Laurence Kennedy volunteered to join the RAF in 1943 after turning 18 years old. He trained in Newquay and following this was posted to South Africa for a year. Whilst there, he celebrated VE day (Victory in Europe day) in Cape Town, May 1945. Laurence continued his training and joined Transport Command. After a bout of sickness, he was sent to Fassburg, Germany, where he joined up with a squadron and was sent to assist in the Berlin Airlift. Most of the cargo being flown in was coal and flour, with aircrafts being packed full, Laurence remembers. Sometimes, they would have the important task of flying children out of Berlin to reduce the numbers in the city. This is when the importance of the airlift  sank in for Laurence. He talks about how sorry he felt for the children being taken away from their homes and families. During the airlift Laurence flew 168 sorties and was housed in several bases throughout Germany, including: Wunsdorf, Fassburg, and Lubeck. He met his wife at Lubeck, she was stationed there serving with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Whilst stationed in Fassburg, he remembers there being lots of pubs and inns, and that he enjoyed life there. Laurence recalls bringing coffee from back home and trading it with locals for Deutsche marks. In his downtime, Laurence visited Hamburg and remembers being shocked at the state of the city, describing it as horrific and he couldn’t see how anyone could survive living there during the war. What Laurence and his fellow servicemen and women did during this time is incredible, all of them led us out of a very uncertain time. This interview was filmed by the late Andrew Emslie.

Michael Wainwright served with the RAF during WWII; he fought bravely and valiantly in the Battle of Britain, one of the most frightful chapters of the Second World War, and the first time British forces faced the terrifying Luftwaffe. During the interview, Michael recalls the horrifying moment at which war was announced; he joined the RAF in 1936 at the age of 37 where he trained flying a Hawker Fury. Although, in his early career, Michael flew the notorious Bristol Blenheim, a bomber plane. He was later assigned to 64 squadron where he would take up the cockpit of a spitfire in order to defend the English boats crossing to France. He talks about his friend and leader: sub/Lt. Dawson-Paul who was shot down during the conflict, and taken prisoner by a German patrol boat in the English Channel. As his career continued, Michael made the decision to move to 102 glider OTU and take up the role of an instructor, teaching budding new pilots how to safely glide their planes in the event of being shot down or engine failure - he also teaches them how to defuse situations with angry farmers when landing in their fields.

Stories of the Korean war by the men who experienced it.