Hucclecote/Brockworth defence fighters?

Here’s a yarn that I heard many years ago and sounded to odd to be true. I’m wondering if there’s any grain of truth in it or it’s just someone’s imagination running wild.

Back in my youth, I got a job working for a firm based in one of the old sheds at the Gloster works at Brockworth/Hucclecote. A story that often came up in various forms while I was there was that of two Spitfires based at the aerodrome for defence. The tale, when the stories combined, goes something like this…

During the war, Brockworth was marked on RAF maps but wasn’t in fact an RAF station as it was a “factory field” for Gloster Aircraft. Despite the ring of AA and Balloon defences around it, the Air Ministry was worried about bombers coming up the Severn and mounting raids on the factory. Naturally this would of disrupted aircraft production.

A solution was that a couple of fighters would be stationed at the Brockworth aerodrome itself and could immediately take off and make an attack on any bombers detected coming up the river estuary.

However, as Gloster was a civilan organisation, while to Spitfires were delivered, not being an RAF aerodrome/unit not RAF pilots were provided to fly them. Even more incredibly the aircraft were unarmed and/or were never supplied with ammunition.

The result was that ferry/test pilots would grab the aircraft on a first come, first served basis when the alarm sounded and would head up in the hopes that the mere presence of the Spitfires would distract or frighten the raiders long enough for armed fighters from nearby RAF Stations to come along and help.

Now the above sounds absurd to me. I can believe that fighters may possibly of been based there for defence but not that they were supplied without pilots or ammunition (unless there was a mighty big SNAFU with AM administration!) The second part about test/ferry pilots crewing them and trying to scare them off sounds too far fetched to be true.

However…

Recently I was talking to an ex-glider pilot who was training at nearby Stoke Orchard and he mentioned that on one cross country flight his tug pilot accidentally towed them over Brockworth. Said glider pilot said he was “surprised when a Spitfire came up, flew alongside and escorted us safely away”.

So is there any truth in the Gloster defence fighters story? :confused: