Training to Become an Air Gunner

Heroes Remember

Training to Become an Air Gunner

Transcript

Basic Training. Well, #5 Manning Depot, of course, was just a sort of a introduction to service. We did all sorts of drill, even though those of us who were air-minded wondered why we didn't get a plane the first few days we were there. It wasn't that way to be, of course. So, a lot of drill, we did precision, and of course there were the basic, very, very basic courses in preliminary meteorology and that sort of thing, but that was to come later on in our, in the more intense training when we went to our specific trades. The Specifics: Well, this is where we stared to go into specifics: Morse code had to take Morse. I'd say engines, meteorology, principles of flight, and navigation. Navigation was a big one too. How to dissemble a Browning 303 blindfolded and assemble it again. Not Meant to be a Pilot I went to Pre-ITS in Hamilton at ITS, Initial Training School, and I spent some, month and a half, I think in, in Hamilton. And then it was #6 ITS, Initial Training School, in Toronto, and that's where I found out that I was not meant to be a pilot. So they gave me a couple of weeks leave. I came home on, on leave and when I went back, I went to Quebec City, #1 AGGTS: Air Gunners Ground Training School. Were the Instructors More Serious? Yes, very much so because they themselves had experienced, of course, service overseas, and they were very much bent on making us, if we were to be air gunners, they were very, very much bent on making us the best air gunners that could possibly be produced. Oh, the enthusiasm was the same. We were still air crew. We were going to be air crew and that was a big thing. It wasn't that there was such a, a disparaging feeling about ground staff, but air crew were always considered the elite of the air force, naturally, and this is the thing to which we aspired and this is what we wanted. So as long as we were on the air crew route, we were quite happy. Following the six weeks in Quebec City, we were posted to Mont- Joli, that was #9, Bombing and Gunnery School. And that went on for another, another six weeks. And funnily enough, at the Air Gunners Ground Training School, I had one day more service than the guy next to me in seniority. So when we were posted to Mont-joli, they gave me a Corporal's Rank, acting. So I was in charge of the particular flight that we had in, in Mont-Joli. In fact, I have a picture of the, of the group, our course, and I'm there in the centre, you know, with the arm out like this, naturally with the, showing my rank, pulling rank even at that stage.

Description

Mr. Cole describes the different places he went to train to eventually become an air gunner. He describes basic training, specific training, #1 AGGTS, and #9 Bombing and Gunnery School.

Raymond Boyd Cole

Raymond Boyd Cole was born in Elliston on July 14, 1924. His father worked in the United States and then at a papermill in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, when Raymond Cole was one month old. Mr. Cole grew up in Newfoundland.

In 1941, Mr. Cole finished grade 11 and was 17 years old in July of that year. He wanted to be a fighter pilot so in 1942 he signed up for the air force by altering his birth certificate. He received his wings on November 12, 1943. He found out later that he was not to become a pilot, but he did become an air gunner.

Mr. Cole spent three weeks at #1 Air Gunners Ground Training School (AGGTS). He then spent six weeks at #9 Bombing and Gunnery School (BGS). Following #9 BGS he went overseas. Further training includes #30 Operation Training Unit (OTU) and then 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) where he made the conversion from twin engine aircraft to heavier, four engine aircraft with seven crew members.

Mr. Cole flew as an air gunner in over twenty operations with as much as one thousand aircraft in some. He was involved in the Normandy Campaign and many of the missions were heavy concentration bombings of the Ruhr Valley, which was a heavy industrial area.

Mr. Cole completed his flying tour (thirty operations) and went on to do three more operations afterwards. One to help his crew finish up their tour and then volunteered for another two. He worked as an orderly and as a truck driver for a while before returning to Grand Falls, after three and a half years overseas. Afterwards, he became a minister.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:58
Person Interviewed:: Raymond Boyd Cole
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Great Britain
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 166th Airborne
Rank:: Corporal
Occupation:: Air Gunner

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Training to Become an Air Gunner

Heroes Remember