LAC E G WHITE 1391176

This photograph was taken in September 1941 when I was at ITW in Aberystwyth. It was my father's favourite picture of me and he kept it on his desk throughout the time I was in the RAF

The white cap flash was worn by aircrew under training until they qualified and were promoted to be Sergeants or commissioned as Pilot Officers.

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Preface

I have compiled this record from entries in my two log books and from notes I made just after the war ended. I have tried to avoid using hindsight and, in general, the events I have written about are not set in their wider context.

I have described some of my flights using as references log book entries. These I have transcribed exactly as I wrote them. In the text they are in the form of:

• Date: Time of take-off: Aircraft type and number
• Pilot: Duty: Duration of flight
• Description of flight including, if applicable, the route followed

I wrote originally only with my grandchildren and godsons in mind, hoping that they would find it interesting to read about my experiences when I was an RAF navigator over sixty years ago. Although a wider readership is now being reached, I have left the text unchanged for it does, I believe, convey something of the reality of those harsh years when so many of us flew the night skies of war.