This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Mike Connock]]> Mike French]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Belgium--Kortrijk]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Devon]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> France--Domléger-Longvillers]]> France--Caen]]> France--Calais]]> France--Île-de-France]]> France--Laon]]> France--Le Havre]]> France--Le Mans]]> France--Lisieux]]> France--Montdidier (Hauts-de-France)]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> France--Rouen]]> France--Valenciennes]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Friedrichshafen]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Wales--Pembrokeshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> France--Cap Gris Nez]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1944-02-19]]> 1944-02-20]]> 1944-03-01]]> 1944-03-02]]> 1944-03-07]]> 1944-03-08]]> 1944-03-15]]> 1944-03-16]]> 1944-03-22]]> 1944-03-23]]> 1944-03-24]]> 1944-03-25]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-04-11]]> 1944-04-18]]> 1944-04-19]]> 1944-04-20]]> 1944-04-21]]> 1944-04-22]]> 1944-04-23]]> 1944-04-24]]> 1944-04-26]]> 1944-04-27]]> 1944-04-28]]> 1944-05-10]]> 1944-05-11]]> 1944-05-19]]> 1944-05-20]]> 1944-05-21]]> 1944-05-22]]> 1944-05-23]]> 1944-05-31]]> 1944-06-01]]> 1944-06-04]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-07]]> 1944-06-12]]> 1944-06-13]]> 1944-06-14]]> 1944-06-15]]> 1944-06-16]]> 1944-06-18]]> 1944-06-21]]>
From information kindly provided by the donor. 'Crew Examining Wheel, Andrewartha looking at tyre.']]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> From information kindly provided by the donor. F/O Andrewartha DFC, Skipper HK555 KO-E'.
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IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]>
Photos 1, 2 and 3 are head and shoulders portraits annotated as "Escape" photographs.
Photo 4 is a half length portrait of Kenneth with a navigator brevet.
Photo 5 is a near three quarter length portrait of Kenneth.
Photo 6 is Kenneth and six crew standing in front of a Lancaster.
The page is annotated
'Flying Officer Kenneth AL Killeen
Royal Air Force 1942-1946
184115 - Navigator
115 Squadron (Lancaster)
3 Group. Bomber Command
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Communications Squadron'.
The history of 115 Squadron covers the squadron's service, operational performance and points of interest. ]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]>
GB Blacklock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Skipton]]> Scotland--Bedrule]]> England--Northumberland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> England--Appleby-in-Westmorland]]> Egypt--Alexandria]]> Egypt--Aboukir Bay]]> England--Chester]]> England--Newmarket (Suffolk)]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Guernsey]]> France--Marseille]]> Northern Ireland]]> Scotland--Montrose]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Wangerooge Island]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Borkum]]> England--Wisbeach]]> England--Weybridge]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Norway--Stavanger]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Netherlands--Rotterdam]]> France--Givet]]> Belgium]]> France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)]]> France--Hazebrouck]]> France--Dunkerque]]> France--Socx]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> France--Salon-de-Provence]]> Italy--Genoa]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Lünen]]> Wales--Hawarden]]> Germany--Baden-Baden]]> England--Eastleigh]]> Scotland--Stranraer]]> England--Doncaster]]> France--Brest]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Lingen (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> France--La Pallice]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> J L Dixon]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> eng]]> Text. Personal research]]> Text]]> MBakerWB1392752-161128-13]]> Royal Air Force]]> Nigel Moore]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Egypt]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Northern Ireland--Down (County)]]> Great Britain]]> Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Chris Johnson]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> Wales--Milford Haven]]> Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Norfolk]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> 1940]]> 1941-05-10]]> 1942]]> After returning to England, Dick did a flying course at RAF Burnaston. In February 1945 he went to 1669 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Langar with Lancasters. He helped to put out an engine fire on a training trip over Wales. Dick then joined 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford. He recalls a daylight operation to an oil refinery in the Ruhr. A target was also missed in Heligoland. There were two operations to Kiel. He was involved in Operation Manna to The Hague. Dick was sent to RAF Leicester East after the war had ended and flew C-47. He was sent to Cairo. Dick left the RAF in Spring 1947.]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Coventry]]> England--Derbyshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Canada]]> Saskatchewan]]> Saskatchewan--Regina]]> Germany]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands--Hague]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]> James Sheach]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> France--Chevreuse Valley]]> 1944-06-07]]> Frank joined 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford, where his crew was formed and flew in Lancaster Mk 2. His first tour consisted of 30 trips, although they only completed 29 because of a change of pilots. He then joined 7 Squadron, part of the Pathfinder Force. He trained at the Pathfinder Training Unit and went to RAF Oakington where they were twice Master Bombers. After his tour, Frank was posted to the Radar Research Establishment at RAF Defford as station navigation officer. It involved several different aircraft and flights (bomber, coastal, naval). He describes several of the interesting people he flew with and the work on Doppler navigation. Frank was subsequently sent to the Pathfinder Training Unit as an instructor and recounts a flight with Air Vice Marshal Bennett, investigating blue target indicator bombs.
After Frank was demobilised, he worked initially as an air traffic control officer before accepting a permanent commission into the RAF. Frank goes on to describe his post-war RAF activities.
Squadron Leader Frank Leatherdale was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his work in Pathfinders.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Worcestershire]]> Canada]]> Alberta]]> Alberta--Calgary]]>
Basic training was carried out at Lords Cricket ground in London. One clear memory is helping to carry patients down several flights of stairs from a nearby hospital during an air raid.
Time was spent at RAF Bridlington on Initial Training Wing before attending Air Gunnery School in the Isle of Man. Further training was undertaken at RAF Banbury where he was crewed up on Wellingtons, before moving to the Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common to convert to Stirlings. During his time here he attended an escape course at RAF Feltwell and was instructed in unarmed combat, which he dismissed as pitiful.
He and his crew were posted to RAF Witchford, Cambridgeshire, where he flew his first operation in February 1944 replacing an ill air gunner. He later discovered this was an inexperienced crew. He remembers the target was around Osnabrück in Germany and it was a melee over the target where they were attacked by two Me 109s, which they successfully shook off. On his return, he remembers being unable to sleep and went for a walk into Ely. There he discovered the Oxford Cambridge boat race was being held and watched it
Target areas of Germany included Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Augsburg. On his 5th operation, the aircraft was attacked, and the aircraft lost its heating and communications. He suffered frostbite and spent several months recovering in Ely hospital.
On regaining fitness, he was transferred to RAF Waterbeach and was allocated to a crew led by Ted Cousins. Waterbeach was a pre-war airfield with comfortable facilities. Time off was spent competing in athletics and football along with drinking at the local public houses.
When time allowed, he went home, but found the experience boring: all his friends were serving away, and there was little to do except drink or go to the cinema. His elder brother was serving as a navigator in the Far East, and he felt it unfair to talk about his experiences with his family.
At RAF Waterbeach there was a greater variety of operations. Targets varied from Germany to Southern France. He also remembers one trip to Poland. This entailed flying over Denmark and they could see the lights from Sweden and anti-aircraft fire.
He has a clear memory of most of his operations but does not wish to dwell on some. On one occasion he spotted a Me 109, he tried to warn the pilot but his intercom had frozen and emergency light was inoperative. He tried to open fire but his guns jammed – the night fighter opened fire and hit the centre of the aircraft. The aircraft began violently manoeuvring and he wasn’t sure if this was deliberate evasive manoeuvres or if they were out of control. He made his way forward and discovered the aircraft door open and the mid upper gunner missing. There were cannon holes all around the centre of the aircraft. He still wasn’t sure if he was the only one on board until he reached the main cabin and found the rest of the crew in position. They made it back home where they realised an incendiary bullet was lodged in the ammunition pannier.
His last operation was one of the thousand-bomber operations in Germany, the air black with anti-aircraft fire. On his return, the air gunners went sent to the bomb dump to assist the armourers in preparing the bombs for the following days attack which was carried out by the United States Army Air Forces.
After completing his tour of operation, he was posted to RAF Brackla, hoping to be retained as physical training instructor, but ended up at RAF Weeton near Blackpool to be trained as a driver.
He served at several locations across Southern England before his final posting which was with a microfilm unit in Frankfurt. Fraternising with locals was not allowed, but he did manage to learn German. He played in a football match against a much better German select team.
After demob, he returned home and was involved in the manufacturing of cars at the Triumph factory. He married, and because of unrest and strikes in the car industry, he moved to Scotland and was employed at the Carron company in Falkirk as a production director manufacturing steel bars, where his ability to speak German became an advantage in his dealings with foreign companies. He met an ex Luftwaffe pilot and experiences were exchanged - there was no animosity whatsoever and it was accepted they both had been carrying out their duty.
Geoff looks back on his time in Bomber Command with great fondness. It was like a big family. He still has contact with surviving crew members, and still attends reunions.
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Brenda Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Ely]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--London]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Denmark]]> Sweden]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Falkirk]]> Scotland--Nairnshire]]> Scotland--Stirlingshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> 1944-02]]>
Ian Price]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Nottingham]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Milton Keynes]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> Libya]]> Middle East]]> Libya--Tobruk]]> Middle East--Palestine]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Suez Canal]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941]]> 1947]]> Adam Sutch]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> Pakistan]]> Sri Lanka]]> England--London]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Atlantic Ocean--Rockall Bank]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> 1938]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> Glen Turner]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Tilly Foster]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> Italy]]> Alps]]> New Zealand]]> England--Great Yarmouth]]> 1940-11-15]]> 1943-04-12]]> Susanne Pescott]]> 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]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Shropshire]]> South Africa--Queenstown]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Bruges]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-30]]> Maurice carried out 12 operations but never used his guns in action. Most of the operations were in daylight although he flew night-time operations to Kiel and Potsdam. He then took part in Operation Manna and flew troops to and from Italy. Maurice also participated in tours for ground crew to witness the damage in Germany.
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Gary Rushbrooke]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Sound]]> Great Britain]]> England--Barrow-in-Furness]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany]]> Germany--Potsdam]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Italy]]> 1944-01]]> 1945]]>

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Jeremy Lodge]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941-09-15]]> 1942]]> 1943-02]]> 1943-03-12]]>
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]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cathie Hewitt]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> 1943]]> 1944]]>