The 'Introduce yourself' Thread

Hello.

I have joined up to see if I can find out some more information about a couple of places of interest to me.

I have always been fascinated by old airfields (don't really know why, I just am!) and had a great few years in the cadets. So I know Newton fairly well (actually live in the general area these days too) and well remember the AE flights there.

I have an interest in the Norton Aerodrome as that was a 5-minute walk from where I grew up.

But the most important reason I signed up was to find out more about a family member KIA in 1943. He was on Wellingtons out of East Moor, and was lost, as far as I can find out, on his first loggable op. He was on 429 (Bison) Sqn RCAF, and was the only exception (Brit) in an otherwise all-Cannuck crew.

I note that there are threads on all the airfields mentioned, so you will probably see me on some or all of them very soon!

Cheers.

nacluv;88008 wrote:

I have an interest in the Norton Aerodrome as that was a 5-minute walk from where I grew up..

Welcome to Aix, Nacluv. Which particular Norton was this?

Welcome to the forum, nacluv....Vulcan

:twisted:hi,i,ve started an interest for myself by accident,while on a weeks break from work at woodhall spa i got bored watching the wife xstitching???? so off i went in search of this load noise that i,d heard and 3and a half miles down the road i found the cause RAF CONNINGSBY i,m now hooked on the smell of aviation fuel and burst ear drums(well practically)i would like too no from you die hards out there are if there,s anymore airfields like conningsby in the area,cheers.

The 11th. or 18th. December are ok for me. As for sites, may I suggest North Creake, as it still has a lot of buildings to see and I believe that one of our members has recently bought the Watch Office. That also gives Docking not too far away and I'm sure we could blag our way into Bircham Newton - ! Obviously how far and where we get will depend on weather, light and of course, how much we get carried away with our own enthusiasm at each site - !
Regards, Simon.

Welcome to AiX nacluv, operational crew history is not my forte but I feel sure that one of our members will be able to give you a lead.

Welcome to AIX wrp1949, it seems that you have been impressed by an active RAF station flying noisy jets! You are in an area with many disused airfields but Coningsby is one of the few active bases. Some active training units with turboprops. This list is reasonably accurate:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_statio...l_Air_Force_Stations

Hello wrp1940 and welcome to the forum. As you live in Lincs I would suggest you look at the RAF-Lincolnshire.info website. You may be surprised just how many RAF sites the were in the county.

Thanks for the welcome folks!

My username choice is really inspired, isn't it! Only because I used it on another air related forum years ago, so have stuck with it in the absence of having any imagination.

The Norton Aerodrome I referred to was the barrage balloon site , otherwise known as Lightwood, on the SE outskirts of Sheffield. I started learning to drive there too, when is was a driver centre.

I have learned quite a lot about my great uncle. Sites such as Lost Bombers, CWGC, and others have been very useful. In fact, I have been quite overwhelmed by how much information I have been able to unearth. I know which airframe he was in, where it was going, what bomb load it was carrying (including the precise mix of HE and incendiaries), who shot him down, etc. I have even been given the phone numbers and addresses of the wife and son of the Luftwaffe pilot who shot hm down. A bit too much information perhaps?

I have been to his grave, the approximate crash site (memorial there), and also the airbase which the night fighter group were stationed (also where he was first interred after death), all in Belgium.

I want to fill in some blanks in the UK. I know he was stationed at East Moor, but know little else. I have been to visit the area and seen the memorial in the village of Sutton-on-the-Forest.

I have not yet applied to Kew (?) for his service records, but I will.

I live quite close to Hucknall, and am looking forward to learning more about its history. I would have loved to live here back in my childhood, when R-R actually flew from there, and before they built that huge test rig right in the centre of the runway. Of all the space on that site, they pick the centre of the runway...