Collis, Gerald Fraser (Oral history)

British aircraftman trained as pilot with Royal Air Force in GB and with Arnold Scheme in United States of America, 1941-1942; NCO and officer served with 239 Sqdn, Army Co-operation Command, RAF in GB, 8/1942-7/1943; prisoner of war in Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre, Oberursel, Stalag Luft III, Sagan and Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Germany, 8/1943-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Bournemouth, GB, 1922-1940: family; education; employment. Recollections of enlistment and training as pilot with Royal Air Force in GB and with Arnold Scheme in United States of America, 1940-1942: enlistment, 9/1940; selection for pilots course; duties at RAF Kenley, 1/1941; voyage from GB to Iceland; relations with civilians in Reykjavik, Iceland, summer 1941; voyage from Iceland to Canada; arrival in Halifax, Canada, 7/1941; arrival in Albany, Georgia, United States of America, 7/1941; suitability of Boeing PT-17 Stearman for pilot training; discipline and treatment of flying trainees; hospitality of American civilians; his observation of social relations in Alabama; training on Vought BT-13A Vultee; American interest in Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast; obtaining wings, 2/1942; return journey to GB from Canada. REEL 2 Continues: familiarisation course with conditions in GB at RAF Tern Hill; incidents of trainee pilots who had epileptic fits in United States of America and GB; training on Supermarine Spitfire Mk.II at No 51 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Hawarden including formation flying, air gunnery and air fighting; ambition of fighter pilots to join No 11 Group. Aspects of period as pilot with 239 Sqdn, Army Co-operation Command, RAF in GB, 8/1942-11/1942: posting to unit at RAF Gatwick, 7/1942-8/1942; role of sergeant pilots in squadron; unit losses during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942; flight to RAF Twinwoods Farm near Bedford, 8/1942; problems with air pocket in molar tooth filling during high altitude flights; living conditions at RAF Cranfield, 10/1942-11/1942. Recollections of operations as pilot with 239 Sqdn, Army Co-operation Command, RAF in GB, 11/1942-7/1943: commissioning at RAF Odiham, 11/1942; posting to RAF Hurn; history of squadron and arrival of North American Mustang Mk.I; squadron activities during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942. REEL 3 Continues: move to RAF Hurn, 12/1942; low-level photographic work using North American Mustangs Mk I over France and Channel Islands; move to RAF Stoney Cross, 1/1943; attending Combined Operations course; move to RAF Gatwick, 4/1943; air collision between two squadron aircraft over Guildford; effect of hangover whilst spotting fall of shot for Royal Artillery on exercise; move to RAF Fairlop, 6/1943; attitude to taking leave; operation to Courtrai, Belgium in which he was attacked by Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, 22/7/1943; bailing out over English Channel, 22/7/1943. REEL 4 Continues: parachute drop into sea. Aspects of period in dinghy in English Channel, 22/7/1943-23/7/1943: inflating dinghy; his failure to attract attention of British aircraft; sailing past Dunkirk, France, 23/7/1943; making landfall on beach near Dunkirk, France, 23/7/1943; capture by German Army troops, 23/7/1943; initial treatment by captors; discovery by Germans of drowned Polish NCO washed up on beaches, 23/7/1943. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre, Oberursel, Germany, 7/1943: train journey from Dunkirk, France to Oberursel, Germany; nature of interrogations; degree of information German interrogators knew about his squadron; meeting with Len Bennett in compound. Recollections of period as prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III, Sagan in Germany, 8/1943-1/1945: transfer to East Compound of camp. REEL 5 Continues: removal to camp hospital and operation for peritonitis; circumstances of shooting of Squadron Leader Robert Grant by German guard; conditions for Soviet prisoners of war; French prisoners of war mockery of American prisoners of war; fate of Squadron Leader Robert Grant; memories of 'Pop' Pullen; escape attempts from camp; move from Centre Compound to Belaria Compound, early 1944; construction of theatre at Belaria Compound; receiving news of murder of Great Escapers, 3/1944-4/1944; refusal of prisoners of war to speak to German guards after murder of Great Escapers, 3/1944-4/1944; theatre performances at Belaria Compound. REEL 6 Continues: mother's worries about his illness and how he received extra rations from International Red Cross, 2/1944; fate of his squadron members on the day he was shot down, 22/7/1943; effects of his medical treatment; organisation of daily routine among prisoners of war; types of cigarettes sent to prisoners of war; influx of American prisoners of war; cricket matches; preparations for march westwards as Soviet forces approached camp, 1/1945. Aspects of march westwards from Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany, 1/1945: start of march away from camp; behaviour of remnants of German Army unit; stealing piglet from Germans; transfer of prisoners of war to cattle trucks. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Germany, 2/1945-5/1945: physical condition of prisoners of war on arrival; state of Polish and Soviet prisoners of war in camp; disappearance of German guards and arrival of Soviet Army; prisoners of war foraging for food; Soviets holding of former-prisoners of war in camp, 4/1945-5/1945. REEL 7 Continues: reaction to hearing British Broadcast Corporation radio broadcast of VE celebrations in London, GB, 8/5/1945; release of prisoners of war from camp, 5/1945; meal on arrival at American lines; hospitality of civilians in Brussels, Belgium; processing of prisoners of war in GB; plans for return to civilian life. Aspects of operations as pilot with 239 Sqdn, Army Co-operation Command, RAF in GB, 7/1942-7/1943: reasons why North American Mustang Mk.I was good for photographic reconnaissance work; unsuitability of Curtiss Tomahawk for photographic reconnaissance work; story of his former commanding officer Squadron Leader Peter Donkin who survived a week in dinghy in North Atlantic.