Michael Jeffries]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Heather Hughes]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany--Böhlen]]> Germany--Nordhausen (Thuringia)]]> Germany--Lutzendorf]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Gill Kavanagh]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated T Holmes]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> France--Mimoyecques]]> France--Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)]]> France--Saumur]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> France--Watten]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Sue Johnstone]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Richard James]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Rutland]]> 1940]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Mike Connock]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Log book and record book]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Czech Republic]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> Netherlands]]> Norway]]> Poland]]> Scotland]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> Czech Republic--Plzeň]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Rutland]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bielefeld]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Ladbergen]]> Germany--Wuppertal]]> Italy--La Spezia]]> Italy--Turin]]> Netherlands--Ijmuiden]]> Netherlands--Rotterdam]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Urft Dam]]> Atlantic Ocean--Oslofjorden]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1943-04-04]]> 1943-04-05]]> 1943-04-10]]> 1943-04-11]]> 1943-04-13]]> 1943-04-14]]> 1943-04-16]]> 1943-04-17]]> 1943-04-18]]> 1943-04-19]]> 1943-04-20]]> 1943-04-21]]> 1943-05-12]]> 1943-05-13]]> 1943-05-14]]> 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]]> 1943-06-24]]> 1943-06-25]]> 1943-06-26]]> 1943-06-28]]> 1943-06-29]]> 1943-07-03]]> 1943-07-04]]> 1943-07-08]]> 1943-07-09]]> 1943-07-12]]> 1943-07-13]]> 1943-07-24]]> 1943-07-25]]> 1943-07-26]]> 1943-07-27]]> 1943-07-28]]> 1943-07-29]]> 1943-07-30]]> 1943-08-23]]> 1943-08-24]]> 1944-10-29]]> 1944-11-12]]> 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]]> 1945-02-03]]> 1945-02-06]]> 1945-02-08]]> 1945-02-14]]> 1945-02-22]]> 1945-02-24]]> 1945-03-13]]> 1945-03-14]]> 1945-05-12]]> 1945-06-25]]> 1945-07-09]]> 1945-08-07]]> 1945-08-11]]> 1945-08-20]]> 1945-08-22]]>
Top left - a note 'got to here'. Top right - an aerial oblique view of a city-scape with some large buildings and some damage visible. Captioned 'Essen' on the reverse 'Essen'.

Middle - an aerial oblique view of a town with open farmland beyond. Bottom right an aircraft propeller. Captioned 'Aachen'. On the reverse 'Aachen'.

Bottom - an aerial oblique view of a city with a large church centre left and large buildings in the centre. Captioned 'Antwerp'.

Right page title 'A&AEE Boscombe Down'.

Top left - head and shoulders view of two aircrew wearing battledress and side caps. Stephen Dawson is on the left. In the background part of an aircraft. Captioned 'E/O Paddy Riley'. Top right - head and shoulders view of two aircrew, one wearing battledress and the other a flying jacket. Stephen Dawson is on the right. In the background two men and part of an aircraft. Captioned 'Cliff Whatmore (bomb aimer)'. On the reverse a sketch map of location of the Savoy Hotel.

Centre - full length view of four aircrew in battledress or flying suits, all wearing side caps standing in front of an aircraft. Captioned 'Before dropping the first live "Tallboy large" - 22000 lbs'.

Bottom left - two aircrew viewed through the side cockpit window of a Lancaster. Below the cockpit a row of bomb symbols. Captioned 'Pilot Shaw, engineer Barrowman'. Bottom right - head and shoulders image of Stephen Dawson in shirt and tie. Captioned 'I.F.F. Photo for forged identity card for escape purposes'.
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IBCC Digital Archive]]> Geolocated]]> Photograph]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Aachen]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> Great Britain]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Salisbury]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1945-03]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Caen]]> 1944-06-12]]>
A target photograph of the Tirpitz. Some detail is obscured by anti-aircraft fire. There is a cloud or a smoke screen close to but not obscuring the battleship. Captioned '1977 W.S.12.11.44 //8 13500 330° 0842 TIRPITZ. B1 1HC 12000 DT. C 31 SECS. F/L KNIGHTS. 0.617.'
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IBCC Digital Archive]]> Geolocated]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Kriegsmarine]]> Germany]]> Norway]]> Germany--Munich]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> 1944-04-24]]> 1944-04-25]]> 1944-11-12]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> France]]> Norway]]> Russia (Federation)]]> ]]> Long Eaton Advertiser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Matlock]]> England--Derbyshire]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Norway]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Coventry]]> France--Brest]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Warwickshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1945]]> Adam Sutch]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Katie Gilbert]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Wales--Swansea]]> 1943-02]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> The first of his eleven operations was to the Ruhr valley which was uneventful, unlike the one to Helgoland where the aircraft in front of them exploded and they flew through the debris virtually unscathed. On another op, Ben had a grandstand view of the release of a Tallboy bomb and its devastating effect.
At the end of the war Ben retrained as a marine fitter and spent a year in Singapore before being demobbed. After a year as a photographer, he spent time in the camera workshop repairing commercial cameras and became a qualified photographer. Moving to a commercial photographic firm and then Saunders Roe, he specialised in air to air photography, including the SR53 experimental aircraft and Concorde and still retains his interest by visiting air displays.
Ben has had exchange visits with his Canadian former crew and feels, like most bomber command veterans, that they were treated shabbily.
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Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Chris Johnson]]> Terry Holmes]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Glamorgan]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Singapore]]> 1944]]>
Ken went to RAF Shawbury, flying Oxfords. He was posted to RAF Lindholme on Wellingtons where he crewed up. He was posted for a very short time on Halifaxes, followed by a Conversion Unit onto Lancasters. He then went to RAF Elsham Wolds and 576 Squadron. From flight sergeant, he quickly became pilot officer.
Ken shares some good advice he received from a fellow pilot and describes some of his operations. Ken was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses. His first operation was to the Bielefeld viaduct and the last was to Berchtesgaden.
Ken flew three different Lancasters for 617 Squadron and they were the only heavy bomber crew to carry out over 100 operations. During his time at RAF Woodhall Spa, he fostered a good relationship with a local farmer.
When the war ended, he went to RAF Waddington and flew back army personnel from Italy.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Canada]]> Québec]]> Queensland]]> Saskatchewan]]> Québec--Mont-Joli]]> Alberta--Innisfail]]> Saskatchewan--Swift Current]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Germany--Bielefeld]]> Italy]]> 1945]]>
After the war, he got a job at the gravel pits as a crane driver. He completed part of his National Service in Berlin during 1954 and was based in the Spandau Jail where Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer were held. He describes the damage to Berlin caused by the Russians and allied bombing. Colin also recalls visits he made to Belsen, the Bielefeld viaduct, and the Berlin Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. ]]> Mike Connock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1953]]> B Goodman]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ashley Jacobs]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Peterborough]]> England--Berkshire]]> England--Woodley (Wokingham)]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Kingston]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> United States]]> New York (State)--New York]]> Germany]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> France--Brest]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)--Arkhangelʹskai︠a︡ oblastʹ]]> France]]> New York (State)]]> Ontario]]> Nova Scotia]]> Russia (Federation)]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Pam Locker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Wales]]> India]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Norway]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Norway--Tromsø]]> Scotland--Moray]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Norway--Narvik]]> 1944-11-12]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Tilly Foster]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1945]]> A.O.C. No 5 Group]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ashley Jacobs]]> David Bloomfield]]> Georgie Donaldson]]> Royalty-free permission to publish]]> Cheshire, Leonard. Bombing of the Samur tunnel (8/9 June 1944)]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Saumur]]> 1944-06-08]]> 1944-06-09]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ashley Jacobs]]> David Bloomfield]]> Georgie Donaldson]]> Royalty-free permission to publish]]> Cheshire, Leonard. Bombing of the Samur tunnel (8/9 June 1944)]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Saumur]]> 1944-06-08]]> 1944-06-09]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ashley Jacobs]]> David Bloomfield]]> Georgie Donaldson]]> Royalty-free permission to publish]]> Cheshire, Leonard. Bombing of the Samur tunnel (8/9 June 1944)]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Saumur]]> 1944-06-08]]> 1944-06-09]]>