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Those known to have served at RAF Weeton during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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Want to know more about RAF Weeton? There are:0 items tagged RAF Weeton available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sam Robertson Sam Robertson can remember sitting at home at Crawfordston Farm near Annbank, Ayrshire when war was declared — the whole family gathered round the wireless to listen to Chamberlain’s speech.
Sam’s twin brother joined the Navy and owing to colour blindness — could not become a member of aircrew (which was his ambition) so he became a mechanical engineer. Sam’s elder sister joined the ATS and became a member of an anti-aircraft battery near Newcastle. His other sister who was still a schoolgirl at this time became a nurse on leaving school, and spent her career in Ayrshire Central after training as a midwife.
Sam served in 5 Group Bomber Command and served from the world-renowned RAF base at Scampton, Lincolnshire. This base was previously occupied by the Dambuster Squadron lead by Guy Gibson VC.
Sam joined the RAF in February 1944 after being a member of Ayr Training Corp and his first posting was to the selection board in London where he was intrigued to discover that soldiers on guard duty outside the block of flats were armed solely with a pick axe handle! The building was opposite Regents Park — where the soldiers were fed in the Monkey House - and soldiers were marched up and down the road with a white light at the top and a red light at the rear.
Sam’s basic training took place at Bridgenorth, Shropshire. After a weary period there, he was posted to Andreans, Isle of Man for initial training as an air gunner. A training group was roughly 100 individuals. Air firing and flight training was carried out in old Avro Ansons where the crew, other than the turret gunner, had to wind the undercarriage up and down. The flying was all done in daylight and specialised training took place i.e. aircraft recognition (which had to be of a high standard and was a continuing process throughout aircrew flying careers). Here Sam met his first gunner mate - Len Smee, an older career RAF man (i.e. a regular)
Subsequently Sam was posted to RAF Bottesford, Nottingham where the training was on Wellingtons. Wellingtons were single tail units and the toughest things that ever flew. The construction was of geodetic aluminium strutting and the aircraft body was covered with fabric. Here was where Sam crewed up. Aircraft crewing was done like a cattle market in so much as there were pools of all the aircrew trades — pilot, navigator, radio operator, bomb aimer, flight engineer and mid, upper and rear gunners. Sam was a rear gunner. Sam crewed up with a Rhodesian pilot called Juggler Jones who was a well-known rugby player in his own country, all the other crew members were English other than Sam, the only Scot.
Sam was unlucky at RAF Bottesford as he spent double time there with his first crew. During a training flight, the Wellington crashed near Daventry — the plane was landed safely by the pilot, but ran into trees. The skipper was unable to continue flying so the crew were split up and put back into the melting pot. The skipper (a diamond miner to trade) felt he could better aid the war effort by returning home and continue to mine for diamonds - having previously lost an older brother, a gunner in bomber command.
The spirit in the first crew was tremendous but unfortunately this was lost when they were scattered all over the command to re-crew. The second crew was run of the mill in comparison. Sam stayed with this crew for the rest of his flying career. His next station was RAF Silverstone for further training in four engine aircraft i.e. Lancasters.
After completing his flying training he was posted to an operational squadron based RAF Scampton of Guy Gibson fame. This was followed by a lengthy training period of night and day flying. Night flying was introduced by the RAF in the early forties as the loss from daylight raiding was becoming unsustainable due to the numbers of German fighter planes (they had a quicker response time because of their proximity to the operational area). Lancasters had black undersides to minimise reflection if caught in searchlights.
When the war was drawing to a close and bombing commands reduced, the RAF together with the American Air Force were called upon by the Germans to try to feed the Dutch population particularly in the large cities as the condition there was drastic.
Sam remembers being involved in airlifting food parcels to Holland towards the end of the war. Supplies in canvas sacks consisted of tins, dried egg powder etc. The people in The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam were absolutely starving — any crops grown in Holland were being sent to Germany for the people there. People in cities in particular were worst off as country people could benefit by hiding some of their own production for personal or family use. This rescue operation was mounted at the behest of the Germans — possibly in an attempt to mitigate their undoubted guilt.
RAF bomber command agreed to this procedure of low level. Low speed dropping of canvas sacking of food in pre-arranged areas in or adjacent to the cities. In some cases areas selected were near glass houses — which of course became almost targets. Sam says that it was so satisfying to know that he and his crew were doing something to help people who had been through years of hell and still suffering badly.
After the atomic bombs landed on Japan there was no need for the air activity in the Far East and a lot of aircrew were surplus to requirements and relocated to ground jobs. Many of them were sent to RAF Newquay (probably a typing error by the RAF) as drivers. Driver training was undertaken at RAF Weeton, Preston for those unable to drive. They learned to drive everything from private cars to Queen Marys — a long loader that could carry the hull of an aircraft. Sam went to Germany as a driver for the RAF
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LACW. Joyce Todd I joined in Sept 1942 and went to Insworth Camp Gloucester for Square Bashing then on to Cardington for training as Barrage Balloon Operator.
My balloon posting was Yeovil, Somerset for about 1 year until there were enough men to take over.
I then went to RAF Weeton to retrain as a motor mechanic, then posted to Stanmore.
While there, one of the men in the workshops pestered me to write to his brother-in-law Tom who was serving in Italy. He eventually wore me down and I began writing. We wrote and got to know each other and when the war finished we met up in London and he asked me to marry him the first time met. We married on the 4th Jan 1947 and remained married until his death in January 2005.
Joyce Todd.
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LACW. Lillian Kerry Lily Kerry served in Baloon Coomand. Postings as detailed in Lilian Kerry's service record, records she served at RAF Hornchurch (Romford) was as an Aircrafthand Cook.
During World War II RAF Hornchurch was a Sector Airfield of RAF Fighter Command's 11 Group, covering London and the south east of England during the Battle of Britain in 1940. By this time, its command centre was in Romford, and a satellite station (an advanced attack outpost; RAF Rochford) was unpopular with the Hornchurch crews sent there from time to time because of the canvas accommodation.
She was posted to RAF Innsworth This station opened in 1940, the first unit based there being No 7 School of Technical Training who trained engine and airframe fitters and mechanics. More than 2,000 officers and men were based at Innsworth by the time training began in earnest in 1941, this being delayed due to the arrival of 1500 RAF evacuees from Dunkirk.
In December 1941, No 2 WAAF Depot was opened at Innsworth and from then on the Station became increasingly associated with the Women's branch of the service. By the end of 1941 the strength of the Station had risen to more than 4,000 including trainees. Eventually it was decided to reserve the Station almost exclusively for WAAF training, including barrage balloon training amongst other vital roles.
A notebook page of Lilian Kerry in her own hand, records the correct way to lay her kit out. She was from No. 31 W.A.A.F. Recruit Centre, Morecombe as an Aircrafthand Cook) ACH Cook in December 1942. Morecambe, like all other coastal resorts, very entertaining when the sun was shining, so we were very much unimpressed when greeted with torrents of rain. But we forgot this in the excitement of unpacking our newly acquired kit and sorting ourselves out in the boarding house, which was to be our billet. A rather small but neat comfortable and adequate room, furnished in the sparse but usual RAF manner. This was to be our 3 weeks training period at the end of which each one of us would know where our ultimate job would be.
On 14th of January 1941 she was posted to No: 2 Recruitment Centre), RAF Cardington, Bedfordshire. In 1936/1937 Cardington had started building barrage balloons and it became the No 1 RAF Balloon Training Unit responsible for the storage and training of balloon operators and drivers. In 1943 until 1967 it was home to the RAF Meteorological research balloons-training unit, undertaking development and storage
11th of Feb 1943 Lily was an Aircrafthand Cook at No 2 Personnel Despatch Centre, Wilmslow. The station was used for training new recruits. The recruits would learn about living RAF procedures and other information for a period of weeks then would be transferred to their operational station.
In March 1943 she was posted to No 8 School of Technical Training at RAF Weeton. It ran conversion courses for Flight Mechanics and Flight Riggers, and there were many instructional airframes on the ground to practice on.
She was promoted to A.C.W.2 as a Cook on 21st of April 1943 while serving at No. 30 (Balloon Barrage) Group Auxiliary Air Force, RAF Chigwell. The Balloon Centres were responsible for maintenance and supply to the Balloon Squadrons in its area as well as balloon repair and flight control.
The Balloon Barrages proved to be an effective method of protecting strategically important areas against air attack, in that should enemy aircraft fly into the winch cable the damage inflicted would almost always result in destruction. Should enemy aircraft attempt to avoid the cables by flying above the Barrage Balloons then they could not bomb their targets with accuracy. RAF Chigwell was the only aeronautical location to hold the name correctly, was set up as the recruiting station for No.909 Balloon Unit and opened in 1938. With a new war clearly looming, a new formation was set up to operate a variant on the Great War defensive balloon and the observation kite balloon of the Western Front. Largely concentrated on a site to the east of the River Roding it lay in between the area of its title and Buckhurst Hill. The site was mainly concentrated in an area to the north of Roding Lane but there were a number of minor satellite-works, including some which encroached upon the site of the former civil airfield of New Barns Farm to the south and across Roding Lane to the east.
On 1938-08-04 No.4 Balloon Centre was established there, with No.30 Barrage Balloon Group, the local operational army being based there in 1940. The site is best remembered as the home of the Central Test Board assessing airmen for ground trades.
On 15th of December 1945 Lily was at RAF Cheddington, her trade is recorded as Cook, Character Very Good, Trade Proficiency A Stat.
On 24th of May 1946 Lily was at RAF Cottesmore with >No 16 Operational Training Unit when she was awarded a Good Conduct Badge. Her final posting was to await demobilisation was to
RAF Wythall, No 105 Personnel Despatch Centre (WAAF) Wythal which handled the release of servicewomen from all types of air force work.
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