The Ghost of RAF Laarbruch

[dicksorchard]

Just Got back from a trip to Dussledorf via Weeze Airport and was fascinated by the place ...since found out it was in actual fact once Raf Laarbruch .

Was wondering if any of you guys/gals knew exactly who now owns the old base buildings ?

The German government or British government ? How did it work Uk base on German soil ?

Was the land leased ?

Just cannot believe such an amazing place is going to waste ...ie the houses etc .

Such a lot of history but found the place a bit eerie ? Ghostly even ?

went past an old farm and there was the remains of a helicopter and large wings from an aircraft with raf logo on the side just resting in a paddock .

Noticed a museum there ( is it still open ? ) and there appeared to be a campsite utilising old bunkers as accomadation just a bit further down the road .

would really apreciate any info .......

[WE992]

There is a website for the museum if you google it! It makes me laugh that they call the airport Dusseldorf!

[spheroid]

Whats really funny is that the old crab base near Newquay is now called "Cornwall International Airport". I think its International because they fly to Cardiff from there

[matkat]

Happy memories XV 1978-81, Weeze, little city towering inferno and the windmill in Kaeveler(Sp) great times and great friends, some of whom I still see today.

[A2QFI]

I was there flying F4s in the 70s, in the Harrier sim in the 90s and I am re-visiting next weekend. I will report back. My B&B is in Weeze, run by an ex-RAF policeman. There is a museum, in one of the former churches.

The cost of building the airfield and accommodation was funded by NATO and when it was closed it was handed back to them so what happens there is a NATO policy matter. In the 70s there was a rumour that the airfield has been specefied and paid for in yards, feet and inches but was built in metres and cms, giving the contractor an extra 8% profit on the deal - an urban myth perhaps?

Royal Air Force Museum Laarbruch-Weeze e.V. (http://www.laarbruch-museum.net/ENG/index_ENG.htm)

I am hoping to enjoy grilled 1/2 chicken at Mama's in Weeze or Im Fushsbrau near JHQ. The memorable pizzeria near the Steintur in Goch is still there but the wood fired oven has gone so the pizzas are just average not exceptional! Nothing beats wood fired!

[Bladdered]

A2QFI

The single rooms in the officers mess were charged at sub standard rates because they were below the minimum size requirement and the rumour was when I was there 81-84 that the accommodation had indeed been built using metric. I thought I knew the area really well - decided to take the family to 'Dusseldorf' Airport 3 years ago on the way home from a holiday across the border in Holland and got horribly lost in Weeze, ending up in Kaevelar.

Wonder whether Willys taxis survived - many a happy hour where Willys delivered chicken and chips for 20!! Wonderful days.

Ed

[cazatou]

A2QFI

I always understood that every building at Laarbruch was built to 90% spec -which is just about yards instead of metres.

Nice Camp though.

[BEagle]

Heard the same rumour about the yards/metres issue - and that it only came to light when something which was supposed to fit, didn't!

Contractors made a nice little earner thanks to their 36/39.37 conversion ratio....allegedly!

[Rigga]

The nice new glass Terminal building at Weeze Airport was actually first built in 1938 as a Submarine Pen at Bremen. It was transferred to Laarbruch to become No1 Hangar when the airfield was being constructed in 1955.

I worked in One Hangar on Buccaneers 1980-82, Chinooks 1993-94 and finally on Harriers 1996-99 as RAF Laarbruch struggled to close. All happy times!

I'm going back there next month to help celebrate a friend's 50th birthday at his estate near Goch.

[Background Noise]

More nostalgia here: Niederrhein Aviation Society - Portal to Airport Weeze(Niederrhein) and beyond... (http://www.sgniederrhein.eu/index.html)

[NutLoose]

Do a you tube search for films of Laarbruch now, but do one for Bruggen to and see how it has fallen on hard times under Army use, The most unbelievable is Wildenrath, that has been turned into a train testing facility and bears no ressemblence to an Airfield at all, I could never imagine anything ever happening like that in the UK, hell we cannot even decide what to do with Newton, to drive past the Married Quarters rotting away abandoned is heart breaking when some people struggle for a roof over their heads..... They are all on you Tube..

Often wondered if the Rattie is still outside Bruggen serving the superb Jagerschnitzels......

BTW in case anyone misses them, did you know you can order the likes of Bratwursts and Bockwursts off ebay from Germany for delivery to the UK! Postage is a bit expensive but I treat myself once in a while :)

eBay UK Shop - fleischerei-kirchberg: thüringer, eichsfelder, bratwurst (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/fleischerei-kirchberg)

[Cornerstone958]

Or Aldi:D:D

[stackedup]

........ and where did the name Laarbruch come from ? I never saw a town of that name while I was there.

[talk_shy_tall_knight]

Aldi bratties seconded. :D

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Stackedup, I still have an old 50,000 of the airfield from the time when I were t'last Sqn QHI on't base.

The only hint of the name is a small watercourse near the threshhold of 27 - I suppose they didn't want to give to much away to any invader equipped with ADAC road-atlases, eh? A bit like calling the F4 base near Sobernheim "Pferdsfeld" - which with my limited Gerbil I take to mean "horsefield" or pasture.

[Been Accounting]

If you look on Google Earth there are lots of Panoramio photos dotted all over Laarbruch.

e.g. Panoramio - Photo of Flughafen Laarbruch - Kino der einst stationierten englischen Truppen (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/370269)

You can fine Laar on Google Maps. (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=h&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF8&ll=51.604825,6.20616&spn=0.016579,0.034676&z=15)

[Foxy Loxy]

Spheroid, may I suggest you follow this link? Newquay Cornwall Airport - Welcome to Newquay Cornwall Airport (http://www.newquaycornwallairport.com/) I think you'll find it educational. ;)

[matkat]

Rigga always said our pathes had crossed I was an AmechP in XV 1978-81

[HTB]

Just had a nostalgic peep at the airfield; Google Earth shows the II (AC) ARF (south east corner of the field) south of the hangar as pile of rubble - what a waste - but the old PBF and most HASs still intact (as are the other 3 sites). The natty little 9-hole golf course seems to have gone walkies as well - have they no sense of propriety!

My old MQ is still standing, and both schools appear to be intact - and the Astra Cinema, SHQ and O'Mess.

The urban myth about measurements certainly had some resonance when I was there (84-91; 16, II and Sim); the roads felt narrower and the OMQs were a shade smaller than their counterparts in Goch (and only had a half cellar). So paid for in metres and built in yards could have netted Otto a fine profit.

[Climebear]

........ and where did the name Laarbruch come from ? I never saw a town of that name while I was there.

IIRC correctly, it was the name of the forest on the site (before we built an airfield there).

[Roger Sofarover]

Wow that brings back memories! I was there 80-83. Little city, the christmas markets in Goch, going to Well lakes for picnics at the weekend, 30 hours in an S6 respirator. Bye the way their was a ghost there!

[foldingwings]

an urban myth perhaps

Not an urban myth at all. Laarbruch was built post-WW2 by the Germans as part of their reparation for the war. As it was in the British Sector of West Germany it was allocated to the RAF. When it was discovered that the contracter had hived off a substantial financial gain by building it in metres (or vice versa, I can never remember) the German government was so embarrassed that he was prosecuted and sent down for a considerable number of years (30 if I recall). If you took the ring road to the north side of the airfield in the 70s, when I was on XV, it was a one-way traffic system because the road was built (outside of the spec) too narrow for passing traffic! Also, all the buildings were smaller than planned and consequently, so were the rooms in Blocks 13, 13A & 14 (OM) hence the reduced rent for livers-in!

Mind you, all that aside, it was a bloody good place for a party!!!!!

Foldie

[BEagle]

Wonder whether Willys taxis survived - many a happy hour where Willys delivered chicken and chips for 20!! Wonderful days

Would that be the same, ever willing Willi who used to be a driver at Wilders before it closed, than moved to Laarbruch? What an utter gent - many a time he used to ferry us and all our duty free around the base and down to the hotel. He was there in the late '80s and when I came back to the FunBus some 4 years later he was still working as a driver. A bit older and greyer, but the same Willi!

A bit like the old 'Sons of Syd' we used to employ back in the '60s and '70s!

[Rigga]

There is a stream running through the forest opposite the camp gates called the LAAR - it is the Laar-bruch (Brook)

(and no, I don't know what Laar means!)

Willy's Taxis are still going but greatly reduced to cope with the lack of his former regular NATO customers - and I dont think he's the same guy who was at Wild-Parts?


MATKAT - I used to spend loads of very dark winter evenings crouching in small cold holes around XV, listening to the telephone lines for the latest jokes ("Can ya send a rover over - over?") and clutching an SLR for warmth!
We'd probably only recognise each other if we wore S10's and Green suits!

Happy Days?

[AdLib]

Spot on Rigga. I think Laar is "glade in the woods", or sumfink like that.

Was there for an airshow a few years ago and had a trip round the airfield. Very sad to see the MQs/OM abandoned. Very happy to have a good shufti round Bronze sector again.

Always was impressed by the station motto ... "Ein' Feste Burg", which you German speakers will know means "A Party Town!"

Some happy days Rigga!

[NutLoose]

If you want to see the most staggering change, check out this aerial shot of Wildenrath!

Wildenrath 41844 Wegberg, Heinsberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany - Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Wildenrath+41844+Wegberg,+Heinsberg,+Nordrhein-Westfalen,+Germany&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=15.45591,53.085938&ie=UTF8&cd=2&geocode=FeMZDAMd9H9eAA&split=0&ll=51.112468,6.225901&spn=0.032007,0.103683&t=h&z=14)

[HTB]

The German word "bruch" has many meanings, most of them nouns relating to "break" - a break, a fracture, etc. It also means "quarry", as in hole in the ground. The local area is littered with shallow quarry workings; could this be the reason for the bruch part of the name? No idea what Laar means though - could be som German geezer's name.

I seem to remember from cycling around the locality (very flat, very easy) a hamlet called am Bruch; no pariculalrly noticeable stream, only the earth scrapings.

[HTB]

Further to my last, memories were revived, so a liitle more research done (I know, should have done it beforehand, but I' getting on and can't quite remember why I came here). There is a hamlet on the east edge of "boar woods", on the back cycle/walk route to Kevelaer named Laar (the aforementioned am Bruch is just south of Wemb). I can't see the stream being associated with Laar, as it passes through and around more significant settlements - which steers me toward the "quarry" option.

[aw ditor]

Was at Laarbruch 58' to 60' when 16 Sqn was revived as a BI8 unit from it's Venom predecessor at Celle. Took over 69s' hangar as they left for Malta with PR3s' and other Sqns' were 31 on PR7s' and 68 on NF11s'. (Re-numbered as 5' eventually with Javelins.) Ring road was one way even then. Record for one lap was held by a Fg.Off. "S" on the Sqn motor bike. It was rumoured the Eng Wing Hangars were ex U-Boat pre-fab. sheds from Hamburg or was it Bremen? Vast numbers of Magirus lorries stored for a theoretically mobile 2TAF and the then National Service airmen alledgedly "leaked" them over the porous Dutch border to be broken down as spares. Pay Parades a nightmare with Sterling, Marks, Guilders, and BAFs'.

[CirrusF]

No idea what Laar means though - could be som German geezer's name.

Laar means a wood or glade in some dialects of German.

[exrotarybooty]

I was lucky enough to be OC Supply at RAF Laarbruch from 1987 to 1990, and it was a great tour. We lived in a large MQ in nearby Goch. The Supply Squadron was located next to 1 Sqn RAF Regiment, if memory serves, who lost two guys in an IRA attack.

The Supply guys had a big reunion there a couple of years back which was a huge success, and was handy to get to from Stanstead!

ERB

[rarelyathome]

Please check your PMs.

[adrian mole]

Nutt - You don't have to go on e-bay to get your Bratties/Frikadelen etc... Just get yourself down to Aldi. They sell top of the range Nierstiener there too at a good price.

[A2QFI]

I have just got back from a weekend in Weeze and a visit to former RAF Laarbruch.

The whole airfield was bought as a going concern, as handed over by the RAF, for 11 Million Euros, to some Dutch businessmen. After a slightly iffy start all is now going well. Ryanair have a base there and are adding another aircraft any day soon. They fly to 35 destinations from there. The old ASF hangar was stripped down to the skeleton and re-clad and floored to make a very pleasant terminal. They have even retained the mezzanine gallery where the admin offices used to be, they are now food outlets.

There are 4,100 parking spaces; 50 euros for 2 weeks in the long stay.

'The officer's quarters have been converted to gas central heating and are occupied by married Polish workers and the single accommodation is used by single Poles. They all work in Local industry across the border in Holland.

The officer's mess is abandoned and decaying fast. The AMQs are scheduled for demolition. A Dutch firm has taken over about 1/3rd of the domestic area (power station, swimming pool, Malcolm Club area etc) and are using it for emergency training for police and fire crews. They are using the Sgts Mess as their HQ and messing facility for the students and it is in excellent condition. The firm have built a short section of M Way and a railway line and can simulate major emergencies. They also set fire to some of the buildings to do fire rescue training.

I had a very interesting 2 hour tour, organised thru the Museum which is in the former C of E church next to the Astra. Got to the North side and visited the former Special Weapons store and a HAS with a privately owned F 104 in it. Excellent condition and appearance but no engine!

The Museum has an enormous amount of memorabilia and also has Bloodhound and Rapier missile, batteries, a ZPU2 AAA gun and Canberra and Buccaneer cockpits. They have access to a complete Jaguar airframe but lack the funds to move it Germany - any offers of help appreciated!

Nice to see the place is still alive but memories of Tacevals and all the RAF and military activity are fading fast. Nice pictures in the Terminal building and a very well run museum are all that there is to remind one of the 'old days'

Many places and watering holes in Weeze have closed, Mama's famous chickens are no more! The Goch quarters have been sold off and look good and well maintained as they are now privately owned. The Kasserne at Goch and has closed and is slowly rotting away, its function having been taken over and moved to a new facility at Kalkar

Anybody who needs further info and/or a very good British run pub with rooms in Weeze, please PM me for details.

PS. Both the Wilkinson PeaceSwords awarded to the station have 'disappeared' during the rundown/closure. Those who run the Museum would welcome information as to their whereabouts!

[Walrus75]

The Goch quarters have been sold off and look good and well maintained as they are now privately owned.

Erks ex-MQs out at Goch:
Panoramio - Photo of Goch 2007 - alte Engländersiedlung (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12033702)

Top road is Niers Strasse, bottom road (at an angle) is Feld Strasse. Mine is (was!) the end of terrace house just to the right of the big tree at center, upper-right of the picture (grid ref 7,8 :)). No.9 Niers Strasse; ahhh, what a great 4 years from '86 - '90.

Don't suppose they made any mention of the PAC (Protected Avionics Center), and what it's being used for nowadays, during your guided tour?

This site is worth a viewing for a bit of the old nostalgia:- SimpleViewer (http://www.urban-travel.org/laarbruch/index.html)

:{

[matkat]

Walrus, thanks for the memory, I lived in the towering inferno in Weeze but my mate lived at 20 Feld Strasse, XV sqn 78-81.

[A2QFI]

No mention was made of the present function of the PAC. I would have thought that it is incapable of easy or economic demolition! It is still there and in a part of the camp that one can legally access as a member of the public. It is confusingly tagged on some Google shots as a "Nuclear Bunker" - understandable bearing mind what it looks like! It would obviously make good secure storage but many people who want this facility are renting bunkers in the new, but never used, ammunition dump at Twisteden, just South of Laarbruch/Wemb.It was completed in the same week that the Berlin Wall came down and was never put into service.

[Bus429]

From its title, I thought this post was about the ghost of Laarbruch: Herman the German.
By the way, I'm not ex-military; I worked at Weeze a few years ago with LTU looking after V-Bird, a now-defunct Dutch low-cost operator.
The LTU guys mentioned Herman the German and ghostly goings-on on the far side of the field.:eek:

[Riskman]

..all is now going well. Ryanair have a base there..

Is that Laarbruch-Dusseldorf? Or Munster International?:E

Money Central - Times Online - WBLG: Twenty reasons never to fly Ryanair (http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/03/20-reasons-not-to-fly-ryanair.html)

[Riskman]

The AMQs are scheduled for demolition.

Ah yes, the AMQs that the staish decreed would be cleaned to a full march-out standard even though no-one was moving in, ever. 3 nights B&B in a nice hotel in Kevelaer for me and Mrs R at public expense. Cheers Clive:ugh:

[Walrus75]

Thanks for the response A2QFI. When the PAC was built there were concerns about how long it would stay above ground level due to the water table in the area, which is alledgedly why both it and the one at Bruggen were built above ground... it might well not be a problem in 50 years :).

Hmm, 'Herman the German'... was that over on 20 sqn's HAS site, near Pork Chop Hill: isn't there meant to be a WWII bunker under Pork Chop Hill which was found to have the remains of german soldiers in it when it was discovered in the '70s or '80s?

[Rigga]

"Clive" (a knob) did the same for me and my tribe - but we got the little slum opposite the Railway Station! The place looked awful - but the family were okay!

I thought the war graves were actually for Russian POWs?

Not looking forward to flying Dire-air (does that sound like diarrhoea?) into Weeze International in a few days time.

[matkat]

Walrus, there is indeed a bunker it was next to the old glider club hangar do not remember it being called "pork chop" hill though I left Laarparts in 1981 it could be memory fade!! when I was there you could actually get in the bunker I went in once and remember there being military style paintings on the walls but from what era they were maybe from I don"t know. But as I was there during the time scale you mention I do not recall any bodies being found inside, for clarrification on the bunker location it was directly opposite the old XV HAS site on the other side of the runway you would pass it if you left the XV site and turned right and was about half way to the XVI/QRA site.

Rigga, I really need to take a trip back as this thread has got me all nostalgic, had a look at the FR website and it appears they are no longer flying there from PIK, though I was on XV the XVI lads had a reunion there 2 years ago but could not make it as I was in Norway, must try though.

[Rigga]

Nostagia trips!

RAF Laarbruch Web site: (Relatively new due to MSN Clubs closures - Youll have to log-In or Join this site)

Elite Clubs Free Online Community - Please Login (http://clubs.eliteweb.cc/?action=club_menu)


Weeze Website: this has been going for a few years. Started by School kids??

weeze : WEEZE (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/weeze/)


Laarbruch Flying club:

LFC Home (http://www.laarfly.co.uk/)

[NutLoose]

Walrus75

Hmm, 'Herman the German'... was that over on 20 sqn's HAS site, near Pork Chop Hill: isn't there meant to be a WWII bunker under Pork Chop Hill which was found to have the remains of german soldiers in it when it was discovered in the '70s or '80s?

That is correct, the bottom left on the site next to the Aerial mast that never existed, made a mad run to it one morning in a misty early light after happily wandering along the fence and disturbing one seriously peeved off boar mit young family.. she or he, ( I didn't hang around to ascertain the sex) following along behind at a fair old rate.

Used to work in it on the early morning and people including myself always swore you could here voices, sitting alone in a jag at dawn prepping it with the doors open and the mist swirling in whilst you listened to the voices got the old hair up on the back of the neck one morning :ooh::ooh:

[BEagle]

It could just be that some power cable or 'long lead' is acting as a tuned circuit and picking up a local AM radio broadcast through some quirk of hertz?

When I was in Barksdale on 'Giant Voice '79', whilst crewing in to our mighty tin triangle we were subjected to such an effect if the crew chief's lead was plugged in. Not some local hee-haw $hit-kicking station, but this being the Deep South, we were treated to some bible-bashing god-botherer in full flow about The Vengeance of The Lord.....:uhoh:

When Radio One first started, there was a lamp post on my walk from school to the boarder's house which used to resonate and emit mysterious music and Tony Blackburn :hmm: on occasions - weird.

Back in the 1960s, very faint 'voices' started coming from our TV set even though it was switched off and unplugged. The local TV chap said that it was probably a case of resonance - the voices were BBC World Service.

However, back in the 1950s, Merryfield talk down would often boom out over our little 12" Bush TV - but we were only about half a mile from the transmitter site.

Often these things have simple explanations!

[A2QFI]

I remember during long boring pre-start checks in the F4, stude droning thru Flip cards, we used to get Radio 4 on the intercomm. This was probably from the 40 or 50 feet of walk-about long the lead the start crew used.

[Green Flash]

Berluddy hell Heb, sounds a bit like life on the edge! Got any more stories? And for that matter, has anyone got any tales of good/bad/indifferent/lucky/unlucky or just plain wierd accomodation experienced in the line of duty?

[Laarbruch72]

Let's face it, if that was in 2005 that wasn't "in the line of duty". It was just squatting. :}
No big deal I suppose, as no-one is ever going to use those blocks, but let's not dress it up as something noble!

[BEagle]

Hebridean Jocky - are you saying that, as a professional pilot, you were obliged to be a squatter due to low pay?

What sort of an airline would ever force that on its employees...:eek:

[NutLoose]

The last five airlines that I have worked for bar one have gone bust.


Take god care

HJ

Remind me never to get a job at any Airline you work for... :\

[Cyprus countrybred]

We visited Wildenrath a few years back and altho the whole air terminal had been demolished, there was still a parking slot in the adjacent car park marked "DAMO". Suspect it's still there. You always had to drive over a railway line to get to the front of the terminal anyway, even when it was an airfield.

Coinicidentally, my husband was on a visit to Bruggen after Wildenrath was closed, one of the LECs drove him over there just in time to see his old workplace, the FDC (Freight Distribution Centre) being knocked down. Coincidence or what?

cc

[Rigga]

Well I went back to Weeze International / Airport Niederrhein / Dusseldorf Weeze Airport for a long weekend to celebrate a mates 50th Birthday and Me, Mrs Rigga and one of the baby Rigga's thoroughly enjoyed it.

We all enjoyed once more "Echte Deutsche" hospitality. We struggled with our bad german language again and made some embarrassing mistakes. Great.

Driving on the wrong side again - Schnittzels, Pommes, Mayo, Saurkraut, Kassler...the lot!

Walks in Goch centrum and a drink in the Market Square. A walk around Weeze including the Tierpark. Pictures of "our house" in Gocher Strasse.

Really good party with the birthday boy's neighbours, social clubs and in-laws doing gigs to ridicule him (for being english) and rewarding him with copious amounts of Bier, schnapps and Euro's

I managed to down about 8 to 10 homemade Rhubarb Schnapps with another fellow Brit, had quite a few biers and felt absolutely nothing in the morning! (how did I do that!???)

Took the girls and the hosts to Alpago's - and we were again remembered by the Red-haired old girl that runs the place! We only visit once every few years!

Visited the Laarbruch Museum (how sad is that!) to see their "new" additions of Bucc and Canberra Cockpits (they need some officers shoes for the dummies on show!) and their new outside exhibits of a Rapier set, a Bloodhound, and an ex-Iraqi Russian VSU (or sommink) gun - If its the one from 18 Sqn - I think I even have a picture of me sat on it in the middle of a desert!

- Absolutely brilliant!!

Ryanair? as bad as normal - but this time NO DELAYS!!!!!

That's how good this trip was!

Rigga

[wintys]

Lidl and Aldi bratties are full of preservatives and precooked, probably reclaimed, pork and in no way resemble the mighty fresh version. Best ones I ever tasted were from the Schnell Imbiss sited on the crossroads at Niederkruechten

[wintys]

Too young or was it too long ago? Was just a Pad Brat in Laarbruch 58-60 when the old man was on XVI flying B(I)8's so don't remember much other than impromptu parties started by single Aircrew in the OMQ's then the siren going off and them not knowing whether it was for real or not.

To the point though I do remember the Fuchsbau from a later life down the road from JHQ, fantastic half chicken but don't know if it is still there.

[A2QFI]

It still shows on Google Maps/Earth and I was going to go there during my recent visit to Weeze but didn't make it. Cracking chickens and frits, go easy on the Maggi savoury sauce! Mama's which provided a similar catering service in Weeze has long gone.

[hedgester]

Ahhhh how many shifts inside the PAC! :eek: Moved to the PAC at Bruggen when the Tonkas left Laarbruch! Would be expensive to maintain it for business use I suspect! A HAS would be a cheaper secure area :\

[NutLoose]

Rigga (http://www.pprune.org/members/122392-rigga)

Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Anglia
Posts: 351


(they need some officers shoes for the dummies on show!)



How Apt :ok:

[wintys]

A2QFI
I can confirm there is no "r", it would change the meaning totally. Glad to know it's still there, an incentive to divert on my next trip to the Nurburgring.

[A2QFI]

Google is your friend!

Fuchsbau Mönchengladbach - The Chicken in the wood - Startseite (http://www.fuchsbau-mg.de/)

It is down a turning (east) off raod from Hardt to Rheindahlen Garrison East Entrance.The turning has a German police emergency telephone on it, looks lke a cross between a dalek and a small lighthouse, about 5 ft tall.

[flugholm]

Let me add that I worked at NRN from when it started civil operations in early 2003 until summer 2008. I lived on-site in buildings No 13 and 68, in the southernmost corner of the airfield, behind the tennis court next to the officer's mess. Last summer these buildings, which belonged to the airport company, were sold off to the Dutch fireman training company, my colleagues and I were thrown out, and this was one of the reasons I quit.

Rest assured that Hermann the German is still blamed for all the spooky things that happen on this airfield, e. g. inexplicable power outages, the tower experiencing R/T failures, Dutch low-cost airlines going bankrupt, weird airport opening hours, and severe headaches after barbeques.

[95i]

Interested in RAF Laarbruch history?

Please take a look at my flippable Anglo-German book:
Laarbruch Chronik (http://goo.gl/4vVihs)

Now it works on Ipads as well. ;)

[Speedywheels]

Link doesn't work on my iPad - shame

[95i]

Sorry, the format doesn't work on Ipad and the like.:ooh:

[glad rag]

Thank you for your time and efforts 95i, that really is a quite remarkable presentation indeed!


:D:D:D:D

[Speedywheels]

Now had the chance to view the link on a PC - excellent history of Laarbruch, very well done :D

[neilmac]

My first visit to Laarbruch was with 41(F) Sqn from Coltishall in 1988 we operated out of 2 Sqn PBF. Last visit to Weeze Airport 2008 conducted a flying challenge/charity flight. Funny parking our PA28 on a dispersal surrounded by the forest. We were on a tight time schedule when departing and got caught in the morning Ryanair rush through customs!

NM

[Riskman]

I remember the micro brewery at Arcen just a few miles south of Laarbruch, on the R. Maas. They make over a dozen kinds of beer ranging from Trappist style ultra strong stuff to fairly light 'blond', all delicious. All the products were available in the bar next door. One of them was served in a glass boot and you had to surrender a shoe before being served. The shoe went into the freezer (ah those crazy Cloggies).

De Hertog Jan Proeberij was the name of the bar. Proeberij might translate as 'testing facility'; it certainly tested my ability to remain vertical. Happy days.

R

[oldmansquipper]

If Carlsberg did postings....

Without a doubt, my favourite.

Re: the Ghost..I was CFI of the gliding club (TRGC) in the 70s and completed my PPL conversion in 78. At one point the GC was accommodated in the NW hanger (We kicked the rocks out) and I recall the half demolished bunker there. - I got partially inside once but bottled it --didn't feel right at all.:ooh: In the woods directly opposite the hanger offices there were numerous WWII trenches - overgrown but still obvious. They led to the small escarpment overlooking the old Well Border post where they ran all the way along Quite a large complex. There were many reports of "a presence" in and around the hanger, which I understand continued in the HASs that were built there later.

As an aside, my late brother who was a NATO Fighter Tactics advisor to none other than Eric Hartmann on the Richthofen Wing (Yes.. really!) in the 60s and had to speak fluent German, told me that Laarbruch meant a break in the larches in old (High?) German.

[oldmansquipper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdSUVidsajY:eek:

[Rigga]

Across the Wem Road in the Boar Wood is a small Brook that is locally called "Laar".

[Teamchief]

85-89 the time of my life on XV. Beer calls in the Golden Hind and the Mally! Buying the biggest of everything in Gifts and Gullibles. Vodka in windscreen wash bottles as it was cheaper than........windscreen wash! Dets to Decci, Goose and Flag.........and special viewings of Top Gun in the Astra when it was released. Manning the MRD on New Year's Day with the hang over from hell, cellar parties, Little City, Schutzen Feste, Xmas markets, HAS parties and raft races at Well Lakes. Wouldn't swap it for the world!

[29Triplex]

Hello A"QFI,
I realise it was some while ago, but could you please give me the details of the accommodation in Weeze that you mentioned in your Post.
I was stationed at Laarbruch in the mid-80's and would love to take a trip down memory lane.
Thanks for your time,
Regards,
29Triplex.

[A2QFI]

Good afternoon - I can't see that I have ever mentioned any accommodation, only the grilled chicken house in the Hardt woods neat JHQ. If you want somewhere to stay in Weeze I recommend Kev's Pub In wasserstrasse Paddeln auf der Niers :: Bootstouren, Fahrradtouren, Übernachtungen - Kevins Pub (http://www.kevins-pub.de) €35/pernight/perperson for bed a very good B!

[NickB]

I was there flying F4s in the 70s, in the Harrier sim in the 90s and I am re-visiting next weekend. I will report back. My B&B is in Weeze, run by an ex-RAF policeman. There is a museum, in one of the former churches.

A2QFI - bit of a long shot this, but... don't suppose you were the FI visiting the last airshow @ Laarbruch in Jun 98 in a Tucano were you?

Cheers
NickB

[Danny42C]

29Triplex (your #74 above),

Thank you for resurrecting this Thread (in particular, Rigga's last Post - #72 of 21.4.13.), on the question of the derivation of "Laarbruch". * This gives me the opportunity to ask: "Does anyone know what lies behind the name of "GEILENKIRCHEN" ? "Geilen" has the meaning of "horny" (colloq. "lewd" or "salacious").

Might we have here some equivalent of that Old Monk of Great Renown (who did great deeds in Nottihgham Town), and of whom we sang so lustilly in the days of our not-misspent-enough youth ?) You could hardly ask the padre !

Note *: "Laar" means nothing. But could it be "leer" with a broad accent ? (Leerbruch = "Empty [ie "dry"] Brook"). Would make sense.

D. :confused:

[Warmtoast]

Danny42C

"Does anyone know what lies behind the name of "GEILENKIRCHEN" ?

From the town's web site here:
https://www.geilenkirchen.de/en/the-city/history/

>Geilenkirchen is the place where Gelo, a independent Frank, once built a castle and a church. The name Geilenkirchen has been on record since 1170 (the oldest forms of the name being: Gelenkirken & Gelenkirchen). It is likely that there was a settlement of some kind at the spot well before this date.<

I'd have liked to have entered these using Pprune's "quotes" icon, but it doesn't work with me.

[A2QFI]

No, I never flew Tucanos and I quit RAF Flying in 1993

[Danny42C]

Warmtoast,

Thanks for the link - Philology was never my strong point ! I stand corrected !

There was/is a small town just over the Dutch border called Geleen.

Danny.

[Prangster]

Last bloke in our family visiting Goch went house clearing with a sten in one hand and a Mills 36 in the other. Damn place got its own back when the wife and I (just visiting to see what the old man had been up to in 45) waited and waited and waited.....for service in a restaurant

[Vendee]

Re- Goch

We lived there on our first tour in 1981. I quite liked it there. Walking through the nearby Reichswald Forest, it isn't long before you came across the remains of the German trench system from 1945. On one walk, I found the rusting remains of a Canadian tin helmet. Others would find live ordinance. I remember when 2 German kids were killed near Kleve when they found an old German anti-tank mine :(

The Reichswald Forest is also home to the largest Commonwealth cemetery in Germany and is a beautifully tranquil and reflective place.

[A2QFI]

Yes there is. near Geilenkirchen. Any sort of connection re slight similarity of names I wonder?

[NickB]

Walking through the nearby Reichswald Forest, it isn't long before you came across the remains of the German trench system from 1945. On one walk, I found the rusting remains of a Canadian tin helmet. Others would find live ordinance. I remember when 2 German kids were killed near Kleve when they found an old German anti-tank mine

I spent a fair bit of time cycling in the Reichswald - a lovely place & hard to imagine what it must have been like there back in the 1940's...

I too remember seeing remains of dugs-outs etc... never went prodding around too much as we were warned of unexploded ordanance etc. Also of the wild boars which are particularly ferocious when they have young with them :ouch:

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Beagle,

Contractors made a nice little earner thanks to their 36/39.37 conversion ratio....allegedly!

Not too sure about that! I was told when I arrived in 1972 that the contractor got 25 years in the nick for deliberate fraud!

Laarbruch, like all the 'Clutch' stations, was built by the Germans as reparation for their actions during WW2. It cost the Brits (or NATO) nothing. The German government was, therefore, sorely embarrassed by the contractor's actions - hence his stiff sentence.

The ring road had to be a one way system because he'd even scrimped on tarmac!

Bloggs:eek:

[RAFEngO74to09]

Fg Off Bloggs,

True. As a result, the rooms in the Officers' Mess accommodation blocks were sub-standard in terms of square footage and even 1st tour junior officers were allowed to have a 2nd room subject to availability.

[TwoStep]

Amazing station, but was shocked to see that the three-story flats in the AMQ patch in Weeze had all been knocked down to make way for new developments. Also what was the name of the epic ice cream bar near the cross roads in Weeze high street?

[Rigga]

"ALPAGO"
(al-pay-go)

[Champagne Anyone?]

Would that be the same, ever willing Willi who used to be a driver at Wilders before it closed, than moved to Laarbruch? What an utter gent - many a time he used to ferry us and all our duty free around the base and down to the hotel. He was there in the late '80s and when I came back to the FunBus some 4 years later he was still working as a driver. A bit older and greyer, but the same Willi!

A bit like the old 'Sons of Syd' we used to employ back in the '60s and '70s!


It was Willie Cox believe it or not... And his trusty Merc 230d was KLE EP 80! He was there from 1982 to 1985 during my tour!! A real gent!

Always waited for his cab when in town as we always got let in through the gate without being stopped after hours! And he knew where we all lived as well for that odd occasion we had over imbibed!

Great days!! :ok:


And as spooky as Herman, this came through on a news feed this evening... https://www.forces.net/news/germany-highlights-forgotten-base-raf-celebrates-centenary

[KOFY_Fitz]

Wow that brings back memories! I was there 80-83. Little city, the christmas markets in Goch, going to Well lakes for picnics at the weekend, 30 hours in an S6 respirator. Bye the way their was a ghost there!
Apologies for digging up such an old thread and, on the off chance you are still a member of the forum, but I'm looking into ghosts and paranormal activity at RAF airfields and in particular those that I have visited. I wondered if you might have the time to provide a little more detail on the comment you made above!

Many thanks,

Fitz

NB - I did try and PM you but your inbox is full so I suspect you no longer frequent the forum.

[Senior Pilot]

Apologies for digging up such an old thread and, on the off chance you are still a member of the forum, but I'm looking into ghosts and paranormal activity at RAF airfields and in particular those that I have visited. I wondered if you might have the time to provide a little more detail on the comment you made above!

Many thanks,

Fitz

NB - I did try and PM you but your inbox is full so I suspect you no longer frequent the forum.

3rd July 2011 was his last login 🤔

[Stitchbitch]

Apologies for digging up such an old thread and, on the off chance you are still a member of the forum, but I'm looking into ghosts and paranormal activity at RAF airfields and in particular those that I have visited. I wondered if you might have the time to provide a little more detail on the comment you made above!

Many thanks,

Fitz

NB - I did try and PM you but your inbox is full so I suspect you no longer frequent the forum.

I haven't read the whole thread, so appologies if this has already been mentioned. I was at LBH in the late 1990s and heard various stories about ghosts, mainly in the North West HAS site, which was 18 Sqns site at that stage. IIRC the story had something to do with German soldiers/Hitler youth being burried alive in a bunker nearby during the allied push into Germany, also one about a Canberra fixer and the obligatory policeman on nuke guard, who killed themselves. I never believed the stories but it was a very quick bike ride from 3 Sqn to the main site on a dark winters night. :)

[NutLoose]

Apologies for digging up such an old thread and, on the off chance you are still a member of the forum, but I'm looking into ghosts and paranormal activity at RAF airfields and in particular those that I have visited. I wondered if you might have the time to provide a little more detail on the comment you made above!

Many thanks,

Fitz

NB - I did try and PM you but your inbox is full so I suspect you no longer frequent the forum.

There was supposed to be one on The 20 Sqn Jag site at Bruggen which was next to QRA, I can’t remember the HAS numbers but it was the furthest from the soft and in the site corner backing onto the road and to the left of the USA mast.. Rumour was a contractor had died while building it, but I bet all the sites would tell similar.

It always felt cold, I went down to do a jet one early thick misty morning when it was just starting to get light and as I approached the HAS I heard the rapid little feet noise and the squeal of wild boar coming towards me, I legged it inside and called for help, after they were dealt with and scared off I was left on my own and cracking the HAS doors open the mist drifted in across the floor and it was creepy as hell.

Sitting in the cockpit as the light was starting to break in a Jag in an unusually cold HAS with the doors fully open and the mist rolling in covering the floor was something I always will remember.


The HAS I am talking about is directly under the R of Bruggen on the heading picture, there is a clear pic further down the page. It might have been HAS 45 but my memory fails me.

https://thefourprop.com/blogs/the-briefing/raf-bruggen-the-last-rafg-station


..

[Krystal n chips]

Apologies for digging up such an old thread and, on the off chance you are still a member of the forum, but I'm looking into ghosts and paranormal activity at RAF airfields and in particular those that I have visited. I wondered if you might have the time to provide a little more detail on the comment you made above!

Many thanks,

Fitz

NB - I did try and PM you but your inbox is full so I suspect you no longer frequent the forum.

To be fair, you're a bit spoilt for choice when it comes to the paranormal and RAF Stations....and it may help if you could list those you've visited.

For your info Lindholme had well documented sightings, Middleton St George (Teeside Airport) also noted for the same. Valley had Hangar 13, encountered that one, once, where unexplained events happened....also Dishforth and the former Clevelands GC hanger workshops / CFI's office area...encountered that once as well...now that was actually "disturbing " to put it mildly.

The Bruggen contractor was also well known although he does seem to have no fixed abode as they say....also rumoured to have been on 17's site.

As for wild boar....diligently guarding somewhere near 20 one day when we heard a rustling / crunching sound...looked around and there was Mum taking the family for a walk about....and getting nearer to us. At which point we decided to make a strategic retreat....the relatives were nice to eat, bit rich, but the live ones tended not to be so amiable.

[NutLoose]

The one I nearly ran into, or was that the other way round, was a family group, it's bloody frightening when you hear them close by and obviously pissed off as I am invading "their territory". It amazed me how they got about as the woods were laced with barbed wire.

BTW we all used to lob the odd stones at the sensors in the sterile to give you lot something to do :)

[Ninthace]

The RAF Police at Bruggen were quite adept at shinning up trees as I recall. Oddly, the occasional boar I have met when wandering around in the wilds has always high tailed it at the first opportunity.

[KOFY_Fitz]

To be fair, you're a bit spoilt for choice when it comes to the paranormal and RAF Stations....and it may help if you could list those you've visited.

For your info Lindholme had well documented sightings, Middleton St George (Teeside Airport) also noted for the same. Valley had Hangar 13, encountered that one, once, where unexplained events happened....also Dishforth and the former Clevelands GC hanger workshops / CFI's office area...encountered that once as well...now that was actually "disturbing " to put it mildly.

The Bruggen contractor was also well known although he does seem to have no fixed abode as they say....also rumoured to have been on 17's site.

As for wild boar....diligently guarding somewhere near 20 one day when we heard a rustling / crunching sound...looked around and there was Mum taking the family for a walk about....and getting nearer to us. At which point we decided to make a strategic retreat....the relatives were nice to eat, bit rich, but the live ones tended not to be so amiable.


Thanks all!

Re: Krystal n chips - Here's a list of the bases I've visited (Many of which appear to no longer be in service or indeed were, like Manston, civilian already when I was there):

Linton On Ouse
Laarbruch
Akrotiri
Sealand
Cranwell
Cosford
Duxford
Manston
Brize Norton
Henlow
Farnborough
Upper Heyford
Lakenheath
Mildenhall

I limited myself to Laarbruch in the original post as that was what the thread was about and due to Roger's comment. It was a bit of a long shot as it was a really old thread and it had been so long since he last posted. But if anyone has any spooky tales from any of the above that would be great to hear about!

[NRU74]

I shot a young wild boar at Brüggen in c '76. There was a 'High Seat' off the longer road from 431MU to the Golf Course.I chose to shoot one of the several younger ones as the sow could be both tough and very fatty. Myself and the local Elmpt greengrocer skinned and jointed it. Delicious !

[WB627]

The Avro Lincoln at Cosford is rumoured to be haunted.

[Arthur Bellcrank]

No one is sure why the Avro Lincoln bomber, serial number RF398, should be haunted. The Avro Lincoln was first flown on 9th June 1944, it was to be the last piston-engined bomber to serve with the Royal Air Force. Entering into service to late to take part in the Second World War the Avro Lincoln did see combat in two colonial insurgencies in the 1950s, the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and the Malayan Emergency, before being phased out of service with the Royal Air Force. The Avro Lincoln saw limited service with Canada, Australia and Argentina until 1967; others were converted to tankers for inflight refuelling and transporters.
https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=390x1024:format=jpg/path/s7d2fb3f3cc5a66ce/image/iccfef19869eb90af/version/1509134425/image.jpgRAF Cosford - Avro Lincoln B2, RF398.An Avro Lincoln B2, RF398 forms part of the 'War Planes' collection at RAF Cosford where it arrived for 'storage' in the late summer of 1968. RF398 first flew on 11th September 1945, but, following a large number of modification did not reach a flying unit (Bomber Command Bombing School) until 1952, nearly two years after the withdrawal of Avro Lincoln's from frontline service. On the 30th April 1963 Flt Lt John Langley flew RF398 on the penultimate RAF Lincoln Flight from RAF Watton to RAF Henlow for storage for the RAF Museum. Touching down at 15:25 the final flight closed RF398's career of 1043.05 flying hours and 792 landings.



The first account of ghostly activity occurred in 1979 when two engineers were restoring the aircraft. One of them claims to have seen a figure approaching the bomber, who then mysteriously disappeared as he turned towards it. The second engineer was busy at work in the cockpit area of the aircraft at the time and there was no possibility of anyone else having been in the hanger at the time. The following day the same two men found aircraft parts underneath the Lincoln which had not been there the night before, they were the last to leave the building and the first to arrive in the morning.
https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=390x1024:format=jpg/path/s7d2fb3f3cc5a66ce/image/i7c01788058b9578c/version/1280059629/image.jpgRAF Cosford - Avro Lincoln B2, RF398. (Neil Tipton).In 1980 as the hanger was being locked for the night the member of staff saw someone move in the shadows close to the old aircraft, switching the hanger lights back on he searched high and low for the intruder but to no avail. No sooner had he switched the lights off again, plunging the cavernous building back into darkness, than a "cloudy thing" appeared! Later that same week a mechanic was working alone on the RF398, feeling around for a spanner that had just fallen he felt it thrust into his hand!



Since those first encounters a number of people have reported seeing an airman in battle dress in the hangar and some have reported seeing a head in a flying helmet in the observation dome of the aircraft. Other happenings include the movement of objects, temperature variations inside the aircraft and the sound of footsteps in the vicinity of the aircraft. One visitor to the museum in 1980 reported seeing a fair haired man in a white polo neck sweater and forage cap seated in the cockpit of the plane. In 1984, the phantom pilot was even spotted by a cameraman working on an edition of the T.V. programme 'Wish You Were Here'! In 1991 a BBC team, ('Strange Stories: The Haunting Of RF398' - first broadcast BBC Radio 4 16th February 1991), investigated reports of mysterious goings on around the Lincoln during which they managed to record some of the spooky sounds that had been heard in the hangar. More recently the secretary to the museum society was busy preparing a notice board about the Avro Lincoln when she heard her name being called. Thinking it was one of the museum staff calling her she looked first toward the Lincoln and then toward the door but saw no one. Naturally, to this day she will not enter the hangar alone.
https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=390x1024:format=jpg/path/s7d2fb3f3cc5a66ce/image/i693229928b667bea/version/1280059629/image.jpgRAF Cosford - A Messerschmitt Me 163 in front of RF398.Perhaps the most amazing encounter occurred when an electrician, working fifteen feet above the hanger floor, when he suddenly fell. As he tumbled downwards he remembers thinking "this is it" because he had already injured his spine in a similar fall from another aeroplane. But instead of hitting the concrete floor with expected force he floated to a stop "as if", he said, "some invisible force had prevented his fall from being fatal".



Researcher Ivan Spenceley, along with members of the Chesterfield Paranormal Research Group, investigated the haunting in 1987. On this occasion a tape machine was left recording inside the Lincoln whilst the investigators departed from the hanger ensuring nobody remained behind. When they returned some 40minutes later they found the perspex lid of the tape machine lifted, the two reels removed and the tape spread about the cockpit like spaghetti! Over the next 4 year Spenceley visited Cosford and FR398 some twenty times amking a number of recordings of muffled voices, droning engines, tappings and rappings. (Recordings that were to be the basis for the aforementioned BBC documentary). More recently doubts have been cast upon the recordings and investigation made by Ivan Spenceley, veteran researcher and founder of the Chesterfield Paranormal Research Bureau, Michael Hicklin stated that Spenceley's claims "were entirely fraudulent."



Following the BBC programme of 1991 permission for further investigations by individuals and groups were declined. This however has not stopped odd encounters - In March of 2002 a Security Guard at the museum experienced 'something strange' in the vicinity of RF398. Many people have taken a great interest in the ghost; spiritualists claim the phantom sings to them, others that he is a wartime airman taking up residence in the peacetime aircraft. Could it be the ghost of Master Pilot Hiller who loved the aircraft saying on his last flight that he would "haunt his baby". Hiller was unfortunately killed near Cosford in an air crash.

https://office23.jimdofree.com/forteana/the-haunting-of-rf398/

[Haraka]

I read that it all started as a publicity stunt .

[Krystal n chips]

I read that it all started as a publicity stunt .

That's one way of trying to distract attention, at least from the self publicity seeking "investigators ".....however, I have some friends at the Museum, one of whom is as hard nosed as they come. He also encountered the same presence at Dishforth as I did one day, which more than alarmed him as it did me... and he's said in the past, he doesn't like being in the vicinity of the Lincoln because he feels the same alarm.

[papajuliet]

A friend was on the Museum staff when these "ghostly" reports were first made. They were started by a couple of Museum helpers who were winding up the local newspaper. It's all snowballed since then. I've been in and around that Lincoln and never experienced anything slightly unusual.
That's not to say that inexplicable events don't happen connected with aircraft and airfields - I accept that they do - just not that particular aircraft.

[ShyTorque]

I read that it all started as a publicity stunt .

Yes, I recall hearing that it was a hoax (a convincing one) including a broadcast I’d previously listened to about recordings taken inside the aircraft, where noises similar to magneto switches being operated could be heard.

—————————————

On a different theme, I drove through my old home town last week, and past a three storey furniture shop where my father had worked a number of times, for some years, latterly up until his retirement. He used to tell how some really strange and very unsettling things had happened there, witnessed by a whole variety of people, including customers. The staff actually gave a name to the resident ghost, that of a man who had previously lived in part of the building some years before had been killed after being hit by a bus whilst crossing the road from the pub on the opposite side of the adjacent main road.

What was really strange was that after a lull in activity for some years, a whole raft of (poltergeist) things occurred during the time that the then very aged widow of the alleged “ghost” had died and her body was lying in the funeral parlour 100 yards up the same road.

The activity became quite intense again during the time of some interior building work, which was being done after shop closing time, to avoid disruption to the business, to the extent that police were called in by builders to investigate what was initially thought to be an overnight burglary. No signs of a break in were found. When it happened a second time, the builders got totally spooked and refused to work there after normal hours.

The building is now a ladies gym. I couldn’t help wondering if similar “happenings” still occur.

[oldmansquipper]

There is a stream running through the forest opposite the camp gates called the LAAR - it is the Laar-bruch (Brook)

(and no, I don't know what Laar means!)

Willy's Taxis are still going but greatly reduced to cope with the lack of his former regular NATO customers - and I dont think he's the same guy who was at Wild-Parts?


MATKAT - I used to spend loads of very dark winter evenings crouching in small cold holes around XV, listening to the telephone lines for the latest jokes ("Can ya send a rover over - over?") and clutching an SLR for warmth!
We'd probably only recognise each other if we wore S10's and Green suits!

Happy Days?

Rigga: I trust you are well?

my late brother Dickie, who was fluent in ‘old/high’ German once told me (probably at the LFC fly In) that Laar translated to the tree ‘Larches’ and the ‘bruch’ bit was ‘break’ Ergo…. It’s a break (clearing?) in the woods.

I do know the NW dispersal area was not a place to be on your own at night. I hated being the one locking up the gliding club bar after everyone had gone. It was hard to ignore the sounds coming from corners of the empty hangar.

- as for the S10? Could do with one now..Just in case😉

[oldmansquipper]

Re: Ghosts on RAF bases? ..


There are at least a couple on RAF Bicester. The most often ‘seen’ one walks across the 24 threshold at night or in fog…

[Geriaviator]

Many find a strange atmosphere around the old bomber bases, but could such feelings depend on one's knowledge of their history? My father's postings took me from India to Binbrook in 1948 until Aden in 1951. Even then, wandering around the airfield which the Lancasters had vacated only a few years earlier made me wonder about those who had gone before, while Mr Gordon our schoolmaster often mentioned the young Australian airmen he had known during the war years. Nothing spooky though.

[Wetstart Dryrun]

I recall a spooky lock up of the junior mess at Cranditz....

I was sufficiently familiar with the geography to put the lights out and cross the floor to the other exit.

....well, in the inky-poo, rustling s and the occasional crunch suggested something very sinister was stalking in the darkness....





I reached my exit door and snapped on the lights...

The floor shimmied and rustled as about a billion cockroaches legged it for cover under the kitchen surfaces.


Will that be a full breakfast, Sir?

[Haraka]

Squash Courts at Bircham Newton?

[ShyTorque]

During my time at RAF Scampton, Mess staff told me that none of them liked going down to the bar cellar because of a certain unseen but unpleasant “presence” down there.

[NutLoose]

The Avro Lincoln at Cosford is rumoured to be haunted.


I took my late old friend there as it was on his bucket list, he used to fly in it several times as an Air Cadet thanks to a kindly FL LT that more or less adopted a few of them and sorted out flying for them.
They, by now old gents searched for him in vain in their later years to sadly find he had died a scant few months before locating him.
The musum staff were kind enough to let Jim get up close and personal with the old girl on the other side of the barriers...
I took a photo of him by his pride and joy and managed to get him positioned without him knowing to get the perfect St Jim shot.

https://live.staticflickr.com/8078/28968986294_a46abdcd00_z.jpg

[SASless]

There was supposed to be a Ghost at the Officers Mess at Teeside....said to be the fellow to ran off the runway in a Meteor and crashed into the Mess.....running over his private auto along the way and finally smashing into his own room....to be killed by the bridge block from over the window falling down on his neck.

Sounds to good to be true....but you could see a difference in the brick work at one of the windows facing the runway and car parking.

[212man]

There was supposed to be a Ghost at the Officers Mess at Teeside....said to be the fellow to ran off the runway in a Meteor and crashed into the Mess.....running over his private auto along the way and finally smashing into his own room....to be killed by the bridge block from over the window falling down on his neck.

Sounds to good to be true....but you could see a difference in the brick work at one of the windows facing the runway and car parking.

Yes that’s a well know one. RAF Middleton St George. The mess became a hotel and the Air UK cabin crew used to get haunted. I don’t doubt the brickwork colour change - I used to live next to the Mohne Dam!

[ShyTorque]

That is supposed to be Flying Officer Norman, who foolishly attempted an asymmetric roller landing in a Meteor and paid the ultimate price after losing control.

Here’s one newspaper report on the subject:

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/opinion/columnists/16356327.pilot-ghost-spooks-historians-hotel-staff-old-raf-base/

[Shaft109]

You can't just leave us hanging with the stories about Dishforth and others - would you mind expanding a bit?

I've personally never experienced anything spooky as such but am fascinated but the experiences of others.

[SASless]

The mess became a hotel and the Air UK cabin crew used to get haunted.

Aye Lad the Females certainly did when the Bristow Helicopter staff lived there while flying out to the Ekofisk every day.

Perhaps those heard soft footsteps heard were some folks sneaking back to their assigned abode.

There is a wonderful story I could tell about a former Lancer (right term for someone in the British Army Tank Corps?) and an order for a 0430 Wake Up, the Guardian, and Smoked Kippers for two but the Statute of Limitations has not expired yet.

[212man]

There is a wonderful story I could tell about a former Lancer (right term for someone in the British Army Tank Corps?)

Close I think. Lancers are armoured light reconnaissance cavalry (Scimitars) as opposed to Main Battle Tanks.

but the Statute of Limitations has not expired yet.

​​​​​​​Must be close!