Airfield photos – 'Then and Now'

Žatec Air Base, former home of Mig-15, Mig-17, Mig-19, Mig-21 and Mig-29, Delfíns and Albatroses

Reviving this old thread, here are then-and-now shots of Salbani airfield, an RAF Liberator base west of Calcutta in W. Bengal, India. 159 Squadron was initially based here in ’42 and ’43 before moving up the road/rail line to Digri. 355 and 356 Squadrons made Salbani their home after that.

Today the old airfield is a high-security area, being the site of India’s national mint.

The images are 70 years apart: 26 Feb 1944 and 29 Jan 2014.

The 355 Sqn Liberators in the first wartime image, in a row on the marshaling strip, were being prepped for that night’s op to bomb Zayatkwin airfield north of Rangoon. In the second wartime image barracks can be seen across the railway from the runways. Parked Libs are visible at lower left.

From this airfield Liberator KH210 of 355 Sqn, with S/Ldr J.B. Nicholson VC DFC aboard as a passenger, took off at 0051 on 2 May 1945, bound for Rangoon. Suffering engine trouble, it turned back before reaching Rangoon but crashed in the Bay of Bengal, killing 10 men, including Nicholson. Two badly injured men clinging to debris were rescued.

Regards,

Matt

Pagen01, ref post #26, I was pleased to see a photo of ASWDU Sycamore Z. Do you know the reg for ASWDU Sycamore Y?
They were both used for Trial 312, Apr-Sept 1952, something to do with Decca. Do you have any details on what Trial 312was?

Also what was the reg for ASWDU Neptune K doing Trials 317, 351 Nov 53/ Feb 54?

Thank you. (I was wearing a nappy at the time, living in a caravan on Tretheras Farm at Newquay)

Some nice comparison photos there BobKat.

Here’s another of the Lancaster visit to Bassingbourn.

Rob

Very nice Wyvernfan! 🙂

Some nice comparison photos there BobKat.

Here’s another of the Lancaster visit to Bassingbourn.

Rob

Would be nice to see any pictures of old RAF Waddington with 467 Squadron lancs in them if somebody has some knocking around. Have found quite a few on the web but would be good to see some more. I’m going to ask my Grandad if he has any picture’s from the war and will post them on here when i can.

Thanks, Wyverfan.

T-21, many thanks – I hoped someone might be able to identify it. Here is another (poor quality) picture of Paris – a B-26 (?) this time with a few others in the shot from the viewing platform.

Its at Bassingbourn, BobKat, circa 1944 and is Lancaster ‘S’ for Sugar (now at Hendon) during her tour of Uk airfields -having I think completed 125 missions.

Rob

It was a display of USAAF aircraft that helped win the war . It is a B-17G “Eagles Wrath” 42-107180 coded GL:K from the 410BS ,94th Bomb Group at Bury St Edmunds. Notice chin turret and ball turret have been removed standard at this time to save weight. It was salvaged in Germany 29 Dec 1945.

Which airfield was that, Wyvernfan?

The next photo does not quite fall into the category of an airfield, but it is certainly “then and now”!

The aircraft is (I think) a B-17, but I have no idea what the post-war occasion in Paris was. The photo came to light recently amongst a small number found amongst the possessions of my son-in-law’s step-father. He was a rear gunner in a B-26.

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Thanks for the additional information, BobKat. Quite amazing and also sad that so much can change in thirteen years, even to this day.

During my last visit there i was of the opinion that the airfield was just ripe for preservation as a wartime bomber base – had the opportunity come about for any like minded individuals, with so much still intact and in relatively good condition. And despite the resident industrial it reminded me of Duxfords untouched rawness and originality way back in the early seventies before it became what it is today.

Rob

Thanks Wyvernfan. You may be interested in the pictures below.

At the top left are two black and white pictures, gratefully acknowledged from “Bases of Bomber Command Then and Now” by Roger A Freeman whose name has already been mentioned a number of times on this thread.

The Building reference numbers mentioned below are taken from the 1944 Little Staughton Airfield Site Plan. The area in question is now part of a small industrial estate.

The first photo shows a Lancaster of 582 Sqn in 1945 on one of the “figure-of-eight” hardstandings with the Photographic Block (#18) visible beneath the fuselage at the left. The tall square-looking building is the Parachute Store (#21) with the end of the Dinghy Shed (#20) just visible in front of it. To the right are the Main Workshops (#22).

The picture underneath was taken from much the same position in around the year 2000. The Photographic Block has disappeared opening up the view towards the Link Trainer Building (#28) and the Squadron & Flight Office (#38) with the Locker & Drying Room (#69) and the Officers Latrine (#36) in the left background. There is a new building in front of the Main Workshops. My photo in 2013 shows that the trees have grown considerably, obscuring some of the buildings, but that the Parachute Store and the Link Trainer Building no longer exist – the remaining buildings still survive and the Officers Latrine still works. I couldn’t help thinking that I was standing where my wife’s uncle must have once stood nearly 70 years ago.

You will recollect that, in response to my request for old photos on the Little Staughton thread, you kindly posted some of yours taken in around 2000, after which I returned to the airfield to have a second look. On the top right is one of your photos with mine underneath, taken earlier this year from much the same position. The top picture looks at the Parachute Store from the opposite direction to that in the earlier pictures: the lower one shows its disappearance from the centre background and a new structure in the left background. The buildings in the foreground are #39 and #40 as detailed in the list attached.

The activity of the industrial estate has resulted in the preservation of some of the buildings, but those no longer in use are falling into a state of disrepair, with a number, sadly, having been demolished in recent years. This is illustrated by the extract from the 1944 Site Plan at the bottom right. The buildings in the central area highlighted in red still exist, some no doubt having been subject to much renovation. Those shown in blue are newly constructed. Those uncoloured no longer exist. Towards the top, the Painters Shop, #47, is the one that has disappeared from my pictures in yesterday’s post – probably some considerable time ago. The old Maintenance Staff Block, #46, is the one at the front right of my photo. Three buildings which I have identified as having been demolished sometime over the period since 2000 are: #21, the Parachute Store already mentioned, #28, the old Link Trainer Building, and #45, the old Armoury Maintenance Unit. The buildings which survive include a number of the distinctively shaped Nissen and the larger Romney buildings, together with several of the so-called “Temporary” brick buildings. It seems inevitable that over time, more of these wartime buildings will disappear. On my second visit to the airfield, a four-hour expedition on foot took me to the Battle Headquarters building near the northern perimeter, to what remains of the Pyro & Incendiary Stores, the Bomb Stores and the Bulk Petrol Installation to the south, along with the Robin hangar and T2 shed to the north-west (I understand these were used by the Pathfinder Mosquito 109 Sqn which shared the airfield with 582 Sqn), and the Control Tower and other buildings in the central area. The Control Tower to the west of the central area (building #92 on the Plan) is now a listed building with planning permission for renovation, but looking very much the worse for wear when I saw it some six months ago.

The photographs of the three locations I have referred to were taken from approximately the positions marked with a green cross on the Site Plan. The pictures in yesterday’s post look southwards from the northern end of the main roadway through the site. The old hardstanding area to the east has disappeared, but its outline is still visible from the air after a dry summer. Details of some of the buildings taken from the Site Plan are shown at the bottom left.

If anyone has any wartime photos of Little Staughton which they would be happy to share, I will to try to match these with the pictures I have taken around the site.

Thanks for that contribution BobKat, really interesting comparison photos of an airfield i have visited on many occasions in the past.

Rob

Herewith a picture of Little Staughton Airfield in 1944 when the USAAF were occupying the base, and in 2013 originally posted on “Little Staughton Airfield – 2009 thread revived”. The building at the front right of the 1944 picture has disappeared, but much else is still recognisable.

Another one from me of Bassingbourn with Canberra B.2 WJ674 of the resident 231 OCU taken in 1968, and of the same view taken this summer with the original control tower (now home to The Tower Museum) shown in the background.

Incidentally WJ674 crashed some five years later whilst on approach to RAF Cottesmore killing the pilot.

Rob

NickB – Looking forward to your next contribution :p

Propstrike – Nice one.

Rob

Rewinding back to Bovingdon, the end of rnwy 35 ( the old banger racing track ) is a film set presently for ‘The Fury’ with Mr B Pitt and a Sherman tank. The German village is evident in this photo, and top left are the aprons near the Tower. They are filming there right now.

I remember the Hanover Street ( movie) Mitchells lined up on there in 1978.

Nice one Rob… I have another one I’ve done of RNAS St Merryn with a line of Fireflies – will try and post that soon too…

NickB’s contribution has spurred me into adding another then and now, this time of ‘Brite Sun’ B-26 Marauder at Bassingbourn and the same view taken recently.

Anyone got anymore?

Rob