Easton, Ian (Oral history)

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Accepted Non-commercial Use

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Description

Object description

British officer served as pilot with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm at HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston in GB and aboard HMS Glorious off Norway, 4/1940-5/1940; served with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal off Norway and Mediterranean, 5/1940-8/1940; served with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indomitable off Dakar, French West Africa, 23/9/1940-25/9/1940; served with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Formidable in North Atlantic, 1940-1941; internee in French West Africa, 1/1941-11/1942; served as Fighter Direction Officer aboard HMS Indefatigable during attacks on German battleship Tirpitz in Norway and in Far East, 1944-1945

Content description

REEL 1 Recollections of operations as pilot with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm from HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston on Orkney Islands, GB, aboard HMS Glorious and HMS Ark Royal off Norway, 4/1940-5/1940: pattern of career prior to joining squadron, 1940; joining squadron at HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station Hatston, Orkney Islands; protecting HMS Suffolk; opinion of Blackburn Skua; shooting down of Norwegian flying boat; role protecting British Army troops in Romsdalen Valley, Norway, 24/4/1940; technique of shooting down Heinkel He III in Blackburn Skua; dive bombing attack on ships at Trondheim, 25/4/1940; crash landing at Osen, 25/4/1940; move northwards; dive bombing in Blackburn Skua. REEL 2 Continues: character of operations from HMS Ark Royal, 5/1940; reconnaissance flight to survey potential airfield; crash landing at Sandsoya Island near Harstad, 21/5/1940; return to GB, 5/1940. Recollections of operations as pilot with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal in Mediterranean, 6/1940-8/1940: attitude to attacking French Fleet, 7/1940; sight of French Fleet being shelled at Mers-el-Kebir, French Algeria, 3/7/1940; attitude towards pilot who claimed to have machine gunned French seamen in water; Vichy French attacks on Gibraltar. Aspects of operations as pilot with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Indomitable off Dakar, French West Africa, 23/9/1940-25/9/1940: character of Operation Menace; attempt to intercept torpedoes aimed at HMS Barham. Aspects of period as pilot with 803 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Formidable in North Atlantic, 1940-1941: joining aircraft carrier. REEL 3 Continues: forced landing in French Guinea, 4/1/1941. Recollections of period as internee in French West Africa, 1/1941-11/1942: capture by Vichy French; attitude of Vichy French; attempt to deceive Vichy French captors about secret IFF (Identification Friend of Foe) equipment; escape attempt from camp in Dakar; character of imprisonment; friction with Vichy French captors; conditions in new camp; hospitalisation for illness; change in camp and character of prisoners; methods of passing time; circumstances of release, 11/1942; amusing story of dealing with food hoarding captain on river steamer after release. REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of operations as Fighter Direction Officer aboard HMS Indefatigable during attacks on German battleship Tirpitz in Norway and in Far East, 1944-1945: period as instructor and fighter direction officer prior to posting to carrier; character of attacks on German battaship Tirpitz in Norway; move to Far East; Japanese treatment of captured Fleet Air Arm officers at Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies; interdiction of Japanese; advantages of armoured decks on British aircraft carriers against Kamikaze attacks; fighter attacks on mainland Japan; hearing news of atomic bombs being dropped; attitude towards Japanese; effectiveness of kamikaze attacks; attitude towards Japanese and Germans airmen; attitude to having served with Fleet Air Arm during Second World War.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Easton, Ian (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1989-03-23
Dimensions: whole: Duration 120, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 10644

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Easton, Ian (Oral history)

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