2
25
169
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/667/38123/MAlgarHKM1801102-211028-07.1.jpg
b4ffdc54ad7b142d37ef4c87e45f9385
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
Algar, Harry
Harold Keith Mael Algar
H K M Algar
Description
An account of the resource
Thirteen items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Harry Algar (1924 - 2022, 1801102 Royal Air Force) and his log books and documents.
He flew a tour of operations as a bomb aimer with 463 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Greg Algar and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2017-05-20
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
Algar, H
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[a] DESIGNATION [b] TYPE [c] USE [d] WHERE
Dec 1942 [a] TIGER MOTH [b] SINGLE ENGINE 2 SEATER BI PLANE [c] PRIMARY PILOT TRAINING [d] ELEMENTARY FLYING SCHOOL
1943 [a] ANSON [b] TWIN ENGINE LIGHT BOMBER [c] BOMBING, NAVIGATION TRAINING [d] CANADA BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL (31 [indecipherable word]) AIR NAVIGATION SCHOOL 33 A.N.S.
1943 [a] BOLINGBROKE [b] TWIN ENGINE BOMBER (BLENHEIM MK4) [c] BOMBING, NAVIGATION TRAINING [d] CANADA BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL (31 [indecipherable word]) AIR NAVIGATION SCHOOL 33 A.N.S.
1943 [a] ANSON [b] LIGHT BOMBER [c] BOMBING, NAVIGATION TRAINING [d] CANADA BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL (31 [indecipherable word]) AIR NAVIGATION SCHOOL 33 A.N.S.
1943 [a] ANSON [b] LIGHT BOMBER [c] BOMBING, NAVIGATION TRAINING [d] CANADA BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL (31 [indecipherable word]) AIR NAVIGATION SCHOOL 33 A.N.S.
1944 [a] WELLINGTON [b] MEDIUM BOMBER [c] OPERATIONAL TRAINING [d] 29 OTU BRUNTINGTHORPE
1944 [a] STIRLING [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] HEAVY BOMBER TRAINING [d] 1660 HBC SWINDERBY
1944 [a] LANCASTER [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 4 LFS SYERSTON
1944/45 [a] LANCASTER [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 463 SQDN WADDINGTON
1948 [a] ANSON [b] LIGHT BOMBER [c] TRAINING [d] 2 ANS MIDDLETON-ST-GEORGE
[a] WELLINGTON [b] MEDIUM BOMBER [c] TRAINING [d] 201 AFS SWINDERBY
[a] LANCASTER [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 230 OCU LINDHOLME
1949 [a] LANCASTER [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 149 SQDN MILDENHALL
1950 [a] LINCOLN [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 44 SQDN WYTON
1950 [a] B29 WASHINGTON [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 149 Sq. MARHAM
1951/2/3 [a] B29 WASHINGTON [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] OPERATIONS [d] 149 SQD CONINGSBY
1953 [a] NEPTUNE [b] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [c] OPERATIONS [d] 236 OCU KINLOSS
1953/54 [a] NEPTUNE [c] OPERATIONS [d] 36 SQDN TOPCLIFFE
1955-59 [a] LINCOLN [b] HEAVY BOMER [sic] [c] BOMBING TRIALS [d] R.A.E. WEST FREUGH
1955-59 [a] CANBERRA [b] LIGHT JET BOMBER [c] BOMBING TRIALS [d] MIN. OF SUPPLY
1955-59 [a] VALIANT [b] 'V' FORCE JET HEAVY BOMBER [c] BOMBING TRIALS [d] R.A.E.
1955-59 [a] VULCAN [b] HEAVY BOMBER [c] BOMBING TRIALS [d] R.A.E.
1955-59 [a] JAVELIN [b] TWIN ENGINE JET NIGHT FIGHTER [c] INSTRUMENT TRIALS [d] RAE WEST FREUGH
1955-59 [a] SEA PRINCE [b] COMMUNICATION AIRCRAFT [d] RAE WEST FREUGH
1955-59 [a] OXFORD [b] COMMUNICATION AIRCRAFT [d] RAE WEST FREUGH
1955-59 [a] SUNDERLAND [b] 4 ENGINE FLYING BOAT [c] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [d] COASTAL COMMAND MOTV KINLOSS
1959/1968 [a] SHACKLETON [b] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [c] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [d] COASTAL COMMAND MOTV KINLOSS
1959-1968 [a] SHACKLETON [b] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [d] 204 SQDN BALLYKELLY
1959-1968 [a] SHACKLETON [b] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [d] 38 SQDN LUQA MALTA
1959 - 1968 [a] SHACKLETON [b] MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE [d] MOTU ST MAWGAN
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
List of aircraft flown
Description
An account of the resource
Gives dates when flown, name, type, use and where flown. Aircraft include Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Lincoln, Washington, Shackleton, as well as post war jet aircraft.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1968
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Great Britain
England--Leicestershire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Yorkshire
England--Suffolk
England--Cambridgeshire
Scotland--Moray
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
Northern Ireland--Londonderry (County)
Malta
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
Royal Air Force. Coastal 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
One page handwritten document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MAlgarHKM1801102-211028-07
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
149 Squadron
463 Squadron
Anson
B-29
Bolingbroke
bombing
Lancaster
Lincoln
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Coningsby
RAF Kinloss
RAF Lindholme
RAF Marham
RAF Middleton St George
RAF Mildenhall
RAF St Mawgan
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Topcliffe
RAF Waddington
RAF West Freugh
RAF Wyton
Shackleton
Stirling
Sunderland
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/667/38112/LAlgarHKM1801102v1.2.pdf
ad14f5561f1765e91fe8b0a378d72523
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
Algar, Harry
Harold Keith Mael Algar
H K M Algar
Description
An account of the resource
Thirteen items. An oral history interview with Flight Lieutenant Harry Algar (1924 - 2022, 1801102 Royal Air Force) and his log books and documents.
He flew a tour of operations as a bomb aimer with 463 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Greg Algar and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2017-05-20
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
Algar, H
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
H K M Algar’s flying log book for aircrew other than pilots. One
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for aircrew other than pilots for H K M Algar, air bomber and navigator, covering the period from 14 September 1943 to 16 March 1954. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and post war flying duties with 201 Advanced Flying School, 230 Operational Conversion Unit, 149 Squadron, 44 Squadron, 236 Operational Conversion Unit and 36 Squadron. He was stationed at RCAF Picton, RCAF Mount Hope, RAF Penrhos, RAF Bruntingthorpe, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston, RAF Waddington, RAF Middleton St George, RAF Lindholme, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Shallufa, RAF Leconfield, RAF Wyton, RAF Marham, RAF Coningsby, RAF Topcliffe and RAF Kinloss. Aircraft flown in were Tiger Moth, Anson, Bolingbroke, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Horsa Glider, Dakota, Washington, Lincoln and Neptune. He flew a total of 24 operations with 463 Squadron, 9 daylight and 15 night operations. He also flew 3 Operation Exodus. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Hyland and Flying Officer Young. Targets were Heilbronn, Giessen, Urft Dam, Gdynia, Politz, Merseburg Leuna, Siegen, Karlsruhe, Dresden, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Bohlen, Harburg, Dortmund, Lutzkendorf, Bremen, Farge, Nordhausen, Ijmuiden, Flensburg, Juvincourt and Brussels.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-12-04
1944-12-06
1944-12-07
1944-12-08
1944-12-10
1944-12-11
1944-12-18
1944-12-19
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-15
1945-02-01
1945-02-03
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-12
1945-03-14
1945-03-15
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-22
1945-03-27
1945-04-04
1945-04-07
1945-04-08
1945-04-09
1945-04-23
1945-04-26
1945-05-06
1945-05-12
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
Canada
Egypt
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Belgium--Brussels
Egypt--Suez Canal Region
England--Cambridgeshire
England--Durham (County)
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Suffolk
England--Yorkshire
France--Rheims Region
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Bremen Region
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Dresden
Germany--Flensburg
Germany--Giessen (Hesse)
Germany--Halle an der Saale
Germany--Harburg (Landkreis)
Germany--Heilbronn
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig Region
Germany--Merseburg
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Siegen
Germany--Urft Dam
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Ontario--Hamilton
Ontario--Picton
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Scotland--Moray Firth
Wales--Gwynedd
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
France--Juvincourt-et-Damary
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
LAlgarHKM1801102v1
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
Mike Connock
Cara Walmsley
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
149 Squadron
1660 HCU
29 OTU
44 Squadron
463 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
B-29
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing and Gunnery School
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
C-47
Cook’s tour
Heavy Conversion Unit
Horsa
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lincoln
navigator
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Coningsby
RAF Kinloss
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lindholme
RAF Marham
RAF Middleton St George
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Penrhos
RAF Shallufa
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Topcliffe
RAF Waddington
RAF Wyton
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1986/37853/LBurnsideJGB155209v1.2.pdf
27f92f9c2249442b57bfc20b345a97ac
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
Burnside, James Gordon Bennett
J G B Burnside
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
2017-11-16
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
Burnside, JGB
Description
An account of the resource
44 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant James Gordon Bennett Burnside (b. 1909, 155209 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 619 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Reverend Canon Terence Alan Joyce 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
J G B Burnside navigator's, air bomber's and air gunner's flying log book
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
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
LBurnsideJGB155209v1
Description
An account of the resource
Navigator’s, air bomber’s and air gunner’s flying log book for J G B Burnside, flight engineer, covering the period from 20 March 1943 to 14 July 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF St Athan, RAF Swinderby, RAF Woodhall Spa, RAF Coningsby, RAF Dunholme Lodge, RAF Wigsley, RAF Balderton and RAF Winthorpe. Aircraft flown in were Halifax, Lancaster, Oxford, and Stirling. He flew a total of 28 night operations with 619 Squadron. Targets were Dusseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Krefeld, Hamburg, Milan, Mannheim, Berlin, Antheor Viaduct, Hagen, Hannover, Chalindry, Revigny, Courtrai, Kiel, Donges, and Stuttgart. One Cook's Tour flight is also recorded. his pilots on operations were Squadron Leader Churcher, Flying Officer Stout, Flying Officer Thompson, Flying Officer Whiteley and Flying Officer Leonard.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-13
1943-06-14
1943-06-15
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-07-29
1943-07-30
1943-08-02
1943-08-03
1943-08-07
1943-08-08
1943-08-09
1943-08-10
1943-08-15
1943-08-16
1943-08-23
1943-08-24
1943-08-31
1943-09-01
1943-09-17
1943-09-18
1943-10-01
1943-10-02
1943-10-08
1943-10-09
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1943-11-25
1943-11-26
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1944-01-01
1944-01-02
1944-01-27
1944-01-28
1944-02-15
1944-02-16
1944-07-12
1944-07-13
1944-07-18
1944-07-19
1944-07-20
1944-07-21
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-07-28
1944-07-29
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Belgium--Kortrijk
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
France--Chalindrey
France--Donges
France--Franche-Comté
France--Saint-Raphaël Region (Var)
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg)
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Kiel
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Stuttgart
Italy--Milan
Wales--Glamorgan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
1654 HCU
1661 HCU
619 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Cook’s tour
flight engineer
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Oxford
RAF Balderton
RAF Coningsby
RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF St Athan
RAF Swinderby
RAF Wigsley
RAF Winthorpe
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1986/37845/BBryanR-MBurnsideJGBv1.1.pdf
fff5439a06e39ac2a95bacf0b31d332e
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
Burnside, James Gordon Bennett
J G B Burnside
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
2017-11-16
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
Burnside, JGB
Description
An account of the resource
44 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant James Gordon Bennett Burnside (b. 1909, 155209 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 619 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Reverend Canon Terence Alan Joyce 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
James Gordon Bennet (Lucky Jim) Burnside - biography
Description
An account of the resource
Part 1 - family background with information on relatives and family photographs.
Part 2 - war service of Flying Officer James Gordon Bennett Burnside flight engineer. Covers training as flight engineer. Then follows short descriptions. listing number sent and losses, of the 28 operation he flew. Targets include: Düsseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Krefeld, Hamburg, Milan, Mannheim, Berlin (several times), Antheor Viaduct, Hagen submarine part factory, Hanover, Chalindrey, Revigny, Coutra, Kiel and Stuttgart. He then went to RAF Wigsley on a heavy conversion unit. Gives some details of his time there including a fatal crash at Lincoln, when civilian were also killed on the ground. Subsequently went to RAF Balderton and RAF Winthorpe from where he flew Cook's tour as his last sortie. Includes several photographs. Continues with account of crash of Stirling and biography of Squadron Leader Ronald George Churcher a friend of Jim. Jim Burnside was released from service on 1 January 1946. Includes portrait photograph of James Burnside, as well as maps showing airfields he served at, photograph of memorial plaque. Jim and wife.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
R and M Bryan
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-12-16
1943-04
1943-04-28
1943-06-07
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-14
1943-06-21
1943-07-29
1943-08-02
1943-08-07
1943-08-09
1943-08-15
1943-08-23
1943-08-31
1943-09-17
1943-10-01
1943-10-08
1943-11-03
1943-11-18
1943-11-23
1943-12-16
1943-12-27
1944-01-01
1944-01-06
1944-01-09
1944-01-27
1944-02-15
1944-03-29
1944-04-14
1944-06-01
1944-03-30
1944-07-12
1944-07-18
1944-07-20
1944-07-23
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-28
1944-08-14
1943-06
1944-11-04
1944-12-29
1945-07
1945-07-04
1945-01-14
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Wales--Vale of Glamorgan
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Hamburg
Italy
Italy--Milan
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Berlin
France
France--Var
Germany--Hagen (Arnsberg)
Germany--Hannover
France--Chalindrey
France--Lons-le-Saunier
France--Lille Region
Germany--Kiel
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany--Stuttgart
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Lincoln
England--Sutton in Ashfield
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Thirty-one page printed document with b/w and colour photographs and maps
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BBryanR-MBurnsideJGBv1
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription
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.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Photograph
Text. Personal research
617 Squadron
619 Squadron
627 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Cheshire, Geoffrey Leonard (1917-1992)
Cook’s tour
crash
Distinguished Flying Cross
flight engineer
Halifax
Lancaster
Mosquito
RAF Balderton
RAF North Luffenham
RAF St Athan
RAF Swinderby
RAF Wigsley
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stirling
target indicator
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1903/36360/PSparkesW17010041.2.jpg
2c0148e5e48c8b68d5bc71a9c69d5775
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
Sparkes, Ned
William Sparkes
W Sparkes
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
2017-07-16
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
Sparkes, W
Description
An account of the resource
56 items. The collection concerns Flight Sergeant William "Ned" Sparkes (1601722 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and an album with photographs, newspaper cuttings and documents including descriptions of his operations. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 431 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Clive Sparkes and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[photograph]
The RAF’s last flying Lancaster, Hurricane and the oldest Spitfire still flying with the Service will take part in the vintage aircraft flying display at Abingdon.
The backbone of the RAF during World War II, the three historic aircraft are seen in flight over the RAF College, Cranwell. THE Lancaster id from Waddington and the Spitfire and Hurricane from Coltishall.
[photograph]
A VULCAN overflys Waddington’s Lancaster during a visit of historical aircraft at Scampton.
[photograph]
LANCASTER FLEW OVER JET AGE MOTORISTS
A Spitfire fighter, owned by Rolls Royce, flying in formation with the Lancaster bomber based at R.A.F. Waddington over the Lincolnshire airbase today.
MOTORISTS on the Lincoln to Sleaford road, who patiently waited today at the Waddington traffic lights for a plane to land, must have been surprised when, instead of the usual Vulcan, the majestic span of a Lancaster glided over.
But within two minutes of the mighty Lanc’s propellers stopping, there was the thunderous roar of a jet engine as one of the station’s Vulcans used the same runway to take off.
A Spitfire fighter of World War II was also scheduled to land, but after a couple of flyovers, it left, as cross winds prevented it landing.
The Lancaster is, of course, Waddington’s and is the only aircraft of that type still flying. It was crewed by the station commander, Group Capt. A. Griffiths, Sqdr. Ldr. Ken Hayward, Chief Tech. Ken Terry and Warrant Officer Bill Sparkes.
The Spitfire and Lancaster had been the subject of some air filming by a Meteor at Swinderby, and the pilot of the fighter was expected for lunch at the bomber base.
[photograph]
Vulcans in salute at Scampton.
By BILL LOCKE at SCAMPTON
SCAMPTON, the scene of many epic wartime events, was the setting on April 29 for the closing chapter in the glittering 32 years history of Bomber Command.
A few short hours before the Command and Fighter Command were merged to form Strike Command, a distinguished gathering headed by Mr. Denis Healey, Secretary of State for Defence, watched a farewell parade and flying display in which the pride of place went to the Lancaster, the command’s most celebrated aircraft of World War II.
As the Bomber Command pennant was lowered, the RAF’s last flying Lancaster – piloted by Gp Capt A. Griffiths, CO of Waddington – flew low overhead.
The famous
Sharing in this nostalgic moment were such legendary wartime figures as Marshals of the RAF Viscount Portal and Sir Arthur Harris, both former AOC-in-C; Victoria Cross holders Gp Capt Leonard Cheshire, Wg Cdr R.A.B. Learoyd and WO Norman Jackson; and Dr. Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb used in the raid on the Mohne and Eder dams.
Earlier, in a speech of welcome to guests, Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle, AOC in C Bomber Command and the first AOC in C of Strike Command, said he wanted reassure everyone that in the new command provision had been made for the all important functional organisation in the form of No. 1 Group on the bomber
[photograph]
ABOVE: The sole remaining flying Lancaster bomber, based at R.A.F. Waddington, during its low run over the passing-out parade at R.A.F. Swinderby, yesterday. BELOW: Air Vice Marshal M.H. LeBas, Air Officer Commanding No. 1 (Bomber) Group, presenting a plaque to A.C. J.E Davis, who is the 20,000th recruit to pass through the No. 7 School of Recruit Training at R.A.F. Swinderby. Looking on is Grp. Capt. J. Bush, left, station commander.
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
Lancaster newspaper cuttings
Description
An account of the resource
Top left - newspaper cutting with photograph of a Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire flying over the RAF College Cranwell. Text explains where aircraft based. <br />Top centre - newspaper cutting with photograph of a parked Lancaster with a Vulcan flying over. <br />Top right news paper cutting with photograph of two Vulcans in line astern. Text explains day was a nostalgic gathering with notable attendees after the recent merger of Bomber and Fighter Command into Strike Command. <br />Bottom left - newspaper cutting headline Lancaster flew over Jet age motorist. Photograph from below of an airborne Lancaster and a Spitfire. Text explains they were seen by motorist in Lincoln. <br />Bottom right newspaper cutting - photograph of a Lancaster airborne flying over a parade formation of airmen. Text explain it was the sole remaining flying Lancaster over a passing out parade at RAF Swinderby.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Norfolk
England--Lincoln
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. Fighter Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five newspaper cuttings mounted on an album page
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PSparkesW17010041
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
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Sparkes, Ned. Album
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Peter Bradbury
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Cheshire, Geoffrey Leonard (1917-1992)
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Hurricane
Lancaster
RAF Coltishall
RAF Cranwell
RAF Scampton
RAF Swinderby
RAF Waddington
Spitfire
Victoria Cross
Wallis, Barnes Neville (1887-1979)
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1517/36127/LFlintJ121331v2.2.pdf
ce7ac617e841ff7b30278b244f944e0a
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
Flint, J
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-06-17
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
Flint, J
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. The collection concerns Wing Commander J Flint, DFC GM DFM (Royal Air Force) and contains his log books. He flew operations as a pilot with 49 and 50 Squadrons.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by william Flint and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
J Flint's RAF pilot’s flying log book. Two
Description
An account of the resource
J Flint’s pilot’s flying log book covering the period from 17 March 1944 to 23 October 1945. Detailing his flying training and operations flown as pilot. He was stationed at RAF Bruntingthorpe (29 OTU), RAF Swinderby (1660 HCU), RAF Syerston (5 LFS), and RAF Skellingthorpe (50 Squadron). Aircraft flown in were Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster. Targets were not specified. He flew thirteen operations with 50 Squadron plus one Operation Exodus, one Operation Dodge and a trooping flight to Berlin. His pilot for a ‘second dickie’ operation was Flight Lieutenant Milne.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
1944-07-18
1944-07-19
1944-07-20
1944-07-21
1944-07-24
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-07-27
1944-07-31
1944-08-16
1944-08-17
1944-08-19
1944-08-31
1944-09-24
1944-10-06
1944-10-07
1944-11-01
1945-04-26
1945-08-01
1945-08-03
1945-10-23
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Netherlands
Italy
Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco
Germany
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. Log book and record book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending temporal coverage. Allocated
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
Terry Hancock
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LFlintJ121331v2
1660 HCU
29 OTU
50 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Operation Dodge (1945)
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
pilot
RAF Bruntingthorpe
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1394/36124/LHerbertWJ1819925v1.2.pdf
3ecf7f17106531984e3de7255ced4a06
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
Herbert, W J
Herbert, William James
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-01-21
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
Herbert, WJ
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. The collection concerns sergeant Williams James Herbert (1819925 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and certificate of service. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 50 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by [name] and catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
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
William James Herbert’s flying log book for navigator’s, air bomber’s and air gunner’s
Description
An account of the resource
Flight Engineer’s flying log book for William Herbert, flight engineer, covering the period from 10 March 1944 to 23 August 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Swinderby (1654 CU), RAF Syerston (5 LFS), RAF Skellingthorpe (50 Squadron) and RAF Wigsley (1654 HCU) as an instructor. Aircraft flown in were Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a tour of 34 operations (11 day and 23 night) with 50 squadron. Targets were Orleans, Poitiers, Aunay-sur-Odon, Chatelleraut, Gelsenkirchen-Buer, Limoges, Prouville (Pas de Calais), Limoges, Vitry le Francois, Beauvois, St. Leu d’Esserent, Villeneuve St. George, Nevers, Caen, Stuttgart, Caragnes, Joigny, Siracourt, Bois de Cassan, Trossy, Secqueville, Givors, Russelheim, Brest, Bois de Lisle Adam, La Pallice, Darmstadt, Konigsberg, Bergencuse. His pilot on operations was Pilot Officer Oliver.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
1944-06-10
1944-06-11
1944-06-12
1944-06-13
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-16
1944-06-20
1944-06-21
1944-06-22
1944-06-23
1944-06-24
1944-06-25
1944-06-27
1944-06-28
1944-07-04
1944-07-05
1944-07-07
1944-07-08
1944-07-14
1944-07-15
1944-07-16
1944-07-18
1944-07-28
1944-07-29
1944-07-30
1944-07-31
1944-08-01
1944-08-02
1944-08-03
1944-08-05
1944-08-07
1944-08-08
1944-08-09
1944-08-10
1944-08-11
1944-08-12
1944-08-13
1944-08-14
1944-08-18
1944-08-19
1944-08-25
1944-08-26
1944-08-27
1944-08-29
1944-08-31
1944-09-11
1944-09-12
1944-09-13
1945-06-23
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
Germany
Great Britain
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
France--Brest
France--Caen
France--Châtellerault
France--Givors
France--Joigny
France--La Pallice
France--Limoges
France--Normandy
France--Orléans
France--Poitiers
France--Nevers
France--Vitry-le-François
Germany--Darmstadt
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Rüsselsheim
Germany--Stuttgart
Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)
Russia (Federation)
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
France--Aunay-sur-Odon
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
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
Mike French
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LHerbertWJ1819925v1
1654 HCU
50 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
bombing of the Creil/St Leu d’Esserent V-1 storage areas (4/5 July 1944)
bombing of the Pas de Calais V-1 sites (24/25 June 1944)
Bombing of Trossy St Maximin (3 August 1944)
Cook’s tour
flight engineer
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Wigsley
Stirling
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35931/SGillK1438901v40007.1.pdf
23a7b10d190492c9547f73b0dfb1562c
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
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
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
2017-07-09
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
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill 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
Kenneth Gill - service history
Description
An account of the resource
Joined 18 June 1941. Trained as navigator in Canada. After operational and conversions training in England during which he flew two operations. He was posted to 9 Squadron at RAF Bardney where he flew 25 operations which are listed. After a tour as a navigator instructor, he went to 617 Squadron and flew 19 further operations and was killed along with his crew on the last. Operations on 617 listed.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06-18
1943-02-25
1943-03
1943-04-18
1943-04-20
1943-05-04
1943-05-11
1943-05-23
1943-05-25
1943-05-29
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-14
1943-06-21
1943-06-25
1943-06-28
1943-07-07
1943-07-25
1943-08-07
1943-08-10
1943-08-27
1943-08-30
1943-09-03
1943-09-06
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-20
1943-11-03
1943-11-18
1943-12-14
1944-09-27
1944-09-29
1944-10-29
1944-10-30
1944-11-04
1944-11-11
1944-11-12
1944-11-13
1944-12-08
1944-12-11
1944-12-15
1944-12-21
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-02
1945-01-30
1945-02-03
1945-02-06
1945-02-14
1945-02-22
1945-02-24
1945-03-13
1945-03-14
1945-03-19
1945-03-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Great Britain
England--Rutland
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
Scotland--Moray
France
France--Clermont-Ferrand
Italy
Italy--La Spezia
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Essen
Germany--Wuppertal
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Cologne
Italy--Milan
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Leipzig
Norway
Norway--Tromsø
Germany--Euskirchen (Kreis)
Netherlands
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Poland
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Norway--Horten
Netherlands--Hoek van Holland
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Arnsberg
Germany--Bremen
Germany
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
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 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
SGillK1438901v40007
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
617 Squadron
9 Squadron
aircrew
crash
Grand Slam
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
mine laying
navigator
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bardney
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodhall Spa
Tallboy
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35680/LGillK1438901v1.1.pdf
1fcaf9a0c545538c4700852b3da1bf4c
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
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
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
2017-07-09
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
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill 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
Kenneth Gill’s observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
Description
An account of the resource
Observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book for K Gill, navigator, covering the period from 17 May 1942 to 21 March 1945 when he was missing on operations. Detailing his flying training, operations flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RCAF Chatham, RAF North Luffenham, RAF Swinderby, RAF Bardney, RAF Syerston and RAF Woodhall Spa. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Wellington, Halifax, Lancaster, Hudson, Tiger Moth and Stearman. He flew a total of 46 operations, one with 29 operational training unit, one with 1660 conversion unit, 26 with 9 squadron and 18 with 617 squadron. His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant Evans, Flight Lieutenant Derbyshire, and Fl;ight Lieutenant Gumbley. Targets were Clermont Ferrand, Spezia, Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Wuppertal, Bochum, Oberhausen, Krefeld, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Milan, Nurnberg, Rheydt, Berlin, Munich, Kassel, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Tromso - Tirpitz, Urft Dam, IJmuiden, Politz, Rotterdam, Horten, Pootershaven, Bielefeld, Ladbergen, Arnsberg and Arbergen.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943-02-25
1943-02-26
1943-04-18
1943-04-19
1943-05-04
1943-05-05
1943-05-11
1943-05-12
1943-05-23
1943-05-24
1943-05-25
1943-05-26
1943-05-27
1943-05-28
1943-05-29
1943-05-30
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-13
1943-06-14
1943-06-15
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-25
1943-06-26
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-08
1943-07-09
1943-07-25
1943-07-26
1943-08-07
1943-08-08
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-06
1943-09-07
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-05
1943-10-20
1943-10-21
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1944-10-29
1944-11-11
1944-12-11
1944-12-15
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-01
1945-02-03
1945-02-06
1945-02-14
1945-02-22
1945-02-24
1945-03-13
1945-03-14
1945-03-19
1945-03-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Rutland
New Brunswick--Chatham
France--Clermont-Ferrand
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Arnsberg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Euskirchen Region
Germany--Essen
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Leipzig
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--La Spezia
Italy--Milan
Netherlands--Hoek van Holland
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Norway--Horten
Norway--Tromsø
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Arnsberg
Germany--Bremen
New Brunswick
Norway
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
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
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
Mike Connock
Cara Walmsley
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LGillK1438901v1
1660 HCU
29 OTU
617 Squadron
9 Squadron
Air Observers School
aircrew
Anson
bombing
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Hudson
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
mine laying
missing in action
navigator
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Bardney
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodhall Spa
Stearman
Tallboy
Tiger Moth
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35651/SGillK1438901v20029.2.pdf
b7acc641e719523b97652706b46bcb25
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
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
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
2017-07-09
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
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill 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
Record of Flying Officer Kenneth Gill D.F.C (155097) RAFVR joined 1941
Description
An account of the resource
Mentions training in Canada and qualified at navigator. List training on Wellington and one operational flight while at operational training unit at RAF North Luffenham December 1942 - March 1943. Continues to list training on Halifax and Lancaster and one operation while at 1660 conversion unit RAF Swinderby March 1943 to April 1943. List flying and operations of 9 Squadron at RAF Bardney from April 1943 to November 1943. Was commissioned on 27 June 1943. Gives details of operations from F540 and F541. Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross 8 December 1943. Continues to list flying as navigation instructor at 5 Lancaster finishing school RAF Syerston from December 1943 to September 1944 when he joined 617 Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa. List flying and operations from September 1944, including both operations against Tirpitz and many others (viaducts, boat pens, Emden, oil refinery and Urft dam) with tallboy and grand slam bombs (escorted by Spitfires or RAF P-51s). Was reported missing believed killed on operation to Abergen Railway Bridge near Bremen on 21 March 1945. Total of 46 operations. Concludes with account of loss of aircraft and loss of all crew. List crews on both 9 and 617 Squadron.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943
1944
1945
1943-02-25
1943-02-26
1943-04-18
1943-04-19
1943-05-04
1943-05-05
1943-05-11
1943-05-12
1943-05-23
1943-05-24
1943-05-25
1943-05-26
1943-05-27
1943-05-28
1943-05-29
1943-05-30
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-13
1943-06-14
1943-06-15
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-23
1943-06-25
1943-06-26
1943-06-28
1943-06-29
1943-07-08
1943-07-09
1943-07-25
1943-07-26
1943-08-07
1943-08-08
1943-08-10
1943-08-11
1943-08-27
1943-08-28
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-06
1943-09-07
1943-10-03
1943-10-04
1943-10-05
1943-10-20
1943-10-21
1943-11-03
1943-11-04
1943-11-18
1943-11-19
1944-10-29
1944-11-12
1944-12-08
1944-12-11
1944-12-15
1944-12-21
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-02-03
1945-02-06
1945-02-14
1945-02-22
1945-02-24
1945-03-13
1945-03-14
1945-03-19
1945-03-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Rutland
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
France
France--Clermont-Ferrand
Germany
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Wuppertal
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Cologne
Italy
Italy--Milan
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Leipzig
Norway
Norway--Tromsø
Scotland--Moray
Germany--Euskirchen Region
Netherlands
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Netherlands--Maassluis
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Bremen
Poland
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
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
Forty-seven 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
SGillK1438901v20029
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
1660 HCU
29 OTU
5 Group
617 Squadron
9 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
Distinguished Flying Cross
FIDO
Grand Slam
Halifax
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Me 262
memorial
mine laying
missing in action
Mosquito
navigator
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operational Training Unit
P-51
promotion
RAF Bardney
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Metheringham
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodhall Spa
Spitfire
Tallboy
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1895/35627/SGillK1438901v20027.2.pdf
4e1b16d68628369bb390ad6492ed4bdf
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
Gill, Kenneth
K Gill
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
2017-07-09
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
Gill, K
Description
An account of the resource
One hundred and sixty-four items plus another one hundred and fifteen in two sub-ciollections. The collection concerns Flying Officer Kenneth Gill DFC (1922 - 1945, 1438901, 155097 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs and family and other correspondence. <br />He flew operations as a navigator with 9 Squadron before starting a second tour with 617 Squadron. He was killed 21 March 1945 having completed 45 operations.<br /><br />The collection also contains two albums. <br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2114">Kenneth Gill. Album One</a><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2117">Kenneth Gill. Album Two</a><br /><br />Additional information on Kenneth Gill is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/108654/">IBCC Losses Database.</a><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Derek Gill and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
My name is Derek Gill and I was born on the 20th April 1944 (same birthday as Adolph Hitler). So I am 67 years old.
I was 11 months old when my father was killed on Wednesday 21 March 1945.
My father F/O Kenneth Gill DFC was born on the 19 November 1922, when he died he was 22yrs and 4 months old.
He joined the RAF on 18 June 1941 aged 18 as a Volunteer Reserve and after initial training was transferred by Troopship on 6 Jan 1942 arriving in [inserted] Pan American Flying School Florida [/inserted] Monkton USA on the 20 January 1942 for initial Flying Training and then transferred to Canada in May 1942 until he qualified as an Air Navigator on 11 Sept 1942. [inserted] EMPIRE TRAINING COURSE. [/inserted]
On his return to the UK he joined No 29 Operational Training Unit at RAF Station North Luffenham flying Wellington Mk3's during December 1942. His first Operation was on the night of 25 Feb 1943 bombing Clermont Ferrand in France this operation took 7 hrs.
In March 1943 he was transferred to 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby flying Halifax Mk5's and then Lancaster's.
His second Operation was in a Lancaster Mk3 on the night of 18 April 1943 flying to La Spezia in Italy Mine Laying this flight lasted 9.5 Hrs.
On 20 April 1943 he was transferred to No 9 Squadron at RAF Bardney where he flew 26 Operational Flights with the same crew except for 3 ops Pilot F/LT Derbyshire, Flight Eng. Sgt Sullivan, Navigator Sgt Gill, Wireless Operator Sgt Overend, Bomb Aimer/Front Gunner Sgt Oakes, Mid Upper Gunner Sgt Cole and Rear Gunner Sgt Parsons. In Lancaster's. Targets were: Dortmund, Duisberg, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Wuppertal, Dusseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Krefeld, Mulheim (returned early as Port outer was u/s), Gelsenkirchen, Cologne (Returned early rear turret u/s bomb load jettisoned, 21 miles from target, whilst testing rear turret a twin engine enemy aircraft made three attacks), Cologne, Essen, Milan, Nurnburg, Nurnberg(54 flak holes), Rheydt, Berlin, Munich, Kassel, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dusseldorf, Berlin. completed on 19 November 1943 his 21st Birthday.
During these Operations was commissioned from Flt Sgt to P/O. on the 27 June 1943
On the 8 December 1943 he was awarded the DFC for his service with No 9 Squadron.
27 Dec 1943 promoted to F/O.
After completing the above missions he was transferred to No 5 Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Syerston as a Navigation Instructor (Bringing new
[page break]
Navigators up to speed on the different navigational aids being used on the Lancaster and also retraining older Navigators who where [sic] having difficulties with the new innovations.
Whilst at Syerston he met up with F/Lt Gumbley (pilot) and F/O Barnett (Flt Engineer) and at the end of their time at Syerston they were asked to join No 617 Squadron, so went around and completed the rest of the crew asking people who they new [sic] that had completed a Tour and were training new crews.
On the 27 September the New crew were transferred to No 617 Sqd RAF Woodhall Spa (Commanded by W/Cdr J B (Willie) Tait)
Pilot: Flt/Lt B.A. Gumbley DFM RNZAF Aged 29 Hawks Bay NZ.
Flt Eng: F/O E.A. Barnett (Men in Desp) Aged 21 Thorp Bay Essex.
Navigator: F/O K. Gill DFC Aged 22 Halton Leeds.
W/Op: P/O S.V. Grimes Aged 22 Suffolk.
B/A: F/O J.C. Randon Aged 23 Chesterfield Derbyshire.
A/G Mid Upper: F/Sgt J. Penswick Aged 23 London.
A/G Rear: F/Sgt G Bell Aged 23 Hull.
After training with the other crews from 30 Sept 1944 to 26 Oct 1944 they went on their first Operation with 617 flying to Lossiemouth and on the next day took off with a Tallboy Deep penetration 12000 lb Bomb, on board to attack the Tirpitz. They flew to Tromso Fjord (Norway) and after 4 runs over the Target decided that the cloud made accurate bombing impossible. For this operation the Mid-upper turret was removed in order to install the extra fuel tanks required to achieve the range to make the return flight. Even so they landed at Skatska (Coastal Command Airfield) in the Shetlands to top up with fuel as they had not allowed for returning with the Bomb on board (C/O was not impressed as if the bomb had gone off it could have wiped out the airfield), then flew to Lossiemouth returning to Woodhall Spa on the 30 Oct 1944. (Bringing the Tallboy all the way back). Top secret and scarce) 12 hrs
Only a crew of 6 as no mid-upper turret.
On the 11 November 617 and 9 Sqd returned to Lossiemouth and on the 12 flew back to Tromso Fjord and sunk the Tirpitz, bombing at 08:43 from 15400ft a Tallboy was seen to enter the water about 20 yds off the Tirpitz which capsized. (Still a crew of 6 but on this trip the mid-upper gunner was in the rear turret) 12.15 hrs
[page break]
Full Crew of 7
8 Dec Urft Dam. Not bombed as cloud cover was over target.
205 Lancs from 5 Grp carrying 1000lb bombs and 19 from 617 carrying Tallboys. 3.35 hrs
11 Dec Urft Dam Bombed from 6000 ft (Tallboy) could not see bomb burst because of cloud aircraft received minor damage to Tailplain. 5.30 hrs
15 Dec Ijmuiden E&R Boat Pens Bombed at 10000 ft hit NW corner of the Pens. 2.35 hrs
21 Dec Politz-Oil Refineries Bombed at 16900 ft (Tallboy) significant damage to target, landed at Metheringham using FIDO, transferred to Base by road and collected Aircraft on 23 Dec after fog had lifted. 9.45 hrs
24 Dec Command of 617 transferred from W/Cdr Tait to G/C Fauquier
29 Dec Rotterdam E&R Boat Pens Bombed at 16660 ft (Tallboy) Bomb unobserved owing to smoke, a good many near misses, no direct hits seen. 2.50 hrs
30 Dec Ijmuiden E&R Boat Pens Solid cloud over target did not bomb.
Tallboy returned. 2.20 hrs
31 Dec Horten (Oslo Fjord) Cruisers Kolin and Emden Ships travelling at up to 30 Knots difficult to bomb accurately, later on Crews were forced to bomb by moonlight or aim at the source of Flak some crews returned with their Tallboys. Bombed at 00.15 hrs from 10200 ft (Tallboy) near miss on port side of ship, ship appeared to stop. Later identified as a 10000 ton transport ship.
7.45 hrs.
3 Feb 1945 Pootershaven E&R Boat Pens (Midget Submarines) Bombed at 1552 from 13500 ft (Tallboy), bombed into smoke over the aiming point, Aircraft hit by Flak, fuselage and rear turret damaged, not seriously, no casualties.
2.50 hrs.
[page break]
6 Feb Bielefeld (Vielesible Viaduct) Aborted Aircraft targeted by accurate Flak on return route no damage suffered
5.45 hrs
14 Feb Bielefeld (Vielesible Viaduct) Aborted Flak encountered as the aircraft crossed the Rhine.
4.50 hrs
22 Feb Bielefeld (Vielesible (Viaduct) Target comprised two parallel twin track Railway Viaducts. Bombed at 16.10 (Second run Tallboy) 13700 ft. 3 arches at the western viaduct collapsed, but rail link remained on the other two tracks.
4.30 hrs.
24 Feb Dortmund-Ems Canal Aborted Recalled 30 miles from target because of unfavourable weather conditions.
4.40 hrs
13 Mar Bielefeld (Vieiesible Viaduct) Aborted 2 Aircraft were B1 (Specials) carrying the new 22000 lb Grand Slam Bomb (G/C Fauquier & S/L Calder). The aircraft were modified to carry the Grand Slam, Bomb doors removed and the fairings of the bomb bay, deletion of the Mid-Upper Turret and also the Main Radio and the Wireless Operator
4.20 hrs
14 Mar Bielifeld [sic] (Vieiesible Viaduct) Bombed at 1628 hrs from 11600 ft (Tallboy) Bomb believed to be a direct hit, S/L Calder Grand Slam falling 30 yds from viaduct (G/C Fauquier aircraft went u/s at start up. 460 ft of both Viaducts Destroyed Rail link severed completely.
5.00 hrs
19 Mar Arnberg Viaduct Bombed at 10.54 hrs from 12700 ft (Grand Slam) Bomb fell 50 yds south of aiming point as Pilots Bomb Aiming Indicator was not recording the Bomb Aimers alterations. Two or Three Spans of the Viaduct were brought down.
5.20 hrs
21 Mar Arbergen Railway Bridge near Bremen. The bridge was a double track Rail link across the river Weser 200 yds long.
[page break]
On this occasion Flak in the area was more intense and a number of Aircraft were damaged. A number of Me262 Jet Fighters were also encountered after bombing. The Target was rendered unusable although the main bridge was still intact.
The aircraft was a B1 Special although it was carrying a Tallboy, on this mission there were only 5 crew members onboard.
The Aircraft was hit by Flak during its run up to the target and dropped out of formation, causing F/Lt Price to take avoiding action. British records state that the aircraft received a direct hit and dived down out of control.
Witnesses on the ground gave a different account "The aircraft went down passing over the village of Okel heading in the direction of Riede at a hight [sic] of 2000ft. They do not mention that the aircraft was on fire at this stage, but state that it seemed to be flying extremely slow. As it flew over Riede the locale Flak Battery went into action, hitting one of the engines and setting the fuselage on fire. The aircraft made a 180 degree turn back towards Okel and crashed into a field. The witnesses said the aircraft did not explode immediately, but before it could be reached there was a violent explosion, reducing the aircraft to fragments and creating a crater 50ft deep by 100ft diameter.
The RAF Missing Research and Enquiry Service failed to find any German documentation regarding the incident or trace any burial for the crew. The identity of Fl/Lt Randon was established from a document found at the crash site leaving no doubt about the identity of the aircraft. Having no known grave the crew are commemorated on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede, my fathers name appears on Panel 267 and also on the 617 Sqd Memorial at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.
The Crew Comprised of:-
Pilot F/Lt B.A. Gumbly DFM RNZAF,
Flt Eng F/O A.E. Barnett (Men in Desp)
Navigator F/O K. Gill DFC CdG
Bomb Aimer F/Lt J.C. Randon
Rear-Gunner P/O G. Bell.
F/O K. Gill Total Flying Time Day Time 388.10hrs (74.45 Operations)
Night Time 279.15hrs (171.30 Operations)
Total Time 667.25hrs (246.15 Operations)
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
Biography of Kenneth Gill by son Derek
Description
An account of the resource
Gives service history of Kenneth Gill including training in Canada as navigator, training in England, operations on 9 Squadron with list of his crew. Details targets attacked. Commissioned and awarded Distinguished Flying Cross. After tour on Lancaster finishing school transferred to 617 Squadron, lists crew. Details operations and targets while on 617 Squadron. Includes attack on Tirpitz with tallboy bombs and list other attacks with this weapon. Describes final operation where Me 262s encountered but his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed when unreleased weapons exploded, All crew killed. Lists crew.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
D Gill
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-20
1941-06-08
1942-01-06
1941-01-20
1942-09-11
1943-02-25
1943-03
1943-04-20
1943-11-19
1943-06-27
1943-12-27
1944-09-27
1944-10
1944-11-11
1944-12
1945-01
1945-02
1945-03
1945-03-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
United States
Florida
France
France--Clermont-Ferrand
England--Rutland
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Italy
Italy--La Spezia
Germany
Germany--Dortmund
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Essen
Germany--Wuppertal
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Cologne
Italy--Milan
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Rheydt
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Munich
Germany--Kassel
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Leipzig
Scotland--Moray
Norway
Norway--Tromsø
Germany--Euskirchen (Kreis)
Netherlands
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Poland
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Bremen
Great Britain
New Brunswick
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
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 printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SGillK1438901v20027
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
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
1660 HCU
29 OTU
617 Squadron
9 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bomb aimer
bombing
crash
Distinguished Flying Cross
flight engineer
Grand Slam
Halifax
Halifax Mk 5
Heavy Conversion Unit
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 3
Me 262
memorial
navigator
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operational Training Unit
pilot
RAF Bardney
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Woodhall Spa
Tallboy
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1898/35375/LPenswickJ[Ser -DoB]v1.pdf
a2b5f946091570f95e5cfc73e2e49f7f
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
Penswick, Jack
J Penswick
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
2017-07-09
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
Penswick, J
Description
An account of the resource
19 items. The collection concerns Jack Penswick (1497486 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and photographs. He flew operations as an air gunner with 61 and 617 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by John Penswick 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
Jack Penswick’s observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LPenswickJ[Ser#-DoB]v1
Description
An account of the resource
Observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book for J Penswick, air gunner, covering the period from 25 October 1942 to 19 May 1945. Detailing his flying training, operation flown and instructor duties. He was stationed at RAF Morpeth, RAF North Luffenham, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston, RAF Scampton, RAF Woodhall Spa and RAF Upper Heyford. Aircraft flown in were Botha, Wellington, Manchester, Lancaster, Oxford, and Martinet. He flew a total of 30 operations, 16 with 61 Squadron (surviving a bale out) and 14 with 617 Squadron. Targets were Dusseldorf, Bochum, Oberhausen, Cologne, Krefeld, Mulheim, Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen, Milan, Munchengladbach, Berlin, Mannheim, Munich, Hannover, Flixecourt, Liege, Tromso, Urft Dam, Ijmuiden, Politz, Rotterdam, Oslo Fjord, Dortmund-Ems Canal, the Tirpitz, Bielefeld and Arnsberg viaducts. His pilots on operations were Sergeant Pearce, Pilot Officer Willsher and Flight Lieutenant Gumbley.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942
1943-06-11
1943-06-12
1943-06-13
1943-06-14
1943-06-15
1943-06-16
1943-06-17
1943-06-21
1943-06-22
1943-06-23
1943-06-24
1943-06-25
1943-06-26
1943-08-14
1943-08-15
1943-08-30
1943-08-31
1943-09-01
1943-09-03
1943-09-04
1943-09-05
1943-09-06
1943-09-07
1943-09-23
1943-09-24
1943-12-16
1943-12-17
1943-12-20
1943-12-21
1944-11-11
1944-12-08
1944-12-11
1944-12-15
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-01
1945-02-24
1945-03-13
1945-03-14
1945-03-19
1944-11-12
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Belgium--Liège
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northumberland
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Oxfordshire
France--Abbeville Region
Germany--Arnsberg
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Bielefeld
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Euskirchen Region
Germany--Gelsenkirchen
Germany--Hannover
Germany--Krefeld
Germany--Mannheim
Germany--Mönchengladbach
Germany--Mülheim an der Ruhr
Germany--Munich
Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)
Germany--Schleswig-Holstein
Germany--Wuppertal
Italy--Milan
Netherlands--IJmuiden
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Norway--Tromsø
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Poland
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
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
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
Mike Connock
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942
1943
1944
1945
16 OTU
1660 HCU
29 OTU
61 Squadron
617 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
air gunner
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
bale out
bombing
Botha
Grand Slam
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Manchester
Martinet
Operation Catechism (12 November 1944)
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
RAF Morpeth
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Scampton
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Woodhall Spa
Tallboy
Tirpitz
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2113/35320/LDaymanC1818522v1.2.pdf
4c5035bd30bcdf1d4b613cfffd43a08a
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
Dayman, Clifford
C Dayman
Description
An account of the resource
Five items. The collection concerns Warrant Officer Clifford Dayman (1818522, Royal Air Force). He started aircrew training as a wireless operator in early 1944 and was converting to Lancaster as the war ended. Collection contains his log book and documents.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Colin Dayman and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-08-21
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
Dayman, C
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
Clifford Dayman flying log book for navigators, air bombers, air gunners and flight engineers
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
LDaymanC1818522v1
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
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.
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for navigator’s, air bomber’s, air gunners, flight engineers for C Dayman, wireless operator, covering the period from 11 February 1944 to 16 May 1947. Detailing his flying training, post war flying with 216 Squadron and Aden communications flight. He was stationed at RAF Yatesbury, RAF Millom, RAF Market Harborough, RAF Westcott, RAF Swinderby, RAF Snaith, RAF Desborough, RAF Syerston, RAF Almaza and RAF Khormaksar. Aircraft flown in were Dominie, Proctor, Anson, Oxford, Wellington, Lancaster, Dakota, York, Albacore and Lodestar.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
1945
1946
1947
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Egypt
Great Britain
Yemen (Republic)
North Africa
Egypt--Cairo
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Cumbria
England--Leicestershire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Wiltshire
England--Yorkshire
Yemen (Republic)--Aden
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
14 OTU
1660 HCU
216 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
C-47
Dominie
Heavy Conversion Unit
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
Proctor
RAF Bridlington
RAF Desborough
RAF Market Harborough
RAF Millom
RAF Snaith
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Westcott
RAF Yatesbury
training
Wellington
wireless operator
York
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2109/34865/SWeirG19660703v130001.1.pdf
c6ed68dd8a908559b5f8403385f594af
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
Weir, Greg. Edwards, William
Description
An account of the resource
One item. Collection contains the log book of William Edwards (RAAF) who flew thirty operations as Lancaster pilot on 467 Squadron between September 1944 and April 1945.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-26
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
Weir, G
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
William Edwards - pilot's flying log book
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Royal Australian Air Force
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
Description
An account of the resource
Flying log book for William Edwards, pilot. Covering the period 25 June 1942 to 31 January 1952. Details his training, operations and post-war civilian flying with Qantas. He was based at RAF Calveley, RAF Windrush, RAF Docking, RAF Church Broughton, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston and RAF Waddington. Aircraft flown were Tiger Moth, Yale, Harvard, Anson, Master, Oxford, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Lancastrian, C-47, Constellation and B-24 . With 467 Squadron he flew 30 operations plus a recall and an early return (Dresden). Of these 21 were night and 9 daylight operations. Targets were Karlsruhe, Wilhemshaven, Bremen, Flushing, Brunswick, Nuremberg, Flushing, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Harburg, Duren, Trondheim, Heilbronn, Giesson, Urft Dam, Munich, Mittelland Canal, Houffalize, Politz, Leuna, Rositz, Bohlen, Dortmund, Lutzendorf, Ijmuiden and Hamburg. His pilot on his first ‘second dickie’ operation was Squadron Leader Dieghan.<br /><br /><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW254546702 BCX0">This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No </span><span class="ContextualSpellingAndGrammarError SCXW254546702 BCX0">better quality</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW254546702 BCX0"> copies are available.</span>
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-09-26
1944-09-27
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-07
1944-10-11
1944-10-14
1944-10-15
1944-10-19
1944-10-20
1944-10-23
1944-11-06
1944-11-07
1944-11-11
1944-11-12
1944-11-16
1944-11-22
1944-11-23
1944-12-04
1944-12-05
1944-12-06
1944-12-07
1944-12-08
1944-12-10
1944-12-11
1944-12-17
1944-12-18
1945-01-01
1945-01-02
1945-01-05
1945-01-06
1945-01-13
1945-01-14
1945-01-15
1945-01-17
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-13
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1944-02-19
1944-02-20
1944-02-21
1944-02-22
1944-02-24
1944-03-07
1944-03-08
1944-03-12
1944-03-14
1944-03-15
1944-04-06
1944-04-09
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
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWeirG19660703v130001
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
1660 HCU
27 OTU
467 Squadron
Advanced Flying Unit
aircrew
Anson
B-24
bombing
bombing of Dresden (13 - 15 February 1945)
C-47
Flying Training School
Harvard
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 3
Lancastrian
Me 109
Operational Training Unit
Oxford
pilot
RAF Calveley
RAF Church Broughton
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Waddington
RAF Windrush
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
Yale
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/34465/BMarshCGoldbyJLv10001.2.jpg
f146f8cca2766075acad1b451a03bbf1
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/34465/BMarshCGoldbyJLv10002.2.jpg
6d8cac2dc2c8a7dd95d26aaa8c02fba7
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/34465/BMarshCGoldbyJLv10003.2.jpg
cd7f176ae1972d3e966f2ffc1dab672a
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
Goldby, John Louis
J L Goldby
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with John Goldby (1922 - 2020, 1387511, 139407 Royal Air Force). He was shot down and became a prisoner of war in December 1944.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by John Goldby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2017-10-25
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
Goldby, JL
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
JOHN LOUIS GOLDBY SERVICE NO. 1387511 and 139407 Version dated 21 July 2020
[inserted] Corrected August 2020 [/inserted]
John joined up on 31 May 1941 at Babbacombe in Devon. He completed ground training at the Initial Training Wing at RAF Kenley. He then went to Air Observer School at Jurby in the Isle of Man from October 1941 – May 1942. For some of his fellow volunteers it was the first time they had been in an aircraft. He completed navigation and gunnery training on Blenheim aircraft and bomb aimer training on Hampdens whilst at Jurby, using air-to-air towed targets. He gained 3 stripes as a Sergeant Observer. He then went to Stanton Harcourt (near Abingdon) to 10 Operational Training Unit in June 1942.
He became part of a crew under pilot Captain Watson RE, seconded onto Whitley aircraft in the role bomb aimer. Captain Watson was a 2nd pilot on the first 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne on 30 May 1942. The second 1,000 bomber raid targeted Essen and John flew on the third 1,000 bomber raid in a Whitley bomber to Bremen on 25 June 1942. This was a 5-hour round trip.
Bomber Command then extended the number of crew needed on 4 engined aircraft from 5 to 7 crew members, adding a bomb aimer and flight engineer.
No. 10 Operational Training Unit Detachment at St Eval was led by Wing Commander Pickard who was portrayed in the film 'F for Freddie' which detailed the raid on Amiens prison, in which Wg. Cmdr. Pickard was killed.
Twin-engined Whitley aircraft of Bomber Command were being used on anti-submarine duties because of the U-boat threat.
The unit was based at St Eval in Cornwall using black-painted Whitleys (Coastal Command aircraft were painted white). Flights involved a 10-hour flight dropping depth charges over the Bay of Biscay. It was a deafening experience as the crew had no hearing protection. The unit completed 6-8 operations.
John then moved in September 1942 to Marston Moor (Yorkshire) and completed a conversion course on to 4 engined aircraft – the Halifax 2. These were notoriously difficult to handle, with original tail fins and Rolls Royce engines.
John took part in a number of mine-laying operations off Heligoland, which counted as a 1/2 operation. These were called 'gardening' trips – planting mines at low level. On 11 December 1943 John was a crew member in a Halifax 2 aircraft of No. 78 Squadron which took off from Linton-on-Ouse with a heavy load of fuel on board, bound for Turin. An engine caught fire on take-off and the aircraft had to ditch in Filey Bay. The crew were rescued by local fishermen. By February 1943 he had completed 8 operations which was very stressful. He received news of his commission and went to London to get his uniform, but he developed a very bad throat infection and ended up in an Army hospital in York with an abscess on the carotid artery, and then had his tonsils removed. He spent his 21st. birthday in June 1943 in hospital at RAF Northallerton.
His commissioned service number was 139407. His mother came up from Sidcup for the commissioning ceremony – a very difficult journey in wartime.
John was posted as a Bombing Instructor to Moreton-in-March (Gloucester) from winter 1943 until late Spring 1944 (???) on Wellington aircraft. He then moved back to Bomber Command Operations and completed a Bombing Leader course at the Armaments School at RAF Manby in January 1944 at the beginning of July 1944 at RAF Riccal (York). He was posted to No. 640 Squadron at RAF Leconfield In Yorkshire on Halifax 3 aircraft as a bomb aimer with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
In his position as a Bomb Aimer leader, John was supposed to complete only 2 operations per month, but if a crew lacked a bomb aimer then John would go on the operation to complete the crew. For his actions when his aircraft was damaged during a raid over Germany in September 1944 John was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (although he did not receive the actual decoration until June 1945 (see separate piece).
[page break]
On 6 December 1944 John's aircraft – a Halifax III with radial engines – was hit whilst returning from a bombing raid over Osnabruck in Germany. John thinks his aircraft collided with a German night fighter. He was fortunate to escape from the falling aircraft – he still does not know how he got out of the fuselage), and landed by parachute in a field full of water. He sustained various injuries, and recovered in a hospital run by nuns at Neemkirchen in northern Germany until 20th January 1945. He was then sent to the interrogation centre at Dulagluft at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder near Barth near Stettin in Pomerania. The camp had an airfield alongside it. The camp was divided into 2 parts – an American section for USAF personnel and a British RAF Group Captain commanded the British prisoners. You were placed into the appropriate section according to which air force you had flown with. The camp was liberated by Russian forces on May 1st. 1945. Shortly afterwards members of the American Army appeared and took over the camp.
2 Group Captains from the camp managed to get through to the Allied lines at Lubeck and arranged for the camp prisoners (all RAF men?) to be flown back to the UK on B17 Flying Fortresses, 25 men to each aircraft on 13 May 1945. John's aircraft landed at Ford, and he then caught a train to (RAF) Cosford.
He underwent a rehabilitation course in Air Traffic Control at RAF Henlow.
He was demobbed in late 1946.
POST-WAR CAREER
John re-joined the RAF in 1949, and completed a 9 month Navigator and Bombing refresher course at No. 1 Air Navigation School at Topcliffe and RAF Middleton-St-George respectively between 1 June and 15 August 1949 on Anson and Wellington aircraft. This was followed by training at No. 201 Advanced Flying School at RAF Swinderby, flying Wellingtons with pilot Wing Commander Oxley, between 29 September and 30 November.
Wing Commander Oxley (known as Beetle), was quite dangerous as he did not like to use his instruments. On one operation John's aircraft was diverted to Anglesey and Beetle overshot the runway.
John then posted to No 236 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Kinloss in Scotland, flying Lancaster aircraft, until 5 April 1950. It was a very cold experience as they lived in unheated tin (Nissen) huts. John then was posted to 38 Squadron at RAF Luqa, Malta, flying Lancasters on Maritime Reconnaissance Operations, including exercises with various Navies and Air Sea Rescue duties), until 19 July 1952. During this period he was seconded to RAF Masirah located on the island of Masirah in the Indian Ocean as Commanding Officer of the staging post between Aden and India.
There were frequent visitors, to the RAF base, especially the top people from the Defence College. Back in Malta, on 12th May 1952 John flew with 6 Lancaster aircraft from No. 38 Squadron which set of [sic] on a goodwill visit to Ceylon (Sri Lanka.) They flew via Luqa (Malta), Habbaniya (Iraq), Mauripur (India) to Negombo. They returned leaving Negombo on 31st May via Mauripur, Aden and Khartoum (Sudan) reaching Luqa on 4 June 1952.
On leaving Malta in September 1952 John was posted to No. 1 Maritime Reconnaissance School at St Mawgan in Cornwall as a Navigational Instructor, flying Lancasters until the end of September 1954. During this period John had two breaks, one being in the procession at the Queen's Coronation in 1953, and the second at the Queen's Review at RAF Odiham. In October 1954 until September 1956 John was posted to HQ 64 Group Home Command, at Rufforth in Yorkshire, as PA to the Air Officer Commanding (this was a non-flying role, apart from accompanying the Air Commodore on internal visits).
[page break]
From September 1956 until 23 January 1957 John attended Bomber Command Bombing School at RAF Lindholme, Yorkshire, for navigation training for the V-Bomber Force. In summer of that year he was posted instead to the Air Ministry, London Intelligence Branch. During his term at the Air Ministry he had a spell of 2 weeks at St Mawgan, flying as Navigator on Shackleton aircraft with the Air Sea Warfare Development Unit. This was to qualify him to receive flying pay. From October 1960 until May 1962 he served as Assistant Air Attache at the British Embassy in Paris. John was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander and liaised with the French Air Force for participation in air shows.
John retired from the RAF in May 1962, as there was only a 1 in 4 chance that he would be posted to a flying role, and by then he had 2 small children at home.
In September 1962 he joined Shell-Mex and BP Ltd, soon to become separate companies. He stayed with Shell until his retirement in June 1982.
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
John Louis Goldby Biography
Description
An account of the resource
A biography covering John's training and service in the RAF.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-07-21
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Devon
Germany--Cologne
Germany--Essen
Germany--Bremen
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Germany--Helgoland
Italy--Turin
England--Filey
England--Northallerton
Germany--Osnabrück
Germany--Barth
Malta
Oman--Masirah Island
India
Yemen (Republic)--Aden
Sri Lanka
Iraq--Ḥabbānīyah
Pakistan--Karachi
Sri Lanka--Negombo
Sudan--Khartoum
Germany--Lübeck
Italy
Sudan
North Africa
Germany
Iraq
Pakistan
Yemen (Republic)
Oman
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Kent
England--Lancashire
England--Yorkshire
England--London
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. Coastal 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
Three printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BMarshCGoldbyJLv10001, BMarshCGoldbyJLv10002, BMarshCGoldbyJLv10003
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
10 OTU
38 Squadron
78 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
Anson
B-17
bale out
Blenheim
bomb aimer
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Dulag Luft
Halifax
Halifax Mk 2
Halifax Mk 3
Hampden
Lancaster
mine laying
navigator
Nissen hut
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
RAF Cosford
RAF Ford
RAF Henlow
RAF Jurby
RAF Kenley
RAF Kinloss
RAF Leconfield
RAF Lindholme
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Manby
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Middleton St George
RAF Moreton in the Marsh
RAF Odiham
RAF Riccall
RAF Rufforth
RAF St Eval
RAF St Mawgan
RAF Stanton Harcourt
RAF Swinderby
RAF Topcliffe
Shackleton
Stalag Luft 1
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2034/33350/LMartinWJ1822340v1.2.pdf
f4176fd1fad2b40ce72cf7064ecd7476
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
Martin, William James
W J Martin
Description
An account of the resource
Four items.
The collection concerns Flight Sergeant William James Martin, (b. 1924, 1822340 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book and photographs. He flew operations as a flight engineer with 57 Squadron.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Robert Martin and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2018-04-27
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
Martin, WJ
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 J Martin's flying log book
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Log book and record book
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LMartinWJ1822340v1
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
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
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.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-07
1944-08
1944-07-30
1944-07-31
1944-08-02
1944-08-05
1944-08-06
1944-08-07
1944-08-08
1944-08-09
1944-08-10
1944-08-11
1944-08-12
1944-08-13
1944-08-14
1944-08-16
1944-08-17
1944-08-29
1944-08-30
1944-08-31
1944-09-03
1944-09-10
1944-09-11
1944-09-12
1944-09-13
1944-09-17
1944-09-18
1944-09-19
1944-09-20
1944-09-23
1944-09-24
1944-09-27
1944-09-28
1944-09-29
1944-09-30
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-24
1944-10-25
1944-11-11
1944-11-22
1944-11-23
1945-06-25
1945-07-05
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Flying log book for W.J. Martin, flight engineer covering the period from 3 April 1944 to 13 November 1945. Detailing his flying training, operations and instructional duties. He was stationed at RAF East Kirkby, RAF St Athan, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston, RAF Woolfox Lodge and RAF Cottesmore. Aircraft flown in were Stirling and Lancaster. He flew a total of 30 operations with 57 Squadron, 12 daylight and 18 night. Targets were Caumont, Joigny, Trossy St Maximin, St Leu d'Esserent, L' Isle-Adam, Bordeaux, Brest, Bergueneuse, Deelan, Sequeville de Capagne, Chatellerault, Brunswick, Stettin, Koningsberg, Mönchengladbach, Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Le Havre, Boulogne, Wilhemshaven, Bremmerhaven, Munster, Karlsruhe, Kaiserslauten, Heligoland, minelaying and Trondheim. <span>His pilots on operations were Flight Lieutenant </span>Ottewell and Flying Officer Donkin. The log book also records Cook's Tour flights and post war civilian flights as a passenger up to 2007. Notes, photographs and visit to BBMF are also included</p>
1651 HCU
1660 HCU
1668 HCU
5 Group
57 Squadron
aircrew
Cook’s tour
Distinguished Flying Cross
flight engineer
Fw 190
Gibson, Guy Penrose (1918-1944)
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
mine laying
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Cottesmore
RAF East Kirkby
RAF St Athan
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Woolfox Lodge
Stirling
tactical support for Normandy troops
Tiger force
training
V-1
V-2
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1835/33176/YProbynEA1896412v1.1.pdf
53276a645055b106ec8b27d621b4d3c4
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
Probyn, Ernest Arthur
E A Probyn
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
2017-04-23
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
Probyn, EA
Description
An account of the resource
61 items. The collection concerns Ernest Arthur Probyn (Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs, diary and a scrapbook. He flew operations as a rear gunner with 61 Squadron.<br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2044">Probyn, Ernest. Scrapbook</a> <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by P Probyn and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[blank page]
[page break]
[calendars for 1943, 1944 and 1945]
[page break]
[calendars for 1943, 1944 and 1945]
[page break]
From. Mum
To. Ernie
[page break]
ZODIAC DIARY 1944
This Diary is the property of
1896412. Sgt PROBYN.
[deleted] Nat. RegistNo. [/deleted] [inserted] 1250 [/inserted] No.
Address
Phone
In case of accident please communicate with
[page break]
PERSONAL MEMORANDA
F/LT. KEN BANKS.
MARCH 15.
DOREEN.
JUNE. 1ST
[page break]
[Weights and measures table]
[page break]
[Calendar notes detailing bank holidays etc. for 1944, and weather forecasting table]
[page break]
DEC., 1943 – JAN. 1944
1 JANUARY, 1944 SAT
Went to Swansea saw Dorreen [sic] Went for flip in Martinette [sic] in afternoon.
[page break]
JANUARY 2 SUN
SPENT DAY AT WORK, HAD PARACHUTE INSTRUCTION
3 MON
HAD A LETTER FROM DOREEN. WENT FOR TWO FLIGHTS IN ANSONS IN AFTERNOON. AIR TO SEA FIRING.
4 TUE
ANSWERED DOREENS LETTER. SPENT ALL DAY IN SCHOOL.
5 WED
WENT ON CIIVE CAMERA 2. K.G.1.o. & 1 K.G.2.
6 THU
DAY OFF WENT TO SWANSEA IN MORNING, SWIMING. [sic] WENT TO KIDWELLY IN EVENING
7 FRI
WENT TO LLANELLY IN EVENING MET DOREEN COMING OFF LEAVE.
8 SAT
School all day Spent evening in hut genning
[page break]
9 SUN
School all day.
10 MON
Turrets all day.
11 TUE
Exams to day.
12 WED
Day off. Went to Slash in evening “DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE”
13 THU
Weather bad. No flying. Cheesed off
14 FRI
89 flight passing out parade.
15 SAT
Flying to day Weather bad.
[page break]
16 SUN
School alday. [sic] Went to Kidwellay [sic] in evening
17 MON
Spent most of day on turrets & armaments.
18 TUE
Went to pictures in evening.
19 WED
Whole hut confined for being noisy.
20 THU
Had letter from home Went to pictures in evening D.
21 FRI
Flying today Went on three K.G.2.
22 SAT
Went to Swansea on pass, to Doreens [sic] home.
[page break]
23 SUN
Back at school. Pictures in evening D.
24 MON
Flying allday 3. flights
25 TUE
Camp cinema in evening with Doreen.
26 WED
Day off, went to Slash with Doreen in evening. Pictures at Regal.
27 THU
Intermediate exam today, passed O.K. Camp cinema with D.
28 FRI
Spent evening genning
29 SAT
Flying alday. [sic] Spent evening home.
[page break]
30 SUN
Went to kidwelly [sic] with Doreen in evening
31 MON
Rather a good day for the kitty. I lost 1/1.
1 FEBRUARY TUE
WENT OVER TO CAMP CINEMA IN EVENING WITH D.
2 WED
Day off.
4 FRI
Flying today W 1,200.rounds.
5 SAT
Flying alday. [sic] 1,200 rounds
[page break]
6 SUN
Flying alday [sic] 300 Went to a show at the camp cinema, with Doreen a very good show.
7 MON
Last day of genning up. Had aircraft & range exams
8 TUE
[underlined] Board [/underlined]?
9 WED
PASSING OUT SUPPER. WENT TO ODEON WITH DOREEN
10 THU
WENT TO CAMP CINEMA FOR LAST TIME WITH DOREEN.
11 FRI
PASSING OUT PARADE. [symbol] GLAD ITS OVER
12 SAT
SPENT LAST DAY WITH DOREEN. WENT TO SWANSEA IN AFTERNOON.
[page break]
13 SUN
ARRIVED HOME.
14 MON
WEATHER NONE TO [sic] GOOD TODAY
15 TUE
WENT TO RISBROUGH
17 THU
WENT TO SEE CHAPS DOWN AT FIRM
18 FRI
RECEIVED A LETTER FROM DONALD
[page break]
22 TUE
WENT TO PICTURES
24 THU
SAW “WHITE CAPTIVE” AT CARLTON.
25 FRI
HAD A LETTER FROM DONALD TODAY
[page break]
27 SUN
HAD RIDE TO KIMBLE HAD TEA AT AUNT LOUIES.
28 MON
WEATHER FINE BUT COLD. WENT FOR RIDE.
29 TUE
WENT TO WYCOMBE WALKED HOME. MY FEET.
1 MARCH WED
WENT TO PICTURES IN AYLESBURY.
2 THU
Planted a few rows of beans.
3 FRI
Planted shallots.
4 SAT
Went to Sanden to meet Donald “SAW FILM “ENDS THE DAY WELL.”
[page break]
5 SUN
Went for walks with Donald.
6 MON
Last day of leave. Went to Wycombe
7 TUE
Saw Donald for last time. Started of [sic] to Silverstone.
8 WED
Started to meet some of my mates.
9 THU
Got crewed up.
10 FRI
Bags of work.
11 SAT
Turrets. Giros. & Shadowgraphs.
[page break]
12 SUN
WENT TO NORTHAMPTON FOR EVENING. PAYED FOR FIRST TIME HERE
13 MON
ATTENDED TWO LECTURES TURRETS, GUNNERY & AIRCRAFT RECOGNITION
14 TUE
HAD LETTER FROM HOME. SCROUNGED OFF FROM P.T. IN AFTERNOON.
15 WED
GUNNERY, AIRCRAFT REC. SPOTLIGHT.
16 THU
HAD LETTER FROM HOME.
17 FRI
WENT TO NORTHAMPTON.
18 SAT
SPENT DAY AT WORK.
[page break]
19 SUN
SPENT DAY IN NORTHAMPTON.
20 MON
CHEESED OFF
21 TUE
CHEESED OFF
22 WED
AIRCRAFT RECOGNITION. SPOTLIGHT TRAINER. ARMAMENT.
23 THU
SPENT DAY WORKING FOR WORK AND BRICKS.
24 FRI
SKIPPED WORK. WENT TO NORTHAMPTON.
25 SAT
MOVED TO SATALITE DROME AT TOWESTON.
[page break]
26 SUN
STARTED WORK.
27 MON
DAY ON FLYING.
28 TUE
GUNNERY AND AIRCRAFT REC.
29 WED
FLYING.
30 THU
Bags of work today.
31 FRI
WENT ON CIRCUIT & BUMPS.
1 APRIL SAT
SCHOOL ALDAY [sic] WENT HOME AT NIGHT. ARRIVED HOME AT 1-30
[page break]
2 SUN
SPENT DAY AT HOME
3 MON
BAGS OF FLYING. CIRCUIT & BUMPS.
4 TUE
SCHOOL.
5 WED
WENT ON SOLO FLIGHTS WITH DANNY. TILL 8.00. AT NIGHT.
6 THU
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
7 FRI
WENT FOR CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT
8 SAT
SPENT DAY WAITING TO FLY.
[page break]
9 SUN
FLYING. FLEW OVER LONGWICK.
10 MON
FLYING.
11 TUE
Dads
DADS BIRTHDAY. SPENT DAY FLYING.
12 WED
WENT ON BOMBING TRIP.
13 THU
DAY OFF SPENT DAY AT HOME
14 FRI
WENT ON CINE. TRIP.
15 SAT
NOTHING DOING ALL DAY.
[page break]
16 SUN
FLYING ALDAY. [sic]
17 MON
NIGHT FLYING.
18 TUE
H.L.B. I HAD A BURST OIL PIPE IN THE TURRET
19 WED
NIGHT FLYING WEATHER BAD.
20 THU
COMBAT MANOUVERS. WITH DANNY.
21 FRI
AIR FIRING. AND NIGHT FLYING. HAD A PRANG TODAY.
22 SAT
[deleted] MOVED BACK [/deleted] NIGHT FLYING
[page break]
23 SUN
NIGHT FLYING MOVED BACK TO SILVERSTONE.
24 MON
NIGHT FLYING.
25 TUE
DAY CROSS COUNTRY
26 WED
DAY CROSS COUNTRY.
27 THU
DAY OFF. BUSY IN THE GARDEN
28 FRI
NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY. SPENT DAY IN BANBURY.
29 SAT
DAY CROSS COUNTRY. WENT TO CINEMA IN EVENING. SAW “ENDS THE DAY WELL” “FOR EVER & A DAY”
[page break]
30 SUN
NIGHT FLYING.
1 MAY MON
NIGHT FLYING.
2 TUE
WENT ONB DIVERTION [sic] RAID ON JERRY COAST.
3 WED
NOTHING DOING ALL DAY.
4 THU
WENT ON BOMBING TRIP.
5 FRI
SPENT DAY SLEEPING.
6 SAT
WENT TO CAMP CINEMA SAW “LIFE & DEATH OF CORNAEL [sic] BLIMP.”
[page break]
7 SUN
EXAMS TODAY.
8 MON
EXAMS AGAIN TODAY.
9 TUE
DAY OFF. CAME HOME.
10 WED
ARRIVED BACK AT CAMP ABOUT LUNCH TIME. FLYING AT NIGHT.
11 THU
SLEEP ALL DAY. NIGHT FLYING.
12 FRI
NOTHING DOING ALL DAY
13 SAT
WENT TO CAMP CINEMA SAW DEANNA DURBIN IN “HER’S TO HOLD”
[page break]
14 SUN
WENT ON CINE FLIGHTS FIRED 150 ft of FILM.
15 MON
GETTING PACKED READY FOR LEAVE.
16 TUE
RAINING ALL DAY. SPENT DAY IN HUT.
17 WED
STILL RAINING. SPENT ANOTHER DAY IN HUT.
18 THU
SPENT DAY PACKING WENT ON NIGHT. FLIGHT.
19 FRI
FINISHED WORK TODAY. ARRIVED HOME TEATIME
20 SAT
WENT TO LONDON.
[page break]
21 SUN
WAS BEST MAN AT POPS WEDDING. HAD GOOD TIME.
22 MON
ARRIVED HOME AT LUNCH TIME. SPENT EVENING OVERHAULING BIKE.
23 TUE
SPENT DAY IN GARDEN.
24 WED
SPENT DAY IN GARDEN.
25 THU
WENT TO SEE CHAPS AT THE MILL TODAY
26 FRI
WYCOMBE. PALACE. TO SEE. “£100 WINDOW.”
27 SAT
‘CARLTON’ RISBRO. TO SEE “CAVALCADE OF NAVY.” &
[page break]
28 SUN
SPENT MOST OF TODAY TAXING TO KEEP COOL. WENT TO HADDENHAM AERODROME
29 MON
WENT OUT FOR DAY.
30 TUE
CARLTON. RISBROGH [sic] TO SEE. JOE. E. BROWN IN. “CHATTER BOX”
31 WED
AYLESBURY. TO ODEON. TO SEE “AND THE ANGLES [sic] SING.”
1 JUNE THU
SPENT DAY IN GARDEN WENT OUT IN EVENING.
2 FRI
WENT TO WYCOMBE. SAW. TOMMY HANDLEY IN “TIME FLYS” AND SHERLOCK HOMES IN “SPIDER WOMAN.
3 SAT
CARLTON RISBRO.
[page break]
4 SUN
WENT TO WYCOMBE SAW ‘THE GLASS KEY’
5 MON
ARTHUR ASKEY IN ‘MISS LONDON LTD.’ AT CARLTON
6 TUE
STARTED OF [sic] FOR SCAMPTON.
7 WED
SPENT DAY IN LINCOLN.
8 THU
STARTED WORK.
9 FRI
[inserted] MUM [/inserted]
DAY OF P.T.
10 SAT
DAY OFF.
[page break]
11 SUN
WORK AGAIN. LECTURES.
12 MON
DAY OF P.T.
13 TUE
WENT TO LINCOLN. WITH ANDY SAW “PHANTOM OF THE OPERA”
14 WED
CAMP CINEMA TO SEE “NIGHT INVADER”
15 THU
WENT TO LINCOLN WITH TAFFY SAW “A GUY NAMED JOE.”
16 FRI
WENT TO CAMP CINEMA IN EVENING.
17 SAT
DAY OFF. SPENT IT IN LINCOLN.
[page break]
18 SUN
SCHOOL ALDAY. [sic] WENT FOR WALK IN EVENING.
19 MON
WENT TO CAMP CINEMA IN EVENING
20 TUE
LINCOLN THIS EVENING TO SEE “PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
21 WED
DAY ON LECTURES.
22 THU
FREE DAY.
23 FRI
SPENT DAY IN LINCOLN WITH ANDY
24 SAT
SPEND DAY PACKING WENT TO PICTURES IN EVENING
[page break]
25 SUN
MOVED TO SWINDERBY.
26 MON
SPENT THE DAY ON LECTURES.
27 TUE
SCHOOL ALDAY. [sic]
28 WED
DAY ON GROUND TRAINING.
29 THU
LECTURES.
30 FRI
LECTURES.
1 JULY SAT
FIRST DAY ON FLYING
[page break]
2 SUN
FLEW FOR FIRST TIME IN STIRLING.
3 MON
Flew on fighter affil.
4 TUE
Flying day, but didn’t.
5 WED
Lecture day.
6 THU
More Lectures.
7 FRI
Still more lectures.
8 SAT
Early morning flying Went to Lincoln in evening
[page break]
9 SUN
Day in Lectures.
10 MON
Further day in lectures.
11 TUE
Two flights today.
12 WED
Another flying day.
13 THU
Lecture day.
14 FRI
Height exercise.
15 SAT
Day flying.
[page break]
16 SUN
Day flying.
17 MON
Lectures.
18 TUE
Day on lectures.
19 WED
Fighter affill.
20 THU
Went to Lincoln saw Waggsy. (?) Went to Savoy.
21 FRI
Fighter affill.
22 SAT
Night flying.
[page break]
23 SUN
Last day of lectures.
24 MON
Day spent trying to fly.
25 TUE
Night flying, but kite U.S.
26 WED
Night flying.
27 THU
Day off.
28 FRI
Went on divertion [sic] at night.
29 SAT
Spent today getting cleared. Saw Noel Cowards ‘This Happy Breed”
[page break]
30 SUN
Spent morning getting cleared. Started home dinner time
31 MON
Arrived home after spending night in London.
1 AUGUST TUE
Went down to firm this morning to see chaps. Found Scot was ill.
2 WED
Spent most of day in garden. Boy is it warm.
3 THU
Spent day in bed with a bad head.
4 FRI
Head a bit better still a bit muggy.
5 SAT
Pictures in evening. Saw ‘Batchelor Mother.’
[page break]
6 SUN
Went to Kimble & saw Aunt Louie & Frank.
7 MON
Went to fete in Village. Saw Gladys. Had some luck on ‘Aunt Sally’.
8 TUE
Back from leave moved to Syerston.
9 WED
Spent most of day in billets. Went to flicks in evening. Saw “Above suspiction.” [sic]
10 THU
Spent day in lectures.
11 FRI
Lecture day.
12 SAT
Day in lectures. Went to Nottingham in evening. “Higher & higher
[page break]
13 SUN
Exams. ?
14 MON
Passed Exams O.K.
15 TUE
Went to Nottingham with Bruce.
16 WED
Wrote to Gladys today.
17 THU
Went to Nottingham saw David Nivin [sic] in “The way ahead”
18 FRI
Saw Ensa show in camp.
19 SAT
Pay day received £12.
[page break]
20 SUN
Went out with Jack.
21 MON
Cheesed off
22 TUE
Moved to 61 Squad.
23 WED
Starting to settle in.
24 THU
Went on Night Cross Country
25 FRI
Raid on Koningsburg [sic]
26 SAT
Day spent in Lincoln.
[page break]
27 SUN
Fighter Affill
28 MON
H.L.B. Cheesed off
29 TUE
[underlined] Ditto [/underlined]!!!!!!?
30 WED
Dan had toothake [sic] missed a good trip
31 THU
Night Cross Country.
1 SEPTEMBER FRI
Air Sea Firing.
2 SAT
Usual day
[page break]
3 SUN
Daylight on Brest.
4 MON
Fighter affill.
5 TUE
Night flying
6 WED
Air-sea firing
7 THU
Pictures in Lincoln.
8 FRI
Busy day on D.I.s.
9 SAT
Stayed in camp packing for leave.
[page break]
10 SUN
Started leave today.
11 MON
Spent day in garden.
[circled 12] TUE
WAR SHOULD END.? But didn’t. !?!?
13 WED
Saw film in Aylesbury “The way ahead”
14 THU
Spent day in garden
15 FRI
Went to Wycombe. saw “Death stalks Sherlock Holmes.
16 SAT
Film at Aylesbury “Lifeboat”
[page break]
17 SUN
Went to Kimble.
18 MON
Saw Gladys this evening
19 TUE
Spent morning in garden back to camp in afternoon.
20 WED
Not a lot doing.
21 THU
[underlined] Cheesed off. [/underlined]
22 FRI
Spent afternoon in Lincoln with Bruce.
23 SAT
Raid on Dortmund-Emms [sic] Canal. Got shot up bad Bruce hit in legs.
[page break]
24 SUN
Spent day at Woodbridge crash drome
25 MON
N.F.T. got back to camp
26 TUE
High level bombing.
27 WED
Night attack on Karlsruhe.
28 THU
Night attack on Kaiserlautien. [sic] Attacked by two M.E. 410.s
29 FRI
Spent day in bed
30 SAT
Went on air-sea firing
[page break]
1 OCTOBER SUN
Clay pigeon shooting.
2 MON
Went to Lincoln Saw Betty Grable in “Pin up girl.
3 TUE
Low level cross country
7 SAT
Night raid on Bremen
[page break]
10 TUE
Daylight on Wilhelmshaven. Bags of flak.
14 SAT
Night raid on Brunswick.
[page break]
15 SUN
Started of [sic] home on leave arrived home at 9.00.
16 MON
Spent all morning in bed, collected bike pass station in afternoon.
17 TUE
Went to see the boys at the firm today saw Gladys in evening.
18 WED
Went to Aylesbury met Gladys from work & went to watch “Marie Curie”
19 THU
Carlton cinema with Gladys to see “Thousands Cheer”
20 FRI
Stopped at home most of the day.
21 SAT
Spent afternoon & evening in Wycombe with Gladys. “Song of B.”
[page break]
22 SUN
Went to Kimble. Saw Doug in evening.
23 MON
Rather bad weather today.
24 TUE
Spent last night of leave with Gladys.
25 WED
Back to old routine
26 THU
Spent day dodging work.
27 FRI
Went for trip today
28 SAT
Night attack on Bergen.
[page break]
29 SUN
Stayed in bed till 12.00 went out in evening.
30 MON
Spent Day in Nottingham.
31 TUE
Went to Lincoln with Pop.
1 NOVEMBER WED
DAY RAID ON HAMBURG IN THE RUHR. SHOT UP.
2 THU
NIGHT RAID ON DUSSELDORF
3 FRI
Day spent in hut.
4 SAT
NIGHT ATTACK ON DORTMUND-EMMS CANAL.
[page break]
5 SUN
Went to Lincoln saw “Tyson takes a trip.”
6 MON
Air test.
7 TUE
High level bombing.
8 WED
Not much doing today.
9 THU
Went to camp cinema in evening.
10 FRI
Rain, rain, & still more rain.
11 SAT
Night attack on Hamburg.
[page break]
12 SUN
Spent evening in Lincoln at the Savoy.
13 MON
High level bombing.
14 TUE
Air-Sea firing Dortmund-Ems Canal at Night.
15 WED
Went to Lincoln with Harry saw “White Cliffs of Dover.”
16 THU
Most of day spent in billet. Daylight on ‘[indecipherable word]’
17 FRI
Spent evening in camp.
18 SAT
Went to camp cinema saw “Destruction [indecipherable word]”.
[page break]
19 SUN
Lincoln in evening.
20 MON
Not much doing in camp today.
21 TUE
Fighter affill.
22 WED
Night raid on [indecipherable word]
23 THU
Went to camp cinema in evening
24 FRI
Rain, rain, rain & still more rain.
25 SAT
Same old routine.
[page break]
26 SUN
Night raid on Munich. Attacked by J.U.88.
27 MON
Spent day packing & getting paid
28 TUE
Started off on leave Saw “English without Tears” in Nottingham.
29 WED
Went to Aylesbury saw “the Purple Heart.”
30 THU
Saw Gladys this evening
1 DECEMBER FRI
Had an invitation to the H.G. stand down supper. Met a lot of my old pals.
2 SAT
Gladys & I went to Wycombe for the afternoon.
[page break]
3 SUN
Had Gladys round to tea today.
4 MON
Saw “Claudia” at the Carlton with Gladys this evening.
5 TUE
Had day at home.
6 WED
Last evening with Glad went to Aylesbury
[circled 7] THU
Back to Camp. Cheesed off
8 FRI
[underlined] DITTO. [/underlined]
9 SAT
“The Dodge” “DER TAG.” NIGHT RAID ON URFT DAN & MY 21ST BIRTHDAY.
[page break]
10 SUN
Drome fog bound.
11 MON
Weather still bad not able to fly.
12 TUE
Ditto
15 FRI
Went into Lincoln today did a spot of shopping.
16 SAT
Night raid on Munich quite a nice do.
[page break]
17 SUN
Night raid on Munich.
18 MON
Night raid on Galysnia.
19 TUE
Spent whole day in bed.
21 THU
Night raid on [underlined] Stetten [/underlined].
22 FRI
Landed at Dallochy
23 SAT
Still at [symbol]
[page break]
24 SUN
Back to Camp from Dallochy.
25 MON
Quite a good day Was invited out in the evening.
26 TUE
Spent day in camp
27 WED
Most of day spent in billet to [sic] cold to go out.
28 THU
Attack on shipping in Oslo Fjord.
29 FRI
Usual day in bed.
30 SAT
Opps Houffalize, in France
[page break]
31 SUN
Quiet day spent writing letters.
5 JANUARY 1945 FRI
19.8.44.
Case 594356 Cast 594357 Case 594358 Case 594359 Case 594360
[page break]
BROWNING – A/C. – SIGHT – TURRET – PYRO
40 – 30 – 60 – 40 – 30
32 – 22 – 36 – 20 – 21
65.5
DORE HARNESS. NO. 109.
G.16.
46. + 3.
BRUGE
COLINDALE 8154
[page break]
A.G. BARRELL
FFOULLYNGE. F/LT.
A.C.W. D. Peacock.
KEN
[series of numbers]
[page break]
DOREEN JUNE. 1st
[table of names and numbers]
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
Ernest Probyn 1944 Diary
Description
An account of the resource
A diary kept by Ernest throughout 1944.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ernest Probyn
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One printed book with handwritten annotations
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
YProbynEA1896412v1
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Wales--Swansea
Wales--Kidwelly
Wales--Llanelli
England--Aylesbury
England--London
England--Northampton
England--Banbury (Oxfordshire)
England--High Wycombe
England--Lincoln
England--Nottingham
France--Brest
Germany--Braunschweig
Norway--Bergen
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Munich
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Szczecin
Poland
France
Germany
Norway
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Northamptonshire
England--Oxfordshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Nottinghamshire
Germany--Stetten im Remstal
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.
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Under review
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Tricia Marshall
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944
air gunner
aircrew
Anson
bombing
Ju 88
Me 410
RAF Scampton
RAF Silverstone
RAF Swinderby
RAF Turweston
Stirling
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1835/33172/LProbynEA1896412v1.1.pdf
7b0fed06931a54c984eaa1495490eba7
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
Probyn, Ernest Arthur
E A Probyn
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
2017-04-23
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
Probyn, EA
Description
An account of the resource
61 items. The collection concerns Ernest Arthur Probyn (Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents, photographs, diary and a scrapbook. He flew operations as a rear gunner with 61 Squadron.<br /><br /><a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2044">Probyn, Ernest. Scrapbook</a> <br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by P Probyn 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
E A Probyn’s flying log book for navigators, air bombers, air gunners and flight engineers
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
LProbynEA1896412v1
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
Flying log book for navigators, air bombers, air gunners, flight engineers for E A Probyn, air gunner, covering the period from 3 January 1944 to 27 July 1945 and 7 to 11 August 1967. Detailing his flying training and operations flown. He was stationed at RAF Pembrey, RAF Silverstone, RAF Turweston, RAF Swinderby, RAF Syerston, RAF Skellingthorpe and RAF Cosford. Aircraft flown in were Anson, Wellington, Stirling, and Lancaster. He flew a total of 36 operations with 61 Squadron, 7 daylight and 29 night. Targets were Brest, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Karlsruhe, Kaiserslautern, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Flushing, Brunswick, Bergen, Dusseldorf, Homberg, Harburg, Trondheim, Munich, Urft Dam, Gdynia, Politz, Oslo Fjord, Houffalize, Royan, Siegen, Rositz, Ladbergen, Bohlen, Lutzkendorf, Wesel and Nordhausen. He also took part in Operation Exodus. His pilot on operations was Flight Lieutenant Boon.
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-09-05
1944-09-23
1944-09-24
1944-09-26
1944-09-27
1944-09-28
1944-10-05
1944-10-06
1944-10-07
1944-10-14
1944-10-15
1944-10-28
1944-10-29
1944-11-01
1944-11-02
1944-11-03
1944-11-04
1944-11-05
1944-11-11
1944-11-12
1944-11-21
1944-11-22
1944-11-23
1944-11-26
1944-11-27
1944-12-09
1944-12-10
1944-12-17
1944-12-18
1944-12-19
1944-12-21
1944-12-22
1944-12-28
1944-12-29
1944-12-30
1944-12-31
1945-01-04
1945-01-05
1945-02-01
1945-02-02
1945-02-03
1945-02-08
1945-02-09
1945-02-14
1945-02-15
1945-03-03
1945-03-04
1945-03-05
1945-03-06
1945-03-07
1945-03-08
1945-03-12
1945-03-20
1945-03-21
1945-03-22
1945-03-23
1945-03-24
1945-04-04
1967
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Belgium
France
Germany
Great Britain
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden
Belgium--Houffalize
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--Northamptonshire
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Shropshire
Germany--Braunschweig
France--Brest
France--Royan
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Euskirchen Region
Germany--Harburg (Landkreis)
Germany--Homberg (Kassel)
Germany--Kaiserslautern
Germany--Karlsruhe
Germany--Leipzig Region
Germany--Merseburg Region
Germany--Munich
Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)
Germany--Siegen
Germany--Thuringia
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Netherlands--Vlissingen
Germany--Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Norway--Bergen
Norway--Trondheim
Poland--Gdynia
Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)
Wales--Carmarthenshire
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
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
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Mike Connock
1660 HCU
17 OTU
61 Squadron
air gunner
Air Gunnery School
aircrew
Anson
Heavy Conversion Unit
Horsa
Ju 88
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Me 410
Operation Exodus (1945)
Operational Training Unit
RAF Cosford
RAF Pembrey
RAF Silverstone
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Turweston
Stirling
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2044/33163/PProbynEA17010039.2.jpg
94ea745b068cb8adad3fc9c7c5e3aa8b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2044/33163/PProbynEA17010040.2.jpg
035fe8f003ee537d87aff881648f6aff
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2044/33163/PProbynEA17010041.2.jpg
688a2a712b52605bac43a047ca9bc66b
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
Probyn, Ernest. Scrapbook
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-23
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
Probyn, EA
Description
An account of the resource
42 items. Scrapbook containing photographs and clippings.
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
RAF Skellingthorpe Memorial
Description
An account of the resource
15 photographs taken during the unveiling of the memorial.
#1 and 2 are of the village sign outside the Skellingthorpe Village Hall.
#3 is a view of the memorial with the wreaths left at the ceremony.
#4 and 5 are the standards and attendees at the unveiling.
#6 and 7 are during the ceremony with an RAF officer and and the Bishop of Lincoln speaking in turn.
#8 is the memorial being unveiled.
#9 is a close up of the 50 squadron crest.
#10 is a close up of the 61 squadron crest.
#11 is a close up of 61 squadron motto and bases.
#12 is a close up of 50 squadron motto and bases.
#13 is taken during the ceremony.
#14 is the text on the memorial obelisk.
#15 is the text on the reverse of the obelisk.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
50 and 61 Squadron Memorial Committee
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1989-06-03
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
15 colour photographs on three album pages
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PProbynEA17010039, PProbynEA17010040, PProbynEA17010041
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
England--Lincoln
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.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1989-06-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
50 Squadron
61 Squadron
memorial
RAF Coningsby
RAF Hemswell
RAF Lindholme
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Waddington
RAF Woolfox Lodge
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/612/32129/BMorrisWMorrisWv1.1.pdf
9f201c25d99b744766e20e799676569a
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
Morris, Walter
W Morris
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Morris, W
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. An oral history interview with Walter Morris (b. 1923, 1623898 Royal Air Force). and his memoir. He flew operations with 630 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Walter Morris and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
217-02-18
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[typewritten]
[centred] Walter Morris – 1939/45 War Record. [/centred]
My story begins in 1923 when I was born in Kettering the elder son of Charles & Ethel Morris. My father served in the Army during the 1914/18 war, although he rarely talked about it, so I do not know any details of her service, except that he had a very hard time serving in the trenches, in terrible conditions. When he returned to Kettering he worked in a Boot & Shoe factory where I believe he met my mother Ethel May Smith who also worked there, & they married in 1922mat[sic] Carey Baptist Chapel. I was born in 1923 & my brother Peter followed two years later. I attended Park Road Infants school. When the family moved to the other end of Kettering Peter & I went to Hawthorn Road Junior School. In 1935 I moved on to the Central School (& Peter followed 2 years later). It was here that I first met Pauline in 1938. For a while we walked out together, & although we drifted apart, we were both in the same circle of friends, & I was still greatly attracted to her.
After 4 years I left School & obtained employment as a junior Clerk at Stewarts & Lloyds, Corby. I started to work there on the 26th August 1939, just 7 days before the war began. I don’t think that many people at the time thought of war starting, & it was quite a shock on the 1st September when without notice a black out was imposed. All street lighting in the Country was switched off, householders were ordered to black out their windows etc, no lights should be visible. These orders were put in place because of the probability of German aircraft making bombing raids over Britain. At 11 am on 3rd September the Prime Minister (Neville Chamberlain) broadcast to the nation to advise that Germany had ignored our ultimatum regarding their plans to invade Poland, & consequently a state of war existed with Germany. That day I recall my father, brother & I spent the afternoon digging a large hole in the garden so that an air raid shelter could be erected, & where we could go if Kettering was ever bombed. In fact we never did get an ARP shelter, & in Kettering only one or two bombs were dropped.
Conscription to the forces was quickly introduced, & men between the ages of 18 & 40 had to register, & were soon allocated to serve in either the army, navy or air force. The only exceptions, other than ill health or disability were men employed in essential work. Later women were also required to enlist, to join one ATS (army_ WAAF (air force) or WRNS (navy). Being just 16 this did not concern me at the time – many people said that the war would be over by Christmas, there was little enemy activity around this country in 1939, & life for me life went on as normal. How wrong we were – there were some food shortages, but rationing was still some time ahead. It was soon to alter, in the Spring of 1940, Hitler’s armies swept through Europe culminating with British troops being evacuated from Dunkirk. In preparation to invade Britain Germany launched ceaseless bombing raids on airfields etc in England in an effort to decimate the RAF fighter strength. However the Spitfires & Hurricanes of the RAF defeated the German bombers & in September 1940, Germany cancelled the plans to invade & instead turned their attention towards Russia, although their Air force commenced bombing raids on many cities & towns in this Country. Earlier Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister, & was succeeded by Winston Churchill, many believe that he was the man who won the war for our country.
For me 1941 was rather decisive. At the beginning of the year the Government announced the formation of the Air Training Corps, which would train lads between the ages of 16 to 18, for enlistment in to the RAF. The response was overwhelming towns & cities all over the country formed squadrons. Volunteer instructors were enrolled from local people including School teachers, who would train the lads in basic requirements when the cadets reached the RAF. By this time I was 17 years of age – I knew that as the war dragged on, I would have to enlist & I desperately wanted to join the Air Force, so I was one of the first to enlist for the Kettering Squadron. In all over 200 boys enrolled at Kettering initially, & I was fortunate to be appointed to be a sergeant. It was a great adventure. We paraded at Stamford Road School two nights a week, & went through our routines & lessons, everything from drill, marching, to Aircraft recognition learning morse code, & much more &
[centred] 1 [/centred]
[page break]
which was to hold me in good stead when I eventually joined the RAF. We also played at sports, including having a football team in the local youth league. A big thrill that year was a week end camp at RAF Wittering which included a flight in Dragon Rapide an old bi-plane, which at the time was a great thrill. At the end of the year having reached 18 years I volunteered for the RAF & was accepted for aircrew training – at that time I wanted to be a pilot. On February 12th 1942 I received my “Calling up” papers, & told to report to the Aircrew Receiving Centre at Lords Cricket Ground London on the 23rd. I was in fact the first cadet from the Kettering ATC to be called up. At the time I was still working at Stewarts & Lloyds in the Traffic Department, & was give immediate permission to leave, with an assurance that I could return after the war ended.
So for me, AC2 Morris W. 1623898, my war service started when I left Kettering for London on a cold February morning. I duly reported & registered at Lords Cricket Ground. There were many new arrivals & after signing in we were marched to billets about a quarter of a mile away. The billets were one time luxury flats which overlooked London Zoo. About 20 of us were allocated to each flat, which was to be our billet for the next 2 to 3 weeks. We were issued with mattresses & blankets, & had to make our beds up on the floor. For our meals we were assembled & marched to the Zoo Restaurant for our meals. During the next days we were issued with Air Force uniforms & clothing, & each given a Medical & received inoculations etc. Also we had lectures about life in the RAF, & what was expected of us as Airmen. We also took tests to ascertain our education etc. It was all very exciting. In mid-March I along with 40 or so others were posted & sent to the Grand Hotel, Scarborough Yorkshire which was an Initial Training Unit (for Aircrew training). At this time I & all the other new recruits held the rank of AC2 (the lowest of the low) & we were all at that time being accepted as trainee pilots. The course was hard, discipline was strict, we marched, & subjected to a great deal of physical exercise, as well as attending lectures daily in our quests to finally become fliers. Most of us cadets on the course were about the same age, 18 & 19 year olds, & it was really a great adventure. Graduating in June, we were then posted to a civilian air field, at Brough near to Hull, where we were given some instructions how to fly Tiger Moth aircraft, delightful old bi-planes. My instructor was a first world war pilot, & although he never allowed me to fly solo in a plane, did recommend that I should receive pilot training. So after 6 weeks at Brough, those of us who were selected to continue in our quest to be pilots, were sent to Heaton Park, Manchester to await our next step. Most of the aircrew training was overseas, either in the USA, Canada, South Africa or Rhodesia, & in late September 1942, I with several hundred others, received inoculations, further medicals, & sent to Glasgow to be shipped to Canada. What a thrill as the train pulled up on the dock, where the SS Queen Mary was waiting to embark us, a pre-war luxury liner it was a beautiful vessel, weighing in at over 70000 tons. The vessel had retained much of it’s pre-war glory, & after the austerity of war time Britain, it was like living in a wonderland. There were only a few hundred airmen on board, cabins had extra bunks built in, but it was never crowded. The catering arrangements were excellent, & the food was great, no worries about rationing, as the vessel was stocked up by the USA, who had joined with Britain to fight Germany & Japan in December 1941 after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. Ships to & from the war zones at this time sailed in convoy, protected by the Royal Navy, but the Queen Mary was too fast for convoys, & indeed could outrun & out manoeuvre German U-boats, as it zig-zagged it’s was across the Atlantic. So she slipped out of port quietly on her own. For 5 days we airmen lived in this seemingly unreal world, bags of lovely food, cinema shows, lounging on the decks as the ship took a southerly & warm weather course. All too soon we arrived in Boston USA, to a great welcome by the locals who treated us as heroes. But we had a shock as we marched by the front of the ship when we saw a massive great gash of some 12 feet in the bow just at the waterline. On enquiry we were told that in fact the Queen Mary had sliced a British Destroyer in two, on a previous journey back to Britain, being unable to cancel the pre-set zig-zag course in time, such was the force of the great ship. However, we were told that the hole had been filled with concrete to enable her to get to the States for repair. From Boston we went by train through the New England states to Canada, & it was one of the most unforgettable journeys of my life before or after. In beautiful warm autumnal weather the magnificence of the
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scenery was unbelievable, the trees with their red & brown leaves on the tree lined the route, small lakes with blue waters, neat & well manicured houses. Even for a nineteen year old it was a truly memorable experience. After a 15 hour journey we arrived in the Canadian state of New Brunswick shortly after reached RCAF Moncton – this was a “Holding” station, where groups of cadets were selected for various courses, being run in Canada & USA. I cannot recall how many training Centres there were in the USA Canada, they were situated mainly to the west of the Continent, & guessing I would think about ten in Canada & the USA for pilot training, whilst in Eastern Canada navigators & Air Bombers were trained. I spent some three weeks here waiting for a posting, with little to do, except walk to nearby Moncton or go to the camp cinema, write home etc. I was anxious to get on with my training. By the end of October, I with 40 or so other cadets received our posting to RCAF Bowden, in Alberta. After kitting up with winter clothing, we left Moncton early one morning, on our way to the other side of Canada, a journey which would take 5 days. We stopped for a few hours in Montreal, to change trains before proceeding on to Alberta a journey that took us alongside Lake Superior, & on to Winnipeg, where we [were] given a lovely welcome by a Ladies organisation, who supplied refreshments, magazines etc – you would think that we had just won the war, not raw recruits. Eventually we arrived at Calgary, on a sunny but cool November day, & already the first of the winter snow had arrived. A further 100 miles of train travel followed, as we made our way north to Bowden, which is near to Innisfail, midway between Calgary & Edmonton, & some miles to the west the mountain ranges of the Rockies could be seen stretching into the sky. Bowden was a small airfield with one runway. The billets were very good & well heated, but we did make the mistake of opening some of the windows because it was so stuffy, & did we regret it in the morning when we were nearly frozen. I recall that the days generally in Alberta were sunny but there was a dryness, which somehow made the below freezing temperatures bearable. Snow already covered the countryside when I arrived at Bowden, & more snow followed, to give a deep frozen surface, which lasted throughout the winter. To cope with the conditions, some of the aircraft were fitted with skis. It was not long before flying lessons started, but I was soon to be disappointed, as both I & my instructor, soon realised that I was pretty useless handling an aeroplane, & not surprisingly I was taken off the course. Whilst I loved flying in the old Tiger Moths, I just could not handle the controls, or land the aircraft without a lot of bouncing & bumping about, on reflection it was the right decision, although I was very upset at the time. I had been at Bowden for about 6 weeks, & loved it out there. This all happened about Christmas 1942, & two weeks later I & another 4 or 5 “failures” were posted to RCAF Trenton, Ontario, for Aircrew re-selection. The journey back east lasted some 3 or 4 days, as we travelled via Lake Superior & Toronto to our destination. Trenton was a huge station, seemingly full of Aircrew cadets, many like me for re-selection or waiting to be trained as navigators, wireless operators or Air Bombers. It was so different from Bowden, even the weather. The cold was more penetrating, as the wind picked up moisture off the nearby Lake Ontario & it was most unpleasant. It was a waiting game at Trenton, I was interviewed & decided to re-muster for training as an Air Bomber, & (I think) about a month later was seconded on to a Bombing & Gunnery course, at RCAF Picton, a small aerodrome nearly 100 miles further east. Arriving there I saw that Picton was an island in Lake Ontario joined to the mainland by a causeway, & the aerodrome was built on the top of a hill. It was a nice friendly station, & my course members were a good bunch of lads, mainly about my age. The course was a Bombing & Gunnery course, which commenced in March 1943. We were taught the theory of bombing, & of air gunnery, the composition & fusing of bombs etc. & later I flew some 50 hours in Ansons & Bolingbroke aircraft dropping countless 4lb practice bombs & firing guns. It was I[sic] most enjoyable, for a 19 year old. As Spring arrived the weather changed, everywhere was white when I arrived & it seemed that overnight during April the weather became sunny & warm for the rest of my stay. I was to be with many of my course mates until I got back to England 6 months later, & I made a number of good friends. We had some delightful evenings out, in the small town of Picton, or swimming in the lake. The population were very friendly & hospitable, & we were well looked after. The course lasted until early June, & looking at my log book see that I passed both the bombing & gunnery elements each
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with a 73% grading. I had passed this part of my conversion to an Air Bombers role & then I with rest of the course members moved on to an Air Navigation Course at RCAF Mount Hope. This station was to the west, near to Hamilton Ontario, & nearly halfway between Toronto & Niagra Falls (which luckily I was able to visit, together with a trip into USA.) During my six week course I learnt a little about navigation & air photography, both in the lecture rooms & by flying, some 45 hours all told, the flying was quite excellent as flights were of about 3 hours duration flying the length & breadth of Ontario. There followed a final examination, which I passed, classed as an Air Bomber & promoted to the rank of Sergeant. How proud I was as I sewed the stripes on to my tunic. What a celebration we all had that night in Hamilton, a city I enjoyed greatly.. But time was not on our side, & all too soon we were on our way back to Moncton, to be sent home to complete our training & to fight our war. How different to 10 months earlier, then an untrained airman, & on my return a fully fledged Sergeant. By this time America was sending thousands of servicemen to Britain, so space on the troop ships was full & consequently we had to wait a month before we could be accommodated. Eventually, at the end of September 1943 I & several hundred newly trained aircrew personnel were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to embark once again on the “Queen Mary” en-route for England. Unlike my trip out it was very crowded with some 19000 troops (mainly Americans) aboard. This meant that we had a bed bunk for 24 hours & then 24 hours we had to sleep on the deck floor. Luckily the journey lasted only 6 days, before the vessel docked at Birkenhead. I was given two weeks home leave, to be re-united with family & friends. It was during this time, that I met up again with Pauline, & our romance commenced.
After my two weeks leave I reported to Harrogate before being posted to Whitley Bay, near to Newcastle, for a (Commando type) fitness course, before being sent to Scotland for further flying training, & on completion was sent to Silverstone, here in Northamptonshire, at the end of 1943, an Operational Training Unit where Pilots, Navigators, Air Bombers, Wireless Operators, & Air gunners were present. Here we had to form crews, who would later go on to the Squadrons. It was all rather haphazard, as some 200 of us wandered round a large hangar, trying to form crews. I didn’t know anyone else, other than Air Bombers, but eventually found a Pilot, a Navigator, a Wireless Operator, & two Air Gunners, (we would get a Flight Engineer at a later stage). Actually as a crew, we quickly became firm friends, & apart from one of the gunners dropping out, we completed our tour of operations together, with enormous respect for each other, & really we became as close as family. At Silverstone we trained in two engine Wellingtons as well as attending loads of lectures as we trained for the fight ahead. From Silverstone we were posted to RAF station Swinderby near Lincoln, for our first taste of flying in four engined aircraft. It was here that we met our Flight Engineer. The aircraft were Stirlings, big & ungainly machines, which proved to be a failure operationally – they could not fly any higher than 12-14000 feet, & easy prey for the enemy, but they were ideal for training purposes. Our next step was to convert to Lancasters at another station RAF Syerston, some 30 miles away. Our first experience of flying in a Lancaster was hardly encouraging, for as we took off with an instructor in charge, a tyre punctured & the aircraft swerved off the runway with one wing tip embedded in the grass. We made a very quick escape from the wrecked plane. But that apart, we soon appreciated the Lancaster bomber. 15 hours flying followed, & we were adjudged to be ready to go to a Squadron. On 5th June 1944, we were posted to East Kirkby, 10 miles north of Boston to join 630 Squadron. My first memory of East Kirkby, was the next morning, which was D.Day, 6th June 1944 when Britain & America & their Allies invaded France. The aircrews who had flown to support the ground troops were so excited by the scale of the invasion forces, the number of ships involved – it all seemed so impressive. The station was built only a year or two earlier, & was quite primitive, spread over a large area, our billets were nissen huts nearly a mile away from the airfield, the Sergeants & Officers’ Messes half a mile away, but strangely we soon loved the place. For the next few days as we settled in, we were introduced to the Squadron C.O. Wing Commander Bill Deas, a South African & a great character – sadly he & his crew were killed on a raid a few weeks later. At this time we met our replacement Rear gunner, Flying Officer Geoff Bate who still had half a dozen missions to complete his second tour of operations, we were well pleased. Our
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first mission was a night raid to Normandy, & was supposed to be in support of the Ground forces in the invasion area near to Caen. However on arrival over the target, we were ordered not to drop our bombs, as the ground armies had made a quick advance, & the target was now in their hands. So all the aircraft had to turn about & go back to base. When we did arrive over East Kirkby, we were then sent off over the North Sea, where I had to drop our bombs because it would be unsafe to try to land the aircraft because the overall weight was over the permitted limit. So out we flew to the dropping zone, & naively I dropped the lot, some 12000 lbs of high explosives, & back we went to base, where we were debriefed, given breakfast, which included a fried egg & bacon (a real treat, eggs were very scarce in war time Britain, but aircrews were always given one after an op.) But that was not quite the end of my mission – the next morning I was called to the Bombing Leaders Office, & given a telling off for dropping all the bomb load when I or the Flight Engineer should have calculated what weight of bombs to drop, to get the aircraft down to the safe landing weight, but on one had ever told me that. However I never heard any more about my “faux pas”. After our first mission others followed in quick succession & by the end of June we had notched up 4 more raids, including a rather hair raising trip to Germany, where some 37 Lancasters were shot down out of a total of 133 sent out, but luckily we were. Geoff, our Rear gunner had by the end of June completed his second tour, we valued his experience in those first few trips & were so pleased when we heard later that he had been rewarded with a DFC. During July we flew 10 further missions, including our first daylight raid – but only three over Germany. With the Allies invading Europe in June the role of Bomber Command changed, & support of the Armies was the first priority, by bombing Railways, Marshalling yards, Oil depots, to hamper the Germans. Also with the threat of Flying bomb attacks on England, a number of raids were against the launching sites, hence missions against German targets were reduced. July 18th was to prove the most horrendous trip we were to face, when we were hit by a German night fighter on our way home. Fortunately we escaped into cloud. & the attack was discontinued. However with the help of the Flight Engineer, Alec & Doug managed to pull the aircraft out of the dive, to regain control. A relieved crew were on their way home, thankful of the skill & calmness of our skipper, Alec Swain. When we saw the damage sustained by our Lancaster, with part of the wing missing & a hole just behind the Wireless Operators position, we wondered how we had survived. It said something for the skill of our pilot, & for the mighty Lancaster. But we had little time to feel sorry for ourselves, 12 hours later we were off on mission no 10 – our first day operation, thankfully a quiet trip. At the end of July we were allocated our own Lancaster, NN702J(Jig), in which we would end our tour. Nine more missions followed during August, three of them by daylight – it was much the same pattern as we supported the land armies, or raided Flying Bomb sites, attacked U-boat installations on the coast, & bombing an enemy fighter based aerodrome, to put it out of action, prior to a bombing raid t[to] be made that same night. Sad part of this daylight raid, when I witnessed a Lancaster bomber being hit by bombs dropped from another Lancaster flying above – particularly gruesome when we learned later that the doomed pilot, was a Dutchman, on the last mission of his tour, & the aerodrome under attack was in Holland. Sadly I saw no parachutes from the stricken plane. We were given two weeks leave on the 18th August with 26 trips completed. Returning to base, we still had 9 missions to fly to complete our tour of operations, & during the rest of September we completed a further 8 mainly against German industry, & one of those found me over Germany on my 21st birthday, thankfully it was an incident free journey. It was a bit of a change on raid number 33, when with 6 other Lancasters we dropped mines in the German sea-lanes outside of Heligoland, I recall it was quite boring flying for 4 hours over the North Sea. We flew our last mission on the 5th October a daylight raid to Wilhemshaven, although at the time we did not know we had reached the end, & until the next day when we were air testing an aircraft, & Alec, our pilot, told us that Bomber Command had reduced the number of operations from 35 to 34 with immediate effect, so our battle was over. I remember that when he told us there was a great rush about the aircraft, as we all donned parachutes – we were not taking any unnecessary risks.
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That night our crew, & the ground staff who looked after the plane, & were wonderful caring guys, all made our way to a pub in nearby Boston, where we had a whale of a party I’m afraid I do not remember too much about it, but that was excusable. A day or two later our crew left East Kirkby for good, & sent on leave, the seven of us boarded a train from Boston to Peterborough, & it all seemed so casual, we exchanged addresses, promised to keep in touch, but in an instant we went our separate ways. For nearly a year we had been together, living & flying & truthfully had become closed than family, as we supported each other during that period, & in a few seconds on the railway station it all ended & we all went our separate ways. Over the years Alec, Donovan, Dough & I met up a few times but some of the crew I would never see again. Now in 2010 as far as I know just Doug & I survive, although neither he nor I have any knowledge of what happened to Smithy our navigator or our first rear gunner, Geoff. Alec, Donovan & Jock (mid-upper gunner) have all died, but we remember them with great affection, & wonder about the others.
To sum up my tour I flew 34 missions from 12th June to the 5th October 1942 – 26 night & 8 daylight missions, flying 200 hundred hours. During that time we attacked industrial sites in Germany, Submarine depots, Oil terminals, Marshalling Yards & Railway Junctions, flying bomb sites & supported the Army by attacking enemy lines. On two missions we were instructed not to bomb on arrival in the target area. I do not have a complete record of bombing loads carried but estimate that in all we dropped over 150 tons – the average bomb carried was between 9000 & 12500 lbs (depending on the distance flown to the target) & the range of bombs dropped were 4lb incendiaries, 500lb, 1000lb, 2000lb & 4000lb. I would describe y tour as fairly quiet, twice the aircraft came under fire by night fighters, (the most serious I have detailed), & we did sustain slight flak damage. I have been asked whether or not I was scared, I don’t think I was, apprehensive – yes, but there was little time to think about those things, there was so much to do all the time. I was thrilled some weeks later when I heard that our skipper, Alec had been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross – so well deserved.
After completing a first tour Aircrew were expected to have a 6 month break from operations before being recalled for a second tour & so three weeks after leaving East Kirkby, I was posted to RAF Westcott, near to Aylesbury, to await training as an Air Bomber instructor, but there was little to do as there were a number of men in the same category as me, & there was little to do. Whilst at Westcott, I received the most harrowing news, going home on a day off, my father handed me a telegram which had arrived earlier in the day, advising the death of my brother Peter. Returning from a raid on Dusseldorf, his aircraft was coming into land when it crashed just short of the runway, & tragically all the crew were killed. Peter had joined the RAF just a few months earlier; he had been selected for training as a Flight Engineer, & after qualifying was posted to 166 Squadron at Kirmington, Lincolnshire near to Grimsby. He was killed on 4th December 1944, & was just 19 years of age. We were all devastated, particularly my Mother & Father, who had no idea that he had started his operational tour – he had told me that he had, but being only a few weeks after the end of my tour, didn’t want our parents to know to cause them any concern or worry, - instead it was a more profound shock to them when it happened. I do know why the aircraft crashed, had it been attacked to cause damage or loss of fuel I don’t know, the Squadron records the crash with the remarks “cause unknown”. He was a cheerful lad, good sense of humour, & liked the girls. Unlike me he was mechanically minded, & a[sic] after leaving school, was training to be an Engineer. I often wonder if he wanted to follow me into the Air Force, because I think the job he was doing might have exempted him from joining up. We shall never know. He was buried in Kettering Cemetery, with the local Air Training Corps (of which he had been a member) in attendance. Peter’s crew were all Canadians & are buried near to RAF Kirmington. So very very sad. My parents were devastated, & it was something my father particularly never recovered from. To try to give them some comfort, I was able to get a compassionate posting to RAF Desborough, like Westcott an Operational Training Unit, & served there for about 6 months, although I was sent to a Air Bombers’ instruction Course at RAF Manby in Lincolnshire for three weeks early in 1945, & graduated from their[sic] as a fully fledged
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instructor. I stayed at Desborough for a few weeks, not much to do, but it was nice living with my parents, & biking or going by bus, to the base. In May the war against Germany had been won, & there were great celebrations, & we wondered what would happen next. I was soon to find out, aircrew were supposed to fly two tours of duty, the second after a 6 month rest period, so I was not surprised when I was included in a crew made up of instructors who like me were eligible to fly operationally. I do not remember much about my fellow crew members the pilot was from Edinburgh – a Flight Lieutenant Christie DFC, & that’s about all. We were posted to RAF Luffenham, near Stamford, arriving there in mid-June. The war in Europe was finished, but Japan was still fighting, so I & countless other aircrew were being retrained & refreshed for service in the Far East. The course lasted a month & after just 36 hours flying training we were judged to have passed, & then sent home on leave to await a posting to the Pacific war zone. Again fate was to take a hand, when early in August, the Americans unleashed two atom bombs on cities in Japan, catastrophic damage they to[sic] surrendered. My second tour would not happen, & my “career” in aircrew was over. Two days later I was sent to a unit near to Gainsborough, for re-mustering to a ground trade, for the rest of time. I was not alone many more ex-aircrew where[sic] there, but no one I knew. During my week there I was interviewed & given lists of various Ground staff vacancies, nothing really interested me, but having to make a decision, I opted for a RAF postal course, preferably near to home. I was given 7 days leave, after which I was posted to an Aircrew Holding Unit, near to Elgin, in Scotland, this was in fact a RAF Coastal Command Station, & no one knew why I, a Bomber Command person was there, & after 2 weeks doing nothing, I was sent to Haverfordwest in, over 400 miles from Elgin, in the South west of Wales. The date was 22nd September 1945, & by then Pauline & I had set the date of our wedding for October 6th, so after just a week in Wales, I was on my way back home for the big day. Despite the war, with food rationing etc we had a lovely wedding, the service was at Fuller Baptist Church, followed by a reception at a Traders Union hall in Club Street. I think there were about 60 people there. Pauline’s father had plenty of contacts, & despite all the shortages & rationing managed to provide lots of food & refreshment. Pauline had resigned as a nurse at Kettering General Hospital, when her mother was seriously ill 2 months previously. We left the reception in the early evening, spent the first night in London, & on to Bournemouth for a week, & we recall how unseasonably warm & sunny that second week was, we had a lovely time. Alas by the 18th I was on my travels again, this time to RAF Kirkham, Preston for my course to convert to a Postal Officer. It was a short & intensive course & I qualified early in November. During my service to date I had acquired the rank of Warrant Officer & although now a postal Officer I still retained that rate of pay. Like most wartime servicemen, with the war over I was thinking only of demobilisation – the Government had worked out a scheme for the constructive release of personnel & I learned that I would have to serve for nearly another year. When I agreed to train as a Postal Officer, I was asked where I would prefer to serve, & I specified either RAF Desborough or RAF Luffenham, & wasn’t too pleased at Kirkham when I was informed that I was to be posted to India!!!. Accordingly I was given embarkation leave, & at the end of November sent to Blackpool, to await shipment. After 12 days I was one of a train load of airmen, many just raw recruits, who were despatched to Plymouth, where we embarked on to HMS Devonshire, a destroyer, converted to troop carrier – we were on our way to the Far East. On the 15th we set sail. It was quite pleasant, the ship was manned by the Royal Navy, there was a Warrant Officer’s mess for the RAF, & we had little to do on the 15 days journey. In the traditional Navy way, a daily rum ration was served to us, although this stopped in a few days when it was discovered that some of the younger RAF personnel, were selling their ration to the Sailors. I was very seasick as the ship ploughed through the Bay of Biscay, & as I laid on my bunk felt even worse, when the radio announced that the Sunday service was being broadcast from Fuller Baptist Church Kettering, where 2 months earlier Pauline & I were [inserted] married [/inserted]. Since 1939 all servicemen going to the Far East were transported round South Africa, but the Devonshire was sent through the Suez Canal, & what a thrill that was, as we stood on the deck to see he[sic] ship negotiate a water way that appeared to be only just wide enough. By this time the weather had become warm, & did not really change for my time in India. We arrived in Bombay on New Year’s Eve & all of the airmen were transported by road to a Reception Camp a few miles away, called BRD Worli. A few days later, I was
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posted the Base Post Office in Bombay, where for 3 months, I was in charge of sorting incoming mail for RAF personnel stationed in India. ^ then arranging despatch of post bags to the various destinations. It was not a very demanding duty, & I recall sitting around in the rest room, drinking countless cups of tea, or minerals, to quench my thirst in the hot & sticky conditions in the [missing word?] to await the sea, & well looked after the Indian staff. May/June I was transferred to the Base Post Office at Calcutta, where I was still overseeing the redirection of mail etc. The Office was a large detached house, on the outskirts of the city, & in which the twenty of us lived with our own mess. The food was supplied by the nearby American garrison, & was very good. To get to the canteen we often hired rickshaws, rather than walk a mile or so, & it was good fun chasing along the roads, urging our drivers to race each other. I also had to escort lorries to carry mail to or from the Calcutta Airport, I recall being issued with a revolver for this duty, but cannot remember being given any ammunition!!!! In June I received notice of my demobilisation & was sent back to RAF Worli to await shipment back home. It was not a long wait, & I was soon on my way to Bombay, where I boarded a troop carrier, the SS Georgic a pre-1939 vessel but it was a pleasant 14 days voyage, as we returned via Suez (which we navigated at night with the ship’s spot lights trained on the sides of the xcaal [canal] – quite a thrill) to Liverpool. I didn’t really want to go to India, but having spent a few months there, I am pleased I had that experience – there is a certain fascination with the country, which as a young man I enjoyed. From Liverpool we were sent to RAF Kirkham, near Preston for demobilisation. I suppose it was quite clinical when the following day an endless file of separating airmen a[sic] made their way into an old hangar, where we were given choice of civilian clothing, ration books, six weeks pay, & a travel warrant, & out we come – I don’t recall anyone in authority thanking us or wishing us well, we just went in one door as airmen & out the other side into vehicles to take us to the local Railway station. But it was all forgotten a few hours later, I caught a train to Northampton, & hitch hiked to Kettering – my war service was over.
Pauline’s parents had provided rooms for us in their house in Charles Street, & for the next few weeks, it was a period of adjustment, gone was the routine of the RAF, after nearly 5 years, it was a new experience for me, but together Pauline & I got used to it. I had received 6 weeks termination pay from the RAF, so took advantage of that before returning to my former employment at Stewarts & Lloyds on the 26th August 1946, just 3 weeks before my 23rd birthday. After serving in some 40 different locations in the RAF it took a long time to settle in to work, not helped when received my first pay advice from S. & L. which equated at the princely sum of three pounds seventeen shillings (£3.75) per week – my Air Force pay was equivalent to approximately £11 per week plus my food. I was shocked & on querying this, I was told that under the rules of the Company, until I reached my 25th birthday, I was on the “junior scale”, but as my birthday was in September I would get a birthday rise. I did get an increase of just six shillings & three pence a week.
December 2010.
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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
Walter Morris - 1939/45 War Record
Description
An account of the resource
A memoir covering Walter Morris’ early life before moving into his service in the Air Training Corps from 1941 and his entry into the Royal Air Force in February 1942 (as the first Air Training Corps Cadet from Kettering to be called up). The account continues through his service in the Royal Air Force, which started with his cohort being sent to RCAF Bowden in Alberta, Canada (via RCAF Moncton) aboard the “SS Queen Mary” for training. Following the completion of his training, the account continues with an overview of his service in the Royal Air Force in which he was a Flight Engineer on 34 combat operations, after which Walter transferred to an instructor’s position (which he retained rather than return to combat following the death of his brother in an aircraft crash). Following the end of the war he got married in October before being posted to Bombay and later Calcutta as a member of the Royal Air Force’s post office. He was demobilised in June 1946 and returned to England where he returned to his pre-war position at Stewarts and Lloyds.)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
W Morris
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight page printed document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BMorrisWMorrisWv1
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Northamptonshire
England--Kettering
England--Cambridgeshire
England--London
England--Manchester
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
United States
Massachusetts--Boston
Canada
New Brunswick--Moncton
Alberta--Innisfail
Ontario--Trenton
Ontario--Picton
Ontario--Hamilton
Germany
Germany--Helgoland
France
France--Normandy
Germany--Wilhelmshaven
Massachusetts
Ontario
New Brunswick
Alberta
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1942-02-12
1943-03
1943-09
1944-06-05
1944-10-05
1944-08-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
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.
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
166 Squadron
630 Squadron
aircrew
Anson
Bolingbroke
bomb aimer
bomb struck
crash
crewing up
demobilisation
Distinguished Flying Cross
final resting place
flight engineer
killed in action
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
love and romance
military ethos
military living conditions
mine laying
Nissen hut
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF East Kirkby
RAF Kirkham
RAF Kirmington
RAF Manby
RAF North Luffenham
RAF Silverstone
RAF Swinderby
RAF Syerston
RAF Wittering
RCAF Bowden
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
V-1
V-weapon
Wellington
-
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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
Lord, Billy
W C J Lord
Description
An account of the resource
50 items. An oral history interview with Eunice Burley and Leonard Bennett, about Eunice Burley's uncle, Billy Lord (137385, Royal Air Force), an <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2010">album</a>, correspondence and photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 619 Squadron until he was killed 3 January 1944. <br /><br />Additional information on William Charles John is available via the <a href="https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/114242/">IBCC Losses Database.</a> <br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Eunice Burley and Len Bennett and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
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
2018-06-18
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Lord, WCJ
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mrs. L. R. Bennett,
2, Bennetts Ave,
Shirley,
Surrey.
[page break]
P.S. Italy will be out of the war by Xmas.
P/O LORD.
OFFICERS MESS.
RAF STAITION [sic] SWINDERBY
LINCOLN
8.7.43
Dear Sis,
I know this letter is terribly overdue, but I have been in a real flat spin just lately so I hope you will excuse me. Am enclosing the cheque for £3-0-0 as promised. Mum tells me you are going away on the 9th so dont [sic] suppose you will get it until you come back. Still better late than never & I know you are not really waiting for it.
Expect you have heard how I was recalled from leave, whilst on holiday at Torquay, aint it a bind, we were having such a grand time too, just discovered a place called Babbacombe Bay a really lovely spot, with hardly any
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
people about, and ideal for swimming then just as we find it, back I have to go.
Has Euny written to you yet, and told you about her new job - she is with Babs now and likes it much better, the hours are a lot shorter and she is really feeling fit.
The bonus was grand dont [sic] you think, certainly gives me a pull up O.K. Have you heard from Stan lately dear, I do hope so hope he’ll soon be back again too Boy oh boy will that be cause for celebration. You did tell me the name of the camp he was in, but I’ve forgotten it, can you let me have it again, next time you write
Will say cheerio for now hope you have a good holiday
lots of love
Billy xxx
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
Letter from Bill Lord to his Sister
Description
An account of the resource
He writes enclosing a cheque, explains he was on leave in Torquay but got recalled, he asks if Euny has written to her, he talks about the 'bonus' being 'grand', asks about Stan who is a prisoner of war and he hopes she has a good holiday.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bill Lord
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-08
Format
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Two handwritten sheets and an envelope
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ELordWCJBennettLR430708-0001, ELordWCJBennettLR430708-0002, ELordWCJBennettLR430708-0003
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Croydon
England--Torquay
England--Devon
England--Lincolnshire
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Steve Christian
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.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-08
aircrew
RAF Swinderby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1389/31245/ECorytonAOCRAFSkellingthorpe420913-0001.2.jpg
ac5be1b591e117b4831e5a8a138c0de5
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1389/31245/ECorytonAOCRAFSkellingthorpe420913-0002.2.jpg
3243de61eef09da585d3fbe37ea716ab
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
Connock, Mike
Michael Connock
M Connock
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
2015-02-24
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
Connock, M
Description
An account of the resource
Eight items. The collection concerns (Royal Air Force) and contains people who served with 50 and 61 Squadrons at RAF Skellingthorpe.
They include:
W Dixon
GR Williamson
BV Robinson
GA Walker
L Barber
HJ Whitwell
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Mike Connock and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
HEADQUARTERS,
No. 5 GROUP,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
St. VINCENTS,
GRANTHAM,
LINCS.
Sunday 13 Sept.
My dear Patch,
I have just seen the plot of the night bombing photographs on Düsseldorf, and 50 Squadron's record with four out of eight on the aiming point is really magnificent. I feel the C in C's remarks to you yesterday may well have had a very special thought for Oxby and the aircrews of 50 Squadrons.
Words of mine are entirely superfluous, but I hope you all realize that you with 50 Squadron are setting an entirely new standard of night bombing, which must in the end be copied by all, and in consequence
[page break]
will be cause of perhaps entirely altering the course of this war. If this occurs, as I suspect it will, to [indecipherable word] the whole country will owe its thanks.
You have set yourselves a very high standard to live up to, and there is no doubt in my mind you will exceed it. Some people used to regard the Bomber Force as a myth, but now thanks to 50 efforts it is becoming the very opposite, and the ground personnel must also share the credit.
The very best of luck to You, Oxby & 50 Squadron.
Yours ever
Alec Coryton.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Patch from Alec Coryton
Description
An account of the resource
A letter from Air Officer Commanding Alec Coryton to Patch. He compliments 50 Squadron on their bombing successes. He mentions Oxley who was the Commanding Officer of 50 squadron.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alec Coryton
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-09-13
Format
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One double sided handwritten sheet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ECorytonAOCRAFSkellingthorpe420913-0001, ECorytonAOCRAFSkellingthorpe420913-0002
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
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
Jan Waller
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-09-13
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
5 Group
50 Squadron
bombing
RAF Swinderby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1773/31219/PFOMetheringhamAF19030007.2.jpg
ed5c87359fb7e7ad69f577655141aefb
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
RAF Metheringham collection
Description
An account of the resource
131 items. The collection is from the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre and contains photographs of aircraft, aircrew, other RAF personnel and places. Includes some target and reconnaissance photographs. Many items are concerned with 106 Squadron at RAF Metheringham and RAF Syerston.
The collection has been licensed to the IBCC Digital Archive by the RAF Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2019-01-31
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
FOMetheringhamAF
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
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
Various RAF personnel
Description
An account of the resource
Top - six airmen, all wearing tunics with three squatting in front and three standing behind. The man middle rear wears a peaked cap and has half brevet. In the background part of a building. Submitted with description 'Duplicate of MAVCP:2019/M10/06. Group of six RAF personnel outside Commanding Officer/Adjutant Office, RAF Metheringham - date unknown. At centre of rear row is an aircrew officer - brevet illegible. Four of the others are LAC's, with three displaying good conduct stripes. The LAC on the right of the front row is a corporal. The fourth man's rank or trade cannot be identified. A duplicate photo (MAVC 37-14 Bottom) is annotated as follows. Back row, left to right: LAC Ciercy, F/Lt Martin, Cpl Bird. Front row left, LAC Needle. Other two airmen are not identified.'.
Bottom - two airmen, the one on the left wearing battledress with pilot's brevet, the man on the right wearing tunic with half brevet, both standing in front of a brick building with window left and door on right. Submitted with description 'Duplicate of MAVCP:2019/M08/25. W/Cdr R E Baxter and P/O Horobin (rear gunner) standing outside hut - March/April 1943. Horobin was part of W/Cdr R E Baxter's crew at RAF Swinderby for conversion to Lancaster and Halifax. He was a former page boy at Claridge's and was killed in action as part of S/Ldr Holroyd's crew, October 1943'.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFOMetheringhamAF19030007
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
air gunner
aircrew
Halifax
killed in action
Lancaster
pilot
RAF Metheringham
RAF Swinderby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1773/31176/PFOMetheringhamAF19010013.1.jpg
d7b9ec58c145f8d09633e346149c148a
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
RAF Metheringham collection
Description
An account of the resource
131 items. The collection is from the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre and contains photographs of aircraft, aircrew, other RAF personnel and places. Includes some target and reconnaissance photographs. Many items are concerned with 106 Squadron at RAF Metheringham and RAF Syerston.
The collection has been licensed to the IBCC Digital Archive by the RAF Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2019-01-31
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
FOMetheringhamAF
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
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
RAF personnel
Description
An account of the resource
Top right - two RAF officers one wearing battledress and the other a tunic standing in front of the wall of a building. Officer on the left is smoking a pipe and both have hands in pockets. In the background left a window and right a door. Captioned 'L to R W/Cdr Baxter, P/O Horobin, kia with S/L Howroyd Oct 1943, formerly Page Boy at Claridges'. Submitted with description 'W/Cdr R E Baxter and P/O Horobin (rear gunner) - RAF Swinderby March 1943. Horobin was part of W/Cdr R E Baxter's crew at RAF Swinderby for conversion to Lancaster and Halifax. He was a former page boy at Claridge's and was killed in action as part of S/Ldr Holroyd's crew, October 1943.'.
Middle left - six aircrew, three sitting and three standing behind, all wearing battledress. In the background a hut with window. Submitted with description 'Six airmen outside hut - W/Cdr R E Baxter's crew. Standing, left to right: Sgt Taylor, Sgt Coulton, Sgt Thursby. Seated: P/O Moore, Sgt Berry and P/O Horobin. RAF Swinderby 1943.
Bottom left - five aircrew, four standing and one sitting on the ground with two dogs. All are wearing tunic. In the background a building with windows. Captioned 'Left to right, 1. F/O Gray, 2 F/O (Timber) Wood, 3 /Lt Avis (Adj), 4 F/Lt (Dolly] Gray, front F/Lt Stone, outside mess at Skellingthorpe April 1943, 50 Sqdn'. Submitted with description 'Group of 50 Sqn officers outside officers' mess, Skellingthorpe, April 1943. Standing, left to right: F/O Gray, F/O ("Timber") Wood, F/Lt Avis (Adj), F/Lt (Dolly) Grey. Seated F/Lt Stone'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-03
1943-10
1943-04
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three b/w photographs mounted on an album page
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PFOMetheringhamAF19010013
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-10
1943-03
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is property of the Royal Air Force Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
50 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
animal
RAF Skellingthorpe
RAF Swinderby
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1108/31105/MSaintTJ1452007-180212-01.1.pdf
b29166bb88a459f1e1acc8d8b77c3a0f
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
Saint, Margaret
T J Saint
M Saint
Meg Saint
Description
An account of the resource
Three items. An oral history interview with Margaret Saint (b. 1922) as well as her husband Trevor's flying logbook and his diary/memoir. He flew as an air gunner with 514 Squadron in 1944.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Margaret Saint and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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
2018-02-12
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Saint, TJ-M
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
May 1941 5/6 T J S & Kev Palmer joined the RAF at READING Went separately to CARDINGTON FOR swearing in, attestation & tests
Sept 2 41 TRAIN TO PENARTH - COLLECTED UNIFORMS.
4 TRAIN TO BOURNEMOUTH BILLITED [sic] PRIVATE HOUSES Several weeks training - Sq bashing & having an enjoyable time TRAINS TO WENDOVER & RAF HALTON 2 WEEKS FATIGUES STARTING ARMOURER (GUNS) course.
Jan 1942 After course finished posted to HENLOW Kev Palmer to SWINDERBBURY [sic] WORKING ON GUNS & GUN TURRETS WORKING ON HURRICANES FROM CANADA
Spring 42 VOLUNTEERED FOR AIRCREW MEDICAL & TESTS at CARDINGTON
AUTUMN 42 POSTED TO LORDS CRICKET [inserted] GROUND [/inserted] - STAY IN VICEROY CT FOR A FEW WEEKS (THE TIME IN LONDON WAS FREE OF AIR RAIDS - 4 WEEKS LATER 2 RAIDS WITH [underlined] 100 LOST [/underlined]
NOV - DEC 42 POSTED TO ITW SCARBOROUGH YORKS 3-4 MONTHS COURSE. PASSED TO TRAIN AIR BOMBER
MARCH 43 POSTED TO HEATON PARK MANCHESTER TO PREPARE TO TRAIN IN CANADA. UNEXPECTEDLY POSTED TO CAMP AT LUDLOW. UNDER CANVASS & LABOUR DUTIES
JULY-AUG 43 VOLUNTEERED FOR TRANING [sic] AS AIR GUNNER
4 TRAINING AT MORPETH WING LITTLE HORWOOD CREWED UP TRAING [sic] STRADISHALL
FEB 44 514 SQUADRON
[page break]
514 Squadron RAF WATERBEACH
3 LFS 3 LANCASTER [deleted] FLYING [/deleted] [inserted] FINISHING [/inserted] SCHOOL HAVING FLOWN IN STIRLING AT 1657 CU (CONVERSION UNIT) STRADISHALL (SUFFOLK) LAST FLIGHT AT 3 LFS [deleted] 28 JAN 1944. [/deleted] 18 FEB 1944 FELTWELL PROBABLY HAVING 7 DAYS LEAVE
CREW GOING TO 514 SQDN WATERBEACH CAMBS
FLYING LANC [underlined] MARK I’s [/underlined] AT 3 LFS NOW FLYING [underlined] MARK II’s [/underlined] at WATERBEACH NEEDING CONVERSION COURSE to TRAIN IN MARK II’s RADIAL ENGINES TRAINIG [sic] FROM MARCH 4th TO 22nd MARCH
18 MARCH 1944 1st OP TO [underlined] FRANKFURT [/underlined] (22 TOTAL LOSS) NO LOSSES 514
22 MARCH 2nd OP TO [underlined] FRANKFURT [/underlined] (34 TOTAL LOSS) 2 LOST FROM 514 SQ F/L NICHOL 4 POW 2 EVS 1+ [symbol for dead) F/S UNDERWOOD 2 POW 5+ (The 2nd operation gave our crew a rough view of what lay ahead for us. The Captain Wishart had full [2 indecipherable words] as a 2nd jockey flying with experienced crew. We saw many aircraft on fire and falling. The target was lit by flares & searchlights
[page break]
The normal procedure with Bomber operations was to start with a [underlined] met [/underlined] [indecipherable word] wind speed Then the bomber aimer used drifts to give a air speed & send it back to HQ by wireless operators. The result at HQ was queried & sent back a different result because the wind speed too high. As a result most a/c went off course an [sic] bombed wrong places
[page break]
[underlined] 24th March [/underlined] We were briefed for [underlined] BERLIN [/underlined] There had been a big campaign to destroy Berlin over a number of raids in late 1943 & in the New Year. This was to be the last of the major raids. (TOTAL LOSS 73) 514 LOST F/O LAING 6 Crew lost 1 POW Routing over the BALTIC sea in order to approach from the North. Very powerful searchlights of blue light (as modern car headlights) caught several planes and within minutes we were one of next victims. The skipper heavily corkscrewed us to get clear of the lights - but had [underlined] *runaway props [/underlined] (*The propellers were variable pitch but went to fine pitch which stopped biting the air. The props on the other side pulled us round in a spiral) which put us into a diving corkscrew which we fell some 8 thousand feet. At the same time a high pitched sound - hellise [sic] HELLISH sound.- Due to the great skill of Wishart the props were fixed and saved us from certain death. Had to jettison our bombs & head 500 miles back to UK at some 8ooo feet dangerously low and vunerable [sic] I spotted a 2 engined aircraft & fired a burst of tracer.
The main force running into trouble with incarate [sic] INACCURATE wind speeds. Many bombed at wrong places *See end of [indecipherable word]
[page break]
The general idea was the Nurenburg, [sic] [insert] RAID [/inserted] would have got us away from the RUHR area. Crews thought it would be straight fowd [sic] Night fighters were waiting for us and also the wind speed was very high. Navigators were misled
Wishart and crew flew 2000ft higher than the main force. We were still very “GREEN” & inexperienced - but some how we avoided the real trouble.
On the way back we had to fly through a cold front - with bad icing we landed at Waterbeach with very little fuel.
The announcement on the BBC twelve o’clock news caused considerable worry. I telephoned as soon as possible & at least our family were relieved
[page break]
MAR 26 [underlined] ESSEN [/underlined] (TOTAL LOSS 9) 514 NO LOSSES
Mar 30 [underlined] NURENBURG [sic] [/underlined]
The heaviest CASUALTIES OF THE WAR [underlined] 96 LOST [/underlined] A WHOLE BOOK WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT 514 LOSSES P/O CROMBIE 5 Lost 2 POW - W/O McGowan FORCE LANDED 2 BALED OUT NO INJURIES - F/O HOOD 6 POW 1 LOST + - F/S GREGORY 6 LOST + 1 POW - F/O HUGHES 6 LOST + 1 POW
Rear Gunner & I were in the same room as GREGORY & CREW They called us (Brassey & I) the horizontal air force always lying on our beds A FIRST REAL SADNESS OVER their loss
Service police took all their kit away (normal practice)
11 April 11 [underlined] AACHEN [/underlined] (AIX LA CHAREL) [sic] (TOTAL 9 LOSS) F/O THACKRAY 6 LOST 1 POW
26 April [underlined] ESSEN [/underlined] (TOTAL 7 LOSS) No Loss 514
[page break]
27 April [underlined] FRIERICKHAVON [sic] [/underlined] No Loss 514 (TOTAL 18 LOSS)
We were expecting to fly on to an (probably CORSICA) island in the med. after bombing we were ordered back to U.K. Rather disappointing. FREDRICHHAVEN [sic] was on LAKE CONSTANCE Switzerland was on the other side.
MAY 1st [underlined] CHAMBLY [/underlined] (TOTAL) 5 LOSS) F/Lt CURTIS ALL LOST
MAY 7 [underlined] NANTES [/underlined] (TOTAL 1 LOSS) NO LOSS 514
May 9 [underlined] CAP GRIS NEL [sic] (NO LOSS
Cap Gris Nel [sic] was a short trip just across channel to attack large guns
MAY 19 LE MANS (TOTAL 3 LOSS) F/S SHEARING 4 LOST 1 INJ 1 BALED OUT F/L GRAY HIT BY FLAK CRASH LANDED GRAVELEY ALL SAFE
MASTER BOMBER & HIS DEPUTY COLLIDED THE MASTER BOMBER DIRECTED to main force over [inserted] the [/inserted] AIR on many OCCASSIONS [sic] SOMETIMES THEY USED VERY RIPE LANGUAGE
The Master bombers were very VUNERABLE [sic] & could be picked by night FIGHTERS
[page break]
21 MAY [underlined] DUISBURG [/underlined] (Total 29 lost) [underlined] SGT GIBSON ALL LOST UNABLE TO LAND WITH BOMB LOAD CRASHED IN SEA. P/O WINDSOR ALL LOST. F/S MEDLAND DFM 3 LOST+ 2 EVADED 1 POW.
A few crew members escaped made their way back to UK
22 May [underlined] DORTMUND [/underlined] No Losses 514
SEVERE ICING - CAUSED SEVERAL AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO CLIMB. (including us)
The Wing Commander & crew had an 8000lb bomb which could not be dropped only at a certain height. Most of the crew had to bail out before the bomb could be dropped in the N. Sea. 1 Aircrew died. (Total (29 LOST)
[page break]
27 May AACHEN (Total 12 lost) F/L TAYLOR All Lost
[underlined] ANGERS [/underlined]
28 May A low level flight below 100’ all the way to the Bay of Biscay. Passed over Marlow (probably Whit Sunday 1944 (Total 1 LOST)
A beautiful afternoon hopping over the land to keep at low level to avoid RADAR. We were given lemons instead of oranges. A lot of our flying was very enjoyable - we were not always waiting for trouble
31 May TRAPPES (Total 4 LOST) No 514 losses
10 June DREUX (Total 18 Lost)
A number of raids were to bomb railway yards & sites for firing flying bombs (We were thus unknown of the buzzbombs)
11 June NANTES (Total 4 Lost No 514 loses
14 June LE HARVE (Total 1 Lost) No 514 losses
[page break]
15 June [underlined] VALENCIENNES [/underlined] Total 5 Lost F/S PROWLES 5 LOST 1 EVA
21 June DAMOLEGER [sic] (daylight) (No Losses)
Our Squadron had to practice daylight flying (not as the Americans in formation but untidy groups. Talk about dangerous flying! We flew on gagles [sic] as some geese do!
23 June I’HEY (5 Lost) No Loss 514
30 June VILLERS BOCAGE
Daylight raid HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL on 2nd & 9th Panzer divisions Field Marshall Montgomery asked for the raid (Total 2 Lost) F/O WOODS 7 LOST FO HANESSON 5 LOST 2 INJ
The aircraft from 3 Group (us) were flying at a certain height and accurate time. The other group were due to fly higher and a little later. We were late & they were early. I noticed sticks of bombs coming down (in daylight). One of our LANCS was hit by a bomb. We saw one of the crew ran across at Waterbeach (obviously caught napping) and just got on board - the one hit by a bomb
July 2 BEAUVIS No LOSSES No LOSS 514
[page break]
[underlined] VAIRES [/underlined]
7 July (FLYING BOMB SITES) Pepered by flak. Lots of holes in a/c 1 piece thru’ navigators table [underlined] No Losses [/underlined]
10 July [underlined] NUCOURT [/underlined] Daylight attack flying bomb sites [underlined] No Losses [/underlined]
12 July [underlined] VAIRES flying bomb sites
23 July [underlined] KIEL [/underlined] 4 LOSSES
25 July [underlined] STUTTGART [/underlined] 21 LOSSES F/O MIDDLETON ALL LOST
The last operation. It had a large variety of experiences. The Mark1 LANCS could [inserted] not [/inserted] so had [deleted] dropped [/deleted] to drop a couple of bombs to get height. The air temp was [deleted] height [/deleted] HIGH. Saw many combats flames & tracer fire. On way back saw a number V1s en route to London. Lower & faster than us. the skipper was [indecipherable word] over [indecipherable word] cumulus for fun [boxed] TOTAL LOSSES ON THE SAME AS US - [underlined] 397 [/underlined] [/boxed]
[page break]
On the 26th July 1944 our crew Wishart and six airmen completed a tour of 29 operations. I think we went out at about 1130 AM back to the aircraft and thanked the ground crew. The NAAFI van had just arrived and custard tarts were on sale - custard tarts were a prominent land mark in my 22 years
To say the least this day I have never dreamed that I would survive to see the 29th op. During the tour 21 aircraft crashed & crews from 514 Squadron were either killed injured or made prisoner. Some of the targets were very long & dangerous a few of latter ones were shorter; but everyone was vunerable. [sic]
The skipper NORRIE WISHART once said you’d have to have 50% luck & 50% ability. I thought out crew were reasonable chaps and was very lucky to be one of them. The rear gunner Fairbrass was a slightly older man with wife and child in digs in Cambridge. He was pure Tottenham and had a North East London accent.
[page break]
We sometimes went out together to Cambridge & Bury St Edmunds when at our unit. Fish & chips and cinema. I don’t [inserted] think [/inserted] we drank too much beer but Brassie felt ill when we travelled in a RAF transport bumpy & hot on one occasion. Early in 1944 when we where on Stirlings going out to town was very cold. Having been issued with white silk gloves - ideal for air gunners - but not for eating chips. The result was silk became stiff like boards and didn’t [indecipherable word] it to [indecipherable word] freezing operations
The crew - Wishart (pilot) (Awarded THE D.F.C.) D GRAY (Navigator) [indecipherable name] (air bomber) Cartwright (flight engineer) TURNER (wireless operator) Fairbrass (rear gunner) T Saint (mid upper gunner)
I remember them as highly qualivied [sic] men. They all had to be good at their jobs. I cannot remember the navigator lost - which was one of the most vital aspexs [sic] of the aircrews. The flight engineer
[page break]
had to look after engines and keep tabs on the petrol consumption. The bomb aimer was in the plane to work with the pilot and drop his bombs accurately - which was the sum total of us doing the operation. Wireless Ops was there to listen in helping the navigators & guiding us by mapping the route by beacons.
The two gunners were not there to attack [deleted] aircraft [/deleted] [inserted] BANDITS but to watch endlessly for [deleted] combats [/deleted] [inserted] NIGHT FIGHTERS [/inserted] (tough planes) the gunners telling the pilot to bank port & starboard to try and look beneath the plane.
Just before New Year 1944 Fairbrass & I were sent on a weeks course on Newmarket race tracks, or near the tracks where an airdrome was on flat ground. Most of the flights were on Wellingtons & cooperating with a fighter (either a Hurricane or Martinet We were “attacked” by these fighters each having cine cameras. All the attacks were from above (diving down to attack us). Later on when we were operating over enemy territory - we were going to be attacked from below. the fighter had a gun upward fighering [sic] - trying to shoot our petrol tanks
[page break]
During the 5 months from Feb to July 1944 life on 514 SQUADRON was fancy free compared with previous RAF stations. Most of the discipline was in the aircraft and crew. Operations took place on various days & nights but otherwise there [deleted] was [/deleted] [inserted] were [/inserted] hold ups as on flying [deleted] during [/deleted] due to fog & full moon.
On an operation day work was very active. BESIDE bombing up & briefings & air tests filled up the days and ready for take off usually late evening.
On other days crews were “stood down” at 2 PM which allowed us to go to Cambridge & wherever.
On several occasions I got on to the Ely road outside the camp and hitch-hiked to Marlow. In spite of less traffic on the roads there were lorries & business cars ready to pick up service people. The best way was to go to Royston & A1 to HATFIELD & then Rickmansworth & Denham
[page break]
I usually got to Marlow by 5.30 contacted my parents & Meg. The next morning was slightly more ‘dicey’. 7.18 train to London - Algate [sic] (met) Leytonstone Epping Forest etc. Looking back I must have had a fair bit of nerve to be back before lunch and not be missed.
The war went on seven days a week but in order to have leave (which was needed to get away from flying) six days were made available every six weeks. The leave list for crews was going to be altered because of the losses. The more ops you survived the crews had to fill up the gaps. It was sad when you found you had to fill up the gaps because so many crews were missing and the more senior you were you had more leave.
On one of the leaves D Day took [inserted] June 6 1944 [/inserted] place (June 6th). All leave was cancelled except Navy & aircrew. Meg & I cycled to a pub above Pleasant Hill & watched gliders & tug planes - going South. Felt very guilty.
[page break]
At the end of our tour we had probably two weeks leave and in Summer weather had picnics by the river and heard gunfire from the continent.
We went to another camp for a few days and more leave & then Fairbrass & I were posted to a place called Brada near Inverness. We travelled on the Aberdonian express (only allowed to go at less than 60 miles an hour. It was quite a respite and a long way from the war.
The idea was to interview the air gunners (all ex operational) to find future jobs for us. During our tour of ops the invasion of France hopefully leading to the end of the war. In my case I had been an armourer and it was possible to make me revert back to [inserted] my [/inserted] trade. There were jobs for gunners to be target towers & armament instructors. This was what would be my [indecipherable word] 1st choice after further training.
[page break]
The time at Brada was helping hay making and Brassie & I visited Loch Ness. The Farmer invited me to Sunday tea - the largest meal I had since 1939.
Hanging over our heads was the possibility of going out East to fight the Japs - a dreadful thought. After Brada we seemed to have infedinite [sic] leave - with no station to go to.
When I had volunteered to be an air gunner - the Wing Commander said we could carry on later to train as Air Bomber after we’d completed our tour. They kept there [sic] wire and sent a telegram to offer training for Air Bomber. I declined as by this time I was a bit of a veteran & sargeants [sic] stripes and the telegram offering me an armament job at Belfast University. I declined this one and within a short time I was to be posted to WEST FREUGH - Stranraer on the Mull of Galway Just across the water from Ireland
[page break]
Another long rail journey to CARLISLE. Caught a train very early AM to travel on a single line through very rugged country. Just before Stranraer a huge port which had been built for the invasion - Cairn Ryan. Apparently one of the huge landing floats were built there and towed down to NORMANDY. West Freugh was a brick built station & reasonably comfortable. Most of the chaps were ex ops like myself. Aircrew came back from Canada and needed extra tuition. I was supposed to be an instructor but they expected me to go on an air armament course.
Just after Christmas 1944 I was sent on a course to Many (Lincs) Manby was quite near the North Sea and was billody [sic] cold. January ’45 had snow & ice. I had lots of classes and talks on training to lecture in the air on Wellington.
[page break]
Another Christmas in the war 1944 Next door to our hut (full of ex aircrew) were WAAFs & On the 25th it was too good a chance to make a visitation to our next door neighbours, Which we did. Most of there girls were in bed - it was very respectable in fact one chap became engaged to one of them
We heard later that a RAF Station in Ireland (IRELAND) where a similar thing happened - the C.O. came down heavily on some of the chaps.
On another occasion a party of WAAFs from the cookhouse - sitting reading on the bed - tipped me out on the floor - very good fun
[page break]
Meg & I [deleted] went [/deleted] [inserted] met [/inserted] in LONDON on a Saturday. Very cold damp & overcast ROCKETS were falling at intervals No good worrying about them as there was no warning unlike the bombing raids. The war in Europe was held up by severe ice & snow
At the end of the armament course I called in at Marlow for a couple of days & heard of the death of Gus Howard. Gus was Captain of a Lanc & having been on a diversary [sic] trip but was shot down as he came in to land.
I went back to West Freugh with a heavy heart
In early Spring 1945 I was then a teacher instrutor [sic] & lectures courses such as bomb aimer, one day I walked into a lecture where sitting in the front was Sgt [missing name] ex [indecipherable word] school - senior to me. A great pleasure & big joke.
Weather was beautiful in the Mull of Galloway & cycling was easy
[page break]
Suddenly the war in Europe was ending & aircrew were going to be an embarrassment. A lot of us were posted ‘en mass’ to PWLLHELI where was little to do and short of space. Thus people went home on weeks of leave.
On one of the leaves from Scotland Megs & I wanted to plan a holiday, but my mother wasn’t to approve so had to tell our parents we wanted to marry in July.
Owing to the uncertainty of the posters we might have had a problem, but it all worked out.
We were married of July 14 1945 at Brimsfield [sic] Church by the Rev de Lacie Wain. Everyone helped in the village for the reception & a car down to Gloucester Station. We arrived in Dunster & spent a week with a lady in digs. Coming back to Birdlip there was a telegram giving me another 7 days leave.
[page break]
I was back & forth [indecipherable word] to Wales until there was a posting to TERNHILL (another brick built camp.
I was by this time a Warrant Officer & was allocated a room for two in the mess. On the second day I was at Ternhill an airmen ( a W.O.) who had a big wangle going on. He spent the week between Ternhill & London taking back eggs etc from farms. He suggested I went with him and I asked the farmers wife if I could bring my wife down for a weekend. Megs made an instant friendship with the wife and stayed at Longford nearly a year.
Soon afterwards I was allowed to live ‘out of camp’ and having Meg with me in a bed sit in the old farm house. The farm at Longford was down a long lane a mile from the camp. Mr & Mrs Masters farms have outside loo with a two hole seat & tin bath and tap in the dairy.
[page break]
We had lovely big fires and had great comfort for newly weds. We had a double bed upstairs with chamber pot & wash stand. I had very little to do at the camp - an occasional lecture. Megs got a job at Jones Motors as a typist at Market Drayton.
I [deleted] was [/deleted] [inserted] went [/inserted] to 2 courses from Ternhill one to Sutton on Hill for aircraft recognition and another to Brize Norton for a lecture course. All things don’t last forever so a lot of aircrew and officers had to move to the nether end of Lincolnshire to HIBALSTOWE.[sic] There was little or nothing to do at this place. Most of us were planning how to get back to Market Drayton.
We went to Scunthorpe to a tawdry club but I was able to see the Steel Works after dark with flames & sparks from blast furnaces.
Some of the chap were sitting [indecipherable word] certifate [sic] exam. Many aircrew had lower demob numbers so demob was within site [sic]. I frequently went back to Longford by train & hitch hiking. One [indecipherable word] time ready for Easter 1946
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
Trevor Saint diary/memoir
Description
An account of the resource
Diary from joining the RAF in may 1941, through training as groundcrew and then volunteered for aircrew and eventually trained as air gunner and posting to 514 Squadron. Describes operations while on the squadron and notes details and losses. Provides occasional thoughts on operations and produces various anecdotes. Mentions completing tour of 29 operations on 26 July 1944 and includes his thought about his crews survival, lists crew names and writes about operations and activities after his tour was complete. Continues with account of Christmas 1944 and other activities in 1944-45. Mentions visiting London and rockets falling at intervals and about the death of an acquaintance. Concludes with activities towards the end of the war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
T Saint
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Sixteen page handwritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MSaintTJ1452007-180212-01
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Berkshire
England--Bedfordshire
England--Reading
England--Dorset
England--Bournemouth
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
England--London
England--Yorkshire
England--Scarborough
England--Manchester
England--Shropshire
England--Ludlow
England--Suffolk
England--Northumberland
England--Morpeth
Scotland--Dumfries and Galloway
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Essen
Germany--Aachen
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Dortmund
France
France--Angers
France--Paris
France--Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
France--Dreux
France--Nantes
France--Le Havre
Atlantic Ocean--English Channel
France--Valenciennes
France--Villers-Bocage (Calvados)
France--Beauvais
France--Vaires-sur-Marne
France--Nucourt
Germany--Kiel
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany--Stuttgart
Germany--Nuremberg
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
England--Hampshire
England--Lancashire
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05
1941-09-02
1942-01
1942
1942-10
1942-11
1943-03
1943-07
1943-08
1944-02
1944-02-18
1944-03-18
1944-03-22
1944-03-24
1944-03-20
1944-04-11
1944-04-26
1944-05-21
1944-05-22
1944-05-21
1944-05-26
1944-05-31
1944-06-10
1944-06-11
1944-06-14
1944-06-15
1944-06-21
1944-06-25
1944-06-30
1944-07-02
1944-07-03
1944-07-10
1944-07-12
1944-07-23
1944-07-25
1944-07-26
1944-03-30
1944-03-31
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Robin Christian
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
514 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bombing of Nuremberg (30 / 31 March 1944)
bombing of the Le Havre E-boat pens (14/15 June 1944)
ground crew
ground personnel
Hurricane
Initial Training Wing
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
Lancaster Mk 1
Lancaster Mk 2
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
RAF Brackla
RAF Cardington
RAF Feltwell
RAF Halton
RAF Henlow
RAF Stradishall
RAF Swinderby
RAF Ternhill
RAF Waterbeach
RAF West Freugh
Stirling
tactical support for Normandy troops
training
V-2
V-weapon
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force