Boulton and Paul Defiant TT MK1 in USAAF Service.
 

On 1st September 1942 Defiants DR944 and DR945 were seconded to the 326th BS/11CCRC at Bovingdon. They were seen over the next couple of years at American Airfields across East Anglia and towed targets at the 8th Air Force Provisional Gunnery School which was established to train B17 Gunners at Snettisham, Norfolk in the summer of 1943.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e233ade58.jpeg
DR945 thought to have been photographed at Bovingdon. Photo credit American Air Museum in Britain.

DR945 had a couple of minor scrapes including a belly landing at Bovingdon on 4th February 1943. The pilot Lt John R Westwood later went on to Command the 401st Bomber Squadron at Bassingbourn. Some nostalgic snaps of 'Westy' Westwood here:Westy Westwood and Peg O' My Heart - 91st Bomb Group (H)

DR945 was again slightly damaged in a ground accident at Bovingdon on June 14th 1943 and was eventually returned to 10 MU in December 1944.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0267aab492.jpg
DR945 at Rougham, Bury St Edmunds. Both Defiants displayed USAAF and RAF Markings. Photo credit WW2 Aircraft Net.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....57ccab5fac.jpg
DR944 at Bassingbourn. Photo credit WW2 Aircraft Net.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....aadc04c67.jpeg
Staff Sergeant Andrew Tolmachoff at Snettisham. In 1944 he was a B17 tail gunner with the 369th BS. Having completed 19 missions and suffered the effects of Frostbite and shrapnel wounds he was re-assigned as a Gunnery Instructor. Photo credit American Air Museum in Britain.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....62bf060d08.jpg
Snettisham - these days an RSPB Reserve. Photo credit Richard Humphrey.

In July 1944 Defiant DR944 was returned to 10 MU in the charge of The Royal Navy. In February 1945 she was allocated to Martin Baker and used for Ejector Seat Trials.
The very first aerial ejection was achieved with this aircraft using a dummy over RAF Wittering on May 11th 1945.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....22013efc34.jpg
DR944 World's First Ejection.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....21fc570389.png
Pioneer Ejectorist Bernard Lynch of Martin Baker. DR944 in the background.

That ejection seat ramp takes me back to South Cerney.

Visiting Vampires
 

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....17ee9baa5a.jpg
Vampire FB5 - 502 (Auxiliary) Squadron based Aldergrove. Photographed in 1955.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ff6e21be56.jpg
Vampire T11 photographed in 1958. Any idea which FTS it came from?

Very nice photos OUAQUFGF Ops. The T11 was not from 8 FTS at Swinderby, markings are wrong. Photo below of me at Swinderby with one of their T11's in 1957. We also had Vampire Fives and Nines. Wonderful days pre my time on Coastal Com at Bovingdon in 1961/2!

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....abd0645b49.jpg

T11 XE871 – Armament practice unit at Acklington?

XV490 - I think you are right. I gleaned those images off a certain auction web site. Acklington is written on the back of the photograph. brakedwell good to see you in the flesh. Those were the Days ! Incidentally in 1957 I together with our neighbour's son Jonny used to be driven from Ashley Green to school at Kings Langley. The parents alternated this task so if we went in our car (an open top Morris Minor) fine views could be obtained passing the runway at Bovingdon however if it was next door's vehicle (a green Morris Minor Van) one could see bugger all whilst crouched in the back !

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1783a693ed.jpg
Bovingdon. Probably photographed in the late fifties - early sixties. Appears to be parked on a dispersal in the north-east of the aerodrome. The Second World War would not have been won without the fighting forces of The British Commonwealth and the magnificent C47.

KN201: It still had its old RAF serial number.

KN291. (Ended its days in South America.)

Midair Collision B17 42-37850 and C47 43-48506 Bovingdon 31st March 1945
 

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....87b6e75974.jpg
B17 42-37850. Photo credit USAAF Nose Art Project.



Sadly the present pandemic has prevented the villagers of Sarratt from holding their planned Commemoration and Service marking the passage of seventy-five years since this accident occurred in their parish. The B17 was on a self-proficiency training detail and was crewed by two pilots and two flight engineers. The skipper was Capt Walter P Hottenstein. The C47 was crewed by two pilots, the skipper being 1st Lt Maurice F Thornburg. Both crews were drawn from 1402 Base Unit AAF which provided hangar and flightline maintenance facilities at Bovingdon. The Bovingdon weather actual at 1400z would indicate that the runway in use would have been 22. The accident report for the B17 is worth reading. Like-wise an eye-witness account by the late Jim Burgin of Chipperfield is reproduced here - his full memoir occurs way back in the depth of this thread.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2d07738def.png


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7608c3dd86.jpg
Credit U.S. Army Women's Museum
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4847fa75b3.jpg
Credit U.S. Army Women's Museum

The two crash sites were on open land between the villages of Chipperfield and Sarratt. The B17 burned, the C47 did not. There were no survivors.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....113273616f.png
B17 aftermath. Photo credit Gregory Edmund (USAAF)

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9f3d138ec7.png
C47. Photo credit Gregory Edmund (USAAF)


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3238a3d165.jpg
C47 Photo credit Gregory Edmund (USAAF)

Emma Jane Windham was one of the Flight Engineers on the B17.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....afa61e3491.jpg
Credit U.S. Army Women's Museum.

More on Emma Jane here:https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...en-5880802.php

I'm most grateful to Gregory Edmund of the Sarratt History Society for his assistance on this post. Other brief details and pictures of the aircrew can be found here:https://twitter.com/sarratthistory?lang=en

A Question of National Importance ! (Extract from Hansard)
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ca729581a7.png

Bovingdon based British Nederland's two Dakotas had really high cargo and pax utilization across Europe and further afield during 1948 and 1949, in part sustained by contracts from Lep Air Services. Despite the award in 1950 of a Government Contract to provide a leave service for the British Administration in Tripolitania (this necessitated the purchase of a Viking), business had become very thin on the ground and with good prices being paid for Dakotas, G-AJZD was sold towards the end of 1950 whilst the remaining Dakota and Viking provided services until the end of December 1950 when all operations ceased.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....52fc315b5f.png
Bovingdon, February 1950. Destination Paris. Dakota G-AJZD. Photo credit Lep Transport Archive.



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2f3a81389d.png
Photo credit Lep Transport Archive.

Photographs of Nederland's Dakotas seem to be few and far between. See #182 for an image of 'ZD.



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8fcd60a32f.png
Croydon not Bovingdon 1948. British Nederlands Dakota G-AJZX. Photo credit Barry Davidson ATChistory.

'Stinky' in Ireland
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a3dfd1227d.jpg
41-9045 'Stinky' at Bovingdon October 1942. Photo credit American Air Museum in Britain.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4bfe092a05.jpg

On 15th January 1943 'Stinky' was bound for Bovingdon from Gibraltar............ Photo credit American Air Museum in Britain.

https://books.google.co.uk/books/abo...IC&redir_esc=y

J Kemp McLaughlin's excellent book will give you some insight into how the General Commanding The Eighth Army Air Force made an unscheduled arrival at Athenry, County Galway. Read from page 24 onwards.

Further reading here:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Athenry, Co, Galway

Pigs Might Fly (With plenty of 'Drift')
 

One of the most successful postwar British Independent Airlines, Hunting Air Transport, later Hunting Clan Air Services was based at Bovingdon from 1948 until 1954. During this period the back-bone of the airline was its fleet of Vickers Vikings. These were operated on charter and scheduled services including many large Government Contracts, typically trooping. On June 14th 1952 a Viking departed Bovingdon to inaugurate what became the famous Hunting Clan Safari Air Service from the UK to Nairobi. This service was initially operated in conjunction with Airwork operating from Blackbushe.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3391b729cc.jpg
Viking 1 G-AGRV Hunting Air Transport at Bovingdon. August 1952. Photo credit Tony Clarke Collection.



https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....22b98c6c3b.png
I've always thought this was the most super photo. I have a slight personal connection with 'Romeo Whisky' so I hope you don't mind if I drift off a bit!


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ccdee1695d.png
At Wisley 1947. After short-lived service with the State carrier this aeroplane passed through the hands of a London tour operator and a merchant bank before joining Hunting Air Transport in 1952. Photo credit the late Ron Roberts.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3986d3830e.jpg
Basle not Bovingdon. Probably mid-fifties. Photo credit Edgar Beck.


At the end of 1959 'Romeo Whisky' was sold to Overseas Aviation at Southend.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7682d4000a.jpg
Schipol 17th February 1960. Crew Only. Probably the result of harsh braking while turning off the runway after landing.

Overseas went bust in 1961 and in 1962 'Romeo Whisky' joined Autair at Luton.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....070c26d468.png
I expect the passenger scheduled service from Blackpool to Luton on the 7th July 1965 was delayed by this runaway Aermacchi AL60-B1 which wrote itself off in a moment of absent-mindedness. Photo credit late Capt Pete Dibley.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....87489f8b6e.jpg
'Romeo Whisky' now in freighter config and working its way towards the end of its flying life. Luton possibly winter 1966-67. Note the Ops Department's CCTV camera atop the hangar. We were very proud of this bit of kit. It was the most modern piece of technology the airline had, at least until the new HS748s came along.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....038b94e21b.png
On February 15th 1968 'Romeo Whisky' and her sister ship 'Papa Bravo' were flown by Autair to Soesterberg, Netherlands and taken through the streets to be put out to grass. Photo credit from a postcard via 'The Vikings of Soesterberg'


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c2da561e1e.png
'Romeo Whisky' remained at Soesterberg until about 1980 when the three Vikings were sold. The proceeds of the sale of RW and PB enabling the third Viking RU to be returned to the UK for preservation. Photo credit A Kempster. 'The Vikings of Soesterberg'


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fc51abe3b9.jpg
I've next found 'Romeo Whisky' looking rather sad on the roof at Vienna Airport in 1998. Apparently she spent many years there. Photo credit Erik Frikke.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b1c801cfef.jpg
Somewhere about 1999 'Romeo Whisky' was restored by a group of Austrian Airlines enthusiasts and placed outside a MacDonalds near Vienna Airport. Photo credit Gergo Ozoray.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d70247090d.jpg
'Romeo Whisky' survived on Big Macs until 2013 when it was removed and once again put out to grass. Photo credit Andy Graf.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....40dd900fe2.jpg
G-AGRW at the Austrian Aviation Museum Bad Voslau February 2018. Photo credit Philip Stevens Target Aviation Photography.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8cc6e7170b.jpg
It looks like the end is nigh. Photographed in 2019 at the Austrian Aviation Museum Bad Voslau. Credit per photo.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....683d8d9091.jpg
Happy Memories. G-AGRW landing with its load of Dutch Flowers at Templehof in 1966. Photo credit Ralf Manteufel.

My erstwhile colleague Keith Spragg flew the Autair Vikings - the Berlin Skippers Alex Imrie and 'Speedy' Williams were local legends, Keith writes of his times with them here. Scroll down to read: https://books.google.co.uk/books/abo...AJ&redir_esc=y

​​​​​​
Great to see photo of the attempted mating of 'RW and G-ARZG (the root of my PPrune name, my first flight, and the reason for a mis-spelt lifetime in aviation)

G-ARZG - you presumably were not at the controls when it happened?

Safari Air Service
 

Click on images:

Vikings into Africa

No, my 'maiden flight' (I love the French 'bapteme de l' air') was a few months before 'ZG ran amok.
I did see RW in the hangar soon after, under repair.

​​​​
​​​​​​

Quite Early One Morning
 

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....bfa3a95f2d.jpg
Meteor T7 of 504 Squadron circa 1954. Express Dairies delivering, young lad sitting in Milk Float - School Hols? Patterns in The Sky. Photo credit Key Aero Forums Richard Knight et al.

Hawker Hurricane LF363 A tenuous connection.
 

Some-time ago I posted this photograph of an airman and assumed that it was taken at Bovingdon. I suspected it was John Puczynski's Dad but wasn't sure.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....231b82d39b.jpg

Recently I've been doing a bit of internet gleaning trying to dream up something to post when I came across this second image:


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....decd915413.jpg
Hurricane LF363 but not at Bovingdon. Pictured at Martlesham Heath with the Battle of Britain Flight 1959.


So then I e-mailed John Puczynski who replied as follows:

The photos show my father. The connection is that when WW2 ended my father, who had been in the Polish Air Force (starting out as a Polish National Serviceman at Warsaw's Okecie airport and working for LOT) , was posted to RAF Bovingdon. He transferred to the RAF and was with the Fighter Command Communications Squadron. After a posting to Singapore he was posted to Biggin Hill where he worked on Meteors and Hunters. He volunteered to help form a historic flight and over the years became a mainstay of the flight. In the days up to his retirement at Coltishall we remained living in Bovingdon while he was posted to various stations, including Martlesham Heath and North Weald. In those days the flight was not established and was funded through being part of a station flight and through other means. At one point the flight had 13 aircraft but almost any senior officer could pull strings and get to fly one of the aircraft. This resulted in a number of aircraft being damaged through lack of pilot currency and forgetting to lower the undercarriage. Other aircraft were donated to US museums. When he retired from the RAF the flight was put on a more formal footing and the official history of the BBMF was started. I attach a picture of my father with Jeffrey Quill when Vickers presented the flight with AB910.








Air Vice Marshal Vincent flew LF363 in the Battle of Britain Flypasts of 1948 and 1949.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f1d48019af.png


A bit more gleaning turned this up:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....560abaf3ce.png
Wing Commander Tom Neil DFC AFC AE. (1920-2018) Posted in 1950 to Headquarters Fighter Command, Bentley Priory and living at Flamstead, not too far from Bovingdon.



https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ba9a415892.jpg
Chief Technician Puczynski , Jeffrey Quill and LS363 at Coltishall in 1965.

Accident Bovingdon based HP Halifax 5th December 1947
 

https://dyserth.com/halifax.html


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d01ddb0c53.png
Liverpool Echo Saturday 6th December 1947 (BNA)

Very interesting. I am related to the Kerfoot Davies family, Jean was a cousin of the same age. My first school was at Dyserth in 1943 when we lived in Rhyl with my grandfather during the war. In 1946 my mother returned to teaching as my father had been killed in Tunisia in 1943 and we were posted to NW Italy in December 1946. On our return to UK in 1948 I went up the mountain at Dyserth and saw the bits of wreckage of the Halifax that was still left up there. Very sad.

Location Queries
 

The First image is titled thus: Television Equipment Bound for Caracas
A ton-and-a-half of Marconi equipment is loaded onto a Flying Dutchman aircraft at Bovingdon Airport from where it will be flown to Caracas for the launch of Buenos Aires' first television station. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5fea804503.jpg

I've always viewed this image with some suspicion. Said to be dated 13 March 1953. Date seems ok. Marconi shipment is being sent to Televisa which was Venezuela's first Commercial (not State) TV Company. First Televisa Broadcast August 1953. Reference to Buenos Aries does not inspire confidence. Point of manufacture Marconi Factory Chelmsford ? KLM known to have used Bovingdon as a diversion airport during early fifties. Thought unlikely above is a diversion due presence of publicity photographer. Were DC4s used on London - Amsterdam service where presumably this shipment would be transferred onto a KLM Caribbean Service?

I was looking at images of Avro Yorks when I came across this:


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....cb524a0f91.jpg
LAC/Skyways WW468 (G-AHFG) circa 1952-3. Photo credit Dave Welch.


This image is said to have been taken at Bovingdon but I was suspicious about the building in the background which can be seen under the nose. I am not familiar with such a building at Bovingdon, perhaps some of our old-timers are? Another query on this photograph is what seems to be the tail of a KLM DC4, extreme left. Your opinions appreciated!

LF 363
 

A bit of a drift (although I suspect 363 was a regular B visitor) but great to see those images of her when she was the sole Hurricane left in the RAF. Interesting comments re the 'incidents' with the Spitfires but the high profile one was when a MK 16 bellied in on a Bromley sports ground which prompted the cessation of letting the type fly over London.(well covered in a suitable forum thread some years ago)
However what is interesting is how 363 managed to survive long after the type had been withdrawn from normal use.
I did read somewhere that this was because S Vincent had managed to 'arrange' a Hurricane for his use with the help of Hawkers but have never seen an article that expanded on this. SV had flown a Hurricane during the BoB
My own visit to Bovingdon was after hitching a lift there (Devon from Northolt) as a Cadet in the 60's. The icing on the cake was on entering one of the hangars to find a couple of Mosquitoes (633 Squadron) with the cockpit doors down and ladders in situ,.(we never did get our lunch on that trip !!!) .

POBJOY - This thread survives on drift...........A bit more can be found here - click on LF363.

https://books.google.co.uk/books/abo...AJ&redir_esc=y

Surely the Mk 16 landing on the cricket ground after engine failure was during the first BoB flypast over London, when an awful lot of Fighter Command was involved. The actual cricket stumps it hit were preserved in Bentley Priory OM when I was there in 1969, together with pictures of the pilot (a Wing Commander?), aircraft and associated other memorabilia of the incident and photographs of the sky apparently full of Spitfires, Hurricanes and others (but no Defiants!)

Bromey Cricket Pitch (slight thread creep)
 

The 'arrival of SL 574 (After the London fly past) was due to a fuel tank selection mishap (or to be more correct NOT SELECTED) and it bellied in during the lunch time break hence no players involved. The pilot who was an AVM got out and waved to 363 (they were both en route to Biggin Hill). This prompted no Merlins over London for some time. That machine is now in the USA. One of the issues with the MK 16's was that 'some' had a second tank behind the cockpit. This could cause a couple of problems for pilots not used to them. If the rear tank was full and the front less so it increased the chance of a ground loop. For those used to the standard fuel system there was always the chance of a mis selection causing an engine failure..
We had a 'substantial' thread about this some time ago and it cleared a lot of the myths that had grown up around the incident. AVM Maguire went on to head up 11 Group after having originally participated in the BoB, and fighting the Japs in Singapore. He was only captured because he insisted on giving his seat on the last transport out of Singapore to a wounded pilot.
Gets my vote for leadership. I think the record shows that there was only ever one Hurricane in the annual BoB flypast post war (363) (but several Spitfires)
Would love to hear how SV got his Hurricane (North Weald) apparently there were a couple of 'hulks' around there at the time used as a spares grab.
To get back to BV on my Devon visit the burnt remains (with engines) of a Mossie were still on the grass after 633 filming.

Thanks for the update PJ. It wsa a long time ago - I wonder what happened to the stumps when BP closed?

An ex colleague of mine witnessed the Spitfire's arrival on the cricket pitch as a small boy - he was amazed that not only did I know the story but that I'd also seen the Spitfire in San Diego; allegedly it still sports a slight dent in the leading edge where it hit the stumps!

The pilot probably didn't have time to bail out.

Perhaps it was a crease rather than a dent in the wing...

Not stumped for an answer
 

The Stumps went to Halton. SL 574 still has the three marks on the wing, Bromley is built up and Maguire was low. His arrival did little damage to the airframe (it was on its wheels the next day) but the prop was shattered.There is a wonderful image of the ongoing cricket match going on after lunch with 574 on its belly near the boundary. Peter Arnold had some great shots. There was quite a debate on whether the stumps could have caused dents in the leading edge of the wing and it got quite heated. Considering they would have been impacted at about 50 mph, and images were produced that showed the repairs in progress the 'non believers' as I described them would not have it, got even more annoyed when I suggested a test with someone hitting them on their head with a suitable stump and then asking them if it hurt (when they woke up that is)
Location is unchanged but now used by Millwall Football club for training (Calmont Road). To end on a BV point I revisited the Airfield decades later when they were building the prison. The Control Tower was looking battered but still there, and I climbed up to the balcony where Harry Andrews made his famous comment (You cant kill a Squadron) 633 that was. When they made the film Jeff Hawkes was one of the Mossie drivers, and apparently as related to me by one of the ground crew always came back late from shoots having used up his fuel beating up various airfields and ships in the North Sea !!!
Just need someone to tell me about SV getting his Hurricane at North Weald !!! Come on chaps someone must know.

You must have visited a few days after me then; that Mossie was parked outside waiting to be 'destroyed' next day when I was there!
And of course the same scene was used in 'Mosquito Squadron' shot at Bovingdon about 5 years later.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0113807eb2.jpgPhoto credit G Simons Airfield Focus
( Later) Has the subtlety of the above gone wide - or are we all at tea?

CHEV During school hols (I was a Cadet at Kenley) I used to get a lift or hitch hike to various airfields one of which was Northolt (quite a hike).because a comms flight was based there (may have been 32 Sdn). Anyway a quick visit to 'ops' would reveal what was going where and did they have a spare seat. One of the odd things was you had to go and actually get a seat from a store as the machines Devons / Pembrokes also carried freight if req. Having arranged your flight you then presented yourself at the flight line and fitted the seat. I recall that training flights were our usual rides, and sometimes you were dropped off in the middle of an airfield somewhere whilst the crew did practice single engine work. Anyway on this day there was a choice of Bovingdon or Jurby in the IOM. AS I was not geared up for an 'away day' I opted for Bov which was only just up the road, and as alluded prooved to be a great trip. I think 633 had just finished filming but the buildings were still covered in cammo nets and the burnt wreck and the two flyers were still there. I dimly recall both 'flyers' had painted over Perspex noses so would have been the ex Exeter CAAU machines. Both Kenley and Biggin had finished as RAF flying base's by then so I could never get a lift back home, but being in Cadet uniform always managed to hitch hike back.
On another epic we went to ETPS Farnborough and scrounged a ride in their Viscount where we deposited on the ground at Boscombe whist the drivers did EFTO runs. On the way back having made coffee in the galley I then got to sit in the right hand seat and 'poled' it for ten minutes which was fun. On another Farnborough jaunt I went on the 'Bedford Ferry' which was an evening trip to collect boffins, and my first experience of night flight. These were great days to be a Cadet and everyone was so helpful to get you up in the air. The icing on the cake was the purchase of a meal ticket for a shilling (20p) which enabled you to use the Airmans mess and eat like a lord. for the day !!!. In my case I was also a staff Cadet at 615 GS Kenley so w-ends were wall to wall activity. Having been part of the Cadet system when it was lead by capable and enthusiastic staff with the 'AIR' element paramount, you can imagine my horror to see how they destroyed the Gliding system and ended up being led by completely clueless people who had no idea what they had lost. One hopes the new Cmt can pull things together and get back on track.
Northolt eventually got a Hurricane gate guard which was a reminder of the fantastic Poles who flew from there.

Quote:

---

a shilling (20p)

---

A somewhat inflated translation. 1s = 12d = 5p

363
 

O-OPS All has been revealed (thanks) and not only did the book confirm that Hawkers did indeed give the machine a good sort out for SV but also that 363 had visited BV more than once.
excellent result and in fact the true story of how 363 'survived' is well worth reading.

OXO cricket ground, Beckenham
 

I was a small boy in Beckenham in 1959 (I did not witness the landing) and grew up there. The Spitfire landing on the cricket pitch was part of local folk lore and my Dad knew about, it having been with 1 AEF at Biggin Hill around that time.

I've tried posting a link to a facebook page about it with pictures but it disappears when posted. If you google - Spitfire that crash landed on the Oxo Cricket Ground you should find it.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....feb6a0f131.jpg

Very British just add a teapot and some cucumber sandwiches. Looks like the local PFA strut are deciding what instruments to acquire.
Maguire was a tad unlucky, another 5 mins he would have made Biggin.
I remember the 'event' on the national news, it was 1959 and the Sunday after the Biggin 'At Home' day. 363 was not so lucky decades later when it suffered camshaft failure en route Jersey and pancaked at Wittering where it was consumed by fire. It had been the last flying Hurricane held on RAF charge since the war until joined by PZ 865 (last Hurricane built) when donated by Hawkers. I was at the Biggin At Home the day before (age 12) memorable for me by being allowed to fire a Bren gun at the butts for a contribution into the RAFA box. (imagine that happening now). Bovingdon still available for landing PPR as part of one runway owned by local farm.