Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Zimbabwe]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--London]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Zimbabwe--Gweru]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1941]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Africa]]> Egypt]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Kent]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1948]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--London]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Germany]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Amsterdam]]> Netherlands--Rotterdam]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> South Africa--Queenstown]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Bruges]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-30]]> Joan got engaged on her 21st birthday in October 1939. Her finance got his call up papers to join the Royal Sussex some days later.
Joan and her mother went to Hastings for Christmas 1944 to stay with her grandparents. They returned home on boxing day to find that their house had been destroyed. The shelter which they would have used was burnt out and the occupants were all killed. She stayed in Hastings to look after her grandmother until she married. Her husband was a stretcher bearer and was taken prisoner in May 1940. The prisoners had to march from France to Poland where he was in Stalag 7B. During that time, he had appendicitis and was operated on by a German doctor. While a prisoner he worked with horses and in the salt mines. The prisoners were marched from Poland to Germany towards the end of the war before being released. When he returned home, they got married and he worked as a prison officer at Wormwood Scrubs. He retired at 55 and died at 57.
Joan had a variety of jobs since the end of the war and retired at the age of 63.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Hastings]]> England--London]]> France]]> Germany]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> 1939]]> 1939-10]]> 1944-12-25]]> 1940-05]]>

In 1939, he tried for aircrew but crashed three aircraft during flying training, so was pushed to join the maintenance unit. After equipment training at RAF Halton in 1940, he passed out and was promoted to flying officer in charge of supplying stations in the UK and overseas with everything from uniforms to aircraft. He was promoted in 1940 to flight lieutenant. Between 1939 and 1940, he was part of the training wing as an instructor at RAF Grange-over-Sands.

In 1941, the same year his son Jeremy was born, he was stationed at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. In March 1942, Charles was posted overseas, travelling from Liverpool to the Middle East headquarters supply. He then transferred to the Rear Air Headquarters Western Desert, and then to 33 Air Stores Park.

After his time in the Middle East, Charles was posted to Southern Italy, working alongside the Balkan and Mediterranean Air Force. Charles saw out the war at RAF Morcombe, RAF Cardington, and RAF Greenham Common, before retiring from the RAF in 1961 but remaining in active positions until he was 65. Charles died aged 86. ]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jennie Mitchell ]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Second generation]]> Algeria]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Italy]]> Malta]]> North Africa]]> Northern Ireland]]> Italy--Bari]]> Great Britain]]> Great Britain]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1942-02-14]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-11]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>
Eric describes his basic training in London and Torbay then recollects his technical training at RAF St. Athan. He then went to 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Marston Moor and joined his Halifax crew. In 1944 they were posted to 102 Squadron at RAF Pocklington where there were told that they wouldn't last three weeks.
Eric and his crew carried out a vast range of strategic bombings including daylight operations on V-1 sites, night operations on The Ruhr and Essen, night and daylight operations to oil targets, minelaying in the Baltic. They also provided tactical support in support of Allied troops near Caen and in the Ardennes, where they were badly damaged by a fighter and the mid-upper gunner received serious injuries. After landing at RAF Woodbridge in fog using FIDO he was hospitalised and did not fly again. The crew also supplied petrol to troops in Belgium, enjoying the low-level flying on these trips
Eric describes the sound of shrapnel hitting the aircraft, recalls a bomber exploding in flight, but dismisses the Scarecrow theory. He describes the use of Schräge Musik against the bombers; how search lights in the Ruhr operated, the use of H2S and how the master bomber controlled the rest of the formation.
At the end of his tour Eric remustered and was posted at RAF Jurby as airfield controller. From there he went to RAF Topcliffe and was demobbed in January 1947. Eric went back to the railways for ten years before working in local government. He retired in 1978, moving to Cornwall. While at RAF Pocklington he dated Cora noting that her parents made feel like a son. But he then ended the relationship because, with his own life in such jeopardy, he thought it was unfair on her. After the war he married Ellen, who he had met when starting his first job with the railways.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Andy Fitter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Devon]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> France]]> France--Ardennes]]> France--Caen]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> France--Nieppe Forest]]> Germany]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Denmark]]> Denmark--Bornholm]]> 1923]]> 1937]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1944-01]]> 1944-02]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-09]]> 1945]]> 1946-05-25]]> 1947-01-02]]> 1957]]> 1974]]> 1975]]> 1976]]> 1977]]> 1978]]> 1981]]>
Vivian was demobbed in January 1946. After the war, he worked for a year on Five Maintenance Unit at RAF Kemble.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Essex]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Kent]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Wirral Peninsula]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Guernsey]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> 1938-07]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> William Evans]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Wiltshire]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Persian Gulf Region]]> 1938]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1939-12-14]]> Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Croydon]]> England--Suffolk]]> France]]> France--Lorient]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Poland]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Netherlands]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1940-07-10]]> 1940-08-15]]> 1940-12-25]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943-06-27]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-23]]> 1943-08-29]]> 1943-09-23]]> 1944]]> 1945-08]]> 1946]]> 1947-05]]> Civil Defence]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> 1939]]> Corporation of London]]> Home secretaary]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Physical object]]> Physical object. Decoration]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1943-12-01]]> 1939]]> 1945]]> D Donaldson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Frances Grundy]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Hertfordshire]]> England--Lincoln]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1945-03-31]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly ]]> Mal Prissick]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1943-06-25]]> 1943-09-27]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Dunkerque]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943-12-20]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Upon leaving school, and unable to obtain employment in his chosen career, his father arranged a bound apprenticeship with a joiner. Attracted by the glamour of the RAF, when almost eighteen, and without his parent's knowledge, he travelled with a friend to Sheffield and they both enlisted in the RAF. Entry was initially deferred until Ron was at the required age. He describes his route through training, on successful completion of which, his crew joined 578 Squadron. In February 1944, Ron’s aircraft was attacked from behind, killing the rear gunner. With limited control of the aircraft, the remaining crew was forced to evacuate and Ron was immediately captured. Following interrogation, he eventually arrived at Stalag Luft 7. Whilst there he met a fellow prisoner playing a piano accordion. Having learnt to play in his younger days, Ron describes how further instruments were obtained and the formation of a concert party which enabled them to entertain their fellow prisoners. However, they were also required to entertain the German officers which caused some concern to Ron, but they received meals in return. There was a known collaborator amongst the prisoners, and care had to be taken to ensure no loose talk gave away any information. In January 1945, the advancing Russian army forced the evacuation and the prisoners were forced to march to Stalag 3A. This took several weeks in temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius, and improvised sledges were used to pull weak prisoners. Following liberation, Ron returned home to discover his mother was terminally ill. He spent some time on general duties before being discharged and with support from the RAF, was able to complete his apprenticeship. Contact with some of his crew has been maintained in conjunction with 578 Squadron Association, with several visits to the grave of the rear gunner. The site of the crashed Halifax, with the body still in position, was located when civil engineering was carried out in the area. ]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Worksop]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Burma]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> South Africa]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942-02]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> ]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Lincoln]]> 1939]]> 1941]]> David Donaldson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Hamble-le-Rice]]> Scotland--Easter Ross]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Exning]]> England--Ely]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--London]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1934]]> 1937]]> 1938]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> David Donaldson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Frances Grundy]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Donald Briggs]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Doreen Burge]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> New South Wales--Orana Region]]> Victoria--Geelong]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> Douglas Hudson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Mike Connock]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Text. Training material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--South Ayrshire]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> E Hookings]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Middlesex]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Nottingham]]> England--Warwickshire]]> England--Stratford-upon-Avon]]> England--Manchester]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Toronto]]> Québec--Montréal]]> United States]]> Oklahoma]]> Oklahoma--Ponca City]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Homburg (Saarland)]]> Ontario]]> Québec]]> 1920]]> 1939]]> 1944]]>