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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 Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti
Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti recount wartime memories associated with the town of Monfalcone and the surrounding area. Describes a severe night of bombing stressing the ominous sight of target indicators and loud explosions; recalls the massive…
Interview with Ferdi Righi
Ferdinando Righi recalls his early life in Monfalcone, brought up by his mother while his father served as a submariner. Describes daily life in wartime: how he used to sleep fully clothed, waiting for the air raid siren. His mother would put some…
Interview with Livia de Savorgnani Zanmarchi
Livia de Savorgnani Zanmarchi reminisces her wartime experiences in Trieste. Describes the 10 June 1944 bombing, mentioning the destruction of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie church and the Modiano card factory. Talks about the gruesome sight of a…
Interview with Jutta Petenati
Jutta Petenati recollects her wartime life in Berlin while she was a young girl. She recounts various episodes: the black market; removing incendiary bombs from her house; seeking shelter in an underground train station instead of her house basement,…
Interview with Hans-Walter Bendzko
Hans-Walter Bendzko reminisces about his wartime experiences as a young boy in Berlin, before being evacuated. Describes his time at Wannsee, being properly looked after while surviving one of the Berlin bombings. Mentions incendiaries falling into a…
Interview with Annamaria De Manzano Vici
Annamaria De Manzano Vici recalls her wartime childhood in Trieste. Describes the struggle of her women-only family, coping with fear, hunger, and difficulties in finding food supplies. Remembers the run to the public shelter and the terror felt…
Interview with Dieter Essig
Dieter Essig recollects the 23 February 1945 Pforzheim bombing, which he eyewitnessed at six. Mentions the long hours he spent inside a shelter, describing his wartime years as wasted childhood. Speaks of the 1 April 1944 bombing stressing how he…
Interview with Wolfgang Jähnichen
Wolfgang Jähnichen recollects being a five-year-old boy in Dresden at the time of the 13 February 1945 bombing. Gives a vivid account of the attack and recounts various episodes: the time spent with his mother in the cellar used as air raid shelter,…
Interview with Hubert Draegert
Hubert Draegert remembers his wartime experiences, first in Berlin and then as an evacuee at his uncle’s farm near Wroclaw. He mentions the bombing of the Berlin State Opera and the repeated efforts made to rebuild the gutted building. He remembers…
Interview with Wilhelm Simonsohn
Wilhelm Simonsohn remembers his wartime service as a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot. He tells of his adoption by a Jewish family, and the discovery of his father’s background after being lampooned as ‘Jewish scum’ at school. He emphasises family…
Interview with Jim Wright. One
Jim Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the Second World War along with his mother and two brothers. His father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over…
Interview with Ernie Tillbrook
Ernest Hector Angelo Pedrazzini was the son of an Italian father and an English mother. After the war he changed his name to Tillbrook. Ernie’s father escaped from a prison camp during the First World War and finding his way to Russia and…
Interview with John Plendeleith
John Plenderleith was in the Air Training Corps before he volunteered to join the RAF. He was posted to 626 Squadron at Wickenby and when the crew were allocated their hut they were surprised to find it was still occupied with another crew’s…
Interview with Harold Yeoman
Harold Yeoman volunteered for the RAF hoping to become an air gunner and was surprised to find he would be trained as a pilot. He describes a crash landing in a Wellington returning from an operation to Cherbourg and being sent to Essen twice within…
Interview with Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was called up to serve with two others from his home town of Birtley, neither of whom survived the war. He flew operations as a navigator with 192 Squadron from RAF Foulsham including Special…
Interview with Hugh Lorimer
Hugh Lorimer skipped school to see flying circus and won a flight in one of the aeroplanes. He later volunteered for the RAF and began training as a wireless operator. He was initially was posted to Special Duty Flight test flying in India. However,…
Interview with Victor Gregg
Victor Gregg joined the army on his 18th birthday. He was stationed in the Middle East when the news came that war had been declared. His first major battle of the war was at Beda Fomm. He later volunteered and was posted to 10 Parachute Battalion…
Interview with Fred Crawley DFC
Fred Crawley joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 when he was 18 years old. While at an operational training unit he survived a crash which killed five members of his crew. He was treated in hospital at RAF Rauceby for burns. After training he…
Interview with Gisela Schäfer
Gisela Schäfer (b. 1929) remembers her youth in Eberbach as schoolgirl. Stressed how unlucky she was, having experienced all major bombings in the area. Remembers spending her school holidays as farmhand and emphasises how it was physically…
Interview with Monty Felton
Monty grew up in Croydon and became an articled accountant in London before joining the RAF. Training at the Initial Training Wing in Torquay was followed by RAF Bishops Court in Northern Ireland and RAF Kinloss, which had a flight simulation room.…
Interview with Anthony William Kent
Anthony Kent was born in Wood Green, London, and his family settled in Eltham. Tony started an apprenticeship with Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, at the start of the war and worked as an apprentice draughtsman for eighteen months before volunteering for…
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 Geoff Bibby
Squadron Leader Geoff Bibby grew up in New Zealand and transferred from the army into the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943. After training in New Zealand and Canada, he flew operations as a navigator with 101 Squadron from RAF Ludford Magna.
Interview with John Tait
John Tait was prompted to join the Royal Air Force, as he was American by birth and therefore he had to report to the police station once a month because he was considered an ‘alien’. He was a wireless operator and gunner, flying in Ansons,…