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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/27/166/WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT.2.jpg
b53cc613b8a2d6c309628ea583201a9c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/27/166/PFilliputtiA16010077.2.jpg
260a152f4b75e1b5ee4d2cc2ccac3bcd
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
Filiputti, Angiolino
Angiolino Filiputti
Alfonsino Filiputti
A Filiputti
Description
An account of the resource
127 items. The collection consists of a selection of works created by Alfonsino ‘Angiolino’ Filiputti (1924-1999). A promising painter from childhood, Angiolino was initially fascinated by marine subjects but his parents’ financial hardships forced an end to his formal education after completing primary school. Thereafter, he took up painting as an absorbing pastime. Angiolino depicted some of the most dramatic and controversial aspects of the Second World War as seen from the perspective of San Giorgio di Nogaro, a small town in the Friuli region of Italy. Bombings, events reported by newspapers, broadcast by the radio or spread by eyewitnesses, became the subject of colourful paintings, in which news details were embellished by his own rich imaginings. Each work was accompanied by long pasted-on captions, so as to create fascinating works in which text and image were inseparable. After the war, however, interest in his work declined and Angiolino grew increasingly disenchanted as he lamented the lack of recognition accorded his art, of which he was proud.
The work of Angiolino Filiputti was rediscovered thanks to the efforts of Pierluigi Visintin (San Giorgio di Nogaro 1946 – Udine 2008), a figurehead of the Friulan cultural movement, author, journalist, screenwriter and translator of Greek and Latin classical works into the Friulan language. 183 temperas were eventually displayed in 2005 under the title "La guerra di Angiolino" (“Angiolino’s war”.) The exhibition toured many cities and towns, jointly curated by the late Pierluigi Visintin, the art critic Giancarlo Pauletto and Flavio Fabbroni, member of the Istituto Friulano per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione (Institute for the history of the resistance movement in the Friuli region).
The IBCC Digital Archive would like to express its gratitude to Anna and Stefano Filiputti, the sons of Angiolino Filipputi, for granting permission to reproduce his works. The BCC Digital Archive is also grateful to Alessandra Bertolissi, wife of Pierluigi Visintin, Alessandra Kerservan, head of the publishing house Kappa Vu and Pietro Del Frate, mayor of San Giorgio di Nogaro.
Originals are on display at
Biblioteca comunale di San Giorgio di Nogaro
Piazza Plebiscito, 2
33058 San Giorgio di Nogaro (UD)
ITALY
++39 0431 620281
info.biblioteca@comune.sangiorgiodinogaro.ud.it
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Filiputti, A-S
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.
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
Alfonso ‘Liviano’ Zamparo being tortured
Description
An account of the resource
A screaming naked man is suspended across a cell by ropes tied around his wrists, looped over a hook on the wall, and his ankles, looped through the bars of a window. The rope threaded through the window is held by a uniformed figure. A bucket is visible in the corner of the cell. The walls of the cell are flecked with blood stains.
Inscriptions read “195”; signed by the author; caption reads “PALMANOVA 19 Dicembre 1944 – 17 Febbraio 1945, “Liviano” dottor Alfonso Zamparo dell’Osoppo, impiccato per 5 ore alle celle No 1 completamente nudo, dal suo racconto: fui aganciato e spinto verso l’entrata della cella, la corda passò sopra la porta e fissata all’esterno, sul catenaccio, cosi appeso coi piedi alti sul pavimento, un calvario, calci pugni vergate, colpi di moschetto che mi lacerarono la carne, mi lanciarono a dosso secchi di acqua gelata, e calda, e bere dense soluzioni di sale. Mi spedirono a Dakau [Dachau] il 24 Febbraio”.
Caption translates as: “Palmanova, 19 December 1944-17 February 1945. Doctor Alfonso Zamparo (also known as “Liviano”) of Osoppo was hung for five hours in cell number 1. He was completely naked. From his own account: I was released from the ropes and pushed towards the entrance of the cell. The rope passed above the door and then secured outside, on the sliding lock. Then, I was hung with my feet above the floor. It was an ordeal: kicks, punches, canes, and musket shots lacerated my flesh. They threw at me buckets of ice-cold water, then hot, and I was given dense salt solutions to drink. I was sent to Dachau on the 24 February.”
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFilliputtiA16010077
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Angiolino Filiputti
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Francesca Campani
Alessandro Pesaro
Helen Durham
Giulia Banti
Maureen Clarke
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Italy--Palmanova
Italy
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
1945-01
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
Artwork
arts and crafts
Resistance
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/153/1614/AKohlerH170303.2.mp3
d2f0f472887d968b2df90cc90be0d7ad
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
Köhler, Helmut
Description
An account of the resource
The collection consists of one oral history interview with Helmut Köhler (b. 1928) who recalls his wartime experience as Luftwaffenhelfer and the breaching of the Eder dam. His recollections cover life in German bombing cities.
The collection was cataloged by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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.
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
HZ: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Harry Ziegler. The interviewee is Helmut Köhler. The interviewee, the interview is taking place at Mr Köhler’s home in [omitted] Kassel on the 3 of March 2017. Also Herr Köhler, dann fangen wir mal an.
HK: Ja, also geboren wurde ich am ersten August 1928 und zwar hier in Kassel, im Rotenkreuz Krankenhaus und zwar in der Hansteinstrasse 17 haben wir gewohnt, das ist im Stadteil Wehlheiden, also nicht hier, sondern im Stadteil Wehlheiden. Und da bin ich, hab ich vier, drei Schwestern gehabt, ältere Schwestern, ich bin also nur unter Frauen gross geworden und leider ist mein Vater schon gestorben als ich knapp drei Jahre war, also 1991 ist, 1891 [?] ist schon der Vater gestorben und da war die Mutter mit vier Kindern alleine und der Vater war im Studienrat weil er einen Knieschaden hatte, desshalb ist er im Ersten Weltkrieg kein Soldat geworden, er hat also im Krieg warscheinlich einen Meniskusschaden durch Fussball haben sie gespielt und heute wär das operiert worden, aber damals konnten sie das nicht und desshalb ist er kein Soldat geworden. Und da hatt er hier in Kassel im Realgymnasium eins sein Studium, sein Abitur gemacht und hatt dann auch studiert in Marburg und zwar Geschichte als Hauptfach und hat da auch promoviert. Und a, und, er stammt also aus Gudensberg und die Vorfahren, also seine Eltern und seine Grosseltern und ich weiss nicht wie viele Generationen zurück, die hatten das Baugeschäft in Gudensberg, ein Bauunternehmen und meine Mutter, die stammt aus Rellingen bei Pinneberg in Schleswig-Holstein und die haben sich kennengelernt auf einer Hochzeit [laughs] die ein Gudensberger Freund von meinem Vater und einer Pinneberger Freundin von meiner Mutter, da waren sie beide eingeladen, haben sich kennengelernt neh und so. Na ja gut und so bin ich groß geworden praktisch ohne Vater und musste natürlich dann auch zum Gymnasium, Realgymnasium eins, das hieß damals Paul-von-Hindenburg-Schule. Und bin dann eben wie gesagt vier, fünf Jahre ganz normal zur Schule gegangen und am ersten September im ’39, Ostern bin ich dahingekommen, und im ersten September ’39 began der Krieg und da waren mit einem Schlag in einer Woche die ganzen jungen Lehrer weg und da kriegten wir die alten pensionerten Lehrer und dann waren aber zum Teil Lehrer, die mit meinem Vater zusammen an der Schule gelehrt haben [laughs], das war natürlich sehr interessant, ‚ach hier das ist der kleine Heinrich‘, neh, das war ich dann, neh. So und so sind wir dann, haben wir dann Schule gemacht war ganz normal, aber dann eben wiegesagt bis ’43 und dann wurde der Luftkrieg härter, da waren schon mehr mal Angriffe hier und dann kamen wir, als Schüler mussten wir dann Luftschutzwache machen nachts in der Schule, so fünf, sechs mit einem Lehrer zusammen, kriechten wir oben im Dachgeschoss so‘n kleines Zimmerchen mit‘em Feldbett und so haben wir den Krieg kennengelernt und in der Zeit ging dann auch in ’44, neh ’43, ging dann die Edertalsperre kaput, und das haben wir sehr gut beobachtet wie die Riesenwelle Wasser kam neh, na ja gut. [sighs] Jedenfalls, dann die Sommerferien waren rum und dann wurden wir zur Erntehilfe abkommandiert, vier Wochen mussten wir den Bauern helfen, Ernte zu machen und dann kamen wir kurz in die Schule und dann war am 22 Oktober 1943 der grosse Angriff hier. Und den habe ich in der Hansteinstrasse mitgemacht, wo ich geboren wurde. Und das war wirklich grauenhaft, also was ich da in den Keller so erlebt habe, auch die einzelnen Menschen, die da alle sassen, viel ältere Frauen und auch ein Paar Männer, ein hoher Offizier, der hier beim Generalkommando beschäftigt war der hat da immer ein bisschen beruhigt und so, also, es war schon grauenhaft, die eine Frau, die hat nur dauernd gesungen, vor lauter Anstrengung, und die andere die hat nur gebetet und so, und meine Mutter hat ganz still gesessen da, Hände gefaltet und dann gingen durch die detonierten Bomben dann gingen, flogen dann die Kellerfenster rein und dann, also er war grauenhaft. Na ja, und dann ist unser Haus nicht abgebrannt da sondern auch ein Paar Nebenhaüser und da hab ich mitgelöscht so und dann. Ja und dann waren die Schulen in Kassel alle kaputt, so und da haben wir drei Wochen, haben wir uns gefreut, hurrah die Schule brennt, uns gefreut alle, und so nach drei, vier Wochen dann haben wir dann doch bisschen im Zweifel geguckt und sind wir mal zu unser alten Schule gegangen, da war die ein riesen Trümmerhaufen aber die Kellergewölbe die waren noch da und da hatte die Schulsekretärin ihr Büro eingerichtet im Keller und da hatt‘se dann gesagt: ‘Jungs, also, Schule wird’s nicht mehr geben in Kassel’ und so war’s dann auch. Da wurden nach dem grossen Angriff, da sind ja etwa zehntausend Menschen umgekommen, und die ganze Altstadt, alles ein Trümmerhaufen, also es war grauenhaft neh und da sind die ganzen jungen Mütter mit ihren Kindern in einer Woche alle aus Kassel weggeschickt worden, die kamen alle in irgendwelche Lager, die Organisation die war damals schon wirklich klasse neh. So, und wir kamen in ein verlassenes Arbeitsdienstlager nach Bracht, bei Marburg liegt das, das war so alles ein Arbeitsdienstlager mit Baracken und da kamen wir alle rein.
HZ: Ist es Bracht mit B?
HK: Bracht mit B, R, A.
HZ: Ja.
HK: So etwa neh. Ich bin nachher nie wieder da gewesen. So und dann schliefen wir in den Hut, in den grossen Baracken da, zwanzig Leute gingen da glaub ich rein, dann immer zwei Lehrer dabei, die schliefen auf Strohsäcken dann und so und dann am Tag hatten wir da ein bisschen Schule und dann kriegten wir irgendwie die Nachricht das wir zur, als Luftwaffenhelfer eingezogen wurden und wir konnten dann nach Hause also im Dezember 1944, konnten wir, die wir bald eingezogen wurden, schon nach Hause. Und dann am fünften Januar mussten wir antreten Schule [unclear] Schule mit einem Papkarton und da stand da genau drinn was man da alles mitbringen durften, zwei Unterhosen, und ein Paar Socken, alles so was [laughs]. Und dann wurden wir auf’n LKW geladen und da stand da drauf:’Eltern durften nicht da mit’ oder so änlich wurde das da bezeichnet und von meinem Freund Erich, der mit mir grossgeworden ist, die Mutter die war klever, die ist dann hinter uns her gegangen wo wir zum, und wo wir auf der einen Seite von dem LKW standen dann ist sie auf der anderen Seite durch so’n Buschwerk und hat den Fahrer geholt und hat gesagt:’Hören Sie mal, wo fahren Sie den hin, mein Sohn ist hier bei’. Und da hat er gesagt: ‘Nach Heiligenrode’ und da wusste, wusste meine Mutter, hatte gleich Bescheid, wussten die zumindest wo wir Jungen hinkamen. Und da sind wir furchtbar ausgebildet worden, also furchtbar, jeden Tag acht Stunden und das im Januar bei Wind und Wetter und da wurden wir auch fast alle krank und erkältet und alles sowas. Und dann so nach’m viertel Jahr wurden wir eingesetzt und auf, ach so und dann fragte dann der Hauptmann, der Kommandeur, der war im Zivilberuf war der Studienrat und zwar in Matte, Mathematik [laughs] und der fragte dann:’was wollen Sie werden?’ Wir waren ja alle per Sie plötzlich mit fuffzehn Jahren und was wollen sie werden, was wollen Sie [unclear] , und da habe ich gesagt:‘Baumeister, Herr Hauptmann, Baumeister’. ‚Umwertung‘, das war also wo die Zielwege aufgezeichnet wurden, das wurde viel mit Zeichnung das war natürlich was neh. Und ein anderer Klassenkamerad der sagte: ‚ich will Elektroingenieur werden‘, der kam zum Funkmessgerät, das war der Vorgänger vom Radargerät, und so hatten manche schon Vorstellung und die die gar nix wussten die kamen zur Kannonen [laughs] na ja und so wurden wir dann ausgebildet. Und ja und so ging das weiter bis zum, also Januar bis etwa Juni und da wurden wir verlegt von der Flakstellung Heiligenrode zu der Flakstellung Niederkaufungen, da war nämlich ein grosses Heeresdepot und zum Schutz von diesem Depot wurde oben auf dem Berg, das ist heute noch hier, Papierfabrik heisst das, Richtung Kaufungen wenn se da mal [unclear], da waren wir zum Schutz da, so und dann war immer Fliegeralarm aber es passierte nix und da haben wir von der Umwertung, wir mussten auch Sperrfeuer schiessen und das wurde von der Umwertung aus gemacht, das war das Flug-Malsigerät, das war so’n, [unclear] und manchmal wurde Sperrfeuer geschossen, den das Vermessen der Entfernung war sehr schwierig damals neh, am Tag ging das durch die vier-meter Basis, aber am nachts war das schwierig. Und das war in der ganzen, in dem ganzen halben Jahr vorher nicht einmal passiert. Und da bin ich mit’m Paar die den Zielweg nicht aufzeichnen brauchten [unclear] Malsigerät wir haben oben zugeguckt wie da die Flak geschossen hat und da ist wohl das Stichwort gekommen Sperrfeuer und unsere Batterie hat das nicht gemacht weil ich net da war und meine Kumpels. Und da simma nächsten Tag wurde eine zbV Batterie aufgebraut und dann kam der Hauptmann schon auf mich zu und ’Sie wissen ja warum sie jetzt versetzt werden’. Da kam ich zur zbV Batterie mit vierleutenarme [?] und da wurden wir dann umgeschult, sollten wir eigentlich nach Breslau, [clears throat] und da haben wir schon das [unclear] gepackt und alles neh und da kamen kurz davor in der Doppelbaracke da war die andere Seite, da war der Oberleutnant, der Batteriechef und der telefonierte plötzlich, da haben wir alle gehorcht und da hatt er gesagt:’Wunderbar! Ist ja wunderbar! Herrlich! Toll!’ und so und da kam er gleich zu uns rüber: ‘Wir fahren nicht nach Breslau, das ist eingenommen worden von Russen’. Und dann kamen wir zur 12,8-Batterie, wurden wir umgeschult, nach Maronhüls [?], da in diesen ehemaligen,
HZ: Wie heisst das?
HK: [unclear] hiess das Nest, das Dorf, [unclear] ist eine grosse Stadt in das [unclear] gebiet da am Rand und da war eine V2-Herstellungs, so ‘ne Fabrik, die das herstellten oder auch schossen oder wie das war. Und die wurden da immer, wenn Flieger kamen, Feinde, da wurde das eingenebelt neh. Und dann wurden wir ausgebildet an den Kannonen und eines Tages da flogen mehrere Kannonen in die Luft durch Rohrkrepierung, das war also Sabotage von Munitionsfabriken, haben irgendwelche Fehler eingebaut.
HZ: Haben dann bei Ihnen waren da auch Russische Hiwis oder waren da auch andere in den Flak?
HK: Ja, waren da [unclear] dabei, Russische weniger, aber italiener, diese Badoglio-Truppen,
HZ: Ja.
HK: Diese von dem abgesprungenen General Badoglio neh, oder Serben glaub ich und so was, die wurden dann da beschäftigt. Und irgend einer hat da warscheinlich so was erfunden dass das und da krepierten in ganz Deutschland bei der 12,8 die Granaten und da hatten sie keine Kanonen mehr. Da kamen wir wieder nach Kassel, hier oben in Welhheiden da haben wir in so einer Baracke gewohnt vierzehn Tage oder was und dann kriegten wir den Einsatzbefehl zur Vierlingsflak Umschulung am Edersee auf der Talsperre. Die war wieder hergestellt, die war ja kaputt, wissen Sie das durch die Ballbombe,
HZ: Ja, die rolling bombs.
HK: Die da rotierte neh, das war ne ganz, technisch ne ganz tolle Sache neh, da muss ich wirklich sagen also war schon klasse aber als wir hinkamen war die schon wieder zugemauert, also das war für mich als Baumensch ein riesige Leistung innerhalb vom Jahr, oder halbes Jahr was die das alles fertigmachen, so sieht’s heute noch aus, ist da nachgemacht worden.
HZ: Wir sind da mal da gewesen, ja.
HK: Also das ist also eine riesige Leistung gewesen, wie die das alle gemacht haben, das weiss ich net, jedenfalls dann wurden wir auf der Vierling, da hatten wir oben auf der Mauer da war so’n holz, Holztürmchen aufgebaut da standen vier, drei Vierlingsflak [laughs] und da soll’n wir nun, wurden wir ausgebildet. So und dann am zwanzigsten, so und dann weil wir vier Kasselaner waren dann wurden wir immer weggeschickt zum Kurierdienst weil man der, Autos gab’s ja nicht, sie mussten also die Kurierpost, die musste zur Heeresgruppe, zur Luftwaffengruppe, des war hier in einer Kaserne auf der Hasenhecke hier in Kassel und da konnten sie an einem Tage nicht mit der Bahn hinfahren und wieder zurückkommen und da haben sie uns vier Kasseler immer eingeteilt, da konnten wir zuhause schlafen. Und da hatten wir das natürlich wunderbar. Und [unclear] ich mal wieder wegblicken, Anfang Februar oder irgend, Mitte Februar war das, da sagte mir der Schreibstubenbulle da, sagte:’Hör mal, wenn du jetzt nach hause gehst bring dir mal ein Paar Zivilklammotten mit’. Ich sag:’warum dann das?’. Das habe ich dann gemacht und dann zwei Tage später bei der Befehlsausgabe, da sagte der Hauptmann: ‘Wer hat Zivilsachen mit?’ Ich, Herr Hauptmann’, ‘morgen Abmarsch’ und da war die Entlassung hier neh. 20 Februar 1944 wurde ich von der Flak entlassen, ich war der erste [laughs], werde ich nie vergessen. Na ja, und dann war ich ein Paar Tage zuhause und da kriegte ich die Einberufung da, die hatte ich ja schon und dann hatten wir den Angriff hier etwa, ich weiss des Datum leider net mehr, am zweiten März oder irgendsowas, muss jetzt, grade jetzt auf die Zeit [unclear] muss das gewesen sein,
HZ: Ich hab mir.
HK: Da ist das Haus getroffen worden und ich war da zu Hause und da war ich mit ein Paar Freunden in einem Bunker.
HZ: Ja?
HK: Das erste Mal in meinem Leben in einen Bunker gewesen, weil da einer Musik machte, da war immer so’n bisschen was los. Und da kam ein Junge rein der sagte: ‘Helmut, stell dir mal vor, bei euch da in der Strasse brennt’s wie verrückt’. Und da bin ich raus, der Luftschutzwache wollte mich net raus lassen, da hab ich ihn weggeschoben, das war mich ganz egal [unclear] und da kam ich hin polterte die treppe hoch so, kurz vor mir ist die Holztreppe eingekracht, desshalb würde ich heute als Baumensch nie eine Holztreppe bauen, immer ne Betontreppe [laughs]. So und da stand ich unten und sah wie aus unserem Wohnzimmer, unserem Herrenzimmer die Flammen [unclear] schlugen und ich konnte nix machen. Da guckte ich so an mir runter da hatte ich Hose an und Schuhe an, keinen Kamm, keine Zahnbürste, da kam ich mir vor wie der ärmste Mensch den’s gibt auf der Welt, wirklich dieses Gefühl, das habe ich schon meinen Kindern erzählt, das war furchtbar, da stand ich da ach Gott, mein Wintermantel der hängt da an der Gardrobe, alles so und kam ich da gar net dran, das war eine furchtbare Nacht. Da bin ich mit meinen Freund, der war auch zufällig da, und da sind wir in den Keller, haben das bisschen was Mutter so’n Paar Koffer und so was, haben wir dann raus auf die Strasse gestellt, na ja und das haben wir dann, haben wir später mit einem Pferdefuhrwerk geholt und alles nach Gudensberg geschafft zu Verwandten.
HZ: Ja, die Geschichte wo Sie da noch zur Stadtkommandantur gegangen sind [unclear] mir erzählt haben.
HK: Ja, das ist da passiert.
HZ: Ja, die könnense noch amal für das Band erzählen.
HK: Ja, gut und da hatte ich ja di Einberufung und dann, so die hatte ich ja vorher schon deshalb bin ich ja bei der Flak entlassen worden, und dann einberufen sollte ich werden, das glaub ich am 6 März oder irgendwas sollte ich da antanzen und am zweiten oder so dann passierte der Bombenangriff und da hat der Onkel gesagt, neh, richtig, der Onkel hat gesagt:’Neh, das geht net, da kannste net weg’, ich sage:’Was mache ich den jetzt?’ ‚Ja dann, geh doch mal zur Ostkommandantur’, und da bin ich dann nach Kassel, ich glaub sogar gelaufen, [unclear] viele Stunden, und dann war die Geschichte ja mit der Ostkommandantur, wo ich draussen stand der Posten und da sagte ich, ‘Luftwaffenoberhelfer Koeler hier der will zum Ostkommandanten sprechen’, [laughs] das ich überhaupt den Mut hatte da staune ich heute noch, und wo er dann, wo ich dann sagte: ‘Ich bitte da um ein Paar Tage Urlaub, meine Mutter ist alleine und wir haben ein Paar Sachen rausgeholt aus’m Keller, die stehen da alle noch und ich muss, meine schwangere Schwester kann auch net helfen und so neh, und dann hat er dann gesagt also, na ja, mich mitleidig angeguckt und da hat er gesagt: ‘Na ja, melden sich in acht Tagen wieder’. ‘Jawohl!’ Und dann bin ich dann los und dann hat der Onkel gefragt: ‘Hat er überhaupt gefragt wo du wohnst?’, da hab ich gesagt: ‘neh’, ‚das ist gut, da gehst du nicht mehr hin‘. Und dann haben wir den englischen Rundfunk gehört abends, ‘Hier ist England, Hier ist England’. Und dann habe ich dann nun, haben wir dann nun bald erfahren wo die Amerikanischen Truppen, die sind dann in Remagen über’m Rhein weg, und dann waren sie schon über Frankfurt weg, und dann sagte der Onkel: ‘Das dauert keine zwei Wochen dann sind die hier’, und es stimmte auch. Am ersten April waren die ersten Amis in Gudensberg. Und so bin ich davongekommen. Und vorher hatte ich noch, da hatte mich mit so’n Mädchen da getroffen, standen wir so im Hauseingang, Ich konnte ja nur abends weggehen, am Tage lies mich der Onkel net raus, da kam einer plötzlich [makes a noise] stand einer neben mir, guckte mich an, sagte: ‘Bist Du den verrückt?’, der dachte ich wäre so’n Desertierter, er war nämlich auch einer. ‚du stellst dich hier hin, eben haben’se drei da oben erschossen‘, die haben’se erwischt neh, und da wurde es mir natürlich unheimlich, da bin ich auch abends weggegangen. Ja und bis die Amerikaner kamen. Das war ein Karfreitag, erster April 1945 [laughs], Karfreitag war das. Und die Tante hatte vorher schon ein bisschen Kuchen gebacken und dann sassen wir dann am Küchentisch und haben Kuchen gegessen. Auf einmal klopft es an der Haustür. Da kamen die ersten Amerikanischen Soldaten. Vor jedem Haus hielt ein, wie nannten die sich diese drei-achsler?, LKWs, na ja gut, weiss jetzt nimmer, und da sassen immer zehn Mann drauf, Amerikaner und im jedem Haus kam da Einquartierung und da mussten die Zivilleute alle raus. Und da kam der Unteroffizier oder was er da war, weiss ich net, der kam als erste sah mich an: ‘Raus!’, so ‘Raus!’. Da sag ich: ‘Moment muss ich Schuhe anziehen‘, zieh am ende Schuhe, dann kam ich die Treppe da runter und da standen zwei mit der MP und haben sie mich abgeführt zum Ostkommandanten. Und da war so’n netter kleiner Dolmetscher und der fragte: ‘Warum sind sie kein Soldat?’ Sag ich: ‘Ich war bei, als Luftwaffenhelfer’. Konnte er nix mit anfagen. [unclear] Und diesen Luftwaffenhelferausweis den hatte ich in der Tasche und dann wollte ich ihn zeigen und da fiel er vor lauter Aufregung fiel mir da hin, da war der schneller da und, ‘Ach!’ sagte ‘jetzt weiss ich was sie waren’. Da ist er zu seinem Boss hingegangen, zu dem Kolonel oder, neh Kolonel war er net, also der Offizier neh, und da kam der raus und dann guckte der mich an. This fellow is [unclear], ab und da bin ich auch schnell nach hause und so bin ich davongekommen. Draussen standen dann da, die haben sie alle aufgesammelt, die verwundet waren, Verwundetenurlaub und so und die sind dann alle nach Frankreich abgeschoben worden. Mussten ein Jahr im Bergwerk arbeiten und so. Ich bin da davongekommen. Das war meine Zeit in Gudensberg und da war ich eben fünf Jahre in Gudensberg, Fussball gespielt und so, das war eine schöne Zeit, aber in Kassel gab’s keine Schulen, des erste halbe Jahr gab’s nix. Und mein Freund hier, der Erich, der ist in Kassel weiter geblieben und der hat mich immer mal besucht in Gudensberg und der sagte eines Tages: ‘Helmut, im Herbst geht die Schule wieder los‘, die Albert-Schweitzer Schule, hier in der Kölnischen Strasse, die hiess damals Adolf Hitler Schule während des Krieges [laughs], und der sagte der Rektor da das ist der Ale Witschi [?], der mal zu uns in der Flakstellung kam und mit dem habe ich jetzt mal gesprochen über dich und der hatte gesagt ich sollte mal kommen, sollte mal gucken, der hätte einen Plan für mich. Da bin ich dann hingegangen, habe einen Ausbildungschef gefragt, hier ‚n Meister, darf ich da mal dahingehen? Ja selbstverständlich. Und da hat er gesagt: ‘Gut, zwei Tage Schule haben wir in der Woche. Und in den zwei Tagen kannste zur Schule gehen und die anderen vier Tage, weil ja Sonnabend auch ein Arbeitstag war, da gehste in die Lehre. Frag mal deinen Lehrmeister ob er das macht.
HZ: Und was haben sie da für eine Lehre gemacht?
HK: Maurerlehrer.
HZ: Maurerlehrer.
HK: So ich war im Baugeschäft, und meine Mutter stammte auch aus dem Baugeschäft, also für mich gab’s gar nichts anderes, ich war, begeistert bin ich heute noch. Ich wollte Baumeister werden, was das damals war weiss ich net, aber das wollte ich ja einfach werden und da musste ich, ja Schule gab’s nicht mehr und da hab ich gesagt, jeden Tag beim Onkel Stall misten wollte ich auch net, ich will Lehre machen und so. So ist das gekommen. Und die Tochter von dem Bauunternehmer hier in Kassel, die war eine Freundin von meiner ältesten Schwester. Also wir kannten die, die Familie kannte sich persönlich sowieso. Nun dann bin ich zum Vitrokin [?], das war der Rektor, der Kommissarische Rektor von der Schule und der hat mich begrüsst wie ein alter Kumpel den der kam in unser Flakschirm das hat man auch Unterricht gekriegt [unclear] Flakschirm weil wir Schüler waren neh und dann hatt er manchmal gesagt [unclear]:’Ach Jungs, habt ihr noch mal, nimmt mal eine Tasse Kaffee für mich’ Und dann kam so, alles zu Fuss, [unclear] und der war wie’n Kumpel für uns, das war der Lehrer, und dann hat er mich begrüsst wie ein alter Kumpel da neh, sagte mach dein Lehrmeister einen Vorschlag und da machste bis Ostern das und dann kriegste das Zeugnis der Mittleren Reife, das hatte ich auch net, hatte ich nix, Schule kaputt, und so haben wir das gemacht. Dann bin ich zwei Tage zu Schule gegangen, richtig noch Latein und Matte und alles sowas neh und dann habe ich so ein Einheitszeugnis, so gross, stand ‘Alles befriedigt’ [laughs]. Na ja gut, und das ist meine Schulausbildung gewesen, kein Abitur gemacht, gar nix. Na ja, und dann habe ich dann studiert, habe ich dann meine Maurerlehre gemacht, an der staatlichen Ingenieurschule beworben, und das war ja auch so tragisch. Da musste zwei Tage Aufnahmeprufung sein neh, mit dem bisschen Wissen was ich da aus der Schule hatte und dann waren, dreisig haben, wolltense aufnehmen, und driehundertsechsig Bewerber kamen da in die Schule am Königstor als Offiziere und hatten noch ihre Offiziersmäntel an und so weil wir nix kaufen konnten [unclear]. Und da bin ich natürlich mit Glanz und Gloria auch durchgefallen. Und da habe ich mich auf die Hose gesetzt. Mit einem Freund aus Gudensberg zusammen, den Roman [unclear], der stammte aus Litauen, der war da Flüchtling, und da haben wir da richtig gepauckt. Hier neben uns da wohnte der Doktor Enders, Mathematik, Studienrat, war’n Kollege, Freund von meinem Vater, genau hier in der Parallelwohnung in der [unclear] und der hat uns dann Mathe beigebracht. Plötzlich viel es mir wie Schuppen von den Augen, plözlich konnte ich ne Gleichung mit zwei Unbekannten, das war gar kein Problem mehr. Und so bin ich dann zur zweiten Prüfung ein halbes Jahr später und da hab ich’s bestanden und so hab ich meine Paar Semester, fünf, sechs Semester glaub ich, [unclear] Ausbildung
HZ: Gemacht.
HK: So ist das geworden. Und dann fanden wir keine Arbeit und so. Und dann bin ich da mit einem Kollegen hier rumgelaufen ob als Maurer ein bisschen Geld verdienen konnten, als Maurer kriegten’se [unclear] Arbeit das war ’52.
HZ: Das war [unclear].
HK: Das war ganz ganz schlimm neh. Und dann hatte ich durch einen Onkel, der war in Bielefeld Stadtrat und der hat mir vermittelt beim Bielefelder Tiefbeamt eine Aushilfstelle für einviertel Jahr und habe auch bei denen gewohnt, es waren so Industrielle die haben da heute noch so Fabriken und so was Graustoffwerk und da hatten sie aber keine Planstelle und mittlerweile habe ich mich beworben bei einer Hamburger Firma die ein Onkel von mir kannte weil der Besitzer, der Vater von dem jetzigen Besitzer er war, war ein Studienkollege von meinem Ober, so hat sich das ergeben. Und die bauten Helgoland wieder auf, weil Helgoland ja ein Abwurfgebiet von der Britischen Armee war nach’m Kriege, da haben sie X Bomben ausprobiert, die ganze Insel Helgoland die war praktisch unbewohnbar, Blindgänger und die mussten wir, wurde praktisch umgepflügt die ganze Insel, drei meter da weggetragen und dahingepackt und da gingen natürlich immer die Blindgänger und die Bomben hoch. Die Bagger die hatten solche Stahlplatten davor, das der Fahrer net verletzt wurde. Und kurz davor kriegt ich ein Telegramm, das habe ich übrigens noch, nächste Woche nicht, Telefon gab’s ja gar net, nicht nach Helgoland sondern Mönchengladbach. So, Telefonummer aufgeschrieben, da bin ich nach Mönchengladbach gefahren da kriegte, hatte die Firma einen grossen Auftrag gekriegt, das englische Hauptquartier, das Hauptverwaltungsgebaüde, das steht übrigens heute noch, da habe ich auch jetzt ein Bild gefunden noch davon und das hatte ja zweitausendzweihundert und so und soviele Zimmer, Britische Rheinarmee. Und das habe ich, da war ich Bauführer nannte sich damals. Waren wir drei Mann und hatten teilweise bis vierhundert Leute beschäftigt. Britische Rheinarmee hiess das glaub ich. Und da habe ich auch die Einweihung mitgemacht, da haben wir noch, vorne in den Haupteingang, in dem Pfeiler, da haben wir noch eine Kassette eingemauert die muss heute noch [unclear] sein, sind noch warscheinlich noch Namen die ich noch merkte, ich weiss es nimmer so genau, mit ne silbernen Kelle haben wir da [unclear]. Und das war meine Grösse und auch eine, da habe ich viel gelernt [unclear]. Ganze drei Jahre war ich da. Das war sehr interessant und da habe ich mit einem Englischen Pionieroffizier viel zu tun gehabt neh, das waren die die eher kein Deutsch konnten. Und ein Ziviloffizier der war mittlerweile dann, er war früher auch bei den Pionieren gewesen und der war dann entlassen worden wegen Alter, der war dann schon Ende fuffzig oder irgendwas, und der wollte noch als Zivilingenieur und der schlief auch in einer Barakke von uns und dem haben wir auch Skatspielen beigebracht.
HZ: [laughs]
HK: Und dann haben wir auch mit dem die Weltmeisterschaften damals wo Deutschland Weltmeister 1954, da hatten wir noch kein Fernsehen und alles so was. Da hat er mit uns geguckt, da haben wir auf’n Stuhlen gestanden und [laughs], na ja und das war der mister Webster und der hat mich so ein bisschen aufgeklärt, der sagte, hören sie mal Herr Koehler, der sprach ganz gut Deutsch, weil er eine Deutsche Frau hatte aus Aachen und der sagte: ‚Die können bestimmt auch Deutsch‘, und da habe ich mal irgendwie was falsch verstanden und da hat er mich zur Rede gestellt. Mister Buru, was er für einen [unclear] hatte weiss ich nicht, Major, Major Buru, und da habe ich gesagt: ‚so Major Buru‘, habe ich in Deutsch dann gesagt, ab jetzt kann ich kein Englisch mehr‘ und da hat er gelacht und da kam der mister Webster dazu und da haben die ein bisschen gequatscht und seit dem haben wir nur noch Deutsch gesprochen und mit den anderen Kollegen genauso [laughs]. Das war nun meine Zeit mit den Engländern und ich wollte immer nochmal nach’m Kriege hin, nach der Zeit hin, aber ich bin nie wieder dahingekommen. Es muss heute noch da und wenn sie mal da in der Nähe sind, Mönchengladbach, Ortsteil Hardter Wald, das ist ja’n Riesenbezirk, das sind ja, das ist hier wie ‚ne Stadt, da lebten fast zwanzigtausend Menschen, da gab’s Schulen und für die Offiziere, und Offizierskasino und Kino und Theater und da haben wir mehrere Baustellen gehabt, das war meine schönste Zeit so mit
HZ: Aus [unclear]
HK: Und von da aus sollte ich dann nach Berlin da kriegtense in Berlin ‚n Auftrag, und weil wir nun damals für das Englische Hauptquartier bauten, da waren wir für die DDR Feinde. Das war der Karl Eduard von Schnitzler hiess der, Sudel-Ede hiess der, der brachte so politische Kommentare jeden Tag, das war so’n Richter. Ich weiss nicht ob sie den Namen schon
HZ: Den Namen kenn ich noch ja.
HK: Eduard von Schnitzler, der Sudel-Ede hiess er bei uns, und der hat da mal gesagt: ‘Es gibt sogar Deutsche die für die feindlichen Truppen heute noch bauen’ und da haben wir sogar, wurden die Namen genannt, unsere drei Namen. Und ich hab’s selber net gehört, das haben sie von Hauptbüro aus Hamburg habense uns das gesagt, also hütet euch, die Verbindungsstrasse zu fahren zwischen Helmstedt und Berlin, [unclear] vielleicht festgenommen. Und dann sollte ich nach Berlin, da hätten wir nun fliegen können von Hannover aus und da hab ich dann hier alles mögliche mobil gemacht hier in Kassel neh. Durch so‘n befreundeten Architekten, dann kriegte ich dann ‚ne Stelle bei einem Architekten hier und von da aus, na ja, das interessiert sie jetzt [unclear]. Und so bin ich nachher bei der Stadt gelandet, bei der Stadt Kassel und hab für die die Kläranlage, das war der erste grosse Massnahme, die Kläranlage baute, seit dem haben sie mich übernommen und da war ich naher auch in zwanzig Jahren Sachgebietsleiter vom Brucken und [unclear] Bau. Wenn sie jetzt über eine Brücke fahren ist alles so [laughs]
HZ: [laughs] kann ich sagen.
HK: Na ja gut das ist mein Lebenslauf.
HZ: Ehm, so, weil sie schon mal angefangen, angesprochen haben mit dem Bombenangriff auf Kassel, was denken sie eigentlich wären so prägende Erlebnisse gewesen die sie vielleicht auch heute noch beschäftigen?
HK: Ja, die mich heute noch beschäftigen, ich seh’s jetzt erstmal vom baulichen Standpunkt her. Die ganze Altstadt, die aus‘m Mittelalter noch stammt, die ist mit einem Schlag innerhalb zwei Stunden war alles kaputt und zehntausend Menschen in den Kellern, so, und die haben einen schönen Tod gehabt. Die sind an Sauerstoffmangel eingeschlafen. Den Keller hat wir ja früher net met waagerechten Decken gemacht sondern es waren nur Gewölbe, sonst ging aus staatlichen Gründen net anders neh. Und da sind die eingeschlafen, die sind regelrecht gebacken worden, oben bis auf diesen brennenden Schutt rauf und dieses Gewölbe war wie Backofen beim Bäcker. Da sind die zusammengeschrumpft so wie wir, wir wären plötzlich so gross gewesen, dieses ganze Wasser wäre verdampft neh. Die haben eigentlich einen sehr schönen Tod gehabt. Entschuldige wenn ich das so sage heute, das will ja keiner hören. Die sind eingeschlafen, Sauerstoffmangel, eingeschlafen und nie wieder aufgewacht. Und sind gebacken worden. Denn Ich habe die ja nachher gesehen wo sie aus den Kellergewölben rausgeholt wurden, von Gefangenen her, die ehemaligen Nazis und die mussten die da rausholen. Nach’m Kriege und so neh.
HZ: Sind da eigentlich beim raümen weil sie da auch dabei waren, sind da auch Zwangsarbeiter und Kriegs, wie heiss’ns, Kriegsgefangene eingesetzt worden?
HK: Ja diese, Kriegsgefangene, waren da auch. Das will ich noch mal kurz sagen. Die Flakstellung wo wir waren bei der Flak. Ich war nun bei der Umwertung, und der, war mein Schulfreund hier und der Elektrofritze da, wir hatten zuhause, der Mann, der Ober der war schon ein grosser Elektroindustrielle und so, Funkmessgerät und so. Und wennse zur, an’s Geschutz kamen, da war, drei Kannoniere waren Luftwaffenhelfer, die stellten diese Messgeräte an, wir konnten das ja viel besser als die Soldaten die vorher da waren, weil wir schneller und pfiffiger waren neh, das waren drei Luftwaffenhelfer an jeder eine Kannone, die die Breitengrade, Höhengrade und die Entfernung eingestellt haben und der Ladekannonier das war ein Deutscher und die Zureichen die Munition, das waren meistens Russische Kriegsgefangene. Müssen sich das vorstellen, die saßen, oder Französische, die saßen mit uns in dem kleinen Wald da neh und haben gebibbert. Dann habe ich dann auch von denen die, zum Teil Deutsch, hattense immer Hunger und dann kriegten sie von uns immer eine Scheibe Brot neh und alles so was. Wir hatten ein gutes Verhältnis mit denen, das war das mit den Kriegsgefangenen und die waren natürlich auch viele in der Industrie hier in Kassel, in Kassel hatten wir die Junkerswerke und so,
HZ: Da hätten [unclear] der Fieseler.
HK: Fieseler und so. Und auch die Munition herstellten [unclear] war früher neh und so und deshalb war ja auch die Flak hier rings rum und so. Ja und so haben wir viel mit den Kriegsgefangenen, wie viel da nun tot gegangen sind hier in der Stadt, die wohnten ja net hier in so, die wohnten immer ausserhalb in so Lagern, desshalb sind net allzu viele da umgekommen von den Kriegsgefangenen.
HZ: Nöh, ich hab bloß, ob die dann auch eingesetzt, ob die dann auch eingesetzt wurden beim raümen. Ich hatte da, ich hatte da von dem, da hatt schon mal einer Überlebensberichte veröffentlicht ‚93, die habe ich mir mal angeguckt und da sind auch zumindestens zwei Holländer und ein Franzose dabei. Aber, weil halt dann die Zeitungen hier, die Regionalzeitungen, die fragen ja dann schon nach Zuschriften, aber weil das ja dann immer bloß regional gemacht wird, da kriegt man ja dann immer bloß die Deutschen Stimmen,
HK: Richtig. Richtig, genau. Richtig.
HZ: Die von dem anderen, da hört man ja nix und das wär natürlich auch mal interessant.
HK: Nein also Holländer waren viele, Kriegsgefangene Holländer waren viele hier in Kassel. Und hier eine kleine Episode wo wir aus dem Keller mit meinen Freunden, aus dem, irgendwo brannte es, aus dem Keller haben wir dann die Paar Sachen rausgeholt, die lagen tagelang, vier, fünf Tage auf der Strasse, da hat keiner was geklaut oder irgendwas neh. Und dann wo wir dann mit dem Pferdewagen hier nach Kassel kamen und haben das dann abgeholt wollen, da war mitten in der Strasse, also die Hansteinstrasse, die Uferstrasse ist, genau in der mitte der Strasse war ein Riesenbombentrichter. Wir konnten also mit dem Wagen garnet zu unserm Haus finden.
HZ: Ja.
HK: Es war nur so’n schmaler Streifen an dem Vorgarten links und da hätten wir die ganzen Sachen da vorne an die Hauptstrasse bringen müssen, wo der Wagen stand, und da bin ich unten in die Hauptstrasse rein und da kam mal zwei Männer und da sag ich:, kommt mal her, wollt ihr mir da ein bisschen helfen?‘, das waren Holländer und die haben mir geholfen diese Sachen dahin und da habense so’ne Flasche Wein also von meinem Vater her, der hatte noch so‘n Weinschrank und da waren noch ein Paar Flaschen Wein drin und da hab ich ihnen eine gegeben und eine habense mir noch geklaut, das hab ich aber erst später gemerkt aber das hab ich ja eingesehen, das war schon richtig neh und so und das waren Holländer. Die haben mir dann geholfen. Also die liefen dann hier rum, so Freizeit, haben net dauernd gearbeitet, aber wie das war weiss ich net. Also über diese Verhaltnisse weiss ich eigentlich wenig Bescheid, die waren nur da, aber was se sonst so gemacht haben weiss ich net.
HZ: Da hat’s, ’95, die haben mal eine Wiedervereinigung hier gemacht, da haben sich welche hier in Kassel sogar wieder, wieder getroffen. Aber wie gesagt, die, man hört halt die Stimmen, man hört halt immer bloß die, also die Deutsch waren und auch hier im Gebiet geblieben sind, weil ich glaube das da einer in Bad Nauheim zum Beispiel die Hannoversche Allgemeine liesst, die werden, da gib’s halt dann keine Zuschrifften, desswegen habe ich da bloß immer so, so gefragt.
HK: Also es gab ja viele persönliche Schicksale auch neh, das auch sich Freundschaften gebildet haben. Zum Beispiel hier hatte mein Onkel in Gudensberg, der kriegte einen Polnischen Kriegsgefangenen, so als Hilfe, und das war ein Polnischer Student, war ein hochintelligenter Kerl, Jurek hiess er, und der hatte vorher noch nie was mit Landwirtschaft zu tun gehabt, der musste da milken lernen und so, der hatte es sehr gut beim Onkel, der durfte nur net am Tisch sitzen, sondern der musste am Küchentisch, da wurde so’ne Platte rausgeschoben, da sass der. Und mit dem bin ich dann zusammen auf’n Acker und hab gehackt und so und da hab ich ihm die Deutsche Grammatik beigebracht, das wollte er gerne wissen und ich hab da auch die Polnische Grammatik mitgekriegt, also das war aüsserst interessant. Und die Geschichte, er interessierte sich für alles, also war schon interessant neh. Hatten ne richtige Freundschaft geschlossen neh, der war nur zehn Jahre älter oder was, aber trotzdem. Und der ist auf einem Polnischen Zerstörer Soldat gewesen und da kamen die Stukas gleich am ersten oder zweiten Tag und haben den versenkt in der Ostsee und da haben sich ganze drei Mann retten können und er konnte gut schwimmen und hatt dann, durch’s schwimmen hatt er dann sich’s Leben gerettet. Und dadurch das er nun gut Deutsch konnte und sehr intelligent war, ist er in dem Polnischen Reisebüro Orbis nachher angestellt gewesen, in Danzig, neh in Posen glaub ich war das, neh Danzig, Stettin, entschuldigung, es ist, so ist das heute mit dem alten Kopf, Stettin. Und der hat mich hier mehrmals besucht. Der war der erste Polnische Reisende der hier in Deutschland sich bewegen durfte und der hat die Deutschen Reisegruppen, die wurden an der Grenze abgefangen und dann, die mussten ja alles ohne Aufsicht neh und wenn ne Deutsche Reisegruppe war, dann haben sie ihn eingeteilt weil er auch Deutsch konnte und wenn hier eine Reisegruppe aus Kassel kam, dann hatt er gesagt: ‚Sie kommen aus Kassel?‘, ‚Ja‘ ,Kennen sie Helmut Koehler?‘ ‚Nöh‘. Dann hatt er ihn die Telephonnummer gegeben, ja da hatte ich schon Telephon richtig, Anfang der 60er Jahre oder wann das war, ändert doch, ja so ungefähr, was soll denn, und da hatt er gesagt: ‚Rufen sie an wenn sie jetzt zuhause sind‘. Und da kriegt ich da X Telephongespräche hier von allen möglichen Leuten, ich soll sie grussen vom Yurek, [laughs] war schon interessant. Und dann kam er dann wirklich mal an und hat, er war der erste Polnische Reisende der hier nach Deutschland kommen konnte. Und dann kam er hier an, hatte vorher angerufen, war meine Frau da, die kannte den Jurek ja net und dann sagt’se, rief sie mich an im Büro, sagt‘se:‘Der Jurek hat angerufen‘. Jurek, ja dein Polnischer Freund, ja ja. Und dann haben wir am Fenster gestanden, um fünf oder was wollte er kommen und hatt sich dann, savott, [unclear] sieht genauso aus. Und der war jahrelang gleich nach’m Kriegsende hier in einer Kaserne auf der Hasenhecke da kamen die ganzen Polnischen und Russischen Kriegsgefangenen wurden da erstmal einquartiert und da war er Chef der Lagerpolizei. Da hat er mich eingeladen zu seiner Hochzeit, da hat er geheiratet und da hat meine Mutter gesagt: ‚Du kannst da net hinfahren, erstmal komste da gar net hin‘, erstmal von Gudensberg aus nach Kassel fuhr gar kein Zug richtig, und dann von hier aus laufen bis zur Hasenhecke das war in Waldau ganz, ich weiss net ob sie das genau so kennense.
HZ: Wir sind heute oben gewesen.
HK: Waldau, das ist so ganz unten an der Fulda da neh. Das ist noch mal mindestens zwei Stunden Fussweg neh, wie willste denn dahin kommen und da bin ich da net hin. Und da hat er mich am Bahnhof abgepasst, ich hab ja da schon gearbeitet, da hat er gesagt:‘So, du bist auf meiner Hochzeit nicht gewesen‘, da hat er mich ein ganzes Jahr lang net angeguckt, da kam er [unclear]. Und der, ich hab noch Post von ihm heute, da hatt er mir, ach, x-mal geschrieben und da kam er hier und dann hatt er mir von der Polnischen Politik berichtet, hier bei mir durfte er das jetzt sagen. Also das waren Zustände, wissense [unclear], soundosoviel Quadratmeter eine Person, durfte glaub ich nur zehn Quadratmeter Wohnfläche haben für eine Person sonst musseste zahlen, also unmögliche Zustände. Na ja gut, das war mit den Polen.
HZ: Und noch, noch irgendwas von der, noch irgendwas aus ihrer Zeit von der, bei der Flak?
HK: Von der Flak, neh. Ja gut also, wie gesagt, hier wo wir am Edersee waren, alle, zweimal in der Woche musste ich nach Kassel fahren, ich hatt’s natürlich gut, da brauchte ich keinen Dienst mehr zu machen. Und so habe ich auch viele Angriffe mitgemacht, die letzten Angriffe neh. Und da war ja meine Mutter und meine [unclear] schwangere Schwester die waren dann schon in Gudensberg, aber die Wohnung war immernoch da, die ist erst ganz, ja, letzter Angriff oder vorletzter Angriff auf Kassel. Und da war die Nachbarin die hat ja gesagt: ‚Helmut, kannst ruhig hier schlafen, wenn Fliegeralarm kommt da mach ich dich schon wach‘. Weil ich das [unclear] gehört habe, als junger Bursche [laughs] und so war das neh. Ja also da gibt’s eigentlich und dann die Angriffe hier. Dann eines Tages hatten wir einen Blindgänger im Haus, das war in der Silvesternacht, vom ‚44 auf ‚45, da war ich am Edersee und Neujahr musste ich Kurierdienst machen und da war ein Zettel an der Haustür: ‚Vorsicht, Blindgänger‘. Alle Leute [unclear] raus, die mussten alle weg. Da ist durch die Decken, durch die Bäder, wir hatten sogar schon Bäder damals, ist die Bombe durch die ganzen Bäder durch und über der Luftschutzkellerdecke ist die Bombe hängen geblieben, wenn die explodierte waren sie alle tot. Und meine Mutter, wir wohnten im dritten Stock, die ist als erstes raufgegangen, die wäre fast da reingefallen in das Loch, die hat das erst gar nicht gesehen weil ja kein Licht da, kein Strom und nix. Und dann hat sie geschrien und dann die Leute alle: ‚Ach Gott!‘ durch die Badewanne durch, war plötzlich ein Loch [laughs]. Na ja, und das haben’se dann wieder irgendwie geflickt, bis es dann ganz kaputt ging. Ja und als Luftwaffenhelfer das was insofern ‚ne interessante Zeit weil das für uns eben, ja, wie soll ich das sagen, wir waren aufgeweckte Gymnasiasten und wir hatten plötzlich eine Zeit vor uns die, die wir net richtig begreifen konnten, habe ich ja eben schon gesagt was is wenn der Krieg jetzt zu Ende ist, was passiert denn mit uns? Diese Gespräche hatten wir schon.
HZ: Das könnten sie auch für das Band nochamal dazu sagen, weil das haben sie mir ja schon vorher mal erzählt. Die Gespräche dann das die vielleicht, das da vielleicht die Flakhelfer so einen Sieg des Dritten Reiches gar net so entgegengesehn haben.
HK: Ja, das war zum Beispeil nach dem Angriff, nach dem Attentat auf‘m Hitler, das war der 20 Juni, Juli, glaub’ich, Juni.
HZ: Juni.
HK: 20 Juni 1944.
HZ: ‚44.
HK: Und dann, wie gesagt, dann in der Kabine, von der Funk, ach wie heisst der, wo die Nachrichten kamen, da wurde dann immer so die Lage da mitgeteilt, Hitler ist davongekommen undsoweiter, aes wurde da immer mitgeteilt. Und da kam der Hauptmann, Leutnant [unclear] und konnte dann [unclear] hören. So und da haben wir abends im Bett gelegen und haben dann gesagt: ‚Hier, das was wohl jetzt wird hier‘ undsoweiter und der Hitler ist davongekommen und da hat der einer gesagt.‘So’ne Scheisse!‘ [laughs], das werde ich also nie vergessen. Und da haben wir schon drüber unterhalten. Was wäre gewesen wenn und da haben wir aber auch debatiert drüber was des auch der Stauffenberg neh, was der auch für Fehler gemacht hat. Wenn er schon sowas macht, das Attentat auf’n Hitler, dann hätte er das auch richtig machen müssen. Er hätte warten müssen bis der tot ist, net vorher schon weglaufen. Er ist ja weggelaufen wo es da explodiert ist, er hätte sich erkundigen müssen, ist er nun wirklich tot oder so, und dadurch ist [unclear] das alles entstanden, wäre er danach stehngeblieben und hätte anschliessend erschossen, dann wäre er zwar auch erschossen worden aber so ist er auch umgekommen. Also das haben wir damals diskutiert, also der Stauffenberg hat da Fehler gemacht. Also so sachliche Gespräche haben wir als junge Leute gemacht, das ist mir noch gut [unclear] aber sonst mussten wir immer das machen was befohlen wurde, eigene Initiative konnten wir net haben.
HZ: Die, ehm, da werden verschiedene Zahlen angegeben, wie viel Flakhelfer einen Luftwaffensoldaten ersätzt hätten, ‚43, da heisst es, die einen sagen das wären, ein Flakhelfer für einen Soldaten gewesen, andere sagen das seien drei Flakhelfer für zwei Soldaten gewesen. Wissen sie da irgendwas?
HK: Hab ich ihnen ja eben gesagt, also diese Posten die wir hatten an der Kannone, die wären sonst von Soldaten gemacht worden
HZ: Also eins zu eins.
HK: Also jede Kannone wurden drei Soldaten gespart. Und wenn’s so’ne Grosskampfbatterie, die hatten acht Kannonen, acht ortsfeste Kannonen, also drei mal achzehn, vierundzwanzig Soldaten wurden schon alleine Kannonen gespart. Und dann kam dazu noch Kommandogerät, da hatten wir auch pfiffige Schüler von uns, die waren am Kommandogerät, da waren auch mindestens dreie, ich weiss es heute nicht mehr so genau, jeden [unclear] und Funkmessgerät. Und dann hier die Umwertung, wo wir nur Luftwaffenhelfer waren, da waren ja früher Soldaten. Also ich hatte alleine, ich war mal eine Zeitlang [unclear] Unteroffizier der, des Befehlsgewalt hatte über die Umwertung, der musste zum Lehrgang, da muss ja einer Stellvertreter sein und da hatt der Hauptmann bestimmt das war ich. Und in der Zeit ist das passiert mit dem Sperrfeuer und da musste ich natürlich bestraft werden, da kam ich zur zbV Batterie [laughs] das ist so kleine Erinnerung, da wurde ich bestraft. Na ja aber schon, das sind dann schon also vierundzwanzig, ich möchte mal sagen schon fast dreissig Soldaten wurden da schon gespart an einer Flakstellung, und wir waren ja ungefähr dreissig Luftwaffenhelfer.
HZ: Sind da auch welche von denen die sie gekannt haben, sind da auch welche gefallen?
HK: Neh.
HZ: Neh.
HK: Also wir haben zwar einen Bombenangriff mitgemacht und zwar in Kaufungen, da wo des grosse Lager von Panzern und LKWs war von der Deutschen Industrie, da ist genau zwischen der Flak, zwischen der Geschützstellung und zwischen der Befehlsstelle, da waren ungefähr, hundert, hundertfuffzig meter dazwischen und genau da ist mal ein ganzer Bombenteppich runter [unclear], genau dazwischen, und da hatt einer noch hier, am Fuss hier, irgendwie‘n Stein oder was da, kam ins Lazzaret hatte eine Verse kaputt. Das war das einzige was ich erlebt habe. Aber hier vorne, in der [unclear] hier, wenn sie hier ein Stückchen runtergehen, zum Auestadion, da ist, geht’s links die Ludwig-Mond-Strasse hoch und das war früher alles freies Feld und da stand eine Flakstellung, die haben viele Tote gehabt da. Da ist mal ein ganzer Bombenteppich über die Flakstellung weg, aber wie viel das wurde damals nicht bekannt gegeben. Da waren also mehrere Schüler die sind dann umgekommen aber zahlmässig waren es verhältnissmässig wenig, dass muss ich schon sagen. Die haben schon ein Bisschen auf uns jungen, junge Burschen so’n bisschen Mitleid gehabt oder so. Auch die Offiziere, das waren alles Familienväter und so. Unser Batterieschef der war von Beruf Mattestudienrat und der sah nun die armen Jungen da und hatte vielleicht selber auch Kinder zuhause und so. Also die haben uns schon so’n bisschen [unclear], das haben wir damals nicht so gemerkt, das haben wir nur dann später so erzählt wenn wir mal zusammen waren, na ja.
HZ: Gut.
HK: Weiss nicht ob ich ihnen viel dienen konnte mit dem, also, eh.
HZ: Des ist, des is ok, da bedanke ich mich. Weil das geht ja um ihre Erinnerungen, das geht ja net da drum.
HK: Ja, sicher, ich meine, Politik wurde damals ja ausgeschlossen, Politik gab’s die ganze Woche Politik, das kannten wir ja net gar net, also wenn da einer was von Politik erzählte wusste da einer gar nix mehr da anzufangen. Was Hitler sagte das war Evangelium. Und ich kann mich erinnern, das war wo wir am Edersee waren, sind, Weihnachten, ja hatten wir keinen Ausgang, mussten wir da bleiben Weihnachten, Weihnachten ‚44, ah da gab’s da ein Festessen, da gab’s net nur Sauerkraut und Pellkartoffeln, das gab’s fünf mal in der Woche, da gab’s dann zu Weihnachten ein Stückchen Fleisch ob das nun vom Hund war oder vom das wusste kein Mensch. Und da sassen wir in der Kantine und da sagte dann der Hautpmann: ‚Na, nun wollen wir mal ein Weihnachtslied singen‘. Da waren wir alle so traurig, wir Jungen, kriegte keiner einen Ton raus und einer nach‘m anderen ging dann raus und ich musste dann auch raus weil Tränen kamen und dann standen im Saal und heulten aber wie, ein Geschluchze und so. Also man merkte dann doch diese innere Ergriffenheit unter uns Schülern, wir waren net alle so, und dann mussten wir dann die Reden von Goebbels glaub ich oder wer das war, mussten wir dann anhören. Also es war schon manchmal schwierig, das kann ich ihnen sagen. Genau wie ich mal als Pimpf, wie war denn das, ich war hier auch, Hitlerjunge net zuerst waren es Pimpfe neh, also Jungvolk hiess das, mit zehn Jahren und so, da kriegtense die Uniform da waren wir ganz stolz drauf. Und dann war, wie war denn das eigentlich, jetzt weiss ich nicht zu welchem Anlass, denn da musste ich in der Stadthalle auf der Bühne an der Fahne stehen und vor uns dann, war das nach dem ersten Angriff auf Kassel glaub ich, das war ‚42, was, so war das, da kam der Joseph Goebbels und hat’ne Rede gehalten, da [unclear] so fünf, sechs Meter hinter’m Joseph gestanden, mit der Fahne neh, da konnte sie ja nix ändern dran, sie wurden einfach bestimmt, konnte sie sich net wehren oder so, das weiss ich immer noch so und da hat unsere Herzen werden starker und was er da alles gebrüllt hat, das ist zu erinnern. Genau wie einmal, das war glaub ich zum Reichskriegertag, ‚39, da war ich grade so‘m Pimpf, da war der Hitler hier in Kassel, zum Reichskriegertag, das mus ‚39, nah sie konn’s ja besser recherchieren, ich weiss nicht mehr wann das war, und da waren wir an der schönen Aussicht und da sollten wir absperren und, aber die Leute haben uns kleinen Jungen ja weggedrängt. Da bin ich hinten auf die Mauer die ja heute noch da ist und hab von oben geguckt und ich sag immer heute noch zu den Jungen, da hat mich der Hitler begrüsst, da guckte er nämlich grade dahin, machte immer so net, und grade da in dem Moment wo er zu mir guckt, da winkte er, da sag ich er hat mir zugeguckt [laughs] [unclear] das wissen meine Enkel sogar [laughs] [unclear]. Ja, Hitler, das ist so, für meinen Begriff, war das schon ein grosser Stratege und ein unheimlich schlauer Mensch, ganz egal was er nun gemacht hat, das Ergebniss war ja schlecht, aber wie er das gemacht hat, es gibt in der ganzen Geschichte, sie kennen die Geschichte besser, so Napoleon oder, ganzen Kriegen so, wie der Cäsar und so, das waren Strategen neh, oder hier, Dschingis Khan und so, wenn man sich vorstellt, in der Zeit, die kommen von der Mongolei mit Pferden und was weiss ich alle hierher, und beherschen ganze Riesenreiche hier. Also das ist schon eine gewaltige Sache und in diese Kategorie gehört meiner Meinung auch der Hitler wenn auch jetzt negativ seine Taten waren, aber er war Stratege, er hat bestimmt was jetzt gemacht wurde und die ganzen Generäle, die Feldmarschälle mussten das machen was er wollte. Das ist gar nicht so einfach sich das vorzustellen. Ich will den net in Schutz nehmen, net dasse denken ich wär ein alter Nazi oder so neh [laughs]. Aber er war wirklich und mein Vater der war jawohl, gut ich wusste nur, er hat jetzt eine Doktorarbeit gemacht über den Alten Fritze da und den Schlesigen Kriege da, und was er verehrt hat, das weiss ich von meiner Mutter her, Napoleon. Das war für ihn ein Riesenstratege wohl. Da hing sogar im Flur ein Riesengemälde von Napoleon, da kann ich mich als Kind da noch erinnern. Also es gab in der Welt mal so bestimmte Typen die übernormal strategisch begabt waren, das wissen sie besser, [unclear] sowas hier dazu erzählen [laughs] aber das ist meine Empfindung hier, meine Empfindung.
HZ: Gut, dann bedanke ich mich jetzt auch [unclear] mal.
HK: Ja, ich hoffe das.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Helmut Köhler
Description
An account of the resource
Helmut Köhler (b. 1928) recalls his wartime experience as Luftwaffenhelfer. He provides a first-hand account of two attacks on Kassel, the first on the 22 October 1943 and the second in March 1944. He describes his time spent inside the air-raid shelter; how he helped extinguish fires; the destruction of schools and the entire old town being razed to the ground. He also discusses everyday life in an anti-aircraft unit, the process of matching skills to roles, training, and anti-aircraft fire. He mentions being posted to a special deployment unit as a punishment for noncompliance, following which he was re-trained on quadruplet anti-aircraft guns at the Eder dam. He briefly talks about the breaching of the Eder dam and the ensuing flood wave. Helmut Köhler recalls Russian and French prisoners of war manning flak batteries. He describes an unexploded bomb in his house on new year’s eve 1944. He stresses that Luftwaffenhelfer freed up soldiers for combat roles and highlights how the replacement ratio was almost 1:1. He mentions his first encounter with American troops in Gudensberg at the end of the war.
Creator
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Harry Ziegler
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-03-03
Contributor
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Peter Schulze
Format
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00:59:29 audio recording
Language
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deu
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AKohlerH170303
Spatial Coverage
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Germany--Kassel
Germany--Eder Dam
Germany--Gudensberg
Germany
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.
Coverage
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Civilian
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10-22
1944-03
1944-12
1943-05-16
1943-05-17
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
childhood in wartime
Eder Möhne and Sorpe operation (16–17 May 1943)
firefighting
Luftwaffenhelfer
prisoner of war
shelter
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/141/1674/PBanksP15010147.2.jpg
3cf4d481b27fb99d51affe2e0c50bb81
Dublin Core
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Title
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Banks, Peter. Album one
Description
An account of the resource
134 items. The album contains pictures taken at RAF Methwold and Feltwell, Battles in France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force in 1940, 2 Group target photographs, and Venturas and Photographic Reconnaissance Unit Spitfires. There are also a number of aerial photographs of cities and targets in the Ruhr and the Low countries taken at low level during a sightseeing Cooks tour after VE Day. <br /><br />Return to the <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/140">main collection</a>.
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.
Format
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One photograph album
Identifier
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PBanksP1501
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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Christmas at RAF Feltwell
Description
An account of the resource
In the foreground bushes and small trees with branches covered with snow/heavy frost. In the background parts of buildings are visible. Caption 'RAF Feltwell, Norfolk xmas 1944'.
Format
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One b/w photograph mounted on an album page
Identifier
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PBanksP15010147
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--Norfolk
England--Feltwell
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
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
Type
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Photograph
RAF Feltwell
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/165/2240/PWrightJ1538.2.jpg
e8c88325a3b6916ff320250ade562f56
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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Wright, Jim
J R Wright
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-05-21
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Wright, J
Description
An account of the resource
93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams. <br /><br />Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/126015/">IBCC Losses Database</a>. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102186/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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
Politz Oil Refinery
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
Format
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One b/w photocopy
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
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PWrightJ1538
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
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
Description
An account of the resource
Vertical aerial of Politz oil refinery showing much damage. Captioned 'Politz oil refinery low level recce Dec 1944'.
bombing
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/167/2332/PAllenDJ1532-0058.2.jpg
6c3791a89f1e943e0fb1d3239c026960
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/167/2332/PAllenDJ1532-0059.2.jpg
2870bdf2f5cef340a089b26496bbb44c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/167/2332/PAllenDJ1532-0069.1.jpg
f9d8c74ebb6bdb26cb59945b1c78b762
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, Derrick
Derrick Allen
D J Allen
Description
An account of the resource
75 items. The collection covers the career of Flight Sergeant Derrick John Allen (1880966 Royal Air Force) who was a mid-upper gunner on 467 Royal Australian Air Force Squadron at RAF Waddington in 1944-45. Collection contains his logbook, Royal Air Force documentation, notes on air gunners course and photographs of various aircrew. Collection also contains maps and photographs covering the loss of his Lancaster near Spa in Belgium from which he successfully bailed out on 2 November 1944. There is also an oral history interview with his family.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Judy Hodgson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2015-08-30
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, DJ
Access Rights
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Permission granted for commercial projects
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined]December 1944[/underlined]
[underlined]Second crew 4[/underlined]
A family group taken just after I returned from France.
[underlined]TOP[/underlined] LEFT – BROWN JOHN F/EMC
TERRY EVANS PILOT
ROBSON NAV
BOTTOM LEFT
DERRICK ALLEN M/U/GUNNER
F/SGT PATTON REAR GUNNER
F/SGT BEER W/OPERATOR
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Six aircrew in front of a Lancaster
Description
An account of the resource
Six aircrew in two rows, front three kneeling, rear three standing all wearing battledress. Derrick Allen is front row left. In the background the nose of a Lancaster on the left and a lorry on the right. Second photograph same as the first
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PAllenDJ1532-0058, PAllenDJ1532-0059, PAllenDJ1532-0069
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 Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
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
Claire Monk
467 Squadron
aircrew
flight engineer
Lancaster
navigator
pilot
service vehicle
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/356/5506/ERidgewayWSFirthJB[Date]-01.pdf
0401cc31c86a705a97ecbb0964f54490
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
Firth, John
John Firth
J B Firth
Description
An account of the resource
11 items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer John Bernard Firth (1924-2016, 1850441 Royal Air Force), his logbook, a home-made prisoner of war Christmas card, and seven photographs. John Firth was a flight engineer with 50 Squadron at RAF Skellingthorpe June to August 1944. He was shot down in August 1944 on his 20th operation and became a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft 7.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Firth and catalogued by and 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
2016-07-06
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
Firth, JB
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
Prisoner of war home-made Christmas card
Description
An account of the resource
Envelope addressed to J Firth, Slough, from WS Ridgeway (who is mentioned in the attached card), Wollaton, Notts, and containing a home-made Christmas card from Stalag Luft 7, Bankau, 1944, signed by 6 airmen and giving their addresses.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Envelope and 4 page handwritten and illustrated document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ERidgewayWSFirthJB[Date]-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Berkshire
England--Slough
Poland
Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
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
1944-12
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
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 7
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/367/6101/PCavalierRG17010046.2.jpg
2f488b12e32da8d5ba3eca52e0705014
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
Cavalier, Reginald George. Album one
Description
An account of the resource
57 items. Photograph album showing pictures taken during Reginald George Cavalier's service as a squadron photographer. It includes material from his photographic course training in 1940, and service with 76 Squadron at RAF Middleton St George, and with 88 Squadron and 226 Squadron with 2 Group and 2nd Tactical Air Force at RAF West Raynham. The album also includes target photographs, images of Christmas parties, visits by VIPs including Eisenhower and the King, as well as captured German ordnance and aircraft in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Cavalier, RG
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
Vitry en Artois billet
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs 1 and 2 are views of a house captioned 'Photo Sec Billet, 11th Dec 1944' (in heavy snow) and 'Vitry en Artois, Northern France. Photo Sec Billet, Jan 1945.'
Photographs 3 and 4 are street scenes in deep snow captioned 'Photo Sec Billet, Rue de Pont.'
Photographs 5 and 6 are of a house with a large church behind captioned 'Madam Mathia House, Jan 1945.'
Photograph 7 is Reginald George Cavalier with two women captioned 'Marie, Me, Madam, 11th Dec 1944.'
Photograph 8 is a street scene from an upstairs window of a horse, cart, man and dog.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
1945-01
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight b/w photographs on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCavalierRG17010046
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Vitry-en-Artois
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
1945-01
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.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
animal
service vehicle
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/367/6102/PCavalierRG17010047.2.jpg
5572cf485c89c41fff054764cec3271f
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
Cavalier, Reginald George. Album one
Description
An account of the resource
57 items. Photograph album showing pictures taken during Reginald George Cavalier's service as a squadron photographer. It includes material from his photographic course training in 1940, and service with 76 Squadron at RAF Middleton St George, and with 88 Squadron and 226 Squadron with 2 Group and 2nd Tactical Air Force at RAF West Raynham. The album also includes target photographs, images of Christmas parties, visits by VIPs including Eisenhower and the King, as well as captured German ordnance and aircraft in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Cavalier, RG
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
RAF Vitry en Artois
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is of a group of four airmen standing in front of a 6' high post and wire fence in heavy frost. They are wearing battledress and are armed. Reginald George Cavalier is second from the right. Captioned 'Dec 24th 1944 Jock Sadler, Chalky White, Les Seymour.'
Photograph 2 is of a group of airmen around steaming drums. Captioned 'Jan 12th 1945. Washing Up.'
Photograph 3 is of a group of 12 airmen including Reginald George Cavalier standing in deep snow in front of a tent. Captioned 'Dec 24th 1944, 137 Wing, S.H.Q. Photographers.'
Photographs 4, 6 and 8 are of a crashed B-17. On the tail is 'L', 'O', 'MS' and '48593', the rest of the aircraft has been completely destroyed. Captioned 'Feb 1945, Crashed Flying Fortress A/C U.S.A. on Aerodrome, Vitroy (sic) en Artois. R.A.F. Vitroy [sic] en Artois'
Photograph 5 is four airmen standing outside a tent in heavy frost. Reginald George Cavalier is second on the left. Captioned 'Jan 1st 1945, Jock Sadler, Les Seymour, Hal Ashley.'
Photograph 7 is of a lorry with an airman standing beside it. There is snow on the ground and icicles on the lorry. Captioned 'Jan 1st 1945, Mitch Mitchell, Frozen Photographic Section lorry.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
1945-01
1945-02
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight b/w photographs on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCavalierRG17010047
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Vitry-en-Artois
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.
1944-12
1945-01
1945-02
Language
A language of the resource
eng
B-17
crash
ground personnel
military living conditions
service vehicle
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/367/6109/PCavalierRG17010056.2.jpg
3631ef08a21c1f5062a5de9925b80fa5
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
Cavalier, Reginald George. Album one
Description
An account of the resource
57 items. Photograph album showing pictures taken during Reginald George Cavalier's service as a squadron photographer. It includes material from his photographic course training in 1940, and service with 76 Squadron at RAF Middleton St George, and with 88 Squadron and 226 Squadron with 2 Group and 2nd Tactical Air Force at RAF West Raynham. The album also includes target photographs, images of Christmas parties, visits by VIPs including Eisenhower and the King, as well as captured German ordnance and aircraft in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Cavalier, RG
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
Vitry en Artois Christmas 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph 1 is of non-commissioned officers supervising children at a Christmas Party, captioned 'Christmas Party for the children of Vitroy [sic] en Artois and surrounding villages, in the village hall, Vitroy [sic] en Artois, given by R.A.F. 137 Wing T.A.F. 2.'
Photograph 2 is of a group of children standing close to a war memorial.
Photograph 3 is of the Christmas Party. Large group of children with parents, airmen and police, captioned 'December 1944.'
Photograph 4 is of a group of civilians and children at the fence outside the airfield. A large container of tins is being unpacked.
Photograph 5 is of a group of children and parents lined up at the Christmas Party.
Photograph 6 is of a man on a roller behind a horse and a bull.
Photograph 7 is of some children at the Christmas Party.
Photograph 8 is of a family in a doorway with Reginald George Cavalier, captioned 'R.G.C. with a family in the village.'
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight b/w photographs on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PCavalierRG17010056
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Vitry-en-Artois
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
animal
childhood in wartime
ground personnel
home front
Second Tactical Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/371/6145/SCavalierRG1264567v10031-0001.2.jpg
e472e4c33fadafe40614d22019f20d47
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/371/6145/SCavalierRG1264567v10031-0002.2.jpg
1bde0f84a13bd3658c556055ac9c1944
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
Cavalier, Reginald George. Album two
Description
An account of the resource
35 items. The album contains service material, Christmas cards, and propaganda leaflets in German, French and English.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-10
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Cavalier, RG
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.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] 137. WING. PHOTOGRAPHIC SECTION. S.H.Q. VITRY EN ARTOIS. [/underlined]
[indecipherable word] S. L Clark
H Sadler
Hallam Ashley
H. J White
LW Seymore
S Burton
John Varsall
2nd TAF WELFARE
[page break]
2nd Tactical Air Force
[Royal Air Force Crest]
Royal Air Force
Christmas 1944
[Page Break]
Merry have we met
Merry have we been
Merry did we part
and
Merry meet again
from
D Day The Beachhead
Paris
Bruselles
Amsterdam
Berlin
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
Christmas Card
Description
An account of the resource
2nd Tactical Air Force Christmas card with seven signatures. Captioned '137. Wing. Photographic S.H.Q. Vitry en Artois.'
Artwork inside card depicting Allied advance in western europe from D Day.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two sides of a printed card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SCavalierRG1264567v10031-0001, SCavalierRG1264567v10031-0002
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
France--Vitry-en-Artois
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Claire Monk
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
arts and crafts
ground personnel
Second Tactical Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/776/9932/MBrittainJT2227748-170725-010001.1.jpg
c426d02b12f6c10ea7aa5cf12bdf79ec
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/776/9932/MBrittainJT2227748-170725-010002.1.jpg
661038c77b5851937e9a8fdc2ad5352f
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
Brittain, John Taylor
J T Brittain
Description
An account of the resource
42 items. The collection concerns Sergeant John Taylor Brittain (2227748, Royal Air Force). After training as an air gunner at Morpeth and conversion and training at Silverston, North Luffenham and Feltwell, he was posted to 195 Squadron at RAF Wratting Common in February 1945 and flew on operations as a mid upper gunner on Lancaster. The collection consists of his flying logbook; official documents; letters to colleagues and his mother; photographs of people, events, places and aircraft; as well as an album concerning his boat.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Andrew Whitehouse and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-25
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. 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
Brittain, JT
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
[RAF Crest]
R.A.F. Station
North Luffenham
SERGEANTS’ MESS
XMAS, 1944
The Commanding Officer wishes Warrant Officers and N.C.O.’s [sic]
A Merry Xmas
[Page Break]
[Page left blank]
[Page Break]
Menu
TOMATO SOUP
ROAST TURKEY
ROAST PORK
FORCEMEAT BREAD SAUCE
CAULIFLOWER
BRUSSELS-SPROUTS
ROAST POTATOES
XMAS PUDDING
RUM SAUCE
NUTS APPLES
CHEESE BISCUITS
BEER CIGARETTES MINERALS
[Page break]
[Inserted signatures]
DP Brown
‘Merry Christmas’
JC [JG?] Ward
MB Fletcher
C.A. Bergh.
J.T. Brittain
E. Fletcher
[/Inserted signatures]
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
RAF North Luffenham - Christmas 1944 Sergeants Mess Menu
Description
An account of the resource
On the front over RAF Crest. Sergeants Mess Xmas 1944 and best wishes from the commanding officer. On the back cover six signatures. Inside the menu.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Coves and two inside pages printed card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MBrittainJT2227748-170725-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Rutland
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jeremy Patton
mess
RAF North Luffenham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/169/10299/EKinleyRGreenI441025.2.jpg
987b39991142f4f17cf0948e493d9966
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
Howard, Irene
I Howard
Description
An account of the resource
31 Items. An oral history interview with Irene Howard née Green (1925 - 2018), Civil Defence Warden Service and war damage compensation documents, identity cards and ration books as well as various Christmas greetings and photographs of family. She worked in a factory in Manchester during the war and as an Air Raid Precaution Warden. Her house was bombed in December 1940.
The collection was donated by Irene Howard and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Howard, I
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
2017-01-12
2017-03-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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Title
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Greetings of the season
Description
An account of the resource
Greetings card addressed to Irene Green page with a silhouette of man on a camel. Greetings of the season H M Forces Middle East from Robert to the family. Annotated 'Good Health, Good Luck, To You All'.
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Robert Kinley
Date
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1944-10-23
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One colour printout
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eng
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Artwork
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1944-12
Coverage
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British Army
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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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EKinleyRGreenI441025
animal
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/998/10360/PWardEM16010011.1.jpg
d0e4bd54d9025d16cb296f95ebe26d31
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Title
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Ward, Mary. Album
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-12-14
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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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Ward, EM
Description
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42 items. The album concerns the work of 517 Squadron Meteorological Flight at RAF Shawbury, RAF Chivenor and RAF Brawdy. It contains photographs of aircraft and staff at work and on leave.
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Title
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Solva
Description
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Top and middle are photographs of a coastline with bay, small village, one has head and shoulders of uniformed individual in foreground looking out towards the village. All three captioned 'Solva 1945'.
Bottom left is a head and shoulders portrait captioned 'Muriel Griffiths Met Brawdy 1945'.
Bottom right is of two RAF officers,full length, in uniform standing in front of building entrance, captioned 'Richardson & Richard Eldridge Christmas 1944 Brawdy'.
Date
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1945
Format
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Five b/w photographs on an album page
Language
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eng
Type
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Photograph
Identifier
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PWardEM16010011
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
Wales--Pembrokeshire
Temporal Coverage
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1944-12
1945
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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.
RAF Brawdy
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/797/10779/PDeanJEH1701.2.jpg
bceede6a4853b1983c889df55bddcadc
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/797/10779/ADeanJEH170913.1.mp3
6f47adb3b5809113563fa431fe9e92f6
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Title
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Dean, John Eric Hatherly
J E H Dean
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with John Dean DFC (1922, 173978 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a navigator with 77 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-09-13
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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Dean, JEH
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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DM: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is David Meanwell. The interviewee is John Dean. The interview is taking place in Mr Dean’s home in Westerham in Kent on the 13th of September 2017. Ok, John if you could perhaps tell me where and when you were born and a bit about your early life.
JD: Yeah. Well, I was born at Edmonton in North London in 1922 which means that I’m ninety four. Ninety five next birthday. And I grew up mainly in London but my family moved out when I was about twelve and we went to, to live in Middlesex. And I remember on the morning of the 15th of August 1940 standing outside the house where I lived with my parents and watching a German aircraft which I think was an FW190 being pursued by a Spitfire. This was in, coming from North London and the FW190 had smoke coming out of its engines and obviously the Spitfire had [coughs] had shot it down. It was pursuing it until it crashed. And from that moment on I decided I wanted to be a Spitfire pilot. And as I was just over eighteen I was able to go to the RAF recruiting office in London and I joined up. I joined up on the 1st of November 1940 when I was eighteen years and four days, four days, five days old. So that was my introduction to the Air Force. Unfortunately, I didn’t achieve my ambition of becoming a Spitfire pilot because although I did elementary and basic flying training on, on Tiger Moths and later on Harvards I met my Waterloo on Harvards because I developed this annoying habit of landing the aircraft about thirty feet above the runway. So [laughs] they took me off Harvards and sent me to a navigation school in, in Canada in fact which was quite interesting and I did my training there and came back, and I was, ultimately found myself in Bomber Command with 77 Squadron.
DM: When, when you went to Canada you went by ship I assume.
JD: Yes. Sure.
DM: Was that sort of eventful or was it an easy, an easy trip?
JD: Well, only eventful to the extent that it was very uncomfortable because we went out in a very small Dutch vessel called the Volendam. And it was only about, I don’t know twenty five thousand tonnes or so. A very small ship and there were masses of us crowded in this small ship. And for most it took fourteen days to cross the Atlantic, and most of the time we were in a violent storm and the number of people who were sick on each other. I can remember it, you know with some horror really. But on the way back we came back on the Queen Mary which was then a troop ship and that did the trip in three and a half days so that wasn’t too bad. Yes.
DM: Whereabouts in Canada did you train?
JD: Well, we went eventually, initially to a place called Saskatchewan. Swift Current in Saskatchewan and we went by train from Halifax and that took, as far as I can recall it took about four days to get to, to Swift Current which was then a tiny hamlet but today I gather its quite a rather large township. And there I did some flying training on, on Harvards, and as I say my training came to an end and I then went back. Was transferred to a place called Chatham in New Brunswick to do my navigation training.
DM: So you came back to the UK. Trained as a navigator. So, I suppose the next thing, was it crewing up that happened next?
JD: Yeah. We went to [pause] it was either 1652 or 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit at, it was either Marston Moor or Lisset. I can’t remember precisely and there I got crewed up with an Australian pilot called [Gallant Lee] and he had already acquired all the other crew members and it was, it was the flight engineer who approached me asking me if I was looking for crew. So I said yes and that’s how, you know I met my crew. And as soon as that happened of course we were posted off to, to 77 Squadron and we did half our tour with Bill [Gallant Lee] at Elvington.
DM: What type of aircraft were you flying?
JD: Halifaxes. We started off in the early Halifaxes with inline engines. The Merlins. And of course they were very much underpowered. Anyway, we did half the tour with Bill [Gallant Lee] the Australian and then he was grounded with sinus trouble. So, we were then transferred back to I think it was 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit which was then Marston Moor to find another pilot which we did. And he was a South African. A flight lieutenant called Smiler Welch. And he was called Smiler because he was never seen to smile. Typical RAF humour, you know. So we got back to the squadron with Smiler Welch, and he immediately became a flight commander which meant that we didn’t operate very often. Perhaps once every two or three weeks rather than every other night. So it meant that we took about six months to complete our tour. So all in all we were on the squadron for a year to complete a tour. Which was much longer than most people of course. Anyway, we, we were successful in completing our tour of thirty three ops which included six mine laying trips, which as you probably know was each mine laying trip was counted as a half. And then that took us up to July or, yeah July or August 1944 and at the end of my tour I was transferred back to Marston Moor as an instructor. And that lasted for about six months until about December 1944, or January of forty, no. It must have been a bit later because we were posted. Oh, incidentally yes I acquired a new crew at Marston Moor and at the end of the six months training we were posted to India. And we were all packed up ready to go when the war ended fortunately. So we didn’t go to India. So I stayed on. I forgot to mention at the end of my training my crew and I were transferred to Transport Command and we stayed on in Transport Command until I left the RAF in 1947.
DM: So we go back to I suppose really you could say that your operation, your thirty flights or more because you did some mine laying flights was sort of split into two halves with two different pilots.
JD: Yeah.
DM: As you said the chap who had the problem with his sinuses and then the South African. Were they both similar in their outlook or —
JD: Completely different.
DM: Right.
JD: Yeah. Bill [Gallant Lee], he took a violent dislike to me when we met [laughs] He used to refer to me as, ‘That bloody pommie,’ you know [laughs] And anyway eventually we settled our differences and got on extremely well. And I liked Bill. He was a very straight talking Australian as most, most Australians are and he died, oh it must be about ten or fifteen years ago and I was very sorry to hear that. Yeah. Completely different to Welch. He was a very, what’s the word I’m looking for? He never said very much and —
DM: Taciturn, I suppose.
JD: Gave the impression he was terribly unhappy with life generally, you know. And whereas my flight engineer, unfortunately he died two years ago he kept in touch very closely with Bill [Gallant Lee] in Australia and actually visited him. With Smiler Welch he, at the end of the war he disappeared from our orbit and we never heard from him again. And I don’t know whether he’s still alive or not. I did try to find out some years ago by writing to somebody in South Africa. There’s an organisation which is connected to the RAF but they had never heard of him. Anyway, so that was Welch. A completely different cup of tea.
DM: Have you any particular memories from operations? Any close calls? Any sort of particular horrors, or —
JD: During our tour?
DM: Yes.
JD: Well, yes I mean it is extraordinary. I’ve always, I still think this, I thought it for some time. I think it’s extraordinary how in the midst of such horror going on with aircraft being shot down and being, catching fire and so on we virtually sailed through our thirty three ops with hardly a scratch. I did think there were a number of people who experienced the same thing, but there were one or two incidents where we came very close to meeting our doom as it were. One was a case where we were bombed by another aircraft and this was on a daylight raid. Not a daylight raid. A night raid to a place called Lens which was a big, big marshalling yard in France and it was so important that the Pathfinders had lit up the place with their flares so when we got there it was just like daylight and there were about three hundred and fifty aircraft converging on this place, Lens. And as we were doing our bombing run the flight engineer, Derek who was standing up next to the pilot and on the Halifax there was an astrodome immediately above where the engineer worked. He looked up and he said, he said, ‘There’s an aircraft right above us.’ And then there was a pause of a few seconds and he said, ‘There’s a bomb coming down.’ And a few seconds later it hit the aircraft and came in to the Halifax. Well, we were a bit, well to say a bit scary was probably an understatement but we just waited for this damned thing to explode but it didn’t. And then after about a minute or so the pilot said to the engineer, ‘Derek, go back and see what it is.’ And he undid his, his intercom and went back and then a few seconds later he came back on and said, he said, ‘I’ve got the bomb. It’s a twelve pound oil bomb.’ And by that time the, the aircraft that that had dropped it had moved off but Derek knew sufficiently enough, enough about aircraft to identify it as being a Stirling. And then there was a debate in the aircraft I remember. Half the crew wanted to take the damned thing back, the bomb. And the other half wanted to get rid of it.
DM: Which half were you with?
JD: What?
DM: Which side were you on?
JD: I wanted to keep it actually [laughs] and then the pilot intervened and said, ‘Enough of this bloody nonsense. Get rid of it.’ And so Derek got rid of it. So that was a very close call because I gather that there were untold instances of aircraft being bombed but nobody lived to tell the story. But we were probably very lucky. And then we had one or two encounters with, with night fighters which was a bit scary and on one occasion we were very severely hit by an anti-aircraft shell which completely disabled all our electrics. It didn’t interfere with the flying ability of the aircraft strangely enough. The engines kept working. But it meant that when we got back to UK we had no means of communicating with the ground and at the same time we, I was operating a navigational aid called Gee. You’ve probably heard of it. And that didn’t work, and it was still very dark when we got back to the UK and none of us had a bloody clue as to what, where we were. So we were stooging around UK looking for somewhere to land and then we saw this runway lit up and so we just went, went in and landed and of course we were unable to tell the people who we were so they started firing at us with, [laughs] well, I suppose it must have been some sort of cannon or something. Fortunately, they were very bad shots. Anyway, we landed and we couldn’t open the hatch to get out because this anti-aircraft shell had damaged the door so they had to, the people, the people on the ground had to go off and get a long piece of wood and smash the door in. So, and then we found out that we’d landed at a, what was it called? [pause] What was the name of the training unit before an HCU?
DM: Oh.
JD: It’s something like an Initial Training Unit or something.
DM: Yes. Yes.
JD: Anyway, it was, it was Silverstone which later became, you know the motor racing place, and they were training crews for Bomber Command using Wellingtons. So that, you know what was a nice ending to the story too. Again, what could have been quite a nasty ending because we were lucky to find an aircraft. I think we had about ten minutes petrol left when we landed. Yeah. So one or two quite narrow escapes, but from which we, we emerged successfully as it were.
DM: Was that the only time you got lost or did you have other — ?
JD: No [laughs] To my everlasting and undying shame we got completely lost on my first operation which was to Mannheim. And Mannheim is, let me see, it is, it is northwest of Berlin and it is situated between Berlin and the north coast of Germany. Up near [pause] I can’t, it’s, it’s sort of in the Lubeck, Lubeck area, where the coast is. And the route planners took us up north of, of the northern coast over the North Sea so that to give the impression to the Germans we were heading for Berlin, and then about fifty miles short of Lubeck we had to turn a sharp right and approach Mannheim from the north. Well, somehow and I don’t know how it was I turned right about twenty miles west of Lubeck instead of fifty. No. The other way around. Sorry. We turned right which is what we should have done so that it took us down to the west of Mannheim, and I remember the flight engineer saying after we’d flown, after we’d turned right for about an hour or so the flight engineer saying, he said, ‘It’s very strange,’ he said, There’s a big, big fire on our, on our port side.’ He said, ‘I wonder what that is.’ So I had a look at my chart and then I realised I’d made a gigantic error. So I said to, it was still Bill [Gallant Lee] then, I said, ‘Bill, I’m dreadfully sorry. I’ve made a complete cockup,’ I said, ‘We’ve turned too early.’ And I said, ‘Mannheim is on our left.’ And he said, ‘Ok.’ So he turned the aircraft to the left and we, instead of approaching Mannheim from the north we were on the west side of Mannheim and we were meeting aircraft coming out of Mannheim having dropped their bombs. So, again it was rather a perilous thing to do but we did it. We went back and dropped our bombs on Mannheim and managed to get through. So when I can, you know I think it was an example of the guardian angels looking after us really. But when I got back we had to, I had to discuss, you know the trip with the squadron navigation officer which was the usual thing and he looked at me and he said, ‘John, you are bloody lucky aren’t you to be here?’ And he was right actually. But that was the only time I got lost I think.
DM: When you were training navigators after your, you know, when you went to the HCU to be trainer was that mainly ground based or was there a lot of flying?
JD: On the contrary, no. We, most of the time we spent in the air. This was at Chatham, in New Brunswick. Most of the time we were flying Ansons and you know, the training at Brunswick I do recall was very exhaustive, and we were trained by Canadian instructors and they were very, very good and passionate about the job they were doing, you know. And we spent, I can’t remember exactly I’d have to refer to my logbook, but we spent a great number of flying hours in Ansons training and one of the things we did was to take, we did quite a lot of training on aerial photography. And somewhere in the house here I’ve got quite a lot of photos of, taken from Ansons. A very slow, sort of noisy aircraft but very interesting.
DM: When you were a trainer so, because you did some training between your tours I think, didn’t you?
JD: Yeah. Well, I was with [pause] I did my, yeah I was an instructor at I think it was 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit and of course there we flew again. I think it was Wellingtons. I can’t remember. But my job was to, again mainly in the air. I did very little instructing on the ground. I used to go up with trainee navigators as part of their training to observe what they were doing and to correct them if I thought they were doing anything wrong. So I did quite a lot flying there.
DM: Where were you based when you were doing that?
JD: I think that was Marston Moor. I should have got my logbook with me but I think that that would tell me. But I think it was Marston Moor. Quite near York. A celebrated historical place, of course.
DM: Indeed.
JD: Yeah.
DM: Yeah. So, I assume that included night exercises as well as daytime flying.
JD: Sorry, the —
DM: Night exercises as well as daytime when you were assessing the navigators.
JD: Oh yes. Sure.
DM: Was that, did you feel safe? Or —
JD: Well, yes because [pause] did I feel safe? Well, I suppose I did [laughs] Yes. I mean we were using, we were using Gee and whereas Gee was jammed over, over Europe, in Britain it wasn’t of course and it was an excellent navigation aid that I recall. So we were never lost at all. So I felt you know completely confident that we’d get back all right.
DM: So then you were supposedly going to go to India but as you say that didn’t happen because the war ended. And then, but you were in Transport Command.
JD: Yes. We were. After the war we were transferred from Elvington in Yorkshire to a place called Stradishall in, in Suffolk and that was about twenty five miles south of Bury St Edmunds. And Stradishall Aerodrome was a peacetime RAF base so that all the buildings were pre-war RAF buildings, including the officers mess because by that time I’d been commissioned. And whereas previously in, at Elvington we had to bunk down in in Nissen huts at Stradishall we had posh buildings and rooms to ourselves you know. So that was quite a step up in the social world as it were. Yeah. And the aerodrome of course was right next to Stradishall village. A tiny village. About two or three hundred people and it was there, of course I met my wife and got married.
DM: So, she was a local girl was she?
JD: Yeah. She was the wife of the local vicar so, and I met her in a pub dare it be said. Yeah. So, that was Stradishall and we operated out of Stradishall flying a variety of aircraft including the York which was the model, the civilian version of the Lancaster. And the York was the first aircraft where we were allowed to smoke. In Halifaxes and I understand Lancasters and certainly Wellingtons it was absolutely taboo to smoke in aircraft. Unlike the Americans where they used to issue out cigars if you wanted them I gather. But in the York I don’t know why but we were allowed to smoke. Most of us did smoke then of course so that we did. But we used [pause] yes. Smoke. Sorry, Yorks and Stirlings, and the Stirlings were found to be not very stable aircraft, and there were a number of crashes both her in the UK and also enroute. And the route to India took us via Libya. That was the first stop. I remember that it took us ten hours from our base in Stradishall to get to the first bit. The first landing stage in Libya. So we were pretty worn out then, and then after we’d spent a night there and then the next stage was Cairo West which as the name indicates is west of Cairo and that only took about, about eight hours. Seven or eight hours. And then we went from Cairo West to Habbaniya or Habbaniya I’m not quite sure which is the right pronunciation, in Iraq which was an RAF base. A peacetime base. And we landed there for refuelling and then after a few hours we took off, and then we went through to Karachi which was the end of my journey. Although on one occasion we went down to Madras so the whole of that trip was of course very interesting. And I remember on one occasion we were going in to Habbaniya or Habbaniya in Iraq and there was some natives on the ground who started, who had rifles and they started firing at us. So the pilot said to ground control, he said, ‘What the hell’s happening?’ And the controller said, ‘Well, go around and disappear for a minute because we’ve got a little tribal war going on.’ And apparently in that area one tribe used to fight with another sort of every other Wednesday, you know, and that sort of thing. And when we appeared we were another choice target and fortunately they were very bad shots. Anyway, that was quite exciting.
DM: What sort of things were you carrying?
JD: Well, mainly war material but it was all boxed up so we didn’t, we didn’t know what it contained. We assumed it was things like guns and other stuff which, which couldn’t be left in India. And occasionally half a dozen people but not very many because the aircraft wasn’t really converted to carry passengers. It was mainly boxes and we never knew quite was in them. It could have been bombs I suppose but they never told us. Also we were able to, I remember on one occasion we were allowed to bring, I think it was one item which we brought locally in Karachi and most of the, most of my crew bought carpets so there were quite a large proportion of the air craft was taken up with carpets. Anyway, we got those through. Yes. Happy days.
DM: Did you used to fly things out to India or was it an empty aircraft?
JD: Sorry? No. As far as I recall we flew out empty. I can’t remember [pause] Yeah. I don’t think we took anything out. It was, we were just meant to bring things back. Quite why they used aircraft to do this I never found out because it would have been a damned sight cheaper to use, you know ships. I suspect that those boxes contained, you know what we would refer to as secret material of some kind but they never told us. Never told me anyway. I suppose the pilot knew. And in those days of course when you’re young you tend to accept things without question don’t you?
DM: That’s true.
JD: Which we did.
DM: So you were doing that for about two years.
JD: Yeah. Again, I’d have to refer to my logbook. Yeah. Actually, I’ve got the chronological times a bit wrong. I was transferred from Elvington, the squadron to Marston Moor as an instructor in July 1944 and that went on until December 19 — 1944. January. And then in January 1945 I’d forgotten to mention I was transferred from Marston Moor to [pause] to Stradishall. That’s right. I’m sorry. I think I said that I went from Elvington to Stradishall. That’s not the case. I went from Marston Moor to Stradishall where we were formed up as 51 Squadron and it was 51 Squadron who did all the flying to India. So, I hope you can make —
DM: Yeah.
JD: Sense of all that. And so we flew from India from, from [unclear] flew to India from Stradishall from about January 1945 to July ‘47. Just over two years.
DM: Did you volunteer for that or did you not have any choice?
JD: We were just told, you know.
DM: Right.
JD: There was no question of —
DM: Yeah. Yeah.
JD: Yeah. Well, they had to. I mean, now that it is all over of course one realises that Bomber Command HQ had to find somewhere to put all its aircrew, surviving aircrew you know so that they could become gainfully employed. And I suppose Transport Command was the obvious choice really. I mean I don’t know how many other members of 77 Squadron ended up in Transport Command. All that I know is that we were told to go there. We went.
DM: Could you have stayed on longer if you’d wanted to?
JD: Yes. I could and in fact that was my intention. I wanted to stay on in the RAF but my wife, well we got married fairly, fairly soon after we met really. Oh yes. It was at Stradishall on 51 Squadron after I’d got married there that we, I was posted, we were posted to India. And when I said, told my wife about this she said, ‘Do you really want to go?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And she said, ‘Well, I don’t want you to go either. What about coming out of the RAF?’ So, that was why I left really.
DM: Right. What did you do when you came out?
JD: Well, I spent some time trying to find out what I wanted to do and eventually came up with the, with the answer that I wanted to be a surveyor. And at that time the Royal Institution of Charted Surveyors which I wanted to become a member of had arranged training courses at various places and I applied for one and I got a training place. And this was at [pause] somewhere near Reading I think it was. I can’t remember. And that training lasted for about six months to give us a basic, a basic idea what a surveyor did and then the rest of the time in order to qualify I got a job at Ipswich where my wife was living and did home study to qualify. And that took me about three years and then eventually I sat their exams and did qualify and I became an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. But I then did, having qualified it sounds strange to say this but I found it very difficult to get a job, a paid job and this was because so many people had decided to travel this route because of this, the availability of this training. And the only job I could find was in Manchester and I went home and told my wife. She said, ‘I’m not going to Manchester.’ I said, ‘Well, what will we do?’ She said, ‘Well, we must find something else to do.’ And then I spoke to a colleague of mine who’d, he wasn’t . He didn’t train as a surveyor. He’d done something else. And he said, ‘Why don’t you write to — ’ he said, ‘I do know that they need surveyors abroad. Why don’t you write to the Colonial Office and ask them if they’ve got any vacancies?’ Which I did, and they wrote back. Well, I went up for an interview and they wrote back six weeks later and said, “Dear Mr Dean, we can offer you, thank you for coming for an interview. We can offer you a post in Hong Kong.” And I really wanted to go but my wife wasn’t very keen so I wrote back and said, “Well, thank you very much. Do you have anything a bit sort of a bit nearer? Say, like Africa?’ And they wrote back strangely enough and said yes and they offered me another job in Northern Rhodesia. So that’s where I went and I spent fifteen years there. Not as a surveyor. I went out, they said to me that the only job available at the time was as an administrator. So I went out as a, what was called a district officer and spent, you know fifteen years there. And that was quite good fun. Africa of course was, well I don’t know about today of course. It’s a bit, it’s a bit sort of full of guns and dictators but in our time of course it was very peaceful and the conditions of work were very good. We used to do a tour of three years and get six months leave and that sort of thing. Ostensibly, the six months leave was because of the unhealthy living conditions but where we were in Northern Rhodesia we found it extremely healthy but fortunately the authorities hadn’t caught up with that.
[telephone ringing – interview paused]
DM: So you came back, I suppose. Back to the UK.
JD: Yeah. Came back to the UK and I got a job as a, with a national training organisation where eventually I became a personnel manager and that, that lasted until about fifteen years when the training organisation I was with closed down. And so for the second. Oh yes. I was with, I was in Northern Rhodesia until it became independent. It became Zambia and I stayed on. It became, Northern Rhodesia became independent in October 1964 and I stayed on for a couple of years until, until ’64. Yeah. Until ‘66 ’67. And then I decided that it was time to retire and come back because there really wasn’t much future in Zambia for white civil servants quite naturally. So I came back and I managed to find a job as I say with this training organisation where I became personnel manager and that lasted for fifteen years until the organisation closed down. And then I became, I was very lucky because I was out of work for about two or three months which I found extremely boring. Then I don’t know quite how it happened but I managed to find a job as, as bursar to a school in Kent and that lasted until well past retiring age. So, again I was very lucky.
DM: Did you keep in touch with people from the Air Force?
JD: Yes. Well, I kept in touch with, I’d already said the pilot, by that time of course Bill [Gallant Lee] our first pilot had died and Smiler Welch, the second guy, pilot had just disappeared. But I kept in close touch with Derek Compton, my flight engineer and we used to meet up occasionally. He lived down in Dorset at Christchurch and he died about two years ago. I also met up with my wireless operator who lived in Liverpool and I did a trip up there to meet him. I got along with him extremely well. And I also met, I also met the rear gunner. Butch Sutton. He was called Butch because he was the son of a butcher you know. RAF term. The bomb aimer I didn’t keep in touch with because he lived in Scotland and the rear gunner [Kitch May] sorry, the mid-upper gunner [Kitch May] lived in Cornwall. But I used to, we used to correspond [Kitch May] and so for a few years anyway I kept in touch with most of the crew but towards the end it was because they, you know how it is you stop writing and stuff like that. But with Derek Compton my flight engineer I stayed with him several times and unfortunately the poor chap died about two years ago. So yes I did keep in touch and also 77 Squadron formed a Squadron Association which I joined and we formed, when I say we members in the south of England formed a sub-branch because the main meeting was up in Yorkshire I believe. Anyway, there were about a dozen or so of us in the south who formed this sub-branch and we used to meet every May at [pause] I’m afraid my memory isn’t very good these days, a town down [pause] I can’t remember where it is. The town begins with M but it doesn’t matter the name of the place. We used to meet at the White Horse in this town starting with M and there were about a dozen or so of us and we used to meet sometimes with our wives or girlfriends, whatever and chat and have lunch you know. And I used to meet Derek Compton my engineer there. He was there on every occasion. And I used to pick up another navigator from 77 Squadron who was badly shot up over [pause] again my memory lets me down. It’s a big, a big port in France. In Brittany. Beginning with B I think it is.
DM: [unclear]
JD: Can you remember it? You can’t. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. But the poor chap got badly shot up and virtually lost an eye so he was grounded and he lived at [pause] oh dear. Again, my memory for places. He lived at [pause] well about thirty miles from here towards Guildford. Near Guildford. He lived near Guildford and I used to get there and because, because of his eye he couldn’t drive and he, he had a very nice Mercedes car. And when we first met he said to me, ‘Will you drive me to the reunion?’ I said, ‘Of course I will,’ I said, ‘But there’s one condition.’ He said, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘You let me drive your Mercedes.’ And he said yes. So once a year I got the opportunity of driving this magnificent car down to wherever it was. And the poor chap he developed dementia and eventually was admitted to a home. You know, a nursing home and died there about three years ago. But he and I, we knew each other from, from the squadron and we got on extremely well. And he, he ended up as a director of operations with British Airways so he had done very well. But I remember one of his drawbacks was on the way down, driving in this car of his he kept on saying to me, ‘Now, do you know where you are, Dean?’ you know [laughs] And I used to tell him, I used to say, ‘For God’s sake, shut up otherwise we shall get lost.’ But we had a good relationship and I’m sorry, I was very sorry he died, you know. Yeah. Those were most of the people who went, who attended these, these May meetings. Of course, it got to a point where it was difficult for them to drive or get to to the meetings. So we abandoned it or it was abandoned about two years ago. And it was started I remember that the whole this, this sub-branch was started by a man called Varley, who was another navigator who I knew and he unfortunately he died to. So I’m beginning to think I’m about the only one left from 77 Squadron. There must be others. Talking about the survivors I was interested to find out quite recently how many Bomber Command aircrew are left alive today. And I’ve always thought it was about between three and four thousand and I tried to get in touch with the Bomber Command Association of which I used to be a member but I gather that’s been completely disbanded now because there are so few members. And then on the internet, I use the internet quite, quite a lot on Facebook I came across this Bomber Command history forum and in the forum was somebody there call Dee mentioned the IBCC. You probably know about this lady, Dee.
DM: I’ve heard.
JD: You know about her. Well, she in fact put me in touch with the IBCC or reminded me because I’d been in touch before and I posted this question on Facebook and she came back and said she’d spoken to somebody at IBCC and they thought it was just over two thousand. But nobody really knows because no records have been kept have they?
DM: No. No.
JD: So, it’s all guesswork really but I think two or three, between two or three thousand is right. I mean immediately after the war there was something like a hundred and twenty thousand left. But the war, that’s what we are talking about? Getting on for seventy years ago now, aren’t we? So, there can’t be many left.
DM: No. Do, do —
JD: Yeah.
DM: Do you remember your time with Bomber Command with fondness or —
JD: With —?
DM: With fondness or —
JD: Yes. Well, it’s, no I don’t know about fondness. Yeah. I mean let’s be, let’s be honest it was a pretty scary time. Although as an individual I never felt that I was, I was going to get killed. I always thought that I was going to survive and I think this may have been due to the fact that when one is young, I was twenty or so you never think anything is going to happen to you. Well, obviously I was always optimistic. But I must confess that before each trip when we were sitting outside the aircraft waiting to get in and start the engines and they’d always happen for about a half an hour it then suddenly dawned on you what you are doing, you know. And then I do remember getting a bit apprehensive then. But once in the aircraft as the navigator I was busy from, you know the first, from the first minute as it were until the end of the trip. And that meant that one I was occupied and didn’t have time to think about you know being attacked. And it now, you know it’s occurred to me since that the other members of the crew sitting there staring out into the darkness they must have been petrified I should think most of the time but they obviously never mentioned it. Yes. I mean, I think probably a navigator in Bomber Command probably had the best job really because he was occupied as I say all the time and mark you one thing I missed was, was looking out of the aircraft and seeing what was happening all around us. Although, I did go up and I’d see. I used to get permission from the pilot to go up and stand by him when we were going in to the bombing run watching things happen and I think I wasn’t frightened at all. I was absolutely fascinated with what was going on, you know. And then of course you could see other aircraft all around you all being lit up and so on. So, yes it was something that one would never see again. Oh yes. I recall we did one trip early on in our tour. I think it was our second or third operation to Milan and that was quite an interesting trip because first of all it took almost nine and a half hours which was a hell of a long time. Secondly, the route took us over the Alps and we were flying on a bright moonlight night and it lit up the Alps dramatically and we were about I suppose the Alps go up to about fourteen or fifteen thousand feet and we were at sixteen so there wasn’t much between us you know because sixteen was about the maximum height, I think for a Halifax. Perhaps seventeen after a bit of a struggle. Anyway, we had a dramatic view. Fantastic view of the Alps both going and coming and then after we crossed the Alps we could see Milan in the distance because Milan is quite near the Alps, lit up and we could see searchlights waving. And then the nearer we got the searchlights stopped and when we got there we could also see anti-aircraft bursts in the sky and when we got there they completely stopped. So there were no searchlights and no anti-aircraft fire when we got there and I gather this was quite common that the Italians manning these things on the ground decided they’d leave, you know if we were there [laughs] Which was nice for us. So that was quite, I think we were meant to bomb some factories near, near the main railway station in Milan. And I gather according to the Bomber Command Diaries, you know that big fat book that the raid was very successful and we hit the factories. But that was quite an interesting trip. But on one I think on that same trip [pause] it was the same trip the pilot of a Stirling aircraft won the VC that night and it came, I’ve got a story upstairs about him. His name was Aaron, I think it was Aaron Smith. I’m not sure. But on the way, on the way down just before they got to Milan they were fired at by another Stirling aircraft and to this day nobody knows quite why the other Stirling aircraft did this because nobody owned up to it but it was presumed that the other Stirling aircraft just missed, he identified the other, you know the Stirling wrongly and took it to be an enemy aircraft. Anyway, he fired at this guy’s aircraft and he got badly badly injured and could no longer fly the aircraft. So the crew took him back and laid him down in the back of the aircraft and I think it was the [pause] I can’t remember whether it was either the flight engineer or the navigator took — no. It was the flight engineer. That’s right. He took over flying the aircraft because he had some instruction and they decided to abandon the bombing. So they released the bombs and they fell somewhere else. And then they decided that it would be dangerous to try and go back over the Alps to the UK and they decided to head for Sicily which was about I don’t know, I suppose and hundred and fifty miles south of where they thought they were. And then, oh yes the other thing was that the damage included putting out the radio. So they had no communication with the ground so they couldn’t find out where to land in Sicily. But eventually the wireless operator he managed to get some communication going with an aerodrome called Bone in North Africa. In Libya. And it was the only Allied air base in Libya at the time. Anyway, I don’t know how the wireless operator did it but he managed to speak to Bone and Bone said, ‘You must abandon the idea of trying to land in Sicily because there’s an invasion taking place and there’s a lot of fighting and we can’t advise you where to land.’ He said, they said, ‘You must try and head for Bone,’ and so they altered course and did that and eventually got there and this guy Aaron somebody, the pilot, he decided to get back in to the pilot’s seat to fly the aircraft and eventually he landed this aircraft despite the fact he was badly injured and he died nine hours later. And he got a VC for that. So that was quite an unfortunate dramatic ending for him. For the crew.
DM: Did you ever visit subsequently any of the cities that you bombed?
JD: Did I ever —?
DM: Visit any of the cities that you bombed?
JD: Only Berlin. Yeah. I went to Berlin about five years or six years ago and of course the area which was bombed of course have you been to Berlin?
DM: No.
JD: No. The area that was bombed has been rebuilt but it’s instead of, it’s been rebuilt with mainly glass buildings. Very modern. So you get no, you get no sense of an area that was completely obliterated and it’s a, you know an interesting city but I think that they built they rebuilt most of it in glass or so. A mistake really because in other parts of Europe where cities have been rebuilt they’ve rebuilt particularly in France they’ve rebuilt them in the style they were originally. An example of that was Caen where Caen was effectively demolished by Montgomery in order to get his troops on the move as it were. At great cost to civilians living there. But after the war they rebuilt Caen as it was and to go there you’d never think a bomb had been dropped anywhere near. But that didn’t happen in Berlin unfortunately. There we are. Yeah. I can’t remember. No. I’ve not been to, oh yes I’ve been to Milan. Ah yes. Of course, I’ve been to Milan. Great place Milan. And we actually went to the, yes we flew to Milan. We were going to go to a place called Genoa in Italy. Or Genoa. I don’t know how you pronounce it. Genoa. And we flew to Milan and got on a train at Milan. So we actually went to Milan Station but there was obviously no evidence of the bombing so, but I’m impressed with Italian railways. Very cheap and very fast. Unlike the UK of course. So yes but I mean no in terms of visiting immediately after the war and this took place from Elvington we were instructed to do what were they called?
DM: Oh, are these the Cook’s Tours?
JD: Sorry.
DM: Cook’s Tours.
JD: That’s it.
DM: Yes.
JD: And we did two of these. We took, we took a number of people. I didn’t know who they were, I presumed they were VIPs of some kind over, we flew over the Ruhr and we flew over Essen and Mannheim and one or two other places very low. About we couldn’t have been more than about two or three hundred feet perhaps. No. A thousand. I don’t know. I can’t remember. But low enough to see the damage very effectively. So we did that and yeah, I think we were all taken aback by the immense amount of the damage which we’d caused and subsequently I didn’t realise then but in later years I realised that Bomber Command it did what it had to do and it was probably very necessary that we did what we had to do but what we had to do was quite barbaric. But I think that, I think we, I don’t think there was ever a question of whether we should have done it. I think we should have done it. What should have happened was for war to be avoided, I think. I’ve become very anti-war. I think a lot of people who took part in the war have. But yeah, I mean, I think I mean in London of course people suffered to a certain extent.
DM: Yeah. When you said that you grew up in Edmonton and Middlesex.
JD: Sorry?
DM: You said you grew up in sort of Edmonton and Middlesex.
JD: Yeah. I was out of London when the bombing took place but —
DM: Were your family still there or —
JD: No. No. None of my family live there now. No.
DM: Were they there during the war though?
JD: Oh, indeed. Sure. Yeah.
DM: So they all came through the bombing of London.
JD: They survived you know.
DM: Yeah.
JD: Because they weren’t in, they weren’t in central London. They were out in the suburbs. Wood Green which is a suburb and I don’t think, I don’t think any bombs were dropped there at all. No. It’s [pause] yes the I suppose you know since the war there’s been an enormous amount of literature hasn’t there and books written about Bomber Command. And I think that [pause] Well, I think that what we did played an enormous part in, in the defeat of Nazi Germany. I mean had that Bomber Command not done what it did then presumably all the German troops that were used for anti-aircraft purposes and I gather it totalled something like two million presumably those troops could have been released to fight elsewhere. Presumably against, on the Eastern Front against Russian and that might have made all the difference really. I don’t know. So, although I think what we did was, was not very nice I think it was completely and utterly necessary to get rid of this terrible scourge in Europe. And at the time of course when I was on the squadron I hadn’t really read very much about what was going on Germany. I don’t think many people had at that, at that stage because there wasn’t much news coming out of Germany in the nineteen, the late 1930s and early 40s. And as a young man I wasn’t as interested then as I am now in what happened in the past. So we were largely unaware of what was happening in Europe. But I remember having a feeling, you know then on the squadron that what we were doing was necessary. That we had to defeat these so and sos in Germany without really knowing about them. About all the horrors that were going on. But with that I don’t know we never spoke. Something we never discussed. I never remember discussing this with any of my colleagues. I think we were too busy thinking about other things like, you know going out to the pub or whatever or something like that you know.
DM: Yes.
JD: Very good.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with John Eric Hatherly Dean
Creator
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David Meanwell
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-09-13
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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
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Sound
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ADeanJEH170913, PDeanJEH1701
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Pending review
Format
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01:03:02 audio recording
Language
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eng
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
North Africa
England--Suffolk
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Mannheim
England--Yorkshire
Italy--Milan
Saskatchewan--Swift Current
Saskatchewan
Description
An account of the resource
John Dean’s childhood memory of watching a Spitfire and a German aircraft having a dogfight in the sky above him spurred him to want to become a Spitfire pilot. He didn’t achieve his aim of becoming a Spitfire pilot and instead became a navigator. On one operation the Flight Engineer noticed the Lancaster immediately above them and then saw the bomb fall from it and in to their own aircraft from where the crew argued what to do with it. On his first operation he realised to his horror that he had turned the aircraft too early and they were far off target but they managed to rectify their mistake and complete the operation.
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-08-15
1944-12
1945-01
1652 HCU
51 Squadron
77 Squadron
aircrew
bomb struck
bombing
Fw 190
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
navigator
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Stradishall
Spitfire
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/868/11109/AHendersonIG171017.1.mp3
e974e79a8803f3c38d25b705429b1cb2
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
Henderson, Ian
Ian Grant Henderson
I G Henderson
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. An oral history interview with Ian Henderson DFM (b. 1922), his log book, a diary of operation, a memoir and a photograph. He flew operations as a navigator with 153 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ian Henderson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Collection is NtA.
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
2017-09-18
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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Henderson, IG
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
JS: Ok.
IH: Right.
JS: Right. This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Jim Sheach. The interviewee is Ian Henderson. The interview is taking place at Mr Henderson’s home in Lockerbie on the 17th of October 2017. Ian, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed today. Could you tell me a little about your life before you joined the RAF?
IH: Yes. Well, the war started in 1939 when I was seventeen. And I had left school by that time and I went to Edinburgh University to study law and I had two years there before I joined up. I wanted to be a pilot but, and I went to London, at Lord’s I think we started off with. We had several stations. Training stations. And when I was twenty I went to Canada. At Edmonton, Alberta, still as a pilot trainee. Then after about a few months I was told they had too many pilots, trainees and I was asked to be a navigator. Train as a navigator. Of course, you just did as you were told in these days and I did that. I finished my navigator’s training, came back to this country and further training. And then I joined up with a crew and we went to Scampton, 153 Squadron. My pilot was a South African. Donald Legg. And an excellent pilot. And I’m quite sure we owe our lives to him because at that time one of the main dangers, risks was collisions with adjoining Lancasters or bombs being dropped from above on to you and a good pilot could avoid that. So we survived the war. We had one rather difficult experience. At December 1944 it was we were trying to bomb a dam called the Urft Dam and we were hit. Before that the cloud came down. We couldn’t see the target so we were told to come back home again. Dump the bombs in the North Sea. But then we were hit and an engine caught fire. We couldn’t get the fire out. It burned for about two hours. However, we got as far as the North Sea, dumped our bombs, got back to Brussels which was free at that time and landed there. Made a forced landing there and got home safely the next day. Actually, the following day the Luftwaffe came across in force and shot up all the aircraft in that particular airfield. So we lost our plane. It was pretty badly damaged anyway. And then, that was December 1944. The war ended about six months later and I was sent to India as a navigator instructor. Spent a year in India. And then I was demobilised in 1946 or ’47. Came back home, completed my law training in Edinburgh University. Came back to Lockerbie and went in to my father’s business where I spent the next forty five years. So I, I had a very enjoyable life. I’m glad I lived when I did [laughs]
JS: What, why, why do you think you wanted to join the RAF as opposed to anything else in the services?
IH: I think it was the [pause] it seemed the most, I don’t know, exciting service to be in. I still think that. Flying was such an adventurous thing and you were less regimented I think than in the Army. Or at least I got that idea. And I’m sure I made the right decision. I enjoyed my stay in the RAF immensely.
JS: You mentioned you did your training in Canada. So, how did you get to Canada?
IH: Oh, well we got to Canada by Mauretania ship. It was supposed to take ten thousand passengers. There were thirty thousand of us aboard in the hold. The various parts that they were very cramped. And we had to go very quickly to avoid the submarines. Thirty miles, I think it was thirty knots we travelled at. And we realised then we were so packed that if we were torpedoed there wasn’t much chance of getting up and into a lifeboat. However, there was no, we got across to Canada quite uneventfully and landed in Halifax. Took the train across to Edmonton, Alberta where I spent the next year, or eleven months I think it was. Before that as I said I was training as a pilot to begin with and then told I had to remuster as a navigator which I did. So after completing the course in Canada we came back home and, what year would that be? 1942 it was, I think. And spent most of the rest, I spent a good year, a year and a half at at Scampton near Lincoln. I think we did thirty, thirty operations without much. I think, I think we had quite a successful tour altogether. We were hit several times but nothing, nothing too serious except the time we caught fire. The most dramatic operation of course was Dresden. And we were one of fifteen aircraft from 153 Squadron at Scampton and our pilot was a South African. Donald Legg, who was a pilot. A Canadian called Russell Rawlings. A wireless operator, a Welshman. And upper-gunner was Andrew Andrews and the rear gunner was a Scot called Jock Beet from Dundee. Donald Legg, our pilot was thirty two years of age. Much older than the other members of the crew who were all in their early twenties. The Lancaster P-Peter, the second one of that name which this crew had. The first one had been destroyed a few a few weeks earlier when after a bomber operation on the Urft Dam the first P for Peter had been hit by flak which had started a fire in the port engine. The fire could not be extinguished but the pilot had been able to fly as far as Brussels and to land there. Brussels was at that time was in the hands of the allies. Before going to Dresden we’d been advised that the Russians had particularly asked for the RAF to carry out the attack to help them. They had believed, the Russians had believed that there was a build-up of German troops and armour in Dresden preparing to make a counter attack on them. To the crews involved it was simply another operation. The principal difference being that it was a very much a longer distance than the average operation and they would be under possible attack from enemy fighters and flak for a longer period. There was a strong wind blowing that night. We took off at 21.22. About ninety miles from Dresden the pilot told me to stop navigating because he could see the fires that were burning on Dresden. The Americans had been up there earlier. So, due to the, due to our diversionary tactics which confused the Germans no enemy fighters were encountered in the operation. But this was very exceptional and there was no sign of the Luftwaffe being any less strong or active previous to or after the Dresden operation.
[pause]
IH: My personal view at the time was that Dresden was just another operation which was intended to give assistance to the Russian allies and would be a further step in defeating the enemy which was still a powerful war machine in operation and was quite capable of carrying out long enough to develop and use more powerful weapons. Which they were working on. Namely guided rockets and the atom bomb. I firmly believe that the devastating destruction caused to Dresden which was contributed to by an exceptionally strong wind that night was a psychological blow to the Germans that resulted in the war ending many months earlier than it would have been otherwise and so probably hundreds of thousands, saved probably hundreds of thousands of lives of death camp prisoners, British and American servicemen and British civilians. At this stage of the war Germany was still occupied, had still occupied much of Europe including Yugoslavia, Greece and the Channel Islands. Jews were being murdered and the gas chambers were still operating in the concentration camps. The Germans had developed a new weapon, the V-2 and were attacking London with these rockets. There was no clear indication of when the war, which was in its fifth year would end. The orders to bomber crews were to hit only military targets and this they endeavoured to do despite heavy enemy defences.
[pause – pages turning]
IH: That’s Dresden.
JS: You spoke, you spoke, you spoke earlier before we started recording about your role as a navigator and some of the navigation aids that you had. Do you want to just —
IH: Yes. Yes.
JS: Say a little bit about that?
IH: We were lucky. We had several very useful navigation aids. Gee was a machine which recorded the position of your aircraft in relation to the ground. Beams sent out from Britain which the machine was able to interpret and tell you more or less where you were. It was frequently jammed by the Germans so you didn’t have the use of it more than maybe halfway through your trip. And the other was H2O. That was the name. H2O. Which sent down rays, reflected them back and you could interpret, find out your position that way. The only, they were useful over the coastlines and lakes, lochs but they had their limited use. Just. They didn’t tell you exactly where you were. So most, and of course you had the astro navigation which was a bit tricky at times because the aircraft was moving up and down so quickly that you couldn’t take an accurate fix. So it was dead reckoning most of the time. You knew approximately. You had your compass and your winds and you worked it out that way. It worked.
JS: You mentioned your crew.
IH: Oh yes. Ah huh.
JS: How did you crew form up? And how did you get on with your crew?
IH: Yes. Yes. Yes. Well. when you were fully qualified you were all taken to a large hangar and told to sort yourself out. And it was quite a hit or miss business joining up. I think the pilot would come around and spot you and ask you what was your position, what was your qualifications and when he got to the right number of his crew that was it. It was very, it was very hit or miss but very successful. We got on very well with our crew. We spent a lot of time together. The officers of course were billeted in one part of the, the airfield. And the other ranks, the rest were mostly at that time sergeants. Non-commissioned officers. Apart from the pilot who was a South African. So we got on very well together and we spent all our recreation time together. We were very often in Lincoln at a dance or, you know pub.
JS: How was Scampton as a base?
IH: Oh, Scampton was a war, a peacetime, I beg your pardon a wartime. No. A peacetime base it was. It was a very good station to be on. We were, I can’t, I think, I think we were in, I can’t remember what we were in. Probably in Nissen huts. No. I can’t quite remember that at all. The Nissen huts were quite primitive in these days but cold in winter. You were very lucky if you got a bed near a stove to keep you warm in winter, but yeah. When you’re in your twenties you don’t notice discomfort at all. At all. So I was glad I lived when I did and had a very happy experience in the Air Force. In the RAF.
JS: How was, how was Lincoln in those days?
IH: Lincoln was packed with RAF personnel of course every night. And my pilot had brought his wife across. They stayed at Vicar’s Court just beside the Cathedral. 4 Vicar’s Court. And very nice. A very nice city was Lincoln. A lot of happy memories of it.
JS: You, you mentioned your, your training in Canada. Just to take you back to that. So you were there for, around nearly a year.
IH: Yes. About, about a year. Slightly less than that. To begin with I was training as a pilot, and we flew Oxfords. Oxfords and Ansons. I think I was there probably about two months before I switched over to navigation. Edmonton was a very nice place to be. Well, we were out, slightly out of Edmonton but went in quite a lot. And it was a very happy experience. Canadians were a particularly hospitable people and when I landed in Canada, we landed in a small town. The lights were blazing. The shops were full. It seemed like, seemed a wonderful place to be. I was surprised afterwards a Canadian told me that that particular town was one of the most rariest in Canada. To me it seemed a wonderful place.
JS: So the weather there would be quite different from that you were accustomed to.
IH: Oh yes. Very cold in winter. Very, quite hot in summer. You went on parade in the hot summer weather. Hot summer day. Hot days. Someone always tended to faint, you know. Standing there in the heat. But a complete change in the winter. The winter was very, very cold. Yeah. But it was a wonderful place. Canada.
JS: How did the aircraft of that time cope with the diversity in weather from the incredibly hot to icily cold?
IH: I think they coped very well indeed. I never noticed any problems at all. No. No. I don’t think there was any, was any problems. I’d say they were mostly Oxfords and Ansons they were called. Two engined planes we flew in. But —
JS: You, you mentioned, again just back to your, your crew and the fact that the officers were separated from the NCOs which was, which was most of the crew. So how did operations and time off work like? What was the sort of balance between those? Like how often would you do operations compared with being stood down and recreational time and things like that?
IH: We did thirty operations over [pause] let me think now. Six or seven months. So quite a few training flights in between. But let me think now. The recreation. I think there was no difference then between the officers and the other ranks. We were all mostly sergeants, flight sergeants except for the pilot was a lieutenant. A flight lieutenant. The bomb aimer was a Welshman. Dave Jones. He was also commissioned. That left five of us flight, flight sergeants. And we were definitely inside at that time. Not in a, not in a Nissen hut. I remember we were in a permanent room in an inside building. I think we all spelt in the same room which was fine. And [pause] but, and recreation we’d all go out together in to Lincoln. To a dance or the cinema. Or a meal. No. Not a meal. We didn’t eat out much. But no, that was a very happy time.
JS: Good.
IH: A happy time.
JS: Good. You [pause] you talked about the operation where you had to land in Belgium. So you obviously lost your aircraft there then.
IH: Yes. The aircraft was quite badly damaged of course and we stayed that night in Brussels in an ex-German barracks. And we got some, given some money to go into the town for the evening, and next day we got, we flew back again in another aircraft. A Dakota. Back to Scampton. And either that day or the next day the Luftwaffe came across in force and shot up all the aircraft in this area where we’d landed in Brussels. So we lost our aircraft, our Lancaster completely that time. And we got a new one when we got back. Back to Scampton. That was the December. December 1944. So we’d have that until the war ended. That was in May 1945. After that we were split up and I went to Crosby near Carlisle to navigate for the longer distances over the Pacific against the Japanese. But before the course was finished the Japanese surrendered and instead of going out to fly, to operate there I was sent out to be a navigation briefing officer. By that time I was commissioned and at Karachi near Mauripur. Karachi. And all the planes were bringing back Army personnel by aircraft so all the planes went through Karachi and they were briefed about the various risks involved on the way back. Where not to have a forced landing because the natives were hostile. And I was there about a year. A year I think it was in Karachi. Again, a very enjoyable experience. After that I got back home. I was demobbed. Went back to Edinburgh University. Completed my law degree and joined my father in his business, legal business in Lockerbie. I met my wife to be at a dance in Lockerbie. She was in the WAAF but we didn’t, we didn’t meet in the Air Force so I met her at this dance and we got married a year later. And after that my life was uneventful but very happy.
JS: You, you spoke about being in Brussels and being given some money to go.
IH: Yeah.
JS: And do Brussels if you like.
IH: Yes.
JS: For the evening. How was it then? Because I mean it couldn’t have been liberated for particularly long before that time.
IH: Oh no. No. It was very bleak at that time. There must have been some shops but there was no, no light. No nightlife. I suppose we spent our money I suppose going to some local pub or would be. I don’t remember having anything having a meal of any sort. And certainly the, we’d spent the night in an old German barracks which were very primitive. Just a night but again at that age you don’t, not at all conscious of any, any, any discomfort. Took it all in [pause] took it all in our stride.
JS: That, that must have been quite a rare experience though for someone in your squadron to end up if you like having to put down on the continent.
IH: Oh yes.
JS: And then come back because to a certain extent you were on the right side of the line so to speak.
IH: Yes. Yes. Yes. That’s right.
JS: Ok. As a, as a Bomber Command veteran how do you think you were treated after the war when you came back?
IH: Well, very well indeed. No complaints at all. We were demobbed and given a suit of clothes. A new suit of clothes. I think a hundred pounds. And things were very different. Very strict, strict rationing then and there was strict rationing for about seven or eight years afterwards. But again, these hardships don’t mean much to you when you are in your early twenties. You just accept them. No. We were very well treated when we got back. And so I was very glad I joined the RAF in preference to the Army or the Navy. It was a very exhilarating time.
JS: You, you mentioned when we spoke earlier about Churchill’s attitude to Bomber Command and, and the end of the war.
IH: Yes. Yes, indeed. Well, Churchill had authorised or instructed I should say the bombing of Dresden. Up to that time the, the Germans had been bombing British cities, killing a lot of people and there was a great animosity towards the Germans and a great support for the RAF. For the bombing operations they carried out. But once the war ended I think it’s a slight change. The criticism of the bombing of the German towns especially Dresden. And I was a very keen supporter of Churchill during the war. I think he did a marvellous job. I was slightly disappointed at his lack of support for the Bomber Command at the end. And I think however it was understandable. He wanted, Churchill was keen to get back in to power in parliament and he thought that too much support of the bombing of Germany might damage his chances of being successful. But, and that, that was I think quite understandable. So, but no I was a keen supporter of Churchill really and that was, and I understood his reason for what he did.
JS: When you went to Karachi did you have a choice to be demobbed before that or was that just where you were sent?
IH: No. Just where I was sent. Yes. At that time. Yes. I ‘d been switched to Transport Command at that time and we were being demobbed in groups according to when, how long you’d been in service and I had a year after the war ended before I was demobbed. My turn. When my turn came up.
JS: But, but the thing you were doing in Karachi was predominantly to do with if you like that flow of, of prisoners and service personnel coming home then.
IH: Exactly. They all, they all I think came through Karachi and Transport Command at that time was taking them back home.
JS: And, and what sort of aircraft were doing the majority of that work?
IH: I think they were mostly Liberators. Big American planes in Karachi. In Transport Command. At that time I remember I was sent to Cairo for a few days to check up on the, the route and that was a Liberator I was on. And I found Cairo an interesting place. It [pause] the, then I came back to, went back again to Karachi and eventually we were demobbed. We came back. Yes. By, by sea it was. We flew out to Karachi but we came out by sea through the Suez Canal and that took quite a long time in these days. I can’t remember. Quite a long time. Going out to Karachi took, took about three days. Various stops in North Africa. But coming home of course by sea was a very pleasant experience. It was all over then.
JS: So, so what, what sort of ship did you come back on? Can you remember?
IH: I can’t remember the name of it. Like I can remember the name of the boat going out to Canada. The Mauretania. But I can’t remember the name of the boat, the ship we came back in. It was a passenger, a passenger liner. That’s all.
JS: Great. That’s been super.
IH: That’s great.
JS: Thank you very much for sharing.
IH: That’s a great pleasure.
JS: That’s been very —
IH: It’s been a great pleasure.
JS: Very, very interesting.
IH: A great pleasure indeed.
JS: Thank you very much. I’ll stop this.
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 Ian Henderson
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Sheach
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-10-17
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.
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AHendersonIG171017
Format
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00:35:43 audio recording
Language
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eng
Spatial Coverage
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Canada
Alberta--Edmonton
Belgium
Belgium--Brussels
Great Britain
Germany
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Urft Dam
Pakistan
Pakistan--Karachi
England--Lincolnshire
Alberta
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
Description
An account of the resource
Ian Henderson was born in Lockerbie and studied law at the University of Edinburgh for two years before joining the Royal Air Force. He travelled to Canada onboard the RMS Mauretania to train as a pilot, after two months near Edmonton on Oxford and Anson aircraft, Ian transferred to navigator training. He joined 153 Squadron at RAF Scampton flying Lancasters. Ian’s crew included Pilot Donald Legg from South Africa, Wireless Operator Russel Rawlings from Canada, Bomb Aimer Dave Jones from Wales, Upper Gunner Andy Anders from England, Rear Gunner Jack Beat and Flight Engineer Jack Ross from Scotland. He recalled an operation on the Urft Dam in December 1944 where his aircraft P–Peter suffered an engine fire due to anti-aircraft fire and they carried out a forced landing in Brussels, then under Allied control. After a night spent in an ex German army barracks his crew flew home to RAF Scampton aboard a transport aircraft. His damaged Lancaster was destroyed on the ground at Brussels in a Luftwaffe attack shortly after. Ian described using both Gee and H2S navigation aids, with Gee being jammed by the Germans for perhaps 50% of the duration of an operation. On the 13/14 February 1945 Ian took part in an operation on Dresden, he described how to the crews it was just another operation. Crews were briefed that it was at the request of the Russians who feared German troops were amassing in the area. When they were around 90 miles from the target Ian recalled being told there was no need to navigate further as the fires from the burning city were clearly visible. Ian was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. On completion of 30 operations Ian was commissioned and transferred to Transport Command as a navigation briefing officer. Posted to Karachi he briefed crews making the journey from the Far East to Great Britain on known hazards they could face. Returning back in 1946 he resumed his studies at the University of Edinburgh before joining his father’s law firm in Lockerbie.
Contributor
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Jim Sheach
Julie Williams
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Conforms To
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Pending revision of OH transcription
153 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
B-24
bombing
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
Distinguished Flying Medal
forced landing
Gee
H2S
Lancaster
navigator
Oxford
pilot
RAF Scampton
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/943/11302/PMaggsRW1602.1.jpg
8a9c1d85ff76132f37572b40ed1eef21
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/943/11302/AMaggsRW161110.2.mp3
5c685182db7f4e26a260d415d150bc05
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
Maggs, Robert William
R W Maggs
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Robert Maggs (1853142, Royal Air Force). He flew operations as an air gunner with 90 Squadron.
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
2016-11-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Maggs, RW
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
MC: This interview is being conducted on behalf of the International Bomber Command Centre. The interview is taking place [deleted] in Lincoln. The date is Thursday the 10th of November 2016. The interviewee is Robert Maggs and the interviewer is Mike Connock. Ok, Bob, well the first thing is can you tell me a bit about when and where you were born?
RM: I was born in Brixton, South West London, SW2 and I grew up there until we got bombed out. My parents. My mum and dad and my sister. The four of us. I had two other brothers. They was in the army. And one was in the Royal Artillery. And one was in the King’s Royal Rifles and he got captured at Calais and, with four thousand other blokes and walked into Germany and spent the next four years in captivity.
MC: So what did your parents do for a living?
RM: Sorry?
MC: What did your parents do for a living?
RM: My, my father was a meat porter at Smithfield Market. And mum was a mum, you know.
MC: Yeah.
RM: She did spare work two or three mornings a week for a posh [unclear] around the corner called Kings Avenue. And that’s how I grew up.
MC: And what school? What was school life like?
RM: I went to school just down the road. Two hundred yards away. Past Jones’ the greengrocer. And we used to warm our hands in there in the winter. You know. I played football for the school. Not many times. I don’t know. Three or four times. And —
MC: You enjoyed your schooldays then.
RM: I enjoyed the school, yeah. But you know in those days money was hard. Father had a very tough job and he used to drink a lot because he was in the First World War and he got captured and ill-treated. And he was never, after about fifty I think he wasn’t much good really. Walking but mentally he was affected.
MC: So when were you born? What year were you born?
RM: Eh?
MC: What year were you born, Bob?
RM: I was born 1925. On the 1st of April. April Fool’s Day. I went to Park Road School. And New Park Road School because somebody decided to split the education at a certain age and concentrate the bulk of the education on the age, the older age. I played. I ran. I ran. I was a good runner. I got in the athletics of South London in Battersea Park. I didn’t win but nonetheless I took part.
MC: So you grew up. So when, at the outbreak of war you were a teenager.
RM: Yeah. I was born in 1925 and at ‘40 [pause] No. In 1940 I’d be fifteen. I remember we took a bike ride with a mate to a place called Croham Hurst Woods and we spent a Sunday morning in the park on our own. And I bought a bike to do the baker’s round. And that was it.
MC: So, what — so you left school at fifteen.
RM: Sorry?
MC: Did you leave school at fifteen?
RM: Yes. I left the school at fifteen. Just an ordinary. I worked for Noons and Pearsons in the West End. I used to travel up by train. [unclear] I think it was [unclear] train.
MC: What did you do for them? What sort of work was it?
RM: I think it was [unclear] train. And I stuck that job for about a year and then the bombing got more severe in the day and that in that period.
MC: What job, what work were you doing for that company?
RM: Just clerical work.
MC: Clerical work. Yeah.
RM: I was a sort of an official postboy. There were about a dozen of us because it was a great big building. It was a business they used to print control Humorist and Men Only and papers and that sort of caper. And I left there after about a year. I say about a year because it was about a year. Then I took a job on Brixton Hill in an architect’s office. Sorting out plans and a bit of work. I was on my own. I didn’t do any typing or anything like that. And then we got bombed out. I remember that. It was a Sunday. And the baker’s shop opposite got bombed out. Mr [Clow?] and his daughter got killed. It was a Sunday morning actually and so there was a lot of people about. The sirens blew and oh another, another raid. This time it was indirectly aimed at Brixton. On the same. Anyway we got bombed out of London and I wasn’t involved in talking about it. It was between the officials. And the next thing I knew I was following my father and mother and we moved to a place called Lancing. We could have stayed in South London I understand but anyway they decided to move away and so we went to Lancing. I’d never been to the seaside in my life. And it was ten miles from Brighton. Originally I think it was fifteen shillings a week which was a lot of money for father but he used to get a pension from some government body. Because as part of his war service he wore a silver badge and there were not many of them and he got a pension for that. About five shillings a week or something. Quite a, quite a lot of money. And anyway so he didn’t work. I got a job as a baker’s roundsman. I didn’t have an education. Not a worth one but I didn’t have any brains I suppose. And I, so we lived in this house and it was very nice. Modern. Nice country. And my father and I, he used to help me with the baker’s round and then the milk round when I got a different job. That was the West Worthing and we used to get the twenty past six train. I think it was twenty past six in the morning. Get to work about a quarter to seven and because we only went to West Worthing and then that was the stop we got off at. And then after that, I did that for — in the meantime I joined the ATC. It was the ADCC Air Defence Cadet Corps in London but they made a bigger body of it and called it the ATC. Air Training Corps. And I joined that at Shoreham. I had an interview and I was told that, by then I was about sixteen. I told them I was a good boy and did all the right things and didn’t push old ladies off the pavement. Which I wouldn’t do in anyone’s business at all. But I joined the ATC, I got a uniform which was the lure. It was the pride, and, and what was it then? Oh yes and from there I had my first go at flying. We went in a Catalina aircraft. Just out to the sea and back again.
MC: That was with the ATC?
RM: Yeah. With the ATC. On a Sunday morning. And a nice day anyway. It only lasted about ten minutes. And we used to circle and come down. It was very exciting and of course it fed the pangs of doing more and more and so I did. I took it more seriously and learned —
MC: Morse. Morse code.
RM: Yeah. That’s right. I couldn’t think of it. And I was taken in there and after six months they, if you were keen about joining the RAF which I was and I used to do two, two days a week. Two nights a week. And it meant coming home and rushing and changing into a uniform which was the be end and end all of everything. And anyway I had an interview for about twenty minutes. Physically I was told I was fit although I was thinking only the other day that my height was six foot nine and a half and to qualify for coming in the barriers you had to be six foot ten.
MC: Five foot ten. Nine and a half.
RM: Five foot ten. Yeah.
MC: Yeah. Five foot —
RM: Otherwise you couldn’t join. Too tall for aircrew. Taller than you anyway. Anyway, and after six months I got a letter from the Ministry to say I’d qualified. I had another examination just to check everything was still alright and that was six months intervening and then I joined in London. Stayed in a block of flats with I think it was fifty or sixty blokes. All in one big pack.
MC: How old were you then?
RM: That was in nineteen [pause] I’m trying to — 1940.
MC: Nineteen forty — you must have been, were you eighteen?
RM: I was eighteen. Yeah.
MC: Yeah. That would be —
RM: That’s right. Yeah.
MC: It would have been 1943 wouldn’t it?
RM: I was eighteen on the 1st of April and I joined up around about that time. Of course it was very exciting for a young lad. Mixture of people really and to learn something about the excitement of flying aircraft. And I qualified. Not on the grounds of pilot. No. Pilot — no education. Navigator — no education, bomb aimer. I don’t know what qualified him. Jay Hartley his name was. He was an officer, I don’t know what he would be. And the pilot was a New Zealander and he’d, he’d joined in New Zealand for the American Air Force.
MC: This was your pilot.
RM: And he qualified as a, so he told me, he qualified as a, as a pilot and then he, he did his air training and all that and then he decided he’d take part in the action. So he volunteered for the RAF out there.
MC: When you first joined did you have to go through basic training with the RAF even though you’d been in the ATC?
RM: Yes. Yeah. I went to St Johns Wood where we used to have breakfast and basic lessons on flying and what aircraft meant and the shape of things. And what you were expected to control. And you used to have trips. Not many. Twenty at a time. For a day out to see the aircraft.
MC: So was it at this stage which selected what crew position you would be?
RM: Sorry?
MC: Was it at this stage that selected what crew position you would be?
RM: Yes. That’s right. They shoved it up. I mean I had a proper interview. Three officers I recall. And pilot, I didn’t have an education. Navigator I didn’t. Bomb aiming I didn’t. Wireless operator I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all so I didn’t. Wasn’t very keen. So you were just left with two gunners.
MC: So you trained as an air gunner.
RM: Yeah. Trained as an air gunner. And we went to Bridgenorth. We went from [pause] near Doncaster it was. To Bridgnorth. Bridgenorth. I think we went to, we jumped a course and we finished up on the Isle of Man. And I did four months on the Isle of Man and I qualified as an air gunner.
MC: So it was your gunnery training in the Isle of Man.
RM: Sorry?
MC: It was the air gunnery training in the Isle of Man.
RM: Yeah. Definitely.
MC: Yeah.
RM: Definitely. All of it.
MC: Oh right.
RM: I had the square bashing and saluting and all that you did at the ITW. Initial Training Wing. But the others you, the flying bit you did in the Isle of Man. And after two, after year, one year I qualified as an air gunner. They didn’t select you for a mid-upper or rear gunner. It depends on whether you was that big or that big or that big. That’s how they did it. Or they did when I joined. And that was it. And I joined a squadron with another escapee. Because we went to a place called Coningsby which was an OTU place.
MC: So was that crewing up? Or had you crewed up before then?
RM: Yes it was. It was for crewing up. It was a Sunday morning. Four hundred blokes stuck in a hangar. And a whole mixture of ranks and careers. And just by chance I chose another and he chose me. And as two gunners we offered our services around the, around the — and finished up with this New Zealander bloke. An English bomb aimer. An English navigator. Dickie Bush. He died actually a couple of years after the war. He was good. He wasn’t the sort of the flying type at all. Dickie Bush was, he just wanted to do his bit and found that he had the ability to do it.
MC: So did you, did you crew up just the full seven or did you fly — you know other training in Wellingtons or anything like that?
RM: Yes. We, we initially we — what were we flying? I think the once we got qualified we drove Wellingtons. So the gunners, well one of them had nothing to do, you know. So you used to switch over. As they say. A bit as a rear gunner. If you went out to Bristol on a square leg. You came back and you changed gunners a couple of times. You know, just different uniform really.
MC: Did — was that an Operational Training Unit? Was that?
RM: Yes. Actually yeah.
MC: Yeah. Can you remember what number it was?
RM: I might have it in my logbook. It would be in that drawer. You can take it with you. Take it —
MC: So. Yeah. That’s alright Bob. So yeah. I mean, obviously you said the Isle of Man for your Air Gunnery School. That was 11 Air Gunnery School at Andreas, Isle of Man.
RM: Yeah.
MC: Yeah. And then you say you went on to the OTU. 11 OTU.
RM: Yeah.
MC: 11 OTU. Where was that? Can you remember?
RM: OTU wasn’t far from London. Buckinghamshire. Somewhere like that.
MC: Oh yeah. Right.
RM: I’ll have a trip down. We got into OTU. You flew from OTU because at that time we had a New Zealander pilot.
MC: Yeah.
RM: And he pranged a kite and I and me the other gunner decided enough was enough so we started sort of about being late and all that and in the end they sent us to the Isle of Man for three months I think. Three months. And all the boys really on the same, so they but he got a [unclear] so he spent a night at the working full training and all that. We spent, I think we spent six weeks there.
MC: Yeah. So that was all on Wellingtons was it?
RM: Sorry?
MC: That was all on Wellingtons. Wellington aircraft.
RM: Well, we didn’t fly in the air at all. We went to Sheffield and I remember walking from Sheffield. There’s a point and you go down there. We went to the town. Down there.
MC: Where was that?
RM: Sheffield.
MC: Oh right. Oh right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
RM: Where they sent the, the naughty boys. So they called them. But most of them went on to be [unclear] people but the odd few just there for the glory or whatever. I was clearly disappointed so, but you can borrow that.
MC: So when you went to, after you finished at the OTU you went to a conversion unit did you?
RM: Yes.
MC: Yeah.
RM: Swinderby.
MC: Oh right. Yeah.
RM: It’s called Swinderby.
MC: Yeah. That’s only down the road from here.
RM: We left there for the disciplinary course and we came back there and when we were told according to the flying officer or the gunnery leader and said we were in disgrace and we would be posted not with a crew but as an individual. And you’re going there. And you’re going there. But as it happened we both went to the same squadron. His name was Tom MacCarthy. He plays a relative part in the story. And he came from London. Paddington. And I came from Brixton in London. So we had something in common. After that he qualified. He didn’t have to qualify. He was already an air gunner, but he went with a Canadian crew. All Canadians and he was the only limey as it were. And he won the DFM actually. Shooting down an aircraft. And I used to go weekends to London with him to, well meet his mum and dad. And he had a younger brother, Bill. Billy MacCarthy. And he was younger than, younger than I. Then Tom, I can’t remember whether Tom did a first trip or I did. One of the two of us. And I forget where the target was. It’ll be in there.
MC: So you got posted to — which squadron did you get posted to?
RM: We got posted to Tuddenham. Tuddenham.
MC: Which squadron was that?
RM: 90. And it was near Newmarket. We used to spend a lot of evenings getting a few beers down the pubs in Newmarket. They used to send a lorry at 11 o’clock to pick us up.
MC: So social life was good.
RM: Oh yeah. Some of us were always late and nine tenths were drunk. But you know it seems a bit dramatic to say but people lived for the moment. I don’t know if they did. They enjoyed what they did put it that way. If two or one aircraft come back with shot up or crashed on landing or something like that two, two mates had gone you did your training with. So you came very close to reality. It’s difficult to say all those years ago.
MC: So what can you remember? All the names of your crew? When you got to 90 Squadron your skipper was a New Zealander you said.
RM: Yeah. You seem we’d got this South African there and he pranged a kite at OTU and so we decided, him and I, that the other gunner and I we didn’t want to know about him any more so we went spare again. And as a spare you went to the gunnery office every day to cleaning guns in the armoury or doing physical training. Or drinking in the pub.
MC: So your skipper was?
RM: And so —
MC: Was that Williams?
RM: After the South African, spare gunners. So we did two. I don’t know how many Tom did. But I did a couple of being there. A couple of gunners. Gunnery aircraft. I forget now. I don’t know if any —
MC: Can you remember your first operation?
RM: Sorry?
MC: Can you remember your first operation?
RM: Yes. A place called S. Solingen.
MC: Solingen. Yeah. Yeah.
RM: Solingen.
MC: Yeah. Yeah. That was with Flying Officer Williams. Flying Officer Williams.
RM: Yeah. That’s the —
MC: Yeah.
RM: New Zealand bloke.
MC: Yeah.
RM: Yeah. Rod Williams.
MC: Yeah. Who was your flight engineer?
RM: Who was what?
MC: Who was your flight engineer?
RM: Flight engineer. Reggie Breen.
MC: Oh yes. Yeah.
RM: Reggie Breen he was an ex-London policeman. Six foot six and all that. Could hardly get in the aircraft let alone put his head out. And he was a great bloke and he had a young team. He was nearly forty when he volunteered. He was that, with a pointed hat and all that malarkey, put it out and all that but he kept the younger team, even the pilot, ‘You shouldn’t do that,’ and all that. He put, he put the brakes on certain matters.
MC: He was the dad of the team.
RM: Yeah. He was the daddy. He kept the brakes on the madness.
MC: And your navigator? What was his name?
RM: Dickie Bush. He was the fellow that died. He was a very studious, serious bloke. Never drank and never smoked. Didn’t do anything the other pilots and navigators did. Took his job seriously and as a consequence we always felt we had the number one navigator in the squadron. And there would be justice in saying that.
MC: Yeah. And your wireless operator?
RM: Wireless operator came from Newcastle. I forget his name now. It’ll be down there somewhere.
MC: Yeah. And your bomb aimer? Do you remember his name?
RM: Jay Hartley.
MC: Oh that’s the one you said. Mentioned earlier.
RM: The other officer in the crew. There was the pilot. Williams. Rod Williams actually. He was an unusual nickname. And then Jay Hartley the other officer. Then we had the navigator.
MC: Bomb aimer. Oh no. You’ve said the bomb aimer.
RM: No.
MC: The flight engineer.
RM: Flight engineer.
MC: Yeah. You just said.
RM: He was a policeman.
MC: Yeah. You said. Yeah.
RM: And after, the other gunner was called Tom. Tom somebody. I should remember.
MC: So how, what was your experience of these raids like? Can —
RM: Well, it depends on the number really. Sometimes you had sixty go out. Another time you’d have six hundred. And the bigs I arranged they had a bigger number. But it seemed that way to me but I only talked a bit and discarded it.
MC: No close calls?
RM: Well. One. One. It was a daylight over — I forget the [pause] we got mixed up in some German was trying to shoot down another Lancaster in daylight. And the bombing range would be about, height would be about sixteen. Sixteen thousand. But of course as gunners you never got all this information until after you got back. Talking to the blokes, ‘Oh, did you really?’ All this sort of thing.
MC: Quite uneventful then. How many operations did you do?
RM: Thirty.
MC: You did thirty. The full thirty. Yeah.
RM: Yeah. I did thirty. At twenty five they had a big review because they could see the war was nearly finished and that was about —
MC: Yeah. Because that was in late ’44 wasn’t it? That was in late 1944.
RM: Yes. About early December ’44.
MC: Because you did —
RM: There was a big review. They extended the bombing trips. To complete the first tour you had to do twenty five. If you did live long enough and you did another one then you — how many was there? Fifteen I think.
MC: I mean —
RM: Only one bloke on the place had fifteen done.
MC: So, I mean looking at your logbook you did quite a few daylight raids.
RM: Oh yeah. The green were, the green were —
MC: Yeah. Daylight.
RM: That’s right. And the rest were black. Yeah. Saw, saw a lot of the action but it was, could be five miles away. Another time you could be at the, leading the stream in and the Germans would knock out the leading one. And the aircraft, the enemy aircraft seemed to stand off when there was densest. They used to break off and wait in a circle. So we were told. And make another attack and two or three attacks as we were coming out the other side. Generally, generally you lost two or three going in and maybe more flights and squadrons about. You never used to see them. You were told afterwards that, well before in fact it was estimated number was four hundred and ninety five if you like and when you, when you got to eighteen thousand on a clear day you could look across, see planes all at the same height but then they seemed to get nearer. They used to start moving. Moving that way and taking evasive action which was a dangerous thing to do. But as I say when you’re eighteen years old, nineteen years old I was scared, there’s no doubt about that but I could do my job but at the same time you realised that you was in a dangerous job. And you got well paid for it. You was earning, I think it was seven and six pence day as soon as you were [pause] Then I had that for a year and it automatically gave you air gunnery sergeant’s badge. Yeah. Flight sergeant.
MC: Yeah.
RM: And then you did another year and you got automatically they gave you a warrant, warrant officer. Because then you got a badge on your tunic then. You got an officer and all the rest of it and you hadn’t done anything different.
MC: So can you remember when it was you got your warrant officer?
RM: When I — well, it would be rather late. Probably be about March.
MC: ’45.
RM: Or April 1945.
MC: Right.
RM: Could have been a bit earlier.
MC: I noticed that you were on the Nuremberg raid in January ‘45.
RM: That’s right. Yeah.
MC: Do you remember that one?
RM: Not individually. As far as we were concerned from memory it was no different to any other midnight raid. It was a night raid.
MC: Yeah.
RM: And as a big raid we were told how many aircraft were scheduled to be in these. Close and things. And we saw, we went down low because by then the experienced pilots used to know when to go down or go up or go. And so our pilot he used to try and I’m not shooting a line, he was trying to get as much packed into every trip. So if he saw an aircraft didn’t know which way he was going he used to take it on and give it a lead. Not that the rest of us were pleased about that but he liked it.
MC: So did you get diverted many times on return?
RM: No. No. We were, the only time we got diverted we did a mining raid over [unclear] somewhere like that. Sweden. Norway. I mean we did eight hours. We finished up in Scotland. We landed in Scotland.
MC: Lossiemouth.
RM: Lossiemouth. That’s right. It wasn’t open. It was open as an aerodrome but we never saw it. We took off. Refuelled and did a five or six hour stooge down the spine of England.
MC: I also notice you were on Dresden. You did the Dresden raid as well.
RM: [unclear]
MC: Dresden.
RM: Dresden. Yeah. That was a long trip. I was quite proud to have done that. I don’t know why. But you know, memory. You talk about these thing and old memories flick up and you wondered if you were the person telling the story. And I don’t, after the war I was over and the New Zealander pilot went home. He was the headmaster actually. He became a headmaster. He came back and married a girl from where I lived. In Streatham in London. Yeah. And he came to see me and spent a couple of hours having a chat and that sort of thing.
MC: Do you remember anything about the Dresden raid? Because it is obviously was quite an infamous raid. Because it was —
RM: No. Nothing outstanding. As far as we were concerned. I’m not being modest. We took off with hundreds of others. I forget how many. I used to log. I had a separate diary. I don’t know whether I’ve still got it and I used to write my own personal views rather than the official thing.
MC: Do you still have that?
RM: I should really. It should be about. A little cheap volume. I did have it for years. I’m sure I’ve got it somewhere.
MC: So what — when you finished with 90 Squadron you finished thirty trips. Where did you go after 90 Squadron?
RM: Yes. Good question. I went back to Jurby I think it was. I did my training in Andreas.
MC: It says Egypt.
RM: Oh yeah. It was after that because —
MC: So from 90 Squadron you went to Middle East force in Egypt.
RM: Yeah. We, we they asked for ten crews. I think it was ten crews to go out and convert the blokes from Liberators down to Lancasters. Or up to Lancaster. Whatever. And we went out to Egypt. We did it in five or six weeks I seem to remember. Then we were posted to Middle East Command and transferred down to a place near Cairo. Seven or eight miles. And —
MC: Which squadron was that? Can you remember?
RM: Didn’t go with a squadron.
MC: Well I’ve got, your logbook says 40 Squadron.
RM: Well. It would be 40 Squadron.
MC: Yeah.
RM: And then I did, I did eight months I think. Something like that in all. And they said well if you don’t like Middle East Command and all the rest of it. So if you like it you can volunteer to come back. So I did.
MC: But you did quite a lot of flying in the Middle East. In Egypt.
RM: Sorry?
MC: You did quite a lot of flying in Egypt.
RM: Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, it was boring on the ground. Squadron, squadron leader with nothing to do. I mean the same day was the same as the next day.
MC: Yeah. The skipper in Egypt was a Flying Officer [Bleuring?]
RM: Bleuring. Yeah. He did come and see me. We did meet in Lancing. He was a nice fella. Different again. He wasn’t a hero type. But the New Zealand pilot I flew with on ops he, he wasn’t a show off but he liked to let people know he was an RAF pilot. Bomber pilot. So what he got up to in the officer’s mess we don’t know.
MC: So, you were out in Egypt for quite some time. When did you come back?
RM: Yeah. I thought we were out there about eight months. Could have been longer. Couldn’t have been longer because —
MC: So did you, did you decide to stay in after the end of the war? Did you decide to stay in the air force after the end of the war?
RM: No. No. The — we had an individual interview from the squadron and what did you intend to do in Civvy street, and it was named Civvy Street. Being in there I thought well this has been cut and dried already. So —
MC: Because I notice, I notice from you logbook you didn’t, you went back. When you left Egypt you came back to the Isle of Man.
RM: Yeah.
MC: Air gunnery school. As an instructor.
RM: Probably did. Yeah.
MC: As an instructor.
RM: As an instructor. That’s right. Yeah.
MC: Yeah.
RM: To, to —
MC: But that was in, that was in May ’47 which is nearly two years after the war ended.
RM: 1947. Three months. Well, I retired on July I think. July of ’47. Something like that because I say that definitely because I got married to my wife in August. August 1947.
MC: So, did you enjoy the Isle of Man? Because you were obviously there twice. Did you enjoy the Isle of Man?
RM: Oh yeah. Yeah. I’d have liked, I’d have liked a job in the RAF. Now, apparently he’s been here. He became an officer. He did, ‘How many trips did you do, Bobby?’ I said. He said, ‘Thirty,’ — I did thirty nine, ‘Twenty nine rather.’ He said, ‘I couldn’t do another.’ ‘But you became a flight lieutenant.’ He said, ‘I did,’ he said, ‘I was.’ He went to India and Australia and New Zealand. He went all over the world with his wife. This bloke. And he had a good job. An air officer commanding training I suppose. And he stayed in and made a career of it. He stayed another ten years and they said well you know, time’s come. You’ve got to go, and all the rest of it. So he told me. He was here two months ago. He’s, he’s retired now. He lives in a village six miles from Lincoln. I could give you his, I mean it would be a matter of record.
MC: Yeah. Yeah. So he came to visit you here.
RM: If you wanted to get another story. A different type of story probably.
MC: Yeah.
RM: Then he’d be the bloke.
MC: Yeah. So your logbook says you finished on 28th of July 1947.
RM: Yeah. 28th of July. And I got married. [unclear] unfortunately.
MC: You got married in July. Just after that.
RM: I got married in August the 23rd. August the 23rd ’47.
Other: Yeah.
MC: And where did you meet her?
RM: I met her in the, I was going to the pictures at Lancing not far from Worthing. Two miles from there. It’s a very small seaside place.
MC: So, you knew her before the war. Knew her before the war. You met her before the war. In Lancing.
RM: No. No. No. No.
MC: This was when you went back home.
RM: I was on six day leave. Seven day leave, and went out to the cinema. And coming out I noticed this girl and chatted her up and we got married, you know.
MC: And that was in ‘47.
RM: We had two children.
MC: So what did you do after the war then? Once you were —
RM: Oh no. No.
MC: Got back home. Got married.
RM: Well, I got married. I was a baker’s roundsman. I used to work for the Co-op and you get your job back automatically. So I stayed with the Co-op about ten months. Then we decided London had more to offer. I don’t know why. But anyway we seemed to like London. Both of us. So we took over a couple of rooms in where my brother lived. In Norwood. Norwood South. North Norwood. South Norwood. We, we grew up together, had children in this —
MC: Were you doing the same work?
RM: Yes. I got a job with a building society. Church of England. A Church of England building society in New Bridge Street. Just off of Fleet Street. I was there ten years and I felt disappointed with the opportunities presented. Maybe I didn’t suit them or they didn’t suit me. And I left there and I got a job in a dress shop. Not selling dresses. Designing them. Little bit of the [unclear] And then I got fed up with that and I had two children as I said so I went to an advert of the Leeds Permanent Building Society and became a clerk in their London office in membership services. And became a branch manager. I opened our own office in Croydon in Surrey. Well, we lived in Streatham so it was halfway home. And then I got a, got a car, glamourous and then after about five years I got a promotion to be a regional manager. And that meant managing two or three branches in London. Holborn and so forth. And they offered me regional manager’s job stationed in Cambridge which I liked and I liked the life there. And I saw out my career there. I was offered, about two years from the end when they dropped the ropes really. Dropped the ropes on me as regards by then I was — I forget when I retired. ’70. ‘70. I think it was ’70. I’m not too sure of that but anyway the —
MC: So you stayed in Cambridge.
RM: Oh yes. They called me in to Leeds one day and you changed your car every year. Every town manager got a new car. Brand new. You used to go to the agent, ‘I’ll have that one.’ I’ll have that one. Tended to be all the same colours and if you became an ultra-regional manager you got a better car. A Hillman Minx or something like that. I think they used to be called a Minx.
MC: Yeah.
RM: And so you felt a bit bigger big headed and you stuck all your branches. I used to reckon eighteen, nineteen. Depends on opening and shutting. Because building societies in those days were very cut and thrust. If you didn’t produce certain figures that they were looking for, the management, then then you’d be reminded that a better job would be worthwhile seeing. And all the hints. So you knew your name was on the short list. Well, fortunately my name was never and I dropped the London accent and all that business and I did that job of senior regional manager for seven, eight years I suppose. When I was about fifty I got called to Leeds for an interview with the chief general manager. I knew what it was. I knew what it was about or why. I spent a night in his company and drinking and then he offered me the job but it meant my wife was [pause] she worked for John Lee and partners which was national by then, started in London but went national and my son who was not very well. He was seventeen, eighteen years old. Just started studying. Well, advanced studying on a civil service career and he caught some disease which affected his body. He died the other day actually. And he lived ‘til he was fifty four. A non-drinker and all that sort of thing. And so he said, ‘No,’ he said, ‘If you’re going north to Leeds I’m going to go back to Cambridge.’ He had that option, you know. By then he was demoted. Still got money. But that was the benefit of working for the — they never had to sack them, they packed themselves in. They kept them on. So he kept his car and kept his life. Lived on his own with his mum, put it like that. So we never did that. I did another three or four years as a senior regional manager and then packed in.
MC: So, post war did you get involved in any reunions and associations?
RM: No. I I think I was, there was one case not long after when I went to volunteer my services. I forget. Somewhere in London. But I never got chosen.
MC: Volunteered your services for what? For —
RM: Sorry?
MC: What did you volunteer your services for?
RM: Well, just training.
MC: Oh right.
RM: By then there was the advancement of guns and all that. Kept improving and [unclear]
MC: But you don’t know whether there was a 90 Squadron Association or anything like that you could have joined?
RM: No. No. There definitely wasn’t.
MC: Oh right.
RM: Because I would have. But of course by then your civilian life had taken over. I had a wife, I had two children. By ’54, end of ’55, two children. A girl and a boy. And the RAF, they used to send you a catalogue sort of thing. But after a while I never went to any reunions ever. In fact I didn’t know where they were. But being the expenses and in between I had a dog job and I had, it’s not a joke my brother, elder brother he was, his name was Ronnie. He’s dead and gone now. He, he worked for a bookmaker in Wandsworth tick tacking. And he’d put, he used to go to all the races and dog tracks. He used to earn a lot of money and when I was short when I first went to London I didn’t have, I think was paid about eight shillings a week. Something like that. Because we used to queue up the staircase to the bosses first floor suite of rooms. There’d be a half circle of people maybe thirty or thirty five. Used to wait on this here every Friday. True. And eventually, ‘Maggs.’ You walked in to this office, opened the door and there was the assistant general manager. Had his desk laid out with all the names and all the money. The pay. Mine was about thirty two shillings a week. Something like that. [unclear] he stamps off. Anyway.
MC: What’s — I mean looking back on the war now, your war years do you have any, you know thoughts on the reasoning behind the war and how it turned out? And whether you did a good job?
RM: I don’t recollect I was concerned in the slightest. I obviously wanted England to win because I didn’t want to change my way of life. But other than that there was nothing. I wouldn’t have liked to have been a German. They didn’t do to bad in the end did they?
MC: Do you have much thoughts on Harris? Bomber Harris.
RM: Yes. I never, never met him or his team. None of those blokes who went on any special raids. But he was a distant figure. Inspiring in his words on television. And he never came to the squadron. I don’t know. I admired the man from a distance. What he said and what he helped achieve. He was a South African and, and I flew with South Africans to start off with.
MC: Yes. You said. Yeah.
RM: Yeah. Very nice. Very charming. Really charming bloke. Cigarettes. We used to get cigarettes from South Africa. He used to be very liberal on what he give away and he really was a nice chap. But Tom and I had our conversations. Tom, the other bloke, gunner, he used to, ‘What do you think of him?’ ‘He’s alright but I’m not that bloody keen about his flying.’ And it sort of increased atmosphere or the layout. And it was difficult. I mean we never saw him again after we pranged the kite. He pranged the aircraft. I had the fright of my life. Biggest fright because when he landed on no wheels, or one wheel and he went to starboard and it spun around and it stopped. And it was dead of night of course. No lights anywhere. Of course the other blokes. ‘I’m out.’ ‘I’m out.’ ‘I’m out.’ And I was the last one. I was mid-upper that night. Well, the mid hatch comes inwards. It doesn’t go outwards, it goes, well it did came one bit. Quite a big bit. Nothing else. But from the mid-upper you had nothing to tread on. To get in your turret you had a bar and a bar and the solid bar which your feet, you know trod on. So and you couldn’t stretch your leg. And of course I got this sort of and in the panic no doubt about it, panic I must have kicked the bar away because I was left hanging like this. I thought, and of course you heard these noises. People, ‘I’m gone.’ ‘I’m gone.’ ‘I’m gone.’ ‘I’m gone.’ Sod you. I’m stuck here. And I heard them shouting, ‘Come on Bob. You’re the last one. You’re the last one. Bob. Bob.’ Well, I didn’t enjoy that a minute. I let go under the armpits and stood on the aircraft. Looked around. Saw a pickaxe. A chopper. We used to carry them around the aircraft in cases. A black leather case. I tried to hook it on to the Perspex. It’s strong stuff you know. Perspex. And I couldn’t do it. And I’ve thought about it dozens of times how, and then somebody said, ‘Fire.’ I thought bloody hell. That’s the worse you want to be in. Fire. And one of the engines had sparked and burned some petrol. And so I didn’t know what to do. People were shouting and cars were drawing up and all this sort of thing. And all you could think of was self-preservation. It didn’t matter about anybody else at all. I’ve never said this to anybody but it’s true. I could have — the King’s rights. But it didn’t do me any good, [unclear] wasn’t very good. So I didn’t know what to do so I jumped down again. The second time I was trying to find, ‘Well, why didn’t you go that way.’ ‘Because sir, because smoke was coming from the front.’ Going through there. And you didn’t know. There was a wall of smoke building up. Coming in internally in to the aircraft. So you thought, well I don’t know what I thought to be truthful. One way was self-preservation. Stay at the top. And I couldn’t get through to it. But I got this chopper and I don’t know how I managed it. I pulled myself out through the turret and I came out through the turret. That meant just getting hold of the guns and sticking them on the floor, loosening them. I forget how I did it. And this was only a training raid. I thought oh sod me. You do don’t you? Well I did. I know I did. I said sod me. I was nineteen years old and I was —
MC: So that was when you decided that the, that South African wasn’t the man for you.
RM: Eh?
MC: That was when you decided the South African wasn’t the man for you.
RM: Well, it probably helped. You know, people were shouting, ‘Fire. Fire.’ And, ‘Starboard. Starboard.’ The starboard side. The aircraft was tipped in. I don’t know what I felt. I’ve never known. I’ve never. I’ve asked myself the question but I couldn’t face it really because —
MC: So you actually smashed the rear, the mid-upper turret did you? With the axe.
RM: Well, to be truthful I don’t know what I did to get out. I know when my head showed above the level of the aircraft someone saw a head move and said, ‘Oh Bob’s free and he’s alright.’ But even then you had to pull yourself through and you were still exposed you see because your mid-upper is on his own. See you either had to slip down by how many feet. Twelve feet, ten feet. Something like that, I know I didn’t have a very good, I know I had a fag but that was it.
MC: Was the aircraft a right off?
RM: The aircraft was written off as far as I know. I didn’t care about any aircraft. I didn’t care. To be truthful I didn’t care about anybody.
MC: No.
RM: No I didn’t. I’ll be honest about it. But these things are not daily occurrences thank goodness. Otherwise I wouldn’t have survived. They, they come and go. And the next crew you speak to down the line are a little bit wise. You had a prang and yeah what a [unclear] game this is. I did this and I did this. Make you laugh. When you think about it you laugh about it. But they were explaining it all to themselves you know. What a game this is. I’m not going to do this again. This lark.’ So there came a lighter life. As you, as you go on. They were great lads. They were really nice people. I’m sorry I didn’t make a career. I could have done. Talking to this here gunner that did. He became a FO Flying Embassy or something like that and he used to go around stations and stations in [unclear] coordinating training programmes and all that. He had a good job. Did that for twelve years. And then they said to him one day — and he became a salesman for a ladies perfume. He did alright. He’s still alive. Well he was. Six weeks ago he was alive. He lives nearby. Helping you if It’s possible. He would be available with a wider spectrum of the war after. But his deepest regret he never did the other one.
MC: But you didn’t. You decided you wouldn’t stay in. You decided you wouldn’t stay in.
RM: Oh yes. Well, I wasn’t offered anything. If I’d had been offered it I’d have considered it because I liked the RAF. I would. Nice ring as a warrant officer. You couldn’t keep it. You might get an officer interview but of course you see I never had no background. This, this lad his father was some major engineering person. His mother was well off so he came from the right background. I never. I came from right down.
MC: Well, Bob thank you very much for that. That’s been very good. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your time.
RM: A lot of jumble really.
MC: But thanks very much.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Interview with Robert William Maggs
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Mike Connock
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-11-10
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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
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Sound
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AMaggsRW161110, PMaggsRW1602
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Pending review
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01:10:30 audio recording
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eng
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Robert Maggs lived in London until his family were bombed out and moved to the seaside. He joined the local Air Training Corps and later volunteered for the RAF and trained as a gunner. During training his plane crashed and he was left trapped. He doesn’t remember how he managed to escape through the turret. After completing a tour with 90 Squadron he was posted to Egypt.
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Egypt
Great Britain
England--London
England--Suffolk
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1943-04
1944-12
1945
11 OTU
40 Squadron
90 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
crash
crewing up
fear
military discipline
Operational Training Unit
RAF Swinderby
RAF Tuddenham
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1039/11411/AMulhallJE160823.1.mp3
673bbe19930c11fe8fca198bcc140a3e
Dublin Core
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Title
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Mulhall, James
James Edward Mulhall
J E Mulhall
Description
An account of the resource
Two oral history interviews with James Mulhall (b. 1924, 224223 Royal Air Force). He flew operations as a flight engineer with 75 Squadron before becoming a prisoner of war.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-08-23
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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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Mulhall, JE
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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JM1: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Julian Maslin. The interviewee is James Mulhall. The interview is taking place at Mr Mulhall’s home in Heaton Chapel, Stockport on the 25th of August 2016. Jim, could you tell us a little bit about your life before you joined the RAF and what it was that motivated you to enlist?
JM2: The main thing I should imagine, I was born in Gorton, at 151 Hyde Road, which was my grandmother’s house and subsequent schooling was at Catholic schools, the last one being St Roberts in Longsight. I, er, was tending towards mechanical things at a fairly early age but I was apprenticed as a plumber to a man called Frank Butler for some years before the Blitz became something of a nuisance in Manchester. So, it was while I was in — my sister and mother used to nip down to the Anderson shelter in the garden but I was too lazy to do this and used to stay in bed, until a bomb dropped nearby which decapitated a man in the next street and forced me under the bed, and I didn’t like this idea at all, so I decided when the time was ripe I’d join the Air Force and get a little bit of my own back. So, er, this is how it transpired I became an Air Force [slight cough] member. The — I was inaugurated at Dover Street in Manchester, went to Padgate for initial training, was sent to Skegness for the usual square bashing and then on from there to St Athan to train as a mechanic, and from there back to Henlow to assemble hurricanes as a mechanic. They came over from Canada in boxes and we put them together, put the wings on and flew them off to squadrons. From there on I decided — well, I was able to go into aircrew and I went back to St Athan to train as a flight engineer and that began the system that we’re talking about now.
JM1: Thank you and what year was that please?
JM2: 1942. In November I joined up and I left in February 1946.
JM1: Right. From St Athan did you go straight to an Operational Training Unit?
JM2: We went to, er, RAF Stradishall to con on Stirlings because I was trained on Stirlings. Spent thirteen weeks, believe it or not, in learning every nook and cranny of this aircraft which was a horrible, awful airplane from my point of view, all electrical and a real nuisance to get about because of this. It had four radial engines, twin row, fourteen cylinder, sleeve-valve, air-cooled engines which are a nightmare to maintain. However, while, whilst doing Con Unit we got the opportunity or were offered to change to Lancasters which we did to a place called Feltwell. And while everybody else’s job was the same, mine was totally different. I had four liquid cooled, twelve cylinder, in line engines to cope with as well as completely diff— different systems of doughty and pressure volumes for the various systems in the aircraft. I got a fortnight to do this and I didn’t enjoy it at all I must admit so presumably I learnt as I went along in Con Unit more or less and got away with it fortunately.
JM1: When you were operating Lancasters did you work closely with the ground engineers?
JM2: That was my job entirely [emphasis]. The rest of the crew weren’t interested in the aeroplane as a mechanical object. All they were interested in really was in flying in it. But my liaison with the ground crew was uppermost in this system because I had to go to every morning, well at least after every operation, after I had a sleep to go and run the engines and get the aircraft ready for flight either that afternoon or evening and sign the 700, which I might point out was always the pilot’s duty in the years before, but when it came to four-engine aircraft and the flight engineer being trained to look after these systems he [emphasis] had to sign the 700, which for a nineteen-year-old was quite a, a thing to do because it hands the aircraft over to me, away from the ground crew. They then relinquish all [slight cough] responsibility for it so, yes, I had a great deal to do with the ground crew.
JM1: And when you were posted to 75 Squadron — I’ll go back a bit. When you crewed up with your crew how was that done please?
JM2: [laugh] In the most ambiguous way you can imagine. The crew had been working together as a crew, six members, flying Wimpys, Vickers Wellingtons, and so were well acquainted with one another over a period of two or three months I would imagine. Then one evening, when we’d passed out as engineers, they assembled all these crews that they intended to crew up with the engineers into the theatre at St Athan, which was quite a massive affair, and when they were all seated nattering to themselves us crews were ushered in and said, ‘Go and find yourself a crew.’ [laugh] We were flabbergasted there’s no doubt about it. Literally we were faced with all these pancake faces who we didn’t know from Adam and had to sort ourselves out and I finished up by going up to one chap I fancied the look of and I said, ‘Do you fancy me as an engineer?’ And he turned out to be Hugh Rees and he said, ‘Certainly. What’s your name?’ I said, ‘James Mul—’ ‘No.’ He said, ‘What’s your name?’ ‘Oh.’ I said, ‘Jim’. He said, ‘Well, I’m Hugh, this is Westie and this is Rees [?].’ And that’s how we went from there on in and it worked.
JM1: That’s remarkable isn’t it?
JM2: It surprised me I must admit.
JM1: It must have been difficult for you in that, in that atmosphere. It must have been very stressful.
JM2: I was very much the new boy with the cloak of fear, as you might say, surrounding the whole thing, yeah.
JM1: And were you then posted to 75 Squadron?
JM2: No. We had to con from there on in. We went to Stradashall to start flying Stirlings. All of us being strangers to that aeroplane and it was whilst we were there that the offer came. Well, more or less it came nearly as an order to tra— because of the losses in Bomber Command on Lancasters, which had a, a height minimum of five foot six before and I was five foot five and a half and others were small, as small as me, particularly the gunners, and, er, from there on in we transferred to Lancasters at a place called Feltwell and, as I’ve already said, that was the initial inauguration with the aeroplane and we had to come to terms with it from there on in.
JM1: But the posting to the squadron was something that you didn’t have any choice about. You, you were posted to 75?
JM2: No. We didn’t have any choice from that, no. We were posted as a crew to 75 Squadron.
JM1: And of course 75 was unusual because it was a New Zealand Squadron.
JM2: It was but there was a pretty scarcity of New Zealanders on the base, whether from losses or otherwise, I wouldn’t know. We had one New Zealander, New Zealander in our crew, and that was Westie, the bomb aimer. Westie his name was. A pretty ferocious character in his way and he wouldn’t mind me saying this but, er, he was always looking for trouble [laugh]. I never got on with him really because as he was on Stirlings he was second pilot on the Stirling where I was posted way, halfway, down the fuselage with all my gear as the flight engineer, but when we conned on Lancasters I [emphasis] became the second pilot and, unfortunately, Westie was dismissed into the bomb pit and he never got over this, so if he could drop me in the fertiliser he would do [laugh] and on some occasions did.
JM1: In what way?
JM2: Well, we came home one night and it was nearly dark and I was always last out the aeroplane. I had a lot of breakers and stuff to do and gather things up and I was always last out the aeroplane. As everybody else got out as quickly as they could, you know, to breathe the fresh air from the confines of the aeroplane and, er, when I came to get out of the rear door there’s no ladder. There used to be a little short ladder there and it’s about five, six foot to the ground and I said, ‘Where’s the ladder? Well, I don’t know. It must have fell out.’ Colloquial language to that effect and I didn’t get any reply from the darkness and I thought, ‘Somebody’s playing up or what. Come on.’ Anyway, I thought, ‘Oh, never mind.’ And I threw my bag out to one side so I wouldn’t drop on it when I jumped out. Decided to make the jump in the darkness, completely black, and I did so and landed in the largest puddle you’d ever seen in your life, to roars of laughter from everybody roundabout. So that’s one of the instances where Westie set me up and there were others of course along the way.
JM1: Did you get your own back?
JM2: Eventually. Unhappily [laugh] but anyway that’s another story.
JM1: OK. So once you were posted to 75 Squadron. That was at Mepal?
JM2: Meth— Mepal.
JM1: Mepal. Mepal. Could you tell us what it was like serving at Mepal in Cambridgeshire? What sort of a, a base was it?
JM2: It was a bit rough and ready. It’s, er, it was a satellite drome. Witchford was next door and Waterbeach was about ten or fifteen miles away. It was the parent aerodrome at that time. It was a bit uncomfortable in its way. The food was alright but the Nissan huts we were put, billeted in had no heating. We had a little potbellied stove which we used to steal coke to try and get warm and we used to steal it from the cookhouse, which we weren’t very popular with, er, but warmth was always at a premium on the base particularly in the later months, October and November, but the villagers were very good and fortunately I struck up an acquaintance with one of a girls in the village, so that made life a lot more pleasant [laugh] at 75.
JM1: Was it one crew per Nissan hut or more than one crew per Nissan hut?
JM2: We had two and sometimes spare bodies but there was no more than two full crews in a Nissan hut.
JM1: And did you ever have occasions where you had returned but the other crew were lost?
JM2: Unfortunately, yes, on many occasions when they came round, the SPs, Special Police, came round bundling up the kit into bags and emptying the lockers, and we knew then that, er, not only were they missing but they weren’t expected to come back.
JM1: How did you cope with that as a crew and as an individual?
JM2: We were all very young, you see, and you, you tend to adapt. I was only nineteen and I don’t think anybody was older than about twenty-two or twenty-three. In fact, the skipper was a month younger than I was. Fancy being in command of a Lancaster at nineteen years of age. Hugh Rees was his name. In fact, my son-in-law is in contact with his son at this particular time, yeah. So, er, you cope with it. Its empty tables around the mess for, for meals. Empty seats was another thing you learnt to cope with, so — but as I say being young you just adapted. You were thankful to survive.
JM1: Can we turn now to your operations? Could you tell us a bit about your first operation? How you felt and what happened?
JM2: [slight laugh] It was, er, a daylight raid to the U-Boat pens at St Nazaire and as we were under radar, flying at under two thousand feet, and only climbing to the operational height of ten thousand as we approached the target. As we were the third wave in we were startled to see the sky literally black with ak-ak puff smokes and as a green crew this, er, didn’t look very pleasant to us at all but we were to learn of course that these weren’t the things which we were to worry about. It was the ones that we didn’t see that we had to worry about. However, we got through the, the business of dropping the load on the U-Boat pens, notwithstanding seeing a flamer on the left and a flamer on the right, going down both the port and starboard sides, which wasn’t encouraging. However, we got through it and the frightening period [unclear]. We were never ever that frightened again, I don’t think, in targets unless we were coned over search— over on the run in to Rüsselsheim we were coned by searchlights and that was a pretty scary time because we were blinded by the searchlights. We couldn’t see a thing, ducking and weaving and we managed to outfly them with little damage. That was another scary raid but most of them were just enduring the cold and getting through the operation as safely as possible.
JM1: So, when you came back from that first trip to St Nazaire, how long did you have before you had your second operation?
JM2: Oh, I can’t remember that. I think it was about three or four days. The battle order used to be posted up on the, on the mess door, and that was always the thing we looked at first when we got up in the morning before breakfast. Check the battle order, see if you were on it and, er, that’s four or five days I think. Let us settle down before they flung us in again.
JM1: If you, if you were flying that night, if you were on operations, your day would start quite early as the flight engineer presumably, helping getting everything ready?
JM2: Yeah, yeah. Even if I weren’t on battle order I’d still be going up to flights to check the aircraft and see if anything needed rectifying in, in the meantime even if we weren’t. I can only remember two occasions when we weren’t on the battle order, to be quite candid. So, er, we pulled our weight I think.
JM1: I’m sure you did. How many of your operations were daylight operations?
JM2: Oh, I can’t remember that now.
JM1: Roughly.
JM2: I’d say about ten. Nine or ten operations were in daylight, yeah.
JM1: And when you first started to operate at night did that give you as an engineer extra problems in terms of reading the gauges and controlling the engines and the fuel?
JM2: Well, I had to make a log out every twenty minutes and so I had to use a shaded torch to do this. I might have taken my gloves off incidentally which was a dangerous practice. We all had three sets off gloves, silk, cotton and leather and these we kept on all the time until I had to make log out when I had to take the gauntlet and the, er, cotton gloves off so that I could write my log out easily with a pencil and the shaded light. But there was a danger in this, in-as-much-as, the outside temperature of the aircraft round about twenty-two thousand, twenty-four thousand feet was often minus forty degrees, and this meant that the skin of the aircraft and metal things inside it was a similar thing, and if you happened to not use our gloves — and Tee Emm used to report this often enough — and reach for the tank cocks in a rush realising you should have changed cocks before. If you got hold of those with your bare hands that’s where you stayed because the sweat on your hands froze, your fingers, to any metal you touched near the skin of the aircraft. So, I was always careful to keep my gloves on obvious. But some engineers wouldn’t write with cotton gloves on and there were a number of occasions when this happened and was reported in the aircrew magazine of Tee Emm, pointing out the dangers of not doing this.
JM1: So, Tee Emm was an official document or an unofficial?
JM2: It was an official document, a magazine, circulated to aircrew. [laugh] The editor being Pilot Officer Prune who was always subject to these kind of things, yeah.
JM1: And for the record I think it was TEE EMM, wasn’t it? TEE EMM.
JM2: Yes, TEE EMM.
JM1: Thank you. And, in order to do your duties when the aircraft was flying, you wouldn’t be keeping still, you’d be walking up and down the side of the cockpit to the various controls?
JM2: I had a little collapsible seat, which I used I could, but most of the time because I had to reach behind for tank cocks and checking gauges the engineer’s panel was behind the seat on the star— on the starboard side of the aircraft. So it was a nuisance to keep getting up out of the seat. I used to stand most of the time and just lean down with my shaded torch, and flash it slightly, and the luminosity from the gauges would tell me what was going on.
JM1: Did you have any occasions where your aircraft had to return because of mechanical problems so you didn’t complete a sortie?
JM2: No. But we had one occasion I once lost an engine entirely in a Stirling but that’s a different story. The — I once had a CSU go geodetic, which meant that I couldn’t change the pitch, the revs, of the engine concerned, which was the starboard outer, and I reported this. We would take-off roughly at three thousand thousand RPM plus four boost, and we can maintain that for up to nine minutes, but then we have to reduce the revs to take the wear out of the engine, and this was my job to reduce it to climbing power once we’d reached the required height, but I couldn’t shut down the rev counter. I said, ‘This is going to make the engine overtired in its way and become a danger to the aeroplane and I suggest that we return.’ So the pilot said, ‘What can you do about this?’ And I said, ‘Nothing really. I can’t. It’s gone geodetic at the engine end and I can’t pull the lever back so I can’t reduce the revs.’ I said, ‘All I can do is try to keep it cool with a little bit of boost now and then and just hope it doesn’t exceed the limits of heat that it can stand. Because if it does it will cease and the prop will fly off and it will probably come in our direction if this occurs. It might even shake itself out of the bearings. I don’t know. I’ve never had a ceased up engine. I’ve never had a runaway before.’ So he said, ‘Well do the best you can. We’ll press on.’ I thought, ‘This was a rash decision in my opinion but there’s nothing I can do. He’s the captain of the aircraft.’ Fortunately, within half an hour we had an abort. The raid was called off, so we were able to run back to the aerodrome with an emergency and land with the aircraft running at full revs. That engine run for an hour and half at full revs and never missed a beat. Congratulations Rolls Royce. It was changed of course but, er, incredible really for an engine of that size.
JM1: Jim, Jim could I ask you to explain what you mean the word “boost” for those listening?
JM2: Oh, this is a question of pumping more fuel into the cylinders to improve the volume metric efficiency of the engine at that time. Plus four gives us the best we can do. Plus two is what we usually fly at. Our normal air speed is a hundred and eighty, hundred and ninety knots and it depends on height really how much you can boost but plus two is normal at two thousand two hundred revs.
JM1: Your memory, your memory for operating the Lancaster is remarkable.
JM2: Sometimes, in the dark hours [slight laugh], it seems like yesterday.
JM1: Jim, could you tell us a little bit about the atmosphere in the aeroplane when you were operating at night over Germany or enemy occupied Europe. What was it like there?
JM2: Its — you have to remember that there’s literally hundreds of aircraft converging on one target and the risk of collision at night is very, very high and this is one of the things that I think we feared most. In fact, on one occasion, we had on the bomb run, we had six incendiaries from another aeroplane hit our aeroplane because they were above us at a height they shouldn’t have been at, presumably to escape the — most of the flak, which was at operational height, and those incendiaries only failed to ignite because the pins were frozen in. They have a — it’s, about two foot long but hexagonal in shape and the igniter pin sticks out at the side but they’re held in by straps when they’re carried in the canisters that were in the aeroplane, but when they‘re released this little pin springs out so that when they hit the ground the detonator will go off and the magnesium will flare, but because they were frozen in they didn’t ignite when they hit our aircraft. So that was — we, I fished one out from underneath the navigator’s table. One of them knocked my engineer’s pile [?] down on the starboard side and one finished up on the platform of the mid upper gunner’s position. None of them ignited but three others were found by the ground crew piercing each wing and where the tail — the rudder stands up and the tail plane is horizontal — right in that nick there was another incendiary buried in that nick. Why, why the rudder didn’t come off I don’t know [laugh] but that, that was a case of being very close to another aeroplane at night. It was a fear most of us carried I think, collision at night. In fact, er, there’s one instance of we actually saw another plane below us because of the fires on the target. What he was doing down there I don’t know but he was below us. Fortunately he was to one side. But we could see him he was silhouetted against the flare of the fires and we were on the bomb run. What he was doing there I don’t know. I hope he got away with it. Most of it was radio silence because you had to keep intercom clear for emergencies.
JM1: I was just going to ask about that and how did you address one another? Was it pilot to flight engineer or was it first names?
JM2: No, it was always by the designation: pilot, engineer, bomb aimer, mid upper, wireless op, whatever, to make it clear who you were talking to and who was talking to you.
JM1: Yes. Did you have any, um, attacks from night fighters during your operational tour?
JM2: Curiously enough we were flying — when we went to Stettin, we overflew Denmark and Norway and our mid upper who was forty-two years old and well above the age for flying — he should — flying’s limited to people of thirty-five years. How he got away with that I don’t know. He must have been [unclear] somewhere. He had the finest eyesight I ever came across and while we were going over Norway he happened to see a flare path and we what? We were round about ten thousand feet I think. We weren’t too high. And these neutral countries used to fire flak up towards us but always well away from us, never with any no intention of shooting us down, but a token resistance as it were. And he happened to see a flare path at that distance and an aircraft with its nav lights on, going along that flare path, and he warned the skipper of this and he actually, he kept its nav lights on for quite some while, in fact until it was about a thousand feet below us when it switched off. It was obviously being vectored onto us and we watched it rise up along the side of us until our mid upper said to the rear gunner, Charlie, not rear gunner, but Charlie, ‘Let me have the first squirt at it.’ [slight laugh] And it actually rose alongside us about a hundred yards away with the pilot obviously looking upwards to look for our exhaust flames. We’d got eight blue exhaust flames going underneath the aircraft wing which were easily seen at night, particularly from underneath, and he must have been looking for those and not either side of himself. And both gunners had a, what they called, a squirt at it and it fell away but they didn’t, they only claimed a probable. We didn’t know what happen to it but it certainly fell away.
JM1: Had you ever discuss as a crew whether you would [emphasis] open fire because I know some gunners decided not to because they were afraid of drawing attention to themselves?
JM2: Well, funnily enough, we got some tracer coming towards us when we were getting close to the target and we didn’t know what, where it was coming from, but it passed underneath us. But the following day the ground crew dug a 303 bullet out of the tail wheel rims, so it was obviously a friendly aircraft. And the tail wheel had the double rims on it to stop it shimmying and it was that thickness of rubber that caught the, the bullet and they were able to dig it out and prove that it was a 303. So it was a friendly aircraft that had a go at us for some reason.
JM1: How about the weather that you experienced on operations?
JM2: This was always a problem. You’ll get ten tenths cloud over the target. Yeah, tell that to the marines. It was obviously ten tenths all the way, you know. There’s another thing flying in cloud that used to be unnerving to say the least, even in daylight, because you never know — people — we had a direction compass on but you never know when there’s a fault and an aircraft will drift in your path, yeah. In fact, often enough, you would hit the slip stream of an aircraft in front of you and you’d would drop easily four, six hundred feet like a brick because you’ve got no airflow over your wings with the turbulent air that you met in the slip stream, and that used to pin me against the roof of the canopy in no uncertain terms so, er, apart from the cursing [?] we got used to it.
JM1: [slight laugh] Did you ever have to land in very bad conditions?
JM2: Only once. We were diverted by fog to a fighter aerodrome. I forget what — North Weald I think it was — however, the short runway meant that it was a bit of a hairy do to get, to get it down on a short runway which our skipper was pretty good at and made a good job of it. Unfortunately, their ground crew did not know anything about Lancasters, so it fell to me to climb up the following morning, up into the cells. In each cell there’s a little calor gas pump which you have to prime the engine with before you try and start it, and in full flying gear I had to climb up on the main wheel and operate these things, using the bomb aimer as communication between me and the cockpit, and the ground crew with a starter [unclear] and that was a real sweaty job believe me. Up in the confines pumping this calor gas until we got the engines started. I think that was another time when Westie dropped me in it, maybe did it twice. So I had to do that in both the cells and I was sweating like a pig when I got back into the aircraft. But that was the only problem with landing in a different aerodrome, the short runway and having to do the mechanics myself, yeah.
JM1: As, as the tour progressed did, did you feel that you were more or less likely to complete the tour?
JM2: I don’t think we, I don’t think we thought about it really until the last four. When, when we’d done the thirty we thought, what shall I say? We, we were testing fate there a bit. We were pushing the boat out a bit but we were determined to finish as a crew so we, we carried on with the odd four but as I say which turned out to be a fatal decision.
JM1: Because members of the crew had not been able to do all the flights in sequence. One or two were injured or sick?
JM2: That’s right. As I said before our bomb — our, er, wireless operator picked up some shrapnel over the Walcheren Islands and he was in hospital at the time and we had the signals leader with us. It was his one hundredth operation and you can imagine his mind, mind when he had to bail out at that time, [slight cough] notwithstanding the fact we all had to do.
Jm1: Will you tell us about that last operation please?
Jm2: It’s, er — we were due to pick up which was known as a yellow tail, which had special Oboe equipment for, er, target finding, and this was supposed to be done over Lincoln. We were supposed to be number two in a vic of three with any loose aeroplanes fitting the box afterwards. The box formation was for fighter defence [slight cough] primarily but unfortunately we didn’t pick up a yellow tail over Lincoln and we had to settle for going in the box, which was unpleasant place to be really, and we continued to target in this way until on the run in to target we got [slight cough] caught by what was known as predictive flak. This is four guns controlled by radar, which fired a burst of four shells, and if we’d been able to manoeuvre it was fairly easy to avoid but because we weren’t able to manoeuvre — it’s usually about seven to nine seconds between bursts so if the first burst missed you you’ve got this moment in time to change the aircraft latitude, speed or location so that the next burst doesn’t find you where you should be. So, you get used to this system and its fairly easy to devoid, to avoid predictive flak, but we were stuck in the box and not able to move and it slowly crept up, as reported by the rear gunner, getting close and closer, until one shell went through the back of the aircraft, without exploding, fortunately enough, but took away the bunch of controls that lead to the rudders and elevators and part of the tail plane and made the aircraft virtually uncontrollable. At this point they were — it was decided with the damage so obvious that to turn away out of the stream and, er, as the bomb doors were still closed, the bomb aimer did — went through his jettison programme but it doesn’t matter because until the bomb doors are fully open the bomb aimer’s gear will not work for obvious reasons. If he dropped them with the doors closed it would tear the bottom of the aircraft out [slight cough]. So, it was my job to open the bomb doors and jettison the bomb because Westie already gone. He didn’t hang about. He’d gone.
Jm1: Went out through the front hatch?
JM2: Yes. He jettisoned the hatch and went out there and I went behind the pilot’s seat where my parachute was. We had clip-on parachutes. The, the skipper had a sit on parachute. He had a base parachute and he sits on his. So, as I went to get it out of the rack the, er, the navigator and the wireless operator went past me and out through the hatch and I [unclear] harness pin and I went through the hatch as well. And the skipper had apparently had — I met him later on in Dulag Luft, near Frankfurt, in — his fingernails were all torn where he was — the aircraft went into a vicious spin as soon as he let out the ailerons. That was the only control he had, was ailerons, and he went out through the top hatch but he had quite a struggle against the slip stream because it was pinning him to the fuselage with the increased speed. He must have been doing well over two hundred miles an hour, two-fifty miles an hour when he was trying to get out the hatch, which we didn’t have because we went out through the bottom hatch.
JM1: And the gunners went through the rear door didn’t they?
Jm2: Indeed. In fact, I heard them both say, ‘Rear gunner leaving.’ And, ‘Mid upper leaving.’ But funnily enough the mid upper, the, the rear gunner has no memory of leaving and wasn’t completely conscious until about 5 o’clock that night and yet I clearly heard him say, ‘Rear gunner leaving.’
JM1: And what height were you when you bailed out?
Jm2: We were twenty-two thousand [unclear] and I’d say we were between eighteen and twenty thousand or something like. It didn’t take very long.
JM1: No. When you came down tell us what happened when you landed please.
Jm2: I got my rigging lines a little bit crossed and I was trying to untangle the rigging lines and did so, managed to do so, and then I blacked out through lack of oxygen, lack of oxygen. I’d been without the oxygen for quite some time in the manoeuvring inside the aeroplane and I just blacked out through lack of oxygen and I didn’t come to until, oh, about four thousand, three thousand feet or so from the ground and I hit rather hard on a bunch of rubble and the Wehrmacht was waiting for me as a reception committee and I was a bit knocked about a bit and I came too really being frog-marched into a police station in Niebruch [?] and stuffed into an underground cell there.
JM1: Were the other members of your crew there?
JM2: No, on my own. We were widely separated because of the difference in bailing out.
Jm1: Right.
Jm2: [clears throat] I don’t know where the others landed although I must have been told when we met at up Dulag Luft. I can’t remember now.
JM1: How were you treated by the Wehrmacht?
JM2: The, er, the ordinary soldiers I think, I think they were a blessing in disguise because they kept the civilians away from us who were naturally a bit unchuffed about all this business. And, er, but I was put in a cell. They took my flying boots off me and put me in this bare board cell which was underground and, er, I didn’t have anything to eat for, er, quite some while. The following day the, er, sergeant of the police elected to interrogate me, by the simple means of sitting me in front of him at his desk, un-holstering his luger, sliding the [clears throat] breech back, pushing the safety catch off and pointing the barrel at me as he laid it on his desk, which felt a bit uncomfortable because I’ve fired a luger and know how hair trigger they are. So with him speaking German and me speaking English we didn’t get very far I must admit so we gave it up as a bad job and I went back in the cell. But, er, the following night I was moved from there to a Luftwaffe aerodrome on the back of a lorry and in the darkness [laugh] a voice said, ‘Have you got a fag, mate.’ Which I didn’t. The soldiers that picked me up took my wristwatch off me and pinched my cigarettes. I had a pack of cigarettes. They took the cigarettes out and put the cigarette case back in my pocket, surprisingly, but they pinched my cigarettes. I said, ‘No, I haven’t mate, sorry.’ But it turned out to be a Canadian gunner who’d gone down presumably nearby in the same raid. I said, ‘No I haven’t mate. I’m sorry.’ Anyway after a short journey through the all the rubble in the city. [unclear] used to clear a road through cities just to get transport through and they put me in this Luftwaffe transport base in a cell in, er, this ready room and whilst I was in there — I hadn’t had anything to eat for two days by then or drink — and one of the, er, Luftwaffe members, one of the ground crew saw me eyeing up his meal, er, two slices of bread and butter with molasses in. He saw me eyeing this up and he came over and give me [clears throat] half of it and this turned me really. It was the only kindness I ever saw off a German throughout me — in fact, it made me quite emotional, as I am now. He gave half his lunch to an enemy you might say, mm.
JM1: That’s quite something isn’t it?
JM2: It was for me, mm.
JM1: Yes and from there you went to Dulag Luft?
JM2: Yes. Frankfurt am Main for interrogation, er, ten days isolation, solitary confinement, in a ten by eight foot cell, which had a little window barred up, high up, and the only communication was a lever you had inside the inside wall which, when you turned it, dropped a signal out on the outside in the corridor to let the guard know that you wanted to come out for some reason or other. That’s the only communication you had with the outside world for ten days, apart from meals that were brought to you.
JM1: And you were interrogated again at Dulag Luft?
Jm2: Yeah. [slight laugh] The — I think there was a bit of smartness there because the — while I was being interrogated, the usual rank, name and number, and trying invoke information off you which I didn’t have much of any way. I didn’t have much to tell but what there was wasn’t worth telling so I didn’t bother. But during this, imagine I’m quite scruffy and dirty and unshaven and they brought in a young woman, a stenographer of some kind, to jot down the answers, all glammed up to the eyebrows, to make me feel as uncomfortable as possible, which it certainly did. [laugh] I felt a real scruffy object in front of this glamorous female. Yeah, a bit of psychological warfare there.
JM1: I, I’ve read that sometimes the interviewers, the interrogators, knew more about the squadron than you did. Did you get that?
JM2: They did. They told me who my flight was and who my flight commander was. Another psychological trick I would imagine but I was aware enough by then. I’d had a few meals and I didn’t respond to it. There’s no point. If you respond to it they pump you harder. You were told about this. The more you give away, the more they pump you, so you keep your mouth shut.
JM1: And where did you go from Dulag Luft please?
JM2: Stalag Luft VII in Upper Silesia, Poland. Quite chilly and that. It was December by then.
JM1: This was December 1944?
JM2: Yes.
JM1: Yes and what was it like in that camp?
JM2: A bit rough and ready. Food was the real problem. Food was always the main topic t of conversation in captivity because you never got enough of it and what the Germans doled out was pretty rough. Their sauerkraut was — I wouldn’t have give it to a dog but we’d have it. We ate it in most cases. We had what was known as pea soup and we used to separate the peas, and inside each pea there used to be a little tiny beetle, and we used to split the pea open and open the people [?] and get a little row of tiny beetles and we would save them while we scoffed the peas. Believe me this is quite true.
JM1: I believe you.
JM2: It’s hardly credible from a civilian point of view but beetle soup it became known as, yeah. Hunger was always the problem.
JM1: And Red Cross parcels?
JM2: Infrequent and, er, often we had to share one parcel between four or two and not, not, not — very few of them. In fact, there’s a record of them in here that, er, of the people who kept diaries. David’s done a log of the times that we’d done but it’s hardly worth bothering with now.
JM1: David is your son-in-law?
JM2: Yes. He is indeed. He’s the instigator of all this stuff except for the models. I brought the models in.
JM1: Were you concerned that your family should know that you were still alive?
JM2: That was another thing. They were allowed to write one letter, for the Red Cross gave us one air mail letter to write to our families, which I understand my mother never got for some reason or other, and from the telegram she got when I was posted missing she heard nothing from, for six months, almost the entire captivity period, except for a couple in Scotland, who had a, a fairly powerful short wave radio and they used to listen to the prisoners recorded by the Red Cross as being prisoners of war and my name was mentioned on one of these broadcasts, and they took the trouble to find out from the Air Force where my mother lived and informed her I was alive and well at that time, but for all that period she didn’t know whether I was alive or dead.
JM1: And what about camp entertainment? How did you spend your time?
JM2: [Laugh] Oh, er, we rigged up what was known as a, a pantomime for Christmas and called it “Pantomania” because we were all blokes in it and one amusing incident came out of that. We had a pirate scene and we organised a cannon, er, that was all papier-mâché and tubes of all sorts of things and at the back an elastic flap, which would propel a, a black ball of paper out the muzzle and this was coordinated with a flash of, um, magnesium. I don’t know where the hell they got the magnesium from. I’ve no idea. But they had it anyway. We used to get people working out. They used to pinch things all over the place. However, during the pantomime we turned this, the — they allowed us to run this pantomime provided a number of German officers could watch what was going on and, er, not allow anything what they didn’t like. [slight cough] However, we managed to turn this cannon in this scene, fire the ball of — black ball towards the audience with the flash, and this made the German officers jump up and quickly snatch their lugers out and start waving them about, wondering what the heck was going on. And it was only a black ball of paper but they stopped the show and it as quite some time until we persuaded them to let us get on with it. So that was an amusing incident that came out of it [slight laugh].
JM1: Was there any talk of escape at this stage in the war?
JM2: Well, they found a tunnel under the, er, under the stage where we were. It wasn’t much of a tunnel but they found it under the stage and there was a number of organisations in the camp, which I was never part of, that leant themselves towards this idea but nobody — it was too near the end of the war to chance anything particularly dangerous. I admired one chap, one particular at Colditz. They used to — they organised a playing field away from the castle, down below the castle heights. They managed to persuade the Germans to let them have a game of football because the quadrangle was too small at Colditz and they did this a number of times until somebody had the bright idea of pole vaulting over the wire fence that they surrounded this playing field with. And he took the sections of the pole vault down his trousers, assembled it on the playing field, and pole vaulted over the wire and made a home run home from that daring escape so late in the war, yeah. Incredible that, weren’t it? That was a record by the way.
JM1: Incredible. I get the impression the morale of RAF personnel was quite high in the camp?
Jm2: Yes, yes it was pretty good, yeah, I would, I would say so. The [laugh] one amusing incident came when we first went there, at Stalag Luft VII, we were on the same level as the sentries patrolling outside the wire but the various tunnels or starting tunnels that they did, we used to have to drop the soil out through our trouser legs on the walk around the edge of the camp, the periphery we had to, used to, walk round for exercise. They used to allow us so far away from the goon boxes, about fifty yards or so away, and the number — they, they took so much earth and we dropped so much earth through the bags in our trousers, walking round, that we found ourselves above the level of the sentries outside the wire. [laugh] Would you believe? [slight laugh]
JM1: Incredible.
JM2: Incredible. We didn’t realise this at first until we found ourselves looking down on the sentries walking round the wire.
JM1: Just before we move on, you’ve, you’ve mention a couple of phrases I think need clarifying. Goon boxes?
JM2: Ah, these were stationed every, I would say hundred yards or so, round the perimeter wire of the yard [?] and they stood up on stilts, about roughly fifteen feet or so above ground level, on a, on a narrowing tower. Each contained a searchlight and a machine gun and two serving officers, Wehrmacht officers, er, Wehrmacht personnel. So that, er, if you — there was a, a trip wire about fifty yards inside the main wire which you must not [emphasis] step over on fear of being shot at, night or day, and this searchlight was used at night to patrol this area at night, and you certainly would be shot at. In fact one person was shot at while I was there and he was killed. I think he went a bit mental and went scrambling up the wire and they shot him.
JM1: Now that’s different from the box that you were describing when you flew to the target. That’s a formation? An aircraft formation?
JM2: Yes. A vic, a three vic, an aircraft of three in a vic and the box at the back that we were in for the fighter protection.
JM1: So it’s an aircraft formation?
JM2: Yes.
JM1: And the yellow tail I think. Can you just explain that for the record please?
JM2: It was known as G-H bars [?]. Why? I have no idea. I don’t know what the latter stands for but the aircraft that carried yellow stripes on the rudder had this Oboe equipment which guided them to the target more accurately than anything up to that day.
JM1: So we’re dealing with navigation and target finding electronic equipment?
JM2: Yes.
JM1: So, can we turn now to the fact that you were one of those who was released and were on the Long March?
JM2: Yes. That was — we warned about this for some while, er, when we were doing the pantomime which was just before Christmas, but the Russians were, er, getting fairly close to the camp at this stage. By close I mean about fifty miles or so and the Germans were getting a bit edgy and it came out later that Hitler was pulling all POWs back towards Berlin, presumably to use them as some kind of hostages. But however, we were turned out once and then sent back into the billets, er, in January but then on, I think it was the 19th of January, at half past three in the morning, to start the march which was, turned out to be two hundred and ninety-seven kilometres in a snow bound country in Upper Silesia in Poland when Poland was experiencing the worst winter it had ever known. It was just a wasteland wherever you looked. The only indication of road that we were on was the telegraph wires that were on poles alongside the road to indicate where the road was that we were supposed to be on, often trudging through quite deep snow, which was trodden down by — I think there was about two thousand-odd of us on the march — but two thousand, two hundred and ninety-seven kilometres in twenty-one days, a hundred and eighty miles, which was quite a feat by people who were half-starved. In fact a lot of men died on that particular march.
Jm1: And where did you end up at?
Jm2: A place called Luckenwalde about fifteen kilometres south of Berlin and, er, we, we became in the middle of a shell swap between the Germans and the Russians at one time. In fact one, one Russian shell, presumably it was Russian, landed in our compound and exploded harmlessly, as it happened, but by this time the German guards had gone away from the camp and left the camp to us. They had retreated to their own lines, or whatever, and we were running the camp ourselves at that particular time. And, er, eventually these Russians came and mowed down the wire and said, ‘You’re free now.’ And liberated us and the following day put the wire up again and contained us, which was a bit of a [unclear] at the time as we had no contract, transport and we had nowhere to go so we just had to stay in camp until eventually the Americans stopped the Russians from crossing the Elbe back into their territory until the Russians allowed us [emphasis] to cross the Elbe back into American territory. Then the Americans sent lorries and picked us up and took us back to their territory.
JM1: And how did you get home from Germany?
JM2: We were flown from, er, Leipzig. They took us by lorry to Leipzig, to a German wireless school at the time, and then they flew us to Brussels in the courses [?] and then from there flew us home in Lancasters, eight at a time, back to England.
JM1: And that was your last flight in a Lancaster was it?
JM2: It was indeed, yes [slight laugh]. Not a very comfortable one on my side because I knew there was a little — we were strung along the aircraft, nose to tail, eight of us, to try a keep the centre of gravity in the aircraft, and I got myself near the wireless ops’ window because I knew there was a little window there I could look out. I was a crafty arse. And I was looking through this, timing the crossing and more or less from anybody who had a watch and I thought we should be seeing — and I saw the Seven Sisters in the distance and I said, a pal [?] said, ‘Pass it along. We can see Seven Sisters. We’re almost there.’ With that everyone had to have a look [slight laugh] and then about five minutes later the pilot sent the wireless operator back and said, ‘Tell the lads we can see Seven Sisters.’ [laugh] Oh, dear. This isn’t the end of the tale. When we came to Cosford we realised from the engine, well, all of us realised from the engine notes that we were in finals and the silence from the engine cooked, not knowing we were near touchdown, and we bounced along the runway like a ping pong ball. Oh lordie me, I forgot what — g-doing, g-doing, g-doing. I thought, ‘When are we going to finish this lot.’ You know. I don’t know how long but it seemed forever to me and finally we were rolling along comfortably [laugh] and the wireless op said, ‘I’ve come to tell you we’ve landed lads.’ Dear, oh dear. I don’t know who the pilot was, bless him.
Jm1: [laugh] So, once you got back you had some survivor’s leave?
JM2: Yes. Well, we had to go through all the uniform delousing and stuff like this that was going on and, er, what were we doing? We got a fortnights’ leave, yeah, and sent home. [laugh] I remember coming home with the kit on my back, a kit bag full of gear, all brand new gear, and it was night and I got home, knocked on my front door and my sister, pardon the — my sister came to the door and it was completely dark. It was still black at that time. It was about 9 o’clock at night. I said, ‘Have you got anything for the Red Cross?’ And she shouted back to my mother, ‘Have you anything?’ And my mother rushed out, pushed her to one side and grabbed hold of me [laugh]. She’d heard my voice. That was enough.
JM1: Did you stay in the RAF?
JM2: I was in till the following February. I was posted to the Isle of Man because I got married whilst I was in the Air Force and it was a compassionate posting, to, to Calvary at first and then finally to Jurby on the Isle of Man.
JM1: And did, did you maintain contact with your crew members in peacetime?
JM2: No. The only one I — well, two actually I saw. I was — we went from Calvary to Newcastle. They were changing the, er, position of the squadron, turning it into a teaching squadron, up at on the other side Newcastle and whilst we were up there they said to, to complete the complement they needed a fire engine for the aerodrome up at Newcastle and it was to be collected from a place called Witchord, Witchford. ‘Does anyone know where Witchford was?’ I said, ‘I know it. It was the next aerodrome to me in Mepal when I was operating there.’ And the flight said, ‘It would be you. Clever arse again.’ He said, ‘Well you’d better collect it.’ So I got the job of collecting it and it was a six wheel Fordson, painted in drab colours, and a water tank on the back and various things. Not a red fire engine but a Fordson and I went down and collected this thing and stayed with the family of the girl in Mepal overnight and ferried it up to Newcastle. But while I was on the way I somehow remembered the address of the navigator and I said —while I was on the way I stopped in Darlington and asked directions to this address. Unfortunately I didn’t know the number. I knew the road but I didn’t know the number and I knocked on a house and asked if anybody knew the Air Force officer and they did and gave me the number. I knocked at the door and Ray came to the door [laugh]. Oh, that was a good reunion, yeah. That was the first I’d seen him since Dulag Luft in Frankfurt and we had a good natter there and I carried on up to Newcastle. The other time was when I was working for Cravens in Civvy Street and I went back to Mepal. I hired a car and I wanted to, er, see if the rear gunner still lived in Thatchford, so I went to Thatchford with this hired car and called in the local pub and asked, ‘Does anyone know Charlie Anderton. He was my rear?’ He said, ‘If you’re lucky you might catch him. He’s just left.’ And I saw the back of him disappearing on a bike over a field so that’s all I saw of Charlie Anderton, yeah. I did see him but I didn’t meet him, no.
JM1: When you look back on those times how, how do you feel about what you went through and how Bomber Command was treated politically?
JM2: I think you tend to forget the nasty times. You seem to get a mental block at them. As I say, sometimes during the dark hours it seems like yesterday and then it gets a bit hairy. But, um, you tend to block this out I think during normal life. We were only very young, as I say, and the young are adaptable and, er, it’s over seventy years ago. It’s a long while ago.
JM1: Jim, thank you so much. You’ve given a marvellous interview. Thank you for your detail and clarity and information and emotion.
JM2: Thank you for listening. It’s a very ordinary tale I feel.
JM1: Not at all.
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 James Mulhall. One
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Julian Maslin
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
2016-08-23
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AMulhallJE160823
Format
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01:04:05 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
James was born in Gorton, attended Catholic schools, and became an apprentice plumber. In November 1942 he joined the Royal Air Force. He then trained as a mechanic at RAF St Athan before being posted to RAF Henlow to assemble Hurricanes. He then went back to RAF St Athan to re-muster as a flight engineer. His next postings where at RAF Stradishall on Stirlings, which he thought were awful aircraft, and at RAF Feltwell on Lancasters. His crew was posted to 75 Squadron, serving at RAF Mepal where there were sometimes two full crews in a single Nissen hut. The crew’s first operation was a daylight operation to the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. On a run to Russelsheim they were coned and blinded by searchlights but managed to escape them with little damage. James said most of the flights were just enduring the cold and getting back as safely as possible. He elaborates on service conditions on board, recollecting instances of incendiaries hitting their aircraft. After completing the thirty operations (among them nine or ten daylight ones) the crew decided to do a final four together which proved to be a fatal decision. Those who bailed out ended up at Dulag Luft for interrogation. James was then moved to Stalag Luft VII in Poland in December 1944. He describes the conditions, food and treatment in the camps. James was in the long march which ended at Luckenwalde when they escaped. Prisoners were taken to Leipzig before being flown to Brussels and then home. James left the RAF in February 1946.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Bedfordshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
Wales--Vale of Glamorgan
France
Germany
Poland
France--Saint-Nazaire
Germany--Oberursel
Germany--Rüsselsheim
Poland--Tychowo
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1942-10
1943
1944
1944-12
1945
1946
Contributor
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Sue Smith
Conforms To
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Pending revision of OH transcription
75 Squadron
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bale out
bomb struck
bombing
crewing up
Dulag Luft
entertainment
escaping
fear
flight engineer
Hurricane
Lancaster
military living conditions
military service conditions
Nissen hut
Oboe
prisoner of war
RAF Feltwell
RAF Henlow
RAF Mepal
RAF St Athan
RAF Stradishall
searchlight
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 7
Stirling
submarine
the long march
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1092/11551/PReptonB1801.1.jpg
b905c6ea618c945392e7963f17d5d221
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1092/11551/AReptonB180306.2.mp3
262211d521d81a32c139676920347e53
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
Repton, Betty
Betty Repton nee Jackson
B Repton
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Betty Repton (b. 1922). She served as a stenographer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force at RAF Coningsby.
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
2018-03-09
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Repton, B
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
EM: Just talk in a minute. Stop worrying.
DK: I’ll just, I’ll just introduce this. David Kavanagh for the International Bomber Command Centre.
BR: Just interrupting. Have you —
DK: Don’t worry. Yeah. That’s ok. Don’t worry.
BR: Have you seen many elderly ladies like me?
DK: Yes. Yes. Three.
BR: Three.
DK: You’re my third.
BR: Oh.
DK: You’re my third. So, yes.
BR: And are they all with it?
DK: Oh, yes. Yes. Just like yourself.
BR: Oh yes. Yes. Just like yourself.
EM: Just like you.
DK: Now —
EM: Just keep quiet a minute.
DK: That’s ok.
EM: He’s just doing a bit of recording.
DK: Sorry.
EM: Just be quiet a minute. Yeah.
DK: So I’m interviewing, Betty Repton isn’t it?
EM: Yeah.
DK: Betty Repton, at her home, don’t worry about this, the 6th of March 2018. If I just, can I just move this over?
EM: Yeah. Do you want a maiden name?
DK: Yes. Could do.
EM: Jackson.
DK: Oh. So, that’s Betty Jackson [pause] That looks alright. Yeah.
EM: Ignore that.
DK: Ignore that. Pretend, pretend it’s not there. If I, if I lean over it’s just making sure it’s still working. So, so first of all can I ask you what you were doing immediately before the war?
BR: What was I doing?
EM: Before the war.
BR: I worked in a library.
DK: Ok.
BR: In Macclesfield. It was called a chain library and it was for the north west.
DK: Right.
BR: And that’s all I did.
DK: Ok.
BR: Until the war broke out and it so happened that I was engaged to a gentleman and his parents bought him a shop.
DK: Right.
BR: And they asked me if I would leave and look after it for his twenty first birthday. And in that time he was called up for would it be the militia?
DK: Yes. Yeah.
BR: I’m not quite sure.
DK: Yeah.
BR: To do training because he was called up in the Army.
DK: Right.
BR: And it so happened that I wanted to join the forces. A volunteer.
DK: Ok.
BR: And my brother was in the Navy and my other brother was in the Army so my mother said, ‘I’d like you to go in the WAAF. Then I’ve got one of you in each.’
DK: Each of the services.
BR: And I wrote to Eric, his name and told him I was going to join the forces. And he wrote back and said, “No girl of his was going in the forces.”
DK: Oh right.
BR: So that was the end of that. And so I just applied to join up and I went to Manchester to see a WAAF officer. And she gave me a test and I had to do handwriting.
DK: Right.
BR: And she said, ‘You’re a beautiful writer and you’ve a very good speaking voice.’
DK: Well, you still have.
BR: ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I’ll do, I want a job that, such as a telephonist.’
DK: Right.
BR: She said, ‘That would be ideal for you,’ and so I was put down to go on a course at Sheffield GPO.
DK: Right.
BR: To be a telephonist when they called me up. And, and then once I’d passed that I was just [pause] I’ve forgotten the word —
DK: Posted.
BR: Yes. To, well I was in the WAAF.
DK: Right. Ok. Ok.
BR: And I had to go to Bridgnorth.
DK: Right.
BR: And get my training done there and then the place that I first went to was 16 MU at Stafford.
DK: A Maintenance Unit. 16 Maintenance Unit.
BR: Maintenance Unit there.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And I was there and then gradually I went to various places.
DK: Right.
BR: And I ended up at a place called Winstanley Hall.
DK: Right.
BR: Near Wigan. And it was a private residence but it was very beautiful and the place that we had to travel each day was on the East Lancs’ Road and they called it RAF Blackbrook but it was underground.
DK: Oh right.
BR: And it was a switching centre.
DK: Yeah.
BR: For teleprinter operators.
DK: Right.
BR: But while I was at Stafford there were so many operators. Telephone operators.
DK: Yeah.
BR: That I never got a chance to get on the switchboard. There were so many.
DK: Yeah.
BR: So I used to sit there in the traffic office and if a message came through on the teleprinter we would get up and go and receive it and put your initials.
DK: Right.
BR: And I got so used to doing that that I thought I’d like to be a teleprinter operator. So I re-mustered and got a posting to Cranwell.
DK: Right.
BR: Where I did the teleprint. I couldn’t type at all. But everything worked out perfect.
DK: So the fact you couldn’t type —
BR: Yes.
DK: Wasn’t a problem.
BR: And so I got posted to this Winstanley Hall.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And, but during [pause]
DK: That’s ok.
BR: During this time my mother was taken ill.
DK: Right.
BR: And I had two sisters that had got children and I was the only single one. So I had to, to ask if I could be released to look after my mum which I did for three months. And in that time if she died within that time I was to be called up straightaway. And she died in the November and they called me back December. At the end of December. 1st of January 1944.
DK: Right.
BR: Because she died in 1943.
DK: Ok.
BR: And so I got posted to Scampton. That was the first posting after being released.
DK: Right.
BR: And that’s it. Scampton it was.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And it so happened that the Dambusters were operating there but they’d already been on the raid.
DK: Yes. Because that was —
BR: To the dams.
DK: That was 1943.
BR: So I was just one.
DK: Right.
BR: Of the WAAF, ordinary WAAF just doing a job at Scampton.
DK: And, and, and what was —
BR: And that’s —
DK: And what was your role at Scampton? Were you still on the teleprinters?
BR: What was that?
EM: Were you still a teleprinter operator?
BR: Yes.
EM: At Scampton.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And I stayed to be a teleprinter operator all the time.
DK: Right.
BR: At Scampton. And then I got a posting to Syerston.
DK: Right.
BR: And from Syerston I got another posting. This was within two years of each to Coningsby.
DK: Right.
BR: And that’s where I stayed until I was released from the services to go to, and get my discharge.
DK: Did, did you get to meet any of the aircrew at all?
BR: Did I?
EM: Tell, tell David while you were teleprinter operating at Scampton who, who came through the, who you handed the messages to.
BR: We handed them in. It was all to do with the flying.
DK: Right.
BR: And every time the kites took off there was a message. When they came back they was all debriefed and they put a message together and they called them a BCIR Report. Bomber Command Intelligence Report. So therefore you had to be in the section to type these messages that you plugged in to the stations around —
DK: Right.
BR: When they came back off of a raid. And they just, that was it. And it just, it was all the same.
DK: So you did this every time they went for, on a raid.
BR: Yes.
DK: And then when they came back?
BR: Yes. they went into debrief too, and I suppose the pilots told their own story because some came back and some didn’t. But they always sent a message whenever an aeroplane went off.
DK: Right.
BR: There was a message with the names of the pilot and the crew.
DK: Ok.
BR: To say they’d returned. Then they put this message together and it went to all the 5 Group.
DK: Right.
BR: Places.
DK: So eventually would, the messages would have got to headquarters here then.
BR: That was what?
EM: Where would the, would the messages have come to St Vincent’s and that? Where did the messages go? Just to the —
BR: I don’t know. I think St Vincent’s had something to do with the raid.
DK: Right. Ok. The planning.
BR: It was before I ever got. I didn’t get to the beginning of the Dambusters.
DK: No. No.
BR: To see them. It took place I think in May.
DK: Yeah. May ’43.
BR: And I didn’t get there ‘til December.
DK: Yeah.
BR: But then they, I think the Dambuster pilots and that were stationed at Petwood Hotel.
DK: That’s right. That’s correct. Yes.
BR: And I got married and I went to live at Woodhall Spa.
DK: Oh right. That’s a lovely village.
BR: And so of course I don’t know if you’ve seen the monument.
DK: Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
BR: Yeah. And I was there all the time it was being built.
DK: Oh right.
BR: So —
EM: Yeah, but —
BR: And —
EM: You’ve missed the bit about who you, you handed your bit of paper at Scampton to who did you hand your bit of paper to at Scampton?
BR: Oh, well —
EM: Guy Gibson.
BR: I just reported to the guardroom.
DK: Right. Ok.
BR: You know.
DK: Yeah.
BR: I just, I had to report.
DK: Right.
BR: To RAF Scampton.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And everything you did you had to sign in.
DK: Yeah.
BR: At the guardroom.
DK: Can you remember anybody you met there at Scampton?
BR: I met Guy Gibson.
DK: Ok.
BR: He used to walk past the window of the teleprinter room.
DK: Right.
BR: And go into the ops room. Now, the ops room was another room attached to the teleprinter off, but you wouldn’t have known that. But there was a window and if there was a message came through that had to be going to the ops —
DK: Yeah.
BR: You just knocked on the little window. It was wooden.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And it was forced back.
DK: Right.
BR: And who should take the message but Guy Gibson. Because I’d seen him walk past.
DK: Yeah. But he didn’t speak to you then.
BR: No.
DK: No. Oh.
BR: No. No. You just handed the message and that was it. But I saw him pass and I think he’d got the dog and then it was killed.
DK: Yeah.
BR: But I don’t know if it was killed in the time I was there.
DK: I think it would have been before.
BR: Which I think it probably was. And from that it was just routine. Every day the same. I just went on duty.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And off duty and that was it.
DK: Where did you used to go off duty? Was there anywhere you went?
BR: What was that, Elaine?
EM: When you were Scampton where did you live? Where did you, what did you used to do when you were off duty?
BR: We were billeted at Dunholme.
DK: Right. Yeah. I know.
BR: Across the road, down in to Dunholme village.
DK: I know.
BR: And there were Nissen huts.
DK: Right.
BR: And we stayed in those until I got a posting to Syerston. Then got to Syerston and we were in a block. I don’t know if it was G block.
DK: Yeah.
BR: I think they called it.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And —
DK: Did you, did you get on well with your other WAAFs?
BR: Yes. Made some wonderful friends.
DK: Ok.
BR: And little things happened. I sent a BCIR report, Bomber Command Intelligence Report this particular day and it was very long and the flight sergeant in Scampton office said, ‘Betty, if you can send this report without making three mistakes you will get your corporal badges.’ And I said to him, ‘Flight, I don’t want promotion. I don’t like giving orders.’ But now, you see, oh I think I was stupid but I’d just been a country girl.
DK: Yeah.
BR: Lived in a village and I don’t like giving orders to other, to other WAAFs.
DK: Did, did you used to watch the aircraft take off?
BR: No.
DK: On the raids.
BR: No.
DK: No.
BR: No. I was either on duty, and when we weren’t on duty we were down at Dunholme.
DK: Right.
BR: That was the billet.
DK: So you never really saw the activity on the airfields then.
BR: No. So, I was trying to think of something that I did at 16 MU.
EM: She’s got some nice photographs.
BR: Oh, the first time, it was the first posting I had, and another WAAF and I were going into Stafford. So you had to go to the guard room and report and sign.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And the WAAF officer there, well it was corporal, her name was Corporal Blood. Which I shall never forget.
DK: What a great name.
BR: And she said to me, ‘And which bus did you drive?’ I said, ‘I beg your pardon, corporal?’ She said, ‘Which bus did you drive?’ And I was flabbergasted. And she whipped my hat off and she plonked it on straight and she said, ‘That is how you wear your hat.’ Not —
DK: Oh. Like that. Yeah.
BR: Not at an angle.
DK: Like a bus driver. Yeah.
BR: And so I always remember her name and what she said.
DK: Yeah.
EM: I wonder if she’s still about.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And then she said, ‘Get off.’
DK: Oh dear.
BR: And that was the first, I thought I’ve got to be careful.
DK: I’ll tell you what shall I just pause it there? Shall I? Shall I just stop. Thanks.
[recording paused]
DK: Ok. Carry on.
BR: When I was at Woodhall Spa a WAAF had bought a cloth a yard wide.
DK: Yeah.
BR: It was plain. And she got people to sign it.
DK: Right.
BR: And she ran up to me for some reason and she said, ‘Betty, would you sign my cloth?’ So, I said, ‘I’d be delighted to,’ but it was my maiden name obviously and she embroidered my name on it and all the others that she asked.
DK: Right.
BR: The local reporter for the Horncastle News said could anybody, could they issue any information as to how that came about because the girl had lost it.
DK: Right.
BR: And it was found behind a cupboard at Coningsby. One of these metal containers that —
DK: Yeah.
BR: You know further in. And they’d found the cloth at the back. So she never took it home.
DK: Do you know what year they found it?
BR: And funnily enough does that prove?
EM: Yeah. What it was.
BR: It was the girl’s.
DK: Oh, here we go. 1986?
EM: Yeah.
DK: Yeah. 1986.
EM: And then they’ve lost it again.
DK: Oh.
BR: And so that —
DK: Oh no.
BR: I took that photograph of the girls and I phoned. Bill Skelton his name was and he said, I said —
EM: Horncastle News.
DK: Yeah.
BR: ‘I think I can help you with the cloth.’ He says, ‘Never.’ I said, ‘I can because my name’s on it.’ So he came to see me.
DK: Right. So —
BR: And it was put in the paper. Then a few years after.
DK: So you’re on that then.
BR: Yeah.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Here it is all about the cloth.
DK: Right.
EM: And they’ve lost the cloth again.
DK: So where was it last seen then? At Coningsby?
EM: Coningsby.
BR: So that’s Coningsby. My last station.
DK: Right.
BR: And there are the girls there. And the girl that did it was this one.
DK: Ok. Can you remember their name?
BR: That’s Wendy Taylor.
DK: Wendy Taylor.
BR: So, Mr Skelton that was, he wrote a bit about the paper and said they’d found —
DK: Right.
BR: But it disappeared again and a WAAF officer wrote the next part of it.
DK: Right.
BR: Is it there?
DK: There’s a new museum at Coningsby. I wonder —
EM: We’ve been.
DK: Oh right.
EM: We went a week last Monday.
DK: Ok.
EM: And she mentioned the cloth.
DK: And they’ve got no —
EM: No. They’ve lost, and they lost it and we mentioned it didn’t we?
BR: Yeah.
DK: What a shame.
EM: And I think her name was Donna who’s there now. And she’s going to see if she can find it. But that is, that’s history.
DK: Oh sure. Yeah.
EM: And it’s a fabulous story.
DK: Yeah.
EM: They found in 1986.
DK: ’86. And lost it again.
EM: But she’s going to try to find it again. Probably through social media. You know, this is how you’re going to have to get it out there.
DK: Well, what I can do is if I, if you can send me a copy of this I can put it on the IBCC’s Facebook page.
EM: Yeah.
DK: And see if that brings out any information.
EM: Well, the thing for me to do then —
DK: Yeah.
EM: If I scanned that and that.
DK: Scanned that and that.
BR: That’s the next letter —
EM: There look.
BR: That came.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Yeah. I’m going to scan these for David and send them to him.
DK: Right.
EM: And he’s going to see whether they can find the cloth or any of the people.
DK: Yeah. We can put an appeal out there.
EM: Yeah.
DK: On the Facebook pages.
BR: There were about the second time they contacted me for that one.
EM: Yeah.
BR: For the cloth.
DK: Yeah.
BR: It was a WAAF officer and that. Is there a write up about it?
DK: Yeah.
EM: Yeah.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Yeah.
DK: Well, we’ll see. We’ll see what we can do.
BR: And —
DK: I can get both the IBCC to look into it on their Facebook page and also the Coningsby Aviation Museum that’s recently opened. Or the Historical Centre or whatever it’s called.
EM: Yeah. But as I say we were there.
DK: Yeah.
EM: And they just seemed totally aghast that anyone and I said well this had been going on and as I say it’s 1944/46 look.
DK: So it was lost between the late 40s and about eighty —
EM: ’86. Found in ’86 and lost again.
DK: Oh dear.
BR: What’s the date of that? That one.
EM: It’s 1986.
BR: Yeah. Yes, so —
EM: But I’ll do that.
BR: I don’t think she ever got it, but its disappeared and it isn’t in the museum.
DK: Well, we —
BR: And that’s what they wanted.
DK: We’ll have to see what we can do.
BR: And they asked me on Monday if I would take the cloth to show them but we never got the chance.
DK: Right. Well, what I can do is I can send, if you email me all that I can send that to them. Both Coningsby and —
EM: Yeah.
DK: IBCC and they can put out an appeal for it then.
EM: Yeah. Because the other thing I don’t know if you’ve noticed somebody’s written on there Dinah Shaw.
DK: Right.
EM: And there’s a singer called Dinah Shaw.
DK: Oh right. Ok.
EM: And they don’t, is that right? Dinah Shaw. Isn’t there a singer?
BR: Dinah Shaw.
EM: Dinah Shaw. Dinah Shaw. And they’re not sure if it was the Dinah Shaw who was the singer who put her name on that cloth.
BR: Well, it probably was but I don’t know.
DK: Right. Right.
EM: And she’s quite a famous —
DK: Yeah.
EM: Person. Which is why they’ve written that there look.
DK: Yeah. So whereabouts is your mother’s name?
EM: Mum’s on this —
BR: I don’t know why. I don’t know why.
EM: Betty Jackson.
DK: Oh, Betty Jackson. There you go.
BR: Wendy came to me and there’s my name on there.
EM: Yeah. Your name’s there look. On the bottom.
BR: Yeah. E Jackson.
EM: Betty. No, Betty Jackson.
BR: I put Betty. Yeah.
EM: Yeah. But you see there Douglas Craig, all the names are quite —
DK: Quite clear aren’t they?
EM: Quite clear aren’t they? I mean I don’t know what they’d be like —
BR: And there’s lots of girls in there from other stations that I’ve kept at the back.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And put the names under.
DK: Well, it would be good if you could get all the names to the faces.
BR: Yeah.
EM: What do you want me to do then? Get the names?
DK: If you get the names to the faces on there.
EM: Yeah.
DK: I can either come back and scan these myself if you like.
EM: Well, it’s up to you.
DK: Or scan them.
EM: I can scan them at work and send them from work.
DK: We just need them at six hundred BPI.
EM: Yeah.
DK: Six hundred. Or DPI is it? Six hundred DPI.
EM: Dots per inch.
DK: Dots per inch.
EM: Yeah. Yeah.
DK: Six hundred DPI. If you can do that you can then just email them to me.
EM: Right. What I’ll do then I’ll get her to name, you see. I mean again they’re all here look.
DK: They were. Yeah. I see you’ve got a missing one there.
BR: Yeah. What’s that one?
DK: That’s —
EM: Peggy. Oh, Peggy Hassel. I don’t know where she’s gone.
BR: Yes.
DK: She’s [unclear]
EM: Oh, she’s there mum.
DK: [unclear]
BR: Oh yes. She’s there. Peggy Hassel.
EM: But they’re fabulous photographs aren’t they?
DK: They are aren’t they?
EM: I don’t know what that is.
BR: It was a job to get your photograph.
EM: What’s that? Who did that?
BR: Percy Bexton. Doesn’t it say on there?
EM: Yeah. And who was Percy Bexton, 1946?
BR: Yes. He was at Scampton and he was in the office. He says, ‘I’ll give you something to remind you, Betty of me and that’s what he did for me.
EM: Yeah.
BR: Yeah.
EM: They’re great, aren’t they?
BR: And that’s how I looked.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Yeah.
BR: When I got there.
DK: Oh yes. Yeah.
BR: That’s the one that’s enlarged there and —
EM: They’re good though aren’t they?
DK: So that’s Winstanley Hall in the background was it?
EM: That’s Winstanley Hall, isn’t it?
BR: Yes. That’s Winstanley Hall. And why I’m sitting amongst the daffodil apparently every year when the daffodils came out they were picked and given and sold to the hospital in Wigan.
DK: Ok. Right.
BR: And that’s the reason I’m sitting there with that in the background.
DK: I know the IBCC would love those photos.
BR: We were in Nissen huts.
DK: Yeah.
BR: That’s where we are in slacks and that.
EM: Yeah.
BR: It was a day off —
EM: Well, I’ll go through with you.
BR: Yeah.
EM: And make notes and then if I can scan everything.
BR: Yeah.
DK: And send to you.
DK: And send them to me.
EM: And you can choose.
DK: And I can send them on.
EM: What you want and don’t want, can’t you?
DK: Particularly the cuttings and we’ll see if we can —
EM: Yeah.
DK: Put the message out there about the lost cloth.
EM: But from Scampton then you went to Coningsby, didn’t you?
BR: No. I went from Scampton to Syerston.
EM: Right.
BR: But it was just, I think some of the Dambusters were posted there but I wouldn’t be certain.
DK: Yeah.
BR: But I never bothered about them. We never bothered about them. We were just WAAFs going on duty. Then we, that was it.
DK: So you didn’t mix with the men much then. Mix with a group.
BR: Well, we did because there was always a dance on the camp.
DK: Right.
BR: And the odd one would come to it but you’d just, they’d just come up and say, ‘Come on,’ you know, ‘I’ll have this dance with you.’ And you didn’t, it never made everything.
DK: Yeah.
BR: You know. They were just, when we were off duty we went to the dance. It was on every week. It wasn’t anything special and I wasn’t a dancer.
DK: Yeah. So how, so you left in 1946.
BR: 19 —
DK: ‘46. Yeah.
EM: You left. When did you go to Coningsby then? In 1945.
DK: ’45.
BR: Yes.
EM: Why? Did you get posted to Coningsby?
BR: Yes. I went from Scampton to Syerston.
EM: Yeah.
BR: From Syerston to Coningsby.
EM: Right.
BR: In 1945.
EM: Right. And so you were a teleprinter operator.
BR: And I was a teleprinter operator.
EM: At Coningsby.
BR: All the time. Yeah.
EM: But they, where did you live in Coningsby? You were in the Nissen huts in Pilgrim Square.
BR: We were. That’s right. That’s where those pictures were taken.
DK: Yeah.
BR: Outside with that cloth.
DK: Right. Yeah.
BR: I was Coningsby.
DK: So what, what was it like in a Nissen hut? Was it a bit cold?
BR: You see. I wish I could tell what he said.
EM: What was it like living in the Nissen huts?
BR: Well, it was alright because it was really, you slept in them and then you was going on duty and then when you come off duty if you were free we’d go in to Lincoln. To the YMCA. But Lincoln was not, it wasn’t a long way to Lincoln from Scampton.
EM: Oh, Scampton. We’re back at Scampton now.
DK: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
BR: But that’s what you did. And if not we went to the Nissen huts and —
DK: Yeah.
BR: Didn’t do anything there. We just used to sit around the fire and talk.
EM: What about when you were Coningsby? Where did you go when you were at Coningsby?
BR: Coningsby. Well, we were stationed at Pilgrim Square.
EM: Yeah.
BR: In the Nissen huts.
EM: Yeah.
BR: And well I shouldn’t say this it’s where my husband, where I met my husband. And if you want to know that story it’s lovely.
DK: Oh, well go on then. If you’re happy to tell it. What, what was your husband doing?
BR: He was a GPO engineer.
DK: Right.
BR: And he was, he wasn’t in the forces. What was it?
EM: Civil service wasn’t he?
BR: Yes.
DK: Yeah. Reserved Occupation.
EM: Yeah.
DK: Yeah.
BR: His area was Woodhall Spa, Horncastle, Digby RAF, Coningsby RAF. Everything to do with —
DK: Right.
BR: And he was at Blankney Hall when it burned down. And Stan came to mend the teleprinter I was on.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And also the telephone exchange was just there adjoining the teleprinter room.
DK: Right.
BR: So he went to mend the fault on the switchboard, came off and went to the room which was the GPO room to wash his hands. And he came back with his hands wet through and I said, ‘Here you are. Dry them on my towel. I’m going on leave for the weekend.’ So that was it. Off he went. About a quarter of an hour later the telephone rang and a voice said, ‘When did you say I was going to take you out?’ And I said, ‘Well, I think you’ve had a bit of bad luck. I’m going on a forty eight hour pass.’ And he asked the girls in this, what he knew, when I was coming back. And they said, ‘She’ll be back in Monday night. And she’s got to be in by 23.59.’ And he sat and waited for me at Coningsby Station for, to watch me get off the train. And there he sat in his little Austin 7. And he said, and I could have dropped dead, and he came and opened the door and he said, ‘I’ve come to pick you up.’ He said, ‘There’s a good film on at Boston. Would you like to go and see it with me?’ He said, ‘We’ll get you back for midnight.’ So off we went to Boston to see this lovely film.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Which was?
BR: Eh?
EM: What was the film?
BR: Oh dear.
EM: I know what the film was.
BR: What was it?
EM: “State Fair.”
BR: “State Fair.” That’s it. And that was it. And from then on when he came to the camp we just kept going out together and —
DK: So, so it was a good thing you were in the WAAFs then. Because of that you met your husband.
EM: Yeah. Yeah.
DK: Yeah.
EM: You met, you met dad through being in the WAAF and posted to Coningsby, didn’t you?
BR: Yeah.
DK: Yeah.
EM: Yeah.
BR: Yes. That was the last place.
EM: That’s why she lived in Woodhall Spa.
DK: Right.
EM: Because he lived at Woodhall Spa.
BR: And in my off duty Stan would pick me up. He’d be going out to one of the villages like South Kyme.
DK: Yeah.
BR: To a little telephone exchange and I’d go with him.
DK: Yeah.
BR: But if we saw another PO van he used to say, ‘Duck down,’ because —
DK: You shouldn’t have been there.
BR: I shouldn’t have been in it. But that’s what we did all the time.
DK: Yeah. Ok. I think let’s wrap up here.
BR: And we got married.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And went to live in Woodhall Spa.
DK: Right, then. Can I, can I just ask you finally how do you look back on your time in the RAF as a WAAF? How do you look back on it now?
BR: What was that?
EM: How do you look back on your time in the RAF as a WAAF?
BR: Yes. I loved every minute of it.
DK: Yeah.
BR: It was so interesting and it was a routine. And —
EM: But you enjoyed it didn’t you?
BR: Yes. I did.
EM: And you met some lovely people.
BR: Yes. And they were going to have a Ruhr tour.
DK: Right.
BR: That was to see the damage.
DK: Oh right. Ok.
BR: And every so often the aircraft, the Lanc —
DK: Yeah.
BR: Flew. This was just after the war. Oh, I don’t know if the war was on and you could put your name down for a Ruhr Tour.
DK: Right.
BR: And so I put my name down but I never got on the Ruhr Tour because I got demobbed in April ’41.
DK: So you never flew then all the time.
BR: No.
DK: When you were a WAAF.
BR: No.
EM: She never got to.
BR: That would have been the icing.
DK: I should say.
BR: And if I hadn’t met Stan, and we were getting married I would put my name down for, was it Singapore?
DK: Right. Yeah.
BR: I was going to stay in the WAAF.
DK: Right.
BR: And go off to Singapore. But it didn’t happen.
DK: It didn’t happen. No. Ok.
BR: And —
DK: Sorry, go on
BR: So that’s it.
DK: Ok, that’s great. I’ll stop it.
BR: There’s lots of little things that happened that, you know.
EM: What?
DK: Yeah.
BR: The one that sticks in my mind. Oh, when I was on the parade ground the first night being a volunteer there was a lot of girls turned up but by morning a lot of girls had gone back home because they could.
DK: Right.
BR: So of course we had to stay because they were going to issue uniform and the WAAF officer went around with a corporal I think to see if your hair was off your collar. And mine as you can see was quite curly and she pulled it out of, down on to my collar to see if it was going to touch my collar and she said, ‘Barber’s shop,’ to this corporal. And I said, ‘What does that mean?’ Well, I could. I couldn’t turn around and say, ‘Why am I going there?’ And so she said, ‘You’ll have your hair cut to a certain length.’ And I went to the barber’s shop and there was a young lad in it, and he was going to cut my hair and I said, ‘You’re not doing that.’ He said, ‘I’ve got to cut some of it off.’ So I told him how much he could take off which he did. And from then on I lost the curls that I did.
DK: Yeah.
BR: And got, put it in a roll. You put it in a roll and tucked it in, you know. And that was alright.
DK: So long as it was off your collar.
BR: Yes.
DK: Yeah.
BR: To get it off my collar.
DK: Your collar. Yeah.
BR: And then of course I go first time out the corporal plonked my hat on.
DK: Can’t win.
BR: And funny how I remember her name. Corporal Blood.
EM: It’s good though, isn’t it?
DK: Yeah. Yeah.
EM: Ok.
DK: Ok. Well we’ll stop it there. Thanks. Thanks very much for that.
[recording paused]
That was David Kavanagh for the International Bomber Command Centre interviewing Betty Repton nee Jackson at her home [buzz] on the 9th of March 2018. Also there was her daughter Elaine Mablethorpe. That’s Elaine Mablethorpe. Ok.
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 Betty Repton
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Kavanagh
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-03-09
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Type
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Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AReptonB180306, PReptonB1801
Format
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00:37:08 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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--Shropshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Description
An account of the resource
Betty (nee Jackson) worked in a library in Macclesfield before the war. When the war broke out, she went to Manchester to volunteer for the Air Force and trained as a telephonist. She did a course at Sheffield General Post Office before being posted to RAF Bridgnorth for training and then to 16 Maintenance Unit at RAF Stafford. Following training as a Teleprinter Operator at RAF Blackbrook she re-mustered and was posted to RAF Cranwell. She was released for three months to look after her ailing mother and was called back to the RAF in December 1944, being posted to RAF Scampton and later to RAF Syerston and then RAF Coningsby, where she stayed until being demobbed. When at RAF Scampton she was billeted in Nissen huts at RAF Dunholme Lodge. She handled Bomber Command intelligence report messages whenever a crew returned and met Guy Gibson. Betty met her husband Stan, a civilian General Post Office engineer, when being stationed at RAF Coningsby. Betty remembered a RAF officer who had a cloth embroidered with names of staff, but it had since been lost. When Betty and Stan married, they lived at RAF Woodhall Spa. Betty said she had loved every minute of her time in the RAF.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
Julie Williams
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-12
1945
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending revision of OH transcription
5 Group
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
ground personnel
Lancaster
Nissen hut
RAF Blackbrook
RAF Bridgnorth
RAF Coningsby
RAF Cranwell
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF Scampton
RAF Stafford
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodhall Spa
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
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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
Neale, Ted
E T H Neale
Description
An account of the resource
123 items. The collection concerns Edward Thomas Henry Neale (b. 1922, 1395951 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator with 37 Squadron in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The collection contains his training notebooks from South Africa as well as propaganda leaflets dropped by the allies in the Mediterranean theatre.
The collection also contains a photograph album, navigation logs and target photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Alison Neale and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-31
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Neale, ETH
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] The Algerian affair and on [/underlined]
I came to the end of my operational tour on Mark Ten Wimpeys in late December 1944, the end was a trip down South to GROTAGLI [sic] to pick up infantry, to take on to KALAMAKI airfield, just outside ATHENS. We arrived at [deleted] C [/deleted] GROTAGLI to be met by this bunch of very subdued soldiers, they became more aprehensive [sic] when they saw the aircraft, and much more [inserted] so [/inserted] when we climbed down the ladder and revealed ourself [sic], we had been living in old clapped out tents, knee deep in mud and muck, it rained daily for months and we wore wellington boots always. On command from those in charge, they formed up and filed up the ladder in the front of the aircraft, until we had our quota of 12. they landed [inserted] up [/inserted] in the bombing area, where the bomb aimer lay and sighted thru his bomb site, watching until the target
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined] run down his screen and met his cross wire, when he would press his release tit and the bombs would leave us, on their way to the target, they then stepped up to land beside the pilot, with all his controls, on his right, then on past the wireless operator, then past my navigation table with the maps spread out, and all my navigation devices all around, then on to the main spar, which joined the wings together in the middle of the plane, climbing over this to the long bed and the toilet, those that could bagged the bed, one sat on the toilet, the rest settled where they could, making sure not to step just on the fabric covering the aircraft as their foot would go thru. They sat quitly [sic] as we taxied out and took off, they watched, but not a peep during the several hou[inserted]r[/inserted]s[deleted]e[deleted] it took to Greece.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]. We had been told that the E.L.A.S rebels were firing on aircraft as they landed. In the event we landed safely, the soldiers disembark while the crew went off to find some food. The airfield was in a [inserted] state of [/inserted] siege, surrounded by the E.L.A.S. the job of our soldiers was to lift the siege, there must have been about 500. We were supposed to take off to return to Italy but one of the aircraft suffered a puncture, and it couldn’t be mended until the next day, unfortunately our pilot was the senior officer and was in charge of the operation, and therefore had to see all the planes off, so we were forced to stay the night. We were fed and watered and given a bed, and each was given a rifle with ammunition in case there had been a break thru, we went to bed. with firing going on outside. About 2 o’clock there
[page break]
[circled] 4 [/circled] was a commotion and we woke to find a couple of soldiers, bringing [inserted] in [/inserted] a terrorist that they had captured, he was covered by a couple of machine guns, and held in the corner of the room, we went back to bed and slept, feeling quite safe. Next day we eventually got away, down through the Corinth canal into the Adriatic, then heading North. The weather at this time was atrocious, with no visibility at all, we dropped down to try and get under it but with hills up to 4,500ft on a path to the airfield, we didn’t brake cloud almost to the deck, so we went up to get above the weather, this proved impossible, all this time our wireless operator was trying to contact base, but the signal was not good enough to read. When the time came to turn to the West
[page break]
5 to the airfield at Tortorella we were faced with the big hills, so we sent a message to base to say that we were making our way further north to Leghorn; hoping that this was clear, so we pressed on, the Pilot was [deleted] about [/deleted] a bit perturbed about our fuel situation, but I monitored the fuel panel which had several fuel gauges which responded when I ressed [sic] the relating button, the gauges showed that we had about a quarter of our load left and not to worry. The pilot then saw a field on our port side, the weather had cleared and he could see many aircrew slewn [sic] around, these proved to be American Fortres [sic] an [sic] Liberator bombers which had been bombing up north and had been badly damaged and could
[page break]
6
not make it home, and had hobled [sic] in once they had cleared the bomb line. I told the pilot that we were just a few minutes away, just the other side a hill in front of us, but to reassure him, I would turn on the nacelle tanks, these were petrol tanks on the top of the engines for emergency, I had the control beside me so I turned them on, and [deleted] th [/deleted] within a few minutes we cleared the hills and came to the airfield and landed. By this time it was late so by the time we refuelled [deleted] ate [/deleted] it would be too late to take off so we had to stay, the night, my only
[page break]
7. memory of this, was that we freezing [sic] cold and soking [sic] wet, we spent hours round a stove trying to get dry and warm. We took off the next morning and flew back to base, we were met by a crowd when we landed, including some of the Americans from the B17 side of the field, because none of our signals from the air or from the field at Leghorn were received, and until we landed we were posted as missing. The only consolation in this was that my operting [sic] time was completed, no more bombing runs, or low level mine drops or supply drops into Yugoslavia. The Wellinton [sic] had that day been withdrawn from service and replaced by Liberators.
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
The Algerian Affair and On
Description
An account of the resource
Ted Neale's account of his last operation on a Wellington Mk 10. They had to fly to Grotaglie to take soldiers to Athens. He describes how they fitted the 12 men into the aircraft. On reaching Kalamaki, the airfield was being besieged by ELAS troops. On the return flight, the weather was atrocious, they ran low on fuel and were posted as missing before they reached base.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ted Neale
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. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180001,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180002,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180003,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180004,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180005,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180006,
MNealeETH1395951-150731-0180007
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Greece
Greece--Kalamata
Italy
Italy--Livorno
Italy--Grottaglie
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Baldwin
aircrew
B-17
B-24
bomb aimer
military service conditions
navigator
pilot
Wellington
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1236/16928/YThompsonKG1238603v3.1.pdf
93dd67028b9b1a1f9a334c0a19b93220
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
Thompson, Keith G
K G Thompson
Description
An account of the resource
95 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Keith Thompson DFC (1238603 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and training material as well as his navigation logs. He flew operations as a navigator with 101 and 199 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mark S Thompson and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
2015-09-07
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thompson, KG
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
[Front Cover]
16 JULY 1943
CASTLE DONINGTON
[underlined] to. [/underlined]
8 JANUARY 1944
LUDFORD MAGNA
{page break]
[inside front cover]
1238603 THOMPSON K.G.SGT.
28 O T U. CASTLE DONINGTON, 10.20
WYMESWOLD; BOSTON PARK;
BLYTON.
[symbol] CASTLE D.9.
WYMESWOLD [/symbol] to 20/8/43.
BOSTON PARK to 18/9/43
BLYTON 1662 CON. UNIT to 7/11/43
LUDFORD MAGNA, 10 SQDN.to 1944
[blank space]
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] JULY [/inserted] [/underlined] [underlined] CASTLE DONINGTON [/underlined]
[underlined] FRI 16/43. [/underlined]
Porr; bacon & fried bread X. [one indecipherable word]!!! But NO CHUTES & NO KITE. Took several sun shots & did a bit of [two indecipherable words]. Soup; beef, spuds, cab & beans; rhubarb & cust. Bombing trip!!! Took more sun shots. Went into Hanwell [indecipherable word with Charlie. Went to Dispersal then came back & had tea. Cold meat and fritters, marmalade & tea. Returned to Dispersal. KITEE [underlined] U.S.[/underlined]!!!! Spuds & minced liver; 1/3 pint& cocoa. {underlined] NO MAIL [/underlined]. [underlined] Letter to Dad[/underlined]. Started one to Ma.
[page break]
[inserted] JULY 17. [/inserted]
[underlined] SAT. 43 [/underlined]. Kellogs [sic]; bacon & fried bread. Think grand mist lifting slowly. Briefed AGAIN for route 10. Got net gen. [underlined] Letter from Ma [/underlined]. Soup; beef’ spuds, cab, peas; rice pud. Set out about 14.30. 2 x 250 lb. bombs & air to sea. Tom returned from Kirkbride. Got back about 21.30. Sos [sic] & York pud (?) tea. Bed about 23.59
[underlined] JULY 18. [/underlined]
[underlined] SUN. 43 [/underlined]. Kellogs; egg on fried bread; tea. DR trainer (field). Soup; beef, spuds, cab & peas. Bread pud. Looked over log. A/C recco. Signed log
[page break]
after going over it with P/O Simpson. Scram, veg salad; tea; cake & jam. Wrote letter to Ma.
Lecture log C.O on food & mess situation. [underlined] Posted letter to Ma in C.D. [/underlined]. [one undecipherable word] & cocoa for supper. [underlined] biscuits & one undecipherable word]. Had one in rear turret. Not bad. [/underlined]. Toast in billet! Bed about 3-0 am.
[underlined] July 19 [/underlined]
[underlined] MON 43 [/underlined]. Up at 12-0 pm. Letter from Ma. Pea soup; minced meat spuds, cauliflower and beans; lemon tart & cust. Tried to change shoes but they
[page break]
hadn’t size required, sewed buttons on & shortened belt for 2nd tunic. Slept. Tommy & crew bailed out. BA & WOP missing. Corned beef &chips; jam, tea. Standing by for night lap. Did two circuits, cloud closing down. Joe not feeling too well so [one undecipherable word] rode in rear turret. [underlined] Letter to Ma [/underlined]
[underlined] JULY 20 [/underlined]
[underlined] TUES. 43 [/underlined]. Up at 12.30. soup; cold mutton, spuds, salad, trifle (?) Cleared my closet up. [underlined] Letter to Violet [/underlined] [underlined] Wrote & posted one to Norah. [/underlined] Pilchards on toast, cake, jam. Flying,
{page break]
washed, shaved & changed & in taxi in 20 to 25 mins. 4/- taxi 1/- coffee. 3/- dance. 3/- beers. 4/- taxi. Hilda & Hilda. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] JULY 21. [/underlined]
[underlined] WED. 43. [/underlined] Up at 8-5. [one indecipherable] word & “dogs”. NAVI. Line shoot as per usual. [underlined] Letter from Mary [/underlined]. Soup; beef, spuds, beans; tart & cust. Collected Reg. Parcel unpacked it & took out clean laundry. Booked out. Got to Loughboro [sic] in 1/2 hr. train at 3-0. 7/4 & 2/2d 4d extra to [one undecipherable word] DW, 5-15. Went to Joe Ross with Ma. Pa & PoP. walked home went on trackless. Had bath 2.0am
[page break]
[underlined] JULY 22 [/underlined]
[underlined] THURS. 43. [/underlined] Didn’t wake till 12.15. went to O & D about 2-0 PM. Managed to get Dad eventually. Got [one indecipherable word] for bike. Returned home & got busy stripping bike, got crank & pedals back also changed tyres & put back wheel in before I packed up. [deleted] Had bath about [/deleted]
[underlined] JULY 23 [/underlined]
[underlined] FRI. 43 [/underlined]. Up at 10-0. Finished bike. Went into town & got 2 bulbs & lamp bracket (1/6d & 1/5d.) Walked into town with Ma, PoP. 2/10d for [undecipherable word], called in office saw Lt Edgar. (Grumpy.) Went to stn [station] about trains(s)
[page break]
[Inserted] Walked up to NFS with Elsie [/inserted]
Traped down to baths to see when they close. We all walked down but café closed. So Dennis and I went in. Had about 1/2 or 3/4 hr. Went down to “West End” & had ½ pint. Walked back. [underlined] Took Elsie’s B.D card to General [/underlined] supper with Dad & Dennis. Bed 12-30 (00.30 hrs)
[underlined] JULY 24 [/underlined] [underlined] ELSIE’S B.D. [/underlined]
[underlined] SAT. 43. [/underlined] Up at 7-45. Packed walked as far as Co-op. Ma, Pa & Pop went up on trackless. 4 deep on station. Rode into Chesterfield in Gds [Guards] Van & just managed to get bike & self in train at Chesterfield. Am at Derby at 11-0. Got to Castle D. at 12. after traveling 12 miles. Soup; meat pie, spuds & beans & a sweet. Made more columns in “Signing on book”. Pilchards on toast; jam & cake; tea. Flight washed about 10 or 11. Took 8 star shots & made up flying times. Bed about 1-0 AM after supper of meat pie, spuds & cocoa.
[underlined] JULY 25 [/underlined]
[underlined] SUN. 43. [/underlined] SP’a checked on £1 note. Egg on toast & Kellogs, worked star shots out. Church Parade. Soup, mutton, mash spuds & butter, [underlined] fresh [/underlined] green peas; rice pud. Lecture on loading of A/C. Plotter
[page break]
& entered [one indecipherable word]. Spam & salad with eggs; jam & tea. Whist Drive and Dance in Mess. We on NIGHT FLIGHT/ first kite U/S & second U/S. Cheese & spuds
[underlined] JULY 26 [/underlined]
[underlined] MON.43. [/underlined] Up at 12.30. Soup; minced beef, spuds & beans; lemon tart. Air test. [indecipherable word] U/S. [underlined] Letter from MA. [/underlined] Welsh rarebit, jam & tea. Bombed Baggots Pike & Ragdale till 10.0 PM. Then on C&L’s with Casper’s crew. Cheese & spuds & Cocoa. Waited 2 hrs for Ken. Went up for 1 hrs. Radio U/S Down at 4.0. More Cheese & Spuds & coffee. Bed.
[page break]
At 6-0 AM.
[underlined] JULY 27 [/underlined]
[double underlined] TUES. 43 [/underlined] Up at 1-15. Soup; {double underlined] minced [/underlined] meat, spuds & BEANS; plum pud. [indecipherable word] tried to get £ S D. Gave cycle frame number & type into SWO.
CAN’T GO INTO LOUGHBORO but have Nowt to Do. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[double underlined] BEANS [/underlined] on toast; cake; no jam. [underlined] Letter from Elsie & Violet [/underlined] Rations (choc & fags) glass ginger beer. Reading novel. Pilchards; tea. In [indecipherable word] mess. More reading 1/2pt beer & cider. Flying washed.
[page break]
[underlined] JULY 28 [/underlined]
[underlined] WED. 43. Up at 8.0am [/underlined] Porr & [indecipherable word] for bfast. [breakfast] Lecture on [two indecipherable words] etc. [one indecipherable word] [underlined] Letter from no one. [/underlined]. Soup; rotten meat, spuds & [underlined] BEANS [/underlined]; 10 sun shots. Cycled into Lough [Loughborough]; after missing bus. 1/9d picture “Count of Monte Cristo”. Welsh rarebit, lettuce [one indecipherable word] lemonade; at O>D church. 1 pint beer & cider. Finished book [indecipherable word] [underlined] Letter to Marg. [/underlined] Booze up in Sgts Mess. Had another 1/2 pint cider. Eventually went flying.
[underlined] JULY 29 [/underlined]
[underlined] Thurs. 43. [/underlined] 2-0 AM to 5-0 AM flying. [underlined] Wrote to Elsie
[page break]
& Violet “upstairs” [/underlined] Bacon & EGG!! Tea. Bed about 6-0 AM. Up at 1-15 PM. Soup; liver, spuds & Cab; rice pud. Tried to get paid no go. NO MAIL. Worked out & [one indecipherable word] 10 sun shots also mucked about with [one indecipherable word] (U/S) Fish & chips; cake & jam; tea. [underlined] Letter to David R [/underlined] 1/2 pt. cyder[sic]
[underlined] JULY 30 [/underlined]
[underlined] Fri. 43. [/underlined] flew from 2.00 till 5.00. Brake pressure. [double underlined] Egg [/underlined] on toast. Bed at 7-0. Up at 1-0 PM soup; beef, spuds, cabbage; rhubarb WITHOUT SUGAR. Tried to get paid again. Went in decompression
[page break]
chamber to 30,000 ft. [double underlined] Letter from Ma [/underlined] Cheese [one indecipherable word] cake, jam, & tea. Mode flight plan out & got results put on chart. Took off at 11.20. Radar on U/S. Most of pundits not on flimsy. Went round [sic] on flight plan got back at 2-30 AM.
[underlined] JULY 31 [/underlined]
[underlined] SAT. 43 [/underlined]
Bed at 4-15 after sos & egg, cocoa & coffee; bfast. Up at 12.15 PM. Soup; beef, spuds, cab; sponge (?) pud. Checked over log. Made chart up ready for tonight. Salmon; jam; tea. Flight washed at 10.30 PM. 2 pints.
[page break]
[underlined] BIKE PINCHED FROM MESS. [/underlined] Reported it to guard room. Finished making log book out for end of route.
[underlined] AUG.1st [/underlined] [underlined] BIKE RETND [/underlined]
[underlined] Sun. 43. [/underlined] Up at 8.10. Porr; egg [inserted] [underlined] DMTO [/underlined] [/inserted] on toast; tea. Swept NAV office out. Made log (flying & sight) books up to date. Stripped Browning & reassembled it after reversing the feed. Soup: beef, spuds, cab, apricots & white sauce. Intel. library. [underlined] Letter to Ma [/underlined]. M.U.G. arrived Leslie. Salad, corned beef & a bit of tom. Flight plan & all gen. rations. Started up IFF yelling! Detail cancelled
[page break]
Stew; prunes & peaches; cocoa. [indecipherable word] about 12.30.
[underlined] AUG. 2ND. MON [/underlined]
Over slept. Up at 12.30. soup; minced meat, spuds; rice pud & rhubarb. Tried to change [one indecipherable word]. Sent tom puncture outfit. [underlined] Letter from Violet [/underlined] D.I.? on P (Peter) Looked for 2nd. Mon, table in after [underlined] 2 [/underlined] kites. Had cake & tea from NAAFI. “Simona” rang to see if we’d got route. Cheese [one indecipherable word] & toast, jam & tea. Flight Plan. [underlined] Letter to Violet [/underlined]. Set out 10.45PM. Rations
[underlined] AUG 3rd TUES [/underlined]
Bed about 5.30. up at 1.15
[page break]
Soup; beef, spuds, peas; prunes & apricots stewed. Signed log. Compass swing. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Haircut. Sos; jam; tea. Flight on. Rations. Took off at 22.20.
[underlined] AUG. 4th. Wed. [/underlined]
Landed 04.45. Bacon & egg. Bed 7.0AM. up at 13.20. Soup (pea); beef, spuds & cab (LOUSY!!!!) sponge pud & treacle. Log not marked. I R & Ragdale tonight. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] took front fork out & cleaned it. Fish: jam & cake; tea. 3 bars choc (ration) didn’t get fags. Meat pie & cocoa. RAIN. Flying
[page break]
Scrubbed. Had a short run on bike. (760 mile on the clock) Bought Les, Ken & myself 1/2 a pint. Ken bought packets of crisps.
[underlined] AUG. 5th Thurs. [/underlined]
Porr. & egg on toast; tea. Signed log; astrograph. NAW tables and gen on “Y”. Meat & spud pie; spuds, cab; rice pud & prunes. CGI’s lecture – short and “SWEET” (P Y F O.) Flying times. Met gen (bod) Sat in crew bus talking to driver. Beans on toast; biscuits & jam. [underlined] Letter from Mary & to Ma. [/underlined]
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[inserted] [underlined] AUG. 6TH Fri. [/underlined] [underlined] £5.10 PAY [/underlined] [/inserted]
Kellogs; bacon & fried bread. A/C recco; PT. [underlined] Letters from Elsie, Doris R & C [/underlined] Soup; spuds beans, cab, beef. Air test (OK.) Sardines on toast eto. NAV Briefing (La Bleche) Shower; changed socks, sos & pie & cocoa. Rain brief 9.30pm Ran around for torch eto. Put another suit on. Off at 23.50. returned Back 3.35.
[underlined] AUG. 7th. Sat [/underlined]
Charlie dug out at 11.0 Got up about 12-12.3. Shower & clean clothes. Soup; minced meat, spuds peas; rhubarb pie
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Log & mucking about. [underlined] Letter from Ma & Dennis [/underlined] Cheese savoury & toast jam, tea. Rain. Parcelled Laundry. Shep. Pie & tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Short cycle run 2 to 3 miles. Bed. 9.30!!!!!!
[underlined] AUG. 8TH. SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8.30. Porr; egg on toast tea. Air test of “Y”. Went up in rear turret. Charlie WOP. Ken and first F/Lt. Smith capt. A nice ship. Put SBA’s & D/F beacons onto new chart. QC & [one indecipherable word] card in “Y”. spare A/graph bulb U/S. Soup; spuds, cab, beef; prunes & apricots. Nickel cancelled. RAIN. Mucked about
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with A/graph bulbs & s sat bulbs & batteries. Made night log book up to date, was asked “What are Laurence & Thompson like?” More RAIN, Bags of [one indecipherable word] all own chart. Corned beef & salad; biscuits; jam & tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Toast eto. in Billet.
[underlined] AUG. 9TH. MON. [/underlined]
Didn’t have Bfast. Gee Room blanged shave, Soup; spuds, cab & beef; rice pud. [underlined] Letters from MA & Violet [/underlined]. Afternoon off. “San Francisco” Clark Gable & Jeanette Macdonald. Cheese on toast
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Jam sandwich, cake tea 3/- taxi back. IR & Ragdale. Back at 1-0PM. Bed about 3-0.
[underlined] AUG. 10TH TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 12-00 1-0. Soup; COFFEE spuds, cab, beef; rice pud. Hung around NAV section. Went out to Y. Changed. Sos & fried spuds, jam, biscuits & tea. 3/- taxi. 1pint. 1/9d at Victory George Brent “You don’t escape forever” also “Hi neighbour” 6d chips, 3/- taxi. Tea & biscuits in Chapel canteen. Bed about 12-15 or 12-30.
[underlined] AUG. 11TH. WED> [/underlined]
Up at 7-15 porr, beans
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& bacon: tea. Crew bus to Loughboro’ [one indecipherable word] for [one indecipherable word] dull. Coffee & toasted tea cake. Bulbs. 2 x 4 volts; 1x8V. 12 drawing ins. Bus back. Soup; beef, spuds, cab, currant pud. Air test in Y. Nav briefing. Routed to 40 miles from St. Nagaire. Pork pie; biscuits & tea. [underlined] Letter to MA & £10. [/underlined] Main briefing 9-0 PM Route swapped with Saltau. Made flight plan out for new route. Got away OK. Got across & back. Found by air searchlight. Fired Very cartridge off & they left us. Landed at 800 mls on cyclometer
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[inserted] [underlined] 2/6d for “ripping” chute. [/underlined] [/inserted]
5-45 AM. Interogation[sic] etc. Unloaded front [one indecipherable word].
[underlined] AUG. 12TH THURS [/underlined]
Bed about 8-30 AM. Bacon & egg & tea. Got up 1-45 PM. Soup; spuds, cab [one indecipherable word]; currant pud. Shave. Log analysis. Potato cheese; cake & jam; tea. [underlined] No Mail. [/underlined] [underlined] Letter to Mary & Doris L [/underlined]. 1 pint in mess. Letter to Dad, started one to Ma.
[underlined] AUG. 13TH. Fri. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30 AM Mo chart log finished. Did a shot of Gee. Soup; stew, spuds & cake; [deleted] currant pie [/deleted] raisin tart. ([underlined] Ken & Charlie up at 12-30. [/underlined]) Compass swing on T.
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Swapped cyclometer over to “right” side of bike. [underlined] Letter to Ma & Pa. [/underlined] Mince meat & spuds; jam & tea. Bus into Loughboro, [one indecipherable word] taxi back. 1/9d at Odeon “House of Mystery” & Leslie Howard in “Escape to Happiness”. 4/- taxi back after Dance (2/6d)
[underlined] AUG. 14TH. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30. Fetched out by “Yannay” fighter affiliation stbd engine went wonky. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] (£10 arrived.) Soup, beef, spuds. Cab; rice pud. No flight & route [sic] to do. Got permit for bike, & reg. parcel from home. Had tea then went on bus [inserted] Beans on toast [/inserted]
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Into Loughboro. Beans on toast; sandwiches; cakes & tea at Chapel Canteen. Had pint of beer. 2/- dance. Had a pretty good time. 2/6d taxi back at 23.59 hrs.
[underlined] AUG. 15TH SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. Kellogs; beans & bacon & tea & [underlined] MARMALADE!!! [/underlined] Compass swing. Air to sea & self tow off Skegness. Managed to get dinner. Soup; beef, spuds, tomato; prunes & carnation milk. Did sweet FA in afternoon. “Grape” in AM”. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Eclipse of moon. Salad & meat roll; cocoa. Parceld [sic]
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Laundry.
[underlined] AUG. 16TH MON. [/underlined]
Up at 7-30 PM. Porr. Bacon & tomatoe; [sic] tea. Bus to Wymeswold. Frape!! To Rotterdam. Dinner at Wymeswold. Soup; stew, spuds, peas; rasein [sic] pud. Dinghy drill. Bus back. [underlined] 9d parcel to Ma. [/underlined] Put on a night flight to get astro shots. Cheese paste on toast; jam; tea. On grape so cancelled night flight. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] AUG. 17TH TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7-20 AM. Porr; dried egg on toast. Bus to Wymeswold. Endex Grape. Stake,[sic] spuds, carrot; rice pud (1/2 done) Bus
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back. 1/- tea & cakes. in L’boro. Cheese on toast. Flight plan & gen. cocoa. 12 astro shots. Bombed Ragdale. Bacon & fried bread & egg: - cocoa.
[underlined] AUG. 18TH. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 9-45 (went to bed 5-30). Cleaned buttons, had shave, made log book up to date (30 astro AIR) Soup; beef, spuds, cab; stewed apricots. — ¬Party! In the mess P- [one indecipherable word] Peter beer cleaned up. Bed about 12-30 AM
[underlined] AUG. 19TH. [deleted WED[/deleted] [inserted THURS [/inserted] [/underlined]
Porr; fish; tea. Waited for transport. Went for mail. Bus arrived about 11-0 AM. Drafted
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kit at LNE stn. Meat pie, spuds, beans; choc pus. Clearence [sic] not finished. Potatoes & spam; jam & cake x 2. Bus into town. Kit at stn. 1/9d “The body disappeared” & Deanna Durbin in “The amazing Mrs Holliday “Bourn Vita. [sic] Bus back.
[underlined] AUG. 20TH. [deleted THURS[/deleted] [inserted FRI. [/inserted] [/underlined]
Up at 7-30. Poo; spuds & sos mashed. £11.15 [one indecipherable word] Clearance fully signed. Filled out at 295. Posted to Stradishal [sic] cancelled !! soup; beef, spuds, marrow; date & apple pie x2. Posted to Lindholme. [underlined] Ordly REFUSED to make passes eto out for us. [/underlined] Beans
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on toast; cake & jam. Bus in. 1/ and picture. “Went to Day Well” Humphrey Bogart & “Sweethearts of the Fleet”. Fish & Chips. Bus back Pt of Bass in the mess. Bed about 12-01 AM.
[underlined] AUG. 21ST Sat. [/underlined]
No bfast. In bed till 8-45. Shave. Went up to GIS. Passes ready [one indecipherable word] for 12.50 No’7 log books still to be signed. Signed by 11-0 AM. RAIN! Cycled into Loboro. Peas chips & sos (9d) Train out at 12-37 PM. Arr. Shot 2-15. Train out at 2-50. Carried kit across the wheeled bike
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{one indecipherable word]. Got kit bags in one g’ds van, put bike in the other. {2 indecipherable words] about 3-15. Carried one kit bag on bike other carried by a young chap outside stn. I gave him 1/-, Dad 2/6d. unpacked & [underlined] found oxygen tube missing! [/underlined] sorted a bit of kit out. [underlined] Wrote letter to Tom. [/underlined]
[underlined] AUG. 22ND SUN. [/underlined]
Woke up at 9-30. Got up at 10-30. [underlined] Posted letter to Tom. [/underlined] Saw Joyce Richardson. A lot of rain. Sorted & stuck in a few photos. Had tea then stuck in rest of the photos. Entered star shots in flight log book.
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[underlined] AUG. 23RD MON. [/underlined]
Up at 10.30. shave clean shirt & collar. Took suit & battle vest & cap to be cleaned (Ready Fri or Sat) P & P gone back to school. Fetched spuds for dinner. Read cowboy book. Went to town with Ma & Sallie. Saw Gran. Went in to see Grandpa. Bought B. D. cards for Dad. P & P came to meet us. RAIN. Went to Ross on trackless. Got back at 9.45. showed Dennis my stamps. Bed after bath about 12-30.
[underlined] AUG. 24TH TUES. [/underlined] DAD’s BD
Up at 11-0 AM. Washed bike & chalked cape. Looked
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Around for something for Dad & found a small strong – box. Found neither. Took Sallie into town with Ma. No plums or 1/2 pint. [underlined] 3 LETTERS from Dorus & one from Violet. [/underlined] (Letter to Ma from Doris too.) Went to Dance (1/6d) with Dad. 1/2 pint of bitter. Started “Red Gold” Bed 1-0 AM
[underlined] AUG. 25TH. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 10-0. Rain stopped me going to work. Shave. Finished “Red Gold”. Got to work at 3-30. £2:15d allowance. Reg & Jock Wright on afters. Went to Jack Trackers.
Emptied most of books out of trunk. Emptied small
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Toffee tin(s).
[underlined] AUG. 26TH. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 10 AM. Cashed money order for Ma & posted Dennis’ parcel. Fetched meat ration. Changed to brown suit. RAIN. Went to Elsie’. No one in. went across to Dennis. Went again to Elsie’s after tea. Only George in; E. gone to Wales for a holiday. Got “Modern Wonders” out & sorted them out.
[underlined] AUG. 27TH FRI [/underlined]
Up at 10-30. [underlined] Letters from Doris C & Mary. [/underlined] (Tom writing.) [one indecipherable word] eto from Mrs Wrights. 12/6d for seats at regent. 4d for cap being changed. Shaved. Went run around then went
[page break]
With P & Ma into town. Regent: - Jules Adrian & Grace Spero (Violin [inserted] BBC [/inserted] & Piano) Tubby Turner & Florence (H if its H okay with you H its H okay with me.) Dorothy Livesey ( ventriloquist) 4 Rich Sisters, Henry D Evans (Juggler.) Stanley Carter ([one indecipherable word] vocal) Jackie Raymond (impers. & Comedian.) Ben Blatt (SILENT comedian.)
[underlined] AUG. 28TH. SAT. [/underlined]
[underlined] Up at 12-0!! [/underlined] Slept till 11-0. Dad got day off. Read Tingo (Peter Orgil & Percy Pattle) 5/- for suit being cleaned. Took best suit in & fetched [one indecipherable word]. Calm. Showers!!! Went run up to Stagg & round. Chased back
[page break]
By shower. Went across to Dunn’s had supper there (spam)
[underlined] AUG. 29. SUN [/underlined]
Got up at 11-0. Had dinner & read book. Went run at 3-45 PM round Stagg & Dalton Magna & Parkgate & Grasbro (10 miles) Sweaty after it so put clean shirt on. Went to Gran’s for tea (plums etc.) Gave P & P. 2/- each for bank & YMCA.
[underlined] AUG. 30. MON. [/underlined]
Dad at home. Went to Gran [one indecipherable word] & to Mace’s. Went to [one indecipherable word]
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“arabian nights”
[underlined] AUG. 31st. TUES. [/underlined]
Up about 10 to 10-30. Went to Mrs Wrights for spuds. Went to Elsie’s. Went to OTD’s after dinner for bar to put on saddle bag. Went in to sce Reg & bus over at S P & T. Finished camera film. put bar on saddle bag. Packed. Finished library book.
[underlined] SEPT. 1. Wed. [/underlined]
[underlined] Letter from Doris [/underlined] (Corad) Up at 9-30. More packing. Ordered taxi. Hair cut. Put roll film
[page break]
Into Coop. taxi 2-15. Went down on bike after it. Train pulled out at 3-5, arr. Don 3-30. Transport out at 5-15. Unloaded & put in billet. Spam & jam & cake & tea. Went for a run down road for 2mls. 1/2 pint of beer in mess.
[underlined] Sept. 2nd, THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 7-40. Kellogs & sos. For breakfast. Form filling & F F I. Started letter to Violet. Cab, spuds, beef; sponge pud & treacle. 6646 for oxygen tube and a bit of gen. 3-0 PM S/C for home. 22mls
[page break]
Went to LNE stn. To get times of trains. Got home at 5-30. Went with M; D; & P & P to see “Beauty on Duty” at the regent. Bed at 12-00 AM
[underlined] Wrote & posted letter to Violet. [/underlined]
[underlined] Sept. 3rd FRI. [/underlined] [underlined] LANDING ON ITALY. [/underlined]
Up at 6-15 am. Bacon sandwich & tea. Train at 6-55. Arr. Don 7- 40. Had to go down & up steps & hand ticket in. 1/7d for bike. 11mls to camp. Did it in 40 mins (16.5 MPH) (Did 9 mls in 30 mins as part of run) Walked round wood behind barracks.
[page break]
Cup of tea & sandwich. Blackberrying in wood. Stew, cab & spuds; rice pud with raisins. Short session of drill. [underlined] Wrote letter to Doris C., Mary & Elsie. [/underlined] Sos. & bacon, jam & bread for tea. Tool letters to YM. Went thro’ [sic]wood with Charlie, Joe & Bob. Went nearly as far as Racecourse Doncaster. A nice short cut. Should be a total of 8-9 mls altogether. 2 oranges from mess.
[underlined] Sept. 4th. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 7.45. porr & fish. Swept hut out. Tea &
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sandwich. Flying clothing. 2prs. Gloves; a full up oxygen tube (14/1d); mike & earphones; whistle floating torch & batteries. Beef, spuds, cab & beans; bread pud; tea. Berlin last night & France 22 lost ( lowest for quite a while.) 1.000 tons in 20 mins. Went into wood with the lads. Set off home 2-55. Via Bawtry. 23ml. W 4-45 Tool George films & 2 Letters for Dick & Les. Walked down to stn with Ma, Pa, P. P & Sal. No train in AM. Bill Tull, new RAF lad billeted at home. Dennis gone on leave.
[page break]
[underlined] Sept. 5TH, SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 6-30. Set out 7-13 ar 8-50 via Bawtry (22.7 mmls) walk around to the wood after sweeping up hut. Beef, spuds, cab & Carrot; apricot pie & butter cream: cheese & tea. RAIN Set off 3-10 thru’ woods Don. Ar 4-55 (19.7mls) Went to Gran’s & collated books.
[underlined] Sept. 5TH MON. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30. Set off 10-35 saw Annie. Followed oil lorry from [one indecipherable word] arr. 11.50 ( 19.7mls = 16 MPH.) Soup: beef, spuds, cab; choc. Pud. Route March & rough & tumble.
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Meat roll & spuds; jam & cake. Marlene Deitrich [sic] in “Pittsburg” [sic] 1/2 pt. in mess.
[underlined] Sept. 7th. Tues. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Bacon & spuds. Short march after roll call. Tea & scone from hut. Walk in wood. Beef, spuds, cab, stewed apricots & rice. Shave. Letters for Dods “Lecture” on rifle! Changed & set off for home 3.25. arr. 5.05. Sorted a few work books out. 1/6d for Dance at Oddfellows.
[underlined] Sept. 8th Wed. [/underlined]
Up at 6.15. Set off 7-5
[page break]
Arr. 8-25 Went for short walk, read in field, walked back. Tea & cake off YMCA truck. Finished “Paper Wedding” Cold meat, onion, lettuce, beet, spuds; apple pies Tea. Potato picking. Cheese savoury & toast, Jam & cake; tea [triple underlined ITALY SURRENDED [sic] [/underlined] Choc & sweet ration. [underlined] Letter to Doris. [/underlined] meat & spud mashed & minced, & coffee. Finished letter to Doris. Took it to Gd. Room. Bed at 11.0 PM.
[underlined] Sept. 9th. THURS. [/underlined]
Porr; sos & mash. Spud
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Digging found two baby bones, soup; beef, spuds, carrot; currant pud. [one indecipherable word] to feed [one indecipherable word] Set off at 2-0 PM. Arr. 3-30. Ma gone to Sheff. To see A. Edie. Went & posted letter for Les met Ma on the way. Went with her to Mrs Wrights (apples etc) Ma; P & P as pleased as punch with the hares. Managed to feed them with fountain pen filler. Shave. Mended Dyna (?) Bath.
[underlined] Sept. 10th. TUES. MA’S BD.[/underlined]
Up at 6.30. set off 7-7 arr 8-50 or 55. Head wind & soaked with rain,
[page break]
[underlined] Bob got scarlet fever! [/underlined] Gas lecture in billet. Still pouring. Kidney, spuds, beans & cabbage; choc pud. Playing cards in Billet. Still raining. Spuds & egg; jam & swiss roll. More card playing. (Knockout, 7’s eto.) Meat & beans. [double underlined [ Letter to Doris Ryall. [/underlined] milk & biscuits from YMCA. Bed at 9-30.
[underlined] Sept. 11th. SAT. [/underlined]
More rain. Up at 7-45. Porr. Egg (real) & bacon. Duty crew. Finished “The Dollar Chasers”. Soup; beef, spuds, car, cab; rice pud. [underlined] Wrote
[page break]
letter to Doris. Sos & mash; cake & tea. air officer commanding (A/Cd) been on visit with W/Cdr. Got ready for F/Es coming in. arr just before supper. Sent them to supper first. Beef & cabbage & Cocoa. Set all lads up with huts. Made cocoa & toast on fire (?) Cpl. came in chat & had a cup. Left Ken in charge & went to bed 11.0 PM
[underlined] Sept. 12. SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 7.30. Porr & first shave; boot button cleaning. Then got passes signed. I got ‘em stamped in SHQ. Ken got ‘em entered
[page break]
[inserted] SAW MONTY from work [/inserted]
& away we went. Left at 10.30 AM. No train it 4-15 PM. Arr home 12.05 PM. Dod, P & P gone to O & D’s Ma at home. Hares still alive & feeding ok on pen filler. Went short run on bike. Took Sallie for walk. Dod on fire watch.
[underlined] Sept. 13th MON. [/underlined]
Up at 12-30. Went to Coop & took Sallie with me, Saw Alwyn & Princes Royal. Went to work. Drizzle.
[underlined] Letter from Doris (R) & Violet. [/underlined] Storm; rain & hail. Took a couple of shots of [one indecipherable word] on table. Bed 12.15
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[underlined] Sept. 14th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 9.30. Shaved. Alwyn came 10.30. showed me photos he’d taken. Went up to school. Went for haircut to Stacey’s. More rain. [underlined] Letter from Morag. [/underlined] More rain. Went to ATC. Intended going to dance but went home instead. Dennis writing letters. Bed 12.AM.
[underlined] Sept. 15th. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 6-AM. Set off 6-40. 3/- train for self & bike to Doncaster. Arr. Donc. 7-45. Set off for camp 7-40. Arr. 8-10 to 15. Joe arrived, Ken followed. Nearly left bike on R’ham stn. Guard put
[page break]
emergency brake on. Went for walk in Wood. Tough beef, spuds & turnip; kinda sorta trifle; tea, went for another walk in the wood. Tea; dripping & tart from hut. Les arrived. Cheese & spuds 7 Beet; jam & tea. Dick just arrived. [underlined] Letter to Violet & Mary. [/underlined] Charlie rolled in for supper. [underlined] Started letter to Doris [/underlined]
[underlined] Sept. 16th. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 7-45. Corn flakes & sos, tea. PT & walk in wood. Beef spuds. Beans: Bannana [sic] sponge pud & tea. Route March towards
[page break]
Finningley. Tea in mess. Sos roll & chips; jam. Payed £5. (two indecipherable words] Set off home at 7-0 PM. No train so had to cycle all the way. Arr home 8-40. Ma & family gone to No. 8. Les & H there so they came back after supper.
[underlined] Sept. 17th FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 6-35. Set off for stn 6-45. 1/4d ticket to Don. Arr. 7.40. set off from Don at 7-50. Arr camp 8-25. Ate teacake Ma had packed & had piece of parkin. Billet orderly. Coffee &
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[inserted] Boston Park to Blyton. [/inserted]
Scone from little hut. Soup; beef, spuds, [double underlined] turnip [/underlined] cream & apricot pie. Took clearance chit round. FFI. Rain ! Tea & cake from hut. Sos & tomato; jam & biscuit: apricot & cream pie. [underlined] Letter to Doris [/underlined] . Sos & tomato & coffee. 2 raw tomatoes as well. Packed kit after posting letters for lads.
[underlined] Sept. 18th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 7-45. Kellogs & sos; tea. Finished kit. Bikes not put on lorry. Bus to Blyton. Roll call & talk by C.G.I. Stew spuds & carrots; currant pud. CGI in intel library. MD on VO first aid kit & oxygen.
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Gen talk by SWO. Filled form in regarding “valuables” Pay accounts. Spuds & sos; treacle & tea. 6d on bus into Gainsboro’[Gainsborough] 1/9d picts [sic] Ritz Bros. also Boris Karloff. 1/4d chips & fish. 1/- bus Charlie & self. Had pint of beer on Charlie.
[underlined] Sept. 19th SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-15. 8-45 parade. Tool shoes in for repair. Beef, spuds, cab, rice pud. Oxygen mask check. Swept hut out. Sorted flying kit and marked it. Read. Shave. Egg [inserted] DRY [/inserted] on fried bread; jam& jam roll; tea. Glourious sun
[page break]
Made bed. Stew & spuds; tea. “Silver Queen Geog [sic] Brent. Pretty Good
[underlined] Sept. 20th MON. [/underlined]
Up at 7-15. Beans on toast, marmalade & tea. BBE. Went round plane fuselage. Stew, spuds, carrot currant pud. R’ from WAAF in mess recognises me. [underlined] Letters from Ma & Doris. [/underlined] One kipper fried, tea. Bus in 1/9d [underlined] one indecipherable word [/underlined] Ronald Coleman & Greer Garson in “ Random harvest” Donald Duck. Pint of beer. Fish & chips. Bus back.
[underlined] Sept. 21st TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 8-AM. thus No bfst. D.R. Compass &
[page break]
Gec Box. Nice bit of beef, baked spuds, carrots; apricot pie. Went in Halifax. Plot to Stuttgart. Cheese & spuds; marmalade, tea. [underlined] Wrote letter to Ma. [/underlined] spuds & minced beef (?) Hedy Lamarr & Walt [sic] Pidgeon in “ White Cargo”
[underlined] Sept. 22nd WED. [/underlined]
Up at 7-15. Bacon & fried bread; porr & tea. C&L. duel & solo 4 hrs Skeg & back. [circled G.] Fish & chips & peas; ginger pud; tea. Did plot from 3-45 to 4-45. [underlined] Onion!!! [/underlined] meat pie & beet; tea. Bus in. 1/2 pint. 1.9d picts “ Bumsteads” & “ My Son {one indecipherable word]” Bus back again. Cook loves
[page break]
going in billet.
[underlined] Letter from Violet.} {/underlined]
[underlined] Sept. 23. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 8-15. NO Bfst. Plotting. Beef, spuds, carrots; jam roll, water. Lecture with Ken & Orly on nar etc. finished plot. Went to see S W O Not in! so went to see C G I’s cpl re F/Sgt. May get it after 1 years NOT burnt the cheese on toast; jam; jam roll & tea. Natter in hut. Sos & spuds & tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma (?) [/underlined] bags of washing in the hut.
[underlined] Sept. 24th FRI.[/underlined]
Up at 7-15. Bacon & tomato; tea. C&L & G stooge. Filey, York, Shef. [Sheffield] P’boro [Peterborough], Skeg, Filey, Lincoln, Castle D. Base. Spuds, cab, [one indecipherable word] mutton, nice cup of “Gen” tea& talk with WAAF’s Drizzle. [underlined] Letter 7 photos from Ma. [/underlined] Shave & wash. RAIN, Cottage pie; cake & jam; tea. Asked h/lom girl to go to dance with me. Already has an AIRMAN on camp so she said NO. RAIN. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Cottage pie again & tea. Talked to [deleted] Brenda [/deleted] Edna Schofield in mess. Chopped firewood up.
[underlined] Sept. 25th SAT. [/underlined]
#up at 8-15. Made bed & swept up. [one indecipherable word]
[page break]
New plot to Neuremburg. [sic] Beef. Spuds, peas; sponge pud. Bomb lecture & [circled G]. Fish; cake & jam; tea. Went to cinema but no show till [sic] 8-0 PM. Went to see “Bambi” 2/- for 4 seats. Toast eto. Over stove.
[underlined] Sept. 26th SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-15. Washed only G & more G. drew chart & maps for PM. Beef, spuds, carrot; rice pud & apricot. C&L’s with S/Ldr. Landed at another drome. [underlined] GEE stooge became a “dual” cross country for ME [/underlined]. [underlined] Letter to Violet [/underlined] spam & spuds; treacle
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swiss roll; tea. Went short run. Chips & toast in billet.
[underlined] Sept. 27th MON. [/underlined]
Porr & kipper; tea. Cont. plot. Beef, spuds, carrots; currant pud; tea. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] . Bombing lecture. astro compass, finished plot. Cheese & spuds; lemon curd; tea. “Nine Men” film in camp. Toast eto in hut
[underlined] Sept. 28th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 10-0. Shave! Drew G chart & maps. Beef, spuds, carrots; currant pud. Plotting to Pilsonburg when flying was cancelled. Spuds & MEAT 9??) tea, jam &
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jam roll. Went to picts. No power, No show. Sos roll & spuds; cocoa, [underlined] Reg parcel from Ma. [/underlined] Sorted laundry out. Toast eto in hut.
[underlined] Sept. 29th WED. [/underlined]
Up 8-15. Wash. Plotting all AM. Stew, spuds, carrots; apricots & [deleted] rice [/deleted] sauce. Gee; W/T aids eto. [underlined] Letters from Ma, Doris & Elsie. [/underlined] Fish & fried spuds, jam & tea. Bus in. “ Tomorrow we Live” Occupied France & escape eto. Fish & chips; 1/2pt. to wash ‘em down.
[underlined] Sept. 30th THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 9-0 AM. plotting
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flying washed. Almost finished plot. Beef, spuds, cab, peas; ginger pud; tea. G all afternoon. Looked over logs done. Fried egg on fried bread; treacle & tea. £5. 4s pay. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Talent contest in Mess. [underlined] Very [/underlined] good. Brenda back.
[underlined]Oct, 1st. FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 7-45. Porr; & bacon & spuds; tea. Shave!! Finished plot then did [one indecipherable word]. G ( total 13hrs) Supposed to take [underlined] OFF [/underlined] 11-00. Took off 12-25. Did 1:55 [two indecipherable words] Grimsby, Scunthorpe etc. Mutton, spuds & cab; stewed apple & sauce.
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No mail. Plotted route to Berlin ready to start tomorrow. Sardines on toast & beetroot; jam & tea. “Pride of the Yankees” Gary Cooper Very good. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 2nd. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8-15. No bfst. Plotting to Berlin. Beef & spuds, cab; ginger pud. More plotting. [underlined] Cleaned Bike!!![/underlined] ([underlined] (1.300) [/underlined] not quite finished plot. Meat pie & spuds; jam & tea. No mail. Date ? with Amie! [underlined] Letter to Ma & Doris. [/underlined] Meat pie & spuds; cocoa. Sing song in the Mess. Amie!!
[underlined] Oct. 3rd, Sun. [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. Wash only. Gee
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& speed test. ( 65?) Beef, spuds, carrots; stewed apple & cake with Carnation milk. Finished plot. Showed Charlie how to use computor {sic] again. Cottage pie & jam roll, jam & tea. Shave. Bob Hope in “The Ghost Breakers” again!! Then went to dance ended up cutting bread on bread machine. Had a couple of dances with Pat. Parcelled laundry (?) 12-0 mid night [sic]
[underlined] Oct. 4th MON. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. Lectures in Intel library. Stew, spuds, cab; raisin pud. More lectures (ASD as well) Welsh rarebit;
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treacle , jam roll & tea. 2/ 6d stamps; 9d parcel home. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Sos roll& fried spuds; {deleted] tea [/deleted] jam roll; cocoa. Short ride on bike, but short by rain. [underlined] Letter to Doris. [/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 5th. TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7-40. Porr; bacon & spuds. Lectures again. Beef, spuds, carrot & cab, rice pud & prunes. [underlined] Letter from Violet. [/underlined] More lectures. Had plots retaken! Had look at [one indecipherable word] & generator. Meat roll & spuds: jam & tea. Cleaned bike & altered brakes.
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cheese & spuds; cocoa. Short run on bike. Messing about with lamp.
[underlined] Oct. 6th WED. [/underlined]
Up at 8-40 AM, lectures, posted Joe’s & Stewith’s parcels. 2/6d book of stamps (5/-). Stew., spuds, carrots; sponge pud. More lectures. Rain . sardines on toast; treacle, tea. Stores, got new shirt & pr. Socks and a piece to patch pants. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Stew, sos roll & spuds.[deleted] tea [/deleted] cocoa. “ China Girl” très bon.
[underlined] Oct. 7th THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 7-40. Porr; liver & fried spuds. Lecture &
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Kite flying. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Beef, spuds, carrot & turnip; currant pud. Lecture on bombing [one indecipherable word]. Eggs? On toast, jam & tea. Bus in . 4/9d at State Ritz Broom. Not too bad. 1/2pt. fish & chips. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Bus back. Given mouse cat by then.
[underlined] Oct. 8th Fri. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. Toast & honey! in hut. A.S.R lecture. Shave [underlined] Reg. Parcel from Ma [/underlined] Stew, spuds, carrot; choc sponge pud. Dinghy & parachute drill in lane out at dispersal. Sos & mash; jam; tea 3 ORANGES from NAAFI. Unwrapped parcel
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“Squadron Leader X” at stn cinema. 2 sos rolls; gravy, tea. 4 to 5 miles run towards [one indecipherable word]. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 9th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8.45. made bed up. PT? at 9-15. 2 cups milk at farm. [underlined] Letters from Ma, Doris & Tommy Wilcox. [/underlined] Brian Donbarord been Billet! Beef, spuds, carrots, sponge pud. Football match. LOST. Sos, tomato, toast; jam roll & goosgab jam; tea. Bike saddle. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Sos & mash, tea. Run inti Gainsbro on bike. 6 mls each way.
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Took 1hr [inserted] for [/inserted] bath [one indecipherable word]. Couldn’t be bothered writing letters so sat on bed, after making same, and read papers & comics.
[underlined] Oct. 10th Sun. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. Didn’t wake till 8-0. Ditch filling from 10-30 till din. Beef, spuds, carrots; rice pud & apple; tea. “ Brains Trust” a waste of time! Cheese & spag on toast; jam roll & Jam. [underlined] Letter to Doris. [/underlined] Sos rolls & cocoa, shaved. Parcelled laundry. Cocoa & toast in hut.
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[underlined] Oct. 11 MON . [/underlined] {deleted] GRAN M’S B.D [/deleted]
Up at 8-45. Wash. Took laundry into Blyton (10d) Ditch filling. [underlined] Letter from Ma enclosing D’s letter & B.D. card for Gran. [/underlined] Soup; stew, spuds, peas; ginger pud. Laid on bed & read some comics. [underlined] Posted B D card to Gran. [/underlined] Egg on toast ; jam & tea. “ Star Spangled Rhythm” [sic] an all star film. Minced meat & spuds & cocoa for supper. [underlined] Letter to Violet. [/underlined] 1400 miles on bike.
[inserted] GRAN M’s B.D [/inserted] [underlined] Oct. 12 TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45 or 9-0. Lecture by MD on [one indecipherable word]. Beef, spuds, cab & turnip; Currant
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sponge pud; coffee. Reading in Billet. Rough house. Cheese & potatoes; jam roll; jam. Tea. Shave. Bill Camper & crew arrived. Bus into Gainsboro. “ life & Death of Col. Blimp.” Very good. Fish & chips. Cpl. WAAF on my [one indecipherable word] in [one indecipherable word]. Toast in hut
[underlined] Oct. 13th. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 7-30. Porr; bacon & toast; tea. C&L in [one indecipherable word] . NO GEE for short x country. Beef, spuds, carrots; stewed apple. Cleaned bike. Took crank out & adjusted pedal. Fish & spuds; tea. Took
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Doreen & cpl to bus stop. Readjusted crank, short run to check. [underlined] Letter to Ma. Letter from Ma.[/underlined] Sonja Heini in “ Katina” with John Wayne [sic].
[underlined] Oct. 14th. THURS [/underlined]
Up at 9-45. Putting border around roadway. Stew, spuds, carrot & turnip; choc (?) pud. [underlined] Letter from Doris Collins. Letter to Doris. [/underlined] Went to E – bay to find out if anything was wrong with engines. Fish cake & fried spuds; biscuits & jam; tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Pay [one indecipherable word] £5.4s. Minced meat, spuds; tea & cocoa. Started letter to Doris (Canada).
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[underlined] Oct. 15. FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 9-15. Went to do dinghy drill. NO kites. Beef, spuds & swede; stewed apple, tart & Cust. NO flight but made edging round roads. [underlined] NO MAIL. [/underlined] Meat pie & spuds, tea. [underlined] Finished letter to Doris. [/underlined] sos & spuds cocoa. “ Priorities on Parade” très bon. Popeye {one indecipherable word] & the Gun”!!
[underlined] Oct. 16th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 9-15. Made bed up & swept up. Flew from 12-0 till 2.0 PM. Stew, spuds, carrots; sponge pud & tea. [underlined] Letter from M. [/underlined] Cleaning up buttons eto. Meat pie & spuds, jam eto.
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Bus into Gainsboro. 4 pints altogether, lads had lot of whiskey too. Bus back after fish & chip supper
[underlined] Oct. 17th Sun. [/underlined]
Up at 7-25. Porr; bacon & beans. Bus in rain [one indecipherable word] not’ham. Lunch at TVSC. Dinghy, raining & yachting on Trent. {one indecipherable word]. Bus back. Beef, peas, fried spuds; cocoa. “Story of Stalingrad & “Lucky Jordan”.
[underlined] Oct. 18th MON. [/underlined]
Up at 10-0 AM. sorted out trunk & swept round bed. SHAVE in COLD water. Stew , spuds, cab, beans; raisin roll& cust.; coffee. [underlined] New [/underlined]
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[underlined] Mess. [/underlined] Bombing up. SBC’s & 4,000 lb’r . meat & spuds, minced! Jam & tea. [underlined] Letter from & too[sic] Ma £11 [/underlined] Beet & cheese; cocoa. Sorted out flying kit.
[underlined] Oct. 19th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7-20. Porr; bacon & beans. Flying. X country. Took off 11-30: landed 16-15. (4.45 hrs.) Fish & mashed spuds; tea. [underlined] Letter from Violet. [/underlined] Veronica Lake in “ I Married a Witch” also American Army film. Rain Storm. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 29th WED.[/underlined]
Up at 7-20. Kellogs; [one indecipherable word] tea. Went back to bed till 10-15. Shave. Took
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new kit & log book to NAV. Section. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Stew, spuds, cab; beans; choc. Pud; coffee. Bus in Shops shut!! Coffee & sandwiches & bar choc, Snooker. “Man in Grey” Very Good. Similar to the [one indecipherable word]. Went to the State to DANCE!! Fish & chips & bus back. [underlined] Letter to Ma.[/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 21st THURS.[/underlined].
Up at
7-45. Kellogs; sos & mash. Dinghy drill (Made it in 20 secs) Parcelled laundry. Beef, spuds, swede, carrots; currant pud. [underlined] Letter from Ma.[/underlined] [deleted] [underlined] Letter to Ma.[/underlined [/deleted] Geog’s photos included
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Took laundry in to post office. Night C&L. Meat pie & potted meat hotted up.
[underlined] Oct. 22nd Fri.[/underlined]
Up at 8-45. Went to Binbrook to pick up Martinet. Air to air firing. Stew, spuds, peas; jam roll & carnation. Briefing for Bullseye. Cheese & spuds; treacle. Reg parcel from home. Took off 19-00. Recalled after 1hr. but didn’t get it till 22.00 (approx) Homed on GEE & descended on it through cloud. Bacon & egg; tea (good!!) RAIN!!! Photos included in parcel.
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[underlined] Oct. 23rd. SAT.[/underlined]
Up at 1-0 PM. Rain. Stew, spuds & carrots; sponge pud (didn’t eat.) Went with Ken to see about X. Country & last nights Bullseye ( not too bad) X. C wasted. Ken did link exercise & then I did a bit. [underlined] 2 Letters from Ma. [/underlined] Liver & onion; marmalade & tea. 2/6d choc ration & cigs. [underlined] Letter to Ma.[/underlined] Cocoa for supper. “ No time for love” Fred MacMurray & [one indecipherable word] Claudette Colberg. One big laugh.
[underlined] Oct. 24th SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 9-10. Kellogs; bacon & fried bread. [underlined] Finished letter to Ma. [/underlined] ( 18 PC of each negative)
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[underlined] Mas Card & shirt letter to Doris. [/underlined] Making logs up to date. Shave & cleaned bike. Beef, spuds, peas, prunes & cust; coffee. Finished “The Great Refusal” Maxwell Grey. Got nearly everything ready for Bullseye. WASHED. Salmon & spuds, mixed jam : tea. Pulled Pop’s 3 speed to kite & got it to go. [underlined] Xmas Card to Mr & Mrs & Misses Ryall.[/underlined] Bacon for Supper. Picts [underlined] FULL HOUSE!!![/underlined] [underlined] Xmas Card, photo & short letter to Norah.[/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 25th MON.[/underlined]
Up at 11-45. Meat & spud pie
[page break]
spuds;; carrots; rice pud & raisins; coffee. Reg parcel from Ma. X Country scrubbed, readjusted Pop’s 3 speed. Cheese & spuds, cake & jam; tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma.[/underlined] Dumplin [sic] ( of sort) & stew; coffee. “Spring time in the Rockies ”Betty Grable & John Wayne, Carmen Miranda & Cesar Romero also Harry James. Pint of Beer with Pop. Rough & tumble in hut.
[underlined] Oct. 26th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7-30 AM. All Bran; bacon & fried spuds; tea. Went back to bed. Up again at 10-45. [one indecipherable word] in Crew room. [underlined] Letter from Doris.[/underlined]
[page break]
Beef. Spuds, cab, turnip; jam roll & coffee. Flight wasted again. Wash, shave & clean up. Had tea then caught bus into town. “Hello Frisco!” Alice Faye, John Wayne & Jackie Oakie. 2 pints & a whiskey to celebrate [underlined] Fred’s B.D.[/underlined] [underlined] Posted letter to Doris. [/underlined] Went to dance 6d of chips. WALKED home.
[underlined] Oct. 27th WED. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Porr. & fish; tea. Went back to bed till 11- AM. Pestered by KEN, Les & Pop till I got up. Stew, spuds, carrot & cab; stewed apple & cream; coffee. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined]
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Made flight plan out [one indecipherable word] for Co & W/V. Cheese , beet, carrots; jam & tea. Went on link trainer 55 mins. 2 beam figure 8 ts. Made TAS table out for RAS 160 & 170
[underlined] Oct. 28th THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 12-55 PM. Beef, spuds, (baked) peas; sponge pud. Flight washed for tonight. Fried spam & spuds, jam & tea. Pay parade & BULL lecture by CGI. Meat & spud mixed & cocoa. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Oct. 29th FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 8-o AM. Kellogs; sos & spuds; tea. SHAVE! Went to crew room then went
[page break]
to NAV section with Charlie. Started plot with him. Minced meat, spuds, carrot, rice pud & prunes. [underlined] Letter from Home. [/underlined] Went back to nav section, started Stuttgart plot. CGI disbelieved Ken when he said we were in NAV section. Sos roll & spuds; treacle; tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] {one indecipherable word] doing links. Sos roll, spuds, & [one indecipherable word] egg; cocoa. Pulled CGI to bits again,
[underlined] Oct. 30th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8-15 AM. Continued Stuttgart plot. Packed up at 12-25 hrs. meat & spud pie, spuds, turnip; custard; tea
[page break]
Charlie & I finished plot. X Country scrubbed. Link engaged. Sos & spuds; marmalade & tea. finished plot. X Country finished plot. [underlined] Letter from Ma. Letter to Ma & Dod. [/underlined] “Severn days leave” Victor Mature eto
[underlined] Oct. 31st Sun. [/underlined]
Up at 7-0 AM.
Porr: fried egg & fried bread; tea. [underlined] Letters to Tommy, Dennis, Violet & Elsie. [/underlined] Beef, spuds, cab; cust & plum pud; coffee. Cinema show “Forest Rangers” Paulette Goddard + Fred MacMurray. Seen it before, but its [sic] good. Ham & spam, beet & raw carrot; marmalade & tea. Made parcel up
[page break]
to send home. Spam [one indecipherable word] beet; cocoa. An hours link. ( beam & rough air IF.) RAIN
[underlined] NOVEMBER 1st. MON. [/underlined]
Up at 2-15 AM. Kellogs; bacon & fried bread; tea. Parade again & perimiter [sic] track. Drew DR comp diagram in rate book. Minced meat, spuds, carrots, stewed apples & cust; tea. [underlined] 1/1d Parcel Too [sic] Ma. Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Cleaned bike AGAIN. 4 oranges & 3 Jam rolls, writing pad. Welsh rarebit without toast; jam roll; tea. Washed & changed but bus to Lea changed so that
[page break]
there wasn’t room for Ken & I. more spuds & cheese; cocoa. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Nov. 2nd. TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7-20 AM. Porr; bacon fried bread; tea. Parade again at 7-45. [underlined] Wrote letter to Doris & Tommy. [/underlined] Enclosing photo with both. [underlined] Letter from Ma. Parcel from Doris [/underlined] Stew spuds, carrots, beans; currant roll & cust, tea. Started letter to Ma. Played whist with Ken, Dick & Les. Minced meat; spuds; jam, tea. Bus in & back. Had Pat on my knee on way back. “ for ever & a day” all star film. Paderewski short.
[page break]
[underlined] Mon 3rd WED. [/underlined]
Up at 9-0 AM. Shave in mess. [underlined] Letter from Doris & Norah. [/underlined] Sunshine. Beef, spuds, beans, onion; rice pud & raisins; coffee. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] X Country improbable. 10 sun shots. Charlie, Dick & myself. Worked ‘em out as well. X Country cancelled. Celery, spuds & meat pie; [two indecipherable words] & tea. Link trainer for 1/2 hr. “T” test. Supposed to meet Pat at 9.30 pint of beer in Mess. Xmas cake that Doris sent. Put almond icing on it and cut it into even pieces.
[underlined] Nov. 4th. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 7-45!!! Porr; egg on fried bread; tea. [underlined] Letter to Mary. [/underlined] Watched lads play whist. Meat pie, spuds, cab, jam roll & custard; coffee. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Flight Plan X Count. Cancelled at 4-15 PM. Salmon, carrot [one indecipherable word] celery, jam; tea. Bus into town FREE!! “ Flying Tigers” Fair to Middlin [sic]. 1 1/2 pints. Good sing song in bus
[underlined] Nov. 5th. Fri. [/underlined]
Up about 9 to 9.30. [underlined] Shave! Letter to Ma. [/underlined]Bovril 3/9d. Beef, spuds, carrot; suet pud: coffee. [underlined] Letter from Ma
[page break]
& Violet; P.C. from Gran. 2 Reg parcels from Ma.[/underlined] Flight plan. Tea at 3-30. Sos & spuds; treacle; tea. Got back 9-0 PM Bacon & egg; toast & tea,
[underlined] Nov. 6th SAT. [/underlined]
Up for Bfst. Kellogs; bacon & fried bread. Back to bed till 11-0 AM. Being cleared. Took sextant in & gave particulars. Beef, spuds & beans; currant pud; coffee. [underlined] Parcel from home 1/1d. [/underlined] Fetched flying kit [one indecipherable word] harness it in. Got stores & [one indecipherable word] signature. Sight log book signed also flying log & link! Beans on toast; tea
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Peach jam; cake. Quick change (battle dress trousers.) Bus in. ( 2/6d) Theatre (8/9) 1/2 pt. bitter. NO chips & NO SINGSONG on bus back. Packing till 12-15 AM
[underlined] Nov. 7th SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0 AM. Kellogs; bacon, tea. Finished “cleaning” . Blank etc, [one indecipherable word] SWO, mess adj. accounts. Completed packing. Beef. Spuds. Carrot; stewed apple & “PINK” sauce; tea. Transport to Binbrook then back to Ludford Magna. Billeted in hut. Sardines, celery, spuds; Jam, tea. Mess very cold. Made bed up & [inserted] made [/inserted] fire. [underlined] Nov. 4th. THURS. [/underlined]
Fish, celery & beet; tea.
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Unpacking.
[underlined] Nov. 8th MON. [/underlined]
Up at about 8-30. No bfst. Went to Sqdn office then to disap office. Gone in [one indecipherable word] Went into see Wing Co; M.D.; Pay accounts. Din:- pea soup; stew, spuds, peas, jam tart, tea. Saw Asst Flight Commander. Tea:- cheese savourie [sic] treacle; cake & tea. Bus into Louth. “ Dead Men Tell No Tales” & “ Enemys Agent” Cider. Bus back. Glass Port.
[underlined] Nov. 9th TUES. [/underlined]
Porr; fish cake; tea. Thermos & torch. Read Nav order book. Soup; beef, spuds
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Carrot; sweet, Nav equip, new flying boots. Harness, Mae West. A.P.I. gen from Cpl. Shep pie & peas; biscuits, jam roll; tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. Pop & Violet. [/underlined] Chips & peas, cocoa. 2 route telephone line gen on X Country.
[underlined] Nov. 10th WED. [/underlined]
Up at 7-0 AM. Kellogs; bacon & beans. Got maps & G Charts. Saw S/Ldr Moody then started flight plan. Took off in the end at 11-15. GEE went US at end of long leg. API. Wizard. Kept pretty near to track from pin points. Back at 3-30 PM. Had to loose [sic] height over
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Louth because cloud obscured base. Spuds, beet, fried spam; jam & jam roll, tea. [underlined] SHOWER.[/underlined] Stew & spuds; cocoa
[underlined] Nov. 11th THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. Swung K – King with comp. adjuster. Flight plan to WEST COTT. Dinner. Flight washed. NO kite. Flight plan for X Count. Had tea. Got out to T only to find it in bits. Finaly [sic] went in. I. NO LOOP & GEE U/S. & NO ASTRO TIME. Egg on fried bread & chips; tea.
[underlined] Nov. 12TH Friday. [/underlined]
Up 7-30. Kellogs; bacon & fried spuds. Gave gen to
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NAV Officer, went to special sigs. NO gen. went to GEE dept. regarding I – ITE. Started F. Plan for X count. Bullseye cancelled some soup; fish, spuds, peas, carrots; stewed apricots. [underlined] Letter from Ma, Doris & air letter. [/underlined] Filled “valuables” list in. Flight plan for Bullseye. Egg on toast 7 CHIPS; JAM; CAKE. TOOK OFF 17-35. Mission. [underlined] NO - 1196 [/underlined] landed 22.40 (5.05 hrs)
[underlined] Nov. 13TH SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 9-45 AM. Shave. Took log & chart in. soup; steak, spuds, carrot & cab; rice pud & prunes. No mail & nothing doing. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Rain. Sardines
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toast, beet & spuds; jam & tea. [underlined] Letter to Doris.[/underlined] Std. one to Norah. Rice pud & prunes, cocoa. Watch repairing. 2/6d Xmas cards.
[underlined] Nov. 14TH SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 10-0 AM. Cocoa [one indecipherable word] Went up to NAV. Naut doing. Soup ; beef, spuds, Cab, carrot ; jam tart; milk. Locker insp. [underlined] SNOW rain & WIND. [/underlined] Got pencil clip. Registered bike. Started queries about pay book. NAV officer tomorrow. Spam, celery, beet, carrot; treacle; tea. [underlined] Finished letter to Norah. [/underlined]Stew, spuds, water cress; cocoa. Howling wind
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Wrote on Xmas cards & envelopes.
[underlined] Nov. 15TH MON. [/underlined]
Up at 7-30. Ham (cold) & bubble & squeak; tea. Fighter affil in I. (g. belter) Went up with Rowe & his A G’s (1-10 mins.) [underlined] Letter from Ma & Violet. [/underlined] Soup: minced beef & onion, beans, cab & spuds; plum pud & cust; milk & coffee. Gen off [sic] the Wing/Co. Went to see the NAV Officer before din. Welsh rarebit; jam & cake; tea. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Dug around in trunk. Beans on toast, spuds, beet; cocoa. Shave
[underlined] Nov. 16TH TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 7.30. Porr. Fried spam, fried spuds; tea. 8-15 parade
[page break]
air to air & bombing. Took over while Ken went for a “Jimmy Riddle” flew from Skeg to Louth then to Gainsbra {sic] ( 1.45 hrs) [underlined] On battle order [/underlined] No mail. Soup; meat, spuds, cab & Carrot; coffee & milk. Natter with Nav officer. Swing X – Xray. Spuds & peas; jam & tea. Sat & read in mess till b. No Xmas Cards. Got rations. Making log book up to date.
[underlined] Nov 17th WED. [/underlined]
Kellogs & tea. Garda & crew Room. O I on I – ITEM. X Country & bombing. Stew, spuds & cab; Bullseye! Egg on toast & fried spuds, jam & roll.
[page break]
[underlined] Letter from Ma & Doris. [/underlined] Final briefing, bus out to I. NO GEE & NO Loop. Took several star shots. Took off 17.50 ( 6.45 hrs) Got [underlined] LOST. [/underlined] Finaly got back at 00.15 hrs
[underlined] Nov. 18th THURS. [/underlined]
Chips, beans & bacon; tea. Bed at 3-0 AM. up at 11-15. [underlined] Shave! Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Soup; liver, onion bacon., spuds & cab. Window operations. [one indecipherable word]logged. Spam, cheese, spuds, beet; tea. 6 Xmas Cards; double port (4/2d) Wrote Xmas Cards. [underlined] Sent one to Mr Grange. [/underlined] Liver, spud, beet; cocoa. Another port ( 10d)
[underlined] Nov. 19TH. FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. W/V 050/ 120 MPH. when
[page break]
We got lost and there I was using 360/40 !!! Sextant U/S. so got new one from stores. X Count. (F) Soup; mutton, spuds, parsnip; sponge pud; milk & coffee. Reg parcel from home. Bullseye route eto. Taken to mess in time for egg & chips & tea & cake. Out to kite where trip was cancelled. Sos & mash & tea. Started letter to Ma. Cocoa & corned beef. [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Nov. 20th. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8-50. Roll call & little gen talk by Mr Cooper. Looked over logs with Cooper. Mutton, spuds, cab, beans;
[page break]
trifle; milk & coffee. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Parade at 2 PM. Had wash & caught 3-40 bus with Dick. Bottle of oil; post cards of kites; 6V. bulbs; pencils 2/8d. Salmon & tomatoe [sic], cake & tea. Walked around Wooleys again with Dick. Met Joe & Charlie on bus. Ken, Fred & Parksey in the local. Sabu in “Elephant Boy” also a “ Sgt Doubleday” film. Bus back, Bit of Mum’s cake.
[underlined] Nov. 21st. SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Kellogs; bacon, fried spuds; tea. Went in NAV section. Naut [sic] doing. Sat & read in crew room. Soup,
[page break]
[inserted] shave [/inserted]
Mutton, baked spuds cabbage & beans; treacle tart; coffee. Parade 14-15 for issue of 1939/43 star. Took Charlie on GEE. Fish cake & spuds, jam roll & tea. MENDED? Agna & Dick’s pencilight. Fish cakes & cocoa.
[underlined] Nov. 22nd. MON. [/underlined]
Porr; bacon etc. tea. Roll call. Supposed to be on F/A. put on as Reserve Crew. Went for “O” at Fisherton. Air tested it & re-set DR Comp. Draw tracks in & T I’s. Dinner, chop, spuds etc. stewed apricots & cust. Flight Plan . Dick on
[page break]
then cancelled. None of us went (air crew) Rest of ‘em got away except Wallace. Grabbed runway & didn’t get off another “abortive”! Beans, mashed spuds; cocoa, [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] Nov. 23rd. TUES. [/underlined]
Porr; bacon & spuds; tea. Reported sick. Bathed hand in hot water. Got to get Bafin tablets. Air test crew but nowt to test. Soup; stew, spuds, beans; apricots & cust. Still no flying. Had tea. No mail so didn’t send any. Packed things into packs ready to go.
[page break]
Wind & rain. Cauliflower & cheese; cocoa. Jossa turned back.
[underlined] Nov. 24th. WED. [/underlined]
Up about 8-30 to 9. Shave. Pay parade £8! Finished packing. Had dinner. [underlined] Letter & snaps from Ma. [/underlined]. Got changed ready to go. Passes at 5 to 4. Had tea. Spam, spuds, water cress eto. Cycled into Mkt. Rasen. Train at 6-0. 2/9d for bike. Sat in train & read. Drizzle. Just caught train in Lincoln. A SLOW! SLOW!! Train. Found Hen on board, no train from Shef.( arr. 9-20) Hen’s train 10-40
[page break]
Rain stopped. Got home just before 10-0. Paultice [sic] on hand. Blacked out with shock. Bed 1-30.
[underlined] Nov. 25th. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 12-30. Spot of rain. Cleaned saddle bag. Had a look at Jackie. Had blow on new [one indecipherable word]. Took saddle bag to bits, had look at [one indecipherable word]. Had tea at home. Changed & went to dance.
[underlined] Nov. 26th. FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30 to 10. Ham & egg for bfast. Painted saddle bag & cleaned bike. Went to SPT & collected 14 weeks allowance ( 70/-) Went to Empire Flanagan & Allen
[page break]
in “ Theatre Royal” also a submarine film. Fish for supper.
[underlined] Nov 27th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30. Shave. In town by 10-5. £11 for radio. Got receipt. Went to O & D afterwards. Came home with Dod. Took Pat to Miss Sharpes. Went to town with Ma & Pa. 5/- book stamps. 1/3d battery from Wooleys. No collar studs stuck photos in albums. Talk with Bill. Dod at dance
[underlined] Nov. 28th SUN. [/underlined]
Up in time for 1 o clock news. Went with Dod to
[page break]
Mr Thackers. Home on bus for tea. Had a look thru’ stamps. Stuck a few in albums.
[underlined] Nov. 29TH. MON. [/underlined]
Up at 10-15. Made box for battery to put on bike. Sorted straps out for saddle bag, Drizzle! Went with P & P to go to No. 8 with Gupa. Had tea there. Reading home journals eto. Had 2 x 1/2 pt shandies with Dod & Gupa. Walked home.
[underlined] Nov. 30TH. TUES. [/underlined]
[underlined] Letter from Doris. [/underlined] Put box on bike also knocked saddle bag together. Went
[page break]
& had hair cut. Went to Regent, Pretty good,
[underlined] DEC 1st. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 10 to 10-30. Went to o & D’s. din at home. Put saddle bag on bike & packed kit. Train 5-30. Arr Sheff. 6-0. S/C 6-45 9 15 late) Retford 7-30. 7.47 arr & S/C at 8.15. Arr Linc. 9.30 instead of 8-30 then went on to Mkt Rasen arr about 10 to 10-30. Comp 1 L O P M. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 2nd. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 9-0. Battle order!! Went in to see Mr Cooper. Pu us on with Heade WOP. Dinner & aft meal briefing. Finished flight plan
[page break]
all ok. S/C. 1 min late met W/V U/S!! Didn’t get to the Big City. NO speed & petrol going like water (7hrs 35 [inserted] [one indecipherable word] [/inserted])
[underlined] DEC 3rd. FRI. [/underlined]
Landed at 00.30 AM. at Bradwell Bay inter. Supper egg & spam, tea. Bed with sheets about 3 AM. Up again at 9.15 [underlined] Crew bus to Mess!!! [/underlined] Went out to kite. Brought a lot of incendiaries back also flak holes, one in fin & rudder & one through both outer spinners. Soup, chips & fish; pear & semolina; cup of milk. Reading in Mess. Went
[page break]
out & put all our kit together. RAIN. AID inspected tail fin & plane. Meat & tater pie jam & tea. 2 The Black Swan” Pirate story. Très bon! [underlined] Letter home. [/underlined] pint beer. Supper in mess.
[underlined] DEC 4th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. Porr & finnie. Went on further insp of kite. Found an odd incendiary. Fred & I got it out. Had dinner. Lanc. Coming for ma. Got kit out ready for him. Turned up at tea time, brakes U/S. couldn’t fix em in dark. “Moon &
[page break]
Sixpence” Supper & read in Mess.
[underlined] Sun, Dec. 5th. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. Lorry to Mess. Sat reading in Mess. Kite ok at 11-30. S/C 12-00. Arr 13.00 in Y-yoke. Interrogation by Intel. & Nav officer. Dinner. Mended brake & switch on bike. Mr Cooper not in. [underlined] F/Sgt come through. [/underlined]Tea, spam celery eto. Sgt Duff’s [underlined] rude [/underlined] remarks made. Shave. Wrote this up to date. [underlined] Letter from Ma. Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Supper in Mess.
[underlined] DEC 6th. MON. [/underlined]
Up at 9-0. Made bed up & swept
[page break]
up. Went in to see Mr Cooper. Log book up to date. Plotting with Dick. [underlined] Letter from Ma & X-mas card from Doris.[/underlined] Dinner in Mess. New Shirt. Had astro watch mended puncture. Started letter to Doris. Tea in Mess. [underlined] Telegram HOME. [/underlined] Bus into Louth. “ They Came to Destroy America” George Sanders also “Criminal Investigations” Supper in TOC H. [underlined] Finished Letter to Doris. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 7th. TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 9-0. Stood down. Plotting with Dick. Din. [underlined] No Mail. [/underlined] Wet with Ken to see S/L Finch.
[page break]
Kicked football around for 1/2 hr or so. Still no mail. Tea in mess. [underlined] Letter to Violet, Mum, Dod, P & P. Novels to Millie.[/underlined] Supper in Mess. Ken returned from dance at 12-15 or so.
[underlined] DEC. 8TH WED. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Bfst & up at crew room by 8-45. No Parade just because [underlined] we [underlined] were there. Put flak & [one indecipherable word]on new chart. No mail. Dinner pretty fair. Got choc ration. [underlined] Letter to Doris. [/underlined] Tea not too bad. Cleaned bike a little. [underlined] Letter to Annie. [/underlined] ENSA concert pretty good. [underlined] Letter to MARY. [/underlined].
[page break]
[underlined] DEC 9TH. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 8-5. Porr & tea. P.T!!!! tried to find out where we got too [sic] on Berlin trip. Early dinner. Not too bad. Fighter affil & bomb sight leveling. [sic] Cleaned up & got changed. Liver & chips; jam & tea. Bus into Louth with Les. Had a go at picts. George Formby in L.O.V. film. Had shandy. Went to dance. Had 2 or 3 with a couple of Waafs. Bus back. Sherry in Mess. [underlined] Air letter from Norah. Telegram from Ma. [/underlined] radio)
[underlined] DEC. 10TH. FRI [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. X-Country to
[page break]
Bullseye back to X-Country. Din. Milk. [underlined] Letter from Ma & Pa. [/underlined] Flight plan & briefing. Early tea. Take off 17.15. Bombed. Back at 22.30. Bacon, chips & egg; tea.
[underlined] DEC 11TH. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at [underlined] 10-30!! [/underlined] Worked out air miles ( 1083 speed 1000 gals) Shore. Din. Dick & Ken bombing. Key Safe!! Fred & I went to Wickenby NO RADIO. Cementation. Co closed. Spuds & spam in Mess. Bus back to Ledford got back at 6-45. [underlined] Letter & Radio Times from Ma. [circled 8/- Mess] [underlined] Letter to MA. [/underlined] Got changed & went to dance & [one indecipherable word] Took Dental
[page break]
girl back to [inserted] her [/inserted] billet. Bed at 2-0 AM
[underlined] DEC. 12th. SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 10-30. Naut doing. Parade 1-30. Reg [underlined] Parcel from Doris ( choc, cake, gloves etc.) [/underlined] Short talk about party for Jan 2nd ’44. Started cleaning bike. Took 3 speed down so far but when put together again something burnds [sic] Tried to run it off but no go. Bed about 12-0
[underlined] DEC. 13th. MON[/underlined]
Up at 10-0 AM. Washed made bed up & swept up. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Bus to Wickenby. Picked radio
[page break]
up. Sat in M T. Crew Room 6/- for P.O.W. fund. Salmon & spuds, treacle & cake. Bus back. Fitted wireless up with aerial. Not too bad. Had bit of supper. [underlined] finished letter to Doris. Letter from Mary! Letter to Mum. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 14th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Bfst. No parade so returned to Mess & had a shave. Computed W/V chart for B/St. log cover. Wood collecting & chopping. Din. NO MAIL. Had teeth filled almost passed out. £14 money order (Radio & Pay) [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined] Clean sheets washed & changed. Dance in
[page break]
the NAAFI. Walked home with Avice. No good night kiss.
[underlined] DEC 15. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 9-15. Naut doing, gave gen for Raid Report. Got a few more Xmas cards addressed [underlined] Sent one to Mack & S.P.T. Letter & Xmas card to Mary. Letter & parcel from Ma. [/underlined] Iron enclosed in parcel. P. Office shut. Sorting things out in trunk. [underlined] Letter to Ma & Mr. Eskholme. [/underlined] Played cards tIll 10-0.
[underlined] DEC 16 THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Bfst & shave. PT for 1/2 hr. Battle order! D.Ion X briefing at 11-45. THE BIG CITY [one indecipherable word] MEAL. EGG & CHIPS 15/- p.o.
[page break]
from S.P&T. Started flight plan then was told we were scrubbed. Helped Buln with fire kit. Went in to see Avice. Working late so no date. Book by W.W. Jacobs & F.A.A & 2/6d from Mss French. Mum sent her photo of me. [underlined] Receipt to S P&T. Short letter to ma & Auntie Florrie. [/underlined] 3 Oranges. RATION!! [underlined] Parcel to Ma. [/underlined] ( 4 oranges & chewing gum.) [underlined] Letter to Norah. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 17th FRI [/underlined]
Up at 9-15. [underlined] Charlie returned. [/underlined] Stood down. No mail!!! Dinner, milk. Phoned Avice (date for tonight) [underlined] Letter to Doris. [/underlined] [one indecipherable word] & 10 Players. Met Avice 5-30. Bus in arr 6-30. Playhouse Briane [sic] Aherne
[page break]
“Adventures Night” or some such title. Very funny. Tea & toast In TOC H. Bus back at 10-00.” One Kiss”.
[underlined] DEC. 18th SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Porr & coffee only! OPPs! in Z. Did D.I. All ok ? I hope. Got route & F/plan made out. Went & had din. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Opps meal & aps SCRUBBED. Went to P.O. to see if any mail. Avice & Betty there. Went with them into Mkt. Rasen with mail van. RAIN & RAIN. No mail for me. Had tea. THROWING IT DOWN!!! Went to ENSA show. Not TOO bad [inserted] 5 girls in it only.[/inserted]
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] HOLLY PICKING.[/underlined] [/inserted]
[underlined] DEC 12th. SUN. [/underlined]
Up at 8-35, consequently no bfst, stand down. Went to Intel with Maps & went out to J-Jig. Went to P.O. invited to go holly gathering. Rang Avice up. Dragged her from her dinner. Had dinner. Not too bad. Went with mail van to Mkt Rasen. Coffee & tarts in Canteen. [underlined] Holly picking [/underlined] Got some nice pieces. Unloaded parcels sorted some. HAM for tea. Stamps for mess. (£3.) [underlined] Letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 20th. MON. [/underlined]
Up at 8-45. 1/2 hrs P.T. Battle order. D I on J- Jig. Nav briefing. [ three indecipherable words]
[page break.
Nipped in to see Betty & Sylvia in P/O. NO parcel. Finished flight plan. Out to kite about 4-30 airborne 5-29. [underlined] FRANKFURT [/underlined] nice change. Home 23.03 landed 23.50. ( 6hr 20m) [one indecipherable word]. Cornflakes & beans & bacon eto. [underlined] Letter Violet. Paper Ma [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 21st. TUES. [/underlined]
Bed at 2-45. Up again at 9-30. Plotting positions for 21.05 hrs. Din. Went into Mkt Rasen with Mail again. RAIN. Met Avice & Betty in WVS. Went to concert in NAAFI. Won! Shaves & tooth paste for 2 bus tickets. “ A Kiss in the Dark” [underlined] Letter from Ma. Card G. THOMPSON[/underlined]
[underlined] DEC 22nd. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 9-15 or so. Flights by 10-0
[page break]
[one indecipherable word]to take S/Ldr. Marshall to ACKLINGTON (not Newcastle) Late din. (meat like rubber.) Phoned P/O then Alice ( not in) so went & cleaned up & changed. Went to P/O. Collected [underlined] 2 Reg parcels from Mum. Letter from Doris & card from Doris Collins. [/underlined] Alice phoned Mess just as I got there! Bus in. Dinner at Kings Head. ( chicken etc trifle & coffee) 9/6d Picts “Dr Syn” 4/6d. Cup tea at T.H. Bus back 2 Crosses. Pint in Mess. Unwrapped parcels. Mince pies & cake. OXO with Ken in hut.
[underlined] DEC 23rd. THURS. [/underlined]
Up at 8-30. New lattice charts. Opd!! Flight plan
[page break]
Started. Din [inserted] Phoned Avice from P/O [/inserted]& ap. Meal. [underlined] Letter from A Flamie [/underlined] went to main building for briefing. Finished flight plan. Scrubbed!!! Went to P/O. Avice there. She & Betty going into Louth. Had tea. NO MAIL!! [underlined] Letter to Ma. [one indecipherable word] to Avlce, Betty & “Silva” [/underlined] Op meal (Ginger bear “dragged” me off bus out to Louth!!!)
[underlined] DEC, 24th. FRI. [/underlined]
00.15 take off. BERLIN 4:15 landed. 8.10 hrs. Bfst. Phoned Alice. Bed 11-0 Up again 4-15, Mince pies. Tea. Hurried shave & change. Bus in. DIN at Kings head. Jack Benny at Playhouse. Cup tea & bun in Girls Toc H, Bus back letter from Allan, X cards Mary, Gran
[page break]
Went to dance in NAAFI. Took Alice to WAAF Guard Room after Dance. Bed 2-0 AM.
[underlined] DEC 25th. SAT. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30. Ground crews TANOYED [sic] for !!!! ALL TANNOY MESSAGES CANCELLED!!!! Waited till 11-15 then called 116. Dental Officer answered. Avice at P.O. Called P.O. just as they were calling Mess. Meeting Avice at dance. 4 for Dick & one for Joe. Got changed & went to Mess. Had din with the lads. Drank port & gin with the lads. Autographs & payments!! Boiled ham & beet. Parlsy on the offensive “12th night” Shakespeare play
[page break]
Très Bon! Dance. Avice arrived about 10.30. feeling pretty browned off. Took her HOME??
[underlined] DEC. 26th. SUN[/underlined]
Up at 10-0. NO BATTLE ORDER. Rang Avice up. Xmas dinner as per menu. Washed, shaved & changed went short run towards Louth. ( 3/4 hr for 8 mile) Tea ( salmon, cake & biscuits). Zaifs milk in Mess. Sat on bed for an hour or so. Went to “Get Together” party. DEAD! Betty & Jack eventually got it going. Musical chairs etc. Bill went back to billet. Danced with
[page break]
Silva, Vera & Avice. Slight improvement but still pretty rough & cheesed’ Had talk with Avice on way down “Lovers Lane”
[underlined] DEC. 27th. MON. [/underlined]
Up at 9-30. No battle order DI. Run up. Visited P.O. no parcels. [underlined] 3 letters from Ma one from D Dunn. [/underlined] Dinner pretty good. Called Avice. Bar closed before I realised I was short of fags. Had a good clean out of trunk. Changed underclothes. Parceled [sic] Laundry. Had tea. Bus into Louth. Cup tea & toast. Eric Portermon in “ They Dive at Dawn” Very good. Bus back to WAAF Guard Room.
[page break]
[underlined] DEC. 28th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 9-10. On fighter affil in PM. Went to P.O. but nout for me. Parcel for Dick. Had din, not too bad! Went to P.O. & gave Silva £1 to get a [one indecipherable word]. Got out to kite ( I ) F.A. cancelled. Went over Berlin plot. Notice in mess. Shaved & changed. Silva not got [one indecipherable word]. None in M. Rasen. Pay Parade. Went & had tea then went back.(£6.6s) Left pay book to be amended!! “Tons of Money” in NAAFI. WIZARD. Mince pies gone. [Underlined] Avice my “wing’s parade”[/underlined] [double underlined] “0”. [/underlined]!!
[page break]
[underlined] DEC. 29th. WED. [/underlined]
Up at 8-0. Kellogs, sos & mash, tea. Natter on NAV in general & DRC. In Brief Room. OPS!! Nav briefing. Dinner. Kite charged to “D” more gen. NO OI! [underlined] Start letter home! [/underlined] The Big City!!! ORC had to be synchronised. Rear turret U/S. GEE invent U/S & turret went U/S again, so dropped the cookie & a few incendiaries & turned back. [underlined] Letters from Ma; Violet; air letter from Mr. Ryall. Wrote letter to Ma. [/underlined]
[underlined] DEC. 30th. TUES. [/underlined]
Up at 10.15!! stand down. Buzzed around getting chits
[page break]
for trousers [inserted] Wash & shave[/inserted] [underlined] Reg. parcel from Ma. [/underlined] C.O’s parade. 17/6d for BINGE on Jan 2nd. Phoned Avice. HAIRCUT!! Tea in mess. Bus in 7/- fish & chip dinner. 2/- to see ”Convoy” Bus back Avice paid fare in
[underlined] DEC. 31st FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 8 or 8.15. Made bed up & swept up. Changed battle dress trousers, D I on J- JIG. Battle order. Trocka & distances. Din. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Op meal. Briefed. SCRUBBED. Date with Avice. Started letter to Ma. Rain. Changed. Tea. Bus in, picts “Secrets of the Underworld” Toast & tea in
[page break]
TOC H. went to PARTY in NAAFI had a dance or two “Auld langsyne [sic]?
[underlined] JAN. 1st SAT. 1944. [/underlined]
First dance with Avice (quick step) nat. kiss too! Forestalled Jock! Bed 1- to 1-15. U at 10.15. Battle order. No gen. Had din. [underlined] Finished letter to Ma. [/underlined] Mail van into Mkt. Rasen. 2/4d pd. 4 crowns for coffee & cakes in Church Army. Bought kettle in Mkt Rasen Dropped Avice at WAAF site. No mail for me! Had tea, Nav Briefing! [underlined] Op meal. Crew briefing. [/underlined] Take off 00.15 hrs. S/C 01-! Arr Berlin 3-30! Back on deck at 8-30 [underlined] JAN. 2nd. 1944. [/underlined] Inter rum & coffee. Ham, bacon
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] Jan 2nd. SUN. [/underlined]
& egg; Kellogs. Rang Avice up. Bed 11-0. Up at 4-15. Rang Avice up again to ask her about party & found out there were more ops on!! So, we’ve had party. Tea Nav Brief. Ops meal. Flt. Plan. Airborne 23.55
[underlined] JAN. 3rd. 1944 MON [/underlined]
Berlin! 03.00. Diverted to B.S. Eds. Landed 7.30. Meal. Bed. Meal at 5-0. bfst & beer (3gal barrel x2) Bed at 12-0. RAIN & cold.
[underlined] JAN. 4th TUES. [/underlined]
Up at about 9-0 Transport to kite. Airborne 11.55. Landed Ludford 12.40. Avice went on leave this AM.
[page break]
Shave. Tea. Changed brake blocks on rear brake. [underlined] Letter to Ma; Violet. [/underlined] Pressed trousers & tunic. Xmas Cake.
[underlined] JAN. 5th WED [/underlined]
Up at 10-0 Ops. Made charts out. No gen. Had dinner. [underlined] Letter from Ma & Tommy. [/underlined] Swung I & D I’d it. Visited P.O. Had lay down. Tea. Nav briefing. Op meal. Briefed. Ft Plan. Airborne 23.50 [inserted] or 0-00hrs [/inserted] MOONLIGHT!!!
[underlined] JAN. 6th. THURS. [/underlined]
STETTIN in the MOONLIGHT. Landed 9-10. Inter. Visited adj for pay & ident. Card (£9.20) Went to P.O. Nout doing. Dinner. [underlined] Letter from Ma. [/underlined] Washed & changed P.O. van inti Rasen. Train at 3-45. Lincoln 6-50 (sos & chips) [inserted] LEAVE [/inserted] Sheff. 9-20. Home 10-10
[underlined] JAN. 7th FRI. [/underlined]
Up at 12.15. Took back wheel out of bike & went with P & P & [one indecipherable word]to O & D’s: Brought fish back with me. Went to Empire “Something to shout about” fish for supper. [underlined] Letter to Doris [/underlined]
[underlined] JAN. 8th. SAT. [/underlined]
Up again at 12.15. Dod home. Had shave!! Flitted beds & carpet. Went into town with family. Dod gone to dance. Ma & I went to Grangetowers too invite WAAFS to party. Filled rest of photos in album.
[page break]
[ picture card of soldier with Bayonet & NEUVE CHAPELLE coat of arms]
[page break]
Blank page
[page break]
1/-
1389901 FLOWERS K.W.
“B” FLIGHT NO 3 SQUADRON
NO. 3 WING. R.A.F
ST VINCENT HOTEL
TORQUAY
blank space
[page break]
Blank page
[page break]
Back cover
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
Keith Thompson's diary from July 1943 to January 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Keith Thompson was a sergeant navigator under training at the start of this period at 28 OTU at RAF Castle Donington, then on to a holding unit for a month. After that on to 1662 CU at RAF Blyton flying the Lancaster, until 7 November when he was posted to 101 Squadron at RAF Ludford Magna flying the Lancaster on operations.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Keith Thompson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Large notebook used as diary
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text. Diary
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YThompsonKG1238603v3
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. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Leicestershire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-06
1943-07
1943-08
1943-09
1943-10
1943-11
1943-12
1944-12
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
101 Squadron
28 OTU
aircrew
entertainment
Gee
Lancaster
military living conditions
military service conditions
navigator
Operational Training Unit
RAF Blyton
RAF Castle Donington
RAF Ludford Magna
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1259/17113/MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-04.2.pdf
13c26316304eda118c83c3dd2f141aa1
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
Whitehead, Tom
T Whitehead
Description
An account of the resource
31 items and an album sub collection. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Tom Whitehead (b. 1923) who served as a rear gunner with 428 Squadron operating from RAF Dalton in Yorkshire. He was shot down over Duisburg and became a prisoner of war. Collection includes his prisoner of war logbook, official correspondence to his mother, official documentation, letters from the Caterpillar Club, German prisoner of war propaganda, 14 editions of the Red Cross prisoner of war newspaper and photographs of Royal Air Force personnel including himself.
Album in sub collection consists of 47 pages of prisoner of war related photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Hyslop and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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IBCC Digital Archive
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2018-03-07
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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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Whitehead, T
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The Prisoner of War
[symbol] THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, ST. JAMES'S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1 [symbol]
VOL 3. No.32 Free to Next of Kin December, 1944
[inserted] A Message from the Princess Royal
Harewood House Leeds November 1944.
As the mother of a prisoner of war, my sympathy goes out in a special degree to the mothers and wives and all the relatives of those who have lost their freedom in this War.
Many of them have now endured the strain of long years of separation, and have shown throughout the finest qualities of faith, hope, and courage.
While they all watch and wait this Christmas, may they be upheld by a strong faith in the future, and by the hope of a joyful meeting with those they love – the prisoners whose cheerfulness and patience under the hard test of captivity have been a constant inspiration to their families at home.
I know that all relatives share with me a deep sense of gratitude to the War Organisation of the Red Cross Society and Order of St. John for its constant and devoted care of prisoners of war, and its efforts to alleviate their lot.
[underlined] Mary [/underlined] [/inserted]
THE EDITOR WRITES –
ANOTHER Christmas Day is at hand. On that day the thoughts of everybody in this country will centre upon “absent friends” – on the fighting fronts, at sea, at air stations, in prison camps, or wherever else they may be. And we may be sure, too, that, even more poignantly, their thoughts will be of those at home. They will be present in spirit at every Christmas gathering, and whatever their own Christmas fare may be, one toast will be drunk everywhere: “To our dear ones at home and may we soon be with them.” And they will drink that toast with every confidence this time that their wish will be fulfilled.
Their Christmas Dinners
Last month I said that I was afraid that there was not much chance of Christmas parcels reaching the camps in time. I have greater hopes now. Early in November a ship left a British port with 3,000 tons of parcels, including 1,050 tons of Christmas parcels, on board and sailed direct to Marseilles. With them went 50 Canadian lorries. They will be used, together with the existing rail facilities, to carry the parcels to Geneva, and as the ship's company, the military authorities, the officials of the International Red Cross Committee and everybody else concerned will do everything possible to give them priority there is some chance – I will not put it any brighter – that at least some of the nearer camps will have a real Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. In any case all the camps should have received their parcels early in the New Year, and I have little doubt that, if need be, they will celebrate Christmas a second time with equal gusto.
[page break]
2 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
By Road and Rail
The parcels position generally looks more healthy. The Marseilles-Geneva route has re-opened, and though railway communications are not all they might be, rail and road combined are providing a substantial and increasing amount of tonnage. In fact, if the present conditions continue, there should soon be enough transport to pour a full weekly supply of parcels into Geneva. Nor is there yet any reason to believe that there has been any interruption of traffic between Geneva and the camps. Accordingly the four ships held up at Lisbon, to which I referred a month ago, are landing their cargoes at Marseilles or Toulon (where we have also been allotted berths and warehouse accommodation) and will shortly be leaving to pick up fresh supplies.
Supplies via Lubeck
And that is not all. The transport hold-up had long been foreseen and plans were made for establishing ample reserves at Geneva and for providing possible alternative routes. One such route was by the Swedish port of Gothenburg, and of the supplies sent out there two shipments of 1,000 tons each went forward early in November to the German port of Lubeck, where, as the I.R.C.C. delegate reported on his return, they were loaded into trucks and moved on without delay. Count Bernadotte, head of the Swedish Red Cross, has played a valuable part in the arrangements at Gothenburg and the negotiations with the German Red Cross. He and other Swedish officials have recently been in London to discuss questions affecting the servicing and welfare of prisoners of war.
Reserves in Camps
Many of our readers may have read the statement by the Secretary of State for War when questioned in Parliament about the building up of reserves in the camps. “There are stories,” he said, “which I believe to be true, that the Germans are ordering camps to consume everything on hand.” No further news has been received about these stories, which, so far as it goes, is a good sign. I do not think that at the moment and pending the receipt of further information it is necessary to assume that all camps are consuming all reserves, but the Minister was, of course, right in warning his questioners that caution must be exercised in regard to any proposal to build up reserves, unless it was certain that the Germans would allow it.
Next-of-kin Parcels Again
Readers will all have seen in the Press by now the welcome announcement from the Post Office that next-of-kin and permit parcels may once again be sent to prisoners of war and civilian internees in Germany. Full instructions of the arrangements for posting will be found on p.16 of this issue, and relatives are asked to study them very carefully, and make absolutely certain in which category they come. Tobacco, cigarettes, books, etc., may be sent as before, through firms holding censorship Permits.
Prisoners in Air Raids
All information about the location of prisoner of war camps is included in the briefing of air crews, but, unfortunately, in spite of all precautions taken, no camp can be safe from a random bomb, and a certain number of British prisoners of war have been killed in Allied air raids on Germany. In all cases where camps have been reported to be situated near military targets, in contravention of the Geneva Convention, the delegates of the Protecting Power have made immediate complaints. Strong representations have also been made by H.M. Government, but the Minister of State informed Parliament that in several cases the German authorities have not complied with these demands. In some instances, however, prisoners have been moved, and the Government will continue to press for action to be taken.
[photograph]
This is how the band at Stalag XVIIIA looked at Christmas last year.
Mail at Last
We have all been cheered by the two large batches of mail which have recently reached this country. The efforts of the Post Office have meant that most relatives of prisoners of war and civilian internees have now received letters from Germany. Every effort has been made to effect delivery as rapidly as possible, and the Post Office hopes that the relatives will be able to look forward to a more frequent arrival of letters in future.
P.o.W. Wins Competition
It is a wonderful testimony to the morale and mental fitness of p.o.w.s that a British prisoner of war has won first prize of £250 in a British Legion Essay Competition for men and women in the Forces. He is Lieutenant G. H. D. Greene, from Cheltenham, who is in Oflag VIIB, and he gave a spirited and idealistic account of “My Ideas and Hopes for Post-War Conditions” which was the subject chosen for the competition.
Among the 1,118 competitors were no fewer than 95 entries from prisoners of war, and the Legion has decided to allot another £75 in prizes to prisoners of war who were handicapped in competing and whose entries arrived after the closing date.
How Much They Mean
A gunner recently repatriated from Switzerland wrote almost immediately after his arrival to thank the Red Cross and to pay tribute to the military authorities for their repatriation arrangements. “Probably hundreds of other man,” he says, “have already told you how much the Red Cross food parcels meant to us in Italian prison camps, but I really cannot help saying how much we looked forward to them during periods when the outlook was very bleak indeed; I often thought then that if the people here at home knew just how much they meant to us there would never be any difficulty in raising funds for the Red Cross.”
Least Possible Delay
On arrival at an English airport the party of 100 repatriates were taken late in the evening to a reception camp. The gunner's letter continues: “Here the arrangements were amazingly well organised by the military authorities and we were able to give all the information they required, obtain renewals of uniform, clothing etc., draw an advance of pay, obtain travelling warrants and commence our journey to our respective homes shortly after midday of the following day. In fact, a smaller party who came to the camp about 8 o'clock in the morning were also got away with us at 2 o'clock the same afternoon. Relatives of repatriated prisoners of war may certainly rest assured that, if our experience is general, everything possible is done in this country to enable the men to get home with the least possible delay.”
[page break]
DECEMBER, 1944 The Prisoner of War 3
Speed-Up at Marseilles
Lord Revelstoke, Deputy Commissioner for Prisoners of War Supplies, who has just returned from Marseilles and Toulon, describes the parcel situation there.
DURING the last four days of October I visited Marseilles and Toulon.
No Red Cross supplies for prisoners of war have been allowed to enter these ports on their way to Switzerland for the past five months , owing in the first place to interference in shipping between Lisbon and Marseilles, and in the second place to the invasion of the South of France by the Allied armies.
During these critical months, the large reserves, established in Geneva in the spring of this year, for the purpose of supplying the camps in Germany when an invasion of the Continent would inevitably cut our land and sea routes into Switzerland, have been, of course, severely reduced; and it was owing to the grave uncertainty of our lines of communication being reopened that two months ago we advised all Camp Leaders to halve their weekly rations.
Future Supplies
Recently, however, we received a signal from Allied Force headquarters that ships carrying Red Cross supplies could proceed into the Mediterranean, and the object of my visit was to report to London the possibilities of unloading, storing and moving up to Geneva some 12,000 tons of prisoner of war supplies every month.
Thanks to the efforts of M, Eberhardt, the International Red Cross Delegate, General Sir Kenneth McLeod, British Red Cross Commissioner for S.E. Europe (who arrived from Italy), and Major Walter Creighton, Deputy Commissioner, who is now remaining permanently at Marseilles as our representative, I was able to report that the situation is encouraging and that the replenishment of the falling reserves in Geneva is now proceeding.
The Military Situation
It must be remembered that this is the first occasion when Red Cross goods for prisoners of war are being passed through an area which is under Allied military control and that facilities for doing this can only be granted by the military authorities provided that the requirements of the fighting Services have first been met and on no account can any such facilities be permitted at the expense of the battle against the Germans in the south. It is obvious, therefore, that no promise can be made and that any allocation of rail transport to the Red Cross must of necessity be subject to cancellation at any moment.
Special Transport Facilities
The position, however, as it stands to-day is that the military authorities – fully conscious of the urgency of our needs – have been able to give us storage accommodation for 4,000 tons at Marseilles and 5,000 tons at Toulon and are allowing us to discharge the cargoes of our ships at both ports. They have also allocated to us for the time being sufficient railway wagons to move to Switzerland what we are at present receiving.
Under the supervision and control of the International Red Cross Delegate, I saw before I left Marseilles one ship being discharged, railway wagons being loaded, and a train on its way to Geneva. Providing the military authorities are in a position to continue the existing arrangement, I do not think there will be much difficulty or delay in dealing similarly with the cargoes on board the four Red Cross ships which have already left Lisbon for the same destination.
We are hoping that the rail transport will also be supplemented by a road shuttle service of 50 American Red Cross lorries (the majority of which have arrived and are functioning in Marseilles) and 50 Canadian Red Cross lorries which were shipped direct from this country. The International Red Cross are arranging for Swiss drivers and mechanics to be sent immediately for this road service which, in spite of the difficult terrain and the heavy traffic already existing, may prove to be a substantial asset in this complicated transportation problem. It is by this method that it is still just possible, although it must be admitted that the odds are heavily against us, to get to Geneva 1,000 tons of Christmas parcels in time perhaps for some of them to reach our men.
No Effort Will be Spared
Of one thing I am completely confident – no effort will be spared, every possible priority will be given, and not one thing will be left undone by M. Eberhardt, by Major Creighton and by the Swiss drivers to force this Christmas cargo up to Switzerland as speedily as the ships can be unloaded and as fast as the lorries can travel.
It goes without saying that, despite this frantic race against time, our good friends in Geneva will likewise be as keen as we are to do all in their power to beat the clock by Christmas Day.
[photograph]
UNLOADING I.R.C. STEAMER AT MARSEILLES. Consignments for P.o.W.s being transferred to rail waggons bound for Geneva.
[page break]
4 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
Groups from the Camps
[photograph]
OFLAG IX A/Z
[photograph]
STALAG VIIIA
[photograph]
STALAG IXC
[photograph]
STALAG 344
[photograph]
STALAG XXIA
[photograph]
STALAG XVIIIA
[photograph]
STALAG XIIIC
[page break]
December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 5
The Letters They Write Home
[photograph]
Posing for a photograph in the snow at Stalag Luft I last Christmas.
A Thrill a Minute
Ilag VII. 30.8.44.
LAST Sunday, the 27th, we had our international football match, England v. U.S.A. I am very pleased to say that I was picked to play for England.
Boy, oh, boy, what a game! Thrill a minute from start to finish. At half-time, U.S.A. one, England nil, the U.S.A. forward line playing a great game. But in the second half we had them. Fifteen minutes to go we equalised. Then the fun started. With seven minutes to go to full time, we put the second goal in, and holding them out until the final whistle bringing to an end a grand game with a victory for England by two goals to one.
It looks as if I have taken all the space talking about the match, but I know you will be interested.
All being well within the next few days the first batch will be leaving camp for England. So here's wishing them the very best of luck and a safe journey home, chins well up.
Navy Holds an Exhibition
Marlag und Milag Nord (Marlag O). 14.8.44.
THERE have been few private parcels lately. In all I've had 24, including four clothes, so I've been pretty lucky. I'm now back at Marlag O. My operation has healed very quickly for this type and I feel no after-effects. It's a most impressive scar! Calls for a good line in stories.
Last Friday we had an art exhibition here, consisting of paintings, models and handicrafts. It really was an amazing show. There's a war artist in the camp named Worsley; his pictures took up the whole of a large classroom. There were portraits in oils of the S.B.O. and the camp's three V.C.s and
dozens of sketches and water-colours. He also did a still-life study in oils of a Canadian Red Cross parcel, and a fine portrait of Capt. Micklethwaite, of [italics] Sikh. [/italics]
The main show included numerous portraits in oils by amateurs, hundreds of sketches, and about 40 ship models, executed to the finest detail and finish. I spent most of the day in the theatre, where the show was held. It was a much larger and finer show than either of the two I saw in July. Perhaps the Service has more artistic ability and keenness than the Army or R.A.F.!
Football Knock-outs
B.A.B. 21. 6.8.44.
YESTERDAY I played my fifth game of football in five years. You can imagine what a fool I made of myself as I never was much good, but we won, and that's all that matters. We have knock-out tournaments here with two teams, first and second, of eight men from each room of 24. By the time we have weeded out the old 'uns and non-players, you can guess we see some funny games, especially as our field is ankle-deep in sand.
Besides the usual run of concerts we have had those of Gilbert and Sullivan's operas put on, and in my opinion, and lots of others, they did the composers credit. In order of production they were [italics] The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, [/italics] and [italics] Mikado, [/italics] and they are now getting ready for another. We all hope they will not have time to put it on – In fact, the betting is quite heavy.
Y.M.C.A. Celebration
Stalag 383. 5.6.44.
YOU would have been astonished had you seen the arts and crafts exhibition. The inlaying of trays, etc., with wood of Red Cross boxes was quite amazing and included a Mah Jong set with a magnificent box.
To-day we celebrated the Y.M.C.A.'s centenary by having a Drum Head Service on the sports field, at which we had three hymns and sang an anthem. The world vice-president of the Y.M.C.A. and a Swedish Y.M.C.A. representative who now works for prisoners of war were present, and both spoke after the chaplain had given his address.
After the service they were present at a soccer match which resulted in a draw – England and Scotland 2 all. The visitors also saw our latest arts and crafts exhibition and attended the musical festival in the evening at which the military band, accordion band and choir shared the programme.
Interpreter
Stalag VIIIA. 13.8.44.
WE are keeping our chins up and not having too bad a time. We have started running shows here, but I have not taken any part myself as I have too much to do in the administrative line. I don't know whether I've mentioned it before but I have been acting as interpreter here and previously at the other place.
It is really quite interesting, but gives me a good deal to do in the organising line. I've been getting a bit of sport in lately as we have got quite a bit of
[inserted] SEND US YOUR PICTURES AND LETTERS
TEN SHILLINGS will be awarded each month to the senders of the first three letters from prisoners of war to be printed. Copies instead of the originals are requested, and whenever possible these should be set out on a separate sheet of paper, showing the DATES on which they were written. The Editor welcomes for other pages of the journal any recent NEWS relating to prisoners of war.
Ten Shillings will also be awarded for photographs reproduced across two columns, and five shillings for those under two. Photographs should be distinct, and any information as to when they were taken is helpful.
Address: Editor, “The Prisoner of War,” St. James's Palace, London, S.W.1. The cost of these prizes and fees is defrayed by a generous friend of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation. [/inserted]
[page break]
6 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
[photograph]
Ready to throw a snowball. This group from Stalag IVA includes the Man of Confidence.
sports gear lately, and our most recent arrival was a table tennis set which goes into use shortly.
Your choir news is very interesting, and I hope to be back in the thick of it before very long.
A Good Week
Stalag XIA. 23.7.44.
I HAD a good week of sport last week – two games of cricket and two of football. Also a good day for entertainment last Sunday – a football match between England and Yugoslavia and six contests of boxing in the afternoon. In the evening England played France at football, and to finish the day the dance band played light music for an hour.
Keeping His Fingers Crossed
Stalag IVB. 17.8.44.
As you will see by the address I have now left the transit camp and am staying at a more permanent one. Here they send out parties to small working camps around here, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Since I arrived here, I've met many old friends, both from the last camp (in Italy) and from the regiment. They were all either picked up very early or never managed to leave the camp.
International Games
Stalag IVB. 17.8.44.
SPORTS news from IVB. Newport County soccer team (camp's undefeated hut team) won the fourth cup knock-out by 4-1 against Manchester City. The Yanks defeated Canada, 16-3, at Yankee football. The Russians suffered their first defeat at volley ball by Polish airmen, and they beat the French 4-3 at football after previously losing 4-3. After the “Scotsman” summer cup we are now running reserve team (hut) knock-out – we lost to a R.A.F. team 4-0.
New Prisoner
Stalag Luft 3. 1.8.44.
NOW (at least) you know everything is O.K. with me. I'm sorry if it caused any worry, but that's the way it goes. Can only send total of four letters and three postcards every month, but can receive unlimited; so darling – get cracking please! I'm in good health, no injuries, and thankful to God and the Red Cross. May I quote a proverb? “I had no boots and murmured, until I saw an Arab with no feet.”
Pity the leave situation came unstuck, but I will make amends one day. Will have many tales to tell when I see you, so until then please take very great care of yourself.
No Spare Time
Stalag XVIIIA. 4.6.44.
I HAVE no spare time. I work 14 hours a day in the fields etc., and have to work Sundays. Anyway, we all keep smiling. How are you dear? I am as healthy as can be expected. I do some wood haulage, road making, too, and although my hands resemble a cow's hoof I am getting stronger every day.
Shows and Films
Oflag 79. 22.7.44.
IOLANTHE was produced in the camp last week, and [italics] The man Who Came to Dinner [/italics] was also done – both were extremely good.
21.8.44.
I was delighted to receive a letter dated July 22nd yesterday. Pretty good going! I hope my letters are getting through better now. A film, called [italics] Girl Crazy, [/italics] with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, was shown in the camp this week. It was grand to see an English film again. I am not feeling “down”; I don't think it will be long now. . . .
Outdoor Life
Stalag IVB. 26.6.44.
THERE are a few gardens in the camp and they are doing quite well; in one spot there is a good patch of small bush roses and they are all out in bloom – red and pink, quite nice to look at. I spend all my time outside when it is fine. It will be strange when I return home to have to work inside, especially to wear a collar and tie. Still, I guess one will get used to such minor details as that.
[photograph]
A cheerful group of men at Stalag IVG which is near Leipzig.
[photograph]
A hard fight in progress at B.A.B.20, Heydebreck.
[page break]
December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 7
Varied Occupations
Stalag 344. 2.7.44.
I HAD a grand surprise when I arrived back from work on my birthday. It was Leslie's day off and he had set to first thing in the morning and made me a lovely cake. He used two Yorkshire pudding mixtures – raisins, butter, sugar and dates – then covered it with chocolate. I'll tell you it was a grand surprise.
30.7.44.
The weather is much too hot for “rugger,” but I have kicked a rugger ball around to-night for a couple of hours. I shall be at it again to-morrow; it all helps to keep one fit, which I manage to do quite easily.
13.8.44.
To-morrow the whole camp are being X-rayed, starting in the early morning.
Holiday Spirit
Stalag 344. 8.8.44.
THERE is quite a holiday spirit prevailing in the camp: it is August Bank Holiday.
Yesterday was carnival day, and the cleverness of the entries made one think of home days. It is really wonderful what some of the fellows can make out of Red Cross tins and cartons. The procession, headed by the camp brass band, was half a mile long and included the Scottish pipes band.
An exact replica of a Chinese wedding procession carried the honours.
To-day is sports day, and they are up there at this moment doing battle. I have just given the hot sun best, and came back for a cold bath and to do my writing.
[photograph]
Internees skating on their “home-made” ice rink, converted from the walking ground at Ilag VII.
Not Child's Play
Reserve-Lazarett, Bad Soden. 17.8.44.
THERE have been one or two events recently. A young American officer played eighteen people at draughts simultaneously the other evening, winning seventeen games and drawing one. And I used to think draughts a child's game!
The big thing, of course, was our Arts and Crafts Exhibition, a most creditable effort, considering the small number of people here. There were various groups, and the Braille school was well represented with basket work, stringwork and woodwork. The boys, in fact, walked away with quite a few first and second prizes and several awards of merit.
Gala Day
Stalag XVIIIA.
I MUST tell you how our gala day went off. It actually started on Saturday evening with tug-of-war and wrestling, high and long jump, and it a very pleasant evening. On Sunday the fair was opened and all the side-shows and racing track were going strong with the rest of the racing sports in between. – To finish the day off they had a jumble sale, after which the band played until lights out. The proceeds from the fair and other things will go to the Red Cross, and it was a very nice sum.
Celebrating His Sister's Birthday
Stalag XXB. 21.7.44.
NINETEEN to-day! Many happy returns. I got some lovely flowers for you – red and white carnations and some roses. They smell lovely and have been round your photograph all day.
I have three little window boxes at the sick room and the plants are in bloom. The patients are all fairly well and receive quite good attention. I set them on all sorts of jobs. We are trying to make a rug, and they are cutting up the wool for me. It takes their mind off things.
Happy Camp
Oflag 79. 16.8.44.
THE camp is cheerful nowadays; a load of Red Cross parcels came in by the cartload. The expansion has at last given us a bit of room to breathe. The Scots are all happy now that a set of bagpipes has arrived, and the film crazy can go wild over Mickey Rooney.
[photograph]
The Man of Confidence at Stalag XIIIC sent this picture home.
[photograph]
The final scene from [italics] The Importance of Being Earnest [/italics] at Stalag 383.
[page break]
8 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
Official Reports from the Camps
[photograph]
Oflag IVC, Colditz
Discipline is very strict in this camp.
OFLAG 79, BRAUNSCHWEIG-QUERUM
The total strength at the time of the visit was 1,852 prisoners of war, a further 300 being expected to arrive shortly.
Four new houses have been opened, which gives the officers more room and provides a free space in the middle of the camp. The cellars of the houses are used as air-raid shelters.
Bathing and washing facilities have been curtailed owing to a recent air raid; when the repairs are finished the present installations will be adequate. A kitchen has now been installed and a separate kitchen barrack is under construction for the preparation of private and Red Cross foodstuffs.
The camp revier, which at present has only 58 beds, is being enlarged. 15 beds are permanently occupied by repatriables. Three chapels have been installed. Ten prisoners of war are studying theology and are living according to theological college rules. Theatre, concert and cinema entertainments are excellent. There is no sports ground at present, but the free area in the middle of the compound is being prepared for use.
The prisoners have seven class rooms and six silence rooms at their disposal. The time-table provides for approximately 120 lectures a week.
(Visited August, 1944.)
OFLAG IVC, COLDITZ
The total strength of this camp is 265, of whom 195 are British, the remainder being Dominion and French personnel. Four British were in the camp hospital. The accommodation still appears to be very overcrowded. Two-tier bunks have been sawn in half to make individual beds, which, however, take up more space. Lighting is inadequate.
The prisoners are now able to prepare their own food. They receive regulation German rations and have a good supply of Red Cross parcels. Clothing is satisfactory. The canteen supplies are very meagre, beer being about the only purchase that can be made.
Sanitary installations are primitive. The prisoners can only take one shower every ten days. The general state of health is satisfactory. Those who are in the lazarett are undergoing treatment for slight injuries sustained on the sports ground.
The camp has enough books and a theatre. There are three chaplains who are allowed to minister to the officers. Mail has been much delayed during the last few weeks, and it is feared that this will continue and probably deteriorate in the future.
This would be a good camp if it weren't for the strict discipline which strains the atmosphere between the prisoners and their guards.
(Visited July, 1944.)
DULAG LUFT, WETZLER-KLOSTENWALD
Since the last visit of the Protecting Power in May, 1944, two new barracks have been erected and the mess building has been completed. There are now five barracks, two of which provide sleeping accommodation for officers, two for other ranks and the other is used for offices and sick quarters. The capacity of the camp amounts to 784, including the resident staff, but at the time of visit there were only 410 prisoners, of whom 97 were British and 313 American. These figures change almost hourly, since this is only a transit camp for Air Force personnel, and the prisoners are continually coming or going. There is always a permanent staff of 30.
The sleeping rooms hold from 18 to 24 men, the beds of the triple-tier type. Each bed has a mattress stuffed with wood shavings, a pillow and two good blankets. Officers and other ranks have separate messes.
Toilet and washing facilities are adequate, though up to date there has been no hot water for showers in the barracks. This will, however, be remedied very shortly when the new boiler is completed. In the meantime hot showers are available once a week, and when entering the camp, in the German wash room nearby.
Cooking is done by the camp staff in a very well equipped kitchen, which has adjoining rooms kept separate for dish washing, potato peeling, tin opening and grocery storage. About 90 per cent. of the Red Cross food is used to improve the German rations and produce a more varied and substantial menu.
The sick bay is able to accommodate 11 men in single iron beds. The medical attention given by a German doctor is reported to be good. The medical inspection room has all the necessary medical equipment and supplies. General state of health is good.
There is no regular canteen, and the camp is short of recreational facilities and sports gear. The library is small and inadequate. A walk around the camp is being built, and the annexure of a larger field outside the camp for football, etc., is under consideration. There were no serious complaints, and the camp gave a very good impression.
(Visited July, 1944.)
[inserted] IN every case where conditions call for remedy, the Protecting Power makes representations to the German authorities. Where there is any reason to doubt whether the Protecting Power has acted it is at once requested to do so. When it is reported that food or clothing is required, the necessary action is taken through the International Red Cross Committee. [/inserted]
STALAG VIIIC, KUNAU
There has been no change in the interior arrangements of this camp since the last visit in April.
There were 624 prisoners in the base camp on the day of the visit and 52 in hospital. The total number of prisoners of war in the area dependant on Stalag VIIIC is 2,134. Many prisoners of war have recently been transferred from Southern Germany, which accounts for the increase in numbers.
The prisoners have now dug trenches, which form adequate protection from air-raids.
Every man has a hot shower weekly. The
[photograph]
Some of the prisoners at Oflag 79, where the total strength is 1,852.
[page break]
December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 9
camp is, at present, well off for clothing of all kinds. Laundry is still washed in the camp; two small parties have undertaken to do the washing for the whole camp. One party call themselves “Tigerwash Laundry,” and the other the “Lily-white Laundry.” Recreational and religious facilities are well organised. The men are all very keen on sports and have formed five different sports clubs. Regular league football takes place. The delay in the censoring of mail has diminished.
The German authorities are considering enlarging the camp hospital, thus having it cut off from the rest of the barracks. This should improve the position. The drug supply is adequate, but there is a shortage of material for dentistry.
According to the Man of Confidence the morale in this camp is excellent and everybody finds plenty to do.
(Visited July, 1944.)
LABOUR DETACHMENTS DEPENDENT ON STALAG VIIIC
Detachment No. E.4002, Breslau. –
Strength 48 British prisoners of war. Since last visited in April the commandant has been changed, with a consequent improvement in the general conditions. There were, however, still one or two complaints, the chief being that the men have an half-hour's journey to and from work, which means they leave their billets at 5.15 a.m. and don't return until 5.30 p.m. Their actual working hours are 10 1/4 daily. On Saturday they finish work at 1 p.m. and have Sundays free. These are the same hours as those for German civilians.
They also complained that they have very little football lately owing to the shortage of guards. The German authorities are trying to provide more so that the prisoners of war can play every Sunday. During the week the men play volley ball at the back of a tram depot near their billets.
(Visited July, 1944.)
[photograph]
A wintry view at Dulagluft, where two new barracks have been built this year.
At Detachment E.4008, Brieg, the 76 British prisoners of war realise that the German authorities are trying to do everything they can to improve conditions, and are therefore quite happy. There had been few changes since the last visit in April. The compound has been enlarged, which gives them more room to move about and play some ball games. If a good football field cannot be found the prisoners will be taken out for walks on Sundays.
The chief complaint was bed-bugs. The camp was to be fumigated shortly, but the straw in the mattresses cannot be changed until after the harvest.
Hot showers are obtainable at the factory where they work.
No overalls are supplied to those men unloading coal waggons, but they are given an apron to protect their clothes. Lately some prisoners have had to work on Saturday afternoons and Sunday. The 19 prisoners forming Detachment E.4034 are accommodated in the same camp as those of Detachment E.4008. The men work ten hours a day in a machine factory. They have Saturday afternoons and Sundays free. They sleep in a smaller room adjoining the dormitory of the prisoners of war in E.4008. These men do not get showers at their factory, but the German authorities have promised to obtain the use of the showers that are available to Detachment E.4008.
Detachment No. E.4020, at Stroebel, contains 25 prisoners of war from different parts of the Empire. The men work in a stone quarry for 48 hours a week. Saturday afternoons and Sundays are free. The men have no overalls, but have to work in their oldest pair of trousers. The quarry is very hard on their boots, but they have adequate material for repairs at the present. Medical and dental treatment received from the German doctors is good. The men live in a stone barrack on the top of a hill – this is satisfactory. They do their own cooking.
Detachment E.4026, Maltsch, was formed about nine months ago and was visited for the first time in July. There are 63 English prisoners of war employed in a paper factory. They work ten hours a day. On Saturdays work finishes at 3 p.m. and Sundays from 7 to 12.30 p.m. Every third Sunday is free. These are the same hours the German civilians work.
The men live in a wooden barrack in a rather a small compound situated about 2 km. from Maltsch. There is adequate room for all the prisoners, and the barrack lends itself well to all amenities, but at present is badly organised. The German authorities have promised to try to improve conditions. The men sleep in triple-tier bunks and have straw mattresses. At one end of the room the floor has been raised to make a fairly large shelter underneath.
Cold showers are obtainable at any time in the barracks and one hot shower per week is provided by the factory. The cooking is done at the factory by Germans and is none too satisfactory. There is a four-weeks’ supply of Red Cross parcels in the camp.
Good medical and dental treatment is given by a German military doctor – the men have requested that a sanitary inspector be sent from the base camp. Clothing and boots are satisfactory – laundry is done at the factory. There is no canteen, but beer is given out occasionally.
The men hold a short evening service every Sunday. Football can be played on free Sundays on the public ground if not in use by the Germans. Indoor games are well catered for. Mail is none too good at present.
When the interior arrangements at this camp have been improved it should be quite satisfactory and the men happier.
(Visited July, 1944.)
STALAG XIIA, LIMBURG
Since the beginning of July this camp has been used as a transit camp for
[page break]
10 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
Official Reports from the Camps (continued)
British and Americans captured in North-West Europe. The total capacity is for approximately 150 officers and 3,000 other ranks; at the time of the visit there were 13 British officers and 44 American officers and 749 British and 1,025 American other ranks.
The officers are accommodated in a large, well-built brick barrack. N.C.O.s and other ranks have a compound of their own, with two large barracks and five tents. Half of one of these barracks is the sick quarters and the other half will house the camp staff when formed. There is not much room for exercise.
Officers sleep in triple-tier bunks, with straw sacks and two blankets; there is sufficient sitting accommodation and adequate lighting. Other ranks sleep on wood shavings held together by planks on the floor. Every man has one or two blankets.
All ranks have hot showers on admittance to the camp. Other washing facilities are sufficient, but there is a lack of toilet articles. The cooking was originally done by French prisoners of war or Italian military internees, but at the request of the camp leaders the Commandant has agreed to let the British and Americans do their own cooking. New supplies of clothing are urgently required, most of the men having only the uniforms in which they were captured. Boots are also in short supply. Laundry has to be washed in cold water and there is no issue of soap for men in transit. Each man is issued with a comb after delousing. There is no canteen.
Each prisoner has been able to write at least one letter home. There is little opportunity for exercise except within the camp.
An American doctor is in charge of the camp revier. There were only six patients at the time of the visit, who were suffering from wounds received in action. There are adequate medical supplies.
(Visited July, 1944.)
[photograph]
A view from Ofag IVC. Copy of a painting by a Major who is a P.o.W. there.
[photograph]
[photograph]
Stalag XVIIIA
Two groups of prisoners at this Stalag, which is situated in a mountainous district.
STALAG XVIIIA, WOLFSBERG
The total of British Commonwealth prisoners of war in the main Stalag at the time of the visit was 10,677, of whom 50 per cent. were British, 40 per cent. Australian and 10 per cent. New Zealanders. Of this number 9,355 are employed in 314 labour detachments.
Living conditions in the main camp are, on the whole, good. The cooking is done by the prisoners themselves, and they have facilities for preparing food from Red Cross sources. The only complaint about the food was that although most of the potato ration had gone bad, it was not replaced. Clothing is satisfactory and there is an adequate supply of Red Cross parcels. Canteen supplies are very scarce. The drainage system throughout the camp has now been finished, and toilet facilities are sufficient. All rooms are disinfected at regular intervals.
The library is well stocked with approximately 15,000 English books. The prisoners have their own orchestra and theatrical company. There are two Church of England chaplains and one Roman Catholic pastor in the camp, but they are not allowed to visit works detachments, which is unsatisfactory.
The prisoners have also been stopped the use of the field on which they played cricket outside the compound. There is, however, a sports ground within the camp to which they have access.
(Visited June, 1944.)
STALAG XVIIIA/Z
There are 94 British Commonwealth prisoners of war at the Zweiglager, who are chiefly convalescing after release from the lazarett. There is plenty of room in the camp at present and the only serious complaint is the lack of heating. The full ration of coal is supplied, but is found inadequate considering the mountainous situation of the camp.
(Visited June, 1944.)
[page break]
December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 11
[photograph]
Stalag XVIIIA
Boxing match in progress outside a hut.
STALAG XVIIIA – HOSPITAL
At the time of the visit there were 81 British patients out of a total of 323 in the hospital. The head of the hospital is a German Staff doctor, who is assisted by nine other doctors (of whom two are British) and 23 medical orderlies (of whom 11 are British).
The chief source of complaint was again the shortage of fuel, and the difficulty of organising special diets for gastric cases, which form a third of the total.
All doctors and medical staff are vaccinated. The medical equipment and supplies are adequate. There is, however, a shortage of materials for the manufacture of dentures – in the last year, the dentist, with the help of three mechanics, had made 600 sets of artificial teeth and repaired 300.
(Visited June 1944.)
OBERMASSFELD HOSPITAL
At the time of the visit there was a total of 426 men in the hospital, of whom 50 were British medical staff, 28 British workers, and 170 British patients. The other patients were chiefly American, with only a few of other nationality.
Since the opening of a new hospital at Meiningen the overcrowding at Obermassfeld has been greatly alleviated and it can now be considered a satisfactory hospital.
Cooking facilities are still barely adequate, but a new British chief cook has recently been appointed and it is hoped that his report to the hospital authorities will produce the badly needed second cooking range.
A new operating theatre is also needed, the old one having from constant use become septic. The authorities have promised to help in this and provide a new room if possible. There is still no Roman Catholic padre available.
The water pump has been repaired since the last visit and there is no shortage of water. It is now, for an unknown reason, easier to obtain the necessary supplies for the hospital, including batteries to work certain apparatus!
(Visited July, 1944.)
[photograph]
Oflag 79
Some of the officers who are members of the Camp Law Society.
MEININGEN HOSPITAL
A new hospital accommodated in a former German Army hospital previously a casino or club-house.
Hospital administration is run by Obermassfeld, about 5 km. away. The patients at Meiningen are chiefly convalescents from Obermassfeld. The hospital has a capacity for 800 patients, but at present there are only 244 and 41 on the hospital staff, which includes two British medical officers and two British officers for P.T. and massage. There is also an artificial limb-maker.
One large two-storied building and four modern hospital barracks form the very satisfactory accommodation. The officers' mess is in a tent. The beds are either of the single iron type or wooden double-tier bunks. Each has a mattress, pillow, sheets and two blankets. There are ample chairs and cupboards. Electric light is being installed in all rooms, central heating in the large hall and stoves in all other places are very satisfactory. Washing and toilet facilities are adequate, at present each man having a hot shower on admittance to the hospital and every Friday afterwards.
There is a large and well-equipped kitchen, run by the British hospital staff. The Red Cross parcels are prepared in the kitchen. Clothing is short, but an application for stocks has been made to the I.R.C.C. and it is hoped that enough for immediate needs will be received shortly.
The staff's clothing is in good order. Laundry is done in a nearby town free of charge. Canteen supplies are limited, but cigarettes, tooth powder, razors, etc., are available.
The prisoners have a recreational ground within the compound. They have a small library and adequate sports gear. The band from Obermassfeld pays regular visits; the padre also visits the men whenever required. Mail is irregular and slow.
When completed this should be a very efficient and pleasant convalescent home for British and American prisoners. The German authorities have made an effort to make it a well-organised and well-equipped hospital.
(Visited July, 1944.)
CAMP LIST
Stalag XII D, has been transferred to Wald Breitenbach bei Neuwied (Map Ref. A6).
Stalag XII F, has been transferred to Freinsheim bei Bad Durkheim (Map Ref. B7).
Please add the following:-
(1) Res. Laz. Meiningen (Map Ref. C6).
(2) Ilag XVIII at Spittal Drau, Camp for Civilian Internees (Map Ref. E10).
[page break]
12 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
The Brighter Side
[photograph]
[photograph]
Glamorous Maori dancing “girls” pose in a picturesque setting at an oflag show.
A PRISONER of war who has just returned to Stalag 344 after a spell in another camp writes to say that “the place is absolutely alive with every form of recreation and entertainment conceivable.” He found, to his evident delight, a large central library, a “college,” sports clubs of all descriptions and a theatre, “The day I arrived, although tired, I saw an excellent production of [italics] Me and My Girl, [/italics] and yesterday an international football match – England v. Scotland.”
Portrait Painting
Also at Stalag 344 is a flourishing and successful Art Club. One artist described how the camp is in the throes of another Carnival after which the Art Club was fitting up a stall for the sale of raffle tickets. “whoever wins will have the misfortune to have his portrait painted by myself.” His normal charge for a portrait sketch is 20 cigarettes! They were also selling drawings by other members. As a sideline they have been painting a model of a New Zealand farm which has been made by the Farmers' Association; “they've been working on it for a month and the detail is astonishing.”
The Gloucester Club
Last month we told of the formation of two clubs in Stalag IVB, “The Forward Club” and “The Devon and Cornwall Club.” Now we learn that there is a third, “The Gloucester Club.” This is composed of prisoners who were at school together and who were members of dramatic and other societies in Gloucester. They meet at tea-time every Tuesday, and items of news out of their letters from home are exchanged.
Christmas Reading
In Oflag XIIB they now have a very well-equipped library, so there will be plenty of books to read over Christmas as a change from more strenuous activities such as seem to take place in Stalag XXB. A letter from there relates: “Had a game of football last week, and by gee, sure had a tough game; still feel the effects of it yet.”
A Full Day
A piano, a string bass, clarinets, trumpets, accordions and other instruments have been received at Stalag XVIIA from the Red Cross. A musical enthusiast writes to say “they are really wonderful!” Apart from music there seems to be much to occupy his time: “innumerable study courses are coming into the camp, and I find my days very occupied. Work in the mornings, sport in the afternoons and shorthand or [italics] Othello [/italics] at night.” They are well supplied with sports gear for football, rugger, cricket or even baseball. And the indoor games equipment includes table tennis, chess, cards, monopoly and dominoes.
How Much?
The men in Stalag XVIIIA have ordered a grand piano and they are going to pay for it themselves at the rate of 10 marks a month. One prisoner enquires “I wonder how much we shall pay.” They go sometimes to the local cinema, and although the films are in German, it makes a pleasant change. Big event recently was the arrival of figs, raisins, nuts and dried fruit, sent by the British residents in Turkey. So they will have some traditional Christmas fare.
Musical Debut
The musical show at Marlag und Milag Nord has been a great success, and one prisoner writes to say that it was his musical debut: “What a thrill it was for me on opening night, when that curtain went across! . . . As I write we have done three nights' performances. I played melody and did I go to town – so Jimmy D –, the Leader, tells me.” They were all dressed in white shirts and blue trousers and looked very smart. Their “Tonic Tunes Selection” included Schubert's Serenade, Die Fledermaus and a Foxtrot Medley.
Serial Play
Dorothy Sayers' radio play [italics] The Man Born to be King [/italics] is being done in serial form in Oflag 79. Nor is it the only dramatic activity, for [italics] The Taming of the Shrew [/italics] is being produced shortly. As in Oflag XIIB, a good book is appreciated in winter evenings, and a captain writes: “I do a certain amount of work and other reading of a lighter nature. I've just finished Aldous Huxley's [italics] Antic Hay [/italics] and am now reading Eric Linklater's [italics] Poet's Pub.” [/italics]
Pike Fishing
A warrant officer in the R.A.F. who was a prisoner in Stalag Luft VI reported that besides using the fire reservoir for swimming, they also used to do a little fishing. “A young jack (pike),” he wrote, “which has hitherto borne a charmed life, “roves around the fire pond, having only a dent in the back as a souvenir of a number of attacks with intent.” He was able, however, to add a P.S. that the pike's charm ran out. “We soaked it in salt water before frying and it was a lot better than the bream we tackled on the Broads in more peaceful days!”
[inserted] The paragraphs on these pages are based on letters from prisoners of war. Most of them refer to activities in the big base camps and it should not be assumed that they are typical of conditions in all camps or in outlying working detachments where facilities for sport and amusement are much fewer. [/inserted]
[page break]
December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 13
THE DONOUGHMORE CLUB
[photograph]
Playing draughts in a quiet corner of the lounge.
A FIGURE in “hospital blue” on the doorstep of 5, Chesterfield Gardens, London, W.1, indicates the way into the warmth and spaciousness of the Donoughmore Club, which will celebrate its first birthday in January. The City and County of London Branch of the Red Cross and St. John found that convalescents needed something different from the ordinary Service club, and have provided special facilities for Servicemen and women, ex-Servicemen and the sick and wounded here. Friendly greetings are received from the hostess, who, with her staff, give help and advice unstintingly and do everything that can be thought of to make those who seek the shelter of the club comfortable and happy.
From the twenty-two military hospitals in and around London convalescents who have one-day passes can come and go as they wish, enjoy a concert party, or a sing-song, tea and a chat with friends. Service people can while away the time until their trains are due, or spend those all-too-short “off-duty” hours with members of their families. Sleeping accommodation is available for Red Cross Guides who travel with sick people on their journeys and for relatives who travel to London in order to visit men who are seriously ill in hospital.
Some two hundred and fifty repatriated prisoners of war who arrived at Liverpool in September last and travelled to a dispersal point outside London were entertained at the Club before leaving for destinations in other parts of the country. The men recorded a message of appreciation for the kindness they had received while in Sweden, which was broadcast to Sweden later the same evening. In November more repatriates paid a visit to the Club, this time 70 men, 25 Britons and 45 native South Africans, who were on their way to South Africa. They were all extremely appreciative of the work done by the Red Cross. One of them, who felt the cold climate particularly keenly, remarked that the only rays of sunshine in England were shed by the Red Cross!
With the approach of Christmas, preparations for festivities are in full swing and two parties have been arranged for December 15th and 16th for men and women from the military hospitals who will bring with them nurses and relatives who are in London. The house decorations are in the hands of the City and County of London Committee, who will also entertain and wait on the guests. Lady Limerick is giving a Christmas tree from her estate, which is to be cut down for the occasion. The goodwill and high spirits which are always to be found in the Club are bound to make the season memorable to those who spend it in this pleasant atmosphere of freedom and friendliness.
Wives of Canadian Servicemen on their way to Canada are given hospitality, as also are the wives of English Servicemen arriving in this country from Canada. On these occasions the children seize the opportunity for a good romp and frolic, and on one such day two American soldiers passing by called in to make a donation to what they thought was an orphanage. Of course, they were told about the Club and invited inside to play with the children.
[photograph]
Toys made by sick and wounded judged at a recent exhibition by Miss Enid Stamp Taylor.
There is a very comfortable lounge on the right of the entrance hall where relatives can quietly enjoy informal meetings. Next to the lounge is a well-equipped canteen, where excellent cooking is done on the spot by a homely Scotswoman and her helpers. Light-cream walls and bright lighting make this perhaps the most cheerful part of the whole building. Flags of different countries are hung on the walls. The tables, each seating four people, are covered with green and white check table cloths, and commodious green-canvass chairs complete the colour scheme. Meals are served at any time, as required, and visitors can see their toast, scones and tea-cakes come out of the oven piping hot.
The walls of the lecture room, also on the ground floor, are covered with interesting pictures and particulars of every kind that may be useful. An Army Education Officer attends regularly to answer questions and to help those who need information. Topical talks are given fortnightly on subjects such as historical London and the theatre, and are made doubly interesting by subsequent visits to the places discussed. Basic educational courses are planned for the future, and there are to be talks on music illustrated by gramophone records. Arrangements are also made for guests to be taken out for a few hours by friends of the Club. It is hoped that another exhibition of handicrafts will be held in the New Year and that diversional therapy will become one of the permanent activities.
(Continued overleaf)
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14 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
NEWS OF EXAMINATION RESULTS
FROM outstanding examination results announced by examining bodies during the last month, the following are selections: –
Sqn. Ldr. G. D. Craig and Sqn. Ldr. G. D. Leyland, both in a Stalag Luft, have passed the Final Examination of the Law Society, the latter with distinction. He is the fifteenth prisoner of war to have gained distinction in the Solicitors’ Final Examination. Thirty-one in all have passed the Final.
Other prisoners of war to have taken Final Examinations are Flt. Lt. D. L. d'Anyers Willis (in the same Stalag Luft), Institute of Chartered Accountants, and Gunner C. W. Bodsworth and Sgt. C. C. Harvey, Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
The Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Highland and Agricultural Society have held examinations in the camps for the National Diploma in Agriculture. One candidate passed in all nine papers, eight passed in all the papers they offered, and eight in some papers.
A civilian internee, who was then in Giromagny, took an examination in Turkish held by the School of Oriental and African Studies, and obtained a first class pass with 82 per cent.
Marlag und Milag Nord (Milag)
The Ministry of War Transport recently sanctioned the holding of an examination in this camp for Certificates of Competency as Master, Mate and Engineer in the Merchant Navy. The candidates were allowed to take certain papers, success in which will be credited to them on their return home.
In the examination for Master there were 21 candidates. Papers were taken in (a) Meteorology, (b) English, (c) Master's Business, and (d) Engineering Knowledge, with the following results:
In (a) 95 per cent. passed, and in (b), (c) and (d) 100 per cent. passed.
In the examination for First Mate, 25 candidates took papers in (a) Ship Construction and Stability, (b) Ship Maintenance, Routine and Cargo Work, and (c) Meteorology. In (a) 80 per cent. were successful, in (b) 92 per cent., and in (c) 96 per cent.
In the examination for Second Mate there were 60 candidates, and the papers taken were (a) Knowledge of Principles, (b) Cargo Work and Elementary Ship Construction, and (c) English. 75 per cent. passed in (a), 85 per cent. in (b), and 76 per cent. in (c).
The Ministry of War Transport, which has expressed great interest, state that they are “very satisfied with the way in which the examinations were conducted, and that the high standard of knowledge disclosed reflects great credit on the organisers of the studies and examinations in the camp.”
FIGURES UP TO NOVEMBER
[inserted] Applications for Examinations ... 14,002
Candidates who have taken Examinations ... 6,202
Results published ... 5,176
Candidates who have passed outright ... 4,177
Candidates who have passed in some papers ... 337
Candidates who have failed outright ... 817
Camps in which Examinations have been taken ... 54 [/inserted]
THE DONOUGHMORE CLUB
(continued from previous page)
By ascending the broad staircase to the first floor a large sitting-room is reached which is cosily furnished and has a radio set, books and fireside games. Long windows give sunlight and fresh air, and a small balcony with deck chairs provides an ideal spot for a sunbath on a warm day. Adjoining this room is the theatre, where shows and concerts are frequently given. Another feature of the Club is the games room, which has darts, bagatelle and other table games. The Army Educational Corps supplies a variety of colourful pictures which are displayed there.
Very many wartime difficulties in equipping the Club and arranging its functions have been surmounted during the first year and it is a considerable achievement by those who have been responsible. Even so, there are always new events, fresh contingencies to be faced and continual arrivals and departures which call for the most careful planning. In the coming year the life of the Club will go on and will be ready, when the European conflict is over, to serve those who are still convalescent in hospital and the men who will at last return home from prisoner of war camps.
World's Largest Card-index
THE International Red Cross Committee at Geneva have now introduced a new classification system into the gigantic card-index controlled by their Central Prisoner of War Agency.
This index, which contains details of every known and sought-for prisoner of war and civilian internee in the world, is made up of over 20 million separate cards and is continually growing.
The new method, which takes the place of the more usual alphabetical system, is based on phonetic methods, and has the great advantage of gathering all the different spellings of the same name into one section. For instance, all the Mayers, Meiers, Meyers, Maiers, etc., are under the heading “Me,” and all the Philips, Filippos, Phillippes, etc., are grouped under F.
As the average number of cards in this index handled daily varies from 300,000 to 400,000, the importance of the innovation is readily grasped.
P.o.W. Exhibition Catalogues
RELATIVES who were not able to visit the Prisoners of War Exhibition in London this summer, and those who came and wish to keep a permanent record of their impressions of it, can do so by sending for a copy of the catalogue. The exhibition portrayed many aspects of the life of our prisoners in Germany, and the illustrated catalogue presents a vivid and informative picture. A number of copies are still available, price 6d, (or 7d. including postage), and those who wish to obtain one may apply to the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation, Publicity Department, 24, Carlton House Terrace, London S.W.1.
[inserted] NUMBER, PLEASE!
PLEASE be sure to mention your Red Cross reference number whenever you write to us. Otherwise delay and trouble are caused in finding previous correspondence. [/inserted]
[inserted] FREE TO NEXT OF KIN
THIS Journal is sent free of charge to those registered with the Prisoner of War Dept. as next of kin. In view of the paper shortage no copies are for sale, and it is hoped that next of kin will share their copy with relatives and others interested. [/inserted]
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December, 1944 The Prisoner of War 15
Polo-Necked Sweater
IN CABLE STITCH FOR WARMTH
[photograph]
Reproduce by courtesy of Harrap Bros. (Sinlar Wools) Ltd.
[knitting pattern and instructions]
[page break]
16 The Prisoner of War December, 1944
NEXT-OF-KIN PARCELS
Arrangements for Resuming the Service
NEXT of kin will have seen in the Press that the G.P.O. announced on November 23 that the despatch of next-of-kin and permit parcels was to be resumed.
As many next of kin would, in normal circumstances, have been entitled to send at least two more parcels in the current year, and as it would obviously be impossible for the Packing Centres at Finsbury Circus and Glasgow to deal with such a volume of parcels without incurring congestion and delay, it has been arranged that not more than one more next-of-kin parcel should be sent with a 1944 label to each prisoner.
Where, however, not more than two parcels have already been sent with 1944 labels during the course of the year, 40 coupons will be issued so that this last parcel may be equal to two in coupon value though the limit of weight remains unchanged. [italics] See instructions sent with labels. [/italics]
It is hoped that the next of kin will accept this plan, which is in the best interests of the prisoners, as it will to some extent avoid overloading the Packing Centres, and will enable one parcel for each prisoner to be despatched with the least possible delay.
Details of the arrangements are as follows and next of kin are asked to study them very carefully in order to see into which category they come. If they are in any doubt they should consult their local Red Cross Prisoner of War representative.
PRISONERS REGISTERED WITH THE PRISONER OF WAR DEPARTMENT BEFORE JUlY 1st, 1944, WHOSE NEXT OF KIN HAVE NOT ALREADY SENT MORE THAN TWO PARCELS IN 1944, WITH 1944 LABELS:–
(a) Next of kin who do not at present hold a label and coupons.
A 1944/4 label and 40 coupons, with a letter of explanation, are being sent to all of these. [italics] No application necessary. [/italics]
(b) Next of kin who hold a label and 20 coupons.
These should apply to the Packing Centres or Finsbury Park or Glasgow if they wish for a further issue of 20 coupons (to be used for one parcel only, in conjunction with the original issue of 20).
(c) Next of kin who are holding a partially prepared parcel but who have returned the balance of coupons to the Packing Centre.
The balance of the original issue, together with a further 20 coupons (to make a total of 40 for the parcel) will be sent to these next of kin [italics] No application necessary. [/italics]
(d) Next of kin who have not yet sent their first parcel and who hold a label and 40 coupons.
These may be sent in their parcel as soon as they like, and are entitled to two further issues of 20 coupons in 1944. These will be sent to them together (making 40 in all) after the despatch of their parcel, if they attach a note to their coupon-account (which must be enclosed in the parcel), asking for them. Otherwise only 20 will be issued.
PRISONERS REGISTERED WITH THE PRISONER OF WAR DEPARTMENT BEFORE JULY 1st, 1944, WHOSE NEXT OF KIN HAVE ALREADY SENT THREE PARCELS IN 1944, WITH 1944 LABELS:–
(a) Next of kin who do not at present hold a label and coupons.
An issue of 20 coupons with a 1944/4 label will be made to these next of kin. [italics] No application necessary. [/italics]
(b) Next of kin who hold a label and 20 coupons.
These may be sent in their parcel on or after the date shown on the label.
(c) Next of kin who hold a partially prepared parcel, but who have returned the balance of coupons to Finsbury Circus or Glasgow.
The balance of coupons will be returned to these next of kin [italics] (no application necessary), [/italics] who may then send in the parcel on or after the date shown on the label.
PRISONERS REGISTERED WITH THE PRISONER OF WAR DEPARTMENT BETWEEN JULY 1st AND SEPTEMBER 30, 1944:–
(a) Next of kin who have sent a first (40 coupons) parcel and do not at present hold a label and coupons.
A 1944/4 label with 20 coupons will be sent to these next of kin. [italics] No application necessary. [/italics] The parcel may be sent in as usual on, or at any time after, the date on the label.
(b) Next of kin who have sent a first (40 coupons) parcel and at present hold a label and coupons.
These may be sent in their parcel as usual on, or at any time after, the date on the label.
(c) Next of kin who have not yet sent in their first parcel and who hold a first label and 40 coupons.
These may send in their parcel as soon as they like. A 1944/4 label with 20 coupons will be issued automatically after its despatch.
PRISONERS REGISTERED WITH THE PRISONER OF WAR DEPARTMENT SINCE OCTOBER 1st, 1944:–
(a) Next of kin who have sent a first (40 coupons) parcel and who do not at present hold a label and coupons.
An issue of 1945/1 label and 20 coupons for use in the first quarter of 1945 will be sent to these next of kin. [italics] No application necessary. [/italics]
(b) Next of kin who have not yet sent the first parcel and who hold the first label and 40 coupons.
These next of kin may send in their parcel as soon as they like. A 1945/1 label with 20 coupons will be issued automatically after the despatch of the parcel.
NOTES
(1) Any cases not corresponding exactly with those detailed above will be dealt with as nearly as possible on the same lines.
(2) The full issue of 40 coupons must be accounted for on the coupon account form, which must be enclosed in the parcel. Any coupons which are left over unused must also be sent back inside the parcel, attached to the coupon account form.
(3) From now on, labels and coupons will be issued in the normal way after the despatch of each parcel.
(4) Parcels will be dealt with as quickly as possible at Finsbury Circus and Glasgow, in the order of their arrival. If the numbers are very great a certain amount of delay is bound to occur, and this cannot be estimated in advance. The parcels are kept in the Post Office bags in which they arrive, until the time comes for each bag to be opened and its contents despatched. It will be understood, therefore, that it is not possible to answer questions about the arrival of individual parcels at the Packing Centres, until the time for despatch of each one has come; and, in order to save work, it is requested that no enquiries of this nature should be sent in.
A note on the position at the Packing Centres will be given in the January issue of the [italics] Prisoner of War [/italics] so that next of kin who have not in the meantime received their next issue of label and coupons (indicating that their parcel has been despatched) may estimate whether there has been time for their parcel to be dealt with.
(5) In order to save work, next of kin are asked in future not to enclose a postcard to be returned to them from the Packing Centre, but to take the issue of the next label and coupons as indication that their last parcel has been received safely and despatched to the prisoner.
(6) Parcels sent with two lots of 20 coupons must be kept within the usual limits of weight (see instructions sent with labels), but they may contain double the usual quantity of chocolate and soap, provided that the extra money is sent inside the parcel, and that the necessary allowance is made for the additional weight.
This does not apply to ordinary first parcels, for which 40 coupons are issued.
(7) It should be understood that the labels and coupons now being issued need not necessarily be used before the end of 1944.
The word “Immediate” on a label does not mean that it [italics] must [/italics] be used immediately, but only that it [italics] may [/italics] be used at once if the next of kin so desires.
Printed in Great Britain for the Publishers, THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, 14, Grosvenor Crescent, London, S.W., by THE CORWALL PRESS LTD., Paris Garden, Stamford Street, London, SE1.
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
The prisoner of war, Vol 3, No. 32, December 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Includes: Christmas message from the Princess Royal; editorial matters; speed up at Marseilles (of parcels); [two pages missing] photographs of groups from camps; official reports from camps; the brighter side; the Donoughmore club; news of examination results (includes totals); knitting pattern for polo-necked sweater; next-of-kin parcels. Includes photographs throughout.
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
1944-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Fourteen page printed document (two pages missing from original sixteen)
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-04
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation
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.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
British Army
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Roger Dunsford
arts and crafts
Dulag Luft
entertainment
prisoner of war
sanitation
sport
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1236/17758/PThompsonKG15010075.1.jpg
8da8e9f1164cd02393d5dc9e187d3c6b
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
Thompson, Keith G
K G Thompson
Description
An account of the resource
95 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Keith Thompson DFC (1238603 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and training material as well as his navigation logs. He flew operations as a navigator with 101 and 199 Squadrons.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mark S Thompson and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
2015-09-07
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Thompson, KG
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
MAY’ 44 – 1936 FORD 10 – MY FIRST CAR
[photograph]
[photograph] [photograph]
TOPCLIFFE, THIRSK IDEC’ 44 AFTER BRUSH ON A1 WITH HALF TRACK TRUCK
[photograph]
FEB’ [underlined] Marriage [/underlined] 1945
CORKILL-WATSON – On February 15th, at St. Barnabas’ Parish Church, Crosland Moor, Huddersfield, by the Rev. C. F. Welsh M.A., Flying-Officer Kenneth David Corkill, D.F.C., youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Corkill, Preveril House, Ballasalia. I.O.M., to Hilda Mary Watson (W.A.A.F.), younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J, Watson. Fairholme, Thornfield Road Lockwood, Hudderfield 16
[photograph]
HILDA & KEN 15 FEB ’45 HUDDERSFIELD
SECOND TOUR CREW
No. 199 HALIFAX, RADIO COUNTER MEASURES SQN.
100 GROUP
FEB-JULY’ 45
“CIS” BRYANT
REAR GNR.
BOB BROWN
ENG
“YOUNG BILL”
W.O.P.
“TICH” READ
M.U. GNR.
JOE EVANS
BOMBAIMER
BILL SHARPLES
PILOT
KEITH
NAV
[photograph]
WE FLEW 12 SORTIES JAMMING GERMAN RADAR FROM FEB ’45 TO VE. DAY. AIRFIELD – NORTH CREAKE, SOUTH OF WELLS-NEXT-SEA, NORFOLK
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ken Thompson's first car and second crew
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph of car parked in a street, Keith Thompson and civilian standing by car, captioned 'May '44-1936 Ford 10-My first car'.
Second and third pictures, same car, somewhat battered, parked on road, houses in distance, captioned 'Topcliffe, Thirsk, 1st Dec '44, after brush on A1 with half track truck'.
Photograph of marriage party, with newspaper clipping annotated Feb. 1945, captioned 'Marriage Corkill-Watson, on February 15th at St Barnabas Parish Church, Crosland Huddersfield'.
Photograph of Bride and Groom captioned 'Hilda & Ken 15 Feb '45 Huddersfield'.
Photograph of six aircrew posed in two rows in a field, buildings in the background, captioned 'Second tour crew No 199 Halifax Radio Counter Measures Sqn, 100 Group. Feb-July '45 [rear row] ."CIS" Bryant, Rear Gnr. Bob Brown Eng. "Young Bill" W.Op, "Tich" Read, M.U.Gunner, [front row] Joe Evans Bomb Aimer, Bill Sharples Pilot, Keith Nav'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six b/w photographs and a clipping on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PThompsonKG15010075
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--Norfolk
England--Yorkshire
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
1944-12
1945-02-15
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
Georgie Donaldson
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
100 Group
199 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
flight engineer
Halifax
love and romance
navigator
pilot
RAF North Creake
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/366/17856/SCavalierRG1264567v10047.2.jpg
977bdabce5f5d81c178365a5ab2817e5
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
Cavalier, Reginald George
Reginald George Cavalier
R G Cavalier
RGC
Description
An account of the resource
Eleven items plus two sub collections. The collection concerns Corporal Reginald George Cavalier (1264567 Royal Air Force) and consists of two albums, documents and one loose photograph. Reginald George Cavalier served in the RAF between 1940 and 1945. He trained as a photographer and served with 76 Squadron stationed at RAF Middleton St George before being posted to 2 Group and serving in mainland Europe with 2nd Tactical Air Force in late 1944 and 1945.
Album one contains photographs of his service and includes target photographs, station visits by VIPs, Allied and German aircraft, and scenes in liberated Europe.
Album two contains a collection of propaganda leaflets, service documents and Christmas cards.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Denise Cavalier-Jones 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
2017-10-04
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
Cavalier, RG
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
Christmas Card 1944
Description
An account of the resource
Inside page of a Christmas Card, dated 1944. An officer in the style of Pilot Officer Prune with a moustache and red nose has a glass of champagne on one hand and a bottle in the other. Beside him are four more bottles. It carries the message 'Merry Christmas from 220 Squadron'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SCavalierRG1264567v10047
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. Coastal Command
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.
1944-12
220 Squadron
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1309/18549/PWatsonC17010068.1.jpg
cb66b1306258de62089fdab3ac2bc10b
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
Watson, Clifford. Scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
Clifford Watson's scrapbook containing photographs and documents.
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
Watson, C
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
Christmas 1944 Menu
Description
An account of the resource
Sergeants' Mess Christmas 1944 Menu, RAF Wick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12-25
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWatsonC17010068
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
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
Scotland--Highlands
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-12
mess
military living conditions
RAF Wick
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1309/18551/PWatsonC17010069.2.jpg
e0cdc676cea1574630a2adad9c4b570a
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
Watson, Clifford. Scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
Clifford Watson's scrapbook containing photographs and documents.
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
Watson, C
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
P Foothes
[Signature]
[Signature]
Hampton
J H Eaglestone
H Fitchwell
[Signature]
Crew signatures and mates.
21 Dec 44 Raided Politz and diverted to Milltown Scotland, due to fog over base
22 Dec 44 Flew to Wick to pick up crew that had crashed the previous night and written their Lancaster aircraft off. They were room mates of ours. Spent the whole of Christmas at Wick, fog cleared on the 27 Dec 44 and we returned to base.
[page break]
Hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR
Hoothers
Pete
[inserted] Mid upper here. [/inserted]
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Christmas Card and crew notes
Description
An account of the resource
A Christmas Card signed by Pete 'Mid Upper here'. In it is described an attack on Politz on 21.12.44 and diverted to RAF Milltown due fog. Then on 22.12.44 he flew to RAF Wick to pick up a crew that had crashed there. There are several signatures.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-12-27
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed card with handwritten annotations
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWatsonC17010069
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.
Poland
Great Britain
Scotland--Moray
Scotland--Highlands
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
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.
1944-12
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Claire Monk
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
Workflow A completed
bombing
crash
Lancaster
RAF Milltown
RAF Wick