Having completed their training in the spring of 1944 they crossed to Britain on the New Amsterdam. Due to the quantity of chocolate Rex had consumed on the crossing the medical staff thought that he had an appendicitis and he was admitted to a hospital in Glasgow on arrival at Gourock. The hospital was initially empty so Rex was treated very well but shortly after his arrival the wounded from the D Day invasion started to arrive and Rex was found fit enough to join 223 Squadron at RAF Oulton which were flying the B-24. Rex was not too impressed with the aircraft as they were war weary veterans cast off from the 8th US Army Air Force. Although Rex was trained as a Wireless operator / air gunner he flew all his operations as a wireless operator. Rex remembers that his main duties were to listen out for weather diversions he also remembers that there was a piece of equipment that he had that showed aircraft close to them which was very unreliable, probably Fishpond. In August 1944 223 Squadron became part of 100 Group flying radio countermeasures, jamming the German radar and communications frequencies. Rex relates how the squadron aircraft would sometimes leave the main force bomber stream and head for another potential target dropping Window to divide the fighter defences.
Rex flew 20 operations with his crew and related that on one operation to Berlin they were getting short of fuel so diverted to the crash runway at RAF Manston and the groundcrew told them that they only had enough fuel for two minutes of flight. In February 1945 he developed bronchitis and was grounded by the medical staff. On the next operation that crew were shot down over Germany and all the flight deck crew died the navigator and one of the beam gunners managed to bale out. Rex relates that if he had been on the operation he would have died. He was told by the surviving beam gunner that the second beam gunner never wore his parachute harness on operations and was last seen trying to find his harness.
While he was recuperating his late captain’s brother came to visit the squadron he was flying the C47 transporting equipment to Europe and Rex manage to get himself two flights to Brussels. On his return to flying duties Rex only flew two more operations before the European war ended in May. He comments that his captain for those two flights was a Lord Briscoe.
Rex relates that on one of his leave periods he was walking out in the country and a low flying V-1 passed overhead and the engine stopped and it landed and exploded in a field close by.
Rex did not return to Canada until December 1945 crossing in the Queen Elizabeth. He returned to Toronto married the girl that he was writing to during his time in Great Britain. He worked for a small company manufactured high voltage lighting equipment as a salesman until he retired.
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Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Trevor Hardcastle]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Bahamas]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Bahamas--Nassau]]> England--Kent]]> England--Norfolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1945]]>
Vivian was demobbed in January 1946. After the war, he worked for a year on Five Maintenance Unit at RAF Kemble.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Essex]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Kent]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Wirral Peninsula]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Guernsey]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> 1938-07]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>
Albert remembers operations to Dessau and Magdeburg. On one operation shrapnel caught them, there was a big flash and the aircraft filled with smoke. A crew member bailed out and was taken as a prisoner of war. The last two operations were to Heligoland and Bremen, and the crew were also involved in Operation Manna. At one point, Albert was accused of selling aircraft fuel as a million gallons had gone missing, but he was not charged. After completing another mechanics course Albert went to Gibraltar. From there he returned home to be demobbed. After the war Albert finished his apprenticeship in engineering and became a fitter and turner, eventually working for ICI in Northwich. He married a girl he had met while at Hemswell. Albert didn’t keep in touch with the crew but remembered a Simpson (pilot), Pete Jenkins (bomb aimer), Wally Pyle (navigator) and Bob Hayes (rear gunner).]]> Susanne Pescott]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Bridlington]]> England--London]]> England--Northwich]]> England--Newquay]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Dessau (Dessau)]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Gibraltar]]> England--Lincoln]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Kent]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> United States]]> England--Kent]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Arizona--Phoenix]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bingen (Rhineland-Palatinate)]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> Arizona]]> New Brunswick]]> Nova Scotia]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dresden]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1940-10]]> 1945-02]]> 1946]]> Rod Pickles]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Kent]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1944-09-25]]> 1944-10-07]]> Sometimes Dennis was on special night duty alone in a hut a mile away from the control tower. His job was to operate the lighting system on receiving an order from the control tower. He referred to a memorable incident when a Lancaster landed safely and some of the crew kissed the ground.
When the invasion of Normandy began Dennis was transferred to a C-47 squadron. At the end of the war he went up in a Halifax to retrace some of the routes the bombers had taken and to witness the devastation. He left the RAF in 1947. In 1981 Dennis was seconded to the City University of New York.
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Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Egypt]]> Italy]]> Middle East]]> England--Kent]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Somerset]]> New York (State)--New York]]> New York (State)]]>


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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Greece]]> Netherlands]]> Norway]]> South Africa]]> England--Essex]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Kent]]> South Africa--Makhanda]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Africa]]> Egypt]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Kent]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1948]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Gemma Clapton]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> England--Kent]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1945-04]]> 1945-05]]>