Claire Bennett]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending OH transcription. Allocated]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell]]> KC: Ok. Hello. This is Wing Commander Ken Cook DFC. I joined the Royal Air Force in October 1941, U/T air crew and after training in Canada I came, returned back to the UK, commissioned as a young pilot officer air bomber and went through various conversion training courses in the UK and eventually joined up with a crew. And our first squadron was Number 9 Squadron at Bardney in Lincolnshire flying Lancasters in Number 5 Group of Bomber Command. After about ten ops with 9 Squadron we were as a crew recruited by the Pathfinder Force which was based in Cambridgeshire and so we were as a crew posted to do additional specialised training as at that time new radar equipment was being brought in and introduced to Bomber Command and in my case it was my job to learn the gadgets known as H2S, Gee and Loran. So, my role changed from being a straightforward air bomber to becoming a radar navigator and air bomber and so it was my job particularly to work the H2S which had a capability for uses in airborne navigation device. And of course, also it’s main role with the Pathfinders was, was identifying German targets and it enabled the Pathfinder crews to find the German targets and to mark them with target indicators so that the main force crews of Bomber Command coming in behind us could identify where the target was and very often bombing on our markers. So we had to be very accurate how we dropped them and where we dropped them and I did this, I ended up doing a total of forty five ops, thirty five of those was as a member of a Pathfinder crew. We eventually having started out with the Pathfinders at Bourn in Cambridgeshire my squadron were then deployed in about April of ’44 to Coningsby in Lincolnshire to join with Number 83 Squadron that had been posted up there from Wyton. And our job was to work with the special force under Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire who was devising a system of finding the targets where the Germans where assembling V weapons on the French coast and in Belgium. And our job was to illuminate the target with parachute flares so that he trained a special force of Mosquito dive bombers that could lay the target markers in these tunnels so that our main force crews from 5 Group and other Groups could come over and do area or intensive accurate bombing as well on these targets. And I completed my forty fifth op in 1944 and was posted to RAF Fiskerton in Lincolnshire as the station radar nav officer. My job was to, we had two squadrons there, 49 and 189 and my job was to fly with these crews and check them out on their ability to use their radar equipment because now the main force were getting the same sort of radar gear that the Pathfinders had had for some time. And so it was my job to make sure the air crew when they, before they went on ops could operate their new radar equipment. And I stayed there for a year or two and eventually was posted to Headquarters, Number 1 Group at Bawtry as the Group radar navigation officer. My job was to oversee all the squadrons, all the Lancaster squadrons in 1 Group to ensure that the crews were properly trained in operating their radar equipment. Can I stop there? Right. Let’s carry on then.
[pause]
On some of the incidents that come to mind one in particular because the Lancaster bomber we all wear warm clothing because the, in the middle of winter the temperatures in the aircraft could become extremely low and in fact if you had to use the elsan at the back of the aircraft it would be extremely low and freezing. And on one occasion I was forced to go back there and use the elsan and I discovered the temperature was minus fifty three degrees Celsius and of course, in having to use the elsan and lower the clothing etcetera I found that my bottom was sticking to the seat to a little bit when I tried to stand up. But I had to stand up because at that time the skipper was calling me, ‘Come on, Ken. We’re only ten miles from the target.’ So I had to hurry up and get back. But in doing so I experienced a little a bit of pain [laughs] in certain lower regions. The other, some of the other aspects of my career was at having completed forty five ops I was then sent off to do jobs as I mentioned with other stations and other squadrons and taking me to the end of the war I applied for a Short Service Commission and this was granted. And after a couple of years the Air Ministry offered me a peacetime Permanent Commission which I accepted and I was down the rank of flight lieutenant and so I then was asked to move out from Bomber Command and become trained with peacetime navigation courses and I thought well, perhaps I’m going to shoot now into somewhere like Transport Command but none of it. Having completed my peacetime navigation course I was then asked by Air Ministry to go through the night fighter OCU at Leeming where I was then trained again to become a navigator radar operator with the AI equipment on night fighters. And so after the appropriate course at Leeming I was then posted to 23 Squadron at Coltishall on Mosquito Mark 36s and I flew with them for about two and a half years until one day I was told that I was to go back to Leeming as a squadron leader to set up the ground school for the introduction of the first jet night fighters. The Meteor NF11 was coming in and I was to head up the ground school with the expansion of the RAFs night fighter force both in the UK and Germany and also the odd squadron in Malta and Cyprus. And so I did that job for about two years and eventually was posted to RAF Newton which was then the headquarters of 12 Fighter Group as the Group navigation officer. And I did the staff duties there but also managed to keep on flying with some of the squadrons in 12 Group, night fighter squadrons until eventually one day the AOC asked me would I like to go back on a squadron as a flight commander. And so the AOC of 12 Group had me posted back to West Malling where I became a flight commander on number 85 Squadron as a navigator which was an unusual post which I enjoyed. And I did that for just over a year and one day the AOC of 11 Group sent for me and said, ‘Cook, do you think you could command a night fighter squadron?’ I said, 'Yes sir.’ He said, ‘Well, you’ve got one tomorrow. ‘You’re going to become a wing commander.’ And so I did that and I became the CO of one of the other squadrons at West Malling called 153 and I was made an acting wing commander and only had that job for about a couple of months when they decided to close the airfield because our flights were getting involved with civil aircraft flying in from the continent, particularly at night. And so they closed the airfield at West Malling and I, and I took 153 Squadron up to Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire and stayed with them for a while and eventually we changed our number to become 25 Squadron. And I completed my two years with the 25 squadron, 153/25 squadron and then one day I was told, ‘You’re going to the staff college.’ And I thought oh I’m going to learn to read and write again. But I did a one year course at the Staff College at Bracknell and after that the Air Ministry in their wisdom said, ‘You’ve done enough flying you’ve got to do an admin job.’ So they posted me and my wife to Aden as a wing commander in the organization branch which was concerned with improving the airfields throughout the Aden Protectorate and then up in the Gulf. So I did that for about two years and then I came back. I’m not quite sure what to do after that but I eventually did a job as the staff officer to the Home Commander, Home Defence Forces which was an organisation which has now been set up to deal with what would happen if there was a nuclear attack on Britain and what would the Air Force be doing to help out. And one of my jobs was to get involved with working out plans on that. And things have gradually moved along until eventually I decided to take early retirement and I left the RAF after twenty six years service in 1947.
Interviewer: And to go back to your, your Bomber Command days it’s always very interesting how the crews got together I think. Now, were you, how did you? I know you go into a sort of a hangar sort of thing and you mill around. There’s no organisation. Were you expecting that or, and did you know somebody? How did your crew come together?
KC: Well, when you got in the early stages of training you started to think about crewing up when you were flying on Wellingtons. You went, in my case I went to Cottesmore which was number 14 OTU and there you meet up with pilots, the wireless operator, straight navigator, air gunners. They were all brought in there and you’d chat with them and eventually you agreed to form a crew. And that’s what we did.
Interviewer: And it proved satisfactory.
KC: Yeah.
Interviewer: Didn’t it?
KC: For instance my skipper was an Australian.
Interviewer: Ah.
KC: Yeah. I was a West Country Gloucestershire man. The other navigator was a Yorkshire man. The mid-upper gunner was a Canadian. The wireless operator was a Londoner and the tail gunner was a Scotsman. That was my crew.
Interviewer: League of Nations.
KC: Yeah.
Interviewer: And you obviously all got on and you all gelled.
KC: We gelled. Yes. Yes. We stayed together for forty five trips. Yeah.
Interviewer: And you’ve mentioned Leonard Cheshire. Did you have much to do with him?
KC: Well, now Leonard Cheshire was based at Woodhall Spa but once we started and once my squadron had come up from 8 Group and we were now at Coningsby with alongside 83, the Pathfinder Squadron when we had briefings on a pre-briefing on a raid Cheshire would come in to see, hear to the breifing. But he particularly once we’d done the raid he would come back because often he would go on the raid himself. He would come back and listen to the debriefing and if things were not coming out clear from the debriefing of the crews he would cut in to explain what was going on where he was concerned in the air. To sort out any, so the intelligence people doing the debriefing could get a more accurate story of what was happening over the other side.
Interviewer: Did you form any opinions of him as a —
KC: Oh, he was the top boy really. Yes. He was, he had tremendous respect from all the all the, all the aircrew like myself.
Interviewer: Yes, so —
KC: What he was and what he did and of course he did a hundred ops, didn’t he?
Interviewer: He did.
KC: Yeah. Can I stop now?
Interviewer: Yeah [laughs] That was Wing Commander Kenneth Cook DFC, retired RAF Bomber Command talking at Thorpe Camp on the 24th Of September about his wartime experiences. Thank you, Wing Commander.]]>
eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1941]]> 1944]]>
Records a total of 45 operations (42 night, 3 day) with 9 and 97 Squadron. Targets in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands are: Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Stettin, Brunswick, Magdeburg, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Marignane, Munich, Clermont Ferrand, Toulouse, Louailles, Annecy, Amiens, Maisy, St. Pierre du Mont, Argentan, Rennes, Poitiers, Greil (Saint-Leu-d'Esserent), Culmont Chalindrey, Nevers, Courtrai, Donges, Givors, Brest, Deelen Airfield, Bordeaux, Darmstadt and Konigsberg.
His pilot on all operations was F/O Lasham.

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]]> David Leitch]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> South Africa]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> Belgium--Kortrijk]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Durham (County)]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Rutland]]> France--Amiens]]> France--Annecy]]> France--Argentan]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> France--Brest]]> France--Calvados]]> France--Clermont-Ferrand]]> France--Donges]]> France--Givors]]> France--Haute-Marne]]> France--Marignane]]> France--Nevers]]> France--Oise]]> France--Poitiers]]> France--Rennes]]> France--Sablé-sur-Sarthe]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Darmstadt]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Netherlands--Gelderland]]> Scotland--Perth]]> South Africa--Port Elizabeth]]> 1942]]> 1943-12-02]]> 1943-12-03]]> 1943-12-16]]> 1943-12-17]]> 1943-12-20]]> 1943-12-23]]> 1944-01-05]]> 1944-01-14]]> 1944-01-21]]> 1944-01-22]]> 1944-01-27]]> 1944-01-28]]> 1944-02-15]]> 1944-02-16]]> 1944-02-19]]> 1944-02-20]]> 1944-02-24]]> 1944-02-25]]> 1944-02-26]]> 1944-03-01]]> 1944-03-02]]> 1944-03-09]]> 1944-03-10]]> 1944-03-15]]> 1944-03-16]]> 1944-04-22]]> 1944-04-23]]> 1944-04-24]]> 1944-04-25]]> 1944-04-26]]> 1944-04-27]]> 1944-04-29]]> 1944-04-30]]> 1944-05-01]]> 1944-05-02]]> 1944-05-06]]> 1944-05-07]]> 1944-05-09]]> 1944-05-10]]> 1944-05-19]]> 1944-05-20]]> 1944-05-31]]> 1944-06-01]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-07]]> 1944-06-08]]> 1944-06-09]]> 1944-06-12]]> 1944-06-13]]> 1944-07-04]]> 1944-07-05]]> 1944-07-12]]> 1944-07-13]]> 1944-07-15]]> 1944-07-16]]> 1944-07-20]]> 1944-07-21]]> 1944-07-24]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-07-26]]> 1944-08-11]]> 1944-08-12]]> 1944-08-13]]> 1944-08-14]]> 1944-08-15]]> 1944-08-16]]> 1944-08-17]]> 1944-08-18]]> 1944-08-25]]> 1944-08-26]]> 1944-08-27]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1949]]> 1950]]> 1951]]> 1952]]> 1953]]> 1954]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Andover]]> Germany]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Italy]]> Italy--La Spezia]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Poland]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> England--Great Yarmouth]]>
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]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942-12-20]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> William Cragg]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942-12-24]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942-12-20]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Holten]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincoln]]> France]]> Netherlands--Tilburg Metropolitan Area]]> Norway]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Netherlands--Arnhem]]> Scotland--Glasgow]]> 1944-09-23]]> 1944-09-24]]> Andrew Hobley]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> An image of Zola in underwear, 16 bomb symbols, and the phrase 'P hole gents' are painted on the fuselage.


On the reverse 'William Edward Perry IX Squadron Bomber Command serving with Lancaster Bombers'.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1943-01-17]]> 1943-01-18]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> The crew list is, Sgt Hazell, L.C, Pilot, Sgt Gardiner, E , Flight Engineer, Sgt Miller, W.T, Navigator, Sgt Tatley, H.T, Bomb Aimer, Sgt Sharples, E.F. Gunner, Sgt Brooks, H.S. W.Op, Sgt Walker, E W. Gunner.
This is captioned 'Dear Sir, is this of any interest to anyone Crew of W4182 which crashed Waddington 20/12/42.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942-12-20]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> William Cragg]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> United States]]> Georgia--Moody Air Force Base]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Mönchengladbach]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Berlin]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> France]]> France--Modane]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Essen]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Wesseling]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> France--Lanvéoc]]> France--Saumur]]> France--Orléans]]> France--Caen]]> France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)]]> France--Givors]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Darmstadt]]> Germany--Münster in Westfalen]]> Germany--Kaiserslautern]]> Belgium--Leopoldsburg]]> Belgium]]> Poland]]> 1943-07-21]]> 1943-07-27]]> 1943-07-28]]> 1943-08-02]]> 1943-08-09]]> 1943-08-27]]> 1943-08-30]]> 1943-09-05]]> 1943-09-06]]> 1943-10-22]]> 1943-11-02]]> 1943-11-10]]> 1943-12-23]]> 1943-12-29]]> 1943-12-29]]> 1944-01-05]]> 1944-02-03]]> 1944-02-15]]> 1944-02-20]]> 1944-03-15]]> 1944-03-18]]> 1944-03-24]]> 1944-03-26]]> 1944-04-26]]> 1944-04-28]]> 1944-05-01]]> 1944-05-08]]> 1944-05-11]]> 1944-06-01]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-07]]> 1944-06-10]]> 1944-06-21]]> 1944-07-23]]> 1944-07-23]]> 1944-07-24]]> 1944-09-10]]> 1944-09-11]]> 1944-09-12]]> 1944-09-19]]> 1944-09-23]]> 1944-09-27]]> 1946-04-01]]> There is also a copy of the Operational Order for Operation Chastise by 617 Squadron. There are also crew lists, and a copy of the squadron 540 for the operation.
It also has the pages from Flight Sergeant Stalley's Log book for the period July to October 1944. He was the rear gunner on Flight Lieutenant Melrose's crew on No 9 Squadron at Bardney. During this period the squadron attacked the Tirpitz twice, once from Archangel.
There is also the Memories and Reflections of the German civil engineer that was in charge of the rebuilding of the dams damaged in the Dams Operation.
There are two newspaper cuttings from 2005 regarding the military burial of a 640 Squadron crew that had been shot down on the 24 March 1944. One was from The Daily Telegraph from 2 September 2005. There is also a letter George wrote to the Times giving some background to the story.]]>
George Keeling]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text. Personal research]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1944-01-07]]> 1945-04-07]]> 1944-03-24]]> 2005-09-02]]>

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]]> eng]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Canada]]> Alberta--Red Deer Region]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> France]]> France--Nantes]]> France--Valognes Region]]> France--Reims Region]]> France--Argentan]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> France--Limoges]]> France--Vitry-le-François]]> France--Creil]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> France--Etaples]]> France--Lorient]]> France--La Pallice]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> France--Brest]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Netherlands--Vlissingen]]> Netherlands--IJmuiden]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Roetgen]]> Germany--Altenbeken]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Germany--Sassnitz]]> Germany--Arnsberg]]> Germany--Vlotho]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Poland--Świnoujście]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Flensburg]]> Poland]]> 1942-09-19]]> 1942-12-09]]> 1942-11-18]]> 1943-04-02]]> 1943-08-03]]> 1943-08-30]]> 1943-11-02]]> 1944-04-04]]> 1943-11-02]]> 1944-05-09]]> 1944-05-23]]> 1944-05-28]]> 1944-06-03]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1944-06-19]]> 1944-06-23]]> 1944-06-24]]> 1944-06-27]]> 1944-07-04]]> 1944-07-12]]> 1944-07-14]]> 1944-28-07]]> 1944-07-28]]> 1944-07-31]]> 1944-08-02]]> 1944-08-05]]> 1944-08-07]]> 1944-08-09]]> 1944-08-10]]> 1944-08-11]]> 1944-08-13]]> 1944-08-15]]> 1944-09-26]]> 1944-10-07]]> 1944-10-29]]> 1944-11-12]]> 1944-11-17]]> 1945-01-12]]> 1945-02-05]]> 1945-02-06]]> 1945-02-24]]> 1945-03-06]]> 1945-03-13]]> 1945-03-19]]> 1945-03-27]]> 1945-04-13]]> 1945-04-19]]> 1945-06-15]]> 1945-08-24]]> 1944-07-30]]>

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]>
Stationed at RAF Hinaidi, RAF Driffield, RAF Manston, RAF Honington, RAF Bramcote, RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Feltwell, RAF Shallufa. Returned to England post-war staying in the RAF. Aircraft flown were Valentia, Harrow, Wellington, Magister, Lysander, Maryland, Fiat CR42, B26, Harvard, Auster, Proctor, Anson, and Prentice.
He flew 1 propaganda leaflet drop with 11 OTU, 1 day and 21 night operations with 37 Squadron in Europe. Targets were St Omer, Eindhoven, Soest, Osnabruck, Frankfurt, Stockum, Bottrop, Hannover, the Black Forest, Gelsenkirchen, Hamm, Flushing, Bitterfeld, Rotterdam, Mannheim, Leipzig, Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin.
12 day and 18 night operations with 37 Squadron and 257 Wing in the Middle East. Targets were Benina, El Adem, Derna, Berca, Bardia, Tobruk, Benghazi, Rhodes, Brindisi, Halfaya, Marble Arch landing ground, Heraklion, Misurata, Homs, Palermo, Gabes, the Mareth Line, El Hamma, Kourba, Pantelleria, Villa San Giovanni, Vibo Valentia, Adrano, Cape Peloro. Posted to HQ RAF Middle East where carried out 28 day supply dropping operations.
Post war career included postings to Air Division Control Commission Germany, Flying Training Command, 41 Group, 22 Maintenance Unit and RAF Negombo, Sri Lanka.
Log book also contains Form 3921 – Aircrew Qualification Record, a 1949 calendar and Form 2745 Record of Service, Educational and Professional Qualifications.]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Kent]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Warwickshire]]> France]]> France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bitterfeld-Wolfen]]> Germany--Black Forest]]> Germany--Bottrop]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia)]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> Germany--Soest]]> Greece]]> Greece--Ērakleion]]> Greece--Rhodes (Island)]]> Iraq]]> Italy]]> Italy--Adrano]]> Italy--Brindisi]]> Italy--Palermo]]> Italy--Pantelleria Island]]> Italy--Vibo Valentia]]> Italy--Villa San Giovanni]]> Libya]]> Libya--Al Adm]]> Libya--Banghāzī]]> Libya--Bardiyah]]> Libya--Darnah]]> Libya--Miṣrātah]]> Libya--Ra's Lanuf]]> Libya--Tobruk]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Eindhoven]]> Netherlands--Rotterdam]]> Netherlands--Vlissingen]]> Syria]]> Syria--Homs]]> Tunisia]]> Tunisia--Mareth Line]]> Tunisia--Qābis]]> North Africa]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940-08-09]]> 1940-08-10]]> 1940-08-15]]> 1940-08-16]]> 1940-08-17]]> 1940-08-18]]> 1940-08-19]]> 1940-08-20]]> 1940-08-24]]> 1940-08-25]]> 1940-08-26]]> 1940-08-27]]> 1940-08-29]]> 1940-08-30]]> 1940-09-01]]> 1940-09-02]]> 1940-09-04]]> 1940-09-05]]> 1940-09-07]]> 1940-09-08]]> 1940-09-12]]> 1940-09-13]]> 1940-09-14]]> 1940-09-15]]> 1940-09-20]]> 1940-09-21]]> 1940-09-29]]> 1940-09-30]]> 1940-10-02]]> 1940-10-03]]> 1940-10-05]]> 1940-10-08]]> 1940-10-09]]> 1940-10-10]]> 1940-10-11]]> 1940-10-14]]> 1940-10-15]]> 1940-10-16]]> 1940-10-17]]> 1940-10-21]]> 1940-10-22]]> 1940-10-23]]> 1940-10-24]]> 1940-10-25]]> 1940-10-26]]> 1940-12-08]]> 1940-12-10]]> 1940-12-11]]> 1940-12-13]]> 1940-12-14]]> 1940-12-17]]> 1940-12-18]]> 1940-12-20]]> 1940-12-21]]> 1941-01-02]]> 1941-01-05]]> 1941-01-13]]> 1941-01-14]]> 1941-01-20]]> 1941-01-22]]> 1941-02-16]]> 1942-11-07]]> 1942-11-08]]> 1942-11-25]]> 1942-11-26]]> 1942-12-02]]> 1942-12-03]]> 1942-12-22]]> 1942-12-23]]> 1943-01-08]]> 1943-01-16]]> 1943-01-17]]> 1943-02-03]]> 1943-02-04]]> 1943-02-24]]> 1943-02-25]]> 1943-03-17]]> 1943-03-19]]> 1943-03-20]]> 1943-03-25]]> 1943-03-26]]> 1943-04-13]]> 1943-04-14]]> 1943-06-10]]> 1943-06-27]]> 1943-06-28]]> 1943-07-15]]> 1943-07-16]]> 1943-08-01]]> 1943-08-08]]> 1943-08-09]]> 1944-02-29]]> 1944-03-02]]> 1944-03-25]]> 1944-05-05]]> 1944-05-15]]> 1944-05-31]]> 1944-06-01]]> 1944-06-02]]> 1944-06-09]]> 1944-06-10]]> 1944-06-16]]> 1944-06-27]]> 1944-07-03]]> 1944-07-12]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-07-27]]> 1944-08-03]]> 1944-08-15]]> 1944-08-17]]> 1944-08-19]]> 1944-08-22]]> 1944-08-25]]> 1944-08-29]]> 1944-09-07]]> 1944-09-12]]> 1944-09-16]]> 1944-10-13]]> 1944-10-21]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Iraq]]> Audrey was 23 when the war started and was conscripted on 15 December 1942 electing to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. After her kitting out at RAF Innesworth she did some basic training at RAF Morecambe, then posted to RAF Lindholme and eventually to RAF Waddington where she worked as an administrator in the officer's mess. At that time there were four squadrons on the station: 9, 44, 463 and 467 Squadrons.
Audrey's duties in the officer's mess included checking the crews against the battle orders to ensure only crews flying that night got the special pre-flight meal and waiting on tables for VIP dinners, including Wing Commander Nettleton VC. She describes her friendships with the other staff and especially with bomber crews, mostly nice and respectful. Audrey and others would gather on the perimeter track to see them off. She and many others were billeted in a beautiful old building, known as "The Waafery”. Audrey describes her busy social life, dancing at many venues and winning jitterbug competitions. Remembers being called ‘belle gambe’ [beautiful legs] by Italian prisoners of war.
Audrey also describes the events of one night when an enemy fighter followed the aircraft home and strafed the airfield, hitting the incendiary dump, which exploded.
After the war, Audrey eventually worked for the local authority’s adoption service after the tragic death of her husband at a young age.]]>
Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Andy Fitter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1942-12-15]]> 1945-08]]>
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]]>
Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> nld]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> 1942-05-31]]>

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Physical object]]> Physical object. Clothing]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>

This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
E Thomas]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription. Allocated]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> 1942-05-31]]>