| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR89/159 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | 2 wallets: 4 cm |
| Object type | Memoir, Digital file |
| Maker |
Peaker, Mike G Peaker, Mike G |
| Place made | Ireland, Netherlands East Indies: Sumatra, United Kingdom: England |
| Date made | 1941-1943; 1989; 2004 |
| Access | Open |
| Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. | AWM371 89/1585 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copying Provisions | Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction. |
Gotto, Basil Ashmead (Flight Lieutenant, b.1914 - d.2006)
Description
Collection relating to the Second World War service of Flight Lieutenant Basil Ashmead Gotto, 100 Squadron, RAF.
Collection consists of a typescript memoir of Gotto's time with 100 Squadron RAF between 1941-1942. It describes in detail flight operations especially in the Vickers Vildebeest aircraft, and later his time as a British prisoner of war after being captured in 1942 by the Japanese in Sumatra. Gotto's original diaries were hidden in the roof of a building in a POW camp in Palembang. Around 1947 a Dutch friend was going to Palembang and Gotto asked him to see if the diaries were still there. They had been discovered, but the friend managed to get them back from the local police station. The original books were retained by Gotto, except for one which was donated to the RAF Museum. Gotto died in 2006.
Also included are edited and unedited transcripts and scans of the original diaries (except for diary 3, the scan of which was found to be corrupt on the CD on which it was submitted) detailing Gotto's service in the Far East and experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war in Sumatra. As well as photos of and biographical information about Gotto, news items relating to 100 Squadron and Vildebeest aircraft, and a hand-drawn map of Java with aerodromes.