Browse Items (16 total)
- Creator is exactly "Gemma Clapton"
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Interview with Alan Mann
Alan Mann was born in Lewisham, London and left school aged 14 to begin an engineering apprenticeship at RAF Kidbrooke and with de Havilland. He describes being bombed and what it was like in the workshops. After the war he had a career with de…
Interview with an anonymous interviewee (An00509)
The interviewee was born in Berlin in 1924, his father being a British Army surgeon who was posted there to treat badly wounded soldiers. He went to school in France then attended boarding school in Hertfordshire. He volunteered for the Royal Air…
Interview with Arthur Vickers
Arthur Vickers worked for the Coop before he volunteered for the Air Force. After training he completed an tour of operations as a flight engineer. He discusses life on the station and on operations including a trip when they though they might have…
Interview with Bob Frost. One
Bob Frost recounts experiencing the London Blitz as a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and trained at the Air Gunnery School at Evanton, Scotland. He was then posted to the Operational Training Unit at RAF…
Interview with David Sanders
David Sanders flew operations as a flight engineer with 189 and 619 Squadrons. He joined the Royal Air Force as a flight engineer and discusses an operation when they arrived too early over the target, being followed by a night fighter and having a…
Interview with Don Watson
Donald Watson was working in the print industry before he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. After training he served as an armourer with 61 Squadron at RAF Skellingthorpe.
Interview with Eric Hookings
Eric Hookings joined the RAF and served as ground personnel before volunteering for aircrew duties. He trained in the United States and was posted to 619 Squadron on his return. He describes being shot down by a night fighter over Germany and…
Interview with Iris Done
Upon leaving school until her marriage, Iris worked for London County Council. After her marriage she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She reported to Bridgenorth in June 1942 to be sworn in. After that, she went to Morecambe where she learned…
Interview with John Cuthbert
John Cuthbert joined the RAF and initially trained as a wireless operator / air gunner but re-mustered as an air gunner. After training he was posted to 189 Squadron at RAF Fulbeck and flew operations as a mid-upper gunner. He talks about his…
Interview with Ken Done
Ken Done served as a wireless operator on Air Sea Rescue. Upon leaving Battersea Grammar School aged 14, he was employed at Chelsea Town Hall as a junior clerk. When the war started, he discovered he was in a reserved occupation and unable to enlist.…
Interview with Leonard Ralph Tyrell
Leonard Ralph Tyrell mentions always being keen on aircraft since he was a boy. Describes various episodes of his career: training in England and Canada, from where he returned with the rank of pilot officer; his first operation to the Dortmund-Ems…
Interview with Lester Simms
Lester tells of his tough early childhood, and his first experience of seeing a Heinkel bomber flying over his home in Surrey to attack the Brooklands Aircraft Factory. He tells of how he worked in the experimental department of Hawker Aircraft…
Interview with Peter Potter
Peter Potter was born in Fobbing where his grandfather had three farms in Shell Haven. He ran away from home at age 15 and got a job before volunteering for aircrew after falsifying his date of birth. He talks about his time in London, visiting…
Interview with Reginald Tween
Reginald joined the Royal Air Force in 1943, becoming a flight engineer with 415 Squadron, Bomber Command. He tells of his love of making and flying model airplanes, and that although he wanted to be a pilot, his love of anything mechanical, made him…
Interview with Violet Bishop
Violet Bishop’s two brothers both volunteered for the RAF. One trained as a bomb aimer and the other as ground crew. Both survived the war. They wrote to each other throughout the war. She was very proud when her brother accompanied her to a dance…