1
25
42
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2627/46739/MSmithAT560209-230614-02.2.jpg
97b8637e9202f75f3600c8a960cf57a9
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Smith, Albert Thomas
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. The collection concerns Sergeant Albert Thomas Smith (b. 1908, 560209 Royal Air Force) and contains correspondence, documents and a photograph. He served as an engine fitter with 106 Squadron.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Diane Ralph and catalogued by Lynn Corrigan.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2023-06-14
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Smith, AT
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
Squadron congratulations
Description
An account of the resource
Wing Commander Guy Gibson, commanding officer of 106 Squadron, congratulating the squadron on a month of successful operations and the record tonnage of bombs dropped despite difficulties which were overcome by the ground crews. Anticipating continued success when Lancaster aircraft are received the following month.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Guy Gibson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-05-01
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Germany
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
Text. Correspondence
Format
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One typed sheet
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MSmithAT5609-230614-02
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.
106 Squadron
bombing
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
Lancaster
RAF Coningsby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2357/45642/PFoskettW23020041.1.jpg
671b9fac41b9a3ea1b0f7917806966c1
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2357/45642/PFoskettW23020042.1.jpg
09df9e194158ddc75d4cf3a6ea430ee6
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
Foskett, William
Description
An account of the resource
104 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant William Foskett (b. 1921, 13230505 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, correspondence, documents, and photographs.
He flew operations as an air gunner and navigator with 214 Squadron. After the war, he was stationed in Italy, France, Germany and North Africa.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Peter Foskett and catalogued by Barry Hunter with the assistance of Roberto Bassi of the Aeroclub Friulano Campoformido.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-04-07
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Foskett, W
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
Four Men and Two Women
Embarkation leave
Description
An account of the resource
An airman in a Sidcot suit, a WAAF, a second airman, an ATS, a soldier and a naval officer. The six are standing in front of a house.
On the reverse 'Hampstead. April 1942. Embarkation Leave'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
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
British Army
Royal Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFoskettW23020041, PFoskettW23020042
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.
aircrew
ground personnel
home front
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2565/44148/YSaundersJWG1324708v1.1.pdf
8f8ed161e1217468438f07b5ba46af06
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
Saunders, John Walter Gifford. Training
Description
An account of the resource
118 photographs and a diary. The folder covers John Walter Gifford Saunders’ travel to South Africa on board the Highland Princess accompanied by 1,700 other Royal Air Force and British Army personnel. In 1942/1943 John visited family in Durban before continuing his journey to Zimbabwe by train. During his time there, he went to the Victoria Falls, relaxed with friends and took part in training exercises including camping in the largely uninhabited wild region far from towns. Subjects includes accommodation, transport, landscape, and local scenes.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Clive Saunders and catalogued by Lynn Corrigan, with additional contributions by Ella Keogh and Lucy Liu.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-03-07
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.
Identifier
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Saunders, JWG
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Diary of John's journey to South Africa
Description
An account of the resource
A description of travelling in convoy on the Highland Princess with 1,700 other Royal Air Force and British Army personnel. Including details of the onboard conditions, weather, a stopover, gun duty, attending lectures and wildlife sightings. Includes sketches, lists of aircraft identification numbers and notes of expenditure. Covering the period 13 April 1942 to 20 May 1942.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Walter Gifford Saunders
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
1942-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone--Freetown
South Africa
South Africa--Durban
Zimbabwe
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
British Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten pages from a notebook
Identifier
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YSaundersJWG1324708v1
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
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.
1942-04
1942-05
sport
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2559/43600/SLambertBrownP19330417v10011.1.pdf
a3feeccad4e5cece7842575b9acdebf0
Dublin Core
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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
[inserted] appendix VIII [/inserted]
[underlined] MALTA- SUNK VESSELS- APRIL, 1942 [/underlined]
[underlined] M.V. “PAMPAS” [/underlined] –
At Marsa. Resting on bottom. Top deck just above water. Vessel broken aft No. 2 hold but top deck joins the two sections. Many bomb hits in Engine Room ([indecipherable]ships) also in 4 and 5 holds. Vessel shows buckling aft at 4 and 5 holds as though the stern were resting on a hard place or bump. A recent explosion in 4 hold has blown out the ship’s side. Vessel has burnt fiercely for some days. The fore part (Nos. 1 and 2 holds and the bow) could be saved intact. The aft part is a wreck. Divers made an examination aft, but much damage has been done since then and the extent of the damage is not known.
[underlined] M. V. “TALABOT” [/underlined] -
Sunk in the middle of Grand Harbour by our own depth charges after having been set on fire by enemy bombs. Has been hit again since in several [indecipherable word] places and been on fire heavily.
Extent of damage not known. Is considered to be a wreck.
[underlined] H. M. S “[indecipherable word]” [/underlined] -
Lying on her side with about 6 feet above water at [indecipherable words]. Full/ cargo. Has bee n on fire.
of
[underlined] H. M. S. “MAORI” [/underlined] -
Sunk at mouth of French Creek. Bomb hits and explosion after end Machinery Compartments and Warhead Magazine. In 45 feet of water (approx..).
[underlined] H. M. S. LEGION [/underlined] -
Several bomb hits and large explosion. Vessel wrecked and submerged on her side at Boiler Wharf.
[underlined] H. M. S. “PANDORA” [/underlined] -
Bombed and sunk at Hamilton Wharf. Not yet examined by divers.
[underlined] GREEK SUBMARINE “GLAUCOS” [/underlined] –
Bombed, broken and sunk at Hamilton Wharf (Inner)
[underlined] “[indecipherable word]” (Oiler) [/underlined] –
Sunk alongside Parlatorio Wharf. Fore and aft boat deck above water. Several bomb hits and near misses. Vessel badly damaged in Engine Room and the after part.
[underlined] H. M. S “KINGSTON” [/underlined]-
Bombed, broken in two, submerged on her side in No. 4 dock. If possible pump out No. 4 Dock, break up vessel saving fittings, installations, etc. The large leaks through the bombed gaps in the masonry may prove beyond [indecipherable word] capacity of the dock pump.
[underlined] H. M. S. “LANCE” [/underlined]-
Bombed many times and sunk in No. 2 Dock. Vessel fairly upright. Stern is submerged but the topsides amidships and the forecastle are above water. Fittings, etc., are being stripped where possible. The caisson of this dock has also been badly damaged. The dock pump is at present out of action. If caisson is found to be repairable, then dock might be pumped, holes in vessel closed, vessel floated for eventual re-docking. But the true state of affairs is still indefinite.
[underlined] [indecipherable]. “ESSEX” [/underlined]-
Vessel beached at [indecipherable word] for safety. The machinery was damaged by enemy action and replace portions have been ordered from U. K. At least 6 months required after receipt of machinery. No dock available at present.
[underlined] TRAWLER “CORAL” and LIGHTER “X. 131” [/underlined] –
In No. 5 dock. “Coral has been further damaged and appears to be now a wreck.
“X. 131” is submerged aft.
This caisson received bomb hits. If and when the dock can be pumped out (the dock pump is common to 2 and 3 Docks) “CORAL” will have to be demolished. Extent of damage to stern of “ X. 131” is not yet known.
[page break]
-2-
[underlined] H. M. S. Abingdon [/underlined]-
On the beach on her side in 2 pieces. Considered a Total wreck. No urgency.
[underlined] DRIFTER “GIRL MARGARET” [/underlined]-
Burnt out, splinter damage beached at [indecipherable word] Creek. Vessel flooded. About 4 months work, but vessel not in hand.
[underlined] TUG “[indecipherable words]” [/underlined]-
Badly damaged, sunk at Boiler Wharf.
[underlined] H. M. S “GALLANT” [/underlined]-
Fore part missing. Beached at Pinto Wharf. Splinter holes, vessel flooded. Requires divers to plug holes, pump out, float up, build new fore end. At least 6 months after receipt of all steel materials.
[underlined] TUG “ANCIENT” [/underlined]-
Beached at Marsa. Bomb damage, splinter holes. Hull temporarily repaired. Boiler destroyed.
[underlined] DRIFTER “SUNSET” [/underlined]-
Sunk in harbour. Not yet examined.
[underlined] TUG “[indecipherable word]” [/underlined]-
Bombed and sunk off Somerset wharf. Badly damaged forward of bridge.
[underlined] [indecipherable words] No. 15 [/underlined]-
Bombed and sunk off Somerset Wharf. Bomb hole patched by divers.
Locally made pontoons or air chambers installed in hold of vessel. Salvage work was stopped by enemy attacks.
[underlined] “MOOR” (MOORING VESSEL) [/underlined]-
Blown up by enemy action and sunk inside breakwater in fairly deep wate. Not examined. Probably a twisted wreck.
[underlined] H. M. SUBMARINE “P. 39” [/underlined]-
Broken in two. Beached at Marsa ; since then bombed further damaged and now almost submerged.
[underlined] H. M. SUBMARINE “P. 56” [/underlined]-
Sunk in [indecipherable word] Harbour.
[underlined] FLOATING CRANE NO. 4. [/underlined]-
Bombed, broken, hull on fire, sunk completely wrecked.
[underlined] [indecipherable]ATER BOAT “[indecipherable]” WATER BOAT “CLINKER” [/underlined] –
Sunk. Not examined. Condition unknown.
[underlined] WATER BOAT “MONKEY” [/underlined]-
Sunk and back broken.
[underlined] TUG “ANDROMEDA” [/underlined]-
Sunk. Not examined. Condition unknown.
[underlined] TRAWLER “JADE” [/underlined] –
Bombed, sunk at Somerset Wharf. Not yet examined. Condition unknown.
[underlined] [indecipherable word] [/underlined]-
Italian Merchant Ship, prize, ,medium sized cargo [indecipherable word] Sunk in Kelkara Creek. Condition not known.
[underlined] “ADIGE” [/underlined]-
Small Cargo Vessel (Italian). Damaged and [indecipherable words] Kelkara Creek.
[underlined] “MARGIT” [/underlined]-
Old condemned vessel sunk in [indecipherable words]
[underlined] TUG O.350 [/underlined]-
Bombed and sunk 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 VIII: Malta - Sunk Vessels - April 1942
Description
An account of the resource
A two-page report listing various classes of ship and the damage each vessel received.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
SLambertBrownP19330417v10011
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.
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2559/43586/SLambertBrownP19330417v10009.2.pdf
3b873664b4f9c9724a4cf5b381ef9ed5
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
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 VI- Table of Raids
Description
An account of the resource
Each page documents a table of attacks on the docks of Malta. The air raids detailed in the table record the raid number, number of casualties, damage (both place and extent) and damage to ships and equipment.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1940-06
1940-09
1941-01
1941-03
1941-04
1941-05
1941-07
1941-08
1941-10
1941-11
1941-12
1942-01
1942-02
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
1942-07
1942-10
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
25 page typewritten report
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SLambertBrownP19330417v10009
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.
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2559/43577/SLambertBrownP19330417v10003.1.pdf
ffc1125b58cb57991dbec86e6204283b
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 I [/underlined]
[underlined] MALTA DOKYARD- PERIOD OF SIEGE 1940-1943 [/underlined]
During the first 9 months of the war nothing unusual took place at Malta xcept [sic] the withdrawal of the Fleet to Alexandria and the Levant.
2. When Italy entered the war, however, Malta became a very accessible target, situated only some 60-70 miles from Sicily, and during the greater part of the next 3 years the Maltese Islands were surrounded on all sides by enemy occupied territories.
3. Air Raids commenced at daybreak on the day on which Italy entered the war- 11th June 1940 – and continued intermittently for over 3 years, the Aerodromes, Dockyard and Harbours being the principal targets. ( [underlined] NOTE [/underlined] : There were 3328 raids, 1106 of which were at night)
4. These attacks reached their peak during the first half of 1942. Their strength and frequency then gradually diminished with the success of the Allied Arms in North Africa, and had ceased altogether by October 1943 after the surrender of Italy.
5. During this period the Dockyard establishments, maintained their constant effort to keep H.M. ships in service dealing with damage repairs, defeats, fuelling, storing, equipping and generally servicing as required the ships of operating forces, convoys and their escorts.
6. As many skilled workmen as would volunteer transferred to Alexandria to man up the dockyard there and for other eases in the Eastern Mediterranean. Technical and Clerical Staff were also transferred for the same purpose.
7. The Dockyard also did a considerable amount of work for the other Services in Malta. Repairs to vessels, plant and machinery and manufacture of many thousands of articles, fittings and spare parts which were either not obtainable from the United Kingdom, or if shipped failed to arrive.
8. The Dockyard machines were adapted with considerable ingenuity for these purposes which in many cases were completely different from their normal functions.
9. In addition to the above, services performed for the Civil Government, included conversion of machinery at the Generating Station and the Breweries to oil-fuel burning, and provision of expert advice and assistance for the following vitally important services:
Flour Mills
Generating Station
Shelter Construction Department
Organisation for Co-Ordination of Supplies (C.O. SUP: )
10. Numbers of workmen were loaned to the other services as necessary for various urgent requirement. For example :-
(a) Servicing aircraft until such times as the necessary ground-staff could be obtained.
(b) Clearance and restoration work at the aerodromes, often under conditions of hardship and much danger.
(c) Skilled work at R.E.M.E Workshops etc.
11. [underlined] DOCKYARD ACTIVE DEFENCE ORGANISATIONS [/underlined]
[underlined] DOCKYARD DEFENCE BATTERY [/underlined]
In September 1939 the Dockyard Defence Battery (30 th L. A. A. Battery R. M. A (T) ) WAS formed from amongst the Dockyard Officers and Workmen for the purpose of manning the Anti-Aircraft guns allocated to defend H.M. Dockyard from attack by low flying aircraft.
12. The Battery ….
[page break]
12. The Battery attained a strength of some 15 officers and 412 O. R’s, showed a fine fighting spirit and did excellent work throughout the period of air attacks on Malta. Its success [deleted] are [/deleted] [inserted] is [/inserted] evidenced by the number of honours given to its members: -
[underlined] O. B. E. [/underlined] – Major L. B. Bolton, Officer Commanding
[underlined} M. C. [/underlined] – Lieutenant F.W. Angle
[underlined] M. C. [/underlined] – Major L. T. H Cooks R. A. (O.C)
[underlined] M.M. [/underlined] – Sergeant L. Atap
[underlined] M.M. [/underlined] – Sergeant H. Andrews
[underlined] M.M. [/underlined] – Bombardier G. Balzan
[underlined] Mention in Despatches. [/underlined] – L/Bombardier M. Castles
[underlined] Commendations by H. [deleted] indecipherable [/deleted] [inserted] E [/inserted] the Governor for gallant conduct. [/underlined]
L/Sergeant R. Vella
L/Bombardier S. Cacciottolo
Gunner W. Atkins
Gunner C. Zammit (1)
Gunner A. Pool
Gunner L. O’Toole
Gunner Zammit (2)
Gunner V. Sultana
Gunner P. Mangion
Gunner G. Tabone
13. With the exception of a few men who rejoined the battery on a regular enlistment, all the Officers and men were returned to their normal Dockyard employment in July 1942.
14. [underlined] ANTI-PARACHUTIST COMPANY (“PARASHOTS”) [/underlined]
In May 1940 a Company was formed from amongst the English Officers and Agreement Workmen, with the Captain of the Dockyard ad Commandant for the defence of the Dockyard against attack by airborne troops. All members were trained in the use of the rifle and organised in platoons conforming to the A. R. P. sectional organisation.
15. [underlined] DOCKYARD GUARD [/underlined]
In June 1941, consequent on the stationing of a detachment of troops in the Dockyard, the “PARASHOTS” were disbanded and a new corps, called the Dockyard Guard was organised, composed of all fit Agreement Workmen (in fulfilment of their Agreements) and a number of Dockyard Officers who volunteered for this service.
16. The Duty of this Force was to co-operate with the troops in the defence of the Dockyard, and all members underwent a course of training to equip them to carry out their role efficiently. They formed a reserve available to reinforce the troops in emergency, and when fully trained could be employed in the important duty of providing guards for vital points in the Dockyard as the circumstances might require. ( [underlined] NOTE: [/underlined] In this connection it is interesting to note that according to local records there was a Malta Dockyard Battalion of Artillery in 1852-1855, and it is believed that clause 7 of the agreement for service at H.M. Naval Yards abroad was introduced then owing to the refusal of a workman to undergo training. The formation of the Dockyard Guard in 1941 was the first occasion, since that period, of implementing the defence clause in the English Workmen’s Agreements by the formation of such a corps.)
17. [underlined] CONDITONS DURING BOMBING PERIOD [/underlined]
Meanwhile it was vitally necessary to excavate rock shelters for the protection of personnel and important plant, and to get as many workshops and offices as practicable sited underground as quickly as possible. This work was pressed forward with the limited labour available for the purpose.
18. Many of the….
[page break]
18. Many of the families of Naval and Civilian personnel from the United Kingdom were evacuated in 1939 and early 1940 to the Near East, South Africa and United Kingdom. A large number of families still remained in Malta, and took up residence, some 5 miles away from the Dockyard, at the St. George’s Barracks which were allocated by the Army Authorities for this purpose. There they were able to organise Messes [deleted] s [/deleted] , and although there were no rock-shelters but only slit trenches they and their men folk were able to feel some degree of confidence in that they were away from the main targets of the enemy.
19. It was not until April 1942 that the enemy concentrated air attacks on these barracks, which were then very severely damaged and had to be evacuated.
20. It had been necessary from the start to provide living accommodation in the Dockyard for staff required for A. R. P. and Fire Services , and for emergency work. As the enemy attacks increased, the bulk of the population of the Three Cities were evacuated to more distant places in the Island. This resulted in the withdrawal of the shopping and domestic services which were necessary to enable staff to live in these towns, and accommodation had to be improvised in the Dockyard for the majority of the Officers and Agreement Workmen. Emergency Messes were formed, but the conditions under which the Officers and Men had to live were not only devoid of comfort, convenience and means of recreation but positively unhealthy due to the damp.
21. The local workmen were now dispersed to living centres away from the Dockyard but means of transport for them were reduced to a minimum owing to general shortage of petrol, loss of supplies and loss of vehicles by enemy action. The daily journeys of the workmen between their homes and the Dockyard had to be made on foot for the most part, and were arduous journeys and full of uncertainties. As enemy action might at any time have resulted in some thousands of men being unable to leave the Yard, perhaps for some days, [deleted] and [/deleted] preparations to meet such a situation were organised and emergency food dumps prepared in suitable positions with the co-operation of the Civil Government.
22. On 23rd February 1942, owing to the shortage of petrol and need for economy in transport, a 5 day working week was adopted throughout the Island. To conform with this the Dockyard working hours became 9 1/2 hours daily, Monday to Thursday inclusive, and 9 hours on Fridays and this arrangement worked very smoothly. The establishments reverted to the normal 6 day working week on 1st November 1943.
23. After each bombing raid prompt action was taken to clear debris and fill craters, so as to keep the roadways and wharves as clear as possible to allow of the passage of the fire engines and other vital traffic.
Electric Light, power and telephone cables were broken and the installations put out of action time after time. These vitally important services however were always restored in a short space of time.
24. The water and gas services were put out of action early in 1941. Improvis [sic] [indecipherable arrangements for supply of water throughout the Dockyard were organised by means of water-carts and tanks placed in shelter under rock as far as possible.
25. The town of Senglea was completely isolated except b passing through the Dockyard, and was completely deprived of water supply. A tank vessel from Victuall [sic] Yard was placed alongside Senglea Marin [deleted] e [/deleted] [inserted] a [/inserted] to keep the remaining inhabitants supplie [inserted] d [/inserted] with water.
26. As much undamaged machinery as could be so dealt with was transferred [inserted] under [/inserted] rock shelter. Damaged machinery was rescued and brought into use again either [inserted] under [/inserted] rock shelter or in its original position [deleted] . [/deleted] [inserted] , [/inserted] [deleted] T[/deleted] [inserted] t [/inserted] he damaged shops being patched up [inserted] to [/inserted] provide the necessary protection from the weather.
27. Aggregations of large parties of personnel in the open or in exposed buildings were to be avoided. The Muster and Pay Stations had been demolished by enemy action, and lost muster-tickets could not be replaced. Ordinary mustering [inserted] was [/inserted] therefore impracticable and alternative arrangements were introduced. Payment of wages was made under rock shelter, but even so, currency notes were sometimes scattered by bomb blast.
28. The cumulative…..
[page break]
28. The cumulative effect of the damage mounted rapidly with the increasing force of the raids. Docks were put out of use, cranes and machinery throughout the Yard were destroyed or rendered useless, tugs, lighters and boats were sunk, workshops demolished, and stores and storehouses destroyed.
29. In order to maintain effective working, the Dockyard developed methods by which work usually done by machines, was done by hand. Though slow in operation, this meant that effective functioning was still maintained.
30.[underlined] EFFECTS OF DAMAGE [/underlined]
The air attacks on Malta reached their peak in April 1942 during which month there were no less than 283 raids.
31. The situation then was as follows: -
(a) All docks out of action. The only one capable of being used in the near future was No. 1, provided masonry could be repaired satisfactorily and if power supply to the pumping station could be kept in repair.
(b) The whole electrical distribution system, including underground and overhead lines for power, lighting and telephones had been repeatedly and severely damaged. Limited electric supplies were restored intermittently in the Nos: 4 and 5 Docks area round No. 1 Dock. Power could only be supplied with any reliability to the following, which were underground: -
M. C. D’s Small Ship Fitters’ Shop and Hand Benches
M. E. D’ s Optical Instrument Repair Shop, Tool Room, Coppersmiths’ Shop and Foundry
(c) No. 1 Ship Fitting Shop was severely damaged and completely out of action, and machines were being transferred to the first chamber of the underground shop, the incomplete excavation work being suspended for the purpose. Excavation of the second chamber was commenced.
(d) A limited amount of joinery and smiths’ work could be undertaken by hand.
(e) Pending extensive repairs to air mains, compressed air supply was dependent upon portable compressors loaned from salvage plant and by Civil Government, about 5 compressors being serviceable at any one time.
(f) Electrical Engineering work was limited by lack of material rather than damage. The damaged workshops were in process of moving into prepared sites underground or into such excavations as could receive them for the time being.
(g) Most of the Naval Stores were under masses of debris. Both diesel fuel lighters were sunk, and R. F. A. ‘BOXOL’ and two furnace fuel lighters damaged.
(h) Three tugs and one mooring vessel had been sunk, leaving only one tug and one mooring vessel available. The tug was undergoing extensive machinery repairs.
Many boats and lighters had been destroyed and many severely damaged. There were some 34 wrecks in the docks and harbours, besides remains of various lighters and small craft.
(i) The Victualling Yard and other adjacent establishments were without light, power and telephones, the cable routes and distribution having been damaged in far more places than it had been possible to cope with.
(j) The Armament Depot was without power and light, and all hydraulic cranes were out of action. A few hand cranes were expected to be useable when the wharf could be cleared, but all railway lines were broken. All of the workshops were demolished and all the above-ground stores and laboratory rooms damaged. Some gun and mine spares were recoverable. Half of the lighters had been sunk.
(k) The greater
[page break]
(k) The greater part of the Yard area was pitted with orators and strewn with debris, which in many places was of a massive nature and tangled with girders. Frequent air raids still continued to do damage.
32. [underlined] RECUPERATION [/underlined]
At the end of July the situation was as follows: -
[underlined] Docks [/underlined]-
No. 1- In full use, with power supply and welding facilities.
No. 2)- Repairs to caissons well in hand and pumping serviceable.
No. 3)
No.4- Out of Use.
No. 5- Preparations in hand for an attempt to repair the breach in dock walls. One pump serviceable.
[underlined] Power Light Telephones [/underlined] –
Restoration proceeding satisfactorily. Cables being led through excavated rock passages to minimise future risk of damage. Limited supplies of power and light restored to adjacent establishments but no E. H. T supplies yet possible.
[underlined] Shops & Plant [/underlined] –
Many motors for driving machine tools repaired and others in hand. Sufficient machines in operation to meet current requirements.
Compressed air available in No. 4 and 5 Docks and Factory area, and being extended to No. 1 Dock.
Eight fixed and travelling cranes restored and operating.
[underlined] In full working [/underlined] :-
Underground Compressor and Oxygen Plant
Underground Tool Room
Underground Gunmounting [sic] Shop
Underground Fitting Shop
Tube Shop
Welding Tube Shop
Temporary Smithery
Main Electrical Shop (Underground)
Extempore electrical workshops for mains, and telephones.
[underlined] Working with limited output [/underlined] :-
No. 1 Ship Fitting Shop
No. 3 Ship Fitting Shop (Underground)
Joiner’s Shop (extempore)
Foundry (Underground)
Coppersmiths’ Shop (Underground)
Boiler Shop
Saw Mills
Drawing Office- M. E. D. (Underground)
[underlined] Stores & Fuelling [/underlined] –
Recovery of Naval Stores proceeding. ‘BOXOL’ and two barges repaired and one of the barges reserved for diesel.
[underlined] Armament Depot [/underlined] –
Light restored, also limited 440 volt D.C. power. One 2 ton derrick and two 1 1/2 ton hand cranes operable.
Road and single rail facilities restored.
All workshops functioning by hand in improvised accommodation. No machines working.
Above ground stores and laboratory in partial use.
Recovery of buried material progressing.
18 lighters in service.
33. On 1st August 1942 the following signal was addressed to the Admiral Superintendent by the Vice-Admiral, Malta : -
“The recuperative power of the Dockyard, and steady progress are most satisfying.
“You and all others are concerned deserve high praise for what has been accomplished
“in so short a time. Please convey my congratulations to all. “ (T. O. O. 1129)
34. At this…….
[page break]
34. At this period the further restoration of the electrical system was hampered by shortage of cable and other materials. In the case of the telephone lines, undamaged lengths of cable were recovered from other routes and used for the repair of the most important lines.
35. Repairs to buildings were rendered difficult owing to shortage of materials and the slowness of removal of spoil from underground excavations, this being handicapped by lack of fuel.
36. The next 5 months showed a steady increasing rate of progress towards normal working capacity, in spite of the continual air raids, shortage of supplies and plant, and the demands on the Yard arising out of the development of Allied Operations for the liberation of North Africa, Sicily and Italy.
37. The great anxiety now was the shortage of food supplies in the Island. The August convoy brought partial relief and supplies were carefully husbanded, but by October the outlook had become very grave.
38. Civilian rations had been reduced until there was scarcely anything beyond a small ration of very poor quality bread and a very insufficient amount of corned beef. The arrival of the famous November convoy towards the end f November 1942, brought the much needed relief just in the nick of time, and removed what threatened to become the main weakness of the Island’s defences.
39. The situation at the end of December 1942 was as follows :-
[underlined] Docks [/underlined]
No.1 – In full working
No.2- In use for small craft. Wreck of ‘LANCE’ had been floated and redocked on 29th October and undocked 12th December. Dock then occupied by Caisson of No. 3 Dock for repairs. Power and welding facilities available.
No. 3- In use as a wet berth for small craft only as wrecks outside preclude [inserted] d [/inserted] entry of anything larger than a trawler. Expected to be available with power and welding facilities about end of March.
No. 4- Repairs to Caisson and face of groove in hand. Expected to pump out mid January and commence work on wreck of ‘KINGSTON’ .
No. 5- Repairs to masonry well advanced. Expected to pump out about 26th January.
[underlined] Electricity and Telephones [/underlined]
Restoration progressing satisfactorily to meet all requirements. Supplies of power to Armament Depot and Rinella not yet restored owing to lack of material.
[underlined] Compressed Air [/underlined]
Leads extended to No. 1 Dock via Cospicua, Store Wharf, Church Tunnel and M.C.D’s Fitting Shop. All M. E. D’s underground shops supplied and work in hand to supply to Boat House, Canteen Parlatorio Wharves.
[underlined] Workshops- Percentage of normal capacity [/underlined]
[underlined] C.D. Dept. [/underlined] –
Sail Loft 50
Rigging House (re-sited) 70
[underlined] Constructive [/underlined]
Smithery 85
Joiners 60
Paint Shop 90
Plumbers 90
Sawmills 40 (steadily improving)
Boat House 60
Welding 90
No. 4 & 5 Dock Shop 60
Destroyers Workshop 90
Ship Fitting Shops 60 (one underground)
Submarine Workshop 20
[underlined]Engineering[/underlined] …….
[page break]
[underlined] Engineering (Aboveground) [/underlined] –
Fitting Shop 40
Foundry 70
Coppersmiths 50
Motor Repair Shop 80
Tool Room Nil
Pattern Shop 75
Yard Machinery Shop 30
Gunmouting 40
Tube Shop 90
Other Boiler Shops 20
Smithery All hand work. Low output. No heavy forgings
[underlined] Engineering (Underground) [/underlined] –
Tool Room & Fitting Shop 100
Coppersmiths 50
Foundry (Not yet complete)
No. 60 Fitting Shop 100
No. 60 Gunmounting Shop 100
[underlined] Electrical [/underlined]-
If adequate supplies of material and stores were available 90
[underlined] Cranes [/underlined]-
Following cranes had been repaired and in full operation :-
Burmola Wharf 20 tons
Boiler Wharf 50 tons
No. 4 Dock 10 tons
Machinery Wf: 5 tons
(Six other 10 ton and 5 ton travelling cranes but limited by damaged tracks.)
Canteen Wharf, one fixed, 4 tons
Hamilton Wharf, one fixed, 4 tons being erected with 120 feet travel.
[underlined] Naval Stores [/underlined]
Recovery progressing steadily.
Greatly increased fuelling requirements being met successfully despite restricted facilities. Length of 12’’ fuelling main to Dolphins, 250 feet recently renewed.
[underlined] Armament Depot [/underlined]
Greatly increased commitments being met despite disabilities. Laboratory work reduced by weather pending repair to buildings. Mine Shop, capacity (Aircraft Mines 100%, Moored Mines 60%). Work of supply much hampered by lack of Hydraulic Crane System pending receipt of parts.
40. The limitations in general Yard capacity at the end of December 1942 were mainly due to :-
(a) Lack of berths alongside, owing to submerged wrecks.
(b) Lack of docks (situation improved by early April).
(c) Lack of welding and compressed air facilities at available berths.
(d) Lack of sufficient portable air compressors and welding sets.
(e) Lack of lifting facilities at available berths.
(f) Lack of materials and stores.
41. The redevelopment….
[page break]
41. The redevelopment undertaken was dealt with on the following general lines :-
(a) Underground excavations to be provided as an alternative for all the more important workshops and plant.
(b) Re-conditioning of normal workshops and provision of temporary aboveground accommodation for those items in (a) which had, of necessity, received a low priority, and for which it was not possible to provide rock cover in the immediate future.
42. Much of the progress was achieved by salvaging damaged machines and scrap materials which were freely used in extemporisation.
43. At the beginning of 1943 further progress was limited by the following factors:
(a) Civil Engineering Labour, of which there was a marked shortage due to heavy demands by all the Services and the Civil Government. This seriously affected excavation of underground shops, sub-stations etc, and repairs to buildings, roadways, mains etc.
(b) Lack of materials for repairing and re-roofing damaged buildings.
(c) Shortage of stores of all kinds.
(d) Lack of experienced salvage party with full equipment adequate to clear sunken wreckage from approaches to wharves and docks.
(e) Additional supervising staff was required by all Departments in order to expedite the redevelopment programme.
44. On 18th January 1943 the Commander-in-Chief sent the following message to the Vice-Admiral, Malta and the Admiral Superintendent :-
“I have read with much interest and pleasure the account of the present state
“of H.M Dockyard at Malta, contained in the Admiral Superintendent’s signals
“………and V. A. M’s letter ……….. and signal ………….
“The immense strides made in the way of recuperation since the days of
“intensive bombing have been clearly due to special efforts on the part of
“every Officer and man to achieve so much in such a short space of time, and
“reflects the greatest credit on all concerned. (T. O. O. 2136)”
45. Nos. 3 and 4 Docks were brought into use again early in April 1943, but the use of Nos. 2 and 3 Docks was still restricted by the presence of wrecks in the approaches. The repairs to No. 5 Dock were satisfactorily completed so that on 4th July the Dock was ready to take a Tribal Destroyer and on 24th July ready to take a cruiser.
46. In January 1943 in order to make the best use of the man power available, the employment of women in the Dockyard was introduced for the first time. They were allocated to jobs which were normally performed by men, but which were well within the capabilities of women, thus releasing men for other work of a nature requiring men’s efforts. At one time as many as [underlined] 700 [/underlined] women were employed, with success, but it could not be described as a popular venture as the industrial employment of women is not in accord with the traditions and beliefs of the Maltese people generally.
47. A Salvage Party arrived in February 1943 and set to work on the clearance of the dock approaches and harbours.
During the period prior to the advent of the Salvage Party, the Dockyard had salvaged the following vessels, in spite of the lack of adequate salvage plant, by persevering efforts and resourceful improvisation :-
[underlined] Number Salved [/underlined]
Tugs 4
Drifters 2
Trawler 1
Steam & Motor Boats 29
Lighters (Dockyard) 32
Lighters (Civil Govt: ) 104
[underlined] Put back into Service [/underlined]
Tugs 4
Drifters 2
Trawler (scrapped)
Steam and Motor Boats 7
Lighters (Dockyard) )
Lighters (Civil Govt : ) ) 121
48. Whilst.
[page break]
48. Whilst recovery was in the progress the Dockyard was faced with additional problems connected with the preparations for the invasion of Sicily and Italy for which Malta was the assembly port.
49. At this stage the receipt storage, and disposal of Naval Stores became a particularly difficult matter. Malta came into use as a storage and transit port for vast quantities of stores of all kinds destined for various future advanced bases. The lost storehouses could not be rebuilt, and space was not available in the Dockyard. All suitable accommodation elsewhere had already been taken up.
50. As general clearance progressed and nissen huts could be obtained and erected, some improvement took place, but the vast quantities of stores and materials to be dealt with continued to increase, presenting a formidable problem.
--------
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 I. Malta dockyard - period of siege 1940-1943
Description
An account of the resource
When Italy entered the war in 1940, air raids were conducted over key military targets and peaked during the first half of 1942. Attacks ceased altogether by 1943 once Italy had surrendered. The various dockyards maintained efforts to keep ships in service, even though many workers were transferred to Alexandria and other docks in the Eastern Mediterranean. Workmen carried out numerous jobs for various branches of the armed forces and government. An anti-aircraft battery was also formed amongst the workmen of the dockyards. Various decorations received between members of the battery and dockyard workers formed guard units. Shelters were excavated in order to get facilities underground. Many families evacuated in 1939 and early 1940. Barracks were severely damaged, and living conditions were without comfort, many of the living centres were situated in the dockyards. Various utilities were damaged during the raids. In the height of the air attacks, docks were out of action, vessels sunk, yards covered in debris and depots without power. By July various docks were running with some still in need repair. Food shortages made the outlook grave. By December almost all docks restored and working capacity almost normal. By 1943, salvage and clearance of the dockyards finished whilst Malta became an assembly port. Storage became an issue whilst preparations for the invasion of Sicily and Italy took place.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939
1939-09
1940
1940-05
1940-06-11
1941
1941-06
1942
1942-02-23
1942-04
1942-07
1942-08-01
1942-12
1943
1943-01-18
1943-02
1943-04
1943-10
1943-11-01
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Malta
Malta--Isla
Malta--Cospicua
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
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Text
Format
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Nine page typewritten document
Contributor
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Benjamin Turner
Identifier
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SLambertBrownP19330417v10003
Creator
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E.W. Colvill
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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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.
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1501/39664/MSouthgateH[Ser -DoB]-160423-02.jpg
8d73d93398844f6c205c229033a45314
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
Southgate, Harold
H Southgate
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
2016-04-23
Rights
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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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Southgate, H
Description
An account of the resource
11 items. The collection concerns Flying Officer Harold Southgate DFC (Royal Air Force) and contains documents and photographs. He flew operations as a pilot with 50 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Hugh Thomas and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
50 Squadron losses April - June 1942
Description
An account of the resource
Hand written table titled 'April - June 1942, losses in chronological order 50 Squadron, code : VN, Base : Skellingthorpe'. During this period the squadron was operating the Manchester. The last two entries are for August and September.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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
Text. Personal research
Format
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One hand written table
Identifier
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MSouthgateH[Ser#-DoB]-160423-02
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
1942-08
1942-09
Rights
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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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
50 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
crash
killed in action
Manchester
mine laying
RAF Skellingthorpe
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1705/38998/PDoughtyJC1808.1.jpg
467c5d066ce18df6bf2fd9fbb6bcabe4
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
Doughty, James Charles
Doughty, JC
Description
An account of the resource
40 items. The collection concerns Sergeant James Charles (Jimmy) Doughty (1386802 Royal Air Force) and contains correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 102 Squadron and was killed 13 August 1944. <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by William James Cuthbert and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW44180884 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW44180884 BCX0">Additional information on James Charles Doughty</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW44180884 BCX0"> is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW44180884 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> </span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/207652/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
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
Doughty, JC
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
C Flight No 4 Squadron 5 I.T.W.
Description
An account of the resource
Course photograph of a large group of airmen wearing flying suits sitting and standing in four rows. A officer wearing tunic and peaked cap and a corporal with side cap sit centre of front row. In the background trees.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDoughtyJC1808
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Devon
aircrew
Initial Training Wing
RAF Torquay
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2159/37608/PRidingRH21050011.2.jpg
1a71f58dc30e6c4e559fd6db755b1ef1
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Five
Description
An account of the resource
72 items. Photographs concerning Ronald Riding's training and service.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Kondiaronk Views, Montreal
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 is the Mt Royal Observatory with many pedestrians.
#2 is a horse and carriage for tourists.
#3 is the Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal.
#4 is several pedestrians at the Belvedere.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
1942-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Québec--Montréal
Québec
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21050011
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
1942-05
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2159/37606/PRidingRH21050009.1.jpg
b948a7477d5d676434e37855624b7a1d
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Five
Description
An account of the resource
72 items. Photographs concerning Ronald Riding's training and service.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Montreal Views
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 is of distant large buildings with a river in the foreground.
#2 is a river with a forest in the distance.
#3 is a view from Kondiaronk Belvedere over downtown Montreal. Several skyscrapers are visible including the Sun Life building. The Victoria bridge crossing the St Lawrence river is visible.
#4 is a second view from the Belvedere. The Sun Life building can be seen on the left as well as several smaller skyscrapers. In the distance is the Victoria bridge.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
1942-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Québec--Montréal
North America--Saint Lawrence River
Québec
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
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21050009
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
1942-05
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2159/37603/PRidingRH21050006.2.jpg
64a1d4242120a65b378404991096e89b
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Five
Description
An account of the resource
72 items. Photographs concerning Ronald Riding's training and service.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Montreal Views
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 is Montreal viewed from a hillside.
#2 and 4 are general views from a hillside.
#3 is looking across the St Lawrence to Montreal with the Jacques Cartier bridge in the distance.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
1942-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Québec--Montréal
Québec
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
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21050006
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
1942-05
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2158/37572/PRidingRH21040022.2.jpg
e702fb1bb2b3c1bdda170350e5063c93
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Four
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. Photographs concerning Ronald riding's training in Canada in 1942 aged 21. Some places are Quebec, Montreal and Rivers.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Airmen Training in Canada
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 is four trainee airmen at the top of an escape slide.
#2 is the four trainees sliding down the slide.
Both are captioned 'AVR 1942'.
#3 is three trainee airmen in khaki at St Flavie the St Lawrence
#4 is two trainee airmen in uniform at Ste Flavie.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Québec
Québec--Mont-Joli
North America--Saint Lawrence River
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21040022
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
aircrew
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2158/37571/PRidingRH21040021.1.jpg
e738c6882c61b08a14e72d4d06dd01e0
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Four
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. Photographs concerning Ronald riding's training in Canada in 1942 aged 21. Some places are Quebec, Montreal and Rivers.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Airmen Training in Canada
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 is a trainee airman standing in a greatcoat in front of a building with snow on the ground..
#2 and 4 are four trainees in greatcoats sanding by a fence.
#3 is three trainees in greatcoats walking along a road.
They are captioned 'MAR 1942' and 'AVR 1942'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-03
1942-04
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21040021
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-03
1942-04
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
aircrew
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2158/37565/PRidingRH21040015.2.jpg
d1ad84f9e8c83eb0cf30efe6a114c257
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Four
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. Photographs concerning Ronald riding's training in Canada in 1942 aged 21. Some places are Quebec, Montreal and Rivers.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Aerial Photographs, Canada
Description
An account of the resource
Four aerial photographs from an album.
#1 is a city with a river.
#2 is a city at the side of a river.
#3 is a city with a regular grid street pattern and a river under the wing of an aircraft.
#4 is Montreal with three bridges crossing the St Lawrence river.
Captioned 'MAR 1942' and 'AVR 1942'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-03
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Québec--Montréal
North America--Saint Lawrence River
Québec
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21040015
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Geolocation impractical
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-03
1942-04
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
aerial photograph
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2158/37564/PRidingRH21040014.1.jpg
25b2172562e6ca635ab91d3b13411966
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Four
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. Photographs concerning Ronald riding's training in Canada in 1942 aged 21. Some places are Quebec, Montreal and Rivers.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Aerial Photographs, Canada
Description
An account of the resource
Four aerial photographs from an album.
#1 is a view across forests and a town.
#2 is a city, islands and bridges.
#3 is a pilot at the controls of an aircraft.
#4 is a grid street with a river under the wing of an aircraft.
Captioned 'MAR 1942' and 'AVR 1942'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-03
1942-04
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21040014
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-03
1942-04
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
aerial photograph
aircrew
pilot
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2158/37562/PRidingRH21040012.1.jpg
fbd62ab5aa8e0c3f12b0b32984b8ca21
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
Riding, Ronald Holford. Album Four
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. Photographs concerning Ronald riding's training in Canada in 1942 aged 21. Some places are Quebec, Montreal and Rivers.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-09-23
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
Riding, RH
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
Airmen and Aircraft in Canada
Description
An account of the resource
Four photographs from an album.
#1 Two trainee airmen sitting on a fence.
#2 one trainee and a dog.
#3 a line of Ansons
#4 an Anson with an airman standing in front.
Captioned 'MAR 1942' and 'AVR 1942'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on two album pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PRidingRH21040012
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
aircrew
animal
Anson
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35556/SGillK1438901v10013.2.pdf
560ed9f1d59ba4257564f21bcc9c2824
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
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
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
2017-07-09
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
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Charles Letts’s
DIARY
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Telephone Numbers
Name Number
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Memoranda from 1941
Left home July 7th for London
Left London July 26th for Leuchars.
Left Leuchars Oct. 3rd for 9 days leave.
Left home Oct. 12th for Leuchars.
Left Leuchars Oct. 17th for London
Left London Nov. 22nd. for Clyffe Pypard
Left Clyffe Pypard Dec. 13th for 14 days leave.
Became engaged Dec. 16th to my darling.
Left home Dec. 27th for Heaton Park.
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Memoranda from 1941
[printed information]
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January 1 Thursday 1942
Were issued with extra kit, vests, gym. kit, overalls, new towel & a new kitbag.
Had to mark bags with code letters etc.
Wrote letters to Vera & home.
Had bath & went to bed.
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2 Friday 1942
Had two teeth out at 12.25pm. at Bowlec Station. What a job it hurt quite a bit & bled a lot.
Hugh McCoy went with me.
Had rest of day off.
Code words altered.
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3 Saturday 1942
Gums still sore but a lot better, had mouth-wash after breakfast & had nothing to do till 1.30pm.
Pay parade at 2.15pm received £2 what for beats me.
Finished at 4pm.
Wrote letter to Betty Hughes & one to Vera.
Rang up, [indecipherable words] out & rang again & Vera was out. Spoke to Mrs. Longden.
4 Sunday
Took in kitbags not wanted on voyage.
Went with Pete to tea at Alcocks’. Good night Wish Vera could have some.
Tried to get through but couldn’t.
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5 Monday 1942
Went to pack & messed about & got embarkation cards. Seems we’re going at last. Tried to ring but couldn’t get through. Wrote V & home.
Left Byron’s at 10.30pm for Park. Had supper & stayed there till 2.30am. Marched to station & got on train at 3.00am.
Woke up at Glasgow.
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6 Tuesday 1942
Arrived at 12.0a.m. on docks at Gourock. Went aboard steamer & was taken out to troopship, not bad accomodation [sic]. Sleep in hammocks & on mess-tables.
The lads are all here.
Wrote to V & home.
Had a bit of fun getting hammocks set up right. Slept in our clothes.
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7 Wednesday 1942
Got up at 6.30a.m. not bad night.
Was given guard duty for 24hrs, 1 on & 2 off. My post on bow of ship.
Left Gourock at 2.0p.m. & had a Yank destroyer to acompany [sic] us.
Quiet night. Running down the Irish Sea.
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8 Thursday 1942
Bacon & egg for breakfast. Finished guard at 9a.m.
Ran in to Milford Haven at 2- pm.
Left at 4 pm. With 2 Yank destroyers & 1 troopship with soldiers aboard.
Heading back up Irish Sea. Ship rolling a bit.
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9 Friday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Good night
Just out of Irish Sea. P.T. on deck after lifeboat drill.
Was given job of sweeping up decks every day.
Went up on boat-deck.
Heavy seas coming up
Was sick seven times in afternoon & evening.
Decided to sleep on mess-table.
Clocks put back an hour.
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10 Saturday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Fairly good night. Was sick again before breakfast. Had a kipper & kept it down. Just has pudding at dinner-time & a [indecipherable word] Powder. Heavy seas & gale-warning. Cleared out scuppers & lashed everything down.
Sea came over lower decks & Boat rocked awful.
11 Sunday
Everything in a mess on the floor. Heavy seas still running. Chicken for dinner. Read 2 books in afternoon. Don’t feel too good. Another gale coming up.
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12 Monday 1942
Clocks back another hour.
Nearly slid off table last night. Decks had all been awash. Heavy seas again. Was sick before breakfast. Ship rolling very badly.
One destroyer gone back owing to engine trouble.
Feel O.K. just now.
Nothing interesting.
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13 Tuesday 1942
Fairly good night, but sea still rough.
Ships pitching so much that propellors [sic] come out of water.
Feel fairly well.
Nothing interesting.
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14 Wednesday 1942
Good night, although sea was very rough.
Porpoises seen on port side after dinner.
Had a talk by a Yank officer.
Ropes put on deck for holding on to.
Battened down after tea. Lower decks perpetually awash. Sea came in twice at portholes.
A few lads were knocked over by waves & soaked.
Other destroyer packed up & gone away. Troopships on our own now.
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15 Thursday 1942
Decent night, storm calmed a little, sea still very rough. Should be in on Saturday now.
Some chaps had their money changed or rather given in today.
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16 Friday 1942
Good night. Heavy sea again. Spray coming over like rain.
Seems we just missed U-boats during night.
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17 Saturday 1942
Good night. Sea a bit calmer. Much colder, it snowed in afternoon. Picked up Yank destroyer so must be getting nearer.
Nothing unusual.
18 Sunday
Fine morning, rather cold. Chicken for dinner again. Should see land tomorrow. Wrote home & Vera.
Nothing unusual.
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19 Monday 1942
Up at 6-0a.m. On deck at 7-0a.m. Very cold. No land in sight yet. Sighted land at 9.30a.m. At last the journeys ended.
Stayed on board till 9.15 p.m. then boarded train for Monkton.
Seems very strange seeing so many lights.
Sent cable to Mum, cost 3/6 but it was worth it.
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20 Tuesday 1942
Arrived at Moncton [sic] at 5-0 A.M. & trudged through snow & rain to camp. Were given billets & then had egg & tomatoes for breakfast. Had a rest on bunk till dinner.
Pay parade at 2-0p.m. received 3 dollars. Cabled to Vera.
Went round Moncton & had a banana split & then to pictures. Plenty of fruit here, everything seems very strange & lights seem unreal.
Very cold here but it’s a dry cold & not so bad really.
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21 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6-30 a.m. Breakfast & then parade for flighting.
Pay parade at 2.0p.m. & received 10 dollars (American).
Received our other kitbags then sent both kitbags by lorry to the train.
Our 1250’s came back at 9-0p.m. and then to billets & bed.
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22 Thursday 1942
Up at 4-0a.m. Breakfast at 5a
Paraded at 6-15a.m. & went down to station. Roads very slippery. Entrained at 8-0 a.m.
Grand scenery, rivers & lakes frozen over. Dinner lovely, negro waiters. Crossed to U.S.A. at 2-30p.m. Clocks put back an hour. Dinner at 6p.m. grand food. Changed trains at 8-0p.m.
Still in snow area.
No beds have to sleep on seats.
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23 Friday 1942
Woke up at New York at 5-30a.m. Ham & eggs for Breakfast Changed trains at Washington at 10-30 a.m. Very hot sun.
Grand dinner, chicken.
Country very dry & parched looking. Passed tobacco plantations & cotton fields & orange orchards.
Should be in tomorrow morning.
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24 Saturday 1942
Woke up at 4-0 a.m. at Atlanta dining cars taken off. Passed some fruit farms & tobacco fields
Population nearly all negro.
Arrived at Turner Field, Georgia about 9-0 a.m. Billets are fine. Breakfast grand food & waiters. Gave in blankets. Dinner fine. Collected kitbags, filled in forms etc. & had grand tea. Lecture on discipline etc. Went back to rooms at 7-45p.m. Lights out at 10-0p.m. Fine place here, very big & plenty of room.
25 Sunday
Up at 6-0a.m. Bacon & eggs etc for breakfast.
Were shown how to lay out our rooms. Haircut in morning. Scrumptious dinner.
P.T. at 1-30pm. to 3-30p.m. Played basket-ball.
Lecture again. Tea. At 5-0p.m. “Open Post” after tea while 21-00hrs. Went into Albany not much there. Bed at 10-30. p.m.
Very hot here, better than our summers.
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26 Monday 1942
Up at 5.45a.m. Breakfast then P.T. for an hour. Shower then lecture on system of guards. Break. Wrote to Vera & sent it by Letter Mail 5c. Drill period for an hour & a half. Very funny trying to learn American drill. It seems rather babyish to us & not half as smart.
Wash & Brush up then dinner.
Parcelled up laundry ready for collecting. Started writing home. Very warm. Lecture on “customs & courtesies”. Clothing inspection. Athletics, played touch rugby. Tea [deleted] h [/deleted] at 4.30p.m., very nice. Drill after tea. Went to see Bert in evening. Made out a list of all the Leuchars lads & got their signatures, put on it preference for Lakeland, Florida.
Bed at 10-0pm.
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27 Tuesday 1942
Up at 5-0a.m. Washed & dressed than had 40 winks while assembly sounded. P.T. after breakfast very stiff.
Lecture on Guard Systems of Air Corps then drill. We combine our own & their drill now, makes it a bit better. Shower then dressed for dinner. Took in list to Orderly Room & was O.K. Dinner fine, served potatoes & tea today. Customs & Curtesies [sic] again after dinner.
Issued with text books and manuals.
Thunderstorm & very heavy rain. Took in laundry to stores then to tea. No “open post” tonight. Read a bit, then wrote home.
Had a shower & then to bed after cleaning up.
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28 Wednesday 1942
Up at 5.45a.m. Washed & dressed then breakfast. Much colder today Americans wearing greatcoats. P.T. after breakfast then lecture on “guards” Seems we’ll have to do it soon. Drill followed & had to take a squad. Dinner at 11.30 a.m. Took in boots to be repaired to stores. Had lecture on Military Law, then athletics till tea time. No Open Post again tonight. Had a shower, then read old letters etc. . then retired to bed at 9-0p.m.
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29 Thursday 1942
Up at 5.45 a.m. washed & dressed, then breakfast. Warmer today than yesterday. Calisthenics after breakfast.
Drill followed, then had to line up in formation & sign a form, what it’s for I don’t know. Saw officers that came over with us on boat.
Dinner at 11-30pm [sic] . Lecture on Civics; then on Terminology used at Training Schools.
Athletics till tea-time, played touch rugby. , Very warm.
No “Open Post” again, lads getting discontented & “browned off”.
Cleared up, washed and so to bed at 9-30p.m.
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30 Friday 1942
Up at 5-45a.m. Breakfast. Raining hard, ground soaked. No P.T. Lecture on Terminology. Gave in size of collars & trousers. Dinner at 11-30a.m. Lecture on Civics, very tiring, bad speaker. Marched down to stores & drew rifles & bayonents [sic]. No athletics. Tea at 4-30p.m.
“Retreat” formation; did it very well indeed. “Open Post” till midnight.
Went to town with basket-ball players. Went to see “Manpower” at “Clair”. Not bad. Wandered round & got back at 10p.m. & so to bed.
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31 Saturday 1942
Up at 5-40a.m. Raining very hard.
No P.T. Soon cleared up. Inspection by Commanding Officer. Nothing to do till dinner. Finished at 12 o’clock. Washed & changed & went out at 1-30p.m. Called at Y.M.C.A. & Services Club. Tea at “Georges” very nice. Saw “Across the Sierras”, bought shirt & towel & cleaning rod for rifle. Back in camp at 10p.m. Cleaned gun. Bed at 11-0p.m.
February 1 Sunday
Up at 5-50a.m. Breakfast. Laid on bed & read till dinner time.
Wrote to Vera. Went to see Bert after dinner. Tea at 4-30p.m. read paper then went to see “Corsican Brothers” very good
Bed at 11-0p.m.
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2 Monday 1942
Up at 6-0a.m. Calisthenics before Breakfast. Lecture on Terminology then drill for an hour. A little warmer now than first thing this morning.
Break for an hour then dinner.
Took up positions for possible air-raids on hillsides.
Film on Military Hygeine [sic] after that. Collected boots at stores then ‘Retreat’ formation with rifles.
Tea at 5.45p.m. Cleaned rifle & bayonet & boots. Finished letter to Vera. Bed at 9.30pm.
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3 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6-0 a.m. P.T. before breakfast. Lecture on Terminology then rifle drill for an hour. Lecture on Civvies then break while dinner.
Athletics, played touch-rugby. Brought back laundry, not too good. Film on Personal Hygiene.
Retreat formation with rifles & bayonets. Tea at 5.45p.m.
No open Post. Cleaned up, packed up laundry etc. Had a shower & so to bed at 9.30p.m.
Am playing t. rugby tomorrow for Platoon.
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4 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6-10a.m. P.T., wore our overalls over gym-kit.
Breakfast. Took in laundry, then lecture on History.
Drill with rifles & bayonets. Practice formal guard mounting. Break for an hour, then lecture on Geography. Dinner at 1.0pm.
Athletics, played T. rugby, no score. Film on Courtesy & Customs.
Retreat formation. Open Post. Went to Y.M.C.A. & watched basketball.
Had supper & arrived back at 11.0p.m. then bed.
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5 Thursday 1942
Up at 6.10a.m. P.T. a little warmer today. Breakfast, then lecture on History. Drill and Rifle Inspection. Mounted guard at 12.0 o’clock. Am on 3rd. relief Went on at 4.0p.m. at water tower. Off at 6.0pm. then tea. Wrote home. On again at 10p.m. till 12.0p.m.
Not bad doing guards here.
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6 Friday 1942
Off at 6.0 a.m. Calisthenics for others Breakfast then relieved guard for 1/2hr. On again at 10a.m. & off at 12.0a.m. Dinner. then parade for pay. Received 20 dollars. Bought two singlets from store. Read in afternoon after check-up. Weigh 158 stripped. Said I’d been payed in dimes & nickels.
Open Post. Didn’t go out.
Went to canteen, then library. Read a bit & then to bed at 10p.m. Rather tired.
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7 Saturday 1942
Up at 6.0a.m. Breakfast. No P.T. Cleaned up, then inspection. Nothing to do till dinner. Read in afternoon. No “Open Post”. Went to Camp Cinema to hear violinist. Very good show. Saw “Marry the Bosses’ Daughter”, not so good, bad acting. Bed at 10-30p.m. Bert came “home” today from hospital.
8 Sunday
Up at 6.0a.m. Breakfast. Ready for 8.30a.m. Left camp for Sylvester. 75 of us. Church first then split up for dinner. Bert & I went to Cooks. Grand time. Had to come back for retreat. No “Open Post”. Went to see Mac. Read & then to bed. Clocks on an hour.
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9 Monday 1942
Up at 7-0a.m. Breakfast then Calisthenics. Drill then break. Lecture on history Before dinner. Bought two pairs of underpants at store. Dinner at 12-30pm.
Talk on Aircraft Rec after dinner. Went to sleep again as usual.
Athletics, played touch-rugby.
Big parade for Wing Commander Hogan. Says we’ll be moving in 12 days time. Tea after that, then Retreat. Went to see Mac, with the boys. Read a bit and then to bed.
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10 Tuesday 1942
Up at 7-0am. Breakfast then Calisthenics. Rifle drill after for an hour. History lecture before dinner at 12-30pm. Film on Aircraft Recognition after dinner, not so good. Lecture by Mr. De Lom on Army & Customs etc. very good.
Athletics played touch-rugby again & won. Tea at 5-30p.m. then Retreat. Started raining. “Open Post”. Got a lift to “Adam’s Inn”. Still raining so Bert & others went back. Arrived at Sylvester at 8-30pm. Had a grand supper. Very nice people indeed. Left at 11-10p.m. Mr. Cork ill so couldn’t drive me back. Got a lift on a petrol waggon & arrived back just in time, only just too. Still raining, but I had a grand time.
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11 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6.45a.m. Breakfast. Johnie stayed in bed. No Calisthenics, ground too wet. No drill either. Saw “Target for Tonight” at camp cinema. Break then dinner after History Lecture. Aircraft Recognition lecture sleep as usual for half an hour. Bert took my trousers to be pressed at camp tailors.
Athletics & more touch-rugby, won again.
Tea at 5.30pm. then Retreat. John & Ted went to a dance in Albany for R.A.F. boys only.
Bert & I went to P.X. read a bit & then to bed.
The lads came in at 2.0a.m. had a good time.
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12 Thursday 1942
Up at 6-45am. Breakfast then Calisthenics. Supply Formation, drew extra Cassack bag.
Lecture on History, went to sleep.
Dinner at 12.30pm. Film at 2-0pm. on Aircraft Recognition.
Lecture on Customs & Courtesies. Athletics till tea-time, played touch rugby, & won; champions of squadron. Tea then retreat formation. Won colours for being smartest squadron. “Open Post”. Bert & I left at 7-30pm. with staff sergeant. Went to pictures to see “North of the Yukon” Drove out of town & passed all the “Barbeques, Joints, & night-clubs etc.
Stopped at “The Esquire” for a 7 up drink. Left at 11-25pm Called for a “hamburger with” in town & got back at 11-55p.m.
Very good evening out.
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13 Friday 1942
Up at 7-00a.m. Breakfast. Calisthenics, rather cold wind.
Drill for an hour with rifles.
Lecture on Organisation; went to sleep as usual. Dinner at 12-30 a.m.
Lecture on Aircraft Recognition, slept.
Athletics till tea time. Played touch-rugby, drew with “B” squadron champions. Replay needed. Lost at football.
Tea at 5.30p.m. then Retreat formation. Won colours again for smartest squadron. No “Open Post”. Wrote home. Shower, cleaned up and then to bed.
Bought pipe from P.X. not bad.
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14 Saturday 1942
Up at 7-0a.m. Breakfast. No P.T. Took in bed-sheets. Cleaned up, cleaned windows. Inspection at 10-30a.m. Everything O.K. Dinner at 12.30p.m. Got changed and left camp. Caught bus to Sylvester & arrived at 1-45p.m. Drove around town & picked up two girls Betty & Margery. Went to a dance & tried jitter-bugging, easy enough. Back to Cook’s for tea, scrumptious. Drove round country, & called back at dance for 10 minutes. Left at 10.30p.m. & back in billets at 11-45p.m.
Grand day.
15 Sunday
Up at 7.0a.m. Breakfast. Back to bed till dinner time. Dinner. Filled in diary wrote home. Frank got blood-poisoning. Rain all day. Tea at 5.30p.m. Went to P.X. Boys went to pictures. Bed at 10p.m.
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16 Monday 1942
Up at 7-0a.m. Still raining. No Calisthenics. Back to bed for 1/2hr. Breakfast at 8.45am. Air Corps Lecture at 10-0a.m. Not much good.
Drill at 11.0a.m. Rained again. Lecture on discipline at 1-00pm by a Lt. Colonel.
Dinner at 2-0p.m. No Athletics
Collected clean laundry from stores. Tea at 6-45pm.
Went to Albany with Eric, very close & sweaty. Went to see “It Happened in Bombay” at “Clair”. Caught bus back to camp. Bed at 12.00pm.
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17 Tuesday 1942
Up at 7-0a.m. Ground too [missing letter]et no Calisthenics. Start guard [missing letter]t 1-0p.m. Lecture on Bombardment Aviation. Dinner at 2-0p.m. Went on guard at Water Tower [missing letter]gain. American guard there too. Off at 5-0pm. Tea at 6-45p.m. read a bit, had a coffee & on at 9p.m. Coffee at 11-10p.m. then bed till 2-45a.m. [Off at 5-0am & bed again while 8-30a.m. Breakfast & on again at 9-30a.m. Finished at 11.0a.m. Dinner at 2-0p.m. Gave in rifles and bayonets. Tea at 6-45p.m.] see over.
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18 Wednesday 1942
Finished guards at 11-am. Dinner at 2-0p.m. Gave in rifles & bayonets at stores. Slept till tea-time.
Read a bit, had a coffee & then to bed. No Open Post as we were late for parade yesterday.
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19 Thursday 1942
Up at 7-0a.m. Calisthenics, rather cold. Breakfast at 8-45a.m.
Lecture on Observation & Reconnaisance [sic] by Lt. Honeycut, very good.
Drill for an hour.
Gave in books before dinner.
Dinner at 2-0p.m. Athletics in afternoon. Played touch rugby & won again, finals tomorrow some time.
Read a bit, then retreat formation, did very well.
Tea at 6-45p.m. Boys went to see McCoy. Went to P.X. for an hour, then wrote to Vera.
Bed at 10p.m.
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20 Friday 1942
Up at 7.0a.m. Calisthenics as usual. Breakfast at 8.45a.m.
Lecture by Lt. Lamb, had a good time, sang a few songs.
Drill for half an hour. Break till dinner. Bought new ‘Parker’ pen at P.X. $8.75 down to $5.25. Dinner at 2.0p.m. Pay parade, received our money handed in on boat & $11 pay.
“Open Post” after Retreat. Went to Albany, had steak & chips. Went to Services Club, party on, had a good time, College graduation dance. Called in at Clubroom then caught a wagon back to camp. In at 11-45p.m.
Bed at 12-15a.m. Tired.
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21 Saturday 1942
Up at 7.0a.m. Didn’t go to Calisthenics slept under Johnies bed. Breakfast. Cleaned up, then to P.X. bought new tie. Had photo taken. Finished Vera’s letter.
Dinner at 2-0p.m. Went to town with the lads. Saw “They Died with their Boots on”. very good.
Had tea at Georges’. Walked round and caught bus at 9.10p.m. In bed at 10.30p.m.
Leave at 8-0pm. tomorrow.
22 Sunday
Up at 7.0a.m. Breakfast at 9-0a.m. Received kit at stores. 3 shirts, 2pr. pants, 4 sets underwear, 6prs of socks. Packed kit & cleaned room out. Dinner at 2p.m. Tea at 6p.m.
Put kit on waggons. Entrained at 7.30pm.
Left at 8-0p.m. for Arcadia.
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23 Monday 1942
Woke up at 7.0am Not a very good night. Arrived at 7.30a.m. Taken by truck to camp. Grand place, rooms for four, lockers, shower and washplace to each room. Kit arrived at 10.a.m. Cleaned up & put kit away in lockers.
Dinner at 1-30pm. Grand food & mess hall. Went to stores and drew leather jacket, goggles, helmet & books. Room inspection. Tea at 6.0pm. Talk at 8.0p.m. by officers. Raining hard.
Bed at 10-30p.m.
Very nice place here, tennis courts, swimming pool, basketball court etc. Large rooms, good lighting, table & chairs.
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24 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6.25a.m. Cleaned up & breakfast at 7.0a.m. Paraded at 8.0a.m. & went down to Flight Line. Given some instructors & shown kites. Had controls etc. explained. Seems we’ve a lot to learn.
Dinner at 1.10p.m. Medical check after dinner. Went to lecture block and drew text books. Nothing to do till tea-time except retreat formation.
Tea very good. Cleaned bathroom, took all evening but looks good now. Had a shower & then to Bed at 10.30p.m.
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25 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6.25a.m. Breakfast at 7.0a.m. Went down to hangers and flight line at 7.30a.m. No flying, left at 9.0a.m. Had a coffee & came back to billets. Calisthenics at 11.45 to 12.45. very good. Dinner at 1-10p.m.
Classes at 2.0p.m. till 5.30p.m. Didn’t do so much 45 mins. on & off.
Retreat formation then tea. Cleaned up, had a shower & to bed at 10.30pm
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26 Thursday 1942
Up at 6.25a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m. Went down to hanger.
Had lecture on take-offs, circuits, wind directions, drift, S bends etc.
Very warm now, still in blues. Did Calisthenics for an hour, Sun very warm & turning red a bit. Shower & then dinner at 1-10p.m.
Classes at 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m.
Retreat Formation at 6.15p.m. then tea. Had a chat with American Cadets.
Had a shower, wrote up notes on Navigation & so to bed at 10.30p.m.
Sent dad cablegram for his birthday, cost $2.85. about 14/3 approx.
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27 Friday 1942
Dad’s Birthday, hope his Cablegram arrives in time.
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Went down to Flight Line. Mr. Jones was absent. No flying, heavy squalls & Nor-west wind. Read Manual for an hour. Left at 10.0a.m. Had a coffee then looked up Theory of Flight.
Went to P.X. & Bert bought a camera. Dinner at 1-10p.m.
Classes 2. to 4-30p.m. Left early to watch tennis exhibition.
Took some snaps. Retreat Formation at 6.15p.m. Tea after retreat. Wrote up notes on Navigation. Bed at 10-30p.m. after a shower.
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28 Saturday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Down at “Ready Room” at 7-50a.m. No Mr. Jones again. Read Handbook again. Calisthenics at 11.45a.m. for an hour. Played football. Dinner at 1-10p.m.
Groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5-15p.m. Left early, went to canteen for orange soda & ice. Retreat, then tea. Wrote home, then did notes on Meteorology. Bed at 10-30p.m.
March 1 Sunday
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Calisthenics at 8.0a.m. for an hour Very cold. Down at Ready Room at 9-30a.m. Mr Tanquay our instructor.
Up at 10.20a.m. for 40 mins. Grand plane. Dinner then Ground school till 5.30p.m. Retreat then tea. Wrote notes on Flying.
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2 Monday 1942
Didn’t get up while 7.0a.m. Missed breakfast parade. Went to canteen and had coffee & ham sandwiches. Rained very heavy. No Calisthenics. Down on Flight Line at 9.30a.m. No Flying, ground too wet. Stayed in hanger with Mr. Tanquay, explained Army Forms 1 & 1a. stalls, & forced landings.
Had a coffee, then dinner at 1.10p.m. Ground School 2pm to 5.30p.m. Changed into blues for Retreat. Tea after. Inspection at 8.30p.m. Demerits for speck of dirt on toilet. (Hope his rabbit dies)
Wrote letter to Vera. Bed at 10-30p.m. Received [deleted] lett [/deleted] cable from mum.
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3 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m. Calisthenics for an hour. Down on Line at 9-30a.m. Up at 10-20a.m.
Did. climbing turns, stalls, medium turns & landed after 50 mins. Received 1 demerit for leaving mop & broom in room.
Dinner at 1-10p.m. Ground school at 2.0p.m. Had exams in engines & Theory of Flight. Retreat formation at 6.20p.m then tea.
Wrote to Vera, then wrote up notes on Flying.
Bed after a shower.
[page break]
4 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m. Calisthenics for an hour. Down at Flight Line at 9.30a.m. Went up at 10-0a.m. Took off on my own. Did turns, stalls, and spins. Down after 45 mins.
Dinner at 1-10p.m. Changed into blues. Ground School for 3 1/2 hrs. Has sandwiches in canteen then waited for bus. Arrived in Sarasota at 8.30p.m. Went down to U.S.O. on pier and were invited to stay at the “Gulf View” Inn. Car took us & manager showed us round & introduced us to his guests. Band in dancehall, had a grand time. Pedro & I sang “Yours” and others joined in singing popillar [sic] songs, negro waiter sang [inserted] poor [/inserted] blues. Marvellous place, very welcome. Rooms for two with single beds. Bed at 1-0a.m. Very Tired.
[page break]
5 Thursday 1942
Up at 6.45a.m. Washed & dressed and went down for a walk on the beach. Waited in the lounge for the boys & then to breakfast. Read in lounge while girls came in then went down to the beach.
Went in for a dip but found it rather cold.
Dinner at 12-30p.m. Left at 1.30p.m. by bus to Sarasota. Bought a camera and a swimsuit.
Had a look round then went to a picture show as it rained. Caught bus at 5-30p.m. and arrived in Arcadia at 7-0p.m. Had tea in a restaurant then got bus back to camp at 8.30p.m. Bed at 9-45p.m.
[page break]
6 Friday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. rather tired. Breakfast at 7-0a.m.
Calisthenics for an hour.
Went down on Flight Line at 9.30a.m. Rain had soaked field, no flying, no instructors. Back to billets and wrote up notes on Flying.
Dinner at 1.10p.m. Ground school 2 to 5-30p.m. Pay parade after, received $16.
Retreat formation at 6.20p.m.
Tea at 7.0p.m.
Cleaned up room for inspection. Played basketball. Shower and then to bed at 10-30pm
[page break]
7 Saturday 1942
Up at 6-50a.m. Breakfast at 7.15a.m. Calisthenics for an hour then changed for flight line. Flew at 9.50a.m. Took off did climbing turns, stalls, spins. Did spins on my own, not too bad. Dinner at 1-10p.m. then groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5-30p.m. Warmer today than yesterday. Played basket ball again. Shower & bed at 10-30p.m.
8 Sunday
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7.10a.m. Down on “Dawn Patrol” this week. No flying, ground too wet. Calisthenics for an hour. Dinner then groundschool, didn’t do much. Tea then wrote home.
[page break]
9 Monday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Dawn Patrol. No flying, ground too wet. Gave in note-books for checking. Mr. Tanquay seemed pleased.
Didn’t do Calisthenics, wrote home instead. Dinner at 1.10p.m. Groundschool 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m. Had exams in Navigation & Meteorology, did them O.K. Retreat formation then tea. Open Post. Managed to get on bus for Sarasota at 7-0p.m. Arrived at 8.30p.m. Booked a room at Hotel Watsons. Went with boys round towns to night-clubs etc. Had a good time & bed at 3-0a.m.
[page break]
10 Tuesday 1942
Up at 9-0a.m. Had breakfast at a restaurant then wandered round town. Bought a watch $4 quite good too. Saw Mr. Whipple at U.S.O and were invited out to dinner. Seven other chaps out there too.
Had a fine time on beach, sea very nice. Plenty of people there too. Saw Priscilla and Annette. Left at 4-30p.m by taxi. Got on bus at 5-3p.m. & arrived in Arcadia at 7-0p.m. Had ham & eggs at cafe then got bus back to camp. Booked in at 8-0p.m. Cleaned up, had a shower & then to bed at 9-30p.m. Very tired.
The lads are very red with the sun.
[page break]
11 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.15a.m. Dawn Patrol. Bert up first, Johnie, then me. Took off, climbed to 2,500ft. did stalls power on, then power-off. Did a spin, not too bad. Landed at auxiliary field & took off again O.K. Landed again at field & taxied up to line, & parked ship. Calisthenics for an hour then dinner. Groundschool 2-0p.m. to 5-30p.m. Had exam in Theory for Flight. Retreat formation then tea. Played basketball, had a shower then wrote up notes on flying. Bed at 10.p.m.
Six of our lads solo’d today.
[page break]
12 Thursday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Dawn Patrol again. Heavy ground mist no flying till 9-0a.m. No 1 ‘T’ pos changed to No 2 ‘T’ Pos at 10.0a.m. Up for 15 mins. Taxied to line, took off, climbed to 1500ft. did gliding turns, entered traffic, & landed again. Not too bad.
Calisthenics for an hour, played football, very warm. Took some snaps on Flight Line. Dinner at 1.00p.m. then Ground School 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m.
Retreat formation at 6.20p.m. then tea. Wrote up notes on flying then started letter home.
Entered log-book up.
Bed at 10-30p.m.
[page break]
13 Friday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. breakfast at 7.10a.m. Dawn Patrol again. Johnie up first. Heavy ground fog came up & flying was suspended. “T” pos. changed from No. 2 to No. 4 & flying resumed at 11-0a.m. Didn’t go up. Calisthenics for an hour.
Took film in for developing. Dinner at 1-10p.m. Groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m. Plot to do in navigation easy enough. Retreat then tea-parade.
Played basketball till 8.0p.m. Had a shower, then read notes for exams tomorrow.
Bed at 10-0p.m.
[page break]
14 Saturday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.10a.m. Dawn Patrol again. Johnie & Bert up. Cloud came in low, flying stopped. No flight again for me. Left line at 10.35 a.m. Calisthenics for an hour. Dinner at 1.10p.m.
Groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5-30p.m. Exams in engines & theory for flight. Retreat at 6-15p.m. then tea. Finished letter home. Bed at 10.15p.m.
15 Sunday
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.10a.m. Calisthenics for an hour then down on Flight Line. Flew for an hour, nothing right. Dont fly regular enough. Dinner at 1-10p.m. then Groundschool. Retreat then tea.
[page break]
16 Monday 1942
Up at 6.30am. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Calisthenics for an hour then down on Flight Line at 9.30a.m. Flew for 33 mins, a lot better today. Dinner at 1.10p.m. Groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m. Retreat formation then tea at 6-30p.m.
Played basket-ball for an hour, cleaned up for inspection, which didn’t come off. Wrote up notes on flying. Read a little then to bed at 10.0p.m.
[page break]
17 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.0a.m. Down on line at 9.30a.m. Flew at 10.15a.m. for 47 mins. Did stalls, spins, landings & take-offs. Not so good today. Dinner at 1-10p.m. Groundschool at 2.0p.m. Exams in Meteorology & Engines. Retreat formation then tea at 6.30p.m. Wrote to Vera, then to bed at 10-15p.m.
[page break]
18 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m. Calisthenics for an hour.
Down on line at 9-30a.m. Heavy low clouds, thunderstorm broke at 11.30a.m. Heavy rain. Had a talk with Tanquay on flying generally.
Dinner at 1-10p.m. Groundschool 2.0 to 5-30p.m. “Open Post” till 12.p.m.
Went to Arcadia with the lads, walked round a bit then went to skating rink & had a good time.
Caught last bus and got in to camp at 11-45pm.
Bed at 12p.m. very tired.
[page break]
19 Thursday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.0a.m. Cleaned room, then Calisthenics for an hour.
Down on line at 9.30a.m. Flew at 10.5a.m. for 45 mins. Did stalls, spins, S. turns, & rect. courses. Had a good day today.
Dinner at 1-10p.m. then groundschool, test in Theory of Flight. Retreat at 6-20p.m. and tea at 7-0p.m. Wrote up notes on flying then to bed at 10-30p.m.
[page break]
20 Friday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7.10a.m. Calisthenics for an hour then down on Flight Line.
Flew for 45 mins. Take-offs & landings O.K. Stalls not so good. Dinner at 1-10p.m.
Groundschool at 2.0p.m. to 5.30p.m. Pay Parade after. Received $21 dollars. Arranged to go with boys by car to Sarasota.
Retreat then tea. Played basketball, then wrote up notes on flying. Bed at 10.0p.m.
[page break]
21 Saturday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast then down on Flight Line. Flying not so bad today. Calisthenics for an hour then dinner. Changed into blues I then went with boys to Sarasota in private car. Touched 97m.p.h. & arrived in 45 mins. 54 mls.
Had a good time at the Lido & went in sea for a while. Drove round & had tea in town. Left at 8-15p.m. and arrived in Arcadia at 9-20p.m. Drove round & then back to camp for 10p.m. Tired.
22 Sunday
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast then down on Flight Line. Flying not so good. Check tomorrow. Calisthenics then dinner. Groundschool after, exam. in Meteorology not so bad.
Tea at 6.30p.m. Wrote up notes on Flying.
[page break]
23 Monday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Down at Flight Line at 7-45am. Check ride, progress, with Flight Commander Eckart. Flying not so good, passed on to Army for another opinion. Calisthenics for an hour then dinner at 1-10p.m.
Groundschool in afternoon, test in Navigation, fairly easy. O.K.
Retreat then tea at 6-30p.m. Cleaned up for inspection which didn’t take place. Had a coffee, then cleaned buttons, boots etc. Read a little then to bed at 10p.m.
[page break]
24 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Down on Flight Line at 7-45a.m. Up for Army Check. Took it at 12-15p.m. Got through it, flying not so good though. Calisthenics for an hour, then dinner.
Flying again this afternoon. Went for another Check Ride with Lt. Flophenstein & was eliminated for mechanical & dangerous flying. Back to Moncton next Tuesday.
Tea after Retreat. Received February’s News Letter from Dick Thomas.
Wrote to Dick after a coffee at canteen. Read a book & then to bed at 10-30p.m.
20 lads went back to Moncton today after being eliminated.
[page break]
25 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7-10a.m. Cleaned buttons & boots etc. then cleaned room a bit.
Hung around all morning waiting for board meeting. Dinner at 1-10p.m. Went round camp and took some snaps of swimming pool & flight line etc. Retreat formation then tea. Had a coffee at canteen then read a while. Bed at 10.3p.m.
Seniors had Graduation Dance tonight, good band. Listened to band while 12p.m. then dropped off to sleep.
[page break]
26 Thursday 1942
Up at 7.30a.m. Didn’t go to breakfast. Had sandwiches in Canteen. Wrote letters home, to Vera & Betty Hughes. Went to try & get leave but have to wait for board. Dinner at 1.10p.m. Read book all afternoon. Retreat then tea.
Read a while, cleaned up, then to bed at 10-p.m.
[page break]
27 Friday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7.10a.m. Cleaned room up, then went to see if boys had heard when board was to be. Filled in diary.
Board meeting at 11-0a.m.
Nothing much in it. Said I’d do for Observer, dangerous flying, & mechanical flying too. George & I managed to get leave while Monday noon. Had dinner then cleaned up. Tea at 6.30pm. then got bus for Sarasota. Arrived at 9-0p.m. Went to U.S.O. then on to Casa Madrid & saw film.
Called in at Manhattan & met Mr & Mrs Harris, & Mrs Bauer. Invited us out to hotel.
[page break]
28 Saturday 1942
29 Sunday
[page break]
30 Monday 1942
[page break]
31 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7.15a.m. Gave in blankets & sheets etc. Took kitbag to Administration block at 9-0a.m. Signed papers at 9.30a.m. & gave in Clearance Form.
Got kit ready, then went to the boys. Had dinner at 11-30a.m. Saw Maxine & Flossie, then the lads & then departed with kit for train. Saw Kathryn in Arcadia. Left at 1-15p.m. for Moncton.
[page break]
April 1 Wednesday 1942
Bad night, didn’t sleep very well.
[page break]
2 Thursday 1942
Crossed border at Vanceboro’ at 7-0a.m. Had passport checked & baggage. Dinner at 12-0a.m. very good. Arrived at Moncton at 3-45p.m. Walked up to camp & messed about giving in particulars for an hour. Billeted in same block as Jack Kellet & boys. Went into town & had tea. Walked round then went to pictures to see “Shanghai Gesture” very good too. Arrived in camp at 11-30 p.m. and so to bed.
[page break]
3 Friday 1942
Stayed in bed till 11-0a.m. Cleaned up & then had dinner
Went to town & met Mr Grant & had a ride round in his car. Had tea at his house & then late dinner at 7-0p.m. Stayed until 11-30p.m. then Mr Grant brought us back to camp.
Had a grand evening very nice evening & can go there when we want to.
[page break]
4 Saturday 1942
Up at 6.45a.m. Cleaned up, then breakfast. Paraded at 9.0a.m.
Went up to pay accounts & drew $5 as a casual payment. Went into town for dinner. Walked round then had tea. Went to pictures at night to see “Ride Em Cowboy” with Abbott & Costello. Back in camp at 10-p.m. Had a shower & then to bed.
5 Sunday
Up at 6.45a.m. Cleaned up then breakfast. Church parade 9.0a.m. Went into town for dinner. Walked round then back to camp for tea. Pressed trousers & jacket, filled in diary. Bed at 10-30p.m.
[page break]
May 11 Monday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m. Paraded at 8.0a.m. Drill for an hour, went to Medical Quarters for a check-over. Filled out forms etc., then dinner. Saw minister of United Church. Met our officer & had a chat with him.
Tea at 4.0p.m. Parade at 5.0p.m. for retreat. Wrote letters.
[page break]
12 Tuesday 1942
Up at 6-30a.m. Breakfast at 7-0a.m.
Paraded at 8.0a.m. Went to lecture block at 9-0a.m.
Went to hangar and had flying kit issued. Not so good.
Dinner at 12.0a.m. Went & had signals test, not so bad. Was shown round plane & had things explained. Were fitted with parachute harness. Drew issue of books, & instruments etc., Tea at 4.0p.m. Paraded at 5p.m. received passes & left camp at 7.0p.m. Had a coffee then went up to the social at St. Lukes. Had a grand time & left at 11.30p.m. Arrived back in camp at 12-10a.m. & so to bed.
[page break]
13 Wednesday 1942
Up at 6.30a.m. breakfast by 7-0a.m. Paraded at 8.0a.m. drilled for a while then Signals course. Navigation till dinner time.
Dinner at 12.0a.m.
Signals at 1-30p.m. for an hour then Bombing for two hours. Tea at 4-30p.m. Retreat 5-15p.m. Signals 6.30p.m. for an hour.
Filled in diary.
Paraded at 9.0p.m. made bed & did a bit more of diary.
[page break]
14 Thursday 1942
[page break]
Notes for 1943
[page break]
Cash Account – January
Date Particulars Received Dollars. Paid
3. English £2-0-0
20. Canadian. 3 - -
21. American. 10 - -
[page break]
Cash Account – February
Date Particulars Received Paid
6TH. Feb. American. $20-00
20TH. Feb. American. $11-00
[page break]
Cash Account – March
Date Particulars Received Paid
6TH. MAR. American. $.16 - -
20TH. MAR. American. $21 - -
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
Kenneth Gill 1942 Diary
Description
An account of the resource
Starts with account of movements in RAF for 1941. Continues lwith entries for daily activities. Embarks Greenock, Leaves Milford Haven on 8 January for voyage across Atlantic and describes voyage to Canada. Arrives Moncton 20 January describes daily routine. Left for United States on 22 January. Describes train journey via New York, Washington, Atlanta and arrived at Turner Field, Albany Georgia 24 January. Goes on with daily entries describing activities mentioning food, lessons, sport, weather, rifle training, social activities and physical training. Mentions visit to Sylvester. Transfers to Arcadia, Florida 22 February. Starts flying training at end of February. Continues with description of ground school, flying and other daily activities. Mentions visit to Sarasota. Failed pilot flight check on 24 March 1942 an was sent back to Moncton, Canada. Entries for a few days activities and entries then peter out for April and May and then cease.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
K Gill
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
1942-02
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
1942-02
1942-03
1942-03-24
1942-04
1942-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Scotland--Glasgow
Wales--Pembrokeshire
Wales--Milford Haven
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
United States
New York (State)--New York
Washington (D.C.)
Georgia
Georgia--Atlanta
Georgia--Albany
Florida
Florida--Arcadia
Florida--Sarasota
Florida
Georgia
New York (State)
New Brunswick
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
United States Army Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Multi-page printed booklet with handwritten entries
Rights
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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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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SGillK1438901v10013
Contributor
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Peter Bradbury
aircrew
entertainment
military living conditions
military service conditions
pilot
sport
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2111/35142/PColeFIG18010220.2.jpg
d3ef24319e0ab9c172a6ace00514b0a2
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2111/35142/PColeFIG18010221.2.jpg
dd92a5bdbb97ff577e5eb603f92f2c75
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
Cole, Ivor. Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
101 items. A photograph album of Ivor Cole's post war service in Singapore.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
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
Cole, FIG
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
ATC No 1279 Squad. Melton Mowbray April 1942
Description
An account of the resource
A large group of air cadets arranged in five rows. On the reverse is a photographer's stamp 'Heawood & Son'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Melton Mowbray
England--Leicestershire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PColeFIG18010220, PColeFIG18010221
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
Publisher
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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.
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1857/33241/SAdderM175073v10025.2.jpg
ebb72d8f006600cb1194274f83124e86
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
Adder, Mervyn
M Adder
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
2017-05-29
Rights
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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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Adder, M
Description
An account of the resource
88 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Mervyn Adder (1922 - 1944, 175073 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a navigator with 44 Squadron and was killed 15 March 1944. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mary Sprakes and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0">Additional information on<span> Mervyn Adder</span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span> </span>is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW207633627 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> </span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/100101/">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
Course photograph
Description
An account of the resource
A large group of airmen wearing tunics and side caps sitting and standing in four rows. An officer wearing peaked cap seated in centre of second row. Captioned '7th Flight, B Squadron, A.C.R.C. London, April 1942'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph mounted on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SAdderM175073v10025
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
aircrew
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1857/33185/SAdderM175073v10026-0001.1.jpg
39d71f1bb5940a20d2836a9ba321dcde
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1857/33185/SAdderM175073v10026-0002.1.jpg
68107235d95952d9ac1f3693b5103cf3
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
Adder, Mervyn
M Adder
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
2017-05-29
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
Adder, M
Description
An account of the resource
88 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Mervyn Adder (1922 - 1944, 175073 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a navigator with 44 Squadron and was killed 15 March 1944. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mary Sprakes and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br /><span data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" class="TextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0">Additional information on<span> Mervyn Adder</span></span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW207633627 BCX0"><span> </span>is available via the</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW207633627 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}"> </span><a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/100101/">IBCC Losses Database.</a>
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
F. P. Bratley
R. S. G. Miles
M. Kirby
R.W.G. Freer
A. Marsden
H. J. S. [?] Ferguson
N. McKay [?]
A. R. Tomlinson
A. J. Alexander [?]
F. Prior [?]
A. [?] Knowlton
E. W. Barton
R. G. Fowle
K. J. [?] Webb
R. Cunningham
B. T. Medcalf
R. J. [?] Bright
Donald A. Beaton [?]
R. H. [?] Chapple
John S. Crawby
R. Bailey Cpl.
J. [?] Haigh [?}
F. May
A. J. Lewis
[indecipherable]
J. E. Kay
S. G. [?] Burton
G. F. Bamford
J. P. S. Green
H. Branch [?]
A. [?] T. Worthington [repeated]
J. E. [?] Chisholm
R. J. [?] G. Miles
N. Forbes
H. Binns
[indecipherable]
A. J. [indecipherable]
[indecipherable]
L. Weeks
T. [?] Cronin
J. Prew [?]
[indecipherable]
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
Course photograph
Description
An account of the resource
A large group of airmen wearing tunics and side caps sitting and standing in four rows with trees in the background. One, officer wearing peaked cap is seated centre of second row. Captioned '7th flight, B squadron, A.C.R.C London, April 1942'. On the reverse 42 signatures.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SAdderM175073v10026
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
aircrew
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1830/32857/YPattissonC1264245v1.2.pdf
06a680ea050a8b7653bcc219a846dd88
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
78 Squadron Collection
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
2017-04-21
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
78 Sqn Info
Description
An account of the resource
Eighty-seven items and a sub-collection of seventy-three items.
The collection concerns 78 Squadron and contains documents and photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Tony Hibberd and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Charles (Dick) Pattisson Pocket Diary 1942
Description
An account of the resource
Transcription of day by day account of activities from 19 April 1942 to 3 October 1942. Commences with photograph of Squadron in front of Halifax and of pilots on training course (Pattisson top left), Records daily activities, casualties, losses of individuals and aircraft, crashes, aircraft shot down, names of comrades, commanding officers. weather, discussions with colleagues, leave, health, feelings, prisoners of war, location of personnel killed, Concludes with list and details of films seen as well as abstract of all Charles Pattisson's bombing operations and comments.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
C Pattison
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
1942-07
1942-08
1942-09
1942-10
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Thirty-five page printed document with photographs
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YPattissonC1264245v1
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
Royal Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Germany--Hamburg
Belgium
Belgium--Ostend
France
France--Dunkerque
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Essen
Germany--Bocholt
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Papenburg
Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
England--Catterick
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Düsseldorf
England--Kent
England--Ramsgate
England--London
Netherlands
Netherlands--Nijmegen
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Belgium--Antwerp
Germany--Berlin
Poland--Łambinowice
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
England--Norfolk
England--York
Germany--Flensburg
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
1942-07
1942-08
1942-09
1942-10
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
76 Squadron
78 Squadron
Beaufighter
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
crash
entertainment
final resting place
Halifax
Halifax Mk 1
Halifax Mk 2
killed in action
mid-air collision
military living conditions
military service conditions
missing in action
prisoner of war
RAF Bircham Newton
RAF Catfoss
RAF Croft
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Topcliffe
RAF Waddington
Stalag Luft 3
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1627/25331/BThickettPSaundersEJv10011.1.jpg
d7f313f0a082b794293f277373fb8717
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Saunders, Ernest John. Album 1
Description
An account of the resource
A history of Sam Saunders RAF experiences complete with a biography. It is presented in an album.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Penny Thicket
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-02-13
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
Saunders, EJ
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Sagitta.
From January to Feb.ruary 1942, he was with 38 Squadron based in Shalluffa, north of Suez, Egypt. He was trained to carry out night torpedo attacks on enemy shipping in the Mediterranean, a duty he carried out from March to October 1942. The end of Axis resistance in North Africa meant that the Squadron had to fly further afield to find its targets, att[photograph]
acking enemy ships along the coasts of Italy and the Balkans.
From the 13th April 1942 until the 30th of April there were training flights involving HMS Roberts and HMS Sagitta. “Formations, low flying and dummy drops”.
On 24th May 1942 he carried out his War Operation number 1 with ‘A’ Flight 38 Squadron in a Wellington based in Shallufa, north of Suez, Egypt. He carried out mine laying 12 miles south of Benghazi.
Such flights involved night flying with a total of 6 hours, 50 minutes flight each time. The training flights were interspersed with operational ones.
On the 5th June 1942 there was further mine laying off Benghazi with a forced landing after damage from flak. This was War Operation 3.
And here is the lamp project. [three photographs]
[page break]
[two photographs]
[points of conduct leaflet]
Here are some pictures of the base at Shallufa where they seemed to have a good time. They played tennis, smoked pipes, rode motor bikes, wore big shorts and had their “points of conduct when meeting Arab peoples in the desert”
[three photographs]
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
Sam Saunders in Egypt
Description
An account of the resource
Two pages detailing some of Sam's time in Egypt.
Photo 1 is HMS Sagitta from the air.
Photo 2, 3 and 4 are Sam working on a lamp.
Photo 5 is Sam playing tennis.
Photo 6 is Sam and colleague in khaki and shorts.
Photo 7 is a letter in Arabic.
Photo 8 is two airmen waiting outside a hut.
Photo 9 is three men in khaki outside a wooden hut.
Photo 10 is Sam smoking a pipe whilst seated at a desk.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Penny Thickett
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-10
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two printed sheets with 10 b/w photographs
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Text
Text. Personal research
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BThickettPSaundersEJv10011
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.
Egypt
Egypt--Suez
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
1942-02
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
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
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Christian
38 Squadron
mine laying
RAF Shallufa
sport
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/23860/SHudsonJD755052v20005.2.pdf
b3bcd03afc7fbd9d58def2a8ce3d2f3e
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
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
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
2015-06-16
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
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[deleted] first five lines [/deleted]
DELIGHTED TO HAVE RECEIVED YOUR CABLE SEVENTEENTH PARCEL AND THIRTEEN BOOKS LATEST LETTER EVERYONE TAFFES LETTER DATED SEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINTH ADVISING DESPATCH 500 CIGARETTES REPLYING BY LETTER KEEPING WELL ALL LOVE THOUGHTS WISHES DOUGLAS HUDSON 20-10-42
DELIGHTED SECOND RED CROSS PARCEL RECEIVED OCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH INTACT COULD YOU SEND BOOK ON TEXTILE PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE ALL LOVE DOUGLAS HUDSON 26-10-42
DELIGHTED CABLE THIRTY-FIRST ACKNOWLEDGING SNAPS SELECTION BOOKS GOOD THANK YOU FOR DESPATCHING THIRD RED CROSS PARCEL YOUR SECOND RECEIVED INTACT OCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH WELL ALL LOVE BEST WISHES DOUGLAS HODSON 3-11-42
[page break]
DELIGHTED PREPAID CABLE TWELFTH RECEIVED YESTERDAY YOUR TENTH LETTERS ARRIVE IN PERFECT SEQUENCE LATEST SEVENTY-ONE AM EXPERIMENTING WRITING LETTER TODAY REGISTERED AIRMAIL WELL ALL LOVE THOUGHTS WISHES DOUGLAS HUDSON 15-9-42
DELIGHTED CABLE TWENTY-FIFTH YOUR LATEST LETTER SEVENTY-FIVE WANTED LITTLE GIRL CORRESPONDENT SEND PHOTOS ALL LOVE THOUGHTS BEST WISHES KEEP SMILING WRITING ALWAYS DOUGLAS HUDSON 30-9-42
DELIGHTED CABLE THIRD ACKNOWLEDGING RECEIPT MY REGISTERED LETTER YOUR LATEST LETTER SEVENTY-SIX [deleted] seven words [/deleted] PLEASED MY JUNE LETTERS MESSAGES RECEIVED AND GLAD YOU UNDERSTAND KEEPING WELL ALL LOVE THOUGHTS BEST WISHES AS EVER DOUGLAS HUDSON 5-10-42
[page break]
ALL LOVE THOUGHTS BEST WISHES WEDDING ANNIVERSARY DOUGLAS HUDSON 4-8-42
DELIGHTED CABLE AUGUST FOURTH CONFIRMATION RECEIVER TO PAY ARRIVED SHALL SEND NEXT TELEGRAM THIS WAY AWAIT PARCELS WELL ALL LOVE
LATEST LETTER GLAD MY LETTERS AND CABLES ARE ARRIVING BEST WISHES DADS BIRTHDAY FUTURE REQUIREMENTS FOOTWEAR SOAP MOST USEFUL WRITING ALWAYS WELL ALL LOVE THOUGHTS DOUGLAS HUDSON 1-9-42
[deleted] three lines[/deleted]
[page break]
[indecipherable] remainder of document [/indecipherable]
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
Scripts of telegrams written and sent by Douglas Hudson to parents from prisoner of war camps
Description
An account of the resource
Transcripts of nearly 50 telegrams between Douglas Hudson and his parents between August 1941 and November 1942.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J D Huson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941
1942
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight page handwritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHudsonJD755052v20005
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-08
1941-09
1941-12
1942-01
1942-02
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
1942-07
1942-08
1942-09
1942-10
1942-11
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
David Bloomfield
prisoner of war
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18873/YGeachDG1394781v2.2.pdf
60427241f61034da5e5899391012c1a2
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
Geach, David
D Geach
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/"></a>52 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer David Geach (1394781 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence, photographs of his crew, his log book, cuttings and items relating to being a prisoner of war. After training in Canada, he flew operations as a bomb aimer with 623 and 115 Squadrons until he was shot down 24 March 1944 and became a prisoner of war. He was instrumental in erecting a memorial plaque to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. <br />The collection also contains a scrap book of photographs.<br /><br />Additional information on his crew is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins 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
2016-03-14
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
Geach, DG
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] S.O. Book 136. (Indexed) [/underlined]
Code 28-74-0.
G [crest] R
[circled SUPPLIED FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE]
T. 1599. Wt. 10569. 16,500 Bks. 2/38. P.I.
[page break]
[underlined] BOOK 1 [/underlined]
COMMENCING MY LIFE IN THE R.A.F. UP TILL THE END OF I.T.W.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday February 9th. [/underlined]
Something gave me the wild idea, of trying to keep a diary of my life in the R.A.F. and try is the right word, for I doubt if it will last more than a fortnight. I was sworn in as a U/T Pilot last August & have been waiting until to-day when I at last entered the R.A.F. My first day is now over.
Five of us from work, met & arrived here at 10 A.M. Bill Wren was separated from us, as he is an Observer, then Frank P & Frank B, were put in Flight 6, whilst Len Bacon & I went in Flight 9. We hung about this morning at Lords Cricket Ground, filled in numerous forms, & had a quick medical. Later we marched to the clothing stores, this is a converted garage, a big place, & out of it recruits were pouring with, kit-bag
[page break]
articles of clothing, on their arms, & tin helmet on their head, a most comical sight. Inside we hurried from counter to counter & emerged in the same rag-a-muffin state as the others, the evacuation of Dunkirk had nothing on us.
We marched to our quarters then, a big block of flats, called Hall Rd. [indecipherable word], & then to dinner. It was then 4-30 P.M. & I had been since 8 a.m. without a bite. Food isn’t too bad not cooked well though. After, we went back & made our beds, & checked the kits, then we were found to be in the wrong room, some corporals fault, so we undid the beds & dragged them away. We had to stay in to-night other nights we have 5-30 – 10.30 off Sat, 1.30 – 23-59 Sun 12.30 – 10.30. Lights out are at 11.0 p.m Reveille 6 A.M. I’ve written a fair bit about my first day so being tired I’m off to [deleted] bed[/deleted]. bed.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday Feb. 12th [/underlined]
Our first week is well under way now, it’s a swine in the morning, reveille at 6 A.M, & we should be washed, dressed, shaved, beds made, room swept, kit cleaned & at breakfast by 6.30. Its pitch black & we have to queue in the dark & cold for about half an hour before we get in the dining hall, its underground. As I said before, food is none too good. Our day consists mainly of marching, lectures & drill. Weve [sic] had 2 hours Morse & have to receive 4 w.p.m at the end of the week, & 2 hours maths yesterday & 2 tomorrow, exam is at end of week also. These exams decide whether we go to I.T.W or Brighton (for further training) or stay here a bit longer. Had a lecture by Group Captain – name is Gillighan was a Kent cricketer
[page break]
decent chap – at Swiss Cottage Odeon. Haven’t been home or out any night yet.
[underlined] Friday Feb 13th [/underlined]
We no longer jump out of bed at reveille, we’re all dog-tired & half-asleep in the day. Had our final 2 hours Maths to-day & then the exam this afternoon, we went to Regents Park Zoo for it. Funny to sit & watch lions walking round, while doing maths. Dont [sic] think I did too well, guess its Brighton for me. [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] Tailor saw our uniforms Wednesday, & we took them to the stores for alteration yesterday. Got them back to-day & all tried them on, doesn’t look too bad, all nice & new though. We have to scrub our room to-night for C.O’s inspection to-morrow. Dont [sic] think I mentioned it,
[page break]
we have to put our 3 ‘biscuits’ (small mattresses) with blankets & 2 sheets in certain order & position, & towel laid on bed every day, & if anything’s an inch out theres [sic] hell of a row. Am meeting Mary at dance to-night if I can make it.
[underlined] Monday Feb 16th. [/underlined]
Got to dance with Len Bacon, & saw the old pals at office, only had 1 1/2 hours there. On C.O’s inspection he saw a pair of boots on a bed instead of under, & a case in sight, so he declared the room disgraceful, & we stayed in for our Saturday afternoon, washing doors, while every one else had gone out or home. I just managed to catch Mary in time at Holborn Stn. & we went to the ‘Globe’ & saw Evelyn Williams in his play “The Morning Star” Got back by 11-10 P.M. On Sunday we
[page break]
marched around trying to find a church for church parade, as the one we should have attended didn’t hold 1500 like they claimed. The padre was decent & only said a prayer lasting 3 mins so we would be able to get home early. Booked out & was home at ten to one. All asked hundreds of questions. Mary came over, I slept most of time, arrived back at 10-10.
Yesterday was busy day, went to Odeon for lectures in morning, did P.T for first time in the afternoon, in gym kit, pretty cold. Then gas lecture & had to march & drill with bare necks, & no greatcoats in the street. Regular swine our corporal, tiny chap too, guess he’s after his third stripe. Wrote letters
[page break]
this evening. We’ve got our inoculations to-morrow, & we’re in a funk, according to the tales we’ve heard most of the chaps faint on the spot. Also on guard all night so we should be in a sorry state by Wednesday.
[underlined] Tuesday (afternoon) Feb 17th [/underlined]
Well our inoculations are over, & they’re not too bad so far. Marching there we saw a couple of fellows who had had it, being helped along, so it didn’t cheer us. We had two in the chest and Vaccination & Blood Testing in the arm. About three or four came over groggy & faint in our flight, we’ve got all the afternoon off until 5-30 p.m when we parade for guard, our arms are beginning to stiffen, & our chests ache so will need something to get us through it.
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[underlined] Thursday Feb 19th [/underlined]
Feeling quite A.1 again now, we did our guard, although by Army Regulations, we should have 48 hours off after inoculations, 44 of the flight had light duties – like pickets etc. & had the usual nights ‘sleep’, but I happened to be one of the unlucky ones, and I with five others did guard at the door, 2 on & 4 off, & got snatches of sleep somehow but was half asleep all yesterday. Light day though only fitted for oxygen masks & collected identity cards & discs, my plate in it looks as though I’ve all the cares of the world on my shoulders. Today we had our first pay parade, terrific amount of waiting etc. all for 30/-. This afternoon we had a lecture by the padre, a
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real decent fellow, a pilot of the last war incidentally. He particularly impressed upon us that many of us would come off the pilots course a
& finish as an [deleted] bomber [/deleted] observer or W.O.P. – Air Gnr. Marched half-way round London & dashed to Abbey Lodge for a medical. Somehow I didn’t have to have one as my last was only six months ago, four others were in the same position. So am looking forward to a quiet night and a good bath, tonight if I can make it.
[underlined] Tuesday Feb 24th [/underlined]
Have let this slip for a bit, so have lot of writing to do. Same old bind marching, drilling etc. & cursing the corps. guts, in the C.Os inspection the gas-capes weren’t rolled with the buttons dead in the front. Maybe this sort of stuff will
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make us better pilots, I don’t quite see how though. Got home alright Sat & Sun, stood waiting for an hour before Church parade Been trying to get our thirteen pieces of webbing into one for the march past on Wednesday. We assemble it, roll the gas capes dead to 15 ins, & then have to take it down, put it together again, nothing but messing around. Have been shown films of engineering, inventions, road-building, & farming, so were [sic] beginning to wonder what were [sic] here for, anyway we sleep through them. We do P.T in Regents park, talk about brass monkeys, were nearly frozen. Had to parade in full webbing & kit packed to be inspected to-day, & stood for an hour in it, our backs were nearly broken
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We were supposed to have an Inter Flight Drill competition to-day, but the C.O said we were the smartest [inserted] - ? [/inserted] easily, so it isn’t being held. We should worry about the honour, our corp. will be a good way to getting his third stripe, out of our sweat, but will find nothing extra in our pay packet. Every other flight have their grading results, but 9 Flight, last as usual, has nothing. We might get our posting to-morrow – expect we’ll all be for the Sunny South. We’re leaving here Saturday anyway, & are confined to camp Friday night, so it will be good-bye to A.C.R.C. or assie-tassie as they call it, we won’t weep tears over leaving anyway, wonder if anyone will do the corporal on a dark night.
[underlined] Thursday Feb 26th [/underlined]
Still preparing for this march
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past, it still hasn’t come off. We spent most of yesterday standing around in our full pack & webbing until in the afternoon we were inspected by the Squadron commander. He found various little faults as usual, & we had to stay in to correct them, I with 24 others were ordered to have hair-cuts, they even have Air Force regulations for this – no hair should be longer than two inches. Then we had to wait for our pay books making the time 8.30 P.M. I was going home to say good-bye but it was then impossible. My night vision is above average, only a couple of others had that, doubt if it will mean anything.
Had our posting results to-day, I’ve been graded C, that’s passed signals, failed maths,
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so I’m going to Brighton. Out of those from work, Bill Wren & Len Bacon are going to I.T.W, & Frank P, Frank B & Ken Wyatt are coming with me. Our famous flat 32 (we’ve been in more trouble than any other flat in the building, had the honour of being the first flat to be kept in by [deleted] him [/deleted] [inserted] Caesar [/inserted] is well split up. Ken, Ray & Frank are going to one I.T.W (incidentally Ken went sick to-day & that defers his posting) Len & Tom to another I.T.W, whilst Pete, Ernie, George Mike & Bill, & myself head south. “Taffy” & Ralph aren’t posted yet for they are undergoing eye training. We shan’t be sorry to leave this place, but its a shame our flat couldn’t stick together. We’re waiting for another inspection to-day, by the Squadron Comdr. If we’re kept in to-night
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there’ll be almost a riot. An order has come through that we have to acquaint ourselves with the Group Captain’s car, & salute it every time it passes in the street. I guess that is supposed to shorten the war somehow. [inserted] – Farmer and then Bill Wren is for Brighton like me. [/inserted]
[underlined] Three Hours Later [/underlined]
C.O’s inspection now over & wonder of wonders he said, we were about the best he had seen & it was a [underlined] very good show [/underlined]! So we’re free now at four ock, [sic] so am going home at 5.30 when we can book out, & enjoy the last night with the family and Mary.
[underlined] Friday Feb 26th [/underlined]
This is the last entry I shall make at A.C.R.C. we leave tomorrow morning, the times of departure will be announced to-night. We have just finished packing
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& its a hell of a job to get everything in our packs. Tomorrow we all go our various ways, its a shame really to break all the crowd up, for they’re all decent chaps, wonder when we shall meet again. Felt the first twinge of pride in the R.A.F, that the Fl/lt was always lecturing about, yesterday, when after all our sweating & cursing at the corporal, we marched along, the smartest turn-out there, I guess it was for our own good after all.
We have done nothing but hang around to-day, its been nice & easy for a change. I’ve been posted to ‘M’ Flight at Brighton. I wonder what kind of a place it is and what the fellows are like, still I’ll know soon enough. Seeing its our last night I guess all ‘Flat 32’ will go out on the beer & wake up feeling awful to-morrow – well next time I write will be at Brighton.
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[underlined] Monday March 2nd [/underlined]
We’re now at Brighton & are viewing it with mixed feelings I don’t like it so much as A.C.R.C. Our billet is the Hotel Metropole & is a fine big place overlooking the sea. There are three others in this room, Frank P, Bill Monk, who was in my flat at Hall Rd, & a chap named John, who came off a WOP/AG’s course. The room has bare stone floor which isn’t so bad, but there is no heating, & no wash bowl, & about four roomfull’s [sic] of fellows use the one opposite, that makes about 25 chaps to one wash-basin. All windows & doors are open throughout the day & a perpetual gale sweeps through.
This seems to be a worse place for red-tape – we have a stronger word for it. I’ll give a few examples, we have to green
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blanco the respirators – against K.R’s by the way – which makes them an evil green & destroys their water-proofing ability. White blanco our flashes, do own P.T shoes all over with blacking, even John who has brown shoes. A coat-hangar is issued & the gas-cape is hung in a certain manner – different to that at A.C.R.C. – over it. The blankets etc. are folded the same, but sheets must be rolled & flattened until they are the same thickness as the blankets. Towel is laid out touching the biscuits & kit-bag laid under the bed with end of it in line with edge of towel. Boots & P.T shoes & water-bottle are stood in order at the foot of the bed. The mug – issued to us – is placed in the centre of the towel, with knife handle downwards in centre, spoon on the left & fork on the right, oh! & the handle of the mug must point to the right. All this & 67 miles across this water – Jerry is training like hell to smash us.
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The food here is cooked by women however, & is decent, we actually had [underlined] egg [/underlined] & bacon for Sunday breakfast. No church parade yesterday & after 12 we viewed the town & sea, visited a cinema at night, lot longer show than in London. I am now in ‘B’ Flight, & there are 151 in this, our day is from 7.40 parade. – then classes from 8 A.M. till 12-35 & 2.0 P.M. till 6.15 P.M. so were [sic] gonna be busy. With all this cleaning etc. we won’t have many evenings out either. Fellow in room opposite heard his brother – Spitfire pilot – was killed on ops’ yesterday, so applied for compassionate leave. C.O was away so they told him to wait until to-day & some pilot officer (ground staff) airily remarked “Oh: well weve [sic] all got to go sometime you know”. He got leave to-day. Well will see what life is [inserted] like [/inserted] here this week.
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[underlined] Thursday March 5th (morning) [/underlined]
It is a difficulty to find a moment to make entries in this diary, down here. Out time is fully occupied, parade 7.40 then classes at 8-0 till 12.30 with 1/4 hours break, we queue for dinner then, & parade again at 1.40 for classes at 2.0 until 6-15 when we queue for tea. It is like a school for we change from Signals to Morse or Lecture etc every hour. We certainly have enough Maths, and I only pray I’ll pass the exam. Queuing for meals is better than Hall Rd, it winds in single file right up the stair-cases to the 5th floor, but they certainly get rid of them quickly.
Our room is on the 5th floor & we have 145 stairs to climb each time. The routine of blanco etc. hasn’t been as binding as we thought & time passes quickly.
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The C.O. doesn’t seem too bad after all, a bit strict but he’s fair. The chaps billeted in the Grand Hotel next door have a worse time than us, their food isn’t so good, & the squadron-leader they have for a C.O. well – I spoke to some fellows who were on ‘Jankers’ & asked their offences. One got 7 days jankers for a tunic button being dirty, another two had 7 days one for speaking and the other for looking round when they had been ‘Standing at Ease’ for half-hour. On an inspection this C.O. takes a piece of string with him & runs it up the blanket pack & if its 1/4” out [deleted] they get [/deleted] of the required width they get a warning & 3 days fatigues, if it happens to be 1/4" out again – jankers. All these little trimmings are added because ours is supposed to be a disciplinary course.
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One good thing, we’ve had nothing like the amount of “square bashing” I expected. I’ve got a huge lump like a tumour [deleted] come up [/deleted] [inserted] appear [/inserted] on my left knee, so I reported sick. The M.O. felt it & said it was nothing, & when I asked if it would go away he replied he doubted if it would, - it didn’t trouble him as long as it doesn’t injure my body in any way that would prevent me doing the job the R.A.F. wants, it reminds me in a disgusting way of breeding cattle. Its strange really because most of the M.O’s are really decent & know their work from A – Z & look after you ever so well.
Did my first guard here Tues. night, I was black-out patrol, a nice early ‘mike’, I had usual sleep. Owing to being on guard though, I missed swimming in the Organised Games afternoon, and I regretted that a great deal.
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[underlined] Saturday March 7th – (afternoon) [/underlined]
One week is now over, had our first real drill period on Friday, but was nothing compared with that at A.C.R.C. On Thursday after I had made the last entry we went to the ‘Princes’ Hall, a ball-room taken over by the R.A.F, & had a lecture by a Wing-Comdr. from Air-Sea Rescue. We had heard most of the stuff before but he gave us some interesting tales. Out of 1800 rescues made only 2 have worked perfectly from the time of ditching to the rescue, snags nearly always crop up. Another time a Hun pilot landed in the drink in mid-Channel, & E-boats & our H.S.L’s both went for him. The Messerschmitt escort shot up two of our boats & the crews took to the life-boat. So we sent three Hurricanes
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who shot down one Messerschmitt, & chased the other two back. So along came 12 Mess & back went our 3 Hurricanes, Fighter-Command didn’t like it so up went 12 Hurricanes & ding-dong it went. Meantime the Navy had sent our surface craft to clean the Channel of E-boats – so a small war waged all over one man. It only ended with coming darkness, for both sides had reinforcements standing by, & because an E-boat picked up the Hun. Some of the things they have on these rubber dinghies are still hush-hush. One is an invention which marvellously changes a quarter of a pint of sea-water into [underlined] drinking water [/underlined]. Another was a tin of soup & you lit a small tab on the top with waterproof matches & in 7 mins there was a can of hot soup. A small wireless is now included & they are experimenting with a
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rocket-kite to be fired from a pistol to carry up the aerial about 200 ft. Other gadgets such as floatable torch, floatable knife certainly make it a wonderful achievement. Had our usual quota of maths & signals. Today because a couple of rooms were dirty on inspection, we were all confined to barracks this afternoon & this evening, but cheers! its now been cancelled. I’m off to try & find a photographer’s to record this ugly dial.
[underlined] Tuesday March 10th (afternoon) [/underlined]
Had a look round the town Saturday, visited photographers, & then we finished with visit to cinema. Sunday was a nice restful day, with [underlined] egg, [/underlined] bacon & sausage for breakfast again, then church parade. There is a lot less hanging around for the Church parade than at A.C.R.C.
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In the afternoon we spent a lovely lazy afternoon, lounging on a seat in the sunshine, on the prom. I filled the afternoon by writing, a letter to Mary & sun-bathing at the same time. A short alert was sounded, first I’ve heard for ages, only gun fire was heard in the distance. On news it was announced that a Heinkel was shot down at Worthing by the convoy we had seen pass through. A M.T.B & a cable-ship were hove-to here most of the day. There is ample opportunity for aircraft rec. here as numerous types are constantly skimming the houses. Sunday evening was spent in the usual cleaning routine. A good part of Monday was spent in drill, but was most enjoyable in the sun, its marvellous the amount of people who stop to stare, we’d be the envy of all buskers. There’s certainly no war –
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- effort noticeable among a throng of pleasure-seekers, & nice wealthy people who have left the noise of bomb-battered London. Two hours were spent this morning in cleaning the room to the nth degree for Wing-Comdr’s inspection. Marvel of marvels he found no faults & some late passes were actually issued. I collected the photographs to-day & they were so lousy I promptly destroyed them. I have a break now as it is Org Games this afternoon & I intend to go swimming.
[underlined] Wednesday March 11th (dinner-time) [/underlined]
We had an enjoyable swim yesterday afternoon, in a small sea-water baths 25 yds by 10 yds. There were 90 of us in it, but when it cleared it was pretty comfortable. In the evening we went to the Theatre Royal, where the management allow us in the 3/6d seats for 1/-
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pretty decent of them. The show was “Other People’s Houses”, I had seen it at the Ambassadors, but this was a good performance. One point I forgot to mention [deleted] was [/deleted] in the previous entry was that on Monday we set up a record for dressing, washing & making bed-packs. We slept until 7.20 & had to parade at 7.40, boy! did we move but we made it alright. Yesterday they tried to catch us napping without our respirators, by letting tear-gas loose without warning, but we got through alright. Today its been pouring all day, & I guess we were down for drill, for we’ve been hanging about doing nothing, so I seized this opportunity of making this entry. Some baa-lamb annexed our electric light bulb last night & substituted another dim one, so it looks like a raiding expedition for us to-night. Ah! dinner-time I’m off.
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[underlined] Friday March 13th (morning) [/underlined]
Usual programme of maths, signals, drill etc. beginning to get keyed up for the exam on Tues, one moment I think I can certainly pass & then the next I can’t see how I can possibly do it, still we’ll just have to wait and see. Its Friday 13th to-day & although I’m not superstitious, I’m wondering if Fate has any surprises in store. We all returned from our ops’ Wed. night complete with bright new bulb, no casualties though a few narrow squeaks. The fellow who is the sorry owner of the dim bulb, will now do some switching & so it goes on.
Yesterday all the airmen down here that could possibly be spared, paraded for the Wing march-past. We all paraded just by the Aquarium on Marine Parade, & then all marched past
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the Wing Comdr who takes the salute. This bright idea & waste of time originates from him only, and the dais he stands on to take the salute, was built just for that purpose, of, concrete, bricks & steel, all materials needed for the war-effort, at a cost of £120. Then a semi-patriotic address followed, in which he excused the petty rules, such as position of drinking mug etc. as training to make us good pilots. He is the one responsible for blancoing the respirators, some of these pocket dictators make me sick. Still maybe it will end one fine day, & we’ll really get cracking on what we joined up for.
Last night I was on guard & got fire-picket, 2 0n, 4 off, as usual. We cut for different guards & with my usual abomidable [sic] luck, I drew a 3 & last guard, so only had 4 hours sleep, well I’ll never be able to make that up so will probably fall asleep in classes.
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[underlined] Monday March 16th (morning) [/underlined]
The week-end seems to have flown by, it usually does, but this week-end has gone [deleted] unuas [/deleted] unusually quickly, due to the fact no doubt, that both our Maths & Signals exams are to-day. Signals is next hour & Maths this afternoon, naturally were [sic] in a blue funk, still maybe all will come right in the end.
We’ve met no end of fellows who’ve passed here, gone to I.T.W, then they gave them a similar exam, right away, heaven knows why, & there chaps [deleted] made [/deleted] [inserted] came [/inserted] a cropper & back they came. This is about the easiest course to become discouraged and ‘browned-off’ on. Here are we desperately wanting to fly & fight, & they do everything they can to stop you, & cause failures by exams which have no bearing on the course. Lord knows how many, excellent pilots-to-be have been put off, just because
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they were rusty on Equations or another minor branch of Maths. It certainly drives me into the frame of thought, that it is impossible to even be a pilot.
Frank & I had a most pleasant surprise yesterday, when Ken Little & Frank Jose, shouted to us on the prom. They were on their annual leave & had started on a cycling holiday, & their first stop was Brighton. It was like a bolt from the blue to see some-one from the office down here - & fairly knocked us back. Frank B then came along, & we three listened to all the news they had of the office. Ken was attested for the R.A.F last week, so we gave him all the ‘gen’ on our course.
A terrific amount of activity was going on here yesterday, with planes whizzing around, M.T.B’s scurrying along with convoys, a miniature invasion almost. ‘A’ & ‘C’ flights have been drafted for overseas, I don’t know whether I envy or pity them.
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[underlined] Wednesday March 18th [/underlined]
Well our exams are over now, I managed to scrape 100% in Morse, the other three also got through, we’re all hanging on now just waiting for the maths results, its pretty binding. Tuesday saw us taking another exam, this time the Gas exam still it was pretty easy & it doesn’t count with posting. The rest of the day was usual routine.
On Wednesday afternoon we had the Organised Games, & being as it was persistently raining, they abandoned football, rugger & swimming & we were all supposed to go on a 5 mile run. The prospect of running through the rain had no attractions for us, so about 9 of us stayed in a room until the transport had left, luckily there was no roll-call. The buses were supposed to take them 5 miles.
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out & they had to run back, half of them jumped out at the first corner. This evening we’re going to a Wing Concert at Prince’s Hall – should be good.
[underlined] Friday March 20th [/underlined]
Feel bucked now, our results have arrived, all four of us have passed, & we went on posting parade. Once more the splitting up begins, Frank & Bill are going to 8 I.T.W Newquay, John is staying here for a week, whilst I am going to 12 I.T.W at St Andrews. Phew! what a journey its over 500 miles from here & I guess we’ll move off to-night. Guess we’ll have to struggle with the packs and everything once more, still we should be able to snatch some sleep, one of the fellows said its supposed to be under snow there – Anyway I guess we’ll know soon enough, I’m a bit sorry to leave this station it
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has been fairly ‘cushy’ considering, & besides missing old Bill & Frank, I shall be at a station without another fellow from the office for the first time. A week ago Ken Wyatt was taken to hospital with a temperature of 103o & he’s still no better – poor chap. I don’t know where Bill Wren is posted to, he’s on this floor.
The Wing Concert on Wednesday, was an excellent show, & they only had a week to rehearse it. The C.O & his wife were there and they enjoyed the cracks made at him. About the biggest laugh came when in the middle of an act a fellow in pyjamas came out rubbing his eyes & enquired “Anyone seen a broom?” – we shall certainly remember Brighton by this cry. For in the morning when we have to sweep our rooms in a short space of time, there are about 5 brooms to
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70 rooms, hence the plaintive cry. Another pet phrase is “You’ve had it,” meaning its your lot” “or your end is in sight” thats [sic] about as near as it can be translated. One fellow in his gas exam said “Apply anti-gas ointment to a mustard gas burn within two minutes otherwise – you’ve had it.” Ah! well I guess I might as well draw this diary’s life at Brighton to a close, it goes on a 4 – 500 mile journey to-night, like me it is certainly seeing life. Well the next entry will be made in the land of the heather.
[underlined] Monday March 23rd [/underlined]
Here I am safe & sound across the border, & the week-end and introduction to our course are now over. The actual travelling time was 19 hours for the journey we paraded at 4.45 p.m Friday at Brighton & reached St. Andrews dead at noon Saturday. There
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wasn’t a great deal of hanging about which is so usual on postings – but the night express to Edinburgh was 2 1/2 hours late owing to thick mist. It was my first visit to Scotland, & I expected very rugged scenery, but being on the East Coast the countryside is very pleasing.
St Andrews is very old-worldly, & the architecture seems a trifle grim to my English eye, but it’s a very nice town. We have a comfortable billet in a nice small hotel named Abbotsford. Oh! by the way I forgot to mention our journey was accomplished on 3 small sandwiches, a pork pie – our rations & 6d sustenance allowance – they certainly think we’re tough here. To resume everything is top-hole here – the food, accomodation, [sic] beds & a hundred other small details that can make or mar a billet. If we’re lucky
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& don’t fail our maths exam on Weds week, (& I’m praying to the Lord that I don’t for I want to stay on this course) then we complete a ten week course & go on a weeks leave at the end of it.
The course itself means constant swotting from the word go, we take our exams in Aircraft Recog. – we have to know 86 types – Signals – 6 w.p.m in sending & receiving both buzzer & Aldis lamp – Navigation, Law & Administration, [inserted] Anti-Gas [/inserted] Hygiene, & Armaments. We’ll certainly have to get cracking. We started work to-day & have to know 27 types of planes at the end of the week & as I know practically nothing about it I’ll have to make it somehow. The drill here is very lively 140 to the minute all the time for marching [deleted] bu [/deleted] but as the air is very bracing it should keep us fit, also we have 2 Organised Games a week.
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The officers & N.C.O’s here are very decent & the C.O. seems a sport, our corporal is a real decent guy, a Scottish Rugby international – Barry – we also have a Middlesex cricketer here so were [sic] among stars.
We had 2 hrs maths to-day we only have 10 hrs before the exam Also we had our first tuition on the Vickers G.O. Gun to-day & the corporal came out with one of the smartest cracks I’ve heard – we asked when the guns we use for dismantling were last fired - & he said he guessed it was when Pontius was a Pilate (pilot). Very neat I thought. Also they are absolutely keen on cleanness & this squadron is a crack-one & we never wear great-coats – being as it is fine weather its alright now. Well I guess I’d better get cracking on some home-work, & some button-cleaning then a bath & off to bed.
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[underlined] Thursday March 26th [/underlined]
There is not a lot of time to keep a diary at this station either, but I’ve managed to grab this opportunity of bringing it up to date. We are now approaching the end of our first week in St. Andrews, & its about the [deleted] easiest [/deleted] [inserted] best [/inserted] place we’ve struck yet – some of the fellows who have 3 years service in think the same. We have Tues & Friday afternoons off for organised games & Saturday afternoon & Sunday, so things are very pleasant. Mind you with our lectures & everything we certainly have to work as well – but there’s no cause for complaint.
The food is still excellent although I don’t care for the porridge, still I don’t think it is “pukka” Scotch porridge so I can’t criticise their famous body-building diet.
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We have been cracking at aircraft rec. this week & are supposed to know 27 [inserted] planes [/inserted] by Monday, that means know them perfectly. We’ve also had 2 lectures on the Vickers Gas Operated Gun – still we’re not troubling about any of those until we pass or if we pass our maths. I don’t think the Maths tuition we get here is as good as Brighton, still that was a Maths course. Exercise abounds – we get a tidy quota of drill & games, our P.T. instructor is sick at the moment. Last night seven of us went rowing out into the bay, we got in before darkness fell. It was grand, the sea was fairly choppy, & we rose & pitched like a cork – the sea certainly has its attractions. I also went for a sail on our Games afternoon Tues. – as my knee is still ‘whoozy’ &
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I didn’t chance football – and we went a hell of a way out, & the Beauforts from the nearby drome made dummy attacks at us.
Today saw us doing a 3 1/2 mile cross-country run, the first 5 will compete in the Wing run. Our crowd kept together & stayed just with the front few for most of the course to satisfy ourselves we could do it & then dropped back. Only the Wing run is on a Saturday & were [sic] sure we’ll be doing something important then. The inspections here are about the strictest I’ve met, both personal & room inspections. They certainly keep one looking smart & insist upon smart walking always as well. If we stay to finish this course we should be well licked into shape. Guess I’d better get on with some studying now.
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[underlined] Monday March 30th [/underlined]
Our first week here is over now, there should have been a ‘D’ Flight come in here Saturday but it was cancelled, so we still have the place to ourselves. Which is very nice seeing we have plenty of food & all is nice & cosy. We covered a good deal of ground with our lectures & had plenty of work to do in the evenings, at present we’re concentrating on Maths for we have that exam Wednesday. So we’re offering up our prayers for we don’t wish to be taken off the course now.
Friday was our second games afternoon, but I didn’t do anything in particular, for I’m having trouble with the knee again. Incidentally I reported sick with it to-day, & the Sqdn Ldr who is the Chief M.O. told me it was
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unusual, so he thought it might be a torn ligament protruding, & I have to report again in 4 days, & might see a specialist.
Saturday afternoon we decided to walk across the links to – an operational ‘drome there, & get a look round. We splashed through all the mud where the tide had retreated, to try and make a short cut, & then over ploughed fields. We never reached there however, & were just starting a 4 mile tramp along the road back when two W.A.A.F’s gave us a lift in a lorry – bless ‘em. I had a crack at dancing in the evening & found various things different from the English way, but we got on alright. Church parade was over Sunday by 10.0 A.M. – we have a good padre he certainly has faith. – In the afternoon I was deciding to
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try to learn the ancient game of ‘gowf’, we couldn’t find any golf-balls though, so it squashed the whole idea. Today an Air-Marshall came visiting, he saw us when we were in the hall seeing slides for aircraft rec.
Well I certainly feel A.1. & on top of life here & eating like a horse. Yesterday evening we had a fine ‘scratch’ game of soccer on a smooth stretch of sands – we get plenty of exercise in every way. At [deleted] pres [/deleted] [inserted] the [/inserted] moment we’re practising for a drill competition, though I doubt if we stand much chance of bringing it off. It was a Scotch holiday or else just a merchants holiday to-day & all shops were closed and lots of bagpipe skirlings came from the University. Ah! a final plunge into the maths book, & with Gods Help next time I write I may have safely negotiated the exam
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[underlined] Wednesday April 1st [/underlined]
I am making this entry whilst on fire-picket, this is an easy guard duty at this station also, I was lucky enough to get this last week as well. We have [deleted] long [/deleted] nothing to do as long as we stay here & about 10.0 – 11.0 the Orderly officer generally turns us out on a practice fire. Last night they were turned out at 9-30 & 4 were missing, - they are on fatigue’s tonight. Then they had the shock of their lives for at 11.0 the Wing Cmdr, the Earl of Haddington by the way, arrived & turned them out. Half of them didn’t know where the appliances were or how to use them, but I don’t think any complaints were made.
We didn’t do anything out of the usual yesterday morning – an extra maths period was given us.
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The afternoon was our Org. Games afternoon, but owing to the weather – it rained on & off all day – no games were arranged. So Bob, Bill & I went out in a rowing-boat, there was a hell of wind & current running, & then a beauty of a storm descended on us. We could only run before it, & when it lifted we were drenched through, & a good way from the harbour, we had to row like the dickens to get back.
This morning we took the exam at 8-30 A.M. & I think all our room got through – thank the Lord – for we didn’t want to be split – it wasn’t so bad. For two hours to-day we’ve been on rifle drill for a lot didn’t know any when mounting guard – it reminds me of the days in the H.G. – a bind though – Blast that’s the O.O turning us out must dash off –
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[underlined] Saturday April 4th. [/underlined]
The last few days the weather here has been dull & squally, & we’ve had to drill on the sea-front in driving rain – we got thoroughly soaked yesterday. Today was a decent day though & we had the drill competition – as I thought, we didn’t win it but we were by far the newest flight in it. We were complimented by the adjudicating officer on our show & he said it was better than his regiment could have done - & he was a Lt-col in the Seaforth’s so all was not lost.
This week we had a dental inspection & practically everyone is a ‘victim’, I have to have about 2 filled, & the ‘executions’ started Thursday – I think my turn is on Monday. Now our maths are over we have commenced our Navigation, which is the main
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subject in our course. the other night we had some excitement in a rowing-boat Bob & Bill, & myself were out together, & were having the deuce of a time keeping into the bay against a strong current & wind, when suddenly a storm broke. It rained & then hailed, & being as we were in jackets we we [sic] drenched, but the worst part was we were swept out from the harbour. When the weather cleared it took us about 3/4 hour to row back, the boat-man told us when he saw us go, he was about to [deleted] settl [/deleted] set out in the motor-launch. For two cadets were all but drowned the week we arrived. Still it was fun.
A new flight, ‘D’ arrived from A.C.R.C. to-day. It seems they are mainly D grade – all grades are posted to I.T.W’s now, not like us – still I think they lose
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by not going to Brighton. It will seem a bit crowded here now. My knee seems better although not cured – but I have finished with sick parades. We had another 4 mile run on Thursday – if this keeps up we might be able to give Wooderson some tips.
Looking back I find I haven’t mentioned who the five other fellows in this room are. Ron is from Goodmayes, Carl from Yorkshire, Alan from Maidenhead, & Bill & Bob from Glasgow. So actually I am the only one from London. The other night Bill got muddled in the dates & the night he should have been on guard he was playing golf. He was placed on a charge, but luckily got away with only 3 days ‘jankers’. Well its Easter Saturday to-day & I guess ordinarily I would be working so I guess I’m a lot better here.
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[underlined] Thursday April 9th. [/underlined]
Been pretty busy this week & had no time to keep this up-to-date. Our lectures have become more concentrated lately & we have had a lot of evening work to do. We are rapidly progressing in our Navigation which promises to be an interesting subject. Our drill seems to have been shelved lately – most probably on account of the uncertain weather. On Monday though, when Corporal Barry was taking us the Sqdn Flt/Sgt crept across the golf-course & took us for drill. He did everything in his power to make us mess it up as much as possible. Its impossible to describe it, but orders barked unintelligibly, constant marching backwards & forwards – anything to bind us.
Our games Tues afternoon I played rugger in a drizzling rain, and was well knocked about – I was
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just recovering from those aches & pains when I had to attend the dentist & had two teeth drilled. To complete the day in the afternoon we were given 2 inoculations – 3 times as strong as those at A.C.R.C. and it certainly shook us. I know my arm ached like the very devil, & the mild attack of fever we had gee! it was - & still is awful. This morning we felt sick, & hot & cold by turns, although we are recovering now, our arms seem to be locked with pain. Tomorrow I return to the tender care of the dentist for another filling.
This morning 12 fellows were put on a charge for being in bed 1/2 hour after reveille (one was in our room – Ron) they all got 3 days jankers – tough luck seeing they felt queer. Bob has obtained a week-end pass & his girl has leave – so he’s home to Glasgow – he hasn’t seen her in uniform she joined the [deleted] AA [/deleted] WRNS – 4 months ago.
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[underlined] Sunday April 12th. [/underlined]
Taking advantage of our one real restful day in the week, I am making this entry. The latter part of each week always passes far more quickly than the first, for Friday afternoon is reserved for games & Saturday afternoon & Sunday are free so we don’t overburden ourselves with work then. My visits to the dentist are at an end, & he declared me ‘finished’, in exactly what sense of the word I don’t know. My arm is less painful now, so I am beginning to feel A.1. again.
During the past week we have had 8 A.T.C. officers attached to the Sqdn – to get an insight on R.A.F. life. One took us for drill the other day he was quite O.K. – On Saturday we went out onto the dunes and had our first experience at reading
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Aldis lamp – I progressed none too well. The same day we also elected our C.F.C. ([deleted] chief [/deleted] [inserted] cadet [/inserted] flight commander), who takes control if the corporal is absent. Our P.T.I. – a corporal – has returned from sick leave - & he looks a nagging baa-lamb, guess we’ll see him tomorrow. We have also a Law test in the work we’ve covered – that stuff wants some stomaching.
The time is beginning to slip by though, & our leave approaches, what a day that will be. This week-end we’ve spent a good deal of time over on the putting green – but owing to a high wind – no good scores were recorded. I guess Bob will be back from Glasgow soon, its getting late. Also Ron – he obtained a day pass to see his brother in the Navy just docked at Queensferry. I expect they’ll both come back cursing the all too short time – Had Maths results this week I got 93% only 1 failure in the flight.
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[underlined] Thursday. April 16th [/underlined]
I happen to be on fire-picket to-night, we only get it every tenth day, now that ‘D’ flight are here. The weather has been glorious lately, I guess it will be a fine spring, short summer, & long winter again. We are well up to schedule with our lectures, so most of our time this week, has been spent on P.T etc. The P.T.I. is a decent chap after all – Irish - & we’ve had some good times. Nearly every day we’ve been down to the beach and had exercises & games. We strip down to shorts & slippers and its grand to dive about at rugby touch in that sun.
On Wednesday we went on a 7 mile route march, it was a very warm day, & we certainly welcomed the 15 min break at the turning-point. The beer is pretty good around here, but I guess
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anything would have gone down nicely then. We must [inserted] be [/inserted] beginning to toughen up now though for we hardly felt any ill effects or aches & pains.
On Wednesday night we had a surprise, in the middle of the night the air raid siren was sounded. The alert only lasted for about half an hour and no events were recorded. We are now doing Morse on the Aldis Lamp & find it more difficult than the buzzer – though I guess it’s a case of becoming used to it.
We have been feeling pretty tired during the day-time lately, & frequently falling asleep. I was intending to have an early night to-night, but as we have our gas exam to-morrow, I suppose I should get cracking on swotting up my notes.
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[underlined] Monday April 20th [/underlined]
Have just started our fifth week here at the end of this week, we will be exactly half-way through our course, time certainly flies. Which reminds me its about time I got really down to swotting each time I look at the work it seems more. Now that our Anti-Gas exam is over we took it on Saturday we have resumed our Armaments, we’ve practically forgotten the little we knew of the Vickers. A pal of mine at 8 I.T.W. Newquay wrote & told me they have changed to the Browning about twice as much to learn, don’t know if we will. ‘D’ Flight take their maths exam on Wednesday they were given an extra weeks tuition being as they haven’t passed any exams yet.
We had a lousy piece of news on Friday, at least it was for us, Corp. Barry has got his third stripe & is being posted from
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here. He is on leave at present, I think he’s going to Brighton – what a bind for him – bags of bull, thought I guess it wont be as bad for him as it was for us. We’re sure raving to lose him a real white man. – I wonder what kind of a D.I. we’ll get in his place.
St. Andrews holds its Warship Week this week & it was officially opened on Saturday with processions of the three services & bands, mechanical stuff driven by the Poles. Then followed a galaxy of Home Guard, O.T.C. A.T.C. A.R.P. W.V.S. & every single thing imaginable right down to the tiny “Cubs” & “Brownies”. There were two good pipe bands there – really smart, the only hitch was their timing was a good deal faster than that of the Polish brass band, who have a very slow step & it rather complicated matters. everything went off very well though.
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We spent the usual lazy Sunday, except for in the morning when we had to be ready with gas capes rolled, steel helmets on & all in readiness for a gas alarm. Then we surged out onto [deleted] [indecipherable letters] [/deleted] the green opposite & hung around for 3/4 hour. Whether they think we will be warned in advance of a gas attack & be able to have our kit ready I don’t know.
Today we had a thrill when we were issued with our flying kit, I suppose we wouldn’t be natural if we didn’t. It packs out a kit-bag & there are still some items left out & it is valued at over £50, our battle-dress was also issued. Should we fail to pass our exams we will have to hand all the kit back, which won’t be so good. The stuffing in the Triple lining is certainly warmth-giving we were literally sweating, still maybe at 20,000 feet its none too warm.
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[underlined] Thursday April 23rd. [/underlined]
The weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse today, and we have been pessimistically assured by local inhabitants that although St. Andrews is reknown [sic] for its bracing weather, it is by no means fine weather, so we are unfolding our ground sheets in readiness. The other day after rugger touch on the sands, we were allowed in the sea to wash our feet, & a few hardy chaps took the plunge. They assured us it wasn’t too bad, but it reminded me of the Arctic too much so I guess I’ll bide awhile before taking the first dip of the year.
On Tuesday it was Bill’s 21st birthday but as he had visited the dentist that day & had 3 teeth removed he didn’t feel up to a celebration so we postponed it until to-night. For three nights running now there have been clashes between C & D flights, & good old-fashioned pillow fights & raids.
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They are not so gentle as one reads of in School Stories, & last night, 2 of our fellows had teeth knocked out, one his mouth split, & one K.O’d. Still its great fun – we nearly had it on Wednesday though – somebody had what they considered a brain-wave & got 3 stirrup pumps in action. The Orderly Officer came up & caught us amidst a mass of water, & we should all have been charged by the Sqdn Ldr next day, but it was dropped.
They have made a rule that everyone must play some game on games afternoons – as a good few were always giving it a miss. On Tuesday they had some photographers from the Picture Post here to take some photos of the R.A.F. at work and play. We have almost finished our Hygiene, & the Law & are being tested in them next week. 7 failed Anti-“Gas but they resat & then passed”, for a change I wasn’t one of them.
[underlined] Sunday April 26th. [/underlined]
Our course is precisely half over & we have now reached the end of the fifth week & have another five weeks to go, as the last week consists of exams, we have four weeks of studying left. Bob has been happy, for his girl friend is on leave from the W.R.N.S. & came down here to spend 3 days, I think she returns to-morrow, he’ll be down in the dumps alright then. Different flights are constantly arriving here & we are getting quite senior, in fact we are the senior flight in 3 Squadron. ‘B’ flight arrived the other week & comprise of 1 W/O 4 sergeants 9 corporals 18 L.A.C’s, & A.C.1’s with a few A.C.2’s scattered around.
We celebrated Bill’s 21st birthday on Friday night, at the Conservative Club, & got slightly merry. That isn’t a bad club, but there’s an excellent
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club, called the “60” club, one of the most comfortable places I’ve been in. They had a ball at the Town Hall to close Warships Week – admission 10/- needless to say there was a scarcity of R.A.F. – I don’t know how much St. Andrews achieved I think they reached the mark though.
I had the misfortune of being on guard last night, and the orderly officer a canny swine, must have found out that between 7.30 & 9.30 some of the fire-pickets were always over at the N.A.A.F.I. Anyway he turned us out at 8 p.m. & two fire-picket fellows were missing – needless to say they’re on a charge, unless they can produce a perfect excuse.
On Monday we are having a test in Hygiene, & on Tuesday a test in Law, I don’t see the point of learning that stuff, but the powers that be have decreed it, and who are we to argue with such.
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[underlined] Wednesday April 29th. [/underlined]
The end of the month is on us, & in 2 days time we’ll be saying, “This month we take our exams”, as we begin to realise that we have only 3 weeks left to get moving with our studying, bags of panic are visible. We had our Hygiene test, but the Flt. Comdr put the Law test off – luckily for us as we know sweet fairy ann on that subject – I guess our sins will find us out.
For the Games afternoon yesterday as there wasn’t much on the programme Bill & I decided to walk 6 miles to the aerodrome of L –. We were lucky to get a lift right into the station & spent a pleasant afternoon looking over the kites & standing by watching the patrols take off. Boy! would I like to be on ops’ right now. Especially now our bomber boys are giving the Hun such a pasting at
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Rostock and Lubeck.
I had a letter from my pal at home today, & he’s finally received his papers for the Navy which was always what he wanted. I guess he’s as bucked as I was when I got into the R.A.F. The lucky beggar won’t have to go through all the bull-shine & exams like us though. Still I expect all that comes under our disciplinary course - & makes one obey orders without question which is very necessary in this game.
We are wondering if we can reserve some compartments on the London Express when we go home. As there are a good few of us travelling on it & we dont [sic] fancy a 10 hour stand. There has been a colossal wind blowing here lately & it makes Aldis Lamp reading a hell of a job as our eyes start swimming – I’m not so hot on that lamp. We have only had one period of P.T, & a cross-country run was cancelled so we’re not grumbling.
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[underlined] Sunday May 3rd. [/underlined]
Usual routine has brought another week to an end, time certainly is passing swiftly. This week, the Wing Commander began interviewing our flight with regard to recommending them for commissions. At an I.T.W. the Flight Commander, the Squadron Leader, & Wing Comdr. all make separate decisions whether a cadet is fit for a commission or not. My interview with the Wing Comdr. may come off to-morrow.
The weather is still glorious here, & after 2 hours P.T. & games on the beach, Friday Morning, some of us took the first dip of the year. I enjoyed that swim, although it was very cold. At present the bottom of the open-air swimming bath is being scraped, so we cannot swim in that, although I prefer that to the sea. It is sea-water & is filled every tide. But there are no waves one can get a decent swim in.
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‘D’ Flight received their maths results this week and it shook them rather. Eleven of them came a cropper, and out of those only four have been granted a second try. Two of the failures are remustering W.O.P./A.C.s and two are taking straight A.G’s. The remaining three had such a low percentage in the exam that they have been taken off flying training altogether.
The usual flight photograph was taken at the beginning of the week, but owing to the extremely strong sunlight it didn’t turn out too well, still we’ve had it. Alan managed to get an introduction to a [deleted] [indecipherable letters] [/deleted] flying officer on Beauforts at L-. Today he was taken up for 1 3/4 hours on torpedo dropping exercises, and he returned here full of it – boy! is he lucky. Owing to the fact that they are doing ‘ops’ most of the time it looks as though we will be unable to have a ‘flip’ – which is a disappointment to us.
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[underlined] Wednesday May 6th [/underlined]
Although we were assured by our Flt/Comdr that this would be a very stiff week and we would have lots of studying so far it has been the easiest week of our course. A lot of time-wasting subjects have been inserted even though we are only 3 weeks from our exams. Today we were supposed to go clay pigeon shooting & accordingly they sent 10 at a time down, but all they got was one hours instruction. Then they had a squadron photograph taken right in front of the club house, with a terrific wind blowing sand across the exposed links. So I guess half of the people in it will come out with closed eyes & distorted faces. One flight is taking there [sic] exams this week & go on leave Friday, so we have to have our Navigation in a temporary class-room which isn’t so hot.
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On Monday we had an Aldis lamp test and partly owing to climatic conditions, & partly myself I hardly received any of it. I have heard it ‘pukka gen’ that one really has to pass this exam & there is no wangling through – so I’m panicking alright. For a failure means not getting ones LAC & waiting here until we pass – which at this rate seems about Xmas. The other evening we had some boxing bouts, & my opponent had done a fair amount of it in peace-time. Still I acquitted myself fairly well, he split my lip, & I split his, & made his nose swell, so it was nice and friendly. As a minor distraction I have been inducing the hairs upon my upper lip to form into a moustache lately, but the results don’t seem too promising. I should have been on fire-picket tonight, but Mac asked me to change & go on tomorrow, as there was a lot of coal for them to shovel I willingly agreed.
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[underlined] Monday May 11th [/underlined]
Another entry into this rapidly growing diary of mine, and another week has slipped swiftly past. The room was half empty last week-end as Ron had a week-end pass to go and see his brother at Queensferry, and Bill and Bob slipped home for the week-end. Today we heard the far from pleasant news that our baa-lamb of a flight-sergt. who takes squadron parade, had been promoted to Station W.O. This shook us, & we’ll certainly have to watch our step. He sports the shoulder-title CANADA, although he may have seen those shores for about a week, certainly no more by his lack of accent, his disposition. Which reminds me it was our turn to be inspected by the Squadron-Leader to-day & after he had passed us, I nearly fainted when somebody pointed out, I’d omitted to wipe the dried polish off my buckle.
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Today we were given the most staggering piece of news & most momentous for us, we’ve ever received. The Sqdn. Ldr. told us all that the Air Command had decided that a second pilot in a bomber was a waste of a man as he was seldom used. He is to be withdrawn & a specialised man in bombing replaces him. He is the Air Bomber & in future Observers will only do Navigating & be Navigators. Should a pilot be wounded the crew are to fly it home on the automatic Pilot & then bale out at the base, & leave the kite to crash. It seems a fine waste of a £40,000 bomber to me. This of course we were told cuts the pilots required down to about half, & as they will have all those in reserve from the bombers, it will be a great chance if we even get a pilot – in fact we might never get a chance to fly at a Grading School – this certainly [indecipherable word] us I can
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tell the world.
Should the pilot be wounded & is a stretcher case – Lord knows what they’ll do for ‘em, they can’t let them crash. Why the obvious solution to train second pilots as air-bombers as well didn’t strike them I don’t know. For if he isn’t needed as a pilot as they say, well he carries his bombing duties out as they want. Then should the pilot be hit which is by no means uncommon, he is at hand to bring the aircraft back safely as the Air Bombers course is only a 60 week one it wouldn’t be much to add on a pilots course. Still I guess the powers that be have decreed it - & it is so. It isn’t our place to criticise knowing nothing about it really, but we can’t help but imagine the scheme is devised by some-one behind a big desk at the AM. However I’m praying to the Lord I will still make a pilot – but it seems awfully remote now.
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[underlined] Sunday May 17th [/underlined]
Haven’t been able to make an entry in this diary at all in the week, owing to hectic work. We only had two easy breaks, one on Wednesday when we went clay pigeon shooting, I just struggled along with an average score. Then on Friday we went on the range with .303’s, I had better luck then & managed to get 108 points out of a possible 125. My last card was the best – 10 rounds with no support – I got 8 bulbs & 2 inners. We have just about finished our Navigation syllabus, & will be able to get in a weeks revision before the big event. There is only a weeks practice on the Aldis Lamp left & we still aren’t able to pass the tests. It’s always the way on this course, bags of exams and bags of panic before them all. Still with luck we’ll see those ‘props’ yet.
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Our Flight Commander has started a childish sceme [sic] of points for the tidiness of rooms. The rooms are already smart & in order as this is compulsory, but he knocks off points for silly little things, a room which is obviously bad, often has its faults missed, & he has a most erratic system of points. It amuses us rather than irritates. Apart from these systems however, he is a really decent chap, and would do anything for us.
I was employed digging the garden the other night for speaking in the ranks. The chap with me, had had a good share of ‘jankers’ here, & was often in trouble. This time it proved his last punishment here. For he had 14 days for playing cards in church – quite a rip. Anyway as well as this he has been taken off the flying course. So to use the familiar term – “He’s had it”.
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[underlined] Wednesday May 20th [/underlined]
Today marked the beginning of the last week of intensive studying. Our flight-commander has drawn up a chart of our work throughout the week & we are getting lots of general study periods – and we need them. Lately we have had a great number of lamp receiving periods & although I am not able to pass tests I am getting a bit better. Alan was on fire-picket Tuesday, & was preparing to get ready for parade, when he had a great surprise. The corporal shouted for him & when he went down he found his brother standing there. He is a Spitfire pilot at present on delivery, & he brought a Spit. up to the nearby ‘drome and dropped in to see Alan, & stayed the night at a hotel. Alan promptly got his fire-picket changed and went out for the evening with him. They had a fine time.
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I visited the cinema on Saturday for the first time since I’ve been here, it was a neat little place. The film was “Rebecca” very old, but very good, & as I had missed it before, I took this opportunity of seeing it. Preparations are going ahead for the flight supper, next Monday, it should be pretty good. It’s a party & carousal combined with the Flt/Cmdr & Sqdn Ldr. there – but they’re both good sports. They have managed to get the radio going now & we are able to catch up with the swing music before proceeding on leave. I have arranged with Mary to book seats at two shows, so I should enjoy my leave, I only hope the weather remains fine. We have filled in the forms for our railway warrants, gee! if only we didn’t have to take all these exams before we went it would be heaven. Still such is life in the RAF.
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[underlined] Sunday May 23rd. [/underlined]
Our last clear week is over, & now we commence the fateful week of examinations, oh! well sink or swim we go on leave Friday. I think we should do alright, although we are not excellent at the subjects, still with God’s Help we’ll get through them A.1. We have the Aldis Receiving exam Monday, so it’s a bit of a baa-lamb to start off with, then come the rest of our Signals exams on the next two days. On Wednesday we have Armaments, then Thursday is a big day with Aircraft Rec. Law & Hygiene, this is a big sweep & leaves only Navigation on Friday. That is the one that is worrying me most.
It’s a funny thing we have done 9 weeks of binding for these and in one swift rush they will be all over and done with, anyway I intend to forget the word
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examination when I’m home and settle down & have a really good time. I’m glad Mary has managed to get her summer hols. at the same time. If we get embarkation leave after Grading School, that supposing with the help of the Lord we fly, I’m hoping she will be able to get more time off then, still its miles & miles ahead.
They are talking about what times the trains are from St. Andrews Friday, as they are only letting 10 travel on each train, to relieve congestion. This seems tripe to me for we can all come back together that makes no difference, & anyway there are only 53 in the flight & not all are going the same way. I hope that us who are travelling to London are able to get on a train early enough, to enable us to start queuing in Edinburgh to catch the [deleted] E [/deleted] London Express.
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[underlined] Friday May 29th [/underlined]
The great day has arrived at last, all the exams are over, though not forgotten, and in a few hours, we will all be proceeding on our various journeys, but each to the same place – home. It seems a long while to go 4 months without leave, & I guess it is really. I was right in the assumption that once the exams had commenced, time would fly by and it most certainly did. Last Sunday Ron took some snaps of us & of view-points around here, he’s just collected them and they came out ever so well.
This morning has been one mad rush, we were up early, and it would fall to my luck to have my turn to clean the wash-bowel, so I had to hurry alright. Promptly at 8.30 we were sitting in the Navigation rooms and we
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commenced the Navigation paper. It was a fairly stiff one, the stiffest we’ve seen for a while, but I think I’ve got through, I hope we all have. We dived in the Y.M.C.A. for the usual cup of tea, and paraded at 11 A.M. for pay, we drew a fortnights, being the week of leave, then we were paid £1 for ration money. After that we were given our passes & railway tickets, and there was nothing more to do but wait for our train, so here I am hanging around until 4.5 when we say goodbye to Scotland for a brief while.
I’m still praying that the weather will break as this doesn’t seem any too cheerful, still who knows it may turn out fine. I can see way across the valley a puff of smoke leaving Leuchars so it must be our train, & I must fly, next time I open this our treasured leave will be over.
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[underlined] Monday June 8th. [/underlined]
Back in harness once more, and naturally feeling ever so sorry that its over, especially as Mary has another week’s holiday & will have to spend it by herself. I had a grand time & marvel of marvels the weather broke at the beginning and we even had a heat wave, I never expected that, it looks like my prayers were answered alright. The journey to London was uneventful, we arrived Kings X – 8.10, an hour late, we had [deleted] a [/deleted] seats & that was worth queuing for. Returning to Edinburgh we arrived 40 mins late for no apparent reason, seeing that it was perfect weather, & we were on time up to Berwick where we stopped on a deserted part of the line for a quarter of an hour. The train from Leuchars should have gone
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at 8.35 P.M. but it waited for us, and we caught the last bus from Leuchars and arrived here at 11.35. We were dead tired, & hungry so after satisfying that need we made our beds & turned in.
This morning found reveille at 6.15 again, but we were so tired that we were unable to get up. Later I got up & started to shave (we all missed breakfast) when I was horrified to hear “On Parade” shouted, Bob & Bill dashed around & I rushed my shave & how I got down in time I don’t know. Then to put the tin hat on it, the Flt/Comdr. inspected us, just back from leave & not unpacked or anything, I thought that a bit thick. As my buttons weren’t cleaned I was put on fatigues tonight, still we can’t grumble. I’m only glad there wasn’t a room inspection right
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away, as my bed wasn’t made, and all my shaving kit was lying around.
We weren’t to be spared though for the Wing/Comdr. decided to have a room inspection so everyone had to fly to unpack & sort things out & get the general layout ready. Then we were paraded for the things we have been waiting for the exam results. Only 3 failed Navigation, one of them unfortunately being Ron Cooling in our room, they are going before the Sqdn/Ldr. tomorrow to see if they can have a second chance, I hope they get it. My marks were Navigation 80% Buzzer Sending 100% Buzzer Receiver 97% Lamp Sending 90% Lamp Receiving 97% Aircraft Recognition 100% Law 87% Hygiene 88% Armaments 90%. Then Anti-Gas & Maths results were added mine were 66% & 93% respectively, this gave me a total percentage of 89 9/11%. We should be posted as L.A.C.’s soon & then if we are lucky our prayers may be granted & we really might learn to fly.
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[underlined] Thursday June 11th [/underlined]
It is now a fully fledged Leading Aircraftsman who is writing this. Yes, our posting in D.R.O’s came through & we were issued with our ‘props’ & spent most of our games afternoon Tuesday engaged in sewing them on. As at Brighton they qualified us for expert house-keepers so we will be in the expert gardeners class when we leave here. Most of our time for there is not much for us to do is spent in knocking the garden into shape. I must confess that I haven’t put much time in, but I don’t see the sense in it. We are just doing anything that may enter our Flt/Comdr’s head, we had a route march of 8 miles on Wednesday at a pace of 130 per minute & to make an impression upon our return into the town he quickened the pace to 184.
[page break]
The only subjects we still take [deleted] is [/deleted] are Navigation, Signals & Armaments. At Navigation the course officially is “Revision”, but we have been bound rigid with lectures on the stars, gee! the flight lieutenant is a bit of a dope but he sure is a wizard astronomer. At signals we have done some Aldis receiving, and have learned a little of the Browning gun at Armaments.
We [deleted] h [/deleted] will have a lot of guards & fire-pickets to do when ‘D’ flight go on [deleted] g [/deleted] leave this Friday I guess. I was on fire-picket Tuesday night but we chanced it & slept up in our rooms. On Wednesday our room managed to get down for breakfast for the first time. On Tuesday we were up at 7.20. so I guess the effects of our leave are wearing off & were [sic] falling into the easy routine again, - gee did I say easy then I’ve developed the old soldier style already.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday June 14th [/underlined]
So ends our first week back here, & it has drawn itself out so much it seemed like a month. The weather has been lousy, cold & rain & I’ve developed a beauty of a cold, having to muck around in the garden. The other day we had to fill in a pro forma stating our order of choice as to which other categories of air-crew we wished to remuster to if we failed as pilots. It appears we go on a Grading Course to Perth or Carlisle where we should go solo. We then get 7 days leave and are sent to an ACDC (Air Crew Distribution Centre) where we are told whether we are to become pilots or not. Somehow I’m afraid that there isn’t much chance of ever wearing a pair of wings, but I’m praying to the Lord that I might be one of the lucky few to get through.
[page break]
‘D’ flight have gone on leave & we watched them go with envious eyes. On Friday night special posting came through & 12 of our flight were on it, in a way I’m glad I wasn’t for they went straight away for 12 days embarkation leave yesterday, & the posting is supposed to be to Rhodesia. Bill, Bob, & Alan were on it, & Ron is being re-flighted & given another chance at Navigation (with the other 2 chaps that didn’t pass) so that leaves Carl & myself the only ones left out of our room. The eternal process of splitting up of friends always occurs in the R.A.F. I marvel how the chaps in the “Thin Blue Line” so luckily managed to stay together all the time.
Yesterday we had a most interesting 2 hours at navigation, it was on a machine called the
[page break]
Map Tutor. We were given a strip of cardboard with a section of countryside on it 30 miles long and 3 miles wide. We then saw it slowly slipping by on this machine painted on a moving roll of linen & we gazed through a glass panel & it gave exactly the same effect of looking out of an aircraft. Various exercises were given us to carry out such as E.T.A’s fixes etc, they even put a sheet of cotton wool over the glass with a few holes in it to give a cloud effect. It was an interesting machine, & beneficial too.
They have cut out the fire pickets & are having six on guard so that means we do just 2 hours each, no 2 on & 4 off etc. thank the Lord. – Today is Allied Nations Day & a procession has just passed similar to that of the Savings Week, the R.A.F. cadets swinging along in it with bags of ‘bull’.
[page break]
[underlined] Tuesday June 16th. [/underlined]
It has come at last, out of the blue a posting came. 9 of the remainder of the now depleted flight are going to Perth Grading School. While 19 more of us, including myself, “Knocker” Davies & most of the boys are going to Carlisle. So once again we are crossing the border though only just. It is No 15 E.F.T.S. I wonder what life is like there, we’ve heard that life is a lot easier than anything we have struck yet.
These last two days have been fairly easy ones for us with nothing to do. Five of us were put on to sand shifting for no apparent reason, & then at our break-time we weren’t allowed to
[page break]
go out. So we climbed up the face of the building in at a window & got out that way. Of course there was a stink about it & we were on fatigues all the afternoon.
In some ways I shall be sorry to leave St. Andrews for it is a nice place, yet I am feeling rather cheesed after 3 months here. On Sunday just as I entered church a voice behind me, called my name & turning round I saw one of the chaps from the office. I knew he was in the R.A.F. I never dreamt he would come to St. Andrews, it seems out of touch with everywhere so, To cap it all who should I bump into in the Y.M.C.A. but Ken Wyatt. He had been at Brighton ever since
[page break]
we left there. He was in ‘dock’ with pneumonia & had a bit of a hard time, then he went home for 14 days sick leave. His face was well sun burnt & he [deleted] ac [/deleted] certainly looked the picture of health, it’s a shame that he is 10 weeks behind in his course though, through the illness. Naturally he was all athirst for the gen regarding his course & his exams, so we gave him some & told him it wasn’t a quarter as bad as fellows made out.
Ron Cooling & the other two who are being re-flighted expect to go Thursday, and are pretty cheesed about it. I guess I would be too, being in their position, fancy having to face another 10 weeks up here, Ron has also been told by the Signals
[page break]
master (who always was a binder) that he will have to take his Signals [deleted] Couse [/deleted] Course again, for he failed on Aldis Receiving.
This morning we received our back pay for our ‘props’ & drew the magnificient [sic] sum of £5, quite a small fortune for us. In the afternoon we had to tog up in our best blue, for an inspection & farewell address by the Wing Commander. Tons of bull & he only dashed round to make sure our ‘props’ were sewn on. A flight of Poles were also there & it was interesting to watch them being inspected. They stand at ease until the inspecting officer reaches the man next to them, then they snap rigidly to attention, wait till the officer looks at them & then passes to the next chap, then they
[page break]
stand how they like once more.
The squadron leader came over in the evening & shook hands with all of us & wished us “Good Luck.” He is a real decent chap one of the best, if not the best officer I’ve ever met. We certainly were lucky to be in 3 squadron for our sojourn here. Our flight comdr. too gave us each a farewell chat & some useful tips & an invitation to look him up at any time at his home. It’s a pity we cant keep the same instructors all through our training – still there it is.
Well, time is flowing by and I must turn in for the last time here, & say goodbye to all the ground training & look forward to the real stuff. So with thoughts of ‘kites’ ‘solos’ ‘wings’ & various other magical dreams I say Good-Night.
[page break]
CONCLUDING BOOK 1 AND MY GROUND TRAINING
[page break]
[blank page]
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
Book 1, Commencing My Life in the R.A.F. up till the End of I.T.W.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Geach
Description
An account of the resource
First of David Geach's diaries, covering training in London, Brighton and St. Andrews from 9 February 1942 to 16 June 1942.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One handwritten diary
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YGeachDG1394781v2
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--London
England--Brighton
England--Newquay
Scotland--Edinburgh
Scotland--Glasgow
Scotland--South Queensferry
Scotland--Perth
England--Carlisle
Scotland--St. Andrews
England--Sussex
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
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-02
1942-03
1942-04
1942-05
1942-06
aircrew
Beaufighter
bomb aimer
entertainment
faith
ground personnel
Hurricane
Initial Training Wing
killed in action
military living conditions
military service conditions
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
Spitfire
sport
training
wireless operator
wireless operator / air gunner
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/666/18169/EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420423.jpg
5f9c5659ca06d90f9705c6d1a3191402
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
Akrill, William
Billy Akrill
W Akrill
Description
An account of the resource
132 items. The collection concerns Sergeant William Akrill (1922 - 1943, 1436220 Royal Air Force). He was a navigator with 115 Squadron. His Wellington was shot down by a night-fighter on an operation to Essen and crashed into the Ijsselmeer 12/13 March 1943. The collection contains his photographs, letters, and cartoons as well as an oral history interview with Michael and Ann Akrill about their uncle. There is also a subcollection of letters written as a teenage boy to his father in hospital. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Michael and Ann Akrill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. Additional information on William Akrill is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/200183/" title="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/akrill-we/ ">IBCC Losses Database</a>
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
2017-12-04
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
Akrill, M-A
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1436220 L.A.C. Akrill
2 Flight “D” Squadron,
1.E.A.O.S. R.A.F.,
Eastbourne.
Thursday 23.4.42.
Dear Mum,
Just got your letter. If I hurry up with this I shall get it off on tonight’s post. Afraid I shan’t be in Newark until 11.30 pm on Saturday. It does seem crazy as I shan’t know what to do with myself all Saturday but orders are that we are only allowed to travel on the 5.30 from here. I may be able to disappear & get the bus to Lewes & catch an earlier train there.
Had our Navigation Theory & Met. Papers today. The Nav. Paper was extremely hard, but the met was a treat. Tomorrow morning we get plotting – and the medical in the afternoon. I passed in all the practical subjects
Looks like being a massed Christening!
Must get this posted, & then some tea.
Looking forward to a week’s rest Think we may be home for 3 weeks after that.
See you 11.30 Sat night.
[Underlined]Bill [/Underlined]
Just found I’ve no Stamp see if I can borrow one.
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
Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother
Description
An account of the resource
Mentions late arrival time at home and plans to fill in day until train. Mentions navigation, meteorology plotting and medical exams over next couple of days.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-04-23
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420423
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Eastbourne (East Sussex)
England--Sussex
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-04
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
William Akrill
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradley Froggatt
military service conditions
training