Description
Object description
British policeman served with Metropolitan Police in London, GB, 1934-1935; served as detective constable with Special Branch, Metropolitan Police in GB, 12/1935-9/1941; served as officer operating ABC airborne jamming device and as signal leader with 101 Sqdn, RAF based at Ludford Magma, GB and operating over Germany, 1944-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Aberdeen, GB, 1918-1934: social circumstances; education at Aberdeen Grammar School, including sporting and Boy Scouts activities; background to decision to join Metropolitan Police. Aspects of training with Training School, Metropolitan Police, Peel House, London, GB, 3/1934-5/1934: dress code; training syllabus based on instruction book; practical training exercises; visits to courts; introduction to law; discipline and status as 'candidate'; cubicle accommodation; passing out parade. Recollections of period as police constable at Great Marlborough Street Police Station, London, GB, 5/1934-12/1935: shift system and duty parade; daily beats including problems with prostitutes, barrow boys, pickpockets, shoplifters and drunks.
REEL 2 Continues: story of arresting drunken driver; uniforms; use of truncheon, whistle and notebooks; toilet and refreshment breaks; use of torch; organisation of shifts; charge room procedure; debriefing; restrictions on marriage; conditions at section house accommodation an Beck Street; pay and savings; traffic point duty at Oxford Circus; effects of introduction of Belisha Beacon crossings; background to application for service with Special Branch, 12/1935. Recollections of service as detective constable with Special Branch, Metropolitan Police in London, GB, 12/1935-3/1940: historical role of Special Branch in countering Irish terrorist attacks and revolutionary groups; entrance interview and examinations; squad organisation and opinion of Chief Constable Albert Kenning.
REEL 3 Continues: squad organisation; initial attachment to squad monitoring Communist Party of Great Britain activities; attending Communist Party of Great Britain meetings in civilian clothes and question of being discovered; role monitoring activities of Italian fascist group through use of Italian informants and subsequent internment of suspects, 2/9/1939; work vetting naturalisation applications; nature of routine duties; relations between ranks in Special Branch; role of Special Branch officers stationed at ports and period on duty at Dover, 1938; stationing of Special Branch officers at airports; arrest of suspects during Irish Republican Army mainland bombing campaign, 1939; question of secrecy.
REEL 4 Continues: increased influx of Jewish refugees from Europe, 1938-1939; question of position of Communist Party of Great Britain on outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; internment programme based on lists of suspects supplied by MI6; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; Reserved Occupation status; investigation of people suspected of being pro-German. Aspects of period as detective constable with Special Branch attached to Passport Control at Heysham, GB, 3/1940-9/1941: role countering possible Irish Republican Army infiltration; background to decision to join Royal Air Force; working conditions. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Air Force in GB, 9/1941-11/1941: reception and induction at No 1 Aircrew Reception Centre, St John's Wood, London, 9/1941; training with No 7 Initial Training Wing at Newquay, 9/1941-11/1941 including accommodation, drill, physical training and lectures; period in transit in GB and Canada, 11/1941-2/1942. Aspects of flying training at Turner Field, Albany, United States of America, 3/1942-4/1942: flights in Boeing PT-17 Stearman; rejection due to problems with landing technique.
REEL 5 Continues: reaction to failing course; unofficial leave in New York during return to Canada. Aspects of period of training at No 4 Air Observer School, London, Canada, 7/1942-11/1942: prior remustering; syllabus; opinion of Avro Anson; navigation training; meteorology; use of star shots, dead reckoning and wireless fixes to determine aircraft position; aerial photography; commissioning as pilot officer, 11/1942; voyage aboard HMT Queen Elizabeth from Canada to GB, 12/1942. Aspects of period as officer with No 7 Personnel Reception Centre, RAF at RAF Harrogate, GB, 12/1942-4/1943: map reading course; attending 'commando' course. Aspects of period as officer with No 26 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Cranfield, 4/1943-7/1943: crewing up; cross-country training flights; opinion of Vickers Wellington; background to volunteering as German speaker for specialist duties.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of operations as Airborne Cigar operator with 101 Sqdn, No 1 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 8/1943-1/1944: joining squadron at RAF Ludford Magna, 8/1943; role in jamming radio signals from controllers of German Air Force night fighters; introduction to operation of Airborne Cigar (ABC) electronic countermeasure device; visit to listening post for familiarisation in jargon of German Air Force controllers; casualties suffered to aircraft carrying Airborne Cigar (ABC) equipment on trial runs over Germany; fitting of Airborne Cigar (ABC) into Avro Lancaster; dispersal of aircraft of 101 Sqdn amongst bombing stream of aircraft during bombing operations; opinion of Avro Lancaster and question of inadequate defensive armament; crew members; flying kit worn; question of use of Benzedrine; torch; Elson latrine; joining crew of Australian Pilot Officer Francis Kelly, 10/1943; personal morale and question of Bomber Command casualties inflicted by German Air Force night fighters; prior briefing on target; importance of meteorology reports; question of use of H2S Radar equipment to bomb through clouds; question of loss of navigator in action; plotting course; meal; kitting out; boarding and checking aircraft.
REEL 7 Continues: checking specialist equipment; take off and mustering; flight out to Germany; German anti-aircraft fire; German Air Force night fighter system; operating Airborne Cigar (ABC) to jam German signals; alternative jamming activities of No 100 (Bomber Support) Group; approach to and bombing target; relief on dropping bombs; question of civilians in target areas; return flight to GB; continual danger of German Air Force night fighters; debriefing interview with intelligence officer; drinking brandy supplied by chaplain; personal morale; frequency of operations; crew morale; routine duties and training; officers' mess and drinking habits; visits to Market Rasen; dances; awareness of casualties; joining crew of Flying Officer Robin Knights, 1/1944. Account of being wounded as Airborne Cigar (ABC) operator with 101 Sqdn, No 1 Group, Bomber Command, RAF during bombing operation to Berlin, Germany, 20/1/1944: wounds and effects of surprise burst of German Air Force night fighter cannon fire; aircraft dive; reporting to pilot; checking on air gunners.
REEL 8 Continues: unhooking fatally wounded mid-upper air gunner; failure to free dead rear gunner trapped in turret; defenceless state of aircraft and period occupying mid-upper air gunners position; cold and effects of wounds; lying in bed; question of origin of raking German Air Force cannon fire attack; personal morale; reception on landing; initial medical treatment at Louth General Hospital. Aspects of period of hospitalisation and sick leave in GB, 1/1944-5/1944: hospitalisation at No 4 Royal Air Force Hospital, Rauceby, 2/1944-3/1944; period of sick leave, 3/1944-5/1944. Recollections of operations as Airborne Cigar (ABC) operator with 101 Sqdn, No 1 Group, Bomber Command, RAF in GB, 5/1944-1/1945: return to squadron and flights with various crews prior to forming crew with Flying Officer Gene Atyeo, 7/1944; diversionary mission using Airborne Cigar (ABC) operator equipment over Calais, France, 5/6/1944; mass daylight raid over Caen, Normandy, France, 12/7/1944; interdiction attacks to aid invasion; reaction to award of Distinguished Flying Cross, 1/1944; role on posting as signal leader including reduced operational flights and question of morale of Airborne Cigar (ABC) operators; subsequent shooting down of Flying Officer Gene Atyeo's Avro Lancaster B.Mk III (PB258) SR-V, 13/8/1944; occasional missions with various crews; continued effectiveness of German Air Force night fighters; reaction to completing tour with operation to Hamburg, Germany, 1/1945; awareness of casualties.
REEL 9 Continues: question of effects of marriage, 11/1944; psychological effects of operations and instances of talking in sleep; award of bar to Distinguished Flying Cross. Aspects of period as officer with Royal Air Force in GB, 1/1945-1/1946: rest period, 1/1945-5/1945; remustering at Catterick, 5/1945: failed attempt to join Royal Air Force Intelligence Branch; reaction to VE Day, 8/5/1945; attending navigation course on posting to Transport Command, RAF at RAF Wymeswold, 6/1945-8/1945: enjoyment of course; question of posting to Far East; various posting prior to early demobilisation, 1/1946; promotion to sergeant on return to Special Branch, Metropolitan Police, 1/1946.
