Additional information on this item was kindly provided by the donor.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> Map]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> France]]> Italy]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Harry Bartlett]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tina James]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carron Moss]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated S Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Flensburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hannover]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Canada]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Alabama]]> Florida]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Georgia--Atlanta]]> France--Le Creusot]]> France--Montbéliard]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Leverkusen]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> Italy]]> Georgia]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943-02-22]]> 1943-02-25]]> 1943-02-28]]> 1943-03-03]]> 1943-03-06]]> 1943-03-09]]> 1943-03-12]]> 1943-03-15]]> 1943-04-30]]> 1943-05-25]]> 1943-05-26]]> 1943-05-27]]> 1943-05-28]]> 1943-05-29]]> 1943-05-30]]> 1943-06-11]]> 1943-06-12]]> 1943-06-19]]> 1943-06-20]]> 1943-06-21]]> 1943-06-22]]> 1943-07-13]]> 1943-07-14]]> 1943-07-15]]> 1943-07-16]]> 1943-07-24]]> 1943-07-25]]> 1943-07-26]]> 1943-07-30]]> 1943-07-31]]> 1943-08-09]]> 1943-08-10]]> 1943-08-11]]> 1943-08-12]]> 1943-08-13]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-18]]> 1943-08-23]]> 1943-08-24]]> 1943-08-25]]> 1943-08-27]]> 1943-08-28]]> 1943-08-30]]> 1943-08-31]]> 1943-09-01]]> 1943-09-05]]> 1943-09-06]]> 1943-09-27]]> 1943-09-28]]> 1943-09-29]]> 1943-09-30]]> 1943-10-04]]> 1943-10-05]]> 1943-10-08]]> 1943-10-09]]> 1944-07-18]]> 1944-07-19]]> 1944-09-01]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> France]]> Gibraltar]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> Germany]]> Atlantic Ocean--Kiel Bay]]> 1944]]> 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]]>
Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Although he wanted to be a pilot, Ted’s skills were needed as a flight engineer. He was posted to 35 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse in 1940 where he encountered Flight Lieutenant Leonard Cheshire. Later that year, Ted found a crew and aircraft and started operations over Germany. After only four operations, he went to instruct pilots and flight engineers on Halifaxes at 102 Squadron.
Ted was posted to Pathfinders 35 Squadron and was the first flight engineer to be commissioned. After 47 operations, he volunteered and was sent for training as a mid-upper gunner to a Pathfinder Training Unit and 7 Squadron, who needed experienced people. He had to learn about Lancasters, which he compares in some detail to Halifaxes.
Ted outlines the work of the Pathfinders and how the system became more sophisticated. He encountered Donald Bennett and once flew with him, as well as flying with Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris to Brazil.
Ted flew 108 operations (47 on Halifaxes and 61 on Lancasters). He was awarded a Distinguished Service Order.
Ted did an engineering officers’ course at RAF St Athan, followed by 24 Squadron, a VIP transport squadron, flying Lancastrians.
After pilot training in 1947, Ted was flight commander on 217 squadron. He flew Neptunes, which he compares favourably to Shackletons. Ted was then posted to Germany for two years as adjutant with an Air Observation Post squadron and flew Austers. He left the RAF because of impaired hearing.]]>
David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Germany]]> 1938]]> 1940]]>
Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1941-06]]> 1942-12]]> 1945-12-20]]> Gary Rushbrooke]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Singapore]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Great Britain]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> His first operation was minelaying in the Baltic and he recalls standing in the astrodome to warn of enemy fighters. On other operations he would sit in the front turret and occasionally fire at enemy fighters, without success. Further minelaying operations were carried out and on his eighth, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and diverted to a US Army Air Force airfield where he stocked up on goodies, unavailable in England from the base exchange store.
On the 22 September 1943 he took part to an operation to Hanover and describes the night fighter tactics in detail. Following lengthy evasive action his aircraft was forced down to 5,000 feet where it was hit by by anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to bail out over Emden where he was caught by a member of the Luftwaffe who was visiting his girlfriend. After initial interrogation he was sent to the interrogation centre at Dalag Luft and after a two day train journey arrived at Stalag 5 prisoner of war camp.
On July 1944 the encroaching Russian army forced the evacuation of the camp and he was moved to the unfinished Luft 4 camp and remembers the bullying guards and poor conditions. Again in February 1945 the camp was evacuated and after crossing the River Oder in barges marched across northern Germany. After two months he arrived at Lübeck and escaped the column, narrowly missing being captured by German soldiers by conversing in French. Finding an allied airfield he was repatriated to England where he was treated as a hero.
After recuperation he attended a code and cipher course and was offered a commission if he would go to the middle-east. Wanting to get married he declined and wangled his way to 24 Squadron at RAF Hendon, were he was eventually demobbed in July 1946. ]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany]]> Europe--Oder River]]> Germany--Lübeck]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> 1936]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1943-09-22]]> 1944-07]]> 1945-02]]> 1946-07]]>
Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Christine Kavanagh]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Mark Hunt]]> 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]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 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]]>
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]]> Judy Hodgson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> South Yemen]]> North Africa]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Italy--Cassino]]> 1940-08-15]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> 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]]> Tilly Foster]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Scotland--Moray Firth]]> United States]]> Georgia--Albany]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> David Meanwell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Adam Sutch]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Southeast Asia]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> United States]]> Alabama--Montgomery]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Jamaica]]> Bruce Blanche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Czech Republic]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> Scotland--South Ayrshire]]> Czech Republic--Plzeň]]> John Wells]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Canada]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Spain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> France--Paris]]> Northern Ireland--Belfast]]> Spain--San Sebastián]]> Great Britain]]> 1943-04-17]]>