大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Pennie Hedge, a volunteer from 大象传媒 London, on behalf of Charles John Bossley and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Bossley fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was working for the Engineer-in-Chief鈥檚 Office in St Martin le Grand, for the Post Office. When I was sixteen I joined the Home Guard, the local Home Guard in Catford, which you was allowed to do. So I did some initial training there with the other men. When I was 17 I volunteered for the Airforce, up at Kings Cross. Now if you volunteered for the Airforce you were given 6 months grace because they wouldn鈥檛 take you until you were 17 陆 .

From there you were recruited, sent on a train and I went to Warrington. That鈥檚 where they kit you out with all your gear and you stay there about a week I suppose, getting measured up for your clothes and all your equipment. Then you鈥檙e sent to Blackpool. Blackpool used to be the training centre for the RAF, and we used to do all our marching and armed drill, attending lectures in the cinemas which were shut all the morning. And we used to go in and listen to all this stuff about gas attacks, medical advice鈥� We were billeted with landladies. Landladies were allowed 4 RAF and then they could have their summer visitors, but they had to take 4 RAF. Well looked after, I鈥檝e no words to say about them. The only thing was, you had to be in by 11 o鈥檆lock at night, otherwise you were arrested.

So the long and short of that was, I鈥檓 at Blackpool and I did all the courses up there and you get aptitude tests in the RAF. And suddenly I get a posting from Blackpool to Cranwell College, which is the RAF equivalent of Sandhurst. What on earth I am doing down here? I鈥檓 going on a radio course, which was at that time top secret. The RAF used to have transmitters to aircraft which were only good for about 18 miles, useless old things for aircraft. The story we were told was that the Manchester Police, nothing to do with the war this, had developed a VHF, Very High Frequency, which was 90 mile, trouble free, nothing. So the RAF thought, this is much better than what we鈥檝e got, so they took it over. So when I went to Cranwell I was put on a VHF course. It was a bit tricky, 14 weeks. And my official title was RT Operator VHF. Now included in that course, apart from talking to aircraft, was learning air traffic control, maintaining these sets. In every fighter aircraft he鈥檚 got a set of buttons, different channels and this operates the transmitter/receiver (TR33) and you鈥檝e got to learn to tune that, put it all together.

So anyway, I come out of Cranwell and thought, so what happens to me now? I go on three days leave, come back here to see my Mum, and I get a posting to a place called Maee. Where on earth鈥檚 that? So I goes up to the RTO (Railway Travel Office for the Forces) at London Bridge. 鈥淲here鈥檚 this place, mate?鈥� 鈥淒unno. We鈥檒l give you a travel warrant,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he only thing I can suggest is Glasgow.鈥� 鈥淥h, thank you very much.鈥� Nobody even knew the name of this place but it looks a Scottish name. So I gets to Glasgow, don鈥檛 know where I am, goes into the RTOs office. So I says to the RTO 鈥淲here鈥檚 this place mate?鈥� And he says 鈥淚 dunno, I鈥榲e never heard of it. The only thing I can suggest is that you get a local train to a place called Helensburg.鈥� I said 鈥渨hat鈥檚 up there?鈥� and he said 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 an RAF place up there, but I鈥檓 not sure.鈥� So eventually I get to this place called Helensborough and went into the Station Master鈥檚 office 鈥� there wasn鈥檛 an RTO. 鈥淒o you know where this place is mate?鈥� 鈥淣o, but I鈥檒l contact the local RAF Station, a little way down the road, and tell them you鈥檙e here and they鈥檒l come and get you.鈥�

Well when I get there it鈥檚 the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment. That鈥檚 what MAEE is. Its flying boats. And we had 60 people in a great big house in the village. That鈥檚 all, RAF. We got pilots but no aircrew. So when these flying boats took off - they didn鈥檛 go on active service, they were just experimental - they made up their own crews from ground staff, especially on the Sunderlands. We had to go and read radar screens. So I鈥檓 thinking, what am I going to do here? I get sent for, and he says 鈥淒own on the loch is a hut, you get down there, you got three WAFs underneath you.鈥� 鈥淩ight, I鈥檓 a lucky fellow.鈥� And he said 鈥淣o, you鈥檙e charging accumulators.鈥� 鈥淎ccummulators, what are you talking about?鈥�

To get out to the flying boats - they were out in the middle of the loch, anchored on buoys - you had to go a little way down and there were RAF launches to take you out. Now flying boats got to start on batteries (accumulators), same as launches, so of course we鈥檙e charging up all these accumulators all the time.

One day a milkman turned up, and I said to a WAF, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 that milkman doing in here, we don鈥檛 have milk?鈥� 鈥淢ind your own business鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll outlying villages have battery driven radio sets and when their batteries run down, we fetch them back down here, we lend them RAF ones, and we charge them sixpence a time.鈥� So everyone鈥檚 making a bomb.

So I spent this time on the flying boats, different types of flying boat: Catalinas, Kingfishers, two Sunderlands. And I鈥檓 thinking to meself, this is a good old number, this will suit me. Only trouble was, after a few months I got posted again.

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