IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1946-02]]> Leonard Dorricott]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Dorricott, Leonard William. Folder PDorricottLW1509]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1946-02]]> Norman went to 101 Squadron and learnt to fly Lancasters, serving as a bomb aimer. He describes his first operation to Mailly-Le-Camp where over 40 Lancasters, out of 350, were lost.
Norman’s aircraft was shot down over Dortmund with the death of five crew members. He was captured, as were the pilot and navigator. After the Frankfurt Interrogation Centre, they went to a camp in Wetzlar. Norman then went to Stalag Luft 7 at Bankau in Silesia, followed by four months in another camp. The Germans evacuated prisoner of war camps in January 1945 following Russian attacks. Norman marched on a “death march” for three weeks in snow to Luckenwalde, a camp with 20-25,000 men.
Norman escaped with the Americans via Hildesheim and Le Havre before returning to Britain. He was posted to RAF Cosford but could only leave when he had regained weight, which took six months. He finished in February 1946 with the rank of warrant officer.]]>
Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Canada]]> Nova Scotia]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> France]]> France--Mailly-le-Camp]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1945-01]]> 1946]]> 1946-02]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> 1946-02]]> On the reverse 'Kirkham Lancs Jan or Feb 46' and photographer's print '79548'.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1946-01]]> 1946-02]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1946-02]]> In February 1946 three of the crews took Lancasters to RAF Abu Sueir in Egypt. After a few weeks they moved to RAF Shallufa, in the Canal Zone, when 104 Squadron was formed. Jack finished up on Ansons doing VIP and mail runs. He flew back in a Lancaster to RAF Kirkham via RAF Silloth, where he was demobbed. Jack flown in Domine, Proctor, Anson, Wellington and a Lancaster.
Jack married in 1951 and had two children, went back to the footplate until 1961. After that he worked as a manager of a fancy goods shop and eventually moved to Bridlington.]]>
David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Cumbria]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Suez Canal]]> North Africa]]> 1945-04]]> 1946-02]]>
Recruited as an engine fitter he trained at St. Athans and then volunteered for flying duties as it was a quick promotion. Because of his engineering background his flight engineering training was reduced to two weeks
He was then posted to RAF Swinderby to fly the Manchester and then to 97 squadron, which became a Pathfinder squadron, at RAF Woodhall Spa alongside 617 Squadron. In May 1943 the squadron moved to RAF Bourne and he was promoted to warrant officer. Henry was happy to stay as an NCO and did not welcome more responsibility.
After his first tour he was rested for six months as a senior instructor at 1661 HCU unit at RAF Winthorpe flying the Stirling. He compares flying the Lancaster and Stirling in some detail.
He returned to operational flying and recalls bombing La Spezia and landing in North Africa where his aircraft went u/s but he repaired it himself in order to return home.
Henry remembers that there were no great celebrations on VE day and he was demobbed in February 1946.
After a period in civilian life, Henry re-enlisted in the RAF in September 1948 as a corporal fitter and was posted to Malaya and Singapore. He left the RAF again in 1952 and then worked for Rolls Royce for 26 years, working on Merlin engines.
]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Terry Holmes]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Italy]]> Italy--La Spezia]]> North Africa]]> Singapore]]> Malaya]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1943-05-19]]> 1943-05]]> 1940-04]]> 1946-02]]> 1948-09]]> 1952]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> China]]> China--Hong Kong]]> 1946-02]]> Photo 2 is Arthur in uniform sitting on a fence.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> 1946-02]]> 1946-12]]>
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Libya]]> Libya--Tripoli]]> Great Britain]]> Iraq]]> Italy]]> Israel]]> Israel--Tel Aviv]]> Pakistan]]> Pakistan--Karachi]]> North Africa]]> Iraq--Baṣrah]]> Italy--Fiumicino]]> England--Christchurch (Dorset)]]> England--Dorset]]> 1944]]> 1946-02]]>

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form: no better quality copies are available.]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Hancock]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> 1946-02]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1945-02]]> 1946-02]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> 1946-02]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> Victoria]]> 1946-02]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> France]]> Italy--Bari]]> France--Istres]]> Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norwich]]> 1946-01]]> 1946-02]]> 1946-03]]> 1946-04]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending text-based transcription. Under review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1939-09]]> 1943-02]]> 1943-05]]> 1944-07]]> 1944-10]]> 1946-02]]> Top right - view from air of coastline. Captioned 'Coast near Casablanca, Morocco, July 1945'.
Centre - Three airmen in front of a York. Captioned 'Navigator, self and the engineer in front of York at Negombo'.
Bottom left - view from air of distant snow covered mountains. Captioned 'Over France on the way home from India trip Feb 1946'.
Bottom right - view from the air of vey distant snow topped mountains. Captioned 'Over France on the way back from India, Mont Blanc 50 miles away in distance'.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Sri Lanka]]> Sri Lanka--Colombo]]> Morocco]]> Morocco--Casablanca]]> France]]> India]]> France--Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Region]]> 1946-02]]> 1945-10]]>
Top right - snake charmer with snake in basket. Captioned 'Snake charmer with cobra in front of bungalow at Dum-Dum, March 1946'.
Centre - two airmen, both wearing shorts and one shirtless standing on hardstanding under the wing of a York. Captioned 'Second pilot and self by tail of York at Negombo, Feb 1946'.
Bottom left - Yorke parked on hardstanding with front of engine of another aircraft on left. Captioned 'BOAC York parked next to ours at Mauripur aerodrome, Karachi, Dec 1945'.
Bottom right - view from the air of the Taj Mahal. Captioned 'Taj Mahal, Agra India'.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Civilian]]> India]]> India--Kolkata]]> Sri Lanka]]> Sri Lanka--Colombo]]> Pakistan]]> Pakistan--Karachi]]> India--Agra]]> 1946-03]]> 1946-02]]> 1945-12]]>
Top right - view down onto the entrance of a hotel with driveway surrounded by palm trees. Captioned 'Heliopolis Palace hotel, Cairo Feb 46'.
Centre - view of front fuselage of a York with starboard engines visible. Captioned 'Spot of prop trouble at Luqa, Malta, Mar 46'.
Bottom left - row of civilian single engine aircraft parked on a grass airfield with hut in background left. Captioned 'Lausanne air display July 46'.
Bottom right - view down onto city street with multi-story buildings with shops on far side. Captioned 'Paris street from hotel window, Nov 46'.
]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Malta]]> Switzerland]]> Switzerland--Lausanne]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> 1946-02]]> 1946-03]]> 1946-07]]> 1946-11]]>

This item is available only at the International Bomber Command Centre / University of Lincoln.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> 1946-02]]>
RAF Wartling]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Pevensey]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Sussex]]> 1946-02]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Ismailia (Province)]]> North Africa]]> 1946-04]]> 1946-12]]> 1946-01]]> 1946-02]]> Alan was posted to Bradfield Park for training and then to No. 2 Air Observers’ School in Edmonton, Canada. He was given a commission as a pilot officer and went to the Advanced Flying Unit at RAF Wigtown in Scotland, followed by the Operational Training Unit at RAF Lichfield. Alan describes the process of crewing up. He trained on Wellingtons and then went to the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Winthorpe. Alan describes the night they had to parachute from their Stirling after a trip to the coast of Holland.
After Lancaster Finishing School, Alan was posted to 617 Squadron where the Commanding Officer was J B “Willie” Tait. His first operation in November 1944 was to bomb the Urft Dam in Germany but it was too cloudy to release the 12,000 lb Tallboy bomb on board. A second attempt was also unsuccessful. Alan then refers to two operations in the Netherlands where U-boat pens were bombed. Bergen was another operation. On 25 April 1945, their target was Berchtesgaden, their last operation leading a Main Force Group of 400 aircraft.

Alan then went to 467 Squadron at RAF Metheringham. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were no longer required to go to Okanawa. Alan returned to Australia in February 1946 and joined Shell company in Sidney. ]]>
John Horsburgh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Norway]]> Queensland]]> Alberta--Edmonton]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Queensland--Brisbane]]> 1942]]> 1943-11-03]]> 1944-01]]> 1944-09-24]]> 1944-11]]> 1945-04-25]]> 1946-02]]>
On the reverse 'The Tower & My Caravan Udine Feb 1946'.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Foskett, William. Udine-Campoformido airfield]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Italy]]> Italy--Udine]]> 1946-02]]>