Interview with William James Kelbrick

British civilian in Liverpool, GB, 1939-1941; NCO served as air gunner with 50 Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1943-2/1944; served with No 4 Missing and Research Enquiry Services, Royal Air Force in Hamburg, Germany, 1946-1947

REEL 1 Background in Liverpool, GB, 1921-1939: family; education; employment. Aspects of period as civilian in Liverpool, GB, 1939-1941: hearing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's radio broadcast of declaration of war, 3/9/1939; membership of Dingle Local Defence Volunteers, 1940; work as messenger of Air Raid Precautions; guidance he received from older man in Air Raid Precautions; use of air raid shelters during German Air Force bombing; narrow escape when home was damaged by bombs; concentration of German Air Force on Liverpool, 5/1941; level of public morality; public morale in Liverpool, 1940-1941; importance of Liverpool as German Air Force target; lack of daily migration into countryside. REEL 2 Continues: problems of German aircrews hitting targets compared with his own later Royal Air Force experience; why he preferred not to use air raid shelters; later experiences of German Air Force bombing in London, 1943 including reaction to sheltering in Union Jack Club during air raid, 1943, attractions of Windmill Theatre and other shows, comradeship of aircrews and leisure time spent together; emptying of theatres when air raid warning occurred; resilience of working class women in Second World War compared with 1997; issue of 'police clothes' to Liverpool poor; issue of 'Goodfellows' food parcels by League of Well-doers for Christmas; re-sale of clothing coupons for cash; Liverpool festivals traditions; training with Dingle Local Defence Volunteers and Army Cadet Force; Local Defence Volunteer guard armed with sticks on Mersey Tunnel, 6/1940. REEL 3 Continues: duties with Air Raid Precautions, 1940-1941; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; atmosphere during Phoney War, 1939-1940; means of obtaining news, 1939-1940. Recollections of enlistment and training as air gunner with Royal Air Force, in GB, 1941-1943: initial signing up to enlist in Royal Air Force, 1940; question of relevance of educational qualifications to future work in Royal Air Force; Morse Code training at RAF Squires Gate; Blackpool, 1941; situation at RAF Filey, 1942; appointment to aircrew training at RAF Sealand, 1943; move to No 1 Air Crew Reception Centre, St John's Wood, London; move to No 14 Initial Training Wing, Bridlington, 1943; attending No 4 Air Gunnery School, RAF at RAF Morpeth; opinion of Blackburn Botha, 1943; crewing up at RAF Upper Heyford, 1943; search in Vickers Wellington for ditched aircrew in dinghy in English Channel; conversion to Avro Lancaster at RAF Swinderby. Recollections of operations as air gunner with 50 Sqdn, No 5 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 7/1943-2/1944: Royal Air Force group and squadron organisation; joining squadron at RAF Skellingthorpe, 7/1943; raid against minimal opposition on Milan, Italy, 15/8/1943; raid on Berlin, Germany and reaction to choice of target, 23/8/1943. REEL 4 Continues: briefing for raids; procedure for taking off during operations; clothing worn for operations; description of what an operation was like to participate in; sight of German targets during raids; how intelligence about upcoming operations was quickly conveyed to Saracen's Head, Lincoln; operation in which aircraft was shot at by German Air Force operated Avro Lancaster, Hagen, Germany, 1/10/1943; damage to aircraft during raid on Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 3/10/1943; German Air Force fighters attacks on aircraft during raid on Hamburg, Germany, 18/10/1943; raid on Leipzig, Germany, 20/10/1943; air combat between German Air Force night fighters and Avro Lancaster air gunners; difference between German Air Force Junkers Ju 88 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 attacks; attack on tunnel at Modane, France, 10/11/1943; nature of raids on Berlin, Germany; emergency landing RAF Melbourne, 26/11/1943; incident in which his oxygen mask became detached and he blacked out during raid on Berlin, Germany; incident of engine being shot away during raid on Berlin, Germany, 24/12/1943; high number of raids carried out on Berlin, Germany, winter 1943-1944; question of crew member who did not like participating in raids on Berlin, Germany; raid in which aircraft was badly shot up, Leipzig, 19/2/1944; how his air crew became base experimental and test crew after it had completed tour of 30 operations. REEL 5 Continues: test crew work, 1944-1945. Aspects of period as air gunner with 9 Sqdn, Tiger Force, RAF in India 1945: how he went out to India as part of Tiger Force, 1945; prior recollection of being temporarily blinded in one eye by a 'scarecrow' during raid on Magdeburg, Germany, 2/1944. how his nerves went after completion of tour of operations and treatment he received in Calcutta, India and Muswell Hill, GB. Aspects of period as NCO with No 4 Missing Research and Enquiry Services, Royal Air Force in Germany 1946: role attempting to identity dead Royal Air Force aircrew; area of responsibility; incident of German mayor on Frisian Islands who declined to co-operate with investigations; question of Hitler Youth members shooting shot down Royal Air Force aircrew; pressure from his wife to leave Royal Air Force, 1948; role as Royal Aircrew Association official post Second World War. Reflections on service with Royal Air Force during Second World War: state of health as result of wartime experiences. REEL 6 Continues: talismans and superstitions of air crew during operations; question of Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF); wife who brought pressure to bear on her husband to come off operations and how he was labelled Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF); state of mind on operations and importance of staying with one's 'own' crew; danger of flying in bright moonlight on operations; how loyalty to rest of crew overrode any question of fear and nerves; last operation with 50 Sqdn, RAF to Leipzig, Germany, 19/2/1944; stress on operations; air crew who dodged operations; psychological effects of war; question of civilian attitudes towards aircrew bombing them and attitude of aircrew to bombing tasks they had to carry out.