in Part 1 of this trail, Twinwood was identified as a satellite airfield but gradually, as it grew, it became a station in its own right. However, development was slow, and it remained poorly equipped and overcrowded – it was not a pleasant place to be stationed. As we return in Part 2, things just get worse.

More personnel arrive and conditions worsen.

This use of Twinwood as a temporary airfield continued well into 1942. The first unit to arrive that year, transiting from Doncaster, was 613 Sqn, in early April. The advanced party travelled by road, leaving Doncaster at 09:00 hours on 10 April. The main party followed the next day, also by road, led by F.O. Adcock. They arrived at Twinwood that evening after a long ten-hour journey. A third group, travelling by rail, had arrived two hours earlier. Hot meals were prepared for the arriving personnel, providing a welcoming, if not false start to their new posting. The rear party, which closed up at Doncaster, arrived on the evening of 12 April, marking the beginning of a new episode in the squadron’s history.

On arrival at Twinwood, however, 613 Sqn found that the airfield was still under construction. Personnel from 51 OTU were settled in, whilst other accommodation was being occupied by 2791 Defence Squadron along with two additional Flights. Conditions were far from ideal. Some of the latrines were full, and a contractor had to be brought in to empty them. Worse still, 613 Sqn had no latrines specifically allocated to them and none were readily available elsewhere.

To add to the initial discomfort, an inspection by the Senior Medical Officers from both Cranfield and Group discovered that there was no hot water and no telephone available for 613 Sqn’s Senior Medical Officer. The medical facilities themselves were also totally inadequate for dealing with more serious cases.

It quickly became apparent that Twinwood was not going to be a particularly comfortable place to be, and soon personnel began to  complain about the lack of proper food; tea and biscuits being provided after a hard day’s work rather than anything more substantial. All in all, it was far from the grand start they had been hoping for.

Operating in the Army Co-operation role, the squadron continued to perform daily flights, with the flying personnel and their aircraft mainly located at Western Zoyland. These flights consisted largely of quick-reaction scramble exercises in Tomahawks, known as FXQT, together with cross-country navigation exercises in Lysanders.

FXQTs were the equivalent of today’s QRA (Quick Reaction Alert), requiring aircraft to become airborne very quickly in response to an alert of an imminent threat. There were numerous false alarms, resulting in twenty-four FXQTs on 13 April and a further twenty-seven on 14 April.

It was during this period at Twinwood that 613 Sqn began upgrading its aircraft to the P-51 Mustang Mk.I, with ten being collected by aircrew, from Speke, on 15 April. With a further seventeen FXQT flights being made by the Tomahawks together with four flights ferrying personnel to Speke, it was a busy period at Twinwood, and all whilst training continued.

A spell of poor weather curtailed many exercises over the next few days, although some cross-country flights were made, along with air-to-air firing, photographic runs and supply drops. By 24 April, the skies had cleared and four airmen did manage to get their Mustangs airborne, gaining valuable experience on the new type.

Meanwhile, 51 OTU continued to operate its Blenheims. On 24 April, two of the aircraft suffered mishaps. In the first, a Sergeant Instructor with a Sergeant pupil-pilot and gunner were carrying out sodium flare landing practice when their aircraft landed too far along the runway. To avoid running off the end, the pilot swerved, careered across the flarepath and came to an ungainly rest just beyond it. A fire tender and ambulance were quickly on the scene, but there were no casualties and no fire broke out.

Later that same day, another Blenheim fell victim to a freak incident. After landing normally, its starboard engine suddenly burst into flames without warning. The crew quickly brought the aircraft to a halt and escaped, and once again the fire tender was quickly on the scene. However, while extinguishing the fire, chemical fluid used to douse the flames covered one of the crewmen, A/C Goodwin, who subsequently required treatment for his eyes. The situation was made more serious by the lack of a telephone for the medical officer.

Meanwhile, 613 Sqn’s problems on the airfield continued to develop. In a further attempt to ease the chronic storage problems, attention turned to the nearby Oakley Hunt kennels at Milton Ernest. The medical officer of No. 613 Squadron inspected the site with a view to commandeering it as a storage and motor transport (MT) maintenance facility.

Yet, like so many other efforts to solve the station’s difficulties, this promising solution quickly encountered another obstacle. Before the site could be used, the water supply from its well had to be tested. Sample bottles were obtained from RAF Halton, filled and dispatched for analysis. The results were deeply disappointing: the water was found to be contaminated by sewage and was therefore unfit for use. It was yet another setback in the seemingly endless struggle to turn Twinwood into a fully functioning and operational station.

For a short period in early May 1942, the weather improved and the crews of 613 Sqn made the best use of the opportunity. Aerobatics, formation flying, navigation exercises, combat flights and other training sorties quickly filled the better days.

Over the following weeks, the squadron collected more Mustangs, allowing an increasing number of training flights to be carried out.

It was midway through this period, on 11 June 1942, that Wing Commander Campbell-Voullaire arrived at Twinwood to form and take command of a new squadron, 169 Sqn. In preparation, a number of personnel were posted in to 613 Sqn as supernumeraries, ready to transfer directly to 169 Sqn when it became operational. Five unmodified Mustangs also arrived and awaited their new pilots.

Finally, at 00:01 hours on 15 June 1942, 169 Sqn officially came into being, and the personnel already posted in began to transfer across.

The following day, W. Cmdr. Campbell-Voullaire interviewed and addressed all the squadron personnel, explaining the reason for the squadron’s creation. He explained that, as soon as the Army invaded the continent, they would fly in support of the armoured divisions. Until then, he told them, each and every man should consider himself a member of the “fighting troops”, prepared to undertake whatever job was required. *⁵

Almost as soon as the squadron was formed, however, investigations began into the suitability of Doncaster as an alternative location for the unit. W. Cmdr. Campbell-Voullaire visited the airfield on several occasions over the following weeks to ascertain its suitability.

In the meantime, 169 Sqn continued to expand. The pilots and aircraft of ‘B’ Flight, 613 Sqn, formed the new ‘A’ Flight of 169 Sqn, while those personnel previously posted in formed its new ‘B’ Flight.

Over the next few days, additional vehicles arrived, along with two more unmodified Mustangs and a Tiger Moth. Tools and spares were less readily available however, and the ground crews had to rely on 613 Sqn for supplies. The unmodified Mustangs were essentially without radios, leaving their wireless operators with little to do. They were quickly attached to the squadron’s signals officer for further training.

With accommodation on the airfield now stretched even further, it was decided to billet the new crews of 169 Sqn at nearby Eastfield House. The food and bedding were considered ‘most satisfactory’, although the accommodation itself was somewhat overcrowded.

Living conditions at Twinwood remained an ongoing problem. The latrine arrangements had still not been fully resolved, and it was discovered that the contractor was emptying latrine buckets into the surrounding ground. An order was issued for this practice to cease, which it immediately did. On a more positive note, construction of more permanent accommodation was nearing completion, and some hopes were raised. While this offered hope for those stationed at Twinwood, it did little to relieve the immediate frustrations of crews still waiting for decent beds.

On 22 June, a further accident involving a 51 OTU Blenheim occurred. The aircraft, piloted by P.O. W. Gray, took off at 14:10 hours and crashed almost immediately, approximately two miles from the airfield. By the time the ambulance and crash team had  arrived, P.O. Gray had climbed out of the Blenheim and had been given a lift to Bedford County Hospital, where he was admitted with injuries.

At 22:00 hours the following evening, No. 613 Squadron made history by carrying out its first night flight in the new Mustangs. Three pilots took off and completed the sortie without incident, marking another important milestone in the squadron’s transition to the new aircraft.

The achievement, however, was soon overshadowed by two events that tested the resilience of those at Twinwood. The first was relatively minor but nevertheless disruptive: the cameras being fitted to the Mustangs had been installed in an unsatisfactory position and had to be repositioned.

The second was a far greater tragedy. The body of AC2 R. Douglas was recovered from the River Ouse near Oakley Bridge, after he disappeared while bathing with colleagues. Despite efforts to find him, he had drowned, casting a sombre shadow over an already disappointing start.

At the end of June 1942, the many visits by 169 Sqn’s Wing Commander Campbell-Voullaire to the north, culminated in the movement of the squadron’s headquarters’ section to Doncaster. Fifty personnel went with them, leaving only a small detachment of aircraft and aircrew at Twinwood Farm. The move eased the pressure on accommodation slightly, but the problems faced by the station’s longstanding residents were by no means solved.

Throughout July, 613 Sqn carried out exercises with other squadrons at Sawbridgeworth, Snailwell, Castle Camps and Old Sarum. But the mood at Twinwood continued to deteriorate, with those remaining at the station now complaining on a regular basis.

This all came to a head on 7 July, when it was noted that the new huts intended exclusively for 613 Sqn had been completed. Yet officers, NCOs and junior ranks were still not allowed to use them, even though they stood just ten yards from where the men were currently sleeping. Much to the disapproval of the personnel, they were informed that they would have to wait until the entire site was completed before they could move into the new blocks.

If that wasn’t enough, the situation was then made worse by both the presence of the 169 Sqn detachment and an infestation of black beetles and earwigs in the old huts. Tempers began to fray.

169 Sqn was also experiencing problems of its own. On 4 July 1942, a crack was found in one of the hydraulic cylinders of a Mustang’s undercarriage during a routine inspection. As a result, all aircraft were grounded until remedial work could be carried out. However, the continuing shortage of spares and the tools needed to carry out the repairs did nothing to speed the process. The problem effectively nullified a new order to transfer all remaining aircraft and personnel to Doncaster.

Gradually, the necessary Mustang parts filtered through and repairs could be completed. Flights between Twinwood and the new station at Doncaster soon began and, before long, on 10 July, news arrived that fourteen fully modified Mustangs would soon be delivered to complement the unmodified aircraft already in use. Perhaps, at last, things were looking up for 169 Sqn.

As the situation appears to improve for 169 Sqn and those stationed at Twinwood, the future looks brighter. A new name and a new air force becomes linked to Twinwood and with it come new challenges.

The full story of Twinwood Farm can be found in Trail 67.