2
25
90
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/345/34358/LWarmingtonI150280v10002.2.pdf
49989e368e54a7ee09cd9eaf34192f86
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
Warmington, Ivon
I Warmington
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. One oral history interview with Ivon Warmington (b. 1922, 150280 Royal Air Force) and his flying log books.
The collection was catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-10-29
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
Warmington, I
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
Ivon Warmington’s pilots flying log book. Two
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book two, for W I Warmington, covering the period from 15 November 1943 to 31 March 1945. Detailing his flying training, Operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Hixon, RAF Blyton, RAF Hemswell, RAF Kirmington, RAF Peplow, RAF Lulsgate Bottom, RAF Gamston and RAF Upper Heyford. Aircraft flown were, Wellington, Halifax, Lancaster, Oxford. He completed a total of 30 operations with 166 Squadron. Part of the log book is missing listing operation 20 to 27. Targets listed were, Maintenon, Mailley, Rennes, Aachen, Calais, Wimeraux, Crisbicq, Acheres, Versailles, Le Havre, Sterkrade, Aulnoye, Mimoyecques, Saintes, Flers, Chateaux Bernapre, Oisemeont and Normandy. The log book also contains several aircraft pictures and a photo of pilots from the Operational Training Unit. His first or second pilots on operations were Pilot Officer Myers and Flight Sergeant Miller. This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
1944
1945
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1944-06
1944-07
1944-08
1944-06-05
1944-06-06
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
1944-07-30
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Shropshire
England--Somerset
England--Staffordshire
France--Flers-de-l'Orne
France--Le Havre
France--Mailly-le-Camp
France--Maintenon
France--Manche
France--Nord (Department)
France--Normandy
France--Oise
France--Oisemont (Canton)
France--Pas-de-Calais
France--Rennes
France--Saintes
France--Versailles
France--Wimereux
France--Yvelines
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
France--Bermesnil
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. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LWarmingtonI150280v10002
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
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
128 Squadron
16 OTU
166 Squadron
1662 HCU
30 OTU
83 OTU
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
bombing
Bombing of Mailly-le-Camp (3/4 May 1944)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Flying Training School
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Me 410
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
nose art
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Blyton
RAF Gamston
RAF Hemswell
RAF Hixon
RAF Kirmington
RAF Paignton
RAF Peplow
RAF Upper Heyford
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9233/EGortonHGortonLCM440526.1.pdf
2723bdf4464f6ab2c17cc385e193ccd5
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Brackley 191
[deleted] Royal Air Force,
Turweston,
Brackley,
Northants. [/deleted]
F/L. H. Gorton
Officers’ Mess,
R.A.F. Scampton,
Lincoln.
26/5/44
Dearest,
I cycled out to Cammeringham this afternoon, & said I wanted the Austin. The man was out, but I told his wife instead. Will you ask Grace to give me a covering note for the insurance, so that I can get it taxed. I want it to be valid from 1st June, if there’s time to arrange it, as there’s jut a chance that I may be able to get petrol for the 48 - I’ve heard two contradictory statements on the subject, & so have decided to put in an application and find out, provided that I can get the car ready for the road in time.
Not that it matters a great deal. If I did use the car to go & see you I shouldn’t have any spare [inserted] petrol [/inserted] for taking you out, so that I may just as well save the coupons for
[page break]
2
when I’m on leave, or when you’re up here.
For Grace’s information, [inserted] It’s a dark blue saloon. [/inserted] the car is an Austin 7, year 1934, & it[deleted]’[/deleted]s registration number is VY 3975. I hope that is all the gen she wants. If not, you’ll have to let me know what else is needed. I suggest that we insure if for you & me to drive, 3rd party risk only, & that we take it out for a year, as being more economical.
How’s the smoking going on? – or rather the not-smoking. I hope you realise that this self-denial business doesn’t really apply to you, & that I want you to smoke whenever you fancy a cigarette – don’t think that you’re compelled to do without just because I’ve stopped. I should imagine that smoking is the only amusement you can find at Newhouse, so just do what you fancy.
[page break]
3.
I’ve found abstinence from smoking to be more difficult here than I expected. It’s not that I’ve any craving for a cigarette, but merely that I see other people smoking, & they seem to enjoy it so much that I feel I want to share their pleasure.
Another more insidious temptation is the fact that I seem to have gone back to the old prejudices of my youth, without believing in them. Part of my adult development was to break away from the narrow prejudices of my parents, e.g. re alcohol, & adopt the philosophy that it was better to use these things in moderation than to avoid them completely or to let oneself become a slave to them. I still believe that & yet here I am, acting like a bigot.
Of course, as soon
[page break]
4
as I go over this ground I realise that the reasons which made me stop smoking & drinking are still valid & I’ve really no intention or desire to start smoking or drinking.
Pardon the above. I hope it hasn’t bored you too much, but I should be rather interested to know if your reactions are similar.
Now for your two letters. Your work on the bed-chairs sounds very effective to me, & it must have taken you a long time. What I’m pleased with, even more than the feather cushion, is the fastening of one cushion to the back of the chair, as it is most unpleasant if it works down.
We get lots of good food here – in fact I think I’m eating too much, - but there’s no cake to compare with yours. I wish I had some now. Another thing
[page break]
5
you’ve done has been to spoil for me everyone else’s bread and butter pudding. I can never touch it nowadays, as it is never a tenth as good as yours.
I imagine that you’d better come up here when you are ready, but I don’t know where I can suggest. I think I told you that it is pretty certain that I shall go to Wigsley on the 7th. If you had a 1/4" map of the district you would realise what a God-forsaken district it is, just like Ossington, except that it isn’t near a Great North Road that would proved quick transport. If you lived in one of the hamlets round about you really would be marooned, I should imagine, especially since most if the flying I [deleted] should [/deleted] shall do
[page break]
6
at the Con unit will be at night. After 3 weeks at Wigsley I shall go to Syerston, to the L.F.S., or Lancaster Finishing School, for a week & then go to a squadron. If you can make anything of that, it’s more than I can. Still, we shall be able to talk it over next week-end, I hope.
If you get a promising reply to your Chronicle advert, I should investigate it. It may prove better than the car I’ve found, & in that case we can always sell mine & use yours.
I forgot to mention that my cold cured itself after a day or two, & I am quite O.K. now.
You say you’ll not come to Lincoln for about a week. Since you wrote this letter on Wednesday, that means you think you’ll be
[page break]
7
ready to come up next Wednesday – the 31st. In that case we could spend the 48 in Lincoln. When I wrote on Wednesday I didn’t realise that you would be ready so soon.
If you want to come up on Thursday you had better phone me on [deleted] Sund [/deleted] Monday night – but I don’t know the phone number of this place, so you’d better send me a wire. Then I can try to find some hotel accommodation, which, as you can imagine, will be no easy task. Of course, if you’ve said you are coming to Lincoln or anywhere else in reply to my last letter I’ll act accordingly, & you don’t need to bother sending a wire unless, after receiving this letter, you want to do something different from what you’ve already said.
Isn’t all this confusing. What with the length of time involved
[page break]
8
in replying to letters & the innumerable things that we constantly have to decide, life becomes very complicated, doesn’t it?
Still, there’s one thing I want you always to keep in the front of your mind, darling. That is that I love you very much & long to be with you always. Life is lousy without you, & the sooner we can be together the better.
All my love, darling,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes about arrangements for his 48 hour pass, buying a car, domestic details and possible postings to RAF Wigsley, and the Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Syerston.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-05-26
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440526
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
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
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-05
1944-06
aircrew
Lancaster Finishing School
military living conditions
RAF Ossington
RAF Scampton
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9242/EGortonHGortonLCM440601.1.pdf
37e0e1951e678e7dab562c8153460028
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Royal Air Force crest]
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
SCAMPTON,
LINCS.
‘PHONE: SCAMPTON 226.
1/6/44
Dearest,
I was very glad to get another letter from you today, event though it makes me feel you are putting yourself out too much.
I was very interested to see your story of the betting, but at the same time disappointed. Your letters are so much better than mine, that I thought the story would be, too, but as you say, you must have been feeling off form when you wrote it. I think, on the whole, that my version is better.
I have been talking
[page break]
2
it over with Derek (who fancies himself on these matters!), & we have evolved another ending, on which I should like your opinion: the bloke who places the bets has a fit of caution & doesn’t place the bet on the last day when they should have won. That’s a very rough resumé but I’d like to know what you think of it.
The funniest thing happened today. I was talking to one of the air gunners, named Beevor, when I discovered he came from Retford. I asked him if he knew the Ossington agent, & it turned out that our Mr. Beevor is his father! I suggested that he should ask his father
[page break]
3
to find us a house, preferably furnished, so he said he’d ask his father. Apparently the Vicarage is now occupied by the C.O. of the O.T.U. You never know, we may get something useful even out of old Beevor!
As for the insurance, I realised afterwards that probably Grace couldn’t issue the cover note herself.
Wigsley is about three miles to the east of the Trent, about a couple of miles farther north than Ossington. Perhaps the sketch map will make it clear.
[page break]
4
[drawing of a directional map]
I don’t know where you’ve got the idea that you can’t ring up this aerodrome. People are telephoning all through the day.
The two rings are a very useful boost to one’s ego. I think there is definitely a tendency for everyone to treat me with more respect – I don’t mean the other officers on the course, but Mess servants & camp N.C.O.s, & even the P.O. who is i/c the Link!
I’ve just finished
[page break]
5
another question paper on law, so am feeling pleased with myself. I don’t suppose I shall have any time at Con unit, so I may as well do some now.
I think I’ll re-write the story, send it to Jimmy to be typed, & then let you have it for final revision.
All my love, darling. I wish I were with you now.
Harold.
P.S. I met one of the pilots from 79 course this morning. He’s at Wigsley & says it’s very isolated and dispersed, 2 miles from the officers’ quarters to the aerodrome. There’s one bus
[page break]
6
a night to Lincoln, and the nearest village of any size is 4 miles away – Saxelby [sic]. He says we don’t get days off, but we may get some leave at the end of the course. Cheering, isn’t it, but these things rarely prove to be as bad as they’re painted.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of the area around Lincoln and of finding a house.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-01
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440601
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
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
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
Operational Training Unit
RAF Ossington
RAF Scampton
RAF Wigsley
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9244/EGortonHGortonLCM440604.2.pdf
904e326096ac6ecdb959ed6bf2cbdc75
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[Royal Air Force crest]
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
SCAMPTON,
LINCS.
‘PHONE: SCAMPTON 226.
4/6/44.
Dearest,
Your welcome letter arrived today (Sunday) strangely enough. As you can imagine, I was a bit peeved with the Norwich Union for not letting us have a cover note, although grateful to you for all the trouble you’ve taken.
As you suggested, I’ve decided to scrub the Norwich Union, mainly because I want the car on the road for Wednesday, [inserted] & [/inserted] I can’t manage it if I’ve got to write to Cardiff.
After dinner tonight I cycled out to Cammeringham to ask Swaby about the
[page break]
2
insurance. He said
(a) that he knew a man in Lincoln who would fix me up with a cover note for tomorrow afternoon
(b) that even if a certificate of roadworthiness were needed, there would be no trouble about it since when he bought the car he took it to a garage to have it overhauled (engine, dynamo, gear box, & back axle) & the man there would have no hesitation in signing a certificate.
Anyway, after they’d forced me to stay & have supper, I came away with the log book in my pocket. Swaby is to ring me up at lunch time
[page break]
3
tomorrow, & confirm that he has fixed things up with the insurance people. Then I shall cut lectures and go into Lincoln & tax the car. If possible, I shall catch the 4.8 [inserted] bus [/inserted] from Lincoln out to Cammeringham & drive the car back to camp tomorrow night.
This week-end has certainly been a car week-end. Three officers on the course went home on Friday night to bring their cars back.
F/O W – brought his 1937 Morris 8 back from Manchester without incident
[page break]
4
except that he tried to take a short cut & found himself faced with the alternatives of swimming the Trent or going back 10 miles.
F/o F – brought a Singer Le Mans sports car from London. He was O.K. except that he ran out of petrol at one stage & had to push the car 3 miles before he could buy some petrol.
P/o B – had just learned to drive & on the strength of that had bought a 1931 Rover 10 for £17..10..0. He was coming from London too, but got lost & spent the night at an aerodrome near Cambridge,
[page break]
5
since he too had run out of petrol. He arrived here at tea time today, & has to report to the C.O. tomorrow. He is so fed up with his car after one journey that he wants to sell it!
Actually, I think my car will bear comparison with any of those three.
Before I leave the subject of the Swabys I should say that Mrs. Swaby said we could spend a week-end at her home (they’ve got a spare room with a 3/4 size bed) any time we want – that’s if you don’t mind the presence
[page break]
6
of two young children in the house.
We go to Wigsley on Wednesday, for 36 days solid without a day off. The first 14 days we do lectures from 8.15 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., & then we start flying. At the end of the course, we get seven days leave.
While I was in Lincoln yesterday I saw a R.A.F. officer who looked familiar. He came across the street to speak to me & it turned out to be none other than Botting, now S/Ldr! He is stationed just outside Lincoln, but he has done very well, because he can only have been
[page break]
7
on Ops for a month at the outside. He asked me to go & have lunch with him tomorrow or Tuesday but I doubt if I’ll be able to manage it.
He asked most kindly after you, as did also Mr. Bruce, whose letter I got yesterday.
I’m enclosing the latest Bank statement, which agrees pretty well with what I said, I think.
It’s getting late now (11.40 p.m.) so I’ll stop.
All my love, darling,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of his car purchase and his colleagues and of his course at RAF Wigsley.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Seven handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440604
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Lincoln
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
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
military living conditions
RAF Scampton
RAF Wigsley
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9247/EGortonHGortonLCM440607-020001.1.jpg
8d4505ed19c524e93f031b65a767bd77
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9247/EGortonHGortonLCM440607-020002.1.jpg
f1901b8f5e24c1cf3d0bfba8e67aa135
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
F/Lt. H. Gorton,
Officers’ Mess,
R.A.F. Wigsley,
Nr. Newark,
Notts.
Wed. 10.30 p.m.
Dearest,
The journey here was quite uneventful, & the car behaved itself very well. This station is more dispersed than any I’ve seen, but fortunately I was able to get a bicycle. The living quarters are poor – 30 officers in one big room, but on the other hand, we are only fifty yards from the Mess.
I haven’t seen Blunsdon yet, but he is on the station, & has been living out in Lincoln all the time, coming in on a motorbike.
I thought it wouldn’t be very nice in Lincoln, & propose
[page break]
2
trying to find digs in Saxilby, a small town, (a little less than Brackley), about four miles away.
I cycled out there this evening but didn’t have much success. The best I found was a Mrs. Sharp, who has an army lieutenant & his wife & baby staying with her for a fortnight. They came in yesterday, so won’t be gone until the 20th, whereas I was thinking that perhaps you’d be ready to come by the end of next week at the latest.
I’ll let you know any further developments.
All my love,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of his arrival at RAF Wigsley.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-07
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440607-020001,
EGortonHGortonLCM440607-020002
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
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
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
military living conditions
RAF Wigsley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9251/EGortonHGortonLCM440610.2.pdf
21f0b74fe2a202cd01d14b5cd7beb655
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
OFFICERS’ MESS
ROYAL AIR FORCE
WIGSLEY
NEWARK
NOTTS
12/6/44.
Dearest,
You can’t tell how cheering it was to get the mail [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] this morning. I got three letters from you all at once, and as there seems to be a lot to answer, I’m beginning this after tea, and shall finish it when I come back from Wigsley this evening.
I’m not quite sure about whether we can make the story public without asking Mrs. Linnell’s permission. I don’t see why not, really, but I suppose it would be an act of courtesy to ask her. Anyway, we can wait for that until we get near the publishing stage.
It’s quite easy to spend £2 a night when you consider that
[page break]
2
he probably gets into a group of six or seven, who are drinking shorts, and one round costs him at least 10/-. He almost invariably came home by taxi, which cost between 3/- and 15/-, according to the number of passengers.
I’ve got some distilled water for the car battery today, but my next job is to take the front offside wheel off and get the M.T. section either to mend it or pump it up, as it has a slow puncture. I also have to get my new tyre put on the spare wheel, & perhaps shall be able to get the M.T. to do that for me. At the moment I’m not really in a happy position, as my spare wheel is u/s and one tyre has a slow puncture.
It wasn’t at all difficult
[page break]
3.
to fix up the car insurance; it only took me the time needed to fill in the form.
Wigsley village is smaller than Ossington, so it’s no wonder you can’t find it on your map. The aerodrome is about 4 miles due south of Saxilby.
I haven’t got a replacement for my fountain pen nib yet, although it is wearing out fairly rapidly. One of the snags of this place is that we don’t officially get any days off, so that it is very difficult to do any shopping from here.
I agree with you about the poor types – at least one, anyway – who take girls out when they’ve got wives & children.
[page break]
4
What particularly annoyed me in this case was that he said an impassioned goodbye on Wednesday, intending never to see her again, & then came in on the Saturday & started the whole thing a second time!
You certainly seem to have done a good deal of spring cleaning, don’t you? It must have been a lot of work, but it should be worth while [sic]. It’s good news about the nail file, as it appears impossible to get one nowadays. There’s no need to send it on, though. It will do when we meet.
I’m rather surprised to find you short of anthracite. I thought you’d never get through that amount & there seemed to be no difficulty about replacing it, did there?
No cracks please, about my short story writing! I think
[page break]
5
I know my weaknesses fairly well, & I certainly think you over-praise my effort by saying it is brilliantly funny in parts. I agree that Derek is “very youthful (or babyish),” but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate his literary criticism (what about Keats & Chatterton?)
I very much doubt whether we shall do our ops from France. The organisation of a bomber station is such a terrific business, & the shipping needed would be so great that I don’t think the powers that be would consider it worth while [sic], because a couple of hundred miles flying doesn’t mean much to a Lancaster.
6.
I’ll write & ask Alice if the shoes will be any good for Mary, & let you know accordingly. She should have returned to Wyke a week last Thursday, but was delayed because Jennifer caught the croup. I think the baby will be O.K. now, though.
I had no trouble in getting my 1/2 gallon petrol coupon for the journey here (apart from filling up several forms), & haven’t converted it into petrol yet. Apart from that, however, I am not yet entitled to any ration. When I start living out I shall be entitled to petrol for the journey to the aerodrome and back.
You are not looking forward to riding in our car as much as I am looking
[page break]
7
forward to taking you out in it. All the time I’ve known you I’ve had to take you on buses or had to make you walk, and it has gone very much against the grain, I can tell you. You can’t imagine what a thrill it will be to take you to the pictures or anywhere in a car.
I think that it would be better for you to come up on the 20th or 21st – that’s if I can organise those digs I mentioned. So far I’ve had singularly little luck, but I’ll ask tonight, and let you know the result at the end of this letter. I’ll also make some enquiries about laundry there, & if I have no luck, shall be regretfully compelled to ask
[page break]
8
you to do some for me.
As for the trains, I don’t know how they are, but I believe they are fairly respectable north of the Thames. I should imagine, however, that it might pay you to go via Birmingham unless you bring a lot of luggage with you. Lincoln is the nearest big town, but I should be able to meet you at either Newark or Lincoln, whichever is more convenient (That’s a change, isn’t it, for me to talk of meeting you with a car!). I think you’d better ask Mr. Lloyd at the junction about the state of the railways.
All my love, darling. It seems a long time to wait till next Tuesday or Wednesday, doesn’t it?
Harold.
[page break]
9.
Tuesday 7.30 a.m.
I was too tired last night – and fed up – to finish this letter. I had no luck at all in searching for digs. I think we’d better provisionally arrange for you to come on the 20th, & if it’s late before I find a place I’ll ring up & let you know.
All my love,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of his car, colleagues and finding accommodation.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Nine handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440610
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Newark (Nottinghamshire)
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
Tricia Marshall
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
aircrew
military living conditions
RAF Wigsley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9252/EGortonHGortonLCM440614.2.pdf
1fa066d26d60845ccc5ba8c05204b07d
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
OFFICERS’ MESS
ROYAL AIR FORCE
WIGSLEY
NEWARK
NOTTS
14/6/44.
Dearest,
At last I have been successful in my search. Quite by chance I called at a big farmhouse & by dint of being very polite etc., & using the famous charm, managed to get fixed up.
Our address will be
c/o Mrs. Gibson,
Manor Farm,
Spalford,
Nr. Newark.
Tele: Spalford 235
The only snag about it from my point of view is that it’s so near the aerodrome that I may not be able to qualify for petrol, but even if I can’t manage it I don’t think I shall be short, as there are ways and
[page break]
2.
which I had better not mention in a letter.
The house has seven bedrooms, & ours is about the size of your bay-windowed sitting room. We are to have the “small” sitting room, which is about the size of your room with the phone in it.
There are two bathrooms, one up & one down, & she suggested that you might use the downstairs bathroom for washing up, so that you wouldn’t have to wait for her to leave the sink as you did at Silverstone.
You will have to cook in her kitchen I’m afraid (paraffin stove & oven), but with luck there won’t be much clash, as Mr. Gibson has his breakfast much earlier than I shall.
[page break]
3.
The real snag about the place is that she won’t be able to take us until next Friday, June 23rd, so that it means it will be so much longer before I see you.
Another snag I forgot to mention is that she is charging 2 guineas a week, but she is providing all linen (except towels), crockery & cutlery. I thought it was a bit steep, but since it will only be for a few weeks – 3 or 4, until I am posted - & since I might quite easily go for another week without finding another place, I didn’t hesitate.
I’ll therefore try & meet you at Newark some time on the 23rd – I only wish it was tomorrow!
[page break]
4.
I wanted to write about other things of general interest, but there’s such a racket in this room that I cant [sic] concentrate.
I hope my washing has arrived safely, & that you didn’t object to it too much.
All my love, darling, I’m longing to see you.
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of arranging accommodation for his wife’s arrival at Spalford.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-14
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440614
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Newark (Nottinghamshire)
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
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
home front
military living conditions
RAF Wigsley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9254/EGortonHGortonLCM440616.1.pdf
c488167bba097022b1b8daa79d982ec2
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
OFFICERS’ MESS
ROYAL AIR FORCE
WIGSLEY
NEWARK
NOTTS
16/6/44.
Dearest,
The billet is reasonably quiet at present (I wrote too soon, because at this moment I am being talked to by the only bloke in the room). Anyway, I’ll try & write you a decent letter this time.
I hope you approve of the digs I’ve obtained. I thought that whatever they proved to be like, it wouldn’t matter much, since we expect to be there only three weeks.
I’m getting Bill Hannon, my navigator, to help me with the car wheels tomorrow night. I’ve got to put the new tyre on the spare wheel, & try to mend the slow puncture in the front wheel. I shouldn’t feel so confident in his co-operation but for the fact
[page break]
2.
that he has just bought a 1928 Austin 7 for 50/-! Apparently its tyres are either non-existent or in a bad way, and as I was going to throw away the old tyre on the spare wheel (it’s down to the canvas) he want it for his Austin. When he has four tyres on it he’s going to get Freddie to tow it away, Freddie driving the 1932 Singer he bought for £10. It should be quite a trip.
Did I tell you that I’ve been allotted a Flight Engineer? He’s an ex-flight mechanic, aged 36, married, & comes from London. He seems a pretty sound type, the sort you could trust to pull the right knob in an emergency, so I am quite satisfied.
I had my first trip
[page break]
3.
in a Stirling on [deleted] Wedne [/deleted] Thursday, and thought it a very pleasant aircraft to fly. As a matter of fact, it’s very easy for the pilot as [inserted] practically [/inserted] all the manipulation of the controls – throttles, pitch levers, u/c & flap levers, - is done for him. All I’ve got to do is to open the throttles on take off, use the control column and rudder, & know what to tell my stooges to do – that’s the most difficult part, as we have been given 26 pages of drills to learn. Incidentally, it gave me a bit of a queer feeling to be flying up the river Trent again, & to recognise all the twists & turns I learned when I was at Ossington.
[page break]
[missing page]
5
when you come up here.
I know you don’t object to where I take [underlined] our [/underlined] car, but the point is that I grudge using petrol unless I’ve got you with me. It would be a waste of half a gallon, wouldn’t it, just to give Derek or someone else a ride.
I don’t know why Smith & Percy get A.F.C.s, unless it’s because all the S/Ldrs. have now got them & they [deleted] want [/deleted] have to start giving them to F/Lts. Anyway, Percy, I believe, has now been posted to Ops., according to Wyver’s information, along with every one of the instructors – Gilligin, Riches etc., who were there when I was. Quite a clean sweep, in fact!
[page break]
6.
The car starts up fairly well off the battery, although I usually give it a bit of encouragement with the handle first. It doesn’t start so well as yours, but it’s not too bad.
That list of trains to Newark sound O.K. to me, provided they are all running. Still, if you get to Birmingham by 12.30, you ought to reach Newark the same day, & I’ll meet you there.
I hope to see you a week tonight. That’s good, isn’t it?
All my love, darling,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of his first flight in a Stirling.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-16
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five handwritten sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EGortonHGortonLCM440616
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Birmingham
England--Warwickshire
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
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IBCC Digital Archive
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
flight engineer
navigator
pilot
RAF Ossington
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/660/9257/EGortonHGortonLCM440619.1.pdf
d460575f39d447e171c185ae085158c8
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
Gorton, Harold
Description
An account of the resource
136 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Harold Gorton (1914 - 1944, 120984, Royal Air Force) and contains eight photographs and 126 letters to his wife and family. Harold Gorton studied at Oxford, and throughout his time in the RAF he continued studying law. He completed a tour of operations as a pilot in 1941 and was then posted as an instructor to RAF Cark. He returned to operations with 49 Squadron stationed at RAF Fulbeck in 1944. He was killed 11/12 November 1944 during an operation to Harburg.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mair Gorton and Ian Gorton, and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on Harold Gorton is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/108964/">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
2017-05-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. 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
Gorton, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
OFFICERS’ MESS
ROYAL AIR FORCE
WIGSLEY
NEWARK
NOTTS
Monday 19/6/44
Dearest,
I’m feeling a bit tired tonight, as I did 1 1/2 hrs flying – circuits and bumps – in the hot sun today. I was just taxying out to go solo, too, when my port wheel burst. It was fortunate that it didn’t happen on take off or landing, wasn’t it?
Thank you very much, darling, for the washing, & also for the two letters, which arrived this morning. When you mentioned sending a parcel of food, I thought for the moment that you had guessed that our food here is pretty lousy & were wanting to supplement it. Still, I soon guessed what it was all about, & of course I’ll take it to Spalford. I hope
[page break]
2
to get away early on Friday, take my kit & the parcel of food over to Spalford, & then go to meet you. I rang up the Station at Newark this evening but could get no reply. I’ll try again, but as I don’t think I’ll write again, you must assume that the trains are O.K. at this end unless I phone.
Of course it is possible that I shan’t be allowed to go in time to meet your train. In that case, your best plan would be to park your luggage at the station & go to the Savoy for some tea. If you can find a taxi & can go to Spalford without waiting, perhaps you had better telephone Mrs. Gibson, as I shall call there before I go on to Newark.
[page break]
3.
I discovered after dinner that I have to go to a court martial at Swinderby tomorrow as an officer under instruction. There are five of us going, & it ought to be very interesting.
I’m hoping to be able to go in the car, but five is rather a load for the Austin. One of the five has his Singer 9 here, but its tank is dry & the problem is how to get to the nearest garage with his car so as to be able to use our coupons.
We tried to solve this problem tonight by going to the Gibsons, ostensibly to let them know that we should be along on Friday evening. In reality, we were hoping to get petrol & eggs, but
[page break]
4
to our disgust there was no one in. So that’s six miles of petrol gone & nothing gained. What happens tomorrow remains to be seen.
I’m very interested in this interview you’ve got, although of course it’s a pity I shan’t see you for two days, I suppose. It sounds quite a pleasant job – a good part of the country, anyway, - & if you find you need a car, the Austin is here, ready to your hand. Still we’ll talk about that when you come.
All my love, darling,
Harold.
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/.
Description
An account of the resource
He writes of his flying, the weather, attendance at a court martial at RAF Swinderby and arrangement for meeting up at Newark station.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harold Gorton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-19
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM440619-0001
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
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
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
Tricia Marshall
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
aircrew
military discipline
pilot
RAF Swinderby
RAF Wigsley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/865/20718/BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10001.2.jpg
b9482ab63dc7c4f88453451987998226
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/865/20718/BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10002.2.jpg
b9580a9f302f26651a8e874887d2e50f
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/865/20718/BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10003.2.jpg
bfe68cd0f8ecad7bb90961f3b6f9a87a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/865/20718/BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10004.2.jpg
e05886da0091b565c5d8b3f5f2de8752
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
Hazeldene, Peter
Peter Vere Hazeldene
P V Hazeldene
Description
An account of the resource
19 items. An oral history interview with Rachel and John Gill about their father, Peter Hazeldene DFC (b. 1922, 553414 Royal Air Force) and 16 other items including log book, memoirs, medals and photographs. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 and 57 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rachel and John Gill 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
2017-03-07
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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Hazeldene, PV
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MEMORIES OF MY CREW OF 57 SQUADRON LANCASTER
ND 954 ‘Q’ – Queenie
By
PETER VERE HAZELDENE DFC
(16.01.1922 – 27.04.2003)
I was a member of 57 Squadron based at East Kirkby from 22 April 1944 until my last operational flight from the base on 19 July 1944.
This was my second ‘Tour’ having completed my first with 106 Squadron.
I was the Wireless Operator/Air Gunner.
Our Lancaster’s call sign was “Q” for Queenie.
After my first tour I was sent to Husband’s Bosworth, in October 1943, where I met my ‘new’ rookie crew who were undergoing training in readiness for their first tour.
They were:
Flt Lt, J.B.P. “Tuesday’ Spencer – 20 years – Pilot – Tuesday was from Greenside, Co Durham
Sgt W.D.E. West – 21 years – Mid Upper Gunner – from Barking, Essex.
Sgt H. Gordge – 21 years – Bomb Aimer - - Itchen, Southampton
Flt Lt R.T. Clarke DFM – 21 years – flight Engineer – Teddington, Middlesex
Sgt E.D. Anderson – 19 years – Rear Gunner – Kirkstall, Leeds
P/O N.E. Hughes-Games. – 21 – Years – Navigator. ‘Hughie’ was a member of the RCAF and from Kelowna, British Columbia.
[page break]
[underlined] Flt Lt Spencer and the crew [/underlined]
I met ‘Tuesday’ at 14 OTU, Husband’s Bosworth in October 1943, when we were crewed together.
We carried out many training flights on Wellington’s[sic] and Stirlings before being posted to 57 Squadron at East Kirkby “ ‘Silksheen’.
I don’t know why we called him ‘Tuesday’.
I remember him well: he was a flamboyant character who once put us up at an expensive hotel in London after a forced landing.
We had many good nights together; he was one of a few who had a motorcycle.
Often we went to Spalding where [sic] and spent many a night at The Greyhound Inn (now a draper’s store) where my wife, Olive, worked.
We usually got drunk and it did us the world of good.
I cannot recall much of the background of the rest of the crew but they were all ‘good types’ and very friendly.
‘Hughie’ was quite a character; he was typical of many Canadian airmen I met. He never showed concern and was able to laugh, and make us laugh, often in the face of great danger.
He was a great tonic and morale booster for the rest of the crew.
Flt Lt Clarke, DFM, was very popular on the Squadron as Engineering Leader.
We carried out many raids from East Kirkby up to and after D-Day.
[page break]
I remember attacking the gun-emplacements on the Normandy Coast on 5/6 June 1944.
I recently visited the area for the first time (on land!) and the evidence of those raids is still apparent.
After 25 Operation [sic] with the crew I was sent on ‘End of tour leave’ – I was told that having completed one tour of 30 Ops, I was not allowed to do more than 25 on my second.
So of on leave I went.
On return to base, about 2 weeks afterwards, I was immediately called to the C/O’s office and was told that ‘Queenie’ had been lost over France on 31 July whilst returning from a daylight raid on Joigny-La-Roche.
Sadly all my crewmates had been killed [symbol].
Tuesday’s parents were present in the Station Commander’s Office and they had asked to meet me, as the only surviving crew member who had flown with him – they were such a kind and caring couple and I am sure it was a comfort to them to talk to me about their son.
Sometime later they sent me £5.00 to help me celebrate both my commission and the award of the DFC.
I actually spent the money on a pair of silver candlesticks in memory of him and the rest of the crew – we still treasure them.
[symbol] It later transpired that Hughie had survived the crash but after being taken prisoner of war he died of meningitis.
Many years later I found that my replacement, WO/AG, Sgt Grice (St Georges, Wellington, Shropshire) was also taken POW – ending up in Stalag IIIA. Luckenwalde, and survived the war – I never met him.
[page break]
[underlined] What happened to Queenie on that ill-fated operation? [/underlined]
The evidence is obviously sparse but some details emerged over time and is as follows”
In an interview with Hughie, in Stalag Luft III, he told the Red Cross that a fire had broken out on board and this was so sudden and catastrophic that ‘Tuesday’ Spencer had not been able to give the order to abandon aircraft.
The evidence later gathered from the Germans indicates that 3 parachutes left the aircraft although the third was on fire.
‘Queenie’ crashed and was burnt out.
Sadly Hughie contracted meningitis whilst in Stalag III and he died on 28 September 1944 – he was just 21 years old.
All except Hughie lie in the British Commonwealth War Cemetery at Banneville-Le-Campagne.
I visited their graves recently – in such a peaceful and beautiful setting near Caen.
Hughie lies in Ponzan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland.
Sgt Grice, I later found survived the war but I believe he may now have died.
Finally, as for me for me, [sic] I received permission to commence a third tour and was well into this when the war the war [sic] ended.
Peter Hazeldene
November 1995.
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
Peter Hazeldene memoir
Memories of my crew of 57 Squadron Lancaster ND954 Q - Queenie
Description
An account of the resource
Peter's RAF service with 57 Squadron is detailed. This was his second tour and he lists his new crew:
Flt Lt J B P 'Tuesday' Spencer, 20 years, Pilot from Greenside, Co Durham
Sgt W D E West, 21 years, Mid Upper Gunner, from Barking, Essex
Sgt H Gordge, 21 years, Bomb Aimer, from Itchen, Southampton
Flt Lt R T Clarke, DFM, 21 years, Flight Engineer, from Teddington, Middlesex
Sgt E D Anderson, 19 years, Rear Gunner, from Kirkstall, Leeds
P/O N E Hughes-Games ('Hughie'), 21 years, Navigator, member of RCAF from Kelowna, British Columbia.
He gives descriptions of 'Tuesday' Spencer, and 'Hughie' Hughes-Games.
Peter carried out 25 operations since he had already completed a first tour of 30 operations. While he was on leave, his aircraft crashed and his crew died, including one who survived the crash but later died of meningitis in prison.
Peter then commenced a third tour but the war ended before it was completed.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hazeldene,P
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1995-11
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four typewritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10001,
BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10002,
BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10003,
BHazeldenePVHazeldenePVv10004
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.
Great Britain
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Spalding
France
France--Normandy
France--Caen
France--Joigny
Poland
Poland--Poznań
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.
1943-10
1944-06
1944-07
1944-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
106 Squadron
14 OTU
57 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing
crash
crewing up
Distinguished Flying Cross
final resting place
flight engineer
heirloom
killed in action
Lancaster
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF East Kirkby
RAF Husbands Bosworth
Red Cross
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 3
Stirling
training
Wellington
wireless operator / air gunner
-
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
Clayton, Joyce Victoria
J V Clayton
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Joyce Clayton (b. 1919, 460998 Royal Air Force). She served in the Women's Auxilliary Air Force and worked in the equipment department.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2017-02-08
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
Clayton, JV
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
Interview with Joyce Victoria Clayton
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Helen Durham
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
2017-02-08
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AClaytonJV170208
Description
An account of the resource
Joyce Clayton was born in Lincoln and served with the Women's Auxiliary Air Force: she was first assigned to barrage balloons, then she became an equipment officer at a number of stations. While based at Sutton on Hull she witnessed the bombing of Hull. She describes being bombed, life inside a shelter, D-Day and Victory in Europe day. She remembers the special spirit and how even concerts would continue despite the bombing. She was finally posted to RAF Hednesford to wind down towards her demob.
In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, this item is available only at the University of Lincoln.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:37:01 audio recording
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 Air Force. Balloon Command
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Adalberto Di Corato
Julie Williams
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Yorkshire
England--Hull
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-05-08
1944-06
bombing
ground personnel
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Manby
shelter
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2226/9073/Quaderno4.pdf
8f8e0d3a19a897f11ebf674b0ce5f77f
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
ISRPt. Pistoia air raid alarms logs
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.
Description
An account of the resource
Five air raid alarms logs record early warnings, alarms and bombings in Pistoia, with additional notes on various tows in the Pistoia province, as well as in other Italian regions. The first log covers three years, from June 1940 to August 1943, while the others encompass one year in total. The series ends in September 1944 when the front reached the town. In total, 244 early warnings and 989 alarms are recorded.
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
Air alarms log 21 June 1944 to 03 July 1944
Quaderno di Allarmi dal 21-6- al 3-7-44
Description
An account of the resource
Covers a time frame of two weeks: alarms are reported nearly every day.
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
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Italy
Italy--Pistoia
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
1944-07
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Italia. Regia Prefettura di Pistoia
bombing
civil defence
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2200/40072/EDarbyCAHWellandJ440608.1.pdf
f68c5765bc0141aadd1bab1f2036e7ac
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
Darby. Charles Arthur Hill
Darby, CAH
Jack Darby
Johnny Darby
Description
An account of the resource
203 items. The collection concerns Charles Arthur Hill Darby (1915 - 1996, 154676 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, documents and correspondence. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 186 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard John Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-02
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Darby, CAH
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.
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 Jack Darby to Jean
Description
An account of the resource
He describes his return trip to his camp and films he has watched.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jack Darby
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-08
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
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
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two double sided handwritten sheets and envelope
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EDarbyCAHWellandJ440608
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.
1944-06
aircrew
RAF Upper Heyford
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2200/40073/EDarbyCAHWellandJ440614.1.pdf
1006f6da20c6fc117bd379b1489388d7
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
Darby. Charles Arthur Hill
Darby, CAH
Jack Darby
Johnny Darby
Description
An account of the resource
203 items. The collection concerns Charles Arthur Hill Darby (1915 - 1996, 154676 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, documents and correspondence. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 186 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard John Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
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2018-02-02
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Darby, CAH
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.
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Title
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Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Description
An account of the resource
He has been doing dinghy drill at the Baths in Oxford. Then they went shopping, failed to get a beer because the pubs were sold out and went to see a film.
Creator
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Jack Darby
Date
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1944-06-14
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
England--Oxford
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
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Format
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Three double sided handwritten sheets and envelope
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Pending text-based transcription
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EDarbyCAHWellandJ440614
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
ditching
entertainment
RAF Barford St John
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2200/40074/EDarbyCAHWellandJ440618.1.pdf
804a04229a745ac63e182fe6e9666227
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
Darby. Charles Arthur Hill
Darby, CAH
Jack Darby
Johnny Darby
Description
An account of the resource
203 items. The collection concerns Charles Arthur Hill Darby (1915 - 1996, 154676 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, documents and correspondence. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 186 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard John Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
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2018-02-02
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Darby, CAH
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.
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 Jack Darby to Jean
Description
An account of the resource
He describes his journey back to camp.
Creator
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Jack Darby
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-18
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
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Format
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Two double sided handwritten sheets and envelope
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
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EDarbyCAHWellandJ440618
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
Temporal Coverage
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1944-06
aircrew
RAF Barford St John
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2200/40075/EDarbyCAHWellandJ440625.1.pdf
faac7b4f823acfa174054b308b603451
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
Darby. Charles Arthur Hill
Darby, CAH
Jack Darby
Johnny Darby
Description
An account of the resource
203 items. The collection concerns Charles Arthur Hill Darby (1915 - 1996, 154676 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, documents and correspondence. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 186 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard John Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-02
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Darby, CAH
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.
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 Jack Darby to Jean
Description
An account of the resource
He talks about V-1 'doodle bugs' and Jean's fire watching. He has been doing a lot of flying. They have been raising money for the Army and had a really good concert and a dance.
Creator
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Jack Darby
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-25
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
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
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
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Two double sided handwritten sheets and envelope
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
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EDarbyCAHWellandJ440625
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
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IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
aircrew
civil defence
entertainment
home front
navigator
RAF Barford St John
training
V-1
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1242/16316/YAllenJH179996v1.2.pdf
37df24045b7429c836febd53856ecca6
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
Allen, Jim
J H Allen
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant James Henry Allen DFC (b. 1923, 179996 Royal Air Force). He flew a tour of operations as a pilot with 578 Squadron. The collection consists of a number of memoirs, photographs and a diary. It includes descriptions of military life and operations and his post-war life and work.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Steve Allen and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-05-12
2019-02-05
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. 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
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Allen, JH
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1944
[Page break]
[Printed frontspiece]
[Page break]
WALKER’S
DIARY
FOR
1944
(LEAP YEAR)
[Page break]
[1994 Calendar]
[Page break]
[Postal rate information and Holiday dates]
[Page break]
[Table of Sunrise and Sunset times]
[Page break]
[Table of Moon phases]
[Page break]
[Table of Church Festivals and Common Notes]
[Page break]
[Table of English Law Sittings, Seasons, Eclipses and University Terms]
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
SATURDAY 1
Gave B/A some Link this morn:- OK. Was to have done bombing:- too cloudy. P.M. In Int. Lib. till 1545. 16.20 Left camp. went to Maidenhead. picked up my cycle. Got back to camp 20.50hrs. Asked for day off this morning, a [underlined] very dim [/underlined] view taken.
SUNDAY 2
Dual bombing this morning. B/S U/S Bombed from 3,000’. Error converted to 20,000’:- 183x. 1500 Solo bombing. Only one dropped. Sent home, too many a/c on target (4 actually)
Wrote to my darling this evening
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
MONDAY 3
Did some Dinghy Drills today. Nothing else. Down for F/A but too cloudy. Could easily have been given the day off.
Feel absolutely fed up tonite, just about sick of it all. Do so want to see June again.
TUESDAY 4
Did .3 F/A this A.M. Report by Itr. Pilot-: “Very Poor” Corkscrews & D.Turns very poor. Feel rather badly about it. P.M. in INT.Lib till 1515. Then dashed off to London with Dudley. Didn’t meet any Snoops. At No.89. 2010hrs. Very glad to be able to see June even for a few hrs. Asked if she’d come away for a week’s holiday if I get Leave:- “No”. Disappointed. Otherwise evening O.K.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
WEDNESDAY 5
Got to Pad. By bus 0315 after much sweating & walking. (0230 Flak Barrage put up, I was at Bank) Met Dud, came back on Paper train. Two lots of bombing A.M. First 154x error, 2nd 99x at 20,000. Actual hits:- 9,500 & 10,500’. 30mins F/A 1600hrs. Bit better, I think. Received letters from Stan, Mum & Mr, Cunningham (Agate) Made a very bad lndg tonite 1755hrs.
THURSDAY 6
Did .20 P.T. first. Then C.G.I. asked if I wanted to go overseas:- “No”! Rest of day spent mainly in C/R. Saw film of 1st F/A. Not able to see yesterdays Dunton says fighter didn’t get inside 300x. Phoned home 1930. Most of the evening spent in writing to my beloved June.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
FRIDAY 7
0800 Paid £3/14/-. Allotment now 5/- per day. Did .30 F/A. Not as good. a/c wouldn’t do a C/Turn to the left. P.M. 1/2 link with Phillips. Short X-C run, for about 15mins. Then in Gee room for .20 or so. Tried to exchange sox & pants at stores:- closed. Wrote to Stan this evening. F/L Reade did a nickel tonight.
SATURDAY 8
No bombing:- too cloudy. P.T. 0830-0920. Lec on A.S.R.S. 1115-1145. Received a letter from June. N/F tonite. Briefing 1500. T-O about 1800. C&B with F/O Kerbey, he was O.K. My bumps were awful, couldn’t land at all. Weather clamp just after 2000. Got rations tho’. Egg & bacon supper. In bed 0200.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
SUNDAY 9
Link 09-1000;-poor. 1100 Church Parade. Weather duff, [deleted] pm [/deleted] in mess all afternoon. Wrote short letter to June. Had tea 1545. 1640 N/F cancelled. 1800 went to flicks “Gentleman Jim,” quite good. Went to bed 2100.
MONDAY 10
N/F tonight. Briefing 1430. C&Bs again with F/O Kerbey. Did the first half at H. Norris. Went solo O.K. All lndgs. good except last one at 2240. Egg & bacon supper again. Full moon, but vis poor. Flying satisfactory. Got to bed 2359.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
TUESDAY 11
Up 1030. Weather very bad:- vis bad. raining. 1400 told “Briefing at [underlined] 1900 [/underlined] hrs.” Maddening. Wanted to get 1700 train to Padd. Flying appears impossible. 1800 [underlined] N/F scrubbed [/underlined]; makes me sick. Absolutely fed up to the teeth.
WEDNESDAY 12
On so called “Crew Disposal” this A.M. Some mucking about in hangar 0915-0945, which passed as P.T. Cleared off into billet rest of morning. P.M. Briefing postponed to 1900. Did some Live Fusing & Bombing up. Wrote home after tea. Flying scrubbed [underlined] 1745 [/underlined] just an hour too late. Have rarely been so fed up.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
THURSDAY 13
Spent a couple of hrs. in Gee room with Dudley this morning. P.M. Killed time in Int. Lib. saw Met-man, until 1600hrs, - briefing. Expect to fly about 2359, as weather is duff, expected to clear. Wrote another short letter to my darling. Am in no mood for writing. Went to “Musical Appreciation Concert” 1945. Airborne 2212, on dual X-C. P/O Baker as screen. Made a bad start. Had no Gee.
FRIDAY 14
Landed 0420; Last hr was F/A. Very tired. “Supper” at 0500.” Usual egg & bacon. In bed 0530. Up 1215. Received letter from June, just what the doctor ordered. Weather beautiful. 1720 T-O on solo X-C. Went to Scillies, 15,000ft. vis wonderful. Could see whole of peninsular from Bristol to Land’s End. Had a bad shaking 1900. Thought I was upside down for a few secs. Laded 2200. Scillies – I of M. Anglesey – Base.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
SATURDAY 15
Foggy all day. Flying scrubbed 1655. Tried to get train to London. Got to Reading 1840. Came back 1940. London train had not then arrived. Fed up & miserable. Came back by bus. Left cycle in Didcot. Have until 1200 tomorrow free.
SUNDAY 16
Still foggy. Got cycle back. Left camp 1635, with a pass. Got to Padd 1940. Didn’t leave Lvpl. St until 2100. Mad as a hatter. Cursing & swearing quietly all the way. Arr. home 2240. Too late to see June. There was a bad crash at Ilford, but didn’t know about it.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
MONDAY 17
Up 0535. Saw my darling 0625-0730. At Ilford 0740, saw wreckage. [Deleted] To [/deleted] 8 persons killed. Made me feel small, for cursing as I did, what does it matter about being late, compared to this. Clamped all day. Briefing postponed until 1900 at first, then to 2100. [Underlined] Scrubbed at 2050hrs. [/underlined] F/LT. Woodven was killed this morning. Pranged in the fog. Wrote to Wilf & Stan today.
TUESDAY 18
“Crew Disposal” all day. Usual messing about. Pyros Lec. this morning. Also did some Gee with Dudley. P.M.- AML till 1545. Cleared off after that. No flying again tonite. Am down for a 6hr. X-C when we can get to it. Wrote June this evening.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
WEDNESDAY 19
In INT. Lib. & E.H. Room all morning Made up Link times in Log Book, & spent about an hr. in gym, this P.M. No flying, weather lousy. Wrote to June.
THURSDAY 20
Gave 1/2 hrs’ instruction to each gunner, in Link 11-1200hrs. 1500 Briefing. 1745 T-O for “Bullseye” exercise. Couldn’t fly at 15,500; so came down to 10,500’. Target :- green Pk. London. Caught in S/Ls for a few secs; found & “bombed” target O.K. on time. At Dorchester S/Ls held us for 80 secs. Violent E/action!! Very excited over target. Back 2315. Interrogated 2345, egg & bacon, then bed.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
FRIDAY 21
In bed 0115, up 1100. Two letters from Stan. Phillips excused flying for 48hrs Solo X-C tonite. Other B/A didn’t turn up. T-O 1805. 1904 something wrong with engines; ht 15,000’. Crashed 5 mins later. No one hurt, Wooly knocked out for a few secs. A Miracle, that we did [indecipherable]/S. Engine torn off. thought I’d bought it. Taken to Rufforth, (Con. Unit) by C.O. Couldn’t sleep. Thought of June, as we hit, wondered how she’d take it.
SATURDAY 22
Got what stuff we could find, from a/c, & dumped it in ‘chute room. a/c pretty badly smashed. Left York 1435. Brought Navi & W/OP’s stuff. Got back to Didcot 2330. Don’t feel like flying again.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
SUNDAY 23
Saw C.I. 0900. He balled me out!! Said I imagined it all. Just about finished me with any hope of wanting to fly again. Saw Smith 1430, he was better. Went up & told off the C.I. Was on N/F programme for tonite!! Got pass till 1200 tomorrow. 1530 pass not ready, went without it. Saw June 2015. Went home, then took her home again.
MONDAY 24
Up 0540 At no. 89 0625. Left her at Ps 0750. Got 0915 from Padd. Court of Inquiry opened this afternoon. Talking from 1400 to 1845. Went over every little thing twice, at least.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
TUESDAY 25
C of I continued. Made up Log Book. Hanging about all afternoon, in case we were needed. Have thought of nothing but the prang all the time. At least I managed to keep fairly cool altho’ I was sure I’d bought it. Wasn’t afraid to die, only very sorry. Received letter from Harold.
WEDNESDAY 26
Link this morning, - very ropey. C of I again this P.M. Nothing found to be wrong with the a/c. Trying to put it down to me switching off ignition switches & failing to check. Looks as if I’ll get the can.
Wrote to Harold.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
THURSDAY 27
Tried to get today off, - nogo. Scrounged out of a grope, had rest of morning off. 1300 went to Streatley for sailing. Very enjoyable afternoon. Got stuck in a backwater once & had to paddle & push our way out. Best afternoon I’ve had for a long time. Wrote to June this evening. Know what it is now to be alive. Appreciate the fact.
FRIDAY 28
Had a dream in the night; Joyce, Stan & Dorothy had died; so long as it only stays a dream. Went sick, want a medical. M.O annoyed because crew hadn’t been examined since prang. Scrounged off rest of morning. P.M. Saw M.O. 1500. Had a good moan to him. Didn’t give me a medical tho’. Got 1658 train to Padd. Saw June by 2000hrs. Cheered me no end, just to see her for a couple of hrs. Left on the 22.21 from Romford.
[Page break]
JANUARY 1944
SATURDAY 29
Arr. Didcot 0230, after having overshot to Swindon. In bed 0315, up 0710. Flew to Rufforth to get kit. Already been collected. Flying rather ropey, but am O.K. Had F/O Evans as screen, a binding b – d. Back 1500. Late dinner at 1545; made me sick, literally, 1700. In bed 1835.
SUNDAY 30
Went sick 0900. Wrote to June 1100. P.M. Tried to get a day off, again nogo. Got off 1515.Went to Romford, saw June 1935-2200. Only her Mum in, with her. Didn’t show any tact, or consideration for us. Left Rom 2230. Missed 2330 from Padd. There was a Nickel tonite. Would have been on it but for the prang.
[Page break]
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1944
MONDAY 31
Got to bed 0640. Down for .30 F/A. Low cloud:- scrubbed. Did some Link:- ropey. Had a look at Bullseye photos:- O.K. Spent most of the afternoon in chasing up our flying kit. Got it by 1730. Went to bed at 2030. Am disgusted at not being given day off. Had expected at 48 at least.
TUESDAY 1 FEB.
Swimming 09-1200 at Oxford Baths. Quite good. P.M. Gave Dudley some Link, then did an hour, myself:- much better. Wrote home after tea.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
WEDNESDAY 2
Asked again for day off. No! Am just disgusted. Went to Ox. Baths P.M. Got 1540 train to Padd. At Ps 1840 June gone home. Saw her 1900. Went to flicks. Saw a Betty Grable film. Had supper afterwards. June says she wants to get married fairly soon. Has been doing some serious thinking, & I think she’ll have figured all the angles. O.K. by me, anytime.
THURSDAY 3
In bed 0600, out 0700. Weather rough, after a clear night. N/F tonite. Did 3hr X-C & bombing. Dual all the way. Very tired at the end. Bombing results 91x @ 20000’. Actual error 51x @ 6,000. Flying fairly good. I’ll be all right. Still a bundle of nerves. Jumped when intercom was used. Very pleased with bombing. Glad I went to Rom. last night.
[Page break]
FENRUARY 1944
FRIDAY 4
N/F again. Briefing 1500. T-O 1810. Did 4hr X-C, then bombing. Dropped one flare; 12 bombs. Results poor. Was very tired by the time we did the bombing U/C trouble at the end. Pumped it down, [deleted] l [/deleted] only got 10° of flap. Landed O.K. Egg & bacon as usual.
Bombing result:- one stick 30x error @ 20,000’. Pretty good.
SATURDAY 5
Briefing 1500. Pretty much as last night. X-C & bombing. Went to I of M Good moon, bit hazy. Phillips took over for about an hr. Bombing better. Stick not so good but group 135x @ 20,000’. This finishes our night bombing. Landed 2307. Borrowed a book from Woolly “Sex factor in marriage”. He read it on X-C.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
SUNDAY 6
Down for bombing tonite. 6 sticks to count as daylite, finish us. Weather clamped. Wrote to my beloved this evening. May be on leave in a few days.
MONDAY 7
Couldn’t bomb A.M. due to low cloud. On N/F programe. T-O after some trouble. Dropped 6 sticks on Udstone. Cloud 4,000’, bumpy. 250x @ 20,000’.:-Lousy. Went up again 2230 for another go. Cloud 3,000’. 2 sticks, useless. As we left each time, the cloud cleared. Annoying, [underlined] very [/underlined]. Finishes our flying. Egg & bacon 2359. Receive most complimentary letter from my darling.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
TUESDAY 8
Spent the morning in bed, & the P.M. getting a small C.Chit filled up. Made up Log Book. ‘Phoned home 1815. With luck may get away tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY 9
Saw C.G.I. this morning. All crew has done pretty well. Hinted that I may get a com. In a little while. P.M. Told to get cleared from station!! Going on leave till 24th then to Driffield, probably a Battle Course. Got C.C. 1600. Paid 6gns. 1525. Received letter from Wilf. He’s now a Cpl. Good Show!
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
THURSDAY 10
Finished getting cleared this morning. Saw CGI 1430. Got away eventually on the 1658 train. Parked cycle & kit at Padd. ‘Phoned home from Lpl. St. 1935. At June’s house 2105-2205. Home 2230. Left my cap at No. 89. Clear night, - full moon.
FRIDAY 11
Went & got my cap first. Then got kit from Padd. Got a taxi from R. Stn. P.M. Jawing to Pop till 1500. Shaved etc. & went to Ilford. Got 4 tickets for show tomorrow nite. Met June 1700. Went to Havana 1900. Left her 2230. She has a good idea on how the wedding will go off. Has the basic ideas taped. Can safely leave it to her. We can have the front room of No. 89.
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
SATURDAY 12
A.M. Collected cycle from Padd. P.M. At No. 89 1500-1900. Went to Ilford Hipp. 2000. Met Freddie Howe. Show fairly good. Had supper afterwards:- foursome. Some rain, drizzle. Got June home 2350. I Love her so!! She is certainly the most beautiful girl in the world, to me. Is all I could ask. She’s been much more fun lately, & more demonstrative.
SUNDAY 13
Saw June 1400. Went up to town. [Underlined[ All [/underlined] flicks full up, so had tea a Lyons Corner House 1630. Very good. Saw a Bob Hope flicker 1745. Not up to usual standard. Raid 2030-2145. Heavy flak barrage. Got to no. 89 2210. Left 2255. Am sure looking forward to marrying June. Had a spot of doubt a week ago. Not now!!!
[Page break]
FEBRUARY 1944
MONDAY 14
Spent A.M. cleaning some tools at home. P.M. Went to Ilford, had a look around furniture shops, to get some idea of prices. I did! Terrific. Met my darling 1700: went home & stayed there all evening. Leave it entirely to her re going out. [Deleted] D [/deleted] She’ll get more tired than me. I get up when I feel like it: not at 0600.
TUESDAY 15
Went to Town A.M. Got 4 tickets for Show at Vic Palace. Back home 1500. Met June at Ps 1700 & went to Ilford Hipp. So-so. “Jane” got boring. Back at no. 89 about 2100hrs, until 2245. Got tummy-ache. June’s sex education isn’t so good as I though. At present she finds the thought of sexual intercourse repulsive. Will have to be very careful.
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FENRUARY 1944
WEDNESDAY 16
0500 Sick. Up 1015, stomach lousy. O.K. after dinner. Went to flicks with June 1900. “Lassie come Home”. Not bad. Met Ivy & boyfriend just as we were going in. Withdrew £10 from P.O.
THURSDAY 17
June took day off. Went to Lon. to do some shopping. Got only 2 utility pillow cases. 1530 bought 22-carat wedding ring: 8gns. Met Dud & Joy 1655., they were 25 mins late. Had tea, went to Vic. Pal. Arthur Askey, “The Love Racket”. Very good. Had a drink, Dud left 2130. Got June home 2225.Everything in town was a terrific price, & mostly trash.
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FEBRUARY 1944
FRIDAY 18
Went to Vic. Rd. [deleted] O [/deleted] & collected my suitcase. Came back to Rom. & bought a set of carvers (£3/10/-) & water set (£1.) Suspect I was Joed. Gave them to June. Did not go out tonite. Don’t want to tire her out too much.
SATURDAY 19
Met June1220 & proceeded to Bedford. Left St. Pancras 13.30. Arr. H.Con. 1540. Was mad at myself for not taking any grub. Spent the evening sitting round the fire. June went to bed 2130. Had a boiled egg each for tea.
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FEBRUARY 1944
SUNDAY 20
Got up 0900. Egg & porridge breakfast. Saw Phil 1030. Back 11.40. Spent next hr. in front room with June looking at the fire:- cosy. Left 1540. At no. 89 2000. Left 2145. A raid on. Took shelter in a house in Hav. Rd. Heard bombs, ducked under the table as the ceiling came down. When quiet went to see if June was O.K. Yes. God looks after me, my cup overflows.
MONDAY 21
Did a bit of shopping this A.M. Got a tin of salmon, for wedding:– 32 pts. Have managed to scrounge two books of points per month from Mum, to help get stuff for wedding. Didn’t go out tonite. Stayed in, looking at June all evening. Not very exciting.
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FEBRUARY 1944
TUESDAY 22
Took one kitbag to Kings + this A.M. Met my darling as usual 1700; went to “Ritz” Romford:- flicks. Saw “North Star” & “Henry Haunts a House”. Not bad. Latter very funny. Left June 2230.
A raid during the night. Flak fire heavy, bags of noise; no incidents near here.
WEDNESDAY 23
Took 2nd kit bag to Ks+. 1300 had a cup of tea with June & Rene & Fred in Vic Café. Made up a parcel of grub for Grandma. Stayed in with June most of the evening. Just had one port in “Maurneys Arms”. Alert 2210, some firing. Left 2304. Not a very exciting day. Left £5 with June.
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FEBRUARY 1944
THURSDAY 24
Met June 0625. Went to work with her. Left Ks+ 0935. A short Alert 0845. Saw a vapour trail, some AA. Had dinner in Y.M. Doncaster, 1400. Left 1530. Got to Selby 1600. Walked around, shops all closed:- half day. Arr. Driffield 1940hrs. Got a lift to camp in an Army truck. Rest of crew here. Came up from Ks + with Phillips. Billetted in Barrack Blocks. Course expectation 18 days – 5 weeks.
FRIDAY 25
Breakfast 0730. Oat cakes. Didn’t do much today. Talk by W.O. usual line. P.M. on bed all afternoon. Given further 3 days leave. Not much use to me. Got 8/-. Wrote a letter to June this evening. London raided again last night. RAF flew over 1,000 sorties last night, lost 35.
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FEBRUARY 1944
SATURDAY 26
Walked to Driffield 1005. Took 20-25 mins. Managed to get a pair of [underlined] sheets & white woollen blankets. [/underlined] Cost £4/8/10. Put deposit of £2 down. Drew further £3 from P.O. 1230 got bus to Hornsea. Found Aunt Alice about 1415 hrs. Took a look around town, & at the sea. Not much doing. Feel very pleased over sheets & blankets. Uniform did it;- pukka. After tea:- raining fairly heavily.
SUNDAY 27
Got up 0930. Sitting about all day still raining & snowing. Went to Service 1800. Didn’t think much to it. Then went up to Y.M. until 2010. Got some Horlicks. Bed 2300.
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FEBRUARY 1944
MONDAY 28
Left on 0850 train. In Hull 0930-1040. Got records “Dearly Beloved” & “All my Heart”, at last. Been trying to for months. Drew £3 from P.O. & paid for blankets. Shopkeeper is wrapping & posting them for me. Had another blanket – grey – put aside for me. Spent afternoon writing to June, then had a hot bath. After tea made down beds of rest of crew. Liver for supper – good. Bed by 2100 hrs. Wrote a letter home after tea, too.
TUESDAY 29
0915 had my teeth scaled. Nothing doing for rest of the day. In billet all morn, listened to Woolly’s domestic trouble, advised him as well as I’m able. Wrote to Wilf & Aunt Alice. P.M. spent trying to learn shorthand again. Made fair progress. Haven’t done any for 4 yrs. Only slightly before. Find I’m constantly “singing” “All my Heart” & “Dearly Beloved”.
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MARCH 1944
WEDNESDAY 1
Drew rifles & denims this morning, dodged FFI, expect trouble. P.M. spent in crawling about in mud & snow. Watched demo squad scale walls, fences & get thro’ barbed wire. Wrote to Grandma. Received expected letter from my beloved June. Replied. Did 1hr shorthand.
THURSDAY 2
Pretty easy day. Some ‘Observations’ this morning, & pay parade P.M. £4-4-0. Did nowt else. Got a pillow slip. We have no sheets here. Evening spent in composing & writing a letter to Wooly’s girl. She has to choose between her family or him. Made it a very formal type, but put the point. He’s very worried, & I asked her to let him know where he stands.
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MARCH 1944
FRIDAY 3
Room orderly today. Took 2hrs. to clean & tidy up the room. Went to Driffield 1400. Bought blanket & sent it off to June. Wrote her a letter too. Wrote home, sent £1-6-0. Back for tea, letter from Wilf.
SATURDAY 4
Did some bayonet practice, in the snow 10-1100. Shown film on night patrolling. P.M. Told we’re on a night op. tonite. Me as 2 1/2 Platoon. Had a look at the ground 15-1600. Marched off 1945. Op started 2010hrs. Three patrols. I just hopped around independently. Fresh fall of snow, but warmer than expected. Finished 2120. Quite good.
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MARCH 1944
SUNDAY 5
Paraded 0900 for Bull Parade:-Cancelled 1015 drew 2nd pr. of denims & webbing. P.M. went round the obstacle course, - rehearsal for A.V.M. tomorrow. Finished 1500hrs.
Wrote to June after tea.
MONDAY 6
1030-1200 visit by A.V.M. Parade, pep talk etc, then did ob. course. Seemed quite strange, everyone so busy, bags of activity. Had afternoon off. Didn’t go out as my crew is Town Patrol tonight. Received a letter from June. Phoned home 1910hrs. T.P 2030-2330. Spent most of the time in fish shop & station waiting room. In bed 2359hrs.
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MARCH 1944
TUESDAY 7
Went to [deleted] Middleton [/deleted] Millington by coach. 2 mile march across fields, -muddy, & snow. Went around the course, under two culverts, & thro’ a filled ditch; fell into the first stream, soaked to the waist. Water cold. Plenty of mud about. Had a hot bath as soon as we got back. Warm enough going round the course, altho’ wet, but got cold in the bus. Wrote to my darling after tea. 7 pages, for a change.
WEDNESDAY 8
0815 went sick. Right hand hurt during yesterday’s exercises. Told its only bruised. Stiff & sore. Stayed in billet rest of morning. P.M. “House clearing”. Quite good fun. Shown a couple of short films. Elementary map-reading, & a tactical film. Wrote to Stan after tea. Still doing shorthand, going rather heavy. Told that Charlton & Avery have been killed with crews. Avery crashed at night!!!
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MARCH 1944
THURSDAY 9
A.M. ‘Battle Drill’:- stupid. Saw POW film “Information Please” very good. P.M. Playing at soldiers again. More water & mud. Sun out, quite warm. Received letter from my darling. Wrote to Harold & June. Dreaming of her last night, nothing unusual. Saw her very clearly.
FRIDAY 10
Dreaming of June again, dreamt we were married, 2nd in succession. On a scheme today. Dumped 2m South of Brid., with 2 gunners. Had dinner at Sgts. Mess Lisset. Just walked in & took it. Got lift home via Cornaby. Bags of cheek used. Really enjoyed it. Lovely day. Got a letter from Stan, replied.
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MARCH 1944
SATURDAY 11
Wood-clearing this A.M. Square bashing stupid, but actual clearing interesting. Blanks, smoke & thunder flashes used. P.M. Went over the Assault course. Piece of cake compared to Millington. Finished by 1530. Had another bath, 3rd in a week. Wrote to June this evening.
SUNDAY 12
Our turn at sentries while ‘N’ Course did the small ramble. Truck broke down just after we left. On a control point from 1150-1430. A bind, weather squally. Dinner 1630, ropey. Didn’t do any [diagram shorthand] tonite. Wrote home. [Diagram shorthand] heavy. Needs two to learn it properly.
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MARCH 1944
MONDAY 13
Rifle Lec. & cleaning until 1100. Then a talk about the 8th Army in Libya, by one who was there. Very interesting. P.M. Briefed for tonite’s ‘Ramble’. Received a letter from Harold; also one from my angel. 1800 left camp in bus. Dropped at 1940hrs. 7ms. N. of Scarb. Walked it by 2145.
In an open goods wagon 2230-2330, then went into guards van. Very cold. With Wooly & Denton.
TUESDAY 14
0230 got up, all 3 of us frozen. Walked about until 0400. Snoozed on some benches until 0600. 0640 on Scarb. Stn:- no tickets. Left 0730, at D. 0850. Jumped the fence in camp 0830. Very dirty, had cleanup. In Brid. 1500. Got a bed cover 27/0 sent it to June. Received letters from Wilf & Stan. Intended writing letters after supper, too tired. Wrote to June at mid-day.
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MARCH 1944
WEDNESDAY 15
Room orderly. Wrote to June, received one from her. Am posted to [underlined] Rufforth. [/underlined] Would like to see June again, her letters make me a bit lovesick. Got laundry from Harold at last. Went to Ensa show 2000hrs. Ropey & corny,- very poor. Finished packing. This included a blanket. I have to pay for gloves lost in prang, so will have it back this way.
THURSDAY 16
Up 0550. Left 0800. Got to Rufforth 1330hrs. P.M. spent cleaning up hut & self. Wrote home, to Harold & Stan. Food today very good egg & chips for tea. All crew in same Hut.
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MARCH 1944
FRIDAY 17
Running around with Arr. Chit all day. C.G.I. talk 0910hrs. Paid £4-4-0 1100. Saw training report from O.T.U.:- Slow, nervous, sound; not dangerous. Not firm enough with crew. Recmd. for commission at a later date. All rest of the crew in York this evening. Wrote to Wilf. Wish I could see June again. Literally my heart aches for her. Sent £1 home. Also 1/8d for ‘phone call.
SATURDAY 18
Finished off Arr. Chit. Had a look round a Hally. P.M. Met my F/E. Spent rest of afternoon in various Hallys. He seems to know his gen. A Newcastle chap, under 21 yrs. We are a kindergarten crew, only 2 being over 21:- W/OP & M/UG. a/c is quite spacious & clean inside. Think I’ll like it. Received a letter from my darling, replied.
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MARCH 1944
SUNDAY 19
At school all day. A.M:- did the petrol system of the Hally; P.M. the Messien Hyd. System. Nothing else doing until bed 2115.
MONDAY 20
Did Dowty Hyd. System, cooling system & carb. today. Heard that we go into Flights on Wed. or Thurs. Not known if 2nd Dickie trip are still going; hope so. Took laundry into York 1820, inc. 15 collars from rest of crew. Looked in a dance on camp 2130, discouraging, left 2230.
Food is very good here, so far anyway.
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MARCH 1944
TUESDAY 21
School again all day; engine handling limits, George etc. Got battle dress changed at last. 1620 got a lift into York with Dud. Bought a brevet [deleted] 2/ [/deleted] 2/6d. Had tea at Betty’s. Dud paid (7/-) Went to flick “Jane Eyre”. Heavy. Back 2230. Sewed on badge & tapes. In bed 2330. Started a letter to June in cinema.
WEDNESDAY 22
School A.M. Pneumatic system. P.M. Collected 3 oranges for each of the crew. Did a tour of a/c with F/E. until 1600hrs. Received mail from Stan, Home, & my beloved June. In it she writes “I Love You”, I know it, & it is the most beautiful knowledge in the world, to know that I’m loved by the one I love. And I love her with all my heart & soul.
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MARCH 1944
THURSDAY 23
Not much doing. AM Had Int. Lec. on evasion. P.M. Got Lockers & Harness for all the crew. In ‘D’ Flt. now. Asked for it as F/O Wilson, a screen, was Woolly’s Pilot on Ops. Wrote to Stan.
FRIDAY 24
Didn’t fly today. AM Hanging about, read flight orders. P.M. did 1/2 hr. dinghy drill. Posted blanket home. Also wrote. Received shirt from Mum. See that we’re down for flying tomorrow, 1st detail. 73 a/c lost in raid on Berlin.
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MARCH 1944
SATURDAY 25
Up 0620. Got rest of crew out. Airborne soon after 0830. Did stalls, 3 eng flying, C&B’s. T-O awkward, bumps easier than expected Vis. lousy. Couldn’t see the drome on the circuit 1100 landed. 1140 got gauntlets replaced free, CIV action. Didn’t think I would. P.M. D.D, ‘Chute D. & some turret manip. 1910 hrs. observe a large force of Heavies going S. Received letter from June, replied.
SUNDAY 26
AM spent mainly in a/c rec. room. Was to fly 1300 hrs. but scrubbed. Did a tour of a/c with a screen. F/E 1430-1530. Wrote to Grandma & June. June’s letter wasn’t so good, not much to write about. Planes last night raided N. France, 1 lost.
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MARCH 1944
MONDAY 27
Killing time most of the day. Beautiful day; no flying. Asked for a 48 “No! Well, come again tomorrow”. Said I wanted to make final preps for my wedding. FLT/Cmd, was married last week so have him biased. In York 1830. Got laundry, spent rest of time with Dud. in Library & TOCH. Very nice young lady serving. Almost as good as June. Wrote to Harold.
TUESDAY 28
0800 asked again for 48. OK. Made out pass. Left 1215 hrs. Got a lift to York, left on 1440 train. Kings + 1910. At no. 89 2025 hrs. Is good to see Her again. She finished my last photos. A couple of nights ago, I asked God if I could see June again soon. It seemed impossible at the time. My prayer was answered quickly. Left her 2230.
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MARCH 1944
WEDNESDAY 29
Took June to work. Spent morning enquiring about catering & taxis for the wedding. Met June 1700. 1930 saw vicar of St. John’s Church & put up the banns. Left him 2030. At no. 89 rest of the evening until 2220. June a little unwell. Pay Parade at 1100hrs. in camp.
THURSDAY 30
Took cycle to Ks.+. Met June 1230hrs She took the P.M. off from work. Walked round home, picked up money & resp. case. Walked about until 1640. At flick 0 A.Askey – 1740-2025. Stood outside her house until 2055. About the only chance I ever have of having her to myself. At Ks.+ 2214. Just missed 2215 train, got 2315. (Gave June a little talk, in case I am a bit overdue sometime}
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MARCH-APRIL 1944
FRIDAY 31
At camp 0530. Hut locked crew away, app. A 48. Reg my bike, got it stamped & painted. Received letters from Wilf & Harold. P.M. Stooging about, tried vainly to get the stove going. Replied to Wilf & Harold. Not much to do; crew on a 48 too. until tonight. Wish I’d known. My thoughts constantly of my beloved. It hardly seems possible that my ideal girl actually loves me, & will soon be my wife. (RAF lost 96 last night)
SATURDAY 1 APRIL
Playing around with a sextant up to 1100’. Link until 1145:- ‘K’ Test, O.K. Flying 1530-1800. Was lousy. Not done so badly since grading school. Twice failed to T-O, due to swing. Landings terrible. Harold came up, met me 1800 at Dispersal. Slept in our Hut. He has bags of stuff for me to collect. Wrote to June, sent £4; proceeds of the sale of a pocket watch.
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APRIL 1944
SUNDAY 2
Weather very poor. No flying. Went to York Stn. with Harold. Got lifts both ways. He got train 1537, first stop N’castle. Wrote to my darling after tea.
MONDAY 3
Spent morning in billet. Still raining. Link 1500. Long 8. Duff. Wrote a short letter to Stan. Received one from him.
Camp very muddy.
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APRIL 1944
TUESDAY 4
AM:- Up 0830, still raining. Did Gee 0930-1145. P.M. In Nav-Section with Dud. Raining all day.
WEDNESDAY 5
Hanging about all day, in case we [underlined] might [/underlined] fly. Made arrangements for a postal course on Diesel engines. Evening spent in billet receiving advice (?) on how to run my married life. 2145 borrowed some coak from compound, with Dud. No mail from June sine my 48.???? Wrote to Harold.
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APRIL 1944
THURSDAY 6
Hanging about all morning. P.M. Wrote to June, sent £3-10/- to replace that borrowed on 48. Went into York 1620. Had tea, - stung 1/8d for a fishcake (?) & mash. Went to flicks “Miracle of Morgans Creek”, quite good. Rather lonesome, on my own.
FRIDAY 7
Up 0630 for first detail, didn’t fly. P.M. 1330 Link, - good. In billet rest of the afternoon. Received mail from June, Stan & Harold. The W/OP in trouble with his girl, crew composed a letter to her, all signed.
Wrote home, & to June.
[Page break]
APRIL 1944
SATURDAY 8
Did a spot of D. Drill, & T-manip. On first detail again, didn’t fly. P.M. kept hanging about. 1545hrs. told we’d fly at 1630. 1640:- a/c U/S, no flying. Cheeses us off. Beautiful day. Wrote to Stan. 1130hrs suggested a couple of ideas re D.Drill to C.G.I. Good view taken. Dreamed last night that my wedding date would be July 4th ????
SUNDAY 9
Went sick 0845. Want to make sure I’ve not got T.B. Get X ray tomorrow. Have had a bad cough for the past week, & bags of phlegm. P.M. In billet rdg. Pilot Notes. Evening spent mainly in telling very old & very weak cracks. Crew composing a letter to “Daily Mirror” re reports of pilots feats in papers, & no mention of the rest of the crew.
[Page break]
APRIL 1944
MONDAY 10
Solo-ed 1020hrs. in the Halifax. Flying & landings much better. 2 Solo lndgs. best ever. Vis very poor. Did 4 circuits before making the first landing. Can’t taxy for nuts. P.M. Had chest X ray. Just to make sure I’ve not got T.B. when I marry. Am O.K. Bomber Stream going over 2100 hrs onwards. Wrote to my darling. Also to Harold.
TUESDAY 11
Vis poor. Flew 1030-1330. Bad weather C&Bs. Rate 2 turns at 3-500ft. Did 1.25 solo. O.K. More or less map-read round the circuit. Landings all very good. Raining hard after 1500hrs. Received a letter from June. Last night we lost 22 a/c. Replied to June.
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APRIL 1944
WEDNESDAY 12
No flying for us today. On “[deleted] seff [/deleted] Self Help” 1015-1500,- Cycle mechanics. P.M. Got washed etc by 1530, forgot it was half day closing. Seem to be suffering from bridegrooms nerves, somewhat. Phoned home, spoke to Stan, asked Pop to ask June to ‘phone me. No call by 2045.
THURSDAY 13
Went sick this morning just to tell the M.O. I’m O.K. Got away at 1100hrs. Only saw him for a min. 1130 told I’m flying at 1300hrs. 1300 airborne. Did 3-eng. flying at Holme. Solo 1445. On 2nd circuit P. Outer packed up, so made a pukka 3-eng. lndg. Flew back to base OK. A prang during the night. Only R/G got out alive. Wrote to Stan .
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APRIL 1944
FRIDAY 14
Paid 0930. £4/2/-. Had a look at the airborne lifeboat, for the rest of the morning. Didn’t fly today. Took cycle into York for repair. Bought a 5 watt bulb & a bottle of Vol-par gels;- for my wedding night. Went to flicks with Ron & Phil, “The girls he left behind him”:- stupid & boring. Wanted to get drunk, not time. My mind having a terrific fight with itself. Had photo taken 1700hrs.
SATURDAY 15
Got up to find my wallet & this diary missing. Most huts cleaned out during the night by some swine. Got wallet & diary back, only £5 from wallet lost. Have been saving hard. Might have been worse. Mad. Didn’t fly today. [Underlined] Stan [/underlined came up 1500hrs. Went into York. Nothing doing. Feet sore,- we walked back.
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APRIL 1944
SUNDAY 16
Wrote to June after tea.
Feet like balloons. Phoned Met 0700 to see if we’d fly at 0830. “No”! Stan left 1000hrs. 1400 told we’d fly at 1700. Then told “sometime before darkness.” 1815 scrubbed. Day utterly wasted. Something is wrong with me. Am constantly analysing myself. Even doubting my love for June! Oh God, what is wrong with me? Do want, in fact [underlined] must [/underlined] see her soon; I do love her so; but why this battle in my mind.
MONDAY 17
Didn’t do much A.M. PM:- 1410 airborne. Did climb,- to 18,600ft a/c ceiling. Should’ve been 20,000. Did A/sea firing 5-600ft. SBA on Riccal’s Beam. Down 1730. Good landing. Received letters from Wilf & my darling. Feel [underlined] much [/underlined] better. I know again I love her. She’s absolutely a perfect angel.
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APRIL 1944
TUESDAY 18
No flying this morning. POW talk & film 1400-1530. Airborne 1630 with F/L Hartley. S.Ts. 2 eng. flying, Corkscrews. Am too gentle with the a/c. Controls were very stiff. 1830-2000 Solo, repeat exercises O.K. Egg & chip supper 2045.
Got a bottle of gin from mess 21.30. 28/-.
WEDNESDAY 19
Nothing doing this morning. 1100hrs told we could have the afternoon off. 1200 told to report at 1400hrs. Raining 1400, all details scrubbed. Then impossible to get to Blyth. Too disgusted for words.
Wrote to my beloved 1700hrs. No doubts now. Don’t know what was wrong with me. Wrote home at mid-day.
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APRIL 1944
THURSDAY 20
Airborne 0845-1145. Air/Sea firing too cloudy for bombing. 1200 made up 4 Log-books of the crew who pranged last week. Got 1420 to Newcastle. At Blyth 1740. Got stuff from Harold, & left 1915. Got vest & pants, two towels, handkerchiefs, & a few oddments inc. 5/- of sweets. Left for York 22.35, after ‘phoning home, & writing to June.
FRIDAY 21
Arr. York 0055. In bed 0205. On 1st detail. Dual F/A. Didn’t touch controls, felt sick. Afternoon spent in a/c with Geordy. Received expected letter from my darling.
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APRIL 1944
SATURDAY 22
Airborne 0855. F/A 0930-100hrs. Bombing 1100hrs. at Elam. Hd. Dropped two bombs, didn’t see them go off. B/Sight U/S, so came back. P.M. collected cycle & photoes from York. Photo is about the best I’ve had taken;- & is out of focus!! N/F tonite. A/B 2135. Went to Poc. Sent solo after 5 C&Bs. Very bad lndgs. Swung of rnwy 2355. Thought the u/c had gone. Not a very successful day.
SUNDAY 23
In bed 0230. Up 1030. Down to fly 1400. No a/c. Wrote to my beloved. C&Bs 2230. Check dual, then solo. Lndgs improved steadily. Dropped heavily on the last one tho’. Had “O” again. A bastard a/c. Everything in it stiff & awkward. Didn’t leave the circuit. Did 3hrs all told.
[Page break]
APRIL 1944
MONDAY 24
Landed 0130. In bed 0235. Up 1115. Got letters from Stan & Harold. Sent box of sweets to June. A/B 1630. Bombing 1700. 3 sticks of 3, should’ve been singles. Very bumpy. Did a bit of SBA. Made a wizard landing 1830. Hard work, flying today. Wrote a short letter to Harold. Made up a parcel, inc. the Gin, to send home to myself.
TUESDAY 25
Made up Log-Books. 1115 told we do a X-C this P.M. Briefing 1130. A/B 1410. Flew at 13-14000ft. instead of 20,000. Bombed at St. Tudwalls. B/Sight U/S again. Drift & s/angle mixed up. Gave B/A & R/G some dual. Also used George. Back 1930. Bad swing on lndg. Finished up going backwards. U/C O.K. tho’ I think.
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APRIL 1944
WEDNESDAY 26
Got up 1115 hrs. On N/X-C tonite. Wrote a short letter to my darling. Briefed 1600hrs. In a/c 2000, & took off 2101.5. S/B dead on time 2133hrs. Went North to Stirling, S. to Fishguard & E. to Ely. 5.25 hrs. all told. Target Seagull Isles. We were a couple of mins late. No T.Is. seen at all. Very poor show. Wizard navigation by Dud. No George fitted. Chewed one piece of gum for the whole trip.
THURSDAY 27
Landed 0225. Good landing. Interrogated, had supper, in bed 0415, up 1200. Got a letter from June. She sounds cheesed off. Hope to get a 48 this weekend. 1400 hrs. told we can have off to 0800 Sat. Got 14.51 from York. Saw June 2035hrs. I’m too thankful for words.
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APRIL 1944
FRIDAY 28
At No. 89 1105hrs. With June all day. Did some shopping, then went to flicks 1600. Not very keen, but June wanted to see the film. “Cross of Lorraine”. All doubts about my Love for her gone!! Saw her wedding dress. Very good. Am so thankful to God for being able to see her, even if only for a few hrs. She sent me a photo last Mon, haven’t yet received it. Left Ks+ 2240hrs. (22.15 train)
SATURDAY 29
Arr York 0315. In bed 0400, but couldn’t sleep. ???? Must be this thing, Love. Up 0820. Spent until 1430 getting cleared. Photo not arrived. Going to 578 Sqd. Burn Nr. Selby. Could be a lot worse off. Packing most of the evening. Thinking & talking of June, just like old times I must have been nuts to doubt myself. I Love her with all my heart & soul!!
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APRIL-MAY 1944
SUNDAY 30
Said tata to F/L Hartley 1100hrs. Spoke to Bailey. He pranged Fri nite. Hit another a/c on a Bullseye. a/c badly damaged. He crash landed on a drome. No one hurt. Flew it over Welsh Mts. Couldn’t steer it properly. Good show. He didn’t bale the crew out. I would. Left Ruff. 1507. At Burn 1630.
MONDAY 1 MAY Maureen [underlined] 8 [/underlined] yrs
Usual C.C. running about A.M. 1430 told I’m [underlined] ON. [/underlined] tonight. 2nd Joe trip. Quick work. Rather glad, didn’t fancy hanging about too long. Briefing 1800hrs. T-O 2210. Went to Malinse in Belgium. Saw a little L. & H. Flak. Saw no T.Is Lots of other a/c. Attack regarded as very poor.
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MAY 1944
TUESDAY 2
0001hrs. Leaving T.A. Saw glow of a fire for about a minute. Landed 0200hrs. In bed 0400. Woolly flew with another crew, too. Up 1100. Wrote a short letter to Harold. Talk 1430 by P.F.F. & a Master Bomber. Was to have done conversion this P.M. but the weather stopped it,- low cloud. Wrote to my darling 2000hrs; & home. A beautiful evening re weather.
WEDNESDAY 3
Did conversion this afternoon. First landing atrocious. Swing again. Others OK. a/c very fast taxying, bags of power, climbs like a lift. Evening, went to mess dance, just to get some eats. Bed 2330. No ops on from here.
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MAY 1944
THURSDAY 4
A.M. Got a RAF bike, & did some D.D. 49 a/c lost last night. On X-C tonight. T-O 1810 climbed to 22,000’. Highest yet. Had “Charlie”. a/c I went in to Malinse. Climbed lovely to 18,000. Very slow last 4000’. Carried 5,000lbs dummy 500’s, dumped them in the sea. No change of trim noticed. Use awful lot of fuel. Eng. Handling poor. Landed 2340hrs. Inter-com U/S on circuit, & S.O. cut for a few secs. Very glad to get down;- trembling & sweating.
FRIDAY 5
Up 1130. Weather duff. Received a letter from June; & one from Harold. In F/Cmdr’s office 14-1530, being given Ops griff. May get our leave before June 2nd. Won’t be able to get married if so. 2000hrs Saw a serious play “The Father”, by ENSA. Very good acting by the leaders.
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MAY 1944
SATURDAY 6
F/A 1430-1450. at 9,000’. Had my RAF bike pinched. Free now till Mon. morning. Dud gone home. Haven’t the money to, or I would. Went to York, collected laundry. Back 2230 hrs.
Received Banns Certificate. Sent it home. Wrote to Harold, too.
SUNDAY 7
Got up 1130hrs. P.M. Went for a cycle stroll with Phil & Geordie 1500-1700. Beautiful day. Scenery lovely. Wish I’d been able to go home. Just the day to go for a walk with June.
Wrote to Grandma after tea.
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MAY 1944
MONDAY 8
Didn’t do much A.M. 1400 See I’m ON tonight. Had a look over the a/c, “D”. Briefing 1830-1930. T-O 2130, after a lot of finger trouble. Target:- 3 Heavy Guns (155MM.) on French Coast. PFF on time, we dropped first bombs. Pilot very pleased, right across the markers. Some unpleasant vibrations on the way back. More finger trouble by me on the circuit. Very pleased with the bombing. [Underlined] Ht. 8,600ft. [/underlined]
TUESDAY 9
Bed 0330hrs. Received letter from June. Will not be marrying on next Leave. ON again tonight. Briefing 1830. Wrote a short letter to June. Received letter & snaps from home. Went to camp concert 2000hrs. Quite good. Snoozing 2200-2330. Egg & bacon supper 2350
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MAY 1944
WEDNESDAY 10 Ht. 9,000’.
T-O 0145. Target:- 6 x 155MM guns at Morsalines. [Underlined] 100% HANG-UP [/underlined] Jettisoned after some difficulty. Load 16 x 500lbs. Brought one back Landed 0530, - dawn. Dropped 3’. Bed 0730. Up 1345. “Windowing” 1530-1630-. Not on tonight. Photoes taken last night very good. Made me niggly, all hanging up. P.F.F. bang on. 300x out the night before. Wrote to Stan & Home.
THURSDAY 11
Received a letter, & watch from June. [Underlined] ON [/underlined] tonight. 1000hrs paid £4/5/-. P.M. spent out at aircraft. T-O 2237. First off, dead on time. Target:- 6 guns at Trouville. Everyone late, I think. We bombed OK. 0051 1/4 hrs. Some flak about. More than I’ve seen before. R.P.M. counter of S.I. packed up 0045, approx. Ht. 10,000’ Posted watch to Wilf.
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MAY 1944
FRIDAY 12
Landed 0240. Poor landing. Bed 0430. Up at 1200. Saw photoes 1400hrs, wizard. Best of the Squadron. Lovely picture of A/P. Some chaps [underlined] miles [/underlined] out. No ops tonight. Wrote to Stan & June.
SATURDAY 13
A.M. POW Lecture again. 1145 told we are [underlined ON [/underlined] tonight. 1430 got a couple of gadgets compasses. DI-ed. a/c after that. 1820 Ops scrubbed. Wrote to Wilf. Received another letter from my beloved. Replied, sent her the snaps.
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MAY 1944
SUNDAY 14
No Ops tonight. P.M. Gas test, ie:- respirators. In mess rest of time. Had expected to be on tonight. Weather OK here. Wish I’d had today off, would have gone home to see my beloved.
MONDAY 15
A.M. to have done practice bombing. 0900 a/c U/S. T-O 1030. 10/10 cloud over target. Gave Phil some dual. Me very nervous as we descended thro’ cloud. Lndg ropey. P.M. went to Snaith to see P.As. 2000 at flicks in Selby. Will Hay “My Learned Friend.” Quite funny. First evening out for a long time. Received a letter from Stan.
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MAY 1944
TUESDAY 16
A.M. No Ops, hanging about. Drew out £38 from P.O. Closed account. Received £5 from Wilf for watch. P.M. Lectures on nitrogen system; & N/F tactics by Wingco. Raining most of day. Wrote to June 2000 enclosed money order for £40. She has all the money if cart goes wrong. Received letter from H.C. & “Recorder” from home. ‘Phoned home 2040hrs.
WEDNESDAY 17
Stand down again. Raining, Met Chart looked a mess. P.M. Lockers organised. Wrote to Wilf, having received another letter today. 2000hrs. saw film “The Sky’s the Limit,” free, in camp. Walked back with LACW Doreen -? Made a date for tomorrow nite. Haven’t forgotten my darling. No danger.
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MAY 1944
THURSDAY 18
Tried to do some bombing 1140hrs. Cloud base 1,000ft. Hopeless, sent back. Waste of time. Woolly sick. 1430 First Aid Lec. No Ops tonite. 1800 met LACW Doreen Bramley. Saw “Behind the Rising Sun” at “Ritz”. Told her at the start I’m engaged. After show, spent most of the evening talking about June. Bad manners, I guess, but its natural for me. She is not booked. Total cost of evening 3/10d Made a break, have been very fed up; I was out with June, not D.
FRIDAY 19
1040 Ops on. 1050 No Ops. 1400hrs:- on a Bullseye tonight, in “C”. Woolly sick, carrying an erk as passenger. T-O 2245. P.I packed up at 12,000ft. Returned, landed on three. My mouth parched when we got down, 2330. Last time we flew with an incomplete crew, we crashed ???? Won’t take any more pass’s. Wrote a short letter to my darling.
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MAY 1944
SATURDAY 20
Got up 1115. Stand down. Wrote to my beloved June. News: B. Good. out last night “in very great strength”. Would have been up there if we’d had bombs on last nite Throttle rod broke, actually. 20.00hrs. Saw “The Taming of the Shrew” at camp convert hall. Very good: Shakespeare was a bit of a dirty old blighter, methinks. Most enjoyable show. Don’t expect quite so much trouble in my married life!!
SUNDAY 21
1140 A/B to do air & sea firing. 3. ATC kids as passengers. 250-500 ft. over the sea. Nearly got mixed up in the balloons at Hull, on the way in. Wizard lndg, best ever in the Hally. Absolute Feather-bed. Wrote home 1800; & to June. 2000hrs. Saw concert in camp, free. Quite good, but for a couple of stupid Waafs behind me.
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MAY 1944
MONDAY 22
1100hrs. Natter by the Wingco, then a first aid talk by the Doc. Ops ON. Taking “C” – Charlie, not happy. P.M. D.I’d the a/c:- OK. Receive another letter from my beloved. T-O 2355, s/c 0010. Dunton sick, - temp. 101°F. Last minute panic to get another gunner. Had P/O Walker. Even less happy. We are flying with an incomplete crew [underlined] again [/underlined]!!??
TUESDAY 23
S/C 0010. D.R. Compass packed up within 15 mins! Rather bumpy. On target 0215:- Rly yards at Orleans, France. Dozens of flares. Phil could see ground detail perfectly. [Underlined] BOMBS FAILED TO RELEASE [/underlined] again. Jettisoned 6 at F.Coast. Fed up, over this. No flak or fighters near us, fortunately. Didn’t see any flak personally. Landed 0505. Bed 0700. No ops on tonight Wrote to June. We got a perfect photo of A/P.
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MAY 1944
WEDNESDAY 24
Had haircut AM. just stooging about most of time. Ops [underlined] ON [/underlined]. In “C” again. Eric still in dock. P.M. at a/c checked bombing gear. Seems OK. Received letter from Harold, & another from my June. Have a Canadian M/UG with us tonite. T-O 1158 1/2. Had trouble with P.I. at dispersal, held us up.
THURSDAY 25
On target 0020 bombs went OK. Landed 0155. Good landing. Got up 1200 hrs. 1340 Looked at crew lists my name not up. Ops ON. Paid 4gns. 1450, then went to Blyth. Arr. 2035, Harold not in, had to leave right away. Got 2235 train back to York.
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MAY 1944
FRIDAY 26
In bed 0530, up [deleted 20 [/deleted] 0840. Wilf here. Told I [underlined] was [/underlined] ON last nite. To Manstein. Scrubbed 2220. Saw Wingco 1000. Balled out, but not disciplined. God is with me!!!! Have missed a C.M. by skin of my teeth. Fainted in W/C office, first time in my life. Saw M.O. am OK. Bombing, (DNCO) & Air-Sea firing. 1400. Very bumpy, vis bad. Wilf went back 1400hrs. Wrote to June. Received a letter & stationery from her.
SATURDAY 27
AM. hanging about. 1100. Ops ON. PM. out at a/c. “B” Baker. T-O 0003hrs. Sun. Target:- German Camp at Bourg [inserted] Leopold [/inserted]. (Belgium) On Target 0213 1/2 hrs. Bombs went. 18x 500lbs Some flak & fighter flares. Gunners saw one a/c shot down. No incidents for us. Diverted to Silverstone. Arr 0345, landed 04.26hrs. (Sun)
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MAY 1944
SUNDAY 28
Hanging about for petrol until 1600hrs. Back at Base 1645. Had tea -ham, egg & mash, & interrogation. Showered & went to bed. No sleep for 36hrs. Wizard weather for holiday. Scorching. Too hot for work, flew back with all windows open. Eric got out of Dock.
MONDAY 29
Practice Bombing 12-1245. DCO. at last. 11,000ft. Flew in shirt sleeves. Quite a nice line in the papers about Sats. raid. Wrote home & to my beloved after tea.
Thundery in the evening. Saw film show 1930 in camp.
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MAY 1944
TUESDAY 30
Very cloudy, colder. Crew Con, 1000-1100hrs. Ops ON. Rather surprising Met. man reckoned no. PM. Wrote a short letter to Harold. DI’d a/c. Hot again after dinner. 1800 Ops scrubbed. Not sorry. Spent evening stooging about in the mess. Will soon be holding my darling again, only a couple of days now.
WEDNESDAY 31
Ops ON tonite. P.M. at a/c as usual. T-O 2210, bang on. Had “D” Donald. Went to Trappes, near Paris. About the third a/c to bomb. Half moon, & white st. below us. Rather worrying. Got of track after bombing. Made it up OK. Some flak about. Hell of a long route back. Phil satisfied about the bombing.
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JUNE 1944
THURSDAY 1
Landed 0415. Had flown thro’ storm on the way back, as going out. Very tired (6hr trip) bad lndg. P.As didn’t turn up, got away 1420, without pay. Got a lift into Donc. & 15.56 to Ks+. Met June 2035. Left 2250 on [underlined] her [/underlined] bike. Sat up until midnight gassing & lineshooting with Pop & Mum.
FRIDAY 2
Met June 1200 & visited inst. Shop for .30 mins. Had dinner with June. Met her again 1700. Told her about LACW D.B. A dim view I fear. Went to Ritz, “The Desert Song”. Wish now I’d not taken D. out, altho’ God knows I did nothing wrong. Don’t feel very happy over it now. Left June 2330.
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JUNE 1944
SATURDAY 3
Went to a show “Panama Hattie” in the evening.
SUNDAY 4
Went to Richmond, with Ivy & boyfriend. Beautiful day. My love for June is even greater, if possible, her honesty is amazing; most profitable day, - not in money. Wizard day all round
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JUNE 1944
MONDAY 5
Spent P.M. at Rus. Pk. With June’s aunts & uncles. I love June more than I ever dreamed possible, & she returns it in full. Used to pray to God that June would love me half as I love her. Have been answered 200%.
TUESDAY 6
Saw show “Meet me Victoria,” – Lupino Lane. Very good.
[Boxed] Troops landed on N. Coast of France. Invasion begins. [/boxed]
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JUNE 1944
WEDNESDAY 7
Stayed in at No 89. P.M. Evening – flicks. Am sure looking forward to next Leave.
On my knees when I got to bed.
THURSDAY 8
Go back today. Left Ks+ 1730. June came up, left 1700. Met Phil, & F/S Ridell (Banff.)
June looked very good, even if a bit prim, due to her perm. I Love her more than I would have thought possible, & she returns it in full. An excellent Leave, enjoyed every minute, & learned a lot. Have no doubts about a happy married life.
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JUNE 1944
FRIDAY 9
In bed 0015. Slept solidly 8 hrs. F/S Walker & S/L Watson missing. My chiefy thro’, also Phil’s, & Woolly’s W/O. Wrote to Aunt Alice mid-day. No Ops. Wrote to June 1800 hrs. Very tired, still. Glad we aren’t on tonight. Next leave 14th July. Wedding date 15th (Sat.)
SATURDAY 10
Ops ON tonight. In L-Love, an old a/c, no API or Monica. Did .20 local flying 1210-1230, just to see if I could still fly. Cloud base 900ft. Wrote to Stan. Guess he is in the invasion, somewhere. [Underlined] Ops [/underlined] scrubbed 1915. Issued with .30 revolver.
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JUNE 1944
SUNDAY 11
Wrote to Harold. Ops [underlined] ON. [/underlined] tonight. Hung about all evening, then briefed in a terrific rush. Had a row with crew, told I’m pretty unpopular, - too bossy. Didn’t realise it. T-O 2154. Rly. yds South of Paris. Ht. 5,000ft & less. Low cloud. Made [underlined] 3 [/underlined] runs before bombing. Had “L” Love. Trip went off OK. Good landing.
MONDAY 19
Landed 0222hrs. Up 1030 & paid £7/10/- 1150hrs. Ops [underlined] ON. [/underlined] tonight. In “Z” zebra, another old a/c. Briefed 2000hrs. Changed a/c to “J” for June. T-O 2335. Went to Amiens. Bags of S/Ls. Crew saw either 5 a/c or “scarecrows” go down. Most opposition I’ve met. Did a very long steady run-up. Target seemed to be pranged OK. Phil did .30 or so flying on the way back.
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JUNE 1944
TUESDAY 13
Landed 0354. Lousy lndg. Two a/c missing. In bed 0530. No OPS tonight. 27 a/c lost last night. Wrote to Grandma to try & scrounge some clothing coupons for June. Wrote to June after tea.
Saw flicker “Lifeboat” 2100hrs., utter waste of time. Load of tripe. Straightened out a few things with Phil & Dud over my Captaincy.
WEDNESDAY 14
Ops ON tonight. Have “B” Baker, which was “L” last Sun. Replace other “B”. – lost Mon. night. Get a [underlined] new [/underlined] a/c as soon as one comes into Flight. Received letters from Harold & Wilf. Briefing,- 2000hrs. Target Douai (France) T-O 0005HRS 15-6-44. On Target 0204 1/2. Not so lively as we expected. Very few S/Ls. 10/10 cloud from Δ to E/C. wizard. Bombed from 8,000ft.
[Page break]
JUNE 1944
[Underlined] cont. [/underlined]
THURSDAY 15
Ron saw bombs burst 0205. Near T.Is. Landed 0400hrs. Received letter from my darling. 1200hrs. told we T-O 1700 for [underlined] daylight [/underlined] Op. 1400hrs. cancelled. Briefed 1830. At a/c 2030. S.O. U/S Revs. stuck at fully fine. [Underlined] OP scrubbed. [/underlined] for us. Annoying, but wrote to June 2220-2320 Target for tonight:-fuel dump near Rennes, (France.)
FRIDAY 16
Got up 1100hrs. Stand down. Target was well pranged last night. Jerry crashing pilotless a/c with 2,000lbs bomb on each, on London at a rate of 9 per Hour. Feel mad at this, worried for June. 1800 Went to flicks in Selby, then met Phil & Geordy in Y.M. Back in camp 2230.
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JUNE 1944
SATURDAY 17
Up 0930. Getting quite lazy. Ops ON. Ron on a 36 to go to his brothers wedding. Taking a W.O. W/OP tonight. Received a letter from June, & invite card for crew to wedding. P.M. at a/c. T-O 2315 HRS. Target:- supply dump at St. Martins L’Hortier ([deleted] F [/deleted]) 10/10 over target. Bombed glow of T.Is. Not permitted to go down. Got over London, outwards. Raid on, lots of flak; thinking of June. Very quiet trip otherwise.
SUNDAY 18
Landed 0320hrs. Bed 0500. Ops [underlined] ON [/underlined] tonight. Saw photo of last nite. Lovely picture of 10/10 st.cu. Briefed 2015. Ops scrubbed 2215. Had supper tho’. Can’t get to sleep before about 1.AM when we don’t operate.
[Page break]
JUNE 1944
MONDAY 19
Ops [underlined] ON [/underlined] tonite. P.M. API fitted to Baker. Very pleased. Cleaned the Perspex of my cabin. Briefed 2000hrs. Target:- A [deleted] roc [/deleted] flying bomb installation in France. 2145 [underlined] OP scrubbed [/underlined] as we were ready to go to a/c. Scoffed the rationed. Very annoyed as these bombs have become a personal matter.
TUESDAY 20
OPS ON. Conference 1500. Told to stand by something big on!! 1830 another con. No gen, - go to bed & get some sleep. 2200 a/c loaded with I.Bs. Overload tank on. Told we T-O at 0600HRS. ???? Norway?? Bed 2200hrs. Received letters from Stan & H.C. Replied to Stan. Grandma has sent June 10 clothing coupons.
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JUNE 1944
WEDNESDAY 21
Crew Conf.1000hrs. Told we were to have gone to BERLIN, on target 1035hrs. Weather stopped it. To have been 2,500 bombers, & 1,500 fighters. Briefed 1400 for daylight over France. At a/c, at the ready till 1700. 1800 hrs. scrubbed. Everyone fed up. Bombload had been changed three times in two days. Received letter from June. 25 days to go now.
THURSDAY 22
OPS on [underlined] TODAY. [/underlined] T-O 1320. Target:- a doodle bug Ramp in France:- Siracourt. 18,000ft. Some accurate flak at F/coast. In first 5, with Wingco. In a pack, not formation. Went over Brentwood, saw Romford. Hundred [deleted] s of [/deleted] planes on. Back 1720. No fighters seen, ours [underlined] or [/underlined] jerry’s. A Tempest formated on us just after Reading on last leg. Letter from Stan. Wrote to June, sent £3 for her birthday. [Boxed] 13th trip [/boxed]
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JUNE 1944
FRIDAY 23
Saw photo of yesterday’s do. Plotted as Sqdn’s 2nd best. Ground staff gave us a small piece of flak, from P.I. No damage. Briefed 1800 after some flapping. Sent card to June, for Mon. T-O 2256 after some bother with S.I. Flew down Eng. in formation. Op. Ht. 17,000ft. Target:- doodle-bug site at Oisemant. Very bumpy, - high concentration of both a/c & bombs. Target pranged. B Baker not fast enough for me, over 10,000ft.
SATURDAY 24
Landed (?) 0240:-Lousy. OPS. ON. Tonight. Briefing 1900hrs. Got wizard photo last night. Bombx plotted as straddling A/P. Target tonight:- P.Plane base at Rossignol. (France) A.P.I. went wrong. met. winds all to cock. Ht. 17,000ft 8 mins late on target. Everyone late. Very poor trip, all round. Wrote home. [Deleted] Rotten [/deleted]
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JUNE 1944
SUNDAY 25
Landed 0440. Lousy. Bed 0600-1400. Saw photo:- one little T.I. in corner. Later plotted OK. Stand down. Wrote to “Winston Hotel“ Picc. to book room for our wedding night. Bed 2000hrs.
[Deleted] Wrot [/deleted]
MONDAY 26 June is 22yrs today.
Weather lousy. Stand down. Read complete novel “Four Just Men”. Wrote to Grandma. Received a letter from June. Flickers in mess 2000hrs. “George Washington slept here”. Very funny. Ideal way of seeing a film, in a armchair, with a glass of cider. All I needed to improve it, was June.
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JUNE 1944
TUESDAY 27
Up 0615. Briefed 0915 after 1 1/2 hrs wait. T-O 1140hrs. Went to big doodle-bug place between Calais & Boulogne. Ht. 17,000ft. Lot of Cu. Pitot head froze up at one time. Cabin frosted. Back 1448, cut up on the circuit. Made me so mad, Some guys should learn to fly. Have to stand by for Ops [underlined] tonight. [/underlined] Bed 2130. Received letter from Stan.
WEDNESDAY 28
Up 0030. Briefed 0130 & Meal 0300. T-O 0520. France again. T.O.T 0720. Bombs from Q nearly hit us. Too close for me. Shook me up. Landed 0855. Had a much needed shower; & bed 1200. Slept till 1930. Wrote to my darling.
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JUNE 1944
THURSDAY 29
My crew stood down today. Ops [underlined] ON. [/underlined] Went to Snaith PM. saw Pay Accounts get 10gns. next Pay day. Back 1615. Diesel engine text book arrived. Wrote home. 2115. Wrote to my darling. Only a fortnight to go now, am counting the days.
Received a letter from June.
FRIDAY 30
Briefing 1530. T-O 1745. Target:- Villers-Bocage, France. 3 panzer divs. to be smashed. Biggest armada I’ve ever seen, Lancs & Hallys everywhere. Target obliterated. Told there was 250 a/c on the target. Seemed more. Most impressive. Glad to help the poor B.I. Geordie saw the bombs hit – bang on. No trouble.
[Page break]
JULY 1944
SATURDAY 1
Ops ON. Briefed 1200hrs. First a/c off, -us – 1530hrs. P. Plane base at Ouisement (see 23-6-44) We were bang on time, all others early. Very lonely, but some fighters kept us company on the way back. Bombed visually, about the only ones who did. Got letter from Winston Hotel, room reserved OK. Trip today quite good.
SUNDAY 2
OPS on. Scrubbed 1300hrs. Crew Con. 14.30-1530. Wrote to my darling. Did first part of Diesel course. Wrote to Stan. Weather lousy. GOT SHEETS at last.
(Note in 1987. These sheets were for June & me. Such things were [underlined] very [/underlined] difficult to obtain in 1944).
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JULY 1944
MONDAY 3
Weather still duff. Briefing put back twice during the day.
Op scrubbed 1800, everyone having got dressed. Wrote to Harold. Received a letter from June. Roll on the 15th.
TUESDAY 4
OPS ON. T-O 1210: target P.Plane at St. Martin’s L’Hotier again. Hit by flak just as B/Ds opened. A.H knocked out & all suction gone;- no D.I. or T&B. Flew visually. S.O. packed up over Farnboro’. 10/10 Cu. except for a fair sized “chimney”. Descended, & landed at F. on 3. Phoned WIllky OK 1500. Landed 1515. Meal ready for us, & beds. Met [underlined] Riddell, [/underlined] spent night at his billet.
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JULY 1944
WEDNESDAY 5
Damage assessed;- will take a week to repair. Left 1500, smart work. In London 1700. At No. 89 1815. So glad to see June, even if only for 2hrs. P.Planes busy, causes me a bit of worry. Phoned RTO & booked seats on 2315 train. Left R. 2100hrs. & got train OK. Borrowed £1-0-8d from my darling.
THURSDAY 6
Got to camp eventually at 1100hrs. De-briefed. Saw Adj; to see W/C, & asked if I wanted a commission. Given the bumpff. Think Dud is to get one, too. Received a total of [underlined] 6 [/underlined] letters, including one from June, & the Hotel. Wrote to my darling. [Deleted] Sent telegram to H. [/deleted]
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JULY 1944
FRIDAY 7
Hanging about all day. Wrote out a report about our damage. Briefing 1930hrs. Target:- Nantes, near St. Nazire. Scrubbed 2100hrs. Posted letter to June, sent £9. Had 6 tries to see the Adj today, re the com. bumpf. Sent telegram to Harold re wedding.
SATURDAY 8
Papers checked by Adj. Ops on. Hanging about all day waiting for times of M.B etc. Finally postponed indefinitely. Wrote home. Received parcel from Harold:- 2 towels; 2 pr sox, vest & pants; very pleased.
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JULY 1944
SUNDAY 9
Ops ON. Briefing 0900. T-O 1108hrs. Target Les Cotelliers flying bomb base. Some trouble finding target. Stooged around for 5-10 mins before finding it. Very bad flying weather over England. In cloud all the way with rain & ice. My 21st Op. 2000hrs. saw concert on camp by camp personnel quite enjoyable.
MONDAY 10
Stooged about all morning. Ops. ON. In L. Crew Conf. 1430. FP 1500 MB 1530. Target N.W of Paris. Ops scrubbed 1800 hrs. In billet most of the evening, being sketched by Joe.
Received a letter from my beloved, replied. Wired Stan & Wilf.
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JULY 1944
TUESDAY 11
Ops ON. FP1400. At a/c 1500. Op postponed 1505. Back at a/c again 1640. Scrubbed 1645. Letter from Grandad;- won’t be at wedding. Disappointed. So many people have let us down, it makes me feel ill. June’s efforts wasted. She’s worked so hard, & now for so little. Feel pretty miserable. Had wire from Wilf:- nogo either.
WEDNESDAY 12
Ops ON. Mucking about all day, getting some M.T. hrs in. T-O 1805. Went to [deleted] the [/deleted] “Thrivern” near Paris. 200 a/c. very good concentration. Bombed on gee. Had a shell burst a few feet under the tail, hell of a bang. Three holes in skin of a/c:- one bit of flak. No one hurt. Landed 2240. Not a bad landing.
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JULY 1944
THURSDAY 13
At Snaith PAs. 0910. Paid £9. Packed up & away 1200hrs. Raining. Got 15.50 train from Donc. Romford 2030. Met Stan at No. 89. June round home. Met her at home 2200. Lovely as ever. Not the slightest doubt!! Have done pretty well in presents it seems.
FRIDAY 14
Shopping this AM. Got officer type F.S. cap. Fixed taxis, etc. Blew £5 or so. Received £4 from Wilf. P.M. Ironing & pressing. At No 89 18.30. Saw June once or twice. Played darts for quite a while. Saw some of our presents. Amazed, they are wizard. Saw cake. Shook me rigid, better than I’d dared hope.
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JULY 1944
SATURDAY 15
[Underlined] Our Wedding Day [/underlined]
Married [inserted] at [/inserted] St. John’s Church 2P.M. Very good Service, everything O.K. Went off 90% perfect. Very pleased, & fully satisfied. Stan made it. Joe Best Man.
SUNDAY 16
Arrived Marlow 1415 hrs for our honeymoon.
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JULY 1944
MONDAY 17
Went to Windsor.
TUESDAY 18
Reading.
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JULY 1944
WEDNESDAY 19
Henley.
THURSDAY 20
Came back.
Honeymoon 80% perfect. Weather beautiful, like June.
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JULY 1944
FRIDAY 21
Back at camp 0815. [Underlined] 6 [/underlined] a/c lost last night. Harrison & Coture included. Shaken me. No Ops. Went to Snaith 1500 to see about an allowance for June. Very tired, bed 1930. Weather:- dull & windy.
SATURDAY 22
No Ops. F/A 11-1200. Lovely above the clouds. Feel quite happy. Evasive action leaves room for improvement. Wrote to my beloved 1530hrs. Evening:- posted June’s letter, saw flick “Quiet Wedding”:- June looked better than the film bride. In Y.M 2030-2130. Not exactly an exciting evening.
[Page break]
JULY 1944
SUNDAY 23
OPS ON. Briefed 1845. Target:- KIEL, Germany. T-O 2250, Joe all but forgot dividers & prot. T.O.T. 0120. 10/10 Stcu all the way. Saw the Town by a flash once. As expected, opposition rather heavy. Lots of flak;- 2 very close; no fighters. Saw an a/c on fire over the sea, on the way back, it went down after 2 or 3 mins. 6 a/c lost.
MONDAY 24
Landed 0405. Not a bad landing. Bed 0600-1300. Ops ON. a/c “C” fitted with wing [underlined] and [/underlined] belly overload tanks. 2000-odd galls. Target:- STUTTGART. T-O 2140hrs. T.O.T 0150. Easier trip than expected. Bomb-load 9 x 500lbs. Saw a He 111 & a S/E a/c. One a/c went down over T/A.
The KIEL raid is being plugged heavily by radio. [deleted] in papers [/deleted] No mail from my darling.
[Page break]
JULY 1944
TUESDAY 25
Landed 0540hrs. 8hr. trip. Very tired. Bed 0700-1500. Stand down. Got a letter from my beloved June. RAF lost 25 a/c last night. T.O & landed in daylight. MUG oxygen U/S, Geordie managed to improvise. Turret half U/S. 2 mins from Δ. R/Turret motor burnt out.
Wrote to June.
WEDNESDAY 26
No OPS. Nothing much doing. Have stirred up the Int. section this last day or so over the lack of security on camp. Have found out that it was pretty common knowledge about the Stuttgart raid. Shook me.
Wrote to Wilf.
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JULY 1944
THURSDAY 27
Nothing doing. Stand by all day. Wrote to Aunt Alice.
FRIDAY 28
Up 0200. Briefing 0230. Op scrubbed 0600. Asleep till 1100. Briefed again 1400. T-O 1630. Target:- a forest in France, contents unknown, but very important. Bombed visually, led in by 2 mossys. Strip torn off me for being ahead of Sqdn. Only a/c on time at C.P.
No mail from June. Got a 21st card from “Mum & Dad” but has June’s handwriting??
[Page break]
JULY 1944
SATURDAY 29
OPS. ON. Got up 1000hrs. Briefed 1500HRS. Wrote to my darling; received a letter from her. T-O 1802. Target same as yesterday. Foret de Niepe. P.O. packed up at 9,500ft on climb. Flew 70 miles out to sea & dumped bombs. Landed OK [deleted] 9 [/deleted] 1947hrs.
SUNDAY 30
Am 21 yrs. today. No Ops. Did air test in Baker 1600HRS. New P.O. Main bearings packed up yesterday. Wrote to my darling; & home. Got a parcel from mess bar containing 3 birthday cards. From June, Her Mum, & Stan.
2130hrs went to Station dance & got a little merry. Not drunk.
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JULY-AUGUST 1944
MONDAY 31
No Ops. Hanging about most of the time waiting for gen. Received stationery & wedding snaps from my darling. Wrote her another letter. In good form lately.
Evening did a spot of swotting on the diesel engine.
TUESDAY 1 AUG.
OPS ON. Nothing much doing A.M. Briefed 1630. At a/c 1830. Tried to T-O. swung off runway. Checked engines again & had another go. S.O. would give only 1300 RPM. Sortie abandoned. Cheesed off. Twice running. Sent wedding photoes back to June.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
WEDNESDAY 2
Hanging about all day. Didn’t operate.
Did a bit more reading on the diesel. Wrote to my darling again.
THURSDAY 3
Ops.ON. Took-off 1140. Target:- doodle bug site near Paris. No trouble, tho’ S.O. vibrated badly when leaving the target, for a time. Bit of H.F. quite accurate too. Didn’t touch us. ‘M’ came back with a bomb hole in his wing.
Wrote to June after tea.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
FRIDAY 4
Paid £4. 12.15hrs. Reduc. Of income tax allowed me almost pays my allowance (3/6d) to June. Very nice. No OPS. Very hot today. Went swimming in Selby baths 1630-1730. Saw flick; a Gert & Daisy film. Received a letter from Wilf.
SATURDAY 5
OPS.ON. Pulled out of bed 0715. T-O 11.17hrs. Foret de Niepe again. We were about the only a/c on track. Others seemed to be following the leaders. We ploughed our own furrow to the target. No trouble, good trip. Very hot day again, a ‘High’ almost stationary over Eng. Landed 1540.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
SUNDAY 6
OPS on. Not much doing A.M. Briefed 1530. T-O 1900. First a/c off. TOT 2101.Marshalling yard at Hazebrouck, France. Hit A/P. Bomb right across the lines! ‘B-Baker’ running beautifully. Last a/c down. Good landing. Lot of flak,- comparatively over Δ. Almost an ideal trip. Rather congested over Δ.
MONDAY 7
OPS ON. Yesterday’s photos bang on. Wrote to my darling, received a letter from her. Briefed 1600. Army support south of Caen T.O.T. 2303. One min from Δ M/B gave “Lemonade”. Cheesed off. Jettisoned bombs 10MS. W. of Cherbourg. Brought back 4 x 1,000lbs. (max.) Ailerons jammed for a couple of secs. on way out. Wrote to Wilf.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
TUESDAY 8
Bed 0230. Called 0830 – “Scramble”. Paniced for an hr. then it was scrubbed. P.M. Had a short sharp storm. Hail bigger than peas. 2000hrs. saw show on camp. Very good, but smutty at the finish.
WEDNESDAY 9
OPS.ON. Called 0730. T-O 1120. Target:- fuel dump in Foret de Mormal Wizard prang. Ron saw our bombs straddle the A/P. Getting good these days. T.O.T. 1304 hrs. In B. S.O. gave only +2 in S gear at R.B. Woolly finished now, his 30th trip today. My 30th too. Wrote to June 1940hrs.
Wrote home 2150hrs.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
THURSDAY 10
No ops. Hanging about all day. Yesterday’s photoes bang on, -as expected. Mail from June & Stan. June has furniture permits now; what a wife! Wrote to Stan.
FRIDAY 11
OPS OM. T-O eventually 1330. Target:- rly. yds. at Somaire (France) Among first to bomb. Had to dodge a load of bombs from some fool flying at 15,000. We were at 10. Have another M/UG. Cloud-hopping on the way back. Not a particularly good trip, tho’ bombs fell on target. Two bombs went safe! Load 9 x 1,000lbs, 4 x 500lbs. Received letter from June, as promised.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
SATURDAY 12
OPS ON. Briefed 1800. Target:- Opel M.T. works at Russelsheim. T-O 2120, in ‘B’. T.O.T. 0016. Training AE taken of by another a/c. Wizard fire in Target area. Seen nothing like it. 0120 both P. engines cut out at 10,000ft for 10-15 secs. Made me flap. 0130 shot up by accurate flak. P.O. U/S. Sweating & praying all the way back. Thirty or more mins to E/Coast.
SUNDAY 13
0226 Landed (?) on Woodbridge Strip. Shaken up a bit. Nerves stretched. Place well organised. Left 1530. Returning via London. Met by June & Mum & Pop at Lvrpl. St. Stn. Spent night at no. 89. Didn’t get much sleep tho’ not for lack of trying. Too much in love with my wife.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
MONDAY 14
Up [underlined] 0600 [/underlined] Ugh! At Ks+ 0840. Left 1030, in camp 1730. Two a/c were lost on Russ. Letter from June waiting for me.
TUESDAY 15
Up 0545. OPS on. T-O 1007. Target:- N/F ‘drome in Belgium – Tirlemont. Hit it. 2,000 a/c hitting N/F ‘dromes this morning.
A ‘chute -no. 13 – is missing & I’m holding the can. Wrote to June, cycled to Selby to post it 2000.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
WEDNESDAY 16
OPS on. A German target. Not at all happy. Briefed 1730. Target:- Kiel again. Very unhappy. T-O 2130. In Z Prayed all the way round. God heard me, & looked after us. Z a wizard a/c. Twice nearly hit by other a/c. Saw no fighters. Bags of flak. Two good fires going in the town. My 34th trip. Shot a line to Public Rel. Off. after de-briefing. [Underlined] Very [/underlined] glad to get to bed.
THURSDAY 17
No OPS. Paid 4gns. 1415. 1430 Crew Conf. Wrote to June & Harold. Bed 2030. Received a letter from June.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
FRIDAY 18
Mail from June & Stan. Stan going abroad soon. OPS on. Briefed 1830. [Underlined] Happy Valley [/underlined] Niggly. At a/c 2130. P.O. rev counter U/S. Bags of flap. Couldn’t put it right. Not sorry at all. OP scrubbed. Not keen on flying this side of Leave. [Underlined] Four [/underlined] a/c failed to get off.
SATURDAY 19
Got up 1130. Stand down. Good, another day nearer leave. Did some binding on on Diesel course P.M.
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AUGUST 1944
SUNDAY 29
Nothing on. Raining heavily all day. Am on the hooks for a missing ‘chute. My commission thro’, w.e.f. July 28th. A couple of short plays in concert hall 2015. Passed the evening. Have got 290-odd clothing coupons.
MONDAY 21
Running around most of the morning getting Warrants for rest of crew. Had to go to Snaith. Left Doncaster 1600hrs. Ks+ 2000hrs. Met by my darling wife. Happy now.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
TUESDAY 22
Walked around Ilford most of morning looking for a tailor to make me a uniform. Nogo. P.M. Went to Moss. Bros., fitted me out in an hour. Very pleased & thankful. Met June 1700 at Ps. Weather duff, rain & drizzle all day. 1900 saw “For Whom the Bell Tolls” at Havana. Quite good.
WEDNESDAY 23
A.M. running around R. P.M. Collected uniform from Moss’s. Tea at June’s Gran’s Ilford. Weather;- hot & clear, bit muggy. Bought a canvas bag:- holdall, 56/-
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
THURSDAY 24
Did a bit of shopping A.M. P.M. & evening raining hard. Played Rummy after tea, lost 4d.
FRIDAY 25
Went up to town. Wore my nice new uniform. A snoop shook me by saluting me. Managed to cope. Saw a Deanne Durbin film, absolute bind. Bought a suit case 26/6.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
SATURDAY 26
Stayed in R. Evening spent at flickers “Up in Mabel’s Room”, very funny.
SUNDAY 27
Went to Leytonstone 1600:- foursome. Pleasant afternoon. Evening played rummy again, lost a bit more.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
MONDAY 28
Took June to work, dumped big bag at Ks+. Back home 1000, got changed, left 11.44. Dinner at ‘Super’ with my sweetheart. Left Ks+ 1600. Walked most of the way from Selby, got to camp 00.45. 29th Dog-tired, arms aching.
TUESDAY 29
First day as an officer on camp. Have [underlined] n’t [/underlined] enjoyed it. Boobed in mess several times. Handed in kit, started getting cleared. Moved to No. 4 Site. Rather a strange feeling to be called “Sir”. Received a letter from Wilf. Wrote to my beautiful wife 2000hrs.
[Page break]
AUGUST 1944
WEDNESDAY 30
No OPS. Continued a while more running round with C.Chit. 1500 Crew Conf. Wrote to Harold & Aunt Alice. Joe’s commission is now thru. Very pleased.
1900hrs. good dinner. Fish & chips very well cooked, plums for desert.
THURSDAY 31
Ops ON. but not for me, very annoyed. Down for [underlined] practice bombing [/underlined] 1500hrs. Just about the last straw!! a/c was U/S, very pleased. Wrote to June & Wilf.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 1
No Ops today. F/A & air test 1100. In ‘B’. Carried a spare Eng. for a test for him, & a Hgte. pilot – for a ride. P.M. Standing by. Ops on & off in 5 mins. Letters from my darling, & Harold.
SATURDAY 2
OPS on. Meal 0830 F.P. 0930. Scrubbed 1330. Got rations tho’. Spent P.M. chasing round Selby & York looking for rug-canvas. Nogo. Weather lousy. 2100 Wrote to June. [circled] A5 [/circled]
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 3
OPS. [underlined]] ON. [/underlined] Briefed 1030, then postponed T-O 1515. Target:- Drome at Venlo, on Belgium-German border. Opposition negligible. In ‘B’, a/c & weather both lousy. Last 50ms back Q8B 200-550ft. Diverted to Carnaby. Landed 10-15ft high. All but hit a Lanc. on the way back. Stood a/c on its tail, cleared [underlined] his [/underlined] tail by less than 10ft. Thought it’d come, so did crew. ‘Drome was very well lit.
MONDAY 4
T-O from Carnaby 11.40 without Joe. Landed at base 12.02. hrs. No mail from June, Expected some. Running around all afternoon, with very little result. 2100hrs. spoke to F-Fox’s captain. He’d stopped a shower of bombs, a 1,000lb er thro’ fuselage, belly of a/c ripped out, port tail-plane hit by another, & S. side of fuselage scraped. Very shaky do.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 5
1000hrs. natter by Winco on rubber cheques. 10.10. went sick with upset stomach & hauled into dock. Was sick twice during the night, very little sleep. Slept big part of day; wrote to June. Not a very good letter, I fear. Feel pretty ropey.
2200 hrs. Joe brought in a letter from June. Feel [underlined] much [/underlined] better.
WEDNESDAY 6
Feel OK this morning. Wrote to my darling again. Got up 14.30. Did a bit of reading on the Diesel engine. Think I’ll take it up seriously.
One of the WAAF nursing orderlies is rather frisky, today. Weather still lousy. Joe got my F603’s fixed up at Snaith. Very pleased.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 7
Came out of dock 12.20.hrs. P.M. spent clearing up stores etc. Got £5 advance from P.A.s. Weather:- raining all day. Received another letter from my darling.
FRIDAY 8
Saw Doc 1000. OK. Got rest of the day off. Wrote to June. P.M. Walked round Leeds with Joe looking for rug-canvas. Nogo. Raining hard so got soaked. Back in camp 2010.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 9
Up 0145HRS. OPS [underlined] ON. [/underlined] T-O. 0610 for Le Havre. M/B scrubbed it over Δ. 10/10 Cu. Started 5 1/2 mins late. Only 1min late at Δ. Dropped bombs in sea near a convoy. Some went off & bounced a/c. Ht. 2,300ft. Wasted effort but another one chipped off. Brought 5 x 1,000lbs S.A.P. back. Ropey landing as usual. Wrote to my beloved 1700, got 1830 post. Made a rug needle from ali tubing.
SUNDAY 10
OPS. ON. Lovely day. Briefed 1130. Le Havre again. T.O.T. 1645 1/4. Wizard bombing, terrific concentration. Our B/S U/S. Phil straddled T.I.s tho’. Very pleased with the trip. Made a good lndg. too.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
MONDAY 11
OPS. [underlined] ON. [/underlined] Briefed 1330. Target:- Gelsenchkirchen, (Ruhr). T-O 1455. T.O.T. 1830 1/2. Very heavy opposition. Flak thick enough to walk on. Saw a Hali go down, Phil saw its tail break off. I felt a bit sick;- but very busy at the time. Two other a/c seen to go down. Used ‘George’ a lot today. B/Ht 17,600ft. Made a good lndg. 2025. No mail from June?? Received a letter from Stan.
TUESDAY 12
OPS ON. T-O 1601 hrs. for Munster, B/Load 1 cookie & 3 cans of IB’s. 1830hrs S.I. oil press failed at O. Ness. E.R. rather niggly. Very good lndg. Others said trip was reasonable. Mail from June, Stan & Wilf. Wrote to June 2100. Sent off Test 4 of Diesel Course. Good chance of being screened by the 26th. Maybe 14 days. (Yesterday’s raid was very successful, our photo:- A/P bang on!!
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 13
No Ops. Hung about all morning. Did 1/2 hr “Link”:- rdg magazines. Its stupid to give us Link now. Given a handbook,- “The a/c Captain” if you please: I have two more trips to do to finish 1st tour!!! Another letter from my beloved. Heard from the Bank today. Wrote to June & Grandma.
THURSDAY 14
Am stood down today. P.M. In York with Joe. Got some writing paper:- that’s all. Looking for sack-cloth,- nogo. Back for dinner, (1900) Did a bit more of D. course. Sqdn. Recalled from OP. Target was Wilhemlshaven. Joe bought parts of a miniature radio set. Spent evening sorting it out.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 15
Battle of Britain Day. Stood down again today. P.M. Bought some rug wool (Kt) & pinched two sandbags. Tried rug-making 1800hrs, -failure, need a pukka needle. Eric is [underlined] on [/underlined] tonight as a spare gunner.
Wrote to my loving wife 2040hrs.
OP is a night trip, not sorry I’ve missed it; getting a bit jittery.
SATURDAY 16
No OPS. My A/FO is thro. Sewed on the braid P.M. Made wire rug needle & did three hours rug-making. Result quite satisfactory, but is rather slow at present. Miss June an awful lot, a week to go. The sooner the better. OPS on at 0300 tomorrow. Clocks back an hr. BLACKOUT GOES TONIGHT.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 17
Up 0520. T-O 0909hrs. Target:- Boulougne. Bang on!!! Had trouble with S.I. Concentration dangerously thick. Saw an a/c 30ft dead above us with bombs [underlined] on [/underlined]. Moved rather smartly. He went round again. Bombing well concentrated, 3 M/Bs on, [underlined] none heard [/underlined]. Fog at base, landed as per Farnboro’ effort. P.M. Wrote to my beloved & did 3-4 hrs rugmaking. OK now.
MONDAY 18
No OPS. Received letter from June as expected. Spent afternoon rug-making again. Improving the quality now, if not the quantity. Progress satisfactory. Received a letter from Grandad;- wrote to Wilf.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 19
No OPS. Again. Cheesed. Letter from Mum, replied. Cheque book from bank. 1400 at Snaith PA to query my pay. Spent rest of day to 1900hrs. rugmaking. Received another letter from my beloved; & replied. Joe’s radio working now. Am quite pleased with my rug-making, takes an awful long time to do so little tho’.
WEDNESDAY 10
No OPS [underlined] AGAIN. [/underlined] Ops on 11.00, off 12.00. My hopes went up, & down. 1400-1530hrs. buried W/C Wilkerson. He was killed in a ‘Baltimore’ several days ago. Sorry:- he gave me a break once. Could’ve broken me. Did a bit of shopping in Selby, & continued rug-making. Received another letter from my darling.
Wrote to Stan.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 21
OPS ON. Briefed 1300. Target:- Bottrop (Ruhr). Scrubbed 1400, we were at a/c. Rugmaking again. P.M. Wrote to [deleted] Stan [/deleted] June.
FRIDAY 22
OPS on & off in half an hour. Same target. Rugmaking getting on OK now. Have decided not to go on leave till next trip is done, & C. of I. over lost ‘chute is finished. Can’t go till C. of I. is done, anyway.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 23
Nothing doing. Finished the wool part of rug. Taken about 22hrs. Wrote to my darling wife 2035hrs.
SUNDAY 24
OPS ON. T-O 1545 for [underlined] CALAIS [/underlined]. Took 64 mins to get to Δ. M/B scrubbed it:- disgusted. Ht 2,000ft. Bags of L/F. Didn’t get hit; in V. Had to go out into N. Sea to dumped 2000lbs of bombs. Landed 2009. Good landing. Had 8 x 1,000lbs on board. Weather very sticky. My 40th trip. Completed first tour. (A Snaith a/c shot down over Δ. Didn’t see it.)
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
MONDAY 25
Screening confirmed. Note from Bank, Moss Bros. paid. C of I started. Took 1/2 hr. of my time this morning. Asked to go to a S. [deleted] OU [/deleted] OUT. ‘Phoned home, wired June. Spent evening in mess. Twenty four hrs. to go & I’ll be with my beautiful wife. Roll on!! Have 14 days leave, (& nights) (M/B believed to have scrubbed CALAIS. op because of weight & accuracy of L/F. Some chaps damaged.
TUESDAY 26
Got away 1410hrs. after a spot of running around. Phil staying to fill in Com. papers this P.M. Very pleased. Left Don. 1435. In London 2050hrs. [Underlined] 1 1/2 hrs. late [/underlined] June & Joy waiting for us. Got home 2230hrs. Didn’t sleep very well, as expected.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 27
Up 0600, went to Ps with June. Spent most of time round No. 26. Had dinner with June, tho’. Met her 1700. Got wet as it rained & I had no mac. Harold was with us. Evening spent at June’s aunt Lizzie’s house.
THURSDAY 28
Got up [underlined] 0845. [/underlined] Round home (26) most of the day. Met June 1700. Saw flick 1900 “Canterville Ghost”. Very good.
[Page break]
SEPTEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 29
Same programme as yesterday. Saw “Going my Way”. Bing Crosby. Not so good.
SATURDAY 30
Left St. Pancras 1530 for Bedford, arr. 1650. At H.C. 1815. Took rations this time. Bed 2130.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
SUNDAY 1
Up 0900. Saw Phil - & new baby girl – A.M. P.M. Indoors nattering. 1800-1900 Chapel. Bed 2145. More in love with my wife every time I see her. The capacity doesn’t get any bigger;- but stronger.
MONDAY 2
Left Bedford 11.10. Train packed. In London. 12.40. Went to Bank & made my account joint, with June. Wandered around for an hr. or so, came home.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
TUESDAY 3
[Deleted] Did some shopping A.M.
Saw flick “Story of Dr. Wassel” A true story messed up by Hollywood. [Boxed Stayed in this evening [/boxed] [/deleted]
WEDNESDAY 4
[Deleted] A [/deleted]
Saw “Dr. Wassel” this evening.
Made it properly at last.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
THURSDAY 5
A dull day. Went to Ilford Hipp. 1800. Show was so so.
FRIDAY 6
Dull day. Went to Southend after dinner. Very cold wind. Had no mac or coat. Brought back a jar of cockles. Home 2100. A doodle bug passed over Shenfield Stn. at 2000hrs, we were waiting for a connection.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
SUNDAY. 8.
[Deleted] SATURDAY 7 [/deleted]
Went to Chadwell Hth. with Mick & got cockles & winkles. P.M. Sam, Ivy & Norman arrived. Played rummy after tea, won two games. First time I’ve ever won a penny at cards.
SAT. 7.
[Deleted SUNDAY 8 [/deleted]
After dinner went up to town with June. After a bit of difficulty got seats for a show “The Banbury Rose”, quite good. Home 2230. In love with June more than ever, although a day or two ago had some queer ideas. Must have been barmy.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
MONDAY 9
AM. Bought a pair of slippers for June. Also shoes for self. June back at work, met her 1700. Saw a flick 1900hrs. “Mr Emmanuel”. Bit boring.
TUESDAY 10
Up 0600, went to Ps with June. Went round home (26), then packed, left 1100hrs. Met Phil at Ks+, & Joe at Donc. Came to camp by bus, arr. 1915, just nicely for supper. Mail from Stan & Wilf & statement from Bank.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 11
10.00hrs. asked if I’m posted. I am! To Lossiemouth, last place I wanted. Got cleared in an hour. Went to P.As. 1400. Found I’d £26- odd to come. Weather lousy. Wrote to June 2015. Spent an hour or two in crews’ billet nattering, until 2230.
THURSDAY 12
Packed. Told I’ll be attending a D.C.M. soon as principal boy. Had crew photo taken. Left 1200. Arr. Perth, via Edinburgh 2030. Spent night at Salutations Hotel. (Charge 11/6d) Didn’t sleep very well. Room contained twin beds. Oh June! wherefore art thou?
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
FRIDAY 13
Up 0630. After a lot of bother, -changing etc. arr. camp 1500. Got my cycle here without paying for it. Met Chick Henderson. Tea 1730. First full meal for 18hrs. Food so-so. Wrote to June & hotel. Have claimed marriage allowance & £1 expenses.
SATURDAY 14
0915 saw Groupie. Filled in more forms. Started [underlined] GROUND-SCHOOL. [/underlined] Airmanship & Navi. Told I’ll get the chance to [deleted] fly [/deleted] fly a Master, & a Hurri. Seriously thinking of getting June up here. G/C says I may be here for [underlined] 18 MTHs [/underlined] Food is quite good Weather lousy. Sent 11/6d to Hotel in Perth. Wrote to Phil.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
SUNDAY 15
Did a bit of stooging about first off. 1030 went to Int Lec. on [underlined] Briefing & De-briefing. [/underlined] PM. Did some Navi & Air. 1hr. ea. Wrote to June, & bank asking about marriage allowance.
MONDAY 16
Attested 3 yrs. ago. Called as usual by WAAF batwoman at 7AM. 2hrs. Navi 0815-1015. Am quite keen on this. 1030-1230 Air:- Electric props. P.M. Went to Lossie twice, & cleaned my bike. Navi 1645-1745. Wrote to Mum & Dad.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
TUESDAY 17
Stooged about all morning. Received mail from June, feel a [underlined] lot [/underlined] better. P.M. Did 1.30hrs Air:-engines. Replied to my darling. Asked about getting Gin & whisky from the mess. Gin probably whisky doubtful. Sent June another 20 coupons.
WEDNESDAY 18
Wrote to Harold 0845. 1000hrs:- a successful shopping expedition to Elgin. Fixed up cycle saddle & mud-guard. Put shoes in for repair, ready in [underlined] 3 days [/underlined] :-max. time. Chap was ready to do them in 30 [underlined] mins. [/underlined]P.M. In Air. Hangar for a couple of hrs. 1800 Went to Elgin, saw flick “The Purple Heart”. Wrote to Stan 1600hrs.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
THURSDAY 19
Wrote to Wilf 0845. G/S again Navi 1030-1230. Plotting. P.M. in decomp. Chamber. Went up without oxygen, to 26,000ft. Received a letter from June, & spent the evening replying. Rather bored here, & lonely.
FRIDAY 20
Received my Log-Book. 1030-12.00 Air. (Oxygen & carb.) No mail yet from crew-??
Spent some time checking & re-checking my Log book. P.M. In a terribly mess. Don’t know how I got such ridiculous figures. Robbing myself of about 9hrs. 1830 saw “Captains Courageous” at camp flick. Different from expected. In Gee room 1545-1745. Happy as a sandboy.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
SATURDAY 21
A.M. Finished checking log book after some difficulty. P.M. Did 1hr Air, then went to Elgin to do a bit more shopping. Received mail from my darling. After tea wrote to June, bathed:- so to bed.
SUNDAY 22
A.M. In mess readin most of the morning. Wrtoe to Joe. Dinner was lousy. P.M. Got back to diesel course at last & got another lesson done. Received flying gloves from June. Wrote her a short letter after tea.
Am Cheesed off, - so bored.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
MONDAY 23
Navi all morning in D.R.I. Didn’t get along so well. P.M. Told I’m to attend a C.M. Oct 30th. As a witness. Believed its to do with the money I had stolen from me when at Rufforth. Did some painting in Air Hangar 1530-1730. Something to do; & better than school. Saw flick “Standing Room Only” on camp. 1830. Quite good.
TUESDAY 24
Had most wizard dream of my beloved June last night. Did some more painting this A.M. Letter from June; found the stone of her engagement ring. P.M. Drew £5 from Bank. May need it of I can wrangle a day at home, Sat mid0day to Sun. 1900 went to a special radar lecture. Quite good. Wrote to June 2000hrs.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 25
A.M. reading Diesel gen till 1000hrs. Air exam for pupils. Mail from Home enclosing a quid. Got a bottle of Gin for June’s Mum. P.M. Spent in changing over the tires on my bike. Evening spent sitting in the mess. Nothing else to do. Tried to get a ticket for an “all-girl” camp show tomorrow night. Was [underlined] one [/underlined] too far down the line. Bed 2130hrs. Jimmy Seal believed alive, in Germany. “Missing” for over 2YRS.
THURSDAY 26
0815-1015 Air. Lecture on Dinghy & ‘Chute drills. Went to Elgin, collected shoed, & left another pair for repair. Letter from June, bless her. Air Lec. 1545-1700. Played checkers with F/O McMaster, he beat me each time. Be with my angel in 48hrs:- I hope!
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
FRIDAY 27
AM. Stooging about. Got Warrants & booked out. Paid mess bill 19/4d. Left camp 1230, got Aberdonian at 1900hrs.
SATURDAY 28
London 0815. Home (89) 0945. Front room looks wizard. Met June 1200. P.M. Went to tea with Mrs. Monk. Home 2000hrs. [Deleted] B [/deleted] Played rummy for an hor. 21-2200 hrs. Finished up won. Had a good start. Bed 2245. As expected, I couldn’t sleep, tired as I was. Love June more than ever.
[Page break]
OCTOBER 1944
SUNDAY 29
Saw Mum & Pop 1100hrs. Left No. 89 1440. June came to Ks+. Arr. York 2106, & Rufforth 2230. Met [underlined] Joe [/underlined] in the mess. He’s on N.I. course. Rest of crew on [underlined] indefinite leave. [/underlined]
MONDAY 30
D.C>M. this morning, 1000hrs. Only rqd. For 3mins. Left York 1445. Went to Blyth & spent the night with Harold. Given a super supper by one of the Wrens. Bacon, tomies & bread, fresh Milk & jam tarts. Had a spot of rum later.
[Page break]
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 31
Breakfast in bed 0800hrs. Left camp 1300hrs. Harold came to Newcastle. Travelled all night, with an F/O from [underlined] Stornaway [/underlined]. He’d just become a father. Nice chap.
WEDNESDAY 1 NOV
Arr. camp 1030. Packed up [deleted] parq [/deleted] parcels for June & Pop. P.M. Posted parcels, collected repaired shoes. Drew £5 from bank. Wrote to June 1815.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 2
AM. Got 3lbs rug wool from Elgin. 1100:- wet Dinghy drill in Elgin. Tried it with Flying suit & M. West. PM. Made out lecture notes for Drills;_ D,P, & B/L mds. As a sort of exam for me. Evening:- patched battle dress trousers. Got a fire going. Used wet & green wood & lots of paper. Miss June badly.
FRIDAY 3
AM. Posted to Gunnery Flt. Did 1hr flying with F/LT. Baker. Wimpy seems awful slow, but lighter. PM. Saw C.I. met Ginger. No Flying. Drew harness & mae West. Received letter from June. Replied, also wrote home. Cheesed off.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 4
Airborne 3 times today. Don’t like the R/H seat. Bit sick second trip. Went to camp flick 1830. “The Angels Sing”, enjoyed it muchly. Had intended going to Elgin. Weather lousy & no bus by 1815.
SUNDAY 5
Nothing doing this morning. Weather cold, but fine. Hung about all afternoon Was to have flown, but too windy for the Hurribox’s. Wrote to June 1925. Line-shooting after supper with P/O Fry & F/O Anderson.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
MONDAY 6
Flew two details, 1AM, 1PM. Mail from Aunt Alice & June. Replied to June 1600hrs. Spent the evening nattering to F/O Anderson.
TUESDAY 7
0915 A/B. Cloud base 800-1000ft so scrubbed it. Approach wicked, landing OK. Hung about rest of day, - Weather U/S. Mail from Stan & home. Replied to Stan. Got an invitation to a dance at [underlined] Burn. [/underlined] Got £2 expenses for C.M. [Underlined] Boobed, [/underlined] intended to get 3. Made up parcel for June. Received shirt & scarf from her.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 8
A/B 100 after a lot of messing about. A/B again 1345-1500hrs. C/S all the time. Hard work. Had ‘B’ again. Had the engines cutting at tops of C/S. Mail from June, replied. Forgot to post her parcel. Did a bit on the Diesel course 2130-2200.
THURSDAY 9
No flying – too windy. A gale on. Went to Elgin 1530. Had tea at Austin’s with F/O Cartwright. Two drinks later with two more chaps. Flicks 1815-2050. No a very hot show. Back 2130. Definitely decided to have June up here. Probably in the New Year.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 10
One detail AM. Two P.M. Did O.S. at 65 MPH. Shaky do. Mail from my darling, also from Wilf. Replied to June. Party for erks, in Lossie 1830 onwards. Got merry, good time had by all. Quite a respectable meal laid on. Egg (dried) bacon sausage & chips. Back 2230.
SATURDAY 11
Two details A.M. Made a lousy landing, O.S. C.I. saw it & ‘phoned up Flt. 1 detail P.M. Finis 1500. Camp flick 1830. “Fallen Sparrow” not so hot. Worried about myself. Afraid of the Wimpy Keep living that crash over again. See the C.I. if I can’t get over it soon.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 12
Very miserable day. Nothing to do. Wrote to June P.M. not a very good effort. Met a chap from 69 course Assinibion. He’s a pupil.
MONDAY 13
Lousy weather again. Saw C.I. 1215 about getting off Wimpeys. Mail from June as expected. Wrote home. Got some hessian in Elgin. Saw “Phantom of the Opera”, 1830 in camp. Said ta-ta to Woolly. He leaves tomorrow.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
Weather lousy, no flying. Found two scrap drogues, linen. Gave them a home. Made a rug needle. P.M. spent hemming new rug & drawing on the design. Wrote to my darling.
WEDNESDAY 15
Did two details A.M. Dicing with Death, first one. Claggy. PM. rug making. Mail from June, Stan, Mum. Stan on leave, wrote to him, 1820.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 16
Did a double detail A.M. Had the afternoon free, -rugging again. 20.00hrs. saw Ensa show “Ladies in Retirement”. Very good, a drama. Wrote to June, & Wilf. Think this rug will be much better than the other.
FRIDAY 17
No pupils to fly, so got day off. Rugging all morning. In Elgin 1400 Got some Xmas cards & a scarf for Reg. Evening – did a little more on Diesel course. Mail from my darling. Drew £5.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 18
One detail A.M. New course. Formation. Don’t like F., no future. Weather better. Two details P.M. one C/S/ Did another 1 1/2 hrs. on the rug. Wrote to June.
SUNDAY 19
Did one detail A.M. Cloud clamped. Did circuit at 150-250ft.
P.M. Saw Wingco & Adj about going to a Con Unit. Rugging again after tea. Nearly half way. Have put in 14 hrs. so far. Wrote a dull letter to Grandma.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
Monday 20
Flew 3 details. C/S much better. Made the worst landing ever today. The last one. G Flt. Really in trouble today. Finished all the course. More rug-making after tea, another 2 1/2 hrs. Looks OK. so far. Mail from my beloved 1200hrs.
TUESDAY 21
No work. Spent most of AM. rugging again. Lovely weather. Letter from Stan. Wrote to June. In Elgin 1600. Tea in ‘George’ café, dried egg, chips bacon & saus. Saw flick Abbott & Costello “Hold that Ghost”. Funny.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 22
Hung about all AM. Nothing on. Mail from June, as expected Rugging all afternoon & evening. Finished pushing the wool thro’. Only to be backed now.
THURSDAY 23
Day off. 0830 Wrote to June. Spent most of the morning in the mess. Shopping P.M. Got backing & some XmasS cards. Did more rugging after tea. Wrote to Harold.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 24
No work again. Hanging about all morning. Rugging PM. & evening. Finished 2202. About 35 working hrs. Packed it up for posting 2230. Mail from my darling.
SATURDAY 25
Still no work. Was to have done one detail, but won the toss. Another letter from June. Wrote to her, posted rug. Went into Elgin 1600. Saw “lady in the Dark”. Quite good. Supper if “59 Café.” Fish & chips, wizard. Lovely fire for me in room on return. Bang on!
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 26
Flew one detail 0930-1030. S & L. A/G’s dire!!! Rest of day off. Wrote home. If I could only be within reasonable distance of London!! Almost a whole week off, & no use for it.
MONDAY 27
AM. No fly. a/c all iced up. P.M. A/B 1430 approx. a/c vibrating violently 1440 ordered “Bale out”. Only W.O.P. got out. Landed at Dalcross. W/C came up, flew a/c. As expected “Nothing wrong.” Am sick of it. Flew it back OK. See Adj. tomorrow about posting. In mess 2100 had natter with Doc. Given 4 tablets to help me sleep.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 28
AM. Spent writing out report. Vic Baker says I’m to have a go on singles. Drew £5 from Bank. P.M. Saw W/C & Adj. W/C a bit more civil. Adj. grounded me. Says I’ll be away in 2-3 weeks. Maybe Transport Cmd. Hope so. & see the Old man Thurs. Have said I will not fly Wimpys again. Adj. sympathetic. Was talking to the Old Man at the time of trouble. Wormald (WOP) in dock. Not hurt.
WEDNESDAY 29
1030 Saw G.C. Adj. said he’ll put me on Leave in a couple of days. Met Beaumont (EF & SFTS.) Did a spot of painting. No mail from June since Sat. ???? Bit worried. Wrote to her, also home. Did Lesson 9 of Diesel course. “Dining In” Parade in mess. Didn’t go. Lot of bull.
[Page break]
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 30
AM. Read letter that’s going to Group, re.me. OK. Got C.C. & made out Leave app. Form (2-15 Dec.) P.M. spent in getting cleared. 1730. Adj. tells me [Underlined] Leave is scrubbed. [/underlined] Mail from my darling, at last. All OK. 1830 Saw Ensa show. So-So. Ventriloquist, Lloyd Nelson, was very good. Paid mess bill, £3-2-11.
FRIDAY 1 DEC.
Painting straight edge on hangar floor all morning. Messing about all the afternoon. F/LT. Blanks spilt a load of white paint down his front, most of it inside his blouse. Considered very funny. Wrote to June 1300.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 2
Feel sick. Couldn’t eat breakfast. Painting hangar floor AM. Felt very ill 1100hrs. PM. Sitting round fire, nattering. Mail from my darling, as expected. She’s received the rug OK. Made up parcel containing a bottle of Gin. Got it from mess bar a few days ago. Started a letter to Stan. Went to flick 1830. Projector U/S, - no flick. Film “The Nelson Touch.”
SUNDAY 3
Day off. Breakfast 0920. In mess all day. Finished Lesson 10 of Diesel course. Completed Stan’s letter. Started reading a book “All this & Heaven too.” Saw flick 2100. Talk 1900, on Discipline, C.Ms etc. Quite good.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
MONDAY 4
A.M. Painting hangar floor with broom again. Hands rather sore now. P.M. In bombing lect. 1545, just listening. Reading all evening. Book very interesting. Vic Baker tells me that the G.C was approached re my leave, nogo.
TUESDAY 5
Messing about in the Hangar all day, as usual. Spending every spare 1/2 hr. or more reading the book. Letter from Stan. Posted from Iceland. Saw film “Princess O’Rouke” 1830. Very good. Wrote to Stan. No mail from June. Had expected a letter.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 6
Dreamt last night, unpleasantly, of my darling. Her love had died, & she regretted marrying me. Must be certain that that never comes true; certainly can’t see it. Went into Elgin 1030-1215. Got only one more Xmass card. Mail from June. No doubt about her love for me! Wrote back 1300hrs. Letter was a bit better than my recent efforts. Did 2hrs Link this afternoon. Gave 2 Engineers an hr. apiece. W/C O’ [indecipherable] is back. Wonder if this will increase my chances of leave?
THURSDAY 7
Usual mucking about all day. Letter from Harold. No word of posting, no hope of leave, feel very unhappy. Went to section booze-up in “The Crown” 19-2100. Just 10 of us. Had 2 beers, 2 whiskies
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 8
Painting hangar floor again. Still fed up as can be. Letter from June 1700. Tells me Joe & Ivy have fixed “The Day” for 13-1-45. 1800 Wrote to my sweet. Saw camp show 20.00hrs. 2 1/2 hrs. First half very poor, second, very good. A girl sang “The Holy City,” – perfect.
SATURDAY 9
0830 Finished book “All this & Heaven Too”, - verdict:- very good. Did a bit of painting AM. Killing time all afternoon. Saw flick 1830 “Destination Tokio,” quite good as a film, interesting.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 10
Day off. Spent most of the day reading. Am bored almost to tears. Wrote to Harold. Oh how I want to get out of this place. To go South where I could see my June on a day off.
MONDAY 11
Weather lousy. Raining hard all day. Mail from my darling as expected, bless her. Replied 1300hrs. Did a bit of painting during the day. Mail from Stan & Wilf 1700hrs. Stan still in Iceland 28-11-44. Wrote home 2000hrs. sent cheque ‘019’ for £7.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 12
1100hrs in Elgin. Posted letter home with £7 in cash. Destroyed cheque. Drew £10 from Bank. Got a piece of hessian, for another rug. Letter from Grandad. Obtained a fair-sized piece of P.S. rather dirty, but useful.
WEDNESDAY 13
Usual wasted day. Received a letter from June, as expected. Replied 1300. Letter to her was very short. She didn’t send Bank statement:- a pardonable mistake, but for a moment I lost my temper. Why??? My nervous condition is certainly bad.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 14
More painting, occasionally. Read “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” Got it yesterday, finished it 20.00hrs. Hope of Xmass Leave. (6 days.) F/LT [inserted] Blanks [/inserted] arranging it for me.
FRIDAY 15
Day same as usual. Letter from my darling, replied 1300hrs. Miss meeting 19-20.00 hrs.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 16
Did a little painting. Finished book “Lord Tony’s Wife.” Received a letter from Mum, - Aunt Katie passed away. Xmass card from Stan. 1830 at camp flicks “Hour Before Dawn.” Tripe.
How I miss June!! Pray that I be with her Thurs. Have prayed every night, & know I won’t be disappointed.
SUNDAY 17
Did a wee spot of floor painting A.M. the W/C has signed my Leave app. Only the G/C now. P.M. Wrote to my darling wife. Reading most of the time. General Service lecture 19-2000hrs. Hygiene & Sanitation.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
MONDAY 18
Finished painting lamp shades. Mail from June, Stan & home. Wrote to Stan 1900hrs. Finished reading “The Cross-eyed Bear,” a very poor book, I think. Xmass camp draw drawn 1800hrs. First prize £100, over 100 prizes, didn’t get one. Debating whether or not to scive off tomorrow. Nothing to do on camp.
TUESDAY 19
Couldn’t get my warrant, blast them. As usual everyone is scared of everyone else. Killing time all day. Xmass card from Harold. Saw flick “Gung Ho. “ Not so hot.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
WEDNESDAY 20
Got warrant 1045hrs. Tried to get a lift south by air. Too foggy in the south, no a/c went. A Sqdn. landed here last night;- just my luck. Left camp 1230. Got Aberdonian 1800. Good feed in Princess Cafe 1730. A bloke in Aberdeen asked me for “something to get a meal with” as he was “down & out”. He had a tweed jacket on that I’d’ve liked. Was very rude to him.
THURSDAY 21
Ks+ 0920. Went to No.26 1100hrs. Phoned Inst. Shop 1120; met June 1230 for lunch at “Super” cinema. Collected her 1700hrs. Weather:- foggy & miserable, Stomach giving me trouble. Ivy & Norman came round later in the evening. [Deleted] Comple [/deleted] June gave me a pocket watch for Xmass. She’s got a dressing-gown: but I can’t see thro’ it!! X
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
FRIDAY 22
Up 0610. Was going to go to Ps with June, but tummy too bad. 1040 at Bank, London, querying my account. Got it straight, drew £5. Lunch with June at Lyons. Ilf 1240. Collected her 1700hrs. Went to her Gran’s at Ilford. Home 2030. Brought back cake & chicken. June received a necklace & 34/- from Inst. shop. for Xmass-box.
SATURDAY 23
Up 0900 after a somewhat restless night. Awake from 0400 onwards. Drew £5 from bank, June £15. Fog cleared. Trying to buy shoes for June & myself this afternoon – nogo. 1830 flicks, Bing in “If I had my way.” Seen it before.
X
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
SUNDAY 24
1530 visited Mum & Dad, left 1905, saw Mrs. Seal for 30 mins, there. 20.00, at Ivy’s home until 2100. Very enjoyable afternoon & evening. June is lovelier & sweeter than ever. Mum gave me a cake to take back, Mrs. Seal gave us a chunk of Xmass cake.
[Underlined] Received recall telegram 0900. [/underlined] Return by 1200 hrs. 27-12-44.
MONDAY 25
Xmass dinner at Aunt Lizzy’s house. Stayed until 2230. Quite an enjoyable time. June a bit sick later in the evening.
Returned to no. 89 to sleep. (Only June & I.)
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
TUESDAY 26
Up 0845; June had tea & toast in bed for once. Left 0950. Train from Euston1300hrs. Changes at Carstairs, Perth & Aviemore. Company to Crewe with a RAF officers wife. Left Carstairs 2315.
WEDNESDAY 27
Arr. Camp 0710hrs. Slept till 1200. Am posted to Pocklington to pick up a crew for [underlined] Transport Cmd. [/underlined] All my prayers answered. Got cleared again during the afternoon. Feel happier than for weeks past. Saw camp show 1830hrs. free. Not bad.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
THURSDAY 28
Left 1330. Got Aberdonian 1800hrs. York 0300hrs 29th
FRIDAY 29
Arr. York 0300. Met P/O Fenwick (SFTS) He’s in T.Cmd. Freeman went into the sea Boxing Day. His mate. Glad to have met him. Train to Pock. 0748, arr. 0820. Very cold. At camp I’m unwanted, sent on indefinite leave! Can hardly believe it. Left York 1800 hrds. At Ks+ 2345. Very foggy. Have sent June a telegram, telling her to have next week off.
[Page break]
DECEMBER 1944
SATURDAY 30
Hung about Lvpl. St. Stn. all night. 0200 nattering to Mr. Seal. Arr. No 89 at 0600hrs. as June was getting up. Had an hr. or two’s sleep, & collected kit bag from Ks+. 1700 at No. 26 for a party. Harold home. Not a bad little do. tho’ I incurred June’s displeasure. Very sorry, I’d never hurt her, knowingly.
SUNDAY 31
Up 10.00hrs. P.M. Visited by Joy. Gave her Lockets & money for blankets as a wedding present. Got Ron’s & Geordie’s addresses & crew photo. Stayed until 20.00. Very glad we were able to see her again, hope we can get to the wedding. Took 3 hrs. to get home.
X
[Page break]
CALENDAR FOR 1943
[Calendar]
[Page break]
MEMORANDA
Joe Dudley.
559, Footscray Rd., New Eltham, SE.9.
N Phillips.
118c, Croftdown Rd.,
Highgate Rd., London N.W.5
E.G. Dunton.
37, Courtland [deleted] Ave [/deleted] Drive
Alvaston, Derby.
649746 W.O.
L. Woodridge,
127, Huddersfield Rd.,
Staly Bridge,
Nr. Manchester
Cheshire.
14-844. F/S R.E. Adams
61, Littlemore St.,
Balby
Doncaster
Yorks.
[Page break]
MEMORANDA
Ilford 3040. Ex. [deleted] IT.[/deleted] 44.
André Maurios.
174058 [deleted] 174508 [/deleted] F/O. Anderson, Lossie.
F/S R. Stobbs
28, Ridley St.,
Klondyke,
Cramlington
Northumberland.
[Page break]
[Deleted] Library ? [/deleted]
[Page break]
Printed page
[Page break]
Back of diary
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
Jim Allen's 1944 Diary
Description
An account of the resource
A diary recording events during 1944. Includes detailed notes on operations, military life, the weather etc.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jim Allen
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed diary with handwritten annotations
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
YAllenJH179996v1
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
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
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.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--London
England--York
France--Paris
Scotland--Elgin
France--Neufchâtel-en-Bray
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1944-06-30
1944-06
1944-07
1944-08
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
1944-08-07
1944-08-08
1944-08-15
578 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Luftwaffe night-fighter airfields (15 August 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
crash
entertainment
faith
Gee
ground personnel
love and romance
military discipline
military living conditions
military service conditions
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
pilot
RAF Rufforth
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/861/18027/BHarrisonJSHarrisonJSv2.2.jpg
b3ea387ea61b3ea70f16241d494d3eb5
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
Harrison, Joe
Joe S Harrison
J S Harrison
Description
An account of the resource
26 items. The collection concerns Joe Harrison DFC (646488 Royal Air Force) and contains a brief memoir, documents, photographs and memorabilia. It also includes copies of The Marker, the Pathfinder Association magazine.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Joe Harrison and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-09-11
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
Harrison, JS
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Flying as a rear gunner, with 156 Squadron Pathfinders, my bomber crew, with others, are briefed on June the third 1944, to attack the U-boats in Calais harbour, and to destroy as many as possible.
Taking off from our airfield in Huntingdon, England, we crossed the English coast, and headed out over the channel and towards the French coast. The sea below was a hive of activity, as the invasion fleets were assembling for the coming invasion the next day, June 4th 1944.
We were ordered not to fly below 15000ft crossing the channel to the target, or our own forces would shoot us down. With the target in sight, we were attacked many times by enemy fighters, and the anti-aircraft enemy guns. We hit the target, and destroyed a number of U-boats, and returned to base with only a small amount of damage to our aircraft. The next day, June the 4th, 1944, D-day, we were ordered to attack the huge guns the Germans had positioned on the coast, and with other Lancaster’s engaged to destroy some of them. The invasion was under way, in appalling weather, and we witnessed the troops being put ashore in very bad conditions, with big seas, and landing craft being flung about as they tried to land, drowning many, with the enemy guns aimed at the beachheads, and killing thousands of our men. It truly was appalling, and as heavy bombers we could do nothing to help, having destroyed our targets, and then return to base.
Spitfires, and Hurricanes were flying in this dreadful weather, and were strafing the German held beach head positions, and were able to silence many of the enemy machine guns positions.
During June, we attacked a large gathering of enemy armour at Oisemoint Neuville, and it was heartening to witness the destruction of enemy tanks and guns on the way to repel the invasion forces. In my rear turret I was engaged in so many combat situations that even though I had over 10000 rounds of ammunition to feed my 4 guns, I got very short of ammunition. We attacked many targets in June, and on June the 30th 44, the Allies have the Adolf Hitler Panzer division at bay, near Villiers Bocage. Our instructions were to prevent their escape. We dropped our bombs, and Pathfinder marker flares on a large gathering of troops and armour, followed up by Main Force bombers aiming at our marker flares put down to centralise the attack. We had running gun battles with enemy fighters trying to shoot us down, and I managed to claim a couple, with some more claimed as damaged. 420 aircrew were killed with the loss of 60 Lancaster's that day.
The President of France has awarded those veterans who took part in the 0/Day landings with Frances Highest military honour 'The Legion of Honour.' I was awarded this honour on Anzac day, at the French Embassy in Canberra. Viva la France.
J.S.Harrison, D.F.C. L.o.H.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Operations June 1944
Description
An account of the resource
A short memoir about operations over France before and after D-day. Includes how he received his award (as a D-Day veteran) of the Légion d'Honneur in Canberra.
Creator
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Joe Harrison
Format
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One typewritten sheet
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
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BHarrisonJSHarrisonJSv2
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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France
France--Oisemont (Canton)
France--Normandy
France--Calais
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
Temporal Coverage
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1944-06
Contributor
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David Bloomfield
156 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Distinguished Flying Cross
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Lancaster
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Pathfinders
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/711/39540/AJonesD[Date].mp3
9f59b75729809eec19454ac926a49b02
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Title
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Blair, John
John Jericho Blair
J J Blair
Description
An account of the resource
38 items. The collection concerns John Jericho Blair DFC (1919-2004). He was born in Jamaica and served in RAF from 1942-1963. He flew a tour of operations as a navigator with 102 Squadron from RAF Pocklington. The collection includes numerous photographs of him and colleagues, several photographs of Jamaica, a document detailing his life and an interview with his great nephew Mark Johnson.
The collection also contains three interviews with Caribbean veterans including John Blair recorded by Mark Johnson.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mark Johnson and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-05-09
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.
Identifier
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Blair, JJ
Access Rights
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with D Jones
Description
An account of the resource
D Jones was born in the parish of Manchester, Jamaica. He volunteered for the RAF and went on the SS Cuba to the United States, crossing the Atlantic to Liverpool in June 1944. He went to a former Butlins holiday camp in Filey - there, as ground crew, they trained as soldiers to guard the camp. After a month, they totalled over two thousand West Indians.
D Jones trained as a wireless operator. He learnt Morse code, the construction of the wireless and how to operates it.
Jones went to RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire, before going to Wiltshire. Although he enjoyed it, he recalls how cold the winter was. Quite a few aircraft came back damaged, and some did not return.
D Jones refers to the droves of aircraft passing overhead on D-Day. After the war had finished he looked after German and Italian prisoners of war. He mentions the spectacular victory parade in London.
Attitudes to the West Indians were mostly good. They were pleased not to have much contact with American forces.
After the war, D Jones studied and went to teacher training college. A lot of West Indians worked in England after the war. He returned to Jamaica where there was not much recognition for his service. He reflects on his war experiences and his attitude to war now.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
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Johnson, M
Language
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eng
Type
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Sound
Format
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01:10:33 audio recording
Conforms To
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Pending OH transcription
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.
Identifier
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AJonesD[Date]
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
1946-06-08
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Warwickshire
England--Filey
England--London
Jamaica
Contributor
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Sally Coulter
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
African heritage
ground personnel
military living conditions
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
perception of bombing war
prisoner of war
RAF Church Lawford
RAF Hunmanby Moor
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/735/10735/ACayhillE180208.2.mp3
fae5c508c5967105b298ae8a271038de
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Cayhill, Edward
E Cayhill
Edward Cahill
E Cahill
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Edward Cayhill (1921 -2021, 157619 Royal Air Force) He worked as a civilian Meteorological officer at RAF Scampton before joining the RAF and flying as an observer on Meteorological flights with 519 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-08
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
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Cayhill, E
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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JM: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Julian Maslin. The interviewee is Mr Edward Cayhill. The interview is taking place at Mr Cayhill’s home in North Wales on the 8th of February 2018.
EC: Correct.
JM: Mr Cayhill, Edward, please would you tell us a little bit about your family background first of all?
EC: I was born in Scotland in, near Motherwell. Motherwell, on the 11th of August 1921. A big family. A family of eight of us and I was the eldest son. Therefore, in Scotland the idea was that the eldest son would be encouraged financially and otherwise to further his education and so I was, my father said, ‘We’re going to try and get you in to university.’ So I worked hard at my studies and [pause] in 1938 my father died in Scotland. A big family. 1938. So my, and I applied for a place at Glasgow University and I was accepted for a place. However, it all came to fruition that there was no way in my family set up that I could continue with university. The war was imminent. We had advisors, advisories, advisors coming around the schools suggesting jobs for future careers and so on and I went up to the Civil Service place in Edinburgh and had a, take up there and I was accepted as a technical assistant grade three in the Meteorological Office. Now, as the days went by things were heating up. The war was about to start. I [pause] stop here. Can it be stopped?
JM: Yeah.
[recording paused]
EC: I was sent to the Royal Air Force Abbotsinch as an observer.
JM: Yeah.
EC: A weather observer, and worked there for a couple of years. And this is, I’ve got, I was very keen on getting airborne so I was flying with any chance I could get. And that went on for a couple of years. For instance I went up to Scone Airport, Perth as an observer teaching newly entrants and aircrew lectures. And then I spent about probably three years doing various jobs around Scotland and then from that stage on I [pause] my next move was to Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, and in Northern Ireland I trained [pause] Oh, I’m sorry about this.
[recording paused]
EC: 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit, Aldergrove in July [unclear]. Now, that was when I’d left the Meteorological Office in Scampton where I was. Posted there. I was still a civilian and my job was to brief the crews who at that stage, 1674, at that stage Guy Gibson who was the CO of the Dambusting squadron they had been recently, on my arrival they had just recently done the bouncing bomb. So I was a civilian still then and, but the Squadron, 617 Squadron continued similar training. That is about the bouncing bomb, and that meant low level. When I say low level I mean low level. So, I would come in each day and brief the crews. And now, the bouncing bomb having done, Guy Gibson was still there and the squadron which included Flight Lieutenant Allsebrook continued doing similar training when the training area was [pause] we would take off from Scampton and we would fly low level. When I say low level, low level up across Yorkshire into Scotland and then on the road to the Isles. That’s by Tummel and Loch Rannoch, out there and I had cadged a trip and my position was the one that the pilot was Allsebrook, Flight Lieutenant Allsebrook, but he said, ‘Well, my mid-upper gunner won’t be coming so you can have the mid-upper seat.’ So I, low level all the way up there and it was really low level and we came through the valleys with the idea of a drop then. However, down at very low level over Scotland there was a God almighty bang and wind came through the aircraft all over the place and silence for a while and full bore climbing and we were on our way back home. And then eventually, this is your, ‘This is your captain speaking. I want you to [pause] what happened back there, we hit a rabbit. We hit a rabbit. And what did we hit? I want all the crew to answer this,’ [laughs] So everyone sitting up there, ‘You hit a rabbit.’ ‘That’s right.’ So, on the way back, now the idea of this rabbit business was, what he had said, we were not on intercom with them, he had said to the bomb aimer who was down there and was covered in blood and feathers and a bird strike, it was a bird strike and so the skipper said to the bomb aimer, ‘Take up all those big feathers and get rid of them. And all that gory mushy messy stuff put in our sandwich bag.’ In those days it was brown paper bags. ‘Put them in there and who knows. That could well be a rabbit.’ And so anyway [laughs] now every squadron I believe, bomber squadron had a line. They called them line books, and the line book was tall stories usually, and this story went into the, I’m sure this is still in the book [laughs] And so I cadged as many trips as I could while I was there. And then I was transferred on to other things and I went on to the flying side of it.
JM: That’s lovely. Could I just ask you a little bit to go back a little bit in that sense? You were saying that you were doing the meteorological briefing for the crews.
EC: Correct.
JM: Where did you get the information, the technical information from? Was it from the station or did it go through a network?
EC: A network. It all came in on the printer. Various sources.
JM: Right.
EC: We had, well information was short but we got a lot of stuff on the teleprinter.
JM: And did you have to make your own synoptic charts up, or did you simply have the job of relaying what somebody else had done somewhere else?
EC: No. We would automatically draw the charts up.
JM: You would.
EC: Yes. That was something I was also trained in.
JM: Yes. Yes. Yes. So you were strong in maths and science at university level to do that work.
EC: Not, not really. No. Most of the basic stuff came through on the printer.
JM: Right.
EC: You plotted the charts.
JM: Right. Right.
EC: You analysed the charts, you know and —
JM: Yes. I mean the information that you were being given. The pressure, winds, whatever. Where was that coming from because you need information from all over the place but you didn’t have it from Europe? You only had it from the Atlantic.
EC: Well, from Bracknell.
JM: From Bracknell.
EC: From Bracknell. It was Meteorological Office Headquarters.
JM: At Bracknell. Still is. Or was.
EC: What information they had.
JM: Yeah.
EC: And who, the out stations had received it.
JM: Yeah.
EC: Used it to their best advantage.
JM: Yes. Yes. That’s very interesting. So you do, you do your, you make up the weather forecast based on the information that you were given.
EC: Correct.
JM: And then you go in to the briefing room to brief the crews before the sortie.
EC: That’s right.
JM: Did you, were you there for the whole of the briefing or simply for your bit of it?
EC: Oh no, we stayed on there and the others did their bit. Bomb aimer and —
JM: Yes. Yeah.
EC: The CO and all the rest of it.
JM: What was the atmosphere like if they were going out on a bombing sortie? Do you remember the atmosphere in the, in the briefing room?
EC: They were very [pause] they didn’t make any, there was no fuss. It was a job to be done. That was my understanding of it. We all did our bit. The wireless operator. The bomb aimer would say his bit. Each expert as it were to be known would say his bit and then the CO would then say, ‘Well, ok boys. That’s it now. Off we go.’ Da, da, da, da, you know.
JM: Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And when they came back after the sortie it was quite likely that the weather forecast over the target wasn’t very accurate.
EC: Well, quite right.
JM: How did you react to that?
EC: Well, it was you debriefed and you’d, there was a lot of jocularity, you know, ‘I’m back Jocky,’ [laughs] you know, but we took that as part, part of the job.
JM: Right. Right. So we have you there at Scampton in the summer of 1943 after the dams raid. Gibson —
EC: Immediately after. Yes.
JM: Yeah. Gibson was still around. Did you speak to him? Did you meet him at all?
EC: Yes, well I briefed him.
JM: You did.
EC: He’d be at the briefing. He was always at the briefing.
JM: Right. Yes.
EC: He’d kind of retire, you know but he was there.
JM: Yes. Did you form any impressions of, of Wing Commander Gibson? He has had so much publicity, I wondered if having met him if you had a view of him.
EC: He was a cool, cool, cool, cool customer.
JM: Was he?
EC: He didn’t seem to get excited about anything. ‘Oh yes. Is that so?’ You know.
JM: Just like that, yes.
EC: Yeah.
JM: Yes. Yes. When he, when he left the squadron he was replaced by Squadron Leader George Holden who had come down from 4 Group. I wonder if you remember Holden at all?
EC: No. That doesn’t ring a bell.
JM: No. No. Are there any of the other 617 crews that you do remember as characters, or did you have much to do with them?
EC: Not really. Well, I was a civilian, you know. I lived out and travelled in.
JM: Right.
EC: To do my briefings.
JM: Yes.
EC: Plot my charts and do my job and envying them. I wanted to be a flyer. Be a flyer, as well.
JM: You did.
EC: Yes.
JM: Yes. Yes.
EC: So —
JM: But so there’s none of them that stand out.
EC: There’s no. I —
JM: As people you particularly knew, knew well.
EC: No. My memory doesn’t recall.
JM: No. Do you remember if they actually talked about the dams raid in the summer after the raid had taken place? Did they talk about it at all? What they had done. The crews.
EC: Well, each one had a debrief. You were debriefed. They were debriefed.
JM: Yes. I meant more informally. Did they chat about it? Was it something that they knew what they’d done informally? You can’t remember.
EC: I can’t remember. No. Sorry.
JM: No. That’s ok. No. Ok. Were you there in September of 1943? Had you, were you still on the station then?
[pause]
EC: I’ve got my flight with Allsebrook was in May ’43. I’ve got that. And then I’ve got the 18th [pause] Well, I don’t know where, the 18th ’43 [unclear] Flight Lieutenant Sanders and then September ’43 the Ventura, [unclear]
[pause]
EC: So, all I’ve got here is that on the 5th 1943.
JM: 5th of —
EC: 5th of, that was when the [pause] sorry, sorry May ’43. Fifth. It was the fifth month.
JM: Yes.
EC: I don’t know about the date. That was the Lancaster with Allsebrook.
JM: Yes.
EC: Ok.
JM: Yes.
EC: And that was described here as low level training. Scampton, Fort William, Stranraer, back. That’s the one I‘ve just talked to you about.
JM: Yes. Yes. Yes.
EC: Now, in August I would be, would not have been in that area.
JM: Right.
EC: Would not have. In August. September [pause] I was posted up to Northern Ireland.
JM: Right.
EC: And then in, here’s something specific. Posted to Number 2 Observer’s AFU Millom. Ah. This was for the training to become an air met observer.
JM: Yeah. Millom is —
EC: That’s a jump.
JM: Millom is in Cumbria, isn’t it?
EC: Yes. In Cumbria.
JM: Yes.
EC: And it was on that one that we did the nav course. Air gunning — there was a gunnery range over on the Isle of Man. And we did a navigation course which we did in the, flying on Ansons.
JM: Yes. Can I just —
EC: And just come back.
JM: Can I just take you back a little while there. I’m interested to find out what it was that persuaded you to join the RAF. You were already making a major contribution to the war effort as a, as a meteorological officer. Why did you join up?
EC: Because I wanted to go on flying. I particularly, I was surrounded by these in uniform and flying. I wanted to fly. And the only way I was going to get into flying, they’d started the Meteorological Reconnaissance Flights and the training was, the initial one was Millom. We went up to Millom and, well I would go, that’s when I went back, went into uniform at that change. But the base was Millom and we were trained in navigation, air gunnery, quite a few of the essential things.
JM: Yes.
EC: Training then from Millom.
JM: Yes.
EC: I don’t know if that’s any help to you.
JM: It is. Do you remember very much about the training that you were given in terms of navigation and observations? Do you remember that at all?
EC: Yes. We had lectures on the navigation.
JM: Yes.
EC: And we had when we were airborne in the Anson we were given tasks like fly from here to [pause] it was almost invariably you would fly over ‘til you saw the, the tower at Liverpool and you would then go up to Scotland. Down to Stranraer.
JM: Yeah.
EC: In to the Stranraer area.
JM: Yes. Yes.
EC: And there would be a qualified navigator with you, you know to [unclear]
JM: Yes.
EC: And so on. But it’s becoming vague now. It’s very complicated. Not vague but complicated.
JM: So how long was the training that you went through at that stage?
EC: [pause] the whole thing probably lasted about six weeks.
JM: Really? Yes.
EC: That was to four to six weeks.
JM: Yes.
EC: I would think.
JM: Yes.
EC: It was a kind of crash course.
JM: Right.
EC: A crash course.
JM: And where were you sent after that, please?
EC: There is something here [pause] I’ve got my glasses [pause] Posted to Number 2 Observers AFU, Millom in June 1944. That’s, that’s a fact. Training flights were in Ansons for air experience and map reading. Second navigator to first navigator and the area’s bounded by Bardsey Island, Inishtrahull, Isla, Millom and down to Birmingham. And then I was posted to 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit, Aldergrove. Ok.
JM: Northern Ireland.
EC: In July 1944.
JM: Right.
EC: So, I was then in to flying.
JM: So you —
EC: I told you I was probably not much help.
JM: It’s wonderful. It’s very valuable. So you were at the Heavy Conversion Unit.
EC: Yes.
JM: And were you training to fly Halifaxes or Lancasters?
EC: We were then in Halifaxes.
JM: Halifaxes. Right.
EC: Not Lancasters.
JM: No. No. So where did you, where were you posted after you’d finished at the Heavy Conversion Unit?
EC: I think I was posted to 1674 Heavy Conversion Unit, Aldergrove in 1944. Training. These were the training flights. Halifax air observer flights in the base area. Stornoway. Rockall. Climbs to eighteen thousand feet. And then I was, in September ‘44 I was posted to 519 Squadron at Skitten. So I’d done all my training.
JM: Yes.
EC: And then they had opened up these weather flights.
JM: Right.
EC: Weather reconnaissance.
JM: Right.
EC: And I got on to the weather reconnaissance. And that was, that’s my life since that date. September ’44. I’ve been mostly on weather reconnaissance. I’ve got, this is all small stuff which is you don’t mind me just opening that.
JM: No. Please.
EC: There’s my log book which I kept up to date just to [pause] back to [pause] The research flight, Farnborough, that’s it. [unclear] What we did at the Met Research Flight, Farnborough, I flew, we flew Halifaxes and Mosquitoes.
JM: Right.
EC: On a bit of research.
JM: Yes.
EC: Flying as high as we could go.
JM: So the high altitude meteorological research.
EC: Yes.
JM: Yes.
EC: Met research. It was called Met Research Flight, Farnborough.
JM: Right.
EC: So I was on that. What we had was, we had Halifaxes and Mosquitoes. Two pilots, one engineer. The pilots took alternate Mosquito. I was, every Mosquito flight I would be on that and we would fly as high as we could until we stalled. You know, you’d think [unclear] so and like and there were two pilots [Thomason] Thorne. Thorne. [Thomason]. These are all the 1st 2nd 5th 9th 12th 15th 20th at Farnborough. So on and so on and then it was all authenticated by the, signed by the officer commanding M RAF. So this was all authenticated and then still at Farnborough in January 1950.
JM: So you were staying, stayed on in the RAF after the war was over.
EC: No. I was flying as a civilian then.
JM: You were back as a civilian.
EC: Back as a civilian.
JM: Yes. Yes.
EC: And I used to, like with [Thomason] and Thorne I used to fly with them on the Met research flights in uniform. But then I was demobbed.
JM: Yes. I see. Tell me about flying in the Mosquito.
EC: Beautiful. Beautiful. My position, it was naturally a two seater. Pilot on the left, met observer on the right with my judgement on all the weather and then when we came down from, we’d go as high as possible. You can see by the heights. I always put the heights in. The Halifaxes went up to ten thousand feet. The Mosquito to forty thousand feet. A fifteen thousand foot descent. There’s mostly, like in February 1950 I had, on the 2nd I was airborne on a Mosquito. On the 7th I was airborne in a Mosquito. On the 8th, on the 13th on the 14th 15th 16th 21st 21st 22nd. Climbed to, well climbed to forty thousand feet or as high as you could go. Thirty eight thousand five hundred. And then when we came down to fifteen thousand feet my job was then finished and the pilot, I knew him, we were great pals, pilots. He said, ‘Do you know, I’ve always thought this, the Mosquito could do a loop.’ So at fifteen thousand I had finished with the meteorological stuff so I just strapped myself down and said, ‘Ok.’ So he said, he put the nose down, [unclear] feet and he flew it back and came from out there and stalled out.
JM: Oh, it stalled at the top did it? Yes.
EC: But oh, but that I told you I was not —
JM: No. It’s wonderful. It’s absolutely wonderful. I’m interested, when you were making the observations on these weather research flights were you making them with symbols in a notebook of [pause] What was it that you were actually recording?
EC: We had the, a special form actually.
JM: Right.
EC: A meteorological form.
JM: Right.
EC: For each position.
JM: Yes.
EC: I don’t think I’ve got one. But anyway yeah there were special forms.
JM: And were you, were you looking at instruments that were giving you recordings of outside air temperature or whatever it happened to be?
EC: Both. Instruments and weather and visual.
JM: Right. Instruments and visual observations.
EC: And visual.
JM: Were being made by you.
EC: Stratocumulus, cirrus.
JM: Yes. Yes.
EC: Above us or below us.
JM: Yes. Yes. Operating at that height, forty thousand feet. That was quite exceptional in those days.
EC: Oh, yes. Well, the highest —
JM: Did you have any special kit or special training for operating at that altitude?
EC: No.
JM: No.
EC: No. No special training.
JM: No special —
EC: No special pressure suits.
JM: Nothing like that at all.
EC: No. No.
JM: So just normal RAF flying equipment.
EC: That’s right. Come out in the morning, go to the parachute section, draw your parachute out, and the truck would be there to take you out. Then you would go to the met office and have a briefing and then off you go.
JM: Off you go. Was it cold at that height?
EC: Well, you had heating in there.
JM: You had eating in the aircraft.
EC: Oh yeah. Yeah.
JM: Good.
EC: Oh, very cold. Very cold.
JM: Yes.
EC: Just trying to get something that might help you [pause] No. I’d just be repeating myself. So, what I did, I was in the met office. A civilian until the Scampton episode. And from then on I was going in to uniform.
JM: Yes.
EC: And they had started these meteorological reconnaissance flights.
JM: Yes.
EC: And I got in to them.
JM: Right. So you operated in Halifaxes and Mosquitoes in a meteorological —
EC: In a meteorological. What happened there was, when did the Mosquitoes come in? [pause] Well, of course the war ended. Where does that put us?
JM: ‘45.
EC: ’45, the war ended. So, what did I do then? Oh, the war ended and I thought, ah this is going to confuse still further but this is my memory. Ok. The war ended and I thought, oh no. I want to emigrate to America. Get away from all this. Get over to America. So I thought where’s the money? You’ve got no money. So I attended a Civil Service Commission and anyway, I got in to the Met Office as a technical assistant grade 2, I think it was. Whatever it was. And they said, ‘Now, what we want you to do now is they’re [pause] they’re going to, we have discovered we have a jet stream in the northern latitudes but there has been some suspicion on some very high flying aircraft that there’s one in the Middle East somewhere.’ That was it. ‘So what we’re doing we’re sending you out there,’ And there was, the war ended boom boom and there were pilots by the hundred. No jobs. Aircraft by the hundred. No purpose. So they said. ‘What we’ll do is we’ll send you out to Habbaniya in Iraq and we’ll send [pause] — the RAF have promised a squadron of —’ [pause] that was it, ‘Of Mosquitoes for this investigation.’
JM: Right.
EC: For the Middle East.
JM: Right.
EC: Jet. And you’ll be the kind of organiser and so on.
JM: Yes.
EC: So I said, ‘Ok, that’s fine.’ Maybe I’ll save some money while I’m out there. So, I went out there and, you know I was told to report to a Squadron Leader Shellard who was the officer in charge of RAF Habbaniya which is on the Euphrates about fifty miles from Bagdad. And so I got off the aircraft, went into the flight lieutenant. He said, ‘Oh, you’re, you’re Cayhill, are you?’ He said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what,’ he said, ‘I’ve got good news for you and bad news for you.’ He said, ‘First of all your flight won’t, you’re flying won’t come to anything because the Mosquitoes that came out, there was no hangar space for them so they were moored on the airfield on the bund. Open air.’ June July temperatures. The aircraft wood warped.
JM: Warped. Yes.
EC: And they were declared unfit for flying.
JM: Oh.
EC: So, I was [pause] but so Shellard said, ‘Well, look we’ve got problems here. We’ve got a war going on in the Far East and the French are getting kicked right, left and centre and they are flying the evacuees, injured back home and they’re coming up through one of my wee stations down in Shaibah.’ The north end of the Persian Gulf, and so, ‘There’s no forecaster down there. There’s just the assistant and passing stuff. It would be better if we had a forecaster down there so you’re going down to — ’ That’s when I, that’s before I went out on this job I had sent all my gear including my logbook out to, and it was as the ship came around to come up to Basra it ran aground in the Persian Gulf.
JM: And that’s when —
EC: Five hundred, so the papers said, five hundred armed natives rushed on board and pilfered all they could except things like bulldozers and things like that.
JM: Right. Yes.
EC: And so I went down to Shaibah and then I had to spend my time there. And anyway, sorry we’re diversing and we don’t —
JM: We are but that’s fine. Again, if I may I’d like to take you a little bit back because you were telling us about operating the Halifax on the weather reconnaissance flight.
EC: Oh course.
JM: Could you tell us a little bit more about how that would, how often you’d go up? Where you’d go to? How did that actually work please?
EC: We had fixed routes which you would select on, the meteorologist would select on the day and then the routine would be, you’d got the full crew, the met observer, depending what kind of aircraft. I started off on Hudsons. Twin engine. Now, the twin engine we don’t, that was from Wick. When I was at Wick. But before that it was the Halifaxes. Now, in the Halifaxes there were fixed routes which were there in black and white.
JM: Yes.
EC: So you would fly out and do low level for part of the way. Every fifty nautical miles you would make a weather report. You would climb, clamber through bomb bays and whatever up to the wireless operator and he would send that message back to base.
JM: Right.
EC: And then after so many miles out you would do a climb to five hundred millibars. That’s about eighteen thousand feet. Now, we were very primitive in those days. The idea was you would climb to maybe, it was in millibars but call it two thousand feet and you would then circle there to allow the temperatures to regularise. Steady up. And then you would take the temperatures, the dry bulb, and wet bulb, and put that in. Always in code for that part of the war you know and so on. So you had to then encrypt it and then you climb another roughly eighteen hundred feet, level off, allow the temperatures to level off, take the readings, code them up, go up to the wireless operator to send them out, and then up to five hundred odd. Now you do two climbs to five hundred millibars, eighteen thousand feet and then you’re coming back home doing a kind of triangular somewhat penetration. A long way out. A long way back.
JM: That’s very interesting and there’s a couple of things that you’ve said that I want to clarify for the, for the recording. You were climbing to heights in millibars where there would be a certain known pressure.
EC: That’s right.
JM: So you weren’t climbing in feet. You were climbing to a pressure level.
EC: You had the altimeter beside you as well.
JM: Yes. Yes. That’s good. The second thing is that the information was sent back as you were recording it via the wireless operator in code so that if the Germans were listening they wouldn’t be given —
EC: That’s right.
JM: A free weather forecast.
EC: That’s right there was a decode book. You know it was book. Decode book.
JM: Yes.
EC: Number so and so, page so and so line so and so.
JM: Yes. Yes. Yes. Were your, were your crews, the pilots and the other members of the crew were they perhaps men who had done a tour of duty on bombing operations or had then been specially selected for that sort of work?
EC: They weren’t specially selected. No.
JM: No.
EC: No. They all had so many flying hours in, on different jobs.
JM: Yes. Yes. So they might have been men resting between tours of duty.
EC: Could be. Yes.
JM: For them that would have been a fairly easy task I imagine.
EC: No problems for them. Yeah.
JM: No. Was there any risk of you being intercepted by long range enemy fighters?
EC: There was always that risk on, on all these flights were given names. Code names. The one I started talking about, the one over the Atlantic that was Business.
JM: Right.
EC: The one over the North Sea starting was Rhombus. The one that went straight north out into the Arctic —
JM: Yeah.
EC: Was Recipe. The one down from Cornwall was Epicure. Epicure. They all had. The one, the one from Gibraltar. I didn’t do the Gibraltar one. The one at Gibraltar was, what was the one down there? Just missing for the moment.
JM: Yeah. That’s fascinating. So we had these separate routes identified by code names.
EC: That’s right.
JM: Taking weather aircraft north, south, east and west and you could, you could be ordered to fly on any of those depending on your duties.
EC: That was done at briefing.
JM: That was done at briefing.
EC: Yeah. The weather forecast. They’d see the weather forecast. They’d see that was a pretty blank area now. We need some information. Do that route.
JM: Yes. Yes.
EC: On the, on the Recipe which was taking off from Wick originally and then we moved to a wee place further north, would you believe it? To Skitten. Took us far north because at that time you had the Germans at the Dutch coast err the —
JM: Norwegian.
EC: The Norwegian coast, and they would come out and of course you had the convoys coming from Liverpool. The sea convoys from Liverpool going all the way around there to Murmansk to feed the Russians.
JM: Yes.
EC: And they were open targets. The Jerries used to come out there and —
JM: Yes. Yes, yes. You mentioned the Jetstream earlier on. I think I’m right in saying that’s a narrow band of high velocity air.
EC: That’s correct.
JM: When did you first get to hear about the presence of the Jetstream?
EC: Well, it was, you mean the second one? The one down in —
JM: No. The concept of the Jetstream. The fact that it existed over, over north west Europe.
EC: I wouldn’t like to say then, I did give you a date I think. I would suggest that like airlines flying to America and so on the, it was very rarely. They wouldn’t, at one time they wouldn’t allow a two engine aircraft to fly direct to America like I did, a long time at London airport briefing crews there, and they, and they’d come in and what are the winds? Ah. Then we’ll do the polar route depending on the winds and whatever winds we had then they’d probably, I don’t know. I don’t know exactly when they said jet, that’s a Jetstream.
JM: Yeah. The reason I ask, Edward is that I had it in my mind that it was the United States Army Air Force with their very high flying B17s and B24s leaving the contrails. I had it in my mind that it was they who first of all identified the Jetstream, and I wondered if that was you believed to be the case.
EC: I would believe that is the case.
JM: Yes.
EC: I’m not sure but I would believe. They always had the higher flying aircraft over their own country.
JM: Yes.
EC: And certainly the Jetstreams over there.
JM: Yes. It must have been fascinating to be a part of the science of meteorology at a time when with computers, balloons, rockets so much more information was coming through and you saw this. Perhaps after the war was over.
EC: Oh yes. Did. Did. We, clearly the details which are probably not too relevant, but my position I would say with flying with what we were flying but we had to be started using B17s eventually.
JM: You did. B17s as well.
EC: Oh aye. Towards the end of the war.
JM: Yes.
EC: We had Hudsons which [laughs]
JM: Yes.
EC: Twin engine things got no distance at all and then we got B, the B17.
JM: Yeah.
EC: That was fabulous. Up to thirty thousand feet. But what would I say was special about it? Well, they changed our job totally from being just getting north of the Orkney Islands or the Shetlands with a Hudson to a much longer range. We used to go way, way up there. But I remember my, as a Met observer my position would be in the nose of the Fortress. I would do my weather and then I had to take, and then I put it in to code and then crawl, push on a trap door to get up there, through there, through the wireless cabin and give him my message and he would then transmit. It was all in code, you know. And then, however in the meantime there was aircraft [laughs] Jerries were coming out across our path looking for ships to torpedo.
JM: Right. Yes.
EC: And the [pause] it’s like suddenly there would be an aircraft showing up and he’d say, ‘Ok. What’s the colour of the day?’ Now, the colour of the day might be two, two red cartridges and a green or something, or whatever and that was, so that was then my job. So everything black as pitch, you know most of the time in the winter time, ‘What’s the colour of the day?’ Get your torch out. We could have been shot down before you could work out the colour of the day. I’m rambling on. The old memory’s beginning to —
JM: Well, we’re having a lovely conversation. I hope I’m not tiring you too much.
EC: No. But —
JM: It’s fascinating.
EC: But I’m sorry not to be so specific.
JM: No. No. So, after you’d served as a civilian in the, in the Middle East.
EC: Yes.
JM: What did you do with the rest of your working life? Did you stay in meteorology?
EC: Yes, I, when I came back from those two years in the, and I told you I was going to go.
JM: Yes.
EC: I had been writing to the American Consulate and you needed in those days a sponsor to get, to emigrate to America. And so I, one of my friend’s uncle was a solicitor over in Detroit. Lafayette Buildings. Memories, it’s weird isn’t it? Lafayette Buildings, Detroit. And I thought, ok so I saved up a fair bit of money. I had been corresponding with the Americans and the last one read my letter. I got a letter from them, from their Consulate in Baghdad. So when I got home to Scotland there was no letter. I thought, you know what? So I thought, well I said, I know I’ll emigrate to Canada and then go across from Canada. So I booked a flight over on TC or something, and landed at Montreal and then came down to Winnipeg was it? No. It wasn’t. Anyway, at the junction where you go across they said, ‘Sorry, you can’t come through. You’ve got to have a working permit that you’re working in Canada.’ ‘I’ve got to have a job in Canada?’ ‘Yes.’ So I took a job emptying a grain ship, you know. And then out of a job. The second job was more popular on an assembly line in the car industry making body parts and so on. So once I had that I went across and I thought ok here I am in Detroit. I’m in Detroit but I’ve got to go back there and I went to the Lafayette Buildings where he was and I said, ‘I’d like to speak to [pause] anyway there it goes again. ‘Oh, he died three weeks ago.’
JM: Oh dear. Oh dear.
EC: He died three weeks ago.’ So I thought that’s it. So I thought, ok. I’ll go back in to the Met Office in the UK and just to make the best of it. See what they can offer me. So I booked from New York. Sailed from New York. It was mostly boats in those days. So I got on a bus around there and somewhere enroute the bus driver, we stopped for refreshments, he said, ‘Mr Cayhill?’ I said, ‘That’s me.’ He said, ‘Oh, there’s a message here from the place you booked your ticket.’ So it was to say that there’s a strike in New York and the ship has been diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Oh no. So I pretended I couldn’t hear and hung up. So I went on to New York and stormed on to it [laughs] I stormed into their offices. ‘Don’t panic. Don’t panic. We’re laying on a special train from New York for us and you’ll go all the way around up to Nova Scotia here.’ So [unclear]
JM: Marvellous. Marvellous. I’d like —
EC: You’ve got nothing out of me.
JM: I’ve got a lot of out of you, but I would like to take you back if I, if I may to the, that time, the summer of 1943 when you were a civilian working at RAF Scampton with the 617 Squadron. In the period of time after the dams raid.
EC: Yes.
JM: What, what do you remember about Scampton in those days? Do you remember the base? Do you remember where you had your office?
EC: Yes. I do. Yes. A very small office there. Briefings, we always went to the briefing centre for all the briefing.
JM: Yes.
EC: Operations. I presume it was operations for, the next briefing is from so and so and so and so to so and so. So you prepared all the documentation you could.
JM: Yes.
EC: And you went over and you gave your spiel.
JM: And some of the briefings that you gave to 617 Squadron were part of the operations that they took part in in the summer of 1943.
EC: Yes.
JM: Do you remember any of those operations at all?
EC: No. The only ones were associated once the low level training part subsided and that was with Allsebrook.
JM: Yes.
EC: That was the last time that I flew with them.
JM: Yes.
EC: Or probably the last time I briefed any of them.
JM: Was it? Yes.
EC: Yeah.
JM: Right. Because I was keen to find out something about the atmosphere on RAF Scampton in those weeks after the dams raid. They had trained so hard. They had achieved so much. To find out what it was like to be there in the aftermath of that. That’s —
EC: That’s right. In actual fact Gibson himself, I think it was a fact was shot down by one of the RAF, a Lancaster.
JM: That’s, that’s one of the stories. It is. Yes.
EC: Oh, it’s a story.
JM: Yes. Yes. I tend to not to agree with that but it is one of the stories that we have heard. But that was two years later wasn’t it?
EC: Yeah.
JM: That was, one year later 1944.
EC: You don’t believe that.
JM: I tend to go with the view that it was an accident as a result of his relative unfamiliarity with the Mosquito.
EC: That’s right.
JM: And the fact that they didn’t transfer the fuel as they should have done.
EC: And they ran out fuel.
JM: And they ran out of fuel. I have been to —
EC: I accept that.
JM: I’ve been to the crash site in, in Holland and his grave, and Squadron Leader Warwick was the navigator who was killed with him. I’ve been to that. I have looked into it but it’s quite right that recently a rear gunner came out and he said that he had shot it down. A two engine aircraft.
EC: Yeah.
JM: Not knowing what it was.
EC: Yeah.
JM: So, we’ll never know. We’ll never know. But that was 1944. In the summer of 1943, you know you were there and 617 Squadron was operating against targets in Italy and elsewhere. I wondered if you’d remember that but perhaps you’d moved on at that stage.
EC: No. I can’t. No.
JM: No.
EC: Sorry.
JM: No, that’s ok. That’s fine. I have to ask. Shall we have a rest there for the moment?
EC: Ok.
JM: Yeah.
[recording paused]
EC: Have you had, the squadron was based in Darwin with daily flights. They made long period daily flights until the bomb itself went off.
JM: What year was that roughly?
EC: The year was exactly [pause] Darwin. Darwin. This was the period [pause]
JM: So, for the, for the record Edward is telling us about the time when he was operating in Australia, in the Pacific Ocean in support of nuclear weapons testing on the Caicos Islands and you were doing weather reconnaissance to ensure that the winds did not bring radiation on to the mainland of Australia.
EC: I think [pause] Yeah. That was 18th of February 1956. Shackleton, 818. Wing commander flying. That was our crewmen. I was air met observer. Ballykelly via Bordeaux. The Carcassonne Gap to Idris. This was on, out —
JM: Right.
EC: And then again Idris to Habbaniya and then [pause] No. I’ll start again and then Habbaniya. Shaibah. Sharjah. Do you know all these?
JM: Yes. I do. Yes.
EC: Sharjah, and then Mauripur. And then on to Mauripur. Mauripur to Negombo. Negombo via Subang to Changi, Singapore island. And then Changi to Darwin. Darwin, Pearce Field, Perth down to Perth, this is setting it all up.
JM: Yeah.
EC: Pearce back to Darwin and then I set up tracks which we were flying so we were flying but the —
JM: So this was 19 —
EC: Conditions were, those ones there were twelve and a half hours.
JM: This was 1956. You just gave us that date. 1956.
EC: 1956, yeah.
JM: And this was in support of the nuclear testing.
EC: That’s right.
JM: That was taking place at that time.
EC: That’s right. That was the atomic bomb.
JM: Yeah.
EC: Test that.
JM: Yeah.
EC: Still at Darwin and that was [pause] so the summary of flying hours as an air met observer on 269 Squadron for the period 5th of Jan ‘56 to the 16th of May, da di di da, on Shackletons. The two hundred and eighty five hours and then there was still a Shack and then because I was the top man, you know [unclear] with the wing commander we went down to different, to Alice Springs and Alice Springs back to Darwin, you know. And then we did our trips in the [pause] we were flying regularly 5th 8th the 11th, 14th of June, 17th of June, Shackleton to [pages turning] still in Australia. Darwin. Then transit Darwin to Essendon. Laverton, Richmond, Sydney, Richmond, Darwin, Darwin, then go Darwin to Changi. Changi to Negombo which was Ceylon. Negombo, Sharjah. Sharjah. Habbaniya. Habbaniya. Idris. And Idris back to Ballykelly. That was all in, the last of those flights was the 10th of July 1956. And then we have a transit to the Christmas Island for the whole set up. That was in, the 19th of January 1957. Flight Lieutenant Kerr. Air obs, acting air observer, St Eval to Lurgans. That’s going out the long way around. Lurgans to Kenley Field. Kenley Field to Charleston. That’s South Carolina. Charleston to Moisant. Moisant to Biggs Airfield in El Paso. Biggs to Travis Air Force base up in California and then a big long one across the Pacific to Travis which is California to Hickam Air Force base Honolulu. And then Hickam down to Christmas Island and so on and so on.
JM: And of course Christmas island was the H-bomb tests, wasn’t it?
EC: That’s right.
JM: I have a —
EC: Well, I’ve done, I’ve seen and experienced three personally and I’m very closely associated for the rest of them. I set up the Met set up for that. On the day of the decision — have you been to Christmas island?
JM: No. I haven’t.
EC: It’s a very large coral island, about the middle of the Pacific full of little waterways and so on and there was an airfield. They made, the army made an airfield. Rolled coral in the north end of it there and then the ships would, could come into the fjord, the waterways. And on the day of the, if I say the first bomb they would say, they would wake us all up about three o’clock in the morning, those who weren’t flying. I would have all the time twelve hour meteorological flights going on. I had a team of six. One flight sergeant and five sergeants and myself who used to fly twelve hour flights. Reconnaissance all around. Anyway, my job was, I would go aboard as the weatherman to the target and then the [pause] I would report when I’m on the target back to headquarters, it’s satisfactory or its not satisfactory for a drop and then in my aircraft which would stay on site the weatherman, we had all the cameramen. Ok. With their cameras. And then the target was four hundred miles south of Christmas Island. A little island called [pause] anyway a tiny little island which was mostly unoccupied and we’d use that to bomb. A Valiant would come on top at forty five plus thousand feet. He would come across and if it was decided it was on, drop from that height. And then the Navy had a ship over to the east of the target and they were monitoring everything, the bomb all the way down and they would call, ‘Forty five seconds. Forty seconds. Close eyes everybody.’ [laughs] And then, my position in the nose there would be a bright flash. You’ve got no goggles on, gloves on, curtains pulled past the, around all that, would, would be again a funny light through all the sounds, and then, ‘Ok. Eyes open everybody. Forty five seconds,’ and then would be the countdown. And then the first thing would be apart from the light, was an attack. The aircraft really shook [pause] and then it stopped, and then there was another smaller one. And in the meantime then the cameras were turning and photographing it all.
JM: And that shock was the shockwave hitting the aircraft.
EC: That was the first one which was direct to the aircraft was the shockwave from up there, and the second one was a reflection off the sea.
JM: Right.
EC: And that was a minor one. Now, the British are fantastic, I think. Now, the, from then on I’d say it was all being controlled by the Navy over there who were at sea. The aircraft, Canberra aircraft were sent off and they timed it beautifully, and they were timed to go through at different levels into the stack, you know and they were called Sniffer, their call sign. Sniffer One. Sniffer Two. Sniffer Three. Go through the cloud at different levels taking samples. Back to Christmas island. There was an RAF York on the ground there and all those samples were on there. The route, the usual route was up to Honolulu, or to San Francisco and they were in Aldermaston the following morning at 9 o’clock. Incredible.
JM: Were you ever concerned after that about the health issues of operating there? A number of servicemen —
EC: Oh, I was told about it. They said, you know. I had no [pause] we became so good at dropping this bomb.
JM: Yeah.
EC: All our accommodation on Christmas Island was tented.
JM: Yeah.
EC: There was only one kind of wooden hut and that was the CO, but because we knew exactly what was happening we used our own island, the southern tip of our island as a delayed drop from our own island and we were all at the top end of our island, you know. And really fantastic.
JM: And how long were you there for in total?
EC: Oh, exactly I’ll tell you [laughs] [pages turning] [pause] Christmas Island. Transit Christmas Island, down this area.
[pause]
EC: I was there all of the 19th [pause] These are the days I flew — 19, 20, 21st reconnaissance flights [pause – pages turning] I did, I finished with it [pause] for the period of 10th of January ‘57 to the 28th February ‘57 I did a hundred and twelve hours ten, ten minutes of flying time. And then it went on and on and on [pause — pages turning] The last entry in my book [pause — pages turning] I went back to training. Air met observer from then. So you can then, my grand total of flying was two thousand six hundred and four hours. Mostly meteorologically associated.
JM: Yeah. That’s a wonderful record.
EC: But again, I haven’t —
JM: Yeah. Just to complete the story when you came back I gather you spent your career as a meteorologist with, with airports. Is that correct? Were you doing weather forecasting? Did you say earlier you were doing weather forecasting?
EC: Yeah.
JM: For airlines. It doesn’t matter, Edward. It doesn’t matter.
EC: No.
JM: We can leave it there. Edward, thank you so much for allowing me to go back with you into your story and you are a unique individual and your stories are very valuable. Thank you very much.
EC: I know I haven’t answered you, what you, specific points you wanted me to raise with you.
JM: Well, you have answered as best as you can and that’s all I can ask for.
EC: Ok.
JM: On behalf of the IBCC thank you very much indeed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Edward Cayhill
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Julian Maslin
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-08
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
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ACayhillE180208
Conforms To
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Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Format
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01:03:35 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Christmas Island
Great Britain
Iraq
England--Cumbria
England--Lincolnshire
England--Hampshire
Northern Territory--Darwin
Scotland--Stranraer
Northern Territory
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-06
1944-09
1950
1956-02-18
1956-07-10
1957-01-19
Description
An account of the resource
Edward Cayhill was the eldest of eight children and with his father’s encouragement was hoping to go to university. His father died in 1938 which meant that the university dream was cancelled and Edward went to work as a Civil Servant in the Meteorological Office. He began his work as a Met observer with the RAF at RAF Abbotsinch before being posted to 617 Squadron at RAF Scampton. Edward desperately wanted to join the RAF as aircrew which he finally did. He joined the RAF and was attached to the Meteorological Reconnaissance Flights at RAF Farnborough where he flew on Halifaxes and Mosquitoes. When he was demobbed he continued to fly with the Met Research Flight as a civilian. He eventually joined 269 Squadron and took part in the Met research flights in relation to the nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
1674 HCU
617 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
briefing
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
ground personnel
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
meteorological officer
Mosquito
observer
RAF Farnborough
RAF Millom
RAF Scampton
training
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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
Hobbs, Frank
Frank James Hobbs
F J Hobbs
Description
An account of the resource
69 items. The collection concerns 1262633 Flight Sergeant Frank James Hobbs a wireless operator with 630 Squadron, RAF East Kirkby, who was killed while on operations in a Lancaster on 16 March 1944. The collection contains his log book, official and family correspondence, official and personal documents, photographs of aircrew, family and his grave and some items of memorabilia. It also includes correspondence from a French gentleman who was witness to his aircraft crash and who returns recovered personal items belonging to Frank Hobbs. <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Barbara Storer and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br /><br />Additional information on Frank Hobbs is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/110858/">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
2016-06-04
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
Hobbs, FJ
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] 1944 – 1 [/inserted]
TUESDAY
32, SOUTHCROFT Rd
TOOTING.
S.W.17.
DEAR BARBARA
I WAS EVER SO PLEASED TO RECEIVE YOU LETTER ON ARRIVING HOME FROM WORK TO-NIGHT. SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU AND PAT ARE GOING OUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND BEING A GOOD GIRL TO AUNTIE CON.
I BET YOU WERE PLEASED WHEN YOU FOUND THAT STONE WITH THE HOLE IN IT – I THINK YOU HAD BETTER KEEP IT FOR LUCK.
[page break]
I AM QUITE WELL DARLING AND LOOKING AFTER MYSELF. IT’S A GOOD JOB THAT YOU HAVE BEEN AWAY THOUGH AS WE HAVE HAD QUITE A LOT OF WARNINGS.
I HAVEN’T HAD ANY GOOD NEWS FROM DADDY UP TILL NOW DEAR BUT I KEEP ON HOPING AND FEEL SURE WE WILL SOON HEAR NOW.
I AN [sic] JUST GOING TO HELP AUNTIE MARY MAKE OUT BED IN THE SHELTER SO MUST SAY CHEERIO DEAR. GIVE AUNTIE CON, UNCLE RUSTY, PAT AND ANGELA MY LOVE AND KEEP ON BEING GOOD DARLING.
LOTS OF LOVE. FROM MUMMY
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[page break]
[underlined] From [/underlined]
Burnham-on-Crouch
(June/Sept) 1944 – Sent away when VI’s started
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 Mrs Hobbs to her daughter
Description
An account of the resource
Letter addressed to daughter Barbara stating that she was pleased to receive letter and hopes Barbara is being a good girl for her auntie. Writes that she is well but they have has a lot of warnings and she is glad her daughter is away. She has heard no news from daddy but keeps on hoping, She concludes stating she is off to make bed in the shelter. Note 'From Burnham-on-Crouch (June/Sept) 1944 - sent away when V1s started'
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
K Hobbs
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter and note
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
EHobbsKMStorerB4409XX
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
England--Essex
England--Burnham-on-Crouch
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
1944-07
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
V-1
V-weapon
-
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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
Holden, John
J Holden
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
2017-07-25
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
Holden, J
Description
An account of the resource
30 items. The collection concerns Sergeant John Holden (1521290 Royal Air Force) and contains photographs, documents and correspondence. he flew operations as a wireless operator with 49 Squadron and was killed 10 June 1944.<br /> <br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Andrew Whitehouse and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br /><br />Additional information on John Holden is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/110983/">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
Letter to Jose from Leslie Hay
Description
An account of the resource
The letter lists 49 Squadron operations from May 1944 to 10 June 1944 when John Holden died.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Leslie Hay
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1995-08-11
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France--Amiens
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Braunschweig
France--Normandy
France--Wimereux
France--La Pernelle
France--Caen
France--Manche
France--Bayeux
Great Britain
England--Runnymede
Germany
France--Morigny-Champigny
France--Lyons-la-Forêt
France--Eure
France--Rouen
France--Etrépagny
France--Étampes (Essonne)
France--Beauvais
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
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0001, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0002, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0003, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0004
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.
1944-05
1944-06
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
49 Squadron
5 Group
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bale out
bomb aimer
bombing
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
crash
final resting place
flight engineer
killed in action
Lancaster
memorial
mine laying
Mosquito
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Pathfinders
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Fiskerton
RAF Woodbridge
Stalag Luft 3
target indicator
-
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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
Ford, Terry
Ford, T
Description
An account of the resource
135 items. The collection concerns Terry Ford. He flew operations as a pilot with 75 Squadron. It contains photographs, his log book, operational maps, letters home during training, and documents including emergency drills. There are two albums of photographs, one of navigation logs, and another of target photographs.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Julia Burke 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
2017-03-13
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
Ford, T
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
DESBOROUGH – TWICKENHAM
[inserted] (Diary of Neill Chapman Bomb Aimer)[/inserted]
SATURDAY MAY 27th
As I have a day off I took Terry home with me to Meadowside and to meet Dad. We spent the evening with John Messenger in the Roebuck and Duke of Marlborough on Richmond Hill which were crowded.
SUNDAY (WHIT SUNDAY) MAY 28th
Dad, Terry and I journeyed to Shepperton for a pleasant lunch at the Anchor and a drink at the King’s head. The atmosphere was very pleasant and the day warm. After a good lunch we walked down to the Weybridge locks. Came back for tea with Mr & Mrs Messenger and met Janet Cane, a horticulturist. Dad took us all for dinner at the R.A.C. and Terry and I had to dash off to catch the nine fifteen to Kettering which was half empty on leaving St Pancras. We met my course shepherd, F/O Cushing[?], who gave us the gen on his operational experiences.
Richmond was crowded on this hot Whit Sunday,
[page break]
the small beach across the river was a mass of howling, laughing and splash children whose din reverberated through the flat. While the children in the garden were in next to nothing and Mr Francis James barely wore is[sic] socks and shorts. In spite of the nearness of the invasion the people seem happy and the Londoner still has the knack of enjoying himself in crowds.
MONDAY MAY 29th
This evening we went (Terry and myself) to Market Harborough and there I called on Mr & Mrs Widdowson who are staying at the Willows. They introduced Margery and Philip and gave us a welcome tea. After which we had a few drinks at the Angel and rushed back to catch the last train. Unfortunately we happened to drop in at the Freemason’s Arms on the way and thus we missed the train. We returned to town and Terry decided to go to a dance
[page break]
[page corner missing] ….ded to walk home and did so in a quick hour twenty minutes.
TUESDAY MAY 30th
Reg/ Wheeden has cyinitis [sic] unfortunately and so we could not fly tonight and he is admitted to hospital. So we are likely to get some leave.
THURSDAY JUNE 1st
Went home on a fortyeight. Spent the evening playing bridge.
[page break]
RESULTS OF GROUP BOMBING. 84.O.T.U.
DAY ERROR. SIGHTING HEAD ONLY.
DUAL 123 YDS. 6 BOMBS
SOLO 298 “ 7 “
SOLO N/A due to wind error 8 “
SOLO 223 YDS. 6 “
NIGHT
DUAL 112 YDS. [deleted] 8 [/deleted] 7 BOMBS
SOLO 158 “ 8 BOMBS
SOLO N/A due to wind error [underlined] 8 “ [/underlined]
TOTAL 50 BOMBS
Average error. 183 YDS. @ 10000’
Average height. 10,500 feet
For most of this our Navigator was away due to sinus trouble
[page break]
We visited John Fothergill’s pub, the Three Swans, which was not exceptional and was rather expensive.
After the first fortnight we crewed up and I found myself with the following very fine crew.
Pilot: Terry A. Ford Bristol.
Navigator: Reg. Wheedon. Cowley.
W/Op. George Tredinnick Melbourne Australia
Rear Gunner: Harry Fitzwater
Mid Upper: Paddy Glover. Ballymena. N.I.
And I pray and hope that we will be able to stick together until the end of our training and further.
During the first five weeks we had only two half days off, one of which I spent in Kettering. However in the evening of the 11th we heard that because we had finished our training early we were too [sic] get is four days off. Altogether our [indecipherable] and bombing had gone well.
[page break]
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
Diary of Neill Chapman, Bomb Aimer
Description
An account of the resource
Neill Chapman’s diary entries from 27th May to 1st June including a list of crew members and the results of their bombing trials.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Neill Chapman
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five handwritten sheets
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
YChapmanN153939v10001,
YChapmanN153939v10002,
YChapmanN153939v10003,
YChapmanN153939v10004,
YChapmanN153939v10005
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--Desborough
England--Shepperton
England--Market Harborough
England--Kettering
England--Richmond upon Thames
England--Leicestershire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Surrey
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.
1944-05
1944-06
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing
crewing up
navigator
Operational Training Unit
pilot
training
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/957/9604/SMathersRW55201v10004.2.jpg
0341cc72ad62c3d82bab58b28c640c43
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
Mathers, Ronald. Album
Description
An account of the resource
45 page scrapbook of Squadron life and The Goodwill Tour to the United States by 35 Squadron in 1946. It includes photographs, newspaper cuttings, and programmes. The tour visited stations on both the East and West coasts of the United States and the airmen were entertained with visits to Hollywood.
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
SMathersRW55201v1
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-17
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
No 63 Course 3 FIS Lulsgate Bottom
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is a group of 49 airmen arranged in 4 rows. Behind is a building. It is captioned 'No 63 course 3 F.I.S. Lulsgate Bottom 14th June-12th July 1944' and underneath 'With some reluctance we became instructors (names on the back)'.
Below is a cartoon of a Lancaster 'JO-Y' and annotated 'to treat everyone the same I shall now proceed to sketch out a Christmas card picture whether you like it or not.
So a Merry Christmas Sis and loads of best wishes and a very Happy New Year. Cheers for now See you soon Your loving Brother Ron'
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ron Mathers
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-07-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph and one Christmas card on album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Artwork
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SMathersRW55201v10004
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
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.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Somerset
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
1944-07
aircrew
arts and crafts
training
-
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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
Harwood, Rupert
Description
An account of the resource
9 items. The collection concerns Pilot Officer Rupert Thomas Harwood (1910 - 1944, 1322764, 178759 Royal Air Force) and contains several letters he wrote to his young daughter Janet. <br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Janet Scorer and catalogued by Barry Hunter. <br />Additional information on Rupert Thomas Harwood is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/110178/">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
2016-04-11
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
Harwwod, RTW
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] 1 [/underlined]
[Royal Air Force crest]
SERGEANTS’ MESS
ROYAL AIR FORCE STATION,
DUNHOLME LODGE,
LINCOLN.
4.6.44
Dear Beryl, Arthur, & Bob,
Just a brief note to let you know everything is OK. I hope you are all fit and well, and that you are able to get a bit of enjoyment these hard times.
Many happy returns of the day Bedgo, although I expect I shall be a bit late as usual.
Thanks for the stamps which you sent me with your letter.
The Ops are mounting up
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
slowly, although the weather has been pretty poor for our type of bombing since we came back off leave. I have done 18 now, and I expect it will be 19 by the time you get this, although the weather is’nt [sic] too good, and there may be a scrub, as there has been several times lately.
We are due to go on leave a fortnight today, but I doubt very much if we will get away right on time. Still I suppose it will come round eventually, although it seems ages since my last leave.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
[Royal Air Force crest]
SERGEANTS’ MESS,
ROYAL AIR FORCE STATION,
DUNHOLME LODGE,
LINCOLN.
Did you have a good Whitsun holiday. I suppose you all went on the river. I would have liked to be there myself instead of over the Third Reich.
Well I’m afraid I hav’nt [sic] got much to tell you, and I expect you get all the gen from Ma
Cheers for now
With love
Rupe
xxxxxxxxxx
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
To Beryl, Arthur and Bob from Rupert Harwood
Description
An account of the resource
The letter contains birthday greetings to 'Bedgo', comments on having completed 18 operations, the poor weather leading to postponements and the possibility of leave soon.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rupert Harwood
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-06-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHarwoodRTW[Recipient]B-A-B440604-0001,
EHarwoodRTW[Recipient]B-A-B440604-0002,
EHarwoodRTW[Recipient]B-A-B440604-0003
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
Civilian
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.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-06
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
aircrew
bombing
RAF Dunholme Lodge