| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR05982 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 6 cm; Wallet/s: 2 |
| Object type | Notebook, Log book |
| Maker |
Talbot, John Saxton |
| Place made | Australia, United Kingdom |
| Date made | 1941-1945 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Talbot, John Saxton (Flying Officer, b.1918 - d.2013)
Description
Collection relating to the Second World War service of 416234 Flying Officer John Saxton Talbot, 459 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Australia, United Kingdom, and Middle East, 1941-1945.
Wallet 1 of 2 - Collection consists of one log book of Flying Officer Talbot, in a brown leather cover. This log book contains entries dated between 24 September 1941 and 20 February 1945. It records details such as dates and times of flights, types of aircraft, pilots, duties, and purposes of flights. Some of the purposes of the flights included general training exercises, photography practice, bombing practice, gunnery practice, and navigation exercises. Once he had fully qualified as a navigator, Flying Officer Talbot joined the 459 Squadron in the Middle East. His log book records that he was involved in flights such as area sweeps, convoy escorts, training flights, enemy boat and submarine patrols, bombing operations, rescue searches near Crete, reconnaissance photography, and searches for missing aircraft. In late 1944, Talbot became a navigation instructor at an Empire Air Navigation School in the United Kingdom. The log book includes several certificates of course completion and qualification, and one telegram from the Air Ministry to Flying Officer Talbot, instructing him to report to 5 Operational Training Unit in Ayrshire, United Kingdom, for instructor duty.
Wallet 2 of 2 - Collection consists of one notebook containing notes from Flying Officer Talbot’s Staff Navigator Course at the Royal Air Force base at Shawbury, United Kingdom, in 1943-1944. It contains handwritten notes and diagrams on subjects such as naming positions, geometry, basic electricity, beacon systems, navigation equipment, radios, maps and charts, various types of compasses, and astronomical navigation, . It also contains detailed notes on aspects of meteorology, such as clouds, wind, air pressure, simple forecasting, atmosphere stability, fog, ice, dangerous temperatures, air masses, and tropical storms.