CONTACT ! The Newsletter of the former RAF Reunion Association, now merged with the

DEFFORD AIRFIELD HERITAGE GROUP in partnership with THE NATIONAL TRUST, CROOME http://deffordairfieldheritagegroup.wordpress.com Editor: Bob Shaw Number 115, March/April 2018

GREAT PROGRESS End of Phase One of Buildings Restoration in Sight

The rebuilding and repair of the RAF Defford Sergeant’s & Orderlies’ Quarters buildings is on schedule. By the middle of April, the two remaining Sick Quarters buildings awaiting restoration, will be stable, secure and weathertight – and no longer in imminent danger of collapse!

The contractors Croft Building & Conservation Ltd, under the direction of National Trust consultant Clive Haywood have done an excellent job despite the intervention of heavy snow and freezing temperatures. Phase One of the restoration scheme is funded by a generous grant of £80,000 from Severn Waste, secured by the Defford Airfield Heritage Group, who are working in partnership with the National Trust. By the end of March, the buildings were covered with scaffolding and looked more like a demolition than a restoration! But the new roof, and the return and installation of the repaired and refurbished Crittall windows is on plan for mid-April and with repair of the roof of the Latrines together with some remedial work on the brickwork, will transform the building, marking the completion of Phase One.

Phase Two which intended to turn a secure but empty shell into a useable building as a Learning Centre, is hoped to start at the end of June for completion in September or October. But Phase Two is troubled by uncertainty over finance. £122,684 is needed, even though the estimated cost is being kept down by the intention to call on volunteers to undertake tasks such decoration, tiling, gardening and landscaping.

The good news is that Malvern-based QinetiQ plc (the privatised linear successor to RSRE and DERA) has generously offered £25,000 in response to an approach by DAHG, while DAHG itself is contributing £2,000 from Group funds. The Friends of Croome group are offering to pay for furniture and equipment, valued at in excess of £17,000.

The bad news is that the shortfall at the time of writing is £83,000. This still has to be secured. It is intended that the greater part of this will be met by an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (where we are

‘Great Progress’ (continued from p.1) advised not to ask for more than £60,000), together with a number of applications to various independent Trust Funds made very recently by National Trust at Regional level on behalf of Croome.

The preparation of the application to HLF has taken an inordinate degree of time and effort, buffeted by conflicting advice received, some from within the joint NT/DAHG Project Team, some from various self- professed experts on the workings of the HLF. The draft application has been signed off by NT Croome and is now in the hands of NT Regional Office.

It is important that the restored buildings are put to a good ongoing use, to ensure regular maintenance and justify long-term financial support. There is a clear need for indoor space to accommodate school parties and other community groups, who are keen to visit and use Croome. There is continuing and growing demand for the RAF Defford Museum to welcome groups of school class size, which at present the Museum has not the space to do (the small ‘Cinema’ area can only accommodate 12 people at most). This means that at present the Museum cannot deliver its full potential. Beyond that, the facility being created by Phase Two will result in a large meeting room and multi-purpose space which will be widely available for booking by the community, and by staff and volunteers at Croome.

Pershore High School, the nearest and largest school to Croome, has shown how bringing class-sized groups to Croome can be used to support learning in a wide range of subjects in the curriculum. Consequently, Pershore High are enthusiastic supporters of the scheme, as are County Council Archive and Archaeology Service, who recognise and endorse the heritage value of the buildings as part of a rare surviving example of an intact WW2 RAF Station Sick Quarters complex. All the other buildings in the RAF Defford SSQ have been restored by the NT/DAHG partnership – after completion of the present project only the Air Raid Shelter awaits attention (watch this space!)

Defford Airfield Heritage Group Annual General Meeting 2018

The AGM of the Group will be held on Friday 11th May at 10.00am in the Ambulance Garage at Croome. All members are welcome to attend. It would be helpful if you could give the Hon. Secretary, Ann Sterry, an indication if you are planning to attend so that we can provide enough seating, and also if you could give her prior notice of any points you wish to raise at the meeting. Contact Ann Sterry by e-mail at [email protected]

DAHG Subscriptions Subscriptions for 2018 (£5.00) were due in January; many thanks to all those members who have paid already. If you think this may have slipped your mind, please send a cheque for £5 to John Sterry, Hornbeams, Lampitt Lane, Bredon’s Norton, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire GL20 7HB, (01684 772234) or pay by BACS (Account number 34335768, sort code 30-80-34). Alternatively, if you would like to set up at standing order, please get in touch and we can supply a form to do this, or online, using the account details and DAHG as a payee. Please add your name as a reference whichever way you pay. Thank you.

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DEFFORD AIRFIELD HERITAGE GROUP AND THE RAF DEFFORD REUNION ASSOCIATION – A TRIBUTE FROM MICHAEL BARNARD

Michael J Barnard, the prolific and celebrated local artist and historian, is a long standing member of DAHG and before that, of the RAF Defford Reunion Association. He has presented ‘Contact!’ with this splendidly characteristic drawing which captures the spirit of the two organisation, and their partnership with the National Trust at Croome.

Michael’s vivid memories of RAF Defford go back to 1944, when he as an active ATC cadet he first visited the airfield. He is the author of ‘Secret of Skies’ (2002), recommended reading for anyone interested in the history of RAF Defford and some of the people involved. Members of DAHG will recall that one the highlights of the 2016 RAF Defford Heritage Day and annual Reunion of RAF Defford personnel, was the opening of an exhibition of the art of Michael Barnard, which subsequently transferred to The Court for an extended season. Left: Michael Barnard at the opening of the exhibition of his work, in July 2016, with his wife Pamela and exhibition organiser John Sterry. 3 The Winter of 1947

The heavy snow and cold weather in the winter now receding, has resulted in media claims that the winter of 2018 is the “Worst in Living Memory” – a claim met with derision by those of us over the age of 80 who can remember the winter of 1947. Some other winters since then have suffered extensive cold and snow. But none was worse than the weather of the winter of 1947 which was very extreme, prolonged and exceptional in its impact on a nation weakened by six years of war and rationing of food and heating fuel.

In January, February and early March 1947, Britain suffered abnormally low temperatures and excessively heavy snowfall. The severe weather continued into March with even greater ferocity, as temperatures dropped to below minus 20 degrees centigrade in places.

Across the country, the winter of 1947 caused severe hardship in economic terms and living conditions. There was massive disruption of food and energy supply for homes, offices and factories. Animal herds froze or starved to death. Civilians and military personnel alike suffered from the persistent cold. Many businesses were forced to shut down as large drifts of snow blocked roads and railways, which caused problems transporting coal to electricity generating stations, forcing severe restrictions and a cut to power consumption, including restricting domestic electricity to 19 hours per day and switching off some industrial supplies completely.

At RAF Defford, and across the UK, there was exceptionally cold weather in December and early January. Snow started falling in earnest on 21st January, continuing through February. No flying was possible, and the great majority of personnel were sent home – mainly because of the acute shortage of heating and supplies. From 1st to 7th March 1947, Defford suffered the heaviest snowfall yet, with the camp almost cut off. A Sikorsky Hoverfly helicopter at Defford on loan from 529 Squadron (above) almost certainly YR-4A KK989, offered the only form of transport in and out of the Station, including delivering a token amount of fuel and food. On 5th March, a blizzard with easterly gales was described as ‘the worst storm in these parts ever recorded’, and on 15th March, an even worse gale hit the airfield, with wind speeds averaging 40mph and gusting up to 70mph, causing £700 of damage at Defford. The subsequent thaw was to create devastating problems of its own, with aircraft from Defford being pressed into service to drop supplies and inflatable dinghies to stranded farms in the flooded Severn valley. But an optimistic note to finish on – after the harsh winter, the summer of 1947 was one of the finest and warmest on record!

Flooding around Upton, Spring 1947, seen from an RAF Defford relief aircraft.

4 Sergeant Stanley Burningham

We have recently received a copy of a book, “Four Chigwell Brothers in the Forces”, written by Colin Burningham about his father and three uncles, and their army and RAF service during the war.

One brother, Stanley Burningham, served with TFU at Defford between 1942 and 1945, and previously with the Special Duties Flight at Hurn and Christchurch, as an engine fitter. He is one of the men in the ‘team photo’ of the Automatic Landing project, standing in front of the Boeing 247-D (below, left).

Sgt Burningham is standing next to the tall figure of Flt Sgt Dolbear who is directly in front of the port engine, Stanley Burningham is to his left. He was one of four brothers from Chigwell in Essex who all served in the Second World War. All happily survived the war. The other three brothers were in the Army. Sgt Burningham joined the regular RAF before the war. It is thought he died in the 1980s.

Obituary: Flight Lieutenant Harvey Hilliard RAF Retd 3 January 1926 – 1 February 2018 Harvey Hilliard was born in Edinburgh and retained a keen sense of pride in his Scottish heritage throughout his life. He joined the in 1944, and after Flying Grading on Tiger Moths at Brough was selected for pilot training and sent to Canada. There he started Elementary Flying Training on the Cornell monoplane, before returning to Brough to complete this flying on the Tiger Moth. Harvey started Service Flying Training on the Harvard at Feltwell, but was discharged from the RAF in April 1948. He rejoined the service in August of that year, and completed his Harvard flying at South Cerney, with an assessment of ‘Above the Average’ as a pilot. Advanced Flying Training on the Spitfire Mk XVI followed, at Chivenor and Stradishall. Having completed flying training, Harvey was posted to 226 Operational Conversion Unit, equipped with Meteor jets at Shepherds Grove. In November 1949 he joined 263 Squadron at Horsham St Faith (now Norwich International Airport) where he flew Meteor Mks 4, 7 and 8. In 1952 Harvey was commissioned as a Flying Officer and posted to the Telecommunications Flying Unit at Defford. His flying log book entries at Defford show that he flew Auster, Brigand, Canberra, Devon, DH113, Dominie, Hastings, Hunter, Meteor, Mosquito, Prentice, Swift, Vampire and Valetta aircraft – a range of types and roles that can only be imagined in today’s Air Force. Harvey was promoted to Flight Lieutenant during his tour at Defford, and in 1955 was posted to the Bomber Command Development Unit at Wittering, to fly the Canberra on various trials, before he went on to convert to the Valiant at Marham in 1957. His final flying tour returned him to testing, when he was posted to the Radar Research Flying Unit at Pershore, and he settled in the town when he retired from the RAF in 1976. Harvey Hilliard died peacefully after a long battle with Alzheimer's on 1 February 2018, aged 92 years, and his funeral took place in the Abbey Church at Pershore. His surviving son, Graham, also served as a pilot with the RAF, and has recently retired from flying as an airline pilot. DJW

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The RAF Centenary at Croome

John Sterry

The National Trust’s national theme for 2018 is “Women and Power”. 2018 is also the centenary of the Royal Air Force and the WRAF. To support the celebration of this event, DAHG has produced a new display: “Century of Achievement – the lives of Women in the RAF 1918-2018“ linking the empowerment of women, Defford and WAAF history.

6 The exhibition, in the museum corridor of the main RAF building, follows the widening involvement of women in the RAF and changing attitudes to their abilities by describing the different WAAF trades, particularly those that were pursued by WAAFs at Defford.

In the corridor leading to the canteen there will be a portrait gallery of significant women associated with Defford, TRE Malvern, and the RAF. In September we will be displaying a series of tapestries depicting the history of the RAF in Gloucestershire. The tapestries have been produced to provide a lasting memorial to the long history of the Royal Air Force in Gloucestershire as part of the RAF 100 commemoration in Gloucestershire. The inspiration for the tapestries came from the work of women who stitched fabric to airframes in the early years of aircraft production and also a depiction in tapestry of the history of an RAF station. Now, using the same materials the history of the RAF in Gloucestershire and the work of the women involved have been commemorated.

A team of forty embroiderers produced a series of panels depicting particular aspects of the different stations across the county such as training glider pilots, the Australian Wing of the RFC, repatriation of Prisoners of War, Barrage Balloons and the airlifting of casualties following the invasion of Europe.

Lewis Parry and Robin Hector will be leading the RAF walks on Sundays and Tuesdays through the summer (Call 01905 371006 for dates). The walks guide visitors through the grounds of Croome telling visitors the story of RAF Defford, its impact on the park and highlights wartime locations where incidents actually happened.

Obituary: Mrs Margaret Thomas Margaret Thomas, wife of Gordon ‘Taff’ Thomas, sadly passed away on 17th November 2017. With her husband Gordon she was a member and staunch supporter of the RAF Defford Reunion Association since its inception, continuing in membership with DAHG after the merger. She attended all reunions until illness last year in her 88th year. Gordon served at Defford as a member of the dog section – the dogs with their handlers played a key role in maintaining the security of the secret site. After leaving the RAF, Gordon joined the police force, serving in North Wales. The couple remained in North Wales for the next 66 years, living in various towns as Gordon moved with police postings. After Gordon retired from the police, they bought a small holding with livestock and built up a successful touring caravan site. Margaret retained a lifelong interest in horses and riding, passing on her enthusiasm to daughter Jayne and great-granddaughter Hannah. She will be sadly missed by friends and family and all who knew her.

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A RARE BIRD AT DEFFORD – ENVOY DG663

The Boeing 247-D DZ203 moved to Defford when the radar research aircraft of TFU transferred from Hurn in May 1942. The Boeing when not required for radar research flying, had proved very popular with TFU and with scientists of TRE as a warm, comfortable light transport, irrespective of its value demonstrating the first American centimetre wavelength radar built around the British magnetron. But by June 1942 the Boeing was fully occupied testing the first X-band (3cm wavelength) radar. The replacement for the Boeing 247-D in the popular role it fulfilled for a few months before the start of X-band project, as a general light transport and communications aircraft, arrived in the form of Airspeed Envoy III DG663. The Envoy, formerly G-ADAZ, ‘Tynedale’ of North Eastern Airlines, was not as comfortable or as commodious as either the Boeing or the Lockheed 10 Electra requested, but it was soon kept busy. Sqn Ldr (later Gp Capt) Frank Griffiths used the Envoy for a round trip to Boscombe Down on 17th July 1942, with four passengers to Chivenor on 23rd July, and on six or seven more flights while the Boeing was away at Valley and Arbroath. Later Griffiths used the Envoy to return from Yate after delivering Parnell Hendy Heck G-AEGH. The Envoy was even used for ‘experimental’ work, presumably as a target. Airspeed AS 6J(I) Envoy G-ADAZ, Constructor’s No 32, first flew on 28th March, 1935, before delivery to North Eastern Airways for service. It was impressed as DG663 in 15th February 1941 for use by the ATA based at Kemble. Powered by two 350hp Armstrong- Siddeley Cheetah IX engines, the Envoy III seated 6 to 8 passengers plus the pilot and flew with North Eastern Airways on the East Coast routes between Heston and Edinburgh, stopping at Leeds and Newcastle and several other places along the route. DG663 was formally transferred to TFU at Defford on 12th July 1942. The Envoy was struck off charge on 14th June 1943 as Category E after being condemned at a major inspection. G-ADAZ in service with North Eastern Airways pre-war. 8