Letter to his brother Henry, Lil and Barbara from Arthur Wright. He writes from the Hotel Metropole, Brighton. He is waiting for a posting but it is not clear whether it is before or after training in South Africa.
Letter to Henry, Lil and Barbara from Arthur Wright, their brother. Flying training has not gone well due to his 'Undeveloped air sense'. He is now training as an Observer. At first he was unhappy but quickly started to get much satisfaction from…
Letter to brother Henry, Lil and Barbara from 75 Air School in South Africa from Arthur Wright. He describes sailing to Durban. He is impressed with the food, the city and the people. Then a 23 hour train journey to the camp. He discusses his social…
Arthur Wright standing in his Sidcot suit holding his flying helmet. Captioned ' With love & happy memories Arthur'. On the reverse 'To Henry + Lil From Arthur Port Elizabeth S.A. July 1942'.
Three airmen in Sidcot suits, standing, carrying flying helmets. A fourth airman is in uniform and carrying a flying helmet. Arthur Wright is on the right of the photograph. They are in front of a building with wooden doors. On the reverse 'If found…
Two men sunbathing whilst an airman is hiding with his head under a tent made from a chair and a towel. They are seated outside a wooden building. On the reverse 'Humewood Port Elizabeth August 1942'.
A rudder recovered from a crash site. It is annotated with dimensions in millimetres. It is largely intact but shows rippling. On the reverse ' Rudder, Lanc. Sion/CH 12/13.7.1943 via Roger Anthoine ex-pl.470'.
The group of 25 airmen is arranged in four rows. The front row is seated on the grass with rifles crossed in pairs. All the men are carrying rifles and are wearing brimmed hats. On the reverse 'Tony Terry far right 2nd row from bottom'.
Head and shoulders portrait of Flight Sergeant Hugh Bolger captioned 'F/Sgt H. Bolger R.A.A' [sic].
On the reverse 'F/Sgt Hugh Bolger R.A.A.F. via Jim Wright 1/95'
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Rows of graves in a cemetery. St Martins, Vevey. Captioned 'Ronald Oswald Bret (indecipherable)
31 RAF graves. Killed on raids'.
On the reverse 'Foulks - N2.
1944 412471
F/Lt WR Esquilant AFC 37. 24/8/46
27 pages transcribed from a local newspaper covering the night 100 bombers overflew Switzerland leading to two being shot down. Bombs were dropped on Swiss territory.
14 airmen were buried at Vevey and the funeral is described. There is repetition…
The letter refers to a map found in the remains of the aircraft at Bouveret. The map indicates a route via Annecy and a second to the west of Lyon.
Included is the map with the routes marked on.
Details of the funeral of the airmen at Vevey. A large number of wreaths adorned the coffins. A crowd described as 'extensive' attended. Annotated with 'Cost to Govt sf 7447.40 ED412 'O'
sf 300 ED 531
7747.40
sf 553.36 per man!'
On the second…