A Spitfire “Not Looking Her Best”, RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hangar, RAF Coningsby, 26/02/15.

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aviation, Battle of Britain, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, engineering, hangar, RAF, RAF Coningsby, Royal Air Force, Second World War, Spitfire, Spitfire Mk IIa, World War Two

The Spitfire Mk IIa P7350.

The fuel tank, amongst other things, removed whilst repairs are carried out.

If you are lucky enough to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s visitor centre at RAF Coningsby and you pay to go on the hangar tour, as I did, you will more than likely see the aircraft of the Battle of Britain in a whole new light, for example I had never seen the petrol tank from a Spitfire before. The petrol tank, the hood which usually covers it, the pilot’s seat, the nose cone which and one or two other bits and bobs were arranged neatly on the hangar floor, whilst sections of the fuselage sat on selves beside the aircraft [each aircraft had its own set of shelves so the different pieces do not get muddled up]. I cannot remember the exact nature of the problem with the aircraft, but Richard, our guide, did not seem concerned [although he did admit to only being a very experienced pilot and not a very experienced engineer]. I’m sure team at RAF Coningsby will have it back up in the air in no time at all [relatively speaking].

“Never Was So Much Owed By So Many To So Few”, RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hangar, RAF Coningsby, 26/02/15.

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Battle of Britain, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Never was so much owed by so many to so few, poster, Quotes, RAF, RAF Coningsby, Royal Air Force, Second World War, The Few, Winston Churchill, World War Two

http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/

Photo Archive: Small Scale Replica of The Wooden Horse, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Spilsby, 12/06/14

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Eric Williams, escaping, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Michael Codner, military museums, Museums, Oliver Philpot, Prisoners of War, RAF, RAF Escape Museum, RAF Escape Society, Royal Air Force, Second World War, The Wooden Horse, World War Two

I can’t recall the scale.

The story of the “Wooden Horse” escape from Stalag Luft III, during the Second World War, came to my attention via the 1950 film “The Wooden Horse” starring Leo John Genn [who also appeared as Mr. Starbuck in “Moby Dick“, 1956, and in “Green is for Danger“, 1946; two of my favourites] and David Tomlinson.

The film was based on the novel, “The Wooden Horse“, by Flight Lieutenant Eric Williams, RAF, who was one of the three men to escape from Stalag Luft III, a German Prisoner of War camp, located in what was then Lower Silesia, which is now in Poland, with the help of a vaulting horse, constructed by the prisoners of war. As I understand it, Williams, Flight Lieutenant Oliver Philpot MC, DFC, RAF and Second Lieutenant Michael Codner, Royal Artillery, successfully escaped captivity via a tunnel, the entrance to which was concealed beneath the horse. The tunnellers were carried out to the exercise yard hidden within the horse. Cover was then provided by the PoWs vaulting over the horse whilst the tunneller worked beneath them; the vaulting also confused the seismographs used by the camp guards to detect any digging. When the vaulters called it a day they carried the horse back inside, along with the tunneller hidden within it and the soil excavated from the tunnel. Following their escape the three men headed for the Baltic; Williams and Codner, with the help of the Danish Resistance, managed to reach neutral Sweden, whilst Philpot headed for Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland, where he stowed away on board a Swedish merchant vessel.

The Wooden Horse forms part of the RAF Escape Society’s collection, on display at the RAF Escape Museum, in the grounds of the Aviation Heritage Centre.

Photo Archive: “The Escape” Pub Sign, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Spilsby, 12/06/14.

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Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Military History, Museums, Public houses, pubs, RAF, RAF Escaping Society, Royal Air Force, Second World War, signs, Whitbread, World War Two

Cheers!

To quote from the RAF Escaping Society Museum website, “The RAF Escaping Society Museum was first established in the mid 1960s at a Whitbread public house in Mabledon Place, off Euston Road in London. The pub – renamed The Escape – was in more of a student than a tourist area and attracted insufficient interest”; what a shame! But at least the sign has found a new home at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.

Souvenirs: Flyer, “Come And Be Riveted”, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, 2004.

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Art, Imperial War Museum, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, Second World War, shipbuilding, Shipbuilding on the Clyde, Souvenirs, Stanley Spencer, World War Two

I discovered the works of Sir Stanley Spencer back in 2001, via my Art College’s library no doubt, but I didn’t become aware of his series of works entitled “Shipbuilding on the Clyde“. I seem to think the art reference books I studied at College concentrated on Spencer’s Biblical works set in and around Cookham, which I love, and that it was through the pages of BBC History Magazine that I found out about this exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North. This was my second visit to the museum, which opened in 2002, but it was all still very new to me and most visitors, I expect. There is a very good article on the Art Fund’s website about “Spencer’s War“, which features some of the same works as the exhibition and describes the “Shipbuilding on the Clyde” collection as “one of the most remarkable artistic records of the Second World War“. When I visited the newly reopened Imperial War Museum London last year I’m sure they had some of these works on display, but I can’t recall which ones.

pS. …and note the flyer for the Auld Tram in the background; a souvenir from Dundee.

Souvenirs: Ticket & Map, H.M.S Belfast, Imperial War Museum, London, 11/11/10.

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Arctic Convoys, Atomic Age, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, Korean War, London, map, Royal Navy, Ships, Souvenirs, Ticket, World War Two

The map.

If you visit H.M.S Belfast keep your complimentary map handy; I managed to get lost more than once! You start off in the salmon pink Life On Board section, before making your way down into the yellow How It Works section and somehow you end up on top of the superstructure in the green Where It All Happens section; simple! Perhaps if I’d followed my audio guide…

The ticket.

Navigational issues aside; H.M.S Belfast is a very interesting ship and worth remembering. Before my visit I always thought of “London’s Floating Naval Museum” as being synonymous with the World War Two, but almost as soon as you board you realise the ship was extensively refitted in 1956 to equip the ship for the “atomic age”. The ship’s laundry, galley, bakery and quite a few other parts of the ship date from this period and offer an interesting insight into life in the Royal Navy of the late 1950s – early 1960s.

I also remember the statistics relating to the ship’s service in the Korean War coming as a complete surprise to me, for example, H.M.S Belfast travelled “97,035 miles ” during the conflict, it’s gunners fired “7,816 rounds of 6-inch ammunition” and got through “625 tons of potatoes”.

If I had to mention only one more thing these souvenirs bring to mind, it would have to be H.M.S Belfast’s service with the “Arctic Convoys“, taking supplies to the Soviet Union during World War Two, because the white beret of The Russian Convoy Club isn’t an uncommon sight in my home town on Remembrance Sunday. It was good to see that the Convoys are remembered right in the heart of London, on board a ship that once ploughed the same Arctic waters between 1942 and 1943.

 

Photo Archive: Air Raid Shelters, Stockport, 18/09/08.

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Air Raid Shelters, British History, Stockport, Stockport Air Raid Shelters, The Blitz, The Home Front, World War Two

Stockport; the home of interesting, out of the ordinary, days out? It certainly was when I visited, back in 2008. My first port of call in Stockport was the Hat Works Museum, “The UK’s only museum dedicated to the hatting industry, hats and headwear” and then it was a case of “What else is there to see in Stockport?”

…and that’s how I ended up spending most of my afternoon in Stockport under the ground, visiting Stockport’s Second World War era Air Raid Shelters! To quote Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s website the Air Raid Shelters, opened in 1939, were “the largest purpose-built civilian air raid shelters in the country designed to provide shelter for up to 6,500 people” and I can believe it, having walked around just a small proportion of the network of tunnels and chambers as part of the self guided tour. There are extended tours of the Air Raid Shelters in the evenings, described as explorer tours, and I have often thought about returning to Stockport to explore the tunnels further.

“Just Jane”, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Spilsby, 12/06/14.

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British History, Historic aircraft., Just Jane, Lancaster bomber, Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, RAF, World War Two

The Lancaster bomber (viewed from the NAAFI).

Here are four of my best photographs of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre’s famous Lancaster bomber, “Just Jane”, which I was lucky enough to see taxiing around the East Kirby airfield yesterday afternoon. The smell and the sound of the aircraft are just as fascinating as its appearance, so if you are planning a visit, I’d recommend checking that the Lancaster is going to be running on that day and the time its running [if I’d arrived 30 minutes later we would have missed it completely).

Viewed from the 1st floor of the Home Front exhibition.

Viewed from where I was drinking my ginger beer.

Going back to the hangar.

…and as I usually post my top five photographs, here is something completely different from the Centre’s vast collection of artifacts:

Beans & Sausage tins (empty).

If you would like more information about the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre follow the link here: http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/