1
25
99
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1875/46447/SHarriganD[Ser -DoB]v180002.mp3
9e1a59f8b5d86e0f3686b1aabcb7d54a
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
Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-06-19
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
Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire
Description
An account of the resource
34 items. Interviews with veterans recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.<br /><br />Interview with Bertie Salvage <br />Three part interview with Dougie Marsh <br />Interview with Terry Hodson <br />Interview with Stan Waite Interview with John Langston<br />Interview with Nelson Nix <br />Two part interview with Bob Panton <br />Interview with Basil Fish <br />Interview with Ernest Groeger <br />Interview with Wilf Keyte <br />Interview with Reginald John Herring <br />Interview with Kathleen Reid <br />Interview with Allan Holmes <br />Interview with John Tomlinson <br />Interview with Cliff Thorpe and Roy Smith <br />Interview with Peter Scoley <br />Interview with Kenneth Ivan Duddell <br />Interview with Christopher Francis Allison <br />Interview with Bernard Bell <br />Interview with George Arthur Bell <br />Interview with George William Taplin <br />Interview with Richard Moore <br />Interview with Kenneth Edgar Neve <br />Interview with Annie Mary Blood <br />Interview with Dennis Brader <br />Interview with Les Stedman <br />Interview with Anthony Edward Mason <br />Interview with Anne Morgan Rose Harcombe<br />
<p>The following interviews have been moved to the relevant collections.<br /><span>Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46454">Kathleen Reid</a></span><br />Interview with Wing Commander <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46467">Kenneth Cook DFC</a><br />Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46456">Colin Cole</a><br />Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/46464">Charles Avey</a><br />Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46470">John Bell</a><br />Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46459">Les Rutherford</a><br />Interview with <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/show/46460">James Douglas Hudson</a></p>
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Interviewer: We’ll start again.
PS: Right.
Interviewer: It’s the 25th of January and I’m here at Westmoor Farm and I’m talking to Peter Scoley who is the sort of founder and landlord of the friends of Metheringham Airfield. Peter, you’ve been in this area for a very long time. Like all your life. Is that right?
PS: More or less. We came to Martin Moor in 1937.
Interviewer: Gosh.
PS: And, but we had to leave of course when the aerodrome was built. That was in 1943. And then Zena and I came back here to live in 1968 so most of my life with a little chunk in the 40s and 50s.
Interviewer: And a bit missing. When you had to leave where did you go to?
PS: We went to another farm at Bracebridge Heath at the north end of Waddington aerodrome a quarter of a mile or so, between a quarter and a half a mile from the end of the northern end of the main runway. And so we were entertained nightly by Lancasters taking off and landing at Waddington.
Interviewer: Right. So, so I mean you wouldn’t have been very old then. About eight years old.
PS: Ahum.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Yeah.
Interviewer: So would you have seen action from Metheringham itself or didn’t you get down as far as here?
PS: No, I never saw Metheringham operations. I only saw it built but not operational. Though on occasion because we had this barn here still operational during the war.
Other: As a farm.
PS: As a farm. Father visited weekly because my uncle really looked after it but my father came here every week and it was on some of those occasions when I was on holiday from school that we saw things like the FIDO operating and the odd aeroplane going in the circuit and so on. But —
Interviewer: Were you allowed to stay up late enough to [laughs] —
PS: [laughs] No.
Interviewer: To see FIDO operating.
PS: The FIDO that I saw operating was actually during the daylight hours. One very foggy day, I can’t remember now whether it was the Christmas holidays or the April holidays. I think it might have been Christmas holidays actually in 1944 it was operating during the day.
Interviewer: Was that a test run or did they actually need it?
PS: I don’t think so. I think it was, I think it was operating because air ambulances were coming in from Europe with American wounded on.
Interviewer: Peter, excuse me.
PS: For Nocton Hospital.
Interviewer: It’s absolutely stone cold. Can you get the girls to come back collect it and warmed up for us.
PS: Righto, duck.
Interviewer: Shall we?
PS: Can you, can you pause?
Interviewer: Yes.
[recording paused]
Interviewer: Stopped it so [pause] So they were running FIDO during the day.
PS: Are we on now?
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Oh right. Yes. I can remember. I can remember it very clearly because on that particular day father was bringing a battery to Smalley’s, the motor engineers of Martin for recharging. In those days if you, if you remember the wireless sets we had weren’t plugged in to the electrics because we didn’t have any but there were on big glass batteries filled with acid that was re, that were recharged every week. And we were coming down to Martin to have this battery charged. To get there of course we had to come through Metheringham Aerodrome. Now, the road was closed but because father had this farm here he had a pass to come through so we came up to the main gate and he showed the pass and we were waved through. But he was warned at the sentry post, guardroom that the FIDO was running and there was a guard on the road, to take directions from him. So further up the road we came across this guard with a 303 rifle and a fixed bayonet and in front of us we’d seen a lorry disappearing into the fog past this chap with a bayonet and father stopped and said, ‘Is it safe to go through?’ And so the guard said, ‘Well,’ he said, ‘That lorry has just gone through,’ he said, ‘So I think you can.’ So off we went and the roar as we went through was terrific and the flames as I recall were not the same as you see on the films and pictures of FIDO working which tend to show a very low flame.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Very close to the ground. The flames that I remember, don’t forget I was eight, nine years old were much higher than that. They were more like eight to ten feet high and they were blue and with a yellowish tinge.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: And the roar was fantastic and the heat terrific. But anyway —
[recording paused]
PS: Switch on then. So we drove through and went off down to Martin to get the batteries recharged. Mission successful.
Interviewer: Yes. It is interesting what you say because all the pictures or almost all the pictures of FIDO are taken at night so the only bit you see is the yellow part of the of the flame and no one every talks about the noise. They only talk about the flames and the fumes and everything like that.
PS: That is my recollection of it.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Don’t forget as I say I was eight nine years old.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: And that is my memory.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Fickle though it might but with a picture that I have of FIDO is quite different from that shown in the books.
Interviewer: Yes. Well, that’s, that’s quite amazing. So what was going on at Waddington? I presume that you had a much closer view of, of events there.
PS: Not really. I suppose because one was only at home during school holidays though obviously during those weeks you got the aircraft flying overhead every night taking off on operations. And being only half a mile or so from the end of the north, north south runway at Waddington fully loaded Lancasters coming over twenty or thirty at a time and skimming the house by about sixty to a hundred feet the noise was rather shattering and if you were trying to get to sleep a fairly, you were given a fairly impossible job.
Interviewer: Did you ever get used to it?
PS: No. Never really got used to it. But you counted them out and you counted them back. The other thing that I recall from my bedroom window there was an air raid siren two hundred yards away on the AV Roe aircraft factory roof end and every now and again it would go off. And I don’t know whether anybody remembers air raid sirens these days but believe me in those days if it went off the heart raced a bit.
Interviewer: It is frightening.
PS: We, I was ill with measles at the time but in March of 1945 Bomber Command suffered the last intruder raids of the Luftwaffe when various night fighters flew over aerodromes in the UK and shot the place up and on two occasions that happened at Waddington. On one occasion the bomb dump was set on fire and we had shell cases littering through the trees. You could hear them hitting the trees and bullets whistling through the air. That was rather frightening and then they did in fact manage to set the Waddington bomb dump on fire one night. And the —
Interviewer: What were the bombs, were they exploding?
PS: No, they weren’t. No. Fortunately not.
Interviewer: Because they weren’t fused, were they?
PS: No, they hadn’t got that far.
Interviewer: No.
PS: But something was burning there.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: And various people from RAF Waddington came around to all the outlying houses, farms and everyone telling everyone to get out quick because if the bomb dump went off it would level a fair, it would level a fair area of land.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: And so mother explained that we couldn’t because my brother and I were in bed with measles and my father was in bed with flu. ‘Righto,’ said the officer. He said, ‘We’ll lay an ambulance on.’ As it turned out before the ambulance arrived they got the fire under control so it was all cancelled but it was a little bit of a hairy old do for an hour until things got under control.
Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine.
PS: Well, that was the nearest I got to the war.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Because most of the time with being away at school, in the latter half of the war at anyrate, in Yorkshire we very rarely saw any aircraft up there and German aircraft in particular. But further south of course things were rather different.
Interviewer: Yes, I can imagine. Well, I grew up in London but I’m not quite old enough. It’s strange because I have a memory of getting out of bed and lifting the edge of a blackout curtain and looking out and seeing searchlights panning the sky. Now, it couldn’t have been the Blitz because I wasn’t around in the Blitz.
PS: No.
Interviewer: So I’m not quite sure what this memory was.
PS: Well, don’t forget there was a little Blitz in 1944.
Interviewer: Ah, well it could have been something like that. Yes. Yes. I didn’t think much about it. It just looked like all pretty lights in the sky you know.
PS: Yeah.
Interviewer: Obviously, obviously very young. Now, you are now with your connections to the Metheringham Airfield and considered by lots of us as, as a chief archivist.
PS: God. Yeah.
Interviewer: You must have the odd story to tell. Things that were related to you or, or something like that.
PS: Oh God. Now, my mind’s gone a blank.
Interviewer: Of the —
PS: Yeah.
[recording paused]
PS: Yeah. Yeah, well perhaps for a start we could talk about the origins of the, of the Visitor Centre because they were not simple. Zena and I had thought, had been wondering for a long time about a Memorial to the Bomber Command people here during the war but we could never really think of anything that we could do. We didn’t particularly want, just want to put a Memorial slab or stone. We wanted something a bit different but nothing occurred. In any case at that time we were both busy with our own lives. Me in farming and Zena with local government. But it just so happened one day that Zena was at a meeting with North Kesteven District Council officials at a time when — [beeping noise] I think I can —
Interviewer: Ok.
[recording paused]
PS: So anyway, Zena was at this meeting with the North Kesteven District Council at a time when they were having to rethink the financial aspects of local government because agriculture which up ‘til then had been the mainstay of rural life was ceasing because of the end of the Cold War was ceasing to be as important as it had been hitherto. And so the local authorities were having to reassess businesses and tourism and all sorts of other things that were happening in their areas in order to get revenue for the county. One of the things that the Tourism Department at Sleaford was concerned with was the wartime aviation and they were creating what became known as the Airfield Trail which it was hoped would attract tourists into the area to go around and visit all these old aerodromes which by then were becoming of national interest. So during the conversation Zena happened to mention that we had got some old wartime, World War Two buildings on the farm and would they be interested. They said they would. They’d come and have a look which eventually they did and it was decided that one of the buildings in particular would be a good place to have what at that time was going to be known as a Memorial Room. The council would renovate part of it in which the exhibition would be and then the place would be open for people to visit when they were in the area. At that time nothing more was planned. It, coincidentally one of our neighbours on the other side of the airfield had built a Memorial to 106 Squadron which in 1992 was dedicated at a squadron reunion.
Interviewer: Was this the one that is actually on the airfield site?
PS: Yes.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: When it was dedicated and we talked to the squadron about our plans they showed interest and asked to be invited to the dedication of the Memorial Room when it was opened. And we said yes. In the meantime, John Pye who had done the other Memorial said would it be appropriate for him to build another Memorial outside the Memorial Room? So we thought it was a good idea and which he did. That was in 1993 and in July of ’93 at the squadron reunion they came here for the dedication of the new Memorial and —
Interviewer: Partial opening.
PS: Yeah [pause] Ok? Yeah. So anyway, the squadron arrived in July of 1993 for the dedication of the second Memorial.
Interviewer: When you say the squadron you mean the Squadron Association?
PS: The Squadron Association.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: Yeah. And had a look at the half-finished Memorial Room and there was a preliminary suggestion that it mightn’t be a bad idea if we were willing for it to be also the Squadron Museum. So anyway, we all went away and thought about that. We had to think about this. They, and they came back again in October of that year when the Memorial Room was finished and opened for a month for local people to come and have a look and we had an official opening with the chairman of the North Kesteven District Council and a little ceremony and we closed again for the winter at the end of the month. During the winter we had a general meeting when the Friends of Metheringham Airfield was set up. The title was, as I recall was suggested by our number one member who has only just died a week or two back. Ron Mitchell. And we’ve been the Friends of Metheringham Airfield ever since and the committee was formed and it went on from there. The following summer in July when the squadron came down for their reunion, or the Association came down for their reunion they of course visited the Centre and we had a little party there. And one of the squadron members had a quiet think and thought it would be a good idea if we renovated the end room. Well, we hadn’t got any money to do that at the time so nothing much happened. But it just so happened that the poor chap died that winter. Then we found out that he had left us two hundred pounds in his will for to help with renovations at the Centre. And so we renovated the end rooms and they’re now called the Carey Powell Room.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: In memory of our benefactor who’d in fact had been a rear gunner here. He was a two tour rear gunner which was a very rare bird indeed.
Interviewer: Yes.
PS: In World War Two.
Interviewer: It certainly was.
PS: And a very nice man and a great supporter. So we were very pleased to, to name the room after him and to keep his name alive. So the, the museum has sort of developed from the there. The next job we did was to clear out the old gymnasium which had become redundant as far as the farm buildings were concerned and so, we cleaned it out and freshened it up. And since then we’ve had all our meetings and things in there. The lectures we started in the Centre in 1994 as it happened. I think Jim Shortland gave the first one and I believe we had about seventy people in there at the time. But gradually as time went on numbers increased and the centre wasn’t big enough and so we moved across to the school room, what is now the school room and a gymnasium until that became too small when we started having the lectures and things in the main room in the gymnasium. And that basically is an outline in how we first started and has carried on to this day with under the guidance of a group of very dedicated volunteers. We are now a charity and which has been helpful with the financial aspects of the friends and we hope that interest will survive because we believe that the memory of Bomber Command people deserves it. There may be controversy over what Bomber Command did during the world war but one can’t get away from the fact that fifty five thousand men, young men, young boys lost their lives serving their country and that is the main thing as far as we’re concerned in preserving the memory of 106 Squadron.
Interviewer: That’s, that’s really the core purpose of the organisation, isn’t it? That it’s totally wrong and mercifully I think the country is now decades too late beginning to realise it totally wrong to blame brave volunteer —
PS: Yes.
Interviewer: Service personnel.
PS: Yes.
Interviewer: For the mistakes, perceived or real of their political masters.
PS: Absolutely. It’s been most unfair and again well we’ll not mention any politics in this but we know the guilty ones.
Interviewer: I’ll not mention any names. Well, Peter, I think we’ve come to the end of the session now and thank you ever so much for talking to us and I’m sure that your name won’t exactly be in lights but your voice might well be coming out of peoples computers. Thank you.
PS: [laughs] Right.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Peter Scoley
1008-Scoley, E Peter G
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SHarriganD[Ser#-DoB]v18
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944
1945
1992
1993
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:23:19 audio recording
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending revision of OH transcription
Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jeff Williams
This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
Description
An account of the resource
Peter Scoley was born on a farm which became RAF Metheringham during the war. After the war Peter and his wife were fundamental in creating a museum on the site.
106 Squadron
bombing
FIDO
Lancaster
memorial
perception of bombing war
RAF Metheringham
RAF Waddington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2417/42749/LEvansD2-1593692v1.2.pdf
f8326c03ab5f28e49d0f04334d64c055
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
Evans, Donald
Description
An account of the resource
31 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer Donald Evans (b. 1925, 1593692 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, objects and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 106 and 83 Squadrons.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Michael Evans and catalogued by Barry Hunter,
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-11-15
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Evans, D-2
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
Donald Evans RAF navigator’s, air bomber’s, air gunner’s and flight engineer’s flying log book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LEvansD2-1593692v1
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Description
An account of the resource
D Evans’s Flight Engineer’s Flying Log Book covering the period from 19 June 1944 to 26 June 1947, detailing his flying training and operations flown as Flight Engineer. He was stationed at RAF St Athan (4 SoTT), RAF Winthorpe (1661 HCU), RAF Syerston (5 LFS), RAF Metheringham (106 Squadron), RAF Warboys (PNTU), RAF Coningsby and RAF Hemswell (83 Squadron). Aircraft flown in were Stirling, Lancaster and Lincoln. He flew on 13 night operations with 106 Squadron and 11 with 83 Squadron, total 24 (but his total in log book is 25). Targets were Munster, Karlsruhe, Kaiserlauten, Brunswick, Bergen, Dusseldorf, Dortmund-Ems canal, Hamburg, Trondheim, Munich, Horten, mining (Danzig Bay), Bohlen, Lutzkendorf, Wurtsburg, Molbis, Cham and Komotau. Post war he flew on one Exodus operation, one Cooks Tour operation and 3 Dodge operations. His pilots on operations were Flying Officer Anderson, Flight Lieutenant Brown and Flight Lieutenant Watts. The four final pages of his log book are filled with autographs from his colleagues.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
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
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Terry Hancock
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Czech Republic
Germany
Great Britain
Norway
Czech Republic--Chomutov
England--Huntingdonshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany--Borna (Leipzig)
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cham
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Kaiserslautern
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Munich
Germany--Münster in Westfalen
Germany--Würzburg
Norway--Bergen
Norway--Horten
Norway--Trondheim
Wales--Glamorgan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-09-23
1944-09-26
1944-09-27
1944-10-14
1944-10-28
1944-11-03
1944-11-04
1944-11-11
1944-11-21
1944-11-22
1944-11-26
1944-12-14
1944-12-17
1945-02-19
1945-02-20
1945-02-23
1945-03-03
1945-03-05
1945-03-07
1945-04-14
1945-03-16
1945-04-07
1945-05-17
1945-04-18
106 Squadron
1661 HCU
83 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
Cook’s tour
flight engineer
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Lincoln
mine laying
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Exodus (1945)
Pathfinders
RAF Bridlington
RAF Coningsby
RAF Full Sutton
RAF Hemswell
RAF Metheringham
RAF Snaith
RAF St Athan
RAF Syerston
RAF Warboys
RAF Winthorpe
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2417/42593/MEvansD2-1593692-211115-12.1.jpg
c85ff110da81287878e240b350434052
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
Evans, Donald
Description
An account of the resource
31 items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer Donald Evans (b. 1925, 1593692 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, objects and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 106 and 83 Squadrons.
The collection was loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Michael Evans and catalogued by Barry Hunter,
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-11-15
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Evans, D-2
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
Don Evans' Leave Passes
Description
An account of the resource
Six leave passes issued to Don.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six printed notes with handwritten annotations
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MEvansD2-1593692-211115-12
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
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Wales--Glamorgan
83 Squadron
aircrew
RAF Coningsby
RAF Metheringham
RAF St Athan
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41091/PHenningtonAJM17060004.2.jpg
ed84b5f20f63ff75e718c611911c1246
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41091/PHenningtonAJM17060005.2.jpg
7d481b8e232bd6495cbf22b35a68bb75
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
Henington, A J M
Henington, Albert John Maurice
Bertie Henington
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-10
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Henington, AJM
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Albert John Maurice Henington (1604946, 154960 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, diary, photographs and documents. He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Tim Henington MBE and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
Relief Map of Lincolnshire's Bomber Airfields
Description
An account of the resource
A relief map with bomber command airfields marked with their elevations. There are two copies.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Map
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two copies of a coloured relief map
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHenningtonAJM17060004, PHenningtonAJM17060005
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
RAF Balderton
RAF Bardney
RAF Barkstone Heath
RAF Bottesford
RAF Coningsby
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cranwell
RAF Digby
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF East Kirkby
RAF East Retford
RAF Finningley
RAF Fiskerton
RAF Grantham
RAF Harlaxton
RAF Hemswell
RAF Kirton in Lindsey
RAF Langar
RAF Lindholme
RAF Manby
RAF Metheringham
RAF Newton
RAF North Coates
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Peterborough
RAF Saltby
RAF Scampton
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Spilsby
RAF Strubby
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Waddington
RAF Wigsley
RAF Winthorpe
RAF Wittering
RAF Woodhall Spa
RAF Woolfox Lodge
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1921/41044/LHenningtonAJM154960v1.1.pdf
38c80e5a6f6c2ae7710ee401d4803876
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
Henington, A J M
Henington, Albert John Maurice
Bertie Henington
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-10
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Henington, AJM
Description
An account of the resource
32 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Albert John Maurice Henington (1604946, 154960 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, diary, photographs and documents. He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Tim Henington MBE and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
Bertie Henington's Royal Canadian Air Force Flying Log Book for Aircrew other than Pilots
Description
An account of the resource
A J M Hennington’s Navigator’s Flying Log Book covering the period from 02 September 1943 to 30 July 1946. Detailing his flying training and operations flown as navigator: Brüx, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Düsseldorf, Friedrichshafen, Gdynia, Gottingen, Gulf of Gdansk, Hamburg, Harburg, Horten, Ladbergen, Leuna, Mittelland Canal, Munich, Neubrandenburg and Oslofjord.
He was stationed at RCAF Rivers (1 CNS), RAF Dumfries (10 OAFU), RAF Silverstone and Turweston (17 OTU), RAF Wigsley (1654 HCU), RAF Syerston (5 LFS), RAF Metheringham (106 Squadron), RAF Warboys (PFNTU) and RAF Coningsby (97 Squadron). Aircraft flown in were Anson, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster and Lincoln. He flew on sixteen night and one day operations with 106 Squadron and three night operations with 97 Squadron, total 20 plus two mining and three Exodus.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Norway
Poland
Germany--Böhlen
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Düren (Cologne)
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Harburg (Landkreis)
Germany--Ladbergen
Germany--Borna (Leipzig)
Germany--Munich
Germany--Neubrandenburg
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Germany--Altenburg (Thuringia)
England--Cumberland
England--Lincolnshire
England--Huntingdonshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Scotland--Dumfries
Norway--Horten
Norway--Oslo
Poland--Gdynia
Canada
Manitoba
Czech Republic--Most
Czech Republic
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Germany--Friedrichshafen
Germany--Göttingen
Germany--Ladbergen
Germany--Leuna
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Germany--Munich
Czech Republic--Most
Manitoba--Rivers
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-11-02
1944-11-04
1944-11-06
1944-11-11
1944-11-16
1944-12-13
1944-12-16
1944-12-18
1944-10-19
1944-12-28
1945-01-07
1945-01-13
1945-01-16
1945-02-07
1945-02-08
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-04-07
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
HenningtonAJM154960v1
106 Squadron
97 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lincoln
mine laying
navigator
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Coningsby
RAF Dumfries
RAF Metheringham
RAF Silverstone
RAF Syerston
RAF Turweston
RAF Warboys
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/40707/BUsherJBurnsDRv2.1.pdf
ff214d0f2eba5bf7dc5480adea65b339
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
Burns, Bob
Denis Robert Burns
D R Burns
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Bob Burns (1525609 RAFVR) he flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron and became a prisoner of war when his aircraft, Lancaster ND853 was shot down 27 April 1944. Collection includes an oral history interview with John Usher about Bob Burns, photographs, documents, various memoirs of his last operation and captivity. It also contains recordings of his saxophone being played.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Usher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-07
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
Burns, DR
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
Bob Burns - the hundred mile walk (Stalag Luft VII to Berlin) with saxophone and clarinet
Description
An account of the resource
Gives account of last (and 7th) operation to Schweinfurt 26/27 April 1944. His Lancaster was shot down and the pilot, wireless operator, flight engineer, and both gunners were killed. The bomb aimer and navigator (Bob Burns) were made prisoners of war. All crew listed. Photocopy of grave registration report for crew who were killed. Account of shooting down of their Lancaster by Hauptmann Walter Bornschein who was also killed with his Ju 88 crew in the incident. Continues with Bob's evasion and capture near Arnstein. Continues with account after capture, hospitalization and then time at Stalag Luft VII. Mentions journey by foot from Bankau in Silesia to Stalag IIIA near Berlin. Follows account of repatriation and post war service. This is followed by extract from "Men of Air: the doomed youth of Bomber Command (Kevin Wilson)". This is followed by details of Harold Brad (their rear gunner) including his RCAF service book, identification, a letter reporting the loss of his aircraft and a photograph. Then follows details of William Stevens (mid upper gunner) with his identification, his service book, a photograph and newspaper cutting, Finally, a squadron photograph of 106 Squadron personnel in front of a Lancaster. Submitted with caption 'Wt. Off Bob Burns 106 Sqn Nav-THE 100 MILE WALK'.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-26
1944-04-27
1945-01-19
1945-02-15
1945-04-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)
Poland
Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)
Germany--Berlin
Canada
Manitoba--Brandon
Alberta--Calgary
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Bad Tölz
Manitoba
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Canadian Air Force
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Fourteen-page printed document with b/w photographs
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
Pending review
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BUsherJBurnsDRv2
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
106 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
Dulag Luft
final resting place
flight engineer
killed in action
Lancaster
Mosquito
navigator
Pathfinders
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Metheringham
shot down
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 7
the long march
Victoria Cross
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2216/40631/BDixonMDixonMv1.1.pdf
0e155ee83b563115a56feaece34b9c11
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
Dixon, M
Dixon, Margaret
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. The collection concerns Leading Aircraftwoman Margaret Dixon (b. 1926, 2137383 Royal Air Force) and contains a memoir and photographs. She served in the WAAF and was stationed at RAF Hospital Matlock and RAF Coningsby.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Heather Raad and catalogued by Trevor Hardcastle.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-08-02
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
Dixon, M
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
Margaret Dixon's account of her early life and service in the Women's' Auxiliary Air Force
Description
An account of the resource
13 handwritten pages, Margaret describes in some detail her early life and service in the WAAF as a nurse.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Margaret Dixon
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1926-09-26
1945
1946-09-26
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Cheshire
England--Derbyshire
England--Devon
England--Lincolnshire
England--Staffordshire
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. Bomber Command
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
13 handwritten pages
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BDixonMDixonMv1
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
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
bombing
childhood in wartime
entertainment
evacuation
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
ground personnel
home front
military living conditions
military service conditions
prisoner of war
RAF Coningsby
RAF Halton
RAF Hednesford
RAF hospital Matlock
RAF Metheringham
RAF Wilmslow
training
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/40622/BUsherJBurnsDRv1.2.pdf
8e50bbead4832ca871f9db1c1236b184
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
Burns, Bob
Denis Robert Burns
D R Burns
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Bob Burns (1525609 RAFVR) he flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron and became a prisoner of war when his aircraft, Lancaster ND853 was shot down 27 April 1944. Collection includes an oral history interview with John Usher about Bob Burns, photographs, documents, various memoirs of his last operation and captivity. It also contains recordings of his saxophone being played.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Usher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-07
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
Burns, DR
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Bob Burns (1525609)
Bob Burns was a F/Sgt Navigator with 106 Sqdn based at Metheringham in Lincolnshire. Bob’s memories of Metheringham were lots of mud and for an Ops squadron lots of “Bull”. This Bob attributes to the squadrons last CO, Guy Gibson before he left to form the Dam Buster Sqdn.
Training was still in “Shades of Gibson”
In Bob’s first 48;hrs at Metheringham 30 were in the air. When not flying, dingy parachute and other drill.
This intense training later proved to be a life saver.
On 25th April 1944, having just returned from a 10 hour raid over Munich Bob along with other members of his crew (Pilot F/O Cyril Bishop, Radio Op. Sgt. Percy Daw, Engineer Sgt Ted Healy, Bomb Aimer Sgt Jack Pickstone, Mid Upper Gunner Sgt Harold Jo Brand, Rear Gunner Sgt Stevens) climbed aboard Lancaster J-Jig having been briefed that the nights operation was to be Schweinfurt. A small town in Bavaria containing a factory which produced a major supply of Germany’s ball bearing requirements. This was to be Bob’s 7th Op.
After flying a very hostile route because of night fighters and the opposite weather conditions to those forecast they arrived over the target at 17,000 ft, around 2.30am, amidst fires, smoke, searchlights and flak. To quote Bob “Like arriving in Hell”
Jack Pickstone, the bomb aimed [sic], gave his skipper the approach instructions for bombing.
On release of the bombs the Lancaster leapt into the air having got rid of its deadly load.
Almost immediately the Lancaster was attacked by a night fighter at which point the rear gunner, Bill Stevens shouted “I’ve got the bastard, he’s going down”.
Simultaneously an alarming crunching noise ripped through the Lancaster and the bomber now on fire went into a steep dive. Bishop, the pilot shouted ‘Bale out’, and the crew reacted immediately. Bob, after clamping on his parachute, climbed with difficulty over the main spar and headed for the rear door.
By now the aircraft had gone into a spin and the crew found themselves pinned to the floor due to the G-force.
Bob had resigned himself to the inevitable when, at around 3000 ft, there was an enormous explosion and he was propelled upwards and outwards through the rood of the bomber, being knocked out in the process.
The cold night air brought him to his senses and it was then that all the previous training kicked in. He pulled the parachute rip cord and floated gently to earth, arriving with a bump in a ploughed field.
He discovered that the battle dress trouser covering his right thigh was torn to shreds and although in no pain his thigh was covered in blood.
Bob had landed near to a small town called Arnstein, 20 Km. south of Schweinfurt.
After collecting his parachute and hiding it under a hedge he looked up to see the last remaining Bombers turning for home.
“Lucky buggers” he said out loud “back home for breakfast and here I am in a field in Germany”
Hearing train engines shunting nearby Bob headed for what he hoped would be his route for escape.
He was struggling across the station yard when all the lights went on and he found himself facing German guards, all with their rifles pointing at him.
After realising he was badly injured he was taken to a local cottage hospital run by Nuns.
Bob and Jack Pickstone were the only crew members of Lancaster J-Jig to survive.
[page break]
Of the 199 Lancaster’s detailed to bomb Schweinfurt, 16 were from 106 squadron. Twenty one aircraft failed to return which included five from 106 squadron. (35 aircrew who would not be at breakfast the next morning)
After around 3 months of treatment in a military hospital with parts of Lancaster J-Jig finally removed from his thigh he was taken to Stalag Luft VII at Bankau in Silesia
Bob had been a semi professional musician before joining the RAF so imagine his surprise when, on 24 November, a crate of musical instruments arrived at the camp, curtesy of the Red Cross.
Bob immediately laid claim to the saxophone and the clarinet which he says were better quality than the ones he had at home.
He immediately set about forming a 14 piece orchestra (see photo) writing all the music for the other instruments.
Unfortunately Bob’s time at Stalag Luft VII was not to be for long as the camp had been built on a direct path of the advancing Russians heading for Berlin.
At 3.30am on the 19 January 1945 around 1,500 prisoners were given two and a half days rations and evacuated from Bankau into a raging blizzard and one of the severest winters in memory.
Bob of course was one of these prisoners carrying with him his most prized possessions, a saxophone and a clarinet.
Although regularly falling from his grasp because of the cold, no way was he going to leave them behind.
For three weeks they marched in atrocious physical and weather conditions sleeping in barns and cattle shed surviving on very limited food.
They arrived at Goldberg On 5 February, after walking 100 miles, suffering from dysentery, malnutrition and frostbite. They were then herded into cattle trucks and taken by rail to Stalag IIIA at Lukenwalde near Berlin.
Stalag IIA was greatly overcrowded and food was just as scarce as on the walk.
Amazingly very few prisoners died on this walk
The Russians arrived on 21 April, handed over the prisoners to the Americans and Bob finally was sent home on two weeks leave.
Bob remained in the RAF, now promoted to warrant officer, until the end of 1946, returning to his musical career.
He then retrained as a civil engineer, a job he continued to do until retirement in South Devon along with his wife Anne and two sons, Peter and Tim.
Bob carried on playing his treasured saxophone with all its memories for family and friends until he died age 95 in 2015.
In 1990 Bob returned to the site at Arnstein where he had been shot down, meeting with residents who had been children at the time of his crash.
He received a very warm welcome and was treated to official lunches by the Mayors of Arnstein and Schweinfurt which he found quite embarrassing.
When the Lancaster crashed the local Pastor arranged for the dead crew to be buried in the local Church which must have been very brave. This defied Hitler’s edit that allied airmen should not have a Christian burial.
After the war the crew were buried in the military cemetery at Dambach, Bavaria.
[page break]
During the same visit Bob met with a German researcher seeking information on a German JU 88 nigh fighter pilot (Haufman Walter Bernschein) who had been shot down over Arnstein during the raid and he though was probably the pilot who had shot down Bob’s Lancaster.
“The Long Road” by Oliver Clutton-Brock gives a detailed description of the 100 Mile walk.
“To Hell and Back” Chapter Seventeen “by Mel Rolfe describes Bob’s experience in being blown out of the Lancaster J-Jig.
John Usher (Brother in Law)
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
Bob Burns (1525609)
Description
An account of the resource
Account of last operation to Schweinfurt on 25 April 1944. Describes attack by night fighter. Aircraft spinning down and Bob eventually blown out of aircraft by explosion and parachuted to safety. Initially evaded but captured while injured. Recalls time in Stalag Luft 7 where he played Saxophone and clarinet in orchestra. Gives account of long walk (100 km) back to Berlin area in face of advancing Russians. Continues account after the war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J Usher
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-25
1945-01-19
1945-02-05
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Germany
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)
Poland
Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)
Germany--Berlin
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
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
Three-page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BUsherJBurnsDRv1
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
Cara Walmsley
106 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
bomb aimer
bombing
evading
final resting place
flight engineer
Lancaster
navigator
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Metheringham
shot down
Stalag 3A
Stalag Luft 7
the long march
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/40621/BBurnsDRBurnsDRv1.2.pdf
13956a0faf79bfc21be66fdb3be96a72
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
Burns, Bob
Denis Robert Burns
D R Burns
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Bob Burns (1525609 RAFVR) he flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron and became a prisoner of war when his aircraft, Lancaster ND853 was shot down 27 April 1944. Collection includes an oral history interview with John Usher about Bob Burns, photographs, documents, various memoirs of his last operation and captivity. It also contains recordings of his saxophone being played.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Usher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-07
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
Burns, DR
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
Bob Burns computer compendium
Description
An account of the resource
Draft of memoir with contents page - giving service history. Followed by pages with reference to photographs for name and rank, deferred service, ground training dates and places, training in Canada, back home for service flying, 5 Group, 51 base, 106 Squadron, last operation, Luftwaffe pilot who shot them down, graves of crew members, escape attempt at Arnstein, ministry of defence records, Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 7, return home and flying after the war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
D R Burns
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1946-01-19
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
England--Sheffield
England--London
England--Sussex
England--Brighton
England--Newquay
England--Manchester
Canada
Manitoba--Winnipeg
Nova Scotia
England--Harrogate
England--Lincolnshire
Germany
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)
Poland
Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)
England--Shropshire
England--Leicestershire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Cornwall (County)
Manitoba
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
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
Eleven-page handwritten document
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BBurnsDRBurnsDRv1
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
10 OTU
106 Squadron
1660 HCU
29 OTU
5 Group
aircrew
bombing
Caterpillar Club
Dulag Luft
escaping
final resting place
Flying Training School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Ju 88
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
navigator
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
RAF Abingdon
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Cosford
RAF Metheringham
RAF Scampton
RAF Syerston
shot down
Stalag Luft 7
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/40609/PBurnsDR22030016.2.jpg
1f34d12fb58ba644b5dc7a1579623ab8
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/40609/PBurnsDR22010015.2.jpg
90005d0fc2d30dee75ecc02f818705dc
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
Burns, Bob
Denis Robert Burns
D R Burns
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Bob Burns (1525609 RAFVR) he flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron and became a prisoner of war when his aircraft, Lancaster ND853 was shot down 27 April 1944. Collection includes an oral history interview with John Usher about Bob Burns, photographs, documents, various memoirs of his last operation and captivity. It also contains recordings of his saxophone being played.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Usher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-07
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
Burns, DR
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
Casualty form - crew details
Description
An account of the resource
Form giving details of crew: pilot - Bishop C A, (annotated orig burial Schrouchenbach village), navigator - Burns D (annotated in hospital), W Op - Daw D (annotated dead), flt eng Healy H R, bomb aimer - [.....] (annotated safe), rear gunner - Stevens W G (annotated dead), mid upper - Brad H A (Annotated dead). Aircraft Lancaster 'ND853'. 106 Squadron, target Schweinfurt. Two versions of the same image. Submitted with caption 'Photo of an RAF ops form- aircraft loss card- with aircraft and crew details post raid- date unknown'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-04-26
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-26
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Germany
Germany--Schweinfurt
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Service material
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One side printed form with handwritten entries
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PBurnsDR22010015, PBurnsDR22030016
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
106 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bomb aimer
flight engineer
killed in action
Lancaster
missing in action
navigator
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Metheringham
shot down
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2258/40606/PZoltySP2201.2.jpg
f6c0d58c6584b9e158ebadab445286aa
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2258/40606/AZoltySP220804.2.mp3
d723f8bd89964b7a42f51931b288e357
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
Zolty, Peter
Solomon Peter Zolty
S P Zolty
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Solomon Peter Zolty (1922 - 2022). He flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-08-04
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
Zolty, SP
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
HB: Right. This is an interview between Harry Bartlett and Peter Zolty. Peter was a navigator with 106 Squadron in Bomber Command, 5 Group and the interview is taking place at his residence, current residence and it’s the 4th of August and it’s, I wonder what the time is?
Other: 10.47.
HB: It’s 10.45.
PZ: That’s the day, the day when the war broke out didn’t it? 4th of August it was.
HB: Something like that. Yeah.
PZ: I think. Or something like that anyway.
HB: So, can I first —
PZ: Ask me —
HB: Can I first of all thank you Peter for agreeing to be interviewed. It’s important we get your story recorded. What I’d like to do if possible is to start with where you were born and where you sort of went to school and got your first job.
PZ: I was born in, well in Birmingham. In Erdington actually. Lindridge Road, Erdington and we lived then in Speedwell Road and that’s where, that’s where I grew up. I went, there was a Jewish School there in Birmingham. There still is actually but it’s not in the same place and I went there. And I also went to Five Ways School which was at Five Ways in Birmingham but I was removed from there because of misbehaviour [laughs] So that’s all I can really say about that. After that I went to Handsworth Junior Technical School and I never, I never went to university. I never got to that standard.
HB: Did you get any qualifications at the Technical School?
PZ: No. I didn’t. I don’t have any qualifications at all.
HB: Right.
PZ: Other than TBE. Taught By Experience.
HB: I like that. So what, what age were you when you left school, Peter?
PZ: Pardon?
HB: What age were you when you left school?
PZ: When I left school? I must have been about fifteen.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Handsworth Junior Technical School that was.
HB: And did you get, did you get work straight away?
PZ: Yeah. I got a job as a laboratory assistant at, I think it was at Birmingham University in the Chemistry, in the Chemistry Department as far as I can remember. Nothing, nothing very special. You know, first jobs were always fifteen shillings a week in those days.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. So, but you obviously moved on from, from the University.
PZ: Pardon?
HB: You moved on from the University.
PZ: Only, I was only a lab assistant anyway.
HB: Yeah. Where did you, where were you in the ‘30s? 1930s. When it was coming up to the war.
PZ: Oh, I lived at home in Speedwell Road, Birmingham.
HB: Yeah. And were you, were you working somewhere else then as you were coming up to the war starting?
PZ: I’m trying, I’m just trying to think. I can’t remember if I had a job before that.
HB: Was it, would you have got a job at Lucas?
PZ: No. No. Not straight away.
HB: No.
PZ: I was a laboratory assistant. Oh, I was a laboratory assistant to some —
HB: Yeah.
PZ: To some bloke. I can’t remember his name now but he said I was, he said I was useless. I didn’t turn up to time on [laughs] mostly but anyway —
HB: But you managed to move on.
PZ: I managed that —
HB: And eventually —
PZ: Well, my father was at Lucas and he got me a job at Lucas.
HB: Right. What were you doing at Lucas?
PZ: I was, I was in the tool drawing office first.
HB: Oh.
PZ: I later graduated to machine tools.
HB: Right.
PZ: And I worked my way through various levels of machine tool design and various complicated machine tools. I used to, I used to design them.
HB: Right. Right. Very important work then.
PZ: Hmmn?
HB: Important work.
PZ: Yeah. I did try training as a pilot but I think God, God decided I wasn’t a pilot.
HB: Did, how did you, how did you come to join the RAF?
PZ: Well, I always wanted to fly so I, I went along to the Recruiting Office and signed on and things just seemed to hang about so I went and asked my immediate boss if anything had been done to prevent me from going on to do other things. And he said no it hadn’t. Well, I said, ‘Well, if I’m worth keeping on I’m worth another five shillings a week.’ But he said I wasn’t [laughs] and so I, I joined the Air Force and said I wanted to be a pilot. I went over to Canada on the Empire, Empire Air Training School. I got so far but they decided that I wasn’t a pilot so I remustered as a navigator. I remember sending a cable to my mother at home what had happened and I trained as a navigator then.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And —
HB: Which, which school? Can you remember which school you went to in Canada?
PZ: Handsworth Junior Technical —
HB: No, sorry the —
PZ: I went to Five Ways first of all. A grammar school.
HB: Yeah. No, the, the —
PZ: And then I got in a bit of trouble there.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Because I pinched another boy’s, I pinched another boy’s book.
HB: Right. No. I was thinking, I was thinking of the RAF training school in Canada.
PZ: Oh.
HB: Can you —
PZ: The Empire Air Training Scheme. That was at [pause] I think it was, yes I think it was London, Ontario as far as I can remember.
HB: Yeah. Yeah, that yeah that’s great. So you started off as a pilot.
PZ: No. I started off with the intention of being a pilot.
HB: Oh, right. Yeah.
PZ: And they decided eventually that there I was washed out. I wasn’t good enough.
HB: Right.
PZ: And I wouldn’t argue with that. I made a, made a bit of a mess of one or two landings which I shouldn’t do and lost height on turns which I shouldn’t do so I remustered as a navigator.
HB: Right.
PZ: And that I was perfectly capable of doing. I mean modern airliners the pilots don’t navigate they’re just told which direction to fly in.
HB: So you’re the most important man in the aircraft then.
PZ: Eh?
HB: You’re the most important man in the aircraft.
PZ: In a sense I suppose so. Yes.
HB: Yeah. So —
PZ: But the flights used to last up to about thirteen hours sometimes with the same pilot. Nowadays I gather they have to change pilots after about eight hours or something like that.
HB: Yeah. So you went to Canada.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Did you finish your navigation training in Canada?
PZ: Yes. Yes.
HB: You did.
PZ: And then came back here to [pause] what was the name of the place? I can’t remember the name —
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Of the station we were at and and crewing up was a scrappy sort of business. You just, we were, we used to do cross country runs which meant running around the perimeter of the aeroplane, of the airfield. And as we were running around one bloke said he was a pilot and so I said, ‘Well, I’m a navigator’ and that way we crewed up.
HB: Oh right. So you were just sort of a bit of a runaround.
PZ: It’s a bit of an ad hoc.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Yes, being —
HB: So they didn’t put you all in a big hangar and say, ‘Go and sort yourselves out.’
PZ: Oh no. No. They —
HB: No.
PZ: We did more or less sort ourselves out.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. What was the name of your pilot? Can you remember?
PZ: Yes, it was Daniel. Maurice Daniel. He went on to become a group captain and the air attaché in Washington but I don’t know whether he’s still alive.
HB: Right.
PZ: He finished up with the DFC because any crew which finished a tour of operations the captain got the DFC.
HB: Yeah. You see I’ve got it down until I saw your logbook I’ve got it down that you were with 106 Squadron.
PZ: That’s right.
HB: But you actually started —
PZ: I started with 49 Squadron.
HB: With 49 Squadron. Yeah.
PZ: But that was a 49.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
PZ: Yeah, that was just one of those things that happened. I was only with 49 Squadron for a short time and then went to 106 Squadron which I served a complete tour of operations.
HB: Yeah. You flew, you flew your first, it looks like you flew your first proper night time operation in August ’44 with Flying Officer Daniel to Kӧnigsberg.
PZ: Where?
HB: Kӧnigsberg. That was your first operation.
PZ: We went there two nights in a row actually where I was thinking of casually about it sometimes and the flight to Kӧnigsberg was thirteen hours each way. Nowadays pilots are only allowed to do eight hours.
HB: Yeah. That was, so that was a very long, a very long operation.
PZ: It was a long operation. We did it two nights in succession actually.
HB: Yeah. And that was your first one.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: How did you feel after you’d done your first operation and landed?
PZ: Relieved.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: There was always, because, because first of all there was always before going there was an operational meal in the Mess which was always bacon and eggs and on coming back there was another operational meal which was all bacon and eggs. And I remember the, we wore soft leather flying helmets in those days and you took it off and the relief in getting a good scratch [laughs] You can’t imagine it.
HB: So [laughs] Yeah. So the helmet was an interference with you.
PZ: Yes, soft leather.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Not the bone domes that they are now.
HB: Yeah. So obviously your religion is Jewish.
PZ: Yes.
HB: How did you, how did you go on about eating?
PZ: About what?
HB: About eating your operational —
PZ: Yes.
HB: Eggs and bacon?
PZ: Oh, the local minister was a Dr Cohen. A Jewish minister who was a giant among British Jewry and he said, ‘If we found that we were unable to follow the dietary laws we would not be committing any sort of a sin’ and he gave, he gave us the all clear really. Because more often than not the operational meal would be egg and bacon.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. And just, that just sort of begs the question, Peter. A lot, a lot of Jewish aircrew were given the opportunity to fly under a different name and have a different religion put on their dog tags.
PZ: I never came across that funnily enough.
HB: No.
PZ: No. Never.
HB: So nobody actually suggested it to you. You just carried on as you were.
PZ: No, I just carried on.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And crewing up we used to go for, just to keep fit to run the circuit around the outskirts of the airfield and it was a casual attitude. I was running around once and one bloke said he was a pilot and I said, ‘Well, I’m a navigator.’ Boom we were a crew.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Can you remember any of your other crew that flew with you?
PZ: Yeah. There was, there was Danny. Maurice Daniel who went on to become a group captain. There was Fred Berry. Nicknamed. Already had a child so we nicknamed him Logan. Ken King was from Gloucester was the flight engineer. Peter Whaight, W H A I G H T, was the mid-upper gunner and John Keating from Ireland was the rear gunner. He went back home to Ireland. Pete Whaight went home to Middlesex and Johnny Keating went to Ireland and went to jail we heard. And that’s it.
HB: Did you, did you keep in touch with them after the war?
PZ: No. I didn’t actually.
HB: Right. Right. I just sort of while you were talking I was just having a quick look through your logbook which obviously you started in August ’44 and you’re flying. You’re flying operations virtually every three or four days.
PZ: Yes. Usually two days in a row and then odd nights it was night bombing.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Mostly night time and it was two nights in a row and then one night off. That would raise it roughly.
HB: Yeah. Because I noticed. I noticed in here you did a couple of, you did a couple of daytime operations.
PZ: Yes. We did.
HB: One to Boulogne and one to Le Havre.
PZ: Yeah, they were. I thought there was one to an island in Holland called Westkapelle. There may have been which I remember putting in the logbook.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: In brackets — very dicey [laughs] because there was, you know there was no danger in it at all. Usually, thought it wasn’t only my name. It wasn’t only bombing. We did minelaying in the Kattegat as well. The island between Denmark and Sweden.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Can you remember?
PZ: The actual water there. The sea.
HB: Yeah. What, can you remember what that was called in your book? In your logbook.
PZ: My what?
HB: Can you remember what those operations were called in your logbook?
PZ: They are. They were recorded in my logbook.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Yes.
HB: Yeah. So —
PZ: You’ve got my logbook there haven’t you?
HB: I just noted —
PZ: That is my logbook isn’t it?
HB: Yes, it is.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: It is and it’s quite interesting. You got an operation [pause] it’s just —
PZ: We did some mine laying once.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: I remember that.
HB: It says on in November 1944 you were attached to BDU.
PZ: Sorry?
HB: BDU for —
PZ: BDU.
HB: For LORAN training.
PZ: Sorry?
HB: For LORAN training.
PZ: LORAN.
HB: Yeah.
[recording paused]
HB: We just had a member of staff just step in for a minute. That’s all.
[personal talk about shower gel]
HB: Okay. Yes, it’s got, it’s got in your book attached to BDU for LORAN training in November ’44 and it’s got your pilot was a Flight Lieutenant French.
PZ: Flight lieutenant?
HB: French. And it says you went to Lyon. You flew to Lyon but you had an early return because the PI died.
PZ: I can’t remember that.
HB: No. I’m just, I’ve not seen PI died so I mean I presume that was probably a bit of kit. Something, some equipment in the aircraft. But it —
PZ: I don’t know.
HB: Yeah. It just says, “Early return. PI died.” So —
PZ: Oh, it’s something instrument that is.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. So what was the other one? Sorry.
PZ: The wireless operator was a Fred Berry.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: We called him Logan.
HB: Yeah. That’s a good one that one. You went, you then went back obviously you were only there for a, for a month. You went back to 106.
PZ: Yeah. And once we, once we’d completed a set of operations like that I become an instructor.
HB: Yeah. Yeah, I noticed that. I was going to ask you actually because you did a daylight raid which has, which has been recorded quite a lot in January ’45 against the Dortmund Ems Canal.
PZ: That’s right. Yes.
HB: Can you, can you remember much about that one? That operation.
PZ: Not really. We were probably trying to burst the banks of the canals or something like that but I don’t really remember it now.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: I served in two squadrons as I said. 49 and 106.
HB: Yeah. I think that was when you were flying with 106 and you did, that was your twentieth operation. How would, how would you be feeling then about twenty operations in.
PZ: Oh they were then said to be thirty operations was one tour. But when we got to twenty six we found we’d got another four on top of that. Thirty four. Because we were a very mixed squadron. We had Australian, South African who were, they were, they were army rather than Air Force and the Australians wore the dark blue uniform. Not the dark RAF blue. But yeah, we all mixed together perfectly well.
HB: Yeah. So was everybody in your crew from the United Kingdom or did you —
PZ: No. The bomb aimer was from Canada.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: The wireless operator was from England somewhere. The rear gunner was from Ireland. When he went back home afterwards he got sent to jail we heard. And the mid-upper gunner was from somewhere in Middlesex.
HB: Right. So you’d got a Canadian in the crew.
PZ: Oh yeah. Joe [Howey] was a Canadian.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: He went back home and married his childhood sweetheart.
HB: Oh right. Did you go to the wedding?
PZ: No. It was in Canada.
HB: Right. Yeah. So, so you’re doing, you’re back to doing operations sort of every two or three days into 1945.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: What did, did you have any involvement in the D-Day?
PZ: No, but we —
HB: Sorry, the crossing the Rhine going into Germany.
PZ: Not particularly. No.
HB: No.
PZ: Not that I remember anyway.
HB: Right. Right. Where are we? Yeah. You got one, you’ve got one here where you flew to Czechoslovakia.
PZ: To where?
HB: To Czechoslovakia. A place called [Bruckes]
PZ: Called?
HB: Bruckes.
PZ: I don’t remember the name to be perfectly honest.
HB: No.
PZ: But if it’s there we must have done it.
HB: Yeah. That’s alright. That’s not a problem. So just tell me a little bit about what you, once you’ve got an operation and you’ve been called in to be briefed. You know, that you’re going to go and fly that night.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Or whatever.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: What was, what was the process Peter that you went through?
PZ: Well, the navigators were briefed with forecasts about the weather and talk about the target and all the rest of it and that was it. But then we did a, we had a talk from the Met man telling us what the weather was expected to be like and that was the extent of briefing quite frankly.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: But as I say we flew operations of up to thirteen or fourteen hours which they don’t do today.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: As civilian pilots.
HB: Yeah. Did you, what equipment did you have to help you do your navigation?
PZ: There was something called Gee. G E E, which relied, it was passive in that it relied on joining up two, two timed signals on the ground and it relied on the difference between them and that told you exactly. It gave you a point on where you were. And there was something we called H2S which didn’t mean anything at all other than the fact that it was a signal generated from the nose of the aircraft. But it was never used because the Germans could hold, could home in on that and just pick you off as it were.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: But we, we finished a whole chain of tours. A whole chain of trips. About thirty four roughly and with one tiny little hole in the side of the, inside of the, on the side of the aircraft. ZNU-Uncle it was.
HB: ZN.
PZ: ZNU-Uncle.
HB: Yeah. You’ve, yeah you’ve —
PZ: [PB] 284.
HB: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I’ve got that one.
PZ: Yes. And H2S relied on us, a signal sent out from the aircraft which was not, which was not done very much because the Germans could home in on it.
HB: Yeah. Did, did when you had a hole in the aircraft was that from flak or was it from some other —
PZ: We think it might have been an odd bit of flak.
HB: Yeah. So —
PZ: Only a little triangular hole. No real damage.
HB: So when you set off from —
PZ: It was Metheringham.
HB: Metheringham.
PZ: And Fiskerton previously. I think it was.
HB: Yeah. When you set off from Metherington [sic]
PZ: Yeah.
HB: You were sort of —
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Your pilot would climb you up.
PZ: We all cornered in. We all hove to over Reading so that we then, that we then flew together as a complete, as a block. As a bunch giving some mutual defence.
HB: Yeah. Yeah, and that, so that was so you sort of gathered up at Metheringham and then made your way gradually to Reading.
PZ: Reading. And then we all flew together.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: It made you know allowing for instrument error and so on but it was one big bunch of aircraft flying at the same time then.
HB: Yeah. Did you, did you ever, did you get attacked by night fighters or anything like that?
PZ: No. The only time I was frightened it was a psychological thing and that was when there was another Lancaster flying directly above us with his bomb doors open and I was truly frightened by that until he moved away apparently from us.
HB: I think you were right to be frightened.
PZ: What might have happened.
HB: Yeah. So, so that would be on the bomb run coming in to your target.
PZ: Yeah. We did one or two easy ones I’d say like some over Holland and the Zuiderzee and that sort of thing which were, which were a doddle. And we did mine laying as well on the coast on the sea between Denmark and Sweden.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Did you have, I didn’t notice in here if you ever did a operation to Wessel [pause] Wessel.
PZ: Zeebrugge?
HB: Wessel.
PZ: Sorry?
HB: Wessel.
PZ: Doesn’t ring a bell. I’m sorry.
HB: No. It’s, it’s alright it’s just one. I haven’t noticed it in your book but it’s one that the squadron was in. One that the squadron was involved in. That was, that was getting across the Rhine into Germany.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: That was the bombing just in advance —
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Of that.
PZ: I remember because we had South African members of the squadron as well. They were, they were part of the army. The South African army. It wasn’t the Air Force at all.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And they used to put [unclear] about bigger and better operations and so on. Captain [Pecci] was the officer that particular one. And that was it.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: We had a feeling that other people get shot down we don’t. That was, and that was how you protected yourself in a way.
HB: And so obviously you had a lot of faith in your pilot as well.
PZ: Absolutely. He was very good. I say he, he was flying he was promoted to group captain and he went to, he went off to Washington DC to be the air attaché. I don’t think he’s still alive now.
HB: No. No. The, one of the things we mentioned Metheringham when you were stationed at Metheringham.
PZ: Yes.
HB: Metheringham is quite famous.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Because they they did some experimental stuff there didn’t they for when you were coming back?
PZ: Yeah. We were at Metheringham and Fiskerton.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Two stages we flew from.
HB: Yeah. Metheringham. Didn’t that have these the thing for when when it got foggy?
PZ: Sorry.
HB: When it got foggy. When you were coming back in fog didn’t Metheringham have that experimental system?
PZ: Oh, FIDO. Fog Intense Dispersal Of. If it was on —
HB: Yeah.
PZ: If there was any fog they were along across. One alongside and one along each side of the runway and they got fuel burning in those and it generated enough local heat to lift the, to lift the fog so you could just see down. And we had a special arrangement of, for 5 Group aircraft who would get into what they called the funnels. That’s coming in towards where you were landing and the pilot just, I used to call out to the pilot you know first of all height and direction and then later on funnels as we got down on the ground.
HB: So you were still involved in the, in the landing process.
PZ: In that. In that sense, yes.
HB: Yeah. Yeah.
PZ: We had, there were the, an instrument called Gee. G E E. Never ever knew what it stood for but it was a means. It was an aid to navigation.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And you could, you could use that to guide the aircraft.
HB: Did you ever land using, when they were using FIDO?
PZ: I think we were, we were once. We were diverted. Diverted to Croft up in Yorkshire just once.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: That was presumably because of the landing conditions at Metheringham.
HB: Yeah. And you said at, you said a little while ago that when you came to the end of your tour and yeah you did thirty four, thirty five ops, when you came to the end of your tour you went to operational training.
PZ: Yeah. Just to become an instructor. That was all that it was.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And we, when we and that was what it was. We instructed future navigators or future crews.
HB: Can you remember where? Where you went to?
PZ: I’m not absolutely sure but it might have been a place called Fiskerton but I’m not certain.
HB: Well, I’ve got in your book here it says 6th of April ’45. On the 6th of April 1945 you were posted to Number 29 Operational Training Unit at Bruntingthorpe.
PZ: Oh yeah.
HB: In Leicestershire.
PZ: That was in north, that’s in East Anglia as well.
HB: Yeah. Leicestershire. South Leicestershire.
PZ: Yes. I can’t really. I can’t really remember that. I remember when there were supposed to be thirty tours in an operational life.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And we were sitting in the Mess one night after having done twenty six and I said, ‘Only four to go.’ And one, then they suddenly announced over the tannoy another four operations to go on top of that. And I remember one of the South Africans guys saying what we want is bigger and better tours.
HB: Which I don’t think you wanted did you? By then.
PZ: No. No way.
HB: Yeah. So what, the whole experience of flying on operations. What sort of effect did it have on you Peter?
PZ: I I can remember at the time, I mean we used to get leave fairly regularly and we were at some relation’s house in Birmingham somewhere and I remember sitting at a table like this. That was the only visible evidence ever.
HB: Drumming your fingers.
PZ: Yes. Yes.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: And when we stopped flying that stopped as well.
HB: So, so that was something you.
PZ: It was a bit of nerves I suppose.
HB: Yeah. Where you just drummed your fingers on on your hand on the table.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Yeah. So what, what do you think? What do you think your contribution was in Bomber Command then?
PZ: My contribution?
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Well, we tried to be as accurate as we could. Can’t do more. We weren’t the Dambusters and, but we did, we did, well we dropped quite large bombs in to one or two canals which threw them out of action and flooded the countryside underneath at the same time.
HB: Do you think what you did had a, had a big effect on the war itself?
PZ: I suppose it must have done. We liked to think it did anyway.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. And so coming up to the end of the war you’re in 1945 coming up in to ‘46.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: When did you leave the RAF? Can you remember Peter?
PZ: Yeah. Well, I remember going for [pause] the crew split up and that was that and I remember going for a training course on photography and then I became photographic officer in Italy for about a year. Then I came out after that.
HB: Did you? And what, what was your process for finishing? How did they manage your coming out?
PZ: Oh, it was just being photographic officer in Italy was just a piece of cake really.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Just decided go out. And I was very disappointed that they didn’t fly us home. We came home by train. Called Medloc Mediterranean location overseas. It was. It was —
HB: Yeah.
PZ: We came out and that was that.
HB: Can you remember where you went to be demobbed? Where you got your suit and your trilby hat?
PZ: I can’t actually.
HB: No. That’s fine. That’s fine. I know most of the guys I speak to talk about the demob being a little bit of a, almost a bit of a joke.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: Well, I was demobbed. I went back to work with Lucas’ where I’d been before.
PZ: Yeah. Had they kept your job open for you?
HB: Oh yes. They were, they were under obligation in those days from the government to give people back their jobs once they came back from military service.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: And you were still a single man then.
PZ: I’d, I had a pretty good job in Lucas then. I was, and you know I served out my time and then I opted for early retirement.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just going back to when you were at Metheringham when you were flying operations what did you do for entertainment?
PZ: We used to go to the local pub and have a sing song. That was the main thing.
HB: Did you ever have any shows at the, at the airfield.
PZ: No. No. No. It was self-provided so to speak.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Usually the singing of dirty songs.
HB: Yeah. And, and did you go to the local dances?
PZ: Yes. I couldn’t dance.
HB: Oh, so you didn’t get the opportunity to mix with the young ladies then.
PZ: No. Not really. No.
HB: Oh dear. Right. So, when you look back on your time now, you know you’re a hundred years old now, Peter. You don’t look it I have to say but you’re a hundred years old. You look back on that time of your life. What, what do you think it contributed to your later life?
PZ: Well, it made me thankful to be alive I suppose. That’s the main thing.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Yeah. And I’ve got a, and I have a family now as well. I lost my wife about ten years ago.
HB: Oh right.
PZ: We were married for what, fifty two years. But you know the Jewish community everybody knows everybody and that and, and my wife came from that community and we had Natalie.
HB: Yeah. Yeah. That’s lovely. Well, I think Peter we’ve sort of come towards a bit of a natural end to the interview and I just want to say thank you very much.
PZ: Oh, you’re welcome.
HB: You know, your contribution is there now forever.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: You know, and people can look into and listen to your interview and they can look into your logbooks and they can do it all on the computer nowadays.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: You know, but it is looked after by Lincoln University.
PZ: It’s only recently I gave my grandson my logbook. That’s a fact.
HB: Yeah. Well, I’m going to stop the interview now Peter. It’s [pause] well we’re nearly on forty minutes so we’ve done quite well and can I thank you on behalf of the Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive.
PZ: Yes.
HB: And thank you personally.
PZ: Yeah.
HB: I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s really been interesting.
PZ: Eventually I did go to the Memorial. The Memorial at Erewash in North Midlands. In Staffordshire I think it is.
HB: Yeah.
PZ: Where there was a, there was a Memorial specifically mentioned Bomber Command and I remember going there. And I remember also a group of four of us were in, in London by Marble Arch.
HB: Green Park.
PZ: The arch.
HB: Green Park.
PZ: Green Park. There was a Memorial there and we had, we had the photograph taken there.
HB: Yeah. That’s, that’s the one that the Bomber Command veterans helped to get off the ground. It was —
PZ: I remember standing there while a photograph was taken.
HB: Yeah. That’s lovely. Well thank you, Peter.
PZ: Oh, you’re welcome.
HB: Thank you for that.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Peter Zolty
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Harry Bartlett
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-08-04
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:39:07 Audio Recording
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
AZoltySP220804, PZoltySP2201
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Description
An account of the resource
Peter was born in Erdington, Birmingham. He joined the RAF and was trained at the Empire Air Training School in Canada. He re-mustered as a navigator and was with 49 Squadron for a short time. Peter then joined 106 Squadron and did a tour of 34 operations. Members of his crew included: Maurice Daniel (pilot), Fred Berry, Ken King (flight engineer), Peter Whaight (mid upper gunner) and John Keating (rear gunner). Flights could be 13 hours each way. It was a mixed squadron with different nationalities. Dr Cohen, the local Jewish minister, gave him a dispensation from following Jewish dietary laws. Apart from bombing operations, Peter also did some mine laying on the sea between Denmark and Sweden. As a navigator, he received relatively scant briefings on the weather forecast and targets. Peter describes his navigation aids, and aircraft gathering at RAF Metheringham before flying as a group to Reading. Peter benefited from the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) at RAF Metheringham. In 1945 he was posted to an Operational Training Unit and became an instructor. Towards the end of the war, he was a photographic officer in Italy for a year and then left the RAF. He returned to his job at Lucas.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Julie Williams
Carolyn Emery
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Leicestershire
Canada
Italy
106 Squadron
29 OTU
49 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
briefing
crewing up
faith
fear
FIDO
military living conditions
military service conditions
mine laying
navigator
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Fiskerton
RAF Metheringham
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2223/39869/ABuxtonAG220823.1.mp3
5d29db5ab6d80c540b94f6fe7e7beacc
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
Buxton, Alan George
A G Buxton
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Pilot Officer Alan Buxton (- 2023, Royal Australian Air Force). He flew operations as a navigator in 617 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-08-23
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
Buxton, AG
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
JH: Hello. This is John Horsburgh. I’m here today in Northern Sydney. It’s the 23rd of August 2022 and I have the pleasure of interviewing Alan Buxton here for the IBCC Archives. Good afternoon, Alan.
AB: Good afternoon, John.
JH: Thanks. Thanks for making the time and we’ve just had a brief chat and I think we’re in for an interesting interview here. Why don’t we start off Alan by telling me where you hail from, a bit about your childhood and maybe a bit about your parents?
AB: Yes.
JH: Let’s start. Let’s start there.
AB: I was born in Parramatta on the 4th of December 1920.
JH: You’re an Eels supporter then, are you? Parramatta Eels.
AB: Well, I should be but I —
JH: Yeah.
AB: I’m not all that, you know feisty about different teams you know.
JH: Yes.
AB: Having a favourite team and that sort of thing.
JH: Yes. So did you grow up in Parramatta?
AB: I grew up, yeah my, my, my grandfather owned the Royal Hotel on the corner of Church Street and the Great Western Highway and my father worked in the hotel when he left school. He went to King’s School at Parramatta and he worked for his dad and we lived in Campbell Street, Parramatta. That wasn’t that far away from the —
JH: Yeah.
AB: From the hotel. And my other grandfather, my mother’s father he was the, he was close by at the hotel and he was a produce merchant.
JH: Yes.
AB: His name was William Walter Webb. I, I attended when I was five years of age Parramatta Public School. A little primary school and when I did start there the custom was in those days you had to write with your right hand. If you didn’t write with your right, if you picked up the pen or your slate pencil thing with your left hand teachers would come along and rap you over your knuckles with a ruler. But my mother was a bit sharp and she got a doctor’s letter to stay that I was a left hander and I wasn’t to be made to write right handed. And she produced that to the headmaster and I never ever got a hit on the knuckles because of that letter that my mother submitted to the Head. Lived in Parramatta until I was about six years of age and my dad, we moved to central Concord when my dad got a job as a vacuum salesman. The Electrolux. And he used to go around to the various houses selling Electrolux machines to, you know the various housewives which was pretty good. He was doing very well. It was quite a, you know it was an innovation and he made, he was quite comfortable. He decided he would open up a [unclear] shop.
JH: What’s that?
AB: Well, it’s now they call them a delicatessen.
JH: Oh yes, okay.
AB: And that, this was in Concord West.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And —
JH: Which is now Homebush I think.
AB: Hmmn?
JH: Near Homebush.
AB: Yeah. That’s right.
JH: Yes. I know.
AB: We were going quite, it was going quite well until the depression started and when people then didn’t have the money to be able to buy delicacies from a [unclear] shop or to have afternoon tea or morning teas at the tables because money was so tight and he went broke. And that was when in 1930 and we had a tough time during the depression years. Dad didn’t have, have a job and eventually the war started and then my dad joined up as soon as war started. Joined up the Army again after having served in the First World War.
JH: In the First World War. Yes.
AB: And he put his age back. He was, in 1939 he was forty two.
JH: Yes.
AB: And he said he was thirty four because you had, in those days you had to be over eighteen and under thirty five to get into the Army. When my dad joined up I thought to myself well I’ll join up too. So I, I went and oh prior to that I had seen an advertisement in the paper that the RAF were requiring volunteers for aircrew and there was a five year training course. So I applied for that and I got interviewed. I did tests. English, maths and I managed to pass all those subjects but when I got to the medical they knocked me back. They said, ‘You’re not fit for flying duties.’ Which was the requirement in those days.
JH: Not because you were left handed I hope.
AB: It wasn’t because I was left-handed. They told me that I, my depth perception wasn’t good enough. I wouldn’t be able to land the aircraft safely. So that was before the war started. It was around about, around about the, towards the end of 1938, early ’39. And then when war started I got a call up by the RAAF and I went through the same rigmarole. Did the tests and the result was I wasn’t fit for flying duties.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Which was the requirement in those days. In the early days. So I said to them, they said, ‘Well, you can come in as ground crew and you might be able to remuster.’ And I said, ‘Oh no. I won’t do that.’ I said, ‘I’ll join the Army instead.’
JH: Yes.
AB: So I went in to the Army.
JH: So Alan what did your father say when he, he found out that you’d joined the Army? Did he know about it?
AB: Well, I I put my age up from nineteen to twenty one and of course you didn’t have to produce your father’s mother’s written permission to join you see. So —
JH: Yeah.
AB: So, he was a bit upset about that but he said, ‘Well, what am I going to do with you son?’ He said, ‘If they put you in the infantry I’m going to tell them how old you are.’ He’s remembering the infantry of the —
JH: First World War.
AB : First World War. How crook it was. Anyhow, when I was inducted into the Survey Regiment he thought well that’s a good idea.
JH: Yes.
AB: You’re not going to be stuck in the in the trenches. He was thinking that’s what it was going to be like. And I, I trained in various camps in Australia. Eventually we went to the Middle East.
JH: By ship I presume.
AB: Hmmn?
JH: By ship.
AB: Oh yes. We —
JH: Yes.
AB: I went [laughs] by yeah by, we went to the Middle East by the first trip that the Queen Elizabeth had done as a troop ship.
JH: Yes.
AB: And when we entered, when, as you enter the ship’s doorway on the side of the ship we were handed a card. Each person got a card and on the card was where you were to be quartered and I got a card which says A deck and then a cabin number.
JH: Yes.
AB: When we eventually found out where this was we went up and got in to, inside this cabin and we had this magnificent cabin my mate, Alan [Sear] and myself and it was a luxurious cabin. We had beds. We had our own toilets and showers, a bathroom in this lovely, this lovely cabin. Anyhow, we went in there and started to unload our our kitbags et cetera and a door opened and in comes Captain Reynolds. Our captain. He said, ‘Oh, you two chaps,’ he said, ‘Repack your goods.’ He said, ‘I’m taking over this cabin.’ So —
JH: It sounded too good to be true in other words.
AB: Hmmn?
JH: It sounded too good to be true.
AB: True. Yeah, he was going to take over.
JH: JH: Yeah.
AB: So we talked amongst ourselves and said, ‘We don’t like the idea of that.’ I said, ‘Why does he get to do that?’ So we went up and found the, the ship’s purser and we told the purser who [pause] what had happened and he, he got upset. He said, ‘I decide where you go. You were given that that cabin.’ He said, ‘You’re going to stay in that cabin.’ And he, he over the loudspeaker he called Captain Reynolds into his office and told Captain Reynolds off and Captain Reynolds he was called along with a lot of other officers down to the bowels of the ship and we were in this lovely cabin on A deck. We were a bit fortunate there on our trip to the Middle East.
JH: So did that involve going up through the Suez Canal?
AB: Yes. We went up —
JH: Yes.
AB: Went up through the Suez Canal and then we, when we got to Port Tewfik we got off the ship and transferred to, to rail and we went by train into Palestine and at a campsite called Hill 95 not very far away from Gaza.
JH: Yes.
AB: We did more training there which was tough because it was so hot during the daytime and we had to do all these route marches all over the place. You know all over the sand and hills.
JH: In the footsteps of the Light Horse.
AB: All that lot. Yes. Like that.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And it was tough going but we as I said we had to [fatten our [unclear] stick our legs up] et cetera and build ourselves up and and then when the, it was in July 1941 they started the problem of going in and fighting the Vichy French. Clearing them out of Lebanon and Syria.
JH: Yes.
AB: And we joined that push and we stayed there up around the top of Syria near near the Turkish border around Homs and Aleppo and those places. We stayed up there until we were, we had to come back to Australia because the Japanese came into the war.
JH: Yes.
AB: And we got we left the Middle East in February and we got back to Australia in April.
JH: Was that ’42?
AB: ’42.
JH: 1942. Or ’41.
AB: Yeah. ’42 that was.
JH: ’42. Yeah.
AB: Then we trained in, went up to Queensland and trained to go to the jungles area up to Papua New Guinea and at that particular time the Air Force was interviewing people from the returned soldiers from the Middle East to ask them whether they’d like to transfer to the Air Force into aircrew.
JH: From what you said before I think you jumped at that didn’t you?
AB: Anyhow, a couple of us were down in Brisbane on leave and we found out all about this so we, we went to one of those offices where there were recruiting the people like [unclear] airmen and we were, went in and did the exams and then again to see whether we were good enough to get into the Air Force as aircrew and they knocked me back. I passed all the exams but when it came to the medical then I was, it was the doctors were checking me over and they, he said, ‘Well, we can’t take you. You’ve got a hernia.’ I said, ‘What’s a hernia?’ He said, ‘Well, you see that lump down there.’ He pointed to a lump down in the groin area. He said, ‘That’s a hernia and we could not have you flying with a hernia.’ So I said, I said, ‘How the hell am I to get into the Air Force? I want to get in, get in there in the early days.’ And so the chap said to me there, he said, ‘Well, the best thing you could do is when you get back to camp you go to the RAP.’ That’s the Regimental Aid Post, ‘Bend yourself over, clutch your groin and tell them you’re in awful pain.’ So I did a bit of good acting. I did that and they whipped me straight in to the hospital. Ipswich. At Ipswich.
JH: Ipswich. Yeah.
AB: The place there. And they operated on me and fixed me up. And when I came out of hospital I was sent down to a convalescent hospital down in Brisbane. And then once I got myself fit fit again I went down to the Air Force people again in Brisbane and I said, ‘Here I am. I haven’t got a hernia anymore.’ So they inspected me. He said, ‘Right,’ he says, ‘We’ll drag you out of the Army.’ So I went out of the Army on the 24th of November ’42 and I went to the Air Force on the 25th of November ’42. I was happy as a larry then.
JH: I bet you were.
AB: I was happy to get into the Air Force and we trained at, at Bradfield Park. That’s where I went to.
JH: Yes.
AB: We were posted to Bradfield Park. We had to do a rookie’s course, you know doing marching around the parade ground and rifle drill, you know with shoulder arms and all this sort of business. Slow arms you know. Blokes roaring out at us. Of course, we were being an ex-soldier we didn’t like this at all you know. Pretty grim. Anyway, we had to put up with it and eventually we were posted to Bradfield Park. We were there, we were already there. We were transferred across to the aircrew section and we were straightaway did our exams there. Once we passed those we then went to, they sent us to Canada and we went to a town in Canada called Edmonton which was number 2 AOS. Air Observer’s School. We, we did our training there and we, when we passed out I was fortunate enough along with four other chaps to be given a commission off course and I became a pilot officer after finishing that course. Then we went. They sent us across to England.
JH: Yes.
AB: And then again there was more training. Sextant training at an AFU, Advanced Flying Unit at Wigtown.
JH: Wigtown in Scotland.
AB: In Scotland.
JH: Yeah.
AB: That was a funny old place because we didn’t understand the people in the town and they didn’t understand us.
JH: Yeah. So, Alan when, when did you arrive in in Scotland? This would be I’m guessing the end of —
AB: Let me think.
JH: During early ’43.
AB: Yeah. It was, it was in [pause] No. ’43. No, I was still training in Canada then.
JH: Okay.
AB: Til, til we got, we got to England early ’44.
JH: Early ’44.
AB: It would be January ’44.
JH: Yeah. Yeah. And you had to run the gauntlet of the U-boats.
AB: Oh yeah.
JH: From Canada.
AB: Yeah. Yeah.
JH: To Scotland. Yeah.
AB: Yeah. They were, you know luckily we were, got through okay.
JH: Yes.
AB: By the time we got to Southampton it was a great sigh of relief that we were still around and they sent us up to, over to Brighton where we stayed for a short while. We were given our vouchers to go to, up to London to get measured up for our officer’s uniforms. And then we got posted to AFU at Wigtown in Scotland.
JH: Yes.
AB: After that we came down and went to our Operational Training Unit at Lichfield and that is where we crewed up.
JH: Yes. I’m always interested in, on how the crewing up happened.
AB: It was very surprising. We were, the whole of the intake with all these trainees and we had to go down to to a big hangar. We went in there and there were all these blokes in there. All these fellas getting around. Sergeants and pilot officers and et cetera and other blokes you know. Flight lieutenants. And we were then, we were told we had to crew up and that was a bit of a sort of sort of a thing. How are we going to do that? You know. So anyhow, a fellow came out. A pilot came across to me. Saw me standing there and he said, ‘My name’s Howard Gavin.’ He said, ‘How would you like to be my navigator?’ I looked him over and I said, ‘I certainly would.’ It turned out that he had already done his first tour of operations in the Middle East on on an Australian squadron, you know. Flying Wellingtons. And I imagined we were going to train on Wellingtons I thought well, this is a good idea. I’ll say yes. So then we went around and he went up looking for his bomb aimer and then at each bloke you know. That’s how we crewed up. It was fine.
JH: So, tell me were you looking for the badge they wore?
AB: Oh yes. The pilot. We were looking for —
JH: Yeah.
AB: We were looking to see you know if you were a navigator or whether you were —
JH: Yeah.
AB: A wireless air gunner.
JH: Yes.
AB: Or a tail gunner. A gunner.
JH: Okay. So how long did this, this process take? This crewing up.
AB: Oh, about an hour.
JH: Okay. I had the impression it kind of lasted for half a day [laughs]
AB: Oh, it didn’t take that long.
JH: Okay. Yeah.
AB: Well, my, no.
JH: Yeah.
AB: It might have happened like that for some people.
JH: Yes. Yeah.
AB: We were just a bit, a bit lucky.
JH: Yeah. So once you’d crewed up, you got your crew you then left the hangar.
AB: That’s right.
JH: To go and get a cup of coffee or something.
AB: We went.
JH: And get to know each other. Yeah.
AB: Have afternoon tea.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And you went to the, went to the mess hall of course and had a beer.
JH: Yes.
AB: And the, for our bomb aimer he couldn’t come with us because we were where the officers were and he was, he was a sergeant. So he went, he went off to the sergeant’s mess.
JH: Yes.
AB: So it was a bit, you know. A bit cruel.
JH: Yes. So, then you, then you, so you had your crew and then you were waiting to see where you were going to be posted. To which squadron.
AB: No, not then. That would be at at that place at the OTU.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And you trained there and you did your training.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And then you, in Wellingtons. Then when you finished that training course you went to the Heavy Conversion Unit.
JH: Yeah.
AB: At Winthorpe. That’s where I had all the problem with the with the aircraft. One of our final trips under the instruction of an English flying instructor.
JH: Tell me what happened.
AB: And that’s where, well we went across, this was in 24th of September, forty⸻, ’44. We were doing our, we did many trips night flying, daylight flying in the, in the Stirling and we’d been over to the coast of Holland and we came, this was actually night time.
JH: In a Stirling.
AB: In a Stirling. And we had to fly this course and eventually we, as we came back towards base in England which was at, at Winthorpe.
JH: Winthorpe.
AB: The engine started to catch on fire. So they feathered one and then another one would go out.
JH: This was over the North Sea still.
AB: Over the North Sea. Yeah.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And we were proceeding along there and then the next one went. So we had one engine and the skipper, the instructor, he was a flight lieutenant he said, ‘We’re going to have to ditch.’ Well, we knew what ditching meant. It wasn’t too pleasant because the chances were pretty slim of you surviving. The North Sea’s pretty cold and you had to make sure you got out and your lifeboat pumped up. You know. They pumped them up.
JH: If you were going to ditch was the wireless operator able to give their position or were they not allowed to give your position if you were going to ditch?
AB: Well, I’d already told the skipper.
JH: Yeah.
AB: That where we were when he —
JH: Yeah.
AB: Gave the instruction and I said to him, ‘We’re not that far away from the coast of England.’
JH: Yes.
AB: ‘And I think we’ll be able to get there, be able to land, turn around and aim the plane out towards the sea.’
JH: Yes.
AB: And we were able to do it ourselves. I looked at where we were at the time. I took a fix and we were on the Gee box and you could get a very accurate fix.
JH: Yeah. Because you wouldn’t want to —
AB: He did.
JH: Want to land on a beach would you? Yeah.
AB: He took notice of what I said.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And we, he took it back over the coast. We made the coast of England. Went for a little while, a few minutes and then turned around a hundred and eighty degrees and gave the order to bale out.
JH: What height were you then?
AB: Two thousand feet.
JH: Yeah.
AB: That was where we had trouble deciding how to get out of the hatch [laughs] both the bomb aimer and myself and eventually I talked the bomb aimer into going first. Which he did do and he was unable to tumble out because of the hatch way and he went out feet first, dropped down and went facing, facing the front of the aircraft and the slipstream got him and smashed his head into the hatchway.
JH: He recovered enough to pull his rip cord.
AB: Yeah. Yeah.
JH: Yeah.
AB: He did do.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And then I decided because he went forward and split the front of his head open.
JH: Yeah. He went out feet first.
AB: He went out feet first.
JH: Yeah.
AB: So I decided I’m not going to get my head smashed like that when I bale. I’ll face the back of the plane to drop out.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Feet first. And of course, the slipstream got me as well and knocked me out in the back of the head. The back of my head was split open and I was unconscious until I heard a voice telling me to open the rip, pull the rip cord. The D ring. The D ring. Pull the D ring which I did do and I had the parachute opened up and I had two swings and I got laid down beautifully right into a potato patch.
JH: How high do you think you were when you, when you jumped out?
AB: About a thousand feet.
JH: Yeah, and but this voice you heard. Tell me about that.
AB: It’s, I heard this voice telling me to [pause] and later on I was, I was on leave down in Okehampton at a couple’s place, an elderly couple and she was a Medium. And we decided to be entertained by joining in the using you know the glass for the table.
JH: A séance. Yeah.
AB: A, yeah.
JH: Yeah.
AB: They were playing around with that glass on the table which was incredible. You could feel the electricity current there. It was a very strange feeling. Powerful it was. And we were sending messages and then we sent a message to ask my grandfather whether he was around. And eventually we had, a couple of days later we had a séance where she went into a trance and when she went into the trance she changed her position. She she spread her legs like that, put her hands on her knees like that and that’s how my grandfather always sat and I asked him to speak. I wanted to talk to him.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And he told me that he was with me a short while ago when I got out of the aircraft. Now, they didn’t know that. They had no knowledge of anything of that nature of what happened.
JH: Yeah. Was she speaking in his voice?
AB: She changed her voice. She changed her voice into a different tone tone altogether. Yeah.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah, she she sort of changed her voice into a man’s voice.
JH: Yes. Yeah. So it, yeah so it was his voice you heard.
AB: Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing.
JH: Yeah.
AB: That was incredible.
JH: I bet you’ve thought about that a lot.
AB: I have.
JH: Yeah.
AB: I did. I’ve told a lot of people about it too.
JH: Yes.
AB: Whether it, whether they think I’m stupid or not I don’t know.
JH: Yeah.
AB: But I, I was I was impressed by it.
JH: I know my father he, he really believed in that. That kind of thing.
AB: Yeah.
JH: Wow. So let’s, let’s wind forward Alan. Tell me about your first operation. What was that like?
AB: The first operation. Yes. Well, we, when we finally finished with our Lancaster Finishing School we got posted to 617 Squadron.
JH: A famous squadron.
AB: That’s the one. Yeah. We were very lucky. We were the only ones posted there.
JH: Yes.
AB: And we managed to do very well in our flying. We all got high marks as I said so they sent us to this.
JH: The elite.
AB: Yeah. Sent us to this this squadron and at the time Willie Tait, JB Tait, they used to call him Willie. He was the CO.
JH: Yeah.
AB: A very famous man.
JH: Yes. Of course.
AB: He had four DSOs, two DFCs and a mention in despatches. That was his first award in, and that was when he was in a Fairey Battle. Who would want to be in one of those? Our first operation was very early in in November ’44.
JH: ’44. Yes. Got that.
AB: And it was to the, bomb the Urft Dam. The Urft, U R F T I think it was.
JH: Oh.
AB: U R F T. Urft.
JH: Yeah. Where was that located?
AB: That’s in Germany.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We were, when we got there it was ten tenths cloud. We couldn’t see the target. These, these were daylights and of course we couldn’t see the target. We weren’t allowed to drop our bomb. We had a Tallboy on board, the twelve thousand pound Tallboy and we had to bring that back to base.
JH: So you didn’t have a bouncing type bomb.
AB: No, it was a Tallboy.
JH: Yeah. Okay.
AB: A Tallboy was a terrific machine. It, it used to spin around and had tail fins on it. It would turn around and keep straight and keep keep at an angle you know when it left the aircraft and go, it was a concrete piercing bomb. It would go through the concrete and then explode as it got through. It was a brilliant bomb designed by Barnes Wallis.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And so then we went back and did the Urft Dam again. Again it was ten tenths cloud. So we weren’t too happy because we hadn’t had to drop that bomb. Had to bring it back again.
JH: So you —
AB: And no.
JH: Could you still log it as an operation even though —
AB: Oh yes. Yes.
JH: Yes. It did count. Yeah.
AB: It counted.
JH: Yeah. Yeah.
AB: Each time you took off and made the trip it would be counted. Yeah.
JH: And let me ask how many aircraft in that operation?
AB: We had about twenty two.
JH: Twenty two. Yeah. Any support?
AB: No.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Just on our own.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We never had any support.
JH: Yeah.
AB: 617 was, sometimes you’d fly with 9 Squadron.
JH: Yeah.
AB: That would have made a bigger target but a few times they went with a bit, we went after the Tirpitz. 9 going with 617 up there.
JH: Did they link up with the Pathfinders on that sort of raid?
AB: We never had Pathfinders.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We were we were our own Pathfinders.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We didn’t need, didn’t have them.
JH: Yeah.
AB: A Pathfinder.
JH: So did you go back a third time?
AB: No.
JH: Yeah.
AB: They decided that they wouldn’t waste our time.
JH: Okay. What about your next operation?
AB: Oh dear.
JH: Can you remember that?
AB: No. Oh.
JH: That would have been a bombing. Another bombing run.
AB: Yeah. Where yes ah that’s right. We went to Ijmuiden.
JH: Oh.
AB: In Holland.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Ijmuiden. And we, we attacked E-boat pens and submarine pens there.
JH: God. Successful?
AB: Yes. Very.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah. Oh, the bombs were good.
JH: Yeah.
AB: They went through the concrete supports.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And blew up inside you know.
JH: Yeah.
AB: But then, then we went to another one in Holland the same sort of thing. Poortershaven.
JH: Poortershaven.
JH: Poortershaven.
AB: In Holland. Yeah.
AB: Another one.
JH: Another, another port. Yeah.
AB: The same sort of thing.
JH: Yeah.
AB: E-boat pens and submarine pens. Later on, many years later it was in the ‘90s I got a letter from an historian who was at, he was at Poortershaven and he he told us you know in the letter he said there had been intelligence that told them to get the Dutch out of out of the way and warned them. Get the Dutch out of the way as they were going to come over and bomb.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah. And this bloke said, and he said, ‘We commend you. Not one Dutchman got killed.’
JH: That’s amazing.
AB: Yeah. Yeah.
JH: Yeah. That’s incredible attacking those pens because they were real fortresses weren’t they?
AB: Oh yeah. Yeah. They were.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We went up to Bergen as well. Before we went to Bergen they, a group of commandos, Englishmen, red beret blokes came out to our squadron and they were, they trained with us. We were going to drop them. Drop them in the fjord and they had these fabled boats and then they were supposed to be going ashore and attacking the heavy water plants. You know the heavy water plants they had built outside Bergen?
JH: Yes.
AB: The Germans had that.
JH: Yes.
AB: But they decided it was just too risky. They didn’t go ahead with that but we went up and bombed the E-boat submarine pens up there as well. The Germans had them up there as well.
JH: Was this daylight or at night time?
AB: No, we we always left at night time.
JH: Yes.
AB: To get there in the daytime.
JH: Okay.
AB: Because we had to visually sight our target.
JH: Well, you were flying up the fjords I guess towards the target.
AB: But, we, we went up to Lossiemouth to refuel up there.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And then we went off to, flew out to Bergen. We flew just above the deck low flying to get under the radar.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And we then when we got up near Bergen we made height and dropped our bombs on the E-boat —
JH: Yeah.
AB: And submarine pens up there.
JH: By then it was morning. You could see.
AB: Oh yeah.
JH: Yeah. Yeah.
AB: Yeah.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah. You always, you were trying to get to your target in daylight.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah, because you had to sight your target and take your photographs.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And if you, if you, if you didn’t drop your bombs where you should do you when you, it meant that when you the next day or when you got back you’d be up doing practice bombing in the Wash.
JH: Yeah. Good incentive.
AB: Hmmn?
JH: Good incentive to be on target.
AB: Yeah, oh yes.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Good. They were very [pause] and we we we did another one which was quite interesting.
JH: Yes.
AB: Berchtesgaden.
JH: I know that place. I’ve been there.
AB: Been there. Yeah. I know, I’ve been there too. I’ve been there on the ground as well. The, that was on ANZAC Day ’45 and our target was the the big shaft. The air shaft.
JH: Yes. Where the lift is going up.
AB: There wasn’t any lift then. That’s where they put it. And we would put our bomb down that shaft. Well, we flew around that for about twenty five minutes and could not find the shaft. And later on, years later when I went to Berchtesgaden.
JH: Yeah.
AB: I walked up beyond the, out to go up in the lift.
JH: You go up in the lift.
AB: Yeah.
JH: And then you can walk.
AB: And then I walked —
JH: Yeah.
AB: Up the hill a bit. Up the mountain.
JH: Yes.
AB: Looked back on where it was all snowy. All snow. And I said no wonder we couldn’t see it because they had, they had camouflage nets and a cover over the top of the shaft. That’s why we couldn’t find it. So we had to bring our bomb back to England again.
JH: Yeah.
AB: On that occasion.
JH: Yes.
AB: That was the last operation that that was done by 617 in Europe.
JH: That was the last. I believe that was the last Bomber Command operation in the second world war. I’m not too quite sure but that may be so. I read that somewhere.
AB: We led, we led, 617 Squadron led a big main force group. Main force. And about four hundred planes came after us. We had the honour of being the first there to⸻
JH: To Berchtesgaden. Yeah.
AB: Different crews had different targets and they were all targeting where these Nazis had their, a resource they used to go down on.
JH: Yeah.
AB: To spend leave in. Yeah. And then main force followed after we we got there and dropped a few more bombs.
JH: Yeah.
AB: On Berchtesgaden. It’s a beautiful town. But later on when I went and saw it.
JH: Yes.
AB: In 1980 it was, you wouldn’t have known it had been, it had been bombed at all.
JH: Yes.
AB: That was happening all around you. I went back to different places where we, where the place had been bombed heavily and they’d reconstructed it so good.
JH: Yes.
AB: Amazing. They did did a remarkable job of reconstructing.
JH: I was there maybe four years ago and I noticed there was absolutely no Nazi insignia anywhere. Even when they were carved in stone. It’s all been removed.
AB: it’s been removed.
JH: Yes.
AB: Yeah.
JH: Yeah. Okay. Well, last operation. So what happened then? You stayed on in the UK.
AB: What they were doing then the Australian, the RAAF people over there decided they would send a squadron out to Okinawa to bomb Japan. So myself and a couple of other members of our crew volunteered to go, to go out to to Okinawa and the squadron was 467 Squadron and that was, that was located in in Metheringham. And that was an enormous contrast to our location in Woodhall Spa while we were on 617 Squadron. The officer’s mess was the magnificent Petwood Hotel.
JH: I’ve been there. The Guy Gibson Bar.
AB: Yeah. That’s right.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah, that was, we were upstairs. Our quarters were upstairs and they had a not not far from the bar was a billiard room. Is that still there?
JH: I’m not quite sure.
AB: They had a billiard room and my wireless operator and myself we were we didn’t drink but we played snooker in there in our spare time between when we went flying.
JH: Yes.
AB: The rest of the crew would get on at the grog but we, being teetotallers we we played snooker all the time and we got quite good at it actually.
JH: And you cleaned them up.
AB: You see when we got there we got good. Yeah. I took to it quite well.
JH: What a lovely place that is.
AB: It’s a beautiful spot isn’t it?
JH: Yeah.
AB: Yeah. They were I’ve got pictures of it on the computer.
JH: I’d like to go back there.
AB: When I went back to England in ’91 and did did a tour of England. Hired a car and drove all over England and Scotland and Wales. I did not go back to Woodhall Spa. I don’t know why I didn’t go back to show Marie, my wife.
JH: You didn’t want to go back or —
AB: I just for some reason or other it didn’t occur to me.
JH: Yeah.
AB: To go back and have a look at it. I can remember it quite clearly. I remember where we slept and who was in the room with us. We had, there were six of us. Six of us in a very big big room. It had a big balcony and there was a couple of blokes slept out on the balcony. It had a roof over it of course. And there were my pilot and myself and there were four English. Well, English men there.
JH: So, so in your crew in 617 how many Australians in the crew?
AB: Six.
JH: Six. One English.
AB: And one English.
JH: Yeah.
AB: An English flight engineer.
JH: Now, Alan so did you get to Japan in the end?
AB: Ah now.
JH: Yes, sorry.
AB: We we we again trained heavily.
JH: Yeah.
AB: On 467 Squadron and incidentally we were quartered in Nissen huts which was quite a contrast [laughs] to the Petwood Hotel. We didn’t have any, didn’t have any priority about good quarters whether you were an officer or not. We were and we had our final embarkation leave and they dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. Then they dropped the next one on Nagasaki. We were, then we were stood down and that was, that’s what was in, that was in —
JH: That was a shock for you.
AB: That was in August I think.
JH: Just as well you weren’t over in that area.
AB: Well, in a way yes because probably might not have been here to tell the tale. It was, it was quite in a way we were a little bit sad but then also overjoyed.
JH: Yes.
AB: You know, we were sort of really keen to go and do something to those Japs.
JH: Yeah.
AB: We’d been reading and hearing a lot about what the Japs were doing.
JH: But that meant starting about going home.
AB: Yeah. Well, we left. We came home on the Athlone Castle and we got home around about February ’46. During the war when I came out of the Middle East I got married. I married my sweetheart and, and while I was away in Canada she gave birth to a son. [unclear] it was quite a, I didn’t realise at the time that when I got married that I was going to have a son.
JH: Yes.
AB: While the war was still on.
JH: When you were in [pause] when you were in Canada.
AB: I was in Canada. Yeah.
JH: Yes.
AB: Edmonton. That was on the 3rd of November ’43.
JH: So you hadn’t seen much of him at all.
AB: Hadn’t seen him at all until he was, until February ’46.
JH: Yes.
AB: He didn’t know who I was.
JH: Gosh. Yeah.
AB: I was a stranger. Took a while to get for him to know who I was, you know.
JH: Yes.
AB: Took a long long while.
JH: Yes.
AB: It was a real bad period really.
JH: Yeah.
AB: I I used to get quite annoyed about it, you know.
JH: Yes.
AB: He’d go to his grandfather all the time.
JH: Yes. Yeah.
AB: He wouldn’t come near me.
JH: Yes.
AB: Yeah. But anyhow after the war the war ended we ended up having another three children. Another son in 1948. Then a daughter in ’49.
JH: Yes.
AB: And then another daughter in ’52. So we had —
JH: Four in the family.
AB: Four in the family.
JH: Yeah.
AB: Two boys and two girls and one of the boys is, both boys, the eldest boy when he was about nineteen he joined the the Army.
JH: Yeah.
AB: And he did twenty one years in the Army. He was in Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam and he was, the youngest boy when he turned, I don’t know what it was he had his name pulled out the barrel to go to Vietnam. They had a —
JH: Yes, I know.
AB: Birthday barrel.
JH: Yes.
AB: Yeah. He went to Vietnam and unfortunately he he passed away when he was sixty three. He had cancer.
JH: Oh.
AB: Caused by his term in Vietnam. The Agent Orange. The Yanks dropped all this.
JH: Yes, I know.
AB: You know, Agent Orange and he he eventually he got this cancer and passed away in 2011. And the other boy and he was actually in the infantry. A young fella.
JH: Yes.
AB: The eldest boy had been in there for twenty one years. He was in the signals. So quite a bit of difference. He was mainly around the base area.
JH: Yes. So he wasn’t exposed.
AB: He wasn’t exposed.
JH: To the Agent Orange. Yeah.
AB: He wasn’t exposed as much as his brother was.
JH: Yeah. Well, that’s amazing that this you’ve got three generations in your family in the Army.
AB: Yes. Dad. Dad in both wars. The two boys. My sisters. Both sisters in the Women’s Army. Both my sisters.
JH: The Buxton’s have done their bit. More than done their bit, Alan.
AB: We’ve had a lot of experience in the Services. Yeah.
JH: You must be very proud of them all. Yeah.
AB: Very much so.
JH: Yeah. Yes. And you were telling me before eventually you found your feet career wise and joined Shell.
AB: That’s right and I worked there.
JH: And was that in Sydney or did you have to go —
AB: No. Sydney.
JH: To Melbourne.
AB: I was in the head, in the Sydney office. And then when they decided to build, or enlarge the refinery that John Fell owned in the Clyde. Clyde Refinery —
JH: Yes.
AB: I was transferred out to Clyde Refinery in ‘19⸻ I moved up. I was living at Narrabeen at the time.
JH: Yes.
AB: And I moved up to Eastwick and I got a transfer, a company transfer which was good.
JH: Were you with Shell all your, all your working career.
AB: No, before, before the war I was with Australian [Soaps] for a living.
JH: Yes. Okay.
AB: We can still see it’s Alexandria.
JH: Alexandria. Yes. You see, I know Alexandria well. Yeah.
AB: Well, I was with them until [laughs] and I was I was actually had the honour of being the first bloke to join the Services and when, when I was going out the gate the managing director Mr Harrison, a lovely old Scotsman he came out to me and he handed me an envelope. He said and wished me good luck and when I opened that envelope up he’d given me a ten pound note. I mean I was only getting one pound seventeen and sixpence a week and I ended up with a ten pound note. I thought I was made [laughs] Ten pound.
AB: It would have seemed like the lottery. Yeah.
JH: At the time because when, you know.
AB: Yeah.
JH: My pay was six pence a week.
AB: What a gesture.
JH: Hmmn?
AB: What a gesture.
JH: Oh, I thought it was wonderful. Yeah.
AB: Yeah. Have you still got the ten pound note?
JH: No.
AB: Okay [laughs]
JH: I spent that.
AB: Of course.
JH: I needed it. I didn’t have any —
JH: Yeah.
AB: Any money. Any money much in those days.
JH: Yeah. Well, Alan I can’t get over this interview. It’s really amazing. It’s quite a story. I need to have a lie down, a cup of tea and digest it all.
AB: Do you want a cup of tea now?
JH: Oh, now that sounds a great idea. I didn’t say that [laughs]
AB: Oh, I’ll see what I can.
JH: But yeah, I wouldn’t mind a cup.
AB: I’ll see if I can —
JH: So shall we, shall we wind it up and —
AB: Okay. Go on.
JH: So, I really would like to thank you for, for doing the interview. So, this is for the IBCC.
AB: Yeah.
JH: Veterans Interview Project and I think that that so that interview your your family can, can go in and listen to it or if anyone visits Lincolnshire they can go and listen to it.
AB: Oh right.
JH: The Bomber Command Centre there is quite something. I was there at the opening. And so Alan thanks very much.
AB: I get the information. You know these lads that found the plane, Stuart [McRory] and his brother Bruce on the work that has been done to restoring the Lancaster Just Jane.
JH: Yes.
AB: You know.
JH: Yes. Yeah.
JH: I’ve seen it.
AB: You’ve seen it.
JH: Yeah.
AB: They’re doing that restoration. It’s going on. It’s been going for years with this restoration.
JH: Yeah. Yeah.
AB: They use it. Normally it’s only used for taxi runs.
JH: Yes.
AB: Stuart, Stuart and his brother Bruce they’ve done the taxi ride. They charge fifty pounds to do the taxi ride up and down the runway.
JH: Fantastic. Yeah.
AB: Yeah. And —
JH: Well, on that note Alan I’m going to wind up here. Thanks very much.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Alan George Buxton
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Horsburgh
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-08-23
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
01:06:36 Audio Recording
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
ABuxtonAG220823
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943-11-03
1944-01
1944-09-24
1944-11
1945-04-25
1946-02
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Australia
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Norway
Queensland
Alberta--Edmonton
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany--Berchtesgaden
Norway--Bergen
Queensland--Brisbane
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Description
An account of the resource
Alan was born in Parramatta, Sydney, in Australia. After going to the Middle East with the army, he returned to Australia, when Japan entered the war, and transferred to the RAF in November 1942.
Alan was posted to Bradfield Park for training and then to No. 2 Air Observers’ School in Edmonton, Canada. He was given a commission as a pilot officer and went to the Advanced Flying Unit at RAF Wigtown in Scotland, followed by the Operational Training Unit at RAF Lichfield. Alan describes the process of crewing up. He trained on Wellingtons and then went to the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Winthorpe. Alan describes the night they had to parachute from their Stirling after a trip to the coast of Holland.
After Lancaster Finishing School, Alan was posted to 617 Squadron where the Commanding Officer was J B “Willie” Tait. His first operation in November 1944 was to bomb the Urft Dam in Germany but it was too cloudy to release the 12,000 lb Tallboy bomb on board. A second attempt was also unsuccessful. Alan then refers to two operations in the Netherlands where U-boat pens were bombed. Bergen was another operation. On 25 April 1945, their target was Berchtesgaden, their last operation leading a Main Force Group of 400 aircraft.
Alan then went to 467 Squadron at RAF Metheringham. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were no longer required to go to Okanawa. Alan returned to Australia in February 1946 and joined Shell company in Sidney.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Julie Williams
Carolyn Emery
467 Squadron
617 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
bale out
bombing
crewing up
Gee
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster Finishing School
love and romance
mess
military living conditions
navigator
observer
Operational Training Unit
RAF Lichfield
RAF Metheringham
RAF Wigtown
RAF Winthorpe
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stirling
submarine
superstition
Tallboy
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/39609/PBurnsDR2206.2.jpg
c6da9dba0490cb19c50b40d6b4787ba1
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2215/39609/AUsherJ220428.1.mp3
526e84be7d98d934079057dd408f9ccd
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
Burns, Bob
Denis Robert Burns
D R Burns
Description
An account of the resource
23 items. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Bob Burns (1525609 RAFVR) he flew operations as a navigator with 106 Squadron and became a prisoner of war when his aircraft, Lancaster ND853 was shot down 27 April 1944. Collection includes an oral history interview with John Usher about Bob Burns, photographs, documents, various memoirs of his last operation and captivity. It also contains recordings of his saxophone being played.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by John Usher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-07
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
Burns, DR
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
BW: This is Brian Wright interviewing John Usher at his home in Morecambe Lancashire. It’s quarter past two in the afternoon on Thursday the 28th of April 2022. We’re here to talk about Bob Burns’ story. Bob was a flight sergeant in the RAF but if you could just start off John, please with giving us a little summary of how you knew Bob. What your relation was to him.
JU: Well, I’m John Usher. My, my wife, my wife’s sister was married to Bob so in all the years we went on holidays a lot together most years. So we had quite a close relationship with Bob and his family.
BW: And he had quite a story to tell from his experiences in the RAF in the Second World War. Can you elaborate for us a little bit more about Bob’s background before we go on to his RAF service. Do you know when and where he was born? What his family life was like?
JU: Well, as I understand Bob was born in Sheffield. Went to Sheffield, well a grammar school in Sheffield and he then worked. He had one or two jobs before volunteering for the RAF. One was in a factory in Sheffield. But following that he had, he played, he was a semi-professional musician and played in a local dance band so I think that was his, one of his main sources of income before joining the RAF.
BW: Do you know what instrument he played?
JU: He played the saxophone and the clarinet.
BW: And you say he would go into the dance halls with the band and earn some money playing.
JU: He had, he had a regular, a regular job with one of the local dance bands.
BW: And did he ever talk about why he was interested in joining the RAF? What prompted him to join at all?
JU: Well, I think like a lot of young people in those days he was very keen to do his bit so to speak so he had always been keen on flying. I think he’d, whilst he hadn’t been a cadet he’d been to various shows and anything to do with flying. He seemed to have got himself involved.
BW: So he’d had an interest through his youth and childhood perhaps in aeroplanes and flying and that.
JU: He was very much so. Yes.
BW: And he went in to training at Padgate in Warrington when he joined the RAF. Did, did he tell you much about the training he went through at all?
JU: Not a lot. I just know that part of his training, when he first enlisted the initial aircrew tests were done at Lord’s I think it was. Lord’s Cricket Ground which, he was very interested in cricket. Probably, being a Yorkshireman you have to be interested in cricket I would think. But I don’t know if from a playing point of view. Mainly from a watching point of view but he was, he knew a lot about cricket. Whatever he was interested in he always tended to know a lot about it. He was one of those sort of people.
BW: Do you know roughly when he joined up? Would it be ’41? ‘42?
JU: It was [pause] just bear with me [pause] 1940 he joined up.
BW: So that’s —
JU: I don’t know what date in ’40.
BW: So that’s quite early on.
JU: That, well I say it was called deferred service. He applied to join up and then he had to sit back and wait before they called. They called you. In fact, he didn’t start doing any real training until 1942.
BW: Okay.
JU: And then it was basic training. Once he’d been accepted for aircrew he did training out in Canada 1942 to ‘43 which a lot of aircrew did of course because you weren’t likely to be shot down by anyone in Canada I don’t think [laughs] and it was a good environment for training.
BW: When did he join the squadron because he went on —
JU: He came back home for flying training. The full squadron training in 1943. And then he was posted then to Number 5 Group in ’44 which was where his story really begins.
BW: And he was by this stage a flight sergeant navigator wasn’t he? And —
JU: He was. By [pause] yes.
BW: And he joined 106 Squadron based at Metheringham.
JU: That’s right.
BW: Did he mention any of the guys that he trained with or how he’d come to crew up at all with with the guys he started flying with?
JU: Yes. There was. As aircrews did in those days they seemed to appear, go to a station to select. The aircrew selected their own crews basically. The pilot would see someone he liked and, or who he probably met in the mess over one or two days and liked him so they would get together. They would talk about if there was anyone available that could be selected. And through that process they finished up, finished up with between them selecting their bomb aimer, two, a mid-upper and a rear gunner and the radio operator. Two of the crew were Canadians. I’m not sure of their names now.
BW: One was Harold Brad.
JU: Harold Brad. That’s right.
BW: Another, Bill Stevens.
JU: Bill. That’s right. The crew themselves had quite mixed experiences. One of them, I’m not sure which one had been a gardener on a royal estate somewhere. I don’t know which one it was. Which was quite interesting.
BW: Well, from what I can see Percy Dore was the wireless operator and he was from Sandringham so it’s quite possible.
JU: That’s right. I think he was the one who’d been —
BW: He was the royal gardener.
JU: Who’d been the gardener.
BW: Did Bob ever mention what it had been like in the early days before his fateful flight? Did he mention any of the early raids that he’d been on or —
JU: Not a lot. Not a lot about them because before he was shot down he’d been on, the invasion had started in France by that I think and there were more or less a lot of the early raids were in France but he did have one or two over Germany.
BW: Did he ever say much about those? Did he say how they were?
JU: They were pretty well, the raid before he was shot down over Schweinfurt he’d been on a raid to [pause] I’ll look at my notes. No. The ones I’d done I think [pause] Right. On the 25th of April which was just the day before I think he went to Schweinfurt he’d just returned from a ten hour bombing raid over Munich. But to get there he’d gone over, over via Italy and across. That’s why it was such a long raid. And on the return back they were running out of fuel and had to land at an airfield on the south coast having been down the south as well because of fuel and then fly back. Came back to Metheringham the following morning to be told they were on another raid that following evening. The same evening. So there was very little time between the two raids.
BW: And 106 Squadron had been Guy Gibson’s former squadron before he left to form the Dambusters. Did Bob mention any influences within the squadron from Gibson’s time? Were any guys still around from that time?
JU: Well, he’d made that very very strict was Gibson and so it was. Bob was very surprised how strict it was because Bomber Command was said to be a little bit relaxed because of the of the job they were doing. So they were given a bit more free time but Bob found he was in the first oh forty eight hours he was in the air for nearly thirty of it and when they weren’t flying they were still doing dinghy drill, parachute training, all sorts of flying drills on the ground. And he reckons it was because of these drills that later in life it probably saved his life. His quick reaction to certain, to the circumstances which he met with later.
BW: So you mentioned that his fateful trip was to Schweinfurt on the 26th and 27th of April which is almost exactly seventy four years to the day I think. Is that right? Eighty four. Have I got that right? No. We’re very nearly on the, on the anniversary of that particular raid in ’44.
JU: Yes. Yeah.
BW: Seventy eight. My maths is there now. Seventy eight years. The raid itself was quite disastrous in a way for the, for the squadron. There were a number of losses but just talk us through what Bob’s experiences were. What Bob’s experiences of that was. What he’d, what he’d told you. What, what happened?
JU: Well, I got the impression from Bob that it was one of those raids that I wouldn’t say it went wrong but there were problems from the start in that they were taken on a route which supposed, was supposed to be clear which it was clear of ack ack and that sort of thing but it took them, took them very close to German fighter squadrons on the ground. So they had one or two interceptions en route with with fighters. Not that they were hit or anything but that was one aspect. The main aspect I think was that the forecast winds were entirely the opposite direction to the ones that they came across so that they were delayed. They were about an hour late arriving at Schweinfurt which apart from the obvious problems like that are that the, it was quite a large bomber raid. There was quite a lot of bombers on this raid from other squadrons and you were all supposed to be going obviously going on different heights and if you’re not spot on time you run the risk of being bombed from above by other ones who were on time releasing their bombs. So I think that that was one of the main problems. Bob referred to it that when he finally arrived it was like flying in to hell. There was fires down below. There was smoke being released now we know by the Germans as a camouflage. There were flares going off to identify the particular bombing targets and so all in all as I say he referred it to as like flying into hell. It was one of those experiences that it’s hard to imagine in our everyday civilian life now.
BW: And this was only his seventh operation wasn’t it?
JU: It was, yes.
BW: Not long into his tour and you mentioned the night fighter units that they, or the airfields that they flew past to get to the target and it was a night fighter that shot them down wasn’t it?
JU: It was. Yes.
BW: Did he talk about what had happened in the aircraft at that, at that point?
JU: Well, when they, when they released their bombs over Schweinfurt almost instantly after that they were, they were hit by a night fighter and at the same time the rear gunner shouted out, ‘I’ve got the bastard. He’s going down.’ So he, it was a tit for tat or appeared to be a tit for tat situation. So following, following that almost immediately after that because they were hit the pilot told them to, the aircrew all to bale out because they were going down. So they started to make their way to the various exits. Either the front ones for the front crew or the rear door. Now, Bob had always been told by this navigator training although the RAF recommended that the navigator goes out of the front he was advised if he can get over the main spar which is an obstacle in itself. Bob said you had to be a trained athlete to get over the main spar if you got over the main spar. He got over there and he was making his way towards the rear door when the plane went into a spin and the centrifugal force pinned virtually all the aircrew to the floor and I think Bob had resigned himself to, you know how could he possibly get out of this so that’s the end of it when there was sudden enormous an explosion and he was blown up through the roof of the aircraft. The aircraft must have just cut in half. So he went up through the roof which knocked him unconscious but this was he reckoned at three thousand feet and but the cold night air soon brought him around and this is where all the training which you referred to earlier kicked into practice because he was he automatically pushed the ‘chute away from him, pulled the rip cord and he drifted gently down in to a ploughed field in in Germany.
BW: And was he alright on landing? Did he injure himself at all or —
JU: Well, he’d gone out through the roof of the aircraft which he knew had given him a nasty bang on his, on his thigh. Inside his thigh. But when he felt around when he’d landed in the airfield he didn’t feel any pain but he could feel there was a lot of blood in his thigh. And so what happened really at that stage was he, you’re trained or told you must bury your parachute. Bury it or hide it. Hide the parachute so that the enemy don’t know that you have landed et cetera and were still alive. So that’s what he proceeded to do. He buried his parachute and then took stock of himself. He did make one comment about it. He said he looked up into the air just to see the last of the bombers heading back to England and then he just said out quite loudly, he said, ‘Lucky buggers. They’re going home now and I’m stuck in this bloody ploughed field in Germany.’ So that was his reaction on landing in the ploughed field.
BW: Did he know at that stage whether anybody else had got out from the aircraft?
JU: No. He’d no idea. He hadn’t a clue at that stage. In fact, he didn’t find out until the end. Until the end when he came back. When he was released from a prisoner of war camp what had happened.
BW: So Bob’s on his own in the, in this field in Germany in the middle of the night and he’s bleeding from his leg. What happens then?
JU: Well, as I say, he said he didn’t, he didn’t feel any pain and he could hear this, this clanking of engine, railway engines in the nearby well, marshalling yard as we know them as and they were always taught in the, back home that if there was any, if if you want to escape try and get away by train if at all possible. So Bob thought well obviously he is here now to follow the noise and make for this marshalling yard and see if I can find a train and get away from the, from the site as soon as possible. So that was his objectives but it didn’t quite turn out how the training back in England had said it would because he was making his way across the marshalling yard amongst the trains when suddenly all the lights went on and he found himself looking at about I don’t know ten or a dozen rifles pointed at him because in England apparently railway stations weren’t guarded. Certainly not. Whereas in Germany every station and depending on how, what priority it was, depending on how many guards there were so this must have been quite an important one because as I say he was looking down at ten rifles pointing at him.
BW: So he’s then obviously captured. Did he go straight to a camp or was he taken to hospital? What? What happened?
JU: Well, once the guards realised that it had turned out that his wound was obviously bleeding a lot so it was becoming more obvious and a bit of pain so the guards took him to a local hospital which was run by nuns oddly enough. And they more or less patched him up and he spent a couple of days while they sorted him out and following that he was taken to a military hospital and I don’t think, well it was while he was there or en route that he was then taken for interrogation by the German [pause] the German Army or security people which apparently one member was part of the SSS but asking the usual questions about what were the squadron numbers and one thing and another.
BW: So he was interrogated.
JU: He was.
BW: First.
JU: He was for quite a few days. In fact, he was, he was in a solitary cell for quite a few days during his interrogation.
BW: Did he say what that sort of experience was like?
JU: Well, not very good because he did, he didn’t shave and there was very little facility to wash so at the end of his spell there he was quite dishevelled and in fact some of the photographs we have of him tend to show him as being not the Bob Burns that we know anyway.
BW: So, from solitary what happened to him then? Was he presumably he was taken then to his first imprisonment camp.
JU: No. He went, after the solitary he went to a major hospital. He was, he was there for a few months really while his leg recovered and when it had recovered sufficiently for him to go to, then to a prisoner of war camp they made the necessary arrangements and he was to go to Stalag Luft 7. The Luft being ones which were run by the German Air Force really where he seemed apparently to get better treatment than the general prisoner of war camps. So he was, along with three other prisoners, three of them were taken by two guards but en route they had to change. Change stations. I’m not sure of the place but where they changed stations was that particular town had been bombed the night before. So the local people on hearing that there was some RAF prisoners of war in the local station being transported to a prisoner of war camp all as you can understand headed for the station to register what they thought about that at all. Now, it was quite an interesting situation here because the station was probably about oh fifty, a hundred feet up in the air from the road and at the back of the station it was quite open dropping down to the road below. Now while they stood on the station with the three guards a lot of the local people suddenly arrived on the scene knowing they were there and they were shuffling along the platform obviously with the objective of trying to force the prisoners of war off, off the platform down on to the road below. And the guards seemed to have no control over this so one of the guards quite quick thinking in a way suddenly handed his rifle to Bob because Bob was about six foot four I think so he was quite a towering bloke. And the German propaganda was that the British flyers were horrendous people really. They would, you know murder their own mothers if they had to. So they had quite a reputation so as soon as Bob was handed the rifle the crowd shuffling down the platform they all, they disappeared. So they could carry on with their journey. Also the guards, what reason you think , why would the guard possibly hand the rifle to Bob. One of the theories was that if, it was obviously frowned upon if guards didn’t deliver their prisoners intact and if not one of the punishments was that they would be sent to the front line. They were sent to fight the Russians which none of the German guards wanted to find themselves in that situation. So you can understand why he did this. And then of course Bob handed him back the rifle and things carried on as normal.
BW: So literally a lucky escape for him at that point.
JU: Yeah.
BW: And his first camp I think was at Stalag Luft 7 as you say in Silesia. Did he talk much about what life was like in the camp there? Did he describe any conditions there?
JU: The conditions as I gather were, were quite good. There was a lot of sport. A lot of games played a lot of cards, things like that. But Bob hadn’t been there long when one day there was this delivery. These crates arrived from the Red Cross and amongst them was quite a lot of musical instruments. They were all very good quality musical instruments and going through them Bob found that there was a saxophone and clarinet which were his speciality if you like. They were the instruments he used to play back home in the, in the brass bands. So Bob acquired the saxophone and the clarinet and then there was no sheet music or anything of course but he then trawled around to find out how, what musicians were also in the camp and he set up his own orchestra if you like. I think it was about a ten or twelve piece orchestra I understand. In fact, there is a photograph that will show that. So a lot of Bob’s time was spent writing music for the different musical instruments to play in the dance band. And I don’t think really they hadn’t been there many weeks I don’t think before they had to break camp so to speak.
BW: The, the only other member of the crew to survive was Jack Pickstone. Did Bob come across him in the same camp or did he find out what happened to him?
JU: He never ever saw Pickstone again. Never came across him even when he, when he was demobbed back into civvy street. Pickstone did survive and, but he never ever came across him even though he tried to find him he never, he never, never met up with him again. And the rest of the crew of course were all killed. There was only Bob and Pickstone. He didn’t and he didn’t discover that until he was demobbed. What had, what had happened.
BW: I believe Stalag Luft 7 was quite a large camp for American airmen too. Did Bob mention any interaction with the Americans at the time? Did he —
JU: No. No. The only [pause] not that I can —
BW: They kept to themselves.
JU: No. I don’t think he mentioned anything about the Americans. The only thing he mentioned about the Americans was when, from the camp near Berlin when they were finally released by the Russians. The Russians handed them over to the Americans. That was his main contact with the Americans.
BW: So just going back to his time in Stalag Luft 7 he’s got to that stage where he’s I suppose settled to life in the camp and he’s writing and performing music for and with the band and then at the turn of 1945 the camps as you say were broken in that the Germans decided to move prisoners west and north in his case to retreat from the Russians.
JU: Yes. Yeah.
BW: And this involved a, quite an arduous journey for him. Did, did Bob talk much about that and what did you learn about that?
JU: Oh, it was an horrendous journey because on a particular date they were all paraded at about 5 o’clock in the morning because the Russians were advancing and quite quickly. It was decided they would move the prisoners from Stalag Luft 7 to a camp near, near to Berlin which was oh something like a hundred and, about a hundred and fifty miles. Something like that. And because there was no transport all the transport was required to move German troops to the Russian Front it was decided they would have to walk. At this as I understand was the most horrendous journey imaginable. The day they set off was the middle of the hardest winter they’d had on record. So it was hard frost, snowing and around fifteen hundred prisoners were moved out of camp. This the first one started moving out about I think three or 4 o’clock in the morning and the last ones didn’t leave the camp until mid-afternoon so the line of prisoners moving out must have been well, amazing when you think of the time period taken to move them with enough rations for about two weeks which the Germans had on trolleys or trucks, what have you. But the prisoners were just marching with what they could carry and in Bob’s case having acquired this saxophone and clarinet which he said was very good quality, he said better quality then the one he had at home he said he decided he was going to keep this whatever happened. So he carried this through this horrendous weather across [unclear] into Germany. By the time they got to, well they used to sleep in barns or whatever the Germans could acquire during the, during the journey. I suppose they would have an advanced party go ahead and select a farm or buildings where they could accommodate this crowd. One or two prisoners would disappear on the route but they were mainly people like the Pole, ex-Polish aircrew who had been prisoners of war because they were travelling through their own countryside so to speak. So they could disappear and they could find people to talk to and hide them or look after them. That sort of thing. So one interesting anecdote about the journey was there is always a humorous aspect to these sort of things I expect was that on this particular time every now and again they would stop for one or two nights at these farms whatever they’d taken over. They had taken over, and this was on a two night stay and the German commander paraded them the following morning to say that the previous night the farmer reported that half of his chickens had disappeared from the hen house and if anyone was caught they would be shot. No messing. Just couldn’t do things like that. So that was said. So they then stayed on as I say another night and the commander paraded them again the following morning to say that the farmer now reported all of his chickens had disappeared [laughs] and the hen house where they were housed obviously being used for fuel on the fires. So nothing more was said and on they went. But the journey because of the weather conditions and very little food apparently was horrendous and by the time they progressed more and more they had dysentery, frostbite and by the time they moved on things were getting worse and worse. And finally they ground to a halt after roughly about a hundred miles and still about forty or fifty miles from their destination and were then taken the rest. Those who were still able to stand while they were taken by train to Luckenwalde I think it was. A prisoner of war camp near to the edge of Berlin. Any of the prisoners that obviously a lot were taken ill en route and it would appear that they were dropped off at local hospitals or somewhere where they could be taken to a local hospital if their injuries were considered serious enough. But very few, I haven’t seen a record of how many died but how many did die en route but they were in a terrible condition by the time they arrived at the other end. But Bob was still hanging on to this saxophone and clarinet which apparently had dropped from his fingers many times on the route because of the cold and but good for him he finally brought his saxophone and clarinet back home to the UK and he used it again. Well for the rest of his, for the rest of his life really.
BW: And it’s testament to his resilience really because going back to his experience in the Lancaster. He’d been shot down and the aircraft had exploded. He ended up with a bad wound to his right leg.
JU: He did.
BW: And then although he’s recovered it was still giving him pain wasn’t it so he —
JU: Well, right ‘til, right ‘til he died he still had problems with his leg.
BW: And he’d undertaken that walk while still in effect in recovery.
JU: Oh yes. It hadn’t healed. It still reared a bit. Reared a little bit occasionally, I think.
BW: So when they get to Luckenwalde what happened then? This was the camp you mentioned near Berlin. How long were they there do you think?
JU: I think two or three weeks because it was, the conditions there as Bob said, he said, they weren’t much better than on the walk. There was very, there was hardly any food and it was grossly overcrowded because there were prisoners coming in from all over the place. So the Russians finally arrived when they were in there and well the German guards had disappeared overnight and the Russians moved in. Took over. And then the Russians finally handed them over to the Americans and arrangements were made to send them back home to the UK.
BW: That seems fairly straightforward. Did [pause] did Bob have any issues returning to this country. Was it a quite a straightforward process when he got with the Americans?
JU: I think the process of getting out of Germany as far as I know seemed to be reasonably straightforward. It was a case of getting on planes and getting them to where the different prisoners of war were wanting to head for.
BW: So he would have arrived back in England in probably mid-1945 then. Presumably just as the war is about to end or possibly had ended. What happened to him from there? Did he talk about, you mentioned that he had gone on to any [pause] work again in the UK.
JU: I think he was sent on two, they were all sent on two weeks leave and then I don’t think they did a lot of serious, well serious flying after that. At the end of the 1946 Bob and I had been promoted to warrant officer and at the end of 1946 he returned home. He returned back to his musical career. But it wasn’t what he wanted to do long term I don’t think so he then retrained as a civil engineer. A job that he continued to do until his final retirement in South Devon along with his wife Ann and two sons Peter and Tim. He carried on playing his treasured saxophone. Not so much the clarinet but certainly the saxophone with all its memories. He used to play for families and friends and on special occasions really until he died aged ninety-five in 2015. But —
BW: But he'd been back to Germany hadn’t he? And he’d had a couple of meetings at least with people involved with his, with his own personal experience because he I think he met the pilot who shot him down didn’t he?
JU: No, not the pilot. What happened in 1990 I think it was Bob returned to the site at Arnstein. Arnstein, where he’d been shot down and he met with the residents who had been children at the time of his crash so could tell him a bit about it. And strangely enough he received a very warm welcome and was treated to official lunches by the mayors of Arnstein and Schweinfurt which he found quite embarrassing. Now when the Lancaster crashed the local pastor arranged for the dead crew to be buried in the local church which was very brave of the pastor because Hitler’s decree oh Hitler said that Allied airmen should not have a Christian burial and yet we have photographs showing the flowers and everything on his grave in the German town that he’d just been bombing so to speak. After the war the graves, the crew were reburied in a military cemetery at Durnbach. Now on this same visit to meet with the families who’d been bombed so to speak he met with a German researcher who was seeking information about a German Junkers or a JU88 night fighter pilot called Hauptman Walter Bernschein who had been shot down over Arnhem, over Arnstein sorry during the raid and he thought was probably the pilot who had shot down Bob’s Lancaster. Now, this pilot of course was also killed so it’s supposition but he seems reasonably certain from the fighter pilots that were shot down that he was the one that had shot down Bob’s Lancaster. But that’s meeting with the family who had been witness to the event.
BW: Yeah. As you say the other crew members were all, were all killed with the exception of Jack Pickstone. Did Bob ever get to meet any of the family related to any of the other crew members? Did he get to know them at all or was it just those return trips that he’d made to Germany where he’d met the people from the —
JU: No, he met with [pause] he met up with Bishop the pilot quite a lot. And later, later on when they started to form squadron reunions and what have you but I think Bishop was the only one that I can recall. He might have met up with others that I don’t know about but he was a big man in going to the squadron reunions and he went on to one big reunion in Canada in one year and it was very well organised. Almost a national reunion of for such a lot of aircrew were trained in Canada of course weren’t they?
BW: And he was, he was surprised to have been met by the mayors of this, of the towns that he’d actually been attacking or well Arnstein where he’d crashed but also —
JU: Yeah.
BW: Schweinfurt. That must have been quite a surprise to be received favourably let’s say in those terms.
JU: Yeah. I think we’ve got to appreciate that a lot of people and also Germans had lost their families hadn’t they on bombing raids over England and I think that to one extent is probably why the Luftwaffe set up their own prisoner of war camps. As a, to reciprocate what was going on with their crew hopefully over in England. So I think, I don’t know I can only assume that the feeling wasn’t so much against the aircrew as by then as against Hitler and the, and the Nazis so there probably was a little a little bit of sympathy towards the Allies.
BW: I think that’s, that’s all the questions I have. You’ve summarised Bob’s career and experiences very well. I don’t think there are any other questions unless there’s anything else that you may have recalled during the [pause] our discussion that you wanted to add about.
JU: No.
BW: No.
JU: I think that’s pretty well, well covered it. No. I think in Bob’s case it was almost out of the frying pan into the fire wasn’t it? Having been shot down he then after a few months he finds he has to do a hundred mile walk in the middle of the worst winter on record which —
BW: I guess, I guess he must have been pleased that although it took a number of years for the Bomber Command servicemen to be remembered did he mention anything about the Memorial or the plans to commemorate Bomber Command veterans?
JU: Well, I think, I think he was like most Bomber Command. He felt that Churchill and Bomber Harris, more Bomber Harris I think seemed to abandon them in a way. I think what I find is disappointing is that I’ve been to the Memorial in London to Bomber Command which shows the crew and the inscription of Churchill’s speech which fair enough speaks about how the fighter pilots saved the country but nobody goes on to the rest of the speech which says that it was the bomber crew who enabled us to win the war. And that, that bit of it seems to have disappeared from a lot of with all that goes on now I know people talk about you know how especially with the Ukraine business and the civilians being killed and the number that we killed when we were bombing German cities but I think you’ll agree that was a completely different situation. But no I think like the bomber crews I think they were disappointed in what recognition that they got after the war and I think it’s still there that really. I think it’s still felt whatever. You know there was no war medal for people and that sort of thing as I understand it.
BW: Yeah. It was just a clasp.
JU: Just a Memorial was put up.
BW: Great. Thank you very much.
JU: Okay.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with John Usher about Bob Burns
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Brian Wright
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2022-04-28
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:48:26 Audio Recording
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
AUsherJ220428, PBurnsDR1806
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
Second generation
Description
An account of the resource
Bob Burns trained as a navigator and was posted to 106 Squadron at RAF Metheringham. His aircraft came under attack from a night fighter and the centrifugal force pinned the crew down and making escape impossible.
Suddenly the aircraft broke in to two and Bob was blown out of the aircraft. He managed to activate his parachute and land but had injured his leg. He was caught and became a prisoner of war.
He narrowly avoided losing his life to an angry crowd of locals at a train station as the German guard gave him his rifle and he was able to hold the crowd at bay, until they were able to catch the train. He gave the rifle back to the guard.
Bob was a musician and played the saxophone and clarinet. One day the Red Cross delivered a selection of musical instruments to Stalag Luft 7 where he was being held, and amongst the instruments there was a saxophone and clarinet, both of which he played. He wrote arrangements for the camp bands and orchestra playing both instruments. He took part in the long march taking his saxophone with him.
After the war he worked as a civil engineer and continued to play his saxophone.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
Poland
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Luckenwalde
Germany--Schweinfurt
Poland--Tychowo
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
Carolyn Emery
106 Squadron
bale out
bombing
entertainment
Ju 88
Lancaster
lynching
perception of bombing war
prisoner of war
RAF Metheringham
Red Cross
shot down
Stalag Luft 7
the long march
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38167/SWilliamsonF1311249v10002.2.pdf
75962071818f2d492dc16d4b43cffdb5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson 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
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
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
1311249 Flt Sgt Williamson, Air Gunner Lancaster
Description
An account of the resource
A biography written by his son.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J Williamson
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Manchester
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Southwold
England--Frome
England--Northampton
England--Goole
England--Newark (Nottinghamshire)
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Essen
Germany--Remscheid
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Nuremberg
England--Bridlington
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Mannheim
Poland--Gdańsk
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
Wales--Cardiff
England--Warwickshire
England--Southam (Warwickshire)
Germany--Berlin
England--Skegness
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Suffolk
England--Yorkshire
England--Lancashire
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany
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
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
11 printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10002
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.
106 Squadron
5 Group
aerial photograph
air gunner
aircrew
B-17
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Gee
H2S
Halifax
Ju 88
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 3
Master Bomber
Me 110
mine laying
Mosquito
Oboe
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
pilot
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Croft
RAF Fulbeck
RAF Kirkham
RAF Metheringham
RAF Morpeth
RAF Saltby
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
target indicator
target photograph
training
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
Wellington
Window
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36272/MPerryWRP1317696-170719-02.2.pdf
806863a334fab1ae33212066c519e900
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[post mark]
[inserted] The saga of “106 Sqdn – Happy days - & others.”
[obscured words]
move tomorrow to RAF Metheringham ( [missing words]
of Lincolnshire.
We had joined the Squadro[missing letter]
[inserted][circled] 22 [/circled][/inserted]
[inserted] 11th 2005 [/inserted]
[inserted][underlined] 106 METHERINGHAM [/underlined][/inserted]
[inserted] 3A. [/inserted]
[page break]
[inserted] Mar 11th 2005 [inserted]
[crest]
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
With the Compliments of the Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans
This Veteran’s Badge is presented to you in recognition of your service during the Second World War.
You may wish to wear it on suitable occasions when dressed in civilian attire.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, WHITEHALL SW1A 2HB
[page break]
[inserted][underlined] Written Year 2000 [/underlined] By Pete Perry DFC [/inserted]
[underlined] 106 Squadron -- Happy days - & others! [/underlined]
[underlined] Dateline – 9th November 1943, RAF Syerston, Notts [/underlined].
Stand down today so final preparations are made for our move tomorrow to RAF Metheringham (RAF where?) in the wilds of Lincolnshire.
We had joined the Squadron in June. My crew Les Blood, F/E, John Boaden, Nav, Dick Toogood, B/A, Doug Cunnison, Wop/AG, Eddie ‘Taff’ Davies, Mid Upper Gunner & Dennis ‘Shorty’ Groombridge, R/G.
‘Twas not long before we had our ‘own’ aircraft. Firstly ZN-T ‘Admiral’ Dumbo (the flying elephant & it was!) then a brand new ZN-Z ‘Admiral Shyte-Awk’. Why the ‘Admiral’ prefix? At that time 106 was still the 5 Group designated ship attack Squadron & we had two Fleet Air Arm Observer Lieutenants attached to us. Every time we bombed a Port they came along to identify what German Naval ships were there. (Bloody RAF don’t know their bows from their sterns.)
By now (November) we were two-thirds through our first tour. We’d visited a variety of targets – the Ruhr (hotly defended); three trips to Italy (where the weather en route was more hazardous than the defences!) & a variety of selected targets throughout Germany.
We were attacked by a Ju 88 over Nuremburg which ‘Shorty’ shot down & by a Me210 over Kassel which was damaged by ‘Shorty’ & ‘Taff’.
We’d had our moments, of course, but our Lancaster flew as well on three as on four engines (bit slower though) & on one occasion coped well on two (bit lower as well as slower still!).
But now it was “so long” peace-time Station Syerston. Adieu Nottingham – ‘Airborne Nag’, ‘Barley Mow’ & all. No more the enterprising restaurant where first class steak or enormous Dover Sole was regularly available – when the authorities weren’t closing it down which was quite often!
Leaving there one night with Les Blood & heading for the bus station I realised that he was no longer beside me. (Full
[page break]
(2)
black-out still in force & his night vision not of the best). I said “Bloody where are you?” Whereupon a No. 8 torch shone on me & an old ladies voice said “Young man, I can see by your uniform that you are doing a good job but do you have to use such language?” I tried to explain but we had a bus to catch!
Farewell escarpment to the River Trent that saved ‘Ginger’ Crowe’s life when he lost his port outer engine on take-off. He disappeared over the edge, gathered speed & by first class flying & airmanship he brought his fully laden Lancaster around to make a perfect three engined landing.
Said escarpment did its life saving act for a F/O Scott, 61 Sqdn who, returning from ops, stalled on the approach, slid down the slope & finished up on the Trent, nose gently embedded in the far bank! The crew climbed out, barely got their feet wet & were entertained by the farmer & his wife whilst waiting for the ‘gharry’ from Syerston to collect them!
But enough memories. It’s party time tonight in the Mess ‘cos we’re only flying to Metheringham tomorrow afternoon.
[underlined] Dateline November 10th, RAF Syerston. 1030hrs. [/underlined]
My slumber is disturbed by my batman who insists on telling me that I’m required in the briefing room as I’m on ops. I invite him to go away as there aren’t any ops today – we’re going to Metheringham. He is very persistant [sic] & finally convinces me that there may be some truth in his message.
He was right. Higher authority required us to attack the Mont Cenis tunnel at Modane & render it useless for supplies to the German troops in N Italy.
Sooooo – instead of a gentle hop to our new home it’s a full load, full moon, gin clear. We cross France at 7000ft, find the valley, ignore the puny flak (which rapidly ceased under the weight of bombs) & make our way home. Piece of cake.
[page break]
(3)
[underlined] Dateline November 11th RAF Syerston. Early pm. [/underlined]
We really [underlined] are [/underlined] moving. My faithful ZN-Z fully laden – this time with bodies (air & ground crew plus a couple of hitch-hikers), suitcases, kitbags, bicycles & various impedimentia stashed in the fuselage. Chocks away - & so are we.
Two friends of mine, Johnny Forsyth & Colin Storer were to formate on me & we proposed to announce our arrival with a gentle ‘beat-up’. Metheringham R/T callsign was ‘Coffee-stall’ so we intended also to broadcast a rendering (literally!) of the ‘Java Jive’. The new Station Commander was not amused - & said so!
Directions were given by Flying Control to reach our dispersal & we warily made our way around the perimiter [sic] track taking great care not to go off the edge. Liquid mud awaited anyone who put a wheel off the tarmac!
Then to our billets – Nissen huts, coke stoves, no hot water – but plenty of mud.
Unpack, clean up then to the Mess for dinner – a quarter of a mile away. It was raining when we walked up & still raining when we returned. [underlined] And [/underlined] the coke stove had gone out!
Ce la guerre.
Next day the Squadron & Station started ‘working up’. We did an hours local flying, checking new landmarks, noting our proximity to Coningsby, Woodhall Spa, Bardney & Waddington.
Whilst 106 Sqdn had moved as a whole the Administrative Staff were from other Stations & it would take a little while for the varying disciplines to ‘gel’ & become a cohesive unit.
Our new Station Commander decided to inspect the airfield, the ground crew Flight Offices & the aircraft. Remember that the aircraft ‘names’ were prefixed “Admiral” & all Senior Officers had
[page break]
(4)
‘scrambled egg’ on the peaks of their caps. My ‘Admiral Shyte-Awk’ was no exception. The ‘Groupie’ as a Senior Officer took umbrage at the crest & ordered my ground to remove it. As soon as he had moved on my Sgt i/c rang me for help. I reminded him that he should obey his last order - & then ordered him to leave it on. (A P/O countermanded a GC!!). I hastened to my Squadron CO & what he later said to the Station Commander I don’t know – but my crest stayed intact.
Flying continued: ammunition, bombs & fuel stocked up & then we were ready to go on November 18th. I was told that I was not flying that night but a brand new Lancaster was at Waddington awaiting collection. I could ‘take a day off’ & collect same. Taking Les & Doug we duly arrived at ‘Waddo’ & it then being lunchtime arranged to pick the aircraft up in the afternoon.
I had barely started my meal when I was called to the phone & my Flight Commander informed me that the aircraft was now required for ops that night & that I was to fly it. I protested that if I was on ops I wanted my own ‘Z’. To no avail. I could do the NFT (night flying test) on the way back & be quick about it!
The new aircraft proved a success – we bombed Berlin from 25000ft (the higher the fewer) & came back at 27500ft.
‘Miff’ (P/O Mifflin – his F/E Norman Jackson later won the VC) who had taken ‘Z’ that night had the pilot’s side window blown out. He said that it was a bit chilly!
A ‘flu epidemic hit the Station & the Squadron was forced to operate with ‘scratch’ crews. Whenever possible crew replacements were made with members of comparable experience. Whilst I was laid low, F/O Jack Hoboken, a Dutch pilot, needed two gunners so in his rear turret was the Squadron Gunnery Leader & ‘Taff’ Davies in the mid-upper. Unfortunately they were shot down near Munich & all killed. In view of the experience of the two gunners I am
[page break]
(5)
convinced that it was flak that got them & not fighters.
Squadron efficiency quickly returned to normal – first class. The weather didn’t! The airfield was still being completed. Going in to the briefing room one rare sunny afternoon the window was open. We were amazes (& shaken) when three Irish workmen looked through the window & commented on “them pretty red ribbons on that map”.!! They led straight to Berlin! We were not sorry when Command ‘scrubbed’ the op later in the day.
Conditions improved. We got hot water so could shave & shower in comfort. We learned how to manage the coke stove.
Forays were made to Martin & Metheringham where the good folk were coming to terms with the influx of bodies & the ‘roar of mighty Merlins’.
The next two months passed quickly & we finished our tour.
Next item on the agenda – a tour as an instructor. Where?
Some of my crew went to OTU’s (Operational Training Units) at Bruntingthorpe & Silverstone. Les & I were posted to – Syerston, by now the home of 5LFS (5 Group Lancaster Finishing School). Needless to say we were delighted to continue to fly Lancasters & to return to Syerston & ‘ops on Notts’!
We weren’t finished with 106 & Metheringham though. A year later I put together my second tour crew. Les Blood, Doug Cunnison & ‘Shorty’ Groombridge said that they’d come back along with ‘Dixie’ Dean (Nav), Pete Lynch (B/A) & ‘Sandy’ Sanford (MU). All second tour & all commissioned. What a team!
We returned to Metheringham at the end of March ’45 & what a transformation. No mud, a lot of activities & we would not be needing the coke stove much longer!
We only managed three ops on our second tour (including our one & only daylight) when VE was upon us.
[page break]
([underlined] 6 [/underlined])
I applied for a posting to Transport Command to fly Avro Yorks – to be refused on the grounds that my crew were earmarked for ‘Tiger Force’ the code name for the twelve Squadrons who would go to the Far East & bomb Japan!
Training started for the new venture – formation flying, new navigation aids, Radio Range flying, fighter affiliation exercises. Then on leave in early August when the news of the ‘A’ bomb came through & by the time we got back to base ‘Tiger Force’ had been cancelled – to everyones relief.
My CO said that he had resubmitted my application for Transport Command & in early October it came through.
Meantime we did some trips to Italy bringing troops home on the ‘Python’ scheme. ‘Cooks Tours’ were arranged in order to let all personnel see the damage caused by the bombing. We flew at 3000ft around the Ruhr – Cologne, Essen, Bochum, Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen, Dusseldorf etc & the devastation was appalling.
Time then to say “Farewell” to 106, RAF Metheringham & Martin, this time tinged with sadness & a host of memories of which, as time goes by, the good & happy ones push the less pleasant to the dim confines at the back of the mind.
Thank you 106, it’s been a pleasure to serve with you.
And so to Yorks. But that’s another story.
W R P Perry, DFC.
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
106 Squadron - happy days and others
Pete Perry's memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Writes of his time on 106 Squadron at RAF Syerston. Mentions operation to the Ruhr and Italy and that they were two thirds of their way through tour. Writes of his last operation at Syerston and squadron's move to RAF Metheringham. Describes his new station and activities. Mentions finishing first tour and after tour as instructor going back to 106 for a final three operations before training for Tiger Force and then transferring to transport command.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W R P Perry
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-11-09
1943-11-10
1943-11-11
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
France
France--Modane
Germany
Italy
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
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
Eight page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MPerryWRP1317696-170719-02
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
Steve Baldwin
106 Squadron
5 Group
aircrew
Cook’s tour
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
pilot
RAF Metheringham
RAF Syerston
RAF Waddington
Tiger force
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36271/LPerryWRP1317696v3.2.pdf
07554cff9c29e584702881af14734014
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
W R P Perry pilot's flying log book. Three
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPerryWRP1317696v3
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-27
1943-04-28
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-24
1943-06-25
1943-06-26
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-03
1943-07-04
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
1943-08-07
1943-08-08
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-15
1943-08-16
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-09-29
1943-09-30
1943-10-19
1943-10-20
1943-10-22
1943-10-23
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-10
1943-11-11
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-21
1943-12-29
1943-12-30
1944-01-05
1944-01-06
1944-01-14
1944-01-15
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-01-29
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1945-04-04
1945-04-08
1945-04-09
1945-04-16
1945-04-17
1946
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Czech Republic--Plzeň
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Hampshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Somerset
England--Yorkshire
France--Limoges
France--Modane
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Merseburg Region
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--Milan
Italy--Turin
Poland--Szczecin
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book three, for W R Perry. Covering the period from 21 June 1943 to 30 May 1946. Detailing his operations flown, instructor duties and post war flying with 242 squadron. He was stationed at RAF Syerston, RAF Balderton, RAF Metheringham, RAF Stoney Cross, RAF Merryfield and RAF Oakington. Aircraft flown in were Lancaster, Oxford, Dakota, Anson, Stirling and York. He flew 32 operations, one with 29 Operational Training Unit and 31 with 106 Squadron, 30 Night and one daylight. Targets were Limoges, Krefeld, Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Turin, Milan, Nuremberg, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Berlin, Hannover, Aachen, Leipzig, Kassel, Dusseldorf, Modane, Frankfurt, Stettin, Brunswick, Nordhausen, Lutzkendorf and Pilsen. Post-war Cook's Tour and Operation Dodge flights are recorded. His pilot on his first ‘second dickie’ operation was Flying Officer Rosner.
106 Squadron
1654 HCU
227 Squadron
242 Squadron
29 OTU
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Flying Training School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Ju 88
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Balderton
RAF Metheringham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Ossington
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
training
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36270/LPerryWRP1317696v2.2.pdf
9604690923d02c4524cfb2508421ca0c
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
W R P Perry pilot's flying log book. Two
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPerryWRP1317696v2
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-27
1943-04-28
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-24
1943-06-25
1943-06-26
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-03
1943-07-04
1943-07-12
1943-07-13
1943-08-07
1943-08-08
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-15
1943-08-16
1943-08-22
1943-08-23
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-27
1943-09-28
1943-09-29
1943-09-30
1943-10-19
1943-10-20
1943-10-22
1943-10-23
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-10
1943-11-11
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-21
1943-12-29
1943-12-30
1944-01-05
1944-01-06
1944-01-14
1944-01-15
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-01-29
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1945-04-04
1945-04-08
1945-04-09
1945-04-16
1945-04-17
1946
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Czech Republic--Plzeň
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Hampshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--Somerset
England--Yorkshire
France--Limoges
France--Modane
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Braunschweig
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Merseburg Region
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--Milan
Italy--Turin
Poland--Szczecin
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Description
An account of the resource
Pilots flying log book two, for W R P Perry, covering the period from 27 April 1943 to 26 September 1946. Detailing his flying training, operations flown, instructor duties and post war flying with 242 Squadron. He was stationed at RAF North Luffenham, RAF Wigsley, RAF Syerston, RAF Metheringham, RAF Balderton, RAF Snaith, RAF Stoney Cross, RAF Merryfield, RAF Oakington and RAF Full Sutton. Aircraft flown in were Wellington, Manchester, Lancaster, Oxford, Dakota, Anson, Stirling, and York. He flew a total of 32 operations, one with 29 Operational Training Unit, 31 with 106 Squadron, 30 Night and one daylight. Targets were Limoges, Krefeld, Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Turin, Milan, Nuremberg, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Berlin, Hannover, Aachen, Leipzig, Kassel, Dusseldorf, Modane, Frankfurt, Stettin, Brunswick, Nordhausen, Lutzkendorf and Pilsen. Post-war Cook's Tour and Operation Dodge flights are recorded. His pilot for his first ‘second dickie’ operation was Flying Officer Rosner.
106 Squadron
1654 HCU
227 Squadron
242 Squadron
29 OTU
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
bombing
bombing of Kassel (22/23 October 1943)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Flying Training School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Manchester
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Balderton
RAF Full Sutton
RAF Metheringham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Ossington
RAF Scampton
RAF Snaith
RAF Stoney Cross
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Stirling
training
Wellington
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36267/BPerryWRPPerryWRPv3.1.pdf
c59c0b819197fe1330885a6891a5dda1
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] 29 [/inserted]
[inserted] S H [/inserted]
[inserted][underlined] Pete [/underlined][/inserted]
Aircraft flown:- Tiger Moth, Oxford, Wellin[missing letters] Manchester II; Lancaster I
& III, Stirling V [missing words]
Major RAF operational & training Stations:-
10 ITW, Scarborough; 9 EFTS Ansty; 31 EFTS De Winton, Calgary; 37 SFTS Calgary Airport; 14AFU Ossington; 29 OUT North Luffenham & Woofox Lodge; 1654 HCU Wigsley; 106 Sqdn Syerston & Metheringham; 5 LFS Syerston; 227 Sqdn Balderton; 242 Sqdn Merryfield & Oakington.
[page break]
[underlined] 'RON'S ROGUES GALLERY' [/underlined]
F/Lt W.R.P. (Pete). Perry, DFC. Pilot.
Having reached the ripe old age of eighteen on the 25th I volunteered for Aircrew on March 26th 1941. In April that year I was instructed to report to the Recruiting Officer in Plymouth.
(The city had been 'blitzed' the previous night.)
On arrival some six of us were told to be at the Millbay railway station next morning to catch the 0800 to London – our first step towards our Attestation & medicals at Oxford. Four of us, due to living in Cornwall, were unable to get home & back in time so were billeted in "Aggie Weston's" – the Royal Sailors Rest Home in Devonport. Armed with 'chits' for our stay & warrants for the journey we set out walking – no transport due to the previous nights activities.
En-route an unexploded bomb went off & blew one of our party through a shop window! He picked himself up – unhurt – & we went on. When he came to get some change from his hip pocket he found that he had lost the coins through a tear in his trousers caused by the plate glass window!!
We arrived at "Aggies", allocated our rooms & eventually settled in for an early night. About 2230 the sirens went & everyone was ordered to the shelter in the basement. Just as well for after half an hour "Aggies" was hit! Everybody out & along to the nearest street shelter. Ours lasted fifteen minutes before the roof was blown off! Down the road again to the next available – this one being backed by a high wall (said wall being part of Devonport dockyard) behind which was a large ack-ack gun which kept us jumping for the rest of the night.
About 0400 the all clear sounded & the four of us started walking the four miles to the Station. Fires everywhere. The stench was awful. Firemen working strenuously to get the fires under control; ARP & rescue teams amidst the debris recovering people – & – bodies. We made slow progress along the blocked roads but got to the Station in time.
I decided then that I would opt for Bomber Command – & get my own back!
(Thanks to two nights bombing & all the phones being out I had been unable to let my Mother know what was happening so I wrote a note to say I was on my way to Oxford for three days. It was delivered in a charred state due to the heat of the blitz. She was worried sick for it was two days before I could contact her.)
[page break]
(2)
The RAF decided that I was warm & reasonably fit so in August I reported to ACRC – Lord's (the Long Room); St John's Wood; marching through Regent's Park to the Zoo for meals; kitting out – we were on our way!
Next to 10 ITW at the Grand Hotel, Scarborough – North Sea swimming after PT on the beach. Aldis lamp morse from the little lighthouse on the edge of the harbour wall.
A short stay at No9 EFTS at Ansty before a week at Heaton Park en route to Canada.
Boarding HMT 'Volendam' at Avonmouth we sailed in company with HMT 'Montcalm' plus two destroyers. I was 'volunteered' for galley duty as we left port. I've never seen so many spuds & carrots!
Day 2 – one destroyer left us.
Day 3 – first storm – very upsetting.
Day 4 – we broke down & wallowed in the strong seas – very, very upsetting! The 'Montcalm' carried on & the destroyer scurried to & fro trying to protect both of us Until it finally went off & we were left on our tod in U-boat alley!
Day 5 – the final storm abated; the fault was fixed & off we went, remaining on our own. God knows the route we took but it took us thirteen days to reach Halifax!
Pleasant memories? One evening during the storm a pianist gave a beautiful recital on a grand piano (lashed to the stage!) which included Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
Disembarking it was straight on to the train for the three day & night journey to Calgary, Alberta. Stopping at Winnipeg we were surprised & delighted to be welcomed by the RFC & RAF Veterans Association to a reception in the enormous main hall of the Station. Refreshments, drinks (soft), girls (heavily chaperoned), Sweet Caporals, music & dancing. A most enjoyable welcome to Canada.
(For some years after the war the 'Vets' organised a Quadrenial re-union in Winnipeg. We were there in '84 & I know that others have been – some more than once.).
39 EFTS at De Winton-Tiger Moths flying from compacted snow with the odd 'Chinook' roaring down from the Rockies bringing the customary "40 below". (Well that's what the locals said!)
De Winton also witnessed the result of practical 'hangar flying as the picture shows! Quick medical & then airborne again.
Course completed then a spot of leave in Banff plus a few days in Drumheller before going to 37 SFTS at Calgary Airport.
I enjoyed flying 'twins' & also the privilege our our [sic] Flight was given – to lead the Calgary Stampede [inserted] Parade [/inserted] through the city
[page break]
(3)
in July. (It also gave us free entry to the Stadium. Spectacular!)
Wings Parade in August then straight back to UK. Boarding the HMT 'Awatea' in Halifax we joined an enormous convoy heavily escorted; calm seas & only eight days to Greenock. That's more like it!
A fortnight in Bournemouth before a short AFU course at Ossington to discover the joys of night flying in Britain. Somewhat different to Canada.
39 OTU at North Luffenham & Woolfox Lodge on Wimpy IIIs then the dreaded 'fitness course' at Morton Hall.
Our AOC in 5 Group, AVM the Honourable Sir Ralph Cochrane, KCB, etc., decided that aircrew were a flabby, unfit bunch & needed toughening up before going to a Squadron. A week at Morton Hall on an assault course should do the trick. We may not have been 100% fit [underlined] before [/underlined] the course but we sure as hell [underlined] were not after it [/underlined]! Broken limbs, sprains, strains, crews being broken up. It was discontinued after a couple of months!
To Wigsley for HCU – Manchesters (lovely to fly – empty) then Lancasters.
Finally in June '43 to Syerston & 106 Sqdn. I was first allocated ZN-Z which had been modified to carry the 8000lb cookie. It didn't half give a 'leap' when the bomb was released.
A week or two later a new arrival was sent to do his familiarisation flying in ZN-Z. He announced his return with a somewhat spectacular heavy landing which sent the undercarriage up through the engine nacelle, distorted the fuselage [underlined] & [/underlined] empanage to such an extent that it was a write-off. His F/E was to collect a VC in six months time!
'Twas an ill wind because I collected the brand new replacement. Very acceptable!
One evening, aircraft parked on the grass due to hardstandings being repaired, we had started up & just about to taxy when the aircraft next to us started three of its engines but instead of the starboard outer the F/E pressed the H type jettison switch!! [underlined] Al l [/underlined] the bombs fell off on to the grass. You've seen cartoons of men running in mid-air – I've seen it for real – Ian & his crew didn't wait for the ladder – they were out of that aircraft [underlined] so [/underlined] fast!! I hastily taxied off as fast as I could. Fortunately the bombs did not go off.
A variety of targets – many in 'Happy Valley' then Italy. Milan a couple of times & Turin. The weather on the latter was the most atrocious that I ever experienced – cu-nims galore (couldn't see them nor get over them; St Elmo's Fire all over the plane; ice being flung all over the place. 'Twas clear over the target. Then routed back over
[page break]
(4)
France & the Bay of Biscay (in daylight!) we were shot up over La Rochelle (we were over 10/10 cloud & the Nav 'wasn't sure of his position'!) lost our port outer & therefore the rear turret so we flew back at a [inserted] low [/inserted] very level over the Bay!
Autumn – rumours have it that we are to move to RAF Metheringham (RAF where?) still being built in the hinterland of Lincolnshire. So we had a party to say farewell to Syerston BUT instead of the short hop next day we're back on ops – to Modane.
The objective was to close the Mont Cenis tunnel which the Germans were using to re-inforcr [sic] their troops in Italy. Once we'ed found the valley (Gin clear; a full moon; a doddle) it was a piece of cake. One major gun plus a few light weapons. We bombed fourth & I only saw three flak bursts. The result announced next day said "successful raid, tunnel completely blocked. Aircraft missing – nil; casualties – nil; aircraft damaged – one ZN-X (flown by an Aussie pal of mine) hit in the elsan by one of the bursts which caused a redistribution of the contents around the fuselage.
We finally got to Metheringham, R/T call sign 'Coffeestall'. Two friends of mine formated [sic] on me & we did a gentle beat-up to announce the Squadrons arrival simultaneously singing the 'Java Jive' over the R/T.
The Station Commander (a newly promoted G/C) was in the Control Tower & did not appreciate our efforts – & said so!!
Metheringham mud – everywhere. If a wheel went off the perimeter track you were stuck. If you slipped off the duck board around your hut you lost a shoe. The dreaded coke stoves were always going out so drying out was difficult. Hot water in the ablutions? Ha! Security? Lots of workmen around, many of them Irish. One rare sunny afternoon we went to briefing – the windows were open, sunlight on the wall map of Europe & the red ribbons showing our route in & out of Berlin that night. Our Squadron Commander broke off his briefing as three heads appeared at the window & in rich accented voices said "Just look at all dem pretty ribbons on dat map"!! I don't know for what reason but that trip was cancelled half-an-hour before take-off.
The 'Battle of Britain' continued with several moments of interest. A Lanc flew as well on three (Bit slower) & the Gravener fire extinguishers worked well each time. The 'Queen of the Skies' also flew quite well on two (bit lower & slower though). (For demonstration purposes it would fly on one – not loaded though!)
I was awarded the DFC in January & finished my tour in February. Instructing next., but where? Many pilots went to Wimpy OTU's. Whose luck held out?
I went back to Syerston instructing on Lancs!
Had my 21st birthday there.
[page break]
(5)
It was interesting at first but I became bored by the Autumn & the quickest way back on ops was to do a spell as a Squadron Instructor. I was posted to 227 Sqdn, Balderton for six months & did my stint there. I then collected an all Commissioned all second tour crew (including my first tour F/E, WOP/AG & RG) & then back to 106 Sqdn – still at Metheringham.
It had changed – no mud; the sun shone – & we didn't need the coke stove so much in April.
Only got three in (including one daylight – I needed some 'green' in my log book!) before VE was upon us. I applied for Yorks in Transport Command but was denied since we were on 'Tiger Force' for the Far East!
Training [symbol] lectures went apace but fortunately VJ came before we went out.
Another try for Yorks & this [inserted] time [/inserted] successful – 242 Sqdn (Famous originally for being Douglas Bader's RAF/Canadian Hurricane Sqdn). At least we still had Merlins even if they were tropicalised, & the York [underlined] was [/underlined] a nice aircraft.
I spent a happy nine months with them at Oakington, flying the UK – Calcutta – Singapore schedule service route. I was introduced to the Monsoon (no worse than my Turin trip!) & extra large spiders & snakes that sought shelter in our huts! Succulent prawns in Karachi – source? the Indus [symbol] you know what went in to the many mouths of that river!
Finally to Full Sutton nr York awaiting de-mob. Lovely city – lovely girls – & the loveliest one became my wife in '48 & in due course we had a son & a daughter.
To 'civvy street'. One of my eyes had gone wonky so flying was out. Too much competition from fully fit chaps who had equal experience.
[underlined] I joined civil Air Traffic Control [/underlined] starting at Liverpool Airport, then Belfast (Nutts Corner & Sydenham airports) Preston Air Traffic Control Centre; Joint Air Traffic Control Radar unit at RAF Lindholme; back to Preston as Deputy Centre Supertindent [sic] & finally to Manchester [underlined] finishing my career as CAA Chief Officer there. [/underlined]
So the good fortune that was with me in Plymouth back in 1941 had 'hung around' all my life.
I should be so lucky.
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
Ron's rogues gallery
Pete Perry's memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Gives outline of service history. Goes on to describe joining the RAF, early training, journey across the Atlantic to Canada for pilot training. Gives account of training in Canada and on return to the United Kingdom. Writes of operations on 106 Squadron, award of DFC, tour as instructor before returning for a second tour on 106 Squadron. After the war he flew Yorks in Transport Command before demob and joining the civil air traffic control.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Flt Lt W R P (Pete) Perry, DFC
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-03-26
1943-06
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Devon
England--Plymouth
England--London
Canada
Alberta--Calgary
Alberta--De Winton
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
England--Lincolnshire
Germany
Germany--Berlin
Italy
Italy--Turin
Italy--Milan
Alberta
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
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
Six page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BPerryWRPPerryWRPv3
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
Sue Smith
106 Squadron
1654 HCU
227 Squadron
29 OTU
5 Group
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Distinguished Flying Cross
Flying Training School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Manchester
Operational Training Unit
pilot
RAF Ansty
RAF Balderton
RAF Metheringham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Oakington
RAF Ossington
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36266/BPerryWRPPerryWRPv2.2.pdf
2d9a332b2c7e70c15dc51d7c6351a683
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Me - William Roy Peter Perry DFC
Pete Perry's memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Memoir starts by describing early life and education in Tunbridge Wells before moving to Cornwall. Writes about beginning of the war. Volunteered for aircrew in Plymouth (which had been bombed the day before) shortly after his 18th birthday. Continues with account of early induction and training in the RAF. Journeys across the Atlantic to Canada where he continues his pilot training. Describes activities in Canada and return to the United Kingdom. Describes advance flying training at Ossington, and operational training and other activities at North Luffenham. Continues with heavy conversion unit on Manchester and Lancaster before posting to 106 Squadron at RAF Syerston. Goes on to describe activities and operations while on the squadron including a long description of operation to Turin. Awarded DFC at end of first tour. Mentions operations over Berlin when hit by anti-aircraft fire which set engine on fire. Goes on to describe activities as an instructor at 5 Lancaster Finishing School before going to 227 Squadron at RAF Balderton as an instructor. He eventually returned to 106 Squadron for a second tour in March 1945 where he did a further three operations before the end of the war. Mentions Tiger Force, Cook's tour and bring troops back from Italy. Concludes with life in transport command after the war. After demob in January 1947 became a civilian air traffic controller.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W R P Perry
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-03-26
1941-04
1942
1943
1944
1945
1945-03
1957-01
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Kent
England--Tunbridge Wells
England--Cornwall (County)
England--Devon
England--Plymouth
England--Oxfordshire
England--Oxford
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Warwickshire
Canada
Alberta--Calgary
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
Germany
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Cologne
Italy
Italy--Turin
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bochum
Alberta
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
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
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Air Force. Transport Command
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
Thirty-two page printed document
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Allocated
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BPerryWRPPerryWRPv2
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
106 Squadron
1654 HCU
227 Squadron
29 OTU
5 Group
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
B-17
civil defence
Cook’s tour
crewing up
Distinguished Flying Cross
Flying Training School
Heavy Conversion Unit
Home Guard
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Manchester
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Ansty
RAF Balderton
RAF hospital Rauceby
RAF Metheringham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Ossington
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Stirling
Tiger force
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36264/SPerryWRP1317696v70007.1.pdf
85ed7f9870c6b6edafb95b8e11ebe0e0
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] W.R.P. PERRY. DFC. AIRCRAFT FLOWN. [/inserted]
[underlined] Registered Numbers & Sqdn letters (& fate) of Manchester & Lancasters flown. [/underlined]
[underlined] 1654 HCU Wigsley May – June '43 [/underlined] (Training).
Manchester L7492 ?
Lancaster R5483 Lost Jan. '44 622 Sqdn.
R5690 Scrapped Oct. '46.
R5730 Crashed March '45 1656 HCU.
R5514 Scrapped Nov. '46.
W4260 Crashed Aug. '43 1654 HCU.
ED591 Crashed July '43 1654 HCU
W4303 ?
L7575 Mid-air break-up Oct. '43. 1654 HCU.
R5734 Missing March '44. 61 Sqdn.
ED704 ?
[underlined] 106 Sqdn, Syerston & Metheringham, June '43 – February '44. [/underlined] (1st Tour).
Lancaster R5614 [symbol] 'Z' (Carried 8000 lb 'cookie'. Crashed Syerston, Aug '43.
ED303 [symbol] 'J' Lost. July '43.
ED358 [symbol] 'T' Lost. Oct. '43.
ED819 'U' Lost. Sep. '43.
ED593 [symbol] 'Y' (Became 'C' at 5LFS & then moved to 1656 HCU.
ED801 'N' Crashed March '45 1653 HCU.
DV182 [symbol] 'S' Lost Sep. '43.
JA976 'P' Lost Apr. '44 405 Sqdn.
DV229 [symbol] 'Z' Lost Jun. '44 463 Sqdn.
JA876 'R' soc Nov. '47. (soc – struck off charge).
W4897 'X' soc Jan. '44.
DV344 'S' soc (Berlin) Jan. '44. 61 Sqdn.
JB534 [symbol] 'O' Burnt out Feb. '44.
JB593 'T' Lost Aug. '44.
ND339 [symbol] 'Z' Lost July '44.
ME630 'P' Lost Feb. '44.
[symbol] Flew on ops.
[page break]
[underlined] No 5 LFS (Lancaster Finishing School), Syerston, Notts. Feb. – Nov. '44. [/underlined] (Instructor).
Lancaster. R5912 'S' ?
W4113 'Q' ?
L7540 'U' soc Apr '44.
R4i22 [sic] 'R' ?
W4383 'H' Crashed May '44.
ED368 'N' Crashed Jun. '45.
W4899 'K' ?
ED758 'G' Lost (Berlin) '44.
W4797 'B' Crashed Apr. '44.
L7583 'T' soc Nov. '46.
R5658 'F' soc May. '47.
R5865 'J' ?
W4258 'R' Crashed May '44.
W4103 'E' Crashed Apr. '44.
R5668 'O' ?
R5910 'X' ?
W4940 'P' ?
L7580 'U' soc Nov. '45.
ND663 'Y' ?
R5726 'A' Crashed Apr. '44.
L7578 'C' Burnt May '44.
JB178 'E' Lost July '44. 49 Sqdn.
W4794 'C' Crashed (Carnaby) May '44.
ED802 'D' ?
R5854 'V' ?
ED944 'Q' ?
ED869 'A' ?
JB137 'B' soc Oct. '46.
R5757 'A' soc Jan '47.
DV310 'H' ?
W5008 'F' Lost.
W4328 'T' soc. Jan.'47.
W4941 'M' Crashed Oct. '44.
W4882 'N' soc Sep. '45.
W5004 'E' soc Jan. '47.
[page break]
Lancaster. LM308 'F' Crashed Jan.45.
ED866 'C' Crashed Nov. 48.
DV175 'B' soc Oct. 46.
W4358 'D' ?
DV362 'Q' soc Sep. '46.
ED727 'S' soc Nov. '46.
JB125 'E' Crashed, Syerston, Jan. '45.
R5910 'X' ?
LL742 'R' ?
DV277 'V' soc Nov. '46.
ED940 'Z' soc Nov. '47.
[underlined] 227 Sqdn, Balderton, Notts. (Sqdn Instructor). Nov. '44 – March '45. [/underlined]
Lancaster. PD342 'E' Crashed. Jul. '45.
PB646 'P' Lost Dec. '44.
PD348 'B' Crashed Feb. '45.
PD349 'G' soc Sep. '47.
LM259 'U' Lost. Dec. '44.
PD345 'F' soc. Nov. '46.
PD344 'D' Lost Oct. '44.
PB805 'M' Crashed. Sep. '45.
PB620 'Z' Lost Apr. '45.
PB610 'O' Crashed, Balderton, Mar. '45.
PB690 'Y' Lost Feb. '45.
PB731 'L' soc Mar. '47.
PB644 'R' Lost Mar. '45.
NG170 'S' Lost, Ladbersch, Mar. '45.
PB651 'H' soc Oct. '46.
PB666 'J' Lost Feb. '45.
ME372 'U' Lost, Hamburg, Mar. '45.
NW802 'K' soc Aug. '46.
RA518 'C' soc Jun. '47.
PB645 'A' soc Nov. '46.
ME454 'Y' Lost, Wurtzburg, Mar. '45.
[page break]
[underlined] 227 Sqdn (cont) [/underlined]
Lancaster. SW247 'W' soc Oct. '46.
RA546 'J' Lost, Lutzkendorf, Mar. '45.
NX566 'S' soc Mar '48.
ND992 'Y' Crashed Aug. '45.
RF178 'V' soc Sep. '46.
RD332 'N' soc Jan. '47.
[underlined] 106 Sqdn, Metheringham, Lincs. (2nd Tour) April – October '45. [/underlined]
Lancaster. RE130 'H' soc Aug. '46
RF236 [symbol] 'V' soc Jan. '47.
PA310 'A' soc Nov. '46.
PB618 'G' Crashed Jun. '45.
RF235 [symbol] 'Y' Crashed May. '45.
NG397 'T' soc Jan.'47.
LM211 'Z' soc Feb. '49.
LM690 'P' soc May '47.
RF265 'O' soc Jul. '47.
NN719 'Q' soc Mar. '48.
PB677/G 'Z' soc Aug. '47.
ND933 'X' soc Jan. '47.
ND690 'D' soc Nov. '45.
PB682 'O' Crashed Oct. '45.
ND616 'J' Crashed Jul. '45.
ME369 'F' Crashed Feb. '46.
RF194 'T' soc May. '47.
PB583 'B' soc May '47.
PB305 'R' soc Jul. '49.
PB676 'E' soc Apr. '46.
PB622 'N' Crashed Feb. '46.
ME727 'Y' ?
PB124 'Q' soc Nov. '46.
[symbol] Flew on ops.
[page break]
Total hours on types of aircraft flown from E.F.T.S., Nov. '41 to Transport Command final flight Sep. '46.
[underlined] [a] Type. [b] Day. [c] Night. [d] Total. [/underlined]
(a) Lancaster Mks. I & III. (b) 459:00 (c) 413:15 (d) 872:15
(a) York. C. Mks. I (b) 295:35 (c) 105:00 (d) 400:35
(a) Stirling. Mks. IV (b) 6:20 (c) – (d) 6:20
(a) Manchester. Mks. II (b) 7:05 (c) – (d) 7:05
(a) Wellington. Mks. III (b) 48:55 (c) 51:05 (d) 100:00
(a) Oxford. (b) 192:35 (c) 27:45 (d) 220: 0 [sic]
(a) Dakota. (b) 1:50 (c) – (d) 1:50
(a) Tiger Moth. Mks. DH82/82c [underlined] (b) 77:00 (c) 1:45 (d) 78:45 [/underlined]
Total [underlined] (b) 1088:20 (c) 598:50 (d) 1687:10 [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Description
An account of the resource
List one Manchester and 10 Lancasters at RAF Wigsley May - June 1943. On 106 Squadron at RAF Syerston and RAF Metheringham between June 1943 and February 1944, lists 16 Lancasters. At No 5 Lancaster Finishing School between February and November 1944 at RAF Syerston, lists 46 Lancasters. At 227 Squadron RAF Balderton November 1944 to March 1945, lists 27 Lancasters. On 106 Squadron, second tour at RAF Metheringham between April and October 1945, lists 23 Lancasters. Then gives total hours flown on Lancaster, York, Stirling, Manchester, Wellington, Oxford, C-47 and Tiger Moth.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05
1943-06
1944-02
1944-11
1945-03
1945-04
1945-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Personal research
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five page typewritten document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v70007
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
Title
A name given to the resource
Registered numbers and squadron letters (& fate) of Manchester & Lancasters flown
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
106 Squadron
1653 HCU
1654 HCU
1656 HCU
227 Squadron
C-47
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Manchester
Oxford
RAF Balderton
RAF Metheringham
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36250/SPerryWRP1317696v60011.2.pdf
69a5157ce2cca7c1114dc6b69a4a2b27
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36250/SPerryWRP1317696v60001.1.jpg
ec720f97c988c3eac524aae97347bbbd
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[book cover]
[page break]
SHORT HISTORY
--of—
106 SQUADRON
[page break]
[underlined] SHORT HISTORY OF NO. 106 SQUADRON [/underlined]
No. 106 Squadron was formed at Andover in September 1917 and equipped with R.E.8 aircraft, its duties were those of an Army Co-operation Unit. After eight months at Andover, it was moved to Fermoy in Northern Ireland, where it was when the Armistice was signed, and where it remained until its disbandment in October, 1919 – it had by then been re-equipped with Bristol Fighters. Early records of the Squadron are meagre but there is nothing to suggest that the Squadron was ever in the front line and it does not appear to have any claim to distinction.
In June, 1938, the Squadron was reformed at Abingdon and was under the Command of S/Ldr. W.C. Sheen. The original aircraft were Hinds, but Fairey Battles were later introduced and in September, 1938 the Squadron moved to Thornaby where it stayed until after the outbreak of war. By this time the Fairey Battles had been had been superseded by the Handley Page ‘Hampden’ and thus equipped the Squadron, after a short stay at Cottesmore, was moved to Finning in October, 1939.
No. 106 Squadron was not immediately employed as a front line Squadron – it was not employed as such for over a year – but became an advanced training Unit and crew pool for Operational Squadrons of No. 5 Group. Its duties consisted of normal flying training, intensive night flying and an occasional North Sea sweep. Later, its curriculum was extended to include conversion of second pilots to Captains, moving target (Motor Boat) bombing and sundry other training commitments of a miscellaneous character. Owing to the constantly changing personnel – between 90 and 100 aircrew passed through the Squadron every week, making it little more than a clearing house – it was impossible to adopt any consistent policy as the large flow of aircrew for Operational Squadrons belonged to us on paper only.
It was under these circumstances and against an historical background very far from inspiring, that No. 106 Squadron, then under the command of S/Ldr. R.D. Stubbs, DFC., was converted into a semi-operational unit and carried out its first sorties on 9th Sept. 1940. Three aircraft were sent ‘Gardening’ and the event was such as to arouse quite extrardinary [sic] enthusiasm and practically the whole camp – from Station Commander downwards, were present at the take-off. The primary object of this new policy was to provide No. 5 Group Squadrons with fully trained crews who had operational experience. Later, the posting of these experienced crews ceased and the Squadron was gradually built up to full strength with a view to itself being made fully operational. Throughout the winter of 1940-41 under the Command of first W/Cdr. W.J.H. Lindley and then W/Cdr. J.P. Polglaise, mining sorties were carried out regularly – with varying degrees of success and without incidents of special interest.
On 25th, Feb. 1941, the Squadron moved to Coningsby and now almost at full strength, took its place alongside the other 5 Group Squadrons – admittedly the Cinderella in such gallant company and rather jealous of their ‘kudos’ but determined to make its way to the front. It was not long before this had been achieved.
The first bombing raid was made on the 1st. March, 1941 – the target was Cologne. The first event of outstanding importance was on the night of 4 – 5th. April, 1941, when three aircraft made a fifty feet attack on the notorious German Warships which had recently arrived in Brest. In the face of fierce opposition, at least one 1900 lb. bomb scored a near miss on the Gneisenau. The Squadron won its first awards on this attack – Pilot Officer R. Waring winning the D.F.C. and Sergeant R. Purnell with the D.F.M. The price paid for such success as was achieved at the loss of the Squadron Commander, W/Cdr. J.P. Polglaise, who was one of the low-level attackers.
[page break]
Early in May, 1941, the Squadron was taken over by W/Cdr. R.S. Allen, DFC. and a little later was converted into a three flight Squadron. This enabled raids to be carried out with increased strength and throughout the summer we achieved, comparatively, a high standard of success with light losses. The targets on those summer nights were not very varied – they were chiefly in the Ruhr – but attacks were very frequent and on several occasions 20 aircraft were put into the air. Some excellent take-off times were achieved, too, the best being the despatch of fifteen aircraft in 9 minutes.
On 24th. July, 1941, after several weeks of intensive training, formation of six aircraft led a daylight raid on the warships at Brest. The crews claimed to have straddled the Gneisenau despite fierce and accurate opposition – the formation remained unbroken and, although every aircraft was damaged, all returned safely. For this magnificent work, W/Cdr. Allen was awarded the D.S.O. and awards were made to three other members of the crews. Later, the same formation (even the escorting fighter Squadrons admitted that it was good) made a daylight attack on Gosnay in occupied France.
With the coming of the longer nights the targets could be varied and the enemy naval ports received frequent attention, as well as Berlin. The art of sea-mining was not neglected and amongst other operations of that type the most note worthy was the mining of Oslo by 14 aircraft, which were temporarily based at Wick. Several successful ‘sneaker’ raids were made, – these were great favourites amongst the more adventurous spirits – and other attacks which readily come to mind are those on the Huls Rubber Factory in December, 1941, and the smashing of the Renault Factory at Billencourt in March, 1942.
In March 1942, the time came for the Hampden, rapidly becoming obsolete, to be replaced with the latest type of Bomber and the Squadron was re-armed with the A.V. Roe ‘Manchester’ as a transition stage to the final re-equipment with the four engine Lancaster. With the change over from Hampdens, accomplished very creditably in ten days without a single accident, there came a change in Command, the new Squadron Commander being W/Cdr. G.P. Gibson, DFC., who had already completed tour of operations on bombers and one on night fighters.
The Manchesters were operated continuously throughout March, April and May, and despite the aircraft’s many shortcomings, no small measure of success was achieved. Lubeck and Warnemunde were amongst the targets attacked and aircraft were despatched on all four nights of the ‘blitz’ on Rostock. In addition to bombing, the Squadron’s mining activity was considerable – over 200 mines were laid which is a total greater by far than that laid by the Hampdens in 18 months.
The Squadron was in the process of converting to Lancasters at the time of the first ‘thousand raid’ and, in fact, the first sorties with these aircraft were made against Cologne on 30th. May, 1942. 11 of the 16 aircraft despatched on that occasion were Lancasters – none were lost – which was no mean feat considering that the pilots had only an hours experience of them. A few weeks later 17 Lancasters and 2 Manchesters dropped 54 tons of bombs on Bremen, establishing a new record for one nights work.
The size, scope and success of our bombing grew rapidly. Most readily there comes to mind the daylight attack on Danzig in July, 1942, which was followed by several mining sorties in that area and a bombing attack (using the 550 lb. C.S. bomb) on the Graf Zeppelin in Gdynia. On 31st. July, 1942 we set up a new record – 21 of our aircraft dropped 62 tons of bombs on Dusseldorf – the greatest weight ever dropped by a single Squadron. On this raid, too, we carried the first 8,000 lb. bomb.
2.
[page break]
During the fine nights of August and September, 1942, the intensity of our bombing continued unabated. We achieved still more excellent results, both in bombing and mining – specially in the latter when many mines were accurately laid in the Baltic, often under appalling weather conditions. Sometimes we were the only Squadron to operate on these missions and our reward was the frequently expressed appreciation of the Admiralty.
Photography was coming into its own just now and in the number and quality of our pictures we were not lagging – holding a high place in Bomber Command and on two consecutive nights in September we took more photographs than any other Bomber Command Squadron.
At the end of September 1942, we severed, temporarily at least, our connection with Coningsby and were transferred to Syerston. We arrived there with a good reputation and we were not long in living up to it. October, 1942, was a month of spectacular success for No. 5 Group and 106 Squadron was well to the fore. On 17th. October, 1942, ten aircraft took part in a daylight raid on Le Creusot and on 22nd. October, 1942, 12 aircraft bombed Genoa, which was our first incursion of Italian territory. Two days later, we went to Italy again, this time in daylight when 11 aircraft bombed Milan. Not a single aircraft was lost on these three raids.
November, and December, 1942, were notable for the frequency of our attacks on Italian Targets – attacks which were usually highly successful and which produced an abundance of superb photographs. Germany was not forgotten, however, and in mid-January, 1943, two heavy raids on successive nights were made on Berlin. Mr. Richard Dimbleby the B.B.C. War Correspondent, flew on one of these and his story was subsequently broadcast to the World.
In January 1943, a new Pathfinder technique (Wanganui and Parrametta) was introduced and the Squadron assisted in these experiments – usually five aircraft were supplied for attacks on Essen or Duisburg. The entire attacking force normally numbered no more than about 25 aircraft, and owing to the limited numbers the raids were exceedingly dangerous and unpleasant. The losses incurred were not light but these experiments led to the sudden smashing assault on 5th. March, 1943, on Essen – an attack which may well be regarded as a forerunner of the scores of concentrated assaults which were to follow on the Ruhr and elsewhere.
Unusually fine weather enabled operations to be carried out with great frequency and the Squadron roamed far and wide over France, Germany and Italy. Many successes came our way. After having been second in January, we headed the No. 5 Group ladder in February and were second again in March. On a raid against Milan we obtained six aiming point photographs – a new Bomber Command Record which earned a congratulatory message from the A.O.C.
In March, 1943, came a change of Command. W/Cdr. G.P. Gibson D.S.O. D.F.C., (he had won the DSO. And Bar for his brilliant work on the Squadron) was posted to form a new Squadron which subsequently achieved fame by its ‘Dam Busting’ raid. Be it noted that apart from W/Cdr. Gibson 25% of the pilots who reached the target were ex-106 Squadron.
The new Commanding Officer was W/Cdr. J.H. Searby DFC, who had joined the Squadron as ‘B’ Flight Commander in October, 1942. Under his Command the Squadron continued to hold its high place amongst Bomber Command’s best Squadrons Nuremburg, Munich and Berlin, in March, Stettin, Spezia and the Skoda works in April were, perhaps, the most notable efforts.
At the beginning of May, 1943, W/Cdr. Searby left us to take Command of a Pathfinder Squadron – he was shortly afterwards promoted Group Captain and was later to win the D.S.O. His successor was W/Cdr. R.E. Baxter.
3.
[page break]
Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the bombing of Essen, the avowed intention of Bomber Command was the destruction of the industrial Ruhr, and in May, the battle was joined in earnest. For three months the Ruhr was bombed ceaselessly and remorsely – enormous areas were devastated in each raid. Sometimes whole towns such as Wuppertal and Remscherd, were virtually eliminated in a single night. The Squadron was well to the fore in this series of grim, determined attacks which were met with fierce and desperate opposition. Many fine crews were lost but we may well be proud of our part in a battle which finally resulted in complete victory.
At the end of July, 1943, Bomber Command started – and won – the Battle of Hamburg. In four attacks, startling in their ferocity and concentration – a vast tonnage of bombs was unloaded on a vital target. In less than a week Hamburg had been reduced to a smouldering ruin. In these attacks we sent 58 aircraft and dropped 240 tons of bombs.
As a welcome variation of the almost nightly run to the Ruhr, a favoured few made a trip to North Africa by way of the R.D.F. factories at Friedrichshaven the first of the shuttle service raids. Later still, three crews made low-level attacks on an Italian power station.
Raids on a miscellany of targets followed, outstanding amongst them being the attack on the R.D.F. and experimental at Peenamunde. The Squadron did extremely well on this raid – nine aircraft made the attack, two landing point photographs were taken, a fighter was shot down and not an aircraft was lost.
September and October saw heavy bombing of Nuremburg, Munich Kassel and Leipzig. Hanover had several attacks as did Berlin – a preliminary round maybe? During this late summer and early Autumn period, the Squadron operated steadily and consistently. It had one bad spell and owing to repeated losses it was reduced to only seven aircraft but there were several fine performances, both by the Squadron as a whole and by individual crews.
In November, 1943, after a years happy and successful residence at Syerston the Squadron moved to Metheringham, then a satellite of RAF. Coningsby and later embraced by the newly formed No. 54 Base. The camp was a new one – indeed, it was very far from complete. Apart from personal difficulties the obstacles to efficient operating were very real, not the least of which were the widely dispersed sites. Lack of transport, unpleasantly cold and wet weather, and a very large number of influenza victims. Despite these handicaps the Squadron rose to the occasion magnificently – on four of our first six raids we despatched more aircraft and dropped more tons of bombs than any other Squadron in No. 5. Group.
Coincidental of our arrival at Metheringham, Bomber Command opened its night offensive against Berlin. It was an assault which resolved itself into a grim unrelenting battle against cunning and bitter defences and, not infrequently appalling weather. The Squadron was in the thick of the fray from the first raid on 17/18th. November, 1943 and during the next three months took part in 15 attacks on the Reich Capital. Including an attack in late March, 1944, we despatched 233 aircraft and dropped over 900 tons of bombs – it may be claimed with confidence that our contribution to the Battle of Berlin was not exceeded by any other Squadron in Bomber Command.
There were, of course, other targets bombed during the 1943/1944 Winter. Leipzig, Magdeburg and Stettin are examples but even these targets were interwoven with campaign against Berlin, employed as they were to confuse the enemy defences. With the virtual elimination of Berlin, achieved in February, other targets were chosen – Schweinfurt, Augsburg and Stuttgart to name only three.
4.
[page break]
In March 1944, a most important development in Pathfinder technique was evolved and the Squadron assisted in the experiments which finally led to the ‘Spot-fire’ target marking. The Commanding Officer of the famous No. 617 sqdn was employing a technique of marking an objective from the very low-level and then instructing the bombing force to bomb the target in relation to its position to the spot fire. The objective chosen for the experiments were small but important factories in France – Claremount, Ferrand Rubber Factories, the explosives factory at Angouleme, the munitions factories at Bergerac. Six experienced Squadron crews would precede the 617 Sqdn. aircraft, locate the target and illuminate it with flares, in the light of which W/Cdr. Cheshire, in a Mosquito would drop the markers. There invariably followed a highly accurate bombardment (with 12,00 lb bombs), our own aircraft adding to the general destruction with loads of incendiaries. Very soon this technique was universally employed and without doubt was largely responsible for the countless successful attacks on targets, large and small, in the following months.
At this time the Squadron was once more on the crest of a wave of success. For the first quarter of 1944, we were leading every other 5 Group Squadron by a handsome margin. Our accident rate was the lowest, our operational losses were proportionately less than those of any other Squadron. Our training hours were the highest by far, and for three consecutive months we won the 5 Group Bombing competition.
In March, 1944, W/Cdr. R.E. Baxter, recently awarded the D.F.C., was posted and W/Cdr. E.K. Piercey assumed command.
With the advent of Spring, the sole topic of war conversation was ‘Invasion’. Although it did not take place until June, the Squadron was busily employed in paving the way with attacks on lines of communications, military camps and munition factories in France – although German cities were not entirely neglected, two outstanding attacks in those on Munich and Schweinfurt in April.
Considerable success was achieved and we assisted in the destruction of many vitally important targets. Anti-aircraft opposition was generally less intense than that experience in Germany and the majority of targets were accordingly bombed from a comparatively low level – between 4,000 and 10,000ft. Usually careful routeing enabled us to avoid the fighter packs – but not always. On two or three occasions the Squadron suffered heavy and bitter losses – five aircraft were lost on 26th. April, 1944, a few nights later another four failed to return. A total of 12 was lost in less than a fortnight.
Sea mining was not neglected and the Squadron effected a remarkable performance on 9/10th. April, 1944, when three aircraft, in face of intense flack, laid mines from 150 ft. in the Konigberger See-Kanel. It may be remarked that my Lords of the Admiralty, as on previous occasions, were so delighted by the success of the operation and so impressed by the gallantry of the crews, that they were constrained to send their congratulations in terms so effusive as to bear no relation to their traditional unemotional silence.
Towards the end of May our targets included Coastal Gun Batteries in France – targets obviously so important and urgent that the weather incredibly adverse was repeatedly defied. On the last night of May, for example, 12 aircraft took off to bomb the Maisy Gun Battery in a thunderstorm of unusual violence.
Returning at dawn on 6th June, 1944, having bombed the Coastal Gun Battery at St. Pierre Du Mont our crews saw some of the vast armada of ships heading for the Normandy Coast. “D.Day” had arrived and it heralded a period of intensive work by the Squadron – that same night 16 aircraft were making a low level attack on the bridges at Caen. Broadly, the Squadron was employed during the ensuing weeks on two missions – firstly, tactically and strategic bombing in accordance with military requirements, secondly in the assaults upon the Flying Bomb Dumps.
5.
[page break]
By day and night, the Squadron operated consistently. It is impossible to record the many targets which we bombed with repeated success – they were targets of priority which mostly had a bearing of military operations. At first, they were confined to Railway Yards – Orleans, Poitiers, Nantes, Nevers and Vitry le Francois, are a few which come readily to mind. Occasionally we were called into assist the Ground Forces, notable occasions being the obliteration of Aunay-sur-Odon and whatever enemy Panzer divisions which were sheltering there, and the tremendous bombing on Caen on 18th. July. Special mention must be made of the daylight bombing of St. Syr Air Park when all 20 crews taking part obtained aiming point pictures.
Soon after the invasion, the enemy launched against London and the Southern Counties, his much heralded ‘Secret Weapon’ campaign – his missile becoming known, officially as the Flying Bomb. A.D.G.B. and the A.A. defences shot down enormous numbers whilst Bomber Command sought out the launching sites, and deluged them with incredible quantity of bombs. No. 106 Squadron was seen in action against these sites and dumps and took part in four night and nine daylight attacks upon them. Sometimes, especially at night, large fighter forces were deployed to protect the objectives and against the St. Leu De’Esseraunt dump, the Squadron lost two aircraft on 4th. July and two nights later lost another five. In all other cases, however, the attacks were completed without loss.
August 1944 was a month of high endeavour and was a splendid climax to our great efforts of the past few months. In the first half of the month we operated on no fewer than eight days and five nights, our targets ranging from Flying Bomb Dumps to German industrial centres, from enemy troop concentrations to submarine pens, from airfields to marshalling yards. The month ended with notable mining sorties and two devastating attacks on Konigsburg. The last of which saw the loss of the Station Commander, G/Capt. W.N. McKechnie, G.C. who was taking a new crew on their first operational flight. During this month of consistent achievement, the Squadron despatched 291 aircraft and dropped 1199 tons of bombs – no other Squadron in 5 Group has despatched so many aircraft or dropped such a tonnage of bombs in any single month of the War.
On this triumphant note, the Squadron entered its fifth year of Operational flying.
At the end of August, 1944, W/Cdr. M.M.J. Stevens assumed Command of the Squadron, he was the Squadron’s tenth wartime Commanding Officer.
The return of the longer nights saw the Squadron turning away from the Military targets to the Strategical targets of pre-invasion days. The month saw more incendiary raids on major German cities such as Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Muchen Gladbach to name a few.
On 13th September, 1944, the Squadron received a great compliment, it was allotted the task of training all the new crews of No. 5 Group’s Pathfinder Squadrons. This meant that only a nucleus of six permanent crews were kept, the rest, after a period of intensive training and operating were passed on to 83 and 97 Squadrons, and it was expected that this would cause a drop in the Squadron’s operational effort.
The month of October, 1944 saw the Squadron back in its old stride, despite its commitments as a nursery for P.F.F. Its targets were again getting deep into Germany, and again all strategical targets. Only two military targets were attacked, one was the breaching of the Sea Wall at Westkappelle on the island of Walcheren.
6.
[page break]
Mining was not neglected this month, the Squadron dropping a total of 100 mines in three nights.
November, 1944, saw the attacks against the Dortmund Ems Canal and Millteland Canal increasing. The Squadron taking part in raids on them at various points, on the first of these one aircraft, JB.663 completed its 100th sortie.
On November, 23. 1944, the Squadron created a New Record; on the raid against Munich it had 23 aircraft airborne, all of which successfully completed their missions and returned to Base, the aircraft being landed on F.I.D.O. due to bad visibility.
In the next month, December, 1944, the Squadron was busy attacking the German Navy, both with mines and bombs. On December, 13th 1944, 106 Squadron with the rest of 54 Base (617, 83 and 97) took part in a strike against the Emden at Horten. On December, 16th. 1944, 15 aircraft of the Squadron were the only aircraft in command of operations, they dropped 70 mines in the entrances to the Ports of Danzig and Gydnia.
A heavy but successful year ended with the bombing of enemy troop concentrations at Houffalaize when the German Ardennesoffensive was at its height
The Squadron could look back with pride over its achievements of 1944. In addition to its fine operational record and its new job of P.F.F. training, it had also held the 5 Group Trophy for the least number of avoidable accidents for nine months out of the year. The first day of 1945 saw two attacks on the German inland water system the Dortmund Ems Canal and the Mittland Canal, one by day and one by night , both of which were highly successful. The canals being completely breached at both places. The end of the month saw the start of the final battle for German oil, with two attacks, one to Leuna nr Leipzig and the other to Brux in Czechoslovakia.
Again in Feb. 1945, the Dortmund Ems Canal was heavily attacked and the Germans having been given just enough time to get the damage cleared away and the breeches mended. The month included more mining, and attacks against oil targets, and the Squadron also participated in the historic attack on Dresden.
On Feb. 8th. 1945, it was allotted another new role, being given the task of making a ‘spoof’ attack at New Brandenburg, while the rest of five Group was making an attack at Politz, about 70 miles away. The Squadron provided its own controller, marker leader, marking force, flare force and main force. The ‘spoof’ was a great success – helping to divert the enemy night fighters from the main attack – and was considered a good nights outing by everyone taking part.
The immediate award of the D.F.C. was announced this month to Sqdn. Commander, W/Cdr. M.M.J. Stevens.
March 1945, produced another new innovation for Bomber Command, the thousand bomber daylight attacks on Essen and Dortmund. In both of these 106 Squadron played its part. These were essential military attacks, and greatly assisted the coming allied offensive, for the crossing of the Rhine.
The rest of the month was taken up with increasingly heavy attacks against the German Oil supplies – mostly in the Leipzig area.
On 15th. March 1945, W/Cdr. L.G. Levis assumed Command of the Squadron W/Cd. M.M. Stevens, D.F.C. being posted to the Command of R.A.F. Station, Coningsby.
7.
[page break]
The month of April, 1945, commenced with a daylight attack on enemy concentrations at Nordhausen. This was quickly followed by more attacks on enemy oil installations, on one of which the Squadron Commander W/Cdr. Levis had to do a forced landing at Wing, after being well and truly ‘shot up’
The Squadron’s last sortie of the War was against small oil refinery at Tonsburg near Oslo, on 25th April, 1945.
With the coming of May, 1945, the Squadron was standing by to help with operation ‘Exodus’ – and on May, 9th. 1945, when peace was at last a reality, 15 aircraft of the Squadron were at Rheine airfield, near the Dortmund Ems Canal, helping to evacuate released P.O.W.
No. of Nights operated . . 496. Number of days operated . . . . . . 46
Total . . . . 542.
Total number of sorties . . 5834 Total bombs & mines dropped . . . 17,781 tons
Losses. . . 187 Aircraft.
Enemy aircraft destroyed. 20. Probably destroyed . . . . . 3
Damaged . . . . . 29
Decorations awarded to members of the Squadron . . V.C. 1,
DSO. 4,
Bar to D.S.O 1,
DFC. 144,
Bar to DFC. 9,
AFC. 1,
DFM. 95,
Bar to DFM. 5.
Conspicuous Gall M.1.
B.E.M. (Mil. Div.) 1.
Total . . . . . . . . . . . 262.
No attempt has been made in this short history to analyze the work the Squadron has been called upon to perform or to place such work in the vast frame work of Bomber Command’s activities. The foregoing pages strive merely to chronicle, simply, briefly and objectively the operational activities of No. 106. Squadron from its inception to May 9th. 1945 – the end of hostilities in Europe.
8.
[page break]
[underlined] SQUADRON COMMANDERS [/underlined]
February, 1918 – Major E.A.B. Rice
November, 1918 – Captain R. Duncan
September, 1938 – S/Ldr. W.C. Sheen
October, 1939 – W/Cdr G.R. Montgomerie
June, 1940 – S/Ldr. R.D. Stubbs, DFC
November, 1940 – W/Cdr. W.J.H. Lindlay
April, 1941 – W/Cdr. J.P. Polglaise
May, 1941 – W/Cdr. R.S. Allen, DFC
March, 1942 – G.P. Gibson, VC. DSO. DFC.
March, 1943 – W/Cdr. J.H. Searby, DFC
May, 1943 – W/Cdr. R.E. Baxter, DFC
March, 1944 – W/Cdr. E.K. Pearcy, DFC
August, 1944 – W/Cdr. M.M.J. Stevens, DFC
April, 1945 – W/Cdr. L.G. Levis.
[underlined] AIRCRAFT FLOWN BY NO. 106 SQUADRON [/underlined]
May, 1918 to January 1919 – R.E.8.
Jan. 1919 to Oct. 1919 – Bristol Fighters
June 1938 to July 1938 – Fairey Hind.
July 1938 to May 1939 – Fairey Battle.
May 1939 to May 1942 – Hampden
May 1942 to July 1942 – Manchester
July 1942 – Lancaster.
[underlined] LOCATIONS [/underlined]
30.9.17 – Andover
21.5.18 – Ayr
30.5.18 – Fermoy
1.6.38 – Abingdon
1.9.38 – Thornaby
26.9.38 – Grantham
14.10.38 – Thornaby
2.9.39 – Cottesmore
6.10.39 – Finningley
8.2.41 – Coningsby
10.9.42 – Syerston
12.11.43 – Metheringham.
9.
[page break]
[book cover]
[inserted][circled] 26 [/circled][/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
History of 106 Squadron
Description
An account of the resource
A short history of 106 Squadron. Covers formation in world war one. Reformed in 1938 with Hinds and Battles. Equipped with Hampden at beginning of the war. Initially a advanced training unit. Became operational in September 1940. Describes early bombing operations and mentions commanding officers. Re-equipped with Manchester in March 1942 and the Lancaster in May. Continues with descriptions of operations through 1942 and 1943. Gibson handed over as commanding officer in March 1943. Mentions new pathfinder techniques being developed. Continues with description of operations 1943 move to Metheringham, operation in 1944, invasion, covers commanding officers throughout, operating as pathfinders. Concludes with description of events and operations in 1945. Gives data on operations, lists squadron commanders, aircraft, and locations.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1917
1918
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Yorkshire
Germany
Germany--Cologne
France
France--Brest
France--Gosnay
Norway
Norway--Oslo
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Lübeck
Germany--Rostock
Poland
Poland--Gdynia
Germany--Bremen
Poland--Gdańsk
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Friedrichshafen
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Magdeburg
Poland--Szczecin
Germany--Schweinfurt
Germany--Augsburg
Germany--Stuttgart
France--Clermont-Ferrand
France--Normandy
France--Orléans
France--Poitiers
France--Nantes
France--Nevers
France--Vitry-le-François
France--Caen
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Netherlands
Netherlands--Walcheren
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Mittelland Canal
Czech Republic
Germany--Neubrandenburg
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
England--Oxfordshire
England--Rutland
England--Yorkshire
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Czech Republic--Most
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
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
Nine page typewritten document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v60011, SPerryWRP1317696v60001
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
Steve Baldwin
106 Squadron
5 Group
617 Squadron
Battle
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Service Order
FIDO
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
Hampden
Lancaster
Manchester
mine laying
Mosquito
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
Pathfinders
RAF Abingdon
RAF Coningsby
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Finningley
RAF Metheringham
RAF Syerston
Tallboy
target indicator
training
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36243/SPerryWRP1317696v20011.1.jpg
4463fd167465bc5f363e9cdc36fbd9e6
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Congratulatory telegram
Description
An account of the resource
Congratulations your Tideford friends are very proud - Lavis
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-02-15
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-02-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Cornwall (County)
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One sided telegram form
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v20011
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
Distinguished Flying Cross
RAF Metheringham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36242/SPerryWRP1317696v20010.2.jpg
ab7636449b3767894529deb9a3c2108c
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Congratulatory telegram
Description
An account of the resource
Good show heartiest congrats Howard.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-02-15
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-02-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Kettering
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One side telegram form
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v20010
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
Distinguished Flying Cross
RAF Metheringham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36241/SPerryWRP1317696v20009.1.jpg
d70deb7a5a48c781428157a3acf2e570
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Congratulatory telegram
Description
An account of the resource
Congratulations and good luck - Nanie
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-02-15
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-02-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Kent
England--Tunbridge Wells
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One side telegram form
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v20009
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
Distinguished Flying Cross
RAF Metheringham
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1908/36240/SPerryWRP1317696v20008.2.jpg
52aa3215eef18e4aa414957fe492ab0d
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
Perry, Pete
W R P Perry
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-19
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
Perry, WRP
Description
An account of the resource
Sixty-nine items and an album sub collection with twenty-four pages of photographs.
The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant WR Pete Perry DFC (1923 - 2006, 1317696, 146323 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, photographs, correspondence, memoirs and documents. He flew operations as a pilot with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Helen Verity and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
Congratulatory telegram
Description
An account of the resource
Congratulations from Peggy
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-02-15
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-02-15
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One sided telegram form
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SPerryWRP1317696v20008
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
Distinguished Flying Cross
RAF Metheringham