Reid, Norman Leslie: my Air Force recollections (March 10, 2005)
Interviewer: Johnson, Gene
Interviewee: Reid, Norman Leslie
An interview/narrative of Norman Reid's experiences during World War II. Flying Officer Reid served with the Royal Air Force. Interview took place on March 10, 2005.
ABSTRACT: Flying Officer Norman Reid Norman Reid Pt 1.mp3 Flying Officer Norman Reid. Royal Air Force. Interviewed by undergraduate student Gene M. Johnson as part of oral history program sponsored by the Royal United Services Institute. Please note that on the 26 March 2005 the first part of interview was inadvertently deleted. Deleted portion contained information concerning Mr. Reid's father. His father had served at Monz and Paschendale and spoke often of his experiences. Together with his parent's British background, these stories instilled in him a deep sense of patriotism and influenced his decision to join the forces. Also spoke extensively on the recruiting and training process. Following training he transferred to the RAF and proceeded to Britain. Sailed from New York to Britain on the Queen Elizabeth along with 17000 other men. Most of these were Americans. In the deleted portion of the recording, Mr. Reid is asked about casualties. Could he explain why certain crew stations sustained higher casualty rates. Mr. Reid expressed the belief that a comprehensive study would refute claims that tail-gunners sustained greater casualties than other crew members. In certain types of situations, they did sustain higher casualties, but he believes that in other situations other crew members were at greater risks. On what remains of the recording, Mr Reid discusses night fighters, training and survival. There were no practice bail outs, they were an unnecessary risks. It was impressed on aircrew was that there were underground resistance groups. If crew survived destruction of aircraft and evaded capture they needed to contact these groups. Describes survival gear. Talks of recent lectures to NATO and US forces concerning evasion techniques. From Operational Training Unit (OTC) went to ferry-training unit for aircraft testing and familiarity. German operational training units used to prey on allied aircraft along the Harwell-Gibralter route. From Gibraltar flew to Fez, then to Uduna to Tafarui and finally to Cairoan, a Wellington base located in Tunisia. Long distance bombing raids to Milan, Turin, and sub-pens at Toulouse. These were coordinated with attacks launched from Britain. Discusses the significance of oil installations at Ploesti, Romania. Goes into detail concerning plans for Ploesti. Full scale raids against Ploesti began in early 1944. Describes differences between American and British bombing raids. Mentions Iron Gates, a chokepoint located at the intersection of the Carpathian and Transylvanian Mountains and night photography. Discussion of the importance of the Navigator and their relationship to the pilot. Discussion of timed and dummy runs. Description of an incident when the crew bailed out over Eastern Serbia, they made contact with guerrilla forces next day. Provides historical interpretation of the Yugoslavian situation. Recalls that aircrew briefings stressed that downed airmen would not survive without assistance. Decided to make contact. Discusses the need for caution on part of the Resistance as Germany would drop spies dressed as allies in order to uncover escape network. Long journey in a northwest direction with many stops along the way. Discussion of Mihailovich, who he met on several occasions, and the Chetniks. Describes close calls with German forces. Mr. Reid assisted Chetnik doctor as he worked on downed airmen. know. Fire-fights between Chetniks, Germans and the Italians were common. Describes making contact with Allied forces. Devised codes based on aircraft names, American dog tag numbers and miscellaneous information that would not be known to Germans. American authorities believed the transmissions to be credible but he British felt they were false. In August, at dawn 6 DC-3s, accompanied by 2 squadrons of P-51 s appeared from the west. The DC-3 landed and kept their engines running while downed aircrew embarked. P-51 flew escort all of the back to Italy. Describes de-lousing and de-briefing at American base. Operation Halyard, the rescue of allied airmen from Yugoslavia continued until the end of 1944. Norman Reid Pt 2.mp3 (Mini Disc 2) Discussion of Post Traumatic Stress and LMF. Dishonour associated with LMF stuck with the man even after he returned home. Closing comments. Royal Air Forces Escaping Society (RAFES) was formed to "repay a debt of honour that we feel we owe to the members of the underground resistance groups (helpers) who lay their lives on the line, and in many cases, gave their lives and those of their families to help us." Every year RAFES brings over to Canada 5 or 6 helpers.
Rank: Flying Officer.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 51.5, 10.5
- 44, 19.75
- Original recordings (MP3) on compact disc (CD-R) in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- RNL_445
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- April 3, 2005
- Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 128 kbps and 44 kHz. Digitized by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2005. 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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