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Interview with Eric Hookings
Eric Hookings joined the RAF and served as ground crew at RAF Newton before training as a pilot in America. He was posted to RAF Bruntingthorpe, flying Wellingtons, Stirlings and Lancasters with 619 Squadron. During an operation an Me 110 shot down…
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 Charles Henry Clarke. One
Charles volunteered for the RAF when he was 17 and trained as a bomb-aimer at RAF North Luffenham. After qualifying, he was posted to 619 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa. He was shot down on his 18th operation and he became a prisoner of war. He talks…
Interview with Charles Henry Clarke. Two
Charles Clarke joined the RAF aged 17 and began training as a pilot but he became ill with mumps and later trained as a bomb aimer. His aircraft was shot down on an operation to Schweinfurt and he became a prisoner of war. He took part in the Long…
Interview with Rex Alan Austin
Rex Alan Austin was born in Werribee, Victoria in Australia on 4th of January 1924. Rex’s father served in World War One in the middle east and then transferred to the Australian Flying Corps, later known as the Royal Australian Air Force. Schooled…
Interview with James William Birchall
James Burchill was in the ATC before he volunteered for aircrew training. He was expected to be deferred but was told he had been chosen for immediate service. On one operation he was injured and by the time he was ready for operational duties again…
Interview with Bruce Cunningham
Bruce Cunningham was born in New Zealand. After initial training as a pilot he was posted to RAF Wescott Operational Training Unit and flew operations with 514 Squadron at RAF Waterbeach. His first operation was over Berlin. On one operation they…
Interview with Ernest Holmes
Ernest Holmes joined the RAF and served as a pilot, flying operations first with 76 Squadron and then on Pathfinders. Gives a vivid and detailed account of when he was shot down over Holland: how he was given shelter by a farmer’s family and moved…
Interview with Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson reminisces about John Blair. He discusses family life in rural Jamaica as a mixed-ethnicity person, highly respected by everyone. He was a qualified teacher, a lawyer, and a farmer. Reminisces other Caribbeans who volunteered and served…
Interview with Ronald Last
Ronald Last grew up in Dorset and worked as an apprentice for the local Gas and Water company before volunteering for the Air Force. He attended the reception centre at Lord's Cricket Ground and describes the medical tests and inoculations recruits…
Interview with Lawrie Lawrence
Jack ‘Lawrie’ Lawrence planned on making a career in the RAF and joined in 1938. He enjoyed those early days when it felt like he belonged to a flying club. This was interrupted by the start of war and operational flying. He flew in Blenheims and…
Interview with Jack Kenneth Lyon
Jack Lyon was a navigator/ bomb aimer and a prisoner of war for almost four years. Born in 1918, he was employed with the London Gas Company as a bookkeeper until August 1939 when he transferred to Shell. At the outbreak of the war, Shell closed…
David Joseph; World War II RAF Pilot and Prisoner of War
![B[Author]JosephDv1.pdf](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/square_thumbnails/1001/11340/B[Author]JosephDv1.jpg "B[Author]JosephDv1.pdf")
Includes David Joseph's service in the RAF, his training in Canada and his operations on Halifaxes at RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor and his movements after being shot down 18 March 1944 and becoming a prisoner of war.
Flying Stories by Paul Hilton
Nine accounts of flying activities during the war.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
'David Joseph's son Brian met Paul Hilton in the 1980's through work, and he was wearing a prisoner of war tie. In…
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
'David Joseph's son Brian met Paul Hilton in the 1980's through work, and he was wearing a prisoner of war tie. In…
Interview with Philip Peel
Mike Peel was a Lancaster pilot and served on two squadrons before becoming a prisoner of war late in 1944. He was an active sportsman and played tennis in his eighties but unfortunately is no longer with us. Using his logbook, letters, and…
Interview with Henry Leslie Shackleton
Henry Shackleton listened to Chamberlain’s speech on the radio and hoped to be a Spitfire pilot. He began his training and was selected as a flying instructor and was posted to Canada. On his return to the UK he was posted to his operational…
Interview with Jack Edward Simmonds
Jack Simmonds was the son of an RAF serviceman. As a result, his childhood was spent moving around a great deal, including spending a few years in Egypt. He joined the RAF and began training as a pilot and then he joined 51 Squadron as a Whitley…
Interview with Tom and Gabi Wilson
Gabi Wilson grew up in Berlin and was a schoolgirl in 1939. She discusses one brother training as an interpreter and another brother returning from Russian prisoner of war camps. She worked as an apprentice at a publisher firm. She met her husband,…
Italian war memories
Ted Neale describes the aircrew and circumstances leading to their baling out near Nereto, Tortoreto, Italy. Some of the crew were captured, but Ted was sheltered by local people. He met up with an English army corporal and travelled by boat to…
Christopher Cheshire
Full length portrait of a man wearing jacket and tie standing in front of foliage. He is holding a pipe. On the reverse 'Christopher Cheshire, taken in Poland, December 1942'.. Reported as taken when he was a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III.…
The prisoner of war, Vol 3, No. 36, April 1945
Includes: editorial concerning supplies to prisoners and numbers released by Russians in Odessa; released by the Russians; ex-internees welcomed home; the brighter side; escaped prisoner reach Italy; official reports from the camps; the letters they…
The prisoner of war, Vol 3, No. 29, September 1944
Includes: editorial matters, dispensing by air mail; greetings at Lisbon; the letters they write home; official reports from the camps; groups from the camps; the brighter side; 'send us books...'; how they help (fundraising at home); examination…
The prisoner of war, Vol 3, No. 27, July 1944
Includes: editorial matters; our sketch club; official reports from camps; the letters they write home; pictures of camp life; groups from the camps; exam results; when they come back; the brighter side; parcels greet repatriates; how they help…
The prisoner of war, Vol 2, No. 25, May 1944
Includes: editors comments; for sailors and seamen (Marlag und Milag Nord camps); official reports from the camps; the letters they write home; groups from the camps; [two pages missing] income tax relief; how they help (fundraising at home);…
The prisoner of war, Vol 2, No. 24, April 1944
Includes editorial matter; a message to relatives from the Archbishop of York (C F Garbett); official reports from the camps; the letters they write home; groups from the camps; do parcels really get there? how they help (fundraising at home); mail…