Leo Hatcher shares his memories as a young Royal Air Force (RAF) conscript in 1947 aged eighteen. With an older brother already in the RAF as an engine fitter, Leo was inspired to do the same. He instead became an airframe technician, or ‘rigger’, on the Sunderland flying boats (also known as the Short Sunderland). Stationed at Finkenwerder near Hamburg, Germany, supporting the Allied Forces’ post-war operations in June 1948, he recalls witnessing first-hand the utter devastation wreaked upon German cities from the air.  In contrast to the tensions between the Allied Forces and the Soviet Union in Berlin, he remembers the friendliness of Berliners who would gather on the beach of Lake Wannsee to watch the Sunderlands come and go. Told with warmth and poignancy, Leo’s reflection of his role during the Berlin Airlift offers a vivid account of what it was like to fly in one of these iconic aircraft, in addition to describing the logistics of delivering vital aid to a divided city.

Geoffrey Wellum discusses his nail-biting experience flying into battle in Malta - with no bullets. The story begins at Biggin Hill station, where Geoffrey began the deadly RAF training; during this time, Geoffrey would take his 'first spin' in a Harvard training plane (an American design first requested by Britain's RAF in 1938 during WWII). In the interview, Geoffrey shares his experiences of the rigorous and often life threatening training exercises: "Three people died during training but you can never think it'll be you ... if you let your imagination run away with you, you may as well pack it in." Upon arrival in Malta, Geoffrey was shocked to see the bullets being removed from his plane in preparation for take off. The reason for this was to reduce the weight and therefore the fuel consumption of the Spitfire, to hopefully give the RAF an edge against the infamous Luftwaffe. However, before even taking flight, Geoffrey found his worst enemy to be the desperately humid climate of Malta,  after suffering through severe headaches and problems with his sight, it was deduced that Geoffrey had an issue with his sinus and was promptly rushed to hospital to have a hole drilled into his head to relieve the pressure while flying. Finally, during the battle itself, the fear of invasion felt incredibly real, so Geoffrey fought hard to defend his country from the Luftwaffe forces. Needless 'point scoring' and 'shots landed' were of little importance to Geoffrey as he focussed on protecting both his country and his fellow pilots - the thought of defeat never once entered his mind. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1941 in recognition of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy.

At the age of fifteen Stanley left school and became an Air Raid Precautions messenger. When he reached eighteen he volunteered for the RAF. He became a gunner on a bomber and carried out over 50 missions. Once his aircraft was caught by searchlights and received anti-aircraft fire, which they escaped by corkscrew diving 9000 feet. Many of the flights were with 624 Squadron, assigned to Special Operations Executive, dropping agents and supplies into enemy occupied territory. These drops were often at very low altitude and at the maximum of the aircraft range, with barely enough fuel to return home. He realised at the time that many of the agents, several of whom were women, would not survive very long. Looking back Stanley thought that he, and others, were too young and foolish to be scared. He regards his time with the RAF as the most interesting part of his life.