2
25
42
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1339/20868/SValentineJRM1251404v10008.2.jpg
f9f2423f30706f1dfb1a4a0caff89fb2
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
Valentine, John. Ursula Valentine's newspaper cutting scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
131 items contained in a scrapbook. Mainly newspaper cuttings of events from May 1942 to 1945.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
THE TIMES FRIDAY JUNE 12 1942
TWENTY-YEAR TREATY WITH RUSSIA
FULL PARTNERSHIP IN WAR AND PEACE
M. MOLOTOV’S VISITS TO LONDON AND WASHINGTON
UNTIED ACTION FOR VICTORY
The conclusion of a treaty of alliance between Great Britain and Soviet Russia, providing for full collaboration between the two countries during and after the war, was announced yesterday. The treaty, which is to remain in force for 20 years, was signed on behave of the Soviet Union by M. Molotov, who recently visited London.
After leaving this country M. Molotov visited Washington and had talks with military and political leaders in the United States. Both there and in London the urgent tasks connected with the opening of a second front in Europe this year were discussed, and full agreement was reached.
A SECOND FRONT IN 1942
MR. EDEN’S SPEECH
WESTMINSTER, Thursday
Mr. Eden was cheered repeatedly by a crowded House of Commons when he rose to-day to announce the conclusion of the treaty between the Russian and British Governments.
Mr. Churchill was on the Treasury Bench next to Mr. Eden. In the Ambassadors’ Gallery M. Maisky, to whom Mr. Eden paid a tribute for his long efforts to promote Anglo-Russian understanding, sat beside Mr. Winant, the American Ambassador. Mrs. Churchill and Mrs. Eden sat together in the Ladies’ Gallery.
MR. EDEN said:-
I am glad to be able to inform the House that his Majesty’s Government have concluded a treaty with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which confirms our alliance with that country during the war against Germany and her associates in Europe. (Cheers.) The treaty provides that after the war our two countries will render each other mutual assistance against any further attack by Germany or her associates. (Cheers.) It further provides that we shall collaborate with one another and with the other United Nations in the peace settlement, and during the ensuing period of reconstruction, on the basis of the principles set out in the Atlantic Charter. (Cheers.)
The House will remember that Germany invaded Russia on June 22 last year, and that on the same evening the Prime Minister affirmed that the Russian danger was our danger – (cheers) – and that we should give whatever help we could to Russia and make common cause with the Russian people. (Cheers.) Practical effect was given to the Prime Minister’s declaration by the signature, on July 12, of an agreement for joint action in the war against Germany. In September Lord Beaverbrook, with Mr. Averell Harriman, visited Moscow and negotiated an arrangement for supplying the Soviet Government with the war materials which they urgently needed for the prosecution of the war. This was followed in the political field by my visit to Moscow in December of last year. The purpose of that visit, in the words of the joint [italics] communiqué [/italics] which was issued on my return, was “the exchange of views on questions relating to the conduct of the war and the post-war organisation of peace and security in Europe.”
M. MOLOTOV IN LONDON
Since then conversations, begun in Moscow, have been continuing. The British Dominions, the United States, and other countries most closely concerned have been kept fully informed of the whole course of our negotiations. When I was in Moscow I gave M. Molotov a cordial invitation to visit us in this country, and when our discussions had made sufficient progress his Majesty’s Government suggested that M. Molotov should come to London to embody our agreement in a formal treaty.
M. Molotov meanwhile had been invited by President Roosevelt to visit him in Washington. It was arranged accordingly that M. Molotov should come here, and then go on to the United States. He arrived in London on May 21. The treaty was signed on May 26, (Cheers.)
The next day M. Molotov left for the United States, in accordance with his programme. I am glad to be able to tell the House that M. Molotov had a safe journey to the United States and back, and that he had most useful and satisfactory talks with the President in Washington. M. Molotov has now gone back to Moscow.
When I shall sit down a White Paper will be available to members at the Vote Office. It will contain, in addition to the treaty, an exchange of messages between his Majesty the King and M. Kalinin, as well as the speeches made by M. Molotov and myself at the signature of the treaty, and I think it would be for the convenience of the House if I gave them now a brief outline of what the treaty contains.
POST-WAR TASKS
The United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics reaffirm their determination to afford one another all possible assistance in the war, and not to enter into any negotiations with the Hitlerite Government, or any other government in Germany which does not clearly renounce all aggressive intentions, and not to negotiate or conclude except by mutual consent any armistice or peace treaty with Germany, or any other State associated with her in acts of aggression in Europe. (Cheers.) The two countries also agree that they will, when peace is re-established, work together for the organization of security and economic prosperity in Europe. In doing so, they will take into account the interests of the United Nations, and they undertake to be guided by the two principles of not seeking territorial aggrandisement for themselves, and of not interfering in the internal affairs of other States.
The two Governments go on to declare their desire “to unite with other like-minded States in adopting proposals for common action to preserve peace and resist aggression in the post-war period.” Meanwhile, when the war is ended they will take “all measures in their power to render impossible a repetition of aggression and violation of the peace by Germany or any of the States associated with her in acts of aggression in Europe.” (Cheers.)
There is, of course, bound to be some interval after the victory has been gained before an effective international system can be built up for preserving peace and for the prevention of further aggression. The two Governments accordingly have agreed that, should one of our countries during the post-war period become involved in hostilities with Germany or any of her European associates in consequence of an attack by one of them, the two Governments will at once give each other “all the military and other support and assistance” in their power.
As for the duration of this undertaking, I will quote from the relevant article of the treaty: “This article shall remain in force until the high contracting parties by mutual agreement shall recognize that it is superseded by the adoption of the proposals contemplated in Article 3.” That is, the long-term system of international security which the treaty contemplates as our goal, as I have already mentioned. The article then goes on: “In default of the adoption of such proposals it shall remain in force for a period of 20 years, and thereafter until terminated by either contracting party.”
The treaty contains a ratification clause. Both Governments are anxious that the treaty shall come into force as soon as possible. The treaty accordingly will be laid forthwith on the table of the House.
Our conversations with M. Molotov were not, of course, confined to treaty matters, important as those were. The war in all its aspects was reviewed, and I will now give the House a quotation from the [italics] communiqué [/italics] which is being issued this afternoon:- “Full understanding was reached between the two parties with regard to the urgent task of creating a second front in Europe in 1942. Discussions also took place on the question of further improving the supplies of aeroplanes, tanks, and other war material to be sent from Great Britain to the Soviet Union. Both sides were gratified to note the identity of their views on all the above questions.”
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
Twenty year treaty with Russia
Description
An account of the resource
Sub headlines: full partnership in war, M. Molotov's visit to London and Washington, United action for victory. Article announcing treaty between Great Britain and Soviet Russia. Sections titled: Second Front in 1942, Mr Eden's Sp[each. M. Molotov in London, Post-war Tasks.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The Times
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-06-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting mounted on a scrapbook page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SValentineJRM1251404v10008
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-06
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
David Bloomfield
Steve Baldwin
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1292/17623/PPearceAT16030024.1.jpg
36a28c7e5c9693a8c897fc8e2bc915de
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Lowry Field on July 25. Plans are underway to fete the British flyers and make their visit to Lowry as pleasant as possible. This is one of the many points which the RAF Squadron will visit on a five-week goodwill tour of the United States. Open house at Lowry Field is planned for the 27th of July. At this time the public will be given a chance to inspect this sample of the might of the British Air Arm.
Flying the famed Lancaster bombers that helped smash Germany’s industrial war plants in night raids at the height of the Allied air offensive, R.A.F. fliers will land at Lowry Field to begin their three-day visit to the Denver area. Invited to the United States by the Army Air Forces, Squadron 35 (Pathfinder), Royal Air Force Bomber Command is touring the country, taking part in several events along the way. Arriving at Mitchell Field, New York, on July 17, the group of sixteen Lancasters and two Yorks, commanded by Wing Commander A.F.L. Craig assembled before beginning its “Good Will” tour.
Upon their arrival in New York last Wednesday, members of the group were extended a warm welcome. Among the activities held in their honor [sic] were a baseball game, dinner, dance, and open house entertainment. Similar programs are being planned for their visits to Scott Field and other AAF installations in this country.
The squadron will stop at Scott Field, near Bellevue, Illinois on July 21. After leaving Lowry Field, the group will take off for a scheduled arrival at Long Beach, California on the 28th. on August 1, the unit will take part in the program for the Army Air Forces Day at Los Angeles. Next scheduled stop on the itinerary will be Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, when the group leaves Long Beach, on August 3. From Kelly the R.A.F. fliers will take off for Morrison Field, near West Palm Beach, Florida, arriving there on August 7. Next will be Andrews Field, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. On August 18 a return
[photograph]
[photograph]
The mass formation will be manned by 110 enlisted men, 30 warrant officers, 61 company grade officers, and eight field grade officers. Total strength will be 209, including two British newspapermen.
Veteran of some of the toughest air combat in the European theatre, the 35th Squadron will complete project “Good Will” under the direction of Group Captain R.C.M. Collard, Station Commander at Gravelly, Huntington, England. Wing Commander Craig of Gravelly, a 23-year-old flier with a brilliant war record will conduct the group on its five-week tour. Craig holds the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Britain’s largest bombers, the four-engine Lancasters of Squadron 35 which carried the war to Germany completed every mission but one. Chosen to form part of the R.A.R.’s “Tiger Force,” No. 35 was making preparations to join American B-29’s on Okinawa for the massed air offensive against Japan when surrender came, cancelling the project. Still clad in their “tropical Dress,” the R.A.F. Lancasters are white on top and black underneath.
Much of the fame which was attained by the 35th Squadron came from their successes as one of the four squadrons which went to make up the nucleus of the “Pathfinder Force.” This was the RAF’s solution to the difficulties encountered in maintaining accuracy in bombing on night missions over Europe. Early in the war it became apparent that night bombing would be much more effective if an unmistakable beacon were created near the target by fire-raising parties. Hence the “Pathfinder Force” was established. The four squadrons chosen were selected because of special skills in navigation and the use of special equipment. Their mission was to locate targets in the dark and provide the guiding beacon by setting them afire with incendiary bombs and by dropping flares.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Goodwill visit to United States
Description
An account of the resource
Newspaper cutting with three air-to-air view photographs of Lancasters.
Article states that 16 Lancasters of 35 Pathfinder Squadron will arrive 27 July 1946 on three day visit to Denver area. They arrived in the United States at Mitchel Field New York on 17 July 1946. Mentions they will visit Scott Field Bellevue. Long Beach California, San Antonio, Morrison Field West Palm Beach and Andrews Field Washington DC. Mentions party consists of 110 enlisted men m 20 warrant officers and 61 officers. Mentions would have been part of Tiger Force.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-07
1946-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting mounted on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPearceAT16030024
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Colorado--Denver
California--Long Beach
Texas--San Antonio
New York (State)--New York
Illinois--Belleville
Florida--West Palm Beach
Maryland
Washington (D.C.)
Florida
California
Colorado
Illinois
New York (State)
Texas
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
1946-08
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
Steve Baldwin
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
Pathfinders
Tiger force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1292/17606/PPearceAT16030010.1.jpg
50ae2a28125484086d5839e17997d77a
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Gen. Spaatz Welcomes RAF
[photograph]
At the microphone welcoming the RAF to Andrews Field is Gen. Carl A Spaatz. Chief of Staff of the Army Air Forces. In back of him, reading from left to right, are Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador; Col. Curtis D. Sluman, Base Commander, and Maj. Gen. O.P. Weyland, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Plans.
The RAF’s famous 35th Squadron zoomed northward today on the last lap of its “goodwill tour” of U.S. air bases as guests of the Army Air Corps after spending one week at Andrews Field.
The noted British fliers of World War II flew 12 Lancaster bombers from San Antonio, Tex., to Andrews Field on August 8. The bombers are still wearing the battle paint that distinguished them in the night raids over Germany.
The British ambassador, Hon. Lord Inverchapel; the AAF’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz; the commanding officer of Andrews Field, Col. C.D. Sluman, and many other dignitaries were on hand to greet the fliers.
Lord Inverchapel welcomed No. 35 Squadron to the Washington area, and stated that while they were in this vicinity he thought he should retire, allowing them to serve as ambassadors. He also invited all the members of No. 35 Squadron to a party at the Embassy on Friday night.
In a speech of welcome, General Spaatz recalled the close cooperation that had existed between the RAF and the AAF. He said that it was imperative that this relationship should continue to exist between the two air forces.
While at Andrews Field the 200 English airmen, all veterans of Britain’s much decorated Pathfinder Force, were entertained by both military officials and civilians. The entertanment [Sic] ranged from downing brews at the Pfc. Club with GI’s to drinking tea on the lawn of the British Embassy in response to Lord Inverchapel’s invitation.
On Saturday morning, August 10, the British aircraft gave a demonstration flight over Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, taking off from Andrews Field at 0915. Thirty newsmen went on this flight. From 1300 to 1500 Saturday afternoon the public was invited to an open house here. Royal Air Force crews stood by their Lancasters and answered questions concerning their equipment. During the late afternoon and evening Andrews Field held a gala beach party at Chesapeake Beach for all enlisted visiting RAF personnel and for Andrews Field enlisted and civilian personnel. Swimming, a picnic supper, and dancing were the main features of the day. On Saturday night a buffet dinner and dances were held at the Officers’ Club for all RAF and Andrews Field officers.
Forty Air Attaches visited the Base Sunday morning at the invitation of Headquarters AAF. British service women and other members of the British Colony in Washington were also guests here Sunday afternoon. In the evening the RAF personnel attended the AAF band concert given on the Capitol steps.
During the course of their stay in Washington our English guests also went on sight-seeing tours as well as visiting Bolling Field and attending dinner parties and other social functions.
The itinerary of No. 35 Squadron since it arrived at Mitchell Field July 17 from Graveley, Huntingdon, England, via Azorea and Newfoundland, has been St. Louis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Tex., and Andrews Field.
The squadron is now headed for Westover Field, Chicopee Falls, Mass., where it will remain for four days before completing the cycle back to Mitchel Field. From there they will return to England, where most of the men will await their well-earned dis-discharges [Sic].
[photograph]
Group Captain K.C.M Collard is pictured above shaking hands with Col. Curtis D. Sluman, Base Commander, at ceremonies welcoming the RAF to Andrews Field. To the left of him is Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador; to his right are Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Chief of Staff of the Army Air Forces, and Col. A.L. Berry, Deputy Base Commander.
[photograph]
In picture above, men of the RAF’s famous 35th Squadron are shown lined up in front of a group of heavy Lancaster bombers during Andrews Field reception for the Royal Air Force.
FLY-PAST
Five South Londoners will have an aerial view of the procession when they take part in the RAF fly-past.
One of them is 23-year-old F/O Frank Baker of Glengarry-rd., Dulwich, navigator in a Mosquito night intruder who won the DFC for a night operation over German airfields.
Three of the others are from heavy bombers, F.O Brundritt. Of Lynton-rd., Bermondsey, will be navigator of a Lancaster. W/O A.J. Pearce, of 70, Whitworth House, Falmouth-rd., Southwark, who won the DFM in 1945, and Flight Sgt. B. Ford, of 5, Arlingford-rd., Tulse Hill, will be rear gunners in Lancasters, W/O S. Pritchard, of 5, Montford-place, Kennington, will be a navigator in 248 Mosquito squadron.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Goodwill tour of United States and Victory Fly-Past
Description
An account of the resource
Top right - newspaper cutting titled 'Gen Spaatz welcomes RAF' with three photographs. Top left photograph of General Spaatz at microphone welcoming RAF to Andrews Field. Also in background Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador, Col Curtis D Sluman and Maj Gen O P Weyland. Article explains that 35 Squadron spent a week at Andrews Field having flown from San Antonio on August 8th. Covers Gen Spaatz speech. Mentions aircraft gave demonstration flight over Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Photograph middle of Group Captain Collard shaking hands with Col Curtis D Sluman (base commander Andrews Field) in front of parade of servicemen. Bottom photograph 35 Squadron crews lined up in front of their Lancasters.
Bottom left - a newspaper cutting 'Fly-Past', notes that five south Londoners will have aerial view as they take part in RAF fly-past: F/O Frank Baker DFC (ex Mosquito navigato)r; F/O Brundrift (navigator); W/O A J Pearce DFM; F/Sgt B Ford (air gunners in Lancaster) and W/O S Pritchard (navigator in 248 Squadron Mosquito).
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-07
1946-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two newspaper cuttings mounted on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPearceAT16030010
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
New Jersey--Atlantic City
Texas--San Antonio
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Maryland--Baltimore
Great Britain
England--London
Maryland
New Jersey
Texas
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
1946-08
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
Bradley Froggatt
248 Squadron
35 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
Mosquito
navigator
Pathfinders
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1292/17587/PPearceAT16030001.2.jpg
6701edb32f95cff83b696270aa14b712
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
“Americans don’t know us” says ‘goodwill’ gunner
WITH the memories of a wonderful reception in the USA fresh in his mind, having just returned from the RAF Bomber Command goodwill visit, W/O Arthur Pearce, of 70, Whitworth House, Falmouth-rd., Southwark, still thinks the average American knows little or nothing about Britain.
“The people over there don’t seem to have any idea of life outside their own home town. They think they are the only country with jet planes and don’t know we hold the air speed record.
“I’ve never seen so much food in my life, but they think they are hard done by. We need more about England in the American papers, they don’t seem to know what goes on.
“The only people who like England are the ex-Service men who served in this country during the war and would like to revisit the places they know.”
A Bomber Command air gunner with 44 ops. to his credit, he joined 35 Squadron, the senior bomber group of the RAF, a year ago and was selected to make the trip by the Squadron Commander.
Starting from Graveney, the hop to New York was made with stops at Cornwall, The Azores and Newfoundland.
The Lancasters called at St. Louis, Denver, Washington, D.C. and many other large cities in the States and their crews were lavishly entertained to civic receptions wherever they went.
Arthur told a South London Press reporter: “We had a wonderful time throughout the tour, money just didn’t seem to be any object to the people entertaining us.
“Wherever we landed we were given a good time, taken to dances and shows and on visits. I met many of the British film stars including Sir Aubrey Smith and [missing letters]rle Oberon.”
[photograph]
[photograph]
[photograph]
[photograph] [photograph]
LOCAL AIRMEN WERE GUESTS OF FILM STARS
GUESTS of film stars in Hollywood, feted wherever they went, the two local airmen who took part in the R.A.F.’s goodwill mission to the United States are expected home this week-end.
They are W.O. Arthur Pearce, D.F.M., 70, Whitworth House, Falmouth-rd., Elephant and Castle (left), and A.C.1 J.B. Lumsden, 150, Burbage-rd., Herne Hill (right). They arrived back in England, on Monday.
Writing home, Pearce says that he has “had enough of a good time.” The film stars he met included Mary Pickford, who entertained him at her home at Beverly Hills. “Hollywood is one of the best places on earth,” he comments, “but only the rich can afford to live there.” He says that five drinks cost him £3. “Though I am really having a good time, I would like to get home and have a few hours’ sleep and when I get home I hope I shall never see another drop of beer!” Lumsden, tells his parents in a letter that “there is still too much food in the U.S., and they apologise for the lack of it!”
[photograph] [photograph]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Goodwill trip to United States
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two newspaper cuttings and five b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPearceAT16030001
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
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
United States
New York (State)--New York
Washington (D.C.)
New York (State)
California--Beverly Hills
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
1946-08
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - newspaper article 'Americans don't know us say s"goodwill gunner".' Noted that Warrant Officer Arthur Pearce has just returned from goodwill tour of the United States with a view that Americans know nothing about Britain and have no idea of life outside their own home town. A bomber command air gunner with 44 operations to his credit he joined 35 Squadron a year ago and was selected to make the trip with Lancaster air craft. Starting from Graveley with stops in Cornwall, Azores and Newfoundland then to New York. Visited St Louis, Denver, Washington DC and other large cities.
Top right - photograph of two Lancasters in light paint scheme parked on airfield with welcoming spectators and band.
Middle top - photograph of a Fairchild C-82 Packet and C-47s.
Middle below - an airfield by the side of a river.
Middle right - newspaper article 'Local airmen were guests of film stars'. Notes that Warrant Officer Arthur Pearce and AC1 J B Lumsden had met film stars Mary Pickford in Beverley Hills, Hollywood.
Bottom left - photograph of the Spruce Goose (Hughes H-4 Hercules) by waterside.
Bottom right - photograph of C54 Skymaster on runway
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
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946=07
1946-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
35 Squadron
aircrew
C-47
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
RAF Graveley
runway
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/704/11895/LBeethamMJ[Ser -DoB]v2.pdf
e48b84bb1ab4b0ad11464c42bd3238d3
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
Beetham, Michael
Sir Michael Beetham
M Beetham
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. The collection concerns Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham GCB, CBE, DFC, AFC, DL (1923 - 2015) and contains his five flying log books. He flew a tour of operations as a pilot with 50 Squadron. After the war he flew on the goodwill tour of the United States with 35 Squadron. He remained in the RAF and rose in rank until his retirement in the 1980s.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Sir Michael Beetham and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-09-09
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
Beetham, MJ
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
Michael James Beetham’s pilots flying log book. Two
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for Michael James Beetham, covering the period from 5 December 1945 to 18 July 1952. Detailing his post war squadron duties, staff duties, flying training and instructor duties and flew the victory day fly past and good will tour of the United States. He was stationed at RAF Graveley, RAF Hemswell, RAF Finningley, RAF Eastleigh, RAF Middleton St. George, RAF Bassingbourn and RAF Andover. Aircraft flown were, Lancaster, Oxford, Lincoln, C-47, B-17, Expiditor, Anson, Wellington, Devon, Valetta, Meteor, Canberra and Proctor. Flying duties were with 35 Squadron, 82 Squadron, Headquarters Bomber Command and Staff College.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LBeethamMJ19230517v2
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.
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
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
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Ghana
Great Britain
Kenya
Nigeria
South Africa
Tanzania
United States
Zambia
California--Mather Air Force Base
Colorado--Colorado Springs
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Durham (County)
England--Hampshire
England--Huntingdonshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
Ghana--Accra
Ghana--Takoradi
Kenya--Nairobi
Michigan
New York (State)
New York (State)--Mitchel Field
Newfoundland and Labrador--Gander
Ohio
Ontario--Ottawa
Ontario--Trenton
South Africa--Pretoria
Tanzania--Dar es Salaam
Tanzania--Lindi
Tanzania--Mbeya
Tanzania--Tabora
Texas
Washington (D.C.)
Zambia--Ndola
California
Colorado
Ontario
Newfoundland and Labrador
35 Squadron
82 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
B-17
C-47
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
Lincoln
Meteor
Oxford
pilot
Proctor
RAF Andover
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Eastleigh
RAF Finningley
RAF Graveley
RAF Hemswell
RAF Middleton St George
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/518/10365/EChadwickRLaphamR4310X2-0001.1.jpg
3f156d92536f4fc98ebee16120722dbb
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/518/10365/EChadwickRLaphamR4310X2-0002.1.jpg
0481dcc1cff054a2f9b6e3ae9847f42e
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
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
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
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-22
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.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[picture]
THE SHOREHAM HOTEL – Connecticut Ave. at Calvert St. – WASHINGTON, D. C.
[page break]
[postmark][postage stamp]
Washington 11th Oct 43.
My dearest Osie. I arrived here last night and have spent a very interesting day today. Someday I’ll bring you to see this delightful City my dear. This is a picture of the Hotel where I’m staying. With much love to you & Mummy & Margaret. yours Daddy
[underlined] Miss [/underlined] Rosemary Chadwick.
“Kingsley”.
Gilbert Road.
Hale. Cheshire.
England.
[inserted] VIA AIR MAIL IN U. S. A. [/inserted]
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 Washington DC
Description
An account of the resource
Addressed to Rosemary Chadwick from Roy Chadwick. Writes he has arrived and had an interesting day. Postcard is of hotel where he is staying. On the front a painting of a large multi-story building with American Flags on top and trees in the foreground. Title 'The Shoreham Hotel, Connecticut Ave. at Calvert St. -- Washington DC'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-10-11
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Postcard with artwork front handwritten on reverse
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EChadwickRLaphamR4310X2
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Great Britain
England--Cheshire
England--Sale
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10-11
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Roy Chadwick
Chadwick, Roy (1893-1947)
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9646/SMathersRW55201v10042.2.jpg
4416835c07965c2524b7ae8fc12c4f09
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
35 Squadron over Washington
Description
An account of the resource
Item 1 is a formal invitation to Flight Lieutenant Mathers to attend a reception at the British Embassy.
Items 2, 3, 4 and 5 are air-to-air view s of 12 Lancasters over Washington captioned 'Formation over the "White House"'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-08
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10042
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.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-08
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed invitation and four b/w photographs on a scrapbook page
35 Squadron
entertainment
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9645/SMathersRW55201v10041.1.jpg
11c9888c07e5425c29080b4e7292932c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Blank page]
[page break]
ANDREWS FIELD NEWS
PUBLISHED BY AND FOR THE PERSONNEL OF ANDREWS FIELD
[inserted] 8 AUG - 16 AUG. [/inserted]
Volume 2 WASHINGTON, D.C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1946 Number 20
35th RAF Sqdn. Leaves Andrews Field Today
[inserted][underlined] Washington Addresses [/underlined]
Nancy Johnson
1910 'K' ST. N.W.
Room 212.
Phone Extension 2010.
Elizabeth Sinton
Joy De - Smiths
ALL WITH BRITISH ARMY H.Q.
(A.T.S.).
"Mike" Black
PHONE COLUMBIA 9806. [/inserted]
Gen. Spaatz Welcomes RAF
[photograph]
At the microphone welcoming the RAF to Andrews Field is Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Chief of Staff of the Army Air Forces. In back of him, reading from left to right, are Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador; Col. Curtis D. Sluman, Base Commander, and Maj. Gen. O.P Weyland, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Plans.
[photograph]
Group Captain R.C.M. Collard is pictured above shaking hands with Col. Curtis D. Sluman, Base Commander, at ceremonies welcoming the RAF to Andrews Field. To the left of him is Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador; to his right are Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Chief of Staff of the Army Air Forces, and Col. A.L. Berry, Deputy Base Commander.
[photograph]
In picture above, men of the RAF's famous 35th Squadron are shown lined up in front of a group of heavy Lancaster bombers during Andrews Field reception for the Royal Air Force.
The RAF's famous 35th Squadron zoomed northward today on the last lap of its "goodwill tour" of U.S. air bases as guests of the Army Air Corps after spending one week at Andrews Field.
The noted British fliers of World War II flew 12 Lancaster bombers from San Antonio, Tex., to Andrews Field on August 8. The bombers are still wearing the battle paint that distinguished them in the night raids over Germany.
The British ambassador, Hon. Lord Inverchapel; the AAF's Chief of Staff, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz; the commanding officer of Andrews Field, Col. C.D. Sluman, and many other dignitaries were on hand to greet the fliers.
Lord Inverchapel welcomed No. 35 Squadron to the Washington area, and stated that while they were in this vicinity he thought he should retire, allowing them to serve as ambassadors. He also invited all the members of No. 35 Squadron to a party at the Embassy on Friday night.
In a speech of welcome, General Spaatz recalled the close cooperation that had existed between the RAF and the AAF. He said that it was imperative that this relationship should continue to exist between the two air forces.
While at Andrews Field the 209 English airmen, all veterans of Britain's much decorated Pathfinder Force, were entertained by both military officials and civilians. The entertainment ranged from downing brews at the Pte Club with GI's to drinking tea on the lawn of the British Embassy in response to Lord Inverchapel's invitation.
On Saturday morning, August 10, the British aircraft gave a demonstration flight over Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, taking off from Andrews Field at 0915. Thirty newsmen went on this flight. From 1300 to 1500 Saturday afternoon the public was invited to an open house here. Royal Air Force crews stood by their Lancasters and answered questions concerning their equipment. During the late afternoon and evening Andrews Field held a gala beach party at Chesapeake Beach for all enlisted visiting RAF personnel and for Andrews Field enlisted and civilian personnel. Swimming, a picnic supper, and dancing were the main features of the day. On Saturday night, a buffet dinner and dance were held at the Officers' Club for all RAF and Andrews Field officers.
Forty Air Attaches visited the Base Sunday morning at the invitation of Headquarters AAF. British service women and other members of the British Colony in Washington were also guests here Sunday afternoon. In the evening the RAF personnel attended the AAF band concert given on the Capitol steps.
During the course of their stay in Washington our English guests also went on sight-seeing tours as well as visiting Bolling Field and attending dinner parties and other social functions.
The itinerary of No. 35 Squadron since it arrived at Mitchell Field July 17 from Graveley, Huntingdon, England, via Azores and Newfoundland, has been St. Louis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Tex., and Andrews Field. The squadron is now headed for Westover Field, Chicopee Falls, Mass., where it will remain for four days before completing the cycle back to Mitchell Field. From there they will return to England, where most of the men will await their well-earned discharges.
U.S., Britain Must Retain Air Superiority, Says English Ace
Urges Adequate Funds For Aviation Research
[photograph]
ALLAN J. CRAIG
Regardless of current economic conditions, United States and Great Britain must appropriate adequate funds for research and development of modern military aviation if world peace is to be maintained.
This conviction was expressed yesterday by Wing Comdr. Allan J. Craig, 23-year-old British war hero and the youngest officer of his rank in the Royal Air Force, corresponding to a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. army.
Here on "Operation Goodwill" at the invitation of the Army Air Forces, Comdr. Craig is head of the famed Thirty-Fifth Squadron, the Lancaster bomber outfit which saluted President Truman Saturday in a formation over the White House, and which is being entertained at Andrews Field. With a maturity belying his years, the youthful veteran of 73 European sorties pleaded earnestly for public awareness of the "tremendous changes" taking place in aviation. "The people must be made to understand that present-day aircraft become obsolete practically as soon as they are manufactured. We must not practice false economy with inferior air power. With weak air power we will have inferior peace power," he said.
Craig holds the Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Brazilian decoration and numerous campaign stars. The Lancaster crews will leave Washington Wednesday for Boston and New York, returning to England August 22. They will be feted tonight by Gen. Carl Spaatz and other top A.A.F. generals.
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
Andrews Field News
Description
An account of the resource
First item is an account of the the visit by 35 Squadron at Andrews Field. Second item is 'U.S., Britain must retain air superiority, Says English Ace'. Handwritten notes of Washington addresses.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two newspaper cuttings and handwritten notes on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10041
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-08
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Angela Gaffney
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9629/SMathersRW55201v10025.2.jpg
af4c115ed609668fd68ff4b5bfb8a563
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Army Air Force Day 1946
Description
An account of the resource
Item 1 is 'Roger Jr', a programme of evens of Army Air Force Day.
Item 2 is a printed leaflet welcoming 35 Squadron to Washington.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two printed sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10025
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946
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.
35 Squadron
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9613/SMathersRW55201v10009.2.jpg
09785a570bbe3c25830d11616a069f50
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Operation Goodwill
Description
An account of the resource
A map of North America with a route plotted on it. Airfields visited are listed from Gravely and back. It is captioned '"Operation Goodwill" 8th July to 29th Aug 1946.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed map with handwritten annotations.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Map
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10009
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Azores
Canada
Great Britain
United States
California
Colorado
Massachusetts
Missouri
Texas
Washington (D.C.)
California--Los Angeles
Colorado--Denver
England--Cambridgeshire
Massachusetts--West Springfield
New York (State)
Newfoundland and Labrador
Texas--San Antonio
England--Cornwall (County)
Illinois--Belleville
Illinois
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1946-07
1946-08
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Goodwill tour of the United States (1946)
RAF Graveley
RAF St Mawgan
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/949/9449/PWrigleyJ17040006.2.jpg
d778fdc5e39a6097c11bdf572b6dd30a
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
Wrigley, James. Album
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph album containing 51 photographs of James Wrigley's family, training and post war service in the United States and the Far East with 97 Squadron.
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
Wrigley, J
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Washington, three civilians, aircrew
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is the Capitol, Washington taken from an aircraft and partly obscured by an engine, captioned 'Capitol building, Washington D.C. 1947'.
Photograph 2 is a head and shoulders portrait of a man, a woman and a girl, captioned 'Lloyd, Dolores & Mike Dessaint, Riverside, California. 1947.'
Photograph 3 is six aircrew with a woman in the centre of the line. They are standing in front of a four engined bomber. It is captioned 'Lefty Cowles Jock Simpson Cholly's wife, Self, Johnny Rown [?] Chollerton Hemswell 1948'
Photograph 4 is an airman in an aircraft. He has a tray of mugs. It is captioned 'Tea Up!'.
Photograph 5 is the cockpit of an aircraft with two aircrew at the front and two more behind. It is captioned 'Cholly feeds the skipper'.
Photograph 6 is two men standing beside a palm tree, They are wearing towels, captioned 'Nav. Cook & Skipper Go native. 1948 Negombo, Ceylon'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947
1948
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six b/w photograph from an album
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWrigleyJ17040006
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Sri Lanka
United States
California
Sri Lanka--Negombo
Washington (D.C.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947
1948
aircrew
Lincoln
RAF Hemswell
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/949/9448/PWrigleyJ17040005.2.jpg
3ef6d954aea9d9551b2cf63827930d13
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
Wrigley, James. Album
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph album containing 51 photographs of James Wrigley's family, training and post war service in the United States and the Far East with 97 Squadron.
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
Wrigley, J
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Lincoln, airmen and Bolling Field Washington
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is a Lincoln flying over New York, captioned 'Over New York 1947'.
Photograph 2 is seven airmen in swimming trunks. Five are standing and two are sitting. It is captioned 'Jack Smalley, Harry Boness Reg Williams on the banks of the Ptomac 1947'.
Photograph 3 is an air to ground oblique photograph of numerous aircraft at an air show. The shadow of two Lincolns can be seen on the ground. It is captioned 'Over Bolling Field Washington D.C. on Air Force Day. 1947'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three b/w photographs from an album
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWrigleyJ17040005
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
New York (State)--New York
Washington (D.C.)
New York (State)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947
aircrew
Lincoln
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9444/PWrigleyJ17030001.1.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9444/PWrigleyJ17030002.1.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9444/PWrigleyJ17030003.1.jpg
19205907c6af1cdf5a408446a3b4cfc0
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
Wrigley, James
J Wrigley
Description
An account of the resource
27 items. The collection concerns James Wrigley (1920 - 2010, 1029740 Royal Air Force) and contains an interview with his widow, Alice Wrigley, photographs, his log book, decorations, and a photograph album of his service in the UK and and Far East. The collection also contains a log book made out to Rascal, his mascot or lucky charm. James Wrigley completed 47 operations as a wireless operator with 97 and 635 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Susan Higgins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Wrigley, J
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
Eight airmen and one civilian in a bar
Description
An account of the resource
Eight airmen in khaki uniforms and one civillian sitting around a table in a bar. On the table are beer bottles, glasses and plates with snacks. There is a date pencilled on -31 July 1947.
Above the photograph are three handwritten names and addresses.
On the front of the cardboard mount is printed 'Club Kavakos 8th & H Sts. N.E. Washington , D.C.'
On the back '...where you always get
the BEST entertainment
the FINEST drinks
the CHOICEST foods
2 Floor shows nightly
For extra copies write to:
Photographer
Sens $1 plus description, date and number on back of each photo plus 25c for handling, mailing, etc.
c/o Kavakos Club
8th &H Streets N.E.
Washington, D.C.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-07-31
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph in a printed cardboard mount
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWrigleyJ17030001,
PWrigleyJ17030002,
PWrigleyJ17030003
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.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-07-31
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.
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9443/PWrigleyJ17020001.2.jpg
893413c22dcf082c3e9455538bd3d750
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9443/PWrigleyJ17020002.2.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9443/PWrigleyJ17020003.2.jpg
5d8713cacead1e724e751a29ff7126cf
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
Wrigley, James
J Wrigley
Description
An account of the resource
27 items. The collection concerns James Wrigley (1920 - 2010, 1029740 Royal Air Force) and contains an interview with his widow, Alice Wrigley, photographs, his log book, decorations, and a photograph album of his service in the UK and and Far East. The collection also contains a log book made out to Rascal, his mascot or lucky charm. James Wrigley completed 47 operations as a wireless operator with 97 and 635 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Susan Higgins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Wrigley, J
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
One airman
Description
An account of the resource
Head and shoulders of an airman looking to the side. It is dated in pencil, 29th July 1947. The photograph is mounted in a cardboard holder with 'In Washington It's..The "400" Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge 1425 F Street, N.W. Washington D.C.' On the back of the mount is printed 'Souvenir Photo One Dollar For extra copied write to: Oscar Markovich Concessions The "400" 1425 F. Street N.W. Washgington. D.C. Ask for number on back of photograph'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Oscar Markovich Concessions
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-07-29
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph in a cardboard mount
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWrigleyJ17020001,
PWrigleyJ17020002,
PWrigleyJ17020003
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.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-07-29
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.
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9442/PWrigleyJ17010001.1.jpg
a21c4b6328780b40842c1d27cd58cf6d
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9442/PWrigleyJ17010002.1.jpg
b89a6a5700147825263ad91152a5422e
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/781/9442/PWrigleyJ17010003.1.jpg
b4fc360ceab7f25c3dafb2513036d243
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
Wrigley, James
J Wrigley
Description
An account of the resource
27 items. The collection concerns James Wrigley (1920 - 2010, 1029740 Royal Air Force) and contains an interview with his widow, Alice Wrigley, photographs, his log book, decorations, and a photograph album of his service in the UK and and Far East. The collection also contains a log book made out to Rascal, his mascot or lucky charm. James Wrigley completed 47 operations as a wireless operator with 97 and 635 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Susan Higgins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Wrigley, J
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
Three airmen
Description
An account of the resource
Three airmen seated in a bar. Half length image. They are wearing khaki uniform, one has a signaller's badge. There are three beer bottles, three glasses and an ashtray on the table. The photograph is mounted in a cardboard holder with 'In Washington It's..The "400" Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge 1425 F Street, N.W. Washington D.C.' On the back of the mount is printed 'Souvenir Photo One Dollar For extra copied write to: Oscar Markovich Concessions The "400" 1425 F. Street N.W. Washgington. D.C. Ask for number on back of photograph'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Oscar Markovich Concessions
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph in a printed mount
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWrigleyJ17010001,
PWrigleyJ17010002,
PWrigleyJ17010003
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.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/678/9226/PAsshetonJJ1701.2.jpg
c3d238893eeb38ea9b88a618d2c5124b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/678/9226/AAsshetonJJ170510.2.mp3
5cf1e2f8b43c6c23f973dbf74b34085e
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
Assheton, Jacqueline
J Assheton
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. An oral history interview with Jacqueline Assheton (b.1939) and three photographs. She is the daughter of Air Chief Marshall Arthur Harris.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Jacqueline Assheton and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-05-10
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
Assheton, JJ
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
CB: I think it must have done.
Other: Can you rewind it?
CB: I did it just then and it because that’s why I looked at the counter which I should have done earlier. Right.
JA: What do you want to do now?
CB: Do you mind if we restart?
JA: Yes, do —
CB: Can we do that?
JA: Yeah.
CB: So, my name is Chris Brockbank and today is 10th of May 2017 and I’m in London with Jackie Assheton to talk about her life and times as the daughter of Bomber Harris. So, what are the earliest recollections you have of your life Jackie?
JA: Well, my earliest recollections really are, which was the Bomber Command house in Buckinghamshire near High Wycombe where my pa was stationed and working for the last three years of the war. And that was just a lovely childhood in a big garden with nice friends next door and I wasn’t involved really in what was going on except, ‘Please be quiet your father is working.’ Or thinking [laughs] And everybody in uniform. And that’s really, I don’t really have there was nothing particularly special about it. Occasionally there was some Americans. Rather nice Americans. In uniform again. Who would bring the odd bottle of bourbon, I think. Not for me but for my pa and dolls for me which I didn’t like. I stripped them of their clothes and dressed my teddy bear as far as I remember. Nice things like chocolates. Hershey bars. They appeared. And that was really it.
CB: What didn’t you like about your clothes of the children? The —
JA: What? The dolls?
CB: The dolls.
JA: I didn’t like dolls.
CB: Only teddy bears.
JA: I only liked teddy bears. Yes. So they got dressed up.
CB: And —
JA: The dolls were given away at the local fete, I think.
CB: And your friend next door.
JA: Oh, Posy Johns was a great friend next door. Yes. So, we’ve now been friends for seventy five years having met through the hedge and so that was, we had great fun together. And I don’t think I went to school. No. I don’t think we had, I don’t think there was a nursery school. I imagine possibly my mother was trying to teach me to read.
CB: There probably weren’t schools —
JA: No. I think I was a slow reader.
CB: For under-fives in those days. So, father was CnC Bomber Command.
JA: Yes.
CB: At that time.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Where had you been before then? He’d been, and you?
JA: Oh, in Washington for about eight months I think when he was, before America joined up and I think it was to do with the lease lend. Sorting out the aeroplanes and the people, whatever was coming over. I think that was, he was busy sorting it out and came back after Pearl Harbour.
CB: Right.
JA: And took on Bomber Command.
CB: Right.
JA: So, I was what? Two when I come back. I don’t really remember anything about Washington.
CB: No. So a lot of it is second hand but in the family.
JA: Right.
CB: You know about, there were things going on. So, to what extent did father engage with you in conversations?
JA: Well, never about the war but just what was going on at the time, you know. He was great with young and the children and [pause] but I just didn’t discuss the war. I think particularly by the end of the war he really didn’t talk about it. I think he’d had enough of it. He took to ships. Africa, where we ended up. And life went on from there.
CB: Yes.
JA: So I wasn’t really at all involved in the war.
CB: Just taking a step back when you went out to Washington.
JA: Yeah.
CB: How did you travel?
JA: Oh, we went out on HMS Rodney which I think was a bit of a shock to the captain and —
CB: Which was a battleship.
JA: It was a battleship. Yeah. My poor mother was very seasick. Suffered from claustrophobia so I think she was probably very frightened and I was running around which can’t have been easy. I’ve still got my little life jacket.
CB: Have you really?
JA: Was it called the Mae West?
CB: Yes.
JA: It’s upstairs on my teddy bear and I think it was stuffed with kapok. I think it’s the sort of thing that when it gets wet you actually sink rather than float but luckily I didn’t have to try it out. And then we came back on a, I believe it was an armed merchant cruiser which must have been another slightly frightening journey. But I don’t remember that. I just remember Springfield.
CB: What were your father’s activities as relaxation?
JA: Oh, cooking was his main thing. Probably to the annoyance of the cook during the war because he’d come straight back and interfere in the kitchen and, no he loved cooking and carried on cooking until the end of his life. Loved it.
CB: What sort of speciality did he have?
JA: Well, he was a very good meat cook in that stews and things were his speciality really and roasts. Wonderful gravy. But he did exotic things. Not always appreciated. I do remember squid cooked in their own ink sitting around in South Africa. Nobody would eat them. He was quite cross. Did look awful in the glass jar I must say. And Boston baked beans. We had rows of pots of Boston baked beans in America. Nobody was very keen on those either I don’t think. But no. He was an adventurous cook. He loved it. Is it working now?
CB: It is. Yes. And your father was running Bomber Command until the end of the war.
JA: Yeah.
CB: What do you know about his feeling about the end of the war and the treatment of himself and bomber crews?
JA: Well, he was only really concerned about the treatment and the recognition of the crews and I think he was very upset that they weren’t given more recognition at the time for the crews that survived and for the families of the ones that didn’t. I think that annoyed him a lot. I think he was very relieved to leave the whole situation behind and take to ships. Cargo shipping instead of aeroplanes. I think he’d had enough of it.
CB: Yes.
JA: Not surprisingly, by then.
CB: Because —
JA: But he did mind very much about the boys. As did his last boss. The Queen Mum.
CB: Right. And that prompted him did it not to refuse a peerage?
JA: Yes. And I think I only heard him once saying that he considered it was a job that he’d have to do as he was going to end up living in South Africa. It wasn’t something he was prepared to take on and, no. He wasn’t keen to do that at all.
CB: So, before the First World War he’d been in Southern Rhodesia.
JA: Yeah.
CB: At the end of the Second World War why did he go to South Africa and not Southern Rhodesia?
JA: Well, because he’d been offered this job in cargo shipping by his American friend Henry Mercer who was running States Marine which was a cargo shipping company and they wanted to set up an end in Africa. So, South Africa Marine known as Safmarine was now going strong still in the Cape. So he got back as far as Cape Town. Not as far as Rhodesia which probably quite lucky. I think he would have been very upset to see what’s happened to it now. He was a bugle boy in the Rhodesian Regiment at the beginning of the First World War and then he wanted to, a very long march across South West Africa, he decided then he wanted to finish the war sitting down and so that’s how he ended up in the Royal Flying Corps.
CB: And then had his whole career —
JA: In the Air Force.
CB: In the RAF.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Yes. Well, first of all Royal Flying Corps.
JA: Yes.
CB: And then RAF.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Yeah.
JA: So Janny Smuts was quite a friend of his because he was a great supporter of the Air Force being an independent service, I believe.
CB: Yeah.
JA: I remember him staying with us during the war. I do remember that.
CB: South African general.
JA: Yes.
CB: Yes.
JA: Yeah. And prime minister.
CB: Yes. And what do you remember about being in South Africa as a child?
JA: Oh, well that was lovely because that was pure heaven for a child with the sea and the dogs and the country. The wildness of it. Lovely. I loved that.
CB: And whereabouts was that?
JA: Behind Table Mountain. Wynberg was one of the, near Constantia. And one of those lovely old Cape Dutch houses which was heaven.
CB: And that was, that area was the headquarters of Safmarine was it?
JA: Well, Cape Town was.
CB: Cape town. Right.
JA: Yeah. And the three original ships were [pause] get it right, they were Liberty ships.
CB: Right.
JA: Which I think, I think my pa got that organised in America through Averell Harriman. And they were done up and went out to the Cape and that was the beginning of Safmarine.
CB: So, Henry Mercer was in the States.
JA: Yeah.
CB: What did that, how did that affect your family life?
JA: Well, they were great family friends. We lived in New York but we used to go and spend weekends with them when we were out there and, no so that, that was wonderful because the end of the war my pa was looking for a job and so that all fitted in very neatly.
CB: And did you travel between South Africa and America quite a lot?
JA: Yes. On and off on the cargo ships. I missed out on a bit of schooling here and there. Yeah. And that was very few passengers and quite long journeys in those days. I think it was a couple of weeks to get from New York to Cape Town. No. I enjoyed that too.
CB: When did you return to Britain?
JA: In ’53 and we spent some time living in Cornwall looking for a house and then ended up at Goring nearer London which was probably lucky because it was, my father’s American friends always had itineraries with very little time on them. They got to Goring. They wouldn’t have got to Cornwall. So —
CB: What was he doing when he returned to the UK?
JA: He didn’t have a job. Cooking. Building bridges in the garden. Doing anything practical like that. Oh, and driving a coach and four horses for his old friend who had a collection of old carriages and large Dutch horses and we used to go around the countryside in those exercising them. I think we showed them once at Windsor. He was very keen on that. Then he got rather a bad back and decided it was unsafe sitting up on top of the carriage so he stopped doing that.
CB: And when he returned —
JA: Yeah.
CB: Then he had a baronetcy conferred on him. What was the origin of that?
JA: Well, he’d refused the peerage and the baronetcy. I think actually it was early. I can’t remember the date. Early ’50. Yeah.
CB: Oh right.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Ok. And you’re, on your own side as you got older then what did you do?
JA: Well, after school we went out to South Africa again and then I went to Winkfield. Did my cordon bleu. Following along in the long cooking line [laughs] And, and then I got married rather early and after that I was with my family and children.
CB: So, you had three children.
JA: Grandchildren.
CB: Yes.
JA: And now great granddaughter.
CB: And what did your husband do? Nicholas.
JA: He was a stockbroker and then a banker and then worked for the Queen Mother for a few years.
CB: And did he manage to sort out a lot of things for the Queen Mother?
JA: Well, I think he said it was very well organised already. He didn’t really have to do much sorting out but he very much enjoyed working at Clarence House for nearly five years. She was great and she was a great supporter of my pa. She unveiled his statue.
CB: Excellent and when —
JA: At St Clement Danes.
CB: Yes. And when the children had grown up then did you find yourself involved more with your husband’s activities?
JA: Not his work particularly, no but just running his life. Running our life. A few charitable things like Riding for the Disabled. Doing the church flowers. Nothing stunning at all.
CB: How did you —
JA: It just kept me very busy.
CB: How did the Riding for the Disabled originate?
JA: Oh, well a great friend who was my son’s mother in law was running it at Knightsbridge Barracks and very efficiently she ran it [unclear] and so I used to go help with that. Not with the army horses. With ponies. That was very interesting and that was great.
CB: So, looking back over the years being the daughter of a very famous person who for some people was controversial created a good deal of attention in certain ways. How did you feel about that?
JA: Well, I’ve got nothing to compare it with really and I think my family were very good at protecting me when I was small from it and I kept very much out of controversy since then and very pleased to see the Memorial at Green Park. That’s the one thing that did come in to my life.
CB: The Bomber Command Memorial.
JA: The Bomber Command Memorial. Yes.
CB: Yes.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Yeah.
JA: So, I’ve been really very uninvolved with Bomber Command and so it’s very difficult to fill in the background for you.
CB: Sure. What would you say was the most memorable point about your father’s involvement in the RAF?
JA: Goodness. Well, I suppose the Bomber Command years. That was probably the most traumatic for him and probably for my mother and, but it’s always very nice to meet what he called the old lags. Why they were called the old lags I don’t know. He loved his reunion dinner parties at Grosvenor House and talking to the old boys. And I think that was a great encouragement and support for him. I never heard a word of criticism from them.
CB: But he was always well supported by your mother. How did she feel about the strain? Stresses and strains of her husband’s activities.
JA: Well, again, I mean, she didn’t talk about it. I think it’s a modern thing isn’t it to talk about things and dash off for counselling. Nobody really talked about it.
CB: No.
JA: It would be mentioned but not of any great sort of concern or worry. Again, for the details just go back to Henry Probert’s book.
CB: Yes. Absolutely.
JA: And my life just carried on really without being influenced by the Bomber Command years.
CB: Yes.
JA: And so I haven’t really got any exciting stories for you on that line.
CB: But do you get requests occasionally to attend —
JA: No.
CB: Certain events.
JA: No, only your lovely invitation through, well Posy —
CB: Yes.
JA: Organised that.
CB: Did she?
JA: So, that was great. Yes. That was great.
CB: The Aircrew Association.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Yes.
JA: But, no. No. It’s all a long time ago, isn’t it?
CB: Yes. It is.
JA: Yeah.
CB: But it needs recording.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Accurately. Yeah.
JA: Well, you can shorten that down.
CB: Ok.
JA: To about five minutes.
CB: Thank you very much indeed.
[recording paused]
JA: My pa was a brilliant speaker and it didn’t worry him at all making speeches to any number of people. I think the last Bomber Command reunion dinner there was something like, could it have been nine hundred people in Grosvenor House?
CB: Possibly.
JA: It was something massive.
CB: Yeah.
JA: Yeah. And he got given a little gavel by the, oh my goodness the guys in the red suits who always take charge of ceremonies and dinners for the best speaker of the year.
CB: Right.
JA: I’ve still got it in the safe.
CB: Have you really?
JA: Yes.
CB: Excellent. Yes.
JA: No. He was a great storyteller. Animal stories and things for the children and more serious things. No. He was always very interesting to listen to.
CB: That’s an interesting point. I wonder what the topic would have been for his military dinners. In other words, Air Force dinners but they weren’t just Air Force.
JA: Oh, well I mean his support and his thoughts about Bomber Command and his great admiration for the crews and everything they did was always I know deep in his thoughts and heart.
CB: Because after VE day then the government changed and what did that do for his association would you say?
JA: I think we’d gone to America by then so I don’t think it affected, affected him at all.
CB: No.
JA: No. But that really, again I have a badge that said, “I like Ike.” [laughs] So we were probably more in to American politics than —
CB: Eisenhower.
JA: English ones by then.
CB: Yes.
JA: Yes.
CB: Yeah. Dwight D Eisenhower.
JA: Yeah. Went to see him in the White House when we had tea with him. And so that was rather exciting for me.
CB: Cookies and Hershey bars.
JA: Do you know when we got to America the Hershey bars didn’t taste the same. I didn’t like them any longer. All I wanted was steak and chips with butter on both. I do remember that. That was heaven.
CB: So, by this time we’re talking about —
JA: Oh, the steak and the chips. That was when I was five or six and we were in New York setting up Safmarine and I couldn’t believe that I could actually get a hold of butter. That was the big treat. Didn’t want the ice cream. Wanted the butter.
CB: Who do you remember about rationing in Britain?
JA: I remember sitting in the back of the official car eating a whole lot of cold butter off the block of butter and it was a disaster apparently. I think it was the whole week’s butter ration [laughs] for everybody. I didn’t like eating in those days apart from butter so it didn’t worry me.
CB: And chips.
JA: Didn’t get chips during the war. No. I think the rationing was still going when we came back in the 50s. Meat. Petrol. Yeah.
CB: Till ’54. Yeah.
JA: Til ’54 yeah. No. I’m more interested in food now then I was then.
CB: Do you enjoy cooking now still?
JA: Oh yes. Luckily. I had to do quite a lot of it. Yeah.
CB: And did you induct your children in correct cooking?
JA: Oh, they’re all, particularly my son is a very good cook and very good at his, running his coffee shop and his café.
CB: Inspired by his grandfather.
JA: Probably, yes. Very keen on his grandfather. They all were.
CB: So, there was a good relationship there.
JA: Oh, very much so. Yeah. And we went down there at weekends and holidays to Goring and he cooked for them. Complained he was nothing but a short order chef because they all wanted different things. He kept going until he was nearly ninety cooking.
CB: Did he really?
JA: Yeah.
CB: Yeah. Ninety.
JA: Ignored everything the doctors told him and cooked happily away. Lots of butter and meat and delicious things.
CB: Yes. All the things that are really good for you.
JA: He did quit smoking sixty Camels a day which he smoked during the war when we got to New York. He was told by a heart specialist that he’d better stop so he did. Being strong minded he stopped dead. Never smoked again.
CB: American doctor.
JA: Yes. We were in New York.
CB: Yes.
JA: I think he took a turn for the worse and was told to stop smoking so he did. My mum couldn’t.
CB: Did she —
JA: I think he had one [unclear] on Christmas day after that as a sort of celebration. I think they came out of the same packet so eventually he pronounced them disgusting.
CB: [unclear]
JA: And threw away the pocket. Yes. No. No. He was great.
CB: Thank you.
[recording paused]
CB: I see on the mantel piece there’s a V&A card. What do you do with the V&A?
JA: Oh, I’m in the V&A on Mondays. I do, I’m on the Information Desk and it’s a great museum. We’ve got a great new director and I enjoy that very much.
CB: How often do the exhibitions, well how often do the exhibits change?
JA: Oh, that varies. There’s usually one or two main ones on at a time. At the moment we’ve got Pink Floyd coming on.
CB: Just right.
JA: Yeah. Balenciaga is the next one, I think.
CB: Right.
JA: No. It’s, it’s a great place and Tristram Hunt was the Labour MP in Stoke.
CB: Yes.
JA: And he’s fantastic.
CB: Is he?
JA: Yeah. Yeah.
CB: Good with people.
JA: They all feel he’s really part of the team. And —
CB: That’s his real interest.
JA: Yeah.
[recording paused]
JA: That’s why I —
CB: Rightly or wrongly your father is well known in the context of Dresden and the bombing of it.
JA: Yes.
CB: How did you appreciate that?
JA: Well, I do remember him saying that I think he didn’t want to bomb it at all. It was too far away was one of the main things. But what people don’t realise is he did what he was told to do. Depending on the weather and what was on the list he had to send the boys off to go and do it and it wasn’t the final choice of where, I suppose but it was on the list, you know. I don’t suppose he enjoyed it any more than anybody else.
CB: It's, it’s a —
JA: He did what he was told.
CB: Yes. It’s a bone of contention in many ways from all sorts of aspects but to what extent do you rub against that, up against that with the V&A?
JA: Not at all. Never mentioned. And I didn’t mention it to the last director either.
CB: Right.
JA: You’d best not.
CB: The reason I ask is because there is a Dresden Society which is active in a variety of ways and is to do with the rebuilding of Dresden.
JA: Probably is.
CB: In an, an architectural context.
JA: Yeah.
CB: Apart from other things, and I just wondered whether you got involved in that in any way.
JA: No. No. I mean, I really haven’t been involved in anything to do with war. Bomber Command since the war. I think I was protected from it during the war and it continued from there
CB: Sure.
JA: And so I can’t fill you in on any more. But I know the V&A there’s a few holes in the wall that the Germans left. They’re still in Exhibition Road. I notice they’re still there although they’ve redone that wall. No, the V&A doesn’t.
CB: There isn’t enough money to cover all repairs in these things.
JA: Probably not. No. There’s a great new extension that’s up there about to open. Do you know the V&A?
CB: Haven’t been for ages.
JA: Sorry, that’s the one. No, it’s great.
CB: And —
JA: It’s a delightful museum.
CB: They run a special briefing for you on the desk beforehand, do they? So, that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet at the V&A.
JA: Oh yes. We have so many emails. So many that we don’t really get around to reading them all. No. I think there are big changes now. It’s getting more and more efficient in that way. My only worry is that it’s more and more based on the computer which I’m not very speedy at operating and so they probably have younger people taking over from us old folk quite soon.
CB: What sort of age range do you have of the public coming in?
JA: Oh, everything. Every age. And I, they are encouraging a lot of children to come in. There are lots of activities at the weekends and holidays which is great.
CB: Yeah.
JA: No, it’s a great museum.
CB: Thank you.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Jacqueline Assheton
Creator
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Chris Brockbank
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-05-10
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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
Identifier
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AAsshetonJJ170510, PAsshetonJJ1701
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Pending review
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Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Civilian
Second generation
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
South Africa
United States
Germany--Dresden
New York (State)--New York
South Africa--Cape Town
Washington (D.C.)
New York (State)
Description
An account of the resource
Jacqueline Assheton discusses her father's career in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force and his post war work establishing Safmarine shipping line and his friendship with Jan Christiaan Smuts. Her father did not talk about his wartime career, but enjoyed cooking. He enjoyed talking to Bomber Command veterans and wanted them to have more recognition for their role during the war. She discusses her role as a volunteer with the Victoria and Albert Museum.
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eng
Format
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00:28:13 audio recording
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Julie Williams
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
memorial
perception of bombing war
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/639/8909/AShepherdFH150525.1.mp3
031fe9ea01628bf8d20dbf0d41146e6a
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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Shepherd, Frederick Harold
F H Shepherd
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Shepherd, FH
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Frederick Harold Shepherd (b. 1921, 152660 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 2018 and 15 Squadrons.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
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2015-05-25
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.
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre the interviewer is Claire Bennett the interviewee is Mr. Frederick Shepherd, the interview is taking place at Mr. Shepherd’s home near Kings Lynn on 25th May 2015.
CB: Good Morning Frederick
AS: Good Morning
CB: Perhaps you could start by saying your date and place of birth please
FS: The date of my birth was 8th March 1921 and I was born at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester
CB: Do you remember very much of your early life
FS: That’s either very detailed or very shallow, I was, put it this way, I was the first child of my mother and father, and my next brother, Douglas, was born in 1926, and my second brother, Ronald was born in 1934, at the moment all my family have departed this world so I am the only one left in the Shepherd family.
CB: And your early life until you joined the air
FS: I was schooled in Manchester and on leaving school I joined the company of South American Shipping Association and stayed with them until I went to the Air Force when I was twenty years of age.
CB: What made you join the Air Force
FS: Er, basic inclination was to fly and in that connection I applied to join the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm but I was assured that entry into the Fleet Air Arm was via the Royal Marines, and no one would give me any indication of the gap period between joining and possibly being transferred to the Naval Airforce so I immediately applied to join the Royal Airforce.
CB: And this would have been 1941 something like that
FS: 1941 yes
CB: So where was your first posting to
FS: Ah, I need to qualify that a little bit, I was accepted by the Royal Air Force, er, took physical and mental examinations at Cardington, er, was sent home on deferred entry and I went to Manchester and Salford University for extra schooling on mathematics, geometry, Royal Air Force Law and the Morse Code technique, and that covered the period of time ‘twixt me being accepted and actually being invited to join in London at my, at um er, for the entrance into the Royal Air Force proper.
CB: How long would that have taken about
FS: Twelve months, the training took twelve months
CB: Right, and then
FS: I went into London for initial training, and then to Newquay for what they called ITW that was the initial training wing, before being selected to go into flying which I did immediately I left Newquay I went into basic flying at place called Clyffe Pypard which is in Wiltshire. I’m curious by the by are we being recorded now?
CB: Yes we are
FS: That happened to be the initial training school for flying happened to be a private training school and one or two of the previous employers at the school were still there until young ex flyers that’s not Bomber Command but Fighter Command came to do the training and they were young men of nineteen, twenty, twenty one, and the next part I would not like recorded its purely of interest but not I don’t think it is for the record, I mean these sorry
CB: Would you like me to pause it
FS: Yes, just for your [pause]. So I was taken under the wing metaphorically of a young man who was nineteen/twenty years of age who obviously shown how good he was a flyer and then been sent on to this training base and I found him excellent as a flyer but virtually useless as a trainer because he had no tolerance of my ineptitude for flying [slight laugh] at all and he got all these various flying techniques slow rolls, shuffles, turns and all the rest of them and I was just clinging to the side of the aircraft hoping I wouldn’t fall out [laughs].
CB: What aircraft were you in
FS: Tiger Moths [laughs]
CB: Tiger Moths I see
FS: You’d sit there next to him doing slow rolls and you’d catch everything that was coming out the cigarette ends and everything else that was in there would hit you in the face you know and you weren’t supposed to hold the sides of the aircraft you were supposed to have your hand on the joystick and I didn’t, that’s all part of the fun [laughs], er um, from then what happened next, er yes, I had um, I was taken off all training because playing rugby I had a scratch on my right eye across the pupil and there was a danger that I might not be able to fly at all, so I was admitted to the hospital at Swindon and I was there for a while and finally I was released unconditionally the repair had been affected as far as my eyes but meanwhile I was taken off the training for weeks on end and I wondered whether I was going to go back again but I did, but of course I lost all the people I was with they were well on their way to Canada, shall we go on now?
CB: Yes yes please
FS: From then we were all posted, all prepared for despatch to Canada because they had set up this empire [?] air training scheme which was part in Canada and the other part in Port Elizabeth in South Africa where all this training for all all aspects of flying all duties were going to be covered and we were sent up to a waiting station in Manchester a placed called Heaton Park where the maximum holding of manpower was for two odd thousand and it built up to ten thousand and we had individuals who actually were finding homes to stay in in proximity to Heaton Park this was all because of the big problems in the Atlantic we were going to be sent off by the Queen Elizabeth first boat and because of the submarines and so forth they were diverted they were slowing everything down for obvious reasons and it came to a point there was a terrific overflow from Manchester and they sent a company of us down to the south coast just to deposit us for a while we had only been there for four days and the Germans had obviously been advised and they sent across a fleet and we had a lot of casualties because they caught one flight coming back from training exercise and we had suspected that when we heard the roar of these aircraft that they were English aircraft when in actual fact they were German aircraft who were attacking us and from there that we had only been there for three days and that night or following morning at about two o’clock in the morning we all paraded we went right along the full length of the promenade on both sides of the promenade to the railway station onto a train and we didn’t get off the train until we got off at Harrogate, and from then on we were there for a short period of time despatched to Scotland and for one night only and then onto the Elizabeth the following day and away to Canada.
CB: How long did it take to get to Canada
FS: Four and a half days.
CB: What were the conditions like on board
FS: What with twenty thousand, we ate twice a day and we heard about when we were going to eat and whatever when we got on the boat by having these tickets and mine said two o’clock in the afternoon and two o’clock in the morning and from two o’clock until six o’clock afternoon and evening I was on special guard duty for the whole trip and we were allotted that sort of guard duty from two until six two until six.
CB: And what did that involve
FS: Parading all round the ship like in the daytime, not so much from two am in the morning until six am in the morning round the decks and that was the job its not everybody who had that sort of assignment but when I got on board I was given that ticket which advised me that I was one of twenty one in the bridal suite and that I had these duties from two until six two until six [laughs].
CB: Were you on your own in this bridal suite
FS: No [emphasis] twenty one I was one of twenty one in the bridal suite.
CB: In the bridal suite
FS: Oh yes, seven three tier bunks.
CB: Oh I see
FS: Great fun [laughs].
CB: So you got to Canada docked at Canada
FS: No no we went into New York, we went into New York and then a train travel [?] the likes of which I had never experienced before on the train for about three days off to Canada and we ate and slept we slept on the luggage racks which you could pull down for luggage but we had to sleep on them we couldn’t sleep at all we went up to Canada a place called Moncton which was the assembly point at the beginning of our trip to Canada we went to several stations in Canada for different aspects of training of course.
CB: So from Moncton you went to
FS: Er, one two three four different stations and then the last station was a place called Ancienne Lorette which was outside Quebec City and from there the majority of them were six of us were commissioned out of the thirty six on the flight six of us all went to Prince Andrews Island for this GR training and the rest of them either went straight away into operations in the Far East, as one or two of my friends and colleagues did and the rest of us went to Prince Edward Island for six weeks and then came home and that was it, we were there for about fifteen months all told.
CB: And you were being trained on
FS: All aspects
CB: And you settled for and you ended up where
FS: I had nothing to do with it you were directed I came back here one of the after that they differentiated with you between your badges I got an observer badge fully qualified afterwards that changed to either air gunner or BA which is bomb aimer or N for navigator they split it.
CB: Just to go back to Canada a minute what was the accommodation and the food like from what you had been used to in the UK
FS: No comparison vastly superior because they had no restrictions there in actual fact and that meant either in the camp or going out into the town for dinner I mean the prices were very realistic and the food was superb because it was free choice so when we went into Quebec City itself in actual fact you could dine for silly prices and you had fantastic meals and that’s what it was.
CB: What aircraft did you learn on
FS: Mainly Ansons, mainly Ansons and we had one or two gunnery [?] trips on Beaufighters which I haven’t mentioned before Ansons and Beaufighter
CB: What did you feel about your time in Canada was it happy memories
FS: Oh it was superb long time we had we worked eight days and then had a day off that was the standard eight days and one day off until we arrived in Prince Edward Island surprise surprise there was a weekend we finished work and we had Friday and Sunday off we used to go oyster fishing off Prince Edward Island [laughs].
CB: What were your other recreations apart from oyster fishing
FS: Gymnasium and squash that was about it and walking of course did a tremendous walking lovely particularly from Quebec one amusing incident we a bunch of us went into Quebec to the cinema and when we came out at the end of the show there had been a five foot fall of snow which meant we couldn’t even get out of the entrance of the theatre there so we ultimately got out and one of us went into the the hotel there which I have got a photograpgh of and booked a room and twelve of us occupied the room for the night then we got back to camp the following day the camp was about fourteen miles so I mean it was either snow shoes or horse drawn sleds took us back the following day but that was one of the amusing incidents.
CB: So happy times in Canada
FS: Oh absolutely in the main yes great fun and then coincidence I suppose we came back on the Elizabeth again
CB: Same sort of routines
FS: Yes not quite as cramped [laughs]
CB: How did you feel going across the Atlantic I mean were you frightened you were going to be torpedoed
FS: I don’t think it entered any of our minds at all we changed course getting slightly technical we changed course every seven minutes on that boat which you could realise in actual fact if you were up on the bridge because you could see this in the water purely as a safeguard and we diverted as well south and then turned back again up into New York.
CB: You were you part of a convoy
FS: Oh no, oh no nothing could keep up with that boat that’s why it was superior to the submarines they ain’t got that speed so we got away with it just changing course every seven minutes which is standard procedure and it can be set up by equipment in those days so every day of courseyou can see it so later on in the day you can see where you are crossing because you had left a stream there purely to indicate you changing course and that was entirely automatic until we got into New York and we were only there for a short time but there again talk about hospitality when we got off the boat we were given a little bunch of cards with names and addresses on and [?] please give us a telephone call and it would be an automatic invite to their houses if they were in proximity to where you were and we used to go out while we were there until everything was ready or the onto the train and up into Canada but that was a very nice experience went to big shows called Sons of Fun at the gardens there and they made fun of us course but it was all lighthearted stuff yes but we were one of the early contingents obviously across there into the states and they made a fuss of us while we were there which we accommodated very well and they did it in Canada in Canada the same arrangement the first Christmas we were there two of us David and I went to stay at a family they called them Driscolls and they lived in Montreal they had three children and we were invited there to stay there as long as we want over Christmas they took us up in the mountains up to the top and had Christmas dinner up in the Laurentian Mountains as part of there hospitality suite it was really good.
CB: Wonderful
FS: Oh yes it was no it was and they were also wonderful they used to send parcels to my family in Manchester the Driscoll’s Mr and Mrs Driscoll used to send parcels to my family in Manchester and saying jumping ahead a lot now on our way back from South America when we landed in Washington on VJ Day imagine what that was like and then we flew on to Montreal and when in Montreal I phoned the Driscolls you’ll never guess within ten minutes they said you’re not staying at the Windsor Hotel they picked me up and took me home I had to have five [unclear] with them of course and that was an indication of the hospitality I phoned them and within minutes they were there with the car and I renewed acquaintance with them after several years in Montreal.
CB: How wonderful
FS: More about that later
CB: So you arrived back in Liverpool
FS: Um, no we arrived back in Scotland.
CB: And then what was the next stage of your
FS: Down to down to Harrogate and then on to – down to Harrogate posting to Dumfries where I did an extensive course of specialised bombing for Pathfinders not that was any indication that we were going to [unclear] but that was specialised in training in Dumfries with a Polish pilot by the by very good we used to do specialised bomb dropping as required in these aircraft which I suppose was a Wellington and then down to, er um, down to pick up my crew, yes that’s where I met Mcfarlane and the rest of my crew before we went into mess halls.
CB: And where did you do your crewing up
FS: At um – Chipping Warden near Banbury.
CB: Right
FS: Yes because then in actual fact we were [unclear] break of through Wellington so before that in actual fact we crewed up at this place called Chipping Warden that was Banbury that was a sub station for Banbury we did our crewing up and then went to Chipping Warden and then started flying on Wellingtons purely training didn’t do any operational flying from there I tell a lie we did one operational flight that was on VJ night we flew over France dropping thousands of leaflets.
CB: Would you like to explain the crewing up
FS: Yes certainly we would assemble there was no assembly you just went into a huge hangar and you just wondered around I suppose so that was in the main the captain of the aircraft and in my case that was Squadron Leader McFarlane and he had met one person of the crew at the railway station at Littleport and on the railway station before they got there the two of them had decided that Captain McFarlane would have this other fella and then we got into this hangar and we wondered around and picked up and are you crewed up would you like to join us and we gathered up the crew the two gunners, and then wireless operator the bomb aimers as was then the navigator and the captain and that’s how we formed up and from there we went on to Wellingtons and then Stirlings and then on to Lancasters.
CB: So you first OTU operational training unit
FS: That was at Chipping Warden yes
CB: And your first training your did you know your first training was it leaflets
FS: First training or first flight the first operational flight
CB: Yes
FS: Was on VJ night and on landing night when we dropped thousands leaflets over France
CB: Right
FS: Then from then onwards we went on to Methwold and then Mildenhall ah I am telling lies we went to – Chedburgh that was on to Stirlings no we did no that’s right we went onto Stirlings but before we did any operational flights on Stirlings we transferred to Lancasters so went to Lancaster Finishing School LFS which was at a place called Feltwell just down the road from here.
CB: What date would this have been
FS: I’ll have to check with my
CB: Roughly
FS: Forty end Forty Three beginning Forty Four as near as makes no difference.
CB: So you went from flying on Wellingtons
FS: Yes only the one trip
CB: Only one trip on Wellingtons
FS: Then we went on flying Stirlings but we never did operational flying then we went on to Lancaster Finishing School at Feltwell and then on to operations at Methwold.
CB: What did you make of flying in the Stirling
FS: We didn’t but we had no choice I mean as far as we were concerned when we went training on Stirlings that was the aircraft we were going to fly in operations it so happened coincidentally happily that the Lancaster was coming in and replacing the Stirlings and whateverother aircraft we got and that was going to be the aircraft in this part of the country as opposed to Halifaxes in the Lincolnshire area which was a different group as you realise here we were 3 Group Lincolnshire were that’s what 4 Group glorious place.
CB: So we are now on to now in Lancasters
FS: Right operational flying the usual now what details would you like then I would have to refer to my flying log book.
CB: Certainly lets know some of the targets you went to.
FS: Shall I get my book
CB: Yes that’s fine, Frederick if we could talk about your start the start of your Bomber Command experiences in the Lancaster, so could you tell us about well your first operation.
FS: Yes now lets just have a look and be precise that’s Lancaster Finishing School 208 Squadron Methwold operation was destination was Boulogne can’t imagine what that was about um daylight visit to Boulogne doesn’t mention anything about bombing at all, um then there was a four and a half flight to Dusseldorf that was a straightforward bombing exercise now that would be the one [unclear] Calais [unclear] Duisburg bomb target so it must have been that trip to Dusseldorf when we came back the following morning that we noticed several technical people were busy standing underneath our aircraft gazing up underneath the right the starboard wing of which there was a hole between the second and third petrol tanks [laughs].
CB: And that had been caused by
FS: That had been caused by a bomb being dropped from one of our aircraft above which had gone straight away through between the two tanks without exploding which it should have done on impact.
CB: Incredible
FS: Absolutely absolutely incredible and then we did several trips and – that’s [unclear] that transfer date [pause] ah there we are yes the transfer date to Mildenhall see how many trips we did there, Stuttgart Essen Volks[?]
CB: So you are bombing the major cities now
FS: Yes that’s up to about October forty four
CB: Were you involved in any of the Berlin raids
FS: No not one no scheduled for but cancelled what had happened in actual fact, [coughs] pardon me oh sorry lets go back please to Methwold again because that was I had been talking about our first bombing raid when we actually arrived at Methwold as a crew the previous night they had sent out twelve Lancaster aircraft and five came back which is a heavy loss for one station and we became part of the quite pathetic exercise of moving into accommodation which had previously been occupied by friends of ours and you know when anybody is lost they have a special committee set up particularly with officers and these officers were doing all their duty work and we were moving in the following day so it wasn’t a very good start as far as we were concerned but still we obviously we accommodated it but that was a heavy loss they sustained that night and then the this was the first operational operational job we came back and found that incident the following morning in our aircraft yes so going on now what more
CB: So you went from Methwold to
FS: So we went from Methwold to Mildenhall I’ll tell you about why there had been a loss at Mildenhall there was a vacancy for a new squadron commander and they appointed my captain Squadron Leader McFarlane and they agreed which was unusual they agreed for him to take his full crew so we all went so we were all transferred our affections to Mildenhall and then onwards
CB: And this was with 218 Squadron
FS: From 218 to 15
CB: Right [unclear]
FS: And here we are 15 Squadron at Mildenhall and when there was a loss our captain was a squadron leader so when there was a loss of a senior officer the group captain no it wasn’t a wing commander over they appointed our captain McFarlane to take over from him as a wing commander so he lost his crew for obvious reasons and that crew was taken over by a Squadron Leader Percy and at that point I was appointed I was taken out of the crew and appointed as bombing leader for 15 Squadron and I also I became squadron adjutant at the same time reporting again to my previous captain McFarlane so I was taken out of my crew at that time.
CB: What does being adjutant involve at that time
FS: All the clerical work on top of which I was the leader of the bombing section so I was actually the bombing leader which you had to have in every squadron he’s the guy who goes to all the early meetings to take advice for onward transmission to the people of what was going to happen that night so that was so I had those two jobs I had still when I was so I was then whipped out of my crew and another individual appointed to the crew which was then being handled by Squadron Leader Percy who had taken over from McFarlane so I lost my crew because of my other involvements and I stayed in that situation until surprise surprise I was advised that I had been selected to accompany Harris now the reason how they did that they obviously they wanted an aircraft and I will show the aircraft that had been modified afterwards they wanted what was I going to say, how they chose who was going to do what they chose 15 Squadron because it was the oldest squadron in the air force to do these flights for Harris and having chosen the aircraft from 15 Squadron they took out the leaders from each department bombing section navigation section [unclear] section and those leaders all were part of the crew that’s the crew I have got in the photograph next door so from that point onwards I was involved in away to Africa America Canada and everything and left the crew behind.
CB: So your operational life stopped
FS: It stopped
CB: How did you feel about seeing your crew going off and having been given these new duties
FS: Well I was immensely proud because I mean it was quite an assignment we were going to go on we had no idea at that time we’d only got the shadow of what was going on we knew he’d been invited I’m talking about Harris because he’d been in Africa before he came to England he was been in South Africa he’d been invited to various places and the South er the Brazilian Government had invited somebody out there to commemorate the arrival of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force which had gone to Italy and not fired a shot and got back home again and they declared a national holiday [laughs] and coincidentally we were due to be arriving in Rio de Janeiro before they arrived back and that was what that was all about.
CB: There must have been a terrific sense of comradery on you know when you were flying with your crew that you had been with such a long time.
FS: [laughs] of course yes but it had to be severed the initial severance was when I was appointed the bombing leader which immediately took me out because only on rare occasions I had one or two rare occasions when a particular crew would be short of a bomber for one reason or another and I stepped right into their jobs that was quite harrowing to be a foreigner so to speak with a crew because you get used to your crew their attitude their application and even their reaction to situations but to go with another crew I found that quite tough going yes I flew with a Canadian crew on one occasion and they’d had several very rough experiences with I’ll mention one a decapitated bomb aimer came back in the aircraft and there were others now the crew in relation to my crew which were far more disciplined but with respect they hadn’t gone through the sort of operation now that crew with whom I flew on their twenty second operation were very little discipline there at all I think they were very concerned about what had happened on their previous operations they bailed out and they had done lots of other things and I flew with them as the air bomber for them and I found that the disciplines were very sadly lacking which was reflected on the chattering that goes on over the telephone the intercom which was fairly evident but still that is by the by and you ride that situation which I did.
CB: Did you just fly the one operation with them
FS: Yes yes yes just the one
CB: And did your crew your original crew did they survive the war
FS: Yes they did yes yes yes they did, no they did yes in spite of all the losses yes yes
CB: So you are now given these new duties and the next thing you hear is that you are going to be flying with Harris
FS: Right
CB: And when did you first see him when did you first meet him
FS: At the first place before we were going to, let’s get the dates – where I finished up [flicking through pages of flying log] – it all started in July Forty Five.
CB: Oh so
FS: Yes July Forty Five it started that’s when I met up with Wing Commander Calder a scots ex dambuster and he came down and I started flying with him as a co-navigator and then that was just before the trip started now the actual trip do you want to go on to when the trip started.
CB: Well if we can go back to Calder what would had been your you know your trip tours after the war in July Forty Five what were you doing with Calder.
FS: He was the captain of the aircraft taking Harris around the world.
CB: I see
FS: Yes.
CB: Right so
FS: Calder was ex bomber no ex Dambuster Squadron yes that’s Wing Commander Calder double DSO double DSC no seriously he was only twenty one brilliant.
CB: Yes so he was the pilot
FS: Yes he was the pilot
CB: So you would be the
FS: I flew with two navigators on this
CB: So you were the navigator on this because obviously we weren’t this wasn’t any hostile flying involved.
FS: None at all
CB: It was just
FS: Hardly, hardly
CB: It was just taking Harris around
FS: Yes quite literally and all that went with it.
CB: So what did you make of Bomber Harris
FS: I found him most of all to if I used the term a gentle person obviously a very strict disciplinarian but in actual fact on a personal basis on the occasion when I was talking to him he was much a very relaxed bearing in mind with what he had to contend as I mentioned before it wasn’t an easy life for him at all he had to virtually fight for possession for his own force and he had the big people in government who were contesting him in many instances I could name names but there is no point until he finally bearing in mind as I mentioned before the junior service the first being the navy the second being the army were very much the junior service and he didn’t find he’d get his own way at all in spite of the plans he had laid and the proposal view put before the big people like Portal and others who didn’t entirely agree with him that getting behind the German war machine by tackling in reducing to ruins their equipment factories that were providing the aircraft and all the aircraft parts was what he wanted to get at he didn’t find it easy until apparently he did get his own way and that’s when the war then moved to the German armoured factories which was part of the beginning of the end so to speak so the rest of that in actual fact is devoted to flying we did the whole of Africa and then started off we should have gone we went to a little aerodrome in the South of France for refuelling then we should have gone to Crete but we got to Crete and they said on no condition that you land because we have got a fever that is sweeping through Crete which could be dangerous so we didn’t drop off at Crete at all our next port of call was Egypt and then we went right the way down Africa staying at various places until we got to Cape Town.
CB: What was the purpose of Harris’ travels
FS: There was really no purpose these were just invitations from these people overseas to express their appreciation of what he’d done for Bomber Command and in the longer term what he had done in the country in terms of accelerating the close of the war and I suppose a thank you for the fifty five thousand who died during the war because this came out in all his little addresses that he gave in actual fact he was conscious of that fifty five thousand he dropped it in quite loosely everywhere so that was the trip and we came back only for a short period of time and then went on to the South American trip flying down the west coast of Africa to a place called Bathurst and then flying across from Bathurst to North Brazil and down to Rio de Janeiro and then all the way back calling in at various places British Guyana etcetera etcetera etcetera up over Florida and landing on VJ Day in Washington for the big celebrations which we joined in and at that time met big people like General Arnold and General Eaker with whom he Harris had been negotiating years before for the Americans to come into the European war instead of devoting their care and attention to the Japanese which was arguably their main drive force in actual fact he was one of the individuals we had dispatched to America to talk it over and in fact these two individuals were present when we landed in Washington so it was quite a gathering quite a gathering yes.
CB: Do you know if Harris knew that they were going to drop the atomic bomb in August
FS: Oh yes
CB: He knew so was it timed that he would be in Washington at that
FS: No
CB: No
FS: He didn’t we did our trip across South America Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo addressed the British community in Sao Paulo this is where the fifty five thousand came up again and purely by coincidence I met a young man there an Englishman who had completed his course at [unclear] university when I went there and he had transferred his affections to the equivalent of our administration organisation and he had joined that in Sao Paulo and as he mentioned he said if you ever thinking about coming over here do get in contact with me and we will see what we could do this was in Sao Paulo South America and we had that closeness in that part of our education of being in the same place at slightly different times we got round to discussion this and he said well wait a minute I was there too when were you there and I realised I had gone there when he’d left in Manchester quite astounding yes quite astounding [laugh] we kept in a bit of correspondence for a while but I had no intention of going to South America in actual fact at that time well by that time I had left [unclear] and was working in Mareham I had met the lady who was going to be my future wife who’d had a little girl whose husband had died and any thoughts of going out of England had gone she came from Kings Lynn in actual fact.
CB: So how long was this flight with Harris
FS: Oh right –
CB: Right Frederick so you have started with going around Africa and so on in July Forty Five and you actually came back in August Forty Five so do you look on that time as a pleasurable month did you enjoy doing what you did with Harris
FS: Oh fantastic I mean these places I had never visited before I’d never been to Africa before and we I say we just went to these various places in Africa stopping for two or three days and at each place from Cairo to Cayga [?] I mean as far as I was concerned that was fantastic we did all these wonderful things in the Sahara into the jungle at night time you name it we did it of all the places to stay in Nairobi we stayed at the Norfolk Hotel in that location and to things like seeing all the African workers sitting on the steps making things like I’ve got those forks knives and forks actually making them and selling them to us in actual that was a new experience going out on night time safaris going out on night time sing songs in the jungle and all that sort of thing we did going to moth and butterfly museums quite absolutely incredible.
CB: Did Harris join you for any recreations
FS: No, for some but mostly he was at a much higher level than we were and were concerned with our I mean we went to Mombasa we went down we did the big things like going down a gold mine for instance going down a gold mine and you go down a gold mine instead of going straight down there you go about seventy five degrees and six of you go down at a time two two two and you go down at a fantastic speed at about that angle that was the Wanderer Gold Mine and I’ve still got specimens I joke not I’ve got specimens of gold that they gave us at the gold mine fifty sixty years ago I’ve still got them I don’t know what they are worth but these are specimens inside that you see petrite [?] it’s called inside the petrite[?] is pure gold.
CB: Gold that would be worth now these days
FS: Oh bound to I might take it to see that fellow who does gold in Lynn he’d say oh thank you I’ll have this bit its worth a couple of pounds couple of pounds sorry I joke but no it showed I had a fantastic experience in those places we went to a place in Bathurst on the West Coast of Africa from which we flew to South America and we went they took us down to a cellar where the native bunch were all sitting on the floor making filigree and we could buy it and we could buy it for ridiculous prices I mean low low prices and we all bought our specimen as few of but actually to sit there and watch it being made that was a fantastic experience that followed not quite such a fantastic experience when we were landing in Bathurst a place called Halfdie [?] which has taken its name from the fact that they had a plague which wiped out fifty percent of it and thereafter named it Halfdie [?] and the last few hundred yards in we encountered a terrific sandstorm and we couldn’t see a thing out of the aircraft it was kind of landing by instinct and we got out of the aircraft and it was torrenting down and we were absolutely saturated and they persuaded us to strip off and put clothes on and they put all our clothes on to fast heaters so we went in there was a crisp uniform standing up in the corner which you had to break to get it on [laughs] like this crack crack crack it was quite ridiculous and we had a function an important function that night and there was our stuff we had to wear everything shirt vest and pants was rock hard [laughs].
CB: I assume Harris’ stuff wasn’t
FS: No he had six spare uniforms in his luggage that was incredible we had that photo they had just taken all our clothes away and woosh we’ll dry these for you [laughs]
CB: Now after the war if we can just conclude with Harris he didn’t wasn’t treated very well
FS: No no he wasn’t
CB: Nor was Bomber Command for that matter
FS: No no no
CB: Did you have sympathy with Harris at this time about how he was treated
FS: Oh yes I think we all did I yes I suppose even then the realisation of what sort of if I can put the wording in the battering he had to get his own way and the fact and even the fact that it was proven beyond any doubt that what that the plans he had put forward and etcetera which had met so much opposition at one time and then finally he got his own way and got the power behind his throne that he wanted to do what he wanted to do with Germany in spite of [unclear] and all that I suppose we all had a tremendous amount of sympathy and a tremendous amount of respect for his dogmatic approach in actual fact to get not his own way for words sake for getting his own way for the benefit which would be derived in him getting permission to do what he wanted to do and the result was the war came to an end so I suppose at that time we thought a great deal of him.
CB: And did you all think you know a great deal of him during the war when he was he had this programme
FS: Yes that was the general the general sentiment yes he didn’t mean admire he wouldn’t expect to meet any opposition at that it was patently obviously what we had to do and one was certainly not send the trained crews to handle the Atlantic war in spite of how vital that was I mean we talking about hundreds of thousands and when you look at the figures of what was going down ‘twixt and ‘tween American and where they were delivering the goods to place like Archangel and Murmansk North of Russia and then there was all those goods coming through Russia into the European war in spite of all that and the tremendous demands which were made upon him by as I say the Navy to send to have some trained forces so they could handle the Atlantic war well of course that wasn’t realistic in anyway there was nothing that we were doing in Germany to identify with anything to do with the Atlantic war that was something quite different admittedly they wanted the aircraft and unless they could have the aircraft and they could have the armaments to be able to drop bombs on submarines which was a bit wild gesture anyway that might have been might have made a contribution towards the more positive influence of all the shipping that was coming across the Atlantic than it did because we wouldn’t I remember the speeches in parliament by Churchill ex hundreds and thousands and thousands of tons of zinc had gone down and then the humanitarian aspect of how many they had lost at sea I don’t suppose any of us could identify that with sending trained Royal Air Force crews into the Navy to do what you know one of the things you were supposed to do to have a fleet of aircraft over the Atlantic dropping bombs on U-boats bearing in mind we had U-boats out there trying to blow the air out of the Germans anyway but that was I suppose that could have taken a different more important role entirely had that shipping gone down a more I mean with these vital elements that were arriving from America in Russia well it was a contributory factor obviously and hundreds of thousand tons going down in the Atlantic meant nothing at all to that building up that war coming down from Russia through Germany etcetera so we had a great deal of respect for him and he was a person who you had a great deal of respect for anyway not because of his position and his number of stripes in actual fact his dogged determination to get his own way for the benefit of not he for the benefit of the war.
CB: Well
FS: Sorry to interrupt but this came out in his speeches that he gave overseas in South America and the particular one we all attended in in Rio to the British contingent he was quite emotional about [unclear] the losses that had been sustained doing what he wanted to do.
CB: Of course Churchill after the war distanced himself from Harris.
FS: Oh yes yes
CB: His strategy and Bomber Command what do you feel about that
FS: We had a very strong feeling extremely strong feelings the war was over then we could say but wait a minute we succeeded but it wasn’t that easy in actual feel there was a tremendous amount of ‘oppo’ of course a lot was caused by the Dresden business that manifested itself too I remember that we haven’t touched on it yet Joy and I were specially invited to the memorial service the unveiling service for the house you’ve got all the details for that
CB: Yes
FS: Because I’ve got all the details just digressing for a moment only because of my association close association for a short period of time I had special dispensation to attend the church we had seats you had to pay for them but we had seats reserved at the church for the unveiling ceremony which was the Queen Mother of course.
CB: Yes
FS: And that was sorry to be digressing just for a moment and when we got the invitation it was a question of where it was so forth how you get there so forth and I said ‘oh there’s no point taking a car there’s thousands going there’ having a contact at The Savoy I phoned my contact and got a reservation in their garage for my car and again realised you come out The Savoy turn right and there’s the church so Joy and I went up there I was in full regalia medals and all chat chat chat[?] and went in there and had breakfast in The Savoy [laughs] there were people coming up and whats going on oh yes we’ve got something special going on down the road and then walked out the front and walked out and there was the church and we had reserved seats that was packed to capacity as of course the Queen Mother was there of course she performed the unveiling ceremony and again there was a terrific uproar in the background on her lefthandside at the back it was subdued but in actual fact it started off being very very rowdy and she continued on with her little citation for the opening and it came very interesting from Joy and I point of view my group captain from Mildenhall was then the chairman of the Bomber Command Association and his duty on that particular day was to escort the Queen Mother round and into the law courts where we were having [unclear] or teas coffee whatever I mean so he took and upside in his wheelchair was Cheshire so we could shake hands with Cheshire that’s purely by the by and we got inside and we wondering how difficult this is you’ve got two hands a cup in one hand a plate in the other one said help yourself and we were in this sort of situation and a voice boomed out it was my group captain ‘Shepherd would you bring your good lady over’ and we were introduced to the Queen Mother as spontaneous as that no preparation at all so Joy went across and was presented on the spot that was a lovely instance and that was my group captain.
CB: Yes
FS: From Mildenhall so where have we got to as far as your concerned
CB: I know that you were involved even on a slight degree with Operation Manna
FS: Oh yes on experimentation that’s right
CB: So how did you come to be involved in that
FS: There wasn’t much and I signed on for an extra six months no I’m getting things out of timing I came back to Mildenhall and everybody had gone all the bodies had gone all disappeared and there was [unclear] bombing leader who would need a bombing leader after the war [?]
CB: This is April Forty Five Right
FS: That’s absolutely right and I had come back I had finished full of my trips overseas America and everything else and that was excitement at the tail end of when we arrived in Washington of course it was madness and from there we flew up to Duval which is Montreal in the Lancaster of course in preparatory for coming home and we flew off from there and landed in Newfoundland and took off for the trip back to Prestwick which the navigator and I the two of us that was going to be an entirely star navigation back home as an experiment two three thousand miles so we dropped all the mechanics we concentrated on star shooting with our cameras and moon charts and we got a freak tuning from Prestwick two thousand three hundred miles from Prestwick so that pointer came there and we had a beam it up so that we could tell exactly where we were coming over the county it was fine we had a fire on the outboard engine on the starboard side of the aircraft a fire no problem just press the button to extinguish it, press the button to extinguish it, nothing happened so we had a fire in the starboard engine so the only think that Calder could do we were probably about twelve fourteen thousand feet high was to put the aircraft into a very steep dive and it worked it blew the fire out the engine so on investigation we found that when we dropped into Duval for final check up they had not put the fuses back into the system so [sighs] it was a toss up shall we turn back into Newfoundland rather than risk anything and that’s where they confirmed there were no fuses in the fire system whatsoever so we thought we’d choose this got airborne and came back to Prestwick [laughs heartily] but these things what happen we could have gone down there and had no well they wouldn’t know well they would have had a rough idea of where we’d gone down but fat lot of good that does [laughs] well yes that was the spot yes you can see it no can’t see any bubbles a simple thing like that happen yes and that was on the return flight. So back now Manna
CB: Right Manna
FS: So when I came back to Mildenhall there was no job for yours truly but they had a vacancy up the road in Mareham in the experimental unit for Manna and not much alternative I had my service to do and I wanted a job so I was posted in actual fact to take over this Manna thing now that involved researched into a sort of canister that we were handling that had to go on board laden with goods and lifted up into the bomb bay and writing up a report and making recommendations and so forth and on one could be tragic as far as I was concerned we got everything ready we got a pannier fixed inbetween these two containers with whatever to make weight and upstairs one of the armament people was controlling the hoist and halfway up the hoist gives way and I am standing with my hands on the edge of the thing and I took my hand and the whole of the thing crashed down into the pannier it would have just taken it off at the wrist and we looked at the hoisting gear it was clearly marked ‘US’ and they had used it oh there was a terrific stink because the person actually totally responsible was the person doing the mechanical winding upstairs was clearly marked anyway but that’s the time I could have easily lost my two wrists so I continued on my balance on my extra six months writing up reports and so forth and then I left the Air Force.
CB: So for Operation Manna the supplies couldn’t be dropped by parachute so they were in these cannisters.
FS: Yes they were an oblong framework and supported with release gear [unclear] by the pound in actual fact these are the continued developments experiments if you like that we were conducting and it was changing fairly rapidly what was being called for because we were getting reports back from Holland and Belgium on how things were landing and what sort of degree of damage occurred etcetera and what was the ideal height for dropping and they were putting up these tremendous haystacks I suppose you could call in actual fact them to cushion the thing and they worked then I came away from the operation so they built these fields with twenty foot haystacks totally soft so they cushioned everything so the percentage of damage incurred by the contents was minimalised and that was when I came away came out.
CB: So you really finished with the war with Operation Manna and taking Harris out two positive ways to finish the war.
FS: Oh very much no question about that I assure you
CB: Rather than finishing it off on a bombing mission
FS: Yes yes absolutely
CB: And how did you feel when you you know
FS: Well tail end of course the humanitarian thing came in and it was the most simple thing in the world in Kings Lynn at the Dukes Head throughout the war every weekend every Saturday evening throughout the war they had an officers invitation dance at the Dukes Head Hotel and they meant officers and it was at one of these occasions at the officers dance I went along there and surprise surprise I met Joy who was on about her second time out having lost her husband who was a bomber pilot university bomber pilot straight from university straight in.
CB: They had their own squadrons didn’t they
FS: Absolutely yes he did complete his first tour of thirty trips came out unscathed was sent to train pilots who were going to be involved in the dropping of a bridge too far sort of thing he did all his training and he was called back to do his second tour of operation and on his second trip on his second tour went down coming back from Cologne and left Joy with a little girl she was then three and I met her and got married.
CB: What did you do after the war
FS: I worked for a company called Nestle on the sales side and I became responsible for recruitment and training and development for the whole organisation I was with them for thirty years wonderful company international of course head office in a lovely place called Vevay in Switzerland on the banks of the lake and I was with them for
CB: Did you live out there
FS: No went but no lived in England moved about England when Nestle moved their head office into Croydon and had this twenty two storey block the first one they had seen in Croydon and they occupied the whole of the building because they brought in all the associated companies into one building the associated companies being the likes of Kieler, Crosse & Blackwell, Toblerone, Findus all the associated companies which were dotted around that all came into the head office twenty two storey block in Croydon so I was there until I retired and then I started work.
CB: How would you sum up your time in the Second World War and Bomber Command
FS: Well it’s tough I mean apart from being revolutionary of course which it is to my mind I don’t know what would have happened if I had stayed with the South American Shipping Association which was involved obviously in shipping goods to South America and that came to an[unclear] end at the start of the war because you couldn’t expect boats to go out there so there was no job so that’s a bypass so answering your question because it’s obviously so revolutionary and so different to what it would have been and I couldn’t imagine what I would have done had I not gone into the Air Force well I suppose life would have been fairly steady progressing with an organisation and at some stage deciding I wasn’t going far enough fast enough and getting out but I mean that was wiped off by going into the Royal Air Force.
CB: So you obviously had to volunteer so did you
FS: Ah you can’t go into the Air Force Royal Air Force without being a volunteer.
CB: No
FS: As you know
CB: Yes
FS: So I had to volunteer I had to go into the Air Force after I had tried to go into the Navy fortunately the Air Force they said yes please thank you rather than the Navy did no no no [laughs].
CB: So well a time really of excitement danger new experiences
FS: A mixture of all of those I mean the new experiences were embodied in the African trips and so forth and at the end when we were coming home from Africa we spent some time in Greece in Italy on the way back so it was really a very comprehensive trip and whilst we down in particularly Rio de Janeiro that was absolutely fantastic I mean you have seen pictures of it Copacabana Beach but we went out to place called Quichaninnia [?] about seventy miles out we had never ever I had never in my life seen a hotel like that out there it had its own everything I mean I mentioned things seventy pianos for a concert seventy pianos indoor and outdoor ballroom indoor and outdoor swimming pools and it was situated actually on the banks of a river so you could get out at night time and go right the way up the river which were all lit from this Quichaninnia [?] Hotel all lit right up into the hills fantastic place.
CB: So these are all experiences that you wouldn’t have had.
FS: I could have afforded it we were honorary members of everything when we arrived there golfing club swimming club the lot they’d opened everything and across the bay from the statue you know it’s the English quarter and that was fantastic a bit of England on the opposite shores of Rio de Janeiro.
CB: Wonderful it’s been fantastic and interesting to hear all your experiences so thank you very much Frederick.
FS: It has if it identifies with what you are looking for fine yes.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Frederick Harold Shepherd
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Clare Bennett
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
2015-05-25
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AShepherdFH150525
Conforms To
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Pending revision of OH transcription
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Format
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01:11:50 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Frederick joined the Royal Air Forcein 1941. After going to Cardington, he was given deferred entry and studied for a year at university. He was invited to London for initial training, followed by the Initial Training Wing at RAF Newquay. He did basic flying in Tiger Moths at RAF Clyffe Pypard before going for 15 months to different stations in Canada. He trained mainly on Ansons.
On his return, he went to Harrogate and was then posted to RAF Dumfries where he did a specialised bomb dropping course for Pathfinders. Frederick crewed up at RAF Chipping Warden and trained on Wellingtons. He did one operation, dropping leaflets over France.
Frederick then went onto Stirlings at RAF Chedburgh before Lancasters at the Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Feltwell. He carried out several operations with 218 Squadron at RAF Methwold. Frederick then moved with his captain to RAF Mildenhall when the latter was promoted. He carried out several operations on major cities. Frederick was appointed as bombing leader for 15 Squadron as well as the squadron adjutant.
Frederick was chosen to accompany Arthur Harris, flying with Charles Calder as a co-navigator. The crew were all section leaders. Frederick describes Harris’s personality and the leadership challenges he faced, expressing his sympathy and respect. Having refuelled in the south of France, they went through Africa and on to South America and the United States, arriving in Washington on VJ Day.
Frederick signed on for another six months and went to RAF Marham in the experimental unit for Manna before leaving the RAF.
Contributor
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Sally Coulter
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cornwall (County)
England--Manchester
England--Norfolk
England--Northamptonshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Canada
France
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1945-08-14
15 Squadron
218 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
bomb aimer
bomb struck
Flying Training School
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
perception of bombing war
propaganda
RAF Chipping Warden
RAF Clyffe Pypard
RAF Dumfries
RAF Feltwell
RAF Heaton Park
RAF Marham
RAF Methwold
RAF Mildenhall
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington