Weaponry and Equipment

Early Days of Radar Manufacture in Northampton

In 1939, just before the war started, the factory was moved to a new site in Bembridge Drive, Kingsthorpe,...

Making Gas Masks

It was at the time of the Munich Crisis and I was a student at Derby Teacher Training College... The masks...

A Bristol Schoolboy's Contribution

While I was towing the drum the onshore crew was tracking me with some sort of Asdic device, since I could...

Nottinghams Glider Factory

The ministry of labour then directed her to a large furniture factory in Netherfield... Iris tried...

I Made the Fuel Bottle that went in the Torpedo that Sank the Bismarck

I made the fuel bottle that went into the torpedo that then sank the Bismarck....

Lifting the Lid on German Terror Weapons

On one occasion, I met Dr Kurt Arnold the top German tank designer... Through the interpreter Dr Arnold...

Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot

APDS was introduced in June 1944 for 6 Pounder 57mm guns and had a significantly higher penetration...

Meeting Lizzy

To assist takeoff and landing it is an advantage for the aircraft to head straight into the wind to achieve...

Delayed Action Bomb at Parnalls in Yate

These gun turrets were used in the large four-engined bombers - Lancasters, Whitneys and the Wellingtons,...

A Spell of Duty in Burma

A larger box fitted centrally between two darkrooms and became the entrance to both, with the fittings to...

Bailey bridges, built by Thomas Storey Ltd, Stockport

Born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, a graduate of Sheffield University, Donald Bailey worked at the Experimental...

Mountain Artillery

My initial training was undertaken at Norwich and we were told, "Never get anywhere near the Mountain...

Garden Hut Courtesy of U.S.ARMY

My father John Thomson was an L.N.E.R. railway Inspector in charge of rail freight movements off loaded...

Fleet Air Arm - Fairey Swordfish from HMS Ukussa

Sticky bombs, manufactured by Kay Brothers, Stockport

Kay Brothers were responsible for fitting the impregnated knitted cover and handling stem into the pressed...

Working in the Munitions Factory

When we were 18 we had to join up but my friend didn't want to leave home, so we went to work...

The 'Silent Noise'

During the War a very loud noise could be heard all over Lutterworth. I suppose it was a noise that...

Home Front Recall

David Oliver speaks to Erica Castle on 10.5.05 about his Grandfather, Sir John William Lampton Oliver....

The Captured Tiger Tank

Mr Roy Elliott served 4 1/2 years in the 8th Army in North Africa as a driver mechanic in the REME He...

Visit to a U-Boat

A Visit to a U — Boat by Bernard Mc Cormack. When I first glimpsed at the V — Boat, it lay...

Sleepless Nights in Frank Whittle's Lutterworth

One was from London – his brother was eventually brought over, as the bombing was so bad in London....

Strange & Secret Works

Early in 1944 I was posted to 934 Port Construction & Repair Company stationed at Richborough Kent. We...

Churchill Mk VII Crocodile

The Spitfire

50 years ago this year The end of World War Two, We think about these same young men Now famous as "The...

The Colour Yellow

It so happened that all life jackets or Mae Wests used by the Germans were coloured this fierce yellow so...

GAS MASKS

In the early years of the war a gas mask was an ever-present accoutrement - an unfashionable, square,...