Tom Ozel]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Nigeria]]> England--London]]> 1942]]> Gemma Clapton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Staffordshire]]> France]]> Netherlands]]> Belgium]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> United States]]> Steve Cooke]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Royal Navy]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> Andrew Cowley]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Middle East--Palestine]]> North Africa]]> Donald Fraser]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Modane]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Leverkusen]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Mönchengladbach]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Netherlands]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> Poland]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Germany--Urft Dam]]> Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)]]> 1945-07]]> Rob Scott]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> 1943-11-18]]> 1943-11-19]]> Cathy Brearley]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jim Sheach]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--East London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> India]]> 1945-06]]> Bruce Blanche]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Andy Fitter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France]]> Netherlands]]> India]]> France--Aunay-sur-Odon]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944-02-23]]> 1944-03-03]]> 1944-05-04]]> 1944-06-14]]> 1944-06-15]]> Ian Boole]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Scotland--Shetland]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Poland--Łambinowice]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1944-09]]> 1945-02-20]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Jamaica]]> James Sheach]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Alastair Montgomery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States]]> Florida]]> Great Britain]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> Scotland--Aberdeenshire]]> France]]> France--Brest]]> Atlantic Ocean--Irish Sea]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Suffolk]]> Atlantic Ocean--Irish Sea]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> Basic training was carried out at Lords Cricket ground in London. One clear memory is helping to carry patients down several flights of stairs from a nearby hospital during an air raid.
Time was spent at RAF Bridlington on Initial Training Wing before attending Air Gunnery School in the Isle of Man. Further training was undertaken at RAF Banbury where he was crewed up on Wellingtons, before moving to the Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common to convert to Stirlings. During his time here he attended an escape course at RAF Feltwell and was instructed in unarmed combat, which he dismissed as pitiful.
He and his crew were posted to RAF Witchford, Cambridgeshire, where he flew his first operation in February 1944 replacing an ill air gunner. He later discovered this was an inexperienced crew. He remembers the target was around Osnabrück in Germany and it was a melee over the target where they were attacked by two Me 109s, which they successfully shook off. On his return, he remembers being unable to sleep and went for a walk into Ely. There he discovered the Oxford Cambridge boat race was being held and watched it
Target areas of Germany included Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Augsburg. On his 5th operation, the aircraft was attacked, and the aircraft lost its heating and communications. He suffered frostbite and spent several months recovering in Ely hospital.
On regaining fitness, he was transferred to RAF Waterbeach and was allocated to a crew led by Ted Cousins. Waterbeach was a pre-war airfield with comfortable facilities. Time off was spent competing in athletics and football along with drinking at the local public houses.
When time allowed, he went home, but found the experience boring: all his friends were serving away, and there was little to do except drink or go to the cinema. His elder brother was serving as a navigator in the Far East, and he felt it unfair to talk about his experiences with his family.
At RAF Waterbeach there was a greater variety of operations. Targets varied from Germany to Southern France. He also remembers one trip to Poland. This entailed flying over Denmark and they could see the lights from Sweden and anti-aircraft fire.
He has a clear memory of most of his operations but does not wish to dwell on some. On one occasion he spotted a Me 109, he tried to warn the pilot but his intercom had frozen and emergency light was inoperative. He tried to open fire but his guns jammed – the night fighter opened fire and hit the centre of the aircraft. The aircraft began violently manoeuvring and he wasn’t sure if this was deliberate evasive manoeuvres or if they were out of control. He made his way forward and discovered the aircraft door open and the mid upper gunner missing. There were cannon holes all around the centre of the aircraft. He still wasn’t sure if he was the only one on board until he reached the main cabin and found the rest of the crew in position. They made it back home where they realised an incendiary bullet was lodged in the ammunition pannier.
His last operation was one of the thousand-bomber operations in Germany, the air black with anti-aircraft fire. On his return, the air gunners went sent to the bomb dump to assist the armourers in preparing the bombs for the following days attack which was carried out by the United States Army Air Forces.
After completing his tour of operation, he was posted to RAF Brackla, hoping to be retained as physical training instructor, but ended up at RAF Weeton near Blackpool to be trained as a driver.
He served at several locations across Southern England before his final posting which was with a microfilm unit in Frankfurt. Fraternising with locals was not allowed, but he did manage to learn German. He played in a football match against a much better German select team.
After demob, he returned home and was involved in the manufacturing of cars at the Triumph factory. He married, and because of unrest and strikes in the car industry, he moved to Scotland and was employed at the Carron company in Falkirk as a production director manufacturing steel bars, where his ability to speak German became an advantage in his dealings with foreign companies. He met an ex Luftwaffe pilot and experiences were exchanged - there was no animosity whatsoever and it was accepted they both had been carrying out their duty.
Geoff looks back on his time in Bomber Command with great fondness. It was like a big family. He still has contact with surviving crew members, and still attends reunions.
]]>
Brenda Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Ely]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--London]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Denmark]]> Sweden]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Falkirk]]> Scotland--Nairnshire]]> Scotland--Stirlingshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> 1944-02]]>
David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Boston]]> England--Lincoln]]> Russia (Federation)]]> Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)]]> England--The Wash]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Netherlands]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> 1943]]> 1944-02]]> Nigel Moore]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> 1945]]> Dawn Hughes]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Cheshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Coventry]]> England--London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)]]> France]]> France--Lorient]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> Wales--Ceredigion]]> England--Warwickshire]]> 1940-05]]> 1940-09]]> James says that a separate briefing was held for wireless operators to inform them of callsigns and code words to be used before the main briefing. James was also the mid-under gun operator when the aircraft required one. James’ crew only flew four operations over Berlin being near the end of the war; he mentions a mis-identified target incident and an attack by a night fighter. James’ account also details being involved in the Operation Dodge and Operation Manna, as well as recalling a time that he was invited to fly in a Mosquito which he described as ‘a terrific aircraft’. James continue to serve until 1947 until he de-mobilised due to his ‘dislike of a lack of flying’. James retired from active service as a warrant officer. He would work as a delivery driver until retiring in 1997. James recalls that he kept in contact with three members of his crew until 2015.]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Alex Joy]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]> Gemma Clapton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> Italy]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Northumberland]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> 1943]]> 1944-01-17]]> 1956]]> Harry Redgrave]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400912-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400912-0003]]>
Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> 1940-09]]>
#2 Designated pilots-navigators or bomb aimers at Heaton Park then sent to Bridgnorth to await a ship to South Africa. Ted went to Port Elizabeth at 42 Air School to train, then Cairo.
#3 A letter referring to Ted's service history and his deafness. Over the years he attempted to get a disability pension but only received small lump sums. He details fellow aircrew who have been treated differently to him. Then he discusses a Canadian pilot, Kurt Lavack, who had survived a landing accident which Ted witnessed at close hand, when an unreleased bomb exploded. The pilot, Kurt, was later given a substantial pension by his own (Canadian)government and the British government. The letter concludes that at the age of 80 he deserves to be treated better.]]>
Ted Neale]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Civilian]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--Bloemfontein]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]>

The text ends with a multilingual appeal to pass the flyer to the Germans.]]>
Great Britain. Royal Air Force]]> United States. United States Army Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> Steve Baldwin]]> deu]]> rus]]> ita]]> Text]]> MNealeETH1395951-150731-0140002]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Wehrmacht]]> Germany]]> 1944]]>