Grandad's RAF Days - 1940-1981

Nosher's Grandad used to fly in one of only two B-24 Liberator squadrons - 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron, based at Blickling in Norfolk - as well as Halifaxes and B-17s, with a spot of teaching at Gunton Airfield in Montgommery, Alabama. Later on, Grandad led the ATC squadron in Christchurch, and most of these photos are from various ATC passings-out. We were once guests at a passing out parade at RAF Boscombe Down, near Amesbury in Wiltshire, on a very hot day, where several of the cadets on parade passed out because of the heat. The set features a wartime crew photo, complete with mascot cat. Crew would have contained Pilot (Grandad), Engineer, Navigator, Wireless operator, Bomb Aimer and the rest would be gunners. There's also a photo from RAF Marham in Norfolk, where the plane in the background is Valiant B(K)1 XD818, which was withdrawn from service at the end of 1965 and preserved at the station, and another featuring a Shackleton Mark 3 at RAF St. Mawgan - the antenna on top is possibly "Orange Harvest", used to list in on radio transmissions for tracking.

next album: The BSCC Easter Bike Ride, Framlingham, Suffolk - 26th March 2005
previous album: Nosher's Family History - 1880-1955