Aviation Memorials in Nottinghamshire – 2014

The new aviation memorial at Bleasby, Notts was dedicated last Saturday and it was an honour to be part of a very moving occasion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-45288019

An aviation commemoration that relates to a multiple Jet Provost collision/crash, took place in Nottinghamshire today; 50 years after the original incident http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-36375124

Thought that I’d add this new memorial proposal at Bleasby, Notts into this ‘old’ thread – details released yesterday via BBC Nottingham website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-36268812

It was good to chat yesterday John and just one photo for now. There’s more info in the BBC link in post#42

just got back from the memorial dedication and I’d like to thank the Bealby’s for Inviting us to the event which well organised and very moving and it was nice to be able to talk to the relatives of the crew of EF127, many of whom had travelled from Australia and the North of England. I’m sure that TO will be along shortly with some photos to illustrate what went on

regards

John

That’s brilliant news John, I saw the memorial the other week and it is absolutely stunning!

The relatives that I spoke to yesterday were overwhelmed by what has been organised in this quiet corner of Nottinghamshire – have a safe journey.

See you there Howard

I’m honoured to be attending this memorial dedication ceremony later this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-33154409

I was privileged to meet some of the Australian relative at the museum yesterday and was able to give them a brief tour and explain some aspects of RAF Winthorpe’s wartime training role.

Some information about a request for assistance in relation to the EF127 Stirling crash at Edwinstowe, Notts has been added to the Our Nottinghamshire website – rather than cutting and pasting all the details they can be found via this weblink.

This is mainly a local Nottinghamshire appeal, however a search is also underway to locate family contacts in Brisbane, Australia – I hope to be able to provide details about that at a later date.

As briefly touched on in the “Newark Aeroboot 2015 – what did I miss?” thread a new memorial will be raised in Nottinghamshire this summer.

This will be in memory of the crew of a 1661 HCU Short Stirling EF127 that crashed on February 26th 1944. The crew were all Australians and two of the seven survived the impact.

Plans are quite well advanced for the memorial and I hope to be able to pass on more details as they are released.

A piece about the proposed aviation memorial at Bleasby has been added to the Our Nottinghamshire website http://www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page/bleasby_air_crash_memorial

Plus free copies of the Aviation Memorials in Nottinghamshire booklet can still be requested via the NAM website. 🙂

antoni, I’ve asked for access to the Hucknall listing again – the latest mistake / alt was down to my spell checker configuration the 25 (Polish) EFTS alt will be made as soon as I get access again! 😮

They can be found on the picture the past website but the only info is that they are ‘RAF billets – off Watnall Road’.

I think they can be seen in this aerial photo.

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCC001128&pos=12&action=zoom&id=38354

Unfortunately this photo has been squashed sideways making the aircraft impossible to ID. Horsleys, Wallace or Hinds. (This would give a date). I wonder if these old wooden huts were in fact from when Hucknall was 15 TDS in 1918. Those hangars certainly were.

John

I think that you’re right antoni – at the top of the picture the woods seems to be Starth / Eelhole Woods.

If that is the case I suspect that the dormitories have been removed; but the area does retain its aviation connections through the road names: Conway Road, Spey Close, Royce Avenue etc.

I have posted a question on the Hucknall page of the Our Nottinghamshire website and something may come of that. I’ve given a number of talks in the Hucknall area and I’ve also passed on the question through my contacts over there.

They can be found on the picture the past website but the only info is that they are ‘RAF billets – off Watnall Road’.

I think thay can be seen in this aerial photo.

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCC001128&pos=12&action=zoom&id=38354

There were Harvard references at Newton in Tim O’Brien’s book “Last Post at Newton” however the post-war reference may have come from the Charlie Waterfall recollections in the RAF Newark (58 MU) write-up in this link http://www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page/raf_newark

The photographs are interesting antoni; I suspect that they may have been on the side of Watnall Road that has been developed. When I went on that side of the road to photograph the Harrier public house sign some of the buildings in the estate look like they were ex-military housing, but not like those pictured.

The industrial / storage site is much more built up that what is shown in the pictures – fascinating local history for this part of Nottinghamshire.

Did I read somewhere that Harvards were used at Newton after the end of the war? I cannot find it now. Anyway 16 SFTS replaced their Masters with Harvards in August 1944.

These are, I think, the dormitories at Hucknall. After the war they were used by the Polish Air Force Resettlement Corps. I am not sure if they are still standing but I believe they were there for many years. Dave Birch of the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust is the person to ask about them I should think.

Photos of training aircraft don’t seem to get published very much. Until recently I had not seen many of 25 EFTS’s Tiger Moths and they were mostly very poor quality. A couple of months ago I discovered this book that has several pages of good quality photos of them including a couple of aerial shots over Newstead Abbey.

http://www.jadarhobby.pl/wydawnictwo-zp-038-de-havilland-dh82a-tiger-moth-p-25257.html

Thank you for sharing those recollections, fascinating stuff. Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands is very proud of its Polish connections and these are highlighted in the two Nottinghamshire aviation booklets that NAM has been involved in producing.

If you’re interested and want to PM me an email address I will send you PDF files of both booklets.

With regard to your specific question about the dormitory blocks and the plaque, I’ll try to help if I can. First I should say that this is something that I have not heard of still being in existence, but I will make some enquiries and if they do exist I will go over and photograph them.

Part of the airfield site is still owned by Rolls-Royce and they enforce a strict no camera policy. They are however selling the site for housing so things may change.

Another part of the site is used by small businesses and storage companies. However I have been on site in the past but I’m not aware of any dormitory blocks amongst the buildings.

I believe that part of the airfield site (the other side of the Watnall Road) was redeveloped post-war so the dormitories may have been lost in that process.

I will make some enquiries and see what else I can find out. 🙂

Newton & Hucknall

The information for Hucknall and Newton has finally been updated; the respective items were taken off line by the ‘host’ and the data revised.

A new piece about RAF Newark (58 MU) has been added and this includes photographs of some of their recoveries.

Thank you for posting this information.
I am reading my father’s memoirs, written a decade or so ago, re Polish RAF, with training in Hucknall and Newton.
Some excerpts :

July 1943
“A letter arrived from London HQ, requesting applications for pilots, as losses in the last months were great. I applied..was accepted and expect a posting to Hucknall soon for EFTS”

20th July 1943
“Hucknall is the first school of flying…when completed, trainees go to Newton for final flying training…Hucknall is a relatively small aerodrome with grass landing areas…our training consists of flying Tiger Moth trainers…The system of training is apparently to reduce the confidence of the pupil by calling him all sorts of rude names. My instructor, Flt Sgt Sykuilski, tried this on my first flight, and seeing that it only made me laugh, did not try again…The beauty of the Tiger Moth is that one is in direct contact with the surrounding air, the cockpit comes up roughly to one’s armpits…one can do all acrobatics, stalling, sideslips, loops etc.
We sleep in large dormitories, not very comfortable, but it does not worry us at all. Between flights we are looked after by the local Salvation Army with cups of very strong tea and fresh milk, not obtainable elsewhere”

19th September 1943
“I am finishing Hucknall with very good marks and will soon be posted to Newton for the next stage of training. I have a total of 72 hours on Tiger Moths”

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The photo above is the EFTS course, personnel with crosses unfortunately died in training.

20th September 1943
“Newton SFTS..is a pre war aerodrome, very comfortable and well organised..larger than Hucknall with bitumen runways and brick buildings. Practically all Polish pilots trained in England went through Newton, so it is well known. There are two types of aircraft flown here, Masters, used for training fighter pilots..and Oxfords, used to train for bomber squadrons. I am allocated to the Oxford group..most of the instructors have one or two tours completed in various squadrons. If successful I will be here until March 1944 then go for one year of further training on other aerodromes…and finally to OTU, then to one of the squadrons. A long way and a late start. [NB Fought Nazi and Red Army 1939, escaped Russian custody four times, prisoner in Siberia until 1942, went via Persia and India to UK in 42-43. 5th September 1939 “Near the village…five Junkers (Stukas) suddenly arrive, flying low and cut us up with machine gun fire. I disperse my platoon…we could see the faces of the pilots..the ground was undulating, there was nowhere we could hide. I fell over one soldier in a ditch and remember the bullets cutting a path right across where we were lying. We used our light machine guns to fire at the Junkers..one aircraft fell 2km from where we were lying. I have one killed and five wounded, other platoons have much heavier casualties. My trousers are shot through.” ]

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Above is Newton SFTS, numbered names are written on the back of the photograph.

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Hucknall
“Most of the flights are over industrial England, with plenty of smoke and mist..sometimes it is difficult to find your way, there are so many towns and railways and roads, all hardly visible because of the smoke. It is easier at night, because each night we receive an envelope marked ‘secret’ with a list of red beacons flashing one letter and their position. Taking a bearing on two or three beacons give you a fix…It is good training and keeps us on our toes. half of the days are taken by lectures, we are so sleepy it is difficult to keep our eyes open. I am doing well, competing for first place with Lt Mietek Sawicki, a highly decorated veteran of Tobruk who was allowed to volunteer for the air force..he is trained on Masters.”

“On Sundays, when there is no flying, we go by trolleybuses to Nottingham..and mostly finish in the Palais de Dance. Dances are very popular…as the females outnumber the males, who are mostly in the forces, we have the field to ourselves. There is a very good canteen in town…and generally the forces are well looked after.”

“Some of the blokes find night flying difficult, in fact we lost two on solo flights at night. We also lost one crew flying a Master, a friend of mine called Szwede, who caught his wing tip on the ground and crashed and burned. I had the unpleasant task of identifying his body…completely burnt beyond recognition. I will never forget the night of our first (night) solo. Instead of flying in a circle and landing soon after takeoff one trainee must have lost his confidence and flew in a straight line after takeoff. We saw his navigational lights going further and further away and finally a crash on the horizon.”

“Near the end of March 1944 we had our final tests in the air…to my surprise…and I must say satisfaction, I finished first…and got my name on the small marble plate at the entrance to the dormitory block. It may still be there with luck”

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Above in 305 Squadron flying Mosquitos

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I wonder if the dormitories at Hucknall are still in existence, and whether a marble plaque bears the name of S.A Meysztowicz as dux for 1944. Simon still lives in Melbourne, Australia and, at 98, has outlived Hitler, Stalin, the Third Reich and Communism, despite their very considerable efforts to finish him off.

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I would be grateful, if the plaque exists, if someone near Hucknall could photograph it and email a photo through.

The information for Hucknall and Newton has finally been updated; the respective items were taken off line by the ‘host’ and the data revised.

A new piece about RAF Newark (58 MU) has been added and this includes photographs of some of their recoveries.