McGarry, Thomas Patrick (Oral history)

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© IWM 19814

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

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Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

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© IWM 19814

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

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Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence

By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

© IWM 19814

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Description

Object description

Irish policeman in King's Cross, London, GB, 1939-1941; officer trained with RAF in GB and South Africa, 1941-1943; served as bomb aimer with 76 and 35 Sqdns, RAF in GB, 1943-1944; POW in Germany, 1944-1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Belfast and County Longford, 1919- 1939: family; education. Period as policeman in King's Cross, 1939-1941: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939: accommodation; types of crime dealt with; level of public morale during Blitz, 1940-1941. Aspects of training with RAF in GB and South Africa, 1941-1943: enlistment, 4/1941; pattern of training in GB; voyage from GB to Durban, South Africa aboard Arundel Castle; flying training at Wanderboem near Pretoria; changing from pilot to navigator training at Grahamstown; commissioning and return to GB, 9/1942; operational navigation training in GB, 1942-1943; crewing up at RAF Abingdon. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as bomb-aimer with 76 Sqdn, 4/1943-6/1943: joining unit at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, 4/1943; German opposition on initial raid to Cologne; navigating aircraft on raids; marking of target; conditions in aircraft; attitude to raids on France and Italy. Recollections of operations with 35 Sqdn, 6/1943-1/1944: joining pathfinder unit at RAF Graveley 6/1943; use of H2S; execution of Peenemünde raid, 8/1943; impressions of Don Bennett; story of being shot down on raid on Magdeburg, 22/1/1944. Recollections of period as POW and hospitalisation for injuries in Germany, 1/1944: period lying injured in countryside. REEL 3 Continues: injuries sustained from parachute landing; aid from German civilian who had lived in US; removal to German Air Force base at Lüneburg; relations with German civilians; hospital treatment at Sandbostel; period in German Air Force hospital at Wismar; nature of injuries; visit to see damage done to Hamburg; lack of interest taken in him at Dulag Luft, Oberwesel c3/1944; mistaken assumption of squadron officer that McGarry was collaborating with Germans. Recollections of period as POW at Stalag Luft 1, Barth, 1943-1945: removal to camp; continuing medical treatment at Neubrandenburg; conditions in camp; vetoing of his re patriation by Swiss Red Cross; liberation of camp by Red Army, spring 1945. REEL 4 Continues: impression of Russian troops. Processing of returned RAF POWs in GB. Decision to stay in RAF and sketch of post-1945 service. Question of why Swiss Red Cross refused to allow him to be repatrited. Attitude to having served in RAF in Second World War. Question of why parachute didn't deploy properly.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (recorder)
McGarry, Thomas Patrick (interviewee/speaker)
Production date: 1999-10-09
Dimensions: whole: Duration 105, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 19814

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McGarry, Thomas Patrick (Oral history)

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