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A veteran interview with

Tony Iveson

Tony Iveson gives an amazing account of his distinguished career in the RAF. He was one of the few pilots to fly in both the Battle of Britain and Bomber Command.

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About Tony Iveson

Aviation was a passion of Tony’s from a very young age. He was always keen on joining the RAF and enlisted with the volunteer reserve. He has happy memories of the training and the thrill of flying, especially his first time in a Spitfire. Tony recalls in tense detail his first encounter with the Luftwaffe and how he survived a miraculous landing in the sea, something for which he was never trained.

At the age of 21 Tony travelled to Durban to become a flight instructor. He remembers this time of adventure in a new country with great fondness although it comes to a somewhat sticky end when Tony is lucky to escape a court martial for crashing a Tiger Moth. More luck is on Tony’s side when his restlessness at being sent back to the UK threatens to see him in trouble again but an amenable Station Commander looks out for him and recommends Tony join the Bomber Command. Tony does so and volunteers for 617 Squadron, aka The Dambusters. Tony was well aware of the squadron’s reputation and, seeing it as a great honour to join, works incredibly hard to maintain those standards. He talks in detail about his training and the mission to take out the German Bismarck-class battleship Tirpitz.

Tony dedicates this interview to Bomber Command and reflects on the airmen whose lost lives are now commemorated with a memorial in London, a fitting tribute which means the cost of war should not be forgotten.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Lizzie Gray

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

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Home | Veterans | Tony Iveson

A veteran interview with

Tony Iveson

Tony-Iveson-e1588709313258

Tony Iveson gives an amazing account of his distinguished career in the RAF. He was one of the few pilots to fly in both the Battle of Britain and Bomber Command.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Iveson, Tony. A Veteran Interview with Tony Iveson. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 14 Jul. 2012 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/tony-iveson/. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.
APA Style:
Iveson, T. (2012, July 14). A Veteran Interview with Tony Iveson [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/tony-iveson/
Chicago Style:
Iveson, Tony. 2012. A Veteran Interview with Tony Iveson. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, July 14. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/tony-iveson/
Harvard Style:
Iveson, T. (2012). A Veteran Interview with Tony Iveson. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 14 July. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/tony-iveson/ (Accessed: 21 July 2026)
Vancouver Style:
Iveson, T. A Veteran Interview with Tony Iveson [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2012 Jul 14 [cited 2026 Jul 21]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/tony-iveson/
An interview with

David Edwards

David Edwards talks about his experiences in post war Berlin where he witnessed the Blockade and airlift first hand

David Edwards talks about his service experiences in post war Berlin as a Teleprinter operator sending wireless and telephone messages. David carried out his compulsory National Service in 1947 at RAF in Compton Bassett, and after passing out as Aircraftmen First Class was posted to Germany, with the Air Branch Combined Services Division. David mentions his curiosity at being posted to Berlin after the war, but describes the ‘shocking’ condition of life in the German capital. He describes poignant moments for people living in Berlin at the time, and the ‘impressive’ way they faced life during the joint occupation of allied forces, including the harsh treatment by Russian occupied forces. During his time in the signals office in Berlin, David describes the beginnings of the Berlin Blockade, the development of the air lift, and witnessed first hand the air traffic at the American airbase at Tempelhof. David was also able to use his own time in Berlin for self improvement, finishing his school certificate by learning French; and also learning to touch type, a skill he still uses today for word processing. David was in Berlin just under a year and left just before the blockade finished. He was posted from Berlin to the Island of Sylt, in the North Sea at an RAF training station, before being demobbed.
Service:
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Marian Jones was a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) working in Wireless Telegraphy (WT) for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1942-45.

Marian Jones first heard about the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) in 1941/42 when someone on leave visited her school which had been evacuated to Cornwall. During her two-week basic training she was tested for aptitude on morse, after which she received 6-9 months of wireless telegraphy (WT) training before becoming an operational radio operator, receiving messages from agents abroad. She emphasises the secrecy that was impressed on everyone involved because of the danger to agents: she signed the Official Secrets Act, let her mother believe she was a nurse, did not speculate or discuss her work even with colleagues. She recalls some memorable incidents: speaking in clear to agents during the liberation of Paris and Arnhem; very brief periods of leave; a map showing agent locations, which few people saw; the FANY uniform providing excellent cover because people assumed they were ATS or NAAFI.
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Joseph ‘Stamper’ Metcalf

Stamper remembers his missions in Nuremberg and Dresden as part of the Bomber Command in the Royal Air Force

Stamper decided to join the Royal Air Force after experiencing a biplane land close to his school in Settle Yorkshire. He joined up at RAF Cardington, before being posted overseas to Southern Rhodesia. He returned to East London 48 Air School to train as a bomb aimer, before returning to Rhodesia with 101 Squadron, where he unfortunately caught malaria. After losing his crew whilst in hospital he was posted to 100 Squadron at RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Stamper was stationed in Bulawayo South Africa for desk-based training in the IWT (Initial Training Wing) then at Mount Hampden for navigation and flying training school. He returned to England and went to Whitley Bay for more training, then formed a crew with two others. Their first operation was to sink a large German force off the Dutch coast.  He flew in a Lancaster Bomber explaining how safe it felt compared to other bomber aircraft. Stamper describes his experiences in the Nuremberg raid where Bomber Command lost ninety-seven out of a force of two hundred and fifty after passing the main route of enemy night fighters. He recalls the Dresden raid targeting railway martialling yards, which resulted in a firestorm. Stamper later took part in Operation Manna, dropping food parcels to the starving Dutch population, and remembers tying chocolate for the children in his handkerchief. After the war, the crew felt something was missing for them, so they formed the 100 Squadron Association and Stamper became the first treasurer. The Association unveiled a memorial at Holton le Clay near RAF Grimsby with Stamper giving the dedication each reunion.
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