The latest Wings Over New Zealand Show features an interview with the late Bill Hilder, who joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and trained as an Armourer. Following his training he was posted to a Bristol Blenheim squadron at Hook in Hampshire. Then he was posted to Iceland to join No. 120 Squadron RAF, arming the Coastal Command Lockheed Hudsons and Consolidated Liberators that were patrolling the North Atlantic.
In 1943 Bill was posted to No. 617 Squadron working with the Tallboy 12,000lb bombs. He was involved in the attacks on the Tirpitz. Next he was posted onto the special duties list and taken to Teignmouth in Devon to work on a top secret project with Barnes Wallis.
Bill also gives a small insight into life as an armourer on a bomber squadron in WWII.
Here’s the show link:
http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/2017/10/bill-hilder/
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By: Dave Homewood - 21st October 2017 at 02:14
I wonder if any photos or drawings exist of Barnes Wallis’s boat as described by Bill.
By: Dave Homewood - 20th October 2017 at 10:45
Thanks Tony, I was just going by what Bill said. I’d never heard of Hook, to be honest.
By: TonyT - 20th October 2017 at 10:08
Bristol Blenheim squadron at Hook in Hampshire
Hook in Hampshire is the nearest Railway Station, the Station involved would be RAF Odiham, still in use today as the Home of the Chinooks etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Odiham
An ex inmate of Odius…. 😀
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October 19, 2017 at 11:27 pm