1
25
44
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1209/42988/PWyldeHJ22010010.1.jpg
16c97f5220302a2d9e6d19cc5b4566eb
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
Wylde, Herbert James
H J Wylde
Description
An account of the resource
49 items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Herbert James Wylde (1922 - 2021, Royal Air Force) his log books, maps, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 90 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2016-12-18
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
Wylde, HJ
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
25 Airmen and Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
25 men arranged in two rows in the snow in front of a Bolingbroke.
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
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PWyldeHJ22010010
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
aircrew
Bolingbroke
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1648/26500/PPeckP16010027.2.jpg
2981b86b83c625479ace117ca0484336
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1648/26500/PPeckP16010029.1.jpg
7980313612914582e616054b8c3d2e1e
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
Peck, Peter John. Album
Description
An account of the resource
39 items. An album containing photographs of Pete Peck's training and service.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-25
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
Peck, PJ
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
Airmen and their Aircraft
Description
An account of the resource
14 photographs from an album.
Photo 1 is a port side view of a Harvard, annotated 'My Harvard (line!)'.
Photo 2 is a view of the front of a Lysander, annotated 'A Lysie' (No 1 Hangar)'
Photo 3 is an airman posing at the cockpit of a Harvard annotated 'What! Up again (line! line!)'
Photo 4 is a front/ port view of a Harvard, annotated 'The Harvard again'.
Photo 5 is three Bristol Bolingbroke aircraft, annotated 'Ready for take off'.
Photo 6 is a snowy landscape, annotated 'There is some life in Canada'.
Photo 7 is two airmen in flying gear, annotated 'The 'Doc' & Johnny'.
Photo 8 is six airmen sitting on a log, annotated 'No! its not Scotts Expedition'.
Photo 9 is the same pole without the airmen, annotated 'Low flying, eh!'
Photo 10 is a mid-upper turret of a Bolingbroke with an airman inside, annotated 'The "Doc" in the turret'.
Photo 11 is two airmen about to enter a Bolingbroke with two ground crew at work, annotated 'Keep 'em flying'.
Photo 12 and 13 are two different airmen in flying suits, annotated ' "Studies" in Black & White'.
Photo 14 is a single airman in flying kit.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
14 b/w photographs on two album pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PPeckP16010027, PPeckP16010029
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
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robert Langham
aircrew
Bolingbroke
Harvard
Lysander
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2562/43861/PBraithwaiteW19010049.2.jpg
d180ae36a961a412f6af720dee89de4c
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
Braithwaite, Walter. Album
Description
An account of the resource
49 items. Photographs of Walter Braithwaite's training.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-10-22
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
Braithwaite, W
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
Airmen in front of a Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
The photograph on the left page shows 13 men in front of a Bolingbroke. The men are wearing military uniforms and 11 men can be seen with aircrew brevets above their left pockets.
The four photographs on the right page shows silhouettes of trees and bodies of water in each photograph.
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 Canadian Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five b/w photographs
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PBraithwaiteW19010049
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.
aircrew
Bolingbroke
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2357/45500/BFoskettPFoskettWv10003.1.pdf
f96fe0569c8740c9bcd697a2994bc199
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
Foskett, William
Description
An account of the resource
104 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant William Foskett (b. 1921, 13230505 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, correspondence, documents, and photographs.
He flew operations as an air gunner and navigator with 214 Squadron. After the war, he was stationed in Italy, France, Germany and North Africa.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Peter Foskett and catalogued by Barry Hunter with the assistance of Roberto Bassi of the Aeroclub Friulano Campoformido.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-04-07
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
Foskett, W
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Bill Foskett Biography Chapter Three
Description
An account of the resource
The third chapter of Bill's wartime experiences.
The first two chapters used Bill's words but the third is written by an anonymous friend.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Shellingford
United States
Georgia--Atlanta
Georgia--Macon
Georgia--Albany
Florida--Arcadia
Canada
Ontario--Picton
Ontario
France
France--Biarritz
Germany--Karlsruhe
Belgium
Belgium--Antwerp
France--Gennevilliers
Germany--Kiel
France--Saumur
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Netherlands
Netherlands--Goes
Netherlands--Hoek van Holland
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Ostfriesland
Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)
Germany--Darmstadt
France--Wissembourg
Germany--Karlsruhe
Netherlands--Heerenveen
Germany--Traben-Trarbach
Germany--Fischbach
France--Bischwiller
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Koblenz
Germany--Gladbeck
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Giessen (Hesse)
Italy
Italy--Udine
England--Newquay
England--Great Yarmouth
Slovenia--Log pod Mangartom
Slovenia
Germany
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
United States Army Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
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
25 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BFoskettPFoskettWv10003
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
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Foskett, William. Biography
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
100 Group
15 OTU
214 Squadron
617 Squadron
Absent Without Leave
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
Battle
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
flight engineer
Flying Training School
Gee
H2S
Halifax
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Harvard
Initial Training Wing
Ju 88
lack of moral fibre
Lancaster
Me 110
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Downham Market
RAF Feltwell
RAF Harwell
RAF Honington
RAF Methwold
RAF Millom
RAF Oulton
RAF Ridgewell
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Shipdham
RAF Stradishall
RAF Woodbridge
Stearman
Stirling
superstition
Tallboy
target indicator
Tiger Moth
training
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
Window
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2357/45506/LFoskettW1323050v3.1.pdf
d1ef52c16c9b4c8c1e4d50dc43555102
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
Foskett, William
Description
An account of the resource
104 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant William Foskett (b. 1921, 13230505 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, correspondence, documents, and photographs.
He flew operations as an air gunner and navigator with 214 Squadron. After the war, he was stationed in Italy, France, Germany and North Africa.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Peter Foskett and catalogued by Barry Hunter with the assistance of Roberto Bassi of the Aeroclub Friulano Campoformido.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-04-07
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
Foskett, W
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
Bill Foskett’s Royal Canadian Air Force Flying Log Book for Aircrew other than Pilot (Log Book 3)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LFoskettW1323050v3
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
Description
An account of the resource
Bill Foskett’s Flying Log Book as Bomb Aimer from 6th November 1942 until 3rd July 1945. Retrained in Canada as bomb aimer and air gunner at 31 Bombing and Gunnery School (Picton) and 31 Advanced Navigation School (Port Albert). Posted to 2 Advanced Flying Unit in England in May 1943 then 15 Operational Training Unit, Stirling Conversion Unit and 1657 Conversion Unit. Posted to 214 Squadron for operations commencing November 1943.
Served at Picton and Port Albert in Ontario, RAF Millom, RAF Harwell, RAF Sculthorpe.
Aircraft flown were Anson, Bolingbroke, Battle, Wellington, Stirling, B17.
Bill flew a total of 36 operations with 214 Squadron, only one of which was a day operation. The targets included Frisian Islands, Karlsruhe, Gennevilliers, Kiel, Brunswick, Saumur, Aulnoye, Gelsenkirchen, Goes, Stuttgart, Russelsheim, off Denmark, off Emden, Darmstadt, Wissembourg, Heereveen, Traben-Trarbach, Fischbach, Bischwiller, Bochum, Cologne & Mannheim, Essen, Saarbruken, Koblenz & Gladbeck, Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Dortmund Ems Canal, Giessen.
His pilot for his first operation was Flight Sergeant Gilbert and his second, Squadron Leader Jeffries. For the rest of his operations his pilot was Flying Officer Corke.
During operations he fulfilled the role of bomb aimer, air gunner and second navigator at various times. As well as bombing carried out a number of Window, Mandrel and Big Ben Special Duties operations.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-11-19
1943-11-25
1943-11-26
1944-04-24
1944-04-25
1944-05-09
1944-05-10
1944-05-21
1944-05-22
1944-05-23
1944-05-31
1944-06-01
1944-06-17
1944-06-21
1944-06-22
1944-07-23
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-07-28
1944-08-12
1944-08-13
1944-08-16
1944-08-17
1944-08-18
1944-09-06
1944-09-11
1944-09-12
1944-09-13
1944-09-14
1944-09-16
1944-09-18
1944-09-23
1944-09-24
1944-09-26
1944-09-29
1944-09-30
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-09
1944-10-23
1944-11-02
1944-11-10
1944-12-02
1944-12-04
1944-12-05
1944-12-06
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Ontario
Ontario--Picton
Ontario--Port Albert
Great Britain
England--Berkshire
England--Cumbria
England--Norfolk
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Germany
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Darmstadt
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Essen
Germany--Fischbach
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Giessen (Hesse)
Germany--Gladbeck
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Koblenz
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Rüsselsheim
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Traben-Trarbach
France
France--Aulnoye-Aymeries
France--Bischwiller
France--Gennevilliers
France--Saumur
France--Wissembourg
Netherlands
Netherlands--Goes
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Nick Cornwell-Smith
15 OTU
1657 HCU
214 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
B-17
Battle
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
Heavy Conversion Unit
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Harwell
RAF Millom
RAF Sculthorpe
Stirling
training
Wellington
Window
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/119/2485/MThomasWH152984-150721-01.1.pdf
6e05ffb1f503d2bba606b04b23c36c98
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
WILLIAM HEDLEY THOMAS (AGE 93)
My first interest in the RAF came in 1938 while I was a pupil at Redruth Grammar School in Cornwall, when a flight of the Air Defence Cadet Corps was formed there and I became a member. I am sure its formation occurred because Mr Weatherall our Headmaster had been a fighter pilot in the First World War which really instIlled interest in those of us aged 16 and above. I remained a member of ADCC until August 1939 when I left school for employment.
When the Air Training Corps was formed in 1941 I joined the flight which was formed in Redruth where we had the usual instruction in Morse code, and navigation, shooting and of course drill (dreaded drill). We were fortunate to have visits to RAF Portreath aerodrome and that is where I had my first flight, in a Miles Magister. It was great!
I volunteered and was accepted for aircrew training in August 1941 and placed on deferred service and continued as a member of the ATC, reaching for the dizzy height of Sergeant! While awaiting my call-up to the RAF I had to register for National Service but informed the officials that I was already a member of the RAF and gave them my service number. Two or three weeks later I had call-up papers from the Army! I called the registration office and they said no problem we will sort it. However after another week I had a forceful letter from the Army telling me to report to depot or other, by such and such a date or they come and fetch me! Panic!
Fortunately we had a family friend who was an Army officer in the First World War and he contacted the Army on the phone using language I was not then used to and I heard no more!
So eventually, in February 1942 I was called up by the RAF and went to the aircrew reception centre in London. I reported, as so many had done, to Lord’s cricket ground for registration. We were provided with a uniform (which was tailored to fit) and received the first batch of injections. We were billeted in what had been serviced apartments in Prince Albert Road, quite close to Regents Park zoo. Here we had various lectures, a lot of drill and endured an extremely cold London.
Then came our posting to Initial Training Wing at a very much warmer Aberystwyth in West Wales. Here we received training in navigation, Morse code and RAF Law besides large doses of more drill, physical training and sports.
I enjoyed the course at ITW very much, especially as I knew it was the beginning of flying training. As I said earlier the weather at Aberystwth was warm and we rarely needed to wear greatcoats (which we did in London) and by June, when the course ended, it was a really warm summer. I learned that I had passed the course ended, it was a really warm summer. I learned that I had passed the course and was promoted to the exalted rank of L A C (more pay too!).
I was then posted to Sywell in Northamptonshire to begin training as a pilot. Unfortunately I failed the course because my landings were deemed dangerous and I was unable to go solo. Mind you, I did not get on very well with my instructor who was over 6 feet tall, as against my 5 foot six and as he sat in the front cockpit what chance had I of seeing straight ahead? No contest!
From Sywell I was posted in July 1942 to Heaton Park, Manchester, which was a holding unit for potential aircrew awaiting the decision as to my future training, along with quite a number of others. We were then sent to Hastings, another holding unit, where we were billeted in a large block of flats (Marine Court) right on the seafront. We were only at Hastings for about three weeks because one afternoon at about 4 PM on our return from the sports afternoon, a German aircraft on a hit-and run sortie dropped a smallish bomb on one end of the building. Fortunately no-one was injured, however it caused perhaps the fastest reaction I have ever experienced. By 4 AM the next morning
[page break]
we were getting on a train (with a day’s dry rations) and we were taken to Harrogate to yet another holding unit!!
I enjoyed Harrogate very much where we received the usual few lectures and drill and bags and bags of sport. Harrogate was a great posting, especially as there were lots of young ladies there who were the clerical staff of the General Post Office who had been evacuated there from London!
I was eventually brought out of my reverie by a posting back to Heaton Park with a few dozen other bods, where we were informed as to our future training which for me was as a navigator/bomb aimer. This we were given to understand, would not be in Great Britain but overseas, as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme.
It was in late November 1942 that King George the Sixth sent me to Canada, aboard the Queen Elizabeth, to train as a navigator/bomb aimer, thus enabling the rest of the country to get on with the war. To my delight, I was informed that I would not have to pay my own fare.
The memories of that voyage are still with me. I remember approaching the liner on a small tender and being showered with toilet rolls which were thrown by the disembarking aircrew who had returned to the UK sporting their wings. Not to be outdone, we advised them to hang on to the toilet rolls, as there was a shortage of that commodity in our war-torn homeland.
Once aboard, I was given a job as a kind of security guard (along with 20 or 30 others) to prevent smoking in any place other than the cabins. I remember pointing out to Edward G Robinson that such a rule existed, when I spotted him and a large cigar waiting for the Lift. He promptly took a deep puff on the cigar, stepped into the lift and said with a smile, “Is that so. Bud?”
We had quite a large number of well-known people (including Douglas Fairbanks) on board and to our delight, they provided several evenings of entertainment for us during the crossing. The meals were very good and it was a special treat for us to be served with white bread after eating since 1939, the sandy brown standard wartime loaf.
We took several days on the voyage since we were sailing unaccompanied a long way south before turning and travelling up the Eastern seaboard of the United States. We were informed that the detour had taken place because a U-boat pack had been detected in mid Atlantic. Good intelligence and communication obviously saved us and I understand that Lord Haw-Haw had reported us as sunk on two occasions. We sailed into New York harbour and docked adjacent to the Queen Mary and the Ile-de-France, the latter lying on her side after suffering a major fire some time earlier.
Whilst most of those on board were allowed to disembark, I found myself appointed as a member of the baggage party. About 30 of we unfortunates were given the task of unloading the rest of the RAF contingent kit bags. As a result, at the end of the day we were still aboard but were delights that that evening to be served with the most terrific meal which we considered to be a just reward for our hard labours as baggage handlers.
The next morning we disembarked and after being transported by coach to Grand Central Station, we caught a train that would transport us to Moncton in Canada. But all did not go smoothly, because en route, we were involved in a train crash. The crash was on the Gaspie Peninsula, at the mouth of the St Lawrence River when a freight train, with a huge cargo of logs crashed into us while we were waiting at a small country station. Fortunately we, the RAF contingent, only sustained a few cuts and bruises.
[page break]
Mainly because of the steel constructions of the trains in Canada we were lucky indeed. Further luck for four of us who got invited by the daughters of a nearby farming family to have some breakfast. We accepted and trudged across two large snowbound fields to the farmhouse. Just as we finished, breakfast, we were told that a relief train had arrived at the station to take us on to our destination Moncton. We missed it! However we boarded the next train and we were met in Moncton by an NCO, a sergeant I think, who told us off and then we boarded transport to the camp. It was pointed out to us that the rest of the party had to march there so we were lucky again!
Moncton, on the eastern seaboard of Canada, was another holding unit where we awaited posting to the start of our real training. However we were at Moncton for Christmas 1942 and also over the New Year in Arctic like whether with plenty of snow. A case of infectious disease, scarlet fever I think, caused member of the hut I was in to be in quarantine for some weeks until finally our posting arrived.
In February 1943 I was posted to number six bombing and gunnery school at Mountain View, Ontario where we practiced gunnery in Bolingbrokes, the Canadian version of the Blenheim, as well as on the gunnery range. We then turned out attention to flying in Ansons and practised dropping practice bombs. This seems to have taken quite a while really because it was the end of March 1943 before we left Mountain View for Number 8 Air Observer School at Ancienne Lorette, Quebec, to begin navigational training.
The navigation course at number eight air observer school at Ancienne Lorette, lasted from early April 1943 to early August 1943 and as well as air day and night navigation trips averaging around three hours each, we did a lot of classroom work including a navigation exercises, meteorology, signalling, aircraft recognition and armament together with a lot of practice work in the air and on the ground on astro-navigation.
At the end of the course I learned that I had passed and took my place on the passing out parade to receive my Observer brevet and also I was delighted to find out that I had been granted a commission.
We were then, after three weeks leave which I spent with my uncle and his family in Toronto, posted to Number 1 General Reconnaissance School at Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence River, where for three weeks we were to carry out navigation trips over the sea using what is termed dead reckoning navigation, by star or sun shots, taking bearings from radio transmissions to find our position. We learned how to identify all the naval ships of the world, quite a task. I found this course both challenging and interesting and I was glad to hear that I had received a pass which I hoped would lead me to be a navigator on coastal command when I returned to the UK.
At the end of the course at the beginning of October 1943 we were posted again to Moncton to wait before being shipped back to Great Britain. This did not happen until December 1943 when I returned on the Aquitainia, quite a nice ship but not so well appointed as the Queen Elizabeth. We landed back at Gourock and travelled down to Harrogate.
Harrogate was still a holding unit and there was quite a large number of aircrew gathering there from training in Canada and South Africa, eagerly awaiting postings to operational training units. In my case along with others from course in Canada, it was to be another three months before we got such a posting. I, of course, wanted to be sent to Coastal Command, which is what our extended training had been for, but it was not until early in April 1944 that we were told that we were to go to Wigtown in Scotland. On enquiry we were told that this was an advanced training unit for bomb aimers. We tried to argue that
[page break]
surely all the training in Canada that we had received ought to be for carrying out duties as navigators in one of the RAF commands. We were told that there no chance whatsoever of this and off to Wigtown we went. You can imagine there was quite a lot of disgruntled bods there but we decided that we must grin and bear it. We were told to remove our coveted and hard earner observer brevet and replace them with the B brevet and this produced a lot of very upset and in disgruntled people; so much so that caused a visit from an officer from HQ in London (an Air Commodore I think) to come up to Wigtown to meet us. He informed us that our C.O. had told him that we were refusing to fly, which in fact was totally untrue as we were continuing with our flights. As a result, the Air Commodore contacted London and an official ruling was made and we were told we could continue to wear (with pride I might say) our Observer Brevets. So, we completed the course and were granted 2 to 3 weeks leave and were instructed to report from there to number eight operational training unit at Castle Donington {which is now East Midlands Airport).
We arrived at the O.T.U. late in May 1944 and were crewed up, not being directed as to who would fly with who, but quietly talking to each other and trying to decide who you thought would be someone to trust your life with. I think I was fortunate in my choice as we all seem to get on from the start and it proved to the case when we continued to fly together later in the operations. However before we became members of the squadron there was more training to be done. First of all by the crew of six (there was no flight engineer in the crew at OTU) flying in the Vickers Wellington, learning all about our duties in an operational bomber. We were at Castle Donington from 27 May 1944 until 14 July 1944 and then we transferred to 1667 heavy conversion unit at RAF Sandtoft, learning the skills needed for coping in a four engine aircraft – in this case the Handley Page Halifax and there we were joined by the seventh member of our crew, the flight engineer.
We left RAF Sandtoft on 1 September 1944 and moved to number one Lancaster finishing school at RAF Hemswell. This proved quite a short course of about three weeks and we were then posted to join 166 squadron at RAF Kimmington on 26 September 1944, as members of C flight. This flight was being assembled to be made into another squadron, 153. This was duly achieved and some four operations were flown by the squadron from Kimmington before, on 15 October 1944, 153 squadron moved to RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, flying their acquired 18 aircraft there, while the ground staff travelled in a fleet of buses accompanied by a group of 3 ton lorries loaded with personal baggage. Our crew had the pleasure of being in the first of the 153 squadron aircraft to land at Scampton from Kimmington [sic] and had an unusual sight of an empty aerodrome: that is no aircraft on the ground, with a small number of ground crews standing by at dispersals to receive the aircraft.
Scampton was a station that was built before World War II and accommodation was in solid built buildings with tarmac laid roads and pavements; no mud to squelch through. Bruce Potter (the pilot) and I were allocated a room within the officers mess itself, but some of the others had to live in the previous married quarters which meant a shortish walk to the mess for meals and so forth.
On 19 October 1944, 153 squadron carried out its first operation from Scampton – 15 aircraft attacking Stuttgart. Our crew’s operations did not start until 31 October 1944 against Cologne. We carried on operations against various targets including the much written about town of Dresden on 13 February 1945, until 8 March 1945, we on takeoff for Kassel, our skipper Bruce Potter fainted at the controls. We were well down the runway with our tail up and it was the first rate action of our flight engineer Gordon Woolley, who managed to haul the control column back; cut the engines and bring the aircraft to a halt after it had executed a flat spin. The skipper was taken off to sickbay and the rest of us gathered outside the aircraft where the squadron commander, Wing Commander Powley, invited us to fly that night with another pilot. We firmly
[page break]
declined his invitation. We were then sent home on three weeks leave and on our return found that our skipper had left the station. He had gone to hospital I think. He never returned.
The remainder of the crew (six of us), completed the remaining three operations to complete our 29 operations with another pilot. Flight Lieutenant Williams, an Australian. Our last operation was on 9 April 1945 and on 10 April that same year we were sent home on leave, never again to meet up as a crew.
There is a list of our targets at the end of this article, together with the duration of each and I must say that we were a very lucky crew. Perhaps it was due to a little black cat which I wore pinned to my battledress. It was sent to me by an “anonymous admirer”. During all our trips we never experienced a single attack from an enemy fighter or received any substantial flak from German anti-aircraft fire. Jack Boyle was a first-class and diligent navigator and kept us on track and on time for every trip. We did have to abort on a trip to Politz on 8 February 1945 when one engine packed up and then another started losing power, but we were able to return safely to base. Another time, on 18 November 1944 while returning from bombing Wanne Eicline, our instruments packed up. It was a filthy night of wind and rain and there was a diversion for us to land at another aerodrome as RAF Scampton was fogbound. The crew decided that it would not be a good thing to try and land at strange aerodrome and we therefore diverted to the special diversion aerodrome at Woodbridge in Suffolk, where the runways were extremely long and wide. Bruce our skipper and Gordon the flight engineer were able to effect a temporary repair the next morning and we were then able to return to Scampton.
My leave on completion of the tour of operations was quite extensive as the great Western Railway managed to lose my kit bag with all my flying kit during my return to Scampton. I was sent home to recover it, something I was unable to do and so eventually, in July 1945 (after being home nearly 3 months) I was recalled to Scampton. I was informed that I was to train as an equipment officer and sent for training to RAF Bicester. This course lasted about six weeks and I was then posted as a fully fledged equipment officer to 35 maintenance unit at Heywood near Manchester. Within a week I was sent to RAF Strubby in Lincolnshire which no longer an operational station, to arrange to clear it of all its equipment. There was only a skeleton staff there and these were gradually posted away, leaving only about 30 other ranks (mainly equipment personnel) and myself, together with another ex-aircrew equipment (Flying Officer Frank Wilkes) who had been sent from Heywood to assist me.
It was a massive task of transferring the wanted equipment to appropriate maintenance units throughout the UK, however I never saw the end of the task and neither did Flying Officer Wilkes, as our times for release from the RAF occurred at the same time and so in July 1946 we left for Civvy Street and I returned to my job with the Cornwall County Council.
I lost contact with the crew but many years later through a letter which I had published in the RAFA magazine I made contact with Jack Boyle our navigator who was at that time living in Blackpool. However, Jack was in rather poor health. We were able to swap phone calls and letters for about 12 months before sadly, he died. Some years later I was fortunate enough to make contact with Harry Hambrook our rear gunner who lives in Harrogate. I’m glad to say that we keep in contact and are able to meet up each year at our squadron reunions.
I moved to Morpeth in Northumberland 20 years ago and on joining the Northumbria branch of the Aircrew Association, I met Mr Bill Foote from Alnmouth who had been a pilot flying Halifaxes with 77 squadron in Yorkshire. It was some little
[page break]
while before Bill and I discovered that we were both on the Queen Elizabeth voyage to Canada in November 1942. Now we both meet up with two or three others on a regular basis for lunch.
Another coincidence occurred after I joined the 153 Squadron Association about 12 years ago and met two associate member who had uncles in the crew of Pilot Officer Gibbins, the pilot in 153 Squadron at Scampton who shared a room with my skipper Bruce Potter and I. “Gibby” and I became great friends and were companions on sorties to Lincoln on days when we were on stand down from flying duties, to carry out “beer testing” in Lincoln’s many pubs! Unfortunately “Gibby’s” aircraft was lost on a daylight raid on Essen on 11 March 1945. Sad to say there were no survivors. These two members of the Squadron Association have been to Germany and visited Reichswald Forest war cemetery in Kleve, where their uncles are buried. I meet up each year with those two members, Ernie and Dave at our Squadron Association reunion which is held in Lincoln.
I must confess that I was quite disappointed at not being able to fly as a pilot (in a Spitfire in fighter command of course!) However, completing our tour of operations on bomber command and being one of “Bomber” Harris’s Boys was something I look back on with pride. I also give thanks for not being wounded or being one of the 55,573 airmen who were killed in action.
Much has been written by historians who have decried the efforts of bomber command and have called its head “Butcher Bomber Harris”, saying that he was targeting the civilian population of German cities. I can in no way agree with them as there was always some industry in each of the cities targeted. Dresden is often referred to as being a civilian target; not so, because it had armament factories including Zeiss Ikon, which provided a supply of precision instruments to the German forces. It was also an important communication centre with considerable concentration of troops within the city.
Our crew took part in the Dresden raid on the 13th and 14 February 1945, unloading our bomb load of a 4000lb “cookie” and lots of incendiaries on the city when I pressed the bomb key. Should I count myself as a murderer for doing that? Some people in this country seem to think so but most of them were not alive at the time and so did not have to endure the bombing of our cities by the German air force.
[underlined] W.H. Thomas [/underlined]
Bill Thomas
11/07/15
I AGREE WITH THE INTERVIEW
[page break]
LIST OF OPERATIONS
DATE DESTINATION DURATION
11/10/44 Fort Frederick Heindrik 3.20
31/10/44 Cologne 5.20
02/11/44 Dusseldorf 5.20
04/11/44 Bochum 5.20
09/11/44 Wanne Eicline 4.55
16/11/44 Duren 4.30
18/11/44 Wanne Eicline 5.35
04/12/44 Karlsrhue [sic] 4.30
13/12/44 Essen 6.05
17/12/44 Ulm 7.50
28/12/44 Bonn 5.40
29/12/44 Buer 6.20
31/12/44 Osterfeld 5.50
02/01/45 Nurnberg 8.40
05/01/45 Royan 7.30
07/01/45 Munich 9.25
14/01/45 Merseburg (Leuna) 8.35
28/01/45 Zuffenhausen 7.15
03/02/45 Bottrop 6.10
04/02/45 Gardening – Heligo Bight 4.45
08/02/45 Aborted – Politz 2.50
13/02/45 Dresden 10.20
14/02/45 Gardening – Keil Bay 6.15
[page break]
20/02/45 Dortmund 6.25
22/02/45 Duisberg 5.50
23/02/45 Phorzheim 8.05
07/03/45 Dessau 10.00
08/03/45 Ground Loop – Kassel
03/04/45 Nordhausen 6.30
04/04/45 Lutzkendorf 8.10
09/04/45 Keil 5.55
Total Hours Night 185.45
Day 19.25
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Bill Thomas memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MThomasWH152984-150721-01
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bill Thomas
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-11
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.
Format
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Eight typewritten pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Scotland
Wales
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dresden
Wales--Aberystwyth
New Brunswick--Moncton
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
New Brunswick
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Ontario
Ontario--Belleville
Description
An account of the resource
He describes his first interest in the RAF, in 1938. He joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps, and later in 1941 the Air Training Corps. He was called up by the RAF in February 1942, and proceeded through initial training and the Initial Training Wing at Aberystwyth. Here he was promoted to leading aircraftsman. Having failed his pilots course, he was subsequently sent to Moncton Canada in late November 1942. Following a number of postings including bombing and gunnery school and navigation he was shipped home on the Aquitania back to the UK in December 1943. In early 1944 he was posted to Wigtown to train as a bomb aimer. He reported to 28 Operational Training Unit in late May 1944 where he crewed up. After flying in Wellingtons he passed through the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Sandtoft and the Lancaster Fininshing School at RAF Hemswell. He joined 166 Squadron, his flight forming 153 Squadron, which moved to Scampton, and on 31st October 1944 carried out his first operation on Cologne. He continued on operations including the attack on Dresden on 13th February 1945. On completion of his tour he trained as an equipment officer. He was released by the RAF in July 1946 and returned to his job with Cornwall County Council, He eventually moved to Morpeth in Northumberland and maintained his links with the 153 Squadron Association.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
153 Squadron
166 Squadron
1667 HCU
28 OTU
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
crewing up
ground personnel
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
incendiary device
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
mine laying
Operational Training Unit
perception of bombing war
promotion
RAF Castle Donington
RAF Heaton Park
RAF Hemswell
RAF Kirmington
RAF Sandtoft
RAF Scampton
RAF Strubby
RAF Wigtown
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2023/32250/PMonksMA17010078.1.jpg
c43a8b7a6eea2fef6170f36a81ef4829
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
Monks, Maurice Arnold. Photograph album
Description
An account of the resource
81 pages of b/w photographs taken while Maurice Monks was training in Canada. Includes places visited on leave as well as other locations and people.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-03-23
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
Monks, MA
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
Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
Front quarter view of Bolingbroke 9876 parked outside a building. Captioned 'Bolingbroke of Gunnery Flight'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph mounted on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PMonksMA17010078
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 Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Manitoba--Dauphin
Manitoba
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.
air gunner
aircrew
Bolingbroke
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2562/43852/PBraithwaiteW19010045.2.jpg
1f730891e1f5ecf5c07edacd26acd3ec
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
Braithwaite, Walter. Album
Description
An account of the resource
49 items. Photographs of Walter Braithwaite's training.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-10-22
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Braithwaite, W
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
Bolingbroke and a Battle
Description
An account of the resource
The photograph on the left page shows a Bolingbroke.
The photograph on the right page shows a Fairey Battle with the numbers "9" and "1792" visible on the side of the aircraft.
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 Canadian Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PBraithwaiteW19010045
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.
Battle
Bolingbroke
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2023/32249/PMonksMA17010077.1.jpg
e6acbb54bac32f477d56a43252af68ad
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
Monks, Maurice Arnold. Photograph album
Description
An account of the resource
81 pages of b/w photographs taken while Maurice Monks was training in Canada. Includes places visited on leave as well as other locations and people.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-03-23
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
Monks, MA
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
Bolingbroke and Lysander 7 Bombing and Gunnery School
Description
An account of the resource
Top - view of distant line of two Lysander and a Bolingbroke parked on airfield. Bottom - view from the ground of a Bolingbroke flying left to right at low level across airfield. Captioned 'Bolingbrokes and Lysanders, 7 B&G School'.
Format
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Two b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PMonksMA17010077
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 Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Manitoba--Dauphin
Manitoba
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.
air gunner
aircrew
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
Bombing and Gunnery School
Lysander
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1823/32433/PKentKD17010033.2.jpg
e486882b272df45a43af177d1be4f3ab
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
Kent, Kenneth D
K D Kent
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-04
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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Kent, KD
Description
An account of the resource
31 items. The collection concerns Kenneth Kent (b. 1922, 572440, 55219 Royal Air Force) and contains a photograph album and documents. He joined the RAF as an Apprentice in 1936, starting his training at RAF Halton later going to RAF Cosford. He completed his training as an aircraft tradesman and was promoted to corporal. He volunteered for aircrew and went to the United States and Canada for flight training in July 1942. He was commissioned in July 1943 and was posted to 106 Squadron at RAF Metheringham. He was promoted to Squadron Leader in August 1945.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Nigel Kent and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Bolingbroke on fire
Description
An account of the resource
Page is captioned 'No 31 Bombing and Gunnery School Picton. A Bolingbroke on fire.'
Three photographs of a burning aircraft captioned 'Fighting the fire.', 'Where there is smoke there is fire.' and 'Almost under control'.
The fourth clearly of a wrecked Bolingbroke, 'The fire is out'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four b/w photographs on an album page
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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Photograph
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PKentKD17010033
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Royal Canadian Air Force
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Canada
Ontario
Ontario--Picton
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IBCC Digital Archive
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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.
Bolingbroke
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18876/YGeachDG1394781v4.1.pdf
39c216bf0756b27bd489400728cd3c46
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Title
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Geach, David
D Geach
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/"></a>52 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer David Geach (1394781 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence, photographs of his crew, his log book, cuttings and items relating to being a prisoner of war. After training in Canada, he flew operations as a bomb aimer with 623 and 115 Squadrons until he was shot down 24 March 1944 and became a prisoner of war. He was instrumental in erecting a memorial plaque to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. <br />The collection also contains a scrap book of photographs.<br /><br />Additional information on his crew is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-03-14
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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Geach, DG
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[underlined] R.C.A.F.16 [/underlined]
300M-2-42 (1686)
H.Q. 1062-13-15
ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
NOTE BOOK
[page break]
[underlined] BOOK 3 [/underlined]
COMMENCING MY ADVENTURES OVERSEAS
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[underlined] Saturday Oct 10th [/underlined]
For my first entry in this book, I am settled on the rolling deck of the Queen Mary, somewhere in the mid-Atlantic. I should think our voyage is about half over, of course one hears bags of gen that various members of the crew let slip, which invariably turns out wrong. If the ship was travelling at her normal speed we would be almost there by now, on her previous trip, i.e. from America to England she only took 3 1/2 days. Unfortunately when she was near England an old ack ack cruiser attempted to cut across her bows. He misjudged the distance and was promptly cut in two by the “Queen Mary”, I don’t think there were many survivors. A huge chunk was torn out of the “Mary’s” bows, consequently reducing her speed, I understand that she is going into dock for repairs in the States and expects to be there for about 3 months or more. I believe her destination is Boston or New York, the latter, I hope.
[page break]
She certainly is a lovely ship and a hell of a size, too, she must have been lovely in peace time. Now her exterior is covered in a drab grey paint, and all her cabins have wooden bunks in, and the huge ornate dining hall, is the men’s mess. I am on ‘B’ deck in a cabin, which I should say would be a single second class cabin, there are twelve of us in it. There are four lots of wooden bunks in these tins, naturally quarters are rather cramped but we expected that. We have a bathroom attached & its rather a scramble in the morning. Now I generally awaken well before the hour for rising, owing to the fact, the time keeps going an hour back each night. The meals are pretty good, bags of butter, sugar, & cheese & other things, the only trouble is, most of the cooks are American, & they fry a lot of things in sweet oils, which taste very sickly to us. All of us have been assigned a duty, mine should be messing orderly in the sergeants mess, when I can manage to get there.
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Fortunately I haven’t been sea-sick (so far), a fair number of the fellows were on the first day or so, when we were travelling through the Irish Sea & the Eastern waters of the Atlantic. Our life on the whole is pretty easy just a parade in the morning, and hardly anything to do all day. Today, I was hoping to be at Don and Betty’s wedding, today, they are being married sometime this afternoon, in Broxbourne, ah! well I’m far away from there now.
One of the standing jokes on this ship I think is the forbiddance of gambling. There are lots of merchant seamen on board & most of them have just been paid £100 or more, & boy! they certainly gamble. The canteen in the evening looks worse than Monte Carlo, it is a solid mass of sweating bodies, packed tightly around the crown and anchor tables, there is a hell of a lot of money backed too. Only fruit drinks are sold on the ship, quite a wise precaution, too, I think.
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[underlined] Wednesday Oct 14th. [/underlined]
Today we dock at Boston, I am sorry it isn’t New York, as I would have liked to have seen the city. Still I might get the chance whilst I am over here. During the last couple of days we headed practically due South, and must have been fairly well down, because it became unbearably hot. In the troop decks we fairly lay and sweltered, upon going to bed I used to lay down in the nude, with no covering and still sweat with the heat. In the canteen it is almost impossible to breathe, the perspiration, simply streams off me, & the bankers in charge of the crown and anchor schools are literally exhausted. Their never ending flow of patter intrigues me, they have various slang phrases and names for the different squares. Such as “How about the old fireman’s friend?” this is the spade, or the old “sergeant-major”, being the crown, the “church window”, the diamond, or the “ships ‘ork” being the anchor. Then stock phrases such as, “I’m here to hide ‘em, you’re here to find ‘em”, “If you can’t find your way,
[page break]
on my board, you can’t find your way home”, their voices would crack & become hoarse, but they would never cease. It was fascinating but tiring to watch a cooler spot, was on ‘A’ deck, where two darkies would perform the old slight of hand with three jacks, & invite you to bet on which you fancied was the jack of clubs. The called him Joe Louis, (pronounced it Jo Loo), & would repeat unendingly, Who seen Joe?, Where’s Joe huh! “How about that gen’lman steppin’ & makin’ his lil’ bet?” Where the real money was lost swiftly was in the black jack schools, I hadn’t seen this game before, although I had played pontoon scores of times. This was very similar except that one betted blind on the first card, I watched a fellow place £5, on a blind card & lose, then £7 next time & lose, he lost £24 in four hands, some going. We spend quite a lot of time sitting on the darkened promenade deck and singing to the accompaniment of a mouth organ or anything, there isn’t much in the way of amusement though.
[page break]
It is lovely on deck however, in this weather, we just lounge in the sunshine and lazily watch the gun crews at drill. There certainly are a good few guns on board this ship. Everywhere we look one just sees nothing but water, not even another ship. For the Queen Mary being fast enough to out distance any U Boat, travels unescorted. One marvel in the canteen are the thousands of oranges, one can buy as many as they like, believe me, there’s some queue. When I think that the same number of oranges were sold going across I think it a shame. They could all be landed for the children at home , I wouldn’t mind going without them for a few days, nor would anyone else, so that the children could benefit.
Although this has been an easy and a pleasant voyage I am not sorry it is over, for I want to get on with the course. Well, I guess the next entry I make in here, will be on Canadian soil, at a place called Moncton, for I understand that is where we go first.
[page break]
[underlined] Sunday Oct 18th. [/underlined]
We are now in Canada, I am penning this entry in Moncton, New Brunswick, which is the big receiving and posting depot over here. We should return here upon completion of our course (whenever that might be) for posting back to England. I must say that Moncton itself is fairly deadly, it is commonly known as the (to put it politely) the parson’s nose of Canada. The actual camp is as big as the town I should say, not that the town is small, but this is a huge camp. However I’m rambling I’d better note down what happened since my last entry when I was on the boat.
It was about dinner time last Wednesday when we first saw land, it was a low peninsular with a few towns, & it certainly was good to know we were nearly there. A few planes had been out to take a look at us, diving down low over the decks. Some types appeared very strange to us, they had a huge single float underneath, American Army machines.
[page break]
The water was as calm as a milk pond, and we were sliding through it smoothly when without warning a thick yellow fog closes in upon us. The ship slackened speed until she was just about under way, and sounded her siren every few minutes. I forgot to mention she had ceased her zig-zagging tactics, all throughout the journey, every five to ten minutes she would alter course one way and then back, & so on. This zig-zagging was so that no lurking U Boat would be able to take a good aim, at least that was what one of the sailors told me. After a couple of hours the fog became patchy and finally lifted. For a while before we had been hearing other ships sirens and now we were able to see them, there were a huge crowd of them, off our starboard bow, it was a good job we hadn’t run into them, and more funny looking boats on our port. This later turned out to be a small sized collier or something towing three huge barges, if they were barges, a devil of a size, a lot of American ships we have seen
[page break]
are types I haven’t seen before. After some further progress two fast motor gun boats or launches, came out, & travelled alongside, a sailing yacht appeared and hove to and rowed the pilot across, when he was on board, away we went again. Soon we began to pass the numerous islands that dot the water harbour of Boston, most of them had buildings on, and causeways joining them to the main dock.
At this moment we were ordered onto the promenade deck to be assembled in our various drafts, so we continued to watch out of the port holes. We were checked through and got up onto the boat deck just as we watched the boom defence that guards the harbour against U Boats. As we slowly moved our way through the boom, the tugs came out to meet us. They were larger but not so sturdy as the English ones, a lot of them had dough boys on board. Gradually we moved forward and inch by inch we slipped into the bend, parked and pulled by the tugs. At last we were wayed alongside the dock, and
[page break]
a realisation of the immense size of the ship was borne upon us. She towered way up above the wharves & buildings and we were able to look [underlined] down [/underlined] upon the city of Boston. The decks were packed with troops and alongside were the tugs, & on the other lots of women clustered at the doorways. There were some pretty hot numbers, typists, office girls etc. very smartly dressed too. We were throwing English coins down for them & the doughboys, a good few pounds sterling went I’ll guarantee. One thing that impressed me were the cars, or automobiles as they are referred to here, there were tons of them on the streets and all huge streamlined glittering models, certainly superior, in appearance at least to the British models.
We went down to tea and then began to get ready to leave the ship, at about 9 P.M. we marched down the gangway and onto the quayside. It was the first time I had seen the lights at night for three years and it was a grand sight. The Queen Mary was lit, & floodlights on her, everywhere both
[page break]
on the quay & on the ship, firemen patrolled, with portable fire extinguishers, dangling on their belts, they were taking no chances after the Normandie episode.
Our draft number was called and we fell in and marched round to the railway siding which was still inside the docks. After about 45 minutes waiting the train arrived, the coaches over here certainly are larger than ours. We managed to get into a nice one, with green plush double seats and chromium fittings, an interesting feature were the iced water containers, with cardboard cartons, in each coach. After a while the train moved off and we tried to doze. At one crossing where we pulled up an American jumped out from his car and came over and chatted to me. On again we rattled past little places with the streets lit and cars parked here and there, and once we roared past a huge night club, or road house, it was brilliantly decorated with neon lights & was well patronised, judging by the cars outside.
[page break]
Dawn came, & it gradually became lighter, and the sun began to pour down so much that we opened the large observation windows and sat in our shirt sleeves, it was great. The crossings were interesting to us, a black & white striped pole came down to stop the traffic and a bell kept ringing whilst we were passing. The stations intrigued me too, owing to the distances covered by the railways no fences bordered them. The railway ran straight into the town & there were no raised platforms, like at home, one stepped straight off the train onto the main road, all there [deleted] was [/deleted], happened to be, were the station & platform, & different stops we would stream across into the towns. The first place we set foot on Canadian soil was at McAdam. On and on we went through different little towns, until we finally arrived here at Moncton at 8.30 P.M. that day. Well, I have written far more that I intended this time so I guess I will continue the tale in my next entry, from where I’ve just left off.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday Oct 19th [/underlined]
The train didn’t stop in Moncton itself, but went straight on along a siding into the camp. We climbed out, with our personal kit [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] bags & webbing & marched a fair to the brilliantly lit buildings of the camp. It was a large draft and we had to stand out there for a good while. Of all times they had to pick that for a mock air raid, the sirens wailed and hoarse voices bellowed for the lights to go out in the different buildings. Apparently nobody cared a cuss about us, we were just left standing there. Naturally we resented it and began to sing & shout to try & get things moving, our efforts succeeded in bringing an officers wrath upon us, but that was all. Luckily the lights came on again then, & shortly after we were in the drill hall filling in the age old realms of forms. From there we were marched to another drill hall & paid $11, and there we met “Swannie” for the first time.
[page break]
This was an affectionate nick-name for P/O Swanson, the best officer I have ever met in the R.A.F. He has a bubbling irrepressible sense of humour and really speaks to you man to man. Last night he came into the barrack block three quarters of an hour after the lights should have been out, and caught some of the boys playing pontoon. We sat tight & waited, but instead of a frantic outburst he asked what the stakes were. He remained for half an hour chatting, and cracking rank jokes, then calmly said, Well, lets have the lights out sometime eh, that ginger haired b- of a corporal keeps blowing his whistle, & we don’t want to disappoint him & away he bowled.
The camp is a fairly deadly place though, & one could get cheesed easily, luckily we haven’t got to worry about that. They split us up into two drafts and the one I am in, is leaving tomorrow, so we haven’t had long to wait. Our weekend was spent mainly in Moncton, in drug stores and
[page break]
cinemas, the latter have lovely wooden seats in the circle, when we sat, being L.A.C’s a good canteen, or restaurant is the Music Box, which is for the airmen. On this station we are allowed out till midnight each night & 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. There is a cinema on the camp but I haven’t bothered to go [deleted] any [/deleted] to it.
This is the first camp I’ve been on, where I have actually been in barracks, usually it has been in a room of a hotel or something. There [sic] long wooden huts are built pretty well, there are four barrack rooms, in each hut, with about 20 beds in each. These are arranged one above the other, one luxury over here we have mattresses, not the English “biscuits”. We have already sent off our first airgraphs to home, they told us they would be best as cables are generally delayed, ah! well we will see. I think I’ll go into town for our last night here, & see what films are on, then tomorrow we will be on our way West.
[page break]
[underlined] Thursday 22nd Oct. [/underlined]
Half our journey is behind us with the other still to come. On Tuesday we paraded in the morning and received the equivalent in dollars for the sterling bank notes we had handed in on the boat, then at midday we paraded again packed and ready to move off. The train was in the camp’s siding and we boarded it there, the coach wasn’t so good as the one we had from Boston. This was an old style tourist or something, with hard worn & black leather seats, we had a fair amount of room though. After the usual hanging around we were off, and how glad we were. The other half of our fellows, who were on another draft, are still in Moncton, I don’t know when they will leave. As night approached we played cards & read, & then pulled out the seats (they were in four collapsible sections) for beds, and also pulled down the wooden beds that folded up into the top of the carriage. We may not have slept comfortably “but we did” sleep.
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We rose pretty early yesterday morning, had breakfast in the dining car, and cleaned up for the day we were to have in Montreal. At 10 A.M. we drew in at the C.N.R. station, & marched up the road to the C.P.R. and dumped our kit, after that time was our own. Everyone [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] wandered around the various large stores Eaton’s especially, they are easily as large as Gamage’s or Selfridges I should say. The number of [inserted] the [/inserted] population who were French surprised me, I hadn’t thought it would be so many. In the afternoon we went up to the Lookout on Mount Royal and took some snaps of the city from there. Time wore on and it was now 7 P.M. and we had to report back to the station. Our kit was collected & we boarded our new train, & we certainly were crowded, twice the number in a carriage as there had been before. We left around 8 P.M. and dozed on and off until this morning, when we began another day. Tomorrow we will arrive at Winnipeg & spend a day there.
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One thing about the RCAF, they are far superior to the RAF in their treatment of men on railway journeys etc. The Canadians seem to realise that we are human beings, even though we all wear the same uniform, & they treat us accordingly. The meals we have in the dining car are really tip top, eggs, bacon etc, pork chops. I know they couldn’t possibly do that in England, but the meagre rations we used to get then when travelling were disgraceful I think. The scenery has been pleasing, it is mainly all timber, I never imagined there were so many trees. At this time of the year the leaves are multi coloured, cinnamon, brown, green, a really lovely sight. Now and again one flashes out alongside a lake of deep blue, with a few log cabins around the shore. Once we passed a lumbering camp with a huge raft of spruce logs floating in the river. There certainly is a lot of natural beauty in the country, & its vast size is borne more upon us, the farther we travel.
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[underlined] Sunday 25th Oct. [/underlined]
Our journey is over and we are now settled in at No 5 Bombing & Gunnery School Dafoe, where our first course takes place. To resume from where I left off in my last entry, we were pretty packed in the train, & it wasn’t very comfortable sleeping, but the food maintained its high standard. As we travelled West the forests began to grow less dense, and after the first day and night, we found ourselves in true prairie country. It seemed very odd to us to see the earth stretching away flat and unbroken mile upon mile.
We arrived in Winnipeg about 10 AM. on Friday 23rd. and had the day free in there. As we went upstairs from the track into the foyer of the station we were met by a brass band, and lots of women from the Airmen’s Club, who gave us cigs. chocolate & fruit. Hell! I thought for a moment the war was over, they paid such overwhelming attention to us that I felt embarrassed at
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times. They certainly do a lot of fine work for the airmen and go out of their way to make us welcome, it was a good show. Unfortunately the day was marred by the fact that we experienced our first snow out here, it was pretty consistent too. Most of the day was spent in touring the shops and large stores. We encountered our first bananas for God knows how long, and also saw the new octagonal ‘nickel’ that has just been produced it is very similar to our threepenny piece.
One thing that seemed unusual to me were the terrific amount of drug stores, grills’ restaurants etc. there is one every 50 yards or so. It isn’t too [sic] be wondered at I guess with the profusion of food out here. We certainly [deleted] are [/deleted] make the most of that, for it is good food & pretty cheap, too. The day finally came to a close and we assembled at the station at 10.30 P.M. for the last stage of our journey to Dafoe in Saskatchewan.
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Our party didn’t have sleepers like the rest of the airmen on the train, & it wasn’t a tourist coach when the seats could be converted into beds. Consequently we lifted the backs of the seats out, and made do that way. It was a fairly slow train and [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] ambled along coming to a halt with terrific jerks & crashes (I don’t know why they don’t have spring buffers like English trains) until we finally arrived at Dafoe at 1.30 P.M. yesterday. My God! we had been warned that it was small and quiet but I have never visualised it as it actually was. There were about 30 shacks or homes and that comprised the whole of Dafoe – and the camp was 14 miles from that. One fellow wittily remarked to the conductor, “When the war’s over don’t forget where you left us, old man.” A lorry took us out to the camp and we found ourselves on our first Canadian station (Moncton was RAF). All the buildings were wooden, and laid out in lines, I guess there isn’t much to describe a
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station like this. The barrack blocks or huts are one long room, with no upper storeys, there are about 70 – 80 fellows in each one.
This morning we paraded, and had the usual addresses filled in the necessary pro formas and were allotted to our various classes. Our course is No 66 and there are three classes, 16 of the 19 are in one class, under our instructor F/Sgt Oliver, we meet him tomorrow. Most of us spent the afternoon in the YMCA reading & writing room, sending off Airgraphs with our new addresses, I wonder when we will receive some mail from home. The YMCA is a very nice place, ever so cosy and I guess I’ll spend quite an amount of time in here. There is a cinema show every night in the Recreation Hall, except Friday, & it is very good so I hear, they charge 20 cents. So far it hasn’t snowed but I bet it won’t be long before it does, I understand it gets hellish cold out here. Ah! well, I guess I’ll turn in and see what the course is like tomorrow.
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[underlined] Wednesday Oct 28th. [/underlined]
Three days are all that have elapsed and already we are up to our eyes in the theory of bombing and binding more than we did at I.T.W. The hours on this station certainly startled us, parade is at 7.30 AM. and classes commence promptly at 8-0 AM till 12 noon, an hour for dinner then classes again from 1 – 5 P.M. that is eight hours a day solid classes. Our instructor is a really decent fellow, he bowled into the classroom Monday introduced himself and immediately handed out the précis. For there is so much theory to get through in such a short time on this course, that any notes that are wanted are all typed out in this (in my opinion) far too bulky précis. This should eliminate all note writing and save lots of time.
F/Sgt Oliver certainly is a go getter he has whizzed through the précis at an enormous rate, and we have found it necessary to come over to the class room
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each night and bind. Our heads are swimming with the “Principles of an Ideal & Real Bomb”, “Bombing Errors & Analysis”, & heaven knows what else. All the chaps who were in ‘F’ flight at Manchester, & then left Hastings a fortnight before us, are here on 65 course, naturally they proceeded to shout some b- wicked lines. Surprisingly enough the food isn’t so good here, a Canadian station too, I thought it would be pretty good. There is hardly any bull though and that’s a blessing.
As we expected it has begun to snow, and winter is setting in, I guess we came over to this country at the wrong time. I can quite understand the authorities putting a training station out in the wilds, for there is absolutely nowhere for us to go outside the camp, except a couple of snack bars in Boom Town (a collection of wooden houses that have sprung up round the camp, consequently we have to bind on the course for the want of something better to do. I have been to the Camp Cinema and
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the shows are very good, the films are new ones too.
Tomorrow we are trying our hand at finding a wind on the bombing tracker. This is a mechanical device that syntheticaly [sic] produces the same effect as flying and bombing from an aeroplane. As our first exercise in the air when we go up will be to find four 3 course winds we want to get a good bit of practise in on the ground. This coming weekend we have a 48 hr pass, our instructor told us, that practically everyone goes into Saskatoon for the weekend. A special train is run on Friday evening and reaches Saskatoon, about 100 miles away, at 8.30 P.M. or so. Then it leaves on Sunday evening around 9.30 P.M. and reaches the camp about midnight. The Y.M.C.A. told us to go to the Airmen’s Club and we will be given an address of a family, who are willing to have airmen for the weekend. Ah! well, I’m getting cheesed with this writing, so I’ll close & dive over to the canteen.
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[underlined] Sunday 1st [deleted] Sept [/deleted] Nov. [/underlined]
I am writing this in the United Services Club in Saskatoon, we are in here on our 48 hr pass. We got through the weeks work, satisfactorily for our minds certainly were on this 48, on Friday morning we were due for a progress test but “Chirpy” Oliver put it off till the beginning of next week, an act to be commended. Dashing off after classes on Friday evening, we hastily changed and cleaned up, then rushed off to the gate to catch the lorry. Anxiety to procure a seat on the train getting the better of prudence we climbed into an open lorry and were soon wishing we hadn’t. We were standing up exposed to a vicious wind that was sweeping across the prairies, and the country being so hellishly flat and devoid of trees there was nothing to counteract the blast. By the time we reached the station we were wishing we hadn’t been so dim, but we managed to totter down & grab a seat in the train which was waiting there, and then dash over to a café for a cup of coffee to put some warmth in our bones.
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The journey took about 2 1/2 hours and around 8.30 we reached Saskatoon, we found our way to the United Services Club, where we were to meet the people who were taking us for the weekend. Everything had been arranged and we met the lady who was letting Taffy & I stay with her. We caught a street car, I think they are pretty deadly efforts, and reached 6th Street where we are staying. She put us ease immediately & very soon we were settled in cosy and comfortable. Yesterday morning we meandered around the different stores and shops, buying things here and there. Saskatoon is quite a pleasant little town, although I guess it isn’t so little over here. This and Regina are the two biggest cities in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon being the educational centre, having a very fine University, & Regina is the Government Centre. One of the Saskatchewan Rivers (I believe it’s the South) runs through the City here, although at present it is partly frozen. Yesterday afternoon we went to the cinema and saw “The Moon & Sixpence”, there was some very good
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acting by George Saunders. In the evening we went to another cinema, then after that visited the ice rink.
One of the things that surprises me is the late hour everything goes on till, dances start at 8.30 & 9 PM. things finish a lot later than in England. There are no cinemas at all on Sundays but a show starts at one minute past midnight for its Monday then, I guess some people do go at that hour. We are taking full advantage of the eating facilities and are certainly getting through some meals. Yesterday we had a lovely dinner at [blank] it’s a nice hotel, so is the Berrborough. Last night was Halloween & there was lots of dances, kids running around with blackened faces, it is kept up quite a lot over here. This morning we met Mr. Guild with whom we are staying he travels around a lot being in the wheat business, some of the figures he told us of the amount of wheat grown amazed me. Ah! well work again tomorrow and a fortnight before we are able to get out here again, such is life.
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[underlined] Wednesday 4th Nov. [/underlined]
Back at the grind again, we certainly felt shaky on Monday, on ordinary days I find it hard enough to keep awake in class, let alone then. The train reached Dafoe around midnight & we piled in lorries, I made sure I entered a closed one this time, and off we went. By the time we queued up to sign in at the Guard house, then reached the barrack block, made our beds etc. it was around 1.30 AM, then one has to rise fairly early at this place – still I’ll catch up with some sleep tonight.
We had our progress test and our class did remarkably well, easily the best out of the 3 classes that comprise 66 course. “Chirpy” was pretty bucked, the lowest mark being about 85%, this looks like turning out to be a “gen” class. I wonder when we will commence our flying, 65 course have only done Wind Finding so far, apparently the courses are a bit behind on account of the weather breaking I guess. All we
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seem to do is practise on the Bombing Tracker. This is a fairly good device, one lays on a platform, with a bombsight mounted, as it is in a plane then a moving film of the ground from 10,000 ft is projected onto a screen below. The slide can be made to turn, thus giving the appearance that one is in an aircraft and that is turning, by another fellow using a rudder bar. It is a quite useful piece of machinery, but there are a good few things that go wrong with it, causing conditions that never [indecipherable word] in the air.
It snows on and off frequently, the winter certainly has arrived. The snow looks a great deal prettier (if the term can be applied) than it does back home, for there it rapidly goes a dirty grey, or turns to slush. Here it stays really white and is a lot crisper and driven than I have experienced before. When a fine day arrives, too, with a blue sky and the sun shining down on the snow, one feels really great, and its perfect bombing weather, too.
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All the class regularly binds at night, it appears necessary in view of the amount of work we have to cope with, and the speed at which “Chirpy” hurtles through it, he sure moves, that boy. Either before or after binding, usually after we dive in the canteen, it is a pleasant one, modern chromium tubular chairs in crimson leather, one can get grand fruit pies etc. but no tea or coffee, apparently no canteens on the stations in Canada function like the NAAFI, in respect of tea & hot meals.
There was a good laugh the other night, a chap up on night bombing, couldn’t see the target when the pilot turned on his bombing run. Suddenly he saw the white light of the target, or so he thought, & headed the pilot there and let go the bomb, it was a good one about 10 yards. Imagine his surprise when the “target”, shot away at a helluva speed, it later turned out to be a fellow & his girl who had parked in his car, for a little love making and had forgotten to put his head lights off. Good job it was only a 11 1/2 lb practice bomb, I bet it shook him though.
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[underlined] Saturday Nov 7th. [/underlined]
For the first time, since I’ve been in the RAF I believe I shall be working on Sunday. This unfortunate happening occurs tomorrow, it appears that the weekend we are not on classes we work right on without a break, how deadly. That makes it a fortnight without a stop, it made us quite indignant, we always look forward to Sunday as a day of relaxation, and a lay in if possible in the morning. This is positively sordid getting up and continuing classes on a day that means so much to us, sacrificing our rights & privileges, all that bunk y’know. Still in the service the words “Ours not to reason why”, comes to apply in so many cases, that one understands the true significance behind the phrase.
Life still drags uneventfully on here, each day practically a repetition of the former, I can see myself disappearing in a rut. I seem to have struck a bad spell for binding, in class I can’t concentrate and constantly fall asleep, Pat Kinsella, who sits next to me is constantly prodding me into wakefulness. In the evenings I glance idly
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through the précis for about 5 minutes and then sling it, I really must snap out of it. We visit the cinema every other night for each film runs two nights, they continue to have decent films. The food here also continues to be fairly poor, the Canadians with us complain as well, so evidently it is just an isolated case, this camp. I think the term isolated describes the camp quite amply, too, I have never been anywhere quite so remote in all my life. All we can do outside the gate is to have a meal in the lunch bar or take our laundry. It surprised me that Canadian stations have no full laundry facilities, like they do on English stations it came quite a blow. The water here is deadly, it is an evil sooty looking colour they say it is caused, by the nature of the ground which is thick with alkali, anyway it tastes lousy. Damn! I’m beginning to get cheesed with writing this now, I’ll have a drink in the canteen & then go to the show I guess.
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[underlined] Wednesday 11th Nov. [/underlined]
Armistice Day – it seems to have lost the significance that it held pre war, I wonder if they will have another Armistice Day for this war. It was the first time I have been anywhere when two minutes silence was observed for in England the practise is discontinued I was in the Boulton Paul Turret on turret manipulation at the time. We get quite a lot of turret manipulation in the Frazer Nash, Boulton Paul, & Bristol Turrets, the latter we will never handle after we leave this station. Being as we fire from Blenheim IVs or Bolingbrokes as they are called in Canada, we are required to know them, I don’t think much of them as a turret though.
A fortnight remains before our bombing exams and the first vestiges of panic are beginning to show. Some of the stuff really is deadly and can only be learnt parrot fashion, quite an amount of it we shall never touch after we leave here, the majority of it in fact.
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I’m beginning to wonder when we will start on flying the time is ticking by and there are no signs of it yet – 65 course have done a couple of bombing trips, and naturally short, heaven knows how many times. This is quite an intensive course when one thinks of it, we take Theory of Bombing, which includes tons of different subjects such as Bomb barriers, Pyrotechnics etc. Then Theory of Gunnery, including Theory of Sighting & Air Firing, Signals (8 w.p.m. Aldis) and Aircraft Rec – they are surprisingly keen on the latter. We have a fair number of lessons and in the test we have about 70 slides and 30 photographs, and 10 wingspans, we have to know the wing spans of all enemy aircraft. 90% must be obtained for a pass mark in Aircraft Rec. Besides all these we have the practical side of our training to worry about. Tonight we are belting ammunition down the 25 yd. range, this is making it into belts ready for firing by the different Brownings on the station. Its a bit of a bind at
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times, but theres [sic] nothing hard on strenuous about it.
There’s a dance on in the WAAF’s canteen tonight but after two dances over here I have abandoned the idea of being able to learn the Canadian style of dancing. They seem to jog around with any steps they please, paying no attention to the orchestra, which rarely plays in dance tempo anyhow, so! I’ll wait till I arrive back in England before I go dancing again.
I’m beginning to feel a little washed out, & so are the others, a fortnights binding all day & most of the evening, without a break soon makes one stale. “Chirpy” is mad ‘cos there is a delay on flying schedules and we are unable to relieve the monotony of our lectures with actual flying. Its a good job we have a 48 hr again this coming weekend, I am beginning to see why they have to give them every fortnight on a camp like this, I guess people would go mad if they were unable to get away.
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[underlined] Sunday Nov 15th. [/underlined]
I’m writing this in Saskatoon again, and another 48 is nearly over, worse luck, we really have enjoyed it. The train pulled in at the station here around the same time on Friday evening, and Taffy and I went straight out to the house we are staying at, for the people invited us again. They really are very kind to us, we have a nice room, and the food is great, our only complaint being perhaps that they press too much of it upon us. Our dinner today was a wonderful effort, and a cream pumpkin pie we had for sweet, made me feel like a bursting balloon. This afternoon we were taken out in the car and drove around the university, it is an extensive place, and a very fine one. They certainly give us a great time here. As usual yesterday we went shopping and then to a cinema, I saw Forest Rangers & liked it, good technicolour. Just before we left Dafoe on Friday a locker lid fell down on Harry Jamieson’s head, splitting a cyst he had, consequently he
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had to have a minor operation, which prevented him coming on this 48 hr – he was already packed and changed too, hard lines.
I shan’t mind going back to work next week, for its highly probable that we are starting our flying and its about time that came along. One gets cheesed with the bombing tracker time and time again, I only hope my bombing in the air is better that it is on that affair. We have to do turret manipulation in the evenings as well now so that lecture time wont be wasted. I wouldn’t mind so much if it didn’t take long but with two turrets & a whole class to have a [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] [inserted] turn [/inserted] on each, it takes around two hours to get everyone on each for five minutes or so. The Frazer Nash seems the easiest and best to handle, but I think that if one got really expert with the Boulton Paul it would be pretty accurate, for the centre column is very delicate and doesn’t require much pressure to deviate the direction of the turret.
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[underlined] Thursday 19th Nov. [/underlined]
Its getting pretty close to the exams now, they are next Tuesday or so, that is the Bombing Exams. “Chirpy” has been putting us through it just lately, but there is such an amount to learn that my brain doesn’t seem to be able to absorb it all at once. I know the others feel the same, in a while if we don’t get these exams over will be telling them what to do with them. We have been in the bombing room a lot lately on practise work, such as firing and loading a 250 lb bomb on a universal carrier. Loading light series carriers and working the automatic bomb distributors. The bombing oral is divided into four parts and four different officers take it. One takes Bombing Theory, another Bombs and Components, a third Bomb Carriers & practical stuff, and the last the Course Setting Bomb Sight & Bomb Errors. On the following day we should have the written exam, I would rather have that than the oral, some of the officers are bound to be binders.
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On Tuesday we went down to the 25 yd range for firing with the Browning Gun, we all belted 200 rounds each and fired them. It was quite a row when it fired and it was surprising the amount the gun vibrated. Chunks of casing and [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] pieces of links would fly backwards in to one’s face, so I guess it is necessary to wear goggles when flying. We do a couple of exercises on the Browning here and one on the 200 yd range. Also there are a required number of rifle exercises to get through, the only trouble is its ever so cold, I pity the Russians in the winter, though I guess they are used to it.
At last I have had some mail, the other night when we were belting ammo. down at the range when a couple of fellows came in with Airgraphs they had just received. So off I dashed, the Post Office unluckily being the other side of the camp. It was freezing cold and as I only had battle dress on it penetrated that pretty easily. Still it was worth it, I had an Airgraph from home and one from Mary,
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it was good to hear from them after this while. I had already had a letter from a friend but that was one that had been re-directed from Manchester. Airgraphs are fairly speedy about 12 – 15 days, they generally take around that, the trouble is they are so short, one hardly starts reading them, when the end is reached; I’ll be glad when a couple of letters come trickling along.
It is fairly definite we will start flying here the beginning of next week, and its none too soon, otherwise we will be here longer than we should. I wonder what it will really be like, one hears so many tales, that one can’t attach any truth to anything. Apparently it matters quite an amount, whether the pilot is a “binder’ or not, I hope mine isn’t. We have been polishing up our wind finding on the bombing tracker, so we won’t boob anything, somehow I think somebody will drop one though.
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[underlined] Sunday 22nd Nov. [/underlined]
True to schedule we worked today, but none of us minded in the least for at last we have commenced our flying here. We went up on Wind Speed & Direction Finding on the C.S.B.S. this afternoon, and I quite enjoyed it. Luckily I flew with P/O Witney the best pilot on the station, so everything was just dandy. I remembered all my ‘patter’ perfectly & didn’t make a mess of anything, and managed to get some pretty accurate winds. There certainly isn’t much room in the nose of an Anson, in the bomber’s position, and I found we had to become an expert contortionist, to slide in and out rapidly without hitting the dummy controls, the tail trim, or any other projecting gadgets.
The flatness of the prairies struck me many times from the train but it is not until one is up in the air that they can really see it. With the snow on the ground now, the landscape stretches miles
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away in all directions with just small clumps of trees here and there, looking for all the world, like a gigantic sheet of white cardboard that someone had laid down. The roads are all dead straight, unbroken ribbons, running either North to South, or East to West. There certainly was plenty to look at on our first trip up, for everything was vastly different from the English countryside that we had flown over before. Looking down the aerodrome looked like a lonely little outpost in a vast desert. We are supposed to do one more Wind S & D exercise and commence our bombing, bags of fun then. Our pilot didn’t take us over the targets today, some fellows did, there are 3 targets spaced out along the edge of Guill Lake. No 1 being at the North end near the aerodrome, and No 3 at the South End fairly near Dafoe itself (too near maybe with our bombing) then No 2 target in between, the latter is the most difficult to pick up.
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Our bombing exams are destined for Tuesday & Wednesday, but tomorrow we are scheduled to go down the 200 yd. range for the whole day. So that doesn’t give us much chance for last minute swotting I’m afraid. They have a Fraser Nash & a Boulton Paul Turret down there, and we have to wear full flying kit, so that we get into the way of climbing in and out of the turrets and operating the guns, as we will on ‘ops’.
As for the exams, I am suffering under the insane attack of last minute panic, and consider I know practically nothing, and franticy [sic] ‘gen’ up on any little thing I can think of. Funny how a way before the exam I am always confident of passing and yet when it approaches, fellows always seem to know different things I have never heard about, & this rapidly convinces me I haven’t a chance in the world. Ah! well when I make the next entry they will all be over and will I be glad. Being tired I lay this down with a thankful sigh & so to bed.
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[underlined] Wednesday 25th Nov [/underlined]
A premature feeling of relief and happiness prevails over 66K, the bombing exams being over and everyone reasonably sure they have passed, I shall think we ought to, after the work we put in. The Oral came first we had that, yesterday, in my opinion it was the worse of the two. We started off right into it, first thing in the morning and it was my misfortune to have to go in the Bombs & Components Room first. The officer in here was a real binding P/O, he had only been an LAC four weeks previous himself, yet he would bind about things like a fellow’s tie not straight, a button undone, as if we were on a pukka parade instead of an examination. It certainly is funny how some of these fellows let a commission go to their head, and think they’re heaven knows what. To return some of the questions he asked would have required a pharmacist to answer, the various ingredients in an incendiary mixture,
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stuff we had never touched. Anyway my encounter with him was brisk & lively, I got a trifle heated, & he got more so, which ended with me making my exit with very little marks to my credit I know. The next two rooms, the C.S.B.S. Bombing Errors, & Bombing Theory were cake, for I had that stuff all wrapped. I dropped a couple in the Bomb Carriers, trying to tug a 11 1/2 lb bomb off the carriers without having unscrewed the nose & tail switches, still he was a decent chap & it wasn’t so bad. On the whole I daresay I got through with about 70% a fair show.
The written exam was this morning, we had it in the lecture hall, it was a fairly tricky paper, & I made the usual mistakes through not reading the paper correctly. Its marvellous the times I do that, come [inserted] out [/inserted] of the exam room, & as usual discuss the questions with other fellows, & find I have given the wrong answer to a question just because I didn’t read it. Sheer carelessness, but still I think I got through O.K.
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On Monday we went to the 200 yd Range for turret firing, it wasn’t bad. We all wore flying kit and were taken out in a lorry, it was about 5 miles away. As we stayed out there all day we took a snack with us. It was fairly interesting, but for the small amount of ammunition we fired it really wasn’t worth it. We had to separate all the links and cones & push them into containers too. Being as it was the day before the exams we all took our précis, in the hope of getting some last minute binding in, but with the guns firing there wasn’t a lot of chance. A fair few photographs were taken as it was a fine day, & we had one hell of a snow ball fight at dinner time, it warmed us up. We walked out and took a look at the target, machine guns certainly chew wooden beams to pieces. A fellow firing wildly sent a bust up into the air just under the tail of a low flying Boley, did that boy climb, that was the only excitement of the day, though.
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[underlined] Tuesday 1st Dec. [/underlined]
Practically a week has passed since I last made an entry, but nothing, to speak of, has turned up. When one thinks of it practically every day here is a repetition of the former – with only something unusual happening to break the monotony. It is better now that we are cracking on our practical bombing, I have completed my Wind Speed & Direction Finding trips, & my 1 direction & 4 directions bombing exercises, yesterday I did my first High Level Application exercise and managed to get a decent blue of 84 yards. This was pretty good for that exercise at this station.
On the days that we fly, we only do so for half the day, either fly in the morning & lectures in the afternoon or vice versa. If we are flying in the morning we report at 8 A.M. & in the afternoon 12 P.M. going to lunch at 11 P.M. It always is a rush in lunch time,
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getting only an hour for lunch each day. The first thing upon reaching the Bombing Flight Crew Room is to draw our parachute, harness, & intercom from the stores, and clip our T 32’s on the boards. The T 32 is a form with a diagram of the target & rings round it a scale of 25 yds distance from each other, there are also spaces for gen, such as W/S & D, A/S, Mt. No of Bombs Dropped, etc. As we see the bombs burst on the ground we plot then in the diagram on the T 32. After all these preparations are completed we squat in the Crew Room drinking “Cokes” till our name is chalked up opposite a pilot, & an aircraft. Hastily collecting our gear out we go to begin the exercise.
Two Air Bombers fly in each aircraft & drop 6 bombs each, the 12 bombs are on the ground under the aircraft. One of the fellows [deleted] [indecipherable letter] [/deleted] climbs into the “kite” and wriggling into the nose gives the C.S.B.S. a visual inspection and tests the bomb switches. The other crawls under the
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aircraft and begins to load the bombs. These are 11 1/2 lb practise smoke bombs, and are loaded singly onto a Light Series Carrier. This is a hell of a job at times, after cocking & testing the carrier one chips on the bomb, & then lowers “steadies”, or catches which hold the bomb into place. The worst job is pulling the safety pin out, there are held in place with copper wire wound round the bomb, & which is often frozen. One sits there pulling, & cursing & desperately twisting the wire, with fingers absolutely frozen, the trouble is the engines are running all the time and we are directly in the slip stream. It will often whip up powdered snow which lashes into ones face, & before long all the skin on the face goes dead, I certainly hate bombing up at times.
At last its over, however, and into the aircraft we climb test our intercom with the pilots, then when all is O.K. away we go. It is not long before
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we near the target, and the first chap climbs into the bombing compartment, or squeezes is a better work in an Anson I think. If there is time he finds a 3 course wind, then comes out, & the other fellow climbs in and takes his 3 drifts & finds his wind (unofficially compares it with the other fellow, & takes what he considers is the most correct) and announces he is ready.
The pilot then calls up the quadrant shelter and announces he is commencing to bomb and what his heading will be. Next he generally informs the bomber of the heading & then the patter commences. “No 2 Bomb Fused & Selected”, the bomber does this & repeats the order, “Turning On”, & the pilot turns the aircraft and commences the bombing run. “Master Switch On”, pilot & bomber switch on their respective switches & observe if the Jettison Light lights. Then target comes into view and the bomber announces “Target” & then the pilot says “Attack”, which the bombadier repeats then the fun begins.
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If the pilot is a good one he will have put the aircraft accurately onto the target on the heading stated. Red will be almost on Red & only minor corrections will be necessary. Should the target be a good way off the drift wires, the bomber gives the necessary correction, “Left-Left”, or Right and the pilot turns the plane accordingly. When the target comes into the drift wires the bomber yells “Steady”, & the pilot flies straight & level again. The pilot may be flying left wing low, & the levels are all out, so the bomber hastily twiddles those. Next he notices Red isn’t on Red, turns the Bearing Plate so that this is O.K. finds the drift wires have moved off the target & gives a hasty last minute correction. He most probably drops the bomb while the ‘plane is turning and to his horror sees the white burst of smoke about 250 yds from the target. Sometimes one has a good run up with the little yellow [symbol] coming down the drift wires all the way, then when the target, back right & fore right
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are in line [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] presses the bit, and the bomb lands about 30 yds out, he eagerly plots this on the T 32. Quite often one gets in a flap, everything goes wrong, frantic corrections are screamed into the inter com, and then the words Dummy Run are heard. The pilot sighs and informs the quadrant shelter and round they go again. Most of these exercises are carried out at 5 or 6,000 ft. Eventually both fellows have bombed and the aircraft heads for home, and lands disgorging two bombadiers with mixed feelings depending upon how this exercise went.
A swift look at the Bomb Carriers to see if there were any hang ups, sign for the bombs dropped, have the flying time entered on the T 32 in the flight office then off to the Plotting Office. This is where Bombing Exercises are made and marred, I am biased of course, for there is always a feud between Air Bombers & the plotters in the Plotting Office. Apprehensively we hand in the T 32 and in a little while receive a large chart
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with a graph on it & the target in the centre and our bombs plotted as they saw them at the Quadrant Shelter. In different columns, errors are entered for each bomb, & then the average error converted to 10,000 ft. Should this be under 150 yds it is a ‘blue’ or pass, & if over 150 yds a ‘red’ or fail. The bombadier gazes aghast at a bomb he has plotted at 50 yds & which the Quadrant have at over 200 yds & raises an indignant moan. It rarely has any effect, nobody takes any notice of us & we have to make the best of what we are given. I must say its rather cheesing to see a bomb burst clearly inside the 100 yd. mark & for them to plot it double the distance out. It is easily done for the two Quadrant shelters take bearings on the smoke burst. They don’t stand with their eyes constantly glued to the window, & often don’t look out till the pilot calls over the radio telling them the bomb has been dropped. If there is a strong ground wind the smoke will have
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drifted a fair distance in this short while & consequently the bomb is plotted farther out than it should be. Sometimes there are errors owing to readings being incorrectly given over the phone but this can be checked. There certainly is a lot to be despised in the plotting, though I guess a good deal could be said for either sides point of view. Its binding to have a hell of a trip, frozen loading the bombs, cold as charity in the air, perspex iced up, yet manage to get some good bombs away, then return & find some guy in the quadrant shelter has spoilt the exercise in a minute with bad plotting. Their argument is that we can’t see as well as them for we are in the air – maybe they’ve never heard of serial reconnaissance. Still its like that on all B & G’s I guess.
The rest of our exams take place very shortly, Gunnery, Signals, Aircraft Rec. I think I had better pack up and get some binding in.
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[underlined] Sunday Dec 6th. [/underlined]
The Signals Exam is over, thats [sic] the first of the list, ticked off, we took it this afternoon. We are required to do 8’s on the lamp, as it is far too cold to go outside in the open with an Aldis we work in the classroom. The Signals Room is fitted with a small light let into the table at each man’s position, the lights are controlled & operated by the instructor operating an ordinary Morse key. Most of us got through the exam O.K. & a few failed, Norman amongst them, he never could master signals, he will get another try I believe, maybe he can do it with some practise.
Some time at the beginning of next week we take both our [deleted] signal [/deleted] Gunnery Exams these are very similar to the Bombing Exams, the Course divided between 3 or 4 instructors. The written will contain a question or two on Turrets we have had 3 or 4 lectures on the F.N, B.P.s and Bristol, and
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there being so much gen to swallow in a short time, well we just didn’t try, so are hoping for the best.
We haven’t flown for 5 days, owing to the bad weather it has been ‘washed’ every day, its delays like this that put the course behind when we are due to graduate. Either at Xmas or the New Year we will get 4 days leave, and as long as we don’t lose that I shan’t worry. Tomorrow night we are belting ammo, they are behind with their number of rounds & have to catch up, it’s a bind but can’t be helped. I hear that when we do air firing now we have to belt our own ammunition. We have this station completely wrapped, & can’t remember when we last went on a morning parade, we always twist off it with some excuse or other, things on this station are definitely looking up. Ah! well I think I’ll pop along to the cinema & relax, though that’s rather impossible on the wooden seats.
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[underlined] Thursday 10th December [/underlined]
We are gradually finishing the course now, those that had failed Signals took it again. Taffy passed O.K. but Norman didn’t stand a chance so ‘Butch’ Rogers took it for him, so everyone is through now. Today was our Gunnery Oral Exam and that was pretty straightforward, most of the instructors examining us were sprog P/O’s just passed put from LAC’s the same as us. They were decent chaps but we knew as much as them easily. On changing the feed of the Browning, there were quite a few points I mentioned, that one of them hadn’t heard of at all. Anyway I think we all got through without any trouble.
The cold is still as bad as ever, worse if anything, there hasn’t been much flying, owing to the snow storms and poor visibility. There is a Bolingbroke
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missing from a Gunnery trip yesterday. They have had no news of it at all, and have been organising a square search today. Lots of Ansons with crews came over from the Navigation School at Rivers to assist. I only hope they find the chaps O.K. they may have come down up north in the bush. The trouble with these Boleys is that they aren’t fitted with any radio. A farmer reported hearing a crash in the direction of Quill Lake yesterday, but they searched over there without any success. The pilot is a Canadian I believe, but the two pupils are English on 65 course, the chaps that were in ‘F’ flight at Manchester, I hope they are safe. They say these Boleys are pretty grim in cold weather and ice up in no time.
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I am not looking forward to our gunnery much it will be hellishly cold in those turrets I bet. We are looking forward to our leave very much after all this binding & swotting, I only wish I could get across to Vancouver to see my uncle but there isn’t time. Mr. & Mrs Guild have invited Taffy& I down to Saskatoon, for Xmas, still I dunno what will happen yet everything is very much in the air. Anyway I’ll think I’ll do one little bit more gunnery now as the Gunnery Written is tomorrow
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CONCLUDING BOOK 3
MY ADVENTURES IN CANADA ARE CONCLUDED IN BOOK 4
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
Book 3, Commencing my Adventures Overseas
Description
An account of the resource
Third of David Geach's diaries describing his service & personal life training as an Air Bomber in Canada. He describes his ground & flying training experiences, social life both in camp and in local Canadian towns and New York. He details train travel across Canada and the United States and his homeward voyage across the Atlantic in the troopship liner Queen Elizabeth. Covers the period from 10th October 1942 to 10th December 1942.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Geach
Format
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One handwritten diary
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YGeachDG1394781v4
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
Royal Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
New York (State)--New York
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Québec--Montréal
Manitoba--Winnipeg
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan--Saskatoon
Massachusetts
New York (State)
Québec
New Brunswick
Manitoba
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-10
1942-11
1942-12
aircrew
Anson
Blenheim
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
entertainment
ground personnel
mess
military living conditions
military service conditions
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18821/YGeachDG1394781v1.2.pdf
dcac3c4a3517c0ecd4c5eaaca961c4aa
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
Geach, David
D Geach
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/"></a>52 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer David Geach (1394781 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence, photographs of his crew, his log book, cuttings and items relating to being a prisoner of war. After training in Canada, he flew operations as a bomb aimer with 623 and 115 Squadrons until he was shot down 24 March 1944 and became a prisoner of war. He was instrumental in erecting a memorial plaque to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. <br />The collection also contains a scrap book of photographs.<br /><br />Additional information on his crew is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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IBCC Digital Archive
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2016-03-14
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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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Geach, DG
Transcribed document
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Book cover
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[deleted word]
[deleted word]
[deleted] 106/10 [/deleted]
[deleted word]
[underlined] BOOK 4 [/underlined]
CONTINUING MY
OVERSEAS TRAINING
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[underlined] 12th December. 1942 [/underlined]
Back the Gunnery Exams are now over, that means that all our exams are completed [four indecipherable words] the aircraft [indecipherable word] & as I have always been pretty sound on that I have no fears in that direction. The final was on the 10th & the written on the 11th, the written wasn’t a bad paper a few tricky maps but we all made it O.K. I think the James Backward Movement of the ‘Breech Block,” cropped up. Looking back now upon the hours of binding on our précis, I wonder if it was all necessary. Still, maybe, it kept us out of marching, but I can’t help thinking of superfluous binding, I bet this thing is all forgotten on ‘ops.’
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[photograph]
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They found the missing ‘Boley’ today, it was at the side of 6 mile Lake, after all, that farmer had been right when he said he heard the crash there. It must have gone straight in from a fair height, because the largest piece left of it was only about 4 feet square, so I guess there was some excuse for the aerial search party not finding it. The fellows could hardly have had a chance they must have gone straight in. It is a fact that one hasn’t a chance of getting out, what with that tiny escape hatch, & the comparative low height they fly, no, I guess you just go & hope for the best. I feel terribly sorry for those fellows parents back in England, just to receive a brief telegram – its [sic] very hard.
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We were down on the 25 yd range the other day with the Browning, it runs a hellish waste of ammo at that short range. It was hellishly cold, except for the brief period when we were outside firing we were huddled in the hut around the stove. It was really grim if there was a stoppage. That is one disadvantage of the Post Office being right down by the Guard Room. We have to tramp all the way down there then through the Snow, & this bitter cold wind covering our ears with our hands as they still wont give us winter caps. Then when we get down there, we receive invariably the answer, “What name? Geach? No, sorry,” I wish it didn’t take so long to come across. Airgraphs are pretty quick, but they are read in a minute.
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[underlined] Tues 15th December. [/underlined]
Our worries are now all over at least as the exams are concerned. We took our last one today, Aircraft Rec, and that was O.K, poor old Taffy was never a Gen man in that line, nor was Norman & I was hard put whispering the answers to both of them. However whatever the results may be thats [sic] the end of the written & theory side of B & G. There only remains the practical to get in now. On that side we are slightly behind due to bad weather, I’m afraid, just lately I’ve had some incomplete exercises. Yesterday I tried to get a Low Level in the first time up there was a U/S bomb release & the exercise was incomplete. The second time up though everything went O.K except the exercise
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I got 96 yards for that, pretty grim for low level. Last night I was up twice trying for a High Level, the first time it was an incomplete exercise, because of icing up and the second time it was [indecipherable word] films. I was really cheesed, after hanging around the crew room most of the night, & go up twice, then not be able to get an exercise in.
One good thing over here, everyone has 4 days leave for either Xmas or the New Year which is better than at home so that is one benefit we’ll have. We certainly have put in some work at this place, and now I can see the advantage in having the station so isolated. There are no outside attractions to take our minds off our work.
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[underlined] Friday 18th December [/underlined]
Today was the coldest day I have ever known, & I hope I dont [sic] experience any more. The temp was 54˚ below zero, it seems incredulous to me that it could go so low. We were on our first gunnery flight, camera gun exercise. but of the whole gunnery flight they were only able to get one Blenheim started, it was so cold that it was impossible to get any life out of the others. It seemed an effort to breathe on the ground the air seemed so thin. Cross & I were on the camera gun trip, how I wished we werent [sic]. Clad in full cloths with a sweater then outer & inner flying suits on top of that, & two pairs of gloves we staggered out.
I was first in the turret, we had tossed & I had lost so I was ‘Joe.’ The Bristol turret, in ordinary conditions an abortion
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for anyone above 5ft 6ins didn’t react very favourably to my efforts to climb in. At last after a hell of a struggle I made though every time I rotated it, my feet were jammed. I saw the target Blenheim, and went to open fire, obviously he was in a playful mood, because he sat in the blind spot just under the tail, & would suddenly slide out, until he saw me struggle with the turret, my frozen hands gripping the controls, when the guns were almost bearing on him, he would pop back under the tail. Consequently I hadn’t had a chance to fire at all. He repeated the manoeuvre about 4 times, & I was nearly freezing with cold, because one is almost sitting in the open in those turrets.
Suddenly I got a bead on him and pressed the triggers holding in down, then
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looking at the counter dial, I saw it wasn’t moving, no film was being wound over. I cursed & swore like a madman, the cold had sapped at my strength so much that any little thing almost made me scream with frustration. Smashing at the cover I eventually lifted it & hauled out the magazine. I thrust it behind me into Cross’s hand & shouted for another. He was rather a long while & I shouted & swore, then he handed it up & I thrust it in. After getting it all set up I found that didn’t work, so utterly exhausted I almost fell out of the turret & thrust poor Crossy willy nilly in there screaming in his ear, what I know not. It wasn’t long before he was in the same state and scrambled out, trying to push me in, but I had had enough & told the
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pilot to land. By this time the cold had seeped through into our very marrow, & our bodies were shaking in uncontrollable spasms, apart from the absolute numbness, of our hands & feet.
Looking back in the warmth of the hut it seems incredible that cold could make us act like demented beings. Yet, so much did it eat at us, that everything going wrong made us swear & shout into the empty air & struggle hopelessly our fingers so cold they couldn’t grasp a thing. It was such a feeling of frustration that I would have thrown the gear overboard, had I been able. As it was the gun was so frozen up it was impossible to operate. I am surprised that they sent us up in that weather, with only one kite serviceable.
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Yesterday I was up with Smithy for a High Level, he went in first to, but gave a good few dummy runs, then said the windscreen was iced so much he couldn’t bomb. P/O Cheye the pilot asked me to try & ‘em so I went in & found it was iced up right to the line of sight & no corrections were possible. Anyway I tried as best as I could dropping bombs on the turn & all sorts of things. When we landed I told the pilot to come over to the plotting office & bear out my statement of the lousy conditions I had bombed under . When the result was worked out it was only 156 yds & I only needed 150yds or under to have a pass, so bombing under those lousy conditions I was only 6 yds over. The little English P/O that we didn’t like was in charge & when my pilot told
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him the score he hummed & hawed, then finally said, come back & see it later & it will be different. When I went back expecting about just under 100 yds, as in good conditions it would have been that easy, I found he had taken 6yds off, & I had 150 yds, a bare pass, what a concession it must have broken his heart to give it away. I also got a Low Level in & got 56 yds pretty nice. Last night I had a wizard exercise, to catch me up I went up alone, with Jake [indecipherable word] for pilot, he is a smashing guy. I had 12 bombs on & had to complete two exercises in, we got them off O.K. & the results were 79 yds & 85 yds, boy! Was I happy. What was better still we were down early enough for the film show, & as I was the only one in the class on night bombing, I was able to nip over, & go in the show with them. Truly a happy night.
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[underlined] Monday December 21st [/underlined]
They are certainly cracking on with this flying now, getting exercises in on every possible occasion, if only this keeps up we might finish on time yet. On Saturday I went up on High Level and got 105 yards, which was O.K. There is only one fault with there [sic] bombing exercises and that is bombing up, especially in this blasted cold weather, I don’t know a bigger torture. We go out to the Anson before take off & find the 12 bombs laying under the aircraft. Under the kite we crawl & lay down in the snow & hammer away at the frozen butterfly nuts, trying to pull the [indecipherable word] down to grip the bombs. It is deadly cold & even though we wear two pairs of gloves our hands get numb. Ramsay a New Zealander split
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his glove once & happening to get hold of the bomb with his bare hand tore all the skin off it.
After we have put the bombs on we get back in the kite, & wait till the pilot says the kite is serviceable, (which it often isn’t). Then out we scramble dive under the kite & start to pull the pins out. This is the worst part of the whole business, both engines are running & we crouch there in the slipstream, with the snow being whipped in our faces like a miniature blizzard. Once all the side of my face went right numb & a ground staff chap rubbed snow on it & it went O.K again. The copper wire holding the pins in, is generally too tough to break & we turn our gloves on it & twist & pull in vain. Then
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if that goes, more often than not the split pin is frozen or rusted in. We twist & pull, curse & swear, then eventually they are out & back we crawl. Quite often we are only up for a few minutes & the exercise is [indecipherable word] out, or sometimes we haven’t even left the ground before flying is scrubbed. Then back we crawl & push the pins back & vainly try & wind the copper wire around the safety plunger, [indecipherable word] the [indecipherable word] switch gently, so the plunger wont spring out. Then if it does you fumble around, cursing for all you are worth. Ah! [indecipherable word] what a mugs game this is.
We also went up Saturday night to try to get a High Level in but it was scrubbed owing to icing up, the old story, they ought to
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have something to keep the [indecipherable word] free from ice, a guard or something. I got the exercise in last night though, it wasn’t a particularly brilliant one, 141yds but it was a pass
Today was my first actual gunnery exercise & after all the tales I had heard I was surprised that everything went off without a hitch. I was in the turret first, I& was enjoying bashing away at the old drogue so much that when I thought it was about time to let Jamison fire his rounds I looked down and saw I had fired all mine and all of his except for about 20. There was nothing else to do but pop them off. Still he didn’t mind because with his height it is a work of art to get in & out of the turret.
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[underlined] Thursday 24th December [/underlined]
The exercises are gradually being completed, we have all completed bombing & have only the rest of the gunnery [indecipherable word] to do. We are not graduating on time though, they knew we wouldn’t a while ago, but were going to send us on leave for Xmas & on to AONS without bothering to complete the rest of our gunnery exercises.
This has all been squashed on the head though & we have to stay to finish them. The worst part of all, our leave has been cancelled, & we have to fly over Xmas, Taffy & I have had to cable the people in Surhatoon, who invited us to stay there & tell them its off. Poor old Chiefy Oliver he was really cut about us not getting it.
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The Navigation School we are going to is No 1 CNS Rivers Manitoba, & all the English fellows are going there. Most of the Canadians wanted to stay out West, so we let them apply for Regina, because it would be a rotten trick for us to try & keep them from their homes, we don’t mind where we go actually. I do wish we could have leave though.
I went up on two trips yesterday the first one, I had a really u/s gun, neither of us could do anything with it, so we had to land with the exercise incomplete. Sometimes if there is a stoppage that can’t be cleared & there are only about a hundred rounds left, we throw them over the side into Quill Lake so we can
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get in a complete exercise. Today I got an exercise in with Sgt [indecipherable word] a New Zealand pilot he is a mad guy, a good flier but a regular binder, he drives me to the point of turning the gun on him.
We all have to belt our own ammunition, heaven knows how many thousand rounds our class has made into belts, but it number quite a few. Every individual has to do a certain number, & there are always arguments about personal scores or somebody skiving off & not doing his share. Well its getting on so I must join the boys in the bar they are having a Xmas Eve party there, & we have invited the Aircraft {indecipherable word] Corporal & the Cpl in charge of our hut they are both decent fellows.
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[underlined] Sunday December 27th. [/underlined]
Xmas has come and gone and our Bombing & Gunnery course is now completed, at least mine is with a few others, there are still some that have to get another one or two gunnery exercises in. The Xmas was the worst I have ever spent, I make no bones in saying that, & it was entirely the fault of the C.O & powers that be on the station. Xmas eve we had a marvellous time, because we organised it ourselves. We all had a good beer up in the canteen, at our party, then bowled down to the WAAFs recreation room. They are allowed to invite one fellow each but the whole crowd of us just swarmed in there, & took the place over. We started a dance with the juke box & it was bang on.
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I think I got to bed about 3AM. On Xmas morning but got up rather [indecipherable word] for the Xmas dinner. This was rather a nice meal, but what a fiasco it was. The officers & NCO’s were serving us & it wouldn’t have been so bad if they had laid off the liquor before hand. Instead of that we had to sit at the tables for about three quarters of an hour before they finally rolled in. Boy! They were certainly well heeled, the officers had NCO’s tunics & vice versa, the little Sgt B/A who came back from England was wearing one of the large fur hats we could just about see his face. Anyway they tried to serve it, the meal, I mean, & there was nearly a riot. They dropped quite a few & were playing about the rest of the
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time.
As everyone was nearly starving, the boys began to eat up, an officer jumped up to try to make a speech but was howled down. Then the Orderly Officer & Orderly NCO came in, & the NCO tried to shout at us, & someone hit him in the eye with an apple, & he hit him good & hard. That started the fun there was a shower of apples that were provided on the tables. It was great while it lasted, then things quietened down & we finally got our meal, which was good, although my taste was rather spoilt by the effect of the previous nights hang over.
Xmas night what a night, there was no tea, because the mess was still in the shambles it was from the dinner, so we had to forage around
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& get what food we could. Then we looked for some amusement, the officers were having a hell of a party with bags of liquor, lots of women. The N.C.O were doing likewise in their mess everyone was having a whale of a time – except the airmen. We drifted along to the WAAFs recreation hall to see if there was a dance, but it was practically deserted, all the WAAF’s had been invited to the parties. After disconsolately playing a couple of records on the juke box, we thought , oh! Well we’ll go in the canteen & just sit there drinking, so off we went. When we went there, we found a notice to say it wasn’t opening as there was no beer. No drinks to be had on Xmas night at least for the airmen, NCO’s & officers were gorging it down & there wasn’t a
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drop for the other ranks. Pretty poor arrangements on the CO’s part, in fact the whole attitude was let the airmen take care of themselves. Some said there should have been 12 barrels of beer for the airmen, but it mysteriously disappeared into the other parties, whether, this was true or not I don’t know, anyway we were out in the cold.
The YMCA took pity on us & screened a couple of travel films in Norway, & the place was full, it shows what a degree of apathy had sunk to. On the wireless we could hear the fellows at Mossbank having a marvellous party & the English fellows broadcasting home to their families, & we were going to bed at 10P.M – Merry Xmas.
Today I did my last two gunnery exercises, one with [indecipherable word], everything went O.K. so my B & G course is now over.
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[underlined] Thursday Dec 31st. [/underlined]
1942 has almost gone & it has been quite an eventful year for me, I guess we will be up when the – New Year arrives. Speaking of new things we are now at our new station, Rivers Manitoba No 1 Central Navigation School. Back at Dafoe we kept binding the others to get their gunnery exercises in as there might be a chance of leave. They finally got them in & our graduation party was set for Tuesday the 29th. We spent the day packing our things & getting everything ready for our journey. Then in the evening we assembled promptly in the YMCA hut for the proceedings. The C.O & the officers arrived & after a few speeches & the usual bull about being one of the best courses etc, though this time they quoted figures and
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we had beaten all previous courses records. Then came the awarding of the certificates, old Smithy came top, everyone expected that, it shook me that when the final results were out, of both practical & theory work, I had come fourth in the course, I didn’t expect that.
Afterwards there was some drinking & a sing song but we didn’t get canned or anything, then around midnight we bowled along to the mess for a special supper that was provided. I had two lots of toast eggs bacon tomatoes & chips, with wizard coffee, I was really starving. When that was over some of the boys [indecipherable word] off to a recent cache of beer they had & were certainly heeled. We got to bed around 2 A.M. & we were hardly asleep when we were awakened at 5A.M. to get moving.
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After a quick breakfast we bundled our kit bags in the back of the lorry, then found we had to climb in on top of them. The back of the lorry was open, there was a blizzard raging & we had a 30 mile drive across the prairies to Raymore where we were to catch the train. So we said cheerio to all our Canadian friends on the course who were going to Regina & off we went.
I find it impossible to describe that ride, no mere words on paper can conjure up the intense cold we suffered. Cold is a thing that always strikes me & it nearly did them. We were laying there on the kit bags huddled together like sheep for a little warmth. Before long my feet had gone dead & I couldn’t move them so I had to
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get Taffy to punch & pummel them, because I was frightened of frostbite. About every five minutes he did this, & I think that was all that saved them. I was in agony with the bitter cold, & thought the ride would never end, on & on we jolted until at last we reached the little township of Raymore. I fell out of the lorry & so did quite a few of the others, & got into the bare waiting room of the railway station for warmth. When we had unloaded the kit & placed it on a truck, we found out our train which [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] was then due was snowed up & hadn’t left [indecipherable word]. There was only one hotel in the place so we went there, to have coffee. After a while we decided to have breakfast as well, & got cracking.
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The hotel appeared to be devoid of customers but us, & I didn’t see any people staying there, heaven’s knows how they made it pay. The old chap who owned it didn’t appear to take to us at [deleted word] first, but he thawed out [deleted word] later. We plunged back through the driving snow to the station to see what the position, but the train still hadn’t started out, so we ordered dinner at the hotel. As it turned out we spent all the day there & never have I experienced such complete boredom. There was nothing at all in the hotel, just one room with an old piano, which Smithy banged on, but as he played mainly by music & the pieces there were pretty old & grim, there wasn’t much amusement in that direction. In the town there wasn’t one shop we could
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look in, or a cinema, dance hall, absolutely nothing. Some of the boys discovered an old barber’s shop with a pool room in the back & played there for a while, but that was deadly.
After dinner the bar was opened, & we sat there most of the time drinking, then the station rang to say the train would be in at 5P.M. Pat Smithy & myself wandered off & found a little café The lady came from London Eng [sic], & we had quite a chat. Then there was a panic because we found the boundary of Mountain Time & Central Time ran between the café & the station, so we didn’t know whether the station had meant 5P.M. their time or what was in the café, what a topsy turvy town. As there was an hors difference we dashed to
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the station in a panic. There we found the train still hadn’t arrived& would be later than they thought. Back to the hotel for tea & we were sitting in the bar when we heard the whistle, the train was coming through we dashed out & there she was in the distance her headlight glaring and her whistle screaming how we cheered it. She was 13 hours late.
Soon we were heading away from that desolate spot, & one step nearer to England again. When we reached Rivers there was a truck waiting & out we went. We had to book in at the guard room, it was then 1.30am. they gave us a light meal & then tried to find billets for us. The fellow who knew where they were, was apparently away & the
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Cpl. Who showed us didn’t. We stumbled into huts in the pitch black switched on lights got furious howls from the occupants & dived out. Eventually we found the hut we had had odd beds amongst a flight of navigators that were sleeping there. They had only just moved in for weeks they had been sleeping in hangars, & we had to wake the poor devils with the lights.
We were in bed about 3AM. & they sorted us out at 8A.M. to get weaving on the schedule of signing in FFI’s & the usual routine. With hardly any sleep for two nights we certainly feel tired now. Today we met our instructor had a look round at the place & received the usual welcome address, and so have begun our Navigators course it lasts 6 weeks. Ah! Well it has just struck midnight so Farewell 1942 & Greetings 1943 – Happy New Year.
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[underlined] Sunday 3rd January. [/underlined]
I’m afraid this place isn’t as good as Defoe though it is a fair bit easier for us, being as Air Bombers aren’t taken seriously, it is almost purely and simply a Navigation School. Our huts are O.K. only I wish the blasted heater in our room would work constantly, when it fails, & it invariably does in the night the place is like an ice berg come morning & a supreme effort is needed to leap out of the sheets. The kit bags arrived the day after we did & mine was missing, it’s the one with flying kit, I’ve bound about it, but so far without result. I think the biggest laugh is our classroom, it is in a huge drill hall, that is still under construction, & I guess our classroom isn’t constructed yet. It is a ramshackle
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affair of wood, all knocked together. The floor is rough planks, & ends before it reaches the far wall, there lies a large hole in which all sorts of rubbish is dumped. There is no heating & not much electric light, the one bright spot is that the walls are literally covered, with women that themselves are far from covered. Represented are the Queens of Hollywood in their most glamorous & revealing poses and photographs from various nudist magazines, it is a superb collection. A Flt / Lt bought the Sqdn/Ldr along see them and have them removed. Gesturing he said to the Sqdn/Ldr “you see what I mean,” the latter surveyed them in silence & said “yes, but mind you, they’re damn fine women.” The best part was when the padre came to the room for his chat, but even he couldn’t keep his eyes off them.
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The food as whole is pretty grim here, & the mess isn’t so hot, although we had a really smashing dinner on New Years Day & didn’t bother to go to classes in the afternoon. Our instructor is a decent chap, he’s only been a P/O a couple of weeks was an LAC like us then. He is rather easy going, keen, & tries hard, I’m afraid we take advantage of him. When looking at some out of date reconnaissance books the other day, there was a diagram of a battle fleet at sea. It was obviously pre-war with the destroyer screen in a beautiful Vic ahead of the rest & four aircraft carriers bunched together all on their lonesome at the rear. I remarked “They’d be a sitting target for U. Boats,” at which he gazed hard at the diagram & rather vaguely said “I don’t see any U Boats.” Before I realised it I said ‘no, they are under the water.” I couldn’t resist it, he really asked for it, guess he has drawn the bead on me now.
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[underlined] Thursday January 7th [/underlined]
We have commenced our flying here, I went on one trip Tuesday, ostensibly we are there for Map Reading, but actually we are ballast. Nobody bothers about us we sit up by the pilot & heroically wind the undercart up & down, every now and again the Navigator pushes us aside to read the astro compass. Should we be very conscientious & map read diligently all the way, then offer the Nav a pin point, he looks at you with deep suspicion, still I guess they have every right to be they get so many duff pin points. Their cross country trips last about three hours & we are supposed to drop one bomb at the end. What good one will do I don’t know, but most pilots hate it, & will do anything rather than carry out the bombing, they find wizard excuses too.
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P/O Grand gives us logs to keep in the air, pin points recce reports etc, I blush to say most of them are cooked. We have to prepare flight plans too, actually though we don’t do a lot of ground work here, the photography is the most binding I think. Certainly there isn’t the study at night like at Dafoe, the navs [sic] work hard though, I pity the poor guys. The cinema is the same as Dafoe though not so clean & it is more crowded, not bad though. There is a fair sized canteen opposite with a bar one end divided by the partition. They sell hot dogs for a nickel each & I generally get a quarters worth I love them. Generally they have a good selection of commercial goods, shirts and everything. There is a small YWCA by the gate where they sell lovely coffee, we don’t do so badly.
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[underlined] Tuesday 12th January [/underlined]
I have been on two more cross countries here we are gradually getting our hours in. My flying kit bag turned up after all so, I didn’t have to wear borrowed kit again, God knows where it had been, halfway across Canada again I reckon. We had a 36hr which we were going into Brandon for, over the weekend. After queuing at the gate & in a mad rush we arrived in there safely, but after back & forth along Main Street we figured we had seen [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] [inserted] everything [/inserted]. I splashed out & bought a Rolex wrist watch for $65 (£15) it really is a lovely thing though. Afterwards we went to a cinema to see “My Sister Eileen,” quite a funny film. Although we had been in two cafés for snacks already, we were still able to wade through a large dinner in the Hotel.
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After that we were absolutely at a loss so we went to a cinema again. It was a grim little dive really & the films were pretty poor. I happened to be sitting next to a Canadian Flt/Lt. & his wife, & she noticed my ATS cap badge, that I had worn ever since somebody stole my badge at Manchester. I could hear her whispering to him “ask him what it is,” & I was all set to [indecipherable word] out Air Training Scheme as I told an S.P previously, but he didn’t. after the show we figured there was absolutely nothing to stay for, Jock, Butch & a couple of others stayed & went off to find some women, but we caught the last bus back to camp.
Our Wings Parade is due the beginning of February, the day we have waited for all this time is getting pretty close now. Ah! Well I’ll be glad its [sic] all over.
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[underlined] Sunday January 17th. [/underlined]
Life is still the same, fairly uneventful, some days it snows, & some days it doesn’t some days we fly & some days we don’t - [indecipherable word]. We went into Rivers this afternoon, we started to walk but hell! It was so cold that we were mighty glad when we got a lift half way. A good hot meal in the drug store & we felt like new again. That’s the thing I like about Rivers it may small & dead, but boy! You can get a good meal pretty cheap. We generally come in on the bus, straight into the drug store, & there have, coffee, rolls & butter, steak, two eggs, green peas, French Fries, with lemon pie that just makes my mouth water all for 65 cents. Afterwards we see a film at the tiny “Four Star Theatre” or the other one, then time for another meal, & just time to catch the bus back it really is a pleasant evening.
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There is only one general store to wander round but they stock almost everything, what a thrill it was when we first had bananas there, they really tasted good. The new snack bar on the camp is now open, its [sic] a real flash affair, red leather stools, with chromium fittings & red leather settees, some café for an Air Force camp. The drill hall or games hall is nearing completion, its [sic] a wizard floor & quite a size, the Canadians certainly look after their men.
I went on the open air skating rink the other night to try my hand, the chaps who could skate said it was pretty grim, but I’m no judge. As I have done a fair amount of roller skating, I was able to maintain my balance & not fall down at all, & whip up a little speed on occasions, but it really made my ankles ache, afterwards.
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[underlined] Thursday 21st January. [/underlined]
It really has been cold lately, and we have had to cease lectures over in the class room, because there is no heating, and one simply can’t pay attention. So just lately we have moved the classroom to our billets because they are warm, at least the one next to us is, our own heater keeps breaking down.. On Monday the temp. was 48˚ below zero, boy! That’s getting down some, I hope never to experience cold like it again. One has difficulty in breathing, & your eyelids gum up, every tooth in my mouth aches, & the skin on the face feels as though it is being torn off in strips, its [sic] really grim. I never thought I should see the day when it got warmer when it started to snow. We also flew Monday, luckily there was an inversion, & it was only -32˚ but that was cold enough.
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The other day on a day cross country our track took us across Winnipeg, it was well worth seeing from the air. The tall buildings, I dont [sic] think they are big enough to be called sky scrapers, stood up very clean & the mass of cars in the streets looked [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] like hundreds of beetles crawling along, in fact the whole place resembled a large ant hill. Easily the most fascinating part was the railway station & goods yards, they looked like little toy trains puffing in & out of each other, it was well worth seeing. We spent our 48 hrs. there & had a good time, apart from the fact I collected a frost bitten ear, which became the size of a young foot-ball. I was able to see May’s Aunt & was made very welcome. We went in on the “flyer” Friday afternoon & came back Sunday night, it is a nice town, & it made a break, I really enjoyed myself.
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[underlined] Tuesday January 26th. [/underlined]
The flying programme really has been moving these last few days, I have flown three days running now, as there was a good break in the weather. Lets hope the weather continues to be O.K. & then we wont be held up after Wings Parade to complete our flying hours. The results of our Mid Term Exams, which we took last Wednesday came through, & we all passed, it was pretty easy so I guess we all should. Our final exams come off tomorrow & Thursday, & we will all pass by hook or by crook & mainly the latter. The whole class will be cribbing most of their written exams, & I make no excuses in fact I say its [sic] the right thing. The stuff they teach us is all obsolete, & we will never use it when we leave here, both the instructors & pupils know it consequently there is no effort made to learn it.
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We have done a couple of night cross – countries & I can’t see they are much training. If the trip is East it is invariably by Winnipeg & as soon as we climb to 6,000ft the glow of Winnipeg can be seen in the distance there is no chance of losing it. Even if the navigator gives a duff course the pilots fly towards it, so they don’t have to stay up longer than they can help. It is pretty cheesing for us, we just sit there in the cold, see a town lit up on the ground, shine a dim light on our map then on our log to make an entry. Invariably the pencil or log falls on the floor and we grope around for it, whilst the pilot curses about the light flashing. The other night I saw the pilot laughing heartily at something so I crawled into the bombing hatch & put the ear-phones on, they were listening to Bob Hope, so I discovered a way to relieve the boredom.
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[underlined] Sunday 31st January. [/underlined]
Well our last exams are over & passed, we have no more to take now before we get our wings, that should be pretty soon now. The exams weren’t too bad, & we didn’t have to do a lot of cribbing, the aldis & a couple like that we couldn’t possibly crib, still we all made the grade. Now we are trying to get our 30 odd flying hours in I thought it would be a rush for them. We flew yesterday & today & only need three trips now & our flying programme will be completed. 65 course who were at Defoe with us, left for Moncton except one chap who had to stay behind to get his flying hours in. Riches the chap I used to work with has gone on the 4th Vector course so I guess hell [sic] do his OUT over here.
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I don’t think we shall get any leave after our course, the last lot of fellows didn’t, they certainly have twisted us out of the five days leave we should have had for Xmas or the New Year. Our life is the essence of laziness now, as there is nothing for us to do in the way of lectures. We write, read & yarn most of the day, & toddle along to the cinema at night. It gets rather packed now & we have to queue about a quarter of an hour outside to make sure of getting in for a seat. ‘Red’ Sollis and the rest of the navigators that are passing out with us have just about finished wading through their pile of exams, they certainly have some to get through. More & more I thank my lucky stars that when I washed out as pilot I wasn’t made a navigator I just wouldn’t have stood it.
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[underlined] Sunday February 7th. [/underlined]
Its [sic] arrived at last, almost a year to the day of entering the R.A.F we have our tapes and I am now Sgt Geach. The big day was yesterday & it was about three days overdue, we flew Thursday, & twice on Friday in order to get our flying finished in time. Old Grand wanted us to fly on the first night cross country on Friday, come down get into another kite & fly on the second one in order to get our time in, that was on top of flying 3 hrs. in the day time. It would mean 10 hrs flying in about 16 hrs, anyway when I returned from my first night cross country I told him what he could do & walked off, so did some of the others, a few flew again. When we got to the mess for a midnight meal they wouldn’t serve us because we were wearing flying boots. So we all took
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them off, one of the Canadians had red & yellow hooped socks, some of us had blue & some grey, it was quite a sight, anyway they had to serve us.
They sprang this wings parade on us the day before and we were frantically bulling for it. It took place at 2P.M. yesterday, & there were two flights of navigators passing out beside we Air Bombers. There was bags of bull, a terrific long march out to the Groupie, I wasn’t looking forward to it. Suddenly my name was called, & like a robot away I went, “attention, one pace back, turn left, march smartly, head up, left, right, bags of bull. Getting near the Groupie now, get ready for a smart halt not too near him, & not too far away.” Then horror of horrors as I came to a real crashing halt the steel tips on my heels made me
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slip, the whole room held its breath as I tottered & even the Groupie smiled when I managed to regain my balance, it shook me. A handshake, pin on the brêvet, a few words, then it was all over & I was marching back. So I had graduated at last into a trained Air Bomber.
That afternoon we were all queuing up at the parachute section getting our tapes and brêvet sewn on, they certainly made some money there. Now we have been packing all the time & throwing out all the unwanted junk. We leave tomorrow to Moncton & should have a two day break, at Montreal I guess. That is a start of our journey back to England, & home again, this place doesn’t seem so bad now, stations never do until you are on the point of leaving them, anyway cheerio! Rivers.
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[underlined] Sunday 14th February. [/underlined]
Here we are back in Moncton, as some wit put it “Brother, this is where I came in.” We had quite a pleasant trip back here, we left on the Monday, the train was a few hours late owing to snow storms. It wasn’t too good a coach but at Winnipeg we changed onto the train that was taking us across to Montreal, and we climbed into our bunks there. On the whole we slept fairly well, the one thing that cheesed me was every time the train stopped there was a colossal clanking & jarring as each coach hit the other. The Canadian railways lead ours in many ways, but I certainly think they would be wise to use spring buffers. Our coloured attendant was quite a good sort & cleaned our shoes if we left them out.
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Our journey back across Canada was quite a lot different from the journey out. Before it had been summertime and maybe just a tinge of autumn creeping in, but now the country was really in the grip of the winter. Snow storms would rage & the fine powdered snow would filter in under the edges of the doors. The scenery was really lovely in its majestic beauty though. The pureness and [indecipherable word] of the snow is certainly something & as we raced through forests along the edges of frozen lakes one couldn’t help but be impressed. Although our coach on the train was the old wood & leather type, the meals were everything one could wish for, with excellent service. To cap it there was a tourist car next to it, at least I believe that was what it was.
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It had huge soft armchairs on swivels, with enormous windows allowing the maximum vision. Such a lazy existence to sprawl back & gaze at the panorama flitting by. We had a little break at Ottowa and took a few snaps, & then on to Montreal. The snow had been very heavy around there & was up above the fence tops, quite a few telephone wires were down as well. I don’t think I’ve ever got over Canadian telephone poles, having twists & bends in them, whereas ours are dead straight & creosoted! No doubt it is because so many come down that it is only worth while lopping the branches off trees and sticking them up. However at about 6 P.M. on Wednesday we came rolling into Montreal. We reported to the RTO, got everything fixed up, dumped our kit & set off for a place to stay.
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Ronnie Clureman & I set off for the YMCA but got lost & had a hell of a job finding it. I was surprised to find the pavements and roads were coated with a solid sheet of ice a foot thick. To make matters worse the temperature rose suddenly & it rained forming pools everywhere, then just as suddenly it froze. It was exactly the same as walking on an ice rink. At the YMCA they said they hadn’t rooms there but they could fix us up. I’m afraid we were more out for a spree than anything, consequently we didn’t want to stay in a persons house and come in pretty early, So mumbling excuses we crept out & started to look for rooms, we soon got fixed up, in a place owned by a Frenchman, a decent chap though. Following this we went back to the YMCA for a meal.
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Jack Benny was in town with his show Rochester, Don Wilson, & the rest, they were giving a show in the Y.M. that night so we went, it was pretty good. Afterwards there was a jam session we were able to stand it for a while but with our heads absolutely splitting we tottered out. The next day we were mainly sight seeing and shopping during the day. Gangs of men were chipping the ice off the side walks, because people had been going down like ninepins the night before & I guess there were a few bones broken. We lunched at Dinty Moor’s we had nearly all our meals there, & I saw Noel Cowards ’In which we serve,” it was very good. The Y.M.C.A gave us free seats for any film show that we wanted to go to. After tea we started a real round of the various night clubs & dives.
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Our first call was at the Beaver Club, because that was the only place we could find where the price of beer was reasonable. It was 45 cents a quart, so we would quaff a goodly sum, & then bowl off to the dearer places, well heeled. The Beaver really was a dive though, the grimmest excuse for a cabaret I ever saw & a really grim lot there at times. Still it served its purpose then off we would trot to the Astor or Music Box, we hovered around both places, but I know we finished at the Astor. Harry Jamieson & Corrie were really gone & had a couple of women with them, as up came a photographer & snapped them & charged them $5 a copy. The cabaret there wasn’t too hot, anyway we remained till the end around 3A.M. and we wended our way back rather staggeringly to our bed.
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The next day was much the same as the previous ones, silk stockings & cosmetics, being purchased at Eaton’s, & a general tour around. We went to Lochi’s to see a film, & then wended our way to the station, we were very sorry to have to leave, I should have liked a fortnight there, two days was far too short. The train journey to Moncton was pretty uneventful, the sun was shining brightly on the snow, & we took quite a few photographs.
At 4P.M. yesterday afternoon we drew into the familiar station at Moncton, & took a taxi to the camp. They hadn’t been expecting us which annoyed us, because we could have had a few days more leave, Jock Creighton hasn’t come back yet anyway. Now we are settled in our billets and are getting quite comfortable again, I love this central heating.
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[underlined] Wednesday February 17th. [/underlined]
The weather has taken a turn for the worse now when we arrived the streets were clean but we’ve had a couple of snow falls since. Things have tightened up here since we were last staying, there is more of a check on you. We parade in the morning after breakfast, if we can get up for it. The trouble is we have to queue right round the hall, because there are quite a few N.C.O’s here, it shook us having to have our own knives & forks again, most of us had thrown them away.
After parade they march us to lectures they have just started, they are more or less a farce, not a lot of gen given us. There is quite an amount of square bashing on a huge parade ground they have built, what a life, could be worse.
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I have been into town once, everything is much the same, a new restaurant has opened, & is packed out always. As there has been no troopships leaving for a few weeks there are tons of RAF chaps & the town is crowded. Once I went to the Camp Cinema its [sic] really is the finest I’ve seen a real luxury effort. Red plush armchairs, covertly staggered, velvet curtains, everything done in modern style. Beside this there is an ordinary camp cinema, which is free. The bar is a good one, and we have a decent café, with oranges & milk available, so we are pretty well off. Our food isn’t too bad, the majority of our meals are ate in the town though. On the whole Moncton must get 50% of its business from the RAF.
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[underlined] Sunday 21st February [/underlined]
A week of waiting has passed, with bags of rumours flying around regarding postings home. Never before has the camp been so crowded, owing to the active U Boat campaign no RAF chaps have sailed for [deleted] [indecipherable] [/deleted] six weeks, & the camp is jammed, all the huts are full. The other day a huge bunch of Aussies & Canadians arrived from Halifax as they were overflowing there as well. It is really grim in town trying to get in at a café or cinema, its [sic] air force air force everywhere, & we vainly hunt for a place to eat. On a course one doesn’t notice the time passing but here on the last lap home, it just seems to drag. Another thing we don’t get mail now because we told everyone at home to cease writing when our course was finishing at Rivers. In this way
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it obviates bundles of old letters chasing you to England. However we tramp hopefully to the Post Office each day just in case, & sometimes there is an old one that has been chasing all over Canada.
We are in a different hut now, it was a bind lugging all the kit across. The old ‘F’ flight at Manchester, (65 course at Defoe) are in the next room, its [sic] funny how after all this time we are still together. It has just come through who are getting commissions, they are Stan Cross, Pat Kinsella, Smithy, Wade, Jock Crighton, Hunter, & a quiet chap in another class Walker I believe his name is. Most of them were expected, Jock Crighton was a shock he had had more detentions & charges than all the course put together, he arrived here quite a few days leave. Some of them deserve their commissions thoroughly though, its [sic] a pity we are split up now.
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It was a humorous but tragic sight here the other day. The weather was quite warm when most of the fellows went into town around 5P.M. at 8P.M. it dropped terribly in temperature, & as they only had thin RAF caps, there were well over 50 fellows walking about with a bandage on their head & two great pads over their ears. After my dose of it I was truly sorry for them. They try to put in an amount of square bashing here, its [sic] a bind, W/O Libby is one big b- & thats [sic] no lie as the Canucks say. He is the station W/O & really likes aircrew – I don’t think.
It is May’s birthday today, but I’ll have to deliver her present when I arrive home. These various items have travelled some miles already, & will be travelling a good few more before they are ultimately delivered.
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[underlined] Monday March 1st. [/underlined]
One more week gone & it really seems as though something big is moving now and I sincerely hope so. Some of us popped of to New York for a few days leave. We managed it by forging letters from imaginary people down there, as this was necessary, I think everybody knew they were faked including the officer, still we had a fine time. Lots of times we have been warned of the Fifth Column over here, & we have had ample evidence of it. From bags of people we have had “authentic” gen regarding our ship, port & sailing date. Most of them seem to favour the Queen Elizabeth from New York, I hope they are right from the point of comfort. Regarding the sailing date it is sometime during the next fortnight, and that seems feasible enough.
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The Fleet Air Arm chaps had a party last night a regular beer up, they finished up with women in the billets, one could hear them shrieking of laughter all over the camp. So a few officers were Joe’d to go along & turf them out. Our hut has a real handy location for getting out of camp, instead of walking right across to the main gate, we have a hole in the fence at the back of our hut. Here we slip through & catch a bus right into the centre of the town, it is most handy returning at night [deleted] bef [/deleted] being dropped off almost at the doorstop.
Some of the commissioned lads are acquiring their kit, seems strange to see them in cheese-cutters. I don’t exactly know if I wanted one or not, so can’t tell if I’m disappointed. I know I wouldn’t take that commission Grand spoke of to go on the 4th Vector course.
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[underlined] Wednesday [deleted] 4th [/deleted] 3rd March. [/underlined]
Things definitely are moving and its [sic] homeward bound we’ll be in a few days, it seems too good to be true. Not much has happened but we have been warned to stand by & get all our kit assembled together, & chase round to the various places, if we have any boots or shoes etc. anywhere. We came across here with webbing & two kitbags although we didn’t need it all, we kept the webbing with us, & the kit bags were stowed in the hold. Now we are only allowed one kit bag & webbing & we keep these with us all the trip there being nothing stowed in the hold, I don’t know why. We are handing in our flying kit here, but we still lose a lot of room, as flying kit could go in 3/4 of a kit bag and the rest of the room could be used for something else.
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So it has come to the question of room for service stuff or for our presents, & the answer is emphatically presents. After lugging them this far we certainly aren’t going to leave them behind now for some service gear.
We had the job, one night of waiting up through the night for an intake arriving here from England. They were pretty late & we kept waiting in the empty huts listening for the whistles of the trains in the sidings. We found a tramp fast asleep in one empty hut in the old RAF blankets. He said he had been sleeping there every night for a fortnight, we told him to beat it in case the S.P’s came along & boy! Did he move. The intake arrived at 7A.M. full of questions, about training & everything, we were exactly the same when we got here.
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[underlined] Sunday March 7th. [/underlined]
We have said our last goodbyes to the part of Canada we are in, not that Moncton is representative of Canada thank heavens but that is the only place available. Tomorrow morning will see us moving off heavily laden, bon voyage & then England & home yippee! This has been a pretty frenzied week on the whole, hurried rushed parades for some new gen. Being put into our embarkation flights, roll calls over & over again, tramp around in a huge straggling column, continual threats that offenders will be “taken off the draft” it really is a hustle. I met Fred Price the other day, a chap I knew back at the YMCA club in civvie [sic] street. He is a [indecipherable word] Nav/W. we had quite a chin wag over the old times, I was pleased to see him.
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There was an enormous pay parade we had to wait a hell of a time before we collected the filthy lucre. Most of us went into town & bought up bags of things that will be unavailable in England. Chief among these was cosmetics, the manager in Eaton’s was saying he had never seen anything like it, three days running now he has had his complete stock bought up. That is one of the most obvious signs that there is a draft moving out, this terrific orgy of last minute spending. Also all the chaps that are well in with their girls in town will be saying goodbye, yes! If there’s a person in town who doesn’t know we are all moving out tell me. Still I guess the powers that be are fully aware of this fact & have taken it into account, I hope so anyway.
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Jock Crighton put a fast one over on some of the boys, he owed quite a few of them packets of money. When he first arrived he kept putting them off, & now the draft is going he has suddenly gone sick, got moved into hospital, & refuses to see anyone. Consequently he is missing the draft & his creditors, he never had any conscience in those matters though.
Tomorrow morning we have our final parade with full webbing, I really hate the stuff now, I’ve put it on & off so much lately. Every available inch of it is crammed with presents, it is a masterpiece of packing, bags of 664B though on the next clothing parade.
Naturally I shall be very glad to get home, but I would have liked time to have looked around Canada more. Although one thing I shan’t be sorry to leave is the snow, I’ll never want a ‘White Christmas.’
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[underlined] Tuesday March 9th. [/underlined]
Once more I am writing afloat, though we aren’t under way, we are on the boat but she is still moored to the dockside. The old grapevine was pretty bang on with their ‘gen’, the boat we are on is the Queen Elizabeth & just outside stretches Lil’ ole Noo [sic] York. Their date of sailing wasn’t so far out either, we leave tomorrow.
We paraded yesterday morning in the drill hall at Moncton, with all regalia. The customary period of waiting ensued, during which we sagged with our webbing & finally threw it on the floor. At last we began to move off flight by flight, down past the buildings along the huge drill square & to the railway siding where we sat & waited for the train. Hell! It was cold my ear nearly froze again, still the train hove into sight just in time.
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A wild rush began for seats with chaps getting entangled with each other’s kit, everyone settled down O.K. though. I could have wept for one chap. Like a lot of fellows he had bought a large blue kit bag in the town so he could get more stuff in it than the service kit bag permitted. It’ was made of inferior material however & split right down the side as he ran along. Presents fell out right & left cosmetics strewn around, and silk stockings in abundance. It looked grim, but when it was collected he had only lost two small jars of cream broken, and one box of powder. All the train journey he was busy sewing it up with string, & lashing it with straps.
Off went the train with the customary lurch & series of bumps, then became lost in a maze of sidings around Moncton
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before beginning its southward journey. On & on we went with the afternoon lengthening into evening, then with the dark out would come the cards & the groups would get going. There couldn’t be much security about the movement, because all along the way, even when it was dark, lots of people would come out to their doorways to wave at us passing. We were the fifth troop train to go through so quite a few people must have known. That is one pleasant thing here, the hospitality & friendliness of the people, everyone turns out to wave at you passing. At one place there was a long stop and we all streamed out to get something to eat, but they chased us back again. Cooked meals were served in the old dixies [sic] & steel plates while we were travelling, they were a bit grim though.
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When we awoke in the morning we were well on our way, the sun was shining it was much warmer, & wonder of wonders the good earth was showing without a snow covering. Yes, we had crossed the border & were in the States again. We followed the banks of the Hudson River for a while, taking bags of photographs. The guard warned us about taking snaps of a submarine yard further on, as he said a guard fired at a chap with a camera. It was quite a large place, with several sleek black shapes around. The Hudson was really broad here & later we crossed an enormous bridge & pulled up in Newhaven. There was a wait of over an hour an hour here, and all the other troop trains were also standing there. At this point the electric trains came into use with the overhead trellis & cables like our trolley buses, they were lovely jobs.
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On we went & clattered into the suburbs of New York, everyone waved & we waved back, all were happy & life was grand. There was a brief halt in Pennsylvania Station, then back & forth across Long Island until we drew up at the dockside. Then we were right on East River, with the skyscrapers towering above, to proclaim Manhattan. No doubt about it, it certainly does impress you, I guess we Londoners get used to the five storey buildings etc. as the main thing. It really does look thrilling from the river to see the Empire State, the Woolworth, Rockefeller Centre, Chrysler, & others towering up to the sky, certainly better than they look when one is underneath. The ferry boat pulled in & on we went, I could never stop thinking of the old Mississippi days & old Man River, when I saw these. They were so identical in shape to the old paddle steamers that plyed [sic] back & forth.
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We slowly moved up East River, past the skyscrapers, wharves, docks & shipping, I know one thing struck me that I hadn’t noticed before. That apart from Manhattan, New York is pretty flat. There was the hulk of the old Normandie [sic], at the French wharf, she was lying over on her side, half submerged with wooden islands all around & over it,& gangs of men swarming like industrious ants. The Cunard Quay was next & there towered the Queen Elizabeth in her sombre grey war paint. We docked & filed up a narrow gang plank with our kit bags, one chap had one so heavy he overbalanced & fell into the water. It was crammed with presents & with stoic determination he refused to let go, but gripped on it tightly. With that & full webbing he was nearly on the point of drowning till a lively boat man secured him with a boat hook.
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After being checked in carefully at the gate we filed on board received our berth & meal cards & set off to our room. I was unlucky enough to get a bottom berth again, but it wasn’t so bad. We dumped our kit & set out for our meal. The mess isn’t so decorative as the Queen Mary, none of the boat is, because she is finished as a troop ship, & the Mary was completed in peace time. I’ll say more about the ship later. Tonight we sneaked up on deck though we weren’t supposed to for the last look of New York by night. Although it has a supposed black out it still resembles peace time Piccadilly. Late workers in the skyscrapers had various windows lit, & now & again, one would go out as they packed up and went home. Multi coloured lights were visible up & down the river with hurrying craft, whilst on the roads streams
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of taxis whizzed back & forth. Bright lights were twinkling everywhere, & I would have given anything to just be starting a months leave there, still if [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] wishes were horses –
They were loading some cargo or something in the forward hold, & it seemed strange to see the huge arc lamps glaring down on the ship. It seems funny that after this time we are at least going home. Tomorrow morning we shall be under way to England, in a way I shall be sorry because I have enjoyed myself over here. Still I got a bit homesick and had to come down from the deck, & there being nothing doing I decided to write this. I wonder how long we will be aboard, before we dock again, it all depends on the route. Well, I’ll turn in now, & see if I can sleep, so farewell States & Canada.
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[underlined] Thursday 11th March. [/underlined]
Once more we are afloat on the Atlantic, & it is no smoother than it was before, a little rougher if anything. At about 10A.M. yesterday we cast off from the quay, & a small flotilla of tugs nosed us out into the river and slowly took us out to sea. There is nothing like the freedom, on board this ship, that there was on the Queen Mary. They wouldn’t allow anybody on deck & all portholes were supposed to be shut. Naturally everybody was jammed at the narrow opening to get the last glimpse of New York & the States. It was a pretty cold morning & there was some ice floating around. After a bit the famous Manhattan skyline faded into the mist & the next land we would see would be good old England. Suddenly came the beat of our engines the tugs cast off tooted a last farewell & we were on our way.
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They allowed us up on the Boat & Promenade Decks then, the land was completely out of sight. We still had an escort about five coast guard cutters or something & up above cruised us a U.S. Navy Blimp. Backwards & forwards she went, but after a while it ceased to be a source of interest & was taken for granted. We went down to the cabin for awhile, & when we came back on deck the escort had gone, we were on our own. Then certainly isn’t so much freedom on board we cant [sic] go to a lot of places, all the decks around the guns are out of bounds. With all the troops on board, they estimate there are 25,000 it gets a bit crowded especially at the canteens. There are two one for cigarettes etc and the other for chocolates, sweets & oranges. They open at selected times during the
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day and long before opening time arrives, there is a large queue stretching right down the corridors & up stairs. Quite a few go over an hour before & sit & play cards, naturally we are all buying chocolate to take home, the bar takes American, Canadian & English money & must make a hell of a packet.
We certainly need to patronise them, because owing to the number of troops aboard, they can only give us two meals a day, though they are serving all the day. Our two meals are 8 A.M. & 5 P.M. & boy! We certainly get hungry in between. There is a terrific queue for each meal up the staircases & along the corridors with everyone shuffling forward. They scrutinise the meal cards very carefully at the door, because they just haven’t enough for seconds. The water is also rationed, fresh water only being obtainable before 9 A.M. & after 5 P.M. guards are posted at water ports.
[page break]
[underlined] Saturday March 13th. [/underlined]
We thought as we were N.C.O’s we wouldn’t have to work this trip, but they had other ideas. Our gang of chaps were made guards two hours on and six off, it was a bind at first but I rather like it now. The main reason being that at night it is really sweltering down in the troop decks, & I have a wizard post on the sun deck. This is reserved for Wing Cmdrs. & above, & is situated craftily between the two funnels, there are vents in the front smoke stack, allowing the warm air to blow back along the deck, so it is never cold. I love standing there at night with the wind blowing & the old ship racing along it really streams at night, & the sparkling phosphorescence shows up marvellously. It certainly is better than being down below.
[page break]
I think if anybody is sea sick it is beneath decks, with the heat & crowding for meals, there staircases are jammed, when it is time to eat. Also there is a queer sickly smell like linoleum inside the ship. Looking along a terrific long corridor it gives every impression of being on land, then suddenly heels over it really is queer. This ship rolls terrifically, because there is no ballast in the hold, they have temporary troop quarters there, every piece of space is utilised, that is the reason that we had to keep our kitbags with us.
I would like to see the route this ship takes across the Atlantic I bet it certainly goes places, way south then up again. It is fascinating to watch the wake as the ship zig zags about every couple of minutes, we have seen no action by day however.
[page break]
[underlined] Monday 15th March. [/underlined]
We must be best part of the way across now I thought the journey would only take four days. The other night they said we came up with a convoy that was being attacked & we had to turn right round & beetle back, I don’t know how true it was. Yesterday the weather was fairly squally & the strength of the wind was phenomenal, it absolutely drove the rain against the ship. From the height of the boat deck the grey waves didn’t look so large, but by jiminy they were, I should just hate to be in an open boat. It is a funny thing but looking around the horizon with the waves rising one could swear they were ships on the horizon. I think it is quite a significant fact that a huge ship can cross the Atlantic unescorted in the middle of a big U Boat campaign.
[page break]
This afternoon I was up on the [deleted] [indecipherable word] [/deleted] sun deck on guard watching the gun crews, when the Tannoy blared for action stations at the guns. They often used to have dummy practises with imaginary aircraft, and I though this was another one. However there was an aircraft way out on the horizon very small but distinct. All guns were trained immediately, swivelling around & following it. When it came nearer we were able to distinguish the shape of the good old Sunderland, coming out to escort us. What a welcome sight she was it meant we were approaching home at last. She started to search all around in case there was a lurking U Boat. It would have been a sight, should it have been an enemy, there are 73 guns aboard, that helps to make the ship roll as she is so top heavy, & with no ballast in the hold.
[page break]
This ship certainly has a variety of armaments, the 6 inch in the stern should give any U Boat a hot time. For ack ack, there are the 40mm. Bofors & 20mm. Oerlikon, & they also have two sets of 12 rocket guns, it would be quite a sight, in air attack.
Well I guess with the Sunderland reaching us today we should be docking tomorrow sometime, that makes 7 days, the same as our outward journey. Twice crossing the Atlantic that isn’t bad I never dreamt before the war I would ever cross it. Out of the two journeys I think I enjoyed the outward one more, mainly because there was more comfort I think. The next time I write I will be in England once more, as I won’t be writing tomorrow so one more stage of our travels’ are over & tomorrow we will be saying ‘Hello England’.
[page break]
15th MARCH 1943
CONCLUDING BOOK 4
AND ENDING MY.
EXPERIENCES IN.
CANADA.
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
Book 4, Continuing my Overseas Training
Description
An account of the resource
Fourth of David Geach's diaries describing the final part of his training in Canada. He writes of his service and personal life training as an air bomber. He describes his ground and flying training experiences, social life both in camp and in local Canadian towns and New York. He details train travel across Canada and the United States and his homeward voyage across the Atlantic in the troopship liner Queen Elizabeth. Covers the period 12 December 1942 to 15 March 1943.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Geach
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten diary
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YGeachDG1394781v1
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
United States
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Saskatchewan--Regina
Manitoba--Winnipeg
New Brunswick--Moncton
New York (State)--New York
New York (State)
New Brunswick
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Christian
David Bloomfield
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-12
1943-01
1943-02
1943-03
air gunner
aircrew
Blenheim
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
entertainment
ground personnel
military living conditions
military service conditions
navigator
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2200/40161/LDarbyCAH927893v1.1.pdf
1e1e82d25657d32753ffee2e0d9e0b13
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
Darby. Charles Arthur Hill
Darby, CAH
Jack Darby
Johnny Darby
Description
An account of the resource
203 items. The collection concerns Charles Arthur Hill Darby (1915 - 1996, 154676 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, photographs, documents and correspondence. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 186 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Richard John Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-02
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Darby, CAH
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.
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
Charles Arthur Hill Darby’s Royal Canadian Air Force flying log book for aircrew other than pilot
Description
An account of the resource
Royal Canadian Air Force flying log book for aircrew other than pilot for Charles Arthur Hill Darby, air bomber, covering the period from 23 August 1943 to 13 August 1945. He was stationed at RCAF Lethbridge, RCAF Edmonton, RAF Bishops Court, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Syerston, RAF Tuddenham, RAF Stradishall and RAF Mildenhall. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, and Dakota. He flew a total of 25 operations with 186 squadron, 8 night and 17 daylight operations. He also flew 3 operation Manna and 3 operation Exodus. Targets were Schwammenauel Dam, Duisburg, Trier, Bonn, Neuss, Krefeld, Saarbrucken, Wanne Eickel, Homburg, Chemnitz, Wesel, Gelsenkirchen, Kamen, Datteln, Bochum, Hamm, Leuna, Kiel, Rotterdam, The Hague, Juvincourt. He also flew 2 Cooks Tours. His pilot on operations was Flight Lieutenant Hart.
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LDarbyCAH927893v1
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-12-05
1944-12-08
1944-12-23
1944-12-24
1944-12-25
1945-01-06
1945-01-07
1945-01-11
1945-01-13
1945-01-16
1945-01-17
1945-01-21
1945-01-22
1945-02-07
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-02-18
1945-02-19
1945-02-23
1945-02-24
1945-02-25
1945-02-27
1945-03-01
1945-03-04
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-09
1945-03-19
1945-03-22
1945-03-27
1945-04-04
1945-04-05
1945-04-13
1945-04-14
1945-04-30
1945-05-04
1945-05-07
1945-05-10
1945-05-14
1945-05-22
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Alberta--Edmonton
Alberta--Lethbridge
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Suffolk
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Bonn
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Homberg (Kassel)
Germany--Kamen
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Leuna
Germany--Neuss
Germany--Recklinghausen (Münster)
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Schmidt
Germany--Trier
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Netherlands--Hague
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Northern Ireland--Down (County)
France--Juvincourt-et-Damary
186 Squadron
622 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Cook’s tour
forced landing
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bishops Court
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Stradishall
RAF Syerston
RAF Tuddenham
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Winthorpe
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/834/18744/LGeachDG1394781v1.1.pdf
59b50cd8ae7d2f0c31f827ee6cc31b42
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
Geach, David
D Geach
Description
An account of the resource
<a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/"></a>52 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer David Geach (1394781 Royal Air Force) and contains his diaries, correspondence, photographs of his crew, his log book, cuttings and items relating to being a prisoner of war. After training in Canada, he flew operations as a bomb aimer with 623 and 115 Squadrons until he was shot down 24 March 1944 and became a prisoner of war. He was instrumental in erecting a memorial plaque to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. <br />The collection also contains a scrap book of photographs.<br /><br />Additional information on his crew is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/218400/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2016-03-14
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
Geach, DG
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
David Geach's flying log book for aircrew other than pilot
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for aircrew other than pilot for David Geach, bomb aimer, covering the period from 22 November 1942 to 2 September 1952. Detailing his flying training, operations flown, being shot down and becoming a prisoner of war, returning to flying, post war with 7 Squadron. He was stationed at RCAF Dafoe, RCAF Rivers, RAF Bobbington (aka RAF Halfpenny Green), RAF Hixon, RAF Woolfox Lodge, RAF Downham Market, RAF Waterbeach, RAF Witchford and RAF Upwood. Aircraft flown in were, Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster and Lincoln. He flew a total of 15 operations, 1 Nickel operation with No.30 Operational Training Unit, 2 night operations with 623 Squadron and 12 night operations with 115 Squadron. Targets were, Rennes, Frisian Islands, Bordeaux, Berlin, Brunswick, Stuttgart, Augsburg and Frankfurt. His pilot on operations was Pilot Officer McCann. Shot down on his seventh operation, to Berlin.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LGeachDG1394781v1
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Norfolk
England--Rutland
England--Staffordshire
France--Rennes
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Stuttgart
Netherlands--West Frisian Islands
Saskatchewan--Big Quill Lake
Manitoba--Brandon Region
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
Saskatchewan
Netherlands
Saskatchewan--Dafoe
Manitoba
Manitoba--Rivers
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1952
1943-08-19
1943-08-20
1943-10-03
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-12-29
1943-12-30
1944-01-01
1944-01-02
1944-01-14
1944-01-20
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-02-20
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-03-18
1944-03-19
1944-03-24
115 Squadron
1665 HCU
1678 HCU
30 OTU
623 Squadron
7 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Ju 88
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 2
Lincoln
Me 110
mine laying
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
propaganda
RAF Downham Market
RAF Halfpenny Green
RAF Hixon
RAF Upwood
RAF Waterbeach
RAF Witchford
RAF Woolfox Lodge
shot down
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2279/41482/LOldmanDA1602091v1.1.pdf
af98bacdec3ef91471734fc1365c164f
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
Oldman, Dennis
Description
An account of the resource
Six items. The collection concerns Dennis Oldman (1602091 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and photographs. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 617 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ray Darby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-02-14
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
Oldman, DA
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
Dennis Oldman's flying log book for aircrew other than pilot
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LOldmanDA1602091v1
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
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for aircrew other than pilot for D A Oldman, bomb aimer, covering the period from 27 July 1943 to 25 July 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and post war flying duties with 617 Squadron. He was stationed at RCAF Picton, RCAF Mount Hope, RAF Penrhos, RAF Llandwrog, RAF Husbands Bosworth, RAF Market Harborough, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Syerston, RAF Woodhall Spa and RAF Binbrook. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, and Lancaster. He flew a total of 19 operations with 617 Squadron, 18 daylight and one night. He also flew one operation Exodus. Targets were Tromso, Urft Dam, Rotterdam, Ijmuiden, Oslo Fjord, Bergen, Bielefeld Viaduct, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Bremen, Farge, Hamburg, Stettin, Heligoland, Berchtesgaden and Brussels. His pilot on operations was Flight Lieutenant Leavitt.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-11-12
1944-12-08
1944-12-11
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-01
1945-01-12
1945-02-14
1945-02-22
1945-02-26
1945-03-23
1945-03-27
1945-04-06
1945-04-07
1945-04-09
1945-04-13
1945-04-15
1945-04-16
1945-04-19
1945-04-25
1945-05-10
1946
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Belgium--Brussels
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany--Berchtesgaden
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Euskirchen Region
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Helgoland
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Norway--Bergen
Norway--Tromsø
Ontario--Hamilton
Ontario--Picton
Poland--Szczecin
Wales--Gwynedd
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
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
14 OTU
1661 HCU
617 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945)
Cook’s tour
Grand Slam
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Binbrook
RAF Husbands Bosworth
RAF Llandwrog
RAF Market Harborough
RAF Penrhos
RAF Syerston
RAF Winthorpe
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stirling
Tallboy
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/607/26325/LMaywoodRM1623169v2.1.pdf
5b92814ba444c0b862e57eaf42f615f4
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
Maywood, Dick
Richard M Maywood
R M Maywood
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Maywood, RM
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. An oral history interview with Warrant Officer Richard 'Dick' Maywood (1923 -2016, 1623169 Royal Air Force), his log book and a certificate. He flew operations as a navigator with 608 and 692 Squadrons.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-09
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.
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
Dick Maywood’s Royal Canadian Air Force flying log book for aircrew other than pilot
Description
An account of the resource
Royal Canadian Air Force flying log book for aircrew other than pilot for R M Maywood, navigator, covering the period from 31 December 1943 to 25 September 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and post war flying. He was stationed at RCAF Mountain View, RCAF Charlottetown, RAF Kingstown, RAF Cliffe Pypard, RAF Wigtown, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Barford-st-John, RAF Downham Market and RAF Gransden Lodge. Aircraft flown in were, Bolingbroke, Anson, Tiger Moth DH82a, Oxford and Mosquito. He flew one night operation with 608 squadron and completed his post war flying with 692 squadron. Target was Eggebeck. His pilot on operations was Warrant Officer Johnson.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LMaywoodRM1623169v2
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Cumbria
England--Norfolk
England--Oxfordshire
England--Wiltshire
Germany--Schleswig-Flensburg
Ontario--Belleville
Prince Edward Island--Charlottetown
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Ontario--Belleville
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1946
1945-04-26
1945-06-09
1945-07-03
16 OTU
608 Squadron
692 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
Cook’s tour
Flying Training School
Mosquito
navigator
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Barford St John
RAF Clyffe Pypard
RAF Downham Market
RAF Gransden Lodge
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Wigtown
Tiger Moth
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/777/11265/PFalgateD16030068.2.jpg
6239ad1349871af2ae36ce4b3aff0201
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
Falgate, Donald
D Falgate
Description
An account of the resource
69 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Don Falgate (136896 Royal Air Force) and consists of 68 pre-war, wartime, and post-war photographs and a handwritten detailed account of his tour. Don Falgate trained in Canada and flew operations as a bomb aimer with 463 Squadron from RAF Waddington.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Paul Falgate and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
2016-04-07
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
Falgate, D
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
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
Don Falgate with Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
Don Falgate in flying gear standing by nose of a Bolingbroke.
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
1942
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFalgateD16030068
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Ontario--Picton
Ontario
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
aircrew
Bolingbroke
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/777/10696/PFalgateD16030066.1.jpg
8e22850f961e3e310467a894762aaadd
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/777/10696/PFalgateD16030067.1.jpg
2717a5379897137db57899447c1d568b
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
Falgate, Donald
D Falgate
Description
An account of the resource
69 items. The collection concerns Squadron Leader Don Falgate (136896 Royal Air Force) and consists of 68 pre-war, wartime, and post-war photographs and a handwritten detailed account of his tour. Don Falgate trained in Canada and flew operations as a bomb aimer with 463 Squadron from RAF Waddington.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Paul Falgate and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
2016-04-07
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
Falgate, D
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Permission granted for commercial projects
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
Don Falgate with Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
Don Falgate in flying gear and standing in the fuselage of a Bolingbroke hatch. Captioned 'Self disembarking from and in front of RCAF Bolingbroke training aircraft on completion of gunnery detail. In upper photo container in my right hand is a Lewis gun magazine. Photo at RCAF Picton, Ontario, Canada. Spring 1942.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFalgateD16030066, PFalgateD16030067
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Ontario--Picton
Ontario
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
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.
aircrew
Bolingbroke
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1310/18770/PGeachDG16010012.1.jpg
98581d1f0fdccd95d3cc20609cf29db9
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
Geach, David. Scrapbook
Description
An account of the resource
Scrapbook containing 66 photographs taken during his training in Great Britain and Canada, and with 623 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Wilkins and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2016-03-14
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
PGeachDG1601
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
Fairey Battle and Bristol Bolingbroke
Description
An account of the resource
Photo 1 is a side view of a Fairey Battle parked on a snow covered apron. Behind is a hangar.
Photo 2 is a side view of Fairchild built Bristol Bolingbroke, RCAF 9928. It is parked outside on a snow covered apron, in front of an open hangar.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs from a scrapbook
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PGeachDG16010012
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 Canadian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
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.
Battle
Bolingbroke
hangar
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1505/28858/SDaviesLA1581024v10007.2.pdf
efdd956e8f0ca559504f18f9ad4afe07
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
Davies, Leslie and Jack
Leslie Alfred Davies
L A Davies
John Richard Davies
J R Davies
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
2016-04-28
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
Davies, LA-JR
Description
An account of the resource
49 items. Collection concerns Leslie Alfred Davies (1922-1996, 1581024 Royal Air Force) and his brother John Richard Davies ( - 1944, 1580941). Leslie served as a Lancaster navigator on of 50 Squadron completing his tour of 30 operations in March 1945. John served a Lancaster bomb aimer on 166 Squadron He was killed in action 3 August 1944. Collection consists of Leslie's crew's individual logbooks and biographies, operational histories, photographs of people, aircraft and a grave, documents and correspondence. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Murray Davies and catalogued by Nigel Huckins. <br /><br />Additional information on John Richard Davies is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/105795/">IBCC Losses Database.</a>
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
Flight Sergeant G Jarmy's bomb aimer log book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SDaviesLA1581024v10007
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
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.
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for G Jarmey, bomb aimer, covering the period from 29 August 1943 to 8 July 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RCAF Fingal, RCAF London, RAF Moreton Valance, RAF Husbands Bosworth, RAF Wigsley, RAF Syerston, RAF Skellingthorpe and RAF Upper Heyford. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster and Oxford. He flew a total of 32 operations with 50 Squadron, 6 daylight and 26 night. Targets were Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Flushing, Nuremberg, Dusseldorf, Mitteland Canal, Harburg, Duren, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Munich, Heilbronn, Gdynia, Politz, Houffalize, Royan, Merseburg, Karlsruhe, Dresden, and Bohlen. His pilot on operations was Flight Lieutenant Jones. This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-07
1944-10-11
1944-10-19
1944-10-20
1944-11-02
1944-11-03
1944-11-06
1944-11-07
1944-11-11
1944-11-12
1944-11-16
1944-11-21
1944-11-22
1944-11-26
1944-11-27
1944-12-04
1944-12-05
1944-12-17
1944-12-18
1944-12-19
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-04
1945-01-05
1945-01-07
1945-01-08
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-15
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-08
1945-02-09
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-19
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
1945-02-22
1945-02-24
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-22
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Belgium--Houffalize
England--Gloucestershire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
France--Royan
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Düren (Cologne)
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Harburg (Landkreis)
Germany--Heilbronn
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig Region
Germany--Merseburg
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Ontario--London
Ontario--Toronto Region
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Ontario
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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. Fighter Command
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
14 OTU
16 OTU
1654 HCU
50 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Husbands Bosworth
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Syerston
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Wigsley
RCAF Fingal
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1937/38399/LJolliffeFSW197221v1.1.pdf
5ebbe4cf55d4bb3df97af95b62af5f33
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
Jolliffe, Frank Sidney Walter
F S W Jolliffe
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
2017-09-18
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Jolliffe, FSW
Description
An account of the resource
129 items. The collection concerns Wing Commander Frank Sidney Walter Jolliffe (b. 1923, 1314311 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 149 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Margaret Lowe and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
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
Frank Jolliffe's flying log book. One
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944-09-20
1944-09-23
1944-09-24
1944-09-25
1944-09-26
1944-10-14
1944-10-21
1945-02-03
1945-02-04
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-27
1945-02-28
1945-03-01
1945-03-04
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-09
1945-03-11
1945-03-12
1945-04-04
1945-04-05
1945-04-09
1945-04-10
1945-04-13
1945-04-14
1945-05-01
1945-05-04
1945-05-10
1945-05-11
1945-05-16
1945-05-29
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
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
Royal Canadian Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text. Log book and record book
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LJolliffeFSW197221v1
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Canada
Germany
France
Manitoba--Brandon Region
Ontario--Ashfield Region
Scotland--Wigtownshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Rutland
England--Norfolk
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Suffolk
Northern Ireland--Down (County)
England--Yorkshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Hampshire
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
France--Pas-de-Calais
Germany--Celle
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Essen
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Kamen
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Merseburg
Germany--Neuss
Germany--Recklinghausen (Kreis)
Germany--Salzbergen
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Manitoba--Dauphin Area
Netherlands--Hague
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Northern Ireland--Down (County)
Scotland--Wigtownshire
Netherlands
France--Juvincourt-et-Damary
Manitoba
Manitoba--Rivers
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for F S W Jolliffe, bombe aimer/navigator, covering the period from 11 December 1942 to 29 September 1952. Detailing his flying training, operations flown, instructor duties, Post war flying duties with 35 and 98 squadrons and RAE Farnborough. He was stationed at RCAF Rivers, RCAF Paulson, RCAF Port Albert, RAF West Fraugh, RAF Market Harborough, RAF Husbands Bosworth, RAF North Luffenham, RAF Feltwell, RAF Mepal, RAF Methwold, RAF Tuddenham, RAF Graveley, RAF Bishops Court, RAF Leeming, RAF Wahn, RAF Manby, RAF Celle and RAF Farnborough. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bolingbroke, Hampden, Wellington, Martinet, Stirling, Lancaster, Oxford, Hornet, Warwick, Mosquito, Dakota, Viking, Dominie, Storch, Devon, Lincoln, Harvard, Meteor, Valetta, Firefly, Athena, Hastings, Prentice, Canberra, Beaufighter, Avenger, Sea Fury, Pioneer, Chipmunk, Blackburn GR17, Sea Venom, Sea Hornet, Brigand, Balliol, Barracuda, Varsity, Provost, Fortress and Packet. He flew a total of 20 operations, 6 with 75 squadron, 11 with 149 squadron and 3 with 138 squadron, 13 were daylight operations and 7 were night operations. He also flew 2 Manna operations and 4 Exodus operations. Targets were Pas de Calais, Neuss, Cap Griz Nez, Duisburg, Flushing, Dortmund, Dresden, Gelsenkirchen, Kamen, Wanne Eickel, Saltzbergen, Dessau, Essen, Datteln, Merseburg, Kiel, The Hague and Juvincourt. His pilots on operations were Flight Sergeant Mcritchie, Flying Officer Winter, Flying Officer Friedrich, Flight Sergeant Sturgess, Pilot Officer Kerville, Squadron Leader Stanton, Flying Officer Nicolay, Flight Lieutenant Davidson, and Flight Lieutenant Claring.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Cara Walmsley
Mike Connock
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
138 Squadron
14 OTU
149 Squadron
1653 HCU
35 Squadron
75 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
B-17
Beaufighter
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
C-47
Dominie
Flying Training School
Hampden
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lincoln
Martinet
Meteor
Mosquito
navigator
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Bishops Court
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Farnborough
RAF Feltwell
RAF Graveley
RAF Husbands Bosworth
RAF Leeming
RAF Manby
RAF Market Harborough
RAF Mepal
RAF Methwold
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Paignton
RAF Tuddenham
RAF West Freugh
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/308/24681/LMottersheadF422232v1.1.pdf
f76801c86e1314e5d06be70cf352a3ad
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
Mottershead, Frank
F Mottershead
Description
An account of the resource
Eleven items. An oral history interview with Frank Mottershead (422232 Royal Australian Air Force), photographs and his log book. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 463 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Frank Mottershead and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2016-04-30
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
Mottershead, F
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
Frank Mottershead’s observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book for F Mottershead, wireless operator, covering the period from 29 April 1943 to 9 April 1945. Detailing his flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at RCAF Calgary, RCAF Mossbank, RCAF Pat Bay, RAF Lichfield, RAF West Freugh, RAF Syerston and RAF Waddington. Aircraft flown in were Norseman, Fort II, Bolingbroke, Anson, Hampden, Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a total of 30 operations with 463 squadron, 6 daylight and 24 night. Targets were Rheydt, Dortmund, Calais, Karlsruhe, Kaiserslauten, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Flushing, Brunswick, Bergen, Harburg, Duren, Ladbergen, Munich, Heilbronn, Geissen, Gdynia, Houffalize, Mitteland Canal, Politz, Brux, Dresden, Rositz, Bohlen, Wesel, Ijmuiden and Hamburg. His pilots on operations were Flying Officer Smith and Flight Lieutenant Huxtable.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LMottersheadF422232v1
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
Royal Australian Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Alberta--Calgary
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Belgium--Houffalize
British Columbia--Vancouver Island
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Staffordshire
France--Calais
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Düren (Cologne)
Germany--Giessen (Hesse)
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Heilbronn
Germany--Kaiserslautern
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig Region
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Germany--Munich
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Norway--Bergen
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Scotland--Wigtownshire
Germany--Hamburg
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Czech Republic--Most
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1944-09-19
1944-09-20
1944-09-23
1944-09-24
1944-09-26
1944-09-27
1944-09-28
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-11
1944-10-14
1944-10-15
1944-10-23
1944-10-28
1944-10-29
1944-11-11
1944-11-16
1944-11-21
1944-11-26
1944-11-27
1944-12-04
1944-12-06
1944-12-18
1944-12-19
1944-12-30
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-16
1945-01-17
1945-02-08
1945-02-09
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-02-19
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-23
1945-03-24
1945-04-06
1945-04-09
1654 HCU
27 OTU
463 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
Hampden
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operational Training Unit
RAF Lichfield
RAF Syerston
RAF Waddington
RAF West Freugh
Stirling
training
Wellington
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/160/2368/LTolleyFS1152777v1.1.pdf
c7db9254cabe25a1f53d8d80eb6653ce
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
Tolley, Frank
F S Tolley
Description
An account of the resource
Six items. An oral history interview with Sergeant Frank Stanley Tolley (b. 1921, 1152777 Royal Air Force), his log book and four photographs. Frank Tolley was a Lancaster bomb aimer with 625 Squadron at RAF Kelstern. He completed 22 daylight and night time operations before the end of the war in Europe and also flew on Operation Manna, Operation Dodge and Cook's tours.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Frank Tolley and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2015-07-02
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
Tolley, FS
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
Frank Tolley's Royal Canadian Air Force flying log book for aircrew other than pilot
Description
An account of the resource
Frank Tolley's log book covers the period 29 December 1943 to 27 August 1945 and details his training schedule and operations flown. He served at RAF Fingal, RAF Malton, RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, RAF Sandtoft and RAF Kelstern. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bollingbroke, Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster. He carried out 22 daylight and night time operations with 625 Squadron to the following targets in Germany: Bremen, Bremen rail bridge, Chemnitz, Cleve, Dessau aircraft factories, Dortmund, Dresden, Hamburg, Hanau, Hannover, Heligoland, Kassel aircraft factories, Lutzkendorf, Mannheim docks, Misberg oil refineries, Nordhausen, Nuremberg and Wiesbaden. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Russell and Pilot Officer Windrim. He also took part in Operation Manna supply drops to The Hague and Rotterdam, Operation Dodge and Cook’s tours.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LTolleyFS1152777v1
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Netherlands
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Lincolnshire
England--Gloucestershire
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Dessau (Dessau)
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Flensburg
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hanau
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Helgoland
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Wiesbaden
Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Ontario
Netherlands--Hague
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1945-02-01
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-07
1945-02-08
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
1945-03-02
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-09
1945-03-12
1945-03-15
1945-03-16
1945-03-17
1945-03-19
1945-03-23
1945-03-25
1945-03-27
1945-03-31
1945-04-03
1945-04-04
1945-04-05
1945-04-18
1945-04-22
1945-04-29
1945-04-30
1945-05-03
1945-06-25
1945-06-28
1945-08-28
1667 HCU
21 OTU
625 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
bombing of Helgoland (18 April 1945)
Cook’s tour
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Glatton
RAF Kelstern
RAF Moreton in the Marsh
RAF Sandtoft
RCAF Fingal
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1209/42998/LWyldeHJ1565564v2.1.pdf
16051c7bbc912734cc0ef3524767d975
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
Wylde, Herbert James
H J Wylde
Description
An account of the resource
49 items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Herbert James Wylde (1922 - 2021, Royal Air Force) his log books, maps, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a bomb aimer with 90 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2016-12-18
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
Wylde, HJ
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
H J Wylde's flying log book for aircrew other than pilot. Two
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LWyldeHJ1565564v2
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for aircrew other than pilot for H J Wylde, bomb aimer, covering the period from 12 May 1943 to 12 July 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at No. 5 Bombing and Gunnery School RCAF Dafoe, No. 1 Central Navigation School RCAF Rivers, No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School RCAF Jarvis, No. 2 Advanced Flying School RAF Millom, No. 11 Operational Training Unit RAF Wescott and RAF Oakley, 1653 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF Chedburgh, 3 Lancaster Finishing School RAF Feltwell, 90 Squadron RAF Tuddenham and 26 Operational Training Unit RAF Wing and RAF Little Horwood. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, and Lancaster. He flew a total of 38 operations with 90 Squadron, 27 daylight and 11 night operations. Targets were Walcheren, Saarbrucken, Dortmund, Wilhelmshaven, Cologne, Wesseling, Bottrop, Homburg, Solingen, Heinsberg, Oberhausen, Siegen, Sweden, Rheydt, Vohwinkel, Nurnberg, Ludwigshafen, Munich, Krefeld, Wanne Eickel, Dresden, Chemnitz and Wesel.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Sweden
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Cumbria
England--Norfolk
England--Suffolk
Germany--Bottrop
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Homberg (Kassel)
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Saarbrücken
Germany--Solingen
Germany--Siegen
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Wesseling
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Germany--Wuppertal
Manitoba
Netherlands--Walcheren
Ontario--Jarvis
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan--Dafoe
Germany--Heinsberg (Heinsberg)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Manitoba--Rivers
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-10-04
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-07
1944-10-15
1944-10-16
1944-10-28
1944-10-30
1944-10-31
1944-11-02
1944-11-04
1944-11-05
1944-11-08
1944-11-15
1944-11-16
1944-11-21
1944-11-27
1944-11-30
1944-12-02
1944-12-04
1944-12-15
1944-12-19
1944-12-20
1944-12-27
1944-12-28
1944-12-31
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-03
1945-01-05
1945-01-07
1945-01-08
1945-01-11
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-28
1945-01-29
1945-02-03
1945-02-04
1945-02-06
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-02-16
1945-02-18
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
11 OTU
1653 HCU
26 OTU
90 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
Cook’s tour
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operational Training Unit
RAF Chedburgh
RAF Feltwell
RAF Little Horwood
RAF Millom
RAF Oakley
RAF Tuddenham
RAF Westcott
RAF Wing
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/667/38112/LAlgarHKM1801102v1.2.pdf
ad14f5561f1765e91fe8b0a378d72523
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
Algar, Harry
Harold Keith Mael Algar
H K M Algar
Description
An account of the resource
Thirteen items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Harry Algar (1924 - 2022, 1801102 Royal Air Force) and his log books and documents.
He flew a tour of operations as a bomb aimer with 463 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Greg Algar and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2017-05-20
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
Algar, H
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
H K M Algar’s flying log book for aircrew other than pilots. One
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for aircrew other than pilots for H K M Algar, air bomber and navigator, covering the period from 14 September 1943 to 16 March 1954. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and post war flying duties with 201 Advanced Flying School, 230 Operational Conversion Unit, 149 Squadron, 44 Squadron, 236 Operational Conversion Unit and 36 Squadron. He was stationed at RCAF Picton, RCAF Mount Hope, RAF Penrhos, RAF Bruntingthorpe, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston, RAF Waddington, RAF Middleton St George, RAF Lindholme, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Shallufa, RAF Leconfield, RAF Wyton, RAF Marham, RAF Coningsby, RAF Topcliffe and RAF Kinloss. Aircraft flown in were Tiger Moth, Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Horsa Glider, Dakota, Washington, Lincoln and Neptune. He flew a total of 24 operations with 463 Squadron, 9 daylight and 15 night operations. He also flew 3 Operation Exodus. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Hyland and Flying Officer Young. Targets were Heilbronn, Giessen, Urft Dam, Gdynia, Politz, Merseburg Leuna, Siegen, Karlsruhe, Dresden, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Bohlen, Harburg, Dortmund, Lutzkendorf, Bremen, Farge, Nordhausen, Ijmuiden, Flensburg, Juvincourt and Brussels.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-12-04
1944-12-06
1944-12-07
1944-12-08
1944-12-10
1944-12-11
1944-12-18
1944-12-19
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-15
1945-02-01
1945-02-03
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-12
1945-03-14
1945-03-15
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-22
1945-03-27
1945-04-04
1945-04-07
1945-04-08
1945-04-09
1945-04-23
1945-04-26
1945-05-06
1945-05-12
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Canada
Egypt
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Belgium--Brussels
Egypt--Suez Canal Region
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Durham (County)
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Suffolk
England--Yorkshire
France--Rheims Region
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Bremen Region
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Flensburg
Germany--Giessen (Hesse)
Germany--Halle an der Saale
Germany--Harburg (Landkreis)
Germany--Heilbronn
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig Region
Germany--Merseburg
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Siegen
Germany--Urft Dam
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Ontario--Hamilton
Ontario--Picton
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Scotland--Moray Firth
Wales--Gwynedd
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
France--Juvincourt-et-Damary
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LAlgarHKM1801102v1
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Cara Walmsley
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
149 Squadron
1660 HCU
29 OTU
44 Squadron
463 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
B-29
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Heavy Conversion Unit
Horsa
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lincoln
navigator
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Coningsby
RAF Kinloss
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lindholme
RAF Marham
RAF Middleton St George
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Penrhos
RAF Shallufa
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Topcliffe
RAF Waddington
RAF Wyton
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington