Browse Items (143 total)

  • Tags: 75 Squadron

PAbrahams.jpg
Gerald Abrahams was sixteen when war was declared. He volunteered for the RAF the day after the Armstrong Vickers factory where he worked was targeted by the Luftwaffe who bombed the local school resulting in the deaths of many children. He trained…

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AParryHP180723.mp3
Hugh Parry was a member of his local ATC and was awaiting the time when he would be able to volunteer for the RAF. His slightly older friends had qualified to train as pilots, navigators or bomb aimers, but because of a backlog of trades they were…

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Muriel Blake was born in 1922 in Oakham, Rutland. Being interested in flying and aeroplanes from an early age, Muriel volunteered when her job prospects ended. Called up in 1944, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Being too short for driver,…

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PParryHP1609.jpg
Hugh Parry was born in Oswestry and joined the Air Force in April 1943 and volunteered to be an air gunner. Knowing that there was a height restriction on air gunners of six feet he hid his height by wearing baggy trousers. After training, he was…

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Peter was born in London and his home suffered bomb damage during the war. He served in the Air Training Corps until joining the Royal Air Force in 1943. After reporting to the Aircrew Reception Centre at St John’s Wood, he spent a few weeks at RAF…

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Len McNamara was born in Bristol in 1924. An apprentice plumber, he joined the Air Training Corps and volunteered for aircrew. Discusses his initial training at various stations, the gunnery course he passed with merit and honours, an escape and…

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Thomas Charles Arthur Long was born in Quorn, England. He was in the Home Guard and worked at Brush as a draughtsman, also gaining a Higher National Certificate from Loughborough College. He decided to join the RAF being that the only way to get out…

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AGoldstrawBJ160827.mp3
Basil Goldstraw was classed as medically unfit for aircrew and following training as a fitter, he was posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Mepal. He discusses aspects of his work as a fitter, being bombed, and life on and off the station. He was posted to…

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John De Hoop was evacuated to Sussex at the start of the war but returned to London in early 1940. He joined the Home Guard before joining the Air Training Corps and went to radio school in RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire, where he experienced flying in a…

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ABantingP160315.mp3
Peter Banting grew up in London and was a member of the Air Training Corps before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. After training he flew operations with 75 Squadron from RAF Mepal and 7 Squadron RAF Oakington. After the war he trained to be…

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PHattersleyCR16010048.jpg
Warrant Officer Des Horgan Royal New Zealand Air Force, far right, and crew sitting on an aircraft engine. Third from left is rear gunner, Flight Sergeant Iwikau Te Aika Royal New Zealand Air Force. Behind is a Stirling 'AA-Q' and airfield…

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PGreenCF1609.jpg
Charles Frederick Green was born in Peckham, London, in 1921. On leaving school, he began an apprenticeship with a printing company, acting part-time as a police courier, before becoming an Air Raid Precaution warden. He then volunteered for the…

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Eddie Worsdale was working as a furniture salesman in Wellington, New Zealand after the Depression era curtailed his education. His brother volunteered for the New Zealand Air Force and so Eddie followed him. After initial training he continued his…

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PWakefieldJ1601.jpg
Jack Wakefield grew up in New Zealand and volunteered for the Air Force and the Army. He trained as an air gunner on Defiants before being posted to 75 Squadron at RAF Feltwell where he completed a tour on Wellingtons, flying operations to locations…

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AMeehanJ150604.mp3
Jack Meehan grew up in New Zealand and worked on the railway before he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew operations as a wireless operator / air gunner with 75 Squadron at RAF Mepal.

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David Rayner Fox grew up in New Zealand and joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. After training, he flew operations as an air gunner with 75 Squadron from RAF Mepal. During one operation his pilot, Dave Moriarty was terribly injured when a…

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ACouperAJ151208.mp3
Allan Joseph Couper grew up in Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He was employed by the State Electricity Company until he volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was accepted for aircrew training as a pilot and…

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PBanksP15010118.jpg
Shows the operations board for an operation by two squadrons to Cologne on 31 May 1942. To the left are listed crew captains with take off and landing times. All have returned to base apart from F/O Johnson who is forth up from the bottom. On the…

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