Just what were the RAF expecting to fight?

I just wanted to to say “Great picture, thanks for sharing” – it seems to have captured the period totally.

Young boy in shorts (Sunday best?) with a lemonade bottle (marble in the bottle neck?) the two bladed prop on the Hurricane, “Low Viz” roundels, its fantastic.

The wealth of knowledge here is inspirational!

I did have doubts about it being Duxford as I had a feeling that 310 Sqn were the first Hurricanes at Dux, and they weren’t formed until well into 1940. As you say, this is clearly pre-war. I don’t know many unit codes off-hand but I do know this a/c isn’t 310!

Great image, which has triggered (!) some great comments!

Gun Butts (Prob Biggin)

I believe Biggin had A/C machine gun butts and a small arms range alongside each other.So this would fit in with the picture.
At the post war “At Home” days (the nearest Sat to the 15th Sept) they used to set up guns for the public to fire on the small arms side.
These were on mountings and for a shilling (to the RAFA fund) one could blast off a full mag from a bren gun.The airman who lay alongside would change the “setting” so you had some single shots and then finished off in a burst.
No ear defenders of course so your ears rang for a while and if you could pick up a spent .303 case they did not mind.
Mind you in those days you could also fire a .22 short “pump” winchester at fair grounds with no real restriction.
79 (AL) formed at Biggin pre war and went to France from there.

This photo is between April 1939 and September 1939. The codes were then changed to NV.

John

Those airfield cannon stop butts were of certain design types anyway so they look similar to each other.

Superb picture though, maybe this was the way to train Hurricane pilots to counter Fiat CR.42s!
Where’s Cotteswold Tim when you need him.

Could be Duxford – same pattern building anyway.

I’m afraid not. This is a Hurricane of No 79 Squadron, who were never based at Duxford. They did, however, spent much of the immediate pre-war period (and I assume this is pre-war, with civilians allowed on the station) at Biggin Hill, so my money would be on that station.

Yes the targets are WW1 Fokker D VII’s. The last time I saw public gun firing was at Newton in 1954 with Meteors firing 20mm’s.

John

Having read Empire of the Clouds there is a passage where the author describes being allowed to fire off a round in a meteor, oh to do that these days.

Still I think that the gun camera footage (if it had been fitted) would show that the wall can be put down as a confirmed kill!

I’d say the targets were Fokker D VII.
With regards to the H&S issues, forget the public they are safely behind a barrier, but just look at the armourer – working at height with no eye, ear protection, safety harness or staging. :diablo:

I think you are pretty much spot on with the aircraft ID. Ya, would have been nice if they were the only targets!
Great photo BTW!

Oh yes and not a reflective jacket in sight. :diablo:

I’d say the targets were Fokker D VII.
With regards to the H&S issues, forget the public they are safely behind a barrier, but just look at the armourer – working at height with no eye, ear protection, safety harness or staging. :diablo:

Could be Duxford – same pattern building anyway.

I have often tried to imagine the sound of 8 Brownings bouncing off the doors of nearby Hangar 3!

So, this would be a public event? Live ammo?

Ye gods, health and safety officials were made of sterner stuff back in the day….:)

What a cracking photo, thanks for sharing!