Contributor: Gareth Owen

Memories of a Bomber Pilot

An oral history interview with Arthur Poore DFC.  Interview Date 08/10/2012

Arthur Poore DFC from Southampton took part in a number of bombing raids over German cities during the World War II and would later join the ‘Dambusters’ 617 Squadron. But it was an unscheduled stop in the New Forest which stood out for him as he looked back at his war career. A thick fog stopped hundreds of Lancaster and Halifax bombers from returning to bases on the east coast after a large bombing raid over Stuttgart. They were half way back over the North Sea when they were diverted to Beaulieu Airfield. Dozens of aircraft landed at the quiet air strip in the pitch black with only moments between each landing.

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Interviewed by: Sue jackson
Transcription by: Leander Johnson
Audio Editor: Gareth Owen

You can also listen to an interview with Arthur by the Imperial War Museum (IWM).
Poore, Arthur Frank. British officer served as pilot with 106 and 617 Sqdns, RAF in GB, 1942-1944
Catalogue number: 20261

The New Forest Remembers team were told in December 2016 that Arthur Poore DFC had past away.

For further reading and articles on Beaulieu Airfield please visit: Beaulieu Airfield Overview

Memories of a boy in Lymington

An oral history interview with Terry Gittoes.  Interview Date 24/05/2013

Terry was born in Lymington in 1932 and remembers the troops around the area and guarded troop ration stations where he and his friends managed to acquire a few goods! He remembers the various airfields and particularly the vast number of troops camped out in the Forest on the lead up to D-Day.

You can listen to Terry’s brother Brian.

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All material is © 2015 New Forest National Park Authority.

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Interviewed by: Sue Jackson
Transcription by: Sophie Larder
Audio Editor: Gareth Owen

Key Words:

Mosquito; crash; parachute; Troops; American soldiers; Lymington; rations; K-rations; landing craft; P47; Thunderbolt; Brockenhurst; Walhampton; Pylewell House, Snooks Farm; Lord Teynham; plane crash; air-raid; Anderson shelters; Wellworthy’s piston ring factory; D-Day; Bofor gun; Liberty Ships; German E-boat; incendiary bombs; Fords Removal Company; unexploded bomb; Lymington Marshes; Lancaster bombers; Prisoners of war; Nissen huts; Setley camp; German POWs; Beaulieu airfield; Brockenhurst; Portsmouth; Home Guard; black market; food coupons; clothing coupons; evacuees

Memories of a boy in Lymington II

An oral history interview with Brian Gittoes.  Interview Date 16/11/13

Brian Gittoes was born in Lymington in 1934 and was a school child in Lymington at the start of the war. He remembers school life during the war, in particular details of air raid shelters, being taught to recognise German planes and the arrival of evacuees. He also remembers details of scavenging for souvenirs, details of D day and American troops being in the Lymington area. He describes details of local airfields and of a number of air crashes. He also recalls his father working at Wellworthy’s and being in the Home Guard and comments on the changes to women’s roles as a result of the war. Finally he talks about the ways in which black American troops were treated, on VE and VJ day celebrations in Lymington and on the impact of the war on some local families.

You can listen to Brian’s brother Terry.

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All material is ©2020 New Forest National Park Authority.

Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Colin Gibson
Transcription by: Leander Johnson
Checked by: Gareth Owen
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot

Memories of a Brockenhurst evacuee

An oral history interview with Arthur Edward Green.  Interview Date 13/12/13

Arthur Green was 12 years of age when war broke out and living in Portsmouth. He was evacuated to Brockenhurst and was billeted there for several years and describes what school was like, including their sports activities, and earning pocket money by doing odd jobs such as delivering milk and the newspapers. As children they used to cycle into Lymington and he recalls passing the Italian POW camp at Setley. Arthur remembers incendiary bombs being dropped on Brockenhurst and the lads collecting the fins from the burnt out bombs and any other shrapnel. Also seeing the glow in the sky when Southampton was bombed. Whilst cycling around the local area, he remembers seeing the build-up of troops and military equipment in readiness for D-Day. He returned to Portsmouth in 1942 to take up an apprenticeship to become an engine fitter. The family were up early on D-Day and he remembers the sudden disappearance of ships from the Solent and the continuous flight of aircraft going overhead.

 

 

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Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Dave Larder
Transcription by: John Martin
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot

 

Key Words:

Portsmouth, Brockenhurst, Southampton, Fair Isle, German plane, silk parachute, silk underwear, education, evacuated, Salisbury station, billeting, radio, news, school, sports, local deliveries, trips to Lymington, Italian POW camp, collecting shrapnel, Lyndhurst Fire Station, bomb damage, bombing, mice & chocolate, Christmas chicken, cross-country running, growing vegetables, apprenticeship, engine fitter, air raid, runner, D-day, shipping in Solent, lorries, army personnel, flying bombs (V1), ack-ack guns.

Memories of a Brockenhurst student then staff at British Powerboat

An oral history interview with Mrs Edith Daniels.  Interview Date 13/07/2014

Edith Daniels was born in London, but moved down to Holbury in 1937, followed by the whole family in 1938. She was a young teenager at the beginning of the war and by then attending Brockenhurst School during the day. However, she recalls the bombing raids in the area during the night. She left school at sixteen and went to work at British Powerboat. She describes her work experiences and attending dances where they met many of the troops stationed in the area.

 

 

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Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Sue Jackson
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Gareth Owen
Audio Editor: Gareth Owen

 

Key Words:

Holbury, Fawley, Brockenhurst, school, bombs, Beaulieu aerodrome, bombers, being bombed, dances, troops, AGWI club, troop locations, Exbury, British Powerboat, Marchwood Park, motor torpedo boats (MTB), British Airways, flying boats, tanks, Holbury, Hilltop, Hythe, traffic diversion, D-Day, American, Canadian, Polish, incendiary bombs, working at Powerboat, air raids, Supermarine, night warden, shrapnel, Hardley, artillery barrage, machine gunned, siren, shelter, school evacuated from Portsmouth, prisoner of war.

Memories of a child in wartime Blackfield and D-Day

An oral history interview with Iris Cooper.  Interview Date 13/08/13

At the start of the war, Iris Cooper was seven years of age and living in Blackfield. She attended the school in Fawley and remembers well the horrible gas masks they had to take with them and air raid drill and the shelters. She recalls rationing and that her mother used all sorts of materials to make clothes and barter these for extra rations. Iris witnessed bombs dropping and incendiary bombs dropped in their garden. They got on well with the Americans that moved into the area and Iris remembers the preparations for D-Day and when the troops left, the Americans throwing them sweets and money as they passed by. Like all the other kids, they were fascinated by any bombs or aircraft crashes and jumped on their bikes and peddled like mad just to find out what had happened.

 

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All material is © 2013 New Forest National Park Authority.

 

Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Dave Larder
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Sue Jackson
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot 

Memories of a father by his son

An oral history interview with Alan Haynes.  Interview Date 01/02/2013

Alan Haynes’s father was Arthur Haynes who was born in 1920. Arthur was 18 in 1938 and decided to join the Territorial Army. As an engineer, he joined the detachment of the Royal Army Ordnance Corp, and when war was declared his unit was mobilised and sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He was eventually evacuated from Dunkirk and on landing at Southampton, was billeted initially at Testwood School in Totton and then several places in the New Forest before ending up at Allum Green House in the middle of 1940. Having requisitioned a garage in Lyndhurst they kept themselves busy by doing basic running repairs on whatever vehicles they had available to them, trucks, Bren Gun carriers, etc. On 5th September 1940 the Allum Green House was bombed causing considerable damage and casualties. Arthur was working that night so avoided the bombing, but was recalled to assist with the damage. He was then billeted in Burley and eventually moved to Aldershot for some specific skills training and then later on in 1941 his unit was disbanded entirely and he joined the REME.

Alan recalls his father’s effort to get a memorial bench placed in the grounds of Allum Green House, dedicated to those that lost their lives that night. He mentions several of the families involved.

 

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Interviewed by: Sue Jackson
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Gareth Owen
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot

 

Key Words:

April 1920, Stourbridge. Territorial Army, RAOC, Royal Army Ordnance Corp, No.8 Army Field Workshop, Dudley, BEF, British Expeditionary Force, Dunkirk, Dunkirk Veterans Association, Allum Green House, billeted, school house, scout hut, Totton, Southampton, Burley, Lyndhurst, Imperial Garage, vehicle repairs, bombing raid, German bomber, incendiary devices, fluorescent flares, pathfinder raid, 5th September 1940, bomb craters, bombs, wunderbar kind, Luftwaffe, warrant officer, sergeant, cottage hospital, military hospital, medical records, Aldershot, training, REME, Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, Swan Pub, Worcester Rifle Association. Dunkirk, bombing raid, Sergeant Alfred Blunn, cricket bat, graves, memorials, Woods Corner House, Burley, No.8 Army Field Workshop, Allum Green House, Dr Balfour, Swan Pub, commemorative plaque, memorial bench, dedication, May 1980, Jilly Beatty, Wilf Briggs, wreath, Testwood School.

Memories of a father’s death, Allum Green House

An oral history interview with Jill Avon.  Interview Date 02/02/13

Jill’s father, Staff Sgt Stanley Henry Avon and three of his comrades, billeted at Allum Green House, near Lyndhurst, were killed in an air raid on 5 September 1940.

After returning from Dunkirk in May 1940 and being sent initially to Aldershot, the Recovery Sections of No. 8 Army Field Workshop, RAOC, were despatched to various locations around Burley, including the Village Hall and Woods Corner, then to Testwood School in Totton.  After each group was reassembled correctly, No. 2 Section was billeted at Allum Green House.  They used the Imperial Garage (now the Meridien Modena Ferrari showroom) in Lyndhurst as their work base repairing and refurbishing damaged vehicles.   No. 1 Section moved to Petersfield and No. 3 to Bishops Waltham.

At about 11.15pm on 5 September 1940 there was an air raid, during which many large bombs fell around the house  –  the craters are still visible – and one went through the roof and the upper floor, where the officers were sleeping, and detonated in the cellar which was the Sergeants’ Mess.  Jill’s father, Staff Sgt Stanley Henry Avon, and three others were killed.  They were Sgt Alfred W. Blunn, Staff Sgt Edgar W.E. Gifford and WOII (SQMS) Harry S. Tyler.

‘I was only seven weeks old, and on the evening of 5 September my father posted a letter to my mother to say he had found someone who might help find a place locally for my mother and me to come and stay in order to be near him.’
(Jill  Avon)

There are two photos of the damage to Allum Green House.  These were taken by Sgt Reg Shuker of No. 2 Section on the morning after the air raid.  Photos courtesy of Sgt Reg Shuker’s daughter Tina from Canada.

Related names: Sgt Haynes’s son Alan Haynes

Former No. 3 Section member Wilf Briggs who was a friend of one of those killed

 

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Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Sue Jackson
Transcription by: William Ward
Editor: Gareth Owen

 

Key Words:

Allum Green House, Horace Whitehouse, Arthur Haynes, Harry Stanley Tyler, Aldred William Blunn, Edgar William Ernest Gifford, Wilf Briggs, Dunkirk, 25th May 1940, 1940, Lyndhurst, Totton, Burley, Woods Corner, RAOC, Royal Army Ordinance Corps, 8 Field Workshops, 2 Recovery Section, 3 Recovery Section, British Expeditionary Force, St John’s Ambulance, Greenwich, Air raid, Bombing

Memories of a Mossie pilot

An oral history interview with Doug Gregory.  Interview Date 23/04/13

Doug Gregory was in his mid-teens at the start of WW2. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the RAF and trained as a fighter pilot. He relates his training experiences on various aircraft and flying on bombing raids over Germany, flying a Mosquito in air support. After the war he was a test pilot until invalided out of the RAF, but continued flying even into his 90’s. Some of his experience is related as poetry.

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Full transcription of interview recordings.

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Interviewed by: Dave Larder
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Sue Jackson
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot

Memories of a Motor Transport Officer at Setley POW Camp 65

An oral history interview with Gordon Forsey.  Interview Date 01/11/13

Gordon was drafted to take 31 troops out to Singapore but when his wife fell ill, he was posted to Setley Plain POW camp and taught to drive by the Germans so that he could fulfil the role of Motor Transport Officer. He has some very amusing stories about daily life in and around the camp and recalls the bombing raids on Poole.

To find out more about the camp see the ‘Setley Prisoner of War Camp – Overview’ article.

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Interviewed by: Helen Wallbridge
Transcription by: John Martin
Checked by: Gareth Owen
Audio Editor: Cosmic Carrot