1
25
69
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2561/43743/PHuntWR20010018.2.jpg
3e12a84ec630c43bc692d15370115004
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hunt, William Richard. Album
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of 18 photographs showing various scenes of Gibraltar, and Oran (Algeria). Also included are various images of aircraft, and RAF stations prior to the war. <br /><br />The collection concerns Sergeant William Richard Hunt (520376 Royal Air Force) and contains documents and photographs. He flew operations as an observer with 35 Squadron and was killed 19 May 1942. The collection includes an album with scenes of Gibraltar and Oran (Algeria), pre-war aircraft and RAF stations. <br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by William John Hastings and catalogued by Benjamin Turner. Additional information on William Richard Hunt is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/214002/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-01-27
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hunt, WR
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Aircraft and T E Lawrence's grave
Description
An account of the resource
Top left shows the prototype Lysander K6127 standing on the grass with buildings in the background.
Top Right shows T E Lawrence's grave.
Middle left shows airmen attaching bombs to an aircraft
Middle right shows a line of Hawker biplanes standing on the grass.
Bottom centre shows the interior of an accommodation hut.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Moreton
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five b/w photographs
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending identification. Things
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHuntWR20010018
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
final resting place
ground personnel
Lysander
military living conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2297/41870/LFrancisR628829v1.2.pdf
5612d2733508147d90243441dea61216
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Francis, Robert
Description
An account of the resource
10 items. The collection concerns Robert Francis (1916, 628829 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator, air gunner with 149 Squadron and later as a bomb aimer.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Sarah Weale and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-12-18
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Francis, R
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Royal Air Force observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LFrancisR628829v1
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Description
An account of the resource
R Francis’s Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book detailing operations and training flown as Air Gunner covering the period 5 October 1939 to 23 May 1943. He was stationed at RAF West Freugh (4 AOS), RAF Mildenhall (149 Squadron), RAF Warmwell (CGS) and RAF Manby (1 AAS). Aircraft flown in were Heyford, Welllngton, Hampden and Blenheim. He flew 29 night operations and one day operation (total 30) with 149 Squadron. His pilots on operations were Wing Commander Kellett, Squadron Leader Dabinett, Squadron Leader Collett, Squadron Leader Kerr and Pilot officer Davis. Targets were not specified.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939-12-03
1939-12-18
1940-03-31
1940-04-12
1940-04-21
1940-04-22
1940-05-17
1940-05-18
1940-05-21
1940-05-22
1940-05-23
1940-05-24
1940-05-27
1940-05-29
1940-05-30
1940-06-03
1940-06-04
1940-06-05
1940-06-06
1940-06-07
1940-06-08
1940-06-09
1940-06-10
1940-06-11
1940-06-13
1940-06-14
1940-06-15
1940-06-16
1940-06-17
1940-09-15
1940-09-21
1940-09-23
1940-09-25
1940-09-26
1940-09-28
1940-09-29
1940-10-01
1940-10-09
1940-10-13
1940-10-15
1940-10-16
1940-10-20
1940-10-21
1940-10-23
1940-10-24
1940-10-26
1940-10-27
1940-10-29
1940-10-30
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Suffolk
England--Lincolnshire
Scotland--Dumfries
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
149 Squadron
air gunner
Air Gunnery School
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
Blenheim
bombing
Hampden
Magister
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Warmwell
RAF West Freugh
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2247/40854/LRossB1610215v1.2.pdf
7b5247561438257d8e890678e1fac335
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ross, Bernard
Description
An account of the resource
37 items. This collection concerns Warrant Officer Bernard Ross (1610215, Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs and service record. Ross flew as an air gunner in Royal Air Force Transport Command, towing gliders, dropping supplies to resistance groups and carrying paratroops. He also took part in some bombing operations to Germany.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Paul Ross and Amanda Burnham, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-07-25
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Ross, B
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bernard Ross' observers and air gunners flying log book
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LRossB1610215v1
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Description
An account of the resource
Bernard Ross’ Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book covering the period from 05 of April 1943 to 22 April 1945. Detailing his flying training and operations flown as Air Gunner. He was stationed at RAF Penrhos (9 OAFU), RAF Seighford (30 OTU), RAF Thruxton (297 Squadron), RAF Hurn, RAF Brize Norton and RAF Earls Colne (296 Sqn) and RAF Tilstock (1665 HCU). Aircraft flown in were Blenheim, Wellington, Whitley, Albemarle, Oxford, Stirling and Halifax. He flew on two night bombing operations with 296 Squadron and and 22 glider towing/parachute drops and SOE operations with 296 Squadron and 297 Squadron, including D-Day, Arnhem and the Rhine Crossing. Bombing targets were Gravenbosch and Rees. His pilots on operations were Warrant Officer Beetham, Pilot Officer Godden and Flying Officer Fraser.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04
1943-05
1943-06
1943-07
1943-08
1943-09
1943-10
1943-11
1943-12
1945-01
1945-02-02
1945-02-14
1945-03
1945-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
England--Essex
England--Staffordshire
England--Hampshire
England--Dorset
England--Lincolnshire
North Africa
Tunisia
Tunisia--Sidi Ameur
Germany
Germany--Rees
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
1665 HCU
296 Squadron
297 Squadron
30 OTU
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
aircrew
Albemarle
Blenheim
Halifax
Hamilcar
Heavy Conversion Unit
Horsa
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Earls Colne
RAF Hurn
RAF Penrhos
RAF Seighford
RAF Thruxton
RAF Tilstock
Special Operations Executive
Stirling
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2255/40603/ADaviesPO221106-AV.2.mp3
1ca7c1beab74b249f4baf7566e71aa2b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Davies, Peter Offord
P O Davies
Description
An account of the resource
Two oral history interviews with Captain Peter Orfford Davies (b. 1922). He served with a Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery at various RAF stations. He later retrained as a glider pilot and flew during the Rhine Crossing.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-11-06
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Davies, PO
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
TO: So, you know how last time you told me how you’d seen the, was it the R100 airship when you were younger?
PO: Oh yes. The R100. Yeah.
TO: Did you, were you interested in other airships in the world like the Hindenburg?
PO: Not, not really. No. I mean what age would I [pause] I would only have been eight or nine you know, sort of thing. The Hindenburg. No. No. I mean I think I’d probably be aware of it but you know, we had the R100 and the R101, you know. We had two airships but as for the German aviation no. I think the first thing I ever became aware of of German aviation other than sort of First World War sort of aircraft were the Junkers 52 which of course it was a triplane and unusual and was you know sort of the leading aircraft at the time I think, you know. We hadn’t anything comparable with it as far as I know. No. No, it, I mean I heard about the Zeppelins in the First World War from my mother you know and that sort of thing but yeah my own, my interest in aviation was such as we saw of it and heard of it. That was it. No, no great depth of, you know I must look into this or I must look in to that sort of thing.
TO: And did you think that airships had a future for travelling?
PO: I don’t know. I mean you know we were very naïve I think in those days you know. A bit early in my life really to have an opinion as such I think. Yes. I was just a, I mean what you’ve got to remember is that I mean the children I deal with in school they’re five and six years old. Boy they’re so up to date and with it. We were very naïve you know. I mean it was almost sort of well I mean my early life was horse and cart sort of you know. That was the method of transport. And buses with solid tyres and stuff like this, you know. Yeah. Oh yes. Very different childhood to today. So when you look at today’s children they’re very streetwise in some cases. They’re well-travelled. I mean kids I deal with you know they’ve been to South America. They’ve been here, they’ve been there, all over the world and they think nothing of it. It’s their world. A totally different world to my childhood world. Totally different.
TO: And what rations did you have in the Army?
PO: Well, it depends where you were. I was never ever in a big camp so our rations were brought to us generally once a week and it was down to I mean a lot of my, at the early part of the war well the very early part of the war of course we were living on basically on stew. It was the breakfast was porridge which invariably was burned and the main course in our mess tins we had two. A mess tin with, a deep mess tin and a shallow one and the lid went on, you know. Not the square ones they have today. These were half round and you’d get tinned tomato and bacon and that was with bread and that was your breakfast. Lunch was stew. Teatime would be bread, butter and jam and tea of course. And that was it. But when I was in charge of my twelve fourteen guys and our gun and computer our rations were brought once a week and it was down to our cook whoever the cook was as to what you what you got. But generally speaking we were never hungry. Never hungry. Never hungry. No. I mean you know we used to forage at times or even steal potatoes out of a field or something but we weren’t beyond, we were typical soldiery I suppose. You know, when the devil drives the needs are must. Yeah. Oh yes. No. No. The rations, the only shortage I ever remember was sugar. Sugar and onions. Onions were in, were like gold. God knows why. I suppose we imported so many and they weren’t high on the list of freight to be carried across the state, from the States or wherever.
TO: And what do you remember about the blackouts?
PO: The blackout [pause] That’s a good question. What did I think about the blackouts? I mean it really it is never really dark. It’s amazing. I mean it depends on the cloud cover I suppose as to whether you got light from the stars or the moon. I mean we used to hate the moon because it was like daylight so you were more likely to be bombed as it were in in the the moonlight than on a black night. But I think, I think the civilians suffered more. There were more probably more casualties in the civilian population then there were in the, certainly in the Army population through people getting knocked over by vehicles or walking into things that weren’t there sort of thing, you know. Falling down holes. God only knows. No. The blackout. We used to sing a song about the blackout and the moon but no no but I don’t think the blackout bothered us. No. It certainly didn’t seem to bother me from recollection.
TO: And did you meet or see any evacuees?
PO: No. No. The only thing that I ever saw was the people sleeping in the Tube in London and that really did shake me when, I don’t know where it was but I remember getting out of the Tube somewhere in London and there were people all still sleeping on the platforms and stuff like that. I believe during the night when trains weren’t running they were sleeping down where the tracks were but they were certainly on the surface of the, you know of the platforms and stuff like this. And they weren’t just females and children either. They were adult males. Yeah.
TO: And are there any bombing raids that you remember?
PO: Raids? No. What do you mean by raids?
TO: Well —
PO: I mean if you talk about sort of a Fokker Wulf coming screaming down at zero feet and dropping a bomb and firing its cannon at the same time I remember that. I remember, I mean we were, I was in, at the time I was in a light anti-aircraft, a mobile light anti-aircraft unit and we got sent from Derby to Hull. To a place called Paull and we had there we found there were two three inch 1940, 1914 ack ack guns. Real old things and we knew nothing about them. It was a question of getting the book out and learn. And one day on a pleasant afternoon we were standing to, there was a raid forecast and along came a single Heinkel 111 and we stood and looked at it and did nothing to it and it shot down a couple of balloons and went safely on its way and you know we never fired a shot. Then another day we had a raid and the weather was clamped down like billy-o and we couldn’t see a darned thing. But one night I remember there was a raid on and it was night time and the bombs were coming closer and closer and closer to us and as he let his bombs go sort of and it was approaching where we were the bombs were coming down close and they stopped just before they got to our position else we would have been the recipients of maybe his last bomb. I don’t know. But no, I mean another time an aircraft came up in northern Scotland actually and very very low down, dropped his single bomb and it skidded along the ground and bounced over our hut and lay there inert in the field for about a week before the Royal Engineers came and took it away. But as for bombing raids again as I say I mean the night my hometown was being blitzed I was in, we were guarding a radio location station in Lincolnshire. Quiet as anything. My parents were at risk and I was safe as houses. The civilians caught more of the Blitz as it were than well than I did anyhow. Yeah.
TO: And what else do you remember about being in anti-aircraft units?
PO: Well, we were as I say I had you know sort of fourteen guys and a gun and that was our little world and we ran it. I ran it and you know the officers would come maybe once a week or an officer if only to give us our pay and go away, you know. We were very autonomous in that respect. As long as the work was being done and when they came you know we were all sort of proved to be efficient that was it. Again, you see I didn’t belong to, I’ve never belonged to a big unit ever. I mean after the war I certainly didn’t belong to a big unit. You know. The work I was doing was very specialist in one way and another. No. It’s, I mean even on the squadron you know I really only knew the people in my flight you know. But it, it was we were just doing a job. I mean it sounds silly doesn’t it? Fighting a war but my war was very different to somebody in the infantry who was plodding through mud and eating when they could and all this sort of thing. I had an easy war. I really did. Looking back it was very easy.
TO: And did the Army ever interact with the Home Guard?
PO: No. No. I mean when in ’40 when invasion because of course one night we did get Cromwell was the code word. In fact, I’ve got some papers here that say all about it in one way or another. Original documents I’ve got here believe you me. But we used to regularly see the Home Guard putting horse, putting carts and things across the road as roadblocks in the distance where we were but we never saw anything or had anything to do with the Home Guard at all. No.
TO: And can you tell me about when you were stationed at RAF bases?
PO: Yes. The food was good. We had, we were on aircrew rations of course which was different to other people’s rations. I mean the one thing we used to get was we used to get milk which wasn’t available to the normal RAF guys you know. Engineers or whatever. Plotters or whatever they were. And we used to get a ration of, a weekly ration of raisins or you know dried fruit and we certainly had a ration of eggs so you know it sounds [laughs] but the food was good. That was the great thing and of course we, we slept in beds and we didn’t have sheets there. We only, the only time I ever had sheets in the Army was when I was at EFTS. Elementary Flying Training School and there we did nothing. I mean we used to have civilian women would come in and clean the billet and lay the fire and you know we were cosseted like nobody’s business at EFTS. But other than that on squadron we just used to troop along to the mess and get our meals and you know night flying suppers and stuff like that. It was good. Yeah. I’ll tell you [laughs] I had a good war. Yeah.
TO: What was your everyday routine at these bases?
PO: Well, we used to parade and basically find out more or less what we were doing that day. I mean you know we spent our time in the main flying, you know and that was sort of we’d, doing circuits and bumps and stuff like that. I mean we didn’t have many lectures. I’m sure we did do. I mean we learned or were taught all about booby traps and stuff like that you know and different sorts of warfare I suppose. No. It was just almost a 9 till 5 job to us really. Very uninteresting.
TO: And can you tell me about your flight training please?
PO: Yeah. My first flight was the same for everybody I suppose in that I was taken on a flight in an aircraft, in a Tiger Moth and shown where the controls were and one thing and another. As I say I was at Elementary Flying Training School there and then one day the, my instructor we landed and he got out of the cockpit and did his straps up and I thought what’s he doing? And he just said to me, ‘Right. Off you go.’ And that was it because we had to solo. If we didn’t solo within ten hours then you were out and in actual fact I soloed at about eight hours twenty minutes or some damned thing that seems to lodge in my mind. Yeah. I mean some people just couldn’t, couldn’t do that so of course they left. I mean you know they really were very gung-ho on who they kept and who they didn’t. I mean, but at Elementary Flying Training School I mean we used to do run marches. You know, i.e. could be ten miles in an hour and forty minutes in full kit once a week. You know. We were, we were fit and reasonably tough I suppose. On one occasion a guy called Geoff Higgins and I decided it was, it was bitterly cold and I think we’d come out of a lecture and we were going back to our huts to get all our kit on to go on a run march and he and I decided it was too miserable and cold. We weren’t going to go so we sneaked off into a hangar where there were men in aircraft and one thing and another and had a cup of tea with the people who were there. And then eventually of course we got caught out. We weren’t on parade and we got hauled before the camp comm and put on a charge actually. The only time I’d ever been put on a charge and we got away with it. The guy thought that we were very near the end of our training so he said, ‘Well, report to the police at extra times for the next seven days.’ And that’s what we did but that was flying training was good. I mean we did it. Yeah, we did all the things that one would do at Flying Training School including aerobatics and stuff like this to make you into something that was more or less a pilot. But and then left there as I say and went to glider training at Stoke Orchard and flew Hotspurs. I’ve flown in every military, every military glider there is. I’ve flown Hotspur, Horsa, Hadrian or Waco and Hamilcar. Yeah. So I’ve quite, quite a few memories of different places and different things you know but I didn’t like the Wacos. They were cheap and cheerful. I wasn’t happy with them I must admit.
TO: So, do you remember your first solo flight?
PO: Yes. I did. I took off and I was talking to myself like nobody’s business and the only thing that I do remember is that as I came into land because the instructor’s weight wasn’t in the aircraft the aircraft was a lot lighter. I mean that was a bit [laughs] I landed first time at least so I taxied back to where we came from. But the following day I had a CFI, Chief Flying Instructor test and that day I took off with him and as we came in to land I thought right I’m going to land just at the edge of that the airfield. It was a grassed airfield. I thought, yeah I’m alright here. And I was on the glide path and there was a cottage at the end of my approach and as I got lower and lower I thought I’m just going to miss the top of that cottage. And I thought no. This sounds daft, I thought no, I’m going to hit the chimney. And it got to where I thought no I’m going to hit the, hit the cottage and the chief flying instructor said, ‘I’ve got it.’ And you know put full power on it and climbed away and went around again and I thought oh I’ve really, I’ve shot it there. I’m, you know, I’m for the chop now. But no, it didn’t happen. But that was funny. It was almost as if I was transfixed by this cottage. You know the cottage was safe on the ground and I wanted to be on the ground safe. It sounds silly doesn’t it? But yeah. God knows what I was thinking really. Other than that I remember once hitting an air pocket in oh it was in [pause] it was in a Waco. Yeah. We hit an air pocket and must have dropped about fifty feet and all the muck and everything was flying through the air there. You know, the bottom dropped out of the world on that one but we recovered in the normal way you know. Yeah. It was just flying. Just flying.
TO: So had you, when did you volunteer to be in the airborne?
PO: In 1942. The end of 1942 was when I volunteered and at the beginning of ’43 was when I went for my aircrew medical and you know, all the theory. All the maths and you know common sense questions that these people asked one way or another but so it would be, I mean I wasn’t accepted until the beginning of ’43 so it was fairly early days you know. And then I went from there to depot as I say. We lost people at, out of all the volunteers you know on the initial thing we lost people. Then I went to depot where there were a hundred of us and only thirty of us left there to be in the airborne forces. And then to Flying School where we lost other people who couldn’t fly or hadn’t got the wherewithal or couldn’t stand the discipline and you know so we were being, our numbers were decreasing. Well, you could almost draw a graph of the numbers of us left. It was just pure luck I think. I was just bloody minded and you know tried to keep my nose clean and be the grey man as it were. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And can you tell me about the combat training for airborne troops?
PO: Well, I think that I suppose it almost broke into two. I mean we carried, the glider pilot regiment carried more troops into battle than parachuted in. There’s no two ways about that. Their training would be very different to ours I suppose. I mean we, we were almost like just delivery drivers in a way. I mean okay we were you know on the ground we became basically infantry so I mean but there wasn’t, I don’t think there was many weapons that we couldn’t, you know we were taught enemy weapons as well as our own weapons you know. So you know if you lost, if you lost your canon you could go and pick up somebody else’s canon and know how to use it sort of thing. But tactics and stuff like that I don’t recall. We did do urban fighting in one of the derelict areas of London where we did [pause] I think putting [mouseholes] through walls and stuff like this so you could get from one place to another without exposing yourself and street fighting sort of thing. You know. Tactics. But never had to use them. But I suppose it was just building our knowledge up and our confidence in ourselves and the system. Yeah.
TO: And what do you remember about the street fighting?
PO: It was good fun [laughs] It was good fun. Okay, we got dirty a lot of running around and one thing and another. I don’t remember any debriefings or anything like that. I really don’t. It was we just went up to London for a day and a half and, you know and got stuck in. Yeah.
TO: And do you remember the first time you fired a weapon in training?
PO: That would have been before the war. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. They made darned certain that you had your rifle stuck well into your shoulder because it was the kick of it and that was it. Yeah. I would be about nineteen, I suppose the first time I fired a weapon. Would be ’39. In 1939. Yeah. Yeah. I never fired a weapon as a boy soldier so it must have been 1939. Yeah. And that would be on a rifle range, you know. At Wedgnock in Warwickshire. Yeah. That’s where it would have been. I mean I can’t say I honestly remember it you know bang on but that must have been the first time I ever fired a weapon. But as I said you know the weapon of my choice was a Bren gun because you could fire that from the hip or anywhere else. I mean it’s the same with the Thompson sub-machine gun. That was quite a cumbersome weapon but you could you know aim it or you could just squirt it as it were from the hip. It was quite a, quite a weapon that. Yeah. But I never did fire well we had in the battalion we had an anti-tank platoon and they had what was known as the boy’s anti-tank rifle. That had got a hell of a kick on it I believe but I never fired that at all either. I wasn’t in that platoon anyhow. No. But yeah. You know, as I say it was just how life was I’m afraid. You know. I mean it must be boring for you in a way and well [pause]
TO: Can you tell me more about when you were at RAF bases and went on flying the bombers?
PO: Well, again I, I was a little subunit in a big unit and around an airfield would be you know probably four or five guns. Where my canon was was on the almost on the perimeter track outside the airfield actually but almost on the perimeter track. And you know that’s when I used to sort of sneak away and scrounge flights. I mean I don’t know how many other people that ever did it but I certainly did. I mean the one flight I remember we were coming in to land. It was in a Whitley bomber and as we approached the airfield around the perimeter track was somebody on a bicycle and the pilot said to me watch this and we were coming down to land and this guy was on his bike and he looked up and looked at us and saw us coming in to land below and of course he was cycling along and we edged along with him [laughs] So the next time he looked we were still aiming virtually at him. And in the end when we flew over him I’m damned certain he fell off his bicycle because believe you me we were only probably ten feet above his head when we, when we actually crossed on to, on to the grass airfield you know. If there had been a runway there would have been a certain length of time when he would have been at risk but because it was a grass runway as he was cycling along we were drifting with him. So that was funny that. Yeah. Yeah. Oh dear oh dear. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was just life I suppose you know. I mean good God. I mean I’ve had a tremendous life. My wartime life and post wartime you know. Good God. I’ve done everything from dining with royalty to I’m a Freeman of the city of Coventry. I’m an honorary alderman of Cheshire and I’ve got I’ve had a great life. I really have. Yeah. Yeah. As I say the Army Air Corps have turned up trumps one way and another. Yeah.
TO: And the crews you flew with were they just doing training flights?
PO: What? When I was flying in the Whitley’s and that? No, it was all night flying tests. You know, the aircraft were being prepped for, for night flying for these are Operational Training Units. One was at Kinloss and one was at Lossiemouth. I think it was 19 and 20 OTUs. I seem to recall the numbers but you know, I mean they were clapped out aircraft in the main you know. They were ex-operational aircraft that had been downgraded because I mean the number of crashes and malfunctions that took place we seemed to have funerals every week of people who had either flown into a hillside or had crashed or the aircraft had let them down or they made pilot error nonsense. It was when I think back it was a bit dicey really. I mean they’d all got parachutes. I hadn’t got a parachute and I just would have gone kneel out between the two pilots and look at what was going on and enjoy the ride. Yeah.
TO: Did any crews object to you being on board the planes?
PO: Oh no. I mean I think anybody who would have objected would have said no to my request you know. ‘Can I come along with you?’ Sort of thing. ‘No.’ They’d be very definite I think. Whereas the others would say, ‘Well, yeah. Okay. Get in.’ That sort of thing. Very casual. Very casual you know. Not like today. Good God today you couldn’t get near the aircraft today I reckon.
TO: So where did you sit when you were in these bombers?
PO: I didn’t. I knelt or stood between the pilots or knelt between them and whatnot. I didn’t just sit in the fuselage. I wanted to see where we were going. You know. Oh yes. Yeah. Oh yes. It’s, I mean it wasn’t a lot of room and it wasn’t exactly comfortable but you know I was flying. I was, you know I was getting this free ride sort of thing out over the sea and then over parts of Scotland here and there sort of thing you know. Over the mountains. Yeah. Oh yes. It was good fun. Good fun.
TO: And do you remember any other times when you were in the bombers or any other stories from there?
PO: Not really. No. Not really. No. No. No. I think as I say I did it so often one way and another. But as for incidents. No. As I say the funny one was being in the Whitley and drifting along with this cyclist. He was a sergeant actually because I could see the badges of rank on his, on his uniform you know. It was just so amusing and obviously the pilot whether he was a sergeant or an officer I don’t know but the first pilot as I say he said to me, ‘Just watch this.’ [laughs] Yeah. Mischievous. Mischievous.
TO: And can you tell me about the first time you flew a glider?
PO: Well, the first time I flew a glider would be a Hotspur and the only thing I really recall about it was that the amount of noise on tow and the silence when we came off tow where we were no longer being dragged along by this Miles Master aircraft. We were in free flight and it was just so quiet and then sort of that was, that was it. That was my first recollection of flying in a military glider. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And how did the flying a glider compare to powered aircraft?
PO: The only difference is if you make a mistake with a powered aircraft you can open the taps and go around again. With a, with a glider you’re committed. The minute you come off tow whether you like it or not you’re committed. It’s a question of sort of well you, how can I put it? You know where your landing zone is and it’s a question of getting into it. How you do, how you do it is down to you but there’s no, no ooops I made a mistake here or, I could do with a bit more height because you ain’t going to get no more height. It’s you’re on your way down. You really are. Oh yes. Yeah.
TO: How much room did a glider need to land?
PO: Well, I mean at one stage we were flying the Hamilcar and the, at the end of the runway there was like a bit of a cliff and we were flying over the cliff you know to land and that was the direction of the landing and there were probably five or six Hamilcars you know. We weren’t the only one flying that day and at the side of the runway was a caravan that controlled the take offs with an Aldis lamp and we started, I don’t know how it started but we started to see who could land in the shortest possible time and we got to the stage where we were banned because we were almost landing right on the end of the runway at Fairford. Yeah. Was it Fairford? No. It wasn’t Fairford. That must have been Tarrant. Yeah. So I mean we would land and put the brakes on and as I say we finished up being coming to a halt before we got to the caravan which was controlling the runway. It got it was, it got dangerous shall I say I mean because we were beginning to drop down. Get as much speed as we could and drop down below the level of the airfield and then just pop up and plonk it down. But normal landing I don’t know. A hundred and fifty yards maybe and that was it you’d come to a grinding halt and of course you’d got brakes. You got brakes on you know on both the Horsa and the Hamilcar. They’d got brakes so you know you could slow yourself down as it were.
TO: When you were flying a glider during the Rhine crossing was it possible to steer away from anti-aircraft fire or did you just have to keep going?
PO: Well, on, on tows you’d no choice. It’s down to tug aircraft and your attitude towards where you are on the end of the rope as it were. So there was no choice. In free flight yeah. You could I suppose go left or right or you know try to avoid anything but frankly there was so much of it anyhow that you know you could go from the frying pan in to the fire if you started trying to get clever I think. We were, we were more interested in trying to get down onto our proper landing zone which we’d identified you know and get down and get the load out of the aircraft. But it didn’t happen of course because then we got clobbered.
TO: So during the Rhine crossing was it an anti-tank gun your aircraft was carrying?
PO: It’s the seventeen pounder, yeah anti-tank basically anti-tank. It was a quite a weapon. It was a big weapon. Yeah. A big weapon. Yeah.
TO: And did you meet the tug crews before you took off?
PO: We, yes, oh yes we’d meet them at both the briefing and you know just immediately prior to the op you know. We wished one another all the best sort of thing and you know, ‘We’ll see you back at the airfield in a few days time.’ Sort of thing you know. But that didn’t particularly happen. But yeah. I mean but we didn’t live with the aircrews. We lived totally separate from the RAF. We were, we were under a different sort of discipline almost you could say where the RAF guys were both officers, warrant officers and sergeants and whatnot, the aircrews and they lived their lives. The only time we’d come up against them really other than you know hooking onto their aircraft would be at meal times and you know in the RAF mess as it were where we ate of course. We weren’t segregated for eating or anything. We used all the RAF facilities but we lived separately from the RAF. I supposed that way we were almost like an attached unit as it were. We were bolted on to the aerodrome as it were. I mean we could have lived anywhere really but we lived on the RAF station in Nissen huts and the usual facilities as it were.
TO: And were you towed by a Halifax during the Rhine crossing?
PO: Yeah. Yes. That was the only thing that would pull us off the ground. Yeah. I mean a Dakota couldn’t possibly manage it. It hadn’t got enough power by any manner of means. I mean, as I said to you earlier we never flew with less than nine thousand pounds of ballast but I think take-off weight was about thirty seven thousand pounds when, when we were loaded. It was you know quite a heavy load. Yeah. We were. We were overloaded. There’s no two ways about it. You know. People would pop in extra ammunition or you know half a cookhouse if they could sort of thing you know. So our weight was in excess really of permitted weight but you know, it was the aircraft was strong enough. I mean it was well built. My God they were well built. Well, the floor was well built. Let’s put it that way. Yeah.
TO: Did you enjoy flying gliders?
PO: Yeah. It was. Yeah. It was a good job. You know. It was a good job and you know we were young and we had a lot of life. We were alive and life was good. And I suppose in a way we almost worked on the principle of you know tomorrow you may die sort of thing so you know we’d do things you wouldn’t. We’d enjoy life to the maximum in the position that we were in. Flying was that’s what we got paid five bob a day for. So you know keep flying and keep taking the money sort of thing. Oh yeah. Yeah. Enjoy? I don’t know if that’s a word I would use. It was just something we did and you know that was it, you know. No. It might sound strange to you that but yeah.
TO: Did you ever wish you were doing a different role?
PO: Oh no. No. No. No. I can’t ever say that that ever, that has ever happened to me in military or civilian life. I’m a great believer in if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing get out. I wouldn’t wish I would do something about it which in my civilian life I have done. You know, I’ve just told my superiors in one place I wasn’t going to work for them anymore and I just walked out. No. My desk was left and I just walked. Completely walked out. Yeah. Oh no. I didn’t hanker to do anything else. What I was doing was what I wanted to do and as long as I was happy doing it that was me. Yeah. Oh yes.
TO: And what, what regiments and division were you in?
PO: Well, we were because we were a heavy lift squadron I mean there was a 1st Airborne Division and the 6th Airborne Division. We lifted both. So we were that way we weren’t in either the 1st or the 6th. I don’t know frankly where we fitted in to that you know. Sort of we lifted whatever. Whether they were Poles or what. I mean you know I mean [pause] what was the question sorry?
TO: Which regiments and divisions were you in?
PO: Oh well, I mean as I say we lifted Royal Artillery guys. So others would lift Royal Engineers or whatnot you know but we lifted as I say Royal Artillery or an armoured regiment you know. Tank. So that would be Royal Armoured Corps but I never flew a tank so I wouldn’t know.
TO: And what did you think of the tanks that would have gone in the Hamilcars?
PO: Well, they were made, they were sort of modified so they could get them into the thing. Getting them out operationally was you were supposed to come to a halt. I mean this is only what I know now. You’d come to a halt. Open the nose, lower the, lower the oleo legs and let it drive out. In actual fact what did happen was the minute they were on the floor they drove straight through the nose anyhow. They didn’t bother to hang about sort of thing. Yeah. But as I say I never flew, never flew a tank. I never came in to contact with the Armoured Corps at all. Never.
TO: I think you mentioned yesterday you were, were you something like interacting with Americans at some points.
PO: Yeah. Oh yeah. I was with the 9th Air Force. Yeah. With Troop Carrier Command 9th Air Force. That was, that was quite a jolly that. There were five. Five of us and I mean I went to more than one mass drop prior to D-Day. I mean I can’t say I was in, had knowledge of secret stuff but there was so much the Americans would leave papers about that we would covet or we weren’t supposed to see and their security at times was pretty grim or pretty poor. I mean the day that we got a whole delivery of Purple Hearts and you’d think I mean and I’m talking about a box about four foot by four foot by four foot full of Purple Heart medals. Who’s going to, who’s going to be the recipients of these because every American who got wounded of course got a Purple Heart medal. That sort of thing. But, yeah. It was, it was good. Yeah. Yes. I mean I flew all over the place. To Greenham Common. Oh God. You name an airfield that the US troops were on and I’ve been there. I really have. I mean if we couldn’t get, if we couldn’t get there by jeep in, I mean we would say to somebody ‘Where are you?’ And they’d say thirty or forty miles away from where you are now and we’d think well forty miles. We could do that in an hour because we used to thrash our jeeps. We really did. There was only one speed with a jeep and that was flat out. They were great fun to drive. But yeah, and then as I say Gale came, Windy Gale and Browning came at one time. But as I say Eisenhower was at one of the big drops just prior to D-Day. But life with the Americans was, that was a real sort of, well I mean we just seemed to do things. You know. Nothing particularly outlandish. We seemed to do more travelling than anything else. That was good and the food was good.
TO: And can you describe the inside of a Hamilcar?
PO: Well, to get into the cockpit you went into the, into a door I’ll call it on the port side. You went across the cargo hold which would be about nine feet I suppose. Ten feet wide I suppose. Up a wooden ladder that was on the wall opposite you on the, on the starboard side. Get out on to the top of the fuselage. Walk along the top of the fuselage and get in the cockpit and it was a tandem cockpit so you know one pilot and then another one with both with the same controls and instruments such as they were and that was it. They were cavernous. They really were quite big. I mean they were big. I mean I don’t know if you know the dimensions of them but oh yeah. I mean the cockpit was about nineteen feet above the ground. Well, you know people think of gliders, you say, ‘I flew gliders.’ And they see sail planes. Nothing like it. Nothing like it at all. They were huge. They were a huge beast. They really were. They were the biggest military, British military glider. The Americans had nothing like it and the Germans I think at one time produced one that was about twice the size but it never was used. It was, you know just a dream I suppose almost. I mean I suppose we could have carried a hundred odd soldiers quite happily in a Hamilcar if it had been designated troop carrying but it wasn’t meant for troops. It was meant for bulldozers and tanks and guns and heavy heavy kit as it were. As I say it was the only heavy lift squadron we’d got.
TO: And did you hear about other events of the war like Pearl Harbour?
PO: No. No. No. No. We’d got enough to do with our own war I think. The war in the Far East didn’t certainly with me didn’t register at all. That didn’t register until after the European war had finished. Then we started getting worried about going to the Far East with what we were being told one way and another and as I say at that time we were then converting onto these Waco gliders which of course were out in the Far East. Yeah.
TO: And did you hear about the Battle of El Alamein?
PO: All that I remember about Alamein was that that was probably the first battle that we seem to have won. And that’s where you, like the question you asked yesterday that’s where sort of Montgomery came to the fore. You know. We’d actually won something, you know. Before that it was I mean the war in the desert used to go up and down the coast of Africa like nobody’s business you know. We’d win a load and then we’d retreat. Go back again and retreat. Oh dear oh dear. I mean we were aware of Tobruk and stuff like that and I met the odd guy who came home on leave from Africa but no. The war, I mean the only involvement that the regiment got was of course was invading Sicily and that was a debacle. That really was. I mean some of the guys were in the water for hours. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Right. Well, you’ve got another five minutes so make the most of it.
TO: Okay. Did you hear about battles happening in Russia?
PO: No. No. No. No, the only, I had two [pause] I had what was it? I was in Edinburgh and the Usher Hall at an orchestral concert and a load of Russians came in there as guests. Those were the first Russians I ever saw. And then I was in Goch in Germany and I met a Russian female. She was the size of a brick toilet. She really was. She was massive. She’d been a slave labourer but the Russians, no, had no, I mean everybody was aware of Stalingrad and stuff like that you know but it was somehow that wasn’t our war, you know. The Russians were fighting the Germans over there. We’d got them on our doorsteps so to speak you know. The Germans. The Germans were enough for us let alone fighting the Russians. Although it looked like we were going to fight the Russians after the war finished I must admit. That didn’t go off thank God. No.
TO: What’s your best memory of the war?
PO: I suppose looking back I was very very privileged to meet some very brave men. Just ordinary guys who were really [pause] you know I’m a mere shadow of those guys. It was a privilege to have lived and served alongside some really super guys. They weren’t warriors but boy when the dice were thrown they were there to pick up the bits. No. They were great. They really were. Yeah. I was, I was privileged to know these people and to say that they were friends of mine sort of thing you know. Or compatriots at least, I mean. And so many of them went on in civilian street to make real names for themselves too you know. I mean one became the chief of the Thames Valley Police Force. Another one, Potts he was a professor of, he worked for one of the massive companies you know. Another one became the COE, CEO of another multinational you know. They were great guys. But as far as the soldiery was concerned they were all friends, friends shall I say but yeah. I was just privileged to even rub along shoulders with them and that’s really my biggest memory I suppose. Nothing specific as it were. No particular point.
TO: And what’s your worst memory of the war?
PO: I don’t have one. I don’t have one. No. No, I mean I know people they’re dead now I must admit but I’ve known people who have flashbacks to incidents and things like that and you know disturbed nights of and I’ve never had any of that you know. It just washed over me. I’m either too thick or my pain threshold is just so high that I don’t recognise anything. No. I’ve no, no terrible memories. My memories are of meeting some lovely people and you know you tend I suppose in life you tend to put the horrible things into a separate box in total you know and we’ve got enough problems of today without harping on yesterday’s problems anyhow. Yeah. So there you go. Right. Well, you’ve had your time so is there anything else you really want?
TO: Just one last question. What do you think of war films?
PO: Of war films? Well, there’s a thing on telly at the moment called, “Who Dares Wins,” and I saw the first bit of it and I thought what a load of rubbish. Because the SAS, I only know two guys who were in the Special Air Service and it’s very very different. What do I think of these war films? Okay, I certainly [pause] there are some. I mean. “A Bridge Too Far,” which was the story of Arnhem basically. That was very very true to life without a shadow of a doubt with the exception that you know there was an American influence which didn’t happen in actual fact. But that’s so they could sell it to America of course. But some of the war films are, they are just so gung-ho and impossible. Impossible some of them. They make money for somebody I suppose.
TO: Is there anything you want to add about your experiences that you feel is very important?
PO: No. No. As I say I’m, I’m just one of thousands who I’ll say survived the war. I never got wounded. I never got hospitalised or anything like that. I just was the same as thousands of others. I was just very lucky in the units I went to and in my own little world I was happy and I look back and think how lucky. Well, I am. I’m an extremely lucky guy. But in total, in total I really am a very lucky guy. If I were to die tomorrow I couldn’t grumble. I would because I’ve got too much to do but, no. Life has just been very kind to me and I’ve survived. I’ve met some lovely people. The world is full of lovely people. It really is. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve met some super folk. That’s been a privilege. Yeah. So there you go sir.
TO: Thank you so much. Thank
PO: Not at all.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Peter Offord Davies. Part Two
Creator
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Tom Ozel
Date
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2022-11-06
Type
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Sound
Format
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01:08:45 audio recording
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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ADaviesPO221106-AV
Coverage
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British Army
Royal Air Force
Language
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eng
Description
An account of the resource
Peter volunteered in 1942 and was accepted early in 1943. He outlines the combat training they received. Talks of the rations he received early in the war and on the RAF station. He describes the autonomy of his anti-aircraft unit. Reflecting on bombing raids, he feels civilians suffered more than he did. He never belonged to a big unit.
Peter describes his daily routine, flight training at the Elementary Flying Training School and glider training at RAF Stoke Orchard. He flew every military glider: Hotspur, Horsa, Hadrian, Waco and Hamilcar. Peter recounts his first solo and sneaking flights with aircrews carrying out night flying tests at RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth. He also describes his first glider flight and the interior of a Hamilcar.
They met tug crews prior to operations, sharing the mess, but living separately. The Halifax towed them on the Rhine crossing when they carried a 17-pounder anti-tank gun.
As a heavy lift squadron, they lifted both the 1st Airborne Division and 6th Airborne Division, lifting Royal Artillery or Royal Armoured Corps.
During his time with the United States 9th Airforce with Troop Carrier Command, Peter went to more than one mass drop prior to D-Day. He saw “Windy” Gale, Browning and Eisenhower.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
Germany
France
Contributor
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Sally Coulter
Julie Williams
Carolyn Emery
aircrew
bombing
Halifax
Hamilcar
Horsa
military service conditions
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
perception of bombing war
pilot
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2255/40602/ADaviesPO221105-AV.2.mp3
24c21d41f52c2fb363f1a02d61a5a2d5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Davies, Peter Offord
P O Davies
Description
An account of the resource
Two oral history interviews with Captain Peter Orfford Davies (b. 1922). He served with a Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery at various RAF stations. He later retrained as a glider pilot and flew during the Rhine Crossing.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-11-06
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
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Davies, PO
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TO: Good morning, good afternoon or good evening whatever the case may be. My name is Thomas Ozel and the gentleman we’re interviewing is Mr Peter Davies and we’re recording this interview on the 5th of November 2022. So, could you tell me a bit about where you were born, please?
PO: My home town is Coventry. The city of Coventry in Warwickshire. I was born in a company house. My father worked for a company and we lived on the company’s estate. I went to a normal sort of school. I was never brilliant as a student. I failed my Eleven Plus but I did manage to get through an art examination and I went to the city’s Art College for two years prior to joining the forces at sixteen.
TO: And when you were growing up were you interested in the Army?
PO: No. Not at all. I mean okay you know we were children. All our fathers invariably of course had been in the First World War and there were First World War relics knocking about. I mean in a garden, one of the back gardens on the company estate one person had the fuselage of an aircraft. Steel helmets were commonplace. We used to fight battles and things like that but as for a military my first brush I suppose with the military would have been I was taken by an aunt of mine who lived in South London and we went to Woolwich on a Sunday morning and on the Parade Ground there there were the horses and all the troops lined up and one thing and another. But I can’t honestly say that the military appealed to me at that time. I suppose like most children I didn’t know really what I wanted to do and I lived in a fantasy world. It really, yeah.
TO: And was your father in the First World War?
PO: Oh, yes. My father was. My father actually joined the volunteers before the Territorial Army was formed before the First World War and he served. He was in the Royal Army Medical Corps in actual fact and he served throughout the war you know. I think he came out of the forces in 1919. But after that there was no [pause] nothing. I mean he didn’t talk a lot about it. He had, you know a normal traumatic experience like most people in the First World War which was absolute carnage you know. I mean he talked about tying people to tree stumps to stop them harming themselves and that sort of thing. You know, it really was a terrible war that the First World War. Oh yes. The Second World War was nothing like the first. Although having said that before the war we were all our training because I joined the Army in ’38 it was second, it was First World War based. You know, we were digging trenches and doing things which were ludicrous really for the age that we were in at that time. There we are.
TO: And when you were at school were you taught about the First World War?
PO: No. No. All that I know is one of my masters at school was, he had been in the forces and I I quite admired him but I mean absolute childish way, you know. He’d been in. He’d been in the war and he was a big man and he was, he was a kind guy and as such I took to him and, yeah. But no. Really the First World War wasn’t talked about. I think it was too raw really.
TO: And were you taught any other military history though?
PO: The usual thing about the Romans and stuff like that but it, it went over our heads you know. It, it was, it was just, I mean my schooling, a lot of my schooling was learned by rote. There was no discussions and things like that. It was this is it and that’s it. You absorb it or you don’t sort of thing, you know. I mean the funny thing is that, you know sort of you look back and you think gosh, you know what a load of rubbish we were being taught at times. I mean the Empire was the great thing you know. We were great believers that Britain was the greatest country on earth and that we were kind to all these people who we ruled over and in actual fact of course we were anything but. We were taskmasters and slave masters. Yeah. Oh gosh, yes. No. Funny old life. Funny old life. Looking back you realise what. what was true and what isn’t true and I don’t know. Life just goes on.
TO: And were you interested in aircraft at all?
PO: We were. In Coventry there was a company called Armstrong Whitworth and we had an aerodrome called Bagington which is now Coventry. I don’t know what they call it now. But there, from there private aircraft flew and when I say private aircraft we used to get lots of, well no, not lots but an Autogyro or helicopter come over and we used to shout to them sort of thing as children you know. And then the first time I flew Alan Cobham’s Air Circus came to town and I emptied my money box and paid five shillings for a flight. So I was, my first flight would be, I’d be ten maybe. So that was my first flight. Okay. Looking back I suppose I sort of boasted about I’d flown as it were because that was unusual and five shillings was a hell of a lot of money in those days. It was to me anyhow. But that was the first time I flew. But after that I can’t say I hankered to fly, you know. It wasn’t, it didn’t grab me as such.
TO: And what do you remember from being in the air?
PO: The thing that I remember actually was that we, the aircraft we flew in would be, we’d got about eight seats in and there were just cane chairs bolted to the floor sort of thing you know and you just got in and I sat on the what I now know as the starboard side. But, and as we flew around the city we banked and the people on the port side could look down at the town and the city and I was on, all I was looking at was sky. So I did get up to have a look and I got screamed at by two old ladies who said I’d turn the plane upside down and made me sit down again. So it was rather disappointing in some ways. But that’s the first time I flew but after that I can’t say I hankered to fly as such you know. I mean we’re talking in the days of the R100 and the R101 airships which of course the R101 I think it was flew over our school one day. That was, that was quite something to see this leviathan of the air floating by almost silently as it were you know. I mean it really was ginormous. Yeah. Oh yeah. But no, flying I can’t say particularly was to the fore of my thinking as a child.
TO: And did you hear about when the R1, was it the R101 had crashed?
PO: Oh gosh, yeah. That, that crashed at Beauvais in France. Yes, oh yes. A friend of ours was an artist and he actually did a painting of it which he sent off to London hoping it would be included in an exhibition. It didn’t make it but it still went to London this. But I remember this painting of the R101 in its crashed state as it were. Oh yeah. Gosh. Yeah. A long time ago that. Everything is a long time ago with me.
TO: Do you remember what kind of plane you were in on your first flight?
PO: All that I know it was a biplane. I mean the, the Air Circus that came had various I presume, it is a presumption that they were Bristol fighters and stuff like that. Maybe the odd Fokker. I don’t remember. I mean all that I know is that it was magnificent. These guys flying around and throwing the things about but you know. It was. It was just exciting. Yeah. But as for type. No. No. The first type I remember is I used to scrounge flights in Whitley bombers and in Wellington aircraft on night flying tests and stuff like this. Although I was in the Army I was, at the time I was stationed on RAF airfields and you know I used to sneak off and go and scrounge flights. Why I did it I don’t know. It was I suppose it was, A it was something different and B, I was fed up anyhow. But yeah, but I can’t say it ever really grabbed me as such. It wasn’t the apogee of my sort of, it wasn’t that important to me. I did it and that was just fun. God knows what would have happened if we’d of crashed because everybody else would have been on the, on the documentation but my, my remains would be a mystery to somebody or other. Oh yeah. Because regularly these aircraft regularly came to the ground in the wrong place. Oh yes. Yeah. I suppose looking back it was dicey but you know, so what?
TO: And when you were, how was it you arranged with the crew to be aboard these bombers?
PO: Sorry?
TO: How, how did you arrange with the crew for them to allow you on the bombers?
PO: Well, I would just go up and say, ‘Hey,’ you know. I was sort of, ‘Could I have a flight with you?’ And so I suppose I did get rejected on occasions and others they said, ‘Yeah. Go on. Get in.’ Sort of. It was I mean it was just so casual. I mean it really was casual but it was, it was good. It was good. Yeah. Yeah, the old Whitley bomber. Gosh. Made in Coventry and there I am flying in the damned thing. Yeah. Oh, it was good. Yeah. That was my first sort of well that was my first war time flying shall I say. Oh yeah.
TO: And can you tell me about when you joined the Army?
PO: I, well I joined the Army. I originally joined the [pause] the county Infantry Regiment, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and when the, we’d just come back actually from annual camp when the war broke out and my battalion went to France. But I was at that time I’d just become a private. I had been a boy soldier up until my birthday, my seventeenth birthday. So at seventeen I became a private but I was still considered too young to go to France so I got put into another battalion and we were doing guarding vulnerable points and things all over the UK. And then that battalion I don’t know quite why but I then got transferred into the Royal Artillery and so I became a gunner and that was considered by the War Office as my parent regiment. God knows why because my parent regiment really was the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. But I, we guarded airfields and power stations and stuff like this. I had twelve guys. I mean I became an NCO in promotion sort of thing and I just had twelve or fourteen guys and a forty millimetre Bofors gun. I was part of the defence of various radar stations and stuff like that from the north of Scotland down to the south of Devon. And one day I saw a thing on Orders about the Army Air Corps and I think the real come on as far as I was concerned was there was flying pay on top of my meagre normal salary as it were as a, as a bombardier which is equal to a corporal. And so I applied to join the Army Air Corps. I went to London and did my aircrew medical and all the educational stuff and whatnot which I duly passed and found myself on Salisbury Plain as part of the Army Air Corps which it was then. My cap badge is an Army Air Corps cap badge. But I was in the glider pilot regiment and so that was the beginning of my sort of wartime flying shall I say such as it was. My wartime flying. I mean I went to EFTS of course and learned to fly powered aircraft first because they’re easier to fly than a glider which flies like a brick and then eventually I found myself in a squadron. We had, they were Horsas. The, you know the one everybody thinks was the wartime glider and then I found myself posted or attached to the 9th US Air Force on liaison work and I was flying, flying in Dakotas and whatnot all over the country one way and another. And then after Arnhem when we lost so many people I went back to squadron and I found myself flying Hamilcars which we had one squadron, C Squadron which was a heavy lift squadron and so I flew a Hamilcar glider. And then when the war finished we found ourselves at Fairford and we were converting on to the American Waco CG-4As to go to the Far East. Then lo and behold they dropped the atomic bomb and we all cheered and knew we were going to live as it were. But it was a very free and easy life in so many ways. Highly disciplined I can tell you but boy it was, it was good. Yeah. We were a happy lot, you know. The Army you know was just sort of an average sort of guy’s experience I suppose. I mean [laughs] and that’s how it went. I’m sorry. It’s not very interesting really is it you know? Yeah.
TO: And in the late 1930s did you hear about Hitler in the papers?
PO: Oh yeah. I I remember as a child hearing my father talking to somebody who said that they thought that war was inevitable. I know my father before the war he was in the ARP. He joined the ARP and he used to go once a week for training as it were and he became an ARP warden. But that’s the only, I mean it meant nothing to us as children you know. That was life I suppose like life out there today is you know. I mean the kids out there today you know they’re all nipping around with their I-pads and one thing and another and their thumbs are going like nobody’s business on their phones. It’s all, all strange to me but it’s their world and that was our world, you know. We were, we were very innocent really. I mean we relied entirely on really as much as anything on newspapers for information whether it was slanted one way and another by the government or political parties just that was it that was life. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And do you remember the Munich Agreement?
PO: Oh yes. I remember Chamberlain coming back and waving his bit, piece of paper about saying, ‘Peace in our time.’ I mean in 1938 there were I remember them digging trenches and covering them over and making, you know air raid shelters of sorts. I mean in my home town I remember them building a huge shadow factory for producing you know, well aircraft and bits you know sort of thing. It was everything was pointing towards war but I mean it sounds silly but that was just how it was. You know. We were very subservient I think looking back. We didn’t question as the young people today would question the authorities shall I say. Oh yeah. Yeah. As I say to me it’s just how it went.
TO: And what do you think of Chamberlain?
PO: Well really, I looking back I think in some ways he was weak but you know I suppose he did, with the aid of the civil servants who really run this country he did the best he could do to try and placate Hitler and you know keep a peaceful world as it were because the alternative was pretty grim as it turned out. Yeah. He did his best and failed I suppose in some. Well, no. Perhaps he didn’t fail. I don’t know. I really have no great opinion of him one way or another. You know, as I say I just roll over and accept it.[laughs]
TO: And what do you think of Churchill?
PO: The right man at the right time. He could have been full of bluster and everything else but he he came on to the scene. I mean when you look at Churchill’s background I mean gosh there’s a man who changed sides so often one way and another. He was very astute in that respect but as a wartime leader I think he appealed to the populace, the general populace and you know he really sort of put a bit of fire into the belly of the nation and said you know this is it. We’re going to beat these guys and we all fell in line behind him and did what we did. Oh yeah. He was okay. I just wish he hadn’t have put his name forward and got beaten at an election. He should have left when he was at the top of the heap sort of thing. But yeah, I mean some of the things that have come out since I don’t know. They don’t do him any service I think but he was, he was a man of the time without doubt. Oh yeah.
TO: And can you remember the day the war started?
PO: Oh yes. I was blancoing my equipment at the time and polishing my brasses [laughs] yes. I remember that. The sort of, it was I think it was 11 o’clock in the morning on a, I think it was a Sunday morning. I think it was a Sunday morning and yeah I was actually blancoing my equipment. So yeah I remember that but again there was no great panic or anything. It was just, ‘Right. This is it.’ You know, sort of thing. Because we honestly thought when we came back from camp that you know war was inevitable. That all the, all the signs were there you know. You didn’t have to read the runes to a great degree to realise that you know we were going to fight these guys who wouldn’t behave themselves so to speak. Yeah. Oh yes. I remember that Sunday well and truly. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And were you in the Army already when the Munich Agreement —
PO: Yes.
TO: Happened?
PO: Yeah. The Munich Agreement.
TO: Yeah. When the Munich Agreement was signed were you already in the Army then?
PO: I joined the Army in October 1938. Now, when the Munich Agreement was signed I don’t know.
TO: Around about that time I think.
PO: Yeah. It was. It must have been fairly close. A month either way. September or November so to speak. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yes. But you know it [pause] we just obeyed the rules. I mean I lived in a regimented sort of environment and did as I was told and kept my nose clean. Or did my best to keep my nose clean. Yeah.
TO: And do you remember was the Army making preparations for war when you joined?
PO: Our training basically was for the First World War. Okay, I mean when I think about it they said aircraft would be doing reconnaissance flights and attacking us and things like this and that we were to sort of budge together as if we were shrubbery sort of thing. But what a load of rubbish, you know [laughs] The thing to do as if you were being attacked from the air is to scatter. You stand more chance of living instead of being in one lump as it were. Oh yeah. I mean digging trenches and stuff like that okay they have their place. And scrapes and fox holes and stuff like this you know became the thing but you know looking back we were being taught to fight the last, the First World War and, you know it didn’t work out. I mean when you think of the speed of the Blitzkrieg across France I mean, and Dunkirk I mean we really got our backsides kicked. Well and truly. We weren’t, we weren’t really ready for war I don’t think. I mean okay everybody knew it was coming but nobody sort of we’re not I don’t think as a nation we’re aggressive in that sort of way or we get that worked up about things. I think we, we tend to sort of be very resilient to how things are and just accept them. I could be wrong of course. Well and truly wrong. I so often am.
TO: And did you do any training with tanks?
PO: No. Oh no. Good gracious me. No. We, in my battalion we had two Bren gun carriers. That was our armour. Yeah. That was it. I mean we were chuffed to billy-o when we got two, two Bren carriers. Things with tracks on you know. Oh yeah. This was the latest thing. But yeah, pathetic when you think about it. No. No. Tanks were, well of course the cavalry regiments turned over to tanks and became the Royal Tank Corps or the Armoured Corps but we didn’t see any signs of them. Oh no. Very sort of us and them in a way I suppose. Yeah. There was no sort of cooperation in any. We were in it and they were that and never the twain shall meet sort of thing. No. Looking back I mean what a different world we live in today militarily. Yeah. No. No. Funny old life. As I say it was good. I mean it suited me and you know I was happy and I had an easy war really and here I am an old man.
TO: And did you do, did the Army do any training with aircraft at all?
PO: No. No. None whatsoever. Not prewar. No way. Oh gosh no. Whether the budget wouldn’t allow it or what I don’t know. It was as I say the thinking of the War Office as it would be I suppose and the politicians didn’t sort of, I don’t know. I mean you know you’ve got to remember I was a teenager and as such you know I was malleable and obedient and did what I was told and didn’t do an awful lot of thinking I suppose. We were living day to day and you know today is the important day and tomorrow will look after itself sort of thing. Oh yeah. No.
TO: And what was the process for you joining the Army when you were sixteen?
PO: I saw an advert and I thought hey that’s great. And that was it. Yeah. That just fired me. I thought that sounds good. So, you know as simple simple as that. I remember I had a piece of paper that on it said that the Army won’t make you rich in monetary terms but in terms of friendships and whatnot you’ll be one of the richest people going. And it’s true. It’s true. The Forces, the pay is, it’s different today but in my day I mean I started out on what was it? Eight shillings a week I think it was, you know. But the friendships I’ve got I mean as I say when the turn out that I got on my hundredth birthday from the Army Air Corps really makes you realise that you know you belong to a big family. Yeah. Oh yes.
TO: And did the Army know you were under sixteen?
PO: Oh yes. I had to get permission from my parents to, to join at sixteen. I couldn’t just walk in and say to a recruiting office and say I wanted to join. I had to go home with a piece of paper to get my parent’s permission to join at sixteen as a boy soldier. Yeah. Oh yes. My, my mum I don’t think it was, in retrospect I don’t think she was very happy about it but my father eventually signed my papers for me. So you know but it, I as I say I couldn’t just walk in to a recruiting office and say, ‘I want to join.’ And they say, ‘Right. Welcome. Here’s a shilling. You’re now a member of the Armed Forces.’ Sort of thing. Oh no.
TO: And were you the youngest soldier who was there when you joined?
PO: I would say I was. Yeah. Yeah. I was. I don’t remember any other boy soldiers. I mean I just got thrown into C-Company and was, that was it. I became a runner. In other words, I became a guy who sort of was at the beck and call of the headquarters office sort of thing. Take this message here. Take that message there. Do this. Do that. That was my life originally until such time as when the war broke out of course things changed then. Suddenly as I say I was by then I was a private anyhow. I mean I went on to fourteen shillings a week then. But my life as a boy soldier was very much I mean there was no I wasn’t allowed into the licensed bar shall I say. When we were in camp for example down in Arundel just before the war there was what then knew as a dry canteen and a wet canteen. The wet canteen they sold beer and spirits and stuff. I wasn’t allowed in there. I could drink tea and cocoa or coffee but I couldn’t drink ale as it were. I couldn’t gamble whereas all the others were gambling like billy-o on housey housey and what’s known as bingo today and or poker and all these games they were playing for money. Oh no. But then I hadn’t got any money so [laughs]
TO: How did the other soldiers treat you with you being younger?
PO: Just, just the same as anybody else. Just the same. They obviously in retrospect I mean I’ve written about it but in retrospect I mean when we went to camp for example there were I don’t know how many of us in, in a bell tent. You know a pointed tent with a pole in the middle and you slept with your feet to the pole and there were panels in the making of the bell tent and you got a panel and a half or two panels if you were lucky depending how many were in the tent. But the old soldiers of course got furthest away from the, from the opening of the tent but muggins here [laughs] where was his bedspace? Right where the opening was. So anybody coming in at night or a lot would put their feet on me or if it rained I was the one who was going to get wet sort of thing. But I don’t know. They just treated me as, maybe they treated me [pause] I don’t know. I mean, they were a rough tough old lot. They weren’t, they weren’t sort of how can I put it, parental in any way shape or form or [pause] I don’t think they made any sort of difference to them. I was just another squaddie. Yeah. Yeah. I mean you know I used to get into all sorts of mischief one way and another and they’d say, ‘Oh it’s PO.’ Because my initials were PO and they’d say, ‘It’s young PO’s done that.’ And I, you know I’d get away with murder at times obviously doing daft things but the guys in the platoon just treated me as one of themselves. Oh yeah. Oh, it’s [laughs] it was a happy life as far as I was concerned.
TO: And how did the officers treat you?
PO: Cor that’s a good question. [pause] Well, the officers in the battalion I suppose would treat me just as a private soldier. No demarcation. ‘Oh, he’s young so we’ll make allowances for him.’ There was none of that. But after, when the war was on I mean our officers were mainly people who had been in the Territorial Army or came in from and were created officers for all their Army experience was zilch. And then I mean on one occasion I went to sleep on guard. I should have gone on guard and I said to the, it’s so casual they gave me the rifle because we had one rifle and five rounds of ammunition and nothing else sort of thing. And the guy who came off guard came to me, woke me upon and said, ‘Right. Your turn now.’ So I said, ‘Okay. Put it down there and I’ll get up.’ And I went to sleep and it was 6 o’clock in the morning when I woke up and said, and we were, the whole unit were moving that day and the officers discussed whether they could put me on a charge and they said they couldn’t put me on a charge because it was a Sunday. And you know I knew more about the Army than they did. That they were fielding. I suppose these so-called officers would be grammar school guys and not even university guys. Just guys who had done well at school or got the right connections and they became officers. No. I really had little to do with officers. No. Not until much later on. Then I was instructing officers then. Sandhurst guys and one thing and another. Oh yeah.
TO: And can you tell me about when you first starting working on gliders?
PO: Yeah. I went to a place called Stoke Orchard where there were Hotspur gliders. Now they carried nine guys but they were never used operationally. They were considered a waste of time I suppose and I [pause] our instructors were RAF pilots. Presumably either they’d done a tour of operations and were resting or, but I mean my instructor was a Sergeant McCain. I remember him. He was mad. And we were being towed by, off the ground by a Miles Master aircraft and I don’t know how long it was before I soloed on the gliders. But one day I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t grab it one day and I picked my parachute up because we all wore parachutes when we were flying the Hotspur and I picked my parachute up and got up, left and went and laid down on the grass and told them I wasn’t doing any more. I’d had enough. And I really blotted my copy book there but nothing was ever said. The following day I went back to McCain and we got on with the job as it were. But it that was my first experience of when you come off tow there’s no sound of course and it’s a bit like the Hotspur had got a wingspan big enough that you could use thermals and stuff like this. So it was a bit like being a bird. It was quite something. So that was my introduction and when I left GTS then went to Horsas which were far bigger and being towed off the ground by Dakotas and I mean the Hamilcar of course could only be towed off the ground by a four engine bomber. Halifaxes of 38 Group. They were our towing squadron. But you know the hardest work I suppose of flying a military glider is making certain that you’re in the right position in respect of the towing aircraft because you could get the towing aircraft if you went too high on tow you’d pull the nose of the towing aircraft down you know. And if you went too low you’d stall the, unless they chopped the connection of course. But yeah, it was, well it was just different I suppose. It was, it was just flying and, you know we were doing circuits and bumps day in and day out during the night night flying and stuff like this. Night flying was good because you got a night flying supper which amounted to bacon and eggs and that was great. I’ll tell you there’s a profit in everything if you look for it. Yeah. But yeah. Flying as I say the minute you came off tow there’s only one thing and it’s down. And I mean we never flew a Hamilcar without nine thousand pounds of ballast in it you know because the wingspan was so great that you’d just float and float and float, you know with that. But the Hotspur was as I say was very malleable. The Horsa you could do, put the big flaps down and do dive approaches and things like that but the, the Hamilcar was I mean it was bigger than the towing aircraft so you know they were, they were big. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a picture of a Hamilcar. I’m sure you must have done. But yeah. Yeah. Now, if you’ve got a tank underneath you you know you weigh quite something. I know that we were overloaded on the Rhine crossing that’s for sure. On the Rhine crossing of course like so many others we got we lost all our flying controls as we were being hit by anti-aircraft fire. That was interesting but all that we were left with was the tail trimmer and we were lucky actually because we’d just come off tow and got into sort of our optimum gliding speed and then we lost a great chunk of wing and all our flying controls got severed with the exception of the tail trimmer. So we were already at the right attitude but direction you know we had no control over which way we were going and we were going the wrong way. We weren’t going towards friendly territory. We were going into the enemy territory [laughs] big time but we could do nothing about it. But there you go. When we hit the ground eventually it was, it went to stand on its nose and I got thrown through the Perspex canopy. And I remember I got out, I picked myself up, shouted for a Bren gun which I’d, was my weapon of choice. And one of the gunners I’d got a seventeen pounder gun and truck in the glider and I remember the guy saying, ‘The sergeant’s trapped.’ And I said, ‘Never mind the sergeant being trapped throw me down my Bren gun.’ And I found myself sitting under a dyke with some angry people one side the dyke and me the other trying to eat a Mars bar. [laughs] I mean it’s crazy isn’t it? Talk about adrenaline flowing you know. I just sat there eating a Mars bar. We were getting mortared of course. Oh yeah. It was, I spent the rest of that day running away. How’s that for a big bad soldier [laughs] running away. No. Where was I? It was, it was a good life you know. I was happy in the Army. Yeah.
TO: And what else do you remember about the Rhine crossing?
PO: Well, the first thing I recall we were third in the, in the stream, in the Hamilcar stream and the glider on my port side carried a tank. And to load the tank they would back it in to and shackle it down. And I remember seeing the back end of the glider break open and the tank come out backwards with the guys, the crew a couple or three other crew sitting on the outside of the tank falling off and the tank turning over and going and crashing to the ground or into the Rhine. I don’t know where it went. It made a bloody big hole wherever it went because it was, it was at three thousand feet so you know a tank at three thousand feet wouldn’t bounce. That would really make a good hole when it hit the floor. So that was my first memory of it. Then the smoke which was being generated on the west bank to cover the invasion by, or the incursion by troops on the ground obscured an awful lot of what we were trying to look for to get ourselves, make certain we were landing in the right place and as I say then getting hit. And getting hit was that was funny because I remember looking at the port wing and thinking ‘My God that’s a bloody big hole’ because we lost a great chunk of port wing. We really did. How we kept flying God only knows but you know, we did. As I say we lost all our controls and got hit again well and truly and that was it and then as I say we had no choice in our direction. That was being dictated by where the controls were set and the whims of the wind or what have we. I don’t know. Yeah. I’m sorry but it’s so, you know in retrospect I look back and think how lucky I was but you know I can’t say at the time there was I suppose the adrenalin is flying like the clappers you know. Let’s face it. You know, you don’t think you’re going to die. No way did you think that you were going to die. You just thought, ‘Hell’s bells, that shouldn’t have happened,’ sort of thing. That was it. I’m sorry to disappoint you but you know that was how life went.
TO: And were you badly hurt when the plane landed?
PO: No. Not at all. Not at all. No. No. As I say I got flung. As the aircraft, as the glider tipped up it threw, the cockpit as you know is on the top and it flipped up on to its nose. I thought it was going to turn over and that happened more than once with others where they and the pilots just got crushed. You know, because the load would be on top of them. But it flipped up and I went through the Perspex canopy onto the ground as I say. Then I must have shaken myself and shouted for a Bren gun and then went and scurried very quickly on to the shelter of this dyke and got my Mars bar out [laughs] I’d have given pounds for a drink of water at that stage I can tell you. Oh dear. But oh. I don’t know that I can tell you any more about how I felt you know. I mean I don’t know about your bomber guys but I mean they they thundered on for hours and hours and hours the, on an operation. The real exciting bit if you can call it exciting is when you get there and that lasts what two minutes maybe you know sort of thing maximum you know off tow and you’re going down you know. Oh yeah.
TO: When you were in the cockpit —
PO: Yeah.
TO: When you were coming in to land were you wearing a helmet?
PO: Do you know I don’t know if I’d got a steel helmet on or not. I know I very very quickly put my red beret on. That, that [laughs] sounds daft doesn’t it? But yeah. Yeah. I must have done. I must have done. If I hadn’t had, if I hadn’t had a steel helmet on I’d have really hurt my head. Yeah. So I must have done. Yeah. I’m fairly certain I did thinking about it. But as I say I quickly discarded it and put my red beret on and there I was a big bad airborne soldier so be careful because you’re dealing with the crème de la crème of the British Army so to speak. Yeah.
TO: Did German soldiers attack your glider?
PO: Oh yeah. They mortared it. They obviously they could see the tail of the aircraft sticking up like a signpost so they knew and they’d see it come down. I mean without a doubt they’d know. I mean it’s big enough to see it isn’t it if it’s a little thing and we were getting mortared straightaway. I mean the earth was jumping up and down all around the place like nobody’s business. Of course, we left. We moved from there and joined up with some Irish guys and some of the Ox and Bucks thing and we decided they weren’t the best people to go with. Beauman and I the other pilot in the glider. It was a question of somebody an officer say sergeant so and so sergeant so and so is dead sir. Sergeant so and so. Corporal so and so. Corporal so and so is dead sir. We thought we don’t want to be with this lot. This sounds a bit iffy. So we left them and ran ran away somewhere else and joined up with some others and then eventually we sort of fought our way back to where we should be as it were which was quite some distance actually. We were quite a way from the Hamilcar. Yeah. But oh no. I mean the, I remember the Americans coming in as we were I’ll call it retreating [laughs] and a glider landed twenty or thirty feet from where we were and not a soul got out. The Schmeissers just ripped the glider apart and not not one person got out. So that would be what? Twenty two guys just dead before they’d even had a chance to get out of the glider. I mean it was. It was quite hairy in the initial stages. Then we obviously had total control of the area and that was it. Yeah. Just hid in German foxholes and stuff like that.
TO: Had the Germans installed anti glider obstacles?
PO: I can’t say I saw any. I can’t say. Well, you see we we landed in the wrong place. We landed where we shouldn’t have been so to speak. We, our, the aircraft I was in lost total directional control so we went probably I don’t know probably way past where we should have been as I say. We were out on a limb you know. So, so no, I can’t say I saw any, any anti-aircraft landing posts and stuff like that that they seeded the grounds within some areas because obviously I mean the first German I took prisoner he demanded to know where we’d been. He said to me in good English, ‘Where have you been?’ and I said, ‘What do you mean where have we been?’ He said, ‘They tell us English flying troops come and we hide in the woods and wait for you. You not come. Where have you been?’ [laughs] Yeah. So we weren’t unexpected. But no but that’s it as I said. Very sort of ordinary experience I suppose.
TO: And the I think you said there was a seventeen pounder gun in the Hamilcar.
PO: Yeah.
TO: Did they manage to get it out?
PO: God knows. I never [laughs] I don’t even know what happened to the gun crew. I really don’t. Presumably they’d get their sergeant out who was trapped. How he was trapped I haven’t a clue, you know. It’s, I don’t recall seeing any of the gun detachment that was there. You know, getting out. I mean how many of them would get injured God only knows. You know. Whether the quad truck that was the towing vehicle whether that set forward I mean it would have been chained down but you know when you hit the ground at a fair old rate of knots and you know, the shackles and stuff would probably get pulled out of the strong points anyhow. So, but I mean I never saw any signs of the, as I recall of the gunners or I mean certainly the seventeen pounder no that never as far as I know never came out. Never came out.
TO: And how long was it before you met up with other allied soldiers?
PO: I suppose it would be maybe twenty minutes. Something like that. I mean we were skulking along and trying to keep out of the way of these angry people. I mean two guys [laughs] Two guys and a Bren gun and a rifle I wasn’t going to take on the Wehrmacht.
TO: So was it only mortars landing it at you or soldiers shooting at you as well?
PO: Yes. It was my memory is of mortars. Yeah. Being mortared. Yeah. Yeah. And certainly there was certainly plenty of that. Yeah. And as I say it wasn’t until we got with some other troops that we as I say the guys in the American glider they just got, I mean we were sort of trying to keep out of the way and these guys with their Schmeissers and MG 42s boy they really ripped into these Americans. I mean they were landing all over the place. But the one that really did I remember vividly is this thing came skidding to a halt. Made a beautiful landing he made but nobody got out. Nobody got out. They all got killed before they got out. Yeah.
TO: How far away from you was that glider when it came in to land?
PO: Twenty feet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s all. I mean we were shouting. We shouted at them daft as it sounds, ‘Get out. Get out.’ But it was too late. The Germans were there just the other side of where these Americans were landing. Again obviously in the wrong place really and yeah they just got killed. Yeah. Oh yeah. And my I suppose my other memory is the first night I went to find some tea. Find something to drink and I found a field hospital sort of. Not a posh place by any means. It was just a house that had been taken over as a field hospital and I was outside and a surgeon came out. He was covered in, in blood and one thing and another and there were all these dead guys lying lined up outside and he said to me, ‘Have you ever seen [pause] have you ever seen a man’s brains, sergeant?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And he said, and he lifted the helmet of one soldier and his whole of his cranium was in the helmet and in the bowl of his head was his brains. Yeah. I mean it could have been it looked just like meat to me because I didn’t know the guy or anything you know. But it was there must have been thirty or forty bodies all laid out by this field hospital sort of thing. But yeah, funny old [pause] God. Yeah.
TO: And as a sergeant what were your responsibilities once you were on the ground?
PO: We were supposed, supposed to get to Hamminkeln where the headquarters was. That was our, I mean you know sort of the basically of course we were quite valuable in the time and money that had spent on training us as Special Forces in a way. That’s gilding the lily a bit but you know sort of thing. I mean at D-Day for example. Guys who landed on D-Day they were back in the UK within twelve hours. Glider pilots, you know. Arnhem of course was a very different ball game. They didn’t come back until well the battle was over basically. The guys from Arnhem because we were planned to go to the Far East you know. Oh yeah. So that’s it. I’m sorry. It’s so mundane really. There’s no great heroics or anything like that in it whatsoever. I was just doing a job that I was trained for and you know it was my memories are good. The only thing is all the guys I knew have all fallen off the log. I think I’m one of the last ones. I don’t know of any others at the moment I must admit. There must be the odd one somewhere or other.
TO: What was your unit’s objective for the Rhine crossing?
PO: Basically to get this seventeen pounder gun and whatnot in the, to the right place so they could take part in the battle order or whatever. And we failed miserably because we wrecked it. Yeah. Nothing more that. Nothing more than that. To get it there safely. I mean the hard work really was the tow, you know. It was a long tow and you know if you’re fighting the aircraft all the way. The glider all the way it just doesn’t, it just didn’t sail along on its own. You know, you’re working all the time to keep the thing in the right position and you know talking to the tug crew as it were. Yeah. I mean it’s like your bomber boys. I mean the minute they take off Lancasters haven’t got automatic pilots and stuff like that. They’re working all the time and their objective is to get to the target and get back. As for the bombing and all the rest of the navigation and whatnot that’s not their responsibility. The pilot’s job is to the get the aircraft there safely and get it back safely if they can. And that was, that was it. Yeah. No, there’s some very brave men and I can’t say I’m one of them [laughs] I just knew some very brave men. Believe you me.
TO: Do you remember anything about the briefing for the Rhine crossing?
PO: About the —?
TO: Briefing before you left.
PO: Yes. We were promised total aircover which didn’t appear. We had some air cover because I remember talking to the guys down below. They couldn’t see anything and I remember telling them what I could see. And I could see aircraft either getting shot up or parachuting down and I sort of gave them a bit of a running commentary of what was going on as it were. But other than that the flight was pretty uneventful you know sort of thing. You could see an awful lot of the ground. We were at three thousand feet. Just over three thousand feet and of course at three thousand feet you see an awful lot of the ground so I could tell them, you know, ‘We’re just wide of Calais at the moment.’ Because of course Calais was still in German hands so we sort of went around Calais and whatnot and then like I say I could see four Thunderbolt aircraft on our port side or whatever and sort of its whether whether they listened or not I don’t know.
TO: And did you talk much with the co-pilot?
PO: Oh, well I suppose we must have. Bert and I must have sort of talked to one another but I don’t recall it to be honest with you. I really don’t. We were just flying you know.
TO: And what did you say to the tug crew on the radio?
PO: Well, the thing I do remember is we thanked them for the tow. That was, that was about the size of it sort of. When we got to the other end I mean we probably had a couple of words with them during the tow you know sort of thing because there was a sort of a telephone wire inside the tow rope which was a damned big rope I can tell you [pause] But yeah. No, that’s about it I’m afraid.
TO: Looking back how do you feel about the airborne operation on the Rhine?
PO: Well, it was the biggest operation there was without doubt. I mean I’m glad I was there. As I say it was part of my education [laughs] as it were. No. I was just proud to be a member of a regiment that covered itself in a reasonable amount of glory and my real feeling I suppose is that I felt privileged to have known so many brave men and I really did do you know. And I mean as I say the friendships that resulted from being in I mean I know I knew more people after the war who were in the regiment than the Royal Artillery Regiment I was in or the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, you know. And now as I say the Army Air Corps have, you know taken over the modern Army Air Corps and they’re very shall I say friendly towards me sort of thing. Yeah. Oh yes.
TO: And when did you hear about Operation Market Garden?
PO: I was with the American 9th Troop Carrier Command at the time and my boss was one of the original parachutists that went to Bruneval and he was a sergeant at the time of Bruneval and his name was Luton. And I remember Luton saying to me he was, he was very upset about the losses at Arnhem. He knew there was a battle going on. We knew there was a battle going on but he was very upset because of course he was, they were mainly paras at Arnhem and you know he was sort of, as I say quite upset at the thought of all his mates fighting there and A he wasn’t there or B he was you know sort of feeling sorry for them losing their lives. I don’t know. But that’s my memory of Arnhem. As I say the minute Arnhem was over I found myself very quickly back into a fighting unit as opposed to living high off the hog in the, with the American Air Force. Oh yeah.
TO: And were you worried that the Rhine crossing would end like Arnhem?
PO: No. No. Oh no. No. No. We couldn’t lose. That was the attitude. We couldn’t lose. I don’t know if that’s the time that we were told two of us out of three would probably die but you look at the other two guys either side of you and think oh I’m sorry for you. But no. I don’t recall it. No. I think the briefing probably took an hour. Maybe a bit more than an hour and of course we talked to the tug crews you know and that sort of thing but [pause] funny old life.
TO: And do you think the Rhine crossing could have gone any better or do you think it was that was just how it would have gone regardless?
PO: I, the first thing that happens to any battle plan is it‘s going to go wrong. Now I can’t say that it went really wrong. It went wrong as far as I personally was concerned because of what happened but I think in the main it was to a large degree I think an awful lot of the Germans knew the writing was on the wall. I think, you know they could see that the amount of, of forces against them were totally overwhelming and where we’d got everything I think they’d got very very little. I think it was, yeah. I think you’d put it down as a success. I don’t think the losses were anything as great as they thought they were going to be. I mean I don’t honestly know what the percentage of losses was but yeah I think it was, you know a success. Especially after, after Arnhem. I mean that really was carnage that. Yeah. The battle for the bridge was well it was hopeless wasn’t it?
TO: And what did you think of the airborne generals like Gale or Urquhart?
PO: I actually saw Urquhart at one of the big, as I saw Eisenhower at one of the big demonstrations or practice jumps and stuff like that when I was with the 9th Air Force and they came across as being very very competent guys. I mean Windy Gale and, you know [pause] I think that this sounds silly in a way but I think we had the best officers that you could possibly have. They were. They were really all, they weren’t that gung-ho that they’d walk into the Valley of Death willingly. But they’d make bloody certain that if they had to walk into the Valley of Death you got the impression that they were going to take an awful lot of people with them. Yeah. I mean Gale yeah. Yes. Our leadership was good. Our leadership was. I think we had the crème de la crème of officers without a shadow of a doubt. Very very strict but very human and skilled in what they were doing. They really were. I mean a lot of them of course never went to Sandhurst or anything like that. They were wartime people but boy they were the right guys in the right place. Yeah. I mean when you think when I joined the glider pilot regiment in my intake there were a hundred and thirty of us got through the selection. I mean we lost a hell of a lot in the selection in London on academic or physical capabilities you know and then as I say a hundred successful candidates from that. From the aircrew medical and all the rest of it thirty of us finished up and out of the thirty of us I think probably eighteen, twenty of us actually went flying you know. They couldn’t hack the basic training. You know I mean all that you’d got to do if you didn’t, if you couldn’t do it you could just say, ‘I’m leaving.’ And they’d give you a railway warrant back to your parent regiment. There was you know if you can’t do it we don’t want you. And they made it very very obvious. I mean you’d just got to be very very determined to stay in the regiment and and meet their qualification requirements as it were. So yeah. I mean it was, it was a regiment full of course of people from all regiments in the British Army. I mean I’ve made great friends with a guy who had been a schoolteacher but he was Armoured Corps driver operator and when we were doing exams he’d sit next to me and I’d help him with, with my answers and he’d help me with his answers. So we got through that way sort of thing. But it’s I mean some guys as I say got flying and just couldn’t fly. I mean it sounds silly but they just hadn’t got the aptitude. Others managed to kill themselves. You know, it’s [pause] No, it was a super super regiment. A super regiment. Of course, it got disbanded after the war. No, no requirement. Yeah. So that’s it. I’m sorry but you know it‘s probably not what you wanted but that’s what you’ve got.
TO: This is amazing. Thank you for telling me.
PO: Pardon?
TO: This is amazing. Thank you for telling me.
PO: Oh, I don’t know about that. It’s just that it was just how life was I’m afraid. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And what did you think of General Montgomery?
PO: Never had anything to do with him. Again, I think when he went to the 8th Army after Auchinleck and those failed miserably in the desert that he was again the right man at the right time. He was, he’d got sufficient common sense that he could despite what he might feel internally he appealed as one of them to the troops under his command and sort of said, ‘Right. This is it. This is what we’re going to do.’ And do it. And I mean good God with the desert Army. I mean they’d been battered by losing Tobruk and even, I mean good God Rommel even got into Egypt and along comes this guy with his old peculiar ways and attitudes and one thing and another but as far as the troops were concerned this guy knows what he’s doing and we’re going to you know we can do this and we’re all together you know. He’s with us and we’re with him. So his PR was extremely good. But I mean I never met the man or he never impinged as far as I know on my, my military life as it were. Oh no. No.
TO: And did you have any popular songs in the Army?
PO: Oh gosh. Yeah. Before the war we used to march and sing songs. One was about a boxing match. “Have you heard of the big strong man who lives in a caravan?” I mean crazy words but not, not popular songs. Not not popular. Very, very much sort of Army songs and of course an awful lot before the war. Of course an awful lot of the soldiers were, had been up on the North-West Frontier you know. In Afghanistan and places like this so they were all hardened. Quite a lot of the real hardened tough thick soul guys you know. What is said in the book was absolute and you didn’t query anything and they were just tough guys. I mean when I think about it at sixteen I got thrown in with guys old enough to be my father and life just, that was I just accepted it you know. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end but I mean I look at some of the young people today at sixteen and good God it would kill him. Whereas with me it just that was my life. Oh yeah.
TO: Did you have any favourite wartime entertainers?
PO: Wartime?
TO: Entertainers.
PO: I only ever once saw an ENSA concert. My biggest regret is that I was at the time at Exeter and Glenn Miller came and I didn’t go. I wish to God I’d gone because he was at, he came to Exeter with the US Air Force Band. Yeah. But other than that I saw one ENSA. No, I did see an American entertainment once. Yeah. So I saw one ENSA concert and one American one but my biggest regret is I should have gone, why I don’t know but Glenn Miller. Yeah. But there you go. What’s past is past. You can’t alter the past.
TO: So what happened after you’d met up with Allied troops at the Rhine? Did you start advancing with them?
PO: No. We got we were, the glider pilots got taken out of the line. We went back to a transit camp and two days or three days later we were flown back from [unclear] to in actual fact we went back to Brize Norton. We landed at Brize Norton and then from there we dissipated to our various squadrons. So, oh no. We didn’t. We didn’t do an awful lot of fighting believe you me. As I say I did more running away than fighting.
TO: Did you ever actually use the Bren gun in combat?
PO: Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A bit. Yeah, it was. I mean on one occasion we were with a group of about eight or nine troops. What regiment they were I haven’t got a clue but they were there were two young officers with them. I remember that and we were there in this wood and lo and behold about forty Germans went across and these guys stood up, put their binoculars up to their, and said, one said to the other, ‘Jeremy, there are some Jerries over here.’ And I thought you don’t need [laughs] I’m on the floor I can tell you keeping my head down. I could see them. Didn’t need to stand up with binoculars to look at these Germans but we we let them go. You know it was over. We knew it was over. You know. No point in killing them. We’d done our fighting. As I say we were on our way back to the transit camp to be flown home. Yeah. So as I say I had a very easy war. I really did.
TO: Was the Bren gun a good weapon?
PO: Yes. I was happy with it for all it [pause] I mean when we were running away around my waist I had got a lanyard and the barrel catch would occasionally catch on to this and the guts of the Bren gun would fall out and I’d have to stop. Now, I was in a, there were about I don’t know about fifteen or twenty of us sort of sneaking away and I’d stop and put the Bren gun together again very quickly. But every time I stopped somebody would pass me and I think I nearly finished up at the tail end of this little, little group who were running away. Yeah. Talk about, but it was, it was a good weapon. It was a good weapon. Very slow rate of fire when you consider that like the Germans I mean their weapons, automatic weapons were, were like sewing machines you know. Zzzz zzzz zzzzz where as ours went bang bang bang sort of thing. Yeah. Oh yes. Very. I mean, I forget what the rate of fire of a Bren is at the moment. Something like a hundred and twenty a minute or something. But yeah, it‘s, it was a good, a good weapon. It lasted throughout well. Lasted well throughout the war and beyond. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And can you tell me about the training you did in gliders? Like when you were practicing landings.
PO: Well, yeah. I mean the skill in flying basically is landing. Taking off is pretty straightforward and easy really as long as you obeyed the rules. Landing is, is always the problem but you know the more you do I mean we would do maybe with a Hamilcar for example we would do if we were flying we’d probably fly for ten minutes on a circuit and then land and roll to a stop. The tug wagon would come out and pull us back to the start and we would, and we just did circuits and landings. I mean the clever bit is landing it in one piece and well that was it, that was it you know. I mean landing a Tiger Moth is far harder. I found far harder because you basically do a three point landing you know. You’re virtually at a stall whereas with the glider you flew in at whatever the airspeed was and plonked it on the floor and it was a very, very forgiving aircraft really. I mean okay you could have some hard landings but in the main you know you just fly them straight on to the floor.
TO: When you were heading towards the landing site —
PO: Yeah.
TO: Did you have to be on the look out for things like tall trees or power lines?
PO: On transit no because we were flying above any possible obstructions. Our landing sites were usually I mean operationally our landing sites were fairly open land. I don’t honestly recall being warned of any. The only obstructions I think we were ever talk about was sort of hedges or barbed wire fences type of thing. Other than that pylons and stuff where we were I don’t think anything like that existed to be honest with you. No. No. Oh no. If there were I don’t recall it I must admit. I can’t even recall seeing a pylon. Okay. You’d get the telephone wires and poles like that but you know they were on, on the road as it were as opposed to being in the fields. Yeah. I mean there were some big fields in Germany believe you me.
TO: And was it a field you landed in in Germany then?
PO: Well, it was we actually landed in a very small field I can tell you [laughs] yeah. It was without doubt we were running out of space big time but once it dug into the ground you know as I say we had no control so once we hit the ground the ground was very soft and we pulled up a bit smartly and as I say then it stood on its nose. Yeah. Yeah. But [pause] yeah.
TO: And before the Hamilcar crash landed in Germany did you, were you telling the, everybody on board to brace for impact or —
PO: No. I didn’t. I doubt, once we were hit I think we were a bit too busy to talk to anybody down below. I mean we were already in in free flight when we were hit so we were you know looking for where we ought to be and then we were hit and it was just a question of fighting the aircraft. I mean when you think the tail trimmer was only about that size on a Hamilcar. That’s the only control we’d got and that only altered attitude. Directional. We were just sitting tight and you know our buttocks were very tight together [laughs] and hold on. We’re going to hit the ground boys. What they thought down below I haven’t got a clue. In fact, I don’t honestly know whether the actual fuselage where the load was I don’t even know if that was ever hit with ack ack fire or small arms fire or anything. I really don’t. I just know that we lost this great big chunk of port wing and then all our controls. We got hit in the fuselage and all our controls went out the window. And that was it.
TO: And do you know which, what kind of guns were shooting at you?
PO: Just about everything. I mean when we got on the ground there was an immediate resupply by a Liberator aircraft and they came over at about two hundred and fifty feet. That was all. With their bomb doors wide open dropping all the resupply kit and near us there was, must have been an anti-aircraft battery. They were good. They shot down about four of these Liberators just like that. Bang bang bang you know. Lots of noise and whatnot but whether they were eighty eights or forty mil or thirty mil Oerlikons or what I haven’t got a clue. But lots, there was lots of ack ack fire believe you me. Oh yes. I mean, you know what a lovely target. A great big glider flying along slowly. I mean if you can’t hit that you shouldn’t be in the shooting game. Oh dear.
TO: And did the, you, did you or any of your men manage to pick up any of those resupplies?
PO: I didn’t personally. No. No. In fact, I lost quite a bit of kit. I mean I came out of that with my Bren gun and one magazine. That was all I’d got. A Bren gun and a magazine and that was all I came away from that aircraft and as I say as for the gunners I don’t know what they did. I mean whether they, whether they got mortared and you know were sort of damaged or what I don’t know. I really don’t know. I should have. Not that I say I should. I know an armoured regiment spoke to me about this tank falling out of the glider but as for the seventeen pounder guys I don’t know what happened to those gunners. I really don’t know. Yeah.
TO: So did you only have one clip of ammunition when you took the gun away.
PO: Yeah, I just I just had one. One magazine in the Bren gun and believe you me if the rabbit had have popped it’s head up near me it would have got the lot I can tell you [laughs] yeah.
TO: So did you use the ammunition at all or did you not?
PO: I used some of it. Not all of it because you know targets don’t stand still sort of thing. You know what I mean. I mean it’s so easy. You see some of these things on television these days where they’re letting off their AK47s and they seem to rattle it out and its cost is no no consequence to them. They’re not bothered. No. There was no resupply as far as I was concerned at the time. Oh no. I mean we went to clear a wood and as I say it’s [pause] I don’t know.
TO: So did you join up with a group of other soldiers and eventually met up with other allied soldiers?
PO: Yes. Eventually yeah. We, yeah we, we met. Now, again I don’t know if they were Irish Fusiliers or whether they were Ox and Bucks. I know that we were, we were told or asked to go and clear a path to a wood across these open fields and all the way across. Beauman and I joined these guys and I I think they must have been Irish guys because all the way across these other guys were saying, you know, the effing Ox and Bucks. We’ve got two effing glider pilots here but none of the effing Ox and Bucks want to come with us so to speak. But we hared across these fields and got to the wood as luckily there was nothing in the wood which was just as well. But all, and I just remember going across a barbed wire fence and dashing across this field in the open and I thought this is a bit dicey but, you know. Oh yeah. All part of life’s gay pattern.
TO: Did you feel relieved though when you met up with the allies who’d crossed the Rhine?
PO: I must have done. Must have done. Yeah. The first troops I think I met that I can recall were a Canadian armoured regiment and they, they were quite happy. And then we met some troops that had come over the Rhine and they couldn’t believe that we’d left the UK only the day before and that we’d be back in the UK within a week because they’d been there since D-Day. Yeah. I mean some guys had a really rough war. They really did. I mean you know gosh just as well I didn’t stay in an infantry regiment.
TO: Do you happen to hear, be familiar with the name Koppenhof Farm at all?
PO: No.
TO: Okay. Just asking because there was a soldier I interviewed ten years ago who had been in the Royal Ulster Rifles. He landed in the Rhine crossing.
PO: Yeah.
TO: In a place called Koppenhof Farm and because he well it must have been relatively close to Hamminkeln.
PO: Yeah.
TO: Because he said his commanding officer died when his glider, when their glider crashed near there but I just wondered if maybe you had been in a similar area but —
PO: Well, I might have been. I mean I know we crossed the railway line a couple of times to get where we wanted. Well we got back to Hamminkeln. That’s where we, I finished up. In Hamminkeln.
TO: Yeah.
PO: But of course on the railway station there there was two wrecked gliders. They’d landed right on the blooming railway line. Right on Hamminkeln itself.
TO: That was one of the gliders though that this man was talking about because he said his commanding officer was a chap called Major Vickery who was in one of the gliders that crashed into the railway station and he was killed.
PO: Ah well there you go. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I remember seeing that glider. Yeah. Equally I saw a Horsa fly in to a tree and just break up like a box of matches being thrown everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Exciting times at the time. Yeah.
TO: And did you happen to see any German civilians when you were there?
PO: Oh yes. Yeah. Actually, I met children rather than adults because one lad he was part of the Todt [?] Labour Association and he said that the Germans had lined them all up and more or less said, ‘What are you?’ And if you said German Jew they shot them. Terrible as it sounds this is what he said to me. But I remember we, I’d got some soap. Don’t ask where it came from. I really don’t know. I must have looted it out of somebody else’s stuff and I gave him this soap. Well, you’d think I’d given him a bar of gold. I mean he put it to his nose and of course the smell of Lux soap as it were. Yeah. I don’t know what happened to that kid. He stayed with us for quite a few hours and then disappeared. Whether he was being street wise or what I don’t know. No. I didn’t of course there was a non-fraternisation ban on so you weren’t supposed to talk to any German civilians but where we were there was only the odd farmhouse and stuff like that you know outside of Hamminkeln itself there was nothing. I mean I went to Goch to look at Goch. By jingo that was, that had been fought over a couple of times. That was a total wreck that town. But no. Yeah. So then we got on. I’m sorry, that’s, that’s me such as it is.
TO: Did you get to talk with any other German prisoners?
PO: No. No. I, I was sent to guard some prisoners. There must have been I don’t know a couple of hundred of them and all I’d got at the time was a fighting knife. That’s all I’d got. My fighting knife. And they were all standing there and sitting there and one thing and another and one of our officers came up or an officer came up. I don’t know if he was one of our officers and spoke to one of the German officers and this German officer spit at him. And I thought he’s going to kill him. I really did. But believe you me there I was with all these prisoners so called all very happy I think to be prisoners but just as well because if they’d have raised up and started to make any trouble I’d have, I’d have been off like a rocket I can tell you on my own with all these guys. Yeah. No. Yeah. That’s it. All little sort of vignettes of memory coming up here one way or the other.
TO: And what happened when you got back to Britain? What were your responsibilities then?
PO: Well, the first thing was when we got to Brize Norton the Customs and Excise people wanted to know what, what we’d brought back with us and of course we’d got nothing basically. We were just us. And then I went back to to Tarrant Rushton which was down near Bournemouth. It was, that’s where my squadron was based so I went back there in the hut. Got in the hut and I think there were only two of us left out of the hut who came back. So we lost, out of, out of the hut we must have lost I don’t know about ten guys I suppose. Yeah. Because we then sorted out all their kit. I remember sorting out their kit. Yeah. I had enough handkerchiefs to see me through the rest of my service career I think out of these guys kits. I wasn’t, wasn’t sending those home to their wives and daughters. Handkerchiefs. They were like gold. Yeah.
TO: And did your co-pilot come back with you?
PO: Yeah. Oh yes. Bert and I came. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yes. Yeah. And, and also Bert wasn’t in my, wasn’t in my hut funnily enough. Who was with me? Was it Geoff Higgins? There were two of us in our hut. That was all out of the ones that left only a week before sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah.
TO: And do you remember the day the war ended?
PO: Oh, very much so. I was at Fairford the actual day the war ended when, because we were converting then onto Wacos to go to the Far East. Being lectured about Bushido and all the rest of it. What a load of rubbish. How to behave if we were taken prisoner by the Japanese. Good God. The Japanese would have just killed us the way it seemed they were inclined to treat their prisoners. But yeah, that was it. We all cheered. We really did and then of course we started getting parties you know. The Australians would be going home so we’d have a party in the mess for them and then the Canadians were going home. You know. And these were RAF people not glider pilots. RAF people out of 38 Group towing. Halifax pilots and stuff like that, you know. Tow pilots. Yeah. Yes. Happy days that was. Yeah.
TO: Do you remember what you did to celebrate?
PO: Yes. Now, let me think. VE Day. VE Day what I’ve just been saying was VJ Day thinking about it. VE Day I was on leave. I was in London with my, my future wife. Yeah. We had a great day. That was a great day dancing like idiots around Trafalgar Square and one thing and another. That was really a super day that. But the whole world was you know celebrating. The fact that there was still fighting going on in the Far East didn’t mean anything. It was, you know the European war had finished. Great. We were going to have a great time and it was [pause] It was. Yeah. Yeah. Oh God. Yeah. Yeah. Then I got married and was married for seventy two years. That’s a long time.
TO: And what are your thoughts on how warfare has changed in the time since?
PO: Oh, it has totalled. I mean the first war if you like was in Northern Ireland and that was terrible. You know. You didn’t know who, who your enemy was. I mean, I was still in the Forces but I wasn’t involved in any way, shape or form in Northern Ireland. I’d have hated to go to Northern Ireland from what I’ve been told by Royal Marines as much as anything. But I mean the war in Afghanistan that was a waste of time and money in so many ways. If the Russians couldn’t do them I mean the Russians had a go at Afghanistan and failed miserably and the Americans and ourselves what have we achieved? Nothing. It’s as far as I’m concerned I might be very uneducated in that sort of respect but I I think that the shape of warfare is so different. I mean I got a letter from a lieutenant general the other day saying that his daughter was currently in the Royal Artillery but she was just flying drones. Now, I mean you know drones. Good God in my day something like a drone would have been [pause] just imagine a drone being over the battlefield in the Second World War. But here now of course young people are sitting in a hut in Lincolnshire flying drones out over the Far East. Warfare has changed just so much. In many ways its frightening. As long as we, these little wars I mean the war that’s taking place at the moment in, you know with Russia and with, what’s the [pause] come on what’s the name of the country? I’ve lost it.
TO: Ukraine.
PO: Ukraine. I mean we’re supplying them with weapons and what are we doing? I wouldn’t mind betting it’s just a proving ground for our latest technologies to see how well it works you know. As long as we keep away from the atomic business. That’s the frightener. That really is the frightener. I mean I remember after the war when I was at a conference and they said the Russians are only two hours flying time away and we were on about going nuclear after, after forty eight hours. We would have gone nuclear and stuff like this. That was frightening at the time. I mean since then, I’m now talking of 1950s and now, now things have got even worse. No. As long as Putin doesn’t go over the top because that could be, really could be terrible. Terrible. What do you think about it?
TO: I just think it’s probably the most as it were filmed, media televised war we’ve seen. It’s almost every action is being filmed on either a phone, a drone or a camera somewhere. It’s probably the first war where you’re almost watching it in real time if you like.
PO: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True. Very true. Yeah. I hadn’t thought of it quite like that. Yes. It’s so immediate isn’t it today? Yeah.
TO: Have you watched any of the things like the footage that’s been almost live from the front line?
PO: Oh yeah. I, I’ve seen what everybody else sees on on the box you know. Some of these war reporters I mean good God. Talk about putting themselves in to danger but of course it’s such a big country isn’t it? It’s huge. I mean it’s the size of France and Germany I understand. Well, France is a damned big country on its own let alone tack Germany on to it. And here you’ve got to so I don’t know. I mean I can’t see the Russians winning that war. The West won’t let them win it. But the ramifications of it affect everybody. I mean like these grain convoys and stuff like this and taking out power supplies for the civilians and terrible you know. It’s diplomacy failed totally. You know. We can’t talk to you so we’ll fight you. No good.
TO: I’m afraid I’m out of battery on my camera at the moment. Would you mind if we stop there?
PO: Yeah. [unclear] yeah.
TO: Thank you very much for speaking to us. It’s been wonderful.
PO: No, well, I as I say when I think when you, when you screen through that you’ll be very disappointed that my war was a totally different war to almost everybody else’s I think. It doesn’t, there was no great heroics in it. It was just the way it was. Yeah. Well great. Well, that’s very kind of you to be so generous with your comment and I wish you well with your project.
TO: Thank you. Thank you.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Peter Offord Davies. Part One
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Tom Ozel
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-11-05
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
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01:57:18 audio recording
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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ADaviesPO221105-AV
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
British Army
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Description
An account of the resource
Peter was born in Coventry. Although in the army, Peter was stationed on RAF airfields and joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in October 1938, aged 16, transferring to the Royal Artillery. He then joined the Army Air Corps (AAC) and was part of the Glider Pilot Regiment.
Peter first learnt to fly powered aircraft at Elementary Flying Training School and was then attached to the 9th United States Air Force. He flew in C-47s, then went back to C squadron, flying Hamilcars. When the war finished, Peter went to Fairford and converted onto Waco CG-4As to go to the Far East.
Peter discusses the time leading up to the Second World War, his views on Chamberlain and Churchill, and how prepared the country was for war. He describes his training and time as a boy soldier.
He trained at RAF Stoke Orchard on Hotspur gliders, towed off the ground by Master aircraft. When he left Glider Training School he went on Horsas, towed by C-47s. Hamilcars needed four-engined bombers: 38 Squadron Halifaxes. Peter describes flying these different gliders.
Peter recounts in some detail the Rhine crossing in which they were hit by anti aircraft fire and landed nose down before escaping to Hamminkeln and ultimately returning to RAF Brize Norton and then to his squadron at RAF Tarrant Rushton. He talks about his Bren gun.
Peter expresses his pride and the many friendships made. He also praises several generals for their roles in the war.
Peter discusses the VJ and VE Day celebrations and how warfare has since changed.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1938
1945-05-08
1945-08-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Oxfordshire
Germany
Rhine River
Germany--Hamminkeln
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Julie Williams
Carolyn Emery
38 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
C-47
Chamberlain, Neville (1869-1940)
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
crash
Halifax
Hamilcar
Horsa
military ethos
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Tarrant Rushton
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2177/38156/LKeenEDL1451093v1.2.pdf
2d702cd335f923bcae0a0621a181cb47
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Keen, Eric
Eric D L Keen
Description
An account of the resource
Ten items. Collection concerns Eric Keen (1451093) a Stirling flight engineer he flew bombing operations and then glider towing/paratrooper dropping all with 196 Squadron. Collection contains his log book, photographs a letter and memento 5 Franc note.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Steven White and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-05
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Keen, EDL
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Eric Keen's navigator's, air bomber's and air gunner's flying log book
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
British Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LKeenEDL1451093v1
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Description
An account of the resource
Navigator’s, air bomber’s and air gunner’s flying log book for E D Keen, flight engineer, covering the period from 30 July 1943 to 18 May 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Woolfox Lodge, RAF Witchford, RAF Leicester East, RAF Tarrant Rushton, RAF Keevil, RAF Tilstock, RAF Saltby, RAF Marston Moor and RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Aircraft flown in were Stirling, Anson, Blenheim, Audax, Dakota, Oxford, Halifax, Lancaster, Liberator and Master. He flew a total of 24 night operations with 196 Squadron. Targets were Boulogne, Montlucon, Modane, Mannheim, Hannover, Kattegat, Kassel, Bremen, others were special duty operations including Paratrooper drops, supply and container drops. His pilots on operations were Warrant Officer Holloway and Flight Sergeant Green.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-09-08
1943-09-09
1943-09-15
1943-09-16
1943-09-17
1943-09-19
1943-09-20
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
1943-09-25
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-10-02
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1944-02-11
1944-02-12
1944-03-11
1944-03-12
1944-06-05
1944-06-06
1944-06-12
1944-06-13
1944-07-03
1944-07-04
1944-07-12
1944-07-13
1944-07-23
1944-07-24
1944-07-28
1944-07-29
1944-08-02
1944-08-03
1944-08-04
1944-08-05
1944-08-09
1944-08-10
1944-08-17
1944-08-18
1944-08-24
1944-08-25
1944-08-27
1944-08-28
1945
1946
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea)
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Dorset
England--Leicestershire
England--Rutland
England--Shropshire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
France--Brest
France--Modane
France--Montluçon
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Mannheim
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
Mike Connock
1665 HCU
196 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
B-24
Blenheim
bomb struck
bombing
C-47
flight engineer
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
mine laying
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Oxford
RAF Keevil
RAF Leicester East
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Saltby
RAF Tarrant Rushton
RAF Tilstock
RAF Witchford
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1998/37982/LOatesJ1489926v1.1.pdf
321aeaf262cdc26bb0df677b6ec85f99
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oates, James
J Oates
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-12-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Oates, J
Description
An account of the resource
91 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer James Oates (1489926 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and photographs. He flew paratrooper drops and glider towing operations as a navigator with 196 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Gina E Welsh and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
J Oates’ observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book for J Oates, navigator, covering the period from 11 February 1943 to 19 June 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Millom, RAF Chipping Warden, RAF Stradishall, RAF Witchford, RAF Leicester East, RAF Tarrant Rushton, RAF Keevil, RAF Weathersfield, RAF Sleap, RAF Tilstock and RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Aircraft flown in were Tiger Moth, Anson, Wellington, Stirling, Oxford, Harrow, Whitley and Halifax. He flew a total of 24 operations with 196 squadron. The operations were paratrooper drops and glider towing including operation Tonga and Mallard on D-Day and operation Market Garden. All other operations were detailed as briefed. His pilots on operations were Flight Sergeant Lyons and Warrant Officer Oliver.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Great Britain
Netherlands
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Cumbria
England--Dorset
England--Essex
England--Leicestershire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Shropshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Normandy
Netherlands--Eindhoven
Netherlands--Nijmegen
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LOatesJ1489926v1
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10-17
1943-10-18
1943-10-24
1943-10-25
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
12 OTU
1657 HCU
1665 HCU
196 Squadron
81 OTU
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
crash
Halifax
Harrow
Heavy Conversion Unit
mine laying
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Chipping Warden
RAF Keevil
RAF Leicester East
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Millom
RAF Pocklington
RAF Sleap
RAF Stradishall
RAF Tarrant Rushton
RAF Tilstock
RAF Weathersfield
RAF Witchford
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2144/37057/PFieldPL19070015.1.jpg
ded0e41724985279cb0e98cbe9eacf22
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Field, Peter L and Cynthia G. Photograph album 4
Description
An account of the resource
22 items. Photograph album covers, eighteen double pages of photographs of family events, places and people as well as three stand alone photographs.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-19
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Field, PL-CG
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Family photographs
Description
An account of the resource
Right page:
Top left - woman sitting in chair in garden.
Top right - woman and a man sitting alongside each other on chairs in garden with trellis behind them.
Bottom left - a man wearing suit and tie and woman wearing dress standing side by side in a doorway.
Caption on spine 'Wimbourne 1976'.
Right page:
Captions on spine from top to bottom 'Central Wales, 1961', '1961', 'Wales 1961'.
Top - woman wearing skirt ad top walking across slope of mountain with valley and other mountain in the distance.
Bottom left - woman standing on mountainside looking over valley at rock outcrops on far side.
Bottom right - half length image of a woman wearing striped top.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1976
1961
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1976
1961
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Wales
England--Dorset
England--Wimborne Minster
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six colour photographs mounted on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFieldPL19070015
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2137/36818/PFieldPL19040005.1.jpg
e68ee87d1bb9867e1c58a54ff290391d
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Field, Peter L and Cynthia G. Photograph album 1
Description
An account of the resource
21 items. Eighteen photographs of various people with captions on the reverse.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-19
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Field, PL-CG
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Two men at beach
Description
An account of the resource
Two men, one on the left wearing civilian suit and the one on the right wearing swimming trunks, both sitting in deck chairs on a beach. Other chairs and three women behind. On the reverse 'Swanage Monday August 21 1939, Honeybone (Dick's year at Rendcomb) & myself Swanage, August 21, 1939'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1939-08-21
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939-08-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Swanage
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFieldPL19040005, PFieldPL19040006
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/934/36538/MLovattP1821369-190903-74-01.1.pdf
fb8bdc0a3359bad330631a99725ecf91
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/934/36538/MLovattP1821369-190903-74-02.1.2.pdf
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lovatt, Peter
Dr Peter Lovatt
P Lovatt
Description
An account of the resource
117 items. An oral history interview with Peter Lovatt (b.1924, 1821369 Royal Air Force), his log book, documents, and photographs. The collection also contains two photograph albums. He flew 42 operations as an air gunner on 223 Squadron flying B-24s. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1338">Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2135">Album Two</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Nina and Peter Lovatt and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-27
2019-09-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Lovatt, P
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
The Offensive Phase
Volume Two of Two
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Peter Lovatt
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Norway--Trondheim
France--Brest
Russia (Federation)
England--Hartland
England--Beer Head
Europe--Elbe River
England--Dover
England--Folkestone
England--London
France--Bruneval
France--Pas-de-Calais
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Rostock
England--Norwich
England--Cheadle (Staffordshire)
England--Salcombe
England--Sidmouth
France--Cherbourg
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
France--Dunkerque
France--Cassel
England--Salisbury
Russia (Federation)--Kola Peninsula
Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ
Germany--Berlin
Poland--Szczecin
France--Desvres
France--Arcachon
France--Nantes
France--Chartres
France--Reims
England--Swanage
England--Malvern
England--Plymouth
France--Lorient
England--Lincoln
Scotland--Edinburgh
England--Hull
England--London
England--Bristol
France--Montdidier (Hauts-de-France)
England--Guildford
France--Poix-du-Nord
Germany--Mannheim
Czech Republic--Pilsen Basin
England--Harpenden
France--Morlaix
Spain--Lugo
Spain--Seville
England--Radlett (Hertfordshire)
Germany--Cologne
France--Boulogne-Billancourt
Germany--Rostock
Germany--Essen
Germany--Schleswig-Holstein
Belgium--Liège
Germany--Bremen
England--High Wycombe
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
England--Sizewell
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
England--Crowborough
England--Huddersfield
Netherlands--Den Helder
England--Mundesley
Germany--Schweinfurt
Europe--Baltic Sea Region
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Wolfenbüttel
Germany--Magdeburg
France--Limoges
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Munich
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Augsburg
France--Yvelines
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Kiel
Poland--Poznań
France--Dieppe
Turkey--Gallipoli
Egypt--Alamayn
Egypt--Cairo
Morocco
Algeria
Italy--Sicily
England--Ventnor
England--Beachy Head
France--Abbeville
France--Somme
France--Seine River
England--Southampton
England--Portsmouth
Scotland--Firth of Forth
Iceland
England--Brighton
France--Normandy
France--Cherbourg
England--Littlehampton
England--Portland Harbour
France--Amiens
Netherlands--Arnhem
France--Normandy
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
France--Le Havre
France--Arromanches-les-Bains
France--Bayeux
Belgium--Wenduine
France--Beauvais
England--Ditchling
England--Henfield (West Sussex)
England--Canterbury
England--Crowborough
England--Dover
England--Chiswick
Netherlands--Hague
Sweden
Belgium--Antwerp
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Trier
Germany--Siegfried Line
Netherlands--New Maas River
Netherlands--Waal River
Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Germany--Darmstadt
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Braunschweig
Netherlands--Walcheren
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Europe--Ardennes
Belgium--Bastogne
Germany--Leuna
Germany--Essen
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Ulm
Rhine River Valley
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Castrop-Rauxel
Germany--Hannover
Belgium--Houffalize
Germany--Neuss
Germany--Grevenbroich
Germany--Dülmen
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Bonn
Germany--Kamen
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kiel
England--Coventry
Italy
Poland
France
Great Britain
Egypt
North Africa
Germany
Belgium
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Norway
Russia (Federation)
Spain
Turkey
Europe--Frisian Islands
England--Milton Keynes
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Devon
England--Dorset
England--Gloucestershire
England--Hampshire
England--Herefordshire
England--Kent
England--Middlesex
England--Norfolk
England--Staffordshire
England--Suffolk
England--Surrey
England--Sussex
England--Wiltshire
England--Worcestershire
England--Yorkshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Warwickshire
Russia (Federation)--Poli︠a︡rnyĭ (Murmanskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Coastal Command
Royal Navy
United States Army Air Force
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
178 printed pages
Description
An account of the resource
A continuation of Peter's thesis on electronic warfare during the war.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MLovattP1821369-190903-74-01
1 Group
100 Group
101 Squadron
109 Squadron
141 Squadron
169 Squadron
171 Squadron
192 Squadron
199 Squadron
214 Squadron
218 Squadron
223 Squadron
239 Squadron
3 Group
4 Group
462 Squadron
5 Group
617 Squadron
8 Group
aircrew
B-17
B-24
Beaufighter
Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910-1986)
Chamberlain, Neville (1869-1940)
crash
Defiant
Do 217
Fw 190
Gee
Gneisenau
Goering, Hermann (1893-1946)
H2S
Halifax
Halifax Mk 3
Hampden
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
He 111
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Hudson
Ju 88
Lancaster
Me 110
Me 410
mine laying
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
Mosquito
navigator
Oboe
Operational Training Unit
P-51
Pathfinders
radar
RAF Defford
RAF Downham Market
RAF Farnborough
RAF Foulsham
RAF Little Snoring
RAF North Creake
RAF Northolt
RAF Oulton
RAF Prestwick
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF St Athan
RAF Swannington
RAF Tempsford
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Uxbridge
RAF West Raynham
RAF Wittering
Scharnhorst
Stalin, Joseph (1878-1953)
Stirling
Tirpitz
training
Typhoon
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
Window
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/934/36497/MLovattP1821369-190903-62-01.1.pdf
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lovatt, Peter
Dr Peter Lovatt
P Lovatt
Description
An account of the resource
117 items. An oral history interview with Peter Lovatt (b.1924, 1821369 Royal Air Force), his log book, documents, and photographs. The collection also contains two photograph albums. He flew 42 operations as an air gunner on 223 Squadron flying B-24s. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1338">Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2135">Album Two</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Nina and Peter Lovatt and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-27
2019-09-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lovatt, P
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Radio War Waged by the RAF Against Germany 1940-1945
Description
An account of the resource
A thesis written by Peter in 2002, for his Phd.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Peter Lovatt
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2002-07
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--London
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
England--Norfolk
England--Norfolk
France--Dieppe
France--Cherbourg
England--Norwich
England--Swanage
England--Malvern
Germany--Berlin
England--Cornwall (County)
Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador
England--Devizes
France--Paris
England--Chatham (Kent)
Austria
Poland
England--Cheadle (Staffordshire)
England--Daventry
England--Orford Ness
England--Aldeburgh
England--Bawdsey (Air base)
Scotland--Dundee
Scotland--Perth
England--Christchurch (Dorset)
Russia (Federation)
Scotland--Firth of Forth
Germany--Baden-Baden
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Borkum
Denmark
Norway
Germany--Bredstedt
France--Brest
Netherlands
Germany--Husum (Schleswig-Holstein)
Norway--Klepp
Germany--Stollberg (Landkreis)
Netherlands--Den Helder
Netherlands--Bergen op Zoom
France--Seine-Maritime
France--Cape La Hague
France--Manche
France--Morlaix
Germany--Lörrach
Italy--Noto
England--Tunbridge Wells
England--Harpenden
England--Somerset
England--Henfield (West Sussex)
England--Petersfield
France--Dieppe
England--Portsmouth
Scotland--Orkney
England--Rochester (Kent)
England--Essex
France--Le Havre
England--Hagley (Bromsgrove)
England--Gloucestershire
England--Bridport
England--Coventry
England--Bristol
France--Cassel
France--Poix-du-Nord
England--Radlett (Hertfordshire)
England--Henfield (West Sussex)
England--Cheadle (Staffordshire)
France--Bayeux
England--Kingsdown (Kent)
England--Harleston (Norfolk)
France--Barfleur
France--Cape La Hague
France--Le Mont-Saint-Michel
France--Cancale
France--Penmarc'h
France--Groix
France--Saint-Nazaire Region
France--Saint-Malo
England--Seaton (Devon)
England--Salisbury
Wales--Swansea
England--Droitwich
France--Brittany
England--Manchester
England--Chatham (Kent)
France--Chartres
France--Vannes
Poland--Lubin (Województwo Dolnośląskie)
Egypt
Libya
England--Lydd
England--Helston
England--Chivenor
England--Marske-by-the-Sea
England--Nottingham
England--Birmingham
Slovakia
Czech Republic
Italy
France
England--Milton Keynes
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Devon
England--Dorset
England--Hampshire
England--Herefordshire
England--Kent
England--Northamptonshire
England--Staffordshire
England--Suffolk
England--Sussex
England--Wiltshire
England--Worcestershire
England--Yorkshire
England--Lancashire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Warwickshire
Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia)
France--Ouessant Island
Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Jersey
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Fighter Command
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
80 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MLovattP1821369-190903-62-01
100 Group
101 Squadron
109 Squadron
214 Squadron
218 Squadron
Anson
B-17
B-24
Blenheim
bombing
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
Do 217
Gee
Gneisenau
Goering, Hermann (1893-1946)
ground personnel
H2S
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
He 111
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Hudson
Ju 52
Ju 88
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
Oboe
P-51
Pathfinders
Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
radar
RAF Biggin Hill
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Defford
RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF Oulton
RAF St Athan
RAF Waddington
RAF Wyton
Scharnhorst
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
Whitley
Window
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35788/SGillK1438901v30005.1.pdf
ed1d90444082e4d11c6150de17ddcc50
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[crest]
1438901. SGT. GILL. K.
DESPATCH WING.
[symbol]3.R.A.F. P.R.C.
BATH HILL COURT
BOURNEMOUTH.
NOV. 13TH/42.
Dear Mum & Dad & all,
Thanks for the letter, I received it this morning. Hope your’e all keeping well and looking after yourselves; at present I've got tonsilitis [sic] though it's not too bad. I have treatment three times a day, but still have to attend lectures.
I suppose the "laddie" is having quite a job out in Egypt now that the R.A.F are playing such a big part in the new campaign. According to the 'gen' we're getting here, there's quite a chance that we might be sent out there for operations. However till that time comes we're destined to join
[page break]
2/
the ranks of the 'forgotten men'. At least that's what it seems to us, the last batch of R.A.F. to come over from Canada were sent straight away to Harrogate. Down here we're crowded out with Canadians, Yanks, Aussies, & New Zealanders at about 15 to 1 so you can see why we think we're forgotten.
The lectures here are being varied now, and we're having lots of firing practise with rifles, revolvers, machine-guns, Sten-guns and the old double-barreled [sic] shot-gun. The other day we used the American Garrand [sic] rifle, a semi-automatic rifle which takes eight bullets; I managed six bulls and two inners which wasn't too bad seeing as it was the first time I'd handled the rifle. We fired in teams of three, and my team carried off the kitty quite easy; one of the other lads
[page break]
3/
got the same score as me so our third man had an easy job & got four bulls and three inners and a magpie.
Shooting with the Sten gun is quite good, but they made it difficult by stripping the guns first. We had to assemble the guns, load the magazine, fit it, & then fire, still it's good practise. I don't know whether you know or not why it was made to take .37 ammunition, if not it's because the Germans, Italians & Japs use lots of it for their guns & we've captured so much that they had to make a gun to fit it. That story may not be strictly authentic but it's quite reasonable. Before long they're hoping to equip every airman with these guns as standard issue, so that we can be used as station defence if the need should arise.
[page break]
4/
Glad to hear you were able to get Les some cuff-links for his birthday. I asked Vee to send him a card for both of us. Hope he has better luck with the rabbits, now the hut is built. As you say he's a good scrounger, but that's what you have to be if you want to get on I suppose.
Has he volunteered for the Navy yet or has he changed his mind? Tell him the Air Sea Rescue Squad is quite a nice job if he fancies dashing around in a high speed launch picking up survivors from aircraft, it's R.A.F. though, so maybe he doesn't fancy it.
Sorry I appeared sarcastic in my letter, I didn't mean to, I thought perhaps if I wrote, because I would have liked to have seen them, they wouldn't think I'd forgotten them, however
[page break]
5/
"Nuff said", I'll not write them. Vee said she'd been down in her last letter, and said bad weather had held her up a bit. I knew Muriel had a little girl, mum said so when I was at home, give her my love when she comes to see you mum.
I don't know off hand of any place where you get the drills for Ronnie dad, I'll have a look round here. Will you tell Aunt Lil that the shop where the budgie seed was, isn't there now. Evidently they were selling out of stock.
Thanks for forwarding Eva's letter dad, I asked them to send them all home as I knew I'd be moving around quite a lot. I think that's all for now.
Give my love to all the family and look after yourselves.
Cheerio for now.
Lots of Love Ken [kisses]
David [kisses]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Kenneth Gill to his family
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that he has tonsillitis but is getting treatment. Mentions war situation in Egypt and that he might be sent there for operations. Comments on training they were getting with lectures and shooting with various weapons. Catches up with family/friends news and gossip.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
K Gill
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-11-13
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-11-13
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Bournemouth
England--Hampshire
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Civilian
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
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Format
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Five page handwritten letter
Identifier
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SGillK1438901v30005
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Sue Smith
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35671/SGillK1438901v30003-0001.1.jpg
96f7dbd558e325825b69bcfa3956c923
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35671/SGillK1438901v30003-0002.1.jpg
23818412e9bd6723f6d66c436b0ec0ab
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35671/SGillK1438901v30003-0003.1.jpg
8d5771022eb025085dacc338af68580c
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Title
A name given to the resource
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[crest]
1438901 SGT. GILL.K.
DESPATCH WING.
3. P.R.C.
BATH HILL COURT.
BOURNEMOUTH.
NOV. 4th/42.
Dear Mum, dad & all.
Thanks for the parcel, I received it this afternoon. I haven't sampled the cake yet but it looks good. Tell Les we celebrated his birthday last night (George & I) and had a fish and chip supper in a cosy little cafe, with a grand coal fire.
Thanks for David's photograph, the flints, socks, tobacco & pipe-cleaners etc. oh & David's comic too. I haven't read it yet but I will do shortly.
As you said dad, George did forget the negatives, but I think he's going to write home for them.
We haven't managed to get onto the same flight yet, but we do
[page break]
2/
manage to keep together quite a lot (unofficially of course). I haven't got a list of addresses by me now, and we havn't [sic] any electric light in this place so Lobban's & Grants & books are all I can remember so far;
Mr & Mrs. Earl Lobban.
Pleasant Street.
Chatham N.B.
Canada.
Mr & Mrs. R. Grant,
98, Alma Street.
Moncton. N.B.
Canada.
Mr & Mrs. S. J. Cook – Jnr.
Sylvester.
Georgia.
That's their addresses alright, & by the time you written dad I'll have found the others. I suppose I'd better start writing letters of apology to Aunt Rosie & Uncle Tom, Messrs, Bellhouse & Wright, and also Dick Thomas, but I'll have to stop writing now as I can't see properly
[page break]
3/
but I'll start them tomorrow.
We've no idea at all when we'll be leaving here so can't say when I'll be home again. Some of the lads have already gone to stations all over England, Scotland & Wales but we're living in hopes for a posting to Yorkshire somewhere.
Well you'll have to excuse my short letter & I'll write again as soon as possible. Chin up David keep up the good work, the writing is coming on well; & go steady on them “under-cuts” of yours you little villain.
That's all for now, look after yourselves and keep smiling.
Good night & God Bless.
Your Loving Son.
Ken. [kisses]
David [kisses]
[underlined] PS. [/underlined] My belt was at Veras’
sorry to cause you all the trouble.
Ken xxx
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Kenneth Gill to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks them for parcel and comments on contents. Includes addresses that he could remember and promised to send others later. Continues with family matters. Says he had no idea when he will move on.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
K Gill
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-11-04
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-11-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Bournemouth
England--Hampshire
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
Identifier
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SGillK1438901v30003
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
military service conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35670/SGillK1438901v30001-0001.2.jpg
d803c59b9f4701c071dc4f7558b18d02
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35670/SGillK1438901v30001-0002.2.jpg
7c6313be6468fb05fb209ca7b8d82dbd
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35670/SGillK1438901v30001-0003.2.jpg
60fc66b6b8e83e4566fb237bb9024076
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[RAF badge]
1438901. SGT. GILL. K.
No3. R.A.F. P.R.C.
BATH HILL COURT.
BOURNEMOUTH.
OCT. 10th/42.
Dear Mum & all,
Hope you got the telegram O.K. mum, I hadn't the cash to send Vera one at the time, but I'm O.K. now as I've changed my Canadian money into English.
Well it shouldn't be long before I see you again, we're given 7 days leave & it should start sometime next week. It isn't anything like what we expected but we'll have to grin and bear it I suppose. They do say as how we're needed pretty quickly so that's perhaps why only 7 days leave,
Have you had any news from Ron lately, I wrote him two or three times. I wrote quite a few letters & I haven't had replies to them
[page break]
2/
Have you heard from Albert at all of late & Pip or Margaret Franklin. I wrote to all of them but ain’t 'eard.
However I s'pose I'll see them maybe soon. I say mum how's the food situation at home? there doesn't seem to be much of a shortage here of anything.
Tell David I'll bring him some apples when I come home. I brought some oranges onto the boat with me but they didn't keep, then I got some more on the boat but they didn't keep either, I'm sorry David lad but apples is all there is.
I brought some milk chocolate with me too, but our kitbags haven't arrived from the boat so I can't tell how it's fared. I have a little surprise for you mum & one for David; don't say anything but suppose you could still use your
[page break]
3/
sewing machine mum?
I doing O.K. down here at Bournemouth; we have lots of time off and intend to explore a little. All the Leuchars lads, excepting four are with us here, we have pilots, observers, navigators, gunners & what-have-you, it seems queer that we should all be finished together and awaiting our next posting. Who knows maybe we'll have some of our own lads as crew.
Well, I'm stuck for something to say, pity you aren't here to prompt me mum, like you do dad, still I'll see you soon then we can 'jaw' our heads off.
Cheerio & God Bless You.
Your Loving Son.
Ken (kisses)
David
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Kenneth Gill to his mother
Description
An account of the resource
Mentions he recently sent a telegram and it would not be long before he saw them as he had seven days leave coming. Asks for news of friends and asks about food shortages at home. Mentions items he had brought back. Explains what he is doing and his plans in Bournemouth. Writes of his colleagues and possible futures.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
K Gill
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-10-10
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-10-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Bournemouth
England--Hampshire
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SGillK1438901v30001
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
military service conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1549/35521/LHansonJE46968v1.1.pdf
4b0fc8fbb3e8b03820e6719b128cd957
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hanson, Joseph Edward
J E Hanson
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-10-18
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Hanson, JE
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns Flying Officer Joseph Edward Hanson DFM (<span>46968 </span>Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, remembrance and photograph. He flew operations as an air gunner with 50, 44 and 61 Squadrons. He was killed 1 October 1942. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Colin Thompson and catalogued by Barry Hunter.<br /><br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW134679673 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW134679673 BCX0">Additional information on<span> Joseph Edwar Hanson Joseph Edward Hanson</span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW134679673 BCX0"><span> </span>is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW134679673 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/109837/">IBCC Losses Database.</a></span>
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
JE Hanson flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for J E Hanson, wireless operator/air gunner, covering the period from 3 January 1939 to 1 October 1942. Detailing his flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at RAF Finnningley, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Lindholme, RAF Warmwell, RAF Coningsby, RAF Scampton, RAF Waddington, RAF Boscombe Down, RAF Nutts Corner and RAF Syerston. Aircraft flown in were Tiger Moth, Wellesley, Anson, Whitley, Hampden Hereford, Blenheim, Battle, Lysander, Lancaster, Manchester, Hind, Botha and Wellington. He trained with 76 Squadron which became 16 Operational Training Unit. He flew a total of 46 operations. 29 with 50 Squadron, 3 with 44 Squadron and 14 with 61 Squadron. The aircraft crashed on take off on their 47 operation, with the loss of all crew when the dinghy deployed fouling the tail plane. Targets were Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Lorient, Bremen, Brest, Cuxhaven, St Nazaire, Wilhelmshaven, Dunkirk, Hannover, Kiel, La Rochelle, Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Essen, Saarbrucken, Atlantic Ocean, Kassel, Konigsberg, Wismar and mine laying. The log book also contains photographs of him and aircraft. His pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Paramore, Pilot Officer Woodward, Squadron Leader Weston DFC and Squadron Leader Burnett.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Atlantic Ocean
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Russia (Federation)
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Denmark--Copenhagen
England--Dorset
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
France--Brest
France--Dunkerque
France--La Rochelle
France--Lorient
France--Saint-Nazaire
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Cuxhaven
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Wismar
Northern Ireland--Antrim (County)
Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Great Britain
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LHansonJE46968v1
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-10-29
1940-10-30
1940-11-15
1940-11-16
1940-11-25
1940-11-26
1940-11-28
1940-11-29
1940-12-08
1940-12-09
1940-12-16
1940-12-17
1940-12-21
1940-12-22
1940-12-28
1940-12-29
1941-01-01
1941-01-02
1941-01-04
1941-01-05
1941-01-08
1941-01-09
1941-01-14
1941-01-15
1941-01-30
1941-01-31
1941-02-05
1941-02-06
1941-02-07
1941-02-08
1941-02-10
1941-02-11
1941-02-12
1941-02-21
1941-02-22
1941-02-24
1941-02-25
1941-02-26
1941-02-27
1941-03-18
1941-03-19
1941-03-20
1941-03-21
1941-03-29
1941-03-30
1941-04-08
1941-04-09
1941-04-13
1941-04-14
1941-04-17
1941-04-18
1941-04-24
1941-04-25
1941-04-28
1941-04-29
1942-05-02
1942-05-03
1942-05-31
1942-06-01
1942-06-02
1942-07-26
1942-07-27
1942-07-29
1942-07-30
1942-08-09
1942-08-13
1942-08-17
1942-08-19
1942-08-28
1942-08-29
1942-09-01
1942-09-02
1942-09-10
1942-09-11
1942-09-14
1942-09-15
1942-09-16
1942-09-17
1942-09-24
1942-09-25
1942-10-01
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1939
1940
1941
1942
16 OTU
44 Squadron
50 Squadron
61 Squadron
76 Squadron
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Anson
Battle
Blenheim
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Botha
crash
Distinguished Flying Medal
Hampden
killed in action
Lancaster
Lysander
Manchester
Me 109
mine laying
Operational Training Unit
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Coningsby
RAF Finningley
RAF Lindholme
RAF Nutts Corner
RAF Scampton
RAF Syerston
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Waddington
RAF Warmwell
take-off crash
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
Whitley
wireless operator / air gunner
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2097/34661/BBrindKJBrindKJv1.1.pdf
b8c765f6e18d169a6bc660eb824a7028
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Brind, Kenneth John
Brind, K J
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. The collection concerns Kenneth John Brind (b. 1922 Royal Air Force) and contains his memoir and transcript of the ceremony awarding him the Légion d'Honneur. He flew operations as a navigator with 626 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Angela Way and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-04-30
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Brind, KJ
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Royal Air Force 626 Squadron crest]
A Year In The Life
By
K.J. Brind
[page break]
To My Beloved
MARY,
our children
and grandchildren
I wish to express my appreciation to
"The Wickenby Register"
and in particular to its president
Don Wells and archivist
Jim MacDonald who, as well as
flying on many of the operations
described here, researched and
provided me with much of the factual
information in this book.
i
[page break]
A Year In The Life
By Kenneth Brind
In the village of Aldbourne on October 17th 1922, Ken was born to William and Emily Brind, the oldest of their three sons. Educated at St. Michael's School and Marlborough Grammar School, he entered the Royal Air Force shortly after the outbreak of World War II.
Trained as an Air Navigator, he flew a tour of operations with 626 Squadron Bomber Command, was commissioned and continued to serve in the RAF after the war as a navigation instructor, fighter controller and administrative officer.
He transferred to the RCAF in 1955 and served in a similar capacity until his retirement from military service in 1968.
This book is a description of the events which took place between his 21st and 22nd birthdays.
iii
[page break]
[photographs]
Kenneth John Brind CD C de G
[photograph]
Able Two
iv
[page break]
Prelude To Action
I'm not quite sure where to begin this narrative, but I suppose the R.A.F. Hospital Rauceby, Lincs. would be as good a place as any. I was there because of a pilonoidal sinus which was operated on and refused to heal so I spent a fairly lengthy period from early October 1943 to January 1944 (including my 21st Birthday on October 17th) out of action. It was my wife, Mary, who insisted I get treatment so I suppose, in a way, I owe her my life.
I had trained as a navigator and, after graduation from #10 Observers Advanced Flying Unit, Dumfries Scotland, had spent much of 1943 with a crew captained by Sgt. Geoff Clark. Geoff and I had met at No. 18 Operational Training Unit, Finningley, in May 1943, and taking an instant liking to each other, decided to throw in our lot together and jointly invited other crew members, bomb aimer, wireless operator and air gunner, to join us. During the summer we learned to operate as a crew on Wellington aircraft and completed our first operational sortie, which was an O.T.U. training exercise, on July 25th to Alencon, France, dropping leaflets inviting the Germans to surrender! On August 4th we moved on to No. 1656 Conversion Unit at Lindholme, picked up a flight engineer and second air gunner and learned to operate the Avro Lancaster Bomber. During the conversion process we had one very unfortunate experience. We were at the end of the runway one very dark night in the middle of September when another Lancaster taxiing behind us collided with our rear turret. One engine of the following aircraft smashed into the turret with Graham Uttley inside. Both pilots switched off all engines immediately and we managed to extricate Graham, but he was dead before the ambulance arrived. Another rear gunner immediately joined us and by the end of September the crew of Sgt. Clark, Pilot; Sgt. Brind, Navigator; Sgt. Naylor, Bomb Aimer; Sgt. Parkinson, Flight Engineer; Sgt. Whitmarsh, Wireless Operator; Sgt. Sugden and Sgt. Walker, Air Gunners was considered competent and ready to join a squadron, and were duly posted to No. 625 Squadron, Kelstern.
With our training now completed it seemed a good time to get the very minor surgery required to fix my pilonoidal sinus so I reported to the hospital. What we didn't know was that my recovery would take much longer than expected and that Geoff and the boys would not be able to await my return. They were forced to commence operations without me and were shot down over Berlin two days before Christmas, on December 23rd, 1943. They were all killed. I never met my replacement as Navigator, but I have always had guilt feelings that I should have been with them. Had I been there things might have been different. One thing is certain, they were a group of dedicated, enthusiastic, well trained young men.
Following my discharge from hospital I went on sick leave and it was not until April 1944 that the doctors certified me ready to crew up again and return to the war. In the meantime Mary had become pregnant and gone to Aldbourne where she would be safe. She had been with me during my O.T.U. and Conversion Unit Training.
I met Flying Officer Hicks and his crew at No. 1662 Conversion Unit, Blyton on May 14th. So many Lancasters had been lost during the winter of 1943/44 that they had been withdrawn
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[photograph]
The Wellington Crew
No. 18 O.T.U. Finningley
July 1943
Sgt. G. Uttley Sgt. W.E. Whitmarsh
Sgt. K.J. Brind Sgt. G.E. Clark Sgt. R.A. Naylor
from the heavy conversion units and replaced by Halifaxes. So crews converted on to the Halifax, then to the Lancaster at No. 1 Lancaster Finishing School, Hemswell. I did 3 cross country exercises (1 day and 2 night) with my new crew on the Halifax followed by a short conversion at No.! L.F.S. on to the Lancaster (with which I was very familiar from my time spent with my former crew) and then to No.626 Squadron, Wickenby on June 5th, 1944.
I should mention some of the characteristics of the Lancaster which by now had become the preeminent bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force. It had a wingspan of 102 feet with a
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[photograph]
The Lancaster Crew
No. 626 Sqdn. Wickenby
July 1944
F/S J. Saletto F/S K.J. Brind F/L.A.C. Hicks F/O C. Bursey F/O P.M. Graves
Sgt. A.B. Jones Sgt. S.G. King
length of 69 feet and maximum height of 20 feet 6 inches. Powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin engines each developing 1,460 horsepower it had a maximum speed of 240 knots at 15,000 feet fully loaded and a cruising speed of 175 knots. The range varied with the load carried being 2,200 nautical miles with a 7,000 lb load, and 1350 nautical miles with a 22,000 lb load. Maximum fuel capacity was 2,154 gallons. Maximum bomb load varied with modifications which were made but essentially the main force carried not more than 15,000 lbs. Service ceiling was 19,000 – 20,000 feet depending on load and maximum ceiling was 24,000 feet. Take off distance loaded was 1,550 yards and the rate of climb was 250 ft/minute. Landing distance was approximately 1,000 yards. Maximum take off weight was 72,000 lbs. The aircraft carried a
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defensive armament of 3 gun turrets, the front carrying 2 x .303 machine guns, the mid upper the same and the rear turret 4 x .303's. Later the mid upper and rear turret were equipped with 2 x .5's. The primary navigation system was "GEE" by which the navigator could calculate the position of his aircraft by observing the time taken to receive pulse signals from three different ground stations. By now the enemy was aware of frequencies, etc., and jammed the signals before one reached the European coast. The other radar navigation system was "H2S". Here the aircraft transmitted signals which were reflected back from the terrain over which it was flying by providing a map of coastlines, islands, rivers, etc. But because the aircraft was transmitting it became vulnerable to interception by enemy fighters or prediction by anti aircraft guns. So it had to be used with discretion. The crew required to man this aircraft was seven as I have already mentioned.
My new crew was quite different from my previous one. Here 3 of the 7 were officers and Arthur Hicks himself was ten years older than I. He had done most of his flying training in the U.S.A., at Pensacola, Florida, and wore a silver bracelet proclaiming his proficiency. The other officers in the crew were Peter Graves, a burly London policeman, the bomb aimer and Bill Bursey, strangely enough the rear gunner, both were Flying Officers. The other N.C.O.s were Jack Saletto, an Australian and sole survivor of a 460 squadron crew, the wireless operator, Stan King, a youngster from London, the flight engineer, and Bert Jones the mid upper gunner.
We were welcomed by the Squadron Commander, Wing Commander Rodney, in his office and advised of two things; one was that a crew had just completed a tour of operations (the first to do so for some time) and the second was that the invasion (Operation Overlord) was to take place tomorrow, so we had arrived at a good time. We were then allocated to "A" Flight with whom we would remain for the duration of our tour with the squadron. We settled into our quarters but this crew, being mixed, officers and N.C.O.s, did not all share the same accommodation. The officers went to their quarters and the N.C.O.s to theirs.
The next few days saw us getting acclimatized, going through the various administrative procedures to ensure we would be paid and fed and generally getting to know our way around.
On June 13th an aircraft was made available for us to demonstrate that we were ready to operate so we took it on a 5 1/2 hour night cross country. On our return we were debriefed and our logs and charts were analyzed and checked. We passed muster.
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Operation No. 1 Rheims
The invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord) had commenced on June 6th 1944 and the allied armies were struggling to establish a bridgehead in Normandy. The Germans were trying to reinforce their defences so railway marshalling yards became prime targets. So it was that our first operation was against the railway yards at Rheims, France. It was June 22nd.
Our route took us from Wickenby to Gravesend then south to cross the English coast near Hastings, across the channel to a point on the French coast just east of Dieppe then south east directly towards the target. After bombing we headed west to a point just west of Dieppe then north back across the channel to make a landfall near Brighton, thence to Reading and back to base.
The bombload was 9,000 lbs consisting of eighteen 500 lb high explosive bombs which Peter Graves dispatched without difficulty. The aiming point was marked with cascading yellow target indicators (TI's) at H-5 and H-4 (H being the Time on Target of the first wave of bombers) and backed up with green TIs. The initial markers were scattered and short of the target but the Master Bomber backed up with red spot fires.
The weather called for patchy clouds enroute increasing to 9/10's clouds with tops at 6,000 feet. As the main force was at 18 – 20,000 feet some crews could not see the reds so bombed the glow of the markers through the clouds. The weight of the attack fell on the sorting sidings cutting every line and destroying 61 rail cars.
Ground defences were not heavy but there was heavy flak (anti-aircraft fire) and searchlights in the Abbville area. We were coned in searchlights for several minutes which is always a hair-raising experience but Hicky put the nose down and we eventually dived clear and resumed our homeward course. We returned to base without further incident and landed at approximately 0240 having been airborne for four hours and forty minutes.
Of the 19 aircraft of 626 Squadron which had started out one developed an engine fire, aborted the mission and returned to base, and one (Sgt. Woolley and crew) was shot down and all on board were killed. Bomber Command always kept statistics and on this night our squadron loss was 5.26%. Statistically if we continued at this rate we would last for twenty missions and our tour called for 30. We ate our eggs and bacon and went to bed.
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Operation No. 2 Les Hayons
In the summer of 1944 the Germans had developed their "ultimate weapons" the V1 and V2 and were using them indiscriminately against London and Southern England. The V1 was a winged bomb with a jet propelled engine which flew until it ran out of fuel then crashed and exploded. The V2 was a rocket propelled bomb which left the ground on a high trajectory, crossed the channel and came almost straight down on to it's target. There was some defence against the V1 in that it could be shot down by ground fire or by a fighter aircraft. There was no defence against the V2. The launching sites for both were in the Pas de Calais area of Northern France and in the low countries so the obvious way to eliminate the problem was to destroy the launching sites and storage sheds on the ground. A job for Bomber Command.
Our first attack against a launching site followed two days after our trip to Rheims, on June 24th, and the target chosen for 626 Squadron was Les Hayons in the Pas de Calais. These operations were not considered difficult as they were fairly short with not too much time over enemy territory. Our squadron's contribution of 17 aircraft included the squadron commander.
We took off at 1535 hours with a bomb load of 9,000 lbs (18 x 500 lb bombs) and climbed enroute to our bombing height of 18,000 feet. There were scattered patches of cloud between 3 and 8,000 feet, but the target area was clear with good visibility.
Our route took us again to Gravesend (but this time in daylight), to Hastings where we crossed enroute outbound, then straight to the target crossing the French coast near Calais. Calais was heavily defended and we came under a heavy and accurate flak attack on our approach to the target area, but fortunately we did not see any enemy aircraft. The aiming point was marked by red TIs but they were not dropped until after several of us had already bombed the target. Visibility was good and we were able to identify the launch ramps and storage buildings visually and attack them. We came under attack again as we crossed the French coast on our way home. We returned via Reading and arrived at Wickenby having been airborne 3 hours and 40 minutes. Two of our squadron aircraft sustained damage from the flak attack but no one was injured.
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Operation No. 3 Ligescourt
The next day we were at it again. This time our target was the flying bomb site at Ligescourt just a few miles from Les Hayons which we visited yesterday. But now we were going in the early morning rather than late afternoon. Twice in less than 24 hours.
Take off commenced at 0722 hours and our aircraft, A2 (Able Two) was airborne at 0730. The 626 squadron force was again 17 aircraft each carrying 18 x 500 lb bombs. The weather again was cloudy over England clearing over the channel with no cloud and excellent visibility in the target area.
The target marking of cascading red and yellow TIs was carried out by Mosquito aircraft. The red TIs were 2 minutes late and were slightly north east of the target but visibility was so good that the bomb aimers were able to visually identify and attack the target.
For some reason we did not come under the accurate flak attack which we experienced yesterday. Except for a few bursts at Berck sur Mer we were trouble free. A lone German fighter was sighted over the channel and was promptly shot down by spitfires of No. 11 Group who were providing fighter cover for us. The squadron sustained no losses and there were no reports of damage to our aircraft.
We again returned via Reading and at 1045 hours landed at Wickenby. At this period of the war everyone avoided flying over London so as not to impede those defending the city against flying bombs, so we were routed east or west of London depending on the location of the target.
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Operation No. 4 Sirracourt
It was now June 29th and operations scheduled for the 27th and 28th had been cancelled because of poor weather. There was now a slight improvement with a forecast of fair to cloudy with light showers. At 1000 hours we were advised that the daylight operation planned for yesterday was to be put on at once. Lots of rushing around getting everything ready, bombs, fuel, briefing, etc. The target was another flying bomb launching site, this time at Sirracourt, a few miles south of Les Hayons and Ligescourt.
For this operation we were joined by aircraft of 12 squadron which shared Wickenby with us. The force consisted of 29 Lancasters, 15 from 626 and 14 from 12 squadron. We were part of a concentrated attack on flying bomb launching sites by 286 Lancasters and 19 Mosquitoes of Bomber Command.
Our bomb load for this operation was a mixture of 1,000 lb and 500 lb high explosive for a total of 13,000 lbs per aircraft. Fuel load was 1,450 gallons. We always knew from the fuel and bomb loads, even before being given the target at briefing, whether we were going on a short or long trip. The maximum fuel load for a Lancaster was 2,154 gallons. We knew if full fuel load was called for the trip would be long and the bomb load smaller to remain within the maximum takeoff weight of 72,000 lbs. Conversely on shorter trips we carried less fuel and more bombs.
Getting 29 Lancasters off one runway takes a little time but we had got it to a fine art. Number one started rolling and when he was halfway down the runway number two started. By the time number one became airborne number two was halfway along and number three started so there were always 3 aircraft on or just leaving the runway. It was very efficient so long as there were no problems.
The first aircraft took off at 1151 and we were airborne at 1210 hours. Our route to the target was again via Gravesend and Dungeness and the weather was good to within a few miles of the target, then the cloud thickened to about 7/10s with tops at about 14,000 feet which meant that Peter Graves could not visually identify the target so we reduced height to bomb at 12,500 ft. We were above the clouds but came under intense and accurate heavy flak from the French coast to the target. We were again escorted by 11 Group Spitfires and saw no enemy fighters.
The target marking was by red TIs cascading from 4,000 feet on to the Master Bomber's yellow TIs cascading from 3,000 feet. Unfortunately, the Master Bomber was shot down while dropping his yellow TIs. This resulted in scattered bombing particularly in the early stages of the attack. Because of the weather it was difficult to assess the results of the attack but at 1402 hours a large explosion was reported with smoke rising to 4,000 feet.
We again returned via Reading and arrived back at Wickenby at 1540 hours. Four of Wickenby's aircraft were hit by flak, two from each squadron and one from 12 Squadron (P/O Underwood) was lost. It was on fire and abandoned in the air and crashed at Troisvaux. The pilot, navigator and rear gunner were killed while the wireless operator, bomb aimer, flight engineer and mid upper gunner were all taken prisoner of war. The Wickenby loss rate was 3.45%.
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Operation No. 5 Vierzon
Vierzon is a town some 120 miles south of Paris. It was a major rail and transportation centre for German troops and supplied on their way to the front some 160 miles to the north west. It was our "target for tonight" on June 30th and 31 Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed for the mission. Twelve Squadron supplied 13 and 626 Squadron 18.
Take off commenced at 2151 hours and our aircraft became airborne at 2155 with a bomb load of 13,000 lbs, mixed 1,000 and 500 lb high explosive and 1,450 gallons of fuel. We climbed towards Reading, the assembly point, and reached our operational altitude earlier than normal as we were briefed for 8 - 10,000 feet instead of our usual 18 - 20,000 feet. We were aware that disruption of rail traffic was vital to stop German troops and supplies reaching the beachhead in Normandy. We were also aware that inaccurate bombing would kill innocent French civilians. Targets were, therefore, brilliantly lit with chandelier flares and to ensure accuracy we flew at less than half our normal bombing height. From Reading we headed to a point midway across the channel then crossed the French coast between Dieppe and Le Havre and headed south towards the target.
On arrival in the target area we found the aiming point illuminated with flares and marked with impact yellow TIs backed up by red spot fires. The TIs fell to the north east of the yards but the reds were accurate and the bombing was concentrated on them. The Master Bomber instructed the main force to bomb between two sets of TIs. At 0119 hours a broadcast was heard on the radio telephone (RT), not the Master Bomber's voice but using his call sign, instructing the main force to cease bombing and go home. No code word for "stop bombing" was used so the broadcast was ignored. Shortly after a Canadian voice interjected over the RT telling the German, in the most ungentlemanly fashion, what to do.
In spite of everything the bombing appeared to be extremely accurate and results showed that all through lines were cut, much of the rolling stock and two thirds of the locomotive depot was destroyed. Regretfully residential and business property to the east of the target was severely damaged.
There was some light flak in the target area and because of our reduced altitude, it was exploding at our height but the one searchlight was shot out by the first marker. The fighters were initially confused as to our location but after we had been over enemy territory for 54 minutes they were ordered to Orleans and, having identified our target, they attacked with considerable ferocity. They made contact by moonlight and held the bomber stream for 80 miles on the return route when most of our losses occurred.
This was the deepest penetration my crew had made so far and in spite of all the activity going on around us we were able to fly home unscathed and arrived back at Wickenby at 0325 hours having been airborne for 5 1/2 hours.
Of Wickenby's aircraft on this night one from 626 Squadron aborted the mission with an electrical failure and one from 12 Squadron was damaged by light flak. Four combats with fighter were reported, 3 by 12 Squadron aircraft and one from 626. Of the 30 Wickenby aircraft
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to reach the target 4 were lost, two from each squadron. 12 Squadron lost P/O Honor and P/O Pollard, and both crews were killed. 626 lost P/O Pocock who was killed together with his whole crew on their very first operation, and P/O Orr who was killed together with his flight engineer and both gunners while his navigator, bomb aimer and wireless operator managed to bail out. The navigator and bomb aimer were both wounded and taken prisoner but the wireless operator evaded capture.
Bomber Command loss rate for this operation was 11.86% while that for Wickenby was 12.9%. We had paid the price for operating a lower level than normal. 626 Squadron had lost 2 aircraft out of 18, a loss rate of 11.1%, the highest we had experienced since starting our tour. It was now 9 days since we started operational flying and we had already flown on 5 operations. And so we reached the end of June 1944.
On July 1st the weather was cloudy but becoming fair with showers – 23 Lancasters were detailed for a night attack which was cancelled. "Salute the Soldier Week" was held from July 1st to 8th with a target of £2000. Whether the target was reached is not known. A discipline notice on the bulletin board read "Airmen with cycles in their charge fitted with "rat trap" pedals are to ensure that all sharp points liable to damage footwear are filed off".
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Operation No. 6 Domleger
On July 2nd the weather was cloudy becoming fair with showers later. Twenty five Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed against a flying bomb site at Domleger. We were part of a force of 286 Lancasters and Mosquitoes attacking 2 flying bomb sites. 626 Squadron provided 14 aircraft. Domleger was in the vicinity of the other flying bomb sites we had already attacked. Our bomb load was 13,000 lbs mixed 500 and 1,000 lbs high explosive.
We were the first aircraft to takeoff and were airborne at 1215 hours and climbed to our normal bombing height of 18,000 feet enroute to Gravesend. The weather as we progressed was 8 - 10/10s cloud with tops between 7 and 10,000 feet.
As we approached the target area the Master Bomber instructed all crews to bomb on DF (Direction Finding) radar or radio then 3 minutes before H hour these instructions were cancelled and we were instructed to bomb the TIs. In the meantime we reduced height to 14,000 feet, the cloud layer broke, and a large hole enabled us to bomb visually at 1415 hours. As with all visual bombing the concentration was good with smoke rising to 5,000 feet.
There was a minimal amount of light flak in the target area but considerable heavy flak in the Abbville area on the homeward route. No enemy fighters were seen, fighter cover again being provided by 11 Group.
Our losses were nil and only one of our aircraft was hit by flak with no casualties. We returned to Wickenby 3 1/2 hours after we left.
On July 4th twenty-two Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed as part of a force of 151 plus 6 markers against the railway yards at Les Aubrais near Orleans. 626 Squadron's effort was 11 aircraft.
Take off commenced at 2147 with our aircraft becoming airborne at 2200 hours. All went well until we were over France and, as we thought, heading in the direction of the target. But at H hour when the target should have been in view, or at least the TIs should have appeared ahead of us, there was nothing to be seen. We were flying over an unbroken layer of cloud and were certainly not where we were supposed to be. As the navigator it was my responsibility to know where we were at all times. Something had gone wrong and I was not certain what it was. We could not go on to the target, we didn't even know where it was, so Hicky made the only decision possible. We would head for home. It is a rather scary position to be in – flying around over enemy territory with 9,000 lbs of bombs on board – knowing you are somewhere between your base and your target, but not knowing how to get to either and with navigational equipment which is unserviceable. Under such conditions you revert to basics. I stuck my head into the astrodome and located Polaris – the North Star, and directed Hicky to fly north, using the star to steer by. We knew that by flying north we would cross the French coast and eventually the English channel but at this point did not know where or when. Once we had settled on course I was able to assess what had happened.
The Distant Reading (DR) compass had become destabilized and was slowly rotating so that we had not been steady on any course but going round in a huge circle. We were alone and
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at the mercy of any defences we might encounter. In the meantime, Hicky, Peter Graves and Stan King were all looking ahead searching for any sign of the French coast. Bert Jones and Bill Bursey in the gunners turrets were searching the black skies for anything approaching us while Jack Saletto and I were working feverishly for any bearings or any radar fix which would help us locate our position. Then it happened! Heavy flak appeared before us and about the same time the H2S told me we were approaching Le Havre, one of the most heavily defended ports on the coast. We had no choice but to fly through the defences which we proceeded to do weaving gently to try and prevent the anti aircraft prediction radar getting a "lock on" to us, and we were lucky enough to get through unscathed and headed out over the channel.
We still had our 9,000 lbs of high explosive just beneath where we were sitting and the prospect of landing with it still on board, in the dark, was not a pleasant one so, discretion being the better part of valour, it was decided to jettison our bomb load over the channel. We were back within GEE range by now so I selected a spot well away from the shipping lanes which were very busy between southern England and the Normandy beachhead and Peter dropped them safe, i.e. not fused, into the English Channel.
We returned home without further incident after almost 6 hours and had to report that we had aborted the mission. The log showed the reason as "DR compass unserviceable". So for us this counted for naught and our number was still 6 completed operations.
For the rest of the squadron the night had been successful. The assessment of the attack was that all through rail lines were cut and a large quantity of rolling stock destroyed or damaged.
626 Squadron reported one aircraft damaged and one combat with a JU88. 12 Squadron lost one aircraft with the pilot (F/S Turner), bomb aimer and flight engineer taken prisoner and the other four crew members killed.
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Operation No. 7 Dijon
On July 5th the weather was fair to cloudy with moderate visibility. I had our instrument technicians working on the DR compass and had the master unit replaced and swung. Hopefully it will be O.K. for tonight we go to Dijon.
Twenty two Lancasters from Wickenby, 12 from 12 and 10 from 626 Squadron were part of a force of 154 detailed against the marshalling yards at Dijon, a city some 160 miles south east of Paris and about 60 miles from the Swiss border. Because of the distance involved the fuel load and bomb loads were adjusted and we carried 9,500 lbs (8 x 1,000 lb and 3 x 500 lb).
We took off at 2000 hrs in daylight and were gradually wrapped in darkness as we headed towards France. Our route took us south west from Wickenby to Bridport crossing the English coast just west of Weymouth. We then headed south to a point near the Channel Islands before turning south east towards France. We had deliberately kept clear of the European battlefield and now crossed the coast at a point some 35 miles north of Rennes and moved in a series of zig zags towards the target area. A tactic used by Bomber Command was to try not to indicate to the enemy until the last minute where the actual target was, so we finally headed to a point north west of Dijon then made a sudden turn south east for a relatively short bombing run over the marshalling yards before turning west and heading for home.
The weather over England was 10/10 cloud with tops to 7,000 feet so we soon climbed through it and were in the clear above. The cloud layer dispersed by mid channel and visibility was perfect from then on. Perfect visibility is a two edged sword though, not only can you see where you are going and who is with you, but you can also be seen by the enemy fighters and anit aircraft defences. Visibility was so good that the Swiss Alps were clearly visible from a distance of one hundred miles or so. It was worth the trip just to see Mont Blanc at 15,780 feet glistening in the moonlight.
There was a good deal of light flak in the target area which considerably troubled the Master Bomber. Initial yellow TIs were dropped by using radar and were found to be one mile north west of the target. The Deputy Master Bomber arrived in the target area ahead of the Master Bomber and dropped one red and one yellow TI within 50 yards of the aiming point. Bombing was accurate though some crews bombed the early markers. Photographic reconnaissance assessed that all the through rail lines were cut and the locomotive round house and workshops destroyed.
There was some night fighter activity over the target and as far as Tours on the way home. Four of 626 Squadron crews reported combat with night fighters and one of our aircraft was damaged.
We returned home on a reciprocal route and arrived back at Wickenby at 0440 hours after a flight of 8 hours 40 minutes and the furthest penetration yet into Fortress Europe. There were no losses.
Until now our operations were against flying bomb sites to reduce these attacks on Southern England, and railway marshalling yards and communication centres in France to try
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[map]
[underlined] DIJON [underlined].
[underlined] 5/6 JULY 1944 [underlined].
[page break]
to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the battle area. Now we were going to use bomber aircraft as heavy artillery in direct support of the forces on the ground. The Allied armies had established a beachhead in Normandy but were experiencing difficulty in breaking out and advancing. Particularly troubling was Caen where German resistance was especially stubborn.
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Operation No. 8 Caen
On July 7th a Bomber Command force of 283 Lancasters, 164 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitoes were detailed against troops and armour at Caen. Wickenby's contribution was 30 Lancasters, 13 from 12 Squadron and 17 from 626. The weather was cloudy with intermittent rain in the morning, fair later. The operation was scheduled for evening.
The bomb load was 13,000 lbs, mixed 1,000 and 500 lbs high explosive. Takeoff commenced at 1910 hours and we became airborne at 1930. The enroute weather was 7 – 8/10's cloud with a base at 5,000 feet and tops at 12,000 feet until nearing the French coast then clearing to small amounts of broken cloud only.
Target marking with red and yellow TIs was on time and accurate which made the work of the bomb aimer that much easier. However, there was intense heavy and light flak in the target area. After all we were attacking an army on the ground who were well trained and well equipped and who were going to defend themselves. As we flew through the target area there was smoke, exploding shells, exploding bombs and aircraft everywhere. A very confusing scene.
However, the bombs straddled the markers and it was apparent that a raid of outstanding success was achieved. Photo reconnaissance showed the bulk of the bombing fell within a radius of 450 yards with very few isolated sticks of bombs.
A message from 2nd Army Headquarters read "The heavy bombing that took place this evening was a wonderfully impressive show. The 2nd Army would like appreciation and thanks passed to all crews".
One of 626 Squadron's aircraft aborted with an unserviceable port inner engine. Three of 12 Squadron and 3 of 626 Squadron aircraft were damaged. Among them was ours. We were hit by flak in the mid upper turret and the front windscreen over the target but fortunately none of us was injured though Bert Jones obviously had a close call.
626 Squadron lost one aircraft (P/O Oram) which was hit in the target area and subsequently became uncontrollable. The crew abandoned over the channel and 5 of them were rescued from the sea and returned to fly again. Unfortunately, both air gunners were killed. The squadron loss rate was 5.9%.
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Operation No. 9 Tours
Thirty-four Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed against Tours on July 12th as part of a force of 378 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes attacking railway targets. This was a continuation of the attacks against marshalling yards and communication centres in France in support of Operation Overlord. Dijon, Orleans, Vierzon and Rheims were previous targets. 626 Squadron's contribution was 18 aircraft. As with previous attacks of this type the bomb load consisted of 1,000 and 500 lb high explosive. On this occasion it was again 13,000 lbs with 2,000 gallons of fuel.
Again, we headed southwest from Wickenby to Bridport and crossed the English coast near Weymouth then south east to the French coast and the target. After the attack we returned to Bridport via the Channel Islands then back to Wickenby.
The weather was clear enroute except for some broken patches of medium cloud. There was some thin cloud between 4 – 6,000 feet north of the target area but it cleared before we arrived and all that remained in the target area was some haze.
The first TIs undershot the aiming point by 500 yards, but the Master Bomber was able to direct the main force to overshoot the markers. As the target was clear the marshalling yards were visible and bombing was concentrated on the target though smoke rising to 9,000 feet eventually obscured it.
Photo reconnaissance confirmed the target to be completely covered in craters with all railway tracks cut, the bridge collapsed and embankment roads obliterated. The storage sidings and railcars were so covered with close packed craters an estimation of railcars destroyed could not be made.
Some light flak and sporadic heavy flak was experienced and fighters were active on the homeward journey. A diversionary raid to the low countries drew many night fighters from the main raid.
One of our aircraft sustained flak damage while in the target area and one of 12 Squadron reported an engagement with a JU88. There were no losses.
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Operation No. 10 Caen
On July 18th an early morning raid in direct support of the British Second Army against troops and armour east of Caen was ordered. This was the second occasion we were used as heavy artillery prior to a ground attack against enemy troops. The allied armies at this stage of Overlord were experiencing very stubborn resistance all along the front and even though we had helped by bombing Caen on July 7th resistance east of Caen was still very strong, and a major attack was required.
Bomber Command's force was 667 Lancasters, 260 Halifaxes and 15 Mosquitoes – over 900 aircraft in all. 38 of the Lancasters were from Wickenby with 626 Squadron providing 20. The bomb load was again 13,000 lbs with 11 x 1,000 lbs and 4 x 500 lbs.
Whereas our raid on July 7th was in the evening, on this occasion takeoff commenced at 0300 hours so that we were over the target at first light. The enroute weather consisted of low cloud over England with thick haze at the English coast. It cleared as we crossed the channel and the target area was clear with excellent visibility.
The marking was by low bursting red TIs from H-5 to H-1 then by yellow TIs bursting at 4,000 feet leaving a trail of white smoke. Markers were accurate and punctual except for one which the Master Bomber identified as being 100 yds south. Accurate marking and bombing was essential as we were attacking the enemy a short distance ahead of our own troops, a fact we were all well aware of. Bombing commenced one minute early and excellent concentration was achieved. The aiming point was soon obscured by dust and smoke but the TIs were still visible.
Flak was negligible in the target area but accurate predicted heavy flak was encountered as we left. No enemy fighters were seen as cover was again provided by No. 11 Group.
Three of 12 Squadron and 3 of 626 Squadron aircraft were hit by flak, including ours, but fortunately no one was injured. One of 626 Squadron found a live 1,000 lb bomb rolling on the closed bomb bay doors after leaving the target area. I had failed to release with the rest of the bomb load but was safely jettisoned over the channel.
We arrived back at Wickenby at about 0700 to debrief, breakfast and bed.
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Operation No. 11 Courtrai
Courtrai was a rail centre and marshalling yard some 50 mile west of Brussels, the Belgian capital, through which supplies, reinforcements and equipment passed on their way from Germany to the front. It was our first target not in France and received the attention of 302 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitoes on the night of July 20th. 35 Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed as part of this force and 626 Squadron's contribution was 18.
The bomb load was again 13,000 lbs with the usual mixture of 1,000 and 500 lbs high explosives. Our route took us south east to Orfordness, across the North Sea to the Belgian coast west of Ostend then to the target.
We took off at 2330 and climbed in darkness towards the coast. We passed through a 10/10th layer of cloud over England which cleared as we crossed the North Sea. As we approached the Belgian coast we were startled to see a streak of light from the ground rush vertically past us at tremendous velocity and disappear above us. It was a rocket propelled V2 on it's way to London. One launching site down there somewhere which needed to be dealt with, or perhaps it had been and was already repaired. We were aware, of course, that the German war machine, with it's huge quantity of slave labour, worked to repair everything which we damaged as soon as possible.
In the target area there was no cloud but some haze with fair visibility. As we were climbing out Hicky was having some trouble with the Constant Speed Unit (CSU) on the port outer engine which he and Stan King were unable to stabilize but we carried on with them nursing the problem as this was not a very long trip.
As we approached the target Mosquitoes marked the aiming point with red TI's at H-8. Other pathfinders dropped flares and red and green TIs. The marking was on time and accurate and resulted in bombing being well concentrated on the target. Peter Graves released our bombs at 0156 hours. Photo reconnaissance reported that reception, forwarding and sorting sidings were utterly destroyed. A large water tank was hurled from the centre of the track to property outside the yard. The main loco sheds, passenger station, and a bridge carrying 5 tracks across a road were all virtually destroyed.
Flak defences were light but fighters were extremely active in the light of our marker flares (we could be seen from above silhouetted against them) and near Ostend and over the sea on our way home. The result was predictable, 5 of 626 and 2 of 12 Squadron crews reported combat but the only damage to returning aircraft came from a 626 and 12 Squadron aircraft which collided in circuit over the aerodrome on return. Both landed safely but the incident emphasised the importance of proper height and distance separation in the landing pattern particularly when returning a large number of aircraft in a short space of time. After returning from any operation everyone is stressed and tired and anxious to land as soon as possible.
However, we did suffer major casualties. One of 626 Squadron (F/O Wilson) and one of 12 Squadron (P/O Hagarty) were lost and both crews were killed, and another of 626 Squadron (F/O Bowen) was shot down over the target. The rear gunner was killed but all others either evaded or were taken prisoner.
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[map]
[underlined]COURTRAI. [/underlined].
[underlined] 20/21 JULY 1944 [/underlined].
[page break]
The Wickenby loss rate was 8.57% while Bomber Command's was 2.84%. 626 Squadron lost 2 of 18 – 11.1%. Hicky nursed A2 back home and we landed at Wickenby after being airborne 3 hours 15 minutes.
I should mention here that we have now completed 11 operations, 6 by day and 5 by night (and aborted one) and have been hit by flak only twice and so far never attacked by an enemy aircraft. The navigation section at Wickenby had a sign on the wall which read, "KEEP ON TRACK, KEEP ON TIME, KEEP ON LIVING". A Bomber Command operation was always a concentration in time and space with literally scores of aircraft crossing a target every minute. If you could stay on track and on time you were assured of being somewhere in the centre of a huge gaggle of aircraft. It was generally the stragglers or those who wandered off course who were attacked by fighters. My crew maintained that my ability as a navigator kept us close to the middle of the pack and minimized the risk, but I like to think that it was a crew effort. Everything that went on outside the aircraft around us even if it seemed inconsequential was reported and if necessary acted upon.
Weather on the 21st and 22nd of July was cloudy with drizzle and moderate visibility. On the 21st 28 Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed against Dortmund but the operation was cancelled and on the 22nd 36 were detailed for a daylight operation which was also cancelled. On the 21st we took advantage of the cancellation to carry out some fighter affiliation exercises to keep the gunners sharp. They had not yet had to fire their guns in self defence. On July 23rd the weather was cloudy but visibility was good and our target was announced as Kiel naval base.
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Operation No. 12 Kiel
A force of 519 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, and 10 Mosquitoes were detailed against Kiel and Wickenby's contribution was 33 with 15 of these from 626 Squadron. This was our first attack against a target in Germany and our first purely strategic attack, so we were both excited and apprehensive. Kiel was a port city on the Baltic Sea with shipyards, a naval base and manufacturing facilities known to be well defended.
We took off at 2100 hours on July 23rd and climbed through a layer of cloud with tops about 5,000 feet into the clear with good visibility. We carried 9,000 lb of bombs (18 x 500 lbs). Our route took us to Mablethorpe then across the North Sea to a point west of the North Frisian Islands then east into Germany proper and on to a southerly heading for the bomb run. This route gave me a good opportunity to use the H2S equipment to fix our position accurately before entering enemy territory. H2S was the radar equipment which transmitted a signal from the aircraft to the ground and the returns showed features such as islands, coastlines, etc. So we were on track and on time as we crossed the German coast and headed for Kiel and our target at 21,000 ft.
The target marking was by sticks of flares which were dropped at H-6 followed by Path Finder Force (PFF) marking the aiming point with mixed red and green TIs. The marking was punctual, reasonably accurate but scattered in the early stages. As we were above cloud and the markers were only visible by glowing through the clouds Peter bombed what he could see, as did all the other bomb aimers.
So we were unable to access the accuracy of the bombing until later when photo recce showed that severe damage was caused to the north east portion of the shipyards, buildings and hangars of the airfield and seaplane base were partially destroyed and considerable damage was caused to a large barracks and other buildings in the marine depot. As we left the target area we could see the glow of the fires reflecting on the clouds for a hundred miles.
We experienced heavy flak and some light flak in the target area, some of which appeared to come from ships in the harbour. There were a few searchlights. There was some fighter activity over the target and on the homeward route for distance of about 100 miles.
Two of 12 Squadron's aircraft reported combat and one of 626 Squadron engaged an ME 110 on two occasions some two minutes apart at 16,000 feet.
No damage was reported and no casualties. I have no report on Bomber Command losses for this operation but Wickenby and 626 Squadron had none.
I should mention that F/O Hicks was promoted to F/Lt and I was promoted to F/Sgt during July. These were the only promotions my crew received during our tour.
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[map]
[underlined] KIEL [/underlined].
[underlined] 23/24 JULY 1944 [underlined].
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Operation No. 13 Stuttgart
On July 25th the weather was fair becoming cloudy with intermittent rain when Bomber Command decided to send a force of 412 Lancasters and 138 Halifaxes against Stuttgart, a large manufacturing city in southern Germany. 25 of the Lancasters were from Wickenby with 626 Squadron providing 12 of them.
The bomb load was fairly typical for operations against major German targets being 1 x 2,000 lb high explosive bomb and 12 incendiary clusters. For a mission to southern Germany full fuel tanks of 2,154 gallons were required.
Takeoff commenced at 2058 and seven minutes later we roared down the runway and off for our longest trip so far to a German target. The route took us a long way south before turning east towards the target area. We went to Reading then south across the channel and turned east after we were well south of Paris. We then went almost to the Swiss border before turning north east towards the major centres in that general area in the hope of confusing the defences. Our target could have been any one of half a dozen cities, including Frankfurt, Russelheim, Mannheim, Karlsruhe or Stuttgart. We made our final turn on to the bomb run between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. The weather enroute was cloudy and in the target area there was 10/10th thin cloud with a base about 16,000. At 20,000 feet we were above this layer.
Sticks of flares and red TIs were dropped at H-6, P.F.F. then marked the aiming point with mixed red and green TIs. Release point flares of green and yellow stars were also dropped. The result of all this was that the bombing was scattered as several separate groups of markers each attracted concentrated bombing. Many fires were observed taking hold well and the glow from these was visible for 150 miles on the homeward route. This was the first occasion we had carried incendiary bombs which were designed to create damage by fire as opposed to damage by high explosive.
In spite of our efforts to conceal our route and target the enemy guessed we were going to Stuttgart some 30 minutes before H hour and elements of 14 night fighter Gruppen were deployed against us. Numerous combats were reported but flak was light to moderate over the target itself.
Our route home was also circuitous and was, in general, a reciprocal of our outbound flight. We came back via Reading and let down to arrive over Wickenby and land again after 8 hours 35 minutes of flying time.
Two of 626 aircraft failed to reach the target for quite different reasons. On one the navigator was sick so they returned early and the second was attacked before reaching the target, the bomb doors were damaged and would not open so they were forced to return with their bomb load still on board. They landed safely despite a flat tire[sic] caused by the enemy action. Two other 626 aircraft were damaged by flak as was one of 12 Squadron. Combat with night fighters was reported by 2 of 12 Squadron and 3 of 626 Squadron. There were no losses.
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Operation No. 14 Stuttgart
We returned from our long haul against Stuttgart in the early morning of July 26th, had a day off on the 27th and were detailed for the same target again on the 28th. Whilst we appreciated the necessity to follow up raids on some targets for a variety of strategic reasons those of us who were called upon to make the trip were not too enthusiastic. You may get away with bearding the lion in his den once but not twice in 3 days so we expected strenuous opposition.
The 22 Lancasters from Wickenby were part of a Bomber Command force of 494 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitoes. 626 Squadron's contribution was 10 aircraft.
Our route out and back was very similar to three nights ago with Reading the assembly point. Wickenby takeoff commenced at 2115 hours and again we were amongst the first to go taking off at 2120 hours. The weather had changed somewhat since the 25th. Now we encountered strata cumulus on the outward route with 10/10th low cloud with some slight breaks in the target area.
The target was marked with long sticks of flares and red TIs were dropped at H-6. P.F.F. then marked the aiming point with green and red TIs. Release point flares with green and yellow stars were also dropped so for the main force the marking for both the Stuttgart raids was very similar. Bombing was well concentrated on the markers but because they were scattered so was the bombing. Three groups of fires and 3 large explosions were seen. Photo recce later reported that many parts of the old city were devastated, the main railway station being damaged. It became apparent to myself and my crew that the further we had to travel to reach a target the more scattered the bombing became, and the less likely we were to achieve good concentration. Thus the importance of keeping on track and keeping on time became imperative.
There was moderate flak in the target area but there was intense fighter activity from south west of Paris all the way to and over the target but things were pretty quiet on the way home.
Two of 626 Squadron aircraft were damaged, both by fighter attack. One of 12 Squadron and 3 of 626 reported combats, and two of 12 Squadron (F/O Downing and F/O White, and one of 626 Squadron (F/Sgt Ryan) were shot down. Everyone in all 3 aircraft were killed except F/Sgt Ryan's navigator who became a prisoner. It was F/O Downing's 28th operation – two short of completing his tour. The loss rate for Bomber Command was 7.86%, for Wickenby 13.64%, and for 626 Squadron 10%.
German records for this night show that F/Sgt Ryan's aircraft was engaged in an air battle with a night fighter flown by Martin Becker which had taken off from Nurenburg. Becker's report shows that the Lancaster 626/Y2 was destroyed with serious burning to the starboard wing. "Parts fell off" reads the radio operator's log book. Only the navigator was saved by parachute. All other crew members were interred in a joint grave at Vachinger and in 1948 re-interred in a special cemetery for allied airmen at Durnbach near Munich. 626/Y2 was one of 4 British aircraft destroyed by Martin Becker that night. He was credited with destroying 58 aircraft during the war.
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We flew unmolested back to Wickenby, landed at 0515 hours, debriefed, had some sleep and went home for a few days leave. We did not know until we returned from leave that we had sustained a good sized hole in the starboard tailplane. It was repaired while we were away.
We had now completed almost half of our operational tour without any major problem and while we were unscathed through 14 operations between June 22nd and July 28th, our squadron, 626, had lost 7 aircraft as had 12 Squadron. So it averaged out to one Lancaster lost on each operation we had flown. In terms of crews the record shows that 77 crew members were killed and 12 taken prisoner. I must emphasize that this was the casualty figure for the operations on which I personally flew. There were others taking place when my crew was on stand down and I do not have the figures for these.
I mentioned earlier that I had taken Mary to Aldbourne while I was flying with the squadron. Just about all of the crew members who had wives and families preferred them to be away from the base. Fighting a war from a base in Britain and getting back to that base after each foray against the enemy was a radical departure from the accepted norm but it was the official opinion of the Air Force and the opinion of the combatants that they preferred their loved ones to be somewhere away where they would not be in day to day contact with what was going on. Can you imagine saying to your wife "Oh by the way dear I shall be late tonight I have to go and bomb Germany". The lady's nerves would be shattered after a week or two of this. When I was at O.T.U. Mary had given me a rag doll which looked rather like a gremlin (those of us who have seen gremlins know what they look like). This one was long and skinny with a green jacket and pants and a pointed cap. It was a good luck charm which I carried with me on every operation suspended over my navigation table. It never let me down.
So it was good to head for Aldbourne to see Mary and my family for a few days. Mary was by now about 6 1/2 months pregnant with Keith, our first child, and was in the longing way for sharp tasting fruit. She had already stripped the gooseberries from my mother's bushes and was waiting for apples to ripen a bit. She told me that she and my mother listened to the radio every morning to hear what Bomber Command had been up to the night before and to hear what losses we had sustained, then they waited hoping there would not be a telegram. If they hadn't heard by noon they figured I was still safe. This is certainly not the way to go through a pregnancy and thank goodness it was the only one she had to undergo in this way. My leave was over and I returned to Wickenby on August 6th but not until after a tearful farewell. Mary and my mother did not know if they would ever see me again so it was a poignant departure. I arrived back to typical summer weather for Britain, cloudy with intermittent light rain or showers and occasional sunny periods.
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Operation No. 15 Air-sur-Lys
On August 8th the weather was fair in the morning and afternoon with a build up of thunderstorms in the evening. I have not yet mentioned the American 8th Air Force who by now had been in Britain for some time and were operating by daylight only. Their tactics were different to ours – where we tried to sneak in under cover of darkness and escape without detection, they flew in huge formations and tried to fight their way in and out. Their bomber aircraft, B17s and B24s primarily, were much more heavily armed than we were but carried a significantly smaller bomb load. During this period of the war we were able to dovetail our operations with theirs with considerable success. They would visit a target by day, and we would repeat the effort by night. On this occasion we were to attack oil storage facilities at Air-sur-Lys in the morning but deferred to the 8th Air Force as they wished to attack the same target. So we were somewhat surprised when we were told that the U.S.A.F. had bombed the wrong target and we were going anyway.
Bomber Command detailed a force of 170 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes to attack two oil storage targets. Wickenby supplied 25 aircraft, 13 from 12 Squadron and 12 from 626.
I mentioned the forecast was for thunderstorms in the evening and as takeoff commenced at 2150 large thunderstorms lay across our intended track east of Lincoln. We climbed through the cumulo nimbus clouds but conditions were very difficult and numerous course alterations were necessary to avoid the worst of the weather. Once clear of the storm we were able to head for Orfordness, the assembly point. We were carrying our usual bomb load for this type of operation, 13,000 lbs of 1,000 and 500 lbs high explosive. After leaving Orfordness weather improved and by the time we reached the target there was no cloud and visibility was moderate to good.
Mosquitoes marked the aiming point at H-4 with red TIs. Other pathfinders backed up with green TIs. The reds were scattered but the greens were accurate so crews bombed the greens which resulted in accurate bombing. A large orange explosion at 2334 was followed by a dense column of black smoke indicating a direct hit on an oil storage tank. The glow of fires was visible for 75 miles. Photo recce showed many bombs in the target area; all the building[s] had their roofs stripped and there were hits on the canal wharf and rail tracks.
There was some flak and some fighter opposition was experienced. The fighters appeared to be using searchlights as assembly points but the tactic was not very successful.
We got back to Wickenby after a relatively short flight of 2 hours 55 minutes. One of 12 Squadron's aircraft was hit by flak and sustained some damage but no casualties. Another of 12 Squadron reported an engagement with a "Fishpond" radar indicator in which the rear gunner fired a burst but no enemy was seen.
We suffered our worst problems from the weather. Three aircraft, 2 from 12 and 1 from 626, aborted the operation. One was unable to get out of the Cu Nim and another dropped 12,000 feet in a Cu Nim. Not only are there violent currents and downdraughts in these clouds but also severe icing under certain conditions. The third aircraft to abort had it's starboard outer Constant
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Speed Unit (CSU) unserviceable so returned to base. Interestingly enough we had the same problem on our operation No. 11 to Courtrai, but elected to press on.
There were no losses on this night and we have now reached the halfway mark of our tour of operations. I wonder if the second half will be any more difficult than the first. Our gunners still have not fired their guns in anger. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
On August 9th the weather was not good and we were stood down for the day.
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Operation No. 16 Ferme du Forestal
On August 10th 15 of Wickenby's Lancasters were detailed, as part of a Bomber Command force of 60 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitoes, against flying bomb sites. Our target was Ferme du Forestal in the Pas de Calais area of Northern France.
This was a morning operation with takeoff commencing at 1045 hours. The enroute weather was cloudy, breaking up over the English Channel but thickening again from the French coast. Over the target was a 10/10th layer with a base about 2,000 feet. We carried our normal 13,000 lbs of bombs.
The Mosquitoes marked the aiming point with red TIs cascading from 5,000 feet and leaving smoke trails but because of the cloud in the target area we descended from our bombing height of 10,000 to try and get below the cloud layer and bomb visually. Our aircraft was successful in identifying the target and Peter bombed the launching ramp which he could see clearly.
We were then supposed to climb back to 10,000 feet for the return journey but chose to continue down to treetop level and return "on the deck". As we flew across fields and houses at rooftop level we could clearly see the local inhabitants waving a friendly greeting though I expect some of them were startled to hear a heavy bomber roar overhead. A short distance from the coast we passed near a military rifle range and as we flew past first Peter from the front turret, then successively Bert Jones and Bill Bursey all fired a few rounds in the general direction of the targets. This was much more fun than stooging back at 10,000 feet. As we approached the coast we were fired upon by the local defenders but they didn't expect to see the enemy approach them from the rear so by the time they had us in their sights we were safely out to sea. We climbed back to 10,000 feet over the channel and returned home, after a flight of 3 hours 35 minutes, as briefed.
One of 626 Squadron aircraft aborted the mission as he could not find the target, and one was hit by flak and damaged, but no one was hurt. Bomber Command did not sustain any losses.
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Operation No. 17 Falaise
On August 12th 626 Squadron participated in two attacks against widely divergent targets, one in support of the invasion forces in northern France and the other against a strategic target, Brunswick, Germany, some 120 miles west of Berlin.
I guess we were lucky on this occasion as we were selected with two other crews for the shorter mission to Falaise. We were part of a force of 91 Lancasters, 36 Halifaxes, 12 Stirlings and 5 Mosquitoes detailed for this target.
We took off at 2336 hours and climbed towards Reading on a clear summer night with no cloud. From Reading we headed to Selsey Bill on the English south coast (a place I used to visit as a child on Sunday school outings from Aldbourne) thence across the channel to the target. As we approached the French coast the cloud thickened until over the target it was 10/10th with tops about 8 – 10,000 feet.
The target marking was by flares and red TIs backed up by green TIs. They were plentiful and accurate and in spite of the cloud layer we were able to bomb accurately laying our 13,000 lbs of HE across the target. The bombing was well concentrated and extensive damage was done. The German army used Falaise as a hardened position from which they were determined not to fall back, so the allies were left with no alternative but to attack it. There was some flak, both heavy and light, and some fighter activity in the target area, but the Bomber Command loss rate was nil. We returned back to Wickenby via Reading and landed safely after a trip of just over 3 hours.
In the meantime 22 Lancasters, 11 each from 12 Squadron, and 626 Squadron, were detailed as part of a force of 242 Lancasters and 137 Halifaxes against Brunswick. They commenced their takeoff at 2116 hours so we were able to watch them go before we departed ourselves.
They experienced clear weather until 50 miles from the target when it clouded over to 10/10th in the target area. They carried a bomb load of 1 x 2,000 lbs and 12 clusters of incendiaries, the typical bomb load for strategic targets.
There was no marking carried out on this target so crews bombed using their H2S equipment. H2S shows a differentiation between land and water, but it was much more difficult to differentiate between land and built up areas so bombing was not concentrated and not very effective though scattered damage was seen with hits on the power station and gas works.
Both light and heavy flak were experienced and there was considerable fighter activity particularly from the target back to the North Sea. One 626 aircraft reported several combats but no damage.
One 12 Squadron aircraft (F/O Hancox) was shot down and all on board, except the wireless operator and mid upper gunner were killed, and one 626 Squadron (F/O Bennett) was attacked by a fighter and set on fire. The crew bailed out and 4 were taken prisoner. The wireless operator, mid upper gunner and rear gunner were all killed.
Wickenby's loss rate was 9.09% while that of Bomber Command was 7.12%.
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Operation No. 18 Falaise
By August 14th the allied armies had managed to push forward on both sides of Falaise and had effectively trapped a very large force of the enemy in a pocket extending from Falaise to Posigny. To save allied lives on the ground we were asked to bomb them into surrender.
So 16 Lancasters from Wickenby were part of a force of 411 Lancasters, 352 Halifaxes, and 42 Mosquitoes detailed against this target, which would be our last operation in direct support of the invasion armies. 626 Squadron's contribution was 10 aircraft.
We took off at 1207 carrying a bomb load of 13,000 lbs high explosive and climbed towards Reading, our assembly point, then south to the coast and across the channel. We did not climb to our normal height but levelled out at 7,000 feet as we were briefed to choose our own bombing height depending on weather in the target area. We flew above a cloud layer until we reached the English coast then the cloud thinned as we crossed the channel and the target area was clear. With some 800 aircraft all heading in the same direction it seemed the sky was full, a huge gaggle stretching from the French coast all the way back to the English coast. Fighter aircraft from 11 Group provided cover and could be seen above us.
As we approached the target, and wishing to bomb as accurately as possible, we reduced height to 3,000 feet. We knew that our own troops were within 2,000 years of the aiming point which was marked with green TIs, but which quickly became obscured by smoke. There was considerable fire from the ground as the enemy fought back. Peter released the bombs and we turned away to clear the target area for those behind and as we did so the aircraft received a sudden violent pounding. We had been hit but at this point did not know with what or by whom. Then Bill Bursey's voice from the rear turret, "Skipper I've been hit, and I'm bleeding". The aircraft was still flying so we knew it had not sustained fatal damage. Peter Graves, having dropped his bombs was now free to assist Bill and went to the back of the aircraft. As he made his way he reported flak damage all the way to the rear turret. By now Bert Jones had left the mid upper turret to assist and between them they got Bill out of his turret and forward to the rest bed where they lay him down and administered morphine from the first aid kit carried on all aircraft. Peter then applied field dressings to Bill's wounds and made him as comfortable as possible. The important thing now was to get Bill to a hospital as soon as possible so Hicky and I discussed our options. We elected to go for Boscombe Down which we knew could handle a Lancaster and was close to a major hospital in Salisbury (I knew the area well as Mary and I had been stationed at Old Sarum, next door, some 3 years before).
I calculated a course for Boscombe Down and we were on our way. Over the channel Hicky wanted to check that the aircraft would not do any unusual manoeuvres when placed in the landing configuration so we climbed above a suitable patch of cloud and he and Stan King carried out a practice approach on the cloud including reducing power and speed, lowering the undercarriage, applying full flap and stalling on to the cloud patch as though landing on it. Satisfied that all systems were O.K. we continued to Boscombe Down.
We called Boscombe on the emergency frequency and were given permission to land our
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wounded rear gunner. We were met by an ambulance, doctor and medical team. Bill was removed from the rest bed and transferred by ambulance to the American General Hospital, Salisbury.
We had the aircraft checked by the engineering and technical people at Boscombe to make sure we could take it off again, took a look at all the shrapnel [sic] holes, climbed aboard and headed back to Wickenby, arriving in time for supper.
We were the only Wickenby aircraft to sustain damage but 12 Squadron had one aircraft abort the mission. It was forced to abandon over the target when the electrical supply to the bomb release mechanism failed. He brought his bombs back.
Photo recce assessed that every street in Falaise was blocked by craters or rubble and whole sections of the town were completely devastated. The German troops surrendered shortly after their bombardment.
We later discovered that Bill Bursey had received a gunshot wound to the right leg and a shrapnel wound to the right thigh with a fractured femur. The Americans came round the hospital next day and offered him a "Purple Heart" for shedding blood against the enemy. Bill declined with thanks. He did not return to the squadron and never flew with us again. The next day we were joined by Sgt. Stott, his replacement, who was also a sole survivor from another crew. So now out of the seven crew members, 3 of us were sole survivors, Saletto, Stott and I.
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Operation No. 19 Stettin
On the night of August 16th 461 Lancasters of Bomber Command were detailed against Stettin. Wickenby's contribution was 24 aircraft shared equally between the two squadrons. Stettin was a major city on the Baltic and some 120 miles north east of Berlin. It is now part of Poland. It was a long, long way from Wickenby and entailed a crossing of the North Sea from Mablethorpe to a point near the Danish coast at 5600N 0800E then due east across Denmark to Longitude 1045E, then south east across the Kattegat, the Danish island passing west of Copenhagen, and the Baltic Sea to the target. Much of the time we expected to be under enemy attack as Denmark had been occupied by German troops for some time.
We took off at 2041 hours carrying 1 x 2,000 lb and 12 incendiary clusters, rendezvoused at Mablethorpe and headed across the North Sea climbing as high as we could get with a full fuel and bomb load. The weather enroute was clear across the North Sea and Denmark building up to 10/10th cloud with tops at 17,000 feet over Germany but cleared just short of the target which was free of cloud. Our outward trip was long but relatively uneventful. On these long North Sea crossings I always attempted to get as many accurate GEE fixes as possible prior to losing it to the enemy jamming. It was very important to get an appreciation of the wind, to compare it to that forecast and to calculate a correction to be applied to courses and speeds once we were out of range of GEE. So I always attempted to get a fix and calculate the wind every 6 minutes. This gave me a good understanding of what was happening with regard to the weather, which always stood us in good stead when I had to navigate on DR (Dead Reckoning) as we became further away from England. There was light to moderate flak at isolated points on route and some fighter activity. Because there were good coastline responses on the H2S I was able to navigate without difficulty to the target.
Flares and green TIs were dropped at H-6 and P.F.F. marked the aiming point with mixed red and green salvoes backed by red TIs. There were so many markers and decoys operated by the enemy that Peter had difficulty identifying which one he should bomb. In the confusion of aircraft, flak, tracer fire and target markers we overshot and rather than bomb the wrong target went round again. With everyone keeping a sharp eye out for other aircraft in our vicinity Hicky closed the bomb doors and made a gentle turn to the left and eventually a complete 360 degree turn and we came over the target a second time. This time Peter selected the proper target marker and the bombs were duly released. We were all glad to leave the target area. Going across the target and being shot at once is dangerous enough but twice? Phew!! We left the area with relief and headed north west to cross Denmark then south west across the North Sea back home. There was some flak and isolated fighter activity on the way home but Wickenby did not sustain any losses. However, 2 of 12 Squadron reported combat where the gunners fired but were not fired upon and 3 aircraft, 2 from 12, and 1 from 626 were hit by flak. There were no casualties. Bomber Command losses were 5 aircraft – 1.08%.
The attack was considered successful with fires in the centre and south east of the city though considerable bombing was attracted by the decoys or wrong marking. Photo recce
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showed severe damage to shipbuilders Oderwerke A.G., sugar refinery and naval fitting out yard. Also a large area of devastation in the town centre.
This operation took us 8 1/2 hours from takeoff to landing back at Wickenby and the crew becomes very tired particularly on a long stooge home across the sea. Once clear of the Danish coast we are reasonably safe from enemy attack so Hicky put the aircraft on auto pilot and everyone relaxes. I am sure there were periods when I was the only one awake and the only reason for this was that it was my job to get us back home.
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Operation No. 20 Russeheim [sic]
On August 25th a force of 412 Lancasters were ordered against the Opel Works at Russelheim [sic]. Among them were 18 aircraft from each of Wickenby's two squadrons: a maximum effort. On July 25th and 28th we had paid visits to Stuttgart which together with Russelheim, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Karlsruhe form a heavily defended portion of southern Germany. Our trip to Stuttgrat [sic] on July 28th had not been a happy one for Wickenby aircraft so we approached Russelheim with some trepidation.
We carried a full fuel load of 2,154 gallons and a bomb load of 1 x 4,000 lb (Cookie) and 12 clusters of 4lb incendiaries. Our route was quite similar to that used previously for this area. Reading was the assembly point then south across the channel to a point S.W. of Paris, then east north east in a series of zig zags to the target. The weather was good all the way and the target area was clear with slight haze. Takeoff commenced at 1957 hours.
The target was well marked following sticks of flares dropped at H-7. The aiming point was then marked with mixed red and green TIs and backed up by red TIs.
The bombing was well concentrated and the fires could be seen for 150 miles. Photo recce showed severe damage to the plant with all the major units hit, including assembly shops, research labs, drop forge, machine shop and aircraft engine shop.
The target area was, as expected, well defended with intense heavy flak and very active fighters which made contact with the bomber stream in the target area and well into the return journey.
One of 12 Squadron aborted the mission with a sick navigator. Seven of 12 Squadron's aircraft reported combat with night fighters and one was so badly damaged that it crash landed on return and was written off. The only casualty in this aircraft was the navigator who suffered superficial wounds. One other 12 Squadron aircraft was hit by flak. One 626 Squadron aircraft suffered damage caused, it was believed, by an unusual incident. Shortly after bombing the aircraft was thrown out of control by a nearby explosion. All four engines cut but the pilot and engineer managed to get them restarted and flew home safely. It is believed the explosion was another aircraft blowing up. It is interesting that while 7 of 12 Squadron reported combat none of 626 did. However, 626 did lose two aircraft. F/O Harris who, together with 3 members of his crew were taken prisoner, the other 3 were killed and F/O Whetton who was killed together with all of his crew except the bomb aimer who was taken prisoner.
The Bomber Command loss rate for this operation was 3.64%, that for Wickenby 5.56%, while that for 626 Squadron, 11.1%.
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[map]
[underlined] RUSSELHEIM. [/underlined]
[underlined] 25/26 AUGUST 1944. [/underlined]
[page break]
Operation No. 21 Stettin
We had visited Stettin on August 16th and had been briefed several times between the 16th and 29th but weather had forced cancellations. So here we are on August 29th poised to go once again. The crews involved were concerned that our intentions may already have been communicated to the enemy and the element of surprise lost. So we expected a difficult time.
The total force consisted of 402 Lancasters and one Mosquito. For Wickenby the contribution was 31 aircraft. For 626 Squadron it was again a maximum effort of 18 aircraft. We were of course carrying a maximum fuel load of 2,154 gallons and our bomb load on this occasion was a total of 8,440 lbs - 1 x 4,000 lb H.E., 660 x 4 lb incendiaries and 60 x 30 lb incendiaries. If you add in 7 men, thousands of rounds of ammunition and the various other stores we carried such as bundles of "window" we were very close to our maximum takeoff weight of 72,000 lbs. Window was the code name for specially designed metal strips which, when dropped from an aircraft, gave a similar radar response to the aircraft itself. We dropped them by the thousands when in an area of high enemy defensive activity to confuse the defenses.
We were among the first to takeoff and on this occasion were followed down the runway by F/O "Lofty" Lofthouse whose crew shared our Nissen hut. As we left the ground and climbed away Lofty was moving along the runway when his feet slipped on the rudder pedal and he "ground looped" the aircraft. A ground loop is a rotation in the horizontal plane and inevitably tears off the undercarriage as it did on this occasion, the story was that Lofty required wooden blocks attached to the rudder pedals to reach them properly and his feet had slipped while pumping the pedals to keep the aircraft straight under full power. Sgt. Stott from his observation point in our rear turret looked right down on this incident and yelled to warn us all. In the few seconds it took for the rest of us to have a look every door and hatch on Lofty's aircraft had opened and seven bodies were running in every direction. Fortunately for everyone his bombs did not explode. Had they done so not only would his crew have been killed but we would have been blown out of the sky as we were very close. A fully laden aircraft now lay in the centre of the runway so it could no longer be used. We were O.K. as we were already airborne but there was a delay on the ground while the whole matter was sorted out, the runway changed and the departure of the rest of the force reorganized. I have spoken recently with Ernie Peressini, the bomb aimer in Lofty's crew, who now lives in Victoria, and he remembers the incident vividly even after 50 years.
We rendezvoused at Mablethorpe and set course north east across the North Sea but remained below a layer of cloud with tops at 5,000 feet to stay below the enemy's radar warning system. We were routed further north than on our last visit to Stettin passing over northern Denmark before heading south east towards the target. We were so far north that to get to the target we had to fly over Sweden which was a neutral country. This was deliberate and we were briefed to head for Sweden if we were unable to get home for any reason. Better to land in a neutral country than to be taken prisoner of war. We stayed low across the sea until approaching the Danish coast then climbed to our operational altitude and remained there until near the target. Below us were layers of thin cloud with tops at 17,000 feet.
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The target marking was punctual and accurate. At H-7 the target was illuminated by long sticks of flares followed by red and green TIs on the aiming point.
We experienced some light flak over Denmark but the serious problem on this night was fighters. The main force was plotted over the Danish coast and interceptions commenced immediately and continued to the target with a few on the return from the target. There was heavy flak in the target area, some bursts being so large they could only have come from high calibre naval guns. Searchlights were also very active. As we were approaching above the clouds in moonlight it was not difficult to see or be seen. As we neared the target the Master Bomber called us down below the cloud layer which was between about 12 and 14,000 feet. We let down and bombed at 12,000 feet.
The results of the bombing were good because we could see the markers as visibility was clear below the cloud layer. As well as high explosive we were all carrying large quantities of incendiaries and very soon fierce fires were burning with smoke almost to our bombing altitude. P.R.U. reported that buildings in Stettiner Oderwerke Shipbuilding A.G. were gutted, Labelsdorf Bahnhof Gasworks destroyed, telegraph office and five factories severely damaged. Three merchant vessels were sunk in the port.
We turned north west after bombing to head back to northern Denmark before returning across the North Sea. The fighter activity decreased as we left the target largely because a well timed force of Mosquitoes attacked Berlin and this drew them away from us. Letting down in the target area involves risks which are not normally there when all aircraft fly over at their predetermined altitude. In this case we were below someone else who did not reduce as low as we and released his bombs while above us. The consequence was that we were hit in the port wing by an incendiary bomb dropped from above. Fortunately for us it smashed right through the wing without damaging vital controls or control surfaces and did not set us on fire. We were very fortunate.
Two of Wickenby's aircraft aborted this operation. I have already mentioned F/O Lofthouse. The second abort was a 12 Squadron aircraft which started out but the wireless operator lost his nerve after setting course so the crew returned. Incidents of nerve failure on the part of crew members were not very frequent, fortunately, but I am sure there were times when we all felt like this poor wireless operator. I think what prevented more of it was the fact that everyone felt an overwhelming loyalty to their crew and would not do anything to let the crew down. On the rare occasion when it did happen the victim left the squadron immediately and was posted to a unit on the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames estuary, east of London for disposal. The R.A.F. used the term L.M.F., Lack of Moral Fibre, to describe these unfortunate souls and their hasty removal from the squadron was to ensure that their inability to cope did not spread. After all, we were all living on the edge wondering each time whether we would return.
Four of 626 Squadron crews reported combat with night fighters, two on the outward trip, one over the target and one on the return. Five of our aircraft sustained damage, including ours, being holed in the port wing, but others were more severe and one had to land at Dunholme Lodge being unable to get back to Wickenby.
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One of 12 Squadron (F/O Spurrs) was shot down over the target. Everyone who managed to bail out was taken prisoner but the two gunners were killed. One of 626 Squadron (F/O Hawkes) was attacked over the Kattegat on the way towards the target and he was able to maintain control only long enough to allow the crew to bail out, but they were close enough to Sweden that they all landed there and were interned. They were carrying a second pilot along for experience so there were 8 instead of the usual 7 aboard. The advice to head for Sweden if possible was sound.
F/O Hawkes later reported "On September 1st we were taken to Falun and kept for 2 days in an interment [sic] camp. On September 3rd we were billeted in the Solliden Pensionat Hotel, where we stayed until October 24th. On that day we were taken to Stockholm and stayed at the Continental Hotel until October 27th when we were sent by air to the U.K." On August 31st, 2 days after they were shot down, the squadron received the news that they were safe.
We left the target area and headed north west passing over Malmo, Sweden which, being neutral, was well lit. We climbed across the Baltic to 20,000 feet as we still had to cross Denmark which was defended. We were glad we did as the squadron aircraft which was attacked by a night fighter in this area was flying at only 14,000 feet.
We successfully negotiated our crossing of Denmark and proceeded out to sea before commencing a gradual let down towards the English coast. At 10,000 feet we took off our oxygen masks and breathed normally for the first time for several hours. Hicky, as was his wont, lit his pipe and the rest of us in the cabin enjoyed a cigarette. We came back into GEE range so I was able to fix our position accurately and get us safely home. We landed at Wickenby without further incident having been airborne 9 hours 35 minutes which turned out to be the longest of our 30 operations. Wickenby loss rate was 6.45% while that of Bomber Command was 5.71%. 626 Squadron's loss rate was 5.55%, one out of the 18 which were detailed to go, or 5.88% one out of the 17 which actually went, but in this particular incident the crew, having landed safely in Sweden, were all returned to the squadron.
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[map]
[underlined] STETTIN. [/underlined]
[underlined] 29/30 AUGUST 1944. [/underlined]
[page break]
Operation No. 22 St. Requier
We had not arrived back from Stettin until the early morning of August 30th (about 0630) so by the time we had debriefed, had a meal and got to bed the sun was high in the sky. We did not fly again that day but on the following day August 31st we carried out another attack against a V2 rocket store at St. Requier.
Twenty Lancasters from Wickenby were detailed as part of a Bomber Command force of 418 Lancasters, 147 Halifaxes and 36 Mosquitoes raiding 9 rocket storage sites. There were 10 from each squadron. St. Requier was the most southerly of the Pas de Calais targets.
We took off at 1325 hours carrying 15,000 lbs of H.E. (13 x 1,000 and 4 x 500 lb) and climbed towards Reading our assembly point, climbing through a cloud layer with tops at 17,000 feet. We encountered severe icing as we passed through the clouds. Ice builds up on leading edges of aerofoils and on the propellers. Leading edges were always de-iced if we knew we would be experiencing icing, to try and prevent build up reaching dangerous proportions. It was always reassuring to know that it was not building up on the propellers when you could hear the chunks of ice hitting the side of the fuselage as it flew off. Disconcerting at first, but reassuring as one got used to it. We cleared the tops and flew towards the target at 18,000 feet. The cloud formation changed to broken as we crossed the channel and approached the target.
The aiming point was marked by red TIs which were backed up with green and yellow throughout the attack. The marking was scattered consequently the bombing was not concentrated and some bombs fell between the target and the village. There was only light flak near Abbeville and little was experienced in the target area so there was really no excuse for not pressing home the attack.
Two of Wickenby's aircraft aborted this operation both under rather unusual circumstances. One of 12 Squadron was instructed to abandon by the Master Bomber and one of 626 found the target covered by cloud. I would think that both probably arrived late.
In spite of there not being a heavy concentration of flak what there was was predicted with great accuracy and no less than 5 of Wickenby's aircraft were hit by it, some with serious results. Two of 12 Squadron were hit, one so severely that he crash landed at Woodbridge. The pilot and second pilot received shrapnel wounds to the right leg, the bomb aimer had a shattered left foot and wounds to the right foot and the flight engineer had shrapnel wounds to the right ankle and left wrist. All of these crew members were at the front of the aircraft so the exploding flak was very close to the front. In crash landing at Woodbridge they went to an airfield which was specially equipped to handle such emergencies. The R.A.F. had equipped several airfields very close to the east coast for such eventualities - Manston, Woodbridge and Manby amongst them. They were equipped with long, wide runways, foam, special lighting to disperse fog, heavy equipment to move crashed aircraft quickly out of the way and of course, emergency medical facilities.
Three of 626 Squadron were also hit by flak. One had no casualties but one was damaged so that he was forced to feather both inboard engines and jettison his bombs. He made an
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emergency landing at Manston. The third (F/O Oram) suffered perspex wounds to the face and his flight engineer shrapnel wounds to the left leg. This is the same F/O Oram who on July 6th was hit and, with his crew, had to abandon his aircraft over the channel with the loss of his gunners.
We flew unmolested back to Wickenby and landed safely after a trip of 3 1/4 hours. The Bomber Command loss rate was 1%. All of Wickenby's aircraft got back to England but not to Wickenby so officially we had losses.
And so passed the month of August 1944. We had flown 8 operations since returning from leave and been briefed for several others which were cancelled for one reason or another. Of the 8, five were by night, 3 of which were long flights into Germany (2 to Stettin). We had sustained damaged to our aircraft on two occasions and had lost rear gunner Bill Bursey to injury.
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Operation No. 23 Le Havre
The allied armies had advanced south and spread outward from their initial bridgehead and it was now time to head eastward along the coastal areas and towards Paris. A deep water port was needed and the obvious one was Le Havre so on September 6th a force of 311 Lancasters, 30 Mosquitoes and 3 Stirlings was detailed against the German fortifications at Le Havre. This was the same Le Havre that had opened up on us when we were all alone on July 4th. Wickenby's contribution was 21 Lancasters of which 626 provided 11.
The weather was mainly cloudy with showers and thunder all day so it was decided to go in the evening but even then there was no improvement.
Takeoff commenced at 1656 hours and we followed a route pretty well due south taking us east of London to the target area. Our bomb load was 15,000 lbs H.E. We experienced 10/10th cloud all the way to the target and in the target area the base was at 7,000 feet with heavy rain.
The target marking commenced with green TIs at H-5 backed up with red TIs bursting at 4,000 feet and cascading leaving white smoke trails. Though we were above cloud these TIs burned with such intensity they could be seen and we had the added advantage of H2S. I was able to pinpoint the target and confirm for Peter that he was running up on the correct aiming point. There was some heavy flak in the target area but it was not severe. The bombing was accurate, a large explosion at 1927 hours was followed by flames and black smoke – probably a fuel storage.
One of 626 Squadron aborted on instructions from the Master Bomber.
Bomber Command sustained no losses on this operation and Wickenby aircraft all returned without damage. We landed back at Wickenby after a flight of 3 1/2 hours.
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Operation No. 24 Le Havre
On September 10th we were called upon to make a repeat visit to Le Havre to attack strong points which had survived the attack of September 6th. Bomber Command dispatched a force of 521 Lancasters, 426 Halifaxes and 45 Mosquitoes of which 33 Lancasters were from Wickenby. 626's contribution was 17 aircraft of a total force of nearly 1,000 attacking various targets.
Takeoff commenced at 1643 hours and we climbed on a southerly heading through broken cumulus cloud with tops about 10,000 feet. Above the cloud the sky was clear all the way to the target area with good visibility. We again carried 15,000 lb of H.E. The marking was similar to our attack of September 6th with green TIs and H-5 followed by red TIs bursting at 4,000 feet leaving trails of white smoke. However, on this occasion as the visibility was good the bomb aimers were able to see the aiming point and the bombing was concentrated in this area. Near misses were reported on 6 gun batteries, close enough to incapacitate them, and damage to business property.
There was no opposition and no losses or casualties were sustained. We arrived back at Wickenby after just under 4 hours of flying time. The army captured Le Havre shortly after.
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Operation No. 25 Frankfurt
I mentioned earlier there were a number of German cities in the southern part of the state which were considered good strategic targets. On September 12th we were detailed for another attack on Stuttgart which was changed at 1345 hours to Frankfurt. Wickenby's contribution to a force of 378 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitoes was 34 Lancasters, of which 626 Squadron supplied 15. We must have had an influx of new crews because no less than 7 of the 15 carried second pilots along for experience before going with their own crews. Our second pilot was F/O Hollowell.
The bomb load for this operation was 1 x 4,000 lb., 14 x 4 clusters and 120 x 4 lb incendiaries. The fuel load was 1,900 gallons, not quite full tanks. We took off at 1808 hrs.
Our route was fairly typical for an operation to this area. We headed for Reading, then south to cross the coast at Beachy Head. We then proceeded [sic] to 48°N 05°E passing north of Paris then north east towards the target. After bombing we turned west, crossed the French coast near Calais and home via Orfordness.
The weather en route was clear all the way and the target was also clear with some slight haze. Because we would be flying over friendly territory for much of the outward leg we were allowed to fly at low level and climb to our bombing height prior to reaching the target area. On the leg north of Paris another aircraft flying close to us flicked his navigation light on and off a couple of times. Bert Jones reported this from his mid upper turret and while we were considering the significance Stan King said "My God, we've got our nav lights on". They were promptly switched off. Our thanks went out to our unknown benefactor. It's not advisable to assist the enemy by lighting up your location.
When we reached the target we found that the Pathfinder Force had dropped long sticks of flares at H-7. The aiming point was then marked with mixed salvoes of red and green TIs and kept marked with red TIs. Crews were able to identify the target by the light of the flares. Most target markers were just south of the marshalling yards.
The bombing was concentrated though tended to spread a little to the west. Smoke rose to some 5,000 feet and the fires were visible for 100 miles. Photo recce showed that large areas of the city were severely damaged. The main railway station was half destroyed with damage to workshops and engine sheds. Twelve factories, the gas works and power station were also damaged.
Some light flak and moderate heavy flak was experienced up to about 18,000 feet but we managed to get above it. Numerous searchlights were coning, believed to be cooperating with night fighters which were active inward, over the target and outward.
One of 626 Squadron was coned over Mannheim, extensively damaged by heavy flak and landed at Woodbridge at the emergency airfield there. Two of 12 Squadron were attacked and damaged by night fighters. The mid upper gunner of one received gunshot wounds to both legs.
One of 626 Squadron (F/O Thorpe) was attacked by a night fighter and destroyed. Thorpe, his wireless operator and mid upper gunner were taken prisoner, all other crew members
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including the second pilot, who was along for experience, were killed. It was his first and only operation. His crew were returned to the Lancaster Finishing School to crew with another pilot.
We arrived back at Wickenby after flying for 7 hours 55 minutes. F/O Hollowell thanked us for the experience and went on to complete a tour with his own crew.
The Bomber Command loss rate was 4.39%, that of Wickenby 2.94% and 626 Squadron 6.66%
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FRANKFURT 12-9-44
626 SQUADRON
A/C
(a) Captain - 2nd PIL. (b) Nav. - W/Op (c) B/A - F/E (d) MuG - R/G
JB661 C2
(a) F/O G.A. Price - P/O R. McAinsh (b) Sgt. F.B. Beaton - Sgt. B. Walley (c) F/S T.H. Lightfoot - Sgt. S.A. Frew (d) Sgt. V.A. Lane - Sgt. J. Lee
LM113F2
(a) F/O T.H. Ford (b) F/S J.M. Jackson - W/O H.A.S. Tween (c) F/S J.C. Payne - Sgt. R.A. Wood (d) Sgt. J.C. Moore - Sgt. P.L. Potter
PD295 B2
(a) F/O G. Lofthouse (b) P/O R.C. McMillan - F/S A.V. Bettney (c) W/O E. Peressini - Sgt. K.W.T. Adams (d) F/S R.W. Smith - F/S F.C. Child
LM141 D2
(a) F/O D.S. Nelson (b) F/O T.R. Murray - P/O R.J. Lacey (c) F/O V.H. Halstead - Sgt. O. Old (d) Sgt. A.M. Walker - Sgt. C.C. Merriman
PB412 Z2
(a) F/O W.J. Cook (b) F/S H. Sulz - Sgt. L.A. Rolfe (c) F/S K.C. McCormick - Sgt. D.W. Garside (d) Sgt. A.H. Jones - F/S E. Smith
PA990 R2
(a) F/O G.A. Green - F/O R.J. Tierney (b) F/S W.A. Stephens - F/S W.A. Dickson (c) F/O K.E.F. Taylor - Sgt. O.F. Farley (d) Sgt. W. Norman - F/S G.C. Newton
ND163 T2
(a) F/O R.A. Collens - P/O L.A. Titmuss (b) F/Lt. J.H. Leuty - Sgt. K.T. Rainbird (c) F/S W.E. Birch - Sgt. H.S. Merry (d) Sgt. E.W. Roberts - Sgt. H. Davy
PB411 Y2
(a) F/O H. Winder - Sgt. R.C. Yule (b) P/O J.J. McDevitt - Sgt. A.W. Reid (c) F/S M. Parker - Sgt. H.S.G. Rich (d) Sgt. R.A. Albone - P/O W.G. Green
LL959 A2
(a) F/Lt. A.C. Hicks - F/O R.A. Hollowell (b) F/S K.J. Brind - F/S J. Saletto (c) F/O P.M. Graves - Sgt. S.G. King (d) Sgt. A.B. Jones - Sgt. D. Stott
PD287 U2
(a) F/O J.Y.N. Walbank - F/O R.M.Smith (b) F/S L.A. Sparrow - F/S J.M. Dewar (c) F/S R.N. Purves - Sgt. E. Shepherd (d) F/S G. Derrington - F/S J.C. Harris
LM137 G2
(a) F/O D.R.B. Thorpe - F/O G.T. Bolderstn (b) F/S A.C.L. Cox - Sgt. J. Peart (c) F/S S.E. Dunnett - Sgt. F.C. Foster (d) F/S R.H. Cross - F/S L.F. Beattie
NF907 K2
(a) F/O E. Fitzsimmons (b) F/S G.E. Dunsford - Sgt. C. Summers (c) F/S J.V. Gray - Sgt. D.W. Richards (d) Sgt. D. De Silva - F/O G.A. Pearce
LM689 N2
(a) F/O R.G. Harvey (b) Sgt. S.J. Partridge - Sgt. J.L. Nuttall (c) F/O R. Kelly - Sgt. R. Heys (d) Sgt. J.K. Hogan - Sgt. G.T. McMasters
PD 286 02
(a) F/O J.C. Campbell (b) F/O R. Cluston - F/S R.C. Champagne (c) F/S W.F. Palmer - Sgt. J. Akhurst (d) Sgt. J.G. Reynolds - Sgt. A.D. Winser
LL961 S2
(a) F/O E.W. Parker (b) Sgt. E. Arrowsmith - F/S J.D. McPherson (c) Sgt. J. Tordoff - Sgt. R.H. Westrop (d) Sgt. W.J. Standen - Sgt. G. Hopkins
AIR 27-2146 PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE
With the weather fair to fine, 378 Lancasters carried out the last major attack on Frankfurt of the war.
12 Squadron dispatched 19 aircraft and all returned safely. 626 Squadron detailed 16 aircraft but F/O Jones failed to take off. On return, F/O Collens landed at Woodbridge with flak damage. LM137 UM-G2, F/O Thorpe failed to return.
F/O D.R.B. Thorpe. PIL.
F/O G.T. Balderstone RCAF 2nd PIL. Killed.
P/O A.C.L. Cox NAV. Killed.
Sgt. J. Paert. [sic] W/T
F/Sgt. S.E. Dunnett B/A. Killed.
Sgt. F.C. Foster F/E. Killed.
F/Sgt. R.H. Cross. MuG
F/Sgt. L.F. Beattie R/G. Killed.
[page break]
Operation No. 26 Rheine-Hopsten
The allied armies had by now broken out from their original bridgehead and pushed north west through Belgium into Holland, and a strategy was conceived for a massive airborne landing using gliders and paratroops in the Arnhem area to create a bridgehead across the Rhine River and ultimately link up with the forward moving army. On September 16th our job was to neutralize German held airfields in the area to minimize the opposition to our landings the next day. Different squadrons and different bases were allocated to specific targets. This was a pinpoint precision attack rather than area bombing.
Wickenby's target was the airfield at Rheine-Hopsten, other squadrons were given other targets. Thirty one Lancasters, 19 from 12 Squadron, and 12 from 626 were detailed for this attack.
Because of the nature of the target, buildings, runways, etc. we carried 10,000 lbs of H.E., in the form of 20 x 500 lb bombs. This was a night attack and we took off at 2200 hours climbing to Mablethorpe, then across the North Sea to a point on the Dutch coast just north of The Hague and so to the target.
The weather en route was good with small amounts of cloud and the target area was clear with slight ground haze. The target marking was carried out by "Oboe" equipped Mosquitoes. Oboe was a modification of the GEE navigation system used for precision bombing and marking. As the allied armies moved across Europe they overran some of the Jamming stations so we were able to use our navigation aids further east. On this night I was able to get accurate GEE fixes all the way to the target. So as we approached the target and I advised the crew we were there the target markers appeared before us. They consisted of red TIs. We had already opened the bomb doors and Peter had fused the bombs so release was a simple matter.
We experienced a small amount of light flak in the target area and night fighters were active but we did not engage in any night fighter activity. The night was very dark so visual assessment of the attack was not possible but photo recce showed that the airfield sustained considerable damage. At least 75 craters were created including 45 on the main runway and 3 on the secondary with 13 on the taxi way. The airfield was out of commission for 48 hours which was the object of our exercise.
The glider troops landed at Arnhem the next day but their effort (and ours) was for nought as they were never able to link up with the main army, became over extended, and were either captured or killed. A costly mistake, it was made into a very successful film, called "A Bridge Too Far" after the war.
Two of 12 Squadron reported combat with night fighters but no damage and no casualties were sustained by Wickenby aircraft on this night. Nor indeed did Bomber Command lose any aircraft. We arrived back at Wickenby and landed after a flight of almost 4 hours. F/O Hollowell completed his first operation with his own crew on this night.
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We were now into our last 5 operations. The conventional wisdom among Bomber Command crews was that if you weren't shot down during your first 5 missions, when you were inexperienced, you would be during your last 5 when you became over confident. We hoped our last few would be against lightly defended targets. Some hope, as it turned out.
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Operation No. 27 Calais
The allied armies had now fanned out across Europe but had bypassed a number of strong points along the French and Belgian coasts where the opposition was very stiff. One such strong point was Calais and the area surrounding the city which was our target on September 20th. This was an operation which had previously been planned for the 21st but was brought forward to the 20th. The Bomber Command force consisted of 437 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes and 40 Mosquitoes. Wickenby's contribution was 39 Lancasters of which 626 Squadron provided 20. We assembled at a point east of London and headed straight for the target in the afternoon, but conditions were very cloudy with poor visibility which improved a little as we crossed the channel. In the target area there were thin layers of stratus with tops about 4,000 feet.
We carried 15,000 lbs of 1,000 and 500 lb H.E. Target marking was by green TIs from H-5 and H-3 then red TIs bursting at 2,000 feet leaving a trail of white smoke. The Master Bomber called us down to 3,000 feet and we bombed from there against the TIs which were accurately placed on the aiming point. Our own troops were only some 2.000 yards away so accurate bombing was mandatory, and as there was no real opposition not too difficult.
One interesting aspect of this operation was revealed by photo recce - a gun casement which received several direct hits only suffered shallow depressions in it's roof. Reinforced concrete several feet thick required much more than 1,000 lb bombs to do any real damage.
There was no damage to any of Wickenby's aircraft but we did have great difficulty getting back on the ground when we arrived home, as the weather had deteriorated significantly while we were away. We landed at 1750 hours after almost 4 hours flying. Comber Command loss rate was 0.15% - one aircraft.
It was now some seven weeks since we had leave and the rule of thumb was every six weeks or so, so off we went for a few days vacation. Aldbourne looked about the same as it always did but Mary had increased her measurements somewhat. She was now about 3 weeks away from her due date and was pretty uncomfortable. Stan King was getting engaged on this leave and had invited us to attend the party at his parents home on the outskirts of London. My mother did not want us to go as she was worried Mary might give birth on the train or in a London taxi or somewhere. However, being young and impetuous we decided to take the chance, so off we went to London. We were to stay at the King home by invitation of Stan's parents but when the party was in full swing the air raid sirens went off and we all trooped to the air raid shelter in the basement of their home, and there we stayed. It was ironic that in spite of the raids the R.A.F. and U.S.A.F. had carried out against the V1 and V2 launching sites the Germans were still able, as late as September 1944, to submit London to harassing air raids.
As a result of their efforts we never did get to bed and the next day took the train back to Hungerford and the bus to Aldbourne.
The few days went all too quickly but now we only had 3 more operations to complete and I felt very confident of success.
50
[page break]
Operation No. 28 Westkapelle
At the beginning of October there was some uncertainty about who should be going where. For example – on October 1st 40 aircraft were to standby for a tactical target in Northern France. At 1415 the squadrons were stood down. Then at 1730 they were again placed on standby for an attack on Bergen, which was cancelled at 1845 hours. On October 2nd at 1100 hours the squadrons were stood down and at 1645 18 aircraft were ordered to standby for an operation against Westkapelle tomorrow. And so it was that on October 3rd we became part of a force of 252 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes detailed against tactical targets in north west Europe. The 18 Wickenby aircraft were equally divided between the squadrons.
As I have already mentioned the allied armies moved out from their bridgehead but bypassed the coastal ports and cities and "mopped up" later when they had been softened by the air forces. They now needed a major supply port in Belgium and Antwerp had been captured but it's approaches were still under German guns. The island of Walcheren dominates the sea approach and was well defended. So the idea was to breach the sea wall at Westkapelle, at the western tip of the island, and allow flood waters to overrun the German positions.
A "Dambuster" type raid but with ordinary high explosive bombs. We carried 12,500 lbs consisting of one 4,000 lb, 8 x 1,000 lb and one 500 lb H.E. We took off at noon, headed to Aldeburgh, near Ipswich, then straight across the North Sea to the target. There was a cloud layer right from base to target but the base was at 5,000 feet so we stayed below where visibility was good.
The target marking was by green TIs at H-5 backed up by red TIs. The pathfinders were punctual, their initial marking undershot slightly but it didn't matter as we could see the target clearly as we approached. There were some small puffy clouds below the main layer so to make absolutely certain we went as low as was safe. We dropped our bombs from 1,500 feet which is, in fact, below the safety height for a 4,000 pounder and we felt the compression hit the aircraft as it exploded. We climbed away from the target and as we turned for home could see we had made a hole in the sea wall and water was already pouring through.
The photo recce report stated that the original breach was enlarged to approximately 130 yards due to the corrosive action of water passing through. A vast area was inundated, with sea water at least 2 miles inland and to the boundaries of Middleburg and Flushing.
There was some flak activity in the target area, mostly from Flushing, but Wickenby aircraft did not experience any damage or casualties.
The squadron commander, who participated in this operation had an unusual experience when he came under what may have been a mock attack by two fighter aircraft believed to be Mustangs. His rear gunner fired a short burst which appeared to be sufficient to drive them off as they were not seen again.
We landed back at Wickenby after a flight of 2 hours 50 minutes.
Bomber Command did not lose any of it's aircraft in today's efforts.
51
[page break]
Operation No. 29 Saarbrucken
While the British and Canadian armies pushed north east through Belgium and Holland, the American Third Army was heading east into Germany and were now some 20 miles from Saarbrucken and the other industrial towns which we had previously attacked in this area. Our attack on Saarbrucken on October 5th was at the request of the advancing Americans.
Thirty-nine Lancasters from Wickenby were part of a force of 531 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitoes detailed against Saarbrucken. 626 Squadron supplied 19. This was, of course, a night operation and takeoff commenced at 1817 hours.
Our route took us to Gravesend, Beachy Head, south to the French coast then east to the target. We climbed through a layer of 10/10th cloud which persisted to about 6°E then gradually cleared so that the target had merely some thin broken cloud and ground haze. Our bomb load was one H.E., a 4,000 lb "Cookie" and 7,000 lb of incendiaries for a total of 11,000 lbs.
The target marking consisted of long strings of flares over the target at H-7 followed by salvoes of red and green TIs.
For some reason there were no searchlights in the target area. There was however a moderate, heavy flak barrage with explosions above 15,000 feet. There were also some enemy fighters active in the target area.
Because visibility was good we were able to see that the markers were accurate and good concentrated bombing ensued. Several large explosions were observed and smoke rose to 12,000 feet. The glow of the fires could be seen for 100 miles on the return journey. At 2036 hours the Master Bomber gave the code word to abandon the mission adding that allied troops were getting near the target. Our aircraft had not been furnished with the code word, consequently most crews bombed the target. Photo reconnaissance showed that the steel works of Vereinigte Huttenwerke had every large building damaged. The Luttgens Wagon Factory, the Maschinenbau A.G. and the Portland Cement Werke were severely damaged. The infantry Barracks, the Dragoon Barracks and the Artillery Barracks were all gutted.
On leaving the target area we headed north west and crossed the French coast near Calais. We returned to Wickenby only to find the airfield fogged in and were unable to land. This presented a major problem as most of the airfields in the Lincolnshire area were similarly fogged in and it was from this area that many of the 531 Lancasters originated. However, the operations people on the ground were able to find diversionary airfield which were open and everyone got down safely. We landed at Methwold in East Anglia and spent the night there returning to Wickenby the next day.
One of 626 Squadron aborted this mission. He got airborne but his starboard inner engine cut out over base so he had no alternative but to land again.
Two of Wickenby's aircraft sustained flak damage, one from each squadron and one from 626 had two encounters with fighters but did not sustain any damage. Wickenby did not lose any aircraft on this occasion but Bomber Command lost 3 for a loss rate of 0.54%.
52
[page break]
Operation No. 30 Emmerich
There are certain days, certain events which are imprinted indelibly on the mind. The declaration of war, the day you marry, the birth of your children, days of great joy or great expectations or great terror. Such a day was October 7th, 1944. The weather was fairly typical for early October in Lincolnshire – cloudy with occasional rain.
The airborne landings at Arnhem had failed and there were heavy concentrations of enemy troops in the area of Arnhem, Nijmegen, Emmerich and along the Rheine river. Wickenby's target was to be Emmerich and this was the first daylight attack on Germany from Wickenby.
Forty-two Lancasters were detailed as part of a Bomber command force of 340 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes. Each squadron provided 21 aircraft – a maximum effort. We carried one 4,000 lb H.E. and 2520 x 4 lb incendiaries in clusters for a total of 14,080 lbs. We climbed to rendezvous at Cromer, on the Norfolk coast then cross the North Sea to The Hague and so to the target.
We had climber through a 10/10ths layer of cloud and at our bombing height of 10-12,000 feet we were in bright sunshine above it. Three hundred and forty Lancasters in a huge gaggle all headed in the same direction, sun glinting on perspex cabins and turrets. As we approached the Dutch coast the cloud cleared and all that remained was a slight ground haze.
I had given Hicky the final course to the target and as we approached I was standing between he and Stan King and slightly behind so I could see ahead, all round and behind us. We were nicely in the middle of the stream. Peter Graves was prone in the bomb aimers position in the nose watching the target coming down the drift wires of his bomb site. The flak was intense (we later learned the Germans had turned their 88mm anti tank weapons skyward and the shells were exploding at our altitude) and we were on a straight and level bombing run. Peter's voice over the intercom "Steady, Steady, Bomb Doors Open". Hicky, "Bomb Doors Open". Ahead I can see the intensity of the exploding flak – an aircraft is hit and catches fire. As it loses height I see one – two – three parachutes drifting down but no more. Then another is hit, this time a part of the wing is blown off and the aircraft spirals down – again parachutes but not seven. I think – my God, we're next. After all this time – after dark cold nights in the skies over major German cities – after warm sunny afternoons against V1 launching ramps in France – after 29 operations we are going to get written off. "Left, Left – Steady". I look behind just in time to see a Lancaster right behind us take a direct hit and spin out of control. "Steady, Steady – Bombs gone – Bomb Doors Closed".
The aircraft leaps as the 14,080 lbs of bombs drop away – then – thud – we are hit. "Bomb Doors Closed". We climb and turn away from the target and check for damage. No one is hurt and everything seems to be O.K. so we head for home. We have survived – we've come through – a cheer goes up from the crew, all the pent up emotion is released.
The reports state that there was moderate to intense predicted heavy flak from 11-13,000 feet on the run up, through the target and for a few miles after leaving the target area. No enemy aircraft were seen. Fighter cover was provided by 11 Group.
53
[page break]
Mosquitoes marked the aiming point with green TIs at H – 5 and maintained the marking with red TIs. The marking was accurate and the Master Bomber instructed the main force to bomb the red TIs. Bombing was accurate and many fires were started with smoke drifting up to 12,000 feet.
Allied troops who were only 8 miles south west must have had a good view of the afternoons activities.
The flight home, though routine, was full of joy as we knew we would not be called upon to do this kind of thing again. We landed at Wickenby after 4 hours 15 minutes of flying.
Wickenby did not lose any aircraft on this operation, but 3 of 12 Squadron and 4 of 626 sustained varying amounts of flak damage. Our aircraft, A2, had the "port undercarriage holed by heavy flak in the target area".
After briefing I sent Mary a telegram to let her know I had completed my tour of operations then we took our ground crew out to the local pub to celebrate our joint success. These were the men who kept A2 serviceable for us and who repaired her when we brought her back damaged. A rip roaring good time was had by all.
[telegram]Brind Cherry Tree
Aldbourne [indecipherable word]
Tour completed love darling
Ken[/telegram]
The next day the 8th was Sunday so we could not proceed with our clearance until the 9th (Mary's 22nd Birthday) which we did with all despatch and headed for home and leave on 10th. Just as a matter of interest the weather on the 8th, 9th and 10th was cloudy with rain and drizzle and no operations were scheduled for either day.
I arrived at Aldbourne on October 10th and of course by now Mary is due to have her baby.
54
[page break]
On the morning of October 12th she started in labour, we were driven to Savernake Hospital by a lady of the W.V.S. (Women's Volunteer Service) and at 6 pm Keith John arrived. All in all a masterpiece of timing.
The crew went their several ways after we had finished our tour. The normal practice was to become an instructor at an O.T.U. or H.C.U. I went briefly to Wigtown, Scotland, accepted a commission, and managed to get a posting to Cardington, Bedford where I became O.C. Headquarters Unit and where Karol was born. Gillian, Janet and Rod were to come along later. Jack Saletto was commissioned and returned to his native Australia. Peter Graves, the policeman, transferred to the Provost Branch and went to Germany after the war was over as a member of the control commission. The others were demobbed at the end of the war. Hicky went home to pursue his career as a civil engineer. I heard later he had died in the 1960s of a heart attack. Stan King went home, married his sweetheart, had a family, worked in the printing industry and died on December 1st, 1982.
Bert Jones went home to Yorkshire where he married and had a family. He became an Assistant Executive Engineer with the post office and died in retirement on December 16th, 1989.
Casualties sustained by 626 Squadron and 12 Squadron from the operations in which our crew participated:- 626 lost 10 Lancasters with 43 crew members killed, 12 taken P.O.W. and 8 Interned (albeit briefly) in Sweden. 12 Squadron lost 11 Lancasters with 58 crew members killed and 19 taken P.O.W. And, of course, there were a number of occasions when aircraft arrived home with wounded crew on board, the one most vividly remembered was the injury to Bill Bursey on August 14th. Our aircraft was damaged by flak on 5 occasions and by one of our own once (the incendiary through the wing on August 29th) but we never came under attack by enemy fighters and our gunners never did have to fire their guns in our defence. At the conclusion of our operational tour F/L Hicks was awarded the D.F.C. and later I received the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palme.
I had spent my 21st Birthday in hospital, I had lost my first crew, I had crewed up again and completed a tour of operations, I had gone home afterwards and taken Mary to hospital where she had given birth to Keith on October 12th and on October 17th I celebrated my 22nd Birthday. All in all an eventful year.
55
[page break]
ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE
[crest]
[italics] Le Ministredela Défense Nationale
a l'honneur de faire savoir [/italics] au
Flight Sergeant: Kenneth - John [underlined] B R I N D [//underlined],
que, par Arrêté de S.A.R.,le Prince Régent, du 16.1.1947,No 3424,
LA CROIX DE GUEERE 1940 AVEC PALME,
lui a été décernée,
"Pour le courage et la bravoure dont il a fait preuve dans les glorieuses batailles qui ont amené la libération de la Belgique."
[signature]
56
[page break]
The Wickenby Squadrons
Twelve Squadron moved from Binbrook to Wickenby on September 25th, 1942. It was and still is a permanent R.A.F. squadron with battle honours dating from World War I to the Gulf War.
Their first WWII operation from Wickenby was on September 26th 1942 when 6 Wellingtons laid mines in the Baltic Sea. One aircraft was lost.
The Wellingtons were replaced by Lancasters in November 1942. On November 7th, 1943 No. 626 Squadron was formed from "C" Flight of 12 Squadron. Their first operation was on November 10th. The last operation of 12 and 626 Squadrons from Wickenby was against Berchtesgaden on April 25th 1945.
Both squadrons played a prominent role in Bomber Command offensive, and suffered their proportion of the heavy losses, with 763 members of 12 Squadron and 317 members of 626 Squadron losing their lives on operations from Wickenby, a total of 1,080 Killed in Action.
57
[page break]
Bomber Command Statistics
Air Crew Casualties
Of the 125,000 who trained and served in Bomber Command there were 73,841 Air Crew Casualties:
47,268 Killed in Action
[underlined] 8,232 [/underlined] Killed in Accidents
55,500 Total Killed (44.4% of total)
9,938 Shot down and taken P.O.W.
[underlined] 8,403 [/underlined] Wounded
18,341 (14.6% of total)
[underlined] 73,841 [/underlined] Casualties (59% of total)
58
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A year in the Life
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Ken Brind's autobiography detailing his tour of operations.
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KJ Brind
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France--Alençon
Great Britain
England--Aldeburgh
Germany--Berlin
United States
Florida--Pensacola
France--Reims
England--Gravesend (Kent)
England--Hastings
France--Dieppe
England--Brighton
England--Reading
France--Domléger-Longvillers
France--Pas-de-Calais
France--Calais
France--Berck-sur-Mer
England--London
England--Dungeness
France--Vierzon
France--Le Havre
France--Orléans
France--Dijon
England--Bridport
England--Weymouth (Dorset)
France--Rennes
Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands
Europe--Mont Blanc
France--Tours
France--Normandy
France--Caen
Belgium--Kortrijk
Belgium--Brussels
Belgium--Ostend
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Kiel
England--Mablethorpe
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Rüsselsheim
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Munich
England--Selsey (West Sussex)
France--Falaise
England--Old Sarum (Extinct city)
Poland--Szczecin
Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea)
Denmark--Copenhagen
Sweden
Sweden--Malmö
Sweden--Falun
England--Beachy Head
Germany--Rheine
Netherlands--Arnhem
Netherlands--Hague
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Norway--Bergen
Belgium--Antwerp
Netherlands--Walcheren
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Emmerich
Netherlands--Nijmegen
England--Cromer
Germany--Berchtesgaden
England--Marlborough
Florida
Poland
France
Germany
Denmark
Belgium
Netherlands
Norway
Europe--Frisian Islands
England--Berkshire
England--Dorset
England--Kent
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
England--Sussex
England--Wiltshire
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Royal Air Force
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Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
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eng
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62 printed sheets
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BBrindKJBrindKJv1
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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Sue Smith
12 Squadron
1656 HCU
18 OTU
460 Squadron
625 Squadron
626 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
B-24
bomb aimer
bombing
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Distinguished Flying Cross
entertainment
evading
FIDO
Gee
H2S
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
incendiary device
Ju 88
killed in action
lack of moral fibre
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Me 110
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Nissen hut
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Oboe
Operational Training Unit
P-51
Pathfinders
Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Binbrook
RAF Blyton
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Cardington
RAF Dumfries
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF Finningley
RAF Hemswell
RAF hospital Rauceby
RAF Kelstern
RAF Lindholme
RAF Manby
RAF Manston
RAF Methwold
RAF Wickenby
RAF Wigtown
RAF Woodbridge
searchlight
Spitfire
tactical support for Normandy troops
target indicator
training
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
Window
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/623/32342/BPayneTPGunningFVv1.1.pdf
a5c7559446dbdbd1e7d2cbfdab3c125b
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Payne, Thomas Peter
T P Payne
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Payne, TP
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Six items. Two oral history interviews with Flying Officer Peter Payne (b. 1925, 1398674, 199071 Royal Air Force)auto biographies and his log book. He flew as a pilot with 90 and 15 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Peter Payne and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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2016-02-04
2016-07-06
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MALLEVILLE-LES-GRÉS CHURCHYARD
Index No. Fr. 662
Malleville-les-Grés is a village and commune 41 kilometres west of Dieppe and 10 kilometres south-west of St. Valéry-en-Caux. It lies 2 kilometres south of Veulettes, which is a seaside village 9 kilometres west of St. Valéry-en-Caux on the G.C.71ET road running south from Veulettes.
South-west of the church, near the main entrance to the churchyard, are the graves of 3 airmen of the Royal Air Force.
GUNNING, Sgt. (Obs.) FRANK VIVIAN, 580613. R.A.F. 15 Sqdn. 12th June, 1940. Age 19. Son of Frank Victor and Florence Gunning, of Bridport, Dorsetshire.
PÈULEVE, Sgt. (W. Op./Air Gnr.) DAVID HILARY, 614230. R.A.F. 15 Sqdn. 12th June, 1940. Age 21. Son of Auguste Albertand Alice Florence Peulevé, of Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire.
TAKIDELI, Pilot Offr. (Pilot) ALEXANDER, 42368. R.A.F. 15 Sqdn. 12th June, 1940. Age 20. Son of Gregory John and Grace Maud Takideli.
[black and white full length photograph of Sergeant Gunning in his uniform]
[page break]
THE STORY OF FRANK VIVIAN GUNNING – 580613
OBSERVER – R.A.F. 1939 – 1940
FRANK VIVIAN GUNNING, CALLED VIVIAN BECAUSE HIS FATHER WAS ALSO NAMED FRANK, BORN IN BEAMINSTER JULY 13th 1920. THE ONLY CHILD OF FRANK AND FLORRIE GUNNING. EDUCATED AT BRIDPORT GRAMMAR SCHOOL. ON LEAVING SCHOOL HE WORKED IN THE LOCAL ELECTRICITY COMPANY SHOWROOMS AS AN ASSISTANT. BY THE TIME HE ENLISTED FOR SERVICE INTO THE RAFVR, JANUARY 9th 1939 HE HAD GROWN INTO A 6ft TALL, FAIR HAIRED, YOUNG MAN.
Starting at the lowest rank, A.C.2 it was changed to LAC on January 10th being posted to H.Q. Reserve Command then to RTW No 1 Depot Uxbridge where he was kitted out and undertook basic drill training. Followed on April 17th with a move to No. 3 Air Observer School Aldergrove. After nearly 2 months in Northern Ireland, during which time he was promoted to Acting Sergeant and obtained his Observer brevet, Vivian was posted to No. 104 (Bomber) Squadron, based at Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire. Within a few weeks, on July 10th he was posted to No. 110 (Bomber) Squadron based at WATTISHAM Suffolk.
Having spent the whole of August preparing for the war, which was so inevitably going to happen, Vivian had no illusions about his future. In a letter written on the 4th of September, the day after war was declared, to his closest school friend John Wilkins, (copy of letter attached to this story) he writes “… we have achieved the seemingly impossible and got messed up in a war, it looks like me for Valhalla!” Explaining his reasons for the comment he continued, “I am not trying to elicit sympathy from you, or exaggerating danger, or anything like that. For once I’m perfectly serious. You see, all we bomber crews are quite aware of the fact and are quite resigned to it …” he continued, “ … it’s only a matter of weeks before we all get pipped”. The young airman’s point was made in the conclusion of his letter, when he wrote of the 10 Blenheims which had been despatched for a raid that day “ … I have just seen 3 return” exactly one year and 2 days after he had enlisted into the RAFVR, on 11th January 1940, he was posted again. Mainly due to heavy losses he went to West Raynham on No. 101 Squadron as did several other survivors. During his period with 101 he was made up to full Sergeant on 3rd March 1940.
[page break]
Another move came on 3rd of April, this time to RAF Watton on No. 21 Squadron, still flying on Blenheim Mk IV’s Finally on May 27th 1940 he was posted to XV Squadron based at Wyton. 17 days after his arrival on XV Squadron, on June 12th 1940, he was posted as “Missing – presumed killed”
The Squadron was ordered to slow the German advancing forces that were trying to reach the coast and capture Allied troops trying to escape from French ports. Every German column was supported by Anti-aircraft guns. Our slow moving aeroplanes didn’t stand a chance.
As an only child, the loss of Vivian Gunning was a devastating blow to his parents, particularly his mother who never recovered from the shock.
The official report stated “580613 Sgt F V Gunning – Observer – RAFVR Age 19 was killed on Wednesday 12th June 1940, whilst flying as Observer on Blenheim Bomber R3747, during an attack against enemy columns at Le Bourget. The aircraft, which was shot down, crashed approximately 3 kms from the coast, near the road, on the eastern side of the D.271 road, south of Malleville-les-Gres. The point of impact being approximately 0.7 kms from the village.
All 3 crew members, Pilot – 42368 P/O A Takideli aged 20
Observer – 580613 Sgt. F V Gunning aged 19
Wireless Operator/Gunner – 614230 Sgt. D. H. Peuleve aged 21
Share a grave, side by side, in the village church yard of Malle-les-Gres. It is maintained by local villagers, overseen by The War Graves Commission. They are the only War Graves in this Cemetery, Index Ref: No: Fr 662. (A photograph of the grave is included in this story)
The headstones are engraved as follows:-
P/O A Takideli
“At the going down of then [sic] sun and in the morning we will remember them”
Sgt. F V Gunning
“Death may hide but cannot divide”
Sgt. D H Peuleve
“Requiem Aeternam Doha Els, Domine: Et Lux Perpetua Luceat eis”
Having visited the crash site and the churchyard on several occasions I was struck by the peacefulness of the area. The village is 10 kms south-west of St. Valery-en-caux, (some 41 kms west of Dieppe).
[page break]
It lies 2 kms south of Veulettes, which is a seaside village, 9 kms west of St. Valery-en-caux on the G.C.71ET road running south from Veulettes on the D.271.
During one visit I was fortunate to meet with a lady, who as a school girl saw the wrecked Blenheim, and showed me the field where it crashed. It was just off the D.271 south of the village and to the east of the road. The field is now used for growing peas, the Blenheim had crashed some 100 meters from the road, and in the 1990’s one could still see the spot due to lack of growth of the plants. The lady also advised that the 3 crew were originally buried near to the aircraft, she and friends placed flowers there regularly, eventually the bodies were re-buried in the Churchyard where they were tended by local parishioners. The Blenheim remained there for several months until removed for scrap.
The Book “1939 – 1945 THE WAR DEAD OF THE COMMONWEALTH” lists Minor Cemeteries in Seine Maritime issued by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Maidenhead. Extract from Page 24 attached.
This book also has a summary of military action up to Dunkirk and includes the raids on Bruneval, St. Nazaire and Dieppe plus the war in France, all leaving many graves to be cared for, and to be listed in their books for relatives to locate their loved ones.
John Wilkins was a school friend of Vivian, his widow Rosa sent the letter to me in 2001, she told me that John carried the letter with him throughout his wartime service. The original letter is in Bridport Museum Trust files with other information and photographs.
Despite extensive advertising in RAFA and Aircrew Association journals no response about relatives of the Pilot, P/o A Takideli was received. The Ministry advised that in 1940 he had a sister living in London. However the widow of another XV Squadron pilot recalled his name because it was unusual being of Greek origin. A Niece of Sgt. D H Peuleve contacted me, from the Birmingham area, and advised that no other relative was known.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Story of Frank Vivian Gunning
580613 - Observer -RAF 1939-1940
Description
An account of the resource
A biography of Vivian, born in Beaminster in 1920. He trained at Aldergrove and served at Bassingbourne, Wattisham, West Raynham, Watton then Wyton. Losses were high. He was shot down near Le Bourget, his two crew members dying with him. <br /><br />Additional information on Frank Gunning is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/211402/">IBCC Losses Database.</a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
TP Payne
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four printed sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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BPayneTPGunningFVv1
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Beaminster
England--Bridport
France--Le Bourget
France--Dieppe
England--Birmingham
France
England--Dorset
England--Middlesex
England--Warwickshire
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-06-12
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
101 Squadron
104 Squadron
110 Squadron
15 Squadron
21 Squadron
aircrew
Blenheim
final resting place
killed in action
navigator
observer
pilot
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Wattisham
RAF Watton
RAF West Raynham
RAF Wyton
wireless operator / air gunner
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hogan, P J
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-12-05
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Seven aircrew
Crew of NR179
Description
An account of the resource
Seven men, four standing behind and three squatting in front. All wear battledress with half brevet and side caps except centre front who has pilot's brevet and peaked cap. They are standing in snow with a building in the background.
Submitted with caption 'Crew NR179'. On the reverse 'Back row, Greg Dixon (WOp) Sydney - killed, Bill Bullen (R A/G) Bendigo - killed 1953, saw mill, Roger Laing (M/U A/G) Adelaide living Alice Springs, died unknown, Walley Welsh (F/E) Dorset killed, Front row, Roger Johnson (B/A) Melb- killed med student, Alan Shelton (pilot) Med Student, Melb - killed, Pat Hogan (Nav) still here, died 16.2.1992'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHoganPJ1709, PHoganPJ1710
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
New South Wales--Sydney
Victoria--Melbourne
Victoria--Bendigo
South Australia--Adelaide
Great Britain
England--Dorset
Victoria
New South Wales
South Australia
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1992-02-16
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
flight engineer
killed in action
navigator
pilot
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31946/EHoganPJHoganM441121-0001.2.jpg
5277bc563d9f61356ef5c072b7ae07ce
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3b1386f72d06c64d0e27b7aeb3249076
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hogan, P J
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-12-05
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
F/SGT HOGAN P.J.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON.
21/11/44
Dear Marie,
When writing to Dad last night I promised I'd also write you before this service gives the game away for Christmas. Tonight 2 cakes arrived, one from Doreen Phelan & one from yourself & both are in excellent condition. You've no idea how welcome they are just at the moment here for tucker has been extremely light on lately & there is nothing like a bit of supper these long cold nights.
Mary Ryan's flash in the pan was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it? I'd better write to congratulate her I suppose one of these days.
I'll be interested to know where Dan's future destination will be. I hope the debating & the concert are not too much strain. I suppose both must be over 'ere this.
I seem to have covered everything last night for I seem to be racking my brain for something to write about. I mentioned considering trying to get to Ireland sometime. Probably a long way off
[page break]
for the next one, I've promised to go down to Dorset with the engineer. Christmas leave is cancelled again this year – not that we'd get it anyway for we could hardly claim it was due to us.
Tonight being Tuesday we'll be listening in once to Anne Shelton's programme which is followed by the Australian news. Thanks for the statement re the Bank Balance. It will be handy when I get home I've no doubt but, by the time I buy clothes etc, I'll have to try to settle down & save for many a long day before I could even settle down in the other sense. Don't get the wrong idea though it is just a thought, there is nothing concrete in it.
It is a long while since I've written to Jim & Eileen too, for that matter & will have to try to get round the lot one of these fine days. I also owe Doreen a letter. I've got a pretty decent book I'm half finished at the moment “The Ballad & the Source” by Rosamond Lehman.
I’m terribly tired tonight for we had a long trip today, our first for a long time. I did the best trip I've ever done & it is very reassuring at this stage of the game for it is only a matter of a little more decent weather & we will soon be getting a taste of the real McCoy.
[page break]
These Halifaxes are wizard & I'll go so far as to say its almost a pleasure to fly in them. As I told Dad we had a decent week-end in a city which is reasonably handy.
By the way, I'll be sending home a few photos & what not home one of these days. But I guess it will be sometime before they reach you.
How is Uncle Jim faring lately? Has he lobbed the [indecipherable word] yet? And what of Mary Knight? Is young Phillips still around or has his father improved?
Well Marie, I seem to be beating around the bush in an endeavour to fill this up without repeating what I said last night. By the way, how did Doreen's exams go. Kev will soon be relieved of his too, no doubt.
Love to you all,
Pat.
[page break]
AIR LETTER
Miss Marie Hogan
67 Chapel St.,
Bendigo Vic
Australia.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Pat Hogan to Miss Marie Hogan
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of very welcome cakes. Asks after friends and family and writes of future plans to visit Dorset with engineer. Mentions listening to radio for home news and and other domestic financial matters. says he owes other friends/family letters which he should get on with. Writes of just completing a long flight which went well and that with some decent weather they should soon be getting a taste of the real McCoy. States that Halifax is a pleasure to fly in. Mentions he will be sending home photographs but they will take some time to arrive. Asks after friends and family members.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-11-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHoganPJHoganM441121
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
England--Dorset
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-11-21
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Halifax
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31896/EHoganPJHoganDH450502-0001.2.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hogan, P J
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-12-05
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AWSPO
LONDON[?]
2/5/45
Dear Dad,
As I probably told you in my last note, I’m now on leave. We’ve been having such beautiful weather I thought I’d get away this time without taking my coat. But lo & behold when leaving on Sunday it was snowing & was bitterly cold.
Couldn’t get a train to York & had to go to Hull & thence to Leeds, where I stayed once more with Mrs Aberaydi.[?] She got a shock at seeing me on my own for we hadn’t been over to her place since Christmas. She and the old boy got very upset & got all the home addresses from me. The old laddie is a helpless invalid from the last war & loves to have someone to
[page break]
natter to.
I had a day in London & it was even snowing down there. Ran into numerous blokes I knew including Doug Johnson, whom I’d not seen since his accident at [indecipherable word]. He got on to Mosquito’s & had bags of Berlin trips. Also Kev Shanahan[?] who was shot down over the Dover about a week before us. They all got out but the engineer & I think [two or three indecipherable words] young Kevin Dennis had a foot ….agged off.
[one indecipherable word] A.I.F. lads taken in Greece & Crete, [two or three indecipherable words] round London awaiting repat. At the moment I’m down in Dorset staying with Wally’s people, in this very quiet little village. I had intended going down to Torquay but the weather isn’t the best & I wouldn’t get any swimming unless I went into a heated pool.
I think most of the rest of the crew went up to Scotland this leave.
[page break]
We celebrated Anzac day last week by getting airborne and doing our first operation as a new crew. It was a pretty easy stage to the Frisians & we got a certain amount of ribbing as “Janoks” when we got back & found we were the only kite on the A squadron who’d been hit by flak. It was just a small bit through the windscreen which made [two indecipherable words] home cold & uncomfortable [two indecipherable words].
It looks as though, thank God, we’ve had it [indecipherable word]. I don’t give a damn actually [indecipherable word] we are left over here on transport, sent to another theatre of war, or returned home on repatriation. I’ve been considering getting stuck into a few exams to take out a civil navigation licence but so far, as usual, I’ve been too tired & lazy.
Incidentally did South African snapshots ever turn up yet. I hope they didn’t go astray. Regards & love to all, Pat.
[page break]
[Air Letter]
Mr D. H. Hogan
67 Chapel St.,
Bendigo Vic
Australia.
Sender’s name and address:-
A436464 F/S HOGAN P.
RAAF AW8PO
LONDON.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Pat Hogan to his father
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that he is on leave and they were having beautiful weather. Relates his journey on leave via Hull and Leeds and tells of his activities. Mentions a day in London and catches up with news of friend who had transferred to Mosquito and had many trips to Berlin as well as others. Mentions plans to go to Dorset but the rest of the crew went on leave to Scotland. Writes that they celebrated Anzac day and flew their first operation as a crew and notes that they were the only aircraft on the squadron to be hit by anti-aircraft fire. Speculates negatively on the future.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-05-02
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHoganPJHoganDH450502
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Hull
England--Leeds
England--Dorset
Scotland
Germany
Germany--Berlin
Netherlands
Netherlands--Friesland
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-05-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Mosquito
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1996/31871/EHoganPJHoganDH450317-0001.2.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hogan, P J
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-12-05
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hogan, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Ninety-six items and a sub-collection with twenty two items..
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant Pat Hogan (436464 Royal Australian Air Force) and contains letters home to his family, his flying log book, accounts of his aircraft being shot down and him baling out, official documents, certificates and photographs.
He flew operations as a navigator with 466 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Elizabeth Anne Lusby and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A436464 F/SGT HOGAN p.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON
17/3/45
Dear Dad,
Thanks for the cable I picked up yesterday at Auspo. I'm just finishing the last of my leave at the moment & am feeling pretty fit. I waited around the station until the Friday when the boys were buried at Harrogate, [deleted] and [/deleted] except Wally of course, whose body was sent down to Dorchester for a private funeral.
I've spent most of my time in and around London. Some of the tasks I set myself in looking up friends, relatives & girl friends of the lads were not so good. I also went down to Sussex for a couple of days, struck beautiful weather & believe me it was grand to laze away in the sun on the sea fronts of Brighton & Bognor. Brighton has changed
[page break]
considerably of late, now they are clearing away mines, barbed wire etc. sewing new lawns, splashing a bit of paint around & opening the place up to the public.
I intended going down to Dorchester on return but squibbed it this time. Admittedly it is hardly in keeping with certain customs to be continually on the move seeing shows & going to dances etc. but I found whilst waiting for the funerals that hanging around by myself was definitely detrimental to my nervous system & hence I've given myself no further opportunity to mope.
I've got to start back sometime tomorrow & hence I should soon know what the future holds in store for me. I presume, though, that I'll be sent back to a training unit to pick up a new crew.
Bill Bullen & Roger Laing have to report straight back to another squadron on return from this leave. Apparently there is a crew there requiring two gunners in a hurry.
[page break]
There is not the slightest need to worry about me for I feel quite OK. However I'm quite convinced that this business is entirely a matter of luck & if necessary I'll have another go without the slightest “complex”.
I trust you are all pretty fit. Thanks for the prayers – keep 'em up. Ill write again when I know what my fate is.
Love to all at home.
Pat.
[page break]
AIR LETTER
Mr D.H. Hogan
67 Chapel St.,
Bendigo Vic
Australia.
Sender
A436464 F/S HOGAN.
RAAF AUSPO
LONDON.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Pat Hogan to his father
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks him for cable and that he had just finished the last of his leave. Mention staying on base until the rest of his crew apart from one were buried at Harrogate. The other crew member's body was sent to Dorchester for a private funeral. Writes of his activities on leave mostly around London and Surrey looking up relations, friends and girl friends of his crew. Mentions visits to Brighton and Bognor Regis. Mentions that hanging around waiting for funeral was detrimental to his nervous system. Speculates on his future assuming he would be sent to a training unit to pick up a new crew. Catches up with news of colleagues and says that they should not worry about him and that he was convinced that the business was a matter of luck and that he would have another go without the slightest complex.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P J Hogan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-03-17
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided handwritten airmail letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHoganPJHoganDH450317
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Harrogate
England--Surrey
England--Sussex
England--Brighton
England--Bognor Regis
England--Dorset
Australia
Victoria--Bendigo
Victoria
England--Dorchester (Dorset)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-03-17
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
final resting place
killed in action
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1671/31348/PCameronD2116.1.jpg
9c66225a3a8dac3d6ee6b977be3922b5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Cameron, Don
D Cameron
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-08-20
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Cameron, D
Description
An account of the resource
90 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Don Cameron (173516, Royal Air Force) a pilot who flew Lancaster on 115 Squadron. Collection contains his log books, a memoir, a aircrew categorisation card and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Neil Cameron and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
RAF officer on motorbike
Description
An account of the resource
An RAF officer wearing overcoat and peaked cap riding on a motorbike with sidecar. In the background a wall and monument with sea beyond. Submitted with caption 'Dad Poole Harbour may 1946'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-05
Format
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One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCameronD2116
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Poole (Dorset)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-05
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending identification. Things
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1108/31105/MSaintTJ1452007-180212-01.1.pdf
b29166bb88a459f1e1acc8d8b77c3a0f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Saint, Margaret
T J Saint
M Saint
Meg Saint
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. An oral history interview with Margaret Saint (b. 1922) as well as her husband Trevor's flying logbook and his diary/memoir. He flew as an air gunner with 514 Squadron in 1944.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Margaret Saint and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-12
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Saint, TJ-M
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
May 1941 5/6 T J S & Kev Palmer joined the RAF at READING Went separately to CARDINGTON FOR swearing in, attestation & tests
Sept 2 41 TRAIN TO PENARTH - COLLECTED UNIFORMS.
4 TRAIN TO BOURNEMOUTH BILLITED [sic] PRIVATE HOUSES Several weeks training - Sq bashing & having an enjoyable time TRAINS TO WENDOVER & RAF HALTON 2 WEEKS FATIGUES STARTING ARMOURER (GUNS) course.
Jan 1942 After course finished posted to HENLOW Kev Palmer to SWINDERBBURY [sic] WORKING ON GUNS & GUN TURRETS WORKING ON HURRICANES FROM CANADA
Spring 42 VOLUNTEERED FOR AIRCREW MEDICAL & TESTS at CARDINGTON
AUTUMN 42 POSTED TO LORDS CRICKET [inserted] GROUND [/inserted] - STAY IN VICEROY CT FOR A FEW WEEKS (THE TIME IN LONDON WAS FREE OF AIR RAIDS - 4 WEEKS LATER 2 RAIDS WITH [underlined] 100 LOST [/underlined]
NOV - DEC 42 POSTED TO ITW SCARBOROUGH YORKS 3-4 MONTHS COURSE. PASSED TO TRAIN AIR BOMBER
MARCH 43 POSTED TO HEATON PARK MANCHESTER TO PREPARE TO TRAIN IN CANADA. UNEXPECTEDLY POSTED TO CAMP AT LUDLOW. UNDER CANVASS & LABOUR DUTIES
JULY-AUG 43 VOLUNTEERED FOR TRANING [sic] AS AIR GUNNER
4 TRAINING AT MORPETH WING LITTLE HORWOOD CREWED UP TRAING [sic] STRADISHALL
FEB 44 514 SQUADRON
[page break]
514 Squadron RAF WATERBEACH
3 LFS 3 LANCASTER [deleted] FLYING [/deleted] [inserted] FINISHING [/inserted] SCHOOL HAVING FLOWN IN STIRLING AT 1657 CU (CONVERSION UNIT) STRADISHALL (SUFFOLK) LAST FLIGHT AT 3 LFS [deleted] 28 JAN 1944. [/deleted] 18 FEB 1944 FELTWELL PROBABLY HAVING 7 DAYS LEAVE
CREW GOING TO 514 SQDN WATERBEACH CAMBS
FLYING LANC [underlined] MARK I’s [/underlined] AT 3 LFS NOW FLYING [underlined] MARK II’s [/underlined] at WATERBEACH NEEDING CONVERSION COURSE to TRAIN IN MARK II’s RADIAL ENGINES TRAINIG [sic] FROM MARCH 4th TO 22nd MARCH
18 MARCH 1944 1st OP TO [underlined] FRANKFURT [/underlined] (22 TOTAL LOSS) NO LOSSES 514
22 MARCH 2nd OP TO [underlined] FRANKFURT [/underlined] (34 TOTAL LOSS) 2 LOST FROM 514 SQ F/L NICHOL 4 POW 2 EVS 1+ [symbol for dead) F/S UNDERWOOD 2 POW 5+ (The 2nd operation gave our crew a rough view of what lay ahead for us. The Captain Wishart had full [2 indecipherable words] as a 2nd jockey flying with experienced crew. We saw many aircraft on fire and falling. The target was lit by flares & searchlights
[page break]
The normal procedure with Bomber operations was to start with a [underlined] met [/underlined] [indecipherable word] wind speed Then the bomber aimer used drifts to give a air speed & send it back to HQ by wireless operators. The result at HQ was queried & sent back a different result because the wind speed too high. As a result most a/c went off course an [sic] bombed wrong places
[page break]
[underlined] 24th March [/underlined] We were briefed for [underlined] BERLIN [/underlined] There had been a big campaign to destroy Berlin over a number of raids in late 1943 & in the New Year. This was to be the last of the major raids. (TOTAL LOSS 73) 514 LOST F/O LAING 6 Crew lost 1 POW Routing over the BALTIC sea in order to approach from the North. Very powerful searchlights of blue light (as modern car headlights) caught several planes and within minutes we were one of next victims. The skipper heavily corkscrewed us to get clear of the lights - but had [underlined] *runaway props [/underlined] (*The propellers were variable pitch but went to fine pitch which stopped biting the air. The props on the other side pulled us round in a spiral) which put us into a diving corkscrew which we fell some 8 thousand feet. At the same time a high pitched sound - hellise [sic] HELLISH sound.- Due to the great skill of Wishart the props were fixed and saved us from certain death. Had to jettison our bombs & head 500 miles back to UK at some 8ooo feet dangerously low and vunerable [sic] I spotted a 2 engined aircraft & fired a burst of tracer.
The main force running into trouble with incarate [sic] INACCURATE wind speeds. Many bombed at wrong places *See end of [indecipherable word]
[page break]
The general idea was the Nurenburg, [sic] [insert] RAID [/inserted] would have got us away from the RUHR area. Crews thought it would be straight fowd [sic] Night fighters were waiting for us and also the wind speed was very high. Navigators were misled
Wishart and crew flew 2000ft higher than the main force. We were still very “GREEN” & inexperienced - but some how we avoided the real trouble.
On the way back we had to fly through a cold front - with bad icing we landed at Waterbeach with very little fuel.
The announcement on the BBC twelve o’clock news caused considerable worry. I telephoned as soon as possible & at least our family were relieved
[page break]
MAR 26 [underlined] ESSEN [/underlined] (TOTAL LOSS 9) 514 NO LOSSES
Mar 30 [underlined] NURENBURG [sic] [/underlined]
The heaviest CASUALTIES OF THE WAR [underlined] 96 LOST [/underlined] A WHOLE BOOK WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT 514 LOSSES P/O CROMBIE 5 Lost 2 POW - W/O McGowan FORCE LANDED 2 BALED OUT NO INJURIES - F/O HOOD 6 POW 1 LOST + - F/S GREGORY 6 LOST + 1 POW - F/O HUGHES 6 LOST + 1 POW
Rear Gunner & I were in the same room as GREGORY & CREW They called us (Brassey & I) the horizontal air force always lying on our beds A FIRST REAL SADNESS OVER their loss
Service police took all their kit away (normal practice)
11 April 11 [underlined] AACHEN [/underlined] (AIX LA CHAREL) [sic] (TOTAL 9 LOSS) F/O THACKRAY 6 LOST 1 POW
26 April [underlined] ESSEN [/underlined] (TOTAL 7 LOSS) No Loss 514
[page break]
27 April [underlined] FRIERICKHAVON [sic] [/underlined] No Loss 514 (TOTAL 18 LOSS)
We were expecting to fly on to an (probably CORSICA) island in the med. after bombing we were ordered back to U.K. Rather disappointing. FREDRICHHAVEN [sic] was on LAKE CONSTANCE Switzerland was on the other side.
MAY 1st [underlined] CHAMBLY [/underlined] (TOTAL) 5 LOSS) F/Lt CURTIS ALL LOST
MAY 7 [underlined] NANTES [/underlined] (TOTAL 1 LOSS) NO LOSS 514
May 9 [underlined] CAP GRIS NEL [sic] (NO LOSS
Cap Gris Nel [sic] was a short trip just across channel to attack large guns
MAY 19 LE MANS (TOTAL 3 LOSS) F/S SHEARING 4 LOST 1 INJ 1 BALED OUT F/L GRAY HIT BY FLAK CRASH LANDED GRAVELEY ALL SAFE
MASTER BOMBER & HIS DEPUTY COLLIDED THE MASTER BOMBER DIRECTED to main force over [inserted] the [/inserted] AIR on many OCCASSIONS [sic] SOMETIMES THEY USED VERY RIPE LANGUAGE
The Master bombers were very VUNERABLE [sic] & could be picked by night FIGHTERS
[page break]
21 MAY [underlined] DUISBURG [/underlined] (Total 29 lost) [underlined] SGT GIBSON ALL LOST UNABLE TO LAND WITH BOMB LOAD CRASHED IN SEA. P/O WINDSOR ALL LOST. F/S MEDLAND DFM 3 LOST+ 2 EVADED 1 POW.
A few crew members escaped made their way back to UK
22 May [underlined] DORTMUND [/underlined] No Losses 514
SEVERE ICING - CAUSED SEVERAL AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO CLIMB. (including us)
The Wing Commander & crew had an 8000lb bomb which could not be dropped only at a certain height. Most of the crew had to bail out before the bomb could be dropped in the N. Sea. 1 Aircrew died. (Total (29 LOST)
[page break]
27 May AACHEN (Total 12 lost) F/L TAYLOR All Lost
[underlined] ANGERS [/underlined]
28 May A low level flight below 100’ all the way to the Bay of Biscay. Passed over Marlow (probably Whit Sunday 1944 (Total 1 LOST)
A beautiful afternoon hopping over the land to keep at low level to avoid RADAR. We were given lemons instead of oranges. A lot of our flying was very enjoyable - we were not always waiting for trouble
31 May TRAPPES (Total 4 LOST) No 514 losses
10 June DREUX (Total 18 Lost)
A number of raids were to bomb railway yards & sites for firing flying bombs (We were thus unknown of the buzzbombs)
11 June NANTES (Total 4 Lost No 514 loses
14 June LE HARVE (Total 1 Lost) No 514 losses
[page break]
15 June [underlined] VALENCIENNES [/underlined] Total 5 Lost F/S PROWLES 5 LOST 1 EVA
21 June DAMOLEGER [sic] (daylight) (No Losses)
Our Squadron had to practice daylight flying (not as the Americans in formation but untidy groups. Talk about dangerous flying! We flew on gagles [sic] as some geese do!
23 June I’HEY (5 Lost) No Loss 514
30 June VILLERS BOCAGE
Daylight raid HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL on 2nd & 9th Panzer divisions Field Marshall Montgomery asked for the raid (Total 2 Lost) F/O WOODS 7 LOST FO HANESSON 5 LOST 2 INJ
The aircraft from 3 Group (us) were flying at a certain height and accurate time. The other group were due to fly higher and a little later. We were late & they were early. I noticed sticks of bombs coming down (in daylight). One of our LANCS was hit by a bomb. We saw one of the crew ran across at Waterbeach (obviously caught napping) and just got on board - the one hit by a bomb
July 2 BEAUVIS No LOSSES No LOSS 514
[page break]
[underlined] VAIRES [/underlined]
7 July (FLYING BOMB SITES) Pepered by flak. Lots of holes in a/c 1 piece thru’ navigators table [underlined] No Losses [/underlined]
10 July [underlined] NUCOURT [/underlined] Daylight attack flying bomb sites [underlined] No Losses [/underlined]
12 July [underlined] VAIRES flying bomb sites
23 July [underlined] KIEL [/underlined] 4 LOSSES
25 July [underlined] STUTTGART [/underlined] 21 LOSSES F/O MIDDLETON ALL LOST
The last operation. It had a large variety of experiences. The Mark1 LANCS could [inserted] not [/inserted] so had [deleted] dropped [/deleted] to drop a couple of bombs to get height. The air temp was [deleted] height [/deleted] HIGH. Saw many combats flames & tracer fire. On way back saw a number V1s en route to London. Lower & faster than us. the skipper was [indecipherable word] over [indecipherable word] cumulus for fun [boxed] TOTAL LOSSES ON THE SAME AS US - [underlined] 397 [/underlined] [/boxed]
[page break]
On the 26th July 1944 our crew Wishart and six airmen completed a tour of 29 operations. I think we went out at about 1130 AM back to the aircraft and thanked the ground crew. The NAAFI van had just arrived and custard tarts were on sale - custard tarts were a prominent land mark in my 22 years
To say the least this day I have never dreamed that I would survive to see the 29th op. During the tour 21 aircraft crashed & crews from 514 Squadron were either killed injured or made prisoner. Some of the targets were very long & dangerous a few of latter ones were shorter; but everyone was vunerable. [sic]
The skipper NORRIE WISHART once said you’d have to have 50% luck & 50% ability. I thought out crew were reasonable chaps and was very lucky to be one of them. The rear gunner Fairbrass was a slightly older man with wife and child in digs in Cambridge. He was pure Tottenham and had a North East London accent.
[page break]
We sometimes went out together to Cambridge & Bury St Edmunds when at our unit. Fish & chips and cinema. I don’t [inserted] think [/inserted] we drank too much beer but Brassie felt ill when we travelled in a RAF transport bumpy & hot on one occasion. Early in 1944 when we where on Stirlings going out to town was very cold. Having been issued with white silk gloves - ideal for air gunners - but not for eating chips. The result was silk became stiff like boards and didn’t [indecipherable word] it to [indecipherable word] freezing operations
The crew - Wishart (pilot) (Awarded THE D.F.C.) D GRAY (Navigator) [indecipherable name] (air bomber) Cartwright (flight engineer) TURNER (wireless operator) Fairbrass (rear gunner) T Saint (mid upper gunner)
I remember them as highly qualivied [sic] men. They all had to be good at their jobs. I cannot remember the navigator lost - which was one of the most vital aspexs [sic] of the aircrews. The flight engineer
[page break]
had to look after engines and keep tabs on the petrol consumption. The bomb aimer was in the plane to work with the pilot and drop his bombs accurately - which was the sum total of us doing the operation. Wireless Ops was there to listen in helping the navigators & guiding us by mapping the route by beacons.
The two gunners were not there to attack [deleted] aircraft [/deleted] [inserted] BANDITS but to watch endlessly for [deleted] combats [/deleted] [inserted] NIGHT FIGHTERS [/inserted] (tough planes) the gunners telling the pilot to bank port & starboard to try and look beneath the plane.
Just before New Year 1944 Fairbrass & I were sent on a weeks course on Newmarket race tracks, or near the tracks where an airdrome was on flat ground. Most of the flights were on Wellingtons & cooperating with a fighter (either a Hurricane or Martinet We were “attacked” by these fighters each having cine cameras. All the attacks were from above (diving down to attack us). Later on when we were operating over enemy territory - we were going to be attacked from below. the fighter had a gun upward fighering [sic] - trying to shoot our petrol tanks
[page break]
During the 5 months from Feb to July 1944 life on 514 SQUADRON was fancy free compared with previous RAF stations. Most of the discipline was in the aircraft and crew. Operations took place on various days & nights but otherwise there [deleted] was [/deleted] [inserted] were [/inserted] hold ups as on flying [deleted] during [/deleted] due to fog & full moon.
On an operation day work was very active. BESIDE bombing up & briefings & air tests filled up the days and ready for take off usually late evening.
On other days crews were “stood down” at 2 PM which allowed us to go to Cambridge & wherever.
On several occasions I got on to the Ely road outside the camp and hitch-hiked to Marlow. In spite of less traffic on the roads there were lorries & business cars ready to pick up service people. The best way was to go to Royston & A1 to HATFIELD & then Rickmansworth & Denham
[page break]
I usually got to Marlow by 5.30 contacted my parents & Meg. The next morning was slightly more ‘dicey’. 7.18 train to London - Algate [sic] (met) Leytonstone Epping Forest etc. Looking back I must have had a fair bit of nerve to be back before lunch and not be missed.
The war went on seven days a week but in order to have leave (which was needed to get away from flying) six days were made available every six weeks. The leave list for crews was going to be altered because of the losses. The more ops you survived the crews had to fill up the gaps. It was sad when you found you had to fill up the gaps because so many crews were missing and the more senior you were you had more leave.
On one of the leaves D Day took [inserted] June 6 1944 [/inserted] place (June 6th). All leave was cancelled except Navy & aircrew. Meg & I cycled to a pub above Pleasant Hill & watched gliders & tug planes - going South. Felt very guilty.
[page break]
At the end of our tour we had probably two weeks leave and in Summer weather had picnics by the river and heard gunfire from the continent.
We went to another camp for a few days and more leave & then Fairbrass & I were posted to a place called Brada near Inverness. We travelled on the Aberdonian express (only allowed to go at less than 60 miles an hour. It was quite a respite and a long way from the war.
The idea was to interview the air gunners (all ex operational) to find future jobs for us. During our tour of ops the invasion of France hopefully leading to the end of the war. In my case I had been an armourer and it was possible to make me revert back to [inserted] my [/inserted] trade. There were jobs for gunners to be target towers & armament instructors. This was what would be my [indecipherable word] 1st choice after further training.
[page break]
The time at Brada was helping hay making and Brassie & I visited Loch Ness. The Farmer invited me to Sunday tea - the largest meal I had since 1939.
Hanging over our heads was the possibility of going out East to fight the Japs - a dreadful thought. After Brada we seemed to have infedinite [sic] leave - with no station to go to.
When I had volunteered to be an air gunner - the Wing Commander said we could carry on later to train as Air Bomber after we’d completed our tour. They kept there [sic] wire and sent a telegram to offer training for Air Bomber. I declined as by this time I was a bit of a veteran & sargeants [sic] stripes and the telegram offering me an armament job at Belfast University. I declined this one and within a short time I was to be posted to WEST FREUGH - Stranraer on the Mull of Galway Just across the water from Ireland
[page break]
Another long rail journey to CARLISLE. Caught a train very early AM to travel on a single line through very rugged country. Just before Stranraer a huge port which had been built for the invasion - Cairn Ryan. Apparently one of the huge landing floats were built there and towed down to NORMANDY. West Freugh was a brick built station & reasonably comfortable. Most of the chaps were ex ops like myself. Aircrew came back from Canada and needed extra tuition. I was supposed to be an instructor but they expected me to go on an air armament course.
Just after Christmas 1944 I was sent on a course to Many (Lincs) Manby was quite near the North Sea and was billody [sic] cold. January ’45 had snow & ice. I had lots of classes and talks on training to lecture in the air on Wellington.
[page break]
Another Christmas in the war 1944 Next door to our hut (full of ex aircrew) were WAAFs & On the 25th it was too good a chance to make a visitation to our next door neighbours, Which we did. Most of there girls were in bed - it was very respectable in fact one chap became engaged to one of them
We heard later that a RAF Station in Ireland (IRELAND) where a similar thing happened - the C.O. came down heavily on some of the chaps.
On another occasion a party of WAAFs from the cookhouse - sitting reading on the bed - tipped me out on the floor - very good fun
[page break]
Meg & I [deleted] went [/deleted] [inserted] met [/inserted] in LONDON on a Saturday. Very cold damp & overcast ROCKETS were falling at intervals No good worrying about them as there was no warning unlike the bombing raids. The war in Europe was held up by severe ice & snow
At the end of the armament course I called in at Marlow for a couple of days & heard of the death of Gus Howard. Gus was Captain of a Lanc & having been on a diversary [sic] trip but was shot down as he came in to land.
I went back to West Freugh with a heavy heart
In early Spring 1945 I was then a teacher instrutor [sic] & lectures courses such as bomb aimer, one day I walked into a lecture where sitting in the front was Sgt [missing name] ex [indecipherable word] school - senior to me. A great pleasure & big joke.
Weather was beautiful in the Mull of Galloway & cycling was easy
[page break]
Suddenly the war in Europe was ending & aircrew were going to be an embarrassment. A lot of us were posted ‘en mass’ to PWLLHELI where was little to do and short of space. Thus people went home on weeks of leave.
On one of the leaves from Scotland Megs & I wanted to plan a holiday, but my mother wasn’t to approve so had to tell our parents we wanted to marry in July.
Owing to the uncertainty of the posters we might have had a problem, but it all worked out.
We were married of July 14 1945 at Brimsfield [sic] Church by the Rev de Lacie Wain. Everyone helped in the village for the reception & a car down to Gloucester Station. We arrived in Dunster & spent a week with a lady in digs. Coming back to Birdlip there was a telegram giving me another 7 days leave.
[page break]
I was back & forth [indecipherable word] to Wales until there was a posting to TERNHILL (another brick built camp.
I was by this time a Warrant Officer & was allocated a room for two in the mess. On the second day I was at Ternhill an airmen ( a W.O.) who had a big wangle going on. He spent the week between Ternhill & London taking back eggs etc from farms. He suggested I went with him and I asked the farmers wife if I could bring my wife down for a weekend. Megs made an instant friendship with the wife and stayed at Longford nearly a year.
Soon afterwards I was allowed to live ‘out of camp’ and having Meg with me in a bed sit in the old farm house. The farm at Longford was down a long lane a mile from the camp. Mr & Mrs Masters farms have outside loo with a two hole seat & tin bath and tap in the dairy.
[page break]
We had lovely big fires and had great comfort for newly weds. We had a double bed upstairs with chamber pot & wash stand. I had very little to do at the camp - an occasional lecture. Megs got a job at Jones Motors as a typist at Market Drayton.
I [deleted] was [/deleted] [inserted] went [/inserted] to 2 courses from Ternhill one to Sutton on Hill for aircraft recognition and another to Brize Norton for a lecture course. All things don’t last forever so a lot of aircrew and officers had to move to the nether end of Lincolnshire to HIBALSTOWE.[sic] There was little or nothing to do at this place. Most of us were planning how to get back to Market Drayton.
We went to Scunthorpe to a tawdry club but I was able to see the Steel Works after dark with flames & sparks from blast furnaces.
Some of the chap were sitting [indecipherable word] certifate [sic] exam. Many aircrew had lower demob numbers so demob was within site [sic]. I frequently went back to Longford by train & hitch hiking. One [indecipherable word] time ready for Easter 1946
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Trevor Saint diary/memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Diary from joining the RAF in may 1941, through training as groundcrew and then volunteered for aircrew and eventually trained as air gunner and posting to 514 Squadron. Describes operations while on the squadron and notes details and losses. Provides occasional thoughts on operations and produces various anecdotes. Mentions completing tour of 29 operations on 26 July 1944 and includes his thought about his crews survival, lists crew names and writes about operations and activities after his tour was complete. Continues with account of Christmas 1944 and other activities in 1944-45. Mentions visiting London and rockets falling at intervals and about the death of an acquaintance. Concludes with activities towards the end of the war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
T Saint
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Sixteen page handwritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MSaintTJ1452007-180212-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Berkshire
England--Bedfordshire
England--Reading
England--Dorset
England--Bournemouth
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Manchester
England--Shropshire
England--Ludlow
England--Suffolk
England--Northumberland
England--Morpeth
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Essen
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Dortmund
France
France--Angers
France--Paris
France--Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
France--Dreux
France--Nantes
France--Le Havre
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
France--Valenciennes
France--Villers-Bocage (Calvados)
France--Beauvais
France--Vaires-sur-Marne
France--Nucourt
Germany--Kiel
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Hampshire
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05
1941-09-02
1942-01
1942
1942-10
1942-11
1943-03
1943-07
1943-08
1944-02
1944-02-18
1944-03-18
1944-03-22
1944-03-24
1944-03-20
1944-04-11
1944-04-26
1944-05-21
1944-05-22
1944-05-21
1944-05-26
1944-05-31
1944-06-10
1944-06-11
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-21
1944-06-25
1944-06-30
1944-07-02
1944-07-03
1944-07-10
1944-07-12
1944-07-23
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-03-30
1944-03-31
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robin Christian
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
514 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
ground crew
ground personnel
Hurricane
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 2
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Brackla
RAF Cardington
RAF Feltwell
RAF Halton
RAF Henlow
RAF Stradishall
RAF Swinderby
RAF Ternhill
RAF Waterbeach
RAF West Freugh
Stirling
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
V-2
V-weapon
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30812/ELloydsBLtdLayneAJ431221.2.jpg
ae66fc9eac1ad9399e779722c1d0c7c6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-06-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Lloyds Bank Limited,
Cox's & King's Branch
(R.A.F. Pay Department),
Tralee,
St. Michael's Road,
Bournemouth
December 21st.1943.
Mrs. A.J. Layne,
97, Harlaxton Road,
Grantham,
Lincs.
Madam,
re: [underlined] P/O H.W.Layne. 158255. [/underlined]
We thank you for your letter of the 17th. Instant and for your attention regarding the matter of your husband's Banking Account.
With reference to your own financial position we are in communication with the Air Ministry, and await their report.
Yours faithfully,
[signature]
pro Manager.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from Lloyds bank
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks her for her letter concerning her husbands bank account and they were in communication with the Air Ministry about her financial position.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lloyds Bank
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-12-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ELloydsBLtdLayneAJ431221
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Lincolnshire
England--Bournemouth
England--Grantham
England--Hampshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-21
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1765/30811/ELloydsBLtdLayneAJ431215.2.jpg
bf2c44b33a2d8866f7cb34ba1c477d91
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Layne, Wally
Walter Henry Layne
W H Layne
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-06-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Layne, WH
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. The collection concerns Walter 'Wally' Layne (b. 1916, 963012, 40348 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, prisoner of war diary, personal and official correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 97 Squadron and became a prisoner of war after being shot down.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by D Layne and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Lloyds Bank Limited,
Cox's & King's Branch
(R.A.F. Pay Department),
Tralee,
St. Michael's Road,
Bournemouth
December 15th. 1943.
Mrs. Layne,
97, Harlaxton Road,
Grantham,
Lincs.
Madam,
re: [underlined] P/O Walter Henry LAYNE. 158255. [/underlined]
We have received instructions from the Air Ministry to issue sums due to your husband in respect of his Royal Air Force pay. We shall be glad if you are able to inform us as to where he maintains his Banking Account in order that we may be able to carry out the instructions received by us.
We enclose a franked addressed envelope for your reply, which we shall be glad to receive as quickly as possible.
Yours faithfully,
[signature]
pro Manager.
Encl.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Wally Layne's wife from Lloyds bank
Description
An account of the resource
Informs her that Air Ministry has instructed them to issue sums due to her husband in respect of RAF pay and asks for details of his bank account.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lloyds Bank
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-12-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page typewritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ELloydsBLtdLayneAJ431215
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Dorset
England--Lincolnshire
England--Bournemouth
England--Grantham
England--Hampshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-12-15
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive