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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/840/10832/AGouldWP180619.2.mp3
03e6c6b88b0419886cb537eb12bf4e07
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Title
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Gould, William Paul
W P Gould
Description
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An oral history interview with William Paul Gould (b. 1925, 1818674 Royal Air Force). He flew operations with 622 Squadron).
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IBCC Digital Archive
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2018-06-19
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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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Gould, WP
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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DH: Right. Ok. The numbers are turning over now so I apologise, we’re going to start again.
WG: All again.
DH: All again. But at least we haven’t got very far. Right. Because I’ve just, I thought the numbers aren’t ticking over. Right. Ok. Right. Ok. Right. From the top then. Here we go. This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Dawn Hughes, the interviewee is Mr William Gould. The interview is taking place at Mr Gould’s Home in Telford, Shropshire on the 19th June 2018. Thank you, Bill, for agreeing to talk to me today. Ok. First of all can I ask you again about the lead up to the war and how you came to join the RAF?
WG: Well, I, obviously I was at school before the war and my interest in flying was started probably when I was around about the age of seven or eight and I made little gliders to start with and, with balsa wood and little bits of well sticks for lighting the fire were carved down to make bits of planes and models of course. And I suppose I was influenced to a great degree by people like Amy Johnson to go and fly to Australia and —
DH: Wow.
WG: But there were an awful lot of difficulties that she got over. She was, she were really, was bitten by, by flight I think. Anyway, from there of course you leave school and eventually you start work. The war came before I left school and I started at a local motor engineer’s at Stafford. So I got on the train every morning down from Stoke Station down to Stafford. Then it was the same ride back to go to the Technical College which is right by the station. And again I got interested there in, in other people’s model making but the old urges were still there, you know. You don’t lose it. As I said, I joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps at the Grammar School. We were the first ones in Stoke on Trent to have that. The other school, High School had the Army Cadets. I don’t think we had a Naval version in those days. Anyway, it was from, from that we learned all about flight and air movement. Practical so far as the construction of aircraft are concerned but not of engines. And then of course I had a friend who was with me in the Air Defence Cadet Corps and we were I suppose sixteen and quite a bit and decided we’d go along to the Recruiting Office and volunteer for the Royal Air Force. Of course, they had a bit of a laugh when they found out we were still sixteen but we didn’t expect to go straight away. Next week perhaps [laughs] Eventually they, they sent for us to go down to Birmingham for a bit of an interview and medical and then we were virtually a little selection as to what type of job we were expected to be proficient at in the Air Force and my friend got flight engineer straight off. I was unfortunate. They shipped me in as a wireless operator/air gunner. Now, I, I had a little difficulty with the Morse Code in the Air Defence Cadet Corps but they didn’t take any notice of that. They wanted wireless operator/air gunners so you were in. I eventually survived to get out of that and remuster to flight engineer. They took me, took me down to Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey. Anyway, so I remustered there and went then from there to Locking in [pause] just south of Bristol and started the [pause] what is the first step from ITW? Training for a flight engineer. And then it was the next posting was the little bit further up the line to go to St Athan, South Wales to really get down from the, well the nitty gritty of being a flight engineer and we actually had aircraft to play about with [laughs] From there of course eventually you pass out and it was seven days leave and report back to a flying station. And we’d no, no crewing up there but we did a bit more ground training and one or two of us were lucky we got off the deck a few times. And then I got posted to Initial Flying Training Wing and initially at Bottesford, Lincolnshire and it was there that I was crewed up to a crew who had already been together for a considerable time. My skipper was an Aussie. He was thirty four and I gathered that he really did want to be thirty five which I thought was a pretty good thing really. So, we got a skipper that was from Australia. We got a navigator from Clitheroe, Lancashire. We got the bomb aimer from, well the first one was from London but he had problems. He was airsick most of the time. We’d only got to get the wheels of the ground and he was violently sick so he was stood down, and we had another bomb aimer that joined us. As a rookie he’d just come from Canada having done his bomb aimer’s course in Canada and a part of a pilot’s training course as well. The wireless operator again after a little bit of a hick-up with the crew. Again, another one that was not as well as he thought he was so he was, he was stood down in favour of a laddie to finish his tour off because he’d, he’d flown on Blenheims. First of all in the United Kingdom and then he was posted out to India and on his way back from India he was on operations in North Africa when the push, a push was on. And then he came to, back to the UK to eventually find himself at Bottesford and we, he crewed up with us and he was very, very good. He really, he was a laid back airman. Really laid back. He had a motorbike and his girlfriend was in the Land Army and he used to leave the camp on the motorbike and go and see his girlfriend and of course you need petrol. He was very adept at finding out where the local Army bases were. Always the Army. Never the, never pick on your own Force and he used to go in to their camps, find out where the petrol depot was and just arrive and get them to fill him up with petrol and then he’d sign for it and off he’d go.
DH: Cheeky.
WG: He was. He was a W/O by this time. Of course, he’d done an awful lot of service, and he was a warrant officer so whether they thought the very smart uniform that he’d got was extra special I don’t know but they certainly served him with the petrol. He didn’t always use the same base but he, invariably he did. He was the most laid back person I’ve ever met. We, we, had a lot of fun after the war. I did manage to get his name and address and I went out with his wife to France with the Blenheim Society and we went to their, their old base which was a place called [Virieux] in the Champagne country. Oh, the Royal Air Force certainly picked some very nice places. It’s a pity we couldn’t have defended it a bit better but it was a very nice spot and a very hospitable local community. We had some lovely times going out to [Virieux] as the Blenheim Society. Yeah.
DH: The squadron that you were put on to. That was 622 Squadron.
WG: 622.
DH: Yeah.
WG: 622, that I eventually went to from Bottesford. But before we left Bottesford and we were in the, it was not good weather whilst we were there, and I used to pass it regularly after the war because I used to go up to Grantham every weekend and, working. And from Stoke on Trent you go straight past or straight through the village and the village is on reasonably level ground but there is a mound of which the railway put a line across the top of it and then at the beginning, virtually at the beginning of the village there’s a very nice church with a spire. It had three red warning lights on the top so that, you know you could really see it because it just pipped the top of the embankment from the railway and it was just to the right of the line that was the main runway. So when you were going on the runway at night you got the red beacons on the top of the steeple. Well, one night we took off and how we, just how much clear it was of the top I don’t know but I’m certain that had there been a train on the line we would have knocked it off. Or they would have knocked us off actually because we, we hadn’t got enough airspeed and anyway I looked up at those three red warning lights. I can remember it now so well [laughs] And then we were posted. I think they thought they’d get rid of us before we did some real damage.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Anyway, we were put on the train to the station near to the Mildenhall camp and then the lorry fetched us two. My rear gunner was from America. The USA. His residence was in New York. His father worked for the Underground. Yeah. And my mid-upper gunner was from Lowestoft, and the son of a butcher so they had a butcher’s, family butcher’s business in, in Lowestoft. And he was, he was quite laid back. We got a guy out of the armoury on one occasion, and he decided that we’d, he had a car and he decided we’d have a little bit of shooting practice. He did the shooting. We drove along the country lanes and if a pheasant or a partridge or a rabbit or whatever showed its face well it was as good as dead. And then he tried with, he tried with the proprietor at the Bird in Hand which is right by the aerodrome [laughs] he tried to get him to do the bit of culinary work. And then he found out that, ‘Where did you get these, this game from?’ You see. And he happened to be one of the members of the local Shooting Society. So anyway he got around that one. Talked his way out of the pot. Anyway, I had, we had a very lucky tour. One of my early trips was to, dropping mines. And we seemed to do an awful lot of mine dropping. Usually briefed by the Royal Navy who did the fusing. Especially when they were after something particular, they’d set these things up just to put the right vessel. We had, we had a very lucky tour really. No, no nasty things. We got peppered a few times but they soon put a patch on [laughs]
DH: What was the Lancaster like to fly in? What was the Lancaster like as an aircraft to fly in?
WG: Oh, wonderful.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Wonderful. It was an aircraft with no, to me with no vices.
DH: Oh.
WG: You could do things with it that with a lot of aircraft you’d be in trouble if not serious trouble with. But they seemed to say look have another go because you didn’t quite get it right, you know. Yeah. It was a wonderful, wonderful aircraft.
DH: So on an operation as flight engineer what, what, because some of them would last anything up to eight hours wouldn’t they? So what would you do during that time? Can you just describe that?
WG: The brief time in between.
DH: The time in between take off and —
WG: Oh.
DH: Actually dropping the bombs and then coming back.
WG: Well, most of my, most of, if it was a night attack you were on your own. And it’s just a matter of really speaking once you’ve taken off you do two things. You’re keeping a check on your own petrol consumption particularly, the state of your engines and if anything else was untoward. As did happen on the odd occasion and you had to do a little bit of, ferret around to see where things weren’t quite what they should be. But mainly it was a matter of keeping your eyes open and making certain that if there was anybody about it was a friendly one and not too close. I saw the first, my first experience was over Belgium with the V-2s. I mean you suddenly saw a vapour trail go right in front of you. Just a little bit disconcerting.
DH: God.
WG: It was just a massive, well, you’ve seen the rockets go off and it’s just that massive vapour trail. We were up at about twenty thousand feet and this thing suddenly passes you.
DH: When you were dropping the mines, the ones that the Navy —
WG: Yes.
DH: So can you describe what the targets were?
WG: Well, the targets are just a landmark or a sea mark.
DH: Right.
WG: It’s just pure straightforward navigation, and you studied your maps before and you knew what little nooks and crannies you were looking for to drop these things on the shipping lane. It’s mainly stuff coming out of Kiel but you know warships that we were after.
DH: Yeah.
WG: But we did drop them way up to the Skag, to get to iron ore vessels I think they were. We were never told. We were just given a location and fortunately we dropped them on the locations but with, when the Navy had briefed you or at least they’d done the setting up of the mines they would come back and tell you that yes you were successful, you know.
DH: That’s good.
WG: We had that. Yeah, oh yes. We got what we were after.
DH: So did you, can I ask what the date was when you joined 622 Squadron? What, what year and month? Doesn’t have to be exact.
WG: Oh, it had to, it does seem funny saying nineteen doesn’t it?
DH: I know.
WG: Yes. You were on to [pause] Yes, 1944 local flying. Yes. When the, I’ve got two here. One is a local familiarisation. That’s, you know you just arrived at the place and you want to know where everything is round you. That was on the 17th of December. On the 17th again we did a cross country. That would be in the, in the evening. And then a fighter affiliation. And then we did an ops on Trier. This is when the, we, we had the Battle of the Bulge. When they were fetching all their equipment through the railway yards at Trier. So we were called in to bomb. Bomb Trier, yeah.
DH: So, that was bombing, that was the Germans at Trier.
WG: The Germans at Trier.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Yes. And then the 24th of December we’re coming up to a very interesting time at Christmas. And we did another one on the airfields at Bonn. That was quite peaceful and we were diverted on the return because of fog and we landed at a little place with beautiful aircraft, Mosquitoes. And that was at Little Snoring, which if you look it up on the map you’ll find it’s, well north of Norfolk. And we landed there and of course the Air Force being what it is, trying to look after you properly and take care of Christmas Day we were, we were at Little Snoring you see and we couldn’t take off because of fog at one end or the other. If we were clear Mildenhall had got fog. When they were clear we’d got fog. So we were there from the 24th until the 29th, 28th when we flew back. But they came and picked us up with five others and brought us back to have Christmas dinner [laughs] Lovely. Lovely. Yeah. And then we, again we did a night. A night. A night job on Koblenz and we dropped that with instruments, on Gee. Yeah. And we, we virtually jettisoned the load. In fact, it was just dropped. It was not put on to a pinpoint target. It was just get rid of them because we’ve got problems with the Gee. GH equipment.
DH: Can you explain that a bit more?
WG: Well, it’s instrumentation that put you in the right place and it gave you a marker that you’d got to drop the bombs, you know. And with a bit of luck they all went down in the right spot. Nothing really untoward. It’s just the fact that the equipment we’d got was not fully serviceable and we had to jettison. We were a little more fortunate on the 31st of December because we actually did one on Vohwinkel which is on the marshalling yards. So you’d got a fair, a fair target to spread eagle your bomb load. Yeah. [pause] That’s something like nine, nine hours. Nine hours flying time. Not bad. Four and a half there, four and a half back. It was all the usual targets really. Places we’d heard of from 1939 when we’d gone out with Blenheims and Fairey Battles which a squadron had in ’39 out in France, Fairey Battles. They got minced. Minced up because they were attacked on the floor. We’d arranged them all in nice little parking lots so it makes an easy target to come down in one swoop and, you know you get the lot. Do you want any more?
DH: Yeah. Can you name some of them because you said some of the places that you recognised?
WG: Oh, I remember some of the names. You see, Dortmund. Well known to everybody. We’d all heard it on the news from 1939.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Munich. A lot of things went on there. My little note here there were no serious opposition. In other words we never saw any night fighters and the flak wasn’t that heavy either.
DH: Right.
WG: Krefeld. You see we’re coming now to December of, and January. January of ’45. Well, the war was, really speaking it was on its way out, you know. The Germans had got enough to do to try and stop the Army. They still put up a very serious opposition with night fighters because they could, their radar was so good.
DH: Oh right.
WG: They could vector people in. Tell them where to go and then I think they’d even got you on, well they’d got your number marked really. That’s one thing that [pause] whether it was better radar than ours I don’t know but it certainly, it certainly enabled them to put fighter aircraft too damned close to you and they could see you.
DH: Did you ever have any close shaves?
WG: These were all night.
DH: Yeah.
WG: All my early ones were night. Night attacks and then we started to do daylights and that was lovely. You could see where you were going. And by the logbook I don’t think we wanted them to have any heating because we were doing coking plants. They were making up, they were making petrol so [pause] Yes, little though, we got the, we got the coking plants alright. And it just says here complete cloud cover and flak moderate. Sometimes you felt if it had been put out as a paper you could have walked on it.
DH: Really.
WG: Sometimes it was very, very heavy. Yes. Oil plants. We’d gone on to synthetic oil plant here at Wanne Eickel. Then we had a little bit of practice and we did sort of a low level attacks on Ely Cathedral. It’s a wonder it’s got any glass in it with people passing over so low.
DH: Yeah.
WG: But they were nice little local runs you see. Take off, do a couple of little circuits on it and then back to base. It was back in time for tea. Yeah. I had quite a little spell in late January with local, local flying. We put it to good use because we used that as the test flying for when we dropped the food and that’s only three months away but all these were low, low level exercises. Oh yes. We were doing a photo shoot on at low level as an exercise and then it was hindered by a snow storm. Yes. [pause] Then one or two, well certainly one raid here that I didn’t like to be on. Coming from Stoke on Trent going to Dresden which I’d been taught as a boy on the wonderful ceramics that had been made there. To go there was almost like dropping it on, on [unclear] you know. But I think that’s about the only time I had any conscience at all about dropping bombs. Yeah, it’s funny that’s come to light. I haven’t looked at this for an awful long time. Little name here. Wiesbaden.
DH: Right.
WG: When we had [pause] that was using our Gee equipment, and we were up at twenty six thousand feet taking notes. And then we got on the 13th Dresden. As I say this really did bring it home as a pottery lad. It was a bit naughty, but it was the worst flying weather that I’d ever experienced.
DH: In what way?
WG: All the way, well for a considerable time across France we were in thick cumulus cloud and being thrown about like a cork in a rough sea. It was wicked. But it got us. Well, it partially relieved my conscience because we were, we had to abandon it. Yeah. There. The ice coming off the propellers and bits of aircraft, and flak might have been flying outside. It was hitting the aircraft and it really gave you a thumping.
DH: So that was bits of ice coming off other aircraft.
WG: Yeah. Yeah.
DH: Flying out. Wow.
WG: Which were the worst conditions that I ever flew in.
DH: Yeah.
WG: And then the following night we did the adjacent city of Chemnitz. And yes, that was done with marking the target with flares and we took, you know target markers and we dropped on those. Then we came a little bit closer to home with Weisel. Which is where the Canadians and ourselves, the English made the crossing across the Rhine.
DH: Right.
WG: And we went there sort of three days. The 16th, the 19th and the date we went, or when the Army crossed. I know there were three. Yes. On the 23rd and they really gave it a peppering going in and coming out. It was very heavily defended. When we, my neighbour from Oakengates, he said when they crossed, they crossed when we bombed it, he said we made such a damned good job, he said you couldn’t get down the streets for masonry. We flattened it.
DH: Oh my God.
WG: They had to get the bulldozers across quickly to clear the path to get the troops across. But they’d peppered us for certainly two of my trips were very heavy.
DH: Your specific target that time for those three was it the German Armed Forces? Was it marshalling yards? Was it —
WG: The target was preparing the ground for the Army to go in and take the, take the town.
DH: Right.
WG: But it was very heavily defended both from a point of view of anti-aircraft fire and for ground fire to meet any opposing troops.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Yeah. Weisel. Weisel. Dortmund. Gelsenkirchen. That was a nicer one [pause] and then one I did with another, another skipper and we were brought back to, because of fog we had to land at Tangmere on the south coast. And then it was Dortmund again. They liked that place didn’t they? And Gelsenkirchen. Yes. Both very well clouded over. My note here. Ten tenths cloud. Yes.
DH: You mentioned where you’d had quite a peppering and it’s been heavy flak. Have you ever had any really close shaves?
WG: One at night that really did rock us because the gunners, my mid-upper gunner swears that he was trying to get us on the radio, on intercom, and he, bellowing down it and checking his connections and, before I reported that we’d got an aircraft on the starboard side and we took a little bit of evasive action. Just dropped perhaps fifty feet and he was very relieved after. When we, when we were out of trouble his intercom started to work. It was funny that. He said, ‘I’d seen the darned thing and I was trying in fury to tell everybody.’ That’s Cologne. And Gelsenkirchen. Ham. Weisel, and yes [pause] Kiel. Kiel Canal. The German Navy. Naval base. And then we did another little gardening trip. We called mine laying gardening. And we were in the Kattegat so it’s sort of a nice little area out of Kiel and yeah, the thing was you’d got to keep, you’d got to keep low all the way from England. You were virtually skimming the tops of the waves all the way to the target and you’ve got to go up above Denmark and then down. You didn’t, you wouldn’t climb to get over Denmark. You’d go around the top and then down. You planned it all to stop the night fighters finding you. We were lucky. We were very, very lucky. And then we come to the very happy events really. Then we come to the supply drops. The Manna. Operation Manna which gave the, certainly the Belgians and the Dutch a lifeline, because they had, well they just had no food.
DH: Yeah.
WG: And they, they used to go out along the railway lines in the hope that they might get enough coal to light a fire and it was bitterly cold. A bitterly cold winter. Aye, there was people that suffered and they were eating, eating the fruit of their wares, tulip bulbs. Dear.
DH: How many runs would you do across to Belgium and Holland?
WG: Food drops?
DH: Yeah.
WG: How many did I do? That’s one [pages turning] Yes, two. Three. I did two on Rotterdam there. One on the Hague. Yes. Dropped them on the football ground. Oh, the racecourse. Yeah. That was nice but it was totally the ingenuity of the ground crew to lash up this mesh across the bomb bay.
DH: Yeah.
WG: That you could drop the lot all at once, you know and it was all, all the food. It was all obviously in its packages, but it was put in two sacks and if, if one sack broke the idea was that the other one might save it and fortunately most of it did.
DH: Good.
WG: They [pause] Yeah. I remember these. I remember looking down and you could see the faces and they had pieces of cardboard and on it they’d [laughs] it’s funny. They were eating their livelihood, their tulip bulbs. They were eating those as food. They’d got nothing [pause] and they’d got little notices. Whether it was in chalk or what I don’t know but it just said, “Cigarettes please.” [laughs] so —
DH: Did you take them cigarettes?
WG: We, we, on the second trip we did get some, the gunners to drop through the slots in the, in the rear turret. We pitched a few packets out. We kept them in the cellophane wrappers, you know and just, I mean we were low. I mean we were not much above the height of these houses.
DH: Really. So the cigarette drops were unofficial then.
WG: Oh, it was totally unofficial. You know what you’d done one these appeals for cigarettes and you smoked yourselves in those days. You realise what they were perhaps going through. The pangs. So it was a matter of an easy way out. And the rear turrets had hardly got any, you know there was a big hole because the gunners didn’t like to see the Perspex. If it, if there were specks on it you’d think it was an aircraft. So most of the gunners had part of a cover unspoiled with the removal of the Perspex. Yeah. That was, that was one. I must, yeah. It was, it was upsetting to see these people down below. We knew they were starving. You don’t do the type of drop that we did without food. And to lash it up in a matter of a few days and get the supplies to the airfields because there was an awful lot of, you know you’re dropping seven hundred tons. A lot of. Not one aircraft [laughs] but it’s all got to be got the aerodrome. And —
DH: How many aircraft would there be doing that?
WG: Well, we [pause] I suppose 15 Squadron at Mildenhall were putting fifteen aircraft in the air and we were certainly putting fifteen out of 622 Squadron.
DH: Wow.
WG: So we, somewhere I had the tonnages but I’ve lost those. Yes. And then we were called on. We did the last food drop on the 7th. And on the 10th, this is in May we were asked to go to, or ordered to go to Juvencourt in France to pick up ex-prisoners of war. Now, this was, this was doubly emotional really. The first one that I was able to speak to we’d loaded them in, we carried about twenty and I got one up right by me. But you tell them, ‘You’ll have to stand back there when we are going to take off because I shall be, I might have to come back here quickly.’ And no problems with him. The rest of them were sitting, sitting down on what is the bomb bay. The roof of it. And we sat them down there, a couple of them along the flight bed and they were, they were fairly close together. No, no ‘chutes of course. No harnesses. Just whatever they were standing up in outside. That’s what they flew in. And this boy, he didn’t look much older than, well he certainly wasn’t. I didn’t think he was anywhere near thirty, put it that way and he was picked up very, very early in the war. Before, way before Dunkirk and he said, ‘We were told to go out — ’
[telephone ringing – recording paused]
DH: Ok.
WG: I got him up by me and explained what would happen on take-off. That I would be assisting the skipper and where if you, you know put him in a nice safe little spot. And in the conversations before we’d taken off it was that he’d been sent out on a night patrol to pick up a German prisoner and find out, so that the intelligence could find out where he, where he was in the way of the German Army. Obviously, they would know his rank but they were after his regiment and what the regiment was equipped with and so on. Anyway, this lad found himself on the wrong side of the wire and he was picked up instead of him taking the prisoner and he did the rest of the war as a POW. He was in reasonable state. He was a bit, you know the worse for food or poor food, and he said overall he hadn’t been too badly treated which wasn’t quite the case as we came to the finish, because there was an awful lot that were trying to get away from the Russians and they were force marched really. Anyway, this poor lad was, had served most of his military career in a German POW camp. Yeah. It’s, it makes you wonder afterwards where all these people went to.
DH: Yeah.
WG: Because I’ve, we fetched a fair few back from, from Juvencourt. I’m just wondering how many more I did there. The food drops by the way and the returning, the POWs, ex-POWs. They don’t count as operations.
DH: Oh right.
WG: Yeah.
DH: So, at an operation you’ve got to be being shot at.
WG: Yes. Although, the first few aircraft that went out to Belgium were fired at but only, I mean you’ve got Germans that were being hassled. They were told not to fire. But the news didn’t always get to the men did it?
DH: No.
WG: You know, it would be back in the billet. One, two, three, four, yeah. There were four there in quick, quick succession. Eleven, fifteen, sixteenth, twenty first, twenty third. Just a [pause] yeah, and then that brings us safely to the end. The end of the war. And then I was posted very quickly. ‘Get your kit together. You’re posted.’ And I never had chance to say thanks a million to my skipper, my navigator, my bomb aimer, wireless operator and the two gunners. Never. I regret it. It rankles a bit.
DH: Yeah.
WG: It was close as close and then you were [pause] I was, I don’t suppose I was the only one but there were too many that never got really to say cheerio or even get addresses.
DH: Not like today is it?
WG: I managed to through, through the Blenheim Society, and I don’t know how I was contacted by them but I went out to the base that 15 Squadron were on out in France. They were there in 1939. And through that I met my old wireless operator, and he had obviously had more time, he was able to furnish some addresses and again I picked up crews from them.
DH: Yeah.
WG: From him. And when I go to Mildenhall I always go over to, for the reunion. I go over to see my mid-upper gunner at Lowestoft.
DH: He’s still there? He’s still alive?
WG: Yes. He’s ninety three. We were, we were the two juniors in the crew, yeah. My skipper as I say he was, he was thirty, thirty three when we met him and he wanted, he wanted to live to be thirty five so [laughs] And then Paddy. Paddy, I picked up oh very late when he’d finished his, he’d stayed in the Royal Air Force and he’d flown on Javelins which was Delta Wing aircraft, you know. Yeah. And he’d flown, flown on those. And I rather think the rest of us we’d all finished up as ground crew.
DH: Before we started the interview you were telling me about the bomb aimer. You told me a little story about how he was, he didn’t do what he was told and and, and what sort of bomb aimer he ended up being really. Can you explain that for us please?
WG: He was a bit of a naughty lad. He was sent out to Canada to train as a pilot, and he liked to see what was on the ground I think and particularly when it was in front of the CO’s accommodation. And he sort of did his little bit of aeronautics low level, fast in front of the COs offices and whether he got annoyed with the noise through his windows I don’t know, but Paddy was hauled up a number of times and told stop the low, you know to stop his low flying antics. And I think it was the third attempt by the CO he decided the best thing he could do for the Royal Air Force was to ground him. Take him off flying. Paddy said, ‘Well, if you won’t let me train as a pilot I’ll train as a bomb aimer,’ he said, ‘But I’ll be the best — ’ blankety blank, ‘Bomb aimer you’ve turned out.’ you see. Which I believe he was. He was very, very good. We only, I think one day on the Ruhr we had to go around twice and the skipper told him off when he got back. He said, ‘Don’t ever you do that again.’ [laughs] So he always made certain he got it well lined up before we got too close. Yes. He was, he was quite a boy. I took him, I had a little two fifty side valve motorbike and no lights, no dynamo. No nothing you see. So, it was all daylights for me. And Paddy was courting a girl. One of the nurses at Ely. Ely Hospital. And one day he came, he said, ‘Can you take me to Ely this afternoon?’ So, we’d got nothing on anyway so yeah fair enough. I said, ‘But I’ve very little petrol Paddy.’ So, ‘Oh, don’t worry about petrol. I’ll get you filled up.’ Which he did. And coming back they’d just been resurfacing roads in patches and there was a lot, quite a few corners and one of them had got quite a build-up of pebbles or crushed granite or something. A little motorbike didn’t handle too well when it’s, half its wheels, or half the depth of the tyres are buried in loose shingle. So I thought I was losing the front end and Paddy heaved himself, oh I’d stooped down. I was flat on the tank. He sort of heaved himself up off the two footrests and barrelled over me, and then rolled right in to a lovely clump of nettles. I mean it was a lovely, lovely bunch. But no hard feelings. His wife said afterwards I tried to kill him [laughs] but I’d never do that to Paddy anyway. Anyway, it was one of the family things that he remembered after the war to tell her.
DH: Did he marry that girl he was courting?
WG: Oh, he married the nurse, definitely. Yes. Yes. Oh, I admired his choice. Lovely girl.
DH: Looking back, apart from you said about Dresden with the Stoke on Trent.
WG: Yes.
DH: That connection. Have you got any regrets about the war?
WG: They’re all a total waste of human resources [pause] but unfortunately they become a necessity. I can’t think how we could have ever have got a peaceful Europe with the likes of Hitler.
DH: Yeah. What are you most proud of with your time in Bomber Command?
WG: I’m proud to have taken part in [pause] in so much of it. [pause] Yes. Overall, I think the Royal Air Force did a fantastic job and I’m proud of, proud of that side of it. And the humanitarian side at the end of the war because that certainly saved hundreds of people’s lives in Holland and Belgium. Holland was —
DH: Can I ask were you ever scared?
WG: Not, not scared. You’re trained to do a job and you were the crew that have trained to do a job and you realise that if we all do our job to the utmost of our ability and that’s all you can expect of anybody then ok, if we’re unlucky we get shot down. But we were, we were, when you think of the short period of time that people were together in training we were very well trained. I mean it takes an age now to get people from —
DH: Yeah.
WG: From Civvy Street to virtually to get them in uniform. To do a useful job flying takes an age. And you’ve got people with a far better education than we had and of course technologies. It hasn’t just jumped, it’s [pause] gone over. Who’d have thought twenty years ago that you could have a little thing in your hand, no, not as big as a packet of cigarettes that would communicate you, or give you communication to any part of the world and take photographs at the same time.
DH: It’s amazing.
WG: It’s just, you know one little thing. I mean, you, you have something today by the end of the week it’s redundant. I don’t altogether agree with it. [laughs] But it’s a fact. Technology has gone sky high.
DH: You said earlier on that once the war finished you ended up as ground crew. How long were you in the Air Force for after that?
WG: I came out in 1947. So I did two years after the finish. Then I was overseas.
DH: What did you do overseas?
WG: I was MT.
DH: Yeah. Did you —
WG: I was, supposedly I was in charge of the paperwork for the, part of the Air Ministry Works Department in Singapore. But I was never a pen pusher. I liked to get my hands dirty at times and I would go, I would go driving. Because you could pick somebody. Air Ministry Works Department wanted architects or perhaps quantity surveyors up at the north end of Malaya. ‘Oh, that will be very nice. Yes. I’ll go. I’ll take you.’ You see, and leave somebody else to do the nitty gritty back home doing the paperwork. That’s, that’s what I did. Do paperwork when you get back or [pause] Yeah, I had, I had a very easy passage. I just wish that it would have been a little bit better organised before and had at least a couple of days with the crew.
DH: Yeah.
WG: The poor lad from New York. I never got to say thank you or even bye bye.
DH: What did you end up doing in Civvy Street?
WG: I came out and I went out with my brother in law who had also been in the Royal Air Force. He’d been training wireless operators strangely. Yeah. Down in Compton Bassett and then up at Madley, Hereford. Yeah, I went with him because he’d started a china and glass retailing. Well, wholesale and retail, and stayed for the rest of his life.
DH: Did you continue doing that?
WG: I continued. I did about two years of it and then I came down from Stoke on Trent down to Shropshire then. This is where I settled and [pause] Yes, came down and I worked on an engineering works for a very short time and then I found a real niche in the gas industry on sales, and went eventually doing heating and air conditioning.
DH: Do you think your experiences during the war shaped how you, how you became?
WG: No, I don’t think it did. I think it made me pretty tolerant of a lot of things really. I don’t like bad behaviour in people. But perhaps it’s made me a little bit more tolerant than I was.
DH: Is there, I’m going to bring the interview to a close in a moment. Is there anything else that you can think of your time in Bomber Command that we haven’t already talked about that you wanted to mention.
WG: No. It was, well it was very fulfilling at the time. I think it was. I think it was wonderful how with so little knowledge even though I was passionately interested in aircraft, when you get in it you realise how precious little you know. But it does help to round off the corners I suppose. I think it’s marvellous how both Air Force, Army and Navy were able to train people from all walks of life to do specific jobs and do them damned well. I don’t know. I really think that’s, that is marvellous that they can put training programmes in which had been the basics of a lot of training in civilian life in all types, types of companies. Whether that some of them have learned it from there I wouldn’t know. Sometimes you — [pause] Yeah. To make somebody safe and safe enough to put with other people with very dangerous things in their hands or in control of. I think it’s, I think that’s a, that is a fantastic achievement from whichever Force it might be. And look at the technology that we’ve had. Crikey.
DH: Ok. It just remains for me then to say thank you very much for talking to me today.
WG: Oh, thank you [laughs]
DH: Very enjoyable.
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
Interview with William Paul Gould
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dawn Hughes
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
2018-06-19
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AGouldWP180619
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Format
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01:26:16 audio recording
Language
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eng
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
Description
An account of the resource
William Gould joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps at his Grammar School in Stoke on Trent. After selection to join the RAF as a wireless operator/air gunner he went to RAF Eastchurch to remuster as a flight engineer, and from there did his training at RAF St Athan. He joined his crew on 622 Squadron at RAF Bottesford. From there the Squadron moved to Mildenhall to commence bombing operations on Lancasters. At the end of 1944 and beginning of 1945 he flew operations in support of the Allied armies advancing on Germany. He witnessed V-2 rockets at close hand. He took part in three Operation Manna drops to the Dutch people, and also took part in repatriating ex-prisoners of war back to the UK. His regret is that at the end of his tour of operations he was reposted so quickly he didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to his crew.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--Lincolnshire
England--Suffolk
Wales--Glamorgan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
622 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
flight engineer
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
RAF Bottesford
RAF Eastchurch
RAF Mildenhall
RAF St Athan
training
V-2
V-weapon
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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] Recd [underlined] 4th Nov 1941 [/underlined] [/inserted]
[postmark]
[stamp]
[postmark]
[stamp]
AIR MAIL
[page break]
FROM: L.A.C. H. R. MADGETT
No. 1330340. R.A.F.
CANADA. [inserted] [circled 5th] [/inserted]
[logo]
VIA AIR MAIL
No. 1330340 L.A.C. H.R. Madgett.
(Course 33)
No. 32 E.F.T.S R.A.F. Station.
Swift Current,
Saskatchewan.
Canada.
[underlined] 15th. October. 1941. [/underlined] [inserted] [underlined] Recd 4th Nov. [/underlined] [/inserted]
Dear Mum. Dad. Peter. Jock. & Tinker (& her family)
Oh boy, oh boy!! This has been my best day since I have been in Canada. First I have gone solo, and then I got a card & letter from you having not heard for ages.
I hope my first letter has not been lost, as I prided myself on its length, and included the trip over to here.
Well, lets get on with the news, the biggest item being my solo. I have just sent a cable & letter cable to that effect. Well, I had to have a lot of patience to get it because of the weather. On Thursday late afternoon, Oct. 9th.my instructor, Sgt. Smith said I could go, but it was too late in the evening and you had to take off right into the sun. So I was to have it on the morrow. But Friday the wind [inserted] was [/inserted] swishing along in a gale at 40 to 50 m.p.h., sending up clouds of dust across
[page break]
[underlined] 2. [/underlined]
The drome; this obviously meant no flying. Saturday morning we had lectures, but they had us flying on Saturday afternoon to make up for lost time during the week. I [deleted] had [/deleted]did a few circuits & bumps to get my hand in, and then waited for the commander of our flight, [underlined] F./Lt. [/underlined] Smith to test me: but as it was a Saturday afternoon he packed up early, and so had to wait till Monday. Monday morning comes along. I go up first thing for a flip round first thing & then my instructor gave the timekeeper a message that the latter was to tell F/Lt. Smith to take me up. It was 11.45 a.m. before [deleted] Flt [/deleted] F/Lt. Smith came down & what do you think? The timekeeper forgot all about the message. Was I mad at him! Even though it was a bit late – we knocked off for dinner at 12.30. So on to [deleted] today [/deleted] Tuesday afternoon. The wind was far too rough & bumpy for a test as the kite was not steady a single second. You were buffeted all over the place & the commander could not judge my flying very well. So I had to wait till next morning
[page break]
[underlined] 3. [/underlined]
Wednesday (today). I went up with Sgt. Smith first thing for a few circuits and the wind was marvellously calm. When I came down I waited about 1/2 hour for F/Lt. Smith to come down. As soon as he climbed out I asked him whether I could go. Although he had about half a dozen others he had to test on his list he said “there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go now”. So up we went. He [deleted] was [/deleted] [inserted] is [/inserted] a very nice chap. Before I took her off, he said he did not want [underlined] good [/underlined] landings but [underlined] safe [/underlined] landings. I said O.K. & would do my best. Actually, without shooting the line I have been used to doing good landings – i.e. what [deleted] to [/deleted] [inserted] are [/inserted] are called “pretty landings”. Occasionally, you make a bad landing if the wind hits you, but this is not often. However, I took off O.K. did a complete circuit, did a good landing, Then took off again and when [inserted] at [/inserted] about 300 feet he took over and did a short circuit which we are not allowed to do, and I took over again to land. Another good landing, one which I was very pleased about because when about 10 feet above the ground & from then on till we touched down he kept saying “nice, nice, very nice, thats it”,
[page break]
[underlined 4. [/underlined]
and when we stopped he said what a nice landing it was. Then once again I shot off, he took over, I took over and landed her. When we had stopped, he said “O.K.” “I’ll let you go alone”. And he gave a few words of advice – such as never hesitate to use full throttle after a bad landing & go round again or when you find yourself undershooting the drome. (These things have been drummed into us ever since we started flying). Out he climbed and when I had waited for a plane to get out of the way in front of me and also 3 planes landing near me I let her go, and did a complete circuit. In a circuit you have to climb straight up to 600 feet on [deleted] 2,100 [/deleted] [inserted] full [/inserted] revs. & then climb to 800 ft. on 2,100 revs. You then turn 90 & go across wind, then another 90 to go down wind. You then judge when to turn again across wind according to wind strength, & then a little more judgment is used when to throttle right back and glide down. I f your judgments were O.K. you should be able to land after doing a gliding turn into wind quite near the edge of the field. Actually
[page break]
[underlined] 5. [/underlined]
when solo, I had to use a little engine as I was undershooting a bit. I landed, turned around & taxied back to pick up F/Lt. Smith waiting for me. He got in, took off and flew about 8 feet above the ground to the hangers, and landed again. It would have been waste of time taxying the whole distance. It was strange having no head & shoulders sticking up in front of you, and therefore could see straight ahead when flying, and was easy to judge the relationship between the cowling and horizon. Also, the loss of weight in the front cockpit made the plane feel very light, and the nose tended to rise too much when landing. But it was good with no one to tell you what you did wrong. Not that you ever did much wrong – if you did you would not be [deleted] let [/deleted] allowed to go solo. So there you are. – that’s the whole story.
On Saturday night we are going down to town to celebrate with [deleted] the [/deleted] my plane’s mechanics.
[underlined] 16th. Oct. Thursday afternoon. [/underlined]
We are flying this afternoon, and am writing this in the crew room. I have
[page break]
[underlined] 6. [/underlined]
just come down from doing circuits and bumps with my instructor. Its not very nice weather for flying today. The wind is pretty bumpy & constantly changing direction. I hope to be going again later on solo.
By the way, after I had passed the solo yesterday, [deleted] my instru [/deleted] I went up with Sgt. Smith doing blind flying, and then he did some low flying. This is the most exilerating [sic] experience you can have. You race along skimming the ground, climb over telegraph wires, shoot up farms and make the cattle stampede. Officially we are not allowed to shoot up farms, or cars on a road or trains, because not long ago a pupil here decided to shoot up a [deleted] plane [/deleted] train on the railroad. But very unfortunately for him there was a R.A.F. Wing commander travelling in the train & was visiting the station. He had a Court Martial, but was let off with only 7 days C.B.! [Confined to Barracks]
Up to now only one of our brethren is off the course for continual air sickness, but five others have been ‘top-hatted’. i.e. taken off the course because they could not land. It is very bad luck for these
[page break]
7.
chaps, and by the looks of things a few more will soon be top hatted.
On Thursday we had the mid term armaments exam, & today had an aircraft recognition exam, both of which I have passed. Tomorrow we have aero engines and airframes. We have a few more next week; but there is hardly any need to worry about them because before each exam we have a fair idea (sometimes a good idea) of what questions we will have.
Thanks for the addresses in Regina & Saskatoon. I shall be writing them soon when I have got my mailing list off my chest. The people I have to write to! I don’t know how I’m going to [inserted] do [/inserted] it!
Well, I guess I’ll finish now, but will write again very soon. Oh another thing, - please don’t worry about me flying. They would not let us up if we were not competent – so please – no more worrying.
All the Best, With Love from [underlined] Hedley. [/underlined]
P.S. They have just run out of gas – a fine state of affairs – so no more flying. Will be up again tomorrow morning.
[inserted] Armaments exam. result just out. I got 92% & was 10th. out of 86 chaps. a/c recognition got 50/50.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Announces he has completed first solo flight and has received letters from home. Tells of several days lead up to first solo and describes flight itself. Mentions he went to town with his mechanics to celebrate and goes on to describe flying activity and the immanence of mid term examinations. Mentions a student being court marshalled for beating up train which unfortunately had a wing commander aboard.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
H R Magdett
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-10-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Seven page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR[Fam]MadgettHR411015
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--Kent
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
England--London
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-10-15
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
Robin Christian
David Bloomfield
aircrew
military discipline
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett,
127, Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
Kent.
[page break]
No. 1330340. H.R.MADGETT
FLIGHT 11/22. NO. 9.R.W.
R.A.F. Grove House,
Greenhill Street,
Stratford-on-Avon.
26th. May. 1941.
Dear Dad & Mum,
We arrived in pouring rain here at 5 p.m. and am billeted in an old school. Most of the others in the 100 that arrived on Saturday are in hotels. But we get plenty of hot water. etc. We have had only a little drill & no fatigues; in fact quite a soft life as far as normal R.A.F. routine goes.
Yesterday, our uniforms &
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
equipment was handed out & last evening was trying to fit the harness of "hundreds" of straps.
Would you please send me my maths. books, as we are to have an exam. just to sort us out in grades. We are here only for two or three weeks, after which we go on to an Initial Training Wing.
Stratford is a place where it rains every day. Yesterday & today it rained hard, & everything in the shops for the forces very dear. For meals we have to march 1/2 mile to another hotel, & meals are O.K.
Tonight, am going to see a Shakespeare play at the theatre,
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
and this afternoon have to be inoculated & [deleted] po [/deleted] photographed.
When I get my equipment sorted out I will send back all I don't want, for which would you send some paper & string.
Well, that is all for the time being.
Best wishes,
Hedley. A.C.2.!
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from No 9 Recruit Wing at Stratford-on-Avon about arrival in rain and billeted at old school. Issue of uniform and request they send maths books. Short description of town and mentions he is going to Shakespeare play. Concludes with talk of photographs and inoculations and request for paper and string.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-05-26
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410526
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--Kent
England--Warwickshire
England--Stratford-upon-Avon
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05-26
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
Joy Reynard
David Bloomfield
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
entertainment
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11093/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410527-0002.2.jpg
8e10ded0f5ace1a64f5927e6027b911f
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147f3d0bff5aff3dfd53a88c9d3af196
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[envelope postmarked Stratford-on-Avon 27 May 1941]
Mr. & Mrs. L. R. Madgett,
127, Longlands Road,
Sidcup,
Kent
[page break]
NO. 1330340. MADGETT. FLIGHT 11/22. NO. 9.R.W. R.A.F.
Grove House,
Greenhill St.
Stratford on Avon.
[underlined] 27th. May [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
If you could get hold of any folding coat-hangers, would you please send them on, as everythings hangs on nails here, and Stratford does not possess any (hangers). Also, would you tell Peter to tell Dr. Williams the result of that interview. Its[sic] a bit too early to write him yet. The Squadron Leader said I was too old for one thing.
We are now on 48 hours excuse duty after the [inserted] 4 [/inserted] inoculations
[page break]
Yesterday, and we need it. Our right arms are terribly stiff and aching, and during the pin pushing, many chaps conked out.
There is an aerodrome nearby, and training planes & Wellington Bombers are flitting around the sky most times of the day.
I must be going now to catch the post, so till next time,
[deleted] aur [/deleted] Au revoir, [underlined] Hedley [/underlined]
[page break]
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Stratford on Avon requesting folding coat hangars. Mentions they are on 48 hours excuse duty due to inoculations and aircraft, including Wellington bombers on a nearby airfield.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-05-27
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410527
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--Kent
England--Warwickshire
England--Stratford-upon-Avon
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05-27
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
David Bloomfield
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11094/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410604-010002.2.jpg
7b4fe99a9c1536217c6ce4348ad7ff72
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett.
127, Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
[underlined] Kent. [/underlined]
[page break]
NO. 1330340. H.R. MADGETT
FLIGHT 11/22. NO. 9. R.W.
R.A.F. Washington Irving Hotel,
Stratford on Avon.
[underlined] 4th. June [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Thanks for the parcel and letter enclosed. It came just too late, as I had just posted a letter saying I had not received it. I can do without my vest I think, as it is very warm in uniform, and if it gets cold I have my pullover. Thank you very much for the choc. & sweets. The canteen only sells sandwiches & cakes & drinks. Sandwiches are
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
only 1d each, and they are not small. [deleted] We [/deleted]
We can only send one pair of socks to the laundry a week, and when we had that P.T. I had to change those socks as covered in mud. It is too late now to send to an outside laundry now, as we go (or should) on Saturday. In the case, you will find some alien socks. We were boating on the [deleted] rv [/deleted] river on Whitsunday and these socks came floating down on a piece of newspaper, quite dry.
I had a letter from John today, and this morning
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
had another inoculation. I don’t know what our blood [inserted] will [/inserted] look like when they have finished pumping liquids into us. We have another 48 hours excuse duty, and am spending this afternoon writing to all and sundry. My arm is starting to ache now. The boot trouble seems to have disappeared, but I am wearing the rubber & leather alternately.
We are not in camp, but have no wireless. I have only heard it once when I went down to the Canteen after supper to get a bit more to eat.
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
The weather on Sunday was really hot, and in our uniforms, not very comfortable.
Thank Mr. & Mrs. Parkin, Mrs. & Eileen Arthur for their wishes, please; I cannot very well write them all – my pen would wear out.
I will send Eileen Sharp. a p.c., but will have a job finding what to say. I have not written to anyone so young!, but I think, on second thoughts, I will write her when I get to I.T.W. as it won’t be much good her sending a card back here when I have gone (that is if
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
she sends one at all).
The same with Dr. Williams. I suppose I shall have to write [deleted] as [/deleted] to him as Squadron Leader.
The boss said I would have a monthly cheque – if so, it’s a rather small one, don’t you think. I sent them a letter on Friday, so will write next week. They may think my letter to be in reply to the cheque, as you had it on Thursday you say.
Well, that is about all the news since I wrote this morning. Love from Hedley.
Thanks again for chocolate & sweets.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Washington Irving Hotel, Stratford on Avon thanking them for parcel and letter and discussing clothing requirements. Discusses food in canteen and difficulties of washing enough socks. Mentions further inoculations and problems with boots, lack of wireless and hot weather. Catches up with family/friends news and talks of finance issues.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-06-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410604-01
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
England--Stratford-upon-Avon
England--Warwickshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06-04
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
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
military living conditions
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett,
127 Longlands Road,
[underlined] Sidcup. [/underlined]
Kent.
[page break]
NO. 1330340. H.R. MADGETT.
no. 4 Squadron. No.4 Flight
R.A.F. No. 10 I.T.W.
Grand Hotel,
Scarborough
[underlined] [deleted] 22nd [/deleted] [inserted] 21st [/inserted]. June. [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Well, here I am again having jumped the first hedge and first water jump, i.e. Anti Gas exam and Maths exam. I got 79% for Gas, and feel sure I have got passed the Maths. We have not had the result yet, but when we do, they do not tell us our marks, only whether we have passed or not. We have to get over 60%. There were 7 questions and I answered 6, and got all these right. But one very long question [deleted] every [/deleted] most of us
[page break]
have got the answer different from what our Maths Master makes it, and we are sure we are right. From now on we have navigation lessons instead of Maths, and had our 3rd. lesson this late afternoon. Its very interesting using parallel rulers and what not on big maps, but very complicated.
The end of this week has been jolly good, on Wednesday Thursday, Friday & this morning (Saturday) we have been on the sands playing games etc. This morning it [inserted] was [/inserted] very hot, and the weather is fine. Also on Friday afternoon we spent
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
the whole afternoon in sports, each flight competing against the others. I had a go in the 880 yds. and came 4th. Our flight finished top at the end.
On Thursday evening we went to the Concert, and we really had a good time. There was a local concert party, and other talent from the R.a.f. [sic] Ronnie O’Dell was amazing at the piano, and they had 3 guitars, an accordian, and later a drummer and oh boy! he was really hot – just like Mickey Rooney. It was a smashing team. One of the Pilot Officers here is Greenwood the Yorkshire cricketer, and
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
Ronnie O’Dell sang a song about him composed by two other A.C.2.’s The chorus was – and what we all [deleted] sh [/deleted] sang (or yelled) was “Boozing, jolly well boozing” which was quite true of him. He’s a good sport, and many references were given to our other officers.
Yes, after Church in the morning, we are free on Sunday, but cannot get into the sea or on to the beach as it is barb wired off, and we [inserted] are [/inserted] only allowed there when we all go for P.T. But the water is terribly cold here, but all the same for that would you
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
please send my trunks, or better still if Hilarious uses mine, you could send some new ones, (or could you?)
Last week I had a letter from Dr. Bile in answer to mine. He said it was nice of me to write, and all that. Nothing important. Last Saturday, I met Mr. Dellar, now S[deleted]e[/deleted]argeant P.T. Instructor, our old P.T. master at school. He has gone through the I.T.W. and did a few hours flying at the E.F.T.S. but was not suitable, and so chucked out. He is in the Hotel opposite, & is here down here as P.T.
[page break]
[underlined] 6 [/underlined]
instructor and is pretty well browned off. We went to the pictures and spent rest of evening talking about old times. He told me of the little clashes between the masters & Dr. Bile, and the latter did not resign from the Home Guard, but was kicked out as inefficient!
My room mate comes from Sevenoaks, but [deleted] a [/deleted] lived in the West End as a policeman. Another, is in another Squadron in the building, and hails from Igtham, Kent, and has a very countryfied accent.
Last week I sent my laundry to the private one
[page break]
[underlined] 7 [/underlined]
(Snowdrift), and they did them terribly – not even ironed. Since, I have seen [inserted] what [/inserted] the firm’s (R.a.f) [sic] laundry is like, and they are far better, even the collars starched.
Now the trouble is that the Snowdrift laundry is given in on [underlined] Monday [/underlined] and collected clean the next [underlined] Saturday [/underlined], and the R.a.f. [sic] laundry given in on [underlined] Thursday [/underlined], and collected on [underlined] Thursday [/underlined]. I want to switch over to the R.A.F. & so when my Snowdrift things come back clean next Saturday (28th), I will send my dirty clothes to you & then if you
[page break]
[underlined] 8 [/underlined]
can, would you send them back clean [deleted] before [/deleted] to reach here before Thursday [inserted] (July 3rd) [/inserted] I cannot send to private laundry outside here as we don’t knock off till 6.30 p.m.
Well, I think that is all for now, so till next time.
[underlined] Love from Hedley [/underlined]
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Grand Hotel Scarborough 10 I.T.W. about his maths and anti gas exams, and starting navigation lessons. He also writes about playing games on the beach at Scarborough against the other flights, going to a concert, meeting his old school P.T. instructor and laundry issues.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-06-21
1941-06-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410621
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--Kent
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
entertainment
military living conditions
sport
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11097/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410614-0001.1.jpg
5899b3d5b4fea2fccd1ebf4aad1a62a7
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[photograph]
GRAND HOTEL & SANDS SCARBOROUGH.
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
[underlined] 14th. June. Scarborough [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Received parcels O.K. Thanks a lot for chocs. Would please send pyjamas. I was very pleased yesterday as I had your 2 parcels, a letter from Ada, with stamp book enclosed, & a letter from John. Weather quite fine here. Next Wednesday have maths exam, then anti gas exam. One flight is going to America today – California, & we are most likely to go there or Canada if & when we get our exams. lights out is 10.5p.m., but have to get up at 6. & 6.30 alternate weeks. We were paid £1.10. for the 2 weeks at S. on Avon, & yesterday paid 16/-. [deleted] for [/deleted] We don’t get so much to eat here, but although no 2nd. Helpings, we usually manage to wangle some more especially for supper. As you are so hard up for chocs I would not send more. We can get a bit at NAAFI & where I have had egg & chips for 5d. more than once as an “after supper”. Well this is all I have room for now, so till next time Love. Hedley. /P.S. Ronny O’del [sic] of Mandy Hale’s Band here.
Mr. & Mrs.L.R. Madgett.
127 Longlands Dr.
Sidcup.
[underlined] Kent [/underlined]
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
Scarborough postcard from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
On the front a photograph of the Grand Hotel above the beach with Scarborough in the background. On the reverse he thanks parents for letter and chocolate and other items. Request they send pyjamas. Speaks of weather and upcoming examinations. Mentions that they are most likely to go to Canada. Mentions daily routine, pay and food.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten postcard with b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410614
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--Kent
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
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
Steve Baldwin
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
military living conditions
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11181/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410630-0003.2.jpg
50006247538a8c3f92f0859fad9b1168
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14e2f121fd184e532f716dfc1884a57e
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11181/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410630-0005.2.jpg
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dc83e9d707c4fab11fbd3244f62ca013
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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road.
Sidcup.
[underlined] Kent [/underlined]
[page break]
[stamp]
[page break]
NO. 1330340. H.R. MADGETT.
No. 4 SQUADRON. No. 4 FLIGHT
No. 10 I.T.W. R.A.F.
Grand Hotel.
[underlined] Scarborough [/underlined]
[underlined] Saturday afternoon. [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
I have just sent on a clothes parcel, for the washing, but my swim trunks have not come yet. But still, the weather has cooled off a bit lately. Last week, in the boiling sun we had P.T. or games almost every day on the beach, & wished very much that I could go in.
Tomorrow night (Sunday) will be my [underlined] 4th [/underlined] night on duty this last week. The main reason is because another Flight is on leave. One night I slept in one of the four towers as a Wing Spotter. Thats [sic] not so bad as we are on the top floor and don’t have
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
to move one’s bedding far. But two other nights, I had to sleep and bring the bedding down to the ground floor by the Guard Room, & take it back again up 133 stairs to our room [inserted] in the morning [/inserted] That was Wing Fire Piquet, and you have to do the black out on the ground floors and below. At 12.30 one night on this duty we had to get up, because the police were making a row about a light showing. No sooner had we got sufficienlty [sic] dressed than the light was discovered, and we had to [inserted] get [/inserted] back to bed again. Thank goodness the warning did not go, or we would have had to get up again & stand by the stirrup pumps.
But I suppose we have to take the rough with the smooth. The food is
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
much better now for quantity. The quality is always super, and invariably at supper we make what John would call “pigs of ourselves! because there is a lot left over at the end,
Last Sunday you say you just lazed about because of the heat. Well, I’m going to make you envious now. On Sunday, I and my pal from Igtham strolled along the cliffs and basked [deleted] in [/deleted] and lay in the sun with a nice sea breeze to keep us cool. If you want a decent holiday, Scarborough is the place. In peace time I should think it would be absolutely super. For example, there is a marvellous open air sea water swimming pool – very modern – not far away up the
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
coast, and it is just rotting away, because inaccessible [deleted] be [/deleted] due to barricades.
Later in the evening, a terrific storm broke with thunder and lightning. One minute all was peaceful, & the next minute a huge rush of wind came bowling along, & then the rain & thunder.
The navigation is getting on O.K. but no instrument in a plane is accurate and you have to make hundreds of adjustments to get a “fix” etc. We have our signals exam on Tuesday, and our navigation exam on July 18th, which almost finishes our cause here. We then go on to an E.F.T.S. One morning the Wing Commander of Derby E.F.T.S. gave us a talk. He had flown here with
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
a flying instructor & another chap. He was very decent, & told us all about life in the E.F.T.S., will I be glad to get there.
Well, I think that is all the news for now.
With love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined]
P.S. Good Luck to Hilarious in the exams.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes about laundry he is sending home, the fine weather, duties as wing spotter/fire piquet [sic], Continues about food, walking, local amenities, an overnight storm and starting navigation training.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-06-30
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410630
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--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06-30
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
military living conditions
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11182/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410624-0001.2.jpg
2322f54f59b385e046aa0c3e969fbab4
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9da627f848f5b50a00baebb1821f61a5
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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[photograph]
G.5128. THE SANDS, SOUTH BAY, SCARBOROUGH.
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
[underlined] 24th. June [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
The parcel came just after I had posted letter. Glad to hear you are having as hot weather as we are. Its terrible in [underlined] our [/underlined] clothes, & we are mighty glad when we change for P.T. (Games) on the beach. Thanks a lot for the book & the “rest”. What whacking slabs! But its very nice, & hard going on the jaw. The food is getting worse for quantity, & today we put up with it no longer. At dinner when Orderly Officer comes for “Any complaints [deleted] we [/deleted] about 40 of us told him what we thought of it. It was fish & baked potato, & we got another helping for complaining. If we get our usual breakfast tomorrow we are going to complain again – but we are not starving – yet. Love [underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett,
127, Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
KENT.
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
Scarborough postcard from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Title 'The Sands, South Bay, Scarborough' In the foreground a beach and sea with boats and people bathing. Behind the beach the ground rises. On the left a large multistory hotel and to the right other buildings. On the reverse, addressed to his parents and he writes about mail received, hot weather, unsuitable clothing. Concludes with comment on poor food and complaint about this to orderly officer.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-06-24
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Postcard with b/w photograph handwritten on reverse
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410624
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--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06-24
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
military living conditions
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11183/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410721-0003.1.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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Start of transcription
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
[underlined] Kent. [/underlined]
[page break]
[stamp]
[page break]
NO. 1330340. H.R. Madgett.
etc. etc.
Wednesday
[underlined] evening [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Today has been perfect. This morning we had our Morse sending exam (I got 98%), which was not hard work, then Navigation. We had a big dinner with plenty of 2nd helpings then in the afternoon the whole squadron went to the wedding of one of the sargents. [sic] – We threw the confetti. That did not take long - & for nearly 2 1/2 hours we sunbathed & played games on the beach. I had a whacking great supper & tea & the weather now is still very hot.
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
We have hardly any “homework” and is too hot to do any in any case. That is life the R.a.f. [sic] Please excuse pencil as writing in the “Italian Gardens” near here.
It looks as though I’m going to get £2 every month from GH & Co. Actually, its surprising how little one spends per day here, & so I am collecting quite a lot. I’ve got £3 now – and so when its [deleted] conuv [/deleted] convenient I will send it home per registered post. When I come home I can have a good time with the money saved. We should
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
be having leave in a few weeks now, when we have [deleted] had [/deleted] finished our course here & taken the Navi. exam which we aren’t exactly looking forward [deleted] too [/deleted] to.
We have had 2 Photos taken of the No. 4 flight, & I have ordered 2 of them, & 1 postcard size of our C.O., officers, [deleted] co [/deleted] seargents [sic] & corporals. So when we get them I will send mine on.
I got the collars this afternoon. The envelope was rather torn about, but they were O.K. Thanks for doing the laundry. I hope it gets here in time.
[page break]
The people I have to write to! You say Ernie & Edith, & John [deleted] g [/deleted] keeps telling me to write to him and says a lot of other “people” want to hear from me. But I’ll do my best.
Which reminds me. There is a chap in our Flight who comes from Liverpool & knows Tuebrook quite well.
Well, I must be moving now, so Cheerio.
Love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined]
P.S. I suppose I will have to write to G.H. & Co. as well.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes of Morse exam then navigation, big meal, a wedding attended and going to the beach. Talks of money and how he spends his days. Goes on to write about training, class photographs, his laundry and requests from other people for letters.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-07-03
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410721
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--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-07-03
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
military living conditions
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Maggett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram stating all well and safe.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-08-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed telegram and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR410822
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--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-08-21
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Addressed to parents and says 'Letter and Telegram received many thanks please do not worry = Hedley'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-10-17
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed telegram and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411017-01
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-10-17
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11189/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411017-020001.1.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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram to and from Hedley Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
Receipt for telegram to Saskatchewan for ten shillings and five pence on 20 Oct 1941. Telegram from Hedley Madgett in Swift Current Saskatchewan to parents reads '17 Oct 1941, Done solo received cable surprised no news plenty work and flying Thomas here = Hedley'. Underneath is printout of telegram from parents '20 Oct 1941, Thanks two cables congratulations flying solo stout lad all well bets love' Stamped 'Passed by censor 2366'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-10-17
1941-10-20
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed telegram and receipt
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411017-02
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-10-17
1941-10-20
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.
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11190/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411102-0003.1.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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] #7[/inserted]
No. 1330340. H.R. MADGETT
(Course 33.)
No. 32 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Station
Swift Current,
Sask, [underlined] Canada [/underlined].
[underlined] 2nd. Nov. 1941 [/underlined]
[inserted] Recd Nov [underlined] 29th [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
I am sorry I have not written for some time, but we are being rushed off our feet and have time for nothing, so I am afraid this letter will be a bit shorter than usual.
[deleted] Yes [/deleted]On Saturday we had a free day last week, and was flying all day Sunday. However, I made best use of the Saturday by going to Regina. I started out of camp at 8 a.m. and arrived at 1 p.m. hitch hiking first on a car, then a gasoline tank truck, another car, and last [deleted] on [/deleted] in the back of a cattle truck. It took me half an hour to find McNelly’s house; Mr. McNelly’s daughter Elspeth and her mother greeted me and after a small meal Elspeth took me over the town. Before seeing her I had a hunch she was quite young – you know what I mean – but she was about 36 I guess. Quite a shock! However, she was very nice, and took me over the Parliament Buildings where she works in the Public Health Dept. It’s a marvellous building, and went up on the roof where we had a [deleted] f [/deleted] view of all Regina. Although the weather was pretty lousy – light rain all the time, the coloured roofs of the
[page break]
[underlined[ 2 [/underlined]
houses, red, green, blue – and the very clean buildings, the lake in the foreground made the town look so fresh and bright. This is like all Canadian towns – they are so cheerful and colourful. Then I got an eyeful of the town and took quite a few photos although weather was not good for snaps. At 5 p.m. we were back where I met Mr. McNelly – he was over 70. I had some more to eat and then caught the 6.15 p.m. train (which left at 6.45 p.m.) and was back in camp at 11.15 p.m. The railroad station (known as the “depot”), like all other big depots was marvellously clean. The booking hall having marble pillars and all that – nothing of the grimy & dirty English stations. The engines of course are collosal [sic] things, and the coaches the last word in comfort. I did not hitch hike back because I wanted to spend as much time as I could in Regina; incidently [sic], I sent a p.c. from there by ordinary mail so you should get that after this letter.
We have our final examinations next week (except a/c recognition & arms. which we have had already), so we are going to be as busy as ever. For armaments exam I did quite well – in fact I was surprised when the results came out – I had 121.7 out of 150.
[page break]
[underlined[ 3 [/underlined] Today I had a letter from Mrs. Hamilton. I also had one from Charlie Radley. I don’t know where I can find time at all for writing. There are heaps of people I have to write to, but gosh they will have to wait.
The flying is getting on swell and have about 43 hours total dual & solo now. This week we are starting night flying. [deleted] Eash [/deleted] Each of us are supposed to have 3 hours night flying but we will be lucky if we have more than 1 hour each on the course.
Well, I will have to finish now, not because of lack of news but because of our greatest enemy at the moment – time!
With Love,
[underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
P.S. This evening it has suddenly started snowing quite hard. This is not our first fall – we have had two light falls before and the temperature below the zero. When there is no wind we don’t feel it, but if there is even a gentle breeze – gosh we feel it then and have to be careful of frost bite.
[page break]
[inserted] Received Nov 29th [underlined] 1941. [/underlined]
[postmark][postage stamps]
VIA AIR MAIL
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup,
[underlined] Kent [/underlined].
[underlined] ENGLAND [/underlined].
PAR AVION
[page break]
[inserted] 7th letter [/inserted]
[inserted] Seal Stamp [/inserted]
VIA AIR MAIL
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Swift Current that he has been very busy but had hitch hiked to Regina on day off and visit to McNelley's. Describes visit to the town with daughter and then took train back. Describes railway station and Canadian trains. Mentions final examinations next week.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-11-02
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411102
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Saskatchewan--Regina
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
No. 1330340. L.A.C. H.R. MADGETT
(Course 33.)
No. 32 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Station
Swift Current,
Saskatchewan,
Canada.
[underlined] 17th. Nov. [/underlined]
[underlined] 9th. letter [/underlined]
[inserted] Recd 5th Dec 1941 [/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
I received your p.c. dated 15th. Oct., but cannot understand why you have only received one letter, dated 5th. Sept. I sent one Air Mail to the coast on 21st. August. Then the following:-
No.2. On 5th. Sept. Air Mail. (received) [inserted] 18th Sept. [/inserted]
“ 3 “ 29th “ Ordinary. [inserted] [symbol] Oct 21st [/inserted]
“ 4 “ 7th. Oct. Air Mail to Coast. [inserted][symbol][/inserted]
“ 5 “ 16th. “ Air Mail. [inserted][symbol] Nov 4th [/inserted]
“ 6 “ [deleted] 2nd. [/deleted] 1st. Nov. Postcard from Regina. Ordinary [inserted][symbol][/inserted].
“ 7 “ 4th. “ Air Mail. [inserted] – Nov 29th [/inserted]
“ 8 “ 9th. “ Air Mail. [inserted] Dec. 5th [/inserted]
So I don’t know where my letters are going. It’s a nuisance because in some I have enclosed some photos.
Now to get on with news. We have just finished our final examinations, except for signal sending. We will have that this afternoon, no doubt.
On Saturday morning, we had the Navigation exam, 3 hours. I did not do exceptionally well
[page break]
[underlined] 2. [/underlined] on the plot, but the rest of the paper I think I did satisfactorily. In the afternoon we had Airframes and Airmanship, both of which we all found not too bad. On [underlined] Sunday [/underlined] morning, we had theory of Flight and Aero Engines, both of which we were definitely not looking forward to, especially the Theory of Flight. On the latter, we have only had two decent lectures, all the rest given us by any Tom Dick or Harry, with the consequence that we do not know much. But the exam turned out lovely. I myself did very well, and thought it pretty easy. [deleted] Some of [/deleted] Aero Engines was quite straightforward. But out of 12 papers already marked in theory of F. 4 have failed: I’m pretty sure I’m O.K. though. In the afternoon we had [deleted] sign [/deleted] morse receiving, & aldis receiving. Near the end of the Engines exam, the C.G.I. Squadron Leader Turner came into the room, and caught a chap cribbing. Then he went round a few of the desks and saw a few writings – definitions etc [inserted] on the desks [/inserted], & came to the conclusion that almost everybody had been cribbing. So, [deleted] after [/deleted] before the signal exam in the afternoon, old Turner came into the room and told us we were going to have all the exams again. at that we just told him we would refuse. But he stuck to his word - & we stuck to ours - & oh boy what a rowdy argument ensued. In the end he got tired of arguing &
[page break]
[underlined] 3. [/underlined] dashed out of the room, down the corridor to his own little room. We all swarmed after him & into his little room, those not getting in, crowding round outside. He nearly went scatty. He was waving his arm & shouting “Get out of here, get out of here, I won’t listen to you, get out of here”. We did not budge an inch, but kept on arguing with him & telling him we flatly refuse to take the exam again. so that was how the situation stood last night. He has quietened down now a bit, and is showing more sense, so I do not think we [deleted] hav [/deleted] shall [inserted] have [/inserted] the paper again – not that it would make much difference, because we would not do it in any case.
Our flying this morning has been cancelled because of the very low ceiling. Just our luck. Every time some bad weather comes, it is our squad due for flying. Consequently we are behind our hours, although my hours stand alright i.e. 57.05 hours, dual & solo & night flying (2.00).
[deleted] When [/deleted] Well, that is all the news for the moment, so I will close,
A Happy Xmas,
Love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined]
P.S. We should be moving from here on the 24th., but please keep[deleted]ing [/deleted] on writing, more letters if you don’t mind. I have not had much mail lately.
[page break]
[photograph]
[page break]
Barrack Hut. Swift Current. Sask. CANADA.
Left to Rt.
Myself, Bill & Lucy. Sept. 1941
[page break]
[photograph]
[page break]
“The Sleeping Beauty”.
September 1941.
[page break]
Air Mail
[inserted] Recd 5th [underlined] Dec. [/underlined][/inserted]
[postage stamps][postmarks]
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett,
127. Longlands Road,
[underlined] Sidcup, [/underlined]
[underlined] Kent [/underlined]
[underlined] ENGLAND [/underlined]
[page break]
[back of envelope]
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 with photographs from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Cannot understand why they have received so few letters from him and lists those he has sent. Continues that he has finished final examinations and describes navigation exam. States that they other exams and in particular theory of flight for which they had had few lectures. Mentions that some people have failed examinations. Writes that the C.G.I came into room and caught someone cribbing on the engines paper and then on inspection that all had been cheating and that they would have to retake exam. Continues describing students confronting him and refusing a retake. Concludes with some comments on flying and weather.
Photograph 1 - a barrack room with many double bunks with lockers above; There are two airmen sitting on lower bunks and one standing. On the reverse 'Barrack Hut. Swift Current Sask, Canada, left to right Myself, Bill and Lucy, Sept 41'.
Photograph 2 - Hedley Madgett wearing unbuttoned tunic laying asleep in a bed. Equipment and clothes hanging from top bunks. An airman is sitting on a bunk bed to the left. On the reverse ' The sleeping beauty, September 1941'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-11-17
1941-09
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter with envelope and two b/w mphotographs
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411117
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-17
1941-09
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
military living conditions
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
No. 1330340. L.A.C. HR MADGETT.
Course 33.
No. 32 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Station
Swift Current,
Saskatchewan.
Canada.
[underlined] 18th. [deleted] Oct [/deleted][inserted] NOV [/inserted].[/underlined]
[inserted] Recd [underlined] 6th Dec. [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
The snow has now come properly. Last night it must have come down quite hard, as it is about 6” thick this morning, and is still snowing. The annoying part of it that its stopping flying. We have not been up since Friday, Saturday & Sunday being exam days, and very low ceiling yesterday.
By the time this letter reaches you, and I hope it does, you should have received the parcel I sent on the 8th. of this month. [deleted] At [/deleted]
At the moment we are kicking our heels doing nothing, now that the exams are over. The papers are being marked now. No one has failed in Airmanship, but quite a few in Engines and Theory of Flight. We have not had our marks yet, but should be ready by tomorrow.
The C.G.I. has come round now, and we are not having our Engines again after all. We have earned a reputation of being the most argumentative course that has ever been through this station. The thing is – we are the only course that stand up to our rights.
We still do not know definitely whether we
[page break]
2. are going [inserted] on [/inserted] twins or singles. I beleive [sic] I have told you, but in case I have not, I have told my instructor I want to be on twins, but very much doubt whether I shall get my wish. I have had a peep at the instructors report book, and have seen that I am “poor at instruments” “above average in aerobatics”, which is just the formula for a fighter. Still, if [deleted] we [/deleted] I go on single engine kites [deleted] we [/deleted] I shall be going to Moose Jaw, where they have Harvards, [deleted] but [/deleted] and there is no delay in starting you’re your training. If I go [deleted] the [/deleted] to Medicine Hat, we shall be flying Oxfords & Ansons, but there are so many unserviceable kites there that the delay in starting is a long time. So, if you gain on the roundabouts you lose on the swings.
Before we move from here, we are supposed to be flying the kites over to Barden, Alberta, to where the whole unit will be moving soon. I hope we do, because we shall be getting quite a lot of extra hours in, as well as a chance to go over Calgary or Banff.
What do you think? For the first time since I’ve been in this firm I reported sick a few mornings ago. Bad show I thought. When I received my shoes from the stores after being repaired, and wore them a couple of days, my little left toe was making a nuisance of itself & hurting. I don’t know what a corn looks like so I went to the M.O. to find out. it was a corn, & he scraped it. Its O.K. now, & have to have some cotton wool & tape on it for a week.
[page break]
[underlined] 3. [/underlined] On Wednesday, we are having a grand “do” down town in the evening; all the instructors, ground and flying, the mechanics, are being invited. On Thursday, there is a camp concert show. If its as good as the last one it should be good; so, this week we are going to enjoy ourselves.
I have just had a letter from Nellie, and says no one has heard from me for a long time. I’m always writing to someone every 3 or 4 days, except for the last week just before our exams.
Well, that is all just right now, but will be writing soon when our results come out.
All the Best,
Love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
[underlined] P.S. [/underlined] This afternoon we have seen by devious means & methods a few of the Flight Commanders recommendations & remarks of our flying for the C.F.I. I had “young & very keen” (!!!!!) Instrument flying Average, Aerobatics above average”. Very keen to go on M.E.’s but would be more suitable on S.E’s.” In other words fighters. I love doing aerobatics, but I’m too good at them. I want to fly something big & heavy, something worth flying.
[page break]
[BY AIR MAIL PAR AVION Stamp] [postage stamps][postmarks]
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
[underlined] Kent. [/underlined]
[underlined] ENGLAND [/underlined]
[page break]
[GREETINGS Stamp [indecipherable words]]
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Written from Swift Current. Writes that snow has prevented flying and they have little to do as examinations are over but some people have failed them. Mentions that the C.G.I relented on the resit of the engines examination. Discusses future course possibilities on either twins or singles and considers that his reports suggest he would be suitable for fighters and would go to Moose Jaw on Harvard. Mentions problems with serviceability of Oxfords if he goes to Medicine Hat on twins. Talks of potential move of 32 EFTS to Bowden Alberta and problems with his feet. Concludes with entertainment news. Postscript covers his report from the C.F.I, which suggest fighters but he would prefer heavies.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-11-18
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411118
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Saskatchewan--Moose Jaw
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Alberta--Innisfail
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
ground personnel
Harvard
medical officer
military living conditions
Oxford
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] 11th letter [/underlined]
No. 1330340. L.A.C. H.R. MADGETT.
(Course 33)
No. 32 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Station.
Swift Current,
Sask.
[underlined] 21st. Nov. 1941 [/underlined]
[inserted] Recd [underlined]8th Dec [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
You will be pleased to know I have got through the final exams O.K., my average mark being 77.6%. My actual marks for each subject were Airmanship 167/200: Airframes 86%: Aero Engines 88%: Signals 70%. Theory of Flight 66%: Navigation 134/200: Armaments/Aircraft recognition 165/200.
The next good news is that I am going on twins to Medicine Hat. Bill Girdwood is going to Moose Jaw for singles, but most of my room pals are going to M.H. The Moose Jaw crowd are going tomorrow, but we are staying on till Wednesday and Thursday, on which days we are flying the kites to Bowden, a 450 mile trip, to where the whole unit is moving. No doubt we shall land at Medicine Hat, Lethbridge perhaps, Calgary & then Bowden, to gas up. From Bowden we shall go to Medicine Hat. To save delay in the mail, which is bad enough now, I think it would be better if you addressed letters from now on to:-
No. Rank. Name.
34 S.F.T.S. RAF Station
Medicine Hat. Alberta.
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined] The weather at the moment is pretty foul; there is a blizzard blowing, and when out in it, your exposed face freezes solid. We have not been issued with any scarfs or balaclavas, and the gloves we have are no good, so I would be glad if you could send some of these comforts over, made of really thick wool. It was an ordinary day yesterday as far as weather goes and saw from a daily bulletin in the Post Office that in the morning it was 140, the highest being 240 for the day. How would you like that?
On Wednesday night, we had the farewell dinner; and oh boy what a time we had! It was held in the Healy Hotel, the officers’ hotel down town. The menu was: Cream of Tomato – White Fish – Roast Country Turkey, Baked Potatoes, Creamed peas, carrots, cabbage – Tutti Fruitti [sic] – Fresh Fruit Fruit Cake and Tea. After the dinner, the merriment started. How we all got home afterwards we don’t know, but we do know we had awful hangovers in the morning, during which morning we had to fly. For the first time, I did not want to go up, but after 15 mins. dual, my instructor whose picture I enclose, sent me up solo. To keep myself from dozing off, I resorted to low flying and developed a new technique, i.e. flying along on top of the railway line into deep cuttings. You can just get your wings in between the two banks.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
With this snow, it is very easy to get lost when you are up, as all landmarks are blotted out. The glare is also very strong and tiring for the eyes; for this I have bought, as most others have, a pair of good antiglare glasses.
I have just received your 5th. letter, the first one for ages from overseas. So please write often as letters are the most welcome things in the day. Thanks for the picture of Mary. I guess I shall have to write to her now. Talking of pictures, could you send me some of me in your next mail as I want to send a row away signed.
There last two weeks I have been mending colossal holes in my socks. Gosh what a long, long job! Such a long time doing such a little.
With Love from
[underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
P.S. On the radio, they have just said the conditions of the highways – almost every[deleted]one [/deleted] highway is blocked.
P.P.S. When you receive one of my letters with a photo in please let me know what picture it was - & then I won’t send the same one twice. What was the first picture?
[page break]
[inserted] Recd [underlined]8th Dec [/underlined][/inserted]
[postmark][postage stamps]
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Midgets,
127. Longhand Road,
Sidcup,
[underlined] Kent [/underlined]
[underlined] ENGLAND [underlined]
VIA AIR MAIL
[page break]
This envelope approved by the Canadian Post Office Department for [underlined] AIR MAIL ONLY [/underlined]. Use for other purposes not permitted.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Written from Swift Current and states he has passed examinations and gives scores. Writes that he is pleased to be going Medicine Hat on twins along with most of his room mates. States when he is moving and but before that they are redeploying aircraft to Bowden Alberta. Provides new address at Medicine Hat. Goes on with account of winter weather and clothing required. Gives account of farewell dinner and flying next day. Concludes with catching up with news and mentions photographs
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-11-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411121
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.
Canada
Alberta--Innisfail
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-21
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
military living conditions
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram reads 'Hut 14A Course 33 34 SFTS RAF Medicine=Hat Alberta, extremely busy only two days Xmas Love=Hedley.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-07
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Printed telegram and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411207
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-07
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to parents
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram address for parents reads 'Address Vancouver wanted 3 : days leave please cable if any or Britishcolumbia [sic], Love=Hedley'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed telegram
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411208
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.
Canada
British Columbia--Vancouver
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-08
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.
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
No. 1330340. L.A.C. H.R. MADGETT
Hut 14A. Course 33.
No. 34 S.F.T.S. R.A.F.
Medicine Hat,
Alta,
Canada.
[underlined] 21st. Dec. 1941 [/underlined]
[underlined] 13th. letter [/underlined]
[inserted] Recd [underlined] June 23rd [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
First of all, thank you [inserted] for [/inserted] your several letters. I look forward to them every few days now, so please keep on writing regularly and often. Yesterday I had one from you dated 25th Nov. and last week one also Air Mail dated 10th. Nov.
I am afraid I cannot write very often in return because we are so busy. We started flying on the 17th. on Harvards, and we are going through on a fighter centre. Quite a few (about 6) have been transferred to the next course because they want Oxfords; I would, but I don’t think its worth the while waiting for the next course to start, especially, as we have found the Harvard the nicest kite to fly. The only thing against them is their noise. They have a reputation of being the noisiest kites in the R.A.F. its alright inside the cockpit however. The first time up, I was in the back where you cannot see anything forward. My instructor F/O Cherrington was in the front & we did aerobatics galore. It
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
was lovely. It can do rolls and rolling off the top of a loop a real treat. He did a left hand spin and then I did one to the right. Actually, the only thing about spins is that you have to come out of the dive gently to prevent blacking out, because Harvards [deleted] are [/deleted] gain speed quickly when diving due to their weight.
The most noticeable thing however is the speed of climb. After taking off [deleted] your [/deleted] you are up to 5,000 feet in next to no time – nothing like the old Tiger. I have done 4.10 hours now, but I’m bowed if I can land without bouncing yet. I have take off’s taped now. When landing or taking off you have to be mighty sharp to stop it swinging, as it has a great tendency to do so. A chap this afternoon landed O.K. and then swung suddenly a [sic] did a superb ground loop.
The number of cockpit checks, drills and vital Actions and the whacking number of levers, knobs, switches and instruments put us rather in a whirl at first, but we are O.K. now. There are just for the sake of interest, 21 dials on the panel, each of which you must know what they should read. The simple operation of just starting up requires 16 actions, after which you have to warm up, then run up, in which everything is tested. Then comes the cockpit drill in which everything
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
is systematically checked. You can now taxi out to the [deleted] rumw [/deleted] runway, and stop short cross wind, to do another drill – the drill of Vital Actions before taking off – trim, mixture, pitch, flaps, fuel and sperry. Then when you get the green [deleted] the [/deleted] light you can take off. And so on. Before we can go solo we each have to go through a blinds-fold test and no mistakes.
Well, that’s enough about flying – I’ll make you bored. Christmas is the thing [inserted] of [/inserted] upper most [deleted] of [/deleted] importance now. Vancouver is out of the question now – we only have 3 1/2 days, which would leave only less than a day in Vancouver. So, we planned and got up a party of 4 to go to Calgary and from there hire a car and look around Banff and the Rockies. But just after we had [deleted] things [/deleted] everything planned, my instructor, who was also the instructor of one of my pals on this party, was going to have his leave when the other flight were having theirs, and so had to be transferred with us to this other flight, which means that [deleted] we [/deleted] I & this chap Eric will have our leave at a different time to the two making up our party. I hope you can understand all this – I’m not getting on very well – am I. What it boils down to is that our plans were ruined. However, there is [deleted] si [/deleted] three of us now, Eric, me, and another of the original party. It did
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
not make much difference to him because he was waiting for the Oxford course to start. So there you are. We cannot find another chap to make up to 4, so we are going to Calgary, and the hiring price will decide whether we have the car for one day, or all the time.
The reason for not going to Banff by train the whole way is because it’s the places around Banff that are interesting not the town itself, and out here you cannot go anywhere without a car, or see everything.
No, I have not received the pen yet and my watch is going swell, and only loses about 2 min. in a month. It must have felt ill or something about a month ago as it stopped once or twice in one week, but [deleted] is going [/deleted] has been going strong ever since with no adjustments made.
Re the mixed Candied Peel – I shall send some over - but is that all you want. Its hard to believe you treasuring an orange [inserted][underlined] in [/underlined][/inserted] every fruit shop you see piles of oranges, apples, bananas, etc. etc. etc in the window. I cannot send fruits over because they would be bad by the time they reached you. Which reminds me: I had a big box of some super candy and from the girl I used to write to in Indiana, in the States.
However, [deleted] I [/deleted] if you do want anything just say
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
the word.
We have been having some wonderful weather lately – clear skies and sun, but not hot. Just nice & cool. Earlier on we had some terrific winds – Shinooks from the rockies – which do their best to blow everything away. But today, it has become suddenly colder & so we can expect snow very soon. The locals say it is unusual to have no snow here so late in the year.
Well, I meant to have a shower tonight, but it is too late now, & I have to be up in the morning. When we are flying in the morning we have to be up at 5.45p.m. in time for flying.
I hope you had a good Xmas, and if not too late a happy New Year.
With Love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. Madgett,
127. Longhand’s Road,
Sidcup,
[underlined] Kent [underlined]
[underlined] ENGLAND [underlined]
Recd Jun [underlined] 23 [/underlined].
[page break]
[back of envelope]
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Medicine Hat thanking them for letters and asking them to continue writing; he is unable to reciprocate due to work load. Started flying Harvard and does not think it is worth waiting for next course on Oxford. Writes about flying, aerobatics, and the complicated cockpit and checklist on the Harvard. Talks of Christmas but unable to get to Vancouver as only 3 days leave. Plan to go to Calgary and Banff instead, Writes of pen and watch and abundance of fruit in Canada which he cannot send over. Concludes with talk of weather and hoping they had a good Christmas and happy new year.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411221
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Alberta--Calgary
Alberta--Banff
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-21
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
Harvard
military living conditions
military service conditions
Oxford
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
From Medicine Hat to parents' address. Reads 'Gone solo Harvard Xmas Calgary Banff hired car wonderful scenery thanks cable many letters = Hedley Madgett'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01-06
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed telegram
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR420106
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Alberta--Calgary
Alberta--Banff
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01-06
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
Harvard
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] Read Feb 24th [/inserted]
No. 1330340.L.A.C. H.R.MADGETT
Hut 14A. Course 33.
No. 34 S.F.T.S. R.A.F.
Medicine Hat,
Alta. Canada.
[underlined] 11th. Jan. [/underlined]
1942.
Dear Mum & Dad,
This is heaven – our first Sunday morning when we can stay in bed. We have nothing on this morning; this afternoon we are flying as per usual. Up to now it been my luck to be always on early flying on Sunday morning. Early flying means getting up in the middle of the night at the unearthly hour of 6a.m. to be down at the Flights for taxying the kites in position and warm the engines up at 7 o ‘clock. A week ago and for 6 or 7 days the weather was colossaly [sic] cold. The temperature got down to -310 & often did not get above -100 for the whole day. To make it worse there
[page break]
2.
was a strong wind, so you can see early flying was no joke. The weather now is quite nice and very warm. (comparatively), and the snow is even trying to thaw. But a warm spell like this will not last long. It was during the cold weather I nearly got frost bite on one of my ears. It did not drop off however because I discovered it just in time. You see, it was not until a few days ago that we were issued with Winter kit. We just had our normal English kit to keep us warm. Now, however we have some [deleted] letter [/letter] leather fingerless gloves, which are very good, thick underclothing & long pants (which nobody is wearing including me) and as the R.A.F. terms all our equipment, Caps yucon, airman for the use of. These are very warm, and large
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
flaps fold down over your ears & tie underneath your chin.
Well, I had better tell you of our Xmas venture. Me and Eric (Markham) caught the 5.05p.m. train to Calgary on Xmas Eve. We met “Murf” (Murrray) [sic] at Calgory as per arrangement (he had one extra day leave). He had got us rooms in the Pallister Hotel, a whacking place. After we had had a meal at about 11p.m. we went around the town looking for what it had to offer us. We went into a café where there was a nice Cashier. We got talking, & found she was an American; she invited us then to a party & we went to meet her when [deleted] It [/deleted] she knocked off. So we went to the hotel to get an hour’s kip in, and went
[page break]
4.
back to the café at 3a.m. But the manager would not let her go then as plenty of people were still coming in and out. after some wangling she managed to get away, but it was too late – the party had broken up by then.
Next morning we went along to hire the car. The best they had left was an old Buick. So we took that, had a meal & set off for Banff at about 1p.m. Out of town, we took a wrong turning & did not know where the road led to. So we asked at a farm, where the farmers wife kept us to have something to eat & drink, & gave us the address of her sister in Chiswick for us to see when we [deleted] got [/deleted] get back.
She set us on the right road –
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
by the way, we nearly finished the trip in Calgory, for on the outskirts two cars had stopped about 40 yards for the lights. We were doing about 30 m.p.h. to 40 m.p.h. and I had to stand on the brakes to stop & go in between the cars and the side walk. The next thing we discovered was that the clutch slipped above 50 m.p.h., and the steering – well to go straight the wheel had to be revolved 1/2 a turn backwards & forwards. There were one or two fairly steel hills to go down. We crossed our fingers hoping we would not have to stop because we couldn’t on the hills. [deleted] Its [/deleted]. It was a 2 driver job – the driver steering, in bottom gear - & standing on the brake
[page break]
6.
and another pulling hard on the hand brake.
However we did get to Banff picking up 3 of our chaps whose car had skidded & gone for 6.
The other two in the car were in Banff with bruises & slight concussion.
We got up late and at about 11a.m. we thought about getting the car started. I press the starter – it just goes click. So we try by turning on the handle – and it was all we could do to move the engine round [underlined] 2”. [/underlined]
The whole thing had frozen. solid; the radiator was O.K. Eventually, the garage nearby got their big (omni)bus [sic] out. When they pulled us back out of the kerb the back wheels skidded for the first 5 yards so you can see
[page break]
7.
how frozen the whole transmission [deleted] had go [/deleted] was. Then the bus pushed us round the block and we got the eight cylinders to fire. Then we had to carefully warm up the gears because when in neutral the gears were grinding round in the thick oil.
That afternoon we went to Lake Louise, half way skidding off the road into a snowdrift.
By the greatest of luck a heavy cattle truck happened to pass within 1/2 hour, who hauled us out. at Lake Louise we got stuck in, taking us 3/4 hour to move again using the starting handle as a spade, our gloves scarves, rugs etc. to make the wheels grip. Next day we [deleted] skidde [/deleted] slid down a hill
[page break]
[underlined] 8. [/underlined]
and over a narrow wooden bridge, & doing some exploring got stuck again.
the scenery was really great. Colossal mountains, firs, Red Deer & Moose etc. I shall send some pictures over when they are developed.
Coming back, it is slightly down hill all the way so we saw how quickly the car would move. On one corner, we hit a bump, and we went round on two wheels the rest of the corner. It was a good engine & had bags of power – too much in fact for the clutch. It just would not go faster than 60 m.p.h. down hill.
Next time I write I shall tell you more of our leave; I must
[page break]
[underlined] 9. [/underlined] stop soon or I shall write a book.
Thank you very much for the gloves & balaclavas. They [underlined] did not [/underlined] take long getting here.
[underlined] Monday. [/underlined] 12th.
Well, today has been again warm and most of the snow has gone. We had the last of our exams for a time at least by having the Oral Armaments. I did not do terribly well, but I got through, which is the main thing. We have no more exams till at the end of the Course, & they are on signals and Airmanship.
Tonight, there is a concert which should be good according to the programme. Tomorrow
[page break]
[underlined] 10. [/underlined]
[deleted] particular [/deleted]
we can get up at a respectable hour because we have nothing on till 9.00am. when all our Flight takes part in the funeral of one of our comrades.
Instead of lectures every day, [deleted] whe [/deleted] we shall have P.T. & games and [underlined] drill [/underlined] which we all [underlined] detest [/underlined]. Occasionally we shall have lectures on Signals Airmanship & Maintenance.
Well, I shall be writing again soon; I must be going now to enjoy the concert.
So, till next time,
Au Revoir,
Love from [underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
[inserted] Read [underlined] Feb 24 [/underlined][/inserted]
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
Kent.
England.
[page break]
[underlined] From: [/underlined] L.A.C. [underlined] H.R. Madgett [/underlined]
34 S.F.T.S. R.A.F.
Canada.
[encircled] 14th [/encircled]
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Medicine Hat that he is having his first Sunday morning off. Writes of flying schedule, early starts, poor weather and lack of winter flying kit but this has now been issued. Tells of Christmas excursion by train to Calgary and activities there. Continues with account of hire car and adventures while driving to Banff and subsequent problems with car. Mentions going to Lake Louise and great scenery. Continues with news of warmer weather and having last of examination. Concludes with general news of activities on base.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01-11
1942-01-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Ten page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR420111
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Alberta--Calgary
Alberta--Banff
Alberta--Lake Louise
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01-11
1942-01-12
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram from Medicine Hat address for parents. Reads 'Two parcels received many thanks having final examinations too busy to write till now = Hedley Madgett 127'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01-13
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed telegram
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR420113
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01-13
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
No. 1330340. L.A.C. H.R. MADGETT
Course 33. Hut 14A.
No. 34 S.F.T.S. R.A.F.
Medicine Hat,
Alberta.
Canada.
[underlined] 27th. Jan [/underlined].
[inserted] Recd [underlined] March 17th [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad.
Thanks a lot for the Air Mail letter just received and dated the 5th. Pretty good going. I’ve had no mail for ages – well – over a week from nobody at all. Today I had a nice letter from the Verinders and a telegram from John in Ormskirk wherever that it [sic]. I wish he would let me have his address as I have a lot of books to send him.
I seems [sic] queer when you say you are writing on both sides of the paper to save paper. Over here we don’t even give it a thought, but one thing they have just rationed is sugar. We do not have bowls of sugar on the mess tables [inserted] now [/inserted]. Rather a blow that as I used to have loads of sugar in my tea. However, everything else is not affected – plenty of cheese, honey and jam etc.
Today, the Inspector General visited the station and talk about fuss [deleted] over one [/deleted] for one man. Every single thing had to be spotless, all flying stopped during the parade because of noise; our course did not have to go on parade thank goodness,
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
but all the other Courses had to, [inserted] 4 [/inserted][deleted] 3 [/deleted] of them. We are now the second senior course, the senior course getting their wings on Friday. We get our wings on Friday the 13th. of all days! Then we may or may not have 7 days leave to get to Halifax. I want to see America or New York if possible but doubt whether time will allow. If it does not I shall stop in Winnipeg and visit those address(s) you have sent me.
Good to hear Bernard Wright is home, but cannot think [deleted] we P [/deleted] where he could have been stationed in U.S.A. I don’t know of any S.F.T.S.’s in Montana State; occasionally we ourselves fly over the border.
With Airmanship & Maintenance, & Signals exams yesterday, we have now finished all our ground examinations and so have no more lectures, thank goodness. Our programme now is one day – flying in morning, resting in the afternoon, night flying. Next day – resting in morning – flying in afternoon - & so on.
Night flying means anything from 8.00 p.m. to 5 o’clock in the morning. Night flying here is far different here from what it was at S.C. The flare path is only a dim row of lights, and the [deleted] en [/deleted] ground cannot be seen even when you are on it. At first landing was [deleted] pe [/deleted] pretty
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
terrifying – you just glide down on the engine into the black until you know the earth is pretty near by your altimeter. Then suddenly crash – you hit the deck & you bounce high in the air again & crash down again. then you thank your lucky stars you are down. Often I wondered why the undercart. [sic] did not go through the wings. However, I have been solo and can only thank the moon which happened to be looking on for letting me go. I only had time for 2 circuits and landings and can honestly say I did absolute peaches of landings – just as smooth as in day time which made me very pleased. I suppose you know by now, or I have told you of the terrific row Harvards make when passing overhead. When at night, the wind is usually in a direction such that [deleted] the circuit h [/deleted] part of the circuit has to be over the town. Well, every time we go over at night we keep them awake nicely by opening & closing the throttle & juggling with the pitch whether it is 11 p.m. or 3 a.m. So you see, we still have our fun. But joking apart, night flying after a time becomes fascinating and is better than day flying.
Today we started on formation flying. This is pretty hair raising at first and demands terrific concentration. [deleted] We [/deleted] I only had 1.20 hrs.
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
this morning dual and formation flying with 2 other dual aircraft and tomorrow I shall be doing it solo. my instructor thinks me O.K. enough to go up & come down in one piece.
By the time this letter reaches you I shall be on my way back home (I hope) so please do not send anything by post as it will miss me.
Well, thats all for the time being –
All the Best,
With Love from
[underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup.
Kent.
[inserted] Recd [underlined] March 17th [/underlined][/inserted]
[underlined] England [/underlined.
[page break]
From. 1330340. LAC H.R. Madgett
34S.F.T.S. R.A.F.
Canada.
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 Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Medicine Hat complaining of lack of mail. Talks about lack of rationing in Canada apart from sugar. Writes of inspector general's visit and that his course will get their wings on Friday 13th. Mentions old friend and talks of ground examinations, the flying programme and night landings. Says they have now started formation flying. Concludes that he will be on his way back home soon.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01-27
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page handwritten letter and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR420127
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine hat
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01-27
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
Harvard
pilot
training
-
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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
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
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
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
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
Madgett, H
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
Telegram from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram from Medicine Hat address for parents. Reads 'Please dont write only cable passing out 13 flying swell gone night solo = Hedley Madgett'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01-31
1942-02-01
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed telegram and envelope
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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR420201
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.
Canada
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01-31
1942-02-01
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
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
pilot
training