9 Squadron]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> France--Marignane]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> France--Nord (Department)]]> Germany]]> 1944]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> New York (State)--New York]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> Victoria]]> New York (State)]]> Ken describes how he met his pilot. They initially shot down V-1s flying Mosquitoes. They went to northern France and did cross countries. Ken missed D-Day as he was training on Mark 10 radar at RAF Twinwood Farm. They did intruder raids. He describes going to Linz and Linz and their encounters with fighters. His squadron, along with another Mosquito squadron, were sent to the Channel Islands and was instrumental in the surrender German forces stationed there on 9th May 1945.
Ken was a recipient of Lady Ryder’s Dominion and Allied Services Hospitality Scheme and describes some of the hospitality and leisure pursuits he experienced.
After the war, Ken received the Legion of Honour.
]]>
Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> Austria]]> Austria--Linz]]> Canada]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Northumberland]]> England--Sussex]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Channel Islands]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Arnhem]]> Victoria]]> Victoria--Mornington Peninsula]]> Victoria--Mount Martha]]> Western Australia]]> Western Australia--Bunbury]]> Western Australia--Busselton]]> Western Australia--Geraldton]]> Western Australia--Moora]]> 1945]]>
He describes their capture, mistreatment and interrogations at various locations. After interrogations at Dulag Luft they were sent to a transit camp in Frankfurt then on by train to Heydekrug, Stalag Luft VI. Although their camp section was new it was cramped and basic. He describes camp life in detail. As the Russians got closer they were sent by train to an Army camp at Thorn. He read a copy of NCO education in the camp. These courses were extremely popular and supported by text books sent from the UK. Exams were sat and papers sent to the UK for marking. At Thorn they marched to Stammlager 357 but not for long. They then marched back to the railway and were sent to Fallingbostel. He describes the rail journey in detail, then in greater detail he describes camp life.
Later he was moved to an officer's camp at Eichstadt. This turned out to be an Army camp which refused them and they were sent to Sagan. He stayed there for a short time then was moved to Stalag Luft 3, then 111A. As the Russians neared they moved again. After a couple of days waiting in trucks they returned to their camp. The railway system was breaking down as the end of the war neared.
After the Russians reached them they were allowed out of the camp but still remained billeted there. He writes about his impressions of the Russians.
His journey home was delayed by rain that did not allow aircraft to fly.
His story ends with his retelling of the night his aircraft was shot down, his night in Brussels and his return to England.]]>
Alan McInnes]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Magdeburg]]> Australia]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lichfield]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Germany--Bremen]]> Germany--Stendal]]> Switzerland]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Poland]]> Italy]]> Canada]]> United States]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Poland--Toruń]]> Greece]]> Greece--Crete]]> Poland--Vistula River]]> England--Staverton (Northamptonshire)]]> Germany--Bad Fallingbostel]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Poland--Bydgoszcz]]> Poland--Poznań]]> Germany--Pasewalk]]> Germany--Neubrandenburg]]> Germany--Stavenhagen]]> Germany--Malchin (Landkreis)]]> Germany--Güstrow]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Lübeck]]> Germany--Eichstätt]]> Germany--Munich]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Eisenach]]> Germany--Fürth (Bavaria)]]> Germany--Treuchtlingen]]> Germany--Ingolstadt]]> Germany--Regensburg]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Plauen]]> Poland--Wrocław]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> New South Wales]]> India--Jammu and Kashmir]]> China]]> England--London]]> Germany--Elbe]]> Germany--Potsdam]]> Germany--Jüterbog]]> Ukraine--Odesa]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Halle an der Saale]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> England--Brighton]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Ukraine]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Poland--Poznań]]> Germany]]> Germany--Hof (Hof)]]> 1944-01-21]]>
Anna Hoyles]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Jackie Simpson]]> ]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Burma]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> India]]> United States]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> Anne Brodie]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Alun talks of flying on the Anson and Whitley, and of being assigned to a Halifax crew. He describes a training flight accident at Garrowby Hill, Yorkshire in which his crewmates were killed. Alun, who was hospitalised at the time, was not on board the aircraft. He recalls his loneliness at being without a crew, and the unexplained animosity towards him from a senior officer. He talks of joining another aircrew and of adaptability being a part of the role of the bomb aimer, before reflecting on his feelings about the unjust dismissal of the crew’s pilot for lack of moral fibre.
Alun recalls his transfer to RAF Transport Command in 1945 and talks of organising the erection of a memorial to his crew at Garrowby Hill. He mentions his pride at the memorial, and his attendance at annual commemorations there for many years. He goes on to reflect on his preference for the Halifax over other aircraft, his enjoyment of flying, and on the great friendship and comradeship among aircrews, describing a closeness which continued after the war. He also mentions his affection for the animals that he kept in his billet during the war.
Alun relates that he first returned to his pre-war job after the war, but later joined the Welsh Council on Alcoholism to help others and in support of his sister, whom he describes affectionately.
]]>
Anne Roberts]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Leah Warriner-Wood]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> Wales--Porthcawl]]> Wales--Newport]]> South Africa]]> South Africa--East London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Japan]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Wales--Penarth]]> 1944]]> 1955]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Katie Gilbert]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Italy]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942-10-24]]> 1942-10-17]]> Frank joined 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford, where his crew was formed and flew in Lancaster Mk 2. His first tour consisted of 30 trips, although they only completed 29 because of a change of pilots. He then joined 7 Squadron, part of the Pathfinder Force. He trained at the Pathfinder Training Unit and went to RAF Oakington where they were twice Master Bombers. After his tour, Frank was posted to the Radar Research Establishment at RAF Defford as station navigation officer. It involved several different aircraft and flights (bomber, coastal, naval). He describes several of the interesting people he flew with and the work on Doppler navigation. Frank was subsequently sent to the Pathfinder Training Unit as an instructor and recounts a flight with Air Vice Marshal Bennett, investigating blue target indicator bombs.
After Frank was demobilised, he worked initially as an air traffic control officer before accepting a permanent commission into the RAF. Frank goes on to describe his post-war RAF activities.
Squadron Leader Frank Leatherdale was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his work in Pathfinders.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Worcestershire]]> Canada]]> Alberta]]> Alberta--Calgary]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> England--Leeds]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> Canada]]> Nova Scotia]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> Great Britain]]>
Tom Wilson came from an academic family in New Zealand. He studied engineering and worked on radar before volunteering for the Air Force. He flew 13 operations as a navigator before his aircraft was shot down and he became a prisoner of war. He met his wife at a lecture.

]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Yvonne Walker]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> New Zealand]]> Poland]]> England--London]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1939]]> 1945]]> 1946]]>
Covers his operational tour and bombing operations.]]> Bob Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Germany]]> Germany--Heinsberg (Heinsberg)]]> France]]> France--Beauvoir-sur-Mer]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> United States]]> Michigan--Detroit]]> Germany--Homberg (Kassel)]]> France--Châlons-en-Champagne]]> France--Caen]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Germany--Flensburg]]> Germany--Helgoland]]> Germany--Sylt]]> France--Somme]]> France--Aire-sur-la-Lys]]> France--Amiens]]> France--Gironde Estuary]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> France--Brest]]> France--Saint-Nazaire]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> France--Falaise Region]]> France--Royan]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Glasgow]]> Russia (Federation)--Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ)]]> Sweden]]> Denmark]]> Sweden--Malmö]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Eindhoven]]> France--Le Havre]]> Germany--Neuss]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> France--Calais]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> France--Boulogne-sur-Mer]]> Europe--Kattegat Region]]> Norway]]> Norway--Oslo]]> Denmark--Frederikshavn]]> France--Strasbourg]]> Germany--Kleve (North Rhine-Westphalia)]]> Germany--Emmerich]]> Netherlands--Nijmegen]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> Germany--Essen]]> Netherlands--Vlissingen]]> Belgium--Charleroi]]> Germany--Leverkusen]]> Netherlands--Veere]]> Germany--Castrop-Rauxel]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Aachen Region]]> Germany--Düren (Cologne)]]> Germany--Jülich]]> Germany--Fulda]]> Germany--Bottrop]]> Germany--Osterfeld]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Australia]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Queensland--Brisbane]]> Scotland--Inverness]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Colchester]]> Germany--Merseburg Region]]> 1944]]> Bob Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Scotland--Aberdeen]]> Scotland--Paisley]]> England--London]]> England--Thetford]]> Norway]]> Norway--Oslo]]> Germany]]> Germany--Oberhausen (Düsseldorf)]]> Switzerland]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> England--Ely]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Chemnitz]]> England--Brighton]]> Netherlands]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Liverpool]]> Malta]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Suez Canal]]> Western Australia--Fremantle]]> Victoria--Melbourne]]> New South Wales--Sydney]]> Queensland--Ipswich Region]]> Queensland--Maryborough]]> New South Wales--Cootamundra]]> Canada]]> Alberta--Edmonton]]> Nova Scotia--Halifax]]> England--Sidmouth]]> Nova Scotia]]> Bob Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Technical aid]]> Map. Navigation chart and navigation log]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Germany--Kiel]]> 1944-07-23]]> Bob Smith]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Technical aid]]> Map. Navigation chart and navigation log]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> France--Bordeaux (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)]]> 1944-08-09]]> After an unsuccessful attempt to run his family business, he applied for the civil service and worked until 1985 on radar development, auto triangulation, Cathode-Ray Direction Finder, Identification Friend or Foe, infrared devices, laser and chain radar stations.]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> Algeria]]> Austria]]> Austria--Mauthausen]]> Egypt]]> France]]> Germany]]> Rhine River]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Arnhem]]> Tunisia]]> North Africa]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Algeria]]> Great Britain]]> North Africa]]> Tunisia]]> Algeria--Algiers]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> pol]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> Singapore]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> France--Paris]]> Poland--Warsaw]]> 1939-08-28]]> 1939-09-01]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> Northern Ireland--Down (County)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--Irish Sea]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdynia]]> Italy]]> 1943-04-05]]> 1945-12]]> Victor completed 28 operations, including Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Essen and Frankfurt, but he missed out on his 30 operations when he contracted rubella. He tells of his experiences on his operations, and supporting the D-Day operations when he and his crew were sent to attack the gun emplacement at Le Havre. He mentions how he saw all the ships heading for the beaches. Victor also recalls being put in charge of training with Lancasters, Halifaxes, Sunderlands and Stirlings, before heading out to Malaya to work on supporting the Army.
He served during the Suez Crisis helping with issues concerning radar. Back home he served at multiple stations before becoming commanding officer at RAF North Luffenham. He mentions an incident at RAF Marham and joining Task Force Grapple which was involved with nuclear testing.
Victor retired in 1977 and then he became a parish councillor for West Norfolk Council, before becoming mayor of West Norfolk from 1990 to 1991. At the local Royal Air Force Association he takes part in events helping to organise the acts of Remembrance every year.
]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Essex]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Rutland]]> France]]> France--Le Havre]]> Germany]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Christmas Island]]> Egypt]]> Malta]]> Singapore]]> Malaysia]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1956]]> 1957]]> 1944-03-30]]> 1944-03-31]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]>
Eric describes his basic training in London and Torbay then recollects his technical training at RAF St. Athan. He then went to 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Marston Moor and joined his Halifax crew. In 1944 they were posted to 102 Squadron at RAF Pocklington where there were told that they wouldn't last three weeks.
Eric and his crew carried out a vast range of strategic bombings including daylight operations on V-1 sites, night operations on The Ruhr and Essen, night and daylight operations to oil targets, minelaying in the Baltic. They also provided tactical support in support of Allied troops near Caen and in the Ardennes, where they were badly damaged by a fighter and the mid-upper gunner received serious injuries. After landing at RAF Woodbridge in fog using FIDO he was hospitalised and did not fly again. The crew also supplied petrol to troops in Belgium, enjoying the low-level flying on these trips
Eric describes the sound of shrapnel hitting the aircraft, recalls a bomber exploding in flight, but dismisses the Scarecrow theory. He describes the use of Schräge Musik against the bombers; how search lights in the Ruhr operated, the use of H2S and how the master bomber controlled the rest of the formation.
At the end of his tour Eric remustered and was posted at RAF Jurby as airfield controller. From there he went to RAF Topcliffe and was demobbed in January 1947. Eric went back to the railways for ten years before working in local government. He retired in 1978, moving to Cornwall. While at RAF Pocklington he dated Cora noting that her parents made feel like a son. But he then ended the relationship because, with his own life in such jeopardy, he thought it was unfair on her. After the war he married Ellen, who he had met when starting his first job with the railways.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Andy Fitter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Devon]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Wales]]> Wales--Vale of Glamorgan]]> France]]> France--Ardennes]]> France--Caen]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> France--Nieppe Forest]]> Germany]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Denmark]]> Denmark--Bornholm]]> 1923]]> 1937]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1944-01]]> 1944-02]]> 1944-07-25]]> 1944-09]]> 1945]]> 1946-05-25]]> 1947-01-02]]> 1957]]> 1974]]> 1975]]> 1976]]> 1977]]> 1978]]> 1981]]>

Please note: The veracity of this interview has been called into question. We advise that corroborative research is undertaken to establish the accuracy of some of the details mentioned and events witnessed.]]>
Chris Johnson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1947]]>
Claire Bennett]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending OH transcription. Allocated]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell]]> KC: Ok. Hello. This is Wing Commander Ken Cook DFC. I joined the Royal Air Force in October 1941, U/T air crew and after training in Canada I came, returned back to the UK, commissioned as a young pilot officer air bomber and went through various conversion training courses in the UK and eventually joined up with a crew. And our first squadron was Number 9 Squadron at Bardney in Lincolnshire flying Lancasters in Number 5 Group of Bomber Command. After about ten ops with 9 Squadron we were as a crew recruited by the Pathfinder Force which was based in Cambridgeshire and so we were as a crew posted to do additional specialised training as at that time new radar equipment was being brought in and introduced to Bomber Command and in my case it was my job to learn the gadgets known as H2S, Gee and Loran. So, my role changed from being a straightforward air bomber to becoming a radar navigator and air bomber and so it was my job particularly to work the H2S which had a capability for uses in airborne navigation device. And of course, also it’s main role with the Pathfinders was, was identifying German targets and it enabled the Pathfinder crews to find the German targets and to mark them with target indicators so that the main force crews of Bomber Command coming in behind us could identify where the target was and very often bombing on our markers. So we had to be very accurate how we dropped them and where we dropped them and I did this, I ended up doing a total of forty five ops, thirty five of those was as a member of a Pathfinder crew. We eventually having started out with the Pathfinders at Bourn in Cambridgeshire my squadron were then deployed in about April of ’44 to Coningsby in Lincolnshire to join with Number 83 Squadron that had been posted up there from Wyton. And our job was to work with the special force under Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire who was devising a system of finding the targets where the Germans where assembling V weapons on the French coast and in Belgium. And our job was to illuminate the target with parachute flares so that he trained a special force of Mosquito dive bombers that could lay the target markers in these tunnels so that our main force crews from 5 Group and other Groups could come over and do area or intensive accurate bombing as well on these targets. And I completed my forty fifth op in 1944 and was posted to RAF Fiskerton in Lincolnshire as the station radar nav officer. My job was to, we had two squadrons there, 49 and 189 and my job was to fly with these crews and check them out on their ability to use their radar equipment because now the main force were getting the same sort of radar gear that the Pathfinders had had for some time. And so it was my job to make sure the air crew when they, before they went on ops could operate their new radar equipment. And I stayed there for a year or two and eventually was posted to Headquarters, Number 1 Group at Bawtry as the Group radar navigation officer. My job was to oversee all the squadrons, all the Lancaster squadrons in 1 Group to ensure that the crews were properly trained in operating their radar equipment. Can I stop there? Right. Let’s carry on then.
[pause]
On some of the incidents that come to mind one in particular because the Lancaster bomber we all wear warm clothing because the, in the middle of winter the temperatures in the aircraft could become extremely low and in fact if you had to use the elsan at the back of the aircraft it would be extremely low and freezing. And on one occasion I was forced to go back there and use the elsan and I discovered the temperature was minus fifty three degrees Celsius and of course, in having to use the elsan and lower the clothing etcetera I found that my bottom was sticking to the seat to a little bit when I tried to stand up. But I had to stand up because at that time the skipper was calling me, ‘Come on, Ken. We’re only ten miles from the target.’ So I had to hurry up and get back. But in doing so I experienced a little a bit of pain [laughs] in certain lower regions. The other, some of the other aspects of my career was at having completed forty five ops I was then sent off to do jobs as I mentioned with other stations and other squadrons and taking me to the end of the war I applied for a Short Service Commission and this was granted. And after a couple of years the Air Ministry offered me a peacetime Permanent Commission which I accepted and I was down the rank of flight lieutenant and so I then was asked to move out from Bomber Command and become trained with peacetime navigation courses and I thought well, perhaps I’m going to shoot now into somewhere like Transport Command but none of it. Having completed my peacetime navigation course I was then asked by Air Ministry to go through the night fighter OCU at Leeming where I was then trained again to become a navigator radar operator with the AI equipment on night fighters. And so after the appropriate course at Leeming I was then posted to 23 Squadron at Coltishall on Mosquito Mark 36s and I flew with them for about two and a half years until one day I was told that I was to go back to Leeming as a squadron leader to set up the ground school for the introduction of the first jet night fighters. The Meteor NF11 was coming in and I was to head up the ground school with the expansion of the RAFs night fighter force both in the UK and Germany and also the odd squadron in Malta and Cyprus. And so I did that job for about two years and eventually was posted to RAF Newton which was then the headquarters of 12 Fighter Group as the Group navigation officer. And I did the staff duties there but also managed to keep on flying with some of the squadrons in 12 Group, night fighter squadrons until eventually one day the AOC asked me would I like to go back on a squadron as a flight commander. And so the AOC of 12 Group had me posted back to West Malling where I became a flight commander on number 85 Squadron as a navigator which was an unusual post which I enjoyed. And I did that for just over a year and one day the AOC of 11 Group sent for me and said, ‘Cook, do you think you could command a night fighter squadron?’ I said, 'Yes sir.’ He said, ‘Well, you’ve got one tomorrow. ‘You’re going to become a wing commander.’ And so I did that and I became the CO of one of the other squadrons at West Malling called 153 and I was made an acting wing commander and only had that job for about a couple of months when they decided to close the airfield because our flights were getting involved with civil aircraft flying in from the continent, particularly at night. And so they closed the airfield at West Malling and I, and I took 153 Squadron up to Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire and stayed with them for a while and eventually we changed our number to become 25 Squadron. And I completed my two years with the 25 squadron, 153/25 squadron and then one day I was told, ‘You’re going to the staff college.’ And I thought oh I’m going to learn to read and write again. But I did a one year course at the Staff College at Bracknell and after that the Air Ministry in their wisdom said, ‘You’ve done enough flying you’ve got to do an admin job.’ So they posted me and my wife to Aden as a wing commander in the organization branch which was concerned with improving the airfields throughout the Aden Protectorate and then up in the Gulf. So I did that for about two years and then I came back. I’m not quite sure what to do after that but I eventually did a job as the staff officer to the Home Commander, Home Defence Forces which was an organisation which has now been set up to deal with what would happen if there was a nuclear attack on Britain and what would the Air Force be doing to help out. And one of my jobs was to get involved with working out plans on that. And things have gradually moved along until eventually I decided to take early retirement and I left the RAF after twenty six years service in 1947.
Interviewer: And to go back to your, your Bomber Command days it’s always very interesting how the crews got together I think. Now, were you, how did you? I know you go into a sort of a hangar sort of thing and you mill around. There’s no organisation. Were you expecting that or, and did you know somebody? How did your crew come together?
KC: Well, when you got in the early stages of training you started to think about crewing up when you were flying on Wellingtons. You went, in my case I went to Cottesmore which was number 14 OTU and there you meet up with pilots, the wireless operator, straight navigator, air gunners. They were all brought in there and you’d chat with them and eventually you agreed to form a crew. And that’s what we did.
Interviewer: And it proved satisfactory.
KC: Yeah.
Interviewer: Didn’t it?
KC: For instance my skipper was an Australian.
Interviewer: Ah.
KC: Yeah. I was a West Country Gloucestershire man. The other navigator was a Yorkshire man. The mid-upper gunner was a Canadian. The wireless operator was a Londoner and the tail gunner was a Scotsman. That was my crew.
Interviewer: League of Nations.
KC: Yeah.
Interviewer: And you obviously all got on and you all gelled.
KC: We gelled. Yes. Yes. We stayed together for forty five trips. Yeah.
Interviewer: And you’ve mentioned Leonard Cheshire. Did you have much to do with him?
KC: Well, now Leonard Cheshire was based at Woodhall Spa but once we started and once my squadron had come up from 8 Group and we were now at Coningsby with alongside 83, the Pathfinder Squadron when we had briefings on a pre-briefing on a raid Cheshire would come in to see, hear to the breifing. But he particularly once we’d done the raid he would come back because often he would go on the raid himself. He would come back and listen to the debriefing and if things were not coming out clear from the debriefing of the crews he would cut in to explain what was going on where he was concerned in the air. To sort out any, so the intelligence people doing the debriefing could get a more accurate story of what was happening over the other side.
Interviewer: Did you form any opinions of him as a —
KC: Oh, he was the top boy really. Yes. He was, he had tremendous respect from all the all the, all the aircrew like myself.
Interviewer: Yes, so —
KC: What he was and what he did and of course he did a hundred ops, didn’t he?
Interviewer: He did.
KC: Yeah. Can I stop now?
Interviewer: Yeah [laughs] That was Wing Commander Kenneth Cook DFC, retired RAF Bomber Command talking at Thorpe Camp on the 24th Of September about his wartime experiences. Thank you, Wing Commander.]]>
eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1941]]> 1944]]>

The interviewee is Aldo Galardini, born at Castel di Casio (Bologna province) on 25 June 1925, retired railwayman. His niece Annalia Galardini edges in, his wife are also in the room. The interview was conducted by Claudio Rosati in Pistoia on 19 September 1983, in his house. During the first bombing of Pistoia, Aldo Galardini was at home with family at Via Bastione Mediceo and did not go to the shelter. The first bomb hit the nearby tanner’s shop. They were then evacuated to Innocenti, near San Quirico di Pontenuovo. There a command post was established by South Africans and Americans after the Germans retreated to the Apennine hills and mountains near Pistoia; Americans and Germans exchanged many artillery rounds. Aldo Galardini was a railwayman at Pistoia station: he remembers a 50 Lire cash prize given to those who did not stop working during bombings. When a bombing was likely, he and his colleagues were warned by the Torre del Lago radar station; this allowed them to flee to Montale or Agliana on a steam engine.]]>
Claudio Rosati]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pistoia]]> 1943-10-24]]>
Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Dawn Studd]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Australia]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1944]]>