Browse Items (395 total)

  • Tags: shot down

PWrightJ1540.jpg
John Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the war, along with his mother and two brothers. His father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over Switzerland on…

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LOHaraHF655736v1.pdf
Log book for Sergeant Herbert O'Hara from 7 November 1942 to 9 September 1962. He was stationed with 12 Squadron at RAF Wickenby, where he flew Lancasters as navigator. The log book shows 14 night operations over France and Germany, with one to…

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Rutherford, Les.2.jpg
Les Rutherford joined the army and was in the 51st Highland Division which formed the rear-guard defence, allowing for the evacuation of Dunkirk. He escaped out to sea on a barn door and was picked up and taken to England by a French trawler. He…

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PFraserDW1504.jpg
David Fraser enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1939 and trained as a mechanic. He re-mustered as soon as he was able and flew four operations as an air gunner with 115 Squadron, before his aircraft was shot down over Hamburg, in May 1941. He spent…

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AFirthJB160706.mp3
John was called up aged 18 and went to Padgate. He comleted a flight mechanics course at RAF Locking, followed by a Maintenance Unit at RAF Colerne. He was posted to a flight engineers’ course at RAF St Athan. John joined up with his crew at RAF…

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PMartinaG1801.jpg
Gilberto Martina recalls his childhood in Chiusaforte and in the Canal del Ferro area: disrupted schooling; fear of Germans; subsistence farming; saboteurs; and tells how one of his friends was killed by a bomb found in a pile of litter. He…

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ABoiocchiS170225.mp3
Sandro Boiocchi remembers wartime memories at Travacò, in the Pavia area and mentions various episodes: food shortages; the black market; fascist and German roundups; Pippo flying at night; bombing of bridges; giving shelter to evacuees.He tells how…

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PIntropidoC1701.jpg
Carluccio Intropido recalls his early life as an orphan studying in Pavia at the Artigianelli, a boarding school providing technical training. He recalls that children used to watch aircraft enroute to Milan, until Pavia was bombed, due to the…

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LGodfreyCR1281391v10001.pdf
Observer's and air gunner's flying log book for Pilot Officer Godfrey from 3 of February 1941 to 25 of September 1945 detailing training schedule, instructional duties and operations flown. Aircraft flown were Dominie, Proctor, Wellington, Hampden,…

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LGodfreyCR1281391v10053.jpg
Lists of crew and positions with some extra notes. First operation as crew 6 May 1944. Night operations May and June. July targets included Kiel, Stuttgart, Hamburg. Mentions crews missing. Daylight operationd to Trossy St Maximin and provides some…

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NStaffelP160412.jpg
The loss of Colin Farrant and the award of a Distinguished Flying Medal to Donald Cochrane are reported in a newspaper article. They were friends who joined up together at the age of 15. Colin Farrant went missing on an operation to Essen. Donald…

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BNorthGJNorthGJv1.pdf
A day by day account consisting of three parts. Part one covers his being shot down on 21 February 1945, his capture and journey to prisoner of war camp arriving 15 March 1945 including an mention that his train was bombed by Marauders. Part two…

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BNorthGJNorthGJv2.pdf
A day by day account consisting of three parts. Part one covers his being shot down on 21 February 1945, his capture and journey to prisoner of war camp arriving 15 March 1945 including an mention that his train was bombed by Marauders. Part two…

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LNorthGJ173836v1.pdf
Royal Air Force observer's and air gunner's flying log book for Pilot Officer Geoffrey North, air gunner, covering the period from 17 June 1942 to 29 September 1945. Detailing training, operations, repatriation and post war flying. He was stationed…

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PBarrJ1506.jpg
Jim joined the Royal Air Force after an engineering apprenticeship. He learnt navigation in South Africa at Oudtshoorn, followed by gunnery training at Port Alfred. After Dumfries, he went to an Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF North Luffenham…

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PBryanWA1501.jpg
William Bryan describes being hit by a German fighter and anti-aircraft fire while mine laying the Kiel Bay. The rest of the tour was reasonably quiet, consisting mainly of operations in the run-up of the Normandy campaign. He describes bombing…

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PClarkRR1601.jpg
Warrant Officer Robert Royston Clarke joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and flew in Lancasters. He joined Bomber Command after seeing the bombing of Coventry. Robert tells about baling out and being manhandled by the local inhabitants, before…

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BCopusPJCopusPJv10009.jpg
James Copus grew up in Oxfordshire. He volunteered for aircrew and, after training, became a mid-upper gunner and flew operations with 97 Squadron. He recalls a crash while taxiing to take-off, baling out of his empty Lancaster and how he kept…

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BCopusPJCopusPJv10009.jpg
Jim Copus was born in Watlington and volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he was 18. After training, he flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron from RAF Bourn. On one operation he realised that it was very quiet so, being unable to…

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PCranstonJ1501.jpg
Jack joined the Royal Air Force in Leeds and, after going to St. John’s Wood in London, he trained in Rhodesia where he passed out as a pilot. His training was on Tiger Moths and Oxfords before he was posted to a Wellington RAF station. Jack went…

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PCurnockRM1602.jpg
Richard Curnock was born in Grantham and joined the Royal Air Force in 1941.He achieved the rank of warrant officer and served in 425 Squadron. Richard tells of how he followed his two older brothers into the services, and his time serving in the Air…

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AAn00202-150907.mp3
The interviewee was born in London and worked for some time as a clerk until joining the Royal Air Force. He did not like the idea of serving in the Army or in the Navy but - as a Londoner - he was keen to take part in the war, having experienced the…

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PWinterH1508.jpg
Harry Winter grew up in Cardiff and worked in a paper mill from the age of 14. He served in the Home Guard before volunteering for the Air Force. After training as a wireless operator at RAF Yatesbury he flew operations over Germany, France, and…

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AHookerFJ160525.mp3
Fred’s talks about life before being called up for service, including his brother being captured in Hong Kong and becoming a prisoner of the Japanese. Fred joined the Boy Scouts, aged 11, and then the Air Training Corp when it was formed in 1941.…

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PRutherfordRL1501.jpg
Les Rutherford talks about the prisoner of war diary he compiled while an inmate of Belaria compound at Stalag Luft 3. Two months after arriving, he exchanged three chocolate bars for the notebook which became this personal memoir. He recollects…

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