Broom, Ivor Gordon (Oral history)

British NCO served as pilot with 114 Sqdn, No 2 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1941-9/1941; officer served with 105 and 107 Sqdns, Air Headquarters Malta, RAF on Malta, 9/1941-1/1942; served as instructor with No 13 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Bicester, GB, 5/1942-5/1943; served as instructor with No 1655 Mosquito Training Unit, RAF in GB, 5/1943-5/1944; served with 571 and 128 Sqdns, Light Night Striking Force, No 8 (Pathfinder Force) Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 5/1944-1/1945; commanded 163 Sqdn, Light Night Striking Force, No 8 (Pathfinder Force) Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 1/1945-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training as pilot with RAF in GB, 1940-1941: enlistment in Royal Air Force, 8/1940; pilot training with No 13 Elementary Flying Training School, RAF at RAF White Waltham. Recollections of operations as pilot with 114 Sqdn, No 2 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1941-9/1941: posting to squadron at RAF West Raynham; daylight operations over northern France; character of daylight raid on Cologne, Germany, 12/8/1941; opinion of Bristol Blenheim; tactics of circus operations over northern France; method of attack and casualty rate of daylight low level shipping strikes; squadron morale; case of Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF); public attitude towards Royal Air Force, 1941. Recollections of operations as pilot with 105 and 107 Sqdns, Air Headquarters Malta RAF on Malta, 9/1941-1/1942: flight to Malta; circumstances of joining 105 Sqdn and transfer to 107 Sqdn; character of low-level operations from Malta; night-time attack on harbour in Sicily, Italy; losses and commissioning; squadron accommodation; use of air channel to return to airfield; rations. REEL 2 Continues: nature of air operations from Malta; opinion of Sir Hugh Pughe Lloyd's leadership; leaving Malta and return GB via Egypt, 4/1942. Aspects of period as instructor with No 13 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Bicester, 5/1942-5/1943: developments in navigational aids including Gee; duties as low level bombing instructor. Aspects of period as instructor with 1655 Mosquito Training Unit, RAF in GB, 5/1943-5/1944: posting as instructor; opinion of De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito. Recollections of operations as pilot with 571, 128 Sqdns and commanding 163 Sqdn, Light Night Striking Force, No 8 (Pathfinders Force) Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 5/1944-5/1945: role of De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito; use of Oboe and H2S in Pathfinder Force; pattern of service with Light Night Striking Force; attitude within Royal Air Force towards Pathfinder Force; opinion of Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett; absence of German night fighters; dealing with anti-aircraft fire; coning by German searchlights over Berlin, Germany. REEL 3 Continues: marking role during mining of Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany with 571 Sqdn, RAF, 1944; raid on railway tunnel near Kaiserlautern, Germany, 1/1/1945; low casualties rates in Light Night Striking Force; question of morality of bombing offensive and its effectiveness; role of Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force bomber forces; incident illustrating Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett's involvement in bombing operations; night-time crash landing in De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito at RAF Marham, 8/1943; second crash landing due to technical problem, 3/1944; question of reliability of memory.