Ivan Ure]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Polskie Siły Powietrzne]]> Royal Navy]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Isle of Wight]]> Norway]]> Scotland--Argyllshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Westbourne (West Sussex)]]> England--London]]> England--Hayling Island]]> England--Evenley]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Blackpool]]> Germany]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> France]]> France--Abbeville]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Poland]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> Poland--Białogard]]> Poland--Pyrzyce (Powiat)]]> Germany--Lauenburg]]> Germany--Lüneburg]]> Germany--Rheine]]> England--London]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Ireland]]> Ireland--Dublin]]> Ireland--Cork]]> Austria]]> Austria--Vienna]]> Libya]]> Libya--Tripoli]]> Libya--Banghāzī]]> Egypt]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Egypt--Jīzah]]> Egypt--Port Said]]> Kuwait]]> Bahrain]]> Iran]]> Iran--Tehran]]> Scotland--Oban]]> Pat Jackson]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-610002,
MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-610003,
MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-610004]]>
Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> Netherlands--Dokkum]]> Poland]]> Germany--Spremberg]]> Germany--Bad Fallingbostel]]> Europe--Oder River]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Netherlands]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> Germany]]> 2010-01]]>
Susan Carter]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> France]]> France--Caen]]> 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]]>

Chapter 1. Under Training.
Having been assessed in Birmingham Geoff sets off to London in August 1942 for training, at Lords. Initial training was at Bridlington then gunnery school at Andreas on the Isle of Man. After a short leave he was posted to an operational training unit at Chipping Warden followed by intensive training at Edge Hill. Finally he went to Feltwell for Escape and Evasion training before joining a Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common then Waterbeach.

Chapter 2. Operations RAF Witchford. After seven days leave he commenced operational flying in a Lancaster. Their first target was Augsburg and he reports being waved off by WAAFs and airmen. On the next operation the navigator had a breakdown and refused to help. He continues with details of several operations.
Chapter 3. Return to Ops RAF Waterbeach. Initially this proved to be a very relaxing posting but after his recovery he was back on operations. After 30 operations he was posted to RAF Brackla, Nairn.

Chapter 4. Grounded. He was unhappy at Brackla which was remote and cold. Next was a transfer south to RAF Weeton where he learned about motor transport and learned to drive. He was then posted to RAF Halfpenny Green, followed by RAF Croughton and South Cerney. He then went to Hornchurch before being sent to Germany where he joined a micro film unit at Frankfurt. On completion of photographing relevant factory installations his unit headed south to Triberg in Bavaria.

Chapter 5. As Time Goes By. He reflects on his letter from the Secretary of State from Air, Bomber Command losses and life after the war. he discusses Labour minister John Strachey, a pre-war fascist then Communist Party , who belittled the work of Bomber Harris. and the refusal to allow a thanksgiving service to honour the ex-Prisoner of War Association at Coventry Cathedral.]]>
Geoff Payne]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Training Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Birmingham]]> England--London]]> England--York]]> England--Halifax]]> England--Loughborough]]> England--Flamborough Head]]> England--Manchester]]> England--Blackpool]]> England--Fleetwood]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Douglas (Isle of Man)]]> England--Banbury (Oxfordshire)]]> England--London]]> England--Bognor Regis]]> France--Lille]]> England--Cambridge]]> England--Coventry]]> England--Ely]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> France--Rouen]]> France--Vaires-sur-Marne]]> France--Normandy]]> France--Creil]]> France--Nucourt]]> France--Caen]]> France--L'Isle-Adam]]> France--Gironde Estuary]]> England--Falmouth]]> France--Somme]]> Germany--Rüsselsheim]]> Germany--Kiel]]> Sweden--Stockholm]]> Germany--Bremen]]> France--Le Havre]]> France--Calais]]> Germany--Neuss]]> Netherlands--Walcheren]]> Belgium--Antwerp]]> Germany--Emmerich]]> Germany--Duisburg]]> Scotland--Nairn]]> England--Peterborough]]> England--Walsall]]> England--Hull]]> England--Wolverhampton]]> England--Dudley]]> England--Brackley]]> England--Cirencester]]> Germany--Cuxhaven]]> Germany--Bückeburg]]> Germany--Bremerhaven]]> Germany--Black Forest]]> Germany--Triberg]]> Germany--Rheinberg]]> Germany--Hannover]]> Poland--Szczecin]]> France--Châlons-en-Champagne]]> France--Pas-de-Calais]]> Poland]]> France]]> Germany]]> Belgium]]> Netherlands]]> Sweden]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Gloucestershire]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> England--Staffordshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Sussex]]> England--Worcestershire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Warwickshire]]> England--Newmarket (Suffolk)]]>

This item has been redacted in order to protect the privacy of third parties.]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]>
a prisoner of war and the Long March.]]> Stuart Green]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> deu]]> nld]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Coventry]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Wilhelmshaven]]> Germany--Emden (Lower Saxony)]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Germany--Bremen]]> France--Paris]]> France--Brest]]> France--Laon]]> Belgium--Ostend]]> Denmark--Langeland]]> Czech Republic]]> France]]> Germany]]> Denmark]]> Belgium]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Warwickshire]]> 1939]]> 1940]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Wehrmacht]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Germany]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)]]> Poland]]> Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Canada]]> Manitoba--Brandon]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Bad Tölz]]> Manitoba]]> 1944-04-26]]> 1944-04-27]]> 1945-01-19]]> 1945-02-15]]> 1945-04-21]]> J Usher]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cara Walmsley]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany]]> Germany--Schweinfurt]]> Germany--Arnstein (Main-Spessart)]]> Poland]]> Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1944-04-25]]> 1945-01-19]]> 1945-02-05]]> J Usher]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cara Walmsley]]> Pending text-based transcription. Under review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Poland]]> Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1945-01-19]]> 1945-02-15]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Georgie Donaldson]]> Steve Baldwin]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Wehrmacht]]> Canada]]> France]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Lithuania]]> Poland]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France--Le Mans]]> France--Paris]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Ebstorf]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Krefeld]]> Germany--Nohn]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Poland--Świnoujście]]> Lithuania--Klaipėda]]> Poland--Toruń]]> Germany--Bad Fallingbostel]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> F Mannion]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Poland]]> Poland--Olsztyn (Voivodeship)]]> Germany]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> 1945-01]]> 1945-02]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Physical object]]> Physical object. Decoration]]> Physical object]]> Royal Air Force]]> Poland]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1941-11-05]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Lithuania]]> Lithuania--Šilutė]]> E Hookings]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Poland]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Germany--Halle an der Saale]]> Belgium]]> Belgium--Brussels]]> England--Shropshire]]> Great Britain]]> 1944]]> 1944-11-06]]> 1945]]> He continued in the RAF until 1975.]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription. Allocated]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Personal research]]> MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-590002,
MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-590003,
MAnkersonR[Ser#-DoB]-180129-590004]]>
Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Liverpool]]> Germany--Black Forest]]> Luxembourg]]> Germany--Buchen/Odenwald]]> Cyprus]]> France--Fontainebleau]]> Poland--Warsaw]]> Poland--Żagań]]> Poland]]> Germany]]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Karl Williams]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Poland]]> Poland--Opole (Voivodeship)]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Germany]]> Germany--Winterfeld]]> 1945-01-19]]> 1945-02-08]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Map]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Poland]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> 1945-02]]> Kenneth MacKintosh]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> Royal Air Force ex-Prisoner of War Association. Ley Kenyon's Artwork]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Air Force]]> Poland]]> Poland--Żagań]]> 1945-01-27]]> Fred Hooker]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Tricia Marshall]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Diary]]> SHookerFJ1805487v10021,
SHookerFJ1805487v10022]]>
Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Germany--Luckenwalde]]> Poland]]> Poland--Tychowo]]> Germany--Winterfeld]]> 1944-09]]> 1945]]>
Geoffrey North]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Monk]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bocholt]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Germany--Eppstein im Taunus]]> Germany--Neustadt an der Weinstrasse]]> Germany--Moosburg an der Isar]]> Germany--Landshut]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Aylesbury]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Leighton Buzzard]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Telford]]> France--Reims]]> 1945-02-21]]> 1945-02]]> 1945-03]]> 1945-04-04]]> 1945-04]]> 1945-04-29]]> 1945-05]]> 1945-05-10]]> 1945-05-11]]> Geoffrey North]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> David Bloomfield]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Emily Jennings]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> United States Army]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Germany]]> Germany--Bocholt]]> Germany--Kassel]]> Germany--Oberursel]]> Germany--Eppstein im Taunus]]> Germany--Neustadt an der Weinstrasse]]> Germany--Moosburg an der Isar]]> Germany--Landshut]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Buckinghamshire]]> England--Bedfordshire]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> France--Juvincourt-et-Damary]]> 1945-02-21]]> 1945-02]]> 1945-03]]> 1945-04-04]]> 1945-04]]> 1945-05]]> 1945-05-10]]> 1945-05-11]]> 1945-09]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Photograph]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> In the second part he describes damage to the cemetery during a bombardment from the other side of the Elbe.
There is a handwritten annotation '18 April 1945 NB The writer of this was probably Paster Stuwe whose drawings of the occasion are no longer at Gresse. Now the border is open D.Uwe Wieben, I 3 the Heimatmuseum, Boizenburg (Elbe) might be worth a try.']]>
IBCC Digital Archive]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text. Personal research]]> Royal Air Force]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> Germany]]> Germany--Boizenburg]]> Germany--Ludwigslust (Landkreis)]]> 1945-04-18]]>
Henry Wagner]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> He passed through the Aircrew Reception Centre in London, Brighton, and Liverpool, Henry found himself sailing to Durban, South Africa. He tried to become a pilot but failed a test in a Tiger Moth so was placed in the Navigational Training School. He met Graham Walker while there. On 23 December 1943 Henry became a Sergeant with a Navigator’s brevet. (Navigator brevet p27).
After moving through RAF West Freugh, Scotland, Henry was then posted to the OTU RAF Abingdon to learn more complex skills in addition to lectures about the Luftwaffe, Intelligence information and ‘Escape and Evasion’. Henry crewed up at Abingdon. (Photographs of crew p 34-5). The next move was to 4 Group Training School, and this confirmed for the crew that they would be flying Halifax Mark 3 aircraft. Here lectures were ‘all good stuff’.
The penultimate move was to 1952 HCU RAF Marston Moor to learn about the Halifax Mark 3 and meet Sergeant Eric Berry, flight engineer. (Photograph p37). Henry describes the duties of the navigator, the use of the ‘Master Bomber’, some of the anti-aircraft techniques that were used in the technological war. (Photograph using of the H2S p39, pieces of the ‘Window’ radar defence p50).
Finally, they moved to RAF Snaith. There Henry took part in raids on Julich near Essen x 2, Hagen (an aborted mission), Soest, in the Ruhr Valley, Duisburg x 2, Aachen, Munster, and Osnabruck. There was a degree of acceptance that they were statistically going to die during their duties.
Henry was returning from a raid when he appraised the pilot that there was a fire onboard. The pilot to decide to abandon the aeroplane, and Henry parachuted from his plane. He landed in the garden of a domestic house and explains the contents of his evasion-pack. He was captured, moved to the Aircrew Interrogation Centre was in Oberursel and then onto Stalag Luft 7 Bankau, Silesia. Here he rejoined John Trumble with whom Henry had undergone part of his training. There was an army padre at the camp and the influence Captain John Collins had on the POWs both at Stalag Luft 7 and when the men were marching to other camps is described. They arrived at Stalag 3A, Luckenwaldwe. Henry describes Red Cross parcel, daily life there, attacks of dysentery, and ‘Goon-baiting’.
When the ‘gen’ revealed the Russians were only 12 miles from the camp, the Germans abandoned them, and RAF Wing Commander Beamont assumed command of the camp. On 22 April 1945, the Russians arrived. They refused to release the POWs, so Henry and John walked 7 miles westwards where they were met by the Americans and taken to the Reception Centre, Schonebeck.
With VE declared and de-lousing completed they were returned to RAF Wing, Aylebury. He shows the graves of his crew (photographs p 99-101).
On demobbing Henry resumed his university studies and became a teacher. He married and had children. Henry went to a Stalag Luft 7 reunion in 1982.

Claire Campbell]]>
eng]]> Text. Memoir]]> Text]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> South Africa]]> Germany]]> Kenya]]> Germany--Winterfeld]]>