SEPTEMBER 2020
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTENTS HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
EDITORIAL
Journal of the Archaeology and Heritage Group
3 Perspective
September 2020
SHAUN PARKES LDPS
Military and Aviation Heritage.
Editor David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org
4 Gwil’s rant . . .
Advisory Editor Eric Houlder LRPS
UPDATES
Advertising enquiries David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org
5-6 The sculpture project:
Archaeology & Heritage Group Committee Members
Progress of the Art UK Sculpture Project.
Gwil Owen ARPS Chair heritagechair@rps.org Mike Glyde Secretary heritagesec@rps.org George Backshall, LRPS Treasurer heritagetreasurer@rps.org David Bryson Heritage Photography editor heritage.editor@rps.org
GWIL OWEN ARPS
3 years on R. KEITH EVANS FRPS
HOW TO 7-9 Starry might spitfire PAUL DIETTE
Sitting in my easy chair, I thought, I can have a go at this light painting using the old Spitfire by the tarmac at the Goodwood Aerodrome!
R. Keith Evans FRPS
FEATURE
Roger Lewis ARPS
10-22 Greenham and
Shaun Parkes
Crookham Commons - Part 1 ROBERT CARPENTER LRPS
Colin Murrell Published by the Archaeology and Heritage Group of the Royal Photographic Society, September 2020. Copyright in all text and photographs is held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Print ISSN 0958-0565 Online ISSN 2632-3346 Front cover photograph Lancashire Bomber Just Jane Shaun Parke LDPS
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A photographic study documenting some legacies from the airfield’s past through to the present day.
PLACES TO VISIT
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23-25 300 years of military engineering R. KEITH EVANS FRPS
The Royal Engineers Museum in Kent.
26-27 Pegasus Bridge, Normandy GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS
28 Where to go to explore Printed by digitalprinting.co.uk Milton Keynes, MK9 2FR United Kingdom.
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our military heritage SHAUN PARKES LDPS
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EDITORIAL
Perspective Military and Aviation Heritage - A rich source of photographic opportunities SHAUN PARKES LDPS
C
oming from a mainly RAF background, with relatives having also served or serving in the Royal Marines, the Army, and the Royal Navy, my family has a keen interest in our military heritage. It is a fascinating heritage, populated by heroes and villains, by certifiable lunatics, by incompetent generals, but mainly by ordinary people who acted with incredible and unexpected courage in accomplishing extraordinary feats. Think Rorke’s Drift, El Alamein, Arnhem, the Battle of Britain, the North Atlantic Convoys, and The Glorious Glosters at Imjin and 41 Independent Commando RM at the ‘Frozen Chosin’ Reservoir during the Korean War. The military heritage of the UK commenced with the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, uniting England and Scotland, although the military history of the separate components of the UK extends further back. Military heritage is a fascinating subject; this heritage is not only tangible, with many wonderful Regimental and Corps, naval and RAF museums; we also have the opportunity to see ‘living heritage’ with airshows, re-enactments with vehicles and simulated firepower demonstrations, and opportunities to visit to old warships, lovingly restored and maintained. However, a perhaps peculiar aspect of military heritage is the plethora of often-intangible but fiercely guarded traditions, exercised religiously by the units concerned. These traditions range from The Royal Green Jackets, now part of the Rifles, not drinking the Loyal Toast ‘as our loyalty has never been in question’, to various regiments remaining seated in the presence of the Monarch, e.g. as the Monarch passed by them, as they had struggled to stand through exhaustion after the Battle of Quatre Bras at Waterloo, and to be told by the grateful Monarch to remain seated. There are numerous opportunities to see this rich heritage; many of the historic but now defunct county regiments still have regimental museums, e.g. The Green Howards (now part of The Yorkshire Regiment) in Richmond, Yorkshire, whereas other museums showcase the history and heritage of current regiments and corps, like the Airborne Assault Museum at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. As the volunteer co-ordinator of the Military and Aviation Heritage area of the wider A&H Special Interest Group, I hope this editorial and the links hereunder have pricked your interest and look
forward to seeing your images, and hopefully some articles, for Heritage Photography in the future. In this issue Keith Evans gives us an update on the ART UK Sculpture Project which aims to record all of the nation’s sculptures in the public domain. This is followed by astrophotography, explored by Paul Diette, combining aviation heritage and astrophotography in a stunning picture of the Spitfire flown by ‘Johnnie’ Johnson when commanding the Canadian Wing over the Normandy beaches on D-Day 6th June 1944. This issue includes Part 1 of Robert Carpenter’s highly detailed and interesting record of the legacy of RAF Greenham Common, once famous for the protests against the US Air Force’s use of the base to store Cruise Missiles. We then have two examples of places to visit to see military and aviation heritage. Keith Evans provides a comprehensive introduction to the Royal Engineers Museum at Gillingham in Kent, covering 300 years of military engineering, to whet our appetites for a visit. The second place to visit is introduced by our Treasurer George Backshall as he encapsulates, in his article, a coup-de-main operation codenamed DEADSTICK, to seize - in the early hours of D-Day - one of the iconic bridges in British military history, the famous Pegasus Bridge over the strategic Caen Canal. Soldiers from D Company, 2nd Battalion the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, a glider-borne element of the 6th Airborne Division, landed around the bridge to seize it and hold it until relieved by Lord Lovat’s No 6 Commando, Piper Bill Millins famously leading in the Commando and the rest of Lovat’s Commando Brigade. The raid was led by Major John Howard, a former enlisted soldier, not of privileged background but rather of humble origins, a fact disliked by many of his contemporary officers, Howard was awarded the DSO, and the French Croix de Guerre with Bronze Palm, for his inspired leadership. Front cover, Lancaster NX611 ‘Just Jane’ at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby Airfield, Spilsby, Lincs https://www.lincsaviation. co.uk/
SHAUN PARKES LDPS Licentiate of the Disabled Photographers Association (LDPS) 3
EDITORIAL
Gwil’s rant . . . . . Chair of the Archaeology and Heritage Group. GWIL OWEN ARPS.
B
y now you will all have heard that our exhibition has been cancelled, and that we are working on a replacement - possibly still in Cambridge. While I have been receiving prints and printing up some of mine, I have become more and more aware of my predilection for the “real thing”: that is the printed image. It’s partly a tactile thing - physically holding that crisp heavyweight paper, the different feel of a matt or shiny surface. I think, too, that it is also formed by the ability to walk up to and around an image; to see, in an exhibition, how images relate to each other. In the home it’s how you have arranged your favourites to jump out at your guests when you invite them in. This train of thought is all old hat for anyone who studies paintings. Obviously they are three dimensioned artefacts. Get right up to one of Cezanne’s luminous Provençal landscapes and see how the paint has been applied in little clumps. Go close up then for detail. Take a wide field of view for an overall story. For example try to “get” the Night Watch from only six metres or only a metre. If remember rightly you can get just about that close as it is currently displayed. Where does that leave photography then? Perhaps not as badly off as I might have thought to paint it - sorry, not a very good pun. Images are now nearly always available digitally, which exposes our works to a much wider audience, but we do miss the immediacy of a print. Our world is similar to that of music - the history of music reproduction has followed a similar path to that of photography. Take the last night of the proms: great TV - but to get the full experience you just have to be there. Many of our members follow this dictum in that they are collectors of prints as well as being photographic artists themselves. Our images, if they are good enough, will make the viewer believe that the real thing is there. But, and this is a big but, good photographs will be biased. They will present a particular interpretation of the subject with details emphasised to suit that idea. For myself, I have been fortunate for most of my professional life to have had objects in front of my camera from famous museums and archaeological excavations. I had, perhaps, taken for granted that images can be a satisfactory substitution for the real thing. My epiphany was some years ago in Berlin when I was able to have the famous bust of Nefertiti to
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Bust of Nefertitti, Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
myself for half an hour (in its display case). She has become the foremost exemplar from the ancient world of female beauty, and is reproduced widely in this context. At Tell el Amarna, her home, where I worked, her image was ubiquitous. In Berlin it was shock to realise that, close up, she is not just beauty personified. Here was a no longer young woman, a mother of six, living in a harsh climate. Elegant she is; smooth and rounded she is not. Her neck, for example, tends to gaunt and stretched. My photos do not do her, or her sculptor, justice. Go see her for real, https://www.smb. museum/en/museums-institutions/aegyptischesmuseum-und-papyrussammlung/collectionresearch/the-collection/.
Stop press Our exhibition has been rearranged for January 10th for 3 weeks in St Michaelhouse, Cambridge.
GWIL OWEN ARPS
UPDATES
The Sculpture Project: Three Years On As the Art UK Sculpture Project draws towards a conclusion, we recount its progress and the important role volunteer photographers have made to its success. R. KEITH EVANS FRPS A little over two years ago, in June 2018, the first Training Workshop was held for the photographers – many from the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), including members of the Archaeology & Heritage Group – who had volunteered to take part in the Art UK ‘Sculpture Project’ https://artuk.org/about/ sculpture-project. I described the early days of this ambitious venture in the Spring 2018 issue of Heritage Photography, now, with the programme scheduled for completion in February next year, I’m pleased to record its success so far, and what remains to be done.
Encouraging artistic appreciation
Aim of the project, organised by Art UK and The Public Monuments & Sculptures Association, has been to record all of the nation’s sculptures and monuments in the public domain, and place descriptions and images of these on a freely accessible website for all to see and study.
The programme has delivered 94 projects, including 59 Masterpieces in Schools loans; as an example, one of the most recent, in early March, saw two L. S. Lowry paintings and a bronze head of Lowry by Leopold Solomon loaned to the Cardinal Langley High School in Rochdale.
25 project teams were established, each with a Regional Coordinator; the latters’ work has now been completed and they have left Art UK. 25 project staff remain in post to complete digitisation of the images, and to work on the Learning and Engagement Programme for schools which Art UK sees as an important part of the overall project. Its goal is to help introduce young people to the wealth of artistic sculpture available throughout the country for them to see and enjoy.
Most of them, around 50,000, are held in museums, galleries, universities and similar organisations. The volunteer programme has been to photograph and record those outdoor sculptures open to public view. Close to 400 volunteer photographers have taken part so far, with around 150 active at any one time, and it’s pleasing to record that a majority of them have been members of the RPS. Today, three years after the project’s inception, some 22,000 records of public sculptures, twothirds of them with photographic images, have been digitised and can be viewed on-line at https:// artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/ work_type:sculpture. An estimated 10,000 more sculptures will have been recorded by the time the project ends next February. As one of the lead partners in the project, the RPS and its volunteer members have made an important contribution to its success. Since the earliest ‘trial runs’ in which Essex photographer/lecturer Nikki Hazelton and I, and London professional photographer Colin White, undertook the photography and documentation of a small number of public sculptures in Bath, Essex and Kent, the photography has covered all parts of the United Kingdom. Typical record image taken for the project: Statue of General James Wolfe, Westerham, Kent. 5
Typical record image taken for the project: Statue of Winston Churchill, Westerham, Kent.
During the Covid19 lockdown, most volunteer photography has come to a standstill. As a result, additional volunteers are now being sought in specific locations: the Isle of Man, Hampshire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire, and the cities of Edinburgh, Hull, Leeds and Leicester, plus some London Boroughs. If you feel able to assist in the remaining photography and recording of public sculpture in these areas, for which Art UK will provide appropriate training, contact anthony. mcintosh@artuk.org. To conclude the programme and sum up how it has succeeded in its aims, Art UK has arranged a two-day Conference in Leeds on 12-13 March 2021. Speakers are being invited from all of the participating organisations, who will describe in detail their involvement throughout the life of the project.
The Story behind the Pictures Readers of my earlier article will recall that as well as taking a number of photographs showing every aspect of a sculpture, recorders were also required to provide detailed notes such as its location, artist, material and date of installation. 6
The bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill pictured above, by the renowned sculptor Oscar Nemon, was cast at the Art Bronze Foundry in London and installed in 1969. The boulder on which it rests comes from the former Yugoslavia, donated by the government of that country in recognition of Britain’s support of its partisan fighters in World War II. The statue’s location on the green at Westerham, Kent, acknowledges Churchill’s close link with the village during his and Lady Churchill’s many years of living nearby at Chartwell. My other picture shows an equally noteworthy statue in Westerham, that of General James Wolfe, erected in 1911. Wolfe was commander of the British Army which captured the city of Quebec from the French in 1759, effectively securing Canada for the British; he died in the battle. Born in 1727 in Westerham’s Old Vicarage, Wolfe is also commemorated in a memorial window in the adjacent St Mary’s Church, by Edward Burne-Jones.
R. KEITH EVANS FRPS
HOW TO
Starry Night Spitfire I was watching a YouTube video by Richard Tatti, an Australian photographer with a passion for astrophotography. Sitting in my easy chair, I thought, I can have a go at this light painting right now using the old Spitfire by the tarmac at the Goodwood Aerodrome! PAUL S DIETTE
T
his retired Spitfire is painted in the colours and markings of Spitfire Ace, Air Vice Marshall James Edgar Johnson (aka Johnnie Johnson), MK392 (JE-J) with D-Day stripes, as flown on his last victory of World War II. Featuring a 27 litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, Johnson’s Spitfire was originally produced in June of 1944 as a MK.IXc. As with many MK.IXc Spitfires, it was modified in the field with the upgraded armament specifications and placements needed to become a MK.IXe. The airplane is light painted under a starry winter night sky at Goodwood Aerodrome (identifier EGHR) in Chichester, England. The winter night sky includes the brightest planet, Venus, and stars visible to the west of the aerodrome. Why this photo? On a clear night in early February, 2020, I was watching a YouTube video by Richard Tatti, an Australian photographer with a passion for astrophotography. His specialty is light painting foreground elements with a flashlight to create some amazing astrophotography nightscape images. His YouTube channel (https://www.youtube. com/channel/UC-KNiVo4X76cJIMphH1lEdA) is filled with excellent tutorials to get you started and inspired. Sitting in my easy chair, I thought, I can have a go at this right now using the old Spitfire by the tarmac at the Goodwood Aerodrome! I walk past this beautiful airplane every time I enter the aerodrome where I often go flying. I called the aerodrome to arrange after-hours access, grabbed the Nikon Z 50 kit and travel tripod that I had with me in Chichester, a variable output pocket LED flashlight, and headed to the grass near the Spitfire. When I got there I still had a about an hour to go before sunset. This gave me time to play with the composition and configure the Z 50 with the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/ 3.5-6.3 VR kit lens for this project. I had to use what I had with me that night in Chichester as this was a spontaneous shoot. Throughout the process I was experimenting with various combinations of settings, primarily playing with ISO and shutter speed, to strike a balance between noise, exposure, and the length of the star trails (I wanted little or no star trails). I was also lucky in that there was very little artificial light from
Richard Tatti’s website https://nightscapeimages.com.au/
the aerodrome car parking paddock reaching the Spitfire, and Venus was also setting to the west over the airplane. In addition to the exposure settings and composition, I also experimented with where to shine my flashlight to light paint the airframe and the grass, sometimes over doing it, sometimes not getting an even result. I also tried light painting the cockpit Plexiglass from behind to see if some rim lighting would work. I found that my flashlight’s lowest output gave me the most time to slowly foreground light paint the airplane and the grass while retaining a nice balance with the night sky. The example you see reproduced here on pages 8-9 used an 18mm focal length (27mm net effective length), exposure of 13.0 seconds, f/8, ISO 1250, center weighted average metering, auto white balance, AI Servo AF in pinpoint mode with 100% zoomed in focus checks using my flashlight to light the target decal markings on the sidewall of the cockpit, manual mode, a delayed release shutter with silent shutter (to eliminate shutter and camera shake), sRGB colour space, 16-bit NEF raw file plus 8-bit JPG. Post production of the NEF raw file was done with Photoshop 2020, with noise reduction, sharpening, and enlargement done using Topaz Labs AI Utility Bundle and exported to a tiff file for reproduction.
PAUL DIETTE 7
Starry Night Spitfire at Goodwood Aerodrome, the winter night sky includes the brightest planet, Venus, and stars visible to the west of the a 8
aerodrome. Photograph Paul Diette 9
FEATURE
Greenham and Crookham Commons - Part 1 A photographic study documenting some legacies from the airfield’s past through to the present day. ROBERT C CARPENTER LRPS
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have lived in the Newbury area for nearly 50 years and, for the first 30 years or so, the Greenham and Crookham Commons (Greenham Common) were always imposing and mysterious areas of land on the south side of the town. This mystery was only alleviated on occasional airbase Open Days and then the official opening of the common in 2000. Greenham Common, and in particular the airbase, has undergone a series of dramatic changes over its operational life and a short history is offered to help to illustrate the effects, geographical implications and legacies of some of these changes. More detailed presentations of the history of the airbase can be found in the references at the end of this article. Greenham Common’s more recent changes began in 1941, when the Air Ministry requisitioned the land to build an airfield and construction of the initial
airfield runway started early in 1942. It was to be an RAF Bomber Command Operational Training Unit with the main runway 5,988 feet in length, two secondary runways and many hard-standing dispersal areas. Accommodation, bomb storage sites and other installations were widely spaced over the surrounding local countryside. A period of expansion followed with the 51st Troop Carrier wing arriving from America in September 1942 to take part in Operation Torch and in October 1943 Greenham Common became USAAF (US Army Air Force) Station 486 and was handed over to the 9th Air Force. Part of the planning for D Day operations, in mid 1943, required the construction of the Waco and later Horsa gliders. This also required a significant effort to build accommodation blocks, workshops and associated utilities. March 1944 marked the arrival of the 438th
Figure 1 Greenham Common airfield showing a 1944 map of the Class A airfield with its 3 runways and dispersal areas. The bomb stores to the North East and the glider marshalling areas at either end of the main runway can be clearly seen. 10
Troop Carrier Group flying C-47 Skytrains (Dakotas). New infrastructure was developed to support these larger aircraft and steel marshalling yards were constructed at either ends of the main runway in preparation for the forthcoming glider movements. On the evening of June 5th 1944 General Eisenhower addressed 55,000 men of the 101st Airborne (the Screaming Eagles) on Hungerford Common and later gave his famous “The eyes of the world are upon you ...” speech at Greenham Common. Shortly before midnight, the first C-47 (named “That’s All, Folks!) took off bound for enemy territory in Normandy on Operation Overlord. In two days, 1,662 aircraft and 512 gliders were deployed and a total of 13,000 paratroopers were dropped and 4,000 landed by glider. After 1946 the airfield fell into disrepair but was totally rebuilt and redeveloped in the early 1950s with a longer, stronger runway to accommodate B-47s and ultimately B-52 strategic bombers. A new Control Tower was built on the north side of the airbase. The airbase was operational again from 1953 and, between 1956 and 1964, as part of a Reflex Alert Scheme with nuclear armed B47s and supporting KC97 tanker aircraft. The Americans left in 1964 but returned again in 1967 to take on some NATO commitments. The airbase was host to 8 Air Tattoos between 1973 and 1983 with the last show being the world’s largest military air show at the time. In 1979 the decision was made by NATO to site nuclear cruise missiles in Britain and other European countries and in 1980 the Defence Secretary announced that Greenham Common would house 96 nuclear armed Tomahawk cruise missiles. This marked the start of a major building programme to support these missile deployments. Especially hardened steel, sand and concrete shelters were constructed to house the missile transporters and the GAMA site (Ground Launched Cruise Missile Alert and Maintenance Area) was born. In 1981 a group called “Women for Life on Earth” marched from Cardiff to Greenham Common and set up the first Peace Camp. Many protests occurred over the next few years including encircling the base and the 1983 human chain involving 70,000 protesters linking hands from Greenham Common to the Ordnance factory at Burghfield. Nine Peace camps were formed in total and the final camp was not disbanded until 2000. In December 1987, the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed and the final cruise missiles left the Base in 1991 followed by the remaining USAF personnel in September 1992. In the mid 1990s the runway and taxiways were broken up and removed from the airbase, a Business Park was established and planning commenced to return the open land to the people of Newbury. This was achieved in April
2000 and this area (and the airfield) is now part of a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) Through this photograph study I am illustrating historical events in living memory by photographing the remaining structures, buildings, landscapes or other evidence. The three articles cover the following broad timescales: •
The wartime and Cold War years 1941- 1980s
•
Cruise missiles and the Peace camps 1980 - 1991
•
The Regeneration of the Common 1992 to date
The wartime and Cold War years 1941 – 1980s. Figure 1 shows a 1944 map of the Class A airfield with its 3 runways and dispersal areas. The bomb stores to the North East and the glider marshalling areas at either end of the main runway can be clearly seen. Examples of the remains of some of the buildings are illustrated; Bomb store building 148, Figure 3, Pyro store building 156, Figure 4 and location of Fuzing Point building 159, Figure 5. Because of the change of use of the airfield in 1943, it is believed that this “bomb stores” site was never used for the purpose originally intended. Two local houses played significant roles in the war years. Bowdown House can be seen to the western area of the “bomb stores” (north east of the airfield). This house was built in the Lutyens style in 1911 for the Lang family and Figure 6 shows a picture of the house taken in 2018. When the Germans invaded Norway in 1940, King Haaken VII and other members of the Norwegian Royal Family escaped and, after a short spell at Buckingham Palace, were invited to stay at Bowdown house by Captain Robert Dormer. Many other distinguished guests were entertained here including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Madame Chiang Kai-shek and King Peter of Yugoslavia. In 1942 the Air Ministry requisitioned Bowdown House as the HQ for the USAAF 51st Troop Carrier Wing and the Dormer household moved to Windsor for the remainder of the war. To the North West of the runway centre can be found Greenham Lodge. This was built for Lord Baxendale (the Lord of the Manor of Greenham) and completed in 1881. It remained in the family until it was sold in 1938 to Newbury Council. In 1943, the house became the Divisional HQ for the USAAF 101st Airborne Division (the Screaming Eagles). The officers were billeted in the house and some enlisted men lived in tents in the grounds.
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Figure 2. Map showing details of the “bomb stores” site. The mix of buildings entitled “bomb”, “incendiary” and “pyro” stores plus “fuzing point” buildings, linked by concrete roadways, is still clearly visible on the ground although heavily damaged and overgrown. 12
Figure 3 Bomb store building 148
Figure 4. Pyro store building 156
Figure 5. Location of Fuzing Point building 159 13
Figure 6. Bowdown House
Figure 7. Rear of Greenham Lodge 14
Just before midnight on the evening of June 5th 1944, from the rear of Greenham Lodge, General Eisenhower watched the mass take off of Dakotas. He saw 81 Dakotas take off at 11 second intervals carrying ~1400 paratroopers to the area of Utah beach on the Cherbourg Peninsula. Figure 7 shows a view of the rear of the house.
Recent access to the Control Tower has allowed a view of one of the remaining Cold War era hangers. These hangers have been refurbished and now exist within secure areas of the Business Park. Figure 9 shows a photograph taken from the Control Tower across the previous runway area of the common in a southerly direction.
In 1951 the Lodge became a Club for USAF Officers stationed at Greenham Common and it continued in this role until the closure of the Station in 1992.
The Base Chapel was another much used building which is also now within the Business Park. It was a multi-denominational place of worship built in the late 1950’s and, after refurbishment over the years, it has now been reborn as the Old Chapel Textile Centre and National Needlework Archive.
In 1996, The Mary Hare Foundation relocated Mill Hall Oral School for deaf children from Sussex to Greenham Lodge which was subsequently renamed Mill Hall. Massive structural and geographical changes have taken place over the ~50 years of operations at Greenham Common. Following the original airfield construction in 1941, the Americans carried out extensive restructuring works in the 1950’s. These included a complete new 10,000 feet runway (12,000 feet with later extensions), taxiways and hard standing areas, a new technical and domestic site, demolition of houses and a Pub and the diversion of a main road. A new Control Tower was built and this was of a standard design of a 2 storey tower surmounted by a roof mounted visual control room. In the 1980s, the arrival of cruise missiles required the construction of the high security Cruise Missile GAMA site. The 1950s Control Tower, following some refurbishment in the 1980’s, remained operational until the Americans left in 1992. The Tower was then closed up, shuttered and fenced off from the common and it remained in this state for around 25 years.
The Cold War operational airfield had 21underground Petroleum Oil and Lubricants fuel stations (POLs) located around its perimeter to provide fuel to the individual hard standing areas. These were connected by pipelines to the National Strategic Fuel Line at the eastern end of the airbase. These fuel tanks had a total storage capacity for 8 million gallons of aviation fuel. The tanks were either cylindrical steel structures or cast concrete cylinders with internal, reinforcing steel props. The vast majority of these POLs were removed and disposed of in the regeneration project; a single remaining concrete tank with associated pipe work is situated on the eastern edge of the airbase and is shown in Figure 11. During the regeneration project, many of the reinforcing steel props from the inside of these concrete tanks were relocated around the common and have variously been described as weather stations or fire-beater stands. An example of one of
Figure 12. Reinforcing steel prop adjacent to the original airfield Windsock mast. Figure 8. A view of the closed and fenced Control Tower taken in 2010.
The plan to remove the runways in the late 1990’s led to a five year regeneration project to break up, crush and remove over 1 million tonnes of asphalt and concrete. Therefore, it is no real surprise that limited evidence remains of the original wartime airbase!
these is shown in Figure 12. Located in a quiet corner of the common can be found one of the few remaining, rusting steel fuel tanks. This location also displays a fire hydrant and many of these were also relocated and positioned around the landscape – however, these are not connected to water supplies! Also in this view is a Naval paravane but no information is available as to how or why it came to be here.
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Figure 9. View of one of the 1950’s Cold War hangers.
Figure 10. The Old Chapel Textile Centre and National Needlework Archive as seen from the original Main Street of the air base.
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Figure 13. One of the few remaining steel fuel tanks.
When walking around the common, a number of ponds of various sizes and shapes are part of the landscape. Some of these were created during the regeneration project and others are the result of the removal of fuel tanks of various shapes and sizes. These are attractive features on a lowland heath common and are home to a wide variety of wildlife.
Another Cold War building close by is now a haven for bats, but in its previous life was believed to be used for gas exposure training.
Figure 15. Building believed to contain remains of an artesian well, pipe work and water treatment plant.
Figure 14. One of the many ponds located around the common.
A number of Cold War buildings still exist on the common but it can be quite difficult to identify the original purpose of these. Figure 15 shows what is believed to be the structure surrounding an artesian well. The building contains pumps and distribution pipe work and the sign on the doorway refers to emergency action to be taken after a chlorine gas leak.
Quite close to Building 280 is the naked, ferrous skeleton of the Fire Plane which is a reduced scale mock up of a C130 Hercules aircraft. This was installed in the 1980s and was used for fire fighting training by airfield fire crews and the Newbury fire brigade. It was fitted with dummy seats and passengers prior to training exercises and was linked with a pipeline allowing the fuselage to be sprayed with aviation fuel. The structure is located in a pond area presumably to contain water/foam and aviation fuel
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Figure 11. Single remaining concrete fuel tank with associated pipe work. 18
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Figure 18. Rear view of the Fire Plane. 20
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Figure 16. Building 280 which is now a haven for bats.
The majority of the 1950s airfield security fencing was removed in the early 1990s after the Americans left and the regeneration of the common began. However, a short length of fencing was left as a reminder of the site’s previous existence.
Figure 20. Taken from the remaining central cross from the 1950s runway layout looking west along the runway path.
Bibliography. Sayers, J.J. (2006) In defense of freedom: a history of RAF Greenham Common. Cooper, E. Swords and ploughshares; the transformation of Greenham Common. In: Kippin, J, Cooper, E &Hipperson, S. Cold War Pastoral. Brooks, R.J. (2014) Berkshire airfields in the second world war. Countryside Books.
Personal communications Kempe, Andy. A not so common Common. Emeritus Professor, University of Reading. Jonathan Sayers Peter Evans Mike Hall Figure 17. The Fire Plane in its circular, fenced compound.
During the 5 year programme to remove the 4 feet thick 1950s concrete runways, a decision was made to retain the central cross over taxi way. This is the only remaining evidence of what was once one of the longest runways in Europe.
Pam Hart I am grateful for the advice and information many people gave during the preparation of this work. However, all mistakes are entirely mine.
Photographic details Canon eos 7D, Canon EF 24-105 mm lens, Sigma 18-250 mm lens. Canon eos R, Canon RF 24-105 mm lens, Canon RF 24-240 mm lens. Images processed in Lightroom.
ROBERT C CARPENTER LRPS
Figure 19. Remains of 1950s security fencing.
Future articles will continue to explore the legacies of the cruise missile era and then continue to illustrate Greenham Common in the present day.
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PLACES TO VISIT
300 Years of Military Engineering Britain’s military museums are unique and invaluable treasure houses of the country’s military heritage – from the small but intensely proud museums representing their local county regiments, to the major national institutions recording the history and traditions of particular arms. Here we look at a museum designated as having “collections of national and international significance” – The Royal Engineers Museum in Kent. R. KEITH EVANS FRPS
L
ike its ‘designated’ counterpart the Royal Artillery Firepower museum in London, the Royal Engineers Museum – located adjacent to The Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham – covers more than 300 years of military achievement. Both Corps were founded in 1716; but the Royal Engineers antecedents’ go back to the Norman Conquest, first as The Kings’ Engineers and later as engineer officers of the Board of Ordnance. ‘Ordnance Trains’ of engineers and artillerymen would accompany the armies of the day, until in 1716 the two roles were separated, forming the Royal Regiment of Artillery and The Corps of Royal Engineers. Into the latter were incorporated the Royal Sappers and Miners in 1855. So the 500,000-plus objects in the Royal Engineers Museum encompass more than three centuries of technical development in helping Britain’s armies move and fight, from military architecture and siegecraft to flying, diving, mapping and combat engineering.
Artefacts large and small Exhibits range from medals (including 48 Victoria Crosses) to bridge structures, aircraft, torpedoes and 50-ton specialised tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. You will find the Duke of Wellington’s battlefield map of Waterloo; the first successful underwater guided weapon – Louis Brennan’s torpedo of 1877; weapons from the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879; and a broad range of more modern equipment such as the Bailey Bridge and its successors, and tracked bridge-laying and mineclearing vehicles based on then-current tanks. Some of the Royal Engineers’ functions were handed over at various times to other branches of the armed forces: undersea mining, for example,
Armoured Personnel Carrier used by RE units in North Africa, 1942-43.
to the Royal Navy in 1905, flying and ballooning to the Royal Flying Corps on its formation in 1912, and telegraphy to the new Royal Corps of Signals in 1920. All these early R.E. activities are recalled in the museum collections. The major part of the collections is housed in and around the Ravelin Building, constructed and fitted out in 1905 as the Royal Engineers School of Electrical Engineering (a ravelin is a vee-shaped outwork of 16-17th century fortifications). It became a museum in 1987 and was ‘Designated’ in 1998. 23
Uniform of Colonel George Landman RE, 1817.
Officer’s dress helmet from 2nd Afghan War, 1878.
The Multipurpose Engineering Tank, the Trojan AVRE is here handling pipe fascine used to cross anti-tank ditches. This example has seen service in Afghanistan. 24
Final version of the Brennan Torpedo, described in the text below.
Brennan’s Torpedo and Hobart’s Funnies The world’s first underwater ‘guided missile’, a shore-based torpedo for coastal defence, was the brainchild of Louis Brennan. Born in Ireland in 1852, Brennan and his family moved to Australia in 1861, and Louis studied engineering at Melbourne University. At the age of 22 he received a Victorian Government grant to design a ‘steerable’ torpedo; his patent for this was quickly purchased by the British War Office, and in 1877, now as Superintendent of the new Brennan Torpedo Factory in Chatham, he oversaw construction of these missiles, made and operated exclusively by the Royal Engineers and in service from 1890 to 1906 at eight key military coastal sites. The torpedo was some 30ft long and travelled 12ft below the sea surface at a speed of 27kt (31mph) for about one mile. It was controlled by an operator on shore; one such launch site and its two ramps can still be seen at Cliffe Fort, on the Hoo peninsula in Kent, and one remaining example of the torpedo is at the Royal Engineers Museum. Major General Sir Percy Hobart, born in 1885, was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1902 and in World War 1 gained the Military Cross and a DSO. Transferring later into the Royal Tank Corps, he formed and commanded the 7th Armoured Division (the Desert Rats) in 1940, and three years later was charged by Winston Churchill with forming and commanding the 79th Armoured Division, and in evolving the specialised armour needed to breach the German coastal defences in Normandy on D-Day, and subsequently throughout the drive for Berlin. His innovations included the flail-equipped Scorpion tank, designed for the task of mine clearing, the
The Titan AVLB (bridge-launching AV) can carry and hydraulically launch a three-section 26m bridge. The Ravelin Building is in the background.
Churchill Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE), the amphibious ‘swimming’ Sherman tank, flamethrowers and wire-mesh carpet layers again based on the ubiquitous Churchill and other tanks – all of these were known as ‘Hobart’s Funnies’, and had a major influence on operations on the Western Front. Several are on display in the museum’s outdoor Vehicle Park. Though closed during the first months of the Covid19 epidemic, the Museum re-opened in August and visits can now be pre-booked for specific dates and times. Their website is located at https://www.re-museum.co.uk/. Pictured on page 3 is the commemorative sword presented in 1898 to Major General (Lord) Kitchener in recognition of his commanding the Anglo-Egyptian Army in the Sudan. 25
PLACES TO VISIT
Pegasus Bridge, Normandy Pegasus Bridge straddles the Caen Canal in Normandy and was a strategic bridge to capture in the Allied Armies D Day invasion. GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS
The original Pegasus bridge now a war memorial.
P
egasus Bridge straddles the Caen Canal in Normandy and was a strategic bridge to capture in the Allied Armies D Day invasion of 6th June 1944 during WWII. There are many Wikipedia articles and books written about the D Day invasion of France and The Battle for Normandy. I had the opportunity to visit here a couple of years ago. In the early hours of 6th June, a force of 181 men led by Major John Howard landed in six Horsa Gliders to spearhead The Allied Armies of Liberation. The closest landing 47 yards from the bridge at 00:16 on 6th June, securing the bridge and liberating the Pegasus Bridge Café, Café Gondrée on the far side, and is probably among the first French places liberated on D Day. In front of the modern bridge is a bust of Major Howard and memorial marking the spot where the closest glider landed by the bridge. Apart from guessing what a scary surprise for the defending German soldiers; my first reaction on the seeing this there was some incredible flying in the dark to reach, capture the bridge complete and that any closer landing they would have demolished it! The current bridge replaced the original in 1994, a “Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge” design was built in1934 and named the Bénouville Bridge. The original was moved 100 yards, is now a war memorial and centre piece of the Pegasus Memorial museum which was opened in June 2000 with numerous exhibits also on display.
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Major John Howard.
The Bénouville Bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge later in 1944 in honour of the operation. The name is derived from the shoulder emblem worn by the British Parachute Regiment which depicts Bellerophon riding the flying horse Pegasus.
40mm Bofors Gun. The Bofors of Swedish origin, equipped light anti-aircraft regiments of the Royal Artillery. It was used extensively during WWII. The guns weighing more than two tons was towed by a four-wheel drive Bedford QL.
Pegasus Bridge, Café Gondrée.
Many soldiers were sadly killed in action in June and July, some are buried in the nearby Ranville Commonwealth War Grave Commission Cemetery. Ranville Cemetery.
GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS 27
PLACES TO VISIT
Where to go to explore our military heritage Suggestions of places to visit by SHAUN PARKES LDPS The National Museum of the Royal Navy https://www.nmrn.org.uk/ The National Army Museum https://www.nam.ac.uk/, The RAF Museum https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/ The Royal Marines Museum at Eastney, https:// www.newroyalmarinesmuseum.co.uk/ closed in April 2017, but there are plans to open a new Museum as part of The National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Various Regimental and Corps Museums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Regimental_ museums_in_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Regimental_ museums_in_Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Regimental_ museums_in_Wales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Regimental_ museums_in_Northern_Ireland
SHAUN PARKES LDPS
Bridge and port side gun on HMS Caroline, National Museum of the Royal Navy (HMS Caroline, Belfast) Launched and commissioned in 1914, HMS Caroline is a decommissioned C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw combat service in the First World War, served as an administrative centre in the Second World War, and from her decommissioning in 2011 she served as a static headquarters and training ship for the Royal Naval Reserve, based in Alexandra Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland. At that time she was the second oldest ship in Royal Navy service, after HMS Victory. She opened to the public on 1 July 2017 at Alexandra Dock in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. 28
