Browse Items (311 total)
- Tags: crewing up
Letter from Ian Wynn to his wife
General Memories
He describes training in London, Bridlington, Morpeth and Wymeswold. Later training as a crew was at Castle Donington, Lindholme and Hemswell. He describes in detail his crew, aircraft and operations.…
Tags: 12 Squadron; 626 Squadron; air gunner; aircrew; anti-aircraft fire; bomb aimer; Churchill, Winston (1874-1965); crewing up; escaping; flight engineer; Halifax; Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984); Heavy Conversion Unit; Initial Training Wing; lack of moral fibre; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; Martinet; Me 262; military ethos; navigator; Operational Training Unit; pilot; RAF Brackla; RAF Bridlington; RAF Castle Donington; RAF Hemswell; RAF Kirkham; RAF Lindholme; RAF Morpeth; RAF Tilstock; RAF Wickenby; RAF Woodbridge; RAF Wymeswold; searchlight; superstition; target indicator; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington; wireless operator
Henry Wagner's life story. Part one
Tags: 1652 HCU; 51 Squadron; Advanced Flying Unit; aerial photograph; air gunner; Air Observers School; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; bale out; bomb aimer; briefing; C-47; Caterpillar Club; coping mechanism; crewing up; debriefing; Dulag Luft; evading; final resting place; flight engineer; Flying Training School; Gee; Halifax; Halifax Mk 3; Heavy Conversion Unit; incendiary device; killed in action; Master Bomber; military ethos; military living conditions; military service conditions; missing in action; navigator; Operational Training Unit; Pathfinders; perception of bombing war; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF Abingdon; RAF Acaster Malbis; RAF Heaton Park; RAF Marston Moor; RAF Snaith; RAF West Freugh; recruitment; Red Cross; shot down; Stalag 3A; Stalag Luft 7; target indicator; target photograph; the long march; Tiger Moth; training; Whitley; Window
Pilot to Navigator - Where are we?
Tags: 100 Group; 4 Group; 425 Squadron; 51 Squadron; 77 Squadron; Advanced Flying Unit; aerial photograph; air gunner; Air Observers School; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; B-17; bale out; bomb aimer; C-47; Caterpillar Club; crewing up; Distinguished Flying Cross; Distinguished Service Order; entertainment; evading; flight engineer; Flying Training School; Gee; ground personnel; H2S; Halifax; Halifax Mk 3; Heavy Conversion Unit; Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945); Hurricane; Ju 88; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; Me 109; Me 110; military service conditions; missing in action; Mosquito; navigator; Nissen hut; Oboe; Operational Training Unit; Oxford; Pathfinders; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF Abingdon; RAF Acaster Malbis; RAF Bottesford; RAF Cosford; RAF Full Sutton; RAF Manston; RAF Marston Moor; RAF Melbourne; RAF Snaith; RAF St Eval; RAF Stanton Harcourt; RAF Tholthorpe; RAF West Freugh; RAF Wing; Red Cross; Resistance; shot down; sport; Stalag 3A; Stalag Luft 7; Stirling; Sunderland; target indicator; the long march; Tiger Moth; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington; Whitley; Window; wireless operator / air gunner; Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
Recollections of a Flight Engineer
He also recounts…
Interview with Robert Woodhouse
Tags: 14 OTU; 207 Squadron; 617 Squadron; Air Gunnery School; aircrew; Anson; bombing; crewing up; Lancaster; Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy; Operation Dodge (1945); Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF Evanton; RAF Halfpenny Green; RAF Madley; RAF Market Harborough; RAF Spilsby; RAF Waddington; RAF Wigsley; runway; submarine; Tiger force; training; wireless operator / air gunner
Interview with Vic Farmer
Peter Hazeldene memoir
Flt Lt J B P 'Tuesday' Spencer, 20 years, Pilot from Greenside, Co Durham
Sgt W D E West, 21 years, Mid Upper Gunner, from Barking, Essex
Sgt H…
Tags: 106 Squadron; 14 OTU; 57 Squadron; air gunner; aircrew; bomb aimer; bombing; crash; crewing up; Distinguished Flying Cross; final resting place; flight engineer; heirloom; killed in action; Lancaster; navigator; Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); Operational Training Unit; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF East Kirkby; RAF Husbands Bosworth; Red Cross; Stalag 3A; Stalag Luft 3; Stirling; training; Wellington; wireless operator / air gunner
Harry Brabin memoir
He sailed on the SS Johan Van Barneve to San Francisco and…
Tags: 102 Squadron; 1652 HCU; 27 OTU; 4 Group; Advanced Flying Unit; air gunner; air sea rescue; aircrew; anti-aircraft fire; arts and crafts; bomb aimer; bomb struck; bombing; Bombing and Gunnery School; bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945); bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944); briefing; crewing up; debriefing; demobilisation; entertainment; faith; fear; flight engineer; forced landing; Fw 190; Gee; gremlin; ground crew; H2S; Halifax; Halifax Mk 3; Heavy Conversion Unit; Ju 88; killed in action; lack of moral fibre; love and romance; Master Bomber; McIndoe, Archibald (1900-1960); Me 109; Me 262; Me 410; military discipline; military ethos; military living conditions; military service conditions; mine laying; Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy; navigator; Navy, Army and Air Force Institute; Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); Oboe; Operational Training Unit; P-51; Pathfinders; perception of bombing war; physical training; pilot; prisoner of war; promotion; propaganda; radar; RAF Gamston; RAF Lichfield; RAF Marston Moor; RAF Pocklington; RAF West Freugh; RCAF Mossbank; recruitment; Schräge Musik; searchlight; Spitfire; sport; tactical support for Normandy troops; Tallboy; target indicator; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington; Window; wireless operator / air gunner; Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
Interview with Peter Zolty
Interview with Gordon Mercier
Tags: 100 Group; 14 OTU; 171 Squadron; 51 Squadron; 78 Squadron; air gunner; Air Gunnery School; aircrew; animal; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; bombing; civil defence; crash; crewing up; demobilisation; FIDO; Halifax; Home Guard; Lancaster; Master Bomber; military discipline; Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); Operational Training Unit; RAF Abingdon; RAF Breighton; RAF Bridgnorth; RAF Bridlington; RAF Dunsfold; RAF North Creake; RAF Riccall; RAF Snaith; RAF Stormy Down; searchlight; tactical support for Normandy troops; take-off crash; training; Whitley
Interview with Donald Raymond Harris
Tags: 625 Squadron; 97 Squadron; air gunner; aircrew; crewing up; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; Operation Dodge (1945); Operation Exodus (1945); Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945); RAF Bridgnorth; RAF Bridlington; RAF Eastchurch; RAF Halton; RAF Scampton; training; Wellington; wireless operator / air gunner
Interview with Arthur Sidney Woolf
Tags: 630 Squadron; aircrew; crewing up; Dominie; evading; fear; final resting place; Guinea Pig Club; Lancaster; McIndoe, Archibald (1900-1960); Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); Oxford; prisoner of war; promotion; RAF Dumfries; RAF East Kirkby; RAF Upper Heyford; RAF Wigsley; RAF Wroughton; RAF Yatesbury; shot down; Stirling; Wellington; wireless operator
Interview with John Derek "Bill" Bailey. One
Tags: 103 Squadron; 166 Squadron; 83 OTU; Advanced Flying Unit; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; Bolingbroke; bomb aimer; bombing; Bombing and Gunnery School; Cheshire, Geoffrey Leonard (1917-1992); crash; crewing up; H2S; Halifax; Halifax Mk 2; Halifax Mk 3; Heavy Conversion Unit; Initial Training Wing; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; Lysander; Master Bomber; mine laying; Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF Elsham Wolds; RAF Hemswell; RAF Kirmington; RAF Llandwrog; RAF Lossiemouth; RAF Sandtoft; RAF Swinderby; RAF Torquay; Tiger force; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington
Interview with Keith Ganney
Tags: 17 OTU; 57 Squadron; Advanced Flying Unit; aircrew; bomb aimer; bombing; crewing up; entertainment; Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984); Lancaster; love and romance; Me 109; Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF East Kirkby; RAF Penrhos; RAF Silverstone; Tiger Moth; training
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Loose on the wind
Tags: 1 Group; 12 Squadron; 4 Group; 578 Squadron; 78 Squadron; air gunner; Air Transport Auxiliary; aircrew; animal; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; arts and crafts; B-17; B-24; bale out; bombing; bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943); bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944); control tower; crash; crewing up; Defiant; faith; fear; final resting place; flight engineer; flight mechanic; forced landing; Fw 190; Gee; Gneisenau; grief; ground crew; ground personnel; Guinea Pig Club; H2S; Halifax; Hampden; Harvard; In the event of my death letter; Intelligence Officer; Ju 88; killed in action; Lancaster; love and romance; Lysander; Manchester; McIndoe, Archibald (1900-1960); medical officer; mess; military ethos; military living conditions; military service conditions; navigator; observer; operations room; Oxford; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF Bassingbourn; RAF Bawtry; RAF Binbrook; RAF Breighton; RAF Finningley; RAF Halton; RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor; RAF Kemble; RAF Linton on Ouse; RAF Little Rissington; RAF Mildenhall; RAF Moreton in the Marsh; RAF St Athan; RAF Sywell; RAF Torquay; RAF Tuddenham; Scharnhorst; searchlight; shot down; Spitfire; sport; Stalag Luft 3; Stirling; Tiger Moth; training; Victoria Cross; Wellington; Window; wireless operator; wireless operator / air gunner; Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
H Adams memoir - training and operations
Tags: 1660 HCU; 27 OTU; 467 Squadron; Advanced Flying Unit; aircrew; bombing; crewing up; Gee; Heavy Conversion Unit; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; navigator; Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF Lichfield; RAF Llandwrog; RAF Mona; RAF Swinderby; RAF Syerston; RAF Waddington; Stirling; tactical support for Normandy troops; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington
Interview with Ron Mayhill
Tags: 11 OTU; 1653 HCU; 75 Squadron; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; Blenheim; bomb aimer; crewing up; Distinguished Flying Cross; Heavy Conversion Unit; Intelligence Officer; Lancaster; Lancaster Finishing School; memorial; Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF Chedburgh; RAF Feltwell; RAF Mepal; RAF Westcott; searchlight; Stirling; training; Wellington
Interview with Roland Spencer Williams
Tags: 11 OTU; 1653 HCU; 75 Squadron; air gunner; aircrew; Anson; Bolingbroke; bomb struck; bombing; bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945); Cook’s tour; crash; crewing up; Heavy Conversion Unit; Lancaster; Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945); Operational Training Unit; perception of bombing war; RAF Mepal; RAF North Luffenham; RAF Oakley; RAF Padgate; RAF Westcott; shot down; training; Wellington
Interview with Bruce Cunningham
Tags: 11 OTU; 514 Squadron; aircrew; bale out; bombing; bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944); Caterpillar Club; crewing up; Dulag Luft; evading; fear; Heavy Conversion Unit; Lancaster; Lancaster Mk 2; memorial; Operational Training Unit; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF Stradishall; RAF Waterbeach; RAF Westcott; shot down; Stalag Luft 3; Stirling; training; Wellington
Interview with Walter Morris
Tags: 630 Squadron; aircrew; Anson; bomb aimer; bomb struck; bombing; crewing up; home front; Initial Training Wing; killed in action; lack of moral fibre; Lancaster; military service conditions; Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944); perception of bombing war; RAF East Kirkby; RAF North Luffenham; RAF Silverstone; RAF Swinderby; Stirling; Tiger force; training; Wellington
Interview with Thomas Charles Arthur Long
Tags: 75 Squadron; aircrew; anti-aircraft fire; bombing; Bombing and Gunnery School; Churchill, Winston (1874-1965); civil defence; crewing up; demobilisation; Home Guard; Initial Training Wing; Lancaster; Lancastrian; military ethos; military service conditions; mine laying; navigator; observer; propaganda; RAF Halfpenny Green; RAF Mepal; RCAF Moncton; recruitment; training
An Airmans Tale
Chapter 1. Under Training.
Having been assessed in Birmingham Geoff sets off to London in August 1942 for training, at Lords. Initial training was at Bridlington then gunnery school at…
Tags: 115 Squadron; 12 OTU; 1651 HCU; 1678 HCU; 514 Squadron; 75 Squadron; 90 Squadron; air gunner; Air Gunnery School; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; bale out; bomb aimer; bombing; Cheshire, Geoffrey Leonard (1917-1992); Churchill, Winston (1874-1965); crewing up; escaping; evading; flight engineer; ground personnel; Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984); Harvard; Heavy Conversion Unit; Initial Training Wing; Ju 88; lack of moral fibre; Lancaster; Lancaster Mk 2; Lancaster Mk 3; Martinet; Me 109; Me 110; Me 410; Meteor; Mosquito; navigator; Navy, Army and Air Force Institute; Nissen hut; Operational Training Unit; Oxford; Pathfinders; pilot; prisoner of war; RAF Andreas; RAF Brackla; RAF Bridgnorth; RAF Bridlington; RAF Chipping Warden; RAF Coningsby; RAF Cosford; RAF Downham Market; RAF East Kirkby; RAF Feltwell; RAF Foulsham; RAF Halfpenny Green; RAF Hornchurch; RAF Jurby; RAF Little Rissington; RAF Mepal; RAF Newmarket; RAF South Cerney; RAF Stradishall; RAF Ternhill; RAF Waterbeach; RAF Witchford; RAF Wratting Common; searchlight; Spitfire; Stirling; target indicator; the long march; Tiger force; training; V-1; V-weapon; Wellington; wireless operator; Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
Interview with Leonard Ralph Tyrell
Tags: 1660 HCU; 17 OTU; 207 Squadron; 44 Squadron; Advanced Flying Unit; aircrew; Anson; anti-aircraft fire; bomb aimer; bombing; crewing up; demobilisation; Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain (1926 - 2022); faith; fear; ground crew; Heavy Conversion Unit; Lancaster; memorial; military ethos; military living conditions; military service conditions; Operation Dodge (1945); Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945); Operational Training Unit; RAF Halfpenny Green; RAF Silverstone; RAF Spilsby; RAF Syerston; Stirling; superstition; Tiger force; training; Wellington