If you have any thoughts, comments or queries, please get in touch via the e-mail link below, or post a comment in the “Leave a Reply” box at the foot of this page.
I look forward to hearing from you
If you have any thoughts, comments or queries, please get in touch via the e-mail link below, or post a comment in the “Leave a Reply” box at the foot of this page.
I look forward to hearing from you
Wally's War 
Thank you for creating this wonderful blog. “The war” has become a rather anonymous event, often used simply as a marker (shortly after WW2″ or “before the war…”. Your blog shows us a personal view of a terrible period not just for PoWs but also for those on the home front. It is almost beyond one’s imagination to have to live in fear of THE dreaded telegram.
Good afternoon, I’ve just stumbled upon this wonderful blog whilst researching wireless operators’ training for a book I’m writing about my great Uncle, Jack Clyde DFM. He was a wireless op on Halifaxes with 10 Sqn. Thank you so much for sharing Wally’s story. I think it’s so important that we keep the Bomber Command Veterans’ stories alive. I can empathise with the the huge amount of research you’ve clearly put into the blog! With very best wishes, Jane Gulliford Lowes.
Thank you for this factual yet poignant record of Wally’s war. I stumbled upon it and thought of my Dad, who was a POW too. Bless em all 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I was so thrilled to read it, as it contains so much of what my father would have experienced ias he also served in 50 Squadron. Born in England in 1911, he migrated to Australia when a teenager. He enlisted in 1940 and in 1942 after training in Canada was posted to 50 Squadron. I know from my mother that he didn’t like flying in the Hampten bombers before the Lancasters. He was a wireless operator and air gunner. Like Wally, he also spent some time at OTU. I have visited the Swindby area where 50 Squadron was based and Lincoln Cathedral, and now, to know that my father would have driven along the Fosse Way, a road I loved to drive, has made the picture of his life in Bomber Command far more real. My father returned to Australia in early 1944 and served time flying on submarine patrol from Pearce in Perth before instructing at Sale in Victoria. In January 1945, he was recalled to active service in New Guinea and while on a night submarine patrol during a storm, the Beaufort Bomber he was in disappeared. No trace has ever been found. I was 10 weeks old.
Hallo I am looking for information on a Lt Woods RNR Captain of the SS Chantilly. I have a photo and I have found an artist’s picture of a Lt Woods distributing Red Cross Parcels in Marlag O. Is this the same Lt Woods?
My website contains the autobiography of my aunt and she wrote a lot about the realities of growing up as a child in London during the war. It is under the heading £10 Poms, if it is of any interest to you. My website is http://www.www-bra-co-uk.co.uk
Many thanks. Barbara Owens
A wonderful account of your father’s war time activities, very informative and with some wonderful ephemera and memorabilia too! As a local lass in Grantham, Lincolnshire and also employed at the local library in Grantham, stories like this are worth keeping in the locality. We have a section dedicated to both WW1/2 local heroes & veterans so if I may, I will make reference to this wonderful blog and to the local articles I have since found about your father, and file them into our war section. I’m sure they will prove to be a fascinating insight into what life was like during the time. Incidentally, we have a rather unique set of diaries called ‘Grantham, Day by Day 1939-1945’ by Walter Lee (local photographer & ARP Warden during the war years) who meticulously chronicled life in Grantham during the Second World War, with written and photographic content. Grantham was a major target during WW2 because of our ammunitions factories, close proximity to Bomber Command strategic buildings and of course we were in Bomber Command County!
Got to this site through a Facebook post. Absolutely brilliant. You have captured what the life of a Bomber crewman and a Kreigie was like. I might try it for my Father though he was lucky enough to not get shot down. His first tour was on Hampdens and second on Mossies. He reckoned he was lucky to be on them rather than main force. Thanks for allowing us to know Wally’s war.
Truly compelling reading, thanks for this insight. My Grand Uncle was F/O Robert Fletcher who flew with Wally in 1943, including the night they had to parachute from the burning plane.
How interesting that you are related to Bob Fletcher. Do you have anything further on him that I can add to my blog? Photos? Storys?
I am creating a project on Lancaster bombers and wish to use this as a major source. What date this was created and who is the lead author? It is required when listing sources.
Thank you for your revealing website which I came across whilst researching my uncle Fl. Sgt George Hosford Bradley who trained with Wally but who then was killed on 28 August 1941 when his aircraft blew up whilst on a training flight
Many thanks for publishing this account. I have just begun to research the RAF service of the uncle of a friend. His uncle, Warrant Officer Henry Kitto DFM was lost on D Day 1944 whilst flying as W/O in a Lancaster. His career path seems very similar to that of your father and has helped us to appreciate his experiences.
thank you, wally layne, for this informative story