Interview with Jim Wildes
Jim was born in July 1923 in Burton on Trent and was the eldest of six children. His father served in the First World War. When Jim left school aged 14, he joined the Boys Brigade which had a Royal Air Force section and he had the chance to fly in a Tiger Moth. He trained to be an apprentice joiner and carpenter and worked with his grandfather who was a master joiner. He then joined Sharp Bros & Knight, timber and joinery manufacturers. When he was about 17, the Boys Brigade sent him to RAF Cardington for an air crew interview, which he failed due to ear problems. He then took the exam and was recommended to be a voluntary reserve.
When Jim was about 18, he was called up to go to RAF Halton for aircraft training, after which he was sent for further training at RAF Abingdon Operational Training Unit on Hampden and Witney aircraft. He was then sent back to RAF Halton to do a fitter course and then posted to 23 Operational Training Unit at RAF Pershore working on Wellingtons. After training Jim became a leading aircraftman. In September 1943 Jim was posted to 206 Squadron on the Wirral for about two weeks. The outfit totalled about 1,000 people from the Air Force, Army and Navy. His unit was then sent to the Liverpool docks to join the troop ship Laconia heading for Bangor and then on to Azores where 8206 Maintenance Unit built an Air Force station and runway. They stayed in tents with eight people for up to a year. Over Christmas Jim was in a Portuguese hospital for about three days with a broken finger. The unit went to Casablanca then to Cornwall just before D-Day. He was put on night shift at RAF St Mawgan with 206 Squadron working on Liberators. Following a trip to Scotland they were posted at Dundee with an air salvaging and servicing unit. Here he was made acting corporal and worked with 31 Dakota Squadron. When the war ended, he was flown to Singapore, got a boat to Southampton and was discharged to complete his apprenticeship as a joiner. Jim re-joined the Air Force and went back to RAF Swinderby for four years working on Wellingtons. There he met his future wife. In 1951 the unit went to Singapore to work on Sunderlands before being posted back home. Jim left in 1966 and worked for AV Roe until joining ICL in a management job.
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2018-08-29
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01:33:21 audio recording
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AWildesJE180829, PWildesJE1801
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Invitation to attend presentations and parade
Presentation of the Aird Whyte Trophy
An invitation issued to all married families to attend a presentation, march past and parade at St Eval.
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1954-06-29
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One typewritten sheet
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MSearleROJ615463-170725-090003
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Rex Searle's flying log book.
Flying log book for R O J Searle, Flight Engineer, covering the period from 25 June 1944 to13 July 1945 and from 17 August 1951 to 14 September 1964. Detailing his training as a flight engineer and a full tour of operations flown with Bomber Command from 1944 to 1945 followed post-war by further air gunner training in 1951 and continuing service as an air engineer with Coastal Command and then Transport Command. Served with 16, 24(c), 28, 30, 34, 42, 47, 120, 203, 206, 210, 240 and 432 Squadrons. He served at RAF St Athan, RAF Wombleton, RAF East Moor, RAF St Eval, RAF Leconfield, RAF Kinloss, RAF St Mawgan, RAF Dishforth, RAF Abingdon, RAF Colerne, RAF Changi and RAF Seletar. Aircraft flown in were Halifax, Lancaster, Lincoln, Shackleton, Hastings, Anson, Constellation, Beverley and Hercules. He completed a tour of 33 operations (16 day, 17 night) on the following targets in France, Germany and the Netherlands: Bochum, Böhlen, Bonn, Castrop Rauxel, Chemnitz, Cologne, Dortmund, Duisberg, Dusseldorf, Emden, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Grevenbroich, Homberg, Le Havre, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Meinz, Oberhausen, Osnabrück, Saarbrucken, Stuttgart, Trois Dorf, Volkel, Wanne-Eickel, and Wilhelmshaven. His pilot on operations was Flying Officer Potter. Three other operations ended early and were not counted in his tour. The tour completion certificate states a total of 121 points and 200.02 hours. Several of his air engineer proficiency assessments note him as being “above average”. Also includes numerous items which have been pasted in, including certificates, notes and photographs of family, crewmates and aircraft.
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One booklet
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LSearleROJ615463v1
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Royal visit to RAF Bircham Newton
Top - a senior RAF officer talking to the Queen and another lady with other personnel including a young girl looking on. In the background the rear of a Hudson. Submitted with description 'Queen Elizabeth, with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret alongside 206 Sqn Hudson, B-VX, RAF Bircham Newton, 1941. In the foreground is Air Vice Marshal Thysen. In the background are three airmen in sheepskin flying jackets, an airman in service dress, two unidentified officers and a woman in civilian clothes'.
Middle - a group of airmen wearing sheepskin jackets and side caps talking to the King and Queen. In the background part of an aircraft. Submitted with description 'King George VI and Queen Elizabeth alongside 206 Sqn Hudson, B-VX, RAF Bircham Newton, 1941. They are talking to three airmen wearing sheepskin jackets and side caps'.
Bottom - Four airmen wearing sheepskin jackets and side caps talking to the King and Queen while other officers and two young girls (princesses) look on. Submitted with description 'King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret alongside 206 Sqn Hudson, B-VX, RAF Bircham Newton, 1941. Also in view are four airmen in battledress, side caps, leather boots and sheepskin flying jackets, an unidentified officer, Air Vice Marshal Thysen and a largely concealed woman in civilian dress'.
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1941
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Three b/w photographs mounted on an album page
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PFOMetheringhamAF19030001
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Royal visit and Wing Commander Baxter
Top - the King, Queen and two princesses talking to RAF officers behind the wing of an aircraft. In the background a hangar. Submitted with description '.King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret standing behind wing of 206 Sqn Hudson, B-VX, Bircham Newton, 1941. With the Royal family are two unidentified RAF officers, an airmen in a sheepskin flying jacket and side cap, and a largely concealed woman in civilian dress'.
Bottom - an RAF officer wearing battledress with pilot's brevet and side cap standing in front of a door to a hut. Submitted with description 'W/Cdr R E Baxter standing outside Commanding Officer & Adjutant's Office – RAF Metheringham, March 1944'.
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1941
1944-03
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Two b/w photographs mounted on an album page
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PFOMetheringhamAF19030002
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Royal visit to RAF Bircham Newton
Top - the Queen and princesses at the doorway of a Hudson with an RAF flight sergeant on the left. Submitted with description 'Queen Elizabeth and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret exiting 206 Sqn Hudson B-VX. RAF Bircham Newton, January 1941'. Middle - an RAF flight sergeant helping the Queen from the doorway of a Hudson. Submitted with description 'F/Sgt Wilson helping Queen Elizabeth from 206 Sqn Hudson B-VX on visit to RAF Bircham Newton, January 1941'. Bottom - the King and Queen talking to two airmen wearing sheepskin jackets and side caps. Submitted with description 'King George VI and Queen Elizabeth talking to two airmen at RAF Bircham Newton, January 1941'.
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1941-01
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Three b/w photographs mounted on an album page
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PFOMetheringhamAF19030017
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