146 WWII A single Teenager’s Knowledge From Outbreak to Finish
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{146} WWII One Teenager’s Experience From Outbreak to End
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My grandad has gone to considerable effort to type up an account of his WWII experience. I’m extremely grateful to have this account and so proud of him that I wanted to share (with his permission, of course).
WW 2 A Teenager At The Outbreak, 3rd September 1939
Irvine Brook lived at Dunford Road Holmfirth. Left Nab School 1937, aged 14 and started work as an apprentice at the then electricity works at Crown Bottom (now car park).
Was at home 3rd September 1939 when war was declared. Well remember my Mother saying “O-God”. I was aged 16.
Joined the ATC with many others. The H/Q were at the top of Bridge Lane Holmfirth.
The ATC.(Air training Cadets), Fire watching at the electricity works. ARP(Air Raid Precautions). Duties, Saturday night dancing at the Con. Club (now Bridge Hotel) occupied most of my leisure time.
1941, Many of my mates were being “ called up ”. Most went in the Army,1 or 2 Navy, a few RAF . I didn’t want to be sent in the Army and I didn’t want the Navy. I wanted to be a ”Glamour Boy Fighter Pilot” in the RAF shooting down German Bomber Planes!!!. So I volunteered for RAF aircrew.
After a medical test and a bit of a general test I was in, but told to wait for “call up.” It seemed ages waiting, but in June 1942 I was told to report to Air Crew Recruiting Centre London.. Life in the RAF was starting for me.
First 3 months square bashing drilling and being shouted at. We even marched to our meals, at the London Zoo!! I also remember marching to Lords cricket ground for lectures etc. in the hallowed pavilion. On a recent visit to Lords I noticed a plaque had been on the pavilion wall commemorating all the aircrew that had passed through the famous cricket field.
14th August1942. Sent to Initial Training Wing at St. Andrews Scotland for 3 months. More square bashing, PT, but most of the day was in the University Buildings learning about Air Navigation, meteorology, signals, Morse code and theory of flight and aircraft recognition. Now I thought this was getting a bit nearer something to do with flying! We were billeted in that famous hotel on the front-I forget the name. We also played putting on the famous golf course, in our RAF footwear. Sacrilege!! But there was a war on. Passed the exams and tests, promoted to Leading Air Craftsman!! Given a white flash to wear in my cap to signify u/t aircrew – now I was getting somewhere!
21st November1942. Posted to Perth Scotland for flying experience in a Tiger Moth. This was to see if you went green, sick, or passed out I suppose. BUT it was flying! My first ever. Not a Spitfire, but a start.10 hrs. flying in total, all with instructor of course. Came out ok, but my report said I tended to fly with my mouth open! Tiger Moths were an open cockpit and it was damned cold anyway. Stayed 2 weeks at Perth, then went home on a bit of leave.
14th Feb.1943. Posted to Heaton Park, Manchester. Waiting to go overseas for air crew training under the Empire AIR Training Scheme. It was here where one was told if you were selected for training as Pilot, Navigator W/Opp,Bomb aimer or Air Gunner. Of course all wanted Pilot Training! I got my wish- PILOT training, not Fighters, but Bombers!! Time dragged at Heaton Park waiting for the posting to overseas It was not known at the time where to. It could have been Canada, Bahamas, Rhodesia as all were members of the Empire Air Training Scheme. It turned out to be Canada for me. What a thrill!. Like thousands of other men during the war, I had never been for from home, and certainly not abroad.
Heaton Park, Manchester was near home so I managed to get home pretty often for the odd day or week-end. My Parents were always glad to see me. I was always glad for some home cooked food even with food rationed as it was. I also had a girl friend who lived at Wooldale. She was mad on dancing at the Con. Club. I went, but I was a shy lad with girls I think! I thought wait ’til .I get my Wings!! I walked her home to Wooldale in the blackout when the dance had finished and then had to walk all the way back home! Sometimes I stayed the night when it was raining. I’m sorry to say the girl died a year or so later.
21st May 1943 Movement at last. Boarded the liner QE1 for Canada, along with 3000 other airmen! Took 7 days to get there. The ship zig-zagged all over the Atlantic to avoid u-boats. This and it’s speed got us there safely. Airmen were sleeping all over the place, on decks, down corridors, dining rooms (sorry – mess decks!). My memory of this trip was of the freshly baked pure white bread baked on board. Sheer luxury to what we endured back home.
29th May 1943 Travelled by train from East coast Canada to Elementary Flying Training School in Manitoba where we were taught to fly Tiger Moth aircraft. Manitoba is all prairies, flat as a penny, hot in summer very cold in winter. Roads travel North & south only, easy to navigate by and map read.
I was based here for nearly 2 months, flying for 30 minutes or so each time, usually with the same instructor who I got on quite well with. I was taught how to swing the propeller for starting the engine-taking off – (grass runway)- and all the other basic manoeuvres involved in flying the aircraft I loved the aerobatics, the spins, the loops, and above all the low flying.
After 20 hours with instructor, I was considered ok to go solo. At last, I was alone in the aircraft taxiing out for takeoff. I can’t remember my feelings as I left the ground, climbed up to height, came back round and made what must have been a pretty good landing. MY VERY FIRST SOLO!!.
24th July 1943 After a total of 75 hours flying in Tiger Moths, with and without Instructor, I was posted to Service Flying Training School in Eastern Manitoba. This was a much larger airfield than!! previous, had a concrete runway, landing lights for night flying and lined up on the tarmac numerous Avro-Anson twin engine aircraft.the next type of aircraft I was to learn to fly – AND CRASH!!
This course was the one that decided if you were going to be a Pilot or not. If successful, you graduated at the end and received those coveted wings to wear on your tunic. If not, you were trained as Air gunner!.
I did OK , except when sent on my first solo flight, I ran out of petrol!! Both engines stopped of course and down I glided making a near perfect Belly Landing in a ploughed field! I had forgotten to put the wheels down anyway! If I had put the wheels down the aircraft would probably have somersaulted and caught fire with me in it. I was OK but scared. I didn’t really run out of petrol because there was another tank in the aircraft containing 80 gall. but because of lack of experience I failed to change over the engines to this full tank. My recollection of this incident was the eerie silence on crashing in the middle of the huge prairie field except for the warning horn sounding to indicate the undercarriage was not lowered! Also as I stepped out of the aircraft the ground was only a few inches down instead of the usual 3or4 feet when the wheels are down. Also the propellers were a funny shape. My crash was seen from the Control Tower (we had no radio) as a truck came to pick me up and took me back to the airfield.
I was hauled up in front of the Chief Flying Instructor, daren’t print his remarks. I was kicked off the flying course, grounded for a month and put on a charge for damaging H. M. aircraft to the sum of four thousand dollars! I was devastated. Was this the end of my ambition to be a Pilot? I was posted to the Cook House, peeling spuds and washing up! If they had taught me how to cook I might have been able to cook a meal some 60 or so years later!!
It was hard to watch my Colleagues on the course continuing their daily flying training and harder still when they graduated and received their Wings. On the Graduation Honour Card where all the successful pilots were named, I was listed under the heading” Absent Friends”. My Log Book was endorsed CARELESSNESS!! Really, my Instructor was partly to blame for sending me up on my first solo on twin engine aircraft on a near empty tank. So I like to think anyway!
Part way through my grounding after washing thousands of dishes and peeling millions of spuds (that’s why I am so good at that job!.) I was told to report to the Station Adjutant. It was good news. I was to be re-drafted on the next course and my charge rescinded.Hurrah! Back to flying. Much wiser on the function of the. Aircraft fuel gauges, fuel tanks and flow valve.
Eventually I completed the course and received my “Wings”. I was a qualified Pilot!! Little did I know what was to come!! Oh! and I was promoted to Sergeant with extra pay .
Next and final stage of Training was to an Operational Training Airfield on the West Coast of Canada where I was crewed up with my Navigator and Wireless Operator. My Navigator was from London, W/Op Canadian. All of us newly trained. From then on we flew as a crew. It was going to be Hampden Bombers we were to fly but as was the war situation at the time our training was on the Dakota twin-engine transport aircraft. This was the type of aircraft I flew throughout the war.
29 April 1944 Left Canada for UK travelling in troopship “Ill De France”.
I thought Canada great. The people, the Country, the hospitality, the food, although the beer could have been better. The girls were all right too!
Back home for 2 weeks leave. Wonderful seeing family and friends again. What a difference was wartime Britain to Canada.
16th May 1944 Overseas again. This time by flying boat to India and the borders of Burma. There were 6 crews on board as passengers, all newly trained on Dakotas.
31st May 1944. Our first operational Squadron! Where flying was for real and the purpose of all the training we had received. We transported troops, guns, ammunition, supplies and food to the Army in Burma, sometimes making 3 trips a day. Many trips involved flying at very low level and dropping supplies by parachute to troops in the jungles of Burma, this being the only way they could get supplies. On these occasions, I had the best job up front flying the aircraft. Over the drop zone my crew would drag the supplies down the aircraft’s fuselage ready for pushing out of the open door. As I flew the aircraft very low over the zone, at the right moment, I would press a switch, which signalled my crew to push the cargo out of the open door. Round & round we went until all supplies gone out through the open door. Back to base we flew for another load to fly to somewhere in Burma where our Army was fighting back the Japanese. After landing (sometimes on strips of flattened rice fields) and unloading the supplies, there would be injured and wounded soldiers to bring back to India for hospital treatment.
Our Squadron was based on the India Burmese border flying into and out of Burma as required. As the Army pushed the Japanese South and out of Burma our Sqd. Bases moved further South to be able to supply them easier.
I never saw an enemy aircraft in the whole of my RAF career and never fired a gun! Did I at one time want to be a fighter pilot? The enemy of Dakotas and crews in India and Burma was the WEATHER. Monsoon rain, anvil headed cumulus clouds that rose to 30000ft or more and if you flew into one the up-current or down current would lift the aircraft hundreds of feet like a feather or drop you down like a stone. Very, very dangerous and their build up so sudden. It was in these conditions that we flew underneath the cloud base sometimes just above ground level and above the treetops of the jungle. We had to fly low in bad weather to be able to map read anyway.
So, my life for the next 15 months was flying my beloved Dakota here there and everywhere. On the ground there were good times and bad times and always looking forward to the day your boat came in for home. Airmail letters from home were so welcome and treasured. News on the other war fronts was getting better too.
It was in one of these Air letters that I received the sad news of my Mother’s death on the 5th Jan. 1945 aged 47.I was somewhere in Burma , no chance of getting home. My Father and Sisters kept me well informed of events that followed.
The operational tour of Transport Command Aircrew was 700 flying hours after which I was posted out of the war zone.
The war with Japan ended on 15th August 1945. How we celebrated with the awful Indian brewed beer!!
I well remember my final flight of my Operational Tour. It was flying from our base in Burma to Bangkok in Thailand. We flew in 30 Ghurkha troops to take part in the reoccupation of the Country. On landing the defeated Japanese soldiers were milling around. Immediately the Ghurkha troops stepped out of the aircraft and saw the Japanese they dashed for cover with rifles at the ready. Such was their hatred towards them. I wanted something to remind me of this trip. A Japanese sword would do fine! But not to be. I swapped the shirt I was wearing, for a blanket, with one of the Japanese soldiers. Best I could do!
Ready for the return flight back to Base. Approaching the Dakota in an orderly marching group came 30 ex prisoners of war. Clothes in tatters, footwear in bits, bodies very thin, and showing all the signs of their last 5 or 6 years ordeal. But all now smiling. Freedom for them at last.
The flight back to base was horrendous the monsoon weather was atrocious with Cu, Nimbus cloud, severe lighting and hail all around. Impossible to go round, so tried to go above. In no way was I going to turn back to Bangkok with those POWs even though my crew thought I should. The Dakota was never a pressurised aircraft and carried no oxygen equipment, so the maximum height we would normally fly was about 10k ft.
On this momentous flight however, I took the aircraft (with a bit of coaxing from the engines) up to 19000ft to get over the top of the dangerous cloud. I and my crew on the flight deck were frozen stiff even with full heat on. and were feeling the effect of the rarefied air. Me with no shirt and a Japanese blanket that I daren’t wear not knowing where it had been!. How my passengers in their poor state of health and in that cold and near airless fuselage survived, I do not know. But I could not turn back.
After 4or5 minutes at that height we were over the worst and I could take the Dakota down to normal level. My navigator and W/Op went back to see how the ex-prisoners were coping and found them trembling and shivering, but alive. Landed safely at base in Burma. The ex-POWs overjoyed at being back on friendly ground and with friendly caring people.
9th September 1945 Went on 2 weeks leave to Hill Station in India. Very pleasant. Thought I might be sent home, but no.
19 September 1945 Posted to a newly formed internal airline Squadron based at India’s Capital City ,Delhi.
These flights involved taking high-ranking Officers to various Cities all over India and Ceylon. At times it meant being away from Base for over a week.
5th April 1946 Awarded Distinguished Flying Medal. Now promoted to Warrant Officer with another pay increase!
14th June 1946 At last notified of going home! I did hope I might be able to fly a Dakota back to England. But it wasn’t to be. Instead I bordered a crappy old troopship in Bombay on the 28th June to sail back to the UK. It didn’t matter though, I was going home. It took 23 days to sail home. Imagine my delight at seeing the English coast and docking at Clydside after years away.
My next base was at a de-mob centre somewhere down South. Kitted out with civvy suit, shirts shoes, etc., receiving pay due and some in advance. My RAF uniform finished with. Was I sorry? – YES.
3rd September 1946 REALEASED FROM RAF after just over 4 years in service and having flown 1760hrs in RAF aircrew
NOW BACK IN CIVVY STREET
For various reasons, some men (and women) do not wish to speak of their time in the Forces .I can well understand and respect those wishes.
For myself, I look back to my teenage years and beyond in the RAF. I would never in all those years have met the men I did, the places I visited and lived in, to fly in an aircraft let alone be in control of one, the events I experienced and above all giving me the confidence in years to come. It also made me realise the value of home and family that I was away from for those many years.
Do I hate wars? — Yes
Do I regret my Service in the RAF? —-NO
I love April fools day!
Image by Rafa from Brazil
1. Cadaquès – Spain, 2. Lost Map, 3. Orange sky, 4. Day 55 – Flickr everywhere!, 5. Westminster Bridge – London, 6. West Pier – Brighton, England, 7. JD Water fountain, 8. Moo Cards Part 1 – Wanna swap?,
9. Ruins of Empuries, Spain, 10. Day 92 – Taking Moo cards for a ride, 11. Moo Cards Part 2 – Wanna swap?, 12. Day 8 – My body lies, but still I roam, 13. Day 1 – The beginning, 14. Cadaquès, Spain, 15. Clouds and Sky, 16. Day 38 – Fauxtobooth: Space/Time Continuum,
17. W is for Wino, 18. Me in Terrades, Spain, 19. Bus on Bridge Street, 20. Day 2 – After shower, 21. Madame Tussauds – Beyonce, 22. Flooding – Curitiba – Brazil, 23. 30 secrets in 30 days – #1, 24. Sunset – BR-467,
25. Day 68 – G is for Giggle Loop, 26. 30 secrets in 30 days – #2, 27. Cataratas do Iguaçu – Iguassu Falls, 28. Fanta, 29. Day 35 – Getting To Know You…, 30. Queen’s Theatre – Les Miserables, 31. BR-467, 32. Canary Wharf – London,
33. Day 77 – Bluebirds, 34. HDR #2, 35. Campo Mourão Coach Station – Engrish, 36. Inner Hurt – I’m living in the shadows, 37. 365 Days – Day 67 – Reject, 38. Inner Hurt – I’m living in the shadows, 39. S is for Saudade, 40. Regent’s Park – London,
41. Day 37 – Back to work!, 42. Day 58 – My Moo Cards arrived today!, 43. Sunset in Cascavel, Brazil, 44. Bend It Like Beckham, 45. Day 9 – Two is company, nine is a crowd, 46. London Eye, 47. Regent’s Park – London, 48. The Girls,
49. Day 39 and 30 Secrets in 30 Days – #7, 50. Day 3 – What am I gonna watch now?, 51. Sunset in Cascavel, Brazil, 52. Can you spot you here? That’s because you are especial to me!, 53. 30 secrets in 30 days – #3, 54. DSC00277, 55. Moo Card received – from Ursula, 56. Day 56 – Life is like a piano…,
57. The Weather today afternoon – February 8th 2007, 58. Porbou – Spain, 59. Sunset in Cascavel, Brazil, 60. Sunset from my house in Cascavel, Brazil., 61. Hotel Vila Paraíso, 62. Chapel HDR – Cascavel/PR, 63. Moo card – Received from Brienne Griffin, 64. Day 67 – Me in my cousin’s bedroom,
65. The Boys, 66. Day 40 – No title today!, 67. 30 Secrets in 30 Days – #6, 68. Figueras – Salvador Dali Museum, 69. Day 87 – The Old Good Days, 70. Day 86: Microwaved, 71. Day 48 – My first "pretending I’m reading" shot., 72. DSC01897
Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.
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Florida TradeBank Continues to Support Customers Develop Enterprise and Cling to Money Assets as Third Anniversary Draws Close to
Orlando, FL (PRWEB) August 26, 2011
Since 2009, Tait Carson, Regional Director of Florida Tradebank (http://www.floridatradebank.com), has driven explosive growth to the Sunshine State. He has earned best honors each and every month from Tradebank International by growing and sustaining a record number of new members in history.
?Although emerging in Central Florida and other areas of our state, TradeBank is a 25 year old confirmed brand that serves customers considerably like a clearing home or commercial bank,? stated Carson. ?We?ve knowledgeable phenomenal growth, and for very good reason. We offer a a lot-required service in today?s economy and we only partner with the most discerning organization leaders.? Tradebank brings company that firms would have in no way otherwise received. That gives new revenues to pay for variable expenses at present costing cash, which will improve getting power and cash flow.
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Image by Albertas Agejevas
Ever since my MPFI swap in spring I’ve been operating a 1.5l engine with an ECU from a 1.6l engine, thus getting the air-fuel ratio too rich most of the time. Now I’ve gotten about to replacing the plan with the fuel maps scaled down for 1.5.
It didn’t perform out the initial time, I have inadvertently cut one track on the PCB when pulling out the old ROM. Because the cut was below the newly installed socket, it was tough to diagnose it, 1st I suspected the EPROM itself.
Let the tuning start!
Image by Albertas Agejevas
This is the intake manifold, injectors, fuel rail and ECU off a D16A6 engine. The wiring harness is in the garage. As soon as I discover a matching distributor I will be all set up to swap this injection program in.
k20 powered EK civic
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A couple of nice body swapping fantasies pictures I discovered:
MSD:L – work in progress
Image by natalia & gabriel
the body is not quite appropriate but, but parts of it are. and i haven’t completed his faceup but… waiting for clearer concept on that 1st. i put bags under his eyes with grey masking tape, just to see what it would look like.
he nabbed some of the spring swap items, as well!
MSD:L – operate in progress
Image by natalia & gabriel
the body is not very appropriate yet, but parts of it are. and i haven’t completed his faceup yet… waiting for clearer thought on that very first. i put bags beneath his eyes with grey masking tape, just to see what it would appear like.
he nabbed some of the spring swap items, as nicely!
Read MoreShowing Your Personnel the Door – To Innovation
Toronto (PRWEB) December 18, 2008
Google and Procter & Gamble are showing their workers the door.
It’s not what you feel.
Google and Procter & Gamble are swapping their personnel so they can find out every single other’s tricks in targeting buyers. Over 20 staff at both companies are participating in the exchange.
It’s another phase in open-door innovation that organizations are embracing to acquire an edge more than their competitors in tough times. Open door innovation is a term coined by Kyle Couch, Vice President Client Learning Encounter at The Beacon Group.
In far too several instances, leaders of organizations throw out one of the most more than used, and under explained terms “we have to think outside the box.” While the premise is right, in most instances, the adhere to through is less than stellar. This is the basis for open-door innovation.
When it comes to “out of the box” 1 of the easiest, price effective techniques to be innovative is to get out of the office – the “box”. IDEO founder Dave Kelley when noted that most bosses believe that they can tell who their ideal personnel are by keeping track of how much time they invest at their desk. The reality nonetheless is quite the contrary. Workers who get outside of their workspace, and see what other businesses, industries, cultures and groups are performing – yes out there in the outside globe – will be the most innovative.
Open Door Innovation is based on the premise that re-inventing the wheel takes time. And, your organization doesn’t have the time to spare. Not with what’s happening in today’s economy.
Many firms, now which includes Google and Procter & Gamble, are adopting this strategy to foster innovation and open horizons for their workers.
In Google and Procter & Gamble’s case, there’s a lot to be gained from the expertise.
“There’s plenty for each and every company to learn from each other. Google dominates the search advertising industry and Procter & Gamble is America’s largest advertiser,” said Couch.
“It’s totally essential for Procter & Gamble to realize how younger generations are interacting with the internet,” he added. “They can’t do that sitting at their cubicles”.
Throughout the exchange, Procter & Gamble employees learned that searches with the term “coupon” have improved far more than 50% in the past 12 months, likely due to recessionary belt-tightening. Procter & Gamble makes use of coupons extensively in its marketing and advertising efforts.
Google and Procter & Gamble’s job swapping was launched last January following a meeting in between Jim Stengel, the former Procter & Gamble global marketing officer and Tim Armstrong, president of Google’s advertising sales and operations in North and Latin America.
Your HR team can use 1 or a lot more of the following tools to bring quick-paced, fresh innovation into your organization with open-door innovation:
Open Houses – in Canada, a number of manufacturing facilities in non-competing industries on a regular basis meet to tour every single other’s plants, to understand new techniques, layouts, and processes. This Benchmarking Consortium has led to a number of procedure improvements, and a wide range of new techniques.
Networking – With the rise of social networking, and websites including Facebook and LinkedIn, the ability to spread understanding has improved dramatically. Organizations including McCain Foods and Harley-Davidson regularly meet with other executives in non-formal networking groups, in addition to formal Associations to further improve the rate of knowledge sharing.
Friendly Consulting – Constructive feedback tends to resonate when it comes from a friend. Organizations on the cutting edge which includes The Globe and Mail, Through Rail, and other individuals have partnered by means of McGill University to rigorously analyze every single other and offer honest, candid feedback at the fraction of the expense of a formal consultant.
Job Shifting – Whether or not it is the movement of best executives to the front line within their organization to discover (and bear in mind) how their organization actually touches their customer – think Southwest Airlines or a number of Significant US Banks, or to take this concept additional, Samsung regularly sends its best designers and engineers from Korea to Italy, or the US to work in fully diverse industries including working with artists, and galleries in order to broaden their scope and strategy to their respective roles.
Field Trips – One of the simplest techniques to commence practicing Open Door Innovation is to take groups of staff on field trips. In several circumstances, just picking up the phone and contacting another company of interest and asking if you can set up a time to go to their offices or plant is all it takes. This is precisely what Mercedes-Benz USA does inside its management training curriculum. If calling on one more organization is too daunting a job, web sites such as PlantTourUSA.com list each accessible organization related tour across the United States, broken down by State.
The Beacon Group is an authority and global pioneer in the field of organizational development. Firms across numerous industries have employed the firm’s assessment goods and advising services to leverage their investment in Human Capital. The Beacon Group specializes in Employee Surveys, 360 Feedback Assessments, Early Talent Identification (ETI), Management Education, and Performance Management Systems. Customers such as Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s, Xerox, Sony and SAP have utilised The Beacon Group’s services to grow their thriving corporations. For much more information visit http://www.thebeacongroup.ca
For media inquiries please speak to Michael Sitayeb at 1-866-240-3948 or email at michaels (at) thebeacongroup (dot) ca
This press release was distributed by means of eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: http://www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.
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