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Norman Shakesby was a radar mechanic on 405 and 582 Squadrons. Born in 1924, he was studying languages at The City School in Lincoln at the outbreak of the Second World War. His language teachers were quickly called up to act as interpreters, so, on…

Before the war, Hilda Ledger lived in Berkley and worked in a big house. During the war, she was old enough to be required to register to work, and was sent to Metrovic, a Lancaster bomber factory in Manchester. She describes working nine-hour…

Harry Grant grew up in Kent but, when his sister was widowed after her husband died at Dunkirk, he went to Nottingham to be company for her in her grief. While there he took a job in the Post Office. When he was of age, he volunteered for the RAF and…

Harry Braithwaite was born in Portinscale and went to Keswick School. Harry was spurred on to volunteer when a close friend was killed in action. His father owned a garage and Harry would help him which gave him some mechanical knowledge. After…

Allan joined the Royal Air Force in December 1942 as a flight engineer, having been a member of the Air Training Corps before the war. From Blackpool, he went to RAF St Athan for flight engineer training. His first squadron was at RAF Waterbeach,…