Thanks to all for replies and welcomes so far. Seeing the number of and in some cases protracted threads on similar subjects I am actually quite pleased that so far the replies range only from ‘healthy skepticism’ to ‘resigned cynicism’! 🙂
Beermat, MerlinPete and sopwith – in particular, many thanks indeed for your replies. I almost wrote in my thread starter that it was the ‘north west’, but resisted so as not to lead any replies too much. Also, as you rightly suggest, it may very well be that we are not talking about a ‘mine shaft’ at all. The first step is certainly to narrow down the list of possible airfields before possibly taking a trip in order to have a gander. I have found a good map showing what I think is all WW2 airfields and it helpfully lists the nationality and service arm that used them. As well as Anthorn, other FAA airfields ‘in the north west’ are:
Inskip (HMS Nightjar)
Woodvale (HMS Ringtail 2)
Burscough (HMS Ringtail) poss only Radar training
…and further south in the west Midlands, though with more possibility of being near a mine shaft/pit perhaps?
Hinstock (MHS Godwit)
Peplow (HMS Godwit 2)
Bratton
Other FAA stations ‘in the north’ are on the Borders or actually in Scotland.
I think there are a few to be getting on with though. The next step would be to find disused mines/shafts/pits/quarries near these places. Fortunately there seems to be quite good resources on the web for this, including groups that explore some of them. That should either directly and quickly confirm the duds or perhaps provide some other leads.
Any extra info about the airfields I mentioned would be great: Beermat’s info that Hellcats were stored at Anthorn is gold and any similar data that can help confirm or discount any station’s place on a shortlist is gladly accepted. Thanks again for interest and help so far.
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