48 Air School, Woodbrook, East London. South Africa]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Artwork]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--East London]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> 1943-06]]>
This item is available only at the International Bomber Command Centre / University of Lincoln. ]]>
A V Roe & Co Limited]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1943-06]]>
Flying training commenced at RAF Booker on Tiger Moths and he was then sent out of England as part of the Empire Training Scheme. Flying training on Stearman aircraft recommenced at Lakeland in Florida followed by multi-engined training at Macon in Georgia and Valdosta for advanced training. In October 1942 he became a pilot under the American Army Air Force System and declined an offer to stay and become an instructor.
Returning to Britain on an unescorted Queen Elizabeth liner, he trained on Oxfords at RAF Little Rissington. Posted to RAF Harwell to fly, in Bluey's terms "clapped out Wellingtons" he describes the system for forming a crew. They were posted to RAF Riccall to fly the Halifax.
The next posting was to an operational squadron at RAF Lissett where he did his first operational flight to Krefeld in June 1943 and trips to Berlin, Cologne and Mannheim. After his trip to Krefeld, his rear gunner refused to fly and was removed. On his second trip to Mannheim, Bluey's aircraft was struck by a bomb from an aircraft flying above. They had to reduce height and so used Window to disguise their location. The final trip was to Berlin in November 1943 and, having completed his tour, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Bluey never flew again. Sent to Tilly Whim, Bluey was trained to operate Oboe and explains the device. Posted to an Oboe station at RAF Winterton to monitor junior operatives, he met his future wife.
After the war had finished he became an instructor on the Link Trainer and sent to various RAF stations and finally to RAF Marham from where he was demobilised and returned to civilian life. In civilian life, employment in the farm feed industry was followed by time in the lubricant industry until retirement. Bluey compiled a register of all crews that flew with 158 Squadron and formed a Squadron association in 1947, of which he became president, and organised a memorial to the squadron at former RAF Lissett.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Canada]]> United States]]> Florida]]> Florida--Lakeland]]> Georgia]]> Georgia--Macon]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-11]]>
AV Roe]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1943-06]]> On the reverse are the signatures of some of the trainees. A yellow post-it note states 'RRE Freeman 2nd row from left row 3'.]]> Bayley Studios Ltd]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> Angela Gaffney]]> Verity Garner]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Newquay]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> 1943-06]]>
Geoff was born and lived in the same area of Grimsby all his life, at the date of his interview he was 93. The first part of the interview concentrated on his experience of finding a German butterfly bomb close to his home, Geoff described how after an air raid the local children would explore the local area looking for shrapnel. On this particular day when he was about 13, he and a friend found this device which looked different, he asked a soldier what it might be but he didn’t know. His friends father did not want it in their house and Geoff’s father said the same thing although they did not know what it was. Geoff was standing outside their house when a bomb disposal team came by probably looking for the bomblets. They told Geoff to drop it they then surrounded it with sandbags and detonated it with a small explosive charge which blew out some of the house windows. Geoff considered himself to be lucky as although they had mistreated the device it had not exploded, he also made the point that no one knew what they were as the authorities decided not to issue any information about the bomblets. He could not remember any anti aircraft guns locally but did remembers a large gun nearby.
Geoff described how his father a fisherman had build an Anderson air-raid shelter in their back garden and when the sirens alerted them to a raid the whole family gathered there. He described how one night a German aircraft caught in the searchlight beam dived down and dropped their bomb quite close to the house. He made the point that air raids on Grimsby were not that frequent unlike Hull just across the river, although Grimsby at that time was a major fishing port where literally you could cross the harbour stepping from one trawler to the next. Geoff remembered that early in the war the aircraft they saw were German but later on the large formations of Lancasters were evident.
Having left school at 14 he went to work at the local Rolls Royce dealership as an apprentice but disliked the work. Just post the European war conscription was still in place but Geoff volunteered to join the army for five years as you could choose your job and were paid more. He was trained as a signaller, his initial posting was the army headquarters in Paris which as it was just post war Eisenhour and Montgomery were there. Geoff was then posted to Egypt which was very different to Paris, living in tents awful food. Another lucky escape happened there, with a group of soldiers they were digging trenches by hand to be used as latrines, a fellow corporal told Geoff take your troops and go for a break then come back and relieve me, but the trench collapsed and killed them as Geoff and his group were on break.
Having completed his time in the army Geoff became a lorry driver during the week and a taxi driver at the weekend and he remembered the filming of Memphis Belle at RAF Binbrook.
Almost as a postscript Geoff remembered another lucky escape, early in the war in many towns and cities the school children were evacuated to safer areas to escape the German bombers. He remembers being gathered at school expecting to be told that they were being evacuated to Canada but a ship carrying evacuees had been sunk near the Canadian coast so the plan was abandoned. ]]>
Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Trevor Hardcastle]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Grimsby]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> 1943-06]]>

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David Geach]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Diary]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Greenock]]> Scotland--Glasgow]]> Scotland--Edinburgh]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Whitley Bay]]> England--Bournemouth]]> England--Stourbridge]]> England--Birmingham]]> England--Wolverhampton]]> England--Stafford]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Ottawa]]> Atlantic Ocean--Cardigan Bay]]> Wales--Rhyl]]> England--The Wash]]> England--Nottingham]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> England--Cannock]]> Wales--Aberystwyth]]> Scotland--Orkney]]> France--Saint-Malo]]> France--Rennes]]> France--Isigny-sur-Mer]]> France--Cherbourg]]> France--Avranches]]> England--Southampton]]> England--Stamford]]> England--Cambridge]]> England--Peterborough]]> England--Bedford]]> England--Portsmouth]]> Netherlands--Friesland]]> England--Cromer]]> France--La Rochelle]]> France--Gironde Estuary]]> France--Nantes]]> England--King's Lynn]]> Italy--Turin]]> North Africa]]> Gibraltar]]> England--Thames River]]> Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Berlin]]> England--Ely]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Norway]]> Netherlands--Texel]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Denmark]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> Germany--Brandenburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Hannover]]> England--Sunderland (Tyne and Wear)]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Poland--Wrocław]]> England--Southend-on-Sea]]> Italy]]> Atlantic Ocean--Firth of Clyde]]> Poland]]> France]]> Ontario]]> Germany]]> Netherlands]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Durham (County)]]> England--Essex]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northumberland]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Worcestershire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Warwickshire]]> England--Selsey (West Sussex)]]> Wales--Caernarfon]]> 1943-03]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-05]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-11]]> 1943-12]]> 1944-01]]> 1944-02]]>
Flt Lt W R P (Pete) Perry, DFC]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Devon]]> England--Plymouth]]> England--London]]> Canada]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> Alberta--De Winton]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Italy]]> Italy--Turin]]> Italy--Milan]]> Alberta]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941-03-26]]> 1943-06]]> G N Donaldson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Frances Grundy]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Hamble-le-Rice]]> England--Eastleigh]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> Scotland--Evanton]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Bristol]]> England--Essex]]> England--Clacton-on-Sea]]> Italy]]> Italy--Venice]]> Italy--Turin]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Walcheren]]> England--Berkshire]]> France]]> France--Bordeaux Region (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdynia]]> Germany--Münster in Westfalen]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> 1934]]> 1939]]> 1940-04]]> 1940-09-20]]> 1940-10]]> 1940-12]]> 1941-10-22]]> 1941]]> 1941-04]]> 1942]]> 1942-07]]> 1942-08]]> 1943]]> 1943-01]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-06]]> 1944]]> 1944-06]]> 1944-09-13]]> 1944-12-29]]> 1945]]> 1945-07]]> Allied troops arrived and repatriation to the United Kingdom was carried out by C-47 aircraft. On arrival in England, he and other returning men were taken to RAF Cosford where they were given baths, clean beds and new uniforms. Rehabilitation courses were provided, and John served at RAF Cranwell until he was demobbed.]]> Gary Clarke]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> Tilly Foster]]> Jean Massie]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Poland]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Diepholz]]> 1943-06]]> 1944-01]]> 1944-06]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Hancock]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Essex]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> North Africa]]> Tunisia]]> Tunisia--Sidi Ameur]]> Germany]]> Germany--Rees]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-05]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-11]]> 1943-12]]> 1945-01]]> 1945-02-02]]> 1945-02-14]]> 1945-03]]> 1945-04]]> J E F Mitchell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Germany--Kiel Canal]]> Norway]]> Norway--Stavanger]]> Norway--Oslo]]> Netherlands]]> Italy]]> Italy--Turin]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Friedrichshafen]]> Algeria]]> Algeria--Blida]]> Italy]]> Italy--La Spezia]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> Germany--Münster in Westfalen]]> North Africa]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939-09-03]]> 1940]]> 1940-04]]> 1940-05]]> 1940-06]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-11]]> 1943-12]]> 1944-02]]> 1944-03]]> 1945-06]]> Jack Darby]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Canada]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> New Brunswick]]> 1943-06]]> Jack Darby]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Canada]]> 1943-06]]> John Horsburgh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France--Falaise]]> France--Limoges]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> New South Wales--Narrandera]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Victoria--Point Cook]]> Victoria]]> New South Wales]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943-06]]> 1944-08]]> 1944-09-11]]> 1944-10-07]]> 1945-12-09]]> Julian Maslin]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1943-06]]> Keith Thompson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text. Diary]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-11]]> 1943-12]]> 1944-12]]> Keith Thompson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text. Diary]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Leicestershire]]> 1942-07]]> 1942-08]]> 1942-09]]> 1942-10]]> 1942-11]]> 1942-12]]> 1943-01]]> 1943-02]]> 1943-03]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-05]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> Mary Gardner]]> Roger Manuel]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Devon]]> England--Torquay]]> Wales--Aberystwyth]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Cambridge]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Cirencester]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Poland]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Ostend]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Worcestershire]]> France]]> France--Calais]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Essen]]> Libya]]> Libya--Tobruk]]> Germany--Wangerooge Island]]> Wales--Treforest]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Czech Republic]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940-10-17]]> 1940-09-20]]> 1940-11-05]]> 1940-10-28]]> 1941-04-27]]> 1942-04-22]]> 1943-05-15]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-12]]> 1944]]> 1944-02]]> 1944-04]]> 1944-06-10]]> 1944-09]]> 1945-03-18]]> 1945-04-25]]> 1945-10]]> 1954-10]]> Peter Baxter]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1943-06]]> R A Cochrane, AOC 5 Group]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Rouen]]> Germany]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Italy]]> Italy--Turin]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Leverkusen]]> Germany--Mönchengladbach]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> France--Modane]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943-12-18]]> 1944-01-01]]> 1943-05]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> 1943-08]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10]]> 1943-11]]> Part 2 - war service of Flying Officer James Gordon Bennett Burnside flight engineer. Covers training as flight engineer. Then follows short descriptions. listing number sent and losses, of the 28 operation he flew. Targets include: Düsseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Krefeld, Hamburg, Milan, Mannheim, Berlin (several times), Antheor Viaduct, Hagen submarine part factory, Hanover, Chalindrey, Revigny, Coutra, Kiel and Stuttgart. He then went to RAF Wigsley on a heavy conversion unit. Gives some details of his time there including a fatal crash at Lincoln, when civilian were also killed on the ground. Subsequently went to RAF Balderton and RAF Winthorpe from where he flew Cook's tour as his last sortie. Includes several photographs. Continues with account of crash of Stirling and biography of Squadron Leader Ronald George Churcher a friend of Jim. Jim Burnside was released from service on 1 January 1946. Includes portrait photograph of James Burnside, as well as maps showing airfields he served at, photograph of memorial plaque. Jim and wife.]]> R and M Bryan]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Text. Personal research]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Berlin]]> France]]> France--Var]]> Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg)]]> Germany--Hannover]]> France--Chalindrey]]> France--Lons-le-Saunier]]> France--Lille Region]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Lincoln]]> England--Sutton in Ashfield]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942-12-16]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-04-28]]> 1943-06-07]]> 1943-06-11]]> 1943-06-12]]> 1943-06-14]]> 1943-06-21]]> 1943-07-29]]> 1943-08-02]]> 1943-08-07]]> 1943-08-09]]> 1943-08-15]]> 1943-08-23]]> 1943-08-31]]> 1943-09-17]]> 1943-10-01]]> 1943-10-08]]> 1943-11-03]]> 1943-11-18]]> 1943-11-23]]> 1943-12-16]]> 1943-12-27]]> 1944-01-01]]> 1944-01-06]]> 1944-01-09]]> 1944-01-27]]> 1944-02-15]]> 1944-03-29]]> 1944-04-14]]> 1944-06-01]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-07-12]]> 1944-07-18]]> 1944-07-20]]> 1944-07-23]]> 1944-07-24]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-07-28]]> 1944-08-14]]> 1943-06]]> 1944-11-04]]> 1944-12-29]]> 1945-07]]> 1945-07-04]]> 1945-01-14]]> W R P Perry]]> H J Verity]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Kent]]> England--Tunbridge Wells]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Canada]]> Alberta--De Winton]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> Alberta]]> 1941-03-26]]> 1943-06]]> 1944-02]]> 1945]]> 1945-10]]> 1947]]> 1982]]> 2007]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cathie Hewitt]]> eng]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Canada]]> Ontario--London]]> Ontario]]> 1943-03]]> 1943-04]]> 1943-05]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-07]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection F]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Poland]]> 1943-06]]>