Rodney, William: my Air Force recollections (March 9, 2005)
An interview/narrative of William Rodney's experiences during World War II. Flight Lieutenant Rodney served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Interview took place on March 9, 2005.
ABSTRACT: Flight Lieutenant William Rodney Enlisted into the Air Force at 17 and called up when turned 18. He served from June 1941 to the end of 1945 and during the post-war from 1947 to 1950. He spent 2 to 3 years overseas. He spent the majority of time at the Commonwealth Training school. He was part of the coastal command in British Columbia prior to going overseas. He explains the different aircraft and their flaws during his training experiences. He flew 18 different types of airplanes. He talks about his low-level flying during the time serving in the coastal command. He became an instructor after the American instructors went back to the states following the bombing of Pearl Harbour. He explains this saved his life because he was not sent overseas but instead stayed to instruct. He joined the Air Force because of his interest in aircraft and flying. He went overseas in the spring of 1943. He was stationed in Perth, Scotland, which would be the farthest station North. He explains the relations in his squadrons. He feels that mix squadrons were the best ones. His first operation was in the early spring of 1944. He explains the two operations he flew on D-Day over Utah beaches. He then explains that the resistance he would engage in during the bombing flights from enemy aircraft to flak. Rodney explains a couple of close calls he had when taking off and landing his Wellington a few times. He explains the mining of Brest Harbour. He describes the reason for the operation and situation there as a U-boat and naval port for the German Navy. The operation was to block the harbour from getting involved in the D-Day landings.
Interviewer: Allen, Nicholas
Interviewee: Rodney, William
Rank: Flight Lieutenant.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 56.39522, -3.43139
- 53.99983, -125.0032
- One original audio cassette in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- RW_447
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- December 3, 2012
- Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2012. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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Rodney_W_0447_01.mp3 |
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Rodney_W_0447_02.mp3 |
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