27 Air Sea Rescue

During WWII The Royal Oak Hotel, Ramsgate, was requisitioned as the base for 27 Air Sea Rescue for use as a crew billet and HQ. Operating out of Ramsgate Harbour the unit saved the lives of over 13,000 air crew of all sides that had ditched at sea. Today a plaque on the hotel marks the unit's service.

Runnymede

The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, near Egham, Surrey is a memorial dedicated to 20,456 men and women from air forces of the British Empire who were lost in air and other operations during World War II. Those recorded have no known grave anywhere, and many were lost without trace. The name of each of these airmen and airwomen is engraved into the stone walls of the memorial, according to country and squadron. Visiting is of course a very sombre experience.                                            

HARS news

It is a few years since I was at the HARS museum and it has continued to develop in the interim. I was pleased to see the other day that the local Shellharbour City Council is supporting a new long term lease at the airport where the museum is based which should help with a planned extension to the hangar thereby providing additional maintenance and storage space. I wish them well for the future.

Llandow Airfield

Llandow Airfield is around 15 miles west of Cardiff. It started life as a grass strip in the late 1930s but proper runways were laid, being completed in 1941. However, RAF occupation began in 1940 when 38 MU occupied the base and they remained until closure in 1957. Various other transport and training units also useed Llandow but 38 were an ever present. Remnants of track and runways remain, with section in use as a local karting circuit. The original control tower is also still present, albeit converted and, at some point at least, used as part of a trading estate. There is also a memorial which we missed a couple of times, being hidden by grass and weeds alongside a main road.

Overhead

There were a couple of Spitfires over the garden today or maybe the same one twice but I caught the second late this afternoon, albeit a little high.