大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Lydia Pye of Leicestershire Library Services on behalf of Roy Thomas and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

As a 17 year old lad in South Wales in Neath in 1939 there was very little work and my dad had just started back in the pit after 12 years on the dole. He told me "don't go down the mine", so I enlisted at 171/4 in the RAF.
Joined the RAf in June 1939. Pre-war training was at Scampton and then I was posted to St. Athens in South Wales. I heard of the outbreak of war on Sunday 3rd September. I was posted to RAF Manby to train as an armourer. From there I went to RAF Andover and then in December I was posted to France near Rheims. Part of A.A.S.F., B.E.F. worked in the Armoury and manned a gun pit with Lewis machine guns. The weekend of 20th April 1940 saw us in Paris to watch a football match. Score: B.E.F 2; France 1. This was soon followed by many German air raids. On May 26th started withdrawal on the back of a lorry heading for Dunkirk. We were cut off very early and headed for Brest. After many days travelling, very little food, just biscuits and Ideal milk. On June 14th stopped at Le Mans but had to make hasty retreat as the Germans were just down the road. We reached Brest on Sunday 16th June. I boarded ship at 6.30pm. I was last on board. We left France, sailing at 8.10pm in semi darkness, avoiding Stuka bombers. At 5am next day 17th June, sighted Eddystone Lighthouse. It was a welcome sight. We reached Plymouth at 10.50am receiving a marvellous reception. I was posted to RAF Locking, Weston-super-Mare. I then attended another course to become a fitter armourer. Still just an A.C.1, I was posted to Bomber Command at RAF Scamton.I worked in the Armoury and taught aircrew how to use a Bombsight. By the end of 1940 I had been promoted to Corporal still just 18. As the year ended there was a terrible explosion at the Bomb Store Corporal Wade and many of his men were killed. The Bomb Store was soon repaired and then early in 1941 I was promoted to Sergeant and put charge of the Bomb Store. I was almost 19. My job was to reorganise the Bomb Store, prepare the Bomb loads and fuse the Bombs on Bomb trolleys before being taken out to each individual aircraft of both 49 and 83 Squadron. This was a continual commitment . One night one of the aircraft blew up as it taxied for take off. The crew were killed but the Bombs did not explode and it was my job to locate the unexploded bombs in the darkness and render them harmless by defusing them. Some of them were quite warm. The aircraft at this time were Hampden and Fairy Battles. By early 1942 the squadrons were equiped with Avro Manchester Bombers which were virtually a 2 Engine Lancaster. It wasn't a very succesful aircraft and was soon replaced with the famous Lancaster.
At this time I was expected to attend the debriefing of the aircrews when they returned from Operations over Germany. My concern was the with Bomb aimer to know how succesful the bombs had performed. Early in 1943 a new Squadron was forming, later learning it was to become 617 the famous Dam Buster Squadron. I had a visitor to my Bomb Store, a Mr. Wallis who had a good look round and gave me some small tips. It turned out of course to be none other than Sir Barnes Wallis who invented the Bouncing Bomb. The Squadron Leader was Guy Gibson who addressed the whole station telling us in no uncertain terms not to mention the new Squadron when we were enjoying a night out in Lincoln. I helped prepare the Bomb Store for the Dam Buster bombs, but with the new squadron becoming operational 49 squadron was moved to RAF Fiskerton about 8 miles away from Scampton.
As an aside, a girl later to become my wife, did actually drive Guy Gibson around. Her name was Betty Ragg ACW2. With 49 Squadron moving , myself and many of my staff moved with them to Fiskerton and ACW2. Betty Ragg came with us too. I took over the new Bomb Store and Betty was now driving the bomb loads out to the aircraft, a rather dangerous job.
This is the Station where we became good friends and in 1944 we were married at Great Glen Church and we're still together 60 years later.
Our Squadron moved again to RAF Fulbeck not far from Grantham. One day just after our marriage an urgent call came to the Armoury. One of our aircraft had crash landed at RAF Colerne down in Somerset with a full load of unexploded bombs. Colerne was a night fighter aerodrome and our plane was on the runway. I left Fulbeck about midday in a fully crewed Lancaster and arrived at Colerne to arrange the removal of the bombs with the local Armourers and then defused them and made them safe. The aircraft was then removed and Colerne was again operational for night fighter action. The Lancaster was Waiting for me and we headed back to Fulbeck. On arrival over the airfield the C.O. was awaiting the pilot. He asked him if he had dropped his practice smoke bombs at Theddlethorpe out near Skegness, the bombing range. He said he hadn't, so the C.O. said I don't care who you have on board you must do your practice bomb runs to give your bomb aimer some night practice. This didn't please me, but there was nothing I could do. It was now 11pm.
We did two bomb runs and then the navigator came over to me to ask if I knew anything about bombsights and dropping bombs. This I was fully aware of and I went down to the bomb aimers place in the front of the plane. I did 2 runs and dropped 2 bombs and then handed over to the bomb aimer. We did another 10 successful runs and we landed back at our airfield about 1am. My wife by now wasn't quite frantic, but rather concerned when I did eventually arrive at our digs safely around 2am.
For this Bomb Disposal, and making Colerne Airfield operational for night Fighters I was awarded a Mention in Dispatches. Around this time, East Kirkby RAF Bomb Store was badly affected by 5 fully laden aircraft exploding on the ground, killing many people. I was sent to East Kirkby to get the Bomb Store operational.

Whilst at Scamton our aircraft used to be deployed in dropping Sea Mines and Torpedos. To keep me abreast of any changes in the fusing of these exposives I used to get sent to HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, to be updated every 3 months.

Mid 1943 at Fiskerton, Betty had delivered a bomb load to one of the aircraft. The Armourers managed to let one of the bombs fall off one of the bomb hooks in the plane. Panic for ground staff, they all disappeared into adjoining fields and woods. I had a telephone call to attend the bomb immediately. I got Betty with her tractor to drive me to the bomb under the Lancaster N for Nuts. I asked her to leave to defuse the bomb but she refused and between us we managed to get the bomb onto a bomb trolley and took it away for disposal. At this point the ground staff appeared out of the woodwork and carried on as if nothing had happened. Just like the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

We finished our Operational Activities at Fulberk, when the war in Europe ended, Betty leaving to have her first baby late in 1945 and I ended my service March 1946 as a Flight Sergeant.

On V.E. Day one of our Lancasters fully laden with fuel did a victory flight over the aerodrome. It was too low and crashed into the stores. Just outside 40 ground staff of R.A.F. regiment were on drill parade. They as well as the aircrew all died from horrific burns. it wa a dreadful accident when everyone was clelbrating peace in Europe.

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