Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> England--Chatham (Kent)]]> England--Kent]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Scotland--Moray]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-18]]> Geoff describes a couple of incidents relating to Bonn and Duisburg, part of his 24 operations. The last operation was to Heligoland. He carried out three food drops as part of Operation Manna and then had repatriated prisoners of war. He was posted to RAF Valley where they were preparing Canadian-built Lancasters for the Far East. They were scrapped after the atomic bomb. He was demobbed in March 1947. Geoff gives his views on Bomber Command.
]]>
Tina James]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Chris Cann]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bonn]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Netherlands]]> 1943-04]]>
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]]>
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]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> Tina James]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Lincoln]]> England--Market Rasen]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Donald then trained at Rothesay as a submarine detection (ASDIC) operator before joining HMS Essington. He served on the Arctic convoys and recalls surviving a torpedo attack in the English Channel and being shelled from Guernsey whilst hunting a submarine.
After the war Donald entered the church and became a Royal Air Force Chaplain and he tells amusing stories of his RAF service. His first posting was to RAF Halton, where his wartime medal ribbons earned him respect, despite arriving late on parade with oily hands from a recalcitrant bicycle chain. Then he moved to RAF Innesworth where he arranged a guard of honour for a friend's wedding, which impressed his Air Chief Marshall.
Donald was then posted to Aden, describing accommodation, training, and service anecdotes. From Aden, he was posted to RAF Cranwell where he set up a Sunday School, taught cadets to dive and took them to Cyprus to assist in some marine research. He recalls travelling around the Mediterranean to perform pipeline inspections and to referee boxing matches.
His final post was administering Bomber, Fighter and Coastal Commands, for which he flew around numerous RAF stations.
He also describes flying in a Vulcan and a Victor with his pilot brother and speaks of his emotion on visiting the National Arboretum and reading the names of the dead from HMS Blackwood, which was hit by the torpedo that missed Essington.
In later life he received the Ushakov medal and the Légion d'honneur.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Navy]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Cyprus]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Scotland--Rothesay]]>
Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cumbria]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--London]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Freiburg im Breisgau]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1944]]> He tells of how he was hospitalised with a very high temperature, and how his replacement and his crew were lost over Nuremburg.
He was posted to 12 Squadron at Wickenby, flying in Lancasters as a Rear Gunner, and then he was posted to 171 Squadron at North Creake.
David tells of his scraps with the Luftwaffe and meeting some Luftwaffe Pilots at the end of the war and he tells of meeting those pilots who were firing at him.
Made a career in the Royal Airforce and served in Egypt, Iraq and Jordan as well as completing administration courses and serving at other Royal Air Force Stations including the Royal Air Force Medical Station at Headley Court as an Adjutant.
After the war, got a job at Girton College and became President of the Royal British Legion in Cambridge.
David completed a total of 55 Operations, 30 on his first tour of duty and then completing 25 operations on his second tour.
]]>
Judy Hodgson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Davy St Pyer]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Bethany Ellin]]> Heather Hughes]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Atlantic Ocean--Irish Sea]]> England--Orford Ness]]> In 1941 Charles was posted to Canada to complete training at RAF De Winton, learning to fly a Chipmunk and then converted to four engine aircraft: 'I got a pair of Air Force wings which is my pride and joy. Best thing I’ve ever done in my life'. Canada was described as being nice, vast, and cold, inhabited by friendly people, with plenty of fine food that wasn’t available in Britain. Very few details are given about wartime service. After the end of war, he went on to serve in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as an engineer and representative of Meteor jets, which he also flown. Charles also became an Air Training Corps superintendent. Describes his involvement in one of the 550 Squadron reunions at RAF North Killingholme where they discussed Operation Manna. Talks about PA474 Phantom, a 550 Squadron aircraft.]]> Julian Maslin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jean Massie]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Cambridge]]> Canada]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> Alberta--De Winton]]> Alberta]]> 1941]]> 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]]> 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]]> Gemma Clapton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England]]> France]]> Spain]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Essen]]> Pyrenees]]> Netherlands]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942]]> Flying training commenced at RAF Booker on Tiger Moths and he was then sent out of England as part of the Empire Training Scheme. Flying training on Stearman aircraft recommenced at Lakeland in Florida followed by multi-engined training at Macon in Georgia and Valdosta for advanced training. In October 1942 he became a pilot under the American Army Air Force System and declined an offer to stay and become an instructor.
Returning to Britain on an unescorted Queen Elizabeth liner, he trained on Oxfords at RAF Little Rissington. Posted to RAF Harwell to fly, in Bluey's terms "clapped out Wellingtons" he describes the system for forming a crew. They were posted to RAF Riccall to fly the Halifax.
The next posting was to an operational squadron at RAF Lissett where he did his first operational flight to Krefeld in June 1943 and trips to Berlin, Cologne and Mannheim. After his trip to Krefeld, his rear gunner refused to fly and was removed. On his second trip to Mannheim, Bluey's aircraft was struck by a bomb from an aircraft flying above. They had to reduce height and so used Window to disguise their location. The final trip was to Berlin in November 1943 and, having completed his tour, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Bluey never flew again. Sent to Tilly Whim, Bluey was trained to operate Oboe and explains the device. Posted to an Oboe station at RAF Winterton to monitor junior operatives, he met his future wife.
After the war had finished he became an instructor on the Link Trainer and sent to various RAF stations and finally to RAF Marham from where he was demobilised and returned to civilian life. In civilian life, employment in the farm feed industry was followed by time in the lubricant industry until retirement. Bluey compiled a register of all crews that flew with 158 Squadron and formed a Squadron association in 1947, of which he became president, and organised a memorial to the squadron at former RAF Lissett.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Canada]]> United States]]> Florida]]> Florida--Lakeland]]> Georgia]]> Georgia--Macon]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> 1943-06]]> 1943-11]]>
Flew 14 operations with No 9 Squadron at Honnington flying the Short Stirling, before being posted to Wyton in Huntingdonshire where he did a full tour of over 40 operations on Short Stirlings.
He took part in operations to Cologne, Magdeburg and Essen, including taking part in the first 1000 bomber raid on the 30th May 1942.
He then spent 2 years with a Operational Training Unit at Kinloss, instructing on Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and then he moved to 162 Squadron, flying De Havilland Mosquitos where he marked targets, and did 14 trips to Berlin.
]]>
Andrew Panton]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Scotland--Lossiemouth]]> Germany--Cologne]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
Martyn Horndern]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Netherlands]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Wiltshire]]> Netherlands--Arnhem]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1944-06-12]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-07-28]]> 1944-08-04]]> 1944-08-08]]> Pam Locker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cathy Brearley]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Algeria]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> United States]]> Algeria--Algiers]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Florida--Miami]]> Florida--Pensacola]]> Bosnia and Herzegovina]]> Bosnia and Herzegovina--Sarajevo]]> Italy--Trieste]]> North Africa]]> Florida]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 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]]> 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]]> 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]]> Alun talks of flying on the Anson and Whitley, and of being assigned to a Halifax crew. He describes a training flight accident at Garrowby Hill, Yorkshire in which his crewmates were killed. Alun, who was hospitalised at the time, was not on board the aircraft. He recalls his loneliness at being without a crew, and the unexplained animosity towards him from a senior officer. He talks of joining another aircrew and of adaptability being a part of the role of the bomb aimer, before reflecting on his feelings about the unjust dismissal of the crew’s pilot for lack of moral fibre.
Alun recalls his transfer to RAF Transport Command in 1945 and talks of organising the erection of a memorial to his crew at Garrowby Hill. He mentions his pride at the memorial, and his attendance at annual commemorations there for many years. He goes on to reflect on his preference for the Halifax over other aircraft, his enjoyment of flying, and on the great friendship and comradeship among aircrews, describing a closeness which continued after the war. He also mentions his affection for the animals that he kept in his billet during the war.
Alun relates that he first returned to his pre-war job after the war, but later joined the Welsh Council on Alcoholism to help others and in support of his sister, whom he describes affectionately.
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Anne Roberts]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Leah Warriner-Wood]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Wales--Porthcawl]]> Wales--Newport]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--East London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Japan]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Penarth]]> 1944]]> 1955]]>
Andrew Sadler]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Mimoyecques]]> Wales--Bridgend]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>