Browse Items (7 total)

300 Squadron was created in July 1940 at RAF Bramcote, Warwickshire as a part of the Polish Air Forces in Great Britain. The squadron was manned by Poles who had escaped from both the fall of Poland and of France. The squadron fought alongside the…

RAF Faldingworth was in Lincolnshire, five miles south west from Market Rasen. Construction began in 1942 and it opened in July 1943 with concrete runways. A detachment of 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit moved in from August to October 1943 and was then…

Peter Watson was born in South Wales and joined the Royal Air Force in 1943. He wanted to be a pilot but there was a surplus of pilots so he became an air gunner. He crewed-up and flew with 101 Squadron initially, a special duties squadron, and he…

Wanda Szuwalska was sixteen years old when Germany invaded Poland. The family was deported to Siberia by the Russian army. They travelled for several weeks to the Arkhangelsk region where Wanda then worked as a logger. When war intensified between…

Harold Beech could see the activity of several airfields and witnessed stricken aircraft flying back to stations near his home. He also witnessed a crash and describes how he hid in a Lancaster, with the help of the engineer who was billeted with his…

Harold Beech was born in 1933 in Middle Rasen and grew up on a farm. During his youth he lived near several airfields. His grandmother befriended an aircrew and in this interview Harold recounts another encounter with the crew involving lemonade…

Harold Beech was born in Middle Rasen, Lincolnshire. He was six when war was declared and saw the construction of many airfields near his home. As a schoolboy he also watched aircraft being transported on the back of Queen Marys. A lodger with his…