Browse Items (376 total)

  • Spatial Coverage is exactly "England--Buckinghamshire"

PMooreD16070004.jpg
Three photographs from an album.
Photo 1 is the Christmas dinner table at Charlton Cottage, Copperkins Lane, Amersham.
Photo 2 is a rose in a vase, captioned 'Last rose of summer'.
Photo 3 is a fireplace in the dining room.

ADavisAW180116.mp3
Alan Davis joined the RNZAF towards the end of the war, training in Canada as a wireless operator and air gunner. He returned to the UK and after conversion to Lancasters was posted to 75 New Zealand Squadron. Alan tells of his training, crew changes…

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APoynterAD180416.mp3
Upon leaving school, Audrey Poynter worked at her father’s garage where she learnt about mechanics. When she was called up to volunteer for the RAF at seventeen, she trained as an engineer at RAF Halton. Poynter was posted to RAF Oakley where she…

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ASmithBM170118.mp3

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PHammondBF1901.jpg
Upon volunteering for aircrew, Bert Hammond completed basic training and formed a crew at 26 Operational Training Unit, RAF Wing. He joined 514 Squadron based at RAF Waterbeach and completed thirty operations, before instructing at RAF Manby. Despite…

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AYeandleBA181229.mp3
After leaving school, Bertram Yeandle joined the RAF apprentice scheme and trained as an engine fitter at RAF Halton. After completing his apprenticeship at RAF Cosford, he was posted to 148 Squadron, RAF Harwell, where he serviced Wellingtons. In…

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ATurnerB150602.mp3
Betty Turner served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force with Bomber Command at 92 Group Headquarters, Winslow, and later at RAF Great Massingham, reaching the rank of leading aircraftswoman. She recounts living in chilly stables, being quite bored…

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PWeltonB1501.jpg
Betty Welton was born in 1924. She left school at the age of fourteen, and at the age of seventeen and a half joined the Women’s Land Army. She saw this as an opportunity to escape her home circumstances. On receiving her papers she travelled…

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AHyndC171115.mp3
Summary: Colin Hynd joined the RAF in November 1943. Upon completing initial training, he was posted to RAF St Athan, where he trained as a flight engineer. He struggled to bond with his first crew, so instead worked as an instructor before joining a…

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PBriggsDW1701.jpg
Donald Briggs was born in Lealholm near Whitby in Yorkshire. After school, he became an apprentice with the Royal Air Force. He trained at RAF Halton in 1939 and became an engine fitter working on Wellingtons and Manchesters. He volunteered for air…

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AHarrisDR190508.mp3
Donald was born in Acton, London. He stayed at school until he was fourteen and then worked as a tea boy/general help for O. C. Summers, a firm that laid gas mains in Slough. When that job ended, he worked for another ganger in Shepherds Bush. …

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PPickeringE1701.jpg
Eileen Pickering, from Sheffield, was conscripted in to the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She was posted to Grantham and after working in the Orderly Room she re-mustered to work on the teleprinters. She was in post on D-Day when she describes how…

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PBowmanFA1801.jpg
Frederick Bowman was born in Sydney in 1924. He was a member of the Air Training Corps, and when he was eighteen he joined the Air Force. He went to Kingaroy for basic training, and did his wireless course at Maryborough, and Evans Head for bombing…

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ARogersG160613.mp3
Summary: George Rogers joined the RAF in 1930 at 16 as an aircraft mechanic. He talks about the build up to war, rationing and the fall of France. George was sent to India with the Royal Navy. Holidays and relaxation are discussed with stories from…

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PStreetM2001.jpg
Gillie Street was born in Aglionby, Carlisle, and spent her early childhood in Tyneside before moving back to Cumberland aged eleven. Street recalls attending grammar school in Brampton and her first flying experience on a Barnstormer. Upon leaving…

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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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PJarmyJFD1703.jpg
Jack Jarmey was born in Romford Essex. At the age of five. following the death of his father, Jack moved to live with his grandparents in Illfracolme. Despite excellent results in all his subjects at Grammar School Jack left school at 15 to work in…

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ADellowJA170617.mp3
James ‘Jim’ Albert Dellow had to register the start of the war he as he was 18 years old. On being asked which service he would prefer, he opted for the Royal Air Force as a pilot. Whilst waiting for his call up, he worked in an insurance office…

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PWildesJE180829.jpg
Jim was born in July 1923 in Burton on Trent and was the eldest of six children. His father served in the First World War. When Jim left school aged 14, he joined the Boys Brigade which had a Royal Air Force section and he had the chance to fly in…

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PBaggJG1602.jpg
John Bagg worked as a clerk before joining the Royal Air Force at the age of twenty. He was trained as an Instrument Mechanic before remustering and completing a specialist camera course. He went on to serve on several training stations. After the…

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AColbeckJC170524.mp3
Joy Colbeck was born in Maidstone, Kent and served within the Women’s Royal Naval Service during the war. Her brother, John, joined the RAF on the 28 of April 1943, qualified at as an air gunner in April 1944, before being transferred to an…

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ABrandonJP180302.mp3
June Brandon was born in India, returning to England when her father died. She joined the WAAF and went into the Photographic Section, loading cameras on Spitfires then carrying out development of the films. She served at several RAF stations,…

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AWilliamsonKA180115.mp3
Sir Keith Alec Williamson was born in in Leytonstone, Essex. Early education was at Bancroft’s School until bombs fell across the school. He was then sent to a grammar school in Market Harborough where he joined the Air Training Corps. On leaving…

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AHicksDK151103.mp3
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…

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ADayMH171128.mp3
As her father was in the Royal Navy, Margaret attended school in Gibraltar, Portsmouth, and (after her mother’s death) Malta, before returning to Gosport in the UK when she was eleven. In 1939, she was fifteen and working for a company making soft…

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