Browse Items (16 total)

  • Tags: RAF Methwold
  • Type is exactly "Sound"

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Ray Parke trained as a flight engineer. During one training flight, the pilot wanted to get back to base as soon as possible because he had a date but they were flying a Stirling. The pilot made an error on landing and the wheel stayed in the ditch…

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Born on 27 December 1924 in Aigburth Liverpool, James was 15 when war broke out in Europe. He intended to join as a pilot, navigator, bomber aimer in 1943 but, due to shorter waiting list and training time, he trained to become a wireless operator at…

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Peter was born in Nelson, Lancashire and had two brothers. He was 16 when he left school in 1940 and got a job until joining the Royal Air Force in 1943. He went to London Air Crew Reception Centre before going to Initial Training Wing at RAF…

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Frances Elizabeth Secker is a lifelong resident of Feltwell. She was still at school when RAF Feltwell opened in 1937, and remembers the Harrow being the first aircraft to arrive, followed by Wellingtons. Elizabeth has clear memories of attending…

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Frank Saunston joined the ATC in 1941 and the RAF in 1942. He worked as a transport driver at RAF Peplow and then as a forklift driver at RAF Methwold on the bomb dump. He describes his role and his duties and gives details regarding the bombs used.…

AParkeRG161019.mp3
Ray Parke worked on the railway before joining the RAF in 1943. He recalls flying 40 operations as a flight engineer with 218 Squadron by the time he was 20. He tells about operations on Essen and the Ruhr, and discusses the Dresden operation, giving…

AMearsCE170921.mp3
Charles left school with no formal qualifications and was undertaking further education when the Second World War commenced. Being too young to enlist, he joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps, eventually joining when he was aged 18. He was detached to…

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Anthony Kent was born in Wood Green, London, and his family settled in Eltham. Tony started an apprenticeship with Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, at the start of the war and worked as an apprentice draughtsman for 18 months before volunteering for the RAF.…

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William Holmes remembers his time as a pilot in the RAF. He gives a vivid and graphic account of the dramatic crash-landing which left him badly injured and brought him to join the Guinea Pig Club. William remembers various episodes of his…

AShepherdFH150525.mp3
Frederick joined the Royal Air Forcein 1941. After going to RAF Cardington, he was given deferred entry and studied for a year at university. He was invited to London for initial training, followed by the Initial Training Wing at RAF Newquay. He did…

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Freddie Frederick volunteered for the Royal Air Force and completed a course in RAF Blackpool. He was posted to No. 12 Initial Training Wing at RAF St Andrew, although was unsuccessful in his flying test. Freddie was then trained at RCAF Moncton in…

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Tony Adams grew up in Australia and was studying accountancy when he was conscripted into the army at the age of 18. He later transferred to the Air Force, trained as a wireless operator and was sent overseas to the UK in June 1943. After training,…

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Gerald joined his brothers in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943, following the Air Training Corps. He went from Melbourne to the Initial Training School in Somers. At the Air Gunnery School in Ballarat, Gerald chose to be an air gunner and was…

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John was a founding member and corporal at his local Air Training Corps. He would cycle to local airfields to get a flight in different aircraft. He volunteered for the RAF in 1942 and was, finally, called up to Lord’s Cricket Ground in November…

ABatemanJT160802.mp3
James volunteered for aircrew in June 1942, aged 17, purely for the adventure as he was looking for something exciting. He trained in Canada as a navigator and, after a wonderful leave in New York,returned to England for advanced flying training. On…
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