Crapp, Errol Clifton (Flying Officer, d.1943)

Flying log book, diaries, letters and telegrams relating to FO Crapp's training as a navigator in Canada and England and his service with 460 Squadron and 100 Squadron RAF. There are 3 diaries and over 70 letters covering the period August 1941 to March 1943, the letters expanding on details recorded in the diaries. The letters are mainly addressed to his father, a Methodist minister in Singleton, and contain many reflections on his faith, the meaning of the war and the Allied cause as a Christian crusade. The letters and diaries describe his impressions of Auckland and Vancouver, training in Edmonton and at No 5 Bombing and Gunnery School, Dafoe, visits to friends and people associated with church, sightseeing and entertainments, the culture shock of leave in New York, bombing attacks on Britain and damage from bombs in London, his reluctance to serve "overseas", the patronising attitude of RAF officers towards "colonials", accidents and deaths in the squadron, periods of idleness, enthusiasm for the Lancaster aircraft, operations over enemy territory including bombing raids on Bremen, Essen and Berlin, the unreality of his life in England and reflections on death and dying. FO Crapp died in France on 4 March 1943.