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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
Anderson, William
William Anderson
Les Anderson
W L M Anderson
William Leslie Milne Anderson
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. An oral history interview with Flying Officer William Leslie Milne Anderson (1925 - 2018, 196733 Royal Air Force), and one photograph. William Anderson was a flight engineer and flew operations in Lancasters with 166 Squadron from RAF Kirmington.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by William Anderson and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
2015-05-17
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
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Anderson, W
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
WA: My name is William Lesley Milne Anderson, and I’m recording this for the International Bomber Command Centre, on the seventeenth of May, 2015 [pause] at – where am I [pause] at Beverley, in Yorkshire.
MJ: Right that’ll –
WA: Right [pause] I was a flight engineer on Lancaster aircraft. My rank a, at the end was flying [emphasis] officer. [Pause] I went to Edinburgh Aircrew Recruitment Centre when I was eighteen and a quarter, hoping to join the RAF and to fly. Everybody wanted to be a pilot. I went there with a school pal of mine who was going to join up as well, but we were told, at that time, if we wanted to be down for pilots, if we pass the various medical and tests, we would have to wait for nine months before we were called up. So this friend of mine decided, ‘fair enough’, to accept nine months wait so that he could eventually become a pilot, whereas I decided that I’d go for something else, and when I asked what was available to go more or less straight away I was told ‘a flight engineer’, so I said ‘that’ll do me fine’. [Pause] I w – when war broke out I’d only be, oh, fourteen [pause] and [pause] but, I thought ‘well, if I’ve got to go into the forces, I would rather fly somewhere than walk in the Army [laughs] to get there’, so that’s why I chose the Air Force. The training was at a place called Saint Athan in South Wales, that was after – well funnily enough, I had to report to Lords cricket ground, and that was where we had a medical and were issued with a uniform, and then we were marched along to a part of London called Saint John’s Wood, and when we had to go and collect our pay one day we were marched to the zoo [emphasis], I thought – was funny, I been in the Air Force and I’ve landed in a cricket ground, in a block of flats, and I get paid from the zoo [laughs]. So I thought ‘when do I see an aeroplane’. However, I was, was going to have to wait quite a bit longer [emphasis] because after, think it was a fortnight or three weeks, we were posted to Torquay, and when we got to Torquay we found that quite a lot of the hotels [pause] had been taken over by the RAF, and there, once again [emphasis], no aeroplanes in sight! But we did the basic training, the marching, ohhhh, the guard duties, even a bit of clay pigeon [emphasis] shooting, and this went on for about twelve weeks, and after the twelve weeks we were sent off to Saint Athan, and at last [emphasis] thank goodness, there were aeroplanes, because [pause] it was – I can’t remember exactly how long, but it was interesting, not sitting in little classrooms, but in a big [pause] building – a hanger I suppose – divided up into sections, where you could hear what was going on just across the wooden division that was separating you from the next group. So anyway – oh I missed the bit out where, at – the important bit, was I couldn’t swim [emphasis] [pause] and, they didn’t tell me, when I got to Torquay, until I got to Torquay, that I had to pass a swimming [emphasis] test, and so they took us down to the harbour, and the Corporal lined at the squad I was in [?], on the harbour, and told us we were going to jump in, and swim down just about twenty yards to a set of steps so that we could climb up to the top again. Luckily we had a Mae West , but [emphasis] my name being Anderson, on some occasions, is very handy because quite often you’re first, but in this case there was a chap called Adams before me, and when the Corporal said ‘Adams, jump in’, Adams said ‘I can’t swim, I’m not jumping in’, and so he said ‘Anderson, in you go’, and I said ‘I can’t swim, I’m not jumping in’, and so he said ‘if you go in the way I tell you to, you’ll go in and hit the water without doing yourself any damage. If I’ve got to push [emphasis] you in, you might land on your head or your back or your behind’, so bearing in mind that we got a Mae West on, he said ‘curl your toes over the edge of the harbour wall [pause] hold your nose, and take one step forward’, and of course, went down, and when I opened my eyes under water I saw millions of little bubbles, and with a Mae West on I was shot to the surface and up, and somehow or other I managed to get to the steps – don’t know how. But, when all the squad had been in, there was Adams, still in the water, still in the same spot where he’d jumped in, paddling like mad but going nowhere. So the Corporal said, ‘one of the swimmers, jump in, drag him to the side’, and that was our introduction to swimming. The rest of the swimming was done in the baths. And then, when we got to Saint Athan we carried on with swimming there. [Pause] Now, so, we did quite a bit of training at Saint Athan, I would say it was a very good course, and so, when the course was finished, although we’d made some friends during the time we were there, we were broken up by being posted to different placed training units up and down the country. I landed up in 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit at Lindholme just outside Doncaster. That was where I met the crew. The six other crew had been together for a while, flying of course, in two-engined Wellingtons, and the Conversion Unit was to convert them to four engine aircrafts so they had to pick up a flight engineer. At that time, which would be [pause] forty-three [pause] forty-three, most of the Lancasters were going from the factories to the squadrons, so we were actually trained on Halifaxes [pause] and then after a course there we went for a fortnight to RAF Hemswell which at that time was number one Lancaster finishing school, and we were only there for [pause] two weeks, and I seem to remember [pause] most of the work that we did there was ground work on the systems different in the Lancaster from the Halifaxes and the flying [pause] consisted only of circuits and bumps, daylight, circuits and bumps at night, and the number of flying errands we did was eight, and we were sent off to the squadron, and the squadron happened to be 166 Kirmington, which nowadays is, of course, Humberside International Airport. [Pause] At Kirmington [pause] it was a fairly basic [emphasis] airfield, had only opened in forty-three, near the end of the year, and [pause] roundabout in the countryside there were lots and lots of trees, forest, and the, the huts, the mission huts we were in, were in the trees. Fair bit of walking to be done to get to the airfield if you happen to miss the transports, but [pause] on the whole, it was Kirmington village, the people were very good to us, although I didn’t particularly drink, there was only one pub in the village [pause] that was in forty-four by this time – May. Now [pause] oh, got stuck, um, yes. The crew that I joined at Lindholme contained three Canadians, the mid-upper gunner, the rear gunner, and bomb aimer, were all from Canada. The pilot was English, from Halifax, the navigator was from Leicester, and the wireless operator was from a village – I’ve forgotten the name of the village again, but up somewhere around Newcastle. [Pause] Anyway, off we go, and start operations. We were lucky [pause] inasmuch that the battle for Berlin had finished roughly in the January of that year, because Berlin causalities had been heavy. Many of the trips that we did were not long trips because at that time – [pause] oh, forgotten, sixth of June, D-Day, that was the start, that was my first operation, sixth of June, D-Day, and that was to a marshalling yard north of Paris. A lot of marshalling yards had, were being attacked to make sure that the troops and supplies didn’t reach D-Day, er, reach the [pause] [knocks on something] [pause] and of course [pause] doodlebugs had put in an appearance, and so they had to be taken care of, and so many of the doodlebugs were, weren’t very far in to France, so a number of the trips were fairly short. For that we were thankful. Some of the trips of course were quite long. Anyway, we had got there in May, forty-four, and we did our last trip on the thirtieth of August forty-four. My skipper, the navigator, and myself, were all posted back to Lindholme as instructors. My skipper decided that he would like to stay in the RAF and by this time he had become a squadron leader, so he applied for a permanent commission. He stayed in and did his time after the war was finished, and finished up as Group Captain Laurie Holmes DFC, AFC [pause] and the OBE [laughs]. [Pause] When the war finished, because of my age I knew my demob group was a long way off, and I didn’t see much point in instructing to pass crews on to still to squadrons as if the war was still on, so I applied to join Transport Command. [Pause] Just as well, because, although the war finished, May, forty-five, I didn’t get out until, somewhere about August forty-seven! [Laughs]. But in that time I saw quite a bit of the world and got paid for it in Transport Command, flying on Yorks, which was virtually a Lancaster with a different shaped body. First flying carrying freight, because they changed the shape of the body so that freight could go easily in, or seats could be put in for passengers. After a number of trips taking us as far as Delhi and back, we were reassessed and went on to passenger carrying. Still Yorks, of course this time with seats in, and we went as far as Changi, Singapore, and that was our turnaround point, and came back. [Unclear muttering] [break in tape]. Well luck [emphasis] had to play a big part in things, I mean as I said earlier on, many, a number of our flights were fairly short because it was the time when doodlebugs were around, and they had got to be get rid [emphasis] of. Also, when you found that you were maybe down for mining. Mining was considered a, oh, quite a, you know, easy [emphasis] flight, mining, going along drop some mines in the water, come back. But we, one night, had to go to a place about fifty miles from Russia, right along the Baltic, and there were the airfield next to us, or closest to us, was called Elsham Wolds and there they had a, oh well all together there twelve Lancasters going mining at this target, all that distance away, and five were from Kirmington, and seven were from Elsham Wolds. Now because it was near the end of our tour, [unclear] some systems and some squadrons where, as you were classed as being more experienced, you moved up, from say maybe the third wave, to the second, to the first, and somebody got to be first in dropping – until this particular night we were down to drop first, the mines. But we went out with four hundred other aircraft that were going to Keel, but so we left this country, crossed the North Sea, in the company of four hundred other aircraft. Didn’t see four hundred aircraft but nevertheless, that’s what they said there were there, and then they turned off to starboard, to head for Kiel, where we kept on along the Baltic – twelve of us, supposed to be. As we got near the target [pause] a searchlight popped up, and another one, and another one, the three of them started waving around and we thought ‘they know we’re coming’. However, after they’d waved about for a little while they all went out – sigh of relief. So we were supposed to drop first. So we dropped and went through the target a bit and turned away and headed back, and as we turned away the searchlights came on, so the rest of the aircraft had to come through searchlights, but, although there was fire from the Baltic, from ships in the Baltic and [emphasis] from the harbour, we didn’t see any aircraft shot down. However, we had been told that we might not get back into Kirmington because of weather and so we were given an alternative route back to land at Lossiemouth, North of Scotland, so we landed up there, and but there weren’t twelve Lancasters, but we didn’t think much of it at the time because [pause] we knew that the weather was such that we weren’t getting back into Kirmington or Elsham, so then, landed somewhere else, maybe couldn’t get into Lossiemouth, or anyway, I don’t know, but it wasn’t until the next day that we got back to Kirmington that we found that we had lost two out of the five aircraft and word came through from Elsham Wolds that they had lost three out of the seven. Which meant five out of twelve, which wasn’t a very good result, and yet [emphasis] in coming back all [emphasis] that way, along the Baltic, we didn’t see an aircraft being attacked, or an explosion, but when the chap called – Squadron Leader Wright [?] came to read or to write the history of 166 Squadron, in doing research, they found the bodies had been washed up in, er, countries bordering the Baltic, from, from the raids. So, there we are – luck. Lost five out of twelve aircraft, but you haven’t seen one attacked, you haven’t seen one explode, you haven’t seen one on fire, you get back to Lossiemouth without any problems, you know.
MJ: And that’s unusual.
WA: Aye. But five out of twelve, aye. But for a mining trip, and people were thinking ‘oh, Holmsey [?] and crew they’ve been lucky they’ve been down to do a mining trip tonight’ you know, aye [laughs]. So, aye it’s, I don’t know. Anyway, anyway up there, that’s [break in tape].
MJ: On behalf of the International Bomber Command Oral History Project, I Michael Jeffries would like to thank Flight Officer Anderson for his recording on the date of the seventeenth of May, 2015. Thank you very much.
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
Interview with William Anderson
Description
An account of the resource
Flight Officer William Anderson began his service in the Royal Air Force at the age of eighteen when he signed up in Edinburgh. In this interview he speaks about his training, reporting to Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, being paid at the London Zoo, and having to learn quickly how to swim in Torquay. After training at RAF St Athan, he was posted to 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit, and joined a Lancaster crew based at RAF Kirmington. His first operation was on D-Day to a marshalling yard near Paris. After that Anderson recounts stories of going on mine laying operations, particularly one over the Baltic, where five out of twelve aircraft were lost on one operation.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Michael Jeffries
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Christina Brown
Heather Hughes
Identifier
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AAndersonW150517
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Format
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00:30:43 audio recording
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-05-17
Language
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eng
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.
Type
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Sound
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 Air Force. Transport Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England
France
Wales
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Devon
England--Lincolnshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Normandy
Wales--Vale of Glamorgan
Scotland--Moray
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1656 HCU
166 Squadron
bombing
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
mine laying
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Hemswell
RAF Kirmington
RAF Lindholme
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF St Athan
RAF Torquay
recruitment
searchlight
training
York
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/6/12/PFarmerV1504.2.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/6/12/AFarmerV150730.2.mp3
f22333b64a7968ac6e2a03f690f60d8a
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
Farmer, Vic
Victor Farmer
V R Farmer
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
An oral history interview with Vic Farmer (-2022), a navigator with 550 Squadron. 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
2015-07-30
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Farmer, V
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
VF: I’m now coming up to age ninety two. I am the last member of my crew, of the Bomber Command in Bomber Command Number 1 Group flying with 550 squadron flying out of North Killingholme.
MJ: And your name is?
VF: And of course my name is Vic Farmer and I flew, I joined the RAF as soon as I reasonably could. I wanted to join when I was seventeen but my parents would not give their consent. However, when I was eighteen, shortly after, I volunteered for aircrew. I wanted to be a pilot but I’m afraid when the, in the training that followed the ground course I just couldn’t fly a plane so not to waste, waste my abilities they put me to be a navigator. That meant going abroad for training and I trained in South Africa. At East London and Queenstown in South Africa. Came back to this country and did further training as a navigator in the, in our climate here in this country and eventually went on to be crewed up.
I remember shall we say being approached by an Australian pilot. A young Australian pilot. He was putting together a crew but to his own specific formula. He wanted two Australians, two Canadians and two Brits. So the two Canadians were gunners, a bomb aimer and the pilot they were Australians, the wireless operator and myself - we were the Brits. These are part of his formula – no officers. So we began our training together first on twin engine Wellingtons then on Halifaxes and on Lancasters.
But on the way we had problems. My pilot, because of the policy of the Australian government was commissioned and then of course he had what we call women, a woman problem and a pilot with a woman problem was dead. Was, shall we say, not a very good thing. So on our training he actually crash landed us in a Halifax. We were lucky the engines practically fell off red hot but fortunately we didn’t go up in flames. If we had I would probably not be here. So that was, we then refused to fly with him - the crew. And I had to speak up for the crew and eventually they, our plea was accepted and we waited to be taken over by another pilot.
Along came a Flying Officer Thomas. He was over thirty. He had a paunch and he had a sort of an eye twitch and I thought my goodness talk about, shall we say, out of the frying pan in to the fire. But however he proved to be an excellent Bomber Command pilot. He had been a flying instructor and he was the only commissioned person in the crew so he had us all organised together and to work as a crew and we went on to fly with him and we went to 550 squadron which had only been formed, in 19, late 1943 and we actually flew on D-Day itself. Well not quite on D-Day itself. It was twenty five minutes past midnight on the 7th of June.
And we were working extremely hard because we were flying day and, and night during our tour and we did a whole range of targets but many of them were to, how shall I put it, made travelling conditions for German support to the D-Day, for our front shall we say very difficult so they could not bring up their reinforcements. Our first attack was on, so they could not attack us, on [inaudible], shall we say - a railway marshalling yard, marshalling yard just outside Paris.
So we flew as I say at night at first and then by day and night so my actual flying operationally was only for just over three months from the 6th of June until about the, shall we say mid-September.
We always flew together. I flew thirty times with my pilot whose name, we always called the Skip. We never called him any other name. In fact I didn’t know his first name until just a couple of years ago. So he was always known as Skip and shall we say he, I am sure, saved us. I’m sure I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his skill and to a certain extent our good fortune.
He, we were being stalked by a German night fighter and the manoeuvre at that time was for the gunners to call out ‘corkscrew’ port or maybe starboard depending on which way we were being stalked by a German night fighter. And we went down to port but of course the night, the German night fighter at that time knew of our manoeuvre and just hung there and waited until we went down and then turned and came up again and there we were, there they were waiting for us. But our pilot didn’t do that. Instead he went down to port and we kept going and we, if you like flew a circle which the plane at which was angled to the, to the ground below and about two minutes later he’d turned and gone down and came up again and two minutes or so later we were back where we started but the night fighter had been put off. We never saw him again. And we got back home.
I think on the next occasion which really sticks in my mind that we did a daylight raid lasting nearly eight hours down to Bordeaux to bomb oil installations to keep the German forces short of oil. But the, when we were first in and were flying at a height of eight or nine thousand feet and we were opposed by predicted flak. In other words the people had to work out where we were going to be and at what height and set their guns and such but our Skipper just took us on the same direction, the same speed and we dropped our bombs but what he had done he had slowly increased our height so from the prediction being made, the guns firing and the time taken for the shells to explode we were about, about a hundred feet higher. We got a lot of damage on the under surface of our plane but nothing serious. That took courage to do that. Most people would have tried to dive out of it and would, in so doing would probably dive into the flak and so and possibly be shot down.
But those are the two occasions. Another occasion we had lost a wing commander and a new man had come in and I think he wasn’t very well liked. He had the idea he gave that he came from a second class public school and shall we say rather talked down to people but he chose to fly with our crew to go Douai to bomb, once again, railway marshalling yards but at this time we had six Lancasters in formation and the wing commander flying in the lead of the first of three and shall we say there was I, a flight sergeant, with him sort of nagging at me cause he didn’t think I was doing a good job but we did get to Beachy Head on time, set off for France, arrived over the French coast in the right place, on time and when we came to do a turn it had to be a large turn because we were flying ahead of the, of the Bomber stream where they were expecting to follow us to well and make a well and truly coordinated attack but halfway through the turn the bomber, bomb aimer said, “I can see the target. “ But I said to the wing commander we haven’t completed our turn. He says, “Take over bomb aimer”. So the bomb aimer took over and guided us to another French town about thirty or forty miles away but the whole bomber stream took no notice of following us and went on to bomb the right target.
Once he’d found he’d bombed the wrong target the wing commander took this formation of six Lancasters to fly around North France, Northern France with a very, very high density of anti-aircraft guns and to look at the target we should have hit and to circle around and see what we should have done and took us then back home. And meanwhile I had logged everything. I had my chart but the, so I was quite happy that I had in a sense I’d done my job but had been ignored by the person making the decisions. So when we got landed, got home I went in to do for briefing I’d got my log and my chart which were taken from me but before we went in his hand went to my collar pulled me back and said this is what to say and to this day the squadron records record that the Pathfinders were late putting down their, their flares and that the visibility was not very, very good but it was good enough for the bomb aimer to see the wrong target so I don’t see how that really fits. However that’s, that’s what happened. So what does a flight sergeant say to a wing commander anyway when he knows he’s making a mess up. So I had to suffer that.
However, we went on and our pilot got us through our tour and immediately after the tour I was commissioned and I went from on from there and of course our crew broke up and went different ways. We had a strong link with each other. A very, very strong link because we were going to either, shall we say, die or live depending on our own particular skills in, in in the crew.
But the crew broke up and I was commissioned and went on to become a staff navigator. Being a staff navigator was one cent higher than being a normal ordinary navigator course. I went and took that course at Shawbury when they were, shall we say, were pioneering polar flying at the time. And after that I became a flying instructor and I had one rather particular task was, just after the war had finished prisoners of war were coming back. Many of them were part of the permanent RAF and they had to be brought up to date with navigation which had taken great strides during the war using radar equipment in particular. Generally speaking the people were very good because they were often a higher rank than me but there was one person, he was a squadron leader and he came in to my class and while I was lecturing he put his legs up and read a novel. I thought if this is what permanent people in the RAF are like I don’t want to know them so when the time came for me to leave the RAF I was offered to stay in a bit longer and consider a permanent commission. Remembering that person indeed certainly clouded my decision not to stay in the RAF.
So I came out to be a civilian with no job, no career of any note to, to, to go back into civilian life. So having been an instructor I thought it wasn’t much of a step to go along and become a school teacher. Instead of instructing shall we say adults I would probably teach young people to help form their lives for the future and so I did and after a very miserable start I became quite competent and eventually ended up as the last eighteen years of my teaching life as a head, Headmaster of a primary school. Now much of my success in that I always feel was my life in the RAF and my special time on operational flying because they had taught me as a young man not to be a middle class prig but to accept people as they are and that helped me in my career because I had an awful lot of contacts with teachers and parents as adults as well as with children. So I always look back upon my air force career and my time in Bomber Command as being, if you like the things that formed me as a person. I grew up very quickly joining the RAF at the age of eighteen.
And that’s virtually what I did. So I’ve been retired from teaching now for over thirty years. I still go back to my [?] school and the youngsters there questioned me about my life, shall we say as a child, in my wartime including my time in the RAF, my time teaching and retirement. And of course so many changes have taken place that this has become a part of their, if you like, history course to be able to talk to somebody. But I don’t just go along and talk to them and tell them. They ask me questions so I have to be prepared just to answer any questions they put to me.
Well here I am now living on my own. My wife died nearly eighteen years ago so I look back on my life in the RAF and Bomber Command with rather great satisfaction if you like. It has really made me as a person.
I do feel about Bomber Command which I am proud to have served my country flying in Bomber Command but I do feel it has had a sad history just after the war. It was influential in a very, very strong way of winning the war and it also it helped us not to lose the war ‘cause I don’t think, I think the bomb - shall we say the dam busters did a wonderful job but I think the most influential raid made by Bomber Command was to Peenemunde when they bombed the research for the German V weapons. V1 the buzz bombs to the V2, the rockets and equally they were shall we say pioneering a very long range gun but when the, shall we say this was the, the place, Peenemunde where the Germans were doing all their research and putting into practice what they thought would win the war. That did actually affect, but I think it so messed up the German, the German shall we say research that there was a delay in the V1s and the V2 weapons being used against this country and nor were they put in numbers that the Germans had anticipated they would use and as the flying bombs came, began to, to fly their unmanned bomb, flying bomb, I think about ten days after, about ten days if memory serves me after the, the invasion of Europe. The, if the German programme had gone as expected they would started four or five months earlier and then they could have put us out of the war before we, before we invaded in Normandy. That could have, that could really have happened. And once the bomb, once the V weapons were being used I can recall many of my operations were against V weapon bomb sites in storage centres. That was part of the programme of Bomber Command in June, July.
I also feel that the, whereas Fighter Command flew a wonderful defensive war and kept us from, shall we say, losing the war, they did it in a defensive way, in a sense I do feel Bomber Command by its aggressive wage of, waging of war did save us from defeat at, at the hands of the V weapons.
But when I go back to my old school and children ask me about what I did in the war. They ask the questions, I give the answers. And one of the questions which always comes up as different group of children I see, meet, each year is was it right for you to kill civilians? Well the answer to that? I did what I was told. I couldn’t choose what I, targets I would take on ‘cause civilians might be killed. That’s one thing. The second thing is they didn’t understand that all wars civilians always suffer anyway but also I wasn’t we were not intent on killing civilians as such. What we were doing at Bomber Command, we were helping to fight a war which we knew that the German people were being led astray to believe that they, they were the master race. That they were superior to everybody. Had, had we lost the war what would the German victors have done to us? Would they allow us as being quite closely related to you might say, in race, to Germany allow us to be also part of that attitude that we were superior to other races. And so that we were really fighting not the people but a very wrong idea of the way the world should be run.
And I say this to the youngsters who, very often I’m talking to a class which is about seventy eight percent children with a background from, from the, that is come from where we might perhaps have called them black children as against white and I would say to them, you are equal in our country and in the sight of God to anybody. You are not an inferior race which you would have been if the Germans had won the war. So you make up your own mind whether killing civilians on the way has ensured, if you like - your future. It’s very difficult to get over, over to the youngsters aged eleven that conception. But I don’t tell them whether I did right or wrong I tell them the circumstances and leave them to make up their own mind.
Now as, as after the war I didn’t, people knew that I had flown in the RAF but I would always hesitate to say I flew in Bomber Command. There were a whole, shall we say generation who grew up thinking that we were civilian killers. I think that has passed now and they realise that the numbers lost, the lives that were lost in Bomber Command, over fifty five thousand people. That was nearly half, nearly fifty percent of people who flew in Bomber Command what a great sacrifice that people flying in Bomber Command made for our victory and have been neglected for so many years.
I suppose I look upon myself - I did nothing heroic. Shall we say I didn’t have, have to bail out? I didn’t, I flew my time in much of the same aircraft on a very little known squadron but at last it has been our, our work and sacrifice has been acknowledged and it was the Bomber Command memorial in, near, it’s at Piccadilly. That is a wonderful memorial and I was there when the Queen opened it in the year of the Olympic Games wasn’t it? And I was privileged to be there and on that occasion the whole royal family were there as well and that was the time when, when final acknowledgement was of Bomber Command was really appreciated.
I’m proud that I flew in Bomber Command so I’m proud of my service in the RAF but just to think I served in the RAF for four and a half years and in just over three months I flew operationally. Makes you think doesn’t it? That the rest of the time I was either in training or helping to train others. But I flew in Bomber Command and I say, I look back, aged nearly ninety two with a great deal of satisfaction but I was one of the many. Now Bomber Command has been accepted for what it really was and did. So many people have died who have never known that Bomber Command was going to be, at last, accepted. I’m the last of my crew to, to be alive and some of those particularly the two Canadians they have died without ever knowing that what they did flying in Bomber Command was, shall we say, fully recognised. I think that’s rather sad but because I’m still alive today I have, I have a bit of notoriety personally for, because I’m still alive. So many other people did what I did and did it better in their time but they have died. I’m still alive. And because there is a scarcity of people who like me are still alive we now have a little bit of notoriety, shall we say, at last.
And I’m also glad that the new, the new Bomber Command in Lincolnshire, the Bomber Command memorial there which is being set up at this time, not yet completely functional. But I’m glad it’s that because whereas the, shall we say the monument there in London, Piccadilly is made of stone - is wonderful. It’s quite emotional to go and see it but it does nothing. It doesn’t move. It just helps the mind remember but to be able to be, help the new Lincolnshire project which is more than just is, is somewhere where people can go and do and take part and look at the archives and I’m so glad to be able to help in that in my own little way.
MJ: On behalf of the International Bomber Command Centre I’d like to thank Vic Farmers. Navigator?
VF: Navigator.
MJ: Navigator, for his interview at his home in Oxted, the date of the 13th of July 2015. Thank you very much.
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Title
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Interview with Vic Farmer
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World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Creator
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Heather Hughes
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2015-09-14
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Julie Williams
Heather Hughes
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00:34:46 audio recording
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eng
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AFarmerV150730
Description
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Vic Farmer volunteered for the Royal Air Force at eighteen and trained as a navigator in South Africa. He describes his experiences of crewing up and serving in 550 squadron, RAF North Killingholme. He saw action on D-Day, and participated in further operations to bomb Paris marshalling yards and Bordeaux. He recalls an incident on an operation when he was outranked and as a result the wrong target was hit. He was commissioned and after further navigator training at RAF Shawbury, became an instructor. After the war, he became a teacher and eventually the head of a primary school. He talks of his feelings about Bomber Command and how veterans have been treated.
Spatial Coverage
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France--Paris
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Oxfordshire
South Africa
France
France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
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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.
Type
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Sound
Temporal Coverage
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1944-06-07
550 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
crewing up
forced landing
Halifax
Lancaster
memorial
navigator
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
perception of bombing war
RAF North Killingholme
RAF Shawbury
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/15/25/ABoschD150730.1.mp3
2448e92d76f47177718312bd530f4e19
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
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Bosch, Dirk
D Bosch
Description
An account of the resource
One oral history interview with Dirk Bosch (b. 1931) a schoolboy in Amsterdam during the war. The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
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2015-07-30
Identifier
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Bosch, D
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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.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Heather Hughes
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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MC: This interview is being carried out on the behalf of the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewee is Mr Dirk Bosch, the interviewer is Mike Connock and the date is the 30th of July 2015 and the interview is taking place at Welton. Right, if you just tell me a bit about where and when you were born.
DB: I was born in Amsterdam, July 1931, just about eighty four years ago therefore and when war broke out I therefore was only I was only eight years and a number of months old. That’s very young and my parents obviously tried to shield me from everything. We lived in Amsterdam and I do remember that when Holland had capitulated as they obviously would have. They would either have been overrun by superior German forces or capitulate so I think it was a sensible option. The country is small. In the First World War which was often mentioned 1914 1918 the Netherlands were neutral and we liked it. We took that as a good thing and we wanted to be neutral again. So we tried to be neutral. We did not mobilise in the face of Germany because we thought we could pacify her. We could keep them quiet which meant that when war broke out we were not prepared. We were knowingly and consciously not prepared. My brother therefore who was of that age, older, about 12 years older than me [pause] he was lately, late on called up and he was got ready for the front because we didn’t engage, we didn’t engage with the Germans. It was that quiet. But he late on was called up and he was got ready for the front with no preparation to speak of. No training. No exercise. Just in, issued a uniform, keep him in that barracks there and you know he was very soon to go to the front when fortunately the war ended in Holland. We were not unhappy with that as such. It, it was the best of two evils really.
So I remember standing along one of our main entry roads into Amsterdam and the Germans came in in endless columns. Nearly all in transport. There weren’t any, any boots on the floor. They were nearly all were in transport and they dashed past us, they rushed past into the centre of Amsterdam and from there probably onward. The Germans being Germans will have been well organised. And that afternoon. Whatever time it took - that was it. We were now occupied. You didn’t notice that much on the day. We didn’t hear any
MC: I was going to say, you were going to say I just wondered how the schooling, your schooling was, you know, up until that time.
DB: OK.
MC: Can you?
DB: Well yeah I’m trying to recoup where I was. Anyway the Germans were all through town and for one thing they took our school. We had a nice, fairly modern school and they took it for a hospital. We therefore, the pupils had to join another school and I haven’t got the dates and times precisely I know but it was something like 8 to 1 for the one school and one to half past five for the other school and that alternated. So, that, the prettier school that the Germans had, had taken for the hospital, that was built right into the middle of blocks of civilian houses and they had, I’m sure, done that on purpose to make sure that the RAF or whoever wouldn’t come in to bomb or anything. Well in the first place everything was pretty quiet. We were told at a fairly early time but I don’t know how early that we had to hand in our radios and my parents did but the neighbour below us because we lived in flats, the neighbours below us hid theirs. Now if it had been found they would have been shot. As easy as that. But it wasn’t found because the man was a worker at a local bank and he had all sorts of nooks and crannies at his disposal, vaults and safes and he could manage to scriddle[?] his radio away. We did of course see Germans walking and we also had what we referred to as the NSB which is the National Socialist Bond or something and they acquired uniforms. They were given uniforms and they were put on the street corners selling their particular paper which I’ve never ever seen anybody buy. That was the most ostensible signs. There was, there were declarations. The Germans put declarations on walls and house sides and the declaration would be in the gothic lettering. We couldn’t hardly read it but then they also put what we would call today normal, normal script, normal font next to it and we were supposed to read that and see what we were to do and not to do because that was what it was all about. We had an underground and the underground was active but very cautious because we had little to gain. We couldn’t do anything that was terribly significant. I mean you wouldn’t go and kill a German soldier because the repercussions would be tremendous and you wouldn’t have achieved much. So we just saw them march and they sang. We had a curfew. Not I suppose at once but I only remember it if it was all [?] time we had a curfew at night, fairly early. I would think depending on how light it was. Something between 6 and 7 and then at night when we had little to do but go to bed we could hear the singing and marching. There was of course no transport to speak of because at, in 1940 stroke ‘45 we in Holland had very few motorcars in the first place. I mean who had a motorcar? I had one uncle who had a car and I had twelve uncles, you know and, but that was how life was. That was normal. We had bicycles. The use of the bicycles was fairly limited because the Germans built cordons and let all the bicycles run into it but none out. They took the bicycles for melting down the rubber of the tyres and the steel or the metal anyway for their, for their weapons production. So people became terribly frightened and cautious about using their bicycles. The out, the way out was by using the bicycles without tyres. It’s possible. It makes it a much slower process and very loud especially on cobbles. The things rattle like hell but what developed was that parties of people not many at once would go ‘up farmer’. Now ‘up farmer’ means you go and sort out a farmer somewhere in the country. You take your box camera or your, a couple of sheets or whatever you have in the cupboard and you try and exchange that for something to eat because the, at this time, the time I’m talking about but not sure how to to identify we had no food and the farmers were sympathetic and I did take our stuff. I suppose I more or less had to, er but they would they would try to give you something to to take away and the thing to have was peas because they were long lasting things and wheat. Wheat was always fancied. Er Potatoes. Potatoes could last a good while but anyway anything they would give and then the people would walk the bikes so they wouldn’t matter so much if they made a bit noise but there were trips beyond a single day so they would have to sleep somewhere by the roadside right on top of the bikes so that they wouldn’t get stolen or anything with their gear on and then the following day they would have to continue their journeys. Now my sister, who at that time must have been anything between fifteen and twenty, sorry I can’t know much better she did a couple of trips and she did it with a friend of hers, also of course a young lady and there was, I never heard of any problems that they had with the German soldiers. They were stopped and they were asked what they were doing and what they had there and they happened to get away with it. They didn’t lose any gear but a number of people would relate their stories. They were stopped by German soldiers. They would take everything they had got from the farmers and the bikes and they would have to walk the rest home with nothing. That of course was very, very unfortunate very unpleasant. So as war progressed we got we had less and less food. The Germans provided a system of ration cards and food to, to cover those ration cards. There was also what was known as centrale keuken - centralised kitchens and you had ration coupons for those kitchens and it was my not ever so pleasant duty to go with a pan to some shack somewhere and get your, your ration of slops whatever it was and carry them, carry that home again and when it got home it was a very unanimous sort of slops you know. There was, you could see perhaps a little bit of the potato or a little bit of carrot but you couldn’t really tell what it was. It was just like a thick soup basically and then if you wanted to warm it up somewhat or something you did not have any fuel. There was no gas. There was no electricity. Electricity wouldn’t have helped in this instance because in Holland we used gas for all that and electricity really only for lights, radio, that sort of thing. So we had stoves in our main room in our lounge, our sitting room - living room. We had stoves and where they came from I don’t know but there was a supply of little stoves. Little metal boxes and those boxes were more or less open in the bottom and had a hole in the top and they had a little drawer in the bottom and had the shelf in the middle like a roster with, you know that the air could pass through. And us kids were sent out to find branches and bits of paper and anything that would burn and what you could do you could put the little square box, metal that was on top of your stove your main stove in the lounge and the draft would come from the bottom, draw through the grid, the grill and you had some paper in there and you lit it and put your branches fired your branches, your bits of timber anything you could find and that would then burn quite well. You could put a pan on the top of it and the pan shut off the top so you have got an opening in the bottom for the air to go into, then you had a, it, it went through the fuel if you like. Then there was a vertical enclosure of it and that was not quite, did not quite go to the top. So the air that rose being hot would go over the top and at the back it would be sucked away into the works of the stove and go up your, the chimney in to the environment so that way you had a heated source and you could warm something a bit. Obviously later, in later years when it got colder and that last winter ’44, ‘45 wasn’t it, it was a very bad one. A very strong winter. It was not it, it, it meant nothing. It was not enough heat to do anything. At that time we would sit in our kitchens. It would be dark early. I don’t know what this discipline of lighting we had whether the clocks were forward or backward or two hours forward or two hours backward even we, I don’t know but it was light, it was dark early and you went to bed early. We sat in our kitchen and our kitchen was about ten foot by a good four foot and there was one little table in it. There were in fact six of us. My brother, two sisters, my father, my mother and myself and we would, we would sit on that around that little table a little table of about 60cm by 120metre, you know, very small and my mother would be invariably darning. My sister would be rehashing, recycling clothing would be unpicking the seams, would be cutting away the edges would be putting it back together and later sew it again on a hand sewing machine and then it would be a different size. It would be smaller because everything would have been uniformly proportionately be reduced and that was for somebody else to be used and that’s how we went with that. The ice on the windows was measurable it was at the bottom end of the of the window pane where some melting might have occurred and it had come down. At the bottom of the window pane it would be a good half inch thick and the whole pane would be filled with ice. And it would be rather beautiful to be honest where all these patterns that these crystals make. But upstairs, and I slept upstairs it would be absolutely freezing. It is unbelievable. People did not only died of hunger but they also died of cold of course. Now there is a big thing not yet mentioned to you which had its own affect all through and at one point we had on one the morning when we stepped out we saw people with funny yellow stars on their clothing and I had no idea. I had no idea what it was about and I don’t know if I very soon did because as I said my parents tried to keep me out of things. Not ever so religiously but on the whole you know I didn’t know about. But those of course were the Jews and at a given time these people all came out with these yellow stars on their coats and as you know the Jews wear a lot of black. Black overcoats are a favourite and then they had a very poorly sewn yellow stars on their coat. You could see someone very unused to sewing sometimes had sewn them on. Big course stitches you know five points that was all really. But once they were identifiable and identified they were sitting ducks. I suppose that there would have been certain ones who didn’t do it. They were very much in danger if they were found out but the ones who did do it were little better off. One morning and I, one of the things I remember, and I don’t think I have a memory for everything at all but one thing I remember when we walked to school from where we lived we crossed a rather main artery, you know, major road and as we came from the side street that we used to cross it and continue on the other side to my right were a number of German trucks, open trucks and there were people being ushered along the pavements. There were German soldiers stood along the pavement in in rows that I walked in between and the Germans were all armed and they were sort of roughly made to get into those trucks, standing on top in the open and those that had been filled were just having to stand there and wait and the rest will no doubt would have filled because we just crossed that road and we went on. Talk about it. We had no idea we had no idea. Nobody did. Perhaps at that time the right people hadn’t even been addressed to Hitler to set processes in in motion. I don’t know but we, Germans to us were our neighbours. We had a certain respect for Germans. Other countries as well. Holland by the nature of its minerals, its ores and other things we were dependant on foreign countries for much of our industrial product and we knew Germans and French and English well. On, even on the quite simple schools you learned the three languages German English and Dutch err German, English and French because you were expected later to be able to converse with these people.So, I’m trying to pick up my train of thought here. We, we had seen Germans we had known we knew, were more into German music than English or French music and we would have some idea of German films. Even in the, the wartime in the beginning of the war we could still go to cinemas but only to see German pictures and we spoke of Heinz Ruhmann because he was such a funny man. We didn’t mind Germans at that level somehow because oh they would look after us. The Jews would be alright. They were, after all they were Germans. They wouldn’t do anything nasty. It wasn’t in ‘em. And although we had our underground from the word go and people were very much anti the German sympathisers we didn’t at that point hate the Germans, strangely enough. Perhaps my memory is not perfect on that score or my knowledge but that’s how it must have been for at least for a good proportion. So we went into that period and the Jews were being deported to work camps. We understood that the Jews were being taken to work for the Germans. Now it wasn’t very nice. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t good but they’d be back soon. They wouldn’t be long. So there they went and the Germans started to empty their houses or their flats or whatever you know. We referred, in our idiom we referred to all that as houses. They started to empty their houses and if you looked in the railway yards you could see long columns of wagons with enormous banners on them from back to front and it says liefde giften van Holland [?]which means love gifts from the Netherlands. This of course was a lie but nobody was even shaken too much about that. After all we didn’t have that much respect for the German decorative but in any case we didn’t know what was going on and what happened was that those wagons were all being run off to Germany and somehow were made available to Germans. We of course in Holland had lots of waterways and near us in one of the canals we had one of these big lighters [?] . Are you familiar with lighter? A lighter is like a big open house a big hull really that’s all it is. And they were full of small items. I proudly, we jumped into them and do you know was rummaging about and I proudly brought some bank slips home. I had no idea what a bank slip was but I could, could draw on that. So I brought that home for drawing on and for writing on. Just a few things. I think I was then told not to do it again but that was the long and the short of it. So and by and by that disappeared. Now those houses stood empty and as it got cooler and colder eventually we Dutch people of Amsterdam came and broke open the the doors because in Holland and certainly at that time there was one front door and several flats off it so the flat, the front door could usually be opened with a latch key. So they kept, they left the front doors in the beginning but they began to take all the stairs away. They took the stairs away right to the top to the third or fourth floor they burnt them of course. That was fuel. And when that had gone they took the doors on the higher floors away and when they had gone they took the floors of the floor of the other floors away and when they had gone they took the beams and rafters until they were stood there empty. The front door by that time would have gone as well but they, they were empty carcases of houses. The bricks of course remained and I think out of caution and health and safety they left some of the beams so they wouldn’t collapse on people. But that that was that. That disappeared. We had one Jewish couple - couple from family which we were acquainted with and they disappeared. We knew through my sister there was a girl in that family Stella and her father and mother and their fathers and mothers they all disappeared one day. Gone. And only the girl herself came back. After the war, I don’t know I think it was the Americans who found them in their concentration camp. After the war they were first taken back to another part of Germany and then to Sweden and from Sweden to America and we have known them and we have visited them in New York where she had by that time married a German. A German Jew. He had also been in a, in a concentration camp and they, they told us stories not too much because it’s distasteful and you don’t like to talk about that but on the other hand they were very keen that young, younger people, their own kids would be well acquainted of facts. Right. What I would want to say is are you happy that little?
MC: Did your parents work at that time? Were they, what did they do?
DB: At -
MC: For work
DB: At that time women very rarely worked in Holland. They were housewives. Holland of course had a reputation for being clean and everything. Well those women at home were always cleaning and they cleaned the streets in front of our flats and we, carpets were being beaten twice a week and it was quite a, quite a thing you know and all carpets were taken up – carpets and rug, rugs, and my mother would talk to the lady below us and they would come together, take all the carpets and rugs out. Some of ‘em had special steps, wooden steps, very tall about seven steps to a set and they had two brackets in the top rung and they would bring down a long wooden pole and they would push the pole through the brackets and big the eyes and then they would put the carpets over the pole and they would hold a corner of it in one hand and the carpet beater in the other hand and they would give it hell and, I didn’t know that at the time but there was even regulation about it. Not everyone could at any time beat a carpet. You couldn’t do it before and I’m guessing 8 o’clock because people might still be sleeping. And you couldn’t do it longer than 10 o’clock because it was about time that it stopped and when those carpets were being beaten and remember that was all down the street and those buildings are four storeys high so it echoes and the din was enormous and then when it was done it had to be rolled up, taken up the stairs, the stair carpets had to come down as well and the stair carpets were sewn together so that when they were rolled out they took the shape of the stair and then they had the carpet rods and they were, had to be reinserted under the eyes that were drilled into the carpet to the stairs however and then peace was restored. But it was not of any import in itself of course. Not relevant to the war. That always happened but that’s what the ladies did. They cleaned. My father was made to work somewhere because just at that time when the Germans came in he’d become sort of redundant because of the slump because by that time you know you had the big malaise and he was, was set to work in fields because I know this because the Germans loaded them up on trucks and ran ’em to the fields somewhere and gave them jobs to do. I spent the whole day there. I had a fishing rod and stayed there all day and had a marvellous time. Excellent time. And the Germans stood guard armed over these elderly Dutch workers. So I don’t know what he did. I never went to look. I don’t know if I’d have been allowed to get any nearer. Perhaps I was as near as I could get but they will have been building bunkers or tank, tank stops, tank – I don’t know. And really on the whole therefore we didn’t have an awful lot to do with them. I would, I was involved in taking an illegal paper. Now illegal papers were serious business and the Germans here again would kill people. Because they wanted, at all costs I think they knew the punishment was out of step with the offence but they knew that it had to be stopped at source because the illegal papers told people things they didn’t want you to know. There was, the only news I know we had was a news cinema in town. For a little while we had the radios and that already very quickly turned into propaganda medium. Let’s not be mistaken about this all the time everywhere but the when the Germans said that over the front at this point the German forces have carried out tactful for retreat for the good of the war and therefore be in a better position. No. They had been beaten and they had been beaten back but you didn’t know that and you didn’t know what you could believe and what you could not believe. We thought even the illegal newspapers were written with a view to bolstering morale of the readers and could have been prettified but we chose not to believe that because we wanted to to hear the best and therefore well anyway one day I had to take it to the next person to read it. It was after curfew. We were lived in a quiet street and there would rarely be anybody around in the daytime and at night. It was absolutely empty. So I had to take the illegal paper over the road. I came downstairs singing and dancing because I could do the stairs in the pitch black. Knew exactly where everything was no problem. I got out of the front door. It was a moonless night. No light whatsoever. Street lights had long gone. I stepped out and I suddenly became aware that there was somebody and I could just about having got close, too close see that it was a uniform and I thought, “Oh my God what do I do?” I thought go straight on. Make out that it’s nothing so I skipped on and went over the road. I had my latchkey, the latchkey ready. I threw the latchkey in to the lock, opened it and shut the door behind me and stood with my heart beating cause if I’d gone back they would have hurt my parents if I’d gone forward the other people could have been but they could have denied all knowledge and could have said, I just fled. So that is what I did. Later on I learned it was actually a navy man and the navy wouldn’t have had anything to, to, no axes to grind, you know what I mean. That was one little event. Another little event was we had to walk everywhere because there were no longer any trams. There was were few buses in Amsterdam anyway but they weren’t there. No trams, no buses. All you could do was bikes and I’ve said something about that. Or walk. And we walked everywhere. I had an aunt who lived about two hours walking north of Amsterdam beyond the harbour. And I remember walking there and a couple of my mates came with me. We did that a lot. You could go anywhere with your mates and come in. And there was little tiny boat probably a mine dredger or something in the harbour and kids were selling a little puppy dog for half a loaf, half a German loaf. German loaf of course is quite a brick you know. They weren’t very good. On the same walk having arrived on the other side of the harbour we walked on and there was a lot of shouting and running about. We saw that a group of people was attacking a baker. He was delivering bread. That was common. That was ordinary at the time. There is nothing new under the sun is there? These deliveries from supermarkets well they were already delivering bread by cart from the bakers and as the man had arrived at his destination house and had rung the bell he’d left the hood up and there was a big cover on it, a hard cover and the people were in it, robbing him of his bread. And he ran back oh six foot of it and slammed the cover down and I remember that one loaf had spilled out from it from under the cover under the cart and I was well inclined to go and pick it up and have it but it was gone before I could even begin to make ground and it was one of those well one and a half inch high loaves because there was no yeast. There was no yeast. There was no salt. The flour was course and hadn’t really been strained or [unclear] or whatever you do. That was, that was why the bread was as it was. What we did do and did a better job of it if we got the opportunity we went into the countryside when they were harvesting and we walked behind the err what do you call it, the machine, the big machine
MC: Combine harvester?
DB: The combine yeah. We walked we used to walk behind the combines. No I’m lying we didn’t have the combines. It was a scythes job.
MC: Yeah.
DB: Remember that?
MC: Yeah.
DB: When they would be scything, the farmers would be scything and there would be somehow, there would be ears of grain on the floor. I don’t know how they got removed from the stalks but they were like the ears and from the bundles you know the sheaves and those we were allowed to pick up and put in bags and there was usually a German soldier stood in the field but they didn’t fuss with that. A field is a big thing to cover and they didn’t have that many people on hand. If, if they, if they’d done anything like shoot at people it would have been very difficult for them to keep control over all the people that were there. I don’t think they would have been too keen.
Right. Well I would hardly say this is all but I’ve?
MC: So you mentioned about the, you heard, used to hear the bombers going over. Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about that
DB: Right well at night and remember about the curfew we would go to bed early and in the dark I remember it always dark pitch all the time. In the dark you would lie listening and listen with the certain knowledge of what you were going to hear. There was no traffic. There were no cars, no buses, no trams. There were no planes of course. There wouldn’t have been any bicycles without tyres at that time of night. But what you would hear and there was some magic about it you would hear planes and the planes you would hear you wouldn’t hear the beginning of. You would, you could never say it’s started because it was either there or it wasn’t there. They, that merged into the silence so thinly because it was so far away that you couldn’t make it out. Not until there were more of ‘em and they were nearer and then you would hear the anti-aircraft guns and the anti-aircraft gun would at first, in the early stages they would be busy. You know the lights would be crossing the skies quite wildly it seemed. Sometimes they would pick one out and let’s say it was a Lancaster it would just go off and the aircraft gunners would aim at it but it would be too high. They would be invariably be too high and it would just go on. They wouldn’t lose it whether they, whether because of the aircraft moving them not being good enough to hold on to. Not that easy I think but they would lose it then and through the night you would hear that distant drone and you would know that it was power, powerful drone excuse me power, powerful drone because one aircraft would not have made that particular noise. It was the numbers that made the difference. And when you were in your bed alive [?] to it and that being the only sound you heard it had a big significance. You knew that this mattered, it mattered to our good because it was the only bit of war effort that we witnessed and it happened to the German’s detriment. That’s the other thing that would make it good. And they would drone over and over and over and we would normally not hear the end of it. Hard enough to do but by that time we would be asleep and then sometimes we would hear an aircraft. Normally a single, an aircraft come over low and land. Low and very loud. Not like the drone. Not power or anything. It would probably have been it and it would come over low and just miss the tops of the houses or steeples or whatever and it would be on its way back and you would know that there would be people sitting in there – four, five, ten, I don’t know. And they would be in danger. And they might die. And they would go over and go towards the west. They would soon be over the sea and they would all be sitting in there praying that it would stay up. That it would make it to Norfolk, Suffolk you know. The first stops. Not Lincolnshire I don’t think because that would make it such a wider angle. It would be farther to fly. We don’t know whether we ever heard one that went down. We don’t know whether we ever hear one that put down safely you know. That, that was a very relevant sort of noise [unclear]. It sort of, of course when the war ended we were in a bad way. In Amsterdam in particular because we were above a certain line. I don’t need to go in to this here but the Germans had perforated the dykes so the water had come in and much of Holland is below sea level so a lot of area had been inundated err the food [?]still could come to us very easily but somehow somewhere an agreement was reached for the allies to drop food. Now there will have been a lot of people who knew detail of that you know. The underground resistance workers. We didn’t. It wasn’t for us to know but what we did know is that one day we heard an aircraft as loud as we ever have heard one and only feet high. Came over, we could see the members of the crew and we were waving whatever we got. They were waving. We were cheering. You could hear the cheering over everything [short pause]and that was marvellous. They had dropped food and they were on their way back. They were waving to us. People were on the rooves especially where they were flat and they were waving with sheets and towels and flags. You weren’t supposed to have flags. And everything and the big thing of it was we knew it was true. Now it was true. We were liberated. It was, was enormous. And that is why it is so big in Holland.
MC: So when did you get access to the food? Did they bring it?
DB: That was, that was out of our scope. That wasn’t for us. There were authorities and the authorities took it and they were our authorities. Dutch. And they did it proper but don’t forget they didn’t throw down bread loaves they throw down flour. Threw down flour and that had to be collected, baked and the, the bread which came almost overnight which was so good. Was white. We didn’t believe that you could have white bread like that. It was white and it was high. It stood like that. We couldn’t believe that either. And then we got food at school. They provided food through the schools so that the kids could have food and well that, if you like, was it. That was almost the very last act of the war. The Germans had had enough and you can’t blame ’em. The Germans who were there had had enough and they set off walking. They walked. You see Holland is not a big country as you well know and I think it would still probably take three days to cross it on foot you know. But they set off, they set off walking home. Oh and the edge of Amsterdam was a pile and each German solder threw on it a bayonet, his gun, his rifle whatever he had. All his arms and that pile was growing all the time. We looked at it jealously because us kids you know, thought marvellous I’m going to pinch one of them but you didn’t get that chance. I suppose if I remember correctly it was the underground that guarded it, people of the resistance and, and that was, and there was only one other thing an account that the war was over. Germany had capitulated. On the corner of the Dam Square in Amsterdam where the palace is is a principal hotel and the German officers used it and they thought it would be fun. All the people had come out again. It was lively on the Dam Square lots of people walking and being merry and they thought it would be fun to aim their sub machine guns on it and start rattling and they killed a number of Dutch people on the square after the war had ended.
[tape stops]
MC: So the Dutch railways?
DB: This is running?
MC: Yes, yeah just
DB: The Germans had left the Dutch to run the Dutch railways but they made diligent use of it. They used it for freight of all sorts, armaments perhaps. I do not know. And personnel. And when it got a bit further in to the war and the underground was thinking what more could we do to help here, a difficult organisation you must understand they decided to encourage the Dutch railwaymen to go on strike and that would just throw down the Dutch railways bang [we won[?]. And I don’t know how they achieved it but they did it and the Germans were a bit, very upset about and very much crossed their line of approach, their system. And for one thing they, they did kill a number of railwaymen for the reason, for that reason and they tried to find more all the time and there were those who were just at home. My uncle was a railwayman and he and his wife also were harbouring a Jewish woman. But in the first place they had got a one escapee or what shall we call them? A person who avoids the German occupation but, or, or imprisonment but she would have gone to the camps. Well they had the one lady had a position in the eaves in case of danger. That was the Jewish woman. And when they did in fact come and they did of course they had personnel records so they could go straight to the addresses of the people who hadn’t turned up and they came to look for railwaymen and there my aunt was hiding this Jewish woman but they got her into the eaves somehow in time but there was very little time to do anything about my uncle. Well in Holland we have the custom of every day taking off the bedclothes and airing them over a chair or something so she forced my uncle on the chair because she was a very quick witted woman. She forced my uncle on a chair next to the bed and threw the bedclothes over him. There is a version of this story that the Germans came through the house all right. Never got anywhere near this Jewish woman but when one of the Germans looked and my aunt looked at him she saw him look at the pair of shoes appearing from underneath the bedclothes and she then believes that he thought, ‘no, leave them be’. Not all Germans were of course bad. I believe that they with the war being over we, you know they wish they had been. I know that I was later in Switzerland of all places and I was on an outlook post in a in a Swiss forest and there was another chap on the top there and we got talking and he asked what nationality I was and I said I was Dutch and he shrunk, he visibly shrunk and he said, “You must hate me”. You know there were good people. Not that many.
MC: So after the war you stayed in Holland?
DB: I stayed in Holland. I did a job and um but not immediately of course and actually it is a bit relevant. We had people doing health checks and a lot of us who had been hungry in the war we were underweight. And if you were underweight there was a system whereby Danish, Swedish, I think Swiss families had opened up to Dutch kids to put some weight on again and I was chosen to go to Denmark which I well enjoyed by the thought of it. That would be good for me to see this country. It would an adventure and everything and I was well keen to go but not all that long before the travel time it was full and I couldn’t go. Well that wasn’t good at all because I had to have my end exams, my final examinations from school at that time but with the prospect of going away my head teacher said he’d prepare me one on the basis of my schoolwork which would have been considerably better than than the exam so I was happy and now I had go again. So I locked myself up to study and then I got a place in England. I got a place in Lincoln. So at the late hour I was taken to a place called Woodlands near Doncaster which was an, I think an RAF base. May have been an army base and we slept in Nissan huts and I spent six weeks in Nissan huts and eight weeks with family.
MC: And how old were you at that time?
DB: Fourteen I believe and the people that had the honour of having, receiving me, for getting me were the parents of my wife. Can you imagine, I often think of this, somewhere in Amsterdam in an unknown place sits an unknown person who says who have you got down for Denmark? Oh no, no they’re full. At that moment my life changes. I don’t know that. I will never know the, and then somebody says there are a few places left in England. And that’s when my life changes, changes again. And even the, it even chooses my wife. So the war has got something to answer for don’t you think?
MC: Absolutely yeah yeah it can change your life yes. So after, after that you just stayed in Lincoln?
DB: I worked in Holland at the savings bank, the Holland Steamship Company that sailed to Falmouth and Fowey and Manchester and Liverpool and London and I got some free, free sails, sailings with and I then worked at my uncle’s who had a factory in [unclear] in a small metalwork. I then worked for an importer no I worked yeah, yeah importer, exporter of chemicals and aromas and I worked somewhere else, I can’t remember now. I mentioned I also did administration for a small dealer in household objects. Anyway I came back from time to time to – just because I liked it to be honest. I liked to do it and to come here and I had certain opportunities and I once or twice came to my then still foster parents unannounced and they put me up sweet as anything no problem. Then they came once or twice to Holland. Then Mavis came to Holland once - no with a friend and I just grew in the normal way that things grew and that really became the end. Now let’s see if there’s anything there must be something left. I had a feeling that there was something significant yet to tell you. No I can’t, I can’t think. I’ve certainly gone over all the major things that I have to tell you. It’s - unless you have any questions that -
MC: No.
DB: No my brother was the same age that I have referred, have I, have I referred to him
MC: [unclear]
DB: My brother in law but yes he was my brother in law was deported to Germany as a, as a worker. He could drive car which very few people could and he drove cars and buses in Germany of labourers or workers from their lodgings to the factories. Now my brother was the same age group but he didn’t have to go because he’d been working in the horticultural industry and his boss had quicky diverted to vegetable growth, growing veggies and he became a protected worker thereby. My sisters. My younger sister worked what that was commonly, in service and my older sister in the clothing industry and did well after the war and went to America and had a small department in a patterns factory in in New York. A company called Simplicity.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Dirk Bosch
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Description
An account of the resource
Dirk Bosch was eight years old when the German army occupied his home town of Amsterdam. In this interview he describes what life was like for him during this time. He refers to seeing Dutch Jews rounded up and deported. He describes the hunger of the time and the effort to find food by travelling to the countryside and hoping for help from the farmers. He also speaks about the dangers he faced while taking illegal newspapers to a neighbour. He describes the sound of the Lancaster bomber aircraft flying overhead at night. He also describes Operation Manna.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Mike Connock
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
2015-07-30
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Heather Hughes
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
01:16:00 audio recording
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ABoschD150730
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Netherlands--Amsterdam
Netherlands
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1944
1945
anti-Semitism
childhood in wartime
Holocaust
home front
Lancaster
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Resistance
round-up
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/17/32/PBellO1501.1.jpg
c93a55a1daf7520d69277765425887a8
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/17/32/PBellO1502.1.jpg
f1bdb7cb15ecbc09984c2db95014591d
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Bell, Oliver
O Bell
Description
An account of the resource
47 items. The collection concerns Flying Officer Oliver Herbert Bell (1915 - 1997) and consists of photographs and documents. He served as ground personnel at RAF Cranwell and was then posted to Aden and the Middle East with 12(B) and 8(B) Squadrons before the war. He later served at establishments in Canada and at RAF Blyton and married <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/208">Joyce Bell</a>.<br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by G Sadler and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Achive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-10-02
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Bell, O
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
Group portrait with a Lancaster
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Group photograph of 133 men and women in front of a Lancaster, some on the wings and the fuselage, some arranged in three rows on the ground. A civilian building is visible in the background.
On the reverse 'Blyton - Bomber Command - 1944'
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
1944
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
PBellO1501, PBellO1502
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
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 Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
Lancaster
RAF Blyton
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/27/215/PFilliputtiA16010126.2.jpg
ee52b1ff372bfb0380d0df36c0f70393
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
Filiputti, Angiolino
Angiolino Filiputti
Alfonsino Filiputti
A Filiputti
Description
An account of the resource
127 items. The collection consists of a selection of works created by Alfonsino ‘Angiolino’ Filiputti (1924-1999). A promising painter from childhood, Angiolino was initially fascinated by marine subjects but his parents’ financial hardships forced an end to his formal education after completing primary school. Thereafter, he took up painting as an absorbing pastime. Angiolino depicted some of the most dramatic and controversial aspects of the Second World War as seen from the perspective of San Giorgio di Nogaro, a small town in the Friuli region of Italy. Bombings, events reported by newspapers, broadcast by the radio or spread by eyewitnesses, became the subject of colourful paintings, in which news details were embellished by his own rich imaginings. Each work was accompanied by long pasted-on captions, so as to create fascinating works in which text and image were inseparable. After the war, however, interest in his work declined and Angiolino grew increasingly disenchanted as he lamented the lack of recognition accorded his art, of which he was proud.
The work of Angiolino Filiputti was rediscovered thanks to the efforts of Pierluigi Visintin (San Giorgio di Nogaro 1946 – Udine 2008), a figurehead of the Friulan cultural movement, author, journalist, screenwriter and translator of Greek and Latin classical works into the Friulan language. 183 temperas were eventually displayed in 2005 under the title "La guerra di Angiolino" (“Angiolino’s war”.) The exhibition toured many cities and towns, jointly curated by the late Pierluigi Visintin, the art critic Giancarlo Pauletto and Flavio Fabbroni, member of the Istituto Friulano per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione (Institute for the history of the resistance movement in the Friuli region).
The IBCC Digital Archive would like to express its gratitude to Anna and Stefano Filiputti, the sons of Angiolino Filipputi, for granting permission to reproduce his works. The BCC Digital Archive is also grateful to Alessandra Bertolissi, wife of Pierluigi Visintin, Alessandra Kerservan, head of the publishing house Kappa Vu and Pietro Del Frate, mayor of San Giorgio di Nogaro.
Originals are on display at
Biblioteca comunale di San Giorgio di Nogaro
Piazza Plebiscito, 2
33058 San Giorgio di Nogaro (UD)
ITALY
++39 0431 620281
info.biblioteca@comune.sangiorgiodinogaro.ud.it
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Filiputti, A-S
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.
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
The Eder, Möhne and Sorpe operation
Description
An account of the resource
A Lancaster flies over the explosion of an Upkeep bouncing bomb against a dam. A second aircraft has been hit by anti-aircraft fire and is plunging towards the water, engulfed in flames and smoke. A third Lancaster is visible on the right with a bomb visible below it.
Label reads “320 bis”; signed by the author; caption reads “16 MAGGIO 1943. Ore 21.28 il primo “Lancaster” inglese dell’operazione “castise” [Chastise] si alza in volo da Scampton, con a bordo il tenente colonello Guj Penrose Gibson [Guj Penrose Gibson] della RAF, pilota notturno dagli obiettivi impossibili, prima sull‘Italia settentrionale, poi sulle dighe della Rhur. Si prova la bomba rotante, o rimbalzante a forma cilindrica, alta m 1.50 diametro di 1.27 pesa 4.196 Kg con carica esplosiva di 2.992 Kg. – 18 bombardieri in 3 ondate attaccano le dighe di Mohne [Möhne], di Sarpe [Sorpe], di Scwelme [Schwelm], e al 3o tentativo quella di Eder, squarciata, 110 milioni di metri cubi d’acqua precipitano a valle. La contraerea spara a zero, 8 bombardieri su 19 sono abbattuti, il 20 settembre 1944 Guj Penrose Gibson [Guy Penrose Gibson] decorato con “Victoria cross” in azione con “master bomber” su Rheidt [Rheydt], sarà abbattuto.”
Caption translates as: “16 May 1943, 9.28 pm. The first British Lancaster involved in operation Chastise took off from Scampton, carrying the RAF Lieutenant Colonel Guy Penrose Gibson. He was the night pilot of impossible operations: at first on the North of Italy, then on the Rhur dams. They tried the rotating bomb, or the bouncing one, a cylindrical device which measuring 1.5 metres in height, 1.27 metres in diameter, weighing 4,196 kilograms, and with an 2.992 kilograms explosive charge. 18 bombers attacked the Möhne, Sorpe and Schwelm [sic} dams in three waves. On the third attempt they hit the dam in Eder. They collapsed and 110 million cubic metres of water rushed downstream. The anti-aircraft artillery fired point blank, shooting down eight bombers out of nineteen. On 20 September 1944, Guy Penrose Gibson, who was honoured with the “Victoria Cross”, was shot down in action as “master bomber” over Rheydt.”
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFilliputtiA16010126
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Angiolino Filiputti
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Francesca Campani
Alessandro Pesaro
Helen Durham
Giulia Banti
Maureen Clarke
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Bombing, Aerial
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Eder Dam
Germany--Sorpe Dam
Germany
Germany--Möhne River Dam
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05-16
1943-05-17
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
617 Squadron
anti-aircraft fire
arts and crafts
bombing
bouncing bomb
Eder Möhne and Sorpe operation (16–17 May 1943)
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
Lancaster
Master Bomber
Victoria Cross
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/39/282/BWilliamsonGRWilliamsonGRv10001.1.jpg
444d53e78e457f02779d065b22409b59
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/39/282/BWilliamsonGRWilliamsonGRv10002.1.jpg
b20df7bba150a07bc3d6aefd6d9cbd4b
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
Williamson, George Reid
George Reid Williamson
G R Williamson
Description
An account of the resource
Seven items. The collection consists of documents and photographs related to Sergeant George Reid Williamson being shot down over occupied France on 3/4 May 1944, during an operation to Mailly-le-Camp. Items include a memoir of his escape as well as photographs and names of helpers in the French resistance. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Don Hillier and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Bombing, Aerial
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
2016-07-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, GR
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.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] THE DAY I REVIEWED THE GERMAN ARMY. [/underlined]
On the morning on the 7th May 1944 I was hiding in a wood outside Chateau-Thierry, half starved and desperate and almost dying of exhaustion. Three nights previously I had jumped from a Lancaster bomber shot to pieces by German night fighters during the successful bombing of the Panzer Training School at Maille le Campe [Mailly-le-Camp]. Since then I had been constantly harried by German patrols, sleeping in ditches by day and moving by night. Today I knew I [underlined] must [/underlined] get help.
The farmer working in his field looked up without surprise as I approached him. Dourly he listened as I read from my French phrase book, then with a gesture turned and led the way to the farm-house.
An hour or so later, a little less hungry and with an old three quarter length coat covering my uniform jacket, I was walking towards the town railway station muttering to myself the phrase the farmers wife had drilled into me.
“Un billet simple pour Paris”
“Un billet simple pour Paris”
There was quite a queue at the ticket office and I place myself diffidently at the end trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, but as the ticket window drew nearer and nearer my confidence deserted me and when I caught a glimpse of a german [sic] uniform on the platform I panicked completely and retreated quickly into the street. By this time the sun was blazing fiercely and as I was still wearing my long flying drawers and white polo-neck sweater under my battledress I was in a truly sorry condition. A row of benches against a shady wall offered me temporary respite and I sank gratefully on to one of them. A seven foot wall ran the length of the street on the other side broken only by a large solid wooden gate opposite where I was sitting. And then it happened! A sharp word of command sounded from beyond the wall, the gate swung open and out marched a considerable proportion of the German army – column after column jackbooted and goose-stepping making straight towards me, then wheeling at the last moment and marching on towards the station.
I could have reached out and touched them but I sat there petrified waiting for what seemed the inevitable moment when an eagle eye would notice the Air Force blue of my trousers or the fine fleece-lined shoes
[page break]
I was wearing, but no! to these troops I was no Lili Marlene waiting outside the barracks gate but a nondescript French peasant, too insignificant for them to notice.
For some minutes after the gate was again closed and the last man gone I sat there stunned. Then quickly I got myself out of that town. But some eyes keener than the Germans must have noticed my departure for a mile or so on the road to Paris a youth on a bicycle caught up with me, and from that moment I was under the protection of the French Underground.
A hundred times in the next few months I had narrow escapes in Paris and elsewhere but never one that left me with the same feeling of shock as the day I reviewed the German army.
GEORGE REID WILLIAMSON
30 BRAIDFAULD ST.
[underlined] GLASGOW. E2. [/underlined]
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
The day I reviewed the German army
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Description
An account of the resource
The memoir details the events after Sergeant George Reid Williamson baled out of his Lancaster over Chateau-Thierry. After hiding in a wood for a few days, he met a local farmer who took him back to the farmhouse for food and a large overcoat. While trying to reach Paris by train pretending to be a French peasant he narrowly escaped capture while hiding close to a German unit. He quickly left the town and encountered a French boy riding a bicycle, who put him under the protection of the Resistance.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text. Memoir
Text
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France--Château-Thierry
France--Mailly-le-Camp
France
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-05-07
1944-05-03
1944-05-04
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BWilliamsonGRWilliamsonGRv1
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
George Reid Williamson
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
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten memoir
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Cathie Hewitt
50 Squadron
bale out
bombing
Bombing of Mailly-le-Camp (3/4 May 1944)
evading
Lancaster
Resistance
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/53/538/NBoldyDA151130-01.1.jpg
606cec5f5bad69accaed85b947472f69
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
Boldy, David
Dave Boldy
D A Boldy
Description
An account of the resource
334 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant David Adrian Boldy (1918 – 1942, 923995 Royal Air Force) and consists of his school reports, letters from school and photographs of family and locations in India, letters from training and service, and photographs from his social life and time training. It also includes newspaper cuttings and letters about him being missing in action. David Boldy was born and attended school in India and studied law at Kings College London. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and trained as an air gunner in South Africa. He flew operations in Manchesters and Lancasters with 207 Squadron from RAF Bottesford. His aircraft failed to return from an operation to Gdańsk 11 July 1942. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by David Boldy and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.<br /><br />Additional information on David Boldy is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102182/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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. 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
Boldy, DA
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[partial title]sman
incorporated.)
CALCUTTA AND DELHI
14, 1942.
DANZIG BOMBED IN DAYLIGHT
R.A.F.’S GREAT EXPLOIT
ATTACK ON SUBMARINE YARDS
LONDON. July 12.
Roaring over their target at the height of a thunderstorm, lightning intermingling with gunfire, bomb explosions with peals of thunder, the R.A.F. on Saturday carried out its most daring and longest daylight raid of the war.
Danzig.[sic] the Baltic port.[sic] thought by the Nazis to be out of R.A.F. range, was the chief target involving a flight of between 1,600 and 1.800 [sic] miles for a formidable force of Lancasters which pounded submarine yards where ever-increasing numbers of U-boats have been constructed to harass our shipping lines.
Icing, electricity, heavy cloud and thunderstorms were encountered by the crews who flew as low as 50 feet and high as 20,000 feet, sometimes losing formation but never wavering from their course. Over this mediaeval town, with a violent thunderstorm raging. the R.A.F. swooped low to attack creating a Valkyrean scene as their bombs whistled down.
Other bombers went to the submarine yards at Flensburg, another Baltic Port, where delayed action bombs were dropped from 500 feet. One plane went so low that it crashed into a house but carried out its bombing and returned with bricks in its fuselage as souvenirs of this epic flight.
TWO PLANES MISSING
An Air Ministry communiqué says:-“Several squadrons of Lancaster bombers in daylight yesterday attacked important submarine building yards at Danzig.
“The attack was made from well below cloud base and the yards were heavily bombed. At about the same time other bombers attacked submarine building yards at Flensburg from a very low level. Bursts are reported on slipways. Three aircraft of the Bomber Command are missing from these daylight operations.
“Last night our bombers laid mines in enemy waters. Two of our aircraft are missing.”
The raid on Danzig was the second carried out by the Royal Air Force on this city. The first was on the night of November 10, 1940. when the railway junction was attacked in bad weather conditions with server electrical storms and lightning. The Royal Air Force on that occasion lost five planes.
The attack on Danzig is the longest journey for a daylight raid since the war began. Lancaster bombers were also used in the great daylight raid on Diesel engine works at Augsburg on April 27.
Flensburg is approximately halfway to Danzig. being in the Prussian province of Schleswsig-Holstein at the head of Flensburg Fjord, which runs into the Baltic north of the Kiel Canal. It has marine engineering schools, shipbuilding yards and iron foundries. The port was also raided by the Russians last year.
When the war began Danzig had four large dockyards, several floating docks and facilities for repair and maintenance of ships. The principal exports were coal, timber, sugar, grain cement, naphtha. [sic] iron and steel. Danzig was an important junction of air communications in peace time.—
[italicised]Reuter.
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
Danzig bombed in daylight. R.A.F.'s great exploit. Attack on submarine yards.
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Bombing, Aerial
Description
An account of the resource
Clipping from an unidentified Indian newspaper regarding a Royal Air Force attack on Danzig (Gdańsk).
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-07-12
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NBoldyDA151130-01
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.
Germany
Poland
Germany--Flensburg
Poland--Gdańsk
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-07-11
1942-07-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Reuter
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jon-Paul Jones
Julia Albans
bombing
Lancaster
mine laying
submarine
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/53/543/NBoldyDA151130-03.1.jpg
3beee30d031d7fbb906d255fd3ee5be6
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
Boldy, David
Dave Boldy
D A Boldy
Description
An account of the resource
334 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant David Adrian Boldy (1918 – 1942, 923995 Royal Air Force) and consists of his school reports, letters from school and photographs of family and locations in India, letters from training and service, and photographs from his social life and time training. It also includes newspaper cuttings and letters about him being missing in action. David Boldy was born and attended school in India and studied law at Kings College London. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and trained as an air gunner in South Africa. He flew operations in Manchesters and Lancasters with 207 Squadron from RAF Bottesford. His aircraft failed to return from an operation to Gdańsk 11 July 1942. <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by David Boldy and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.<br /><br />Additional information on David Boldy is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/102182/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
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. 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
Boldy, DA
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] THE TIMES. MONDAY. JULY. 13.th. 1942 [/inserted]
DAY RAID ON DANZIG
U-BOAT YARDS BOMBED
1,700 MILES THROUGH STORMS
From our Aeronautical Correspondent
Several squadrons of Lancasters – the R.A.F.’s latest and fastest heavy bombers – flew 1,750 miles through violent thunderstorms and thick cloud to make a daring daylight attack on Danzig on Saturday evening. It was the longest daylight operational flight made by our bombers. A smaller force of Lancasters also bombed the Baltic port of Flensburg.
The Air Ministry report on the raid stated :-
In daylight on Saturday evening several squadrons of Lancaster bombers attacked the important submarine building yards at Danzig. The attack was made from well below cloud base, and the yards were heavily bombed.
At about the same time other bombers attacked the submarine building yards at Flensburg from a very low level. Bursts are reported on the slipways.
Three aircraft of Bomber Command are missing from these daylight operations.
During Saturday night our bombers laid mines in enemy waters. Two of our aircraft are missing.
VIOLENT WINDS
On the outward journey conditions were difficult for the crews, some of which failed to locate their target. The great bombers were thrown about by violent winds, and had to force their way through thick thunder clouds and sudden storms. Several of our machines were hot by flak,
[inserted] map [/inserted]
but the attack was pressed home. No German fighters appear to have been up, probably on account of the unfavourable conditions.
As in most of Bomber Command’s recent raids, the main targets were production centres of importance in the Battle of the Atlantic – U-boat and other shipbuilding yards – and the bursting of many heavy bombs in the target area was observed, while some of the crews reported big fires.
Danzig is the only submarine building centre which the enemy might reasonably have regarded as being outside the range of our bombers, and for that reason the dock and yard facilities have been further developed by the Germans.
[page break]
BOMBS DROPPED FROM ROOF HEIGHT
HEAVY DAMAGE CERTAIN
Near Denmark (states the Air Ministry News Service describing the raid) there was 10-10ths cloud, with base as low as 800ft., and its top at 15,000ft. There was severe icing along the route, and thunderstorms with much static electricity. The crews tried all heights, from 50ft. to 20,000ft. Inevitably they had to lose formation, though some were able to join up again for a time. Not every navigator was able to find the way, and some Lancasters had to turn for home before they could find Danzig. A formidable force, and certainly one big enough to do heavy damage, got there.
One pilot, a squadron leader, describing the attack, said: “All of us met at an appointed spot over England and flew out over the sea for 150 miles. Then we ran into thick clouds and lost formation for a quarter of an hour. We regained it in a large gap in the clouds, but lost it again when we got into the thick cloud once more. We flew on through this sort of weather for two more hours.
POWER DIVE TO 1,000FT.
“As I came towards the target I ran into a field of flak. I came down, first to 2,500ft. and then right down. Skimming over the roofs I saw light flak going over the top of the Lancaster and hitting houses on the other side. Though it was not dark there were searchlights. I told my gunners to shoot them up. The front and mid-upper gunner each put one out. Over the target I saw a number of other Lancasters. My bomb-aimer was sure he had the submarine yard in his sight.
Another pilot, a flight sergeant, described how he saw the southern area of the target well alight. Another, when over Danzig, made a power dive and came down to 1,000ft. at a terrific speed. Then he levelled out and bombed. Immediately afterwards a shell blew a hole one foot wide in the belly of the aircraft, cut the “intercom,” holed the mid-upper turret, and made a great number of small holes in the fuselage.
At Flensburg delayed action bombs were dropped from 50ft., and as the crews came away they saw the bursts on the submarine slipways and one very heavy explosion nearby. One aircraft went in so low that it hit a house. A great hole was torn in the bomber’s fuselage, and the main plane and propellers were damaged. But the crew went on to bomb and returned safely home. They suffered only from intense cold of the wind whistling in through the holes, which they vainly tried to stuff with cushions. At the interrogation they brought along bits of brick which had been forced into the cockpit.
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
Day raid on Danzig. U-boat yards bombed. 1,700 miles through storms
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Bombing, Aerial
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-07-13
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NBoldyDA151130-03
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.
Germany
Poland
Germany--Flensburg
Poland--Gdańsk
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-07-11
Description
An account of the resource
Newspaper cutting from The Times about a day bombing on Danzig and Flensburg.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two mounted newspaper cuttings
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
Dianne Kinsella
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Lancaster
searchlight
submarine
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/78/744/ASimonsohnW170812.2.mp3
73cfe0f9105ae524241bd88ad6f67653
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
Simonsohn, Wilhelm
W Simonsohn
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Fighter planes
Bombing, Aerial
Description
An account of the resource
One oral history interview with Wilhelm Simonsohn (b. 1919), a Luftwaffe pilot.
The collection was 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
2017-04-08
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.
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
PS: Dieses Interview wird für das International Bomber Command Center durchgeführt. Der Interviewer ist Peter Schulze, der Befragte ist Herr Wilhelm Simonsohn. Heute ist der 4 Juli, 4 August 2017. Wir danken Herrn Simonsohn für die Erlaubnis, ihn interview zu dürfen. Ihr aufgezeichnetes Interview wird Teil des Digitalem Archiv des International Bomber Command Centre werden, das von der Universität Lincoln im Auftrag des IBCC verwaltet und vom Heritage Lottery Fund unterstützt wird. Ihr Interview wird als eine öffentlich zugängliche Quelle aufbewahrt, die für Forschung, Erziehung, online und in Ausstellungen verwendet werden kann. Das Ziel dieses Abkommens ist dafür zu sorgen dass ihr Beitrag dem IBCC Digitalem Archiv hinzugefügt wird, in Übereinstimmung mit ihren Wünschen. Dieser Vertrag ist zwischen der Universität Lincoln („Die Universität“) und den befragten („Sie“) enstanden. Ich, also, wieder noch einmal die drei Fragen. Ich, der Befragte, bestätige dass ich meine Zustimmung zur Aufnahme gegeben habe und das ich hiermit der Universität alle die Urheberrechte für die Verwendung in allen Medien gebe. Ich verstehe dass es nicht meinen moralischen Anspruch beeinträchtigen wird, als Darsteller identifiziert zu werden, dem Urheber, Design und Patentsgesetz 1988 gemäß. Ja oder nein?
WS: Ja.
PS: Danke.
WS: Bitte. So, und jetzt zur Sache.
PS: Nein warte, warten sie bitte. Bitte um Verzeihung.
WS: [unclear]
PS: Nein da sind noch die anderen beiden Fragen. Ich stimme zu, dass mein Name öffentlich mit diesem Interview verbunden wird, aber verstehe dass alle die anderen persönlichen Angaben unter streng vertraulichen Bedingungen gespeichert und nicht an Dritte weitergegeben werden. Ja oder nein?
WS: Ja.
PS: Ich erlaube dass mein Interview online zugänglich gemacht wird. Ja oder nein?
WS: Ja.
PS: Dieses Abkommen wird dem Englischen Gesetz und der Zuständigkeit der Englischen Gerichte unterlegen sein und ihnen ausgelegt sein. So, ehm, ich kann jetzt zu den Fragen kommen.
WS: Ja.
PS: Also, ehm, ich wollte gerne, wir möchten gerne noch etwas zu ihrer Familie wissen, und zu ihren Jüdischen Eltern, also zu ihrem Haushalt wissen.
WS: Ich wurde als, mit zwei Jahren von Eltern adoptiert bei denen der männliche Teil aber ein Jude war. Ich habe ja auch noch einen Jüdischen Namen. Ich habe ab zwei Jahre alt, meine richtigen Eltern habe ich praktisch nie kennengelernt. Ich kenne also nur meine Adoptiveltern, wenn ich von Eltern spreche meine ich [unclear] den diese. Und mein Adoptivvater war ein Jude wenn auch kirchlich getauft und Deutsch nationaler-politischer Gesinnung. Das war’s.
PS: Können sie mir noch ein bisschen mehr erzählen, ich meine wie, wie sich, sagen wir die Geschehnisse.
WS: Ja also, mein Vater war Seeman, der fuhr zur See auf dem P-Linern der Reederei Laiesz. Da kommt jetzt in diesen Tagen aus den USA die Peking nach Hamburg, das ist einer von diesen sogenannten P-Linern der Reederei Laiesz, grosse Seegelschiffe die Salpeter von Iquique von Chile nach Hamburg gebracht haben. Auf diesen P-Linern ist mein Vater gefahren. Er war vor dem ersten Weltkrieg war er an Bord dieser Schiffe. Er hatt sich dann nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg hier niedergelassen in Altona bei Hamburg, also ein Stadtteil von Hamburg jetzt, mit einer Kohlenhandlung. Wir hatten ein Geschäft mit zwei [unclear] und Arbeitsmännern und es ging uns finanziell ging dieser Familie, deren amtliches Kind ja ich geblieben bin da meine Eltern aus biologischen Gründen selbst keine Kinder haben konnten, bin ich in gutbürgerlichen Verhältnissen hier in Hamburg aufgewachsen. Ich habe ein Gymnasium besucht aber nach 1933 ging es dann wirtschaftlich mit uns gleich ab [unclear] das Geschäft meines Vaters boicottiert wurde. Er war ja Jude. Und 1935 waren wir dann wir [unclear] Familie, waren wir finanziell am Ende. Mein Vater, Deutsch-national gesind, wollte nicht auswandern. Er glaubte Hitler sei nur eine kurze Episode und das ginge denn bald vorüber, er dachte nie dann an auswandern. Ich selbst war in der Yachtschule in Blankenese, ein Vorort auch wieder von Hamburg, als junger, als 11, 12, 13, 14jähriger und wir wurden 1934 en block, also die ganzen Jungs in der Yachtschule, in die Hitler-Jugend überführt. Und erst 1935 erfuhr ich das meine Eltern nicht meine leiblichen Eltern sind, sondern meine Adoptiveltern. Das kam dadurch das einer der Jungs bei einem Streit mir den Vorwurf macht: ‘Du bist ja ein Judenlümmel!’ und daraufhin habe ich meinen Vater [unclear] angesprochen und in der Tat hatt sich denn herausgestellt das meine Eltern nicht meine leiblichen Eltern waren. Ich selbst bin dann später eingezogen worden zum Reichsarbeitsdienst 1938 und dann im Herbst 1938 wurde ich zur Wehrmacht eingezogen. Bis dahin also mein Schicksal im Rahmen dieser Familie. Reicht ihnen das jetzt mal?
PS: Ich wollte noch ein Moment wissen was eben nachher mit ihrem Vater passiert ist, wie sich das dann eben.
WS: Ja, ich war im Herbst 1938, im November, drei Tage Soldat, es war also der 3-4 November 1938, da bekam ich dann ein Telegramm von meiner Mutter in dem drin stand, sie hätten, sie, die SS oder wehr, hätten Papa abgeholt. Da war mein Vater an diesem ersten November 1938 tatsächlich von der Gestapo abgeholt worden und [unclear] wurde gebracht in das Konzentrationslager Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen bei Berlin. Mit diesem Telegramm bin ich zu meinem Kompanieschef gegangen und habe um drei Tage Sonderurlaub gebeten, der wurde mir auch gewilligt und ich konnte nach Hause fahren, meine Mutter trösten und habe einen Brief geschrieben an den Gauleiter Kaufmann hier in Hamburg, das ist die höchste politische Instanz gewesen für mich und gerade mit diesem Brief in dem Büro des Gauleiters der mich selbst nicht empfing aber einer seiner Mitarbeiter und nun konnte ich mein Interventionsschreiben ihm übergeben in dem ich aufgeführt hatte welche Deutsch, welche positive Deutsche nationale Gesinnung mein Vater hatte und das er auch im Ersten Weltkrieg Kriegsteilnehmer war und 1935 dafür sogar, und das ist geradezu Paradox, noch im Namen des Führers und Reichskanzlers ein Orden bekommen hat, ein Orden [unclear] noch für Kriegsteilnehmer des Ersten Weltkrieges. Das muss man sich bitte einmal vorstellen, in dem Jahr nämlich 1935 bin ich aus der Hitlerjugend ausgetreten, wir mussten unsere Wohnung verlassen und aus [unclear] Gründen, wir mussten umziehen in ärmliche Verhältnisse, ich musste das Gymnasium verlassen weil wir das Schulgeld nicht bezahlen konnten und mein Vater wurde hier noch als Matrose, obwohl er Nautiker war, bei einer Jüdischen Reederei noch einigezeit [unclear]. Uns ging es dann wirtschaftlich ganz schlecht in dieser Zeit zwischen 1935, November zwischen ‚35 und ’38. Mein Vater ist dann etwa fünf Wochen später nämlich um Weihnachten herum aus’m Konzentrationslager entlassen worden, er kam dann wieder nachhause aber in diese ärmliche Wohnung und er war dann aber seelisch zusammengebrochen. Er hatte keine [unclear] mehr und ist ein Jahr später zuhause, nämlich im Dezember 1939 verstorben. Ich war dann inzwischen also Soldat geworden. Die Geschichte meines Soldatenseins die haben ich ihnen ja glaub ich schon einmal vorgetragen. Hier ist das.
PS: Ja, ich habe dann noch andere drei Fragen für sie.
WS: Ja bitte.
PS: Die erste ist, hat mit dem Episode bei der sie abgeschossen worden sind, am 11-12 mai 1944.
WS: Ja?
PS: Wenn sie mir das ein bisschen besser erzählen konnen, mit ein Paar Einzelheiten.
WS: Ja, wir sind abends von Köln und zwar nach [unclear] um 10 Uhr etwa mit einer Junkers 88, das ist eine zweimotorige Maschine die es auch in einer Nachtjagd Version gab mit Suchgeräten also [unclear]Geräten ausgestattet und entsprechend bewaffnet. Mit [unclear] Brussel – Kanalküste in dieser Nacht mit Einflügen zu rechnen ist und zwar mit Einflügen der Briten mit vorwiegend Halifax und Lancaster, Lancaster vor allen Dingen, die in dem Raum Brüssel-Leopold [unclear] Bomben werfen würden auf Eisenbahnknotenpunkte, das ganze war warscheinlich schon im Vorfeld der Invasion so gedacht das unser Nachschub gestört werden sollte. In diesem Raum zwischen Brüssel und der Kanalküste bin ich dann hin und her geflogen und warscheinlich, in etwa zwischen fünf und sechs tausen Meter höhe, und warscheinlich bei dieser Gelegenheit in einer Richtung und auch zu lange das war also der Grund das mich eine Mosquito in ihrem Funkbordgerät aufnahm, mich verfolgte ohne das ich es wusste, mit meiner Besatzung, wir waren Flugzeugführer, Funker und Mechaniker. Die schossen dann eine Salve von unten nach oben in mein linkes Triebwerk, in den linken Motor und der brannte sofort, das war eine richtige Stichflamme, wir gerieten ins Truddeln, wir sind alle drei aber durch die Bodenlucke ausgestiegen und mit Fallschirm unten gelandet, ein bisschen [unclear] aber doch lebend runtergekommen und sind dann in Brussel-Evere das [unclear] unser Flugplatz [unclear] quasi hingebracht. Das war noch die erweiterte Geschichte meines Abschusses und, aber das ist das bemerkenswerte und da will ich sie bitten wenn sie mich mal in Hamburg besuchen mich daran zu erinnern. Ich habe hier im Flur liegen von einem Holländischen Historiker ist das vollbracht worden die Abschussgeschichte [unclear] Report dieser Mosquitobesatzung habe ich hier in Englisch, die mich damals abgeschossen hat. Und wir waren, meine Frau und ich, wir waren 1980 glaube ich, auf Grund dieser Unterlagen hatten wir Kontakt noch mit einer Witwe die Mosquito [unclear] Flugzeugführer und Navigator und mit der Witwe des Navigators, ein Mike Allen, der war inzwischen verstorben, haben meine Frau und ich in Plymouth noch einen Nachmittag verbracht bei einem sehr guten Gespräch. Das ist wohl die Geschichte meines Abschusses.
PS: Ja, dann noch eine Frage zum, zu dem Thema, sie haben gesagt das als sie flogen, da zielten sie auf die Motoren und nicht auf die Besatzungen.
WS: Ja, es war ja unsere Absichten die Maschinen abzuschiessen und sie daran zu hindern, das ist ja die Logik eines solchen Krieges, darann zu hindern das diese Engländer, diese bösen Briten, bösen [unclear] wenn die unsere Städte zerbombten und in Brand warfen und wir griffen nachts in der Regel ja von unten nach oben an. Wir hatten zwei 2cm Kannonen die schräg nach oben schossen, weil man nachts wenn die Erde dunkel ist von unten nach oben besser sieht [unclear] als von oben nach unten. Da wurde also [unclear] angegriffen und wenn man die [unclear] erkannte überall, die Lancaster hatte ja so eine Spannweite von etwa [unclear] meter wenn man die also erkannte [unclear], dann schoss man auf eine der beiden Tragflächen, wo die Triebwerke sassen, die Lancaster hatte ja vier Triebwerke, auf jeder Seite zwei und [unclear] auf diese [unclear] da schoss man [unclear] war wieder nicht, [unclear] herunter, und [unclear] auch am schnellsten, dass die Besatzung dann eventuell da noch heraus kam, [unclear] noch eine Chance [unclear] oder was abgeschossen wurden. Und auf die Art und Wiese habe ich ja diesen Peter Hinchliffe von den ich schon mal sprach, aus Canterbury haben wir mal kennengelernt bei einem Fliegertreffen das war also einer der, ein Navigator eines Halifax-bombers der ich glaube 1942 war das, [unclear] Köln abgeschossen wurde und am Fallschirm heil unten ankam. Den Namen von Peter Hinchliffe hatte ich ihnen schon genannt.
PS: Ja. Ich habe dann noch genauer gesagt zwei Fragen für sie und dann möchte ich sie nicht länger.
WS: Ja, bitte.
PS: Das erste hatt mit ihrer Gefangenschaft bei den Amerikanern zu tun. Wenn sie mir dass ein bisschen so erzählen können, Einzelheiten wenn sie noch..
WS: Ach ja, das, [laughs] das ist eine Sache für sich. Ich wurde versetzt im Herbst ‚44 im Osten, ich war noch bei der Nachtjagd, zwar in einer Nachtjagdeinheit die die letzten Kriegsmonate und Wochen in Wiener Neustadt und genau in Linz stationiert war. Also ein Gebiet das in April bereits zu Österreich gehöre, wir nannten das ja noch Ostmark, bereits weitgehend von Amerikanern besetzt war. Die Amerikaner kamen von Salzburg im Süden, sie kamen von Passau im Westen und die Russen kamen [unclear] von Wien St. Pölten an die Enns. Der Fluss Enns, der Fluss zwischen Linz und Steyr war die zwischen Amerikaner und Russen vereinbarte Demarkationslinie in Österreich in der damaligen Zeit. Und wir waren mit einer Einheit die hatten noch zwölf Maschinen oder elf Maschinen in Linz und es kam ein Befehl der Luftwaffe, das war ein General Feldmarschal von Greim, der letzte Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, der sämmtliche Kurierflugzeuge, das sind die [unclear] sogenannten „Fieseler Störche“. Jede unserer Gruppen hatte [unclear] ein Fieseler Storch und diese Fieseler Störche sollten an einen Ort Niederlindach zusammengesetzt werden aus welchen Gründen auch immer und ich war noch [unclear] fuhrer denn ich bekam von meinem Chef Major Zorner den Auftrag mit meinen Fieseler Storch zu einem bestimmten Ort zu fliegen und an diesem Ort, Niederlindach hiess der, habe ich [unclear] gefunden, das ein Sammelplatz sein sollte für die Fieseler Störche. Meine Frau hatte einen Arbeits[unclear]lager in Bregenz am Bodensee und da kamen die Franzosen und sie war schon einige Tage bei mir und ich konnte sie in diesen Fiesel Storch mit an Bord nehmen und so flogen wir beide am 3 Mai ’45, also fünf Tage vor der offiziellen Kapitulation, an einem Dorf bei Steyr bei einem Bauer auf der Wiese mit diesem Fieseler Storch gelandet und so habe ich den Krieg auf eine Lichtung beendet. Am 8 Mai, am 7 Mai kamen die Amerikaner und ich war ja dann inzwischen im Zivil und die Amerikaner haben alle Männer zwischen zwanzig und vierzig etwa dann nach einigen Tagen einkassiert und wir mussten in ein Gefangenenlager marschieren. Dieser Fussmarsch passierte dann auch in der Dämmerung und da bin ich den weggelaufen, da bin ich also entflohen und bin dann gezielt in das Dorf und habe einige Nächte dort im Wald neben den übernachtet. Und nun kommt etwas ganz interessantes. Die Amerikaner hatten offenbar in dieser Gegend logistische Probleme weil die Demarkationslinie, der Fluss Enss zwischen Linz und Steyr eben die Grenze war, die die Amerikaner auf der einen Seite und die Russen auf der anderen Seite nicht überschreiten durften, eben als Demarkationslinie. Das führte dazu das auf der Österreichischen, also auf der Amerikanischen Seite, der Verkehr sich derartig stark verdichtet hatte, mit Panzern und sonstigen Fahrzeugen, das die Amerikaner in dieser Gegend froh waren, jedem Soldaten den sie da aufgabelten die natürlich auch alle schon zivil anhatten, Deutsche Soldaten in ein [unclear]Entlassungslager zu führen, das heisst im Steyr gab es eine Einrichtung wo die Ex-soldaten hingehen konnten und sie wurden, wenn die nicht mehr SS waren, dort entlassen. Sie bekamen eine „D 2-Schein“ das ist dieser berühmte Entlassungsschein. Man wurde untersucht ob man nicht der SS angehört hatte, die hatten ja so eine Tattowierung, man wurde untersucht das man keine Kopfläuse hatte und so weiter und am Ende der Prozedur war man denn entlassen. So bin ich auf diese Art und Weise von den Amerikanern später sogar offiziell entlassen worden. Und konnte dann später, da gab es ja noch einige Umstände, konnte dann später in etwa ende Juli, Anfang August mit meiner Frau auf abenteurlichen Wegen nach Hause fahren. Meine Frau ist in [unclear] zu hause und ich bin in Hamburg zu hause und ich konnte also auch meine Mutter denn im August in meine Arme schliessen und habe am ersten November ‚45, am ersten November ‚45, mein Frau denn also geheiratet. Das ist die Geschichte meiner Gefangenschaft.
PS: Ich fand den letzten Teil sehr rührend, muss ich sagen.
WS: Ich habe sehr viel Glück gehabt.
PS: Ja.
WS: Und Österreich war offenbar bei den Amerikanern irgendwie anders behandelt als das, als im übrigen Deutschen Reich weil Österreich ja mal als [unclear] von Hitler einverleibt wurde und man hat sich den Österreichischen Bevölkerung gegenüber warscheinlich etwas tolleranter verhalten als der übrigen Deutschen Bevölkerung und davon habe ich profitiert weil die Amerikaner ja keine Ahnung hatten das ich ein Hamburger bin und kein Österreicher.
PS: Interessant. Ich habe jetzt nur noch eine Frage für sie.
WS: Ja bitte.
PS: Ehm, es hat, es geht ein bisschen zurück auf das was ich sie das letzte mal gefragt hatte, aber es das war eben um das zu stärken. Über ihre pazifistische Einstellung nach dem Krieg. Das sie mir das noch ein bisschen wieder mal ein bisschen erzählen. Und ihre Einstellung zu den Briten.
WS: Ich bin nach hause gekommen, das sagte ich ja vorher schon, und das Gefühl, das [unclear] Gefühl das wir damals hatten, das war weit verbreitet, war ein Gefühl der Erleichterung, ein Gefühl der Erleichterung weil der Krieg nun zu Ende war, es fielen keine Bomben mehr, es wurden keine Menschen mehr getötet, das [unclear] war vorbei und dieses Gefühl war [unclear] Gefühl. Auf der anderen Seite hatte man dann natürlich auch in Hamburg [unclear] Trümmer, das Leben war viel primitiv, auch die Wohnung meiner Mutter war ausgebombt, wir wurden also sehr [unclear] in der ersten Zeit. Ich hatte noch keinen Beruf erlernt da ja der Krieg dazwischen kam und 1947 wurde eine Volkszählung für die Britische Besatzungszone, das war eben in der Amerikanischen Besatzungszone auch so, eine Volkszählung durchgeführt und an dieser Volkszählung habe ich dann teilgenommen. Und diese Teilnahme an dieser Volkszählung war zugleich mein Übergang zu einer Beschäftigung in unserer Universität in Hamburg, in der Hamburgischen Universität und da habe ich mich beruflich weiterbilden können und war im Laufe der Jahre, das war natürlich ein ganz [unclear], wurde ich Leiter der Personalabteilung an der Universität in Hamburg und wurde später dann ab 1968 das waren dann meine 15 Berufsjahre, wurde ich dann Verwaltungsleiter des Universitätskrankenhauses Hamburg-Eppendorf, das ist ein ganz grosses Klinikum mit über 5000 Beschäftigten [unclear] Sanität [unclear]. Da war ich also dann Verwaltungsleiter und bin dann 1981 pensioniert worden. Und habe dann mit meiner Frau, inzwischen waren Kinder geboren, habe mit meiner Frau mir einen Megakarawan gekauft und wir sind 18 Jahre lang nach meiner Pensionierung, im Herbst [unclear] gefahren durch Frankreich, nach Nordafrika, oder über den Italienischen Stiefel, nach Sizilien, nach Tunesien, 18 Jahre lang haben wir, im Winter eher dort unten unser Reisen [unclear] verbracht. Von diesen Erinnerungen haben ich viele Photographien gemacht, Photos gemacht, von diesen Erinnerungen [unclear] heute noch ein bisschen. Und heute bin ich mit, ich werde im nächsten Jahr 98 so Gott will und heute bin ich noch in der Zeitzeugenbörse, ich gehe in die Schulen, halte Vorträge, beantworte Fragen undsoweiter, über die Nazi Zeit und so, und versuche den Jungen Menschen beizubringen und ihnen [unclear] wie wichtig es doch ist, das die Menschen hier in Europa in Frieden leben und am Beispiel Deutschland ist es ja noch viel das Dank der [unclear] nach 1945, Marshall Plan, [unclear] Union, Wiedervereinigung undsoweiter, das hier hierzurzeit mehr al 72 Jahre hier in Europa, dank dieses Europas, mit unseren unmittelbaren neunen Nachbarn in Frieden leben. Das ist eine Zeitspanne die es für Deutschland in seiner Geschichte in dieser Menge noch nie gegeben hatt. So, da haben sie es. Sind sie noch da?
PS: Ja ja, ich bin noch hier, ja.
WS: Ach ja.
PS: Ja. Also, ich würde jetzt Schluss machen und immerhin ich verbleibe mit ihnen das ich ihnen das Material schicke und das wir noch in Kontakt bleiben.
WS: Ja, das wäre sehr schön.
PS: Und ich hoffe das es die Möglichkeit geben wird, das ich sie besuchen kann. Und, ja, Ich danke ihnen erst recht herzlich mal noch einmal für ihre Zeit und für ihre Geduld.
WS: Ach ja, keine Ursache und wenn sie mal nach Hamburg kommen, dann kommen sie bei mir vorbei, ich habe wie gesagt einen ganzen Akten Unterlagen in Englischer Sprache, also aus Englischen Berichten der 141 [unclear] Group, das ist eine Mosquito Gruppe gewesen und da sind die [unclear] worden. Da habe ich die Unterlagen unter dessen Umständen abgeschossen hat. Die können sie kopieren und die würde ich [unclear]. Wenn sie nach Hamburg kommen.
PS: Danke, danke, vielen Dank.
WS: Gut.
PS: Jetzt erstmal sehr vielen Dank von seiten des ganzen Bomber Command International Archive und wir werden in Kontakt bleiben.
WS: Ich hätte noch, ich hätte nie gedacht das ich mit einem Menschen der diesen [unclear] des Bomber Command vertritt irgend noch in [unclear] weise mich unterhalten kann. Das Bomber Command, das Britische war ja, als wir damals Krieg hatten, ein Rotes Tuch für uns, logischerweise. Wir waren ja Feinde. Und jetzt sind wir, Gott sei dank, sind wir alle in einem Gut.
PS: Ja.
WS: Und haben Frieden und hoffentlich bleibt dieser Frieden erhalten.
PS: Ja, hoffen wir, ja. Noch vielen Dank.
WS: Ja bitte, gern geschehen.
PS: Ich verabschiede mich jetzt bei ihnen und wir melden uns dann. Alos, das Projekt meldet sich dann und schickt ihnen alles.
WS: Gut.
PS: Vielen Dank und ich wunsche ihnen noch einen schönen Abend.
WS: Gern geschehen. Schönen Abend wünsche ich ihnen noch. Auf Wiedersehen.
PS: Tschüss, Auf Wiedersehen.
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
Interview with Wilhelm Simonsohn
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Fighter planes
Bombing, Aerial
Description
An account of the resource
Wilhelm Simonsohn remembers his wartime service as a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot. He tells of his adoption by a Jewish family, and the discovery of his father’s background after being lampooned as ‘Jewish scum’ at school. He emphasises family hardships as a consequence of the racial policy of Nazi Germany. He describes how his father, despite being a recipient of a First World War medal, was deported to Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg Concentration Camp and later released. He tells how he used to fire at the engines of British aircraft in flight over Belgium so as to give aircrew a chance to bail out. He recounts being shot down by a Mosquito while patrolling the airspace between Belgium and the Channel coast whilst on the lookout for Lancaster and Halifax bombers. He remembers events at the end of the war: his unit being posted near Linz in Austria; being ordered to ferry a Fieseler Storch to a small airfield; being taken prisoner and later freed by American troops. He stresses his relief of now being on good terms with his former foes, something hitherto unthinkable.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Peter Schulze
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
2017-08-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Peter Schulze
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:33:08 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
deu
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
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Belgium
Austria
Austria--Linz
Germany--Sachsenhausen (Brandenburg)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ASimonsohnW170812
anti-Semitism
bale out
bombing
Halifax
Lancaster
Mosquito
perception of bombing war
prisoner of war
shot down
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/82/751/PDobinsonTH1501.1.jpg
f933226a8e1ac8a7ce51d4487efc1668
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/82/751/PDobinsonTH1502.1.jpg
fef0b66ae9a5b0c827d2fe1be06eae45
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/82/751/PDobinsonTH1503.1.jpg
4d3e58a1431de707192c0cbfedae7593
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
Dobinson, Harry
T H Dobinson
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
One photograph. The collection concerns Flying Officer Harry Dobinson (1002001, Royal Air Force). He flew as a rear gunner on Lancasters with 514 Squadron from RAF Waterbeach.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Harry Dobinson 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
2015-12-08
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
A-Able aircrew
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Seven aircrew leaving a Lancaster 'A’, parked on a dispersal with bomb doors open following a daylight operation to Duisburg 14 October 1944. All aircrew are wearing life vests, carrying crew bags and helmets; two wearing Sidcot suits, two with side caps, one with peaked cap. Four are smoking. From left to right: Flight engineer Sergeant Saunders (Royal Air Force), mid upper gunner Sergeant G Burke (Royal New Zealand Air Force), rear gunner Flying Officer Harry Dobinson (Royal Air Force), bomb aimer Flying Officer Smitten, (Royal Canadian Air Force), wireless operator Flying Officer F Cooper (Royal New Zealand Air Force), pilot Flying Officer Don Gordon (Royal Australian Air Force), navigator Pilot Officer John Mundy (Royal Australian Air Force).
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One coloured photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PDobinsonTH1501
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
Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal New Zealand 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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Germany
Germany--Duisburg
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-10-14
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-10-14
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
514 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing
dispersal
flight engineer
Lancaster
navigator
pilot
RAF Waterbeach
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/83/752/PCochraneDH1604.1.jpg
3d9d8467e999ce6703ddb57e6a51ba62
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
Cochrane, Donald Harvin
Donald Harvin Cochrane
D H Cochrane
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
13 Items. The collections concerns Donald Harvin Cochrane DFM (1926 - 2010, 1395422, Royal Air Force) and consists of his log book, letters, service material, photographs and a memoir. Donald Cochrane completed 29 operations as a wireless operator with 460 Squadron <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Ann Staffel and catalogued by Barry Hunter.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Colin Farrant. Additional information on Colin Farrant is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/107397/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
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
2016-04-12
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. 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
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Cochrane, DH
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Damaged Lancaster rear gun turret
Description
An account of the resource
Inside a hangar, a sergeant and other airmen are standing around damaged rear gun turret and fuselage of Lancaster. A tow bar is attached to the tail wheel, which has 'RAF Elshamwold [sic]' painted on it.
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.
Format
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One b/w photograph
Identifier
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PCochraneDH1604
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
Subject
The topic of the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
hangar
Lancaster
RAF Elsham Wolds
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/85/772/LAnsellAV1390280v1.2.pdf
f44c61f6dd887ec5e19608c61cc79de4
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ansell, Albert
A V Ansell
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
16 items. The collection concerns Sergeant Albert Victor Ansell (-1943, 1390280 Royal Air Force). It consists of his logbook, notification of awards, correspondence from the air ministry and ten photographs. He trained in the United States and flew as a navigator with 57 Squadron from RAF Scampton. His Lancaster crashed on an operation to Essen 30 April/ 1 May 1943. Its remains were discovered in the Zuider Zee in 1978. <br /><br />The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Vicki Ansell and catalogued by Terry Hancock and Nigel Huckins.<br /><br />Additional information on Victor Ansell is available via the <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/100453/">IBCC Losses Database</a>.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-07-30
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. 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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Ansell, AV
Access Rights
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Permission granted for commercial projects
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Title
A name given to the resource
Albert Ansell's observer’s and air gunner’s log book
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Royal Canadian Air Force observer’s and air gunner’s log book for Sergeant Albert Victor Ansell from 25 October 1942 to 30 April 1943. Detailing his flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at Pan American Airways navigation school Miami, RAF Halfpenny Green (Bobbington), RAF Cottesmore, RAF Winthorpe and RAF Scampton. Aircraft flown in were, Commodore, Anson, Wellington, Manchester and Lancaster. He trained as a navigator in the United States and flew three operations with 57 Squadron from RAF Scampton in April 1943. Targets were, Duisburg, Ameland and lost on an operation to Essen. His pilot on operations was Sergeant Glotham. Stamped ‘Failed to return, death presumed 30 April 1943’.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
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.
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
United States
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--West Midlands
Florida--Miami
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Essen
Netherlands--Ameland Island
Florida
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943-04-26
1943-04-27
1943-04-28
1943-04-30
1943-05-01
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Publisher
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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
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LAnsellAV1390280v1
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
MIke Connock
14 OTU
1661 HCU
57 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
bombing
Commodore
Heavy Conversion Unit
killed in action
Lancaster
Manchester
mine laying
missing in action
navigator
Operational Training Unit
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Halfpenny Green
RAF Scampton
RAF Winthorpe
training
Wellington
-
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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Belton, Spencer Lewis
Spencer Lewis Belton
Spencer Lewis Smith Belton
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. 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
Belton, SLS
Description
An account of the resource
34 items. Photographs, correspondence and newspaper clippings concerning Sergeant Spencer Lewis Belton (1919 - 1940, 581261 Royal Air Force). Spencer Lewis Belton flew as an observer/ bomb aimer with 144 Squadron from RAF Hemswell. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal after an operation to Wilhelmshaven in July 1940 and was interviewed about it by the British Broadcasting Corporation. He was killed 10/11 August 1940 when his Hampden P4368 crashed in the Netherlands, during an operation to Homberg. <br /><br />Additional information on Spencer Lewis Belton is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/101634/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Denise Carr and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-20
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] R.A.F. Station Hemswell [/underlined]
This station was known as Harpswell in 1918 – 1919. The airfield was constructed in September, 1918, as a station designed to carry two training squadrons. No. 199 (Night) Training Squadron moved there from E. Retford on 26th June, 1918, under the command of Major J. O. C. Orton of the Norfolks.
No. 200 (Night) Training Squadron arrived at Harpswell, also from E. Retford, on 10th November, 1918, commanded by Major W. Collison. The station had no separate commanding officer, but came under the direct control of No. 48 Wing of the 6th Brigade.
Both these squadrons were training for night bombing and the machines used were F. E. 2 B’s. These were the pusher type with the propellor [sic] behind. The observer (or passenger) sat in front of the pilot in a small cockpit which projected out in front. Many of the pilots under training were from the Commonwealth, two of the three flight commanders on No. 199 Squadron being South Africans.
The Wing Headquarters was at Gainsborough and was commanded by Colonel Halahan until 1st October, 1918, when he was succeeded by Colonel Watson, a New Zealander. The Wing Adjutant was Captain John Milne, whose home is at 13, Stoneygate Avenue, Leicester. Captain Milne also served on No. 199 Squadron at Harpswell for a time.
R.A.F. Hemswell was opened on 29th December, 1936 as a bomber station in No. 3 Group with No. 61 [underlined] and No. 144 (Medium Bomber) Squadrons [/underlined] in competition. No. 61 was equipped first with Ansons and later Blenheims and No. 144 with Blenheims. The station was transferred to No. 5 Group on 1st September, 1937.
[inserted] red line [/inserted]
Both squadrons re-equipped with Hampden aircraft during the early part of 1939 and their first operational flight after the declaration of war was a search for enemy warships in the North Sea on 26th September. Bombing raids on targets in Germany began in May, 1940 together with minelaying in enemy waters. On 25th August both squadrons took part in the first raid on Berlin. This was followed by attacks on barge concentrations in enemy occupied ports in France and on submarine bases on the Atlantic seaboard. In 1941 there were attacks on warehouses and sheds at Kiel, on Cologne and on the “Scharnhorst” and “Gneisenau” at Brest.
On 18th July, 1941, Hemswell was transferred to No. 1 Group and No. 300 and No. 301 Polish Squadrons moved in with Wellingtons, and docks and harbour installations in Germany and Northern France were the objects of attack. There was also minelaying at intervals. No. 300 Squadron was the first Polish Squadron to be formed in Britain. Both these squadrons contributed to the biggest attack so far made by Bomber Command, that of over 1,000 bombers on Cologne on the night of the 30th/31st May, 1942. This was followed by another “1,000” bomber raid in which these two Polish Squadrons shared, that on Essen on the night of the 1st/2nd June.
No. 300Squadron moved to the satellite airfield at Ingham on 18th May and No. 305 (Polish) Squadron replaced it at the parent station at Hemswell. From this time until September, 1943, the three Polish Squadrons were operating from this Station and from the satellite at Ingham. Most of the targets known to Bomber Command were visited by these three Polish Squadrons from Hemswell. They went to Essen at the commencement of Bomber Command’s Battle of the Ruhr on 5th/6th March, 1943. On 24th/25th July, Wellingtons from No. 300 and No. 305 Squadrons took part in the first of a series of large scale raids on Hamburg which ended on 3rd August, this being the first raid in which “Window” was used by Bomber Command.
Thirteen Wellingtons of No. 300 Squadron also attacked Hanover on the night of the 22nd/23rd September. This attack is noteworthy as featuring the first use of “Spoof” raid technique by Bomber Command. The "Spoof” target on this occasion was Olderburg.
[page break]
The last bombing operation by Wellingtons of Bomber Command was an attack on Hanover on the night of 8th/9th October, 1943 and eight Wellingtons from No. 300 Squadron at Ingham took part in this operation. During the remainder of the stay in Ingham the Squadron was engaged on mine-laying.
In January, 1944, No. 1 Lancaster Finishing School moved to Hemswell from Faldingworth and the function of the Station changed from operations to training. The purpose of the School was to augment the training given in Halifax Conversion Units to bring crews almost up to a standard for operational work. The need for this special type of training ceased in December and after a year Hemswell returned to the operational role and became a sub station of Mo. 15 Base at Scampton. No. 150 and No. 170 Squadrons moved in with Lancaster aircraft and began operations by attacks on German industrial plants, in particular oil installations, as well as on docks and harbours.
During its operations from Hemswell, No. 150 Squadron flew 827 sorties, dropping more than 3,827 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on enemy targets. In March 1945, the Squadron established its record of 236 sorties and 1,151 tons of bombs. Between November 1944 and May, 1945, the Squadron lost eight aircraft on bombing operations which entailed a loss of 40 members of aircrew. The last sortie by this Squadron was on 25th April, 1945 against Berchtesgaden.
Both 150 and 170 Squadrons took part in the attacks by Bomber Command and the VIII United States Air Force on Dresden on the 13th/14th February, and on Chemnitz on the 14th/15th, and in the great attack on Essen on 11th March, 1945, when Bomber Command dropped 4,680 tons of high explosive, the heaviest load on any single target so far during the war. The next day both squadrons joined in the attack on Dortmund when 4,851 tons were dropped, the heaviest tonnage dropped on one target.
During the month of February, 1945, the Station Commander of Hemswell presented Flying Officer J. P. Dixie with the D.F.C. for his bravery in bringing his badly damaged aircraft back to base under great difficulties from a night attack on Ludwigshaven [sic] on the 1st February. Flight Sergeant W. E. Crabs, the mid-upper gunner of Flying Officer Dixie’s crew was awarder the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for courage displayed in his attempts to extricate the dead rear gunner from his shattered turret.
In November, 1945, Nos. 150 and 170 Squadrons disbanded at Hemswell and No. 109 Squadron arrived to re-equip with Mosquito XVI aircraft. Another Mosquito Squadron, No. 139, arrived on the 4th February, 1946. The station gradually got back to peacetime conditions and the two squadrons carried out formation flying, day and night cross countries, low level dive marking and test operations. These two Squadrons left Hemswell in November, 1946, and were replaced by Nos. 83, 97 and 100 Squadrons equipped with Lincolns. Three Lincolns, one from each Squadron flew in November on a goodwill mission to Chile.
In April, 1950, Nos. 109 and 139 Squadrons, still equipped with Mosquitos, returned to Hemswell, and from this time onwards, with Lincoln squadrons. No. 83 and 97, remained on the Station until the end of 1955. There was another Lincoln Squadron, No. 199, but this did not arrive at Hemswell until much later in April, 1952. No. 100 Squadron of Lincolns left the Station in March, 1950.
In July, 1950, 12 Lincolns from Hemswell took part in the Farnborough “Fly Past”
The Station, in November, 1951 received a visit from the Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Lloyd and the Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, Air Vice Marshal D. Boyle, and was presented with the cup won for the neatest Station and best kept gardens in Bomber Command. In January of the following year, the Commander-in-Chief was again at Hemswell to present the Squadron Efficiency Trophy to No. 83 Squadroj[sic] and the Gunnery Trophy to No. 97 Squadron. He remarked that although he had presented numerous trophies, never before had he presented two of them to units on the same station on the same day. The efficiency Trophy had been won four years consecutively by Squadrons at Hemswell, in fact every year since its inception.
[page break]
Canberras made their appearance on the Station in August, 1952, when No. 109 Squadron converted from Mosquitos. No. 139 followed in January of the next year.
In August, 1953, No. 83 Squadron flew its Lincolns to Tengah to assist in operations against the Malayan terrorists. They returned to Hemswell at the end of January, 1954.
Another honour fell to the Station in November, 1953, when the Under Secretary of State for Air presented the Joliffe Trophy to the Commanding Officer of Hemswell. This trophy is awarded annually to the R.A.F. Station in the United Kingdom having the best catering facilities and airman’s dining hall. This was the first time for some years that a station in Bomber Command had won this trophy.
Nos. 83 and 97 Squadrons disbanded at Hemswell on 1st January, 1956, and on the same day No. 109 and No. 139 Squadrons moved to Binbrook, leaving No. 199 (Lincoln / Canberra) as the only squadron on the Station. The Lincoln Conversion Flight moved to Hemswell in January.
R.A.F. Hemswell continues its active role within Bomber Command
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
History of RAF Hemswell
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Outlines the history of RAF Hemswell starting from its origin as RAF Harpswell in 1918 until peacetime operations in the the 50s. The station was equipped with Ansons, then Blenheims. Part of No 3 Group, 61 and 144 Squadrons. Changed to No 5 Group, reequipped with Hampdens. Transferred to No 1 Group. 300 and 301 Squadrons moved in with Wellingtons in 1941. 300 Squadron moved to Ingham and 305 replaced it. Document contains details of various bombing operations. 150 and 170 Squadrons moved in with Lancasters during 1944.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three photocopied pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MBeltonSLS190305-151120-03
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.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
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.
1 Group
144 Squadron
150 Squadron
170 Squadron
3 Group
300 Squadron
301 Squadron
305 Squadron
5 Group
61 Squadron
Anson
Blenheim
bombing
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Hampden
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lincoln
Mosquito
RAF Hemswell
RAF Ingham
training
Wellington
-
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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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] F/LT STAN W. ARCHER DFM 97 & 467 SQDNs [/inserted]
My association with the Lancaster started in 1942. I was one of the first Flight Engineers to be trained specifically for operational duty on this new bomber which for a while after its introduction carried two pilots.
The training started with an Air Gunnery course, 6 weeks at Walney Island and the flying carried out on Defiants. We were posted from the Gunnery School to our bomber squadrons in my case 97 Sqdn at Woodall Spa. 10 of us. Ten more went to 106 Sqdn at Coningsby and the remaining 10 went to Waddington.
97 Sqdn with 44 Sqdn have just carried out the incredible daylight raid to Ausburg [sic], 6 aircraft from each [deleted] each [/deleted] Squadron. This raid was to bring Sqdn. Ldr. Nettleton the Victoria Cross. [deleted] and [/deleted] We were received with some incredibility and disbelief, but we were soon to go on to our Lancaster Training. This was 2 weeks at Avros [sic] at Chadderton, followed by 2 weeks at Woodford. As I recall, the Instructors went through the various systems of the aeroplane, but of course there was no flying training and no real Engineer training.
This month with Avro’s was followed
[page break]
by a month at [inserted] No 4 S of T.T. [/inserted] St. Athans [sic] where we were instructed by R.A.F Flight Engineers on the Halifax which had only one thing in common with the Lancaster. The Halifax 1 had Merlin Engines. The course was in my case rather a waste of time, as I had worked as a fitter on Merlin Engines fitted to the Hurricane & Spitfires, and as all of the u/t Engineers were Fitter II E’s most of them knew the Merlin.
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
Training as a flight engineer on Lancasters
Description
An account of the resource
Stanley Archer’s account of his training as one of the first flight engineers for Lancaster operations in 1942. First he attended an air gunnery course then transferred to 97 squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa. He comments on a daylight operation on Augsburg. Training continued for a month at Avro's at Chadderton then Woodford. This was ground based on Lancaster systems, there being no flying training. This was followed by a month at RAF St Athan on Halifaxes. He had previously worked as a fitter on Hurricanes and Spitfires and he considered the course a waste of time.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Stanley Archer
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two handwritten pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BArcherSWArcherSWv1
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.
Great Britain
Germany
England--Lincolnshire
England--Chadderton
Germany--Augsburg
England--Lancashire
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
David Bloomfield
106 Squadron
97 Squadron
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Defiant
fitter engine
flight engineer
ground crew
ground personnel
Halifax
Hurricane
Lancaster
RAF Barrow in Furness
RAF Coningsby
RAF St Athan
RAF Stockport
RAF Waddington
RAF Woodhall Spa
Spitfire
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/931/PArcherSW1602.1.jpg
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e269558e45ca0ae88452aef3287c743d
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Bombing up Lancaster S-Sugar
Description
An account of the resource
Side view of Lancaster R5868, being bombed up. In the foreground three trolleys full of bombs. Aircraft is under maintenance with two airmen on the wings and one in the pilot’s seat. Symbols indicating numerous operations on nose of aircraft. Four other airmen are preparing the aircraft for the bomb loading operations. On the reverse ‘S. Sugar now at Hendon'.
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
PArcherSW1602, PArcherSW1603
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
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
467 Squadron
bomb trolley
bombing up
ground crew
ground personnel
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
nose art
service vehicle
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/956/PArcherSW1606.1.jpg
fb8ac8c8ff5dc70fb75fa256fc57d5e1
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Four Lancasters in flight
Description
An account of the resource
Air to air view of four Lancasters from the rear flying low. Squadron codes are ‘KM-K' and ' -J’.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w 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 Air Force. Bomber Command
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW1606
44 Squadron
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/957/PArcherSW1607.1.jpg
be628d61d1554bab627c3efd7e3d217d
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Lancaster in the snow at Waddington
Description
An account of the resource
Lancaster, rear/side view, surrounded by snow. In foreground an airman with his back to the camera. Captioned ‘Lancaster III “JO-E” (ED806) of 463 Squadron in the snow at Waddington during the winter of 1943/44’.
ED806 was on the strength of 9 Squadron and was marked WS-L when it crashed on 9 April 1943 . ED606 was a 463 Squadron aircraft marked JO-E and crashed after a collision with another aircraft 15 March 1944.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
1944
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Graham Wallace
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW1607
463 Squadron
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 3
RAF Waddington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/960/PArcherSW1611.2.jpg
1dbfdb53da6c7f82f47ff5f5b93aecc8
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
97 Squadron operation honours, Turin 28/29 November 1942
Drawing of Lancaster dropping bombs
Aiming Point Certificate
Description
An account of the resource
Drawing of Lancaster dropping seven bombs. Each bomb has a crew member's name – Sgt Lennox, F/Sgt Quinn, Sgt Ketley, Sgt Archer, Sgt Jordan, Sgt Martin, Sgt Page. Captioned ‘Turin – 28/29 Nov 42 97 Squadron’.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-11-28
1942-11-29
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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.
Italy
Italy--Turin
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-11-28
1942-11-29
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW1611
97 Squadron
aircrew
arts and crafts
bombing
Lancaster
RAF Woodhall Spa
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/961/PArcherSW1612.1.jpg
3fe3e9ea8aa0f92d4eb8d1b366aed80e
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/961/PArcherSW1613.1.jpg
2d8546c11ec29d0677855b670171a1f7
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
97 Squadron operation honours, Milan, 14/15 February 1943
Drawing of Lancaster
Aiming Point Certificate
Description
An account of the resource
The aircraft is dropping bombs, there is a depiction of an explosion over a river with docks. In the distance searchlights are focused on a target. There is some anti-aircraft fire. The names of the crew are written on the card – 'Sgt Lennox, Sgt Archer, P/O Quinn, Sgt Jordan, Sgt White, F/Sgt King, Sgt Page'. Also written are '97 Squadron Milan, 14/15.2.43.' On reverse ‘D 532960 2 86’.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-02-14
1943-02-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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.
Italy
Italy--Milan
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-02-14
1943-02-15
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Artwork
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW1612,
PArcherSW1613
97 Squadron
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
arts and crafts
bombing
Lancaster
RAF Woodhall Spa
searchlight
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/963/PArcherSW16010001.2.jpg
0524b5f6b7690675abf9d32813834bbd
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Lancaster on dispersal
Description
An account of the resource
Starboard side view of Lancaster ‘DF-K’, on dispersal with wheeled access tower at right side and a second behind the aircraft. Code letters DF indicate it belonged to the Central Bombing Establishment.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w 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 Air Force. Bomber Command
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW16010001
dispersal
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/965/PArcherSW16010003.2.jpg
70394eafd40cc66fbb8e4f2b543bc1dd
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/965/PArcherSW16010004.2.jpg
cb4094725087a32d2edf13dec83cf736
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer
Description
An account of the resource
Stanley Archer standing with hands in pockets in front of the nose of a Lancaster on dispersal. He is in uniform with side cap. In the background near the starboard chock is a dog and a bicycle. On reverse ‘F/S SW Archer 97 sqdn’
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w 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 Air Force. Bomber Command
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW16010003,
PArcherSW16010004
97 Squadron
aircrew
animal
dispersal
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/966/PArcherSW16010005.2.jpg
5a391feb81217c093ddb72464a7efea7
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Two Lancasters in flight
Description
An account of the resource
Air to air view of two Lancasters, ‘NF-P’ and ‘NF-J’ of 138 Squadron taken from a third aircraft.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w 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 Air Force. Bomber Command
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW16010005
138 Squadron
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/969/PArcherSW16010010.2.jpg
adbe3ea1009b5c5cfa8361f679a250a0
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/99/969/PArcherSW16010011.2.jpg
1b81cba0787bd080167f7038ac47babf
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
Archer, Stanley
S Archer
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.
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection concerns the career of Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer. He originally trained as a fitter and served in Fighter Command before re-mustering as a flight engineer and flying operations with 97 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa. The collection includes a memoir, a joke medal, an engine test report, a diagram of constant speed units, three operation honours cards and 11 photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Rosemarie Da Costa and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Archer, S
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-04-29
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
Flight Sergeant Stanley Archer and three other airmen
Description
An account of the resource
Four airmen, various ranks, standing in uniform in front of Lancaster tail turret armed with two .50 machine guns. On reverse ‘My Flt/Commander (next to me) and a couple of the boys. F/Sgt ‘Stan’ Archer Air Engineer 3rd from left 97 sqdn’.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w 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 Air Force. Bomber Command
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PArcherSW16010010, PArcherSW16010011
97 Squadron
aircrew
flight engineer
Lancaster
pilot
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/105/997/PAmbroseBG1605.2.jpg
d729ee410837092975e237fd7a0730c3
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
Ambrose, Basil
B G Ambrose
Basil G Ambrose
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-29
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection consists of an oral history interview with Basil George Ambrose (1923 – 2016, 1604870 Royal Air Force), his log book, a page from his service book and 15 photographs. Basil Ambrose was a flight engineer flying Lancasters with 467 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force from RAF Waddington between September 1944 and March 1945 and with 617 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa.
The collection was been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Basil Ambrose and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Ambrose, BG
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
6 March 1942: Joined RAF as a trainee turner
Posted to RAF Sealand, qualified turner
Posted to RAF St Athan, Flight Engineer training
5 July – 8 September 1944: RAF Swinderby, 1660 HBCU, flying Stirling aircraft
8 September 1944: Promoted to Sergeant
22 – 26 September 1944: RAF Syerston, Lancaster Finishing School, flying Lancaster aircraft
29 September 1944 – 23 March 1945: RAF Waddington, 467 (RAAF) Squadron, flying Lancaster aircraft
Commissioned, promoted to Pilot Officer
November 1945 Promoted to Flying Officer
22 April 1945 – 9 January 1946: RAF Woodhall Spa, 617 Squadron, flying Lancaster aircraft
11 January 1946 – 15 April 1946: Detached with 617 Sqn to Digri, India Command
28 May – 1 July 1946: 617 Squadron RAF Binbrook
October 1946: 1604870 Flying Officer B.G. Ambrose released from Service
<p>Basil George Ambrose was born on 24<sup>th</sup> June 1923 in Derby Street, Reading, the youngest of five children. He attended Wilson Road School near Reading’s football Ground. In 1937, when he was just 14 years old, he left school and took up employment as an apprentice turner at the Pulsometer. He was paid five shillings a week, half of which he had to give back to pay for his indenture training.</p>
<p>Although engineering was a reserve occupation, on 6<sup>th</sup> March 1942, he was able to join the RAF as a trainee turner. On completion of training, he passed out as a Leading Aircraftsman and was posted to RAF Sealand. Whilst there, he applied, and was accepted, for Flight Engineer training at St Athan.</p>
<p>His first ever flight was memorable in that he took the opportunity to join an old family friend (a test pilot at St Athan) who was taking a Beaufighter up for an air test. While airbourne over the Bristol Channel he witnessed a long line of merchant ships, all nose to tail as far as the eye could see, the ships were readying for the for the D Day landings.</p>
<p>On 7the June 1944, he completed his Flight Engineer training and joined the HBCU at RAF Swinderby, before moving on to the Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Syerston. In September 1944, Sergeant Ambrose and his crew, now fully trained, joined 467 Squadron (RAAF) at RAF Waddington. </p>
<p>On just his second operational flight, tasked with destroying enemy field guns in Holland, his aircraft had to drop below the cloud base at just 4000 feet. Almost immediately, the aircraft alongside them was hit by ack-ack and went down in flames. Basil’s aircraft returned safely, but the mission ended in failure.</p>
<p>Just over a fortnight later, his first ever night operation proved even more eventful, one they were all very fortunate to survive. En-route to Brunswick, a fire in the cabin set alight the blackout curtains surrounding the pilot and navigator. Basil had to use two extinguishers to put out the fire. The events caused significant delay and at their estimated time of arrival on target, they were still approximately 40 miles away. By the time they got there all the other aircraft had gone through and were on their way home. Basil’s aircraft was now completely alone over the target and although they were able to drop their bombs successfully, the aircraft was illuminated by a whole cone of search lights from the ground, plus an enemy fighter aircraft was fast coming in from the port side. The skipper took evasive action by immediately putting the aircraft into a 5000 feet dive and Basil found himself pinned to the cabin ceiling by the ‘G’ force; conversely when the aircraft pulled out of the dive, he was forced down to the cabin floor. The evasive manoeuvre was repeated one more time before they managed to lose the searchlights and the fighter. The trip home was conducted at low level without further alarm. In all, Basil and his crew went on to record thirty operations together. </p>
<p>After 467 Squadron, Basil was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and was posted to 617 Squadron in April 1945. He was never to fly operationally again although with 617 Squadron he served for a brief period in Digri, India. Basil reached the rank of Flying Officer and was demobbed in 1948.</p>
<p>Basil returned to the Pulsometer and finally qualified as a turner. After a short period working in Birmingham, he settled in Reading with his wife Jean and two children. He continued to work in engineering, eventually moving into the engineering safety field. He retired from his final position of Chief Safety Advisor for Greater London Council in 1981.<a href="https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/war-veteran-still-swing-90-4802178"></a></p>
Chris Cann
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
Crew and damaged Lancaster
Description
An account of the resource
Seven aircrew, one sitting, two kneeling and three standing in front of rear door of Lancaster aircraft. Basil Ambrose is standing second from the right. All are dressed in flying suits and six have Mae Wests. Anti-aircraft fire damage is visible in the top centre between the aircraft registration ‘LM646’ and the 'PO’ squadron code letters.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-10-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/white photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PAmbroseBG1605
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 Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-10-15
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
467 Squadron
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
Lancaster
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/105/998/PAmbroseBG1606.1.jpg
2df3951963609f4ddfc66503a0b2c5fd
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
Ambrose, Basil
B G Ambrose
Basil G Ambrose
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-29
Description
An account of the resource
18 items. The collection consists of an oral history interview with Basil George Ambrose (1923 – 2016, 1604870 Royal Air Force), his log book, a page from his service book and 15 photographs. Basil Ambrose was a flight engineer flying Lancasters with 467 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force from RAF Waddington between September 1944 and March 1945 and with 617 Squadron from RAF Woodhall Spa.
The collection was been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Basil Ambrose and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Ambrose, BG
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Requires
A related resource that is required by the described resource to support its function, delivery, or coherence.
6 March 1942: Joined RAF as a trainee turner
Posted to RAF Sealand, qualified turner
Posted to RAF St Athan, Flight Engineer training
5 July – 8 September 1944: RAF Swinderby, 1660 HBCU, flying Stirling aircraft
8 September 1944: Promoted to Sergeant
22 – 26 September 1944: RAF Syerston, Lancaster Finishing School, flying Lancaster aircraft
29 September 1944 – 23 March 1945: RAF Waddington, 467 (RAAF) Squadron, flying Lancaster aircraft
Commissioned, promoted to Pilot Officer
November 1945 Promoted to Flying Officer
22 April 1945 – 9 January 1946: RAF Woodhall Spa, 617 Squadron, flying Lancaster aircraft
11 January 1946 – 15 April 1946: Detached with 617 Sqn to Digri, India Command
28 May – 1 July 1946: 617 Squadron RAF Binbrook
October 1946: 1604870 Flying Officer B.G. Ambrose released from Service
<p>Basil George Ambrose was born on 24<sup>th</sup> June 1923 in Derby Street, Reading, the youngest of five children. He attended Wilson Road School near Reading’s football Ground. In 1937, when he was just 14 years old, he left school and took up employment as an apprentice turner at the Pulsometer. He was paid five shillings a week, half of which he had to give back to pay for his indenture training.</p>
<p>Although engineering was a reserve occupation, on 6<sup>th</sup> March 1942, he was able to join the RAF as a trainee turner. On completion of training, he passed out as a Leading Aircraftsman and was posted to RAF Sealand. Whilst there, he applied, and was accepted, for Flight Engineer training at St Athan.</p>
<p>His first ever flight was memorable in that he took the opportunity to join an old family friend (a test pilot at St Athan) who was taking a Beaufighter up for an air test. While airbourne over the Bristol Channel he witnessed a long line of merchant ships, all nose to tail as far as the eye could see, the ships were readying for the for the D Day landings.</p>
<p>On 7the June 1944, he completed his Flight Engineer training and joined the HBCU at RAF Swinderby, before moving on to the Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Syerston. In September 1944, Sergeant Ambrose and his crew, now fully trained, joined 467 Squadron (RAAF) at RAF Waddington. </p>
<p>On just his second operational flight, tasked with destroying enemy field guns in Holland, his aircraft had to drop below the cloud base at just 4000 feet. Almost immediately, the aircraft alongside them was hit by ack-ack and went down in flames. Basil’s aircraft returned safely, but the mission ended in failure.</p>
<p>Just over a fortnight later, his first ever night operation proved even more eventful, one they were all very fortunate to survive. En-route to Brunswick, a fire in the cabin set alight the blackout curtains surrounding the pilot and navigator. Basil had to use two extinguishers to put out the fire. The events caused significant delay and at their estimated time of arrival on target, they were still approximately 40 miles away. By the time they got there all the other aircraft had gone through and were on their way home. Basil’s aircraft was now completely alone over the target and although they were able to drop their bombs successfully, the aircraft was illuminated by a whole cone of search lights from the ground, plus an enemy fighter aircraft was fast coming in from the port side. The skipper took evasive action by immediately putting the aircraft into a 5000 feet dive and Basil found himself pinned to the cabin ceiling by the ‘G’ force; conversely when the aircraft pulled out of the dive, he was forced down to the cabin floor. The evasive manoeuvre was repeated one more time before they managed to lose the searchlights and the fighter. The trip home was conducted at low level without further alarm. In all, Basil and his crew went on to record thirty operations together. </p>
<p>After 467 Squadron, Basil was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and was posted to 617 Squadron in April 1945. He was never to fly operationally again although with 617 Squadron he served for a brief period in Digri, India. Basil reached the rank of Flying Officer and was demobbed in 1948.</p>
<p>Basil returned to the Pulsometer and finally qualified as a turner. After a short period working in Birmingham, he settled in Reading with his wife Jean and two children. He continued to work in engineering, eventually moving into the engineering safety field. He retired from his final position of Chief Safety Advisor for Greater London Council in 1981.<a href="https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/war-veteran-still-swing-90-4802178"></a></p>
Chris Cann
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
Seven aircrew
Description
An account of the resource
Seven aircrew, two squatting and five standing all dressed in battledress. Two are wearing peaked caps and the rest side caps. Basil Ambrose is standing third from the left. In the background the nose and inboard engines of a Lancaster are visible.
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
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
PAmbroseBG1606
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.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
aircrew
Lancaster
nose art