|
|
|
|
Middle Wallop
609 was based at Middle Wallop from 4th July 1940, with an advance flight kept at readiness at RAF Warmwell fifty miles to the south-west, until moving there en masse at the beginning of October. Middle Wallop was just being completed as 609 arrived, and 300 workers were still onsite. The squadron dispersal was based around an old cottage beside the road at the end of the field. It was here that 609 played their part in the Battle of Britain, and scored their 100th kill (the first Spitfire Squadron and the second British fighter squadron to do so).
During the first month operating from here, 609 were to lose four pilots - Peter Drummond-Hay, Phillip 'Pip' Barran, James 'Buck' Buchanan, and Gordon Mitchell, claiming only four enemy aircraft in return. However, their performance increased dramatically during the second phase of the Battle up to the 18th August, with the squadron accounting for 36 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed, with another ten probably destroyed, although they lost another pilot, Henry 'Mac' Goodwin. As the Luftwaffe attacks moved onto London, 609 were regularly called in from 10 Group to the northern edge of 11 Group to help defend the capital from the enemy bombers, and by the middle of September, 56 enemy aircraft had been destroyed for the loss of 6 pilots killed, and one wounded.
It was on 21st October 1940 that 609 (West Riding) Squadron was credited with its 100th kill, with the shooting down of a Heinkel III by Frank Howell and Sydney Hill. Soon afterwards, the German attacksbegan to diminsh. On 28th November, 609's highest scoring (and possibly most skilled) pilot, the Oxford educated ex-journalist John 'Scruffy' Dundas was lost over the Isle of Wight along with Paul Baillion. It seems that Baillion was the final 'kill' of the German 'Experten' Helmuth Wick. He was immediately avenged by John, before being shot down in turn by Wick's Wingman.
One of the first places at which the War Department decided to build airfields, Nether Wallop began its long association with military flying with the formation of 3rd Training Depot Station of the Royal Flying Corps at Lopcombe Down, and a second aerodrome at Chattis Hill, during World War One. These initially consisted of temporary hangars built from wood and canvas, with station personnel living in tented accomodation, before being billeted around the local area. After the armistice in 1918, these airfields were demolished as part of the general disarmament of the nation, but with war looming once again in Europe, the government bought three adjoining farms: Ringwold, Knockwood, and Gerrards Farm. Building of the airfield began during 1938, although RAF Middle Wallop was not officially opened until 16th April 1940, when, with the fall of France, it became a front-line Fighter Station. Once again, the personnel manning the base were to live in the villages around the base. By July 1940, the Luftwaffe had begun targeting the area, and over the coming weeks several hangars were severely damaged, causing fatalities amongst the personnel stationed there.
The airfield remained the property of the Royal Air Force throughout World War Two, until it became HMS Flycatcher on 16th February 1945, being utilised for the preparation of Mobile Naval Air Operation Bases. On 10th April 1946, the airfield was handed back to the RAF. In 1947 a permanent RAF Station was built, with more buildings being erected during the 1960's in the form of 400 married quarters. It remained Royal Air Force property until 1st September 1957, when Middle Wallop passed to the newly formed Army Air Corps who retain the base today. Some dispersal points still remain. |
Copyright © 2002 609 (West Riding)
Archives
|
