Browse Items (389 total)
- Temporal Coverage is exactly "1940"
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Interview with Hans-Walter Bendzko
Hans-Walter Bendzko reminisces about his wartime experiences as a young boy in Berlin, before being evacuated. Describes his time at Wannsee, being properly looked after while surviving one of the Berlin bombings. Mentions incendiaries falling into a…
Peter Hattersley's Service Diary
A service diary written by Peter Hattersley covering the period from November 1930 to 24 September 1948.Initially he served in the Royal Engineers but in February 1936 he joined the RAF. It covers his training and operations including a newspaper…
Sam Saunders, Training in Canada
Two printed sheets with six photographs.
The text describes his early training then transfer to Canada learning on Ansons in the snow.
Photo 1 is Sam standing in the snow outside a hut.
Photo 2 is a ship.
Photo 3 is Sam and friend leaning on an…
The text describes his early training then transfer to Canada learning on Ansons in the snow.
Photo 1 is Sam standing in the snow outside a hut.
Photo 2 is a ship.
Photo 3 is Sam and friend leaning on an…
EJ Saunders
A biography written by his daughter about her father. It describes his early years but mainly his time in the RAF.
Photo 1 is of EJ Saunders.
Photo 2 is EJ Saunders cycling on an egg and spoon race.
Photo 3 is his Mother, Francis and…
Photo 1 is of EJ Saunders.
Photo 2 is EJ Saunders cycling on an egg and spoon race.
Photo 3 is his Mother, Francis and…
Interview with Jack Harris. One
Jack Harris was born in Gillingham, Kent. At sixteen, he undertook employment as a clerk in the intelligence department of the Air Ministry. He describes the brief evacuation of his department to Harrow in 1939 and receiving permission to leave his…
Interview with Frank Colenso
Frank Colenso grew up in Cornwall and worked for a local newspaper at the outbreak of the war. He recalls the return of injured survivors from Dunkirk into Falmouth Bay. He joined the local defence volunteers following the bombing of Falmouth and…
Interview with Susan Chapman
Susan Chapman talks about her father, Charles Reginald Jaques. Reg Jaques grew up in County Durham and to improve his prospects for employment he studied by the light of the streetlight. He secured a job with a local authority in Shropshire. He met…
Interview with John Whitworth
John Leslie Whitworth was born in Sutton Coldfield. Signed up for the Royal Air Force in 1940, finally being called up for service in 1941, before starting his training at the Initial Training Wing in Torquay, followed by more training at RAF Sywell…
Roy Chadwick - no finer aircraft designer - Part 2 (draft)
Continues from Volume 1. Starts with chapter 16 which covers the design and production of the York. Chapter 17, the war effort and rewards. Continues with part V - into the jet era. Chapter 19 covers civil airliners and the Shackleton. Chapter 20:…
Roy Chadwick - no finer aircraft designer - volume 1 (draft)
The story of Roy Chadwick, Chief Designer of A.V. Roe & Co Ltd from 1919 to 1947, The aircraft he designed, and the lasting contribution he made to Britain's aviation industry. Covers chapter 1 - 15. Starts with early years and then a has a chapter…
Peter Field - a memoir
Starts with account of life at school (Rendcomb College) from 1931 to 1937. Continues with decade 1938-1948 starting with time at Cheltenham Art School in 1938 and 1939. Continues with account of wartime activity including enlistment, training at RAF…
Interview with Dr James Hendrie Burt. One
James Burt conducted his medical training St Andrew’s University in Scotland. Although he and his friends had tried to join a Service during the war their training was a Reserved Occupation and not only were they refused but they were strictly told…
Interview with Bob Hughes
Bob Hughes joined the RAF as war became likely to avoid repeating his father's First World War experience in the trenches and transferred to the RAF Volunteer Reserve when war was declared. He trained on Ansons and then flew in twin-engine Blenheims…
School reports
School reports for Charmain Quitmann from Neil School.
Interview with Jack Wakefield
Jack Wakefield grew up in New Zealand and volunteered for the Air Force and the Army. He trained as an air gunner on Defiants before being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Feltwell where he completed a tour on Wellingtons, flying operations to locations…
Interview with Pat Hickton
Pat Hickton was born in New Zealand. His mother passed away when he was young and he spent his childhood in a number of foster and children’s homes until he started working on the railway. He volunteered for the RAF and began training as a rear…
Conversation with Hamish Mahaddie
Conversation recorded for the Nanton Lancaster Society.
Hamish Mahaddie, the recruiter for the Pathfinder Force recalls the life of Ian Willoughby Bazalgette VC who plagued him weekly for the opportunity to join the Pathfinders. He had been posted…
Hamish Mahaddie, the recruiter for the Pathfinder Force recalls the life of Ian Willoughby Bazalgette VC who plagued him weekly for the opportunity to join the Pathfinders. He had been posted…
Interview with Coby Van Riel
Coby Van Riel was aged about six when the Germans invaded Holland. She lived in a fishing port area of The Hague, where her father had numerous jobs to make ends meet in the difficult days before the war and her mother ran a chemist shop. She…
Interview with Robert William Maggs
Robert Maggs lived in London until his family were bombed out and moved to the seaside. He joined the local Air Training Corps and later volunteered for the RAF and trained as a gunner. During training his plane crashed and he was left trapped. He…
Interview with Henry Harris
Please note: The veracity of this interview has been called into question. We advise that corroborative research is undertaken to establish the accuracy of some of the details mentioned and events witnessed.
Interview with Edward Allan McDonald
Allan McDonald was born in Hull and worked as an apprentice electrician before joining the Air Force. He passed the exams to become aircrew and trained as an air gunner. During training, his aircraft crash landed and he was soaked in petrol. He flew…
Interview with Dirk Bosch
Dirk Bosch was eight years old when the German army occupied his home town of Amsterdam. In this interview he describes what life was like for him during this time. He refers to seeing Dutch Jews rounded up and deported. He describes the hunger of…
Oboz Lotniczy w Lyon, wiosna 1940
Photo 1 is a head and shoulders portrait of Mieczysław Stachiewicz in uniform.
Photo 2 is a group of men in a dormitory. There are no beds and the bedding is on the floor. The men are in uniform.
Photo 3 is a group of men outside in a yard.
Photo…
Photo 2 is a group of men in a dormitory. There are no beds and the bedding is on the floor. The men are in uniform.
Photo 3 is a group of men outside in a yard.
Photo…
Map of Lyons, two control passes and a Secours National badge
Item 1 is a map of the centre of Lyons.
Item 2 is a post it note in Polish.
Item 3 and 4 are small tickets marked 'Controle' with Mieczysław Stachiewicz name handwritten on.
Item 5 is a badge in red, white and blue with 'Secours National' -…
Item 2 is a post it note in Polish.
Item 3 and 4 are small tickets marked 'Controle' with Mieczysław Stachiewicz name handwritten on.
Item 5 is a badge in red, white and blue with 'Secours National' -…
Oboz w Septfonds, wiosna 1940
Eight photographs on a page captioned 'Oboz w Septfonds, wiosna 1940'.
Photo 1 is two lines of soldiers.
Photo 2 is a column of civilians led by two soldiers.
Photo 3 is a group of civilians walking under an arch. A French and Polish flag are…
Photo 1 is two lines of soldiers.
Photo 2 is a column of civilians led by two soldiers.
Photo 3 is a group of civilians walking under an arch. A French and Polish flag are…