Michael Jeffries]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Heather Hughes]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany--Böhlen]]> Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)]]> Germany--Lutzendorf]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Bruce Blanche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> Jean Macartney]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Christine Kavanagh]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Kiel Canal]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco]]> 1944]]>
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Mike Connock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tina James]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Wales]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]>
Mike Connock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carmel Dammes]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Wales]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Somerset]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> He volunteered as aircrew, in 1941 but failed the assessment test on his first attempt. He passed on his second try and went to Bridgenorth for his Initial Wing Training. After progressing through Yatesbury, Sheerness, and Bridlington he was posted to No. 7 Air Gunnery School and was successful at becoming an air gunner.
After ‘crewing up’, and further training which took them to various bases in the UK, they took part in operations to bomb Holland, were diverted to an American Airbase in extremely bad weather, bombed the Ruhr valley, and on 11 September 1944 they were hit by flak.
Fred goes on to describe having to bale out of his aircraft. He was picked up by the Germans and made to board a coach together with his flight engineer and bomb aimer. Fred was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Poland and describes life there together with the value of Red Cross food and clothing parcels. A hidden radio kept the prisoners current with the progress of the war.
The Germans moved the POWs out of the camp before the Russians could advance too close and they were marched through heavy snow and sometimes at night. Fred’s small group of friends tried to escape but were caught and made to continue the march.]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Campbell]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Poland]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944-09-11]]> 1944-09-12]]> 1945-01-19]]>
Enlisting as a wireless operator/air gunner his Morse code speed was very fast and he was sent to Ireland to monitor German signals. He spotted a German U-boat entering a bay and an alerted Hudson aircraft captured it. After further wireless training he was sent to RAF Stormy Down for gunnery training. He then continued his flight training at RAF Yatesbury where his first flight in a Proctor ended in a crash landing as the Dutch pilot had run out of fuel. He was immediately sent back up so as to not lose his nerve. Colin describes in detail how to take radio bearings
He remembers one momentous operation when the replacement rear gunner ordered the pilot to take evasive action by diving, which was very fortuitous as they nearly collided with an enemy fighter, flying beneath them, which was lining up to attack them. After diving to a lower level, a shell passed through the fuselage without exploding, narrowly missing all the crew. With one engine stopped they struggled home and met a flight of United States Army Air Forces bombers who were lost and who followed the Halifax home to RAF Leconfield and landed there. The problem was attributed to the American system of pre-flight briefing.
Colin flew 38 operations and upon leaving the RAF took up a career in sales.
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Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> England--London]]> Germany]]> Ireland]]>
Jimmy refers to some of his operations in France and Germany.
He was sent to RAF Warboys, a Navigation Training Unit, and swapped over to the Pathfinder Force. Jimmy refers to the corkscrew manoeuvre and LORAN navigation system.

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Dave Pilsworth]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany]]> France]]> France--Aunay-sur-Odon]]>
David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1940]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> ]]> Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Sri Lanka]]> England--London]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Cheshire]]> Netherlands]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1944-01-04]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jim Sheach]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]> Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Harrogate]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1941]]> Tom Ozel]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1942]]> 1943-03-29]]> 1944-08-18]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1944-02]]> James Sheach]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Algeria]]> Egypt]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> Poland]]> North Africa]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Algeria--Blida]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Italy--Brindisi]]> Poland--Warsaw]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1943-11-27]]> 1944]]> 1945-08]]> 1944-09]]> 1945]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Poland--Świnoujście]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> 1944-03-18]]> 1945-02]]> 1945-06-19]]> 1946-09-06]]> On his return, Geoff was posted to RAF Stormy Down on Whitleys and RAF Brize Norton where he trained army pilots to fly Horsa gliders. He was also posted to fly Wellingtons at the RAF Sutton Bridge experimental unit.
Geoff was eventually posted to Bomber Command and trained on Wellingtons at RAF Finningley. They did dummy raids, and dropped leaflets and Window. Geoff went to 550 Squadron at RAF North Killingholme in May 1944. He completed seven operations within 11 days and was shot down on the seventh. The first four operations were over the Normandy coast, starting on 5 June 1944 around D-Day.
Geoff describes how his plane was shot on its way to Sterkrade in the Ruhr. They baled out just over the Dutch border. Geoff landed in a wheat field whilst the aircraft hit a farm, killing seven people. Geoff found the church and was given clothing and a false identity card. He went down the escape line with his mid-upper gunner to Antwerp. They were betrayed by the Flemish collaborator, René van Muylem, who had set up a false escape line.
Geoff was interrogated and taken to Frankfurt. He was then sent to Stalag Luft I prisoner of war camp in Barth for nine months. There was little food but it was otherwise acceptable. His parents learnt he was a prisoner when his letter to them was read out by Lord Haw-Haw. The Germans left before the Russians arrived. Geoff was returned on a B-17.
Geoff was posted to Ely as Assistant Air Traffic Controller and stayed in the RAF volunteer reserve until his commercial pilot licence was granted.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Alberta--Medicine Hat]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> Alberta]]> Alberta]]> Canada]]> Nova Scotia]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1944-05]]> 1944-06]]> 1945]]>
David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Italy]]> England--Kent]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco]]> Netherlands--Amsterdam]]> 1943-11]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> Harry Bartlett]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Surrey]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> 1943]]> 1944-08-17]]> 1945]]>