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Letter from Ian Wynn to his wife
Writes while sunbathing on the beach. Describes life in Newquay mentioning numbers of evacuated children and some aspects of his training. Engages in banter and relates some events. Talks about their car and speculates over his future moves.…
Letter from David Boldy to his mother and brother
Letter from David Boldy to his mother and brother. He let them know that he has moved from Hastings to Torquay and includes some of his observations on his new posting, with references to girls evacuated from London.
Letter from David Boldy to his father
Letter from sergeant David Boldy to his father about sailing to London from South Africa, visiting Gibraltar and swimming in the sea. He misses his girl friend Babe.
Jim Tyrie's Wartime Log. Two
A wartime log kept by Jim Tyrie. He lists his crew on the night they were shot down over Berlin, the construction of tin trays, addresses of co-prisoners, cartoons, London restaurants, newspaper cuttings in German and English and finally more…
Jack Whymark’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
Jack Whymark’s Flying Log Book as an Air Gunner from 1st October 1940 until 4th October 1945 when his aircraft crashed in to the Mediterranean Sea.
Initial training at No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School and 225 Squadron. Posted to 149 Squadron for…
Initial training at No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School and 225 Squadron. Posted to 149 Squadron for…
Interviews with Jaun Schauerte
Jaun Schauerte (b. 1936) recalls rushing to the shelter with a suitcase and a bag pack. Remembers one night when his grandmother fell under the heavy weight of the rucksack and nobody stopped to help her. Recalls the Bremen bombing, while he was…
Interview with Wolfgang Jähnichen
Wolfgang Jähnichen recollects being a five-year-old boy in Dresden at the time of the 13 February 1945 bombing. Gives a vivid account of the attack and recounts various episodes: the time spent with his mother in the cellar used as air raid shelter,…
Interview with Violet Bishop
Violet Bishop’s two brothers both volunteered for the RAF. One trained as a bomb aimer and the other as ground crew. Both survived the war. They wrote to each other throughout the war. She was very proud when her brother accompanied her to a dance…
Interview with Tito Samorè
Tito Samorè recollects wartime memories in Milan, when he was a member of the Balilla youth organisation. Remembers the outbreak of war and its announcement on the radio. Describes the first bombing of Milan in 1940, stressing how the wooden…
Interview with Tim Schneider
Tim Schneider lived at Westcott before, during and after the construction and occupation of RAF Westcott as 11 Operational Training Unit. He tells of feeding the rabbits when he was four years old; leaving school at fourteen to help working on the…
Interview with Sybil Green
Sybil was born in Bracebridge near Lincoln, she went to Bracebridge School then left at fourteen to work first at a Co-op store and then at and electric shop. Sybil talks about civilian life in wartime, her family working at Foster Quinns, fire…
Interview with Speranza Piras
Speranza Piras reminisces about the 17 May 1943 Alghero bombing and her subsequent life as an evacuee. Provides details on daily life in wartime: German occupation, anti aircraft fire, hardships, the black market, and different anecdotes about…
Interview with Sheena Staves
During the war Sheena lived in Cottingham, a village close to Hull. She lived with her mother and father (who was a fire watcher). He fought in the Far East during the first world war. She had two elder brothers, one in the Navy and one in the Royal…
Interview with Sandro Boiocchi
Sandro Boiocchi remembers wartime memories at Travacò, in the Pavia area. Mentions various episodes: food shortages, the black market, fascist and German roundups, Pippo flying at night, bombing of bridges, giving shelter to evacuees. Tells how…
Interview with Ruta Popika
Ruta Popika was born near the river Nemunas, in what was Lithuania before the war. She remembers her family being forced to move eastwards and westwards from Lithuania according to the changing tides of war. Remembers the occupation of the Baltic…
Interview with Roy Saunders
Roy Saunders was a schoolboy in London when the war started. He witnessed the bombing of London and was amazed when he saw the smoke from the docks area when he emerged from a shelter. His school friend and family died in the bombing. Roy was…
Interview with Roy Maddock-Lyon
Roy Maddock-Lyon was born in Cheshire and when his school was evacuated at the start of the war he began an engineering apprenticeship. He was a part of the Queen’s Messengers, a relief organisation that travelled to bombed cities to take emergency…
Interview with Roy Berrill
Roy was born in Northampton and was evacuated from Becontree in London to Weston-super-Mare. He gained his degree from Queen Mary College, London, which was evacuated to Cambridge.
After the Air Training Corps, Roy was called up to be a…
After the Air Training Corps, Roy was called up to be a…
Interview with Ronald Roffey
Ronald was born in Charlton, south-east London. He went to Charlton Junior School and was nine when war was declared. He remembered being fitted for a gas mask at his school. His aunt who lived in Torquay found a private billet for him and his mother…
Interview with Rita Chapman
Rita Chapman lived in London during the Blitz. She witnessed the sight of the burning docks from her garden. Her family sheltered in their Anderson shelter but twice got buried and had to be dug out. The rescue crews asked them to keep singing until…
Interview with Reginald John Herring
Reg Herring was living in London at the start of the war with his father and elder brother. His father built a shelter that collapsed after a heavy rainfall. Reg was evacuated to Sizewell and then to near Birmingham. After the war Reg returned to…
Interview with Raymond Meggett
Raymond Meggett grew up on a farm in Lincolnshire near Scampton, where RAF personnel stayed during the war. His parents told him about some of these men, and sometimes kept in touch with them. He recalls tales of the other farmers, civilian and RAF.…
Interview with Ray Hooley
Ray Hooley was at school in 1939 when war broke out and was evacuated to Mansfield. When the boys were returned to their school in Nottingham their shelter was in the basement and they were horrified to find when they went down for the practice that…
Interview with Raffaella Sorsini
L’intervistata è Raffaella Sorsini, nata a Vicchio (FI) il 25 maggio 1919, impiegata in pensione. Interviene Marianna Galardini, nata il 18 maggio 1897. L’intervista è effettuata da Claudio Rosati a Pistoia, presso la casa dell’informatrice,…
Interview with Pat Rumfitt
Pat Rumfitt was born in 1927 and experienced a privileged upbringing living in Kent as an only child before the war. She describes the resilient attitude to bombing in Bromley, walking to their flooded Anderson Shelter in her dressing gown and…