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This book is based on the World War II diaries of Royal Australian
Air Force Flying Officer Reg Heffron. The reader follows Heffron
through initial training, his wartime posting to No.622 Squadron,
and the fear and trials of operational flying, off duty antics,
training rookie crews, and finally, the joyous return home to his
family in Australia.
During the Second World War, thousands of young men volunteered for
service with the Royal Air Force. Some of these became fighter
pilots, but a great many more were destined to be trained as
members of bomber aircrew; pilots, navigators, wireless operators,
bomb aimers, air gunners and flight engineers. On completion of
their training a number of these men were posted to XV Squadron, a
highly regarded frontline bomb squadron which had been formed
during the First World War. Bomber Squadron -Men Who Flew with XV
relates the personal stories of a small number of these men, giving
an insight to their anxious moments when flying on operational
sorties, staring death in the face in the form of enemy
night-fighters and ground fire, and relaxing with them during their
off-duty hours. The book also reveals the motivations, emotions and
personal attitudes of these men, who flew into combat on an almost
nightly basis. Their stories encompass the whole six years of the
war, over which period XV Squadron flew a range of different bomber
aircraft including Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims, Vickers
Wellingtons, Short Stirlings and Avro Lancasters.
Oxford's Own is the story of No.15/XV Squadron, Royal Flying
Corps/Royal Air Force, of the men who served with it and the
aircraft it flew. It is a story of determination, courage,
fortitude and life. The life of a Squadron at war and play,
embroidered together with the lives of hundreds of young men from
varying backgrounds and the four quarters of the Globe. The story
begins with the formation of No.15 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, on
the 1st March 1915, at South Farnborough, Hampshire and follows the
fates and fortunes of the men and machines who served during the
Great War, between December 1915 and December 1919. Reformed in
March 1924, the Squadron provided valuable service as part of the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, for over ten
years. Declared a day bomber Squadron in June 1934, No.15 adopted
the use of the Roman numerals XV, which are today still carried on
its aircraft. In April 1939, the Squadron was adopted by the city
of Oxford and was unofficially known as "Oxford's 'Own'". The
Second World War brought major expansion and changes in equipment.
Battles, Wellingtons, Stirlings and Lancasters all saw service with
No.XV Squadron. The post World War II era led to the Squadron being
equipped with Avro Lincoln bombers, followed in succession by
American built B-29s, known to the RAF as the Washington bomber.
The jet age brought in turn the Canberra, Victor, Buccaneer and
Panavia Tornado. Complete with seventeen appendices and illustrated
with nearly 800 black and white and colour photographs from the
Squadron's own albums, the Mildenhall Register, the author's
collection and many private sources.
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