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Thank you for having a look!
It is possible that the trophy flag was given to "The Ploo" at a later date or post war.I was told the story by the chap who owned it and I do trust him.I understand after seeing your pictures that the "Acklington Scrawl" must be hard to work through!The trophy flag is definitely Kriegsmarine,the "M" printed on it denotes Marine and the fact it is cut up seems to point to there being a story attached to it! Do you have the original records from Acklington or do you think I could purchase copies from The National Archives at Kew? Unfortunately my great friend and Aviation tutor,Derek Walton,passed away a few years ago.He had many contacts within the base before it closed and managed to get some nice pieces,unfortunately they went to various restoration projects and were never heard of again,nor did the restorations happen. Derek was the chap who found the piece of exhaust from the Mosquito that crashed near Seahouses,it was on display at his small aviation museum in Bamburgh Castle but I cannot say for certain if it still is.One of the R.R. Merlins was also recovered by divers but sadly it was left outside the "Diving Lodge" to rot away.Last I heard it had been dumped in the local water filled quarry-sacrilage! The museum is still running in memory of Derek and is worth a visit to anyone interested in local aviation history,many artifacts are on display from crashed aircraft on the Cheviots,downed Luftwaffe aircraft engines that have come up in fishing nets and quite a substantial amount of wreckage from Spitfire Mk1 L1037 that crashed at Wildhope Hill on Hipsburn Farm in 1940 after a mid air collision. Paul. |
Re: Acklington Record Book:
The National Archives will copy the book for you but it will cost and arm and a leg! As an example I asked through the NA website for a quote for the WW1 war diary of the 7th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and was quoted "over £500". (compare with £3.60 once they have digitised it for themselves for public download). I would expect the Acklington station record book to cost about the same. I went down and copied them both myself so have the pages in photographic form. I will transcribe them and put them on-line but it will take 6 months to a year. I have completed the transcription of the 7th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers War Diary, it's just a matter of copying and pasting that one into a web page now. Bamburgh I recall the collection of recovered aircraft remains at Bamburgh but it's been a while since I was up there - I'll have to go back for another look! |
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Found these hiding at the back of a cupboard! My grandfather and father did a lot of signwriting for the various MOD establishments locally over the years (there is a picture of our lads painting telegraph poles to look like guns in WW11 up at Acklington, wonder if they fooled Jerry?)
- I still have the privilage of signwriting commanding officer boards etc. for Boulmer's various serving units. Anyone out there remember them? |
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Last Battle of Britain day 1967 i was there |
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Was in Bamburgh Castle today. That aviation museum is getting quite a superb collection of artifacts, most impressed. This is the only remnant of HJ919 I noticed. About 16 inches of exhaust manifold, found on the rocks. |
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There are much bigger lumps of metal in the museum to look at of course:
Junkers Jumo 211f engine. 1350 hp max output. From a Heinkel He 111. Trawled up from the sea in fisherman's nets off Blyth in 1983 |
Once you've finished looking at all those aircraft parts, you could have a look at the rest of the castle if you have the time. :D
http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...rgh_castle.jpg |
Battle of Britain day 1967 Acklington
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That's quite a picture. Obviously an important and popular event. I used to go to the open days/shows as a kid but can't remember anything. |
Probably a question for Graeme; 'No 6 Anti Aircraft Practice Camp' [No 6 AAPC] Gets quite a few mentions in the Acklington WW2 Record book.
Would you know where this was located? As it is being established the book states that they requisitioned land at Hauxley for it, so it must have been further south than their existing land at Druridge? |
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dad told me that part of his duties was spent at an annex camp at cresswell, |
The "Target Towing Flight" of No.6 AAPC was formed at Acklington on 1st June 1943 under No.72 Group's control. It was re-designated No.1630 Flight 16 days later, and its duties were absorbed by No.289 Sqdn on 1st December 1943. The camp was disbanded on 20th November 1944. One of the Lysander TT Mk.III target tugs used by the unit has been identified as P9111: the unit also used the purpose-built Miles Martinet TT Mk.I.
To my shame, I don't actually know where the ground personnel's camp was, although Hauxley and Cresswell appear to be good candidates for sub-camps as they would have been at each end of the air firing range along Druridge Bay. Graeme |
Something I wrote years ago about a Meteor mishap at Acklington: I've re-sized the document so it should be a lot easier to read.
http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9e672ab8.jpg |
The original target towing range was Warkworth/Alnmouth bay it is on record that a tow plane crashed whilst doing this , this was in late thirties I believe
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"A Flying accident occurred at 1500 hours on the aerodrome involving Lysander No T1747 (Pilot P/O Finbow, with drogue operator). The aircraft turned over on its back on landing and sustained considerable damage but the occupants were uninjured. It appeared that the trailing drogue cable caught in the corner of a blister hanger at low altitude causing momentary loss of control." A dangerous occupation I think. The full report states P/O Finbow only had 5.5 hours experience with this type of aircraft. It doesn't mention the flight purpose in detail, just 'target towing' so not sure if it's anti aircraft practice or something else. |
I wonder how long the cable was on these target towing aircraft? :eek:
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I can't imagine the thought of towing a target behind an aircraft, to be shot at by a load of rookie anti-aircraft gunners, instilling much confidence in the pilot. They should have had a special medal! |
Broomhill Police and the burning Beaufighter: 4th August 1943
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I wondered when reading this one if any gallantry awards were made to the PC and Special Constable involved:
"At 1300 the air echelon of 416 (USAAC) Squadron led by their O/C Major Banks and consisting of eleven aircraft, took off in sections to fly to Portreath, led by four Beaufighters of Coastal Command as arranged. Beaufighter KV904 (Pilot F/O Brewer Rad/Obs F/O Lawniski) of 416 (USAAC) Squadron was forced down at RAF Eshott by reason of fire occurring in one of the engines. The pilot made a crash landing near the aerodrome and the aircraft was burnt out. The crew were extricated by the prompt action of P.C. Laudie, Special Constable Hall of Broomhill Police, Northumberland County Constabulary, and were later admitted to Ashington Hospital suffering from burns, lacerations, and shock." |
This is how the Acklington record book is shaping up.
http://www.fusilier.co.uk/acklington...1939_1945.html This is going to be measured in hundreds of hours work so it will take a while. I'll do up to the end of 1943 on that page, then 1944 - end of 1945 on a second page. [ I've noticed there's a chunk missing - the end of the war: mar. apr. may. 1945 - most unfortunate, but it's just not in the binding.] |
Do any of our aviation researchers know what the fatality reference on the 14th November 1942 is about? road accident?
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