A H D Batty]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> Scotland--Stranraer]]> Scotland]]> Great Britain]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jackie Simpson]]> Brian May]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> England--Brighton]]> England--Yorkshire]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Victoria]]> Victoria--Mallee]]> Victoria]]> Victoria--Mount Martha]]> Victoria]]> New South Wales]]> England--Sussex]]> 1944-03-06]]> 1944-03-07]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Alastair Montgomery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Canada]]> Prince Edward Island]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Italy]]> Italy--Naples]]> Italy--Brindisi]]> 1944]]> She was selected for wireless training and trained at RAF Compton Bassett and Blackpool, where she used to go dancing. As a wireless operator Sylvia was posted to RAF Bottesford and then RAF Waddington, working shifts in the Air Traffic Control tower. She also had to check the aircraft radios.
Sylvia's accommodation hut had ten beds and on many evenings, she was able to get a lift home to Mansfield and back with a contractor. At RAF Waddington, she met and fell in love with Harold, a bomb aimer and says it was hard to watch him depart on operations. But he survived and they married when the war ended and they had two daughters.
In 1947 the family moved to Scotland for three years but Sylvia found it very lonely so Harold transferred to Mansfield.
Harold's flight engineer emigrated to North America after the war and was always suggesting they do the same. Sylvia's daughters both went first and then, when Harold retired, he and Sylvia went to California
Sylvia says they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in New Zealand and then recalls how she had spent her honeymoon on a train to Glasgow with two army men, before travelling all the way down to Portsmouth, where she became absent without leave. Worried that she might be imprisoned, she returned to RAF Waddington where her WAAF commanding officer took sympathy on her.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Andy Fitter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Mansfield]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Loch Lomond]]> United States]]> California]]> California--San Diego]]> California--Simi Valley]]> 1942]]> 1945-12-04]]> 1946]]> 1947]]>
Bill Thomas]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Karl Williams]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Wales]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Wales--Aberystwyth]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> New Brunswick]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Ontario]]> Ontario--Belleville]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Basic training was carried out at Lords Cricket ground in London. One clear memory is helping to carry patients down several flights of stairs from a nearby hospital during an air raid.
Time was spent at RAF Bridlington on Initial Training Wing before attending Air Gunnery School in the Isle of Man. Further training was undertaken at RAF Banbury where he was crewed up on Wellingtons, before moving to the Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common to convert to Stirlings. During his time here he attended an escape course at RAF Feltwell and was instructed in unarmed combat, which he dismissed as pitiful.
He and his crew were posted to RAF Witchford, Cambridgeshire, where he flew his first operation in February 1944 replacing an ill air gunner. He later discovered this was an inexperienced crew. He remembers the target was around Osnabrück in Germany and it was a melee over the target where they were attacked by two Me 109s, which they successfully shook off. On his return, he remembers being unable to sleep and went for a walk into Ely. There he discovered the Oxford Cambridge boat race was being held and watched it
Target areas of Germany included Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Augsburg. On his 5th operation, the aircraft was attacked, and the aircraft lost its heating and communications. He suffered frostbite and spent several months recovering in Ely hospital.
On regaining fitness, he was transferred to RAF Waterbeach and was allocated to a crew led by Ted Cousins. Waterbeach was a pre-war airfield with comfortable facilities. Time off was spent competing in athletics and football along with drinking at the local public houses.
When time allowed, he went home, but found the experience boring: all his friends were serving away, and there was little to do except drink or go to the cinema. His elder brother was serving as a navigator in the Far East, and he felt it unfair to talk about his experiences with his family.
At RAF Waterbeach there was a greater variety of operations. Targets varied from Germany to Southern France. He also remembers one trip to Poland. This entailed flying over Denmark and they could see the lights from Sweden and anti-aircraft fire.
He has a clear memory of most of his operations but does not wish to dwell on some. On one occasion he spotted a Me 109, he tried to warn the pilot but his intercom had frozen and emergency light was inoperative. He tried to open fire but his guns jammed – the night fighter opened fire and hit the centre of the aircraft. The aircraft began violently manoeuvring and he wasn’t sure if this was deliberate evasive manoeuvres or if they were out of control. He made his way forward and discovered the aircraft door open and the mid upper gunner missing. There were cannon holes all around the centre of the aircraft. He still wasn’t sure if he was the only one on board until he reached the main cabin and found the rest of the crew in position. They made it back home where they realised an incendiary bullet was lodged in the ammunition pannier.
His last operation was one of the thousand-bomber operations in Germany, the air black with anti-aircraft fire. On his return, the air gunners went sent to the bomb dump to assist the armourers in preparing the bombs for the following days attack which was carried out by the United States Army Air Forces.
After completing his tour of operation, he was posted to RAF Brackla, hoping to be retained as physical training instructor, but ended up at RAF Weeton near Blackpool to be trained as a driver.
He served at several locations across Southern England before his final posting which was with a microfilm unit in Frankfurt. Fraternising with locals was not allowed, but he did manage to learn German. He played in a football match against a much better German select team.
After demob, he returned home and was involved in the manufacturing of cars at the Triumph factory. He married, and because of unrest and strikes in the car industry, he moved to Scotland and was employed at the Carron company in Falkirk as a production director manufacturing steel bars, where his ability to speak German became an advantage in his dealings with foreign companies. He met an ex Luftwaffe pilot and experiences were exchanged - there was no animosity whatsoever and it was accepted they both had been carrying out their duty.
Geoff looks back on his time in Bomber Command with great fondness. It was like a big family. He still has contact with surviving crew members, and still attends reunions.
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Brenda Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Ely]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--London]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Denmark]]> Sweden]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Falkirk]]> Scotland--Nairnshire]]> Scotland--Stirlingshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> 1944-02]]>
D A Baker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Devon]]> England--Paignton]]> England--Torquay]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Glasgow]]> Zimbabwe]]> Zimbabwe--Manicaland Province]]> 1940-12-15]]> D A Baker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Castle Cary]]> England--Devon]]> England--Torquay]]> Scotland]]> Zimbabwe]]> Zimbabwe--Manicaland Province]]> 1945-05-26]]> D A Baker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Christian]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Glasgow]]> Zimbabwe]]> Zimbabwe--Manicaland Province]]> 1945-06-11]]> David Boldy]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Edinburgh]]> Great Britain]]> 1940-06]]> David Boldy]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Edinburgh]]> Great Britain]]> 1940-06]]> David Boldy]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> England--Hastings]]> England--Sussex]]> 1940-06]]> David Boldy]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anita Raine]]> eng]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> 1940-07]]> Denise Boneham]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> France]]> France--Calais]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Australia]]> Borneo]]> Christmas Island]]> Fiji]]> Hawaii]]> Malaysia]]> New South Wales]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Northern Territory]]> Northern Territory--Darwin]]> Singapore]]> United States]]> Zimbabwe]]> Scotland]]> 1944]]> 1949]]> 1950]]> 1972]]>
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Donald McNaughton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Scotland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Scotland--Scapa Flow]]>
Ellis Edwards]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Andy Hamilton]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> England--Suffolk]]> Scotland--Moray]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> 1942-12]]> 1943-01]]> ET Wallis]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription. Allocated]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Wales]]> 1944-09-12]]> F Donaldson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Frances Grundy]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Southampton]]> Scotland]]> G Cruickshank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Judy Hodgson]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Royal Air Force. Balloon Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Portland]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Aldershot]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Felixstowe]]> France]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> France--Paris]]> France--Clermont-Ferrand]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Rostock]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Wismar]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy--Genoa]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> France--Le Creusot]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942-04-15]]> 1942-04-24]]> 1942-05-30]]> 1942-10-17]]> 1942-11-05]]> 1942-11-09]]> 1944-04-24]]> Gemma Clapton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1943-07]]> Great Britain. Ordnance Survey]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Map]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Great Britain. Ordnance Survey]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Map]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Great Britain. Ordnance Survey]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Map]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Kenya]]> Norway]]> Poland]]> Scotland]]> Sweden]]> Middle East--Palestine]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Europe--Frisian Islands]]> France--Brest]]> France--Creil]]> France--Le Havre]]> France--Lorient]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Flensburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Rostock]]> Germany--Stade (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Wiesbaden]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> Netherlands--Walcheren]]> Norway--Halse]]> Poland--Gdynia]]> Scotland--Wigtownshire]]> Sweden--Helsingborg]]> Netherlands]]> Germany--Münster in Westfalen]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Atlantic Ocean--Kiel Bay]]> 1941-09-02]]> 1941-09-03]]> 1941-09-06]]> 1941-09-07]]> 1941-09-08]]> 1941-09-09]]> 1941-09-12]]> 1941-09-13]]> 1941-09-16]]> 1941-09-17]]> 1941-09-28]]> 1941-09-29]]> 1941-09-30]]> 1941-10-01]]> 1941-01-13]]> 1941-01-14]]> 1941-11-07]]> 1941-11-08]]> 1941-11-09]]> 1941-11-10]]> 1941-11-23]]> 1941-11-23]]> 1941-11-26]]> 1941-11-27]]> 1941-11-30]]> 1941-12-01]]> 1941-12-07]]> 1941-12-08]]> 1941-12-16]]> 1941-12-17]]> 1942-01-14]]> 1942-01-15]]> 1942-01-17]]> 1942-01-18]]> 1942-01-25]]> 1942-01-26]]> 1942-02-07]]> 1942-02-10]]> 1942-02-11]]> 1942-02-12]]> 1942-02-14]]> 1942-02-15]]> 1942-03-10]]> 1942-03-11]]> 1944-06-30]]> 1942-03-31]]> 1944-07-04]]> 1942-03-05]]> 1944-08-07]]> 1944-08-20]]> 1944-09-13]]> 1944-09-15]]> 1944-09-17]]> 1944-09-19]]> 1944-10-03]]> 1944-11-18]]> 1944-12-12]]> 1944-12-13]]> 1944-12-15]]> 1944-12-16]]> 1944-12-18]]> 1944-12-19]]> 1945-01-16]]> 1945-01-17]]> 1945-01-22]]> 1945-01-28]]> 1945-01-29]]> 1945-02-01]]> 1945-02-02]]> 1945-02-02]]> 1945-02-03]]> 1945-03-30]]> 1945-03-31]]> 1945-05-02]]> 1945-05-03]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> Norway]]> Poland]]> Scotland]]> Czech Republic--Chomutov]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kaiserslautern]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Rheine]]> Germany--Würzburg]]> Italy--Bari]]> Manitoba--Winnipeg]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Norway--Horten]]> Norway--Trondheim]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Scotland--Wigtownshire]]> Czech Republic]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Manitoba]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1944-09-23]]> 1944-09-24]]> 1944-09-26]]> 1944-09-27]]> 1944-09-28]]> 1944-10-14]]> 1944-10-15]]> 1944-10-28]]> 1944-10-29]]> 1944-11-03]]> 1944-11-04]]> 1944-11-05]]> 1944-11-11]]> 1944-11-12]]> 1944-11-21]]> 1944-11-22]]> 1944-11-23]]> 1944-11-26]]> 1944-11-27]]> 1944-12-14]]> 1944-12-15]]> 1944-12-16]]> 1944-12-17]]> 1945-02-19]]> 1945-02-20]]> 1945-02-21]]> 1945-02-23]]> 1945-02-24]]> 1945-03-03]]> 1945-03-04]]> 1945-03-05]]> 1945-03-06]]> 1945-03-07]]> 1945-03-08]]> 1945-03-14]]> 1945-03-15]]> 1945-03-16]]> 1945-03-17]]> 1945-04-07]]> 1945-04-08]]> 1945-04-09]]> 1945-04-17]]> 1945-04-18]]> 1945-04-19]]> 1945-05-10]]> 1945-05-31]]> 1945-09-13]]> 1945-09-15]]> 1945-09-29]]> 1945-10-01]]>