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Report on crash of aircraft of 10 Squadron in Denmark on the night of 14th/15th February 1945, and subsequent escape of certain members of the crew to Sweden
A detailed report on the flight over Denmark, the explosion on the aircraft and evacuating the damaged aeroplane. The subsequent evasion to Sweden is also described.
Interview with Henry Moss
Henry grew up in Bradford and left school just before the outbreak of war. He had various jobs like working in the mill, a greengrocer’s shop, the dye works and then garment cutting for the army. At 17 and a half was called up in London where he…
Air drops in the La Spezia area
Major Gordon Lett reports to Colonnello Mario Fontana about air drops, including additional notes on operational procedures and an overall assessment of the military situation in the area.
Interview with Harrison Stanley Cammish
Harrison Cammish was born in Scarborough in 1923, and when he was fourteen, he became an apprentice carpenter and joiner, and when war broke out, he joined the Air Training Corps, and the Home Guard, who gave him a rifle and forty rounds of…
Interview with Thea Coleman
Thea Coleman was born in 1933 in Holland. She experienced the invasion of her country and the increasing restrictions. When walking once with her father they were forced to stand and wait while prisoners were brought out of prison and executed while…
Interview with Ron Dawson
Ron Dawson flew over 40 operations with 429 Squadron as air gunner. He joined the Air Training Corps at the age of sixteen. He trained on Ansons and Boulton Paul Defiants and remembers flying in the Whitley. He crewed up at Leicester airport. Tells…
Interview with Frank Dell
Frank Dell’s father was a member of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and so it was perhaps inevitable that Frank would share the fascination with aviation and a desire to fly. As a teenager Frank witnessed the aerial battles of the…
Interview with Johanna Heslam
Johanna Heslam was a young child when Holland was occupied. The family had to move on several occasions because their area was being used for military purposes. Johanna experienced increasing loss as shortages began of clothing and then food. Even…
Interview with Ernest Holmes
Ernest Holmes joined the RAF and served as a pilot, flying operations first with 76 Squadron and then on Pathfinders. Gives a vivid and detailed account of when he was shot down over Holland: how he was given shelter by a farmer’s family and moved…
Interview with William Holmes
William Holmes remembers his time as a pilot in the RAF. Gives a vivid and graphic account of the dramatic crash-landing which left him badly injured and brought him to join the Guinea Pig Club. Remembers various episodes of his operational life:…
Interview with James McKenzie Leith
James McKenzie Leith was a swimming instructor before he joined the RAF. He trained as a gunner and was posted to 429 Squadron at RAF Leeming. On their first operation their aeroplane was damaged and they attempted an emergency landing but this was…
Interview with Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson is the nephew of Fred Denzel James Thompson. Fred’s father was Churchill’s bodyguard. In 1936 Fred joined the Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigation Department and, following a meeting with Winston Churchill, volunteered as a…
Interview with Alfie Martin
Alfie Martin was born near Belfast in 1920. He applied for the Air Force but his mother was worried about the dangers and so he withdrew his application. He joined the army and when the RAF advertised for soldiers to transfer the RAF he volunteered.…
Interview with Betty May Pearson
Her brother-in-law William Mollison Walton, after training to be a pilot in Canada, was based at RAF Swinderby with 97 Squadron. In 1944 his aircraft was attacked and he baled out. He spent two days on a small island where he buried his parachute,…
Interview with Carolyn Pritchard
Carolyns father, Arthur, joined the Royal Air Force on his 18th birthday. Following his training as a flight engineer, was posted to RAF Winthorpe. He was allocated to a crew consisting entirely of Australians. In February 1944 the crew were posted…
H R Woodard's operations with 104 Squadron
Brief account of H R Woodard's operations with 104 Squadron from the first on 13 September 1944 until the last on 4 February 1945. Includes reference to misspelling of his surname and names of his regular aircrew. Final operation with LP 549 was to…
Interview with Katherine Thompson and Roy Briggs
Katherine Ellen Thompson remembers her time in Rotterdam during the war and particularly during Operation Manna. Mentions various episodes: food shortage, bartering linen and silver for food, members of the Dutch fascist party paraded through the…
Interview with Anthony Tompson
Anthony Tompson worked as an engineer for the Post Office before he volunteered for the Air Force. While training as a pilot in Canada it was discovered he had a difficulty with perception and he trained instead as a navigator. On return to the Great…
Interview with Kenneth William Trueman
Kenneth William Trueman volunteered for the RAF and was called up in 1941. After training in South Africa, he served as a navigator with 640 Squadron and speaks of his preference for the Gee navigation aid rather than H2S. His operations included…
Interview with Coby Van Riel
Coby Van Riel was a child of about six when the Germans invaded Holland. She lived in a fishing port area of The Hague where her father had a number of jobs to make ends meet in the difficult days before the war and her mother ran a chemist shop. She…
Letter from Gordon Lett to Mario Fontana
Letter to Colonnello Mario Fontana from Major Gordon Lett regarding the capture of Black Brigade Fascist militiamen in the La Spezia area. Includes additional notes on the use of gas, and a quarrel over which unit should use supplies recently dropped…
La Spezia area situation assessment
Notes to Major Gordon including a military situation assessment in La Spezia area, with notes on Brugnato, Riomaggiore, Monterosso, Pallerone e San Terenzo. Includes a most urgent request to bomb the Brugnato bridge, and information on improvised…
Report form Gordon Lett to Mario Fontana
Gordon Lett writes to Colonnello Mario Fontana detailing recent activities: air drops, the activities of radio operators, actions against the Germans, and Allied personnel being parachuted behind enemy lines.
Plan for the construction of an improvised landing strip
Major John Henderson outlines the plan for the construction of an improvised airstrip at Casoni, including the delivery schedule and manpower needed. On the same sheet is a reply by Mario Fontana stressing the impracticality of the enterprise.
Letter from Gordon Lett to Mario Fontana
Major Gordon Lett discusses his posting to another area as a consequence of serious problems experienced: lack of cooperation, rivalries, unfair sharing of air drops, plus a disagreement over the role of specific units.