2
25
256
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
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NUREMBERG WAS ‘LAID FLAT’ [inserted] No 9 27/8 1943 [/inserted]
[boxed] ‘German [missing word] H.Q. [/boxed]
Few towns, even in Germany, can ever have received so shattering a blow in 40 minutes as medieval Nuremberg, the Bavarian “holy city” of the Nazi Party, which was the target of the vast armada of bombers that roared for more than an hour over South-East England late on Friday.
The result was summed up in one pregnant sentence by a rear-gunner on his return. He said: “ I reckon we knocked the whole place flat.” Here is the story of this great raid as told to the Sunday Express by the men who made it.
‘We’ve finished the job properly’
By EDWARD J. HART, [italics] Sunday Express Air Reporter [/italics]
A Lancaster Bomber Station, Saturday.
NUREMBERG, centre of some of Germany’s most vital war industries, was a seething bonfire when our very strong force of four engine bombers left the scene. Crews returning at dawn brought glowing descriptions of the effects of their heavy bombs and incendiaries.
[2 maps]
[italics] “The searchlights be[missing letter]ween Mannheim and Frankfort were five-deep in a continuous be[missing letter]t – just like a flare-path,” said the skipper of “ R for Robert,” back [missing letter]rom Nuremberg. “Anybody caught by them would have a job to get out.” [/italics]
A solid red core of leaping flames, with columns of jet black smoke billowing up to 15,000 feet and visible 150 miles away, was the word picture painted for me by Flight-Sergeant John Crabb, of Glasgow, navigator of “S for Sugar,” making his twenty-second raid on Germany.
“I never imagined a town could burn like that,” declared the rear gunner of “A for Apple,” Sergeant Harry Smith, a Cardiff man, on his 37th raid.
Weather conditions were very favourable for the raiders. They had clear skies all the way and excellent visibility over the target.
Packed area
Despite an exceptionally large force of enemy night fighters, the attack was completed to schedule.
It lasted from 12.30 a.m. till 1.12 a.m. Lancasters, Stirlings and Halifaxes took part in it.
IN 42 MINUTES OVER THE TARGET THEY DROPPED ABOUT 1,500 TONS.
“I reckon we knocked the whole place flat,” said Sergeant Fred Lamble, of Leeds, rear gunner in “C for Charlie.” It was his 19th operation. “We’ve finished the job properly,” he added. “There’ll be no more Brownshirt parties in that part of Germany.”
Lamble seems to have had a thoroughly enjoyable night. “We had our first bit of fun about ten miles inside France on the way in,” he said.
“Illuminations”
“It would have done your heart good to see our fighters – bags of them – banging away at locomotives; pumping in their tracer bullets against a vivid background of blue searchlights. It reminded you of the illuminations in Blackpool – lovely to look at.”
NUREMBERG, HE SAID, WAS A GOOD RUNNER-UP TO BERLIN. ITS FIGHTER DEFENCES WERE HEAVIER THAN BERLIN AND COMPARABLE WITH PEENEMUNDE.
“With plenty of fire, smoke, flak and searchlights it was everything you could wish for,” he commented.
Only one thing marred his joy. In vicil [sic] life he was a concert singer. Over the target he had promised the crew the baritone solo of the Prize Song of “The Meistersingers of Nuremberg” but just as he started the intercom system failed.
Fierce combats
Lamble refuses to believe it was accidental.
Other crews brought back stories of fierce combats with night fighters. Gunners of “D for Donald” had two encounters.
Mid upper gunner Sergeant Harry Wilkins, a former municipal clerk at Hull, said a Ju.88 passed just above him while they were making their bombing run. He fired at it, but did not see the result.
His skipper, Flight-Lieut. Robert Munro, a New Zealand farmer on his 65th operation, told me: “I’ve
BACK PAGE, COL. THREE
[page break]
(Continued from Page One) [inserted] No 9 27/8 43 [/inserted]
NUREMBERG ‘LAID FLAT’
never seen so many fighters in South Germany before.”
Sergeant William Walton, of Perth, rear-gunner of “J for Johnnie,” damaged an Me.109 just north of Nuremberg.
“I saw him coming in on the port quarter about 500 yards away and gave him a five-second burst,” said Walton.
Captain of “J for Johnnie,” Flying Officer Bruce Smeaton, of Manchester, who left school to join the R.A.F., reported a heavy concentration of searchlights.
“They nearly caught us going in and coming out,” he said. This was his eighteenth trip. He was in the Berlin raid.
Flying Officer Kenneth Coates, skipper of “R for Robert,” said the searchlights were five deep in a continuous belt – just like a flare path. “Anybody caught by them would have a job to get out,” he told me.
Flight Lieutenant Gobbie, who took part in a previous raid on Nuremberg, is also of the opinion that the old town has really “had it” this time.
Several crews saw friendly torches winking at them as they passed over France. They agreed that London’s black-out last night was far from good.
“It shook me rather badly,” one officer said.
One of the Lancaster squadrons taking part in last night’s raid was the first to drop bombs on a German target in this war. On September 4, 1939, six of its Hampden light bombers attacked the naval installations at Brunsbuttel.
Lights full on
The Squadron’s commander, Wing-Commander P.W. Johnson, A.F.C., gave me this summary of the Nuremberg raid:-
“I would definitely assess it as a major success. Nuremberg is a difficult target to find. It was very heavily bombed, and fires were started on the best and brightest scale. There is no doubt that the enemy night fighter effort has increased tremendously in recent weeks, but our defence against it is improving all the time.”
The station senior intelligence officer adds this footnote:-
“It was a very successful attack with well concentrated fires. Our crews encountered hundreds of fighters, many of them with navigation lights full on. This is quite a new departure. I cannot attempt to explain it. It makes an obvious target for our boys, but it may be intended as a decoy.”
IT IS OFFICIALLY STATED THAT 33 BOMBERS ARE MISSING FROM THE RAID – A SATISFACTORY PROPORTION CONSIDERING THE SIZE OF THE OPERATION. THE GERMANS, CLEARLY AS PROPAGANDA, CLAIM THAT 62 WERE SHOT DOWN AND SAY THAT “THIS WAS PROBABLY ONE-QUARTER OF THE WHOLE FORCE.”
The enemy communiqué describing the raid rather contradicts this by describing it as “a terror attack by strong British formations,” and says that it caused casualties among the population and heavy destruction in residential areas.
The German radio added: “Irreplaceable historical monuments of cultural value, including some parts of the Old Town Wall, and numerous churches fell victims to the high-explosives of the terror planes.”
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Nuremburg Was 'Laid Flat'
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper article describing an attack on Nuremberg. It is annotated 'No 9 27/8 1943'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
New Zealand
England--Lancashire
England--Yorkshire
England--Blackpool
England--Leeds
England--Manchester
England--Hull
Germany--Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein)
Germany--Nuremberg
Scotland--Glasgow
Scotland--Perth
Wales--Cardiff
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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Three newspaper cuttings
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0013, SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0014
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-27
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Paul Ross
Steve Baldwin
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Halifax
Hampden
incendiary device
Ju 88
Lancaster
Me 109
navigator
propaganda
Stirling
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 8 23/8/43 [/inserted]
RAF RAIDS GIVEN NEW “PUNCH”
By WING.COMMANDER CHARLES BRAY.
“Daily Herald” Air Correspondent
A HIGHLY significant and important development of our bombing policy is taking place.
Instead of concentrating on German industrial cities we are now striking at individual factories in such strength as to make a second visit unnecessary.
Peenemunde was a case in point. It was followed on Sunday night by a heavy attack – probably something in the region of 500 aircraft – on the big chemical works at Leverkusen, near Cologne.
[symbol]
This factory has not had a concentrated raid before, and it was unfortunate that weather conditions were far from favourable for this serious attempt to wipe out the works.
Even so, it is estimated that immense damage was done by the mass precision bombing which is our new policy.
There were a few gaps in the clouds which enabled our bombers to see their target and release their bombs. The clouds also provided admirable cover, probably the reason for the exceptionally low losses of five aircraft on a major raid over one of the heaviest defended localities of Germany.
Plenty of night fighters were encountered, two of them being destroyed in the numerous combats that ensued.
[symbol]
It is very satisfactory that the strength of our bomber force is such that we can now turn to individual factories or other military targets instead of concentrating on large towns.
The size of the force depends on the target selected, but it will be noted that in every case sufficient bombers are sent to do the maximum amount of damage.
The Leverkusen factory had before the war the biggest electric sign in the world. Two 400ft. chimneys of the German Dye Trust works, nearly 200ft. apart supported a massive metallic circle containing the name in 40 feet letters of the Dye Trust founder, Dr. Bayer, spelt vertically and horizontally to form a cross.
Dr Ley, Germany’s labour chief and bitter enemy of Great Britain, was formerly an employee in this factory.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
RAF Raids Given New "Punch"
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper article discussing new precision bombing. It is annotated 'No 8 23/8/43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Leverkusen
Germany--Peenemünde
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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One newspaper cutting
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0012
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
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Paul Ross
bombing
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38139/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0011.1.jpg
d3393a07d64a77ca6ff51632f9324856
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 7 17/18 Aug 1943 [/inserted]
3,000 sorties smash Nazi defence plane plants
GREATEST ANGLO-U.S. MASS ATTACK IN 24 HOURS
By BASIL CARDEW
[indecipherable rubber stamp]
IN the first full-scale two way attack on Europe, aimed primarily at destroying Germany's fighters, their airfields, and factories producing the planes, the Allied air forces have just made between 2,500 and 3,000 sorties in the space of 24 hours.
[map]
This tremendous air offensive covers the day and night of August 17-18, and was mounted both from Britain and the Mediterranean.
Taken in conjunction with the American raid on the great Messerschmitt factory at Weiner Neustadt, 30 miles from Vienna, at the weekend, the latest Flying Fortress assault on the Regensburg factory in southern Germany is believed to have partially stopped production of the very types of aircraft the Germans will need to repulse a Second Front.
REGENSBURG BLAZES
Short-range fighters are the spearhead of defence.
Reconnaissance pictures taken four hours after the Regensburg attack show that the Fortress bombs were accurate and caused great havoc.
At least four large buildings were still on fire when the spy plane passed over. All the six main workshops were destroyed, five of them severely.
The main assembly shop, the gun-testing range, large new shops that had recently been erected, the boiler house, office buildings, and several other small unidentified buildings or the great plant have been damaged or burned out, in some cases completely destroyed.
The target at Regensburg was Germany's second largest aircraft factory, makers of the latest type of Messerschmitt single-engined fighter planes. It was to have been the main production unit left to the enemy for its fighters after the plant at Weiner Neustadt, which was producing a third of the Messerschmitt programme, had been partially knocked out.
MIGHTY BLOW
Bomber Command's contribution to this onslaught on Germany's first-line defences against an imminent Allied invasion followed a few hours after the Regensburg raid, when a mighty force of home-based, long-range aircraft heavily attacked in bright moonlight the armament and radio development establishment at Peenemunde, 60 miles north-west of Stettin, on Tuesday night, and dropped 1,500 tons of bombs.
This large, secret factory produces the equipment for the German fighters that are at the moment No. 1 target for the Allies.
The bombers had to fly on as long a route as that to Berlin to hammer the factory, and they encountered many of the night-fighter squadrons and ground defences that have been greatly strengthened recently for the protection of the German capital. But the raid was devastatingly successful, although it cost 41 aircraft.
The rest of the 2,500-3,000 sorties
[page break]
OUR Stirling dropped on its starboard side and began to lose height. Luckily the bomb-aimer had just come up from his position and was sitting by me, so that he was able to help me to drag on the control and pull the Stirling level.
"All the way back it was difficult to control the aircraft. The bomb-aimer and I would get the Stirling level on its course and then down would slip the starboard wing and we would swing off our course.
"The flight-engineer helped matters by running three engines off the starboard tank, so lightening the starboard side of the aircraft. When we were near base I lowered the under-carriage and flaps and tried out how I could handle her like that. She answered to the control perfectly, and I glided down to a safe landing on the runway."
The Lancasters which attacked transformer and switching stations in North Italy on the night of July 15-16 did not return to England immediately, but, as before, when a force of Lancasters bombed the radio-location factory at Friedrichshafen, they used airfields in North Africa as an advanced base.
On Saturday night they returned
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
3,000 Sorties Smash Nazi Defence Plane Plants
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper article about bombing several aircraft factories. It is annotated 'No 7 17/18 Aug 1943'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Austria
Germany
Austria--Wiener Neustadt
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Friedrichshafen
Germany--Peenemünde
Germany--Regensburg
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three newspaper cuttings
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0011
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-17
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
aircrew
B-17
bomb aimer
bombing
Bombing of Peenemünde (17/18 August 1943)
flight engineer
Lancaster
propaganda
Stirling
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
200-hour blaze
It is in the interests of the enemy to howl that their chief port has become a dead city, which is no longer worth attacking. This explains the Nazi-inspired stories of more than 30,000 casualties before Monday night's attack.
But there is little doubt about the fact that Hamburg has been burning or smouldering for more than 200 hours, for when our crews reached their target in their fourth big raid they testified to seeing fires still burning before they had dropped their loads of high-explosives and incendiaries.
These fires had been observed to be flourishing also on Sunday, 60 hours after the third heavy night assault. The great clouds of smoke had blown away, and it was at last possible for the photographic interpretation departments to make a detailed assessment of the damage.
It will be a long time before this is finished and a full count made of all the industrial damage. But it is already known that many important factories, in addition to those previously announced, have been hit and severely damaged.
A violent thunderstorm was going on in the upper air while our bombers were attacking Hamburg on Monday night.
Pilots said it was impossible to tell which was flak and which was lightning. Blue electric flames played round the gun barrels and the propeller tips of
[symbol] BACK PAGE, COL. SEVEN
HAMBURG NEW BLOW
[inserted] No 6 2/3 8/43
[symbol] FROM PAGE ONE
many of the machines. Over the target city there were gaps in the clouds and it was through these that our men saw the fires. Some went below the clouds to less than 10,000 feet to bomb. A Lancaster captain, who went very low, clearly identified the docks of Hamburg and reports fires spreading in the area. Great quantities of bombs were dropped on these fires.
Flak and searchlights were hampered by the weather. But the night fighters drove through the storm to intercept. One Halifax, attacked four times by a Messerschmitt 109, and twice by a Junkers 88, outmanoeuvred both fighters and came through to make a happy landing.
Despite the foul weather the crews on their return were satisfied that they had delivered another tremendous blow in this great experimental battle.
In their attack on July 29-30 their bombs were directed on the north-east and south-east areas of the German city. Previously they had caused great damage to the central and dock quarters, particularly in the Grasbrook, Billwader, Ausschlag, and St Georg districts.
A FULL PATTERN
So it is clear that each visit by the R.A.F. is directed at knocking out great sections, making a full pattern that will have no industrial part immune from devastation.
There may be still big areas to be dealt with, for the waterways in the town occupy some 10,000 acres, and there are 22 miles of quays for sea-going ships, and 110 miles of docks and landing stages.
The dock area is a labyrinth of oil refineries, flour mills, oil-seed crushing mills, margarine factories, and warehouses, in addition to the submarine building plants, where a third of all the U-boats were constructed.
It is eloquent of the strength of Bomber Command that while the Hamburg battle is being fought in these great night actions, a great force of planes could be spared for a raid on Remscheid, a town less than a tenth of the size of the major target.
Photographs of the damage caused by the Remscheid attack on Friday night last make a picture of great devastation.
A high proportion of the damage is among the industrial plants in this important steel and engineering centre on the outskirts of the Ruhr. The main railway station and the main post office have also been hit.
But the world's eyes are on Hamburg, where, stated the Air Ministry last night, a battle is being fought greater even in intensity and ferocity than the battle of the Ruhr.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hamburg New Blow
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper article about another attack on Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 6 2/3 8/43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Remscheid
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two newspaper cuttings
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0010
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-02
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Halifax
incendiary device
Ju 88
Lancaster
Me 109
pilot
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38137/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0009.2.jpg
1f7924f727a27da8d84296929f660bb2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[inserted] No 6 2/3 8/43 [/inserted]
Hamburg: the decisive stage
SEVEN SQUARE MILES NOW DEVASTATED
Express Air Reporter BASIL CARDEW
THE Battle of Hamburg – greatest test battle of the air war that all the world is watching – was last night stated officially to have been brought nearer to a decisive stage with Bomber Command's fourth obliterating attack within little more than a week.
The raid, I estimate, has brought the total weight of bombs dropped on Germany's largest port in the space of nine days and nights to about 10,000 tons.
Before the colossal air fleet set out from Britain on their last big raid Air Chief-Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, who is directing the battle, knew that an area of seven square miles – nearly 4,500 acres – had already been devastated, equal to almost seven times the size of the City of London.
Such damage, stated the Air Ministry last night, is unparalleled in the history of air warfare.
In this fourth great raid, although the bombs fell on Hamburg, in effect they fell on every industrial city in Germany, for all Germany, especially the population of Berlin, now know that Hamburg has become a test city.
The result of the battle here will prove whether a gigantic industrial area can be eradicated from the air.
This is no bid to destroy the city building by building but, by the air bombardment of a concentrated area, to wipe out Hamburg as a pillar in the German war machine.
Single buildings or blocks of buildings may stand. But when the R.A.F. has finished there is likely to be no water, power, drainage, transport and communications, few workers' houses intact, or shops, feeding places, and markets.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hamburg: the Decisive Stage
Description
An account of the resource
An article about another attack on Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 6 2/3 8/43
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Hamburg
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
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eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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Two newspaper cuttings
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0009
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-02
1943-08-03
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
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Sue Smith
bombing
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38136/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0008.2.jpg
57203c0242cd67623cb2422f471fd5d9
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[map]
[inserted] No 5 30/7/43 [/inserted]
Arms city wiped out in 18 minutes
By EDWARD J. HART
[italics] Sunday Express Air Reporter [/italics]
R.A.F. Bomber Station, Saturday.
REMSCHEID, medieval Rhineland city and centre of Germany's machine tool industry, had its first and probably last R.A.F. raid early today.
It was a thunder-and-lightning attack and lasted 18 minutes. By then Remscheid had been blasted by a load of bombs greater than fell on London during the heaviest 13-hour blitz of May 1941, and at least ten times greater than any raid on Britain this year.
The first waves of Lancasters, Stirlings and Halifaxes went in at 1.13 a.m., the last came out at 1.31.
As they recrossed the Dutch coast 200 miles from their target the homing air crews saw the glow of blazing Remscheid reflected against a thick pillar of black smoke.
No second time
"I do not think we shall have to pay it a second visit," a senior intelligence officer told me after interrogating the crews at this Halifax station in the North of England.
"Devastation seems to have been on the same scale as the Wuppertal raid on May 29. I put it well up in the higher class of bombing successes."
This view was shared by Group Captain H. H. Brookes, who accompanied our raiders as second pilot of Z for Zebra. Remscheid, he told me, is a city about the size of York.
"It was completely wiped up in one go," he added.
'Mushroom' fire
Captain of Z for Zebra was Squadron-Leader Peter Bunclark, D.F.C., D.F.M. His D.F.C. was awarded last Thursday.
Here are some descriptions of the Remscheid blasting from air crews who had bombed Hamburg three times in the previous six nights.
"The whole place was blazing like celluloid," "Fires like molten metal," "Just a bubbling sea of gold, silver, orange and red."
A navigator said that the outline of the blazing mass below exactly corresponded with the contour of his target map. He thought it uncanny. Remscheid measures 1.1/2 miles from east to west and 3 1/2 miles north to south.
Hitting the spot
Sergeant Reg Sloggett, former railway clerk from Manchester, was bomb-aimer in X for Xmas, last Halifax to leave the target area.
"It was a blazing mass when we went in and got bigger all the time," he told me. "I saw several terrific explosions and some of our bombs hitting the spot."
It was a clear night and, although night fighters were up in large numbers, there were no encounters by Halifaxes from this station, two of which are missing. Fifteen bombers in all were lost.
Remscheid's pre-war population of 107,000 is believed to have been greatly increased by the influx of foreign workers and refugees from neighbouring blitzed areas.
In the centre of the town are some 25 factories making machine tools and aircraft parts.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arms City Wiped out in 18 Minutes
Description
An account of the resource
An article about the bombing of Remscheid. It is annotated 'No 5 30/7/43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Manchester
Germany--Remscheid
Germany--Wuppertal
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0008
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-30
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
aircrew
bomb aimer
bombing
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Medal
Halifax
Lancaster
pilot
propaganda
Stirling
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38135/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0007.1.jpg
202b3f26e4cf3a1ba62e612796a380d5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hamburg Gets its 3rd 2,000-ton Hammering
Description
An account of the resource
A continuation of another cutting. It is annotated 'No 4 29-7-43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Hamburg
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two newspaper cuttings
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0007
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-29
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Allocated
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
ground crew
Halifax
Mosquito
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38134/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0006.2.jpg
5258486c7d0364cfb520a519da4ea487
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 4 29-7-43 [/inserted]
[underlined] GERMAN CITY BLAZED FOR SIX DAYS [/underlined]
ANOTHER 2,000 TONS ON HAMBURG
The C.B.S. commentator, broadcasting from Moscow, said that Himmler’s visit to Hamburg was “prompted by peace demonstrations following recent air raids in Hamburg.” The report, quoting a Stockholm message, said: “Demonstrations demanded the immediate discontinuation of the war and called for an active struggle against Hitler.”
OUR bombers, by far the greater number of them four-engined, on Thursday night once again dropped more than 50 tons of bombs a minute on the port of Hamburg during an attack which lasted for threequarters of an hour, states the Air Ministry News Service.
Never before in the history of warfare has an attack of such weight and persistence been made against a single industrial concentration. No other target in Germany has hitherto had more than one 2,000-tons attack.
Fires have now been raging in Hamburg without intermission for six days, since the first 2,300-tons attack was made by Bomber Command on the night of July 24.
They were burning when the first of Thursday night’s great force, on its way to start huge fires in new districts of
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Another 2,000 Tons on Hamburg
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper cutting on another attack on Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 4 29-7-43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Russia (Federation)
Sweden
Germany--Hamburg
Sweden--Stockholm
Russia (Federation)--Moscow
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0006
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-29
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Frances Grundy
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38133/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0005.1.jpg
f8a6440d5bf271dcb4ff7024b57ec242
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 3 24/7/43 [/inserted]
Hamburg Fires Lit Up RAF Bombers
HAMBURG was hit on Saturday night by a greater weight of high-explosives and incendiary bombs than was dropped on Düsseldorf on the night of June 11, it was officially stated last night.
First reports from crews show that the results matched the effort. There were vast fires in Germany’s largest seaport, where more submarines are built yearly than in any other town in German Europe. Dense black smoke rose four miles into the air, and there are many reports of violent explosions.
The navigator of a Lancaster – Flight-Lieutenant J.D. Henderson of Auckland, New Zealand – described the effect of an explosive fire.
“From my table,” he said, “I could not see what was happening below. I thought we were caught in a cone of searchlights.
“A yellow light lit up the whole aircraft. I looked up and saw the light reflected on the wing, and then I left my position and looked down at the fire below. It was like a huge mushroom of flames.”
Other crews engaged in a light attack on the Ruhr saw fires of Hamburg, 200 miles away.
[symbol]
THE first aircraft reached Hamburg a minute or two before zero hour – one o’clock. Their first bombs went down to the second, and the whole load, the heaviest yet dropped by any bomber force was dropped in 50 minutes.
The bombers flew through thick cloud over the North Sea as they gained height for the attack but once they reached land the cloud broke up.
The attack was a record for speed as well as for weight. In recent attacks on Dortmund and Dusseldorf 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on each target in about an hour. The still greater weight of 2,300 tons in 50 minutes on Saturday night seems to have swamped and scattered the ground defences of Hamburg.
[symbol]
SERGEANT A.E. NEWMAN, of Redhill, a flight-engineer, who took part in the last seven attacks on the Ruhr thought there were even more searchlights over Hamburg than around the Ruhr targets.
“The gunners were using a type of flak I haven’t seen before,” he said. “It burst like a rocket with a bright flash and then scattered a fine spray of red fragments over 50 yards. It was different from the chandelier type, which sends out greenish-coloured stars.”
The casualties were extraordinarily light in proportion to the great force which was sent to attack one of the most heavily defended places in Germany.
Few encounters with night fighters are reported, but a Stirling collided with a German fighter over the target.
“We had bombed the target and were dodging round to avoid the searchlights,” said the pilot, Flying-Officer G. Turner, of Winnipeg.
“Suddenly I saw the slim wing and fuselage of a fighter about 25 yards dead ahead of us. I had just time to warn the crew over the intercomm of the fighter ahead when it hit our starboard wing with a bump. It tore away 4 ft. of the starboard wing and about 5ft. of the starboard aileron, the aileron control being damaged.
“The fighter turned over on its back and went straight down.
[missing text]
to England, bombing the port of Leghorn, on the north-west coast of Italy, on the way. Leghorn is an important harbour with large ship-building yards and many industrial plants.
There was some cloud over Italy, but crews were able to see the docks and mole of Leghorn very clearly and make an accurate attack.
“We could see the mole illuminated by the flashes from bombs.” said Flight-Lieutenant J.L. Munro, D.F.C. of Gisborne, New Zealand. “We saw what seemed to be a 4,000-pounder burst on a big oil-storage depot on a quay. There was a terrific burst of flame, very red and then black smoke going up high into the sky.”
[symbol]
FLIGHT-LIEUTENANT R.A.P. Allsebrook D.S.O., D.F.C., of Cark-in-Cartmel, Lancashire, came in rather later than the rest. One of his engines had failed over the Mediterranean, but he flew on to bomb, and then made the long journey home on the remaining three engines.
“As we approached Leghorn,” he said, “I saw some bright red fires which looked like oil fires. We saw our first stick of bombs start another fire, and when we put our second stick of bombs across this it must have set off something. More red flames and quantities of black smoke came up.”
The Lancasters made the long flight without incident and without loss, though one crew reported an electrical storm over the Alps.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hamburg Fires Lit up RAF Bombers
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper article on an RAF operation to Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 3 24/7/43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Italy
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hamburg
Italy--Livorno
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One newspaper cutting
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0005
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-24
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Frances Grundy
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Service Order
flight engineer
Halifax
Lancaster
navigator
propaganda
Stirling
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38132/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0004.1.jpg
ad8b6a960e65b3f3e9043ad466702025
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 3 24-7-43 [/inserted]
46 tons a minute on Hamburg
HEAVIEST-EVER RAIDERS MEET NEW-TYPE FLAK
BOMBER COMMAND dropped more than 2,300 tons of bombs in 50 minutes – 46 tons a minute – on port of Hamburg in the heaviest raid of the war, it was announced last night.
The weight of high-explosives and incendiary bombs was greater than the cascade on Dusseldorf on the night of June 11, a raid which reduced the city to a shambles.
First reports from crews show that the results matched the effort.
There were vast fires in Germany's largest seaport, where more submarines are built yearly than in any other town in German Europe.
Dense black smoke rose four miles into the air, and there are many reports of violent explosions.
Yellow light
The navigator of a Lancaster, Flight-Lieutenant J. D. Henderson, of Auckland, New Zealand, described the effect of an explosive fire.
"From my table," he said, "I couldn't see what was happening below. I thought we were caught in a cone of searchlights.
"A yellow light lit up the whole aircraft. I looked up and saw the light reflected on the wing and then I left my position and looked down at the fire below. It was like a huge mushroom of flames.
Other crews engaged in a light attack on the Ruhr saw the flames of Hamburg 200 miles away.
The first aircraft reached Hamburg a minute or two before zero hour, one o'clock. Their first bombs went down to the second.
Over England the machinery of landing and flying control worked with smooth precision.
The bombers flew through thick cloud over the North Sea as they gained height for the attack, but once they reached land the cloud broke up.
Could see river
Over the target itself there was only haze, and visibility was excellent. Crews could easily see the River Elbe and the docks of Hamburg, except at the very end of the attack, when there was little to be seen except smoke and fires.
Saturday night's attack was a record for speed as well as for weight. In recent attacks on Dortmund and Dusseldorf 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on each target in about an hour. A still greater weight in 50 minutes last night seems to have swamped and scattered the ground defences of Hamburg.
Sergeant A. E. Newman, of Redhill, a flight-engineer in a Halifax who took part in the last seven attacks on the Ruhr, thought there were even more searchlights over Hamburg than around the Ruhr targets.
"The gunners were using a type of flak I haven't seen before," he said. "It burst like a rocket, with a bright flash, and then scattered a fine spray of red fragments over 50 yards. It was different from the chandelier type, which sends out greenish-coloured starts.
Few fighters
The casualties were extra-ordinarily light in proportion to the great force which was sent to attack one of the most heavily defended places in Germany. Few encounters with night fighters are reported. But a Stirling collided with a German fighter over the target.
"We had bombed the target and were dodging round to avoid the searchlights," said the pilot, Flying-Officer G. Turner, of Winnipeg.
"Suddenly I saw the slim wing and fuselage of a fighter about 25 yards dead ahead of us. I had just time to warn the crew over the inter-com., 'Fighter ahead,' when it hit our starboard wing with a bump.
"It tore away four feet of the starboard wing and above five feet of the starboard aileron, the aileron controls being damaged. The
[missing word] BACK PAGE COL. FOUR
2,300 tons on Hamburg
[symbol] FROM PAGE ONE
fighter turned over on its back and went straight down.
"Our Stirling dropped on its starboard side and began to lose height. Luckily the bomb-aimer had just come up from his position and was sitting by me, so that he was able to help me to drag on the control and pull the Stirling level.
"All the way back it was difficult to control the aircraft. The bomb-aimer and I would get the Stirling level on its course, and then down would slip the starboard wing, and we would swing off our course.
"The flight-engineer helped matters by running three engines off the starboard tank, so lightening the starboard side of the aircraft.
"When we were near base I lowered the undercarriage and flaps and tried out how I could handle her like that. She answered to the control perfectly, and I glided down to a safe landing on the runway."
OF LITTLE USE
Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and the largest port. But its 22 miles of quays and 110 miles of docks are nowadays little used as Germany has lost her overseas trade.
Hamburg, however, remains a great centre of war industry, and especially of submarine-building yards. The great Blohm and Voss shipyards – which have also built warships, including the Bismarck and the Admiral Hipper – and many other yards, together turn out more submarines than are built in any other town or [missing letter]ort in Germany.
[missing letter]amburg also has a large and [missingletters]portant metal-refining industry. The Germans have made great efforts, not only by the provision of massed defences, but also by elaborate camouflage of the lakes [missing letter]n the centre of the town, to protect the large number of war [missing letter]actories.
Heavy terror raid,' the Germans say
The German News Agency yesterday described the Hamburg attack [missing letter]s a "heavy terror raid." It added that Altona and Barmbeck were also bombed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
46 Tons a Minute on Hamburg
Description
An account of the resource
A cutting referring to an attack on Hamburg. It is annotated 'No 3 24-7-43'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-07-24
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Düsseldorf
Germany--Hamburg
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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Four newspaper cuttings on an album page
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0004
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-07-24
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bomb aimer
bombing
bombing of Hamburg (24-31 July 1943)
flight engineer
Halifax
Lancaster
navigator
propaganda
Stirling
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38131/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0003.2.jpg
613a5731dea9285eedd81c01791424c0
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Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inserted] No 2 16-6-43 [/inserted]
Cologne gets 116th raid
Two huge explosions lit up the sky 10 minutes after the R.A.F. had started its 116th attack on Cologne on Wednesday night.
The defences did not open up until the first bombs had gone down. For the first few minutes the barrage steadily increased, although the town’s belt of searchlights was largely ineffective because of cloud.
Targets elsewhere in the Rhineland were attacked, and fighters shot up transport and other objectives in Holland and Belgium. Fourteen bombers and one fighter are missing.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Cologne gets 116th Raid
Description
An account of the resource
A cutting referring to an attack on Cologne. It is annotated 'No 2 16-6-43'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Cologne
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
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One newspaper cutting
Identifier
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SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0003
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-06-16
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Frances Grundy
bombing
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/2175/38130/SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0002.2.jpg
457c6918c8df3a4e8f27de3ee3622081
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Williamson, Frank-249
Description
An account of the resource
24 items. The collection concerns Frank Williamson (b. 1912, 1311249 Royal Air Force) and contains his log book, documents and newspaper clippings. He flew operations as an air gunner with 106 Squadron.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Lyn Williamson and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Williamson, F
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-01-30
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[inverted rubber stamp] Sergeants’ Mess
R.A.F. Station
Syerston [/rubber stamp]
[inserted] 13/6/43 No. 1 [/inserted]
4
[underlined] So Many Bombers Attacked Bochum, They Had to Dodge Each Other In The Clouds [/underlined]
Guns Massed Miles Deep In Desperate Defence of Ruhr
RESUMING the offensive against the Ruhr on Saturday night, Bomber Command assailed the coal and iron city of Bochum with a great force of four-engined bombers.
Although the raid was not so heavy as the record attack on Dusseldorf on the previous night, over five 4,000-pounders were going down every minute, in addition to tens of thousands of incendiaries and hundreds of other high-explosive bombs.
More guns have been sent to the Ruhr since the R.A.F.'s last attack on Dortmund.
The Nazis have made no secret of the fact that if the Ruhr is silenced, Germany's war-waging potential is at an end. They are clearly making every effort to ward off such a disaster.
HUGE SEARCHLIGHT CONES
Said the pilot of a Halifax: "The whole place seemed to come alive with hundreds of gun flashes. The barrage did not let up at once. It seemed as if the Germans had massed their guns miles deep."
"Two huge cones of about 70 searchlights were sweeping the sky over Munster," said another airman. "Night fighters were out in force, but when more bombers arrived the efficiently co-ordinated defence began to waver. The guns resorted to a straight barrage.
There were so many bombers over the target that one pilot said that his chief worry was in trying to avoid a collision.
FIGHTER EXPLODED
"The weather had clouded over," said the pilot of a Lancaster, "and I was afraid of hitting one of our aircraft in the darkness.
"I saw one fighter explode with a flash and go down in flames."
Later arrivals over Bochum found two large areas of fire. "I was guided to the target by the glow on the clouds," said the pilot of another Lancaster.
"When we were over the target we were suddenly hit by flak and by an incendiary from one of our own aircraft, at the same moment. The flak did not do us much harm, but the incendiary flared up and started a fire. My wireless operator put out the flames, and we went on to bomb our target.
[page break]
700 Buildings Were Wrecked in Bochum
AIR photographs of Bochum, taken after the attack on the night of June 12, have now been interpreted in detail. They show that damage is even more serious than it appeared to be after a first inspection of the pictures.
The raid was not one of the heaviest of recent attacks in the Battle of the Ruhr, but in the centre of the city 130 acres were devastated.
Nine industrial establishments, three of them of the highest priority, have been affected by the attack. Seven hundred buildings have been destroyed or seriously damaged.
CAN'T BE REPLACED
One of the high priority plants, the Eisen and Huttenwerke A.G., which was very severely damaged, produces some especially important grades of steel, and the extensive devastation of the factory will cost the enemy irreplaceable war material.
[page break]
CHIMNEY STACK COLLAPSED
"I saw a stick of explosives hit a factory. The factory chimney tottered for a moment and then lazily collapsed on to the ground.
"When we looked down again we all saw a huge explosion which was quickly followed by a second and then a third. Sheets of red flame spurted upwards, giving way to smoke, which rolled up towards the clouds."
Many other crews reported seeing these explosions.
Bochum, with a population of 320,000, is one of the most important transport centres of the Ruhr coal basin. It has a great number of coke oven plants and an important steel industry.
24 BOMBERS MISSING
This is the third big raid on Bochum this year.
Fighter Command intruders on Saturday night attacked transport targets in Northern France and Holland.
From the night's operations, 24 bombers are missing.
The German communique reported "casualties among the civilian population, particularly in the town of Bochum. Considerable damage was done to houses and public buildings, including two hospitals. The destruction of 29 enemy bombers has so far been reported.
The pilot of a reconnaissance aircraft which flew over Munster on Saturday found that the fires started during the attack on the previous night were still burning.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Guns Massed Miles Deep in Desperate Defence of Ruhr
Description
An account of the resource
An attack on Bochum. The cutting is annotated '13/6/43 No 1'
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Germany--Bochum
Germany--Düsseldorf
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three newspaper cuttings
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SWilliamsonF1311249v10003-0002
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-06-13
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sue Smith
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
bombing
Halifax
incendiary device
Lancaster
propaganda
RAF Syerston
searchlight
wireless operator
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1953/36756/MHitchcockJS740899-170926-130001.1.jpg
530b540bc1f6382e16e5b68aabade311
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1953/36756/MHitchcockJS740899-170926-130002.1.jpg
19c24471b374aa4a79216fd9508a43d8
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Hitchcock, John Samuel
J S Hitchcock
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-09-26
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hitchcock, JS
Description
An account of the resource
87 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant John Samuel Hitchcock (740899, 106813 Royal Air Force) and contains his decorations, log books, uniform jacket, sunglasses, parachute logbook, documents and photographs. He flew operations as a pilot with 37, 57 and 78 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection also contains <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2142">an album</a><span> from his training in North Africa.<br /></span><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by P J Hitchcock and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Vrijheid Vergaat Niet
Description
An account of the resource
Freedom does not perish. A Dutch language newspaper dropped by the RAF.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-10
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Netherlands
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
nld
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One double sided printed sheet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MHitchcockJS740899-170926-130001, MHitchcockJS740899-170926-130002
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-10
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1406/36606/SRosserLV745193v10008.2.jpg
8dd4749701da62374ec5262f299f4973
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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Title
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Italians!
Description
An account of the resource
There’re no irreconcilable differences between Great Britain and Italy - only Germany is to blame for the bombing war waged on Italy. Keeping on fighting means strengthen Germany, Italy’s natural enemy.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Italy
Language
A language of the resource
ita
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One page printed document
Identifier
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SRosserLV745193v10008
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1406/36605/SRosserLV745193v10001.2.jpg
e681e0b1b46b5401e1aea67e8498a7b3
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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Title
A name given to the resource
Note
Description
An account of the resource
Note on envelope 'samples of leaflets dropped on Germany by RAF'.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Handwritten note on envelope
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10001
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1406/36604/SRosserLV745193v10009-0001.2.jpg
7a200c3e26cfdfd3c29b4aaeb1ee0d44
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1406/36604/SRosserLV745193v10009-0002.2.jpg
2949583545beef331b790b86dd87df03
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Hitler pursuit un mirage sanglant
Ils ont beau crier Victoire
Description
An account of the resource
Article regards German claims of any victory over Moscow and the Russian army to be false. It points to a number of German spokespersons from Hitler himself to German press or radio making false reports of victory. Six examples of false claims are given over the period of 12 July to 12 October. The reality is said to be that large numbers of Germans have been killed in a number of places (Gomel, Smolensk, Bryansk, St Petersburg, Odessa, Moscow). French are urged to ignore the claims and remember that only a small part of Russian territory had been invaded, its industry was continuing, its army had huge supplies and morale was very high. Hitler had paused the offensive and would receive the punishment he deserved.
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10009
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Russia (Federation)
Germany
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
propaganda
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Le Courrier de l’Air No. 28, 1941
Description
An account of the resource
Describes how German army’s progression around Moscow is not as rapid or complete as indicated by propaganda from Berlin. They are meeting tenacious defence from Russia, preventing the German infantry from joining the Panzer Divisions. Suggests Germany needs to take Moscow and destroy Russian army for victory. Russia’s huge space provides much flexibility. Cartoon of ‘promised land’ with Nazi eagle perched on victory sign and ravaged earth below. RAF in west keeping over half of the Luftwaffe fighters from the Russian front. Berlin correspondent of L’Alcazar on 15th October doubts Russians would capitulate even with the loss of major cities.
Huge increases in military aircraft production in United States, with ten times more output in September 1941. Free French Naval Forces commander of ‘Rubis’ submarine describes how it torpedoes a 4,000 ton merchant ship and suffers damage from depth charges. It surfaces the following day and re-joins its base. The Rubis is made a companion of the Ordre de la Libération on 15th October for its wartime service for France and crossing a minefield during an attack despite being damaged. Mussolini suffering heavy ship losses because of British navy and RAF in Mediterranean.
Free French Fleet has about 50 ships. Photograph of Admiral Muselier and Sir Dudley Pound, Admiral of the Fleet. Photograph of a general from Free French forces, together with an English general, inspecting 16-ton Valentine medium tanks said to be the best of their type.
Describes preparations and outcome of Anglo-Russian-American conference in Moscow at which a package of aid for Russia was agreed. Lord Beaverbrook representing England and W. Averell Harriman the United States. Russian arms production capacity and aircraft (MIG3 and Stormovik dive bomber) praised. Poster showing results of Moscow conference. Quotation from Clausewitz’s ‘On War’ 1833, suggesting Hitler is acting as though victorious as his opponent is too strong.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
France
United States
Russia (Federation)--Moscow
Language
A language of the resource
fra
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10007
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
propaganda
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Luftpost, number 4, 16 June 1941
Description
An account of the resource
On 7th June Sir Robert Peirse, Commander in Chief of Bomber Command, reported on the British success against German vessels since 12th March. For land-based operations, they are mass producing larger aircraft with larger bombing capacity to have more impact in a single sortie.
Article about Princess Hohenlohe, formerly Stephany Richter, of Hungarian Jewish origin. She had associations with Hitler and his entourage. Arrested in May and sentenced to deportation, she has been assisting the American government. As a result, Dr. Kurt Rieths, former German ambassador in Vienna, was arrested. The German-American federation, financed by the National Socialist Party, has also been dissolved and its leader sent to prison for embezzlement.
Because of the RAF actions on ships, the article questions how many reinforcements are reaching General Rommel in North Africa.
Favourably compares British and American steel and oil production to the Axis countries, suggesting they will, therefore, produce a higher number of bombs.
Cartoon called “The Final Victory 1941”.
Calorie consumption comparisons show a reduction between early months of 1940 and 1941. Although Germany and Denmark are still above the recommended 2500 calories per day, the Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians and French have insufficient. It suggests Germany is plundering them for its own needs.
List of German targets in Britain.
Eight facts and eight questions are listed on the subject of Rudolf Hess, who landed in Scotland on 10th May.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-06-07
1941-05-10
Language
A language of the resource
deu
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10006
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
United States
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-06-14
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
bombing
propaganda
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Luftpost 18, 16 September 1941
Description
An account of the resource
300 more American warships are now protecting shipping routes following President Roosevelt’s order on 12 September. Numbers of vessels in American navy at the outbreak of war are listed and the number will steadily increase.
William Sebold, a double agent for 18 months, testified against 16 German spies in New York on 8th September. 11 had given full confessions and a further 17 had been recently arrested. The Gestapo provided him with the names and addresses of their spies in the United States.
List of German regions and cities Russian reports list as having suffered significantly.
Provides information on damage to parts of Cologne, which it claims, the German authorities do not wish to share.
The military situation is said to be a barometer for the military situation; falling share prices are linked to the start of the Russian campaign.
German losses said to be five times higher than First World War and a hundred times more than in 1870-1871, countering [Joseph] Goebbels’s claim that the losses are ‘quite normal’.
Blames Herr Walter Funk [Reich Minister for Economic Affairs, President of the Reichsbank] for the huge increase in bank note circulation. Article mocks his monetary theory and concludes he should be held accountable.
Britain now sending aircraft and military equipment to Russia, showing it is strong enough to prevent any invasion. Hitler will still want to invade, which is why the RAF has conducted operations against German and Axis ships. The first conference of the three global powers [America, Britain and Russia] to take place in Moscow.
Feud between Wilhelm Kube and Goebbels goes back to 1924. Kube is about to become Commissioner General for Belarus. Kube is said to be in the ascendancy, whilst Goebbels and Walter Darré, Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, are becoming less significant.
Photograph and description of U-boat surrender after being spotted by a Hudson aircraft on a patrol of the Atlantic; the first time a landplane has caused a submarine to surrender.
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-09-12
1941-09-12
Language
A language of the resource
deu
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10005
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
New York (State)--New York
New York (State)
Germany--Cologne
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-09-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
bombing
Goebbels, Joseph (1897-1945)
Hudson
propaganda
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945)
submarine
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Unverdunkelt!
Description
An account of the resource
Leaflet describes how the United States is fulfilling President Roosevelt’s promise of 16th March 1941 to provide Britain with ships, aircraft, tanks and weapons and how much it is producing. Many of the war materials are at no cost and on demand.
There is a photograph of a tank factory in Pittsburgh providing non-stop production for England. There is no blackout as it is out of reach of German bombers.
Language
A language of the resource
deu
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two-sided printed leaflet
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10004
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
United States
Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-03-16
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
propaganda
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945)
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Nicht euer Kind
Description
An account of the resource
Describes the effects of sowing hatred. Hitler had talked about war for 20 years, prepared for 7 years and started it on 1st September 1939. The people whose land he has occupied and attacked are said to hate him. An ever increasing hatred is directed at German soldiers, police and officials. Examples of how hatred is being shown are given from France, Holland, Norway and Poland, all of which have suffered greatly. It questions how Hitler will build his New Order on these foundations and asks Germans to reflect.
Photograph of dead or badly injured child, for which the reader is challenged to make amends. It notes the many children struck by aerial bombs (in Warsaw, Rotterdam, Belgrade). Destruction all over Europe caused by the man who started the war on 1st September 1939, all under the German Reich, its flag and people.
Dropped on Germany by the RAF. Additional information was kindly provided by the donor.
Language
A language of the resource
deu
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two side printed document
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SRosserLV745193v10003
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
France
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Poland--Warsaw
Netherlands--Rotterdam
Serbia--Belgrade
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Coulter
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1939-09-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
propaganda
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1406/36598/SRosserLV745193v10002-0001.2.jpg
794e1033a9a81dc2f432ab456e78c51b
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Rosser, Lewis Victor
L V Rosser
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-05-17
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Rosser, LV
Description
An account of the resource
154 items. The collection concerns Flight Lieutenant Lewis Victor Rosser (b. 1919, 745193 Royal Air Force) and contains his log books, a diary of his operations, notebooks, documents, correspondence and an album. He flew operations as a pilot with 35, 58, 51 and 115 Squadrons. <br /><br />The collection includes a <a href="https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/show/2133">Photograph album</a> with photographs of people and aircraft, artwork cards, newspaper cuttings and documents. <br /><br /><br />The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Ann Godard and Joy Shirley and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hitler oder Roosevelt? Wem glaubst du?
Hitler or Roosevelt? Which do you believe?
Description
An account of the resource
The leaflet contrasts Hitler’s repeated declaration on 16th March 1941 that Germany would achieve the final victory with that of Roosevelt on 16th [15th] March 1941, announcing America’s total commitment until total victory.
A quotation is given from Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’, Chapter 13, describing the sheep-like docility of the German people.
Quotations are used from Paul von Hindenburg in 1917 and Hitler in 1941, which suggested Germany would respond to American support with submarines and torpedoes. The article asks whether the ‘sheep’ should believe when they have been deceived twice.
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deu
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Text
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Two page printed document
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SRosserLV745193v10002
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
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1941-03-15
1941
1917
Contributor
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Sally Coulter
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Civilian
Conforms To
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Pending text-based transcription. Other languages than English
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
propaganda
-
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1912/36058/PHayhurstJM17030002.1.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Hayhurst, Jose Margaret
J M Hayhurst
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-07-25
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Hayhurst, JM
Description
An account of the resource
108 items. The collection concerns Sergeant Jose Margaret Hayhurst (2073102 Royal Air Force) and contains decorations, uniform, documents and photographs. She served as a radar operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Andrew Whitehouse and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
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[photograph]
[page break]
When Re-ordering, please refer to No. [inserted] CH13810 [/inserted] COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH.
FOX PHOTOS LTD.,
6 TUDOR STREET,
LONDON, E.C.4
CENT. 7831
Gwen by The News of the World filing dept in Fleet Street one Sunday morning after hitching to London with Jeannie Lund from Hythe. July/Aug 44.
[page break]
[underlined] RELEASE DATE SATURDAY'S EVENINGS LOCALS [/underlined]. SEPT. 9th
BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH (AIR MINISTRY) [indecipherable letters] 13810.
CROWN COPYRIGHT RESERVED. XF
W.A.A.F. PLOT THE FLYING BOMBS
W.A.A.F. working at an R.A.F. post in Southern England were some of the first persons to plot the course of flying bombs leaving Northern France. They traced the course of the first flying bomb to attack England.
Picture shows - Left to right. Leading [deleted words] [inserted] Aircraftwoman, [/inserted] M. HARVEY, of Hampton Court, Surrey, and Leading Aircraftwoman J.M. Hayhurst, of Manchester plotting the course of flying bombs.
P.N.A. SEPT. 8th 44. Tel. No. CEN. 7831.
[underlined] FOR PUBLICATION IN SATURDAY'S EVENINGS LOCALS. SEPT. 9th 44. [/underlined]
Dublin Core
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Title
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Jose Hayhurst and M Harvey Plotting
Description
An account of the resource
Jose and another WAAF working on vertical boards. On the reverse 'Given by the News of the World filing dept in Fleet Street on Sunday morning after hitching to London with Jeannie Lund from Hythe July/Aug 44'. Stamped Fox Photos Ltd.
A note accompanying the photograph states 'WAAF plot the Flying Bombs'.
Creator
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Fox Photos
Date
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1944
Temporal Coverage
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1944-09-09
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England--London
England--Hythe (Kent)
England--Manchester
England--Kent
England--Lancashire
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Language
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eng
Type
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Photograph
Text
Format
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One b/w photograph and one typewritten sheet
Identifier
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PHayhurstJM17030001, PHayhurstJM17030002, PHayhurstJM17030003
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Sue Smith
aircrew
ground personnel
propaganda
radar
V-1
V-weapon
wireless operator
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
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701e5a6a04b09c153a26bb3df0044712
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Hayhurst, Jose Margaret
J M Hayhurst
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-07-25
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
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Hayhurst, JM
Description
An account of the resource
108 items. The collection concerns Sergeant Jose Margaret Hayhurst (2073102 Royal Air Force) and contains decorations, uniform, documents and photographs. She served as a radar operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Andrew Whitehouse and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
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[photograph]
BRITISH GUNNER
[page break]
[photograph]
[emblem] ENGLAND – A small village lay tucked away in the fold of a valley just below the high, windswept, bleak plateau where a Lancaster bomber station was situated. Housewives were busy in the kitchen preparing food, and the men had left their ploughing to come in for the noon-day meal. In the lichen-covered Gothic church, the minister's wife was arranging decorations, and placing on the altar freshly cut chrysanthemums that had managed to escape the north winds, and were still blooming in December.
The placidness of the village life was in sharp contrast to the bustling activity at the airfield. It seemed as remote from war as any hamlet could possibly be, although the provident farmers, living so close to an obvious military target, had wisely provided themselves with shelter trenches at the edge of each ploughed field.
Nevertheless, the name of this quiet, lovely village had spread far. By borrowing it, the bomber station had made it one to strike terror into the heart of the Nazi High Command.
At the airfield, V-for-Victor's crew lounged around B Flight office waiting to see if operations were on. They kept looking up into the sky as if trying to guess what the weather was going to be like. Some of the men chuckled. "Papa Harris is so set on writing off the Big City that he hardly even notices the weather," one of them said. "The last time there were kites stooging around all over the place. The met boobed that one."
It was a strange new language. What the airman was saying was that the last time out, the meteorological men had given a wrong steer on the weather, and the planes had been flying all over looking for the field, on the return trip. "Papa Harris" was Air Chief Marshal Harris, chief of Bomber Command.
V-for-Victor's captain came back from operations room with the news that there would be ops. That settled the discussion. You seemed to be aware, without noticing anything in particular, of a kind of tension that gripped the men; like they were pulling in their belts a notch or two to get set for the job ahead.
And with the news, everybody got busy – the aircrews, the ground crews, the mechanics, the Waafs, the cooks. The ships already had a basic bomb and fuel load on board, and the additional loads were sent out in ammunition trailers and fuel trucks. The perimeter track lost its usually deserted appearance and looked like a well-traveled [sic] highway, with trucks and trailers, buses and bicycles hurrying out to the dispersal points. It was just like the preparations at any bomber base before taking off for enemy territory – but going over the big city was something different. These men had been there before. They knew what to expect.
In the equipment room, June, the pint-sized Waaf in battledress, was an incongruous note. Over a counter as high as her chin, she flung parachutes, harnesses and Mae Wests. The crew grabbed them and lugged them out to the ships. You kept thinking they ought to be able to get somebody a little bigger for the job she was handling.
In the briefing room, the met officer gave the weather report and the forecast over enemy territory. There would be considerable cloud over the target. The men grinned. An operations officer gave a talk on the trip. The route was outlined on a large map of Germany on the front wall. It looked ominously long on the large-scale map. He pointed out where the ground defenses [dic] were supposed to be strong, and where fighter opposition might be expected. He gave the time when the various phases should be over the target. He explained where the "spoof" attacks were to be made, and the time. He told the men what kinds of flares and other markers the Pathfinders would drop. There was the usual business of routine instructions, statistics and tactics to be used. The group captain gave a pep-talk on the progress of the Battle of Berlin. And all the while, that tape marking the route stared you in the face, and seemed to grow longer and longer.
Outside, it was hazy and growing more so. But this was nothing new. The men were convinced that the weather was always at its most variable and its dampest and its haziest over their field. What could you expect? Ops would probably be scrubbed after all. Hell of a note!
In the fading light the planes were silhouetted against the sky. They looked, on the ground, slightly hunched and menacing like hawks. Seeing them there, in the half light, you would never guess how easy and graceful they are in flight. Nor would you realize, when you see them soaring off the runway, what an immense load they take up with them. It is only when you see the open bomb bay, on the ground, that you get some idea of a Lancaster's destructive power. The open bomb bay seems like a small hangar. The 4,000 pound block-buster in place looks like a kitten curled up in a large bed. It is a sobering sight.
In the evening some of the men tried to catch a few winks; most of them just sat around talking. The operational meal followed. It was only a snack, but it was the last solid food any one would get until the fresh egg and bacon breakfast which has become a ritual for the proper ending of a successful mission.
A YANK correspondent went along with the RAF Lancasters as they made two of their historic night raids on the "Big City" – and watched them drop their "blockbusters" and incendiaries on the nerve centre of Europe's evil genius. From these two trips he learned what all RAF night bombing crews have learned – that usually you either get back intact or you don't get back at all. This is the story of one of those missions over Berlin.
Dublin Core
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Title
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British Gunner
Description
An account of the resource
A magazine article written by an American journalist about bombing operations.
Spatial Coverage
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Great Britain
England
Germany--Berlin
Germany
Great Britain
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Format
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One printed photograph and one printed sheet.
Identifier
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MHayhurstJM2073102-170725-370001, MHayhurstJM2073102-170725-370002
Rights
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Sue Smith
aircrew
bombing
briefing
ground crew
ground personnel
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
home front
Lancaster
meteorological officer
operations room
Pathfinders
propaganda
target indicator
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1912/35970/MHayhurstJM2073102-170725-11.2.pdf
1c6506547020969c83d9a7232acfd4bb
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hayhurst, Jose Margaret
J M Hayhurst
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-07-25
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hayhurst, JM
Description
An account of the resource
108 items. The collection concerns Sergeant Jose Margaret Hayhurst (2073102 Royal Air Force) and contains decorations, uniform, documents and photographs. She served as a radar operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Andrew Whitehouse and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Transcribed document
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
WAR
[underlined] Frankfurt Revisited [/underlined]
ISSUED FORTNIGHTLY BY THE
ARMY BUREAU OF CURRENT AFFAIRS
ABCA
[boxed] RESTRICTED
The information given in this publication is not to be communicated, either directly or indirectly, to the Press or to any person not authorised to receive it. [/boxed]
No. 62 January 22nd, 1944
[page break]
Lines of Thought
1. The ideal way to cover the subject of bombing is to invite a member of a bomber crew to talk about his job, and use this pamphlet to provide the questions to keep him talking. But failing this, the first half of the story is best reported on, and the second part which deals with the actual flight is best read aloud. Assume that everyone would like to have been on a bombing raid. Here is the detailed story of someone who had the good fortune to do so.
Remember that in spite of all that has been written about Bomber Command, the details of its day to day work are still extremely vague in most people's minds. The result of your talk should be twofold: firstly to give a matter-of-fact account of life in an air crew; secondly to provide a starting point for a discussion on the value of our bombing effort.
2. Perhaps the outstanding military moral is the complete unity of the bomber crew. This unity grows from their technical interdependence and from the nature of their work. A similar spirit is natural to the tank crew, the parachute stick, the mortar team, or in any situation where everyone feels that everyone else knows his job. There could be an interesting and useful discussion on the teamwork situation in your own group. It may not be easy to start because it depends on personal relationships about which people are reluctant to talk. But such a talk, arising in this apparently irrelevant way, can be exceedingly helpful. A useful point on which to launch this discussion is your own experiences of co-operation in previous military or civilian life.
3. During 1943 R.A.F. Bomber Command dropped 136,000 tons of bombs on Germany. Or more than twice the 65,000 tons dropped on this country since the war began. Another 15,000 tons fell on occupied territories and 6,000 tons on Italy; making a total average of 430 tons of bombs on the enemy every night of 1943.
The answering German total was under 7 tons a night, or 2,500 for the year.
By the end of 1943, 20 of Germany's 50 most important cities had been so devasted that they were more of a liability than an asset to the German war machine. Many others, including Berlin, had been severely damaged in varying degree.
ii
[page break]
[symbol][underlined] Frankfurt Revisited [/underlined]
Did I ever tell you about my operation?
By Major ANTHONY COTTERELL,
WAR Staff Writer
THE fact that there is going to be an operation is generally known to the crews about 10 a.m. of the morning of the operation. They don't know where it will be until the briefing later in the day. In the case of the R.A.F. Bomber Station visited, transport left the officers’ mess, a requisitioned hotel, two miles from the aerodrome, at 9 a.m.
The pilots report to their Squadron Leader in his office. Three mornings a week there is P.T. for aircrews at 9.30 a.m. to 9.45 a.m. But the general impression is of them waiting around for the decision which is the focal point of their day.
The point is that though they may not have operated for more than a week, they never know each morning whether or not they will be doing so. Of course, extreme weather conditions are a pretty good guide when they get up in the morning. But the weather overhead may have no particular bearing on the weather over Germany that night.
About 10 o'clock the telephone rings to say whether or not there will be operations.
What is the General Time-table for the Air Crews?
Every morning, whether or not they are operating, each aircraft must be tested. If there is no operation they probably make a practice flight. They may do some practice bombing with small practice bombs. If, on the other hand, they are going to be operating that night they will probably do their night flying test – N.F.T.s as the morning tests are called – on the ground. This takes up most of the morning.
In the afternoon there are probably lectures. There is a school for each operational job in the air crew. For instance, the navigators have lectures, inquests and discussions of their own. So do the wireless
1
[page break]
operators and the gunners, and the bomb aimers. They finish about tea-time, and the rest of the day is their own.
On this particular day the crews had been flying in the morning, and, at the point when I was introduced, the members of the particular crew to which I had been allotted were on their way to spend Sunday afternoon cleaning their Lancaster, T for Tommy.
There were seven in the crew: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, air bomber (or bomb-aimer), wireless operator, mid-upper gunner and rear-gunner. The Lancaster didn't look sensationally large despite its sensationally large bomb load. The pilot, Knights, showed me round it and indicated where I would stand for the operation, while the rest of the crew cleaned it. Apparently a pilot had to pay a half-crown fine if the Squadron Leader found any uncleaned portion of the aircraft.
Are Any Inquests Held?
We weren't there for long, as we had to be back at 4 p.m. for a post-mortem discussions on the last Berlin raid, which had taken place a few days before. It was held in the briefing room, which was about the size of a small church hall, with a table and forms for each crew.
The Group Captain conducted the meeting. Apparently it was the first of the kind held on this station. He explained that after each operation the report and photographs brought back by each crew were individually considered. He hoped that if the post-mortems were held in the presence of all concerned very useful lessons might be learned. It might help to counteract the tendency to think you knew a thing when you weren't really sure.
But criticism was to be constructive, not destructive. "When I ask why were you 20 miles off track, I don't mean why the hell were you 20 miles off track, I just mean why were you 20 miles off track?"
The various specialist officers, Intelligence, Radio, Ordnance, etc., and the two Squadron Leaders and the Wing Commander sat on each side of him. The Group Captain sat alone at a small table raised on a shallow platform. He had a pile of dossiers before him, one relating to each crew. He took these in turn.
Now, Was Priority Really Necessary?
"Tomlin came back with two engines U/S. and a third likely to go. Very good performance. Now, the point is this – he asked for radio priority, and he couldn’t get it because another aircraft already had priority. Now, was it really necessary for the other aircraft to have priority, and why was it necessary?"
The navigator of the crew concerned stood up and said that they had become uncertain of their whereabouts because he, the navigator, had been attending to another member of the crew who was unconscious through oxygen failure. The Group Captain went into the question of why there had been an oxygen failure. He prescribed a revised and
2
[page break]
tightened up arrangement for inspecting each man's oxygen mask before taking off.
One crew had complained that the door of the aircraft had blown open. The room became divided into two schools. Those who maintained the official view that it was mechanically impossible for the door to blow open. And those with experience of doors inclined to blow open.
T for Tommy was the last aircraft to be considered. There was laughter in the post-mortem when the Group Captain read out that Knights had bombed on the reciprocal. That is to say, he had been unsatisfied with his first bombing run and hadn't dropped his bombs, but had turned and made another run. To do this had to fly in the opposite direction to the general traffic path for aircraft over Berlin. It was considered very funny. "I don't know what to say to you," said the Group Captain. "Don't know quite what to say."
"It would have taken too long to circle the town and come in again in the ordinary way, sir," said Knights.
"Yes, couldn't do that over Berlin. Quite hopeless. Yes, I think you were justified. After all, you achieved your primary object. Dropped the bombs on the target. Yes, I think you were justified. Very creditable."
The rest of the day was our own.
Is There Much Excitement Beforehand?
Next morning the pilots were hanging round the Squadron Leader's office in the same way as yesterday.
Nothing definite had come in by 10 o'clock when we went out to the aircraft, though the weather was considered ominously suitable. Accumulators were being changed out in the aircraft, the radio was being tested. A girl's voice said, "I hear you strong and clear. I hear you strong and clear."
Discipline was informal but definite. Or rather, there didn't have to be any. The sense of interdependence between various members of the crew was complete. They all looked to the pilot for guidance. Each one was conscious of his own vital part in the crew. Apart from the pilot, the outstanding character was the tail-gunner who was referred to as "the old man" or "Dad" because of his pessimistic and hypochondriac tendencies. Apparently Dad was inclined to be an alarmist, to see fighters in a clear sky. But this increased the general confidence in him as a tail-gunner. They were convinced that no fighter could possibly catch Dad napping.
"Look at this, that's ominous," said Knights. A 4,000lb bomb was being towed up to the aircraft on a ground level buggy. The engines were given a ground run. There was a sense of pleasurable excitement as they started up one by one. The compartment warmed up very quickly. A new zest was detectable as it became evident that there was going to be an operation tonight. The sense of adventure is infectious. You feel that you are taking life by the throat and shaking it.
3
[page break]
After a cup of tea at the Y.M.C.A. mobile van we drove back to the mess for lunch at noon. My room-mate was changing. He put a small German dictionary in his pocket. "Come in handy in the Stalag," he said.
There was an atmosphere of quietly mounting excitement at lunch. People's minds were obviously slightly ahead of the current meal. Certainly mine was.
Is Briefing Just Like in "Target for Tonight"?
Pilots were to be briefed at 1 p.m. We sat around on wicker chairs and forms in a small room just off the main briefing room. The windows looked out over the airfield, but the aircraft were too dispersed to be visible. This room was the Intelligence Library. It was covered with training pamphlets, intelligence reports, not to mention the ABCA pamphlets. We were still waiting at 1.35 p.m. The pilots were discussing possible destinations.
Eventually the target map was brought in and unveiled. Coloured cords and pins marked the route to and from the target. It was Frankfurt, in South-west Germany. "I hate that name," said Knights. "Biggest concentration of searchlights you ever saw."
Roll call was then taken. The Group Captain came in and sat up on a table.
"Met., will you give your story?" said the Wing Commander. The Meteorological Officer started his technical monologue, illustrated by a large and complicated cloud diagram. "No fronts definitely affecting your route . . . bases should be O.K. to land all night . . ." and so on.
The Intelligence Officer described Frankfurt. Population about 570 thousand, a very important town; a commercial and financial centre; with very vital railway ramifications, also of considerable importance as an industrial centre. The docks had been badly damaged in October of this year.
Are Tactical Details Discussed?
The pilots had each been issued with a map of the target area set in a map-case, on the back of which there was a space marked off under various headings for them to make notes. The Wing Commander said that there would be several hundred aircraft on the raid (he gave the exact figure). The attack would be in waves. He read out which aircraft would be in the various waves.
He went on to give particulars of the petrol load, the bomb load, and the overall or all-up weight of the aircraft. One of these aircraft weighs as much as a small convoy of motor lorries.
"You'll set course over base at 17.50 hours. Must be comfortable at your height – 20,000 feet – shortly before crossing the enemy coast. Remain at maximum height all the way to the target. You can climb up afterwards but not above 23,000, as the wind increases at that point."
There was to be a spoof attack on Mannheim, to divert the enemy
4
[page break]
defences; this would go in earlier. There would be coffee and sandwiches in the crew-room at 3 p.m., transport at 3.35 p.m. We were to be at the aircraft by 4 p.m. First take-off at 5 p.m. Zero hour would be 7.35 p.m. Zero hour for the last wave would be between 14 and 17 minutes later.
We moved into the neighbouring room for the main briefing. Here the crews were sitting, each of them on their separate tables. Ours was in the middle of the room. Knights started telling them what had gone on in the pilots' briefing. When all the pilots had finished telling their crews the Group Captain stood up on the platform at the end of the room and read out one of the Prime Minister's messages of congratulation to Sir Arthur Harris. The Group Captain said he was sure they would all be glad to hear that Sir Arthur had sent a message expressing their appreciation of the Prime Minister's thoughtfulness. "And I'm sure you will join me in congratulating our late Wing Commander – Wing Commander Abercrombie – on his very well deserved bar to the D.F.C. I wired him congratulations from us all."
He went on to say that Frankfurt had often been scheduled as a target, but bad weather had often interfered. Tonight was perfect. "The Met. merchant won't dare to show his face if anything goes wrong.
"Now let's have 14 first-class aiming-point photographs for the Wing Commander's first trip. Have a good trip – 14 aiming-points, remember, and 14 back."
What is it Like, Waiting to Go?
We went to dress ourselves. I put on the whole rigmarole; flying suit, fleece-lined boots, sweater, parachute harness, and Mae West.
We were driven out to the aircraft and stood around warming ourselves at the ground crew's fire which was burning outside their little shack. It was pretty cold. Things were very quiet. No sensation of being surrounded by an air armada waiting to take off. Just a small party in a corner of a big, windy field. It was about twenty to five when Knights said: "Well, better be getting in." The engines were started at 4.50 p.m. The pilot and the engineer started going through their checking and testing rigmarole. I stood just behind them in the gangway which leads past the pilot's chair from the nose where the bomb aimer was reclining to the navigator's position just behind me.
The navigator was a rubicund country boy. He sat at a table which grew out from the wall of the aircraft and worked at his maps. [symbol] I had a very good view out of the right-hand side of the aircraft which consisted mostly of glass. I could see out of the left-hand side, but only a limited range of vision owing to the high back of the pilot's seat and the blackout curtain which partitioned off the navigator's
[symbol] Navigators have a separate and elaborate briefing: "The major responsibility for arriving at the right place at the right time rests with the navigator of each aircraft. He maps out the route, and then, using the wind directions and speeds obtained from 'met,' plots the times over the turning-points en route. In flight as often as possible he checks his course by obtaining a 'fix'; then calculates any change there has been in wind speed and direction and revises his flight plan.”
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[diagram]
Diagram shows a German newspaper impression of an R.A.F. raid on Berlin, reproduced by courtesy of the News Chronicle.
compartment. Outside the ground crew were shivering with their hands in their pockets.
Do You Climb Up Quickly or Gradually?
"Is the door shut, Bill?" asked the pilot over the inter-com. On hearing that it was he began to start the engines, one by one, from right to left, until the four of them were roaring. Almost immediately the cabin began to get noticeably warmer. The aircraft edged out on to the taxi track. Other aircraft were lumbering in the same direction. Presently we wheeled into the runway past the little group of blue figures standing to watch the take-off and wave good-bye.
The sense of adventure was further enhanced by the gathering darkness into which the aircraft ahead was just disappearing, followed at about 30-second intervals by our own. The pilot and the engineer were meanwhile carrying on their technical dialogue. "Under-carriage," said the pilot.
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"Undercarriage up," said the engineer.[symbol]
We flew over a river. "Let me know when I'm right over the drome," said the pilot.
"O.K.," said the navigator. "O.K., that'll do."
"O.K., Navigator."
There was a band of olive green, orange and scarlet across the general greyness of the sky: it was like marzipan. Turning round I could look down the length of the aircraft; it looked much bigger in the air than on the ground. There was a slightly sinister red glow from each of the four engines.
The navigator asked the pilot to give him the air speed and height. "170; 11,200," intoned Knights. We started passing large formations of aircraft flying in the opposite direction and distinguishable by their navigation lights. Sometimes they flashed past, seeming to be
[symbol] Every 20 minutes the engineer logs the engine temperatures and oil temperatures. He watches the boost and R.P.M. to prevent using fuel unnecessarily. The more fuel they land with the better everyone is pleased. If, say, an engine catches fire, he must feather it, turn off the petrol, try to extinguish the fire; and, if possible, get the engines going again. If the aircraft has to be ditched he is responsible for launching the dinghy.
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dangerously near. All this time we were climbing. At ten to six I noted that the stars were looking down.
"O.K. Turn right now," said the navigator, and we started wheeling round.
What Does the Pilot Watch For?
I noticed that Knights always looked behind before turning. In the Squadron Leader's office there was a list of instructions for pilots headed "Experientia Docet," in which one of the rules was "Always look behind before taking off. Also before doing a turn in the air. The machine you are flying isn't the only one in existence. Neither are you the only fool. Make a habit of this, but not the habit that makes you screw your head round without seeing anything."
There were other rules. "A good pilot when travelling by train or car should subconsciously be seeing the passing country in the light of a forced landing ground." "Always regard the other man as a fool. Then if he turns out to be one, you won't be surprised." "Do everything in the air smoothly – one might almost say with rhythm. Treat the machine as you would a lady." The one which I hoped Pilot Officer Knights had taken most to heart was: "A steady, consistent pilot is of far more use than a brilliant, erratic one."
"Is that the coast?" the rear-gunner's voice suddenly asked, over the inter-com. I looked down and just made out the division between land and water.
"Yep, Norfolk," said Knights.
"There's a convoy off Great Yarmouth," announced the navigator.
At 6.25 someone asked if we could have the heat lowered. I couldn't identify the inter-com. voice, but he said he was getting fairly sweating. The rear-gunner excitedly announced the approach of an aircraft and then said, "O.K., Lancaster."
"Keep a good look round, Dad," said the pilot.
What Does Europe Look Like?
Distant flashes and searchlight cones began to be visible. The aircraft broke into an odd swaying motion. As we drew nearer Europe the whole horizon was punctuated by signs of strife. These activities were forbiddingly widespread.
"Coast coming up," said Knights presently.
"You're heading straight for flak," said the bomb aimer.
"That's right, run right into it," said the engineer sarcastically.
Knights was suddenly concerned that his windscreen was icing up. The engineer bent up forward and rubbed the rag round it.
"Two searchlights on the starboard bow," said the tail-gunner.
"O.K.," said Knights.
The aircraft started weaving slightly. The two searchlights were creeping with sinister purposefulness around the sky; every now and then executing a dart as if to demonstrate their reserves of mobility. They seemed to stroke the sky all round us, playing cat and mouse. It seemed unlastably [?] good luck, that they didn't find us. There would
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be no trouble about the morale of searchlight detachments if the men could be taken for a ride in a bomber and experience the attention and respect induced by the weapons they wield.
I looked at my watch, which I could read quite plainly in the reflected light of the searchlights. It was 6.45 p.m. We seemed to be passing through a belt of searchlights, which in the way of searchlights switched on and off without much apparent logic. There seemed to be no telling where they would spring up next, and this was horrifying.
There seemed to be a lot of gunfire, but nothing came near us. Our relative position to most of the clusters of searchlights took a long time to change, which meant, I suppose, that they were much farther away than I imagined. Quite suddenly, after flying in this atmosphere of action and enemy protest for some time, we were in the clear again. We were in fact clear of the coast, or in the fighters' parlour, according to how you felt. Incidentally, there isn't much you can feel.
Do the Crew Talk Much?
"I think everybody's early, Bob. There's no searchlights at the back now," said the tail-gunner after a little while. The tail-gunner seemed to be easily the best-informed commentator on the social scene. He seemed to know the most and talked the most. [symbol] Perhaps his isolation stimulated his appetite for sociability. Presently he said, "There's one going down in flames. Right behind us."
I looked back and couldn't see anything until the engineer pointed it out. I could distinguish a faint shapeless glow of flames.
It served to emphasis that admission to these quarters was not free. The gate was shut behind. The house was haunted. Europe was all around us and we were all alone. Looking down on the ground you could see odd, inexplicable, unaggressive looking lights from time to time. They had no apparent significance, and may even have been blackout infringements of the grosser kind. But they served to emphasise our sense of being cut off. I need hardly say, because it has been said so often already, that this gives one a tremendous sense of comradeship with the other members of the crew. Your companionship with each other knows no inhibitions of temperament or prejudice. Friendship is perfect and complete. The idea of carrying an irritation or a resentment against one of them into the air seems quite out of the question.
"Fighter flares in front," said Knights. "Keep a good look out, Dad."
I began keeping a good look out immediately. I saw a row of orange flares hanging pendant in the sky. They seemed to be quite a distance away, but I distrusted them none the less for that. Having already underestimated the distance of some searchlights, there seems no reason why I shouldn't be overestimating the distance of these flares.
Back in the rear-turret, Dad seemed to be having a whale of a time. He kept asking Knights to switch the aircraft in different directions
[symbol] He said his main job was keeping warm and seeing the fighter first. Fighters usually approach from astern and below, unless they get an aircraft silhoutted against a cloud, when they approach from above.
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so that he could get a better view of points where he thought he saw a fighter. (Incidentally, though he had nearly finished his operational tour and been on many of the severest recent raids, he had never yet been opened fire on by a fighter.)
The Ruhr ("Happy Valley") was now pointed out to me. I looked and saw nothing but distant cones of searchlights. "I think that's Cologne," said the engineer, pointing at nothing in particular. It wasn't really a very satisfactory view of the Ruhr. But I felt glad to have seen it. It felt very grand to be able to look out of the window and say to oneself: "Oh, yes, of course, the Ruhr.”
Are There Many Collisions?
"That's Mannheim. Looks as if they're going in early," said Knights.
You could see it quite plainly ahead of us to the right, though it must have been about a hundred miles away. You could see the clusters of searchlights, the flares, the fires and the flashes. Mannheim is about fifty miles from Frankfurt, and it was about this time that we began to come in sight of our target. There were the same flashes and searchlights, but much more clearly defined. It was quite unlike what I expected. Everything was so neatly beautiful.
"Hello, Bob. Junkers 88 coming up, starboard," said Dad in a sudden urgent voice. Knights threw the aircraft over to allow the gunners to get a better view.
"No, O.K., sorry it's a Lanc.," said Dad. I looked up and saw that it was indeed a Lanc. Coming towards us in what seemed like a sideways motion. One second a vague shape, it alarmingly materialised and defined its outline. There just seemed no possibility of avoiding collision. It was all over in a second, but it seemed quite a time. It passed just to the rear and slightly high. I looked up and saw its underbelly skim over us. "Jesus, did you see that," said Knights.
"I thought we'd had it that time," said the engineer. The aircraft was still rocking from the impact with the other aircraft's slipstream.
What Does the Target Look Like?
We were now coming up to Frankfurt proper. You could see what looked like hundreds of thousands of electric light bulbs carpeting the ground. It took me some little time to realise that these were incendiaries. They looked so regular and artificial, so naively pretty, that you couldn't associate them with any work of destruction. There was a large, long area of them shaped like the lobes of a gigantic liver.
The sky was suddenly filled with the regular grey puffs of a flak barrage. These barrages seemed to me extraordinarily consistent in their strength. They don't just throw up a few hundred rounds and stop. They continue with what seems like unlimited regularity.
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With the flares dropped by the pathfinders, the flares dropped by the enemy fighters, the waving searchlights, the bead-like pattern of incendiary fires on the ground, and the flashes of gunfire, there is a sense of supreme experience and excitement.
Knights was working to keep us out of the clutches of some peculiarly inquisitive searchlights, and away to the right another aircraft had failed to keep out of the way. You could see it wriggling in the cone of searchlights doing their best to hold it there while the guns concentrated on this one aircraft.
The cruel thing is that one's only sensation is one of relief that the searchlights are temporarily diverted elsewhere. You feel no urge to go to the assistance of the unfortunate aircraft that is cornered. Of course, obviously it would be senseless to do so, but it seems extraordinary that one doesn't feel any urge to do so. I noticed the same indifference to the troubles of others when flying with the Americans. There is complete unity within the individual aircraft, but for some reason that seems to be the limit of one's horizon. Nor is it simply the expression of my own individual idiosyncrasy. It was obviously a general state of mind.
Is There a Strict Time-table?
All this time the pilot and the navigator were keeping up a running dialogue on how the time was going for the approach to the target. Apparently we were a minute or two early, so we had to lose that amount of time. It was pretty impressive, if the word isn't too banal, to hear the young men talking about losing a minute or two while passing through this firework display. I hadn't much idea of what was going on. I didn't know whether we were running up to the target or still cruising round, and I didn't want to disturb the crew in any way. It hardly seemed in my best interest to do so. I was anxious that they should give of their best, and concentrate closely on the work in hand, i.e., my safe return to England. But presently I realised that we were running up.
"Get weaving, Skipper, the night's too long," said someone.
"I can't see that river," said Knights.
"Bomb-doors open," said whoever's business it was to open them.
"How're we doing?" said someone.
"Fine," said someone else.
Do They Just Drop Them Anywhere?
The first time over the target, conditions weren't apparently satisfactory. They couldn't see the pathfinding flares which they were supposed to bomb, so we flew across the town, then circled round and
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approached the target area from almost the diametrically opposite direction to the main stream of bombers. Coming back on to the target, it was like bright daylight.[symbol]
[diagram]
It is very difficult to describe. Nothing that I have ever read on the subject of bombing gave me anything like the impression which I actually had on the spot. I expected something of the atmosphere of a fire-blitz on the ground. I hadn't allowed for the sense of detachment produced by being 20,000 feet high. You knew that down there was a town of half a million people. By staring round the engineer's shoulder I could see the bomb aimer preparing to press the button which would release another 4,000 lbs. on to the town. But it seemed quite unreal.
Can You See the Fires?
The incendiaries were dropped first and then the 4,000 lb. cookie. Just beforehand there was an appreciable tenseness of the crew. The pilot, of course, had to keep the aircraft flying as level as possible for the bombing run. He turned and half rose from his seat as if he was willing the aircraft to a supreme effort. I tried to write down the dialogue between pilot and bomb aimer, but it was too fast for my hobbling shorthand. I wrote it down, but now I can't transcribe it.
I did not feel any appreciable lightness of the aircraft when "bombs away" was announced. All I knew was that the dialogue of "Steady," "Hold her steady," "O.K., Bob," "O.K., Bomb-aimer," and the sing-song intonation of members just before the dropping, subsided.
Knights asked the bomb aimer if he thought they had obtained a satisfactory picture; the bomb aimer thought he had. They were all professionally satisfied with the delivery of the bomb. There was a sense of achievement. The engineer pointed out the burning streets of Frankfurt. I could just make them out from an orange streak in the carpet of fairy-like lights produced by the incendiaries. I tried to think of the spectacle in terms of what was going on twenty thousand feet below, but it was just impossible to worry about. Mostly, I
[symbol] Approaching the target the bomb-aimer report every indication of position to the navigator. "When the navigator judges the aircraft to be over the target area the bomb-aimer guides the aircraft through the flak until he sees his target in the bomb-sight and releases his bombs." He tries to drop the cookie in the middle of the incendiaries. When the bombs drop the navigator logs the time, heading of the aircraft, speed and height. These particulars enable Intelligence to plot where the bomb has fallen. The diagram on this page is reproduced from a rough sketch made by the navigator.
N. & P. T51–1087
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suppose, because we had plenty to worry about twenty thousand feet above.
The amount of fun and fury and fighter flares are extraordinary. The sky was simply full of trouble. Yet, oddly enough, it was difficult to think of us in this particular aircraft as actively threatened by sudden death. I don't mean that, speaking for myself. I wasn't afraid. Certainly I was in a state of great alarm. But I didn't really expect that we in this aircraft would buy it.
Were Many Shot Down?
There seemed to be plenty to buy. The tail-gunner reported that he counted 49 fighter flares. Just afterwards he reported a fight going on behind us to starboard. I looked back and saw the flares and stabs of flame. This and the one we saw just after crossing the coast were the only two aircraft we saw going down, though we later learned that 42 aircraft had been lost that night.
"Is there a small defended area on the starboard?" Knights asked the navigator. Two or three of the crew got into an argument as to whether it was Aachen or Brussels. "That's Antwerp a bit further up," said one of them. It was ridiculous to hear the young men talk of the cities of Western Europe in terms of where they were last Friday, no, I'm a liar, that was Tuesday; or knowing their way so matter of factly round the Continent in these bizarre circumstances. They knew them not by their cultural monuments, their political significance or their hotels, but simply by their flak and searchlight barrages. They all looked alike to me, but I was told that after only two or three trips you remember the way awfully well.
There was quite a lot of flak going up over Brussels. We crossed the coast in the neighbourhood of Rotterdam. And just before doing so were nearly caught by searchlights. "Hello, they're having a go," said Knights, as the light seemed to lift the fuselage. The aircraft started weaving as, amid the incongruously factious encouragement of the crew, Knights went about the routine of evasion.
When you consider how large the coast of Europe is it seems extraordinary how difficult it is to cross it without coming up against resistance of one kind or another. "Keep a good luck out, Dad. See we're not being followed," said Knights. "O.K." said Dad.
Do You Get Anything to Eat?
It seemed a long way back over the North Sea. I was getting very tired of standing. The engineer let me sit on his seat for a spell, but then he had to have it back to go on with his business.
Coffee was now served from Thermos flasks. I opened the paper bag of rations with which we had been issued. There was an orange,
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a packet of chocolate, some boiled sweets, and two packets of chewing gum. I ate the chocolate, but with difficulty, as it was frozen hard. I then ate the orange, which was also frozen. In fact, the emotional experience of eating that orange was quite lost. It was painfully cold in the mouth.
We were now down to 10,000 or 11,000 feet and had taken off our oxygen masks. It wasn't long, but it seemed long, before we were skirting the English coast. There were searchlights here, too, but what a difference in their attitude. These were kindly lights pointing the way to security, not fingers of fate contriving your doom.
It was now something past 10 p.m., and we were due to land at 11 p.m. That last hour seemed interminable. I found it odd that I hadn't any particular sense of achievement, such as I had anticipated. All I felt was awfully tired.
The landing grounds were illuminated by circles of tiny light. And over each aerodrome there was a guiding cone of searchlights. The odd think was at this height they seemed so very close together. It was as if all the landing grounds were in adjoining fields, instead of being many miles apart. I got to the point where I didn't think we were ever going to land, but eventually we did.
We were driven back to be interrogated, and then home to the mess for bacon and egg.
I got to bed some time after 2 a.m.
This crew had been on operations for some time, and expected to finish their term in a month or so. The operations weren't at all monotonous, said Knights, but they were all of a kind. After the first few trips you learned your way round. Some crews regarded the business as getting progressively easier with each raid, but this crew made a point of regarding each raid as the first. They thought that was the surest way of getting through.
Two Footnotes
1. An R.A.F. officer with whom this pamphlet was discussed, said:-
"It may be a good thing to stress the immense amount of scientific knowledge that crews must have, despite the blasé way in which they refer to 'luck' and one trip being very much like another. It is only their intensive training before ever they reach an operational squadron, the continuation of training and practice when they do get to an operational station, the mastery of their aircraft and weapons, and their experience over enemy territory, that can make them appear to be so blasé."
2. An American Fortress crew with which I flew on daylight operations said that they would be scared stiff to fly at night in the R.A.F. fashion. While the R.A.F. crew said that they would be scared stiff to fly by day. There seems to be a moral lurking somewhere here.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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WAR - Frankfurt Revisited
Description
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A booklet with information about the progress of the war. This edition covers RAF Bomber Command activities.
Creator
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Army Bureau of Current Affairs
Date
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1944-01-22
Spatial Coverage
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Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Mannheim
Germany
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
British Army
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Service material
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16 printed pages
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MHayhurstJM2073102-170725-11
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Temporal Coverage
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1944-01-22
Contributor
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Sue Smith
aerial photograph
air gunner
aircrew
anti-aircraft fire
B-17
bomb aimer
bombing
briefing
Distinguished Flying Cross
flight engineer
ground personnel
Harris, Arthur Travers (1892-1984)
Ju 88
Lancaster
meteorological officer
navigator
Pathfinders
pilot
prisoner of war
propaganda
searchlight
target indicator
target photograph
wireless operator