225352 Peter Jackson Royal Air Force RAF Regiment My name is Peter Jackson. I am a 1924 model. I served in the RAF Regiment from 1942 until 1944 when I transferred to an infantry battalion (Scots Guards). I volunteered to transfer because of the C.O.
For some months I was stationed at Bardney with an A.A. flight. The guns we had were twin Brownings which we never had occasion to fire.
We were used many times to assist the armourers in the 'bombing up' of the aircraft. This meant that after breakfast we would to to the bomb dump and, under supervision of the armourers, unpack incendiaries from the factory crates and pack them in the containers to be put on the aircraft.
After an early lunch we went to the dispersal points where the loaded bomb trolleys would be waiting. Two of us would be allotted to each aircraft, each of us with a hand operated winch. The noses of the winches would lock into any of the several shaped outlets in the floor of the fuselage, above the bomb bay. The cable within the winch would be pulled down by an armourer and attached to either an incendiary container or an HE (high explosive) which would then be raised up into the bomb bay. Most of us 'regiment types' found this a welcome change from the boring hours on a gun post. Little or no thought was given to the aircrew, and the danger they would face in delivering this cargo, or to those on the receiving end.
I clearly remember how us 'regiment types' used to think what an untidy lot the aircrew were - their tunics unbuttoned, hands in pockets, sometimes wearing scarves and smoking. Whereas we had to be 'properly' dressed at all times.
It was not until many years later that I came to realise just what it would have meant to have the courage to be one of them.
I saw action as an infantryman in Europe. Believe me, I would serve as such any time rather than be aircrew. Theirs was an outstanding form of courage. Aircrew have my greatest respect.
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