Photos from RAF Air Gunner and ATS Worker at Bletchley Park

• Main Author: Their Finest Hour Project Team
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: British history; European history (excl. British; classical Greek and Roman); International history; Their Finest Hour; World War Two; ATS; Air Force; Animal; Animals; Armed Forces; Asia; Asian; Auxiliary Territorial Service; Britain; British; British Empire; British Raj; Commonwealth; Empire; Employment; Female; India; Indian; Military; Naval; Navy; Photo; Photograph; Photographs; Photos; RAF; Railway; Raj; Royal; Royal Air Force; Scotland; Scottish; Sea Battle; Submarine; UK; United Kingdom; War Work; Woman; Women; Work; Worker; Workers; Gunner; Blue whale
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.25934197.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/online_resource/Photos_from_RAF_Air_Gunner_and_ATS_Worker_at_Bletchley_Park/25934197

The contributor advised that his father, Norman Ernest Wade, was a Royal Air Force Wireless Operator Air Gunner in the India Coastal Command who became an Officer and remained in the RAF after the Second World War. Prior to the war, Norman Ernest Wade was a railway worker in London at 16 years of age in 1936. In 1939, Norman joined the RAF and trained as an air gunner in Scotland. The contributor shared a story in which Norman shot at a blue whale from a submarine. The contributor noted that Norman was relocated to Calcutta pre-partition, and several photos document Norman's daily life at this time. It was highlighted that Norman was known for this athleticism, and he had stated that he did not see much action during the Second World War. The contributor's mother, Marjorie Ins Nidd, became engaged and married to his father in 1946. The contributor was also born in 1946. Marjorie worked for the Auxiliary Territorial Service and was stationed at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. The contributor explained that Marjorie made very strong connections with friends at her post, and she maintained these relationships until her death, although she never spoke about her experience with the ATS. The contributor highlighted a photo of his mother at her radio station with a dog she adopted at Harrogate. The contributor's parents were reunited after the war had ended.