Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1941-06]]> 1942-12]]> 1945-12-20]]> He joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 19 in 1941, but whilst he was waiting to be called up, he was helping to build a bomber station and what is now Teesside Airport, also completing work at the satellite station of Croft.
Ernie trained as a Wireless Operator, where he did well with Morse Code. He did his training in February 1942. He was sent to Evanton in Scotland, where he also trained as an Air Gunner.
He flew Proctors, Whitleys, Dominies, Avro Ansons, Halifaxes, Lancasters, Liberators and had a trip in at Catalina Flying Board. Ernie flew with 635 Squadron, which was part of the Pathfinders Force.
Ernie completed 51 Operations, flying to Stettin, Chemnitz and Hanover. He was part of the Master Bomber Crew to Dorsten, Kiel, Nuremburg, Osnabruck and Heligoland.
After the war, he was in charge of flying control in India, handling the closing of a Flying Boat base and arranging for them to be returned to the UK.
Ernie left the Royal Air Force in 1946 and returned to work as a Joiner, retiring from work at the age of 78.
]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
Len was then posted to various locations abroad, did a code and cipher course and was demobilised. He went back to his plumbing apprenticeship, got married, settled in Bath but wanted to get back to service life. He started back as an airman and went into the air traffic control branch serving at different stations in Great Britain and Germany until he retired in 1971. Len was into post war meetings and memorial visits.]]> Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Rutland]]> Sri Lanka]]> Singapore]]> 1945]]> Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> Netherlands]]> Poland]]> Germany]]> Lithuania]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Barth]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Wales]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1945-05]]> B Goodman]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ashley Jacobs]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Peterborough]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Woodley (Wokingham)]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Kingston]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> United States]]> New York (State)--New York]]> Germany]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> France--Brest]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ]]> France]]> New York (State)]]> Ontario]]> Nova Scotia]]> Russia (Federation)]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Beth Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Anne-Marie Watson ]]> Steph Jackson]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> England--Wisbech]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Durham (County)]]> 1942-02-04]]> Bruce Blanche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> 1940-06-10]]> 1943]]> 1944-05-21]]> 1945-10-10]]> Charles M Ameresekera]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Sri Lanka]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Mönchengladbach]]> France]]> France--Boulogne-sur-Mer]]> Germany--Neuss]]> France--Calais]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Saarbrücken]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Chemnitz]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941-09-30]]> 1941-11-03]]> 1941-12-13]]> 1942-02-20]]> 1942-05-02]]> 1942-09-26]]> 1942-11-30]]> 1943-06-13]]> 1943-07-29]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10-04]]> 1943-11]]> 1944-01-29]]> 1944-08-16]]> 1944-10]]> 1944-11]]> 1944-12]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1951]]> 1953]]> 1955]]> Charles M Ameresekere]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Sri Lanka]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Mönchengladbach]]> France]]> France--Boulogne-sur-Mer]]> Germany--Neuss]]> France--Calais]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Saarbrücken]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Chemnitz]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941-09-30]]> 1941-11-03]]> 1941-12-13]]> 1942-02-20]]> 1942-05-02]]> 1942-09-26]]> 1942-11-30]]> 1943-06-13]]> 1943-07-29]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-10-04]]> 1943-11]]> 1944-01-29]]> 1944-08-16]]> 1944-10]]> 1944-11]]> 1944-12]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1951]]> 1953]]> 1955]]> 1962]]> 1970]]> 1974-03-20]]> Gerald (Gerry) was part of the Air Training Corps and Officers’ Training Corps before the war. He volunteered for aircrew in 1942, was interviewed in Oxford and was put on deferred service. Gerry was accepted as an air observer. He was called up in early 1943 and went to the Air Crew Reception Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground. He was sent to an Initial Training Wing in Scarborough, before being posted to Harrogate and Ludlow while waiting for further training overseas.

Gerry sailed to New York and then on to Nova Scotia and Rivers in Canada where he spent six months training to be a navigator at the Number One Central Navigation School. Gerry describes how two or three navigators trained in the back of an Anson with a navigation table. He lists the different subjects they studied, the equipment they required and how they would plot a chart.

On his return to the UK, Gerry was sent to Harrogate and then posted to an Operational Training Unit at RAF Abingdon and its satellite RAF Stanton Harcourt. He was flying on Wellingtons. Gerry explains how they crewed up there. He then went to a Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Lindholme.

Gerry discusses his posting to RAF Ouston for training on Mosquitos, however he failed the night interception radar part. He was posted temporarily to RAF Wigtown for some navigational training before returning to RAF Abingdon.

]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Lincolshire]]> Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway]]> Canada]]> Manitoba]]> Manitoba--Rivers]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Canada]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Africa]]> Egypt]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Kent]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1948]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Great Britain]]> England--Halton]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1936]]> 1944-05]]> 1944-05]]> 1944-12-20]]> 1944-12-23]]> Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Chris Johnson]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Egypt]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1941]]> Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> India]]> Indonesia]]> Singapore]]> 1944-06-18]]> D R Burns]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Sheffield]]> England--London]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Brighton]]> England--Newquay]]> England--Manchester]]> Canada]]> Manitoba--Winnipeg]]> Nova Scotia]]> England--Harrogate]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)]]> Poland]]> Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> Manitoba]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1946-01-19]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--York]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Scotland--Moray]]> France]]> France--Le Havre]]> Germany]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1940-10]]> 1943-04-16]]> 1943-09-28]]> 1944-07]]>
This item was provided, in digital form, by a third-party organisation which used technical specifications and operational protocols that may differ from those used by the IBCC Digital Archive.]]>
David Philip Storey]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> France--Modane]]> France--Montluçon]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Leverkusen]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Remscheid]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943]]> 1944]]>
Emily Guterres]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Roslyn Giles]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942-06-20]]>
The bombing operations he took part in are described, as is his investiture and his time in India as an administrative officer.

Cruickshank then moves to Instructing before returning to Operations including Nuremberg. He then describes the transition to civilian life after his demobilisation from the RAF, poor health and his attempt to build a business in post war Britain.

Some of the photographs mentioned were donated separately and some are recorded as separate items.]]>
G Cruickshank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force. Balloon Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Portland]]> England--Bristol]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Essex]]> England--Aldershot]]> England--Felixstowe]]> England--Harwich]]> England--Middlesex]]> England--Herefordshire]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> France]]> France--Clermont-Ferrand]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Italy]]> Italy--Genoa]]> Italy--Milan]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> Germany--Rostock]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> India]]> India--Mumbai]]> India--Kolkata]]> India--Bhopal]]> England--Liverpool]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> India--New Delhi]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1942-04-17]]> 1942-05-30]]> 1942-05-31]]> 1943-05-16]]> 1943-05-17]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-04-05]]> 1944-04-06]]>
G Cruickshank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Judy Hodgson]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Royal Air Force. Balloon Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Portland]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Aldershot]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Felixstowe]]> France]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> France--Paris]]> France--Clermont-Ferrand]]> France--Toulouse]]> Germany]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Rostock]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Wismar]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy--Genoa]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> France--Le Creusot]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942-04-15]]> 1942-04-24]]> 1942-05-30]]> 1942-10-17]]> 1942-11-05]]> 1942-11-09]]> 1944-04-24]]> George sailed from Liverpool to Freetown, where he enjoyed seeing sailors and WAAFs in their whites, the green landscape and the locals selling their wares. He had some free time in Durban and received great hospitality from expats but felt embarrassed by apartheid. He began flying at No. 48 Air School and here his trade changed from air observer to air bomber, so he describes the navigational support role played by air bombers. He received his brevet and while 20 of his course were sent to North Africa, he and four others returned to England. George says he went to an OCU in North Wales and then describes crewing up, going onto Lancasters and being posted to 166 Squadron at RAF Kirmington.
While at Kirmington George married and his wife would come to visit, staying with a local family and making life-long friends.
George describes two memorable operations: Kiel, where he saw a Lancaster hit by falling bombs and Nuremberg, where his aircraft was coned by searchlights. He recalls how, on returning to Kirmington, the sight of the village church and a field of poppies was a beautiful welcome home and that he used to climb a hill near his billet to relax and look at the view.
At the end of the war George flew several trips on Op. DODGE and says that they flew at 2,000 feet because the passengers had no parachutes and so the aircrew did not carry them either. He also describes a visit to East Kirkby, where he was made to feel very welcome. He was asked what it was like to fly in the Lancaster and how it stood up to corkscrewing.
Sadly, George's lasting emotion of his service is of how quickly the closely-bonded crews were split up and sent back to their home countries at the war's end, often without time to exchange addresses or even say goodbye.]]>
Gemma Clapton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Andy Fitter]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Sound]]> Germany]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Abingdon]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Grimsby]]> England--Warwickshire]]> England--Stratford-upon-Avon]]> Sierra Leone]]> Sierra Leone--Freetown]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--Durban]]> South Africa--Port Elizabeth]]> Wales]]> Wales--Anglesey]]>
Glen Turner]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Burma]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Great Britain. Air Ministry]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> 1939-09-03]]>