1
25
10
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2198/40182/BNeilsonJFNeilsonJFv1.2.pdf
dcaeed662d00c7fb69a5c420288b3f26
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
Royal Air Force ex-Prisoner of War Association
Description
An account of the resource
97 items. The collection concerns Royal Air Force ex-Prisoner of War Association and contains items including drawings by the artist Ley Kenyon.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Robert Ankerson and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Date
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2018-01-29
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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RAF ex POW As Collection
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
JF Neilson's memoir
A Love/Hate Relationship with a Halibag
Description
An account of the resource
Growing Up -The Hard Way WAR -1939
He joined the Local Defence Volunteers at first then realised he did not want to become infantry. He did mount road blocks and fire watches. He applied to join the RAF and was accepted. Training was at Blackpool, then Bicester, then Fairoaks.
At Heaton Park he was assessed as a future Navigator and was sent to Canada via New York on the Queen Elizabeth.
Then they were sent by train to Three Rivers, Manitoba via Moncton.
On completion of that stage of the training he came back via Liverpool. Further training was at Lossiemouth then operations at Leconfield. His aircraft engines started losing power on the way to Stuttgart and he bailed out. After some time they were captured by Germans.
They were sent by train to Frankfurt for interrogation then onwards to Stalag Luft VII. As the Russians advanced they were marched to Stalag III. They were eventually helped to escape by the Americans and he ended up in Brussels before being flown to the UK. This section ends with photographs taken during his training.
The Long March.
A document written by a Senior British Officer to the Russian authorities. Food supplies were inadequate and the Russians refused to allow the Americans to release the prisoners.
Report of a Forced March made by Occupants of Stalag Luft 7, Germany.
The report describes in detail the miseries endured by the POWs on a daily basis.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
JF Neilson
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Blackpool
Scotland--Gourock
United States
New York (State)--New York
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Manitoba
England--Liverpool
Wales--Anglesey
Ireland
Atlantic Ocean--Firth of Clyde
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Stuttgart
Scotland--Edinburgh
France
Germany--Hamburg
Poland
Belgium--Brussels
England--London
Scotland--Airdrie
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Nuremberg
Europe--Elbe River
Scotland--Stirling (Stirling)
Germany
New Brunswick
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
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BNeilsonJFNeilsonJFv1
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
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
Civilian
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
28 typewritten sheets
4 Group
640 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
bale out
Blenheim
bomb aimer
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
C-47
civil defence
crewing up
Dulag Luft
entertainment
evading
firefighting
flight engineer
Flying Training School
ground personnel
Halifax
Hampden
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Home Guard
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Manchester
Me 110
Morse-keyed wireless telegraphy
navigator
Operational Training Unit
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Bicester
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Cosford
RAF Heaton Park
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Padgate
RAF Riccall
Red Cross
Spitfire
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 7
the long march
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
Whitley
wireless operator
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39887/OReidK473650-180123-01.2.jpg
eda63fb7fa3ab91883f068d2c72f0757
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
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Reid, K
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
Record of postings
Description
An account of the resource
Shows postings to 1 Group, Binbrook, Sculthorpe, Oulton, Swannington and Church Fenton.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-03
1944-01-27
1944-05-16
1944-06-05
1945-04-09
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Yorkshire
England--Tadcaster
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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One-sided printed form with handwritten entries
Identifier
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OReidK473650-180123-01
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
1 Group
ground personnel
RAF Binbrook
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Oulton
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Swannington
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39805/BReidKReidKv4.1.pdf
66df4b2fa31ae8be83a82369463a6990
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
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Reid, K
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
Draft life story
Description
An account of the resource
Starts with birth and childhood and description of living conditions. Discontinuous pages follow. Description of training instruction. Next page describes invitation and participation to American celebration. Mentions hangers with B-17s and Glen Miller band. Next page mentions facing charge for not wearing a cap in York. Continues with account of activities at Church Fenton. Mentions acting after leaving the WAAF. Subsequent pages have various notes with poem: 'I look down from high balcony of flying control', and other notes giving descriptions of people and events.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Norfolk
England--Yorkshire
England--Tadcaster
England--York
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
Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Ten-page handwritten document
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BReidKReidKv4
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
B-17
entertainment
ground personnel
military discipline
RAF Church Fenton
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39804/BReidKReidKv1.2.pdf
28fabcdeccb529d543bf15aa641fb9c3
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
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Reid, K
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
ONE W;A.A.F’S [sic] WAR
My Call up Papers had stated I was to report at Innsworth Camp on the 1st of January., Eager to answer the call, I arrived at a very unearthly hour in Leeds station, the day before. Railway Stations during the war were live theatre, all the comings and goings. the thousands of uniformed men and women struggling with their kit bags and rushing to catch a seat on a train filled to bursting. Then the sad goodbye’s heartrending and tearful, and the thrill of the reunions between loved ones. The Stations were always dimly lit, and always in a smoke screen from the Steam Train pouring out its billowing clouds of smoke, giving a cloak of mystery to the dramatic scene.
I was travelling down to Glousester [sic] with my current boy friend, who by happy coincidence was returning from leave to his aircrew training camp near Gloucester. My Father came with me to the station to wave us off, poor father, he a very shy man, was very concerned at my leaving for what he thought; would be a life full of evil temptations. He plucked up the courage to enquire of two Waafs on the station, If they were happy in the forces? Their replies of assurance did not entirely reassure him and it was with a sad countenance he bade me farewell.
The train was crowded standing room only, and we arrived in Gloucester, in the evening. Found the hostel where I had booked in for the night, said a sad farewell to my boyfriend, whose last instructions were ‘Arrive in camp as early as you can tomorrow, then you’ll be able to get out to meet me, by Boots in the high street, at 8 o’clock to go to the cinema.
I had read, that Hostels in America, frequented by ‘Gentlemen of the road, where they had to sleep leaning on ropes fastened from the walls, and I braced myself for the prospect of a balancing act or a rope trick.. so, it was with much trepidation, I entered to portals of the hostel and found ---=== Everything whitewashed, dazzling white walls, long polished passages. A mature lady in a white coat gave me a bristling business like welcome and without more ado, took me upstairs to a vast long room. Never had I seen so many beds,, this was better than ropes!!
In the room were seversl [sic] girls, in different stages of undress, confusion covered me I had never shared a room with anyone before. I rushed to a bed at the far end of the room, the farthest away from an occupied one, undressed in record time and dived under the top blanket, where I lay and shivered all night.
Outside the snow was falling, my one top blanket was no protection in the unheated vast barrack=likr [sic] rroom. [sic] Was this a baptism, for hardships to come? By morning light, I found I had been sleeping= or trying to --- on the top of three more blankets and two sheets. My first lesson --- Look before you leap!
09-00 the reveille for breakfast and after dining on porridge, baked beans on toast and tanned tea, I paid the magnificent sum of one shilling, for breakfast and my night’s lodging.
Tramping through the snow, now lying thick on the Gloucester streets, I caught a bus to Innsworth Camp, walked the long, long lane, traversed thousands of times before by raw recruits and reported with nervous apprehension to the Guardroom, guarded by two RAF armed police who informed me ‘I was she [sic] first recruit of the day and I must await the arrival of the WAAF orderly.,
I waited for what seemed an eternity, under the scrutiny of the RAF guards, I took a dislike to them then and I never had the pleasure of altering my opinion. The orderly eventually arrived, a homely looking [inserted] girl [/inserted] [deleted] weighedth [/deleted] a cheerful smiling face, How good it was to see a smiling face! With a friendly offering ‘To carry my bag’ she escorted me from the gates of freedom into the arms of captivity. I plied her with questions ‘What was Waaf life like?’ ‘Did she like being in the Waaf?’ Her answers were far from cheering, but worse was to come, In reply to my question ‘Will I be allowed out of the camp tonight?’ [deleted] weighed most heavily upon me [/deleted] ‘Once you are in here, you are here for weeks’
I felt a net tightening round me, I wanted to wrench my case from her hand and run back the way I had come, but my feet, as if oblivious to the desire of my mind, ontinued [sic] to follow her. We entered a long low room [deleted] xds [/deleted]. On a large trestle table, there was surely, all the steel collection of Sheffield,, thousands of knives, forks and spoons, my escort selected one of each and asked t
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
My escort asked if I wanted anything to eat. As I didn’t, I was then taken to a long row of wooden huts row upon row as far as the eye could see. They looked cold and comfortless, rising from the snow covered ground, black and bleak. Entering in, I found it as cold as it looked. The big black iron stove in the centre was unlit.. Down each side of the hut were 12 iron beds and stacked on them were grey blankets and three small square buff coloured mattresses. Biscuits they were called. I dumped my case on the bed nearest to the door and near to one of the few-all too few-windows, then sat down on the available seat … that of the iron spring mattress.
There I sat, shivering, until another new recruit joined me about lunchtime. Together we braved the unknown terrors of the cookhouse. It was a long low building with bare walls of a non-descript shade. Concrete floor ornamented here and there with scraps of food and pools of spilt tea. The tables were long and bare with backless wooden benches to sit by them. The eyes of all the girls already dining there seemed to be pinned upon US. Was this because we were the only ones still in civilian dress?
We nervously approached the Hot Plates. Now what do we do?. Suddenly a loud YELL behind us. “Take off your headgear when in the dining room”. We turn in terror to see a Corporal WAAF – Gosh we were in the presence of a veritable god!. And it was glaring at US!
We immediately doffed our offending winter headgear and grabbed a plate, holding it out to the girl behind the Hot Plate. She threw upon it with great vehemence, a spoonful of potatoes. We walk a few paces to another WAAF in a dirty overall and cap, she with the same GOOD GRACE, provided us with some watery cabbage and a few-very few-pieces of meat. THEN with a dull thud a piece of pudding is thrown on another plate. We balance them and retire to the further most table from the uniformed throng and start to attack our dinner.
Our fastidious tastes and stomachs, revolt at the food before us. We push the main course uneaten, to one side and begin to try to bombard the pudding. She who has tasted airforce boiled pudding can never forget it. If only it was worth its weight in gold!. We give up the task of trying to eat it as a hopeless one and deposit it down the holes provided for hopeless repasts and depart as hungry as before – declaring that we would NEVER NEVER eat such a meal …… by the next day we were only thankful to eat ANYTHING provided, we were so hungry.
I was later to learn of the hard work and long hours the WAAF’s in the Cookhouse had to endure. If anyone got a raw deal they did ….. so did we, sometimes at the receiving end.
By late afternoon the hut was full of girls, all shapes, sizes and variety from all walks of life. Everyone of us wrote letters home to say we had arrived safely and not to write back for a week. Talk about severing relationships – we all felt cut off and cut up by cruel officialdom.
At nine o clock we all marched, well tried, to a hanger at the farthermost part of the camp. In this huge hanger I felt the size of a fly. We were seated at long tables, provided with pencils and paper and were told by a WAAF sergeant that we were to have an intelligence test.
Feeling far from intelligent, tired by the events of the day and bewildered by so many people around me, we were given maths, english and psychology questions – the latter consisting of fixing squares with squares and circles with circles. Talk about putting a square peg in a round hole! .. A time limit was set. I looked around with great satisfaction to see others likewise nibbling at pencil ends and other eyes beside mine gazing at ceilings and walls seeking inspiration!. The cold walls gave cold comfort – my mental assets were frozen like me and I handed in my papers with great unsatisaction. [sic]
We were marched back to our huts through a Gloucester snowstorm to find that the sergeant in charge of the hut had lit a coke fire. Warmed at the thought we made up our beds in the approved RAF style – [inserted] Grey Blanket [/inserted] corners tucked under biscuits. – followed by a cold wash in a cold ablution block.. Ah those ablutions!. The memory of the odour in them lingers yet. I retired to bed, my troubled sleep broken by sobs from adjacent beds. My first day in the WAAF’S was over. What would tomorrow bring?
[page break]
COMPTON BASSETT
The next morning on parade at nine feeling smart and resplendent in our uniforms we began to shiver and became numb with cold – it was snowing hard. We were taken in charge by a WAAF corporal and put through our paces. The next four hours consisted of marching. Left right left right: about turn: saluting to the right: saluting to the left: eyes right eyes left: eyes crossed – well I felt mine were! My feet in strong flat shoes ached and my mind felt blank under the cross fire of orders directed from an outside source. Instead of choosing my own way I had to follow orders quickly and mechanically. This felt very strange but would have to be got used to which of course we did. After 6 weeks of “square bashing” we were fit enough to bash anything!
We had lectures on hygiene, health matters, social graces and smoking – the latter being a “filthy habit” the young WAAF Officer stressed. On going to her office to get a pass to the nearest town I noticed a cigarette dish brimming over with fag ends on the front of her desk. A case of “Do as I say not as I do”!
We did have a farewell concert. The Corporal who produced this fancied himself as a theatrical agent and chose the girls on a show of legs! We – the chosen ones – had to send home for our most glamorous gowns. Mine was backless but had a fancy jacket to wear over it. The producer insisted that I shouldn’t wear the jacket but I overruled him. I was too shy to wear a backless dress in front of an audience of airmen – how times have changed! Our efforts were noisily greeted – talk about audience participation! All light-hearted banter to close a chapter of our introduction to service life.
At the ‘passing out’ parade we had a splendid band playing all the popular RAF tunes. A very handsome young officer took the salute. My marching companion remarked ‘Doesn’t it make you feel proud’? I replied ‘I haven’t done anything to be proud of yet’! The handsome officer chose the prettiest girl in the parade to talk to – we felt rather proud as he had chosen a girl from OUR hut maned Margot Nunns. I wonder what happened to her? I’m sure she would be a success as she had started well!
[page break]
[deleted] 34 [/deleted]
[underlined] 5. [/underlined]
For a month we marched, had hygiene lessons and physical jerks. Every morning we arose at 6am and stood by the side of our beds to be inspected from head to toe by a WAAF Officer whose eagle eye missed …… nothing. We had vaccinations against typhoid and other diseases. I propagated against them to the other girls saying that I had read that we could refuse to have the injections. As we lined up with left arm bare for the needle, the WAAF orderly took a dim view of my stammering refusal to have the injection and gave me such a withering look as she said “Well if you refuse to have the injection and become ill we can refuse to look after you”. I then weakened and succumbed to her instrument of torture only to find that the other WAAFS had taken my advice and refused. I suffered more from my embarrassment about not practicing what I had preached to them, than from the needle!
Some of the girls – [deleted] about 18 in all [/deleted] [inserted] about 12 in all [/inserted] – had to queue at the tailors to have alterations to their uniforms. They had to wait a long time and this, along with the intense cold and the fact that they had just had their injections, had a depressing effect upon them. The result was I, and the other occupant of the hut, witnessed in all their entrances the same procedure. The door opened and a white face appeared. The owner of it staggered through the door and made an unsteady bee-line to her bed. And after throwing herself upon it burst into tears. After witnessing this monotonous behaviour 12 times, the afore mentioned witness remarked “Well if I didn’t know where I was I’d think I was in a lunatic asylum”. However my turn was to come. That night I was on fire picket duty. This meant reporting to a corporal sitting in a hut about half a mile away. I had to write my name in a registration book and under threat of a charge had to stay in my own hut all evening – so that in case of a fire I could put it out. We had one small – but none the less heavy-bucket in the hut and I was not sure what use this would have been in the event of a fire. In any case my legs were like jelly as a result of the earlier vaccination and I would not have been much use should an emergency have arisen. However I had to take the bucket to fill it with water. Staggering back with it into the hut I found the window between my bed and the next one – which I had opened before going out – had been closed. The cold and the injection must have befuddled my senses because this constituted a major tragedy and I howled myself to sleep
The next morning, with swimming heads and stiff arms, the order was to “March and Swing ‘Em”. She meant arms not heads although the latter would have perhaps have been kinder to me in my present state of mind [inserted] AFTER A MONTH OF [deleted] I [/deleted] ‘Square Bashing’ I felt I could bash anything. [/inserted]
[page break]
COMPTON BASSETT
After lunch we were marched through the rain to the Equipment Hanger. A huge place reminding me of a prison mailbag room – it smelt the same. I hasten to add that my visit to Armley Jail was to entertain prisoners with the concert party I belonged to! At the first counter we were issued with caps. The great coat came later. Then with an empty kit bag we filed past what seemed dozens of counters filling the kit-bag till it overflowed with items – knife fork and spoon; woollen hood; grey stockings; pair of flat shoes; 2 blue shirts; bloomers (passion killers); humbug striped pyjamas; gas mask; tin hat; WAAF hat; two skirts; 2 jackets; waterproof cape and identity card. I had to drag it along as the kit bag was as big as myself! It took a lot of manoeuvring on my part. At last we were in possession of every article His Majesty’s Government were please to give us! As we came out of the opposite end of the hanger it was with a sigh of relief to see lorries waiting to take us – and our burdens – back to our huts.
We couldn’t get back quick enough. Although tired and dispirited by the day’s events and not a little dampened by the eternal rain, we simply had to try on our uniforms! Mine fitted where it touched but I did not trouble about that! But I remember I put my collar inside my shirt neckband instead of outside and nearly succeeded in chocking [sic] myself. Conscientiously articles were marked with the ink provided – with name, number and date. Then lights out and sleep. Nature’s blessed curtain of peace descended upon us – yet not all of us as I still heard sobs from adjacent beds.
The next morning on parade at nine feeling smart and resplendent in our uniforms we began shiver and became numb with cold – it was snowing hard. We were taken in charge by a WAAF corporal and put through our paces. For the next four hours life consisted of marching. Left right left right: about turn: saluting to the right: saluting to the left: eyes right eyes left: eyes crossed – well I felt mine were! My feet in strong flat shoes ached and my mind felt blank under the cross fire of orders directed from an outside source. Instead of choosing my own way I had to follow orders quickly and mechanically. This felt very strange but would have to be got used to which of course we did. After 6 weeks of ‘square bashing’ we were fit enough to bash anything!
At the ‘passing out’ parade we had a splendid band playing all the popular RAF tunes. A very handsome young officer took the salute. My marching companion remarked ‘Doesn’t it make you feel proud’? I replied ‘I haven’t done anything to be proud of yet’! The handsome officer chose the prettiest girl in the parade to talk to – we felt rather proud as he had chosen a girl from OUR hut named Margot Nunns. I wonder what happened to her? I’m sure she would be a success as she had started well!
Then came the posting to a different station – BAWTRY HALL
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COMPTON BASSETT
We did have a farewell concert. The Corporal who produced this fancied himself as a theatrical agent and chose the girls on a show of legs! We – the chosen ones – had to send home for our most glamorous gowns. Mine was a backless but had a fancy jacket to wear over it. The producer insisted that I shouldn’t wear the jacket but I overruled him. I was too shy to wear a backless dress in front of an audience of airmen – how times have changed! Our efforts were noisily greeted – talk about audience participation! All light-hearted banter to close a chapter of our introduction to service life
Bawtry Hall in Norfolk was the next chapter. Dorothy and I arrived there in the rain and we were housed in the cook’s hut. The language upset Dorothy so much that she said in tears “Oh Katie what have we come to?” By the next morning we knew! The WAAF Officer gave us the task of cleaning the ablutions! “How good of the Air Ministry to send 2 girls to clean the station”. After three months Dorothy “escaped” to be the secretary to one of the top Brass in 1 Group and I escaped by the kindness of Sgt Spud – not a fitting name for a very beautiful and kind girl. She took me into a very large telephone exchange. I took an exam for this work and passed. One night I was alone on duty when Sqdrn Ldr. Sharp called into the exchange for a chat. I told him I hadn’t joined the force to become a switchboard operator. I wanted to be a radio operator with the planes and be where the action was. He promised that he would help me and soon afterwards sent me for just 2 weeks to RAF Grimsby (Waltham). I arrived on station to see beautiful Lancasters emerging from the mist. I fell in love with them – still am! After 2 weeks in the telephone exchange I asked Flt Lt Reece if he would let me stay. He said that he would be delighted to keep me. Then followed the happiest time spent on the happiest station where tragically death had dominion – but so had laughter, romance, happiness, humour and YOUTH.
The telephone exchange was small and sited in a hut. It was manned by one operator at night and two by day. Our Corporal Vera was lovely and really mothered us. She was also in charge of our Nissen hut – number 13. Belying the number it was a happy hut lying cheek by jowl with the wonderful Waltham Windmill. I practiced learning to cycle around the base of the Windmill – a bike was a necessity to get up to the operations station. It took me a long time to balance when getting on and off the bike When large vehicles bringing fuel and bombs to the base passed within a hair’s breath I used to throw myself and my bike into the ditch and then wait for a kindly passer by to hold the bike whilst I jumped back on
[page break]
COMPTON BASSETT
We did have a farewell concert. The Corporal who produced this fancied himself as a theatrical agent and chose the girls on a show of legs! We – the chosen ones – had to send home for our most glamorous gowns. Mine was a backless but had a fancy jacket to wear over it. The producer insisted that I shouldn’t wear the jacket but I overruled him. I was too shy to wear a backless dress in front of an audience of airmen – how times have changed! Our efforts were noisily greeted – talk about audience participation! All light-hearted banter to close a chapter of our introduction to service life
[inserted] THEN CAME THE POSTING – NO NOT BY MAIL! BY COINCIDENCE BEING YORKSHIRE GIRLS WE WERE POSTED TO YORKSHIRE [/inserted]
Bawtry Hall in [deleted] Norfolk [/deleted] was the next chapter. Dorothy and I arrived there in the rain and we were housed in the cook’s hut. The language upset Dorothy so much that she said in tears “Oh Katie what have we come to?” By the next morning we knew! The WAAF Officer gave us the task of cleaning the ablutions! “How good of the Air Ministry to send 2 girls to clean the station”. After three months Dorothy “escaped” to be the secretary to one of the top Brass in 1 Group and I escaped by the kindness of Sgt Spud – not a fitting name for a very beautiful and kind girl. She took me into a very large telephone exchange. I took an exam for this work and passed. One night I was along on duty when Sqdrn Ldr. Sharp called into the exchange for a chat. I told him I hadn’t joined the force to become a switchboard operator. I wanted to be a radio operator with the planes and be where ethe action was. He promised that he would help me and soon afterwards sent me for just 2 weeks to RAF Grimsby (Waltham). I arrived on station to see beautiful Lancasters emerging from the mist. I fell in love with them – still am! After 2 weeks in the telephone exchange I asked Flt Lt Reece if he would let me stay. He said that he would be delighted to keep me. Then followed the happiest time spent on the happiest station where tragically death had dominion – but so had laughter, romance, happiness, humour and YOUTH.
The telephone exchange was small and sited in a hut. It was manned by one operator at night and two by day. Our Corporal Vera was lovely and really mothered us. She was also in charge of our Nissen hut – number 13. Belying the number it was a happy hut lying cheek by jowl with the wonderful Waltham Windmill. I practiced learning to cycle around the base of the Windmill – a bike was a necessity to get up to the operations station. It took me a long time to balance when getting on and off the bike When large vehicles bringing fuel and bombs to the base passed within a hair’s breath I used to throw myself and my bike into the ditch and then wait for a kindly passer by to hold the bike whilst I jumped back on
[page break]
Bawtry Hall in Yorkshire was the [deleted] next chapter. [deleted] [inserted] First posting you are asked where you would like to go – but rarely sent there!! As we were Yorkshire girls we didn’t mind Bawtry Hall Sounded nice [deleted] [indecipherable word] posting [/deleted] [/inserted] Dorothy and I arrived there in the rain and we were housed in the cook’s hut. [deleted] The [/deleted] [inserted] Their [/inserted] language upset Dorothy so much that she said in tears “Oh Katie what have we come to?” By the next morning we knew! The WAAF Officer gave us the task of cleaning the ablutions! “How good of the Air Ministry to send 2 girls to clean the station”. After three months Dorothy “escaped” to be the secretary to one of the top Brass in 1 Group and I escaped by the kindness of Sgt Spud – not a fitting name for a very beautiful and kind girl. She took me into a very large telephone exchange. I took an exam for this work and passed. [inserted] [symbol] [/inserted] [inserted] [symbol] many months later [/inserted] One night I was alone on duty when Sqdrn Ldr. Sharp called into the exchange for a chat. I told him I hadn’t joined the force to become a switchboard operator. I wanted to be a radio operator with the planes and be where the action was. He promised that he would help me and soon afterwards sent me for just 2 weeks to RAF Grimsby (Waltham) [inserted] [symbol] [/inserted] [inserted] [symbol] reminding me it was only for 2 weeks [/inserted]. I arrived on station to see beautiful Lancasters emerging from the mist. I fell in love with them – still am! After 2 weeks in the telephone exchange I asked Flt Lt Reece if he would let [inserted] me [/inserted] stay. He said that he would be delighted to keep me. Then followed the happiest time spent on the happiest station where tragically death had dominion – but so had laughter, romance, happiness, humour and YOUTH!
The telephone exchange was small and sited in a hut. It was manned by one operator at night and two by day. Our Corporal-Vera-was lovely and really mothered us. She was also in charge of our Nissen hut – number 13. Belying the number it was a happy hut lying cheek by jowl with the wonderful Waltham Windmill. I practiced learning to cycle around the base of the Windmill – a bike was a necessity to get up to the operations station. It took me a long time to balance when getting on and off the bike When large vehicles bringing fuel and bombs to the base passed within a hair’s breath I used to throw myself and my bike into the ditch and then wait for a kindly passer by to hold the bike whilst I jumped back on it!.
When I was first on duty in the telephone exchange lots of aircrew came in to ‘look me over’ but as they thought I only looked 14 they soon ceased calling sad to report!
The duty that I did not enjoy was on operational nights. We had orders to listen in for aircrew calling their girlfriends to sadly inform them that their date was off and why. We had to pull out the plug on these calls. I knew why there was a necessity for doing this but I always felt guilty and sad about it. They couldn’t phone from the village phone box as it was wrapped in coils of thick rope and guarded by a policeman. I later discovered that Aircrew had a way of getting around these restrictions. They would borrow a bicycle and cycle to the next village to ring from the phone box there – with no ropes and no policeman to prevent access! Foolish perhaps putting their lives and those of other aircrew in danger – but love always finds a way!
The Group Captain used to call in to see us – he was kindly and friendly as were all the pre-war Officers. When the Sqdn Ldr discovered that I was waiting for the RT/DF course at Cranwell he said “Half Pint” (my nickname for being the smallest WAAF on the station) after keeping you here from Bawtry Hall it breaks my heart to loose you but I’m sending you up to Flying Control so that you will be proficient before the Cranwell course”. I was but that’s another story. [inserted] The weeks flew by I could’nt [sic] have been happier. I loved my work though our losses were many saddened us. [/inserted]
[page break]
Bawtry Hall in [deleted] Norfolk [/deleted] [inserted] YORKSHIRE [/inserted] was the next chapter. Dorothy and I arrived there in the rain and we were housed in the cook’s hut. The language upset Dorothy so much that she said in tears “Oh Katie what have we come to?” By the next morning we knew! The WAAF Officer gave us the task of cleaning the ablutions! “How good of the Air Ministry to send 2 girls to clean the station”. After three months Dorothy “escaped” to be the secretary to one of the top Brass in 1 Group and I escaped by the kindness of Sgt Spud – not a fitting name for a very beautiful and kind girl. She took me into a very large telephone exchange. I took an exam for this work and passed. One night I was alone on duty when Sqdrn Ldr. Sharp called into the exchange for a chat. I told him I hadn’t joined the force to become a switchboard operator. I wanted to be a radio operator with the planes and be where the action was. He promised that he would help me and soon afterwards sent me for just 2 weeks to RAF Grimsby (Waltham). I arrived on station to see beautiful Lancasters emerging from the mist. I fell in love with them – still am! After 2 weeks in the telephone exchange I asked Flt Lt Reece if he would let me stay. He said that he would be delighted to keep me. Then followed the happiest time spent on the happiest station where tragically death had dominion – but so had laughter, romance, happiness, humour and YOUTH.
The telephone exchange was small and sited in a hut. It was manned by one operator at night and two by day. Our Corporal Vera was lovely and really mothered us. She was also in charge of our Nissen hut – number 13. Belying the number it was a happy hut lying cheek by jowl with the wonderful Waltham Windmill. I practiced learning to cycle around the base of the Windmill – a bike was a necessity to get up to the [inserted] [symbol] The long white road. [/inserted] [inserted] [symbol] SITE [/inserted] operational [deleted] station[/deleted] [inserted] site [/inserted]. It took me a long time to balance when getting on and off the bike When large vehicles bringing fuel and bombs to the base passed within a hair’s breath I used to throw myself and my bike into the ditch and then wait for a kindly passer by to hold the bike whilst I jumped back on [inserted] IT. [/inserted]
When I was first on duty in the telephone exchange lots of aircrew came in to ‘look me over’ but as they thought I only looked 14 they soon ceased calling sad to report!
The duty that I did not enjoy was on operational nights. We had orders to listen in for aircrew calling their girlfriends to sadly inform them that their date was off and why. We [deleted] then [/deleted] had to pull out the plug on these calls. I knew why there was a necessity for doing this but I always felt guilty and sad about it. [inserted] [symbol] [/inserted] [deleted] In addition [/deleted] the village phone box [inserted] [symbol] They couldnT [sic] phone from the village phone box as it was wrapped in coils of thick [deleted] wire [/deleted] rope [/inserted] was wrapped in coils of thick rope and guarded by a policeman. I later discovered that Aircrew had a way of getting around these restrictions. They would borrow a bicycle and cycle to the next village to ring from the phone box there – no ropes and no policeman! Foolish perhaps putting their lives and those of other aircrew in danger – but love always finds a way!
The Group Captain used to call in to see us – he was kindly and friendly as were all the pre-war Officers. When the Sqdn Ldr discovered that I was waiting for the RT/DF course at Cranwell he said “half Pint” (my nickname for being the smallest WAAF on the station) after keeping you here from Bawtry Hall it breaks my heart to loose [sic] you but I’m sending you up to Flying Control so that you will be proficient before the Cranwell course”. I was but that’s another story.
[page break]
CRANWELL
Bernard had carried my kitbag up the long White Road to where the station transport was waiting for me. He looked forlorn and lonely and my heart ached for him. But with a cheery “I’ll see you at Christmas” I waved farewell and kept waving until he was out of sight.
Arrived Cranwell by station transport at 1pm. The winter winds blow hard across the lovely Lincolnshire countryside – the leafless trees unable to stop them. Cranwell in December is cold enough to freeze a brass monkey. After waiting a year for the course I would die for – if absolutely necessary. On arrival I was billeted in one of the huts that had previously been allocated to married Air Force families during peacetime.
I shared the downstairs room consisting of a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom with 2 other WAAFS on the course. One Scots girl (Ann from Paisley) who had the fiercest temper which occasionally I had the misfortune to being on the receiving end of and a London girl called Tony. They were in situ first and so had arranged their beds nearest to the fireplace! The fire had to be refuelled in the evenings with sticks and brush wood found around the camp as there was a fuel shortage – the coal ration soon ran out. Wood gathering was supposed to be a united effort but depended solely on me! There was an old fashioned copper boiler in the kitchen for heating the bathwater but with the scarcity of fuel we had to contend with cold showers!
The furniture was Spartan. Three iron bedsteads and two hard chairs. Also a wooden box for a locker. Food was provided in the mess hall. There were vans arriving at different times of the day to provide refreshments. The Catholic van was the most expensive and the Church Army the cheapest – and the most popular because of the prices. Refreshments were very welcome on the cold days we were experiencing.
The next day we were shown over the camp by a WAAF corporal. We had a look inside Cranwell College and the large room we would occupy. It was just like school – blackboard; school desks and no heating! I was then enrolled on the RT D/F course with about 30 other girls. The following day we all met again after marching in squads to the cookhouse. Lanterns were carried at night to avoid being run over by passing traffic in the dark
As Cranwell classrooms were large and cold we sat at our desks wearing greatcoats and gloves – even the lecturers wore their outdoor attire. Towards the end of the course two months later some of us had chilblains on feet and hands.
Our instructors were CPL Metcalfe (a kindly middle aged man) and CPL Gallagher – a Scot from Glasgow. Both men in civilian life had been teachers. They were excellent instructors. For a Limey like me the accent of CPL Gallagher had to be listened to very carefully to understand what he was saying. He spoke with his mouth virtually closed and I often wondered why. During the late 1960s I worked as a teacher in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. I came to the conclusion that Glaswegian mouths are not opened too wide because of the strong winds that blow through the city!
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It was a crash course of 8 weeks and included physics; electricity/OHMS law; principles of the internal combustion engine; compression; induction power and exhaust; morse and aldis lamp practice; R/T AND D/F direction finding. In the hanger – draughty and colder than the classroom – we were instructed in wiring; soldering and VHF short range. We were instructed by a civilian technical teacher and for me it was the hardest part of the course – not being at all practical. This instructor will be remembered for his opening words which were always the same and appealed to our sense of humour. “Now girls – always remember first of all to Tin your irons”. I had waited for this course and I was determined to pass it. I was so anxious to qualify that I studied all of the time. As a result I did not learn about – or make use of – the stations social amenities. When I was not studying I went into the nearby wood to collect twigs and branches to keep the fires going – a fire that I could rarely enjoy as the two other WAAFS commandeered the chairs by the small fireplace when they were not out enjoying the night life of Cranwell. I was really scared of the Scots girl’s fiery temper. I think I was resented because I was keen to study and they weren’t. It was a sad and lonely time and so cold the greatcoat was a blessing as it served as an extra blanket at night as a defence against the cold
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CRANWELL
Cranwell was isolated from the world. There were no newspapers; no news reports. We were instructed that if we heard an aircraft take off with an unusually sounding engine we were told not to talk about it to anyone. I later learned that it was the jet engine being tested
I can’t quite remember but I think it must have been because of a lack of fuel that we were moved from a downstairs room. I was given an upstairs flat to myself. My ex room-mates appeared to regard Cranwell as an opportunity to improve their social life. There were many foreign men on the station – especially Poles whose reputation did not enhance for me their attraction. I’m sure that some WAAFS will have failed the course due to their choice of priority!
The Church Parade was a very important occasion for His Majesty’s Forces. At Cranwell it was held every Sunday. One Sunday we assembled on the square in front of the Church as usual. After standing for what seemed hours with a wintry gale blowing right through us we were the last unit to enter the church. There was some grumbling amongst us about how cold we were – but nothing more. However the following Sunday morning no WAAFS turned up for the parade. I swear that there had been no conspiracy or consultation. We were all in the same frame of mind having been very very cold.
Pandemonium and a rude awakening for us! NCO’s began rushing around the WAAF’s quarters, banging on doors and shouting our names. We were hauled from our beds – all 200 of us – and told to report with full kit to the Admin Office. We were eventually charged to report with full kit every hour every day for a fortnight to the Office. We were also allocated evening cleaning work and confined to camp. The NCO’s (admin) were very cross because they had to do all the supervising – and they were also therefore confined to camp! WAAF Officers heads must have rolled too.
By the end of the fortnight Cranwell had never been so clean. But someone must have felt a little sorry for the way in which we had to face the wintry blast as we were never instructed to attend again!
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I was pleased with my test results from Cranwell
1st Test TEC 75 percent
PROC 93 percent
2nd Test TEC 81 percent
PROC 80 percent
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1.
L.A.C.W. Kathryn Reid (Nee Kathy Myers)
W.A.A.F, No. 473650. R.A.F. Oulton 1944.
After training at Cranwell as R/T.D/F Operator, I was posted to Sculthorpe, I had already had experience in this work at R.A.f. [sic] Waltham with 100 Squadron, and was hoping to go back there, as it was such a happy station, but instead of Lincolnshire, I was posted to Norfolk.
After a few months at Sculthorpe, the Station was closed. It was no longer Operational because the runways were in such a bad state of disrepair, the result of the many sorties that had been undertaken from this Station, under the leadership of the very famous fighter pilot, Group Captain Pickard D.S.O. .D.F.C.., This was the reason given to us when we were all moved, British and American personnel to Oulton.
As the whole camp was being moved, I can’t remember the reason why three of us from Signal Section, were dumped from a Station transport on to a deserted Norfolk lane one morning in March. We were quite lost in the endless Norfolk lanes, criss-crossing the chequered countryside --- no signposts of course. We stared across the flat monotonous landscape, hoping for a glimpse of grounded planes and strained our ears for the sound of revving engines --- but all in vain.
The reflection of the white surface of the lanes in the glare of the midday sun tore at our eyeballs -- the pangs of hunger tore at our senses and the heavy unwieldly Waaf shoes. tore at our heels, leaving our flagging feet, sore and blistered --- and always there was the fear that we were just going round in a circle, as people in desert places are reported to do and we would arrive back at our desolate starting place.
Three more sorry specimans [sic] of homeless, hungry and unhappy Waafs could not have been found in any English lane that day --- if there had been a living soul to find them! but the landscape was quite devoid of human life and it seemed as if we three, were the only ones left in the whole wide world.
With the coming of evening, the sinister silence was at last broken by the sound of aircraft engines, revving up to race across the North sea. We staggered towards the sound and found --- at long last --- the Oulton technical site -- complete with cookhouse! We sat or rather fell down to the festive board to a repast surpassing the food of the Gods --- a supper of burn’t [sic] beans and cold tanny tea.
The Americans were billeted near the technical site -- the best site -- and had their own cookhouse. Their food and their living quarters were good, even their uniforms were made of excellent material. We Waafs were housed in Nissen huts by the lake, a picturesque spot, but, after snow or heavy rain, the huts were often flooded ankle deep! The Aircrew, [deleted] I think [/deleted] were billeted at the far side of the lake or in the Hall. The far side of the lake was out of bounds to us.
[inserted] It was several miles it was in the opposite direction of our billets & after night duty we were often too tired to cycle there [/inserted]
As we Waafs had a long cycle ride to the cookhouse to get our meals, after night duties, we were too tired to go for them. With the result a notice appeared on D.R.O’s that ----- ‘Any Waafs reporting sick and found to be suffering from malnutrition, would be put on a charge’ Our meals were not good, one of the girls was advised by her father, a doctor, to tell us to put plenty of sauce, of any variety or quality on our food to obtain some nourishment, this we did. They helped to camouflage the beefburgers and [deleted] corn [/deleted] [inserted] corned beef [/inserted] beef that were monotonously served up to us.. The bread was thick and sometimes of uncertain age, the jam more sugery [sic] than fruity, The tea, like washing up water --- oh yes the duty officer used to come round regularly to our ‘festive board’ but complaints were few, we knew it was useless [inserted] [deleted] They fell on deaf ears [/deleted] [/inserted] to do so and at least we had food and it was – wartime.
After emerging from the cookhouse, [deleted] we used to [/deleted] [inserted] We as usual dangled our irons [/inserted] dangle our ‘irons’ – knife, fork, spoon and mug into a tank of greasy water, that was situated by the door, then having waved them in the air to dry them, we mou nted our bicycles and cycled to duty or back to our Waaf site.
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[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
Our mail was opened and censored. One parcel I sent home to my parents containing fruit etc; that I had purchased from a neighbouring farm, when delivered, had gained an Airman’s sock!. One Waaf friend in Meteorology, had written a graphic account to her parents, of the exotic food that had been especially flown in from abroad, for a high ranking Officers party. This letter resulted in her being brought before the Waaf Officer, who gave her a severe warning not to repeat this performance, or she would be put on a charge. The letter of course was destroyed.
The Americans used to get upset at the slow mailing system and classed it as ---- Stagecoach --- They were very friendly and charming and treated us with respect. I cannot speak too highly of them, especially of one; Sgt: Ford Killen, who became a lifelong friend.
The R.A.F. Aircrew, also from Sculthorpe, were being converted from Stirlings, to fly American aircraft at night. They had suffered terrible losses on Stirlings and the strain of this showed. The American crews were operational during the daylight hours. Although we in Flying Control liaisoned [sic] with them, they had their own Signal section, to control their aircraft landings and take off. I was told, that, after a bombing run, returning American pilots were directed to land by personnel, instructing them from an aircraft over the Drome! In our Flying control, we had the duty of course to listen out for all aircraft in our radio range and many an American Pilot calling ‘DARKY’ becaues [sic] he had lost his way over Norfolk, was helped by us, to find it again!.
It was truly an awesome sight, to see the great mass of American aircraft, filling the Norfolk morning skies as they passed overhead on their daily bombing runs. One morning there was a mid--air collision and many of the crews parachuted safely on to our Drome --- It did look at the time, rather like an invasion!
In May 1944, B19 Flying Fortresses of 214 Squadron, with a detachment of the 8th Air Force, No 803 Squadron; were engaged in various radio Counter measures. Jamming the enemy’s radio transmissions on a variety of wavebands. The V 2 Rockets and the Big Ben Jostle etc. All aircraft was fitted with this equipment. It was found that the B 24 Liberators were better suited to the working of this. Until we learned of this important radio work. we had wondered why, every American aircraft, when grounded on the Drome, had an armed guard, day and night. Their first daylight mission was on the third of June and their first night’s operation, a few night’s later, in support of D. Day. landings.
I was on duty in Flying Control the morning of D. Day. There was a lot of aircraft activity, but we were unaware of the reason for this, until much later. I remember an American Sgt: enquiring of me if our signal controls were working alright, as their important signals weren’t. He was rushing around very upset indeed,
Our night duties were of 12 hours duration, if there wasn’t any flying I was on duty alone. ‘listening out’, the Flying Control Officer would be on call if needed. Compared to my night duties at Oulton, when 100 Squadron was taking part in their nightly bombing raids, duty at Oulton was quieter and less traumatic. We occasionally got ‘intruders’ German fighter planes, straffing the Drome. It was dramatic, to see from Flying Control, strands of their gunfire criss-crossing the Airfield like jewelled ribbons. The action always happened too quickly to alarm me, and their fire, caused no damage to men or machines the times I witnessed this. But the problem was, that our aircraft, if waiting to land, had to be diverted away from the Drome. No small problem, if they were short of fuel, as was often the case. [inserted] – they always seemed to have the minimum of fuel for their Bombing raids. This fact we always felt sorry for the Aircrew as it often meant a difference between life and death [/inserted]
[inserted] we had to divert them away from the Drome [/inserted]
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3
In the following 3/4th of March, a large force of 100 enemy intruders attacked returning aircraft over Norfolk Airfields. At Oulton, a B17 from 214 Squadron was shot down near the Station sick quarters and only two gunners escaped.
The girls in Signal and Met: Sections, because of their night duties, were usually accommodated, in the same huts. At Oulton, we were all in Nissen hut 13. I remember some of the girls there --- Jean Anderson, Louise Simmons, Renie Saunders, Ann Cross, Daphne Verbeke, Joyce, Yvonne and Margaret. The Nissen hut housed about 12 girls, we took it in turns to keep the place tidy, Thursday night was ‘Domestic night’ followed by an Officer inspection on Friday. We also had to take our turn to light the ugly coke stove, in the centre of the hut. This to me was almost an impossible task and I spent hours coaxing the coke and twigs of wood, to inflame. Coke was often in short supply, so being the smallest Waaf in the hut, I had occasionally to creep into the ‘coke hole’ to steal some.
I remember the croaking of hundreds of frogs after rain, carpeting green our pathways, roads and lanes, also the large number of rabbits on the camp. The wonderful trees and the beautiful lake, that had been out of bounds, but in May the ban was lifted. Also we were given permission to wear, when off duty, civilian clothes. Not many of us took advantage of these concessions. [inserted] We had lived too long in our uniforms & [deleted] were [/deleted] we were proud of them & we’d no coupons for glad rags! can’t remember even window shopping in Norwich gazing at lovely dresses made one feel nostalgic would we ever wear again pretty dresses girls yearn for – anyway shopkeepers in Norwich only seemed to stock swords – how the Americans loved them. [/inserted]
Blickling Hall was out of bounds to us --- we would pass by and admire it, but never set foot in it. I think Officers were billeted there and Dominion air-crew. I did hear a rumour of one of the Canadians, falling from an upstairs window and breaking his leg.!
Off duty, we were allowed 24 hours leave every month. We used to cycle to Norwich and stay overnight at the Y.W.C.A. near the Cathedral. There were plenty of entertainments for the Forces. Dances and Concerts. I remember going to see a performance by the singer ‘Hutch’ and how, between his songs, he mopped his brow with great affectation! I remember too, on my first cycle ride to Norwich with my American friend Ford, we got lost and had to find our way across the big American airfield Horsham St Faith --- Of course we were stopped by a convoy of Service police, but when we showed our identity, they kindly -- but quickly, escorted us to the nearest exit!
With the girls from the Signal and Met: Sections, we spent leisure hours cycling -- how quiet the roads and lanes were, perfect for this activity. We cycled to Sandringham and found the little church there, decorated with yellow Spring flowers, making a glorious golden glow. We often visited the Slipper Chapel, that too was always decorated with flowers. I remember a Cafe near there -- a village house with the front room converted into an eating place. The lady of the house apologised because she couldn’t give us a hot luncheon, ‘But would we mind making do with an egg?’ We enjoyed the meal she kindly placed before us, a splendid repast of [inserted] 2 [/inserted] eggs and ham, followed by plums and custard, a rare feast for eyes and stomach!
I found Norfolk people very kind and friendly. The best friend to us on the Station, was ‘Mother Riley’ She and her family, owned the grocers shop in Cawston and kept open house to us all. Making us welcome with wonderful meals, and also inviting Aircrews and their wives to spend their leaves there. I sometimes attended the little Chapel in the Village with ‘Mother Riley’ we all caller her that. [inserted] – [deleted] not because [/deleted] she [deleted] had [/deleted] [inserted] did not have [/inserted] the slightest likeness to the thin popular variety character Mother Riley but because she was a Mother to us all who were fortunate enough to know her. [/inserted] On Sunday evenings we used to have a sing-song round her piano, especially good when Welsh [deleted] singers [/deleted] [inserted] RAF boys from the station joined us [/inserted] joined us.
[page break]
4
There were dances in Cawston, but they were rather overcrowded for dancing. The Americans held one dance on the Station, I was invited to go, with a very nice boy called Robin, I didn’t really know him, but enjoyed his company and the dance. I would have enjoyed it more with my friend Ford had he asked me first, but he, disappointed that his invitation came too late -- boycotted it. We, on the Station, never shared in the good food the Americans enjoyed and even on this festive occasion, we did not get [deleted] even [/deleted] a taste of their icecream, [sic] We were invited, however, to an American celebration dance in Norwich. We had transport there and on arrival, were each given a rose -- made one feel very feminine. No one danced, because, surprise, surprise, the band was Glen Millers. He was conducting of course, making the evening wonderful and unforgettable.
One night a play was performed by an all American cast -- very glamorous the Actresses were. We had entertainments with audience participation, such as Any Questions, Quizes [sic] and Musical evenings and films. ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ and ‘[deleted] A [/deleted] Chip off the old Block’ and there was always fish and chips in Cawston and a shandy at the ’Rat Catcher’!
While on the subject of leisure and entertainment, I must record, that I cycled to Nelson’s birthplace and was impressed by the sight of the cobweb remains of his victory flags in the church there. I’ll always remember too, the sight of the white ghostly fens, stretching out as far as the eyes could see, into the misty coast line, Cromer was out of bounds, but I got a special pass to go there and found it very shabby and sadly in need of paint. Barbed wire was everywhere covering the beaches, where hundreds of troops, young and not so young, [inserted] X Many seemed quite middleage. They had obviously seen military action before were training in readiness for the D Day landings. I felt heartsick for them. Visiting the Broads, I enjoyed a short sail, a change from cycling! Norfolk seems flat until you cycle there, then you soon find out it isn’t. [inserted] with an American who had kindly invited me to share his rowing boat! He [deleted] was ]/deleted] was so busy rowing his [deleted] kept his han [/deleted] hands were well occupied! [/inserted]
When any of the American airmen were carpeted for an offence, the whole American camp was confined to Barracks. This caused quite a few difficulties as regarding arranging to meet our friends. Also, as the camp was so big and scattered, communications were almost non-existent. The American [inserted] RAF [/inserted] and Raf camps being out of bounds. We Waafs were well disciplined to obey rules and regulations, with the result, we often had to wait for our American friends to turn up for a date, sometimes, from no fault of their own, they didn’t.!
One episode I experienced wasn’t very pleasant’ One afternoon. I was taking in the basket of my bicycle, sheets of music for a concert rehearsal. About twenty drunken Americans grabbed me and my bike, then proceeded to scatter the sheets of music over the footpath and the field. I eventually managed to grab my my [sic] bike and get away, but for weeks afterwards, sheets of music were floating around the camp to remind me of a very upsetting episode. I didn’t report this, understanding that war, brings out the best and worst in all caught up in the tragedy of it, also sadly, I had learnt that not many Waaf officers were interested in our welfare and we had to look after ourselves.
One of my friends in the Met: office was being demobbed to train as a Doctor. Walking with her on her last night in camp, a jeep stopped by us and [inserted] [underlined] very [/underlined] [deleted] Young? Handsome [/deleted] [inserted] the occupants of, it, two American Officers, invited us to ‘jump in’ Margaret did so with alactrity -- to chaperone her = of course -- 'I followed and we were taken to their wooden chalet. All very cosy, with all mod cons, a great difference to our hut.! [inserted] & that of our Aircrew – which had been reported to me – never having ventured or [deleted] the opp [/deleted] been invited to their billets I hasten to add. [/inserted] We were offered sweetmeets [sic] and fruit, served on the point of daggers (they had quite a collection!) We were shown the list of their bombing runs, many of the items listed were classed as ‘Milk runs’, This was explained to us to mean, they had not been able to find their target, so had returned without bombing. Where they had got rid of their lethal cargo, we thought it wiser not to ask. After pleasant conversation, we were taken back in their jeep to the place where we had been
[inserted] Margaret took off her tunic & relaxed on one of their bed plumping up the cushions & reclined there much as attractive film stars preparing for a love scene – My heart sank – we were young on forbidden terrotery [sic] young with handsome American officers what was she up to? I talked about anything & [inserted] everything [/inserted] nothing – so conversation became paramount [deleted] we [/deleted] we were shown the list of I assure my reader nothing more [/inserted]
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5
‘picked up’ I wasn’t too pleased and questioned [inserted] spoil sport that I was – questioned Margaret [/inserted] Margaret about the escapade’ She informed me, she had wanted an adventure before leaving the Waaf and knew that I would have been able to handle any situation. --- had we have been found out, she would have been away the next day, leaving me to face the music, however it had been an adventure!. [inserted] – [underlined] interesting [/underlined] adventure [/inserted]
While at Oulton, I passed my test for L.A.C.W., this meant my pay went up to three shillings and fourpence a day!. I was recommended by the Signals officer, Flt Lt Collings for Corporal tapes, sadly, instead, because I had spoken up for the girls in Flying Control, at their request, to air their complaints to him, about the Waaf corporal there, I was posted to Swannington.
[inserted] A Stirling A/c that had landed the night before – with casualties bespattered with Blood – I agreed I had refused at first But when this corporal had placed on the shelf over her bed space a piece taken from & speaking up – or out of turn for the girls I never did get promoted [/inserted]
[inserted] The Corporal had asked to see the plane that had crashed the night before she had put the piece from the rear gunners perspect [sic] on show on her shelf above her bed space for us all to see. [/inserted]
The girls were upset for me, but not one of them dare approach him on my behalf. W.A.A.F/Officer Lawson, sent for me and assured me there would be no record of complaint against me because of this incident and she was very sorry I was being posted. I was upset, but being naive I just accepted the situation, however, on reading my records when demobbed, I found she had been truthful to me. No mention of the matter, but a recommendation [inserted] from [/inserted] by Flt Lt Collings that I should receive my Corporal tapes --- alas because of the posting, I never did get promoted.
Oulton, was my first and last experience of being on a large R,A,F [sic] Station. Swannington was much smaller and I became happy there, so the move proved quite good for me. Swannington was the last airfield to be opened during the war in April 1944 for No 100 Group Bomber Command. Two Squadrons of XIX Fighter Command Mosquitos were stationed there, to give fighter support to the Bombers and for other special duties.
Oulton, being only a few miles away, I was able to cycle back there, to see my friends and also still enjoy the kindly hospitality of ‘Mother Riley’. My cycle rides there, in the early evenings after duty, were always slower than the ride back.! The lanes were dark and the trees many and high, overhanging the hedges in the narrow lanes. They seemed to be like weird witches, their branches clutching out to catch you as you cycled past. It worried me too, that I should take the wrong turning, as without signposts, all byways looked alike. Mother Riley’s schoolboy son, leaning out from his bedroom window, used to call out my name as I cycled past in the darkness, a nice friendly gesture! Oh the relief I felt on hearing our planes, or seeing the welcoming airfield lights! but this lonely ride never stopped me, from returning to see my friends at Oulton once a week.
The Americans left Oulton in August and I cycled up for the [deleted] first and [/deleted] last time, to the American billets to say goodbye to Ford. I was given his beloved gramophone records of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No 1 in B Flat Minor, N.B.O/orchestra, conducted by Toscanini; to keep safe for him. I balanced them on my bicycle handlebars and was bid a fond farewell, from him and all his friends gathered there to bid me goodbye. I got the records safely back to Swannington and still keep them for him, although sadly, he is no longer on this earth. [inserted] [deleted] To enjoy them [/deleted] [/inserted]
I received a tribute from him when he returned to America. Writing in a New Orleans newspaper of his impressions of England -- I quote -- 'Cathy possessed infinite charm, not only attractive physically, she was also very intelligent. She accepted without insult, my constructive criticism of England, lent a sympathetic ear to my dreams and ambitions, without expecting anything in return. My knowledge of English girls is perhaps limited, but if they are half as nice as Cathy, I nominate them as the world’s best.’
With this kindly tribute, I felt I had made a good effort for race relations!
Although stations at Swannington for a year and a half longer, until the end of 1945, I never again returned to Oulton --- But I’ll never forget the good friends I made there.
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D-DAY APPROACHING
I was stationed at R.A.F. Swannington in flying control. For a few months before D-Day our mail had been censored and the coastal areas out of bounds to us
At the beginning of June 1944 however I was given permission to travel to Cromer to try to contact a relation stationed there with the paratroopers. I didn’t find him but I found Cromer looking battle scarred. So shabby and in need of paint to brighten the exteriors of the depressing neglected buildings. The war years had certainly left their mark
Heading for the beech [sic] to cheer myself up I found my way practically barred with huge rolls of barbed wire. Beyond, resting on the sand, were what seemed to be a whole Army of men – their Khaki uniforms blending with their surroundings. One large group invited me to join them. What a cheery group they were! Older and wiser having already had their baptism of war on foreign beaches. We laughed, joked and yarned our way through that sunny June afternoon – they told good jokes
On leaving them a sad faced sergeant approached me to ask what all the laughter had been about. I replied – ‘he looked in need of some’!. I don’t think he thought I was a spy! The next day the beach was deserted – left to the sea and the gulls. The army had left for a deadlier shore
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SWANNINGTON
RADIO ROUNDELAY
Mosquito’s at Swannington impatient to land
‘Round and Round I go
Heigho! Heigho!
‘Never get shut eye at this rate’
‘Listen old man I’ve got a date
With SNAKEHIPS and she’ll not wait’
‘Not with SNAKEHIPS again old boy
She’s bad luck you are tempting fate’
‘My good lord what a bore
Going round and round
The landing ground’
‘At Angels 9, 10 and 11
Going right up to blinking heaven’
All this natter comes to me
Over Swannington R/T
As Mosquito crews ‘muse’
Their patience just a little frayed
When waiting to ‘pancake’ after a raid.
Mosquito crews rather thought of themselves as fighter aces as in a way they were. Although carrying two bombs they also protected the bombers when escorting them on raids. As a result the crews were individuals and inclined to be flamboyant and sure of them selves. They were difficult to discipline when being stacked for landing unlike the bomber crews whose lives were dependent on silence and strict R/T procedures. Stacking the Mosquito’s was a difficult task for the R/T Operator when trying to get landing procedures to them through their continual ‘nattering’ Tragedy [deleted] once [/deleted] struck at Swannington on 22nd December 1944 when one pilot called R/T indicating that he had a serious problem with the ailerons on his Mosquito. He asked for permission to approach the airfield from the opposite direction to that taken by [inserted] the [/inserted] other aircraft. I passed this request to the Officer on duty in the Control Tower who gave permission for the Mosquito to approach as requested. I radioed the plane a number of times to say that permission had been given but because of the constant ‘nattering’ from other crews I could not hear any response. Therefore no one knew if the crew had heard the messages that may have saved their lives. The Mosquito approached the airfield from the usual direction and sadly dived into the ground in front of the Control Tower. I had to watch as both pilot and navigator burned to death – whilst trying to concentrate on bringing 27 other planes in the circuit safely to ground. The other crews were silenced on witnessing the incident – sadly too late! There was
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an enquiry into the incident and the notes taken by my R/T companion clearly stated that I had done everything I could to assist the crew with their emergency. The names of Mosquito’s crew were F/L W Taylor and F/O J. N Edwards. F/O Edwards is buried at Haveringland (St Peters Church) – not far from the airfield.
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When stationed at RAF Swannington in common with other station personnel I visited the home of Mrs Riley – a grocery shop in a nearby village. Mrs Riley had moved to the area from the Midlands for the health of her 10 and 11 yr old sons
Mrs Riley became affectionately addressed as Mother Riley – not because she was like the music hall character of that name but because she became a mother to those of us in the forces. We were fortunate enough to enjoy her kindness and hospitality. She always welcomed us with a cheery smile and a wonderful meal of rationed goodies
WAAFS on the station who were married to aircrew posted to other bases were able to spend precious time together because Mother Riley let them stay at her home
On Sunday evenings we attended the small village chapel with Mother Riley. She got some of the boys to sing solos. I was always asked to recite making her cry sometimes – with pleasure I hope! We would go home with her and sing old time songs – especially good if RAF Welsh boys joined in as they often did
Whatever wartime tragedies the coming week might bring Mother Riley was always there to give comfort and cheer. A wonderful friend to all
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CHURCH FENTON
Six girls manned the circular Fixer Post/Tower situated at the top of a Yorkshire hill near the village of Saxton. The WAFFS [sic] were on duty 24 hours a day. There were three Fixer Posts situated several miles from the Fighter Station at Church Fenton. We took bearings on aircraft coming into the sector and transmitted these to the Ops room at Church Fenton. They then used the information to direct fighter pilots to the position of the intruders. To hear a triumphant “TALLY HO” always gave me a thrill. Two WAFFS [sic] at a time operated the receiver set – both wearing ear phones. One WAAF operated a horizontal wheel measuring 360 degrees and giving the direction from the Tower to the aircraft. When we detected a sound in the sky that went down we called it ‘catching the dead space’ and we knew we had located an intruder. The bearings were then passed on to the Ops room. Three points of intersection would give the position of the aircraft on the plotting table. If our pilot became lost or could not immediately locate the intruder he would be asked to transmit for a fix. By using the three intersections the Ops room would provide the pilot with a vector to steer within a minute. He was then asked to transmit for a fix at minute intervals.
If there was no flying when we were on night duty we had to sleep on the Fixer station floor. My mother made me a sleeping bag which was much appreciated. Following the harvest rats used to seek shelter underneath the station and being hungry they satisfied their needs by knowing [sic] on the wooden floor. We used tin dinner plats to cover the holes they made.
One night I was rudely awakened from slumber to feel something run up the side of my sleeping bag. I jumped up and reached for the sweeping brush that was always kept behind the Receiver Desk. Standing on the desk I put on the light. There was nothing to be seen. My companion – like me rudely awakened – was not pleased and said I’d been dreaming. When rolling up my sleeping bag the next morning I discovered a large hole where my feet had been. Rats had been hungry!
The following day I wrote a poem to the Signal Section Church Fenton about the experience. As a result the rats were removed quickly and efficiently.
The two chores I didn’t enjoy were cleaning the windows of the Fixer Post – as I was all window! – and getting rid of he [sic] contents of the toilet. These tasks were often neglected by the other groups of WAAFS and it seemed to be our lot to deal with it. The windows were attacked with old screwed up newspapers and made to shine bright and clear. The Elson was another matter – often there was a squeal coming from the maggots. Between us we would lift the heavy bucket and remove its obnoxious contents down a hole that we had dug for the purpose. All the water we used had to be carried up from the village – it was in short supply. We carried the buckets of water on our bicycle handlebars. It was a steep climb but a lovely quick descent!! By the side of this hillside was a wild rose hedge. Kit assured me that in summer the hedge had
[page break]
red and white roses on it – white for the Yorkshire soldiers and red of the Lancastrians who had fought on this site. I never saw evidence of this but when the wind howled round the Tower on dark winter nights we felt that the ground we were on was rather spooky. Several of the leaders of the battle are buried with their horses in the local churchyard and according to Kit after the Battle of the Roses the beck at the bottom of the hill ran red with Lancastrian blood – not Yorkshire’s of course!
[page break]
It was amazing! How the Farmers – even the ancient ones – knew what time we WAFFS [sic] were on duty at Saxton Tower and if we were absent on leave or standing in for another girl they knew. Woe betide us if we were late on duty
I was billeted in the village of Saxton with a girl from Liverpool called Audrey – she was tall and blond. We were polite to each other and worked together quite well. But we were too opposite to become close friends. We shared a small bedroom at the end of the house – it had single metal beds. Yorkshire farmers were real characters. They had a reputation for staying on the family farm and being looked after by a doting mother. When sadly she died they would marry a young girl from the village to ensure that in their old age they would be cosseted. This was the case with the farmer and his wife where we were billeted. He used to say to me ‘EE Katie this is a wicked Village’ I used to reply ‘Well tell me why’. He never did and we never had time or energy after our hours of duty to find out for ourselves!. His brother lived with them and still wore his army coats from the Great War. He never paid his sister in law any money for his keep. He lived on a harvest of his brother’s pigs-bacon for breakfast; pork for dinner and ham for tea. The ceiling of the kitchen seemed to groan from the weight of the hams hanging there. He never had a bath although the Farmhouse bungalow boasted a lovely modern bathroom. I sat next to him at mealtimes and I used to look at him rather carefully. I was always surprised to see how clean he looked. I presumed that his skin was so tough the dirt just skimmed off it. One day his nephew persuaded him to have a bath. We all waited outside the bathroom to witness his exit. His first words to us were ‘Never Again’ – and he stuck to his word!
He slept with a safe in his bedroom – or so we were told having never ventured there. Until one ‘mischievous night’ we made him an apple pie bed – with brushes and many other things. We listened outside his door but there was no sound of anger or surprise. We could only assume that he was so tough that he never noticed his hard bedfellows! Kit the Farmer was as tough as old boots. He had his own chair and place at the table. We never saw him give affection to his hard working wife. He used to tease her by looking out of the window when other women from the village passed by saying ‘My what a smart or a fine woman Mrs so and so is’ Grace never rose to the bait but kept on scrubbing the kitchen floor tiles
They had a dog called Shep which the farmer said he would shoot if it wouldn’t follow the gun. Of course it wouldn’t. We WAAFS pleaded with him to keep his dog. In retrospect it would have been kinder to shoot it as it lived out its life tied to a short rope in a leaking kennel and lived on scraps. That was not good for any animal – it suffered and eventually died of malnutrition and lack of affection.
I missed the life of the camp and the opportunity to be where the action was. During the winter the bedroom was like ice as is had no heating. I used to say on retiring “Well I’ll now go up to Siberia” but this remark fell on deaf ears. Whilst there was the luxury of stable food and no restrictions about how often I could have a bath – paradise for WAFFS [sic] in comparison with the billet in Norfolk – I missed the action and the friends I’d left behind.
Being free from regulations – I didn’t always wear my identity badge as we were required to do – I hitched a lift on the back of a lorry to York. On arrival I stepped
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straight into the path of a very large and tall WAAF MP. She stopped me in my tracks and asked me for my identity badge which of course I didn’t have – did I?. There was I in uniform except for my hat that would have blown off as I was on the back of a lorry in a high wind
In a matter of days I was called upon to face a charge for not wearing my cap in York. A WAAF Officer – she appeared very young or was I growing old in service? – tore me off a strip and sentenced me to ten days in the cookhouse. I reported there after cycling down to Church Fenton early the next morning. The kitchen was crammed full with out of work Air Crew – hostilities having been wound down. “What are you doing here” asked one handsome young pilot – they were always handsome. I told him that I was reporting for my punishment. “You have to cycle down to Church Fenton for ten days – forget it”. We’ll do the chores for you”. What a knight in shining armour he was. I pedalled back to duty quicker than I’d come having been saved from my sentence!
My drama tutor had written to the Ministry re my Service release – I had not asked her to do so. As a result of a achieving an Honours mark on my associate Certificate I was given a scholarship to a prodigious acting academy in London. I had not asked her to do so. Whilst anxious to take up the scholarship I was reluctant to leave the Services. Had I not had this offer I would definitely have made a career in the WAAFS. However as a result of her plea I was called in front of the most handsome Officer I had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He explained kindly how he couldn’t release me early and was then interrupted by a young WAAF Officer. Fortunately not the one who had sentenced me earlier! She stood in front of his desk and gazed so lovingly in his eyes that I felt like an intruder. Without saluting I quietly withdrew from the room. I hope that she got her man!. I didn’t get my early release.
Oh how we WAAFS worshiped these brave men and boys – mostly from afar of course. On Operation Stations our thoughts and prayers were always with them and they knew this. The atmosphere on these camps was not death and destruction but optimism; love; laughter and comradeship. With a will to do our best in the work that we loved. We were helpful and competent partners in a situation that sought to triumph over the evil of a war that was not of our choosing
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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One WAAF's war
Description
An account of the resource
Commences with call up and journey to Innsworth camp. Describes accommodation, activities and compatriots in detail. Continues with very detailed description of training and activities at Compton Bassett. After a farewell concert was posted to Bawtry Hall. Describes life with companion and work. Manages to get out of cleaning work and was sent to RAF Grimsby where she worked in telephone exchange and fell in love with Lancaster bombers. Subsequently sent of aircraft controllers' course at RAF Cranwell. Describes camp, life, accommodation and training at Cranwell. Mentions church parade where no WAAFs turned up and subsequent consequences. Continues with new section with title 'LACW Kathryn Reid (nee Kathy Miers) WAAF No 473650 RAF Oulton 1944'. Covers posting after training as R/T.D/F operator to Sculthorpe which was under command of Group Captain Pickard DSO, DFC. Sculthorpe was closed and all units, including American ones moved to Oulton from where she describes location, activities and work. Mentions RAF aircrew converting from Stirling to fly American aircraft at night as well as describing her work in aircraft control. Mentions she was on duty for D-Day. Goes on with description of operations and mentions B-17 from 214 Squadron shot down near station sick quarters and only two gunners escaped. Continues with more derails of work and life on camp including entertainment. Mentions American friend. Next was posted to RAF Swannington and describes work and operations with Mosquito. Final posting to Church Fenton where once again describes location and work in detail.
Creator
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K Reid
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Gloucestershire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army Air Force
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Format
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Twenty-six-page printed document
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Identifier
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BReidKReidKv1
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Tricia Marshall
100 Squadron
214 Squadron
B-17
B-24
entertainment
ground personnel
Lancaster
military discipline
military living conditions
military service conditions
Mosquito
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Bawtry
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Compton Bassett
RAF Cranwell
RAF Grimsby
RAF Innsworth
RAF Oulton
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Swannington
sanitation
Stirling
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2219/39747/SReidK473650v20020.1.jpg
7f39a7f6deb584e0e8d0434616c0a0e7
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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Reid, Kathryn. Songs and poems
Description
An account of the resource
Thirty-seven items - songs/poems about wartime experiences.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
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2018-01-23
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Reid, K
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Poem 1 A SONG OF HATE
Paddy is an Irish Man,
May Paddy come to grief.
Sad we wish this on him,
But his arguing is beyond belief.
Paddy is an Officer
With two rings upon his sleeve,
But the trouble we [deleted] R/T OPS [/deleted] [inserted] Girls [/inserted] have with him,
You really would not believe.
[inserted] woudn’t [sic] [/inserted]
With his hair as red as carrots,
And his stock of Irish blarney,
He thinks that he knows everything
But we all thin [inserted] k [/inserted] he’s barmy.
All through our hours of duty,
Eight, twelve or even more,
We R/T OPS have to suffer,
His arguementive [sic] roar.
Paddy likes his tea sweet,
But never was a man so sour,
If only we could heave him,
From the top of our Watch Tower.
POEM 2 A Ratty Problem
We’ve rats in the Fixer Tower,
They’ve gnawed holes in the floor,
We wake from our slumbers,
To hear “rattlings” galore.
They’ve gnawed Katy’s blanket,
And she’s got really vexed,
‘Cos there’s never no “gnawing”,
What they’ll gnaw next.
Oh Church Fenton’s signal section,
Give ear to my song,
We’ve had this “Rattalian”,
Two months too long.
So, Signal Section,
Something quick you must do,
Please get a Pied Piper -----
To lead them to you!!
[inserted] We’ve rats in the Fixer Tower
- We have To sleep on The Floor
We wake from our slumbers
To hear rattings galore
Theyve [sic] gnawed Katey [sic] Blanket
Right By her Feet
And Theres [sic] never no gnawing
What next They may eat
[deleted] Find [/deleted]
OR we’ll get a Pied Piper
To Lead Them To you [/inserted]
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 poems
Description
An account of the resource
Two poems - first 'song of hate' concerning and Irish officer who troubles R/T operators. The second titled 'A ratty problem'. about rats in the tower and the signals section. References RAF Church Fenton.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Tadcaster
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Poetry
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One-page printed document.
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SReidK473650v20020
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
arts and crafts
ground personnel
military living conditions
RAF Church Fenton
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39689/MReidK473650-180123-100001.1.jpg
e9aa73b90510897eb75db5a1f2f5250d
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39689/MReidK473650-180123-100002.1.jpg
d9036580b2e97c9204fc3ab9ad2263ba
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
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Reid, K
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
Battle of Britain day programme 1945
Description
An account of the resource
Programme with list of ground equipment, aircraft park and flying programme. Date 15 September 1945.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-09-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Tadcaster
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four sided printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MReidK473650-180123-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
B-25
entertainment
Halifax
Mosquito
P-51
RAF Church Fenton
Spitfire
Typhoon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39688/MReidK473650-180123-050001.2.jpg
de2d3af3a95896ba377101b7f3dbafa2
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2191/39688/MReidK473650-180123-050002.2.jpg
85f0febebd00a7a515f00219d83a973c
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
Reid, Kathleen
Reid, K
Reid, Kathryn
Reid, Katy
Description
An account of the resource
92 items and a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2219">sub-collection with thirty-seven poems/songs</a>. The collection concerns Kathryn (Katy) Reid (Royal Air Force) and contains memoirs, correspondence, poems and photographs. The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Stuart Miers Reid and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-01-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Reid, K
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
Christmas menu 1945
Description
An account of the resource
Menu for Christmas 1945 at RAF Church Fenton. Signatures on reverse.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-12
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-12
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One sided printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MReidK473650-180123-05
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
mess
military living conditions
RAF Church Fenton
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/714/17632/LBlowH158577v1.1.pdf
efb1310acab9ed075cc762a68f8656a6
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
Blow, Harold
H Blow
Description
An account of the resource
One log book containing photographs. The collection concerns Harold Blow (158577 Royal Air Force). He completed a tour of operations as a pilot with 9 Squadron and served as an instructor. After the war he served with 616 Squadron until he was killed on 22nd May 1954 flying a Meteor.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Patrick Blow and catalogued by 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
2016-04-22
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Blow, H
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Harold Blow’s pilots flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book for Harold Blow, covering the period from 22 January 1942 to 30 May 1946 and from 10 July 1949 to 20 May 1954, detailing his flying training, operations flown, instructor duties and post war duties with 616 Squadron. He was stationed at RAF Sywell, USAAF Americus, USAAF Cochran Field, USAAF Moody Field, RAF Carlisle, RAF Little Rissington, RAF Chipping Warden, RAF Silverstone, RAF Winthorpe, RAF Bardney, RAF Bruntingthorpe, RAF Finningly, RAF Bishops Court, RAF Shawbury, RAF Tangmere, RAF Church Fenton and RAF Takali. Aircraft flown were, Tiger Moth, Stearman PT17, Vultee BT 13a, Beechcraft AT10, Oxford, Wellington, Manchester, Lancaster, Harvard and Meteor. He flew a total of 30 night operations with 9 squadron. Targets were, Kassel, Dusseldorf, Modane, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stettin, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Essen, Nuremburg, Toulouse, Tours and Aachen. <span>His pilot for his first 'second dickie' operation was </span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":200,"335559740":276}">Pilot Officer Turnbull</span>. There is a green endorsement at the end for skill in bombing the target and returning with a damaged aircraft after a mid-air collision. The log book also contains four crew pictures with details and a paper clipping after his tour of the far East. Harold Blow was killed on 22nd May 1954 flying with 616 Royal Auxilliary Air Force flying a Meteor 8.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LBlowH158577v1
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.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Malta
Poland
United States
England--Cumbria
England--Gloucestershire
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Shropshire
England--Yorkshire
France--Modane
France--Toulouse
France--Tours
Georgia--Americus
Georgia--Macon
Georgia--Moody Air Force Base
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Magdeburg
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Stuttgart
Northern Ireland--Down (County)
Poland--Szczecin
Germany--Düsseldorf
England--Sussex
Georgia
Great Britain
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1943-10-22
1943-10-23
1944
1944-03-30
1944-03-31
1944-04-05
1944-04-06
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-10
1943-11-11
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-22
1943-11-23
1943-11-24
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-23
1943-12-24
1943-12-29
1943-12-30
1944-01-01
1944-01-02
1944-01-05
1944-01-06
1944-01-21
1944-01-22
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-01-29
1944-01-30
1944-01-31
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-24
1944-02-25
1944-02-26
1944-03-01
1944-03-02
1944-03-15
1944-03-16
1944-03-18
1944-03-19
1944-03-22
1944-03-23
1944-03-24
1944-03-25
1944-03-26
1944-03-27
1944-04-10
1944-04-11
1944-04-12
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
11 OTU
1661 HCU
17 OTU
29 OTU
9 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
bombing of Toulouse (5/6 April 1944)
Flying Training School
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Manchester
Meteor
mid-air collision
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Bardney
RAF Bishops Court
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Carlisle
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Finningley
RAF Little Rissington
RAF Shawbury
RAF Silverstone
RAF Sywell
RAF Tangmere
RAF Winthorpe
Stearman
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/81/7914/LGodfreyCR1281391v10001.2.pdf
2bb4feee369606f050f7e0e0563b6922
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
Godfrey, Charles Randall
Subject
The topic of the resource
World War (1939-1945)
Description
An account of the resource
64 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Charles Randall Godfrey DFC (b. 1921, 146099, Royal Air Force) and consists of his logbook and operational notes, items of memorabilia, association memberships, personnel documentation, medals and photographs. He completed 37 operations with 37 Squadron in North Africa and the Mediterranean and 59 operations with 635 Squadron. He flew as a wireless operator in the crew of Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette VC.
The collection has has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by David Charles Godfrey and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Godfrey, CR
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-18
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Charles Godfey's observer's and air gunner's flying log book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LGodfreyCR1281391v10001
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Egypt
France
Libya
Greece
Germany
Gibraltar
Great Britain
Netherlands
Scotland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Belgium--Haine-Saint-Pierre
Egypt--Alexandria
Egypt--Cairo
Egypt--Ismailia (Province)
Egypt--Marsá Maṭrūḥ
Egypt--Tall al-Ḍabʻah
England--Berkshire
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Cumbria
England--Devon
England--Gloucestershire
England--Hampshire
England--Kent
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Northumberland
England--Oxfordshire
England--Rutland
England--Shropshire
England--Suffolk
England--Wiltshire
England--Worcestershire
England--Yorkshire
France--Angers
France--Caen
France--Creil
France--Mantes-la-Jolie
France--Nucourt
France--Rennes
Germany--Wiesbaden
Germany--Berchtesgaden
Germany--Bottrop
Germany--Chemnitz
Germany--Dorsten
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düren (Cologne)
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Germany--Merseburg
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Osterfeld
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Troisdorf
Germany--Wanne-Eickel
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Germany--Wesseling
Greece--Ērakleion
Greece--Piraeus
Libya--Darnah
Libya--Tobruk
Netherlands--Hasselt
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Scotland--Moray
Germany--Münster in Westfalen
England--Cornwall (County)
North Africa
Libya--Banghāzī
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Libya--Gazala
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1942-03-23
1942-06-10
1942-06-11
1942-06-12
1942-06-13
1942-06-14
1942-06-15
1942-06-16
1942-06-17
1942-06-18
1942-06-19
1942-06-20
1942-06-22
1942-06-23
1942-06-24
1942-06-25
1942-06-26
1942-06-28
1942-06-29
1942-07-02
1942-07-03
1942-07-05
1942-07-08
1942-07-09
1942-07-10
1942-07-12
1942-07-13
1942-07-15
1942-07-16
1942-07-17
1942-07-19
1942-07-20
1942-07-25
1942-07-26
1942-07-28
1942-07-29
1942-07-31
1942-08-01
1942-08-06
1942-08-07
1942-08-08
1942-08-09
1942-08-14
1942-08-15
1942-08-16
1942-08-17
1942-08-18
1942-08-19
1942-08-21
1942-08-22
1942-08-23
1942-08-24
1942-08-25
1942-08-26
1942-08-27
1942-08-28
1942-08-29
1942-08-30
1942-08-31
1942-09-01
1942-09-03
1942-09-05
1942-09-06
1942-09-08
1942-09-09
1944-05-06
1944-05-08
1944-05-12
1944-05-13
1944-05-27
1944-05-28
1944-05-29
1944-06-05
1944-06-07
1944-06-08
1944-06-09
1944-06-12
1944-06-13
1944-06-15
1944-06-16
1944-06-23
1944-06-24
1944-07-07
1944-07-09
1944-07-10
1944-07-14
1944-07-15
1944-07-16
1944-07-18
1944-07-19
1944-07-20
1944-07-23
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-07-28
1944-07-29
1944-07-30
1944-08-01
1944-08-04
1944-11-17
1944-11-18
1944-12-04
1944-12-06
1944-12-07
1944-12-12
1944-12-15
1944-12-18
1944-12-24
1944-12-28
1944-12-29
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-05
1945-01-07
1945-01-08
1945-01-23
1945-02-01
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-04
1945-02-07
1945-02-08
1945-02-09
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-02-18
1945-02-20
1945-02-21
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-22
1945-03-24
1945-03-25
1945-03-31
1945-04-11
1945-04-13
1945-04-14
1945-04-25
1945-04-30
1945-05-05
1945-05-07
1945-05-15
1945-05-22
1945-06-08
1945-06-18
1945-08-03
1945-08-05
1944-06-06
1944-08-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Description
An account of the resource
Observer's and air gunner's flying log book for Pilot Officer Godfrey from 3 of February 1941 to 25 of September 1945 detailing training schedule, instructional duties and operations flown. Aircraft flown were Dominie, Proctor, Wellington, Hampden, Anson, Defiant, Martinet, Stirling, Lancaster, C-47 and Oxford. He was stationed at RAF Manby, RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Harwell, RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Downham Market, RAF Hemswell, RAF Wittering, RAF Abingdon, RAF Upper- Heyford, RAF Upwood, RAF Gillingham, RAF Cranwell, RAF Melton Mowbray, RAF Church Fenton, RAF Market Drayton, RAF Waddington, RAF Upavon, RAF Sywell, RAF Carlisle, RAF Linton-On-Ouse, RAF Newbury, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Brize Norton, RAF Exeter, RAF Andover, RAF Hampstead Norris, RAF Hythe, RAF Gibraltar, RAF St Eval, RAF El Dabba, RAF Shaluffa, RAF Abu Sueir, RAF Almaza, RAF Blyton, RAF Ingham, RAF Marston Moor, RAF Leeming, RAF Acklington, RAF Middleton St. George, RAF Newmarket, RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, RAF Leconfield, RAF Skipton-on-Swale, RAF Wyton, RAF Warboys, RAF Westcott, RAF Gravely and RAF Worcester. He completed 37 operations with 37 Squadron in North Africa and the Mediterranean and 59 operations with 635 Squadron to targets in Belgium, France and Germany. Targets included: Heraklion, Piraeus, Derna, Tamimi, Benghazi Harbour, Gazala, Mersa Matruh, Ras El Shaqiq, El Daba, Tobruk, Fuqa, Quatafiya, Düren, Munster, Mantes- Gassicourt rail yards, Haine St. Pierre rail yards, Hasselt rail yards, Rennes, Angers rail yards, Caen, Ravigny rail yards, Nucourt, Wesseling oil refineries, L’Hey, Kiel, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Notre Dame, Trossy St. Maximin, Karlsruhe, Merseburg, Essen, Ludwigshafen, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Troisdorf, Dortmund, Nuremberg, Hannover, Munich, Gelsenkirchen, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Osterfeld, Kleve, Wanne- Eickel, Chemnitz, Wesel, Worms, Hemmingstedt, Dorsten, Bottrop, Osnabruck, Berchtesgaden, Ypenburg and Rotterdam. Notable events are that Charles Godfrey undertook a search and rescue operation in a Defiant and during the operation to Trossy St Maximin 4 August 1944 his aircraft, Lancaster ND811, was brought down by anti-aircraft fire. Whilst he survived and evaded, his pilot, Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was awarded the Posthumous Victoria Cross. The hand written notes added to the end of the log book give a description to the crash, and his attempts to evade capture. Pilot Officer Godfrey also took part in Operation Manna, Operation Exodus and Operation Dodge.
11 OTU
15 OTU
20 OTU
37 Squadron
635 Squadron
air gunner
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Anson
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of the Normandy coastal batteries (5/6 June 1944)
Bombing of Trossy St Maximin (3 August 1944)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Defiant
Dominie
evading
Hampden
killed in action
Lancaster
Martinet
missing in action
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operation Manna (29 Apr – 8 May 1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Pathfinders
Proctor
RAF Abingdon
RAF Andover
RAF Bassingbourn
RAF Blyton
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Carlisle
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cranwell
RAF Downham Market
RAF Graveley
RAF Hampstead Norris
RAF Harwell
RAF Hemswell
RAF Ingham
RAF Leconfield
RAF Leeming
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Manby
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Melton Mowbray
RAF Middleton St George
RAF Moreton in the Marsh
RAF Newmarket
RAF Skipton on Swale
RAF St Eval
RAF Sywell
RAF Upavon
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upwood
RAF Waddington
RAF Warboys
RAF Westcott
RAF Wittering
RAF Wyton
shot down
Stirling
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
Victoria Cross
Wellington
wireless operator
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66cc0642d6d7959abaceda5bbae117ec
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/350/3521/AWildR160224.2.mp3
5975d4c3de0bd63b6e78bb45cd3db876
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Wild, Ralph
R Wild
Description
An account of the resource
One oral history interview with Ralph Wild (b. 1918, 941581 and 184464 Royal Air Force).
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
2016-02-24
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Wild, R
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
GR: Right. This is Gary Rushbrooke, for the Bomber Command Association. I am with Flying Officer Ralph Wild on the 24th of February 2016. We’re in Sheffield but Ralph lives in Canada and we’re doing the interview in Sheffield. So. Ralph, I know we’re in Sheffield, and you’re in Canada.
RW: Yes.
GR: Was you born in Sheffield?
RW: No I was born in Rotherham. Rotherham, Yorkshire. Kimbolton, Rotherham, Yorkshire. 27th of September 1918. And, um —
GR: Just as World War One was finishing.
RW: I was actually in — I was in two World Wars. That’s right.
GR: Yeah.
RW: So I was in the First World War and the Second. Ok. Well in 1938, the present — the Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, went over to see Hitler and thought that he was armed to the teeth and we of course, between the wars, had been demobilising and had nothing whatsoever. Particularly fighters. And so he saw there was a real problem, so he had to correct this. Anyway he got Hitler to give him the Peace Treaty which came back waving Peace and saying, ‘Peace in my time.’ So as soon as he got back again, his aim was to buy time. He knew he couldn’t cope with Germany the way they were right then. And actually, between 1938 and 1939, they built six hundred Hurricanes and Spitfires which the Germans knew nothing about. They thought we were flying all kinds of aircraft but nothing of the air quality, what they had, 109s, you see. And that really was the difference between the Battle of Britain. Losing or winning. That’s what it amounted to. Anyway, they also realised that they had no personnel to supervise the planes and everything else like that, so he brought about Conscription. So anybody that was the age of twenty was automatically conscripted into the Army. And of course, I was one of those. So I went to Derby, I think it was.
GR: I’ll just back-track a little bit to before you was conscripted. So, born in Rotherham. Brothers? Sisters?
RW: I have, I have two sisters. I’m the youngest of three children.
GR: Right.
RW: My sister Nora was born in 1912. My second sister was born in 1915. And I was born in 1918. We’re all three years apart.
GR: Yep.
RW: So I was the baby in the family. Of those two girls. Yeah.
GR: And did you grow up in the Rotherham area?
RW: Yes, yes. I did all my education in the Rotherham area. And then I worked for the Municipality. The County Borough of Rotherham.
GR: Right.
RW: That’s where I worked when I graduated. Anyway, coming back to the thing there. So I went to see them in the army and I said I wanted to join the air force. You could volunteer for the air force and the navy but you weren’t conscripted.
GR: That’s right, yeah.
RW: So. The army didn’t get deferred. So they said, [unclear], nothing to do with us [unclear]. So they deferred me, so I wasn’t called up until later. All my friends that I’d gone to school with had all gone in the army, you see. So I was the only one that went in the air force. But it was a really good thing because I went in, but of course, going in at that level, I could only go, I was only going in for six months you see. And so you couldn’t obviously go for air crew or what-have-you. It was impossible. So I go before the Attestation Officer and he says, ‘What do you know about the barometer?’ I say, ‘You want the Kew or the Fortin type?’ He looks at me and he says, ‘You mean there’s two, son?’ [laughs] This was an officer. I says, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘Knowledge like that, you’re an instrument repairer.’ So he asked me one question in the air force and I became an instrument repairer. So I became an instrument repairer. So they immediately transferred me and I went to Cranwell. I learnt to become and instrument repairer at Cranwell. So that’s how the whole thing started. Aye, when War started on September the 3rd, I immediately volunteered for air crew. But they wouldn’t accept me for air crew because I was fully-trained ground crew. And ground crew were scarce as hen’s teeth and they said they couldn’t sacrifice me from ground crew. So they said, ‘You stay on as ground crew but we’ll put your name down for air crew and when the situation improves, you’ll get transferred to air crew. Three and a half years later, my air crew posting came through.
GR: Right, we’ll talk about that later. So, yeah. So September the 3rd 1939.
RW: Yeah. So then I was then really transferred. So I was then, on graduation, they sent me up to Church Fenton and I was — They formed 249. Well actually I was sent to 242 Squadron which was a Canadian Squadron as a matter of fact. Which Bader got eventually. But when I got there, they were already — Churchill had agreed with France, that it he would supply so many fighter squadrons to go France to help the French because the French had nothing at all, you see. This is against the RAF personnel, they didn’t want — because they were short of aircraft anyway. And they were going to give these aircraft away, which we lost too many really. Anyway this was what transpired. Now they had the Bristol bomb bay sitting on the airfield when I got there. And they said, ‘Oh. You’re going to go over to France.’ So I had to go straight away to the medical officer to get my ‘flu shots because it’s always, ‘He’s service.’ So I went and got my ‘flu shot. When I came back again, the planes were taking off so I got left behind. So there was me sitting there with 242 Squadron, you see. Nothing to do. So anyway, three days later, 249 Squadron was being formed at Church Fenton. So they dumped me from 242, and made me 249, so I became one of the three instrument repairers at 294 Squadron.
GR: At the foundation of the squadron.
RW: Foundation of the squadron. And when we got there, they had Fairey Battles, Miles Masters, Miles Magisters, Boulton Paul Defiants, Lysanders. It had everything but — they had no fighters. Well, they had Fairey Battles which was absolutely terrible. Oh, well, we had a Blenheim. They had a Blenheim. That’s we had on the squadron. [laughs] And eventually they got rid of all this junk and they sent a full squadron of fighters came in there. So we did all our preparation training there and when we’d finished our training at Church Fenton, they moved us to Leconfield and we all [unclear] from Leconfield. Patrol up and down the North Sea protecting the shipping. The Germans were bombing the shipping, you see, in the North Sea so we had to protect them [unclear] there. And then when we went — Moved from there to Boscombe Down in Wiltshire because we had now to protect Southampton. Southampton was getting more attacks than what the other was. So we defended that. On our squadron was Flight Lieutenant Nicholson, you’ve probably heard of him.
GR: He was to win the V.C. Yeah.
RW: The first fighter V.C. of the war. Anyway, he was on the squadron there and Middle Wallop was the other station. Just the two stations were protecting Southampton. Well after — Do you want to know anything about Nicholson at all?
GR: You carry on.
RW: Ok. Anyway, one of these sorties, Flight Lieutenant Nicholson, he was in charge of ‘B’ Flight and he went up and he was attacked by a German fighter and he was shot at and his plane caught fire. And he stayed with the plane as long as he possibly could and he actually got burnt. Anyway he baled out of the aircraft and when he came down, the Home Guard, as you probably know, was being formed at that time there and they were very trigger-happy and they thought it was a German coming down then so they shot at him. [laughs] And they shot him in the foot. So this caused a bit of an embarrassment, you see. So all in all, it transpired that he got the V.C. Now whether there’s any connection, it’s hard to say. But you’ve got the first fighter V.C. Anyway.
GR: He was one of the pilots that you looked after.
RW: That’s right.
GR: As an instrument —
RW: I was on ‘B’ Flight so he was on my squadron. So, same as Neil.
GR: Tom Neil.
RW: Tom Neil. He was on — I was on his squadron too. I flew his plane. I looked after all these planes that they flew. All these things, yeah. Anyway. As we go to that then, the — I think it was 77 Squadron. Now it was 75 Squadron or 77 Squadron. We were at North Weald. And they got completely decimated and they were down to five pilots and about seven or eight aircraft. That’s all they had left. So they thought it was impossible to regenerate them there, so they kicked them out of there and sent them to Boscombe Down. And we were sent in from Boscombe Down to North Weald then for the [unclear] war. We served in the Battle of Britain in their place the whole time. And I stayed there —
GR: So you was at North Weald during the majority of the Battle of Britain.
RW: Yeah.
GR: Was — Well, I know North Weald was bombed. Was you ever under fire by the Germans?
RW: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We, we — In fact they dropped, they dropped a land mine and it landed right in the middle of the airfield there and it didn’t go off, so we were all evacuated, sort of thing, ‘till they actually finally got the bomb disposal squad to come over and get rid of it. But, oh yeah, we were bombed. But we weren’t at the station. North Weald was the permanent station but we were sent across the aerodrome to dispersal. It was a mile across, for the field. Right beside the Epping Forest. And we were stationed the whole time in Bell tents. There was about eight or ten men to a Bell tent. Right through the, right through the Battle of Britain. I never heard any —
GR: It was a warm summer, so — [laughs]
RW: A warm summer as luck would have it. But oh, it was pretty hazardous. Anyway we survived that and it was, it was pretty treacherous because the, you know, sleeping in a Bell tent when you had to sleep with your feet to the pole and all we had was a gas mask for pillows. They gave us a tin helmets to put on our head so whenever there was a raid, [laughs] all we did was just put our tin hats over our head and hope for the best, ‘cause you had a canvas cover to protect you, you see. And actually, right alongside there, was these shelters for the aircraft. You know, they had these booths, like and then inside there was actually places like air raid shelters. That’s what it amounts to. But coming out of the station there, Beamish — Beamish. He was in charge of this, this wing commander and he said it was unhealthy, or the medical officer said, unhealthy to go into these things they had, so we were forbidden to go in these things so we had to stay in our Bell tents the whole time we were there. The glorious thing about this was that we had to — The Hurricane didn’t get recognition, of course as you know, in relation to the Spitfire. Just like the Halifax never got recognition in relation to the Lancaster. But the thing is that, in my opinion, the Hurricane out-did the Spitfire in the sense it could turn inside but it was the maintenance was the big thing. Like if our aircraft got shot up at all, well it came down and had holes in it like that, but all the riggers would do, they’d go up to there and they put a thing there, put a plastic — then put a canvas patch over it.
GR: Patch over it.
RW: Put the thing there, and all. It set and they could fly again. Now a Sptifire, if it had anything like that, it had holes in it but it had to be riveted. They had to make a patch.
GR: Panel.
RW: Then rivet this thing on there. So we could actually, we had timed it, we could actually, our planes would come down again, we could refuel them, re-arm them and everything like that and within about an hour and fifteen minutes, we could go up again. Spitfire couldn’t come close. Couldn’t come close. So we really were far more efficient in that sense, than they were. And I say, particularly like, a perfect example is the oxygen. The oxygen bottle in the Hurricane, there was a small panel on the side there, and you just took the, undid four screws like this, took the thing out and the other thing, you had to unscrew the thing, took the oxygen bottle out, threw it onto the ground, got all the new bottles, put it in there, thread there, and they went on, you see, we had twelve aircraft to do you see, when they came down. [laughs]
GR: Yeah. [laughs]
RW: It was just like ants. You see. A mass of bodies there, following the planes, you know. As soon as they came in, you followed them. A fellow chased up into the cockpit and so we did our bit like this. We changed all these bottles. But the amazing part about it was, that if you were in that time, if we lost probably one or two aircraft that day, that same evening, they telephoned to the Hawker factory and say we wanted two more aircraft and the ladies would fly from Hawker Hurricane, these planes, and they flew them straight to our airfield and they were followed by like a Blenheim or something or other, an officer or something, to pick them up and take them back again.
GR: ATA ferry pilots, wasn’t it.
RW: And it was our job then. We had to have that plane ready for 9.00 a.m. the next morning. And of course it had been come from the factory to us and was not airworthy by RAF standards so we had to go in every one of those aircraft and go through it and make sure it, everything worked. And if it needed adjustments, we’d work until it got too dark, then we’d go to bed and about 4.00 or 5.00 o’clock in the morning, we’d get up again. Run out to the aircraft.
GR: And get going.
RW: We had to do it by 9.00 o’clock. It was laid down. 9.00 o’clock, that plane had to fly.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And we did it. Every plane flew off on time. It was marvellous the system they worked out, how these ladies could fly these planes and they were picked up and taken away.
GR: Excellent.
RW: We never lost out at all from the whole thing. And,er —
GR: So you survived the Battle of Britain.
RW: Yep. Survived the Battle of Britain.
GR: And then how did your RAF career progress from there?
RW: Yeah, well. That’s right. Well of course, when it came to, I guess the end of October, the beginning of November, things tapered off and there wasn’t much, you know, compared to what we’d had, servicing the aircraft right through the Battle of Britain. So I volunteered for Overseas Service and I got posted to Crete and so I went home on Embarkation Leave for khaki, pith helmet and full khaki outfits like this. And I went out to the west coast there and I got into this camp and they caught me in the wrong camp. It was like, three — One, Two and Three Camps, like that, and they put me in Three Camp. So when I went into Three Camp, I went out on parade for three days and they never called my name. So after the third day, I thought, ‘There’s something screwy here.’ See. So I went over to the flight sergeant and I said, ‘How come you don’t call my name?’ He said, ‘Who the hell are you?’ He says, ‘You’re on a charge.’ I says, ‘What for?’ He says, ‘You don’t have your white flash on your helmet.’ I said, ‘I don’t have a white flash.’ He said, ‘Aren’t you here as a trainee?’ I says, ‘No.’ I says, ‘I’m ground crew.’ He says, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ So I should have been in Two Camp instead of Three Camp. So they posted me to Two Camp and I go before the officer. It had been, well for three days, you see. So he takes off his hat and he scratches his head, he says, ‘There’s something wrong here, somewhere. The kid’s been in camp for three days. How could he be able —‘ Well. He says, ‘My system’s — Well, the next boat that’s on it, you’re on it.’ And it came to Canada. [laughs] So that’s how I got to Canada. Instead of going to Crete. So. And the thing was that, the glorious thing was that when you got to — and the sent us up to [unclear] and they took us over on tenders, from the ship, ‘cause the ships were out on the estuary, of course.
GR: Yeah, yeah.
RW: So they had to take us all on one of these tenders, so we went over to — I was finally — we were passed to a French luxury liner. Just been converted. It was being made into a troop ship at that stage in the game, it had just been taken over, so it had swimming pools and everything. It was just exactly the same as it was in peace time. So we travelled First Class coming back over then. Anyway, on board ship with us was about a hundred or so navy men. We couldn’t figure out what this was. Anyway when we got there, they said, ‘All RAF persons go to the starboard side of the ship.’ So we go to the starboard side of the ship. They say, ‘Take off your khaki and put on your blues.‘ We couldn’t figure out what this was, you see. And it turned out, what transpired, so we learned, that the spies were watching the harbour and they saw all these khaki going on board the thing there, so they thought, they guessed, they’re going to go down through Gibraltar. And they were going to warn the submarines, you see, about it. This was what we all figured out. So anyway, we couldn’t figure out what the navy were doing, anyway. But also alongside of us was the ‘Cape Town Castle’. Another ship and it turned out that this was taking back London children from London to Canada. Evacuated them to Canada. This was what it turned out to be. Well anyway, we started out and we get south of Ireland, going like this. We ran into a huge storm. And I mean a storm. You know, the ‘Cape Town Castle’ were completely disappearing in a hole. Masts and everything, just completely disappeared. And then when it came up over the top there, we were going down. The screws would come out of the water like this and as it went in again, the whole ship would shudder when it cleared the thing, and we’d do like the same. It was way past — French luxury liner was doing exactly the same. We came up there and our screws came out of the water and got on the top. The whole ship would shake when the screws bit the water again, like. It was quite an experience. Anyway, we gets three and a half days later, we came back to White Cliffs, you see. We thought they’d brought us back to Dover and it turned out, is what you see ahead of you is Canada. So we arrive in Halifax harbour and four abrest, as far as the eye could see, was World War One American destroyers. Four form of destroyers. And Churchill had just bought this Land Lease business.
GR: Yeah, Land Lease. Yep.
RW: And they bought these things because the Battle of the Atlantic was in full force at that time and in consequence of that, they had to have protection. And so we didn’t have enough ships. We were losing ships faster that what they were making them, you se. So he got all these ships here and this is what these navy men were. Now they were secret dogs [?] in the French luxury liner coming over and [unclear] they had to take these things back and they were, left the — So anyway, we thought, ‘Oh well, now, we’re going to go down.’ Because we didn’t know where to camp there. We were just the next ship. You know. We’re going to it. We thought, ‘Now we’re going to dump them off and we were going to go down, down to Gibraltar.’ Next thing you know, they tell us to go ashore. We go ashore and they put us into, in ‘Canadian National’. Of course the ‘Canadian Pacific’ was passengers and the ‘Canadian National’ was frigate. So they didn’t have many passenger trains. Anyway, we were in this stinking passenger train. They put us in this train. And they locked us in the train. Locked us in the train. They were afraid we might escape, you see. [laughs] So locked us right in the train. So anyway, we get as far as Truro, Nova Scotia, and they allowed us to wind the windows down and the people fed apples to us up there and said, ‘You’re going to go west.’ You see. So we [laughs], we went on this thing there sort of thing. So we get to Montreal, and we get to Montreal. We’re allowed to, because they’d just ordered carriages. No sleeping accommodation. It’s sleeping — for feeding they used to come down this centre of the thing there with vats and you’d have knife, fork and spoon on your plate on your lap, you see. And they slap potatoes on, whereas like this you see, you’d eat on your lap like this. Pretty frugal, I tell you. Anyway, we get to Montreal and they were afraid we might escape so they had military police, arm to arm all along the platform there, ‘cause we were allowed to come out and stretch our legs, you see, because, you know, you’d just sit in the seat.
GR: Yeah, yeah.
RW: All of the time. All of the time. And so, so then we get back on the train again and they said, ‘You’re going to go west.’ Next thing, we come to Winnipeg. When we get to Winnipeg, there’s no military police, no [unclear]. They had Number 2 Air Command Band playing for us on the platform there. Playing, giving us a welcome, you see. Again they said, ‘You’re going to go west.’ So we immediately thought we were going to out to Vancouver then go down through the Panama Canal and go through into Gib that way, you see. It turned out nothing of the kind. So two and half hours later, the train comes to a jolting halt and we look out of the window there, because this is December the 4th 1940 and snow, snow as far as, I say, way in the distance leads to a grain elevator, you see. It turned out to be Carberry. And that’s the station. Of course Greyhound Pacific was a passenger station but the Canadian National wasn’t a station at all. So it was just a little tiny hut which said Carberry on it at the side there. But no station. Nothing. So we had landed there and so we had to, we were disembarked from there, so we had to jump down. There was no platform. We had to jump down with kit bags. Right down, you know, three or four feet. You know, down to the ground. Well it was — They’d dumped all these kit bags. And they were supposed to have transportation to take us to the camp, you see.
GR: The camp, yeah.
RW: But, well, we started to march and we had to boot kit bags up and kit bags down all the way through for about half a mile, I guess. Then finally the trucks arrived and they took all our kit bags. But then we still had to march two miles, and this is December the 4th and December the 4th in Canada is not exactly summer weather. So we had little, you know, wedge hats and ordinary greatcoats and everyone marched to this camp. When we get to this camp there, that was a revelation. We were the first RAF to come to Canada, on December 4th, and we were started in the [unclear], we were the first. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan was being started. So Carberry where we were, was, they had the runways in, they had no hangars but they had the facilities. They had the hospital and the accommodation, that sort of thing, all fixed, and they were gradually building it all up there. And we were being brought over, as ships permitted, you see, to bring six, until we were fully made up and continued to make up the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, in being — So, I say, well anyway, we walked into these huts, and I'd been living in Bell tents for months and they had hardwood floors, they had twenty-two beds. Twin stacking beds. And they had heaters on each end of the thing there, and they were looked after by civilians. Looked after the heating system for the thing there. And of course we’d had no heat at all in there. So. Then you went between, like each type of building and the connecting thing there was ablutions. They had hot and cold running water, baths, showers. Oh, after being — because when I’d been at, in a tent there, when I’d been, as an instrument repairer, you were in three’s, you see, so you had A Flight, B Flight and Maintenance. But on Fighter Command, you never needed Maintenance because the ships never, the planes never were full long enough to go into Maintenance. So the Maintenance man was a spare part. So what we did on the squadron was — I was on B Flight. There was A Flight, B Flight, Maintenance. So the Maintenance man was the spare man and his job was to look after the oxygen. That’s how we worked it, so I say, when a plane came in, you dumped the oxygen bottle, threw it on the ground, you collect all these things there and every morning, every morning at the base, and they’d send a truck over and you’d dump all these empty bottles onto the truck there. And the Maintenance man, the man who was Maintenance that day, he went back to the camp and refuelled all these oxygen bottles. And that third day was the saviour of my life because I’d be able to get washed. Because we had no facilities out there. There’s no hot and cold running water. They used to bring hot water over to us and I say, we had outside biffies and oh. We were really frugal there, I’ll tell you. But every third day I could wash my undies.
GR: And what-have-you.
RW: It was really — You couldn’t wait for the third day. It was — You lived —
GR: So it’s winter in Canada but it’s luxury.
RW: So anyway, when I got to, I say, there. So we lived in this Canadian quarters and we had nothing to do between the whole of December. Nothing to do. ‘Cause, you know, we were not that —
GR: No aircraft, no nothing.
RW: And they started bringing aircraft over. They started bringing Ansons over, like the fuselage separate from the wings and we were supposed to assemble these things there and in the time, in the three months, I think, we made five aircraft. So. You need — How many aircraft do you need? Since I was Flying Training School. So the thing didn’t work at all so they realised it wasn’t going to work because they were sinking so many ships, you see, that they weren’t coming and when they came to us, we had to take an airspeed off and an airspeed indicator from this thing, put it in this plane and — Substituting all round, it just didn’t work. So then the government decided that was for the [unclear]. So they arranged with the American government to get Harvards. And of course America was not at war of course until ‘41, so they were neutral. So they couldn’t give them. They couldn’t supply these to us, so what they did, they flew the planes to the border and left them there. And then they pushed them over the border and we took these planes and flew them to Calgary. That’s how we got the planes. [laughs] So it was fine. And another FTS became the first station there to turn out pilots.
GR: And you was there as instrument fitter, maintenance.
RW: I was instrument repairer.
GR: Ground crew.
RW: I was always senior, you see, because I was, everybody else, I was an LAC. And I came out as an LAC. All these other kids were AC2s. They’d all come in. So of course I was automatically promoted to Corporal. In the meantime, in Britain, they had instrument repairer 1s and instrument repairers 2s. Like when I’d taken the course, it was, that was the only course there was. But then of course as things developed, they started to get all these other things like, they had George, you know, the automatic pilot and things like that which I hadn’t been taught on because it wasn’t part of the set-up at that stage. And so they had to have another course now, because of radar coming into being. So these other people went back on to become instrument repairer 1s. But I was never anything but an instrument repairer 2, so I couldn’t train in Canada as there was no facilities there, so I had to go back again, which I didn’t want to do anyway, or out to [unclear] so they ordered my, they made me an acting corporal. They couldn’t make me a full corporal because this had to be — I had to be a 1, an instrument repairer 1 to get a full corporal. So I went for three and a half years, I was an acting corporal, never got higher, I couldn’t get promotion. But anyway, that’s the way it was. But anyway, it was — The Canadian people were simply marvellous to us. And when it came to Christmas time, I don’t know whether you know this, it’s the custom in the Royal Air Force that all RAF personnel get a week off for Christmas and all the Scots people get a week off for New Year. That’s the custom in the Air Force. So anyway, the Commanding Officer got us all together and said, ‘There’s nothing doing for Christmas, so if anybody wants to go down to Winnipeg.’ So they laid on a military plane. It came from way in the west, picked up all the people and it brought them into Winnipeg there. And when you got to Winnipeg, just before Christmas, they had all this, Women’s Auxiliary in Winnipeg. All lined up on the platform with their husbands and what-not, like that, and you were instructed to give your name and the town you came from. So I was Ralph Wild from Rotherham, Yorkshire, you see. And so I was never claimed. There was about a hundred and some people there picked up and finally a man came up to me and he said, ‘Where are you from?’ And I said, ‘I’m from Rotherham.’ He says, ‘Oh.’ He says, ‘Well I’m from Leicester.’ He says, ‘I was born in Leicester.’ He says, ‘But I’ve already got a Leicester boy but I’ve got a large house.’ He says, ‘And I’ve got two daughters there.’ He says, ‘Do you want to come and stay with me?’ He says, ‘There’s accommodation for you.’ So I said, ‘Fine.’ So I went to stay with them for a week. And I had a ball because they took me to hockey games, they took me to — Oh I had a real, I tell you, for real. They really looked after us. So I get back to camp again one week later, commanding officer gets us together, ‘There’s no change in the arrangements, nothing developing. If anybody’s got any money left and want to go down for another week, you can do.’ You see. So I thought, ‘This is a wonderful idea.’ So I go back, ‘cause I hadn’t spent a penny, on the thing there. And Mrs Hancox, the lady, she says, ‘Anytime you’re in Winnipeg,’ she says, ‘this is your second home.’ And I thought, ‘That’s wonderful,’ you see.
GR: That’ll do me.
RW: So I come back down again and as I get on the platform, I think, ‘I can’t go back to her and say I’m here again,’ you know, ‘for another week.’ So I thought, ‘I’ll go through the assembly line.’ So I went through the assembly line. I was allocated to a man from Liverpool. Mr Ormiston [?], and they were an older couple, so I had a quiet New Year, but it was nothing compared, thing, anyway half way through the week, I’m in Heaton [?] store in Winnipeg and who shall I run into but Mrs Hancox. She said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I said, ‘I’m down for another week.’ She said, ‘Oh terrific.’ She says, ‘I’ve just a bit more shopping and you can come home.’ I said, ‘No, I can’t do that.’ She says, ‘Why not?’ I says, ‘I’m already assigned somebody else.’ ‘Oh.’ She says, ‘I told you could come to me.’ I says, ‘I can’t look the gift horse in the mouth and come two weeks, you know.’ She says, ‘That’s my decision, not yours.’ she says. And it turned out she was very upset. She thought I was looking for something better.
GR: Oh dear.
RW: It hit her straight away I was looking for something else, you know. And it did — it took me three months to convince her that it wasn’t that at all. So then I used to go to her, oh she was marvellous. I say it was a second home to you and I was there for all this length of time and it went on from there. So I think it was [unclear] from one to another. So I had a ball. I say, of course, I met my wife, of course, in 1940, ’41 I guess, I met my wife.
GR: Was she one of the daughters?
RW: One — er — [laughs] No, no.
GR: Oh right.
RW: Oh no. No. There’s a long story there.
GR: So you were actually based in Canada for three years.
RW: Three years.
GR: On instrument fitting, maintenance, yeah, yeah.
RW: I was always a corporal the whole time I was there. So anyway the thing was that we used to go down, every second weekend we were allowed to go down into, anywhere you wanted. Most people went to Brandon or they went to Winnipeg monthly and yes, I had a weekend to stay with these different people, you see, like that. So one of these weekends, it’s one of the fellas that was running the week, he went down and he got allocated, you know, then you went — Stood on the platform, and he got picked up by these people. Every Friday afternoon, there were people, they were waiting, they knew we were coming in you see. And he got picked up by, it turns out that my wife’s family, the Eastons, and they took him and he we was a wine, women and song, you know, you name it, he did it. He could drink and he did it. You name it. And of course my wife’s family were quite staid people, they were quite religious people and no drink at all and blah, blah, blah, so this wasn’t his kettle of fish really, you know. Anyway they took him up to Gull Lake. They had a cottage at Gull Lake you see. So they took him. This was the summer time. So they took him up to Gull Lake and he had this nice [unclear] you see, so when he came back again, he said, ‘Wow.’ He said, ‘I’ve got the perfect place for you,’ he says. ‘Next weekend,’ he says, ‘you go down with them.’ So the next forty-eight, I went down with him. They took me to the Easton’s place, you see. When I went in there and my wife, it turns out, she was a registered nurse and she had certain weekends off as happens, you know, and this one weekend, she had this weekend off. Anyway, sat around the dining room table and I looked across at her, I don’t know what it was, the bell rang and I took one look at her, that was it. I never looked at another girl. It’s the funniest thing I — I can’t explain it, but it was there. It was just something hit. So we got on like a house on — so eventually we got, I was engaged to her and we got married in, June 12th 1943. And so we went on our honeymoon to Niagara Falls and [coughs] and when we came back again, August the 4th, on August the 1st, my aircrew posting came through in 1943, my aircrew posting came through.
GR: So you’ve waited nearly four years, you’ve got married.
RW: Got married.
GR: And then you’re aircrew.
RW: So I then I got sent to Regina there and I became a navigator. And I was, because of my age of course, I’m an old man. Everybody else is eighteen, nineteen, twenty. And of course I’m, by this time I’m an old man.
GR: So your aircrew training took part in Canada.
RW: Yeah. The whole thing.
RW: Yeah, I went through the course, because of my knowledge, of you know, I was experienced before, the experience that I had, obviously, I came out top of the lot. So then I got my commission. So I was posted then back on Bomber Command, and, so that was a bit of a problem, anyway, so, and they sent me back on Bomber Command and they sent me up to Lossiemouth.
GR: So when did you leave Canada? When did you actually leave Canada to come back across the Atlantic?
RW: Well I got, that was in —
GR: Roughly.
RW: In March
GR: ’44.
RW: In March of ’44. March of ’44 ‘cause I got married in ’43 and yes, March of ’44, I graduated as a flying officer. I was top of the class. And so I got preference treatment and I got sent to Lossiemouth.
GR: Was your new wife left back in Canada?
RW: At that stage, yes.
GR: Right, I’ll —
RW: She was a — There’s a story behind that too.
GR: So you end up in Lossie, you’ve arrived in Lossiemouth.
RW: So I arrived in Lossiemouth, yeah. She was back in Canada. And she was pregnant by this time, but anyway I get up to Lossiemouth there and fate, most of my life, fate played a hand. I don’t know what it was. It was there. But I was allocated to these officers’ quarters and on the bed on my left was a flight lieutenant and he was a pilot and obviously quite experienced, you see, and I was navigator here in the second bed and a man on my right was Bert Jenkins and he was a bomb aimer. He was a flying officer too. And he had trained in South Africa. I had trained in Canada. And the pilot had trained in United States. And he went over, trained as a pilot, and he graduated top of his class so they kept him back instructing for two and half years in America, so he came back as a qualified pilot. In fact he became a squadron leader. He took over my squadron. Ted’s squadron. He took over Ted’s squadron. Anyway. So there we were, three men, all — I was twenty-six, Bert was twenty-seven and he was twenty-five. Three men. Everybody else was eighteen, nineteen or twenty. Except us. So we were old men. Old as the whole crew. So anyway, we get together and compare notes and Les [unclear] my pilot, he turned round to me, he said — Well what they used to do is they used to form up crews and they’d actually all assemble in the hangar and get, fraternise around in the hangar there and usually the pilot would select a navigator , the navigator then selected a bomb aimer and he selected a wireless — and they go down the line like that. And you make up your crew. And that was one of the glorious things about the Royal Air Force. Smartest thing they ever did. They could have said, ‘Joe [unclear] pilot, Sam Small navigator, Willie White, thing.’
GR: Yeah.
RW: Here’s your crew. Go to it. And when they get on to the squadron there, the pilot, the navigator, will say, ‘How the hell could they give me such a do-do pilot? There’s no way I’m going to survive thirty raids and they resent the Air Force for putting him with this fella. So the [unclear] Pontius Pilot. They washed their hands. They said, ‘You make up your own crew.’ That’s also — Anyway, I never did go in the hangar. I never got in a single hangar. Les next to me here, he turned and says, ‘Are you crewed up yet?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Would you like to be my navigator?’ I said, ‘I wouldn’t mind.’ How can I get it wrong and fly — I said, ‘Fine.’ He says, ‘Well let’s, let’s compare notes.’ He says, ‘Let’s go down onto the beach at Lossiemouth, there, and we’ll see what —‘ So we — He was Wesleyan, I was Congregational. He was almost identical education to myself and he had been in America and I said that I’d been in Canada and everything we talked about it, it seemed to jive. And we really hit it off, so anyway, we got back again, he shook my hand and he says, ‘Ok. That’ll be fine.’ Now it turned out he made up his crew, being a flight lieutenant he was able to go to HQ and get access to all the records of everybody and he went down to the records [laughs] and picks. He never would admit it. But he picked his crew. So he had an ace crew, believe you me. So anyway. When we — We did the exercises there and the final exercise was a five-hour cross-country trip from Lossiemouth and I went from Lossiemouth to Ballymena in Ireland, down to St Ives in Cornwall, over to [unclear] on the east coast, over to Liverpool and Liverpool back to Lossie. And we took off, went through the clouds, get above the clouds like this, and for the first time in his life, Les never saw the ground for five hours. We were at ten-tenths cloud over Britain. He never — So the first time in his life he’s completely at my mercy, you see, as I told him. We got on fine, but I mean, I guess he was, being senior, he knew what was what, so he — Anything, he could pretty well size up where he was. He used to know where he was. But not when you’re above the top. Anyway when we were coming from Liverpool, back to Lossie, he says, ’Pilot to navigator,’ and I says, ‘Navigator to pilot’ he says, ‘Would you mind giving me a course out to sea.’ He said, ‘I’d like to come in, it’s quieter coming in from the sea,’ he says, ‘to Lossiemouth.’ And I thought, ‘What’s he talking about?’ And it suddenly hit me. Between Liverpool and Lossiemouth is the Highlands of Scotland. And we’re letting down, you see, we’re coming down from — Oh Les. Smart cookie. He didn’t want — he didn’t know about my navigation. [laughs] So I took him fifty miles out in the North Sea, turned him round. We came down through the clouds and came down. I went right over the watch tower. Just like that. We taxied to dispersal, he gets out, shuts engines down, [unclear] navigation again. We began a wonderful, wonderful relationship. We had absolutely — Perfectly. He was the only man I ever knew that when we went on a bombing raid, he always requested from me, which I gave him, a miniature copy of the whole thing. He used to have a board strapped to his knee that was the whole route. So when I, ‘cause as navigators, when we went on a raid, we had to go into the navigation room an hour before everybody else. They’d say, ‘Briefing time, 3 o’clock.’ Or something like that. We’d have to go in at 2 o’clock. And we’d get the whole low-down. Where we went. What was everything. The whole shebang. So we had to plot it out on the charts, for the night plan. I made a chart for him. And that, the whole thing. Where we were going, obviously. So when I used to tell him and say, ‘You’re next course will be one, two, five compass.’ You see. And he’d repeat, ‘One two five compass.’ ‘And that’ll be in two minutes.’ You see. And then two minutes later I’d say, ‘Turn now.’ And he’d turn and he’d do it, you know. Right on time. He’d say, ‘On course.’ And I kept checking. Oh, he was quite a pilot. So I say, we hit it off just simply marvellously.
GR: So obviously you’re at Lossiemouth and you don’t yet know which squadron you’re going to.
RW: No. That’s right. When you graduate from this five-hour cross-country tour, they allocate by two things. They allocate you to a place as a crew and how you operate as an individual in your own line. I guess we all passed, flying colours. So that’s how I got to 10 Squadron. It’s a VIP squadron, you see. Allocated to 10 Squadron, so we were a select crew.
GR: Right.
RW: So when we got to 10 Squadron, they told us straightaway, ‘This is shiny ten. You are on shiny ten now. We have a reputation. And you’re not going to spoil that reputation. If you don’t meet our standards, off the —’ And that’s true. They kicked them off the squadron. Wouldn’t have you. You had to — Ooph. You had to be top.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And you did it. It was your job, you had to do it.
GR: You did it. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about the first, the first raid. The first operation you went on.
RW: Well that — The thing is, they teach you so many things, but there’s so many things they can’t teach you. And it’s all a matter of, in other words, who is the most important man in the aircraft? Have you ever figured that out? There’s seven men in the aircraft. There’s a pilot, navigator, wireless operator, flight engineer.
GR: Bomb aimer. And two air gunners.
RW: And your two gunners. Yes, I’ve often been asked, ‘Who is the most important man.’ Have you ever figured out who is the most important man in the aircraft?
GR: It’d be a cross between the pilot and the navigator ‘cause without the pilot, you can’t fly the plane and if you get lost, you need the navigator.
RW: You’re right. But the answer is everybody.
GR: Yeah.
RW: If that tail gunner doesn’t shoot down that fighter, I can be the most marvellous navigator in the world, it’s not going to be a tinker’s damn. I’m gone. So I depend on him. He depends on me. Everybody depends on everybody else. And you make sure. My pilot did. You make sure you does your job.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And that’s the secret of senior crews as far as I’m concerned. You knew your job, you had to be up with it, like in other words —
GR: And you all trusted each other.
RW: Well, like Les and I. If we were going to go to, say go to Dusseldorf, well we’d automatically get books out. We’d go to the library for books about Dusseldorf and about it, you know. And also study the area around there, so if ever we got shot down, we wouldn’t be, it’s, ‘What the hell do we do now?’ You’d have to know where the railways are, you know, and this sort of thing like that, so we did this. Nobody said you had to. But there again, it’s the extra things you did, for your own good. A lot of the fellas, ‘Nah.’ Same as the ditching. We had the ditching. We used to go to Bridlington harbour for ditching. Well when you went to Bridlington harbour for ditching, you had to do it. They used to time you, you see. You had — The aircraft only stays afloat for so long. It goes down. So everybody has their assignment. Like as a pilot, he had bring it in but then the navigator, I had to take a fix that, where we were and I had to get the walkie-talkie [unclear] we got out into the dingy. You know. The bomb aimer — We all had our jobs. And the wireless operator used to press the key, thing there, and that was the reconnaissance thing there, so they’d got to pick up that key, you see. They had to pick up the sound. The key and the whole Monty on that base. All these things and he had so many seconds to do this. And we did, I think six or eight times we went to Bridlington harbour. We had to do one. The requirement was one but he took, he stood there, ‘Not good enough, let’s do it again.’ [laughs] But we did, but we did. But I mean it’s life and death. And he realised, you know, you only get one shot at this thing, you’ve got to do it right. And so, he brought along a lot of those fliers what to do. He was a wonderful pilot really. Really something. So. So on the first raid, he also laid down the law that nobody mentioned anything about anything but the operation of the aircraft.
GR: Yeah.
RW: Period. You never say, just, always, pilots and navigator, navigator, pilot, blah blah. All business, business. As a matter of fact, after a few raids I was called in by the navigation officer, he says, ‘Would you like to fly as second navigator on this thing. This fella’s got a good record but he’s lousy on his trip. There’s something wrong. Could you try that?’ I said, ‘Ok.’ So I went to second navigator with this man. And he was a flying officer too. And we get in the plane there and they’d been flying for a short time there then the bomb aimer chips up there, ‘I was in the [unclear] there last night there. I went to so and so. Oh, I had a piece of tail.’ And so on. He was yapping away like this you see. And they were talking like this all the time.
GR: Just idle chatter.
RW: Yeah. So I stood this for about half an hour and I was getting worried. So I thought this is not right. So I finally said, ‘This is the second navigator speaking.’ I says, ‘I’ve been on so many raids,’ I says, ‘This is the first raid I’ve ever been on when I’m scared stiff for my life that I will get it.’ I says, ‘Unless we can have better co-operation on this plane — Nobody says anything about anything, only the operation of this plane. Unless it relates to the operation of this plane, I want no other idle conversation whatsoever. And I want every one of you to automatically tell me you understand that.’ And I went round through all seven men. Including the pilot. And there wasn’t another peep out of anything. So when we, we went on the raid. Came back again. So when later, I went before the navigation officer, he says, ‘What do you think?’ I just told him what I thought. And he went and looked at the charts and he says, ‘My God, look at this. Wow.’ And you could see that that first thing, he was — ‘Cause he couldn’t help it. He’s trying to concentrate but he can’t help but listen to this stuff. And it turns you off. You’ve got to concentrate on what you’re doing. And from the moment I laid down the law and I flew according to my instructions, he was fine. I saved that kid’s life.
GR: Did that crew make it, do you know?
RW: I never knew.
GR: You never knew, but that —
RW: ‘Cause when I came back again, he turned round to the boy and says, ‘Would you like to change your crew?’ He says, ‘I wouldn’t mind, Sir.’ They took him off. So it just shows you. That’s right. I saved that kid’s life, I’m sure I did. And that’s the way it was. Anyway. Raids, oh, all different kinds of raids. But it was a matter of, again, Les tutored us. The air force had spent thousands and thousands of dollars training you. You had to give back. They didn’t want to waste that money. So you had to give them their money’s worth. So I say, you make sure, if you’re going to do it at all, you must do it well. So nobody did anything but their best. Although we did [unclear]. We just did it.
GR: You survived.
RW: That’s right. Yes, I know. It was probably partly due to that, that this happened because other things — We went on one raid there, they put on the raid three times. They put the raid on and then because the weather was acting up there, they cancelled it. So of course, you know, the tensions had existed, things like that so the bar is always opened afterwards, you know. It’s not going to fly. And they turned round again and they put it on again. So these fellas had been drinking at the bar a bit and of course my crew incidentally, five out of the seven men never drank. And only two men smoked. Can you imagine? One crew. That was just that way. Like, Bert used to smoke. Les and I didn’t of course. So of course there was this rationing, of course. We used to get the coupon once a month so I get a rationing for smoking and a rationing for cigarettes, for chocolate. So Les would get Bert’s chocolate ration one month, I get his chocolate ration the other month but we both gave him our cigarette ration. We used to give it to him, so he had three lots of it. That’s how we worked it all the time. But — On that same basis. But things like that, it was all worked in beautifully, you know, how it all worked together for each other. But I say, on this raid I was telling you about, we put on this raid and after — All briefed again and ready to go, it was scrubbed again. The third time they put it on and it stayed on. So when we came in for briefing the third time, the commanding officer stood up there and says, ‘Anybody that’s been drinking at the bar must organise to go and see the medical officer before he leaves and he’s got something for you. You must all take it.’ And he had a jar, like a gallon jar, I guess, filled with this white fluid. I don’t know what the hell it was. You had this. And anybody that he —, pour some of this and I’ll give it them, you see. Like this. Well it was the custom of course, when you’d been on a raid, the navigator and the pilot always went in to see the intelligence officer and you gave a report on what you’d seen, what you’d done. Anything unusual. You always — Anything unusual. Like, when they had this and they heard music being played and this thing. Now music being played is unusual but it doesn’t mean a thing really. But if fifty or sixty people talk about music —
GR: Say the same thing, yeah.
RW: There’s something different. And they had to figure out what this music was, you see. That sort of thing. And it turned out that they, in the early stages of radar, they were controlled from the ground, you see. Automatically. So when they went up, they said they knew, the ground knew at all time, what height you were flying, what speed you were flying but they had to relay this to their [unclear]. Initially they gave it to them verbally, to tell them what to do, you see. So we had to get around that. So anyway, we get around that, as we had aircraft which had men speaking fluent German. Absolutely perfect German. Absolutely. And so when they called up they’re giving instructions, our man would be, ‘Don’t listen. That’s this —’ The other fella — And of course here you are. Who are you going to believe? The two fellas talking perfect German here. Who do you believe? You’re both on the same wavelength. You know. And so they had to figure out a way to overcome this, you see. So they hit upon the idea that if an aircraft went up like, of course as you know, we used to fly dog-legs.
GR: Yeah.
RW: You fly dog-legs. Which is a dual [?] concept. In other words, a dog-leg helps me as a navigator. If I go from point B to point C, I have to hit it, you know, you’re allowed a two-minute margin. Maximum two-minute margin. You had to be on the target within two minutes. No ifs and buts. That was laid down. So you had to be within this two-minute all the time. So if I’m at point B and going to point C, and I’m not going to make that thing, that point in the required time, what do I do? I alter course before I get to point C and turn my course to the next course, to the next leg, and I cut the triangle. So I get to point D on time.
GR: On time.
RW: Now that’s a job, you see, like that. Now the Germans didn’t, they knew, but you see it put them off because they said, ‘Oh they’re going to go to so-and-so. No. Oh no. They’ve changed. They’re going to so-and-so.’ So they had to advance, they had to tell the fighters ahead of the time, all the time. ‘They’re coming to so-and-so.’ And they had to — So, you know, it served them, they couldn’t figure out exactly where we were going to go. So it worked both ways in that connection. But, as I say, it was this where the intelligence officer had to figure out all these different things. How you got around these different things like that. But —
GR: So what happened at war end?
RW: Anyway this man —
GR: Go on. Sorry.
RW: So when we came back from this raid there, this one man admitted to the intelligence officer, he’d flown about five hundred miles when he suddenly came to. He’s in the aircraft. He’s flown the plane. He’s taken off perfectly. And he suddenly came to. He’s flying a plane. He’d sobered up. [laughs]
GR: God!
RW: Just shows how this stuff, I guess, worked on him. Can you imagine. The man. Instinct. He flew by instinct. And suddenly came to. He came out of it.
GR: Probably had a good flight engineer.
RW: Whatever. It just goes to show these things do happen.
GR: Oh God, yeah.
RW: But one thing leads to another. But as I say, it was all [unclear]. Les said, ‘When you’re going to bomb, you go over the target.’ And, wow, how we got on. Like in other words, how I got separated from the others was, we went to a place called Recklinghausen and we’re going on to the target like this, you see. I always take them to a target point, I like, I guide them to there then the bomb aimer and the pilot and I’ll take over and they go over the target, ‘Left, left, steady, zero.’ That’s nothing to do with me. So I automatically take five minutes. When they’ve gone through the target. You don’t drop the bombs and go. You had to keep on. Going straight and low. Because there’s all these other guys doing the same as you. You can’t deviate ‘cause otherwise you’d cause accidents. So anyway I had to analyse from point so-and-so, and then I had to tell him what course to fly to come back home. Anyway he takes the thing over the target, but the thing is that we’re coming over the target there and there’s three or four different ways you can bomb. You can either bomb through the clouds or you can bomb blind or you can bomb according to what they tell you. You know, they tell the instructor which type of thing and how to set the fuses. So anyway, we’re coming over the target there and he says, ‘Oh.’ He says, ‘I can’t see the target.’ He says, ‘I can’t see the target.’ I said, ‘Do you want me to bomb blind?’ Like, you know. I came round, coming to the thing and he says, ‘Oh.’ He says, ‘Wait a minute.’ He says, ‘There’s a patch of blue sky over the side there.’ He says, ‘Not too far away.’ He says. ‘That’s probably drifted over the target.’ And Les says, ‘We’ll go round again.’ Well, Christ. You know. So he goes round again. He comes round again for the second run-in like this. And we’re going for this second run-in again like this and he goes, ‘Oh,’ he says. ‘We’re not quite over the target. We just missed it.’ Les says we go round again. Well by this time, we’d written it off. So we come round the third time, you see. And it was — We were the only ones there. Everybody else had gone. They’d all bombed blind, you know. Then I went up front and saw it. I could see, oh it was beautiful. And we’d bombed — And of course they can back-plot on this thing there. They tell you exactly where your bombs fell. So we get back to base, you see, and it were reported that we had [laughs] gone around the target three times. And it got to HQ because — And Mahaffey, he goes round to the squadrons there and he picks out people that have distinguished crews and, you know, and they get, as you know, advanced into whatever it was. So then, he came to the squadron, you see, and the squadron, he says, ‘I had a crew last night that went round the target three times. I want to see them right away.’ [laughs] So he came and spoke to us, so-and-so, that’s, so take it from there. So we got selected as Ace Crew sort of thing. So we did improvements from then on, but, so I got taken off to do extra navigation. So we had to do mine-laying, you know. Gardening they called it. And we had to go like from Lossiemouth or wherever it was. We had to go over to the Norwegian coast and hit the coast at exactly the right spot then you turned the aircraft so many degrees like this, and you’d count whatever it was, like that, and you dropped the mines, you see, like this. ‘Cause mines go in the water, eh?
GR: Yeah yeah.
RW: So there’s no sign at all. But then you had to come, back then, brought back, and that was given to the navy and they back-plotted, so you had to be dead accurate [emphasis]. And believe you me, you’re going in at low level and they’re shooting everything but the kitchen sink. [laughs] God. Some of this stuff. Things still coming back, oh ya, ya, ya.
GR: [laughs]
RW: I lived through it. Anyway. So they had to make thing that we had to drop these things there and then they would know exactly where the bomb, they would know what the ship had to avoid and this sort of thing like that. So that’s, when we graduated from that, oh, I’ll never forget that as long as I live though. Oh. And I can just imagine what the Dambusters seen. There’s things coming out —
GR: Low level. Yeah, yeah.
RW: You had to hit it bang on. It couldn’t deviate. You had to hit it bang on. Then turn. Exactly the right thing and drop. But we did it. Les was bang on. He was good.
GR: Yeah.
RW: So anyway. I did my bit.
GR: And the war finished.
RW: Yeah, well then that’s another thing too. When the war ended, my squadron, of course being in Bomber Command, they decided that the rest of the — The Adriatic war was still continuing so my squadron was taken off Bomber Command and changed to Transport Command, so 10 Squadron became Transport Command.
GR: Oh right.
RW: So we were then trained to go out to Burma to drop supplies to the troops in the jungle. In Burma, you see. So we were switched from our Halifax 111s to DC 111s. Dakotas. And we had to practice dropping supplies to the troops and we had to practice jungle things. We had to go back to, what was worse than anything, we had to go flying on, going back to the flying by the stars. Like, that’s one big thing. At the beginning of the war, the big problem was we were using astronavigation. We were using the nautical tables which were what the navy used. And of course the navy go at twenty knots. We’re going two hundred and forty knots. And we had to use these tables to work it and we had to — When you used a sextant, of course, you ‘d, before you went on a raid, you had to check the azimuths for what stars you want to use, you see. You get these azimuths and you put them down on the chart there and get — you take a shot. You go up into the dome and you’d set thing there and you hook it, the star, the aircraft. Oh God, it was pretty grim. Anyway, you take, and it goes for two minutes then the blind goes down. Take the azimuth and go down again. Mark it in my chart there and go and see what the next azimuth was, put this on the sextant. Go back up again. It takes two minutes. Takes a minute to go down, go back again. Another two minutes. Go back down, a minute again for another two minutes. Go back down again. Then I had three shots to work out. Now if I got — Worked all these calculations out. If I got within twenty-five miles of my target, that wasn’t bad navigation. That’s how they navigated at the beginning of the war.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And so in fact they still do. And — On long trips, they had to, by the stars, pointers. And so, oh, I hated that, but when they were using it, you could have the option to take a sextant with you. But I never even took a sextant.
GR: You never bothered. No.
RW: I was never going to use the blooming thing anyway, so, I think it was too cumbersome anyway. But I say, you had all this working to do. And working it all out, and then — Now, they realised, the air force, that things had to change. They had to improve. So the only thing was, they were losing aircraft by, you know, not flying on track, so they first of all instigated this flying, what they called ‘in the stream’. You had a five-mile path through the sky and you had to stay within this five-mile path through the sky. You had a thousand bombers. You see, your rendez-vous point was say, Reading, shall we say. And we’d have to meet at Reading. There’d be three waves of three hundred aircraft in each wave or something. It’s a path, you see. So then you go down there and you’d have to take — That’s another thing too. You were given the time you take from Reading, the raid starts at Reading.
GR: Yeah.
RW: To go to Cornwall, shall we say. But it doesn’t tell me when to leave Welbourn. I had to be there at that time. There’s twenty-four aircraft, don’t forget. Twenty, between twenty and twenty-four aircraft. I can’t think now. You taxi down, you go and get the thing, wait for the red light, you see. And you could be number one or you could be number twenty-four. You don’t know ‘till you get to the end of the runway, what number you are. So number one takes off. And you have to get to Reading. I’m number twenty-four. Now I’ve got to get to Reading —
GR: Same time as him, yeah.
RW: So I had to take that time, so I had to make him go like the clappers. What it was, he had to climb high, to cushion me. You’re taking off and climbing at least five thousand feet. So. Oh. It was hazardous. I mean you didn’t know. You couldn’t do a thing about it until you [unclear]. Oh. So you had to finally get to this place. You had to start with this two-minute, this two-minute margin. You had to take off and keep within it all the time. But it worked. If you did it. But it kept people together, this what they call the five-mile path through the sky. Now the Germans, they did, they had ways of tracking you. They could home onto you. Now what they did was, they rarely came into the stream. If they came and attacked you, the bomber, they’d get the bomber but his tracer would be visible to, for all the other bombers and they’d have a go at him.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And all – Saying, the fighter pilot goes way in to get this fella like that when there’s all these fellas going to shoot at him. So they used to stay on the — They knew exactly what speed you’re flying. Yeah, you’re on radar. They could fly on radar. And that’s where in my situation, I had complete control of other things. Like, everybody had Gee. Some had Gee and H2S. Most of the people had to live by that. Now we had access to all those different things because we had to pick up and get more accuracy. And that’s the secret of the whole thing, but I say, they, so they would follow you. Just after you like that and if somebody drifted out of that five-mile path through the sky, you was picked off just like that. They came along. Followed with you.
GR: Yeah.
RW: Some stupid clot there. So that’s — Navigation, they realised is so critical. It had the five-mile path through the sky which corrected it to some extent, then they had this timing which was very important, and then they had this, after all this, this control like they had at the end and it saved aircraft terrifically. ‘Cause they could find out how many men had been shot down. But I don’t know if you realised that the success rate on — The Lancasters were a more efficient aircraft. They could carry a bigger bomb load, they could carry more accuracy and they were faster. They could fly higher. They had certain advantages over us but they had limitations on other aspects. Whereas the Halfax 111 was better in other respects and it would benefit one way or the other. And, how can I explain it. They had ways whereby you could keep accuracy going with the other. More so than in the Lanc. Also the success rate of evacuating an aircraft was far superior in the Halifax. In other words, I think it was seventeen percent. I think the maximum, like for every Lancaster that was shot down, the chances of success was only seventeen percent, in other words, the exits from an aircraft. In a Lancaster, there’s a big spar, number one. That was their big — They had this big spar, Lancaster and you couldn’t, with fully-clothed and all this thing, with the parachute, get over the spar, get to this thing there. The Halifax on the other hand got rid of three people in the front. Like where I was, where I was sitting, I was facing this wall here, right behind me in the floor was the escape hatch. Right behind me, attached to the wall there was my parachute. So if you said, ‘Bale out.’ All I had to do was to turn around, unhook the thing there, put on my parachute.
GR: And out.
RW: Lift up the thing like that. Out I went. And the wireless operator was right beside me there. He came out.
GR: He did the same.
RW: And the three of us could get out. No problem at all.
GR: Thankfully you didn’t have to do it.
RW: No, but I say, it was there. But the Lancaster didn’t have that chance. The pilot, what chance did he have to get, bale out over the top? But the thing is that the other fellas, they had to go to — oh yes, tail gunner, I guess, he could turn his —. Turn around and go out backwards. But things like that, but the other fellas, I mean the mid-upper gunner for instance, where did he go?
GR: Where did he go? Yeah.
RW: Chance of him getting out there is —. So the chances, as I say, I think was seventeen percent.
GR: Quite a few people I’ve spoken to —
RW: The success rate with the —
GR: Who served on both aircraft —
RW: That we had twenty-seven percent against their seventeen. So that’s considerable really when you think about it. The amount that might succeed and all things like that, so I liked the Halifax. It was, it was a different type of aircraft. I meant the Lancaster was strictly designed as a wartime machine for doing a wartime job, which it did. Whereas the Halifax, really, was a commercial aircraft which had been converted to flying in the wartime. That’s what it amounts to. And. So we had more, a lot more, we had a lot better — My compartment where I was, a little tiny navigation compartment, whereas the navigator in a Lancaster was really cramped, you know. And I had the wireless on my right there. I mean I could, whilst I was doing my wind-finder, I passed the winds, just like this, one piece of paper, to him like that. And he just put these into code and he’d send them off to HQ like that you see. I just had to hand it to him. He put his arm over. There you go. Away it went. Was the way we did it. They had to move.
GR: Move about.
RW: Yeah. So we had advantages over them that’s for sure. But, anyway. We came through.
GR: You came through. Did you keep in touch with the crew after the war?
RW: Well, I say, I’ve got only one alive now.
GR: Yes.
RW: Hugh at Hexham. My wireless operator. He was good.
GR: We’re going to go and see him, aren’t we so —
RW: Yeah, he’s a good kid. But the others of course, they’re all gone by.
GR: Over the years.
RW: One died of cancer and well, Bert, my bomb aimer, he came over to Canada. All my crew came over to Canada and stayed with me. Well, they came over for two of the reunions. Quite a few of them. Les was not a, he wasn’t the type, he didn’t drink at all, of course, he didn’t think that’s in his bracket, so I finally got him to one. I think he went to one. The very last one, I think he came to. But he wouldn’t come to any of the other three. But most of the others did come. But when they came, I used to take them to the Rockies and take them on trips everywhere for a couple of weeks or something like that.
GR: Yeah.
RW: So we hit it — But I say, it was — The wonderful thing about Bomber Command is that, is the camaraderie. Like it’s, as you say, after the war, we all stick together. We’re brothers.
GR: Yeah.
RW: I never forgot. They say, ‘I saved the life of, they saved my life.’ You know. So it’s just one of those things. It’s, you do things instinctively I guess. For survival.
GR: Yeah.
RW: And you can’t change that.
GR: No.
RW: So if you’re all working to the same common cause, you have a fighting chance. But if you don’t, it’s, you know, it’s one of those things.
GR: Right. I shall pause the recorder there.
Dublin Core
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AWildR160224
Title
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Interview with Ralph Wild
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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.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Type
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Sound
Language
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eng
Format
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01:17:07 audio recording
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Pending review
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Creator
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Gary Rushbrooke
Date
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2016-02-24
Description
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Ralph Wild grew up in Yorkshire. He originally served as ground personnel with Fighter Command but he later remustered and became a navigator and flew operations with Bomber Command.
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Fighter Command
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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England--Yorkshire
Great Britain
Contributor
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Cathy Brearley
10 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
C-47
crewing up
Gee
ground personnel
H2S
Halifax
Halifax Mk 3
Hurricane
love and romance
military ethos
navigator
RAF Church Fenton
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF North Weald
Spitfire