A M Laughland]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1943-09-15]]> A N Hollis]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Photograph]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Manchester]]> Canada]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> United States]]> Florida]]> New Brunswick]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> France]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Czech Republic]]> Czech Republic--Plzeň]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Friedrichshafen]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> China]]> China--Hong Kong]]> Nova Scotia]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Banbury (Oxfordshire)]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> 1943-01-27]]> 1943-01-28]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Banbury (Oxfordshire)]]> 1944-01-05]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jayne L Bailey]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Oxford]]> 1941-10-25]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Hereford]]> 1942-12-01]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> 1943-10-01]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> 1943-10-15]]> A Rosser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> 1944-01-24]]>
Part 2, "No Problem Sport".Covers Alan Gamble's short flying history over France in 1945 before being shot down, and his experiences as a POW in southern Germany and subsequent liberation. The manuscript of Part 2 appears to be complete except for one or more pages missing about two thirds of the way through. This is at the beginning or the end of a fragment bound by metal clips, and could easily have become detached as the outside pages of some fragments' in Part 3 were also lost. It is therefore possible that only one page is missing.

Part 3. "Nil Desperandum".Covers Alan Gamble's post war experiences up to about 1963. This has not been read.

The manuscript of Part 3 is missing pages 24-86, 120 and 170, the latter two being the outside pages of bound fragments. (Page numbering here has assisted in reconstruction).

Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.





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A T Gamble]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Bradbury]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Skegness]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> Wales--Gwynedd]]> Wales--Porthmadog]]> England--Cumbria]]> England--Barrow-in-Furness]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--North Friesland Region]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Italy]]> Italy--Turin]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Berlin]]> France]]> France--Modane]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Jordan]]> Jordan--Amman]]> 1943-06-13]]> 1943-06-17]]> 1943-06-22]]> 1943-07-03]]> 1943-07-24]]> 1943-08-10]]> 1943-08-12]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-27]]> 1943-08-31]]> 1943-10-03]]> 1943-11-03]]> 1945-01]]> 1945-02-03]]> 1945-02-07]]>
After the war John, possibly her brother, became a respected vet who specialised in cancer.
There are short biographies of Alfred Carter and John Carter.
Aidan then details the plan for her project.
There are questions and answers for her grandmother, Honor Saunders, the war time questions and family history display great detail.
Her grandfather, Roy Saunders is also questioned in detail. He was unfit for military service, worked for the railways then applied and was accepted for work on the railways in Nigeria.]]>
Aidan Saunders]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text. Personal research]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> Wales--Llandovery]]> Singapore]]> Burma]]> England--Colchester]]> Poland--Warsaw]]> England--Ely]]> England--Isleham]]> England--Looe]]> Nigeria--Lagos]]> England--Brighton]]> England--Lancing]]> England--Welwyn Garden City]]> England--Wantage]]> Poland]]> Nigeria]]> England--Essex]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Sussex]]>
Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> England--Chatham (Kent)]]> England--Kent]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Scotland--Moray]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-18]]> Angela Duwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Bicester]]> 1945]]> Alun talks of flying on the Anson and Whitley, and of being assigned to a Halifax crew. He describes a training flight accident at Garrowby Hill, Yorkshire in which his crewmates were killed. Alun, who was hospitalised at the time, was not on board the aircraft. He recalls his loneliness at being without a crew, and the unexplained animosity towards him from a senior officer. He talks of joining another aircrew and of adaptability being a part of the role of the bomb aimer, before reflecting on his feelings about the unjust dismissal of the crew’s pilot for lack of moral fibre.
Alun recalls his transfer to RAF Transport Command in 1945 and talks of organising the erection of a memorial to his crew at Garrowby Hill. He mentions his pride at the memorial, and his attendance at annual commemorations there for many years. He goes on to reflect on his preference for the Halifax over other aircraft, his enjoyment of flying, and on the great friendship and comradeship among aircrews, describing a closeness which continued after the war. He also mentions his affection for the animals that he kept in his billet during the war.
Alun relates that he first returned to his pre-war job after the war, but later joined the Welsh Council on Alcoholism to help others and in support of his sister, whom he describes affectionately.
]]>
Anne Roberts]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Leah Warriner-Wood]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Wales--Porthcawl]]> Wales--Newport]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--East London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Japan]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Penarth]]> 1944]]> 1955]]>
Flying training commenced at RAF Booker on Tiger Moths and he was then sent out of England as part of the Empire Training Scheme. Flying training on Stearman aircraft recommenced at Lakeland in Florida followed by multi-engined training at Macon in Georgia and Valdosta for advanced training. In October 1942 he became a pilot under the American Army Air Force System and declined an offer to stay and become an instructor.
Returning to Britain on an unescorted Queen Elizabeth liner, he trained on Oxfords at RAF Little Rissington. Posted to RAF Harwell to fly, in Bluey's terms "clapped out Wellingtons" he describes the system for forming a crew. They were posted to RAF Riccall to fly the Halifax.
The next posting was to an operational squadron at RAF Lissett where he did his first operational flight to Krefeld in June 1943 and trips to Berlin, Cologne and Mannheim. After his trip to Krefeld, his rear gunner refused to fly and was removed. On his second trip to Mannheim, Bluey's aircraft was struck by a bomb from an aircraft flying above. They had to reduce height and so used Window to disguise their location. The final trip was to Berlin in November 1943 and, having completed his tour, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Bluey never flew again. Sent to Tilly Whim, Bluey was trained to operate Oboe and explains the device. Posted to an Oboe station at RAF Winterton to monitor junior operatives, he met his future wife.
After the war had finished he became an instructor on the Link Trainer and sent to various RAF stations and finally to RAF Marham from where he was demobilised and returned to civilian life. In civilian life, employment in the farm feed industry was followed by time in the lubricant industry until retirement. Bluey compiled a register of all crews that flew with 158 Squadron and formed a Squadron association in 1947, of which he became president, and organised a memorial to the squadron at former RAF Lissett.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Canada]]> United States]]> Florida]]> Florida--Lakeland]]> Georgia]]> Georgia--Macon]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-11]]>
His first operation was minelaying in the Baltic and he recalls standing in the astrodome to warn of enemy fighters. On other operations he would sit in the front turret and occasionally fire at enemy fighters, without success. Further minelaying operations were carried out and on his eighth, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and diverted to a US Army Air Force airfield where he stocked up on goodies, unavailable in England from the base exchange store.
On the 22 September 1943 he took part to an operation to Hanover and describes the night fighter tactics in detail. Following lengthy evasive action his aircraft was forced down to 5,000 feet where it was hit by by anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to bail out over Emden where he was caught by a member of the Luftwaffe who was visiting his girlfriend. After initial interrogation he was sent to the interrogation centre at Dalag Luft and after a two day train journey arrived at Stalag 5 prisoner of war camp.
On July 1944 the encroaching Russian army forced the evacuation of the camp and he was moved to the unfinished Luft 4 camp and remembers the bullying guards and poor conditions. Again in February 1945 the camp was evacuated and after crossing the River Oder in barges marched across northern Germany. After two months he arrived at Lübeck and escaped the column, narrowly missing being captured by German soldiers by conversing in French. Finding an allied airfield he was repatriated to England where he was treated as a hero.
After recuperation he attended a code and cipher course and was offered a commission if he would go to the middle-east. Wanting to get married he declined and wangled his way to 24 Squadron at RAF Hendon, were he was eventually demobbed in July 1946. ]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany]]> Europe--Oder River]]> Germany--Lübeck]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> 1936]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1943-09-22]]> 1944-07]]> 1945-02]]> 1946-07]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> Netherlands]]> Poland]]> Germany]]> Lithuania]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Barth]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Wales]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1945-05]]> Arthur Harris]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Goring]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> 1979-08-04]]> B M Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Robin Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--London]]> 1937]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> B M Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Bradbury]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Crawley (West Sussex)]]> England--London]]> England--Middlesex]]> Bahrain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Sussex]]> Bahrain]]> Bahrain--Muḥarraq]]> 1951]]> 1952]]> 1957]]> 1969]]> 1975]]> Beth Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Anne-Marie Watson ]]> Steph Jackson]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> England--Wisbech]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Durham (County)]]> 1942-02-04]]> Bill Lord]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Croydon]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> 1943-03-17]]> Bill Lutwyche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> 1932]]> C G Field]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--London]]> England--Hertfordshire]]> England--Bushey]]> England--Huntingdon]]> England--Herefordshire]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1990]]> 1948]]> 1968]]>