Ivan Ure]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Royal Air Force]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales--Colwyn Bay]]> England--London]]> England--Lancing]]> England--Blackpool]]> Scotland--Edzell]]> Scotland--Arbroath]]> England--Whitley Bay]]> Germany]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> France]]> France--Le Tréport]]> France--Abbeville]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Poland--Świnoujście]]> Poland--Białogard]]> Europe--Elbe River]]> Germany--Lüneburg]]> Germany--Rheine]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Ivan Ure]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> Royal Navy]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Isle of Wight]]> Norway]]> Scotland--Argyllshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Westbourne (West Sussex)]]> England--London]]> England--Hayling Island]]> England--Evenley]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Blackpool]]> Germany]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> France]]> France--Abbeville]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Poland--Białogard]]> Poland--Pyrzyce (Powiat)]]> Germany--Lauenburg]]> Germany--Lüneburg]]> Germany--Rheine]]> England--London]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Ireland]]> Ireland--Dublin]]> Ireland--Cork]]> Austria]]> Austria--Vienna]]> Libya]]> Libya--Tripoli]]> Libya--Banghāzī]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Egypt--Jīzah]]> Egypt--Port Said]]> Kuwait]]> Bahrain]]> Iran]]> Iran--Tehran]]> Scotland--Oban]]> Reg Wilson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> France--Dunkerque]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> England--Runnymede]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Chemnitz]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Mühlberg (Bad Liebenwerda)]]> Germany--Eichstätt]]> England--Torquay]]> England--Cambridge]]> England--Manchester]]> Scotland--Gourock]]> Canada]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> United States]]> Georgia--Albany]]> Florida--Lakeland]]> Florida--West Palm Beach]]> Ontario--Trenton]]> Lake Ontario]]> Ontario--Toronto]]> Manitoba--Brandon]]> Manitoba--Winnipeg]]> New Brunswick--Moncton]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Bournemouth]]> England--Whitley Bay]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Douglas (Isle of Man)]]> Scotland--Elgin]]> Scotland--Findhorn]]> Scotland--Forres]]> Germany--Ramsen]]> England--York]]> France--Lorient]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> England--Flamborough Head]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Netherlands--IJssel Lake]]> England--Chigwell]]> England--Kew]]> England--Norwich]]> Europe--Frisian Islands]]> Florida]]> France]]> Georgia]]> Ontario]]> New Brunswick]]> Germany]]> Nova Scotia]]> Netherlands]]> North America--Niagara Falls]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Devon]]> England--Essex]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northumberland]]> England--Surrey]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Surrey]]> Manitoba]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1943-10-02]]> 1943-10-03]]> 1943-10-04]]> 1943-10-08]]> 1943-10-09]]> 1943-11-11]]> 1943-11-12]]> 1943-11-18]]> 1943-11-19]]> 1943-11-22]]> 1943-11-23]]> 1943-11-25]]> 1943-11-26]]> 1943-11-27]]> 1943-12-29]]> 1943-12-30]]> 1944-01-20]]> 1944-01-21]]> Training continued on Whitleys before a transfer to Acaster Malbis for yet more training, followed by the heavy conversion unit at Marston Moor, on Halifaxes.
His first operational posting was 51 Squadron at Snaith. He covers each operation in detail. Interspersed with the details are explanations of electronic systems and tactics used.
During one operation he was shot down and parachuted behind the German lines. Eventually he was taken prisoner, interrogated then transferred to Stalag Luft 7. As the Russians got nearer they were forced to walk west. Later they were transferred by train to Stalag IIIA.
The account then jumps to reunions in the 1980s, then returns to the last few days at the camp as the war ends.
He reached home on 15th May.

This item is available only at the International Bomber Command Centre / University of Lincoln. ]]>
Henry Wagner]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Royal Navy]]> Great Britain]]> England--Henley-on-Thames]]> England--Reading]]> England--London]]> England--Brighton]]> England--Hull]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Liverpool]]> South Africa--Durban]]> South Africa--East London]]> Yemen (Republic)--Aden]]> Egypt--Suez Canal]]> Egypt--Port Said]]> Libya--Tobruk]]> Italy--Sicily]]> Algeria--Algiers]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Whitley Bay]]> England--Newquay]]> England--Falmouth]]> England--York]]> Northern Ireland--Belfast]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Germany--Jülich]]> Germany--Essen]]> England--Beachy Head]]> Germany--Neuss]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> England--Derby]]> Germany--Soest]]> England--Nottingham]]> Germany--Hildesheim]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Münster in Westfalen]]> Alps]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg)]]> Germany--Düren (Cologne)]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> Germany--Giessen (Hesse)]]> Libya--Banghāzī]]> Yemen (Republic)]]> Italy]]> Algeria]]> Libya]]> Egypt]]> North Africa]]> Germany]]> Belgium]]> South Africa]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Derbyshire]]> England--Northumberland]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Schönebeck (Schönebeck)]]>
Suzanne Pescott]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> France]]> France--Poix-du-Nord]]> 1944-07-01]]> 2017-06]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Monk]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> MLawsonHA19210824-161128-010002]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Forres]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Essen]]> France--Rennes]]> France--Normandy]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> England--Salford (Greater Manchester)]]> France--Mantes-la-Jolie]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> He met his future wife in the Unity bar in Lincoln.
Reg survived a crash on a fighter training session when four of his aircrew died.
He also survived ten operations to Berlin. On one operation they were shot up and lost a lot of fuel and had to make an emergency landing at RAF Wittering where no one could be found because they were at a party, on base.
Arriving back on another operation they found everywhere fogged in but landed at RAF Melbourne where they had to stay for a few days until the fog cleared. They had no clothes to change into, no money and no toothbrushes.
After one operation they landed safely and on powering down the aircraft a bomb, which should have been dropped over Germany, came free and rattled down the bomb bay without exploding.
Once they came back with a large hole in the wing, made by a bomb.
On another op they shot down a JU-88 night fighter.
Bombing operations were directed by a Master Bomber who set flares.
Reg and Fred were given Lincoln Imps as mascots but the night Fred died he had left his mascot on another tunic.
He describes the landing procedures when 40 Lancasters arrive back at the same time, most low on fuel.
His navigator, Fl Lt Frank Swingerd calculated winds aloft and Reg transmitted these to 5 Group aircraft.
He describes the various operating areas of the crew on board the Lancaster.]]>
Reg Payne]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Rutland]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> Germany]]> 1943]]>
By June 1943 Reg is at RAF Cottesmore, 14 Operational Training Unit.
He details his daily tasks before operations.
Next he is moved to RAF Wigsley Heavy Conversion Unit for conversion to Halifaxes then Lancasters then ended up at RAF Skellingthorpe.
The social life at Skellingthorpe is popular and he met his first wife.
November 1943 his brother is missing over Dusseldorf.
Each operation he was involved in is described in detail.
Later in his memoir he details where and when he trained.
There is a list of prisoners of war from his squadron and a colour photograph of Reg and two colleagues at the tail of Lancaster 'Just Jane'.
There is a list of Reg's paintings.
He details his post war service via Libya, Cairo, Iran, India and Karachi, ending up at 56 Forward Repair Unit in Rangoon.
In June 1946 he returned to the UK by ship.]]>
Reg Payne]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Belgium]]> Burma]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Burma--Rangoon]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--London]]> France--Paris]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> France--Marseille]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> Germany--Wolfenbüttel]]> Poland]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-04-05]]> 1944-04-06]]> 1944-04-18]]> 1944-04-19]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>