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Interview with Doug Beasley
At the start of the war, Doug Beasley left school at 16 to start work. Initially a member of the Air Training Corps, he was sent for aircrew selection when he became 18. There was a 12-month wait to enlist as a pilot, so he opted to become a flight…
Interview with Max Barry
Max was born in Beaufort, Victoria and grew up on his parents’ dairy farm. Gaining a scholarship led to him becoming a student teacher and attending training college. He was called up when he was 18 and applied to become a reserve in the Air Force,…
Interview with George Rex Armstrong
George Rex Armstrong served in the RAF as a flight engineer. He was born in Belfast and grew up in Donaghadee. He decided to join the RAF because he wanted to follow his brother Ted, who flew 40 operations with 617 Squadron. He mentions being in the…
Interview with an anonymous interviewee (An00509)
The interviewee was born in Berlin in 1924, his father being a British Army surgeon who was posted there to treat badly wounded soldiers. He went to school in France then attended boarding school in Hertfordshire. He volunteered for the Royal Air…
Interview with Gerald Joseph Abrahams
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…
Letter from Dec Dexter to Phyllis Dexter
Catches up with family and talks of small financial details. Mention new crew consisting of Cockney, a Scotsman, a Northumberland man and a Yorkshireman.
Interview with Bert Turner
Bert Turner was a member of the Air Training Corps before the war. He volunteered for the Air Force and was called up 2 August 1942. After training he became a flight engineer with 196 Squadron. He flew some bombing and mine laying operations before…
Interview with Arthur Sidney Woolf
Arthur Woolf was working in an office before he volunteered for the RAF. He was keen on flying and would cycle to Castle Bromwich airfield to watch the aircraft. He was accepted for aircrew training and became a wireless operator. After joining a…
Interview with Don Browning
Don Browning volunteered for aircrew and began his training as a wireless operator in his native Australia. His arrival in Brighton in the UK coincided with his first experience of an air raid. Don was posted to 463 Squadron at RAF Waddington. He did…
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
He writes of life at RAF Wigsley and colleagues mentioned in the Birthday Honours List.
Interview with Andy Andrews
Andy Andrews worked in a gentleman's outfitters shop and volunteered for the Air Force in 1941. He trained at RAF Cardington and Blackpool and after crewing up he flew operations with 10 Squadron from RAF Melbourne. He discusses the members of his…
Interview with James Wright
Jim was a civil servant before joining the Royal Air Force in May 1941. He carried out two tours on 61, 630 and 97 Squadrons. Although he wanted to be a pilot, there was a shortage of navigators. He was called up to Regents Park and then posted to…
Interview with Ray Worral
Raymond (Ray) Worral joined the RAF in 1943. Ray completed his initial training in Bridlington and then St Athen for the Flight Engineers training course and learnt the technicalities of the Lancaster. After being crewed up at Winthorpe, Ray attended…
Interview with Ron Wade
Ron was born in Stoke-on-Trent. He left school at 14 and tells of his experiences working in a pottery factory doing odd jobs, until he was called up. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 at the age of 22 and trained as an air gunner at RAF…
Interview with Kenneth Trent
Ken grew up in London and joined the Royal Air Force on his eighteenth birthday as a pilot. After exams and interview at RAF Uxbridge, he went to Number 9 Receiving Wing in Torquay and an Initial Training Wing in Stratford-upon-Avon. He then trained…
Interview with Reg Spencer
Wembley born, but educated in Essex, Reg Spencer left school in 1939. In 1943, on his 18th birthday, he was called up for National Service. Following initial training at RAF Bridlington he was trained as a wireless operator at No. 2 Radio School at…
Interview with Jack Smith
Jack volunteered for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1940. He went to Padgate and then on to Blackpool where he trained as a wireless operator. Jack proceeded to a radio school at RAF Compton Bassett and then RAF Bramcote. He was posted to…
Interview with William Horace Shaw
Bill was a wireless operator/air gunner. He joined the Home Guard in 1941 and registered for conscription to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1943. He reported to Lord’s Cricket Ground and went to an Initial Training Wing at RAF Bridgnorth. Bill then…
Interview with George Royall
George volunteered to be a pilot but settled for Air Observer. He talks about his selection and training in London and then in Stratford-upon-Avon, where enjoyed the theatre and how, at Brighton, illness separated him from the rest of the course. So,…
Interview with Geoffrey Robinson
Geoff joined the Royal Air Force as a flight engineer in April 1943. He reported to Lord’s Cricket Ground and went to an Initial Training Wing near Sunderland. He moved to RAF Bridlington, followed by six months’ training as a flight engineer at…
Interview with Douglas Robinson
Douglas was in the Local Defence Volunteers before joining the Royal Air Force as a pilot. After Babbacombe, he did initial training at Scarborough and then in Rhodesia. Initial flight training in Harare on Tiger Moths was followed by service…
Interview with John Wakeford Quine
John volunteered for the Royal Air Force as a pilot. He went to Lord’s cricket ground, followed by the Initial Training Wing at Scarborough. He spent 10 hours on Tiger Moths in Carlisle. After a short time at RAF Heaton Park in Manchester, John…
Interview with Henry Pollock
Harry Pollock grew up in London and worked as an apprentice floor layer and as a fireman on the London Midland Scottish Railway before he joined the RAF in 1943. After training, he completed 36 operations as an air gunner with 78 Squadron from RAF…
Interview with Ted Peck
Ted joined 1014 Squadron Air Training Corps at North Weald, then became a flight engineer and warrant officer. He flew 30 operations for 622 Squadron.
Ted describes an incident which occurred in bad weather in a Stirling at the 1657 Heavy Conversion…
Ted describes an incident which occurred in bad weather in a Stirling at the 1657 Heavy Conversion…
Interview with Leslie Robert Pearson
Les Pearson was in reserved occupation as an apprentice in general mechanical engineering, but he volunteered as aircrew. He initially trained as a pilot but was remustered as a bomb aimer. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 153 Squadron from…