He recalls that he had a wonderful mother who kept them well fed with fresh food as there were no refrigeration systems in those days, His mother died at the age of 101.
Thomas started school at the age of five and in 1936, aged eleven, passed the required exams to attend a higher education school but, with the introduction of secondary modern education, moved to another school. At the commencement of the war he remembers mesh being fitted to the windows, air raid shelters being dug and land being requisitioned for a school vegetable garden.
Thomas planned to join the RAF as a Halton apprentice but the war changed his plans.
]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Hertfordshire]]> England--Hemel Hempstead]]> 1936]]>

In 1948, Barry was posted to RAF St Athan No. 32 Maintenance Unit. He initially serviced a flight simulator, then moved to the Aircraft Electrical Servicing Squadron. After a year, he was posted to RAF Cranwell, servicing generators and was promoted to corporal. He passed his leading aircraftman examination. He spent two years in Malta before being posted to RAF Honington, where he became a sergeant.

Barry wanted to service flight simulators, did a course and was posted for two years to Fighter Command at Bentley Priory. He had a broad role in aircraft engineering at Command Headquarters.

Barry moved to become an education officer and did a course at the School of Education at RAF Uxbridge. He spent two years in the education branch, initially at RAF Melksham. He was then posted to RAF Halton to teach electrics and electrical mechanics before setting up the basic training for the first ground electrician apprenticeships.

Barry undertook an unaccompanied 12-month tour to RAF Muharraq (Bahrain) and was in charge of the battery charging room. A further twelve months were spent at RAF Benson on 90 Group Tactical Communication Wing before returning to RAF Halton to join the Trade Standards and Testing Board. This moved to RAF Brompton where he wrote skills and knowledge specifications for RAF trades. Barry left the RAF in 1975 and continued in teaching and training roles.
]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Fighter Command]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Bahrain--Muḥarraq]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--London]]> Bahrain]]> Bahrain--Muḥarraq]]> 1945-02]]> 1948]]> 1975]]>

In accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donor, this item is available only at the University of Lincoln.]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Liverpool]]> England--Lancashire]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> ]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sam Harper-Coulson]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Navy]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--London]]> 1941-08]]> 1943-04-28]]> 1944-02-05]]> 1944-03]]> 1944-10]]> 1945-01-04]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1942]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Andy Shaw]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Navy]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> North Africa]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--High Wycombe]]> England--Portsmouth]]> England--Wiltshire]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> England--Hampshire]]> 1940]]> 1942]]> 1945]]> Violet remembered when Alan was knocked off his motorbike by an army lorry and suffered broken ribs. Soon after they were married. He was later posted to Coney Island. Later he worked for the Air Ministry at Ruislip, route planning for VIPs. He retired at Cottesmore and worked as a test navigator for Handley Page until they went into bankruptcy. When a vacancy arose at British Airways, he held a desk job until his retirement. Throughout Alan’s RAF career he worked with 205 and 203 Squadrons.
Violet gave a short account of her working life. She left school at 15 and got a job at the Air Ministry, and after that she worked at Dr Barnados homes. At 17 she joined the Land Army for two years and then went back to work for Dr Barnados.
]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Singapore]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--London]]> 1947]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tilly Foster]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Southampton]]> England--Hampshire]]> 1940]]> Joan got engaged on her 21st birthday in October 1939. Her finance got his call up papers to join the Royal Sussex some days later.
Joan and her mother went to Hastings for Christmas 1944 to stay with her grandparents. They returned home on boxing day to find that their house had been destroyed. The shelter which they would have used was burnt out and the occupants were all killed. She stayed in Hastings to look after her grandmother until she married. Her husband was a stretcher bearer and was taken prisoner in May 1940. The prisoners had to march from France to Poland where he was in Stalag 7B. During that time, he had appendicitis and was operated on by a German doctor. While a prisoner he worked with horses and in the salt mines. The prisoners were marched from Poland to Germany towards the end of the war before being released. When he returned home, they got married and he worked as a prison officer at Wormwood Scrubs. He retired at 55 and died at 57.
Joan had a variety of jobs since the end of the war and retired at the age of 63.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Hastings]]> England--London]]> France]]> Germany]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> 1939]]> 1939-10]]> 1944-12-25]]> 1940-05]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Mike Cheesbrough]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> Un passaggio di 35 secondi con inizio a 00:17:15 è stato espunto su esplicita richiesta dell'intervistato.

The interviewee is Mario Galardini, employment consultant, born at Castel di Casio (BO) on 15 August 1923. His brother Raffaello edges in, Lory Galardini and Annalia Galardini are also in the room. The interview was conducted by Claudio Rosati on 12 September 1984 at his house in Pistoia. During the first bombing of Pistoia, Mario Galardini was at home with his family and took shelter under the bed. Raffaello remembers the havoc wreaked on the city and the terror caused by the reconnaissance aircraft Pippo. Then, they were evacuated to Case Nuove and eventually to Case Vecchie. Mario Galardini was forced by Germans to clear up rubble in the heart of the city, with the fear of being deported to Germany. One day, at San Quirico, he saw a group of Germans looking for a place on top of the mountain.
A 35-second passage starting at 00:17:15 was removed at the interviewee’s explicit request.

]]>
Claudio Rosati]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pistoia]]> 1943-10-24]]>

The interviewee is Giulio Fiorini, clerical worker at Officine San Giorgio, born in Pistoia on 26 November 1906. The interview is conducted by Claudio Rosati on 11 October 1983, at his house in Pistoia.
A survivor of the 24 October 1942 Milan bombing, Giulio Fiorini was in Via Sant’Alessio when Pistoia was bombed, exactly one year later. He ran away from home and hid, with his son, in a river. Shelters in town were all but neglected by the locals. The second bombing hit the airfield near Officine San Giorgio, the military establishment Giulio was posted to. With his colleagues, he moved the aircraft at the end of the runway, close to the levee, so they could take off immediately, in case of alarm. The Germans constantly monitored their work. Hangars were never hit by the Allies but mined by Germans. Giulio Fiorini built a shelter near home: he was inside with his younger brother-in-law who was injured following artillery fire. He died in hospital shortly afterwards.]]>
Claudio Rosati]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pistoia]]> 1943-10-24]]>

The interviewee is Raffaella Sorsini, born at Vicchio (Florence province) on 25 May 1919, retired clerical worker. Present Marianna Galardini, born on 18 May 1897. The interviewer is Claudio Rosati, the interview took place in Pistoia on 12 July 1983, in his house.
During the first bombing of Pistoia, Raffaella Sorsini went with her mother to the Piazza della Resistenza [Piazza d’Armi] shelter. Marianna Galardini claims that the death toll of the first bombing was 120 people and that many detached homes in Via Pratese were destroyed. Following the move of her office to Villa Giacomelli, Raffaella Sorsini was evacuated to the countryside at Case Nuove, near San Rocco. Many times she fled to the Sant’Agostino area, at the time still rural. She says that she never feared being sexually harassed by Germans, but conversely, she was scared by US Marines at Villa di Celle: while she had to walk past, she was accompanied by her fiancée.

]]>
Claudio Rosati]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pistoia]]> 1943-10-24]]>
D Souter]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> 1944-10-16]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-18]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Sheffield]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1945]]>
Geoff was born and lived in the same area of Grimsby all his life, at the date of his interview he was 93. The first part of the interview concentrated on his experience of finding a German butterfly bomb close to his home, Geoff described how after an air raid the local children would explore the local area looking for shrapnel. On this particular day when he was about 13, he and a friend found this device which looked different, he asked a soldier what it might be but he didn’t know. His friends father did not want it in their house and Geoff’s father said the same thing although they did not know what it was. Geoff was standing outside their house when a bomb disposal team came by probably looking for the bomblets. They told Geoff to drop it they then surrounded it with sandbags and detonated it with a small explosive charge which blew out some of the house windows. Geoff considered himself to be lucky as although they had mistreated the device it had not exploded, he also made the point that no one knew what they were as the authorities decided not to issue any information about the bomblets. He could not remember any anti aircraft guns locally but did remembers a large gun nearby.
Geoff described how his father a fisherman had build an Anderson air-raid shelter in their back garden and when the sirens alerted them to a raid the whole family gathered there. He described how one night a German aircraft caught in the searchlight beam dived down and dropped their bomb quite close to the house. He made the point that air raids on Grimsby were not that frequent unlike Hull just across the river, although Grimsby at that time was a major fishing port where literally you could cross the harbour stepping from one trawler to the next. Geoff remembered that early in the war the aircraft they saw were German but later on the large formations of Lancasters were evident.
Having left school at 14 he went to work at the local Rolls Royce dealership as an apprentice but disliked the work. Just post the European war conscription was still in place but Geoff volunteered to join the army for five years as you could choose your job and were paid more. He was trained as a signaller, his initial posting was the army headquarters in Paris which as it was just post war Eisenhour and Montgomery were there. Geoff was then posted to Egypt which was very different to Paris, living in tents awful food. Another lucky escape happened there, with a group of soldiers they were digging trenches by hand to be used as latrines, a fellow corporal told Geoff take your troops and go for a break then come back and relieve me, but the trench collapsed and killed them as Geoff and his group were on break.
Having completed his time in the army Geoff became a lorry driver during the week and a taxi driver at the weekend and he remembered the filming of Memphis Belle at RAF Binbrook.
Almost as a postscript Geoff remembered another lucky escape, early in the war in many towns and cities the school children were evacuated to safer areas to escape the German bombers. He remembers being gathered at school expecting to be told that they were being evacuated to Canada but a ship carrying evacuees had been sunk near the Canadian coast so the plan was abandoned. ]]>
Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Trevor Hardcastle]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Grimsby]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> 1943-06]]>
Daniele Celli]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending OH transcription]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Rimini]]> 1943-11-01]]> Dave Harrigan]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Navy]]> Great Britain]]> England--Birmingham]]> England--London]]> England--Sizewell]]> Sydney lived a few miles from London and attended Byron Court School in Webley. She was five when war broke out and eleven when it ended. She remembered the Battle of Britain and hundreds of aircraft taking off for Germany. A lot of Sydney’s school days were spent in the air raid shelters. From an early age she decided she wanted to work for the Air Force. Sydney started her nursing training in 1951 with the National Health Service and in 1956 she joined the Air Force for four years short commission. She recollects her posts at RAF Hospital Nocton Hall, Hook of Holland and then in Germany. When Sydney married she had to leave the Air Force, which she loved. Her husband worked for the Metropolitan Police. She donated her nurse’s uniform to Hendon museum.]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Netherlands]]> Netherlands--Hoek van Holland]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1951]]> 1956]]> David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Grantham]]> Frank talks of his evacuation to the countryside near Croxton Kerrial when he was nearly five. He was accompanied by his two brothers and initially his mother. His sister was sent to Somerset. He enjoyed his time in the countryside and shares memories about the people who looked after him, his school, mealtimes and leisure time pursuits.
Frank reluctantly returned to Chingford in Essex two years after the end of the war. He missed the countryside and was bullied at school. At the aged of 15, he ran away to Croxton Kerrial, to which his parents subsequently agreed. He never saw his parents again.
He started work on a farm and met his wife. After four years in the Coldstream Guards, he married and worked on another farm in Croxton. Frank then moved to Londonthorpe to set up the shoot. The shoot rented the land from the Belton Estate. When the estate was bought by the National Trust, no shooting was permitted. He was taken on as keeper by Sir Montague Cholmeley. After retirement, the latter let him live rent free.
Frank has written a book, “London Evacuee to Countryman” and appeared in Sporting Shooter and Lincolnshire Life magazines.
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David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--London]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Melton Mowbray]]> 1944]]> 1945]]>
Denise Boneham]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Lancashire]]> 1942]]>