BBMF Hurrican LF363 – but where?

As follow up to the daring von Werra exploits, here is some background from the following website:

http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/franz_von_werra.htm:

At 05:30, the train pulled in at Codnor Park Station and von Werra was left in the care of the signalman, a Mr R. W. Harris. Von Werra wished to make a telephone call to the nearest base to arrange for a car to come and collect him, but the signalbox was not connected to the public telephone system, so Mr Harris suggested that he should wait until Sam Eaton, the booking clerk, arrived at 06:00 as there was a phone in his office. When Eaton arrived, he listened to von Werra’s story but was not at all happy with it and felt that he ought to contact the police. Needless to say this rather annoyed von Werra, who had no desire to undergo close inspection, but an hour later he was able to convince Mr Eaton to call the nearest base, RAF Hucknall, and arrange for a car to come and collect him. The police, however, arrived first. They questioned von Werra, but due to their inexperience and the young flyer’s knowledge of current events, they were soon satisfied that his story was genuine.

Shortly after the RAF car turned up. The guard was armed. Von Werra did not know it, but the Duty Officer at Hucknall, Squadron Leader Boniface, was already suspicious of his reported tale and so had sent the car out to pick him up. When he was brought to Hucknall and questioned by Boniface, von Werra claimed that he was based at Dyce aerodrome, near Aberdeen. Whilst in the process of getting in touch with Dyce to confirm this, Boniface asked von Werra for his identity disc, but to his horror he realised that the fake disc had melted with the heat and perspiration of his own body. Von Werra quickly made his excuses and asked if he might go to the toilet to wash his hands. Once out of the office, von Werra ran back in the direction from where the RAF car had driven him so that he might get to the nearest hangar. There was nobody to be seen and so he attracted no attention, although once inside the hangar there were numerous civilian builders at work on scaffolding, who looked with surprise upon this hasty individual. Moving amongst a collection of damaged and partially repaired aircraft, mostly bombers which were clearly not best suited to a speedy getaway, von Werra proceeded to climb over a security fence and, without realising it, was now in the Rolls Royce factory. He spotted a number of Hurricanes and walked towards them. Before he reached them, however, he encountered a group of mechanics, one of whom insisted on taking him aside to sign the visitors book. The man in question had assumed from von Werra’s uniform, which was very similar in style, that he was one of the ATA ferry pilots who, frequently hailing from foreign lands, were a common sight at Hucknall, from where they flew Hurricanes out to bases around the country. However, one or two of the mechanics were getting suspicious at the actions of von Werra as they differed much from the ferry pilots that they were used to. Again he slipped away from their sight and managed to convince a different mechanic that he had been told to make a test flight, on the orders of Squadron Leader Boniface. The mechanic, who even gave von Werra a quick explanation of the cockpit controls, left to fetch a trolley-accumulator to start the engine for him. While he was gone, Squadron Leader Boniface appeared alongside the aircraft and, with a revolver aimed at von Werra’s head, ordered him out.

Von Werra accepted defeat and stepped from the aircraft. He was taken back to the RAF Adjutant’s office, where he gave a true account of his identity and where he had come from. As they waited for the police to arrive and collect him, RAF courtesy was not forgotten and the prisoner was allowed to have some breakfast. In Nottingham Police Headquarters, von Werra spent the next 24 hours locked in a cell before a military escort arrived to return him to the Hayes, where his punishment was 14 days in solitary confinement. Once again, the strict definition of life in the cooler did not proceed according to plan as von Werra and his fellow escapers, who by now were sharing the same fate, were all allowed their Christmas Dinner and some wine.

Cheers,

Matt

Well done all, I can now see it was not DX with building over by the naughty field that were never there ! I would never of guessed Northolt and great work by Matt again.

So it was “Hucknall” but not Hucknall!

Give SADSACK, Firebird, Maple 01, and Slicer cigars. Spot on.

The video OneEighthBit posted appears to be an outtake from the film “The One That Got Away”, released in 1957. Some UK automobile experts should be able to confirm that the date seems right. The camera’s point of view essentially mirrors what actor Hardy Krüger — playing escaped German ace Franz von Werra — sees as he approaches a base which, in the movie, is named RAF Hucknall. But we now know that the filming was done at RAF Northolt. Von Werra did try to steal a Hurricane from the Rolls Royce factory located adjacent to RAF Hucknall, but he was caught.

In “The One That Got Away” Hurricane LF363 had been parked out in the open, as can be seen in the three screen grabs from the film (see below). Note that the wheel chocks are oversized — too large for a wartime fighter, per a friend whose opinion I respect. These same chocks can be seen both in the screen grabs and in the YouTube sequence, confirming one and the same location and time.

Here is the plot of the movie, per Wikipedia:

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz von Werra (Hardy Krüger) is shot down during the Battle of Britainand captured. He wagers with his RAF interrogator (Michael Goodliffe) at the POW reception centre, Air Defence Intelligence, Cockfosters, near Barnet in Hertfordshire, that he will escape within six months.

Initially, von Werra is sent to No 1 prisoner of war (POW) camp Grizedale Hall in the Furnessarea of Lancashire. His first escape attempt results in his recapture after an intense manhunt.

Subsequently, von Werra is sent to a more secure POW camp (based on the Hayes Conference Centre) near Swanwick, Derbyshire. He and four others escape through a tunnel. The others pair up, but von Werra continues alone. Reaching Codnor Park railway station, he impersonates a Dutch pilot and claims his Wellington bomber had crashed while on a secret mission. He telephones the nearest airfield, RAF Hucknall, and tricks the duty officer into sending a car. When his story starts to fray, von Werra creeps away and tries to steal an experimental Hawker Hurricane, only to be caught at the last moment.

Along with many other POWs, von Werra is sent by ship to Canada. On the train ride across the country, while the guards are distracted, he escapes near Smith’s Falls, Ontario, by jumping from a window. Making his way south, von Werra crosses the nearly frozen St Lawrence River in a stolen rowboat and reaches Ogdensburg, New York, in the then still-neutral United States to claim asylum. The RAF interrogator receives a postcard from von Werra featuring a photograph of the Statue of Liberty, informing him that he has lost his bet.

The epilogue states:

Despite the efforts of the Canadian Government to obtain his return, and of the United States Authorities to hold him, von Werra crossed the border into Mexico. Travelling by way of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Spain, he reached Berlin on 18 April 1941.

On 25 October of the same year, while on patrol, his plane was seen to dive into the sea. No trace of von Werra was found.

Regards,

Matt

. And I think the Argosies are actually C119’s.

Richard

By George, I think he’s got it!

If I had to guess I’d say the Tiger Moths are probably maintenance airframes used for trade training judging by the state of them.

A lot of this film also appears in another longer version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGXr-BII6Qo where a Valetta and Chipmunk also appear along with the same droopy winged Tiger Moth. And I think the Argosies are actually C119’s.

Richard

I can’t argue too much against northolt but were there Tigers at Northolt in the 50’s? They don’t seem to have any codes, all I can think it was a UAS summer camp? Only other place I can think of is Shawbury.

Yes, Northolt. I’ve driven along that road thousands of times…the brick mess buildings are still intact but the entrance has now changed enormously. The low hills in the background of the Hurricane shot are the farmland on the other side of the A40, and there look to be some civilian aircraft parked on the civilian apron..now packed with Gulfstreams and such like.

I’d have said Northolt

Is it just me, or a trick of the camera, there seems to be something not quite right about the wings of that first Tiger Moth.

It’s Northolt.

Same airfield as when was in The one that got away… Hucknall?

Wasn’t she at Shawbury for a while?

Definitely not Duxford – some similar Expansion Period buildings but not right.

Set up either side of the road made me think of Cosford or Finningley???

Yes I agree it does look a bit like Duxford

With the Argosies in the back-ground, and the low line of hills, Benson springs to mind.

Looks a bit like Duxford.