Major George Preddy – 352nd FG – A tragic loss.

September 2, 2018August 23, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 10 Comments

In Trail 8, we heard about a number of heroic tales and tragic losses. One of those, was that of one of the highest scoring P-51 pilots, Major George Preddy of the 487th Fighter Squadron (FS), 352nd Fighter Group (FG), based at RAF Bodney (Station 141)

George E. Preddy Jnr (0-430846), from Greensboro, North Carolina, was born on 5th February 1919, and graduated from Greensboro High School at the age of sixteen. Preddy became interested in flying whilst in college and made his first solo flight in 1938 at 19 years of age.

Major George E “Rasty” Preddy Jr in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang (HO-P), #44-13321 nicknamed “Cripes A’ Mighty 3rd.” (IWM FRE 6368)

His road to war would take time and effort. His introduction to flying was as a barnstormer which led him to attempting entry into the US Navy no less than three times, each time being rejected on account of his small stature and curved spine. With each rejection came more determination, his love of flying taking him back to Barnstorming, whilst he undertook bodybuilding and stretching exercises to straighten his back. Eventually, in the summer of 1940, he applied to the USAAF and to his delight he passed all the relevant examinations. However, as the US was not yet at war, Preddy’s entrance would take yet more time and so to gain experience and better prepare himself, he joined the Army National Guard, being posted to the 252nd Coast Artillery, which went on to protect the important oil refineries on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean Sea.

The following year in In April 1941, Preddy received his orders to report for flying training, from which he graduated on December 12th that same year. December 1941 saw the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, an attack that led to the US joining the Second World War, and an attack that led to Preddy, commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, being posted to Australia to the 9th Pursuit Squadron (PS), 49th Pursuit Group (PG) in the defence of northern Australia.

Whilst here, Preddy would fly Curtiss P-40s, he named his first plane, ‘Tarheel‘,
as a tribute to his home state. During his time here, he damaged both a Japanese fighter and a bomber in combat operations. Sadly though, in the summer of 1942, he was involved with a collision with another P-40, an accident that would kill Preddy’s friend and colleague, and leave Preddy seriously ill in hospital for another six months or so.

In the October of 1942, Preddy returned to the US, it was here that he would cross paths once again with Lt. Jack Donalson, a pilot who was also a veteran of the early Pacific theatre, and who was with him on that tragic day in July 1942. The two met at Trumbull Field, Connecticut, on January 15th 1943, where the newly formed 352nd FG were training and forming up. The 352nd would be made up of three squadrons (328th, 486th and 487th), Preddy would initially be assigned to the 487th FS.

The 352nd would continue training, their new P-47 Thunderbolts arriving three days later. With the P-47 being new, there were many accidents and losses, primarily due to a carburetor hose clamp becoming loose. Luckily Preddy avoided all such incidents and by May 1943, he and the 352nd were ready for action.

On the 7th July the 352nd arrived at RAF Bodney (newly named Station 141) a small grassed airfield not far from RAF Watton in Norfolk. With small incursions into enemy territory the first few months were generally event free. Preddy would get his first kill later that year on December 1st 1943, while flying P-47D-5-RE Thunderbolt (HO-P) #42-8500 “Cripes A’Mighty“, a name he gave to all his aircraft, so-called because it was his favourite expression. Whilst escorting bombers back from a mission over occupied Europe, Preddy noticed a formation of German fighters who were focusing their attention on stragglers, easy pickings for the experienced and deadly Bf-109s. Preddy and his squadron dived down, bouncing the Germans, causing his first victim to explode in a flurry of cannon fire.

Preddy’s first year would end with two confirmed kills, a tally that would only grow as time went on. In his second kill, he would sadly lose his wing man, Lt. Richard Grow, but for his action he would receive the Silver Star, one of many achievements Preddy would gain.

On January 29th 1944, Preddy would come close to death for a second time, when after dispatching an FW-190, he was hit by Flak and had to ditch in the sea. After spending a short time in the water he was picked up by an RAF Air Sea Rescue Walrus and returned to Bodney.

Over March and April, the new P-51 Mustangs began to arrive at Bodney, an aircraft that would lead to Preddy achieving ‘Ace’ status. On May 13th, the 487th dived down on around thirty Bf-109s, Preddy accounted for two taking his tally over the magical ‘Five’ Kills and ‘Ace’ status.

During the summer of 1944 Preddy would achieve many more ‘kills’, by now he was well on his way to becoming the leading ace in the European skies. In March he was made Operations Manager of the 487th, and promoted to Captain.

By mid July Preddy has reached 14.5 kills, all a mix of single and twin-engined aircraft, and by the end of the month, this has risen to 21.83 kills, taking him to the top spot and leading ‘Ace’ of the 352nd.

Following an escort mission on the 5th, a further mission, in which Preddy was ordered to lead on the 6th, was scrubbed due to bad weather. With the day free to themselves, the officers mess became the focus of attention and the drinks ran freely

By the time Preddy had got to bed, he was well and truly drunk, and as with many operations of the war, the weather cleared and the operation was on once more, Preddy was woken after only an hours sleep and struggled to get to the briefing. Still reeling under the influence, he took off and lead the group into battle. Worse for wear, he emptied his stomach in the cockpit and headed toward the enemy.

As the bomber and their escorts approached Hamburg, Preddy led the attack on the Luftwaffe fighters. In the airspace between 30,000 ft and 5,000 ft, Preddy managed to shoot down six Bf-109s, with numerous hits around canopies, wing roots and fuselages. On return he was greeted like a hero, the ground crews and squadron pilots crowding his aircraft. Preddy gave a simple reply to the eager crowd, vowing “Never again” would he fly with a hangover. Following this mission Preddy was awarded the DSC and sent home to the US for a well-earned rest on a 30 day leave.

Major George Preddy, during his return to the United States between August & October 1944. Taken at a Press Conference in the Pentagon Building.’ (IWM FRE 346)

On his return in October, Preddy was again promoted, this time to Major, whereupon he commenced his second operational tour. His involvement with the 487th would not last long though, as with his promotion came new responsibilities and the command of the 328th FS, taking over from Lt. Col. John Edwards.

The hard winter of 1944-45 tore into the souls of the ground and air forces across Europe. Severe frosts, snow and cold made Bodney a difficult place to be. But the war continued and in the forests of the Ardennes, German forces were gathering. With few flights being carried out due to thick fog and freezing conditions, the German armoured brigades under the control of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, made a daring breakthrough (Operation Bodenplatte) in what became know as the ‘Battle of the Bulge’. Ground forces made continued calls for air support, but with increasingly bad weather, few flights were able to make it.

The order then came through and on the 22nd December 1944, the 352nd were to move to Belgium and Asch (Y-29) a small grassed airfield near to Genk in the province of Limburg. The 352nd crammed all the cold weather clothing they could into their aircraft and set off. By the end of the day the Group had settled in the cold of Belgium, it was a far cry from the relative warmth of Bodney.

Preddy’s time in Belgium would be short-lived however. As the weather cleared more missions were undertaken. On Christmas Day, the 328th would have one of its finest battles, shooting down eleven enemy aircraft, but it was a victory that would be eclipsed by the loss of perhaps its greatest leader and airman.

On that day there were two missions ordered, Preddy would lead the second of the two, an escort mission into Germany and Koblenz. On the return trip, Preddy was vectored to Liege, and warned of ‘heavy flak’. Arriving south of the city, Preddy, along with his wingman Lt. Gordon Cartee, and another pilot Lt. James Bouchier of the 479 th FG, spotted an FW-190 and gave chase at tree-top level.

On entering the area, ground forces opened fire, the Anti-Aircraft battery were American, and all three allied aircraft were hit. Lt. Bouchier managed to climb high enough to bail out, landing safely in the British sector, Lt. Cartee, also having been hit, also managed to escape and get home, but not until after he saw Preddy’s P-51, turn and dive into the ground. Major George Preddy died in the crash.

Preddy’s death was devastating for both the group at both Asch and those back home at Bodney. Festivities were subdued to say the least. Preddy’s dashing good looks and character were well-known, his relationship with his own ground crews were one of the best, he always took time out for them and praised their efforts in keeping him flying. At 25 years of age, Major George Preddy was not a born killer, just a young man who loved to fly, and to fly well.

George Preddy had flown 143 combat missions, he had has been credited with shooting down 26.83 enemy aircraft, the highest in the 352nd FG, and destroying 5 enemy aircraft on the ground. His combined total of 31.83 aircraft was just 6 short of the Group’s highest, a total that most certainly isn’t conclusive.

His commanding officer Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, who held the Group’s record and was the fourth ranking American Air Ace, described Preddy as “the complete fighter pilot”. A man so brave and dedicated that he would be awarded, amongst others: the Distinguished Service Cross; Silver Star (1 Oak Leaf Cluster); Distinguished Flying Cross (6 Oak Leaf Clusters); Air Medal (6 Oak Leaf Clusters); Croix de Guerre, and the Purple Heart.

In 1968 the city of Greensboro dedicated Preddy Boulevard in honour for both George and his brother. The Preddy Memorial Foundation also created a petition to have Fayetteville’s Pope Air Force Base renamed Pope-Preddy Air Force Base.
George Preddy’s career may have been short, but his influence went far and wide especially amongst those who knew of him.

Major George Preddy is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, just outside Saint-Avold, Moselle, France, alongside his brother, another fighter pilot, in Plot A, Row 21, Grave 43.

Sources and further reading.

RAF Bodney appears in Trail 8.

North Carolina Museum of History website Accessed 23/8/18

Freeman, R.A., “The Mighty Eighth“, Arms and Armour, 1986

The Preddy Memorial Foundation website Accesses 20/8/18

RAF Bodney – High casualties and Heroic acts (Part 2).

August 26, 2018August 23, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 8 Comments

After Part 1, we return to RAF Bodney to the point where the RAF had pulled out handing Bodney over to the US forces. From now on, it would be the home of the USAAF 352nd FG, its P-47s and P-51s.

Famed for the blue-noses on their P-51s, there would be high successes but there would also be many tragedies along the way.

Formed previously in September 1942, the 352nd Fighter Group (FG) composed of three Fighter Squadrons (FS): 328th FS, 486th FS (previously the 21st PS) and 487th FS (formally the 34th PS). Their journey had been both long and difficult, using elements of two squadrons who had previous battle experience in the Pacific theatre. The new 352nd would move through a series of training camps and bases across America, serving as part of the US Air Defence force before deploying overseas. From Mitchel Field, they transferred to Bradley Field (Connecticut), Westover Field (Massachusetts), Trumbull Field (Connecticut) and onto Republic Field, New York before eventually leaving on the Queen Elizabeth arriving a week later at Bodney on July 7th 1943.

Arriving via Greenock and the Queen Elizabeth, the ground echelons of the 352nd were deposited at Watton station where they were taken by truck to RAF Watton. Pleasantly surprised by the far nicer accommodation blocks they had been used to, their joy was to be short-lived as Bodney was perhaps even worse than the original training camps they had endured back home.

Whilst the surrounding woods had been utilised for aircraft dispersal, the base was in need of an upgrade if it was to be used successfully. These improvements included the addition of steel mat and pierced-steel planking hardstands, additional taxiways and more roads constructed of both macadam and concrete. The men of the 352nd commuted daily from Watton carrying out repairs and improvements until such time as the airfield was more or less ready for occupation and they moved in.

During its time, Bodney would have two T2 hangars and five Blister hangars, accommodation would continue to be limited, allowing for around 1,700 men of mixed rank. Eleven accommodation sites were spread round the north and east of the main airfield, which included two communal sites (site 2 and 3) and two sewage works (sites 12 and 13). There were no WAAF accommodation blocks and due to initial shortages of Nissen huts, nearby Clermont Hall (originally a grand plastered brick Italian style building built by William Pilkington in 1812 as Lord Clermont’s hunting lodge*¹) was ‘requisitioned’ and flying crews moved in, it was a complete change and total luxury compared to other bases and camps used by either the RAF or USAAF. However, following a visit from an Air Inspector, the stay was short-lived and the airmen moved back to the basic hutting of Bodney, even after strong protests from Group Commander, Lt. Col. Joe Mason.

Master Mark II glider tug at Bodney, during airborne forces Exercise ‘SNAFFLE‘ © IWM (H 31737)

During this time manoeuvres regularly took place in the local area, and between August 9th and 11th 1943, one such exercise was conducted near to Newmarket, an exercise that involved both Polish and Canadian divisions opposing each other in mock attacks. During exercise ‘SNAFFLE‘, Master Mark II glider tugs used Bodney airfield whilst dropping a range of supplies such as petrol, ammunition and ordnance to illustrate both the usefulness, and importance of such activities. This made an interesting change to Bodney and something else for the crews to focus on.

It wasn’t long however, before the first P-47s were to arrive at Bodney, and at last flying could begin again with training flights started very soon afterwards. However, maintenance and flying operations were arrested by the lack of equipment, spares and aircraft – all very typical of the build up of US squadrons across the UK. As morale sunk, a special visitor arrived at Bodney, that of Capt. Clark Gable along with a film crew who were documenting the lives of American Fighter Squadrons involved in the European war.

A line up of P-47 Thunderbolts including (PZ-T,) “Little Evey” and (PZ-Z) “Pistol Packin’ Mama” at Bodney. (IWM FRE 2795)

On September 9th 1943, some two months after their arrival, the 352nd flew their first mission. An uneventful patrol over England’s eastern coast between Southwold and Felixstowe. For the next few mission, even those into enemy territory, similar conditions were found, the enemy were not seen and flak remained low. However, this did not mean the 352nd were casualty free.

On 13th September 1943, Lt. Arthur Eaker was killed in a local flying accident, the groups first, then on the 14th, Lt. William Alm disappeared whilst in flight over the North Sea. His aircraft P-47D (#42-22531) was thought to have been lost due to mechanical failure, he was never found.

It wasn’t until the 10th October that the pilots of the 352nd got to fire their guns in anger, when they encountered a flight of Bf-109s near to Hertogenbosch, Holland. The first kills were recorded, but it was not to be all plain sailing. Four days later on the 14th (‘Black Thursday‘), the Luftwaffe changed tactics and hit the escorts as they crossed the coastline. Leaving the bombers unescorted to their targets in Germany. Once away from their ‘Little Friends’ the bomber formations were decimated by Me-110s – something need to be done.

With more mission to Germany and escort duties, the 352nd began to cut their teeth and become battle hardened. By the turn of the year they had completed 38 missions with the loss of ten aircraft. The pilots of the 352nd had now twenty-two enemy aircraft as confirmed ‘kills’, but five of their own were killed and two others had been made prisoners of war.

A new year and new directives for fighter squadrons. in order to achieve total air superiority pilots were instructed to hunt for the Luftwaffe and destroy them whenever the opportunity arose. Every aircraft destroyed on the ground now counting as a battle credit, the same as an aerial kill. In addition, fighter squadrons were now given designated ‘zones’ to protect, and once the bomber stream had passed through their zone, the fighters were free to roam at will. The gauntlet had been thrown and the US pilots were hungry for rewards.

Early 1944 saw these directives put into action. ‘kill’ rates began to rise, but along with it casualties also mounted. By February the war-weary P-47s were looking tired and the new P-51 began to appear. The Ninth Air Force taking first pickings with Don Blakeslee, (Trail 46 and Trail 50) formerly of the ‘Eagle Squadrons’ becoming the first US squadron to have the mighty Mustangs. It wasn’t until March 1st, 1944 that the 352nd would receive their first P-51s, with seven being delivered and duly handed over to the pilots of the 486th FS at Bodney.

A battled damaged P-51 Mustang (PZ-S) of the 486th FS, in a Blister hangar at Bodney. (IWM- FRE 2803)

It would take just eight days for the Bodney crews to mark their first Mustang ‘Kill’. Capt. Ed Gignac, in P-51B ‘PZ-W’ (#43-7022), shooting down a Bf-109 in battle that saw both P-51s and P-47s of the 352nd participate.

April saw more changes and new arrivals, by now there were two squadrons of P-51s at Bodney, a new sound reverberated around the grassed airfield and with it came more new directives, As many squadrons were equipped with a mix of aircraft, it was beginning difficult to tell them apart in the hectic skies. Coloured noses, wing tips and fins were rapidly becoming markings of individual squadrons and those in charge realised that a standard form of scheming was now necessary for this new and innovative way of distinguishing squadrons.

The blue nose was born, and Bodney’s Blue-nosed Mustangs were soon to be seen at low-level attacking airfields, locomotives, vehicles, troop columns and other similar ground targets.

In May, whilst acting on escort duties for a raid over Brunswick, the group shot down 27 enemy Bf-109s and FW-190s with the loss of only one aircraft. This action earned them a Distinguished Unit Citation, for taking on a “numerically superior force of German interceptors” continuing on until lack of ammunition and fuel forced their withdrawal.

The 352nd went on to support the Normandy invasion, an operation that proved to be a fatal tragedy for one pilot in particular, Lieutenant Bob Frascotti.

Robert Frascotti next to his P-51B, 43-6685, named ‘Umbriago’ . At 21 years of age he was killed on his final mission before returning home. (Photo – Marc Hamel)

D-Day began early for the 352nd, the night sky was dark and to assist the take off temporary runway lights had been lit. Preceding Frascotti were his compatriots of the 486th FS. During the take off, one of the preceding aircraft struck a light causing the entire collection to extinguish. In the moments that followed, Frascotti and his wing-man, Lt. Carlton Fuhrman, were plunged into total darkness. Unable to see, the two were now committed and carried on, Fuhrman slightly behind Frascotti. Within seconds of them leaving the ground, there was a sudden and massive fireball in front of Fuhrman, a fireball that was the result of Frascotti striking the new, and as yet unfinished, watch office. His aircraft, fully armed and fully fuelled, became a fireball that lit-up the night sky, and one from which Frascotti would not survive.

Blinded temporarily by the flash, Fuhrman fought to prevent his aircraft stalling as he flew through the flames and on out into the night sky, struggling to orientate himself and unable to register his instruments due to the blinding flash. Behind him, Frascotti’s burning wreck lit up the field, one of the 352nd’s finest had been killed in a total and needless tragedy. The only saving grace from this was that every other aircraft taking off after Frascotti was able to see, a guiding light some say, and so prevented other tragic accidents from happening that night. This was the young 21 year old’s final mission, his 89th, and on completion he would have been returning home.

During D-Day the 352nd flew 116 sorties, reigning death and destruction down on the German forces below, other casualties were to follow, but none until now, as destructive and heart rendering as that of Frascotti.

The Watch Office after being hit by Frascotti’s P-51 on the morning of D-Day. (© 352nd FG, USAAF)*²

After Normandy, the 352nd went on to support the breakout at St.Lo and the airborne assault in Holland. As autumn led into winter, the temperature dropped and the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse; with heavy snow and cold winds across the continent, as the ground forces held out on the Ardennes forest knew only too well. The 352nd, like many other squadrons, were to help support the paratroops, being moved on a short-term basis to Belgium (Asch (Y-29) and Chievres (Y-84)) to join the Ninth Air Force earning themselves the French Croix de Guerre on New Year’s Day 1945.

A week earlier, on Christmas Day 1944 a second tragedy was to befall the 352nd, one that would take the life of another one of the 352nd’s finest. The squadrons highest scoring pilot at that time, Major George Preddy, a hero to many of the airmen and ground crews at Bodney, flew into an American Flak barrage put up by the US Army’s 12th Anti-Aircraft Group. His plane was hit and whilst his canopy was seen to be ejected, no chute appeared, and his body was found still in the wreckage of his beloved P-51. The news of Preddy’s death stunned the celebrations at both Asch and Bodney, no-one could believe that such a daring and brave pilot could have been lost, let alone lost to friendly fire.

April would see the 352nd return to Bodney, where they continued operations until May 3rd 1945. Their final move on November 4th would take them home to the United States, a move that left Bodney empty and a legacy that would be hard to follow. The 352nd had flown 420 missions, losing 118 aircraft with 70 pilots killed. They had been awarded 13 DSC’s, 31 Silver Stars, 336 DFCs, 1304 Air Medals and 42 Bronze Star Medals. The Group had created 52 ‘Aces’, 28 of which had achieved the status in air-to-air combat, accounting for 505 aircraft in the air with Major George Preddy achieving 27 of these himself.

With that departure Bodney fell silent, it closed very soon after the war in Europe ended on November 26th 1945, reverting back to farmland soon after.

Today Bodney falls next to the British Army’s STANTA training ground and as such parts are a military site. Some structures can easily be seen from the main road, B1108, with signs warning of MOD activity are everywhere. The original water tower and pump still serve the camp, a few air raid shelters exist and some buildings on the camp. Hardstands can be seen in the woods but little from the road itself.

The watch office is accessible (on farmland) where there are also a few other buildings to be found, including number of Type 22 pillboxes, many are derelict. The main army base is on part of the former accommodation site, with a memorial outside the gate dedicated to 352nd FG and associated units.

Bodney’s memorial to the 352nd FG.

Many of the buildings that were in existence were pulled down in 2012/13 due to increased vandalism and their heavy use for Rave parties. As a result even less now stands visible telling the incredible stories of this forgotten airfield.

Sources and further reading.

*¹ Norfolk Heritage Explorer website, accessed 15/8/18

*² Photo via www.controltowers.co.uk

Frascotti’s story is told in more detail in Heroic tales.

Preddy’s story is told in more detail in Heroic Tales.

Walton, D. “Northumberland Aviation Diary” (1999), Norav Publications

Freeman, R. “The Mighty Eighth“, (1986), Arms and Armour.

There is a website dedicated to the 352nd with a link to the superb ‘Bluenoser’ magazine.

RAF Bodney – High casualties and Heroic acts (Part 1).

August 19, 2018August 15, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 6 Comments

Much has been written about the Famous ‘Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney‘, the 352nd Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force. Famed for their determination and ferocious attacks on Luftwaffe aircraft, they produced some remarkable results – but they also suffered some terrible losses. Nicknamed the ‘Blue Nosers‘, because of their blue nosed P-51 Mustangs, they became one of the most successful fighter groups of the Eighth Air Force. In just a two-year period (September 1943 to May 1945), they were credited with 800 enemy aircraft destroyed, either on the ground or in the air, flying a total of 420 missions. Today the airfield they served from, RAF Bodney, is a small part of the STANTA training ground used by the Army for military exercises, and whilst the airfield has all but gone, the stories and tales of the 352nd continue to live on.

In this Trail, we look again at RAF Bodney, the units and the men who served, the heroic acts and the cost paid at this small grass airfield.

RAF Bodney (Station 141)

Bodney was initially an RAF airfield, opened in 1940 as a grassed site with a hardened perimeter track. During its construction, it had 27 asphalt hard stand of mixed sizes, fifteen large and twelve small, and was designed as a satellite for nearby RAF Watton (Trail 9). Whilst primarily associated with the USAAF, it was in fact an RAF Airfield for several years, housing detachments of aircraft from its parent station.

On 2nd March 1939, 21 (Norwich) Squadron (RAF), now part of 2 Group, moved into Watton from Eastchurch bringing with them Blenheim MK.Is which they retained until the September when they changed them for the MK.IV. Being early on in the war, they were not yet fully operational, and so were limited to reconnaissance flights over northern France. They were also joined in the August by 82 Sqn, another Blenheim squadron, and it was at this time that they began to utilise Bodney as a satellite, dispersing aircraft here away from the parent airfield.

One of the earliest casualties to occur at Bodney was that of 82 Squadron, on the 22nd anniversary of the forming of the Royal Air Force – 1st April 1940. Take off occurred at 11:00 hrs when Blenheim MK.IV #L8867, piloted by F/O. Glyn Harries (s/n 39520), along with Sgt, Herbert Kelleway (s/n 561573) and LAC. Eric Wolverson (s/n 544700), was sent to attack enemy shipping off the Danish coast. During an attack, the aircraft was hit by Flak from enemy shipping and brought down with the loss of all three crewmen on board. Their bodies were never recovered and they are commemorated at Runnymede.

Bodney today.

By the summer of 1940, Western Air Plan W.A.4(b) was put into operation, a plan that formed part of a 16 part operations plan in the event of a German attack, and one that would focus British Air power in the destruction of German power sources. Part 4(b) focused on the advancing troop and armour columns when they crossed into Southern Holland, Belgium and France. This required aerial attacks primarily from Blenheim and Fairy Battle Squadrons, and was intended to slow or even stop the advancement.

Blenheims of 21 Squadron were assigned to this plan focusing on troop columns and bridges, but being under-powered and weaker than their adversaries, Blenheim casualties were very high and operations over enemy territory were soon curtailed.

Western Air Plan W.A.4(b) was a plan that sent many pilots to their ultimate death or capture, as the aircraft they were flying were woefully inadequate for the job in hand. A fact borne out by the brave attempts of three crewmen on June 14th. On this day, Blenheim #R3742, of 21 Squadron at Bodney, was shot down over France, the three crewmen: P/O. W. Saunders, Sgt. H. Eden and Sgt. C. Webb, fortunately surviving the resultant crash. After making their way to the coast, finding a boat and attempting to row to England, the three men began to hallucinate through exhaustion. After the second night, P/O. Saunders ‘disappeared’, leaving only his tunic behind in the boat. After being what they thought was only 10 miles from the English coast, they were eventually picked up in France and taken to a new POW camp on the Baltic coast.

On June 24th, 21 Sqn left Bodney moving north to RAF Lossiemouth where they performed anti-shipping operations off the Norwegian coast, before returning once more to Watton (and Bodney) where they continued these low-level operations. It was whilst back here at Bodney that another of 21 Sqn’s pilots, Sqn. Ldr. Malcolm McColm, flying in Blenheim MK.IV #T2223 ‘YH-T’ would also be shot down also ending his war as a POW.

On the night of 27th/28th December 1940, he took off with his crew, Sgt. Cecil Hann (s/n 580541) and Sgt David Shepherd (s/n 625253), to attack coastal targets. After being shot down, both Sgts. Hann and Shepherd were killed but Sqn. Ldr. McColm survived and would go on to be one of the RAF’s greatest evaders, escaping no less than seven times from German incarceration. Eventually he was sent to Colditz where he shared a room with Douglas Bader and was an active member of the Colditz Escape Committee along with Airey Neave. These would prove to be residencies that would befall many Blenheim pilots at this point in the War.

Eventually in 1941, 21 Sqn moved away to the Middle East, only to be disbanded and reformed later on, all on the same day.

Being a satellite, the facilities at Bodney were rudimentary, and remained so even when 90 Squadron (RAF) began using it during testing of the mighty B-17 (Fortress MK.I). Initially reformed at Watton on May 3rd 1941, they quickly moved to larger bases at West Raynham and then Polebrook, where the Fortresses were tested for RAF bombing missions. Unfortunately operations proved too costly with too little success for them to continue, and the B-17s were gradually phased out of RAF operations.

The water tower and pump house at Bodney are some of the structures remaining.

These coming and goings at Bodney had left 82 Sqn one of the few squadrons still in situ. Performing anti-shipping activities off the coast of the Friesian Islands, they would regularly fly over the sea at very low levels, attacking whatever ships they could find. On August 20th 1941, Blenheim MK.IV #V6445 ‘UX-E’ took off from Bodney on what was supposed to be a routine operation; at the controls was 20-year-old F/Lt. Dennis R. Gibbs (s/n 63471), with Sgt. Stanley V. Pascoe (s/n 548419) as wireless operator / gunner, and Sgt. Eric L. Cash (s/n 916895) as Observer / bomb aimer.

As the aircraft flew in low toward its target, Sgt. Cash (referred to as ‘Laurie’) released the bombs, at which point the pilot, realising how low he was, pulled up only to strike the mast of the ship they were attacking. The mast smashed the Blenheim’s perspex front severely wounding Sgt. Cash, and damaging numerous instruments, including the radio, in the process.

Unable to navigate properly, the pilot turned west and headed for what he hoped would be land. After some 6 ¹/₄ hours flying time, a point very close to the flying limit of the Blenheim, F/Lt. Gibbs, not knowing where he was, decided to put the aircraft down in a suitable field. The nose of the aircraft still had part of the mast embedded in it, which made handling and landing the aircraft even more difficult than it would have been normally.

Luckily a passing Home Guard platoon were near by, and once the aircraft had come to a stand still, they helped pull the crew out of the wreckage; Sgt. Cash was taken to Acklington Hospital whilst F/Lt. Gibbs and Sgt. Pascoe were treated for minor injuries.

Later that night Sgt. Cash died from wounds he sustained in the collision, and was buried in Chevington Cemetery. F/Lt. Gibbs and Sgt. Pascoe returned to Bodney and after a short period of leave, returned to flying duties; F/Lt. Gibbs later receiving the DSO.

Until now Bodney had not had its own squadron, but on March 14th, 1942, a unique day in 21 Sqn’s history, the unit was disbanded in Malta only to be reformed the same day at Bodney. They continued to use the Blenheim MK.IVs, placing a small detachment at Abbotsinch (now Glasgow Airport) whilst the main part of the squadron stayed at Bodney. It was also during this month that 82 Sqn departed for the far east leaving Bodney to the new 21 Sqn.

During May 1942, 21 Sqn began to change their Blenheims, replacing them with the American built Lockheed Ventura (MK.I and MK. II), the first RAF squadron to do so. Throughout the summer months 21 Sqn carried out training flights converting crews from the Blenheim onto the Ventura, a slow process as new aircraft were only being sent as few as one or two at a time. The Ventura, a former passenger aircraft, could carry a 2,500lb bomb load with a larger crew of 4 or 5 including a top turret gunner. Take offs, landings and formation flying were the order of the day until in the October 1942, when 21 Sqn finally departed Bodney for RAF Methwold (Trail 8). This move signalled the permanent break that would mean 21 Sqn would now leave Bodney behind for good.

The winter months of 1942-43 were quiet at Bodney. The gradual build up of American forces in the UK meant that more and more airfields were needed to house fighters and bombers of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Through both a renewed building programme and the taking over of older RAF sites, this heavy demand would soon be met. As part of this buildup, Bodney was identified as suitable site for a bomber station, but upgrading to Class A standard never happened, and instead it was allocated to a fighter group. After being designated Station 141, it was handed over to the US forces, who quickly began to make improvements to its design.

In part 2 of this RAF Bodney – High casualties and heroic acts, we shall see how Bodney became home to the three squadrons of the 352nd FG, The tragedies that occurred at this small grassed airfield, and how the 352nd became one of the top scoring Fighter Groups of the US Air Force.

(See part two for references).

RAF Scampton – What does the future hold?

August 4, 2018August 3, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 16 Comments

Many in the aviation world were saddened and even shocked recently (24th July 2018) with the MOD’s announcement that RAF Scampton and RAF Linton-on-Ouse were to close, and the two sites sold off.

Whilst there seems to be little general objection to Linton-on-Ouse, there has been quite a backlash regarding the closure of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. Scampton is of course home to the RAF’s Red Arrows display team who moved in there around twenty years ago, but more famously, it was the home of 617 Squadron RAF otherwise known as ‘The Dambusters’ during the Second World War.

It is this that has primarily caused the huge backlash resulting in a petition and some quite heated social media ‘discussions’ over the closure. So what are the reasons behind such a move and what could the future hold for RAF Scampton?

Scampton has been under RAF ownership since the First World War, it is one of their oldest stations and has housed some 19 operational flying squadrons as well as a number of non-flying units during this time. The base was closed in 1996 and then again partially reopened for the storage and maintenance of aircraft, it was also at this point that it became home to the RAF’s Red Arrows. Currently the only other units stationed here are No.1 Air Control Centre and the Mobile Meteorological Unit.

No. 1 Air Control Centre was moved here from RAF Lossiemouth whilst upgrading work was undertaken on its site. They work in conjunction with, amongst others, RAF Boulmer to provide National and International air surveillance operations ready to deploy QRA Typhoons from either Lossiemouth or nearby Coningsby at a moments notice. They also provide support to international operations including those with the British Army and the Royal Navy.

The Mobile Meteorological Unit uses civilian operators (Reserves) to monitor weather conditions primarily for aviation related operations, but they can also assist in any operation where the weather may impact on the overall objective.

The Red Arrows (RAFAT) are perhaps the most famous of the world’s aircraft display teams, currently flying the BAE Hawk, in close formation flying displays that have spanned fifty-four years. The Red Arrows are famous the world over, with pilots undertaking a rigorous selection process and subsequent training programme, that sets them amongst the most elite pilots in the world.

These three units mean that there are around 600 people employed on the Scampton site, mainly armed forces personnel who will be moved with their various units to new postings when the move finally takes place. Some of these employees are civilian and live locally to the airfield.

The argument for closure.

The RAF has been under considerable pressure to reduce its costs whilst keeping a viable and effective force. The recent purchase of the F-35 Lightning to replace the now ageing Tornado, had a significant impact in the RAF’s overall budget. However, this was taken into consideration within the MOD’s strategy which aimed to reduce costs, streamline operations and reshape the RAF for the modern world. Notifications of these cuts were aired in the 2010 Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) in which it was announced that the RAF would*¹:

Reduce its manpower force by around 5,000 personnel to 33,000 by 2015;
Retain Tornado but remove Harrier from service in the
transition to a future fast jet force of Typhoon and JSF;
Not bring into service the Nimrod MRA4;
Withdraw VC10 and the three variants of Tristar aircraft
from 2013 as part of the transition towards the more capable
A330 future strategic transport and tanker aircraft;
Withdraw the C-130 Hercules transport fleet 10 years earlier than planned to transition to the more capable and larger A400M;
Withdraw the Sentinel surveillance aircraft once it is no longer required to support operations in Afghanistan;
Rationalise the RAF estate (40% of which is over 50 years old)

The VC-10 fly past over RAF Coningsby on August 29th 2012, prior to their withdrawal from service.

Whilst much of this criteria has already been met, the estates management review has yet to take full effect. A series of reviews and assessments have been carried out by relevant Government bodies in conjunction with personnel from the MOD. The Better Defence Estates strategy 2016 (which is part of the Defence Estate Optimisation Programme) focuses on streamlining the MOD’s estates: land, bases and housing by 30% by 2040. Only by doing this, will the MOD meet its SDSR commitment, saving £3bn by 2040, allowing £4bn to be invested over the next 10 years on over 40 separate sites.

A further Government commitment is to generate 55,000 new private homes, some of which will be for armed forces personnel (Service Families Accommodation, SFA), but most will be released to private housing ventures. Much of the land owned by the MOD (which covers 1.8% of the UK land mass), and in particular the RAF, has huge building potential and is therefore prime building land.

So far, the MOD has disposed of nine military sites, with a further ninety-one earmarked for closure. This doesn’t include Scampton or Linton-on-Ouse, but does include: Swansea Airport, Newtownards Airfield, RAF Colerne, RAF Henlow, RAF Halton and the three American bases at Molesworth, Mildenhall and Alconbury (currently occupied by USAF personnel).

The cost of maintaining one of these sites, is not cheap, and a considerable amount of money was spent on Scampton following the 2010 review, to resurface the runway to allow both the Red Arrows to operate from here and to keep the base in operational status should other units be posted here later on. However, the infrastructure remains a pre World War II design, the buildings and hangars dating back to the expansion period of the 1930s (as do Linton-on-Ouse’s) and therefore completely inadequate for today’s modern Air Force. In his deliverance of the ‘Better Defence Estate’ statement, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Tobias Ellwood, said “The disposal of the site would offer better value for money and, crucially, better military capability by relocating the units based there“.

Considering other aspects of Scampton, the Museum of RAF Fire Fighting*² was told to vacate their premises in 2017, they have since found alternative accommodation in Gainsborough and aim to be up and running very soon. There was also a renewed effort to bring airshows back to Lincolnshire after the Waddington shows were stopped following upgrade at RAF Waddington. The first, and so far only attempt, at Scampton in September 2017, made a loss even though 50,000 visitors passed through the gates over the two-day period. This was a huge drop in figures however, compared to the 170,000 previously attained at Waddington. A planned event for 2018 was postponed until 2019, but no firm decision has been made about the future viability of this event.

Under restoration, two Lancaster front sections housed in the Grade II listed building. They may have to find new homes.

A further point to be considered is that of the local economy. Many argue that the base provides economic benefits to the local economy. Being only 600 personnel, this is quite a weak argument, unlike say Mildenhall that has 4,000 personnel contributing £219m (2013-14 figures) to its local economy.*³

So on the face of it, Scampton is ‘ideal’ for disposal, it is underused, located in an area already busy with aircraft activity (RAF Cranwell, RAF Waddington and RAF Coningsby are all nearby) and has an infrastructure suited for a private venture. The accommodation areas are mostly empty and those units based there are easily moved elsewhere, only the Red Arrows could prove a problem due to interference with other operational flying units.

The argument against closure.

However, that said, Scampton (more so than Linton-on-Ouse) has a huge historic value. Being a pre-war airfield it was vital for Bomber Command in the fight against Nazi Germany. Initially built with grass runways, these were improved upon with hard runways in the early war years, being extended to 10,000 feet later on in 1956, to be able to take the mighty Vulcan. This expansion led to extensive renovations including the re-sighting of the main Roman road (Ermine Street) that passes alongside the airfield. It is this extension that led to Scampton’s famous station badge of the bow and arrow. In 2016 Scampton celebrated its centenary and this year (2018) marks the 100th anniversary of the RAF.

The biggest factor in favour of keeping Scampton open are its historical, political and architectural aspects, the most famous being the presence of 617 (Dambusters) Sqn during the 1940s. A specialist squadron, formed under the leadership of Guy Gibson VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, who led the 133 airmen in nineteen Lancasters in the famous attack against the dams of the Rhur valley on May 16th, 1943. In memory of this historic event, a museum was opened up showcasing a number of artefacts from the Dambusters including Guy Gibson’s office. Gibson’s dog ‘Nigger‘ is also buried in the grounds of Scampton, outside of what was Gibson’s office and many of the offices used by the squadron are also open for pre-arranged visits.

The names of those who took part in Operation ‘Chastise’

There are of course a number of other historical aspects to this site. Airmen from Scampton were awarded a greater number of honours that any other bomber airfield, including two Victoria Crosses and a George Cross in 1940 alone. The first 2,000 lb bomb was delivered by aircraft based at Scampton, and numerous raids were undertaken from here including its participation on the first 1,000 bomber raid.

Post war and Scampton played a major part in the Cold War, an airfield housing the Vulcan, an aircraft capable of carrying and delivering the Blue Steel stand-off nuclear missile, one of only two airfields that could complete such a task. In order to complete this role, further T2 hangars were added, the dispersals were modified and additional ancillary buildings erected for fuelling and avionics.

The four ‘C’ type hangars now Grade II listed (1st December 2005 – List entry Number: 1391594) are the only listed buildings on site, the Blue Steel maintenance shed being demolished in March 2004, before listing was made. In fact over recent years, many unused buildings have been gradually demolished: the pre-war parachute stores, the main station workshop outbuildings, the Vulcan simulator, parts of the medical centre and the Warrant Officers’ Quarters are all included.

The main reason for the listing of these hangars is their ‘Legacy’ record, and includes the attached stores, workshops and offices. These ‘C’ type hangars were built in the period 1936-1937 by J. H. Binge of the Air Ministry’s Directorate of Works and Buildings, to drawing number 5043/36, and signify the airfield as a bomber airfield. The sacrifice by Bomber Command was immense, some 55,000 aircrew were killed in operations and many came from airfields in and around Lincolnshire. Thus these hangars, as listed buildings, stand as unofficial memorials to those who never came back and in particular to those of 617 Sqn who gave the ultimate sacrifice. As listed buildings, they cannot easily be demolished and therefore must be retained in any future development whatever that may be. Even with these modifications having taken place, the general layout of the airfield, the road networks and most buildings are still the pre-war expansion period designs, little has changed here since those days of the late 1930s when Britain was expanding it national network of airfields.

A review of Britain’s airfields by English Heritage, classified Scampton (and Linton-on-Ouse) “as one of most complete surviving of our Airfields with Runways and Perimeter tracks” comparable with RAF West Raynham, RAF Finningley, and RAF Waddington. It is a prime example of an expansion period model, being built under Scheme B of the period and only one of four to be so. The architectural designs of the buildings significant in themselves, being a mix of neo-Georgian and concrete within its non-dispersed site. The shape and design of Scampton (and Linton-on-Ouse) are unique to this period in time, square with straight roads and grassed / tree areas to hide the accommodation and technical areas.

A further point is that there have been numerous archaeological investigations and finds on and around the airfield itself. These include: Prehistoric remains, Roman remains (the Roman road traverses part of the airfield), Anglo-Saxon burial sites, Medieval sites, post-medieval and modern warfare sites (WWI & II) that remain buried. Many of these have yet to be fully investigated and mapped, but it is thought that there are strong links to all of these periods in time.

The grave of Guy Gibson’s Labrador “Nigger“.

So what are the possible options?

These are certainly strong advocates for keeping the station alive, however, the question then arises does this warrant the huge expense of maintaining an operational airfield without service personnel being present? Does it warrant the use of an operational airfield just for the Red Arrows? Even if the RAF were to stay here, which unit(s) could be brought in and at what cost to other airfields? Many would argue not, and if the RAF / MOD are to meet their commitment to both a leaner more efficient Air Force and the SDSR, then on paper surely Scampton must close.

However, there are a number of options open when Scampton is closed. The worse scenario is that the entire site is sold to housing / industrial development. In such cases the historical aspect of Scampton could be lost, the hangars turned into industrial units and the airfield removed completely. This, if it were to happen, would no doubt cause a huge backlash from many in the aviation field including the RAF itself, and is unlikely (in my opinion) to happen.

Since the announcement of the 2010 SDSR the future of Scampton has been under considerable debate, with numerous studies being completed on behalf of the RAF and Lincolnshire County Council. On December 15th, 2011*⁴, Parliament were notified of the suggestion that Scampton could be closed by 2014 following the merger of No 1 Air Control Centre and the Control and Reporting Centre at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey , which also closed as a result. Both these units would then move to RAF Coningsby, a move that was postponed following further investigations.

Two of the four Grade II listed ‘C’ type hangars. Note the BAE Hawk ‘Red Arrow’.

In October 2013, Lincolnshire County Council*^5,6,7 carried out its own feasibility study following a request to investigate possible options for Scampton’s use in the future. The study looked at a range of options including combining civil and military aviation, a combined heritage and RAF base, and an expansion of the site to form a leisure complex. The report concluded that:

The potential for “increased airspace use on a joint military / civilian basis was not feasible given the requirements of RAFAT. This effectively ruled out the option of developing the base as a commercial or leisure aerodrome alongside RAF use“.
Many buildings were not being used and were therefore able to be demolished without any serious issues. Only the hangars were listed and would be more difficult to remove. Whilst there is currently a museum on site, this could be exploited establishing an “aviation focused attraction of national and international importance“. The cost of such a venture would be in the region of £80m, and it was thought that this would deliver an operating surplus based on “approximately 200,000 visitors per year“. These figures would make Scampton comparable with the National Space Centre at Leicester, and with a greater visitor rate than that of Lincoln Castle.
It was also suggested the unused space could be turned into leisure activities “themed hotels” for example, and that any such activity would compliment the RAF’s expansion at Scampton should it go ahead. The entire process of this consultation was met with interest by the base commander, and at that time it was thought that Scampton would expand in terms of operational staff.
In conclusion of the study, it was suggested that “The aviation heritage attraction would tell key stories relevant to Lincolnshire and its involvement in defence and aviation. It is likely to attract significant new visitors to the county, generating sufficient revenue to support long-term operational sustainability of the attraction, plus spend in the local economy.” It also suggested that “a major new aviation heritage attraction at RAF Scampton could sit alongside the current scale of military use and would be sufficiently flexible to work with a greater or lesser RAF presence.”

Whilst much of these points include an RAF presence of some sort, it would be flexible in nature until such time as it became self-sustaining. A further option is to develop Scampton retaining its historical features and infrastructure. Much of the married quarters area has already been sold off and is currently in private ownership. These utilise the actual married quarters and has proven quite successful. Further sections of this area are also being sold and developed and so the atmosphere of the site has changed little since its wartime days.

Recently we have seen similar ventures at both RAF Coltishall and RAF West Raynham, where the airfield buildings have been retained (including the hangars, watch office and many associated buildings including the aircraft pens) and the site turned into a working heritage site with small industrial units utilising the workshops and hangars, and private housing using the refurbished personnel homes.

The ‘Grand Slam’ and ‘Tallboy’ bombs at Scampton.

The main argument against closing Scampton is one of cost, defence budgets are being cut and savings have to be made in the estates area. Scampton as it is, is not a viable airfield. However, its historical value is much higher, and any future decision and development needs to take this into account. If we are to retain our aviation heritage then serious consideration needs to be given to Scampton as a future development opportunity, themed hotels, museums of national importance or even a living history museum are all possible. What needs to be considered very carefully, is how that change is brought about. Lack of suitable knowledge or understanding of even small aspects of the site could degrade the overall venture, with important features degrading beyond safe use and poor managerial provision wasting an ideal opportunity in raising public awareness of the site’s true historical value.

Developments at both RAF Coltishall and RAF West Raynham have shown what good planning can do, creating something useful from a former airfield, whilst allowing for the preservation of its unique historic infrastructure.

This is clearly going to be a long and heated discussion, whether Scampton closes or not is only part of the debate, the crux of the matter being the historical value that it holds and what happens to the legacy it carries for all future generations.

Sources and Further Reading.

*¹ Fact Sheet 8: Future Force 2020 – Royal Air Force. Published 19 October 2010, accessed 25/7/18.

*² Museum of RAF Firefighting website, accessed 25/7/18.

*³ Figures from ‘Forces Network News’ website, accessed 25/7/18

*⁴ Memo to Parliament 15th November 2011

*⁵ Scampton – Appendix A – Scampton Aviation Heritage Consultancy Brief Final Version.pdf (RAF Scampton – Feasibility Study for an Aviation Heritage Attraction and
related Site Development Options – Brief – March 2013 ) accessed 25/7/18

*⁶ RAF Scampton Feasibility Study, 29 October 2013 to the Economic Scrutiny Committee on behalf of Executive Director for Communities Lincolnshire County Council. accessed 25/7/18

*⁷ Lincolnshire County Council Agenda item – RAF Scampton Feasibility Study Meeting of Economic Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday, 29th October, 2013 9.30 am (Item 34.)

The Development of Britain’s Airfields – AviationTrails

‘A Better Defence Estate’, November 2016, accessed 25/7/18.

News story “Defence Minister outlines progress on building a Better Defence Estate” Government news bulletin published 24th July 2018, by Ministry of Defence and The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP

A Better Defence Estate, 24 July 2018, Volume 645, House of Commons, The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP

Feasibility Study fr RAF Scampton, Purcell 2018 website.

Artech Designs Ltd. Design and Access Statement, April 2015

Historic England Website accessed 27/7/18

My Dad – My Hero 25th June 2018

July 10, 2018May 27, 2020 / Aviationtrails / 20 Comments

My Father

Many of you will know that my inspiration for these trails and my own love of aviation stems from my father and his own love of aircraft. A love that took him into the Royal Air Force in 1946 serving with 249 Sqn, 213 Sqn and 6 Sqn in 6006 Echelon, 324 Wing. This service took him to the Middle East, where he worked on Spitfires, Sea Furies, Tempests, Meteors and Vampires. He transferred through Ismailia where he worked on Sunderland flying boats, to Lincolnshire spending his last few military years, ending at RAF Manby where he worked on Lincoln bombers. He was based in Habbaniya, Mafraq, Deversoir, Ismailia along with several bases within the U.K. and met many influential people including King Abdulla of Jordan.

6006 Echelon, Dad middle row, second from the right

His time in the Middle East brought him into contact with many aircraft types: HP Hastings, Fireflies, Ansons, Devons, Catalinas, Valettas and Royal Pakistani Air Force Attackers to name but a few.

He told many tales, including those of accidents and deaths of aircrew, recorded the passing of ships along the Suez Canal, and recorded his trips into nearby towns. He reached the rank of Corporal rejecting further promotion so he could continue working on aircraft, building a special bond with those around him.

My father’s service lasted into the mid 1950s where he left and continued in the aviation industry at Scottish Aviation before moving to Baginton airfield near Coventry and employment with Armstrong-Whitworth. Eventually the car industry became more lucrative to work in, and with a growing family, he sadly left aviation behind.

My father shared many of his memories with me and both my brother and sister. He taught me to fish, ride a bike and drive a car. He would bring us treats every Thursday night from work, a simple token but one I hold dear to this day. He would take us on holidays and to airshows, driving many miles in a small Triumph Herald before we could afford a larger more ‘suitable’ car. It was thanks to him and his amazing engineering skills, that I learnt how to fix my own cars and Motor cycles, and through him I learnt the basics of wood working.

It is thanks to my father that I am who I am today, and it is with this in mind that I sadly announce his passing at the age of 89 on Monday 25th June 2018. He was a gentleman, he was kind and considerate and always believed in right over wrong. He loved my mother whom sadly passed away some time ago, and to whom he was married to for nearly 50 years. His only wish, outside of us, was to be with her again, and on Monday 9th July, in conjunction with his wishes, he was finally cremated, his ashes being placed alongside my mother’s for eternity.

My father may be physically gone, but his memory and the wisdom he shared shall live on in his three very grown up children and his five grand-children, all of whom love him dearly and miss him already.

To my dad, thank you, and may you now rest peacefully alongside mum x

The Inspiration Behind My Trails – My Dad.

Duns Cemetery – Berwickshire.

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 5 Comments

In the graveyard at Duns, in Berwickshire, not far from the village and former airfield RAF Charterhall (Trail 41), are two graves of nationals a long way from home.

Both airmen died in service whilst flying from RAF Charterhall, an Operational Training Unit airfield that prepared night fighter crews before posting to relevant night fighter squadrons.

The first grave is that of Flt. Lt. William Devaux Woodruff Hilton (RCAF) who died on 23rd July 1942.

Flt. Lt. William Devaux Woodruff Hilton

Flt. Lt. William Hilton (s/n: C/1626) was born on May 17th 1916, to D’Arcy Hilton (himself an ex pilot of the US Army Flying Corps in the First World War) and Gladys Woodruff, in Chicago, Illinois. He signed up for a flying career joining the RCAF as the United States were not at that time at war and therefore he was unable to train with the US forces.

Flt. Lt. Hilton reached the rank of Pilot Officer on 29th January 1940 after completing further training at RAF Twinwood Farm in Bedfordshire and RAF Acklington in Northumberland. On completion of this training, he was posted to RAF Charterhall and 54 Operational Training Unit (OTU), where he would fly Beaufighters.

The summer of 1942 suffered from poor weather, so poor in fact, that there were many restrictions on flying time, July only having 2,104 hours in total. This bad weather was to be responsible for many flying accidents and deaths that year, of which Flt. Lt. Hilton would be one.

On July 23rd 1942, he was tasked with flying a model new to him, the Bristol Beaufighter, and was taken by an instructor on several circuits to better acquaint himself with the various controls and idiosyncrasies of the aircraft. After several successful landings and take offs, the instructor passed Flt. Lt. Hilton to fly solo, and handed the controls of Beaufighter #R2440 over to him. His instruction to Hilton was to stay within the circuit of the airfield, sound advice as one of Scotland’s summer storms was rapidly approaching.

Hilton duly carried out the order and took off to perform various solo flight tasks. An experienced pilot, Flt. Lt. Hilton found no problem landing or taking off himself and completed one full circuit before things went wrong.

On the second circuit of the airfield, Flt. Lt. Hilton somehow got lost, whether through an aircraft malfunction or pilot error, it is not known, but after entering bad weather, the aircraft was instructed to climb to a safe height which it failed to do. Moments later, the Beaufighter was heard circling over the nearby town of Duns before ploughing into low-lying ground, one mile south-east of the town. At the time of the accident the aircraft’s undercarriage was in the down position. The crash killed Flt. Lt. Hilton instantly, the aircraft being torn apart by hedges and the subsequent slide along the ground. A board of enquiry was set up and investigations carried out, but no blame was apportioned to Hilton and the case was closed.

Flt. Lt. Hilton, an experienced pilot, somehow got into trouble, and that combined with the bad weather he was in, resulted in the loss of his life at the young age of just 26. To this day the cause of the crash is not known and Flt. Lt. Hilton remains buried in Scotland not far from the crash site, he is however, many thousand miles from home.

Flt. Lt. Hilton is buried in Duns graveyard in Sec. R. Grave 2.

The second airman’s grave in the graveyard at Duns, is that of Sgt. Thomas Alan Rutherford s/n 406626 (RAAF) who died on 14th August 1942, age just 20.

Sgt. Thomas Rutherford

Sgt. Thomas Rutherford, born to Stamford Roy Rutherford and Laura May Rutherford, of Cottesloe, Western Australia, came from an aviation family, his father Stamford Rutherford RAAF (296635) and older brother Sgt Bernard Rinian Roy Rutherford RAAF (406540), were also serving Air Force members. As with many families who had siblings serving in the forces at this time, Sgt. Rutherford’s brother was also killed in an air accident, earlier that same year.

Sgt. Rutherford was born 3rd August 1922 at Brampton, England but enlisted in Perth Western Australia, on 3rd February 1941.

After completing his training, he also transferred to 54 OTU at RAF Charterhall in the Scottish borders.

August 1942 was, like July before it, a particularly bad month weather wise, which saw only 1,538 hours of flying carried out by 54 OTU. Only a small portion of these, just short of 400, were by night, the remainder being daylight flights. As a night fighter training station, this would be difficult for trainers and trainees alike, but undeterred they flew as many sorties as they could.

On August 14th, Sgt. Thomas Rutherford climbed aboard Blenheim Mk. V #BA192 along with is observer Sgt. James Clifford Kidd (s/n: 1417331). They dutifully carried out their pre-flight checks and lined the aircraft up ready for take off from one of Charterhall’s runways. After lifting off the Blenheim struck a tree causing it to crash. Both Sgt. Rutherford and Sgt. Kidd were killed instantly in the accident.

It is not known what caused the aircraft to strike the tree, whether it be pilot error or aircraft malfunction, but it was an accident that resulted in the loss of two young men far too early in their lives.

Sgt Rutherford is buried at Sec. R. Grave 3 next to Flt. Lt. Hilton.

Amy Johnson CBE. – Herne Bay – Trail 44.

June 10, 2018June 5, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 5 Comments

Not only is Herne Bay in Kent famous for the location of the World Air Speed Record and its strong links to Barnes Wallis and the RAF’s 617 Sqn, but it is also linked to a famous female aviator, one who set many world records before her mysterious disappearance over the North Sea.

In Trail 44, we continue with the famous people theme, and see how this corner of Kent saw yet another link to aviation, this time very under tragic circumstances.

The life-size Bronze Statue of Amy Johnson in Herne Bay, Kent.

Amy Johnson is one of those names known the world over for her achievements in aviation, being the first woman to fly solo halfway around the world from England to Australia in 1930. This amongst numerous other flying achievements made her one of the most influential women of the 1900s.

She was born in 1903, at 154 St. George’s Road in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The eldest daughter of John William Johnson and Amy Hodge, she was the oldest of four sisters. Her education took her through Boulevard Municipal Secondary School and on to the University in Sheffield, where she studied economics at degree level, before moving to London to start a new life after a failed relationship.

One Sunday afternoon while she was away from her office work, Amy travelled to Stag Lane Aerodrome in North London, where she was immediately captivated and enthralled by the aircraft she saw. Amy was determined she was going to fly, and even though flying was the preserve of the rich and famous, she persevered using money supplied by her father. She gained a number of certificates including a ground mechanics qualification and an aviator’s certificate before going on to gain her pilots “A” Licence, on 6th July 1929.

Ignoring the ridicule she was targeted with by the media, Amy began to fly, taking solo flights to her home town and across the United Kingdom.

Amy’s biggest challenge came when she decided to fly solo to Australia. Plotting the most direct route from England, she would cross some of the world’s most inhospitable landscapes, meaning she would have to be airborne for many hours at a time, with no accurate weather reports or radio contact with the ground. Fuel would be supplied en-route, and it was therefore imperative that she made each stop on time in order to achieve her goal. Before long, the ridicule stopped and the media began to take serious notice of what she was doing. They began to praise her, call her “Wonderful” and compare her to Charles Lindbergh.

On May 24th 1930, she finally touched down in her second-hand de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth, an aircraft she had called ‘Jason‘. She landed in Australia, in a time that was sadly outside of the previous record set by the Australian aviator Bert Hinkler in 1928. Nevertheless Amy was still an aviation heroine, and was welcomed and revered across the world.

Now Amy really had the bug, and flying would become a series of challenges, each as daring as the last. A year later in 1931, she would fly with her mechanic and friend, Jack Humphreys, to Tokyo. Together they would set a new record from Moscow to Japan. Amy then fell in love with another pioneering aviator, Jim Mollison, in 1932, a relationship that bonded two like-minded people with a common interest, and they began many journeys flying together. But Amy, still determined to achieve great things, also continued with her solo efforts.

She set another record flying from London to Cape Town in 1933, and then flew across the Atlantic with her husband, being given a tumultuous reception in America. Amy and Jim then took part in the MacRobertson Air Race, a gruelling air race that took competitors from Great Britain across the world to Australia. Sadly, part way across, engine trouble forced the couple to retire from the race, much to their frustration. In 1936, just six years after achieving her pilots licence, Amy undertook her last record-breaking flight when she flew from England to South Africa setting yet another new world record.

In the years before the Second World War, Amy turned away from record-breaking flights and began her own business ventures. She carried out modelling projects using her good looks and personality to model clothes by Elsa Schiaparelli, the Italian fashion designer, another prominent and influential woman of the inter-war years. But flying was never far from her heart and with the outbreak of war, both the draw to serve her country and to fly, were too much, and she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary service In 1940.

Ferrying aircraft around the country, Amy dutifully carried out this work until January 5th 1941. On this day she was asked to take an Airspeed Oxford from Blackpool to RAF Kidlington, in Oxfordshire.

Sadly, Amy and her passenger never made their destination. For some reason Amy was flying way off course, over the east coast of England rather than down the west coast or across central England, bot more direct routes. Over the North Sea, a few miles off-shore of Herne Bay, an aircraft was heard, and a parachute was seen falling from the snowy sky. A ship, HMS Haslemere raced toward the downed crew but even after frantic searches, neither of them could be found. The commander of HMS Haslemere, Lt. Cmdr. Walter Fletcher, himself dived into the icy waters to search for survivors, but he couldn’t locate anyone, and sadly perished as a result of the extremely cold water. For his bravery and determination he was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal, an award given for extreme acts of gallantry, and the highest honour until the introduction of the George Cross in 1940.

Shortly after, personal items belonging to Amy along with parts of her aircraft were washed up on the nearby shores, strengthening the argument that it was indeed Amy’s aircraft that had come down. However, why she was flying where she was, and how she died, both remained a mystery, as does the whereabouts of her Airspeed Oxford aircraft.

Conspiracy theories were not slow in forthcoming. Ranging from secret missions to a victim of friendly fire, secret agents and covert operations were all banded about. Sailors on board HMS Haslemere believe she was sucked into the spinning propellers of the ship, a claim that is certainly plausible but not as yet substantiated. The exact cause why she was so far off course and what caused her aircraft to crash has never been satisfactorily identified and continues to remain a mystery to this day.

A vast number of plaques, buildings and statues have been dedicated in Amy’s honour, Schools and public buildings have been named after her, even aircraft have been called ‘Amy Johnson’ after the intrepid flyer. Her portrait has been displayed on tail fins and her home town of Hull have dedicated a number of structures and buildings to her, and the corridors of educational establishments resonate to the sound of her name.

In Herne Bay, a life-size bronze stature was erected and unveiled jointly by HRH Prince Michael of Kent and Tracey Curtis-Taylor (a modern-day aviator herself embroiled in media attention) on 17th September 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of Amy’s untimely death. A bronze statue, it was designed by Stephen Melton, and sponsored by a number of local and national businesses.

Nearby to the statue is a wooden bi-plane bench, also as a commemorative feature not only to Amy Johnson but all those who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary Service during the war.

There has been much written about Amy Johnson’s life, her achievements and the records she set. She was indeed a remarkable woman, one whose determination proved that dreams can come true, and one whose dramatic life was tragically taken away from her at such a young age. She achieved many, many great things and is a superb role model to all, especially to women and aviators alike.

The Amy Johnson Arts Trust has a wealth of information about Amy and her links to aviation. Their website is worth visiting.

RAF Macmerry – The darker side of war.

June 3, 2018May 26, 2018 / Aviationtrails / 4 Comments

After visiting both RAF Drem and RAF East Fortune in Trail 42, we travel a few miles south, back to the A1 road where we visit another disused and almost lost RAF airfield. Initially used as a Landing Ground during the First World War, it struggled to become a fully fledged airfield but it did operate a small number of squadrons under RAF control. One of these squadrons had a rather sinister role to play and had Britain been invaded, then its name would no doubt be well-known and common place in history books today.

In Trail 51, we continue on in the south-eastern region of Scotland, not far from the historic city of Edinburgh, where we visit the former airfield RAF Macmerry.

RAF Macmerry (Tranent / Penston).

The former airfield at the small village of Macmerry is today split by the main A1 road, with the flying side of the airfield to the north and the technical and accommodation areas to the south. Sadly the active side has been completely removed and is now agricultural land, but on the technical and accommodation side there are fortunately still a small number of buildings remaining, albeit in private use today.

RAF Macmerry is located some 14 miles east of Edinburgh, its origins extend back to the First World War when it was known as Penston. Used by No. 77 Squadron who were initially based at Edinburgh, it was a Home Defence Landing Ground housing a squadron detachment until the entire unit moved over in April / May 1918, when the Royal Flying Corps became established as the Royal Air Force. No. 77 Sqn were well-known in the area, having detachments based at nearby Turnhouse and also at New Haggerston and Whiteburn. The squadron had been based at Edinburgh since October 1916 after moving there from Thetford in Norfolk, shortly after their inception. During their time at Penston, No. 77 Sqn operated a number of Royal Aircraft Factory types: the BE.2c, BE.2d and BE.2e, the BE.12 and BE.12b along with the D.H. 6 and RE. 8.

One of many buildings that remain on the farm today.

Even though No. 77 Sqn moved into Penston full-time, they did retain a detachment at Whiteburn, an arrangement that continued until 13th June 1919, when the squadron (now Royal Air Force) was finally disbanded. No. 77 Squadron would go on to be reformed in 1937, just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, but they would not return to their roots, and would never again appear at the airfield at Macmerry. After 77 Sqn’s departure from Penston, the RAF had no need for the site, and so the airfield was closed and the site sold off.

The 1920s and 30s then saw a short reprieve for Macmerry as aviation became fashionable. The Edinburgh Flying Club established itself here, and the Scottish Motor Traction (SMT) organisation put forward plans for a new major airport here at Macmerry. Established in 1905, the SMT was an established bus company who also provided an air taxi service flying a De Havilland Fox Moth between 18th July and 31st October 1932. Although these ambitious development plans never came to fruition, Macmerry (referred to as Edinburgh) was used for a short period between 1936 and 1939 for commercial air travel by North Eastern Airways.

North Eastern Airways (Copyright Bjorn Larsson)*¹

After war broke out the RAF were looking to expand their airfields around the UK, and the border regions of Scotland were soon under the spotlight. The Air Ministry identified Macmerry and decided in July 1940, to rename Macmerry as Tranent after the nearby town. However, and even after the official requisition later on, this name change never appeared on any but a handful of official documents and the name Macmerry stuck.

It was around this time too that the Cunliffe-Owen company, a civilian aircraft manufacturing company, began operations at the airfield repairing Lockheed Hudson aircraft. Cunliffe-Owen was set up by the millionaire Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen on August 9th 1937 under the name of BOA Ltd, changing it later in 1938, to Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft. Utilising the First World War hangar at Eastleigh in the former county of Wessex, they would be famous for their investigations into the ‘Flying Wing’ project. Cunliffe-Owen also formed a contract with Lockheed Aircraft and began assembling Hudsons along with a large number of other American aircraft imported into the UK for RAF service.*²

On September 2nd 1940, No. 263 Squadron moved into RAF Drem, located about 6 miles north-east of here, and used Macmerry as a satellite airfield, even though the RAF had not officially taken over the site. Regardless of this, the Westland Whirlwinds they were flying, did occasionally use the airfield along with another satellite at Prestwick way off to the west.

In January 1941, Macmerry was officially requisitioned and would come under the control of 13 Group Fighter Command, with the first aircraft arriving very soon after. The Hurricane Mk.Is of 607 (County of Durham) Sqn would stop off here between January 16th and March 2nd 1941, before joining the main squadron also based at RAF Drem. No. 607 Sqn were veterans of the Battle of Britain, and would go on to be the first Squadron to operate the ‘Hurri’ bomber, a Hawker Hurricane fitted with bombs.

As they departed Macmerry, a second unit arrived, No. 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron, who were a pre-war squadron and would operate Lysander Mk.II and Mk.IIIs before replacing these with Blenheim IVs in July 1941. After a short spell away at Thruxton, No. 614 Sqn returned to Macmerry for a few days before departing for the final time at the end of August 1942. Flying with the squadron code ‘LJ’, it was these Lysanders that had a rather sinister role to play, and one that was perhaps unique along this coastline of Scotland.

Westland Lysander Mark III, ‘LJ-P’ of No. 614 Squadron RAF Macmerry, on a photographic-reconnaissance flight (IWM H 9183)

First impressions of Macmerry were not positive for crews, a small hangar and a flying control building were about all that greeted the men. There were no accommodation facilities and airmen were billeted in the homes of local families. Runways at this time were grass (1 x 1,500 yards and 2 x 1,200 yards), whilst the perimeter track was tarmac, a feature that would not change for the duration of the war.

By the summer months accommodation on the airfield was finally available (sufficient for around 1000 personnel of mixed rank and gender) and the whole of No. 614 Squadron moved into Macmerry. Work continued on the remainder of the airfield infrastructure, including six hardstands each holding two-twin engined aircraft in a ‘Blenheim’ style aircraft pen. Otherwise know as type ‘B’ (designed to drawing 7151/41) they had cranked sides and staggered entrances. Each of these had a shelter built into the revetment sufficient to hold 25 men. Eight Blister hangars and a T2 were also added at some point, along with a range of technical buildings.

Working under the control of the Royal Air Force Army Co-operation Command, No. 614 Sqn’s Lysanders were to monitor and patrol Scotland’s east coast, and in the event of an invasion, they were to contaminate the beaches with Gas (possibly Mustard Gas even though this was banned in the 1925 Geneva Protocol) using the vast stocks they had at Macmerry airfield. A lethal substance, it was never thankfully used and was disposed of later on. Much of the information about this has only recently come to light, but according to Operational Record Books*³ gas attacks were something that were rehearsed on many occasions.

Whilst No. 614 Sqn were based here at Macmerry, they performed regular operations with Army units, detachments from Macmerry flying to the Fleet Air Arm airfield at Arbroath where they would carry out photo reconnaissance, simulated dive bombing and these aforementioned gas laying operations. These operations (e.g. ‘FORFAR’, ‘HOPE’ and ‘JOHN’) were carried out in conjunction with various army divisions, with RAF support staff and equipment (including Bowsers) being taken by road to the detachment airfield. In many cases, the crews and ground staff from Macmerry would be housed in tents supplied by the various army brigades and they would be fed by the Royal Navy, something that the more senior officials within the RAF wanted to stop.

During these exercises, Lysanders would drop messages to ‘message stations’, these message stations would be viable targets for the ‘enemy’ aircraft (bomber sorties being performed by other Lysanders, Spitfires or Miles Masters) and therefore the diligence of those inside was of the utmost importance. Following a review of the first of these operations, this key point was noted in the ORB, in which it was pointed out that “…only intelligent men should be employed, and the same men, if possible, should do the duty on all occasions.”

During August 1941 a detachment of Tomahawk IIA aircraft were to join No. 614 Sqn here at Macmerry. These aircraft were operating with No. 241 Sqn, who were primarily based at RAF Wattisham, but had detachments already at Snailwell, Henlow and Docking and now at Macmerry.

In March 1942 these Tomahawks were replaced by the North American P-51 Mustang Mk.I, an aircraft designed in response to the need for a long-range fighter with outstanding capabilities. Designed by a German born designer, Edgar Schmued, it would become one of, if not the, Second World War’s most successful fighters, especially after it had the Rolls Royce Merlin replace the weaker Allinson. As well as an increase in top speed of around 50 mph, it out performed the Allinson in all other categories including rate of climb and performance at altitude. By May 1942, No. 241 Sqn and their new Mustangs would all depart Macmerry for pastures new at Ayr. However, and not before too long, 241 Sqn would return to this part of the country, spending a short time at RAF Winfield in the border regions working in cooperation with 4th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery.

It was during May that No. 225 Sqn moved to Thruxton whilst also having a detachment based here at Macmerry, and once again the Mustang Mk.I would be back in the skies over this small Scottish village. The entire squadron would move onto the airfield at the end of August and would stay until the end of October when they would depart for North Africa taking their Mustangs with them.

By late summer 1942, the accommodation, hangars and major facilities were all now complete and open, the site was now ‘modern’ and homely, engineer’s workshops, allowed for maintenance of the aircraft, and aircraft pens offered protection to both the airmen and aircraft in the case of Luftwaffe attack.

One of the ‘B’ type aircraft pens surviving at Macmerry today. The brick structure to the right is the entrance to the built-in shelter.

By August 1942, No. 614 squadron were to pull out moving to RAF Odiham where they replaced their aircraft with Blenheim Vs. Their place at Macmerry being taken by No.13 Sqn flying Blenheim IVs. Their stay would, like many of their predecessors, be a short one, another ex Lysander user, they only stayed here for about 10 days before they too moved off to Odiham and onto North Africa.

The November would then see the last operational flying until arrive at Macmerry, and they would be the longest-serving unit to stay here. At the end of November, on the 21st, No. 63 squadron would arrive bringing with them further Mustang Mk.Is. The main block of the squadron would operate from Macmerry whilst detachments would be placed across the length and breadth of the country at Lossiemouth, Odiham, Dalcross and Acklington. Many of the sorties flown by No. 63 sqn were photographic reconnaissance missions, using F.24 (8″) cameras installed on the port side of the fuselage directly behind the cockpit. Because of the open landscape and close proximity to the coast of the airfield, many sorties flown from here were hampered by high winds and the impending Scottish cold, something that brought discomfort to the may crews who were stationed here at some point.

A No. 63 Squadron Mustang Mk.1 dropping a message bag (off to the right) during an Army co-operation exercise (IWM)

Originally reformed in the summer of 1942, No. 63 Sqn moved here from Catterick, and stayed until July 1943 when they departed to Turnhouse, leaving only a detachment here at Macmerry. In November, the entire squadron then moved off to Thruxton leaving the airfield at Macmerry behind for good.

Other than a handful of Lysander target tugs and glider trainers, flying wise Macmerry would then fall quiet, the sound of aircraft engines being replaced by the thud of marching boots. During the winter of 1943, Operation ‘Fortitude North‘ was put into place, an operation to fool the Germans into thinking the impending invasion would occur across the North Sea. Macmerry would see a huge influx of army personnel, from No. 2736, No. 2830 and No. 2949 Regiment Squadrons, who would take to the mountains sending out false signals that would be picked up by German intelligence. These groups stayed here for a number of months until moved south for the real invasion across the English Channel. So successful was the operation that German forces failed to pull vital units away from the Norwegian coastal areas for fear of an impending Allied attack.

Much of what is left is rundown but in use for storing farm machinery.

In the months after the D-day landings, the RAF began to shrink as the need for fighters and heavy bomber began to lessen. The closing stages of the war were near and the fight was well and truly over German soil. The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) however were still expanding, preparing for what was going to be the invasion of Japan. To this end they needed more airfields to train pilots and crews to meet this demand. The Air Ministry considered giving the FAA Macmerry airfield to use, primarily as a repair yard, but, and whilst the offer was accepted, it was never actually put into practice. The FAA also considered stationing No. 770 Sqn FAA here, a Fleet Requirements Unit, whose role was to provide target tugs, simulated attacks on vessels and other gunnery roles. This too however, never actually came to fruition, and whilst the FAA had renamed the airfield H.M.S. Nighthawk II in preparation (Drem being re-designated H.M.S. Nighthawk) they handed Macmerry back to the RAF on March 15th 1946 without ever actually placing a man through its gates. With the war over for the second time, the RAF had no further use for Macmerry, and it was closed down very soon after.

With the airfield abandoned, the Edinburgh Flying Club seized the opportunity to get back into Macmerry, and on August 31st 1946, they reopened the airfield and began to operate from its runways again. They continued to operate here until 1953 when flying finally ceased and Macmerry closed its gates for the last and final time.

After this the site was sold off, the main A1 was eventually built and then later extended into a dual carriageway. As a result of the new road the airfield was split, and the active side developed as farm land. There are suggestions that additional hardstands were provided on the perimeter track on this side, but any sign of these seem to have gone along with the flying side of the airfield. In addition to this, the hangars on the northern side have also been removed and replaced by a rather large grain store.

The accommodation and technical sites were then turned into a small industrial park, the land adjacent to this, being returned to farm land. It is on this land that many of the accommodation buildings have been retained being put to use by the farm to house farm machinery and produce. The WAAF site buildings were demolished but the squash courts and gym both remain today.

The squash court at Macmerry.

The road from the A1 circumnavigates the entire site and it is from this road that the best views can be obtained. From the main A1, the first stop is at the two revetments, which remain sandwiched in between this side road and the main A1. Hidden from view of the A1, they are discernible from the side road and are in remarkably good condition for their age. In a small triangular section of ground, there are several structures here, including the aircraft pens and crew blocks.

The industrial site visible just off to the left of this road is what was the main technical area of the airfield. The modern warehouses and industrial units having replaced the technical buildings that were once thriving RAF workshops.

Continue on and take a left turn. This takes you past the former accommodation sites and the location of the majority of surviving buildings today; long halls with their chimneys which were once the centre of life at Macmerry. Following this road to the left then takes you past the Gym and Squash Courts, passed the accommodation area and back to the A1 and away from the airfield.

The former airfield RAF Macmerry went through a number of changes during its life, and although it has a history dating back to the First World War, it is one of those airfields that never really seemed to establish itself as a front line airfield. The number of squadrons who passed through here also brought a range of aircraft types, giving Macmerry a varied and interesting mix of models. That said, Macmerry had a dark side to it, and had the invasion of Britain come through Scotland’s borders, then Macmerry would no doubt be a name at the forefront of Britain’s history books today.

Sources and further reading.

*¹ Timetable courtesy of Bjorn Larsson via Airline Timetable Images Website.

*² Phipp, M., ‘Wessex Aviation History‘, Amberley Publishing 2009, e-book accessed 24/4/18.

*³ AIR 27/2122 National Archives.

AIR 27/587/1 National Archives.

The East Lothian at War website gallery has a number of photos taken at RAF Macmerry during the war and is worth a visit.

The Development of Britain’s Airfields (Part 8).

May 27, 2018September 23, 2020 / Aviationtrails / 8 Comments

In this, the last of the series looking at the development of Britain’s airfields, we look at the Watch Office, perhaps the most atmospheric of buildings associated with Britain’ wartime airfields. The hub of an airfield control, it was where aircraft were counted out and back, where the battle was monitored and the cries of those who fought in the air war were heard.

Though only a recent addition to airfield architecture, it developed quickly and became one of the technologically advanced offices in the world.

Watch Offices.

The Watch office, Watch Tower or in American terms Control Tower, was the centre piece of any airfield, the place in which all operations were controlled. Even today, the control tower is the one feature that stands high above the rest of the airfield with commanding views across the entire site.

Many of these watch offices remain today, some as fabulous museums, some as private dwellings, but many are sadly derelict or even worse – gone altogether. This that do survive create a haunting and evocative feeling when seen from inside.

The beautifully restored Thorpe Abbots Watch Office (design 15683/41).

Unlike hangar development, the watch office appeared quite late in the development of the airfield, only really coming into being as war seemed inevitable. Before this, a rudimentary office was often all that was used, usually attached to the side of the main hangar, and was used to ‘book’ aircraft in and out. But by the mid war period the watch office had become a major structure on the airfield, a standard design (depending upon the airfield use) with two or more floors and often a ‘glass house’ for observation purposes.

For obvious reasons the watch office was built away from other buildings with clear sight over the entire airfield, an important aspect if controllers were to keep watch on the many aircraft that were moving about the airfield space. A vital asset to the airfield it was often targeted by marauding bombers, and in the case of attack, the controllers within would relocate to an emergency battle headquarters, hidden at ground level on a remote part of the airfield, but still with views across the site.

The basic watch office was often adapted rather than demolished and rebuilt, this can and does, cause great confusion as to its design origin. Further more, on some sites, the original was abandoned but not demolished, and a new office built elsewhere on a nearby site, thus giving rise to two offices on the one airfield eg. Matlask and Martlesham Heath

The Watch Office as we know it was first seen on military airfields in 1926 and resembled a small bungalow with bay windows. Those constructed on bomber bases would be slightly smaller than those on fighter bases, a fighter base office having a pilots office attached. The idea behind this was to keep pilots as close to the airfield control centre so they could quickly be scrambled and report back to the airfield controller on their return. These early design were found on airfields such as Bircham Newton in Norfolk, Hendon and Tangmere and were all built to the same basic 1926 drawing design only modified to take the extra pilots room.

The standard shape of the World War 2 Watch Office stems back to the mid 1930s, with the introduction of a two-storey building that was square in design. Like similar buildings of its time, it was brick, a building material that was replaced with concrete, in 1936.

RAF West Malling Control Tower under refurbishment

West Malling a 5845/39 design which is now a coffee shop.

By the end of the expansion period, and with the introduction of hard runways, it was realised that the non-dispersed sites gave poor visibility for early watch offices, views across the airfields were not clear and so a quick remedy was called for. The answer lay in two choices, (a) demolish the current buildings and rebuild it in a better location, or (b) add an extension. In many cases the former was the better idea and this progressed quite quickly, however, where the latter was chosen, remedial work required alteration of the building whilst it remained in use.

A further complication to these designs was the introduction of meteorological sections, which all new buildings erected at the beginning of the war now had. This gave a mix of design styles, enough though there was only a small selection of design drawings from which to work.

These late expansion period and early war designs introduced the idea of ‘viewing platforms’ or parapets, surrounded by safety railings along the front of the building. These deign also had very large glass fronted walls, bright and airy they allowed a lot of light to enter the building but gave cause for concern later on, when it was realised that a bomb blast would cause severed injury to the occupants in an attack. It was also found that during night operations, large windows were more difficult to black out and so smaller windows offered both better protection and greater ease of black out.

As building materials became scare, particularly wood and brick, concrete became the norm. This change also led to drawing changes even though the basic design inside and out, was the same.

In order to appreciate the changes to watch office designs, one needs to consider the different roles that airfields played during the war. Bomber Command airfields would have a differ office to a fighter Command airfield, which in turn, had a different office to a satellite or night-fighter station.

Watch Offices give commanding views across the airfield. (Thorpe Abbots).

The regional control stations where these first offices were being built were certainly getting the better choice at this time, standard fighter and bomber airfields having to use inferior designs that very soon became outdated and inadequate for the needs of the airfield.

During the massive building programme of 1941/42, there was some effort made to standardise all airfield Watch Offices, this resulted in the 1941 design drawing no. 12779/41. This was to be the basic airfield watch office design, with its parapet, six large windows to the front and outside access steps. As older airfields were brought up to Class A Specification, many had these new Watch Offices built to replace the older original ones. Some simply had adaptation of the original. Here the use of the airfield had a bearing on the watch office modification / design, and whilst the basic 12779/41 model was employed, slight variations did exist where the airfield was not a bomber airfield.

Therefore various adaptations of this did follow, examples of which include the slightly smaller 13023/41 (RAF Cottam), those with modified smaller windows 15371/41 (Kimbolton) and 343/43 (Martlesham Heath), and the smaller Night-Fighter design 15684/41 (Winfield). Being a Night-Fighter station Winfield, had the same basic design but construction methods were totally different. This new design 15684/41, would become standard at all night fighter bases.

All these alternative designs appear outwardly very similar to the original, but differ mainly in window design only, although the physical size of some is different.

The Night-Fighter station Watch Office at Winfield (15684/41) is a similar design but smaller, having only four windows in the front.

This design, 343/43, eventually became the most common design for watch offices and appeared on all operational stations and Operation Training Unit airfields after 1943, using a set of six half-size windows across the front.

The smaller windows of Parham (Framlingham) were half the original design size (12779/41 modified to 343/43).

A further addition was the glass observation room located on the roof of the Watch Office. These were generally only applied to Group control offices, and gave an excellent all round unrestricted view of the entire airfield. Examples that exist today, such as Framlingham above, are replicas but have been built to very high standards.

Martlesham Heath is a similar design to Framlingham (modified to 343/43) – Note the runway heading board on the roof.

At the end of the war some airfields such as Sculthorpe and West Raynham had their Watch Offices modified as they changed roles to Very Heavy Bomber Stations. This new design 294/45, improved on former buildings as a complete new design based on a steel frame with precast concrete floors. It had an extra floor added and then the octagonal ‘glass house’ or Visual Control Room with slanted glass to reduce glare.

Sculthorpe’s modified tower gives 360 degree views over the airfield. A three-story block it utilises the former World War 2 Watch Office.

The Watch Office has been the hub of airfield command and control since the mid 1930s, it has developed from the humble shed to a multi-functional technologically advanced building dominating the skyline of the airfield today. Sadly though, many are now gone, and of those that are left only a few remain in good condition or open to the public.

Summary

The war-time airfield incorporated numerous building designs and shapes, certainly far too many to cover here, the wide variety of technical buildings, synthetic trainers, parachute stores, headquarters and general stores, all changing as the war progressed. The design and materials used in these structures was as varied as the designs themselves. But as the RAF grew so too did the airfields they used. The runways, the hangars, the technical buildings and accommodation sites have all grown alongside. Sadly many of these buildings have now vanished, but the process and speed at which they developed has been unprecedented. From humble grass strips with wooden shacks to enormous conurbations with numerous buildings, they have become iconic symbols representing decades of both aviation history and human sacrifice.

The entire page can be viewed separately:

Part 1 – The Road to War.
Part 2 – The Expansion Period and airfield development.
Part 3 – Choosing a site.
Part 4 – Building the airfield.
Part 5 – Airfield Architecture.
Part 6 – Runways and Hardstands.
Part 7 – Hangars and aircraft sheds.

or as a whole document.

RAF Thorpe Abbotts – home to the ‘Bloody 100th’.

May 6, 2018August 3, 2019 / Aviationtrails / 15 Comments

There are few Bomb Groups who got through the war unscathed. Some earned notable awards, many earned notable nicknames. There are none more though than that of the 100th Bomb Group of the United States Air Force, a groups of men who fought in many of Europe’s most fearsome air battles, suffering many great loses but also achieving great successes.

In this review of Trail 12 we look again at the airfield at Thorpe Abbots, and the history behind the derelict buildings and the concrete remains, we see how the 100th BG earned themselves that most unsavoury name ‘The Bloody 100th‘.

Thorpe Abbotts (Station 139).

Opened quite late in the war, (April 1943), Thorpe Abbots would only be active for a short period of time. But during these months, it would be home to one major air group, the 100th BG of the US Eighth Air Force, who would gain the unsavoury name ‘The Bloody 100th’. Their legacy would become well-known, it would be a legacy connected with death and destruction, and would be one that would live on for many years, even after the cessation of conflict in Europe.

The first units of the 100th BG would arrive in June 1943, and would operate continuously here until the cessation of conflict in 1945. The site would never see any further action after this, being returned to the RAF who retained ownership until its final closure in 1956. Now totally agricultural, it boasts a superb museum as a memorial to those who gave so tragically flying with ‘The Bloody 100th’.

Thorpe Abbotts Village sign

The 100th’s name developed as a result of losses sustained by the group, which in actual fact were not significantly worse than any other Bomb Group of the US Air Force at that time. However, throughout their 306 operational missions over occupied Europe, 177 aircraft along with 700 lives were sadly lost in what were some of the most difficult and terrifying air battles of the Second World War.

Designated Station 139, Thorpe Abbots was built to Class A specification, with three concrete and woodchip runways in the form of an inverted ‘A’, with the cross of the A being the main runway running east to west. Being a bomber base it had 36 pan style hardstands and 16 spectacle hardstands around the perimeter. Maintenance was carried out in two T2 hangars (a type A to drawing 8254/40, and a standard T2). The technical area, accommodation areas and even the bomb store were very unusually all nestled close together in the south-western corner of the site, giving the whole airfield a compact feel.

With two communal sites, six airmen sites, two WAAF sites, a sick quarters and sewage works, it was a large accommodation area capable of holding 3,000 men and women of mixed ranks. All the accommodation areas used a range of standard huts, Nissen, Romney, Seco, Thorn and Orlit, all of which appeared on site.

Being a large base, it was, like many of its counterparts, a little town in its own right, with a barber’s shop, a cobblers, grocery store, a gymnasium and squash courts. It also had an on site plumbers, a cement store and a carpenter’s shop.

Although the journey of the 100th started with the activation on June 1st 1942, little occurred until later that year, when the collection of 230 enlisted men and 26 Officers arrived at Walla Walla, Washington, under the guidance of the Group Adjutant Cpt. Karl Standish. He began to organise the cadre into something worthwhile, and as more men arrived the ranks began to swell and the 100th began to take shape. The four squadrons: 349th (led by Cpt. William Veal), 350th (Cpt. Gale Clevan), 351st (Cpt. John Kidd) and 418th (Cpt. Robert Flesher), formed bonds and very quickly, and very soon after, the air echelons would begin to arrive, bringing with them brand new ‘straight out of the factory’ B-17Fs.

Thorpe Abbotts Control Tower now a museum to the 100th BG.

Their next move came at the end of November with a move that took them to Wendover Field, Utah, followed by, Sioux City and then Kearney Air Base in Nebraska, their final major US base before leaving for the UK in May 1943.

After the ground and air echelons split for their transition, the air echelons flew to bases in Newfoundland, where they departed across the northern route to Prestwick at the end of May. The ground echelons then carried out ground training before departing on the “Queen Elizabeth” on the 27th May, many men being confined below decks because of the overcrowding on the upper decks.

The Queen Elizabeth finally made Greenock, and the men began unloading, the transition from the US to the UK being a shock to many as they clambered aboard the small ‘box cars’ size trains. That night they arrived at Poddington, their first base, and following a poor night’s sleep they received their initial introduction into the British way of life.

The 100th’s arrival at Thorpe Abbotts was not a pleasant one, the base was unfinished, accommodation was lacking and overcrowded, and food supplies were poor to say the least; this was not going to be an easy ride by any means.

Finally, in June, the air echelons began to arrive, the ground and air crews began to work on their machines, rehearsing, tweaking instruments and flying around the local area, until just after midnight on June 25th 1943, the order came through; they were to fly their first mission early that next morning.

The 100th were the third B-17 group to join the Mighty Eighth, as part of the new and reorganised 4th Bombardment Wing, they would join with the 379th BG (Kimbolton) and the 384th BG (Grafton Underwood), both also B-17 groups.

On that morning the aircraft would depart Thorpe Abbotts at 06:00 hrs, and whilst flying out over the North Sea, the formation would be joined by another B-17, with no top turret and the letters ‘VGY’ painted on it. No-one knew what it was, or where it had come from, and suspicions quickly arose about its authenticity. The ‘alien’ ship remained with the formation up until the target at which point it departed and “all hell broke loose”. The formation consisting of these new recruits was ragged and the experienced Luftwaffe pilots took full advantage of this. Focusing on the low squadron first, they fired a barrage of explosive shells into the fuselage’s of the B-17s. That afternoon three aircraft and thirty airmen failed to return home to Thorpe Abbotts, the war had hit home, and hit home hard.

Robert H. Wolff’s crew. L to R Back Row: Ira Bardman, Alfred Clark, William ‘Casey’ Casebolt, James Brady, Arthur ‘Eagle’ Eggleston, Willis ‘Browny’ Brown . Front Row: Charles ‘Stu’ Stuart, Fredric ‘Buzz’ White, (aiming at the enemy) Bob Wolff, Lawrence ‘Mac’ McDonell. The photo was taken after Regensburg for publicity purposes. (@IWM FRE 905)

Over the next month, there were many aborted and scrubbed missions, this continued raising and dashing of hopes set the men on edge but what few missions they did fly, they manged to get through relatively unscathed.

The end of July 1943 saw the official hand over of Thorpe Abbotts from the RAF to the USAAF, with Sqn. Ldrs. Lawson and Bloomfield representing the RAF and Col. Harding the USAAF.

On August 17th 1943, on the anniversary of the Eighth’s operations from England, the men of the 100th sat in the briefing room awaiting the revealing of the target for the day. The anticipation however, was soon replaced with trepidation as the route map revealed a line that would take them deep into the heart of southern Germany, to the Messerschmitt plant at Regensburg. This would be no ordinary mission though, they were to not return to Thorpe Abbotts that day, but instead, they were to complete the first shuttle mission by the Eighth Air Force of the war, flying on to land in North Africa.

After an initial postponement because of mist, the green light was finally given and the aircrews started their engines. One by one they departed Thorpe Abbots toward the skies above Germany. The 100th were in the unenviable position of ‘tail end Charlie’ being the low squadron at the rear of the formation. Added to this the 100th BG found themselves unprotected due to miscalculations in timing, and as unprotected ‘tail-end Charlies’, they were easy prey for the fearsome and hunting Luftwaffe. For two whole hours the defenders attacked from every possible angle, venting their determination on the lowly B-17s. The sky was littered with downed aircraft and falling wreckage. The B-17s were subjected to harrowing attempts to bring them down, air-to-air bombing from Ju-88s, and rockets fired from BF-109s just added to the mayhem of exploding cannon shells and bullets.

During this engagement B-17 #42-30311, piloted by Lt. Tom Hummel was attacked by Rudolf Germeroth in Bf 109G-6 of J 3/1. The aircraft was seen to explode and fall from the sky. The two waist gunners Ken O’Connor and Dick Bowler were killed whilst the remainder of the crew escaped the wreck and were taken prisoner.

Bombing over the target was accurate and reports sent back to England hailed the mission as a total success, The Messerschmitt factory being totally destroyed, and along with it unbeknown to intelligence, secret jigs for the manufacture of Me 262 jets. But the price had been high, of the twenty-one aircraft sent from the Thorpe Abbotts group, nine had been lost and ninety men were either dead, captured or missing. Of all the groups who had taken part, the 100th had suffered the most, the lead group protected by P-47s coming off much more lightly.

The Regensburg mission would be a turning point for the 100th, their luck would run out and very soon they would earn themselves the unsavoury nickname ‘The Bloody 100th‘, a name that would stick with them for the duration of the war and beyond.

For their action in this mission, the 100th (and the entire division) would earn themselves a Distinguished Unit Citation (D.U.C.) an award now becoming a regular feature amongst the brave crews of the Eighth Air Force.

In the Citation, the Secretary of War, G.C. Marshall said:

“The 3d Bombardment Division (H) is cited for outstanding performance of duty on action against the enemy on 17th August 1943. This unprecedented attack against one of Germany’s most important aircraft factories was the first shuttle mission performed in the theatre of operations and entailed the longest flight over strongly defended enemy territory yet accomplished to this date. For 4.5 hours the formation was subjected to persistent, savage assaults by large forces of enemy fighters…

…The high degree of success achieved is directly attributable to the extraordinary heroism, skill and devotion to duty displayed by the members of this unit.”

During the September, the USAAF was reorganised again, the 4th Bombardment Wing now becoming the 3rd Bomb Division, 13th Combat Wing, a move that heralded little more than a change in aircraft markings. September would also be a notable month for other reasons. The mission on the 6th to Stuttgart would be a disaster for the USAAF, a deep penetration mission that saw over 400 aircraft combine in the skies over Germany. It was during this mission that B-17 #42-30088 ‘Squawkin’ Hawk II‘ would suffer from head on attacks by Luftwaffe aircraft who pounded the B-17 with 20 mm cannon shells. In the attacks the co-pilot (F/O. Harry Edeburn) was fatally wounded, the bombardier and navigator Lt. Peter Delso and Lt. Russ Engel were both severely wounded and the pilot, Lt. Summer Reeder was sprayed with metal as the nose of the B-17 shattered. With poor control and no oxygen, Reeder dropped the aircraft some 14,000 ft at an unbelievable rate of around 300 mph, before playing cat and mouse with the Luftwaffe fighters who were determined to finish off the damaged aircraft. By singing and telling jokes, the severely injured Reeder assisted by the badly wounded navigator, manged to reach England and without brakes or hydraulics, managed to put the aircraft down on a fighter airfield in England.

‘Squawkin Hawk II‘ would go on to become the first 100th BG aircraft to complete 50 missions covering a staggering 47,720 combat miles. She returned to the US in May 1944 where she was eventually sold for scrap.

After completing 50 missions, “Squawkin’ Hawk II” was covered with autographs before being sent back to the US for retirement and eventual scrapping.(@IWM FRE 4124)

During this disastrous mission many aircraft would run out of fuel, five made for Switzerland including ‘Raunchy‘ from the 100th BG in which Joe Moloney, the ball turret gunner, would be killed whilst trying to ditch. He would take the dubious honour of being the first US airman killed in neutral Switzerland.

It was also at this month, that the 100th would suffer another major blow and to rub salt into the wounds, they would not even get credit for it.

After a cancelled mission on September 24th 1943, the men of the 100th were raised from their beds for a practice mission over the North Sea, a ‘mission’ that would test their ability as Pathfinders. With bombs still in the aircraft from the morning’s preparations, skeleton crews and semi prepared aircraft took off from several bases across East Anglia.

They were to form up with P-47s over the Wash and then fly out over the sea and practice bombing. When a collection of aircraft appeared on the horizon it was assumed by the bomber crews that it was the friendlies arriving at last. The reality of it was sickening. Diving out of the sun Luftwaffe fighters from JG 3/II attacked the formation, rallying 20mm cannon shells in to the B-17’s wings and bodies. One aircraft, #42-30259 “Damifino II” piloted by Lt. J. Gossage crashed into the sea. Five crewmen were plucked from the water by Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) hunting German ‘E’ boats, five men remained missing presumed dead.

Yet more difficult times lay ahead. The October raid to Munster saw only one of fourteen aircraft return home – 120 crewmen were missing in action that day. As aircraft were hit from head on, the formation split. Aircraft dodged falling debris and exploding B-17s as rockets were launched at near point-blank range in a forty-five minute frenzy of slaughter.

This disastrous mission would see the tally of lost airmen rise to 200 in just one week, the loss could not be hidden and Munster would simply add another black chapter to the already darkening book of the 100th’s war. Even the one year celebrations at the end of October failed to cover the feeling of loss shrouding the base, a feeling as thick as the autumn fogs preventing flying from taking place.

Thorpe Abbotts Emergency operations block

Ghostly reminders hidden amongst the trees. Thorpe Abbott’s Battle Headquarters.

The cold winter of 1943/44 saw more fog, rain and cold, the dismal weather allowing only a few missions to go ahead. But as spring warmed the ground, the softening of the German defences in preparation for Operation “Overlord” could begin. ‘Big Week’ of February 20th – 25th, saw the 100th in action again – Brunswick on the 21st. March saw another milestone etched in the annuals of history as the 100th took the war directly to the heart of Germany and Berlin. Over three days the 100th would target the German capital, the first on the 4th, followed by the 6th and then the 8th. The 4th would see the 100th achieve the first blood, shooting down their first German aircraft over Berlin.

Each attack brought new challenges. In the first mission the weather forced many aircraft to abandon the flight and return home, the 100th, persevering lost one aircraft that day. On the 6th, the loss was much higher, fifteen aircraft went down and then another single aircraft on the 8th; 170 men were missing from those missions.

For their action, the 100th would receive their second DUC, albeit a year later. In the General orders 3rd March 1945, No.14 it said:

“The 100th Bombardment Group (H) is cited for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy in connection with the initial series of successful attacks against Berlin, Germany, 4, 6, and 8 March 1944…”

For the remainder of the summer the 100th would attack oil fields. bridges, and gun positions. They would provide support at St. Lo and Brest in August. Marshalling yards would also come under the focus of the 100th, the Ardennes and the assault across the Rhine.

On 16th September 1944, a letter was sent by Major General Earl Partridge (U.S. Army) to the Commanding Officer of the 100thBG extending his gratitude to all the personnel at the station on their 200th mission. He concluded:

“Please extend to all Officers and Men on your station my appreciation for the outstanding work which they have done. Their achievements reflect the highest credit upon themselves and the Army Air Forces as a whole.”*¹

As part of the celebrations a B-17 was sent to London to collect a “huge supply of Whisky and Vodka”, no doubt a considerable amount was consumed that night.

Eventually the war would come to a close and the 100th perform their last mission on April 20th 1945. They would lick their wounds and prepare for a well-earned return to the US.

By the end of its war-time operations the 100th BG had flown nearly 9,000 sorties, in over 300 missions, dropping over 19,000 tons of bombs. They would be credited with the destruction of 261 enemy aircraft, with another 240 damaged or probable. They earned two DUCs and the French Croix de Guerre with palm. Far from being the worst in the 8th Air Force, the 100th’s reputation for accuracy, and overall low operational loses made it one of the most outstanding Bomb Groups of the Air Force.

Finally leaving in December 1945, the 100th would eventually return to serve over the skies of the UK once more as the 100th Refuelling Wing based at nearby RAF Mildenhall.

After the 100th departed, Thorpe Abbots was returned to RAF ownership, no further military flying took place and the site remained inactive. Eventually in 1956 the airfield was closed and the site then sold off to private ownership. Many of the runways and perimeter tracks were removed for hardcore, and the buildings fell into disrepair.

Today, the site houses a museum utilising the old original control tower and a small number of other buildings. Tucked neatly away amongst the beautiful countryside of Norfolk, this museum is more than worthy of a visit.

The Tower has Commanding Views.

Visible remains of the airfield are restricted to mainly perimeter track, but remnants can be found with a little effort. In the woods to the east of the tower, buried in amongst the undergrowth, are the remains of buildings including the Battle Headquarters which would have commanded excellent views across the field in the case of attack.

The perimeter track has been partially utilised and turned into road, from which larger sections can be seen. A number of admin blocks, stores and a range of accommodation buildings are now engulfed by trees and vegetation but still survive and are all very much on private land.

Remnants of the perimeter track at Thorpe Abbotts.

Whilst many buildings remain hidden away, the dedication of a few volunteers keep the memories and lives of those who gave so much alive, and enable the history of Thorpe Abbots airfield to continue on for future generations.

Sources and further reading.

*¹ 100th BG Quartermaster Log via their website August 2019.

Freeman, Roger A. “The Mighty Eighth” (1986) Arms and Armour

Arnold, Henry. H., “Contrails, My War Record: A history of World War Two as recorded at U.S. Army Air Force Station #139, Thorpe Abbots, near Diss, county of Norfolk, England” (1947) World War Regimental Histories Book 194.

Further details of the 100th BG and information about the museum can be found on the museum website.

Aviation Trails

A trail around Britain's historical airfields many lost to developers or mother nature herself. Come along on a voyage of discovery and nostalgia.

memorial

Major George Preddy – 352nd FG – A tragic loss.

RAF Bodney – High casualties and Heroic acts (Part 2).

RAF Bodney – High casualties and Heroic acts (Part 1).

RAF Bodney (Station 141)

RAF Scampton – What does the future hold?

My Dad – My Hero 25th June 2018

Duns Cemetery – Berwickshire.

Amy Johnson CBE. – Herne Bay – Trail 44.

RAF Macmerry – The darker side of war.

RAF Macmerry (Tranent / Penston).

The Development of Britain’s Airfields (Part 8).

Watch Offices.

Summary

RAF Thorpe Abbotts – home to the ‘Bloody 100th’.

Thorpe Abbotts (Station 139).

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RAF Bodney (Station 141)

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RAF Macmerry (Tranent / Penston).

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Watch Offices.

Summary

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Thorpe Abbotts (Station 139).

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