manston mirror - Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum Manston

RAF Manston Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum
MANSTON MIRROR
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EDITION 2013/14
Z
KH
MAGAZINE
Issue no: 6
Price: £1.50 where sold
…....…………………………….………………………….
To contact:
RAF MANSTON
SPITFIRE &
HURRICANE
MEMORIAL
TRUST
Minster schoolchildren
present special salute
to fallen heroes
THE MUSEUM
THE AIRFIELD
MANSTON ROAD
RAMSGATE
KENT
CT12 5DF
Telephone:
01843 821940
Email:
spitfire752@
btconnect.com
VISIT:
Spitfiremuseum.org.uk PROUD: Minster Primary School pupils with RAF Wing Commander Steve Savage, Museum Trustee Sid
Registered charity
Number: 298229
REGISTERED MUSEUM
NUMBER: 1991
………...….
SPOTLIGHT
FLEET AIR ARM PILOT:
Lt Keith Quilter DSC
My war sinking
The Tirpitz and
surviving those
Kamikaze attacks
Farmer, and RAF veterans Gerry Abrahams, Ron Dearman and Bernard Hyde in the Allied Air Forces
Memorial Garden at the Museum. For full story and pictures turn to pages 8 and 9.
…....……………….…………….…………………………
Seasons Greetings: Bomber Command 1943
MUSEUM host Flying Officer
Gerry Abrahams was a Lancaster
pilot with RAF NZ 75 Squadron
during World War Two.
This season he writes
exclusively for your MIRROR
about Christmas seventy years ago.
A DECEMBER dawn breaks to
low cloud and light drizzle. The
temperature near freezing.
On the Bomber Station there
is no sound of aircraft engines
running up nor any movement
of vehicles.
It is Christmas day.
On this day and only this day
Bomber Command do not carry
their deadly load to Germany.
In the cookhouses breakfasts
are being prepared. As the heady
scent of bacon drifts across the
frozen terrain, airmen stir in their
blankets and reluctantly roll out
of bed.
After the meal, cards are
exchanged and presents opened,
and perhaps a silent tear in
solitude at the thought of loved
ones living the grim realities of
war at home. Mid-morning a cup
of coffee and a warming drink.
Perhaps a game of darts or a tune
on a gramophone. A few try to
phone home. In the Mess, relieved
from their duties, airmen troop in
for a lunch of turkey with all the
trimmings served by their officers
in a tradition that goes back many
years. The officers toast the air
crews and return to the Mess for
their own Christmas meal. After
the lunch perhaps a sleep. Later
some of us assemble for carol
singing. The evening meal,
probably of leftovers, and an
early night; for the next day the
war will continue in its horror
and for some they know,
perhaps this will be their last
Christmas.
ONLY INSIDE YOUR
MIRROR
THE FALL AND RISE
OF THE MANSTON
HURRICANE
……………………………………………………...
MANSTON MIRROR
MANSTON MIRROR
EDITOR: MELODY FOREMAN MCIJ
If you have a story for us or would
like to advertise please email:
melodyforeman@btinternet.com
Telephone: 07876 018243
Copyright: Melody Foreman and the RAF Manston
Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Musuem Trust.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, in whole
or part is forbidden without the consent of the publisher.
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy
of statements in ‘The Manston Mirror’ we cannot
accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or
for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors,
or for advertisers not fulfilling their contracts.
……………………
CONTENTS
A wartime Christmas…………….3
World War One charity ride….4
The Sopwith Camel……………….5
MAPS’ Hurricane rescue…...6,7,
…………………………………...20 & 21
Minster Primary School…..8 & 9
Warbirds formation…….10 & 11
An Officer and a Gentleman
…………………..12,13,14,15,16,17
Classic Collection………………...18
Letters………………………………….19
Bumper Crossword……..22 & 23
Festive Film Quiz Special…….24
MUSEUM INFORMATION
The RAF Manston Spitfire &
Hurricane Memorial Museum at
Manston is open every day (except
Christmas) from 10am to 5pm. Free
coach parking and the Merlin Café.
SMILING THROUGH: Air crews on Christmas Day during World War Two.
Picture: www.ww2australia.gov.au
WHAT an amazing year
it’s been! Not only has the
RAF Manston Spitfire
and Hurricane Memorial
Museum welcomed old and
new friends through the doors
but the airfield itself has heralded some fantastic developments.
The summer got off to a flying
start with the South East Air
Show organised by the lively
Angie Sutton, with thousands of
visitors flocking to Manston to
greet the iconic Vulcan and her
crew and see a host of amazing
displays by vintage aircraft.
Taking part of course was the
‘Spirit of Kent Spitfire’ and the
Hurricane from Biggin Hill
Heritage Hangar. These aircraft
are old pals of the museum and
they were flown by pilots Peter
Monk and Clive Denney. July
also saw the launch of your
monthly MANSTON MIRROR
MAGAZINE so a big thanks
to the museum Trustees for
supporting this venture at a time
when there is so much going
on and so many extra-ordinary
people to feature within our
pages. A big thanks to our
fabulous advertisers too.
So far I’ve met a smashing
bunch of museum friends happy
to come forward with stories
including the noble members of
the Mercian Regiment Band.
They arrived to thrill the crowds
in August with a concert organised by Trustee Sid Farmer and
volunteers, and the local ATC
band raised hundreds of pounds
for the museum coffers.
The museum’s lovely veterans
EDITOR’S COMMENT
have also been busy this year
meeting a wide range of visitors.
Bomber Command pilot Gerry
Abrahams, 90, can be found at
the museum most Fridays, and
in July former Dakota pilot Ron
Dearman, 90, was kindly driven
to Lydd Airport by museum
volunteer Jim Brookes for his
‘Fly with a Spitfire’ experience.
Joining Gerry and Ron in the
lively veterans’ corps is former
Hurricane pilot Neville Croucher,
and of course many visitors
remember ATS sergeant Eileen
Powles who retired from her
volunteer duties earlier this year.
This summer we were sad
to report the death of ‘Dick’
Edwards - the last remaining pilot
of Spitfire TB752.
‘Dick’ formerly of 66 Squadron
lived in South Africa but he
was a well known friend of the
museum and a few years ago he
visited his old aircraft, and met
the children of Minster Primary
School. The hardy gardeners
who tend the museum’s Allied
Air Forces Memorial Garden
planted a tree in Dick’s memory.
When September arrived an
aviation sensation took place at
Manston!
Heli Charter and the USA’s
Bell Helicopter opened a new
multi-million pound helicopter
maintenance centre and
showroom. Heli Charter chief
executive Mr Ken Wills C.Eng,
FRAeS, C.Mger, FCMI, a pilot
himself, welcomed America
back to Manston after an
absence of more than fifty
years. Ken and his crew held
a grand opening ceremony
where VIPs included the
president of Bell Helicopter Mr John Garrison (seen here
reading a copy of your mighty
MIRROR)
Bell Helicopter’s John Garrison
That same
month
we also
welcomed
Mr Wills
(right) in as
the new
Chairman
of the
museum Trust and there was
a big thanks all around for
the work carried out by the
previous top gun, Jeremy
de Rose. At the end of
November Kent International
Airport at Manston was sold to
Dr Ann Gloag.
Chocks Away to one and all
for a merry 2014!
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
Manston family welcomed
wartime air crews and POWs
in for Yuletide celebrations
THE festive season in the
village of Manston during
the war is remembered
with alacrity by Delphine
Mitchell (nee Solly) .
Despite the constant
danger of bombing raids
inflicted upon the Kent coast
by the Luftwaffe, the Solly
family ensured their busy
farmhouse was open to all
local air crews during
Yuletide.
“Of course I was only six
at the time so I wasn’t
evacuated to somewhere miles
away from home. My sister
Barbara was away working in
the Land Army, and those first
two Christmases I recall my
other sister Daphne was young
enough to be at home with me.
We were very lucky. I have
some wonderful memories of
Christmas as a child,” says
Delphine.
“There were only three
children in Manston around
Christmas time in 1943 and
my father and brother were
reserved occupation because
they were farmers.”
Now living in the nearby
village of Monkton with
hubby Pete and dog Toby,
Delphine described a wartime
Christmas at the Solly family
home.
“My father (Reginald) would
go out to one of our fields and
lop off the top of a fir tree to
make do as a Christmas tree.
We never had anything like
the ones available now.
“Our tree was about six feet
tall and my mother used to
save egg shells throughout the
year then decorate them for
us children to hang on the
Christmas tree.
“My aunt used to make little
knitted dolls to hang on the
branches too.
“Funnily enough I still
have some of those painted
eggshells which are 70 years
old. The little dolls are with
my relatives in the USA.”
Delphine recalls how the
family dining table seated 30
at least, and at Christmas time
there was chicken, plenty of
vegetables and a special
pudding made with prune
juice and stuffed with carrots,
and there was always a
sixpence in the pud.
“We never had toys bought
for us. I did have a lovely big
doll my mother (Florence)
gave to me. But mostly our
presents were handmade.
“I remember one year being
given a wooden cot made by
one of the soldiers based at a
nearby barracks.
“The German Prisoners of
War (POWs) working on our
farm also made me little toys
out of wood.
“Of course we weren’t meant
to feed the POWs. We were
told just to furnish them with
an urn full of tea each day
but my mother was always
handing them bread and
cheese because she knew
they were hungry and worked
hard.”
It wasn’t just the festive
season either which saw Mr
Solly place a sign outside the
farm which said ‘Air crews
welcome for tea’.
“It was only fair to welcome
the RAF and the US Air
Force into our home for some
family cheer.
“At Christmas we’d squeeze
our visitors in around the
table, and more often than not
one of them could play the
piano so we had a sing-song.
It was a wonderful time of
sharing. Of course as a child
I never realised what the war
meant but looking
back it must have
been a worrying time
all around.
“I was very
lucky my mum and
dad looked after
me so well.”
Each festive
season the
Solly family
would place
an old
MEMORIES:
Delphine
Mitchell, 76.
TREE DECORATION: Children at work on their Christmas Tree during
World War Two.
Picture: Cool Chicks from History.
organ on the back of a lorry,
and up to twenty villagers
would make up a choir and
stand around the instrument
singing carols to anyone who
wanted to hear them.
Delphine says: “We travelled
up and down the lanes of
Manston. Us children were at
the front collecting the pennies.
“We had a lovely day out. Of
course today the health and
safety regulations wouldn’t
allow it but back during the
war it was how we helped
each other out,” she adds.
Thanks to Delphine, hubby
Pete and big hearted villagers
in Manston the true spirit of
Christmas lives on this year.
On Christmas Eve Santa will
be in his grotto at Monkton
Village Hall ready to welcome
local children and hand out
presents with parents and
friends.
FACTBOX
DECEMBER 1943:
2nd - Ernest Bevin announced that
men would be conscripted to work
in the coal mines.
24th - General Eisenhower
was named Supreme Allied
Commander in Europe.
26th - The German battlecruiser
Scharnhorst was sunk.
JANUARY 1944:
17th - The first assault took place
in the Battle of Monte Cassino.
22nd - Allied landings were made
at Anzio.
27th - The 872-day siege of
Leningrad ended.
MRS AUDREY TWYMAN
WE are sad to report the recent death of
Mrs Audrey Twyman who had served for
many years as a Trustee and Honorary
Secretary of the RAF Manston Spitfire and
Hurricane Memorial Museum Trust. We
send sincere condolences to Audrey’s
family and friends.
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
Former RAF engineer seeks sponsorship for
charity cycle ride across the Western Front
THE RAF MANSTON
SPITFIRE & HURRICANE
MEMORIAL MUSEUM
IF YOU’D LIKE TO
SUPPORT ANDY’S BID
TO RAISE FUNDS
FOR ABF THE
SOLDIERS’ CHARITY
PLEASE EMAIL:
Andrew.Bowman534.mod.uk
BIG hearted Andy Bowman
who beat cancer is marking
the hundredth anniversary of
World War One by taking
part in a 340-mile sponsored
cycle ride to the battlefields of
France.
Andy who is station manager at
the Defence Fire Training and
Development Centre at
Manston, Kent, is taking part in
the Wheels on the Western
Front event from August 4 to 9,
2014.
Along with 200 riders he hopes
to raise cash for The Soldiers’
Charity run by the Army
Benevolent Fund. He is being
joined by three pals from the
Kineton branch of the DFTDC
in Oxfordshire.
He said: “I was lucky enough
to recover from cancer last year,
and when I heard about the
Wheels on the Western Front
ride I decided to get off my
backside and do something to
help the charity.
“I am a keen cyclist and pedal
from my home in Ash to work
at Manston each day so I am
limbering up for the big event
next summer!
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Two aircraft and they are preserved
in such marvellous condition.”
The Wheels on the Western Front
event will take Andy and fellow
fundraisers to Nieuwport where
they will turn south and head
south to Ypres. A wreath laying
ceremony is due to be held at The
Menin Gate where hundreds of
spectators will assemble for the
sounding of the Last Post to mark
the centenary.
On day three the cyclists ride the
Ypres Salient passing Tyne Cot and
Messines before entering France
CYCLIST: Andy Bowman.
and climbing to the unforgettable
Vimy Ridge. Andy and his pals will
“I am really looking forward to it
spend the night in Arras having
especially when we ride through
Horse Guards Parade in London at cycled another 70 miles.
Andy said: “From Arras we enter
the start.
“The ride will take us through 76 the Somme battlefields passing the
Newfoundland Memorial Park and
miles of rolling Kent countryside
before we reach Dover, then on to the soaring arches of Thiepval to
stay in Albert. On day five we reach
Calais.”
Family man Andy, 53, is a former the woods in the Eastern sector
of the Somme then ride on to
RAF engineer. He says his two
Compiegne to the finish. This
children George and Rhianna are
covers another 65 miles!”
big fans of the RAF Manston
The final day is the return to
Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial
London by coach and time to
Museum.
contemplate the sacrifice that
He added: “The museum is a
great place to visit. We especially generations of soldiers have given
in time of war.
love looking at the World War
‘I have pledged to raise £1,000 for The
Soldiers’ Charity which supports soldiers,
former soldiers and their families,
so if you can sponsor me do get in touch’
- Andy Bowman, Station Manager, DFTDC Manston
READY FOR
THE WESTERN
FRONT: Andy’s
cycling pals at
Kineton Les Kavanagh,
Paul Morrisroe,
and Craig
Youngman.
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
4
……………………………………………………... MANSTON MIRROR
DID YOU KNOW?
Rare World War One
maps found in attic are
donated to our museum
DURING World War One the
famous Sopwith Camel biplane was
flown by the Royal Flying Corps out
of Manston from 1917.
This hardy little aircraft (pictured
above) had a top speed of 117mph
and was designed by Herbert Smith
for the Sopwith Aviation Company.
The Camel was, according to
aviation historians, not the easiest
aircraft to handle, but once a skilled
pilot was behind the controls she was
spot on for manoeuvrability and a
pretty hot fighter. She shot down
1,294 enemy aircraft during World
War One. Not bad considering she
only joined the war in 1917. Her test
pilot on December 22, 1916, was the
famous Aussie aviator Harry
Hawker (1889 - 1921). Harry George
Hawker was the brains behind
Hawker Aircraft which went on to
produce our museum’s own World
War Two Hurricane IIc designed by
Sidney Camm.
Harry Hawker was killed in an
aircraft accident aged 32 - Editor.
UNIQUE: Natalie Duwel Bou-Orm from the
museum with one of the rare WWI maps.
BELGIAN: Journalist Linda De Geest is writing
articles about Flanders during WWI.
MAPS charting the French and Belgian trenches
of World War One are now in the safekeeping
of the RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane
Memorial Museum.
The artefacts were donated by a museum visitor
who said they had been discovered in the attic
of an old house in France.
It is believed they may have been on the wall
in an officers’ hide-out as they are thick canvas
maps on sturdy wooden frames. They are
beautifully made with layers of paper creating
a marquetry effect outlining the lines of the
trenches. On the back there is a stamp which
says ‘Royal Ordnance Survey’.
Whilst dusty and in need of a delicate and
restorative clean, they remain an amazing
example of first world war memorabilia.
This October the museum was visited by
Belgian journalist, Linda De Geest, who is
writing about the history of the first world
war in Flanders, Belgium. Linda who writes for
Nieuwsblad.be was shown the maps of this area.
She said: “I am delighted to see these rare
views of the trenches in Flanders. The museum
is fortunate to have the opportunity to care for
them.”
Maps produced by the British Army and Royal
Ordnance Survey were used to locate front
lines, enemy strong points and positions. The
German trenches were marked in red ink and
the British ones in blue.
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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…………………………………………………….. MANSTON MIRROR
The fall and rise of THE MANSTON HURRICANE
TWENTY-FIVE years ago there was
little Christmas joy at the museum. The
Hurricane LF751 which had six weeks
previously been unveiled to Dame Vera
Lynn as a shining example of wartime
fighter aircraft restoration, was lying in
pieces with its paintwork chipped and
scratched and ‘vandalised’ as one
forlorn commentator described it, as
was the rest of the Memorial Building.
MELODY FOREMAN reports..
THE Manston Hurricane is a fighter aircraft
with a history revealing its war was just
as successful as that of the Spitfire or even
more so.
Steadfast and true with the curves, shapes
and colours of a proud warrior, the Hurricane
demands respect. An excellent cannon and
gun platform and heralded as the ‘backbone’
of British air combat, particularly the Battle
of Britain, this Hawker aircraft designed by
Sir Sidney Camm is rightfully a legend and
an icon.
Like its wartime leader, Winston Churchill,
the rugged Hurricane was the very epitomy
of pugnacity during those dark wartime
days. During the Battle of Britain and after,
although the Spitfire captures the imagination
of both the British and indeed the German
sides, it was the Hurricane that bore the brunt
of the Luftwaffe onslaught so much so
that many British pilots preferred to fly the
illustrious stable-mate. As a fighting pair
these two aircraft won the Battle of Britian
against all odds.
After the war Hurricane LF751 left
squadron service and began life as a gate
guardian at the RAF Headquarters at
Bentley Priory, near Harrow, London,
so famously commanded by Sir Hugh
Dowding during the Battle of Britain.
Dowding could see London being bombed
at night from his balcony at Bentley
Priory. For thirty years the Hurricane - a
Trojan of the skies fought another battle this time it was the weather which showed
little mercy over the years. Although the
aircraft looked fine on the outside it was
in fact eroding at an alarming rate together
with a stable-mate Spitfire (now flying!).
At the request of the RAF in 1985 the
Hurricane was rescued by the Medway
A
FT
branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society
(later to become MAPS – Medway Aircraft
Preservation Society) which had been
given permission by the RAF to restore the
Hurricane to full glory again.
The bruised and battle-worn Hurricane was
then driven in pieces aboard two Queen
Mary Transporters from Bentley Priory to
Rochester Airport – home of MAPS.
MAPS originator Lewis Deal MBE says: “We
were delighted to be given a chance
to restore this veteran fighter.
“We had already successfully restored
Spitfire TB752 and installed her in a building
at Manston and working on the Hurricane was
a big step for us.
“My records from 1985-1988 show some
thirty members of the Branch spent 12,000
hours working on the Hurricane.
The materials cost £15,000 and many of the
volunteer staff spent their own money
researching and finding parts to replace those
which had succumbed to the weather over the
years. Subsequently the people of East Kent
also gave willingly to fund the erection of the
Hurricane Memorial Building at the Royal Air
Force, Manston which in total together with
the cafeteria saw more than £130,000 raised in
a very short time.
The building was finally opened by Dame
Vera Lynn in October 1988.” (See picture on
page 21)
However, before the aircraft arrived at
Manston a formal handover took place on
April 22,1988, at Rochester Airport. This
event featured VIP guests including Marshal
of the RAF Sir Michael Beetham, GCB, CBE,
DFC, AFC, Air Chief Marshal Sir
Patrick Hine, KCB, FRAeS, CBIM, RAF, and
Captain W J Cornelis of the Royal Belgian
Navy and Belgian Defence Attache.
On that day and following a speech by
continued on page 7
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
PRISTINE: The Hurricane BN230 (later LF751) re-born again awaits fans - April 1988.
continued from page 6
MAPS leader, Mr Deal, a flypast by a
Hurricane, Spitfire and F-4 Aircraft of No.43
Squadron was watched in awe by the large
party.
Mr Deal recalls: “So much work had gone
into the Hurricane which had such history
during the war. We’d researched the
paintwork in great detail, sourced various
genuine replacement parts of it, and were
honoured to paint the mount as du Vivier
would have wanted to show the Belgian flag.
“The RAF agreed to LF751 being displayed
as BN230 of No.43 (Fighting Cocks)
Squadron - the mount of Squadron Leader and
pilot Danny Le Roy du Vivier.
“We didn’t realize that just
six weeks after the aircraft was
installed at her new home in
Manston, and applauded by the
people of Kent, Dame Vera Lynn
and many other dignatories, the
Hurricane would be wrecked.
“I cried. I really cried. Three
and a half years of hard and
dedicated work in ruins.”
A decision by the Ministry of Defence to
allow a team to make a plaster cast of the
Hurricane for replica gate guardians caused
damage to the aircraft.
“The paintwork was destroyed,” says Lewis.
“We couldn’t believe it. It was awful for all
of those people who had donated money
towards the restoration and the new building
at Manston. In addition many parts were
bent including both tail planes and the
cockpit area.”
HEARTBREAK:
The once
glorious
paintwork on
the Hurricane
was wrecked by
Christmas 1988.
Pictures:
Medway Aircraft
Preservation
Society.
After a series of letters between the RAF
and the Ministry of Defence, the RAF
eventually got permission to re-paint and
once again restore the Hurricane.
MAPS was both unwilling and unable
to undertake the task as by this time it
was in the process of working on another
Hurricane LF738 from RAF Biggin Hill
which is now on display at the RAF
Museum at Cosford.
The upsetting appearance of the Manston
Hurricane at the time did not go un-noticed
by a Mr Tom Appleton of Harrietsham,
Kent, who wrote to Flypast Magazine of his
dismay.
Under the heading ‘The cost of Plastic’ his
letter points out how horrified he was to see
the aircraft abused and desecrated with
paintwork scuffed and chipped, and
covered with a chalky substance. The wings
had been removed and left in a poor state.
He wrote: “My heart goes out to those
people who slaved for so long to see ‘their’
aircraft now vandalized in this manner.”
Around the same time over the Christmas
period Mr Deal wrote a MAPS statement
pointing out it was an MoD decision the
aircraft should serve as a mould for a small
number of glass fibre replicas.
He wrote: “Assurances were given the
aircraft would not be harmed in any way
but that proved not the case as those who
have viewed the aircraft will testify.”
Eventually and by the Spring of 1989, the
RAF had restored the Hurricane and it was
back to full glory and ready to welcome
adoring fans again, although MAPS had to
‘fine tune’ LF751 to satisfy expectations.
Mr Deal adds: “It was a miracle really we
got the aircraft back in such fine shape
again. That Hurricane represents so much
to so many. I guess it was made to survive
and survive it does now and will for future
generations.”
SEE PAGES 20 & 21
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
Children honour the fallen of both world wars
with a heartfelt musical service at the museum
REMEMBRANCE DAY: Minster Primary School children present their service to parents, veterans and visitors including a tiny baby and
mother, far left. Head teacher Wendy Stone is standing fifth from left in the picture, to her right is museum Trustee Sid Farmer.
THE PLOUGHMAN’S CHOICE
FARM SHOP
‘Fresh local produce straight from the farms’
VETERANS: Ron Dearman, left, Eileen Powles, and Bernard Hyde in
conversation minutes before the children arrived to present their
Remembrance Day service.
Somali Farm, Park Road, Birchington
Telephone: 01843 831077
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday
8am to 5.30pm
Sunday
10am - 4pm
TEAROOM
You can find us too at the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum, Manston
AUDIENCE:
Parents and
visitors at the
service with the
famous Manston
Spitfire.
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
8
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A SERVING RAF officer and veterans
of World War Two were VIP guests at
a special Remembrance Day service
presented by the children of Minster
Primary School.
Wing Commander Steve Savage of the
Defence Fire Training and Development
Centre, Manston, was joined by RAF
Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial
Museum hosts - Bomber Command
pilot Gerry Abrahams, 90, Dakota pilot
Warrant Officer Ron Dearman, 90, and
Fleet Air Arm aviator Peter George.
Wartime navigator Bernard Hyde placed
a wreath at the memorial stone in the
Allied Air Forces garden, and former
women’s ATS sergeant, Eileen Powles,
was also invited to this unique event.
The children, led by head teacher Wendy
Stone, recited poetry and sang hymns to
honour the fallen of both world wars.
A poem was read by Ellie Lamb.
‘Make Me a Channel of Your Peace’
was a moving tribute to start the service
followed by a two minute silence.
This was followed by ‘I the Lord of Sea
and Sky’ and prayers were read by Amy
Griggs and Phoebe Bullard.
Standing close by the museum’s iconic
Spitfire and Hurricane were crowds of
parents wearing traditional poppies as a
mark of respect.
The children also presented a musical
rendition of their ‘Peace is flowing like a
River’. A poem read by Kiah Redgewell
was heard, and then it was outside to
brave the chill of the late Autumn
breeze to lay the wreath in the Allied
Air Forces Memorial Garden.
MANSTON MIRROR
SALUTE: RAF veteran Bernard Hyde, Remembrance Day poppy wreaths, and children.
A poem was recited by
Martha Mumby.
RAF veteran Bernard Hyde gave
the salute at the memorial with
children, school staff, parents and
museum visitors, looking on in
silence.
Museum Trustee Sid Farmer
said: “Minster Primary School
has a long and steady relationship
with the museum stretching back
more than ten years.
“Every year the children have
taken part in a host of events at
the museum including talks by
the veterans. This year they
showed us their representation
of Remembrance Day and gave
us a creative and meaningful
service. It is a joy to welcome
them to the museum.”
BIGGIN HILL HERITAGE HANGAR
HYMNS: Minster Primary Schoolchildren.
We are dedicated to the safe restoration and
continued safe operation of our aircraft.
We are based at the famous World War Two
RAF Aerodrome at Biggin Hill, Kent.
The aircraft we operate comprise several
superb airworthy examples of legendary WW2
Supermarine Spitfire and other fighter aircraft each
with extensive wartime histories.
We aim to provide current and future generations
the chance to see airworthy Spitfires and
Hurricanes up close and in the air. We have open
days and attend air show events.
BELOW: From left - Lancaster Bomber pilot Gerry Abrahams,
Trustee Sid Farmer and Bernard Hyde.
VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE FOR DETAILS
Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar proudly
supports the RAF Spitfire & Hurricane
Memorial Museum at Manston, Kent.
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
I
FORMATION FLYPAST PILOT LINE-UP: Neil Oakham (Harvard) Flt Lt Rodney
Scrase DFC, Warrant Officer Bob Duckett, Clive Denney (Spitfire RW382)
Joe Hirst (Piper Cub) Richard Grace (Hurricane) Paul Bonhamme (Spitfire TA805)
Peter Monk (Spitfire MK912).
Picture: BHHH
DRAMATIC The Havard trainer flown by Neil Oakham with veteran Warrant
Officer Bob Duckett as a passenger enjoying the views from the air.
AIRBORN: The Hurricane flown by Richard Grace on Remembrance Sunday.
CLASSIC OF THE SKY: The Piper Cub with Joe Hirst at the controls.
N a sky of cobalt blue, vintage warbirds
flew majestically across the county on
Remembrance Sunday.
Defying the crisp chill of late Autumn they
grouped overhead during the minute’s silence and
from the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar we watched,
and quietly respected the fallen of both world wars.
And gazing up at three Spitfires, one Hurricane, a
Havard and a Piper Cub is veteran Spitfire ace Flt Lt
Rodney Scrase DFC. Seventy years ago he was
flying across the same airfield, and embracing the
same bright blue skies in a bid to defend us against
the Luftwaffe.
Flt Lt Scrase is also a friend of Manston from
where he flew with No 1 Squadron and No 72
Squadron and finished his war by the coast escorting
bomber aircraft over the Channel.
During the war and after serving in North Africa he
destroyed four enemy aircraft and damaged three.
He was presented with his Distinguished Flying
Cross (DFC) in 1944.
Last month cutting a fine figure in a smart blazer,
with snow white hair in perfect parting, he saw
Biggin Hill pilots Clive Denney, Paul Bonhamme,
Peter Monk, Joe Hirst, and Richard Grace, take part
in a unique flypast.
Also in the small crowd watching the formation that
day was Aeroplane Magazine deputy editor Tony
Harmsworth, Warrant Officer Bob Duckett of 222
Squadron, RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane
Memorial Museum Trustee Rosa Sear, and Biggin
Hill Heritage Hangar publicity officer Robin
Brooks.
Robin was delighted to see such an appreciative
group and helped make sure Rodney got the best of
views.
“The weather is perfect. We couldn’t wish for
better skies to crown the formation flypast on this
special day of Remembrance,” he said.
Led by flagship Spitfire Mark 9 TA805 ‘Spirit of
Kent’ and known as ‘The Kent Spitfire’ the other
aircraft in formation were Spitfire Mark 9 MK912,
Spitfire Mark 16 RW382, Hurricane Mark 1 P3886,
North American Harvard II FE788 and L4H Piper
Cub 11145.
After grouping a little distance from the airfield
they overflew St George’s Chapel on Biggin Hill
Airport just after 11am then moved on to the chalk
cross set in the downs above Shoreham Village in
Kent at 11.15am before returning to once again
overfly the chapel at around 11.30am.
The aircraft then landed back on the famous Biggin
Hill runway and parked up just outside the famous
hangar. We also saw the roll-out of a newly rebuilt
Spitfire Mark 9 TD314. This aircraft served with
two RAF squadrons before being sold to the South
African Air Force. When they disposed of their
Spitfires it returned to the UK and underwent
restoration by the Spitfire Company (Biggin Hill)
Ltd. Further Spitfires will be restored over the
coming months making the company and the
Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar one of the largest
warbird facilities in the country.
RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial
Museum Trustee Rosa Sear said: “It was an amazing
formation of warbirds and a poignant way to mark
Remembrance Sunday. The museum has a long
association with Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, and
we look forward to seeing these legendary aircraft
over the skies of Manston again in the new year. It
will be marvellous if Flt Lt Scrase can visit the
museum too. He is very, very welcome!”
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
WARTIME SPITFIRE PILOT WHO
SERVED AT MANSTON SALUTES
UNIQUE FORMATION FLYPAST
BLUE SKY COLLECTION: Three Spitfires and a Hurricane over north Kent on Remembrance Sunday with
a Jumbo jet soaring by in the distance, top right.
WORDS AND PICTURES: MELODY FOREMAN
ABOVE: Flt Lt Rodney Scrase
DFC who flew with Nos 1 and
72 Squadron out of Manston
and Biggin Hill during World
War Two.
LEFT: Peter Monk takes off in
Spitfire Mk 9 MK912.
BOTTOM LEFT: Pilot Richard
Grace starts up the Hurricane
BELOW: Paul Bonhamme in
‘Spirit of Kent’.
More Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar
news in your FEBRUARY MIRROR
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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FLEET AIR ARM PILOT:
A young Keith Quilter
ready to train to
become a navy aviator.
AN OFFICER A
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR
Xmas 2013
12
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MANSTON MIRROR
FLEET AIR ARM HERO
LT KEITH QUILTER DSC
WAS AT WAR IN THE SKIES
OVER THE PACIFIC IN 1945.
HAVING SURVIVED ATTACKS BY
•
KAMIKAZE PILOTS AND A
CRASH LANDING AT SEA
•
HIS STORY IS ONE OF
•
COURAGE, HOPE AND
•
DEVOTED FRIENDSHIP.
•
•
•
MELODY FOREMAN
•
REPORTS..
AND A GENTLEMAN
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
FLEET AIR ARM PILOT: LT KEITH QUILTER DSC
LIEUTENANT Keith Quilter DSC is a
joy to know. You’d want him as a luxury
item on a desert island so he could calm
your fears with tales of heroism and
fighting spirit all spoken in that lovely
lyrical voice of his.
As a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm during
World War Two he talks an honest story and
reveals an explicit yarn as deadly as they
come and as bold as he dare.
We’re talking real hero here. Tall, highly
sophisticated and proud to have been taught
to fly by the Americans, Keith has the charm
of any character played by film legend Rex
Harrison, and adds credence to the idea 91
really is the new 65!
So when this decorated naval pilot invites
me to visit his home in the glorious weald of
Kent I step straight into the 1940s, sit by a
roaring fire surrounded by bookcases, and
make friends with a cute black cat among
soft furnishings that would do Cecil Beaton
proud.
Keith soon strides off to fetch real coffee
from the kitchen and says that’s what
‘young people’ (me!) want these days but
he’d be happy with any old instant stuff.
Then back he returns with a tray full of cups
and saucers, places the pot on the table, sits
down, pours the coffee as the flames from
the hearth flicker on his handsome face.
He’s very proud of what he calls his
‘aviation window’ and I look to my right to
see a bronze table lighter in ornament form of a
pilot leaning against a propeller. Keith removes
the head to show me how it works and says his
father gave it to him years ago.
In the same window sits a good model of his
beloved Corsair aircraft from his old 1842
squadron – a gift to him from his stepson
Richard, a former RAF Tornado pilot. Keith is
delighted with the detail on the tiny aircraft.
Close by is a picture of Keith with Richard proud aviators together.
Keith asks me to follow him to the stairwell to
see walls covered with amazing photographs of
his World War Two memories. There’s a
squadron of men in their early 20s of 1832
Squadron lined up in front of a row of Seafires.
He’s also got a photograph of 1842 Squadron
and says many of the laughing young faces lost
their lives in battle.
There’s a glorious image of the young SubLieutenant (A) Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Keith Quilter (in the Wavy Navy as he says it
was known) landing an aircraft for the first time
onto a ship, and then he takes down a photo of a
Seafire, a Griffon engine aircraft he describes
as a ‘dream to fly’.
To catch the light for the camera he shrugs
and chuckles and says we might as well go
into the bedroom. Proudly he shows me a
beautiful watercolour painting by Val
Bennett - a talented Fleet Air Arm pal who
was an Observer during the war because
Keith says that’s the job given to the men
‘more intelligent’ than the pilots!
So I take my pictures and we giggle at
the rumpled duvet, chuckle at the odd
innuendo, and then back downstairs again
to continue our interview and finish the
coffee.
From what Londoner Keith says it
appears he was a natural born flier. As a
boy he was ‘air minded’ and built models
with the Skybird Club, then one day aged
around 13 his father took him to see an air
display at RAF Hendon. He was hooked
especially after he was offered a flight in a
three-seater biplane.
“I certainly wanted some more of that!” he
says and tells me how aged 17 he joined
the Reserved Occupation and was briefly
in the Home Guard.
His father encouraged him to get involved
in aircraft. “It was either flying or oil
tankers,” recalls Keith who was also
interested in the navy. He decided he
would join the service with the sole aim of
becoming a pilot too.
continued on page 15
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
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MANSTON MIRROR
WAR YEARS: Fleet Air Arm 1842 Squadron. Keith is the tallest third from right in the photograph. His pal Wally Stradwick stands
fourth from left with his Mae West open. In the background is a Corsair.
continued from page 14
He had also landed a job in 1939 with the
famous aircraft production company, de
Havilland.
“Best of all worlds I thought then,” he says
and remembers the day he had his big interview in London because he’d expressed an
ambition to fly with the navy.
“I can’t recall too much but I know they asked
me if I was good at sport, what school I’d
been to. Looking back I reckon they wanted to
find out if I was much of a team player. I told
them I liked tennis and running.”
By November 1942 former public schoolboy
Keith was in bell bottom trousers and wearing
a matelot’s hat with a white band around it
to indicate he was an officer in training. He
also spent some time at de Havillands Hatfield
in Hertfordshire (which also served as a base
for the brilliant Air Transport Auxiliary).
“Oh I learned to tie a few knots and that was
as far as it went with the navy really. Then by
1943 I was sent to Canada to learn to fly. The
journey over to Halifax from the Clyde had us
facing huge waves and dreadful weather. That
journey out to Canada was the worst I’d ever
endured on the sea. Even during the war we
never had it as bad as that journey,” he says.
After just 15 hours training, Keith was
allowed to fly solo in a Spartan NP1 which
he describes as an equivalent to the famous
biplane Tiger Moth so often used as a trainer
by the RAF. Within weeks he’d graduated to
a Boeing N2S Stearman. He knows this because he’s kept his logbooks of his war years
in perfect condition. I see how every detail of
each flight is meticulously recorded to top
military standards.
I note Corsairs, Havards, Barracudas,
Wildcats, Spitfires, and the mighty Seafire
which was the navy’s own version of the
Spitfire reaching speeds of up to 450mph.
In fact Keith flew up to twenty different
varieties of aircraft, during the war and was
adept at landing on carriers including HMS
Formidable and HMS Indefatigable.
This involved bringing a Corsair or a Griffon
engine Seafire down low enough to catch a
small hook at the bottom of the tail on a wire
to ensure a short precise put down. This is a
flying tactic not for the faint-hearted.
Of course as a young aviator Keith wasn’t
posted to an aircraft carrier or a squadron
until he’d finished more training at the US
Air Naval Station in Pensacola, Florida,
a base Keith describes as ‘the best’ and
where he was taught to fly to critically high
US Navy standards.
His certificate heralding the day he got
his wings is on display in his home. The
Americans were good to know and a friendly
bunch, he says. “Of course they were even
more accommodating to us Brits after Pearl
Harbour was hit. Before that they joshed with
us about how we’d let the Germans drive us
back to the Dunkirk beaches in 1940. Then
when they themselves were hit by the surprise
attack by the Japanese they suddenly understood more of what we were going through.”
It is not until we’ve ventured out into the sun
of a winter’s afternoon to Keith’s local pub
for lunch that he starts to talk about his best
pal and cabin mate Wally Stradwick.
It was Keith who saw Wally get shot down,
as they flew side by side just 50 feet from
the ground over islands between Okinawa
and Taiwan, Japan, on July 18, 1945.
Wally, he recalls with a tremble in his
voice, went into the ground and was
swallowed up in a ball of flame.
“Horrible, horrible,” he says.
That same day Keith also got hit in a 45
degree dive as he strafed an aerodrome.
He heard a loud bang and managed to
limp his aircraft back to the carrier. When
he landed there was a hole in the side of
the fuselage large enough to put your
head through it, he recalls.
When he returned to his cabin to rest of
course Wally wasn’t there and that was as
Keith says ‘quite something’ to deal with.
He had already survived two Kamikaze
attacks on the ship.
For 67 years he had kept his friend’s
diary safe. Shortly before his fateful
mission Wally had recorded how
desperately dangerous it was to fly over
Japanese aerodromes and he feared being
shot down by flak.
“I kept that diary all those years. I knew
it would upset Wally’s mum to read he
had predicted his own death in some
way,” says Keith, “then in 2012 I tracked
down Wally’s great-niece who was
living in London. She came to see me
and I handed over the diary. It was an
emotional time and she was grateful to
add it to the other diaries and papers in
memory of Wally.”
In 1945 and within days of Wally’s death
continued on page 16
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
15
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MANSTON
ANSTON MIRROR
IRROR
KEITH’S AIRCRAFT CARRIER: HMS Formidable pictured in 1944. BELOW: A Corsair comes into land. Note the hook beneath the
tail of the aircraft which pilots had to skilfully catch in a special wire to ensure they stopped quickly and safely on the carrier.
Continued from page 15
Keith was attacked again by Japanese
flak as he flew in low over the water.
He’d circled the area to check on the
welfare of his pal Ian Stirling who had
been forced to ditch into the Pacific
inside a harbour at Owaze.
Keith had released his bombs onto a
Japanese destroyer when suddenly his
own engine stopped and like Ian before
him had to ditch the Corsair into the sea.
He says: “I shot back the hood of the
aircraft before it sank, got out my dinghy
and began paddling like mad towards the
open sea.”
Keith then takes his logbook from his
bag and shows me the paperwork sent to
him recently by a professor of history in
Japan revealing all the details of that day.
The information shows how an American
submarine had been on standby to save
Allied pilots.
“I was picked up and couldn’t believe my
luck. I just saw this submarine surface up
to my rescue! Ian was also picked up by
the same sub that day.
“We were tremendously lucky.”
Both men stayed aboard the sub for three
weeks until they heard the Japanese had
surrendered. They sailed into Saipan.
Last year, widower Keith received cash
from the National Lottery Heroes Return
Fund to visit Japan and lay a wreath on
Wally’s grave at the British war cemetery in Yokohoma. He says it was only
when he was at the graveside that the
exaltation verse ‘they shall not grow old,
as we that are left shall grow old’ really
sunk in and he felt emotional at the
thought of his pal who was killed aged
just 22.
Keith had made the trip to Japan with a
journalist pal, Will, and also met up with
his stepson Richard who is a pilot with
an airline based in Hong Kong.
Keith took pictures of Wally’s grave – copies
of which he presented to Wally’s great-neice.
He also returned to the spot where he was shot
down at Owaze, and his companions talked
excitedly about seeing the wreck of his Corsair
on the sonar on the seabed.
Another pal of Keith’s to die in battle was
fellow fighter pilot, Robert Hampton ‘Hammy’
Gray, also based on HMS Formidable.
‘Hammy’ was a Canadian who was awarded
the Victoria Cross for an attack on a Japanese
destroyer in Onagawa Bay. His gallantry is
marked by a rare memorial – the only one
dedicated to a member of a foreign military
force on Japanese ground.
Keith says by the time VJ Day arrived almost
half of his squadron had been lost. He
describes Wally as a ’lovely chap’ and
’Hammy’ as ’full of fun’.
I ask if Lieutenant Harold Keith Quilter DSC
perceives his war years as the most memorable
of his long life?
Widower Keith replies: “When you get to 91
you see your life in three parts. Pre-war, the
war, and post-war. Keith remained in the Fleet
Air Arm until 1952, and then picked up his day
job again in management with de Havilland. In
later life he also recovered from a cancer scare.
Today he visits Headcorn Aerodrome when in
need of an aviation-fix. Only recently he copiloted a light-aircraft belonging to an aviatrix
friend, and remembers how to turn the aircraft
on a sixpence mid-air if need be!
“Of course I remember my service years, and
the first glories of flying. I remember too flying
over the Bermuda Triangle and losing sight of
the horizon because of all the colours and
dream-like haze the area has about it.
“You had to watch that you know. Without
the horizon in view it is so easy to become
disorientated and fly into the sea.”
MF
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
16
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MANSTON MIRROR
‘I flew into action against the mighty
German battleship - THE TIRPITZ’
ONE of Lt Keith Quilter’s most dangerous
missions involved attacking the mighty
German battleship, The Tirpitz, from the
air.
In April 1944 forty Barracuda dive-bombers,
and 40 fighter escorts flew in to drop 1,600
amour piercing bombs onto the ship during
Operation Tungsten. Fifteen direct hits were
recorded that day as The Tirpitz planned to
leave her mooring in the Arctic. She had
already shot down a steady stream of British
aircraft including Halifax bombers.
The Tirpitz, a sister ship of The Bismarck,
was under constant attack from the British
throughout the summer of 1944 and the
Operation Goodwood attacks saw Keith’s
aircraft carrier, HMS Indefatigable, in the
thick of the action.
He recalls: “During these raids I flew my
Corsair and did my bit to sink The Tirpitz.”
A permanent invalid, the German battleship
was under constant repair until November 12
1944 when a Squadron of Lancaster bombers
finally blew a hole in her side and bottom by
dropping 29 tallboy bombs.
She sank to the bottom of the sea. Historians
say more than 1,000 of her crew were 2000plus crew were killed that day.
DEADLY: The Tirpitz, left.
CORSAIR PILOT: Lt Keith Quilter with stunning
original artwork by his FAA pal Val Bennett.
Today Keith counts among his friends
a German family he met through the
Lutheran Church in recent years.
He says: “When they bought their
grandfather over to Kent to visit me I
asked him what he did during World
War Two and I was told he served on
The Tirpitz! I think at the time of her
destruction he was lucky enough to be
among the flotilla around her.”
DON’T MISS YOUR FEBRUARY MIRROR TO READ WAR CORRESPONDENT AND
ROYAL NAVY CAPTAIN ANTHONY KIMMINS’ EXCLUSIVE 1946 REPORT
‘FORMIDABLE: THE STORY YOU DID NOT HEAR’
‘I most certainly have never thought of myself
as any sort of hero, indeed like many of my
contemporaries, I have always had a guilty
feeling at the fact of my survival when so many
did not and it is they who were the heroes.
In the HMS Formidable Association which used
to meet once a year for a reunion, but was forced
to close some five years ago due to the passing
of many and the disability of others, we had our
own additional “exhortation” which was said
ahead of the general exhortation at our annual
Church Parade which was ‘we remember the
365 shipmates who did not return, they still
stand there with wind in their hair young and
lovely always the same’
- Lt Keith Quilter DSC
Fleet Air Arm Association
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
17
……………………………………………………
would have thought
W HO
that a simple comb dating
from World War Two could
accommodate such an important
escape item; a compass!
‘Swinger’ compasses could be
inserted into many small everyday objects and were often
moulded into plastic combs,
which needed to be broken in
order to extract such escape
devices. The compass comprised
of two small magnetised strips
of steel with tiny holes, filled
with luminous paint. In order for
the compass to work, you would
need to tie it to a piece of string
and then allow it to float in
water in order to get your
bearings. But this wasn’t the
only type of compass allied
forces could utilize.RAF tunic
buttons used on clothing could
also conceal small escape ‘pill
box’ compasses. The buttons
were produced by the famous
‘Firmin of London’ Company.
The top of the button was unscrewed to reveal the compass.
In the later stages of the war, a
new version had to be created
with a reverse thread screw as
the Germans had detected such
compasses in earlier models.
This type of compass was also
found hidden inside shaving
brushes and lighters. When you
are next looking around the
museum, see if you can find the
Polish Air Force button with its
internal compass.
MANSTON MIRROR
CLASSIC COLLECTION
..
with historian Natalie Duwel-Bou Orm
A close-up look at outstanding artefacts at
the RAF Manston Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum
HIDDEN: Compasses were
concealed in RAF buttons.
Another type of button compass
known as the ‘Weskit’ consisted of
a black (RAF) or reddish-brown
(Army) Bakelite button modelled
after a uniform fastener. A small
magnetised steel bar was embedded
inside the device. The three dots
were placed on the back surface of
the button so that they were not seen.
The single dot pointed towards Magnetic North. To use the button, it had
to be suspended from thread and
allowed to come to a stop in order to
obtain an accurate reading.
The trouser fly button compass was
in use before zips. This type required
two discs which when balanced
carefully on top of each other, on a
level surface, depicted Magnetic
North through the position of the
two dots.
Compasses were an essential
piece of kit when planning and
carrying out an escape but other
items were also vital. The museum
is lucky enough to have in its collection a flip-top torch designed to
look like a cigarette lighter. This
was probably used for escape
purposes by aircrew. This item was
kindly donated by Mr. J. Sherwell
of RAF Manston.
Also a very important item to have
about your person was currency
and during World War Two, Allied
Military Currency, ‘AMC’, was a
type of currency issued by the
Allied Powers to troops entering
newly occupied countries. This
was declared as legal tender.
Here we have French and Italian
currency issued to airman serving
in the desert air force. This was
generously presented to us by Mr.
C.T. Mumford of Folkestone.
Silk and cloth escape and evasion
maps were issued to all aircrew on
operational duties. Some examples
were found sewn into the lining
of wallets and inside uniforms
including sewn into the lining of
the collar. These maps were used
by many servicemen of all
nationalities to escape from
behind enemy lines. These fabric
documents when used made no
noise, which was essential when
in hiding, and did not disintegrate when in contact with water. Permanent ink was used.
Interestingly, they could be
folded up small enough to fit
into a cigarette packet!
It is widely believed that cloth
maps were sometimes hidden
inside special editions of
Monopoly and Chess Boards and
sent through the allied charitable
organizations to prisoner of war
camps.
The Red Cross, however, was
not involved in this unique
operation, in case the items were
discovered and parcels to POWs
stopped. The game boards could
also contain foreign currency
and other escape devices, including compasses. Maps were even
hidden between the two sides of
a playing card!
So as you can see, if it wasn’t
for these ingenious ways of
concealing escape devices,
many troops and SOE’s would
not have made it home. These
everyday objects played their
part in helping to save lives and
can still be seen at the museum,
so come and have a look!
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
18
MANSTON MIRROR
…………………………………………………...
Write to the Editor
melodyforeman@btinternet.com
Anonymous letters will not be published.
MANSTON MOMENTS
Your Letters
Three cheers for the great
AFTER reading last month’s great
MIRROR article about the Medway
Aircraft Preservation Society I
just had to visit them at Rochester
Airport.
These guys are amazing! There is so
much good work going on here that
they very much deserve to hold HM
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary
Service. When I met Mr Lewis Deal
and his crew I learned they had big
plans for the future and would be
instrumental in the creation of an
aviation heritage centre at Rochester.
Mr Deal recommended I see a DVD
about the Short Brothers who flew the
first aircraft from Eastchurch on the
Isle of Sheppey in 1909.
I didn’t know Kent was so strongly
linked to the pioneering days of
flying and I wholeheartedly agree
with Mr Lewis a new heritage centre
would be a huge bonus to tourism in
the county. Of course it would be
built not far from Eastchurch itself in
north Kent.
Well done and three cheers to
MAPS! Keep up all the good work.
BRIAN KNOWLES
Ramsgate
Cracking Crossword and its
noteworthy 100th anniversary
WELL done to Dr Julian Brock for providing
such a cracking crossword in the MIRROR each
month. I took it with me to the dentist’s waiting
room the other day and I was so engrossed I
nearly missed hearing the receptionist call me in
for my appointment.
I also kept thinking about 12across while I was
in the chair being drilled and filled.
In a recent national newspaper I read how the
crossword in general was celebrating its 100th
anniversary.
The article pointed out how it was the starting
point for many brilliant people who were
recruited to work at Bletchley Park during the
war as all important code-breakers.
A Mr Ian Standen who is chief executive of
Bletchley today said crosswords proved a big
part of a complex web of recruitment.
To recruit the best minds apparently they opted
for The Daily Telegraph crossword as the prime
test instead of the one from The Times.
Meanwhile I enjoy the World War Two themed
crossword in the MIRROR each month and I
thoroughly recommend it to anyone who needs to
take their mind off of the dentist experience! It
certainly proved of a huge help to me!
Brilliant!
SUSAN Z. CHAPMAN
Broadstairs
RAF Spitfire & Hurricane
Memorial Museum
DON’T MISS YOUR
MANSTON
MIRROR
MAGAZINE
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
‘ We were so pleased to be invited to the
Armistice Day Service at the Museum. It
was so simple but the children of Minster
Primary School got it right. It was totally
moving and meaningful. Brilliant! We
truly enjoyed it.
Thank you too for the honour and the
privilege of laying the wreath in the
Allied Air Forces Memorial Garden’
- Bernard and Marian Hyde
Established: 1993
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All food is freshly prepared to order and served
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Why not try our all day breakfast? We also serve tea, freshly
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
19
…………………………………………………….
MANSTON MIRROR
THE MANSTON HURRICANE continued from pages 6 & 7
HAWKER HURRICANE IIc LF 751
BENTLEY PRIORY HURRICANE: The MAPS crew get to work in 1985.
ARRIVAL: The
Hurricane on the
RAF’s Queen Mary
Transporter turns
up at MAPS
headquarters at
Rochester Airport
the same year.
RIGHT: The
message fastened
to the Hurricane at
Manston after the
destruction.
This Hurricane, which was
restored to pristine condition by the
Medway Aircraft Preservation Society
was formally handed over to the Royal
Air Force on April 22nd, 1988.
The aircraft was intended for public
display in the new Memorial
Building at Manston. It has since been
used as a mould for making a number
of fibreglass replicas which accounts
for its temporary battle-scarred
appearance. As a result of the moulding
at least two more Hurricanes should be
seen once more outside RAF stations,
while valuable historic airframes
like this one will stay protected
from the weather.
The RAF are soon to restore LF751 to
the beautiful condition in which it was
received. We hope visitors to the
museum will understand and bear with
us until the work is completed.
MEDWAY AIRCRAFT
PRESERVATION SOCIETY LTD
N.P. Plastering
Patron: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
For all your plastering requirements
AFIS Unit, Rochester Airport, Maidstone
Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9SD
A Boulton Paul Defiant recently restored by MAPS
now on display at the RAF Museum at Hendon
Nick Pearshouse
(Proprietor)
Our workshop is open to visitors on Monday,
Wednesday and Sunday 9am - 12.30pm.
We also have a Visitor Centre and Shop.
www.npplastering.com
Tel: 01634 204492
www.mapsl.co.uk
37 Augustine Road, Minster,
Ramsgate, Kent CT12 4DQ
Medway Aircraft Preservation Society Ltd
is proud to support the RAF Manston
Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum
Telephone: 01843 825949
Mobile: 07969 825085
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
20
…………………………………………………...
MANSTON MIRROR
DON’T MISS
YOUR
FEBRUARY
MIRROR:
THE LIFE
AND TIMES
OF MANSTON
HURRICANE
HERO WING
COMMANDER
DANNY LE
ROY DU
VIVIER DFC
TOP LINE UP: Dame Vera Lynn with the MAPS
restoration team at Manston in October 1988 at
the opening of the Hurricane Memorial Building.
LEFT: MAPS leader and museum aviation advisor
Lewis Deal MBE who ‘cried’ when he saw the
Hurricane battle-scarred and wrecked after a
brutal plaster-cast moulding process tore off
her paint and wings.
Monkton
Village
R.W. JAKEMAN Hall
CARPENTER
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For further details contact
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07850 468481
01843 822189
R.W. Jakeman, Monkton Street,
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The Village Hall at Monkton, near Ramsgate, Kent,
can be hired for parties, meetings, clubs, wedding
receptions, keep fit, dance classes, quiz nights, etc
for very reasonable rates.
The Village Hall has recently been refurbished with
fully equipped kitchen and stage.
TO FIND OUT MORE
PLEASE CONTACT:
Mr Pete Mitchell on 01843 821439
before 6pm or email
mitch.1940@googlemail.com
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
21
……………………………………………………..
ACROSS
1.
Set in Morocco, this film's release coincided with the allied
invasion there - scan a cabal (anag) (10)
6. German tank (5)
9. Churchill tried to close this newspaper in 1942 (5,6)
11. SOE officer and post-war couturier - hairy dames (anag) (5,5)
13. New supply route built from India to China - lead door (anag) (4,4)
14. Areas of Normandy with high hedgerows (6)
15. Fliegerabwehrkanone (4)
21. Short Brothers' flying boat (10)
22. D-Day beach (4)
24. Bletchley Park computer used in breaking the Lorenz cipher (8)
26. U-boat hunting group (4,4)
27. Messerschmitt 163 rocket-powered fighter (5)
29. Artificial harbour used in Operation Overlord (8)
31. Graf Spee's supply ship (7)
33. US six-wheel amphibious truck (4)
35. General commanding the Polish 2nd Corps - snared (anag) (6)
36. Large-scale German airborne invasion occurred here (5)
37. Admiral Nishimura was killed in this battle (5,4)
39. It carried fuel to Normandy after D-Day (5)
42. Codename for the Anzio landing in 1944 (7)
43. D-Day beach (5)
50. Bombed British cities were in this guidebook (8)
52.This B-29 dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima (5,3)
55. Leading Nazi architect, d.1981 (6,5)
56. Japanese general who took Singapore (9)
57. German high-rise air-raid shelter - hock ben hur (anag) (10)
58. German tank - hen trap (anag) (7)
DOWN
2. RN cruiser damaged by the Graf Spee (8)
3. Radar countermeasure, first used over Hamburg (6)
4. Codename for the attack on Peenemunde in August 1943 hardy (anag) (5)
5. Gym equipment used in escapes from Stalag Luft III (6,5)
MANSTON MIRROR
7. D-Day beach (4)
8. RN battlecruiser sunk off Malaya in December 1941 reels up (anag) (7)
10. Captured US soldiers were shot here in December
1944 - me my lad (anag) (7)
12. Operation to invade Southern France in 1944 do groan (anag) (7)
16. They flew aircraft from factory to airfield (3)
17. Commander of US special operations jungle warfare
unit (5,7)
18. Tanker in Operation Pedestal (4)
19. Largest tank battle in military history (5)
20. Proposed operation against Belgian collaborators wet rake (anag) (7)
23. Normandy town known as "the crucible" (4)
24. "Brave" RN aircraft carrier sunk in September 1939 (10)
25. Naval version of the spitfire (7)
28. Air battle near the Mariana islands in June 1944 (6,5)
30. D-Day beach (5)
32. Major Martin and his briefcase were brought ashore
here (6)
34. Operation to cross the Rhine in March 1945 - lend pru
(anag) (7)
38. Allied deception operation (North and South) prior
to D-Day (9)
40. Allied bombing caused a firestorm here - send red
(anag) (7)
41. C-in-C US Pacific Fleet on 7th December 1941 (6)
43. Mountain overlooking Iwo Jima (9)
44. Erwin Rommel - sort fedex (anag) (6,3)
45. Domestic air-raid shelter - send nora (anag) (8)
46. 800mm Krupp railway gun - road (anag) (4)
47. 8th May 1945 (1,1,3)
48. Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met here in 1945 (5)
49. US radio-controlled smart bomb (4)
51. He planned the attack on Pearl Harbor (5)
53. Polish officers' bodies were discovered in this forest (5)
54. Self-propelled 600mm seige mortar (Norse Thunderer) (4)
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RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
22
……………………………………………………
MANSTON MIRROR
BUMPER FESTIVE CROSSWORD
ANSWERS TO THE FILM QUIZ ON BACK PAGE
Compiled by Dr Julian Brock
ANSWERS TO NOVEMBER 2013 CROSSWORD
Across
3. MACARTHUR 5. TINNSJO 7. CORAL SEA 9. TARANTO
12. MATAPAN 13. RUDOLF HESS 14. GUDERIAN
16. VICHY 17. LANGSDORFF 19. HAPPY TIME 20. DIEPPE
Down
1. DAS BOOT 2. DOOLITTLE 3. MIDWAY 4. LIMPET MINE
6. SAGAN 8. SINGAPORE 10. PEDESTAL 11. MITSUBISHI
12. MUSTANG 15. THE FEW 18. OBOE
1. FIRST OF THE FEW 2. I WAS MONTYS DOUBLE
3. MAN WHO NEVER WAS 4. DESERT FOX 5. TORA TORA TORA
6. DAM BUSTERS 7. REACH FOR THE SKY 8. LONGEST DAY
9. BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE 10. A BRIDGE TOO FAR
11. CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE 12. BATTLE OF THE BULGE
13. ONE THAT GOT AWAY 14. OPERATION DAYBREAK
15. HEROES OF TELEMARK 16. COLDITZ STORY
17. ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT 18. PT 109 19. THIRTY SECONDS
OVER TOKYO 20. GALLANT HOURS
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013
23
MANSTON MIRROR
WORLD WAR TWO FILM QUIZ
Do you know the title of the films about the following people, places, or
events? The date of the film, and the lengths of the words in the title are
shown. The word "The" is not included if it appears at the beginning of the
title. (Answers on page 23)
QUESTIONS
1. R J Mitchell (5,2,3,3) (1942)
2. Operation Copperhead (1,3,6,6) (1958)
3. Operation Mincemeat (3,3,5,3) (1956)
4. Erwin Rommel (6,3) (1951)
5. Attack on Pearl Harbour (4,4,4) (1970)
6. Operation Chastise (3,7) (1955)
7. Douglas Bader (5,3,3,3) (1956)
Kenneth More as Douglas Bader
8. Operation Overlord (7,3) (1962)
in 1956.
9. Sinking of the Graf Spee (6,2,3,5,5) (1956)
10. Operation Market Garden (1,6,3,3) (1977)
11. Violette Szabo (5,3,4,4,5) (1958)
Virginia
12. Ardennes counteroffensive (6,2,3,5) (1965)
McKenna
as Violette
13. Franz von Werra (3,4,3,4) (1957)
Szabo
14. Operation Anthropoid (9,8) (1975)
in 1958.
15. Operation Gunnerside (6,2,8) (1965)
16. Oflag IV-C (7,5) (1955)
17. The abduction of General Kreipe (3,3,2,9) (1957)
18. John F Kennedy in the Pacific War (2,3) (1963)
19. The Doolittle Raid on Japan in 1942 (6,7,4,5) (1944)
20. Admiral Halsey and the Guadalcanal campaign (7,5) (1960)
James Mason as Erwin
Rommel in 1951.
The RAF Manston Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial
Museum GIFT SHOP has something for everyone!
JUST IN: Don’t miss our
gorgeous range of tasty
jams from the Wooden
Spoon Preserving Co.
SLOGAN MUGS:
Time for tea.
MODELS:
Airfix kits.
CHURCHILL: A wide
range of tea-towels are
on display in the shop.
HATS: These popular baseball
style caps come in three colours
- khaki, black and blue.
They all carry the logo of the
RAF Manston Spitfire and
Hurricane Memorial Museum.
Fab!
BOOKS AND
MAGAZINES:
Huge variety of World
War Two publications.
RAF MANSTON SPITFIRE & HURRICANE MEMORIAL MUSEUM - MANSTON MIRROR Xmas 2013 and Jan 2014 Edition
24