Description
Object description
British NCO served as observer with 58 Sqdn, No 4 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1941-9/1941; officer served as navigator with 35 Sqdn, No 4 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 9/1941-4/1942; evaded capture in Norway and escaped to Sweden, 4/1942-6/1942; served as navigator with 405 (RCAF) Sqdn, No 19 Group, Coastal Command, RAF in GB, 10/1942-3/1943; served as instructor and navigational officer with No 6 (RCAF) Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 1943-1944
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Manchester, Alnwick and London, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; reaction to Munich Crisis, 9/1938. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Air Force in GB, 1940-1941: enlistment; pattern of training. Recollections of operations as observer with 58 Sqdn, No 4 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1941-9/1941: joining squadron, 7/1941; flying in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; discipline in squadron; question of stereotype of aircrew; relations between armed services; relations between Royal Air Force and civilians; character of RAF Linton-on-Ouse; workings of Lorenz Beam; work of observer in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; status of air observers.
REEL 2 Continues: problems faced by observer moving around in the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; explanation of term 'operation'; character of operations, 1941; impact of first operation; question of inaccuracy of navigation; German opposition; danger of being shot down by friendly fire. Recollections of operations as navigator with 35 Sqdn, No 4 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 9/1941-4/1942: background to transfer to squadron, 9/1941; flying in Handley Page Halifax Mk I; rarity of Handley Page Halifax aircraft in late 1941; pattern of operations flown, 9/1941-12/1941; raids on Brest, France, winter 1941-1942.
REEL 3 Continues: damage to his Handley Page Halifax by German fighters after raid on Brest, France, 30/12/1941; attack on German battleship Tirpitz in Trondheim Fjord, Norway, 28/4/1942; anti-aircraft hits on aircraft and forced landing on ice in Norway, 28/4/1942. Aspects of evading capture in Norway and escape to Sweden, 4/1942-6/1942: aid recieved from civilians in Norway during trek to Swedish border; selection of crew for raid; question of lack of bomb aiming training for raid on Gerrman battleship Tirpitz; crossing into Sweden; return to GB by exchange, 6/1942; hospitalisation on return to GB.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of operations as navigator with 405 (RCAF) Sqdn, No 19 Group, Coastal Command, RAF in GB, 10/1942-3/1943: squadron duties in Bay of Biscay; different navigational techniques used in Coastal Command; difficulties spotting German submarines; character of Canadian squadron. Aspects of period as instructor and navigational officer with No 6 (RCAF) Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 1943-1944: question of formation of No 8 (Pathfinders Force) Group; recruitment of Pathfinder Force personnel; use of H2S radar; question of greater accuracy of bombing; incident of firing on Handley Page Halifax, 8/1943; memories of Leonard Cheshire; improvement in German defences in latter part of Second World War.
REEL 5 Continues: threat of upward firing equipped German night fighters; conditions for navigators; problems created by flying clothing; question of Bomber Command's role during Second World War.