A short-lived company, but a long-lived Civilian April 2, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, London, Second World War, Wales, aircraft.Tags: 'push-rods', A.B.C. Hornet engine, Air Show, aircraft, airports, Armstrong Siddley, Armstrong Siddley Genet Major 1A, auctioneer, auctioneer's hammer, Aviation, Biggin Hill, Cardiff Airport, Carmarthen, Civilian Aircraft Company Ltd, Civilian Coupe 2, D H Mosquito, Derby, Derbyshire, England, Flight magazine, fuselage, G-ABNT, Glynn Rees, Great Depression, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, hangar, Hedon, Heston, historic aircraft, Hull, Hullavington, London, municipal airports, passenger seat, plywood, plywood panelling, port, propeller, radial engine, River Humber, Second World War, Secretary of State for Air, Shipping & Airlines Ltd, South Wales, Wales, wings, wire, Yorkshire
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- Civilian Aircraft Company Coupe 2
Throughout the 1930s many towns like Derby and the Yorkshire port of Hull joined the rush towards modern transport by establishing municipal airports. Hull’s was sited about 5 miles out of town at Hedon on the banks of the River Humber, and the civic authorities tried to attract aviation concerns to the new airfield. ‘Flight’ magazine in its March 27th, 1931 issue, mentioned that the Civilian Aircraft Company Ltd. had established a small manufacturing works on the southern edge of the site and was producing a two seat aircraft. Sadly, the first example of the ‘plane, which was first shown to the public at Heston in 1929, was powered by an A.B.C. Hornet radial engine, which vibrated rather badly. The Series 2 of the Civilian Coupe had solved the engine problems by fitting the Armstrong Siddley Genet Major 1A of 100hp. The aircraft’s fuselage was so narrow that the passenger seat had to be offset slightly behind and to one side of the pilot’s (rather like the much later D H Mosquito). There was some use of metal tubing in the fuselage, but the majority of structure, including the wings, was covered with stressed plywood panelling. Technically interesting, because it was one of the first aircraft to use ‘push-rods’ to connect the controls, rather than wire (leading to crisper responses), the Coupe was the right aircraft at the wrong time, as it appeared just as the civilian market was under immense pressure due to the Great Depression. A small series of aircraft was built, but it was already too late, and ‘Flight’ noted the demise of the company in its April 15th, 1932 issue.
One of the breed survived by sheer chance; Serial No. 03, a Civilian Coupe 2, was bought by Mr Glynn Rees of Carmarthen, South Wales and hangared at Cardiff Airport. Little flying took place (a total of 130 hours only), and he stored the aircraft before the outbreak of the Second World War. The aircraft’s registration was cancelled, by order of the Secretary of State for Air, on 1st December 1946.
After being stored for more than 40 years, G-ABNT went under the auctioneer’s hammer in Wales in February 1978. It was sold to Shipping & Airlines Ltd of London, along with a quantity of spares, including wings and a propeller. Careful restoration, and a move to a hangar on the historic Biggin Hill airfield, ensured that this highly significant aircraft is still with us today. Here she is in the historic aircraft park at GVFWE, Hullavington.
Leopoldoff Colibri – romantic, obscure, and very French (or is that, Russian?) March 16, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, France, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: Abingdon, aircraft, Aviation, Aviation Federation of Morocco, biplane, Bolshevik Revolution, British, British register, coelcanthe, Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, D'Arcy Aviation, diamond, Dr Saugnes, drawings, E.T.S.Leopoldoff, emigres, England, F-PCZX, First World War, fishermen, France, French, French register, G-AYKS, General Juin, genus, German, gold, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, hummingbird, Imperial Court, Imperial Russia, interplane struts, L'Amicale Jean Baptiste Salis, L.3, L.7 Colibri, La Ferte-Alais, Latimeria chalumnae, Leopoldoff, lower wing, M.J. Rousseau, Malagasy, Morocco, navigation instruments, nets, Paris, post-war, Prince Moulay Hassan, prototype, Rabat, Resident General de la France au Maroc, Russian, Russian aristocracy, salesmen, Salmson, Salmson 9Adb radial engine, Second World War, Sensenich W72CK, sesquiplane, shopkeepers, Societe des Avions Leopoldoff, Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, taxi driver, upper wing, William Cooper, wing dihedral, wooden propeller, WW1 markings
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- Leopoldoff L.7 Colibri
Sometimes you find something that surprises you – immensely. It is rather like panning for gold, and coming up with a huge, rough diamond. At Abingdon, during an early phase of the GVFWE event, I came across this pretty aircraft; it was rather like some Malagasy fishermen hauling up their nets and finding a coelcanthe (Latimeria chalumnae).
The genesis of the Leopoldoff is shrouded in the mists of the Bolshevik Revolution. It is said that the plans of the original aircraft were drawn up prior to 1917 by E.T.S. Leopoldoff, who, when the Imperial Russian regime fell, hurriedly left the country. Like many other Russian emigres, he ended up in Paris (French had been the preferred language of the Imperial Court, and most of the Russian aristocracy). There, the Russian community scratched out a living as best they could; some were shopkeepers, some salesmen, and some, as in Leopoldoff’s case, became taxi drivers. He finally persuaded a French company to build a prototype to his drawings, which flew in September, 1933. Progress was slow, with the first production machine appearing in 1937. Minor variations gave rise to changes in designation, with the main version being the L.3. Leopoldoff had formed his own company by now (Societe des Avions Leopoldoff), which undertook to build this pretty aircraft as a two seater for club or touring purposes. Just over 30 aircraft were produced before the Second World War broke out.
The L.7 Colibri (named after a genus of hummingbird) is a post-war modification of an L.3. The original aircraft would have been fitted with a Salmson 9Adb radial engine of 45hp, leaving it rather underpowered. Instead, the L.7 now has the ubiquitous Continental Motors Corporation A65-8S engine, of 65hp, driving a wooden Sensenich W72CK propeller – a much better proposition. You can just make out that the L.7 is a sesquiplane (or unequal span biplane). Some Leopoldoff aircraft were ‘normal’ biplanes, and you can see that this has given rise to an odd appearance. The attachment points for the interplane struts on the upper wing have stayed the same, which means the struts now make an acute angle with the shorter, lower wing. Note the pronounced wing dihedral. There are echoes of WW1 aircraft in this design; indeed, one of the few examples still extant (in the collection of L’Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis, at La Ferte-Alais in France) is painted in German WW1 markings.
Post-war, six more aircraft were built in Morocco by Societe des Constructions Aeronautiques du Maroc, and one of these made a noteworthy flight on the 3rd July 1948, when it successfully completed a 600km course as part of an aviation rally organised by the Aviation Federation of Morocco. The Leopoldoff (powered by a Salmson radial) landed safely back at Rabat, where the crew of Dr Saugnes and M J Rousseau were greeted by the Resident General de la France au Maroc, General Juin and Prince Moulay Hassan. It was the smallest aircraft in the rally, and had no special navigation instruments!
This L.7 is the only one on the British register, and was owned by D’Arcy Aviation in the 1970s (it had been on the French register, at one stage, as F-PCZX). It is now in the capable hands of Mr William Cooper. Long may she grace British skies.
Backbone of the ATA – the Fairchild Argus March 12, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 'Eager For The Air', Aetheris avidi, air taxis, Air Transport Auxiliary, airfields, airframe, Airspeed, Airspeed Oxford, Amy Johnson, Argus, Argus II, Argus III, ATA, ATA HQ, aviatrix, Avro, Avro Anson, Berkshire, brass, communications, Consolidated, factories, Fairchild, Fairchild 24R-46, Fairchild Engine & Airplane Company, Fairchild Model 24, Fairey, ferry pilot, G-BCBH, GVFWE, inverted air-cooled engine, laminated spruce, Lancaster, Liberator, Maidenhead, main spar, Maintenance Units, Model 24, oleo-damped undercarriage, Oxford, post-war, radial engine, Ranger L-440 engine, Ranger L-440-C2, rate of sink, Repair Stations, South African, Spitfire, Swordfish, Thames Estuary, twin-bladed, twin-bladed propeller, twin-engined, UC-61, units, utility type, Vickers-Supermarine, Warner Scarab engine, White Waltham, wooden propeller, ZS-AXH
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Fairchild Argus
Elegant and efficient, this product of the Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation formed the backbone of the Air Transport Auxiliary fleet during World War Two. The ATA had been set up in 1940 to transport urgent items (including mail) between airfields. It rapidly evolved into an organisation which ferried the planes themselves, from factories, Maintenance Units and Repair Stations to the frontline units. A wholly civilian staffed organisation, the ATA (motto, Aetheris avidi, ‘Eager For The Air’) was headquartered at White Waltham, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, and took female as well as male applicants. They eventually flew everything from Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires to Avro Lancasters, from Fairey Swordfish to Consolidated Liberators. One of the needs of this organisation was for a fleet of air taxis, four-seat machines, which could pick ferry pilots up and return them either to base, or on to another ferry job. The Fairchild Model 24 had been in production in the USA since 1932, as a comfortable 4-seater, but was quickly subject to a wartime order for the US Forces as the UC-61, and was an excellent communications and utility machine. Powered either by a Warner Scarab radial engine (this machine was called the Argus II in RAF parlance) or the Ranger L-440 inverted 4-cylinder inline engine of 200hp (the Argus III), it was the latter which was the main version used by the ATA. The Argus was supplemented by numbers of twin-engined Avro Ansons and Airspeed Oxfords, for the larger jobs. The war-time flying took its toll; 173 members of the ATA lost their lives, including the world-famous aviatrix, Amy Johnson, who died in 1941 after crashing an Airspeed Oxford into the Thames Estuary.
The Argus has a specially designed, oleo-damped undercarriage, which allows a high rate of sink during landing. This, along with immensely strong main spars in the wing, made from laminated spruce, all contributed to a rugged airframe, and, therefore, a fair number of post-war survivors. Production of the Argus continued into peace-time, and the last civilian Model 24 left the factory in 1948 – a most creditable run.
This aircraft, G-BCBH, is a Fairchild 24R-46A (Modified); it was the 975th aircraft of the type to be built, and is powered by the Ranger L-440-C2 engine. Note also the brass sheathed leading edges of the wooden twin-bladed propeller, which helped prevent damage. Bravo Hotel is in a rather splendid yellow and white finish, which reflects the afternoon sunshine at GVFWE. It returned to the British register in 1983, having spent some time on the South African register as ZS-AXH. A most pleasing sight to see, and a very handsome restoration.
The rare made commonplace – G-AIYS, DH 85 Leopard Moth March 6, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, Museums, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: aeronautical engineer, Air Show, aircraft, aircraft disposal sales, airfield, Aston Martin, Baghdad, Biggin Hill, communications aircraft, De H 85, De Havilland, De Havilland Gipsy Major 1 engine, DH 80, Egypt, England, fabric-covered, folding wings, Geoffrey De Havilland, Gipsy Major engine, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, GVFWE, hangarage, impressed aircraft, Iraq, Keevil, King's Cup Air Race, Leopard Moth, liaison type, Mr Ronald Gammons, Mrs Valery Gammons, oil companies, plywood, prototype, Puss Moth, RAF, RAF Kemble, RAF Museum, Scotland, Second World War, Sir William James Denby Roberts, steel tube, Strathallan Collection, Surrey and Kent Flying Club, Torquil Norman, Victor Guantlett, Wiltshire, WW2
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- The rare made commonplace – De Havilland DH 85 Leopard Moth
Geoffrey De Havilland was a skilled aeronautical engineer, of that there was no doubt, but he was also a passionate lepidopterist, and named many of his early creations after various species of moth. The Leopard Moth was designed in the 1930s to provide a relatively swift (c. 130 mph) ‘gentleman’s aerial carriage’ (one pilot, two passengers). The prototype won the King’s Cup Air Race in 1933 at over 139 mph, flown by Geoffrey De Havilland himself. The fact that De Havilland had forsaken the fabric-covered steel tube formula of the Leopard Moth’s predecessor, the DH 80 Puss Moth, and instead built a strong, sturdy ‘box’ from plywood, giving a structure of lower weight, enabled the aircraft to fly faster and further. The DH Gipsy Major 1C engine puts out around 142 hp, which gives a cruise speed close to 120mph, and a range of over 700 miles.
This Messenger always brings good news…… March 4, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, Great Vintage Flying Weekend, RAF, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete, aircraft, Anthony Bingham Mildmay, Auster J5K, Aviation, Berkshire, Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, Chrislea, Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Series 4, flaps, G-AJOE, General Montgomery, horse racing, M.28 Mercury, M.38 Messenger, Messenger 2A, Miles, Miles factory, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, Peter Bishop, Queen Elizabeth, Reading, Royal Air Force, Second World War, short field performance, steeplechase, the Queen Mother, trailing edge, upholstery, Woodley
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- Miles Messenger, G-AJOE
Developed from a Second World War design for the Royal Air Force , and used primarily as a liaison aircraft - one was notably used by the then General Montgomery, as a personal transport – this Miles design showed excellent short-field performance; you can see here the generous trailing-edge flaps which contributed to this. The M.38 Messenger was a development of the twin-tailed M.28 Mercury, and the post-war civilian Mk. 2A was built at a facility in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. The aircraft were then flown over to the Miles factory at Woodley, near Reading, where they were painted and upholstery fitted. Powered by a Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engine, of 155hp (the same as the Auster J5K, and the Chrislea CH3 Super Ace Skyjeep Mk 4), the Messenger was a popular four-seater touring aircraft, but unfortunately production ceased with the 71st example in 1948.
G-AJOE had an interesting start; it was bought in in April 1947 by Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete. Unfortunately, the aristocratic steeplechase rider (who was credited with introducing Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, to the sport of horse racing) disposed of G-AJOE fairly swiftly, and it was back in the hands of Miles at Reading by October 1947.
After a series of owners, the aircraft is now in the hands of Peter Bishop, and has been restored in a traditional Miles cream and red livery. One of only a handful of Miles aircraft still flying, it appears regularly at GVFWE and other events.
HMS Belfast February 22, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, England, Great Britain, London, Museums, Second World War, aircraft, ships.Tags: 38th parallel, 4-inch gun, 40mm gun, 6-inch gun, Admiral Frobisher, Admiral Nelson, Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25, Barracuda, battleship, British Army, Canadian Army, Chance-Vought, Communist, Corsair, cruiser, D-Day, dazzle camouflage, Fairey, Fleet Air Arm, floating museum, German Navy, Gold Beach, Grumman, Hellcat, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, June Beach, Korean War, London, magnetic mine, Normandy, North Korea, Norwegian coast, Operation Tungsten, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas, River Thames, Royal Navy, Tirpitz, triple 6-inch mounts
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HMS Belfast
An 11,000 ton, 6-inch gun cruiser is an impressive ship; in this case HMS Belfast is made even more impressive by being anchored in the centre of London. Cared for by the Imperial War Museum, this veteran of both World War Two and the Korean War, serves as a living reminder of the ‘big gun navy’, when the art of naval gunnery was practised aboard battleships and cruisers by the direct ‘descendents’ of admirals such as Nelson and Frobisher. Twelve 6-inch guns are carried in four triple mounts, and there is a secondary armament of 4 -inch and 40mm guns, also. Commissioned just prior to the outbreak of WW2 (5th August 1939), the ship was almost lost when hitting a magnetic mine in November of that year, and repairs took nearly three years. Here you can see her wearing a particularly fetching ‘dazzle camouflage’ – Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25 – of the middle of the Second World War. Perhaps her most notable role was bombarding targets in France during the D-Day landings in Normandy, where she used both her 6 inch and 4 inch guns to great effect (she could reach targets more than 11 miles inland); her main role was supporting British and Canadian landings on Gold and Juno beaches.
Operation Tungsten – an aerial attack on the German battleship ‘Tirpitz’ , by Fairey Barracuda, Grumman Hellcat and Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm – saw her providing cover for the aircraft carriers stationed off the Norwegian coast.
HMS Belfast’ s last taste of action was during the Korean War when she regularly bombarded Communist targets ashore on both sides of the 38th parallel. She was in almost continuous action from July 1950 to September 1952, when she finally sailed for her home port.
Saved for the nation by a vigorous campaign lead by ex-officers of the ship, she entered retirement, and was moored in the Thames as a floating museum. She is, technically, a branch of the Imperial War Museum. I have visited HMS Belfast on a number of occasions, and am always struck by a sense of history, when onboard.
Truly, as the ship’s motto says, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas (For so much, how shall we repay?)
A faster dragon………… February 20, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in 'warbird', Aviation, RAF, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 'Valkyrie', 'warbird', 621 VGS, air ambulance, Air Atlantique, Air Atlantique Historic Flight, Air Show, aircraft, airliner, Aviation, Brush Coachworks, communications aircraft, crew trainers, Culham, De Havilland, De Havilland Major Six engine, DH 80A, DH 84 Dragon, DH 89A Dragon Rapide, DH Gipsy Queen 3 engine, Dominie T.1, Dragon Rapide, Dragon Six, Duxford, Edward Hillman, Fairey Reed propeller, G-ATGM, glider, GVFWE, hangar, HMS Hornbill, Hullavington, Imperial War Museum, Iraq, Iraq Transport Company, Jordan, JY-ACL, Leicestershire, light bomber, Lithuania, Loughborough, Mike Russell, NF875, Oxfordshire, Parachute Regiment, Puss Moth, RAF, RNAS Culham, Royal Air Force, Royal Naval Air Station, Royal Navy, Russavia, scheduled airline, Second World War, Spanish Civil War, Viking T Mk 1, Volunteer Gliding Squadron, Wiltshire, WW2
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- A faster dragon…..
Edward Hillman had built a economical charter and scheduled airline business using the safe, affordable De Havilland DeH 84 Dragon – the Dragon had arisen because Hillman’s DeH 80A Puss Moth wasn’t big enough, and he negotiated with the company for a ‘twin-engined Puss Moth’. What he needed now, in the late 1930s was a ‘faster Dragon’. Enter the Dragon Six (sometimes called the Dragon Rapide, and later just Rapide) with its Gipsy Major 6 engines of 200hp, and capable of carrying eight passengers, it was an instant success in the civil market. There was military interest too, with light bomber varients being used during the Spanish Civil War, and sold to smaller nations such as Lithuania. The Royal Air Force needed radio and crew trainers, as well as communications and air ambulance machines. The Dragon Rapide put on ‘warpaint’ and became the Dominie T.1, the vast majority of them being built by Brush Coachworks, at Loughborough in Leicestershire. G-AGTM was one of these, built in 1944 and originally bearing the RAF serial NF875.
Tynemouth Priory & Castle February 13, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, Castles, England, Great Britain, Second World War.Tags: 'mother house', Benedictine, castle, coastal battery, Coastguard, Danes, Deira, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Earl of Northumberland, England, English Heritage, German Navy, Germany, King Henry VIII, King Osred, King Oswin, Kingdom of Deira, Kingdom of Northumbria, kings, monks, Northumberland, Northumbria, Prior, Priory, River Tyne, Robert de Mobray, Second World War, St Albans, St Oswin, Tynemouth, Vikings
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Tynemouth Priory & Castle
Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a most impressive ruin, seen here in the evening sun. Standing on a rocky outcrop between Tynemouth village and the sea, it dominates the mouth of the River Tyne. There had been a church on this site for hundreds of years before 1090, when Robert de Mobray, Earl of Northumberland, caused the Priory to be built. Earlier buildings had been attacked by the Vikings (or Danes as they were called) no less than five times, the first invasion coming in 800, the last attack coming in 875, when the priory was destroyed. Many years later, in 1296, the Prior was given the right to fortify the buildings on site – so a priory and castle it became. No less than three kings are supposedly buried here including, Oswin, King of Deira (d.651), who was later to become St Oswin, and Osred, King of Northumbria from 789-790. There are also hundreds of other gravestones, many of them of the Benedictine monks who were sent here from their ‘mother house’ in St Albans – not a happy transfer, I am sure.
King Henry VIII took possession of the Priory upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, and the buildings began their long slide into obscurity. By the time of the First World War a small military garrison occupied this important spot to guard against possible German naval forays. The site was also used to house a coastal battery during the Second World War, and has also been the site of a Coastguard Station.
Now, English Heritage owns the Priory and Castle, and their magnificent ruins are open to all, for a reasonable entrance fee.
A Cub with a chequered past…. February 13, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, Second World War, United States, aircraft.Tags: Cambrai, Civilian Training Program, Continental A65 engine, Cub, French, Grasshopper, Great Britain, J3 Cub, L-4, Lock Haven, NE-1, O-59, Pennsylvania, Piper, Second World War, SOCATA MS 880 Rallye, United States, United States Army Air Corps, US Marines, USN
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- Piper J-3C-65 Cub
This is a Cub with a chequered past – and a chequered present too! Formerly on the French register as F-BPYN, it was first registered in Britain during 1979. A little ‘digging’ reveals that it was built to a US Government contract in 1943, and would have been one of the many J-3s built with military designations such as L-4 and O-59 for the US Army Air Corps, or NE-1 for the US Navy and Marine Corps – the type was almost universally known as the Grasshopper. The Civilian Pilot Training Program, which involved the training of hundreds of thousands of pilots in the US during WW2, also used the J-3 in huge quantities. Over 19,000 civilian and military Cubs were produced by Piper at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania from 1938 to 1947, and no less than 320,000 US military pilots were trained on them.
In praise of the corrugated iron hut……… February 8, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Aviation, British Isles, England, New England, Royal Air Force, Second World War, aircraft.Tags: 29th Company, 81st Airdrome Squadron, AAF Station 471, Army Air Corps, corrugated iron, Davisville, Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, displaced persons, DSO, England, farm animals, First World War, former airfield, Gliders, GSA Gliding Club, Herbert Hawkes, Keevil, Keevil Airfield, Major Peter Norman Nissen, New England, Nissen hut, North Kingstown, PoW, Quonset hut, Quonset Point, RAF, RAF Lyneham, Rhode Island, Romney hut, Royal Air Force, Royal Engineers, Second World War, US Army Air Corps, Wiltshire
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- Corrugated iron huts, Keevil
It all started with an officer in the 29th Company, Royal Engineers. Major Peter Norman Nissen (1871-1930), needed a fast, easy-to-erect building which would offer storage and living space in the field. Since this was 1916, the need was great indeed, and production of the hut, made from curved sheets of corrugated iron was approved immediately. A single hut took 54 sheets of curved corrugated iron, 10 ft 6 ins high and 2 ft 2 ins wide, and a specially braced framework. By the end of the First World War, around 100, 000 units had been manufactured.
Athough small scale production continued between the wars, it was only the outbreak of World War Two that caused a massive expansion of the building programme. Although the huts could be taken apart, and moved to new locations as required, many formed the backbone of ‘permanent’ buildings on airfields, army barracks, and naval bases worldwide. There were various versions of the hut built, including the Romney Hut (British) and the Quonset Hut (US). The Quonset Hut was named after Quonset Point, where the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center was located (Davisville being a part of North Kingstown, Rhode Island).
These huts are located on Keevil Airfield, Wiltshire, and look to be modified Quonset huts, as these were considerably larger than the British versons, and I have seen a photograph of similar huts at Keevil in 1943. This is possible as Keevil was, at one time, Army Air Force Station 471, home to several US Army Air Corps units. These included the 81st Airdrome Squadron, providing communications and other support to AAC flying units. Herbert Hawkes, who served with the 81st described the conditions at Keevil in 1943 as, ‘mud’!
The huts now serve a variety of uses, the one on the left of the photograph being used by Bannerdown Gliding Club, an RAF GSA Gliding Club, affliated to nearby RAF Lyneham.
Postwar, huts of all three types continued in use in the UK, and in other countries. They housed farm animals and equipment, many when former airfields reverted to agricultural use; they were used to house PoWs, as well as ‘displaced persons’, and, above all, they continued their military careers on bases both large and small. As for Major Nissen, he received a small payment for his efforts, but the Distinguished Service Order from a grateful nation.
