This airfield has been posted before on DP but being fairly local to me I thought I would go and have a look. From first impressions there appears to be very little left of the field left but that impression would be wrong. Hidden in the trees there are numerous pillboxes, shelters and other bits and pieces. Flying also continues from the field in the form of a small selection of vintage light aircraft. I have taken the history for the field from Action Stations No 6. The shots date from April 2010.
Hampstead Norreys opened as a airfield in the summer of 1940 as a satellite to RAF Harwell. The airfield attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe on September 16 1940 when three bombs were dropped on the field, causing no damage. At this time Vickers Wellington of 15 Operational Training Unit were based at the field.
Hampstead was an important airfield in that it was used a starting point for overseas ferrying of Wellingtons. This did not go un-noticed by the Luftwaffe who again visited on May 12 1941 and dropped 10 HE bombs and 100 incendiaries. One Wellington was damaged along with the Southern Taxi Track and the flare path whilst flying was in progress.
The overseas dispatch of Wellington continued from the field and between May 1941 & 30 June 1942 over 500 Wellingtons left Hampstead. In September 1943 re-equipment with Wellington III’s and X’s started and by November, 15 Operational Training Unit had largely converted for a limited future as in March 1944 the unit closed. Hampstead was raised to self accounting status within 38 Group on March 1 1944.
In place of 15 Operational Training Unit came the Operational Refresher Training Unit or ORTU. This unit gave refresher training to glider pilots who were being prepared for D-Day. Equipment consisted of 33 Tiger Moths, 9 Whitley’s, 20 Albemarle’s and Horsa Gliders. The ORTU continued until February 1945 when it moved to Matching in Essex. In March 1945 Mosquito’s of 13 Operational Training Unit arrived and joined remnants of ORTU for it was not until April 1945 that the last glider was towed away. Hampstead again became satellite to Harwell until July 1945. Its last activity was to provide accommodation for the Glider Pilot Regiment and redundant RAF glider pilots. The field then closed and has now reverted back to agriculture
I'm no expert but I would say this is a Type 22 Pillbox
Internal view of loophole with shutter still in place
A view down the remains of Runway 05
The perimeter track
Built near the Threshold of Runway 10 is this VOR Beacon. These beacons are scattered across the country
and are a naivigation aid to aircraft
Hidden in the trees one of several air raid shelters
Internal view of the shelter
The remains of an M&E plinth
Some of the internal metalwork frames remain within the plinth
Anyone like to have a guess at what this is ?
Air raid shelter entrance
Internal view
Escape hatch
Could this be an original fixture from the airfields operational days ?
Internals of a further air raid shelter - its surprising the amount of different types of design of shelters there are here
Escape hatch
Aircraft tie down blocks
There now follows a selection of external and internal shots of the many pillboxes that remain
As the sunset in the West on this fine spring day my thoughts turned to the many young men who flew
off into such a scene - many not returning.
Thanks for looking.
Hampstead Norreys opened as a airfield in the summer of 1940 as a satellite to RAF Harwell. The airfield attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe on September 16 1940 when three bombs were dropped on the field, causing no damage. At this time Vickers Wellington of 15 Operational Training Unit were based at the field.
Hampstead was an important airfield in that it was used a starting point for overseas ferrying of Wellingtons. This did not go un-noticed by the Luftwaffe who again visited on May 12 1941 and dropped 10 HE bombs and 100 incendiaries. One Wellington was damaged along with the Southern Taxi Track and the flare path whilst flying was in progress.
The overseas dispatch of Wellington continued from the field and between May 1941 & 30 June 1942 over 500 Wellingtons left Hampstead. In September 1943 re-equipment with Wellington III’s and X’s started and by November, 15 Operational Training Unit had largely converted for a limited future as in March 1944 the unit closed. Hampstead was raised to self accounting status within 38 Group on March 1 1944.
In place of 15 Operational Training Unit came the Operational Refresher Training Unit or ORTU. This unit gave refresher training to glider pilots who were being prepared for D-Day. Equipment consisted of 33 Tiger Moths, 9 Whitley’s, 20 Albemarle’s and Horsa Gliders. The ORTU continued until February 1945 when it moved to Matching in Essex. In March 1945 Mosquito’s of 13 Operational Training Unit arrived and joined remnants of ORTU for it was not until April 1945 that the last glider was towed away. Hampstead again became satellite to Harwell until July 1945. Its last activity was to provide accommodation for the Glider Pilot Regiment and redundant RAF glider pilots. The field then closed and has now reverted back to agriculture
I'm no expert but I would say this is a Type 22 Pillbox
Internal view of loophole with shutter still in place
A view down the remains of Runway 05
The perimeter track
Built near the Threshold of Runway 10 is this VOR Beacon. These beacons are scattered across the country
and are a naivigation aid to aircraft
Hidden in the trees one of several air raid shelters
Internal view of the shelter
The remains of an M&E plinth
Some of the internal metalwork frames remain within the plinth
Anyone like to have a guess at what this is ?
Air raid shelter entrance
Internal view
Escape hatch
Could this be an original fixture from the airfields operational days ?
Internals of a further air raid shelter - its surprising the amount of different types of design of shelters there are here
Escape hatch
Aircraft tie down blocks
There now follows a selection of external and internal shots of the many pillboxes that remain
As the sunset in the West on this fine spring day my thoughts turned to the many young men who flew
off into such a scene - many not returning.
Thanks for looking.
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