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Interview with Harry Parkins. Two
Harry Parkins discusses his training, his operations and life on an operational station. He discusses what it was like to be shot at, lucky charms and superstition, plus flying a Lancaster close to Lincoln Cathedral after the war.
Interview with Herbert Adams
Herbert Adams grew up in New South Wales Australia and joined the Air Training Corps as soon as it was established. He later joined the Royal Australian Air Force and after training, he completed a tour of operations as a navigator with 467 Squadron.…
Interview with Hugh Rogers
Hugh Rogers was a cameraman during the war and remembers filming the sinking of the Tirpitz in November 1944. Gives a vivid and detailed account of the operation, describing the briefing, the technical modifications to the aircraft and the unfolding…
Interview with Jack Perry
Jack Perry was orphaned at the age of six. He lived with family, a Children’s Home and various foster homes. He volunteered for the RAF as soon as he was old enough just before the outbreak of war. He trained as an electrician and was posted to RAF…
Interview with James Albert Dellow
James ‘Jim’ Albert Dellow had to register the start of the war he as he was 18 years old. On being asked which service he would prefer, he opted for the Royal Air Force as a pilot. Whilst waiting for his call up, he worked in an insurance office…
Interview with John Foster Thorp
John Thorp was born and raised in Manchester where he attended North Manchester Grammar School. At seventeen he joined the Home Guard. When he was eighteen he volunteered for the RAF with dreams of becoming a pilot. While waiting at Heaton Park to…
Interview with Johnny Johnson.Three
George ‘Johnny’ Johnson comments on Paul Brickhill's book and on the 1955 film of the same name, expressing disappointment that there was no mention of the Sorpe Dam. He voices contempt for the unscrupulous people who have made money by selling…
Interview with Ken Hayton
Ken Hayton’s father, George Stanley Hayton (Stan), worked worked for Lloyds Bank. In 1940 Stan left his post to join the Royal Air Force; Ken recalled going to Durham station to see his father off, travelling to start basic training at RAF Padgate.…
Interview with Kenneth Angus
Kenneth Angus lived in Hull, and was 12 when war was declared. He discusses life on a farm after being evacuated, the bombing of Hull and his brother Harry Angus, who was killed flying as a wireless operator / air gunner with 44 Squadron from RAF…
Interview with Leslie Grantham Lunn
Leslie Lunn joined the RAF and after his basic training did his flying training in America. In the UK he joined 129 Spitfire squadron after completing his training. The squadron later converted to Mustangs. His squadron covered the D-Day landings and…
Interview with Margaret Hourigan
Margaret Hourigan grew up in and around Nottingham. Despite holding Labour principles she volunteered for the WAAF’s as soon as War was declared and was called up in January 1940. She Hourigan served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force as a…
Interview with Maurice Barrick
Maurice Barrick had always wanted to serve in the Royal Air Force. Upon completion of training, he was posted to Bomber Command 467 Squadron at RAF Waddington. He did four operational flights and two trips flying British prisoners of war from…
Interview with Max Barry
Max was born in Beaufort Victoria and grew up on his parents’ dairy farm. Gaining a scholarship led him to become a student teacher and attend training college. He was called up when he was eighteen and applied to become a reserve in the air force…
Interview with Mike Chatterton
Mike Chatterton grew up on a farm. His father, John Chatterton was a Lancaster pilot during the war, before returning to university and becoming a lecturer, then later becoming a farmer. Mike joined the Royal Air Force from university in the 1970’s…
Interview with Neil Harris
Neil Harris wanted to join the RAF because he was looking for an exciting life experience and an opportunity for further education. He started as a flight mechanic before training as a pilot. Remembers being trained in different locations across the…
Interview with Norman George Smith
Norman George Smith grew up in Western Australia. After leaving school he became an assistant in a timber mill workshop before volunteering for the Australian Air Force at the age of eighteen. He flew operations as a pilot with 463 Squadron from…
Interview with Patricia Young
Patricia’s family lived in a 500 year old thatched cottage in Waddington. There was a bakery in the grounds, which had been started by her grandparents. Patricia’s father joined the Royal Flying Corp and one of her earliest memories was of him…
Interview with Pauline Alexander
During the war, Pauline's siblings Bernard, Guy, Robert and Peter served in the air force and army, her mother volunteered for the Red Cross, and her father volunteered as an air raid warden. Inspired by her brothers, Alexander joined Women’s…
Interview with Ron Baker
Ron Baker, originally from Willesden was in the ATC before joining the RAF and trained as a flight mechanic. He was posted to 463 Squadron at Waddington. On one occasion he had to help to remove the body of a gunner who had died during the flight. He…
Interview with Sidney Lawrence Davis
Laurie Davis trained as a wireless operator and first went to RAF Silverstone where crews were formed. Because of his bright red hair, he was then known as ‘Red’. The crew worked on Wellingtons for a few weeks and then Stirlings at RAF Syerston.…
Interview with Sylvia Trapp
Sylvia Trapp remembers serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the war. Describes her training in various stations and her duties as a wireless operator, service life and leisure time at Waddington, how she met her future husband, a…