Wilson, Kenneth (Oral history)

113241027
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:

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 Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80032548&media_id=356890" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1369428856
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:

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 Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80032548&media_id=356891" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1920686922
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:

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 Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80032548&media_id=356892" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
652137796
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:

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 Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80032548&media_id=356893" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Object description

British junior technician served as Chinese linguist and interpreter with 367 Signals Unit, 90 Group RAF in GB and Hong Kong, 1961-1962

Content description

REEL 1: Background in GB, 1937-1960: family; childhood in Ruislip, Middlesex; effects of war on daily life; education; rationing; left school at 17 and apprenticed to chartered accountant in London; called up for National Service, 6/1960; aptitude tests; qualified to join RAF. Aspects of training with RAF in GB, 6/1960-8/1961: induction at RAF Cardington; posted to RAF Bridgenorth for basic training; daily routine and training programme; passing out parade; opinion of food; off duty activities; choice of trade as linguist; initiative test; posted to Joint Services School for Linguists, RAF Tangmere; guard duty; intensive language training in Chinese; accommodation; recreational activities; attitude to learning Chinese; weekly tests; technical training with radios; method of learning Chinese orally; romanisation of characters; advanced training in technical language; opinion of teachers; discipline in camp. REEL 2 Continues: comparison of RAF and Chinese teachers; attitude to Chinese culture and history; failure rate on course; radio set training; knowledge of Chinese government and system; weekend leave; structure of course; final examination; passed out as junior technician; played rugby for RAF; issued with tropical kit; flew from Stansted Airport to Hong Kong, 8/1961. Aspects of period as Chinese linguist with 367 Signals Unit, 90 Group RAF, in Hong Kong, 8/1961-6/1962: monsoon on arrival; accommodation in barracks; problem of humidity; posted to RAF Little Sai Wan; opinion of accommodation and discipline; shift system; no parades or inspections; opinion of food; off-duty activities; restricted areas in Hong Kong; visits to Macau and other islands; social life. REEL 3 Continues: daily routine and shift system; description of bus journey to top of The Peak; moved into barracks at Kai Tak; story of missing duty watch; description of operations room at Batty's Belvedere; radio equipment; wire fence around perimeter; size of workforce; description of work station; method of recording information on forms; use of map references to plot Chinese air activity; frequencies used; recognition of different voices; story of listening to Radio Hong Kong on second radio set; processing and routing of reports; story of night visit by senior officer; memories of Christmas Day dinner, 1961; relations with officers; parades; flew back to GB, 6/1962; demobilisation and formal discharge at RAF Innsworth; assessment of service record. REEL 4 Continues: Civilian life and employment: returned to job with accountancy firm in London; joined tax department of British American Tobacco Company in Far East; worked for rubber company in Malaya; reunions with former RAF colleagues. Reflections on period of National Service with RAF.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), 1945-1989 (content)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Atkinson, James (recorder)
Wilson, Kenneth (interviewee/speaker)
Production date: 2012
Dimensions: whole: Duration 120, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 33618

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Wilson, Kenneth
Royal Air Force, Group, 90
Royal Air Force, Signals Unit, 367
Associated places

GB, England
China
Hong Kong
Associated keywords

Cold War

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated keywords

Our collections information