King, Geoff (Oral history)

British officer served as bomb aimer flying Lancaster with 57 Sqdn, RAF operating over North West Europe, 1943-1944; served flying Lancaster with 97 (Pathfinder) Sqdn operating over North West Europe, 1944

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Peyton Hall Farm, Berden and Manuden, 1921-1939: family background and social circumstances; reliance on horses in farm work; education; work as workshop apprentice and in office for engineering firm, 1936-1939; cycling accident and trepanning operations, 8/1937; sporting activities; work in grocers, 1930-1936; background to decision to join RAF including question of reserved occupation status and interview at Caxton Hall, Cambridge, 4/1940. Period at RAF Reception Centre, Cardington, 4/1940: kitting out; medical and dental treatment. Period of basic training with 5 Sqdn, No 2 Initial Training Wing, Morecambe on Sea, 4/1940-5/1940: billets; drill; PT. Period on engine fitters course at Training School, St Athan, 5/1940-9/1940: hut accommodation; preparations for room and kit inspections; food rations; filing metal cube and use of micrometer; dismantling and reassembling engines. REEL 2 Continues: tools; instruction in engines; safety procedures in starting engines; drill and PT; relationship with recruits and instructors; bomb damage to hut in German air raid; air raid shelter; digging slit trenches; arrival of Free French aircraft, 6/1940; relationships between French pilots and Land Army women; canteens; teetotalism; study; visits to Barry; examinations and passing as flight mechanic aircraftsman 1st class. Recollections of period as flight mechanic with Gunnery Flight, No 1 Air Armaments School, Manby, 9/1940-6/1941: role of unit; work on Kestrel engines of Hawker Demon; composition of ground crew team and relationship with mechanics; VIP visitors including Lord Trenchard; conditions of service and daily routine; guard duties; move to service Pegasus engines of Wellington; story of backfiring Pegasus engine and stories illustrating fire risk. REEL 3 Continues: promotion to leading aircraftsman; role adjusting Wellington engines, changing airscrews and tuning magnetos; story of problems with fog during flight in Wellington; special friends and recreational visits to Grimsby; stories of Hampden blowing up while carrying experimental mine, autogyro accident and Wellington landing without lowering undercarriage; anti-invasion precautions including use of Demon turrets and Lewis gun post; amusing story of female knickers being raised on flagpole during parade; story of failure of recently repaired fuselage fabric during flight with Wing Commander George Stainforth in Wellington; background to acceptance for remustering as air crew, 6/1941; German air raids on airfield; educational course; participating in Ministry of Information photographs based on King family involvement in war and based on Peyton Farm; friend's marriage. REEL 4 Period at Air Crew Receiving Centre, St Johns Wood, London, 1/1942: medical; training at Lords Cricket Ground. Period at Metropole Hotel, Brighton, 2/1942-4/1942: education courses; elementary navigation training; drinking habits on abandonment of teetotalism. Recollections of period at No 6 Initial Training Wing, Aberystwyth, 4/1942-9/1942: hotel billets; nature of training and use university lecture halls; PT display; relationship with trainees; clay pigeon shooting; story of getting engaged and subsequent break up of relationship; passing course. Recollections of period training on Tiger Moths at No 5 Elementary Flying Training School, Desford, 8/1942-9/942: problems with flying and failure to qualify for solo test; reactions to failure. Reclassification and lectures during periods at Holding Unit, Heaton Park, Manchester and Bridgenorth, 9/1942-1/1942. Recollections of attending bomb aimers and gunnery course at No 10 Operational Training Unit, Dumfries, 11/1942-1/1943: bombing training in Anson on bombing range; theoretical training; training on bomb sight; use of smoke canister to measure wind speed; Dalton computer used for navigation; dropping practice smoke bombs on range; cross country exercises and bombing runs. REEL 5 Continues: polish pilots; gunnery training firing at drogues and sea targets from Blackburn Botha; passing out and commission as pilot officer, 27/1/1943; kitting out as officer. Recollections of period flying Wellington at 29 Operational Training Unit, North Luffenham and Bruntingthorpe, 3/1943-6/1943: background to formation of crew with Pilot Flying Officer George Laing, Navigator Pilot Officer Ray Davis, Warrant Officer Vincent Day and rear gunner Sergeant Sydney Thomas; relationship with crew; nature of Wellington; circuits and bombs; day and night cross country flights including practice bomb runs over ranges, searchlight avoidance drills, use of camera guns during mock fighter attacks, restriction son use of intercom and ditching/crash landing stations; training on Link Trainer flight simulator as reserve pilot; billets; special friend; move to practice on concrete runway at Bruntingthorpe; view of jet-propelled Lancaster; assessment of crew. REEL 6 Period with 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit, Swinderby, 6/1943-9/1943: nature of Manchester; problem with bomb release gear; nature of Lancaster; addition of Mid Upper Gunner Warrant Officer Frank Green and Flight Engineer Sergeant Robert Burns to crew; accommodation; assault course; flying exercises; promotion to Flying Officer, 1/9/1943. Recollections of period flying Lancaster on operations with A Flight, 57 Sqdn, RAF based at East Kirkby, 9/1943-: nature of airfield; hut accommodation; role of officers' servants; nature of typical raid illustrated by attack on Mannheim, 23/9/1943, including notification, flight office, briefing, bomb load and release timings, role of pre-selector control settings, nature of Mark XIV bomb sight, escape kit, parachutes and prior practice drill, crew meal, security, journey in bus to dispersal zone, relationship with ground crew, checking bomb load and bomb sights and question of crew superstitions. REEL 7 Continues: nature of typical raid illustrated by attack on Mannheim, Germany, 23/9/1943, including take off procedure, send off, personal morale, flying independently within bomber stream, role assisting navigator from position in nose of aircraft, ELSAN latrine, crossing French coast, avoidance of German anti-aircraft concentrations, target indicators, bombing run and operation of Mark XIV bombing sight, bomb release, photograph, 'creep back' of bombing, flight back, risk of collision, treat of German night fighters on approaching base, landing procedure, taxiing to DZ and debriefing; training flights; recreational visits to dance halls and pubs in Boston ; nature of officers' mess. REEL 8 Continues: Australian officers in officers' mess; raid on Hanover and diversion on return, 27/9/1943; story of interception by fighters whilst flying over home; reputation of Ruhr as target and raid on Bochum, 29/9/1943; reaction to German AA fire; successful use of Oboe beams by Pathfinders during raid on Hagen, 1/10/1943; problems in locating target during raid on Munich, 2/10/1943; return home early due to failure of artificial horizon during raid on Frankfurt, 4/10/1943; area of North Sea assigned for jettisoning bombs; problems locating target during raid on Stuttgart, 7/10/1943; training on H2S airborne radar navigation system; opinion of Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid VC; advantages of using same crew aircraft; raid on Modane tunnel, 10/11/1943; raid on Berlin, 18/11/1943, including reactions, use of H2S set located next to navigator, move into nose for bombing run, German AA fire and night fighters. REEL 9 Continues: raid on Berlin, 18/11/1943, including sky markers used in cloudy conditions; raid on Berlin, 2/12/1943, including effects of high winds and adjustment required by navigator, effects of hit by German AA fire and value of experience as fitter in determining state of engines; flying gear and oxygen supply; parachute storage; raid on Frankfurt, 20/12/1943; story of engine fire and failure during raid on Berlin, 22/12/1943; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1943; changes in bombing tactics including longer routes to targets and diversionary raids to confuse German defences; effects of freezing weather during raid on Berlin, 2/1/1944; question of missing raids on health grounds; question of removal of personnel for lack of moral fibre; raid on Berlin, 21/1/1944; engine failure and jettisoning bombs during raid on Berlin, 27/1/1944; effects of explosion of nearby aircraft during raid on Berlin, 28/1/1944. REEL 10 Continues: leave; activities of German night fighters during aid on Berlin, 15/2/1944; problem with weather conditions during raid on Leipzig, 19/2/1944; raid on Stuttgart, 1/3/1944; low level raid on Michelin factory, Clermont-Ferrand, 10/3/1944; raid on Stuttgart, 15/3/1944; raid on Frankfurt, 22/3/1944, including near collision, being caught by master searchlight, explosion during flight back, damage to undercarriage and emergency landing at Syerston; reaction to getting new Lancaster; raid on Essen, 26/3/1944; low level raid on Konigsberg, 9/4/1944, including story of German fighter flying into ground during attack and role mining docks; engine fire during take off and abandonment of raid on Aachen, 11/4/1944; end of tour; question of remaining together as crew and next posting. Period at Night Training Unit, No 8 Group Pathfinders at Warboys, 4/1944-5/1944: new Rear Gunner Flight Lieutenant Dick Poulson; training on using H2S as blind bombing aid. Recollections of period flying Lancaster with 97 Sqdn, Pathfinder Force, 5 Group, RAF, Coningsby, 5/1944-9/1944: reactions to posting; question of different Pathfinder methods using flare force and master bomber as adopted by Air Commodore Ralph Cochrane and comparison with H2S methods used by Air Commodore Donald Bennett; organisation into flare forces. REEL 11 Continues: flight position operating H2S alongside navigator; award of DFC; problems during raids on Brunswick, Eindhovven and Nantes, 5/1944; reception on return home on leave; reactions to D Day, 6/6/1944; interdiction raids on railway targets in France, 6/1944; H2S problems during raid on Caen, 12/6/1944; collision during formation training exercises; raids on V1 sites; training as bomb aimer on Jordan trainer; story of taking as master bomber during raid on targets in France, 12/7/1944; successful raid on Stuttgart, 24/7/1944; AA hit during daylight raid on V1 site, 6/8/1944; raid over Konigsberg, 29/8/1944; raid on Darmstadt, 11/9/1944; review of various raids on Germany, 9/1944; final raid with Squadron Leader Guy Gibson acting as master bomber on Munchengladbach, 19/9/1944; reactions to end of tour and break up of crew. Period at Headquarters, 5 Group, RAF, Swinderby, 11/1944. Recollections of period as instructor at East Kirkby, 11/1944-1/1946: lecture room; attending course on LORAN long range navigational aid; giving training in LORAN; reactions to flying with inexperienced crews. REEL 12 Continues: promotion to flight lieutenant; JU88 attack on airfield, 4/3/1944; effects of accidental explosion during bomb loading, 17/4/1945; role in briefings and assessment of mining operations; story of meeting wife; VE Day 8/5/1945; air flight to see damage in Ruhr area, 19/5/1945; reaction to German civilian casualties during raids; training crews for service in Far East and question of training post in Middle East; rented married accommodation; review of unit movements; stories illustrating lifestyle in rented married accommodation; impressions of Lincoln; end of training role and question of remaining in RAF as regular. REEL 13 Period at Mepal, 1/1946-3/1946: leave; demobilisation. Post-war career: work as assistant food officer issuing food ration vouchers to miners in Abertillery; work as farm office manager at Manuden; effects of wartime experience; reads poems 'Just another day' and 'Flying with the clouds'; membership with Pathfinder Assoc and Air Crew Assoc.