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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1101/11560/ARoffeyRA180830.1.mp3
9782808fa9c0889463c3ada508d99d10
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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Roffey, Ronald Arthur
R Roffey
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Ronald Roffey (b. 1930). He was evacuated and remembers the bombing.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2018-08-30
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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.
Identifier
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Roffey, R
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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AC: This is Andrew Cowley working on behalf of IBCC. I’m interviewing Ronald Roffey at his home in Chislehurst, Kent. We are the only people present. The date is the 30th of August 2018 and it’s five past two. So, Ronald, if I can call you that —
RR: Sure.
AC: If you’d like to start me off about your family life and go on to the bombing and then on to your cousin.
RR: Right. Ok. Well, my full name is Ronald Arthur Roffey. I was born in Charlton, South East London in, on the 2nd of May 1930. I went to school in Charlton, at Junior School. And I was nine when war was declared. Just before that I went to, I was in the infant school at Maryon Park School in Charlton which was my school, and remember vividly the amount of material that was being produced on the problems that were happening in Spain in the Spanish Civil War and as a child it was quite frightening to me to see vans with loudspeakers on and big posters with children and mothers running from being bombed in Spain. So that was my pre, that was how it all happened and then of course we came along. War was declared. I remember going to be fitted with my gas mask in Maryon Park School. My school. And then of course we had the situation with evacuation. I was an evacuee. I didn’t, I wasn’t evacuated with my school. My mother’s sister had already gone to, decided to leave London because of the threat of the bombing and she, she moved to, took temporary accommodation at Torquay in South Devon. And when the situation came about my mother asking her whether I should be evacuated my aunt found my mother and I a private billet in Barton just outside Torquay and we went there during what was known as the Phoney War when we were all expecting to be bombed immediately. And for the first three months of course nothing happened. So I was down in Torquay. I went to, I lived in Barton on the outskirts of Torquay and I went to Barton Hill Road School. And my mother left me there with this, with my new parents but I wasn’t there very long. I had that I wasn’t one of these evacuees that was gone for four and half years and came back. Because I was privately situated I seem to somehow come back to London on two occasions. The first occasion I came back to London on the 7th of September 1940 when London was blitzed quite badly. I travelled all the way from Torquay on the train on my own bearing in mind I was ten. My mother met me at the barrier at Paddington Station and we got the train down to Charlton and my first memories was getting out of Charlton Station and the sky, this was in the evening, the sky was red. It was just red. And when we walked, we lived on the Woolwich Road which ran parallel with the river very close to what is now known as Charlton Riverside and all of the north bank of the, of the Thames was alight and we could see them because we lived on the Woolwich Road. There was nothing between us and the river except the factories on the southern, southern side of the river and we could see the fire, and the fires burning and the whole night sky was red. So I was back. I was back in London. I went back to school in Maryon Park School in classes that had all ages. We went one week mornings, one week afternoons. And I got to the age of eleven and I was, it was decided that I would go to Woolwich Central School. Now, Woolwich Central School was located in Bloomfield Road, Plumstead so of course I had to get the bus from Charlton. The 53 bus from Charlton to school in Plumstead. And during that, during that time I was in London we had an Anderson shelter in the garden that my father put there at the beginning of the war. Dug the hole in the garden and he dug it very deep so he had a little corridor that went down. It wasn’t half in and half out. We had a little corridor that went down with steps and I used to stay in the shelter with my grandmother, my aunt and my mum. Dad was a firewatcher. He went out dealing with the, with the incendiaries etcetera that were falling, and we were, we were in London during those terrible days when we were getting in the shelter at five in the morning, sorry seven in the evening and getting up at five in the morning and we had bombs dropping all around us. Our nearest escape apart from having all the windows and doors blown out of the house. We had a, I lived four doors from a public house called the Horse and Groom on the corner of Charlton Lane and the nearest we had was an unexploded oil bomb that fell in the garden of the pub and our Anderson shelter was adjacent by knocking on the pub door. And I can remember vividly when the all clear went at five, 5 o’clock in the morning of coming out of the shelter, going into the house and sitting down at the table in our below level of the house and a shadow on the window. And it was a policeman with his helmet and he took all the whole window up. I just saw this face with a helmet and he said, ‘Sorry, but you’ve got to get out. You’ve got an unexploded bomb in the garden at the back of your — ’ So we all had to get out. My aunt, my grandmother had a sister that lived in Upper Charlton near Shooters Hill Road near the Charlton Lido. She had a flat there and we all picked up our bits and pieces and we all decamped to her flat there and again we took shelter in Anderson shelters that were dug into the grounds of these flats near Charlton Lido. From then on I, I generated to go, I started to go back to, to Torquay. My next memory is my, my aunt who was still there found me some accommodation at another house in Barton Hill Road. Not the same house as I was at. I was with the elderly couple who mum and I were with, but she found me a house and I went down on my own and I lived in a house that a lady took me in. Her name was Coward. Mr and Mrs Coward and she had three boys of her own and she took me and another lad in. So back to the same house. Back to the same school and I stayed there. I stayed at Barton Hill Road School until [pause] Well, I can’t remember the number of months, but I was due to leave school to go to another school in Babbacombe Downs which was the, was the local Central School. But I didn’t last that long because I was back in London again. I can’t, I can’t time it. It just, I was just back in London. And of course I came back for the flying bombs. The V-1s and the V-2s. I came back to Charlton, went to and of course started to go to Woolwich Central School in Bloomfield Road. Getting the bus. And we had instructions from the headmaster that we were not to travel during air raids, but of course that was impossible with flying bombs because you didn’t know when they were coming. So I get on the number 53 bus and by the time I’d got to Plumstead the warning had gone several times and invariably I always arrived at school during a, [laughs] during a warning but nevertheless we soldiered on. It was full time school there. We then moved on to the V-2s which were a little more lethal, and my experience there was one day we were, by the way it was full time. It wasn’t morning or afternoons. We were back to full time school by this time because we were getting towards the end of the war although we didn’t know that at the time and we were all in the playground and a rocket fell on the Lord Bloomfield which was a pub at the top of, on the estate at the top of the Bloomfield Road. It fell behind. And of course we didn’t know anything except it just went bang and all the glass in the school came out and we were in the yard playing. Fortunately none of us was hurt but we were all, there was glass everywhere. And that was my experience of World War Two. I finished school when I was seventeen. Still at Bloomfield Road.
AC: Did [coughs] did you have any thoughts when you were being bombed about who was doing it and what the British were doing in the way of bombing?
RR: No. Not really. I knew it was the Germans of course. And, but as far as the other things that were going on that never came in to, never came into my thoughts at all. I was more concerned in getting out the shelter, getting to school, coming home and just getting on with my own life. No. I never thought about what we were doing. Except that of course all the flak and the guns and God knows what but no.
AC: Ok. So, perhaps we can go on to your cousin Richard Stanley Bastick.
RR: Yes.
AC: What can you tell me about him.
RR: I was nine when war broke out. My, just very briefly before I do that my, my father was one of ten and it was a very loose family. Lots of families in those days were quite close but my father’s family was quite unclose if that’s the right expression. He kept in touch with some of his brothers and, but he didn’t keep in touch with all of them so not, I didn’t know many of them, but I did know Richard. Richard’s mum. Rose Lilian was the girl in the, my father’s family. My father was the youngest son so I think Rose because she was the only surviving daughter took, I suppose took my dad under her wing because he was her youngest brother and he kept in touch with her. I was nine, Richard was nine years older than me. So of course I never ever met him. I heard about him briefly when my dad got in touch with his sister and she said, ‘Oh, Dick’s gone off,’ Blah blah blah. And it was only what I heard from mum and dad talking at the table because I was just a kid. You know. And I thought oh Richard’s going into the forces. Full stop. So I never really met him. He came, he came within my orbit if you like much later. I, I went to, I was, I met my wife my present wife, my current wife when I was, left school at seventeen and went to work in London. And we married in 1953 and in the few years and I can’t remember exactly but in the few years before we got married we were engaged for three years. So I knew, Joan and I were going together when I was twenty. And it was during that time just before I was twenty and just after I was twenty that my father and mother took me to Richard’s mum Rose where she lived in Belford Grove, Woolwich. And it was on one of those visits that obviously after Dick had been presumed killed, missing and Auntie Rose as I knew her of course was terribly, terribly down. It had a very profound effect on Rose. He was her only child. Most of my father’s family had only children strangely enough and Dick was Auntie Rose’s only son. And his loss really had a profound effect on her. She turned to Ouija boards where we all sat around the table and we all put our fingers on the glass and it told, it told what wanted to ask us questions. That was my first and Joan’s first introduction to that sort of thing but it really was critical for her. And when we visited her and it wasn’t often but when we visited her she had this little picture of Dick on her mantlepiece and she always tried to show me the face of the child that was in his flying jacket. She could see a child’s face in his flying jacket. He was with his crew and in front of his aircraft and she could see this child’s face and it really, whether because he was her only son and I understand from what my mum told me that she’d had several miscarriages I think she’d had trouble having, having a child, and whether that that, all that difficulty registered with her and Dick was a lot closer maybe than a mum and son I don’t know but it really was, had a profound affect and she never shook it off. She and Gordon, her husband we visited her several times and I married in 1953 and I know Rose was, said to me would I, would I like to go and live, buy her house from her because she and Gordon were thinking of moving. And it wasn’t our cup of tea but we, we sat and talked about it and we decided no we didn’t. But she then, they then moved to Battle in Sussex, East Sussex and from there on in Joan and I used to visit her and Gordon at this little bungalow they had in Battle. And we visited them twice a year until Rose died in 1970 and then Gordon died some years later. But that was my connection. All I knew. So it was I never knew Dick, never met him but through his mum I got to know him quite well.
AC: Did she tell you anything about his time in Bomber Command?
RR: No. Not a thing. Except that he was in Bomber Command and that he was lost and his remains were not known. Nothing about Bomber Command at all.
AC: Right. But yet have you found out something about him? About what he did with Bomber Command.
RR: No. I’ve gone through the records. I’ve had, I’ve been in touch with the Air Ministry and so on and I got all his training and so on. Where he went and what he did and so on but only the official stuff. But no. As I say I never met him. I wish I had have done but because of the difference in our ages of course that never took place.
[recording paused]
AC: Right. Perhaps we can go back to when you were in the Nissen hut being bombed.
RR: Oh, when I was in the Anderson shelter.
AC: Sorry. In the Anderson shelter.
RR: Right. The Anderson shelter. Yes. We were in the Anderson shelter as I’ve mentioned. In at seven up at five. And then after a while my grandmother who was of course elderly became quite ill, and because of going out in the cold weather, going underground with an oil stove inside and the fumes of the oil stove and God knows what she became very ill. Doctor used to visit her and go down in to the Anderson shelter to treat her. But when we got her out it was decided that maybe we ought not take shelter below ground but to find somewhere else. My father worked in Siemens. In fact, the Roffey family had several hundred years of service with Siemens. Brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins. But my father worked in Siemens and Siemens had their own air raid shelters built in, just in the precincts of the factory and he arranged for us to go and shelter in these concrete shelters. Reinforced concrete shelters. So we walked along the Woolwich Road in to the works and went down there. And we spent several, several weeks if not longer sheltering in Siemens Brothers’ shelter. Moving on that, that stopped for some reason and I don’t know why but during the V-1 when the V-1s started there was some brick shelters built in Charlton Lane. From the Woolwich Road we lived on the almost on the corner of Charlton Lane, next door to the Horse and Groom which was on the corner. We lived three doors from there and opposite the Horse and Groom across Charlton Lane was Holy Trinity Church. So you had a church on one corner of Charlton Lane that butted on to the Woolwich Road and you had the pub on the other corner. And on the path and halfway in the road there were some brick shelters built. Surface shelters. And during the V-1 raids we used to travel from our three doors away across to the brick shelters next to the church and shelter in there. So [pause] and we, we sheltered in there through the V-1s and the V-2s.
AC: And do you have any memories of your emotions? What you were feeling while you were in the Anderson shelters?
RR: I never for one moment felt frightened. I was more, I was more concerned because my father was a fire watcher and he was doing all sorts of things putting out fires. I was more concerned about his safety then mine. But I never had, felt any emotions whatsoever. It was just something that we had to go to the shelter. The banging and the movement of I never for one moment felt afraid. It was strange but I didn’t.
AC: And how did you pass the time while you were in the shelter?
RR: I just can’t remember.
AC: Yeah.
RR: We used to go in there. Again, it was a community. Being a brick shelter we weren’t the only, it was built with bunks either side with a corridor down the middle and elsan toilets at the end and two bunks and all the families. So I presume, I can’t remember but as children we used to play. And later on in the war we used to, I was very friendly with a boy that lived in the pub. In the Horse and Groom. He was a little younger than me but we became quite friendly and I spent lots of time with him, but no I can’t really remember what we didn’t in the Anderson [laughs] in the brick shelters.
AC: What about in the Anderson shelter? What did you have in there?
RR: The Anderson shelter was it was two bunks either side. We had this oil stove. My father being a sheet metal worker had created, had built a flue with a cowl on the top through the soil so to let the fumes out and so on. So we had a, but then there were other heaters in there and it was covered with blankets. One thing I do remember, come to mind now that I really did get frightened was we went to the brick shelter in the evening but of course the flying bombs, the V-1s were coming over all day and of course I was at home all day. Mum and dad were doing their jobs. My dad was in Siemens, my mother was a shirt, worked at the shirt factory in Woolwich and I was at home with my grandmother and the warning went one day. The warning went and I got grandmother down in the Anderson shelter in the garden and I stood, because there was like a little, it was underground and it came up two steps and up on to the path in the garden and I stood by the door in the garden and I could hear this flying bomb coming and I looked up and it was coming across from Charlton Village. Now, I doubt you know the area. I’m on the Woolwich Road down the riverside. Charlton Village was up the hill and I could see this flying bomb coming towards me. Towards me. It wasn’t actually but that’s what it looked like and suddenly its engine stopped and it started to come down and it started to come down towards me coming down. And that really, I was really very, very frightened. And I was on the point of rushing down and getting in the shelter when I looked again and it turned around. In its fall it turned around and it flew back towards Charlton Village and it fell on the Bugle Horn, the public house in Charlton Village. And if that hadn’t have turned around I’m sure it would have come down but that was my only frightening moment.
AC: And what about damage around where you lived? Were you —
RR: There wasn’t. Apart from windows out, doors out and so on the main damage was because Siemens was a German factory and Lord Haw Haw always said, ‘Siemens, we know where you are.’ That was obviously a prime target for south, for the south of the river where we were. There were bombs. There were no bomb, bomb damage that I could, from the Woolwich Road along through the Woolwich Road but there were a few bombs dropped from the East Street, West Street and Manor Way that ran down towards the river adjacent to Siemens. But no actual, there were no, I couldn’t remember any actual bomb damage in the, in the locality.
AC: And what about any of your neighbours or friends? Have you got any memories of what they have told you, or anything you did together? Maybe with your friends.
RR: I was, it was during this time I was going, my, my grandmother I also, also lived in the house with my mum and dad and my grandmother. My grandmother had a, had another daughter living with us. My mum’s sister who was who was a spinster. And she, whilst my mother was working and dad was working my auntie, Auntie Lou used to take me to school and so on when I was young and so on. She, she used to attend the Holy Trinity Church two doors, two doors away. I, I was encouraged to go with her so I attended Holy Trinity Church. I joined the choir. A lot of the local boys were in the choir. We had an extremely good vicar, Father Hopkins who, he was also the local Scout Master and I was in the 29th Woolwich Scouts through the war at that time and also in the choir. I was confirmed. I think twelve was the age of confirmation. I was confirmed by the Bishop of Woolwich in a church on Plumstead Common. I forget the name but, and then I became a server there and we used to go to services during the Blitz and particularly on Sundays during the day the 11 o’clock Communion service. And if there was a warning we used to go in the crypt. We used to shelter in the crypt. And Father Hopkins was the Scout master and he used to, we used to go off and very, of course Holy Trinity Church is adjacent to Gilbert’s Pit. Now, Gilbert’s Pit was a sand pit that overlooked the Woolwich Road and it was used, it was, it was sand obviously and the sand that was used by the United Glass Bottles Factory in Anchor and Hope Lane. And they initially got all their sand from this because it was Thames sand I suppose. And there was this big open pit and it rose up, a big hole in the middle that lorries used to go in and out. But during the war we used to play on the, not the pit itself but on the outskirts of the pit that was adjacent to the church and we used to have our Scout’s, Scout meetings there and meet other troops and do all sorts of things in the side of this sandpit. That was again was something that took our time during the day. Just thought about that.
[recording paused]
AC: So there’s a couple of more bits you want to tell me about.
RR: Yes. It’s just occurred to me that I mentioned that my dad was a fire watcher. He, along with groups of other man helped the air raid wardens and the people that were the official officials as it were. And these men just went out and reported to the warden’s post and they were directed to either pop sandbags on incendiary bombs that had fallen or go and help out. But there was one particular occasion when an incendiary bomb fell on the church. The church had a short spire on it. The fire brigade attended and if you think of a church the church goes up in steps. So you have the building and then you have the two aisles at the side with the church with a roof and then you have another piece of walling that goes up towards the roof and then on top of the roof is the spire. So you’ve got several steps if you like. Very big steps of course to get up to the spire. The fire brigade came along and attempted to get up on this spire because the incendiary bomb was lodged in the spire and it was setting the spire alight. They ran out of ladders. We, I’ve told you about doors being blown off and windows being out. We rented. My mum rented this property and the owner sent, or the agent sent contractors along to repair our house and their ladders were left outside our house. So they came along to our house, number 594 and took the ladders that belonged to the contractor to supplement their ladders so that they could try and reach the spire. They got up to the, over the first sloping roof up to the wall where the windows of the church below the roof were and then they had to get again on to another slope. And the firemen said it was too dangerous. So the story went. So the story went, and of course the pubs always stayed open, licensing hours didn’t exist in those days. If the boys were out putting out fires well, if they wanted to go in for a pint or whatever they got it. Well, it so happened that my dad was with a couple of blokes and they were in the pub having a drink and they came in and they said the church is alight but the fire brigade said it was too dangerous. So they all had, these guys all had steel helmets, dad had a steel helmet. It was grey, I remember. And he said, ‘Guys, we could get up there all right.’ So my dad actually got up there, right on to the roof and put the fire out. And of course as he was going up he told me afterwards that as he was going up the roof of the church the slates on the roof were coming off and he put his head, his hat down and his steel helmet and they were hitting his steel helmet as he went up. But he did get up there and he put the fire out. That’s one thing I remember. What else? Anything else?
AC: Finding any —
RR: Prompting me brings me all sorts of memories.
AC: What about finding any bits of aircraft or ammunition or —
RR: Oh yeah. Yeah. That was, that was something that we did as boys. Peter, Peter Hills who was my friend who was the licensee’s son in the Horse and Groom and I and another chap Leslie Denton who also lived further along the Woolwich Road about five doors from the church. We all went. We were all choir boys in the church and we used to go out and go in to Maryon Wilson Park. And of course there after the, after the night of shells being fired up and so on there were lots of bits of shrapnel that were left in the park. In the grass between the trees and we used to go out and pick them up and see who had the biggest bit and so. They were a bit nasty. You could cut your fingers on them quite extensively. But yeah that was, that was a pastime particularly at that heavy stage when we were being bombed. Yeah. You’re right, it’s we used to Maryon, never used to go to Maryon Park which was a park that was opposite Maryon Park School on the main road and then ran through because, I don’t know if you know the area but you got Maryon Park, and then you got, you got up the road and you got to Maryon Wilson Park which then runs up to Charlton Village. Maryon Park during the war of course was very flat because it was down, down by the river. It had a lovely putting green that we used to play putting. Thruppence a go. And we got our putting stick from the park keeper and our score card. And we used to do that on Sunday afternoons. And later on in the war they built a shelter in the park. There were tennis courts there as well. Built a shelter in the park. But another thing that used to happen later on in the war when the raids were less frequent they had dances around the band stand. So they had a band in the band stand and everybody congregated. Came in to the park and they used to have their dances and so on. So that was another thing that has come to memory.
AC: So, you, you just want to tell me about the coincidence concerning your Rose’s birthday and your cousin’s.
RR: Yes. Rose was, Rose, Richard’s mum was born on the 20th of February 1890 and it’s curious that Dick was born on the 20th of February [pause] I can remember. 20th of February 1921. And he was lost on the 21st of February 1945. And it strikes me as being very coincidental that those, that that date of the 20th of February seemed ominous for that, for that family. Quite unusual. Just something that came to me when I was going through looking at Dick’s parents. Strange.
AC: Indeed. Well that’s, thank you very much for that. It’s painted a vivid picture and thank you for your memories.
RR: Good. Well, thank you.
[recording paused]
AC: Right. I think you wanted to tell me about your police box.
RR: Right. Yes. If I can just paint the picture of this police box and where it stood. On the corner of, on the corner of Charlton Lane and Woolwich Road there was this public house I’ve mentioned called the Horse and Groom. Next to the Horse and Groom travelling towards Greenwich there was, there was a sweet shop and there was a barber’s shop and then there were the, there were some houses and I was in the second house from the sweet shop so, from the barber’s shop. Jimmy [unclear] Barber’s Shop it was. He had two daughters. Anyway, going on from there the police, the police box was continually manned during this time and it was, this one was continually manned because we had a siren located next to it. So, the siren of course stood on this very tall cylindrical piece of metal that was, went way above the houses with the siren on the top. And because it was continually manned we usually had the same policeman. There were exceptions but, and that policeman was Mr Ashdown, and a very pleasant man and I can see him now. Round face, white moustache and he was very friendly. And outside, and to protect the police box from bomb blasts and so on and it had a blast wall outside the door. And I remember quite distinctly we got quite friendly with the policeman. All the locals did. He got cups of tea and all sorts. And he opened his door his day and showed me how the siren worked. And from memory it was like a box on the wall and it had three sections in colours. It had a red section, a white section in the middle and a green section on the other side. And he got a message. When he got a message that the warning was imminent he had to sound this siren. And he just pulled the, pushed the lever over to the left, into the red section and this siren went off. Now, we’ve all heard what sounds siren sound like from all the films we’ve heard and it’s a wail. But the volume when you’ve got a siren about six feet from the house and we’re two doors away was quite something because everything in the house shook with the sound, with the vibration. Windows and anything that was loose, bits on the table would jump up and down and it was, it was quite an effort. Quite an effort. And of course when the all clear went Mr Ashdown would put the thing over to green and we would get the continuous wail of all clear and again we all shook to death.
AC: You can hear it now.
RR: I can indeed. And I can see Mr Ashdown now too. It’s amazing how many of those faces that even though what, I was ten, eleven going on, still remembering. And I remember him because he was, he was his family and my father was, my mother and father spent a lot of time in the Working Men’s Club which was only about a hundred and fifty yards further on. The Charlton Liberal Club. And I know Mr Ashdown and his family used to come along at weekends on occasions. There used to be dances going on. This was all during the war. A dance would go on or a concert on a Sunday evening. But later on that had to cease. The Concert Hall was converted into a storage area for bombed out people’s furniture and lo and behold a bomb fell on the back of the Concert Hall on the edge of the railway because the railway line from Charlton Station through to the level crossing at Charlton through to Woolwich arsenal the bomb fell at the side of the railway and on the end of the Concert Hall. And it so happened because the Concert Hall was full of people’s furniture, bombed out furniture the people in the club because the Concert Hall ran from the club itself where the bar was and the snooker table, and so on. Because of all that furniture it took a lot of the blast away and the people in there were lucky because they, they got away very lightly. There were no casualties.
AC: Good.
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 Ronald Roffey
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Andrew Cowley
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
2018-08-30
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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
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ARoffeyRA180830
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:41:06 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--London
England--Devon
England--Torquay
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939
1940
1940-09-07
1945-02-21
Description
An account of the resource
Ronald was born in Charlton, south-east London. He went to Charlton Junior School and was nine when war was declared. He remembered being fitted for a gas mask at his school. His aunt who lived in Torquay found a private billet for him and his mother in Barton, near Torquay. His mother returned to London and in September 1940; during the Blitz Ronald took a train journey back to London, meeting his mother at Paddington station. On their way back to Charlton the sky was red and all of the north bank of the Thames was alight. Ronald’s father worked for Siemens. He was also a fire warden and on one occasion the family had to evacuate their house when an unexploded bomb was found next to their garden. They went to stay with grandmother’s sister in her flat near Charlton lido. Ronald went back to Torquay before returning to London when the V-1s and V-2s were being dropped. At eleven he went to Woolwich Central School. He remembers a bomb falling on a pub behind the school. All of the school windows were broken but fortunately the children were in the playground and no one was hurt. Ronald joined the Boy Scouts and Holy Trinity Church choir. After he was confirmed at 12, he became a server. There was one occasion when an incendiary bomb fell on the church, lodging in the spire and it was his father who climbed up and put out the fire. Ronald left school at 17 and went to work in London. There he met his future wife Joan and they married in 1953. When Ronald was about 20 he heard that his cousin Richard, who flew in Bomber Command, had been reported missing, presumed dead.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
Julie Williams
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending revision of OH transcription
bombing
childhood in wartime
evacuation
home front
shelter
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/380/7012/LHattersleyCR40699v1.1.pdf
099f001bc26b394fc0440d57cacdb995
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
Hattersley, Peter
Peter Hattersley
C R Hattersley
Charles Raymond Hattersley
Description
An account of the resource
77 items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Charles Raymond Hattersley DFC (1914-1948, 800429, 40699 Royal Air Force). Peter Hattersley served in the Royal Engineers between 1930 and 1935 but enlisted in the RAF in 1936. He trained as a pilot and flew with 106, 44 and 199 Squadrons. He completed 32 operations with 44 Squadron but had to force land his Wellington in France on his first operation with 199 Squadron in December 1942. He became a prisoner of war. He married Miss Kathleen Hattersley nee Croft after the war. The collection contains his logbook, notebooks, service material, his decorations and items of memorabilia in a tin box and 39 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Charles William Hattersley and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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. 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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-05-06
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hattersley, CR
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
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/.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Bermuda Islands
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Berkshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Kent
England--Gloucestershire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Middlesex
England--Norfolk
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Rutland
England--Shropshire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
Ontario
Scotland--Ross and Cromarty
Wales--Vale of Glamorgan
Belgium--Liège
France--Soissons
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Leuna
Germany--Lingen (Lower Saxony)
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Sylt
Germany--Münster in Westfalen
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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
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
Title
A name given to the resource
Peter Hattersley's pilot's flying log book
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
LHattersleyCR40699v1
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1945
1946
1947
1948
1940-05-17
1940-05-18
1940-05-19
1940-05-20
1940-05-23
1940-05-24
1940-05-25
1940-05-26
1940-05-27
1940-05-28
1940-06-01
1940-06-02
1940-06-03
1940-06-04
1940-06-07
1940-06-08
1940-06-09
1940-06-10
1940-06-11
1940-06-12
1940-06-20
1940-06-21
1940-06-25
1940-06-26
1940-07-01
1940-07-02
1940-07-05
1940-07-06
1940-07-09
1940-07-10
1940-07-20
1940-07-21
1940-07-22
1940-07-23
1940-07-25
1940-07-26
1940-07-28
1940-07-29
1940-07-31
1940-08-01
1940-08-03
1940-08-04
1940-08-07
1940-08-08
1940-08-11
1940-08-12
1940-08-13
1940-08-14
1940-08-16
1940-08-17
1940-08-21
1940-08-22
1940-08-25
1940-08-26
1940-08-28
1940-08-29
1940-08-31
1940-09-01
1940-09-03
1940-09-04
1940-09-06
1940-09-07
1940-09-08
1940-09-09
1942-12-09
1942-12-10
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Description
An account of the resource
Pilot's log book for Wing Commander Peter Hattersley, covering the period 10 April 1937 to 24 September 1948. It details his flying training, operations flown and other flying duties. He was stationed at Hanworth Park, RAF Reading, RAF Netheravon, RAF Little Rissington, RAF Catfoss, RAF Manston, RAF Thornaby, RAF Evanton, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Finningley, RAF St. Athan, RAF Waddington, RCAF Port Albert, Darrels Island-Bermuda, RAF Bawtry, RAF Blyton, RAF Upavon, RAF Shawbury, RAF Bircham Newton, RAF Wymeswold, RAF Syerston, RAF Oakington, RAF Cosford, RAF Stanmore and RAF Abingdon. Aircraft Flown in were, Blackburn B2, Hart, Audax, Mile Hawk, Magister, Battle I, Anson, Hampden, Tiger Moth, Lysander, Catalina, Wellington, Oxford II, Hudson, Harvard IIb, Proctor and Dakota. He flew a total of 32 night operations in Hampdens with 44 Squadron from RAF Waddington, and one operation with 199 Squadron. Took part in Berlin Airlift (Operation Plainfare).Targets in Belgium, France, and Germany were Hannover, Hamburg, Lingan, Rhine, Leige, Keil, Frankfurt, Duisberg, Soisson, Rhur, Sylt, Dessau, Leuna, Magdeburg, Berlin and Munster. Some navigation logs and correspondence concerning the award of his Distinguished Flying Cross are included in his log book. He became a POW in late 1942.
106 Squadron
14 OTU
199 Squadron
44 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Battle
bombing
C-47
Catalina
Distinguished Flying Cross
Flying Training School
George VI, King of Great Britain (1895-1952)
Hampden
Harvard
Hudson
Lysander
Magister
navigator
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
prisoner of war
Proctor
RAF Abingdon
RAF Bawtry
RAF Bircham Newton
RAF Blyton
RAF Catfoss
RAF Cosford
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Evanton
RAF Finningley
RAF Little Rissington
RAF Manston
RAF Netheravon
RAF Oakington
RAF Shawbury
RAF St Athan
RAF Syerston
RAF Thornaby
RAF Upavon
RAF Waddington
RAF Wymeswold
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2330/43393/LClarkHA532059v2.1.pdf
5b3fb05ff0650d27a3ac2e68c5cf300c
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
Clark, Herbert Ashton
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Herbert Ashton Clark (b. 1911, 532059, 43414 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books. He flew operations as a pilot with 37 Squadron from the UK and North Africa.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Wayne Clark and catalogued by Nick Cornwell-Smith.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-12-02
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
Clark, HA
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/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LClarkHA532059v2
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Title
A name given to the resource
Herbert Ashton Clark's pilots flying log book. Two
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
Description
An account of the resource
Pilot’s flying log book for Flight Sergeant Herbert Ashton Clark from 8 March 1937 to 20 August 1956. Detailing operational posting in Iraq with 70 Squadron. On return to England further training with 215 Squadron. Conversion to the Wellington at 11 OTU followed by posting to 37 Squadron in August 1940. Posted to the Middle East in November 1940. Promoted to Squadron Leader and then Wing Commander during this posting. Awarded DSO and DFC.
Stationed at RAF Hinaidi, RAF Driffield, RAF Manston, RAF Honington, RAF Bramcote, RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Feltwell, RAF Shallufa. Returned to England post-war staying in the RAF. Aircraft flown were Valentia, Harrow, Wellington, Magister, Lysander, Maryland, Fiat CR42, B26, Harvard, Auster, Proctor, Anson, and Prentice.
He flew 1 propaganda leaflet drop with 11 OTU, 1 day and 21 night operations with 37 Squadron in Europe. Targets were St Omer, Eindhoven, Soest, Osnabruck, Frankfurt, Stockum, Bottrop, Hannover, the Black Forest, Gelsenkirchen, Hamm, Flushing, Bitterfeld, Rotterdam, Mannheim, Leipzig, Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin.
12 day and 18 night operations with 37 Squadron and 257 Wing in the Middle East. Targets were Benina, El Adem, Derna, Berca, Bardia, Tobruk, Benghazi, Rhodes, Brindisi, Halfaya, Marble Arch landing ground, Heraklion, Misurata, Homs, Palermo, Gabes, the Mareth Line, El Hamma, Kourba, Pantelleria, Villa San Giovanni, Vibo Valentia, Adrano, Cape Peloro. Posted to HQ RAF Middle East where carried out 28 day supply dropping operations.
Post war career included postings to Air Division Control Commission Germany, Flying Training Command, 41 Group, 22 Maintenance Unit and RAF Negombo, Sri Lanka.
Log book also contains Form 3921 – Aircrew Qualification Record, a 1949 calendar and Form 2745 Record of Service, Educational and Professional Qualifications.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-08-09
1940-08-10
1940-08-15
1940-08-16
1940-08-17
1940-08-18
1940-08-19
1940-08-20
1940-08-24
1940-08-25
1940-08-26
1940-08-27
1940-08-29
1940-08-30
1940-09-01
1940-09-02
1940-09-04
1940-09-05
1940-09-07
1940-09-08
1940-09-12
1940-09-13
1940-09-14
1940-09-15
1940-09-20
1940-09-21
1940-09-29
1940-09-30
1940-10-02
1940-10-03
1940-10-05
1940-10-08
1940-10-09
1940-10-10
1940-10-11
1940-10-14
1940-10-15
1940-10-16
1940-10-17
1940-10-21
1940-10-22
1940-10-23
1940-10-24
1940-10-25
1940-10-26
1940-12-08
1940-12-10
1940-12-11
1940-12-13
1940-12-14
1940-12-17
1940-12-18
1940-12-20
1940-12-21
1941-01-02
1941-01-05
1941-01-13
1941-01-14
1941-01-20
1941-01-22
1941-02-16
1942-11-07
1942-11-08
1942-11-25
1942-11-26
1942-12-02
1942-12-03
1942-12-22
1942-12-23
1943-01-08
1943-01-16
1943-01-17
1943-02-03
1943-02-04
1943-02-24
1943-02-25
1943-03-17
1943-03-19
1943-03-20
1943-03-25
1943-03-26
1943-04-13
1943-04-14
1943-06-10
1943-06-27
1943-06-28
1943-07-15
1943-07-16
1943-08-01
1943-08-08
1943-08-09
1944-02-29
1944-03-02
1944-03-25
1944-05-05
1944-05-15
1944-05-31
1944-06-01
1944-06-02
1944-06-09
1944-06-10
1944-06-16
1944-06-27
1944-07-03
1944-07-12
1944-07-25
1944-07-27
1944-08-03
1944-08-15
1944-08-17
1944-08-19
1944-08-22
1944-08-25
1944-08-29
1944-09-07
1944-09-12
1944-09-16
1944-10-13
1944-10-21
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Yorkshire
England--Kent
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
England--Warwickshire
France
France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)
Germany
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bitterfeld-Wolfen
Germany--Black Forest
Germany--Bottrop
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Soest
Greece
Greece--Ērakleion
Greece--Rhodes (Island)
Iraq
Italy
Italy--Adrano
Italy--Brindisi
Italy--Palermo
Italy--Pantelleria Island
Italy--Vibo Valentia
Italy--Villa San Giovanni
Libya
Libya--Al Adm
Libya--Banghāzī
Libya--Bardiyah
Libya--Darnah
Libya--Miṣrātah
Libya--Ra's Lanuf
Libya--Tobruk
Netherlands
Netherlands--Eindhoven
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Syria
Syria--Homs
Tunisia
Tunisia--Mareth Line
Tunisia--Qābis
North Africa
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Nick Cornwell-Smith
11 OTU
215 Squadron
37 Squadron
70 Squadron
9 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
B-26
bombing
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Service Order
Harrow
Harvard
Lysander
Magister
Operational Training Unit
pilot
Proctor
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Bramcote
RAF Digby
RAF Driffield
RAF Feltwell
RAF Honington
RAF Leconfield
RAF Manston
RAF Shallufa
RAF Silloth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2178/38205/PPalmerRAM17010018.1.jpg
946db56ec9225386ce97d6aaf5d628bb
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2178/38205/PPalmerRAM17010017.1.jpg
b98780ea75beeaf4ab69f2d6ecb20619
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
Palmer, Robert Anthony Maurice. Photograph album
Description
An account of the resource
Fifty-one items. Contains photographs, documents, telegrams and newspaper cuttings.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-10-30
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
Palmer, RAM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[crest]
[underlined] RECORD OF SERVICE OF SQUADRON LEADER ROBERT ANTHONY MAURICE PALMER VC DFC[symbol] AE (115772) RAFVR [/underlined]
[underlined] Date of Birth: [/underlined] 7 July 1920
[underlined] Service as an Airman [/underlined]
Enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as No 758016
Aircraftman Class II/under training Pilot – 22.8.39
Promoted Sergeant – 23.8.39
Remustered Pilot – 7.9.40
Promoted Temporary Flight Sergeant – 1.6.41
Discharged on appointment to a Temporary Commission – 28.1.42
[underlined] Commissioned Service [/underlined]
Granted a Commission for the Emergency as Pilot Officer on probation in the General Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 29.1.42
Confirmed in appointment and promoted Flying Officer (War Substantive) – 1.10.42
Promoted Flight Lieutenant – 29.1.44
Granted rank of Acting Squadron Leader – 10.12.44
Previously Missing on – 23.12.44
Now Killed in Action
Body Recovered Overseas
[underlined] Postings [/underlined]
Rochester – 1.9.39
No 5 Initial Training Wing Hastings – 25.9.39
Headquarters Reserve Command Pool – 11.4.40
No 12 Flying Training School – [inserted] Desford [/inserted] – 8.6.40
No 15 Officer Training Unit – [inserted] Harwell [/inserted] – 7.9.40
No 75 Squadron – [inserted] Feltwell [/inserted] – 16.11.40
No 149 Squadron – [inserted] Mildenhall [/inserted] – 26.11.40
200 Training Unit – [inserted] 20 Op. Tr. Unit [/inserted] – 13.2.41
No 20 Operation [inserted] al [/inserted] Training Unit - [inserted] [indecipherable word] Operational Training Unit [/inserted] – 29.1.42
No 1501 Beam Approach Training Flight – 12.10.42 – 18.10.42
No 20 Operation [inserted] al [/inserted] Training Unit – 28.12.42
1685 Mosquito Training Unit 80 Path Finder Force – 9.11.43
No 109 Squadron – 16.1.44
Missing (Flying Battle) – 23.12.44
1
[rubber stamp] M.O.D. R.A.F.
P.M.C.
19 JAN 1984
PM (AR) kb (RAF)
GLOUCESTER [/rubber stamp]
[page break]
[crest]
[underlined] Honours and Awards [/underlined]
Mentioned in Despatches – London Gazette – 14.1.44
Distinguished Flying Cross – London Gazette – 30.6.44
Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross – London Gazette – 8.12.44
Victoria Cross – London Gazette – 23.3.45
Air Efficiency Award
[underlined] Medals [/underlined]
1939/45 Star
Aircrew Europe Star with Clasp France and Germany
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939/45
G W Hayson
G W HAYSON
for Air Secretary
[rubber stamp] M.O.D. R.A.F.
P.M.C.
19 JAN 1984
PM (AR) kb (RAF)
GLOUCESTER
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
Record of service for Squadron Leader Robert Antony Maurice Palmer VC DFC* AE (115772) RAFVR
Description
An account of the resource
Gives personal details, service as an airman, commissioned service with promotions, postings including 75, 149 and 109 Squadrons, honours and awards including Victoria Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross and bar, mentioned in despatches, and air efficiency award.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984-01-19
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1984-01-19
1939-08-22
1939-08-23
1940-09-07
1941-06-01
1942-01-28
1942-01-29
1942-10-01
1944-01-29
1944-12-10
1944-12-23
1939-09-01
1939-09-29
1940-04-11
1940-06-08
1940-09-07
1940-11-16
1940-11-26
1941-02-13
1942-01-29
1942-10-12
1942-10-18
1942-12-28
1943-11-09
1944-01-16
1944-12-23
1944-01-14
1944-06-30
1944-12-08
1945-03-23
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--East Sussex
England--Hastings
England--Gloucestershire
England--Gloucester
England--Sussex
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two printed pages on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPalmerRAM17010018, PPalmerRAM17010017
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
MOD RAF PMC
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
Sue Smith
109 Squadron
149 Squadron
75 Squadron
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Cross
killed in action
Mosquito
Pathfinders
pilot
Victoria Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16333/BNealeETHNealeETHv05.1.pdf
07b6eb465958c09077bc90e5a2dbdde9
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
Neale, Ted
E T H Neale
Description
An account of the resource
123 items. The collection concerns Edward Thomas Henry Neale (b. 1922, 1395951 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator with 37 Squadron in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The collection contains his training notebooks from South Africa as well as propaganda leaflets dropped by the allies in the Mediterranean theatre.
The collection also contains a photograph album, navigation logs and target photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Alison Neale 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
2015-07-31
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Neale, ETH
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HILARY SALMON
Producer of BOMBER CREW BBC Programme
NEALE. MR. MRS.
NUMBERS FOR BRIGGS & STRATTON
[redacted]
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ACA SECRETARY RAY TAGLI
HON SEC Biggin Hill WING ACR
[redacted]
heures HOCINE
[redacted]
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September 1940
It was the sound of the bomb that started it all off. I had left the Woolwich Polytechnic in SE LONDON to take up a apprenticeship as a toolmaker in the Woolwich Arsenal. Prior to starting the apprenticeship I spent a few weeks in the NEW FUZE Factory, a large factory employed in producing every kind of fuze, using small delicate automatic machines up to massive heavyweights for the large shell fuzes. The whole factory reeked of the cutting oils used in these machines and the oil was everywhere. It was almost five o’clock on Saturday 7th September 1940, we were all lining up ready to knock off, the air raid siren had gone but we had heard it all before, since we had heard it on night shift previously and being made to evacuate the factory we climbed up on to the surface air raid shelters, covered ourselves in tarpaulins and watched
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the searchlights waving about, sometimes they caught an aircraft, probably enemy, since they started firing the guns at it but seemed always to be well off target and the plane would go serenely on its way to the accompaniment of loud cheers. This time was a lot different. Always just before 5 o’clock our official time, someone would produce an illicit key, open the clock door & advance the hands a few minutes & off we would go, since the Woolwich Arsenal employed tens of thousands of people, all coming out of the four gates on to the Plumstead Road at the same time, this would give us a advantage. It is quite probable that all the others had the same idea. But then we heard this succession of loud crump noises coming ever nearer, someone more knowledgeable shouted “bombs” and a rush was made to the nearest
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surface shelter, resulting in about a dozen bodies jammed in the entrance, the bombs marched on passing us by on the other side of the road, the last one hitting a air raid shelter, killing the all, including my cousin husband, a small forge was hitting scattering burning coals all over the car park, setting some alight. We were told to get away. I had about a four mile bicycle ride to my house, as I cycled along the bombs were dropping, guns were firing, shrapnel was whizzing down, fighter planes were zooming & firing their guns, parachutes were coming down. It was hectic. I was passing the Royal Artillery barracks, when some soldiers called to me to take shelter from the shrapnel which was raining down, as well as the clips
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from the fighter ammunition, these soldiers had been evacuated from DUNKIRK so they were war wise, we stood in the doorway of the barracks for a while watching events, until it calmed down a bit then I got on my bike and pedalled off home, passing the ack-ack guns on the Woolwich Common. All the way home the road was full of ambulances and civilian cars and trucks towing auxiliary fire [deleted] trucks [/deleted] tenders or pumps all heading for the scene.
Reporting back to work the next day there was no New Fuze factory, it was just line upon line of burnt out machines. On the next day I went & volunteered for AIRCREW DUTIES.
Working in the Woolwich Arsenal, I was in a reserved occupation and they wouldn’t release me. In early 1942
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I got my release, the form said released for PILOT DUTIES only. I was inducted into No 1 ACRC at Earls Court, measured for my two uniforms, had a couple of weeks of eye training, popped home a few times, not far away by bus or train. Then on to Initial Training wing at SCARBOROUGH, staying in the Grand HOTEL, bags of bull, polishing the lino, black leading the grates, marching drill session on the Promenade curiously watched by holiday makers, it was AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY TIME, up to the castle for CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING after a couple of months I was moved on to KINGSTOWN AIRFIELD at CARLISLE for GRADING COURSE ON TIGER MOTHS I had made friends with a chap called RIBBANS. We used a satellite field at KIRKPATRICK in SCOTLAND. the planes flew daily from Carlisle with a cadet as passenger, the other cadets went by
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road. One day one of the Tigers didn’t arrive, it transpired that the wings had fallen off the Tiger & RIBBANS and his instructor both bought it. Some of the moths had notices on the instrument panel warning that it should not be used for aerobatics, whether that was the cause we never found out. A group of cadets were waiting our turn to fly when we saw this Tiger coming in to land, we then saw another Tiger almost on top of it, as the lower one landed the top one landed on top of it, flipped over on its back and the lower one dug in and finished up vertically. The pilot of one was the chief flying instructor the other was the deputy flight commander. I thought that I was quite competent and soloed at 9 1/2 hrs with no problem, although I witnessed quite a few that nosed in or tried to land at 50 feet, the Tigers didn’t seem to suffer too much damage
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as all the occupants seemed to walk away. We were under the control of the Scottish Aviation company, the members who were concerned with the catering arrangement were obviously on the fiddle because the food was vile., the caterers were the SILVER GREY company who had a restaurant in the main street, a pal of mine GEORGE WARREN took a SCOTCH PIE that he had been served with and slapped it on the table of the person who was supposed to be the C.O. (he was a civilian), opened it and revealed that it was GREEN with mould. Their idea of a meal was to give you one sardine on a finger of bread cut four to the slice. It got so bad that we were reduced to creating a commotion at the head of the queue while those toward the back reached round under the counter and grabbed what we could. George and I stayed together for over a year going overseas together, training together
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then parting when he came back to England and on to HALIFAX aircraft, he went down on the TIRPITZ, it was reported to me that he was last seen trying to get his wounded wireless operator out of the aircraft while others baled out, he didn’t survive. From Carlisle we were posted to HEATON PARK in MANCHESTER where we joined thousands of others, we were assembled at a BANDSTAND and lists were read out as to our future, the P.N.B had just been pit into operation (PILOT, NAV, BOMB/AIM) since the airforce was gearing up for the big offensive against GERMANY. I was read out as being a NAVIGATOR and could have obtained my release from the AIR FORCE & gone back to my Reserved Occupation since I had been released for PILOT duties only, however apart from the rotten food I had made some good mates, I decided to stay
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on. The lectures at Heaton park were conducted by some real old sweats, one I really remember would go to the head of the class and say “Whats it today, armaments or Eskimo NELL, you could be stupid if you [deleted] didn’t [/deleted] wasn’t able to predict the outcome, I didn’t count bu the version that he told had about forty five verses, I remember the gist of the story but just about remember about a “-“ great Wheel, then it was IVAN SKAVINSKY SKAVAR and so many others. Whilst there we went out a side gate to a Pub called the POST OFFICE, it was on the PRESTON RD, we engaged in drinking contests with the women who congregated there,
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one
Thoughts in 2000
This talk of birds (women) on the front line prompted a thought which turned into a dream. I was navigating my old MK 10 Wimpey from Foggia in Italy to PARDUBICE oil refinery in CZECHOSLOVAKIA, a trip of eight hours, started off on GEE, which run out of Puff shortly, then on to D.R. It was one of the blackest of nights, with a ceiling of 10,000 ft we couldn’t get above cloud, so no star shots, bags of flak to starboard some poor sod has wandered over VIENNA, press on, E.T.A. coming up, air to air firing, someone going down in flames, 50 years later the old Wimpy is found in the bottom of a lake, the old NAV leader was still aboard. Shufty flares down, then some target markers just off to
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starboard, more over and drop the bombs, not a lot to see, then turn for home, droning on for a couple of hours, feeling fairly secure it was our usual practice for the rear gunner to be relieved by the wireless operator and come forward to stand in the Astro dome beside my position, flailing himself with his arms to warm himself, and then the old Wimpy would fill with the smoke of the W/Ops fag as he lit up, in spite of the old kite being full of holes & fumes.
But this was so different, I saw beside me this lovely young bird, same age as me, about 21, and it wasn’t cigarette smoke it was CHANEL NO 5 which she had picked up in CAIRO in the way up from 0.T.U. I gave her a flask top of lukewarm coffee and it seemed quite natural
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3/. Make for the bed, which the Vickers company & BARNES WALLIS in particular had provided, the TUBUNIC AMPOULE of MORPHIA became an aphrodisiac, and then an awful WHUMP!!, the old Wimp went all over the sky, it appears that it was by kind permission of the HERMAN GOERING PANZER GRENADIERS flak batteries, we had wandered over LINZ or GRAZ, the old Wimpy droned on as though she was used to this on a regular basis. Where did the bird go, what would she have done, we had more than 100 holes, some quite big.
You may ask what prompted this, today I received a letter from JAN MAHR of HUSOVA, MIROSLAV in the CZECH REPUBLIC requesting information about the crew members who I saw go to their deaths that day
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25-55
in 1944 and who lay forgotten by their own country, among others until a excavation took place in 1990 – 1991, by a CZECH team, existing relatives were taken out to the crash site and attended the burial of their heroes military funeral, another ironic twist here, Lillicrap was the regular navigator on that crew, but missed that “op” through illness, he joined up with another crew but got the chop a fortnight later! We had got together in England 1942, boat to S.A. together, to Palestine together for O.T.U. up to ITALY, joined the squadron together, & then!!
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written in 2002.
Will someone in about 50 years review the case of 2ND W.W aircrew and their treatment in particular, the litigious lawyers have got the “shot at Dawn” affair livened up, to whose advantage. can post traumatic stress be involved, I’m thinking of those that fired the rifles. Horrors & cruelly in wars come to be accepted, but when it comes form your own side it must be condemned. My father came out of the 1ST W.W aged 20 he’d been employed in the R.A.S.C driving ammunition wagons to the trenches (horse drawn) on supply routes targeted by the enemy, he was badly gassed and on becoming a civvy he was unemployed & unemployable for many years from the gassing. He received no benefits from the government who had proclaimed “A LAND FIT FOR HEROES.” and succumbed to his illness at the age of
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2/ 53 years, it took him a long time to die slowly.
Coming up to the 2nd WW and beyond, perhaps my experiences may shed a little light, shot at dawn didn’t figure, I was aircrew, and an almost effective deterrent was used against, [inserted] us [/inserted] I almost said cowardice, but it wasn’t that, the deterrent was L.M.F. or Lack of Moral fibre in which the poor fellow was stripped of rank (our lowest was SGT) given the lowest job G.D. and his pay book stamped large L.M.F, so wherever he went they knew, then everyone knew. So perhaps a little personal experience may help. Arriving in the back of a lorry at a vineyard & wine grove just outside FOGGIA, nothing idyllic in that we saw a collection of old beaten up ridge tents which we later found to have been all through the
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desert warfare for years, they showed their age, underneath the tents had been dug out about 2 foot so that we could just about stand up in the middle. We were told to find [inserted] an [/inserted] empty one and it was three to a tent. The empty ones were the ones where the crews had got the chop, very seldom did anyone finish a tour (40 ops us not 30 as the blighty boys). We were 205 GRP heavy bomber squadron consisting of six Wellington squadrons, one British Lib sqdn 2 SAAF Lib squdadron and one HALIFAX Sqdn as p.ff. I was in 37 sqdn and with our sister squadron 70 were on a single strip P>S>P runway at TORTORELA which we shared with the Flying Fortresses of the 99 Bomb group 15 A FORCE (USAAF) situated on the far side of the runway.
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[circled 3.] It was within a day or so of arriving that my pilot ALEC HART. (QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA) went off to MILAN on his second dicky trip (to get a taste of hostile activity and learn a few ropes, he was with a SAAF crew in a MK X Wimpy the trip being either their ultimate or penultimate trip (39th or 40th). the fact that he never came back was because of a collision over the target, he is buried near MILAN. The very next day I was listed to fly with a crew that had arrived with with us on the squadron, since their NAVIGATOR had gone sick. The pilot of this aircraft was a Canadian ART SCHLOTE who had trained in Canada with my pilot but who had come back safely from his experience trip. This trip proved quite hairy when the photo flash started to set its own fuze & had to be
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jettisoned with resultant pandemonium, no picture[ illegible] a poor start, shortly I was back with my own crew, piloted by a SAAF who had come down over enemy territory & had walked back with quite a story to tell. Over the time of my tour I was used as an odd bod, flying with new crews (very dangerous) but being assigned to this SAAF who became Flight Commander and was only allowed to fly once a fortnight. I was given the job of collecting bods from a holding centre outside of NAPLES while awaiting courts martial or summary of evidence, they having gone absent without leave & been captured in NAPLES.
A call would be made to the control tower, to enqire the time of the next Foggia Ferry, an old Flying Fortress which had been deactivated and used as a mail plane & transport all
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[circled 4] around Foggia area, my pilot would take me in his old V* Woody Ford to the taxi track, along would roll the old Fortress, a squeal of brakes, door open and off we would go to Pomigliano airport. Thumb a ride down the AUTOSTRADA to PORTICI, present a piece of paper to the guard house & collect my prisoner and back track to Foggia, sometimes all the ferries had gone so we had to sleep on the floor of the NAAFI until morning, then off. I was given a revolver but of course no bullets, but they caused no trouble. The first prisoner was a F/sgt wireless operator who had done a tour in the desert & was half way through his second tour when he became an odd bod, had a couple of shaky does, and ran away. I believe he became LMF. The next one had a rather sad tale to tell,
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[circled 5] he had been ground staff in the desert and along with 3 friends decided to volunteer as air gunners, expecting to be posted back to Blighty for training, but training grounds had been opened in the Middle east so they didn’t get home, in fact they came to our group, and one by one they got the chop, until just this one was left so away he went & was captured again in Naples.
Another rear gunner baled out in the Adriatic, lost, but another saga took a bit longer to unfold. I was signed to fly with a full odd bod crew, [inserted] we were over the [illegible] [/inserted] nothing untoward until the rear gunner reported flames from the port engine going past his turret, this was followed by the shut down of the engine & the usual feathering whereupon the old Wimp started to sink, bomb doors
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[circled 6] open, jettison toggle operated, and then gently back to base, land successfully back at base, next morning we were called as a crew to report to GROUPIE when he gave us a tremendous dressing down, we should be court martialled etc, we had the cheek to ask [inserted] why [/inserted] we should carry on with no bombs, but he insisted that we should have carried on even without bombs, perhaps we should have chucked the elsan at them but we didn’t dare suggest that, subsequent events shed a little light on this episode. Flying with this pilot once again we were approaching the target PLOESTI, reckoned to be second only to BERLIN in defences since it was HITLERS only natural oil.
Due to go forward to stand beside the pilot to record time of bombing A/C heading, height & make observations
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[circled 7] regarding the target & anything else [inserted] worth [/inserted] reporting, when I found I couldn’t open the door, it was only on a ball catch, but I pulled so hard I broke the leather loop which acted as the handle. I reported this on intercom & asked the Bomb aimer to come & kick the door open at the same time the pilot reported that he had the control right over still couldn’t get the port wing up to fly straight & level, this [inserted] had [/inserted] caused the Geodetic frame to twist & lock the door, since I was standing beside the gauges that registered the state of the petrol tanks I pushed the buttons to read & saw that the port tanks were full & the starboard tanks were well down. I shot back to the main beam to turn on the petrol balance cocks then told the pilot to ensure that the balance cock beside his
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[circled 8] seat was on, by now the B/A had kicked the door open & we took up our positions, then we were over the target and we were coned, I never believed in jinking or altering height to lose searchlights, they were faster than we were & were radar controlled so the pilot agreed with me just put the nose down for maximum speed got up to about 300 mph and finished up just above the tops of the refinery towers, somewhere on the way we had dropped our bombs but we didn’t get a photo. I later learned that this pilot had aborted on another raid & on another occasion had not appeared for take off & had been found hiding in a field. The wing commander O/C was detailed by Groupie to take the aircraft over, which he did, but the Wimpy finished up in a ditch, that C.O. had left the squadron by the next morning.
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TO QASTINA
77 OUT
Palestine
This episode started on a concrete apron at 77 O.T.U at Qastina just a short distance from Jerusalem in Palestine, it was mid March 1944, Qastina was a Wellington O.T.U using IC models. A mixed crowd of aircrew were assembled on a concrete apron and ordered to sort ourselves into crews, this apparently being standard R.A.F procedure. We had segregated ourselves into our various trades since in many cases we had trained in our various trades & knew one another. As it turned out, in the main it was left to the navigators to do the picking. My first choice was a short chubby bomb aimer, who never ever managed to get his forage cap on straight, this wasn’t the reason that I picked him, but was because we had been at the same air schools in South Africa and he was a wonderful piano player and had livened up
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[circled 2] all our parties with his playing, he came from Kingston U.K and had started a career in his local newspaper before volunteering. I noted a rather skinny looking Australian, standing alone, & made an approach, he agreed to join us, it turned out that [inserted] he [/inserted] came from a family of pineapple growers in Queenstown. That made three of five & next was the Air gunner who came from Wallington in Surrey and had started in a bank, he had trained in Rhodesia, he resembled a bloodhound in looks, his name was appropriately enough “CANNON” Last but not least was the W/operator who had trained in England, and had been born in Dover Castle where his father who was a soldier had been stationed, he was always known as Mac & had started out as a boy
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[circled 3] soldier & had transferred to the R.A.F, he had made his home in Streatham in S.E. London. We soon settled in to a good routine flying around the Eastern Med, where we were informed that all radio aid were to be treated as suspect, evidence of this came when we took a bearing on a beacon at Cairo which we could see away beyond our port wing tip, but the loop bearing from the W/op was miles out. We had a pretty good two months at O.T.U., and unlike the stories that we had heard about tragedies at O.T.U in England we suffered no losses from our twelve crews. it came close when one of the pilots who always displayed the [illegible] that he wanted to be a fighter pilot, dive bombed the ALLENBY bridge in Cairo which we had been given as a simulated target, he
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[circled 4] dived so violently that on pull out he stripped a lot of fabric from the wings and had to make an emergency landing for repair. Later when we reached the squadron he was our first casualty, failing to return from his first op. From OUT we were sent on leave [inserted] by train [/inserted] to Alexandria, which we quite enjoyed then on to CAIRO awaiting posting, we were picked up by a USAAF Dakota & after a stop at BRINDISI for fuel we landed up at PORTICI, a dirty old multi storey warehouse. Looking West we could see the bay of NAPLES, (didn’t seem all that romantic) to the east was Vesuvius to the north (about 100 YDS) was a military prison otherwise known as a glasshouse in military parlance, with which I made acquaintance later on, & to the south was Sorrento which was our rest camp. The only advantage that we had over the blighty boys, although they had the fleshpots of
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London for compensation.
The local population were in a sorry state, they appeared to be almost peasants, and the war had made their situation much worse. The children lined up all day to share out our swill bins they were so hungry, they were welcome to it since once again the RAF food was terrible, in three & a half years overseas I never once had fresh meat, except when in South Africa when the South African airforce did our catering or any of the times when I was able to eat in mess halls run by the Americans.
Whilst awaiting posting my Pilot Alec Hart & his Canadian pal that he had trained with in CANADA decided to head north for a look at ROME, I decided to tag along. To the Autostrada quite near thumbs up at the ready we were soon picked up by an open backed six wheel G.M.C
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truck courtesy of the U.S ARMY, introduced ourselves to this large black fellow sitting there, who introduced himself as JESSE OWEN the Olympic athlete who had won six gold medals at the BERLIN OLYMPICS which had upset HITLER that he refused to shake hands with him at the medal ceremony. Driving on NORTH we passed CASSINO which had been totally obliterated, covered in contiguous holes made by bombs & shells, arriving in the centre of ROME we looked around at all the sights, and also set our sights on some food. we got thrown off various chow lines, we weren’t in the right air force, we eventually made it in a big communal hall, kitted out with serried ranks of beds, fully loaded with blankets & pillows, moved on & stayed a very unsettled night in a bug ridden hotel, scrounged more food & hitched our way back to Portici
see 5 & 6 MARCH
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see 31st JANUARY
we hadn’t been missed. Then on to trucks for the ride to our squadrons. We’re 205 SQD stationed around the town of FOGGIA two squadrons were on Foggia main airfield, numbers 104 & 40, just out of town was a single strip P.S.P (Pierced Steel Plank) runway at TORTORELLA which held 37 & 70 SQDN & at REGINA a few miles away was 142 + 150. Our destination was to be 37 SQN.
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September 7th [deleted] or 14th [/deleted] 1940 Saturday
There it was & there I was. I was a rising eighteen year old student from the engineering course at the Woolwich Polytechnic, and there was the Woolwich Arsenal waiting to wrap me into an engineering apprenticeship in the Gun & carriage toolroom. The Woolwich Arsenal was a huge munitions factory, it extended over 3 miles along the South Bank of the Thames & was over a mile wide, it had been in existence [sic] for very many years, indeed the production of gun barrels had first taken place there. It had its own gas & electricity plants, its own iron & steel & brass foundries & produced everything from 16 inch naval guns, weighing in at over 130 tons, to minute watch mechanisms used in some fuzes, it also had what was known as the Danger Buildings which produced explosives & cartridge factories producing over two million bullets a week. In fact you could call this a prime target for bombing which the Germans were demonstrating their remarkable
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efficiency at so doing, on the continent of Europe & of course we were at war with Germany. In 1940 I joined the Woolwich Arsenal working in the NEW FUZE factory, whilst awaiting transfer to a tool-room to start my apprenticeship. This as the name implies was a factory producing machined components for assembly elsewhere into complete fuzes. The machines ranged from monster bar & chucking automatic ACME – GRIDLEYS, through man operated capstans
& other machines, down to small automatic not much bigger than sewing machines, set on tables and working quietly away. The place was liberally coated in various cutting liquids, including special cutting oils & the smell was decidedly oily. The factory employed a few hundred people, and this being a Saturday we finished work early at 5 o’clock, we worked week about, alternating day & night shift, we were lining up at the clocking station
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to put our cards into the time clock, stamp it by pressing down a handle & replacing the card in the “out” rack. We weren’t all that perturbed by the warning air raid siren since we’d heard them many times, in fact one the night shift you were made to leave the factory & go to your designated air raid shelter, in may case it was known as a surface shelter, a brick built affair with a thick concrete top & a baffled blast wall at the entrance. At night it was our usual practice to climb on the top of the shelter, lay down & cover up with a tarpaulin sheet & watch the searchlights search out the intruders, we would cheer like mad when the lights caught the planes & groan when they lost them we also saw the anti-aircraft shell bursts which always seemed to be well off target.
Shortly after the siren started up, we heard this loud explosion followed
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in sequence by others, getting louder, we also were hearing aircraft engines droning away. someone then shouted “bombs”, when a mad rush started for the nearest shelter, we all finished up jammed in the doorway as the bombs continued on. The “stick” of bombs continued along the road beside the factory where the surface shelters were lined up, one bomb overshot us & blew up a small forge which scattered hot coals over the car park, the coals burnt through the cloth tops of the cars & set them on fire, whilst the last bomb hit an underground shelter, killing all the occupants, including my cousin’s husband. Fires were raging all around, people were walking around covered in blood mostly from shards of glass which had come from the windows of multi storied buildings. There was no panic but there was no
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immediate relief, we were totally unprepared for this. Someone took the authority to tell us to get away home so I got on my bike and pedalled like mad along the Plumstead Road to Woolwich town centre where I turned left onto the road to Eltham my home. All the time the bombs were dropping, our fighters were attacking the bombers, shrapnel from the ack-ack was raining down, cartridge clips were bouncing on the road, aircraft were coming down & I seemed to see parachutes everywhere I looked. I was pedalling past the military barracks when I was called in to the shelter by the soldiers, it appeared that they were survivors from DUNKIRK, had seen it all before. During a lull I pressed on towards home, the roads were full of emergency vehicles, ambulances, fire appliance towed by
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civilian vehicles, fire engines, all in a constant stream heading toward Woolwich. Arriving home, much to the families [sic] relief we could see the fires & all the smoke. it appeared that this raid signalled the start of the blitz.
I went back to the Woolwich Arsenal to see what was going on, and what my instruction would be, I found the New Fuze factory completely burnt out, a start was being made to remove all the machinery for renovation, all the skilled adult workers were being recruited to join the shadow munitions factories which had been set up around the country and [inserted] also [/inserted] join what was known as the Flying Column to go to places around the country to impart their skills to those people recruited to man those factories. I was told to report to the GUN & carriage tool room. I had
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a look around the relics of my destroyed work place & was happy that I hadn’t made it to my particular shelter on the Warning siren. I was fairly convinced that the type of shelter was not all that clever, since a near miss by a bomb would collapse the brick walls & the concrete roof would come down in one massive chunk and flatten anyone who was inside. This unfortunately happened in this event. After a few days I got a start in the GUN & CARRIAGE toolroom, manufacturing jigs & fixtures, big heavy stamping and forging tools and also press tools for the multitude of factories comprising the Woolwich Arsenal with the capacity to manufacture everything from 16” Naval guns weighing about 130 Tons all the way down to minute components for timing for fuses
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In the interim I had been to the local recruiting office & volunteered to be trained as a pilot. I was told that my job was considered a reserved occupation and I would have to apply to be released, over time & not being called I wrote letters to the Air Minister complaining that I hadn’t been called, and I was writing some quite insulting letters. I left it to my mother to post the letters, she told me much later that she hadn’t posted the letters on reading them she felt that they would result in my being shot. Just over a year later I was called to report to No 1 ACRC at LORDS CRICKET GROUND at St JOHNS WOOD NORTH LONDON. this was in February 1942.
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Bombs. they’re Bombs [inserted] Someone shouted [/inserted]. The loud bangs continued to get louder as about 50 people made a dash for the air – raid shelter, just ten yards away, we just jammed together in the doorway while the march of the bombs continued & marched close by, the nearest one landed & exploded on a small building housing a small forge which scattered hot coals over the car park setting the cars alight, the last bomb landing on an air raid shelter, killing all those inside including the husband of my cousin. [inserted] It was 6 o’clock 7 Sept 1940 [/inserted] We had been lining up on “THE CLOCK’ waiting to clock off our shift in the NEW FUZE factory a large factory machining components for fuzes, from large shells down to watch like mechanisms & components for torpedos [sic]. The factory was inside the fourth gate of the Woolwich Arsenal a massively complex armaments factory
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with three miles of [inserted] south side [/inserted] Thames river waterfront & over a mile wide, it had four large gates spaced out along the Plumstead Road. and had employed over 70,000 people at one time
I was employed as a machine hand while waiting to start an apprenticeship in toolmaking at the Gun & Carriage toolroom situated up near the Main gate (No 1)
[deleted] The New Fuze factory was situated just inside the Fourth gate. [/deleted]
It was two minutes to five, just about time to open the door of the clock & advance the hands to 5 o’clock & then punch our cards & off, this being a fairly regular practice. We worked week about, day & night shift & when the siren went whilst we were on night shift, we were ordered to our air raid shelters. Over time, since nothing happened we climbed on the top of the
[page break]
[page break]
shelter, covered with an old tarpaulin and watched as the searchlights groped the sky for the enemy intruders, the guns would fire away, it became almost a joke as we saw the searchlights catch the plane for an instant & then lose it, while the shell bursts from the anti-aircraft guns seemed to be not at all close. rather different to the experiences I had some years later.
However, after the bombing we were told to go home and since most of us were on bicycles we made our way post – haste, I cycled along the Plumstead road, turning on to the road to Eltham, my home at Beresford Square. By this time the R.AF fighters were among the bombers and firing was incessant, aircraft were smoking and coming down, many parachutes were descending, anti – aircraft guns were firing with thunderous roars
[page break]
[page break]
bombs were falling, shrapnel from A-A shells was raining down as were bullet cases & clips. As I reached the Artillery barracks in Mill Hill I was shouted at by soldiers to join them in the doorway of a barrack block, it transpired that they had returned from Dunkirk. After a while there was a lull & I got on my bike and made my way home. In this [inserted] short time the road was nose to tail with emergency vehicles heading down to Woolwich. Ambulances, fire engines, Air raid precaution vehicles, mobile water pumps manned by civvys & towed by large cars, the effort was tremendous. I reported back to work the next day but the New Fuze factory was no more it was razed to the ground with twisted girders & burnt out machines mute evidence of what had been a very highly productive factory. Within a few days I was called to start my
[page break]
apprenticeship, and shortly after volunteered to join the R.AF. as aircrew.
I am prompted to write this letter by the article which mentioned the bombing of the Arsenal on page 6, the letters page of your APRIL 14th publication.
I have often [deleted] asked [/deleted] [inserted] wondered [/inserted] whether the bombs that fell that day at 5 o’clock on 7th September 1940 were the first of the daily blitzes on London as no other explosions were heard. and I think that the air-raid sirens hadn’t sounded.
[underlined] Yours [/underlined]
[page break]
[page break]
Left Blackpool (thank God) on a dark & damp winters day, arrived at a dark and damp dockside, confronted by this monster of iron and steel, named SS. Strathmore, without any ceremony we filed up the gang plank, to be met by a flight sergeant who was giving out orders, as we boarded, he looked me in he eye and shouted, you, you are to guard the water tight doors on “H” deck, I didn’t know whether I was to stop any one from pinching them, or report whether they were there, or should they be open or shut or should I take any action in the event of an emergency. He motioned to a doorway and said, down there. proceeding down the stairways, which were lettered by the alphabet, I got well down, thinking if I have to any further I will be outside the ship &
[page break]
will have to start swimming. Arriving eventually [inserted] at H deck [/inserted] I cast around and not knowing what water tight doors should look like, I found a door & stood by it, it didn’t look out of the ordinary, just a big door, nut no one was looking so I sat down & waited farther orders. I didn’t take too long, although it seemed like ages, being all alone, when I heard a rumbling noise and realised that the ships engines were running and we were probably under way. I was eventually relieved, probably the same day, and went on deck, there was no sign of land, I hadn’t heard any bands playing a farewell lament, it would be years before I got another glimpse of Blighty.
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[page break]
[circled 1] At NAV School in S.A. flying in the Anson, wind up undercart 48 winds up or down. One day an episode occurred that would seem almost impossible with few aircraft (after all it wasn’t a thousand bomber raid) one Anson settled itself briefly on top of another Anson, both flying on the same heading, they parted and returned to base with little damage, This precipitated an all round safety review of everything, including parachutes. On opening the button down flap on the chute it was found that the 2 release wires, attached to the “D” handle, used to deploy the chute, which were threaded through the steel pillars which were used to hold the four flaps covering
[page break]
[circled 2] the canopy & its lines, had been bent right round, making it impossible to release the chute, obviously we had MALANITES an organisation run by a D MALAN who were sympathisers of HITLER and anyi British, they were the “Osewa Brandwag,” on the camp.
The other occasion that I had a brush with them when we going by train from PORT ELIZABETH to Durban, we were on a single track and on reaching BLOMFONTAIN we had to wait for 8 hours for a train coming down the line to reach us where double track had been laid for us to pass. All our course of about 30 bods made our way into town, it being the beer brewing capital of S.A, with many different brews on offer. I was with my mate LOFTY WINTERBOURNE
[page break]
[circled 4] received a blow to my left eye, some of our mates rallied round and we went to the train & looked for some one with a ripped shirt, fortunately for them we didn’t find them, by this time I had a lovely black eye, but after a few beers we went on our way. During the night, on one of our train journeys across S.A. one of the fellows walked along the corridor to the toilet, opened the wrong door – fell off the train, he finished up walking along the track following the train in only his short shirt, his name was Watson, he had been named Wiley Watson after an old time Music Hall turn, Happy days, he had to walk until he came to some habitation which was far between up on the high veldt, however he eventually caught up with us.
[page break]
[page break]
[notes]
[page break]
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Turning off this tree lined typically Italian road onto a dirt track we arrived at TORTORELLA the present home of 37 Sqdn. You couldn’t say that we were impressed, it looked like a deserted tip. If it had a redeeming feature you could say it was the olive trees at least they looked olive, not many signs of life otherwise, no welcoming crowd, & no brass band. just clapped out old tents, showing their age after 3 years in North Africa ebbing and flowing with the tide of battle, to say they sagged was an understatement. They were the standard ridge tent, perched over a hole dug into the ground to give enough room to stand up. entrance was by sliding down the slope created by the feet traversing the entrance coming or going. After a while the the entering had contrived to deepen the slide & distribute the muck evenly over the
[page break]
bottom of the living space floor, making the makeshift beds look like sunken beds & seriously reducing the head room inside, you had two options, you either lifted the tent a foot or so or excavate the floor. The tent had a trench dug around 3 sides to catch the rain before it encroached on your salubrosity [sic] inside, there were other trenches dug at random all over the site which were there for “AIRMEN FOR THE USE” of if anyone took exception & started the war going again in our area. These trenches contained water, (rain) & diesel oil which spilled from the 45 gallon drums of diesel oil which had been purloined and decanted while balanced across these trenches, no one was silly enough to attempt to syphon [sic] by mouth, so they
[page break]
were laid on their side & rolled back & forth to start or stop the flow, spillage obviously are unavoidable & all this in spite of dire warnings against nicking the diesel because of shortages. I might point out that this was Italy in JUNE & JULY, freezing cold & raining buckets. But then we were short of replacement clothes, food was vile, no tyres for the Wing. We were assembled by the ADJ to be informed that the cupboard was bare and that if we wanted anything at all we must make our own arrangements or go without. We had chucked the local farmer out of his house for our mess, so he had moved into a barn, which when you approached it, displayed an enormous bed, I don’t know if the goats & chickens used the bed but they, including the donkey wandered around in the barn. Bartering cigarettes or soap would get fresh eggs
[page break]
or if you indicated the need for a chicken the farmers eight year old daughter would catch it, wring its neck & hand it to you warm & you cant get fresher than that.
But to go back before the beginning for some of our history. During 1942 due to the invasion of N. Africa by the Americans there was a distinct shortage of troop ships so loads of U/T aircrew couldn’t get to South Africa for further training from ITU so we were moved around like dominos, although in the main we went on block by flights. Heaton Park (MANCHESTER) BRIDGNORTH (SHROPSHIRE) WHITLEY BAY (NORTHUM for a Guards commando course) eventually we made BLACKPOOL to await (the BOAT) our crowd had been issued with tropical Kit so we were sure that we would be going to cold Canada, so sure in fact this I bought a pair of ice skates from a hard up
[page break]
Canadian, I trailed them all around the hot countries without once seeing ice, brought them back to England & sold them at a handsome profit. (about 2 QUID which was handsome in those days) In Blackpool we landed up with the Blackpool landladies who were starving us to death while flogging our rations on the blackmarket in collusion with the RAF NCO in charge & the NAAFI wallah. I could give you her name but she would still be alive, she was too wicked to die. I was in the ATTIC with a blanket (one laid over a wire spring thing which passed as a mattress & a straw filled canvas pillow. I queried why the doors were so big, it was because she had to have enough room for all the notices that were there telling you what you couldn’t shouldent [sic] or mustent [sic] do. Her idea of the main meal were a small portion of
[page break]
reconstituted Cheese dried egg on two soldiers of toast.
We always went straight out after her dinners for fish & chips & peas, it was as well that we didn’t stop there long, our money would have run out & we would have starved to death. The day came when we were told to parade with all our kit bags, we had three including our flying kit, given a pot of black paint & paint brushes & told to paint a code on each kit bag, I had been given the letters & numbers AG – AG E7P in gloss paint, then not at all sorry to leave Blackpool we departed, we had been cold most of the time, even in bed. Off we went to Liverpool docks, assembled at the dock side & marched aboard, as we stepped aboard we were given various duties. I was told to go “H” deck & guard the watertight doors. I thought that rather odd especially when I saw
[page break]
them, I couldn’t imagine anyone pinching them, they were all bolted up. As I stood there pondering there was a loud throbbing & the S.S. STRATHMORE took off for South Africa. I didn’t get the opportunity to stand at the rail & wave goodbye to England, there were certainly no families or brass bands, or so I was told. just a few disinterested dockers, muching [sic] about with bits of rope. they’d seen it all before. I eventually got upstairs and it was just sea everywhere & it was very grey as I remember. Rumour had it that we were heading south to join a convoy, but after a few hours we were heading north, nothing unusual, plans are always being altered, & so our first night at sea. We had been allocated our accommodation on “H” deck, if had been “J” deck we would have been underneath the boat (ship) We had a table stretching out from the side of the ship with fixed
[page break]
form either side, this pattern was repeated about 12 times to form our own mess deck. Over the top of our table were steel fixings for our hammocks & that was it. We had a large tea-pot & large trays which were taken up about 4 flights of steps, along a covered deck down in to the galley where whoever was duty erk collected the food. We rocked our way along, the rocking becoming pronounced, we had a battleship various cruisers & a number of destroyers which kept haring off into the distance like greyhounds, getting buryed [sic] in water as they tore about, the battleship all but disappeared at times as we got further south & the weather got really harsh. By this time 98% of the forces people on board, about 6,000 altogether were violently seasick, also 98% had diarrhea [sic], caused by their gluttoning [sic] out on tinned fruit
[page break]
& cadburys chocolate which the ship had victual up in Canada The toilets on the mess deck were permanently occupied with people who couldn’t make up their mind, both ends of their bodies heaving alternately We still had to go to the galley for grub & fetch back these big trays with pre cooked fried eggs, & rashers of bacon, pre cooked about six hours before, swimming in fat and carried across a open deck, those fellows feeling brave enough to leave their place on the bog took one look & returned. In spite of all this mess we were still required on inspection to have the tea-pot and trays clean & shiny. Up on open deck we watched the massive waves pitch the ships about. We identified our nearest companion as the CAPETOWN CASTLE the biggest ship in the convoy at any one time you could see daylight under the hull
[page break]
as she rode the waves. You heard our screws roar as they came out of the water, then plopped back in again. We seemed to sail in all directions, the expert among us suggesting that we were evading submarines, the destroyer raced in & out & bangs were heard, depth charges were suggested as the cause. Some wiseacre thought he had seen the lights on the NEW YORK skyscrapers, but that wasn’t believed. We got a message that DEANA DURBIN the film star had been killed on one of the London underground escalators but that proved false. As the days passed all fresh food ran out & we were given hardtack biscuits, these almost walked off the table they were so full of weevils. We held the biscuit over a candle when the weevils would retreat to the other side, a quick flip over & the weevils were incinerated, a quick bang on the table and off they came, I can’t remember that we
[page break]
ate them it was one way of passing the time. Slowly the weather improved & the sun started to shine & it got hotter & hotter. Tennants lager beer was readily available & off course some over imbibed & collapsed to the deck where the sun burnt them as they lay I saw the consequences, the blister covered the whole of their back, they finished up under arrest, self inflicted injury is severely punished. It was rumoured that some had died of sun stroke & been buried at sea during the night & so we sailed into Freetown harbour, massive landlocked harbour which took all our ships & many others. The bum-boats, dug out canoes came alongside trying to sell fresh fruit but they were about 30 ft down & we had been forbidden to deal with them. The local fishermen came out in their single man dug out canoes, they appeared to push off from the beach
[page break]
& let the tide take them out & come back in with the tide when it turned, those in the know on the boat were tossing silver coins over & the fishermen watched them until they hit the water, they would roll out of their canoes, and dive after them, we could see the coins turning & glinting, they never failed to collect them, they had this remarkable ability to roll back into their canoes so effortlessly, of course some on board were covering farthings & halfpennies with silver paper from their cigarette packets, which these fellows still dived for, coming up from the dive & shouting, you Bastard, Glasgow tanner. There was one of the fishermen who had on a flat topped [illegible] painted red, who slowly inched past the ship loudly singing old army ditties at the top of his voice as he drifted along between the anchored convoy. He knew all the words, particularly of Bless – em – all – Bless – em – all, except that he substituted the “F” word for BLESS, much to the embarrassment of the officers & their ladies & nurses etcetera who were lining the open upper decks which we were not allowed near. We were soon on our way again we had a crossing the line ceremony (EQUATOR) with Father Neptune and all received their crossing the line certificate. Eventually we rounded CAPE TOWN which we saw in the distance, my mate George took a picture of Table Mountain far away & then we were positioning the convoy in line astern to enter DURBAN HARBOUR which we entered via a lock-gate, all the time
listening to the lovely voice of a lady, standing on the dockside, singing through a megaphone, all
[page break]
popular songs of the day. She was the MAYORESS OF DURBAN who was given secure information of the arrival of ships, also of their departure It was all very impressive. She was born in WOOLWICH where her parents had at one time owned the KENTISH INDEPENDENT, a local newspaper. We disembarked very soon & were greeted by ladies of the Womens Voluntary services who plyed [sic] us with all kinds of goodies including fresh fruit of every description which we hadn’t had for years. & so we came to CLAREWOOD RACECOURSE in DURBAN, massive transit camp, reached by a short railway journey, full of soldiers sailors & airmen all in transit to all directions. After a week or so which we spent swimming in the Indian Ocean with shoals of Dolphins swimming around us or taking the train along the coast to Isipingo or on to AMANZIMTOTI where we took a rowing boat up a small river, we rowed until the boat
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
Ted Neales' memoir
1999 Diary
Description
An account of the resource
Memoirs of Ted Neale (written in a non-contemporary diary), recounting his experiences of an air raid on Woolwich, travelling to South Africa for aircrew training and taking part in bombing operations from Italy. Some anecdotes are repeated. This item has been redacted in order to protect the privacy of third parties.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ted Neale
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed diary with handwritten notes
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BNealeETHNealeETHv05
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
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.
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Frank Batten
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Italy
South Africa
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-09-07
1942-02
1944-03
Absent Without Leave
bombing
lack of moral fibre
searchlight
shelter
training
Wellington
-
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4577b4fc20a547dd498147b4bedf6736
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
Neale, Ted
E T H Neale
Description
An account of the resource
123 items. The collection concerns Edward Thomas Henry Neale (b. 1922, 1395951 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator with 37 Squadron in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The collection contains his training notebooks from South Africa as well as propaganda leaflets dropped by the allies in the Mediterranean theatre.
The collection also contains a photograph album, navigation logs and target photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Alison Neale 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
2015-07-31
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
Neale, ETH
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1
Two events marked or marred September 1939 [sic] In order of importance was the start of the Second Great War, which was heralded by a false alarm air raid siren, the next event was my school days at the Woolwich Polytechnic were ended and [inserted] I [/inserted] was looking for a job. I found that a motor garage in Bexleyheath Broadway would take me on as a machine operator & setter, making components for war weapons. The owner was a Belgian Gent who during a lunchtime break declared that if the German army were marching down the Broadway he would be there with his hand extended in the NAZI salute, after the war, this Gent became Mayor of Bexleyheath, at this time he bought up all the machinery from the old defunct Tram yard which was near to where Marks & Sparks [Marks & Spencer] is today, he advertised it for sale the next day in the Evening News and it went straight away, making him an excellent profit, this machinery was needed for the war effort.
There being no real future in this job I applied for a job as an apprentice to the trade of Instrument maker at SIEMENS and was accepted. Starting on this job I was paired off with a skilled tradesman to learn the trade, while helping out on the guillotine, I was told not to touch the treale [sic], in the course of events I stood on the treade [sic], the machine went through its cycle and I had cut my trainers two-foot rule into two pieces, not a very auspicious start. I wasn’t too happy in this job, so I applied for an apprenticeship as a tool-maker [sic] at the Woolwich Arsenal, the great big munitions factory beside the Thames in Woolwich. Having been accepted I was told to report to the NEW FUZE [sic] factory, a little way inside the fourth GATE by the Plumstead Bridge, where I could work
[page break]
2
Making FUZES [sic] of all shapes & sizes, until they could make provision for me at one of the various toolrooms in the site, these jobs were very repetitive and boring but I was assured that it would only be for several weeks, the man was a prophet as I will show
7th SEPTEMBER (SATURDAY) 1940 4.58 P.M
Why so precise, [sic] because it is etched in stark reallity [sic] in my head. Saturday was change over [sic] shift day, we had had a week of days and would come to work on Sunday evening, to start the night shift. We would line up outside of the factory at the clocking off clock, we were allowed to be there two minutes before time, usually when this two minutes arrived someone would produce a key, open the front of the clock and advance it by two minutes and get away two minutes early. The air raid siren had sounded but we ignored it, since we had had so many false alarms, however, two minutes before five o’clock we heard a loud bang, then another bang about a second or two later, someone more knowledgeable, shouted out “BOMBS” as more bangs followed, a mad rush was made to the nearest air raid shelter which was quite close by, however the crush was so great, that nobody got in, as the bangs continued, coming nearer, the nearest one landed across the road, about twenty yards away on the little car park, the next one, the very last, we heard later, landed on an air raid shelter, one of the occupants was my cousins husband, all in the shelter were killed. Injured people started coming from buildings across the road, many bleeding badly, where the bomb blast had sucked the windows from
[page break]
3
the upper floors, a great rush took place to get away from the Arsenal, and I got my bike and pedalled off along the Plumpstead [sic] Road towards home, as I went I saw our fighter attacking the bombers, wheeling round the sky about, machine guns rattling away, planes smoking, parachutes coming down
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
Ted Neale's early war memoirs
Description
An account of the resource
Ted Neale describes the start of the war and the end of his schooling. After a couple of jobs, which he left quickly, he moved to the Woolwich Arsenal as an apprentice tool maker. On Saturday 7th September 1940 an air raid destroyed the factory, killing all those who had reached the shelter.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ted Neale
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0200001,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0200002,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0200003
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
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.
1939-09
1940-09-07
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lesley Wain
Air Raid Precautions
bombing
civil defence
shelter
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1266/17870/MHarrisM[Ser -DoB]-170521-01.jpg
47347aa5c573971f474b658a515c8255
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
Harris, Michael
M Harris
144 Squadron 1939 -1942
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. The collection includes a letter, an account of loss of a Hampden P1172 of 144 Squadron on operation to Hamburg, a letter of condolence and photographs of people.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Michael Harris 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
2017-05-21
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
144 Sqn39-42
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
144 Squadron
Aircraft Hampden 1
Serial P1172
Date 6/7/9/40
Crew Members
Pilot officer J.E. Newton-Clare 33492
Sergeant C.O. Clarke 745257
Sergeant W. Thompson 637247 [sic]
Sergeant W.L. Powell 641379.
6/7/9/40 Looking through Bomber Command records and war diaries there are discrepancy [sic] over where P1172 Hampden Dispatch [sic] from Hemswell or West Raynham. P1172 Hampden was Dispatch [sic] on schedule to take part in operations against the Germany [sic] to attack Hamburg. The correct w/t procedure was carried out prior to crossing the coast. later that night aircraft P1172 Hampden appeared to be in difficulties and at 0456 hrs a request for a bearing was received. The aircraft was ask [sic] for a call sign but signal gradually faded out and nothing further was heard belive [sic] to crash in the North Sea 50°.
Pilot Officer J.E. Newton-Clare 33492 is name is [sic] on panel 9 Runnymede Memorial.
Sergeant C.O Clarke 745257 Panel 12
Sergeant W. Thomson 637347 panel 20 18
Sergeant W.L. Powell 641379. Panel 18
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
Account of loss of Hampden P1172 of 144 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
Lists crew as ' Pilot Officer J E Newton-Clare, 33492, Sergeant C O Clarke, 745257, Sergeant W Thom[..]son, 637247, Sergeant W L Powell, 641379'. Date 6/7 September 1940'. Notes discrepancy in bomber command records and war diaries over whether aircraft dispatched from RAF Hemswell or West Raynham. Aircraft dispatched to operations against Hamburg. Appeared in difficulty over North Sea on return, transmissions faded, nothing further heard. Assumed crashed in North Sea. Notes location of names of crew on Runnymede Memorial.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page handwritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MHarrisM[Ser#-DoB]-170521-01
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.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
Germany
Germany--Hamburg
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-09-06
1940-09-07
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
Bradley Froggatt
144 Squadron
crash
Hampden
killed in action
memorial
RAF Hemswell
RAF West Raynham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1977/38291/SPalmerRAM115772v10034.2.jpg
693e9ee7d6c1562bbaa0ea7c7efe071b
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
Palmer, Robert Anthony Maurice
R A M Palmer
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
2017-10-30
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
Palmer, RAM
Description
An account of the resource
38 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Robert AM Palmer VC, DFC and Bar (115772, Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, fact sheets, newspaper cuttings, documents, correspondence and a substancial history of his last operation. <br /><br />He flew one hundred and eleven operations as a pilot with 75, 149 and 109 Squadrons and was killed 23 December 1944 when leading a daylight operation as an Oboe marker.<br /><br />The collection also contains 51 items in a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2178">Photograph album</a>.<br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Penny Palmer and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. <br /><br />Additional information on Robert AM Palmer is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/221528/">IBCC Losses Database</a>
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
Palmer V.C pathfinder fact sheet
Description
An account of the resource
Includes biographic details, service history and account of last operation for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Completed 111 operations on three squadrons, took part in Cologne 1000 bomber operation. Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross twice. Detailed account of last operation and mention of losses. Includes drawing of Lancaster, Mosquito, Victoria Cross and 75, 149, 109 squadron badges.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12-23
1939-08-22
1940-09-07
1945-03-23
1941-02
1944-09-10
1944-12-08
1944-01
1944-08
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Pforzheim
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Kent
England--Gillingham (Kent)
England--Suffolk
England--Norfolk
Scotland--Moray
Germany--Essen
France
France--Le Havre
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPalmerRAM115772v10034
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.
105 Squadron
109 Squadron
149 Squadron
35 Squadron
582 Squadron
75 Squadron
8 Group
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
killed in action
Lancaster
Master Bomber
mid-air collision
Mosquito
Oboe
Pathfinders
pilot
RAF Feltwell
RAF Little Staughton
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Mildenhall
shot down
Victoria Cross
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2559/43587/SLambertBrownP19330417v10010.2.pdf
d4c776636982eeebaf2704f690330088
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
Lambert-Brown, Peter
P Lambert-Brown
Description
An account of the resource
12 items. The collection concerns Peter Lambert-Brown (b. 1933 Royal Navy). A collection of documents compiled for the Admiralty detailing the bombing of the Royal Navy Dockyards in Malta. The collection covers the siege of Malta and includes the various vessels and docks that were damaged, and the repairs that were undertaken carried out.
The collection was donated to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Jacqueline Sherman and catalogued by Benjamin Turner.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2023-05-12
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
LambertBrown, P
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] APPENDIX VII [/underlined]
[underlined] DOCKS [/underlined]
[underlined] FLOATING DOCK NO. VIII. [/underlined]
11/6/1940 Shaken and strained by near misses (straddled).
20/6/1940 [deleted] Dock broken and Dock [/deleted] [deleted] s [/deleted] [inserted] S [/inserted] unk in a raid at midnight.
[underlined] No. 1 [/underlined]
[indecipherable] /4/1941 Main and drainage pump motors severely damaged. Dock out of use until 15/7/1941. Damage to masonry, deck out of use Mid April to Mid May, 1942.
[underlined] No. 2 [/underlined]
16/1/1941 [indecipherable]took wrecked by bomb. Power cables to pumping station damaged. Dock out of action until 20/2/1941.
23/3/1941 Pumping station hit by bomb. Dock coping damaged and displaced.
30//4/1941 “Encounter” hit by bomb whilst in dock and ship’s bottom severely damaged. West side of dock damaged and splinter holes in Caisson.
26/3/1942 Caisson damaged by splinters, flooded and immovable. “Lance” locked in dock.
5/4/1942 “Lance” hit, stern blown off, stocks and shores blown away large hole in side. Caisson punctured, dock and ship flooded.
12/9/1942 Dock dry, “Lance” floated and re-docked 29/10/42, floated 24/11/42 and undocked 12/12/42.
16/12/1942 No. 3 Caisson docked for repairs and No. 2 Dock in normal use again.
[underlined] No. 3. [/underlined]
7/9/1940 Slight damage to steps and altars. Caisson holed but repaired immediately.
16/1/1941 Power cables to pumping station damaged.
23/3/1941 Pumping station hit by bomb. Dock out of action until 24/4/1941.
30/4/1941 Caisson badly damaged by direct hit. Dock flooded and “Coral” sunk in dock. Dock out of action.
11/4/1943 Caisson repaired and re-placed. Dock pumped dry for clearance of debris, after which dock came into use again.
No. 4………
[page break]
[underlined] No. 4 [/underlined]
16/1/1941 Power cables to pumping station damaged.
29-30/4/1941 Hits on and alongside pumping station putting it out of action. Several craters on both sides of dock.
6/5/1941 Capstan at Bull Nose damaged. Dock out of use until 8/7/1941.
21/7/1941. to 20/8/1941 Dock out of use.
20/1/1942 Bomb hit on pumping station, damage to machinery. [indecipherable word] drainage and one main pump repaired and working again after 2 or 3 days.
4/4/1942 East side of dock damaged and “Penelope” in dock slightly damaged by debris, Caisson shaken and perforated.
11/4/42 “Kingston” in dock received direct hit broke her back and sank.
21/1/43 Dock pumped.
5/4/43 “Kingston” after-end floated
6/4/43 “Kingston” fore-end floated. Dock in use again.
[underlined] No. 5 [/underlined]
16/1/1941 Power cables to pumping station damaged.
29-30/4/1941 Hits on and alongside pumping station putting it out of action. Several craters on both sides of dock. Direct hit on “Fermoy” in Dock, Vessel holed.
3/5/1941 “Fermoy” again hit and sunk in dock. Vessel broken up in dock and cleared by 21st June.
6/5/1941 Capstan at Bull Nose damaged.
20/1/1942 Bomb hit on pumping station. Machinery damaged. One drainage and one main pump repaired and working again after 2 or 3 days.
25/3/1942 Bomb damage to side causing heavy seepage of water into dock necessitating flooding. Dock out of action but proved valuable used as a berth meanwhile.
14/1/1943 Dock partly pumped and re-flooded on 18/1/43 for further repairs to masonry leaks.
4/7/1943 Dock in normal use again.
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
Appendix VII- Docks
Description
An account of the resource
Report containing the damage to the docks and ships in Malta. Provides updates on the repairs and subsequent hits of both the ships and the docks.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-06-11
1940-06-20
1940-09-07
1941-01-16
1941-01-30
1941-03-23
1941-04
1941-04-29
1941-04-30
1941-05-03
1941-05-06
1941-07-21
1941-08-20
1942-01-20
1942-03-25
1942-03-26
1942-04-04
1942-04-05
1942-04-11
1942-09-12
1943-01-14
1943-01-21
1943-04-05
1943-04-06
1943-04-11
1943-07-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Malta
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 Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten report
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Benjamin Turner
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SLambertBrownP19330417v10010
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.