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Letter from Sergeant C H Chandler
Highlights two items about operation to Dusseldorf. Firstly the effect of 'G' and secondly the effect of adrenalin. Describes impressions on Dusseldorf trip. Goes on to describe reasons for his apprehension all during his first tour. Goes on to…
Letter from Kenneth Gill to his wife
Thanks her for recent letter. Writes that he was now doing daylight operations during which he felt safe as they were well protected. Catches up with family news and gossip. Hopes he might manage to get home. Mentions he was out celebrating but did…
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
First letter as a prisoner of war. Asks her to let him know how long she was in suspense with him missing before he was reported as prisoner. Writes of conditions in camp. Describes how pilot stayed with aircraft and allowed the rest of the crew to…
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Writes that big attack on London is on his mind along with shared recollections of a big fire when the bombing first started. Comments that he is likely to remain at his current location until March/April and asks if she would consider moving to join…
Letter and transcript of telephone interview
Letter encloses a transcript of telephone interview and ask Mr Chandler to check for accuracy and asks specific questions about window, operation briefings, bird strike, being coned on Karlsruhe operation, overcoming fear and did he feel operations…
Kiel Canal operation
Describes operation dropping mines in Kiel Canal. Mentions attack at low level, anti-aircraft fire and lucky not to be hit. Concludes by telling of flying to cover crew who had failed to get back to station in time and refusing a commission. Page…
Jim Tyrie's Wartime Log. Two
A wartime log kept by Jim Tyrie. He lists his crew on the night they were shot down over Berlin, the construction of tin trays, addresses of co-prisoners, cartoons, London restaurants, newspaper cuttings in German and English and finally more…
Italian war memories
Ted Neale describes the aircrew and circumstances leading to their baling out near Nereto, Tortoreto, Italy. Some of the crew were captured, but Ted was sheltered by local people. He met up with an English army corporal and travelled by boat to…
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 Umberto Veroli
Umberto Veroli (b. 1933) recollects wartime memories when his father was an electrical engineer: living close to power substations; a kitten killed by an electric arc; Germans forcing workers to remove transformers and smash meters. He describes how…
Interview with Tom Coles
Tom Coles was born in Watford and signed up for the Royal Air Force at the age of 18. He went to Canada for training, a period saddened by the loss of his sister who was in the Womens Auxilliary Air Force. Tom flew Manchesters, then went to 158…
Interview with Thomas Marchant
Tom Marchant had always wanted to fly and at eighteen joined the RAF as a Wireless Operator Air Gunner but was remustered as Flight Engineer after his initial postings to Warrington and Squires Gate Airfield, Blackpool. He describes his very first…
Interview with Thomas Aiden Davidson
Born in Gateshead, Thomas was an apprentice railroad engineer. With the war beginning three days after his 16th birthday, Thomas feels very passionately about the British experience of the Second World War, as his only brother was killed. He claims…
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 the family of John Edward Ayres
The interview is with John’s wife, daughter and grandson.
John was a flight engineer with 427 Squadron. He was born at Westcliff-on-Sea and volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he received a letter from Bomber Command. He had joined the Air…
John was a flight engineer with 427 Squadron. He was born at Westcliff-on-Sea and volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he received a letter from Bomber Command. He had joined the Air…
Interview with Teresa Messali
Teresa Messali gives a brief account of her pre-war life with her large family in a farmhouse near Bergamo. She mentions Pippo; describes the pressing need to find shelter during the bombings and stresses how she frequently resorted to ditches.…
Interview with Stuart Michael Heaton
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 trained as a navigator in Canada. He completed 22 operations as a navigator with 50 Squadron from RAF…
Interview with Stefania Vischi
Stefania Vischi recalls her wartime life in the Monfalcone area. Stresses how she spent long hours alone inside a shelter, frightened by explosions and tremors. Contrasts the horror of being at the receiving end of the bombing war and the strong…
Interview with Stanley Bradford
Stanley Bradford was working in a Reserved Occupation until he volunteered. The three services were represented but as he approached them in turn the army and navy both rejected him because of his work. The RAF said that since he was in Reserved…
Interview with Sir Fitzroy Augier
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…
Interview with Sidney Knott
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 taking only one suitcase with them. Sidney’s…
Interview with Seymour Owen Scott
Seymour Owen Scott (usually refered to as Owen) served as a Lancaster pilot during the war. Mentions always having a passion for flying since he was little boy. Remembers training in Canada and the United States to become a flying boat pilot in…
Interview with Sara Ventriglia
Sara Ventriglia, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, recalls her early life in wartime Milan. She describes the alarm being sounded, she and her family getting quickly dressed to reach a nearby shelter. She recollects moments…
Interview with Santina Colombo
Santina Colombo describes her early life in a family of farmers, her father a fervent socialist. She mentions the start of the war announced on the radio and gives a detailed account of civilian life in wartime Milan: scarce food, growing vegetables…