Browse Items (335 total)
- Spatial Coverage is exactly "England--Buckinghamshire"
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Letter to Joan Wareing from Anne Hill
Tells her that she is glad she has had news of Bob and that she knows how she must be feeling. Mentions being thrilled as she knew Bob well as he was best man at her wedding.
Memoir by Arthur Hollis
Second page has colour photograph of Arthur Hollis, wearing blazer with medals, standing in a field at an event. Narrative covers early life in Hornchurch and Carshalton including schooling and hospital admissions. Writes of Dulwich College studies…
Arthur Pearce - the aeroplane diary 1943
Contains personal information, address and telephone numbers of acquaintances. Entries for registered for RAF 9 Jan 43, fireguard duty days, swimming, medical appointment, passed selection board for Air Gunner 26 MaR 43,Holiday dates, call up papers…
Interview with John Bagg
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…
Curriculum Vitae Barry Michael Smith
Preface covers his training as an apprentice at RAF Halton and subsequent training as an electrical fitter at RAF St Athan. Outlines career with transition to ground engineer and then other postings. Continues with time as an instructor teaching a…
B Openshaw sight log book
Record of training navigation star and sun sights from ground and air between April 1943 and February 1944. Locations April to July 1943 at 24 bombing gunnery and navigation school at Moffat Southern Rhodesia on Anson aircraft. December 1943 at No 23…
Message from Basil Harrington to Hazael Wakefield
Enquires to occupied Jersey hopes she is well. Reply on reverse anxiously awaiting news and wonders how he is progressing.
Interview with Wally Lashbrook
Wally was born in February 1913, and joined the Royal Air Force in 1929 as a RAF Halton apprentice, where he completed pilot training at RAF Prestwick. He flew many aircraft including Tiger Moths, Hendons and Halifaxes, and served with 51 Squadron…
Arthur Hollis: examination report form for flying instructors
Provides particulars of previous instructor courses, present category, experience flying hours, particulars of test, assessment, category recommended and remarks by testing officer. Notes that had good knowledge of principles of flight and…
Arthur Hollis: flying instructors' school report
Including duration and purpose of course, flying time on Oxford, ground training results, assessment of ability etc. Remarks by Chief Instructor include: 'A good average pilot who should prove his worth at 11 OTU. A sound reliable officer.'
Interview with Sue Chaplin
Susan Chaplin was born in North Marston and was a local teacher. She recounts the story her mother told her as a young girl, about Wellington HE740 which crashed near the village. With her local history group she researched and wrote a book “The…
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 Sidney Bunce
Sidney Bunce grew up in Buckinghamshire and worked in a butchers and a dairy. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force aged 18 and trained as a flight mechanic engineer. He served with 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford and at RAF Wratting Common with 195…
Interview with William Edwin Barnett
William Edwin Barnett talks about his experience of living on the edge of RAF Westcott, near Aylesbury. Remembers starting to work on a farm at the age of fourteen and describes his everyday life and duties. Tells of being conscripted into the Home…
Interview with Joy Colbeck
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…
Interview with Percival Robert Court
Percival Robert Court joined the Air Training Corps in March 1941, volunteering for the Royal Air Force at the earliest age of seventeen and a half. Training at RAF Cardington, he became a flight mechanic. He then moved to Skegness to continue into…
Interview with Margaret Helen Day
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…
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 Richard Hollis
Richard’s father, Arthur Hollis, went to Dulwich College as a day boy. He left at sixteen to join the Home Guard , then worked for a firm of accountants for a couple of years before joining the Royal Air Force. He was sent to Manchester University…
Interview with Tim Schneider
Tim Schneider lived at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. He tells of feeding the rabbits when he was four years old; leaving school at fourteen to help working on the…
Interview with Keith Alec Williamson
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…
Interview with Bertram Arthur Yeandle
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…
World War II & Flying Memoirs
Writes of travelling to Scotland before start of the war and then joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve. Continues with account of training in England before going to Lakeland Florida for primary flying training, Cochran field for basic and advanced…
Letter from David Boldy to his father
Letter from David Boldy to his father about playing hockey for King’s and studying law. He got included in the filming of Good Bye Mr Chips with his brother Steve, as extras in the crowd scenes, filmed at Denham studios.