The Salisbury Plain Fairey Battle

See RAF museum file on ex Iceland Battle re build
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/1990-0691-A-Fairey-Battle-L5343.pdf

It had been intended to use parts
of three Battles (includ
ing K7571 and R7361)
–
mainly wing sections and
undercarriage parts
–
recovered
by RAF Henlow OCTU cadets
from
Larkhill ranges, Salisbury Plain, Wilts in 1970, also stored at Henlow
until disposed of to a Baldock, Herts scrapyard in 1974. (See Control
Colu
mn July 1969 and May 1971). These remains did yield a few small
parts for the project before disposal, however, including undercarriage
components and two flaps (Aviation Archaeologist Sep/Oct 1974 p.560

Photo I took of Battle wings at Cardington before going to Australia I was told.

Dave

Colour pic of Baldock Battle wings has surfaced dated 1974 http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=128875&start=20

Until just 18 months ago I lived on the site of that scrap yard at ketley Bank, it was developed by Jennings Homes in the late 90’s and is now covered in Houses, but I remember being off work with glandular fever and watching some long forgotten daytime TV program when a low loader went past my window with the remnants of a large wooden three bladed propeller , a very corroded wing which I was almost certain was Tempest/fury including a skeletal rudder and tailplane assembly and a lot of other sizeable aircraft structure, and even though I felt like death warmed up I put my boots on to go and chat to the site foreman who I had built quite a rapport with, very handy when you require further slabs, cement etc and he told me it had all been dug out the previous week or so, Jennings had apparently spoken to the RAFM at Cosford and they’d shown little or no interest in the cache. and the lot was being taken for scrap by a staffs based company, I trawled the area on numerous dog walks for weeks after and did indeed find a few small fragments of what might have been Aircraft bits, but nothing as mouth watering as id seen on that truck one afternoon in February.

Thanks Foray, I see it.

Bruce, I think it was TG308 and an ex-605 (County of Warwick) Sqdn machine. The F.1 I mentioned (VF301) has been representative of a 605 Sqdn aircraft ever since going on display at Midland AM at Baginton.

Roger Smith.

Coincidentally on 5th April, 1975 […] I remember we saw other aircraft from an RAFM ‘clear-out’ that included a Stirling(?) rear fuselage section.

Roger Smith.

I daresay there are a few members of this forum who will faint/foam at the mouth when reading that!

The Mosquito Museum still has that boom, it was from an early TG serialled aircraft. Currently in store.

I acquired a Vampire boom and fin from Baldock at this time…it looked forlorn. 🙂

I gifted it to Bob Tattam who was helping me with the Seafire project.

Mark

Roger,
Your visit was just a couple of weeks after the photo at #15 was taken. That’ll be part of the Vampire wing just poking into shot on the left of the photo.
Geoff

In 1973 we (the Midland Air Museum) exchanged a Battle cockpit section with RAF Leeming for spares for our Meteor F.4, EE531. Leeming were, at that time, restoring the Battle recovered from Iceland (that had a burned-out cockpit) and now on display at Hendon. The cockpit had been recovered (5th April, 1970) from an out-of-use scrapyard at Ketley Bank, Shropshire.

Coincidentally on 5th April, 1975 (5 years after the Ketley Bank recovery) we were at the Baldock scrapyard obtaining spares from the Vampire F.1 the RAF Museum had sent there for our own, VF301. We extracted and purchased main undercarriage legs, fuel tanks and engine bay panels for £20. I remember we saw other aircraft from an RAFM ‘clear-out’ that included a Stirling(?) rear fuselage section.

Roger Smith.

Would love to know how intact the Lancaster was that was dragged from Lindholme?

Large parts from this Battle and Tomahawks also recovered from the larkhill ranges …. were seen in a scrapyard at Baldock ….

Battle wing at Baldock 1975. Possible underwing numbers, including a 5, on the right side of the photo?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]242281[/ATTACH]

IWM Duxford were throwing artifacts into landfill on the north side as late as the late-80s. Gunsights, engine parts, all sorts of stuff. And then there is the sad story of the disappearing Hermes tailfin.

I’m sure some of the museums P-47 rebuild bent/scrapped bits went into that hole too.

IWM Duxford were throwing artifacts into landfill on the north side as late as the late-80s. Gunsights, engine parts, all sorts of stuff. And then there is the sad story of the disappearing Hermes tailfin.

I think the RNZAF Museum at Wigram did that in the early-mid-90s. I remember reading about it somewhere in the last couple of years.

Just the Spitfire stuff ? or all of it?

Just the Spitfire stuff….SM278.

Mark

Remember the museum clear out which saw brand new Anson parts scrapped? I think it was New Zealand?

Just the Spitfire stuff ? or all of it?
I recall the articles on the recoveries by OCTU cadets from Henlow,….Larkhill, Mickle Fell and Peak district(exercise Donklift)

…and a load of Spitfire stuff and all put to good use.

Mark

were seen in a scrapyard at Baldock after disposal from the RAF Henlow museum store! Other items included Mickle Fell Stirling aprts.
A photo was published with a report in Control Column at the time.

That simply beggars belief 😡

Rob