RAF Honeybourne – Part 1
It may seem odd to include an airfield named after a nearby village as part of the history of Weston-sub-Edge, but in addition to affecting the lives of locals during the war years, the influence of RAF Honeybourne is still visible to this day.
While the main runways, hangars, repair workshops and control tower were all located within the triangle of ground between Buckle Street and the B4035 Bretforton Road, there were 14 dispersed sites in and around the village – more detail to follow next month.
But why did we end up with an airfield on our doorstep? To avoid air crews ‘learning on the job’ in the skies over Germany, Operational Training Units (OTU’s) were established to provide a link between basic training and operational flying with bomber squadrons. Potential OTU sites had three basic requirements: a large area of level ground, a location well away from the more vulnerable coastal areas and established road and railway connections.
Concreting over fertile farming and market gardening land might seem surprising in the light of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign, but operational needs clearly took precedence and as soon as the necessary land had been compulsorily purchased, site clearance began. A small road, which ran south from Honeybourne to a point on the Bretforton to Weston road near to the drive entrance to Saintbury Grounds, was closed and removed from the map. A number of buildings within the area to be developed were duly demolished, including two black and white cottages close to the railway bridge on the Bretforton Road. Compensation was paid, but the speed with which the site was acquired and work started reflects the draconian powers available to the Government at that time.
Following site clearance the Main Contractor, John Laing & Son Ltd., laid approximately 130,000 tons of hardcore, installed drainage, water mains and electrical supplies in what is reported to be some 50 miles of trenches. There then followed the runways, with their correct compass bearings, together with perimeter track, taxi-ways and hard standings, all totalling some 40,000 square yards. Finally the five hangars, support buildings and connecting roads completed the site. As mentioned in the History of Weston station, good use was made of the railway to deliver many of the materials.
Construction started at Honeybourne and its satellite site of Long Marston during June/July of 1940, with work progressing sufficiently for the Indent Party to arrive at Honeybourne on 15th July 1941.
My main source for this series has been ‘Angry Skies across the Vale’ written and published by the late Brian Kedward, together with further information from the internet.
Next Month: Honeybourne becomes operational.
(Published in The Messenger Feb 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 2
When airmen began to arrive at Honeybourne during the summer of 1941 they found the contractor still working. Mud, mud and more mud was the scene. Basic facilities on the runway site were extremely primitive – toilets were open cesspools, meals were eaten in a small hut, with food transported from Moreton-in-Marsh. Sleeping quarters were also lacking, with men being billeted out to village halls in Honeybourne, Bretforton and probably also Weston – the Hall had been requisitioned by the military in September 1939. The luckier ones, most likely officers and NCO’s, were found rooms in local houses.
Until the airfield became fully operational, many men were put to work helping the contractor. Later, hundreds were given jobs on surrounding farms, picking peas, etc.. Some were allocated to fruit picking and at the morning parade, the sergeant would shout, ‘Fall out the Merryvale plum pickers.’
On 18th November 1941 the maiden operational flight took place by the first occupants, the Ferry Training Unit who remained until March 1942, when No 24 Operational Training Unit replaced them.
The accompanying map shows the location of the main runways and dispersal (aircraft parking) areas, including two of the latter on the opposite side of Buckle Street – presumably traffic gave way to planes! The airfield site included the vast range of facilities necessary for a fully operational base such as fuel dumps, hangars, Operations Block, Crew Briefing Room, Control Tower, Fire Tender shed and Squadron Office, together with servicing bays, stores, some living quarters, oil compound, Armoury, Parachute Store, Photographic Block, night crew canteen, Radio/radar block and workshops for engineers, blacksmiths and carpenters. The bomb storage area was located on the south side of the Bretforton Road, at a point close to Saintbury Gounds. Wireless Transmitting (WT) was on Buckle Street north of Honeybourne crossroads.
As the map shows, all other dispersed sites were either close to, or within Weston, as follows:
No1: Communal site comprising Officers’ and Sergeants’ messes and bath house, Airmens’ dining room (for 1300 men) and bathhouses, Theatre, Ration/Grocery store, Gymnasium, Church, Tailor, Shoemaker, Barbers, GPO/post-room, squash court, and CO’s quarters and offices.
No2: Station Sick Quarters, with ambulance garage and Mortuary.
Nos 3 to 11: Living quarters, complete with their own ablutions and latrines, comprising three Officers’ and Sergeants’ Quarters and six Airmens’ Barrack huts.
No 12: Instructional – blocks for teaching gunnery, crew procedure, WT , Link trainers, gun turret instruction, bombing aiming and celestial navigation.
Nos. 13: WAAF Communal – WAAF officers’ mess and quarters, Dining Room for 400, six Barrack Blocks, Hairdressing Shop and WAAF sick quarters.
No 14: WAAF Living Quarters – Nine barrack blocks with bath house.
SITE PLAN OF RAF HONEYBOURNE
Copied with permission from ‘Angry Skies Across The Vale’ by the Late Brian Kedward.
Drawing by Brenda Ward-Millar.
(Published in The Messenger March 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 3
The staffing of Honeybourne built up very quickly and soon numbered in excess of 2000 persons, plus students. The main method of transport between sites was the bicycle, and the number on the roads at meal times made life difficult for vehicles: when one newly posted CO was delayed in his staff car en route his own lunch, he ordered all sections to assemble and march to their lunch. This resulted in a ‘strike’ with everyone refusing to enter the canteen. The instruction to march was quickly withdrawn!
Many local businesses secured contracts to supply local Vale grown produce to both Honeybourne and its satellite airfield at Long Marston. A farm in Weston, run by the Smith family, had a regular order for milk and eggs for the messes and even had to supply local cider at times.
Honeybourne staff, and indeed pupils during their training, took advantage of the numerous hostelries in the area. The Seagrave Arms run by Johnny Foster was very popular, with its piano used for many a sing-song. One young WAAF, an accomplished pianist, recalled using a sleeping out pass to enable her to stay out after her allocated time, and then sneaking back to the WAAF quarters off Church Street, lifting her bike over a barbed wire fence to get in, and once even colliding with a cow in the blackout.
Another favourite in Weston was Smokey Joe’s – a café run by the Cole family from what is now Endon House. Others contributed, with one house on the road from the Communal Site to Weston, selling lettuce sandwiches. Another favourite was a chip shop in Mickleton, who charged 2/- deposit on a fork if you insisted on having the use of one. There was rarely any fish, only ‘scallops,’ which were rounds of potato dipped in batter and fried.
Numerous pubs in the Vale could be reached by bicycle, including the New Inn at Willersey, and Gate Inn at Honeybourne. The Fleece in Bretforton, run by the redoubtable Lola Taplow, welcomed servicemen as did the Round of Grass in Badsey, but known in those days as the Royal Oak. Broadway Golf Club and The Dormy House invited airmen in for a round of golf and a meal, free of charge.
The airfield had a number of ‘on site’ facilities, including a squash court and pitches for cricket and tennis. The camp theatre put on many productions in addition to the numerous social events and dances – as we know from the History of the Village Hall, their piano was ‘borrowed’ by the airfield, but eventually returned, albeit in need of retuning!
Next month: The RAF Hospital.
(Published in The Messenger April 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 4
Although RAF Honeybourne had a Station Sick Quarters located just before the railway station on the north side of the Bretforton Road, there was also the need for hospital facilities to deal with the more seriously injured.
Regular readers may recall from Part 7 of the History of the Village School, the influx of pupils from the Evesham Workhouse, who were described as ‘either weakly or covered with sores.’ Built in 1837, this establishment was located on Waterside. Over the years it was expanded and eventually became known as the Public Assistance Institution. In 1939 some of the workhouse buildings were demolished to make way for a hospital built under the wartime Emergency Medical Scheme (EMS). Opened on 26th May 1940, and equipped with 378 beds, it operated under the EMS until 18th July 1941 when it was evacuated and subsequently taken over by the RAF.
The number of beds was reduced to 180 with five of the original buildings converted into sleeping accommodation, dining rooms and recreation rooms for staff. Alterations were also carried out to provide an electro-theraputic department.
The hospital soon became very busy, with many casualties from air crashes in the area, mostly from RAF Honeybourne, and other OTU’s in the area. Airmen (and women) injured in general accidents, by sickness and also as out-patients were served. Staffing levels for the early years are not known, but in May 1945 (shortly before the unit closed) the unit strength is recorded as 13 Officers, 43 other ranks plus 87 WAAF personnel. The CO was Wing Commander rank, although it seems likely that all officers were Doctors, Surgeons or other specialists, granted their rank to conform with military hierarchy.
One of the casualties from an air crash at Longborough in February 1943 was a flying Instructor based at RAF Honeybourne. Not only was he nursed back to full health, he started a romance with one of the theatre sisters, and spent as much time as he could at the hospital, duties permitting at Honeybourne, and even later when he was posted back to an operational squadron in Norfolk. It seems that he could usually be found a bed for the night in Ward 3, where the sister on duty would wake him with a cup of tea. He also became such a frequent visitor for dinner in the sisters’ mess that he was in danger of having to produce his ration book! They were married in January 1945.
The RAF Hospital was closed down in December 1945 and handed back for civilian use, in what soon became the NHS. This hospital is still functioning today as a Community unit.
Next month: Lives lost.
(Published in The Messenger May 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 5
During the course of World War 2 there were 227 recorded aircraft crashes in the Vale of Evesham of which 140 were from RAF Honeybourne; the remainder were from the satellite site at Long Marston and other OTU’s or operational squadrons.
Some were due to bad weather or human error, but many were caused by mechanical failure. This often required pilots, both students and instructors, to land a stricken plane under the most difficult of circumstances. One such incident very nearly turned a routine training flight into a fatal crash.
The plane in question was an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V, powered by two Rolls Royce Merlin X engines. The crew of four pupils, under the supervision of a Staff Pilot were tasked with dropping dummy practice bombs on a range. However, just short of their target the port engine failed. Quickly taking over from the pupil the Staff pilot considered his options. Unable to drop the dummy bombs, he concluded that he had insufficient height to return to Honeybourne on the one remaining engine. Turning for home, he told the crew, ‘Right, we’re just under 1,800ft. Everyone out! Get weaving!’. Three of the trainees obeyed but the fourth member froze, and refused to jump. Realising that he now had to land the crippled aircraft to save them both, the pilot used all his experience to keep the plane in the air. Only just clearing the hills near Broadway, he made a ‘wheels up’ downwind landing that brought them to a juddering halt just within the confines of the airfield.
For this display of skill the pilot was nominated for an award, but this was refused as it was considered he had shown a lack of leadership as Captain. When deciding to abandon the aircraft, he was told he should have given the order ’Prepare to Abandon Aircraft!’, followed by ‘Abandon Aircraft!’ Fortunately good sense eventually prevailed and the pilot received his ‘gong’ in the next Honours List.
Not all crews were as fortunate. A total of 42 aircraft flying out of Honeybourne and Long Marston crashed, resulting in the death of 162 men, mostly in their early 20’s. All these losses were tragic, but one further non flying incident was especially sad. On 1st October 1943, a 19 year old WAAF was killed in a road accident while cycling in Weston, most likely during the blackout.
The high number of bomber crews lost during WW2 is illustrated by the experience of the couple who farmed Pebworth Manor Farm. They played host to 63 aircrew at various times, with only four of them surviving the war.
Next month: the end of hostilities
Published in The Messenger May 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 6
The end of World War II found Honeybourne renamed as No 107 Sub Storage Site (SSS), to receive now unwanted bombers and gliders, either for modification and onward delivery, or dismantling and scrapping. The last plane flew out on 29th August 1947, but breaking up and salvaging continued until 25th September 1950, with most of the scrap materials being transported away via the goods siding at Weston railway station.
By 1952 the War Department had returned Honeybourne airfield and its domestic sites back to the original owners. The exceptions were the five hangars and the area around them, which were retained by the Home Office for storage of emergency equipment during the ‘cold war’. In 1977 the hangars were bought by Tate & Lyle for storage of grain until 1985, when all the hangars and surrounding site were purchased by the Johnson Brothers, who developed the Industrial Estate we can see today.
The land upon which the runways were sited formed a new farm established by Roy Appleby (who retired to Weston and lived at Meon Cottage). It took him over 25 years to turn 265 derelict acres into one of the most productive farms in the County. This necessitated the removal of some 35 acres of concrete, and during 1968 10,000 tons per week were transported to Redditch for use in the construction of the new town. Nevertheless, if this area is viewed from above via Google Earth, the feint lines of the old runways can still be seen.
The Instructional site (No 12) became industrial buildings, now occupied by Budget Skips, and the Communal site (No 1) was returned to the Haydon family, who still operate it as Weston Industrial Estate. The WAAF facilities were occupied by squatters after the war, prompting the construction, on the same site, of the Dovers View estate.
There are still a number of reminders of the airfield within the village: for example, an air raid shelter can be seen in the pasture opposite the Manor. Part of the roadway serving Living Quarters Site No 9 is visible in the field opposite the Rectory, and the footpath from Dovers View to Aston passes close to two air raid shelters.
It seems likely that the RAF named their new airfield ‘Honeybourne’ due to its proximity to the main line railway station of the same name. However, I hope this series of articles has shown that it could, quite justifiably, have been called ‘RAF Weston-sub-Edge’.
As mentioned at the start of this series, my primary source has been ‘Angry Skies across the Vale’ written and published by the late Brian Kedward.
(Published in The Messenger June 2022)
RAF Honeybourne – Part 7
Loose ends
As always, I am pleased to receive feedback, and I was delighted to be contacted by two long term residents of Weston who still have memories of the village during and after WW2.
Their abiding memory is of the initial influx of people all dressed in blue, and the sudden increase in traffic on what had been quiet roads with very few cars. Although no bombs fell in the village, a number were dropped in the vicinity, either aimed at the airfield, or jettisoned after raids on Midlands towns. Some houses had the outdoor ‘Anderson’ shelter, with others using the ‘Morrison’, a steel structure located indoors which also doubled as a place to play for young children.
Part Two of this series included a map of the numerous dispersed sites in and around Weston. Site No 8, near the crossroads on Buckle Street, was known locally as ‘Canada House’ and the Canadian servicemen would hand out sweets and chocolate to local children – a treat during those years of rationing and shortages. The end of hostilities brought the shutting down of the operational aspects of the airfield, and the disposal of buildings and equipment. Local lads were sorry to see the end of Canada House, but received a surprise parting gift – pairs of brand new roller skates which were quickly put into use on local paths and roads.
One airfield facility which continued for some time was the camp cinema. Located in Site No 1, now the Weston Industrial Estate, this had been made available to locals ( including children) for the latter years of the war and afterwards while there were still men on the airfield dismantling bombers and gliders. With no strict security measures around these aircraft, local boys had great fun playing in the cockpits of discarded Wellington bombers!
Finally, I am obliged to Peter Young for explaining why the airfield was not called RAF Weston-sub-Edge. His father, a WW2 night fighter pilot, had told him that all airfields are named after the village sited due North, so that when flying and a pilot is told to divert to a particular aerodrome he will know to search due South of the village or town in order to find it.
This completes my history of RAF Honeybourne. I must thank Lavinia Stephenson for her long service as Editor and also for including my articles over the past year or so.
(Published in The Messenger July 2022)