Part 2, "No Problem Sport".Covers Alan Gamble's short flying history over France in 1945 before being shot down, and his experiences as a POW in southern Germany and subsequent liberation. The manuscript of Part 2 appears to be complete except for one or more pages missing about two thirds of the way through. This is at the beginning or the end of a fragment bound by metal clips, and could easily have become detached as the outside pages of some fragments' in Part 3 were also lost. It is therefore possible that only one page is missing.

Part 3. "Nil Desperandum".Covers Alan Gamble's post war experiences up to about 1963. This has not been read.

The manuscript of Part 3 is missing pages 24-86, 120 and 170, the latter two being the outside pages of bound fragments. (Page numbering here has assisted in reconstruction).

Additional information about this item was kindly provided by the donor.





]]>
A T Gamble]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Bradbury]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Skegness]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> Wales--Gwynedd]]> Wales--Porthmadog]]> England--Cumbria]]> England--Barrow-in-Furness]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Atlantic Ocean--Bay of Biscay]]> Germany--Gelsenkirchen]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--North Friesland Region]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Italy]]> Italy--Turin]]> Germany--Peenemünde]]> Germany--Berlin]]> France]]> France--Modane]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Jordan]]> Jordan--Amman]]> 1943-06-13]]> 1943-06-17]]> 1943-06-22]]> 1943-07-03]]> 1943-07-24]]> 1943-08-10]]> 1943-08-12]]> 1943-08-17]]> 1943-08-27]]> 1943-08-31]]> 1943-10-03]]> 1943-11-03]]> 1945-01]]> 1945-02-03]]> 1945-02-07]]>
Explains the differences between different kinds of shelters: tunnels;
re-purposed basements beneath substantial buildings; and small, private, concrete structures. Reminisces about heavy bombing which destroyed his home, how they were temporarily housed inside a tunnel and his subsequent life as an evacuee in the countryside. Narrates an episode in which German soldiers showed appreciation for piano music and later came back to enjoy the homely atmosphere of his flat. Describes the conflict as a relatively care-free period: his parents tried in every way to protect him from the horrors of war while farmers provided non-rationed supplies. Bombings were an unavoidable consequence in the state of war.
]]>
Alessandro Pesaro]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Udine]]>
Alessandro Pesaro]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Milan]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1943-08]]> 1944-10-20]]>
Label reads “72”, signed by the author; caption reads “(9) …Mentre il sommergibile navigava a fior di acqua, avvistò un aereo Americano in missione, passarono alcuni minuti, poi un boato seguito da un’ altro scosse il sommergibile, lo fece sussultare, gemere, inclinare, le bombe di profondita avevano colpito i periscopi e danneggiato gli accumulatori. Ci fecero salire in coperta e trasbordare su l’U506 perche l’U156 dovova rapidamente allontanarsi per le avarie riportate. L’aereo che ci aveva bombardato, era un quadrimotore Americano, trasbordammo ancora sull’Annamite, poi a Dakar fu la salvezza. (dal racconto di BB.) FINE


Caption translates as: “(9)… As the submarine navigated just above water, the crew spotted an American aircraft on patrol. A few minutes went by and they heard a rumble, soon followed by another one which shook the submarine. It trembled, groaned, and listed. The depth charges hit the periscopes and damaged the batteries. They made us climb on the deck and were transshipped onto the U506, because the U156 had to swiftly sail away because of damage. The aircraft that bombed us was an American four-engine plane. We transshipped again on the ‘Annamite’. We reached safety in Dakar (From the account of BB.) The End.” ]]>
Angiolino Filiputti]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Alessandro Pesaro]]> Francesca Campani]]> Helen Durham]]> Giulia Banti]]> Maureen Clarke]]> Filiputti, Angiolino. Laconia incident]]> ita]]> Artwork]]> Atlantic Ocean]]> 1942-09]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Dawn Studd]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> His first operation was minelaying in the Baltic and he recalls standing in the astrodome to warn of enemy fighters. On other operations he would sit in the front turret and occasionally fire at enemy fighters, without success. Further minelaying operations were carried out and on his eighth, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and diverted to a US Army Air Force airfield where he stocked up on goodies, unavailable in England from the base exchange store.
On the 22 September 1943 he took part to an operation to Hanover and describes the night fighter tactics in detail. Following lengthy evasive action his aircraft was forced down to 5,000 feet where it was hit by by anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to bail out over Emden where he was caught by a member of the Luftwaffe who was visiting his girlfriend. After initial interrogation he was sent to the interrogation centre at Dalag Luft and after a two day train journey arrived at Stalag 5 prisoner of war camp.
On July 1944 the encroaching Russian army forced the evacuation of the camp and he was moved to the unfinished Luft 4 camp and remembers the bullying guards and poor conditions. Again in February 1945 the camp was evacuated and after crossing the River Oder in barges marched across northern Germany. After two months he arrived at Lübeck and escaped the column, narrowly missing being captured by German soldiers by conversing in French. Finding an allied airfield he was repatriated to England where he was treated as a hero.
After recuperation he attended a code and cipher course and was offered a commission if he would go to the middle-east. Wanting to get married he declined and wangled his way to 24 Squadron at RAF Hendon, were he was eventually demobbed in July 1946. ]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Terry Holmes]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany]]> Europe--Oder River]]> Germany--Lübeck]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> 1936]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1943-09-22]]> 1944-07]]> 1945-02]]> 1946-07]]>

After returning to the UK, Douglas went to an Operational Training Unit to get crewed up, initially at RAF Wymeswold and then RAF Castle Donington on Wellingtons. He went to RAF Marston Moor and on to 158 Squadron at RAF Lissett on Halifaxes where he describes an encounter with Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. Douglas relates how a rear gunner refused to fly and was court martialled.

Douglas flew three operations to Berlin and on the third took a direct hit. After most of the crew baled, he managed to land in the Netherlands before being taken prisoner. Stalag Luft VI, on the border of East Prussia and Lithuania, was followed by Stalag Luft IV after the Russians approached. For three months Douglas was part of the Long March before being rescued by the 6th Airborne Division and flown back home.

Douglas stayed on for three years after the war. He was posted to RAF Wing and went up to Cosford as a flying officer. He attended a Lancaster Conversion Unit and flew Lancasters. He finished at a development squadron at the Central Signals Establishment. He recalls flying a Lancaster at the first Biggin Hill Air Show in front of Winston Churchill.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending review]]> Sound]]> Germany]]> Lithuania]]> Zimbabwe]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Mediterranean Sea]]> 1940-09]]> 1944]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> Netherlands]]> Poland]]> Germany]]> Lithuania]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Barth]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Wales]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1945-05]]> Audrey was 23 when the war started and was conscripted on 15 December 1942 electing to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. After her kitting out at RAF Innesworth she did some basic training at RAF Morecambe, then posted to RAF Lindholme and eventually to RAF Waddington where she worked as an administrator in the officer's mess. At that time there were four squadrons on the station: 9, 44, 463 and 467 Squadrons.
Audrey's duties in the officer's mess included checking the crews against the battle orders to ensure only crews flying that night got the special pre-flight meal and waiting on tables for VIP dinners, including Wing Commander Nettleton VC. She describes her friendships with the other staff and especially with bomber crews, mostly nice and respectful. Audrey and others would gather on the perimeter track to see them off. She and many others were billeted in a beautiful old building, known as "The Waafery”. Audrey describes her busy social life, dancing at many venues and winning jitterbug competitions. Remembers being called ‘belle gambe’ [beautiful legs] by Italian prisoners of war.
Audrey also describes the events of one night when an enemy fighter followed the aircraft home and strafed the airfield, hitting the incendiary dump, which exploded.
After the war, Audrey eventually worked for the local authority’s adoption service after the tragic death of her husband at a young age.]]>
Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Andy Fitter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1942-12-15]]> 1945-08]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Poland--Łambinowice]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1944-09]]> 1945-02-20]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Second generation]]> Great Britain]]> England--Pilton (Somerset)]]> England--Rutland]]> England--Somerset]]> 1941]]> ]]> Claire Bennett]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Yorkshire]]>

The interviewee is Ada Breschi, clerical worker, born in Pistoia on 22 September 1917. The interview was conducted by Claudio Rosati in Pistoia on 22 September 1983, in his house. After the 8 September 1943 armistice, Ada Breschi helped many servicemen who had deserted their barracks. She witnessed the Piazza San Lorenzo execution by firing squad. During the first bombing, she was at home with mother and sister, in the San Marco neighbourhood. When they didn’t make to Fortezza Santa Barbara shelter, they took refuge in the cellar of a nearby evangelical church. Then she spent eleven months at Cignano, as an evacuee. When the Manufacturers’ association - then headquartered in Piazza Garibaldi – moved to Capostrada she commuted there by tramway. Strafing was frequent in the Viale Adua district, probably aimed at German vehicles which tried to reach the Apennines. Bombings mostly took place between noon and one o’clock. Reminisces how her brother-in-law was almost arrested by the Germans, the strafing at Cignano, and the difficulties to source bread and flour.

]]>
Claudio Rosati]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Pistoia]]> 1943-10-24]]>
Daniele Celli]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Rimini]]> 1944-11]]> 1944-11-26]]> Dave Harrigan]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Part one.
Chris Allison served as a flight engineer. He answers questions from school children about what it was like to fly in a Lancaster.
Also taking part in this interview was Tony Bradley who was a child in Hull during the war, and Patrick Bateman who served in Borneo in the Royal Marines.
Part two.
Christopher Allison served as a flight engineer on 166 Squadron at RAF Kirmington.
]]>
Dave Harrigan]]> This Interview was recorded by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated C Campbell]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> British Army]]> Borneo]]> Great Britain]]> Malaya]]> England--Lincolnshire]]>
David Kavanagh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Poland--Świnoujście]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> 1944-03-18]]> 1945-02]]> 1945-06-19]]> 1946-09-06]]> Denise Boneham]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--London]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Diepholz]]> 1941-12-07]]> 1942-12-18]]> 1944-03-30]]> Dick Curnock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Alan Pinchbeck]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Leicester]]> England--Leicestershire]]> 1944]]> 1945-04-19]]> 1945-04-20]]> Dick Curnock]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Bradbury]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Austria]]> Austria--Villach]]> Canada]]> British Columbia--Abbotsford]]> Québec--Montréal]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> France]]> France--Paris]]> Gibraltar]]> Germany]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Darmstadt]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Great Britain]]> England--Bridlington]]> England--Horsham]]> England--Leicester]]> England--London]]> England--Melksham]]> Italy]]> Italy--Bari]]> Italy--Cortina d'Ampezzo]]> Italy--Naples]]> Italy--Padua]]> Italy--Ravenna]]> Italy--Rimini]]> Italy--Rome]]> Italy--Udine]]> Italy--Venice]]> Malta]]> North Africa]]> Poland--Toruń]]> Germany--Lüneburg]]> Poland]]> Lithuania]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Germany--Bad Fallingbostel]]> England--Christchurch (Dorset)]]> Québec]]> England--Dorset]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Erica Picco]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo]]> Francesca Campani]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy]]> 1944-10-20]]> 1943-09-08]]> Erica Picco]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Milan]]> Switzerland--Zurich]]> Italy]]> Switzerland]]> 1944-08-10]]> 1943-09-08]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Broni]]> Italy--Voghera]]> Italy--Pavia]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Francesca Campani]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy--Pavia]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Piacenza]]> Italy--Pavia]]>