Private Papers of W G Chapman

Ts memoir (19pp) of his service with the RAF (1940 - 1945) covering his initial training as a Ground Gunner at Blackpool and at the No. 2 School of Army Co-operation at Andover (May - September 1940), his posting, after remustering as a Flight Sergeant (January 1941), as a stores accounts clerk to No 233 Squadron RAF Coastal Command based at Thorney Island, Hampshire and at St Eval, Cornwall (January - April 1942), a period of radio and wireless training at Bradford Technical College and Bolton Technical College (May 1942 - April 1943) followed by a posting as an electrical mechanic to the 'Inter Services Research Bureau (ISRB)' (a cover name for a Special Operations Executive (SOE) unit), based at The Frythe House near Welwyn Garden City (April - June 1943 ), where he received training in the maintenance and operation of the 'S-Phone' VHF communications equipment, and then describing his service overseas as part of the Army Operational Research Group (AORG), fitting out aircraft and coastal craft with this equipment at ME8, the SOE radio station in Cairo (September - December 1943) and at Torre a Mare, near Bari, and Brindisi, Italy (December 1943 - July 1945). The account, which provides an insight into the 'behind the scenes' technical support essential for the success of SOE operations, also includes some interesting comments regarding the relative lack of formality between civilians and the services and between the ranks in SOE and is accompanied by a photocopy of Flight Lieutenant C B Bovill's 'General Report on 'S-Phone' and 'Eureka' work with Force 399' (25pp) (November 1944).

Catalogue date 2002-05-09

Cataloguer AAM