The Archive holds a significant number of personal testimonies and wartime memorabilia of Allied and Axis airmen who served in the Second World War.

Spitfire pilot Flight Sergeant Eric Mahar, seconded from the Royal Australian Air Force to the RAF, volunteered for a confidential mission and found himself in Malta. Taking off from an aircraft carrier was a first for Eric, as was encountering the enemy – and at this time, the enemy had complete control of the air over the island. Malta was his ‘baptism of fire’ in which he served for six months, surviving two ‘dead stick’ landings and the crash of the B-24 Liberator taking him home. American airman Cecil ‘Tuck’ Belton was the sole survivor of B-17 Lucky Lady which developed engine trouble and exploded mid-air. He was thrown clear of the aircraft and regained consciousness during freefall, only to endure a spinning descent with his parachute attached by one strap only. With luck on his side, Tuck was rescued by the Dutch resistance.
Another downed airman is RAF Air Bomber Duncan Miller whose Halifax aircraft was coned by searchlights over Berlin and claimed by a Messerschmitt Bf 110. He sustained severe injuries and after a long period as a patient in POW hospitals, he was repatriated through a prisoner exchange. More fortunate was Navigator Peter Humphry-Baker who took part in a low level, precision bombing raid on Gestapo HQ at Aarhus, Denmark, in Mosquito PZ164. Despite the starboard engine being out of action, the Mosquito was successfully flown on one engine to the safety of Sweden.
Anthony Smyth describes his ‘fast and furious life’ keeping ahead of advancing German forces while being in command of the only remaining bomber squadron in the Western Desert. Flying Bristol Blenheims with 55 Squadron during the fall of Benghazi and the impending siege of Tobruk, his memoir reveals the confusion engendered by a rapid retreat. Author Graham Waterton has contributed an article on his uncle, Brian Slade, who was Britian’s youngest bomber pilot of the Second World War. Enlisting underage, he completed thirty-four operations before the age of eighteen.

Testimonies of Allied airmen concludes with Australian fighter pilot Wilfred ‘Wilf’ Goold who served with 607 (County of Durham) Squadron in the Far East, flying Hurricane Mk. IIBs in India and the Arakan. For the Second Arakan campaign, the squadron became one of the first units in South East Asia Command to be equipped with Spitfires. During the battle for Imphal, Wilf flew a Spitfire Mk. VIII on dawn and dusk patrols of the Imphal Valley in support of the Fourteenth Army.

Axis airmen

Kamikaze showcases original photographs of Japanese Kamikaze attacks on HMS Victorious and HMS Formidable. These strikes occurred during April and May 1945 while both ships were serving in the 5th US Fleet acting in support of the American assault on Okinawa.

Two missions undertaken by the Luftwaffe in the final stages of war, Sonderkommando Elbe and Kommando Bienenstock, are often referred to as the German version of the Japanese Kamikaze. Information on the latter (Beehive Command) is evidenced through the personal correspondence of Luftwaffe pilot Hasso von Zieten and his navigator Fritz Hohensee.
Karl Steinbrecher, another Luftwaffe pilot, was deployed on a maritime patrol in the Mediterranean in his Arado Ar 196 floatplane when attacked by a Beaufighter of 47 Squadron. Letters between Karl and his opponent, RAF Flying Officer George Willis, detail their altercation and subsequent friendship.

Prisoners & conscripts

Other articles in this issue include Gordon Nelson’s account of surviving the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and his experience as Far East prisoner of war. His harrowing narrative details the physical and mental trauma he suffered and the life-long consequences.

Another prisoner, this time of the Gestapo, was French heroine Hélène Vagliano, alias ‘La Veilleus’ (Night light). Hélène was a member of the French Resistance in Cannes who was betrayed and captured. She was executed in the Ariane district of Nice in August 1944. Regarding France, our regular writer Dr James Goulty covers the French Foreign Legion as part of his regular Soldier series. A foreign conscript of the Legion, Johannes Bonk of dual Polish and German nationality, gives an account of his service in The Foreign Conscript. During the Second World War, he served with the French Foreign Legion, the Wehrmacht, and the Polish Navy.