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Interview with Raymond Moore
Raymond Moore flew 31 operations as a flight engineer with 408 Squadron. He describes initial training at Skegness and then further training at Cosford, Halton and St Athan. He describes the crewing-up procedure at Eastmoor and describes the…
Interview with Raymond Meggett
Raymond Meggett grew up on a farm in Lincolnshire near Scampton, where RAF personnel stayed during the war. His parents told him about some of these men, and sometimes kept in touch with them. He recalls tales of the other farmers, civilian and RAF.…
Interview with Raymond Isherwood
Raymond Isherwood grew up in Watford and when at the grammar school he joined the Air Training Corps. His first job was at a government laboratory, which was a reserved occupation except for air crew. As he had always been interested in aircraft…
Interview with Raymond George Goss
Raymond Goss lived on the family farm at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. One evening a Lancaster collided with a Wellington on the field and both exploded. The Goss…
Interview with Raymond Barrett
Raymond Barnes worked in factories before he joined the RAF. He trained as an engine fitter. He was posted to the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Far East. He was servicing Spitfires for 242 Squadron and then Dakotas for 267 Squadron. He was…
Interview with Ray Worral
Raymond (Ray) Worral joined the RAF in 1943. Ray completed his initial training in Bridlington and then St Athen for the Flight Engineers training course and learnt the technicalities of the Lancaster. After being crewed up at Winthorpe, Ray attended…
Interview with Ray Parke. Two
Ray Parke trained as a flight engineer. During a training flight the pilot wanted to get back to base as soon as possible because he had a date but they were flying a Stirling. The pilot made an error on landing and the wheel stayed in the ditch and…
Interview with Ray Parke. One
Ray Parke worked on the railway before joining the RAF in 1943. Remembers flying forty operations as a flight engineer with 218 Squadron by the time he was twenty. Tells about operations on Essen and the Ruhr. Discusses the Dresden operation, giving…
Interview with Ray Hooley
Ray Hooley was at school in 1939 when war broke out and was evacuated to Mansfield. When the boys were returned to their school in Nottingham their shelter was in the basement and they were horrified to find when they went down for the practice that…
Interview with Ray Charlton
Ray wanted to join Bomber Command but after going to RAF Paignton, he was re-mustered and went to RAF Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey where he decided to train as a flight engineer. He was posted to Bridlington and this was followed by a six-month…
Interview with Ralph Wild
Ralph was conscripted into the army but wanted to join the air force. He eventually became an instrument repairer and trained at RAF Cranwell. When war started, he volunteered for aircrew but he was not transferred for some time. Briefly in 242…
Interview with Ralph White
Ralph White grew up in Melbourne, Australia and originally joined the army. He later volunteered to become aircrew and undertook initial pilot training at Benella and Mallala in Australia before sailing to the UK via San Francisco and New York. He…
Interview with Ralph Freeman
Ralph Freeman volunteered for the RAF in 1942. He began initial training in March 1943 and was posted to Manitoba in October, where he qualified as a pilot after training on Cornells and Ansons. Upon returning to Great Britain, Freeman was remustered…
Interview with Ralph Brumwell
Ralph Brumwell volunteered for the RAF Voluntary Reserve in 1939. When war was declared he was immediately called up and was posted to 218 Squadron at RAF Marham. Returning from an operation they were shot down by an intruder Junkers 88. On landing…
Interview with Ralph Alfrado Ottey. Two
Ralph Ottey joined the RAF from Jamaica. After the war he returned to Jamaica. However, he had met the woman he was to later marry while based in the UK and returned to the settle here. He settled in Boston and had a long career with a local firm. On…
Interview with Ralph Alfrado Ottey. Three
Ralph Ottey recounts an occasion when he came to the rescue of a local lady who found herself in difficulty while swimming in the local river.
Interview with Ralph Alfrado Ottey. One
Ralph Ottey was born in Jamaica in 1924. Raised by his grandparents, he describes his education and the family hopes that he would become a teacher. He left school at 16 and a half but was too young to attend teaching college so worked for his uncle…
Interview with Raffaella Sorsini
L’intervistata è Raffaella Sorsini, nata a Vicchio (FI) il 25 maggio 1919, impiegata in pensione. Interviene Marianna Galardini, nata il 18 maggio 1897. L’intervista è effettuata da Claudio Rosati a Pistoia, presso la casa dell’informatrice,…
Interview with Rachel and John Gill
Peter Hazeldene joined the RAF from Wales when he saw a poster to see the world from a different perspective. He trained as a wireless operator and during training suspected a couple of incidents of sabotage on the base. Peter was posted to 106…
Interview with Priscilla Henwood
Priscilla was encouraged by a friend’s father to join the 600 Squadron in anticipation of the war. She was called up and was based at Finsbury Barracks, involved in recruitment. Priscilla also worked on the telephone exchange at Clerkenwell.
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Interview with Posy Clarke
Posy Clarke had an idyllic childhood in the house her parents renovated in Kingshill. They were very great friends with Air Chief Marshall Harris and his family who lived next door and who often visited for meals and drinks. Posy and Jackie Harris…
Interview with Pietro Varesi
Pietro Varesi describes wartime life in Pavia, focussing on the Borgo neighbourhood. He mentions the Ticino bridges as primary targets for bombers; recalls bent shop shutters and debris on the streets; stresses the limited accuracy of bombing and the…
Interview with Pietro Cosma
Pietro Cosma (b. 1927) remembers the bombings of Milan and recollects two wartime anecdotes: the execution of a man in front of his home and Benito Mussolini’s corpse on public display in Piazzale Loreto. Describes wartime hardships: losses; food…
Interview with Piero Fiorot
Piero Fiorot reminisces about his pre-war life in Sacile: schooling, fascist paramilitary training and indoctrination, curfews, rationing, and doing business in a tightly controlled, closed economic system. Contrasts the relatively tranquil life…