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History1935 1942
CHAPTER ONE
1935-1942
Royal Air Force Brize Norton came into
being as a result of the RAF expansion
programme of the early nineteen-
thirties. The original site chosen for
the
aerodrome was some two or three miles
further south, near the village of
Clanfield, but it was soon discovered
that this area was liable to flooding
in
the winter months, so the final choice
fell on an area of farmland bounded by
the villages of Brize Norton, Carterton
and Black Bourton. In fact, Carterton
was to have been the name of the
airfield, but this was changed to avoid
any
possible confusion with Cardington in
Bedfordshire.
Work began in 1935 along well
established lines, with an almost
circular grass
landing area approximately 1,000 yards
across, with a domestic and technical
site in the north west corner, which
included 5 `B' type hangars. Four
further
hangar areas were also provided,
dispersed at various points around the
perimeter and each consisting of two
hangars.
The station was allocated to No 23(T)
Group, and was officially opened on
13th
August 1937. On 7th September, the
first flying unit arrived, when No 2
Flying
Training School (FTS) arrived from
Digby, Lincs, bringing with it a
collection
of Hart Trainers, Audax and Fury
aircraft. In fact, much of the building
work
was still unfinished at this time, with
personnel being housed in temporary
wooden huts, but this did not prevent 2
FTS from rapidly settling back down to
its task of aircrew training, which
included detachments to armament
practice
camps.
The first such detachment since the
unit arrived at Brize Norton ended in
disaster, when the entire formation of
aircraft en route to Penrhos in Wales
was
lost after flying into bad weather.
Thereafter, bombing practice was moved
to
Chesil Beach in Dorset, with the
aircraft operating from nearby
Warmwell. Here
again, tragedy struck, with one
aircraft coming down in the sea, the
pilot being
killed.
Accidents like this were an all too
familiar part of life at a training
establishment, and Brize Norton units
certainly had their fair share right up
to
the end of the last war. During these
early days at 2 FTS, at least two more
Hart Trainers were lost during local
flying, killing trainee pilots in both
cases. However, there was certainly a
lighter side to life, and the unit was
not
without its quota of characters,
amongst whom were Flight Sergeant
Lillywhite,
an instructor, who used to drive
himself around in a steam car, and a
wing
commander, who regularly came to work
on a horse! In fact, this latter mode
of
transport was even used for towing the
biplanes on occasions.
The next major development occured on
10th October 1938, with the
forming of No 6 Maintenance Unit, which
occupied one hangar on the main site
and
all the previously mentioned dispersed
sites. The main work of the unit, which
was to remain largely unaltered for the
next thirteen years, was the
modification, storage and reissue of a
wide variety of aircraft types.
6 MU was part of 41 Group, Maintenance
Command, and the first aircraft to
arrive
for storage were two Saunders Roe Cloud
amphibians, which were flown in from
Ansty on 30th January 1939. By the end
of the following month, more than 200
aircraft had been received, including
Swordfish, Battle, Tiger Moth,
Gladiator,
etc. In fact, as time passed, the
variety of aircraft handled increased
to
encompass almost every type in RAF
service up to the end of the war, and
this
will be dealt with in more detail later
on.
Another aircraft operator on the
station at this time was the Station
Flight,
which was one of the very few to be
issued with a de Havilland Don with the
arrival of L2415 during 1938. This
aircraft had orginally been intended as
a
turreted general purpose trainer,
before policy changes resulted in its
relegation to the rather more mundane
task of communications. However, its
service life was short and all
remaining examples had been grounded by
1940.
On Saturday, 20th May 1939, 2 FTS was
host to the public at what was to be
the
last Empire Air Day. This was a very
different affair from the air displays
of
today; there was no static display of
aircraft and the public were not even
allowed onto the airfield, the flying
display being centred on that part of
the
Carterton to Black Bourton road which
used to run along the western end of
the
aerodrome.
Of special interest was the first
appearence of 2 FTS's new Harvards and
Oxfords, which were just beginning to
replace the biplanes. All the flying
was
performed by local machines with the
exception of fly-pasts by a Blenheim
and a
Battle and a display by a Gauntlet. The
now familiar instructor/pupil act was
performed in a Hart Trainer piloted by
Squadron Leader Broughton and Pilot
Officer P. Kewliar!
However, more changes for 2 FTS were on
the horizon and the Harvards were
destined to be short-lived on the unit.
In September 1939, the title of the
unit
was changed to No 2 Service Flying
Training School (SFTS), and gradually
over
the next few months all the Harvards
and remaining biplanes were withdrawn
as
the Oxford took over as sole
equipment.
The onset of war brought feverish
activity with the camouflaging of the
airfield
being completed on the day of the
declaration, and three day later, two
squadrons of Blenheim IVs, Nos 101 and
110, arrived from their home bases on a
"scatter" exercise which kept
them at Brize for just a week.
Other than this and a marked increase
in the number of pupils passing through
2
SFTS, the early days of the war
affected the day to day life of the
station very
little, although 6 MU made its own
direct contribution to the war effort
in
early 1940 by despatching Gladiators to
Finland and Blenheims to Jugoslavia. On
l lth June 1940, the headquarters and
part of the flying section of 15 SFTS
moved in from Middle Wallop with
Harvards and Oxfords whilst waiting for
its
ultimate base at Kidlington to be made
ready. The rest of the unit was split
between South Cerney and Chipping
Norton, and shortly afterwards it
became
solely Harvard equipped with a total of
28 aircraft at Brize Norton. On 28th
July, a 2 SFTS Oxford with Sgt Adkinson
and Sgt Ward aboard, was shot down by
an
unknown enemy aircraft during night
flying over the satellite aerodrome at
Akeman Street.
Early in August, a photographic
reconnaissance flight over Brize was
made by the
Luftwaffe as a prelude to what was to
be a disastrous air-raid which had a
profound effect on operations. The raid
took place on Friday, 16th August, when
at around teatime, two Ju 88s appeared
in the circuit. Previously published
accounts of the raid have talked of the
aircraft flying round the circuit with
their wheels down in an attempt to fool
the defences into mistaking them for
friendly aircraft, but this is not born
out by eye-witness accounts. What is
certain is that the aircraft made a low-
level attack and headed straight for
the
main hangar complex, dropping a total
of 32 bombs including two 250 kilo
bombs,
one of which skidded off a hard-
standing and came to rest perilously
near an
ammunition store, fortunately failing
to explode. However, one hangar, packed
full of Oxfords, received a direct hit,
destroying all the aircraft inside. In
all, 46 aircraft were destroyed,
comprising 35 Oxfords and 11 Hurricanes
lodging
with 6 MU. In addition, a further 7
Oxfords were damaged; both Ju. 88s
escaped
unchallenged.
One result of this raid was that within
a couple of days 2 SFTS had dispersed
their aircraft to relief landing
grounds at Southrop and Akeman Street,
and
although Brize Norton was to be bombed
on three more occasions no further
aircraft were lost as a result. Also,
on the same day that 2 SFTS completed
its
dispersion, 15 SFTS moved out to
Kidlington.
Throughout the remainder of 1940 and
most of 1941, the work of 2 SFTS
continued
as before, though the nature of that
work continued to take a heavy toll in
terms of casualties from flying
accidents. A visit to the churchyard at
Black
Bourton reveals just how many men lost
their lives before they ever got to
combat, with a large proportion of
European and Commonwealth airmen
amongst
them.
One potentially dangerous situation,
which fortunately came to a safe
conclusion, concerned a pilot on a solo
handling flight in an Oxford. Having
got
airborne, he discovered that he had
undercarriage trouble, so, being unable
to
communicate with the ground, he had the
idea of throwing a note out of the
aeroplane! This he did, with the result
that the circuit was cleared for him to
make a safe landing! Another lucky
escape came the way of the crew of a
Wellington which came down in the camp
area, coming to rest on the Sergeants'
Mess tennis court! No injuries were
sustained.
Yet another Oxford unit to operate from
Brize for a brief period of time was No
1525 Beam Approach Training Flight,
which was present from 18th February
until
16th July 1942. It was during this
period, on the 14th March to be exact,
that 2
SFTS finally became 2 (P)AFU, still
with Oxfords, although it also had one
or
two Ansons on strength. Its job was now
to provide short courses for Dominion
personnel until, on 14th July 1942, it
was disbanded, thus bringing to an end
nearly five years of powered aircraft
pilot training activities.
Although the major flying activities of
Brize Norton were now to enter a very
different, and certainly better known,
phase, the work of 6 MU continued
unabated with large numbers of aircraft
passing through their hands. Amongst
the
many types being handled there were
numbers of Douglas Bostons, many of
which
were destined to sit out on the
airfield for several years, plus
Hampdens,
Beauforts, Defiants, Whirlwinds,
Blenheims, Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Oxfords,
Tiger Moths, and even such rarities as
an Avro Commodore (HH979) and Monospar
ST.25 (X9334), impressed into
military use at the outbreak of war,
both of which spent short periods in
storage before being re-issued for
service.
However, the type which was probably
present in the greatest numbers at that
time was the Fairey Battle, brought
here after its premature withdrawal
from
bombing duties, following its heavy
mauling at the hands of the Luftwaffe
in
France. By now, the airfield had spread
considerably into the surrounding
countryside, and a large wood to the
east of Brize Norton village was the
home
for around 60 Battles for two years or
more. Finally, a sheet-metal worker on
6
MU, who still lives in the area today,
was detailed to carry out modifications
to all the aircraft, which consisted of
cutting holes down through the floor
and
installing periscopes. He is not sure
if this was ever put to use, but well
remembers the aircraft being eventually
overhauled and despatched overseas for
further use, presumably in the training
role in Canada.
The MU also suffered its share of
accidents and incidents, the worst
being to an
Anson engaged in ferrying pilots around
which crashed on approach to Brize,
killing all 5 on board. Then, on 22nd
December, 1940, a Hurricane crashed in
a
snow-storm, killing the pilot. However,
all incidents did not have such tragic
results, as the following, which is
well remembered locally, will show.
A Spitfire was carrying out ground runs
on the 28th February 1941 with a Czech
or Polish pilot in the cockpit, when it
inadvertently took-off with a 6 MU man
still lying across the tail! A very
cautious circuit was flown and a safe
landing made, the tail-hanger being
none the worse for his experience; in
fact
he still lives locally. Not so
fortunate was the pilot of a Defiant
whose
aircraft hit No 4 hangar and was
destroyed.
The spread of the airfield brought
about some interesting situations.
Several
small hangars suitable for two or three
Spitfire-sized aircraft were erected in
Carterton and other areas and disguised
to look like farm buildings. It thus
became a common site to see aircraft
taxiing or being towed along the
village
roads and country lanes on their way to
and from these dispersed sites. Today,
just one of these small hangars
remains, long since converted for use
as a
garage workshop. Despite its new
frontage, however, a walk round the
back of the
building reveals its unmistakable
outline and the original doors, now
fixed
permanently open.
Another feature which must have caused
a few headaches was the Witney to
Fairford railway line, which, following
Brize Norton's first period of growth,
found itself, for a few hundred yards,
running inside the airfield boundary
with
a taxiway crossing it! This was
resolved by the provision of one, later
two,
aircraft/train level crossing, and
although the railway finally closed in
the
early nineteen-sixties the remains of
the crossings can still be seen on the
airfield today.
On the 15th July 1942, the Heavy Glider
Conversion Unit (HGCU) was formed at
Brize Norton, a move which was to
eventually result in the station
assuming a
front-line operational role.
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