1
25
7
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45321/E[Author]JAbbottER471024-0001.jpg
a6192e91958da148c4b4ed79e4d8df3c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2416/45321/E[Author]JAbbottER471024-0002.jpg
778f6aeca932cdfb35807c14cc9617b7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Abbott, E R
Ronnie Abbott
Description
An account of the resource
30 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader E R "Ronnie" Abbott DSO DFM (b. 1913 - 1992, 44877 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, correspondence, documents, objects, photographs and an <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2608">Album of 70 pages.</a><br /><br />He enlisted in 1929 and trained at RAF Halton serving as an engine fitter in the Middle East 1934 -1936. He became a prisoner of war after being posted missing flying in a Battle in 50 Squadron. Post war he served at RAF Swinderby and Khartoum.<br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Lindsey Sutton and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-05-10
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Abbott, ER
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[deleted] Telephone number
KINGSTON 7766
Telegrams:
Airenarch, Telex, Teddington
[deleted]
Suffolk House
Maple Rd
Surbiton
Surrey
[deleted]
HEADQUARTERS
TRANSPORT COMMAND,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
BUSHEY PARK,
TEDDINGTON,
MIDDLESEX
[deleted]
[underlined] 24th October’47. [/underlined]
Dear Abdul
I must apologise for my long silence. How are things going for you? I heard a certain amount from Freddie of course when I went down to see her.
Re-myself, I had a medical at C.M.B after my months sick leave and I went through the whole [indecipherable word] and came out A.HBH which of course permits me to fly but in this country only. They almost guarantee my being A.B at the end of six months. This H. business is a nuisance as it has nothing to
[Page break]
do with my health but is apparently more a question of policy. Anyway, the category being what it is at the moment, I cannot accept my P.C. on my promotion to subs. s/ldr Also all temp. ranks are dropping on hours . I. Whether or not I shall retain mine remains to be seen.
At the moment I am stationed at the above address but continue to live at Suffolk House.
I am within easy reach of London so if you do happen to come south please let me know and we can make the necessary arrangements.
My regards to your wife and all the best to yourself.
Sincerely ,
[underlined] John. [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Ronnie Abbott from John
Description
An account of the resource
He apologises for not writing. He has passed a medical and can fly again but only in the UK.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10-24
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
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Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
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One double sided handwritten sheet
Identifier
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E[Author]JAbbottER471024-0001, E[Author]JAbbottER471024-0002
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10-24
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sandra Jones
aircrew
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39677/EKillenFReidKM471001-0001.1.jpg
ad57ae866a65a781ab97c44963d1fb2b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39677/EKillenFReidKM471001-0002.1.jpg
d7580c6f01151dcaee0ddb23c1a832f6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Reid, K
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Mitchel Field, N. Y.
Sq. H., 104 AAFBU
October 1st, 1947
My darling Cathie:
I received your letter and the program, I was afraid to read the letter, because I just sent you one in which I was pretty boring and nasty. But I did take the program and scan it until I found your name. Then I was so proud that I showed it to everybody on this floor. They all like you even though they don’t know you. I have said nothing but good about you, and that’s all I do -- is tell them how nice and sweet and unpretentious you are -- the girl who will say nothing about someone -- unless she can say good. That’s the way I remember you. You know, darling, I can’t remember ever you speaking unkindly of anyone. Even though I did. Know what I remember right now? That incident at the Buckinghamshire (what a long name) Arms, with Rennee. And you had tears in your eyes just because I was arguing with her. I should have realized that she wore her heart on her sleeve.
I have been terribly busy -- getting out the last issue of the paper … now I’ll have time for my own affairs. You know, I was married to The Beacon; instead of dominating it, I allowed it to take control of me. One of my friends here on the base -- a doctor in the hospital -- told me to become the master of it, if I wanted to keep my health. In a way now -- after its all over -- I'm glad that it has been suspended, because it will give me a rest and more time for personal affairs. And that first personal affair will be to get these forms out to you. The second will be to find a state where a transatlantic wedding is recognized. It isn’t New York. Perhaps across the reiver [sic] in New Jersey or even Pennsylvania. I am going to find out today.
Darling, I have tickets to the world series baseball game in New York today. I don’t know if you are familiar with baseball, but it is our national sport. Each year the two top teams -- one in each league -- the American and National leagues -- meet to see who is better. They must win 3 out of 5 games to win the world series. Today is the second game. The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees are playing this year. Not very often do two teams from the same city win pennants from their respective league Cost me $8 -- 2 pounds for a reserved seat, but its worth it. People are paying
[page break]
as much as $100 to get tickets now, because it is a sellout ….
A couple of weeks ago I saw the national tennis championship matches. At Forest Hills, Long Island …. England had some entries and also Australia and Czyoslovakia [sic] (I can’t remember how to spell that word, but that’s near enough).
Darling, your Wendy Hiller has just opened on Broadway to rave notices in “The Heiress” -- it’s the first hit play of the new season. The press was unaminously [sic] favorable, [sic] so I imagine she’ll be over here for a 2-year run at least. Basil Rathbone co-stars with her. Last time Wendy was in America was when she appeared in “Love on the Dole” in 1936 … or so the critics remind us. I remember her for Pygmalion (the picture). Also in New York, and the baby of the critics is her picture “I Know Where I’m Going.” Seems that in England they are striking in against American pictures, while in America, a picture must be either Russian or English to get top notices. I saw Michael Simon in “The King’s Jester” – "Rigoletto” -- at the city near here. French cast, Italian dialogue, English titles, so you know how mixed up it must have been. But the music was beautiful.
Metropolitan Opera Co. opens its season in November and I plan to go just to say I have seen a real opera, by the Met. I want to see Rise Stevens in Carmen, because the music from that is my [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] favorite. [sic] The dance, The Toreador, and especially Habanera.
So you saw me in the movies. I was also in a newsreel, which I don’t think showed in England. Paramount news took my picture on Air Force Day here. They had 5 newsreel companies here. I was leaning out of a window on the third floor of a building and the [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] cameraman took a long shot of me and the crowd, and made it into a closeup -- me staring intently at the air show.
I was thinking – dreaming. I’d like to [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] slip into the theatre and watch you going through your paces …. You wear a lot of powder in that role, because Elvira is the [underlined] spirit [/underlined] isn’t she? I can’t remember too much about Blithe Spirit. Except that it was pretty great. Send me a programme of [underlined] every [/underlined] play you are in, will you darling …. and I want that picture of you …. if I’m not too greedy, send me more than one pose. I want you all over the place. Can you blame me?
Enclosed you will find a small picture which was made on the back of a match bo . [sic] I went to a night club recently and the photographer insisted that I have my photo made. Then they develop the photo and put in on the back of
[page break]
[missing pages]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Part of letter to Cathie from Ford Killen
Description
An account of the resource
Acknowledges receipt of her letter. Writes about her kind nature. Continues with description of his activities with his newspaper. Mentions he had tickets to the world series baseball and describes what baseball is about. Continues with news about Broadway new productions. Mentioned he was in movie and newsreel seen in England.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
F Killen
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10-01
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10-01
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
New York (State)--Long Island
New York (State)--Mitchel Field
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
United States Army Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
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Tow sided typewritten letter
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Identifier
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EKillenFReidKM471001-Part
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
entertainment
sport
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35624/SGillK1438901v20020.1.pdf
d27079bd7850cc29296b58cd50593335
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-09
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
War changes everything
At the of age fifteen in 1938, I went to work in the drawing offices of the Leeds Fireclay Company. They were sited on Torre Road in Leeds and I found myself sitting alongside my cousin and great friend Kenneth Gill. He was aged seventeen, which at the time did not seem to be that significant, that is, except to Ken, of course, who would always remind me I was younger. Soon after the start of the war in 1939 the company had to close with many of the staff joining the services including my cousin, who fulfilled and ambition by joining the Royal Airforce.
Here my age did become significant. I was too young to join the forces but, after a visit to the Labour Exchange, was sent to work in the commercial stores of Blackburn Aircraft. They were based on Roundhay Road in Leeds now the site of a Tesco and Homebase stores. You can now find a blue plaque, commemorating the part the factory played during the war, on the wall of Tesco.
This was my dream job. I loved aircraft and just being in the stores was like heaven to me. After a short while in the stores I was offered the opportunity to start an apprenticeship as an electrician, a profession I followed before and after my call up on December 7th 1944.
I was ordered to report to Fort George in the Highlands of Scotland to start six weeks of basic training, where the army tried to turn me into a soldier. I'm not that convinced they succeeded. After a brief break it was down to Catterick Camp in Yorkshire where I joined the Royal Corps of Signals. I guess my training as an electrician was significant in the army's decision to send me to the Corps. Things here brightened up as everyone was a tradesman, even the Regimental Sergeant Major who unusually for a RSM was greatly respected and liked by all.
It was like being back at school making friends and learning new things. We were trained in the art of laying telephone lines and given the job title 'linesman'. This was neither a technical, nor difficult job, but during times of war good communications were very important. I also took the opportunity to learn how to drive, on both four and two wheels, which added greatly to the fun of the place. After this I was sent to Holmfirth (now of Last of the Summer Wine fame) in Yorkshire to await embarkation, to destinations unknown. During my brief stay I had the opportunity of leave and managed
[page break]
to get back to Leeds for a few days.
My journey back to Holmfirth, at the end of my leave, should not have posed that big a problem. I went to catch the Holmfirth bus on Water Lane in Leeds and waited and waited and waited. No bus turned up, in fact not a soul was around. I was just starting to contemplate how many days I would get in prison for being Absent Without Leave when a motor bike pulled up alongside me. Sitting on the bike was an RAF chap who, with a cheery greeting, asked me where I was heading. I replied back to my unit at Holmfirth and as luck would have it that was exactly where he was heading. My days in prison had thankfully just been a passing thought. My luck was in on this and many other occasions.
My cousin Ken appeared to be having a much more exciting time. I was both pleased, and proud of him when he joined the RAF, this was the one service I would love to have joined. He started his training for aircrew in the United States of America and Canada and would return to Canada on many further occasions. Strangely I never asked him if he learnt to fly, although I understand that a large number of aircrew did. Ken had a great head for figures so it was no surprise to me that he became a navigator. At that time there was no such thing as satellite navigation, it was all done by maps, rulers and log tables.
In his early days he flew in various aircraft including Ansons and Wellingtons, finally ending up in Lancasters and was first posted to No. 9 Squadron. This was a short lived post as the whole unit was transferred to No. 617 Squadron. This was shortly after the famous Dambuster raid and was no doubt to replace those sadly lost on that revered raid.
We were lucky enough to meet up on leave on numerous occasions, the happiest of these times was when Ken married Vera. I was very proud and honoured to be his best man and they were blessed a year later with a son, Derek. Looking through Ken's log book, now a proud possession of Derek's, makes for interesting reading. One particular raid that stands out was that on the German pocket battleship Tirpitz. The Tirpitz was holed up in a Norwegian fiord and with great understatement, his log book states simply 'sunk'. I only wish he had been able to tell me in more detail of his adventures, but this being war time and the slogan 'walls have ears', was not possible.
Ken, like so many aircrew at the time, had some narrow escapes but sadly his luck ran out on 21st March 1945, so near the end of the war. On a daylight raid over Bremen a direct hit with the bombs still on board ended his and the rest of the crews lives. Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC, Aircrew Europe with a star and bar, War Medal with star and bar Croix de Guerre, aged twenty-two, left behind a widow and young child. His wife Vera never remarried always thinking that one day he would return from that raid on Bremen.
[page break]
His Croix de Guerre was awarded for flying operations with a French Squadron which for some reason is not entered in his log book Although his award made the newspapers of the time, I have been unable to find out any more details, so for the present it remains one of those many untold stories.
My posting started the weekend after Victory in Europe had been secured. I set sail with my unit, from Southampton heading east and after a brief stop in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) we ended up in Rangoon in Burma. Our unit was attached to the 19th Air Formation Signals and we found our first accommodation to be a very large comfortable house that was obviously in the posh part of town. To my surprise on taking a walk around the area the house was situated on Leeds Road. How ironic when my home town was Leeds. After a brief stay in the house we were based at an Aerodrome at Mingladon about 12 miles away and found ourselves now living in tents. This was a foretaste of what was to come; lots of aerodromes, lots of packing and lots of unpacking.
The work load was to change little throughout my national service. We had very little to do the whole time. We were not complaining, seeing parts of the world we would be unlikely to ever visit, getting well fed after the rationing of home and getting paid. We often wondered why we had ever been sent but we could only play the hand we had been dealt.
It was not long before we were on the move again boarded a Dakota bound for Hong Kong. The pilot turned out to be a superstitious type and after a quick count it turned out there were thirteen of us. Someone had to be offloaded. Very reluctantly one of our drivers was nominated, along with his jeep. First stop was Bangkok and then on to Saigon. It turned out that anyone who flew with RAF transport command, regardless of rank, stayed at the glorious Majestic Hotel. On entering the dining room, we were surprised to find our driver sitting with a very smug look on his face. It turned out he had hitched a lift in another Dakota along with his jeep. So our happy little band headed of in two Dakotas, one with twelve souls and one with only one and his jeep of course.
Arriving in Hong Kong gave me an even bigger shock. As the door of the aircraft opened I was greeted, by an equally shocked friend from back home in Leeds. His name Jeff Nixon; because of the censorship of the time, I was totally unaware of his posting. We both just looked at each other, mouth open and could not find anything more fitting for the occasion than 'what are you doing here?'. We then had a pleasant month in Hong Kong sightseeing and were due to become part of 'Tiger Force' destined to invade Japan, but the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki put and [sic] end to that. Tiger Forces destination was to have been Okinawa in Japan, with the intention of
[page break]
setting up an aerodrome for Lancaster bombers and other assorted aircraft. The bombers were to have been shipped over from the UK, assembled on site, to then be used in similar roles as that carried out over Europe by my cousin Ken. Had he lived, who knows, we may have ended up based together. The end of the war left us in limbo – what to do with us now?
On 3rd April 1946 after a short stay in Hong Kong our small party of 13, joined around 150 RAF personal to board HMS Apollo bound for Shanghai. HMS Apollo was a long narrow ship and had previously been a minelayer, before taking on its ferrying duties. As a minelayer it may have been a very good ship but as a ferry it was hopeless. It never seemed to pitch but had a slow roll that left all but the strong stomached feeling very seasick.
At the end of our journey we sailed up the beautiful Yangtse [sic] river to dock at the Bund in Shanghai harbour. Transport was waiting to take us to our first billet, Ash Camp. During the war Ash Camp had been used by the Japanese as a prisoner of war camp and it filled us with dread what we might find. Thankfully our reservations were soon put to rest as we arrived to find a very comfortable camp. The mess hall was a pleasant shock, cloth table cloths, knifes and forks laid out and milk, butter and sauces in the middle of the tables. At meal times the Chinese waiters would look after our needs and although there was never a menu, were always able to provide us with excellent food.
News reached England that we were staying in a Japanese prisoner of war camp which gave our loved ones worries about our accommodation. They had witnessed the appalling condition our prisoners had returned home in. We were only too happy to set their minds at rest but were left wondering just what sights the camp had seen over the previous years. We were very much in the dark at the time, but were sure that the last Allied soldiers to stay in Ash Camp had not been as well treated as us. Sadly as the atrocious stories gradually filtered through, we found out that our thoughts had been correct, in fact far worse, than we could ever have imagined.
Our next billet was the poetically named the 'Dairy Farm'. Although not a farm there was a field full of cows behind the billet, beyond that some dog kennels and beyond that the Chinese staff billets. The staff liked to keep chickens and when the cockerel got started early in the morning, it set the dogs barking and the cows mooing which resulted in many of the lads getting very little sleep during our brief stay at the Dairy Farm.
From here we moved to our final quarters at The British Country Club. Although our beds were made up in the billiard room this was a very comfortable place to stay. Our meals were taken in the grand old ball room and there was a full size swimming pool. My friend John Bamber and I decided to grasp the opportunity to learn to swim
[page break]
and after a week we had mastered the art of the doggy paddle and a unique form of backstroke.
The purpose of our stay in Shanghai was to establish a staging post for aircraft flying between Hong Kong and Japan. I would like to say that over the next 8 months we were kept busy with the task. This was not the case and gradually the number of personnel was reduced until our party of 13 became 2 with around 100 RAF personnel.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend most of my time enjoying the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai. During this period in Shanghai's history, the city was split into various different national zones. Along with the British zone were Portuguese, American, Russian and French zones. The British zone was near the river and had street names such as Edward VII Street. Each zone reflected its own country and if you ever found yourself lost you could always take a look at the street names to find out who's zone you were in. I had many happy nights sampling different cultures, being invited to various countries all within the confines of one city.
One of the few exciting moments was during a visit to the airfield at Lungwha, just outside the city. John was driving a 3 ton Ford truck with me in the passenger seat. We were driving across the perimeter road, which was poorly names as it went directly across the main runway, when John stalled the truck. There was no automatic ignition on the truck so I jumped out to man the starting handle. John looked on as I turned the V8 engine over with one hand, jumped back in and told him to move quickly. He had not be [sic] able to see the Curtiss Commander coming in to land on top of us. Thankfully disaster had been averted. Once we had got back to camp and calmed down I tried to turn the engine over again, it took all my strength to do it with two hands, let alone one. It is surprising what you can do when blind panic sets in.
After eight happy months in Shanghai we had to leave in a bit of a hurry. The communists were at the outskirts of the city and ready to enter any day. This would be the closest I ever came to actual active service. John and I boarded the ex midget submarine supply ship, HMS Bonaventure and set sail back to Hong Kong. We were the last two British Army personnel to leave Shanghai.
Arriving back in Hong Kong I had to say good bye to John. He had been posted to Singapore while I was to stay on, based at Kaitak aerodrome. This was to be my first proper post since leaving England with the job title 'test clerk'. This involved working from the telephone exchange testing the lines and dealing with any breakdowns. Once again this was not a very demanding job bit [sic] it did have the best working hours I've ever had, 9.00am to 4.00pm with 1 1/2 hours for lunch a NAFFI break morning and afternoon with every Saturday and Sunday off. I took the opportunity to improve my swimming
[page break]
with regular visits to Castle Peak Bay.
When I came to the end of my posting I was offered jobs with both Light and Power Company and the Hong Kong Telephone Company. This was very flattering but I missed my parents and wanted to get home to Leeds so, in October 1947, I boarded my last ship, the MV Devonshire and six weeks later arrived back in Liverpool, to be demobbed on December 7th 1947, three years to the date since my call up.
I had always wanted to join the RAF like my cousin Ken. Ironically for the majority of national service I was posted alongside the RAF. This gave me many benefits; good food, good accommodation, some wonderful parts of the world to explore and the chance to see up close the aircraft. I have maintained that love of aircraft to this day, both watching them fly and painting them.
How different this might have been, had I been born two years earlier. My cousin like so many others lost his life aged only twenty-two, here I am retired for over twenty-five years. Those two years we used to joke about cost so many lost years, for those like Ken who never came back and for those like his wife Vera, who never came to terms with the fact, that he never came back. It hardly seems fair.
Arthur Alexander Gill
[inserted] Memorial to Air Force personel. [sic] the name previous to F/O Kenneth Gill is W/C Guy Gibson.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
War changes everything
Arthur Alexander Gill's memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Arthur Alexander Gill and memories of his cousin Kenneth Gill. Writes of working in the same firm as Kenneth Gill before the war. Too young to join forces, he was employed in Blackburn aircraft stores. Was called up in December 1944. Writes of his army training and being home on leave in Leeds. Then provides outline of his cousin Kenneth Gill's service in the RAF including training in the United States and Canada, operations on 9 Squadron and then 617 Squadron. Mentions Ken's marriage to Vera and birth of son Derek. Mentions Ken taking part in Tirpitz operation and finally that Ken's luck ran out 21 March 1945 on a daylight raid over Bremen when aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire with bomb still on board and all crew were killed. Then continues with his own service history after VE day when he served in Burma, Hong Kong, Shanghai before returning to England in October 1947.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
A A Gill
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1938
1944-12-07
1945-03-21
1946-04-03
1947-10
1947-12-07
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Leeds
Scotland--Highlands
Scotland--Fort George
England--Kirklees
Norway
Germany
Germany--Bremen
Burma
China
China--Hong Kong
China--Shanghai
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
British Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SGillK1438901v20020
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Darryl Harrison
617 Squadron
9 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
killed in action
Lancaster
navigator
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Tiger force
Tirpitz
Wellington
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Doxsey, JA, Photograph album
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-20
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Doxsey, JA
Description
An account of the resource
54 items comprising fifty-two pages and cover of album containing photographs of aircraft, people and places in Europe and Africa during and after the Second World War.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Travels with Dove
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - view from aircraft cockpit of coastline with sea to 'right . Captioned 'Flying along the Gold Coast. Oct 47'.
Top right - rear quarter view of a Dove with a group of men looking down at objects behind the starboard wing. Captioned 'Inspecting samples at Bathurst'.
Centre - view of clouded sky over a town. Captioned 'Tropical storm Lagos'.
Bottom right - the rear part of a Dove parked. Captioned 'At Lisbon'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Ghana
Nigeria
Nigeria--Lagos
Portugal
Portugal--Lisbon
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone--Freetown
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs mounted n an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDoxseyJA18010058
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Doxsey, JA, Photograph album
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-20
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Doxsey, JA
Description
An account of the resource
54 items comprising fifty-two pages and cover of album containing photographs of aircraft, people and places in Europe and Africa during and after the Second World War.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
de Havilland Dove
Description
An account of the resource
Top - front quarter view of a de Havilland Dove parked on an airfield with men servicing. Captioned 'Dove at Casablanca Oct 47'.
Bottom left - view of a cockpit instrument panel. Captioned 'Dove panel'.
Bottom right - Tail if a Dove parked next to a Constellation at Portela, Lisbon, Oct 47'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Morocco
Morocco--Casablanca
Portugal
Portugal--Lisbon
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDoxseyJA18010057
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wedding and Honeymoon
Description
An account of the resource
Left page.
Top left - Stephen and Joy Dawson in centre of wedding photograph of nine people in front of church door. Captioned 'Most important half'.
Top right - Stephen and Joy Dawson stand in front of wedding party photograph of group in front of church door. Captioned 'Full set'.
Middle left - group of four women and two men in formal wear standing in a garden with house with window in background. Captioned 'Relations'.
Middle right - group of men in suits with one woman standing in a garden with house in the background. Captioned 'The Kreme - under the weather like the photographer (Dad)'.
Bottom left - Stephen Dawson in airline uniform and another man in suit stand with Joy Dawson and bridesmaids all in wedding attire. Captioned 'Diversion? Enter the Kreme with pints for all'.
Bottom right - Stephen and Joy Dawson standing in a garden. In the background a man is kneeling alongside a bridesmaid talking to a child. In the background trees. Captioned 'What IS the best man doing'.
Right page.
Title 'Honeymoon Oct 47'
Top left - Joy Dawson in coat and hat standing in a columned doorway. Caption 'Lets go in - the woman'.
Top right - Hotel on a riverbank with surrounding trees. Captioned 'The Complete Angler - Marlow'.
bottom left - in the foreground a river with weir on the right. On the far bank on the left a church. Caption 'The church and weir'.
Bottom right - Stephen Dawson in a rowing boat with no oars in a river. On the far bank a building. Captioned 'Sink or swim - the man'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Ten b/w photographs on two album pages
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDawsonSR16010064, PDawsonSR16010065, PDawsonSR16010066, PDawsonSR16010067, PDawsonSR16010068, PDawsonSR16010069, PDawsonSR16010070, PDawsonSR16010071, PDawsonSR16010072, PDawsonSR16010073, PDawsonSR16010074
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Marlow (Buckinghamshire)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
love and romance
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Friends and wedding
Description
An account of the resource
Left page.
Top left - a man and women having a picnic sitting in long grass. Captioned 'Shambles'.
Top right A woman wearing slacks and shirt kneeling holding a calf while another woman wearing skirt and top stands to the right with he hand on the calf's ear. Captioned 'another friend'.
Middle - a woman wearing skirt and top standing in a field by a calf that is nosing her knees. In the background a line of trees.
Bottom left a woman in raincoat and headscarf standing alongside a man in suit and tie. In the background two women walking past and a cliff face. Caption' Bill and Fred'.
Right page.
Title 'October 11th 1947'
Top left Joy Dawson in bridal gown holding a bouquet. In the background a tall fence behind which are houses. Top right Joy Dawson on the left in bridal gown with bouquet and on the right a woman in dress holding a bouquet. Caption for both photographs 'Bride, and, Chief Bridesmaid'.'.
Bottom left - Stephen Dawson in airline uniform standing between bride and chief bridesmaid both in wedding attire in front of church. Bottom right Stephen Dawson and another man both in uniform, standing between bride and chief bridesmaid in wedding attire in front of a church door. Caption for both photographs 'Newly Weds!!'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1947-10-11
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight b/w photographs mounted on two album pages
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDawsonSR16010055, PDawsonSR16010056, PDawsonSR16010057, PDawsonSR16010058, PDawsonSR16010059, PDawsonSR16010060, PDawsonSR16010061, PDawsonSR16010062, PDawsonSR16010063
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1947-10-11
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
love and romance