Browse Items (371 total)
- Temporal Coverage is exactly "1940"
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Interview with Joyce Bell
Joyce Bell grew up in Hertfordshire and joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1940. She served as a clerk in 1 Group Bomber Command where she met her husband and she travelled with him to Canada where he was posted.
Interview with Dr Marjorie Birch
Dr Marjorie Birch was born and grew up in London. She was evacuated with her younger sister when war was declared. She later trained as a medical student in London. She describes her accommodation opposite Kings Cross Station and the bombing. She…
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 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 Rosemary Dorricott
Rosemary Dorricott is the widow of Leonard William Dorricott DFM. During the war years she was a young child in Skegness. She was six years old when war broke out. She recalls the air raids on the town and the rationing and blackouts that became a…
Interview with Mary Ellis
Mary Wilkins Ellis was born in Oxfordshire and became interested in aviation at a very early age. She experienced her first flight with Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus. Mary learned to fly while still at school and obtained her licence in 1938. When…
Interview with John Eppel
John Eppel grew up in Australia and joined the Royal Australian Air Force. After training, he completed 30 operations as a navigator with 550 Squadron. He describes initial training in Australia and the journey by sea via the United States, then…
Interview with Priscilla Henwood
Priscilla was encouraged by a friend’s father to join the 600 Squadron in anticipation of the war. She was called up and was based at Finsbury Barracks, involved in recruitment. Priscilla also worked on the telephone exchange at Clerkenwell.
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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…
Interview with Harry Irons. Two
Harry was under age when he joined the RAF in 1940 after witnessing bombing in London. He went to Blackpool in August 1941 and became a rear gunner. Gunnery school for six weeks at RAF Manby followed, and Harry joined 9 Squadron at RAF Waddington. He…
Interview with Johnny Johnson. Two
George ‘Johnny’ Johnson was born in rural Lincolnshire. As a child he won a scholarship to Lord Wandsworth’s Agricultural College in Hampshire. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War and was selected for…
Interview with Susan Jones
Sue Jones was born in Manchester. When the mill where she worked closed at the beginning of the war, she went to work for Avro. She worked on Ansons, Manchesters and then Lancasters. She describes the camaraderie on the factory floor. She also found…
Interview with Lawrence Larmer
Lawrence Larmer was born in Australia in 1920. After completing school he went to work on the Beaufort aircraft in the Department of Aircraft Production. He was called up in 1942 and volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force to avoid the army.…
Interview with Sinclair Nutting
Sinclair Nutting Grew up in Canada and worked on the family farm before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew operations as a rear gunner with 405 Squadron. After the war he emigrated to Australia.
Interview with Cecil Parsons
Cecil Parsons was born in 1918 in Victoria, Australia. He volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force in 1939 and trained as a pilot in New South Wales and Canada as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme before being posted to England in 1940. He…
Interview with Les Rutherford. One
During this interview Les describes his experience as a despatch rider in France in 1940 before escaping from Dunkirk and returning to the United Kingdom, eventually joining the Royal Air Force. He also describes his training in South Africa and his…
Interview with Joe Shuttleworth
Joe Shuttleworth was born and raised in Brisbane but also spent a lot of time with family in the Melbourne area. He volunteered for aircrew and soon began training as a gunner. After initial training he sailed to the United States and on to the UK.…
Interview with Don Southwell
Don Southwell grew up in Australia and worked for RKO Radio Pictures and as an Air Raid Precautions Warden before volunteering for the Royal Air Force. After training in Australia and Canada, he flew nine operations as a navigator with 463 Squadron…
Interview with Max Spence
Max Spence grew up in Australia and worked in a hardware store before he volunteered for the Air Force. He recounts his training in Canada and in England and life on an operational station. He flew 18 operations as a navigator with 460 Squadron.
Interview with Wanda Szuwalska
Wanda Szuwalska was sixteen years old when Germany invaded Poland. The family was deported to Siberia by the Russian army. They travelled for several weeks to the Arkhangelsk region where Wanda then worked as a logger. When war intensified between…
Interview with Eric Taylor
Squadron Leader Eric Taylor joined the Royal Air Force in 1942 and served as a navigator. He served in North Africa and completed a tour of operations against targets in Italy before becoming an instructor in England. He describes the differences in…
Interview with Geoffrey Whittle
Squadron Leader Geoffrey Whittle was born in London. After leaving school at fourteen he became an apprentice printer in the family business. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force on the outbreak of the Second World War and trained as a navigator.…
Interview with Tito Samorè
Tito Samorè recollects wartime memories in Milan, when he was a member of the Balilla youth organisation. Remembers the outbreak of war and its announcement on the radio. Describes the first bombing of Milan in 1940, stressing how the wooden…
Interview with Les Rutherford. Three
Les Rutherford joined the army and was in the 51st Highland Division which formed the rear-guard defence, allowing for the evacuation of Dunkirk. He escaped out to sea on a barn door and was picked up and taken to England by a French trawler. He…
Interview with Colin Wood
Colin Wood grew up in Sheffield and worked as a plumber until he volunteered for the RAF. He trained in Canada and flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron from RAF Metheringham. On arrival at the station his pilot and three others made their…