MILITARY
There was always a mist first thing in the morning. Without any air raid warning a single plane flew over and dropped a stick of bombs. One hit a house in the married quarters. When the rescue ambulance arrived there they found a bath with a WAAF still in it in the middle of the road. Apparently she was very concerned that she would get into trouble for having too much water in the bath. All baths had a black band painted inside, six inches from the bottom.
A few weeks later we had another raid. No bombs this time; an experimental system of defence against low flying aircraft had been installed. Some six-inch tubes had been installed vertically around the airfield; they contained a rocket, a coil of wire and a parachute. When the rocket was fired the chute opened trailing the wire and this wire got entangled with the aircraft and brought it down.
Once a week the camp came to a halt for three hours. All staff had to parade in their best uniforms while the Commanding Officer played his best version of the Horse Guards Parade trooping the colour. When I asked if he only did this because of the lack of flying, I was told no it was a regular parade. He would even carry on if there was an air raid in progress.
We had two funerals. Aircrew had been brought back from CORNWALL for burial at the camp. People not on duty were to attend the funerals. No work stopped for funerals, only for playing soldiers.
After three months I was transferred to No2 Technical Training centre at COSFORD to complete my training. The training there was intensive so there was no time to relax. After passing out from there I had a week's leave pending posting.
My posting came through to No. 27 O.T.U (Operational Training Unit) at FRADLEY between LICHFIELD and BURTON ON TRENT. This was a wartime airfield. Accommodation was in huts still thirty to a room, but the ablutions and toilet were outside in a separate hut. So the comforts of pre-war stations had gone. No wash basins only two long metal troughs with six taps on each between two huts (sixty people). If you didn't time things right you had no hot water. The huts were heated by one coal stove. The people within six beds of the stove cooked, the rest froze.
The unit was to train aircrew to fly operational aircraft - Wellington Bombers -before being transferred to an operational squadron. The training aircraft were all old squadron rejects. They were good for training but not for operations.
The day to day maintenance was done by the mechanics; the fitter did the repairs and inspection in the workshop. After forty hours flying the aircraft had to come to the workshop for inspection. This was also required after eighty hours and one hundred and twenty hours. The engines had to be changed and sent back to the factories, so with worn out aircraft they were in the workshop more often than flying. No nine to five here, late nights and sometimes all night. This went on until after Christmas when I had a week's leave. After returning from leave I was back home in fourteen days and on embarkation leave for another fourteen days.
Mother at this time was in hospital with suspect TB. I saw the hospital doctor to see how serious the position was and if possible could he get me a postponement, but this was not possible. We prayed much about the situation but late February I had to go to BLACKPOOL to await posting.
Rare photographs inside the hanger at RAF Alrewas
