Wings Over Wick
1939 - 1945
Others

Mr P Woods, Glasgow
I joined the RAF in mid August 1940 after my call up.  After completing my physical training and then my trade course they gave me the choice of where I would like to be stationed, naturally I opted for Scotland and I was delighted when they said that was where I was going. It was an aerodrome called Skitten somewhere on the North Sea between Thurso and Wick. We left London at 10 am on the Friday and arrived Saturday 6pm, I found to my horror I could get home in less time from London.

We were billeted in what they called Nissen Huts and our administration was based in a large house commonly known as the White House, we were all issued with bikes and that was our sole means of transport.  Our aircraft, Wimpeys they called them were Wellington bombers and they left every morning with a heavy load bound for German targets and it was always a big relief, tinged with regret, when most of them returned.  Another tragic scene we witnessed in your area was the heavy loss of lives, the Germans were very active in the North Sea with their U-boats against shipping and very often we saw and had to clean up bodies that had been washed ashore.  Regarding Wick, we went there often, by bike of course.  Pictures and dancing were popular and cheap, 6d, which was equivalent to 2.5 p today.

There was also a newsagent shop we went to in Castletown that sold the Sunday papers on a Tuesday.  We went to Wick for our food rations and I recall a couple of German planes coming down and machine gunning the streets.  After a year I was sent to go to the White House and told to pack my kit-bag as I was going abroad, so I set sail from Liverpool to the Western Desert.