SITEMAP

Introduction - A short biography of Warrant Officer Ray Goode DFM.

Letters - Sixty of Ray's wartime letters written to his family in Australia. The first being the day before he embarked from Sydney aboard the S.S. Monterey in 1941. Included are a few scans of the originals and some correspondence from others.

Diary - The first entry is dated June 2nd 1943. Here he describes his flight back to England after the Sunderland Flying Boat in which he was tail gunner was attacked by eight Junkers JU88 aircraft over the Bay of Biscay. He continues over the following weeks recounting the aftermath of the event, his recovery in hospital and the funeral of one of his crewmembers prior to returning to active duty.
NOTE: The keeping of diarys was frowned upon during wartime as they were considered a security risk. Fortunately many service personnel secretly kept them to record their experiences.

Images - Includes many pictures taken by Ray himself. Many of the earlier photographs were taken whilst Ray was working as a Government poultry inspector in outback South Australia during the late 1930's.

Documents - Assorted documents and newspaper clippings. Included are scans of Ray's logbook, telegrams, letters and correspondence from the Ministry of Air. Also included is a letter from a young woman sent to Ray's mother in Australia, ten days after he was posted missing.

Sound Recordings - A collection of interviews, two of which were made at BBC Studios, London in February and June 1943. Ray can be heard on the February recording. Other recordings include recent interviews with Praa Sands residents Pearl Osbourne and Colin Windley and ex-461 Squadron members Jack Edge and Johnny Stevens. - NOTE: MP3 format.

Copyright - Information relating to the copyright of material contained in this website.

Credits - References and thanks to all those who contributed in some way.

Contact - If you wish to contact "Dear Everybody" you can do so by emailing Do you have any information about Ray or his crewmates? Whatever happened to Ray's 'secret' English girlfriend Joan Davis? Maybe someone out there knows something?

Links - Various links to related sites. Included is John Evans' site, Paterchurch Publishing. John is a keen flying boat enthusiast and lives in Pembrokeshire, Wales near the old Sunderland Flying Boat base at Pembroke Dock.

© Copyright 2003 Rowan Matthews
All Rights Reserved