Tony spent 31 years in the RAF, doing four tours at RAF Neatishead. He talks about his experiences, and the changes seen throughout this time and his role as a volunteer at the Radar Museum in Neatishead. He says ”my main aim here is to ensure that the museum gets the story across correctly and […]
Uniformed Services
A technical life: from an RAF instrument fitter to a secondary school technician (1947-1994)
Ronald went to schools in London and Norfolk before joining the RAF as an apprentice at the age of 16. He qualified as a navigational instrument fitter and spent the next 12 years in the RAF, with postings including RAF Marham and to Adelaide in South Australia. After working for several years as a technical […]
A Woman of War and Peace. The army and intelligence (1939-1980s)
Muriel was a remarkable woman who began her working life just before the War selecting women for high professional posts. In 1939 she began work at the Ministry of Labour, braving bombs for two years. Then she joined the Army on anti aircraft guns. As the war ended and the Cold War began, she was […]
Bevin Boy, miner and publican (1941-1987)
Peter was a Bevin Boy who stayed on working in the mines and ended up as a publican. I was fourteen years old when I left school in 1941. My first job was an ironmonger’s errand boy for six months before I went to work for a baker on a bread round. I delivered bread […]
Driving, construction and welfare – a working life (1950-2010)
David worked in construction including on building the Bacton gas site in Norfolk, and on the Norfolk roads. He ws also a bus driver and welfare officer for the Royal British Legion. I was born at Beeston Hall Cottages, near West Runton in between Sheringham and Cromer. I was the eldest son of Bertram and […]
Fifty shades of Blue. RAF Technician and Neatishead Museum Volunteer (1963-2023)
Brian joined the RAF in 1963, starting as an apprentice radar fitter. He was posted to Neatishead from 1975-1978, and there he was the Secondary Radar Specialist who ran the electronic workshop. In 2005, a while after leaving the military, he joined the Neatishead museum as a volunteer. Early life and joining the RAF I […]
Firefighter and more (1970s-2014)
Colin was an artificer apprentice in the Navy, had many jobs in London, then worked as firefighter in London, Cambridge and Norfolk, and ended his career working for the probation service. Engineering training at Wymondham and the draw of the Navy I went to Wymondham College the year that they moved the last house out […]
From Air Defence Operator to Warrant Officer (1972-2004). Despair, delight, tragedy.
Dai speaks about his life in the RAF, which he joined as an Air Defence Operator in 1972. He had three tours at Neatishead, with his third and final posting there as the Warrant Officer Operations (WO Ops) and Bunker Manager. Early life I was born in 1951 in the Rookery, a maternity home […]
From banking to music (1940s-1960s)
Peter began work at the Midland Bank at 16 before the war. At the same time, he was the compere of a concert party playing for the troops. He took part in the Normandy invasion. Eventually he became a professional musician on the London scene in the 1960s. My first job was as a clerk […]
Giving as a guiding principle (1947-2015)
Frank was leisure manager at the Norwich Union sports park at Pinebanks. His motivation: ‘I like to do things for people that they enjoy. And I’ve been doing it for years, even when I lived in Thorpe.’ Frank is motivated by the principle of, ‘If you give, you receive; because the Lord said that, and […]