David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Wales--Glamorgan]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Wassenaar]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1943]]> 1944-11-29]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Bangladesh]]> Great Britain]]> Bangladesh--Chittagong]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1944]]>


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David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Paul Baguley]]> Benjamin Turner]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Great Britain]]> England--Sussex]]> England--East Grinstead]]>
He volunteered as aircrew, in 1941 but failed the assessment test on his first attempt. He passed on his second try and went to Bridgenorth for his Initial Wing Training. After progressing through Yatesbury, Sheerness, and Bridlington he was posted to No. 7 Air Gunnery School and was successful at becoming an air gunner.
After ‘crewing up’, and further training which took them to various bases in the UK, they took part in operations to bomb Holland, were diverted to an American Airbase in extremely bad weather, bombed the Ruhr valley, and on 11 September 1944 they were hit by flak.
Fred goes on to describe having to bale out of his aircraft. He was picked up by the Germans and made to board a coach together with his flight engineer and bomb aimer. Fred was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Poland and describes life there together with the value of Red Cross food and clothing parcels. A hidden radio kept the prisoners current with the progress of the war.
The Germans moved the POWs out of the camp before the Russians could advance too close and they were marched through heavy snow and sometimes at night. Fred’s small group of friends tried to escape but were caught and made to continue the march.]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Campbell]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Poland]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944-09-11]]> 1944-09-12]]> 1945-01-19]]>
Fred was sent back to Bournemouth, then the Airspeed Oxford base at RAF Long Newnton. He was transferred to 29 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at North Luffenham before going to a conversion unit at RAF Wigsley, flying Manchesters and Lancasters. Fred contrasts the two aircraft. He moved to RAF Langar and carried out a total of 30 operations including one leaflet drop over Paris. Fred then went to two or three different stations flying Wellingtons. He transferred to RAF Wymeswold, which became a Transport Command Unit OTU rather than a Bomber Command OTU. Fred then flew C-47s before the war finished. He left the RAF and worked in in a number of different locations. Fred was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
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David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> France]]> France--Paris]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Brighton]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> 1942-12-19]]> 1945-03-05]]> 1945-03-07]]> 1945-03-27]]> 1946-11-25]]> Posted to 463 Squadron at Waddington, still with the same crew, flying his first operation on the 30th October 1944.
Horace flew 29 missions, including targets such as Dusseldoft, Dortmund Emms, Hamburg, Harburg and Dresden.
He tells of his experiences over Bohlen and the damage that was inflicted on his Lancaster, and the casualities within his own crew.
Horace married in 1947 and had 2 children After coming out of the Royal Air Force at the age of 21, he then went to work in a car factory at Tunbridge Wells, and after several changes of jobs, finally left work after working with a Mobility Services company, working on overhead hosts and exteriors.]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Scotland--Moray Firth]]> United States]]> Georgia--Albany]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Canada]]> United States]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Atlantic Ocean--Rockall Bank]]> 1943]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> Alabama]]> Georgia]]> Texas]]> France]]> France--Reims]]> Germany--Troisdorf]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> North Africa]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Italy--Milan]]> Saskatchewan--Swift Current]]> Saskatchewan]]> 1940-08-15]]> 1944-12]]> 1945-01]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Barth]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1941-05]]> 1942-05]]> 1944]]> 1945-01-20]]> 1945-04-30]]> 1945-05-05]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Navy]]> Great Britain]]> Malaysia]]> Malta]]> Singapore]]> North Africa]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Sussex]]> Singapore]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1951]]> 1952]]> 1953]]> 1954-04-08]]> 1955]]> At the outbreak of war, he left the Post Office and was employed building naval vessels at a boat yard on the Thames in Chertsey. It was here that he first heard about RAF Air Sea Rescue, which he successfully enrolled into. Following training at various establishments he was posted to Newhaven on High Speed Launch 190 as a gunner.
Lawrence describes rescue operations: a Spitfire leading them to an airman in a dinghy; a Wellington aircrew rescued close to Le Havre on 17 July 1943; a German wireless operator who baled out from a downed Ju 88 and his parachute being divided amongst the crew, and finally rescuing the United States serviceman T G Giles who baled out of a P-38.
Occasionally they would come across mines that had broken free. These would be guarded until the Navy arrived and detonated them. This would result in the surface being covered in stunned fish which the crew would be able to scoop up.]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> British Army]]> Royal Navy]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Chertsey]]> England--Great Yarmouth]]> England--Newhaven]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> France]]> France--Le Havre]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Surrey]]> 1943-07-17]]> 1944-03-16]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Netherlands--Amsterdam]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1941]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Burma]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> 1941-09]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1944-02]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943-07-12]]> 1943-07-13]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Gemma Clapton]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Ontario]]> Scotland--Falkirk]]> 1943-11]]> Fred joined the Pathfinder Group at RAF Oakington, flying Stirlings. The crew were together for over 40 missions. Fred received two Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC). The second one was awarded following an operation to Cologne when the aircraft was badly hit and Fred successfully guided the aircraft back using celestial navigation.
Before receiving the award at Buckingham Palace, Fred volunteered for a special mission to Stuttgart alongside two new crew members. Unfortunately, their aircraft was struck from below and exploded near the village of Minaucourt-le-Mesnil-lès-Hurlus. The bodies were rescued by the French Resistance but given a military funeral by the German commander. Fred’s father blamed Churchill who apologised, regretting Fred’s death. The Commonwealth Graves Commission organised proper graves and memorials for the aircrew. Peter later visited the cemetery and subsequently found out information about the German pilot who later also lost his life.
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David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> France]]> France--Minaucourt-le-Mesnil-lès-Hurlus]]> 1936]]> 1943-03-12]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1940]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>