Interview with Eric Evans

British civilian in Liverpool, GB, 1939-1942; NCO served as air gunner with 463 (RAAF) Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 9/1944-11/1944; prisoners of war in Dulag Luft Interrogation Camp, Oberursel, Stalag Luft VII, Bankau and Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde in Germany, 11/1944-5/1945. commanded No 232 Camp, Fort Crosby, Hightown and No 678 Camp, Stratford-upon-Avon, GB, 1945-1946

REEL 1 Background in Liverpool, GB, 1923-1939: family; education. Aspects of period as civilian living in Liverpool, GB, 1939-1942: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; German Air Force attacks; use of public air raid shelters; public morale and attitude to German Air Force aircrews; attempts to volunteer despite being in Reserved Occupation. Aspects of enlistment and training as air gunner with Royal Air Force in GB, 1942-1943: volunteering for aircrew, 1942; reasons for wanting to become air gunner; difficulty of hitting German Air Force aircraft; crewing up procedure; sense of isolation of rear gunner; discomforts of operating in rear turret; taking empty bottles to drop on Germans. Recollections of operations as air gunner with 463 (RAAF) Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 9/1944-11/1944: posting to RAF Waddington; character of Australian squadron members; his crew; squadron morale; description of RAF Waddington; relations with civilians; first operation to Le Havre, France, 10/9/1944; raid on Boulogne, France, 17/9/1944; raid on Bremerhaven, Germany, 18/9/1944; loss of Wing Commander Guy Gibson, 19/9/1944; memories of Group Captain David Bonham-Carter. REEL 2 Continues: reputation of Wing Commander Guy Gibson; attack by German jet night fighters during raid on Bremen, 6/10/1944; briefings prior to raid; raids on Flushing, Netherlands, 11/10/1944 and Brunswick, Germany, 14/10/1944; corkscrewing manoeuvre; heavy anti-aircraft fire during raid on Nüremberg, 19/10/1944; need for 'sortie checks'; role of ground crews; attack on German submarine pens at Bergen, Norway, 28/10/1944; effect of weather on raids; shooting down of aircraft during raid on Ems-Weser Canal, Germany, 6/11/1944; problems bailing out of aircraft. Recollections of capture and interrogation at Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre, Oberursel, Germany, 11/1944: attempts to evade capture near Osnabrück, Germany, 6/11/1944-9/11/1944; initial treatment by Germans; attitude of German civilians towards Allied airmen; interrogation at Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre, Oberursel. REEL 3 Continues: treatment at Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre; infestations in cell; question of prisoners of war co-operation at Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre; United States Army Air Force raid during transit at Hamm. Aspects of period as prisoners of war at Stalag Luft VII, Bankau and Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, 12/1944-5/1945: transfer to Stalag Luft VII, Bankau; march away from Stalag Luft VII, Bankau, 1/1945; sight of refugees on road and attack by Royal Air Force aircraft; character of Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde; attempt of Soviet Army troops to persuade former prisoners of war to fight Germans; impressions of Soviet liberators; attempt of Soviets to use prisoners of war as bargaining counter; escape from Soviets, 4/1945; behaviour of Soviet Army troops; problems crossing River Spree, Germany; German civilians attitude towards Soviets; arrival at American lines and return to GB. Aspects of period commanding No 232 Camp, Fort Crosby, Hightown and No 678 Camp, Stratford-upon-Avon, GB, 1945-1946: duties; handling of German prisoners of war; degree of freedom for prisoners of war. REEL 4 Continues: prisoner of war work; relations with prisoners of war; how prisoners of war passed time. Aspects of period as NCO with 463 (RAAF) Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command in GB, 1944: master bomber system; attitude towards Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF) system; possibility of whole bomber crew being punished; attitude towards role of Bomber Command; encounters with Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Max Schmeling in Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Germany.