How to hide an airplane [sic] factory

other hit factories..

Which factory was it that was hit the hardest.Was it Frazier Nash??A vague spark of memory asks??

amateur bomb disposal

Wow … that’s impressive (if a little ill-considered) … medals well earned.

Bri..

I was asked to place this on here..

“I wish to add that Brooklands was indeed a major target for the Luftwaffe in WW2 and despite heavy camouflage (which I think comprised mainly of telegraph poles and/or tree trunks – not actual trees planted – set in holes dug into the race track surface and then used to support cam netting above), the site was seriously bombed in a surprise attack by Bf110s on 4/9/40 with at least 85 Vickers workers killed and 419 injured and Wellington production being significantly affected and subsequently widely dispersed. Brooklands Museum has various exhibits relating to this tragic event and is currently further researching this aspect of the site’s history. At that time, this was the most devastating Luftwaffe attack yet seen on any British aircraft factory. The Hawker factory, which incidentally was nowhere near the new Mercedes-Benz World building (it was in the SW corner of the aerodrome close to today’s M&S/Tesco), very fortunately escaped serious damage although there were several very close calls on later dates – including the bomb dropped by a Ju88 on 21/9/40 which went through the roof and killed a cat before coming to rest as a UXB on the apron outside. This would most probably have destroyed part of the vital Hurricane assembly line had it not been very bravely moved onto the aerodrome by a Canadian Lt Patten and others (none of whom had any bomb disposal experience); it exploded there the next day and notably Patten was awarded the George Cross and a colleague Capt Cunnington got the George Medal – these were the first decorations won by the Canadian Army in WW2.”

Cheer’s

OOPS – apologies – still we’re reaching a wider audience by coming at it twice. I missed it first time! cheers D

You’re right and it’s produced a greater and varied response, so no prob!

Search button, third on the right!:D

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74069&highlight=Aircraft+factory

OOPS – apologies – still we’re reaching a wider audience by coming at it twice. I missed it first time! cheers D

The Vickers factory at Weybridge was camouflaged in WWII, but the Brooklands track was a bit too obvious. So they made breaks in the track and planted trees on the concrete lining. I believe also that a full-sized ‘mock’ Brooklands track was built somewhere southeast of Weybridge.

It didn’t all work, as the works was bombed. During one attack, a bomb slid right through the aircraft assembly building where Mercedes World is now (inappropriate or what!). The bomb didn’t explode or kill anybody, but it got the hangar cat!

That was all told to me by older colleagues at BAe when I worked there.
The trees were still growing in the track at that time.

Bri 🙂

To the North of the Boulton Paul factory at Wolverhampton a complete
dummy decoy factory was erected . It was later found that the Luftwaffe
had both marked on their charts,clearly marked “real” and “decoy” !
However the factory was only attacked once ,but they missed and hit
the nearby sewage works.Smelly ,I’m told by people who were there.

Wasn’t chemical warfare banned?:p

Denis: Yeadon (Leeds) building still exists and is absolutely vast. BB Halpenny, Action Stations/4,P.198: It had “floor space of (1.5Mn.Sq.ft) and was probably the largest factory (implicit: of any type) in Europe under one roof”.

A good book about Avro at yeadon called “mother worked at avro” first published may 1995 ISB 0 9517965 7 7 by Gerald Miles is good reading as is a book called “Sixty years of Leeds and Bradford airport” by Alan phillips published 1994 ISBN 1 872167 64 0 go into some detail of the aircraft built at the shadow factory and those that used Yeadon airport as it was called. Lots of old photo’s of aircraft built and based there.

Denis: Yeadon (Leeds) building still exists and is absolutely vast. BB Halpenny, Action Stations/4,P.198: It had “floor space of (1.5Mn.Sq.ft) and was probably the largest factory (implicit: of any type) in Europe under one roof”.

To the North of the Boulton Paul factory at Wolverhampton a complete
dummy decoy factory was erected . It was later found that the Luftwaffe
had both marked on their charts,clearly marked “real” and “decoy” !
However the factory was only attacked once ,but they missed and hit
the nearby sewage works.Smelly ,I’m told by people who were there.

The Yeadon (leeds) building still exists and is absolutely vast. I used to deliver there when it was a huge HM Customs bonded wines and spirits warehouse for International Distillers & Vintners. There were lots of painted signs on the wall relating to the Avro factory. In the reception area, was a photo taken during the war of the camoflage effect, lake and cows evident!

http://thinkorthwim.com/2007/08/19/1034/

Search button, third on the right!:D

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74069&highlight=Aircraft+factory

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Did the Swiss actually build aircraft during that period? I was under the impression they purchased aircraft from Germany, untill the later aquisition of Mustangs from the USAAF in post war Germany.
I think the ‘sliding’ factory is another of those myths that rinse and repeat now and again:)

Unless that is where the Chinese Stirling is hiding;)

We had the Avro factory in Leeds, complete with duck pond and cows on the roof!
Also, I read somewhere that the Swiss had an aircraft factory during the war that was mounted on some kind of rolling system which enabled it to be retracted into a mountainside if an impending raid was suspected. One has to wonder what the point was…if the factory worked just as well when tucked away in said mountainside then wtf was the point!!?? Keep it in there!!

I’m impressed! Maskelyne would have been proud!

Adrian