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Interview with Norman Shakesby
Norman Shakesby was a radar mechanic on 405 and 582 Squadrons. Born in 1924, he was studying languages at The City School in Lincoln at the outbreak of the Second World War. His language teachers were quickly called up to act as interpreters, so on…
Interview with Lester Simms
Lester tells of his tough, early childhood and his first experience of seeing a Heinkel bomber flying over his home in Surrey, to attack the Brooklands Aircraft Factory. He tells of how he worked in the experimental department of Hawker Aircraft…
Lincoln being serviced
Lincoln RF445, R-MG on the ground, surrounded by grass, background indistinct. Some individuals working on aircraft, another is on horseback wearing topee.
Interview with George Patrick Smith-Leach
George was born in Chelmsford, Essex. He then moved to Clacton-on-Sea where he went to school before going to a seminary catholic college. When war broke out, he and two other boys aged 15 or 16 ran away from college and went to Ipswich to join the…
Interview with Frank Charles Standen
Frank Standen always wanted to fly. He volunteered for the RAF hoping to become a pilot. Sadly, an eye defect was detected. He volunteered for motorboat crew and took part in air sea rescues. On one occasion he was involved in rescuing the crew of a…
Interview with Victor Stapley
Victor Stapley was born in Ilford in Essex, where he was fond of playing cricket. He left school at fifteen and worked at a tobacco company. He then became a shipping manager, a job which involved shipping spaces whilst not having any telephones in…
Interview with Rex Statham
Rex Statham was born in Luton. His father died in a motorbike accident when he was very young. Although Rex had been very keen to join the Navy he volunteered for the RAF as a flight mechanic. When he realised that many trained mechanics were being…
Interview with Bernard Sterry and Cecilia Pearson
Bernard Sterry and Cecilia Pearson, both born in Hull, talk about their lives as evacuees during the war. Bernard, who was 10 years old when war broke out, was evacuated from Hull to North Lincolnshire until September 1944, when he came back home at…
Interview with Maureen and Sidney Stevens
Sidney was inspired to join The Air Force when he was working as an Air Raid Precaution Warden and one night his own home was bombed. The house next door was also destroyed and the lady who had offered him a cup of tea only hours earlier died. He…
Interview with Peter Steward
Peter Steward was born in 1933 and talks of not seeing his father during the war due to his father's service in the RAF. His uncles and cousins also served. After leaving school at 15, Peter worked at the Woolwich Arsenal factory and joined the RAF…
Interview with Bessie Thomas
Bessie Thomas left school at the age of fourteen and worked at the Consett Iron Company working as a typist. At the age of eighteen at the time of Dunkirk she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force where she wanted to be a radio operator but there…
Interview with John Henry Thomas
John Thomas was born in Australia and joined the RAF in 1943. After doing his initial training in Australia he travelled to the UK via America. Further training, including an accident and night vision tests, led to 102 Squadron and a full tour of…
Interview with John Tipton
John Tipton grew up in Tenby and studied law at University College London. He volunteered for the RAF and trained as a navigator. He was posted to 40 Squadron where he began operational flying before the squadron were posted to Malta. After his tour…
Interview with Sylvia Trapp
Sylvia was born in Mansfield where her father was a miner and her mother had worked at Lawns Mills. She had two brothers and a sister. Sylvia was 15 when she left school to work at the hosiery mills and recalls the German manager being deported. She…
Interview with Kenneth William Trueman
Kenneth William Trueman volunteered for the RAF and was called up in 1941. After training in South Africa, he served as a navigator with 640 Squadron and speaks of his preference for the Gee navigation aid rather than H2S. His operations included…
Interview with Alfred James Walker
Alfred lived near RAF Upwood when he was a young child. Alfred’s father was in the army and worked on the Burmese railway. Alfred remembered aircraft going over his grandmother’s house and landing on the runway nearby. One morning an aircraft…
Interview with Vivian David Williams
Vivian joined the Royal Air Force in July 1938 as a flight mechanic and served for seven and a half years. After square drills at RAF Uxbridge and a course at RAF Manston, he did a basic engineering course at RAF Henlow. After six months at RAF St…
Letter from Ian Wynn to his wife
Catches up with family news. Writes of new flight and aircrew taking ground crew for a drink in Grimsby along with an amusing incident. Reminisces and thinks about after the war.
Airmen and Lancaster
A large group of airmen arranged in five rows at the front of a Lancaster. A sixth row is standing on its wing.
Letter to Joyce Donaldson from former Women's Auxiliary Air Force colleague
![E[Author]JDonaldsonJ421115-0001.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1213/11937/E[Author]JDonaldsonJ421115-0001.jpg "E[Author]JDonaldsonJ421115-0001.jpg")
Letter to Joyce, David Donaldson's wife, from a former fellow WAAF, Jeanine, congratulating Joyce on the birth of her daughter, relates her recent activities and catches up with acquaintances. Additional information about this item was kindly…
31 airmen recruits
31 recruits arranged in four rows, in front of a large tree. On the reverse 'Vic joining RAF 1936, 2nd row standing 2nd from left'.
Letter to David Donaldson from M H Edwards
Letter to David Donaldson from his father-in-law Chaplain-in-Chief Royal Air Force M H Edwards congratulating him on achievements. Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.
Letter to David Donaldson from Chaplain at Warboys
Letter to David Donaldson from Chaplain J M Bullen based at RAF Warboys responding to a letter from David who had expressed concern about the welfare of the family of a Royal Air Force person. Bullen writes that the benevolent fund could help and…
Interview with Geoffrey Charles Spencer
Geoffrey Spencer grew up in Birmingham and worked with his father in tool making, carrying out fire watching as a youngster. He joined the Air Force in August 1943, aged 18. After training, he served as a flight mechanic and fitter with 49 Squadron…