IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> ]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force]]> England]]> Great Britain]]> Great Britain]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1945]]> [underlined] Left to Right [underlined]
Ground Crew and Aircrew
of ‘J’. 44 QQD. Dunholme Lodge
Sep. 1944
[underlined] Back Row [underlined]
Laurie (WOP) Len Carlisle (Fitter A) Me (Instruments)
SGT (Steffie) Green. Paddy (Fitter E0 Fred Benbow (Fitter A)
Jimmie (Rear Gunner)
[underlined] Front Row [underlined]
Jock (Titch) (Mid Upper), Bomb Aimer, PO Mitchell (Skipper)
Johnny (Navigator) “Brummy” (Flight Engineer) Bob Thrasher.
(Fitter E)
Sandy.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1944]]>

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Shropshire]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Binbrook]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Pete Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Balloon Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> 1944]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> 1944]]>
Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> 1944]]>
Photograph 2 is of nine airmen in two rows under the inner starboard engine of a Lancaster. Captioned 'Morgan's crew+ground crew. Russ must have taken the picture'.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Photograph 2 is of Syd Marshall at his position, captioned 'Myself Syd Marshall F/E'.
Photograph 3 is of Nobby Clark standing by a gate, captioned ' "Nobby" Clark (B/A)'.
Photograph 4 is of Murry Ward, standing in front of Nissen huts, captioned 'Murry Ward (mid upper).
Photograph 5 is of Russ Johnstone and wife. Full length portrait, both in air force uniform and standing beside a gate. Captioned ' "Russ" & wife'.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
F/O Lou Morgan Pilot
Russ Johnston Nav
Nobby Clark B/A
Ivor Cole Wop
Murray Ward A/G
Jack Round A/G

F/O Breheney Eng Leader
F/L Wymark Gunnery leader
S/L Van Rollagem flight com
F/O Skinner & crew
G/C Shane Station com
Air com Swain 12 Base com
The Henry Bros (Aust)

Photograph of Jack Round positioned ta the side of a Nissen hut, captioned 'Jack Round tail gunner'.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
'Jack and Lou
[underlined] NOTE [underlined] this was not taken
in December!!'/]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Stephen describes the preparations for missions, the cold and how the pilot would corkscrew as he approached targets. Following two trips to Essen and on his second trip to Berlin, his aircraft crashed. Another three Lancasters went down with no survivors. Upon landing in the snow he was captured by the German home guard and sent to an interrogation camp at Frankfurt. A person, claiming to be from the Red Cross tried to interview him but Stephen had been warned of this ruse and refused to answer any questions.
He and the other crew members were taken to Stalag VIII-B in Lamsdorf, near the Polish border. The conditions were very difficult with very little water and food. They burnt bed boards from their three-tier bunks to make tea and replaced them with string from Red Cross food parcels. The sanitary conditions were poor. Stephen, however, felt they were treated fairly.
He describes in detail the deplorable conditions in the camp. During his stay he escaped three times by exchanging identities with a member of a working party but was recaptured every time and punished by solitary confinement. He knew he had little chance of escaping as he couldn't speak German but wanted to keep the Germans occupied. He discusses some of the amusing incidents which occurred and outlines the entertainment activities in the camp. Stephen’s mother was informed he was missing, and his name read out as a prisoner of war by Lord Haw-Haw [William Joyce].
In 1945, he embarked on a gruelling march to escape from the approaching Russian army, often resorting to eating raw chicken and rabbit. Eventually the guards disappeared and he was picked up and looked after by the Americans and flown back to England for medical treatment. Stephen developed beriberi, weighing only seven stone. He was flown back to RAF Cosford in a C-47. After treatment he was sent to India as there were no flying post available in England. After the war ended, he was sent home to Blackpool for demob and worked in the coal mines, as a coal handler in the mills, a maintenance engineer and finally as a mill manager.
]]>
Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Terry Holmes]]> Sally Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Poland--Łambinowice]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]>
Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated S Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Ray was posted to Bomber Command, initially on Stirlings at RAF Swinderby and then RAF East Kirkby. He crewed up with four Australians and two other English men. He mentions the difficult conditions and crews who did not return. The mid-upper gunner faced several issues before being replaced due to injury.
Ray does describe some of the events on his tour: going round Mont Blanc; an encounter with a German fighter plane; instrument failure, going to the oil fields in Poland; insufficient petrol; the ground crew mixing up oil and coolant when diverted to RAF Tarrant Rushton; almost being hit by a trainer Lancaster crew when trying formation flying. He did, however, later find out that they had saved the lives of 2,000 troops crossing the river at Wesel.
When Germany surrendered, Ray was sent on leave, and then Scotland and Grantham for a commissioning course. He became a pilot officer and was posted to Iraq where he was made adjutant of 1 Squadron.
Ray explains how he felt about the treatment of Bomber Command.
Before his death, Ray’s wife, Jean, was married to another crew member, whom she met while training as a nurse. ]]>
Pam Locker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Christine Kavanagh]]> Sally Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Germany]]> Poland]]> Europe--Mont Blanc]]> Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)]]> Iraq]]>
Peter and Sandra Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Janet McGreevy]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Cyprus]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Yemen (Republic)--Aden]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Rutland]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Yemen (Republic)]]> Germany]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Heather Hughes]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Doreen Burge]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> New South Wales--Orana Region]]> Victoria--Geelong]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> South African Air Force]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Kiel]]> 1944-05-03]]> 1944-05-04]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> New York (State)--New York]]> Queensland--Brisbane]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> Germany]]> Germany--Heidelberg]]> Victoria]]> New York (State)]]> Queensland]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated S Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1945]]>