WW2 Airfields Archive

Never mind the Bayeux Tapestry or a 1st Edition Harry Potter... here's an original RAF Beaulieu site plan from the dark vaults of the Beaulieu Estate archives. It's HUGE. Unfortunately I didn't have a banana to hand.

Czechoslovak airmen and their Liberators at RAF Beaulieu, New Forest, during WW2. The 311 Squadron had the highest fatality rate of any Czechoslovak RAF squadron during the war. 32 of those deaths occurred whilst at Beaulieu.

Old airfield at Great Massingham #Norfolk #GreatBritain For a map by @OrdnanceSurvey and more info see > geograph.org.uk/photo/3422708 #Geography #photography #history #WW2 @VisitWNorfolk @atnorfolk @WW2Facts

WW2 RAF Trainer Dome at RAF Limavady Airfield, Limavady. The Dome trained gunners on aircraft by projecting enemy aircraft with 360 imagery. Left to the elements over decades since it closed, but thankfully now being restored as a community Heritage Facility with a £1M investment

Here’s how AI is rewriting history... I Googl'd Noor Inayat Khan. The left image is a genuine photo. The right AI-generated. The fake is pulled from a clickbait Facebook page. We're in an era where fictional can replace real history, and most casual observers won't even realise.

During WW2, USAAF airmen could recuperate at large English country houses which has been requisitioned by the American Red Cross. Today I visited one of the houses, now Walhampton School in the New Forest, to see what "then vs now" montage I could create. youtube.com/watch?v=l9NLqc…

One this day in 2000, Shirley Slade passed away. Born in Chicago 1921, she was a WASP pilot trained to fly Bell P-39 Airacobras and Martin B-26 Marauders. Here she is on the cover of LIFE magazine in 1943.

Former WW2 airfield, then and now youtube.com/watch?v=_zai_p…

Had a little fun in the sun today youtube.com/watch?v=_zai_p…

If you're ever at the former RAF Beaulieu, see if you can find the plaque to David Mackie Sleep in the remaining runway section. Sleep led the crew out of Beaulieu to achieve a first - sinking a German u-boat with a RAF Liberator laden with depth charges. 🧵

Canberras with Lincoln beyond. Possibly RAF Binbrook.

Visited the site of a plane crash in the New Forest and found melted aluminium. It melts at 660.3°C so must've been a dreadful scene here 83 years ago.

History in our own backyard, Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, was home to the USAAF during WW2. Notably the great fighter ace, Robin Olds.

A young woman worker painting the fuselage roundel on a Mosquito aircraft at de Havilland's factory at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, 1943 (original colour photo)

On this evening 82 years ago in 1944, the 50th Fighter Group arrived at Lymington, New Forest. These young American men were mostly from places such as Arkansas or Texas. They had no combat flying experience. 🧵

This morning we cut steel runway planks from a local USAAF WW2 airfield into different sized and manageable sections. It had been used as farm fencing for 80 years and was due to be scrapped. We have now stored it...

I read how this week is the anniversary of the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III, a real life POW breakout that inspired the film starring Steve McQueen. It reminded me of Pressley Chaplin, an American pilot who flew out of RAF Lymington in the New Forest. 🧵

Battle worn Spitfire at RAF North Weald, England

On this day, 13 March 1945: Ashley Walk bombing range in the New Forest. youtube.com/shorts/MXAtdEr…

Can you help? I need recommendations for guest speakers to talk to my group in the New Forest, we seat 80 to 95 people twice a month. Military history speakers, aviation, WW2, WW1, etc. If you've seen anyone to recommend please say, or if this sounds like you.