Article - When bombers took to the skies over Hatfield

THE base that was eventually to become Lindholme Aerodrome was built on Hatfield Moor, a mile south of the small village of Hatfield Woodhouse, whose name the airfield was originally destined to take.

Work began in the spring of 1938 and it was officially opened in June 1940 under No.5 Group, No.50 Squadron, and its Hampden aircraft arrived in July. Two and a half months after its official opening the station name was to be changed to Lindholme to avoid any possible confusion with Hatfield airfield which was in Hertfordshire. Lindholme was actually a country house and hamlet on the eastern boundary of the airfield.

During the first two years of war, a bomb store was constructed on the far side of the A614 along with many extra hardstandings for aircraft. A perimeter track and over 30 pan hardstandings had also been built during this period. By 1942 Lindholme was upgraded with the construction of concrete runways. A few additional campsites were added to the south of the main area giving the station maximum accommodation for 2,192 men and 365 women. There was a large contingent of Polish airmen, including 304 Squadron, who were honoured by a visit from wartime leader General Sikorski, who is seen in our photograph as he examines crashed Wellington bomber “Sonia” on the airfield in April 1942.

It was re-opened for flying in late October 1942 just in time to take part in the increased bombing campaign of Germany. No.1656 Heavy Conversion Unit moved in with a few Lancasters and Manchesters which flew in from Breighton to serve No. 1 Group’s conversion to Lancasters. It then became an operational unit with both Lancaster and Halifax crews training there with No.1667 HCU (Heavy Convsersion Unit) being established there in June 1943.

In November the same year, No.1 Lancaster Finishing School was activated using existing flights with a similar mission.

On November 3, 1944, the station became No.71 Base under the new training organisation - No.7 Group. Meanwhile, No.1656 HCU remained at Lindholme until November 1945 when many Bomber Command units were disbanded.

During World War II, a total of 76 bombers flying from Lindhome were lost in operations, 40 Hampdens, 35 Wellingtons and a single Lancaster.

The immediate post-war years found Nos.57 and 100 Squadrons with their Lincolns in residence at Lindholme from May to September 1946. Afterwards the station went back to a training role, the longest resident being the Bomber Command Bombing School which had become the Strike Command Bombing School by the time it moved out in 1972.

Hangars were used for storage by the USAF during the height of the Cold War and later various RAF ground units, including Northern Radar, also moved in.

In 1985 the whole camp was sold and turned into a prison. Obviously lots of new building took place but many of the original permanent camp buildings still survive.

Another reminder of Doncaster’s sometimes overlooked but vital contribution to World War II began to be gradually forgotten by many, but certainly not those involved in those dark days.

From: http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/community/nostalgia/when_bombers_took_to_the_skies_over_hatfield_1_3527897

Event - Commemorating the lives of the Canadian Aircrew (Creswell Crags)

On Saturday 21st May the Canadian High Commissioner is paying a special visit to Creswell Crags for a ceremony to mark the unveiling of the memorial stone which marks the tragic loss of life of five Canadian aircrew whose Wellington Bomber crash landed in 1944 close to the site. The event has been made possible through the kind gift by Joseph Plant who, in his will, wished to create a lasting memory of the airmen by erecting a memorial stone in memory of his friend Herbert Keeton.



Gerald Plant from Creswell and a key figure in the Memorial Committee said ‘We have been working hard to fulfil the wishes of my late brother. All of the Canadian relatives of the airmen have been contacted and at least twenty relatives are due to travel to Britain for the event. Earlier in the week we have also arranged for the relatives to visit the graves of the airmen at Harrogate Cemetery and Gamston airfield from where the crew flew.’


Colonel Paul Keddy, Air Force Advisor to the United Kingdom at the High Commission of Canada, said ‘The High Commission is extremely grateful for the recognition this event will provide for our brave Canadian airman. We are especially pleased about the Committee’s hard work to ensure that the relatives of the airman and Canadian veterans in Britain, who will also be attending the event, are able to remember their countrymen in this way.’


The ceremony will take place following the High Commissioners arrival at 10.55am and will be concluded by a Lancaster Bomber fly past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at 1.50 pm
 

From: http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/News/2011/5/

Event - Fitting tribute to some of Canada's bravest warriors (Creswell Crags)

THE Wellington bomber was clearly in trouble, the engines dying, the pilot struggling to maintain control.

It was August 1944. Teenager Gerald Plant was cycling along the lanes near his home at Creswell, on the Notts/Derbys border, when he saw the Wellington approaching, low and fast.

His attention was drawn to it because of the unusually loud engine noise it was making.

Gerald could see one propellor on the twin-engine aircraft was not working.

As it drew nearer, to his horror it went out of control, performed a half spin and crashed in a field at Hennymoor Farm.

The five crew members, all Canadians, did not stand a chance.

Pilot Willis Murdie, 26, navigator Lowell Brehaut, 21, wireless operator James Clarke, 20, bomb aimers Walter Cooper, 32, and John Lee, 19, died together and were later buried side by side in Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate.

Although it was nearly 70 years ago, those five Commonwealth heroes have never been forgotten, certainly not by Gerald Plant who still lives in Creswell.

He said: "I am constantly reminded of seeing the plane crash, as I pass within 100 yards of the crash site on average twice a week.

"The vision of the plane flying on one engine, the roar of the engine, the sudden deathly silence and the sight of the plane diving vertically into the ground is seared into my memory." The tragedy also made an impression on Gerald's elder brother Arthur who died last year, leaving enough money to pay for a memorial stone.

That will be dedicated on May 21 at Creswell Crags visitor centre in a ceremony to be attended by more than dozen family members of the crew, whose expenses for the trip from Canada were also paid by Arthur Plant's bequest. There will be a fly-past by the RAF and it will be attended by representatives of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian High Commission.

The five airmen came from all over Canada. Some, like James Clarke and John Lee, were single and just out of high school. Others, like Walter Cooper, were older, married men with families. Local poet Craig Griffin, who has written a special verse for to honour the men, has been in contact with relatives.

"What has come through very strongly from the relatives is that they were a grand bunch, some of Canada's finest sons.

"Each had their own talents, passions and aspirations from dancing to model making to mathematics to teaching – hopes and plans for the future that events cruelly put an end to.''

The crew were training with No 86 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Gamston (now Retford Airport). They would have come together as a crew for the first time at Gamston and would have spent several months there training.

On August 5, 1944, the crew were flying in a Vickers Wellington on a long-range navigational exercise which had taken them down to the South Coast before returning to Gamston. The flight would have been one of the crew's last at 86 OTU before moving on to the next stage of their training.

Craig said: "For reasons unknown they flew the whole flight about 10 knots faster than the briefed airspeed and consequently ran out of fuel in the vicinity of Creswell. We don't know why they did not land at Gamston but a navigational error could be the reason."

"I was over the moon when the poem I wrote was not only accepted but I was told it would be used on the actual day and in the commemorative booklet to mark the memorial. I think that the organisers should have credit for their achievement in getting this project off the ground and their efforts to never forget those that allowed us to live our lives freely."

Craig's poem:
At Hennymoor Farm
In a field rarely seen
A young schoolboy witnesses
The end of so many dreams
As the Wellington they flew
Fell horribly from the sky
Navigation or lack of fuel
May have been the reasons why

Some of Canada's bravest were lost
On that August summer's night
Training to protect our island
As Fascism this world did fight
Willis, Lowell, James
Walter and John Lee
Heroes to our island
Forever you will be

And the only way we can say it
As the moment is now long gone
Is with a fitting memorial
So your names
Will eternally live on

The memorial is situated to one side of the visitor centre at Creswell Crags, site of a prehistoric cave system where evidence of Britain's earliest inhabitants has been found. The unveiling ceremony on May 21 will start at 11.15am.

After lunch at the centre guests will take the short walk to the Crags gorge and at 1.50pm an RAF Lancaster bomber will perform a fly-past.