Ingle, Alec (Oral history)

British officer served as pilot with 605 Sqdn, No 11 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 6/1940-6/1941 including Battle of Britain, 1940; served as instructor with No 59 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Crosby-on-Eden, GB, 7/1941-5/1943; commanded 609 Sqdn, No 84 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, RAF in GB, 5/1943-8/1943; commanded No 124 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, RAF in GB, 8/1943-9/1943; prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III, Sagan and Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Germany, 10/1943-5/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as pilot with Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in GB, 1937-1939: reasons for enlistment; flying training with Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at Brough and Ringway Airfields, nature of Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve; mobilisation, 1/9/1939. Recollections of operations as pilot with 605 Sqdn, No 11 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 6/1940-6/1941 including Battle of Britain, 1940: posting to squadron at RAF Drem, 6/1940; personal and public morale, interception of German Air Force raid on Newcastle upon Tyne; move to RAF Croydon, 9/1940; sight of London burning, 9/1940; accommodation at RAF Croydon; daily operational procedures; age of squadron members; attitude towards going into combat; advantages of head on attacks; operational area. REEL 2 Continues: description of first head on attack and sight of Flying Officer Jack Fleming's aircraft in flames over Royal Tunbridge Wells, 8/9/1940; speed of aerial combat; circumstances of first experience of being shot down over Balcombe, 27/10/1940; vulnerability of Hawker Hurricane's petrol tank; navigating to RAF Croydon; story of second experience of being shot down over Hollingbourne, 1/12/1940; dangers of parachute descent; medical treatment at Leeds Castle Hospital; squadron casualty rate; lack of awareness of significance of Battle of Britain; amusing story of experiences in Croydon during German Air Force raid; opinion of Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding and Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park; organisation of fighter control during battle; opinion of German Air Force; question of shooting at parachuting pilots. REEL 3 Continues: nature of aerial combat and attitude towards German aircrew; squadron postings, 12/1940-7/1941. Aspects of period with instructor with No 59 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Crosby-on-Eden in GB, 7/1941-5/1943: opinion of improvements in training; selection and treatment of pilots; promotion in Royal Air Force; adapting uniform for flying duties. Recollections of operations commanding 609 Sqdn, No 84 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, RAF in GB, 5/1943-8/1943: posting to squadron at RAF Manston; role of squadron in 'Channel Stop' operations off coast of Netherlands; damage to his Hawker Typhoon during attack on German anti-aircraft ship and subsequent landing at RAF Manston; awards of Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Force Cross. REEL 4 Continues: national character of squadron. Aspects of operations commanding No 124 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, RAF in GB, 8/1943-9/1943: taking command of wing, 8/1943; ground attack and bombing duties; wounding during shooting down during attack on German airfield at Amiens, France, 11/9/1943; attempt to evade capture in France. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany, 10/1943-1/1945: hospital treatment; transportation to Frankfurt am Main; interrogation in Homark Hospital; removal from Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre, Oberursel to Stalag Luft III, Sagan; extent of burns; organisation of camp; reaction to captivity. REEL 5 Continues: reaction of Germans to Great Escape, 3/1944; preparations for move from camp; conditions during march away from camp, 1/1945. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Germany, 1/1945-5/1945: arrival in camp; conditions in camp; state of rations; arrival of American prisoners of war; latrines; preparations for liberation; how Germans left the camp; national composition of camp; appearance of Soviet Army troops; relations with French prisoners of war in camp; burial of dead prisoners of war and Soviet filming of ceremony. REEL 6 Continues: Soviet Army troops' behaviour and attitude to firearms; Soviet attitude towards other nationalities; problems between Soviet and Norwegian prisoners of war; marriages between ex-prisoners of war and German women; behaviour of Soviet Army troops; encounter between Soviet Army officer and American colonel; Soviet holding of Allied prisoners of war and turning away of American convoys; degree of knowledge of Yalta Agreement; relations with Soviets; foraging for food and prisoner of war forging of Soviet documents; captured German documents; repatriation to GB, 5/1945; reception at RAF Cosford; effects of prisoner of war experience; sanitary arrangements for prisoners of war. REEL 7 Continues: amusing story of sanitary arrangements in camp; attitude towards Germans; question of delayed repatriation. Aspects of period as officer with Royal Air Force, 1945-1960: build-up of Soviet forces and attitude towards Cold War; reflections on post-war society; representing Royal Air Force at Winston Churchill's funeral procession, London, GB, 1/1965; fiftieth anniversary celebrations of Battle of Britain, 1990.