Browse Items (222 total)

  • Tags: fear

PCahirJ1601.jpg
Jim Cahir grew up in Australia. He originally joined the army but later was transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force. He flew operations as a mid upper gunner, with 466 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down and he became a prisoner of war. After…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AKellyDV151201.mp3
Denis joined the Royal Australian Air Force at 18 and married when he enlisted. He wanted to be a pilot but became a wireless operator/air gunner because he lacked depth perception. After Somers, Denis went to Victor Harbour. He then did a radio…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

APughA160625.mp3
Alan was born in Western Victoria in Australia. After two years in the Air Training Corps, he applied to the Royal Australian Air Force, and was selected to go to Somers No. 2 Initial Training School on No. 46 course. Alan chose to be a navigator/air…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PSouthwellDE1603.jpg
Don Southwell grew up in Australia and worked for RKO Radio Pictures and as an Air Raid Precautions Warden, before volunteering for the Royal Air Force. After training in Australia and Canada, he flew nine operations as a navigator with 463 Squadron…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PStempJ1502.jpg
Joe was a navigator with 578 Squadron and later with 77 Squadron, flying Halifaxes and then Dakotas. Joe has a sister and a brother. His brother ended his service with the Royal Air Force after an accident on a dinghy drill course left him deaf in…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AFittP150519.mp3
Peter was born in Norwich. His father was a head gardener and wanted him to follow that occupation and so refused to let him join the RAF. With the advent of war, the situation changed and Peter volunteered at a recruiting station and, after…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PLoosemoreLJ1501.jpg
Les Loosemore describes his upbringing and employment history in Swansea before joining the war in 1945. He describes the Blitz in Swansea before training to be a mid upper gunner for 61 Squadron. He describes his rather intensive training, including…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AKnottS151001.mp3
Sidney Knott was from Leigh-on-Sea and recalls the day, with invasion apparently imminent, that signs were put up on the local shops advising people that they had to be ready to move within an hour and to take only one suitcase with them. Sidney’s…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ARossiterHC150913.mp3
Harry Rossiter grew up in East London but his family moved to Essex, which gave Harry a “ringside view” of the Battle of Britain. He volunteered as a bicycle messenger and tried to join the Royal Navy as a telegraphist. He was encouraged to join…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PAugierF1701.jpg
Fitzroy ‘Roy’ Augier was born in Saint Lucia. When Roy was ten, his father owned a shop in the main town of Castries. Roy had a good education and, after school, went to work at the Post Office. However, his ambition was to go to university to…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ;

PNicolisI1801.jpg
Inge Nicolis, the daughter of a Swedish engineer faher and an Italian mother, 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…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

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

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ELumsdenM-MBainA430710-0001.jpg
Letter in which Andrew describes life on the squadron, including the comradeship of his crew and appreciation of Isabel. Includes envelope.

Tags: ; ; ;

PWaughmanR1501.jpg
Rusty describes a mid-air collision during an operation with 101 Squadron. to Hasselt. He describes what it was like prior to a operation and the feelings experienced by the crew, from seeing the battle orders on the notice board, the pre-flight…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PLucasWE1501.jpg
W E (Bill) Lucas joined the Royal Air Force in 1940, where he trained as a fighter pilot flying Miles Magisters and Miles Masters, before being posted to RAF Lossiemouth and moving into Bomber Command where he flew the Vickers Wellington 1C. He flew…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PTempleL1501.jpg
Leslie Temple spent four years in the Air Training Corps before joining the Royal Air Force as a radio operator. He completed a tour of 30 operations with 101 Squadron at RAF Ludford Magna, as a German speaking special operator. He describes how…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AHeatonSM160322.mp3
Michael Heaton grew up in Worcester and was a member of the Air Training Corps. He worked in a bank before joining the Royal Air Force and training as a navigator in Canada. He completed 22 operations as a navigator with 50 Squadron from RAF…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

AHubermanA160329.mp3
Alfred Huberman volunteered for the RAF when he was 18 and trained as an air gunner. He describes the training and emphasises how physically hard it was. He flew 31 operations in Lancasters, from RAF Elsham Wolds. These included operations over the…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

ATolleyF150702.mp3
Frank Tolley was born in 1921 in Tipton and left school at 14, to work as a grocery errand boy. He joined the Royal Air Force at 19 as a ground gunner, and was in at the inception of the Royal Air Force Regiment. After 18 months he volunteered to…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PIronsH1501.jpg
Harry Irons left a tailoring apprenticeship to join the Royal Air Force and trained as a wireless operator but became an air-gunner. He describes the uniform he wore and the unreliability of heated suits. He tells of the invention of scarecrows which…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PPattersonGE1502.jpg
Ernie Patterson DFM was born in Middleton St George in Darlington and left school at the age of 14, to become an apprentice Joiner. He joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 19 in 1941 but, whilst he was waiting to be called up, he was helping to…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PSpenceWD1601.jpg
Bill Spence was born in Middlesborough. He abandoned his teacher training and joined the Royal Air Force in 1942, becoming a bomb aimer. He completed 36 operations during his time in Bomber Command. Bill tells of his experiences while training in…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

PHarrisonJ1501.jpg
John Harrison grew up in Yorkshire and worked in the Civil Service before joining the Royal Air Force aged 18. After training, he flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 106 Squadron from RAF Metheringham before being shot down over Leipzig and…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

BSpencerAHGSpencerAHGv1.pdf
Memoir of the life of Arthur Spencer. Includes details of childhood and growing up. Continues with his joining the Royal Air Force and his training in the United States as a pilot and then navigator. Followed by training in England and then posting…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

EGrayHMGray[Wi]440628.pdf
Starts with suggestion that a recent news film of daylight operation to Le Havre, which he was on, gives a good idea of what bombing is like. However as most of his operations were at night he goes on to describe these. Describes emotions and…

Tags: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

Output Formats

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