1
25
16
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/934/36536/MLovattP1821369-190903-75.2.pdf
51c3fbced3b1e3bd9c7237f2cb79c94a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lovatt, Peter
Dr Peter Lovatt
P Lovatt
Description
An account of the resource
117 items. An oral history interview with Peter Lovatt (b.1924, 1821369 Royal Air Force), his log book, documents, and photographs. The collection also contains two photograph albums. He flew 42 operations as an air gunner on 223 Squadron flying B-24s. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1338">Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2135">Album Two</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Nina and Peter Lovatt and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-27
2019-09-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lovatt, P
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
A Reminiscence of the Flying Characteristics of Many Old Type Aircraft
Description
An account of the resource
A detailed analysis of very early aircraft and their flying characteristics.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Air Marshall Sir Ralph Sorley
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Felixstowe
England--Eastbourne (East Sussex)
England--Calshot
England--Bembridge
Atlantic Ocean--Spithead Channel
England--Cowes
England--Stroud
Scotland--Montrose
England--Sunbury
England--London
Monaco
Egypt--Cairo
Iraq--Baghdad
England--Felixstowe
England--Aldeburgh
Iraq
Middle East--Kurdistan
Middle East--Palestine
Jordan
Iran
Middle East--Euphrates River
Syria
Yemen (Republic)--Aden
Singapore
Australia
Borneo
China--Hong Kong
England--Kent
United States
New York (State)--New York
France--Paris
Nigeria
South Africa--Cape Town
Yugoslavia
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Denmark
Japan
Belgium
Argentina
Austria
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Greece
China
Lithuania
Estonia
England--Weybridge
Scotland--Island of Arran
England--Kingston upon Thames
France--Dunkerque
England--Hatfield (Hertfordshire)
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick
Maine
Maine--Presque Isle
Washington (D.C.)
Massachusetts--Boston
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Maryland--Baltimore
Washington (D.C.)--Anacostia
Tennessee--Nashville
Arkansas--Little Rock
Texas--Dallas
Texas--Fort Worth
Texas--Midland
Arizona--Tucson
California--Burbank (Los Angeles County)
California--Palm Springs
California--Los Angeles
California--Beverly Hills
California--San Diego
Arizona--Winslow
New Mexico--Albuquerque
Kansas--Wichita
Missouri--Saint Louis
Ohio--Dayton
New York (State)--Buffalo
Ontario--Toronto
Québec--Montréal
Newfoundland and Labrador--Gander
Netherlands--Eindhoven
Germany--Rheine
Germany--Osnabrück
India
Switzerland--Zurich
Lebanon--Beirut
Pakistan--Karachi
India--Kolkata
Singapore
Indonesia--Jakarta
Australia
Northern Territory--Darwin
New South Wales--Sydney
South Australia--Woomera
South Australia--Adelaide
Victoria--Melbourne
Sri Lanka--Colombo
Spain--Madrid
South Africa--Johannesburg
Kenya--Nairobi
Sudan--Khartoum
Greece--Athens
Italy--Rome
Zambia--Lusaka
Zambia--Ndola
Zambia--Mbala
Heathrow Airport (London, England)
Turkey--Istanbul
France--Nice
Utah--Salt Lake City
Italy--Genoa
Atlantic Ocean--Firth of Clyde
Italy
France
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Kansas
Maryland
Massachusetts
Missouri
New Mexico
New York (State)
Ohio
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
New South Wales
South Australia
Victoria
Northern Territory
Egypt
Sudan
North Africa
Ontario
Québec
Germany
Indonesia
Iraq
Kenya
Lebanon
Netherlands
South Africa
Switzerland
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Turkey
Yemen (Republic)
Czech Republic
Slovakia
England--Gloucestershire
England--Hampshire
England--Herefordshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Suffolk
England--Surrey
England--Sussex
England--Great Yarmouth
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 Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
82 typewritten sheets
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971-08-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MLovattP1821369-190903-75
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
aircrew
Anson
B-17
B-24
Battle
Blenheim
C-47
Chadwick, Roy (1893-1947)
Defiant
Dominie
Fw 190
ground crew
Halifax
Harvard
Hudson
Hurricane
Lancaster
Lincoln
Lysander
Magister
Manchester
Me 109
Mosquito
Oxford
Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
pilot
Proctor
RAF Boscombe Down
RAF Eastchurch
RAF Hendon
RAF Henlow
RAF Martlesham Heath
RAF North Killingholme
RAF Pembrey
RAF Prestwick
RAF West Freugh
Spitfire
Stirling
Swordfish
Tiger Moth
training
Wallis, Barnes Neville (1887-1979)
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2088/34539/SWeirG19660703v080001-0005.2.jpg
37d901eec60203f969491b5e24446448
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
Langworthy, Max. Langworthy one
Description
An account of the resource
31 items. Photographs of travels in United States and Great Britain as well as colleagues and friends. Includes photographs of and from aircraft as well as of 462 Squadron pilots in March 1945.
Collection catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-26
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Weir, G
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
Airman in Boston and view in London
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - an airman wearing tunic with pilot's brevet and side cap sitting on a bench with pigeons. Captioned 'Trapper on Boston Common, Sept 43'.
Top right - view from rear of an airman sitting on a bench in a park watching a squirrel perched on the top of the bench. Captioned 'Trapper on Boston Common, Sept 1943'.
Bottom left - three quarter length image of an airman wearing tunic with sergeant rank and pilot's brevet and side cap sitting on a bench in a park feeding pigeons. Captioned 'Boong with pigeons Boston Common, Sept 43'.
Bottom right - a monumental arch gateway to a park with trees in the background. Captioned 'Constitution Arch on Constitution Hill London, Oct 43'.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-09
1943-10
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-09
1943-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
Great Britain
England--London
Massachusetts
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Australian Air Force
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWeirG19660703v080001-0005
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
aircrew
animal
pilot
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9649/SMathersRW55201v10047.2.jpg
ed4fcb9f779d1468dbada3f8530a4a5d
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
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
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
Airmen, Lancasters and women
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is an airman with a female Naval officer standing in front of a Lancaster, captioned ' A small bit of liaison with the Navy!'
Photograph 2 is an airman and a woman standing in front of Lancaster "TL-C", captioned 'The sister and the skipper'.
Photograph 3 is a female Navy officer captioned 'Laura Sowelski 216 White Street, Springfield, Mass. (& the answer to the Navy's recruiting problem).'
Photograph 4 is the sister and the female Navy officer standing in front of a row of Lancaster, captioned 'Why did we have to leave so soon!?'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-08
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10047
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts
Massachusetts--West Springfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-08
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w and three colour photographs on a scrapbook page
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9648/SMathersRW55201v10046.2.jpg
ec4a657bf0acae773d3f065ca8231a5f
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
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Blank page]
[Page break]
[missing letters] D UNION, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1946
Anne Clough's Heart Was Filled With Pride As British Bombers Roared Into Westover
[Photograph]
[italics] Springfield Union Photo [/italics]
STROLLING AND CHATTING – Attractive Anne Clough, who before her marriage to an American served with the RAF's WAAF, chats with Leading Aircraftsman Jack Rollitt, ground crewman on one of the Lancasters of Squadron 35. Mrs. Clough was with the unit back in 1940, when it had twin-engined Wellingtons.
Springfield Resident, Now Employed at Field, Was WAAF During War, Serving With Squadron 35
By Francis Merrigan
"Well, I had a little cry and I was very proud of them." This was the reaction of petit, blonde and lovely Mrs. Anne Clough on Wednesday as she stood outside of Hangar 5 at Westover Field and watched 12 RAF Lancaster bombers roar over the base in tight battle formation before landing to bring "Operation Goodwill" to Western Massachusetts.
Served With Squadron 35
Understandable indeed, were the tears shed by Mrs. Clough as she watched these emissaries of good will, for not only was she a WAAF sergeant attached to the RAF during the war, but "back in 1940" she served with Squadron 35, the very outfit whose planes are at Westover Field today.
She's an American now . . . has been in this country for nearly two years and loves it . . . and because the desire to be near "aircraft" persists, she recently took a job with American Overseas Airlines at Westover and was assigned to maintenance control.
"Not only do I like planes, but my husband's going to school, so it's rather necessary that I work," she said, flashing an engaging smile.
Met in Lincolnshire
She met her husband, Gerald C. Clough, Jr., former fighter pilot with the RCAF and AAF, when they were both stationed at Lincolnshire. The fact that he was an AAF captain – had transferred to the air force of his own country in 1942 – and she was a WAAF sergeant didn't deter the course of romance, and so they were married. Mrs. Clough left her desk in hangar 5 yesterday afternoon to be photographed down at the flight line. "I really don't think that I'll know anyone in Squadron 35,"she said, during the drive to the parking stands, "because it was so long ago that I was with them. And besides, they had Wellington bombers then . . . they're two-engine airplanes, you know."
She Liked Them All
She said her duties consisted of overseeing the officers' mess, and "everything in general."
How many squadrons had she served with?
She smiled . . . "Oh several . . . let's see, Squadron 45, 78, 37 . . . all of those were heavy bombers . . . and I served with the Spitfires too."
Which did she like best?
"Oh, I don't know, I guess I liked them all . . . there isn't any difference." The conversation turned again to the arrival of the Lancasters and she mentioned, a bit wistfully it seemed, that it was something she hadn't seen for a long, long time.
Used To Be All Black
"I was thrilled, too, when they all came to attention out in front of the planes and the band played 'God Save the King.' " she said . . . "My, but I was proud of them."
"This is the first time I've seen them white," she said as the car came to a stop before a maintenance shed . . . "When I served in the WAAF they were painted all black." The under portion of the craft is black, and the upper parts glisten white under their coat of white paint. A lanky blond chap in an RAF dress uniform was the only squadron member in the area and he introduced himself as LAC Jack Rollitt of Yorkshire . . . explaining that LAC meant "leading aircraftsman" and compared somewhat to our [indecipherable word] "except that we have a bit more responsibility than your [indecipherable word]."
Only Five So Far
"How many pairs of nylons are you bringing back?" asked Mrs. Clough after introductions had been made all around.
"Only five so far." answered the friendly Yorkshireman, "But I want to get some more before we go."
"Only five!" echoed the little blond . . . "Do you know that my mother had to pay one pound ten on two pairs of nylons that I sent her? And they cost me only about £1.4s a pair."
Rollitt was asked what disposition he had planned for the nylons.
"Oh, I'll dish them out," he said . . . "One here and one there . . . treat them all alike is what I say."
Anne, who carried a large pocket-book to which her husband's AAF wings were affixed, chatted with the aircraftsman about this and that . . . she informed him that she had no WAAF uniform because she received her discharge before the war ended . . . and commented on the squadron crest painted on the nose . . . Rollitt said he guessed it was the forepart of Pegasus, the flying horse.
Good Living There
The talk veered around to pounds and dollars again and Mrs. Clough mentioned she had written to her mother, commenting on the 26 pounds (about 30 dollars) monthly rent she pays.
"That is a bit stiff, isn't it?" asked Rollitt. "I could live very nicely in England on that."
On 24 or 22 dollars a week?
"Five pounds a week? I'll say you could," was Rollitt's emphatic answer.
It was time for Mrs. Clough to return to her desk, as Rollitt headed back to the shed.
"I'll be out to see the squadron tomorrow," Mrs. Clough called back.
Open House Today
She'll be joined by hundreds of Western Massachusetts residents, in all probability, for it's "open house" at the base and the big Lancasters will be open for inspection. Members of the crews will take spectators through, showing them the mammoth bombers which teamed up with the AAF to give Germany and other occupied areas such an aerial pasting.
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
Anne Clough's Heart was filled with pride as British Bombers roared into Westover
Description
An account of the resource
Details on Anne Clough service in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the War.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-08-17
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10046
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts
Massachusetts--West Springfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-08-17
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting on a scrapbook page
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Angela Gaffney
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
ground personnel
Lancaster
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9647/SMathersRW55201v10043.1.jpg
ddda3e6daccea08dbb5d577bd1b9f94a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9647/SMathersRW55201v10044.1.jpg
467dbf1ea179fba934f19abca4b5da28
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9647/SMathersRW55201v10045.1.jpg
0e0149dba0f67660434ea0a8ce3851ac
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
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Sketch]
ATC WELCOMES R.A.F. SQ. #35 TO WESTOVER FIEL [missing letters]
[page break]
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM FOR RAF SQUADRON #35
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, AUGUST 1946
[underlined] Entertainment Committee: [/underlined]
Col. Cortlandt S. Johnson – Chairman
Col. Anthony G. Hunter – Deputy Base Commander
Daniel B. Brunton – Mayor of Springfield Tel. 6-2711
Edward Bourbeau – Mayor of Chicopee Tel. 1542
Henry J. Toepfert – Mayor of Holyoke Tel. 2-5588
Arthur B. Long – Mayor of Westfield Tel. West. 726
Major Alexander Haddon – 1387 Main St., Spfld. Tel. 4-3581
Harry B. Ellis – Overbrook Rd., Long. Tel. 4-6421
Harry G. Green – Spfld. Chamber Commerce Tel. 4-5673
Clarence J. Shoo – Circuit Ave., M.S. Tel. 4-8268
Lewis Z. Tifft – 1387 Main St., Spfld. Tel. 4-7311
Captain Russell D. Webb – Public Relations Officer
Lt. Victor E. Irons, Jr. – Public Relations Officer
Captain Gregory Dobrenchuck – Public Relations Officer
[underlined] WEDNESDAY [/underlined] 14 August
Morning
0800 – C-54 leaves Westover for Logan Airport, Boston to pick up newsmen, fly to Andrews Field, Washington, D.C., leave newsmen and pick up surplus RAF personnel and return to Westover. C-47 leaves Westover with local newsmen flying directly to Andrews and return with surplus RAF personnel.
Afternoon
1500 – Reception ceremony and squadron arrival to take place on north ramp in front of traffic terminal vehicle parking area. Colonel Cortlandt S. Johnson, C.O. Westover Field, British Consul General Bernard Ponsonby Sullivan MBE: Consul, W.J. Blanch; civic dignitaries; members of the press (plus band and honor guard) meet planes.
1700 – Cocktail party and buffet supper at Officers Club. Attendance RAF Officers, Colonel Johnson and staff, hosts, Consu[missing letters] General, Consul, civic dignitaries and members of the press. Similar party t[missing letters] be held at Services Club (Bldg. T-456)
[page break]
Page 3
Evening:
1945 – RAF EM will board busses [sic] at barracks for dance in Holyoke at War Memorial Building to begin at 2000. Partners and buffet supper will be provided.
Officers:
Morning – Two officers all day guests of Mr. R. Rudd, Tel. Springfield 7-0397.
1100 – RAF officers board busses [sic] before officers BOQ to be guests of Colony Club, Springfield, for cocktails and luncheon at 1130. Address: Maple Street, Springfield, Mass.
1200 – Two officers guests of Rotary Club luncheon.
Staff car will pick up officers at BOQ.
1400 – Officers leave Colony Club, Springfield, by government transportation for golf, tennis, cocktails, dinner and evening at Longmeadow Country Club.
1500 – 35 officers board plane for British officers club tea to be held in Boston. Address: 99 State St., Boston, Mass.
[underlined] SATURDAY [/underlined] 17 August
Morning – Regular Morning Drill of Westover Field personnel.
Afternoon
1400 – Open House. Inspection of British Lancasters by the general public with each crew of Squadron 35 standing by to answer questions of interested spectators.
Evening
2100 – Staff car pick up Group Captain Collard at BOQ for Speech over WMAS, Springfield at 2145.
[underlined] SUNDAY [/underlined] 18 August
Squadron take-off for Mitchell Field, Long Island.
RAF Command Post – Bldg. 256
Field Grade Officer's Barracks – Bldg. 165
Company Grade Officer's Barracks – Bldg. 498
Warrant Officer's Barracks – Bldg. 257
Enlisted Men's barracks – Bldg. 258 & 261
[page break]
[missing word] UNION, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1946
[Photograph]
[Photograph]
[italics] Springfield Union Photo [/italics]
MEMBERS OF THE LANCASTER BOMBER SQUADRON, RAF, were feted yesterday at the Longmeadow Country Club. The Britishers, who flew this week from England to Westover Field, were dinner guests at the club and a special program of sports, including golf, was planned for them. In the top photo are pictured from left to right, Col. Cortlandt S. Johnson, commanding officer, Westover Field; Harry B. Ellis, Club president; Mrs. Ellis and Wing Commander Alan J.L. Craig. Enjoying the hospitable charms of two members of the younger set here are several RAF officers shown in the lower photo. Pictured from left to right, they are Flight Lt. H. G. Bullen, Flying Off. J.E. Robinson, Miss Jean Clark, Flying Off. W. Haigh, Miss Jane Harper, Flying Off. F.P. Leadem and Flying Off. Jack Smith.
RAF OPEN HOUSE TO BE TODAY AT WESTOVER FIELD
Public Will Be Given Chance to Inspect Lancaster Bombers
The Westover Field RAF visitors, Pathfinder Squadron 35, will hold open house from 2 to 5 this afternoon to permit the public to view at close range the 16 Lancaster bombers which are completing their good-will tour of America with a four day stop-over at the sprawling ATC base.
Can Talk With Crews
Group Capt. H.C.M. Collard of the RAF has extended through Col. Cortlandt S. Johnson, base commander, a cordial invitation to the members of the surrounding communities to visit Westover, examine the giant Lancasters, Britain's largest wartime bomber, and chat with their combat crew members. He feels, he said yesterday, that this open house is the best way in which he and his men of the squadron can express their deep appreciation for the most hospitable manner in which the citizens of the state have received and royally entertained them. Crews of the ships will be stationed besides the planes to answer all questions that visitors may put to them. Also on hand at open house will be the Westover Field band with a group of RAF and AAF selections to furnish a fitting background for a squadron which is credited with over 150 sorties against the Axis [indecipherable word].
Military guides will be placed at all gates and throughout the area to aid visitors.
Today is the final day of activity for Squadron 35 in this area. Tomorrow morning the ships will take off, circle Springfield and Holyoke, and then depart for Mitchell Field preparatory to their return trip to England. En route to New York, the planes will fly over Worcester and Boston, giving residents of those cities an opportunity to observe the tight battle formation which poor visibility prevent them from seeing when the RAF unit arrived at Westover on Wednesday.
[Annotated photograph]
[Beer mat]
[underlined] 18th AUG – 22nd AUG. [/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
ATC welcomes RAF Sq #35 to Westover Field
Description
An account of the resource
Item 1 is a typed entertainment programme for 35 Squadron at Westover Field.
Item 2 is a newspaper cutting about 35 Squadron and their social activities.
Item 3 is a newspaper cutting titled 'RAF Open House to be today at Westover Field'.
Item 4 is a beer mat 'You've got it Coming to you Hampden Ale 'Smild but Sturdy'
Item 5 is a photograph of a the 'X' restaurant signed by women.
The pages are dated 18th-22nd Aug.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-08
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Physical object
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10043,
SMathersRW55201v10044,
SMathersRW55201v10045
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
United States Army Air Force
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts
Massachusetts--West Springfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-08
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three printed sheets, two newspaper cuttings, one beer mat and one b/w photograph on a scrapbook page.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Angela Gaffney
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18876/YGeachDG1394781v4.1.pdf
39c216bf0756b27bd489400728cd3c46
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
Geach, David
D Geach
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/"></a>52 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer David Geach (1394781 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence, photographs of his crew, his log book, cuttings and items relating to being a prisoner of war. After training in Canada, he flew operations as a bomb aimer with 623 and 115 Squadrons until he was shot down 24 March 1944 and became a prisoner of war. He was instrumental in erecting a memorial plaque to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. <br />The collection also contains a scrap book of photographs.<br /><br />Additional information on his crew is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-03-14
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. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Geach, DG
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] R.C.A.F.16 [/underlined]
300M-2-42 (1686)
H.Q. 1062-13-15
ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
NOTE BOOK
[page break]
[underlined] BOOK 3 [/underlined]
COMMENCING MY ADVENTURES OVERSEAS
[page break]
[underlined] Saturday Oct 10th [/underlined]
For my first entry in this book, I am settled on the rolling deck of the Queen Mary, somewhere in the mid-Atlantic. I should think our voyage is about half over, of course one hears bags of gen that various members of the crew let slip, which invariably turns out wrong. If the ship was travelling at her normal speed we would be almost there by now, on her previous trip, i.e. from America to England she only took 3 1/2 days. Unfortunately when she was near England an old ack ack cruiser attempted to cut across her bows. He misjudged the distance and was promptly cut in two by the “Queen Mary”, I don’t think there were many survivors. A huge chunk was torn out of the “Mary’s” bows, consequently reducing her speed, I understand that she is going into dock for repairs in the States and expects to be there for about 3 months or more. I believe her destination is Boston or New York, the latter, I hope.
[page break]
She certainly is a lovely ship and a hell of a size, too, she must have been lovely in peace time. Now her exterior is covered in a drab grey paint, and all her cabins have wooden bunks in, and the huge ornate dining hall, is the men’s mess. I am on ‘B’ deck in a cabin, which I should say would be a single second class cabin, there are twelve of us in it. There are four lots of wooden bunks in these tins, naturally quarters are rather cramped but we expected that. We have a bathroom attached & its rather a scramble in the morning. Now I generally awaken well before the hour for rising, owing to the fact, the time keeps going an hour back each night. The meals are pretty good, bags of butter, sugar, & cheese & other things, the only trouble is, most of the cooks are American, & they fry a lot of things in sweet oils, which taste very sickly to us. All of us have been assigned a duty, mine should be messing orderly in the sergeants mess, when I can manage to get there.
[page break]
Fortunately I haven’t been sea-sick (so far), a fair number of the fellows were on the first day or so, when we were travelling through the Irish Sea & the Eastern waters of the Atlantic. Our life on the whole is pretty easy just a parade in the morning, and hardly anything to do all day. Today, I was hoping to be at Don and Betty’s wedding, today, they are being married sometime this afternoon, in Broxbourne, ah! well I’m far away from there now.
One of the standing jokes on this ship I think is the forbiddance of gambling. There are lots of merchant seamen on board & most of them have just been paid £100 or more, & boy! they certainly gamble. The canteen in the evening looks worse than Monte Carlo, it is a solid mass of sweating bodies, packed tightly around the crown and anchor tables, there is a hell of a lot of money backed too. Only fruit drinks are sold on the ship, quite a wise precaution, too, I think.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday Oct 14th. [/underlined]
Today we dock at Boston, I am sorry it isn’t New York, as I would have liked to have seen the city. Still I might get the chance whilst I am over here. During the last couple of days we headed practically due South, and must have been fairly well down, because it became unbearably hot. In the troop decks we fairly lay and sweltered, upon going to bed I used to lay down in the nude, with no covering and still sweat with the heat. In the canteen it is almost impossible to breathe, the perspiration, simply streams off me, & the bankers in charge of the crown and anchor schools are literally exhausted. Their never ending flow of patter intrigues me, they have various slang phrases and names for the different squares. Such as “How about the old fireman’s friend?” this is the spade, or the old “sergeant-major”, being the crown, the “church window”, the diamond, or the “ships ‘ork” being the anchor. Then stock phrases such as, “I’m here to hide ‘em, you’re here to find ‘em”, “If you can’t find your way,
[page break]
on my board, you can’t find your way home”, their voices would crack & become hoarse, but they would never cease. It was fascinating but tiring to watch a cooler spot, was on ‘A’ deck, where two darkies would perform the old slight of hand with three jacks, & invite you to bet on which you fancied was the jack of clubs. The called him Joe Louis, (pronounced it Jo Loo), & would repeat unendingly, Who seen Joe?, Where’s Joe huh! “How about that gen’lman steppin’ & makin’ his lil’ bet?” Where the real money was lost swiftly was in the black jack schools, I hadn’t seen this game before, although I had played pontoon scores of times. This was very similar except that one betted blind on the first card, I watched a fellow place £5, on a blind card & lose, then £7 next time & lose, he lost £24 in four hands, some going. We spend quite a lot of time sitting on the darkened promenade deck and singing to the accompaniment of a mouth organ or anything, there isn’t much in the way of amusement though.
[page break]
It is lovely on deck however, in this weather, we just lounge in the sunshine and lazily watch the gun crews at drill. There certainly are a good few guns on board this ship. Everywhere we look one just sees nothing but water, not even another ship. For the Queen Mary being fast enough to out distance any U Boat, travels unescorted. One marvel in the canteen are the thousands of oranges, one can buy as many as they like, believe me, there’s some queue. When I think that the same number of oranges were sold going across I think it a shame. They could all be landed for the children at home , I wouldn’t mind going without them for a few days, nor would anyone else, so that the children could benefit.
Although this has been an easy and a pleasant voyage I am not sorry it is over, for I want to get on with the course. Well, I guess the next entry I make in here, will be on Canadian soil, at a place called Moncton, for I understand that is where we go first.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday Oct 18th. [/underlined]
We are now in Canada, I am penning this entry in Moncton, New Brunswick, which is the big receiving and posting depot over here. We should return here upon completion of our course (whenever that might be) for posting back to England. I must say that Moncton itself is fairly deadly, it is commonly known as the (to put it politely) the parson’s nose of Canada. The actual camp is as big as the town I should say, not that the town is small, but this is a huge camp. However I’m rambling I’d better note down what happened since my last entry when I was on the boat.
It was about dinner time last Wednesday when we first saw land, it was a low peninsular with a few towns, & it certainly was good to know we were nearly there. A few planes had been out to take a look at us, diving down low over the decks. Some types appeared very strange to us, they had a huge single float underneath, American Army machines.
[page break]
The water was as calm as a milk pond, and we were sliding through it smoothly when without warning a thick yellow fog closes in upon us. The ship slackened speed until she was just about under way, and sounded her siren every few minutes. I forgot to mention she had ceased her zig-zagging tactics, all throughout the journey, every five to ten minutes she would alter course one way and then back, & so on. This zig-zagging was so that no lurking U Boat would be able to take a good aim, at least that was what one of the sailors told me. After a couple of hours the fog became patchy and finally lifted. For a while before we had been hearing other ships sirens and now we were able to see them, there were a huge crowd of them, off our starboard bow, it was a good job we hadn’t run into them, and more funny looking boats on our port. This later turned out to be a small sized collier or something towing three huge barges, if they were barges, a devil of a size, a lot of American ships we have seen
[page break]
are types I haven’t seen before. After some further progress two fast motor gun boats or launches, came out, & travelled alongside, a sailing yacht appeared and hove to and rowed the pilot across, when he was on board, away we went again. Soon we began to pass the numerous islands that dot the water harbour of Boston, most of them had buildings on, and causeways joining them to the main dock.
At this moment we were ordered onto the promenade deck to be assembled in our various drafts, so we continued to watch out of the port holes. We were checked through and got up onto the boat deck just as we watched the boom defence that guards the harbour against U Boats. As we slowly moved our way through the boom, the tugs came out to meet us. They were larger but not so sturdy as the English ones, a lot of them had dough boys on board. Gradually we moved forward and inch by inch we slipped into the bend, parked and pulled by the tugs. At last we were wayed alongside the dock, and
[page break]
a realisation of the immense size of the ship was borne upon us. She towered way up above the wharves & buildings and we were able to look [underlined] down [/underlined] upon the city of Boston. The decks were packed with troops and alongside were the tugs, & on the other lots of women clustered at the doorways. There were some pretty hot numbers, typists, office girls etc. very smartly dressed too. We were throwing English coins down for them & the doughboys, a good few pounds sterling went I’ll guarantee. One thing that impressed me were the cars, or automobiles as they are referred to here, there were tons of them on the streets and all huge streamlined glittering models, certainly superior, in appearance at least to the British models.
We went down to tea and then began to get ready to leave the ship, at about 9 P.M. we marched down the gangway and onto the quayside. It was the first time I had seen the lights at night for three years and it was a grand sight. The Queen Mary was lit, & floodlights on her, everywhere both
[page break]
on the quay & on the ship, firemen patrolled, with portable fire extinguishers, dangling on their belts, they were taking no chances after the Normandie episode.
Our draft number was called and we fell in and marched round to the railway siding which was still inside the docks. After about 45 minutes waiting the train arrived, the coaches over here certainly are larger than ours. We managed to get into a nice one, with green plush double seats and chromium fittings, an interesting feature were the iced water containers, with cardboard cartons, in each coach. After a while the train moved off and we tried to doze. At one crossing where we pulled up an American jumped out from his car and came over and chatted to me. On again we rattled past little places with the streets lit and cars parked here and there, and once we roared past a huge night club, or road house, it was brilliantly decorated with neon lights & was well patronised, judging by the cars outside.
[page break]
Dawn came, & it gradually became lighter, and the sun began to pour down so much that we opened the large observation windows and sat in our shirt sleeves, it was great. The crossings were interesting to us, a black & white striped pole came down to stop the traffic and a bell kept ringing whilst we were passing. The stations intrigued me too, owing to the distances covered by the railways no fences bordered them. The railway ran straight into the town & there were no raised platforms, like at home, one stepped straight off the train onto the main road, all there [deleted] was [/deleted], happened to be, were the station & platform, & different stops we would stream across into the towns. The first place we set foot on Canadian soil was at McAdam. On and on we went through different little towns, until we finally arrived here at Moncton at 8.30 P.M. that day. Well, I have written far more that I intended this time so I guess I will continue the tale in my next entry, from where I’ve just left off.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday Oct 19th [/underlined]
The train didn’t stop in Moncton itself, but went straight on along a siding into the camp. We climbed out, with our personal kit [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] bags & webbing & marched a fair to the brilliantly lit buildings of the camp. It was a large draft and we had to stand out there for a good while. Of all times they had to pick that for a mock air raid, the sirens wailed and hoarse voices bellowed for the lights to go out in the different buildings. Apparently nobody cared a cuss about us, we were just left standing there. Naturally we resented it and began to sing & shout to try & get things moving, our efforts succeeded in bringing an officers wrath upon us, but that was all. Luckily the lights came on again then, & shortly after we were in the drill hall filling in the age old realms of forms. From there we were marched to another drill hall & paid $11, and there we met “Swannie” for the first time.
[page break]
This was an affectionate nick-name for P/O Swanson, the best officer I have ever met in the R.A.F. He has a bubbling irrepressible sense of humour and really speaks to you man to man. Last night he came into the barrack block three quarters of an hour after the lights should have been out, and caught some of the boys playing pontoon. We sat tight & waited, but instead of a frantic outburst he asked what the stakes were. He remained for half an hour chatting, and cracking rank jokes, then calmly said, Well, lets have the lights out sometime eh, that ginger haired b- of a corporal keeps blowing his whistle, & we don’t want to disappoint him & away he bowled.
The camp is a fairly deadly place though, & one could get cheesed easily, luckily we haven’t got to worry about that. They split us up into two drafts and the one I am in, is leaving tomorrow, so we haven’t had long to wait. Our weekend was spent mainly in Moncton, in drug stores and
[page break]
cinemas, the latter have lovely wooden seats in the circle, when we sat, being L.A.C’s a good canteen, or restaurant is the Music Box, which is for the airmen. On this station we are allowed out till midnight each night & 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. There is a cinema on the camp but I haven’t bothered to go [deleted] any [/deleted] to it.
This is the first camp I’ve been on, where I have actually been in barracks, usually it has been in a room of a hotel or something. There [sic] long wooden huts are built pretty well, there are four barrack rooms, in each hut, with about 20 beds in each. These are arranged one above the other, one luxury over here we have mattresses, not the English “biscuits”. We have already sent off our first airgraphs to home, they told us they would be best as cables are generally delayed, ah! well we will see. I think I’ll go into town for our last night here, & see what films are on, then tomorrow we will be on our way West.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday 22nd Oct. [/underlined]
Half our journey is behind us with the other still to come. On Tuesday we paraded in the morning and received the equivalent in dollars for the sterling bank notes we had handed in on the boat, then at midday we paraded again packed and ready to move off. The train was in the camp’s siding and we boarded it there, the coach wasn’t so good as the one we had from Boston. This was an old style tourist or something, with hard worn & black leather seats, we had a fair amount of room though. After the usual hanging around we were off, and how glad we were. The other half of our fellows, who were on another draft, are still in Moncton, I don’t know when they will leave. As night approached we played cards & read, & then pulled out the seats (they were in four collapsible sections) for beds, and also pulled down the wooden beds that folded up into the top of the carriage. We may not have slept comfortably “but we did” sleep.
[page break]
We rose pretty early yesterday morning, had breakfast in the dining car, and cleaned up for the day we were to have in Montreal. At 10 A.M. we drew in at the C.N.R. station, & marched up the road to the C.P.R. and dumped our kit, after that time was our own. Everyone [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] wandered around the various large stores Eaton’s especially, they are easily as large as Gamage’s or Selfridges I should say. The number of [inserted] the [/inserted] population who were French surprised me, I hadn’t thought it would be so many. In the afternoon we went up to the Lookout on Mount Royal and took some snaps of the city from there. Time wore on and it was now 7 P.M. and we had to report back to the station. Our kit was collected & we boarded our new train, & we certainly were crowded, twice the number in a carriage as there had been before. We left around 8 P.M. and dozed on and off until this morning, when we began another day. Tomorrow we will arrive at Winnipeg & spend a day there.
[page break]
One thing about the RCAF, they are far superior to the RAF in their treatment of men on railway journeys etc. The Canadians seem to realise that we are human beings, even though we all wear the same uniform, & they treat us accordingly. The meals we have in the dining car are really tip top, eggs, bacon etc, pork chops. I know they couldn’t possibly do that in England, but the meagre rations we used to get then when travelling were disgraceful I think. The scenery has been pleasing, it is mainly all timber, I never imagined there were so many trees. At this time of the year the leaves are multi coloured, cinnamon, brown, green, a really lovely sight. Now and again one flashes out alongside a lake of deep blue, with a few log cabins around the shore. Once we passed a lumbering camp with a huge raft of spruce logs floating in the river. There certainly is a lot of natural beauty in the country, & its vast size is borne more upon us, the farther we travel.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday 25th Oct. [/underlined]
Our journey is over and we are now settled in at No 5 Bombing & Gunnery School Dafoe, where our first course takes place. To resume from where I left off in my last entry, we were pretty packed in the train, & it wasn’t very comfortable sleeping, but the food maintained its high standard. As we travelled West the forests began to grow less dense, and after the first day and night, we found ourselves in true prairie country. It seemed very odd to us to see the earth stretching away flat and unbroken mile upon mile.
We arrived in Winnipeg about 10 AM. on Friday 23rd. and had the day free in there. As we went upstairs from the track into the foyer of the station we were met by a brass band, and lots of women from the Airmen’s Club, who gave us cigs. chocolate & fruit. Hell! I thought for a moment the war was over, they paid such overwhelming attention to us that I felt embarrassed at
[page break]
times. They certainly do a lot of fine work for the airmen and go out of their way to make us welcome, it was a good show. Unfortunately the day was marred by the fact that we experienced our first snow out here, it was pretty consistent too. Most of the day was spent in touring the shops and large stores. We encountered our first bananas for God knows how long, and also saw the new octagonal ‘nickel’ that has just been produced it is very similar to our threepenny piece.
One thing that seemed unusual to me were the terrific amount of drug stores, grills’ restaurants etc. there is one every 50 yards or so. It isn’t too [sic] be wondered at I guess with the profusion of food out here. We certainly [deleted] are [/deleted] make the most of that, for it is good food & pretty cheap, too. The day finally came to a close and we assembled at the station at 10.30 P.M. for the last stage of our journey to Dafoe in Saskatchewan.
[page break]
Our party didn’t have sleepers like the rest of the airmen on the train, & it wasn’t a tourist coach when the seats could be converted into beds. Consequently we lifted the backs of the seats out, and made do that way. It was a fairly slow train and [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] ambled along coming to a halt with terrific jerks & crashes (I don’t know why they don’t have spring buffers like English trains) until we finally arrived at Dafoe at 1.30 P.M. yesterday. My God! we had been warned that it was small and quiet but I have never visualised it as it actually was. There were about 30 shacks or homes and that comprised the whole of Dafoe – and the camp was 14 miles from that. One fellow wittily remarked to the conductor, “When the war’s over don’t forget where you left us, old man.” A lorry took us out to the camp and we found ourselves on our first Canadian station (Moncton was RAF). All the buildings were wooden, and laid out in lines, I guess there isn’t much to describe a
[page break]
station like this. The barrack blocks or huts are one long room, with no upper storeys, there are about 70 – 80 fellows in each one.
This morning we paraded, and had the usual addresses filled in the necessary pro formas and were allotted to our various classes. Our course is No 66 and there are three classes, 16 of the 19 are in one class, under our instructor F/Sgt Oliver, we meet him tomorrow. Most of us spent the afternoon in the YMCA reading & writing room, sending off Airgraphs with our new addresses, I wonder when we will receive some mail from home. The YMCA is a very nice place, ever so cosy and I guess I’ll spend quite an amount of time in here. There is a cinema show every night in the Recreation Hall, except Friday, & it is very good so I hear, they charge 20 cents. So far it hasn’t snowed but I bet it won’t be long before it does, I understand it gets hellish cold out here. Ah! well, I guess I’ll turn in and see what the course is like tomorrow.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday Oct 28th. [/underlined]
Three days are all that have elapsed and already we are up to our eyes in the theory of bombing and binding more than we did at I.T.W. The hours on this station certainly startled us, parade is at 7.30 AM. and classes commence promptly at 8-0 AM till 12 noon, an hour for dinner then classes again from 1 – 5 P.M. that is eight hours a day solid classes. Our instructor is a really decent fellow, he bowled into the classroom Monday introduced himself and immediately handed out the précis. For there is so much theory to get through in such a short time on this course, that any notes that are wanted are all typed out in this (in my opinion) far too bulky précis. This should eliminate all note writing and save lots of time.
F/Sgt Oliver certainly is a go getter he has whizzed through the précis at an enormous rate, and we have found it necessary to come over to the class room
[page break]
each night and bind. Our heads are swimming with the “Principles of an Ideal & Real Bomb”, “Bombing Errors & Analysis”, & heaven knows what else. All the chaps who were in ‘F’ flight at Manchester, & then left Hastings a fortnight before us, are here on 65 course, naturally they proceeded to shout some b- wicked lines. Surprisingly enough the food isn’t so good here, a Canadian station too, I thought it would be pretty good. There is hardly any bull though and that’s a blessing.
As we expected it has begun to snow, and winter is setting in, I guess we came over to this country at the wrong time. I can quite understand the authorities putting a training station out in the wilds, for there is absolutely nowhere for us to go outside the camp, except a couple of snack bars in Boom Town (a collection of wooden houses that have sprung up round the camp, consequently we have to bind on the course for the want of something better to do. I have been to the Camp Cinema and
[page break]
the shows are very good, the films are new ones too.
Tomorrow we are trying our hand at finding a wind on the bombing tracker. This is a mechanical device that syntheticaly [sic] produces the same effect as flying and bombing from an aeroplane. As our first exercise in the air when we go up will be to find four 3 course winds we want to get a good bit of practise in on the ground. This coming weekend we have a 48 hr pass, our instructor told us, that practically everyone goes into Saskatoon for the weekend. A special train is run on Friday evening and reaches Saskatoon, about 100 miles away, at 8.30 P.M. or so. Then it leaves on Sunday evening around 9.30 P.M. and reaches the camp about midnight. The Y.M.C.A. told us to go to the Airmen’s Club and we will be given an address of a family, who are willing to have airmen for the weekend. Ah! well, I’m getting cheesed with this writing, so I’ll close & dive over to the canteen.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday 1st [deleted] Sept [/deleted] Nov. [/underlined]
I am writing this in the United Services Club in Saskatoon, we are in here on our 48 hr pass. We got through the weeks work, satisfactorily for our minds certainly were on this 48, on Friday morning we were due for a progress test but “Chirpy” Oliver put it off till the beginning of next week, an act to be commended. Dashing off after classes on Friday evening, we hastily changed and cleaned up, then rushed off to the gate to catch the lorry. Anxiety to procure a seat on the train getting the better of prudence we climbed into an open lorry and were soon wishing we hadn’t. We were standing up exposed to a vicious wind that was sweeping across the prairies, and the country being so hellishly flat and devoid of trees there was nothing to counteract the blast. By the time we reached the station we were wishing we hadn’t been so dim, but we managed to totter down & grab a seat in the train which was waiting there, and then dash over to a café for a cup of coffee to put some warmth in our bones.
[page break]
The journey took about 2 1/2 hours and around 8.30 we reached Saskatoon, we found our way to the United Services Club, where we were to meet the people who were taking us for the weekend. Everything had been arranged and we met the lady who was letting Taffy & I stay with her. We caught a street car, I think they are pretty deadly efforts, and reached 6th Street where we are staying. She put us ease immediately & very soon we were settled in cosy and comfortable. Yesterday morning we meandered around the different stores and shops, buying things here and there. Saskatoon is quite a pleasant little town, although I guess it isn’t so little over here. This and Regina are the two biggest cities in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon being the educational centre, having a very fine University, & Regina is the Government Centre. One of the Saskatchewan Rivers (I believe it’s the South) runs through the City here, although at present it is partly frozen. Yesterday afternoon we went to the cinema and saw “The Moon & Sixpence”, there was some very good
[page break]
acting by George Saunders. In the evening we went to another cinema, then after that visited the ice rink.
One of the things that surprises me is the late hour everything goes on till, dances start at 8.30 & 9 PM. things finish a lot later than in England. There are no cinemas at all on Sundays but a show starts at one minute past midnight for its Monday then, I guess some people do go at that hour. We are taking full advantage of the eating facilities and are certainly getting through some meals. Yesterday we had a lovely dinner at [blank] it’s a nice hotel, so is the Berrborough. Last night was Halloween & there was lots of dances, kids running around with blackened faces, it is kept up quite a lot over here. This morning we met Mr. Guild with whom we are staying he travels around a lot being in the wheat business, some of the figures he told us of the amount of wheat grown amazed me. Ah! well work again tomorrow and a fortnight before we are able to get out here again, such is life.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday 4th Nov. [/underlined]
Back at the grind again, we certainly felt shaky on Monday, on ordinary days I find it hard enough to keep awake in class, let alone then. The train reached Dafoe around midnight & we piled in lorries, I made sure I entered a closed one this time, and off we went. By the time we queued up to sign in at the Guard house, then reached the barrack block, made our beds etc. it was around 1.30 AM, then one has to rise fairly early at this place – still I’ll catch up with some sleep tonight.
We had our progress test and our class did remarkably well, easily the best out of the 3 classes that comprise 66 course. “Chirpy” was pretty bucked, the lowest mark being about 85%, this looks like turning out to be a “gen” class. I wonder when we will commence our flying, 65 course have only done Wind Finding so far, apparently the courses are a bit behind on account of the weather breaking I guess. All we
[page break]
seem to do is practise on the Bombing Tracker. This is a fairly good device, one lays on a platform, with a bombsight mounted, as it is in a plane then a moving film of the ground from 10,000 ft is projected onto a screen below. The slide can be made to turn, thus giving the appearance that one is in an aircraft and that is turning, by another fellow using a rudder bar. It is a quite useful piece of machinery, but there are a good few things that go wrong with it, causing conditions that never [indecipherable word] in the air.
It snows on and off frequently, the winter certainly has arrived. The snow looks a great deal prettier (if the term can be applied) than it does back home, for there it rapidly goes a dirty grey, or turns to slush. Here it stays really white and is a lot crisper and driven than I have experienced before. When a fine day arrives, too, with a blue sky and the sun shining down on the snow, one feels really great, and its perfect bombing weather, too.
[page break]
All the class regularly binds at night, it appears necessary in view of the amount of work we have to cope with, and the speed at which “Chirpy” hurtles through it, he sure moves, that boy. Either before or after binding, usually after we dive in the canteen, it is a pleasant one, modern chromium tubular chairs in crimson leather, one can get grand fruit pies etc. but no tea or coffee, apparently no canteens on the stations in Canada function like the NAAFI, in respect of tea & hot meals.
There was a good laugh the other night, a chap up on night bombing, couldn’t see the target when the pilot turned on his bombing run. Suddenly he saw the white light of the target, or so he thought, & headed the pilot there and let go the bomb, it was a good one about 10 yards. Imagine his surprise when the “target”, shot away at a helluva speed, it later turned out to be a fellow & his girl who had parked in his car, for a little love making and had forgotten to put his head lights off. Good job it was only a 11 1/2 lb practice bomb, I bet it shook him though.
[page break]
[underlined] Saturday Nov 7th. [/underlined]
For the first time, since I’ve been in the RAF I believe I shall be working on Sunday. This unfortunate happening occurs tomorrow, it appears that the weekend we are not on classes we work right on without a break, how deadly. That makes it a fortnight without a stop, it made us quite indignant, we always look forward to Sunday as a day of relaxation, and a lay in if possible in the morning. This is positively sordid getting up and continuing classes on a day that means so much to us, sacrificing our rights & privileges, all that bunk y’know. Still in the service the words “Ours not to reason why”, comes to apply in so many cases, that one understands the true significance behind the phrase.
Life still drags uneventfully on here, each day practically a repetition of the former, I can see myself disappearing in a rut. I seem to have struck a bad spell for binding, in class I can’t concentrate and constantly fall asleep, Pat Kinsella, who sits next to me is constantly prodding me into wakefulness. In the evenings I glance idly
[page break]
through the précis for about 5 minutes and then sling it, I really must snap out of it. We visit the cinema every other night for each film runs two nights, they continue to have decent films. The food here also continues to be fairly poor, the Canadians with us complain as well, so evidently it is just an isolated case, this camp. I think the term isolated describes the camp quite amply, too, I have never been anywhere quite so remote in all my life. All we can do outside the gate is to have a meal in the lunch bar or take our laundry. It surprised me that Canadian stations have no full laundry facilities, like they do on English stations it came quite a blow. The water here is deadly, it is an evil sooty looking colour they say it is caused, by the nature of the ground which is thick with alkali, anyway it tastes lousy. Damn! I’m beginning to get cheesed with writing this now, I’ll have a drink in the canteen & then go to the show I guess.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday 11th Nov. [/underlined]
Armistice Day – it seems to have lost the significance that it held pre war, I wonder if they will have another Armistice Day for this war. It was the first time I have been anywhere when two minutes silence was observed for in England the practise is discontinued I was in the Boulton Paul Turret on turret manipulation at the time. We get quite a lot of turret manipulation in the Frazer Nash, Boulton Paul, & Bristol Turrets, the latter we will never handle after we leave this station. Being as we fire from Blenheim IVs or Bolingbrokes as they are called in Canada, we are required to know them, I don’t think much of them as a turret though.
A fortnight remains before our bombing exams and the first vestiges of panic are beginning to show. Some of the stuff really is deadly and can only be learnt parrot fashion, quite an amount of it we shall never touch after we leave here, the majority of it in fact.
[page break]
I’m beginning to wonder when we will start on flying the time is ticking by and there are no signs of it yet – 65 course have done a couple of bombing trips, and naturally short, heaven knows how many times. This is quite an intensive course when one thinks of it, we take Theory of Bombing, which includes tons of different subjects such as Bomb barriers, Pyrotechnics etc. Then Theory of Gunnery, including Theory of Sighting & Air Firing, Signals (8 w.p.m. Aldis) and Aircraft Rec – they are surprisingly keen on the latter. We have a fair number of lessons and in the test we have about 70 slides and 30 photographs, and 10 wingspans, we have to know the wing spans of all enemy aircraft. 90% must be obtained for a pass mark in Aircraft Rec. Besides all these we have the practical side of our training to worry about. Tonight we are belting ammunition down the 25 yd. range, this is making it into belts ready for firing by the different Brownings on the station. Its a bit of a bind at
[page break]
times, but theres [sic] nothing hard on strenuous about it.
There’s a dance on in the WAAF’s canteen tonight but after two dances over here I have abandoned the idea of being able to learn the Canadian style of dancing. They seem to jog around with any steps they please, paying no attention to the orchestra, which rarely plays in dance tempo anyhow, so! I’ll wait till I arrive back in England before I go dancing again.
I’m beginning to feel a little washed out, & so are the others, a fortnights binding all day & most of the evening, without a break soon makes one stale. “Chirpy” is mad ‘cos there is a delay on flying schedules and we are unable to relieve the monotony of our lectures with actual flying. Its a good job we have a 48 hr again this coming weekend, I am beginning to see why they have to give them every fortnight on a camp like this, I guess people would go mad if they were unable to get away.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday Nov 15th. [/underlined]
I’m writing this in Saskatoon again, and another 48 is nearly over, worse luck, we really have enjoyed it. The train pulled in at the station here around the same time on Friday evening, and Taffy and I went straight out to the house we are staying at, for the people invited us again. They really are very kind to us, we have a nice room, and the food is great, our only complaint being perhaps that they press too much of it upon us. Our dinner today was a wonderful effort, and a cream pumpkin pie we had for sweet, made me feel like a bursting balloon. This afternoon we were taken out in the car and drove around the university, it is an extensive place, and a very fine one. They certainly give us a great time here. As usual yesterday we went shopping and then to a cinema, I saw Forest Rangers & liked it, good technicolour. Just before we left Dafoe on Friday a locker lid fell down on Harry Jamieson’s head, splitting a cyst he had, consequently he
[page break]
had to have a minor operation, which prevented him coming on this 48 hr – he was already packed and changed too, hard lines.
I shan’t mind going back to work next week, for its highly probable that we are starting our flying and its about time that came along. One gets cheesed with the bombing tracker time and time again, I only hope my bombing in the air is better that it is on that affair. We have to do turret manipulation in the evenings as well now so that lecture time wont be wasted. I wouldn’t mind so much if it didn’t take long but with two turrets & a whole class to have a [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] [inserted] turn [/inserted] on each, it takes around two hours to get everyone on each for five minutes or so. The Frazer Nash seems the easiest and best to handle, but I think that if one got really expert with the Boulton Paul it would be pretty accurate, for the centre column is very delicate and doesn’t require much pressure to deviate the direction of the turret.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday 19th Nov. [/underlined]
Its getting pretty close to the exams now, they are next Tuesday or so, that is the Bombing Exams. “Chirpy” has been putting us through it just lately, but there is such an amount to learn that my brain doesn’t seem to be able to absorb it all at once. I know the others feel the same, in a while if we don’t get these exams over will be telling them what to do with them. We have been in the bombing room a lot lately on practise work, such as firing and loading a 250 lb bomb on a universal carrier. Loading light series carriers and working the automatic bomb distributors. The bombing oral is divided into four parts and four different officers take it. One takes Bombing Theory, another Bombs and Components, a third Bomb Carriers & practical stuff, and the last the Course Setting Bomb Sight & Bomb Errors. On the following day we should have the written exam, I would rather have that than the oral, some of the officers are bound to be binders.
[page break]
On Tuesday we went down to the 25 yd range for firing with the Browning Gun, we all belted 200 rounds each and fired them. It was quite a row when it fired and it was surprising the amount the gun vibrated. Chunks of casing and [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] pieces of links would fly backwards in to one’s face, so I guess it is necessary to wear goggles when flying. We do a couple of exercises on the Browning here and one on the 200 yd range. Also there are a required number of rifle exercises to get through, the only trouble is its ever so cold, I pity the Russians in the winter, though I guess they are used to it.
At last I have had some mail, the other night when we were belting ammo. down at the range when a couple of fellows came in with Airgraphs they had just received. So off I dashed, the Post Office unluckily being the other side of the camp. It was freezing cold and as I only had battle dress on it penetrated that pretty easily. Still it was worth it, I had an Airgraph from home and one from Mary,
[page break]
it was good to hear from them after this while. I had already had a letter from a friend but that was one that had been re-directed from Manchester. Airgraphs are fairly speedy about 12 – 15 days, they generally take around that, the trouble is they are so short, one hardly starts reading them, when the end is reached; I’ll be glad when a couple of letters come trickling along.
It is fairly definite we will start flying here the beginning of next week, and its none too soon, otherwise we will be here longer than we should. I wonder what it will really be like, one hears so many tales, that one can’t attach any truth to anything. Apparently it matters quite an amount, whether the pilot is a “binder’ or not, I hope mine isn’t. We have been polishing up our wind finding on the bombing tracker, so we won’t boob anything, somehow I think somebody will drop one though.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday 22nd Nov. [/underlined]
True to schedule we worked today, but none of us minded in the least for at last we have commenced our flying here. We went up on Wind Speed & Direction Finding on the C.S.B.S. this afternoon, and I quite enjoyed it. Luckily I flew with P/O Witney the best pilot on the station, so everything was just dandy. I remembered all my ‘patter’ perfectly & didn’t make a mess of anything, and managed to get some pretty accurate winds. There certainly isn’t much room in the nose of an Anson, in the bomber’s position, and I found we had to become an expert contortionist, to slide in and out rapidly without hitting the dummy controls, the tail trim, or any other projecting gadgets.
The flatness of the prairies struck me many times from the train but it is not until one is up in the air that they can really see it. With the snow on the ground now, the landscape stretches miles
[page break]
away in all directions with just small clumps of trees here and there, looking for all the world, like a gigantic sheet of white cardboard that someone had laid down. The roads are all dead straight, unbroken ribbons, running either North to South, or East to West. There certainly was plenty to look at on our first trip up, for everything was vastly different from the English countryside that we had flown over before. Looking down the aerodrome looked like a lonely little outpost in a vast desert. We are supposed to do one more Wind S & D exercise and commence our bombing, bags of fun then. Our pilot didn’t take us over the targets today, some fellows did, there are 3 targets spaced out along the edge of Guill Lake. No 1 being at the North end near the aerodrome, and No 3 at the South End fairly near Dafoe itself (too near maybe with our bombing) then No 2 target in between, the latter is the most difficult to pick up.
[page break]
Our bombing exams are destined for Tuesday & Wednesday, but tomorrow we are scheduled to go down the 200 yd. range for the whole day. So that doesn’t give us much chance for last minute swotting I’m afraid. They have a Fraser Nash & a Boulton Paul Turret down there, and we have to wear full flying kit, so that we get into the way of climbing in and out of the turrets and operating the guns, as we will on ‘ops’.
As for the exams, I am suffering under the insane attack of last minute panic, and consider I know practically nothing, and franticy [sic] ‘gen’ up on any little thing I can think of. Funny how a way before the exam I am always confident of passing and yet when it approaches, fellows always seem to know different things I have never heard about, & this rapidly convinces me I haven’t a chance in the world. Ah! well when I make the next entry they will all be over and will I be glad. Being tired I lay this down with a thankful sigh & so to bed.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday 25th Nov [/underlined]
A premature feeling of relief and happiness prevails over 66K, the bombing exams being over and everyone reasonably sure they have passed, I shall think we ought to, after the work we put in. The Oral came first we had that, yesterday, in my opinion it was the worse of the two. We started off right into it, first thing in the morning and it was my misfortune to have to go in the Bombs & Components Room first. The officer in here was a real binding P/O, he had only been an LAC four weeks previous himself, yet he would bind about things like a fellow’s tie not straight, a button undone, as if we were on a pukka parade instead of an examination. It certainly is funny how some of these fellows let a commission go to their head, and think they’re heaven knows what. To return some of the questions he asked would have required a pharmacist to answer, the various ingredients in an incendiary mixture,
[page break]
stuff we had never touched. Anyway my encounter with him was brisk & lively, I got a trifle heated, & he got more so, which ended with me making my exit with very little marks to my credit I know. The next two rooms, the C.S.B.S. Bombing Errors, & Bombing Theory were cake, for I had that stuff all wrapped. I dropped a couple in the Bomb Carriers, trying to tug a 11 1/2 lb bomb off the carriers without having unscrewed the nose & tail switches, still he was a decent chap & it wasn’t so bad. On the whole I daresay I got through with about 70% a fair show.
The written exam was this morning, we had it in the lecture hall, it was a fairly tricky paper, & I made the usual mistakes through not reading the paper correctly. Its marvellous the times I do that, come [inserted] out [/inserted] of the exam room, & as usual discuss the questions with other fellows, & find I have given the wrong answer to a question just because I didn’t read it. Sheer carelessness, but still I think I got through O.K.
[page break]
On Monday we went to the 200 yd Range for turret firing, it wasn’t bad. We all wore flying kit and were taken out in a lorry, it was about 5 miles away. As we stayed out there all day we took a snack with us. It was fairly interesting, but for the small amount of ammunition we fired it really wasn’t worth it. We had to separate all the links and cones & push them into containers too. Being as it was the day before the exams we all took our précis, in the hope of getting some last minute binding in, but with the guns firing there wasn’t a lot of chance. A fair few photographs were taken as it was a fine day, & we had one hell of a snow ball fight at dinner time, it warmed us up. We walked out and took a look at the target, machine guns certainly chew wooden beams to pieces. A fellow firing wildly sent a bust up into the air just under the tail of a low flying Boley, did that boy climb, that was the only excitement of the day, though.
[page break]
[underlined] Tuesday 1st Dec. [/underlined]
Practically a week has passed since I last made an entry, but nothing, to speak of, has turned up. When one thinks of it practically every day here is a repetition of the former – with only something unusual happening to break the monotony. It is better now that we are cracking on our practical bombing, I have completed my Wind Speed & Direction Finding trips, & my 1 direction & 4 directions bombing exercises, yesterday I did my first High Level Application exercise and managed to get a decent blue of 84 yards. This was pretty good for that exercise at this station.
On the days that we fly, we only do so for half the day, either fly in the morning & lectures in the afternoon or vice versa. If we are flying in the morning we report at 8 A.M. & in the afternoon 12 P.M. going to lunch at 11 P.M. It always is a rush in lunch time,
[page break]
getting only an hour for lunch each day. The first thing upon reaching the Bombing Flight Crew Room is to draw our parachute, harness, & intercom from the stores, and clip our T 32’s on the boards. The T 32 is a form with a diagram of the target & rings round it a scale of 25 yds distance from each other, there are also spaces for gen, such as W/S & D, A/S, Mt. No of Bombs Dropped, etc. As we see the bombs burst on the ground we plot then in the diagram on the T 32. After all these preparations are completed we squat in the Crew Room drinking “Cokes” till our name is chalked up opposite a pilot, & an aircraft. Hastily collecting our gear out we go to begin the exercise.
Two Air Bombers fly in each aircraft & drop 6 bombs each, the 12 bombs are on the ground under the aircraft. One of the fellows [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] climbs into the “kite” and wriggling into the nose gives the C.S.B.S. a visual inspection and tests the bomb switches. The other crawls under the
[page break]
aircraft and begins to load the bombs. These are 11 1/2 lb practise smoke bombs, and are loaded singly onto a Light Series Carrier. This is a hell of a job at times, after cocking & testing the carrier one chips on the bomb, & then lowers “steadies”, or catches which hold the bomb into place. The worst job is pulling the safety pin out, there are held in place with copper wire wound round the bomb, & which is often frozen. One sits there pulling, & cursing & desperately twisting the wire, with fingers absolutely frozen, the trouble is the engines are running all the time and we are directly in the slip stream. It will often whip up powdered snow which lashes into ones face, & before long all the skin on the face goes dead, I certainly hate bombing up at times.
At last its over, however, and into the aircraft we climb test our intercom with the pilots, then when all is O.K. away we go. It is not long before
[page break]
we near the target, and the first chap climbs into the bombing compartment, or squeezes is a better work in an Anson I think. If there is time he finds a 3 course wind, then comes out, & the other fellow climbs in and takes his 3 drifts & finds his wind (unofficially compares it with the other fellow, & takes what he considers is the most correct) and announces he is ready.
The pilot then calls up the quadrant shelter and announces he is commencing to bomb and what his heading will be. Next he generally informs the bomber of the heading & then the patter commences. “No 2 Bomb Fused & Selected”, the bomber does this & repeats the order, “Turning On”, & the pilot turns the aircraft and commences the bombing run. “Master Switch On”, pilot & bomber switch on their respective switches & observe if the Jettison Light lights. Then target comes into view and the bomber announces “Target” & then the pilot says “Attack”, which the bombadier repeats then the fun begins.
[page break]
If the pilot is a good one he will have put the aircraft accurately onto the target on the heading stated. Red will be almost on Red & only minor corrections will be necessary. Should the target be a good way off the drift wires, the bomber gives the necessary correction, “Left-Left”, or Right and the pilot turns the plane accordingly. When the target comes into the drift wires the bomber yells “Steady”, & the pilot flies straight & level again. The pilot may be flying left wing low, & the levels are all out, so the bomber hastily twiddles those. Next he notices Red isn’t on Red, turns the Bearing Plate so that this is O.K. finds the drift wires have moved off the target & gives a hasty last minute correction. He most probably drops the bomb while the ‘plane is turning and to his horror sees the white burst of smoke about 250 yds from the target. Sometimes one has a good run up with the little yellow [symbol] coming down the drift wires all the way, then when the target, back right & fore right
[page break]
are in line [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] presses the bit, and the bomb lands about 30 yds out, he eagerly plots this on the T 32. Quite often one gets in a flap, everything goes wrong, frantic corrections are screamed into the inter com, and then the words Dummy Run are heard. The pilot sighs and informs the quadrant shelter and round they go again. Most of these exercises are carried out at 5 or 6,000 ft. Eventually both fellows have bombed and the aircraft heads for home, and lands disgorging two bombadiers with mixed feelings depending upon how this exercise went.
A swift look at the Bomb Carriers to see if there were any hang ups, sign for the bombs dropped, have the flying time entered on the T 32 in the flight office then off to the Plotting Office. This is where Bombing Exercises are made and marred, I am biased of course, for there is always a feud between Air Bombers & the plotters in the Plotting Office. Apprehensively we hand in the T 32 and in a little while receive a large chart
[page break]
with a graph on it & the target in the centre and our bombs plotted as they saw them at the Quadrant Shelter. In different columns, errors are entered for each bomb, & then the average error converted to 10,000 ft. Should this be under 150 yds it is a ‘blue’ or pass, & if over 150 yds a ‘red’ or fail. The bombadier gazes aghast at a bomb he has plotted at 50 yds & which the Quadrant have at over 200 yds & raises an indignant moan. It rarely has any effect, nobody takes any notice of us & we have to make the best of what we are given. I must say its rather cheesing to see a bomb burst clearly inside the 100 yd. mark & for them to plot it double the distance out. It is easily done for the two Quadrant shelters take bearings on the smoke burst. They don’t stand with their eyes constantly glued to the window, & often don’t look out till the pilot calls over the radio telling them the bomb has been dropped. If there is a strong ground wind the smoke will have
[page break]
drifted a fair distance in this short while & consequently the bomb is plotted farther out than it should be. Sometimes there are errors owing to readings being incorrectly given over the phone but this can be checked. There certainly is a lot to be despised in the plotting, though I guess a good deal could be said for either sides point of view. Its binding to have a hell of a trip, frozen loading the bombs, cold as charity in the air, perspex iced up, yet manage to get some good bombs away, then return & find some guy in the quadrant shelter has spoilt the exercise in a minute with bad plotting. Their argument is that we can’t see as well as them for we are in the air – maybe they’ve never heard of serial reconnaissance. Still its like that on all B & G’s I guess.
The rest of our exams take place very shortly, Gunnery, Signals, Aircraft Rec. I think I had better pack up and get some binding in.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday Dec 6th. [/underlined]
The Signals Exam is over, thats [sic] the first of the list, ticked off, we took it this afternoon. We are required to do 8’s on the lamp, as it is far too cold to go outside in the open with an Aldis we work in the classroom. The Signals Room is fitted with a small light let into the table at each man’s position, the lights are controlled & operated by the instructor operating an ordinary Morse key. Most of us got through the exam O.K. & a few failed, Norman amongst them, he never could master signals, he will get another try I believe, maybe he can do it with some practise.
Some time at the beginning of next week we take both our [deleted] signal [/deleted] Gunnery Exams these are very similar to the Bombing Exams, the Course divided between 3 or 4 instructors. The written will contain a question or two on Turrets we have had 3 or 4 lectures on the F.N, B.P.s and Bristol, and
[page break]
there being so much gen to swallow in a short time, well we just didn’t try, so are hoping for the best.
We haven’t flown for 5 days, owing to the bad weather it has been ‘washed’ every day, its delays like this that put the course behind when we are due to graduate. Either at Xmas or the New Year we will get 4 days leave, and as long as we don’t lose that I shan’t worry. Tomorrow night we are belting ammo, they are behind with their number of rounds & have to catch up, it’s a bind but can’t be helped. I hear that when we do air firing now we have to belt our own ammunition. We have this station completely wrapped, & can’t remember when we last went on a morning parade, we always twist off it with some excuse or other, things on this station are definitely looking up. Ah! well I think I’ll pop along to the cinema & relax, though that’s rather impossible on the wooden seats.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday 10th December [/underlined]
We are gradually finishing the course now, those that had failed Signals took it again. Taffy passed O.K. but Norman didn’t stand a chance so ‘Butch’ Rogers took it for him, so everyone is through now. Today was our Gunnery Oral Exam and that was pretty straightforward, most of the instructors examining us were sprog P/O’s just passed put from LAC’s the same as us. They were decent chaps but we knew as much as them easily. On changing the feed of the Browning, there were quite a few points I mentioned, that one of them hadn’t heard of at all. Anyway I think we all got through without any trouble.
The cold is still as bad as ever, worse if anything, there hasn’t been much flying, owing to the snow storms and poor visibility. There is a Bolingbroke
[page break]
missing from a Gunnery trip yesterday. They have had no news of it at all, and have been organising a square search today. Lots of Ansons with crews came over from the Navigation School at Rivers to assist. I only hope they find the chaps O.K. they may have come down up north in the bush. The trouble with these Boleys is that they aren’t fitted with any radio. A farmer reported hearing a crash in the direction of Quill Lake yesterday, but they searched over there without any success. The pilot is a Canadian I believe, but the two pupils are English on 65 course, the chaps that were in ‘F’ flight at Manchester, I hope they are safe. They say these Boleys are pretty grim in cold weather and ice up in no time.
[page break]
I am not looking forward to our gunnery much it will be hellishly cold in those turrets I bet. We are looking forward to our leave very much after all this binding & swotting, I only wish I could get across to Vancouver to see my uncle but there isn’t time. Mr. & Mrs Guild have invited Taffy& I down to Saskatoon, for Xmas, still I dunno what will happen yet everything is very much in the air. Anyway I’ll think I’ll do one little bit more gunnery now as the Gunnery Written is tomorrow
[page break]
CONCLUDING BOOK 3
MY ADVENTURES IN CANADA ARE CONCLUDED IN BOOK 4
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
Book 3, Commencing my Adventures Overseas
Description
An account of the resource
Third of David Geach's diaries describing his service & personal life training as an Air Bomber in Canada. He describes his ground & flying training experiences, social life both in camp and in local Canadian towns and New York. He details train travel across Canada and the United States and his homeward voyage across the Atlantic in the troopship liner Queen Elizabeth. Covers the period from 10th October 1942 to 10th December 1942.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Geach
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten diary
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YGeachDG1394781v4
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
New York (State)--New York
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Québec--Montréal
Manitoba--Winnipeg
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan--Saskatoon
Massachusetts
New York (State)
Québec
New Brunswick
Manitoba
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-10
1942-11
1942-12
aircrew
Anson
Blenheim
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
entertainment
ground personnel
mess
military living conditions
military service conditions
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1279/17445/PPearceAT16010007.1.jpg
abfbc957dca23a69838c8ca25d3e3c5c
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
Pearce, Arthur
A T Pearce
Description
An account of the resource
140 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer Arthur Pearce (1874945 Royal Air Force) He served as an air gunner with 12, 170 and 156 (Pathfinder) Squadrons and completed a 44 operations. After the war, on 35 Squadron he took part in the June 1946 Victory flypast over London and a goodwill visit to the United States. It contains his diaries, memorabilia and photographs.
The collection also contains an album concerning his post war activity with the Goodwill tour of the United States.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Steve Allan and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Pearce, AT
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
Boston
Description
An account of the resource
Air to ground view of Boston's central business district, Charles river curves from bottom left to bottom right.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPearceAT16010007
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Geolocated
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts
Massachusetts--Boston
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1292/17598/PPearceAT16030005.1.jpg
d7d03cf3649d7911635a40dfb92713ba
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
Goodwill tour of United States
Description
An account of the resource
Top - newspaper cutting including photograph of a Lancaster with Royal Air Force personnel lined up in front. In the foreground a welcoming colour party and line of United States servicemen. Captioned 'Color guard (foreground) line up opposite crews of RAF Lancasters which landed at Mitchel Field yesterday on first leg of a goodwill tour of United States. The group of 16 planes is manned by vets of bombing attacks on Germany'.
Middle left - an air-to-ground view of airfield.
Middle right - an air-to-air view of an airborne Lancaster in light paint scheme taken from rear turret.
Bottom left - a photograph of a Sikorsky H5 helicopter.
Bottom right - air-to-ground view of Boston, Massachusetts with a river running middle left to right.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-07
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting and four b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPearceAT16030005
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
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
New York (State)--New York
Massachusetts--Boston
Massachusetts
New York (State)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
35 Squadron
aerial photograph
aircrew
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/934/36457/BLovattPHastieRv2.1.pdf
295406378e70aa4d2aeb43baeaddc085
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lovatt, Peter
Dr Peter Lovatt
P Lovatt
Description
An account of the resource
117 items. An oral history interview with Peter Lovatt (b.1924, 1821369 Royal Air Force), his log book, documents, and photographs. The collection also contains two photograph albums. He flew 42 operations as an air gunner on 223 Squadron flying B-24s. <br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/1338">Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2135">Album Two</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Nina and Peter Lovatt and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-27
2019-09-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lovatt, P
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hastie DFC: The Life and Times of a Wartime Pilot
Description
An account of the resource
A biography of Roy Hastie.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Peter Lovatt
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2003-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Rhode Island--Quonset Point Naval Air Station
Bahamas--Nassau
New York (State)--New York
Bahamas--New Providence Island
Great Britain
England--Harrogate
Scotland--Perth
Scotland--Glasgow
England--Warrington
England--Blackpool
Luxembourg
France
Belgium
Netherlands
France--Dunkerque
England--Dover
England--Grantham
England--Torquay
Wales--Aberystwyth
Iceland
Greenland
Sierra Leone
Russia (Federation)--Murmansk
Singapore
France--Saint-Malo
Denmark
Sweden
Germany--Lübeck
Netherlands--Ameland Island
England--Grimsby
Germany--Helgoland
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
England--Lundy Island
Germany--Cologne
North Carolina
North Carolina--Cape Hatteras
Aruba
Curaçao
Iceland--Reykjavík
Greenland--Narsarssuak
Canada
Québec--Montréal
Rhode Island
New York (State)--Buffalo
Gulf of Mexico
Caribbean Sea
Virginia
Florida--Miami
Cuba--Guantánamo Bay Naval Base
Puerto Rico--San Juan
Cuba
Florida--West Palm Beach
Cuba--Caimanera
India
Sierra Leone--Freetown
Jamaica
Jamaica--Kingston
Jamaica--Montego Bay
Virginia--Norfolk
Washington (D.C.)
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northern Ireland--Limavady
England--Chatham (Kent)
Newfoundland and Labrador--Gander
Gibraltar
England--Leicester
Massachusetts--Boston
Egypt--Alamayn
Algeria--Algiers
Algeria--Oran
Algeria--Bejaïa
Algeria--Annaba
Italy--Sicily
England--Milton Keynes
Germany--Essen
England--Dunwich
Europe--Scheldt River
England--Sizewell
Germany--Hamburg
England--Kent
Germany--Stuttgart
England--Crowborough
Netherlands--Hague
England--Peterborough
England--Bristol
Germany--Homburg (Saarland)
Belgium--Brussels
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Belgium--Liège
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Aschaffenburg
Germany--Castrop-Rauxel
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Neuss
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg)
Germany--Leuna
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Ulm
Germany--Munich
Poland--Szczecin
France--Ardennes
Germany--Bonn
Belgium--Houffalize
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Grevenbroich
Germany--Dülmen
France--Metz
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Zeitz
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
England--Dungeness
Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Germany--Wiesbaden
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Koblenz
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Münster in Westfalen
Germany--Worms
Germany--Pforzheim
Germany--Darmstadt
Europe--Lake Constance
Germany--Bergkamen
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
France--Aube
Germany--Augsburg
England--Feltwell
England--Croydon
Norway--Oslo
Sweden--Stockholm
Czech Republic--Prague
Italy--Florence
Portugal--Lisbon
Monaco--Monte-Carlo
France--Boulogne-sur-Mer
Netherlands--Venlo
Netherlands--Amsterdam
France--Paris
France--Lyon
France--Digne
France--Nevers
France--Lille
Norway--Ålesund
France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)
France--Bailleul (Nord)
Belgium--Ieper
Belgium--Mesen
France--Cambrai
France--Somme
France--Arras
France--Lens
France--Calais
Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)
Netherlands--Vlissingen
France--Brest
France--Lorient
France--La Pallice
Egypt--Suez
Germany--Berlin
Yemen (Republic)--Aden
Cyprus
Turkey--Gallipoli
Black Sea--Dardanelles Strait
Turkey--İmroz Island
Turkey--İzmir
Greece--Lesbos (Municipality)
Greece--Thasos Island
Greece--Chios (Municipality)
Greece--Thasos
Bulgaria
Turkey--Istanbul
Europe--Macedonia
Greece--Kavala
Kenya--Nairobi
Africa--Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Tanzania
Sudan
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Sudan--Kassalā
Eritrea--Asmara
Yemen (Republic)--Perim Island
Ethiopia--Addis Ababa
Sudan--Khartoum
Ghana--Takoradi
Libya--Cyrenaica
Libya--Tobruk
Egypt--Cairo
Iraq
Greece--Crete
Libya--Tripolitania
Tunisia--Mareth Line
Libya--Tripoli
Tunisia--Qaṣrayn
Tunisia--Medenine
Italy--Pantelleria Island
Malta
Italy--Licata
Italy--Brindisi
Italy--Foggia
Italy--Cassino
Italy--Sangro River
Italy--Termoli
Yugoslavia
Croatia--Split
Croatia--Vis Island
Italy--Loreto
Italy--Pescara
Trinidad and Tobago--Trinidad
North America--Saint Lawrence River
Newfoundland and Labrador--Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Bahamas
Florida
Italy
Poland
Massachusetts
New York (State)
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Egypt
North Africa
Ontario
Québec
Germany
Croatia
Czech Republic
Ghana
Greece
Kenya
Norway
Russia (Federation)
Turkey
Yemen (Republic)
Portugal
Trinidad and Tobago
North America--Niagara Falls
France--Reims
Europe--Frisian Islands
Germany--Monheim (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
England--Gloucestershire
England--Lancashire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Greece--Thessalonikē
Germany--Herne (Arnsberg)
Atlantic Ocean--Kattegat (Baltic Sea)
Libya--Banghāzī
Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ
Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Jersey
Virginia--Hampton Roads (Region)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
142 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BLovattPHastieRv2
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
1 Group
100 Group
101 Squadron
157 Squadron
2 Group
214 Squadron
223 Squadron
3 Group
4 Group
6 Group
8 Group
85 Squadron
88 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
B-24
B-25
bale out
Beaufighter
Bismarck
Botha
C-47
Chamberlain, Neville (1869-1940)
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
crash
crewing up
Distinguished Flying Cross
entertainment
evacuation
Flying Training School
Gee
Gneisenau
Goldfish Club
ground personnel
H2S
Halifax
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Harvard
He 111
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Hudson
Hurricane
Initial Training Wing
Ju 88
Lancaster
love and romance
Martinet
Me 109
Me 110
mine laying
Mosquito
Mussolini, Benito (1883-1945)
navigator
Nissen hut
Oboe
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Pathfinders
pilot
Proctor
radar
RAF Banff
RAF Catfoss
RAF Catterick
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Cranwell
RAF Dishforth
RAF Farnborough
RAF Horsham St Faith
RAF Kinloss
RAF Leuchars
RAF Lichfield
RAF Lyneham
RAF Manston
RAF North Coates
RAF Oulton
RAF Padgate
RAF Prestwick
RAF Riccall
RAF Silloth
RAF South Cerney
RAF St Eval
RAF Thornaby
RAF Thorney Island
RAF Windrush
RAF Woodbridge
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945)
Scharnhorst
Spitfire
sport
Stirling
Swordfish
Tiger Moth
Tirpitz
training
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Whitley
Window
wireless operator
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/300/32122/MMcDonaldDA410364-151013-02.1.pdf
6199184d703609ba0ef66a21865ce63f
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
McDonald, Donald
Donald Alexander McDonald
Donald A McDonald
Donald McDonald
D A McDonald
D McDonald
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. One oral history interview with Donald Alexander McDonald (1920 - 2021, 410364 Royal Australian Air Force) as well as two letters, a concert programme and notes on his interview. He flew operations as a pilot with 466 and 578 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Donald McDonald and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-10-13
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
McDonald, D
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive Interviews – Adam Purcell Interview Notes: 410364 Don McDonald, 578 and 466 Sqn Halifax pilot 1944-45 Koo Wee Rup, where Don’s family had their dairy farm, is a regional Victorian town approximately 65km south-east of Melbourne city. Wilson Hall is the ceremonial hall of Melbourne University. The original Hall, in which Don sat his Public Service exams, was destroyed by fire in 1952. See an article about the fire at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18256075. Mount Martha, the site of Don’s Army training camp, is a small suburb of Melbourne, on Port Philip Bay, some 60km south-east of the city. It is about 50km west of Koo Wee Rup. Broadmeadows, from whence came the WWI-era tents in which Don and his fellow recruits stayed, is a northern suburb of Melbourne and has hosted an Army camp since the early days of WWI. 1 Initial Training School was at Somers, also not far from Koo Wee Rup, on the shores of Western Port. 7 Elementary Flying Training School was at Western Junction, near Launceston in northern Tasmania. The airfield remains active as Launceston Airport. 1 Service Flying Training School was at Point Cook, 25km south-west of Melbourne. It was Australia’s first Air Force base and it remains the oldest continually-operating military airfield in the world. Though no flying units are now based there it hosts the RAAF Museum (see http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/index.htm). The Showgrounds are located at Flemington, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne. They are adjacent to Flemington Racecourse, the home of the Melbourne Cup horse race, which Don mentions towards the end of the interview. Camp Myles Standish was a US Army staging camp near Taunton in Massachusetts. Most Australian airmen who travelled across the US on their way to war would have been among about a million soldiers, sailors and airmen who went through the camp. The railway lines that Don mentions following while training from Point Cook went to Ballarat and Seymour. Don’s first gunner was named Chas Mears. His mid-upper gunner was Johnny Cowell. Don completed HCU at Rufforth. 578 Squadron was at Burn. AFL, or Australian Football League, also known as ‘Aussie Rules’, is a football game popular in the southern states of Australia. It is played on an oval ground and is characterised by long kicks, spectacular ‘marks’ (catches) and four upright goal posts. Rugby in this case refers to rugby league, the opposing code which is popular in New South Wales and Queensland. Don’s first grocery stores were at Fawkner, a northern suburb of Melbourne, and Hampton, which is on Port Philip Bay some 15km south-east of the city. The ‘Birdcage’ is a particularly exclusive marquee at the Melbourne Cup horse racing carnival. The actual population of Ballarat is about 96,000, and of Colac (another regional town) about 11,500. Scans: Don was unable to find his logbook at the time of the interview; he thinks a grandchild has it. If he finds it he will let me know for scanning. The only photographs that Don has of his wartime service are framed on his wall; they are under glass and so cannot be scanned. However there is a crew photograph available through the Australian War Memorial; see https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P03759.001. Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley was the Air Officer commanding RAAF Overseas Headquarters in London from 1942 until he retired in June 1946. It was in this capacity that he signed the letter sent to Don on the award of his DFC in November 1944. The Programme series of scans relates to a particular leave that Don and a mate enjoyed in London in March 1944. Unfortunately, he only remembered to tell me the story when we were scanning the documents so it was not recorded, but a description follows, which I wrote up from my postinterview notes shortly after arriving home: "The thing to do when you went to London", Don said, "was to organise accommodation as soon as you arrived in the city", because of high demand. Unfortunately, on this occasion Don and his mate found themselves in a pub for some beers, which became another pub for more beers, and another, and another. When they were booted out at about 11pm - closing time - from the final pub (pubs had staggered hours in London during wartime), Don asked his mate where he was staying. He replied, dunno, what about you? Don hadn't organised anything either. The Boomerang Club was not an option at that hour, either were the other services clubs in the city, but the Strand Palace could perhaps take them, they thought. (One of the more exclusive hotels in London, the Strand Palace would well and truly have exceeded the budget abilities of the average Flight Sergeant, as both were at the time). So they went there, to be confronted by a large queue of American GIs in front of the booking desk. Here was one occasion where the distinctly blue Australian uniform came in handy. The concierge came up to them, past the Yanks, and enquired quietly whether they had a reservation. They replied, no, we don't. He nodded. "Come with me." The concierge led them to the desk, and asked the receptionist in a loud voice, "Which is Mr McDonald's room?", holding out his hand for a key, which he then gave to Don and his mate. "If those Americans had known that we didn't have a reservation either and we'd jumped the queue like that....." he said to me with a shudder. In any case, in for a penny, in for a pound, they thought. The following day they were talking at breakfast to a woman who asked if they had anything planned for the afternoon. They replied no, thinking about how little funds they had left following their extravagant accommodation. She said that she would be pleased to provide them with tickets for a show. In Royal Albert Hall. In the Royal Box. And there would be special people in the audience. Given strict instructions not to speak to royalty, should any be present, unless first spoken to, Don and his mate went to Royal Albert Hall for what turned out to be "A Grand Concert as a Tribute to Sir Henry J. Wood", and sat in the second row of the Royal Box. Shortly before the performance began there was a great cheer from the crowd (Don's mate leant over and said, "Do you reckon they're cheering for us, Mac?"), and into the Royal Box swept the Queen and the two Princesses, Margaret and Elizabeth (who of course is now the current Queen). The royal party sat in the row of seats directly in front of Don and his mate and they did indeed have a short conversation with them. This being a particularly memorable leave, Don decided a souvenir would be required from the hotel. They debated about pinching a towel (replacing it with their ratty, grey Air Force-issue towels) but decided it wouldn't last very long, so something more permanent was more appropriate. They settled on a small crystal glass. Somehow it survived the next year or so of travelling around in Don's kitbag and came home with him. As Don was telling this story he went to a cabinet and returned with the crystal glass. It is in Don’s hand in one of the photographs I took following our interview.
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 Notes: 410364 Don McDonald, 578 and 466 Sqn Halifax pilot 1944-45
Description
An account of the resource
Notes on locations for Don McDonald's home, training in Australia. Notes people mentioned and scanned documents relating to a leave that Don enjoyed in London and includes a story of the leave written up by the interviewer from his notes which was missed in the interview.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Victoria--Melbourne
Tasmania--Launceston
United States
Massachusetts--Taunton
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
Victoria--Port Phillip Bay Region
Victoria
Massachusetts
Tasmania
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-03
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adam Purcell
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MMcDonaldDA410364-151013-02
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two typewritten sheets
466 Squadron
578 Squadron
aircrew
Halifax
pilot
RAF Burn
RAF Rufforth
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1365/22923/PThomasAF20010038.1.jpg
a1f9e298ca133b6540d85a2c4f3e9fd0
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
Thomas, Arthur Froude. Album 1
Description
An account of the resource
An album containing 50 pages of photographs of Arthur Froude's family and his pre war career and service as a flight engineer with 90 Squadron. The album also contains family photographs dating from 1900.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thomas, AF
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
Len Jones and an Atlantic convoy
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is Sergeant Len Jones, Home Guard at Banwell in 1943.
Photos 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are ships forming up for a 1941 convoy from Boston. The photographer is Arthur's friend Cecil Reid.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six b/w photographs on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThomasAF20010038
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Somerset
England--Banwell
United States
Massachusetts
Massachusetts--Boston
Atlantic Ocean
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.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1943
civil defence
Home Guard
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1632/25671/PBowerFG20010015.2.jpg
07af0f0a1c13f5101aa09a57066d0b1b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1632/25671/PBowerFG20010016.2.jpg
a85fcfc343275b48150c0dc64533e8f4
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
Bower, Frank Geoffrey. Album
Description
An account of the resource
An album of photographs from Frank Bower's training in Florida.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-01-23
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.
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
Moncton to Miami Train Journey
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is a bridge, annotated 'New bridge On way down'.
Photo 2 is a diesel engine 'Florida Special', annotated 'Train on way down'.
Photo 3 is a view of buildings captioned 'Sussex Town Hall Taken from train'.
Photo 4 is a railway station, annotated 'Boston Station. Taken on way down'.
Photo 5 is a large domed building, annotated 'Providence Taken from train'.
Photo 6 is a four engine passenger aircraft, annotated 'Stratosphere Clipper Take Off'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six b/w photographs on two album pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PBowerFG20010015,
PBowerFG20010016
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
Rhode Island--Providence
Massachusetts
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9613/SMathersRW55201v10009.2.jpg
09785a570bbe3c25830d11616a069f50
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
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
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
Operation Goodwill
Description
An account of the resource
A map of North America with a route plotted on it. Airfields visited are listed from Gravely and back. It is captioned '"Operation Goodwill" 8th July to 29th Aug 1946.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed map with handwritten annotations.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Map
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10009
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Azores
Canada
Great Britain
United States
California
Colorado
Massachusetts
Missouri
Texas
Washington (D.C.)
California--Los Angeles
Colorado--Denver
England--Cambridgeshire
Massachusetts--West Springfield
New York (State)
Newfoundland and Labrador
Texas--San Antonio
England--Cornwall (County)
Illinois--Belleville
Illinois
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
1946-08
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.
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
RAF Graveley
RAF St Mawgan
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2088/34538/SWeirG19660703v080001-0004.1.jpg
8f2b852cfcb546aaba5ebddc146a70c4
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
Langworthy, Max. Langworthy one
Description
An account of the resource
31 items. Photographs of travels in United States and Great Britain as well as colleagues and friends. Includes photographs of and from aircraft as well as of 462 Squadron pilots in March 1945.
Collection catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-26
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Weir, G
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
People and places
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - view over water with trees either side. Captioned 'National Park, Sydney 8th Aug 43'
Top right - five men wearing shorts standing with window in the background. Captioned '"Trapper"-"Boong" - Bruce Simms - "D.C."-"Clicker", CMS, Taunton Mass, U.S.A, Sept 43'.
Bottom ;left - man wearing white sports kit with shorts standing in front of a doorway. Captioned 'W.A.G. named Tonkin - From Young - C.M.S. Sept 43'.
Bottom right - an airman wearing tunic with sergeants rank and side cap sitting on a bench covered with pigeons. Captioned 'Trapper with pigeons on Boston Common, Sept 43'.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-08-08
1943-09
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-08
1943-09
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
New South Wales--Sydney
United States
Massachusetts--Taunton
Massachusetts--Boston
Massachusetts
New South Wales
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 Australian Air Force
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWeirG19660703v080001-0004
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/947/10643/LMathersRW55201v2.2.pdf
55bec3251d71f385ab46787c57ae829d
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
Mathers, Ronald
R W Mathers
Description
An account of the resource
20 items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Ronald Mathers DFC (55201 Royal Air Force) and consists of his log books, photographs, correspondence, his decorations, and copies of two letters from Dwight Eisenhower to Sir Arthur Harris. Ronald Mathers completed a tour of operations as a pilot with 9 Squadron from RAF Bardney. After the war he took part in victory flypasts and a Goodwill tour of the United States with 35 Squadron. The collection also contains a scrapbook of the Goodwill Tour to the United States.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Heidi Peace and Ingrid Peters, and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
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
Mathers, RW
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
Ronald Mathers pilots flying log book. Two
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for Ronald Mathers covering the period from 1 October 1944 to 24 February 1948. Detailing his flying training, instructor duties and duties with 35 squadron. He was stationed at RAF Swinderby, RAF Finningley, RAF Hullavington, RAF Gravely, RAF Stradishall and RAF Scampton. Aircraft flown were, Stirling, Lancaster, Oxford, Wellington, Hotspur, Auster, Harvard, Reliant, Hudson, Halifax, Dakota, Warwick, Lincoln, Meteor, Spitfire, Buckmaster, Mosquito and Anson. He also flew operation Goodwill to America, visiting Lagens, Gander, Mitchel Field, Scott Field, Lowry Field, Long Beach Field, Kelly Field, Andrew Field and Westover Field.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LMathersRW55201v2
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
United States
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
California--Long Beach
Colorado--Denver
Illinois--Belleville
Massachusetts--Chicopee
Maryland--Camp Springs
Newfoundland and Labrador--Gander
New York (State)--Long Island
Texas--San Antonio
Azores--Lajes
California
Colorado
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
New York (State)
Texas
Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada
Azores
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1660 HCU
35 Squadron
Anson
C-47
forced landing
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Halifax
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hudson
Lancaster
Lincoln
Meteor
Mosquito
Oxford
RAF Finningley
RAF Graveley
RAF Hullavington
RAF Scampton
RAF Stradishall
RAF Swinderby
Spitfire
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/612/32129/BMorrisWMorrisWv1.1.pdf
9f201c25d99b744766e20e799676569a
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
Morris, Walter
W Morris
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Morris, W
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. An oral history interview with Walter Morris (b. 1923, 1623898 Royal Air Force). and his memoir. He flew operations with 630 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Walter Morris and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
217-02-18
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[typewritten]
[centred] Walter Morris – 1939/45 War Record. [/centred]
My story begins in 1923 when I was born in Kettering the elder son of Charles & Ethel Morris. My father served in the Army during the 1914/18 war, although he rarely talked about it, so I do not know any details of her service, except that he had a very hard time serving in the trenches, in terrible conditions. When he returned to Kettering he worked in a Boot & Shoe factory where I believe he met my mother Ethel May Smith who also worked there, & they married in 1922mat[sic] Carey Baptist Chapel. I was born in 1923 & my brother Peter followed two years later. I attended Park Road Infants school. When the family moved to the other end of Kettering Peter & I went to Hawthorn Road Junior School. In 1935 I moved on to the Central School (& Peter followed 2 years later). It was here that I first met Pauline in 1938. For a while we walked out together, & although we drifted apart, we were both in the same circle of friends, & I was still greatly attracted to her.
After 4 years I left School & obtained employment as a junior Clerk at Stewarts & Lloyds, Corby. I started to work there on the 26th August 1939, just 7 days before the war began. I don’t think that many people at the time thought of war starting, & it was quite a shock on the 1st September when without notice a black out was imposed. All street lighting in the Country was switched off, householders were ordered to black out their windows etc, no lights should be visible. These orders were put in place because of the probability of German aircraft making bombing raids over Britain. At 11 am on 3rd September the Prime Minister (Neville Chamberlain) broadcast to the nation to advise that Germany had ignored our ultimatum regarding their plans to invade Poland, & consequently a state of war existed with Germany. That day I recall my father, brother & I spent the afternoon digging a large hole in the garden so that an air raid shelter could be erected, & where we could go if Kettering was ever bombed. In fact we never did get an ARP shelter, & in Kettering only one or two bombs were dropped.
Conscription to the forces was quickly introduced, & men between the ages of 18 & 40 had to register, & were soon allocated to serve in either the army, navy or air force. The only exceptions, other than ill health or disability were men employed in essential work. Later women were also required to enlist, to join one ATS (army_ WAAF (air force) or WRNS (navy). Being just 16 this did not concern me at the time – many people said that the war would be over by Christmas, there was little enemy activity around this country in 1939, & life for me life went on as normal. How wrong we were – there were some food shortages, but rationing was still some time ahead. It was soon to alter, in the Spring of 1940, Hitler’s armies swept through Europe culminating with British troops being evacuated from Dunkirk. In preparation to invade Britain Germany launched ceaseless bombing raids on airfields etc in England in an effort to decimate the RAF fighter strength. However the Spitfires & Hurricanes of the RAF defeated the German bombers & in September 1940, Germany cancelled the plans to invade & instead turned their attention towards Russia, although their Air force commenced bombing raids on many cities & towns in this Country. Earlier Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister, & was succeeded by Winston Churchill, many believe that he was the man who won the war for our country.
For me 1941 was rather decisive. At the beginning of the year the Government announced the formation of the Air Training Corps, which would train lads between the ages of 16 to 18, for enlistment in to the RAF. The response was overwhelming towns & cities all over the country formed squadrons. Volunteer instructors were enrolled from local people including School teachers, who would train the lads in basic requirements when the cadets reached the RAF. By this time I was 17 years of age – I knew that as the war dragged on, I would have to enlist & I desperately wanted to join the Air Force, so I was one of the first to enlist for the Kettering Squadron. In all over 200 boys enrolled at Kettering initially, & I was fortunate to be appointed to be a sergeant. It was a great adventure. We paraded at Stamford Road School two nights a week, & went through our routines & lessons, everything from drill, marching, to Aircraft recognition learning morse code, & much more &
[centred] 1 [/centred]
[page break]
which was to hold me in good stead when I eventually joined the RAF. We also played at sports, including having a football team in the local youth league. A big thrill that year was a week end camp at RAF Wittering which included a flight in Dragon Rapide an old bi-plane, which at the time was a great thrill. At the end of the year having reached 18 years I volunteered for the RAF & was accepted for aircrew training – at that time I wanted to be a pilot. On February 12th 1942 I received my “Calling up” papers, & told to report to the Aircrew Receiving Centre at Lords Cricket Ground London on the 23rd. I was in fact the first cadet from the Kettering ATC to be called up. At the time I was still working at Stewarts & Lloyds in the Traffic Department, & was give immediate permission to leave, with an assurance that I could return after the war ended.
So for me, AC2 Morris W. 1623898, my war service started when I left Kettering for London on a cold February morning. I duly reported & registered at Lords Cricket Ground. There were many new arrivals & after signing in we were marched to billets about a quarter of a mile away. The billets were one time luxury flats which overlooked London Zoo. About 20 of us were allocated to each flat, which was to be our billet for the next 2 to 3 weeks. We were issued with mattresses & blankets, & had to make our beds up on the floor. For our meals we were assembled & marched to the Zoo Restaurant for our meals. During the next days we were issued with Air Force uniforms & clothing, & each given a Medical & received inoculations etc. Also we had lectures about life in the RAF, & what was expected of us as Airmen. We also took tests to ascertain our education etc. It was all very exciting. In mid-March I along with 40 or so others were posted & sent to the Grand Hotel, Scarborough Yorkshire which was an Initial Training Unit (for Aircrew training). At this time I & all the other new recruits held the rank of AC2 (the lowest of the low) & we were all at that time being accepted as trainee pilots. The course was hard, discipline was strict, we marched, & subjected to a great deal of physical exercise, as well as attending lectures daily in our quests to finally become fliers. Most of us cadets on the course were about the same age, 18 & 19 year olds, & it was really a great adventure. Graduating in June, we were then posted to a civilian air field, at Brough near to Hull, where we were given some instructions how to fly Tiger Moth aircraft, delightful old bi-planes. My instructor was a first world war pilot, & although he never allowed me to fly solo in a plane, did recommend that I should receive pilot training. So after 6 weeks at Brough, those of us who were selected to continue in our quest to be pilots, were sent to Heaton Park, Manchester to await our next step. Most of the aircrew training was overseas, either in the USA, Canada, South Africa or Rhodesia, & in late September 1942, I with several hundred others, received inoculations, further medicals, & sent to Glasgow to be shipped to Canada. What a thrill as the train pulled up on the dock, where the SS Queen Mary was waiting to embark us, a pre-war luxury liner it was a beautiful vessel, weighing in at over 70000 tons. The vessel had retained much of it’s pre-war glory, & after the austerity of war time Britain, it was like living in a wonderland. There were only a few hundred airmen on board, cabins had extra bunks built in, but it was never crowded. The catering arrangements were excellent, & the food was great, no worries about rationing, as the vessel was stocked up by the USA, who had joined with Britain to fight Germany & Japan in December 1941 after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. Ships to & from the war zones at this time sailed in convoy, protected by the Royal Navy, but the Queen Mary was too fast for convoys, & indeed could outrun & out manoeuvre German U-boats, as it zig-zagged it’s was across the Atlantic. So she slipped out of port quietly on her own. For 5 days we airmen lived in this seemingly unreal world, bags of lovely food, cinema shows, lounging on the decks as the ship took a southerly & warm weather course. All too soon we arrived in Boston USA, to a great welcome by the locals who treated us as heroes. But we had a shock as we marched by the front of the ship when we saw a massive great gash of some 12 feet in the bow just at the waterline. On enquiry we were told that in fact the Queen Mary had sliced a British Destroyer in two, on a previous journey back to Britain, being unable to cancel the pre-set zig-zag course in time, such was the force of the great ship. However, we were told that the hole had been filled with concrete to enable her to get to the States for repair. From Boston we went by train through the New England states to Canada, & it was one of the most unforgettable journeys of my life before or after. In beautiful warm autumnal weather the magnificence of the
[centred] 2 [/centred]
[page break]
scenery was unbelievable, the trees with their red & brown leaves on the tree lined the route, small lakes with blue waters, neat & well manicured houses. Even for a nineteen year old it was a truly memorable experience. After a 15 hour journey we arrived in the Canadian state of New Brunswick shortly after reached RCAF Moncton – this was a “Holding” station, where groups of cadets were selected for various courses, being run in Canada & USA. I cannot recall how many training Centres there were in the USA Canada, they were situated mainly to the west of the Continent, & guessing I would think about ten in Canada & the USA for pilot training, whilst in Eastern Canada navigators & Air Bombers were trained. I spent some three weeks here waiting for a posting, with little to do, except walk to nearby Moncton or go to the camp cinema, write home etc. I was anxious to get on with my training. By the end of October, I with 40 or so other cadets received our posting to RCAF Bowden, in Alberta. After kitting up with winter clothing, we left Moncton early one morning, on our way to the other side of Canada, a journey which would take 5 days. We stopped for a few hours in Montreal, to change trains before proceeding on to Alberta a journey that took us alongside Lake Superior, & on to Winnipeg, where we [were] given a lovely welcome by a Ladies organisation, who supplied refreshments, magazines etc – you would think that we had just won the war, not raw recruits. Eventually we arrived at Calgary, on a sunny but cool November day, & already the first of the winter snow had arrived. A further 100 miles of train travel followed, as we made our way north to Bowden, which is near to Innisfail, midway between Calgary & Edmonton, & some miles to the west the mountain ranges of the Rockies could be seen stretching into the sky. Bowden was a small airfield with one runway. The billets were very good & well heated, but we did make the mistake of opening some of the windows because it was so stuffy, & did we regret it in the morning when we were nearly frozen. I recall that the days generally in Alberta were sunny but there was a dryness, which somehow made the below freezing temperatures bearable. Snow already covered the countryside when I arrived at Bowden, & more snow followed, to give a deep frozen surface, which lasted throughout the winter. To cope with the conditions, some of the aircraft were fitted with skis. It was not long before flying lessons started, but I was soon to be disappointed, as both I & my instructor, soon realised that I was pretty useless handling an aeroplane, & not surprisingly I was taken off the course. Whilst I loved flying in the old Tiger Moths, I just could not handle the controls, or land the aircraft without a lot of bouncing & bumping about, on reflection it was the right decision, although I was very upset at the time. I had been at Bowden for about 6 weeks, & loved it out there. This all happened about Christmas 1942, & two weeks later I & another 4 or 5 “failures” were posted to RCAF Trenton, Ontario, for Aircrew re-selection. The journey back east lasted some 3 or 4 days, as we travelled via Lake Superior & Toronto to our destination. Trenton was a huge station, seemingly full of Aircrew cadets, many like me for re-selection or waiting to be trained as navigators, wireless operators or Air Bombers. It was so different from Bowden, even the weather. The cold was more penetrating, as the wind picked up moisture off the nearby Lake Ontario & it was most unpleasant. It was a waiting game at Trenton, I was interviewed & decided to re-muster for training as an Air Bomber, & (I think) about a month later was seconded on to a Bombing & Gunnery course, at RCAF Picton, a small aerodrome nearly 100 miles further east. Arriving there I saw that Picton was an island in Lake Ontario joined to the mainland by a causeway, & the aerodrome was built on the top of a hill. It was a nice friendly station, & my course members were a good bunch of lads, mainly about my age. The course was a Bombing & Gunnery course, which commenced in March 1943. We were taught the theory of bombing, & of air gunnery, the composition & fusing of bombs etc. & later I flew some 50 hours in Ansons & Bolingbroke aircraft dropping countless 4lb practice bombs & firing guns. It was I[sic] most enjoyable, for a 19 year old. As Spring arrived the weather changed, everywhere was white when I arrived & it seemed that overnight during April the weather became sunny & warm for the rest of my stay. I was to be with many of my course mates until I got back to England 6 months later, & I made a number of good friends. We had some delightful evenings out, in the small town of Picton, or swimming in the lake. The population were very friendly & hospitable, & we were well looked after. The course lasted until early June, & looking at my log book see that I passed both the bombing & gunnery elements each
[centred] 3 [/centred]
[page break]
with a 73% grading. I had passed this part of my conversion to an Air Bombers role & then I with rest of the course members moved on to an Air Navigation Course at RCAF Mount Hope. This station was to the west, near to Hamilton Ontario, & nearly halfway between Toronto & Niagra Falls (which luckily I was able to visit, together with a trip into USA.) During my six week course I learnt a little about navigation & air photography, both in the lecture rooms & by flying, some 45 hours all told, the flying was quite excellent as flights were of about 3 hours duration flying the length & breadth of Ontario. There followed a final examination, which I passed, classed as an Air Bomber & promoted to the rank of Sergeant. How proud I was as I sewed the stripes on to my tunic. What a celebration we all had that night in Hamilton, a city I enjoyed greatly.. But time was not on our side, & all too soon we were on our way back to Moncton, to be sent home to complete our training & to fight our war. How different to 10 months earlier, then an untrained airman, & on my return a fully fledged Sergeant. By this time America was sending thousands of servicemen to Britain, so space on the troop ships was full & consequently we had to wait a month before we could be accommodated. Eventually, at the end of September 1943 I & several hundred newly trained aircrew personnel were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to embark once again on the “Queen Mary” en-route for England. Unlike my trip out it was very crowded with some 19000 troops (mainly Americans) aboard. This meant that we had a bed bunk for 24 hours & then 24 hours we had to sleep on the deck floor. Luckily the journey lasted only 6 days, before the vessel docked at Birkenhead. I was given two weeks home leave, to be re-united with family & friends. It was during this time, that I met up again with Pauline, & our romance commenced.
After my two weeks leave I reported to Harrogate before being posted to Whitley Bay, near to Newcastle, for a (Commando type) fitness course, before being sent to Scotland for further flying training, & on completion was sent to Silverstone, here in Northamptonshire, at the end of 1943, an Operational Training Unit where Pilots, Navigators, Air Bombers, Wireless Operators, & Air gunners were present. Here we had to form crews, who would later go on to the Squadrons. It was all rather haphazard, as some 200 of us wandered round a large hangar, trying to form crews. I didn’t know anyone else, other than Air Bombers, but eventually found a Pilot, a Navigator, a Wireless Operator, & two Air Gunners, (we would get a Flight Engineer at a later stage). Actually as a crew, we quickly became firm friends, & apart from one of the gunners dropping out, we completed our tour of operations together, with enormous respect for each other, & really we became as close as family. At Silverstone we trained in two engine Wellingtons as well as attending loads of lectures as we trained for the fight ahead. From Silverstone we were posted to RAF station Swinderby near Lincoln, for our first taste of flying in four engined aircraft. It was here that we met our Flight Engineer. The aircraft were Stirlings, big & ungainly machines, which proved to be a failure operationally – they could not fly any higher than 12-14000 feet, & easy prey for the enemy, but they were ideal for training purposes. Our next step was to convert to Lancasters at another station RAF Syerston, some 30 miles away. Our first experience of flying in a Lancaster was hardly encouraging, for as we took off with an instructor in charge, a tyre punctured & the aircraft swerved off the runway with one wing tip embedded in the grass. We made a very quick escape from the wrecked plane. But that apart, we soon appreciated the Lancaster bomber. 15 hours flying followed, & we were adjudged to be ready to go to a Squadron. On 5th June 1944, we were posted to East Kirkby, 10 miles north of Boston to join 630 Squadron. My first memory of East Kirkby, was the next morning, which was D.Day, 6th June 1944 when Britain & America & their Allies invaded France. The aircrews who had flown to support the ground troops were so excited by the scale of the invasion forces, the number of ships involved – it all seemed so impressive. The station was built only a year or two earlier, & was quite primitive, spread over a large area, our billets were nissen huts nearly a mile away from the airfield, the Sergeants & Officers’ Messes half a mile away, but strangely we soon loved the place. For the next few days as we settled in, we were introduced to the Squadron C.O. Wing Commander Bill Deas, a South African & a great character – sadly he & his crew were killed on a raid a few weeks later. At this time we met our replacement Rear gunner, Flying Officer Geoff Bate who still had half a dozen missions to complete his second tour of operations, we were well pleased. Our
[centred] 4 [/centred]
[page break]
first mission was a night raid to Normandy, & was supposed to be in support of the Ground forces in the invasion area near to Caen. However on arrival over the target, we were ordered not to drop our bombs, as the ground armies had made a quick advance, & the target was now in their hands. So all the aircraft had to turn about & go back to base. When we did arrive over East Kirkby, we were then sent off over the North Sea, where I had to drop our bombs because it would be unsafe to try to land the aircraft because the overall weight was over the permitted limit. So out we flew to the dropping zone, & naively I dropped the lot, some 12000 lbs of high explosives, & back we went to base, where we were debriefed, given breakfast, which included a fried egg & bacon (a real treat, eggs were very scarce in war time Britain, but aircrews were always given one after an op.) But that was not quite the end of my mission – the next morning I was called to the Bombing Leaders Office, & given a telling off for dropping all the bomb load when I or the Flight Engineer should have calculated what weight of bombs to drop, to get the aircraft down to the safe landing weight, but on one had ever told me that. However I never heard any more about my “faux pas”. After our first mission others followed in quick succession & by the end of June we had notched up 4 more raids, including a rather hair raising trip to Germany, where some 37 Lancasters were shot down out of a total of 133 sent out, but luckily we were. Geoff, our Rear gunner had by the end of June completed his second tour, we valued his experience in those first few trips & were so pleased when we heard later that he had been rewarded with a DFC. During July we flew 10 further missions, including our first daylight raid – but only three over Germany. With the Allies invading Europe in June the role of Bomber Command changed, & support of the Armies was the first priority, by bombing Railways, Marshalling yards, Oil depots, to hamper the Germans. Also with the threat of Flying bomb attacks on England, a number of raids were against the launching sites, hence missions against German targets were reduced. July 18th was to prove the most horrendous trip we were to face, when we were hit by a German night fighter on our way home. Fortunately we escaped into cloud. & the attack was discontinued. However with the help of the Flight Engineer, Alec & Doug managed to pull the aircraft out of the dive, to regain control. A relieved crew were on their way home, thankful of the skill & calmness of our skipper, Alec Swain. When we saw the damage sustained by our Lancaster, with part of the wing missing & a hole just behind the Wireless Operators position, we wondered how we had survived. It said something for the skill of our pilot, & for the mighty Lancaster. But we had little time to feel sorry for ourselves, 12 hours later we were off on mission no 10 – our first day operation, thankfully a quiet trip. At the end of July we were allocated our own Lancaster, NN702J(Jig), in which we would end our tour. Nine more missions followed during August, three of them by daylight – it was much the same pattern as we supported the land armies, or raided Flying Bomb sites, attacked U-boat installations on the coast, & bombing an enemy fighter based aerodrome, to put it out of action, prior to a bombing raid t[to] be made that same night. Sad part of this daylight raid, when I witnessed a Lancaster bomber being hit by bombs dropped from another Lancaster flying above – particularly gruesome when we learned later that the doomed pilot, was a Dutchman, on the last mission of his tour, & the aerodrome under attack was in Holland. Sadly I saw no parachutes from the stricken plane. We were given two weeks leave on the 18th August with 26 trips completed. Returning to base, we still had 9 missions to fly to complete our tour of operations, & during the rest of September we completed a further 8 mainly against German industry, & one of those found me over Germany on my 21st birthday, thankfully it was an incident free journey. It was a bit of a change on raid number 33, when with 6 other Lancasters we dropped mines in the German sea-lanes outside of Heligoland, I recall it was quite boring flying for 4 hours over the North Sea. We flew our last mission on the 5th October a daylight raid to Wilhemshaven, although at the time we did not know we had reached the end, & until the next day when we were air testing an aircraft, & Alec, our pilot, told us that Bomber Command had reduced the number of operations from 35 to 34 with immediate effect, so our battle was over. I remember that when he told us there was a great rush about the aircraft, as we all donned parachutes – we were not taking any unnecessary risks.
[centred] 5 [/centred]
[page break]
That night our crew, & the ground staff who looked after the plane, & were wonderful caring guys, all made our way to a pub in nearby Boston, where we had a whale of a party I’m afraid I do not remember too much about it, but that was excusable. A day or two later our crew left East Kirkby for good, & sent on leave, the seven of us boarded a train from Boston to Peterborough, & it all seemed so casual, we exchanged addresses, promised to keep in touch, but in an instant we went our separate ways. For nearly a year we had been together, living & flying & truthfully had become closed than family, as we supported each other during that period, & in a few seconds on the railway station it all ended & we all went our separate ways. Over the years Alec, Donovan, Dough & I met up a few times but some of the crew I would never see again. Now in 2010 as far as I know just Doug & I survive, although neither he nor I have any knowledge of what happened to Smithy our navigator or our first rear gunner, Geoff. Alec, Donovan & Jock (mid-upper gunner) have all died, but we remember them with great affection, & wonder about the others.
To sum up my tour I flew 34 missions from 12th June to the 5th October 1942 – 26 night & 8 daylight missions, flying 200 hundred hours. During that time we attacked industrial sites in Germany, Submarine depots, Oil terminals, Marshalling Yards & Railway Junctions, flying bomb sites & supported the Army by attacking enemy lines. On two missions we were instructed not to bomb on arrival in the target area. I do not have a complete record of bombing loads carried but estimate that in all we dropped over 150 tons – the average bomb carried was between 9000 & 12500 lbs (depending on the distance flown to the target) & the range of bombs dropped were 4lb incendiaries, 500lb, 1000lb, 2000lb & 4000lb. I would describe y tour as fairly quiet, twice the aircraft came under fire by night fighters, (the most serious I have detailed), & we did sustain slight flak damage. I have been asked whether or not I was scared, I don’t think I was, apprehensive – yes, but there was little time to think about those things, there was so much to do all the time. I was thrilled some weeks later when I heard that our skipper, Alec had been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross – so well deserved.
After completing a first tour Aircrew were expected to have a 6 month break from operations before being recalled for a second tour & so three weeks after leaving East Kirkby, I was posted to RAF Westcott, near to Aylesbury, to await training as an Air Bomber instructor, but there was little to do as there were a number of men in the same category as me, & there was little to do. Whilst at Westcott, I received the most harrowing news, going home on a day off, my father handed me a telegram which had arrived earlier in the day, advising the death of my brother Peter. Returning from a raid on Dusseldorf, his aircraft was coming into land when it crashed just short of the runway, & tragically all the crew were killed. Peter had joined the RAF just a few months earlier; he had been selected for training as a Flight Engineer, & after qualifying was posted to 166 Squadron at Kirmington, Lincolnshire near to Grimsby. He was killed on 4th December 1944, & was just 19 years of age. We were all devastated, particularly my Mother & Father, who had no idea that he had started his operational tour – he had told me that he had, but being only a few weeks after the end of my tour, didn’t want our parents to know to cause them any concern or worry, - instead it was a more profound shock to them when it happened. I do know why the aircraft crashed, had it been attacked to cause damage or loss of fuel I don’t know, the Squadron records the crash with the remarks “cause unknown”. He was a cheerful lad, good sense of humour, & liked the girls. Unlike me he was mechanically minded, & a[sic] after leaving school, was training to be an Engineer. I often wonder if he wanted to follow me into the Air Force, because I think the job he was doing might have exempted him from joining up. We shall never know. He was buried in Kettering Cemetery, with the local Air Training Corps (of which he had been a member) in attendance. Peter’s crew were all Canadians & are buried near to RAF Kirmington. So very very sad. My parents were devastated, & it was something my father particularly never recovered from. To try to give them some comfort, I was able to get a compassionate posting to RAF Desborough, like Westcott an Operational Training Unit, & served there for about 6 months, although I was sent to a Air Bombers’ instruction Course at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire for three weeks early in 1945, & graduated from their[sic] as a fully fledged
[centred] 6 [/centred]
[page break]
instructor. I stayed at Desborough for a few weeks, not much to do, but it was nice living with my parents, & biking or going by bus, to the base. In May the war against Germany had been won, & there were great celebrations, & we wondered what would happen next. I was soon to find out, aircrew were supposed to fly two tours of duty, the second after a 6 month rest period, so I was not surprised when I was included in a crew made up of instructors who like me were eligible to fly operationally. I do not remember much about my fellow crew members the pilot was from Edinburgh – a Flight Lieutenant Christie DFC, & that’s about all. We were posted to RAF Luffenham, near Stamford, arriving there in mid-June. The war in Europe was finished, but Japan was still fighting, so I & countless other aircrew were being retrained & refreshed for service in the Far East. The course lasted a month & after just 36 hours flying training we were judged to have passed, & then sent home on leave to await a posting to the Pacific war zone. Again fate was to take a hand, when early in August, the Americans unleashed two atom bombs on cities in Japan, catastrophic damage they to[sic] surrendered. My second tour would not happen, & my “career” in aircrew was over. Two days later I was sent to a unit near to Gainsborough, for re-mustering to a ground trade, for the rest of time. I was not alone many more ex-aircrew where[sic] there, but no one I knew. During my week there I was interviewed & given lists of various Ground staff vacancies, nothing really interested me, but having to make a decision, I opted for a RAF postal course, preferably near to home. I was given 7 days leave, after which I was posted to an Aircrew Holding Unit, near to Elgin, in Scotland, this was in fact a RAF Coastal Command Station, & no one knew why I, a Bomber Command person was there, & after 2 weeks doing nothing, I was sent to Haverfordwest in, over 400 miles from Elgin, in the South west of Wales. The date was 22nd September 1945, & by then Pauline & I had set the date of our wedding for October 6th, so after just a week in Wales, I was on my way back home for the big day. Despite the war, with food rationing etc we had a lovely wedding, the service was at Fuller Baptist Church, followed by a reception at a Traders Union hall in Club Street. I think there were about 60 people there. Pauline’s father had plenty of contacts, & despite all the shortages & rationing managed to provide lots of food & refreshment. Pauline had resigned as a nurse at Kettering General Hospital, when her mother was seriously ill 2 months previously. We left the reception in the early evening, spent the first night in London, & on to Bournemouth for a week, & we recall how unseasonably warm & sunny that second week was, we had a lovely time. Alas by the 18th I was on my travels again, this time to RAF Kirkham, Preston for my course to convert to a Postal Officer. It was a short & intensive course & I qualified early in November. During my service to date I had acquired the rank of Warrant Officer & although now a postal Officer I still retained that rate of pay. Like most wartime servicemen, with the war over I was thinking only of demobilisation – the Government had worked out a scheme for the constructive release of personnel & I learned that I would have to serve for nearly another year. When I agreed to train as a Postal Officer, I was asked where I would prefer to serve, & I specified either RAF Desborough or RAF Luffenham, & wasn’t too pleased at Kirkham when I was informed that I was to be posted to India!!!. Accordingly I was given embarkation leave, & at the end of November sent to Blackpool, to await shipment. After 12 days I was one of a train load of airmen, many just raw recruits, who were despatched to Plymouth, where we embarked on to HMS Devonshire, a destroyer, converted to troop carrier – we were on our way to the Far East. On the 15th we set sail. It was quite pleasant, the ship was manned by the Royal Navy, there was a Warrant Officer’s mess for the RAF, & we had little to do on the 15 days journey. In the traditional Navy way, a daily rum ration was served to us, although this stopped in a few days when it was discovered that some of the younger RAF personnel, were selling their ration to the Sailors. I was very seasick as the ship ploughed through the Bay of Biscay, & as I laid on my bunk felt even worse, when the radio announced that the Sunday service was being broadcast from Fuller Baptist Church Kettering, where 2 months earlier Pauline & I were [inserted] married [/inserted]. Since 1939 all servicemen going to the Far East were transported round South Africa, but the Devonshire was sent through the Suez Canal, & what a thrill that was, as we stood on the deck to see he[sic] ship negotiate a water way that appeared to be only just wide enough. By this time the weather had become warm, & did not really change for my time in India. We arrived in Bombay on New Year’s Eve & all of the airmen were transported by road to a Reception Camp a few miles away, called BRD Worli. A few days later, I was
[centred] 7 [/centred]
[page break]
posted the Base Post Office in Bombay, where for 3 months, I was in charge of sorting incoming mail for RAF personnel stationed in India. ^ then arranging despatch of post bags to the various destinations. It was not a very demanding duty, & I recall sitting around in the rest room, drinking countless cups of tea, or minerals, to quench my thirst in the hot & sticky conditions in the [missing word?] to await the sea, & well looked after the Indian staff. May/June I was transferred to the Base Post Office at Calcutta, where I was still overseeing the redirection of mail etc. The Office was a large detached house, on the outskirts of the city, & in which the twenty of us lived with our own mess. The food was supplied by the nearby American garrison, & was very good. To get to the canteen we often hired rickshaws, rather than walk a mile or so, & it was good fun chasing along the roads, urging our drivers to race each other. I also had to escort lorries to carry mail to or from the Calcutta Airport, I recall being issued with a revolver for this duty, but cannot remember being given any ammunition!!!! In June I received notice of my demobilisation & was sent back to RAF Worli to await shipment back home. It was not a long wait, & I was soon on my way to Bombay, where I boarded a troop carrier, the SS Georgic a pre-1939 vessel but it was a pleasant 14 days voyage, as we returned via Suez (which we navigated at night with the ship’s spot lights trained on the sides of the xcaal [canal] – quite a thrill) to Liverpool. I didn’t really want to go to India, but having spent a few months there, I am pleased I had that experience – there is a certain fascination with the country, which as a young man I enjoyed. From Liverpool we were sent to RAF Kirkham, near Preston for demobilisation. I suppose it was quite clinical when the following day an endless file of separating airmen a[sic] made their way into an old hangar, where we were given choice of civilian clothing, ration books, six weeks pay, & a travel warrant, & out we come – I don’t recall anyone in authority thanking us or wishing us well, we just went in one door as airmen & out the other side into vehicles to take us to the local Railway station. But it was all forgotten a few hours later, I caught a train to Northampton, & hitch hiked to Kettering – my war service was over.
Pauline’s parents had provided rooms for us in their house in Charles Street, & for the next few weeks, it was a period of adjustment, gone was the routine of the RAF, after nearly 5 years, it was a new experience for me, but together Pauline & I got used to it. I had received 6 weeks termination pay from the RAF, so took advantage of that before returning to my former employment at Stewarts & Lloyds on the 26th August 1946, just 3 weeks before my 23rd birthday. After serving in some 40 different locations in the RAF it took a long time to settle in to work, not helped when received my first pay advice from S. & L. which equated at the princely sum of three pounds seventeen shillings (£3.75) per week – my Air Force pay was equivalent to approximately £11 per week plus my food. I was shocked & on querying this, I was told that under the rules of the Company, until I reached my 25th birthday, I was on the “junior scale”, but as my birthday was in September I would get a birthday rise. I did get an increase of just six shillings & three pence a week.
December 2010.
[centred] 8 [/centred]
[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
Walter Morris - 1939/45 War Record
Description
An account of the resource
A memoir covering Walter Morris’ early life before moving into his service in the Air Training Corps from 1941 and his entry into the Royal Air Force in February 1942 (as the first Air Training Corps Cadet from Kettering to be called up). The account continues through his service in the Royal Air Force, which started with his cohort being sent to RCAF Bowden in Alberta, Canada (via RCAF Moncton) aboard the “SS Queen Mary” for training. Following the completion of his training, the account continues with an overview of his service in the Royal Air Force in which he was a Flight Engineer on 34 combat operations, after which Walter transferred to an instructor’s position (which he retained rather than return to combat following the death of his brother in an aircraft crash). Following the end of the war he got married in October before being posted to Bombay and later Calcutta as a member of the Royal Air Force’s post office. He was demobilised in June 1946 and returned to England where he returned to his pre-war position at Stewarts and Lloyds.)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W Morris
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BMorrisWMorrisWv1
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Northamptonshire
England--Kettering
England--Cambridgeshire
England--London
England--Manchester
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Alberta--Innisfail
Ontario--Trenton
Ontario--Picton
Ontario--Hamilton
Germany
Germany--Helgoland
France
France--Normandy
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Massachusetts
Ontario
New Brunswick
Alberta
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942-02-12
1943-03
1943-09
1944-06-05
1944-10-05
1944-08-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
166 Squadron
630 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bomb struck
crash
crewing up
demobilisation
Distinguished Flying Cross
final resting place
flight engineer
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
love and romance
military ethos
military living conditions
mine laying
Nissen hut
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF East Kirkby
RAF Kirkham
RAF Kirmington
RAF Manby
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Silverstone
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Wittering
RCAF Bowden
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
V-1
V-weapon
Wellington