text:
We've made it the home stretch! The entry period for the Seventeen Magazine Fiction contest has closed, but you can still vote for the top ten stories that will be judged by the editors at Seventeen magazine and author Maggie Stievater.
You've got from now until March 13, 2013, at 11:59:59 ET to vote for your favorite stories by "hearting" them. You can heart as many stories as you like.
In case you forgot just how important your vote is, here's a reminder of the amazing prizes:
- $5,000 in cash
- Publication on Seventeen.com
- A phone call with Maggie Stiefvater, bestselling author of The Raven Boys, The Scorpio Races, and the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.
Voting will end on March 13, 2013, at 11:59:59 ET, so vote for your favorite stories today!


text:
Oxypro Plus Automatic Chemical Dispensing System
Oxypro Plus Dispensing System us a combination of high quality cleaning chemicals and effective dispensing system to deliver an optimum cleaning and sanitation program for your business. Oxpro Plus has systems applicable for commercial ware washing, laundry and janitorial applications. Oxypro Plus provides you with innovative dispensing solution to give your business a competitive boost while lowering your cost of service.
Automatic Chemical Dispenser
Oxypro Cleaning System offers complete line of high quality, specially formulated cleaning and sanitation products used by medium to large institutions.
1 Step 1
Markets We Serve
- Hotels
- Commercial Laundry
- Janitorial Services
- Restaurant
- Catering Business
- Office & Commercial Building
- Healthcare / Hospitality
- Educational Institutions
- Manufacturing Companies
Manila Head Office: 500 Boni Avenue, Brgy.Plainview, Mandaluyong City (landmark) near Mandaluyong City Hall

subset: commoncrawl


text:
District 23
Alcoholics Anonymous General Service.
We are part of Area 36 and are located within Brown, Nicollet, & Redwood Counties in Southern Minnesota.
We hold monthly General Service meetings. Our purpose is to bring AA's message to the still suffering alcoholic. We also serve as the link between our AA groups and the General Service
structure of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Meetings are open to all members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
All AA members are invited to attend and participate.


text:
For 28 years, the Athens Chamber Singers have been serving up a hearty portion of holiday tunes with a good hot meal by way of the group's annual Yuletide Musical Dinners. This year's event will again be a three-eve affair, with shows Dec. 6, 7 and 8 to accommodate the many revelers who line up for the show each year. The reservations line opens today, so get yours quickly, as director Kevin Kelly says they usually sell out within a couple of weeks. Again, no tickets will be available at the door, so Yuletide revelers should make the call sooner than later.
Kelly aims to design programs that bypass the usual Christmas repertoire in stores and elevators, and says he wants listeners to delight in discovering new music expressive of the season. Celtic, American and medieval music have been the themes of previous performances, but this year Kelly decided to offer pieces that don't fit a particular theme. Titled "A Holiday Sampler," this year's show presents many styles and moods with carols from the Philippines, Nigeria and Spain; Renaissance songs from Italy and Germany; spirituals and hymns from early America, a hoe-down and a rousing Cajun chorus. In addition, several familiar carol texts will be performed with new musical settings.
Members of Calico Jig and Short Road Home, two accomplished local Athens groups who specialize in folk and Celtic music, will provide accompaniment and Trumps will prepare a sumptuous buffet as the Chamber Singers present music throughout the evening. Show time is 7:30 p.m., with hot wassail providing a cheery beginning. For details on menu and schedule, visit www.athenschambersingers.org.
Athens Chamber Singers' annual Yuletide Musical Dinners
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6-8
Where: Trumps, 247 E. Washington St., downtown Athens
Cost: $38.50 per person
Advance reservations only, available today through Nov. 28 by calling the 24-hour reservation line, (706) 353-6976.
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


text:
Scars Masks Don't Hide
I'm only a couple of months away from my 25th birthday and my quarter life crisis is in full effect.
For Jews, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah naturally lend themselves to self-reflection, but I find it more prudent to keep a running tally of the things upon which I'd like to improve. For me, Purim serves as the kick-off event for the nine-month period in which I remind myself that just a quarter of the way through the New Year, my resolutions have begun to fall through the cracks. Purim's timing coincides with the beginning of spring, the renewal of spirit (and those resolutions), and most importantly, the start of baseball season. While Purim's celebrations are lighthearted and joyful, to me, Purim's story conveys some troubling themes that my mask cannot conceal.
Much like a 60 degree early March day, particularly here in Washington, (it's snowing right now: Midnight, Monday March 17), the story of Purim is one of deception and false realities. The name Esther, Purim's main heroine, literally means "hidden." Esther hides her Judaism until she feels the time is right to divulge her true identity. She's not alone. Mordechai also hides, never showing his identity. No one could tell he was a Jew; Haman had to be told. Haman hides his hatred through much of the story and plots in secret. At one point the text tells us that Haman's face is covered when he is discovered with Queen Esther. King Ahasuerus' good judgment (and sobriety) is shelved throughout much of Purim's tale, and even God is nowhere to be found for much of the story.
While celebrating contemporarily, we wear masks to hide our own faces, and make loud noises to drown out the painful parts of Purim's 'reality.'
I believe Purim's characters are archetypes of ourselves. I learned that we wear costumes on Purim to commemorate the dressing up of Mordechai in King Ahasuerus' royal garments. Another explanation is that Jews at the time pretended to worship alternative gods and god pretended that he was going to destroy the Jewish nation. God didn't. For whom were we fronting? Chabad.org says (am I a nerd?) that this is a reason we pretend to be someone else on Purim, since both the Jews' and god's actions on its face had other underlying intentions.
When so many people turn to scripture for peacefulness, clarity, and answers to stressful real life occurrences, what should we take from scripture that muddles the lines of what and who is real? Furthermore, why mask our convictions?
Fortunately, many of us no longer live in a world in which a mask is required to shield ourselves or provide a façade to others from our true selves or practices. That does not mean, however, that forces of intolerance and oppression are gone.
Just last weekend, nearly half a dozen anti-Semetic attacks were carried out across France. Every year, the Anti-Defamation League presents a 'top ten list' of pressing issues in the world of Jewry. This year's: the rise of the far Right in several European countries as part of what the watchdog termed an increase in global anti-Semitism. "Jewish communities around the world, and particularly those in Eastern and Western Europe and South America, witnessed a rise in serious anti-Jewish assaults, vandalism and harassment," the ADL stated.
This year, instead of drowning out the bad and unjust, perhaps we should listen more closely to those who practice intolerance and hate. Maybe this year, it's time to confront negative forces in the world, and in our lives, face to face.
Masks can only shield so much. There's still work to be done.
Brian Block is a Penn State graduate with a passion for Italian food and his hometown, Philadelphia, most specifically the Phillies. Following campaign stints in New York, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, he's lived in DC for nearly two years working in government relations and financial services.


text:
- No. 102 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War -
Air Force Index
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Site Home
WW2 Home
Add Stories
WW2 Search
WW2 Features
Allied Army
Allied Air Forces
Allied Navy
Axis Forces
Home Front
Prisoners of War
Allied Ships
Women at War
Those Who Served
The Great War
Add Stories
Time Capsule
TWMP on Facebook
Childrens Bookshop
Your Family History
Contact us
No. 102 Squadron Royal Air Force
No. 102 Squadron was first formed in 1917 and disbanded in 1919, it was reformed for the Second World War.
Airfields at which No. 102 Squadron were based:
- Driffield 1939 to 28 Aug 1940
- Leeming. 28 Aug 1940 to Sep 1940
- Prestwick Sep 1940 to 10 Oct 1940
- Linton on Ouse. 10 Oct 1940 to 5 Nov 1940
- Topcliffe. 5 Nov 1940 to 15 Nov 1941 & 7 Jun 1942 to 7 Aug 1942
- Dalton. 15 Nov 1941 to 7 Jun 1942
- Pocklington. 7 Aug 942 onwards.
9th Sep 1939 102 Squadron Whitley lost
12th May 1940 Massed raid
11th June 1940 First attack on Italy
7th Jul 1940 102 Squadron Whitley lost
23rd Mar 1944 Aircraft Lost
24th Oct 1940 Whitley Shot Down
12th Mar 1941 Night Ops
7th Apr 1941 Aircraft Lost
16th Apr 1941 Aircraft Lost
17th Apr 1941 Eleven Aircraft Lost
9th May 1941 Aircraft Lost
12th Jun 1941 Aircraft Lost
13th Jun 1941 Aircraft Lost
15th Jun 1941 Aircraft Lost
27th Jun 1941 Aircraft Lost
30th Jun 1941 Aircraft Lost
3rd Jul 1941 Aircraft Lost
4th Jul 1941 102 Squadron Whitley lost
25th Jul 1941 Aircraft Lost
14th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost
15th Aug 1941 102 Squadron Whitley lost
21st Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost
29th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost
30th Aug 1941 102 Squadron Whitley lost
31st Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost
2nd Sep 1941 Aircraft Lost
6th Sep 1941 Aircraft Lost
11th Sep 1941 Aircraft Lost
29th Sep 1941 Aircraft Lost
12th Oct 1941 Aircraft Lost
16th Oct 1941 Aircraft Lost
1st Nov 1941 Aircraft Lost
7th Nov 1941 Aircraft Lost
8th Nov 1941 Aircraft Lost
30th Nov 1941 Aircraft Lost
16th Dec 1941 Aircraft Lost
5th Jan 1942 Aircraft Lost
9th Sep 1942 102 Squadron Halifax lost
13th Mar 1943 102 Squadron Halifax lost
28th Jul 1943 102 Squadron Halifax lost
22nd Nov 1943 Aircraft Lost
29th Dec 1943 Aircraft Lost
28th May 1944 102 Squadron Halifax lost
29th Jun 1944 102 Squadron Halifax lost
25th Jun 1943 102 Squadron Halifax lost
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
Those known to have served with
No. 102 Squadron Royal Air Force
during the Second World War 1939-1945.
- Adams Alan.
- Adams Alan.
- Adamson P. H.. Sgt.
- Adamson R. H.. Sgt.
- Albrecht V. M.. P/O
- Alderton E.. Sgt.
- Almond G. S.. Sgt.
- Anderson C. T.R.. Sgt.
- Anderson E. G.M.. P/O
- Anderson F.W.. Sgt.
- Archibald William Bruce.
- Atkinson W. V.. Sgt.
- Baldwin Conrad Thomas Frederick. Sgt (d.14th June 1941)
- Barr C. R.. Sgt.
- Behan Thomas Fraser. Sgt. (d.2nd/3rd Jan 1941)
- Bell-Towers W.. P/O
- Bennett N. J.. P/O
- Berndsson N. D.. Sgt.
- Bird Peter Drury. Sgt.
- Boddy David. Sgt. (d.3rd June 1942)
- Booth P.. Sgt.
- Borsberry Eric J.. Sgt.
- Bourne John Norman. Sgt. (d.5 Oct 1942)
- Bowden Ken.
- Bowden L. M..
- Bowes M. R.. Sgt.
- Boyle T. C.. Sgt.
- Bozer D. M.. Sgt.
- Brabin Harold William. W/O
- Bradbury R. F.. Sgt.
- Bradley R. F.. Sgt.
- Brain L. A.. P/O
- Braybrook F. A.. Sgt.
- Braybrook F. A.. Sgt.
- Bretherton Francis Joseph. Flt. Sgt.
- Brett P. G.. Sgt.
- Brooks J. C.. Sgt.
- Brown Peter William.
- Brown R.. Sgt.
- Bruckshaw James. Sgt. (d.1st July 1941)
- Buchannan A. B.. Sgt.
- Bush D. J.. Sgt.
- Cameron A. H.. Sgt.
- Carr Clifford. Sgt.
- Carr L. W.. Sgt.
- Carreau P.. Sgt.
- Carruthers K. E.. Sgt.
- Carter N. C.. Sgt.
- Ceyler R.. Sgt.
- Chambler R. E.. Sgt.
- Champion P. A.. Sgt.
- Chapman J.. Sgt. (d.13th June 1941)
- Cheshire Leonard Geoffrey. Grp Capt.
- Cheshire Leonard. Grp.Capt.
- Childs R A. Pilot Officer (d.15th April 1941)
- Clack K.. Sgt.
- Clemett John Alfred. Sgt. (d.15th Dec 1940)
- Clifford-Reade Alfred Pearsall. Flight Sergeant (d.15th April 1941)
- Cole G. W.. P/O
- Cooke Ed M.. Sgt.
- Cooke Ed.
- Cotton Basil Arthur.
- Craig R. K.. Sgt
- Cramp D.. Sgt
- Crosby L. H.. P/O
- Croucher J. R.. P/O
- Croucher John Rhodes. P/O (d.7th Sep 1941)
- Cubitt Eaton Geoffrey. F/O (d.13th Mar 1941)
- Cullis Graham. Warrant Officer
- Davidson G. R.. Sgt
- Davies G. C.. F/Lt.
- Davis Richard.
- Deavin A. H..
- Delaney David Bernard. P/O
- DeMattos E. R.. Sgt
- Demille W. H.. Sgt
- Denton I. P.B.. F/Lt.
- Denvin A, H.. Sgt
- Dobson A. O.. P/O
- Dower John Cyril. Sgt.
- Drearey D. K.. Sgt
- Dudley John. Sgt. (d.25th Feb 1943)
- Duguid D. C.. Sgt
- Duncan . Sgt
- Dunkley F. J..
- Eyre T. C.. Sgt
- Fackley S.. Sgt
- Fisher R.. Sgt
- Fraser J A. Sgt
- Frost Frank Arthur. Sgt. (d.6th Aug 1942)
- Gaskell P.. P/O
- Gayler Ronald. Sgt
- Gibson .
- Gillies W. A.. Sgt
- Glover J.. Sgt
- Golding F.. Sgt.
- Golding W.. Sgt
- Gowing R. P.. Sgt.
- Grieve D. C.. Sgt.
- Griffin J. W.. Sgt
- Griffiths J.. Sgt.
- Griffiths M. R.. P/O
- Groom J. A.. Sgt.
- Haithwaite Norman. Sgt (d.26th April 1940)
- Halsey A. L.. Sgt.
- Hamilton S J B. P/O
- Hamiton S. B.J.. P/O
- Hampson D. E.J.. Sgt.
- Hardy Sydney John. F/Sgt.
- Hartle E. A.. Sgt.
- Hartley J. M.. P/O
- Harwood-Smith K.. Sgt.
- Harwood-Smith Kenneth. Sgt. (d.8th Nov 1941)
- Hawkes A. W.. Sgt.
- Hay I. G.. Sgt.
- Haycock N. W.. Sgt.
- Hayes John Francis. Sgt (d.26th April 1940)
- Higson C.. Sgt.
- Holden G. F.. Sgt.
- Horrigan Owen. F/O (d.26th April 1940)
- Howes C. V.. W/Cdr.
- Humphrey M.. Sgt.
- Hurle Cecil Herbert. Sgt. (d.13th May 1943)
- Jackson S. H.. Sgt.
- Jaggers Alec F.. Sgt.
- Jennings P. J.. Sgt.
- Johnson Harold.
- Jones G. M.. Sgt.
- Jones J. R.. Sgt.
- Kibble Donald K.. Sgt.
- King A. E.. Sgt.
- Kirkwood J. V.. Sgt.
- Kitchener Harry Richard. Sgt. (d.20th Dec 1943)
- Kuebler F. G.. Sgt.
- Lakin Ron.
- Land G.. Sgt.
- Laylor J. O.. Sqd Ldr.
- Leedham John. Sgt. (d.14th May 1943)
- Leftley E. M.. Sgt.
- Lewis K. G.. Sgt.
- Lindeman G. M.. Sgt.
- Lindsay L. E.D.. F/Sgt.
- Lord D. R.. Sgt.
- Malkin H.. Sgt.
- Marlow K. P.. Sgt.
- Marquis William. (d.1945/11/08)
- Martle E. A.. Sgt.
- Masters A. R.. Sgt.
- Matthews R. C.. Sgt.
- McCarter William.
- McDonald G. W.. Sgt.
- McHendry D. C.J.. Sgt.
- McIlquham A. G.. Sgt.
- McIlquham Thomas. F/Sgt.
- McKendry D C J. Sgt (d.15th Jan 1945)
- McLaren A. M.. Sgt.
- Meagher D. K.. Sgt.
- Miller Charles. Sgt.
- Modeland S. T.. Sgt.
- Moon A. E.M.. Sgt.
- Moore H. E.. Sgt.
- Morgan S. E.H.. Sgt.
- Morphett H. L.. Sgt.
- Mountney Kingsley. PO.
- Mourton D.. P/O
- Murray G. A.G.. Sgt.
- Mylrea F. H.. Sgt.
- Nethersole Alfred Nathanial. Sgt
- Neveu C. S.. Sgt.
- Newell H. J.W.. Sgt.
- Newnes H J W. Sgt (d.15th Jan 1945)
- Nicholas A.. Sgt.
- Nicholl W.. Sgt.
- Nisbet T. B.. Sgt.
- Nixon J. C.. P/O
- Noble John Eric. LAC
- Norris James Arthur. Sergeant (d.15th April 1941)
- O'Connelley K..
- Ollerhead George. F/Sgt.
- Ollerhead George.
- Peak James. Flt.Sgt. (d.26th Feb 1943)
- Pearce Norman. Sgt. (d.24th April 1944)
- Penn F. W.. Sgt.
- Perriam R. C.. Sgt.
- Petersen William Joseph. F/O
- Philip R. T.. Sgt.
- Pike E. P.. Sgt.
- Potts F.. Sgt.
- Powell G. K.. Sgt.
- Rainer P. S.. Sgt.
- Ralston I.. P/O
- Ralston J. W.. Sgt.
- Reid J.. Sgt.
- Renolds L. B.. P/O
- Richards L. W.. P/O
- Ridley Andrew. Sergeant (d.7th Sep 1943)
- Riley D. N.. Sgt.
- Robson W.. Sgt.
- Rocks J. G.S.. Sgt.
- Roe J. R.. Sgt.
- Rogers T.. Sgt.
- Ross H N. F/L (d.15th Jan 1945)
- Ross H. N.. F/Lt.
- Rowes M. R.. Sgt.
- Roy B. B.P.. P/O
- Sampson D. N.. P/O
- Scott N. W.J.. Sgt.
- Selley Robert Thomas. Sergeant (d.15th April 1941)
- Sharpe John Charles. L.A.C
- Sharpe John Charles. Cpl.
- Shove N. L.. P/O
- Sills D..
- Silverman Alexis Louis. Ft Lt. (d.28th April 1944)
- Smiddy P.. P/O.
- Smith D.. Sgt.
- Smith E. W.. Sgt.
- Smith E. R.. Sgt.
- Smith J. I.. Sgt.
- Smith J. R.. Sgt.
- Smith N. R.. Sgt.
- Smith William J.. LAC.
- Spires L. G.. Sgt.
- Spirit J.. Sgt.
- Stanton P. H.. Sgt.
- Starbuck L.. Sgt.
- Stein I.. Sgt.
- Stein K.. Sgt.
- Stell J. W.. Sgt.
- Stock L. A.. Sgt.
- Stockton Tommy.
- Streeves J. A.. Sgt.
- Sumpton J. E.. Sgt.
- Swain W.. Sgt.
- Tackley S.. Sgt.
- Taylor Philip Anthony. Sgt. (d.30th Nov 1941)
- Teasdale-Smith J. B.T.. Sgt.
- Thompson G. E.. Sgt.
- Thomson R. K.. Sgt.
- Thomson S.. Sgt.
- Thomson S.. Sgt.
- Thorley T. H.. Sgt.
- Trehearn Philip L.N.. Sgt.
- Vermiglio T. A.. Sgt.
- Wainwright Wilfred.
- Walker S. G.. Sqd Ldr.
- Watchorn R. C.. Sgt.
- Weightman W.. Sgt.
- Welch W. J.J.. P/O.
- Welch W. J.J.. P/O.
- Whipple S. R.. P/O.
- Whisken . P/O.
- White J. D.. Sgt.
- Wickham H. W.. Sgt.
- Wigham William. F/O
- Williams D. R.F.. Sgt.
- Williams H. M.. P/O.
- Williams L.. Sgt.
- Williams N. G.. Sgt.
- Williams R.. Sgt.
- Williams R.. Sgt.
- Williams Robert John Wyndham. Pilot Officer (d.15th April 1941)
- Williamson D. G.. Sgt.
- Wilson . Sgt.
- Wilson J. H.M.. Sgt.
- Wilson Louis. Wmg.Cmdr.
- Wilson W. J.. Sgt.
- Winter Philip. Sergeant
- Withyman K. P.. Sgt.
- Wood J. R.. Sgt.
- Wood T. H.. Sgt.
- Woodroffe George Percy. Flt.Sgt. (d.30th July 1943)
- Worden Harry. F/O. (d.2nd Nov 1944)
- Wragg G.. Sgt.
- Wrigley F.. Sgt.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
- The 1st of September 2017 is The Wartime Memories Project's 18th Birthday. If you would like to send us a present, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
- To commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE Day, we are launching a new feature, Second World War Day by Day and also a new Library to allow access to records which have previously been held in our offline archive.
- Looking for help with Family History Research? Please read our Family History FAQ's
- The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and this website is funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. In these difficult times current donations are falling far short of this target.If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
- We are also looking for volunteers to help with the website. We currently have a huge backlog of submissions which need to be edited for display online, if you have a good standard of written English, an interest in the two World Wars and a little time to spare online we would appreciate your help. For more information please see our page on Volunteering.
Research your own Family History.
Dec 2017 - Please note we currently have a large backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 237716, your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit without contacting us first.
We are aware of the issue with missing images, this is due to the redesign of the website, images will reappear as soon as the new version of the page is completed, thank you for your patience.
We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates.
If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home.
If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes.Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
Sgt John Francis Hayes 102 Squadron (d.26th April 1940)My uncle, Sgt John Francis Hayes, flew with the 102 Sqduadron. His crew mates were Sgt V H Barr, Sgt. Norman Haithwaite and F/O Owen Horrigan. They were flying over Denmark and were shot down on 26th April 1940. The aircraft they were flying was listed as: 2248 ( Whitley N1383 102 Sqn) Sgt Barr managed to bail out but all remaining crew were killed and are all buried in Vadum, Denmark. Irene LloydIrene Lloyd
William Marquis 227 Squadron / 102 Squadron (d.1945/11/08)I have been researching my family history and have obtained the personnel records for my half-brother William Marquis.
The record shows that he was assigned to 227 Squadron on 12th April 1945 after discharge and appointment to RAF VR. There is a further entry for 227 Squadron dated 18th June 1945 which is some 10 days after 227 Squadron either moved from RAF Strubby or was disbanded. The next entry is at RAF Snaith dated 17th September 1945 followed by what seems to be an entry for 102 Squadron dated 20th or possibly 26th September 1945. He was with 102 Squadron based at RAF Bassingbourn when he was killed on active service at Abington Piggotts on 08/11/1945 when his plane crashed shortly after take off.
I know it is a long shot but any information anyone may have on William would be appreciated.Keith Marquis
Sergeant Philip Winter 102 SquadronSgt Philip Winter, my uncle, served in 102 Sqd during May/June 1941 as second pilot in Whitley DY-R. On the night of 12/13th June he was badly wounded by flak on a mission to the marshalling yard at Schwerte.Jon Lovesay
Pilot Officer R A Childs 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941)I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard) Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard) Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer R A Childs
Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941)I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard) Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard) Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer R A Childs
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941)I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard) Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard) Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer R A Childs
Sergeant James Arthur Norris 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941)I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard) Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard) Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer R A Childs
Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade 102 Squadron (d.15th April 1941)I am trying to find out some information about my uncle, Pilot Officer Robert J W Williams who was killed in action on April 15th 1941. I understand that he was shot down over Boulogne on his third mission with 102 Squadron. I presume he would have flown Whilteys at that time, based out of Topcliffe.
I have visited his war grave in Bourthes, France and those of his crew. The Pilot was 741381 Sergeant J A Norris, Gunners 701654 A P Clifford-Reade and 755097 RT Selley, and Pilot Officer R A Childs.
The crew:
Sergeant Robert Thomas Selley, RAF VR 755097. Killed 15/03/1941, age 29 (Bourthes Churchyard) Sergeant James Arthur Norris, RAF VR 741381. Killed 15/03/1941 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer Robert John Wyndham Williams, RAF VR 87359. Killed 15/03/1941, age 23 (Bourthes Churchyard) Flight Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade, RAF VR 701654. Killed 15/03/1941, age 21 (Bourthes Churchyard) Pilot Officer R A Childs
Sergeant Andrew Ridley air gunner 102 Sqdn. (d.7th Sep 1943)Unfornatle the only details I have are from my father who has passed away, but I would be keen to hear from any members of the squadron that served with my Uncle and possibly the pilot/captian of the Halifax, who visited the family after the war, after being freed from a POW camp.Paul Ridley
F/Sgt. George Ollerhead W/op 102 Sqd.My grandad, Georhe Ollerhead trained at Blackpool from 17th January 1941 when he joined the RAF and later went on to Driffield and was assigned to 102 Sqdn. He trained through Wymeswold and Litchfield from 1943 onwards to the early part of 1945 from were he was posted to Karachi with 194 SQdn. He was a Wireless opp air gunner and made it to Flight Sargent. I am very very proud of this fine man and only have one photo of him the day he joined up, aged 21. I would love to know if anyone out there remembers him.Mark Haselden
L.A.C John Charles Sharpe MID. 37 Sqd.My father served with 102 Squadron from 21/08/ 39 to 14/06/40.He was an air gunner for the period 01/01/40 to 14/06/40.He joined 37 Squadron on 29/09/40 and shipped to the Middle East on 13/11/40. He remained with this Wellington squadron until his return to the U.K in early 1944 seeing service in the Middle East, Greece & Italy.His rank on return was Corporal and he was mentioned in Dispatches on 01/01/43Mike Sharpe
Warrant Officer Graham Cullis 102 SquadronW/O Graham Cullis, a Welshman, was a wireless operator flying in Halifax bombers with 102 Squadron based at Pocklington N. Yorks. In late 1943 or early 1944 Graham's plane was shot down over Germany and he bailed out, landing with his parachute in a tree in a wood from which he had to extricate himself. At day break he left the wood, but there was a reception party awaiting him and he was captured. He remembers being taken through Berlin on his way to a POW camp and being spat at and verbally abused by German women in the city, though fortunately no further harm befell him. He was imprisoned in Stalag Luft 1 on Germany's Baltic coast and was eventually liberated by Russian forces in May 1945. By this time his weight was down to under seven stone due to the shortage of rations at the camp as the war progressed. Graham thought that, of his plane's crew of seven ,either three or four may have survived the shooting down. After the war Grham remained in the RAF for a time and eventually died C1992. He told me his story in the 1980s.David Whittaker
F/O Eaton Geoffrey Cubitt 102 Squadron (d.13th Mar 1941)My grandfather's account states that his twin engined plane developed problems over the Dutch coast and had to return to base. My uncle Geoffrey was the copilot. The plane got back to England but crashed into trees killing both the pilots.
He was aged 23 years at the time and joined the RAFVR at the start of the war having been in the Flying Corps when he was at New College, Oxford. My father told me that he had previously flown fighters but I have no records of his service. I have his medals and a photograph of him in uniform.David Cubitt
Wmg.Cmdr. Louis Wilson DSO, AFC, DFC. 102 SquadronDouglas Wilson was commanding officer 102 Squadron 14 July 1944 to 14 Jan 1945. He was also an early PDU spitfire pilot in 212 Squadron. He was also a test pilot at Farnborough during the War
Obituary as printed in the Daily Telegraph, 30th June 2004:
Wing Commander Douglas Wilson, who has died aged 87, won a DSO, a DFC and an AFC as a photographic reconnaissance Spitfire pilot, test pilot and bomber squadron commander during the Second World War.
Wilson was one of the small group of pilots at the RAF's Photographic Development Unit (PDU), an unconventional body formed to take photographs of Germany and surrounding countries during the so-called Phoney War. The aircraft used included a small number of specially equipped Spitfires capable of flying at very high level.
In April 1940 Wilson was appointed to command a small flight which provided the British Expeditionary Force with photographs of German Army movements. Following the German thrust through Belgium on May 10, the Spitfires operated at maximum effort until after the evacuation from Dunkirk. Retreating to Poitiers, and finally to an airfield near La Rochelle, Wilson and his handful of pilots flew until mid-June photographing the German advance across the river Seine.
With the Germans poised to capture their airfield, the Spitfires left for England, leaving all the unit's ground equipment and vehicles to be destroyed. Wilson commandeered an abandoned Fairey Battle bomber and supervised repairs to the wing using a piece of a tree trunk and some fabric before cramming six airmen in the back of the three-seat aircraft and taking off for Heston, where they arrived after a four-hour flight.
Stationed at Wick in Scotland, Wilson flew long-range photographic reconnaissance sorties for which the squadron's single-engine aircraft were stripped of their guns and armour plating, allowing them to fly above 30,000 ft. With extra fuel tanks, Wilson and his pilots flew five-hour sorties to the Baltic and Norway in their unheated cockpits and without navigation aids to bring back valuable photographs of the activities of the German Navy. For this crucial and dangerous work, he was awarded the DFC and mentioned in dispatches.
Louis Douglas Wilson was born on March 31 1917 at Vigo, Spain, where his father was the head of station of Eastern Telegraph. With his father re-assigned every few years, Wilson was educated in Lisbon and Alexandria before returning to England, by which time he was fluent in Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese.
He was then sent to King's School, Bruton, and the RAF College at Cranwell, where he was awarded the Groves Memorial Prize for the best pilot in his entry. In January 1937 Wilson joined No 40 squadron flying the Hind and later Battle and Blenheim bombers. The day before war broke out, Wilson flew one of 16 Battles to an airfield near Rheims as part of the Advance Air Striking Force. Six days later, he led six aircraft on the squadron's first war sortie, a reconnaissance of the Metz area. There was little activity over the coming weeks, and the squadron was withdrawn to England to re-equip with the Blenheim, but Wilson soon found himself appointed to the PDU.
In January 1941 Wilson was loaned for six months to Vickers Armstrong as a test pilot. During two years at Farnborough he flew more than 100 different types of aircraft, including Britain's first jet, the Gloster E28/39, as well as captured Luftwaffe aircraft.
Some of Wilson's work was extremely hazardous. In 1942 the scientists at Farnborough were conducting experiments to invent a system which would allow low-flying bombers to cut the wires of barrage balloons. To obtain data, Wilson had to make a series of flights in a specially modified Hurricane, a task which involved flying the aircraft into the wires of tethered balloons. On one occasion the wire jammed his controls, and he had great difficulty extracting the aircraft from a spin. He recovered at 1,000 ft, and landed with a length of wire trailing behind his aircraft.
On November 30 1942, he took off from Exeter airfield in his Hurricane for a further test. As a special precaution, his cockpit was reinforced to reduce the risk of decapitation, but the heavy structure gave him a very limited view. He did not see two German fighters, which were on a tip-and-run raid over Devon. Their Cannon shells thudded into the Hurricane, severely damaging the aircraft's controls. Wilson tried to bale out, but could not open the heavy canopy; after several attempts he managed to land, then discovered that most of the rear of the aircraft had been shot away.
Early models of the four-engine Halifax bomber suffered control problems resulting in many accidents with heavy loss of life. A test crew from Farnborough endeavouring to identify the problem were killed when the aircraft crashed out of control. Immediately afterwards, Wilson took an engineer on a test flight for a further attempt to obtain data. As the heavy bomber entered a turn, it rolled violently and entered a vertical dive. With great difficulty, Wilson managed to regain control before landing the aircraft safely. A major modification to the aircraft's two fins eventually solved the problem. Wilson was awarded the AFC.
After spending six months briefing pilots in the United States on RAF flight testing methods, Wilson was given command of No 102 squadron equipped with modified Halifax bombers, and led his squadron on many raids over Germany.
On four separate occasions his aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire. While leading a raid to Scholven in October 1944 his aircraft was badly damaged as he started his bombing run. Despite this, he continued to fly straight and level over the target until the bombs had been dropped. The citation for his DSO described him as "a squadron commander of outstanding quality, possessing a high order of courage and devotion to duty".
Wilson was deeply affected by the loss of his young crews. He insisted on writing personal letters to the next of kin of all the aircrew posted missing, often remaining at his desk for hours after he had returned from an operation.
After the war, he had appointments in Iraq and the Far East, and commanded Nos 9 and 49 squadrons when they were converting from the Lancaster to the Lincoln bomber. After a series of appointments at the Air Ministry, Wilson served in Germany before flying fighters as the chief instructor at the Central Gunnery School and taking a two-year appointment on the operations staff of the Second Allied Tactical Air Force in Germany. He retired in 1959, when he joined the export department of the aero-engine division of Rolls-Royce. He finally retired to Hampshire in 1973.
Douglas Wilson, who died on June 6, married Valerie Roche in 1940. The marriage was dissolved in 1953, and in the same year he married Eileen Farrell. He is survived by his second wife and by twin daughters and a son from his first marriage.Graham Shepherd
Sgt. J. Chapman 102 Sqd. (d.13th June 1941)I'm looking for information on these young guys from the 102nd squadron, who lost their life on 13th June 1941 in my hometown of Aalst-Waalre Holland.
- Sgt J.Chapman
- P/O R.W.Dawson
- Sgt K.R.Winter
- Sgt J.M.B.Tunnaj
- Sgt J.Hall
- Sgt J.F.James RAAFRaimondo Bogaars
Flt. Sgt. Francis Joseph Bretherton 102 Sqd.Frank Bretherton was my uncle. His service records say that he was posted to the Squadron on 23-11-1943 and was posted as missing in air operations flying from the United Kingdom on 29-12-1943. He was then reported as prisoner of war in Germany at Dulag Luft 8 from 8-1-1944 until 13-1-1944 was then in Stalag IVB from 15-1-1944 until 23-4-1945.Bart Bretherton
F/O. Harry Worden 102 (Ceylon) Sqd. (d.2nd Nov 1944)Harry Worden was a bomb aimer with 102 Sqd at RAF Pocklington. They took off 16:42hrs in a Halifax 111 on 2nd November 1944 and were hit by machine gun fire from another bomber, then intercepted by Ju 88. The aircraft was brought down at 19:45 south of Leuven in Belgium.
F/O H Worden apparently went back to try and get others out who were trapped, he died and is buried along side his South African pilot Lt J Begbie and another. They are buried in Commonwealth Cemetery Town Cemetery, Brussels.
The crew were:
- LT J Begbie
- Sgt CJ Jauncy,
- Sgt P Robinson,
- Sgt J Griffiths,
- Sgt Mattthews
- And Sgt D Scott.
Harry Worden was my mother's fiancee. I do not know any more details as this info came only to light following my Mother's death. Her name was Phoebe Earnshaw. I do have some photos.Gill Ellison
LAC. William J. Smith 102 SquadronMy grandad, William Smith, served mainly at Pocklington from 39-46 and was part of bomber commands ground crew. I found out last year he had never been decorated and I managed to get him his defence and WW2 medal and had a huge presentation day helped by the RAF. I would love to find some people he served with.
His health isn't what it was any more and I'd love to do this while he is still with us.Sandra Smith
Cpl. John Charles Sharpe MID. 37 Sqd.my father, Jack Sharpe served with 37 squadron in the Middle East and Italy from September 1940 to September 1943 as an airframe fitter having been with 102 squadron at Driffield from July 1938 to to August 1940 (some of this time as an air gunner). He appeared in an article in Americas Life magazine dated 10th June 1940 entitled "The RAF fliers are young and brave", where he is pictured in the rear turret of a Whitely.Michael Sharpe
Sgt. Harry Richard Kitchener 102 Squadron (d.20th Dec 1943)Harry Kitchener was my brother, I was born the day my mother received a telegram to say he was missing, someone in the family has possible found out where he was laid to rest, which is in Rheinberg War Cemetery, but when they came back the name found was Henry Richard Kitchener, I don't know him by this name. I was told by my Mum and Dad his name was Harry. I would like to know if this is the same person, because I told my parents I would like to visit the grave before it's too late.
Editor's Note: CWGC records always list people by their full names, Harry is a familiar name for someone named Henry, and Henry Richard Kitchener is the only RAF man named Kitchener listed as killed in 1943, so it is very likely this is your brother. We would advise checking his birth certificate or the birth records to confirm his full name. If you have the telegram, it should give you his service number which would also confirm it.Norman Williams
Sgt. Kenneth Harwood-Smith 102 Squadron (d.8th Nov 1941)One of the men in the picture included in the story written by Sgt Ed M Cooke W/Op Air-Gunner of 102 Squadron, showing 6 airmen outside "A"Flight crew room, is my cousin Kenneth Harwood-Smith who died at the young age of 23. He is standing and is on the right hand side. I have the exact same picture!
Unfortunately, I do not have any stories that I can share other than Kenneth had a younger brother Norman Harwood-Smith who was also killed.Norman was with 82 Squadron, service number 42470. He was a Pilot Officer with the RAF. Norman died August 10, 1940 at the age of 20. Both boys are commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, Kenneth on panel 44 and Norman on panel 8. They were the sons of Henry Harwood-Smith and Florence Alice Harwood-Smith, their only children.
Thank you for producing such a wonderful website. There is so much that can be learned from the brave men and women who have shared their memories.Kim Caicco
Flt.Sgt. George Percy Woodroffe 102 Squadron (d.30th July 1943)My 2nd cousin, George Woodroffe was a Flight Sergeant in 102 Squadron and was killed on a bomber raid over Germany on the 30th of July 1943. I have found in my late father's photographs a picture of a twin engined bomber with the name "Pluto" painted on it's nose. The crew plus, presumably, ground crew are included in front of the bomber. I can only presume at this stage that George Woodroffe is in the picture but cannot be sure (why else would my father have this photograph) This picture could also be interest to others with family or friends in 102 Squadron. Any help to identify the plane and it's crew would be greatly appreciated.Bob Elliott
Sgt. John Norman Bourne 102 Squadron (d.5 Oct 1942)'Johnny' Bourne was a 'Trenchard Brat' and knew my father well, Sgt Eric Dickson, 572272 for six short years when they both joined the RAF as engineer apprentices, RAF Halton in the 36th Entry, August 1937. My father passed away in September 2005 but had located Johnny's grave to Brussels via the CWGC in 2002. He never made the visit he'd planned but I have a signed photo of Johnny, dated 18th July 1942 and on the back, a poem in my father's handwriting:
"Six years of life we two hae spent, And many a joyfu' time hae kent. Now alas that time is o'er, For Johnny lad, ye'll fly no more."
At the base of the card is written: "Johnny was killed over Aachen October 6/7 1942" However, the CWGC citation reads 5 October 1942.
I am planning to visit Johnny's grave in early July 2011. Should any of his relatives read this, please get in touch via the website.Robin D.B. Dickson
George Ollerhead 102 SquardronGeorge Ollerhead served with 102 Sqdn and 194 Sqdn from 1941 to 1945, if anyone remembers him I would be very glad to hear from you.Mark Haselden
Sgt. James Bruckshaw 102 Squadron (d.1st July 1941)On July 1st 1941 crashed a Whitley Bomber of the 102 Squadron down at Maria-Hoop-Holland, a small village in the south of Holland. The plane came back after a raid to Duisburg-Germany and shot down by a German Nightfighter, Hptm. Werner Streib 1./NJG1, its was his 15th victory. The plane with serial nr T4233 crashed on a field about 500 metre south of the village.
The crew:
- Pilot: Sgt. James Bruckshaw RAF
- 2ndPilot: F/O. Arthur Pullen RAF
- Observer: Sgt. Frank Coulby RAF
- Airgr. Sgt. Donald Sills RAF
- Airg. Sgt. John Newlands RAF
Unfortunately, the all crew were killed and buried at Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen-Holland. I'm looking for relatives of these crewmembers.Michel Beckers
Sgt. John Dudley 102 Squadron. (d.25th Feb 1943)My late Uncle, Sgt Air Gunner John Dudley, died 25/02/1943 in Halifax DT800 flying from Pocklington to bomb Nuremburg. They crashed at Ardleigh, Essex. Like so many more he needs to be remembered.Jon Dudley
W/O Harold William Brabin 102 SquadronI did two tours of Ops with 102 Squadron, one following another. My crew were:
- Pilot Bill Rabbitt Dec.
- Nav. Bas Spiller
- Bombaimer Don McLean dec
- Harry Brabin
- W/Op Sandy Conncannon
- Rear Gunner John Allen
- Engineer Charlie HoodHarry Brabin
Sgt Conrad Thomas Frederick Baldwin 102 Squadron (d.14th June 1941)In researching my family tree I came across a photo of a little lad sitting on his mother's knee in 1913. He was my cousin, Conrad Thomas Frederick Baldwin, about 1 year old. The next record I found is a war grave with his rank, squadron and date of death. Sgt Conrad Thomas Frederick Baldwin 14/6/1941 102 Squadron laid to rest in Riechwald War Cemetery. But there is no record of him in any of the 102 lists or flight casualties. What a shame!John
Peter William Brown 102 SquadronMy father, Peter William Brown, served with 102 in Halifaxes and, I think, wireless operator at at Pocklington, Yorkshire. His knowledge on wartime radio/ radar equipment was unbelievable. As far as I can remember, as a young lad, was him telling me and my brother about Pocklington, and his training in the Isle of Man, and being at Wing in Buckinghamshire.Alan Brown
P/O John Rhodes Croucher 102 Squadron (d.7th Sep 1941)P/O John Rhodes Croucher, F/Sgt H L Morphett RAAF and Sgt J Glover RCAF of 102 Squadron were killed in action over Berlin on the 7th September 1941. I do not know who the rest of the crew were or have any further details at the current time, I'm afraid. They are listed on the CWGC database, and have no known grave, all three are listed on the Runnymede Memorial.Mark Croucher
F/O William "Wiggy" Wigham DFC. 102 SquadronMemoirs of a Tail-End Charlie, William (Bill) Wigham 1910 - 1975 by his wife Olive Wigham nee Lancaster
As the war is about forgotten (1939-1945) I thought I'd try to write down some of the things Bill told me about when he was a rear-gunner in first a Wellington Bomber and then a second tour in a Halifax. He had just started to buy an insurance round (C0-0P), which was costly, and couldn't wait when war was declared to enlist and I took over his job which meant I had to lodge there and disliked the job anyway.
He had to do a lot of training & his first lot of ops were with 101 Squadron from near St. Neots in a Wellington. At that time we didn't have a big air force so they were the main planes for getting to Germany. His first pilot was a New Zealander aged about 21-22, but as all crews did they worked well together and were always doing night raids. The average life was reckoned to be about 9 weeks! So, they were lucky to survive. As I can't remember what happened on the first flights I have just put down what Bill told me between leaves. His log book just states where they went but not the details of the actual raids etc.
At first we didn't have plenty of bombs & Germans were raining bombs down on London, so they used to fly over Germany and drop empty sauce (& pop) bottles because they made the same screaming noise and they hoped to upset the Germans when thrown among the bombs. They also dropped leaflets to let ordinary Germans know exactly what was happening as they only had the propaganda that told them they were already winning the war.
The first thing that Bill found on his first posting was that all the manhole covers (drain covers) had been removed from the station and they were warned where to walk. Apparently, the Americans had eventually joined in and were flying day raids and the rear-gunners had decided protection wasn't strong enough and used the covers to sit on!
Bill liked the Wellington - he said it was covered with fabric and it still flew riddled in bullet holes. He was moved to the station and was a Flight Sergeant when he met George Snaith, having met him at home, and they were delighted to meet up on duty. When he wasn't on ops - George & he used to play darts with the locals, and if he had to land on other airfields George said the locals were very upset and he got a real welcome the next time he could play darts.
They bombed the factories in Germany that were making guns etc. but had trouble in dodging the fighters. Bill and crew had to ditch the plane anywhere they could make it and at one GI station they had the best meals since joining up! At first there weren't many planes could carry enough fuel to get to Berlin, so they bombed all the factories they could reach and were very lucky to survive the first 9 weeks over Hamburg.
On one occasion when being chased by fighters he thought he had been hit because he couldn't feel his legs and was very cold, but when they got home he found a bullet had severed the connecting wire in his flying suit that was the heating circuit, so with a sigh of relief he was mobile.
After completing the session of ops he was sent to Scotland to instruct gunnery. I joined him in a bed-sit and we felt we were really married at last and it lasted for a year, so we were both relaxed for the first time and made friends, one of whom I write to after 60 years.
He was commissioned to Pilot Officer and had to get used to being saluted. I found I was expecting a baby so on his last leave I stayed at home and he was posted to Driffield and back flying again with 102 Squadron.
At some time there he did a daylight trip and was amused to see the cars & vans with gas bags on top as fuel in Belgium. The planes always went in with incendiaries before the bombers so there was fires already burning before they arrived. The German fighters were waiting so they still lost planes. His batwoman got the telegram to him to say I'd had the baby & he had difficulty in getting leave as he was down on battle orders. He managed to swap and while he was home his crew made a trip and were very badly shot-up, the mid-upper gunner had his head shot off and they were very lucky to get back over the coast. When Bill went back his pilot said he would refuse to go if any of the regular crew were missing.
Bill got a cold with sinus trouble and the GP said he was not to fly and to Bill's amazement the crew didn't fly until he was able to carry on. The pilot was just 21 and knowing Bill had been through the worst relied on him and took any advice Bill gave when attacked from the rear. I said to him didn't he feel any pains on the Friday morning when I was in labour but at 8.00 - 8.30am he was too busy getting rid of fighters!
The worst job was mine-laying. One episode lasted long after the war was over. He was coming out of anaesthetic after an operation on his knee and started to talk. All he kept saying was "They said there would be no searchlights. You can read a Bl**** newspaper" they had to fly very low and as they got to the target the whole place lit up and they were in full view the whole time. The mid-upper gunner was panicking and Bill had to tell him to shut up and start firing at the lights and put out as many as they could. Usually when they crossed the coast on the way home they would all talk but this time no one said a word. The next morning Bill went out to see about more ammunition. He had used every bullet and the armourer remarked "you must have had a busy night Sir" and Bill said yes he would need more bullets. The armourer said "you need four new guns" - the rifling had been taken off every barrel and the guns were useless.
The new Halifax's & Lancaster's were on Special Mission and I think the pilots were on Sealed Orders, until they took off and were en-route to Berlin.
Eventually the Germans got what they had done to London, Coventry & Liverpool. He was on the first of two massive 1000 bomber raids and he never forgot the sight. Bombers of all sorts were wing-tip to wing-tip. It must have been a horrifying sight from the ground - it is always the ordinary people of either side who do most of the suffering.
There were some lighter moments too. Bill said they were flying in a large squadron and the pilot said he didn't know what was wrong but every time he tried to keep position the others either side moved away. It wasn't until the bomb-aimer went to seek the target he found they were flying with the nose-light on. Bill said maybe that's why they weren't hit - the Jerries thought it was one of theirs!
Eventually after completing another sortie he was sent to Rufforth as Assistant Adjutant and got on very well with the rest of the men. He enjoyed his time there and its in the records of a congratulation memo for the way he had organised the move of a whole squadron so efficiently. He was given the DFC which didn't actually arrive until he was home. The King was very ill and Bill & I were disappointed at not getting a trip to the palace. Bill also got the Gold Star (for Europe) and another with no note for what.
No one remembers the war now, as time goes by and we oldies are few, but sometimes I wonder if any of it was, or is, appreciated. Children are not aware it happened and its not in the history lessons at school. So many lives given but the thought of what Hitler would have done with them is beyond belief. They would have been brainwashed against the Jews and turned into proper little Nazis. There were lots of things that happened to Bill, but these are the only ones I can remember.
Olive Wigham January 2001Wigham Howard
Grp Capt. Leonard Geoffrey Cheshire VC, DSO, DFC. 102 SquadronS. Flynn
Sgt Alfred Nathanial Nethersole 102 SquadronAlfred Nathanial Nethersole is my grandfather and he served in both WW1 and WW2. In 1914 he joined the East Surreys, then sometime before 1917 he transferred to Royal Flying Corps. He was still in the RFC when the war finished. In World War 2 he served his country again. He was in the Royal Air Force in 102 Squadron. 102 squadron have his name on operational returns for the 26th of June 1942 which I believe was the first 1000 bomber raid on Bremmen. If anyone has any information I would be grateful. I have some pictures if anyone is interested.Ricky
Sgt. John Alfred Clemett 102 Squadron (d.15th Dec 1940)My cousin John Clemett was the Navigator on Whitley P5012 from Topcliffe. They were shot down by a night-fighter (Fw Hans Rasper of NJG1) at 2323 into the North Sea off Egmond (Noord Holland), Holland. He has no known grave.Elizabeth Salmon
F/Sgt. Sydney John Hardy 102 SquadronSydney Hardy served from 1939 - 1949 surviving the war, having flown with 77 squadron and 102 squadron.Colin Hardy
Sgt. Ed M. Cooke 102 SquadronI was really interested in the story of Sgt."Maxie" C. Miller as a couple of us have been looking for him for years and thought the article may have had a lead to his location. I have a number of photos with the names as I remember them, bear in mind that early in the war the taking of pictures was much frowned upon, but have quite alot from the following years.
Standing:- Sgt.J Fraser; Sgt.A.Jagger; not known; Sgt. E Borsberry; not known. Sitting:- Sgt.C.Miller; Sgt.G.Davidson
Outside "A"Flight crewroom, Standing:- Ed Cooke; not known Sitting:- not known ; Sgt.W Swain; not known; Sgt. D Cramp
Outside "A"Flight crewroom. S/Ldr J G Walker (My skipper);P.O Bennett:F.O.Williams;Sgt Ed Cooke; Sgt.W Swain
Outside "A"Flight crewroom. Junior Braybrook shooting a line.
Aircrew were not allowed to live on Station so were billeted at Skellfield House a private girls schools pre-war, located through the village of Topcliffe on the Ripon road, sans girls. Taken from the swimming pool looking at the west side.
Don Sills and Eric Borsberry on the east side of Skellfield House.
In the garden on east side of Skellfield House, Sgt Alec Jagggers and Sgt Duncan
Skellfield House 1941, Sgt Alec Jagggers and Sgt Ed Cooke
I joined 102 Squadron at Topcliffe in May 1941,the Seargants Mess was really crowded as 77 Squadron was also there,as regards losses, this will give you a little idea:- June 6 aircraft lost complete with crews 1 aircraft lost on return July 6 aircraft lost complete with crews 1 aircaft lost on return, I was in that one and we just made the coast of Norfolk,So this will give you some idea of the losses and from what I have read 102 Squadron suffered some of the highest losses at that time.
The latter part of July replacements came in,the first from the Commonwealth Air Training Plan and mostly Canadians, Fl Sgt Thomas McIlquham "Mac" came in with another input in August and actually on Aug 18th, from some records I have. His first trip was to Cologne on the 24th and the next one to Essen on the 31st. and that is the extant of the records I have,and this was all on Whitley Vs.
"Mac" was in "A" Flight the same as I and of course got to know him although he was a little different from most of the boys, being a little dour, probably because I think that he was a little older than most of us, one thing was a must, everyone left him alone when he returned to billets after visiting the local pubs, but other than that we all got along just fine.
November and we moved to Dalton while they put runways in at Topcliffe, also I went on leave and came back to find that my crew had gone, I flew with the Flight Commander S/Ldr.Walker so F/Lt.Griffiths was elevated to S/Ldr.and took over the flight. Meanwhile with the advent of the new year we began conversion to the Halifax11s and S/Ldr.Griffith formed a new crew,
I was the W/OP, Mac was our tail gunner, Ed.Brain was navigator, Ted Waddicor was Flight Engineer,cant remember who was upper gunner. Think I only did six trips with Mac, did two or three nurseries and then was posted to Kinloss and instructing there.
This is the last I saw of Mac, but heard about him when attending the first re-union of 102 Squadron Association in Nottingham in 1983. A fellow who new Mac and stopped in to visit him after the war told me that Mac and a son went ice fishing, drove on the lake, the ice gave way and they were drowned, so that is all that I can tell you about Mac, although I did hear from boys who were on the Squadron later that he was taken off Ops,because he was taking a big flashlight with him trying to lure in fighters,think this must have been true as I have heard it from more than one source.
3rd.from left S/Ldr/Griffith,pilot: 4th.Sgt.A.E.Waddicor, flight engineer:5th from left Fl Sgt Thomas McIlquham "Mac" I was the W/Op.on the crew. This photo taken during the time at RAF Dalton.Ed Cooke
Basil Arthur Cotton 102 SquadronJoining the RAF
I volunteered late in 1939, aged 23. I had been in the Training Corps at school and passed some tests. I volunteered for the RAF but didn�t tell mum and dad � and the RAF didn�t want me at this stage, for some reason. Prior to then I had been working for Road Transport & General Insurance in Oxford, I started as a clerk and became a junior inspector in 1935. I was called up in 1940 & went to Uxbridge, where I had a physical checkover & various tests to make sure I was fit, then went before a board made up of a Group Captain, a couple of Squadron Leaders etc.. On entering the room Group Captain Sugden said �Hello Cotton, scored any 100s lately?� and I realised I had played cricket against his team (Holton) in the last summer. He asked me a couple of questions, including one about calculus, and at the end said �We can make you an observer� but I said �No, I want to be trained as a pilot�. He said �Oh, very well�. I was the only one out of the group of 32 that were sent to be trained and I reckon it was because of that cricket match.
My RAF training started at Babbacombe (a fortnight) followed by square bashing at Torquay for 8 � 10 weeks, to get us really fit. This was followed by Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Desford, Leicestershire learning to fly Tiger Moths, but because I was above average as a flyer I skipped the next stage of training & moved on to the Operational Training Unit at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the big training centre for bomber command. Then I joined 102 Squadron at Topcliffe near Thirsk, Yorkshire, famous for Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. I went on a couple of raids, followed by a ten-day blind flying course � the Lorenz Beam Course back at Abingdon. The RAF hierarchy consisted of group captain, squadron leaders then sergeants. I was a sergeant pilot; my gunner was a flight lieutenant. My pal Bird in 102 Squadron had a second pilot who was a squadron leader � rank wasn�t so important as what you actually did. During training I flew Tiger Moths, Ansons, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Whitley Vs.
They tried to pick flying crews based on experience, but it was difficult. One night�s raids saw 9 craft leave and only two return � a loss of 35 � 40 men, so they were bound to be replaced by inexperienced men.
Shot Down � Time in Hospitals
I was flying a Whitley when I was shot down. On July 4th, at 2am, I made a parachute descent at Eindhoven, Holland. There were 5 of us on our plane : Dickie Davis (rear gunner), Ken Bowden (a good actor), Ron Lakin and myself who all survived (the other three weren�t injured) and Gibson who died. I subsequently met Ken Bowden at Heydekrug, he was in the bed next to Roy Dotrice.
I was found by a dog, shot in both legs, in an irrigation ditch. A German orderly helped cut me out of my flying suit, he was very gentle and kindly. He wouldn�t let me walk but got an ambulance, which was driven across the field to pick me up. I was put on to a stretcher and was taken to Krefeld to a hospital run by nuns. My legs were in a mess, I was shot in the right thigh, my head was hit too, my left foot had been stuck�. The nuns at the hospital treated people very badly. They used to put food by my bed but I wasn�t strong enough to eat it. When they came back and found the uneaten food they swore at me. My left leg went gangrenous. They took me to a hospital (Res Laz) in Dusseldorf Gerresheim, which was run by the French and had about 1000 French patients, I was the only Brit. This was in 1941 on July 8th, when France was under German rule and French workers were taken into Germany to work. They were used to handling minor injuries, hernias etc. A doctor there called Galving came to look at me. I was on a stretcher and when he saw my left leg he recoiled. I stayed in this hospital for about 8 months.
I�d already learnt German and French at school � at Dusseldorf I got a big compliment from a Frenchman. He said �You speak very good English for a Frenchman�. I had done 7 years of French at school and was better at it than German. I learned the correct version but you pick up the patois from French men. Of course I picked up a lot, I was stuck in a hospital with only French people. My greatest friend was a Frenchman whom I met at Dusseldorf, he gave me some of his ration and a lighter. I saw him a couple of times after the war, once in Lille, another time in Leicester in 1957 when Muriel was expecting Fran. We used to have very good concerts at Dusseldorf, Paul Boissier ran an excellent orchestra and he arranged a jazz gala on 26th September 1941; I was the only English man there. I had two operations on my legs at Dusseldorf, both by Galving.
On March 2nd 1942 I was moved to Dulag Luft at Hohemark (which means �High Point�), near Oberursel, Frankfurt where RAF prisoners were taken for distribution to POW camps. This was up in the mountains, on the Rhine, a beautiful setting, lots of snow. Around this time I spent time in solitary confinement. They took my clothes away and interrogated me for information and turned the heat up. I was warned � No one will know you are here�, but I told him I�d already been here for 12 months and had received parcels, which took the wind out of his sails. Another German, Lieutenant Erihart, came in to see me, he spoke perfect English and said he�d been to Queens College Oxford, but I wouldn�t tell him anything. I heard after the war he got four years for ill-treatment of POWs. This happened over two days, by then they knew I was no good to them.
I was next taken on April 2nd 1942 to Stadtroda hospital, where I was in bed next to an Army man, Taffie (he was Welsh) � he looked after me for weeks, used to sort out food for us both as I couldn�t do anything. The hospital was in a nice village. The hospital was under German control but with British doctors, the patients were English plus some from Crete and New Zealand. They did two operations on my left leg, which straightened it and put it in plaster, after which I could walk, more or less. The surgeons there were Leslie Lauste and butcher Martin (I met Martin at Wimbledon years later, he was very tall). The senior sergeant made the patients clean the hospital.
On August 21st 1942 I was moved to the hospital at Egendorf, near Stadtroda, in the central part of Germany. The countryside reminds me now of Wiltshire, it was beautiful. The hospital was previously used as a college for the Hitler Youth; it was on a hill and like being in a holiday camp. It was more like a convalescent home than a hospital; they didn�t do any operations there. My left leg was affected by the move. I made sure that I got a bed near the kitchens, so I could watch the girls at work there and hear the radio playing every night. The summer of �43 had beautiful weather & I had a girlfriend in the kitchen, Anna Maria Blankenfuland, she was very blond and had a sister Lottie � there were about 5 girls working there in all. We got Red Cross parcels and took them to the kitchen & they�d heat them up for us. The parcels had tinned meat, prunes, little things of cheese, dried egg, tins of fish. We received German rations too, but they weren�t anything special.
They didn�t mind people who were wounded going outside the hospital and I used to go to Blankenhein village. There were Russians, Poles, Belgians & French in Egendorf, it was run by mainly English doctors plus a couple of French doctors. In winter they would ask for say 6 men to get the coal & I always volunteered because I could talk to them. Known there as Schwartze ie black because I had black hair. We used to travel by oxen cart and sled. The doctors there were doing a fiddle to get the coal. I was kitted out in striped Polish trousers and a blouson. We found out after the war that we were very near one of the concentration camps. I remember one day the sky was blue, but then a great black cloud came across. We thought it was just a rain cloud, or perhaps from a bombing but now I wonder if it was from that camp.
We had a good band at Egendorf, we used to put on shows for the English & French, I used to be the compere. I played a bit of table tennis there. I bought myself an accordion and with a Yugoslavian who played the trumpet and another chap on drums we set up a band called the Cosmopolitans. I met George Friedlander, a German Jew, at Egendorf, he had joined the British Army and was a POW. I was friendly with Walter Kretchmer, the guard commander, German. HE had lost an eye and finger and had been shot in the thigh, he was part of Rommels army that had marched across France. He was a sensible man, not vicious in the slightest. His brother was a famous submarine commander, who ended up as a POW in Canada.
Whilst at Egendorf Cooper, the doctor there, sent me to Obermassfeld on May 22 1943 for a couple of weeks. Here the Geneva Commission, who checked injured POWs in case any were eligible to be repatriated, saw me. One chap who lost an arm was lucky, he was sent home. Tiger Fulton was another doctor at Egendorf, he was an international bridge player and later an umpire at Wimbledon. I am not sure how these English doctors ended up in the German hospitals, perhaps they were captured during Dunkirk?
>Shortly after returning to Egendorf I was sent back to Stadtroda on June 13th 1943, where I stayed for about 5 weeks and started to learn chess, taught by a Russian, before being put on a train to Mohlsdorf on August 21st. I was there about a week and contracted jaundice, so was sent back to Obermassfeld hospital on August 30th where I spent 4 weeks in bed, not at all well. At Stadtroda the cooking was based on a liquid fat which may have caused the jaundice. When I was mobile again they sent me to M�hlhausen Army Camp on November 9th. This was not very nice but I wasn�t there for long, setting off for Heydekrug later that month.
POW Camps
Heydekrug (East Prussia), was my first actual POW camp and I arrived here on November 29th 1943, nearly 2 � years after being shot down. The journey from M�hlhausen to Heydekrug, on the Lithuanian border with Poland, took four days travelling on a cattle truck on a train with a bucket as a toilet. We had to sleep standing up as there was nowhere to sit down. I remember moving by train, it was crowded I was sitting down. Further up the train were German Airforce Staff � they were complaining about the �terror fliers�. Ie anyone who bombed Germany. The traveller with me was also injured. I said �Can�t you speak more quietly?� in German and he disappeared. We offered our seats to two ladies but they refused. On the second day we travelled through Poznan in central Poland. We would get to a station in central Poland; it would be built like a castle, a wonderful edifice, but with nothing around it. A few old women, dressed in black, would get off and you could see these black figures heading towards the horizon where presumably the town was. We stopped at a little station in Poland because we needed the toilet � which was a trench with two poles over it, one to sit on, one to hang on to. A train came past with lots of girls on and we waved! We also stopped at Konigsberg for a couple of nights.
On the third day of travelling we went through East Prussia via Deutsch Eylau, a junction for trains, then to Torun, We changed here and I met an Englishman from Stalag 22A. We waited on the platform for transport. A train came but it was full. A marine captain got off the train and asked what we were waiting for, when he found out he got 15 people to get off the train so that we wounded could travel. We spent a night in Instaberg in East Prussia and from there travelled in two stretches to Tilsit. At one point on this journey we stopped in a siding and the guards got everyone off the train. It was bitterly cold. A German railway man came to us and said �I get heat� . He brought coals etc and warmed the place up.
When we arrived in Heydekrug we walked to the camp, Stalag Luft 6, I was using crutches. This was an RAF camp - the RAF POW were segregated from Army POW and put in different camps. They thought the RAF POW were dangerous and we didn�t have to work, nor did senior officers in the Army. Heydekrug was a nice camp, particularly in the summer. I met up there with the remainder of my crew, Dickie Davis, Ken Bowden & Ron Lakin were all there. I was in the same hut as Dixie Deans, who spoke perfect German, it was hut D8 or D9. Peter Thomas was also in this hut, he became an MP after the war, Dixie Deans got the MBE. The Gestapo regularly searched the huts, they would search the beds and chuck everything into the centre of the room.
I got a poisoned foot at Heydekrug. There was a medical section there staffed by the British, but they were young and probably had limited knowledge. Some of POW life was a hell of a good experience; I met Serbs, Croats, Poles etc (the Serbs and Croats hated each other). The Poles were a cracking good lot, tough, honest, straightforward. Most could speak a bit of German some could speak a bit of English. We had a secret radio and could pick up the British stations. We received parcels from the Red Cross � the Canadian parcels were the best, I don�t know how I got them, someone must have given them my name. Eric Williams gave the impression in his book that all POWs were trying to escape, but it wasn�t like that, we were more like a small village. We arranged lectures in every conceivable subject, some people got degrees as POWs! I used to give lessons in practical German, using phonetics and also lessons in sums. We did try to grow vegetables here but it didn�t work. I did a fair amount of sunbathing. It was at Heydekrug that I was given my �War Time Log� book through the Red Cross, in which I kept many notes about POW life.
The end of the war
We stayed at Heydekrug until the Russians came near, then 3000 of us (the camp had 9000 in total) were moved back in horse trucks to Torun, mid July 1944, using the same route as that we came by. Everything was disorganised at Torun when we arrived on July 19th. We spent about three weeks here then on August 8th moved on again, travelling by train via Bromberg & Stettin North Germany to Fallingbostel, which was an overcrowded camp, 20 miles north of Hanover. This was our last POW camp, it was rough, there was no food because of the British bombing everything, the Germans were really scared. There were 72 people in one hut, there were no sheets, just mangers and we weren�t in a good state as we hadn�t had Red Cross parcels for some time. I have a poem written by Dickie Beck at Fallingbostel dated September 7th 1944.
One memory from Fallingbostel, as the war was drawing to a close and we knew the Germans were beaten: one day the Germans came to our hut shouting �Appel!� ie parade, they had guns. So we all went to the central parade ground in the middle of the camp and found we were surrounded by Germans with machine guns, all pointing at us POWs. (At this point we knew that 50 RAF POWs had been shot at this camp). The German Colonel (accompanied by various minions and an interpreter) announced at some length that because Great Britain had ill-treated their German POWs, our beds were going to be taken away. He paused during this spiel and a POW shouted in a raucous voice �F*** off!� and we Brits all walked back to our huts, leaving the German guards standing there, pointing their guns at each other.
Xmas 1944 was an excellent day, food started to arrive from the Red Cross and a cigarette parcel arrived in January 1945. However the weather turned very cold. I had stomach problems and spent time in the camp hospital, was better after three weeks. February passed very quickly, in March there were no parcels, very little food, the Germans� rations had dwindled too.
On April 6th 1945 the camp was ordered to move, but I stayed put. The people chased out from Fallingbostel may have ended up on the Long March. The camp was bombed around April 12 by Mosquitos. The Germans left, the Russians had chased them out. On the 16th April a jeep from the 7th Army Division with a young man from the 11th Hussars turned up. Everyone gathered around the jeep, I knew it was all over and didn�t go up to the jeep but went for a walk around the camp. The officer asked what we wanted and we said �tea, cigarettes & bread� and this was all brought to us that night. Over the next two days it was decided how to transport everyone from the camp home, we stood in the square and an army man read out the list � those in the longest went first. It was all very organised, they brought lorries. I left Fallingbostel on April 20th was taken to Skipholtz in Belgium and from there was flown to near Aylesbury, arriving on April 22, 1387 days after leaving England.
Return to England
The RAF stations in England were all geared up for receiving POWs; I was one of the earlier arrivals. We were escorted to hangars where there was tea, food and cigarettes. One or two of the older men were very overcome at being treated like human beings. From there I was sent to Cosford near Wolverhampton, where I was cleaned up and kitted out. I spent two months there getting attention to my left leg before going home. My girlfriend from before the war, Honor, traced me to Cosford, she was thrilled to find me. She was the same age as me, a good tennis player who joined the WAF at the start of the war, having been a teacher previously. She used to see my mother regularly and got on well with her until we became engaged. Honor lived in Southport but was posted to Kettering. Her mother was a bit of a snob, she lived at Lytham St Annes. Honor wrote to me at the POW camps, as did other girls � a couple from Torquay also wrote. Honor was the only person from my pre war life that I spoke to whilst at Cosford. I was engaged to Honor but explained to her that I couldn�t see it through.
After two months at Cosford I was given a telegram to send home �Arrived xx(time), home in a day or two�. They gave us railway times and at Wolverhampton I thought I ought to ring home but didn�t have the guts. I had just my kitbag. I travelled by train to Oxford and from there caught a bus home. Someone on the bus recognised me. I just walked into the house, brother Tony wasn�t home.
From speaking to my father in law, Basil Arthur Cotton, aged 87, about his war time experiences.
Richard Davis 102 SquadronDickie Davis served as a Rear Gunner
F/Sgt. L. E.D. Lindsay 102 SquadronI am researching the male line of my family and I am interested in getting any information on my late cousin Ted Lindsay: Fl.Sergeant (W.Op) L.E.D. (Ted) Lindsay of 102 Squadron Topcliffe. He was reported missing after a bombing raid on the factory area of Hanover on the 14th August 1941. I have the details of his last flight as recorded on this site and also details from Commonwealth War Graves Commission of his gravesite. As Ted was 13 years older than me I have little memory of him and there are no surviving family members I can ask regarding where and when he enlisted. Does any one he served with perhaps remember him (a long shot I know)I would greatly appreciate any information either specific to him or in general to his unit that anyone may have.
Finally to the organisers of this site I extend my thanks for such information as has been available to me, best wishes for the future and to your continued success.Jack Lindsay
P/O D. Mourton 102 SquadronD. Mourton served as a wireless operator with 102 Squadron.
F/Sgt. Thomas McIlquham 102 Sqd.I am looking for information on Flight Sergeant Thomas McIlquham who flew with the 102 Squadron Bomber Command during 1941 and 1942. He was nicknamed Lucky by his chums. Ralph Barkers book The Thousand plan talks about one of his missions. He was Rear Turret Gunner on a Halifax Bomber. I know that he came from Carlton PLace Ontario Canada. I think he had a tough going after the war.Jeff McIlquham
Ed Cooke 102 Sqd.I joined 102 Squadron at Topcliffe in May 1941,the Seargants Mess was really crowded as 77 Squadron was also there,as regards losses, this will give you a little idea:- June 6 aircraft lost complete with crews 1 aircraft lost on return July 6 aircraft lost complete with crews 1 aircaft lost on return, I was in that one and we just made the coast of Norfolk,So this will give you some idea of the losses and from what I have read 102 Squadron suffered some of the highest losses at that time.
The latter part of July replacements came in,the first from the Commonwealth Air Training Plan and mostly Canadians, Fl Sgt Thomas McIlquham "Mac" came in with another input in August and actually on Aug 18th, from some records I have. His first trip was to Cologne on the 24th and the next one to Essen on the 31st. and that is the extant of the records I have,and this was all on Whitley V's.
"Mac" was in "A" Flight the same as I and of course got to know him although he was a little different from most of the boys, being a little dour, probably because I think that he was a little older than most of us, one thing was a must, everyone left him alone when he returned to billets after visiting the local pubs, but other than that we all got along just fine.
November and we moved to Dalton while they put runways in at Topcliffe, also I went on leave and came back to find that my crew had gone, I flew with the Flight Commander S/Ldr.Walker so F/Lt.Griffiths was elevated to S/Ldr.and took over the flight. Meanwhile with the advent of the new year we began conversion to the Halifax11's and S/Ldr.Griffith formed a new crew,
I was the W/OP, Mac was our tail gunner, Ed.Brain was navigator, Ted Waddicor was Flight Engineer,can't remember who was upper gunner. Think I only did six trips with Mac, did two or three nurseries and then was posted to Kinloss and instructing there.
This is the last I saw of Mac, but heard about him when attending the first re-union of 102 Squadron Association in Nottingham in 1983. A fellow who new Mac and stopped in to visit him after the war told me that Mac and a son went ice fishing, drove on the lake, the ice gave way and they were drowned, so that is all that I can tell you about Mac, although I did hear from boys who were on the Squadron later that he was taken off Ops,because he was taking a big flashlight with him trying to lure in fighters,think this must have been true as I have heard it from more than one source.Ed Cooke
Alan Adams 102 SquadronI am Alan Adams and was a POW at Stalag IVb from December 1943 until the end of the war. I was mid upper gunner on Halifax DY 'R' for Robert. The Rear Gunner Sandy Currie and I were the only survivors. My Squadron was 102 Pocklington.
I am now 88 yrs old. Sandy was several years older than me. Sandy and I were both convinced that we were shot down by a 4 engine plane with British markings as we had reported a plane coming too close. Our theory was that the Germans had put together a plane from parts salvaged from various crashed ones and we had warned our skipper that one aircraft was coming far too close to us for comfort. Of course we were never to fire at 4 engine plane since the Germans did not have any. I have never actually heard if our theories were correct. Gus Walker was senior officer at that time at Pocklington.Alan Adams
Sgt. David Boddy 102 Squadron (d.3rd June 1942)Sgt David Boddy Airforce no.1378930 was my uncle. He served in 102 squadron as a rear gunner and was based at RAF Topcliffe during 1942. He lost his life on 3rd June 1942 whilst returning from an operation in Germany, his plane crashing into the North Sea.
I would appreciate any information about my uncle�s service in the RAF including what type of bomber he flew in � Halifax or Whitley.Norman Ferguson
Sgt. John Leedham 102 Sqdn. (d.14th May 1943)My aunt, Elsie May Williams, married an RAF sergeant in 1942. He was Flight Sgt. John Leedham serving with 102 Squadron. He was a wireless operator and was killed on 14th May 1943 while flying Halifax bombers. I believe he was Canadian who joined up in early 1942. He was 19 years old when he died.
Can anyone tell me where I might find any further records about Sgt. Leedham?Tom Brewer
William McCarter 102 Sqdn. RAFBill McCarter was a bomb aimer in Halifaxes. He served at Middleton St George.Peter Brook
Sgt. Frank Arthur Frost 102 Sqdn. (d.6th Aug 1942)My father, Frank Frost, was in the RAF from December 1940 until his last flight in August 1942. I have his service record but it is somewhat sparse in some respects. He enlisted at Uxbridge on 13th December 1940 and on 14th December there is an entry that reads 1RC Reserve. I'm not sure what that is and would appreciate any info. Would it have been Basic Training?
On 12th April 1941 he went to 9RW at Stratford but I dont know what that was for or precisely where it was located.
On 3rd May 1941 he went to 11.I.T.W until 28th August. I think this was in or near Scarborough. But I dont know the precise place or what his training would have entailed.
On 28th August 1941 he went to RAF Jurby on the Isle Of Man until 3rd March 1942. I have his logbook, which details his flights and duties for this period. On 3rd Mar 1942 he was posted to 10 O.T.U at (I think) Stanton Harcourt but Im not positive about that.
On 18th June 1942 he was posted to 102 Squadron at RAF Topcliffe from where he flew on his last flight on 5th August.
I am particularly interested in confirming where possible, the precise places where he was stationed and the sort of things he would have been doing in those places. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can help in this respect. If, in addition to this, anyone actually remembers him, then that would of course be the icing on the cake.Peter Frost
Alan Adams 102 Sqdn.I was a POW in Stalag 4B from December 1943 until libererated by Russian Cossacks on 23rd April 1945. We were kept inside by the Russians, so on 6th May walked out with several other RAF chaps. I was billeted in the RAF compound in the centre of the camp. I was shot down over Frankfurt on Maine a midupper gunner on Halifax R for Robert DY (RAF Pocklington) 102 Squadron. There were many nationalties there. Made my way via crossing Weiser etc until contacting the Americans.Alan Adams
Tommy Stockton 102 Sqdn.My late father Tommy Stockton was in Stalag IVb and also in 102 Squadron shot down over Rochfort, Belgium and was liberated by the Russians. I have a lttle book of names and addresses and what looks like his route home via Riesa, Halle, Brussels, Dunford, Cosford and home to Manchester. The Date at dthe top is May 23rd. Does anyone remember him?Julia Wilkinson
PO. Kingsley Mountney DFC. 102 (Ceylon) SquadronPO Kingsley Mountney was the pilot of my father's crew flying Halifax aircraft (MkI & MkII) with 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, RAF Pocklington, Yorkshire. They flew together for a full operational tour plus numerous mine laying sorties (which didn't count towards their 30 Ops tour) from June 1943 to January 1944. The remainder of the the crew were:
- Navigator: Sgt R.G. Pharo
- Bomb Aimer: Sgt D. Cullen
- Flight Engineer: Sgt H.D. Proctor
- Wireless Operator & Air Gunner; Sgt H. Bartlett
- Air Gunner: Sgt R. Learmond & Sgt R.L. DuttonHarry Bartlett
Sgt. Philip Anthony Taylor 102 Squadron (d.30th Nov 1941)Tony Taylor was my late uncle. He was an air gunner in 102 Squadron and had enlisted with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was killed in action over Germany on Sunday 30th of November 1941 aged 26 years. He is buried at Kiel War Cemetery.Ian Hutchinson
Sgt. Norman Pearce 102 Squadron (d.24th April 1944)Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Norman Pearce was the son of George Cliffe Pearce and Ada Pearce, of Newcastle, Staffordshire. He was aged 19 when he died and is buried in the Omo Churchyard, in Denmark.s flynn
Recomended Reading.
Available at discounted prices.
Suggest a link
The Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation run by volunteers.
This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small
to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Website � Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXVII
- All Rights Reserved


text: So I was only going to lurk but I was encouraged to start a thread. I am buying a house in 2 weeks. 10 acres. Some woods in the back, a hay field, 2 horse paddocks, and some yard. I will have to mow the paddocks and the yard. I figure they are a combined 5 acres as the title says. It is mostly flat. 4k really is about our limit. I have looked at home depot and a Gravely Dealer. The Gravely Dealer is also a Stihl Dealer where I have been getting my toys from for a while now, good people and close to home. So I have been planning to get a Gravely ZT XL 48. I know a tractor would be nice for the fields, but it is not doable right now. The current owner does it with a Deere rider. The neighbor does the hay. What do you guys think?


text:
But fear not - there is plenty to explore...Shop all K2 Shop sale K2
The venerable K2 Slayblade Wide Snowboard has been in K2 s lineup for four years, and it still rocks hard. This board gets an upgrade for 2013 with the addition of Tweekend™ rocker shaping at the tip and tail for more stability when you're pushing the limits. The K2 Slayblade Wide Snowboard remains the ride of choice for aggressive riders wanting a stiffer board for high speed strength and power.
Flatline™ Preloaded, stable, and turn-ready, Flatline creates a supremely balanced, smooth ride for both aspiring and accomplished riders.
NEW Tweekend™ Tweaks the tip and tail of K2 boards by extending the rocker curvature all the way out to the ends, giving you more surface area to press, float and land on.
The K2 Slayblade Wide Snowoard is for advanced riders with big feet who like to push their limits on all terrain types on a stiffer board
All Mountain
Hybrilight™ Construction Features a thin, constant thickness sidewall designed for maximum performance and minimal material usage. The result is a lighter snowboard with significantly less waste produced in manufacturing.
Triax/ICG 20 Top triaxial glass laminate with diagonal layers that stiffens the board torsionally. Giving improved edge hold and increased stability for those off-axis landings. Bottom ICG 20 glass integrates carbon into the fiberglass, reducing overall weight and creating a super smooth release of power while increasing pop and liveliness.
Ollie-Bar™ Made with a secret lay up of carbon, Kevlar and glass layers, the ollie bar is positioned in the center of the board between binding inserts. This makes for stronger ollies and pressing power that actually come from the more critical backbone center section of the board.
Twin geometry for equal ease riding forward or switch
Hyper Progressive Sidecut A number of different radius' are blended together flawlessly from mellow in the tips, to more aggressive in the center. The result is a super predictable feel that never hooks. Responsive at high speeds and smooth enough to butter your way from peak to peak.
WH4 With a greater percentage of K2's Honeykomb technology that goes into the WH3 core, it's engineered to maintain durability at minimal weight.
NEW Bambooyah™ Blend A skate-derived horizontal bamboo laminate that adds incredible strength and stands up to brutal beatings.
Ø Sintered An ultra thin, lightweight, static eliminating base. Highest quality sintered available anywhere.
Harshmellow™ A dampening compound placed around the binding inserts, decreases negative vibes, leg burn and rough landings.
1° Base Bevel
Carbon Web™ II Designed specifically to enhance K2's Baseline technology and brings the pop and snap of carbon closer to your bindings for max ollies and control in every situation.
2 x 4 Insert Pattern
|Size (cm)
|Tip Width (mm)
|Waist Width (mm)
|Tail Width (mm)
|Sidecut Radius (m)
|Stance Setback (in)
|Stance Setback (mm)


text: Content plays a huge role in ranking sites. Our recipe for success has always included content. Users that want to boost their sites with fresh content can enjoy 3 options of content drip fed to their sites with as much as 1 article per a day. With a selection of over 100 categories to choose from. The Drip Fed content combined with the Social Distribution software we install when we build your website is a sure winner for any site.


text:
Males reach a body length of 77 mm, females are smaller reaching about 55 mm. Coloration is usually gray, olive, or chocolate-brown, mottling or speckles. Note that it has a bluish eye which will distinguish it from most other Anolis on Trinidad and Tobago.
Natural History. Anolis aeneus uses a wide range of habitats including open areas (Hailey et al., 2009), with substrates of mainly bushes and walls (White & Hailey, 2006) and it is usually seen in urban areas in Trinidad and Tobago. However we have found it in disturbed secondary forests on Tobago.
Gray, J. E. 1840. Catalogue of the species of reptiles collected in Cuba by W. S. MacLeay, esq.; with some notes on their habits extracted from his MS. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 5: 108-115.
John, RR., Hedman HD, Powell R. 2012. Anolis aeneus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (892): 1-11.
Lazell,J.D. 1972. The anoles (Sauria: Iguanidae) of the lesser Antilles. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 143 (1): 1-115
Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R.S. 1999. Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. MacMillan, London & Oxford
Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
Simmons, P. M., B. T. Greene, K. E. Williamson, R. Powell and J. S. J. Parmerlee 2005. Ecological interactions within a lizard community on Grenada. Herpetologica 61 (2): 124-134.
Williams, E.E. Quesnel, VC. Kenny, J S.; Underwood, G. 1959. The anoles of the Eastern Caribbean (Sauria, Iguanidae) Part. I. Preface; Part II. Two sibling species of anoles in Trinidad; Part. III. Revisionary notes. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 121 (5): 185-226.


text:
Montbretia: friend or foe?
Geoff and June Ward have had a fantastic show of montbretia this year and want to know where they can buy more. It is a funny thing, but I have not seen ordinary montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) for sale for years, since it seems to have been superseded in our affections by less invasive, larger-flowered and generally more interesting crocosmia varieties (such as the spectacularly scarlet and lanky 'Lucifer'). Lists of these varieties, with the names of suppliers, take up more than three pages in the RHS Plant Finder (which can be accessed online at rhs.org.uk). So vigorous is old-style montbretia that in certain parts of the country it has escaped from gardens (or was it chucked over hedges?) and now brightens up the August grass verges rather splendidly.
Nan Miller also loves this plant and its late blaze of colour, but has a different problem since acquiring some crocosmia three years ago (she doesn't specify the variety). In its first year it flowered rather well, the clump of foliage quickly expanding to take over one corner of her garden – but after that first year it failed to produce a single flower. She has dug up half of the patch and put it in the compost heap. She wonders if the rest should follow.
First, the possible reasons for lack of flowers: crocosmia grows from corms. Annually, in addition to producing cormlets (that won't flower for a couple of years), each older corm throws up a new one on top of the previous one. What eventually lies under the ground, therefore, in addition to a mass of developing cormlets, is a series of stacked mature corms, the top one being plump and active.
Eventually a crocosmia patch will become congested and lose its vigour. The mature corms will, when dormant, need to be separated and replanted. The top corm of each stack should be retained, along with the best cormlets, while the rest of each old stack should be jettisoned. I have to say that after only three years, Nan's patch is unlikely to be too crowded to flower. In this case, the area could simply be too dry, and possibly shady, the first year's successful flowering in her garden being the result of previous growing conditions and treatment.
Whatever Nan decides to do, I should add a rather dour word of warning: getting rid of crocosmia is no mean feat. Disturbed tiny cormlets from former clumps may throw up flowerless shoots for ages. And older crocosmia corms dumped in the compost heap seem to inevitably find their way back into the garden somehow – and they won't flower, either.
Rhubarb, rhubarb
I have been growing rhubarb for many years, but a friend told me recently that it should not be pulled in or beyond August (something I have probably been doing for years). This is because, she said, the sap is no longer rising and poison from the leaves starts to drain into the stems. Is there any truth in this? We have never appeared to suffer, but with a four-year-old grandson who loves rhubarb and custard, I don't want to take any risks.
Barbara Cooper, via email
Don't worry; this is an old wives' tale. You should indeed stop pulling rhubarb around July to allow the plant to recover during the remainder of the summer and develop a strong root system to support similar constant pulling the following year.
The leaves (which should be cut off as soon as the stems are pulled) are indeed poisonous, containing oxalates (also present in smaller quantities in spinach, potatoes and other veg). But you would have to eat an awful lot of rhubarb leaves to do you serious harm – and who would want to? Rhubarb leaves are, incidentally, a completely harmless addition to the compost heap.
My friend Esther also tells me that her hens gobble at them with great relish, with no ill effects.


text:
At Jackson & Oglesby Law LLC, you will find attorneys who are compassionate and attentive to your legal problems. They also offer personalized counsel which can begin with a free bankruptcy case evaluation. If you are struggling with a unique financial situation, we can discuss your specific goals and what should be achieved through a bankruptcy. During your evaluation, we take the time to know your specific needs and how we can help you obtain financial freedom. If bankruptcy is not in your best interest, we will not be afraid to discuss other debt solutions. We are a debt relief agency that helps clients find relief under the U.S. bankruptcy code.
Call our firm today or fill out the following form ("Email Us" option on mobile) to begin!


text:
Edwin Watts Golf Superstores offers the best golf clubs, golf balls, golf shoes, golf equipment, golf accessories, and golf apparel online, and also offers personalized service for custom golf clubs and more.
Grab Up to 70% off Golf Clearance Sale plus Free Shipping.
Get up to 40% off Outdoor Play.
Redeem $20 off TaylorMade Jetspeed Rescue Was: $199.99 Now: $179.99 and Free Shipping.
Enjoy $30 off SkyCaddie Breeze GPS Was: $199.99 Now: $169.99 and Free Shipping.
Free Shipping on 10+ on all orders.
Up to 50% off. on all orders.
Explore golf apparel,golf driver,fairway woods,golf gloves,callaway golf,taylormade golf,golf balls,golf shoes,gear,junior and many more.
Copyright (c) 2018 CouponMount.com. All rights reserved.


text:
Fla. Judges Differ In 2 Costa Concordia Venue Rulings
Judge Norma Lindsey granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the case Abeid-Saba v. Carnival Corp. for refiling in Italy, but Judge Spencer Eig, her colleague in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, found in...
To view the full article, register now.
Try Law360 FREE for seven days
Already a subscriber? Click here to login