Browse Items (75 total)

  • Tags: submarine

MBowkerDG[Ser#-DoB]-151216-070001.jpg
The leaflet addresses the Battle for Australia against the Japanese with General MacArthur’s appointment as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Australia and the Southwest Pacific. The Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, announces successful…

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Key importance of Battle of the Atlantic outlined by Churchill, Rear Admiral Gadow and Lieutenant Commander Ambrosius in 1941.

Germany’s defence strategy and Britain’s counter-offensive delineated with plans, methods and progress. Despite…

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An article written by Major J. G Struthers. He argues against the practicality of large battleships which can easily be destroyed by aeroplane, fast torpedo boats and submarines. He suggests that money would be better spent on aircraft and submarines…

AStevensonWR151202.mp3
Walter Raymond Stevenson volunteered for the RAF as soon as he was 18 and trained as a wireless operator/air gunner, learning Morse code at RAF Yatesbury. He flew with 'sprog' pilots as they trained and was posted to Number 3 Air Gunnery School at…

AOwenA150603.mp3
Aneurin ‘Taff’ Owen was born neat Dolgellau, near Penmaenpool in Wales, and joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 18 in 1942. Taff was a farmer’s son and as such was put into a reserved occupation, so some of the areas of the Royal Air Force…

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Norman Neilson was an apprentice engineer at St Rollox Locomotive Works when he volunteered. He had originally wanted to join the Navy but joined the RAF because the only way he could be released from his position was to volunteer for aircrew. His…

AMulhallJE160823.mp3
James was born in Gorton, attended Catholic schools, and became an apprentice plumber. In November 1942 he joined the Royal Air Force. He then trained as a mechanic at RAF St Athan before being posted to RAF Henlow to assemble Hurricanes. He then…

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Andrzej Jeziorski was born in Poland and, when war broke out, fled to Britain, where he flew as a pilot with 304 Squadron. Remembers the 1st of September 1939. Talks about his father, a Navy officer who served in the First World War. Mentions his…

AInkpenH160712.mp3
Harry Inkpen joined Bomber Command in November 1944 and flew 33 operations on Mosquitoes as a pilot on 162 Squadron. Harry tells of how, in his view, his squadron suffered more losses due to bad weather conditions than encounters with the enemy. He…

AHarrisHST150909.mp3
Harry ‘Sam’ Harris grew up in Scotland and volunteered for the Air Force. He trained as a navigator in South Africa. On the penultimate day of his training he flew over a multitude of lifeboats bearing the survivors of a torpedoed ship. The next…

Ces Barlow volunteered for training with the RAAF and completed his pilot training in Canada. He was kept on to instruct new pilots and converted to fly Mosquitoes. On one search trip to look for U-boat activity a German aircraft attacked them and…

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Starts with domestic matters. Writes about recent operation to Heligoland which was unopposed. The attack involved 1000 Lancasters dropping 5000 tons of bombs on submarine pens and enemy troops. Mentions that he was on operation to Bremen the…

MBarkerR[Ser#-DoB]-151001-01.pdf
Opens with mention of Bomber Command memorial in Green Park and 55,573 despite killed, moral was high due to belief that winning was vital. Tells story that he was guest at two weddings in 1943 with three other members of Bomber Command and that all…

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Douglas was in the Local Defence Volunteers before joining the Royal Air Force as a pilot. After RAF Babbacombe, he did initial training at RAF Scarborough and then in Rhodesia. Initial flight training in Harare on Tiger Moths was followed by service…

AFarrC160524.mp3
Colin was born in Ilford in 1920 and, at the outbreak of war, was working in a London warehouse. Seeing the bomb damage around him he wanted to join the RAF and seek revenge, so he volunteered. Unfortunately, following an accident, he had a plaster…

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Helga Wynne was born into a family of twelve in 1926 in Kiel, Germany. She describes her childhood and her father working as a shipbuilder in the dockyards. She left school at 14 and went to work on a farm. She fell through the hayloft opening,…

AWarrenHJ160506.mp3
When Harold left Canada, where he was testing aircraft, he returned to RAF Bicester in his maintenance role. With his experience of four-engine aircraft, he went as flight engineer to RAF Greenock, flying in Sunderlands to Canada and back. Their role…

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Benny Goodman grew up in London and hoped to become a pilot. He volunteered for the Air Force and was, originally, posted to RAF Abingdon as a ground gunner before beginning his flying training. After qualifying as a pilot in Canada, he became an…

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Benny Goodman discusses some of his operations as a pilot with 617 Squadron. He discusses attacking the Tirpitz and the use of Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, which required the Lancaster plane to be modified. On a flight against the U-boat pens in…

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Alec Stuart Dixon volunteered for the Royal Air Force via the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. After training he flew Beauforts and Ansons, then trained as a Hudson pilot. He flew convoy escort operations and reconnaissance flights looking for…

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William Bryan describes being hit by a German fighter and anti-aircraft fire while mine laying the Kiel Bay. The rest of the tour was reasonably quiet, consisting mainly of operations in the run-up of the Normandy campaign. He describes bombing…

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Gavino Pala reminisces about his childhood in Sardinia, describing schooling and paramilitary training. He recalls the Alghero bombing on 17 May 1943, explaining how part of the population had left the city the day before and slept among olive trees,…

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The obituary of Flight Lieutenant Bob Knights. It details his operations on the Tirpitz, his early life, his training in Florida, his time with 617 Squadron and his role with BOAC after the war until his retirement in 1976.

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An vertical aerial photograph of Brest docks. Annotated 'S/M Shelters'.
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