Browse Items (48 total)

  • Tags: RAF Yatesbury
  • Type is exactly "Sound"

PWoolfAS1701.jpg
Arthur Woolf was working in an office before he volunteered for the RAF. He was keen on flying and would cycle to Castle Bromwich airfield to watch the aircraft. He was accepted for aircrew training and became a wireless operator. After joining a…

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PMcVickersCG1701.jpg
Christopher ‘Kit’ McVickers was working at the steelworks before he volunteered for aircrew. He trained as a wireless operator and was posted to 218 Squadron based at Woolfox Lodge. His pilot refused to fly and was replaced with a new pilot. The…

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AParkerPTW160106.mp3
Peter Parker grew up in Gainsborough. He had hoped to be a pilot but was unsuccessful, however as he had taught himself Morse code in his shed at home he trained as a wireless operator and became an instructor. He was posted to RAF Yatesbury and…

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AMillinJR160126.mp3
Jack Millin was working for his father as a painter and decorator before he volunteered for the RAF. He was a Civil Defence bicycle messenger and joined the ATC. When he joined the RAF he trained as a wireless operator/air gunner and was posted to…

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AEldenEA161205.mp3
Emmanuel Alexis Elden grew up in Jamaica. He joined the Royal Air Force and trained at RAF Hunmanby Moor. He served as an air traffic controller and, when he was not on duty, he used to enjoy travelling to dances in London. He stayed in the RAF until…

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PGrantH1801.jpg
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…

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ARodgersR170220.mp3
Ronald Rodgers joined the Royal Australian Air Force aged seventeen, having previously been in the Air Training Corps. He trained as an air gunner and was posted to 460 Squadron at RAF Binbrook but did not fly operationally. On discharge in 1946 Roy…

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PDunbarR1801.jpg
Reg Dunbar enlisted for the RAF in Liverpool and it was suggested that he join as a wireless operator. He went to RAF Cardington initially and then to Yatesbury for training. He also trained as an air gunner, and after training was posted to 37…

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ALewisR160519.mp3
Robert Lewis was hoping to become a teacher before he volunteered for aircrew and began his training as a wireless operator. On returning from an operation one night the navigator lost his nerve and Robert was called upon to send an SOS without which…

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AHoughWJ160905.mp3
Bill Hough came from a farming background, went to a local grammar school in Northwich and was a member of the Air Training Corps. He joined the RAF in 1943. He describes his initial training at Bridgnorth. Bill then goes into the continuation…

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AAllenWH170331.mp3
William Allen’s father had served with the Fleet Air Arm during the First World War. William also wanted to fly and so volunteered for the RAF at the earliest opportunity. He trained as a wireless operator. The crew arrived on the squadron and the…

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PDeHoopJ1501.jpg
John De Hoop was evacuated to Sussex at the start of the war but returned to London in early 1940. He joined the Home Guard before joining the Air Training Corps and went to radio school in RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire, where he experienced flying in a…

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AAtkinsonA150623.mp3
Arthur Atkinson was born in Lancaster, and worked in the local Co-Op until he joined the Royal Air Force. He trained as a wireless operator and served at RAF Ringway before being posted to RAF Coningsby and later RAF Skellingthorpe with 61 Squadron.…

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PHildrethJ1502.jpg
Jeff Hildreth was born in Huntwood, Derbyshire and studied Electrical Engineering at Worksop Technical College before joining the Air Training Corp, before eventually joining the Royal Air Force as a Wireless Operator.
He did his training at…

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PPayneR1706.jpg
Reg Payne was born in Kettering in 1923. He left school at the age of fourteen and just before he was eighteen he volunteered to join the RAF. He did his basic training at Blackpool learning Morse Code in the tram sheds. From there he did his…

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PColeC1601.jpg
Colin Cole was brought up and schooled at Twickenham, and worked for a time at W H Smith before joining the Royal Air Force. He trained as a wireless operator/air gunner at RAF Yatesbury and RAF Barrow in Furness. He then served with 617 Squadron,…

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PThomasB1801.jpg
Bessie Thomas left school at the age of fourteen and worked at the Consett Iron Company working as a typist. At the age of eighteen at the time of Dunkirk she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force where she wanted to be a radio operator but there…

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PStonemanWJ1605.jpg
William James Stoneman was posted to RAF Elsham Wolds before Aircrew Reception Centre at RAF Cardington. He chose to become a rear gunner as he did not have to wait. Air gunnery training followed at RAF Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland on Ansons and…

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ATaplinJA880609.mp3
John volunteered to join the RAF in 1940 wanting to become aircrew as a wireless operator as he had an interest in early radios. While awaiting his aircrew application to be processed he did his initial training at Blackpool and then onto RAF…

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PWatkinsJ1801.jpg
John Watkins was working in retail in Rotherham and in 1939 he joined 218 Squadron ATC. He joined the RAF in February 1942 at RAF Cardington, and did his initial training at Blackpool. In December 1942 he did his wireless training at RAF Yatesbury.…

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PTurnhamK1701.jpg
Ken Turnham was born in St Albans and volunteered for the Air Force on his 18th birthday. After his initial training as a wireless operator he was posted to an Operational Training Unit at Lossiemouth. He and his crew were posted to 115 Squadron at…

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PPayneR1706.jpg
Reg Payne was born in Kettering, he left school at fourteen and worked for the British Legion. He volunteered for the RAF when he was seventeen and a half and trained as a wireless operator and air gunner. He describes his training learning Morse…

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AFreemanN170219.mp3
Norman Freeman was born in London, his wartime preference to be a pilot was thwarted by poor eyesight so he became a wireless/radar mechanic. After training he served all over Britain, and then France at the end of the war. Norman told of why he…

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