Browse Items (351 total)

  • Tags: civil defence

BHollisANHollisANv1.pdf
Second page has colour photograph of Arthur Hollis, wearing blazer with medals, standing in a field at an event. Narrative covers early life in Hornchurch and Carshalton including schooling and hospital admissions. Writes of Dulwich College studies…

YPearceAT1874945v2.pdf
Contains addresses in London and one in Stalag XXB Germany. Entries for bithdays, maths, fire watching, dancing classes, holidays, fractured arm 15 September and hospital appointments September and October, fire guard.

YPearceAT1874945v3.pdf
Contains personal information, address and telephone numbers of acquaintances. Entries for registered for RAF 9 Jan 43, fireguard duty days, swimming, medical appointment, passed selection board for Air Gunner 26 MaR 43,Holiday dates, call up papers…

PCollerAS17010001.jpg
Three annotated items:

Item 1 : Photograph of air raid shelter with pets
caption 1 'Air Raid Shelter constructed by a firm called "Troy" in 1938. Left [undecipherable] It was 16' deep with a poisen [sic] gas free escape hatch…

PDiniA1701.jpg
Alberto Dini reminisces his wartime life in Trieste starting from the declaration of war until the end of the conflict. Describes life under the bombs, stressing disruption of utilities, devastated streets and chequered schooling history. Describes…

PBencinaA1601.jpg
Angelo Bencina recalls wartime memories in Monfalcone: a cave being modified as a shelter; the descent of bright red and white target indicators at night; a bomb which nearly missed him and didn’t explode; Window radio counter-measures being…

PBuvoliA1801.jpg
Alberto Buvoli recollects his wartime childhood in Udine, when he lived in the railway station area. Describes how furniture was moved to a safer place at the onset of the war and explains air raid precautions, such as leaving the windows open and…

PNicolisI1801.jpg
Inge Nicolis, the daughter of a Swedish engineer and an Italian woman, reminisces about her wartime experiences in Milan. She stresses the sense of having been thrown into a tragedy and the anguish of not being able to evacuate Milan on the grounds…

ATencaMontiniN180613.mp3
Nino Tenca Montini reminisces about his wartime experiences in Udine and in the Friuli region. Describes the family shelter as a concrete reinforced basement, sparsely furnished with wooden benches. Recalls the urge to escape the vigilance of adults…

AAn01688-180615.mp3
The informant describes two bombings he eye-witnessed in the Sesto San Giovanni and Niguarda area. During the first, he was in a basement adapted as underground shelter: he recollects women reciting the rosary and a queasy sensation in the stomach…

PToccacieliG1701.jpg
Guido Toccaceri remembers his wartime experiences as a schoolboy in Milan: the day war broke out, food shortages, his father working at an airfield near Bergamo, train strafing, basements used as makeshift shelters, being evacuated outside Milan with…

ABassettFG180517.mp3
Frank was brought up in Woolwich. He joined the RAF at the age of 18 and became an armourer. Frank describes the difficult physical work, loading and unloading bombs. He served 617 Squadron and loaded bouncing bombs, which were different. He…

PDunnG1501.BMP
George was born at Whitstable and was 17 when war was declared. He joined the local Defence Volunteers which became the Home Guard. When he reached 18 he volunteered for air crew. He was interviewed at Chatham and sat an exam and selection board to…

PWinterH1508.jpg
Harry Winter grew up in Cardiff and worked in a paper mill from the age of 14. He served in the Home Guard before he volunteered for the Air Force. After training as a wireless operator at RAF Yatesbury he flew operations over Germany, France, and…

PFilliputtiA16010079.jpg
Two men of the Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea are in the foreground running. One of them is pointing to the sky with his left arm, whilst the other soldier is holding on to his helmet with his right hand. The buildings around are engulfed in…

PFilliputtiA16010113.jpg
People are held back outside the gate of a walled yard as a trolley carrying an unexploded bomb is pulled by five men, four dressed in green and one in a white shirt with the colours of the Italian flag. A young boy has climbed a column just outside…

PFilliputtiA16010114.jpg
Members of the Unione Nazionale Protezione Antiaerea are clearing the rubble and debris of a severely damaged terraced building. Another broken wall is visible on the right of the picture. A woman and a young girl are stopped by one of the men on the…

PHolmesGH1604.jpg
George was born in Mansfield and was bought up by his Grandparents until he was seven when he moved back to his parents in Leicester where his Father ran a coffee shop. He was a semi-professional musician playing violin, trumpet and mandolin. He…

AOttawayM161121.mp3
Margaret Ottaway lived in Louth, the sixth of seven children, and tells of her childhood there. Tells of an air raid shelter they had in the house. Witnessed, as a seven year old, an enemy air raid on 19 February 1941, which caused damage and…

PJonesS1602.jpg
Sue Jones was born in Manchester. When the mill where she worked closed at the beginning of the war, she went to work for Avro. She worked on Ansons, Manchesters and then Lancasters. She describes the camaraderie on the factory floor. She also found…

PTaylorE1703.jpg
Edith Taylor (née Tate) grew up in Manchester and experienced the bombing of Manchester. She also describes life as a young evacuee.

AHarrisonR151116.mp3
Richard Harrison was born in Cologne in 1924 to a German mother and English father. His desire to be aircrew was thwarted initially by a failed medical, something he later surmises could be on account of his mother’s nationality. A member of the…

PPackhamG1610.jpg
Geoff’s father had been in the Royal Flying Corps and Geoff joined the Royal Air Force at RAF Cardington. He was posted to various stations before going to Halifax in Canada to train as a pilot on Tiger Moths and then Oxfords.
On his return, Geoff…

ASaundersJ170609.mp3
Jill Saunders’s father Frank Simon was born in Salford in 1917. He served an apprenticeship as a fitter before joining A.V. Roe. He had joined the RAF volunteer reserve but as he was in a reserved occupation, he was only called up in 1944. He…

EJacksonD[General]450529.jpg
Written as civil defence duties finished. Thanks for loyal support. Notes final parade on 10 June 1945.
Output Formats

atom, dc-rdf, dcmes-xml, json, omeka-xml, rss2