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Interview with Rita Patrignani
Rita Patrignani (b. 1921) mentions wartime food shortages and tells how she picked up what she found on the ground at the market. She describes the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome. She compares her impulse to dash to the nearest…
Interview with Rob Carter
Rob Carter was born in the village of Scampton and reminisces about his life on the land before the war. He recalls the foundation of RAF Dunholme Lodge, which his house overlooked. During the war, he served in the Auxiliary Fire Service. He was…
Interview with Robert Barnes. One
Robert Barnes was working in a Reserved Occupation and so knew the only way he could join the RAF was to volunteer for aircrew. Before he volunteered he was also a member of the ARP and Home Guard. Robert trained as a flight engineer and was posted…
Interview with Robert McClements. One
Robert McClements flew operations as a mid upper gunner with 10 Squadron.
Interview with Robert McClements. Two
Robert McClements grew up in Northern Ireland and, after working in various jobs, he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He flew a tour of operations as a mid upper gunner with 10 Squadron. He discusses the model of his aircraft that a German…
Interview with Robert Norman William Didwell. Two
Robert joined the RAF at the end of 1938 when he was 18. He flew with 99 Squadron, spending three and a half years overseas. Robert recalls how his older brother was a regular soldier before the war in the 1920s, and his mother was a kitchen maid.…
Interview with Robert William Maggs
Robert Maggs lived in London until his family were bombed out and moved to the seaside. He joined the local Air Training Corps and later volunteered for the RAF and trained as a gunner. During training his plane crashed and he was left trapped. He…
Interview with Robert Woodhouse
Robert Woodhouse was living in Pembroke Dock when the bombing of the town began. The family relocated to Cardiff when they lost their home in the bombing. In Cardiff Robert joined the Air Training Corps. He had a cousin who had already joined the RAF…
Interview with Robin Wright
Robin was born in Norwich on 16th June 1937. His father was in the Royal Air Force in Manchester, and then in Thetford Forest where the Merlin engines were stored. He finished his service at RAF Marham. Robin spoke about his school days. He…
Interview with Roddy MacKenzie
Roddy MacKenzie’s father, Roland, joined the Canadian Royal Air Force in 1942. He trained as a pilot and worked as an instructor in Canada before being posted to RAF Kirmington, where he joined 166 Squadron and received the Distinguished Flying…
Interview with Roger Calvert
Roger Calvert grew up in Ripon. He joined the Royal Air Force in April 1942 and completed navigation training in Canada. On return to Great Britain, he met up with his pilot, John Thatcher, and they completed 31 operations in Mosquitos with 141…
Interview with Roland Spencer Williams
Roland Spencer Williams was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wanting to get involved in the war he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. After initial training in New Zealand, as an air gunner, he sailed on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam to San…
Interview with Romualdo Siccardi
Romualdo Siccardi (b. 1926) remembers the bombing of the Borgo San Paolo gas holder in Turin, November 1942, when he was 16. He mentions, briefly, makeshift shelters in basements deemed tantamount to death traps and gives a detailed account of the…
Interview with Ron Dawson
Ron Dawson flew over 40 operations with 429 Squadron as air gunner. He joined the Air Training Corps at the age of sixteen. He trained on Ansons and Boulton Paul Defiants and remembers flying in the Whitley. He crewed up at Leicester airport. Tells…
Interview with Ron Flynn
Ron Flynn was living in London before he volunteered for the RAF. He trained as a flight engineer and joined a British / New Zealand crew. He was posted to RAF Mepal. There was at least one occasion when a fire in the engines was extinguished by the…
Interview with Ron Harrison
As a child, Ron Harrison witnessed the bombing of Hull. He describes what it was like to be a child exploring the bombed out areas of the city with his young friends. His father was a fireman and while he was attending fires in the dock area their…
Interview with Ron Hemsworth
Ron joined the Royal Air Force in January 1941. Initially a wireless operator/air gunner, he failed morse code at Blackpool. He was posted to RAF Swinderby and worked in the stores and flying control. Air gunnery school followed at RAF Bridlington…
Interview with Ron Mayhill
Ron Mayhill was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He joined the Air Training Corp in 1941, automatically entered the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942, trained as a bomb aimer in Canada, and travelled on the Queen Mary to the UK in 1943. While flying…
Interview with Ron Priest
Ron Priest worked in accountancy before the war and then served as a rear gunner, flying twenty five operations with 149 Squadron from RAF Lakenheath all on Stirlings. Describes his training in England, Canada and the United States, under the…
Interview with Ron Saunders
Ron Saunders joined the RAF as a wireless operator rear gunner and served on 114 Squadron during the war. Remembers, as a little boy, seeing the airship R 101 and the Hindenburg flying in the distance. Describes his training in England and in Egypt…
Interview with Ron Tomlin
Ron Tomlin grew up in Birmingham and was an apprentice carpenter before working in a munitions factory. He volunteered for the Air Force at 18, and after training, flew operations as a bomb aimer with 10 Squadron. His aircraft was forced to ditch in…
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 Ronald Charles Davis
When the war broke out Ronald was a solicitor’s clerk, then got a job with in Portsmouth. Whilst there he volunteered for air crew and went to London to join the Air Force. After about six months he was called up for training. He went on a…
Interview with Ronald Davies
In spring 1940, Ronald Davies joined the RAF to train as a pilot. Following initial training, he was posted to America but was dismissed after crashing a Cessna. Following Pearl Harbour, he trained as a navigator in Port Albert, Canada, but upon…
Interview with Ronald Davis
Ronald Davis grew up in the East End and worked in London as a solicitor’s office boy. He joined the RAF and trained as a fitter airframe. He was saddened when the pilot of the aircraft he services did not return from operation because they had got…