CARBY – Carl Collin

Flt. Sgt. Carl Collin Carby, RAF

 

2218587 – Flight Sergeant – Wireless Operator – 50th Squadron

Carl Collin Carby, joined RAF (#2218587) became Flight Sgt./ Wireless Operator Air; date of attestation 22/7/43; date of reporting for duty 9/8/43.  He was recruited by Sir John Hoggins in Jamaica April ‘43 sent to Monckton New Brunswick via New York waiting shipment to UK, in New Brunswick, then to Halifax and then by ship to UK. group of only 12. Arrived in Scotland and sent to Bridgnorth RAF receiving centre then sent to Madeley, Herefordshire for training.

Next went to Dumfriesshire, Scotland operational training unit, then Abingdon Oxfordshire, operational training unit then to Waddington to 50th squadron.

Enlisted 22 Jul 43, temporarily released 5 Sep 47 (for accountancy course special arrangement with the Colonial Office)

Recalled 21 Sept ‘49. Discharged 20 Jan 50.

[Source: Hazel Carby]

Imperial intimacies

Mrs Hazel Carby, his daughter, published Imperial Intimacies, A Tale Of Two Islands, a book about her experiences of growing up as a child of a Jamaican father and a Welsh mother in post-war England. “Imperial Intimacies opens in postwar war Britain but goes back to the 1750s. It gives an account of my father’s life in Jamaica, his recruitment into the RAF, his training and travel with other recruits from the Caribbean to RAF Depot #31 in Moncton, Canada and the story of the Wolfpack attack on the convoy on which he was transported to Britain. I also include stories of his life in the RAF.”

Read more about the book in the Guardian.

Image 8 #31 RAF Map 3

[Image taken from  Imperial Intimacies, A Tale Of Two Islands, courtesy Mrs Hazel Carby]

Leave a Reply