Left page: top left, a report of a gorse fire on Harpenden Common. Centre, seagull in flight, annotated 'original photograph taken by Bob'.Top right, weather report; middle, attendees at a police dance, annotated 'Geoff Shaw was in the same squadron…
Bertie Salvage joined the RAF in 1939 as an apprentice and initially began his technical training at RAF Cranwell before training was transferred to RAF Halton and also shortened because of the start of the Second World War. Bertie was present when…
Ernie Groeger volunteered for the RAF in 1940 while working at a textile firm. He undertook training to be an armourer and was posted to 97 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa. Over time he developed ill health and he was discharged from the RAF on health…
Les Rutherford was called up for the Army just short of his twenty first birthday. He was in France at the time of Dunkirk and made it to the beach of St Valery where they were under constant bombardment. He and another soldier found a door and…
Wilf Keyte joined the RAF in 1937 and was based with maintenance units. He was posted to Scampton and Henlow where he worked with the Queen Bee missile unit. He was then posted in charge of stores to the Orkneys and then RAF Swinderby. Wilf was then…
Gwendoline Thickett grew up in Rotherham and was a young girl at school when the Second World War began. She was in Sunday School at her local church when the news of the declaration of war was announced. Her parents had already begun to prepare for…
Memoir detailing a teenage girl's experiences of the war. The document details experiences of evacuation, the blackouts, sounds of the war during air raids and what they saw on the streets of Liverpool.
John volunteered to join the RAF in 1940 wanting to become aircrew as a wireless operator as he had an interest in early radios. While awaiting his aircrew application to be processed he did his initial training at Blackpool and then onto RAF…
A letter written in French, with accompanying English translation sent to Mrs Hunt. The French letter was written by an Auguste Bally, an Adjudant in the Gendarmerie. The letter is sent as a reply to Mrs Hunt, thanking Bally for information on her…
A letter written by the Commodore Superintendent Piers Keane Kekewich to the Admiralty, detailing the various reports on the the Malta Dockyard during the war.
Each page documents a table of attacks on the docks of Malta. The air raids detailed in the table record the raid number, number of casualties, damage (both place and extent) and damage to ships and equipment.
A list detailing the different types of vessels that were docked at Malta between September 1939 and May 1945. Classes of ship are listed with the number of each vessel that was docked. Ships also refitted at the docks are recorded, by name and how…
A list detailing items intended for use by the armed forces manufactured in the dockyards of Malta. The list also details the number of each individual article manufactured since June 1940.
List of 68 vessels that were docked in Malta’s yards for repairs from September 1939: Chenonceaux, Franconia, Garland, Keppel, S.S Cornwall, Imperial, Decoy, Hotspur, Havock, Andromeda, Illustrious, Coral, Beryl, Essex, Ploughboy, Encounter,…
When Italy entered the war in 1940, air raids were conducted over key military targets and peaked during the first half of 1942. Attacks ceased altogether by 1943 once Italy had surrendered. The various dockyards maintained efforts to keep ships in…
Frederick Davy’s Pilot’s Flying Log Book from 14 December 1940 to 30 March 1943 detailing his pilot’s training at 22 EFTS, 12 SFTS, 15 FTS and 15 AFU. Served at EFTS Cambridge, RAF Grantham, RAF Cranwell, RAF Kidlington, RAF Kirmington, RAF…