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25
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1383/24116/PFordTA17110030.1.pdf
646a3d2b837402c3cf0b9f6b7f2b4413
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Title
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Ford, Terry. Album Two
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IBCC Digital Archive
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
67 items. Photographs concerning Terry Ford's training in Canada wartime and post war service. It contains some images taken inside an aircraft during operations.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Weyburn and Regina
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
Photo 1 is a street scene, captioned 'Weyburn Main St'.
Photo 2 is an aerial view of a railway line and a few houses, captioned ' The town? of Yeomans'.
Photo 3 is a horse and sled outside a store. The caption has not been scanned fully.
Photo 4 is buildings in a city, captioned 'Part of Regina from [undecipherable] hotel'.
Format
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Four b/w photographs on an album page
Language
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eng
Type
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Photograph
Identifier
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PFordTA17110030
Coverage
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Civilian
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Conforms To
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Geolocation impractical
animal
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1606/24262/SFordTA1585520v20035.2.jpg
1c4228e728c0c48f125b174f6e1c96c0
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
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Ford, Terry. Navigation logs
Description
An account of the resource
36 charts and navigation logs from his training in Canada and from his operations.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Ford, T
Dublin Core
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Title
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Swift Current-Regina Chart
Description
An account of the resource
An air chart covering the Swift Current and Regina area of Saskatchewan.
Format
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One printed coloured chart
Language
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eng
Identifier
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SFordTA1585520v20035
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current Region
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Type
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Map. Navigation chart and navigation log
Map
Creator
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Canada. Department of Mines and Resources
aircrew
navigator
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1312/18882/PMadgettHR19030021.1.jpg
c0a5b63f81eca282387419f59666b2ac
Dublin Core
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Title
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Madgett, Hedley Robert. Canada and Royal Air Force Album
Description
An account of the resource
44 items. Photographs of training and travelling in Canada as well as his Bomber Command crew, squadron and aircraft.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Madgett, HR
Dublin Core
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Title
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Regina and Moose Jaw
Description
An account of the resource
Top left an ornate multistory public building with a tower on the front. In the foreground several people on pathways. Captioned 'Town Hall, Regina'. Top right - two views mounted overlapping showing panoramic of a park with lake behind. In the distance other city buildings. Captioned 'Regina from the roof of Parliament Building. Bottom left - a light coloured multistory building with tower to near side. In the foreground are trees. Captioned 'Federal Building, Regina'. Bottom right - nighttime scene of a city street with lit up buildings on the left an cars parked in the street. Captioned 'Moose Jaw, Sask, by night'.
Format
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Five b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Type
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Photograph
Identifier
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PMadgettHR19030021
Coverage
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Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan--Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
-
Dublin Core
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Spatial Coverage
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Saskatchewan--Regina
Title
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Regina [place]
Description
An account of the resource
This page is an entry point for a place. Please use the links below to see all relevant documents available in the Archive.
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1312/18881/PMadgettHR19030020.2.jpg
b1857b38ddec16205d072873bc3c64ea
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
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Madgett, Hedley Robert. Canada and Royal Air Force Album
Description
An account of the resource
44 items. Photographs of training and travelling in Canada as well as his Bomber Command crew, squadron and aircraft.
Publisher
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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
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Madgett, HR
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Regina
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - a large multistory public building with dome in the centre. Top right - in the distance on the far side of a lake, a large building with dome in the centre. Both photographs captioned 'Parliament Buildings, Regina'. Bottom left - a city street with multistory buildings/shops either side. A tram and two cars in road and people on sidewalk. Captioned 'Regina'. Bottom right - ornate wall with mural above arched doorway with pillars in front. Captioned 'Entrance Hall of Parliament Buildings'.
Format
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Four b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Type
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Photograph
Identifier
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PMadgettHR19030020
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1491/28556/BEleyNJEleyNJv1.2.pdf
62c3cba39d346d3d53f28385454b2b21
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Eley, Jim
Norman James Eley
N J Eley
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-02-29
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Eley, NJ
Description
An account of the resource
40 items. The collection concerns Jim Eley (163588 Royal Air Force) and contains his memoir and photographs. He trained in Canada and flew operations as a pilot with 514 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Eley and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MY TIME IN THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
1942-1955
In July 1939 I finished my studies at Wilsons Grammar School in south London and looked forward to the summer holidays. By September our Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had declared war on Germany as the Nazis had invaded Poland. Schools were shut and any further studies became impossible. I secured a temporary job in our local Ministry of Food office in Sidcup in Kent as food rationing in the UK was being introduced.
1940 saw the beginning of the bombing of our cities and by July of that year the battle of Britain had commenced with daily dogfights occurring with the German bombers. By September our brave fighter pilots had done immense damage to the German airforce and so any invasion of UK was abandoned by the Nazis.
I was 17 years of age and daily watched those German bombers appear. I eventually decided I had to do something to protect our land and our way of life. Watching those fighter boys daily I thought it would be a good idea to join them. The idea that I may be able to learn to fly really prompted me into action.
So I applied to join the RAF and eventually had an Aircrew Selection Board at the Air Ministry in London. I was thrilled at being accepted and was promptly put on Deferred Service as the various flying training establishment were full with trainees. It was a very frustrating time for me as it was not until September 1942 that I was finally called for service and proceeded to the Aircrew Receiving Centre at St. Johns Wood, London where one met other volunteers and was kitted out with a uniform, had a medical etc., and was allocated our accomodation [sic]. Our pay was to be 2 shilling [sic] a day. About a week later we found ourselves in a training camp under canvas in Ludow, Shropshire, where we carried out cross country running and swimming in a very cold river. Seven days to get us fit for service and it was cruel as the weather was cold and miserable but we all had to agree that we felt much fitter at the end of our stay in this camp.
So with some 50 other aircraftmen I proceeded to No. 7 Initual [sic] Training Wing installed in Penolver hotel in Newquay, Cornwall. The hotel had been taken over by the Ministry of Defence for the duration of the war. During our stay here we had daily lectures on the theory of flight, learnt the morse [sic] code, had aircraft recognition and much to our dismay had drill in a local car park and many runs round Newquay to keep fit.
With our time in Newquay at an end in March 1943 we were posted to No. 6 Flying Grading School at Sywell in Northamptonshire. This was the moment we had all been waiting for, our very first flight.
After 8 hours of flying with an instructor carrying out many take offs and landings, turns, spinning, aerobatics, etc., I went solo in a Tiger Moth. The weather was poor and bitterly cold in the open cockpit of the aircraft but the thrill of being on my own actually piloting a Tiger moth was immense. A small number of my course were rejected as being insuitable [sic] as pilots and the rest of us were sent to the Aircrew Disposal Centre at Heaton Park, Manchester. We were destined for training in Canada or America which excited us immensly [sic] as none of us had been out of the UK before. So in June 1943 we all travelled to Gourock on the west coast of Scotland to board the Queen Mary cruise liner bound for New York.
The ship, which was about 1000 feet long, had been converted into a troop carrier for the duration of the war. Besides us on board there were some German prisoners being guarded by Polish army personnel and some Canadian troops. The crossing of the Atlantic was a bit hairaising [sic] as the ships stabilisers had been removed in order to gain extra speed so as to avoid the patrolling German submarines. We were struck by a storm midway across the ocean and we got thrown around a lot with the ship creaking and groaning from end to end in the high seas. The storm was so strong it caused us to think maybe it would damage such a big vessel. The ship had one Bofors gun for defence mounted in the stern and one morning this gun opened up with a frightening noise and one could see the shells bursting on the horizon. We were assured that it was only practice. It took 3 days to reach New York which was a welcoming sight. Upon docking it was found that several of the German prisoners were missing. One can only assume that the Polish guards threw them overboard one night in retaliation for the the [sic] terrible bombing of Warsaw.
Having disembarked from the Queen Mary we were transported to the Grand Central railway station in New York to board a train for Canada. After several hours having elapsed we arrived in Moncton in New Brunswick. From here we were put on a train to take us to the state of Saskatchewan, situated on the Canadian prairies. We were looked after very well during this journey with the black car attendant preparing our meals and generally taking care of our needs. We enjoyed the t-bone steaks and other fabulous food which was of course was [sic] unobtainable in UK with food rationing in place since 1940. We made many stops during our journey to No. 33 Elementary Flying Training School in Caron, Saskatchewan. The strange thing is that at every stop we made the Canadian people were clapping and waving and passing sweets, chocolate and other goodies to through the open carriage windows. An incredible sight of typical Canadian Hospitality and which we found quite humbling.
Our arrival in Caron was the same with lots of Canadians to greet us. How they all got the news that some RAF aircrew were on their way was a mystery. We disembarked at Caron railway station to board some coaches to take us to the airfield. Upon arrival we were greeted by the Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader Bradley and given a pep talk. We quickly settled into our accomodation [sic] and were eagerly waiting for our first flight in the Cornell aircraft all lined up on the tarmac in the blazing sunshine.
My instructor was Warant [sic] Officer Auldhous, a rather serious but friendly character who very early in my training taught me not to kill myself. As far as I can remember our course all passed satisfactorily. The flying was intense and continued day and night the weather being excellent for such training and which of course included more ground lectures too. Having had a final flying test with the Chief Flying Instructor S/L Bradley I was ready to move on to No. 41 Service Flying Training School situated at Weyburn, not far from Caron and still in the state of Saskatchewan.
We now had to master flying a bigger and heavier aeroplane, the Harvard. We had all entered a phase of advanced flying that was going to determine who was suitable for fighter aircraft or heavy bombers. My flying instructor was Flying Officer Ney, a happy and jovial Canadian who inspired confidence and taught me a lot. The Harvard was a heavy all-metal aeroplane with a retractable undercarriage. The usual flying manoeuvres were once again carried out including inverted flight and lots of aerobatics, formation flying and navigation exercises. Saskatchewan is a completely flat wheat growing area quite unlike the hills and changing scenery of the UK. The towns had strange names like Medecine [sic] Hat, Assiniboia, Swift Current and Moosomin. Our free time was spent in the local town of Moosejaw and occasionally in Regina.
Our flying training was slowly coming to an end and the weather was changing, eventually with heavy falls of snow. The last flights were made and we now waited for the results. The majority of our course passed and in December 1943 we assembled in a hangar for our “wings” parade as it was snowing at the time.
It was a proud moment having the RAF wings badge pinned to out [sic] uniforms by the Canadian Air Officer Commanding the group. A complete surprise for me when it was announced that I had been granted a Kings Commision [sic] and my rank was now Pilot Officer. The promotion later appeared in the Supplement to the London Gazette on 9th. May 1944. I was really very happy at my achievement. I had left home as Aircraftsman 2nd class and was now to return home as a RAFVR officer. I promptly visited the tailors in Weyburn in order to get measured u p for a new uniform which was delivered a week later.
1
[page break]
Visited Winnipeg for Christmas with a chum of mine. During our travels we were stopped by an elderly couple who very kindly invited us for a dinner that evening. Typical Canadian hospitality and most enjoyable in every way. I sadly lost contact with this generous couple. We returned back to Weyburn the following day. I think the whole course were getting a bit homesick by now. We had to wait until February 1944 to board a train for Moncton once again and in March we again travelled by rail to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Soon after arrival we boarded the ship New Amsterdam, a smaller and slower vessel than the Queen Mary. In view of this we sailed a more northerly route across the Atlantic in order to keep clear of the German U boats. That made our crossing take 6 days but to be heading eastbound for UK once again was great and all of us just wanted to get home to our families and with so many stories to tell.
Docking in Gourock harbour once again after a safe crossing of the Atlantic it was a moment for reflection in what we had left behind in Canada. Our friendly flying instructors and the comradeship, the great and varied food at Caron and Weyburn and in the local restaurants knowing that we now had to face food rationing once again. But it was great to be back home once again amongst our families and friends.
We quickly boarded a train bound for P.R.C. Harrogate where my posting to Filey in Yorkshire was confirmed. I was to take part in a Officers Battle Course leaving behind all my friends originally made in Canada. After a week of instruction on various armaments at the firing range coupled with lectures on the defence of airfields, etc., I was posted to No. 18(P) Advanced Flying Unit at Snitterfield in Warwickshire in May 1944. This course was designed to improve instrument flying for bad weather operations. The twin engined Oxford aeroplane was used and I spent a lot of my time with the cockpit windscreen blanked out accompanied by a check pilot for safety. It was here that I received my promotion to Flying Officer with a very welcomed pay rise.
Having completed the course satisfactorily at Snitterfield I was moved to No. 11 Operational Training unit at Westcott in Buckingham in August. Serious stuff now as I was to be checked out on the Wellington aircraft, a twin engined bomber. It was here that I had my new crew members join me. Gathered in a lecture room the various crew members were told to chose their future skipper. Have no idea why they chose me but we quickly formed a close bond so now I had another officer, my bomb aimer, together with a navigator, wireless operator, and two gunners, all sergeants. As far as I was concerned I was never going to pull rank on my crew as this would have damaged the developing bond between us. We were a crew each relying on the other to safely execute the coming operations. Having carried out many navigational exercises, dropped 30 lbs practice bombs, crew training and fighter affiliation manoeuvres our next posting was to No.1668 Heavy Conversion Unit at Bottesford in Nottingham. Now this was exciting for me as my dream was at last coming true in that I was going to fly a Lancaster 4 engined bomber at the ripe old age of 21. It was here that a new member joined our crew, a Sergeant Flight Engineer now making 7 of us. l guess we were a happy bunch of fellows and always seemed to be joking about something but aware that our next move was going to be the real thing. I proceeded to carry out many take offs and landings and generally familiarise myself with the Lancaster. It was pure music to hear those 4 Rolls Royce Merlin engines start up with a roar with smoke and flames coming from the exhausts. Having spent some 3 weeks at Bottesford we received instructions to join No. 514 Squadron at Waterbeach, just outside Cambridge. This was No. 3 Group Bomber Command territory, the airfield having come into operation in 1943. No time was wasted in getting us on our very first Operation, a daylight raid on a [sic] oil refinery and coking plant in Bruchstrasse. The usual bomb load was 16 x 500 lbs general purpose bombs and a 4000lbs cookie. There were some 800 bombers taking part and the trip was uneventful apart some heavy flak at the target. The war was slowly coming to an end and German fighters were almost absent. Our crew carried out several more raids mainly on German oil installations, and a spectacular raid by 1000 bombers on the Heligoland German U-boat pens. What a sight that was with lancaster [sic] bombers everywhere one looked. We had to keep our eyes peeled to avoid the possibilty [sic] of collision with other aircraft.
In April 1945 our Government managed somehow to get agreement with the German Commander in Holland to allow some food drops for the starving Dutch people. The situation was desparate [sic] as the citizens of Holland were reduced to eating tulip bulbs, leaves off trees, flowers and scraps in garbage. Death by starvation was a daily occurrence. The Germans agreed to the food drop providing we went unarmed so all guns in the Lancasters turrets were removed. The bomb bays were filled with panniers containing selected food and 514 Squadron got airborne and headed across the North Sea at low level for Rotterdam. Arriving over the city we felt very uneasy as the Germans were on the rooftops training their guns on us. They could have shot us out of the sky so easily but they must have realised we were unarmed. We crossed the city at about 500 feet looking for the main square to drop our food and eventually to 300 feet with my bomb aimer releasing the panniers. One could see the 1000’s of Dutch people in the square waving and smiling. After several runs we turned to head back across the North Sea and home. It was a moving sight and one that I shall never forget. I just hope we were able to save some lives during those terrible times. Next day we repeated the operation by going to The Hague. A similar greeting by the Dutch people was a sight to believe.
May 7th 1945 saw the surrender of the Germans to Allied forces and so our Squadron was reduced to carrying out general flying to keep in practice. Now the big exodus occurred from the RAF with a great number of pilots opting to leave the Service. As jobs in flying in the civil world were minimal I decided to stay in the RAF for a further 18 months during which time I was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant and another pay rise. Our crew were then moved to No. 207 Squadron at Spilsby in Lincolnshire and later the Squadron moved to Methwold in Norfolk. It was during this period that we carried out several flights to Naples and Bari in Italy. The purpose of each flight was to pick up 20 army personnel and bring them back to UK. If sea transport had been used it would have taken so much longer and the army still on the continent were getting somewhat frustrated at not returning home. Eventually my crew were discharged from the RAF and they all returned to their civilian jobs.
A surprise phone call in May 1946 from Group Captain Simpson at RAF Marham invited me to join the Development Wing at the Central Bomber Establishment in Norfolk. My duties where [sic] to carry out flights with some boffins who were experimenting with secret radar equipment. They occupied the navigators desk in the aircraft which was blanked off by a black curtain. I only had a flight engineer to accompany me and the flights were mainly local in the Norfolk area. Upon landing this equipment was removed by the boffins and taken to a nissan [sic] hut on the airfield which was out of bounds to all. Secret stuff.
My time spent at Marham was a very pleasant and interesting one in that I was able to fly not only the Lancasters but the bigger version the Lincoln, as well as the Anson and Auster.
My time in the RAF came to and end in April 1947 and my thoughts were turned to civilian life once again.
Spells at the London County Council and Chislehurst & Sidcup Urban District Council left me totally bored. I had done some study whilst still in the Service and had obtained my Commercial Pilots licence. Jobs in the UK were still minimal and my family did not want me to move overseas where flying jobs were available.
In order to keep my hand in at flying I joined No. 24 Reserve Flying School at Rochester in Kent as a reservist which enabled me to fly the old Tiger Moth once again at weekends. It also helped me maintain the validity of my Commercial licence.
News in the daily papers that ex-RAF pilots were wanted for a special 3 month course to train on fighter aircraft interested me. The Korean War had started and RAF fighter pilots may be needed for operations to back up the Americans. Being a [sic] ex-heavy bomber pilot I thought I would have no chance but was quickly accepted and was recalled for service in June 1951 being posted to
2
[page break]
No. 1 Flying Refresher School at Oakington in Cambridge. It was time to refresh my flying skills on Service aircraft again and so I found myself on Harvard aircraft for some 3 weeks. The posting of our course moved us to No. 102 RFS at North Luffenham in Rutland. Lined up on the tarmac were Spitfires Mk 22 and Vampires Mk 5. No dual instruction was availabe [sic] as both aircraft were single seaters. It was just a question of reading the pilots notes, familiarising oneself with the cockpit layout, start up and go. I had for a long time hoped one day I could fly a Spitfire, the best fighter in WW2 and at last it was happening. The Vampire allowed me to have my first experience of jet flying reaching speeds of 500mph at 30-40,000feet. As it turned out we were not required for opertions [sic] in Korea but this 3 month course had decided one thing. The flying game had bitten me once again so I resigned my civilian job and joined once again the RFS at Rochester but this time as a staff pilot employed by Short Bros. & Harland. I was involved in flying the weekend reservists on navigation flights in the Anson aircraft. Other aircraft available to me was our twin engined Rapide, a Chipmunk and the old Tiger Moth. Happy days once again but unfortunately it was shortlived [sic] because in March 1953 the Government closed all the Reserve Flying Schools.
The RAF invited me back for a 2 year short service in April which I accepted and so found myself putting on my uniform once again and travelling to No.3 Advanced Navigation School at Bishops Court in County Down Northern Ireland. My duties there were to fly the Anson aircraft which was fitted out like a class room with desks for the navigators under training. It was in February 1954 that I was posted to Leconfield in Yorkshire, the home of the Central Gunnery School. I was once again flying the “heavies”, the Lancaster and Lincoln and training gunners on the 20mm cannon guns on a firing range in the North Sea.
With my 2 year short service commision [sic] at and end in April 1955 and having bid my many colleagues farewell I departed from the RAF for good and secured my first job in the civil airlines. The next 25 years enabled me to see the world but that is another story.
Hope this gives you all some idea of my varied life in the Royal Air Force. Jim, February 2013.
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
My Time in the Royal Air Force 1942-1955
Description
An account of the resource
An autobiography by Jim about his time in the RAF. He was 17 when the war started and he applied and was accepted for the RAF, on deferred service. Training started at Ludlow, Newquay then grading at Sywell. He was selected for further training and sent via Greenock to New York then Canada. He passed his flying training then returned to UK for further training. After crewing up he converted to Wellingtons then Lancasters at Bottesford.
He continued in the RAF after the war getting involved in secret radar trials. On leaving the RAF he got very bored with civilian life and rejoined to assist in the Korean war. Not required in Korea he joined Shorts as a staff pilot. Later he rejoined the RAF for two years.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jim Eley
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-02
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three typewritten sheets
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
BEleyNJEleyNJv10001
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--Ludlow
England--Newquay
England--Manchester
Scotland--Gourock
United States
New York (State)--New York
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan--Regina
Manitoba--Winnipeg
Nova Scotia--Halifax
England--Harrogate
England--Filey
England--Snitterfield
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Helgoland
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Italy--Naples
Italy--Bari
England--Rochester (Kent)
Korea
England--Oakington
Netherlands--Hague
Italy
New York (State)
New Brunswick
Germany
Nova Scotia
Netherlands
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Cornwall (County)
England--Kent
England--Lancashire
England--Shropshire
England--Warwickshire
Manitoba
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jan Waller
11 OTU
1668 HCU
207 Squadron
3 Group
514 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
aircrew
Anson
bomb aimer
bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945)
Cornell
crewing up
Dominie
flight engineer
Flying Training School
hangar
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lincoln
military service conditions
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
navigator
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
promotion
RAF Bishops Court
RAF Bottesford
RAF Hunmanby Moor
RAF Leconfield
RAF Marham
RAF Methwold
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Spilsby
RAF Sywell
RAF Waterbeach
RAF Westcott
recruitment
Spitfire
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1376/24297/EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-M430316.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke 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
2017-03-13
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. 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
Ford, T
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MR & MRS A.G. FORD,
26, CORONATION AVENUE,
FISHPONDS,
BRISTOL,
ENGLAND.
486045
1585520 LAC FORD T.A.
72 Course “E” Flight,
41 S.F.T.S.
Weyburn, Sask.
Date. 16-3-43.
Dear Folks,
I’ve received a whole batch of A.G’s lately from you & also from Auntie Lot, Reg Popplestone & a letter from Roy dated September which had first been to Wiltshire Rd, Salford. & dated September 1942! I don’t know what his address. Could you send it on to me. You’re A.G’s were 31st Jan 5th. 11th, - 18th of Feb. Thanks for putting the £1 away for me & thanks for the £10. As you know Don has now gone, so I can’t borrow the equivalent from him, which is too bad. Still, I’d be very glad if you would bank it for me, I shall probably need it when I return. I hope Fisho had a nice birthday So you’re going in for horse-riding, eh?
Very glad to hear about the job, Mum. It sounds ideal. Only half day & in the district. Shall be interested to hear more about it.
I’ve just come back from a week-end in Regina. For the last four days we’ve had a terrific blizzard, the worst this winter. Please thank Auntie Lot for her A.G. We have our Wings Ground Exam in a fortnight so I’m rather busy but I’ll write a sea-mail soon. Love, Terry
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
Letter from Terry to his family. He writes thanking them for their letters and money and says that he has just been on leave to Regina; about the weather and his exams.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Terry Ford
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-03-16
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten sheet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-M430316
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Bristol
Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
England--Gloucestershire
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.
1943-03-16
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Terry Ford to his parents
aircrew
pilot
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1376/24304/EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M430125.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke 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
2017-03-13
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. 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
Ford, T
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MR. & MRS. A.G. FORD,
26, CORONATION AVENUE,
FISHPONDS,
BRISTOL,
ENGLAND.
098403
1585520 LAC FORD. T.A.,
72 Co, F2 Flight,
41 S.F.T.S. RAF,
Weyburn,
Sas’k. CANADA
Date. 25-1-43.
Dear Mum, Dad, Yvonne & Moira.
Just received a.g. from you & Mrs Lawrence. Surprised to hear of [deleted] John [/deleted] Roy’s engagement. Glad to know letters arriving, some must be missing, judging by your comments. I’ve just sent some stuff to you from Regina, where John & I spent last weekend. Regina is quite an important prairie town & capital of Saskatchewan, though the population is only 60,000. Anyway I’ve sent 6 prs stockings for you mum, & Yvonne (2 for Yvonne) if they fit. 1 jar Vanishing cream, 1 box powder & a lipstick also for you. Also 2 neckerchiefs one for Moira & one for Yvonne, & an autograph album for Moira. Sorry I didn’t know she wanted a diary. Also 2 packets of blue Gillette blades for Dad. Sorry its not much, but having that money pinched set me back. I’ve got some stockings for Auntie Lot. I’ll be getting a watch for you, Dad. By the way, we can’t send any parcels worth more than 5 dollars, so you will see that the excise slip says the stuff is worth 5 dollars. We had a very pleasant time in Regina staying at the City Commissioners’ house. The weather is now cold even for the prairie. During the last week it’s been 30o – 50o below zero, which is very, very cold, & when the wind comes whistling across the prairie you can’t stay outside more than 15 minutes at the [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] most. I got my cheek frozen. Dead white the size of a florin, O.K. now though. Will write a long letter later to-day. Love Terry.
[inserted] P.S. PLEASE GIVE YVONNE’S FOOT MEASUREMENTS
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
Letter From Terry to his family. He writes that he has just been to Regina and has sent a parcel to them with items he has bought. He also writes about the weather saying that it is well below freezing therefore they are unable to be outside for more than 15 minutes at a time.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Terry Ford
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-01-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten sheet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M430125
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Bristol
Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
England--Gloucestershire
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.
1943-01-25
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Terry Ford to his parents
training
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke 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
2017-03-13
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. 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
Ford, T
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1585520 LAC Ford
72 Course E flt TA
41 S.F.T.S.
Weyburn Sask
6 – 4 – 43
Dear All
I’m writing this to go more fully into the A.G. I wrote to–day Glad you enjoy your job Mum What about the greyhounds? So the Fish has got a rabbit eh? Are you going to eat him? When will the exam results come out?
I’ll certainly get a watch, Dad. Pocket one I suppose. You did very well at the Dogs Dad, Very interested to hear Jack Matthews is out here. He has chosen a much better time, but I hope for his sake he doesn’t come out to the Prairie.
Jack L is certainly right on Ops now. I hope he get on O.K. He must be quite experienced by now
[page break]
It still seems ages before I shall really get onto Ops. I should like to get down to the States, sometime. Apparently the chaps down there have a wizard time
Life is much more pleasant now. The [deleted] y [/deleted] weather is quite warm now & the sun has melted all the snow. There are lakes everywhere. This weather means we can now get around much more & play tennis golf etc. So as I say life is very pleasant especially as exams are finished & passed, & we only fly half a day & night, as we are starting hat now.
We had a very pleasant time in Regina. John Stockbridge & I tried to go horse riding. We went to the Regina Riding Club, to get a ride However it is a private Club so we couldn’t hire one. They let us have an old Mountie horse which was used in the Coronation in England. There was a corporal in the Mounties there &
[page break]
he told us some very interesting stuff
I have received an AG from Mrs Lawrence It was bad luck about Barbara’s Raymond wasn’t it. He & Pete May seem to have gone for a Burton on their first trip. Old Jack seems to be carrying on O.K. They say if you don’t get it in the first 5 raids you are likely to be O.K.
As I said in the A.G. I have volunteered for the reconnaissance course. My instructor says I am the bomber type anyway, so I thought I might as well learn a lot about [deleted] it [/deleted] the subject & may be get onto Beaufighters or Mosquitoes or anything
Well that’s all for now folks. Remember me to everyone.
Love
[underlined] Terry [/underlined]
P.S. I got Yvonne’s foot measurements O.K. We were invited home by the Vice President of the Regina Riding Club & given a Duck & green pea supper. Lovely!
P.P.S. over/
[page break]
We have had Income ac forms for April 6th 1942 – 43
I have only filled in my RAF pay, & under office pay have put Not Known. Also bank accounts So if they want to tax that as well they’ll probably contact the Company Incidentally I’ve just realized We get $2.25 per day here, which is 10/2 at home & I haven’t told the firm about the increase Still its not worth it now. I’ll write when I get my stripes
[page break]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Terry Ford to his family
Description
An account of the resource
A letter from Terry Ford to his family where he writes about social and domestic events, a desire to visit the States, an improvement in the weather, the loss of one of his friends on an operation and future flying.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Terry Ford
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-04-06
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EFordTAFord[Fam]430406-0001,
EFordTAFord[Fam]430406-0002,
EFordTAFord[Fam]430406-0003,
EFordTAFord[Fam]430406-0004
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
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.
1943-04-06
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anita Raine
aircrew
Beaufighter
Mosquito
training
-
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bd72cada4dad120b9d7dde10b105b0b7
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
Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke 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
2017-03-13
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. 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
Ford, T
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1585520 LAC Ford T.A.
72 Course F2 Flight,
41 S.F.T.S.
Weyburn, Sask
26–1–43
[YMCA logo]
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
Dear Mum, Dad, Yvonne & Moira,
I am writing this letter at 7–30 p.m. this evening, after eating an apple pie & a bottle of milk. We have been told there is some tremendous news at 8.0 p.m., & are waiting to hear it.
I wrote an [deleted] let [/deleted] A.G. yesterday explaining what to do [deleted] what [/deleted] with the parcel I sent you, but I will repeat it again.
4 prs stocking. Jar of vanishing cream. I Box powder. I lipstick for you mum 2 prs stocking. I neckerchief for Yvonne. 1 neckerchief [deleted] for [/deleted] & album for Fish. 12 Razor blades for Dad.
Sorry it’s not much for you, dad but I’m getting some small things to bring home.
We have still not flown since coming off our 48 hours leave at Regina. Anyway the weather is improving, & we should fly soon.
As I said I have some more stockings including a couple of pairs for
[page break]
Auntie Lot.
The momentous news has just come out. Churchill & Roosevelt met in Africa. We all thought it was something really good. What a disappointment.
Still the news is still much better.
We (John & I) had a very pleasant week–end in Regina although it was snowing all the time & very cold.
We stayed at the house of the Regina city commissioner.
I was very surprised to hear that Roy was engaged to Doreen Winston. The lads are being hoked one by one. Anyway she is a very nice girl & I admire his choice.
Well there is one thing about this station on the prairie, we do know what real cold is. Snow drifts biting wind & terrific cold all make life a little hard but unlike British cold, it is not wet & apart from parts exposed it is quite bearable for a time.
Anyway I am getting a bit cheesed off with snow all the time
I’ve been trying to get some
[page break]
[YMCA logo]
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
photographs, as my camera is pretty ropey, & so I hope to get a decent collection before my return.
we are well on the ground course now, & it is very hard work, but necessary.
Will you please thank Mrs Bladon for her wire which arrived last week. It was very nice. I also received the book from the old vicar, a few days ago.
I am definitely going to lead a more obedient life on this station, as three lots of Jankers at Neepawa, was a bit too much although really it was just bad luck.
The name of the butcher was “Orchard” he lived in Pucklechruch, & often visited fishponds. He came out to Canada 18 years ago.
Well, I thought I had a lot to write, but it seems to have melted away. Please remember me to Gran’s Aunties, Uncles, Gramps, friends & relatives
Much love
[underlined] Terry [/underlined]
[page break]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Terry Ford to his family
Description
An account of the resource
Terry Ford writes to his family about waiting for some tremendous news – it was about Churchill meeting Roosevelt in Africa. He writes about the contents of a parcel he has sent and who the items were for. No flying recently due to the snow.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Terry Ford
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-01-26
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M430126-0001,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M430126-0002,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M430126-0003
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Weyburn
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
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.
1943-01-26
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anita Raine
aircrew
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11190/EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411102-0003.1.jpg
f96f55353b2d6e1cfeb07c2870f49f2a
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4a51bfc505905c919ea9ea9a4c9a9562
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Madgett, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] #7[/inserted]
No. 1330340. H.R. MADGETT
(Course 33.)
No. 32 E.F.T.S. R.A.F. Station
Swift Current,
Sask, [underlined] Canada [/underlined].
[underlined] 2nd. Nov. 1941 [/underlined]
[inserted] Recd Nov [underlined] 29th [/underlined][/inserted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
I am sorry I have not written for some time, but we are being rushed off our feet and have time for nothing, so I am afraid this letter will be a bit shorter than usual.
[deleted] Yes [/deleted]On Saturday we had a free day last week, and was flying all day Sunday. However, I made best use of the Saturday by going to Regina. I started out of camp at 8 a.m. and arrived at 1 p.m. hitch hiking first on a car, then a gasoline tank truck, another car, and last [deleted] on [/deleted] in the back of a cattle truck. It took me half an hour to find McNelly’s house; Mr. McNelly’s daughter Elspeth and her mother greeted me and after a small meal Elspeth took me over the town. Before seeing her I had a hunch she was quite young – you know what I mean – but she was about 36 I guess. Quite a shock! However, she was very nice, and took me over the Parliament Buildings where she works in the Public Health Dept. It’s a marvellous building, and went up on the roof where we had a [deleted] f [/deleted] view of all Regina. Although the weather was pretty lousy – light rain all the time, the coloured roofs of the
[page break]
[underlined[ 2 [/underlined]
houses, red, green, blue – and the very clean buildings, the lake in the foreground made the town look so fresh and bright. This is like all Canadian towns – they are so cheerful and colourful. Then I got an eyeful of the town and took quite a few photos although weather was not good for snaps. At 5 p.m. we were back where I met Mr. McNelly – he was over 70. I had some more to eat and then caught the 6.15 p.m. train (which left at 6.45 p.m.) and was back in camp at 11.15 p.m. The railroad station (known as the “depot”), like all other big depots was marvellously clean. The booking hall having marble pillars and all that – nothing of the grimy & dirty English stations. The engines of course are collosal [sic] things, and the coaches the last word in comfort. I did not hitch hike back because I wanted to spend as much time as I could in Regina; incidently [sic], I sent a p.c. from there by ordinary mail so you should get that after this letter.
We have our final examinations next week (except a/c recognition & arms. which we have had already), so we are going to be as busy as ever. For armaments exam I did quite well – in fact I was surprised when the results came out – I had 121.7 out of 150.
[page break]
[underlined[ 3 [/underlined] Today I had a letter from Mrs. Hamilton. I also had one from Charlie Radley. I don’t know where I can find time at all for writing. There are heaps of people I have to write to, but gosh they will have to wait.
The flying is getting on swell and have about 43 hours total dual & solo now. This week we are starting night flying. [deleted] Eash [/deleted] Each of us are supposed to have 3 hours night flying but we will be lucky if we have more than 1 hour each on the course.
Well, I will have to finish now, not because of lack of news but because of our greatest enemy at the moment – time!
With Love,
[underlined] Hedley [/underlined].
P.S. This evening it has suddenly started snowing quite hard. This is not our first fall – we have had two light falls before and the temperature below the zero. When there is no wind we don’t feel it, but if there is even a gentle breeze – gosh we feel it then and have to be careful of frost bite.
[page break]
[inserted] Received Nov 29th [underlined] 1941. [/underlined]
[postmark][postage stamps]
VIA AIR MAIL
Mr. & Mrs. L.R. Madgett.
127. Longlands Road,
Sidcup,
[underlined] Kent [/underlined].
[underlined] ENGLAND [/underlined].
PAR AVION
[page break]
[inserted] 7th letter [/inserted]
[inserted] Seal Stamp [/inserted]
VIA AIR MAIL
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Swift Current that he has been very busy but had hitch hiked to Regina on day off and visit to McNelley's. Describes visit to the town with daughter and then took train back. Describes railway station and Canadian trains. Mentions final examinations next week.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-11-02
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter and envelope
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR411102
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Saskatchewan--Regina
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--London
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-11-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/753/31389/LCotterJDP168678v1.1.pdf
2e158e31a5b92398f6315ebfee77f5de
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
Cotter, John David Pennington
J D P Cotter
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns Wing Commander John Cotter DFC (b. 1923, Royal Canadian Air Force) and contains an oral history interview, his log book and a memoir. He flew operations as a pilot with 158 and 640 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Cotter 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
2018-08-28
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
Cotter, JDP
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
J D Cotter’s Royal Canadian Air Force pilots flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots flying log book for J D Cotter, covering the period from 11 January 1942 to 22 April 1944. Detailing his flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at RCAF Caron, RCAF North Battleford, RAF Swanton Morley, RAF South Cerney, RAF Lulsgate Bottom, RAF Wymeswold, RAF Marston Moor, RAF Lissett and RAF Leconfield. Aircraft flown were, Tiger Moth, Oxford, Wellington and Halifax. He flew a total of 34 operations. One operation with 28 operational training unit, one with 1652 conversion unit 19 with 158 Squadron and 13 with 640 squadron. Targets were, Rouen, Cologne, Hamburg, Mannheim, Peenemunde, Leverkusen, Berlin, Modane, Hannover, Bochum, Kassel, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Schweinfurt, Trappes, Le Mans, Nuremberg, Paris and Tergnier. His first or second pilots on operations were Sergeant Mottershead and Pilot Officer Maxwell.
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
LCotterJDP168678v1
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 Canadian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Gloucestershire
England--Leicestershire
England--Norfolk
England--Somerset
England--Yorkshire
France--Le Mans
France--Modane
France--Paris
France--Rouen
France--Tergnier (Canton)
France--Yvelines
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Stuttgart
Saskatchewan--North Battleford
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1943-05-04
1943-05-05
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-24
1943-07-25
1943-07-27
1943-07-28
1943-07-29
1943-07-30
1943-08-02
1943-08-03
1943-08-09
1943-08-10
1943-08-17
1943-08-18
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-24
1943-08-25
1943-09-16
1943-09-17
1943-09-22
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-09-29
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-05
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-10-23
1943-10-24
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
1943-11-25
1943-11-26
1943-11-27
1943-12-02
1943-12-03
1944-01-30
1944-01-31
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-21
1944-02-24
1944-02-25
1944-03-06
1944-03-07
1944-03-08
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-03-30
1944-03-31
1944-04-09
1944-04-10
1944-04-11
1944-04-17
1944-04-18
1944-04-22
1944-04-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
158 Squadron
1652 HCU
20 OTU
28 OTU
640 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
Flying Training School
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lissett
RAF Marston Moor
RAF South Cerney
RAF Swanton Morley
RAF Wymeswold
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1767/31030/AHarrisonRW210227.2.mp3
f89cbb8d1f788819921f73e1430e9eeb
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
Harrison, Reginald Wilfred
R W Harrison
Harrison, Reg
Description
An account of the resource
13 items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Reg Harrison (b. 1922, R155986, J25826 Royal Canadian Air Force) and photographs. He flew operations as a pilot with 431 Squadron and was known as 'Crash' Harrison because he survived four crashes during training and operations.
The collection was catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
2021-02-27
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
Harrison, RW
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
RH: I’m ready for take-off then.
DE: Yeah. I’ll do a very quick introduction and then, then we’ll start properly. So this is an interview for the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive with Flight Lieutenant Reg Harrison. My name is, is Dan Ellin. This is recorded over Zoom. Mr, Mr Harrison is in Saskatoon, Canada and it is Saturday the 27th of February 2021. It’s 10.30am in Saskatoon Canada and it’s 4.30pm in Lincoln in the UK. So, Reg, thank you very very much for agreeing to do this interview with, with me this morning.
RH: My pleasure and my honour to do it.
DE: Thank you. So, right from the very very start could you tell me a little bit about your early life and how you came to volunteer for the Royal Canadian Air Force please?
RH: Yes. Well, I was born on a farm and we farmed near [unclear] Saskatchewan. Do you know where Regina, Saskatchewan is? Ok. Well, it’s, it’s towards central Saskatchewan and we were about probably a hundred miles away in the east of, of Regina. And when I did my Service flying at Yorkton we were flying Cessnas then but they started the station with Harvards. So the Harvards, we were only about seventy miles from the airport so the Harvards were always flying over. We didn’t have a tractor or a car so I was sitting behind six horses and as soon as the Harvards came over and doing their aerobatics I stopped the horses. Horses are pretty smart. It didn’t take them very long. As soon as they heard a plane they automatically stopped. So cut it short we didn’t get as much farm work done as we should because I sometimes sat there for about twenty minutes before I started them up again. So when I got embarkation leave, some of the neighbours came over to bid me farewell and I heard my dad say, ‘Well, we don’t like to see him go but I have an idea we’re going to get more farm work done.’ So, to make a long story short I only had my grade ten and I, I took my grade nine and ten by correspondence because we didn’t have a High School. I don’t know what you’d call it in England, I forget but, I had to go to Public School. I went to Public School at Lorlie from grade one to grade eight. Took correspondence course from the Department of Education to do my nine and ten. And then they said, ‘Well, in order to be a pilot you had to have your grade twelve.’ And in 1941 the Royal Air Force were getting short of pilots, so the powers that be decided well there’s a possible pool of, of pilots that only have their grade ten, maybe partial grade eleven, partial twelve. If we set up what they call Educational School, Pre-Enlistment Schools they called them, and if they passed a medical and a physical then they could enrol in this Pre-Enlistment School. So they set that up in 1941 and in the Fall of, after harvest was finished, I went to Regina to the Recruiting Centre and I had my medical. I only weighed a hundred and eighteen pounds so I was pretty skinny then but rather wiry I guess. I managed to pass the medical, and they also gave me an aptitude test. Coming from the farm I didn’t know very much about the big wide world, but maybe the aptitude test might have been easy because I managed to pass that. And then that school started at the end of October and lasted until the end of April. If you successfully completed that course then you got credit for your grade twelve, last two credits. And then you were sent to what they called a manning depot and that’s where all pilots, navigators, well they weren’t navigators then we were just called, we were just called airmen. AC2s and you stayed there for several weeks. You learned to march and you got all your inoculations and all that sort of thing. And then if you wanted to train as a pilot then they had what they called a Ground School where you took meteorology, physics, preliminary navigation, and so on. And they had that in Regina and that lasted for ten weeks. And then after you’d done that the pilots then were sent to Elementary Flying Schools, and in Saskatchewan at that time they were using Tiger Moths, Gypsy Tigers. You later switched over to Cornells but they used Tigers. So, about the time they were, they were starting those in the Fall it was, most of the fellas that I knew would get posted to Regina Elementary. But in 1942 they had a very large crop in Saskatchewan so my dad contacted the authorities and asked them if, they, I could come home for six weeks to help with the harvest. Which I did. And then when I got back to the station they said, ‘Well, there’s no room at the Regina Elementary so we’re going to send you to Virden.’ To Virden, Manitoba. So I then went to, I went to Virden. I started there in, in late October, and I finished that course just about the end of December. Went home for Christmas and then, but before that when I’d finished the elementary they asked me where I wanted to go for my service flying which I was surprised. I thought well they would tell me where I might go. And I said, ‘Well, what choice do they have?’ They said, ‘You can go to Dauphin, Manitoba, go to Brandon, Manitoba or you can go to Yorkton. I said, ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I think I’d like to go to Yorkton.’ He said, ‘Why do you want to go to Yorkton?’ I didn’t tell him it was close to the farm. I said, ‘Well, if we happen to get a forty eight hour pass the bus connections or train connections would be easier for me to get home.’ So they said, ‘Ok. We’ll give you the warrant and you can go to Yorkton.’ So when I got to Yorkton I was very surprised to find that the fellas that had gone to the Elementary School in Regina, I figured they’d be halfway through their course but they hadn’t even started because in 19 — in that winter of ’42 there was a lot of blizzards and snowstorms, and the flying was set back. And my friend Buddy who I’d met at the, at the Pre-Enlistment School he was also there and that course had just started. It was about a week into the course and they thought well I could catch up so I joined that course. And that course lasted, it was started in January and we got our wings the last week in April. And we get, everybody gets ten days embarkation leave. I went home for ten days, and then I caught the train at [unclear] Saskatchewan and so I have pictures for you. I’ll send those to you, and they show me standing at the station. Then I had to change trains in Melville. What we called the Trans-Continental. That would be similar to your train that would go from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, and it would only stop at the main stops. I think that one from Kings Cross if I remember correctly it had about seven or eight stops. I know it used to, it used to stop at Doncaster and it would stop at York and it would stop at Newcastle on Tyne and so on.
DE: Yeah. The distances are totally different aren’t they?
RH: So that particular, what they called the Trans-Continental it would leave Vancouver and it would take seven days to get to Halifax. So that gives you an idea.
DE: Yes.
RH: How large Canada is. So I got, changed trains and got on that train at Melville and then it took about almost four days to get to Ottawa. Then when it got to Ottawa my friend Buddy, he boarded the train. Then it took us another three days to get to Halifax. And then I think we were in Halifax about, possibly three weeks. But we didn’t go over in a convoy. The convoys took about almost a month. Well over, maybe a hundred, a hundred and thirty ships in a convoy and under normal circumstances the U-boats were sinking at least twenty five to thirty ships. And they told us that we were going to go on the Louis Pasteur. That was a French liner that had been converted to carrying troops and we said, ‘Oh well, how about, we’re going alone. How about the U-boats? They said, ‘You don’t have to worry about the U-boats because this Louis Pasteur can go faster than U-boats,’ which it turned out to be so. It took us four and a half days to cross the Atlantic. Then we landed in Liverpool on July the 1st 1943.
DE: Can we, can we just go back a little bit? Could you tell me what, what was it like the first time you flew? And what it was like going solo for the first time?
RH: That’s, that’s an interesting question, Dan because when I was ninety three years old one of the CBC reporters had met me at an Air Show and unbeknownst to me she arranged, she arranged for me to go for a flight in a Tiger Moth. And one of the fellas near Saskatoon he had a runway right beside his house. It was on an acreage. And he also owned about five planes and I went back in a Tiger Moth when I was ninety three years old. And it was, in a way it was a, in some ways it was a strange feeling but otherwise it brought back a lot of memories for me. But he said to me, ‘When did you solo?’ I said, ‘I’ve no idea but,’ I said, ‘I’ve brought my logbook. Let’s have a look.’ And it turned out that I soloed on Remembrance Day in 1942. And I probably, I think the average would be about eight to nine hours, or ten hours before they sent you solo and I look at my logbook and I think I had, I had about nine and a half hours when I went solo. But I really liked flying and actually when I was about twelve or thirteen years old I had a flight. It was in the wintertime and I had a flight in a small aircraft. In our Public School they had a furnace that needed some repair so the chap from the furnace company came, rented a plane and came out and landed in a field near Lorlie. And then while the furnace was being repaired he came over into town and, and wanted to know if anybody wanted to go for a ride. It cost five dollars and I asked my dad. I said, ‘Dad, could you loan me five dollars?’ He said, ‘Why do you want five dollars for?’ I said, ‘Well, I can go for a ride in a plane.’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t have any five dollars,’ he said, ‘I might not even have enough to buy these groceries,’ he said. But the storekeeper overheard the conversation and he said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I understand that you’re a little bit of a trapper and you’ve been catching —’ what we called weasels and so on, and he said, ‘Do you have any?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I do,’ I said, ‘I’m going to get ready to shift them to Melville.’ He said, ‘What do you think you can get for them?’ I said, ‘Well, I hope to get maybe seven or eight dollars.’ He said, ‘Well, I’ll loan you five dollars on the understanding that when you sell those pelts,’ he said, ‘You’ll pay me back.’ So that’s, that was my first flight when I was twelve years old.
DE: Fantastic.
RH: And it was cold too because it was an open cockpit. I remember that [laughs]
DE: Yeah.
RH: So then, of course as you well know Dan when you get to, when you get to Liverpool or wherever you land in England everybody goes to Bournemouth. All the, all the, all the aircrew go to Bournemouth. And we discovered there that there were a lot of beautiful hotels and that’s where the, I guess you would call the rich people went there for their holidays but they, they made sure that all their pictures and all their expensive furniture was removed from the hotels. But I remember Buddy and I, we stayed at what they called the Royal Bath Hotel and we were there for probably maybe three or four weeks, and then the pilots had to go to an Advanced Flying School to take what they called a BAT School, Beam Approach Training. One thing I should mention is that when we were flying in Canada, night flying, all the towns were lit up. Aircraft had navigation lights on. When we got to England I can vividly recall that train ride from Liverpool to Bournemouth. It was at night. I knew we were going through towns and you couldn’t see a light. Everything was blacked out. And then we discovered that night flying you couldn’t have any navigation lights on. So in addition to the blackouts and no navigation lights we also discovered that the weather in England wasn’t as conducive for flying as it was in Saskatchewan because we had lots of sunny days. In the Midlands when you were flying we had, I suppose you’d call it quite a bit of haze because there was a lot of manufacturing done in Birmingham and Sheffield and those things. So flying was much more difficult. I think that’s why they started the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Furthermore, there wasn’t enough room left in England for, for all their training.
DE: And also, you know there’s, there’s not the Luftwaffe to worry about either if you —
RH: Pardon?
DE: There’s not the Luftwaffe to worry about either if you’re training in Canada.
RH: Oh no. No. I think that was, I think that British Commonwealth Air Training Plan really contributed a great deal to the success of the war.
DE: So did you go on to multi-engine aircraft in Canada?
RH: Yeah. When we went to Yorkton they’d switched over from Harvards to what they called 172 Cessna Cranes. They were twin engines because then they didn’t need fighter pilots like they did in the Battle of Britain. They were short of bomber pilots. So they switched a lot of the service stations over from Harvards to Cessnas, and Canada leased a lot of aircraft from the United States. And those were flown back again after the war.
DE: Ok. Yeah.
RH: So when we got to, Buddy and I went to Church Lawford in Warwickshire. I think it’s, if I remember correctly it’s not that far from Stratford on Avon.
DE: No. It won’t be. No.
RH: I had an aunt that married my Uncle Harold and she came from, from Warwickshire, near Stratford On Avon. But that, that course it was of course beam approach training, and I often wondered when we were at Yorkton why pilots had to take Morse Code. I thought well the wireless operator would have to do Morse Code. Why did the pilot have to know Morse Code? Well, I soon found out why that was required because then you had to use, you had to use the beam, the Morse Code to get lined up with the beam. And that of course was used when the, if you had to land in the fog when the ‘dromes were equipped with FIDO. And for our very first trip, this was much later, our very first trip in a Lancaster where we did have to land on FIDO but I’ll tell you about that later because that was over a year ago and I’d really forgotten what the damned signals were. So when we were at, when we were at Church Lawford [pause] every time Buddy would, Buddy was engaged to, to his High School sweetheart Jean Woods, and he wrote to her on a regular basis and every time he’d write to her, he called me Harry, I guess short for Harrison, called Harry, ‘Well, Harry you’d better put a footnote on this letter to Jean.’ Of course my usual reply was, ‘Well, I don’t know Jean and I don’t know what to say.’ And he would always say, ‘Well, you never know. Some day you might meet her.’ And the last day we were there I have a picture, I’m going to send you a picture of Buddy and I. And we had a little Welsh gal that looked after us. Polished our shoes and all that, so we thought we were really in, in royalty when we had that kind of treatment. That didn’t last very long after we left that station. And he said, ‘Well, I’m writing another letter to Jean.’ I have a picture of him licking the stamp to put on the letter. He said, ‘You’d better put another footnote on this,’ he said, ‘Because when we get back to Bournemouth,’ he said, ‘We’re going to get posted to OTUs,’ he said, ‘And we might not end up at the same one.’ So I used to say, ‘Well, I’ve told you before Buddy I don’t really know what to say.’ He said, ‘Well, just put something on this. You never know. You might meet her.’ So, when we got back to Bournemouth I think we were only there about two weeks when we got posted and I went to Ossington. That was number 82. I think if I remember correctly it was near, it was near Sherwood Forest and we were going to start flying there and then. They had a course that wasn’t finished so they had a satellite drome called Gamston so we, we did our flying from Gamston. But I found that the Wellingtons, they were, as you know they were geodetic construction and they were very sturdy aircraft. Well-constructed. And I found them I guess an easy way to say it was somewhat heavy on the controls but they were, I wouldn’t say they were easy to fly but they were quite a little bit more, certainly more effort than the, than the Cessnas and the Oxfords that we were flying and I found them particularly hard to fly on one engine. But I managed to get through that course and looking there, I looked to see what my rating was and I got, I got above average so I guess I didn’t do too badly. In fact, I got that, I’m not bragging but I got that in most of the training that I did. And that, that course lasted, I, it was a fairly long course. I think it lasted about three and a half months, and then we got posted to a Conversion Unit and we went to, we went to Dishforth which later as you know became, became part of 6 Group. And that’s where 431 Squadron and 44 Squadron were, were stationed. And it was all, all it was part, it was two of the fifteen squadrons that made up 6 Group and that was, that was a Canadian group.
DE: Yeah.
RH: They’d been advocating for some time to have their own, to have their own, their own group.
DE: So —
RH: And —
DE: When —
RH: That was —
DE: Sorry. Sorry.
RH: Ok
DE: I was going to —
RH: Go ahead.
DE: I was just going to ask when did you crew up?
RH: Pardon?
DE: When did you form, when did you form a crew?
RH: Oh, now that, I’m glad you asked that question because that’s very interesting the way they did it. They put us all in a big hangar. An equal number of pilots, navigators, bomb aimers and we weren’t in the hangar very long and this tall chap came over to me and he said, he introduced himself, he said, ‘I’m Hal Philips,’ he said, ‘I came from Vancouver,’ he said. And I introduced myself. He said, ‘You got on the train at Melville didn’t you?’ I said, ‘Really,’ I said, ‘How did you know that?’ He said, ‘Well, my wife and I got married on my embarkation leave and she said, ‘Well, I guess we’ll have, the honeymoon’s going to last seven days,’ she said, ‘Because it’s going to take seven days to go from Vancouver to Halifax.’ So, that’s how I got my navigator. And I said, ‘Well, Hal, we’d better look around for a bomb aimer.’ So we looked around and we saw a chap sitting down smoking a cigarette and we went over to him and we introduced ourselves and he said, ‘Well, I’m Gordon Dumville,’ he said, ‘I come from Saskatchewan. From Rocanville.’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘I know where that is. In south east Saskatchewan.’ I said, ‘Do you come from a farm?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Are you crewed up yet?’ He said, ‘No. I guess nobody wants me.’ I said, ‘Well, would you like to fly with us?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’ve got to fly with somebody. I might as well fly with you.’ So then we said, ‘Well, we’ll need a, we’ll need a wireless operator.’ So we looked around and we see somebody with, with a w/op badge on so, or a wing I should say so we introduced ourselves. He said, ‘I’m Bob Hooker,’ he said, ‘I come from Big River.’ That’s kind of interesting because where my youngest daughter lives now we go right through Big River and she, they live on a lake front property about eight kilometres from Big River so that brings back memories. So then we said, ‘Well, we need, we need a rear gunner.’ So then we saw some gunners in a group and one chap seemed to be by himself so we introduced ourselves. And he said, ‘Well I’m, I’m Kenny Taylor,’ he said, ‘I come from, from a farm near Mayerthorpe, Alberta.’ So it turned out that he was the youngest in the crew and I was next to, I was next to Kenny as far as age goes and my navigator was probably, he already had a degree in agriculture. He was probably seven or eight years older than I was and my, and Bob Hooker was also about the same age. And so that’s how we crewed up.
DE: Ok.
RH: And then —
DE: I was just going to say when did, when did you get your flight engineer because he’d have been RAF rather than Royal Canadian Air Force, wouldn’t he?
RH: We got, we got our flight engineer when we went to conversion.
DE: I’m sorry, I’m —
RH: We did, yeah we had a five man crew on Wellingtons and we didn’t need an engineer.
DE: I’m jumping ahead. Sorry.
RH: So, yeah, so we got the engineer then when we went to the Conversion Unit and the Conversion Unit didn’t last more than about three weeks. And I, excuse me I’ve got to have a drink of water.
DE: Cheers.
[pause]
RH: And they, they gave us an instructor who had just finished a tour, and I, I could tell that he wasn’t too enthusiastic about being an instructor. And so he did the first couple of circuits I guess and then he told me to take over. We were flying Halifax 5s with inline engines and I understand they used to have a lot of glycol leaks, Merlin inline engines. And on my first landing I didn’t do a very good job. I couldn’t keep it straight. So he stopped the aircraft and he said, ‘If you bloody well want to kill yourself,’ he said, ‘You bloody well go ahead,’ he said, ‘You’re not going to kill me.’ So we taxied the aircraft, told me to taxi the aircraft up to the flight. We did that and he got out the aircraft and left me there. And then a flight commander came out and he got in the aircraft and did a circuit. Told me to, no actually he told me, he told me to do a circuit and we were coming in to land, the aircraft was moving around I guess too much on the runway, he said, ‘Take your damned feet off the rudders.’ You don’t, he said, ‘You don’t need very much rudder control on these aircraft.’ He said, ‘Try another landing.’ So we did another landing and I suppose the reason I kept my feet on because I wasn’t very tall. I was about five foot six and he said, ‘I think you need a cushion or something behind you so you can reach that. But remember you don’t need much rudder,’ he said, ‘On these aircraft.’ And that was the problem that I had. So after we got that solved then as I say, that course only lasted about, about three or four weeks. And then while we were there it was interesting. They said, ‘Well, if you finish this course without killing yourselves,’ that was not too encouraging [laughs] They said, ‘Just hope you don’t get posted to Croft.’ We said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Well, Croft throughout Bomber Command is known as the jinx station. Everything that happens always happens at Croft.’ Well, I often think back and after I’d been there, finished my tour with my four crashes I guess I added to their reputation. [Laughs] So, when we, when we got to, to Croft I think we were only there about, well we got there on the 12th. I remember that. We got there on the 12th of March and on the 15th of March there were five crews arrived that day. They’d had a few losses. Five new crews. And they had told me what crew I was going to fly with and one of the pilots that had come to the station the same day he came to me and he said, ‘Well, I know pilot —’ so and so, he said, ‘Would you mind switching places with me?’ And I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘It doesn’t matter to me, I said, ‘I really don’t know any of the, any of the crews.’ So he said, ‘Well.’ I said, ‘You go and speak to the flight commander and see if he ok’s it.’ So he did. And so I ended up going with a Flying Officer [Feldman] and his crew and I discovered that he came from Quebec City and was a very good hockey player and he played with what they called the Quebec Aces. And the, the —
Other: Sorry. I’m just plugging this in. Sorry, Dan.
DE: Ok.
Other: Don’t want to lose power halfway through.
DE: Oh right. You’re just plugging in the power cord. Ok. Thank you.
RH: So, so the target that night was Amiens and we were, we were bombing the large transport, I guess you’d call it a transportation centre. The Germans were bringing up a lot of supplies in preparation I suppose for the, for the allied landings. And there wasn’t a jump seat there so I stood up about halfway and he said, ‘Well, you’d better go and sit down on the step,’ which I did. It was a sort of a routine trip. There wasn’t very much flak or much searchlights there and when we, when we were coming in to land, excuse me [pause] coming in to land he told me, I was standing beside him, I wanted to watch him land, he said, ‘Go back to the crash position.’ Well, I didn’t go. I stood back about three or four steps so he couldn’t see me because I wanted to see him land. And unbeknownst to the crew they had a five hundred pound bomb left in the bomb bay and when the aircraft touched down the bomb didn’t drop off. The runways were a bit, they weren’t very level there so the aircraft always bounced a bit. We got just about to the end of the runway and then the bomb dropped off even though the bomb switch was off. The bomb was still live. We never heard the bomb go off but it woke everybody up on the station and I suppose from the concussion, the bomb literally blew the plane apart. There wasn’t anything left from the wings. The fuselage was gone, the rudders were gone and it was like a movie scene. I, I suppose I was knocked out momentarily because in a Halifax you’re about twenty six feet off the ground. So I don’t know what my trajectory was but I expect that the bottom of the aircraft blew out when the bomb went off and it killed the two gunners instantly. And the rest of us, I suppose literally blew us out of the aircraft because I found myself lying on the ground and I remember opening my eyes and I thought I could see stars. And then I thought, my first thought was jeez, I must be in heaven. There was no sound. And then all of a sudden I started to get wet and, I, my first thought was oh I must be bleeding to death. Well, it wasn’t. What had happened, when the bomb exploded all the gas lines were punctured or fractured, and then the hundred octane gas was flowing towards the exhaust. They were still pretty hot from the flight and then they all burst into flames and then there was a big wall of fire. And I picked myself up, I was still sort of dazed. It was dark but it was getting lighter as the fire rose, and I started to run. This is a bit fresh, I don’t know whether I should tell it or not but I tripped, and I tripped over, someone’s head had been decapitated and there was no helmet on and he had a mop of, I remember he had a mop of beautiful curly hair. I kept on running and I saw someone else running and heard someone else yell, ‘Help.’ And the pilot was almost out of the, the cockpit was left, one wing was fully intact. Another wing was only partly there, but the pilot was almost out but he had those, the old type flying boots on where they, they were fleece lined with the zipper all the way up. That’s when they, later on they changed those into more of a boot with a zipper on. Then if you bailed out because when they were baling out the fire, when they baled out when the parachute opened they were losing one or both flying boots so they made a new type of flying boot. So this chap that was, I didn’t know the crew, the chap was running. He called me and so we, we both tugged on the pilot and pulled him, pulled him away from the aircraft. That part wasn’t burning. It was just the rear part of the wings and that that were burning. And then of course, I guess it was the oxygen bottles started to explode and the verey cartridges and there were a lot of explosions around. And then, then I think I think the ambulance arrived then and took us to the hospital. And then nobody seemed to be injured but I had a sore arm and so they said, ‘Well you’d better, you’d better go on.’ They told me it was a bad scrape. So I went to my aunt and uncle’s in Hull. They lived in Hull, and I was there about the third day and my uncle who had been in the, survived the First World War he, one day he was home for lunch and he said, ‘Let me have a look at that arm.’ So he looked at it and he said, ‘By Jove, I don’t like the look of that,’ he said. There’s an anti-aircraft battery. As you probably well know, Dan, next to London Hull was one of the most bombed cities in Britain. All the east I remember from history that there was a lot of, a lot of lot of shipping done from Hull, and all that was left there were just concrete. All the docks and everything were gone but there was just enough room for the trawlers to come in. They used to go out at night and do their fishing and come in with their catch in the morning. But there was still an anti-aircraft battery in the outskirts of Hull so I got on the bus and went out there. It was called Sutton. I went out there and I saw the medical officer. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘You’ve got phosphorous burns,’ he said, ‘How did you get those?’ So I told him about the bomb explosion. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘Those bombs,’ he said, ‘There’s lots of phosphorous in those,’ he said, ‘That’s where you got your burn,’ he said, ‘That needs to be looked at right away.’ And he said, ‘I’m a little short of bandages,’ he said. I suppose they had, quite a few people were killed in Hull. So he, he said, ‘I’m going to put a fish dressing on your, on your arm.’ And he wrapped it up in newspaper, tied it up and he said, ‘You’d better get — where are you stationed?’ I told him. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘You’d better get back on the train as soon as possible and get back to the station.’ So I went back to my aunt and uncle’s and got the clothes that I’d taken there, and went to the train and then of course I had to take the train from there. I had to change in York to get back to Croft. Then Darlington. Then up to Croft to the station. Of course in those trains you know you’ve got six people in the compartment and three on each side looking at one another, and pretty soon people started looking around and sniffing. They could see I wasn’t carrying anything. They thought they could smell fish so I had to, I had to explain to them where the fish smell was coming from. [laughs]
DE: Oh dear.
RH: I don’t really know what the fish dressing did but apparently as the doctor said that was the best thing to do. So to make a long story short I saw the medical officer and he said, ‘Well, where do you want to go for treatment?’ Well, they might as well have asked the [unclear] because I didn’t have a clue where I should go. So he said, ‘Well, I’d better send you to Basingstoke.’ Of course that was a big, I remember my dad saying that was a big hospital in the First World War. And at that time they had a lot of casualties. Especially tank casualties from Italy. And when I got there I was so embarrassed because I was walking around and I saw fellas bandaged there with, you know some of them were blind, and some of them had their arms grafted to their face and I just felt so. They kept me there for a week. They just didn’t have enough time to deal with me. They did, dressed my arm and then they finally sent me to East Grinstead. And then I was there for, I had pinch grafts done on my arm. Dr Tilley. He was a Canadian doctor. He was the one that, that did my, my pinch. He did a pinch graft. They tried a flap graft first but that didn’t work so then they did pinch grafts. Took pinches from my, from my upper thigh and then grafted it on. So I was there for probably nine weeks and then I went back to the station.
DE: What had happened to the, your crew during the nine, ten weeks that you were —
RH: That [laughs] that’s interesting. When, when I got back to the station I thought oh well they’d have found another pilot. I’ll have to, I’ll have to get another crew. Well, I guess it turned out they didn’t know how long I was going to be away and the crew were still there. I don’t know what they did for the time I was away but they were there waiting for me. So I think, I think we did maybe one or two cross countries to get climatised I guess again, and well actually that would have been my, several weeks, almost two months before I’d flown or since I’d flown. And then we did, we did eleven trips without any, I wouldn’t say without any difficulty but some of them were, what the word for exciting is. I don’t know whether that’s the right word or not but they were all very different. And on the way out to, on our thirteenth trip on the way out to the aircraft, the lorry used to take us out, if I remember correctly I think the lorries were large enough to take two crews which would be fourteen airmen. And my rear gunner, Kenny Taylor, the youngest in the crew he was very quiet and I said, ‘What’s the matter, Kenny? Don’t you feel good?’ He said, ‘Well, skipper. Physically,’ he said, ‘I feel ok,’ he said, ‘But do you know what trip this is?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s twelve, er thirteen. Why?’ ‘Gosh,’ he said, ‘I sure don’t like, I don’t like thirteen,’ he said, ‘Can we call it 12a?’ I said, ‘Kenny, if it’ll make you feel better then it won’t be thirteen. It’ll be 12a.’ I don’t know whether Kenny had a premonition or just what, but when we got the green light to take off I got at least three quarters of the way down the runway and the port inner engine suddenly stopped and I had about eighty, it was just prior to lift off. About eighty to eighty five miles an hour, and the engine stopped suddenly and the aircraft veered off the runway. Then it’s pitch dark. It had been, we’d been, the flight had been delayed at least a couple of times and then when we took off it had quit raining but it was dark and I didn’t know if I throttled back if, I was the fourth aircraft off out of nineteen or twenty. The other aircraft, I knew they were slowly inching their way to the take-off point on the perimeter track. I couldn’t see them. I didn’t know if I could get stopped. I knew if I didn’t get stopped and crashed in to one what a horrible site that would be. So I pushed the throttles through the gate and when I did that I had more than full power on the two port engines and suddenly the aircraft, I did gain a bit of altitude. The, the right wing went down and then the aircraft started to shudder and I still had enough control. I remember straightening the aircraft out. I yelled at the crew to brace for impact. My bomb aimer was standing beside me. The last thing I remember is telling them to brace themselves and I don’t remember anything else. But I got over those aircraft and just off the edge of the drome there was a farmhouse and a barn and there was a stone wall around, around the house. The barn was attached to the house which was quite common in England. And we crashed into that wall and then when we, we were probably I don’t know how fast we were going. Maybe eighty, ninety miles an hour. My bomb aimer went forward into the instrument panel and I don’t know how I ended up with the cockpit split open. I don’t know how I got out but they found me lying on the wing. I was knocked out. My wireless operator and mid-upper gunner apparently pulled me off the, off the wing. And the navigator and the rest of the crew apparently were wandering around, around the aerodrome. And I was still unconscious but the bomb aimer, he was still conscious, and there were, he had a serious head injury and they were going to take us to a hospital. I think it was Northallerton. They couldn’t do anything at the, at the base hospital. So I, I woke up on the way to the hospital and I knew, I’m pretty sure that Gordon was still, was still alive then because they operated on him. I think it was Northallerton. But he didn’t, he didn’t survive the operation. But then I ended up with a broken nose and probably twenty or thirty stiches in my face and a badly bruised thigh so I was in the hospital for probably about ten days. [pause] So then they when I got out the hospital they had got another bomb aimer to take Gordon’s, take Gordon’s place, and we continued our operations. And on the seventeenth trip it was, we went to Brest, and I remember when we were going out to the aircraft I remember my wireless operator saying to, to my two gunners. He said, ‘Well, we’re, we’re going to Brest,’ he said. They told us at briefing it was, expect to encounter a lot of flak because the, Brest and Hamburg were where the German U-boats were being serviced, and he said we could expect a lot of flak and probably a few night fighters. He said, ‘I hope we get back from this trip ok.’ I think it was Kenny or Maurice said, ‘Well, why?’ He said, ‘Well, we’re going on leave. We’re going on leave tomorrow,’ he said, ‘So, I hope to get back.’ And I, whether which one was it? ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘Well, the skipper, the skipper will get us back ok.’ So I never gave it another, I never gave it another thought. But then when, I suppose, I’m not sure just where we were, whether we were halfway back to England then we ran into this heavy rain. And as we got closer to the, to Croft, the wireless operator had told me, or I asked him, I said, ‘Have we got any diversions?’ And he hesitated and he said, ‘No.’ And then the second time he called up he asked about the weather. ‘Got any more?’ I said, ‘No.’ Then he said, ‘Well, aircraft from 3 and 4 were being diverted.’ I said, ‘Well, better, better listen.’ So he called up three or four times, and I kept asking if he’d had a diversion. He said, ‘No,’ he didn’t have any. But I don’t know how he, how he missed the diversion but when we got back to base it was still pouring rain and it was heavy cloud and I think there was only one. Only one person on duty in the control tower and he said to me, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘You can land,’ he said, ‘But I’ll put on all the lights that we can,’ he said, ‘And come down to about eight hundred feet and see if you can, see if you can see any lights.’ Which I did but I couldn’t see any. And he then said, ‘Well, climb. Climb to thirty five hundred feet and stand by for further instructions.’ Well, they always say that you can’t fly by the seat of your pants, and I’d been flying for at least two hours in this heavy rain and thick cloud and I decided, well I’m pretty sure we’re going to, we haven’t got much fuel left. We’ll probably have to bale out although I never said anything to the crew. And he said, ‘Climb to thirty five hundred feet.’ So I remember it was easier to turn to port to do a slow turn than it would be to starboard. So I did a slow climbing turn with just enough RPMs on to gain some height and I suppose I was getting calls from the control tower, and while I was doing this slow climbing turn I must have been unconsciously pulling back slightly on the control column because all of a sudden the navigator yelled at me, he said, ‘Skipper, what’s happening?’ Just as he said that all of the navigation equipment ended up in the cockpit and then the aircraft started to shudder and I knew instantly what had happened. That the aircraft was almost on its back because the cloud was thick and I had no sensation in that position. I shoved the throttles forward. At the same time I pushed the stick forward. I still have that feeling of the aircraft shuddering but I caught it in time and then I got it into a dive and I pulled as hard as I could and finally got, got out of the dive. And apparently the chap in the control tower had been calling and he went outside and he could hear the aircraft so I don’t know how close we came to slamming into the ground. But then I said to myself well to heck with this I’m not climbing to thirty five hundred feet, I’m climbing to five thousand feet and I did. I kept the throttles at full force and the perspiration was pouring off me, and I climbed to five thousand feet and in the meantime he was calling up wanting to know where I was. Well, in that kind of weather I’m sure we didn’t know exactly where we were and he finally said, ‘Well, the only drome open is Silloth on the west coast.’ And I asked the navigator, I said, ‘How far is that? It sounds like it’s a long way.’ I think it was just on the very west coast. Right on the, I suppose it would be on the Irish Sea. I’m not sure. But I know it was an OTU because they were, they started flying Hudsons there, and I know they had a lot of, they had a lot of crashes there. But anyway we didn’t have very much fuel left and I said to the crew then, I said, ‘Well, it looks like we’re going to have to leave this aircraft. We’re going to have to bale out.’ So I said, ‘We’ve gone through the bale out procedure.’ I said, ‘When you leave your position,’ I said, ‘Let me know because,’ I said, ‘I’m going to be the last one to bale out.’ So [pause] they, they did. They all let me know when they were, when they were gone and then it was my turn to go. And you’re probably aware that the pilots had the opportunity of wearing a chest type chute or a seat type chute and as soon as I found that out I thought gosh that doesn’t sound very good. My chute’s down in the nose and the bomb aimer’s job is to give me my chest type chute if we have to bale out. What if the bomb aimer gets injured, we get attacked by a night fighter or we get hit with flak how am I going to get my parachute? So I used to carry my parachute. It weighed about almost thirty pounds I think with all that silk that was packed in there. I used to carry it in. I remember getting over the main spar. It was a bit difficult but I carried it in and it fit really well into the, into the cockpit seat. And then after I got in there I would strap it on, and then I’d put my waist, my Mae West on top of that. I did that every time. But when it was my turn to bale out which I’d never tried doing before because when we got back from a trip we just undid the parachute and I carried it out. So I moved across the cockpit and then I got hold of a rung with my right hand. Then when I figured I was clear of all the levers I let myself go. There’s three levers come at forty five degree angle and the last lever came up between my leg and my parachute harness. And I’d already let go of the rung and then I found myself dangling there and when I, before I baled out I put in the automatic pilot and I trimmed it so it was slightly nose down because I knew that it was a sparsely populated area but I didn’t know how far the, the aircraft was going to go. So I thrashed around and I thought egods, I survived the, survived the trip from there but now I’m going to go down with this aircraft. And I don’t know how long I thrashed around but finally I heard, I heard a crack and the lever broke. I suppose with my weight and the weight of the parachute the lever broke. I remember falling. There were three steps to the escape hatch and I remember falling down three steps and I remember hitting my elbow and I actually rolled out of the aircraft and I saw the, I saw the, I remember seeing the rudder of the aircraft and then I started to roll over and I found my rip cord. I gave it a yank. Of course nothing happens when you first pull it. And then this chute opened with a real jerk and I swung to the right, came back and I hit the ground. So I really, I really have no sensation of falling in a parachute. I’ve asked skydivers at air shows, ‘How close do you think I was to the ground?’ They said, Well, you were probably less than a thousand feet. Might have been about eight hundred feet when your parachute opened,’ because I remember hitting the ground really hard. But by this time the rain had stopped but it was real foggy and I remember sitting on, sitting on my parachute and I thought well at least I’m alive. And then I wasn’t sitting there for very long and it was real still and I heard a whistle. And as you know, we had a whistle on our battle dress that we had to use in case we were ditching at night. And I heard this whistle. So then I dropped my whistle and I blew back. And then I heard someone. Someone shouting, ‘Where are you?’ And I said, ‘I’m over here.’ Somebody said, ‘Where’s here?’ [laughs] I remember that so distinctly. And finally after calling back and forth my mid-upper gunner Maurice Content, he came from Montreal, he had a bit of a French accent but he was a really great guy. He was probably about seven or eight years older than I was but he said, ‘Skipper, thank God we’re alive.’ I said, ‘Yes. Thank goodness we are.’ I said, ‘I wonder how the rest of the crew made out.’ Then we heard another whistle. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Somebody else is alive.’ So then after more blowing whistles, and some more talking, here our rear gunner Kenny shows up. So at least there’s three of us alive. And so I remember we, I don’t know which one of them said, ‘Well, we’ve got an escape kit that we’re supposed to use if we bale out over enemy territory. Let’s open it and see what’s in it.’ [laughs] So we all opened our, our escape kits and of course there was some chocolate in there and there was a compass in there and a little map. Some I think had a little package of dressings and so on. I remember we ate our chocolate and then I remember Kenny saying to me, ‘Well, skipper. What are we going to do now?’ I said, ‘Well, I guess we’re going to have to start to —’ by this time then the fog had sort of started lifting and it would be, I think we baled out about, hit the ground probably about 4 o’clock in the morning and this would be about, well we sat there for a long time and finally the fog started to lift. It’d be about, somewhere about nine and nine thirty and then I said, ‘Well, we might as well go back in an northeast direction,’ because that’s where we came from. So we started to walk. And as you probably know we were in what they called the Fells district, and some of them call them high hills. Some actually call them small mountains but they seemed like mountains by the time we walked up one, they were and the grass and heather was at least up to our knees and we had the new type flying boots on. They’re fleece lined and they come up to just about your knees and then they actually made like a shoe, and then if you bale out over enemy territory then you can rip that top off and then you’ve got a boot. And but we didn’t do that. We walked and then about eleven or, ten or 11 o’clock the sun came out and it was, it turned out to be a really hot day which you, you get very few of those in England unless it’s, unless it’s in southern England you’d have more of them but not in, not in that part of the country. But anyway we walked all day. All we saw were sheep. We never saw any habitation. We didn’t see any buildings and we were getting tired and hungry and about 7 o’clock in the evening Kenny, my rear gunner, he said, ‘Skipper, I think I can see a building.’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘You must be hallucinating, Kenny,’ I said. ‘There’s no buildings around here.’ ‘Skipper,’ he said, ‘I’m sure there’s a building there.’ I said, ‘Ok. Let’s go and see if there is one.’ So we started walking. He told me where he could see it. Maybe his eyesight was sharper than mine but we kept walking. Sure enough there was a building there. As we got closer and there were lots of sheep around and it turned out that it was a shepherd and his wife. That that was their summer home and they had got probably hundreds of sheep. When we got there we saw at least three or four sheep dogs. And then what we thought was the hired man but it turned out later, I found out later that it was their son, and their name was Blenkinsopp. I could understand his wife but I could not understand [laughs] I could not understand and he actually when he saw us coming I guess whether he thought we were German airmen but he had, he had this pitchfork over his shoulder. I remember his wife, I could understand her, saying, ‘No,’ she said, ‘They’re Canadians.’ So they had this, this hut was stone wall but there was a, I don’t know whether it was a dirt floor or what it was. It seemed like a dirt floor but it was kind of solid. And then I remember looking up and they had bacon and hams hanging in a beam across there. I remember seeing chickens running around there and then we could smell bread. She’d just baked bread and she said in her accent, ‘I suppose you lads are hungry.’ We said, ‘Well, yes we are.’ So she made us some, cooked us some bacon and eggs, and she had some biscuits for us and I think she made us tea. And then the shepherd which we thought was a hired man, later it turned out to be his son he spoke to them and they had a horse and a cart and I saw him take off on this with this horse and cart. Just the son. And seemed a long time but about midnight an RAF van showed up and we got in the van and it took us to the Penrith. And when we got to the, it was the hospital and when we got there here the rest of the crew were there.
DE: Jolly good.
RG: And I, I have no idea how they, how they got there but they were all there. And the navigator apparently had, he had of all the sparsely populated area he’d landed on, he’d landed right on a stone wall. I don’t know whether it was part of Hadrian’s Wall or what it was but he’d landed on it. He landed on a wall and he had two fractures in his, in his upper vertebrae but he could still walk but that showed up after. And another one had a badly sprained ankle. But they were all alive. And then I guess they’d notified the, notified the station and later on during the day a Lancaster showed up and transported us back to Croft. But when I got my records from the War Records Branch in Ottawa I got this, that was after what they called the Access To Information Act. When it expired I think it was twenty five years after it expired, then you could request documentation. So I remember writing to the War Records Branch in Ottawa to get copies of my war records and I got an envelope and I’ve measured it. It’s twenty two inches long and it’s fourteen inches wide and over an inch thick. So when I looked, looked through that there were thirty five, they had two Boards of Enquiry. One in to the, in to why the bomb exploded even though the bomb switch was off and then of course was a large investigation over the crash on take-off because the very first thing they did was send the engine to the factory. And apparently when they took the engine apart there was no fuel in the fuel lines to the engine. So their conclusion was that the engine failed due to fuel starvation. Whether there was an air lock or what but that was their determination and, and then the, what else [pause] I’ve lost my train.
DE: It doesn’t matter. I just, so did you and your crew all get the little caterpillar badge for, for using your parachutes?
RH: Pardon?
DE: Did you get the little tiny caterpillar badge from the Irvin Parachute Company for, the little pin?
RH: Oh yes. Yeah. Yeah. Got that. Yeah.
DE: And do you know what happened to your aircraft after? After you managed to bale out.
[pause]
RH: That’s, that’s another story. In 1984 I went to, I went five times to Guinea Pig reunion at East Grinstead. Apparently, the English, they met every year. The Guinea Pigs that were remaining. Well, I say England. Britain now let’s say because they came from Wales and Scotland. And the Canadians, they formed their wing, because there were about seventy five Canadians that were treated there and I think there were enough Australians also to form a wing. But they were mostly British. They’d be a few maybe Poles or French and so on. But all together I think there were close to eight hundred treated at the, at the Burns Centre at East Grinstead and then we all became a member of the Guinea Pig Club. And that’s, that’s how it got its name. The plastic surgeon he was a New Zealander.
DE: McIndoe.
RH: Pardon?
DE: McIndoe.
RH: Yeah. That’s right. McIndoe. One morning he was going his rounds and they were, they had this Englishman in the bathtub in the saline bath because they’d discovered that the Battle of Britain ones that had baled out and landed in the Channel or the North Sea, that their burns were, that they healed quicker so it must be the salt water. So that’s how they treated them at East Grinstead. The first thing they did was put them in a saline bath. So the story goes that McIndoe poked his head around the door and said, ‘Good morning,’ and the Englishman in the bathtub, he said, ‘You know, sir,’ he said, ‘We’re just a bunch of bloody guinea pigs.’ And Sir Archibald McIndoe said, ‘Oh,’ he said ‘that’s interesting,’ he said, ‘We should form a club and call it the Guinea Pig Club.’ And that’s how it got its name. Because I think they’ve done a documentary on that.
DE: There’s books written and all sorts. Yeah. So, you were going to —
RH: Because I —
KA: Tell him about, he asked about when they found your plane.
RH: Oh yeah. That. Yeah.
KA: Right. Tell him about that.
RH: Yeah. I’m going to tell him about that. So, so in ’84 when I went to the, when I went to the reunion in East Grinstead there was a lady there from Carlisle and her brother, their name was Hutchinson. He was one of the very badly burned airmen and I think they were having a tea and she said to me, where, wanted to know where I came from and she wondered what station I was from and I told her then about the bale out. And she said, ‘Oh, well that’s, that’s not so far from Carlisle,’ she said, ‘Tell me the whole story,’ she said, ‘And I’m going to write it up and put it in the local paper.’ So she did that and then there was a business man there by the name of Peter [Connan] and he got interested in that story and took my address and wrote to me and said, ‘Well, the next time you come to England to visit your relatives,’ he said, ‘Come to Carlisle,’ he said, ‘And I’ll take you out to the crash site.’ He said, ‘I know,’ he said, ‘I’ve written two books now,’ he said, ‘And I’m on the third one.’ He said, ‘I’m researching aircraft that crashed within a hundred miles of Carlisle.’ But he said, ‘I have details of your crash and,’ he said, ‘I know where the aircraft is —’ For I don’t know how long it was but the RAF, the area where the plane crashed I think it was an earl that owned all the land and he wouldn’t let anyone near the aircraft unless they were from the, from the RAF. And so he took me as close as possible to where the, where the aircraft had had crashed. And he belonged to a Rotary Club and took me to one of their luncheons. And then about four years ago I got a letter from a fella by the name of Philip Smith who lived in Newcastle on Tyne and he said, “My friend and I,” he said, “We’re doing research on aircraft that crashed in the general area where —” he said, “I was born.” He said, “I came across your crash,” he said, “In my research,” He said, “Your plane crashed about forty miles from where I lived but —" he said, “I’ve moved now to Newcastle on Tyne,” he said, but he said, “I’ve been out to the, I’ve been out to crash site and,” he said, “There isn’t anything left,” he said, “As far as the plane goes. The scavengers they’ve taken everything.” Because I guess the earl sold [pause] I forget his name now. He sold the property. But he came to Canada to train and he was a Spitfire pilot. And I can’t, I can’t just, at the moment I can’t remember his name but he was an earl. And, so Philip Smith, he sent me pictures and he gave me the name of the, he’d been visiting the farmer and his wife and their, and at the moment I can’t think of the exact name of the town where they are but they’ve taken over. They’ve taken over the area or the farm where the aircraft crashed and it was in a boggy area and apparently it went almost straight down and the engines apparently are still in the bog. But of course there isn’t anything left now of the plane but the farmer’s wife, it’s not agricultural land, the grass is almost two feet high and they have cattle and sheep because it’s so hilly and there’s no, there’s no agricultural crops grown. And the farmer’s wife’s name is Edith, her husband’s name was Geoff Wilkinson and she went out in their quad. She said, ‘Philip has been out several times,’ she said, ‘So I decided one day I’m going to get on the quad and I’m going to go out and see what I can see,’ because all there is left is a crater but it’s covered over now with grass. But they took pictures of it and showed me exactly where the aircraft was and she said, ‘When I got there,’ she said, ‘I stuck my hand down rabbit holes,’ she said, ‘And I ended up with about thirteen or fourteen pieces,’ she said. ‘So I put them in a sack. I took them home and I laid them out on the kitchen table,’ she said, ‘And I took a picture of them,’ she said, ‘And I’m, I thought you might like to see them.’ [laughs] So, I’ve, I’ve got a picture there so I’m going to write to you and I’m going to send you one of those pictures.
DE: Oh smashing. Thank you.
RH: Because it’s interesting to see and then when on one of the visits that Philip Smith made out there he found, he found an article that there were numbers on it and he wanted to know if I knew where it came from. And I could see there were white numbers but there was a lot of mud and things caked on it. So I cleaned it up and I got out my pilot’s handbook and I looked. It looked like it might have been something to do with the fuel gauge so I looked at the engineer’s panel and I found that this, this, it was actually the shape of a, it was flat but it was indicating how much fuel was in a particular fuel tank because I got it cleaned up enough I could see all the white numbers and they corresponded with the numbers that when I, you know when they had them all numbered in the, in the Halifax handbook. I showed the engineer’s panel so I was able to write back to Philip and tell him that I’d been able to able to, able to identify it and I still have that. I’ve got it taped on there. So then when we got, when we got back to, when we got back to the, we got back to the, from, from the bale out about five days after that they told us that the powers that be thought that the crew should go to London, to the Central Medical Board to be examined. And of course when we got there we saw psychologists and psychiatrists and they were all wing commanders, I think. Coming from the farm I wasn’t that well versed with psychologists. I didn’t really know they existed. But we had some really interesting questions posed to us and I answered them the best I could. So to make a long story short we were there three days. When we got back to the station they called me there. The squadron commander called me in and he said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘We got the results from your visit to the Medical Board.’ And he said that, ‘We’ve got good news and bad news for you,’ he said, ‘The good news,’ he said, ‘You and your rear gunner are still considered fit to fly but the rest of the crew they’re not fit to continue flying. So we’ve decided that even though they’ve only done seventeen trips we’ll give them credit for a tour. They’re entitled to the ops wing but then they’ll go back to Canada. But if you and your rear gunner want to join them you can also get credit for your tour.’ So, I gave Kenny the news. As I say he was the youngster in the crew and Kenny said, ‘Well, skipper. If the rest of the, if the rest of the fellas on the squadron know that we’re fit to fly and we don’t continue flying they’ll think we’re cowards.’ And I said, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ I said, ‘That would never do, Kenny.’ And at the time they were converting the squadron to Canadian built Lancasters, so the squadron commander, Wing Commander Mitchell, he said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘If you and your rear gunner want to continue flying,’ he said, ‘We’ll give you a couple of hours flying with the Lancaster,’ he said, ‘And we can, no problem getting you a new crew,’ he said, ‘We’ve got a lot of orphan crew members around here.’ He said, ‘They’ve lost their crew. They were either in hospital or something, but they’re trying to finish their tour and they’re having a difficult time to get another flight.’ So he said, ‘We’ll soon get you a new crew.’ So my navigator had a very good friend named Abby Edwards. He came from near Toronto and he was a dentist. He was probably about my navigator’s age. He came to me and he said, well, at the time my nickname was Crash and he said, ‘Crash,’ he said, ‘I’ve got about six or seven trips left,’ he said, ‘Can I finish my tour with you?’ I said, ‘Abby, you know what my record is,’ I said, ‘You might never finish your tour if you fly with me.’ [laughs] He said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I know your record,’ he said. He said, ‘Your crashes you were in,’ he said, ‘They weren’t your fault,’ he said, ’So, I’d like to finish my tour with you.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s fine.’ So he became my navigator and then they made up a crew for us. [pause] And then I still had Squadron Leader [Frankie Gulliver] for my flight commander and he said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘Go and sit in that brand new Lancaster,’ he said, ‘And familiarise yourself with the, with all the controls,’ he said, ‘Not much different,’ he said, ‘From the Halifax,’ he said, ‘But,’ he said, ‘Sit there for a couple of hours,’ he said, ‘And then,’ he said, ‘We’ll do a couple of circuits and bumps.’ So I get, I can’t remember how long I sat there but I finally went back and I told him, I said, ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I think I’ve got a good idea where everything is.’ He said, ‘Ok,’ he said, ‘Get your crew,’ he said, ‘And we’ll do a couple of circuits.’ So I expected he would get in to the seat and fly. ‘No,’ he said, ‘You get in there,’ he said, ‘And you fly.’ He said, ‘I’ll just go with you for one circuit.’ So, I got in and I was really surprised at the way the Lancaster handled. It was, I just can’t describe it but it was so smooth on the controls and I made a reasonably good landing and he said, ‘Ok,’ he said, ‘Take your new crew,’ he said, ‘And go out to do some air to sea firing,’ he said, ‘And do a short cross country,’ he said, ‘And then you can come back,’ which we did. Then two days later we went on our first op.
DE: Ok. So you’ve, you’ve flown a couple of different Marks of Halifaxes and now you’re flying Lancasters. There’s, there’s lots of people —
RH: Yeah.
DE: That argue, you know which they liked best and which was best. What’s, what’s your opinion?
RH: Oh, the Lancaster was, it was, for me it was much smoother and easier to fly. But I also, I’ve read many books where it said those that had to bale out over enemy territory that more people found the Halifax easier to bale out of than the Lancaster. Just the way it was designed I guess.
DE: Yeah.
RH: Same as, same as the Mosquito but apparently it was very difficult to escape from too.
DE: But you, as a pilot you liked the Lancaster.
RH: I liked the Lancaster. But I will say this about [pause] like I flew the, I flew the Halifax with the Merlin inline engines and I did my tour with the, with the radial engines. With the Hercules radial engines. They were very powerful but they discovered that you know they were very hard on fuel, so you couldn’t carry as many bombs. Well, you could carry probably twenty three hundred gallons of petrol if your tanks were full but they used, they used a lot of fuel on take-off. So we didn’t have any difficulty over the target on the first trip but when we were getting, I’m not too sure how far we’d be from there but the wireless operator said, ‘Well, we’ve been diverted to Tuddenham and it’s equipped with FIDO.’ Oh my God, I thought, my first trip in a Lancaster and now I’ve got to land on FIDO. Well, number one, when I was sitting in the aircraft I never looked to see where the little box was to turn it on so that I could get the Morse Code signals.
DE: Oh, for the —
RH: To get myself lined up with the runway.
DE: For the BAT. The beam approach.
RH: Yeah. The beam approach training. And then when I finally found the box to turn it on I turned it on and then it had been over a year since I’d taken a course and I could not remember the signals. The signals to port were different than the starboard and they always told us, ‘If you get into an emergency don’t panic. If you panic you won’t think of anything.’ Well, I don’t know how long I sat, well sitting there, I was in the ruddy, somewhere within the circuit and I finally [pause] it came to me. I knew that one side was dit dit dit. The other was da da da. And I finally got, I remember crossing the beam twice in my circling I guess the aerodrome and then I finally got the signals figured out and got myself lined up with the runway and then of course you’re still in fog and I get down to seven hundred feet, a thousand feet, nine hundred feet and I thought egods where is that? Where is that runway? And about eight hundred feet you break through the fog because they’ve got this hundred octane fuel forced through these pipes eh with holes in and blazing away. There’s two walls of fire and I thought egods I’d better keep this damned aircraft between these walls of fire because I glanced out to my port side and I saw a Halifax blazing away. Now, to make a long story short I got the aircraft down and taxied over to where they were dozens of aircraft there. I don’t know how, you know how many were there but there were certainly a lot of aircraft. I think they had, if I remember correctly they only had about three stations equipped with FIDO. But this was Tuddenham. It was a large drome, equipped at Tuddenham and we stayed there. And then about 10 o’clock I think, the fog had cleared and then we, then we headed back home. I think it was two days later we went to, we went to Duisburg which had been bombed several times. And when we were on the bombing run, just started the bombing run we got hit with flak and it hit the port, the port inner engine but, there was a small fire but the engineer was able to extinguish the blaze but almost at the instant the mid-upper gunner yelled at me. He said, ‘Skipper, there’s a Halifax shooting at us. What’ll I do?’ ‘Are you sure?’ He said, ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘I can see the bugger.’ I said, ‘Well, shoot back at him then.’ And you know, I don’t know whether it was, it seemed like it was almost hailing, you could almost hear the bullets hitting the aircraft and then the firing stopped. And then we found out later that their guns had jammed but when they got back it was their first trip. We discovered that when they got back to the station they claimed they’d shot down an unidentified four engine German night fighter. Well, [laughs] as you know the Germans didn’t even have four engine bombers. I think they had Dorniers and Heinkels as their twin engines. I don’t recall them ever having a four engine bomber. But that’s what we turned out to be.
DE: Oh dear.
RH: An unidentified four engine German night fighter. So we got the bombs dropped and went to close the bomb doors and they didn’t close all the way. And of course I didn’t, I had no idea why they didn’t close. Then when we got into the circuit went to put down the, put down fifteen degrees of flaps, and then went to put down the undercarriage and we’d only got one wheel. And I remember flying the Halifax that there was, there was an air bottle there charged up to I think about twelve hundred pounds pressure to use that and the engineer knew where, where it was. Tried that. Couldn’t get the wheel down and then he said, ‘Skipper,’ he said, he said, ‘There’s a crank here somewhere,’ he said, ‘Maybe we can crank it down.’ I said, ‘Well, try cranking it then.’ Well, he couldn’t. Couldn’t get the wheel down. So I told the control tower. I said, ‘I’ve only got one wheel.’ And they said, ‘Stand by.’ And finally they came back and they said, ‘Well, you can’t land here on one wheel,’ they said, ‘The runway’s not long enough. We don’t know what’s going to happen to the aircraft after you land so —’ They said, ‘You’ll have to go to a crash drome.’ So, they said, ‘Stand-by.’ You know. They finally came back on and said, ‘You’ll have to go to Carnaby.’ Well, that was on the, you probably know where that is, that’s on the east coast and actually not that far from Hull where my relatives lived and we had enough fuel to get there. And when I was in the circuit I said to control tower, ‘Have you got any instructions how I can land this brand new Lancaster on one wheel?’ And there was silence. Came back and said, I forget what they called the, referred to me, not as skipper but I forget the word they used, ‘You’re the first one that’s tried landing on one wheel. We’ve had lots of belly landings,’ they said, ‘But we haven’t had one landing on one wheel.’ But they said, ‘We know that you’re going to ground loop so we’ve got three flare paths. We’ve got one with like,’ they were all hooded, of course. ‘We’ve got one to the right with red lights. We’ve got one in the centre with amber. And then we’ve got one at the port side with, with green.’ So they said, ‘We’re going to put you in the centre. We’re going to put you in the centre flare path.’ And this was right close to the North Sea and as I turned in one of the engines started to sputter so I knew that we were getting a bit short of fuel. So I came in probably a little bit higher and a little bit faster than normal but as soon as I touched down I suppose the weight from the aircraft was too much for the one oleo leg and it snapped off. And then the aircraft started to spin. I don’t really know how many, I don’t know how many times it actually did but we went right across the green flare path and we ended up, we ended up on the, on the grass. I’ve got several pictures there. It shows the Lancaster sitting on the grass. So this was still dark and when we went out, when it was daylight we went out to look at the aircraft and what had happened when they, when the Halifax started shooting at us all their bullets hit the hydraulic lines. It punctured the hydraulics and we slowly lost all the hydraulic fluid. But if they had been about three or four feet higher it would have killed the navigator, the wireless operator, they would probably have killed me, the rear gunner. Maybe the, maybe the mid-upper might have survived. But if they had been that much higher. So that’s how close it, how close it came. So, then we, we went to the, I don’t know how we got to the station in Hull but I said to the crew, I said, ‘I’ve got a cousin that works in an office not, not very far from the station,’ I said, ‘We’ve got, we’ve got an hour and a half to wait for the train to York and then we’ve got to change trains in York.’ I said, ‘I’m going to slip over to see if my cousin’s working.’ So I went to the office and there was a young lady there. She said, ‘Can I help you?’ And of course I’m in my flying gear. She said, ‘Can I help you, sir?’ And I said, ‘Yes. I’d like to speak to my cousin.’ ‘And who may that be?’ I said, ‘Mary Graham.’ ‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘I’ll call Mary.’ So I still see my Cousin Mary and her eyes were that big and she said, ‘Oh, my God,’ she said, ‘Don’t tell me you’ve crashed again.’ [laughs]
DE: It must have been, it must have been quite good for you having family in Hull. So I guess you could go see them when you were on leave and things like that.
RH: Oh yeah because my dad never did get, like after he survived the First World War. He came out to Canada in 1912. Went back when they needed engineers and got married in 1917. Got I think about three or four days leave, and he never did get back. He lost, he actually lost two brothers in that war. Strange because they named me after both of them. Reg. Reg and Wilfred. And then when, when we [pause] had my little visit with Mary of course she went home and told her folks what had happened. And when we got, got to the station and got on the train and changed at, changed at York and then got back to the station. Then I think it was the next day Wing Commander Mitchell by this time, Group Captain Turnbull, he’d been transferred back to 6 Group Headquarters and I’m not sure if it was Northallerton or Harrogate, it was either one of those where 6 Group was located but he was transferred back to 6 Group Headquarters and Wing Commander Mitchell was put in charge of both squadrons. He was the station commander then in charge of all, and they brought in another wing commander from the RAF to take his, take over his place. And then Wing Commander Mitchell called me in to his office and he said, ‘Well, Crash,’ he said, ‘You’ve cheated the Grim Reaper four times,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a feeling,’ he said, ‘That you’re not going to be lucky the fifth time,’ he said. ‘So we’re going to screen you,’ he said, ‘And you won’t be doing any more operations. But,’ he said, ‘If you like flying the Lancaster,’ he said, ‘They’re establishing a new special duty squadron over in Middleton St George,’ he said. ‘Not sure what you’ll be doing but,’ he said, ‘They’ll be making trips to France which is now clear of the Germans,’ he said. ‘So if you want to join that squadron,’ he said, ‘They have lots of room for you.’ So he said, ‘You can think about it for a few days.’ I thought about It, and I thought well I won’t be doing any more ops but I said. ‘Maybe my luck will run out,’ I said, ‘Even though I’m not on ops,’ I said, ‘Maybe something else will happen to me because,’ I said, ‘I seem to be jinxed.’ [laughs] So, I decided. Oh, I said, ‘Maybe I’d better get screened.’ So that was, that was the end of my flying career.
DE: So how many ops had you done at that point?
RH: Pardon me?
DE: How many ops had you done at that point?
RH: Nineteen.
DE: Nineteen. Ok. Thank you. Are you ok to carry on or would you like a wee break for a, for a little bit?
RH: No. I’m fine. I’ll have another drink of gin [laughs]
DE: Oh, you’re lucky [laughs] I’m on water.
RH: Yeah. I think I am too.
DE: Ok [laughs]
KA: Have you shown them the book?
RH: Eh?
KA: Have you shown the book?
RH: Oh. Can you see this book?
DE: I can see it says, “Flight.” If you lift it a bit higher. Ok.
RH: Ok. So that book that just came out recently and it was written by Deana Driver, and she once said there’s been, actually I should go back. She, she and her husband ran, she and her husband ran a printing business. Can you hear me?
DE: Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.
RH: And so she had [pause] I guess I have to go back to the Canadian Snowbirds. You’ve probably heard of them. Canada’s air demonstration team.
DE: We have the Red Arrows.
RH: Did you?
DE: Yeah. The RAF display team are called the Red Arrows. They’re stationed, well they practice over my house.
RH: Oh yeah.
DE: So yeah. Yeah.
RH: But anyway when they were formed they reactivated 431 Squadron. So then I’ve had a connection with them ever since and been to their station at Moose Jaw. That’s where they’re training NATO pilots. But then when, when the Governor General visited Saskatchewan in 2018 for her training as an astronaut she took some of her flying at Moose Jaw flying Harvards. So the Snowbirds said, well and she wanted to visit the station. They said, ‘Well, we’ll put on, we’ll put on a special show for you.’ And unbeknownst to me the fella in Saskatoon that had organised, he’d organised numerous air shows and there’s another photographer there. He had interviewed numerous veterans and done videos and they’d arranged, they’d arranged with the, with the Snowbird commander to make me an Honorary Snowbird. So after the air show I thought well we’ll be going back to Saskatoon. They said, ‘No. We’ve got a, you’d better stick around for a while because we’ve got something else to do.’ So then I saw people gathering around and people with cameras and much to my surprise the Governor General was there and the commanding officer and then they had a beautiful plaque and the Commanding Officer, Colonel French presented me with this plaque and made me an Honorary Snowbird. So I have a picture taken with the Governor General on my right and I’m in the centre and the Snowbird commander’s there and I’m standing right beside the Governor General and I thought, gee I wonder if I should put my arm around her [laughs] I suddenly thought well better not do that I said, because Prince Philip, he has to walk six blocks behind the Queen and the Governor General is representing the Queen. I said, you’d better, you’d better not do that [laughs] After they’d presented me she said, she had a bit of an accent and she said, ‘Oh, they tell me you used to fly the Lancasters.’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘What were they like to fly?’ I said, ‘They were a lovely aircraft to fly.’ I said, ‘Your excellency, if you go to Trenton,’ I said, ‘There is one Lancaster that can fly and one in England,’ I said, ‘If you go to Trenton I’m sure they’ll let you fly the Lancaster.’ ‘Do you think so?’ [laughs] I said, ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I’m sure they’d let you fly it.’ So I’ve often thought it was a good thing I didn’t try and put my arm around her. So where were we now? I got sidetracked.
DE: Yeah. You had just been screened so I guess it’s —
RH: Oh yeah.
DE: It’s, it’s from there and the voyage home I suppose.
RH: So then, well then of course I stayed around the station for a while. I went back to my aunt and uncle’s to, [pause] to say goodbye to them, and then went to Warrington. That’s where they all went to turn in their gear and so on. And when we, I was only there for one day and then it came [pause] oh I guess what you’d call a storm but anyway the weather turned really cold and all the pipes froze. They had hundreds of people there, and you had to return all your gear. And then they said, ‘Well, it’s going, everything is shut down because all the pipes are frozen. We can’t get anything done so where ever you came from you might as well go back.’ So I went back to Hull for another three or four days and said a second goodbye to my aunt and uncle. Then went back to Warrington. We had to turn in our helmets and flying boots, and I thought well I’m not going to turn everything in. If we didn’t turn in we had to pay for them. So I thought, well I survived four plane crashes I’m taking something home with me. So I took my flying boots. They said, ‘Where are your flying boots?’ Well I said, ‘I forgot.’ I said, ‘I left them with my aunt. I left with my aunt and uncle.’ They said, ‘Well, you’ll have to pay for them.’ So, ‘Ok. I’ll pay for them.’ And I often wish I’d kept my darned helmet, you know. Because when, over the years I’ve gone to numerous schools and so on and I often wish that, I used to take my flying boots to show them and that but I often wish I’d taken my helmet. But I didn’t. Then to make a long story short I, you remember my Buddy saying, ‘Well, you might meet Jean?’ Well, when we got to, when we got back to Canada I think it took us about another four, four and a half days but I got seasick. I never did going over but I got seasick. In the Irish Sea there was a bad storm and I was so sick. It’s the strangest feeling. I just wished the ruddy ship would sink I got so sick. Even though I’d survived the war. That’s how sick I felt. And I think we got, probably got tossed around. I don’t know how long. I was sick for about two days. Anyway, we got back to Canada. We landed at Lachine, Quebec and I wired my folks in Melville and told them at the farm, told them when I would, possibly when I would get there but I would let them know when I arrived at Melville because I’d decided I wasn’t stop at Ottawa because I didn’t know what I was going to say to Jean. I got cold feet. I’d never had to do such a thing so I figured she’d be upset and I phoned. I phoned, it was a Saturday afternoon and Jean wasn’t at home. Her sister Angela answered the phone. She said, ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘Jean’s not here,’ she said, ‘But when will you be arriving in Ottawa?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry, Angela,’ I said, ‘But I’ve wired my folks and I won’t have time to stop.’ ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘Jean’s going to be disappointed because she wants to talk to you about Buddy.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘But I won’t be able to stop.’ So I hung up the phone and it wasn’t long before a little voice said to me, ‘You know that’s pretty darned selfish of you. Your good friend, Buddy, he never even gets to the squadron and he’s killed in his last trip at Conversion Unit. The least you can do is go and see Jean.’ I wrestled around with it for at least an hour more and then I said, yeah, I guess I’d better go. So I phoned. I phoned back and Jean was home then and she answered the phone. She said, ‘Well, my sister told me that you weren’t going to be able to stop.’ And I said, ‘Well, I changed my mind, Jean,’ I said, I said, ‘I’m going, I am going to call.’ She said. When will you be arriving?’ And I said, ‘Well, there’s hundreds of airmen here and they us told it will be several days before they get everybody sorted out. All the trains.’ I said, ‘I’ll let you know when we’re going to arrive.’ I think it was three or four days before, before they got it sorted out and of course we had several stops before we got to Ottawa. We stopped at Montreal and other places. And then when we got to Ottawa this was a large station full of airmen getting greeted by families and so on and I’m sitting on my kit bag and my uncle had given me a nice leather case to bring my flying boots back. So I looked across and I saw two women and it looked like they were looking at a picture. I thought gosh, that might be Jean and her sister so I got my kitbag. It was heavy. Dragged it over there. And it was cold. It was the 28th of January ’45. And when I got closer I said, ‘Are you ladies looking for someone?’ They said, ‘Yeah. We’re looking for Flight Lieutenant Harrison.’ Oh, I said, ‘I’m a flight lieutenant. My name’s Harrison. Maybe you’re looking for me.’ So that’s how, that’s how I met Buddy’s Jean. And you know I often thought that he was always so emphatic when he’d say, ‘You never know. Some day you might meet her.’ And I often thought that then maybe he had a premonition that he wasn’t going to make it, eh? So anyway I was going to stay two days and I stayed four. Went back for holiday for ten days and that in ’45 and then the same in ’46. And December the 23rd ’46 we got married. And then my —
DE: Wonderful.
RH: My girls often say to me, ‘You know dad, if you hadn’t listened to that little voice we wouldn’t be here, would we?’ [laughs] I said, ‘No.’
DE: Yeah.
RH: But it’s a strange thing you know when, when I think about it and I should say too you know when I got back to the farm everything was quiet. It was like living in a different world and I, I thought then you know why didn’t I stay another year or so over there and join that special duties squadron because I understand that they were flying a lot of the prisoners of war back. Making trips and I’d often wished, but then I’d think well maybe I did the right thing because even though I wouldn’t be facing the enemy something else might have happened because my flying career was jinxed [laughs] But what really has bugged me and all through these years, my navigator and I were recommended for a DFC. And I know that because after the raid on Sterkrade when Croft lost eight aircraft on that raid, it was we were bombing a synthetic oil refinery and unbeknownst to, unbeknownst to the authorities the Germans had opened a night fighter ‘drome about thirty miles from Sterkrade. And we were attacked that night just after we left the target. We were attacked by a Messerschmitt 109 and my mid-upper gunner got credit for shooting him down. I think he was either inexperienced or I was just coming out of the corkscrew manoeuvre and my rear gunner saw him coming in. He missed us on his first run. He was coming in the second time and the rear gunner yelled at the mid-upper and told him where he was. The mid-upper gunner got a real good shot at him and that plane immediately went into a steep dive so he must have hit the pilot with his first burst. And then after the loss of those aircraft and they also, 431 also lost five aircraft on one night on raids to Hamburg. And they called me in and Frankie Goldman said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘You’re going to be a deputy flight commander,’ and I said, ‘Frankie,’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about office work, I said. I came from the farm,’ I said, ‘I haven’t got a clue what to do as a deputy flight commander.’ He said, ‘You’ll learn on the job just like I did.’ So I was about, I think I was only on the job about four or five days. One afternoon the phone rang about 2.30 and I was in A Flight, and I didn’t give my name, I remember saying, ‘A Flight.’ The other end of the line was, ‘This is Flight Lieutenant Nicholls. I’m the adjutant at Middleton St George and I’ve got recommendations on my desk for gongs for Flight Lieutenant Harrison and Flying Officer Philips.’ He said, ‘I’ve got all the information I need on Harrison,’ he said, ‘But,’ he said, ‘Before I send them up the line for a final approval,’ he said, ‘I need more information on Philips.’ I said, ‘Flight Lieutenant Nichols, this is Harrison speaking.’ I said, ‘The wing commander’s in his office. I’ll transfer your call.’ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘By all means do so.’ I transferred the call to the wing commander. That night in the mess Al was writing home to his new wife and I might have been dropping a line to my folks at the farm, or I’m not sure. Looking at the pilot’s, I always had my pilot’s handbook with me and that night I said to Al, ‘Oh, it looks like we’re going to get a gong.’ He said, ‘How do you know?’ I told him about the phone call. Well, to make a long story short after the, after the crew were screened and just before, I think it was after the first trip on the Lancasters I looked on the Daily Routine Orders and there were three airmen that got the DFC and one was my navigator Al Philips. And I had an idea right away why my name wasn’t there. Because after the bale out the group captain called me in. The flight commander said, ‘The old man wants to see you.’ So I went to see the group captain. He said, I saluted him, he said, ‘Sit down. I’ve got something for you to read.’ So he had an endorsement in my logbook. Said at the top “Carelessness.” The gist of it was that my navigator also had one in his book and the wireless op. “This pilot in conjunction with the navigator knew that aircraft from 6 Group were being diverted and should have known that he had, that he’d be able to land at Croft.” So he said, ‘I’m placing this in his logbook,’ he said ‘Due to carelessness.’ Well, if I had ever known that any aircraft from 6 Group were being diverted I would, I would never have gone.
DE: No. Of course not.
RH: You know. So I, that’s why I never received my DFC. But anyway —
DE: So you were, you were, you were talking about this time when you were attacked by night fighters. Did any of the aircraft you flew did you also have the, the mid-under gunner?
RH: No. They never did. And you know what I never realised. I think I don’t think the authorities knew for quite some time that the German radar, you know they had the two types. They had the type where they, and mostly the women operating these three radar stations and they used to zero in on individual aircraft. They would relay that information to a night fighter, tell them where the aircraft was and then he was to let them know when he could see the aircraft and then he would get underneath. They had cannons on those night fighters as well as machine guns. They would get underneath the aircraft and he would aim the cannon at the gas tanks. Yeah. And if they were on the way to the target he didn’t get too close because he didn’t know what, what the bomb load was. And they had a, I understand they had a special tip on their cartridge and when it hit the gas tank the whole aircraft would be a mass of flames. Because quite often you’d see a big orange ball in the sky and that meant that it had been attacked and hit by a night fighter. They were probably, some of them were probably incinerated. But then the other method they had what they called the lone wolf. Right. So they would just, they would know where the bomber, they would be directed to the bomber stream and then they would just be on their own then. Then when they spotted a bomber then they would, you know come in for the attack. [pause] But I think, I think the closest estimate that I have I think there were close to the figure of all the bombers that were lost about eighty percent of them were shot down by night fighters rather than flak. And have you ever, have you read the book called “The Red Line,” the raid on Hamburg?
DE: I’ve read —
RH: No. Nuremberg.
DE: I’ve read several books. Yeah. Yeah.
RH: Have you read that one?
DE: I’m thinking, I think it’s one of the ones behind me.
RH: Oh, it’s an interesting one. That’s the night they lost ninety five bombers over, and then lost eight in England. And the wind changed a hundred and eighty degrees and they overshot the target. Did hardly any damage to the target they got so lost. And at the very bottom of that book it said the most costly and bloodiest raid of the war.
DE: No. No. It was. But you were, you were on operations in ’44 weren’t you?
RH: Yes.
DE: So after that. Yeah.
RH: Yeah. That was before when they, yeah.
DE: So did you do a mixture of targets? Because I suppose some of those were in support of the Normandy campaign and in France as well as in Germany.
RH: Yeah, we did.
DE: You said you did —
RH: We did quite a few of them in France, you know. Before, before D-Day, and after D-Day. We were on the Falaise Gap one too. Where they bombed short. Oh God, I can remember everything was timed right down to the minute and that’s when the Marauders had been in early in the morning and, and they’d, they’d, but they bombed things in a quarry and then, then the Canadians and the Poles moved into the quarry and then there was still a lot of smoke and that in there, and they had inexperienced crews on that raid. And I could, I can still see that Halifax. It was a Halifax setting up to meet and open the bomb doors and I said to the navigator, ‘How much farther have we got to go?’ And he said, ‘We’ve got about almost three minutes. We’ve got at least two and a half minutes. Why?’ I said, ‘Well, there’s a Halifax right up on my port,’ I said, ‘I can see all the bombs. I can see all the numbers on the bombs,’ I said, ‘And he’d got its bomb doors open.’ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘We’re not there yet,’ he said. I said, ‘Well, they’re —’ and I said, ‘I’m going to pull away from this because he was almost over my wings.’ And shortly after that the bomb, he let the bomb load go and then when that happened and we were bombing on yellow TIs that day and they sent a Lysander up firing off yellow cartridges to stop the bombing. I think it ended up with, it was either nine or thirteen bombers dropped their bombs short. Killed quite a few Canadians and Poles. And then when we got back to the station there was a message. All pilots, navigators and bomb aimers report immediately to the briefing room. And then of course they, they developed the pictures and we could tell quite easily the ones that had bombed short. But they should never ever have sent because the only escape route there was for the Germans to the east because the Americans were there to the west and then the Canadians and the British and the only escape route that the Germans had was the east. And I, it was a sultry day and a hot day and I remember looking out and there were, there were actually horses and that there. I suppose they were short of fuel that were pulling maybe some of their guns and that. But there were lorries and tanks. The whole countryside was littered with vehicles and trucks and tanks and streams of soldiers on the, on this escape route to the east. I’ll never forget that raid. So, that’s a few of the highlights of my, of my flying which I must say, Dan was entirely different than sitting behind six horses on the farm. And you know when I, there’s many a time when I look back and wonder how I ever, how I ever did it. Eh? Because when on the farm I knew very little about the big wide world. And then when you got over there every day was different. You learned something every day. It was just almost as if you were picked up and dropped on another planet or something. Life was so different.
DE: So did it change you?
RH: I think that it, I think it changed me in many ways. I think during that, for well the eight months I took the pre-enlistment course, I think during those four and a half years I think, I know I learned more about life in many aspects than I would have at any other time in my life. And I think what bothered me more than anything and I never realised it at the time that all the fellas that I trained with at all the different stations and different stops they made, Ground Schools and Flying Schools never thought that just over half of those fellas never came home because the loss rate in Bomber Command was fifty five percent. Somewhere between fifty five and fifty six percent. And I know for a fact, that for a fact because I had a picture taken just the day after we got our wings and there are four of us in there and I’m the only one that came back. There were thirty, thirty two I think got their wings that day and seventeen never came home. So that’s what it averaged out to. And you know, I often think when on Remembrance Days the thought occurred to me that for most people Remembrance Day was just a day in their life, eh. But for families that lost loved ones they had many Remembrance Days throughout the course of the year when the loved one that they lost had a birthday.
DE: Yeah.
RH: Or Christmas, or Easter or other occasions. And most people, you know they, they just have no idea. I’ve always said that there’s no glory in war. War is hell. More so for civilians than really the military. The military at least have, they have some opportunity to shoot back or that, but the civilians don’t and when you think of the millions that died in the Second World War. It was the First World War too. But I heard so many horror stories from my dad about the First World War that I was never going to join the Army and I didn’t like the water so [laughs] I think the only, the only place left for me is go in in the air.
DE: Yeah. There’s so many people like you, I think have said the same thing, ‘I don’t want to be in the trenches like the, like the infantry.’ And yeah. One chap said, ‘I can’t swim so I’ll join the air force.’
RH: That’s exactly how I felt [laughs]
DE: Yeah.
RH: Yeah. I think about the First World War. I never realised until reading the Legion Magazine probably a few months ago the number of horses and mules that were lost in that war, eh? Something like two hundred and seventy thousand. I often wonder how they ever fed them. But I also never realised that Canada sent several shiploads of horses over there, and those ships wouldn’t be really fitted for transporting horses and I understand they sent veterinarians with them but a lot of the horses were dead before they got there.
DE: Yeah. And some would have been, some would have gone down because they would have been torpedoed as well so —
RH: Yeah.
DE: Yeah.
RH: Yeah.
DE: So, just, you know really quickly what, what did you do after you got married? You didn’t work on the farm then.
RH: Well, that’s interesting because I hadn’t, like I didn’t, I really didn’t like farming. I had allergies and working harvest time, and the grain dust and that it used to bother me and I never really, to be truthful I never really wanted to farm. So when, after I’d been home I got discharged in April. I think April the 14th ‘45. I had to go to Winnipeg. Get discharged. Then when I got back I thought well I’ll go to the university. Maybe I’ll take a course in agriculture. So I went. I saw the, I had an appointment with the Dean of Agriculture and he said, ‘Well, Harrison,’ he said, ‘We’ve got over two hundred, most of them ex-Air Force and some Army,’ he said. ‘They’re all going to graduate,’ he said, ‘And I don’t know. I’m sure there’s not enough jobs for them,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what they’re going to do,’ he said. ‘You told me that you had an application in for the Public Service and you could have an opportunity to go to work for the Veterans Land Administration which would be settling veterans on farms. So —’ he said, ‘If I were you I think you should take that job,’ he said, ‘Because I’m sure that all these fellas that are going to graduate from agriculture there’s not going to be enough jobs for them so —’ I took his advice, started to work for the Veterans Land Administration. Not only did they settle veterans on farms they also built houses for them and then if you didn’t want to farm or didn’t want to build a house they also had what they called Re-establishment Credit. You got seven dollars a day for every day you served in Canada and fifteen dollars a day for every day you were overseas, and then you could use that for buying furniture and so on. So that’s how I used mine. But I think the Federal, the Canadian Government, I think they had one of the best, one of the best programmes for veterans that came home from war. So that, then I worked then for the veterans. I worked from November ’45 in Regina until, when I got back from, from marrying Jean they called me in the office. They said, ‘Well, we’ve got good news for you. Oh,’ I said, ‘I’ve got a, have I got a promotion?’ ‘No. We’re going to transfer you to Saskatoon. To the District Office. You’ll have the same, get the same salary as here.’ So I started working in Saskatoon in January ’47 and retired in 1984. So I probably worked for the Veteran Land Administration for thirty eight and a half years. I started near the bottom of the ladder when I was one of the younger ones and kept my eyes and ears open. And a lot of them had university degrees but I worked my way up the ladder and when I retired my job was Regional Director for the Far Western Provinces so I often thought well I probably just as well there as if I’d gone to university.
DE: Yeah. Probably did.
RH: So, I just, I think those, for the times that I spent in the Air Force I think in many ways the times they were the most exciting. Sometimes the most interesting and I have to admit sometimes they were a bit scary. So I have, I guess you could say I had mixed feelings about the war but overall for me they were favourable because I was just, it was just luck I guess that I survived some of those plane crashes because they weren’t normal.
DE: No. No. Quite.
RH: Plane crashes.
DE: Yeah. Your nickname was well deserved I think.
RH: Yeah.
DE: So, we’ve been talking. Well, you’ve been talking and I’ve been listening for well over two hours so I’m quite happy to end there. Just there’s, there’s a couple of other questions that I always ask before I end an interview and, you know the first one is there any other story that you have in mind that you can think of that you’d like to tell before we, before we wind this up?
RH: I just wanted to ask you when, when Kevin goes back to my place when he has time and takes pictures like when you walk into my place I have a hallway. I’ve got lots of pictures of, of aeroplanes and so on, but in 1944 the Canadian press went around to all the Canadian bomber stations and they took pictures. You may have seen them but they, they were, oh here’s a book. They took pictures of, of all the squadrons and there you can see them. You can see them all standing on the top of the Halifax. And —
DE: Yeah.
RH: So that shows how much, how strong those things were built, eh?
DE: Yeah. Yeah.
RH: Because now when you get on an airliner the first thing they see is, ‘Don’t step here.’ [laughs]
DE: Yes. Yeah.
RH: Yeah. So, so what, what I plan to do is I’m going to, I’m going to get your address from, get Kevin to give me your address and then I’m going to, I’m going to send you a copy of this. This article was written by a, by a Mr Gray and I met him at a, at a Allied Air Force reunion in Toronto in September 1990 and he was a retired High School teacher, also a former RCAF pilot and he had a, there was another teacher there too, a High School teacher who also a pilot. So when they had a going away luncheon on the Sunday he noticed my Caterpillar and my Guinea Pig Badge. He wanted to know how I got those and I told him the rest of my story and he said, ‘Did you ever write a book?’ I said, ‘No. I never considered myself a writer.’ And apparently he, he liked to write and he said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘Would you mind if I wrote up your story?’ And I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘I’ve got all my documentations. Copies of all my records.’ I said, ‘They came in an envelope,’ I said. I measured it. It was twenty two inches long. It was fourteen inches wide and well over an inch thick.
DE: Yeah.
RH: So I said —
DE: Well, I would —
RH: I said, ‘Thirty pages,’ I said. ‘Thirty five pages in the, in the Board of Enquiry into the crash on take-off,’ I said, so —
DE: Yeah. Well, I mean anything you could send like that would be absolutely wonderful and I’ll have a chat with Kevin about how we can get copies of photographs and things.
RH: Yeah. So what I, what I’ll do when I, when I go back to the offices, go back to the offices, there’s the endorsement. So I’ll send you a copy of that.
DE: That would be fantastic. I think we’ll stop the recording but we’ll keep chatting for a little bit longer.
RH: Ok. Yeah. I’ll get one of those books too and send it to you. As they say, ta ta. Ta ta for now, love [laughs]
KA: We’re done.
RH: We’re done.
KA: Good job, Reg. Holy smokes man. You talked for a long time.
RH: Too long, eh?
Other: Ok. Here. I’ll stop that.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Reg Harrison
Interview with Reginald Wilfred Harrison
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dan Ellin
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
2021-02-27
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Format
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02:21:35 Audio Recording
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AHarrisonRW210227, PHarrisonRW2103
Language
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eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Great Britain
England--Northumberland
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Warwickshire
England--Yorkshire
England--Hull
Manitoba--Virden
Ontario--Ottawa
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan--Yorkton
Ontario
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942-11-11
1943-04
1944-07-05
1944-07-06
1944-08-25
1944-08-26
Description
An account of the resource
Reg Harrison grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan and enjoyed watching aircraft when they flew over. He had his first flight as a youngster when he was lent five dollars by a shopkeeper. He volunteered for aircrew as soon as he was of age and began his training as a pilot. He had four crashes which earned him the nickname, Crash. The first incident took place while he was on his second dickie trip and the aircraft crashed. He and another member of the crew then heard the pilot shouting for help and returned to get him out of the aircraft. Reg sustained burns and was treated at East Grinstead Hospital. On their thirteenth trip his rear gunner was worried and suggested they call this trip 12A rather than thirteen. They crashed on take-off. On another occasion he and the crew had to bale out over England. Again, on another occasion while on an operation they came under fire from a Halifax who had mistaken them for a German aircraft. They just managed to get the stricken aircraft back and crashed at RAF Carnaby.
When he had leave, Reg would often go and visit his family who lived near Hull. He completed nineteen operations before he was screened, as his Wing Commander felt that he had been lucky too many times and might not be so lucky the next time. Reg has always been mindful of the loss rate in Bomber Command. He has a photograph taken a day after he got his wings. Of the four airmen in the picture he was the only one who returned home.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
Steph Jackson
431 Squadron
434 Squadron
6 Group
aircrew
bombing
Caterpillar Club
crash
crewing up
FIDO
Guinea Pig Club
Halifax
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
love and romance
McIndoe, Archibald (1900-1960)
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Carnaby
RAF Croft
RAF Dishforth
RAF Gamston
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1022/11393/AMasseyJI170520.2.mp3
0fbc76b4a1667baf9886522db484a81f
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
Massey, Joan Ilma
J I Massey
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Joan Massey ( 890873 Royal Air Force). She served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2017-05-20
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
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Massey, JI
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
DB: Joan would you like to tell me a little bit about your RAF history and your life?
JIL: Well as you know my daddy was army and we were, I was born in India in the Hyderabad [unclear] in the military hospital where my grandmother who was a cousin of my mother’s was a matron and we all grew up in India. There was four brothers and us three girls. My brothers have departed this world and my elder sister lives in Scotland in Campbeltown. Em, she’s a widow now and she has three boys and my younger sister lives in Camberley Mercia [?] with her son and we get on in a family you know as usual. But I prefer to live my own life and I think I joined the WAAF in 1940 when the war had been about six months and still half way there and it was at West Drayton where they were recruiting and can I give a laugh because we had to – the tailor went down and telling us what size uniforms we had to wear [emphasis] and he told me I had a size twelve and he came along and he looked at me and looked at my feet. Oh my! My skirt [laughs] was on my ankles [laughs] and because I was only seventeen. It was 1940 and I was up em Aldwych. That’s where they had the Air Force office there or something at Aldwych and I was with my mother. I don’t know what we were doing, just wandering around I think and I said ‘Shall I join Mum?’ and she said ‘Yes.’ So I joined [emphasis] and I think you know I fill in the form, and they called me to West Drayton and there was all us girls in civvy dresses and shivering like no-body’s business. I had a beautiful red blouse on and I think at the time and we were all lined up and the tailor came around and was telling us what size uniform we had to wear and he said to me a number twelve which was the smallest and then he said ‘Oh my’ so I looked down. Oh my, my skirt was round my ankles [laughs] not on [laughs] and they had to take it in to an eighteen inch waist. But we did two weeks jankers at West Drayton and a guardsman from the Grenadier Guards was teaching us how to march. Left, right. And the girls were putting the wrong arm up and the right arm up and this arm up and, but we all got there. I think we had biscuits, what they call biscuits on the bed in the, in the, in the [hesitates] where we had it. And I was fortunate they had the heaters. My bed was just opposite it so I, everybody used to congregate, in the winter months, on my bed and to – before they all went to sleep. But I think I enjoyed it and what, what do we come to? Em what do we come to? From Harrogate I went to New Market and spent some time there with a civilian. Then they called me up about ooh I don’t know how long just before when the war ended. But we used – we were surrounded by the air like New Zealand, Australians and the air bases and things like that and we used to go to their dances and whatnot and in a lorry as per usual and eh but eh when they declared war was over, I’m not quite sure. Now where was I? Windsor. I was punting on the punt with two other WAAFs. One fell in the river. We had to fish her out and eh. Because we were in civilian houses those days we, they sort of [unclear] and I used to have breakfast. My hostess used to give me breakfast and then I had to go to the canteen and eat and of course Joan never liked what they used to dish up and I’d walk past. ‘Massey! [shouts] Come back here.’ [laughs] So I had to take my plate of meat which I didn’t like and the soup. And we had a Scots boy from Glasgow and he was as thin as a rail, but could he eat! From his head to his toes he never got fat so everybody would push and he’d eat their meals if they didn’t want it. You know? After that I think the last eighteen months were left, I lived at home at 89 in Kew Gardens with my granny because the money they paid me to live out helped my grandmother, you see, with the food and whatnot. But we never went short. I wont say anything about that. [chuckles] Em. As I said, I was demobbed. I wandered around doing nothing very much and then I said I was going to New Zealand and I travelled out to New Zealand. It was wartime conditions still on the sh, boat. It was the Rangitata, I think. A very small ship and I had a lady with a baby in the bunk above me. I was in the bottom bunk and we fought like cat and dog because she kept on having the baby on my bed and, but I joined all the other youngsters and we’d sit up on the deck. They were going to send me down to the bottom of New Zealand on the second island. What was it called? And I said ‘No way. I’m not getting on another ship.’ So they sent me to Wanganui, Wanganui and I worked there as a domestic sort of thing, cooking and whatnot. And enjoying it. Then I left that after six months and my boss [pause] [unclear] somebody I knew had a drawing office so I went in to the drawing office and we were busy drawing little houses and putting the, I always put them in the wrong way. I put the train going east instead of going west [laughs] ‘cause we were on a slope or anything like that. But I, and then I think I came home. Stayed a couple of years at Maltlake Avenue and went to Canada. And I went to Regina and worked for Shell Oil. Well I told them to keep the job but they gave it to me and I stayed a couple of years with em Shell Oil and took off for Malacca, ‘cause my second brother was a rubber plantation and I stayed with Pam and Hugh and eh the girl and we lived on a rubber plantation. Oh God that was dreadful because we were surrounded by barbed wire and everything. Pam and I came home with the girl and Hugh followed us afterwards. I worked in Whitehall. I don’t know what I was doing. Don’t ask me. And watching all the parades and everything and from the windows and I took off for Canada [laughs]. I worked in Regina where I told them they could keep the job but they gave it to me. And we had a sort of a cousin there, a distant cousin, and em I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it very much. They were – they always called me a pommy [pause] Oh what was it the Canadians called you? The New Zealanders called you a pommy and I said, I kept on saying ‘I’m not a pommy ‘cause I wasn’t born in England’ [emphasis]. And they couldn’t get the connection when I said I wasn’t born in England. I was born in India. They still kept calling me a pommy. Let them get on with it. I didn’t mind so much. [laughs] I turned round one day and called one of them a very rude word, [laughs] unfortunately. They shut up after that and then I came home. Stayed a couple of years and went to Canada. I worked for Shell Oil in Regina. I took off for Malacca after some time and we had to travel across France. The French railways I think have improved since and we got home. Oh what was I doing? We went to – lived at Mortlake with granny and granny died didn’t she about that time, after a little while. I can remember her saying ‘It’s your mother’s birthday’ and promptly doing that. So I was left to do everything because my brother and Ailsa my older sister didn’t want to know. So I had to do all the arrangements and got – and then I took off for Canada. [background noise] use of those telephones because we could phone home, you see, to our family or anything like that and say ‘Hello, how are you?’ And my mother, we were living in Maltlake, and she’d be outside the house and the bloody bombs, pardon me, going overhead and you could hear it all coming down and everything and one time the Yanks were at the back of us. They had a Yank unit there and they got hit. You should have heard the commotion going on [laughs]. We had a dog called Fang and a scottie and Fang always knew when the bombers were coming over because he’d go straight to the basement one hour beforehand and we’d say ‘The bombers are coming. Get down granny.’ We’d take my grandmother down into the cellar and things like that. And, well, that was it really and truly. How they bombed the Yanks and of course we lost all our windows. They all came in and my eldest brother was in the house at the time. There he was walking around without his shoes on [laughs] and granny doing the same thing. [laughs] And me yelling at them. Ah well. Harris he went to South Africa. He emigrated to South Africa after the war. Bomber Harris. And he always rode that big white horse and as I said every time we saw that thing we all turned tail [laughs]. Yeah. He emigrated after the war to South Africa, Bomber Harris. He was okay I think. I think. But we never bothered too much really because we were only, as I used to say, we were only erks. Really and true. The lowest of the low. That’s it. In 1945 I was demobbed. I think I stayed about a year at Kew and I took off for New Zealand then.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Joan Ilma Massey
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Denise Boneham
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
2017-05-20
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AMasseyJI170520
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:17:53 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Description
An account of the resource
Joan Ilma Massey was born in India where her father served with the British Army. She joined the WAAF in 1940 at the age of seventeen. She did her initial training at West Drayton and worked in Whitehall for a time. After she was demobbed she went to New Zealand, travelling on the RMS Rangitata. She worked as a domestic in Wanganui, located on the North Island, for six months and then went on to work in a drawing office. She then came back to England for a couple of years before moving on to Canada. She stayed in Regina and worked for Shell Oil. She also lived with her brother and his wife on their rubber plantation in Malacca, Malaysia.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Great Britain
India
Malaysia
New Zealand
South Africa
England--London
England--Middlesex
England--Yorkshire
Malaysia--Malacca (Malacca)
New Zealand--Manawatu-Wanganui
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1945
ground personnel
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/647/8917/ATinsleyR150604.2.mp3
1eeab019890c4025d5470d7ef66f9a51
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
Tinsley, Dick
Richard Tinsley
R Tinsley
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Tinsley, R
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Dick Tinsley (Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a pilot with 115 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-04
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.
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
DK: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre, the interviewer is David Kavanagh the interviewee is Dick Tilsley the interview is taking place in Mr Tilsleys home on the 4th June 2015.
DK: So can you remember which year it was, that you joined the Airforce?
RT: Yeah, it must have been 1944 I suppose.
DK: 1944...so how old would you have been then?
RT: Mmm 20
DK: So what were you doing prior to that? Were you in education?
RT: Education I suppose and Public Schooling so yes i was.
DK: So what school was that?
RT: In Northampton, one of the public schools [pauses] we farmers were often sent to these public schools.
DK: And what was your reasoning for wanting to join the airforce?
RT: Well I knew I was going to mmm I had....errr my family had always been in farming and we lived at Moulton, do you know where Moulton is?
DK: Yes, yeah
RT: Near Holbeach and my Mother came from Northamptonshire as a Farmer's daughter and they got married had three sons, and I was the third. The eldest one had got set into Farming before the war started, and when the second one came in he'd already joined the Territorials
DK: Right
RT: Only assuming only being , mmm what do you call it [?] patriotic I think and of course they were the best people, you know, the go getters, they they wanted to do something like that. We went to Lincoln and they just paraded around a bit once upon a [unclear] that sort of thing. So when war declared they were called up straight away.
DK: Yeah?
RT: I was at home ,still at school I think then I remember the local err army [what do you call it] Anti-aircraft unit?
DK:Yep
RT: Arrived in our park which was was just a field that's all, and they set up shop and searchlight and I thought it was wonderful, good old war, as I was about 16 or something but i think we had all heard so much about the first war and the blood and guts of the trenches anything to get out of that or get into what soppy thing there was going at school, anything was soppier than trenches.
DK; had your Father been in the First World War?
RT: No
DK; No?
RT: I lost an uncle
DK: An uncle ok
RT: In other words his brother-in-law he got in perhaps he was drafted, or...I never knew him and he was sent to the front and they were resting in a barn behind the line as the Germans dropped a shell on them and he was wounded in the back and died.
DK:Oh dear
RT: Yeah that's the second time....and emmm it might have been the other.....
DK: So you've decided to join the airforce then, yeah?
RT: Mmm I was at school it was quite a rough military day bolshing you bossing you , so I had a rifle for the day you had one...you had one err you had one year, day a term which they did sort of military exercises.
DK: Right.
RT: And erm and so and of course when they started the air force thing it was much more lexid to go out to aerodromes and in [unclear] and all that and err when it came to been called up and then we were eventually called up and went to grading [?] station.
DK: Right.
RT : That was in Bedfordshire somewhere and then we were sworn in and all that, then we went to London and Lords cricket ground where they did injections for you and all that sort of thing. After that I decided , [unclear] decided what are they going to do with you, I don't know how well we passed, I don't think we knew but it was good enough.
DK: Yeah, err you went in immediately then for err pilot training, was that …..?
RT: Well everybody was yeah
DK: Everybody together right
RT: Yeah
DK: So….
RT: On the whole the navigator was the second most err posetic and brightest then you get the wireless op ,then the bomb aimer then gunner. They hadn't got me on on to being a pilot yet because then they sent you, if you passed that pilot you went to a grading school just near coventry, it's not too far from here, where you did twelve hours flying, and err they assessed you as to whether you were fit for pilots training.
DK: And that the first time you were at the controls?
RT: Yes.
DK: Flying?
RT: Yes it was a Tiger Moth.
DK: Tiger Moth yeah.
RT: Then they sent you home and waited until they wanted to call you up to go to Canada. So they sent us to the Queen Mary which was docked at the Clyde and we cruised across to Canada, you might say this was a dangerous trip I suppose they were getting away with taking these fast liners and risking getting in the old....errrr caught up in the German submarines.
DK: Mmmm yeah
RT: Which how they got away with it I don't know but they did get away and they filled them full and on the return journey they were full of American troops absolutely jammed full bringing them over for D-day which was quite a lot we did, anyway .....and then what happened?
DK: You've got to Canada...
RT: And err [coughs] forgive me muttering but i've got a very weary brain.....I don't mind the weary brain....but....
DK: That's ok take your time.
RT: It's... errr….
DK: You've arrived in Canada then?
RT: Yeah there was a PDO a personnel reception centre.
DK: Right.
RT: Which was a whole aerodrome full of personnel, err personnel huts where they held you, and kept you amused, held parades, this, that and the other until they got an airfield to send you too, and that you didn't get any decision on that at all you just do when you're told that was about four days out to Regina that's roughly where we were at, dead centre of Canada, in the Prairies.
DK: Right, right.
RT: You got contact with them then ?
DK: No.
RT: Oh... then they had a course on a single engine plane which was a thing called a Cornell.
DK: Cornell yeah.
RT: A Fairchild Cornell yes.
DK: It’s listed in your logbook. Cornell
RT: Yeah....is it there?
DK: It's in there yes...you are doing aerobatics there.
RT: Mmmm...
DK: Did you like the Cornell?
RT: Yes, yes.
DK: Doing acrobatics there.
RT: Yes, then some went down to America.
DK: Right.
RT: The Americans were helping us out you see, then they went over to single engine planes but I never went on that.
DK: So how long were you in Canada for then?
RT: I was there 10 months.
DK: Really [emphasis]?
RT: Yeah well that was because, well that was a good do because I was out of the war for 10 months and things went by and .....[laughs].
DK: Do you remember much about Canada?
RT: Yeah yeah.......didn't matter to me it was as cold as could be in winter [laughter]and er that whole...that whole aerodrome belonged to the British, well it belonged to the the Canadian air force but that where the RCAF came in.
DK: Oh right I see yeah yeah.
RT: Then, then after we finished that we went on to what we called Senior flying training corps which was fast that one,er.... it was err was what do you call it, sometimes I think of these things and sometimes can't, Richard doesn't help as he wasn't there?
DK: There's an aircraft called the Crane here....
RT: Yeah that's it, the Cessna Crane.
DK: It seems like you were flying Ansons and Cranes.
RT: Ansons were British aeroplanes, if we did anything in training, in training Cranes then after 6 months, can't think what would take all that time but it would...
DK: Looking at the log book there are a lot of flights on the Crane right through February 1944.
RT: Yeah that would be.
DK: Nearly everyday.
RT: Yeah that would be, that was a twin engine plane they were sort of the general idea that was for Bombers.
DK Then the Anson from March 1944?
RT: I don't know, I don't remember that, I honestly don't remember the Anson, there wouldn't be many they were British versions...........they come out of date as far as a Bomber came they were our efforts for getting the war to have a good bomber Avro, Avro [emphasis].
DK: Avro Anson yeah?
RT: Yeah.
DK So you've then come back to England?
RT: Yes I came back.
DK: Was that on the Queen Mary again?
RT: No, it wasn't
DK: Arrh another ship?
RT: Yes, I can't remember the name of it, but it will be on there I should think, [pause] it could have been any of those but it will be on there I'm sure.
DK: Yeah, I can't find it at the moment. It says here you went to Derby then?
RT: What for?
DK: Barniston?
RT: Burnaston.
DK: Burnaston, sorry.
RT: Burnaston yes, that was a flying course within UK conditions, Burnaston.
DK: So was it a big difference, flying in Canada than flying in the UK?
RT: Mmmm I remember one of the Australian, Canadian he was in charge of us on the area, he said "yous boys in the old country, say you'll get lost" [laughter].
RT: Then of course at that time we were relying on the Canadians services far more.
DK: Then you come back to Burnaston?
RT: Mmm.
DK: Then you are flying de Havilland 82. Do you remember much about that?
RT: I don't, I'll see if i can recall it.
DK : It's the Dominie I think?
RT: Oh dear, DH yeah....[pause] flying around training again.
DK: It says its number 22 EFTS is that familiar?
RT: It's familiar but....
DK: I've noticed you.....
RT: I rather think it was a twin engine.
DK: A twin engine yeah, and then you got the Dakota here.
RT: Ah that….
DK: RAF Leicester East.
RT: The war had ended.
DK: Arrh ok.
RT: Leicester East was the Transport Command place, and...
DK: Sorry I'm jumping ahead of myself here.
RT: And, they sent us out to Cairo, in these Dakotas but they were going to have to organise what they conquered in the Middle East, so one fine day they flew overnight to the centre of Cairo airport.
DK Really?
RT: And, err...
DK: So just going back a little bit here, February 1945 you’re with the Heavy Conversion Unit.
RT: Yes.
DK: At Langar, 1669 heavy conversion unit, err, was that the first time you saw the Lancaster?
RT: Well it wasn't in my case, but ........ but it was really but from somewhere I just had a day out with them , we just had a trip.
DK: What did you think when you first saw the Lancaster, laid eyes on it first saw it? Did it fill you with confidence?
RT: Yeah i think so, i don’t I can't remember anything about that bit or the bit we did, then until the war ended or rather until the ...err.
DK: Do you remember much about Langar and the Heavy Conversion Unit?
RT: No,no we just arrived and we were got into crews, we were all old soldiers at that time.
DK: I’m just noticing here you have got a mention of an engine fire.
RT: Yes I presume that there was.
DK: You help put out a fire, do you remember that? [ laughter]
RT: No i don't at all.....
DK: Come on.....drive it down....poke him, poke him [laughter].
RT: I do remember it now, but I can't say I'd remember otherwise.
DK: Do you remember much about the incident of the engine fire?
RT: No, not at all it was over Wales.
DK: Over Wales?
RT: It was on a training trip over Wales I'd forgotten all about it.
DK: You landed ok though?
RT: Yes, and that was it no doubt it was only a scare, or something but anyway well whatever it was the fire extinguisher put it out and it wasn’t long till we got back to the airfield.
DK: So following the log book then you then joined 115 Squadron at Witchford.
RT: Yeah.
DK: Do you remember much about Witchford?
RT: Yeah it was 3 miles outside Ely typical wartime airfield built in 19....built just near where I went to school, where I went to school is.
DK: Coincidence [laughter].
RT: Witchford, I gathered from reading books later that there was two squadrons stationed there, so obviously they built airfields, bomber airfields as fast as they could.
DK: So I'm looking at the logbook here it's got March the 18th, would that have been your first operation there? Its Buschstrass?
RT: Bruchstrasse.
DK: Bruchstrasse, sorry.
RT: Apparently it was an oil refinery in the Ruhr, we weren't told very much about about it, except that we missed it.
DK: Oh [laughs].
RT: Apparently the beam was set, they had got it wrong.
DK: Right
RT: But anyway plenty of them missed, yep.
DK: Well, it says here it was a daylight raid, got in brackets there day, so you were flying in the day?
RT: Yeah a bit of both.
DK: Right ok.
RT: They were the...red were night and….
DK: Right.
RT: What does that say?
DK: Thats green.
RT: what does that say?
DK: That's err Heligoland?
RT: Yeah that's an island south of Hamburg somewhere.
DK: So there was two operations to kill on the 9th and 13th April.
RT: Yes i suppose so, yes.
DK: Do you remember much about those?
RT: No i dont, we were just told by the bomb aimer afterward that we didn't hit the target presumably we couldn't see it, we weren't told much, then the war ended.
DK: So then into May then, so there's 1, 2, 3, 4 so that looks like about 5 operations.
RT: Yeah.
DK: Does that sound about right?
RT: Yeah.
DK: So five operations and then three operation Manna operations?
RT: Yeah.
DK: Does that sound about right, so do you remember much about Operation Manna? How did that make you feel knowing you were dropping food rather than bombs?
RT: I’m sure it made you feel very good, we didn't know what we was in for first time, we was going to Germany with bombs at 20,000 feet and the next day we were going ten hundred feet or whatever it was over the Hague or Dane Hauger [?] whatever the Danes call it.
DK: The Hague , so the food drops were at low level then?
RT: Yes well as low as they dare because it mustn't burst they were either in double sacks or whatever they chose.
DK: Do you remember seeing the people on the ground?
RT: Yeah.
DK: And what were they doing?
RT: Waiting for something to happen, to see what they could get.
DK: Were they waving?
RT: Yeah.
DK: So you could see all that?
RT: Oh yes I can clearly remember one plane flying nearly along side us they got a sack a sack of food stuck in his bomb bays when he came back no doubt it got dropped in somewhere.
DK: So at that point then the war in Europe had ended?
RT:yeah just.
DK: Just yes.
RT: I think you will see that's there the.....
DK: What were your feelings at that time then were you.....?
RT: Without a doubt very pleased now that's ...one thing that's quite interesting coz those crew members there about three of them so bored with things presumably they were somewhat aware it wasn't really dangerous anymore, they wanted to see the their names up on the list… I was one if I had a job to do I'd do it, I probably wanted the job but didn't want to be the end bit the end bit of meat.
DK: So how long after the war then did you stay in the air force? Was it another…..
RT: As little as possible.
DK: You wanted to get out did you?
RT: Yes yes, I never wanted to get in and I just was a good boy did as I was told and passed exams as I was supposed to.
DK: So can you remember what year you actually left?
RT: Oh, now that would be, it will be in there somewhere [refers to logbook].
DK: You are still here, 1947.
RT: It would be then, it was the Spring.
DK: So you left in 1947? Thats after a period in the Middle East?
RT: Yeah we were sitting about the helm a lot doing nothing, because they over calculated the amount of aircraft they had to keep in the Middle East to keep things working.
DK: They had to find you something to do.
RT: Yes find us something to do, pity really it was a stage of one's life when you wanted to get on with something.
DK: Just going back to the end of war in Europe, at that period was there any mention to you about perhaps having to go out and fight in the Far East?
RT: No.
DK: You didn't no.
RT: No the others who went back, straight away and they split us all up, no doubt I'd go for a longer leave at home, but they kept very strictly to this, what do you call it? Code of release by time and… when your number came up because you had been in for so long, and you were so old or so I’d got out.
DK: So how old would you have been when you left?
RT: Forty Six [?].
DK: And after that did you go back into farming at that point?
RT: Mmm, yeah all that time sitting in the Middle East for about a year, sitting on my bum really. It was in the desert I got jaundice, nothing apart from a waste of time for everybody, I could see what the plan was, it was just they wanted things to be able to go to North Africa someone to go down to Nairobi and do this or that. [pause] Have you seen any other log book?
DK: I have seen some, yeah quite a few.
RT: They are all pretty similar.
DK: Yeah they are more or less the same yeah, so how do you look back on that period now?
RT: A waste of my youth and pretty boring, I was stationed at Ely, there wasn't much at Ely. It wasn't even far from home that wasn't.
DK: Did you used to pop back home when you could?
RT: Mmmm.
DK: Yeah because it down the road, that was something.
RT: Well there wouldn’t be the transport for it but I got home somehow, if you had a motorbike you'd be home in an hour or so.
DK: You had a motorbike then did you?
RT: I didnt no, there wasn't any petrol for one thing.
DK: That's true, ok well thanks you very much for that I will stop this now.
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
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Interview with Dick Tinsley
Creator
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David Kavanagh
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-06-04
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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ATinsleyR150604
Conforms To
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Pending revision of OH transcription
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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00:29:29 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Dick was from a farming background and joined the Royal Air Force in 1944. After going to Bedford, he was sent to Lord’s cricket ground. Those passing as a pilot went to a flying school near Coventry to be assessed for pilot training on a Tiger Moth. Canada followed, where Dick went to a personnel reception centre and then an airfield in Regina. He did a course on a Cornell and then went to a senior flying training corps on a Crane.
After returning to England, Dick did a flying course at RAF Burnaston. In February 1945 he went to 1669 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Langar with Lancasters. He helped to put out an engine fire on a training trip over Wales. Dick then joined 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford. He recalls a daylight operation to an oil refinery in the Ruhr. A target was also missed in Heligoland. There were two operations to Kiel. He was involved in Operation Manna to The Hague. Dick was sent to RAF Leicester East after the war had ended and flew C-47. He was sent to Cairo. Dick left the RAF in Spring 1947.
Contributor
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Sally Coulter
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Coventry
England--Derbyshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Nottinghamshire
Canada
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan--Regina
Germany
Germany--Helgoland
Germany--Kiel
Great Britain
Netherlands--Hague
North Africa
Egypt
Egypt--Cairo
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
1946
1947
115 Squadron
1668 HCU
bombing
C-47
Heavy Conversion Unit
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
RAF Burnaston
RAF Langar
RAF Leicester East
RAF Witchford
Tiger Moth
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1009/11264/YMadgettHR1330340v2.2.pdf
851bc50fb597fadec686f8e9b3074a37
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
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Madgett, Hedley Robert
H R Madgett
Description
An account of the resource
250 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Hedley Madgett DFM (1922 - 1943, 147519, 1330340 Royal Air Force), a pilot with 61 Squadron. He was killed 18 August 1943 on the last operation of his tour from RAF Syerston to Peenemünde. The collection consists of letters, postcards and telegrams to his parents while he was training in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition the collection contains memorabilia, documents from the Air Training Corps, artwork, a railway map, diaries, medals as well as his logbook, photographs of people, places and aircraft. Also contains letters of condolence to parents and a sub collection containing a photograph album with 44 items of his time training in Canada'.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joan Madgett and Carol Gibson, and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span>Additional information on Hedley Madgett is available via the </span><a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/114690/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/madgett-hr/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a><span>.</span>
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-03-17
2019-06-14
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
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Madgett, H
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[diary front cover]
Diary
1941
[page break]
[blank page]
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[printed page]
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PERSONAL MEMORANDA
H R Madgett
127, Longlands Road,
Sidcup, Kent.
Foots Cray 1696
FLO 311.
[page break]
[printed page]
[page break]
[printed page]
APRIL 1941
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[printed page]
MAY 1941
M 12 Get call up papers
S 24 2.10p.m. train to Stratford on Avon. Ar 4.5p.m.
[page break]
[printed page]
JUNE 1941
S 5 7.15am train to Scarborough. Arr 4.15p.m.
[page break]
[printed page]
[page break]
[printed page]
AUGUST 1941
F 1 8.10am train to Wilmslow. Arr 12.45p.m
Th 7 2.15am train to Gourock arr. 1.20p.m. start for Canada 7.30p.m.
F 15 arr. HALIFAX 7.23p.m. 3.35p.m. train for Swift Current
W 20 arr. Swift Current 5.35a.m.
[page break]
[printed page]
[page break]
[printed page]
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1941 WEDNESDAY JAN. 1
Up with Betty in morning Have awful head-ache. Not out in evening. Bed early – 8 p.m.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY JAN. 2
Extremely cold. Train very delayed in morning. Not out in evening – too cold.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY JAN. 3
Still very cold. Tank has frozen now. In evening go to “Odeon” with Mary to see “Its a Date” – Deanna Durbin and “The Way of all Flesh”, which I did not think much of. This is 2nd. Time I have seen “It’s a Date”. Very good and funny in places.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY JAN. 4
Work in the morning as usual. In afternoon call on John & collect my rain coat from cleaners, who have almost bleached it. Rest of family go to Nell’s for tea etc., with Nora & family. I make my own tea & go with Mary to dance at St. John’s Hall. (Ron Bond & Monty Sims). Miss Wheeler there among others. Finish at 11 p.m. Very cold. Family home by 11 p.m. In bed just before 12.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY JAN. 5
Did not go to church in morning as too cold. John came round in afternoon & had tea. Played cards. Unusually quiet evening for me.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY JAN. 6
Very slippery this morning. No snow yet, but very cold. Very busy at work. at lunch time went to 64, Park St to collect my S.O. In evening have heavy fall of snow, but has stopped when call on John Ernie there; play Monopoly cut loose very quickly. Bed 10.30 p.m.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY JAN. 7
Snow on ground this morning. [deleted] Sill [/deleted] Still cold. Very busy at work. go to library before going home. Long warning this afternoon & guns going. Do not go out in evening, but write letter to Edith.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY JAN. 8
A little warmer today
The snow thaws. Up with Betty. Go to library before going home. Meet John there. Write last letter to Mary. I think she is too quiet & domesticated. Bed 9.45.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY JAN. 9
John comes round in evening. Play a few card games but do not post that letter. Guess I’ll just leave it.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY JAN. 10
Very busy at work. in evening I go alone to Regal to see Wm. Powell & Myrna Loy in “I Love you Again” Really very funny. Other film was not much. Short warning.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY JAN. 11
Work in morning AND afternoon. terribly busy & annoyed, because I wanted to see soccer match. In evening went round to John’s & had [sic] Monopoly. Ernie there. As usual I lost. Guns going heavy as I left home
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY JAN. 12
Did not go to church. Had a bath instead. Met John in afternoon & went for short walk. Had tea at his place with Ernie & Mr. Lang. Had [sic] Monopoly, but lost. Played cribbage after. Very heavy raid this evening. Our fighters up later on & all clear at 10.45.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY JAN. 13
UP WITH Goldby in morning. On Saturday night, bomb lands in middle of Bank junction. Coming home, I. Dumfries gets in our carriage at London Bridge. When at Sidcup just manage to avoid Mary after leaving Miss Wheeler. She must have seen me. Learn a bit of Morse in evening.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY JAN. 14
Up with Monty Sims. He put out many incendiaries & saved a house on Sunday night. John came round in evening & told me we were going to a girls house (Molly.) but, told me outside Mary’s place that we were going there. He went in & brought Mary out & I had to explain my way out. awful embarrassed. Then went in, had a chat & went home at 9.45 p.m. All O.K. now – said I was too busy swotting for R.A.F. to come out at night! No warning to-night
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY JAN. 15
Up with Monty again, & had tea when get to London. Weather bad later in morning, hard snow does not settle & makes awful slush. Do not go out in evening; spent it looking through
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY JAN. 16
Train late due to snow. Up with Dobbie. Met Monty & Betty at Canon St.
Dyed coat comes today.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY JAN. 17
Up with Betty in morning. Went to Air Ministry, Kingsway to find out about joining. Air Training scheme in colleges. But can’t join as not have cert.
Round at John’s in evening playing crib.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY JAN. 18
Betty again in morning, & had tea before went in. called on John, & brought him to tea, then on to Odeon to see Dick Poirell in “I want a Divorce” & “The House with 7 Gables”. – Nan Grey in latter. Very good film.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY JAN. 19
Called on John in afternoon, & go for walk. He has tea at his Grandma’s in Little Birches.
He’s round again in evening playing cards. Guns too heavy, so he stays the night.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY JAN. 20
Up 6.30 a.m. John goes home. Buy 5/- trig. book. Up again with Betty.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY JAN. 21
Up with Betty. Met Monty at Canon St. & had Tea before going in.
Studied trig. in evening.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY JAN. 22
Warm this morning. Up with Betty & Monty.
Studied trig. in evening.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY JAN. 23
Up with Monty in morning. Weather foul.
Studied in evening again.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY JAN. 24
Up with Monty & Betty in morning. Had tea with Monty before going in. very busy today.
In evening went alone to Regal to see “Strike Up the Band” – Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland & Paul Whiteman & Orch. Super film. Mickey is terrific on the drums. Best film I have seen.
No warning.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY JAN. 25
Up with Betty. Raining hard. In afternoon call on John. Go round shopping in High St. & go to library. Mrs. Biggs has sprained ankle, so home for tea. Have bath & listen wireless in evening.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY JAN. 26
Church in morning with John. In afternoon we just have to meet Mary. I learn later that John fixed this. I was very annoyed; had long walk together. To make things worse she is knitting me an Air Force pullover. At John’s for tea. Had monopoly, & were ticked off by a Bobbie for not putting [symbol] black out up.
No warning again.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY JAN. 27
Had to go up with Alan Newall of all people, & Betty in morning. Not a very nice start to the week.
In evening study again. No warning.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY JAN. 28
Went on later train to avoid Newall, but saw him with someone else. Four short warnings today.
Met John when came off train. He’s going to Odeon with Ernie.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY JAN. 29
Up with Maureen Bowerman this morning.
Call up of 18 & 19’s proclaimed today, but will not make any difference to me. Study again in evening.
Warning this evening after nearly 2 weeks, but all clear 9.45. Fairly heavy gunfire, & several bombs.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY JAN. 30
Up with Betty in the morning. Rather cold: a lot of warnings today and plenty of gunfire. Don’t feel too good – have another cold coming.
At work worked out fire watching rosta [sic]. I have to start on Sunday.
In evening do more studying; no warning this night.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY JAN. 31
Up with Betty. Gave Alan Newall a glorious snub, & he took the hint. But at Motting. Station he got in our carriage but someone else separated him from us thank goodness. At Cannon St. he bolted like a scared rabbit. Felt awful all day – have touch of flu. Monahan away with it. Bed early at 7.30 p.m
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[blank page]
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY FEB. 1
Up with Betty and Newall worse luck.
Coming home, Mary stops me, & trys [sic] to make me call round one evening. Am getting sick of her – just can’t take a hint.
In afternoon John calls round. Take car to do bit of shopping & take him home. Did not go out in evening as have to get up very early in morning, but rang the Old Man up to see about me joining A.T.C. Told me to write him. So wrote p.c. for Peter to take tomorrow.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY FEB. 2
Get up too late for proper breakfast – had to catch 7.24 a.m. to London. I was on fire watch with Mr. Skipper. Very dull. S. Stephenson called in & also Mr. Coats. Home at 6.30 p.m., too late to go again. Bed 9.30.
No warning.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY FEB. 3
Light fall of snow during night. Up with Betty again. terribly cold all day; of course house is like a ‘frigerator’. Monahan back at work again. bed 10.30.
Not an eventful day. Another siren-less evening.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY FEB. 4
Up with little Baker this morning. He had joined school A.T.C.
At work got 2/6 worth of chocolate. Can’t get it at shops at all now.
After lull warning goes again tonight at 7 p.m. few guns only. Alert still on when got to bed at 10.30 p.m.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY FEB. 5
Up with Baker again this morning.
Very cold still. But uneventful day.
Studied a bit in evening. Blitz on again, but not heavy.
Drops some bombs some distance away.
Bed 10.35
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY FEB. 6
Up with Betty & Maureen in morning. Alan Newall gets in another carriage.
In evening at John’s suddenly decide to go round to headmasters place in Leas Green to see about joining A.T.C. Want to get University Course instead. Old Man is out however.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY FEB. 7
Up with Maureen only in morning. I get 10/- at work for fire watching last Sunday. Rather good pay for this.
In evening call on John, & hear that Mr. Biggs had seen Old Man & he said could not be seen in the evening. So will have [inserted] to [/inserted] ring in morning.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY FEB. 8
Up alone for a change in morning. After trying 4 times at different ‘phones, I got on to Old Man’s house. Mrs. Williams answered. Have to ring later. Get him from home at 2.15 p.m. he says O.K. I have to write Ministry. Go up to John’s, come home for tea, write & post letter. When going up to John’s meet Bernard Wright in R.A.F. He’s getting on O.K. play Monopoly rest of evening. Loose [sic] as usual.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY FEB. 9
After waiting for light [deleted] to [/deleted] rain to stop, have game of tennis. Soon got into form again. bath in afternoon, & then call into John’s. listen to wireless, see smashing [inserted] young [/inserted] dame with Betty Belsham, had usual fight & came home for tea. Nellie here, & [deleted] loo [/deleted] I am bored all evening, looking at books. Bed 10.15.
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1941 MONDAY FEB. 10
Up alone in morning. An uneventful day, with not much work.
In evening studied a bit; warning event late at 10 p.m. Bed 10.30.
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1941 TUESDAY FEB. 11
Up with no one in morning again. very slack at work.
Expected John in evening but did not turn up. listened to wireless & heard radio version of “Strike up the Band”. Wrotten [sic] I thought.
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1941 WEDNESDAY FEB. 12
Saw no on up in train. Got later train. Hardly any work to do, but S.S. sticks & keeps us late till 5.30 in evening. Not out in evening however, but studied. Can now knock up 9 words a minute at sending Morse on buzzer Peter made for me. Bed 10.30. no warning.
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1941 THURSDAY FEB. 13
Had a valentine this morning, a day too early. It was in German, but know what it means! Saw no one in morning train. Studied in evening, but lights fused 3 times. Very short alert, & guns only in distance.
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1941 FRIDAY FEB. 14
Up alone again this morning. Came home by car for a change.
Called round on John in evening, had a few rounds of cribbage, supper & home again.
Warning fairly early, & plenty of guns plus our fighters
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1941 SATURDAY FEB. 15
Knock off early at work as S.S. goes early to Wales, (Colwyn Bay). In afternoon call on John, but do not stay. He’s going somewhere secret! go to library & look around, & in evening went to Odeon to see Bing Crossby in “Rhythm on the River”. Mary Martin & Basil Rathbone not much good. 2nd rate film for Bing.
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1941 SUNDAY FEB. 16
Got [inserted] up [/inserted] terrific late, but [deleted] dif [/deleted] drizzling outside so no tennis. Go for short walk in p.m. with John, & he goes to tea with his Uncle’s.
We have early tea as too late to have dinner at midday.
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1941 MONDAY FEB. 17
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1941 SUNDAY MAR. 2
Went to meeting at school with John for A.T.C. Learnt nothing new, but the Old Man told me that he had received & sent back & [sic] form from Air Ministry about University course. Meet D. Marchant, Kirby & see a few others. A lot there not from school.
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1941 MONDAY MAR. 3
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1941 TUESDAY MAR. 4
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAR. 5
Posted another letter to Air Ministry bucking them up. am getting impatient.
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1941 THURSDAY MAR. 6
Got 2 records
[deleted] Merrymakers singing [/deleted] [inserted] Milt Herth Trio playing [/inserted] “Slow Freight” & “Eep-Ipe”.
[deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] Also [deleted] Milt Herth Trio [/deleted] [inserted] Merrymakers [/inserted] [deleted] playing Slow Freight [/deleted] singing Johnson Ray.
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1941 FRIDAY MAR. 7
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1941 SATURDAY MAR. 8
Tennis in afternoon. Very good weather.
Play Monopoly at John’s. jack & Peggy there. Don’t leave until 11.30 p.m. ‘cause of blitz. Lot of shrapnel flying about going home.
Got another record in morning. “Trip the light Fantastic” – Joe Loss. Jolly good one.
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1941 SUNDAY MAR. 9
London blitzed last night. In afternoon called on Ernie for my 4/-, [deleted] & [/deleted] (with John). But he’s out footballing somewhere John goes round to Mary’s. I just walk around in p.m. Nothing interesting to the eye.
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1941 MONDAY MAR. 10
9 bombs dropped in Eastcheap near us. All time bombs. One in our building, & many in road & buildings opposite
We clear out to Marshalsea House in Borough High St. All in a mess so go to Monseigneur News theatre in Strand to kill time with others.
Home early.
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1941 TUESDAY MAR. 11
Had morse practise with Mr. Verinda for first time. very slow to start.
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAR. 12
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1941 THURSDAY MAR. 13
Morse practise at Verinda’s. still slow.
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1941 FRIDAY MAR. 14
John calls round in evening.
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1941 SATURDAY MAR. 15
Go back to [deleted] Eats [/deleted] Eastcheap this morning. Dust all over place. Tennis in afternoon. good game. Had tea at John’s & then to Odeon to see “The Mark of Zorro”, with Tyrone Power & Linda Darnel, & Basil Rathbone. Super sword fighting & Linda Darnell smashing.
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1941 SUNDAY MAR. 16
Took John’s bicycle back in morning. With John & Mary, went to New Eltham to get my watch. New glass & face cleaned up. Saw new bomb damage in Green Lane done on Sat. night. Tea at John’s.
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1941 MONDAY MAR. 17
So sick of waiting for RAF went to Air Ministry. Said I should hear on or about 21st. still think it is a blind.
Had morse practise with Verinda. Getting better.
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1941 TUESDAY MAR. 18
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAR. 19
Heard from Headmaster that I can’t join special University Courses.
Pictures in evening with John & Mary.
[deleted] Linda Darnell & Tyrone Powder [sic] in “Mark of Zorro”
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1941 SATURDAY MAR. 22
Called on John in afternoon. we call on Ernie after tea. John goes round to Mary’s, & Ernie comes along & shows me new book on Navigation he has. Full of news of Fokey Mills etc. etc.
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1941 SUNDAY MAR. 23
A.T.C. at school in morning. Morse class starting, & then had drill. Very cold.
Church in evening with John. Good service – it was National Day of Prayer.
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1941 MONDAY MAR. 24
Morse practise at Verinda’s this evening. Getting on much better.
Visited the dentist; nothing wrong, but wisdom’s have no room. So have to go in 6 weeks, but hope to be in RAF by then.
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1941 TUESDAY MAR. 25
Post letters to BIET, who are worrying about me joining & to Air Ministry at Ruislip about when I am to be called up. Sick of waiting.
Go to library after getting home.
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1941 FRIDAY MAR. 28
Rang up Ruislip, RAF in morning about my call up. Another [underlined] 2 [/underlined] months!! Fed up. peggy Hilliard at work is going to ask [deleted] hers [/deleted] her friends to do a bit of wangling to help me get in quick. More morse this evening at Verinda’s
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1941 SATURDAY MAR. 29
Saw match, Old Boys v. School football teams. John lets 8 through. Old Boys score 0.
Very cold wind.
Was going to pictures in evening but got there too late. Met Ernie on way. Has had fight with Beeton, who gets of 2nd best.
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1941 SUNDAY MAR. 30
A.T.C. in morning. Very cold. Headmaster wastes time jawing about nothing.
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1941 MONDAY MAR. 31
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MEMORANDA
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1941 TUESDAY APRIL 1
[deleted] try to get on to RAF at Ruislip [/deleted]
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1941 WEDNESDAY APRIL 2
Met John & another chap at lunch time to get records at “Hayes” in Cornhill. I got “Harlem” for Peter & John gets “Over the Hill” – Ambrose.
Later, ring up RAF at Ruislip & have rather a bust up with them. Still say another 2 months.
Morse in evening at Verinda’s. not so good as usual.
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1941 THURSDAY APRIL 3
At lunch time went to Trafalgar Square to see information bureau. But it does not exist.
Thinking about joining Fleet Air Arm, as RAF don’t want me for 2 months.
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1941 FRIDAY APRIL 4
John round in evening.
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1941 SATURDAY APRIL 5
Cycled over to “Yorkshire Grey” to see about joining Fleet Air Arm but cannot till in Air Force proper. John comes as well.
Go to library, & then to Odeon to see “A Date with Destiny” – Basil Rathbone, Ellen Drew & John Howard – a thriller, and “Too Many Girls”
Both very good plenty of girls in latter one.
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1941 SUNDAY APRIL 6
Germany declares war on Yuko-slavia [sic] & Greece, early this morning.
A.T.C. in morning. Had morse lesson, & drill. Very cold. Muck around in afternoon as very cold. Church with John in evening.
Meet Ernie coming home, & stops at our place.
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1941 MONDAY APRIL 7
Game of tennis fixed for this evening cancelled – too cold for B.S’s legs. John & Cyril were also playing.
Morse practise on my own.
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1941 TUESDAY APRIL 8
Bought morse tapper. 6/6
Morse practise at Verinda’s for short while. He had to go on ARP duty. (Met MacJames & pop at Canon St.) this morning)
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1941 WEDNESDAY APRIL 9
The cat has 3 kittens this afternoon. drown 2 & keep a black & white one
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1941 THURSDAY APRIL 10
Tennis in evening with John, Cyril & Betty Skinner. Ted Sims (soldier) there to take her home.
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1941 FRIDAY APRIL 11
Holiday! Got up late & mucked around. John at work. pictures with him in evening at Odeon. Clive Brooks in “Convoy”. Second time I have seen this. Still very good. Also Ellen Drew & Dick Powell in “Xmas in July”.
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1941 SATURDAY APRIL 12
No work in morning.
Tennis with John in afternoon. later go to library. See Irene Riley. Stunning.
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1941 SUNDAY APRIL 13
A.T.C. in morning. RAF. Sergeant lectured on I.C. engine & then had. [sic] morse. Met Mansell in afternoon. john on fire watching at work this evening.
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1941 MONDAY APRIL 14
Tennis in morning with John. Call on John’s in afternoon. Mary is there. We all go to flics [sic] in evening at Regal – Joan Bennett in “The Son of Monte Cristo”. Very good.
Mary knows J.R. so have asked her to tell her to ring me on Wed. or Thurs. Doubt whether she will.
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1941 TUESDAY APRIL 15
Work Again.
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1941 WEDNESDAY APRIL 16
Morse practise at Verinda’s before he went on ARP duty.
Heavy blitz on all night.
Took tennis racket to be re-strung.
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1941 THURSDAY APRIL 17
Last night’s raid biggest ever on London. Train with Betty & [inserted] Mariane Geele [/inserted] to Lee. Wait there for 3 hours for bus. Arrive 12.45.
Home bus to Lee & train direct.
J.R. does not ring. Will have to see Mary about it.
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1941 FRIDAY APRIL 18
Trains fairly O.K. today.
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1941 SATURDAY APRIL 19
Football in afternoon. (A.T.C.) Very good game. Our side won. 3-1.
John round in evening, and has to stay the night because of heavy blitz.
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1941 SUNDAY APRIL 20
Bombs in Sidcup Place, & elsewhere, last night.
ATC in morning. Weighed and measured for uniforms. Rest of time spent drilling. Had a spell of ordering
Call on John in afternoon
Round at Mary’s with John in evening.
She has not even told J.R. to ring me. Am going to write letter instead.
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1941 MONDAY APRIL 21
Trains mucked up again. train to Leivisham [sic]. Bus to London. Arrive 10.30 a.m.
Home very late. 7.20 p.m.
Peter’s birthday.
Train crash [deleted] due [/deleted] caused muck up this morning.
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1941 TUESDAY APRIL 22
Up with Marriane & Betty. Trains fairly O.K.
Tennis racket still not ready. Call on John in evening & give him letter. to J.R. He is on firewatching tonight.
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1941 WEDNESDAY APRIL 23
Morse practise in evening at Verinda’s.
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1941 THURSDAY APRIL 24
John not round in evening, so go up to his place. He’s out to the pictures. Anxious about I.R.
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1941 FRIDAY APRIL 25
John firewatching this night. He rings up – has not seen J.R. d- him.
His romance with Mary finished last night.
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1941 SATURDAY APRIL 26
Got racket back. very good. Cost 29/6.
In afternoon went to Paladium with John – Max Miller, Vera Lynn, Florence Desmond, Jack Stanford & others
Really good show.
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1941 SUNDAY APRIL 27
ATC. in morning as usual. I was exempted from medical, as in RAF already. No morse.
Mucked about in workshop making various things. Ken Lowe knows J.R. but have got wrong one. It’s Joyce her sister.
Tennis in afternoon with John, and after Church in evening, John comes round – he has a week’s holiday this week.
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1941 MONDAY APRIL 28
John calls round in evening, but I call on Ken & see another chap. He seems to know every girl he [deleted] meets [/deleted] sees.
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1941 TUESDAY APRIL 29
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1941 WEDNESDAY APRIL 30
Was sick during night.
Come home from work at lunch time as felt not too good.
John round in evening.
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MEMORANDA
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MEMORANDA
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1941 THURSDAY MAY 1
Very slack at work.
Saw John before going to library in evening.
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1941 FRIDAY MAY 2
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1941 SATURDAY MAY 3
Saw football match – A.T.C. v. Scholl. A.T.C. lost. 6-1.
Tennis in evening with John. Saw Joyce pass by.
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1941 SUNDAY MAY 4
A.T.C. in morning. Drill most of time. we have to parade in War Weapons Week next Sunday.
Tennis in afternoon in shorts for first time this year. Stroll around in evening with John.
Weather perfect. Best day of year so far.
Clocks put on another hour, so black out is now 10.15 p.m.
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1941 MONDAY MAY 5
Morse practise at Verinda’s in evening.
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1941 TUESDAY MAY 6
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAY 7
ATC practise football game in evening. Our side won 3.2. Am picked for Saturdays match against Orpington.
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1941 THURSDAY MAY 8
Fire watching with Gray until 8 p.m. this evening.
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1941 FRIDAY MAY 9
A.T.C. test in maths. and English. Fairly easy, except one question in maths.
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1941 SATURDAY MAY 10
Sidcup’s War Weapons Week starts today.
In afternoon big procession, [deleted] by [/deleted] but I (& John) playing in ATC match against New Cross Balloon Barrage Men (Goldmiths [sic] College) insted [sic] of Orpington A.T.C. We lost 6-1, but was certainly not a one sided game. It was a really good game & they were exceptionally rough, (unusual for RAF.)
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1941 SUNDAY MAY 11
Short parade in morning in A.T.C. In afternoon procession through Chislehurst to Mottingham & back. it was a Drum Head Service. Everybody’s feet aching with long marching.
Bed early
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1941 MONDAY MAY 12
London blitzed on Saturday night. Our Warehouse in Park St., hit & is no more. Mincing & Mark Lane all gutted.
When got home had R.A.F. papers – am called up on May 24th. have to go to Stratford on Avon.
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1941 TUESDAY MAY 13
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAY 14
Firewatching this evening with Craven.
John calls round after I get home.
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1941 THURSDAY MAY 15
Called on John in evening. Saw the Messershmidt 109 on show at St. Johns Hall.
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1941 FRIDAY MAY 16
Went to St. John’s Hall to see cinema show. “Q. Ships”. Very good for 3d.
At work Stephenson gave me cheque for £5. Am going to be paid monthly in R.A.F.
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1941 SATURDAY MAY 17
Fire watching all afternoon & evening till 8 p.m. with Fee.
Met John later in town. He was also on fire duty – all night
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1941 SUNDAY MAY 18
A.T.C. in morning. A film show on how air screws were made etc was shown. Said goodbye to Mr Palmer, Tanner, Perrison & Clark. John not there.
In afternoon had Drumhead service on West Kent Cricket Ground at Chislehurst. Very hot. John there. Also saw Joan Eldridge in Nurses, & later Joyce Riley.
Just before dismissal the Old Man called me in front & gave me 3 cheers a short speech of farewell!!! Said goodbye to Banfield. Church
[deleted] strolled around [/deleted] in evening with John & had supper with him
Rev. Coates indisposed – wanted to say goodbye to him
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1941 MONDAY MAY 19
NO WORK. Have weeks’ holiday before I go on 24th. go up to town in car with Dad & carry on to Paddington Station to see train times. Home for dinner.
In afternoon had bath, did some shopping for myself. Had tennis with John in evening & stayed for supper.
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1941 TUESDAY MAY 20
Paid £5 cheque & £5 cash into bank. Now have £60 odd in bank.
Took Mum up to town & meant to see “Gone with the Wind” by [sic] was full up. so went to Empire next door (Leicester Sq.) & saw “Boom Town” with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy & Dorothy Lamour. Fair.
Dentist in evening. Have to have 2 out – each next to wisdom teeth.
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAY 21
Dentist in morning to make appointment. Carry on to Maggie’s to say goodbye.
Then to Marg’s work place in Eltham for goodbye to her.
Had 2 teeth out with gas. Not too bad, but ached after.
[deleted] Bed [/deleted] Met Betty off train to fix tennis on Friday.
Bed very early at 7.30 p.m.
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1941 THURSDAY MAY 22
Had a look round West End. In afternoon took cakes into G H & Co. & said goodbye to them.
Met John Goldby & McJames & John Biggs & came home with them. Goldby goes into RAF a week on Saturday.
John Biggs & I are invited round to Nell’s for tea & the evening.
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1941 FRIDAY MAY 23
Saw Wallis again. teeth O.K. Spoke to Mary Richings at lunch time.
Bath in afternoon.
Tennis with John, Betty & Cyril Skinner in evening.
Goodbye to Mr. & Mrs. Biggs.
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1941 SATURDAY MAY 24
John sees me off alone to Air Ministry the Headmaster rang up about on Friday morning – but no help. Met rest of family & Nellie & saw me off from Paddington. 2.10 p.m. train. Arrive Stratford 5 p.m. in pouring rain. Billets not bad. in old school.
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1941 SUNDAY MAY 25
Up 7.15 a.m. Bed a bit hard. Doled out with uniform & equipment. Later had adjustments made.
Raining again this evening, & spent trying on harness etc.
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1941 MONDAY MAY 26
Up 6.30 p.m. Had bit of drill & short lecture & maths we have to do. on
Saw “Richard II” at the theatre in evening.
Inoculated arm is stiff & aching like hell.
Wrote home this morning.
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1941 TUESDAY MAY 27
48 hours y for inoculations.
Wrote John & home in morning. Spent rest of day marking equipment & going around the town.
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1941 WEDNESDAY MAY 28
Went for walk with few other chaps into country & swotted maths.
Drill & gas chamber in afternoon. drill very amusing & not taken seriously. Went for boating in evening on the river.
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1941 THURSDAY MAY 29
Marched round to. theatre twice in morning, but no lecture as was arranged. 2nd time we sang & whistled to 2 pianists.
Had lecture [deleted] of [/deleted] on Hygene [sic] & Medical in afternoon, then drill & [deleted] fic [/deleted] fire alarm practise.
Went round to the school to do a bit of maths. raining again in evening.
Had letter from home, and wrote reply.
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1941 FRIDAY MAY 30
Maths lecture in morning, and collected uniforms in afternoon.
Went round to school after tea for more maths.
Had parcels from home, & wrote to G. Harker Child.
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MEMORANDA
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1941 SUNDAY JUNE 1
Church this morning. Went on river again [deleted] this morning [/deleted]. Picked up 4 dames in turn, the last 2 really smashing. Washed & starched collar in afternoon. in evening walked round with another chap & then to the Canteen.
A very hot day.
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1941 MONDAY JUNE 2
Maths lecture in morning, and drill. More maths & plenty more drill again after dinner. Stratford very crowded for the Whitsun Holiday.
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1941 TUESDAY JUNE 3
Drill and lecture on R.A.F. organisation in morning. A lot of drill again in afternoon
Then had to pack all our kit ready to move to Washington Irving Hotel. (where we have meals)
After tea, learnt I was on Fire Piquet at Grove House, . Had 2 suppers & went on duty 1.10 to 3.40 a.m.
Had full medical exam – mercury test, etc.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JUNE 4
Posted letter home.
One inoculation this morning, then had our [deleted] passes & [/deleted] identity cards. My photo is terrible.
Had parcel and letter from home, & letter from John. Wrote home again, & to John.
Strolled along the river in evening, & then to the Canteen.
We are on 48 [inserted] hours [/inserted] excuse duty, & arm aches a bit.
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1941 THURSDAY JUNE 5
Wasted time in morning as raining outside & nothing to do. in afternoon wrote to edith, Reg, & Mag, [deleted] Also sent [/deleted] and Rosemary Stapp; also sent picture P.C’s to Jim & Jessie & Eileen Sharpington.
After supper phoned home. Mum answered. All O.K. at home.
We are to be posted to No. 10 I.T.W. on Saturday to Scarborough.
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1941 FRIDAY JUNE 6
Farewell lecture in morning & F.F.I. inspection.
[deleted] Picted [/deleted] Picked up 2 couples in evening boating. Had a fair time.
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1941 SATURDAY JUNE 7
Up at 5 am Train from Stratford 7.15. Via Birmingham Burton on Trent, Derby Chesterfield & York.
Arrived Scarborough 4.15 after lot of shunting at York. We are at Grand Hotel, the biggest here.
Huge place, & [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] in room with Kinker.
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1941 SUNDAY JUNE 8
C.O. Interview & another F.F.I. Interview very short.
[deleted] [indecipherable word] Free In [/deleted] Had bath in afternoon, & went for stroll after tea. Went to a Y.M.C.A for something to eat. Wrote Headmaster & John & home. Had letter from Nel. Ernie has to wait 4 months for R.A.F.
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1941 MONDAY JUNE 9
Our 1st. inspection here this morning. Then a lecture – anti gas. The sergeant giving it was quite a lad. Jokes, etc.
We do not get so much to eat here for meals, but still good quality.
Maths lesson in afternoon. After tea, had morse lesson
Was doing maths homework after supper.
Had another meal at NAAFI canteen, as had very little tea & Supper.
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1941 TUESDAY JUNE 10
More lectures today, with homework nearly all evening.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JUNE 11
Had dental parade today. have to be xrayed on Saturday morning at Scarborough Hospital. Bit of extracted tooth left in when Wallis took them out, & this Dental Officer want to find out what exactly it is. [deleted] H [/deleted] I do not mind as know its all O.K. & nothing wrong.
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1941 THURSDAY JUNE 12
More lectures. Drill first thing in morning by Flt. Lieut. Walker. He is not so good.
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1941 FRIDAY JUNE 13
Very pleased with the post today. had letter from Ada, a very long one from John, & 2 parcels & letters from home, one of which contained slabs of choc.
Heard that Wright is on embarkation leave. Is going to America for training.
John has sudden pash [sic] for Joyce Riley.
Paid 16/- today.
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1941 SATURDAY JUNE 14
Scarborough Hospital for xray. in morning. No result yet. Hosp. is very modern place. Maths in afternoon till 4 o’clock. Met Mr. Dellar in morning, & went to pictures with him in evening. Then to a very good pub. A lot of news about other masters in the forces. Dellar is a sergeant P.T.I. in charge of the Frenchie’s opposite, & we met 2 of [deleted] his [/deleted] them, his pals & had a good supper at a café. (Steak of all things.) Dellar can speak French well, & I [deleted] was [/deleted] could not understand what they were talking about most of time. the froggies only spoke a little English.
Wrote a card home.
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1941 SUNDAY JUNE 15
Church in morning. Not a very good sermon [sic]. Posted a letter to John.
Did Maths swotting in afternoon.
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1941 MONDAY JUNE 16
Had drill among other things. & was in charge by the Flight Sergeant. He was terribly strict. Worst drill lesson so far.
Had last anti gas [deleted] exam [/deleted] lesson before exam on Wednesday.
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1941 TUESDAY JUNE 17
Had last maths lesson before exam tomorrow. Only feel fairly confident about it, but 90% get through, so have nothing to worry about!
Had letter from Maggie.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JUNE 18
Had letter from Dad & parcel & letter from Mum. They have given kitten to the Sidcup Place canter.
Had Anti-Gas exam in morning. Pretty easy as knew 3 or 4 questions before we went in.
Then after tea we had maths exam for 2 hours. Quite easy, & did all except one. Got all answers right barring 3 Sig. figures, but reckon I have 80%.
Result of gas exam comes in evening. I had 79%. The average was 86%
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1941 THURSDAY JUNE 19
Had 2 hours of games on the beach this morning. It was grand.
In the evening went to the concert. It was jolly good – Ronnie O’Dell especially, & his song about P/O Greenwood. He was a cricketer for Yorkshire. Also a smashing drummer, & lots of spicy jokes.
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1941 FRIDAY JUNE 20
Our first lesson in Navigation. Very interesting. All afternoon we had sports. I had a go at the 880 yds. but came 4th. Our Flight (No 4) won the day against the other 3 flights.
Had letter from Dr. Bill.
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1941 SATURDAY JUNE 21
Games on beach again this morning. Very Hot.
Did a little shopping in the afternoon& after tea had to work again – Navigation. This mucked up all the evening. Wrote letter home in evening, as too warm to go out.
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1941 SUNDAY JUNE 22
Church in morning. Walked along cliffs & basked in sun with Stanley. A very hot day, ending in big thunder storm in evening.
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1941 MONDAY JUNE 23
Our old navigation master is on leave, & another chap takes us now. He is terrible so childish.
Another very hot day. Slept in one of the towers as on Wing spotter. No warning during night so did not have to get up.
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1941 TUESDAY JUNE 24
Had parcel from home – a huge slab of chocolate.
We complained about the quantity of food we had at dinner time. they gave about 40 chaps a 2nd helping.
Posted letter in morning to home & a P.C. in evening.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JUNE 25
Had letter from John.
Was on Wing Fire Piquet tonight, & so had to sleep on ground floor. Very annoying when I had to get up at 12.30 am. to find a defective blackout. Just as I’m up its found & have to undress again.
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1941 THURSDAY JUNE 26
Had talk by a Wing Commander of Derby E.F.T.S. this morning. Very good – told us all about E.F.T.S. & flying.
Had letter from Nellie.
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1941 FRIDAY JUNE 27
Paid today – 34/- for 2 weeks. On Wing Fire Piquet again tonight.
No warning thank goodness, so did not have to get up.
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1941 SATURDAY JUNE 28
Navigation in morning only. Walked round the town – posted parcel of clothing home for wash, & wrote letter home, & a card to John. Went with Jim Stanley to see “Comrade X” with Hedy Lamarr & Clark Gable. Quite [sic] good, especially Hedy Lamarr the town, had supper out, & got in at 11.45.
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1941 SUNDAY JUNE 29
Church morning. Strolled with Jim in afternoon along cliffs. Wrote letter to Nel in evening, as could not go out as on Wing Spotter Duty.
Just as we had got in bed in one of the towns gunfire was heard, & from the roof saw a convoy being attached about 20 miles away. Could not see much. Had to get up at 2.45 in the morning for a 1/2 hour warning.
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MEMORANDA
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1941 TUESDAY JULY 1
Had photo taken, & also had morse receiving exam. I got it all O.K. as did many others.
Had letter from Mum
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1941 WEDNESDAY JULY 2
Morse sending exam. Got 98% making 1 mistake. In p.m. we all (squadron) went to a sergeants wedding to throw confetti. Rest of p.m. spent on the beach.
Wrote letter home after supper. A really good day. Letter from Dad
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1941 THURSDAY JULY 3
No sports today as rain interfered for 1st. time
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1941 FRIDAY JULY 4
Had a go at ordering at drill today.
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1941 SATURDAY JULY 5
Had parcel from home which included swim trunks.
Did a lot of shopping in afternoon.
Not [deleted] of [/deleted] a very eventful day.
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1941 SUNDAY JULY 6
Was one of few that went to Church. Rest of morning spent on beach. Went in sea for 1st. time. weather very hot. Sunbathed on beach again all afternoon. in evening tried to swot up some Armaments. We have exam Monday or Wednesday.
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1941 MONDAY JULY 7
Had letter from John. Has got his eye on another dame in Hurst Road.
The weather extremely hot. I think the hottest we have had down here.
We are now not to wear our tunics by order. because of the heat.
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1941 TUESDAY JULY 8
Had letter from home. Dad has been very ill but has practically got over it now (stomach pains).
Wrote letter home
In afternoon went to Peasholm swimming pool. It was grand.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JULY 9
Had Armaments exam. Made a lot of mistakes but think I got through. Then had [deleted] sli [/deleted] root of tooth taken out at Dentist by cocane [sic]. It was not so good.
In p.m. got our flying kit.
Wrote card to Edith
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1941 THURSDAY JULY 10
Was on Squadron Fire Piquet last night & had to get up for 3/4 hour for a warning.
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1941 FRIDAY JULY 11
Pay day. - £1.14.
Last night we all had to go to the shelters when Jerry started dropping a few, but these were miles away.
Had nearly all afternoon on the beach. Went in again, but not so warm.
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1941 SATURDAY JULY 12
This Saturday, we worked in afternoon (Navigation). Have finished course now, & just revising.
Shopping in evening. Had short letter from home.
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1941 SUNDAY JULY 13
Church in morning.
Swotted up for most of day. Not very good weather.
Am very annoyed at losing pen.
Was on Wing Fire Picquet [sic].
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1941 MONDAY JULY 14
So begins the last week here before leave on Friday. Had armaments exam results. I got 77% Very surprised at this.
Had letter from Nel.
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1941 TUESDAY JULY 15
Last night, I had to stay up [deleted] in the mo [/deleted] at 1.30 a.m. for the warning as on Fire Picquet duty. Jerry planes over, & fires in distance
In evening had a Flight party. C.O. there & other officers. Plenty of beer and jokes. Nearly everyone pissed by end of evening. Bed about 1 a.m. A jolly good evening.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JULY 16
C.O. (Walker.) gave us the questions for Law & Hygene exam tommorrow [sic] & the Recognition answers.
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1941 THURSDAY JULY 17
Had Law & Hygiene exam, and also recognition. It was just a farce having got all the answers.
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1941 FRIDAY JULY 18
Had to get up for 2 hours in night because of Jerry & so they put our navigation forward from 8.15p.m.
I Finished the Navi. Exam. 1/4 hour before we caught the 1 p.m. train for HOME. Caught the “Flying Scot” at York. Got home 9.30 p.m.
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1941 SATURDAY JULY 19
Met a few people. In afternoon went down to the school – saw John playing [inserted] cricket [/inserted], Mr. Banfield & a few other chaps.
Raining hard in evening but saw Betty Skinner at St. John’s Hall – very dashing. Also saw Nell, Nora & Kath.
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1941 SUNDAY JULY 20
Dad took me in car to see Meg. [deleted] Having [/deleted] I am inviting her[deleted]e[/deleted] to party on Wednesday. Saw [sic] & few more locals in morning.
In afternoon met John Goldby. He is at an I.T.W. at Kenley so he gets home on the week-ends Met Mary Ritchings, Maureen Bowerman, & a host of others.
Church in evening with John, & later had supper with him.
Ernie has been sacked, but he is telling all that he just “left”.
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1941 MONDAY JULY 21
Did a bit of blacking out for Wednesday’s party. Had photo taken at Kelloways, met Betty & Jerry Flindale & Joan Eldridge. Supper with John.
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1941 TUESDAY JULY 22
Went to town by car in morning. Saw the old firm. Had dinner with Dad & got home by bus.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JULY 23
Had farewell party tonight. Mag, Marg, & Alf, Mrs. Biggs, Mary Ritchings, Joan Eldridge, Marjara Webb, Malcom Miller, Betty Skinner, & Ted the soldier chap, Nora, Kath, Nell, Maureen Bowerman, Dick Kirby.
Had a smashing time. had fun! with Betty in the game “murder”. Took her home but Ted was in the way when we said “goodnight”. Otherwise it would have been more to our liking. Party broke up at 1.30 a.m. but I did not get back till 2.45.
In the morning Dad bought me a very expensive illuminous watch for birthday
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1941 THURSDAY JULY 24
Did not get up till 10.30 a.m.
Went to Bexley swimming Pool as very hot. In evening went to sleep in the sun.
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1941 FRIDAY JULY 25
Took records back to Mag.
Went to the school to say “Hello” & “Goodbye” to Dr. Bill, Mr. Parsons, Mr. Banfield, Mr. Clark & Mr. Palmer, whom I taught a bit of navigation.
Met Mrs. Arthur in afternoon & coming up Longlands came across old woman konked out on kerb due to the terrific heat. With help took her to nearest house. Smashing dame in there – Pat Clive (199, Longlands)
In evening went to tea with Betty, Ted, & Rose, a work friend of Betty’s. Can’t help feeling that she has [inserted] (Betty) [/inserted] fallen for me. She’s a pip though. Had tennis, then supper. Home 11.15 p.m.
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1941 SATURDAY JULY 26
As raining most of day went to town to see Mr. SS. Of G.H. & Co.
Bit of shopping in Sidcup in afternoon. pictures with Betty, Rose, Ted & Mrs. Skinner in evening to Odeon to see Deanna Durbin in “Nice Girl” – not bad. Also “The Man at the Gate” which was quite good.
Supper afterwards & gave Betty an Air Force Brooch. Home 12.15 am.
Bought Mum also an Air Force Brooch.
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1941 SUNDAY JULY 27
Went by car with family & Nellie to catch 1 p.m. train at Kings Cross. In Grand Hotel 7.15 p.m
Have passed Navi exam. 5 failed & [inserted] we [/inserted] are posted to Canada or America
I surmise I go to Canada. I go on Friday.
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1941 MONDAY JULY 28
Busy packing kit into haversacks for inspections. Pilot officer Greenwood now a Flt/Lieut.
Beach after tea.
Wrote to Betty & home in evening.
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1941 TUESDAY JULY 29
Signed [underlined] 21 times [/underlined] for Flying Kit we have not got now – a very thick layer of bullshit
Did nothing all day – no lectures. Went to pictures in evening to see Charlie Chan in “Murder Over New York”
Had a late pass.
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1941 WEDNESDAY JULY 30
5 married chaps go on home postings today.
Wrote letters to Tim & Jess, and Nell.
Spent most of day sleeping, As there is nothing to do.
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1941 THURSDAY JULY 31
Only had F.F.I. in morning.
Was paid £8 for pay until August 15th. full pack inspection later. In evening went to pictures to see Pat O’Brien in “Escape to Glory”. Also an extremely funny ghost film – a very good programme.
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MEMORANDA
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1941 FRIDAY AUG. 1
Up at 5.45. Left Scarboro’ 8.10 and arrived Wilmslow 12.45. Very hot weather with full packs. [deleted] At tea [/deleted] Had a marvellous shower in afternoon & then a very good tea. Am in bunk with Stanley. In evening went with him to pictures & later looked around town. Plenty of dames but a lot of hoars [sic]. Went to a canteen for supper, extremely cheap.
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1941 SATURDAY AUG. 2
At breakfast met Bernard Wright. He has come from an EFTS near Brooklands & is going to Canada now for S.F.T.S.
Later in morning met Williams from school. He’s off to America. I am for Canada
In evening went to see Roselind Russel in “Hired Wife” with Jim Stanley & Compton. A very funny film & very witty. Went for long walk after across fields & back by bus. Had fish & chips after waiting 3/4 hour, & then took a drunk Fleet Air Arm Sailor back to camp. A decent chap.
Posted letter home.
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1941 SUNDAY AUG. 3
In the morning we were kitted with another kit bag, a pair of shoes, & 2 vests.
Lazed about on bunk rest of day. We are only allowed out one night in 6 now.
Wrote letter to Betty but not post it yet.
The food here is better than at Scarborough. Far more meat, & plenty of lettuce & jam.
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1941 MONDAY AUG. 4
We just slept & ate all day. Raining heavily at times.
Absolutely browned off doing nothing all day.
Posted letter to John & Betty.
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1941 TUESDAY AUG. 5
Pouring with rain most of day. Had short talk by an Air Commodore giving us luck & all the rest of it.
Confined to Camp in evening which means we go tomorrow.
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1941 WEDNESDAY AUG. 6
Gave in our anti gas & tin helmets equipment
Had details of our journey & packed.
After supper go to sleep as have to be up for a meal at 1.15 a.m. & we move off 2.15 a.m. (Thursday) [deleted] Terribly crowded for sleeping. Most had hammocks but I slept on the table. [/deleted]
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1941 [deleted] THURSDAY [/deleted] FRIDAY AUG. [deleted] 7 [/deleted] 8
Settle down today, but still awful congestion at meals. Plenty of food including chocolate.
We weigh anchor & start sailing 2.40 p.m. but stop a short way up the Clyde, and finally get going at 7.30 p.m., after which the clocks were put back 1 hour.
Slept on table again tonight.
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1941 [deleted] TUESDAY [/deleted] AUG. [deleted] 8 [/deleted] 7
We arrive at Gourock near Grenack [Greenock] 1.20 p.m. after travelling via Carlisle, Dumphies Glasgow. Left Scotland shore at 2.55 p.m.
We put on board S.S. Strathedon – 23,000 tons gross. We have terribly crowded quarters & the organisation is awfully muddled. Its every man for himself, especially at meal times.
Very congested also for sleeping. At night its just a mass of hammocks packed sardine fashion. I slept on table however as had no hammock.
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1941 SATURDAY AUG, 9
[deleted] Had [/deleted] Out of sight of land now.
Dirty weather later in day, and ship was rolling [deleted] al [/deleted] a bit.
Two Blenheims escorted us early in day.
We are with another troop ship with 3 destroyers as escort.
Slept in hammock tonight. Very comfortable.
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1941 SUNDAY AUG. 10
Lazed about in the morning and read a thriller rest of day. The sea is getting rather rough and the ship is rolling & pitching more.
In evening two more destroyers came up and the other 3 went with the troop ship changing course to go to Iceland.
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1941 MONDAY AUG. 11
Nothing doing today. Very dull. Weather better in morning, but gradually worsened later.
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1941 TUESDAY AUG. 12
Had about 1/2 hour of morse instruction in afternoon, & then walked out. it was too dull.
In the evening was at the sing sing [sic] round the piano.
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1941 WEDNESDAY AUG. 13
Reported the theft of my wallet containing £8. I had hidden it in my clothes last night, and this morning it had gone. There are quite a few chaps in our section whom I would not put it past to do such a thing.
Everybody is losing things – and you cannot put anything down for more than 5 mins. without it being snatched up.
A sailor from one of the [deleted] In evening saw coast of Newfoundland on horizon. [/deleted] 2 destroyers fell overboard & drowned early this morning.
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1941 THURSDAY AUG. 14
Going thro’ thick fog [deleted] all [/deleted] most of today, & ships hooter going every 30 seconds.
Had and went to a sing song and concert in evening. Some quite good turns – singing, verses and jokes.
Gave to fund for sailor’s family. He fell overboard and was drowned a few days ago from one of the destroyers.
In evening saw coast of Newfoundland on the horizon for a few hours only.
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1941 FRIDAY AUG. 15
Lovely sunshine today.
The first time the sun comes out properly on the voyage so far. See a few passing ships & then Canadian coast. We stop at quayside in HALIFAX at 7.23 p.m. Marvellous harbour and country very green. NO black out tonight, & saw lights of town. It was a real treat. At 11.30 p.m. go to shed ashore to give in respirators & collect blankets. First person who speaks to us on land is W/O who tells about Canada – plenty of women & told us to use them well (3 F.L. issued free). He said that here “men are men, & women are glad of them”.
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1941 SATURDAY AUG. 16
In morning go ashore again to collect 10$ (dollars). We get train which left Halifax at 3.35p.m. bound for Swift Current, Saskatcheuanim [sic] pouring rain. They are huge trains with bells & have a lovely horn with a twin note. [inserted] NOVIA SCOTIA STATE [/inserted]
The scenery is marvellous nothing like it in England.
We stop many times, each time talking and giving and getting souvenirs to & from the little kids. Once we were allowed on to the platform this night & we spoke to several girls. they said Dalhousie Junction where Mum has friends is not far away. [inserted] NEW BRUNSWICK STATE [/inserted]
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1941 SUNDAY AUG. 17
[inserted] QUEBEC STATE [/inserted]
Slept on folding seats. Was quite O.K. In the morning we stopped at Rivière du Loup, & had organised walk to do some shopping in the town. It was a small place, & plenty of big cars, & French was main language.
We reached Montreal at 9 p.m. in darkness & were parked for 1 1/2 hours & were not allowed out. the lights of Montreal town were a marvellous sight – like Piccadily [sic] Circus in peace time. [inserted] QUEBEC STATE [/inserted]
We by-passed Quebec on the way here.
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1941 MONDAY AUG. 18
Still travelling & get out for 1/4 hour ramble just before dinner. We saw very few people as it was only a small place. Good scenery of rocks & scrub. Weather quite good & warm but in evening was raining hard.
Stopped at White River [deleted] un [/deleted] at 8.45, but could not get out.
Today, we have been going across Northern Ontario. Most of country wooded & passed several lakes.
The food on the train is super. We get too much in fact. There are 3 big meals a day, and you feel fit to bust after each meal. The food is incredibly good & cooked well.
ONTARIO STATE
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MANITOBA STATE
1941 TUESDAY AUG. 19
Stopped at Kenora just before lunch & had march thro’ town & into country. Was a nice place & quite big, but gave us no chance to buy anything. At about 3 p.m. arrived at Winnipeg, where we had a reception in the station hall. Tea, biscuits, & plenty of mags. were given to us by smashing college girls. Most of the time we were talking to a couple, one of whom was stunning. We were also given 10 fags & bar of chocolate in a packet presented by Ass. of Observers & Pilots of 1914-18. Am keeping this as souvenir of their kindness. We could only stay an hour. Plenty of people cheered us out of the station. Wished we could have stayed longer. They were very decent to give us such a welcome.
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SASKATCHEWAN STATE
1941 WEDNESDAY AUG. 20
Have to get up early [deleted] to have b’fast [/deleted] & arr. Swift Current 5.35 a.m. where trucks (lorries) to us the 5 miles to the camp, alone muddy & bumpy road. The billets are brand new & very good, but we have at least a month to wait before training (flying) as there is another draft to be trained before us yet. Tiger Moths are the planes used here.
In afternoon had to do general duties. I & Bill (Girdwood) were supposed to sweep out mess room. We are absolutely browned off & fed up with the place.
In evening went to free cinema show in the camp. Wooden benches as seats, but quite a good show & some very funny films were shown.
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1941 THURSDAY AUG. 21
We are all detailed for general duties from now on. I & 4 other chaps have Y.M.C.A. to do. changed shoes for a better fit in afternoon after a bit of haggling. In evening took bus with Bill to Swift Current. Posted long letter to home by Air Mail to Coast only, also sent cablegram home “ALL WELL AND SAFE. WRITING. LOVE”. Saw girls practising soft ball; they were marvellously athletic & good looking as well. Walked up & down streets till caught 10 p.m. bus back. plenty of dames here but we have been warned of pox floating around. There is nothing to do here except eat. Can get 1st. class meal for 35C which is very good. Pictures are outrageously dear – 40C so not going to them at all.
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1941 FRIDAY AUG. 22
Had to [underlined] scrub [/underlined] YMCA floor today for inspection by CO tomorrow. Had inoculation [deleted] in ar [/deleted] – 3 jabs in arms.
Disappeared in afternoon to do my clothes washing.
In evening finished long letter to John and wrote one to Rosemary Stapp asking whether I could see her when we get our 2 weeks leave sometime.
We were not paid today. Told we would not be for some time. Have only got 4$ left which is more than [deleted] which [/deleted] what some chaps have.
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1941 SATURDAY AUG. 23
Had to do a lot of cleaning in YMCA again today for inspection & also for visit of Duke & Duchess of Athlone in afternoon
[deleted] Went [/deleted] Got a lift into town in evening & bought a few things & posted letters to John & Rosemary Stapp.
Got a lift back in a smashing car. (Chevrolet) smashing dame inside with boy friend & radio going. In a camp at 9.30 p.m.
Before going to bed let off energy with Bill & Lucien Eccles (Lucy) by having a fight. Jim Stanley sleeps above me & Bill & Lucy next to us.
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1941 SUNDAY AUG. 24
No work today. got a lift into town with Bill in afternoon. Were going to see soft ball game, but the continuous rain must have stopped it. So we just sheltered & saw people joy riding in cars round & round the streets.
After waiting for some time & getting wet, got a lift back by two smashing dames. Discovered they had something to do with the Athlones. They had had breakfast with them, so we did not fix a date.
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1941 MONDAY AUG. 25
Felt very lazy this morning & did practically no work.
Were fitted out with tropical kit in the afternoon but it was taken away to be altered.
Took bus with Bill into town in evening to go to softball match for which we had paid 25C for tickets. When arrived found game cancelled. Very annoyed, as nothing else to do in town. So got a lift back to camp.
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1941 TUESDAY AUG. 26
A little work in morning before the C.O. collected us together & warned us about being late in at night. He thinks we are having easy time.
Were mucking about and fighting with Bill & Lucy for a long time before we went to bed.
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1941 WEDNESDAY AUG. 27
Had dental inspection today. Had a small filling to be done he said. It will be done later no doubt.
In afternoon walked to Swift Current with Lucien, & posted letter to Betty by Air Mail all the way. Got a lift back – by two officers.
[deleted] Pass [/deleted] One is only allowed to Swift Current owing to an epidemic of sleeping sickness, & no one can go out to the area.
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1941 THURSDAY AUG. 28
Had inoculation this morning S/Ldr Turner our C.O. gave us a good ticking off for going around camp with no hats, etc. etc. but lecture finished with us telling him where he got off. We told him all our grouses – pay for one.
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1941 FRIDAY AUG. 29
Had drill this morning, to prepare for parade of passing out of Course 24. Officer was bawling at us telling us we were worst he has ever seen!
Course 27 start on Monday, we may start with them. I hope so. We are course 30. Was paid 8 Dollars this afternoon.
Was very glad to get 2 letters from R. Stapp, my first letters in Canada. She has only just got my letter posted in England when I was on leave. She says O.K. for me to see her if it could be fixed. but have learnt that we have no free travel warrant, so have to [deleted] safe [/deleted] save.
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1941 SATURDAY AUG. 30
Am 19 today. had parade & march past the flag. Sqdn. Ldr. Turner, our C.O. was very nervous & he had his commands whispered for him by a P/O Then had to clean up in gym ready for weekly inspection. Played table tennis & then wrote letter to Rosemary Stapp in afternoon
If I could save enough to get to Windsor, opposite Detroit might be able to see her when she visits her father & sister in Ann Arbor, 40 mls. [deleted] east [/deleted] west of Detroit. But she is seeing them this fall (autumn). Our leave will most likely be after Xmas, if have any at all. Money is the most wanted thing.
In evening went short walk along road with Lucien.
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1941 SUNDAY AUG. 31
Just did clothes washing in morning.
Went for stroll along railway line to Swift Current with Lucien. Bill & Jim were more energetic and walked on to town. We sat down half way for a rest, & then came back in time for tea.
Jim posted letter for me to Rosemary Stapp.
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MEMORANDA
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1941 MONDAY SEPT. 1
P.T. Instructor game us a little drill. Did not do much; the P.T. corporals are browned off as much as we are. Then some P.T. & game off [sic] hand ball in one of the hangers. This is first P.T. we have had for over a month. Had lovely shower after.
Lazed around in afternoon, and wrote letter to John in YMCA after tea, with Lucien
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1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 2
Fell over in rush to get my letter from Betty. Letter was transferred from Wilmslow.
Wrote letter to her in evening, while Jim, Bill & Lucy went to flics [sic] in the camp.
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1941 WEDNESDAY SEPT. 3
Drill & P.T. in morning. Weather rather cold & raining occasionally. Were given some lecture notes books on flying & navigation Lazed about in afternoon reading them. Missed tea to go to town to post some letters for Bill & Lucy & also one from me to Betty.
My bed adjusted to collapse tonight, but bent it up so much trying to put together that had to change with a spare bed.
Bill & Lucy mucked about with my pyjamas until fell off!
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1941 THURSDAY SEPT. 4
Strenuos [sic] P.T. & basket ball in morning. Were taught a few simple holds in wrestling.
We each had an interview with the C.F.I. (Chief Flying Instructor) & C.G.I. (Chief Ground Instructor), but he only wanted to know what he already knew on the form. Age, civi [sic] occupation, etc.
In evening, went with Bill & Lucy to film show. Quite funny in parts, but have seen better on the whole.
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1941 FRIDAY SEPT. 5
Wrote letter home while the rest were paid their Canadian money that they handed in on boat. I had none as all stolen (£8).
In afternoon, were split up into squads. I am in a different squad D3 to Bill & Lucy. Had drill & gave the commands for a little while. Only about 12 in our squad today, because most of them shirked the drill, but was good fun.
Bill, Lucy & I wrote letter to Sandy McPherson asking him to play “Only for Ever” for Bill’s Effie, Lucy’s Nellie & my Betty.
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1941 SATURDAY SEPT. 6
Drill this morning after polishing floor of hut for C.O.s inspection. We have now a radio in the hut for which we each subscribed 60C.
An hour of drill in afternoon as punishment for being late on parade this morning.
In evening got a lift with Lucy into town & did a lot of shopping. Met Bill there, & all got a lift back.
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1941 SUNDAY SEPT. 7
Went to knox Church in morning. Very cold on open lorry. Service very good. After dinner went out with Skyrme & had a lift to town by 3 girls. then had a few kicks of football at the sports ground, & when got lift back the couple asked whether we would like to see country a bit. We said “Yes” & so we went 30 miles South to their home at Neville a small village. Met several people there & had marvellous tea. Then went back with the couple Mr. Birdie & Miss Ritenburg to the social concert after the Church service at the Metropolitan. Mr. Birdie was compère. Had community singing & then several musical turns. Then some more eats, after which Mr. Birdie took us back to camp at 10.25.
Before going to church social we stopped at a house in Swift Current so that Mr. Birdie could think up quiz for social our best evening here yet, & did not cost a cent. [deleted] Are [/deleted] Am going to Metropolitan Church next Sunday & may meet them again.
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1941 MONDAY SEPT. 8
Had navigation, a little drill & Aldis lamp practise in morning. Had letter from Jim & Jessie & enclosed £1.
Had morse, and then armaments/a/c recognition lecture by a sergeant.
We have now a set time table for each day, & have lectures every day from now on.
Not out in evening, but did a bit of swotting at Navigation definitions. We learnt nothing new at Navi this morning. He is going over old ground for a bit.
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1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 9
Navigation, aldis lamp, and was shown the packing of a parachute this morning.
More lectures in afternoon.
Bill & Lucy went to flics in the camp, but I had a hair cut instead.
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1941 WEDNESDAY SEPT. 10
More lectures, and had P.T. today.
In evening went to see boxing tournament in the gym. There were about 7 or 8 bouts, most of the U/T Pilots beating their opponents. They were 3 rounds bouts. The last bout was between “Tiger” and a challenger.
They did comical boxing & challenger was “Knocked out” by arrangement. Very funny fight. Most of time they were thrashing the air. Most of camp there & plenty of officers. Tiger was chaired & given a shield.
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1941 THURSDAY SEPT. 11
More lectures including our first on Theory of Flight.
For navigation saw a film of compass & bearings.
Went to town to get my laundry & buy a loose leaf note book. Back in time for tea. Then went to pictures in the camp with Lucy.
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1941 FRIDAY SEPT. 12
Lectures again today. in aircraft recognition we have to learn all the wing spans of the planes, let alone identifying them. A lot of yankee fighters are very hard to get hold of, & I’m always getting them mixed up.
Not out of camp in evening.
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1941 SATURDAY SEPT. 13
Had morning parade on the square today. A very comical event as most of the officers were not sure what to do.
Knock off work at 12.30. In afternoon go to Swift Current with Bill to do some shopping & take my laundry to the Chinese shop. They do them very well, & starch collars. Paid 25C to see softball match Elks V. Royals of Moose Jaw. Elks won 7-1. Then had a marvellous supper for 35C only. Two eggs & ham, potatoes etc.
Back in camp by 9.30p.m. Not very many people in S.C. for a Saturday.
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1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 2
Church at Metropolitan Church this morning. Had a word with Miss Ritenburg, after Bill, Lucy & I walked over the hills in the afternoon & back in time for tea.
[deleted] Su [/deleted] Swotted up some aircraft recognition in evening.
Yesterday, bought the “Sun” & found me & Skyrme in it, about our visit to Mrs. Ritenburg last Sunday.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY SEPT. 15
Lectures in morning & pay parade in afternoon.
Received $27.
Propose getting a camera, for $15.50 later in week.
Had a telegram from home – birthday greetings
Went to extra recognition class in evening; its soaking in gradually.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 16
Went with Lucien to pictures in the camp. [deleted] Saw [/deleted] in the evening. Saw Dead End Kids in “Call a Messenger”.
Before going to bed had a rough & tumble with Bill, Lucien & others.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY SEPT. 17
Before we had got up, another draft arrived & filled the vacant beds. There is a chap with Bill now.
More lectures including an instructional film on gun sighting & for navigation we swung a Moth on the Compass base.
Had organised sport in afternoon. I played basket ball in the gym.
Before tea went to town to collect laundry & intended [deleted] by [/deleted] buying a camera for 15.50 but no shop had the one I wanted. So have ordered it, although may be long time getting it.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY SEPT. 18
Still no letters from home. have not had any for 8 days now.
One of the planes crashed on the field this evening & smashed the plane up. U/T Pilot not hurt. This was the 1st bad crash here, but there have been several overturns.
Went to pictures with Lucien in evening to see “Safari” with Douglas Fairbanks & Madeleine Carrol. It was a jungle film, & very good & ended up with a kiss, the only one in the film. We all cheered of course.
Very hop day.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY SEPT. 19
Raining most of day, & very cold.
In evening Bill, Lucien & I went to the corn feast down at the Experimental farm. Quite a lot of people there including some nice girls. after some community singing, there were some vocal & piano turns & Skyrme gave a monologue. Then a chap showed some marvellous colour slides of his travels in B.C. & other parts of Canada. Then some movies one of the drought about 15 years ago, & one of the King & Queen’s visit to Canada
Then had plenty of sandwiches & corn. You eat it off the cob, & is smeared in butter. Never had it before & tastes very good. After filling ourselves to capacity had a sing song round the piano. Finishing just before 12p.m.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY SEPT. 20
Ken Fox, Bill, & I
Started in morning for Moose Jaw 120 miles away. Given lift by traveller in coupé. Were stopped by siren by cops for having 4 in front seat, but let off with caution. Arrived 12.30 after 3 hrs.
The * chap gave us his name & address in Winnipeg. [deleted] if [/deleted] Had a meal & looked around & bought a few things, & started back at 3.30pm
After getting hop lifts in 3 trucks & 3 autos, [deleted] we ev [/deleted] and walking about 5 miles, we eventually arrived 9.30 – 6 hours. Only the last ride from Morse was very comfortable. Was too cold to stay in Swift Current so got a lift in C.O.s. car back to camp. Arr. 10.10p.m.
Travelled in 9 vehicles altogether today.
*Al Williamson
249 Furby St. Winnipeg
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY SEPT. 21
Full working day just because some big Air Force bug visited the camp for 3/4 hour in afternoon.
Had lectures of Navi [deleted] of [/deleted] & signals twice & some P.T. In armaments we are starting on the Browning Gun .303. It has very complicated mechanism & when taught by Sgt. Mackey its mighty hard to learn. An L.A.C., however, often teaches us instead of Sgt, & this chap is very good.
Had very interesting Navi lecture. Were shown how to use Course & Speed Calculator.
In the evening after dark a big barn or house was on fire near the boundary of the camp. Quite a big blaze. Bed early.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY SEPT. 22
Split up into squads of 11 each to start flying this morning. My instructor is Sgt. Smith & a decent chap he is. Most of chaps went for 1/2 hour, but I could not have a trip as no time. had a bit of prop swinging instruction & cockpit drill. We shall having flying everyday now, morning & afternoons alternately. Bill & Lucy were up in p.m.
Had arms, signals & airframes in afternoon, & missed tea to go to Swift Current to buy Kodak camera for [deleted] 20 $ 90C [/deleted] $21 odd. A very good one.
We still have no flying kit & go up in borrowed helmets & no Suits.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 23
Al the flights changed round, so [deleted] no h [/deleted] now have a new instructor, another Sgt. Smith; he is not so friendly as the other one but very good all the same, & is English.
Took me up for 15 mins. at 3.30 p.m. in No. 72. Went over Swift Current & back. after Nash & Murray had gone up, Smith gave me a bit of taxying practise for about 10 mins. only. This is quite easy.
In evening went to flics to see [deleted] “Syracuse”. [/deleted] “The Boys from Syracuse”. Funny in parts but not extra good. Had a repeat telegram birthday greetings. [deleted] of [/deleted] Also had telegram from Dad I think that he is sending over $50. I don’t know how is going to manage it.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY SEPT. 25
I was only one of our flight who went up this morning. Went with Flt. Lt. Smith for weather test. Clouds 800ft. up, & ice & visibility not too good. So [deleted] now [/deleted] no flying at all this day. Lectures in afternoon – Engines, Arms, Signals & Airframes.
Very cold all day today. pullovers, greatcoats & gloves came out.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY SEPT. 25
Lectures in morning. Had our flying kit issued first thing after dinner, & then had flying.
I had 40 mins., having lessons on straight & level flying, climbing & gliding. Was a bit awkward at first but soon got the hang of it. Once Sgt. Smith put plane into steep dive which felt rather queer, but otherwise quite O.K.
Flying kit is not so good as English Kit. Have no gloves yet, although it is not cold enough to wear full flying kit yet.
Had a duplicate telegram of one received 23rd. Sept.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY SEPT. 26
Snow flurries in morning and extremely cold. [symbol] no flying. Instead copied up back notes. Had arms, airframes and P.T. in afternoon
Had yet another telegram from home today, to say that they cannot send from England to here.
We may be flying on the weekend to make up lost time today.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY SEPT. 27
Below freezing this morning due to hard frost. Had the usual [deleted] St [/deleted] Saturday parade. Flying in afternoon. got in two flights of 30 mins each & did medium & steep turns, and once I took off after [deleted] 3 [/deleted] [inserted] 2 [/inserted] attempts, the plane swinging round at the first attempts.
Went into the city in evening but did not stay long. Bought a few things.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY SEPT. 28
Had a nice lay in bed this morning and got up finally at 10a.m.
Felt too lazy to go out or to church. So wrote long letter home.
Took some photos of me, Bill & Lucy, etc. & later of a Harvard that had just arrived from U.S. In a hanger we counted 20 Harvards. These are for when the station is changed over to an S.F.T.S.
Quite warm today & plenty of sunshine in contrast to the last few days.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY SEPT. 29
Flying this morning but only had 30 mins., & even then he did not let me take off alone, or start landings.
After Nash & Murray had gone up going landings our kite was taken in for overhaul. This was a confounded nuisance as it would not be ready till tomorrow p.m.
Had lectures & P.T. in afternoon & saw [deleted] pl [/deleted] crashed plane catch fire. The solo pupil got out O.K. in time. He did a bad landing caused by the big gusts of wind coming up at about that time.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY SEPT. 30
Had lectures and P.T. this morning. Had 2 weeks pay - $27, and then flying in afternoon. Had No. 5139 plane & got in only 30 mins.
Did some spins after climbing to nearly 4000 ft.
It feels quite good especially at the start when you fall out of [deleted] glide [/deleted] flat glide.
Have now done 3 1/2 hours, & did my first landing today. had letter from Mum on holiday with family at Bere Regis, Dorset. Peter has now a motor bike.
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[blank page]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[blank page]
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY OCT. 1
Had 55 mins of circuits & bumps on the emergency ‘drome at [deleted] St. Aldwins [/deleted] * on plane No. . Did about 5 landings only one of which was a good one. Take off’s are getting a bit better, although still tending to swing when tail comes off ground.
Wrote letter to Nellie in evening to fill in time.
*Wymark.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY OCT. 2
Lectures as usual in morning – including P.T. which is very strenuos [sic] nowadays.
In afternoon had yet another kite No. 5044 in which I did a prefect take off & shown incipient spins right above the plane that crashed this morning about a mile S.W of Swift Current. The solo pupil baled out because he thought the controls were not responding in a stall turn. Had only 25 mins. flying & landed badly. I get to stalling speed 10 ft. above grd. & instructor opens throttle a bit & lands her further on
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY OCT. 3
Flying in morning on our original crate 5072. Had 2 flights 30 & 40 mins. doing circuits & bumps. Cannot land very well yet.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY OCT. 4
No parade this morning. The other squads had flights this morning while we were supposed to have lectures, but only did work on our own for 1st. period & then signals. Lucien went solo this morning after passing test after 7 1/2 hours flying. He is one of 6 in the other squad who went solo, & did it in least number hours. Bill turned his crate onto his nose, but no serious damage.
[deleted] In [/deleted] Went into town for supper with Bill & Lucy & later into pub where celebrating solo’s & football cup won by our course today
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY OCT. 5
Missed breakfast & had a nice lay in bed all morning. Wrote letter to Betty in afternoon, & went with Bill (Girdwood) to evening church at the Metropolitan (Rev. Ranns) and had the social after. Was a very good sermon. Had some community singing & musical turns at the gathering & also sandwiches & cakes. Mr. Birdie gave us (Skyrme, Murray, Bill & me) a lift back to camp.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY OCT. 6
We were on flights in the morning. But wind was very strong and gusty which did not make circuits & bumps very good. Did quite good landings however. On second trip up did spins & Sgt. Smith did a loop. Did not think a lot of it. Not much sensation as in spins. Also learnt power approach landings. Total time 40 mins. today making total of 06.30 hrs. flying time.
Lectures & P.T. as usual in afternoon.
Wrote a letter home in evening. Will post tomorrow.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY OCT. 7
This morning 3 kites piled up when landing because of high wind, and our flights in afternoon were cancelled.
Went with Bill & Lucy to film show in camp to see a very film [sic] “- angels have no wings” with Rita Hayworth & Jean Arthur.
Was a flying film & very good; the best in camp so far.
[deleted] After tea went [/deleted]
Before tea went to town to take an exposed spool from camera.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY OCT. 8
Flying in morning, but was very bumpy under 1000 feet. Went up to 4000 ft. to do instrument flying under the hood, climbing turns & a spin to lose height.
Lectures – engines, signals, P.T., and armaments in afternoon.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY OCT. 9
Lectures in morning. Had our helmets back today.
Was very bucked when did 2 perfect landings in 15 mins. up. I tried to get Sgt. Smith for me to go on solo test but would not let me. Later went up again for two circuits one of which the landing was not so good. Sgt. Smith said he was glad I bumped it & had to put on throttle because it would not make me so [inserted] over [/inserted] confident.
However, he said if I was as good tomorrow morning he would let me do solo test. Excluding instrument flying & climbing turns which don’t count before solo, & including today have now done 7.10 hrs. Bill solo today after 9 3/4 hours.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY OCT. 10
Very annoyed this morning as wind was reaching 40 m.p.h. & was far too rough for solo test. Did one circuit & made a bit of bump landing due to wind so opened up throttle & went round again. did good landing this time, & then packed up. after about 10 o’clock wind increased to gale force blowing up dust storm on ‘drome. So no flying.
The meals we are getting nowadays are terrible. The breakfast this morning was a disgrace. Porridge made of water & not cooked, bacon stringy, & tomatoes burnt. We complained to our Flight Commander F/Lt. Smith & have put in a general complaint about it. We used to get better food in Scarborough.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY OCT. 11
Lectures in morning, & as missed lot of flying due to weather this week had flights in afternoon. went up in terrible crate No. 5 59. No brakes on the thing, engine only revved to 2,100 (climbing revs), & could not see altimeter very well ‘cause of protective rubber. Took off into sun & did 3 landings all just so so. Had 25 mins. Then was going to have solo after wind dropped & sun went lower but was left too late, as packed up 5.30 p.m. So have to wait till Monday, if weather O.K. & I bet it isn’t.
[indecipherable name] was first to go solo in our flight, early this afternoon.
Felt browned off at not having done test so did not go to town with Bill & Lucy. Did a bit of swotting for Monday’s mid term exam on armaments. Don’t feel exactly happy about it especially as 13th.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY OCT. 12
Did not go out of camp at all today. most of time spent brushing up armaments & wing spans of aircraft for tomorrow’s or Tuesdays exam. We have idea of questions already.
Weather very nice & sun shining all day. Am hoping for calm wind & good weather tomorrow as hope for solo test.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY OCT. 13
Excellent flying weather this morning. Was up early at 8.10 a.m. for 35 mins doing 3 circuits, & did good landings. Was waiting all morning for Flt. Smith to take me on solo test. He only starts at 10 o’clock taking two in turn on solo, & then his pupils. I gave the timekeeper a message from Sgt. Smith to ask Flt. Smith that when he came down he was to take me. He did not come in till 12.10p.m. & even though was too late (dinner was 12.30 p.m) the timekeeper forgot the message. Was I mad!! I’ve been waiting since Friday for this test: next chance is tomorrow [underlined] IF [/underlined] weather O.K.
13 certainly lived up to reputation today.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY OCT. 14
Had armament exam this morning. Was very easy – more so as had no difficulty in using cribs & even our notes. In middle of exam C.G.I. Sq. Ld. Turner asked me & Lowden to go to flights, after exam. It was for solo test
I had F/O Mclaren, but was not passed because I drifted when landing & taking off. Otherwise O.K. did 3 circuits & bumps; wind was very rough & bumpy & constantly changing. Flying again in p.m. doing few good circuits & bumps with Sgt. Smith. When not flying was on duty in watch tower & had [deleted] an [/deleted] 2 hours there at 7.15.
At dinner table met P. Thomas of all people (from school). Found out from him that home now have my address here. He has come in latest batch, which makes 4 courses here altogether. Did not have much time to speak to him but hope to see him again. 3 kites crash today.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY OCT. 15
Flying again this morning in good weather although fairly strong wind later. After few circuits & bumps with Sgt. Smith went with Flt. Smith and passed me [underlined] SOLO [/underlined]. I did good take off, one complete circuit, & then 2 more landings. Which did very nicely. He got out & did a circuit. Had to put on engine a bit as undershooting but landed O.K. Picked Flt Smith again who took us back to hangars. Then later had 60 mins. doing blind flying & then low flying which was really good. Lectures in afternoon.
Went to town in early evening to send cables to home & Betty about solo. bill & Lucy & me had 2 beers on me in wet canteen in evening to celebrate solo.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY OCT. 16
Had aircraft recognition exam this morning. Got all 25 right. marks 50/50. Armaments exam result was I got 91% and 10th in class of 86.
Flying circuits & bumps in afternoon, but when was all set for having a go at solo they run out of gas which grounded most aircraft. Cooper of “C” Flight crashes a plane when landing & makes a proper mess of a brand new kite. This is about “C” Flights’ 6th. [deleted] exa [/deleted] crash while we have had only one – by Mager – tipping the kite on its nose & wing when taxying.
Wrote letter home & had it posted Air Mail.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY OCT. 17
Had plenty of flying this morning solo as well as dual. had 1.40 hours solo altogether. Did a whole hour flipping around to St. Aldwin where I landed once. At home ‘drome had a shock when saw a plane less than a wing span distance away when bumped a landing. Full throttle & off again was action I took. Found out when got down it was Lowden. Before a [sic] had to take evasive action by full throttle & diving low to avoid a kite that was gliding down on top of me when I was landing approaching. He was too near for my liking.
Had Airframes & then engines exam in afternoon. do not think have many marks in the latter, the same as everyone else. They were too strict for us to crib.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY OCT. 18
Airmanship exam in morning. Not very difficult. Later had a lecture on the Link Trainer. We start on Monday in turn. We were to have flying in afternoon but the wind was too strong thank goodness. Wrote letter to Betty [deleted] to [/deleted] in afternoon. went to town in evening with Lucien to buy a few things. Went to pictures (40C) to see Ray Milland in “I wanted Wings”. Was a very good picture about U.S.A. training for pilots. Some smashing low flying with Harvards; Flying Fortress’s also in picture.
Had supper after and then back to camp by bus.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY OCT. 19
Spent most of day writing letters. Went to town alone to post two to John & Mr. McNelly of Regina. His address has been given me from home by Mrs. Wright of Manor Road. [deleted] his [/deleted] he is her cousin, and have asked him whether can visit him one week end.
Aero engines results out. I got 56% & was 12th. 22 failed including Lucy who got 32% Bill had 51%.
In evening wrote to Rosemary Stapp, Edith & Dr. Bill.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY OCT. 20
Flying in morning. As the course 30 has now finished there are plenty of kites. My instructor is one of 3 who are transferred to “B” Flight hangar. However, only got in 1 hour solo and 10 min. dual. circuits & bumps
Had signals exam in afternoon. very easy & had no mistakes.
Had 82% & was 10th. in Airframes exam
Swotted up some navigation in evening in Y.M.C.A. for exam tomorrow morning.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY OCT. 21
In morning had navigation exam. Was a very easy paper but marked strictly. Results out by evening. I had 72%. (a little below average).
Flying in afternoon. very good flying weather except for a few bumps. This morning was the most perfect day we have had here. Did about an hour solo and another hour dual doing sideslips, and blind flying & steep turns.
Had cable from home. Congrats. for solo.
In evening went to extra engines lecture.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY OCT. 22
Got in plenty of flying this morning and also had 45 min of Link. Was quite easy.
Lectures as usual in afternoon, and went to extra engines lecture in evening. As we are moving to Bowden, B.C. on the 30th we are to have our final exams next week beginning Monday.
[deleted] Chap [/deleted] Holderness crashed into Hennessy when taking off this afternoon. both are from “C” flight. Our flight “B” flight have only had one mishap.
There are 15 chaps off the course up to now mostly due to bad landings.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY OCT. 23
Lectures in morning, and in afternoon was in the air almost all the time. from 1.30 to 5.0p.m. was only on ground out of the kite for 1/4 hour.
Did some precautionary landings, blind flying, action in case of fire, a bit of low flying, & spins, etc. Went to aircraft recognition extra class in evening. At supper learnt that we should not be moving to Bowden, Alberta on the 30th. it has been put off for for 3rd. time, as so hope we have no final exams on next week as arranged.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY OCT. 24
Flying in morning back again at “D” Flight as the other course (no. 36) start today. Had my nearest scrape today while solo. was shooting up the ferry on Saskatchewan River when suddenly saw high cable stretched across the river. Just missed it & dived over it. When dual learnt & did loops.
Exams next week have been put off because not going to Bowden: except arms. (oral) and aircraft recognition on Monday.
Mechanics arrived here from Vancouver Island who came over on the boat with us.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY OCT. 25
Out with Bill in evening doing shopping, and also phoned Mr. McNelly of Regina, saying we might be able to come over next Saturday as D.R.O.’s say we are working on Sunday, so think Saturday is a free day.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY OCT. 26
Wrote letter to Betty in morning after getting up late. Went to town with Bill in afternoon and took some snaps of a train, a streamlined engine.
The cold weather has come back again. a very [deleted] f [/deleted] cold breeze today. are told weather will break any time now, and the snow will come.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY OCT. 27
Flying this morning. Was terribly cold especially when solo even when wearing the 2 flying suits.
Had oral armaments exam this afternoon. think have passed but did not do terribly well.
Then after tea had aircraft recognition exam also the final. Got on quite well.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY OCT. 28
Lectures in morning. Started snowing lightly but by afternoon had grown into blizzard.
Instructors where [sic] flying however looking for Thomas who lost himself. He landed at Wymark in the end.
The weather is terribly cold, & the hut is very cold as furnace has gone wrong & not giving full heat.
I got 79% in Airmanship exam.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY OCT. 29
On Link Trainer first thing this morning. Did not get on very well. Doing a left hand turn finished up in a spin. Then on the Moth had the flight Commanders test with F/Lt. Smith. We all have such a test after 30-40 hours. Did climbing turns, steep turns, instrument flying (under hood) a spin, glide, sideslips & landed. Then had only 45 min. solo. Landmarks hard to pick out with the snow on the ground.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY OCT. 30
Flying as usual in afternoon, but only got in 1.10 hours dual on a Navigation excesise [sic] to Ferry, to success and back.
Snow on ground has almost all melted now.
Result of final arms. exam out. I had and was 21st. Better than I expected.
Another 2 courses have arrived, [deleted] by [/deleted] but one is expected to move on.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY OCT. 31
Did a cross country flight solo this morning via Cadillac and Webb – 110 miles in 1.40 hours
At tea, met Searle (from school) He is in one of the courses that arrived day before yesterday, and are moving on to near Calgary very soon.
Bed early because going to Regina in morning to visit McNelly’s
Most chaps out tonight as it is Halloeen’s [sic] night.
[deleted] Were [/deleted] Was paid 35$ today.
[page break]
MEMORANDA
Flying hours. Dual 20.30
Solo 15.30
[underlined] Total 36.00 [/underlined]
Mid Term
[underlined] Exam results. [/underlined]
Airmanship 79%
Navigation 72%
Airframes 82%
Aero engines 56%
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY NOV. 1
Started out 8a.m. for Regina. Hitch hiked 2 cars, gas truck & cattle truck. Arrived in light rain 1.30 p.m. McNelly’s house
Elspeth older than thought, but all very nice. Showed me over Parliament Buildings where she works, & saw town from roof. Got an eyeful of the town. Is a very nice town and very clean, although not very good weather. Took some photos & sent off postcards to Betty and home. Got the 6.15 p.m. train back which left at 6.45. arrived in camp 11.15 p.m.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY NOV. 2
Flying all day today.
Got in 2.45 hrs. solo and 1 hour dual, during which Sgt. Smith did some low flying which turned my inside over after a bit. Felt a bit sick but was O.K. soon after. Lucien lost himself and force landed 65 miles away. Its going to be hard for him to live this down. Was on the X/country but turned wrong direction at Cadillac. Finished up near Johnstone Lake.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY NOV. 3
Flying again in morning. Very low cloud (900 feet) but when solo went above them and saw the sun. lectures in afternoon as per usual. Did not go out in evening: started snowing quite hard in evening.
Eric Markham (Ginger) turned a kite over at St. Aldwyn. [deleted] Note [/deleted] Not hurt very much but made a neat mess of the kite. This is the first crash in our flight, but it happened to be “B” flight’s kite which we had borrowed. “C” flight have many accidents to their credit and more failures
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY NOV. 4
Snowing this morning – thus stopping flying all day.
Learnt a/c recognition result – I had 43/50.
In evening went to film show. Dorothy Lamour in “Jungle Princess”.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY NOV. 5
Not snowing but very high cold wind. Went up dual only. Came down and swopped cockpits & Sgt. Smith did some blind flying. Was very good. Also I had some link this morning. Was much better mainly due I think to the different Sgt. Paddon.
Lectures in afternoon as per usual and P.T.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY NOV. 6
Issued with a flying kit kit [deleted] back [/deleted] bag and some black leather gloves which have to do for flying.
Flying solo in p.m. very strong wind & very tricky landing. Taxying across wind terrible & without brakes would be impossible.
Bill and Lucy night flying in evening.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY NOV. 7
Had C.F.I. test by F/Lt. Bullmore his assistant. Was up 35 min. which included blind flying, loops, stall turns, forced landing. Made a hash of the side slip in the latter by going too fast. He passed me however. Have now done 46 hours total.
In the evening from 8.40 p.m. to 9.40 p.m. did some night flying with Sgt. Smith. Did about 6 circuits, in which I took off in 4 and landed O.K. twice. The number of lights in the camp was surprising. Judging the landing is not so easy, but have got the hang of it now. Sgt. Said I was quite good.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY NOV. 8
Free day for our Flight today. in morning went to town to buy Xmas Cards & sent a food parcel off home. Came back to camp for dinner & went back again to town to get rest of Xmas Cards & bought & sent off 3 pairs silk stockings to Betty.
Stayed in camp in evening as too tired to go out again.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY NOV. 9
Supposed to be flying all day but only got 35 mins. dual in afternoon. doing rolls. Was hanging upside down with head on cockpit cover the first time. I did a few but not very good ones.
We have our final exams next weekend end [sic], & are supposed to be moving from here on 24th. [deleted] O [/deleted] Nov. if we get though these exams. we must not fail more than 2 exams or we are off altogether.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY NOV. 10
Had 1 hour dual this morning & could do nothing right, & made a super mess of the steep turns. Then had 2 separate hours solo, during which I had some good fun doing stall turns, loops, rolls & spins.
Lectures in afternoon & did a bit of swotting in evening.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY NOV. 11
Lectures in morning. In afternoon, had 1 hour in watch tower, then 1 hour flying dual (cross wind take off’s & landings – a roll, spin & instrument flying) & then back for 1/2 hour in watch tower again & then had 3/4 hr. in Link. Did nothing right. They are sure to put me on fighters now, although want bombers. In evening 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. had night flying with F/Lt. Smith. Very strong wind, but got on fairly O.K. but when landing felt he had the stick; which is rather annoying. You can’t get the feel of the thing.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY NOV. 12
Flying in morning. Had 2 hours solo & 45 min. dual. Good flying weather. Lectures in afternoon as usual.
Corporals have now been put in charge of our huts. They get us up at [underlined] 6 [/underlined] o’clock. And on todays D.R.O.’s we are to be [underlined] marched [/underlined] to meals. 3 courses at once, which is going to make the congestion even worse. I cannot understand the mentality of those who make such an order.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY NOV. 13
Flying cancelled this afternoon due to gale. Instead had free afternoon except an hour of films on Theory of Flight, the subject which we are very weak on, because we have had such disjointed lectures by different instructors.
This evening had some gen. on the questions we will have for navigation exam on Saturday.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY NOV. 14
Gale still blowing. But as so many hours behind we went up dual. I was up for 50 min. Taking off, Smith touched a wing tip, but took off straight away. Climbed up to 7000 ft. under hood & then did a few rolls. Sgt. then did a roll off loop, & then an inverted spin. Does not feel very comfortable eyes bulge. Landed in dust storm, mechs. Grabbed our wing tips.
Was on Link later on in morning. Did a bit better but turn indicator kept sticking.
Swotting in evening fore [sic] exams tomorrow & Sunday.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY NOV. 15
3 hour Navigation exam in morn. Mucked plot up a bit, but otherwise think I did O.K. Airframes & Airmanship in afternoon, both of which were very easy.
In evening did swotting for Engines & Theory of Flight, both of which we are not looking forward to especially the latter.
Latest is we should be moving on the 24th. on Monday week.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY NOV. 16
Theory of Flight exam in morning. Much easier than ever hoped for. Did quite a good paper. Then Aero engines, which was also quite easy. At end of latter exam C.G.I. Turner caught Knibb cribbing. Then saw lot of desks marked. So said exams to be done again, but we are refusing. Terrific arguments with C.G.I. this afternoon while waiting for signals exam. Signals I got O.K.
Late this evening C.G.I. is breaking down saying he will see tomorrow morning about having exam again. Sgt. Cotton, engines instructor told C.G.I. that Knibb should be suspended from Course, which is what is going to happen. Just dirty thing Cotton would do.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY NOV. 17
No flying for us this morning, as ceiling too low. Very misty & damp – just like England. Aired our grievances to our F/Lt. Smith the Flight Commander. He’s a real nice chap & sees our point of view.
In afternoon was shown over our Navigation exam papers individually. I had 134/200 = 67%. He has knocked off marks very lavishly, & marked them very strictly.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY NOV. 18
[underlined] Final Exam Results [/underlined]
Airmanship. 167/200
Airframes 86%
Aero Engines 88%
Signals 70%
Theory of Flight 66%
Navigation 134/200
Arms/A/C rec. 165/200.
Average [underlined] 77.6% [/underlined].
Position 35th.
Bills’ Average was 75%
Luciens - - 65.7%
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY NOV. 19
Had farewell dinner down town in evening. Unfortunately Sgt. Smith left soon after dinner. Most of us were tight as lords by the end. Skyrme took me & another chap home in a taxi. Went out cold when in hut – so Bill says, & was stripped & put in bed.
Our Sgt. Smith has not been on ops.
I am going to Medicine Hat on twins. Bill going to Moose Jaw on Saturday. Eccles, “Foo” Fox, [indecipherable name], Markham, Cpl. Bowley & me going on twins.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY NOV. 20
Woke up with awful hangover this morning, but was sent up flying all the same. Did low flying to keep awake. Went to sleep in crew room in afternoon. went to town with Bill in evening to find his coat & my hat at Healy Hotel. Did not find my hat there but a chap wearing it in a café where we had tea. Then went to pictures.
Home by taxi.
Bought some anti glare glasses. $6
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY NOV. 21
A blizzard blowing – hence no flying.
Scrubbed hut floor ready for moving, & in afternoon wrote letters.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY NOV. 22
Moose Jaw chaps went today including Bill. They got 4.45 train. Very cold. After seeing Bill off, Lucy & I had a meal & then went to picture show. Came straight back because of the cold.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY NOV. 23
Had a nice lay in bed all morning till dinner. Cleared all the junk out of my locker in p.m.
Did not go out in evening; I was going to church but decided too cold.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY NOV. 24
No work of flying for us. Got some sleeping hours in most of morning. Wrote letter to Betty and went out alone in late afternoon to town where I had tea.
A very strong wind blowing, but is a bit warmer & snow is melting slightly making it very slippery.
Some of the motor transport section left for Bowden this morning. I think we are flying over on Wednesday. We are flying solo – which is going to be very boring – no one to talk to. we land at Medicine Hat,
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY NOV. 25
Packed kit ready for tomorrow. I am in group of 6 flying lead by F/O Musgrave & P/O Neilson, L.H. Brown, Pain & Goodsir. We leave at 8.15 a.m. P/O Neilson is a real lad – but unfortunately he was grounded later in day for shooting up Swift Current. He & Musgrave are Canadians. I am flying No. 5033 of B Flight.
Went to flics [sic] in camp in evening. Good show.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY NOV. 26
S/C Medicine Hat 8.10 a.m. in No. 5033. P/O Musgrave was leading our V formation of Brown, Paine, Goodsir, Sgt. Davidson & I. Only Pain & Brown got to M. Hat – all the rest ran out of gas with drome in sight. I force landed in field, had dinner in farm & came back to find kite had gone. Field was about 11 miles from ‘drone, so Nick Nash, the farmer took me by truck to ‘drome. 12 of the kites had run out of gas altogether but no crashes. I force landed at 10.52 after 2.42 hours flying.
Med. Hat a very good drome & have not seen so many kites at once. Plenty of Oxfords & Harvards. Also Sestrals (Canadian Oxfords), Lysanders & a Boston.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY NOV. 27
From Med. Hat S/C Lethbridge 9.30, but had to return because of low cloud & fog Landed Med. Hat 11.15. But at 1.30 took off again for Calgary. Had tail wind all way – arrived Calgary 3.45 after doing 3 circuits before could get down due to the masses of Tigers landing at once. No sleeping accommodation for us here so were moved by open truck freezing cold 11 miles, thro’ town to the other drome, a Canadian S.F.T.S.
Too tired to go & see town but looked good when went thro” it – plenty of lights
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY NOV. 28
Had to get up very early & straight after breakfast at 7a.m. were taken by open truck to the other airport; but ceiling too low for flying around for 2 hours. Slept in afternoon & after tea went down town. Hundreds of lights & swell shops. Me & Foo (Fox) met Saw Davids & Reg. Bowley & went to a super café to have some ices & then to flics to see Fred McMurray & Madeleine Carrol in “One Night in Lisbon”, which was a really good & funny picture. Also another long picture “The Penalty” was good, & a few turns on the stage. We then had supper & got a taxi back .
In camp about 12.30.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY NOV. 29
Still low cloud & mist this morning. After lot of hanging around all day they decided to send us off to Medicine Hat by train & not take kites right to Bowden. Were taken down to the station where met other half of our course that got to Bowden on same day as they left S.Current, on Saturday.
Got 7.30 p.m. train & arrived after midnight. After having a supper & talk by W/O – a nice bloke – went to bed very tired – at 2.15 a.m.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY NOV. 30
Up at 7.30 a.m. & after breakfast had to sign many many forms, including Will, & then F.F.I. inspection. A good dinner & then all time spent in unpacking & settling down in new bed spaces. I am over Lowden & as we are at the end of the hut we have no lockers. Have to make do with boxes.
Have good meals here – butter, Sugar, jam & honey on the table for you to help yourself. Contrast to S. Current.
We are 33 Course here, & have 12 weeks here – the first month being ground lectures & then exams, & then all flying.
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[blank page]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[blank page]
[page break]
1941 MONDAY DEC. 1
Started off on the course today, with Pyrotechnics (Armaments) and Navi. Airmanship & more pyrotechnics in afternoon. the daily programme is from 08.00 to 5.30 p.m. & then extra signals after tea till 7.30 p.m. Link goes on till midnight. I was on 10-11 p.m. Got on very well the best ever on any Link! An old P/O was instructor & very nice. The links here have a wheel instead of a stick, & I like them better than the stick.
Had a talk by the M.O. on the usual precautions especially against Med. Hat girls. Also talk by Padre.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY DEC. 2
More lectures. Had talk by the C.O. a wing commander.
He did not impress us.
Could tell he liked bullshit.
Took poor view of him.
During morning, a storm blew up suddenly blowing clouds of dust across the camp.
In evening wrote a letter home.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY DEC. 3
Lectures again including one on meteorology by a civy [sic] instructor. Very boring & he did not make it very interesting. At dinner time a terrific wind got up, and died right down again to calm by 2.0 p.m.
These sudden high winds we often [deleted] got [/deleted] get from the Rockies are known as Shinooks.
In evening went down town alone to cable home my address & posted letter home. Came back early as town almost deserted as early closing
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY DEC. 4
Had several films for armaments & navigation in todays lectures. Also met. again which was again boring.
Had letter from Rosemary & one from Dick Kirby of all people. He said John was going in R.A.F. on Nov! What a thing for him to do. also he said that a work pal [deleted] ha [/deleted] Peter Boucher, had been to Swift Current. I can’t remember his face but know he slept not far away in my hut.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY DEC. 5
Lectures all day again, including a film on I.C. engines. Was on Link in the evening from 9 to 10. Got on quite well, but when the artificial horizon was covered over the last 1/4 hr. my turns were not very good.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY DEC. 6
Lectures all day to 4.30 p.m. had tea & went down alone down town. Met “Foo” Fox & Lucy straight away & did some shopping. Then they were going back to camp early, so I left them, went to Empire Club. I was then just going to picture show when Nick Nash & [deleted] girl [/deleted] daughter met me (farmer whose field I force landed). Walked round block several times & went to Moose Hall (dancing) did not go in however (I had boots on). They met quite a few nice girls & Miss Nash (has no 1st name) is nice piece of stuff. [deleted] slo [/deleted]
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY DEC. 7
Compulsory church parade this morning, after which rest of day is our own. News over radio at dinner time announced Japan had bombed Honolulu. Then in afternoon Japan declared war on England & America. In afternoon walked across the fields & hills to town with Brian Perkins & Edyuean. In town made unsuccessful inquiries for hiring a car to Banff on our leave at Xmas. But chap in white taxi we came back in offered to take 5 of us for same [indecipherable word] as train (7$) The 5 are me, Brian, John Pascoe, Eric [indecipherable word], & “Murf” Murray. [indecipherable word] decided to accept good offer if & when we know we have 2 clear days leave
[page break]
1941 MONDAY DEC. 8
A day of history. America declares war on Japan as we do, & many other countries do. Japs have invaded Thailand & Malay & bombed plenty of U.S.A. warships in Honolulu. Blackout in Washington tonight. Heard Churchill on radio at lunch time.
American news has been coming over almost every 1/4 hour with war news. What a noise they are making about it.
Am Saturday learnt that we are going [deleted] of [/deleted] on Harvards on a fighter course to our great disgust.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY DEC. 9
Cold weather on us now. Light snow flurries last night. Extremely cold wind. Was on link in evening on No. 3 link. It was terrible. Almost U/S. Just would not bank evenly or keep level.
A Canadian pupil from Lethbridge was killed in a Harvard today when he crashed near emergency landing field. Instead of climbing up through them he went down through low clouds & hit the deck where hits the high ground.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY DEC. 10
More news – “Repulse” & our latest battleship Prince of Wales both sunk by Japs. planes.
Had letter from Bill Girdwood at Moose Jaw. He went solo after 6 hours. Field & Knibb have been kicked off the course.
Had an hour of extra navigation as we are supposed to be behind.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY DEC. 11
Received cable from home. They have received my parcel I sent on Nov. 8.
Again had another hour of extra navigation in the evening after tea. But before the end it started into talk of aircraft in general, & aviation talk.
This navi. instructor is a really decent chap & gives us plenty of hints about flying Harvards.
Later on was on Link from 10-11 p.m. Did not get on very well as link was partly unserviceable
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY DEC. 12
Had lot of fun during lectures today. in Theory of Sighting we were all trying [sic] fathom out the Reducing Valve having glorious arguments with the instructor – Flt. Sgt. He’s a nice chap & always calling out “Quite”.
Instead of engines had a lecture on the Vital Actions for the Harvard, because we start flying next week.
It seems that as soon as you throttle down you stall. If you do anything wrong you always stall it.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY DEC. 13
Working all day. Were frozen through in the afternoon down at the range, where we harmonized on a Browning & after a lot of hanging around were shown some pyrotechnics. fired. Smoke Generator & some Signal Cartridges & a 1 lb. Rocket.
In evening after being on link trainer, went down town. Did a small amount of shopping & then went to see Gene Tierney & Bruce Cabot in “Sundown”. Was a very good film, [deleted] esp [/deleted] & Gene Tierney was especially good.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY DEC. 14
I and Lowden were on a Harvard cockpit lecture for 1/2 hour given by the engine Corporal. He showed us how various things worked & what instruments were for. Played football in afternoon. Swift Current ex-pupils were playing the De-Winton lot of our course. We won 2-1.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY DEC. 15
Busy day. [deleted] Were [/deleted] Was paid $33. & our leave was increased to 3 1/2 days. We have put in for Calgary (Murray, Pascoe, Markham & me) & hope to hire a car from there to Banff. Brian Perkin is going Swift Current.
In evening after tea had a clothing parade during which I could only exchange my worn out tie. No flying gloves obtainable.
[deleted] Went [/deleted] Was on [deleted] a [/deleted] Link 11-12 p.m. before which I got in a Harvard in the hangar & tried to learn off the drills which have to know off pat on Wednesday
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY DEC. 16
The C.F.I. gave us a talk about flying tomorrow. He was a Wing Commander & was a performer at Hendon formation flying with wing tips tied together.
He was not a nice chap – too much concerned about bull & duty to the service.
In evening was in Harvard in hangar trying to learn some of the drills.
We have to be up at 5.45 tomorrow ready for flying at 6.45.!!!
When they expect us to sleep I don’t know
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY DEC. 17
Up at 5.30 & over at hangar at 6.45 A.M. but were not wanted till about 11 a.m. No interviews – nothing, just lounging in crew room trying to sleep. But at 11 a.m. an instructor F/O took me up for a ride & then Perkin. I was up 30 min. enough to know that Harvards are super kites. We climbed to 3,000 ft. before I knew it. Took control for a bit did some turns – stick only. Lovely flier. I was in back seat where you can see hardly anything in front.
Went to bed very early as terribly tired like the rest.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY DEC. 18
Lectures in morning & flying in afternoon. I & Markham have F/O Cherrington an oldish sort of chap. I was up for 1.10 hrs. & in front seat. He did plenty of aerobatics, loops, rolls, etc. I did a spin which are quite easy to get out of.
Our instructor gave us bad news that he is having his leave when we are working so he & us have to be transfered [sic] to “E” Flight & have our leave with them. This absolutely upsets our arrangements for Xmas. Pascoe, Markham & Murray & me were going to Calgary & hire a car to Banff
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY DEC. 19
Flying again in morning. Was up 1.20 min. in front seat. Most of time spent at Holsom doing circuits and bumps. You are doing something all the time round the circuit & everything has to be done quickly to be in time for landing. I landed twice a bit bouncy & took off quite well he said.
Lectures in afternoon & after tea 3/4 hour of P.T. of all things because C.G.I. Thought we were not getting enough.
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY DEC. 20
Flying in afternoon. up for 1.20 hrs. but could do nothing right, - not even land the thing. By the way F/O Cherrington ticked me off I shall never fly these things.
To find relief went down town & saw film “Target for Tonight”. Very good, but not up to what I expected.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY DEC. 21
Flying in morning [deleted] as [/deleted] but did not go up as our kite punctured a tail wheel at Holsom when Markham was in it. In afternoon had exam on cockpit drills & checks. I got on O.K.
Wrote letter to home in evening.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY DEC. 22
Flying in afternoon.
More ticking off but once did a circuit at Holsom without a grouse from instructor. But twice did atroscious [sic] landings – After that my landings improved & some pretty good ones.
Our flight “F” went on leave at 0600 in evening. I & Markham start on 24th.
On radio – Churchill in Washington. Arrived by air.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY DEC. 23
Me, Markham & F/O Cherrington flying with “E” Flight. Was up 1.40 hrs. Instructor still keeps binding on everything I do. I have now done 8 hours.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY DEC. 24
No flying for me mainly due to low ceiling early in morning. Left camp to catch 5.05 p.m. train with Eric Markham. Arr. & met Murf Murray at Calgary, & went to Palliser Hotel where he had booked us rooms. Went out, had grub, went to café where met pretty American cashier; Bettsie Mannings. She invited us to a party at 3p.m. but when went to the hotel the party had broken up. she was in our room for about an hour when she had to go. Then 2 half pissed officers barged into our room. One stayed & was giving us his woes on being an instructor. When he went, we went to bed at 6 a.m.
[page break]
1941 THURSDAY DEC. 25
Got up late.
Took the hired car & left Calgary for Banff. Arr. 4.30. 4 miles from Banff picked up howden, Pring & Robinson whose car had crashed. Met two young girls – one very nice. The other invited us to dinner. Wish we did not go. Not much of eats & she was [indecipherable word] (half witted)
Flics in evening – Deanna Durbin in “It started with Eve”. Very good. Murf took Evelyn home – ‘cause he saw [deleted] him [/deleted] her first.
Staying at King Edward Hotel. The car is an old Buick Straight 8. Draughty, terrible brakes, & very loose steering, & clutch slips when going fast or revving too much.
[page break]
1941 FRIDAY DEC. 26
Up late again. started with Evelyn for Lake Louise in car. Murf drives us into a ditch into a snow drift. Eric & I walk to the railway depot 3 miles away But cattle truck hauls it out. I drive there on & got to Lake Louise. Got stuck in snow when stopped there & took 1/2 hour to get going again. So did not see much of Lake Louise. Nobody about & nothing doing. Flics in evening with Eric while Murf had a good time getting into Evelyn in our hotel room.
Banff is certainly a swell place for a holiday especially in summer. Scenery marvellous
[page break]
1941 SATURDAY DEC. 27
Up late again. explored around Banff in the car. Went to the Hot Springs Hotel & back & nearly got stuck in snow again around Sundance Canyon.
Had late lunch with Evelyn & then off back to Calgary. Going fast but could not get above 60 mph due to slipping clutch. Nearly turned over on a bend but when we had to put lights on – not one light went on. Crawled along to garage. They could not find fault – had tea & cake there. Very dark now & crawled along to next garage. We rang up people who we hired car from & garage put it O.K.
[page break]
1941 SUNDAY DEC. 28
Got the 8.15 p.m. train & arr. Med. Hat at about 1.0 a.m.
Had a meal & then to camp. so ended Xmas leave. lectures in morning & flying in p.m.
None for me & Eric though as Cherrington still on leave. but asked to have [deleted] in [/deleted] him changed, May have P/O Hansel a Canadian with whom I went up on first trip. He was a very nice chap.
[page break]
1941 MONDAY DEC. 29
Extremely cold this morning. 210 C. below!
I did not have a flight, but was going up with Hansel at 11.45 but they could not start the engine.
Lectures in afternoon.
[page break]
1941 TUESDAY DEC. 30
Extremely cold again & light snow falling.
Flying in p.m. but was stopped early due to bad visibility – snow clouds. Had [deleted] F [/deleted] Soft ball game instead in the drill hall.
Went to picture show in evening to see “One Step in Heaven”. A religious film but very good & moving at end.
[page break]
1941 WEDNESDAY DEC. 31
Went up for an hour with my new instructor P/O Hansel this morning. He was much better & made you feel very happy & not flustered. Does not bind a single bit. Did some spinning & aerobatics. I should be going solo pretty soon.
Again very cold with light snow on the ground.
[page break]
MEMORANDA
Joyce Stearn.
Marion [deleted] Spiele [/deleted] Jeal
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
REGINALD BROOKS.
29 Ryegate Road,
Grassendale,
Liverpool.
Miss. E. BROOKS
4 Lisburn Lane,
Tuebrook,
Liverpool
Mrs. ARNOLD
26 Kingsley Rd.,
Northampton
Miss E. MADGETT
23 Blenheim Court,
Main Road,
Sidcup. Kent
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
Miss A. MADGETT
“Greenend’
Crabtree Road,
Camberley,
Surrey
Mr. L. MADGETT.
87, Westwood Park,
Forest Hill,
London. S.E.23.
Mrs. W. RADLEY,
4 Galahad Road,
Grove Park,
London. S.E.
Mrs. Joshing (Marge)
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
Rosemary Stapp
332, East North St.,
Greenburg,
Indiana,
U.S.A.
JOAN ELDRIDGE
“Granezza”,
Green Way,
Chislehurst,
Kent.
BETTY SKINNER
62 Sidcup Hill,
Sidcup,
Kent.
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
MAUREEN BOWERMAN
[deleted] 62 [/deleted] High Street.
Sidcup. Kent
AL WILLIAMSON
249, Furby Street,
Winnipeg,
Canada
(AL WILLIAMSON)
RAHN OPTICAL Co. LTD.
410. Canada Bldg.
Winnipeg,
Canada
FRANK MARSH
48, Roslin[deleted]e[/deleted] Way,
Bromley,
Kent.
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
MR. McNELLY
2904 Hill Avenue,
Regina,
Saskatchewan
Canada.
(Mrs. Wrights cousin)
MAJOR H.E. FORD
101 Saskatchewan Crescent,
West.
Saskatchewan,
Canada.
(Mrs. Wrights brother)
MARY STEWART
Ocean Flats
Station Road,
Sidcup. Kent.
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[crossed through]
NICK NASH
670. 8th. St.
MEDICINE HAT. ALTA
CANADA.
ELSPETH. Mr. & Mrs. McNelly
2904, Hill Avenue,
Regina,
Sask. CANADA
Mrs. AM HAMILTON
DALHOUSIE JUNCTION
NEW BRUNSWICK.
CANADA.
Dick Kirby
41. St. Johns Rd.
Sidcup.
Kent
[/crossed through]
[page break]
MEMORANDA
Mrs. Stephen
1872 W. 3rd.
Vancouver.
B.C. Canada.
[page break]
CANADA. MEMORANDA 1941
[table] [underlined] LETTERS SENT [/underlined]
DATE TO VIA
21-8 HOME AIR TO COAST
23-8 J. BIGGS ORDINARY
23-8 R. STAPP. ORDINARY
27-8 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
31-8 R. STAPP ORDINARY
2-9 J.BIGGS AIR TO COAST
3-9 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
5-9 HOME AIR MAIL
8-9 L.MADGETT ORDINARY
29-9 HOME ORDINARY
2-10 E. MADGETT ORDINARY
2-10 J. BIGGS ORDINARY
7-10 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
7-10 HOME AIR TO COAST
16-10 HOME AIR MAIL
19-10 J.BIGGS AIR MAIL
“ McNELLY ORDINARY
20-10 R.STAPP ORDINARY
“ McG.WILLIAMS ORDINARY
“ E. BROOKS AIR MAIL
18-10 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
25-10 E. MADGETT ORDINARY
26-10 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[table] [underlined] LETTERS RECEIVED [/underlined]
DATE FROM VIA DAYS
29-8 R. STAPP (2) ORDINARY
2-9 B. SKINNER. ORDINARY 24
8-9 L. MADGETT. ORDINARY 39
20-9 E. MADGETT AIR MAIL
22-9 J. BIGGS ORDINARY 42
“ HOME ORDINARY 41
“ R. STAPP ORDINARY
30-9 HOME (BERE REGIS) ORDINARY 33
11-[deleted]9[/deleted]10 HOME (POSTCARD) AIR MAIL 25
15-[deleted]9[/deleted]10 HOME (POSTCARD) AIR MAIL 20
“ HOME AIR MAIL 21
17-[deleted]9[/deleted]10 HOME (POSTCARD) AIR MAIL 29
18-[deleted]9[/deleted]10 HOME (POSTCARD) AIR MAIL 26
22-[deleted]9[/deleted]10 HOME (POSTCARD) AIR MAIL 30
“ McNELLY ORDINARY
24-10 E. MADGETT ORDINARY 21
“ B. SKINNER ORDINARY 36
27-10 J. BIGGS AIR MAIL 29
29-10 E. BROOKS(PIC) ORDINARY 41
“ C. RADLEY ORDINARY 41
2-11 A.M. HAMILTON ORDINARY
5-11 E. BROOKS AIR MAIL 23
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[table][underlined] LETTERS SENT [/underlined]
DATE TO VIA
29-10 J. BIGGS AIR MAIL
1-11 B. SKINNER (P.C) ORDINARY [inserted vertically] REGINA [/inserted vertically]
“ HOME (P.C) ORDINARY
4-11 HOME AIR MAIL
“ C. RADLEY ORDINARY
8-11 A.M. HAMILTON ORDINARY
9-11 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
“ HOME AIR MAIL
15-11 H.E. FORD ORDINARY
17-11 HOME AIR MAIL
“ J. BIGGS AIR MAIL
“ E. McNELLY ORDINARY
18-11 M.BOWERMAN AIR MAIL
“ HOME AIR MAIL
“ G. FORD ORDINARY
22-11 M. STEWART ORDINARY
“ J.E. BIGGS AIR MAIL
24-11 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
3-12 HOME AIR MAIL
8-12 B. SKINNER AIR MAIL
22-12 HOME ORDINARY
[page break]
MEMORANDA
[table][underlined] LETTERS RECEIVED [/underlined]
DATE FROM VIA DAYS
10-11 HOME (P.C.) AIR MAIL 35
15-11 HOME AIR MAIL 25
15-11 HOME (P.C.) AIR MAIL 31
“ M. RADLEY (P.C.) AIR MAIL -
18-11 E.MADGETT ORDINARY 28
20-11 G. FORD AIR MAIL
21-11 HOME AIR MAIL 25
4-12 D.KIRBY ORDINARY 28
“ R. STAPP ORDINARY
6-12 B.SKINNER ORDINARY 39
“ E. MADGETT ORDINARY 33
10-12 B. GIRDWOOD ORDINARY
13-12 HOME AIR MAIL 33
20-12 HOME AIR MAIL 25
26-12 HOME AIR MAIL 17
29-12 HOME AIR MAIL 42
“ B. SKINNER ORDINARY 39
23-12 R. STAPP ORDINARY
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
Hedley Madgett diary 1941
Description
An account of the resource
Daily entries for most of year 1941, First half of year entries cover events in England before joining Royal Air Force. Entry for May includes call up papers and travel to Stratford on Avon. June move to Scarborough. August to Wilmslow, sea journey to Halifax and train across Canada to Swift Current. Daily entries cover training and other activities at Stratford on Avon, Scarborough and Wilmslow. August entries cover journey to Canada and training and other activities at Swift Current. Moves at the end of November to Medicine Hat and entries describe training and activities a that location.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Thirty double page pocket diary and covers
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
YMadgettHR1330340v2
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--Yorkshire
England--Cheshire
England--Warwickshire
England--Scarborough
England--Wilmslow
England--Stratford-upon-Avon
Canada
Nova Scotia--Halifax
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Alberta--Medicine Hat
Alberta--Calgary
Alberta--Banff
Alberta--Lake Louise
Manitoba
Saskatchewan--Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan--Regina
England--London
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Québec--Rivière-du-Loup
Québec
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hedley Robert Madgett
aircrew
entertainment
Harvard
pilot
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1615/24738/PCothliffKB15030103.1.jpg
e5700c59b68bf2ad7d75826ed73e584a
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
Cothliff, Ken 427 and 429 Squadrons
Description
An account of the resource
151 items. The collection contains photographs of personnel from 427 and 429 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ken Cothliff and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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. 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
Cothliff, K
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
SQDN. 427 DATE OF ARRIVAL 29 May /44
[heading] POSN – RANK – NAME – NUMBER – HOME – AGE [/heading]
CAPT – F/O – PROUDFOOT W.W. – J27626 – REGINA – 20 [inserted] Dead [/inserted]
NAV – F/O – MURPHY F.J. – J28035 – MONTREAL – 20
AB – F/O – PAWLITZA E.J. – J2 966 – ABBEY – 22 [inserted] CZECH/[missing word] [/inserted]
WOP – Sgt. – SIMONATO E.J. – R183691 – WALLACEBURG ONT – 22 [inserted] ITALIAN [missing word] [/inserted]
FE – Sgt. – TAYLOR M.J. – 1616111 – SAFRON WALDEN ESSEX – 20
[deleted] W/AG [/deleted] [inserted] R/AG [/inserted] – P/O – KOLEDA P. – J37149 – WINNIPEG – 19 [inserted] UKE [/inserted]
MU/AG – P/O – HALL A.E. – J37151 – TRAIL – 19
[black and white photograph of seven airmen standing in a row]
LMG.116. F/O. PROUDFOOT. 427
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
Flying Officer WW Proudfoot and Crew
Description
An account of the resource
Seven airmen arranged in a row. Their names are listed in a caption above. On the image is annotated 'LMG. 116. F/O Proudfoot. 427'
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
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
PCothliffKB15030103
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Ontario--Wallaceburg
Great Britain
England--Saffron Walden
Manitoba--Winnipeg
British Columbia--Trail
Québec--Montréal
Ontario
Québec
England--Essex
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
427 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
flight engineer
navigator
pilot
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1615/24572/PCothliffKB15030010.1.jpg
1902943e7efffb647a938cfde367941a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1615/24572/PCothliffKB15030011.1.jpg
cc473085438d60fa656d5150550bc4a2
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
Cothliff, Ken 427 and 429 Squadrons
Description
An account of the resource
151 items. The collection contains photographs of personnel from 427 and 429 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ken Cothliff and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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. 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
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Cothliff, K
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[photograph]
[page break]
SQDN. 427 DATE OF ARRIVAL 17.8.44
[a] POSN [b] RANK [c] NAME [d] NUMBER [e] HOME [f] AGE
[a] CAPT [b] F/O [c] Britton W.B. [d] J25816 [e] Esson Sask [f] 26
[a] NAV [b] F/O [c] Smitten A. [d] J35051 [e] Edmonton [f] 32
[a] AB [b] F/O [c] Laing C.R. [d] J35099 [e] Hamilton. [f] 24
[a] WOP [b] P/O [c] Wood E.J.S. [d] [deleted] R66731 [/deleted][inserted] J88510 [/inserted] [e] Montreal. [f] 24 [symbol]9AOS 9 months.
[a] FE [b] Sgt. [c] Robertson D. [d] 1822943 [e] [indecipherable name] [f] 19
[a] MU/AG [b] F/O [c] MacGregor H. [d] J27957 [e] Kitscoty [underlined] alb [/underlined] [f] 22
[a] R/AG [b] F/O [c] Thackeray J.R. [d] J28989 [e] Regina. [f] 19.
1659 Con Unit.
[photograph]
LMG. 171. F/O. BRITTON. W.B. 427.
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
Flying Officer WB Britton and Crew
Description
An account of the resource
Two photographs of WB Britton and crew. In the first the men are arranged in two rows beside their aircraft. In the second the seven airmen are arranged in a row. Their names are listed in a caption above. On the image is annotated 'LMG. 171. F/O Britton. W.B. 427'
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs
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
PCothliffKB15030010,
PCothliffKB15030011
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.
Canada
Saskatchewan
Alberta--Edmonton
Ontario--Hamilton
Québec--Montréal
Alberta
Saskatchewan--Regina
Great Britain
Scotland--Inverness
Ontario
Québec
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
1659 HCU
427 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
flight engineer
Heavy Conversion Unit
navigator
pilot
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1794/35941/MWilsonRC1389401-170113-24.2.jpg
f6721dc30b6e13cc8c549450f513a5e3
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
Wilson, Reginald Charles
R C Wilson
Description
An account of the resource
166 items. The collection concerns Reginald Charles Wilson (b. 1923, 1389401 Royal Air Force) and contains his wartime log, photographs, documents and correspondence. He few operations as a navigator with 102 Squadron. He was shot down on 20 January 1944 and became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Janet Hughes 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
2017-01-13
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. 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
Wilson, RC
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
Charles Dupueis Attestation Paper
Description
An account of the resource
Charle's RCAF service paper.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-08-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
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 Canadian Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed sheet with typewritten annotations
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWilsonRC1389401-170113-24
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force
air gunner
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18821/YGeachDG1394781v1.2.pdf
dcac3c4a3517c0ecd4c5eaaca961c4aa
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
Book cover
[page break]
[deleted word]
[deleted word]
[deleted] 106/10 [/deleted]
[deleted word]
[underlined] BOOK 4 [/underlined]
CONTINUING MY
OVERSEAS TRAINING
[page break]
[underlined] 12th December. 1942 [/underlined]
Back the Gunnery Exams are now over, that means that all our exams are completed [four indecipherable words] the aircraft [indecipherable word] & as I have always been pretty sound on that I have no fears in that direction. The final was on the 10th & the written on the 11th, the written wasn’t a bad paper a few tricky maps but we all made it O.K. I think the James Backward Movement of the ‘Breech Block,” cropped up. Looking back now upon the hours of binding on our précis, I wonder if it was all necessary. Still, maybe, it kept us out of marching, but I can’t help thinking of superfluous binding, I bet this thing is all forgotten on ‘ops.’
[page break]
[photograph]
[page break]
They found the missing ‘Boley’ today, it was at the side of 6 mile Lake, after all, that farmer had been right when he said he heard the crash there. It must have gone straight in from a fair height, because the largest piece left of it was only about 4 feet square, so I guess there was some excuse for the aerial search party not finding it. The fellows could hardly have had a chance they must have gone straight in. It is a fact that one hasn’t a chance of getting out, what with that tiny escape hatch, & the comparative low height they fly, no, I guess you just go & hope for the best. I feel terribly sorry for those fellows parents back in England, just to receive a brief telegram – its [sic] very hard.
[page break]
We were down on the 25 yd range the other day with the Browning, it runs a hellish waste of ammo at that short range. It was hellishly cold, except for the brief period when we were outside firing we were huddled in the hut around the stove. It was really grim if there was a stoppage. That is one disadvantage of the Post Office being right down by the Guard Room. We have to tramp all the way down there then through the Snow, & this bitter cold wind covering our ears with our hands as they still wont give us winter caps. Then when we get down there, we receive invariably the answer, “What name? Geach? No, sorry,” I wish it didn’t take so long to come across. Airgraphs are pretty quick, but they are read in a minute.
[page break]
[underlined] Tues 15th December. [/underlined]
Our worries are now all over at least as the exams are concerned. We took our last one today, Aircraft Rec, and that was O.K, poor old Taffy was never a Gen man in that line, nor was Norman & I was hard put whispering the answers to both of them. However whatever the results may be thats [sic] the end of the written & theory side of B & G. There only remains the practical to get in now. On that side we are slightly behind due to bad weather, I’m afraid, just lately I’ve had some incomplete exercises. Yesterday I tried to get a Low Level in the first time up there was a U/S bomb release & the exercise was incomplete. The second time up though everything went O.K except the exercise
[page break]
I got 96 yards for that, pretty grim for low level. Last night I was up twice trying for a High Level, the first time it was an incomplete exercise, because of icing up and the second time it was [indecipherable word] films. I was really cheesed, after hanging around the crew room most of the night, & go up twice, then not be able to get an exercise in.
One good thing over here, everyone has 4 days leave for either Xmas or the New Year which is better than at home so that is one benefit we’ll have. We certainly have put in some work at this place, and now I can see the advantage in having the station so isolated. There are no outside attractions to take our minds off our work.
[page break]
[underlined] Friday 18th December [/underlined]
Today was the coldest day I have ever known, & I hope I dont [sic] experience any more. The temp was 54˚ below zero, it seems incredulous to me that it could go so low. We were on our first gunnery flight, camera gun exercise. but of the whole gunnery flight they were only able to get one Blenheim started, it was so cold that it was impossible to get any life out of the others. It seemed an effort to breathe on the ground the air seemed so thin. Cross & I were on the camera gun trip, how I wished we werent [sic]. Clad in full cloths with a sweater then outer & inner flying suits on top of that, & two pairs of gloves we staggered out.
I was first in the turret, we had tossed & I had lost so I was ‘Joe.’ The Bristol turret, in ordinary conditions an abortion
[page break]
for anyone above 5ft 6ins didn’t react very favourably to my efforts to climb in. At last after a hell of a struggle I made though every time I rotated it, my feet were jammed. I saw the target Blenheim, and went to open fire, obviously he was in a playful mood, because he sat in the blind spot just under the tail, & would suddenly slide out, until he saw me struggle with the turret, my frozen hands gripping the controls, when the guns were almost bearing on him, he would pop back under the tail. Consequently I hadn’t had a chance to fire at all. He repeated the manoeuvre about 4 times, & I was nearly freezing with cold, because one is almost sitting in the open in those turrets.
Suddenly I got a bead on him and pressed the triggers holding in down, then
[page break]
looking at the counter dial, I saw it wasn’t moving, no film was being wound over. I cursed & swore like a madman, the cold had sapped at my strength so much that any little thing almost made me scream with frustration. Smashing at the cover I eventually lifted it & hauled out the magazine. I thrust it behind me into Cross’s hand & shouted for another. He was rather a long while & I shouted & swore, then he handed it up & I thrust it in. After getting it all set up I found that didn’t work, so utterly exhausted I almost fell out of the turret & thrust poor Crossy willy nilly in there screaming in his ear, what I know not. It wasn’t long before he was in the same state and scrambled out, trying to push me in, but I had had enough & told the
[page break]
pilot to land. By this time the cold had seeped through into our very marrow, & our bodies were shaking in uncontrollable spasms, apart from the absolute numbness, of our hands & feet.
Looking back in the warmth of the hut it seems incredible that cold could make us act like demented beings. Yet, so much did it eat at us, that everything going wrong made us swear & shout into the empty air & struggle hopelessly our fingers so cold they couldn’t grasp a thing. It was such a feeling of frustration that I would have thrown the gear overboard, had I been able. As it was the gun was so frozen up it was impossible to operate. I am surprised that they sent us up in that weather, with only one kite serviceable.
[page break]
Yesterday I was up with Smithy for a High Level, he went in first to, but gave a good few dummy runs, then said the windscreen was iced so much he couldn’t bomb. P/O Cheye the pilot asked me to try & ‘em so I went in & found it was iced up right to the line of sight & no corrections were possible. Anyway I tried as best as I could dropping bombs on the turn & all sorts of things. When we landed I told the pilot to come over to the plotting office & bear out my statement of the lousy conditions I had bombed under . When the result was worked out it was only 156 yds & I only needed 150yds or under to have a pass, so bombing under those lousy conditions I was only 6 yds over. The little English P/O that we didn’t like was in charge & when my pilot told
[page break]
him the score he hummed & hawed, then finally said, come back & see it later & it will be different. When I went back expecting about just under 100 yds, as in good conditions it would have been that easy, I found he had taken 6yds off, & I had 150 yds, a bare pass, what a concession it must have broken his heart to give it away. I also got a Low Level in & got 56 yds pretty nice. Last night I had a wizard exercise, to catch me up I went up alone, with Jake [indecipherable word] for pilot, he is a smashing guy. I had 12 bombs on & had to complete two exercises in, we got them off O.K. & the results were 79 yds & 85 yds, boy! Was I happy. What was better still we were down early enough for the film show, & as I was the only one in the class on night bombing, I was able to nip over, & go in the show with them. Truly a happy night.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday December 21st [/underlined]
They are certainly cracking on with this flying now, getting exercises in on every possible occasion, if only this keeps up we might finish on time yet. On Saturday I went up on High Level and got 105 yards, which was O.K. There is only one fault with there [sic] bombing exercises and that is bombing up, especially in this blasted cold weather, I don’t know a bigger torture. We go out to the Anson before take off & find the 12 bombs laying under the aircraft. Under the kite we crawl & lay down in the snow & hammer away at the frozen butterfly nuts, trying to pull the [indecipherable word] down to grip the bombs. It is deadly cold & even though we wear two pairs of gloves our hands get numb. Ramsay a New Zealander split
[page break]
his glove once & happening to get hold of the bomb with his bare hand tore all the skin off it.
After we have put the bombs on we get back in the kite, & wait till the pilot says the kite is serviceable, (which it often isn’t). Then out we scramble dive under the kite & start to pull the pins out. This is the worst part of the whole business, both engines are running & we crouch there in the slipstream, with the snow being whipped in our faces like a miniature blizzard. Once all the side of my face went right numb & a ground staff chap rubbed snow on it & it went O.K again. The copper wire holding the pins in, is generally too tough to break & we turn our gloves on it & twist & pull in vain. Then
[page break]
if that goes, more often than not the split pin is frozen or rusted in. We twist & pull, curse & swear, then eventually they are out & back we crawl. Quite often we are only up for a few minutes & the exercise is [indecipherable word] out, or sometimes we haven’t even left the ground before flying is scrubbed. Then back we crawl & push the pins back & vainly try & wind the copper wire around the safety plunger, [indecipherable word] the [indecipherable word] switch gently, so the plunger wont spring out. Then if it does you fumble around, cursing for all you are worth. Ah! [indecipherable word] what a mugs game this is.
We also went up Saturday night to try to get a High Level in but it was scrubbed owing to icing up, the old story, they ought to
[page break]
have something to keep the [indecipherable word] free from ice, a guard or something. I got the exercise in last night though, it wasn’t a particularly brilliant one, 141yds but it was a pass
Today was my first actual gunnery exercise & after all the tales I had heard I was surprised that everything went off without a hitch. I was in the turret first, I& was enjoying bashing away at the old drogue so much that when I thought it was about time to let Jamison fire his rounds I looked down and saw I had fired all mine and all of his except for about 20. There was nothing else to do but pop them off. Still he didn’t mind because with his height it is a work of art to get in & out of the turret.
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[underlined] Thursday 24th December [/underlined]
The exercises are gradually being completed, we have all completed bombing & have only the rest of the gunnery [indecipherable word] to do. We are not graduating on time though, they knew we wouldn’t a while ago, but were going to send us on leave for Xmas & on to AONS without bothering to complete the rest of our gunnery exercises.
This has all been squashed on the head though & we have to stay to finish them. The worst part of all, our leave has been cancelled, & we have to fly over Xmas, Taffy & I have had to cable the people in Surhatoon, who invited us to stay there & tell them its off. Poor old Chiefy Oliver he was really cut about us not getting it.
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The Navigation School we are going to is No 1 CNS Rivers Manitoba, & all the English fellows are going there. Most of the Canadians wanted to stay out West, so we let them apply for Regina, because it would be a rotten trick for us to try & keep them from their homes, we don’t mind where we go actually. I do wish we could have leave though.
I went up on two trips yesterday the first one, I had a really u/s gun, neither of us could do anything with it, so we had to land with the exercise incomplete. Sometimes if there is a stoppage that can’t be cleared & there are only about a hundred rounds left, we throw them over the side into Quill Lake so we can
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get in a complete exercise. Today I got an exercise in with Sgt [indecipherable word] a New Zealand pilot he is a mad guy, a good flier but a regular binder, he drives me to the point of turning the gun on him.
We all have to belt our own ammunition, heaven knows how many thousand rounds our class has made into belts, but it number quite a few. Every individual has to do a certain number, & there are always arguments about personal scores or somebody skiving off & not doing his share. Well its getting on so I must join the boys in the bar they are having a Xmas Eve party there, & we have invited the Aircraft {indecipherable word] Corporal & the Cpl in charge of our hut they are both decent fellows.
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[underlined] Sunday December 27th. [/underlined]
Xmas has come and gone and our Bombing & Gunnery course is now completed, at least mine is with a few others, there are still some that have to get another one or two gunnery exercises in. The Xmas was the worst I have ever spent, I make no bones in saying that, & it was entirely the fault of the C.O & powers that be on the station. Xmas eve we had a marvellous time, because we organised it ourselves. We all had a good beer up in the canteen, at our party, then bowled down to the WAAFs recreation room. They are allowed to invite one fellow each but the whole crowd of us just swarmed in there, & took the place over. We started a dance with the juke box & it was bang on.
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I think I got to bed about 3AM. On Xmas morning but got up rather [indecipherable word] for the Xmas dinner. This was rather a nice meal, but what a fiasco it was. The officers & NCO’s were serving us & it wouldn’t have been so bad if they had laid off the liquor before hand. Instead of that we had to sit at the tables for about three quarters of an hour before they finally rolled in. Boy! They were certainly well heeled, the officers had NCO’s tunics & vice versa, the little Sgt B/A who came back from England was wearing one of the large fur hats we could just about see his face. Anyway they tried to serve it, the meal, I mean, & there was nearly a riot. They dropped quite a few & were playing about the rest of the
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time.
As everyone was nearly starving, the boys began to eat up, an officer jumped up to try to make a speech but was howled down. Then the Orderly Officer & Orderly NCO came in, & the NCO tried to shout at us, & someone hit him in the eye with an apple, & he hit him good & hard. That started the fun there was a shower of apples that were provided on the tables. It was great while it lasted, then things quietened down & we finally got our meal, which was good, although my taste was rather spoilt by the effect of the previous nights hang over.
Xmas night what a night, there was no tea, because the mess was still in the shambles it was from the dinner, so we had to forage around
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& get what food we could. Then we looked for some amusement, the officers were having a hell of a party with bags of liquor, lots of women. The N.C.O were doing likewise in their mess everyone was having a whale of a time – except the airmen. We drifted along to the WAAFs recreation hall to see if there was a dance, but it was practically deserted, all the WAAF’s had been invited to the parties. After disconsolately playing a couple of records on the juke box, we thought , oh! Well we’ll go in the canteen & just sit there drinking, so off we went. When we went there, we found a notice to say it wasn’t opening as there was no beer. No drinks to be had on Xmas night at least for the airmen, NCO’s & officers were gorging it down & there wasn’t a
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drop for the other ranks. Pretty poor arrangements on the CO’s part, in fact the whole attitude was let the airmen take care of themselves. Some said there should have been 12 barrels of beer for the airmen, but it mysteriously disappeared into the other parties, whether, this was true or not I don’t know, anyway we were out in the cold.
The YMCA took pity on us & screened a couple of travel films in Norway, & the place was full, it shows what a degree of apathy had sunk to. On the wireless we could hear the fellows at Mossbank having a marvellous party & the English fellows broadcasting home to their families, & we were going to bed at 10P.M – Merry Xmas.
Today I did my last two gunnery exercises, one with [indecipherable word], everything went O.K. so my B & G course is now over.
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[underlined] Thursday Dec 31st. [/underlined]
1942 has almost gone & it has been quite an eventful year for me, I guess we will be up when the – New Year arrives. Speaking of new things we are now at our new station, Rivers Manitoba No 1 Central Navigation School. Back at Dafoe we kept binding the others to get their gunnery exercises in as there might be a chance of leave. They finally got them in & our graduation party was set for Tuesday the 29th. We spent the day packing our things & getting everything ready for our journey. Then in the evening we assembled promptly in the YMCA hut for the proceedings. The C.O & the officers arrived & after a few speeches & the usual bull about being one of the best courses etc, though this time they quoted figures and
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we had beaten all previous courses records. Then came the awarding of the certificates, old Smithy came top, everyone expected that, it shook me that when the final results were out, of both practical & theory work, I had come fourth in the course, I didn’t expect that.
Afterwards there was some drinking & a sing song but we didn’t get canned or anything, then around midnight we bowled along to the mess for a special supper that was provided. I had two lots of toast eggs bacon tomatoes & chips, with wizard coffee, I was really starving. When that was over some of the boys [indecipherable word] off to a recent cache of beer they had & were certainly heeled. We got to bed around 2 A.M. & we were hardly asleep when we were awakened at 5A.M. to get moving.
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After a quick breakfast we bundled our kit bags in the back of the lorry, then found we had to climb in on top of them. The back of the lorry was open, there was a blizzard raging & we had a 30 mile drive across the prairies to Raymore where we were to catch the train. So we said cheerio to all our Canadian friends on the course who were going to Regina & off we went.
I find it impossible to describe that ride, no mere words on paper can conjure up the intense cold we suffered. Cold is a thing that always strikes me & it nearly did them. We were laying there on the kit bags huddled together like sheep for a little warmth. Before long my feet had gone dead & I couldn’t move them so I had to
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get Taffy to punch & pummel them, because I was frightened of frostbite. About every five minutes he did this, & I think that was all that saved them. I was in agony with the bitter cold, & thought the ride would never end, on & on we jolted until at last we reached the little township of Raymore. I fell out of the lorry & so did quite a few of the others, & got into the bare waiting room of the railway station for warmth. When we had unloaded the kit & placed it on a truck, we found out our train which [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] was then due was snowed up & hadn’t left [indecipherable word]. There was only one hotel in the place so we went there, to have coffee. After a while we decided to have breakfast as well, & got cracking.
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The hotel appeared to be devoid of customers but us, & I didn’t see any people staying there, heaven’s knows how they made it pay. The old chap who owned it didn’t appear to take to us at [deleted word] first, but he thawed out [deleted word] later. We plunged back through the driving snow to the station to see what the position, but the train still hadn’t started out, so we ordered dinner at the hotel. As it turned out we spent all the day there & never have I experienced such complete boredom. There was nothing at all in the hotel, just one room with an old piano, which Smithy banged on, but as he played mainly by music & the pieces there were pretty old & grim, there wasn’t much amusement in that direction. In the town there wasn’t one shop we could
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look in, or a cinema, dance hall, absolutely nothing. Some of the boys discovered an old barber’s shop with a pool room in the back & played there for a while, but that was deadly.
After dinner the bar was opened, & we sat there most of the time drinking, then the station rang to say the train would be in at 5P.M. Pat Smithy & myself wandered off & found a little café The lady came from London Eng [sic], & we had quite a chat. Then there was a panic because we found the boundary of Mountain Time & Central Time ran between the café & the station, so we didn’t know whether the station had meant 5P.M. their time or what was in the café, what a topsy turvy town. As there was an hors difference we dashed to
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the station in a panic. There we found the train still hadn’t arrived& would be later than they thought. Back to the hotel for tea & we were sitting in the bar when we heard the whistle, the train was coming through we dashed out & there she was in the distance her headlight glaring and her whistle screaming how we cheered it. She was 13 hours late.
Soon we were heading away from that desolate spot, & one step nearer to England again. When we reached Rivers there was a truck waiting & out we went. We had to book in at the guard room, it was then 1.30am. they gave us a light meal & then tried to find billets for us. The fellow who knew where they were, was apparently away & the
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Cpl. Who showed us didn’t. We stumbled into huts in the pitch black switched on lights got furious howls from the occupants & dived out. Eventually we found the hut we had had odd beds amongst a flight of navigators that were sleeping there. They had only just moved in for weeks they had been sleeping in hangars, & we had to wake the poor devils with the lights.
We were in bed about 3AM. & they sorted us out at 8A.M. to get weaving on the schedule of signing in FFI’s & the usual routine. With hardly any sleep for two nights we certainly feel tired now. Today we met our instructor had a look round at the place & received the usual welcome address, and so have begun our Navigators course it lasts 6 weeks. Ah! Well it has just struck midnight so Farewell 1942 & Greetings 1943 – Happy New Year.
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[underlined] Sunday 3rd January. [/underlined]
I’m afraid this place isn’t as good as Defoe though it is a fair bit easier for us, being as Air Bombers aren’t taken seriously, it is almost purely and simply a Navigation School. Our huts are O.K. only I wish the blasted heater in our room would work constantly, when it fails, & it invariably does in the night the place is like an ice berg come morning & a supreme effort is needed to leap out of the sheets. The kit bags arrived the day after we did & mine was missing, it’s the one with flying kit, I’ve bound about it, but so far without result. I think the biggest laugh is our classroom, it is in a huge drill hall, that is still under construction, & I guess our classroom isn’t constructed yet. It is a ramshackle
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affair of wood, all knocked together. The floor is rough planks, & ends before it reaches the far wall, there lies a large hole in which all sorts of rubbish is dumped. There is no heating & not much electric light, the one bright spot is that the walls are literally covered, with women that themselves are far from covered. Represented are the Queens of Hollywood in their most glamorous & revealing poses and photographs from various nudist magazines, it is a superb collection. A Flt / Lt bought the Sqdn/Ldr along see them and have them removed. Gesturing he said to the Sqdn/Ldr “you see what I mean,” the latter surveyed them in silence & said “yes, but mind you, they’re damn fine women.” The best part was when the padre came to the room for his chat, but even he couldn’t keep his eyes off them.
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The food as whole is pretty grim here, & the mess isn’t so hot, although we had a really smashing dinner on New Years Day & didn’t bother to go to classes in the afternoon. Our instructor is a decent chap, he’s only been a P/O a couple of weeks was an LAC like us then. He is rather easy going, keen, & tries hard, I’m afraid we take advantage of him. When looking at some out of date reconnaissance books the other day, there was a diagram of a battle fleet at sea. It was obviously pre-war with the destroyer screen in a beautiful Vic ahead of the rest & four aircraft carriers bunched together all on their lonesome at the rear. I remarked “They’d be a sitting target for U. Boats,” at which he gazed hard at the diagram & rather vaguely said “I don’t see any U Boats.” Before I realised it I said ‘no, they are under the water.” I couldn’t resist it, he really asked for it, guess he has drawn the bead on me now.
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[underlined] Thursday January 7th [/underlined]
We have commenced our flying here, I went on one trip Tuesday, ostensibly we are there for Map Reading, but actually we are ballast. Nobody bothers about us we sit up by the pilot & heroically wind the undercart up & down, every now and again the Navigator pushes us aside to read the astro compass. Should we be very conscientious & map read diligently all the way, then offer the Nav a pin point, he looks at you with deep suspicion, still I guess they have every right to be they get so many duff pin points. Their cross country trips last about three hours & we are supposed to drop one bomb at the end. What good one will do I don’t know, but most pilots hate it, & will do anything rather than carry out the bombing, they find wizard excuses too.
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P/O Grand gives us logs to keep in the air, pin points recce reports etc, I blush to say most of them are cooked. We have to prepare flight plans too, actually though we don’t do a lot of ground work here, the photography is the most binding I think. Certainly there isn’t the study at night like at Dafoe, the navs [sic] work hard though, I pity the poor guys. The cinema is the same as Dafoe though not so clean & it is more crowded, not bad though. There is a fair sized canteen opposite with a bar one end divided by the partition. They sell hot dogs for a nickel each & I generally get a quarters worth I love them. Generally they have a good selection of commercial goods, shirts and everything. There is a small YWCA by the gate where they sell lovely coffee, we don’t do so badly.
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[underlined] Tuesday 12th January [/underlined]
I have been on two more cross countries here we are gradually getting our hours in. My flying kit bag turned up after all so, I didn’t have to wear borrowed kit again, God knows where it had been, halfway across Canada again I reckon. We had a 36hr which we were going into Brandon for, over the weekend. After queuing at the gate & in a mad rush we arrived in there safely, but after back & forth along Main Street we figured we had seen [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] [inserted] everything [/inserted]. I splashed out & bought a Rolex wrist watch for $65 (£15) it really is a lovely thing though. Afterwards we went to a cinema to see “My Sister Eileen,” quite a funny film. Although we had been in two cafés for snacks already, we were still able to wade through a large dinner in the Hotel.
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After that we were absolutely at a loss so we went to a cinema again. It was a grim little dive really & the films were pretty poor. I happened to be sitting next to a Canadian Flt/Lt. & his wife, & she noticed my ATS cap badge, that I had worn ever since somebody stole my badge at Manchester. I could hear her whispering to him “ask him what it is,” & I was all set to [indecipherable word] out Air Training Scheme as I told an S.P previously, but he didn’t. after the show we figured there was absolutely nothing to stay for, Jock, Butch & a couple of others stayed & went off to find some women, but we caught the last bus back to camp.
Our Wings Parade is due the beginning of February, the day we have waited for all this time is getting pretty close now. Ah! Well I’ll be glad its [sic] all over.
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[underlined] Sunday January 17th. [/underlined]
Life is still the same, fairly uneventful, some days it snows, & some days it doesn’t some days we fly & some days we don’t - [indecipherable word]. We went into Rivers this afternoon, we started to walk but hell! It was so cold that we were mighty glad when we got a lift half way. A good hot meal in the drug store & we felt like new again. That’s the thing I like about Rivers it may small & dead, but boy! You can get a good meal pretty cheap. We generally come in on the bus, straight into the drug store, & there have, coffee, rolls & butter, steak, two eggs, green peas, French Fries, with lemon pie that just makes my mouth water all for 65 cents. Afterwards we see a film at the tiny “Four Star Theatre” or the other one, then time for another meal, & just time to catch the bus back it really is a pleasant evening.
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There is only one general store to wander round but they stock almost everything, what a thrill it was when we first had bananas there, they really tasted good. The new snack bar on the camp is now open, its [sic] a real flash affair, red leather stools, with chromium fittings & red leather settees, some café for an Air Force camp. The drill hall or games hall is nearing completion, its [sic] a wizard floor & quite a size, the Canadians certainly look after their men.
I went on the open air skating rink the other night to try my hand, the chaps who could skate said it was pretty grim, but I’m no judge. As I have done a fair amount of roller skating, I was able to maintain my balance & not fall down at all, & whip up a little speed on occasions, but it really made my ankles ache, afterwards.
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[underlined] Thursday 21st January. [/underlined]
It really has been cold lately, and we have had to cease lectures over in the class room, because there is no heating, and one simply can’t pay attention. So just lately we have moved the classroom to our billets because they are warm, at least the one next to us is, our own heater keeps breaking down.. On Monday the temp. was 48˚ below zero, boy! That’s getting down some, I hope never to experience cold like it again. One has difficulty in breathing, & your eyelids gum up, every tooth in my mouth aches, & the skin on the face feels as though it is being torn off in strips, its [sic] really grim. I never thought I should see the day when it got warmer when it started to snow. We also flew Monday, luckily there was an inversion, & it was only -32˚ but that was cold enough.
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The other day on a day cross country our track took us across Winnipeg, it was well worth seeing from the air. The tall buildings, I dont [sic] think they are big enough to be called sky scrapers, stood up very clean & the mass of cars in the streets looked [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] like hundreds of beetles crawling along, in fact the whole place resembled a large ant hill. Easily the most fascinating part was the railway station & goods yards, they looked like little toy trains puffing in & out of each other, it was well worth seeing. We spent our 48 hrs. there & had a good time, apart from the fact I collected a frost bitten ear, which became the size of a young foot-ball. I was able to see May’s Aunt & was made very welcome. We went in on the “flyer” Friday afternoon & came back Sunday night, it is a nice town, & it made a break, I really enjoyed myself.
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[underlined] Tuesday January 26th. [/underlined]
The flying programme really has been moving these last few days, I have flown three days running now, as there was a good break in the weather. Lets hope the weather continues to be O.K. & then we wont be held up after Wings Parade to complete our flying hours. The results of our Mid Term Exams, which we took last Wednesday came through, & we all passed, it was pretty easy so I guess we all should. Our final exams come off tomorrow & Thursday, & we will all pass by hook or by crook & mainly the latter. The whole class will be cribbing most of their written exams, & I make no excuses in fact I say its [sic] the right thing. The stuff they teach us is all obsolete, & we will never use it when we leave here, both the instructors & pupils know it consequently there is no effort made to learn it.
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We have done a couple of night cross – countries & I can’t see they are much training. If the trip is East it is invariably by Winnipeg & as soon as we climb to 6,000ft the glow of Winnipeg can be seen in the distance there is no chance of losing it. Even if the navigator gives a duff course the pilots fly towards it, so they don’t have to stay up longer than they can help. It is pretty cheesing for us, we just sit there in the cold, see a town lit up on the ground, shine a dim light on our map then on our log to make an entry. Invariably the pencil or log falls on the floor and we grope around for it, whilst the pilot curses about the light flashing. The other night I saw the pilot laughing heartily at something so I crawled into the bombing hatch & put the ear-phones on, they were listening to Bob Hope, so I discovered a way to relieve the boredom.
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[underlined] Sunday 31st January. [/underlined]
Well our last exams are over & passed, we have no more to take now before we get our wings, that should be pretty soon now. The exams weren’t too bad, & we didn’t have to do a lot of cribbing, the aldis & a couple like that we couldn’t possibly crib, still we all made the grade. Now we are trying to get our 30 odd flying hours in I thought it would be a rush for them. We flew yesterday & today & only need three trips now & our flying programme will be completed. 65 course who were at Defoe with us, left for Moncton except one chap who had to stay behind to get his flying hours in. Riches the chap I used to work with has gone on the 4th Vector course so I guess hell [sic] do his OUT over here.
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I don’t think we shall get any leave after our course, the last lot of fellows didn’t, they certainly have twisted us out of the five days leave we should have had for Xmas or the New Year. Our life is the essence of laziness now, as there is nothing for us to do in the way of lectures. We write, read & yarn most of the day, & toddle along to the cinema at night. It gets rather packed now & we have to queue about a quarter of an hour outside to make sure of getting in for a seat. ‘Red’ Sollis and the rest of the navigators that are passing out with us have just about finished wading through their pile of exams, they certainly have some to get through. More & more I thank my lucky stars that when I washed out as pilot I wasn’t made a navigator I just wouldn’t have stood it.
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[underlined] Sunday February 7th. [/underlined]
Its [sic] arrived at last, almost a year to the day of entering the R.A.F we have our tapes and I am now Sgt Geach. The big day was yesterday & it was about three days overdue, we flew Thursday, & twice on Friday in order to get our flying finished in time. Old Grand wanted us to fly on the first night cross country on Friday, come down get into another kite & fly on the second one in order to get our time in, that was on top of flying 3 hrs. in the day time. It would mean 10 hrs flying in about 16 hrs, anyway when I returned from my first night cross country I told him what he could do & walked off, so did some of the others, a few flew again. When we got to the mess for a midnight meal they wouldn’t serve us because we were wearing flying boots. So we all took
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them off, one of the Canadians had red & yellow hooped socks, some of us had blue & some grey, it was quite a sight, anyway they had to serve us.
They sprang this wings parade on us the day before and we were frantically bulling for it. It took place at 2P.M. yesterday, & there were two flights of navigators passing out beside we Air Bombers. There was bags of bull, a terrific long march out to the Groupie, I wasn’t looking forward to it. Suddenly my name was called, & like a robot away I went, “attention, one pace back, turn left, march smartly, head up, left, right, bags of bull. Getting near the Groupie now, get ready for a smart halt not too near him, & not too far away.” Then horror of horrors as I came to a real crashing halt the steel tips on my heels made me
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slip, the whole room held its breath as I tottered & even the Groupie smiled when I managed to regain my balance, it shook me. A handshake, pin on the brêvet, a few words, then it was all over & I was marching back. So I had graduated at last into a trained Air Bomber.
That afternoon we were all queuing up at the parachute section getting our tapes and brêvet sewn on, they certainly made some money there. Now we have been packing all the time & throwing out all the unwanted junk. We leave tomorrow to Moncton & should have a two day break, at Montreal I guess. That is a start of our journey back to England, & home again, this place doesn’t seem so bad now, stations never do until you are on the point of leaving them, anyway cheerio! Rivers.
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[underlined] Sunday 14th February. [/underlined]
Here we are back in Moncton, as some wit put it “Brother, this is where I came in.” We had quite a pleasant trip back here, we left on the Monday, the train was a few hours late owing to snow storms. It wasn’t too good a coach but at Winnipeg we changed onto the train that was taking us across to Montreal, and we climbed into our bunks there. On the whole we slept fairly well, the one thing that cheesed me was every time the train stopped there was a colossal clanking & jarring as each coach hit the other. The Canadian railways lead ours in many ways, but I certainly think they would be wise to use spring buffers. Our coloured attendant was quite a good sort & cleaned our shoes if we left them out.
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Our journey back across Canada was quite a lot different from the journey out. Before it had been summertime and maybe just a tinge of autumn creeping in, but now the country was really in the grip of the winter. Snow storms would rage & the fine powdered snow would filter in under the edges of the doors. The scenery was really lovely in its majestic beauty though. The pureness and [indecipherable word] of the snow is certainly something & as we raced through forests along the edges of frozen lakes one couldn’t help but be impressed. Although our coach on the train was the old wood & leather type, the meals were everything one could wish for, with excellent service. To cap it there was a tourist car next to it, at least I believe that was what it was.
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It had huge soft armchairs on swivels, with enormous windows allowing the maximum vision. Such a lazy existence to sprawl back & gaze at the panorama flitting by. We had a little break at Ottowa and took a few snaps, & then on to Montreal. The snow had been very heavy around there & was up above the fence tops, quite a few telephone wires were down as well. I don’t think I’ve ever got over Canadian telephone poles, having twists & bends in them, whereas ours are dead straight & creosoted! No doubt it is because so many come down that it is only worth while lopping the branches off trees and sticking them up. However at about 6 P.M. on Wednesday we came rolling into Montreal. We reported to the RTO, got everything fixed up, dumped our kit & set off for a place to stay.
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Ronnie Clureman & I set off for the YMCA but got lost & had a hell of a job finding it. I was surprised to find the pavements and roads were coated with a solid sheet of ice a foot thick. To make matters worse the temperature rose suddenly & it rained forming pools everywhere, then just as suddenly it froze. It was exactly the same as walking on an ice rink. At the YMCA they said they hadn’t rooms there but they could fix us up. I’m afraid we were more out for a spree than anything, consequently we didn’t want to stay in a persons house and come in pretty early, So mumbling excuses we crept out & started to look for rooms, we soon got fixed up, in a place owned by a Frenchman, a decent chap though. Following this we went back to the YMCA for a meal.
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Jack Benny was in town with his show Rochester, Don Wilson, & the rest, they were giving a show in the Y.M. that night so we went, it was pretty good. Afterwards there was a jam session we were able to stand it for a while but with our heads absolutely splitting we tottered out. The next day we were mainly sight seeing and shopping during the day. Gangs of men were chipping the ice off the side walks, because people had been going down like ninepins the night before & I guess there were a few bones broken. We lunched at Dinty Moor’s we had nearly all our meals there, & I saw Noel Cowards ’In which we serve,” it was very good. The Y.M.C.A gave us free seats for any film show that we wanted to go to. After tea we started a real round of the various night clubs & dives.
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Our first call was at the Beaver Club, because that was the only place we could find where the price of beer was reasonable. It was 45 cents a quart, so we would quaff a goodly sum, & then bowl off to the dearer places, well heeled. The Beaver really was a dive though, the grimmest excuse for a cabaret I ever saw & a really grim lot there at times. Still it served its purpose then off we would trot to the Astor or Music Box, we hovered around both places, but I know we finished at the Astor. Harry Jamieson & Corrie were really gone & had a couple of women with them, as up came a photographer & snapped them & charged them $5 a copy. The cabaret there wasn’t too hot, anyway we remained till the end around 3A.M. and we wended our way back rather staggeringly to our bed.
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The next day was much the same as the previous ones, silk stockings & cosmetics, being purchased at Eaton’s, & a general tour around. We went to Lochi’s to see a film, & then wended our way to the station, we were very sorry to have to leave, I should have liked a fortnight there, two days was far too short. The train journey to Moncton was pretty uneventful, the sun was shining brightly on the snow, & we took quite a few photographs.
At 4P.M. yesterday afternoon we drew into the familiar station at Moncton, & took a taxi to the camp. They hadn’t been expecting us which annoyed us, because we could have had a few days more leave, Jock Creighton hasn’t come back yet anyway. Now we are settled in our billets and are getting quite comfortable again, I love this central heating.
[page break]
[underlined] Wednesday February 17th. [/underlined]
The weather has taken a turn for the worse now when we arrived the streets were clean but we’ve had a couple of snow falls since. Things have tightened up here since we were last staying, there is more of a check on you. We parade in the morning after breakfast, if we can get up for it. The trouble is we have to queue right round the hall, because there are quite a few N.C.O’s here, it shook us having to have our own knives & forks again, most of us had thrown them away.
After parade they march us to lectures they have just started, they are more or less a farce, not a lot of gen given us. There is quite an amount of square bashing on a huge parade ground they have built, what a life, could be worse.
[page break]
I have been into town once, everything is much the same, a new restaurant has opened, & is packed out always. As there has been no troopships leaving for a few weeks there are tons of RAF chaps & the town is crowded. Once I went to the Camp Cinema its [sic] really is the finest I’ve seen a real luxury effort. Red plush armchairs, covertly staggered, velvet curtains, everything done in modern style. Beside this there is an ordinary camp cinema, which is free. The bar is a good one, and we have a decent café, with oranges & milk available, so we are pretty well off. Our food isn’t too bad, the majority of our meals are ate in the town though. On the whole Moncton must get 50% of its business from the RAF.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday 21st February [/underlined]
A week of waiting has passed, with bags of rumours flying around regarding postings home. Never before has the camp been so crowded, owing to the active U Boat campaign no RAF chaps have sailed for [deleted] [indecipherable] [/deleted] six weeks, & the camp is jammed, all the huts are full. The other day a huge bunch of Aussies & Canadians arrived from Halifax as they were overflowing there as well. It is really grim in town trying to get in at a café or cinema, its [sic] air force air force everywhere, & we vainly hunt for a place to eat. On a course one doesn’t notice the time passing but here on the last lap home, it just seems to drag. Another thing we don’t get mail now because we told everyone at home to cease writing when our course was finishing at Rivers. In this way
[page break]
it obviates bundles of old letters chasing you to England. However we tramp hopefully to the Post Office each day just in case, & sometimes there is an old one that has been chasing all over Canada.
We are in a different hut now, it was a bind lugging all the kit across. The old ‘F’ flight at Manchester, (65 course at Defoe) are in the next room, its [sic] funny how after all this time we are still together. It has just come through who are getting commissions, they are Stan Cross, Pat Kinsella, Smithy, Wade, Jock Crighton, Hunter, & a quiet chap in another class Walker I believe his name is. Most of them were expected, Jock Crighton was a shock he had had more detentions & charges than all the course put together, he arrived here quite a few days leave. Some of them deserve their commissions thoroughly though, its [sic] a pity we are split up now.
[page break]
It was a humorous but tragic sight here the other day. The weather was quite warm when most of the fellows went into town around 5P.M. at 8P.M. it dropped terribly in temperature, & as they only had thin RAF caps, there were well over 50 fellows walking about with a bandage on their head & two great pads over their ears. After my dose of it I was truly sorry for them. They try to put in an amount of square bashing here, its [sic] a bind, W/O Libby is one big b- & thats [sic] no lie as the Canucks say. He is the station W/O & really likes aircrew – I don’t think.
It is May’s birthday today, but I’ll have to deliver her present when I arrive home. These various items have travelled some miles already, & will be travelling a good few more before they are ultimately delivered.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday March 1st. [/underlined]
One more week gone & it really seems as though something big is moving now and I sincerely hope so. Some of us popped of to New York for a few days leave. We managed it by forging letters from imaginary people down there, as this was necessary, I think everybody knew they were faked including the officer, still we had a fine time. Lots of times we have been warned of the Fifth Column over here, & we have had ample evidence of it. From bags of people we have had “authentic” gen regarding our ship, port & sailing date. Most of them seem to favour the Queen Elizabeth from New York, I hope they are right from the point of comfort. Regarding the sailing date it is sometime during the next fortnight, and that seems feasible enough.
[page break]
The Fleet Air Arm chaps had a party last night a regular beer up, they finished up with women in the billets, one could hear them shrieking of laughter all over the camp. So a few officers were Joe’d to go along & turf them out. Our hut has a real handy location for getting out of camp, instead of walking right across to the main gate, we have a hole in the fence at the back of our hut. Here we slip through & catch a bus right into the centre of the town, it is most handy returning at night [deleted] bef [/deleted] being dropped off almost at the doorstop.
Some of the commissioned lads are acquiring their kit, seems strange to see them in cheese-cutters. I don’t exactly know if I wanted one or not, so can’t tell if I’m disappointed. I know I wouldn’t take that commission Grand spoke of to go on the 4th Vector course.
[page break
[underlined] Wednesday [deleted] 4th [/deleted] 3rd March. [/underlined]
Things definitely are moving and its [sic] homeward bound we’ll be in a few days, it seems too good to be true. Not much has happened but we have been warned to stand by & get all our kit assembled together, & chase round to the various places, if we have any boots or shoes etc. anywhere. We came across here with webbing & two kitbags although we didn’t need it all, we kept the webbing with us, & the kit bags were stowed in the hold. Now we are only allowed one kit bag & webbing & we keep these with us all the trip there being nothing stowed in the hold, I don’t know why. We are handing in our flying kit here, but we still lose a lot of room, as flying kit could go in 3/4 of a kit bag and the rest of the room could be used for something else.
[page break]
So it has come to the question of room for service stuff or for our presents, & the answer is emphatically presents. After lugging them this far we certainly aren’t going to leave them behind now for some service gear.
We had the job, one night of waiting up through the night for an intake arriving here from England. They were pretty late & we kept waiting in the empty huts listening for the whistles of the trains in the sidings. We found a tramp fast asleep in one empty hut in the old RAF blankets. He said he had been sleeping there every night for a fortnight, we told him to beat it in case the S.P’s came along & boy! Did he move. The intake arrived at 7A.M. full of questions, about training & everything, we were exactly the same when we got here.
[page brake]
[underlined] Sunday March 7th. [/underlined]
We have said our last goodbyes to the part of Canada we are in, not that Moncton is representative of Canada thank heavens but that is the only place available. Tomorrow morning will see us moving off heavily laden, bon voyage & then England & home yippee! This has been a pretty frenzied week on the whole, hurried rushed parades for some new gen. Being put into our embarkation flights, roll calls over & over again, tramp around in a huge straggling column, continual threats that offenders will be “taken off the draft” it really is a hustle. I met Fred Price the other day, a chap I knew back at the YMCA club in civvie [sic] street. He is a [indecipherable word] Nav/W. we had quite a chin wag over the old times, I was pleased to see him.
[page break]
There was an enormous pay parade we had to wait a hell of a time before we collected the filthy lucre. Most of us went into town & bought up bags of things that will be unavailable in England. Chief among these was cosmetics, the manager in Eaton’s was saying he had never seen anything like it, three days running now he has had his complete stock bought up. That is one of the most obvious signs that there is a draft moving out, this terrific orgy of last minute spending. Also all the chaps that are well in with their girls in town will be saying goodbye, yes! If there’s a person in town who doesn’t know we are all moving out tell me. Still I guess the powers that be are fully aware of this fact & have taken it into account, I hope so anyway.
[page break]
Jock Crighton put a fast one over on some of the boys, he owed quite a few of them packets of money. When he first arrived he kept putting them off, & now the draft is going he has suddenly gone sick, got moved into hospital, & refuses to see anyone. Consequently he is missing the draft & his creditors, he never had any conscience in those matters though.
Tomorrow morning we have our final parade with full webbing, I really hate the stuff now, I’ve put it on & off so much lately. Every available inch of it is crammed with presents, it is a masterpiece of packing, bags of 664B though on the next clothing parade.
Naturally I shall be very glad to get home, but I would have liked time to have looked around Canada more. Although one thing I shan’t be sorry to leave is the snow, I’ll never want a ‘White Christmas.’
[page break]
[underlined] Tuesday March 9th. [/underlined]
Once more I am writing afloat, though we aren’t under way, we are on the boat but she is still moored to the dockside. The old grapevine was pretty bang on with their ‘gen’, the boat we are on is the Queen Elizabeth & just outside stretches Lil’ ole Noo [sic] York. Their date of sailing wasn’t so far out either, we leave tomorrow.
We paraded yesterday morning in the drill hall at Moncton, with all regalia. The customary period of waiting ensued, during which we sagged with our webbing & finally threw it on the floor. At last we began to move off flight by flight, down past the buildings along the huge drill square & to the railway siding where we sat & waited for the train. Hell! It was cold my ear nearly froze again, still the train hove into sight just in time.
[page break]
A wild rush began for seats with chaps getting entangled with each other’s kit, everyone settled down O.K. though. I could have wept for one chap. Like a lot of fellows he had bought a large blue kit bag in the town so he could get more stuff in it than the service kit bag permitted. It’ was made of inferior material however & split right down the side as he ran along. Presents fell out right & left cosmetics strewn around, and silk stockings in abundance. It looked grim, but when it was collected he had only lost two small jars of cream broken, and one box of powder. All the train journey he was busy sewing it up with string, & lashing it with straps.
Off went the train with the customary lurch & series of bumps, then became lost in a maze of sidings around Moncton
[page break]
before beginning its southward journey. On & on we went with the afternoon lengthening into evening, then with the dark out would come the cards & the groups would get going. There couldn’t be much security about the movement, because all along the way, even when it was dark, lots of people would come out to their doorways to wave at us passing. We were the fifth troop train to go through so quite a few people must have known. That is one pleasant thing here, the hospitality & friendliness of the people, everyone turns out to wave at you passing. At one place there was a long stop and we all streamed out to get something to eat, but they chased us back again. Cooked meals were served in the old dixies [sic] & steel plates while we were travelling, they were a bit grim though.
[Page break]
When we awoke in the morning we were well on our way, the sun was shining it was much warmer, & wonder of wonders the good earth was showing without a snow covering. Yes, we had crossed the border & were in the States again. We followed the banks of the Hudson River for a while, taking bags of photographs. The guard warned us about taking snaps of a submarine yard further on, as he said a guard fired at a chap with a camera. It was quite a large place, with several sleek black shapes around. The Hudson was really broad here & later we crossed an enormous bridge & pulled up in Newhaven. There was a wait of over an hour an hour here, and all the other troop trains were also standing there. At this point the electric trains came into use with the overhead trellis & cables like our trolley buses, they were lovely jobs.
[page break]
On we went & clattered into the suburbs of New York, everyone waved & we waved back, all were happy & life was grand. There was a brief halt in Pennsylvania Station, then back & forth across Long Island until we drew up at the dockside. Then we were right on East River, with the skyscrapers towering above, to proclaim Manhattan. No doubt about it, it certainly does impress you, I guess we Londoners get used to the five storey buildings etc. as the main thing. It really does look thrilling from the river to see the Empire State, the Woolworth, Rockefeller Centre, Chrysler, & others towering up to the sky, certainly better than they look when one is underneath. The ferry boat pulled in & on we went, I could never stop thinking of the old Mississippi days & old Man River, when I saw these. They were so identical in shape to the old paddle steamers that plyed [sic] back & forth.
[page break]
We slowly moved up East River, past the skyscrapers, wharves, docks & shipping, I know one thing struck me that I hadn’t noticed before. That apart from Manhattan, New York is pretty flat. There was the hulk of the old Normandie [sic], at the French wharf, she was lying over on her side, half submerged with wooden islands all around & over it,& gangs of men swarming like industrious ants. The Cunard Quay was next & there towered the Queen Elizabeth in her sombre grey war paint. We docked & filed up a narrow gang plank with our kit bags, one chap had one so heavy he overbalanced & fell into the water. It was crammed with presents & with stoic determination he refused to let go, but gripped on it tightly. With that & full webbing he was nearly on the point of drowning till a lively boat man secured him with a boat hook.
[page break]
After being checked in carefully at the gate we filed on board received our berth & meal cards & set off to our room. I was unlucky enough to get a bottom berth again, but it wasn’t so bad. We dumped our kit & set out for our meal. The mess isn’t so decorative as the Queen Mary, none of the boat is, because she is finished as a troop ship, & the Mary was completed in peace time. I’ll say more about the ship later. Tonight we sneaked up on deck though we weren’t supposed to for the last look of New York by night. Although it has a supposed black out it still resembles peace time Piccadilly. Late workers in the skyscrapers had various windows lit, & now & again, one would go out as they packed up and went home. Multi coloured lights were visible up & down the river with hurrying craft, whilst on the roads streams
[page break]
of taxis whizzed back & forth. Bright lights were twinkling everywhere, & I would have given anything to just be starting a months leave there, still if [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] wishes were horses –
They were loading some cargo or something in the forward hold, & it seemed strange to see the huge arc lamps glaring down on the ship. It seems funny that after this time we are at least going home. Tomorrow morning we shall be under way to England, in a way I shall be sorry because I have enjoyed myself over here. Still I got a bit homesick and had to come down from the deck, & there being nothing doing I decided to write this. I wonder how long we will be aboard, before we dock again, it all depends on the route. Well, I’ll turn in now, & see if I can sleep, so farewell States & Canada.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday 11th March. [/underlined]
Once more we are afloat on the Atlantic, & it is no smoother than it was before, a little rougher if anything. At about 10A.M. yesterday we cast off from the quay, & a small flotilla of tugs nosed us out into the river and slowly took us out to sea. There is nothing like the freedom, on board this ship, that there was on the Queen Mary. They wouldn’t allow anybody on deck & all portholes were supposed to be shut. Naturally everybody was jammed at the narrow opening to get the last glimpse of New York & the States. It was a pretty cold morning & there was some ice floating around. After a bit the famous Manhattan skyline faded into the mist & the next land we would see would be good old England. Suddenly came the beat of our engines the tugs cast off tooted a last farewell & we were on our way.
[page break]
They allowed us up on the Boat & Promenade Decks then, the land was completely out of sight. We still had an escort about five coast guard cutters or something & up above cruised us a U.S. Navy Blimp. Backwards & forwards she went, but after a while it ceased to be a source of interest & was taken for granted. We went down to the cabin for awhile, & when we came back on deck the escort had gone, we were on our own. Then certainly isn’t so much freedom on board we cant [sic] go to a lot of places, all the decks around the guns are out of bounds. With all the troops on board, they estimate there are 25,000 it gets a bit crowded especially at the canteens. There are two one for cigarettes etc and the other for chocolates, sweets & oranges. They open at selected times during the
[page break]
day and long before opening time arrives, there is a large queue stretching right down the corridors & up stairs. Quite a few go over an hour before & sit & play cards, naturally we are all buying chocolate to take home, the bar takes American, Canadian & English money & must make a hell of a packet.
We certainly need to patronise them, because owing to the number of troops aboard, they can only give us two meals a day, though they are serving all the day. Our two meals are 8 A.M. & 5 P.M. & boy! We certainly get hungry in between. There is a terrific queue for each meal up the staircases & along the corridors with everyone shuffling forward. They scrutinise the meal cards very carefully at the door, because they just haven’t enough for seconds. The water is also rationed, fresh water only being obtainable before 9 A.M. & after 5 P.M. guards are posted at water ports.
[page break]
[underlined] Saturday March 13th. [/underlined]
We thought as we were N.C.O’s we wouldn’t have to work this trip, but they had other ideas. Our gang of chaps were made guards two hours on and six off, it was a bind at first but I rather like it now. The main reason being that at night it is really sweltering down in the troop decks, & I have a wizard post on the sun deck. This is reserved for Wing Cmdrs. & above, & is situated craftily between the two funnels, there are vents in the front smoke stack, allowing the warm air to blow back along the deck, so it is never cold. I love standing there at night with the wind blowing & the old ship racing along it really streams at night, & the sparkling phosphorescence shows up marvellously. It certainly is better than being down below.
[page break]
I think if anybody is sea sick it is beneath decks, with the heat & crowding for meals, there staircases are jammed, when it is time to eat. Also there is a queer sickly smell like linoleum inside the ship. Looking along a terrific long corridor it gives every impression of being on land, then suddenly heels over it really is queer. This ship rolls terrifically, because there is no ballast in the hold, they have temporary troop quarters there, every piece of space is utilised, that is the reason that we had to keep our kitbags with us.
I would like to see the route this ship takes across the Atlantic I bet it certainly goes places, way south then up again. It is fascinating to watch the wake as the ship zig zags about every couple of minutes, we have seen no action by day however.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday 15th March. [/underlined]
We must be best part of the way across now I thought the journey would only take four days. The other night they said we came up with a convoy that was being attacked & we had to turn right round & beetle back, I don’t know how true it was. Yesterday the weather was fairly squally & the strength of the wind was phenomenal, it absolutely drove the rain against the ship. From the height of the boat deck the grey waves didn’t look so large, but by jiminy they were, I should just hate to be in an open boat. It is a funny thing but looking around the horizon with the waves rising one could swear they were ships on the horizon. I think it is quite a significant fact that a huge ship can cross the Atlantic unescorted in the middle of a big U Boat campaign.
[page break]
This afternoon I was up on the [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] sun deck on guard watching the gun crews, when the Tannoy blared for action stations at the guns. They often used to have dummy practises with imaginary aircraft, and I though this was another one. However there was an aircraft way out on the horizon very small but distinct. All guns were trained immediately, swivelling around & following it. When it came nearer we were able to distinguish the shape of the good old Sunderland, coming out to escort us. What a welcome sight she was it meant we were approaching home at last. She started to search all around in case there was a lurking U Boat. It would have been a sight, should it have been an enemy, there are 73 guns aboard, that helps to make the ship roll as she is so top heavy, & with no ballast in the hold.
[page break]
This ship certainly has a variety of armaments, the 6 inch in the stern should give any U Boat a hot time. For ack ack, there are the 40mm. Bofors & 20mm. Oerlikon, & they also have two sets of 12 rocket guns, it would be quite a sight, in air attack.
Well I guess with the Sunderland reaching us today we should be docking tomorrow sometime, that makes 7 days, the same as our outward journey. Twice crossing the Atlantic that isn’t bad I never dreamt before the war I would ever cross it. Out of the two journeys I think I enjoyed the outward one more, mainly because there was more comfort I think. The next time I write I will be in England once more, as I won’t be writing tomorrow so one more stage of our travels’ are over & tomorrow we will be saying ‘Hello England’.
[page break]
15th MARCH 1943
CONCLUDING BOOK 4
AND ENDING MY.
EXPERIENCES IN.
CANADA.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Book 4, Continuing my Overseas Training
Description
An account of the resource
Fourth of David Geach's diaries describing the final part of his training in Canada. He writes of his service and personal life training as an air bomber. He describes his ground and 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 12 December 1942 to 15 March 1943.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Geach
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
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
YGeachDG1394781v1
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.
Canada
United States
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Saskatchewan--Regina
Manitoba--Winnipeg
New Brunswick--Moncton
New York (State)--New York
New York (State)
New Brunswick
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Christian
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-12
1943-01
1943-02
1943-03
air gunner
aircrew
Blenheim
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
entertainment
ground personnel
military living conditions
military service conditions
navigator
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1838/32947/CEvansA-170424-010002.1.jpg
ae777411c3a411f9f21edb40c6cd36c8
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1838/32947/CEvansA-170424-010004.1.jpg
5f12b3c24136ebcd945b8b3ce9a78df7
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
Evans, Albert
A Evans
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
2017-04-24
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Evans, A
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. The collection concerns Flying Officer Albert Evans (1922 - 1944, 157299 Royal Air Force) and contains documents, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a pilot with 44 Squadron and was killed 25 March 1944. <br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by S Smith and catalogued by Barry Hunter.<br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW61255494 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW61255494 BCX0">Additional information on<span> Albert Evans </span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW61255494 BCX0">is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW61255494 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> IBCC </span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/107170/">Losses Database.</a>
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
Air Navigation Chart, Swift Current - Regina
Description
An account of the resource
1:506880 Chart of Swift Current-Regina.
Format
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Two coloured printed sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Map
Identifier
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CEvansA-170424-010002, CEvansA-170424-010004
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 Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Saskatchewan--Regina
Saskatchewan
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Canada. Department of Mines and Resources
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
navigator