Daniele Celli]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Rimini]]> 1944-11]]> 1944-11-26]]> Greta Fedele]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy--Arezzo]]> Italy--Perugia]]> Italy]]> Pete Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Balloon Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Lancashire]]> Zeno Gaiaschi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy--Santa Margherita Ligure]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> 1940]]> 1944-02-27]]> 1943-09-08]]> Zeno Gaiaschi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy--Brescia]]> 1942-10-04]]> 1944-09-10]]> 1943-09-08]]> 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]]>
Zeno Gaiaschi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Lapsus. Laboratorio di analisi storica del mondo contemporaneo]]> Pending OH transcription]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Milan]]> Italy--Santa Margherita Ligure]]> Italy--Domodossola]]> Italy--Portofino]]> 1943-07]]> 1943-08]]> Alessandro Pesaro]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Milan]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1943-08]]> 1944-10-20]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Voghera]]> 1944-08]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Pavia]]> 1943-09]]> 1943-09-08]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Francesca Campani]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Pavia]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending OH transcription]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Greece]]> Greece--Crete]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending OH transcription]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Pavia]]> Marco Dalla Bona]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Cordenons]]> 1943-09-08]]> Filippo Andi]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ita]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Italy]]> Italy--Po River Valley]]> Italy--Pavia]]> Gary Rushbrooke]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--London]]> Germany]]> Germany--Lüneburg]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Bad Fallingbostel]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Italy]]> Finally, she talks about Joseph Bassani, a family friend who was an Italian spy, the American supply ship Ohio, and the Victory in Europe celebrations that took place on Malta.]]> Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> British Army]]> Malta]]> Malta--Gozo Island]]> 1948-05-08]]> 1948-05-09]]> He had a spell at the Operational Training Unit, flying Short Stirlings and Avro Lancasters before joining 61 Squadron at Skellingthorpe.
He tells of an incident on his 10th operation, when he was on a daylight trip near Versailles at the V1 bomb installations when his aircraft was directly below a Lancaster which opened it’s bomb doors. The Lancaster above dropped its bombs, which damaged Kenneth’s aircraft, including carrying away the rear gunner.
Kenneth completed 34 operations on his first tour, and then went straight onto another tour, being posted to 9 Squadron at Bardney.
After VE Day, Kenneth was posted to Egypt in charge of lorries returning from Cairo.
]]>
Mick Jeffery]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
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]]> Sheila Bibb]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Eastbourne (East Sussex)]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Heathrow Airport (London, England)]]> England--Sussex]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 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]]> Michael Sheehan]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> Atlantic Ocean--North Sea]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Hull]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1945-05]]>