大象传媒

Name: Sydney George Dale

I was born in Liverpool but spent most of his life in Gosport.
I volunteered to join the RAF at 18 years old. I first went to Oxford for a medical to check if I was able enough to join as well as being asked question by the officers who looked over of what I did in the last 3 days. I was asked what I wanted to be normally most people would of got different to what they picked.75% wanted to be pilots. Not many people wanted to be air gunners because air gunners were frequented killed. I however I picked to be a wireless operator (signaller)/ air gunner because I was an electrician apprentice
(I knew that I would not be doing air gunner full-time). I then went on the wireless operator course to learn Morse code this was very difficult, as only the gifted would easily understand. 20 words a minute was average for a pass. I also had to learn to use the equipment and general RAF discipline. Learn to march although very little marching when actually posted.
Seven months training without even seeing an aircraft. We were just in classrooms.
Started to fly a dominie a twin engine plane with one set of radio equipment. When we passed out of training we went to practice with the Procter a single engine plane. If you did not contact base 2 you would have failed. When we received our breve (badge) we were always proud inside the half wing was either a s (signeral) an Ag (air gunner) and BA (bomb aimer). Wireless operators were called sparks. When you passed out of training you would go home on leave and a few days later you would receive a telegram saying you have to return to back to base. When you got back we choose our own teams by walking up to people and seeing if you liked them and if you liked them you would ask them if they had a signeral in my case or what ever you were. When I crewed up with the rest of my team you would train with them (the people you would fly operations with).
The idea of picking your own teams is that you can only blame yourself if anything went wrong. You would practise dropping dummy bombs on fake targets until you are good enough to join a squadron. When you joined a squadron you had no choice of plane, the primary plane was the Halifax and the Lancaster. There were different groups for example coastal command, special operations, photographic recon but most where bomber squadrons. When I left I did not go to an o.t.u (operation training unit) in the U.K. I was sent over seas to Egypt to do the o.t.u. I was s4ent to air gunner school straight away I spent 10 weeks at air gunner鈥檚 school and then went to o.t.u went into a squadron.
All of my operations were in Italy with squadron 70 flying wellingtons but we soon converted to be 24s and Americans air craft known as the liberator similar to the Lancaster. We picked up a additional air gunner and flight engineers, crews of 7 or 8 if having an additional signaller.
After 30 operations I went back for 36 months leave then went back to the o.t.u as an instructor then went to join a squadron again. Then after 20 operations left RAF because you would not be fit enough to remain as an aircrew.

When I came back the war was over. I went back to being an electrician at the same company.

That my story of what I did in the war.

By Sydney George Dale
Written by Tom Lee and Kai Kidston

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