199 Squadron]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> David Bloomfield]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Correspondence]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Suffolk]]> 1943-09-23]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Hugh Donnelly]]> Phil Crossley]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Transport Command]]> Australia]]> Egypt]]> Libya]]> Italy]]> Italy--Udine]]> Germany]]> Italy--Grupignano]]> Germany--Mühlberg (Bad Liebenwerda)]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945-05]]> Adam Purcell]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Christine Kavanagh]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Australia]]> France]]> France--Pargny-sur-Saulx]]> Great Britain]]> United States]]> Administrator of Estates, Ottawa]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Acton]]> Great Britain]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> Ontario]]> Ontario--Thunder Bay]]> 1944-11-30]]> 1944-12-23]]> Alan Edgar]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Claire Monk]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Australian Air Force]]> Belgium]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> Poland]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> France--Tours]]> France--Mailly-le-Camp]]> Belgium--Leopoldsburg]]> Poland--Gdańsk]]> 1944]]> Anna Hoyles]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cathie Hewitt]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Civilian]]> Brazil]]> Chile]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Peru]]> Chile--Santiago]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> After leaving school at the age of 14, Derek delivered books in and around Doncaster before going down to the Royal Air Force Recruitment Centre in Doncaster and signing up for service after developing a love of aviation after seeing Vimmies and Heyfords.
Derek passed his exams for a pilot, however trained as a wireless operator because of his knowledge of Morse code. When he was crewed up, his team flew in Wellingtons at RAF Finningley, with 18 Operational Training Unit.
Derek then was transferred to a Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Blyton, where he worked on Halifaxes, before being posted to 625 Squadron at RAF Kelstern, flying on Lancasters.
He completed operations to Essen, Dortmund, Cologne and also targeted the oil refineries. Derek also took part in Operation Manna, dropping supplies in Holland.]]>
Annie Moody]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Vivienne Tincombe]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Germany--Cologne]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Essen]]> Netherlands]]> Germany]]>
Basic training was carried out at Lords Cricket ground in London. One clear memory is helping to carry patients down several flights of stairs from a nearby hospital during an air raid.
Time was spent at RAF Bridlington on Initial Training Wing before attending Air Gunnery School in the Isle of Man. Further training was undertaken at RAF Banbury where he was crewed up on Wellingtons, before moving to the Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common to convert to Stirlings. During his time here he attended an escape course at RAF Feltwell and was instructed in unarmed combat, which he dismissed as pitiful.
He and his crew were posted to RAF Witchford, Cambridgeshire, where he flew his first operation in February 1944 replacing an ill air gunner. He later discovered this was an inexperienced crew. He remembers the target was around Osnabrück in Germany and it was a melee over the target where they were attacked by two Me 109s, which they successfully shook off. On his return, he remembers being unable to sleep and went for a walk into Ely. There he discovered the Oxford Cambridge boat race was being held and watched it
Target areas of Germany included Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Augsburg. On his 5th operation, the aircraft was attacked, and the aircraft lost its heating and communications. He suffered frostbite and spent several months recovering in Ely hospital.
On regaining fitness, he was transferred to RAF Waterbeach and was allocated to a crew led by Ted Cousins. Waterbeach was a pre-war airfield with comfortable facilities. Time off was spent competing in athletics and football along with drinking at the local public houses.
When time allowed, he went home, but found the experience boring: all his friends were serving away, and there was little to do except drink or go to the cinema. His elder brother was serving as a navigator in the Far East, and he felt it unfair to talk about his experiences with his family.
At RAF Waterbeach there was a greater variety of operations. Targets varied from Germany to Southern France. He also remembers one trip to Poland. This entailed flying over Denmark and they could see the lights from Sweden and anti-aircraft fire.
He has a clear memory of most of his operations but does not wish to dwell on some. On one occasion he spotted a Me 109, he tried to warn the pilot but his intercom had frozen and emergency light was inoperative. He tried to open fire but his guns jammed – the night fighter opened fire and hit the centre of the aircraft. The aircraft began violently manoeuvring and he wasn’t sure if this was deliberate evasive manoeuvres or if they were out of control. He made his way forward and discovered the aircraft door open and the mid upper gunner missing. There were cannon holes all around the centre of the aircraft. He still wasn’t sure if he was the only one on board until he reached the main cabin and found the rest of the crew in position. They made it back home where they realised an incendiary bullet was lodged in the ammunition pannier.
His last operation was one of the thousand-bomber operations in Germany, the air black with anti-aircraft fire. On his return, the air gunners went sent to the bomb dump to assist the armourers in preparing the bombs for the following days attack which was carried out by the United States Army Air Forces.
After completing his tour of operation, he was posted to RAF Brackla, hoping to be retained as physical training instructor, but ended up at RAF Weeton near Blackpool to be trained as a driver.
He served at several locations across Southern England before his final posting which was with a microfilm unit in Frankfurt. Fraternising with locals was not allowed, but he did manage to learn German. He played in a football match against a much better German select team.
After demob, he returned home and was involved in the manufacturing of cars at the Triumph factory. He married, and because of unrest and strikes in the car industry, he moved to Scotland and was employed at the Carron company in Falkirk as a production director manufacturing steel bars, where his ability to speak German became an advantage in his dealings with foreign companies. He met an ex Luftwaffe pilot and experiences were exchanged - there was no animosity whatsoever and it was accepted they both had been carrying out their duty.
Geoff looks back on his time in Bomber Command with great fondness. It was like a big family. He still has contact with surviving crew members, and still attends reunions.
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Brenda Jones]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Ian Whapplington]]> Peter Schulze]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe]]> United States Army Air Force]]> Great Britain]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Ely]]> England--Lancashire]]> England--London]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Suffolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> France]]> Germany]]> Germany--Augsburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Stuttgart]]> Denmark]]> Sweden]]> Great Britain Miscellaneous Island Dependencies--Isle of Man]]> Scotland]]> Scotland--Falkirk]]> Scotland--Nairnshire]]> Scotland--Stirlingshire]]> Germany--Osnabrück]]> 1944-02]]>
James says that a separate briefing was held for wireless operators to inform them of callsigns and code words to be used before the main briefing. James was also the mid-under gun operator when the aircraft required one. James’ crew only flew four operations over Berlin being near the end of the war; he mentions a mis-identified target incident and an attack by a night fighter. James’ account also details being involved in the Operation Dodge and Operation Manna, as well as recalling a time that he was invited to fly in a Mosquito which he described as ‘a terrific aircraft’. James continue to serve until 1947 until he de-mobilised due to his ‘dislike of a lack of flying’. James retired from active service as a warrant officer. He would work as a delivery driver until retiring in 1997. James recalls that he kept in contact with three members of his crew until 2015.]]> Brian Wright]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Alex Joy]]> Anne-Marie Watson]]> Steph Jackson]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Herefordshire]]> England--Leicestershire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> Germany]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]> C F Power, Minister of National Defence for Air]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sue Smith]]> eng]]> Text]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Civilian]]> 1942-08-09]]> Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Civilian]]> Canada]]> Ontario--Acton]]> Ontario]]> Ontario--Thunder Bay]]> 1945]]>
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.]]>
Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> MCrawfordJ416818-13]]> Pending text-based transcription]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Service material]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Royal New Zealand Air Force]]> Canada]]> Alberta]]> Alberta--Calgary]]> New Zealand]]> New Zealand--Hamilton]]> 1943-03]]>
Cathie Hewitt]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Cathie Hewitt]]> Janet McGreevy]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Congo (Democratic Republic)]]> Zimbabwe]]> Cyprus]]> Cuba]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> 1945-05]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Bethany Ellin]]> Heather Hughes]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Bochum]]> Germany]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> Atlantic Ocean--Irish Sea]]> England--Orford Ness]]> ]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Schulze]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> Middle East]]> Egypt--Ismailia (Province)]]> Egypt--Alexandria]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Carron Moss]]> Pending review]]> Pending OH summary. Allocated S Coulter]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Yorkshire]]> Germany--Flensburg]]> Germany--Frankfurt am Main]]> Germany--Hannover]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> After a transit camp in Ismailia, Bill went to Jerusalem and attended a wedding in Bethlehem. He proceeded to an Operational Training Unit at Attiyah where they trained on Wellingtons. He was posted to RAF Shallufa for conversion onto B-24s.
Bill eventually joined 37 Squadron, No. 205 Group, at Tortorella, near Foggia. He went on two operations: one to bomb a railway bridge in the north of Italy and the second to attack marshalling yards near Salzburg in Austria. After the Germans surrendered, he flew up supplies from the south to the north of Italy. The squadron then disbanded, and Bill was sent to a maintenance unit just outside Cairo, delivering aircraft. Bill left the RAF in 1947.
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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Sally Coulter]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Shropshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Cheshire]]> Scotland--Ross and Cromarty]]> North Africa]]> Egypt]]> Italy]]> Italy--Foggia]]> Austria]]> Austria--Salzburg]]> West Bank--Bethlehem]]> Middle East--Jerusalem]]> 1941]]> 1942]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1945]]> 1946]]> 1947]]>
Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Adalberto Di Corato]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> Germany]]> Singapore]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> 1943-03-12]]> 1945-01-10]]> 1945-04]]> 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]]> Julie Williams ]]> Pending review]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Second generation]]> France]]> Great Britain]]> England--Nottinghamshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Yorkshire]]> 1943]]> 1944]]> 1944-06-05]]> 1944-06-06]]> Walter Raymond Stevenson volunteered for the RAF as soon as he was eighteen 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 RAF Mona. He was flying in Bothas, which he disliked, before converting to Wellingtons. Despite hating the sunshine, he was posted to a number of locations in the Middle East and Africa. He served with 621 Squadron whose role was to prevent German submarines from attacking shipping. He details the operation where he sighted submarine U852 which the crew bombed with depth chargers, visibly damaging the submarine. The commander of that submarine was later executed for the war crime of firing upon the survivors of the sinking ship, The Peleus. After demobilisation Walter returned to blacksmithing before switching to car repair work. 

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Chris Brockbank]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> Walter was ‘called up’ to RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool for ‘square bashing’. Despite being informed that blacksmiths and joiners were desperately needed, but Walter was equally fixed on becoming aircrew. Here he learnt Morse code. Next was RAF Yatesbury to learn wireless telegraphy, before qualifying as a radio operator. He was then posted to 608 Squadron RAF Thornaby, Yorkshire, a Costal Command station. After a year there, Walter went to No 3 Air Gunnery School RAF Mona, Anglesey. Walter trained using the Botha which he thinks is a ‘horrible one’ and became a qualified air gunner. Then came RAF Hooton Part, Wirral Peninsula and OTU RAF Silloth, Cumbria. At Silloth Walter was a W/op AG flying in Wellingtons. Here he met ‘the bravest and daftest pilot in the RAF’, called Bond, James Bond. Walter was now sent to 303 FTU RAF Talbenny, Pembrokeshire.
Walter was sent to RAF Hurn, Bournemouth. From Hurn he flew to Gibraltar and then to RAF Rabat, Cairo, Middle East Command, Egypt. He whole crew then flew via Juba to Mogadishu. Before he could arrive, they were diverted to RAF Eastleigh, Mombasa, Kenya. Walter was to fly from Scusciuban, Somaliland on detachment from the squadron. He feels that this location was ‘diabolical’. There were three W/op AGs in the crew, and they rotated the wireless operator’s role with two hours on the set. The set was technically known as the IT but amongst the crew as ITV.
The navigator knew the U-852 was surfacing and its possible location. The plane was unable to fly high due to low cloud cover, so Walter was able to visually sight the U-Boat from the second dicky seat. He moved to the front air gunner’s position, and after firing on all those in or moving to the U-Boat’s conning tower, it submerged. The plane circled the area thinking that the U-Boat was ‘Whacko’ and saw it re-surface, so depth charges were dropped in a ‘stick’. The gunner aboard opened fire with 37mm. Walter feels that they were poor gunners as the plane was never hit and they were the only aircraft in the sky. After the attack to U-Boat was guided to the shore and breached. The captain was executed with two other officers from the crew as war criminals for their behaviour earlier in the war.
Walter was sent on with his squadron to assist 8 Squadron in Ade, where they received ‘red hot’ gen about the shipping. He was posted to Khormaksar then Transjordan. He was there for about six weeks for the RAF Aircraft instructor’s course, before returning to England.
Walter was never confronted with a case of LMF but is both annoyed by it and understands that it was something never discussed. He describes the differing treatment to NCOs and Officers with LMF as NCOs were punished for it, but Officers were not.
Walter was posted as a warrant officer to RAF Scampton to be the Sports Officer. He was demobbed at either RAF Conningsby or RAF Scampton in August 1946. He returned to blacksmithing, married Lilian at the Town Hall in Wycombe in 1947. Walter is in the Royal British Legion and the RAFA. He no longer attends meetings as he is without a car.

Claire Campbell]]>
eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Coastal Command]]> Egypt]]> Great Britain]]> Kenya]]> Somalia]]> Middle East]]> Indian Ocean]]> Egypt--Cairo]]> Kenya--Mombasa]]> Somalia--Mogadishu]]> North Africa]]> Africa]]> South Sudan]]> South Sudan--Juba]]> Sudan]]> 1940-10]]> 1941]]> 1942-05-02]]> 1943-02-24]]>

The Earliest Years.
Born in Barnoldswick, then in Yorkshire, now in Lancashire in 1922. His father ran a wireless business until 1926. He describes his years at schools and a move to Norwich. The family then moved to London where he started an apprenticeship as an accountant.

Joining Up.
Cliff left the accountants to work in his father's radio business. Initially he was rejected by the RAF because he wore spectacles. He reapplied and passed various written, oral and medical examinations. Initial training was at Torquay then Newquay. Once training was complete he sailed from Greenock to South Africa.

Southern Rhodesia.
After acclimatisation in South Africa, Cliff and his colleagues were put on a sleeper train to Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Training commenced on Tiger Moths but he was 'scrubbed' or rejected. He was reselected as an air gunner and completed a course in Moffat, also in South Rhodesia. Hospitality in Rhodesia and South Africa was described as generous and excellent.

Postscript.
Cliff describes a run-in with a training corporal who took a dislike to him. Despite faked evidence he proved his points and emerged with a clean record and passed his exams.

Operational Training.
In August 1942 he sailed back to the UK. He was sent to Bournemouth for assessment, then on to RAF Finningley for training then RAF Bircotes for operations. Next was a move to RAF Hixon and its satellite airfield at Seighford. He married Hilda on 1st March 1943 during a week's leave.

Second Time to Africa.
He was then sent to West Kirby, Liverpool to join a ship sailing to Algiers, for further training. Their destination became Blida where they started operations on Tunis and Monserrato airfield. They then moved to a desert strip to the east by 250 kms. From there they continued operations into Italy. Later they moved to Kairouan and continued operations into Italy, mainly Sardinia and Sicily. Each operation is described in great detail.
He has included a letter in Arabic with instructions to take the bearer to British soldiers for a reward. At the end of his tour they sailed back to Greenock.

Screened.
After some leave Cliff's next posting was at Operational Training Unit Desborough where he helped train new gunners. Due to an argument with an officer he was sent to RAF Norton for correctional training. On his return his case was reviewed and the severe reprimand was removed from his record.

Scampton.
Scampton was Cliff's next operational base then Winthorpe for its Heavy Conversion Unit on Stirlings, followed by Syerston on Lancasters then Bardney.

227 Squadron.
Cliff joined 227 squadron at Bardney. Again he covers in detail each operation. His flight was later transferred to Balderton. During this period he was awarded the DFC.

Final Leg.
His squadron was transferred to Gravely at the end of the war. He did a photography course and was transferred to Handforth. There was little work, some unpleasantness and eventually a period of extended leave, a spell at Poynton looking after prisoners then demob.

Back to Civvy Street.
Cliff returned to Whitehaven to revitalise a radio company. He gives great detail about the improvements made. Later he set up a similar enterprise at Maryport. Wired radio services were set to become less popular and financially worthwhile so seeing the writing on the wall he decided to emigrate.

Kenya.
Cliff and family flew to Nairobi, then bus to Kitale where his father was.

Hoteli King George.
Dissatisfied with life on his father's farm, Cliff took a job as a prison officer. He and his family moved to Nairobi. He relates several stories about prisoners and their better qualities but in the end he gets restless and leaves.

Civil Aviation.
Cliff joined the East African Directorate of Civil Aviation in April 1951 as a radio officer. He and his family were relocated to Mbeya, 900 miles from Nairobi. His skills as a radio engineer were well used in this remote location. After 2.5 years the family returned to UK on leave. On his return he was posted to Mwanza, also in Tanganyika. He describes in great detail a royal visit. They left on leave in June 1957 and collected a VW Beetle for transport to Kenya. Their next move was to Entebbe. This was not a happy posting and led to a transfer to Kisumu in Kenya. After three years they transferred to Nairobi to spend more time with their children, who were at boarding school there.

D.C.A. Headquarters.
His role here was Telecomms superintendent. He describes in detail the operations of his section. This was an unsettled period in Kenya with many Europeans returning home.

Dec' 61 on Leave.
Leave was spent at their house in Wales then in May 1962 Cliff returned alone to Nairobi. His family did return later. By this time his father had abandoned his farm and was building radios.

On Leave June 1964.
He bought another house in Wales and spent his leave restoring it. His wife's mother moved in. In November 1964 Cliff returned alone to Nairobi. he left within a year due to the worsening situation.

Job Hunting.
Several electronics firms were approached offering Cliff's services. He attended an interview with Pye who quickly offered him employment.

At Pye Telecommunications.
He found his colleagues unhelpful. A great deal of time was spent on a Turkish quotation that had been in progress for 10 years. A quotation to the Iranian Directorate of Civil Aviation contained complications leading to Cliff revising the quotation. Later there was a complicated installation job at the London Stock Exchange. Eventually Pye pulled out from the bid but a rival company won it, only to be taken over by Pye. At first the system was troubled but after a simple modification it worked perfectly.

Dresden 13-14 February 1945.
A one page description of the bombing of Dresden.

Curriculum Vitae.
Cliff Watson's CV, dated 1976.











]]>
Cliff Watson DFC]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Peter Bradbury]]> eng]]> Text]]> Text. Memoir]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Great Britain]]> England--Huntingdon]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Norwich]]> England--London]]> England--Torquay]]> England--Newquay]]> England--Birkenhead]]> Scotland--Greenock]]> Sierra Leone--Freetown]]> South Africa--Durban]]> Zimbabwe--Bulawayo]]> South Africa--Mahikeng]]> Zimbabwe--Harare]]> Singapore]]> South Africa--Cape Town]]> England--Bournemouth]]> France--Paris]]> Algeria--Algiers]]> Algeria--Blida]]> Tunisia--Tunis]]> Italy--Sardinia]]> Italy--Cagliari]]> Tunisia--Bizerte]]> Italy--Monserrato]]> Italy--Decimomannu]]> Italy--Trapani]]> Italy--Palermo]]> Italy--Naples]]> Italy--Rome]]> Italy--Lido di Roma]]> Italy--Tiber River]]> Italy--Alghero]]> Italy--Castelvetrano]]> Italy--Pantelleria Island]]> Tunisia--Sūsah]]> Italy--Syracuse]]> Italy--Messina]]> Italy--Salerno]]> Italy--Bari]]> Italy--Comiso]]> Italy--Crotone]]> Italy--Pomigliano d'Arco]]> Italy--Paola]]> Italy--Battipaglia]]> England--Desborough]]> Norway--Bergen]]> Netherlands--Walcheren]]> Germany--Hamburg]]> Norway--Oslo]]> Belgium--Houffalize]]> Germany--Karlsruhe]]> Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal]]> Germany--Leipzig]]> Germany--Dortmund]]> Germany--Berchtesgaden]]> England--Whitehaven]]> Kenya]]> England--Yeovil]]> Kenya--Nairobi]]> Kenya--Kitale]]> Tanzania--Mbeya]]> Tanzania--Mwanza]]> Uganda--Entebbe]]> Kenya--Kisumu]]> England--Cambridge]]> Germany--Dresden]]> Germany--Braunschweig]]> Germany--Düsseldorf]]> Zimbabwe--Gweru]]> Zimbabwe]]> South Africa]]> Sierra Leone]]> France]]> Algeria]]> Tunisia]]> Italy]]> Netherlands]]> Germany]]> Norway]]> Poland]]> Belgium]]> Tanzania]]> Uganda]]> Iran]]> North Africa]]> Germany--Nuremberg]]> Iran--Tehran]]> Poland--Police (Województwo Zachodniopomorskie)]]> Netherlands--Vlissingen]]> Germany--Homburg (Saarland)]]> Tunisia--Munastīr]]> Tunisia--Qayrawān]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> England--Cambridgeshire]]> England--Cornwall (County)]]> England--Cumberland]]> England--Devon]]> England--Hampshire]]> England--Huntingdonshire]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Northamptonshire]]> England--Somerset]]> England--Lancashire]]> Italy--Capri Island]]>
Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Julie Williams]]> Chris Cann]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Atlantic Ocean--English Channel]]> Great Britain]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Wiltshire]]> England--Lincoln]]> England--Norfolk]]> England--Oxfordshire]]> Germany--Berlin]]> Germany--Essen]]> Germany--Mannheim]]> Middle East--Jerusalem]]> Middle East--Palestine]]> Germany]]> Germany--Kiel Canal]]> Germany--Ruhr (Region)]]> 1941-09-01]]> 1942]]> Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> ]]> Nick Cornwell-Smith]]> Julie Williams]]> Carolyn Emery]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Civilian]]> Great Britain]]> England--Yorkshire]]> England--Lincolnshire]]> England--Flixborough]]> England--Lincoln]]> 1944]]> 1945-05]]> 1947]]> 1958]]> 1959]]> 1974]]> Having completed their training in the spring of 1944 they crossed to Britain on the New Amsterdam. Due to the quantity of chocolate Rex had consumed on the crossing the medical staff thought that he had an appendicitis and he was admitted to a hospital in Glasgow on arrival at Gourock. The hospital was initially empty so Rex was treated very well but shortly after his arrival the wounded from the D Day invasion started to arrive and Rex was found fit enough to join 223 Squadron at RAF Oulton which were flying the B-24. Rex was not too impressed with the aircraft as they were war weary veterans cast off from the 8th US Army Air Force. Although Rex was trained as a Wireless operator / air gunner he flew all his operations as a wireless operator. Rex remembers that his main duties were to listen out for weather diversions he also remembers that there was a piece of equipment that he had that showed aircraft close to them which was very unreliable, probably Fishpond. In August 1944 223 Squadron became part of 100 Group flying radio countermeasures, jamming the German radar and communications frequencies. Rex relates how the squadron aircraft would sometimes leave the main force bomber stream and head for another potential target dropping Window to divide the fighter defences.
Rex flew 20 operations with his crew and related that on one operation to Berlin they were getting short of fuel so diverted to the crash runway at RAF Manston and the groundcrew told them that they only had enough fuel for two minutes of flight. In February 1945 he developed bronchitis and was grounded by the medical staff. On the next operation that crew were shot down over Germany and all the flight deck crew died the navigator and one of the beam gunners managed to bale out. Rex relates that if he had been on the operation he would have died. He was told by the surviving beam gunner that the second beam gunner never wore his parachute harness on operations and was last seen trying to find his harness.
While he was recuperating his late captain’s brother came to visit the squadron he was flying the C47 transporting equipment to Europe and Rex manage to get himself two flights to Brussels. On his return to flying duties Rex only flew two more operations before the European war ended in May. He comments that his captain for those two flights was a Lord Briscoe.
Rex relates that on one of his leave periods he was walking out in the country and a low flying V-1 passed overhead and the engine stopped and it landed and exploded in a field close by.
Rex did not return to Canada until December 1945 crossing in the Queen Elizabeth. He returned to Toronto married the girl that he was writing to during his time in Great Britain. He worked for a small company manufactured high voltage lighting equipment as a salesman until he retired.
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Dan Ellin]]> IBCC Digital Archive]]> Trevor Hardcastle]]> Julie Williams]]> Pending revision of OH transcription]]> Pending review]]> eng]]> Sound]]> Royal Air Force]]> Royal Air Force. Bomber Command]]> Royal Canadian Air Force]]> Bahamas]]> Canada]]> Germany]]> Great Britain]]> Bahamas--Nassau]]> England--Kent]]> England--Norfolk]]> Germany--Berlin]]> 1945]]>