron. His brother joined a Canadian crew. Jack was plagued with health problems and was suddenly told…

ASmithJG160408.mp3
Jack volunteered for the Royal Air Force in September 1940. He went to RAF Padgate and then on to RAF Blackpool, where he trained as a wireless operator. Jack proceeded to a radio school at RAF Compton Bassett and then RAF Bramcote. He was posted to…

AWebsterJK161004.mp3
Jack Webster applied to join the RAF in December 1942, attended a selection board at RAF Cardington, and was eventually called up in June 1943. After initial training, he went to 4 Radio School at RAF Madley passing out from there with 18 words per…

AGrayCJ151017.mp3
Jeff Gray was a farm labourer in Aberdeenshire when he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He trained to fly in Texas and completed 30 operations as a pilot with 61 Squadron. After leaving the RAF he worked for BOAC flying Yorks and VC10s.

ASmithJ180111.mp3
Before the war Joan worked as a hairdresser. At 17 and a half she applied for the Land Army and was interviewed in her home town of Sheffield. Her first posting was to a farm in Fulbeck. She and about 14 other girls stayed in a hostel with six in a…

PJoynerJH1601.jpg
John Joyner was working for the Co-operative Wholesale Society in London and joined the Air Training Corps in 1940, aged 16. He later joined the RAF and trained as an air gunner, initially on Wellingtons and then on Lancasters as the mid-upper…

ASquiresJW180407.mp3
John was living and working on a farm when he left school aged 14. The family of five lived in a two-bedroom cottage and John remembered hearing a plane crashing near Westborough one evening, all but one of the crew being killed. The children were…

PSleafordK1701.jpg
Ken Sleaford was born and raised near Coningsby on the family farm. He describes life on the farm before and during the war, when it was handed over to the Air Force, to be converted into an airfield and incorporated into RAF Coningsby. Ken recalls…

PWebbLP1601.jpg
Lacey Peter Webb remembers his role as a flight engineer in the Royal Air Force during the war, and flying 30 operations on Halifaxes and two on Lancasters. He describes his training in various stations, among them St John’s Wood, where he was…

PMakensL1701.jpg
Louis Makens worked as a farm worker before the war but volunteered for aircrew. He discusses his training on Wellingtons and operations flying Stirlings with 196 Squadron including a crash landing, and glider towing. His Halifax was shot down 18/19…

PHollierM1701.jpg
Marion Hollier served as a wireless operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force from February 1944 to September 1946. Before the war she worked in a construction firm, The George Wimpey Company, which built aerodromes. She learned the Morse code in…

PStevensS-M1601.jpg
Sidney was inspired to join The Air Force when he was working as an Air Raid Precaution Warden and his own home was bombed on one occasion. The house next door was also destroyed and the lady who had offered him a cup of tea only hours earlier died.…

PBaileyM1701.jpg
Maurice Bailey left school aged 14 and went to work in an engineering firm. He tells of how he always wanted to become a pilot, since he saw an aeroplane for the first time at school. After being discouraged from becoming a pilot by the RAF…

ASnowballM150626.mp3
Maurice Snowball was born and educated in Sunderland. After school, he served an engineering apprenticeship with a local family firm and was a member of the Home Guard. Maurice was a keen amateur footballer and had hopes of turning professional but,…

PStonemanMW1801.jpg
Maurice Stoneman was posted to 57 Squadron at RAF East Kirkby as the flight engineer on Lancasters in 1943. He recalls that, on returning from operations, they used to fly around the Boston Stump and around Lincoln Cathedral before finally landing.…

PKettleboroughML1801.jpg
Michael Kettleborough lived in Woodhall Spa during the war, where his mother billeted RAF crew members in her home. One of them, Jack Gibson, asked for an early Christmas as there were some big operations coming up. Shortly before Christmas 1941…

PTitmanEA1801.jpg
Nancy Titman was born in 1918, and grew up in Deeping Saint James, Lincolnshire. At the age of 11 she won a scholarship to Stamford High School and did her teacher training in Peterborough. In 1938 she attended an interview in Cambridge, had a…

ARamseyNGC150916.mp3
Neil Ramsey flew operations as a pilot with 75 and 105 Squadron Pathfinders. Neil flew twin engine aircraft, including the Wellington and, later, the Mosquito. Neil talks about New Zealander Jimmy Ward, who was awarded a Victoria Cross. Neil Ramsey…

AGoodfellowN151106.mp3
Norman Goodfellow was born in Wakefield, in 1923. Before the war he worked as an apprentice engineer. Joining the RAF aged 17 he was offered the choice of pilot or navigator. Although Norman chose to be a navigator he, initially, trained as a pilot…

PLovattP1701.jpg
Peter enrolled in the Air Training Corp before joining the Royal Air Force. He went to Walney Island, the Air Gunnery School, and was given the option of becoming a Bevin Boy or an air gunner, choosing the latter. Following training on Ansons he…

PFreemanR1801.jpg
Ralph Freeman volunteered for the RAF in 1942. He began initial training in March 1943 and, in October, was posted to Manitoba where he qualified as a pilot after training on Cornells and Ansons. Upon returning to Great Britain, Freeman was…

AParkeRG161019.mp3
Ray Parke worked on the railway before joining the RAF in 1943. He recalls flying 40 operations as a flight engineer with 218 Squadron by the time he was 20. He tells about operations on Essen and the Ruhr, and discusses the Dresden operation, giving…
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