Yes, the ‘technical site’ of the former HMS Siskin/Gosport Airfield along with the old forts is now part of HMS Sultan. The airfield closed in 1956 when everything moved to L.O.S. Although some aviation activity remained the airfield was sold off for housing in the early ’60s. Most of the housing round here was built in the late sixties. I have, in a book, a diagram of the old airfield which lists (as at 1942) 1 C Type, 4 A Type, 2 Bellman, 1 Bessoneau and 5 Extra Over Blister Hangars.

RAF Thorney Island had Meteors with 222sqn and Fairey Barracudas and Grumman Avengers with 703Sqn FAA at the time of filming. The only Ansons based there were with 48sqn (also with Beauforts) 9/38 – 7/40, 280sqn (also with Warwicks) 12/41-10/42 and 2ANS (with Wellingtons among others) 5/50-1/62 so possibly may not have been there at the time of filming

I will try to get to the local library to see if there is any other info to confirm where the filming locations were.

Martin

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Went to see this last night – Awesome film especially in IMAX 3D

Martin

Thanks all for your interest,the scene before showed a signpost for Titchfield/Fareham ( surely a mistake..when were the signs removed??) so I wondered if it was Thorney Island,but I didnt think there were any T2/Bellman Hangars there and in any case the actual airfield of course might be miles from its supposed location.

the hangar on the far perimeter and the light coloured a/c look a bit Naval-ish,so possibly Ford or Lee on Solent ? assuming most filming was done fairly local to Portsmouth (both sites had Bellman hangars)
Any Ideas anybody

As the film was made in 1949 its possible that some filming was done at either Lee on Solent as has been mentioned or RAF Grange (HMS Siskin) The technical site still remains as part of HMS Sultan but the Airfield itself has long since gone as it is now part of the estate where my house now stands.

Martin

IIRC it was the Latham character that was the basis for the protagonist in the film ‘Johnny English’

Martin

In 1956, he starred in a South African radio adaptation of Moonraker, making him the second actor to portray James Bond

Martin

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Southampton IMAX – awesome film

Martin

Nobody’s disputing that the bomb shackle could have been manufactured elsewhere but the B-29 wasn’t really configured internally for one big bomb was it? It makes sense to use something that’s already available for carrying a big bomb, which had already possibly been looked at with the B-29 carrying those dummy Grand Slams under the wings.

regards,
Ric

Found this vid on Youtube of Tallboy. At 0:19 it shows the bomb being hooked up to a B29(?) with footage of the inside of the bomb bay and the mods made to enable it to carry Tallboy.

For Stirling fans there is also footage of Stirlings at V. Low level at 0:46-0:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPEP7ziKmU

Martin

The stuntman was Bud Ekins a good friend of McQueens. The rider who was knocked of his bike by hitting the wire was Steve Mcqueen so in essence he nicked the bike off himself and was then chasing himself as he also played a German motorcyclist in pursuit. Ekins later doubled for McQueen in Bullitt and did most of the riding in the TV series CHiPs according to IMDb

Martin