Interview with Philip James MBE
Philip James was a valet to Captain Fletcher at Margham Castle before joining the Royal Air Force. At the age of 19 he trained as a flight engineer at RAF St Athan, working on the Halifax. At RAF Dishforth in Yorkshire crews were formed and Philip joined a crew of Canadians. At the Heavy Conversion Unit they were flying Mk1 and Mk2 Halifaxes before being posted to 192 Squadron based in RAF Foulsham, Norfolk, to fly Halifax Mk 3. During his service Philip flew to France, Germany and Norway. When he had a 48 hour leave he would sometimes stay in the Salvation Army Hostel in Norwich or go to the flight engineers section to learn more about the aircraft. The crew also occasionally went to Sheffield, staying in the Albany Hotel and visiting a coal mine and a brewery. Philip recalled a trip near Saarbrücken when they were monitoring the V-2 rocket. He also mentioned a posting to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. He had done 33 operations with the squadron. When the war ended Philip worked clearing stations of vehicles to be taken to RAF Grafton Underwood. In 1982 Philip and the navigator, Bert, arranged a reunion in Canada. Philip received the MBE for his work as a welfare officer working with ex RAF personnel for over 40 years.
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2017-07-05
<a href="/omeka/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=37&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Sue+Smith">Sue Smith</a>
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00:31:23 audio recording
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AJamesPAE170705, PJamesPAE1701
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Interview with Denis Francis Cockbill
Born in Newport, Denis volunteered for the Royal Air Force as he was tired of bombing, wishing to get his own back, he joined the Air Corps at 17. Wishing to train as a wireless operator because of his interest in radio technology, he officially joined the Royal Air Force three months after his 18th birthday. Having to train for two years, Denis joined an aircrew in 1944, flying Lancasters. He attests that learning radio communication was like learning a new language and that he has never forgotten it. He recounts several operations in which he flew over enemy territory, including flying over Berlin, an operation which took eight hours. He also recalls several experiences during his time, including near-misses, as well as Operation Manna and Operation Exodus. He gives detailed information about Operation Manna, stating that he also joined the Manna Association and travelled to the Netherlands once every five years for a celebration. Denis states that his relationship with his crew was excellent and believes that it had to be because they always worked as a team. He recalls that he completed ten operations in total, but believes he was lucky to survive these, recounting a specific experience in which he was escorted by Spitfires. He admits that he rarely spoke of his war, following his father’s example of the first world war, until recently. He now invites primary school children to learn of his experiences. He continues to give combined talks about Operation Manna with a Dutch lady who survived the Second World War. He believes that the representation of Bomber Command has been terrible, naming Dresden as a legitimate target, but he also prefers to talk of saving lives through Manna and Exodus. He states that the general public does not understand Bomber Command’s losses.
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2017-10-08
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00:29:06 audio recording
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ACockbillDFA171008
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Interview with Edward Davies
Edward Davies (Sonny) joined the RAF at seventeen as a rear gunner. Having crewed up he joined 103 Squadron and flew on fifty operations. Sonny describes being in the rear turret and how close the crew were, so much that they sang to him on his birthday whilst being surrounded by flak. After the war Sonny worked as a railway signalman and after he retired he and his wife visited some of his old crew in Australia.
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2018-05-25
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00:31:20 audio recording
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ADaviesE180525
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Interview with Edgar Meredith
Edgar Meredith applied to join the RAF when he was eighteen years of age, and was interviewed in London and trained as an air gunner. During training he flew on Whitley aircraft and felt those training days were more dangerous than actual operations. He was posted to 51 Squadron, RAF Leconfield in Yorkshire before joining a Pathfinder aircraft. During an operation on Potsdam he and his crew were forced to bale out of their aircraft and Edgar was made a prisoner of war. On capture the Germans removed his flying clothing and left him his shoes. He wrote a letter home on repatriation, but his family didn’t know he was coming until he knocked on the door.
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2018-04-12
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
00:16:55 audio recording
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AMeredithE180412
<a href="/omeka/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Royal+Air+Force">Royal Air Force</a>
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