Description
Object description
15 ms letters (2 September 1939-undated but ca May 1943, when he was awarded the DFC) written to his sister Malvina (with whom he evidently enjoyed a close friendship) and describing in a swaggering and frank style his wartime service, first as a Pilot Officer flying Hudsons and Mosquitos with No 48 Squadron Coastal Command (1939 - ca 1940) and describing in excellent detail the operational patrols in which he has taken part and the aircraft he has downed (including a particularly graphic description of an encounter with a German Heinkel, during which he killed the pilot from a few yards distant, causing it to crash into the sea) but also, in an equally frank and often lighthearted and bullish manner, his sexual encounters and frustrations; then with No. 151 Squadron Fighter Command, based at RAF Bramcote and Wittering (c. 1941-43) flying Hurricane and Defiant night fighters, and describing further encounters with German aircraft, including a Heinkel, which he shot down over Birmingham and later learnt that 12 people had been killed as a result (c. May 1942) and another, when he shot down a Dornier, close to RAF Wittering and visited the site the next morning to gather souvenirs, including photographs belonging to the dead men (undated), and a separate incident where a crew member from a downed German plane was captured and brought to RAF Wittering, where he was told that he was going to be "shot at 5am" for killing "women and children". Bodien also describes taking part in a mock dog fight, with "half the Squadron in Hurricanes and the rest of us in Defiants" and "shooting up" the house where his sister lives, on the Isle of Wight, on two separate occasions. The collection is accompanied by three photographs (including one taken with his sister and brother John – referred to as Jack in his letters-at Buckingham Palace when receiving his award) and copies of three newspapers articles relating to the same.
Content description
15 ms letters (2 September 1939-undated but ca May 1943, when he was awarded the DFC) written to his sister Malvina (with whom he evidently enjoyed a close friendship) and describing in a swaggering and frank style his wartime service, first as a Pilot Officer flying Hudsons and Mosquitos with No 48 Squadron Coastal Command (1939 - ca 1940) and describing in excellent detail the operational patrols in which he has taken part and the aircraft he has downed (including a particularly graphic description of an encounter with a German Heinkel, during which he killed the pilot from a few yards distant, causing it to crash into the sea) but also, in an equally frank and often lighthearted and bullish manner, his sexual encounters and frustrations; then with No. 151 Squadron Fighter Command, based at RAF Bramcote and Wittering (c. 1941-43) flying Hurricane and Defiant night fighters, and describing further encounters with German aircraft, including a Heinkel, which he shot down over Birmingham and later learnt that 12 people had been killed as a result (c. May 1942) and another, when he shot down a Dornier, close to RAF Wittering and visited the site the next morning to gather souvenirs, including photographs belonging to the dead men (undated), and a separate incident where a crew member from a downed German plane was captured and brought to RAF Wittering, where he was told that he was going to be "shot at 5am" for killing "women and children". Bodien also describes taking part in a mock dog fight, with "half the Squadron in Hurricanes and the rest of us in Defiants" and "shooting up" the house where his sister lives, on the Isle of Wight, on two separate occasions. The collection is accompanied by three photographs (including one taken with his sister and brother John – referred to as Jack in his letters-at Buckingham Palace when receiving his award) and copies of three newspapers articles relating to the same.
History note
Cataloguer EP
