Maurice Stimpson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Ashbourne]]> England--Halstead Region (Essex)]]> England--Scarborough]]> United States]]> New York (State)--Albany]]> Florida--Quincy]]> Florida--Lake City]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Cheltenham]]> England--Heysham]]> England--London]]> England--Esher]]> England--Bournemouth]]> England--Seaton (Devon)]]> Wales--Cardiff]]> England--Lowestoft]]> Florida]]> New York (State)]]> England--Derbyshire]]> England--Devon]]> England--Essex]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Surrey]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Sheringham]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Wednesbury]]> England--Staffordshire]]> 1943-07-03]]> Walsall Registrar]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Wednesbury]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> 1943-07-03]]>
Chapter 1. Under Training.
Having been assessed in Birmingham Geoff sets off to London in August 1942 for training, at Lords. Initial training was at Bridlington then gunnery school at Andreas on the Isle of Man. After a short leave he was posted to an operational training unit at Chipping Warden followed by intensive training at Edge Hill. Finally he went to Feltwell for Escape and Evasion training before joining a Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common then Waterbeach.

Chapter 2. Operations RAF Witchford. After seven days leave he commenced operational flying in a Lancaster. Their first target was Augsburg and he reports being waved off by WAAFs and airmen. On the next operation the navigator had a breakdown and refused to help. He continues with details of several operations.
Chapter 3. Return to Ops RAF Waterbeach. Initially this proved to be a very relaxing posting but after his recovery he was back on operations. After 30 operations he was posted to RAF Brackla, Nairn.

Chapter 4. Grounded. He was unhappy at Brackla which was remote and cold. Next was a transfer south to RAF Weeton where he learned about motor transport and learned to drive. He was then posted to RAF Halfpenny Green, followed by RAF Croughton and South Cerney. He then went to Hornchurch before being sent to Germany where he joined a micro film unit at Frankfurt. On completion of photographing relevant factory installations his unit headed south to Triberg in Bavaria.

Chapter 5. As Time Goes By. He reflects on his letter from the Secretary of State from Air, Bomber Command losses and life after the war. he discusses Labour minister John Strachey, a pre-war fascist then Communist Party , who belittled the work of Bomber Harris. and the refusal to allow a thanksgiving service to honour the ex-Prisoner of War Association at Coventry Cathedral.]]>
Geoff Payne]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Training Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Birmingham]]> England--London]]> England--York]]> England--Halifax]]> England--Loughborough]]> England--Flamborough Head]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Fleetwood]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Douglas (Isle of Man)]]> England--Banbury (Oxfordshire)]]> England--London]]> England--Bognor Regis]]> France--Lille]]> England--Cambridge]]> England--Coventry]]> England--Ely]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> France--Rouen]]> France--Vaires-sur-Marne]]> France--Normandy]]> France--Creil]]> France--Nucourt]]> France--Caen]]> France--L'Isle-Adam]]> France--Gironde Estuary]]> England--Falmouth]]> France--Somme]]> Germany--Rüsselsheim]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Sweden--Stockholm]]> Germany--Bremen]]> France--Le Havre]]> France--Calais]]> Germany--Neuss]]> Netherlands--Walcheren]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> Germany--Emmerich]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Scotland--Nairn]]> England--Peterborough]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Hull]]> England--Wolverhampton]]> England--Dudley]]> England--Brackley]]> England--Cirencester]]> Germany--Cuxhaven]]> Germany--Bückeburg]]> Germany--Bremerhaven]]> Germany--Black Forest]]> Germany--Triberg]]> Germany--Rheinberg]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> France--Châlons-en-Champagne]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> Poland]]> France]]> Germany]]> Belgium]]> Netherlands]]> Sweden]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Worcestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Warwickshire]]> England--Newmarket (Suffolk)]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> P H Batty]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> 1940-11]]> P H Batty]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> 1940-09]]> Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Monk]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> Ian Archer Wynn]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Warrington]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Cheshire]]> 1942-05-21]]> Ian Archer Wynn]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Walsall]]> 1942-04-24]]>