2
25
87
-
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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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. Chef.. J.D.Hudson.
Camp de Séjour Surveillé.
LE. KEF.
TUNISIE.
AFRIQUE DU NORD.
29-11-40
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I am still without any news from you & I am wondering if you are both well, & if everything is going on all right at home. I have written quite a number of letters since I have been here and I do hope that by now some of them will have reached you.
If I were you I should try sending letters to me c/o the American Consul – Tunis, & address some envelopes via [inserted] BRITISH CONSUL [/inserted] TANGIERS, & others via the Swiss Red Cross, Geneva. Some of the chaps have received a few letters from home already & it seems a little strange to me that I am still without news. Also if you have not already done so try and send me a cable c/o the American Consul – Tunis, also make enquiries about the possibility of sending letters by Air Mail. There will be no harm done in trying these various channels. Some of our chaps have also had wireless programmes broadcast
[page break]
on the Forces Empire Programme, with the usual favourite tune. Although we do not hear these programmes we are advised by the authorities who have heard them.
There is little I can tell you, except assure you that I am perfectly well & persevering with my Bridge Playing, & speaking a horrible French which definitely serves it’s purpose however, and gets me along. I hesitate to attempt Arabic, and am given to understand it would take years anyway.
I don’t suppose this letter will arrive before Christmas so I hope you will have as good a time as possible under the circumstances. I shall think about you, & also at New Year. I also wish Mother a very happy birthday & am only too sorry I cannot send a present along. However, one of these days there will be rejoicings & reunions which will be appreciated all the more by absence now.
And so until next Friday when I shall send a post-card – cheerio. I shall write another letter in two weeks time.
My thoughs are always with you and I send you all my love,
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
P.T.O
[page break]
PS How strange, I have just this moment received the following p.c. from the Swiss Red Cross at Geneva:-
“We have received your letter dated 18-10-40, & beg to inform you that we immediately forwarded your letter to your parents, & also sent the British Red Cross a message enquiring about your parent’s health. As soon as we receive any information we shall forward it to you at once.”
A bit more encouragement!
[underlined] Douglas. [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that he still has not heard from them and wonders if everything is alright with them. He suggest various ways they might get in touch: through the American consul Tunis, British consul Tangiers and Red Cross Geneva. Some compatriots have received letters or heard wireless broadcasts on forces empire programmes but not him. Reports that he is well and playing bridge speaking French. Wishes mother happy birthday. Reports receiving a post card from Red Cross stating they had forwarded a letter from him to his parents and sent an enquiry about his parents health to the British Red Cross.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-11-29
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401129-02
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Tunisia--Tunis
Morocco
Morocco--Tangier
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-11-29
1940-10-18
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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 Christian
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22493/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401206-0001.1.jpg
1c11f85372c9d4c51fe2efc5362c3118
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22493/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401206-0002.1.jpg
3981431b66faae981f77e9a2f4da34f2
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
PAR.
COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DE LA
CROIX ROUGE
[postmark]
AGENCE CENTRALE DES PROSONERS
DE GURRE
GENÉVE.
SUISSE.
[inserted] 106 Thornhill St
Calverley
[underlined] LEEDS [/underlined]
[international red cross postmark]
MR. & MRS. HUDSON.
[deleted] 10. MOORSIDE ROAD. [/deleted]
[deleted] KERSAL. [/deleted]
(SALFORD) [deleted] SALFORD. 7. [/deleted]
LANCASHIRE.
ANGLETERRE.
[page break]
ROYAL AIR FORCE. 755052 SGT. CHEF.
J. D. HUDSON.
CAMP DE SÉJOUR SURVEILLÉ
LE KEF
TUNISIE
AFRIQUE DU NORD
6-12-40
MY DEAR MOTHER & DAD,
Once again a short p.c. to let you know I am still well, & I do hope you are also. I am still without any news from you & I again suggest that if you have not already done so to try & send me a cable c/o The American Consul, Tunis. Try sending letters via the Swiss Red Cross, also by Air Mail, & also others via Tangiers. Hope you will have a happy Christmas & every good wish for the New Year & for Mother’s birthday. My thoughts are always with you. All my love
[
underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Reports he is still well but has still not received any news from them. Recommends methods that they might try to reach him through various organisations. Wishes them happy Christmas.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-12-06
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401206
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.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Leeds
North Africa
Switzerland
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-12-06
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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 Christian
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22494/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401220-0001.2.jpg
159c14202f4d03e58cb192cc25ac1981
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22494/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401220-0002.2.jpg
e753b20a00017b2dec70ffd0ec9881d0
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[post mark]
PAR. COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX ROUGE
AGENCE CENTRALE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE
GENEVE
SUISSE.
[inserted] F.M. [/inserted]
MR & MRS HUDSON.
10. MOORSIDE ROAD.
KERSAL.
SALFORD. 7.
LANCASHIRE.
ANGLETERRE.
[page break]
Royal air Force. 755052. Sgt. Chef. J.D. Hudson
Camp de Sejacer Surveille
Le Kef.
Tunisie.
Afrique du Nord.
20-12-40.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Once again a short p.c. to let you know I am still well, & I hope that everything is well at home & that you will have a happy Christmas & New Year. I shall be thinking about you. I am still without news from you & am wondering why because letters are getting through. Try writing by Air Mail & Ordinary Mail & try & send me a cable if you have not already done so.
Cheerio until next Friday. Again hoping all is well. All my love
Douglas.
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
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that he is well and wishes them happy Christmas. Reports he is still without news from them and he wonders why as mail is getting through. Suggests sending by air mail as well as cable. .
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-12-20
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401220
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.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Salford (Greater Manchester)
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-12-20
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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
Jan Waller
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22495/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401228-010001.1.jpg
3388d1016e0e4bfd92948c44d5b9f07e
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22495/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401228-010002.1.jpg
8d610d4fd4b807a32126278b25acbe16
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Post mark]
PAR. COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX ROUGE.
AGENCE CENTRALE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE
GENEVE.
SUISSE.
[inserted] F.M.
MR. & MRS. HUDSON.
10 MOORSIDE ROAD.
KERSAL.
SALFORD. 7.
LANCASHIRE.
ANGLETERRE.
[inserted] Notice the Tunis post-mark. The first we’ve had. [/inserted]
[page break]
SGT. CHEF. J.D. HUDSON.
CAMP DE SEJOUR SERVEILLE.
LE KEF.
TUNISIE.
AFRIQUE DU NORD.
28-12-40
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I was very pleased to receive your letter dated 6-11-40 & one from Auntie Gladys dated 17-11-40, & to learn that you are all keeping well. I hope you had a happy Christmas.
I did very well under the circumstances & had plenty to eat. Please thank all the people who have enquired about me, because I am not permitted to write more than 2 letters & 4 p.cs. per month. I have written a letter to you today as well. Looking forward to all your further news.
Best wishes for the New Year & Mothers birthday. All my love, Douglas.
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
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of two letters from them and an aunt. Hopes they had a happy Christmas and asks them to thank everyone who asked after them. Mentions he has also written a letter to them.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-12-28
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE401228-01
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.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Salford (Greater Manchester)
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-12-28
1940-11-06
1940-11-17
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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
Jan Waller
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22497/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410103-0001.1.jpg
ddb75d72fc90a6edfd101b91141f4f3b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22497/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410103-0002.1.jpg
e3018ae97fe51dedccad3b2efa024cd1
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
PAR. COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX ROUGE F.M.
AGENCE CENTRALE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE.
GENÉVE.
SUISSE.
[ink stamp] [post mark]
MR. & MRS. HUDSON.
[deleted] 10. MOORSIDE ROAD. [/deleted]
[deleted] KERSAL. [/deleted]
[deleted] SALFORD. 7. [/deleted]
[inserted] 6 Walverden Cres [underlined] NELSON [/underlined][/inserted]
LANCASHIRE.
ANGLETERRE
[page break]
755052. SGT. CHEF. J.D. HUDSON
CAMP DE SÉJOUR SURVEILLÉ
LE KEF. TUNISIE.
AFRIQUE DU NORD.
3-1-41.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
A happy New Year. I hope much better than 1940. We had good weather to begin it with. I have not received any more letters but I expect quite a batch anytime. Write as often as you possibly can. I have not much to say, except that I am still well & hope you are, & I hope you will have received several of my letters by now. They are not very interesting, but they show that I am all right. Cheers now. Very best wishes for Mother’s birthday. All my love, Douglas
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
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Wishes them happy new year and mentions the weather. Reports he is still well and hopes that they would received several of his letter by then.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-03
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410103
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.
Tunisia
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
North Africa
Tunisia--El Kef
Switzerland
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-03
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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
Robin Christian
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22499/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410110-010001.1.jpg
51032638cafd5009f2b7b8235bceab9a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22499/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410110-010002.1.jpg
e5cf8930f97b5c09d4ea72b1a2f8da2a
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[envelope]
PAR. COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX ROUGE.
AGENCE[?] CENTRALE DES PRISONNIERS
DE GUERRE
GENEVE
SUISSE
F.M.
MR & MRS HUDSON.
[deleted] 10. MOORSIDE ROAD. KERSAL. SALFORD 7.[?] LANCASHIRE. ANGLETERRE. [/deleted]
[inserted] 6 Walverden[?] Cres. Nelson [/inserted]
[/envelope]
[page break]
755052. Sgt. Chef. J. D. Hudson
Camp de Sejour Survville
LE KEF
Tunisie
Afrique du Nord
10-1-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I have written a letter to you today acknowledging receipt of nine letters from you dated Nov 7th to Nov 27th in sequence, & seven others from Calverley & Bury & Prestwick. No need to say how pleased I am. Keep it up please, & [underlined] do [/underlined] write by Air Mail it is much quicker (takes 3 weeks only) I cannot write to other people, but do appreciate their kindness.
The country is much greener now after the snow & there are no flies or insects. In fact it is very pleasant. Under normal conditions life out here for English people would be quite good. One gets used to the different food. And now cheerio, hope you are both keeping well. Best wishes for the 19th.
All my love Douglas
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
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Catches up with mail sent and received and urges them to sent him post by air mail. Comments that countryside is much greener after the rain and there were no insects and life would be good as long as they got use to the food.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-10
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410110-01
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.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-10
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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
Sue Smith
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22501/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410117-0001.1.jpg
b31d4b2aeac390537c5956bca9b18076
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22501/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410117-0002.1.jpg
c609f3bfdb094e628878b8cfb89cf648
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
LANCASHIRE. [post mark]
PAR. COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX ROUGE.
AFENCE CEBTRAKE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE.
GENEVE
SUISSE.
[inserted] F.M. [/inserted]
MR. & MRS. HUDSON.
[deleted] 10. MOORSIDE ROAD.
KERSAL.
SALFORD 7. [/deleted]
ANGLETERRE.
[inserted] 6 Walverden Cres
NELSON
[page break]
SGT. CHEF. (755052) J.D. HUDSON.
CAMP DE SEJOUR SURFEILLE
LE KEF.
TUNISIE.
AFRIQUE DU NORD.
17-1-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Thank you very much for 3 letters dated 1st. 5th & 8th Dec. received this week, also one from John. This is the only thing I can use as a p.c. I was surprised to hear about Dorothy. I am very glad to receive all your letters. Write by air mail also, it only takes 3 weeks. It is good to hear that all is O.K. at home, & I hope it won’t be too long before we are together again. I am still keeping well & am looking forward to the days of freedom. Every best wish for Mother’s birthday on Sunday. Hope everything will continue well.
All my love, Douglas.
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
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of three of their letters. Catches up with family news and is glad they had received his letters. Glad that all is well at home and hopes it will not be long before they are together again. Writes he is still keeping well.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-17
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410117
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.
Tunisia
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
North Africa
Tunisia--El Kef
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-17
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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
Jan Waller
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22504/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410216-0001.1.jpg
2b98ac0d824fa7060b6a6f58171b50af
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22504/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410216-0002.1.jpg
afef8e52783423e37d0f92b7d41a1428
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] PAR. [/underlined] COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL
DE LA CROIX ROUGE
AGENCE CENTRALE DE
PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE
GENÉVE.
SUISSE.
[postmark] [postmark] [postage stamp]
MR & MRS. HUDSON
[deleted] 10. MOORSIDE ROAD. [/deleted]
[deleted] KERSAL. [/deleted]
[inserted] 191 Halifax Rd
[deleted] SALFORD. 7. [/deleted]
[inserted] [underlined] Nelson [/underlined] [/inserted]
LANCASHIRE.
ANGLETERRE.
[page break]
755052. SGT. CHEF. J.D.HUDSON.
CAMP DE SÉJOUR SURVEILLÉ
LE KEF.
TUNISIE.
AFRIQUE DU NORD.
16-2-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote a letter to you a week ago acknowledging receipt of your cable & I have since received your letter dated Dec. 30th. I am very delighted to learn that you are both keeping well, & am still pleased to say that I am also. We have had some quite good weather lately & I have managed to do a little sunbathing. I only receive about one letter per week from you now so have reason to believe that some must be going astray. I gather that up to Dec. 30th you have received three letters from me. We have got some fresh quarters now & they are a lot better than the old ones which were pretty rough. Dont [sic] bother to send anything out here. The chances of parcels getting through are remote, & there doesn’t appear much you are allowed to send. Cherio [sic] until next Friday’s letter. All my love & may you keep well & strong & in good spirits [underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Postcard from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Catches up with mail sent and received. Writes he is well and comments on weather. Concludes some of their letters are going astray. Mentions they have new quarters which are better. Suggest that hey do not try to send anything as parcels do not get through.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-02-16
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten postcard
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
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410216
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.
Tunisia
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
Tunisia--El Kef
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-02-16
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
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 Christian
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45324/EHamJIAbbottER480526-0001.2.jpg
bb4e884c71362c1e4e4890f9e2076cf4
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45324/EHamJIAbbottER480526-0002.2.jpg
92af0217e32cce5bb40d272e6d9c626b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45324/EHamJIAbbottER480526-0003.2.jpg
153f3435730d47e9198042638fa8d8bf
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45324/EHamJIAbbottER480526-0004.2.jpg
5b1c0bd0857d21fa06a6d43263c1f7b2
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
Abbott, E R
Ronnie Abbott
Description
An account of the resource
30 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader E R "Ronnie" Abbott DSO DFM (b. 1913 - 1992, 44877 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, correspondence, documents, objects, photographs and an <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2608">Album of 70 pages.</a><br /><br />He enlisted in 1929 and trained at RAF Halton serving as an engine fitter in the Middle East 1934 -1936. He became a prisoner of war after being posted missing flying in a Battle in 50 Squadron. Post war he served at RAF Swinderby and Khartoum.<br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Lindsey Sutton and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-05-10
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Abbott, ER
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Postmark] Aylesbury Bucks. 9.15am 27 May 1948
[Postage stamp]
F/LT. Abbott
Adjutant,
R.A.F. Station
Swinderby
Nr. Lincoln
Lincs.
[Page break]
F/ [missing initial] Ham.
Halton House
Wendover
Bucks.
[page break]
STATION : WENDOVER
Tel. : WENDOVER 2333/2334
OFFICERS’ MESS,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
HALTON HOUSE,
AYLESBURY,
BUCKS.
26.5.48
Dear Abdul,
I do feel a wretch not having written to you before this, but please forgive me as writing is not my forte. However, I keep hearing about you from various sources and am more than pleased that the [indecipherable word] is so satisfactory.
It was a pity that the line was so very bad when you rang up; I could hardly hear a word you said. I expect you are [indecipherable word] that you have a flying [indecipherable word] again; it really is a practical demonstration that the service really neads [sic] the old Abdul and that he is [indecipherable word] fit to cope.
Audrey Guy was up on a social visit a week ago. She is very fit and it was grand to see her. She is now employed as a Dental Receptionist and seems to be quite happy and [indecipherable word]. Psychologically she was a new person with a cheerful, happy and self confident
[page break]
Outlook and this pleased me as much as her physical well being.
As you will probably have heard from Sister Dawson Freddie is now in [indecipherable words]. have heard from her [decipherable word] times and, although she was not happy at first, all seems well and she is getting quite fat and loving the complete change of environment. She will probably come back for her final boarding.
Well my service days are probably nearly over since I am due for release in July and go for 12 days leave at the end of next week. I say probably because I have been expecting a half wing the last 2 months and if it comes through I may decide to stay on for 6 months. This also depends of course on my success or failure to get a suitable appointment under the new Health Service [indecipherable mark] to be decided on interviews whilst on leave.
Must close now but will always be very pleased to hear from you all about ‘Abduls World’
Best wishes
John [indecipherable initial] Ham
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 to Ronnie Abbott from Ham
Description
An account of the resource
He apologises for not having written before but is pleased that Abdul (Ronnie) is again fit to fly. He reports that Freddie is in Switzerland and is doing well.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
JI Ham
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1948-05-26
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Switzerland
Great Britain
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One double sided handwritten sheet and envelope
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHamJIAbbottER480526-0001, EHamJIAbbottER480526-0002, EHamJIAbbottER480526-0003, EHamJIAbbottER480526-0004
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
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1948-05-26
Contributor
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Sandra Jones
aircrew
mess
RAF Halton
RAF Swinderby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1857/33216/SAdderM175073v10114-0001.2.jpg
3bfbcf6153013c13281c9443e1ea5b03
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1857/33216/SAdderM175073v10114-0002.2.jpg
fbd01af1396f4598f8570cd8a3d824d0
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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Adder, Mervyn
M Adder
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-05-29
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Adder, M
Description
An account of the resource
88 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Mervyn Adder (1922 - 1944, 175073 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a navigator with 44 Squadron and was killed 15 March 1944. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mary Sprakes and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0">Additional information on<span> Mervyn Adder</span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span> </span>is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW207633627 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> </span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/100101/">IBCC Losses Database.</a>
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[letterhead]
[British Red Cross logo] [St. John logo]
[italics] In replying please quote reference: [/italics]
S/MFE/RAF/C 11500
27th July, 1944
Dear Mr. Adder,
We deeply regret that you will by now have heard from the Air Ministry that your son, Pilot Officer M. Adder, No. 175073, has been posted “Missing, believed Killed in Action”, and we should like to offer you the deep sympathy of all in this Department.
The report that your son, Sergeant G. Clark, and Flying Officer J.R. Berrington, lost their lives on the 15th March, 1944, was sent to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva in an official German statement. The further information was included that Flying Officer T.H. Fynn was taken prisoner.
Further enquiries are being made about Pilot Officer Adder’s death and place of burial, and you will be notified without delay when any information reaches the Air Ministry or ourselves.
We shall also endeavour to get into touch with the airman taken prisoner, and should we succeed in obtaining any helpful additional news from this source we shall of course communicate with you again.
P.T.O.
[page break]
-2-
Many answers are being received to enquiries of this kind, but we are afraid that they often take several months to come through.
With again our deepest sympathy.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Ampthill.
Chairman.
A. Adder, Esq.,
153, Albert Avenue,
Hull.
P.S. We referred to your son as Pilot Officer and used the number 175073 because we have been notified by the Air Ministry of his promotion and of the new Royal Air Force number which is always allotted with commissioned rank.
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 to Mervyn Adder's father from the Red Cross
Description
An account of the resource
Reports that source of information that his son had lost his life along with Flying Officer J R Berrington and Sergeant C Clark was a German report to international Red Cross in Geneva. Report included information that Flying Officer T H Fynn was a prisoner.
Creator
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M Ampthill
Date
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1944-07-24
Format
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Two sided typewritten letter
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
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SAdderM175073v10114
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Hull
Switzerland
Switzerland--Geneva
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-07-24
1944-03-15
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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Steve Baldwin
killed in action
prisoner of war
Red Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/354/3526/PWorsdaleE1701.1.jpg
e8d8cddb114b6f59dc3b6014cf8ba83d
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/354/3526/AWorsdaleE170708.2.mp3
5533818d52e1491124984b40177b2e44
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
Worsdale, Eddie
E Worsdale
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. An oral history interview with Eddie Worsdale (412919 Royal New Zealand Air Force) and a photograph. He flew operations as a wireless operator/ air gunner with 75 Squadron
The collection was 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
2017-07-08
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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Worsdale, E
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MS: This is Miriam Sharland and I’m interviewing Eddie Worsdale today for the International Bomber Command Centre’s Digital Archive. We’re in Wellington on the 8th of July 2017. Thank you, Eddie for agreeing to talk to me today.
EW: Fine.
MS: Can you tell me a bit about your earlier life before the war?
EW: I was born in, born in Christchurch and I spent my early life at a place called Lake Coleridge which was one of the first hydro-electric stations to supply power to the, one of the major cities in New Zealand. And that supplied power to Christchurch. That was a very isolated place. Only a small community. And then as we grew up we had a family. I had two elder brothers and a younger sister. And then Depression days at that time things were very [pause] the family had to move from there. We moved to Christchurch just prior to the war but we had virtually, we couldn’t afford boarding school, boarding for secondary education in Christchurch so basically, times were pretty tough. But then we came, then we came to Wellington and I worked in a furniture shop as a salesman. And then my brother joined the Air Force and went away with the first echelon and I thought oh well, the Air Force sounds something good. I’d been in the Territorials. It was a, a bit of an adventure the [pause]. I was due to go to Canada and that’s how it started. It was, and I had to the volunteer for the Air Force with your education qualification. I had to do, I did a night school and a correspondence course to qualify for the requirements. Passed those and off to Canada.
MS: And how did you find Canada compared to New Zealand?
EW: Well, of course it was a huge adventure as it was for thousands of others. Young. No idea, well what war was all about but it was an opportunity and I guess the way I looked at it, and you had no idea what the war was all about. Immature and whatnot. You hadn’t grown up and a wonderful experience and basically going through Canada you’re learning all the time about life and a bit about the Service and so forth but you didn’t realise what it was all about. Well, I didn’t. I didn’t have the maturity until you first encountered what it was all about. Then you realised that it, it wasn’t a big game. It wasn’t an adventure, simple as that and from then on it was things just happened.
MS: So, what squadron did you end up —
EW: We, well after doing the OTU at a place called Bassingbourn we were posted to 75 Squadron at Mildenhall. And Mildenhall was one of the main Royal Air Force stations that had married quarters and so forth and the aircrew were given the, the married quarters as accommodation as against the, a lot of the other squadrons just lived in Quonset huts. So, the conditions were very good. It was a Canadian squadron prior to the 75 moving from Feltwell. And then, this was in August, I think 1942 than half the flight transferred to, I just forget, to Mepal to convert to Stirlings and the other half stayed on at Mildenhall and I’d be the, the sole surviving member of 75 Squadron that went through Mildenhall.
MS: What role did you have?
EW: I was a wireless operator gunner.
MS: How did you come to do that role?
EW: Well, in the, in the, I didn’t have the qualifications for a pilot the, but I’d been in the, in the Territorials as a signaller and a wireless operator and that’s how I became a wireless operator.
MS: Did you want to be a pilot?
EW: No. I didn’t have the qualifications. I remember the, one of the first questions I answered was the, “What’s your knowledge of the internal combustion engine?” Well, mine it was nil. If I was asked the same thing about a bicycle [laughs] I could, I could take a bicycle apart and put it together again but that was the way it was.
MS: Can you tell me a bit about your training in Canada?
EW: Well, it was all basically we were at the, we trained at a Wireless School in Winnipeg. Very warm in summer and bitterly cold in wintertime. Wonderful people. They just sort of did invitations to their homes. Just loved the New Zealanders and made you very welcome but it was all a completely different life, different way of life. I remember one of the first impressions was seeing the horse drawn ice carts in Winnipeg. And then, and I think the only time I ever felt ill with the cold was in Winnipeg and it was bitterly cold there but that’s, it was just a wonderful experience. Completely different. But at nineteen you’re so immature. It was just all adventures and I remember being on final leave at the top of the Empire State in New York when the Normandie caught fire. And then I went to a concert at the Lewisham Stadium and heard Grace Moore and she was one of the leading sopranos in the world and that was a wonderful experience. So there’s, that was the, that part was it was, that was always something that always interested me, yes. Music and so forth and whatnot.
MS: What did it feel like the first time you flew in training?
EW: Well, of course you were taken up there on the, you became a bit airsick and so forth and you were flying lots and the instructors were sometimes a bit sort of brassed off with doing the same old thing all the time. They did a bit of aerobatics and sort of and whatnot. But that was part and parcel of it. That was learning and so forth.
MS: So then when you came to England after Canada how did that compare?
EW: Well, it was, we, we came [pause] just thinking back there from the, it was the huge number of people together when you were at Halifax and joined up and there’s thousands and thousands of Air Force personnel. And then you were just arrived in England and we ended up down in Bournemouth. Put in the lovely hotels that Bournemouth consisted of. But you just took it in your stride and so forth and adapted and as I said it was all a big learning experience. A fun game until somebody started shooting at you and then you realised that it was no longer fun.
MS: So, you went from Bournemouth to Mildenhall.
EW: Pardon?
MS: Did you go from Bournemouth to Mildenhall?
EW: Well, yes. We went, we went through various training establishments. The Wireless School. We went to [pause] to be qualified profession to go and then you went to operational training. The, it was called OTU and then you, then you at the end of that training you crewed up same with the pilots were doing the same and the observers, and navigators and gunners and wireless operators and you crewed up. And then you were posted to the squadrons.
MS: How did you crew up? How did you choose—
EW: Well, you just, just met the — the pilot would pick somebody out. They wanted a wireless operator, or a observer. And that’s the way it happened. And you got that sort of mainly at the, at the OTU and then you stayed there when you were posted to a to a squadron. But then there was the casualty rate was so high that in the early days of squadrons they were crewed up they’d have to give one of their own crew to another crew due to casualties. And the losses in those days were high and the thinking was that the, the talk among the crews well if we survived the first five operations you were lucky. You might get through ten. I got about seven I think and that was all.
MS: How did you feel when they told you those statistics?
EW: Pardon?
MS: How did you feel when they told you those kind of statistics?
EW: Well, I mean you never worried about it. You thought, well you played hard and so forth on leave and you never worried. I didn’t. It was just you were there. You never thought about it. Some people did. Other ones couldn’t stand it and they just packed up and, but a lot just accepted that’s all and that was what it was all about.
MS: Can you tell me a bit about your crew?
EW: Hmmn?
MS: Can you tell me a bit about your crew?
EW: Yes. Well, they, we were made up of the pilot was a New Zealander, Jack Hugill. His parents had a, they had an apple orchard up north of Auckland. The, the navigator was a chap called Johnny Pete, he was an Englishman. The rear gunner, Len Newbold, he was an Englishman. And the bomber, the other bomb aimer was Jim Barnes. He was one of the older members who really was supposed to be too old to be there in his thirties and he was later mayor of Dunedin and an MP for St Kilda and Dunedin and was later received a knighthood. He was Sir James Barnes and he received an MBE for his work as a POW in in Germany because he’s the, he was the one that baled out. The only one that baled out when we were attacked and he spent the rest of the war as a POW. Len Newbold and I walked to Switzerland but Hugill and Pete, they were killed in the crash. We, we, Jim and I were very close. Very good friends. He was my best friend and the final leave we went together but Len Newbold was never very close until we were shot down and Johnny Pete was not. You crewed with them. That was all. But socially we weren’t very close. And Howard, he was, he was a wee bit of a loner.
MS: What kind of things did you do when you went on leave in England?
EW: Mainly it was you visited the pubs. That’s all. Although, we went not all the time but then you had a free rail ticket and you went. A lot of the crew went up to Inverness. We went down to, on our final leave because I had relations, an aunt in England. In London. I stayed with her on the occasional times. But a lot of the crew would go as far away as they could. This was in, perhaps in England and so forth.
MS: And what was the atmosphere like in the pubs? Did you meet the local people?
EW: Oh, well just, it was all the wartime and so forth. You know. You spoke. Looking back, you didn’t, didn’t have much time really.
MS: Did you meet many local people?
EW: Pardon?
MS: Did you meet many local people?
EW: Yes. Initially, I remember one place in [pause] I’m just trying to think where it was now. I think it may have been up in Harrogate in Yorkshire. We were doing a course. We met some people there and I remember they made us, took us out for dinner at their place and we had rabbit pie. I remember seeing this whole rabbit. The head of a rabbit. But as I said being in the country, brought up at Coleridge you used to trap a lot of rabbits but the people were very hospitable really, you know. They’d take you out, people on leave and right, just made you so welcome. But it was a difficult sort of lifestyle looking back. Entirely different, wartime.
MS: What kind of ways was it different?
EW: Well, the, I suppose the, it was war. War shortages and so forth and thinking was different. The whole lifestyle was, was different. The way people thought. The, I think people were subjected to the propaganda a lot and looking back on the English people prior to the war the huge number of the working class people what their life was. What they went out. And then the so called middle class sort of and then the aristocracy. Completely different to what New Zealand life was all about. And that was the, the war and the association with the troops from the empire came out, Canada and Australia and South Africa that changed the thinking of the English people really. I think that was a lot to do with the war. But that’s the way it was. The way you saw it and you really didn’t have much time to think about those things. You, I think you were aware of them but things were happening so quickly you never gave it much thought.
MS: What about local women? Were there, were there many romances that went on with the local girls?
EW: With the —
MS: With the local girls were there many romances?
EW: No. Well, there was never much I [laughs] a lot of people played socially with the dances and the NAAFI but I suppose I was not in to that. I was very immature and so forth. That didn’t interest me very much. That’s a great thing so that was all to change later on. Never mind. Part and parcel of growing up. But that’s, that’s the way it was.
MS: So when you went down to London on leave what kind of things did you do in London?
EW: Well, it was mainly the big thing was the pub life. As I say the pubs didn’t open until 2 o’clock in the afternoon and then the evening at the, at, the big thing was the social life at the, at the local. That was everything. That was the, that was a completely different life to what it was here because we didn’t. I never had a drink until I was in Canada. Too immature but that’s, that was part and parcel of growing up.
MS: Did you ever experience any of the German bombing while you were in London?
EW: Any?
MS: Any of the German bombing. Were you in London for any part of the Blitz or any of the bombing?
EW: The bomb —
MS: Did you experience any bombing when you were in London? Were you in London when there were any bombings?
EW: Bombing. Not, not at that time. After I came back from Switzerland I did with, with the, the rockets and buzz bombs. Prior to that because I’d remember seeing the the tremendous devastation in Bristol and then the other time was Harrogate was seeing York after that was bombed. When they were bombing the cathedral station. That was in ’42 and I’ll never forget seeing the devastation and the people saying to me, one woman saying to me, I think it was a woman saying, ‘Well, I hope you can give the Germans something back.’ And the devastation to see the helplessness and the, on the faces of people. But then coming back all those the years later I’ve seen the reports of the devastation in Hamburg as I mentioned earlier. You got things in perspective and realised the, that civilians everywhere were the pawns in war. That was, they were the ones that suffered and still are. But the utter devastation when you see the, I remember Bristol and Plymouth and, but the recovery when things recovered. Look at the, after the war seeing Cologne. The absolute utter devastation in Cologne and the, the Cologne Cathedral virtually untouched surrounded by total devastation. The Cologne Railway Station was one of the aiming points of the Bomber Command, remarkably unscathed. But that’s the [pause] and then you see today the utter devastation in Syria and other countries and this is [pause] it’s all the same.
MS: Did the local people talk to you quite a lot about the fact that you were taking the war to Germany?
EW: Well, there was, what you’ve got to consider is then at the time the the reaction to that, that the bombing and so forth the everything about war it’s terrible. The anger it generates and creates and so forth. And then in time when everything is healed and so forth but it still goes on. But no matter who it is, whether, who they are people have feelings and the loss of their homes and so forth. The utter hopelessness. That’s, that’s the tragedy of war.
MS: What was the general feeling when you learned about the V-2 rockets and the buzz bombs that you met?
EW: Well, that was later you see. That was the interesting part because when I was in Switzerland I was privy to the evolvement of this weaponry at first and then prior to leaving seeing the the areas and especially in the Pas de Calais area which was incessantly targeted as the sites for these, these rocket sites and whatnot. And then to experience when getting back to London and seeing them flying over and then they being close one night before I left London one of the V-2 rockets hit the hotel just opposite, I guess. I can’t get out of this place quick enough. And the, then reading, later on in life reading the accounts of what those rockets could have achieved had they been deployed slightly differently or a little earlier it’s frightening. And today when you look back and think of that technology is today they fire these things in smaller versions from backs of trucks. It’s just terrible to think of it.
MS: So, can you tell me a bit about your history? The number of operations that you went on.
EW: The —
MS: The operations that you went on. Can you tell me?
EW: Yes. Well, the first one as I say is when the, there was a mining operation in the Channel and we flew over a German, what’s it called? A flak ship which was in a escorting a convoy a long way from where it was supposed to have been and experienced the fire for the first time. Anti-aircraft gun. And then over the later there’s only the seven trips over the Ruhr unlike the heavy, the light aircraft fire and then hearing the heavy aircraft explode outside the aircraft but that’s when you realise what it was all about. But it, it didn’t worry me. I never, I was never worried. I was never frightened about that at all because that was just life. But then the worst factor when the, was when we were coming back from Milan and a night fighter hit us and then being, that was the worst realisation of it all. Then things happened so quickly and things go through your mind and whatnot and then we knew. Always thinking well you’ll never. I thought well we’ll never get out of this alive. You’d given yourself to the impossibility of it but, you know we survived. And then I’ll never forget the next morning in France waking up to the extreme, I suppose, loneliness. All of a sudden you’re in a foreign country. You, you total virtually hopelessness. What do you do? And, and then once you recover from the shock. Once you’d recovered from the shock and decided well we’ll try and walk to Switzerland and then it all started then. Just luck and so forth and good fortune you survived. That that’s the way it was.
MS: Where were you going on the raid that you got shot down?
EW: We were going to Milan in Italy and had been to Genoa the night before and it had been one of the most wonderful sights I could remember was flying over the Swiss Alps in moonlight. Over Mont Blanc and it’s absolutely unbelievably beautiful. Then the next night, cloud. We couldn’t get over twelve thousand feet. Couldn’t see a thing and had to turn back and were shot down. But we survived. We lost, lost two and then there was two aircraft were lost that night. Both from 75 Squadron. The other aircraft they lost all their crew. All killed. That was war. That’s the way it happened. And then the, one of them when you look back one in three personnel were killed in that period. That’s the chances were so [pause] but that’s, that’s the way it was.
MS: So, after you crashed and you discovered two of your crew had died what did you do? You said you started to walk towards Switzerland.
EW: Well, we, I mean the next day we, we, of course looking back and going over the, the events I think one of the big things in in our favour of not being caught the next day was we’d walked all during the night as far away from the crash as we could. I think that would have been in our, must have been in our favour. That’s reading the history and of course now it’s literally since the, Max Lambert wrote his book, “Night After Night,” and the association with him in terms of 75 Squadron these, all these years later it just brought back to me the, how fortunate and so forth and of course the hundreds of other people who’d had similar experiences. But I was only, in 1942 I think I was the only New Zealander on Bomber Command who evaded so [pause] it was lucky.
MS: So, you walked as far away as you could.
EW: We walked, well that, and I think that was, you see that was one of the basic things you, that you were taught. That if you were shot down and you had an escape kit certain things you wouldn’t do. That you’d do is you’d, you’d survey the area if you could and just approach places with houses or farmhouses with a bit of caution. You didn’t just rush in and sort of knock on the door, first door. They were just basic things. Of course, everybody couldn’t do that. If you were injured and so forth you’d not much option but seeking help but, and then it was just a matter of luck. If you, you had to make decisions on the spot to go one way and do one thing. If you, if it was right you got away with it. If it was the wrong decision you were caught. Simple as that. And it it required a lot of luck really to be successful in getting away with escape or evading capture and so forth and that’s what we, we, we I suppose practiced those things as much as you could and we were lucky. We got away with it.
MS: Did any local people help you?
EW: Oh yes. At the farm. The farm people and so forth were very, they were helpful and they took tremendous risks you know with people. If they were caught assisting they were just dragged away or some were just shot on the spot. But it’s, it’s amazing the, I’ve read a number of people who have, evaders and it’s the same old story. You got away from the crash if you could and you walked, and sheltered and walked during the day, the light time and hid up during the night. But basically, if all these things were pretty similar and you relied on people had got a bit of food and so forth. The ones, lucky you contacted the escape organisation which became available later on and, and from ’42, ’43 on. But all these things are usually a basic happen, that happened and as I said if the things went wrong you had to make your mind up. It was good luck that got you through.
MS: What was the date of your crash?
EW: It was October 25, 1942. Yeah.
MS: Did any of the organised escape —
EW: No. We didn’t have any, any help at all from the organisations. And then it was in Switzerland we, I was working in the Consulate in Geneva. We were dealing a lot with the people in the, in the Toulouse area. The Maquis people there. And I was actually, later on when I was in Toulouse and met the head of the organisation there, a woman called Francoise in Toulouse. And, and interestingly the person she took over from was Pat O’Leary. He started the O’Leary Line back in 1940, I think in, in Marseilles. I’m pretty certain, I can remember the day in Geneva when O’Leary was caught. He was betrayed by a British traitor and, and I remember getting, we got this message from Francoise in Toulouse that O’Leary almost certain it was a Tuesday afternoon that O’Leary had been caught. But he survived the war. But he set up a wonderful organisation. And the dep’ Hickton was there. He met him in Marseilles that would be if that was where they started but I met Francoise in in Toulouse. And I came out of Switzerland with a Lieutenant Commander Stephens who had escaped from Colditz and arrived in Switzerland two weeks before Newbold and I did in ’42. And he was in, he was one of the senior Naval officers that was involved with the raid at St Nazaire when they blew the dry dock. The Campbeltown went and blew up the dry dock up there in ’41. But I didn’t know him in Switzerland. I met him the day before in Geneva. And yeah, and then we, interestingly enough he, it’s funny how things happen. That when we came to the decision and the, when we couldn’t get passeurs in to Toulouse because the Francoise contact had dried up and we had a French Air Force corporal took us into the area of the Pyrenees but he reneged at the last minute to be a passeur, to take us over and we were on our own. And I always remember Stephens, and we picked this other chap up, a French Canadian, Duchesnay, in Toulouse. And this night we had to leave this house we were in because the word was the Germans were coming to the village to take all the able-bodied Frenchman. The rumour. So we out smartly and eventually on our own in the morning and we had a disagreement. Stephens and Duchesnay wanted to go back to Toulouse, to Francoise and I said, ‘Well, I’m not going back. That’s France. That’s Spain over there.’ I suppose it’s angels go in where fools fear to tread but I knew the situation. It would be hopeless trying to get back to Toulouse which they found out. And they decided, well they’d come with me which we were successful just walking on the compass overnight. But I’ll never forget Stephens saying to me in this little hut, a shepherd’s hut on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. He thanked me for, and said, ‘Well, it’s thanks to you that we’re here.’ That was a great honour for me to accept that. That’s, he was a senior Naval officer and what not, but that’s the way it goes and but that that was the, it was, that was, we were looking back there. How we got through God only knows. The luck of it. But that’s, we made decisions and they, they worked out well. But I’ve read lots of, and especially post-war the, and of course when I was in Switzerland I met two generals Hargest and Miles and I met the Frenchmen who took them both from Geneva into Spain. And when Brigadier Miles, he committed suicide in Andorra and Brigadier Hargest met me in London after and took me to lunch and we had a long discussion about things in there because basically looking back we should never have been sent out of Switzerland at that time just so close to D-Day. And we didn’t have the correct documents to be in that area of the Pyrenees without special permission from the German authorities. We learned this later on from this chap that, the Frenchmen who took these, the generals out. He came out to see Brigadier Hargest’s family in Invercargill and I just thought my gosh how lucky we weren’t asked for the passes and for papers. That we should never have been in that area out in the wilds of the Spanish frontier without these special passes and that we never had them and we should have had them. But that’s, that’s the way it was.
MS: And from there how did you get back?
EW: Well, I just came back then. I was interviewed within MI7. And then I came back to New Zealand and I was commissioned and I went up the islands as a cipher officer and spent my time, the rest of the war there. But I was, whether I was very lucky to have survived the war, to survive the crash and have a wonderful unique experience in Switzerland for eighteen months and been privy to some of the top secrets of the war. Unbelievable, looking, looking back and I’ll never forget saying to myself, it was after lunch I was walking down the Quai Wilson in Geneva having been privy to some top intimation and they said, ‘Well, what you’ve got to do everything you’ve seen or you see in that office when you leave that you put it out of your mind and you forget about it.’ And that’s what I did. And I, I practiced that for a long time because I was subject the Official Secrets Act that I never talked even a long time after the war. Took me years after the war ended. I never disclosed to any of my friends in the Air Force the type of work I was doing in Switzerland.
MS: So you, you walked to Switzerland and then they employed you in the —
EW: Pardon?
MS: So, you walked to Switzerland.
EW: Yeah.
MS: And then did they employ you in the, in an office in Geneva?
EW: Well, that’s eighteen months in Switzerland. In the, the latter nine months I was employed as a cipher clerk at the British Consulate in Geneva. In the British Consulate there. That was the headquarters of our European espionage and the person who ran that Vanden Heuvel, he received all the information from Admiral Canaris through a contact of his in Berne. A Polish woman. And at that time I never knew what it was all about. It was only years after I realised the significance of what I was involved in. At the time I had no idea. I knew it was all very important but there were only bits and pieces. It was only later I put them altogether. And then, then we left the, I met with Lieutenant Commander Stephens the day before D-Day and came over with the, the French Underground. Got under the wire because we were classified. I was classified as an evader and had to sign a document in Switzerland if the chance ever came I would leave Switzerland because we were free to roam around. Basically, we were still under the control of the British authorities but in civilian clothes and so forth. But had we, had we arrived there in uniform we’d have been interned. But it was a funny thing you’re, and you’re completely out of the Service. There was no Service life at all. It was just a civilian existence paid for, your accommodation paid for by the British government. And then, and the person in, he was a man called Major Ferrill he was in Geneva and he had the job of looking after the espionage and so forth but mainly organising escapes for people such as myself and people that arrived there because there was some pretty high ranking officers that had arrived in Switzerland. Group captains and wing commanders and so forth who had been shot down and whatnot and got them back to England through the escape routes and so forth.
MS: So, giving you that job it was a front really to enable you to escape.
EW: Pardon?
MS: So, when they gave you the job in the Consulate that was as a form of, really it was a front so that they could then move you back.
EW: Yes. Well, you see —
MS: And out to the —
EW: I was, I turned out to be a very special sort of a case. The, on the New Year’s Eve ’43 it would have been, I’d only been in the Consulate a few months and I was put in a group of about I think it was about a dozen people which Major Ferrill had arranged to leave the group. There were officers of all ranks, all nationalities and we, we were briefed in the Consulate in Geneva. It was New Year’s Eve I think ’43. We were picked up in a dry-cleaning van, I think it was about 9 o’clock at night and taken to the border and it was pitch black. Snow and ice everywhere, and they couldn’t contact the contact we were supposed to meet to take us across the border and on so that mass exodus was abandoned. And from then I was involved with the head of the section Vanden Heuvel and the head of the MI7 in London that I was not to leave Switzerland in which, until the chances of me getting through were more than favourable. It was a bit of a [struggle] because the people who, from organising the escapes and Vanden Heuvel must have thought well look, I know too much. I don’t know. Too big a risk to risk being caught. We had no, no briefing and, and being interrogated and whatnot I wouldn’t know but it came back from London that Worsdale was I was not to leave. I saw the message myself so that was interesting. But that was, that was there. I’d got to be involved there and that was the only mass escape plan that I was aware of that was important.
MS: I would imagine it would have been extremely risky.
EW: Well, well looking back I couldn’t see the, the value of, the risks would have been so high to my mind in the group otherwise in line. It would have been so obvious to my mind then and I think the person who organised had made a grave error of judgement and, but I don’t know and as I say I daren’t think. Looking back we should never have left because so close to D-Day. I knew myself what information I was privy to that D-Day was any day. Didn’t know the exact date. I knew it wasn’t far away and I couldn’t see the reason but never questioned it. It didn’t worry me. We were sent and we could have been caught. Could have spent unnecessarily, especially with this situation as it was with the Maquis getting passeurs to take people over the border and what was happening? They would get, then be paid the money and then they would take the people in to the, with the passeurs, and these passeurs would be traitors and they would say to the people, ‘Look, just through that area there now. Through that bit of forest and — ’ Blah blah blah. ‘That’s the border.’ And of course, waiting were the, the Germans for them. We knew that was happening. I knew it was happening. I saw the reports of it. And that’s why they couldn’t get the passeurs in Toulouse. Francois didn’t have them and the whole organisation had broken down. There was a bit of every man for himself and this was confirmed to me later on in a, in a book written about the mass escape from, of the twenty who were shot at Stalag Luft 4 and there was only two got away I think from that. One of them a Flight Lieutenant Van Der Stok, a Dutch Spitfire pilot and I met him in Spain after he’d crossed the border and been in hiding in Holland and it confirmed there that the time, and he came through after I did of what chaos there was at the border area. There were a lot of Jewish refugees trying to get across and these passeurs just playing fast and loose with, with the Maquis. Some groups good, others bad and that was the situation. But he confirmed that. But that’s the, that’s the way it goes. But I was very lucky to have had that wonderful experience and still be able to talk about it.
MS: So how did you eventually get back to England?
EW: Well, we went to, we spent about five, I think it was four or five days in [unclear] Prison, Spanish provincial prison after we crossed the border at a place called Bauzon in France and walked, gave ourselves up to the Civil Guard and then we were taken down to the provincial capital at Lerida and we spent time there but the the British authorities knew we were on their way and once they knew we’d arrived we were given special food that was sent into us by the Red Cross and so forth and then we came out. We got out there. We went to a place called, I think it was Alhama. It was a mountainous, like a spa which became a reception area for the hundreds of the people just coming over the border. Americans, Canadians, all sorts coming over and one of the Spaniards they, they treated us royally there and then we went to Madrid and then finally flew home from Gibraltar. Then I met Stephens again there. That’s the last I saw of him. The last time I ever met him. Nothing to do with him. Yeah. On the same plane. But the Spaniards, the prison was, was shocking really. Eight in a cell. Rife with, with rats and so forth but shocking place but then the Spanish Air Force got us out of that and I remember they took us to this place in, called Alhama. I think it was called Alhama. Wonderful spot and they were, they were really good but that’s, that’s a long time ago.
MS: And how did it feel when you landed back in England?
EW: In England. Wonderful. Of course, you were, were just, unbelievable really the, how everything happens so quickly. You were meeting all these top people and I suppose the thrill to me was I suppose a little lonely warrant officer being, meeting the heads of the British Secret Service in the, it was pretty wonderful really. But I was just lucky to be involved with it. That was a huge learning curve for me. But and looking back on the decisions that were made at the time. You had to question of course the old old story. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.
MS: And you probably got interviewed pretty thoroughly when you got back to camp.
EW: Oh yes. Yes. It was all, but the interesting thing was the, was being one of the, I suppose the highlights to me was was in the British Embassy in Madrid and being given the, the all the details of the suicide, of Brigadier Miles when he reached Spain and knowing both, meeting both Brigadier Miles and Brigadier Hargest in Geneva. But then to be, have all this information given to me in the British Embassy in Madrid which was all top secret, even to my own New Zealand government and so forth. The chief of the air staff didn’t know the circumstances until I told him. And being involved in the, with the people that sent him out, and meeting the Frenchmen later on when he came out in the ‘70s who didn’t know the full circumstances. It was all very interesting that.
MS: Were you able to write and tell your family where you were?
EW: No. I had, I had my, I had this aunt who was in London. She, I sent her a telegram from when I was cleared in Switzerland. We were told not to write letters or anything like that and so forth so my family knew I was in Switzerland from my aunt because otherwise they’d give me up after eighteen days. Normally, well you were confirmed dead or you, you were a POW. That’s, that was the, the other great thing. But yes. But as I say I was, I look back as being very very lucky.
MS: What happened to the rest of the crew that crashed with you?
EW: Ok. Well, Len Newbold, he, well the two who were killed are buried in this cemetery in the village in France. Jim Barnes, he’s passed away. Sir James Barnes. And Len Newbold, he returned. I’d never seen him but I went to see in him in Geneva when I was back on a business trip. He married the girl at a café he met at in Vevey and, but I never got the, the unfortunate thing was the day I was in, in, went to see him in Vevey it was a Tuesday and that was the day the café was closed. So I didn’t see him. But that’s the way it goes.
MS: And do you know what happened to your plane?
EW: Well, that’s the plane up there. That’s the wreckage there the next morning. That was taken by the French farmer whose nephew I think it was sent that photograph to Max Lambert but Glen Turner had heard when he was over there that there was a photograph in existence. That’s only the last year or so that this has come to light and the photograph and they have got a photograph also of the pilot who was thrown clear and then again it was inside but the pilot was thrown clear. He was killed but the big mystery is he had no flying suit on and so forth so there’s lots of theories I hear of whether, how he could be outside the aircraft without his flying suit on. Whether it was the explosion, whether it blew him out. Whether he was, before the explosion he was trying to take, he’d taking off his flying suit and so forth in the fire because the aircraft was burning so furiously I don’t know but that, that’s what was left of it and when we got out through the rear turret I’d made the entry for the rear gunner to get out. Then he pushed back and I got out and we just got clear and she blew up. Huge explosion. How I don’t know. That’s, that’s what we walked away from.
MS: What kind of plane is that?
EW: Hmmn?
MS: What kind of plane?
EW: It’s a Wellington. That was one of the last of the, the second last. There was two lost on 75 Squadron that night. They were both from 75 Squadron and they were the last Wellingtons to be shot down on a bombing mission during the war. There was one later I think on a mining operation. But that was the last of the Wellingtons so it was pretty historic was that aircraft.
MS: What was your plane’s number?
EW: Yeah. It’s up there. I forget the number. AA. Yeah.
MS: DAA.
EW: I think it’s in there. In the things in the records. [pause - pages turning] yes. AA Wellington Mark 3. Yeah. Yeah.
MS: How do you feel about the way Bomber Command was treated after the war?
EW: How what?
MS: How do you feel about the way Bomber Command was treated after the war?
EW: Well, I never had any recollection of the controversy that Bomber Command was subjected to because up in the Pacific and I wasn’t, I wasn’t aware of it. But looking back its easy to form opinions of the, the uselessness in the early stages the, but that’s something. But as it grew it certainly shortened the war. But then the loss of life later on to the, the policy that Harris took have to be questioned. But then the other side that’s total war. That was going on and war, and what’s being done today I don’t know. War is just so horrible and the civilians are the ones that suffer and you can’t, you see we were one of the gas squadrons in 3 Group. And I attended two briefings when I was there in ’42 for gas reprisal attacks. The rumours were that the Germans were out to deliver a gas attack but the response about the futility of trying to drop gas attacks from the cylinders we had in those days it would be so futile it was just really propaganda that’s all. But they were there then. I saw it with my own eyes in my own squadron. But that’s, but the, the, you can have opinions and they’re always wrong but the sacrifices that the, and risks and the toll of young lives both sides. Both Air Forces did it. Suffered. You see, the average age of Bomber Command in New Zealand was twenty two. And then we were, they say one in three were killed in those days. That’s the huge thing and then the injuries. The horrific injuries then. That was something that always worried me was the burns that you were likely to sustain in an aircraft crash. And I actually was going to throw myself on to the oncoming fire to get it over quickly. It went through my mind and I thought well where there’s life there’s hope. Stick with it. Because I could see my way out. That’s what I faced and it was just a matter of life and death, of just hanging on and thinking clearly that saved my life and able to make, to being an instrument in saving the life of the rear gunner. But that’s, that’s the way it was. But that’s the, when you read of the, and see or seen the terrible facial injuries that the chaps that were dragged away from burning aircraft and that’s, that’s one of the worst features. And they actually sent them to, to Switzerland as a recovery holiday after being operated on for the, with the skin grafts and all this stuff. But that was one of the worst. That’s the horrors of war but there are things later on you faced about, and you realise. Prior to that you think it’s a big adventure until it happens and it proves as simple as that. So that’s what it was all about and thank goodness we’ve seen the last of the days when tens of thousands of men are needlessly slaughtered. It’s all push button, the terrible results and devastation will still continue and the weaponry they’ve got. It’s frightening to think of it but that’s, that’s the way it is.
MS: So, when your plane crashed it was on fire and you were still inside. Is that right?
EW: The —
MS: When your plane crashed it was on fire and you were still inside.
EW: It was on fire before it crashed.
MS: Yeah.
EW: It was burning and bits were falling off and you, I remember the, when the fire that hit us the, I was in the astrodome. I felt all this hot liquid. I thought it was blood but it was the hydraulic fluid that had been, lines had just well so close to me it wouldn’t have mattered. Only a couple of feet away. But then to see the bits falling off the thing. But that’s, you do what you’re trained to do. Take position of [unclear] Luckily I didn’t suffer a broken arm when we crashed when you see the result of that thing there. That was after it exploded but it was just a mass of flames once it hit the ground. But you read of the, the amazing things that people walk away from. But the horrific injuries some of them one suffered. But that’s the way it was. But I’m just one of the lucky ones.
MS: So how many of you survived the crash?
EW: How many what?
MS: How many of your survived the crash?
EW: There was three of us. The, well no, two of us because Jimmy Barnes, he baled out. He was, he was taken prisoner the next day. So, there was Hugill and Pete they, they were killed and Newbold and I got out. Just by the grace of God. Yeah. But that’s that’s the way it was —
MS: You mentioned before about Hamburg.
EW: The —
MS: About Hamburg we were talking before about Hamburg. You were saying how currently with the —
EW: Of how —
MS: In Hamburg currently.
EW: Oh, Hamburg. Yes. Yes. Well, you see the, the, to read the reports at that time of the utter devastation and where human bodies were just carbonised in their own heat. They couldn’t get into their shelters. And it, it was the first time I suppose, due to immaturity as I say I had my twenty first birthday in Switzerland not realising the horrendous consequence that civilians paid. I’d seen a bit in Harrogate and so forth but then you were in London and, but those reports of the bombings there were just, you know nothing like it anywhere else there. And that there and then that hit me, and no. This is not right. That’s the, and then say today that to see the G7 holding their summit and to see the violent protests and so forth and the fires that were lit by the protesters and whatnot seventy odd years later. What it must have been like in those days when they just no escape. But that’s what it’s all about isn’t it?
MS: And you said to me before that knowing what you do know —
EW: Well, yes you see it’s the, everything in life has changed so much. The way we live, our values and everything else. They’ve all changed. It’s a different lifestyle altogether seventy years on and you wonder what it’s going to be like in another hundred years. When you’ve lived and seen almost a hundred years of of living you can say to yourself well the world’s not going to come to an end. I’ve seen it all before. Life, the sun will still shine tomorrow so why worry? There will be ups and downs and these threats and counter threats and goodness knows what. But self-preservation will save us all. There will be a way around it and and it won’t stop but life won’t come to an end that’s for sure.
MS: And you also told me before that you would be a conscientious objector now.
EW: I would yes. I’d say well because as I say what’s the point? Why does man keep on killing man? Look at the hatred and so what’s the point? Look at this, look at this Syrian business. You think of those people there. The children. What sort of generation are they going to grow into? They’ve been, when you’ve been subjected to such trauma as children, you know it’s, it’s frightening. That’s, they won’t stop at the, I mean they’ll still kill each other. I don’t know. It’s, it’s life. Yeah.
MS: And after the war when you came back to New Zealand?
EW: Yes. I came back and I suppose a bit unsettled so I worked my way back to England as an assistant butcher on a boat and I was going to try, and I was still interested in plastics and I want to learn more about them so I, but I was over in London and saw an opportunity to start a business here in plastics. And came back here and started a business in plastics and that was another story. Yeah. Yes.
MS: Plastics were very new weren’t they during the war and quite an innovative —
EW: You what?
MS: Plastic was quite an innovative material wasn’t it during the war?
EW: Yes, well I was interested in in plastics even during the war. When I was in Geneva I went and saw a factory that was making watch straps of all things. And then I wanted to see another, a factory in, I knew nothing about plastics, in Basle who it was I think it was an injection moulding thing and I got my knuckles firmly rapped by the British people saying, ‘Well, you, you don’t make arrangements to see factories without our permission,’ and what not so. Yes. But oh no it’s the, yes life hadn’t been too bad.
MS: You didn’t have any trouble adjusting to life after the war?
EW: Eh?
MS: Did you have any trouble adjusting to peace time?
EW: No. I suppose the, the life in Switzerland, eighteen months showed me a different sort of life than I’d ever have known being back here or being in the Army or the Air Force as a POW or anything like that and that changed my whole life. My thinking and so forth. A taste for certain living. I don’t know. But then you look back and say well that’s the way you’re made. You’ll always be that way. I don’t know. I still think I’m still doing things. I’m experimenting now with cooking. I’m slow cooking and all that which means cooking in a slow cooker very very slow on temperatures about fifty degrees. Cooking steak for about four or five hours and some as long as twenty hours. So, I made up a little vacuum pump using a vacuum cleaner to extract the air from a plastic bag before I seal it. Before I put it in the water. So, I’ve got some lamb steaks cooking at the moment so I’ll see how it goes [laughs] So, I’m still thinking. My mind is still thinking of doing things. So, keep the, keep as long as I can. I’ll do that.
MS: Do you want to tell me anything else at all about your time in Bomber Command?
EW: You what?
MS: Was there anything else you wanted to tell me about your time in Bomber Command that we haven’t covered?
EW: Not really. No. There’s not really a lot of things you can think about at this time. It’ll come back to you at different times and so forth that, it’s strange you forget that they, they’re out of your mind and some little thing will remind you of them but I’m lucky to still have a good memory of most things and so forth but, oh no I’ve got no complaints.
MS: And can I just confirm your rank? You said you were a warrant officer. Is that —
EW: Pardon?
MS: Can I just confirm what rank you were rank in the Air Force?
EW: The —
MS: Your rank.
EW: Rank? Pilot officer
MS: Pilot officer.
EW: Finish now.
MS: Ok. Alright. Well, that concludes our interview. Thank you so much Eddie, for your time. It’s been really fantastic to talk to you. Thank you.
EW: Lovely.
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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AWorsdaleE170708, PWorsdaleE1701
Title
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Interview with Eddie Worsdale
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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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IBCC Digital Archive
Type
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Sound
Language
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eng
Format
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01:33:39 audio recording
Creator
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Miriam Sharland
Date
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2017-07-08
Description
An account of the resource
Eddie Worsdale was working as a furniture salesman in Wellington, New Zealand after the Depression era curtailed his education. His brother volunteered for the New Zealand Air Force and so Eddie followed him. After initial training he continued his training in Canada before arriving in the UK and being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall. On an operations to Milan their Wellington aircraft was shot down. One crew member baled out and Eddie and his crewmate escaped from the burning aircraft. They then set off to walk to Switzerland. Eddie was employed as a cipher clerk for the secret intelligence service which gave him access to top secret information. The decision was made that he and other evaders would make the journey back to the UK via Spain. After his return to New Zealand he was posted to the Islands as a cipher clerk for the rest of the war.
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Conforms To
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Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Temporal Coverage
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1942-10-25
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
New Zealand
Spain
Switzerland
England--Suffolk
France--Toulouse
Germany--Hamburg
Italy--Milan
Switzerland--Geneva
Contributor
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Julie Williams
75 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
evading
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Mildenhall
shot down
Wellington
wireless operator / air gunner
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1343/22176/EWilsdorfHTyrieJSB430209-0001.2.jpg
28215308b25b56b30b52a328e2befde2
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1343/22176/EWilsdorfHTyrieJSB430209-0002.2.jpg
682811f7a1ee977dcce78d58c58e44a6
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
Tyrie, Jim
Tyrie, JSB
Description
An account of the resource
34 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Jim Tyrie (1919 - 1993, 87636 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, correspondence and prisoner of war log as well as a photograph album. He flew operations as a pilot with 77 Squadron before being shot down in April 1941.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Brian Taylor and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2019-06-01
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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Tyrie, JSB
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MONTRES ROLEX S.A.
18, RUE DU MARCHÉ GENÈVE, le 9th of February 1943
GENÈVE
TÉLÉGR.: ROLEX GENÉVE – TÉLÉPH. 50336 [ink stamp] GEPRÜFT 42 [/ink stamp]
Rappeler réf. HW/MC F/Lt. James Tyrie,
Gef. Nr. 530
[underlined] Stalag LUFT 3 [/underlined]
Dear Sir,
We beg to acknowledge receipt of your order dated 14th Dec. 42, and in accordance with your instructions we will supply you with 1 Perpetual Oyster No.116 with strap This watch costs to-day in Switzerland Frs. 270.- [underlined] but you must not even think of settlement [/underlined] during the war.
As we have now a large number of orders in hand for officers, there will be some unavoidable delay in the execution of your order, but we will do the best we can for you.
Meanwhile, believe us to be
Yours truly, Montres ROLEX S.A. Director [signature] H. Wilsdorf
JIM – (TONGUE IN CHEEK) ORDERED A WATCH WHILST IN P.O.W. CAMP. THIS WAS THE LETTER SHORTLY AFTERWARDS! HE NEVER PROCEEDED FURTHER WITH THE ORDER!!
[page break]
[underlined] PRISONER OF WAR [/underlined]
KRIEGSGEFANGENENPOST
SERVICE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE
[ink stamp] AIR MAIL PAR AVION [/ink stamp] [postage stamp]
RANK & NAME: British Prisoner of War
PRISONER OF WAR NO.:
CAMP NAME & NO.:
COUNTRY:
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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Letter to Jim Tyrie from Montres Rolex S.A.
Description
An account of the resource
A reply to Jim for an order for a Rolex watch whilst he was in POW camp. A handwritten annotation describes the order as tongue in cheek and he never followed it up. Included is a blank prisoner of war envelope.
Creator
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Montres Rolex SA
Date
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1943-02-09
Format
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One typed letter with handwritten annotations.
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
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EWilsdorfHTyrieJSB430209-0001,
EWilsdorfHTyrieJSB430209-0002
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Poland
Switzerland
Poland--Żagań
Switzerland--Geneva
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
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Robin Christian
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-02-09
aircrew
pilot
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2242/PWrightJ1540.1.jpg
ed0c7a705abfc9e48d823f72551d3d1b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2242/AWrightJ150521.2.mp3
83c7d01f288418b230f68c6d7a35d32c
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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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Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
Access Rights
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
PJ: This recording is being carried out for the Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. The Interviewer is Peter Jones, the interviewee is Jim Wright. The interview is being carried out in Mr Wrights’ home in Corby and the date is the 21st of May 2015. Jim can you tell me something about your early life?
JW.Born Upton Park, West Ham on the 11thof December 1932. We lived in two places the last was 97 Upton Park road which is not there anymore because it got thumped by Adolph Hitler during the War. Raised by my Mother, with my Mother and my Father, my Mother Marion my Father Arthur and Dad was a Builder, Plasterer, Carpenter and as far as I can remember he used to say he was the only left handed Plasterer in the Firm which meant he got paid a penny an hour extra. Em the reason being he could work from one end and the other could work from the other side and meet in the middle. Em, we just lived a normal life, I went to, I started school at Elmhurst as em, in the infants of course. In 1939 when War broke out em, we that is my Mother, my elder Brother and my younger Brother who was then a babe in arms were evacuated for the first time. Dad remained in Upton Park because his family that’s my Grandma and his Brothers and his Sisters all lived about what, em, if memory serves me right about two miles of each other and so they were always in constant em, contact. Eh, we went I don’t know where but it was somewhere south, supposedly safe. As evacuees,that was my Mother, Jack, Peter and me were only away for a matter of weeks because of the Phoney War. Then late September ’39 or early October we all went back because nothing happened. We went back to school and we kept on going until June 1940 where under plan 4 of the General Evacuation Scheme Jack and I were evacuated for the second time. This time just him and me and we ended up in South Wales which is where if you like, our War began. After that my Mother and younger Brother came down a year later in ’41. Dad followed early in ’42 because he had been called to the Colours and he volunteered for the RAF Aircrew and he stayed with us for a few months and then off he went to the Service. Did his training in the UK, went to South Africa for his Aircrew training, didn’t make it as a Pilot but made it as an Observer Bomb Aimer. Came back late ’42 joined his Squadron just after Christmas ’42 and that was the last time I saw him. He was then killed in action ’43 July. That was basically my childhood, my childhood now stopped because I had to grow up.
PJ. You’ve done a lot of research into your late Fathers crash haven’t you?
JW. Yes, em, my late Wife Moreen started me on this because I joined the Air Force and served 22 years. On my first overseas posting we went to JHQ Rheindalen, Germany and I had always been I suppose interested into what happened to my Dad. My late Wife unbeknown to me wrote a letter to Air Ministry as it was then, asking for information. That started the ball rolling which stopped rolling forty years later [laugh] when I eventually completed the full history of what happened to my Dad and his Crew and also another seven Airmen that crashed the same night in Switzerland in 1943. Then I just went on from there and my Dad and his Crew rest in St Martins, Ville in Switzerland along with, in total there are forty eight Bomber Command. I ended up researching them all which took me over 45 years, which was great fun and well worth doing. Em, with the help of some very lovely people in Switzerland mainly one Pascal Blanchard who still lives there and I am still in contact with and I hope God willing to visit in September this year. My Son, Son in Law and youngest Daughter are taking me back to Switzerland to visit my Dads’ grave and there should be a good meet up there. Em, we did research it, they were on the Turin raid night of Thirteenth of July and my Dad and his Crew were on their fourth Op and eh, they overflew Switzerland along with another hundred Aircraft, shouldn’t have done but they did and eh, they got hit by Swiss flack and eventually crashed into the Alps in a place called, just above Bouverette or Bouverette the other side of Lake Geneva on the French on the French Italian side. They crashed into the Alps and unfortunately they were carrying a 4000 pounder which went bang and all seven died and they were all identified, all brought down and laid to rest with full Military Honours in Ville. From there em, we with the help of Pascal and some great people in Switzerland over the years we managed eh, in a sense, solve exactly what happened. I met had the great fortune of meeting eye witnesses who remember the night as if it was yesterday. The outcome was Pascal and I wrote a book, we’ve never published it em, saying that at least we knew where one aircraft ended up. I’ve been again very lucky because over the years em, I have been able to help other families of my Dads’ Crew and the Australian Crew from 467 Squadron and em, other members of families of other Aircrew resting alongside and with my Dad and been able to solve the problems of their loved ones, which has always been a great delight and a great honour. What I have found in my research a lot of folk I have dealt with and helped, is all they knew was that their loved one had been killed in action, buried in Switzerland and didn’t seem to find out very much more. So I ended up with six squadrons, worked with six squadron associations and helped to fill in the slots, to fill in the slots in their own histories of what had happened to their lads. There graves are still tended in Switzerland. In Ville every eleventh of November, regardless, there is a big parade there attended by Dignitaries, the Swiss Ambassador, the French, the Australian and other Dignitaries turn up and wreaths are laid. A wreath from my Dads’ Squadron which was 207 Squadron by a very dear friend of mine who is the Vice Chair or the Vice President of RAFA and also the President of RAFA Switzerland he lays the wreath every November the eleventh and which is something that is very personal to me, we know them, we always refer to them as our Crew. He lays on our behalf a poppy on seven graves which I think is nice.
PJ. Thank you Jim.
JW.A Pleasure.
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 Jim Wright. One
Description
An account of the resource
Jim Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the Second World War along with his mother and two brothers. His father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over Switzerland on their fourth operation. Jim completed 22 years in the Royal Air Force and always had an interest into what had happened to his father. His wife Moreen wrote to the Air Ministry requesting information which started a forty five year research. Jim Wright located his father and crew who are interred in St Martins, Vevey, Switzerland. In total there are forty eight Bomber Command Aircrew buried in the cemetery. Jim through his research has worked with six Squadron Associations and helped to fill in slots in their history. Thanks to him, a parade is held every Remembrance Sunday attended by Swiss, French, Australian and other dignitaries.
Format
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00:10:16 audio recording
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AWrightJ150521, PWrightJ1540
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-05-21
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
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IBCC Digital Archive
Creator
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Peter Jones
Contributor
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Hugh Donnelly
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Switzerland
Alps
207 Squadron
467 Squadron
childhood in wartime
evacuation
final resting place
perception of bombing war
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1794/35682/MWilsonRC1389401-170113-07.2.pdf
c248bf60fef4a9be9dc16563ac7025c6
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
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-01-13
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. 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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Wilson, RC
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[blank page]
[page break]
[lion symbol] 1 [lion symbol]
[underlined] Diary [/underlined]
[underlined] 9th March 1945. [/underlined]
This wartime log I received today. I have been a prisoner just over 13 months having been shot down over Berlin 20th January 1944 in Halifax “F” (Old Flo).
Short Summary of Previous experience in Germany:-
After baling out from 17000 ft over the target and landing unexpectedly in a small forest through thin cloud, I am glad to say I sustained no injury. Only a graze on my face and a sprained ankle. My ankle proved to be a bad thing, as my progress after landing was slow. Unhappily I was captured on the following morning and spent most of the next 12 hours in the local “Jug” in a town about 12 miles southwest of Berlin. My first experience of the Germans as a civilian was good, the police seemed fairly freindly. [sic] Of course my cigarettes “State Express 555” helped in this congenial atmosphere no doubt. The food was aweful, [sic] German bread “spud” soup and ersatz coffee, after eggs bacon, toast and marmalade is a poor substitute. From here I was taken by a smoky old Ford to a night fighter station at Wieneuchen. [symbol] The Luftwaffe treated me fairly well I must admit. In the guardhouse the sergeant in charge had himself completed
[symbol] Werneuchan (III N J G 5)
[page break]
2
60 “ops” over England and his attitude towards my branch of the service was one which really is quite understandable, “C’est la guerre” and wrote it off with that. It was here that I found how the Germans hated the Russians, they were stuffed to the top with propaganda of the uncultured Russian hoardes, which I have found re-iterated ever since in their papers. The next day I was taken along with 3 other RAF unfortunates to another Luftwaffe station in Berlin Spandau-West and we spent the next two days in and [sic] air-raid shelter there where our party accumulated to about 16. Of course we all talked of our experiences some had had a very “shaky do” one chap having 5 pieces of shrapnel removed from his back whilst we were there. The food was still grim the bread was our worst experience, it seemed sour rye stuff and repulsive to the stomach (how I could eat it now – its surprising how your taste alters when food is short) of course at that time our psychological condition did not aggravate hunger. I for one after escaping with my life seemed very thankful indeed, and I felt a queer type of cheerfulness – a joy of being alive – underlying this of course was the worry and distress that would be prevalent at home especially for Mum, and my one hope and prayer was that they would know the truth with all possible speed.
We were taken to the railway station in Berlin by a Luftwaffe bus and I had a good view of the western part of Berlin’s suburbs. It certainly was very attractive as the approaches to the city area was interspaced with preserved park land, and I did not experience the effect of passing through grim industrial parts, which I thought would ring the city. The roads were wide &
[page break]
3
pleasant. As we came near the centre bomb damage was more apparent and Bismarkstrasse had certainly taken a hammering. At the railway station we were shepherded by our large party of guards straight to the train bound for Frankfurt on Main. This I was very thankful for, I wasn’t happy amongst Berliners so recently bombed. The following day we arrived at Oberusal just outside Frankfurt here was Dulag Luft (every RAF chap knows this place!) I spent two days here for interrogation, I was lucky sometimes it amounts to weeks. Being in solitary so recently out of England isnt [sic] so hot, and it provides plenty of time for thought – how would they be at home? are the rest of the crew alive or dead? and many other knowing questions. The food too still persisted to be lousy and very very [sic] small quantity at that. I found since that this was about all we would ever get from Jerry. A slice or so of rye bread & marg in the morning with ersatz coffee, some thin soup for dinner, bread, marg & jam for tea plus coffee, the whole wouldn’t make a meal in itself. My second day there incidently [sic] was my 21st birthday, not a very happy one at all. That evening a party of us were “released” from these conditions and sent over to Dulag Transit in Frankfurt itself the following day. You can imagine my relief to meet my rear gunner in this party. He had received a bad cut above his right eye, evidently after hanging on in the aircraft till the last moment had got into difficulties, the ‘plane turned over, he crashing his head over his guns. Next thing he knew was that he was on the ground pretty well shaken up, and a searchlight battery took him in hand, though they did very little for his eye. It was through his very
[page break]
4
healthy condition that it healed up so well in a very short time. Of course we talked our heads off at the time, being guarded in our conversation of course. He told me (Johnny Bushell by the way) that Laurie was alive, he was picked up outside Berlin, having walked through the city making his way west. We learnt later that George (Griff) was also OK. All this news and being in contact with one of the crew again bucked me up immensely, the huge relief of uncertainty off my mind. Dulag Transit is a place I will always remember, everything was done for us here though we were only here 2 days. We were given new clothes if necessary plus an overcoat and a case containing most things from a toothbrush down to pyjamas, cigarettes & chewing gum. All this was Red Cross, mostly American – from this day on I have no praise higher than I can give to the International Red Cross, their work is superb without it we would not be fit men in mind or body. Transit held about 200 or so chaps and had a communal mess. The whole place was run so well that I was really amazed. Huts were OK and the messing was after the previous few days was sumptuous. Of course the bountiful supply of Red Cross food plus German rations in a well run kitchen can make that much difference to life as only prisoners know. In a way, I was in no hurry to leave as conditions were more than I expected, but I also knew something of the bombing programme and Frankfurt was not the healthiest place in Germany, so really I was glad to move on, and our destiny was Stalag
[page break]
5
IVB. Our travelling facilities to IVB were anything but congenial, we came down to earth again when we found that our transports were closed railway trucks, accomodating [sic] either 8 horses or 40 men, the normal troop transports on the continent. Not being horses we were loaded 40 to a truck which is just a little more than standing room and we lived on these for the next three days, not at all pleasant. The Red Cross were “on the ball” though and we each had an American food parcel to take with us, thus we spent the next few days exploring the contents being our 1st parcel, it was the best part of the journey.
My first impression of Stalag IVB after Dulag was not impressive at all. Being Jan-Feb the countryside was very bare, a fall of snow had just about thawed out, and being extremely flat and open, pictured to me more like Siberia than Mulberg-on-Elbe, a village about 30 miles east of Leipzig. The camp held about 15000 of mixed nationalities, most of the British were either prisoners removed from Italy or I’m glad to say RAF personnel, others were made up of Dutch, French, Poles, Italians, Serbs or Russians and a few other Nationals, thrown in. On entering the camp my impressions were worse. The main roadway with its grim black lines of barracks on either side, the formidable main archway with sentry box plus searchlight on top, and many more boxes along the wire that formed the boundary of the camp. The whole area was inches deep in mud & slush,
[page break]
6
portraying a dismal colourless scene. Before we made contact with the camp life itself we were searched this being the 7th time for me, I’m glad to say in all these searches I lost nothing except some photos which were mislaid, & some cigarettes which it seems the Germans at Dulag seemed to like, can’t say I blame them as theirs’ are foul. I also lost my flying boots which I had hoped to retain. They were almost new and were ideal for the weather at the time, why they were consfiscated, [sic] beats me, probably German contempt towards the R.A.F (this was an Army camp) I was given in return clogs made of scraps of leather with wooden soles, hopeless ill-fitting things which I wore for the ensuring [sic] 3 months, as there were no Red Cross boots in stock. Incidently I found many Russian hats made out of the lambs wool lining of flying boots in the camp, evidently the Russian cobblers were doing a spot of private enterprise on the side at our expense. After the preliminary episode of searching, we followed through with de-louzing [sic] (a procedure which seems to be imperative when moving to & from the camp) innoculation [sic] vaccination. From here for registration and POW. No., now we all were fully-fledged P’s o.W. By this time I was very hazed & very hungry not had anything to eat all day, other than a snatch at some bread from my red cross box. It was to me a very overcrowded camp it was Monday & parcel issue day, and all the British were marching to and fro down the main road. At last we were assigned to our barracks and I found that overcrowding was not as I thought apparant [sic] but very real. Each barrack held about 200 in each end with a brick washhouse in the centre. Everyone is continually getting in one anothers
[page break]
7
way, with noise added and various orders coming throughout the day, concentration is well nigh impossible. These huts are built of wood and were always needing repairs, the roofs leaked, windows mostly broken now replaced with boards reduced lighting to a minimum. The floors were, bricked just like a barn, the bunks were in 3 tiers all to one side, in the centre were two cooking stoves leading to a common central chimney. Other amenities were 4. 25 watt bulbs for lighting, 1 tap - water on and off continuously which served 200 men, coal for cooking for about 2 hours, a few forms rebuilt to serve as tables. No cooking or eating utensils issued other than 1 dixie and 1 spoon all other requirements we had to make ourselves as soon as & as best as we could. There were many other miseries I found besides these, of course at the time they are greatly magnified, I was only 11 days out of England, just 3 weeks since leave and “Home sweet home” and comfort. Consequently for the following few days life just revolved about me until I got into the groove of things, then it wasn’t so bad, my values were reduced to a common level, which gave me a much more reasonable aspect on things in general. During the next day or so, we were a great centre of interest for the rest of the British personnel, they were, the army chaps at least old prisoners from Italy and wanted all the latest news from home. The R.A.F were mostly prisoners of 6 months standing or less, and I was surprised to find many of them I knew, some from old training courses, some from the Squadron. They all wanted to know the “Gen” and if confirmation of their capture had come through
[page break]
8
or not. They were in a compound of their own and we shifted there after 3 weeks. A different atmosphere prevailed in the R.A.F compound, typically R.A.F I must admit acquired I suppose from Squadron life and a general lackadaisical attitude. It caused us trouble with the guards at times, and things weren’t Army fashion nevertheless we got what we wanted done, & everyone was happy.
“Mucking in” – this expression at IVB is perhaps one of the most universal used. It really means messes of convenient numbers, anything from two upwards, and all food Red cross and German pooled to facilitate cooking and eating arrangements. One of the major things in or POW lifes [sic] is I think cooking it may not be always apparent, especially in the summer months but it essentially is so for a new prisoner and also when food is short. It certainly marks periods in our daily routine whatever else we have to occupy our time.
Johnny Bushell and I, “mucked in” just the two of us and we got on pretty well. We had no system who was to do the preparing and cooking it was done by both of us anytime we wished to do it. Washing up we did in turns, we both agreed this was the most distasteful job. Our cooking utensils were made from “Healthy Life” biscuit tins (Scotch RC. Parcel) plates were made from these also, our cups were “Maple Leaf” butter tins (Canadian), these completed our crockery and were renewed from time to time. Parcels were issued every Monday, and marked the beginning of the week as much as anything. German rations
[page break]
9
were issued daily. Potatoes and vegetables (mostly turnips, with pea soup issued 1 day a week in Lieu of these. In summer fresh veg were available some days a week instead) cooked from central cookhouse came up during the morning. We used these for our midday meal with Red Cross tinned food from parcels. In the afternoon dry rations (bread, margarine, jam, sugar, meat paste etc) were issued and from these & supplemented with R.C items we made tea and breakfast meals. Cooking was done on two hot-plates one at each end of the hut, it was mostly frying and boiling etc as the 2 ovens were often insufficient for 200 men. A stoker was in charge of each stove and he was lord of all, many a comical incident took place at the stove. It was an everyday occurrence for someone to upset his frying & set fire to the whole hot plate. To fry BRC bacon was a sure road to become unpopular as it spat at everyone in turn. I’ve seen a whole tin of creamed rice blow up & its contents hit the ceiling. Many a dish I’ve seen cremated, by the hot plate suddenly becoming excessively red in one spot. All kinds of dishes were prepared, I think many a new cookery book could be compiled in Stalag IVB, though I would not vouch for their recipes. Canadian biscuits seem to be very adaptable in “concocting”, which is really all it is, the maxim “variety is the spice of life” is proved in prison camps. One time all our drinks we made ourselves, but when fuel became scarce, communal “brewing” was necessary. The “brew [underlined] must [/underlined] go on” is an unwritten law, whatever
[page break]
10
happens, we found these absolutely necessary almost habitual, and it was nothing to hear the “boiler man” shout “brew up” 6 and 7 times a day, and these to [sic] magic words would electrify the whole hut, and from all directions would appear chaps carrying two & three dixies to collect the “combines’” tea, coffee cocoa, whichever one it happened to be.
It is almost an impossibility to study in Stalags this was so at IVB. What with cooking, keeping clean, amongst 200 chaps, then the amount of noise and distraction in a crowded ill-lit hut both by day and night, you were a hero to attempt it. Nevertheless I decided at least if I could not do this I would keep actively-minded. In any case the “school” facilities were sketchy, and the general atmosphere being based on the knowledge of the second front and the war almost over, also helped to keep my activities in this direction well down. Even so I took classes in intermediate Maths, wireless, photography, psychology, the latter two closed down after we lost our classrooms but I managed on and off depending on the times to keep going to the former two.
Sport – of all the various past-times [sic] etc. I think this was the most popular, & most universal during the better weather; after quarantine from Typhus & diptheria [sic] I think sport was carried on from morning roll-call (6.30 am) to curfew (as late as 9.30 pm). The main interest was taken in Soccer even throughout the summer, when it was carried on in the evenings. Each hut had its own team, these were entered under the 1st Division names in various League competitions. I think the knock-out
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cup was the most exciting of all. Newport County were by far the leading light in this competition & eventually won the cup. The amount of keenness was amazing, every team made its own colours, the supporters were always “on the beam” when their team played and the amount of discussion on play reached tremendous heights. Semi-finals and final games were played off on Saturday afternoons, being a main feature of the weekend. Such Gala occasions as Easter, Whitsun, August Bank Holiday, there were such matches as England versus Scotland, Army versus R.A.F, Amateurs v. Professionals. The standard of play was very high indeed, drawn from several thousands, the selected players gave good account of themselves. Other feature matches were introduced when the various clubs materialised, these clubs formed by chaps living in the same areas, such examples as the “London Club”, “Heather Club”, “Notts & Derby”, Kent “Invicta Club” and a host of others. There was a Rugby League, they sued to feature their important games on Sundays, perhaps the most notable members were the “Springboks” and the “Anzacs”, and many a time blood was drawn between these two hefty teams.
During the cricket season, each hut entered a team and the matches were played off on similar lines to Soccer & Rugby, the main feature being generally a test match played over the weekend England V. Australia or South Africa. Some of these were very close ending matches, England on one occasion beating Australia by a few runs only.
Two Athletic meetings were held and prior to the event, every morning and evening contestants could be seen on the track, training with great zeal. Boxing was a camp organised sport
12
and several times exhibition & competitive bouts were carried out in a well built ring placed in one of the Compounds
The Canadians were very keen on Basketball and softball, whilst volley ball was carried on by one and all. Others took up weight-lifting organised P.T., there was no lack of exercise at IVB whatsoever. Many of the games were played between the British and other Nationals such as the French, Dutch Russians & Poles the latter two excelled at Volley Ball, the former had a tough struggle when playing us at Soccer, after all its our national game. The British were very fit during the Summer, full parcel issue & good news coupled with their outdoor activity made this so.
Entertainment in my opinion in prison life is essential and IVB did not lack talent in this sphere, it had a reputation of having the best of Stalags and I’m sure this was the case, from the “Empire” Theatre shows down to the hut shows and various Lecture programmes. After being in camp only a day or so I saw my first Empire show & I was greatly impressed. It was called “Mulberg Melodies of 1944” a variety and completely written & produced within the camp. To see female parts carried out so well as to believe their sex, almost may seem far-fetched, but it was so. The Theatre had to contend with all kinds of difficulties costumes, equipment etc but they always bridged these gaps, always improvising with great success. Suits of armour made from tin cans is a typical example. Towards the end of the year the “props” had gained in experience until they were masters at their trade. Nothing too good though, for the actors themselves they were supreme. Many varieties were produced by leading comics, “Lets Raes [sic] a laugh”, “Knee-deep”, “Splash”. Musical Comedies such as ‘Springtime for
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Jennifer” Lyrics & Music both written by the leader of the Orchestra, it takes a chap to be a prisoner before he realises the ability of many of his fellows. The Cads. specialised in straight plays, and they had a howling success each production seemingly better than the last, such shows as “Dover Road,” “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” “You can’t take it with you” and “The Barretts of Wimpole Street.” There were Light Classical Orchestras & more serious music. Dance and Swing Band Shows, and they were all good. The latter parcipitated [sic] in hut shows providing the music required. At leading football matches, boxing bouts and Sunday afternoons a Military Band provided entertainment. On some Sundays in the Empire the Experimental Theatre Group gave some very interesting plays based on the Melodrama and reactions of the audience, a prominent one sticks in my memory – “Waiting for Lefty”. The Church Services were also held here, and they also provided pleasant entertainment and talks for Sunday afternoons.
The huts shows were generally very good and I always think much of the enthusiasm was gained beforehand. The reason being in erecting the stage work from forms and various structures brought in for the purpose and such industry gave a holiday atmosphere to the show that followed. They made such a welcome break in the evenings which everyone enjoyed. The Radio plays were interesting – performed behind a curtain in broadcasting style with adequate sound effects, with the rest of the hut in darkness, gave the right feeling. Such plays as “The Tale of two Cities” the “Ghost Train” & “Pygmalion”. On other winter
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evenings would be run a series of different lectures & talks by chaps of experience – “Big Game Hunting” “North-West Frontier” “Russia” and here’s an ironical one “H.M. Prisons” by Ex-prison Warder. On some occasions the chaps themselves would hold a dance – last New Year’s Night was such a night, we had a dance band, an M.C and plenty of “female” partners, and in spite of adverse conditions of hopeless over-crowding of the hut it was run well. Yes entertainment at IVB was the tops, just what the fellows made it themselves.
There were quite a few Russians in the camp, they were always coming in and going out as most of them were kommandoes. [sic] They did not have a very good time as there was no love lost between them and the Germans, and were often seen getting a good kicking. Not having any Red Cross to aid them, they lived on entirely German rations and what else they could scrounge and racketeer, they became pretty good at the latter. Of course they lived pretty poorly, food and clothing they lacked very badly, thank goodness the British could help them out with their food problem, by giving them most of our German soups, but when our parcels were halved and got less than that, they did not get it. We also gave R.C. food to the Russian sick & they certainly needed it. Many of the more enterprising made cigarette cases picture frames etc. in wood and straw, the former sometimes in engraved metal from Italian dixies, these they used to trade for meats, fish, butter, cigarettes. We have them to thank also for knives as the Germans never gave us any, and they are pretty essential, you can’t
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do much with a spoon! The racketeers apart from the “tradesmen” were the middlemen for civilian bread, onions, potatoes and they lived pretty well in comparison to the others. Many of the disabled, legless fellows stumping around on their thighs, had to beg, whilst the lowest crawled in and out of the filth, peelings, empty tins etc., in the incinerators – no wonder they were always subject to Typhus. When there were a large crowds gathered at football matches the Russians would be on their knees amongst it all looking for cigarette butts. Thus their life appeared always to be one keeping body and soul together.
When the Italians inhabited IVB their lot seemed to be similar to the Russians, their Red Cross couldn’t do much for them at the time. They were well kitted out though as no Italian is taken prisoner without all his kit I’m sure. This they proceeded to “flog” for food and cigarettes & some did a spot of private trading in the tailoring line. They also used compete with the Russians for “buckshee” soup and many a fight ensued, often amongst themselves for that matter. They on the whole had a miserable time for they were the butt of everyone, after all anyone who had been a prisoner in Italy had some hard reminisances [sic] of the Italians.
I think the French were some of the longest inhabitants of IVB. As our nearest neighbours I did think they mixed very well. They had the Red cross so they were not dependent like the Russians & Italians nor could they be compared in anyway. They administrated quite a lot of the camp really, they had control of one of the cookhouses (the other was for British personnel) and I suppose being at the camp such a time enabled them to get well in every way. Many
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had the opinion that the French created an atmosphere of ownership of IVB, not that I saw it mattered who “owned it” – England home & beauty was my concern only. They had a good canteen, University and Theatre. Used to produce plays & musicals, but I think their main [deleted] tain [/deleted] industry was to give an [deleted] d [/deleted] exhibition of some kind. They liked display & modelling, I saw two, The Paris & Mountaineering Exhibition, they were very good, their models being the last word in craftsmanship. They lived well on the whole, getting “black market” food more easily than us, their connections were in operation before we arrived.
The most striking thing I noticed about the Dutch was their impressive appearance. They were all mostly big strapping chaps and always seemed to be smart. Most of them still had their uniforms these seemed to me more like some commissionairs [sic] uniform tassels & gold braid, but I must admit they looked smart & immaculate in them. Like the French they came under the I.R.C, they also had parcels from home until the Second Front, so their food was assured. They also shared the French Theatre, but we did not come in contact with them much except playing football, though their Dutch Symphonic Dance Band used to entertain us very often both in the Theatre and in the huts.
There were Poles and Serbs in the camp, but personally I never noticed them overmuch, language & customs on the continent account for this I think. British are strictly maritime being Islanders, and as the camp became more & more populated with British
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and American, we were less & less inclined to notice other nationals. The Poles though had bags of spirit. There were some Poles operating with the R.A.F who had been prisoners several years, these chaps were with us, and their policy towards the detaining power was a good example. They never gave way in spite of any reprisals. When the patriot activity broke out in Warsaw and unfortunately for Poles was unsupported by Russian advances at the time, many prisoners were brought and put in a compound adjacent to ours. The most striking thing about this was the fact that apart from men, many boys from 7 & 8 years of age & girls from 16 years of age upwards in bad condition came with them. My sisters were about their ages & it horrified me to think of the privations and dangers of the front line had been & still were their lot. But this did not deter their spirit, often in the evenings Polish songs could be heard ringing through the night air, Poles are noted for their choirs & I can appreciate this fact after this experience. Many of our chaps gave them clothes & food though at the time we were short ourselves, of course I think a pretty girl can work wonders & they certainly did considering a prisoner’s restrictions of female company, many almost got to the pitch of serious romances.
There’s an interesting feature of IVB I’ve so far failed to mention and that was the camp markets. There was one official camp
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market and several private ones. Any R.C food, personal clothing and chocolate could be bought & sold on the market and the legal tender (incidently [sic] for Empire Theatre also) was cigarettes & tobacco. Straight exchanges could also be made, cigarette value being the basis for every item. This system was very good as it enabled chaps to sell excess food & clothing others who were short could buy it, whilst others could exchange items for things they wanted or needed more at the time. There were few rackets involved especially at the Camp Market as most of the profits were for the camp fund. Prices were on a sliding scale system controlled by supply & demand; there were some queer prices towards the end of ’44 though when food was scarce and cigarettes more plentiful, then when cigarettes became scarce also, the values were re-adjusted to more sensible figures.
Surveying my year at IVB, I can put it into 3 phases. The first was one naturally enough, of getting used to a new life, one which I never expected to experience or had any idea what was like. Thus for the first few weeks I was hazed, improvising and trying to make my lot as congenial as possible in louzy [sic] conditions. It was winter and being couped up in overcrowded huts with nothing but mud & slush outside did not improve matters. But now I realise how comparitively [sic] lucky I was all round, with
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a full parcel every week. When quarantine put the whole camp out of action for about a month, everything seemed dead, but after this it changed especially as the weather improved.
The second phase came in Spring & summer with better weather the camp burst into life, its surprising how the talent in the place adds to everyone’s enjoyment. We were all waiting for the Second Front, & were we impatient up to June 6th. Thats [sic] a day worth remembering indeed, optimism was terrific, ah! the war would be over in 2 months, the pessimistic said 3. From thence onwards the spirits of the chaps were at their highest level, & how the rumours grew, times were exciting. Outside sport & also entertainment went with gusto, there seemed to be a new lease of life in everybody. Even when we went on to 1/2 parcels in early September nobody worried – it would not be for long, for the war would be over anytime.
After the dramatic sequel of events had died down, “Arnheim” and a general settle down in the West, we realised it would last longer than expected. Here came the last phase in the atmosphere at IVB. October came and still no end, it was just dragging on it seemed. Parcel situation was bad as our stocks had practically been exhausted & fresh supplies [inserted] were [/inserted] unlikely. I personally did not look forward to another winter in these conditions. Nevertheless these conditions prevailed, it got colder, parcels ran short, coal issue was inadequate by far, naturally our resistance to the colder weather became less also. The war now dragged as much now as it had previously progressed, & we all were disillusioned
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men & ours [sic] spirits ebbed. But we kept going with a firm conviction “It would be over by Christmas.” During this period I must mention that there was a flux of personal parcels in the camp. From July onwards I had received mail fairly regularly then these almost petered out, but I was fortunate compared with many in receiving several cigarette & book parcels instead. I also received my first clothing parcel (actually the 3rd from home.) So my lot was not so bad as others.
Well Christmas came & we were still behind the wire, with a stroke of luck we had RC parcels for the festivities and on the whole Christmas & New Year turned out quite OK. After this we came back more to reality it was now 1945, no parcels, little coal, extreme cold & on top of this overcrowding to as many as 3 in a bed, due to many American prisoners being passed through our camp. We were watching eagerly for the final flare up on the Western Front for we all felt sure it was imminent, & would be the only thing that could end this existence in IVB. Anyway Russians started first and made their sensational advance from the Vistula to the Oder rivers. This brightened us up no end and though January seemed to me one of the longest months as a prisoner it certainly brought good news from the Eastern Front.
It was the end of January that my time at IVB came to a close. The Germans having received confirmation of my commission from the Air Ministry arranged for my transfer. I think I should have gone to Luft III but just at that
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time, the whole camp was evacuated, and they were on the march westwards just ahead of the Russians. My destiny instead was Oflag VIIB in Bavaria. I had no regrets at leaving the camp, for I was sure conditions anywhere else, especially an Oflag in comparatively peaceful surroundings near Switzerland could be no worse, this proved to be very right. So I left Johnny (my “mucker”) behind this I was very sorry about, for he’s a grand chap but still when back in Blighty we’re going to celebrate with the rest of the crew & laugh over all our old troubles.
Before leaving Mulberg behind I must mention that I did get a lot of help from the Church services. Inside the wire, I’m sure one becomes more introspective than [inserted] under [/inserted] normal [inserted] conditions [/inserted] there’s more time to look into yourself. The free church services interest me most, in fact I think Padre McDowell from New Zealand delivered the best sermons I’ve ever heard. He was a very devout person and could always apply his addresses to prison life & to post war life too, in the most apt manner. I will always link his name to IVB.
On the 2nd Feb. I said goodbye to those “pearly gates” with its sinister watchtower, & with a party of 5 other RAF & RAAF chaps & 3 guards set out for Oflag VIIB. It was an interesting time to be travelling on the German Railways. The Russians in their drive had caused many civilians to evacuate their homes, and the railways were very congested with them. To make matters worse the RAF were keeping on their toes, totally upsetting the transport system.
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I thought travelling like a civilian & not in the usual “cattle trucks” would make it an interesting journey, and I had looked forward to the change after a year inside one place. But I was soon proved wrong. The first train we caught from the junction was very late & it literally crawled all the way to Chemnitz. At Chemnitz we waited 7 hours for our next connection. At the time the station was crowded with people all patiently, waiting, many with bundles of clothing & packs. They were definitely on the move to less threatened areas. When an announcement that the train which was already 2 hours late, would still be another 70 minutes they just moved back from the platform’s edge, without a murmur, they must have been very used to this kind of thing, & accepted it all in a day’s work. Those 7 hours seemed unending, as we stayed on the station almost counting the minutes all through the day. Chemnitz had not been subject to air attack up till then as it was a hospital centre. It was all intact, only I missed the familiar bookstalls & buffets that we have in England, it is very dull for the passenger I think not being able to have some food & hot drink available. You could buy beer though, it wasn’t very potent just a drink with a taste of beer, even young children could have it. There were many hospital cases of wounded soldiers about and they looked generally very ill & in poor health, pale & thin specimens all of them. One track had a complete train of German soldiers which appeared to be waiting for a move Eastwards, I guessed their destiny. We passed through
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this station just in time I think, for 10 days later for the first time since the war began it was heavily bombed several times in succession. I think it was a tactical measure to assist the Russian offensive.
After leaving Chemnitz behind we continued southwards at a very slow pace & eventually reached Plauen. We arrived at midnight and our next train went at 5 am. This station had taken a packet of bombing and we had 5 hours of very drafty waiting. Civilians were in the same boat as ourselves, & they could not have shelter or anything to warm them up. The youth movement girls & boys about 10 years of age resident in the town were working with baggage etc, right through this period. Germany is certainly employing everyone in their war effort, but what a life just one drudgery, and for what avail? Hof was our next port of call, we got here around 9.30 am and as another wait was in the offing, we were lucky in getting a hut with a stove, in which to wile [sic] away the time. So we managed to have a brew of coffee with our bread, & boy did it make a difference. Well it was about 5 pm that day before we moved on. The train was packed, more & more people were travelling & everyone had wasted many hours getting connections I know, it was no joyride, the railways were absolutely up the creek. We had a quick change of trains at 7 pm, but what a carriage we had, no windows at all, it froze us all the way to Nurnberg, which we did not reach until 12 midnight. Here the
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usual whirlpool of people prevailed, the station was almost in darkness, and we were led by the nose, through the crowds to an air-raid shelter. It was an excellent shelter air-conditioned with plenty of warmth, it was a pleasure to thaw out, even though another 6 hours were to pass before we could shorten our distance to VIIB.
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56
[underlined] 8th March ’45. [/underlined]
[underlined] Thoughts at odd moments [/underlined]
I had a short walk with Jack this afternoon, he looked rather browned off and so was I. It was quite an enlightening conversation and I think it did us both a world of good. Jack has been a prisoner four years now and is now 27, I am 22 so we are both quite young. Here we are situated among many chaps older than ourselves and after years of “kriegie” existence have developed an atmosphere which is not congenial to us and has definitely had its pyschological [sic] reactions. They have developed a very routined [sic] existence and every day is more or less the same, and silence, lack of conversation marks every day. For me coming recently from a Stalag with crowded conditions and living among young fellows enabled me to have the stimulus of young chaps and share in their activity, now I have the contrast. This has pent up my conversation etc and I have felt extremely irritable yet not having the opportunity of getting it out of my system. I feel restless unable to co-ordinate my activity or concentrate on any one thing. Of course the war situation and our lack of food aggravates this unsettledness. The war has definitely dragged on far too long, Germany cannot hope to win, it could all end any day, but what day? the over-optimism of last year still hangs over us like a dark shadow.
All these things and many others I find are the roots of Jack’s neurosis and mine and talking about them helped us both, whats the use of writing down conversion [sic] as I found Jack was doing, repression of a perfectly natural expression, trying to
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sublimate it and becoming melancholy. We must after knowing our failings face them not avoid them, and put them right. Soon we will be going home and we want to be as natural as others who have been more fortunate – what price freedom!
[underlined] 9th March ’45 [/underlined]
Just had to put this down. I have heard next week that there is a 20 percent cut in all German rations and 33 1/3 percent in potatoes, what a reduction! How we live on them now beats me. Last night whilst having a wash-down I hardly dare look at myself. I’m naturally thin but now I’m a shadow. Red cross parcels only 1/2 ration, then none at all make you watch every gramme of German food louzy [sic] as it is, stuff would make pig swill normally. Our lives now centre around food when hunger knows your stomach its very difficult to centre your thoughts elsewhere, your imagination is food and unconsciously you are concocting dishes of palatable food. How you eat every morsel with gusto. Everything else seems of a secondary nature, even the war situation (which is excellent) sometimes. We had a windfall this week when a truck destined for another camp broke down and was brought here instead, food for a week! Transport is grim now it is uncertain when more will arrive we just hope and rumour –
Rumours:- never have I known rumours to germinate and spread among people as I have in a prison camp, they seem to rebound in every direction. After a time you become skeptical [sic] to all of them, not even if they are repeated dozens of times
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[underlined] Cooking Fires [/underlined]
One of the main trials in a kriegie’s cooking experiences is the perpetual lack of fuel for this purpose. The brew situation is [deleted] as [/deleted] almost as important as the progress of the war, if he wants to make an odd cup of tea, & the cooking stoves are either too expensive on fuel or too crowded, he has to resort to other means of “brewing up”.
The Italy prisoners suffered acutely in wood shortage, most of their fuel was wood & there are many amusing stories on how they acquired sufficient stocks. It became necessary for some kind of quick and inexpensive brewing & cooking fire. Thus there came into existence, that masterpiece of genius “The Blower”. The accompanying sketch gives some idea of a simple blower. It is a portable machine designed to be hidden in all kinds of corners in case of a purge by the detaining power, as they took a poor view of these contrivances. They are made from odd scraps of wood, bed boards etc., R.C. tins such as biscuit tins, “Klim tins”, and constructed with odd nails, penknives, bits of iron for hammers, and lots of patience. Some of the “engineers” created masterpieces with built in ovens, hot plates etc. The principle is “forced draft”, and many an old hand will tell you, how many revs per min his fan will produce, the most efficient length of shaft.
The prisoners coming from Italy brought their invention to Germany where it was immediately copied and is now universal throughout all prison camps.
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Of course the Germans forbad them, & said it was sabotage to make & use blowers, & would be punished for this offence. At first this order was more or less adhered to, but coal gradually was cut and rackets did not improve in this direction. Consequently in a short time every washhouse turned into a refuge for blowers of many varieties, it was more like going into a blacksmith’s forge than a washhouse. There was a constant war at IVB between the Jerry’s and blower users. For a few weeks they would tolerate this industry, then would come the purge & they were all smashed. But in a few days it was the same as ever, with determined inventors handling yet another modified super-blower.
[black and white drawing of a Blower]
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At VIIB the Jerry’s or should I say “Goons” seemed to tolerate these auxilary [sic] heaters, also other varieties not on the blower system are prevalent everywhere with flues added & built into the room chimneys. I think the Goons have been worn into submission over a period of 5 years here, and have accepted them as an essential piece of kriegie equipment. Coal seems to be almost non-existent now and there is a permanent wood party and pine cone party who are allowed to go out and collect fuel for the use of the camp. It is ideal stuff for these small stoves & hot plates, the heavier pieces of wood being used for the room stoves company kitchens & camp kitchen for the mess and communal cooking arrangements.
[black and white drawing of a stove and cooking implements]
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The second sketch is one of the small stove built by Ray Cowier in our room. It is made with biscuit tins, and a German pickle tin lined with clay for a fire box. On damp mild days it needs some fanning with an old table tennis bat, but generally its pretty good. Its in constant use for making brews, sauces, frying, and a hot plate can be used for making excellent toast, about the only way Jerry bread seems palatable in my opinion.
The Smokeless Heater is another gadget used for toast and making odd brews. It is similar to the second sketch except that the firebox is made with two “klim” tins joined together and fed with fuel from a shaft made with a cocoa tin from the side. Paper and small twigs form the main basis of fuel. Usual flue built into room chimney, or just through the wall forming separate chimney on outside wall.
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
Reg Wilson's Wartime Log
Description
An account of the resource
A notebook to be used for recording wartime activities. It contains an account of Reg's bale out, capture and time in Dulag Luft, Stalag 4B and Offlag 7B. <span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0">Reg records his operational experiences the day he </span><span class="ContextualSpellingAndGrammarError SCXW3072592 BCX0">baled</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0"> out. His captors were friendly but the food was awful. They were taken by bus to a station in Berlin to catch a train to Frankfurt. The transit camp had good food helped by Red Cross parcels. He was not impressed with the railway wagons nor the camp when they arrived. He describes camp life in detail. He meets colleagues that he trained with and from his squadron. However much of his diary concerns food and camp life. There is a little about studying and sporting activities, principally football. He states the quality of the sporting activities was very good. Drama, plays and musicals were successfully organised. The Russians were treated the worst by the Germans and suffered from no Red Cross parcels. He discusses the other nationals in the camp, including Italians, French and </span><span class="SpellingError SCXW3072592 BCX0">Poles</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0">.<br />Cooking fires figure strongly in his thoughts and the operation of the blower using a wheel to blow air through a fire.</span></span><span class="LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW3072592 BCX0"><span class="SCXW3072592 BCX0"> </span></span><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3072592 BCX0">In January the Germans received news that Reg was now commissioned but before he could be transferred the camp was evacuated to Bavaria by train. The book also contains a receipt issued to Reg for his RAF watch, six poems by six authors about camp life, photos of his girlfriend, his parents and May, Doris and Vera, his sisters, four detailed sketches of camp buildings and interiors, sketches drawn by Reg, a Christmas card for 1944 and ‘the Last Flight of Old Flo’, his Halifax going down in flames over Berlin.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3072592 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"201341983":0,"335559685":720,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> </span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Reg Wilson
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
Civilian
Language
A language of the resource
eng
deu
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Artwork
Photograph
Text. Poetry
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWilsonRC1389401-170113-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-01-25
1944-01-26
1944-07-20
1944-08
1945-03-08
1945-03-09
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Switzerland
Germany--Bavaria
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Plauen
Switzerland--Geneva
aircrew
arts and crafts
bale out
bombing
Dulag Luft
entertainment
Halifax
love and romance
military living conditions
prisoner of war
promotion
propaganda
Red Cross
sport
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2249/MCarrR[Ser -DoB]-150527-01.pdf
7c7d0da0e0660160260f2825d6f97592
Dublin Core
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Title
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Wright, Jim
J R Wright
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-05-21
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. 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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Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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100 SQN. 25 Feb 1944.
[UNDERLINED] RON CARR'S BALE-OUT. [/UNDERLINED]
On the night of February 25/26th [insert] 1944 [/insert] we were shot down on our way to Augsburg.
Our Course was close to Freiburg, heading for Switzerland, but before crossing the border, we were to do a sharp turn to port and on to Augsburg.
It was quiet at the time, then a heavy explosion. We dived away and there was a burst of shells at the height we had been. The damage had been done by the first shell.
One engine had to be feathered, due to overheating, the radiator was punctured and the controls and instruments were damaged.
The Bombardier was unconscious and Navigator hit in the face. The Pilot also had a wound in the head, but did not say so at the time. There was a discussion between the Pilot and Navigator and they realised we could not get home - they also found that we could not get rid of the bombs.
Smoke was coming from the bomb-bay and we were leaving a long trail across the sky. (I remember thinking "Hope a fighter does not see that, as we are a sitting duck") The Navigator said that we were about ten minutes from Switzerland if we stayed on course.
This we did, but after a few minutes the Pilot said that he could not hold her any longer and we had to go. The Navigator protested that we were not there yet, but the pilot said "You still have to go", and gave the order to bale out.
My last words were to the Navigator, asking which way to walk and say "Good Luck". The Bombardier was conscious by this time and the Engineer was able to successfully bale him out.
We all got down O.K. but the Bombardier was not found for three days and was dead. I was told later that we were in a long line of landing of about 20 miles.
I went out the main door after the Wireless Operator at about 19,000 feet. I remember pulling the parachute open, but then passed out and came to hanging in the air.
The Mid-Upper Gunner saw the aircraft explode in the air. I landed in a tree, but was unhurt. I decided to wait until daylight before making a move to find out in which Country I was.
When it was half-light, I moved down a track in the wood and could smell wood smoke. I came upon a cabin style house. I went around from tree to tree looking for some hint as to where I was but to get
[Page break]
-2-
close to the house I had to cross a clearing. I was just doing this, when the door opened an out came an old man, carrying a bucket. I do not know who had the biggest fright - him or me!!!
As he had seen me, there was no point in running away, at least until I found out in which Country I was.
I walked up to him and pointing to the ground said "Deutschland" - one of the few German words I knew. He replied "Nein" - "Schweitza" - to which I replied "Switzerland" and he said "Ya".
I then said "R.A.F." and was warmly shaken by the hand. He took me into the house, in which there were two ladies and two boys (both very excited) and they gave me food.
I showed them where the parachute was and they took me into a nice warm bedroom, where I took off my outer clothing and went to sleep.
I was awakened by someone wearing a grey uniform and a German style helmet, prodding me with the barrel of a rife! I thought I had been tricked, but having a second look I realised that it was a Swiss.
I was taken to the local Police Station at Hinwil - a room in the front of an ordinary house. He made me walk in front and he followed with his rifle at the ready and the two boys brought my gear and parachute on a sledge.
The guard was an elderly man and I think was really enjoying bringing in his prisoner. They sat me in a window-seat with the guard and there was some conversation, after which a lady approached me.
I stood up and brought my heels together and she turned to the guard and said "Deutsch?"I think I was too enthusiastic with my "attention"! She then brought me tea and cake when she knew I was R.A.F.
After about three quarters of an hour, a car arrived with two men in long black leather overcoats and wide-brimmed trilby hats (talk about Gestapo!!!) They questioned me and i took the only line I had been told.
I stood to attention and gave my name, rank and number and said that was all I could say. To my utter amazement, this brought forth cheers and claps from all in the room.
I did add that there was more than one man in the aircraft and that he was out there wounded. Another car then arrived and to my delight the Wireless Operator alighted.
[Page break]
-3-
They then took us to Zurich to an army barracks and fed us and asked us more questions about how we came into Switzerland. They seemed satisfied that we were flying a crippled aircraft.
We then moved again to the Swiss Air Force base Dubendorf, where we met up with our other crew members. Also there were a number of crews from the 8th Air Force.
During the say there had been a running fight over one of the lakes and some had to ditch or land. All very interesting, but I think it paid to watch what you said, as I felt the place was bugged.
After a day or so, they took the six of us to a Hotel [sic] on the outskirts of Bern, where we were to be in quarantine for three weeks. This did not turn out to be isolation, as we needed such things as shoes, toothpaste, etc., so we used to telephone the Legation and they would send an official and escort to take us to the shops.
The more the visits, the less the escorts! Eventually, only the official used to come and then after a few days some of the 8th joined us.
[Highlighted] (At this point I think I should tell you that an Internee in Switzerland had to wear uniform, but an Escapee [sic] must not). [/Highlighted]
As we were the only R.A.F. there in uniform, we caused quite a stir when in town.
After about a week, the funeral of our Bombardier was arranged at Vevey. A big occasion, but, of course, hard going for us. Air Commodore West took us to lunch.
It was decided that we should be interned at Adelboden in the Bernese Oberland with the Americans. Whilst there we were taught to ski, etc. - it was like a holiday.
Of course, it was not possible to escape, as it was an island in the middle of enemy territory. I did hear of two did, but they were both escapees, who had spent six months on the run in France before reaching Switzerland; they had learned to speak French and all the tricks, and they later escaped again and got to Spain and back home. This was very rare.
[Highlighted] A number of R.A.F. Bombers crashed in the mountains whilst we were there and being in uniform we had to do the funeral Guard of Honour on several occasions. Some of the Americans came to represent [deleted] your [/deleted] country. [/highlighted]
[PAGE BREAK]
-4-
After the raid on Friedrichshafen by the R.A.F. we were joined by about another ten airmen. The American crews were coming in considerable numbers. I did not count them, but it was quite a few hundred.
This was due to the attacks on the Southern targets, being damaged and not having enough petrol to get back to base.
In May we were told that we were going home. The Swiss were arranging an exchange of R.A.F. and Germans, who had strayed into Switzerland. (It was rumoured that they were wanted for Court Martial back in Germany).
Visas were arranged and civilian clothes provided and we were taken to Basel and handed over to the Germans, with a Swiss Diplomatic Escort. Basel Railway Station was half in Germany and half in Switzerland, you stepped over a yellow line and were in enemy territory - a very strange feeling.
The German party was made up of one high-ranking officer and two guards and a corporal. This corporal spoke perfect English, had been educated at Oxford, and I took him to be an Intelligence Officer in a corporal's uniform.
From Basel we travelled to Baden-Baden, where we changed trains. We were taken from the Station [sic] to a restaurant for a meal. It was the first time I had ever seen a Nazi salute given - the Manager [sic] of the restaurant to our so called corporal.
The meal consisted of a large helping of fresh fish (Plaice) and wine, etc. - all very good. We then caught the Express [sic] to Paris, arriving mid-day next day. Had an air-raid warning on the station - another strange feeling:
Onto an army 'bus, [sic] complete with two armed guards. They seemed intent on guarding the 'bus [sic] from outside attack, rather than us. Our destination was an Army Mess for a meal with the Officers.
The French waiters seemed to know who we were and showed their pleasure by tapping the "V" sign and putting a large slug in the lettuce on the corporal's plate.
We continued out [sic] journey that evening, travelling all night towards Spain; when it became light we were able to see the guards, etc. spaced out along the Atlantic beaches.
Of all this we made mental notes for when we returned to England. We-reached [sic] the Spanish border during the
[PAGE BREAK]
=5- [SIC]
morning and parted from our German Escort - what a relief! The Swiss stayed with us on the train to Madrid.
Nice meal on the train - starting to feel free. We had four days in Madrid sightseeing and then the Swiss left us and a truck came up from Gibraltar to take us back.
[Insert] * [/insert] A few days there and then back to England on a schedule flight B.O.A.C.
The Air Force had someone waiting for us and took us to London to the Air Ministry for de-briefing - as much as we could tell them about bomb damage, troop movements on trains, etc. Then back home to good old "Brum" (Birmingham) and leave.
[Insert] * May 1944 [/insert]
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
Ron Carr's Bale-out
100 sqn 25 Feb 1944
Description
An account of the resource
The report describes how Ron Carr and his crew baled out over Switzerland after their aircraft was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire en route to Augsburg. He was arrested but eventually transported back to the UK via Paris, Madrid and Gibraltar.
Creator
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Ron Carr
Format
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Five typewritten sheets
Language
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eng
Type
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Text. Memoir
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MCarrR[Ser#-DoB]-150527-01
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.
Germany--Augsburg
Switzerland--Zurich
Switzerland--Dübendorf
Switzerland--Vevey
Switzerland--Adelboden (Bern)
Switzerland--Basel
Germany--Baden-Baden
France--Paris
Spain--Madrid
Gibraltar
Great Britain
England--London
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Germany--Freiburg im Breisgau
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Conforms To
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Pending review
Contributor
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Laura Morgan
100 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
bale out
bombing
prisoner of war
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/518/10343/EChadwickRChadwickM330721-0001.2.jpg
f53d706e612d2f0893e71eed67cd4405
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/518/10343/EChadwickRChadwickM330721-0002.2.jpg
ac841d801939e4e87a434cfed9d4866b
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
Lapham, Rosemary
R Lapham
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Lapham, R
Description
An account of the resource
100 items. An oral history interview with Rosemary Lapham, the daughter of Roy Chadwick, family correspondence, congratulations on being honoured, personal documentation as well as photographs of family, acquaintances and aircraft. The collection also contains a thank you letter from Barnes Wallis to Roy Chadwick and a note from Arthur Harris to Robert Saundby about the in-feasibility of the Eder Möhne and Sorpe operation, some conceptual aircraft drawings and other mementos.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemary Lapham and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
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2015-06-22
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. 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.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[photograph]
[page break]
1 – [underlined] DOMODOSSOLA [/underlined] – Panorama
[postmark]
[franking stamp]
Friday. 8.a.m.
Dearest I have just got into Italy having passed thro’ the famous Simplin Tunnel
I was up about 6 a.m. to view the beautiful Swiss scenery. I’m having a very comfortable journey so far & this is a splendid train. I slept well last night & feel very well today. I hope that you & my darling daughters are quite well & happy, with love to you all I am ever your Roy.
Ediz. S. A. B. MILANO.
[printed up centre of card] FOTOCELERE [/printed up centre of card]
Mrs Chadwick.
“Kingsley”
Hale. Cheshire.
England.
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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Postcard of Domodossola
Description
An account of the resource
Postcard postmarked Venice from Roy Chadwick to his wife. Writes of journey through Simplon Pass to Italy. On the front a panorama of Domodossola.
Format
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Postcard with b/w photograph front handwritten on reverse
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Photograph
Identifier
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EChadwickRChadwickM330721
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
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Switzerland
Switzerland--Simplon Pass
Italy
Italy--Domodossola
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
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Steve Baldwin
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Roy Chadwick
Chadwick, Roy (1893-1947)
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/68/715/PVentrigliaS1701.2.jpg
2417eec6737fadb7ac8ec0e05a1fc4ad
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/68/715/AVentrigliaV170725.2.mp3
3acd9e9d823a6dc6f94733e405d5753a
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
Ventriglia, Sarah
Ventriglia, Vincenzina
S Ventriglia
V Ventriglia
Description
An account of the resource
One oral history interview with Sarah Ventriglia who recollects her wartime experiences in the Milan and Lodi areas.
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
2017-07-25
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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Ventriglia, V
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
L’intervista è condotta per l’International Bomber Command Centre. L’intervistatore è Sara Buda. L’intervistata è Vincenzina Ventriglia. Nella stanza sono presenti Sara Troglio e Greta Fedele dell’Associazione Lapsus. L’intervista ha luogo in [omitted] a Milano presso l’abitazione della sorella della signora Ventriglia. Oggi è il 25 luglio 2017.
VV: Oh, no!
SB: E’ presente anche un gatto che non riusciamo a contenere.
VV: Stai giu’, allora stai qui buono.
SB: Allora, cominciamo da prima della guerra. Cerchiamo di capire un pochino quale fosse…
VV: Ecco, il mio primo ricordo di quello che poi è successo della guerra è che ero ai giardinetti, abitavamo in Viale della Argonne e davanti c’erano i giardini…
SB: A Milano?
VV: A Milano. Avevamo una signora. E in quel momento, mentre eravamo seduti lì abbiamo sentito la voce del duce ,molto forte, che stava facendo la dichiarazione di guerra. Quello è stata la prima cosa che… mi pare che era il dieci giugno qualcosa, eh questo. Poi tutto il resto è venuto dopo, e ho sopportato tutto, ma tante cose, non so i rifugi, i rifugi alla sera andavamo nel rifugio ma non nel nostro perché non era abbastanza forte, e andavamo in una casa vicina, nella cantina di una casa vicina che aveva il rifugio fortificato [laughs], mentre noi avevamo un rifugio molto debole. E mi ricordo che alla sera la mamma appena c’era l’allarme ci faceva vestire a tutte, eravamo tre, Adriana era ancora…, e ci vestivamo in fretta e correvamo a questo rifugio che era, diciamo a poco, venti trenta metri da noi, così, basta. Io poi avevo il vizio che quando mia madre mi vestiva dopo pensavo che era ora di andare a letto e mi rispogliavo [laughs]. La mettevo sempre in crisi. Poi stando nel rifugio non è che mi preoccupava molto, ecco, stavo lì e non pensavo che poteva succedere qualcosa di terribile o, però dopo quando poi siamo partiti per Ospedaletto Lodigiano, siamo sfollati, ma è stato dopo il bombardamento che c’è stato forte nel ’43 perche’ io dal fondo della via ero fuori, correvo a casa perché c’era l’allarme ho visto una casa grande in fondo alla strada che bruciava, cioè era stata bombardata e quello mi è rimasto proprio nella mente sempre, per sempre. Dopo altre cose dopo siamo partiti, siamo andati a Ospedaletto Lodigiano, eravamo nascosti, anche perché la mamma si nascondeva non solo per i bombardamenti ma perché essendo ebrea aveva molta paura. Il papà essendo cattolico aveva degli amici, perché lui lavorava in Prefettura a Milano, aveva amici che quando sapevano che i Carabinieri arrivavano vicino a noi, a Orio Litta da quelle parti, c’era la mamma che prendeva Adriana che era piccolissima, la metteva sul sellino della bicicletta e scappava nella campagna. Noi restavamo a casa, però insomma, poteva succedere anche a noi, però no. Poi oltre a noi avevamo a casa lì a Ospedaletto una zia di papà che era scappata, una sorella di papà che era scappata dal meridione, che era venuta per salvarsi su al nord e con una zia sua, quindi eravamo in casa con questa persone, inoltre in un altro appartamento c’era un mio prozio da parte della mia mamma, veronese, che era un fratello della mia nonna. La mia nonna poi è stata presa in Svizzera, cioè non in Svizzera, beh questo dopo. E quindi anche questo zio abitava lì, lui da Verona era scappato, come sua moglie era cattolica e aveva una figlia, erano andati a Verona per prendere la zia, però lei ha detto ’ma io sono cattolica, poi sono una ragazza madre‘ come se non avesse il marito, mentre lo zio era a Ospedaletto. E dopo allora lo zio era difeso, era protetto dal parroco del paese che stava sempre nelle zone del parroco e insomma si era fatto un piccolo centro per lui, è stato lì sempre e si è salvato. Mentre la mia nonna, la mamma di mia mamma, che era anche lì in quel paese sfollata per un po', era in una cascina vicino. Noi eravamo ospiti, era come un ristorante albergo che però ormai dava gli appartamenti così agli sfollati. Allora, era in una cascina vicino a noi e stava lì insieme a mia zia, cioè la sorella di mia madre che non era sposata, era fidanzata con un cattolico che stava a Milano e la zia, purtroppo a un certo punto veniva corteggiata e seguita da un gerarca fascista che abitava proprio lì in un altro appartamento della cascina, quindi non ha più potuto vivere lì, ha dovuto ripartire, è venuta a Milano ed era ospitata da una cognata del suo fidanzato e abitava in via Archimede, eh io mi ricordo tutto questo. Poi era nascosta lì e mi ricordo che la mia mamma quando siamo tornati da Ospedaletto, che non siamo stati lì molto, siamo ripartiti da Ospedaletto a gennaio, febbraio del ’44, perché mio papà venendo a Ospedaletto era stato mitragliato sul treno, quindi non volevamo più, mia mamma non voleva più che corresse questo rischio, siamo tornati a Milano. E siamo andati a vivere a casa della nonna che la nonna non c’era più, era stata presa. Allora la nonna è partita il 5 dicembre, il 5 dicembre del ’43 è stata arrestata. Mio zio che poi aveva perso il lavoro nel ’38, io me lo ricordo quando lui parlava di questo, mio zio non poteva più lavorare, me lo ricordo ancora adesso che parlava con mia mamma ‘non so cosa farò’, poi ha fatto il maestro di sci, è diventato un grande maestro di sci, ha fatto un lavoro indipendente. Ecco, volevo dire che lui e la mia zia sono partiti con la nonna per accompagnarla in Svizzera, e io me la ricordo la nonna quando è partita da Ospedaletto, mi ricordo ancora la corriera che ha preso, perché sono scesa per salutarla, la corriera me la ricordo come se la vedessi adesso, con la pelliccia nera sulla porta della corriera mi salutava. [weeps] E così dopo di allora non abbiamo più saputo niente di lei. La mia sorella più piccola di me, però più grande di Adriana, in mezzo, che vive in America, lei ha dei ricordi vivissimi. Lei invece si ricorda che quando la nonna è partita, lei stava salendo la scala per tornare a casa e la nonna scendeva e si è fermata e gli ha detto ‘Ciao, io vado via‘, lei gli ha detto ’Ma perché vai via?’, così è rimasto il ricordo della nonna. Dopo quando è arrivata in Svizzera con lo zio e la zia che l’hanno accompagnata, non è stata ricevuta, cioè l’hanno scacciata insieme ad altre quindici persone, dicevano perché non aveva ancora sessant’anni, però non lo so per quale motivo. E poi sono scappati tutti insieme, sono arrivati fino a Pino, a Varese e l’hanno arrestata a Pino, poi è passata alla prigione di Varese, dopo è passata a San Vittore, mi sembra quinto raggio, e la mamma mia quando ha saputo che era lì voleva andarla a trovare. È andata al comanda dei tedeschi qui a Milano, e ha detto che voleva parlare con loro, allora una persona che era lì di guardia ’Ma signora lei è sicura che vuole parlare? Guardi vada a casa, non si fermi qua, non insista‘ e così la mamma è tornata a casa, perché se avesse parlato con loro. Così non ha potuto neanche vederla quando era in prigione. Però lei ha mandato una cartolina a una vicina di casa, la nonna, dicendo che, credo che ce l’abbiamo ancora che sia nell’archivio, dicendo che era lì e che così e basta. È stato così. Dopo di allora, insomma tutte cose che, non si trovava la ragione di tutto questo. Io poi non capivo tanto, perché dieci anni, soltanto che mia sorella quella dell’America che ha un anno meno di me, aveva una memoria diversa, aveva, era una osservatrice di tutte le cose che succedevano e si voleva rendere conto, era e ancora adesso ha questi ricordi. Purtroppo è lontana e la sua testa comincia a non lavorare tanto bene. Ecco i miei ricordi sono questi. Quelli della nonna. Poi quelli degli zii che venivano, perché io ho tre cugini che loro hanno proprio vissuto, si sono salvati perché sono stati salvati, ci sono stati delle persone, quelli che li hanno salvati hanno avuto anche il riconoscimento. Loro sono tre, una cugina vive, una vive a Verona, l’altra vive a Haifa, la più grande, e il gemello di quella che vive a Verona sta in Inghilterra. E quindi loro hanno passato tutto il tempo scappando, passando da un posto all’altro, stavano al Sacro Monte di Varallo, e lo zio aveva documenti falsi, nonostante tutto andava a lavorare, incontrava i fascisti sul treno che arriva dal Sacro Monte di Varallo andava a Novara a lavorare e quindi anche questo era, poi la moglie, la zia era russa, non russa, lituana molto religiosa, di famiglia molto religiosa, a parte che ha avuto tutta la famiglia massacrata, tutta la sua famiglia, dove abitava a Kaunas, ma lei essendo bionda e sapeva il tedesco perché si era salvata [cat meows loudly]
VV: Buono! Buono!
SB: Diceva appunto che essendo bionda, sapendo il tedesco probabilmente…
VV: Sì, sapeva il tedesco. Lei, quando lo zio arrivava a Sacro Monte dove abitavano la zia per dirgli che poteva arrivare, che non c’erano guai sulla strada, che non c’erano controlli metteva fuori un panno, come una vecchia divisa di soldato tagliata e quindi lo zio capiva che poteva arrivare a casa. Una volta è successo che sono andati proprio a casa i tedeschi da lei, perché hanno visto questo panno, hanno detto ‘Che cos’è questa cosa?’ ‘Eh questo li uso per fare i vestiti per i miei figli’ gli aveva detto in tedesco, poi è stata molto calma, ha parlato piano piano con loro, loro non hanno neanche pensato che fosse ebrea. Anche quella era una vita stranissima, poi con documenti falsi, i bambini andavano a scuola da lì con i documenti falsi che gli erano stati dati dal comune. Poi so che il sindaco di quel paese è stato fucilato, perché aiutava, forse a Borgo Sesia, è stato fucilato a Borgo Sesia che era vicino a Varallo Sesia. Eh è questo. Io vedevo questi zii che abitavano a Trieste loro, mio zio fratello della mamma con i figli e la moglie russa, che era arrivata in Italia perché doveva studiare, per quello si è salvata e non è stata trucidata come tutti i suoi fratelli che erano a Kaunas. E quindi lei era sempre sempre attenta, avevano i documenti falsi e non insomma vivevano sul filo del rasoio, alla fine si sono salvati, e poi nel ’49 sono andati in Israele, poi la figlia, una della figlie è tornata qua, si è sposata, adesso vive a Verona. Beh loro avrebbero tanto da raccontare, molto più di me. Certe volte penso chissà la nonna che cosa ha fatto quando, non si sa niente, dicono che è stata uccisa subito, ma… e anche una sua sorella, per esempio a Verona c’era la sorella della nonna. Erano diversi fratelli e la sorella della nonna si era rifugiata, viveva a casa insieme alla zia, con la figlia che era ragazza madre, però si è salvata andando a casa di un cugino, Tullio Basevi, che è stato anche lui deportato. Era lì e un giorno sono andati a prendere Tullio Basevi che era la sua casa e dopo due giorni hanno preso anche la zia e è andata a Bolzano, poi Ravensbruck e non abbiamo saputo più niente. Aveva mandato una cartolina chiedendo biancheria e cambi perché quando era a Bolzano, ma dopo… è stata una portiera o chi le portava da mangiare che li ha denunciati, per cinquemila lire li ha denunciati. Ecco così.
SB: Quindi scusi, giusto per capire la mamma era Basevi, quindi era la mamma ebrea?
VV: Sì, sì, la mamma.
SB: Nonostante ciò era il papà che si nascondeva, giusto? Ho capito bene?
VV: Il papà la difendeva.
SB: No, suo papà.
VV: Il papà mio?
SB: Sì, sì suo papà
VV: Era cattolico
SB: Si nascondeva quando eravate sfollati?
VV: Mio papà doveva stare attento perché era proibito sposare una donna ebrea. Mia mamma era ebrea, la legge era già da prima. Loro si sono sposati nel ’31. Devo dire che mio padre è stato molto coraggioso. Ma mio padre però si doveva un po', non si facevano mai vedere insieme perché, se andavano da qualche parte uno da una parte uno dall’altra. Ma io questo non lo sapevo, l’ho saputo dopo. E poi mio padre lavorava in Prefettura, aveva un bellissimo ufficio al primo piano. Questo me l’ha raccontato mia sorella dell’America, perché io, e aveva un bell’ufficio, lavorava per la censura, poi quando hanno capito che lì andavano i tedeschi a controllare i registri anche del personale l’hanno spostato al pian terreno qui alla Prefettura di Milano, perché la stanza dava su un giardino e lui già una volta era scappato uscendo dalla finestra del giardino. Insomma l’hanno aiutato perché, si anche lui doveva stare attento. Poi quando è stato mitragliato, l’abbiamo saputo eravamo a Ospedaletto, lui arrivava con il treno la sera, invece l’abbiamo visto arrivare su una carrozzella, si una carrozzella con il cavallo che era ferito e la mia mamma quando l’ha visto è svenuta. Ecco. Dopo siamo tornati a Milano e abbiamo ricominciato a studiare, abbiamo cercato di riprendere non so l’anno, quando. Stavamo a casa della nonna finché abbiamo potuto poi siamo andati in un’altra casa. Adriana era nata nel ’40 perciò era, non so, tutto questo è dentro di me non è che, è come se avessi una fotografia dentro di me, a parte tutto il resto, ma non so.
SB: Io ho delle domande.
VV: Sì.
SB: Vorrei fare un passo indietro.
VV: Sì.
SB: Intanto le chiedo se ci può far capire un po' come era costituita la sua famiglia, quanti anni avevate voi sorelle e che cosa facevate prima della guerra, che cosa facevano i suoi genitori.
VV: La mia mamma era casalinga, era molto brava a cucire, ci faceva dei bei vestiti, ma per il resto non lavorava, non ha mai lavorato. Il papà era sempre della Prefettura. Io andavo, ho cominciato ad andare a scuola, perché avevo dieci anni, mia sorella aveva un anno di meno, mia sorella Antonietta, Tata, che sta in America, e l’Iginia purtroppo non c’è più, la terza sorella, noi eravamo quattro, è morta nel duemila e due, ha avuto una malattia brutta, improvvisa, ha avuto una leucemia, stava a Roma e poi Adriana era piccola, nata nel ’40. Quello che mi ricordo molto quando la mamma prendeva la bicicletta, metteva Adriana sul sellino e scappava nelle stradine di campagna per non farsi trovare dai tedeschi eventualmente se dovessero venire a casa, se dovevano venire a casa. Perché loro andavano a vedere i registri di tutti, degli sfollati di tutti. Vedevo anche dei ragazzi che quando sapevano che arrivavano i tedeschi o i fascisti si nascondevano da tutte le parti, andavano sotto i letti a casa della persone anche che non conoscevano per non farsi trovare. E poi una volta, quando dalla mia nonna, adesso questo mi ero dimenticato però non è molto importante. Una sera quando stava ancora nella cascina dovevano tornare a casa, era da noi e doveva tornare a casa. Io l’ho accompagnata, ho detto ’Nonna, io ti accompagno’. Sono andata con lei, a un certo punto la nonna aveva in mano c’era una piccola lampadina da tenere che si chiamava mi pare no chiocciola, un altro nome, un nome così aveva, che faceva anche un rumore, che si accendeva e si spegneva toccandola. Allora si è avvicinato un gendarme, c’era già la repubblica no, tutto vestito di nero e ha gridato a mia nonna ’Cosa fa lei con quella luce, lo sa che c’è il coprifuoco’?” E la nonna l’ho sentita proprio gelare e io non ho detto niente, e niente ci ha lasciato andare per fortuna così l’ho accompagnata. Si chiamava forse aspetta, chiocciola. Era un tipo di lampadina che avevano tutti.
SB: A cosa serviva? Come mai ce l’avevano tutti?
VV: Non so perché, era quella che si usava quando c’era buio. Era molto comune come tipo, ma nel coprifuoco certo non si poteva usare, ma la nonna l’aveva usata. Per un tratto di strada non pensava che arrivasse un così, un gendarme. E così è andata.
SB: Senta quindi lei era piccola comunque…
VV: Sì, sì
SB: E quando è scoppiata la guerra lei come lo ha saputo. Qualcuno gliene ha parlato, qualcuno in qualche modo le ha spiegato cosa stava succedendo o lo ha capito lei da sola in un altro modo.
VV: No, no, no, non abbiamo avuto grandi spiegazioni. Abbiamo visto che tutto era cambiato, tutto diverso, le persone molto tese, molto preoccupate, e poi io l’ho sentito annunciare così me lo ricordo. No, no, diciamo non siamo stati preparati ad affrontare la guerra, ad affrontare la situazione, no. Arrivava di giorno in giorno e…
SB: Per esempio la prima volta che siete scesi in un rifugio, la mamma vi ha spiegato, il papà vi ha spiegato che cosa bisognava fare?
VV: E beh ci dicevano di stare buoni, tranquilli e di non muoverci, di non, niente di particolare. Eravamo forse troppo piccole per essere informate. E poi c’era sempre questa tendenza di mia madre di tenerci sempre, come dire, protette, di non darci troppe informazioni. Penso che questo, sempre l’aveva avuto questa. Mia mamma è morta nel 2004, dopo mia sorella, mia sorella nel 2002, mia mamma nel 2004, aveva novantaquattro anni.
SB: Wow.
VV: Ma di queste cose non ne voleva mai parlare. E perché il fatto della nonna è stato una tragedia. Non solo la nonna, anche la sorella, anche il cugino, anche… Per fortuna uno dei fratelli, dico fortuna, il fratello più grande, erano cinque fratelli, la mamma, la sorella e tre fratelli e uno, il più grande, Gino, era morto nel ’38 per un mal di cuore, quindi lui non ha vissuto niente di questo, ma non lo so, forse è stato meglio così. Erano cinque fratelli che si divertivano a Verona, abitavano nel ghetto di Verona, c’era allora ogni tanto mia mamma mi raccontava delle cose, di quello che facevano per divertirsi, andavano sull’Adige con le carriole, insomma cose così, ma questo era proprio prima.
SB: Quindi da Verona la sua mamma è venuta a Milano quando si è sposata.
VV: Quando si è sposata. Ha conosciuto mio papà a Verona, perché lui stava lì alla Prefettura. Si sono conosciuti e dopo è venuta a Milano. Però anche la mia nonna era venuta a Milano a Verona dopo che è stata vedova, che il suo marito è morto nella prima guerra, nella guerra ’15-’18, però è morto nel ’19, nel febbraio del ’19 perché aveva preso una malattia, la spagnola. La guerra era già finita, ma lui era ancora, diciamo, nel campo, allora da allora la nonna è partita da Verona e è venuta a Milano. Poi la nonna ha vissuto sempre a Milano, faceva la sarta, era molto brava, maestra di sartoria, e così. E non so se, prima della guerra era così, non sapevo molto di quello che succedeva, no.
SB: Veniva fuori per caso, prego…
VV: Una volta la mamma quando la zia, quando siamo tornati a Milano nel ’44 e la zia era nascosta in via Archimede, una sera la mamma ha deciso che voleva andarla a vedere, andarla a salutare, allora, c’era il coprifuoco anche a Milano e con noi ha voluto andare fino lì di sera, in fretta, però insomma anche lì è stata un po', e quindi mi ricordo che mio papà ha dato i biglietti per andare al cinema, eravamo andati al cinema, non lontano, in corso Ventidue Marzo c’era un cinema, e dopo del cinema la mamma ha voluto andare a trovare la zia. Comunque ha preso un rischio molto grosso, perché c’era il coprifuoco.
SB: E voi eravate con lei?
VV: Sì. Certe volte non si considera bene il rischio. Forse la mia mamma si sentiva protetta perché diceva ‘Io ho sposato un cattolico, quindi c’è un matrimonio misto quindi a me non mi toccheranno‘ e invece non è stato così. Vorrei raccontarvi di più, ma purtroppo.
SB: Beh io ho sempre delle domande. [laughs]
VV: Sì, sì [laughs]
SB: Posso procedere con le domande.
VV: Ah sì è messo calmo. Allora ha salvato qualche cosa?
SB: Sì, sì, sì.
VV: Il gatto?
SB: Sta ancora registrando, sì, sì.
VV: Ah sì?
SB: Sì, sì, assolutamente. Io volevo chiederle. Ha accennato a un registro degli sfollati. Siccome non ne so nulla, volevo sapere se per caso si ricorda quando siete arrivati a Ospedaletto se vi siete registrati.
VV: No, il registro era di tutti i residenti, ma anche degli sfollati ed era un paese vicino, Orio Litta. A Orio Litta avevano i registri, quindi quando arrivavano i tedeschi così, mio padre veniva avvisato e avvisava la mamma di nascondersi insomma. E no, non so veramente, sarà negli archivi, perché o registri li avranno..
SB: Però comunque voi comparivate in questo registro?
VV: Eh sì, sì.
SB: Ho capito. E senta e mentre eravate sfollati avete avuto delle difficoltà di qualche sorta a vivere in questo posto? Le condizioni com’erano?
VV: Beh, c’erano tanti sfollati, però non credo che considerassero o che pensassero che la mia mamma fosse ebrea, no. Però stava molto attenta, sì, stava molto attenta. Anzi le devo dire che c’era una sorella di mia padre venuta dal sud e la famiglia non era molto d’accordo che mio padre avesse sposato un’ebrea, questo è ovvio no, e allora lei con la mia mamma non andava proprio d’accordo e una volta quando era lì giù nel cortile della casa, il cortile interno, ha detto ‘Senti, smettila di parlarmi così eh’ la zia da giù, da giù a su dal balcone ’Smettila di parlami così perché io guarda che ti denuncio‘ e una zia io questa cosa l’avevo sentita, poi la mamma è rimasta proprio scandalizzata da questo. Del resto c’erano queste cose. Doveva stare attenta, doveva...
SB: Voi avevate contatti con questi altri sfollati?
VV: No. No, avevamo contatti solamente con chi ci ospitava che era il padrone di questo posto, di questo ristorante, credo che ci sia ancora nella strada principale di Ospedaletto Lodigiano. E solo con loro, poi basta. Poi sì, con altri sfollati sì, con delle persone che avevano dei figli nascosti, due figli maschi grandi in età di fare il soldato che erano nascosti e quindi si parlava così tra di loro, si sapeva di questo ma nessuno diceva niente. E poi avevo contatti con un’altra signora, sì una signora, una professoressa di piano che si chiamava Salomone di cognome, ma non abbiamo mai saputo se fosse ebrea o no, ed era molto brava, molto gentile, molto, sì, mi ricordo questo. Però con poche persone.
SB: Non c’era una comunità?
VV: No, no.
SB: E senta in questo posto, Ospedaletto.
VV: Sì.
SB: C’erano anche lì dei rifugi per qualche motivo oppure non c’era nulla di legato, che legasse quella esperienza al contesto più ampio.
VV: No, di rifugi no. No, no. Non c’erano i rifugi, non mi ricordo. Ogni tanto passava un aereo che non so come si chiamava, Pippo mi sembra, che faceva dei sorvoli ma non sapevamo neanche se fosse tedesco, se fosse, beh sarà stato senz’altro italiano o tedesco perché… No non era una vita di collettività, era una vita molto riservata.
SB: E di questo Pippo gliene ha parlato qualcuno o…
VV: No, no lo sentivo, si sentiva quando arrivava, era un aereo che faceva un sorvolo poi andava via.
SB: Quindi non vi, non vi…
VV: No, no.
SB: Non lo temevate.
VV: No. Lì i bombardamenti non ce ne erano, non ne abbiamo mai vissuti i bombardamenti, tranne il mitragliamento del treno. Probabilmente avran bombardato qualche treno, ma non lo sapevo.
SB: E di sirene invece ne avete sentite quando eravate sfollati?
VV: Oh tante, sì, sì eccome.
SB: Lì a Ospedaletto no.
VV: No, no.
SB: A Milano invece?
VV: Sì, sì, tante.
SB: Tante?
VV: Sì, sì, tante. Era molto impressionante. Adesso quando le rifanno sentire qualche volta si torna indietro subito.
SB: C’era una frequenza assidua durante il giorno?
VV: Una frequenza di sirene?
SB: Sì.
VV: Sì, anche due o tre, sì. Quelle di notte erano più brutte, perché bisognava uscire e andare al rifugio fuori con il freddo. Io mi ricordo ancora le persone che stavano magari di fronte a noi così di notte, perché nessuno doveva, a noi ci dicevano di non parlare, di non fare amicizie nel rifugio, così. Poi gli altri non lo so come facevano.
SB: Ma senta, quindi le persone che c’erano nel rifugio voi non le conoscevate?
VV: Eh no.
SB: Erano persone che arrivavano…
VV: Noi eravamo come dire dei fuoriusciti, dei raccomandati. Eravamo dei raccomandati perché andavamo all’altro rifugio. Non so come ha fatto mio padre, ma ci ha fatto andare in quel rifugio.
SB: Perché non si poteva andare in un rifugio a caso?
VV: No erano tutti dei palazzi, dei condomini, dei, si poteva essere ospitati se qualcuno ti ospitava, però ogni casa aveva il suo. Diciamo che eravamo raccomandati.
SB: E senta per tramite di suo padre o come?
VV: Eh non lo so se tramite mio padre o tramite mia madre o forse qualcuno. Mi ricordo ancora là sulla via tra Via Pietro da Cortona, doveva essere verso Piazzale Susa, prima, prima, mi ricordo ancora il numero della casa, cinque, era il numero cinque, ma è possibile che ci si debba ricordare le cose in questo modo? Non lo so. E la mamma diceva dobbiamo andare lì, perché lì siamo più sicuri.
SB: E vi convinceva? Eravate convinti di questa cosa?
VV: Sì, sì.
SB: Quindi lei si autogestiva, anzi no la mamma la vestiva.
VV:Sì, sì la mamma mi vestiva, diceva ‘Bisogna andare’, perché aveva tre da vestire, io più le mie sorelle. E lei mi vestiva e nel frattempo che vestiva le mia sorelle io mi spogliavo, perché pensavo che era l’ora di andare a dormire. Così insomma si vede che non mi rendevo conto neanche del pericolo che c’era.Sì, sì, questa è rimasto come un ricordo. Insomma non sono tanti i ricordi, però sono… Ormai non c’e quasi più, non c’è nessuno, ci sono i miei cugini, la mamma loro, la zia Golda, quella lituana non c’è più, è morta nel 2010, stava ad Haifa, aveva più di novantaquattro anni, lo zio ha avuto un incidente, il marito, il fratello di mia madre, cioè il marito, era in Israele e lui lavorava alle miniere di Timna, lavorava come chimico e niente un giorno è andato lì, un giorno mi pare che era quasi di festa e la macchina, pioveva e la macchina, le ruote non hanno resistito e ha avuto un incidente e nel ’72. Lui ormai era lì già dal ’49.
SB: Quindi dopo la guerra la famiglia si divide, giusto?
VV:Sì, sì.
SB: Voi rimanete a Milano?
VV: Noi sì. Fino a quando abbiamo studiato, poi dopo insomma negli anni ’60 mia sorella che è in America ha conosciuto un ragazzo di Tripoli che era scappato da Tripoli perché, l’ha conosciuto e si sono sposati, allora lei è partita ed è andata in America. Io sono andata a lavorare a Roma e Adriana è rimasta qui a Milano. L’altra mia sorella purtroppo è morta nel 2002 e lei viaggiava anche, alla fine lavorava all’Alitalia, ma aveva fatto anche, aveva fatto la cantante, aveva fatto anche un concorso a Sanremo negli anni Sessanta, poi alla fine lavorava all’Alitalia quindi.
SB: Senta, le è mai capitato di ripensare a questo periodo a cui appunto avete vissuto sotto minaccia?
VV:, sì, molto spesso.
SB: E ripensa, per esempio appunto per quanto riguarda i bombardamenti, le è mai capitato di pensare a chi guidava appunto gli aerei?
VV: A chi guidava l’aereo? Beh più che altro pensavo a chi sganciava le bombe, più che a chi guidava l’aereo. E quello sì. Lo pensavo sempre. Lo penso anche adesso, perché questo palazzo che ho visto tutto con il fuoco in cima, proprio era come un tizzone, un palazzo molto grande, si vede che avevano buttato più di una bomba e quello proprio mi è rimasto nella mente sempre. Non ho molti ricordi come..
SB: Beh non mi sembra. [laughs]
VV: Quello del gendarme quando camminavo con la nonna che si è avvicinato, quello quando ci penso mi vengono ancora i brividi. È stato proprio, dico ’Ma come è possibile sono pochi metri e spunta questo!’. Poi non parlava la nonna, la nonna mi ricordo che si è come raggelata e io non parlavo, per lo meno io non parlavo, perché se avessi parlato non so. Fortunamente se ne è andato. Tanto poi le cose sono andate male lo stesso. Sono un po' diversi i miei ricordi da quelli di mia sorella, no?
SB:, sì, sono di bambine di età diverse.
VV: Eh sì, sì. Beh però è un bel lavoro quello che stanno facendo.
SB: Ci stiamo impegnando. Allora…
VV: Se ha altre domande io sono qui
SB: Io sono soddisfatta. Se, OK interromperei l’intervista se non ha altro da aggiungere.
VV: No, per il momento no. Può darsi che poi mi viene qualche cosa.
SB: Certo. Allora la ringrazio.
VV: Io ringrazio voi.
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 Sara Ventriglia
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Bombing, Aerial
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Sara Buda
Date
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2017-07-25
Contributor
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Greta Fedele
Format
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00:50:12 audio recording
Language
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ita
Identifier
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AVentrigliaV170725
Spatial Coverage
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Italy
Switzerland
Italy--Po River Valley
Italy--Lodi
Italy--Milan
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IBCC Digital Archive
Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo
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1943
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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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Sound
Description
An account of the resource
Sara Ventriglia, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, recalls her early life in wartime Milan. She describes the alarm being sounded, she and her family getting quickly dressed to reach a nearby shelter. She recollects moments inside the shelter emphasising how unpleasant it was on winter nights and mentions the terrifying sight of a building engulfed in flames. She narrates the trials and tribulations of her Jewish grandmother who was arrested in 1943 when trying to escape to Switzerland, likely to be a Holocaust victim. Speaks with an affection for her grandmother and emphasises how the grief is still alive and present. She describes the trials and tribulations of her Jewish relatives forced to live under false identities, one of them deported to Ravensbruck and the subsequent lives of those who escaped the Holocaust. She recounts how she was questioned by a Fascist militiaman for contravening blackout regulations during curfew. Several different wartime anecdotes: how her father was injured when the train he was travelling on was strafed, draft-dodgers hidden in concealed rooms, and the constant presence of Pippo.
Coverage
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Civilian
bombing
childhood in wartime
faith
fear
grief
Holocaust
home front
Pippo
shelter
strafing
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/3530/PWrightJ1540.2.jpg
ed0c7a705abfc9e48d823f72551d3d1b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/3530/AWrightJR171128.1.mp3
c74047d296620ca4e43aa66da3730693
Dublin Core
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Title
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Wright, Jim
J R Wright
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-05-21
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. 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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Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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JW: If you’re lucky.
SW: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Sue Walters. The Interviewee is Jim Wright. The Interview is taking place at Mr Wright’s home in Corby, Northamptonshire on the 27th of November 2017.
JW: Ok. Nice to meet with you. As Sue has said I’m Jim Wright. I was born in London in 1932 which makes me now eighty four going on eighty five. Until I was seven I was living in London quite happily in Upton Park, West Ham and war broke out in 1939 and I, my elder brother, my mother, my younger brother who was a babe in arms were evacuated under the scheme of Operation Pied Piper on September the 1st 1939. All I know about that is I went south, I think. Not much memory of it because it didn’t last long. It was known as the Phoney War and in a few weeks we all went back home to London. Nothing happened except we had drills of air raids, we had drills with being issued with gas masks etcetera. Everything was issued. Identity cards, ration books but I was only a youngster. June 14th 1940 my elder brother Jack and I were evacuated again, only this time we went to South Wales. A place called Llanhilleth, a mining village where we lived at 16 Caefelin Street with a Mr and Mrs Jim Carter, now both gone who were the two of the best foster parents one could ever wish for and I am still in contact with some of my, I laughingly call them my foster brothers but they’re not. They are more or less my brothers and my sisters. And we lived there right through the war. We didn’t go back home to London because we got, my house was badly damaged and my mother and younger brother came down in 1941, closely followed by my father early ’42 because he’d been called up and he’d volunteered for the Royal Air Force and had volunteered for bomber, for aircrew duties if acceptable. We stayed in Wales until I joined the Air Force in 1951. We never went back to London. I have been back to London. I couldn’t go back to London to live. I couldn’t live there. Impossible. Impossible task. I went back to my home town and totally lost. So, evacuation is an entirely different story. If you want that then you’ll need around about a month or something like that because I’m also, I also was the researcher for the Evacuees Association so I know about evacuation. How it started, who started it etcetera. You want to know? Make contact. Then I had one ambition and one ambition alone and that was to join the Royal Air Force. How did that come about? Simple. As I said my dad was called up. He was sent to South Africa to train as a pilot. Didn’t get his full wings but ended up as a navigator bomb aimer. He came back in 1942 from South Africa. The last time I saw him was late 1942 standing on Llanhilleth Station in South Wales as he finished his disembarkation leave to go and join his squadron which was number 207 based at Langar, in Notts. Bomber Command. Lancasters. That’s the last time I saw my dad. He was killed in action in July 1943 and rests with his crew in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Switzerland in a place called Vevey. And if you want to follow that then his story along with his crew and the other folk who rest at Bomber Command, all thirty three is somewhere within the archives now held in Lincoln and I’m sure they could prove of great help. A lot of paperwork. A lot of photographs. That is when I decided I was going to join the RAF, age of nine and believe it or not I never changed my mind. My mother stopped me from being a boy entrant. She stopped me from being an apprentice and so I did a variety of jobs because we lived in South Wales. I was a shop boy. I delivered newspapers. I’ve been an errand boy. I worked in a steel foundry. An iron foundry. I [pause] believe it or not I became an apprentice stone mason in a quarry. Don’t ask me to go in that. It was terrible. And then I ended up as a coal miner and after being under two falls in two, in the same colliery I’d had enough and I just said to my mother, ‘I’m off to Cardiff, to the Recruiting Office.’ And there I joined the Royal Air Force, initially for five years and I joined, I took the oath on the 11th of August 1951 at a place called Cardington. You must know what Cardington is. It’s where they have the two big hangars, the R101, and that’s where I went to be tested to see if I was fit enough and I was so I ended up as, in those days 4077085 Wright, James Roy. Later on in life, in Service life for some unknown reason the Air Force decided to change that all the way around and I suddenly became F4077085 JR Wright. I never worked out why but they changed it around. Officers got called Mr. I got called Sprog [laughs] So, I spent a couple of weeks there at Cardington where we got kitted out and I initially went in as an ab initio wireless op which meant I had to learn Morse code amongst other things. And on the 7th of August [pause] no, I beg your pardon on the 17th of August I was sent to Number 11 School of Recruit Training at RAF Hednesford up in Staffordshire. No longer there. And that was recruit training. Eight weeks where you got chased from pillar to post but I’ve always looked back on that as probably the best part of service life in a way because it changed you from being a civilian into somebody who knew what they had to do, how to do it, when to do it. I never found out why you had to do it but you did it and that’s where I spent the first eight weeks of my service life as a recruit. As an AC2. From there I went to Number 3 Radio School at RAF Compton Bassett in Wiltshire, not far from Calne where the Harris’ used to make their sausages and their pies. As far as I know they still do. And I was at number 3 RS training to be a wireless operator which took five months training before you earned the coveted sparks badge. And the day you put your sparks badge up you were twelve feet tall and any ex teleg’ Royal Air Force, doesn’t matter, Army or Navy will tell you that’s your proudest day when you got your trade badge and I wore that with pride for twenty two years. From there I went to 41 Group, Andover, Hampshire and stayed there believe it for not for two years nine months. Small grass field. Been there for donkey’s years. My first commanding officer was wing commander Corkery and if you couldn’t find him, if you didn’t want, if you had a signal for him and you couldn’t find him you just looked out the window of the comms, out of the Communications Centre and if the Tiger Moth was not on the ground it meant the old man was up in the air flying which he did quite often. He was a good, a good CO. I stayed there for two years nine months but in that time I did a number of detachments. I ended up in Norway on a NATO operation. I didn’t know where we were going but off we went and a little story to tell about that we ended up at a place called Sola Air Base. Big NATO operation. Operation Main Brace, and we were in an underground cell where the Communication Centre was and we didn’t arrive there until nightfall and we were just taken off to somewhere to sleep. We were all given straw palliasse and we slept under canvas and everybody in those days was smoking because on the boat going over you could buy cigarettes quite cheap, which we did. So we were all smoking our heads off. The following morning we found out what we were sleeping on top of. A gas dump. Aviation fuel. Highly inflammable and there we were all smoking away happily until we got told to put the cigarettes out. So, we never smoked anymore on top of there. And I also did, where else did I go from? Oh yes, I know. I have to think now. I went up to RAF High Ercall, to an MU on detachment which was civilian, which was nice. I sent four messages a day. By then I’d become, I’d been back to Compton Bassett to train as a telegraphist 2 which meant I did my teleprinter operator training and I had little or no Morse work to do in in my first couple of years of service because I was never at, I was at Andover which didn’t, which didn’t have a Morse facility. It was all teleprinters and the detachments I did was as a tel 2. As a teleprinter operator. And whilst I was at Andover I went to Norway as I said, to Sola Air Base. And on my way out to Norway I had to go via, we all went via Aldergrove in Northern Ireland which meant that we had to travel by boat. The boat was called the Ulster Monarch which went from Liverpool to Belfast and on that night crossing I met a young lady who was going home to Ireland and she is the girl I married. Love at first sight. Her name was Maureen. She lived in Bangor in County Down and I met her and four months later we got married on Boxing Day which was wonderful and I was married to her for fifty nine years. Then I lost her. But that’s another story. I also did detachments to Gosport. And the RAF in it’s good, why I’ve never worked this out but I ended up on the Scilly Isles in the height of the British summer. It wasn’t a holiday. I went down, believe it or not as a standby wireless operator because they were doing torpedo drop, torpedo trials dropping from Swordfish aircraft and that’s the first time I ever flew in the RAF. First time I flew in my life was from Gosport down to the Scilly Isles in a Swordfish open cockpit. Frightened the life out of me but I still remember it to this day. We were in the Scilly Isles for a month in the height of the summer as a standby wireless op because the Royal Navy, in its wisdom they had a minesweeper out in the, on on the Channel and they were controlling everything by WTO. I was on standby in case their wireless sets packed up which they didn’t. Which I suppose in a sense was fair enough. They wanted to do the job. Get on with it. I set up in, on a place on one of the islands in the Scilly Isles in the sun and had a wonderful time [laughs]and I got paid to do it. Heaven knows what it would cost you to do it today. As I say went to High Ercall. That was an MU. Norway. I went for, I detached to Amport House which was the Chaplain School and then I went back to Andover and there I stayed until I’d got married. And my wife was still living in Ireland and had no chance in those days in early 50s of getting a married quarter so, my boss, my warrant officer said, ‘Why not apply for a posting?’ Because another warrant officer I’d worked with, Warrant Officer Riddell, telegraphist had gone to West Freugh in Scotland which was not far from Stranraer and he wanted an NCO. By then I was an NCO and, no, I wasn’t. I beg your pardon. I wasn’t an NCO then. I was an SAC and he was looking for a telegraphist to come and look after or run their small Comm Cen up there and I applied for it and I got it. So, I went to West Freugh which was the back of nowhere but not a bad little unit. And there I stayed until I got posted to [pause] where did I go from there? Oh, West Freugh. Yeah. We went to Germany. But prior to that I did my tel 2 conversion as I said. I’m trying to catch up on this now. In ‘54 to ‘55 I went to West Freugh. I was only there from October until the January and from there I went to, in ’55 I went to RAF Rheindahlen which was then HQ 2nd ATAF in Germany. And there I took over the WT station where I got back in to Morse and then from there I got promoted and I was up to the Comm Cen at RAF Rheindahlen and we stayed there in married quarters until 1957. From then I got posted back to the UK in the seventh month of ’57 and I ended up at North West Comm Cen, RAF Haydock. Now, those folk who may have heard of North West it was underneath the slagheap in Haydock and it was a good posting. The CO there was Squadron Leader Ron Brickwood, a first class CO. A wonderful man. We got married quarters, Maureen, myself and the family. We got married quarters there and I stayed there until they put me on the boat again fairly quickly and I said no, I’ll do my tel 1 and I went back to Compton Bassett to do my tel 1 conversion and I finished that in 1960. I went back to RAF Haydock and they promptly put me back on the boat. And so I ended up from going from there to Singapore where I spent a happy nigh on three years at Singapore airport at Paya Lebar. At JATCC, Joint Air Traffic Control Centre where I worked alongside the Singapore and Malay air traffic controllers in the civilian world and we controlled the RAF, they controlled the civil flights into, into the airfield, into Paya Lebar and it was a good posting. We got a hiring in place not far from the city of Singapore. Serangoon Garden Estate. Some of you may know it if anybody served there and I served there ‘til August 1962 and my boss there was Squadron Leader Dave [Cutts.] Again, I’ve been very very fortunate in my life, my service life to have good commanding officers going way way back which I forgot to mention to Hednesford which was Group Captain Jamie Rankin who was of Battle of Britain fame. And alongside Squadron Leader [Cutts] I served there as trouble shooter for [unclear] at one time and had a few fun and games there. Was there when, on duty when a Hastings went in and we lost I think it was thirteen or fourteen men in one go. I remember that. And that that was, that was an evening shift I’ll never forget. When we knew there was an inbound Britannia from the UK coming in with families to meet up with their husbands and then we found out that some of the wives of the children on board were now widows because their dads had been killed in this rather tragic accident. The Hastings took off and for some unknown reason, they took off from Seletar ok but for some unknown reason ended up in a paddy field and quite a number of folk were killed. I’ll never forget that one. That was one of the, shall we say a bad time. And, but the time in Singapore itself well, that was great fun. My kids enjoyed it. They schooled. We had two hirings. I’d never been to a married quarter onto any of the bases which actually was affiliated to Seletar being a civilian airport and Changi being HQ Far East Command. That was up at Changi. We used to visit but we had friends there but that was as far as that went but the life in Singapore was a good life. We thoroughly enjoyed it and my kids enjoyed it. So, we were there until August ’62. And August ’62 I got posted back and this time I ended up at Royal Air Force Aldergrove in Northern Ireland in charge of the Comm Cen. Aldergrove was a good unit. 23 MU was also based there. That was good. That was a very very good unit. It was up in the Antrim Hills. I was fortunate because we got a married quarter straightaway and my wife was from Bangor in County Down so having purchased a car, taken my driving test and purchased a car, we were able to travel from Aldergrove to Bangor and my wife and, and children could spend time with, with my mother and law and father in law and in laws and so that was quite good. I had a good warrant officer there. Teleprinters. We also had the Met Squadron which flew off Hastings over the Met, over the Atlantic doing the aviation run looking for weather and it was there that we had as telegs had a chance to go flying on a Saturday as second wireless op which was great fun. You were up early, you took off, you went out, first leg was fifteen hundred feet, down to five hundred feet twice. Then up to eighteen thousand on the back leg and then back down to fifteen hundred feet with another two five hundred sea levels on the run home. Great fun. Excitement one day. We came out of the cloud to come down to the, down to do the sea levels and what we pop over but a couple of elint trawlers of the Soviet Navy. I was also on duty on a Saturday, not flying unfortunately but out with the Comm Cen on Saturday and we got this flash message from, from one of the Hastings that the Hastings that was up on the Met Flight on the business flight saying they popped down, the self same thing, had popped down, come down to sea levels and what did they come over but a Soviet submarine. So, the chappy on board who had a camera was having a ball and there was flash messages flying all over the place. It was great fun. And I was also in Aldergrove at the time of the Cuban Crisis where I got called out. I never found out what for. I got called out to open up the Comm Cen so we did. I called my staff in and we were sitting up there, and we sat there for hours. Nothing happened. And then we all went back home. The other time, the other good thing about Aldergrove was that twice or three times I got called out of my married quarter by the duty officer. Told to get a car, well the car was sitting there waiting and in one case it was the COs staff car. It didn’t make any difference. ‘Pack your bag. Get in to it. You’re going to Ballykelly.’ And you’ve got to get there and you’ve got to meet four Vulcans. So, if you’re away on a QRA [laughs] QRA exercise. I did that twice I think. The first time I got three hours sleep in seventy two hours and the second time I got four hours sleep in seventy two hours and that was excitement personified. If you’ve never heard four Vulcans go screaming down a runway one after the other you have never lived. That is a sound that you never ever forget. And to see the way those aircrews come out when they the got the call for a scramble. Well, if you got in their way as their CO told me, he said, ‘You’re in their way they’ll run over you. They’ll say sorry as you’re run over but they’ll keep going. They’re not going to stop to pick you up.’ Their job was to get that aircraft airborne and you took, four of them went off literally like the bats out of hell. All the world shook. And from Aldergrove and I was there until January ’64. Then the fun began. In January ’64 I got posted on a one year unaccompanied tour and I ended up at RAF Labuan in Borneo now known as Sabah and I was there for a year. Now, if I remember rightly the terms were if you did an unaccompanied tour that counted as a full tour. Two and a half years. So is that alright you’re going to be clear when you come back. So I said to my wife, ‘I’m off to Borneo.’ So off I went and I was out there nine thousand miles from, away from home and you’ve all heard of the radio programme, “Desert Island Discs,” I’ve got news for you. I spent nine thousand miles away on a desert island and I didn’t have my favourite eight records with me either. But it wasn’t a bad posting after all. I got to know with a group of others the local missionary who was English, Reverend Arthur Tubble, who was the station chaplain to us and we helped build a church on the Unit and we also helped renovate his own church on the island of Labuan. Labuan now is a thriving community. In our day it was not much. The RAF was there. But nowadays I’ve watched, I’ve looked online and I didn’t recognise Labuan. It's got skyscrapers and heaven knows what else and a business world. Not in my day. But that was for one year. And when I came back from there I asked if I could go to apply back to Northern Ireland because my wife and family was still in Aldergrove in quarters and I got posted to RAF Bishops Court Ulster Radar in Downpatrick and that’s where I did the Vulcan QRAs. To get from Bishops Court to Ballykelly like the bats out of hell. And so I did. And I got there in February 1965 and I stayed there until February 1966 which is one year. I’d just come back from a one year unaccompanied tour and I then got put back on the boat for another one year tour and this time, in ’66 I ended up at Steamer Point Aden. In the last year of Aden. Aden, I didn’t like. I don’t think anybody in the last year of Aden liked, liked being there because you were always looking over your shoulder. You had, you were not sure whose side anybody was on. I seem to remember vaguely that some politician saying that we were there as police trying to keep the warring factions apart. Well, if we did, perhaps we did. I don’t know. But I was in Aden at Steamer Point when the rains came and the [laughs] nearly sank. Pity it didn’t but it didn’t and I was always there when Mad Mitch went in to create a city with his merry men and that was great fun. I spent Aden doing a particular job which I can’t go in to for obvious reasons. Not even today I can’t go in to a particular job I did but I did it along with a group of other telegraphists and wireless ops. I don’t know, I can’t speak for them. I didn’t mind the job but it was no fun as far as I’m concerned and I’ve never been back to Aden since and I never want to go back to Aden. I was once asked by the Duke of Gloucester when I met him in London at a function I was at, he liked Aden and would I, he said would I go back? I said, ‘No.’ Then I changed my mind. I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Oh good. Why?’ I said, ‘To find the plug and pull it out and laugh as it sank into the middle of the Red Sea.’ I’m afraid that was [laughs] I must give the duke his credit, full credit he did laugh. But he could see my point. I didn’t like Aden quite honestly about it. Then I got posted back. Oh, whilst I was in Aden I did a, I managed to get away for a week on a detachment to Kenya which wasn’t too bad. It was a break but as soon as you got back in to Aden you got off the aircraft you were back in to looking over your shoulder. Then I got posted out of Aden because the job I was doing I was posted there to take and I was to do, I was, came to an end and then I got posted back up to JCC Bahrain not far from Muharraq and I finished the tour there which wasn’t too bad. I worked with the Army and the Navy at the JCC. It was a great. A great posting. We got billeted with the Army at Jufair and the Army when we moved there from Muharraq couldn’t have been better. The way they made us welcome. Made us welcome anyway. I had to meet with the garrison sergeant major and everybody was frightened the life out of him. I wasn’t. I went and met him. He was a charmer and he was very polite. Anything he could do to make our stay on the Unit happy he did and he went out of his way. He was a great man. I can’t remember his name but he frightened the life out of the Army fellas because when I was waiting outside to go in to meet with him as a, at the request of my CO he was rollocking the right daylights out of some poor Army lad in there and I thought, ‘Well, don’t try it with me mate. I’m not in your mob. I’m in the RAF.’ But he was courtesy personified. Lovely man. So, I spent the remainder of the tour there until November ’67 and then I was fortunate I got posted back to Ulster Radar in ’67 where they left me alone until January ’69. I went back to Ulster Radar, RAF Bishops Court. Thoroughly enjoyed it. My family were still there. And then they put me on the boat again in ’69 and I ended up at RAF Rheindahlen again for the second time. Had a good full tour there. Worked in the Communication Centre. Served under Air Chief Marshall Sir Foxley-Norris, ex-Fighter Command and ex-Battle of Britain. And after that was, he came, was Martin, Harold Martin. 617 Dambuster. And it was a good time so we thoroughly enjoyed it. And then I was due to come back because I was coming to the end towards the end of my service and you get your final wish for your final posting. Where do you want to go? And like a lot of telegraphists we all, I put down I wanted to go to the Madhouse. RAF Stanbridge. Comm Cen Central. And I went there in 7th [pause] 7th month of ’72 and I stayed there until the 10th of August 1973 when I retired after twenty two years. I had a good time. I had places I’d never been to. I saw places I’ve always remembered. I went to some places I didn’t want to go. I’ve got a load of memories. Good. I’ve got a load of memories I don’t particularly want to remember but I’ve got them. I did a lot of jobs. I met a lot of people. But the one thing I can say is I, as a youngster at the age of nine eventually was very very fortunate to fulfil a dream. To follow my dad, who was a sergeant who was killed in action. I followed him and my elder brother and my uncles in to the Royal Air Force. Never looked back. Never wished I never did it and I would do it all over again if and only if I could join the RAF as it was in my day. End of story.
[recording paused]
It’s easy for me, difficult for other people because I know evacuation. I know how it started. Why it started. But if I talk about just myself what was, what was it all about? Well, the aim was that the government of the day felt rightly or wrongly that if war broke out the sky was going to be full of enemy aircraft and this country was going to be blitzed and bombed to nothing. That’s what they thought because a politician by the name of Balfour had said back in the ‘20s that the bomber will always get through. And so you had evacuation plans drawn up, and the aim was in the first instance that children with mothers, children of school age, the aged, the ill, the infirm were to be evacuated. To be evacuated to places of what the government decided would be safety. So they divided the country up in to three. You had the danger areas, you had the neutral areas and you had the safe areas. The safe areas was where the government decreed that children would go or people could go and they would be safe. Nothing would happen. Neutral areas where the government had decided in its wisdom that nothing would ever happen. What a load of rubbish. What an absolute load of rubbish. If anybody got it wrong Mr Chamberlain and his bunch did get that wrong. The danger areas obviously London, the Metropolis, things like that, Manchester, would also happen. But we ended up in South Wales, Jack and myself in South Wales. A mining village. It’s main industry obviously was one coal mine. We were in the Sirhowy Valley from Newport up to Brynmawr and further up to the head of the valley. We left Elmhurst school. There were sixty six of us and I think there was four teachers. We didn’t know where we were going. Our parents didn’t know where we were going. Nobody knew where we were going as far as I know and I will to my dying day say that the only three people that knew we were going was the engine driver, the fireman and the guard because our teachers didn’t know. Everything was kept quiet. All that was stuck on the front of an engine was a number and they knew where we were going. We ended up in Llanhilleth in South Wales. Jack and I were billeted with Jim and Laura Carter who were down to take one evacuee but when, when the billeting officer said, ‘We’ve got two brothers here.’ Without fear or favour or any arguments said, ‘We’ll take both,’ and Jack and I then went in to 16 Caefelin Street. I can see it now. It’s a terrace house. It’s made of stone carved from quarries. They are mining, rows of mining houses and in the place that we were evacuated was known as The Fields where you had Railway Street, Meadow Street, Caefelin Street, Partridge Road and Central Road. Central Road was under, at the foot of the mountain because we had the river dividing the other four. We lived in Caefelin Street and one of the memories I have about my evacuation there was day one. That when Laura and Jim took us into the house you couldn’t see, it was only a small passageway with the front door but you couldn’t see out because all the kids in the street all yelling, ‘Could they come out to play. Could they come out to play.’ We’d only just arrived. Never forgot it. And we made friendships there. Unfortunately, now when I go back to Wales most of those folk are resting permanently. So it’s very rare I meet anybody. I still meet one or two. Sixty six of us stayed there. At the end of the war there were only five of us left and one teacher. All the rest had gone back. The three girls from the same street, Upton Park Road, they lived in Partridge Road and Jack and I lived in Caefelin Street and we backed on each other. Now Jack and I had a reasonable evacuation. The three girls didn’t but that’s another story and to, if you want to know about that you’ve got to then start talking to ex-evacuees. We had, everything was rationed. It didn’t matter. But Jack and I learned an awful lot of things. For a start I didn’t know coal came out of a hole in the ground [laughs] Coal in London was delivered by a man who carried it on his back and emptied it in the coal hole. I didn’t know it came out of a hole in the ground. Not in a million years. Mountains. What were they? The biggest mountain I’d ever seen was the sandhills. I’d never seen anything bigger than that. Ferns? What were they? These things that grew in the spring and the summer. Great big green things, great fun to play around in up up the mountain. Go cob nut foraging. Picking blackberries. Picking wimberries. Picking daffodils. I’m from London for heaven’s sake. I’d never done anything like that. Never knew it existed. So we learned a lot. Made a lot of good friends. And schooling, well, the start we all ended up in the same school called the Old School which was at the top of the mountain which was great fun because we were told that if the sirens went, and they were up in the valleys you know. And if the sirens went which they did we were supposed to leave school, come down to the mountain to the billet for safety. And if you’re half way down there and the all clear went you had to turn around and go all the way back which seemed a bit daft. Then eventually they suddenly decided no you don’t do that. We’ll open up the basement of the old school. That school is no longer there. From there I moved up to another school at Ty’r Graig where I became, and the only claim to fame as an evacuee that I have ever claimed in my life I think I was the first non-Welsh boy to become head prefect of that particular school and I’m proud of that. And I still remember my teachers with great love. Mr Rogers was the headmaster, Smudger Smith was the first form teacher I had. Mr Fox was the next one. And dear Miss Birch was in the top, took the top class because I jumped a couple of classes because I found that even at that age my education even at my young age was nearly a third ahead of my Welsh friends. They were on, they were just finishing HTU and I’d already finished fractions. So, you know I was pretty good but good times. Made a lot of friends. Then I moved from there to Brynhyfryd which was the senior school and there I went into form 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A. That’s where I finished at the age of fourteen when I left school and the teachers there great love, great respect. Mr Arthur Harris, headmaster. Wonderful man. Mr Bosher, tall, seemed to go up forever, science and biology. Fred Carpenter, maths and art. Fred Plummer, woodwork. And other, other names. I can see their faces, I can’t remember their names. But you have to remember this was during the war so one teacher would cover numerous. And of course, the greatest teacher of them all in my book, Mr Perriman who stayed with us. He was from London. Elmhurst. And he stayed with us right through the war. Great man. Became in a sense a surrogate father because my dad was killed in action in 1943 on a Turin raid. The same night that Wing Commander Nettleton VC lost his life. Same raid. But as I said earlier if you want to follow that then look for 207 Squadron in the archives and the full story is in there. Left school at fourteen. Did various jobs as I said and then eventually joined the Air Force but all in all evacuation was, and I’ve often I’ve been asked this when I’ve lecturing on evacuation, what did it do to me? What did evacuation do to me? And the first time I was asked that about a nine year old at school, at a school, an eight year old at a school at Silverstone when I was lecturing there. And it was the last question because the headmaster said, ‘Now, any questions?’ ‘What did it to me?’ And it set me back on my heels. I had to think straight off. Think. Well, it taught, when I lost my dad we had to grow up. Grow up fast because your mother’s left with three boys growing up and if you like, in a foreign country and you’ve got no dad. So, you had to grow up fairly fast. So childhood, as such, stops. Taught you the value of money. Still does. Taught you the value of friendship, still does. Taught you the value of love and of care and it still does. And it taught me to be who I am. I’m afraid of nobody. I won’t be talked down to and I will not talk down to anybody I meet. On your ground you meet on my ground. I’ve been raised to be polite. Try to be. Still doff my hat to the ladies. Still step back and open the door for the ladies. Still get looked at rather weirdly when one does it but that’s the way I was brought out and I don’t see, I don’t see any problem with that. I was married fifty nine years. I have children. I have grandchildren. I have great grandchildren who I absolutely adore and it’s coming up to Christmas and I keep getting told, ‘Dad, don’t buy any more.’ I keep telling them, ‘Don’t tell dad, grandad or great grandad what to do and what he can’t do.’ Which is one of those things of being a great-grandad. But to be an evacuee is something I’m proud of. I was fortunate to be on parade in Westminster, in Whitehall a few times with the evacuees. There’s still a lot of us left. There was just over three million of us so there’s a hell of a lot of stories there. The thing you have to remember about evacuation is that there’s the good, there’s the bad, there’s the downright ugly. A lot happened to a lot of kids and that’s what people have to remember. We were kids. It’s as simple as that. We didn’t go away as grown ups. If you think about it if you’re aged six, seven and you’re evacuated and you’re away for five years how old are you when you go back home? If you go back home. And are you the same child? No. Where did you come? I was raised, born and bred London and I’m raised in South Wales. The differences between, the difference between chalk and cheese and anything else you can think of because and that’s what changes. That’s what changes the person. I’m not going to sit here and speak into a microphone and say that yeah, all evacuees were good. That’s rubbish. That would be telling a downright lie but we get, we get plastered with the same old story. We were all dirty. We were all lice ridden. We didn’t have manners. We didn’t know how to use a toilet. We didn’t know how to use a knife and fork. We ate out of, our favourite dish was a hunk of bread on the curb side with a glass of beer. Come on. They’re in books. I’m not talking rubbish. It’s in books. People still write books about evacuees. All I would I say people for God’s sake get it right and the only way you’ll ever get it right is you talk to people who lived it because if you haven’t lived it you don’t know what you’re talking about. You can be a social worker. There were a lot of social workers. There were many of them. Billeting officers. But a lot of kids slipped through the net. Literally slipped through the net. I’ve got stories I could tell you that would make your hair curl but I’m not going to relate them because their confidential. They were relayed to me when I was doing research from ex-evacuees. And I’m the sort of person, fine, I lived it. I came out the other end. And that’s what I say to other evacuees, ‘You lived it. You went through it. You come out the other end. Nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing.’ There are evacuees that still suffer today a great deal. But me I look back on evacuation and say, ‘Well, it’s one hell of an experience.’ But would I do it again? I was asked that question once at a lady’s meeting I was at. At the end of it, I was invited to give a talk on evacuation and one lady stood up and said, would I do it again and I said without hesitation, pardon the French [laughs] ‘Not bloody likely. I’d send, I’d send the politicians. Let them have a go.’ End of story.
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 Jim Wright. Two
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Sue Walters
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
2017-11-27
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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00:50:26 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
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Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AWrightJR171128
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
Description
An account of the resource
John Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the War along with his Mother and two Brothers. Johns’ Father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over Switzerland on their fourth operation. John completed 22 years in the Royal Air Force and always had an interest into what had happened to his father. His wife Maureen wrote to the Air Ministry requesting information which started a forty five year research. John located his Father and crew who are interred in St Martins, Lille, Switzerland. In total there are forty eight Bomber Command Aircrew buried in the cemetery. John, through his research has worked with six Squadron Associations and helped to fill in slots of their history. Thanks to John a parade is held at Lille every Remembrance Sunday attended by Swiss, French, Australian and other dignitaries.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Switzerland
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-06-14
1941
1942
1943
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
207 Squadron
467 Squadron
aircrew
bomb aimer
childhood in wartime
evacuation
final resting place
observer
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2253/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-080003.jpg
0cfbf4ce791216282b261dc125872ca5
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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
Telegram No. 787 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram No. 787 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London (A. 3080), concerning the violation of Swiss airspace on 13/14 July 1943, between 12.04am – 01.00am. Over 100 British aircraft flew over southern Switzerland, covering the area between Porrentruy, Le Brassus, Lake Leman and Chiasso. One aircraft came down at Le Bouveret, one near Sion. Bombs and incendiaries were dropped, and damage caused at Hauts-Geneveys, Gubelfeld, Flamatt, and Praratoud. Includes instructions for strongly worded protest and requirement for reparation for damages caused to be sent to the British Government.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-13
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One telegram
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text. Correspondence
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser#-DoB]-150527-08
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.
Switzerland
Europe--Lake Geneva
Switzerland--Bouveret
Switzerland--Chiasso
Switzerland--Porrentruy
Switzerland--Sion
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
bombing
crash
incendiary device
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/9045/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-080002.jpg
7434680a3642a388bdde4338185081fa
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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
Telegram No. 869 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram No. 869 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London (A. 3465), concerning the violation of Swiss airspace on 12/13 August 1943, between 11.30pm – 12.00pm by over 50 British aircraft en route to Milan. Regions affected were Chancy, Brassus, Prangins, Valais between Dents du Midi, Tour Salliere, Monte Leone, Mont Rose. A second wave was seen over Tessin, Bosco, Maggia and Mont Bre, return flight path was in line from Lausanne, Vallorbe, Geneva. Weather clear and visibility good. Complaint to be sent to the British Government, stressing that the Royal Air Force seems to conveniently forget the promises reiterated by the British Government and insist again that any similar violations of our air space be avoided.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One telegram
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
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
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-080002
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-08-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Switzerland
Italy--Po River Valley
Europe--Monte Rosa
Italy--Milan
Switzerland--Bosco Gurin
Switzerland--Geneva
Switzerland--Lausanne
Switzerland--Maggia
Switzerland--Prangins
Switzerland--Vallorbe
Italy
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-12
1943-08-13
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.
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/9046/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-080001.jpg
456682629ac1cc85cb28843b259ccab8
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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
Telegram No. 809 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London
Description
An account of the resource
Telegram No. 809 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London (E. 6563), concerning the violation of Swiss airspace on 15th August 1943 (with additional references to the 12/13 July 1943 incident) when Royal Air Force bombers en route to Turin make an outward passage over Lake Annecy a returned 60 Km south of it. Complaint to be made, in person to Richard Law – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in London about repeated violations of Swiss neutrality. Vehemently asks that existing measures be strengthened and imposed robustly, stating that Law has promised investigation into events of the night of 12/13 July 1943 but declines to make any further commitment. Notes how the response note claimed that bad weather, cloud and storms upset the equipment, which in turn affected the compasses and it seems probable that the two aircraft which fell over Switzerland had lost their bearings and were in trouble. The relevant authorities have no proof that other planes passed over Switzerland but it is possible, in the circumstances, that there were navigation errors. In addition, our blackout would perhaps have led to some unintended violation of our neutrality by other means. It would, therefore, appear probable that the various bombs which fell that night over our territory come from the remains of British aircraft and that the British Government, since it regrets the incidents and the damage caused, is prepared to pay indemnity for all damages of that night where it can be proved that British planes were at fault.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-080001
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Switzerland
France
France--Lake of Annecy
Italy--Turin
Italy--Po River Valley
Italy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-08-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One telegram
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-15
1943-07-13
1943-07-12
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.
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2155/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-16.jpg
9770b23c91888f805a9958dd5f99c7ee
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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
Violation of Swiss airspace
Description
An account of the resource
A map of Switzerland with plots of bombers violating Swiss airspace. The estimate is 100 aircraft overflew between 00:04 and 01:08 on 12/13 July 1943.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland. Armée
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-13
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One map with handwritten details
Language
A language of the resource
deu
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Map
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser#-DoB]-150527-16
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.
Switzerland
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.
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2252/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-070001.jpg
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46b3f910e42cc3089aea991ecdf70dd8
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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
Aerial violation of Swiss airspace
Description
An account of the resource
Report form the Commander, District 1, Land Division regarding violations of Swiss airspace on night of 12/13 July 1943 when all areas covered by the Territorial Inspectorate of District 1 received alerts which began at 00.06 and continued until 02.09. Large numbers of aircraft were seen overflying this whole area, sometimes at a lower altitude than seen in previous sorties.
The report consists of five sections:
1. Details of bombs which fell in and around Praratoud and action taken.
M. Gauthier, Chief of Police of the Fribourg Canton, had received reports of bombs falling on Praratoud, Oudisfeld and Ueberstorf. He went to Praratoud immediately and confirmed that the above reports were true – 5 bombs had fallen but not exploded. With the help of the local constabulary, he took steps to establish order and ensure the evacuation of one farm especially at risk. The Federal Military Police requested that M. Gauthier, remain in Praratoud to investigate the possible destruction of the bombs or their removal. A Military Service Order was put in place and would remain until the bombs were removed or destroyed. In the locality of Oudisfeld only one bomb fell and exploded: however, it was claimed that there was serious damage to crops and to the rooves of apartment blocks over a radius of 400 – 800 m.
2. Details of bomb which fell on Le Bouveret and action taken.
Information, coming into District 1 from different directions, suggested that a bomb fell in the vicinity of Le Bouveret. A detachment of Fusiliers from the Border Force was immediately sent out to investigate. It was thus established that a 4-engined aircraft had come down in this area. 5 bodies were found and searches continued. Major Corboz of District 10 got in touch with M. Gauthier shortly before 08.00 and requested instructions concerning the collection of the bodies. From 08.00 onwards detachments from District 10 and Border Force Fusiliers continued with the formalities.
3. Details of bomb which fell near Sion. Difficulties encountered and action taken.
Details had come in from various directions regarding the fall of an aircraft in the vicinity of Sion but problems were encountered when trying to contact and obtain reliable information from the relevant authorities during the hours of darkness. In spite of these difficulties, the reports received were eventually thought to be correct and the Inspector of District 1 was able to send the order to District 10 to ask the neighbouring constabularies to proceed with the necessary enquiries. An aircraft was finally located at the end of the road leading to Viryon.
4. Details regarding incendiary bombs.
During the morning, various places were located where the incendiary bombs had fallen, – mainly in the area above Lausanne in the region of Savigny, Normiers and their environs. Steps were taken in each case to proceed with the destruction of the unexploded incendiary bombs. These bombs do not appear to have caused widespread damage.
5. Other bodies contacted and informed regarding the above events.
Various other imprecise observations were confirmed as correct in the early part of the morning by Districts 2 and 11 and the Inspectorate of District 1 was immediately informed. As soon as the facts were sufficiently clarified, each piece of information regarding the 2 afore-mentioned aircraft was also communicated to the Army High Command, Land Division; the Intelligence Service; the Anti-Aircraft Division and the Press Office of District 1. He also requested that all authorities under the control of District 1 participate in the destruction of the incendiary bombs – or, for any other incident, to send in a detailed report.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-14
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two typewritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser#-DoB]-150527-07
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.
Switzerland
Switzerland--Bouveret
Switzerland--Fribourg
Switzerland--Lausanne
Switzerland--Savigny
Switzerland--Sion
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland. Armée
bombing
crash
incendiary device
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2255/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-100001.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2255/MWrightJ[Ser -DoB]-150527-100002.jpg
10b9b62b9d9af956cee3b067e08b432c
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
Wright, Jim
J R Wright
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
2015-05-21
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
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
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 Armee Suisse to Department politique federal
Description
An account of the resource
The letter refers to a map found in the remains of the aircraft at Bouveret. The map indicates a route via Annecy and a second to the west of Lyon.
Included is the map with the routes marked on.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-24
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two photocopies
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Map. Navigation chart and navigation log
Map
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWrightJ[Ser#-DoB]-150527-10
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.
France
Italy
Switzerland
Switzerland--Bouveret
France--Annecy
France--Lyon
Italy--Turin
Italy--Genoa
Italy--Milan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Switzerland. Armée
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/501/22545/MCurnockRM1815605-171114-013.1.pdf
02ecffc5d25beadfdc92ed9105027c18
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
Curnock, Richard
Richard Murdock Curnock
R M Curnock
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Curnock, RM
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-18
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.
Description
An account of the resource
92 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Richard Curnock (1924, 1915605 Royal Air Force), his log book, letters, photographs and prisoner of war magazines. He flew operations with 425 Squadron before being shot down and becoming a prisoner of war.
The collection has been licenced to the IBCC Digital Archive by Richard Curnock and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION
NEWS SHEET
[Drawing]
President
MRS J. O . ASSELIN, M.B.E.
Vice-President
E. A. MACNUTT, C.B.E.
Hon. Secretary
MRS. E. I. BAROTT
Hon Treasurer
MAJOR F. S. MOLSON
Honorary President
MRS. VINCENT MASSEY
Honorary Vice-Presidents
Wing Officer W. WALKER, M.B.E.
HON CHARLES G. POWER
R. A. LAIDLAW
Editor – HAZEL WANKLYN
News Sheets No. 42 150A Sun Life Building, Montreal, P. Q. May 1945
VICTORY IN EUROPE
In September 1939, Europe was plunged into a war of unprecedented destruction and brutality. A war fought not between armed forces alone but bringing devastation and death to civilians and unprotected cities.
To combat an enemy such as Germany, prepared for war in every phase both material and mental, the Allied Nations were forced to reconstruct in the shortest possible time their production programmes, their economic system and the entire point of view of their peace-loving populations. During this period of change-over, many European countries were over-run and dominated by the enemy. Then, the Allied war machine started moving relentlessly, resolutely and undefeatable it assaulted the fortressed European shores; France, Belgium, the Netherlands were freed and our victorious armies moved forward into Germany. Today their task is done, in the midst of ruined cities that once were proud European capitals, Germany lies, defeated – utterly and irrevocably.
What does Victory in Europe mean to the world? It means the end of the first phase of World War II, the liberation of hundreds of thousand [sic] of Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees; it means the end of fear and anxiety for the families of these prisoners; it also means the tragic realization that thousands of Canada’s finest young men will never come home. It means a moment of jubilant rejoicing before the full Allied recourses are brought into force in the Pacific area to crush the Japanese with the same unconditional thoroughness. Mr. Churchill has told us that “this is only time for a momentary pause” which is an apt reminder of the task still ahead of us, for no Victory can be complete until our men in the Far East are restored to their homes and World Peace is no longer a dream but a reality.
[Page break]
2 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
EDITORIAL NOTES
All Correspondence to the Association should be addressed to the Secretary, Mrs E. I. Barott, C.P.O.W.R.A., 150-A Sun Life Building, Montreal. Relatives are invited to submit their problems and difficulties which will receive prompt and sympathetic attention.
[Underlined] IN MEMORIAM [/underlined]
With the death of President Roosevelt which came as a tragic shock to the world, the United States has lost a great leader, the Allied Nations a great champion of the cause for which they are fighting, and Canada a well-loved friend.
To the family of the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt and to the American people, we offer our deep and sincere sympathy.
R.C.A.F. TO WELCOME LIBERATED P.O.W. AIRMEN IN ENGLAND
According to a Reuters despatch, when the 2,500 Canadian airmen who have been prisoners of war in Germany are released, they will find a warm welcome waiting for them in England, organized by the R.C.A.F., a forerunner of the one they will receive in Canada.
They will be provided with a double ration of food while convalescing in Great Britain as well as new clothing.
Entertainment will not be lacking at the south coastal town of Bournemouth, the headquarters of the “Welcome Project”.
Liberated prisoners will recover their personal belongings at a reception and distribution centre, and finally they will be given two weeks furlough with free rail transportation to anywhere in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
CANADIAN PRISONERS FREED
All Canada rejoices at the news of the liberation of Canadian prisoners of war in Germany. The number of freed prisoners increases daily until now almost all camps have been heard from either through individual prisoners escaping or the entire camp being liberated.
The total number of Canadian prisoners freed by May 1st was over a thousand but this number is growing so rapidly that it is reasonable to hope that before long all allied prisoners of war in Germany will be free men.
The Department of National Defence has announced that all available information is wired to next of kin within a matter of hours after it is received at Defence Headquarters but that since all information is carefully checked before being relayed to relatives there is in some cases an unavoidable delay and the prisoner himself is able to communicate with his family before the Government has sent an official notification.
There are still many Canadian prisoners who have not been heard from and to their families we would point out that as the number of freed prisoners increases the transmission of news becomes slower.
PRISONERS OF WAR AT DUNKIRK RECEIVE SUPPLIES
On the 26th of March, during the fighting around Dunkirk, a truce was arranged, with a delegate of the International Red Cross as intermediary, so that supplies of food, medicine and clothing could be sent to 105 civilian allied prisoners of war in that city.
Canadians numbering 48 were amongst the prisoners; parcels were distributed to all allied prisoners without discrimination and sufficient supplied were sent in to last until the end of May.
[Page break]
May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 3
ASSEMBLY CENTERS [inserted] I was there [underlined] Eugene [/underlined] [/inserted]
Many prisoners evacuated from camps in eastern Germany have already reached Stalag VII A. This camp and Stalag [underlined] XIII D, near Nurnburg, [/underlined] appear to be two of the main points of assembly for prisoners of war evacuated along the central route. The prisoners moved along the central route were from camps in the Leipzig-Berlin-Dresden areas. Stalag VII A is accordingly being used as an assembly center for Red Cross supplies going in by train and truck convoys from Switzerland, whence it is planned to transport them by truck to camps and hospitals throughout central Germany. Each American truck carries approximately 6 tons of food packages, medical supplies, soap, and shoe repairing materials.
All shipments of prisoners of war relief supplies into Germany in the past (except those warehoused in Lubeck) have been specifically earmarked for particular camps, as well as for prisoners by nationality. Under the conditions now prevailing, however, this method of operation is no longer possible. In camps and on the roads, Allied prisoners are now all mixed up, and the impelling need is to get food and medical supplies to them as promptly and in as large amounts as possible, without regard to nationality. All Allied governments and Red Cross societies, as well as the Swiss and Swedish authorities, are cooperating wholeheartedly in meeting the emergency.
GERMAN RECORDS SEIZED
On April 19th it was announced through the Associated Press that the American Third Army had captured the complete records of all Allied prisoners taken by the Germans since the outbreak of the War.
The records contain the latest whereabouts of Allied war prisoners, their dates of capture and other data. Prisoners who have died in camp are listed as are those wounded when taken.
At the time of going to press, the list was still in Europe and had not yet been made public.
STALAG LUFT I
“THE EASIEST CAMP IN GERMANY”
According to a prisoner of war recently repatriated from Stalag Luft I, this was the easiest camp in Germany. Thanks to the Red Cross, all the prisoners at Luft I were adequately clothed, having winter underclothes, shirts, uniform and an overcoat. The food situation was also good, again thanks to the Red Cross.
Living quarters were cramped but even so conditions were better than in most camps. Clean sheets and pillow cases were issued about every three or four weeks.
The Library, containing both fictional and technical books, was constantly being augmented from personal book parcels which, owing to the ease of censorship, got through fairly regularly.
The biggest grouse in the camp was over the length of time mail took to get through. The average being 8 to 12 weeks, with 12 to 16 weeks not uncommon. Personal parcels and cigarettes also took a long time, but quite a large proportion did finally arrive.
PROPOGANDA BROADCASTS
The closing of camps in eastern Germany and Poland since the middle of January has revealed that broadcasts from Berlin of messages from American prisoners of war are, in many cases at least, collected several weeks before broadcasting. Many messages from American prisoners of war in Oflag 64 were broadcast from Berlin late in February, although the man from that camp were moved on January 21. None of these messages gave any indication that the camp might soon be closed.
Any next of kin receiving a broadcast message, therefore, should assume that us was written by the prisoner at least a month or six weeks before being put on the air. It is also well to keep in mind that these messages are broadcast for propaganda purposes.
[Page break]
4 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
[Photograph of a Memorial to airmen]
MEMORIAL AT STALAG LUFT III
By
F/Lt. John R. Mason
Since my return to Canada from Stalag Luft III last February, I have learned of the many articles written about the “big break” in that camp little more than a year ago. Those who wrote the articles seem to have had first hand information, they may have been participants, probably bystanders. What information I could glean came from those who had planned and worked; even then I could get it only with much reticence on their part.
Having been part of this gallant gesture, these same boys were not content to forget their comrades but carried their names to posterity in a very edifying memorial. In the accompanying photograph you will realize the amount of work and skill that entered into this cairn. The tablets standing on top of the cairn bear the names of each of those heroes of Sagan. I was unfortunate enough not to know the story from the beginning, but fortunate enough to see the cairn built, the stones carved and to learn of the finish of the monument followed later by a very impressive memorial service.
Every man in camp wanted to be present but only a few were privileged to attend the service. Seven officers from Belaria, seven from the East compound, and sixteen from the North compound, including the Senior British officers, the Senior Canadian officer, two Padres and a bugler were there. The cemetery is about 1 1/2 miles from the camp and the parade marched there after assembling from the various compounds. The procession moved into the cemetery, around the circular path and paused before the memorial, where after a service by both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Padres, and the playing of the last post, the three Group Captains placed wreaths. A rather nice gesture was that by a member of the Swiss Legation who also placed a very large wreath on the Cairn.
Up to this time the entire camp had been in mourning and each man carried a black silk diamond on his sleeve. After the ceremony these were removed. This was December 4th, 1944.
[Page break]
May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 5
NEWS FROM ENGLAND
We are indebted to the Scottish Branch B.R.C.S. and the B.P.O.W.R.A. for the following information.
P.O.W.’s WELCOME R.A.F. RAIDS “SWEET MUSIC”
A picture of how our prisoners of war react to Allied bombing of Germany is given by a repatriated New Zealand pilot, Flight-Leut. Wally Mulligan, in an interview in the New Zealand Free Lance.
“The boys get a terrific kick out of it,” was this young airman’s description of hearing our bombers roaring past Stalag Luft III, where he was imprisoned. “Actually the first daylight bombers we saw were Americans. And how the chaps cheered as they swept by to attack a nearby Focke-Wulf factory! They did a beautiful job on it too.”
“Stalag Luft III is in an area approximately a hundred miles from the German capital”, continues the Free Lance interview, “and Wally Mulligan told me that in the big night-bombing raids by planes of the R.A.F. Bomber Command the prison huts would shake and tremble, and mirrors dance, from the vibrations set up as Berlin crumbled under the terrific hammering it received. “And you can guess how the boys just loved that.” grinned Mulligan. “It certainly was sweet music to our ears.”
Speaking of the road to Berlin, which he saw on his way home, he described scenes of desolation. “There’s not much of the city left to reach. For miles and miles we saw nothing but complete devastation, just piled heaps of rubble, and we didn’t go through the worst parts. You could practically call it a ghost city.”
MORE PENICILLIN FOR P.O.W.’s
Further supplies of penicillin and blood transfusion apparatus are now being sent by the Red Cross and St. John to prisoner of war camps in Germany (states Prisoner of War News). The Penicillin packs and blood transfusion sets, including plasma, are supplied by the Medical Department of the War Office, and are forwarded by the Invalid Comforts Section of the Red Cross and St. John Prisoners of War Department. As far as practicable, the supplies are sent to those hospitals which are believed to contain newly-captured men, who would be likely to receive the greatest benefit from this form of surgical treatment.
SUPPLIES SENT TO RUSSIA FOR LIBERATED P.O.W.
It was announced in the House of Commons in London that, some time ago, preparing for the eventuality of British prisoners of war being liberated by the Soviet armies, the British Red Cross War Organization sent supplies to Russia. Upon their arrival in Russia from German camps, British liberated men were consequently provided with clothing, medical supplies, cigarettes etc., from home. Similar supplies were also sent to Odessa, where a party of Red Cross Welfare Workers went to meet the freed prisoners.
“WELCOME HOME” FUND TARGET DOUBLED
To have raised £1,300 in one day is the achievement of Richmond (Surrey) P.O.W.R.A., which held a bazaar recently as part of a three months’ drive to raise funds out of which each returning prisoner of war could be given a money gift with which to celebrate his release.
The target was £1,000, but this was more than doubled by the end of the period, £2,240 being raised by a variety of schemes organised by members.
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AMERICAN RED CROSS NEWS
We are indebted to the American Red Cross Prisoners of War Bulletin for the following information.
LATEST INFORMATION ON CAMP MOVEMENTS
(By cable from Geneva)
Red Cross trucks operating out of Lubeck in the north and Moosburg in the south succeeded, during March, in getting substantial quantities of food packages to the prisoners of war evacuated from camps in the east who were still hiking across Germany. These marching columns were scattered over very wide area, in the middle of March for example, an advance group from Stalag 344 was 30 miles east of Carlsbad while the rear of the column was in the vicinity of Bohmisch Leipa – the distance between these two points being nearly 60 miles. Likewise, the Stalag VIII B column was spread from Schlan, near Melnik, to the Koniggratz region – a distance om [sic] about 75 miles. British prisoners constituted a large part of the southern columns, but they also contained Americans.
Similar situations existed in northern Germany, where about 100,000 American and Allied prisoners evacuated from camps in the second military district (particularly, in the case of Americans from Stalags II B and II D and Stalag Luft IV) were walking across Germany to camps in the tenth military district. It was reported at the end of February that these men “were grouped in the vicinity of the Stettiner Haff, whence they will be conducted to Aflag X D (at Fischbeck), Oflag X C (at Lubuck), and Stalag X B (at Bremervorde).”
The Red Cross trucks delivering supplies to the marching columns had to search for men not only on main highways but on secondary roads. The trucks operated under German escort, and, considering the chaotic transportation conditions which must now exist inside Germany, the authorities there have manifested a cooperative spirit in getting food, medicines, and other relief supplies to the men. It is an entirely new development in warfare to have Red Cross trucks, supplied and serviced by one belligerent, operating far and wide in the territory of an enemy belligerent.
Airmen from the Dulag Luft transit camp area are now being assigned to “the new Stalag Luft at Nurnburg-Langwasser,” according to a cable received in the middle of March. This new Luft Stalag has not yet been designated by number.
Stalag Luft III at Sagan was evacuated on January 27. The men were given Red Cross food packages and were furnished some additional food by the Germans en route. The men were marched for three days, on secondary roads, to Spremberg – a distance of about 40 miles. They slept in barns along the roads. At Spremberg, the prisoners from the south and center compounds were divided into groups of 2,000 and sent by train on February 1 to Mossburg (Stalag VII A), except for a few who were sent to Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde. Americans from the west compound were dispatched by train from Spremberg to Nunrnburg, [sic] and thence to Stalag XIII D, about eight miles from the city, which is probably “the new Stalag Luft” previously referred to. All letter mail from the airmen, however, should continue to be addressed to Stalag Luft III until new directions are given.
A cable from Geneva on March 10 stated, “Oflag 64 proceeding by rail towards Hammelburg.” An earlier message had reported that about 500 (ground force) officers from Oflag 64, “travelling by rail, were near Parchim (southeast of Wismar on a line between Wismar and Berlin), awaiting transport for Hammelburg.” Oflag XIII B and Stalag XIII C are the only prisoner of war camps known to be in the vicinity of Hammelburg. Several hundred American officers formerly at Oflag 64 were liberated by the advancing Russian armies and ave [sic] returned to the United States.
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FAR EAST NEWS
CAMP STANLEY
According to an address given by Mr. D.G.E. Middleburg, Netherlands Consul-General, who was present at the fall of Hong Kong, the policy of interment of civilians as practiced by the Japanese in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya and the Netherlands Indies is something quite new. They have interned all white nationals of countries that have declared war on Japan. Chinese, Indians, Javanese, even Eurasians though nationals of belligerent countries were left alone. This must of course be seen as a logical consequence of the anti-foreigners, that is anti-white movement of Japan in their so-called “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”. “Asia for the Asiatics” is the slogan that takes for them the place of our “Fight for Democracy”.
Neutrals such as Swiss, Danes and Russians, however, have not been interned. The food situation for the noninterned residents soon became so bad, that many neutral nationals and Eurasians applied for admission to the Civilian Internment Camp, which applications, I believe, were all refused.
The Allied Europeans were rounded up and billeted in Chinese boarding houses, awaiting removal to the proper internment camp at Stanley. Stanley is a peninsula, a sort of appendix of Hong Kong Island. On it are situated Fort Stanley with the long range coastal artillery, an English protestant boarding school, an excellent modern prison and warders quarters. The military barracks and the prison building were not used, but the 3,000 internees were divided over the schools and warders quarters.
The location of the camp is not bad. It has plenty of sun, air and room between the buildings. The buildings themselves, however, are terribly overcrowded. People are practically packed together with hardly enough room to stretch out at night. Furniture is practically non-existant. [sic]
Fortunately there is water, electricity and a good sewage system. The buildings are new and well built but built for maybe one fifth of the number of their present occupants.
The food situation is definitely bad. As you know, an active adult person required 3,000 calories a day. The food supplied to the civilian internees has according to the Japanese a calorific value of 2,000. European doctors amongst the internees, however, maintain that not more than 1,500 calories are supplied. The food is moreover often of bad quality and it lacks variety and vitamins. It is very hard to convince the Japanese on this point, as they feed very badly themselves.
HONG KONG CIVILIAN CAMPS
On December 22nd the Civilian Internment Camps at Hong Kong were visited by Mr. Zindel, International Red Cross Delegate. Mr. Zindel reports that the general conditions at Shamshuipo Camp were much the same as his preceeding visit on August 10th, 1944. Of the many hundred men interned in this camp, 300 were hospitalized in the eight barracks which serve as a hospital. An adequate medical staff was in attendance, including 8 British doctors. Internees had previously been breeding pigs and poultry, but this has had to be curtailed due to the lack of food with which to feed the animals.
Camp “N” where prisoners from Argyle Street Camp were transferred to in May 1944, has been improved by the building of additional barracks, the vegetable garden was enlarged but here also the breeding of poultry was curtailed.
The Military Hospital at Bowen Road contained 150 patients at the time of the Delegate’s visit: the medical staff consisted of about 60 doctors and nurses. Patients were not serious cases, most of them suffering from weakness. In general the Delegate reports that the state of health in these three camps is improved although the lack of vitamins and of food containing proteins and fats is still felt.
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8 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
INTERNMENT CAMP LIEBENAU
by
SONIA ROSKES
The following article was written for the News Sheet by a young Polish woman who recently arrived in Canada and who, with her father, mother and sister, is starting a new life in a new country. During her two years of internment at Camp Liebenau, Miss Roskes learnt to speak English from the British women who were her comrades in captivity.
I was only half awake when after four day’s journey our group, consisting of 30 women and children, arrived at the little station of Meckenbeuren about 11 miles from the Lake of Constance and only 2 miles from our final destination. It was a cold but sunny morning of New Year’s Day 1943. In my complete exhaustion following the three dreary weeks I had spent in the worst German jail of Gracow, and in a peculiar state of mental apathy which usually accompanies the feeling of being cold and hungry. I had no eyes for the beauty of my new surroundings – the snow-covered pinewoods and meadows at our feet, the majestic Swiss Alps in the background.
Suddenly my consciousness was roused by a man’s rough voice – it appeared to belong to one of our escorting guards – explaining to some of my companions that in our new place we would feel more at home as it was an internment camp for British and American Women. “Your own people will take care of you.” He concluded with a sarcastic smile, “and I hope you will like the change.”
“Your own people…” These words stirred something in our hearts some secret wish which had lain there concealed and supressed throughout the misery of the past three years. Was it possible that the camp we were going to was not just another of the concentration camps where innocent people were being killed daily by the thousands, but a place offering a chance of survival? Was it really true that in a couple of hours we would meet American and British women?
After a short while we were loaded on to a large horse-cart, including our meagre hand-luggage (all we were allowed to have according to the German order on the day of our internment) and driven in the direction of Liebenau. It was noon and the snow was dazzling white under the bright sun, when we arrived in the village in the middle of which was a block of two-storied buildings and a double-towered church which was separated from three neighbouring cottages by a high stone fence. An iron gate was flung open by an elderly German policeman, and our wagon rolled past a small guards-house to come to a standstill in front of one of the three buildings.
In a second we found ourselves surrounded by a large group of women of all ages, whose eyes smiled at us in a warm welcome and whose numberless questions, asked in about ten different languages, we in vain tried to answer. All we gathered from the chaotic conversation was that we had nothing to be afraid of any more, that as subjects of enemy countries we fell under Geneva Conventions which secured protection for prisoners of war and civilian internees on German territory, and that, though life was pretty tough and miserable in camp at times (which we would find out for ourselves very soon), the worst part of our internment was over. The appearance of the women who were gathered around our cart confirmed their reassuring words: there was nothing about them to remind us of the haunted looks of all those many thousands of underfed and persecuted beings we had known so well in Poland; their clothes, consisting in most cases of slacks and thick woollen pullovers, were in fairly good condition and except for a trace of bitterness in their voices when ever they spoke about “being locked up in a cage” they did not sound too depressed.
It was only in the evening when, after my first bath and supper I lay down in the first clean bed I had known for many a month, that I became aware of the change in my life. “However hard it may be to live for months and perhaps years under a lock,” I said to myself, “however gloomy and monotonous it may become to be herded with different people under the same roof, I shall
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 9
try to make the best of it: the main thing is that my mother, sister and myself are alive and that we shall not know the fear of a German bullet, the fear which became a part of our inner selves in Poland, any more.”
It took me about a month to become acquainted with the daily routine of camp life, to learn something about my fellow internees and to come into closer contact with some girls of my own age. I another few weeks’ time it seemed to me that I had been there for many years – so familiar appeared every face, every voice, every room.
Liebenau became an internment camp for women, holders of British and American passports who happened to live in various European countries before the outbreak of the war. Originally an asylum for mentally deficient German children and grown-ups, with an adjacent convent of German nuns in charge of the sick, it contained at the time of my internment over 600 interned women and children – a number of which by far exceeded the usual capacity of the place. The mentally deficient Germans (or “lunies” in the slang of the internees) still occupied a few wings of the camp buildings. Employed by the German nuns at field and garden work, they were a common sight within the camp boundaries; their disfigured bodies and faces did not make the prison atmosphere any brighter.
In the three years previous to my arrival, the camp had been gradually developed into a fairly well organised community. In order to keep the necessary discipline and to carry on all the official negotiations, a camp captain had been elected. That 60 year old Englishwoman, who enjoyed the greatest respect and confidence of all the internees, performed her duties with iron energy and never-failing efficiency. Mrs Violet Froom, camp captain, was always ready to solve difficult problems, to give advice and to step in whenever intervention was necessary. Assisted by six floor captains, each chosen by the members of her floor, she ran the administration, registered newcomers, reported them to the Swiss Legation – the Protective Power over all the Allied prison camps in Germany – and arranged the distribution of Red Cross food and clothing parcels. It was due to her great character, broad-minded attitude towards all the problems of the world and to her sincerely democratic ideas that a couple of hundred women, all coming from different countries, speaking different languages and having different habits of their own, could lead a relatively peaceful community life under extraordinary circumstances.
The floor-captains’ main duty was to keep order on their floors. As internees were supposed to perform all the domestic task within the camp, they compiled special working lists, all the instructions of which had to be followed strictly. The harder jobs, such as cleaning corridors, carrying food from the German kitchen, and being air raid wardens in case of raids, were done by young and strong girls; others had to keep diningrooms and bathroom tidy, to wash up dishes and attend to the boilers – our only source of tea water. Some of the most reliable and the professionally trained internees were given more responsible work; they became the organizers of schools and educational courses, shows and other small entertainments, discussion circles, and groups of literature lovers.
The head of the camp’s Educational Committee was another English-woman, Mrs Vidakovic, formerly a professor of English at the University of Belgrade, Yougoslavia. [sic] With the help of a large group of voluntary teachers and librarians, untired in her efforts to give every internee the possibility of studies and warmly interested in each individual case, she was the soul of the spiritual life within the camp – the inspiration of various courses in English and other languages, the supervisor of the library and the adviser in all matters concerning general education.
The more official part of the administration was carried out by the Germans. The six German guards gave us our mail, next-of-kin parcels and German newspapers (the only source of our political information): every evening they made roll-calls in all the rooms occupied by the internees who were not allowed out of doors after 6 p.m. They escorted the daily afternoon walks in the surroundings. An old German paymaster who had his office in one of the camp buildings dealt with
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money questions, received various petitions and inflicted all kinds of punishment on those who broke “the law”. A staff of German nuns supervised the food.
It is when speaking about the food provided by the German [sic] that I am approaching the subject of the most important factor in our camp life. Though our living accommodations and sanitary conditions were a great deal better than those in other prisoner-of-war and civilian internment camps in Germany, the food received from the Germans would not have been sufficient to prevent us from starvation. Breakfast consisted of a slice of sticky and often mouldy bread, jam and an absolutely undrinkable coffee substitute; lunch of thin soup and some vegetables floating in a dark gravy; supper of a few potatoes, the same sticky bread and an identical “coffee”.
This is where the Red Cross comes in. Big consignments of Red Cross parcels, British and American, would arrive in the camp at frequent intervals, where they would be unloaded and unpacked with enthusiasm by the internees. Their regular weekly distribution by the camp captain secured our food situation and shut off the danger of hunger. Besides food parcels the Red Cross provided us with various clothing articles. Many an English or American woman who had been dragged out of her house by the Germans at a moment’s notice without being allowed to take the most essential items, was, after some time, dressed from top to toe in clothes sent by the Red Cross. The foundation and constant increase of our liberty was rendered possible by Red Cross book supplies. The chool [sic] for the 60 interned children could function systematically and successfully thanks to the Red Cross delivery of text-books and stationery, games and toys for the Kindergarten and various instruction leaflets for the teachers of the camp. Shows and other performances could be put up from time to time in our more than primitive theatre hall because the Red Cross always responded to our artists’ requests for theatrical costumes, paints for the scenery, and musical instruments. Many women who, not having anything particular to do, would have broken down as a result of boredom and lack of occupation, were kept busy knitting and doing all kinds of other handwork, owing to the Red Cross delivery of knitting wool , cotton and embroidery silk. Health service in the camp, naturally handicapped by shortage of trained nurses and the utter ignorance of an old German doctor, would have been ever more inadequate had it not been for the regular supply of Red Cross invalid comfort parcels and all the medicines required.
The two years which elapsed between my arrival in Liebenau and my final release from the camp were marked in the history of the place as abounding in happenings and extraordinary events. In fall 1943, when the monotony of camp life was becoming unbearable and when phrases like “I am fed up,” “I am bored stiff,” and “I wish to Goodness something would happen” were inseparable from our daily vocabulary, a great change took place. A department of the German Foreign Office arrived in the camp, where it made its permanent residence.
The cowardly officials who had fled from Berlin where they were exposed to the daily danger of becoming the victims of Allied bombs and who hid shamelessly under the protection of internees who were relatively safe from this fear, took possession of one of the buildings by removing all the internees from it. We were shaking with helpless rage and indignation when, after being crowded in our small rooms more than ever before, we began to suffer from al [sic] the restrictions made by “Berlin across the garden path” as we ironically nicknamed the Foreign Office. The small amount of freedom which had been our greatest treasure up to that point was considerably cut down: two gardens, one behind and the other in front of the camp buildings, were closed to the internees; only three walks weekly were permitted; room arrests, stopping of mail, and even deportations to other camps became a frequent punishment for crimes like picking apples on country roads, waving at the Allied planes flying over Liebenau, attempts to offer a package of cigarettes to Serbian prisoners-of-war working in the village, or not greeting the German guards.
General depression and even feelings of hopelessness reached their climax in 1944 when first exchange transports on a larger scale began to leave the camp.
The first one to take place was an American repatriation transport, in February 144 [sic], including about 80 U.S.A. citizens from our camp. Anxious
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 11
speculations and wild rumours as to who was going to be chosen – the usual symptoms in every internment and P.O.W. camp whenever “something is in the air” – were put an end to by the publication of the official list of names, accompanied by a notice signed by the departmental chief of the Foreign Office to the effect that the names listed had been received from Washington. How great was our indignation when, about half an hour after the publication of the first one, another list of about 20 persons was added! It was then that we realized how great was the power the Germans had over us; for it was the German Foreign Office that had selected the people for exchange, and from which the repatriation of each one of us depended. Complaints addressed to the Swiss Legation in Berlin were censored by the German paymaster; and if he disapproved of their contents, our letters ended in his wastepaper basket.
During the next four repatriate transports which took place successively throughout the same year we had to experience yet another injustice. Whenever a number of repatriates, whether to England or the United Stated, was about to leave the camp, only a very few of our internees were included. The Germans completed the number they were supposed to give in exchange for their own prisoners by taking people from outside the camp, people who had been free all during the time the 600 Liebenau internees were slowing losing their physical and mental strength in the long years of captivity. A few days before the departure of a transport dozens of these “outsiders” would stream in; and by a special order of the Foreign Office they had to be treated like guests, which meant that they were free from all the duties we had to perform and not compelled to obey the regulations we were subject to.
At the close of the year the atmosphere in the camp became gloomier and our spirits lower than ever before. As there was a big American exchange in sight, and the small rooms could not hold any more persons, all the dining rooms where we used to gather for meetings, to study, and to take our meals, were turned into bedrooms for the “guests”: on account of bad railway connections within Germany and the Allied successes threatening the Ruhr district, our usual supply of coal was cut down, so that we were forced to pick wood on our walks in order to have boiling water at least once daily : a few weeks running not one letter reached the camp and even the German newspaper stopped arriving regularly. The schoolroom was half empty in the hours set for adults’ educational courses: the internees, for many of whom it was the fifth Christmas away from their homes, lost all their desire for the continuation of their studies and their power of concentration over books.
It was soon after New Year 1945, that the rumours about a great repatriation transport to the U.S.A. which had been very persistent for some weeks past, were officially confirmed. On January 19th a list of about 115 persons included in the exchange was put op [sic] on the notice board. Three days later, just before the transport was about to leave Liebenau to go via Switzerland to Marseilles and sail from there on the “Gripsholm” an additional list of names was published, my mother’s, sister’s and my own among them.
The happiness which filled my heart at the moment I saw our names on the list was beyond control. All jobs that remained to be done in the last day of my internment, the hectic packing, ceding my duties to some of my remaining friends, taking our luggage down to the canteen to be searched and sealed, I performed without being conscious of what I was doing. My heart was singing with mad joy while I was saying to myself, “It is really, undeniably true; it is true that in a month’s time I shall be in a free country which does not know the Gestapo and the German methods of cruel persecution; it is true that at last the misery of three and a half war years in Poland and the two years of internment are over; it is true that our family has been granted the happiness of survival.”
Over 300 British women have remained in Liebenau. It was when I was saying goodbye to these less fortunate friends of mine at the gate of the camp that I suddenly knew my happiness would never be complete until they were finally released too; it was then that I felt, with an intensity I had never known before, how deeply attached I had become to each one of them and how much their friendship had meant to me in the period of my greatest need for human understanding.
On board the Gripsholm, which we took in Marseilles and where we met American and Canadian wounded soldiers being, like ourselves, on their way home after long years of captivity, I once exchanged my experiences with a Canadian ex-prisoner-of-war. “I don’t agree with those who maintain that happiness makes one forget past sorrows and worries,” he said. “Happy as I am to have left the gloom and hardships of my prison years behind me, I know that for a long while yet I shall not be able to tear the memories of the camp out of my mind and heart. Only when I hear that all my fellow-prisoners, who have still to go through the ordeals of this final war stage in Germany,
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12 THE CANANDIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
have safely reached the shores of Canada, will these memories give way to an undisturbed enjoyment of my new freedom.”
The Gripsholm landed in New York on Jan 21st; on the day following her disembarkment our family arrived in Canada. In the first six weeks which I have spent in this splendid free country, the broadminded, generous-hearted people of which I have already learned to love, I have often recalled the words of that wounded Canadian soldier. All I can add to them is that though Internment Camp Liebenau belongs to the past, I shall always remember the lesson I was taught there that – in order to become a useful member of any community one has to develop an attitude towards one’s fellow creatures based on understanding and goodwill; not on selfishness and prejudice!
P.O.W. AT KOBE
Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions have been taken at the Prisoner of War Hospital at Kobe, in Japan, which was visited by the International Red Cross Delegate on 18th August of this year. The report of the Delegate’s visit has just reached Australia.
The hospital is attached to the Osaka Group of camps on the main island of Japan, Honshu. At the time of the visit there were altogether 101 patients, of whom 15 were Australians and there were three Australians on the Hospital, but not Medical, Staff.
Location is said to be on a quiet, sunny hillside, in seven foreign-style wooden buildings with tiled roofs. Ventilation, drainage, water supply are reported to be adequate.
Bedding consists of straw mats on a wooden floor with five blankets for each patient, and pyjamas, Food consists mainly of rice, barley and vegetables, with very little meat and fish. There are no eggs, milk, fat, cheese, sweets, coffee or canned foods. The kitchen equipment seemed adequate, reported the delegate, but there was no refrigerator or ice-box.
(Australian P.O.W. Magazine)
AID FOR BRITONS IN FRANCE
A new Red Cross and St. John Sub-Commission has been set up in Paris to care for British Civilians, particularly children and the sick and aged, who need help in France. A considerable number of Christmas parcels as well as clothing and blankets have already been issued.
Persons eligible to receive relief include all children under 18 with British fathers and dependents of all men killed or captured while serving with the British forces. Distribution arrangements for the children include a system whereby they can be referred to the out-patients department of the Hertford Hospital, Paris, for future preventative treatment against such diseases as tuberculosis and rickets. This hospital, which will shortly be re-opened by the Red Cross and St. John, will receive supplies for this purpose of cod liver oil and Adexolin from Great Britain. The British Consuls in Lyons, Bordeaux , Nantes and Rouen have been asked to supply lists of all British subjects in their care, especially of children and aged and sick persons, so that appropriate supplies can be sent for distribution. Relief parcels have already been sent to Marseilles and Nice.
Colonel Gielgud, who has a long and intimate knowledge of the country, is at present touring France in the hope of tracking down all British subjects in the country who may be in need of help. Opportunities for extending this relief work for the British in France are also being examined.
A similar organisation to help Canadian citizens has been set up in Paris by the Canadian Red Cross, while civilians from other dominions and Colonies will come within the scope of the British scheme.
PRAISE FOR FPRISONERS [sic] OF WAR WORK
Mr. H. B. Burdekin, who is the examiner in Accountancy subjects at New Zealand University, has written to London saying:
“I am in the middle of my University exam. marking again. Curiously enough the best ones I am getting are coming from members of the armed Forces. Three batches that I had towards the end of last year from prisoner of war camps in Germany were all of high quality, some very good indeed.”
(Kincardineshire Branch B.R.C.S.)
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Question:- Would you please tell me where the reports of Japanese camps come from and how they are relayed?
Answer:- Reports on Japanese camps are written or cabled to Geneva by International Red Cross Delegates in the Far East who have visited the camps. It is well to remember that these reports are sent in writing and are subject to Japanese censorship, whereas reports on camps in Germany are made verbally by the delegate who has personally visited the camps and talked with the prisoners.
Question:- My son is a prisoner of war in Germany and his wife lives in England. If he is liberated, will I be notified?
Answer:- Only the next of kin of prisoners receive official notifications; if your daughter-in-law is registered as your son’s next of kin and has been receiving Government labels for his personal parcels, she will receive all notifications from the Government. We believe however, that by applying to the Director of Records, Ottawa, it is possible for a close relative to obtain such information as is available regarding a prisoner of war.
Question:- Is there an ordinary mail and parcel service established to the Channel Islands?
Answer:- The United Kingdom authorities have been trying for some time, through the International Red Cross, to arrange for Red Cross postal messages to go to the Islands, but the Germans cannot arrange for censorship of incoming mail at a censorship office in the Channel Islands and it is therefore necessary for all the Red Cross postal messages which the United Kingdom authorities hold to be sent to Geneva so that the International Red Cross Committee can arrange with the German Government for censorship there or in Germany. This, of course, makes the process rather slow, and so far no news has been received of any of the Red Cross messages which the United Kingdom authorities started sending to Geneva last year, having been sent on the Red Cross relief ship. These difficulties apply to ordinary mail and parcels, and there appears to be no hope of an ordinary mail and parcel service being established.
Question:- I heard on the radio that the camp where my son has is has been freed. How soon will I hear whether my son is free?
Answer:- It is impossible to give an exact length of time, but in many cases relatives received cables direct from their prisoners in England or France, approximately a week or ten days after the news of the camp liberation. There is no cause for anxiety if this news takes longer to come, since the number of liberated prisoners is reaching large proportions which will of necessity delay the transmission of messages.
Question:- Is the C.P.O.W.R.A. continuing to send cigarettes either in bulk consignments or to individual prisoners in Germany?
Answer:- No. The last regular shipment of cigarettes made by the association was sent in March, since when conditions have made it impossible to continue shipping to P.O.W. Camps. Should the situation change, the sending of cigarettes will be resumed.
REMITTANCES BY POSTAGE STAMPS VIOLATE POSTAL LAWS
Contrary to postal regulations, postage stamps are continually being used as remittance for small amounts. We receive them daily at the Headquarters office of the Association. The postal authorities point out that Post Office Money Orders, Postal Notes and Postal Scrip are provided at all Post Offices for just this purpose and the public is urged to make use of these facilities, the intention of which is to guard against loss.
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PROVINCIAL HEADQUARTERS
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Mrs. R. Thistle
1013 Government St.
Victoria, B.B.
MANITOBA
Mr. W.S. King
Paris Building
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
ONTARIO
Mrs. Gordon Weir,
Bank of N. Scotia Bldg.,
79 Queen St. East,
Toronto, Ont.
QUEBEC
Mrs. H.E. Plant,
718 Sunlife Building,
Montreal, Que.
NEW BRUNSWICK
Mrs. George Filliter,
68 Portledge Ave.
Moncton, N.B.
NEWFOUNDLAND
Mrs. A.C. Holmes, M.B.E.,
Caribou Hut,
St. John’s, Nfld.
NOVA SCOTIA
Mrs. W.A. Black,
30 Ivanhoe Street,
aHlifax [sic], N.S.
SASKATCHEWAN
Mr. C.A. Cunning,
303 McCallum Hill Bldg.
Regina, Sask.
ALBERTA
Mrs. H. Thom,
10222, 118th St.,
Edmonton, Alta.
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
150A Sun Life Bldg.,
Montreal.
MANITOBA BRANCH
The March meeting of the Manitoba Branch was attended by approximately 200 members. The Chairman announced that twenty-two new next of kin had been approached since the last meeting and welcomed any that might be present.
Two repatriated prisoners, F/Lt. Bruce McKenzie and Pte. Bud Moody, spoke to the members and answered questions.
MONCTON BRANCH
At the March meeting of the Moncton Branch, a busy month was announced by the president. A number of new prisoners of war from New Brunswick were reported and their next of kin were written to and sent copies of the News Sheet.
It was decided not to ship medical parcels from this district until such time as the situation became more clear.
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL BRANCH – TORONTO
The following slate of officers of the Ontario Provincial Branch for the coming year was recently elected:
President Mrs. Gordon Weir
Vice-President Mrs. Wallace Floody
Vice-President Mrs. R.E. McLaren
Vice-President and Treasurer Mrs. R.A. Laidlaw
Honorary Vice-President Mrs. W.E. Sprague
PURCHASING COMMITTEE
Mrs. W.E. Floody
Mrs. A. Hayward
MEN’S COMMITTEE
Mr. R.A. Laidlaw
Mr. Kelso Roberts
Mr. Avery
Mr. Norman Copeman
OTTAWA BRANCH
At the April meeting of the Ottawa Branch, it was agreed to send $50.00 to National Headquarters for the General Fund.
Guest Speaker at the meeting was Mr. M. Gratton O’Leary, well known newspaper man, whose son is a prisoner of war in Germany.
Mr. T. Campbell-Rogers was elected Chairman.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 15
SASKATCHEWAN BRANCH
Forty-five members attend the [sic] the March meeting of the Saskatchewan Branch. The Food Committee reported having packed and sent 49 parcels of food for next of kin throughout the Province. The Welfare Committee reported having sent 8 personal parcels, 2 medical parcels, 2 sports parcels and some cigarettes direct to prisoners on behalf of their next of kin. Several parcels were returned, having been destroyed in a fire on board ship last December and the Association is paying the cost of food items in the re-issue parcels.
VICTORIA BRANCH
At the April meeting of the Victoria Branch the sum of $300.00 was voted to be sent to the Association Headquarters to be used at the President’s discretion for the benefit of prisoners of war.
It was reported that since the beginning of the year, blankets, clothing and food parcels to the value of $265.00 had been sent to war prisoners.
Lt. V C. Moore, who was repatriated last September, spoke about life in a German prison hospital.
VANCOUVER BRANCH
Monthly meetings of the Vancouver Branch held in March and April; at the former, Cpl. Earl Buck, recently repatriated from Stalag 2D, spoke on his experiences while, at the latter, Col. Scott, Canadian Red Cross Commissioner, addressed the meeting. Both meetings were well attended.
NEW WESTMINSTER BRANCH
The regular meeting of the New Westminster Branch was held April 9th. 22 members were present. The meeting voted $$200.00 [sic] to be sent to Mrs. JJ. O. Asselin to be used as she thinks best for our boys arriving in Canada, also $500.00 to be sent to W.A. McAdam, Agent General B. C. House, London, to be used for B.C. boys arriving in London from the prisoner of war camps in Germany.
Plans were made for a Tag Day to be held April 28.
[Boxed] LETTERS
In future issues of the News Sheet, only letters from the Far East and recent ones from Germany will be published. With the mass movement of prisoners in Europe, it is felt that letters written from camps which no longer exist will not be of general interest to our readers. We will be glad to publish any letters, however, that contain news of transit or temporary camps which would be helpful and informative to other prisoners’ families. [/boxed]
GERMANY
OFLAG VII B
December 5th, 1944 Rec’d February 26th. 1945.
Firstly, many thanks for your letters of Sept. 11, and Oct. 3 & 10. All very welcome indeed. Secondly, we are not allowed copying pencils now, I am telling you this because with your customary acute powers of observation you would notice the change and wonder. There is nothing I want in the food or clothing line; we are limited by the Germans in the amount of clothes and food we can have in our possession.
New Year’s Day 1945 Rec’d March 29th, 1945
When I look at the date above it gives me a bit of a start I assure you. 1945 and the shades of Prison Walls still around us and the forms of many disappointed and “Browned Off” Kriegie’s still conspicuous by their presence. I might say that many a Sawback has been lost or won on the War not being over. Have personally never been one of the optimists, to say nothing of the Super O’s, but am, more or less, hoping for my next Birthday out of the “Shaft” (Kriegsgefangschaft) as we call it. However as I told you in what must have been a most confusing letter, we have had an excellent period of “Bashing” (good eating) due to O.K.W. order forbidden reserves. It really has been terrific and as far as that goes we are right on top of the world and if the Germans live up to their promise of supply to us and I believe they will, a parcel a week, we will be O.K. Cold clear weather has enabled us to get some hockey. A lot of the old speed gone and not much cunning evident yet to replace it. A lot of fun tho’. No mail recently. By the way we have practically a language of our own here and as the years roll by I find it harder than ever to
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16 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
STALAG LUFT III
[Photograph of a man with a bucket and a pole] Wash Day. A tin can on the end of a stick is the most modern washing machine.
[Photograph of a group of men gathered around a notice board] above, - representatives of 2,000 P.O.W. crowd around the loud speaker to translate the news.
[Photograph of men standing and sitting by the side of a field] right, - Sports Day.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 17
THEATRICALS AT LUFT III
[Photograph of two men at a table with a microphone] Sound effects for the plays go over the mike
[Photograph of men playing musical instruments] Orchestra
[Photograph of a man in a female costume] One of the boys plays the lead in Pygmalion
[Photograph of three men on a dressed stage] “Thark” by Ben Trains
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18 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
explain myself in plain English. Trust you are all well and celebrated New Year’s properly. I was asleep by 10.30 but thinking of you. Everything is fine with me. In better health, better spirits than ever before and full of the old confidence; so look after yourselves because this is the year.
January 4th, 1945. Rec’d February 26th, 1945.
Many thanks for letters Oct. 24 and Nov. 3, 7 and 14. Yours came thro’ better than from England. Thanks very much for snap, you look well. Skating is going strong at the moment, even I have been attracted. Party of Grans Blessés leave here tomorrow. The Germans made us eat our reserves of food over Xmas. Am feeling fit!!
January 25th, 1945.
More reprisals! We are now without mattresses, tables or stools! I will tell you how this came about. Last Monday we had the usual check parade at 9 a.m. and while in the middle of it, a large number of Germans were marched into the camp and surrounded the parade. We, of course, thought it was just another search until we were told that the S.B.O. (Senior British Officer) wanted to address the parade. He started by reading out a German order which was that – owing to the fact that German prisoners of war in Egypt were living in tents without any mattresses or furniture – we were to be treated alike and have ours taken away. The S.B.O. then went on to make some very appropriate remarks which are better left out here. This is my third lot of reprisals; first in Poland, then chains and now this. Fortunately we are able to see the funny side of it and having meals off the floor is at least a change and saves laying the table for meals! I have won an extra piece of pudding. As we are seven in our mess it is much easier to divide things into eight and cut a card for the extra piece. It adds great excitement to the meals!
STALAG II D
December 25th, 1944.
I’ve put this letter off a week so I could write it tonight and let you know how we spent Christmas. Yes, it’s been a day I’ll not forget for a long, long time. I’ve drawn a Xmas Card with the menu of the day on the inside, and the autographs of my ten best buddies; I’ll get it home for you if this war lasts for another five years, but don’t worry about that. I honestly don’t expect to see another Xmas here. The Christmas dinner was lovely, the out-standing thing among many, was a real custard pie, the first many of us have had in 2 1/2 years. I also have a photograph for you; as soon as I can get it censored I’ll send it, which shouldn’t be more than a week or two. The Red Cross sent us a little Xmas decoration so we’ve got the room looking quite cozy. There’s about 3 lbs of Canadian chocolate in Stalag per person, but we haven’t received that yet. Hope you all had an enjoyable Xmas.
January 1st, 1945.
Well we’ve had Christmas and New Year again; they sure do seem to slip by fast over here, maybe it’s a good thing too. I imagine it would get pretty dull if it didn’t. Well I finally got the picture you’ve been waiting for so long, you can see by it that this life isn’t doing me any harm. I hope you receive it alright. We had a very good Xmas, one of the things accomplished was the ten of us in our room have pledged to have a yearly reunion, each year it being in a different city. There are five from Windsor, two from Toronto, two from Winnipeg, and one from Hamilton. This is the best bunch of fellows I’ve ever been with and we really have some swell times.
STALAG IV A
November 26th, 1944.
Hope this letter finds you all well, as it leaves me quite well. We had a little snow storm the other day, bet you people haven’t had any yet. Although I suppose it’s quite cold. I’m working inside so I don’t mind it much. I’m expecting a letter any day now, as it’s been a very long wait. We haven’t started getting ready for Xmas yet, suppose you have your baking all done. Will see you next Fall, anyway, if not before, so hope this letter arrives alright, also the others. We got Sweet Caporal cigs. this week from the Red Cross. Hope everybody is well.
December 10th, 1944.
Haven’t received any letters yet. Hope to get some soon, hope you’ve got all of my letters. It’s quite cold here, now, but very little snow. Hope you people are all well. And also enjoyed Christmas, which I expect to. Guess I’ll be home for next Xmas if everything goes well. There isn’t much to write about, just now. So will close until I get a letter.
December 31st, 1944.
Hope this card finds you all well, as it leaves me quite well. Expecting a letter any day now. Hope you all enjoyed your New Year. Will be seeing you, soon.
January 13th, 1945.
Just to let you know that I’m well and in fair health. Hope you and the rest are all well. I hope to hear from you soon, and better still be back with you all again.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 19
STALAG IV B
December 12th, 1944.
Christmas certainly came early to Stalag IVB in the form of your Christmas shipment of chocolate. With the shortage of Red Cross parcels this chocolate has certainly put a very different outlook on our Christmas festivities. You cannot realise how much we appreciate this gift and other excellent work you have been responsible for. Thank you very much and our best wishes for the coming year to you and your fellow workers. Any chap who goes out on a working Kommando before Christmas will receive chocolate and cigarettes, before he leaves this Camp, as a gift from the Canadian Club. The cigarettes are as a result of a collection from the chaps who have received parcels from home. All in all it should be a fairly decent Christmas. The next one back home should more than make up for what we have missed in the past few years. May the ski trails be covered with snow and good skating be prevalent. For Pete’s sake, tell some of the girls to stay single until we get home.
January 3rd, 1945.
Greetings and best wishes for 1945 to you and the Canadian people. The Canadian Club, 400 strong sends this message on behalf of its members. Christmas in our Stalag went off with a bang. It started early with the arrival of your gift of chocolate, of which we were able to issue 2 1/2 bars to each Canadian. Then, as a bolt from the blue, and in the nick of time, American Xmas parcels arrived sufficient for the issue of four between ten, over and above food parcels. Many Canadians received personal parcels in the same week: so you see, there is a Santa Claus! Most old “Kriegies” consider it the best Christmas spent in captivity. Not to mention entertainments would be to portray an incomplete picture of our Christmas celebrations. The number and variety of projects were such as were never seen before. Productions for Theatre and Hut presentation were in evidence the whole week. They included drama, comedy, variety, musical, dances, pantomimes, and radio plays (behind curtains). Since most of our members were occupied in either theatre or local hut activities, we engaged in no formalities as a Club. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for all you and we hope in this new 1945 of ours. Au revoir. Many thanks. Good luck!
January 3rd, 1945.
Happy New Year! and may the next one fine me wishing you all the best, etc. in person. Now before I forget I’d better tell you what we had for Xmas dinner. Xmas week we got 1 Can. parcel between 2. 2 American between I and 1 Yank Xmas parcel between 10. Plenty of variety anyhow! Our Xmas dinner consisted of turkey, spam, boiled potatoes, diced carrots, peas, turnips and onions, with noodle soup starting things off. For dessert we had our own steam pudding with thick cream, and chocolate sauce, followed by coffee and biscuits. Pretty good, what? The pudding was really perfect altho it took about 20 hours boiling to get it that way. The ingredients were:
[Photograph of a group of four rows of men outside a hut] Group taken at Stalag 344. Pte. H. C. Turner is marked with an X. Kindly lent by Mrs. Ernest Turner of Montreal.
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20 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
German flour, mashed Can. biscuits, egg powder, butter, sugar, milk, raisins, creamola powder plus other stuff I can’t recall. Dec 27 got an Artie Shaw record and Dec. 30 300 cigs arrived, both from the Squadron. I can’t thank them, but do you think you could S.V.P. Celebrated New Years with another big dinner altho not so somptuous [sic] a one as at Xmas. New Year’s Eve, we had a grand show lasting 5 hours in our hut. A few days ago quite a few Yanks arrived but we don’t expect them to be here for very long. Thanks a million for the pictures you sent Oct. 24. Got letter of Nov. 17 on Dec. 30 too.
January 19th, 1945.
Another month and the Canadian Club in IVB send their greetings. (censored) parcel shortage, the boys remain cheery. Another branch of club fonctions [sic] now getting under way in the formation of a system of reference groups to pass on information and to answer questions for those wishing to “gen up” on prospective trades for postwar period. Our recently formed club library is to be the central hub of a series of groups classified according to trade or information available. Will you please do us the favour of asking our Canadian correspondents especially non-relatives, not to lay too much stress on mention of our palatial holiday surroundings or luxurious comforts. Letters are very wine and bread; but such remarks tend to cause some slight dissension in the ranks. I think you will understand our point of view, and be able to tell them in such a manner as we are unable, without causing misunderstandings. Many thanks also for the cigarettes sent by your Association, which the boys are receiving regularly. It certainly helps a lot to be able to smoke regularly; and there’s nothing like good old Canadian cigs. Many thanks.
January 25th, 1945.
Well it has been some time since I’ve heard from home. Hope you had my letters O.K. I am in good health and hope you are the same. We are very cold at present as there is very wintry weather and not much heat. We have (censored) that is to say we haven’t had any Red Cross Aid for ages, which makes things very unpleasant. I received some more cigs., and boy they are worth their weight in gold here, now. I hope it will soon be over though. News is good. Joe is on his way.
STALAG VII
January 13th, 1945.
How are you? Am feeling fine and in the best of health. Was captured Dec. 13, 1944. Give friends and relatives my address so they can write to me. How is Dad? Can only write two letters a month. Don’t send cigs. Am thinking of you all the time. Write soon. Love to all.
STALAG VII A
November 8th, 1944.
Just a few lines to let you know I am getting along fairly well and am in good health. But I could do with a lot more to eat. The last two weeks my boy friend and I have been out harvesting spuds and believe me we’ve ate so many spuds that we almost look like a couple of spuds! When we come home at night we cook up two nice big dishes full for supper – and another for breakfast. I don’t know what the heck we’ll do when we are finished with the spuds! I guess my tummy will have to shrink a little bit more. I hope the war is over soon. I don’t like this life a bit. Write soon.
January 2nd, 1945. Rec’d March 17th, 1945.
A few lines to say I am fine, hope both there the same. Don’t worry, am getting plenty to eat and a good bed. Contact Red Cross about parcels and cigarettes. Hope you had a good Xmas. I attended church to celebrate our anniversary.
P.S. Send socks, towel, tooth brush.
STALAG VIII B [inserted] was in camp VIII-B for awhile [/inserted]
December 24th, 1944.
Well here it is Christmas Eve, again. I am still feeling fine, had a Red Cross parcel last night, been cooking and eating all day today. Hope everybody is fine at home. Hope to get the parcel you sent, soon. There was a ban on parcels for a while but it has been lifted since about the middle of October, so they should be coming through again alright.
STALAG IX C
November 5th, 1944. Rec’d January 16th, 1945.
Your cheering letters have still been arriving regularly. It is difficult to find things of interest that can be written but as usual I am keeping very well. The time keeps flying by, it is just a race closely run as to which will last longer this year or the war. With this letter goes my best wishes to you for the Merriest of Christmases. You say you have seen the movie “Going My Way”, with Bing Crosby, and here we have a record very popular in the camp, being one of our newest arrivals, with Bing singing the hit song from the picture. We are still not so very far apart, your letters have been arriving about one month after being sent. Still looking forward to receiving your books; they do take so long going through the censors. We have at last been granted a privilege of having a loud speaker in the camp. The commentary of the direction the boys are coming over is most interesting.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 21
November 25th, 1944 Rec’d Jan 26th, 1945.
Lately I have been most fortunate in hearing from you. Your mail and the June parcel which you sent me have arrived safely. What a grand selected parcel; and what a grand and novel idea you had in replacing the Christmas card, the snaps do carry my thoughts back to dear old Toronto and bring back many happy memories, and I do like having your picture here. Wishing you one of the Happiest of New Years.
January 15th, 1945. Rec’d March 23rd, 1945.
Everything is going allright [sic]] with me here. Receiving your mail regularly. It was also fortunate to have your books arrive safely during the holiday weeks. By the time I will have finished reading “The Robe”, “Moby Dick”, and “Mutiny on the Bounty”, I should be on the way home. What a cheerful bit of news to have heard that H. is back home. We did have some good times in hospital. Your blankets are bringing me a great deal of comfort these nights. To continue with my letter after a two and half hour interruption! During these intervals is a good opportunity for reading, many a book I have finished in this way. The greater part of my spare time is still spent plugging at my studies but the conditions in our camp are not the best for real concentration, often I do get fed up, still I try to keep at it, as I feel that progress enough has been made to see the task to a successful completion.
STALAG XI B
December 2nd, 1944. Rec’d Feb 22nd, 1945.
Today is December second. I hope that you all have a very nice Christmas although my first Xmas away from home won’t be all it is cracked up to be. Don’t worry as I expect to be out soon as the war should soon be over. Also we know that the Lord looks after his own. I wrote a letter once before but I have my doubts about it ever reaching you. This will be quite an experience to tell about. You never appreciate the Red Cross until you get in a position like this. Remember me to D. and everyone in fact, all the kids. This is about all I can write so I send all my love and don’t worry as I am okay.
December 16th, 1944. Rec’d March 8th, 1945.
Here it is December 16th and the war is that many days nearer an end. I suppose I will have to tell you all about my experiences when I get home. They say these take about two months to travel so I hope to be free once more that is before you get this. But you live in hopes in these places. You will have some souvenirs if these ever get through. I have a lot of time to read my Bible.
[Photograph of a group of men standing in a sports field] Photograph of a Ball Team at Stalag Luft III. Back Row, left to right: Lt. M.L. Taylor, (Eng.); Flt/Lt. L.A.E. Osbon (Eng.); F/O F.N. Scott (Hespler, Ont.); F/Lt. R. Coste (Toronto); F/O J.S. Acheson (Winnipeg); F/O A.R. Wallace (Toronto); G/C Larry Wray (Ottawa); Front Row, left to right: F/Lt. S. Pozer (Duck Lake, Sask.); F/O H.H. Beaupre (Waterloo); F/O E.R. Soulliere (Roseland, Ont.); F/Lt. D.W. McKim (Lynedoch, Ont.). Kindly lent by Mrs. Larry Wray of Ottawa.
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22 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
the thing is there is a lot you don’t really understand in it. I suppose D. and you are getting along alright. The dog should be fairly well grown by the time I get back. I estimate I will be home by July, we will see how close I have guessed. Well I will close this hoping for the best, putting my trust in God.
January 3rd, 1945.
Another issue of paper so will write every time they come through with it. Been under the weather for the past few days but much better today. Got a Red Cross box of food for New Year’s so made the day much nicer than Christmas was. I could sure use a pair of socks as I’ve been using the same pair since coming here, almost afraid to wash them as they may fall to pieces. I often wonder if you have my first letter yet. It will be three months on the 16th since being trapped. No use me asking you to write as I know you do. Please send cigs. Maybe I’ll be out of here by the time they get, but in case not could sure use them.
STALAG 357
January 17th, 1945.
I received five parcels today. 1 personal and 4 cigarette parcels. The personal one was sent last June and was in perfect order; everything complete and undamaged. The cigarettes were re-addressed from Italy.
STALAG LUFT III
November 6th, 1944.
Well, here’s my first letter for this month and my twenty-third since arrival in Lower Silesia. I’ve been sending home a couple of letters and a card per month for the last couple of months. Rec’d quite a bit of mail lately, latest around mid-September. Glad all O.K. at home and that my mail is getting there. Things are O.K. here; weather getting somewhat damp and cold, and I fear winter is almost upon us once more. Got both lots of snaps now – they’re always welcome. Thank everyone for writing for me. Received book parcel lately, also parcel from Toronto, books, etc. Also receiving cigarettes. Slippers, suspenders and a kitbag are items I could use in next parcel. If sending sweaters, make them vee-neck or sweatshirt style as I now have a sleeve-less and turtleneck type, please.
November 8th, 1945.
I really feel ashamed of myself. For three years I have felt as though I have known you very well and this is the first letter I have written to you. In the summer of 1941, we Canadians were very short of food, blankets, clothing and sports equipment. Due to your remarkable efforts in organizing the P.O.W. we now stand well ahead of any other nationality. For the past two years, I have seen thousands of Canadian Red Cross parcels arriving, as well as all kinds of sports equipment. You can well imagine the effect of all this work upon the morale of the “Kriegies”. The fact that we are allowed food in our clothing parcels in an achievement in itself! Group Captain Wray of the R.C.A.F., who was here last summer, was very impressed and immediately dispatched a letter to the P.O.W. and Red Cross for their excellent work. So, on behalf of all the boys at the receiving end – many, many thanks for everything.
November 25th, 1944.
One month to go to the third Christmas of the Captivity, that’s what there is to go to. This year, in contrast to last, when I became quite petulant at the prospect and wrote a letter quite unworthy of One of Our Brave Boys – I am prepared to accept it philosophically. Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes it brings a “bash” if at all possible. We are greedily hoping that despite every obstacle the Red Cross Christmas Food parcels may arrive in time, and speculating wildly on what the Canadian Government’s Christmas Cars was hinting at – “a small Christmas present for your personal use.” Now do you think that would be something to eat? Life here is interesting. I am back at the trumpet again. (Somehow I can’t think of the sound I make during practice is giving pleasure to any ear other than my own, no matter how many yards of Lake Simcoe should lie between). I have a very small part (Prof. Willard), and a great interest in my friend’s production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”, with an all-Canadian cast. I am a book reviewer for “The Circuit”. – And I announce the public programs of recorded Swing and Jazz music.
November 28th, 1944.
This is a mere P.S. to the letter written a couple of days ago, provoked by the receipt of 3 letters from you yesterday – including one of Oct 17 – the fastest in a long time. The “in touch” feeling in boosted by your receiving my July letter.
December 6th, 1944. Rec’d March 15th, 1945.
Received a couple of September and October letters from you. As you can no doubt guess I am definitely brassed off at the idea of spending my fourth Christmas here, and I have warned everyone against wishing me a “Merry Christmas” – it will be far from merry. However, once it is over, we can always get optimistic again and reiterate the cry home by Christmas 45 (?). The main thing I want to tell you is that, on December 4th, there
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 23
was a dedication service at the new memorial for the … (censored) … It is in the little cemetery about 1 1/2 miles from the north camp. Seven officers were allowed to go from the compound, the East, and sixteen from the North, including the two Padre’s, and the bugler. I was one of the seven from here. The memorial is in the form of a large altar table with three scroll-like stones sweeping up at the back with the … names on it. We all lined up around it while the R.C. and C. of E. padres read a burial service, then the last post, after which the three Group Captains put wreaths on and then the Swiss Legation also put on quite a large one. It was well done and the memorial is really very nice.
December 7th, 1944.
Delighted to receive your two letters of August 14th and September 29th. Once again we were warmed to the heart by the news of all you are doing for us. It makes us feel very humble, but it is that humbleness born of pride. You make us realise how glorious a heritage it is to be a Canadian, and everyday we are here we become more aware of what that really means to us. Out of this experience we will return to Canada far better citizens than we were, for we have truly awakened to what we previously took very lightly for granted. Typically, our Canada has far surpassed all other countries in the help given to us Ps. O. W. and we regard you as responsible for a great part of that. The winter weather has made life slightly less pleasant here, and the reduction of our Red Cross food by half but we are getting by cheerfully and not too unpleasantly. Impatient, certainly, but always hoping that our return to you is just around the corner. Our theatre is averaging one production every 10-12 days, each running for 7 days, providing us with excellent entertainment. Educational program is going very strong and I am sending you under separate cover a routine report on that branch of our activities. The health of the camp, generally, has been excellent, really amazingly so. Regular hours are probably very good for us, although we do yearn for a little of the less regular. First chocolate has arrived so hope remainder will be here in time. A thousand thanks, a grand Xmas gift for us. All have been saving a bit here and there for months for Christmas, so we hope to have a grand day of it. We will be thinking of you all at that time particularly and sending in spirit our cheeriest greetings. From all the lads and myself our thankful thoughts and regards to you.
December 9th, 1944.
Received five letters from you to-day also two from friends. These are the first received in six weeks. Many thanks for them. Very sorry to hear about F.D. being shot up but I suppose it is much better than being shot down. I have been a little under the weather for a few days but am O.K. now. There is a touch of “flu” in the camp but nothing serious. We had a film last week which was a big event in the camp. It was called “The Spoilers”, a whooping, roaring gold-rush
[Photograph of a group of men on a field] Group taken at Stalag Luft III showing amongst others: F/Lt. G.H. Rainville, D.F.M. (Port Henry, Ont.); F/Lt. R.R. Smith, D.F.C. (London); F/O J.E. Loree (Guelph); F/O L. Stevens (Rosser, Man.); F/O W.V. Ransom (Ottawa); P/O T.E. Jackson (Vancouver); F/O J.A. Hawtin (Beaverton, Ont.); F/O G.P. Gardiner (Merlin, Ont.); F/O E.R. Soulliere (Roseland, Ont.).
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24 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
picture and everyone enjoyed it very much. We had a play called “The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde. The boys did very well. The food situation is about the same on the camp and we are managing O.K. I am afraid we won’t have a Xmas as I did last year. The people there (missing in France for 6 1/2 months) were very good to me. The Germans are giving us potatoes, cabbage and swedes at present, which are very helpful. That blanket you sent which arrived on the hottest day of the year is surely useful now in this cold weather. To think that I was not very happy when I received it that day! I am still studying but am afraid I am like everyone here unable to concentrate on the subject for long.
December 10th, 1944.
My uniform arrived a few weeks ago and is a very good fit. Thanks very much. It was really a good idea sending it here instead of London because it could so easily have been lost and anyway I might not have been able to use it before moths got into it, tho’ I still think that we will not be here that long. Mail has been pretty good lately. I’m still doing a little work tho’ I have finished all the books from the Canadian Legion Educational Service which you or Dad sent. Neither of the ones on the soya bean or hydrophonies have arrived yet tho’ and I am looking forward to their arrival any day now. It’s a little late for Xmas Greetings but nevertheless Merry Xmas to all the family.
December 11th. 1944.
Mail is coming in fairly regularly, latest around mid-October. Glad to receive those snaps. This morning was surprised to receive an old July letter, but it was extremely welcome, containing as it did, snaps. All O.K. here and glad to learn that parcel is on the way. I’ve been very fortunate in that line so far and haven’t missed any. Could use pyjamas and summer underwear shorts in next parcel – but no Red Cross type or whatever they’ve been so far. They were far too large. Jockey shorts if possible, if not, the broadcloth type, but please a medium size. Also could use a bath towel, preferably a large and heavy type, like those ones we used to have at home. I’ve mentioned slippers already, I think, also shows.
December 23rd, 1944 Rec’d March 24th, 1945.
Two more days until Christmas. About all Christmas means here is an excuse for a big food dash. We have been on reduced rations for weeks, saving food for Christmas day, when we are going to have a gargantuan meal, or rather a series of meals. We have made a Christmas cake from ground biscuits. We have also decorated the room with painted toilet paper streamers and coloured and silvered paper from cigarette packages – it looks quite gay – we only wish the news was as cheering. Have not had mail since the beginning of the month. Am overdue a parcel from home – hope they concentrate on food – particularly chocolate – worth its weight in gold here – and spices which are valuable to relieve the monotony of our diet. Will be able to get to Mass on Christmas day.
December 26th, 1944.
I’ve written you a previous letter earlier this month, but haven’t received much mail since that time, only a couple of slightly overdue September letters. Still O.K. here, but the weather’s gotten really cold in the last week or so. The German papers came out with a met. forecast a few weeks ago, predicting the coldest winter in the last century, and it seems to be coming true. A good point about it, however, is that it guarantees a certain amount of skating and hockey, something that was altogether missing last winter, which was rather mild. There aren’t many skates around, and they are mostly the clamp-on type, but I’ve been out a few times already. Xmas was featured by American Christmas parcels, quite a large bash of food resulting therefrom, and a certain amount of slightly forced and artificial gaiety, which was dissipated fairly quickly. No Kriegie brews this year, as I think I’ve already mentioned, worse luck. So while the Merry Christmas theme was problematical, the Happy Returns motif is still uppermost in most kriegies’ minds. The Canadian chocolate was received – many thanks to the C.P.O.W.R.A. I’ve already mentioned requiring shoes, any type, preferably fairly husky pair of brogues or walking shoes, not necessarily black, also gym shoes. By the way, the sweater is a great blessing these days.
December 26th, 1944.
A Happy New Year to you my Censor.
A Happy New Year to you all at home. I received your letter of Sept. 25th and the snaps, also three other letters. We had a very nice Christmas indeed. The American Red Cross parcels arrived and they were very good. We had turkey, Xmas pudding, nuts and candy and it sure was a grand feeling to get up fully satisfied for once. In fact some of the boys did not manage to do so. We received the Canadian chocolate from the P.O.W. R. Ass., and it was very much appreciated by all the boys. Please thank them from us all. The Canadian and English Xmas parcels did not arrive in time, but will probably arrive any day now. Hope you all had a happy time together. My best to all friends.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 25
December 26th, 1944.
‘Twas the night after Xmas, everyone well fed – some too well fed – thanks to the American Red Cross, Can. Red Cross, Can. Relatives Ass’n (who are to be congratulated on their efforts on our behalf and we really do appreciate it) Xmas day was quite a success as for as we are concerned in these circumstances – dry yes – but it made us appreciate culinary efforts of our room cooks the more. We are having a cold season but it is excellent for ice skating – already we are well under way and have opened the season with two good games. Our equipment is good thanks to Can. Rel. Ass’n. Unfortunately the equipment D.M. sent has not turned up but we do appreciate your efforts and know what must have happened to it. Do hope you all enjoyed a good time and we feel that it just must be our last (said that now five times) but still one must be right some time if one tries often enough. Do pay my own hearty respects to the above mentioned organizations – they have certainly earned our respect. Say Hello to all and sundry – do ask them to write – getting that lost feeling with so little mail coming in. Photos are more than welcome.
December 26th, 1944.
Christmas has come and gone again without the five of us being together, but I do hope you were all home and carried on as usual. I’m curious to know what Mother got for each of you from me. The day before Christmas a Simpson parcel arrived. Haven’t had any mail since November 25th so Mother’s October 15th is my latest. It has been cold here for the last fortnight, so we have been able to freeze a good hockey and skating rink. It’s fun watching chaps who have never seen ice, learning to skate. Hope my skates get here in time. It was very thoughtful of you to think of sending them. Our Theatre is producing “The Drunkard” now and it is excellent. The American Christmas parcels arrived in time, so we had turkey and pudding for dinner. The Canadian chocolate also came in good order. You’ve no idea how we all appreciate the work you folks are doing for us. I only wish I could thank everybody personally. Perhaps some day I can. Well, with a bit of luck and hard work, we will be together this time next year, but in the meantime, don’t let things get you down and take good care of yourselves. I may be going on twenty-eight now but you will think you have a fifteen-year-old on your hands when I get going. I have just found out that we do not have street cars in London now. I’m still in good health and spirits, but I do get homesick once in a while, about every minute.
December 27th, 1944.
Another Christmas has come and gone, and here’s hoping it is the last one here. Our Christmas was not too bad considering the circumstances. We had turkey, plum pudding, etc., from the Red Cross parcels. Ginger worked overtime the week before, and we still have some of his home made mince pies to eat. We had intended having mince pies at our Christmas dinner, but after the plum pudding, we found we couldn’t eat anything more. We have had some cold weather lately, and we
[Photograph of a group of men] Group taken at Stalag Luft III. F/O J.L. McKeown is marked with X. Kindly lent by Mrs. Jas. McKeown of Smith’s Falls, Ont.
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26 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
were able to have an exhibition hockey match on Christmas Day. We were all able to get a turn at skating also. There was also an England vs. Scotland soccer game, and there was a big “fun fair” in the canteen to raise cigarettes for new arrivals. Our room entered a “horse” in the horse race, and were able to raise fifty cigarettes for each of the new arrivals in our room. I have been out skating the last four or five days. A hockey schedule is being drawn up and I am looking forward to a few games. I have been giving skating lessons to the others in our room, who are all English, with the exception of one. I am only allowed three letters and four post cards a month, so this is the last letter this month. I have been sending my post cards to some of the gang.
December 28th, 1944 Rec’d March 14th, 1945.
Sunday evening, church service just over and it is letter time. Received five letters this week and a Christmas card from Prime Minister McKenzie King on behalf of Canadians everywhere – a very kind and appreciated gesture. I am doing a bit of writing in our Quill club we have organized on the camp. Received parcel of gramophone records. Bing Crosby and T. Dorsey – a very good selection, and I am very grateful. Please thank the Sask. P.O.W. Relatives Association for sports parcel which was useful and practical. We play a little hockey and do some studying. Here’s hoping ’45 will see us all united once more.
December 29th, 1944 Rec’d February 26th, 1945.
We were quite busy Xmas week – grinding biscuits and barley for flour, breaking prune stones to use the inside for our cake. Ours must have weighed about 10 lbs with a chocolate icing. We also had four American Christmas and four ordinary parcels so we had a big bash; but I ate too much and couldn’t hold it. Suppose to be the coldest winter in 100 years so we have made a good hockey rink and three other surfaces for skating. We opened on the 24th with East vs. West Canada game. I played and we won 4-0. I wished I had known we would be here this winter I’d have asked for my skates. We have about 350 for 2,000 men. Clamp on skates!!! A few private jobs, but we manage. Have been fairly warm at nite with socks on and greatcoat over bed. Don’t know why the R.C. wouldn’t let J. send blankets: too late now, I really have no complaints!!!
December 29th, 1944. Rec’d March 14th, 1945.
I guess Happy New Year will be late but I can’t remember that it takes a couple of months for these things to get home. We had a magnificent “bash” over Christmas – thanks to the American Red Cross Christmas parcels. They had turkey, plum pudding, butter etc. We were hoping the British of Canadian ones would arrive in time to give us a big feed on New Years but we still have that to look forward to. Incidentally we Canadians in the camp are surely proud of the Prisoners of War Relatives Association and the Canadian Red Cross, they have done so very much for us. Had a letter from you today with snaps enclosed – they were really swell to get. We are having cold weather here and the skating is really good. B. et I are on the same hockey team and the games are a riot. I’m one of the stronger players so you can guess the standard of the team. Thanks for the menthols.
STALAG LUFT VII
Christmas Day 1944.
The day started at 8:00 with a parade. We are having only one today. Chief interest is eating the Red Cross food that we have saved. Aside from that it’s a normal day. Church Services and carol singing are a plenty; went to Welsh Club party last nite. Big soccer game this afternoon. We have stew, pudding, cake trifles and bread. All in good spirits. Red Cross Xmas parcels not here yet. Hope you aren’t worrying about me.
MARLAG UND MILAG NORD
December 26th, 1944.
Things are pretty quiet tonight – most of the boys from our room have gone to see the pantomime “Robinson Crusoe”, so I’ll take advantage and drop a few lines. Well, to begin with our Xmas here wasn’t bad, I think we all managed to get that usual stuffed to the brim feeling somehow and on the whole spent a fairly enjoyable day behind the wire. I think the odds are in favour of spending the next one at home – what do you say? I went to the Nativity Play, Carol Service and Watchnight Service and it was very well done. It is the first time I have seen such a service – believe it is more of an Anglican Service. The R.C.’s also held their various Services and masses too. Believe it or not I had a skate on Xmas Day. We haven’t got proper skated, but several of the old “gufangs” made them out of old hinges and any piece of scrap metal they could get their hands on. It really is funny to see them – all shapes and sizes. We skate on water ponds, which are near our huts in case of fire. So much for camp life. Mail is good lately – some of the boys getting five or six letters at a time. Latest letter in November.
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 27
January 1945
This is the letter I promised in my Jan. 4/45 card of a few days ago, and without further preamble, would say Milag is the Merchant Navy and Marlag the Naval section of this camp which is located in country district on N.W. Germany. In former compound a small town in itself, save for appearance, we have everything a community should have (save liberty) and many things it should not. Of first mentioned there is Administration from Chief Confidence Man (Mayor) right thru to Sunday, and street depts. Good theatre (produced from farce to light opera) “Pirates of Penyance” [sic] – Christmas attraction – 8 day run – Cinema, English and German films – library – school – C. of E. and R.C. Chopes, all sports, baseball, football, hockey, indoor, debates, talks, lectures, gardening. Our present population is 2,500 – mostly U.K. men. 100 Canadians, 70 N.Z. and Australians, Egypt, Indo-China, etc. represented. Colors, white black, brown, yellow. Opposition interests begins and ends in keeping us inside. Administration, all activities, our own work. Self? To sea before war search local color – became embroiled in conflict – 1st ship torpedoed Sept. 15/40 lost 23 men – joined another ended up here Mar 25/41. Experiences many and varied. Interests – Lit. & Art – Government social reform. Now reading up Mills “Political Economy”. Like helping others but resources limited. Dream dreams but in this materialistic world many go unfulfilled. Abhor strife. Believe in state ownership, national resources. International viewpoint necessary to just and sound peace. Future in lap if Gods but believe prospects good.
December 29th, 1944. Rec’d March 14th, 1945.
I guess Happy New Year will be late but I can’t remember that it takes a couple of months for these things to get home. We had a magnificent “bash” over Christmas – thanks to the American Red Cross Christmas parcels. They had turkey, plum pudding, butter etc. We were hoping the British or Canadian ones would arrive in time to give us a big feed on New Year but we still have that to look forward to. Incidentally we Canadians in the camp are surely proud of the Prisoners of War Relatives Association and the Canadian Red Cross, they have done so very much for us. Had a letter from you today with snaps enclosed – they were really swell to get. We are having cold weather here and the skating is really good. B. and I are on the same hockey team and the games are a riot. I’m one of the stronger players so you can guess the standard of the team. Thanks for the menthols.
DIRECTORY
Subscribers are urged to buy from the companies listed here as they are helping to defray the cost of this bulletin.
[Advertisements from Burton’s Limited, Diggon’s, Wm. Collins Sons & Co. and F.E. Osborne]
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30 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
[Advertisements from British Consols, Sweet Caporal, Charles Ogilvy, Hudson’s Bay Company]
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May 1945 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION 31
[Advertisement from Molson’s Brewery Limited]
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33 THE CANADIAN PRISONERS OF WAR RELATIVES ASSOCIATION May 1945
[Advertisement from Dawes Black Horse Brewery]
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
News Sheet No 42 May 1945
Description
An account of the resource
The News Sheet of the Canadian Prisoner of War Relatives Association. This edition covers Victory in Europe, the death of President Roosevelt, the liberation of Canadian POWs, assembly centres for released POWs, the seizure of German POW records, Stalag Luft I "the easiest camp in Germany", propaganda broadcasts, the memorial at Stalag Luft III, news from England, the American Red Cross news, Far East News, Internment camp Liebenau, Questions & Answers, Canadian branch news, news from German POW Camps and adverts.
Creator
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The Canadian Prisoners of War Relatives Association
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-05
Format
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32 printed sheets
Language
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eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MCurnockRM1815605-171114-013
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.
Great Britain
England--Bournemouth
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Moosburg an der Isar
Germany--Fischbach
Germany--Bremervörde
Germany--Luckenwalde
Germany--Spremberg
Switzerland--Geneva
China--Hong Kong
Germany--Liebenau Site
Japan--Kōbe-shi
France--Paris
France--Nantes
France--Rouen
France--Nice
Canada
Manitoba
New Brunswick--Moncton
Ontario--Toronto
Ontario--Ottawa
Saskatchewan
British Columbia--Victoria
British Columbia--Vancouver
British Columbia--New Westminster
France--Lyon
France--Marseille
France--Dunkerque
Germany--Barth
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Poland--Tychowo
Poland--Łambinowice
Czech Republic
Czech Republic--Karlovy Vary
Germany--Nuremberg
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
France
Ontario
New Brunswick
Germany
China
Japan
Switzerland
England--Hampshire
Germany--Parchim
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
Anne-Marie Watson
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-05
aircrew
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
Dulag Luft
entertainment
faith
fear
memorial
prisoner of war
Red Cross
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945)
sport
Stalag 8B
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 4
Stalag Luft 7