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Interview with David Fraser
David Fraser enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1939 and was trained as a mechanic. He remustered as soon as he was able and flew four operations as an air gunner with 115 Squadron before his aircraft was shot down over Hamburg, in May 1941. He spent…
Interview with Charles Frederick Green
Charles Frederick Green was born in Peckham, London, in 1921. On leaving school, he began an apprenticeship with a printing company, acting part-time as a police courier, before becoming an Air Raid Precaution warden. He then volunteered for the…
Interview with Mary Ward. One
Mary Ward grew up in Bloxham. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in 1940 and was posted to RAF Driffield, on general duties in the officers’ mess. She describes a German daylight attack on RAF Driffield on the 15 August 1940 and the…
Interview with Mary Ward. Two
Mary Ward joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in 1940. She served, briefly, at RAF Driffield but mostly at RAF Linton on Ouse. She trained as a cook before being moved to duties as a map officer, where she prepared maps for briefings and…
Interview with Reg Freeth
Reg Freeth grew up in Wales and worked for the Civil Service in the Labour Exchange before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He trained as an observer in South Africa and flew operations served as a bomb aimer with 61 Squadron from RAF…
Interview with John Firth
John was called up at 18 and went to Padgate. He did a flight mechanics course at RAF Locking, followed by a Maintenance Unit at RAF Colerne. He was posted to a flight engineers’ course at RAF St Athan. John joined up with his crew at RAF Wigsley…
Interview with Douglas Joss
Douglas was born in Aberdeen, the eldest of 5 children. He signed up for the Royal Air Force in October 1938 and trained as a Flight Rigger, becoming a Leading Aircraftsman after training.
During his time as a Leading Aircraftsman, he tells of…
During his time as a Leading Aircraftsman, he tells of…
Interview with Andrew Deytrikh
Andrew Deytrikh’s family emigrated from Russia in 1919 and he was born in the Isle of Wight. He grew up in London before being employed in a laboratory testing metals. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and after training as a pilot he joined…
Interview with Jack Hayley
Jack Hayley was born in Caterham and worked for an insurance company before he joined the Royal Air Force and trained to be a pilot. He trained to fly in Canada and after going through an Operational Training Unit in England, he was posted to 625…
interview with Oliver Gomersal
Oliver went for selection to Cardington and joined the RAF in 1941 as an observer (navigator and bomb aimer). He was called up to the Aircrew Receiving Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground and sent to Aberystwyth. He was posted to the Elementary…
Interview with Ken Hicks
Ken Hicks grew up in Wales and joined the Royal Air Force as an Apprentice Mechanic at RAF Halton. He worked on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. He was later posted to Rhodesia and survived a crash in the bush. After the war, He took part in…
Interview with Arthur Atkinson
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.…
Interview with William Barfoot
Bill Barfoot was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. On joining the Air Force, he trained as a wireless operator but remustered as aircrew. He trained as a navigator in South Africa. He flew operations with 296 Squadron supplying the French and Norwegian…
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 Dieter Essig
Dieter Essig recalls the Pforzheim bombing on 23 February 1945, which he witnessed at the age of six. He talks about the long hours he spent inside a shelter, describing his wartime years as a wasted childhood. He recalls the bombing on 1 April 1944,…
Interview with Margaret Hourigan
Margaret Hourigan grew up in and around Nottingham. Despite holding Labour principles she volunteered for the WAAF’s as soon as War was declared and was called up in January 1940. She Hourigan served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force as a…
Interview with Alberto Buvoli
Alberto Buvoli recalls his wartime childhood in Udine, where he lived in the railway station area. He describes how furniture was moved to a safer place at the onset of the war and explains air raid precautions, such as leaving the windows open and…
Interview with Inge Nicolis
Inge Nicolis, the daughter of a Swedish engineer and an Italian woman, reminisces about her wartime experiences in Milan. She stresses the sense of having been thrown into a tragedy and the anguish of not being able to evacuate Milan on the grounds…
Interview with Nino Tenca Montini
Nino Tenca Montini reminisces about his wartime experiences in Udine and the Friuli region. He describes the family shelter as a concrete reinforced basement, sparsely furnished with wooden benches. He recalls the urge to escape the vigilance of…
Interview with an eye-witness of Milan bombings
The informant describes two bombings he eye-witnessed in the Sesto San Giovanni and Niguarda area. During the first, he was in a basement adapted as underground shelter: he recollects women reciting the rosary and a queasy sensation in the stomach…
Interview with Speranza Piras
Speranza Piras reminisces about the Alghero bombing on 17 May 1943 and her subsequent life as an evacuee. She describes daily life in wartime; German occupation; anti-aircraft fire; hardships; the black market; and different anecdotes about enlisted…
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…
Interview with Alessandro Samorè
Alessandro Samorè reminisces his early life in Milan, Domodossa, Portofino, and Santa Margherita Ligure. Provides details of life in youth fascist organisations, playing with homemade fireworks, and attempts to assemble an improvised scuba gear.…
Interview with Gilberto Martina
Gilberto Martina reminisces his childhood in Chiusaforte and in the Canal del Ferro area: disrupted schooling, fear of Germans, subsistence farming, saboteurs, and one of his mates being killed by a bomb found in a pile of litter. Stressed how the…
Interview with Giovanni Oderda
Giovanni Oderda recalls the Dogliani bombing on 8 September 1943. He claims that the town was hit because partisans shaved a fascist woman; after the attack Giovanni and his family left the town. He and his brothers ended up in the partisan ranks…