Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> 1947]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Katie Gilbert]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> He was classed as working in a reserved occupation, but joined the Air Training Corp whilst waiting to sign up for the Royal Air Force.
John was taken on as groundcrew but successfully trained to become a flight engineer at RAF St Athan. He believes he was one of the youngest.
He trained on Stirlings and then went to Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Chedburgh where he crewed up with Ronald ‘Eddie’ Edmondson, with whom he maintained a friendship after the war. John talks about his crew and the training they did.
Although John wanted to fly Short Sunderlands, he was not tall enough to reach the leavers, so he was assigned to Short Stirlings and flew them with 514 Squadron. John compares the Stirling and the Lancaster, and also describes a bullseye exercise to the French coast. From RAF Chedburgh he went to the Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Feltwell.
John completed a full tour of 30 operations, including trips to Kiel, the Falaise Gap, Rüsselsheim and Stettin, Duisburg. John explains the accuracy of the Gee-H navigation system. He goes on to describe some incidents including instances of a scarecrow, a fictional shell simulating an exploding four-engine bomber.
John carried out 30 operations. He then returned for a short period to RAF St Athan, followed by RAF Peterborough and its satellite RAF Sutton Bridge before the Motor Transport section at RAF Kirton Lindsey. He left the RAF in May 1947 and eventually set up his own garage. John eventually retired at the age of 65.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Suffolk]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--London]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Poland]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947-05]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Coventry]]> France--Brest]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Warwickshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> Canada]]> Gibraltar]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Spain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> After a transit camp in Ismailia, Bill went to Jerusalem and attended a wedding in Bethlehem. He proceeded to an Operational Training Unit at Attiyah where they trained on Wellingtons. He was posted to RAF Shallufa for conversion onto B-24s.
Bill eventually joined 37 Squadron, No. 205 Group, at Tortorella, near Foggia. He went on two operations: one to bomb a railway bridge in the north of Italy and the second to attack marshalling yards near Salzburg in Austria. After the Germans surrendered, he flew up supplies from the south to the north of Italy. The squadron then disbanded, and Bill was sent to a maintenance unit just outside Cairo, delivering aircraft. Bill left the RAF in 1947.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Italy]]> Italy--Foggia]]> Austria]]> Austria--Salzburg]]> West Bank--Bethlehem]]> Middle East--Jerusalem]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]>

In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, this item is available only at the University of Lincoln.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Linda Saunders]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Rutland]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1941]]> 1945]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Algeria]]> Great Britain]]> North Africa]]> Tunisia]]> Algeria--Algiers]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1944-05-31]]> 1945-05]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> India--New Delhi]]> India--Bilāspur (Chhattīsgarh : District)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> South Africa--Queenstown]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Bruges]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-30]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Aglasterhausen]]> Germany--Munich]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1945-01-28]]> 1945-01-29]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Tilly Foster]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Pforzheim]]> 1920]]> 1927]]> 1940-06]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944-11-03]]> 1945-02-23]]> 1945-02-24]]> 1945-05]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Devon]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944-06]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Second generation]]> Burma]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> Bangladesh--Jessore District]]> England--Norfolk]]> France--Brest]]> Bangladesh]]> 1936]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Walter Raymond Stevenson volunteered for the RAF as soon as he was eighteen and trained as a wireless operator/air gunner, learning Morse code at RAF Yatesbury. He flew with 'sprog' pilots as they trained and was posted to Number 3 Air Gunnery School at RAF Mona. He was flying in Bothas, which he disliked, before converting to Wellingtons. Despite hating the sunshine, he was posted to a number of locations in the Middle East and Africa. He served with 621 Squadron whose role was to prevent German submarines from attacking shipping. He details the operation where he sighted submarine U852 which the crew bombed with depth chargers, visibly damaging the submarine. The commander of that submarine was later executed for the war crime of firing upon the survivors of the sinking ship, The Peleus. After demobilisation Walter returned to blacksmithing before switching to car repair work. 

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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Walter was ‘called up’ to RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool for ‘square bashing’. Despite being informed that blacksmiths and joiners were desperately needed, but Walter was equally fixed on becoming aircrew. Here he learnt Morse code. Next was RAF Yatesbury to learn wireless telegraphy, before qualifying as a radio operator. He was then posted to 608 Squadron RAF Thornaby, Yorkshire, a Costal Command station. After a year there, Walter went to No 3 Air Gunnery School RAF Mona, Anglesey. Walter trained using the Botha which he thinks is a ‘horrible one’ and became a qualified air gunner. Then came RAF Hooton Part, Wirral Peninsula and OTU RAF Silloth, Cumbria. At Silloth Walter was a W/op AG flying in Wellingtons. Here he met ‘the bravest and daftest pilot in the RAF’, called Bond, James Bond. Walter was now sent to 303 FTU RAF Talbenny, Pembrokeshire.
Walter was sent to RAF Hurn, Bournemouth. From Hurn he flew to Gibraltar and then to RAF Rabat, Cairo, Middle East Command, Egypt. He whole crew then flew via Juba to Mogadishu. Before he could arrive, they were diverted to RAF Eastleigh, Mombasa, Kenya. Walter was to fly from Scusciuban, Somaliland on detachment from the squadron. He feels that this location was ‘diabolical’. There were three W/op AGs in the crew, and they rotated the wireless operator’s role with two hours on the set. The set was technically known as the IT but amongst the crew as ITV.
The navigator knew the U-852 was surfacing and its possible location. The plane was unable to fly high due to low cloud cover, so Walter was able to visually sight the U-Boat from the second dicky seat. He moved to the front air gunner’s position, and after firing on all those in or moving to the U-Boat’s conning tower, it submerged. The plane circled the area thinking that the U-Boat was ‘Whacko’ and saw it re-surface, so depth charges were dropped in a ‘stick’. The gunner aboard opened fire with 37mm. Walter feels that they were poor gunners as the plane was never hit and they were the only aircraft in the sky. After the attack to U-Boat was guided to the shore and breached. The captain was executed with two other officers from the crew as war criminals for their behaviour earlier in the war.
Walter was sent on with his squadron to assist 8 Squadron in Ade, where they received ‘red hot’ gen about the shipping. He was posted to Khormaksar then Transjordan. He was there for about six weeks for the RAF Aircraft instructor’s course, before returning to England.
Walter was never confronted with a case of LMF but is both annoyed by it and understands that it was something never discussed. He describes the differing treatment to NCOs and Officers with LMF as NCOs were punished for it, but Officers were not.
Walter was posted as a warrant officer to RAF Scampton to be the Sports Officer. He was demobbed at either RAF Conningsby or RAF Scampton in August 1946. He returned to blacksmithing, married Lilian at the Town Hall in Wycombe in 1947. Walter is in the Royal British Legion and the RAFA. He no longer attends meetings as he is without a car.

Claire Campbell]]>
eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> Kenya]]> Somalia]]> Middle East]]> Indian Ocean]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Kenya--Mombasa]]> Somalia--Mogadishu]]> North Africa]]> Africa]]> South Sudan]]> South Sudan--Juba]]> Sudan]]> 1940-10]]> 1941]]> 1942-05-02]]> 1943-02-24]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> United States]]> England--Yorkshire]]> New York (State)--New York]]> New York (State)]]> France--Ardennes]]> 1941]]> 1942-06-06]]> 1943]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Great Britain]]> England--Pilton (Somerset)]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Somerset]]> 1941]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Mike Cheesbrough]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Steph Jackson]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Second generation]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Witten]]> Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Saskatchewan--Dafoe]]> Saskatchewan]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> Vivian was demobbed in January 1946. After the war, he worked for a year on Five Maintenance Unit at RAF Kemble.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Essex]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Kent]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Wirral Peninsula]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Guernsey]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> 1938-07]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>