mid all the headlines about last week’s Budget, there was an announcement that went largely unnoticed – but which certainly made the sun shine again for Britain’s aviation heritage. “In the 75th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain,” the Chancellor announced, “we will help to renovate the RAF museum at Hendon, the Stow Maries Airfield and the Biggin Hill Chapel Memorial, so future generations are reminded of the sacrifice of our airmen in all conflicts.”
Well, bravo! Britain has, since the first flight just over a century ago, been at the very forefront of aviation. Air power played a crucial role in Britain’s eventual victory in the First World War and was a central part of her military strategy before and throughout the Second. Britain was the leading arms producer in the world in the early Thirties, much of which was in military aircraft, and continued to be a warfare state every bit as much a welfare state post-1945. British scientists and engineers were world leaders in jet technology during the war – and during the late Forties and for much of the Fifties continued to rule the skies with both civil and military jet aircraft.
It is right that we do not lose sight of this important heritage. And it’s particularly heartening that Stow Maries Airfield in Essex has been granted £1.5 million. The war in the air has been largely ignored in the First World War commemorations, and the survival of this airfield reminds us that Britain faced attacks from German bombers during that conflict, as well as in the Second World War.
The first commander there was Lieutenant Claude Ridley, who, aged just 19, had shown great courage during his brief career with the Royal Flying Corps. Over the Western Front he had been wounded in the foot in a dogfight during which he had seen off two of his attackers, then returned to England. After recovering, he helped defend London against the Zeppelin raids, for which he won a Military Cross. Returning to France, he then flew a British spy behind enemy lines only for his engine to fail. Stranded, it took him three months on the run before he made it back to safety – and did so armed with a mass of invaluable intelligence. For this he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order. By the time he took command, few doubted the leadership qualities of this extraordinary young man.
Ridley had a quieter time at Stow Maries. More of his pilots were killed in accidents than tackling Gotha bombers – but the airfield none the less played an important role in the defence of Britain. After the war, it returned to agricultural use, but many of the original buildings remained and were even used as barns. For years, it has been left to volunteers and friends to keep it going; now they will be able to return it to how it was when the RAF moved out in 1919, complete with hangars, mess rooms, a grass landing strip and museum.
Stow Maries was abandoned by the RAF when 37 Squadron moved to Biggin Hill in Kent. And it was 21 years later that Biggin found itself on the front line in the Battle of Britain. On September 11, 1940, flying from Biggin, Geoffrey Wellum was wingman to his flight commander when they were separated from the rest of the squadron. They emerged through cloud to find themselves heading straight towards around 150 enemy aircraft. Rather than turn away, they flew on, firing for all they were worth, and miraculously lived to tell the tale. Fred Hargreaves and Harry Edwards, two of their 92 Squadron colleagues, however, were not so lucky that day; both were shot down and killed. They are commemorated in the Biggin Hill Memorial Chapel.
“We lost a lot of good blokes,” Wellum tells me. “It was bloody tough.” He points out that the Battle of Britain was the first defeat for the Germans in the war and a major turning point. “The world might have been a very different place if we’d lost,” he says. “It’s important we don’t forget. People need to realise how fragile peace can be.” He is delighted the future of the chapel at Biggin is secure.
Another beneficiary is the RAF Museum in Hendon in north London, which has been awarded £2.5 million for its plans to commemorate the centenary of the RAF in 2018. The old airfield used to attract hundreds of thousands to its annual air show, but it is the museum that now draws people from far and wide. The museum has a superb new First World War hall and a travelling exhibition – but while visitors can see many unique aircraft, the museum funds important restoration projects as well.
The final donation announced last week was of £2 million to the proposed Bristol Aerospace Centre, which will not only honour the city’s longstanding contribution to aviation but will also house Concorde and save two First World War-era hangars. Yet while the pledged government funding is laudable, the Bristol Aerospace Centre, like other aviation heritage sites, is still dependent on private and public donations for funding. The Bristol project will cost £16 million and while it has had some big donors, it is still short of £2.5 million.
It will no doubt achieve this goal, but while funding has been forthcoming at these four places, much of our aviation heritage has been forgotten. Woodford, outside Manchester, where the iconic Lancaster and Vulcan bombers were designed and built, is now derelict, its hangars empty, and its static Vulcan green with algae. All around Britain, old airfields and even aircraft lie crumbling and rusting. Heritage is expensive, but as we face a still-fragile future, remembering past achievements and sacrifice should be a major priority for us all.
James Holland is the author of ‘The Battle of Britain’ (Corgi)