[THE PRIVATE ILLUSTRATED WAR DIARY]This is a uniquely thoughtful, important and most extensive grouping of personal memorabilia flying records & artifacts which, via a standard RAF flying log book and highly detailed privately hand written and carefully assembled 'raid by raid' diary and newspaper scrap book, superbly record the service of a WW2 Royal Air Force Bomb Aimer. This war diary - scrap book which was compiled in a large financial accounts ledger, runs to over 120 BIG pages packed full of beautifully hand written text which are each augmented by original and contemporary newspaper cuttings which detail and fully describe the raids recorded in the official RAF flying log book. The war diary is so historically important that some years ago the Lincolnshire Aviation Centre was granted permission to produce a colour copy for display at the museum. We have since been greatly privileged to purchase in it's entirety this huge and important assembly direct from the family and Medals of England now owns this entire original archive & medals.
[THE OFFICIAL RAF FLYING LOG BOOK]Also with the group is the original, totally magnificent & historically important RAF Bomber Command (Bomb Aimer) Aircrew Europe, Lancaster & Halifax "BATTLE OF BERLIN" RAF Flying Log Book.This official flying log book details all of Stan Young's pre-ops training and all his 'brutal' operational flying which includes no fewer than 12 raids on Berlin. It superbly records his 34 bombing sorties over the most heavily defended targets in Germany.
[AIR PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS & "WINDOW" RADAR JAMMING STRIPS] This amazing assembly also has masses of original paperwork including a selection of rare & original Air Propaganda Leaflets as dropped by this officer. The example illustrated here which shows a Lancaster bomber attacking a German city says: "THE FORTRESS EUROPE HAS NO ROOF" (A further selection of these are illustrated in Part 2 of this listing). Also air dropped German margarine coupon sheets, and rare original 'radar jamming' silver paper 'window' strips.
[BRITISH PASSPORT WITH NAZI 'Swastica" VISA]Also included is a historically important British passport issued in London on 8th August 1939. This was duly endorsed at the German consulate in London on the same day with a German entry visa complete with Nazi 'Swastica' hand stamp !!!!.....which in hindsight creates a quite terrifying impression when seen in a British passport.
[THE PRE-WAR VISIT TO THE THIRD REICH]
In the late 1930's Stanley Young had been seeing a German girlfriend who was working in England before the war. She had returned to Germany in the summer of 1939 and he visited her in Munchen Gladbach in late August 1939.
In those days all normal travel to Germany was by sea across the English Channel and via a land transit through Holland. He arrived in Germany on 14th August, drew 125 Reich Marks on 16th August and stayed with her for 10 days with a return to England via Holland on 24th August.
He apparently had a great deal of difficulty getting out of Germany at the Dutch border on the way home.
The passport, which is in mint condition was only used for this one trip!
His arrival back in England on 25th August 1939 was just 9 days before the declaration of World War 2 on 3rd September.
Ironically, as can be seen from the last entry on this log book page, four years later on 30th August 1943 he bombed his girlfriend's home town of Munchen Gladbach. It is known that the girlfriend survived the war & that she married a German army officer.This was Stan's 8th bombing sortie of the war and his war diary entry for 30th August 1943 reads: "Am now going to drop four tons of bombs on a town & people I spent a happy holiday in just before the war --My German friends live outside the town proper & may escape the full force of the raid --- Such is war-----" THIS IS SUCH A LARGE GROUPING WITH SO MANY IMPORTANT PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THE LISTING ON A SECOND BROWSER PAGE. .......THIS LISTING IS CONTINUED IN "PART 2' ON THE NEXT BROWSER PAGE.£2750