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Letter from Ian Wynn to his wife
![EWynnIAWynnK[Date]-16.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1018/11647/EWynnIAWynnK[Date]-16.jpg "EWynnIAWynnK[Date]-16.jpg")
He writes that he is coming home on leave and that he has taken part in another bombing operation to Duisburg.
Interview with Albert Smith
Albert was born in Aberdeenshire. Before the war he worked as an apprentice in an engineering firm. In 1943 he volunteered for the Royal Air Force, trained at London, Bridlington and Newquay before going for mechanical and engineering training. …
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 Sydney Smith
Sydney’s father died when she was a baby. Her mother remarried and had another daughter and son. The son became ground crew in the Royal Air Force.
Sydney lived a few miles from London and attended Byron Court School in Webley. She was five when…
Sydney lived a few miles from London and attended Byron Court School in Webley. She was five when…
Citation for Distinguished Flying Medal for three members of 226 Squadron
Sergeant J K Henson, Flight Sergeant A H D Batty and Sergeant L S Coleman all of 226 Squadron were awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for the action around a daylight attack on Merville airfield.
Interview with Eddy Smythe. Two
Eddy Smyth’s father was John Smythe. John left Sierra Leone to join the RAF during the Second World War. He was shot down over Germany and spent two years as a prisoner of war. After the war he trained as a barrister and returned to Sierra Leone…
Interview with Tony Snook
Tony Snook was an air gunner and served on 115 Squadron in the later stages of the Second World War. A member of the school air training corps, he had his first experience of flight when his squadron partook in a summer camp. He describes how an…
Interview with Leonard William Sparvell. Two
Leonard Sparvell lived in Bexley Heath until he joined the RAF in 1944. He trained as a Flight Engineer and was posted to RAF Kirmington. He speaks of a long operation to Stettin, in which he was in the air for nine hours and 45 minutes. He flew 30…
Letter from Ian Wynn to his wife
Relates trip to London and describes show at the Palladium and tea at the Canadian Beaver Club. Mentions some damage to buildings in London. Writes that that he has found an old toy engine at his billet for his son David. Talks of troops scheduled…
Interview with Frank Stanney
Frank Stanney was working on the land before he volunteered for the RAF. After training he flew operations as a wireless operator with 61 Squadron. One day his pilot took off as a twenty year old and returned as a twenty one year old as it was his…
Interview with Victor Stapley
Victor Stapley was born in Ilford in Essex, where he was fond of playing cricket. He left school at 15 and worked at a tobacco company. He then became a shipping manager, a job which involved shipping spaces whilst not having any telephones in his…
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 Maurice Stoneman
Maurice Stoneman was posted to 57 Squadron at RAF East Kirkby as the flight engineer on Lancasters in 1943. He recalls that on returning from operations they used to fly around the Boston Stump and around Lincoln Cathedral before finally landing. In…
Interview with Mary Stopes-Roe
Discusses her father’s designs work and remembers both skipping stones on a river during holidays with her father and catapulting marbles over a washtub in their garden. She goes on to discuss the Eder Möhne and Sorpe operation, the bouncing bomb…
Interview with Muriel Stoves
Muriel was brought up and went to school in Wolverhampton. From the age of six she had wanted to be a teacher. After high school and training college she became a teacher at Low Hill School, mainly teaching English and religious education. She…
Interview with James Swaffield
James Swaffield was born and grew up in West London and flew as a navigator in the RAF. He discusses with the interviewer his life before, during and after the war. Highlights include: remembering his father, who served during the First World War and…
Interview with Eric Horsham
Eric Horsham was born in East London in 1923. Leaving school at 14 he was a messenger at the Royal Ordnance Factory before working for the railways. In 1937 he joined the Air Training Corps and learned about aircraft maintenance. On his first attempt…
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 Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson grew up in Northern Ireland and volunteered for the Air Force. After training he completed two tours as an air gunner with 103 and 9 Squadrons. He took part in operations against the Tirpitz and served in Germany after the war.
He was…
He was…
Interview with George Thomson. One
George Thomson had always wanted to fly. When he volunteered for the RAF he hoped to be a pilot but re-mustered as a navigator. He was posted to 15 Squadron based at RAF Mildenhall. On their first operation they were attacked by fighters three times.…
Interview with George Thomson. Two
George Thomson was a navigator with 15 Squadron based at RAF Mildenhall. On their nineteenth operation they came under attack and had to bale out of the aircraft. The pilot and mid-upper gunner both died. When he landed he saw a parachute stuck in a…
Interview with John Foster Thorp
John Thorp was born and raised in Manchester where he attended North Manchester Grammar School. At seventeen he joined the Home Guard. When he was eighteen he volunteered for the RAF with dreams of becoming a pilot. While waiting at Heaton Park to…
Interview with Ernie Tillbrook
Ernest Hector Angelo Pedrazzini was the son of an Italian father and an English mother. After the war he changed his name to Tillbrook. Ernie’s father escaped from a prison camp during the First World War and finding his way to Russia and…