WW2 memories take flight for James (100)
Time in RAF is revisited
A 100-year-old Perthshire man has been sharing his memories of World War II with BBC Scotland.
James Chambers took a team from BBC Scotland on a journey 80 years into the past, as he reminisced about his time fighting in the RAF during the war.
He spoke with Louise Cowie from the channel’s ‘The Nine’ news programme during a visit to Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre.
This is home to an Avro Anson aircraft which is being restored, one of only a handful of World War II planes left in the world.
By coincidence, James helped build these planes while in the RAF.
Born in 1919, James joined the war effort in 1940 where he became a RAF mechanic.
He was posted to Winnipeg in Canada where he helped build many fighter planes, including the Avro Anson.
After the fighting stopped, James worked as a pioneering plant pathologist at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie until his retirement.
James now stays at Balhousie Coupar Angus care home, and the home’s activities coordinator Doris Scott organised for James to visit the museum for his 100th birthday after realising the connection he had to the aircraft on display.
During his visit, James was able to provide volunteers with details about the Avro Anson they could never find out themselves.
He said: “I quite enjoyed working on it. “They were awfully dirty things.
There were oil leaks everywhere, but you had to put up with that. It has the reputation of being a very stable aircraft.
“It would fly hands off and stay like that as long as there was fuel in the tank.”
Doris added: “It was lovely to be able to bring James once again to Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre to visit the Avro Anson and meet with the BBC and the volunteers who love hearing James’s stories from his work on the aircraft during
World War II.
“James has a remarkable memory for someone of his age so it is wonderful for him to be able to share his knowledge at the museum. He always thoroughly enjoys his visits.”