Browse Items (160 total)

  • Spatial Coverage is exactly "Germany--Dresden"

AWyldeHJ161218.mp3
Herbert James Wylde was working in local government in Glasgow before he volunteered for aircrew training with the RAF. He started pilot training and had gone solo when he was sent to Canada to continue training. While there, he began training as a…

AHendersonIG171017.mp3
Ian Henderson was born in Lockerbie and studied law for two years at the University of Edinburgh before joining the Royal Air Force. He travelled to Canada onboard the RMS Mauretania to train as a pilot. After two months based near Edmonton on Oxford…

Ingrid Dennull reminisces about her wartime experiences in Berlin, and then as an evacuee and teacher in East Prussia. She recounts various episodes related to the Dresden attack and its aftermath: seeing the target indicators from a distance, dubbed…

PAsshetonJJ1701.jpg
Jacqueline Assheton discusses her father's career in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force and his post war work establishing Safmarine shipping line, as well as his friendship with Jan Christiaan Smuts. Her father did not talk about his wartime…

PStempJ1502.jpg
Joe was a navigator with 578 Squadron and later with 77 Squadron, flying Halifaxes and then Dakotas. Joe has a sister and a brother. His brother ended his service with the Royal Air Force after an accident on a dinghy drill course left him deaf in…

PGreenJ1901.jpg
John Green was born on the 22 September 1921 in Penge, South East London. He registered for the Royal Air Force to prevent being called up by the Army and was drafted in 1942. He was posted to the Isle of Man, where he volunteered as a drogue…

AThomasJH180122.mp3
John Thomas was born in Australia and joined the RAF in 1943. After completing his initial training in Australia he travelled to the UK via America. Further training, including an accident and night vision tests, led to 102 Squadron and a full tour…

PTurnhamK1701.jpg
Ken Turnham was born in St Albans and volunteered for the Air Force on his 18th birthday. After his initial training as a wireless operator he was posted to an Operational Training Unit at RAF Lossiemouth. He and his crew were posted to 115 Squadron…

Langford "Joe" Green was born in Wales but moved to Marlow, Buckinghamshire with his family when he was still a child. He worked in a factory from the age of 14 until he joined the Royal Air Force. After training, he flew operations as an air gunner…

Memoro#4898.mp3
Margarete Meyer (b. 1936) describes the Dresden bombing, 13 February 1945, and recalls how her mother reacted to the alarm. She rushed to the shelter and took some belongings, including what she thought was her confirmation dress. Margarete explains…

AEdwardsM180621.mp3
Martin Edwards recounts the war-time stories of his father, Frederick Edwards. Frederick was born in Kent in 1923, and lived on the family farm. He joined the RAF in 1943 and was posted to Canada for training as a navigator. On his return to England,…

PSpenceMA1502.jpg
Max Spence grew up in Australia and worked in a hardware store before volunteering for the Air Force. He recalls his training in Canada and England, and life on an operational station. He flew 18 operations as a navigator with 460 Squadron.

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Norman Neilson was an apprentice engineer at St Rollox Locomotive Works when he volunteered. He had originally wanted to join the Navy but joined the RAF because the only way he could be released from his position was to volunteer for aircrew. His…

AFerdinandoP151005.mp3
Pauline Fernando, widow of Harold William Fernando, reminisces about her late husband. His father was posted in Germany after the First world War, where he met his wife. During the war he was stationed at RAF Binbrook, RAF Bath and other stations,…

PGreenwoodP2302.jpg
Peter Greenwood was born February 2, 1926, in Halifax, and grew up in the Yorkshire countryside, where his father ran a dairy business. He studied at Sowerby Bridge Grammar School with a particular interest in physics and chemistry. He was later…

AParkeRG161019.mp3
Ray Parke worked on the railway before joining the RAF in 1943. He recalls flying 40 operations as a flight engineer with 218 Squadron by the time he was 20. He tells about operations on Essen and the Ruhr, and discusses the Dresden operation, giving…

PParkeRG2303.jpg
Ray Parke trained as a flight engineer. During one training flight, the pilot wanted to get back to base as soon as possible because he had a date but they were flying a Stirling. The pilot made an error on landing and the wheel stayed in the ditch…

PSearleROJ1709.jpg
Rex Searle joined the RAF in 1938 as an air frame fitter. He was based at RAF Hendon and then at RAF Biggin Hill with 601 Squadron before the squadron was split and he moved with them to France. He was evacuated back to the UK via Boulogne as the…

ADavisRC170818.mp3
Ronald was a solicitor's clerk when the war broke out and then got a job with in Portsmouth. Whilst there he volunteered for air crew and went to London to join the Air Force. After about six months he was called up for training. He went on a…

AMatherR171229.mp3
Upon leaving school, Ronald was employed, initially, as a pawnbroker's assistant, and then a butcher's assistant. In 1943, upon reaching the age of 18 he followed his brothers footsteps and enlisted in the Royal Air Force. After initial training, he…

AScottSO150904.mp3
Seymour Owen Scott (usually referred to as Owen) served as a Lancaster pilot during the war. He mentions always having a passion for flying since he was a little boy. Owen remembers training, in Canada and the United States, to become a flying boat…

PDavisSL1501.jpg
Laurie Davis trained as a wireless operator and, initially, went to RAF Silverstone where crews were formed. Because of his bright red hair, he was then known as ‘Red’. The crew worked on Wellingtons for a few weeks and then Stirlings at RAF…
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