Browse Items (3650 total)

  • Tags: Lancaster

PBunceFSG1609.jpg
Sid was working at a garage and a member of the local Air Training Corps when he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. At 18, he was kitted out at Padgate and trained as a flight mechanic on engines at Blackpool. Sid describes his 18-week training…

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Jim Copus was born in Watlington and volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he was eighteen. After training, he flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron from RAF Bourn. On one operation he realised that it was very quiet. He could not…

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PCoultonWA1608.jpg
William Coulton was born in Derbyshire and worked as an errand boy for the Co-Op until he joined the Royal Air Force in 1943, aged 18. He trained as a flight mechanic and was posted to 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford where he worked on Lancasters. He…

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ADobleRG151117.mp3
Ron Doble grew up in London and joined the Air Training Corps and the fire watchers when war was declared. He volunteered for the Air Force when he was 18 and trained as an air gunner. He talks about the conditions in his turret and the mishaps he…

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Benny Goodman grew up in London and hoped to become a pilot. He volunteered for the Air Force and was originally posted to RAF Abingdon as a ground gunner before beginning his flying training. After qualifying as a pilot in Canada, he became an…

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After spending time in the Air Defence Cadet Corps, Bill Moore joined the Royal Air Force, qualifying as an observer. He tells of his family history in wartime and his transatlantic trip, landing in New York before heading to Canada for his training.…

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AAn00202-150907.mp3
The interviewee was born in London and worked for some time as a clerk until joining the Royal Air Force. He did not like the idea of serving in the Army or in the Navy but - as a Londoner - he was keen to take part in the war, having experienced the…

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AOrmorodJ170207.mp3
John Ormerod left school at 14 and worked in the textile industry before he volunteered for RAF. Initially, he trained as flight mechanic but later re-mustered to be a flight engineer. He talks about synchronising props and the German speaking eighth…

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Jan Black Stangryciuk was born in Poland but his family emigrated to Argentina in 1934. He volunteered to travel to England to join the Royal Air Force in 1939. He recounts his journey, why he made this decision and how he joined the RAF. He was…

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AGilbertAC161013.mp3
Alexander Gilbert, DFC, joined the Royal Air Force in November 1940, and was called forward for service on the 7th April 1941, rising to the rank of Squadron Leader. Alex had a very long and varied career for the Royal Air Force.
Upon his call up,…

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PJohnsonKA1507.jpg
Ken Johnson was born in Doncaster. At the start of the war the family was living in Sheffield but his father decided they should move back to Doncaster to avoid bombing. Ken started work as a joiner and later made cables for barrage balloons. Despite…

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ALambournJP170112.mp3
Flight Engineer John Lambourn joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 17, after working at Stewart Turners with engines and pumps. He recollects seen London burning.
He was classed as working in a reserved occupation, but joined the Air Training…

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PLancasterJ1501.jpg
Jo Lancaster grew up in Cumbria and joined the Air Force as soon as he was able. After training as a pilot he flew a tour of operations with 40 Squadron from RAF Alconbury. He then became an instructor before his second tour flying Lancasters with 12…

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PFraserDK1607.jpg
Donald Fraser grew up in Fifeshire, and worked in forestry until he volunteered into the RAF in 1942, aged eighteen. He trained as a flight engineer and completed a tour of operations with 101 Squadron. He recalls operations to Berlin, being hit by…

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AHopgoodPA160215.mp3
This interview is with Peter Hopgood, who relates the experiences of his father, Sergeant Pilot Phillip Hopgood. Philip Hopgood lived in Liverpool and, after matriculation and having been a member of the Air Training Corps, he registered for the…

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PPageTJ1606.jpg
Thomas Page grew up in a farming family before joining the Royal Air Force in 1940, training as a flight mechanic. He was initially posted to 257 Squadron (Hurricanes) but soon went to Gloucester to train as a fitter from where he was posted to 71…

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APayneTP160422.mp3
Tom joined the Air Training Corps as a deferred service airman even though he was under-age. In April 1942 he received his call up papers to report to the Air Crew Reception Centre at St John’s Wood before being posted to Ludlow. He then went to…

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PQuineJW1603.jpg
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…

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ATrentKL160112.mp3
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…

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PClarkeC1501.jpg
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…

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PBarnettWE1701.jpg
William Edwin Barnett talks about his experience of living on the edge of RAF Westcott, near Aylesbury. Remembers starting to work on a farm at the age of fourteen and describes his everyday life and duties. Tells of being conscripted into the Home…

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ABradfordS161031.mp3
Stanley Bradford was working in a Reserved Occupation until he volunteered. The three services were represented but as he approached them in turn the army and navy both rejected him because of his work. The RAF said that since he was in Reserved…

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PFraserDK1607.jpg
Donald Fraser completed a tour of operations as a flight engineer with 101 Squadron. He discusses the importance of ground personnel, his crew, his operations and the conditions at RAF Ludford Magna. He describes having to stop his mid-upper gunner…

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ACourtPR171211.mp3
Percival Robert Court joined the Air Training Corps in March 1941, volunteering for the Royal Air Force at the earliest age of seventeen and a half. Training at RAF Cardington, he became a flight mechanic. He then moved to Skegness to continue into…

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ACushingTEC180115.mp3
Tom Cushing lived alongside the site of what became RAF Little Snoring in Norfolk. He watched the construction of the airfield over time and the daily life of the operational squadrons thereafter. After the war he continued to be interested in the…

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