CONTACT! The Newsletter of the former RAF Defford Reunion Association, now merged with the

DEFFORD AIRFIELD HERITAGE GROUP in partnership with THE NATIONAL TRUST, CROOME

http://deffordairfieldheritagegroup.wordpress.com

Editor: Bob Shaw Distribution: Ann Sterry

Number 129, July 2019

ASHTON

In a previous edition of ‘Contact!’ (No. 127, May 2019), we related the story of the Avro Tudor, specifically that of unique Hercules powered Tudor VII which was based at Defford for research work and trials 1949 to 1952. The Tudor saga concluded with the Mark 8, which was powered by four jet engines in the form of paired Rolls-Royce Nene engines. The Tudor 8 was potentially valuable for research, but as a jet aircraft fitted with tail-down undercarriage its full value could not be realised.

Report by Dennis Williams and Bob Shaw, continued inside. Many thanks to Harry Badger (DAHG member and museum volunteer) for confirming engineering details of Ashton WB492, which he worked on at Defford. All photographs Crown copyright except where acknowledged otherwise.

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2.

Avro Ashton (cont.)

It was concluded the requirement for a specialised high altitude research aircraft could be met, based on the availability of surplus and incomplete airframes of Tudor airliners, but with a nose-wheel undercarriage (to clear the jet efflux), created purely for research use and based on experience with the Tudor 8. Accordingly, the Ministry of Supply placed an order for six such aircraft, a type referred to initially as the Tudor 9, but so many differences called for a new name – Ashton.

The outcome had perhaps a family resemblance to another Avro product, the Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner, which featured four Derwent engines, and was being designed and developed concurrently with the Ashton.

Six Ashtons were delivered, each to a research and trials establishment. WB492, a mark 3 and the second Ashton to fly (on 6.7.51), was allotted to TRE Defford for radar bombing research. It featured large under-wing bomb containers and an advance radar bomb-sight in a ventral radome.

ABOVE: Left, Tudor 8 (four Nene engines) – note tail-down undercarriage

Right, Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner (four Derwent engines)

ABOVE and BELOW: Ashton WB492, based at Defford

3. Avro Ashton (cont.)

ABOVE: Ashton WB492 up from Defford, after addition of underwing bomb containers

In January 1952 a pilot and flight engineer were sent from TRE Defford to A & AEE Boscombe Down, for

familiarisation on the Avro Ashton. TRE took delivery of Ashton WB492 on 4 March 1952, to continue the

Navigation and Bombing System (NBS) trials that had been carried out by two Handley Page Hastings

aircraft, TG503 and WD482, in succession to the Avro Lincoln in this role. NBS comprised the H2S Mk 9

radar and NBC Mk 2 computer, aided by Green Satin and Gee Mk 3 navigation systems.

ABOVE: Ashton WB492 on the ground at Defford

WB492 was then dispatched to A V Roe at Woodford for modifications which included the addition of the

two underwing nacelles to carry 100lb bombs. The aircraft returned to Defford on 24 June 1952. By August,

two crews had converted to the Ashton, before it was taken into the Installations Hangar for fitting of

experimental equipment.

During 1952 A & AAEE cleared WB492 for bombing, but radar trials over the ranges at Rhosneigr and Luce

Bay were delayed by bad weather and technical defects. Two of the Rolls-Royce Nene engines had to be

replaced and there were also problems with hydraulic and cabin heating/pressurisation systems. The

Ashton was a tight fit in the TFB hangar that was erected post-war on the main technical site, and linked to

a T2 hangar (the latter pre-fabricated building is believed to have been moved from the former Special

4.

Avro Ashton (cont.)

Installation Unit site to the south of the airfield). The aircraft was manoeuvred sideways into the hangar,

supported on bogies running on railway tracks, which are still visible today.

When Ashton WB492 commenced NBS trials in 1953, it superseded Hastings WD482 (which was reassigned

to ASV radar trials), while Hastings TG503 remained on NBS trials for the time being. Dropping from

altitudes up to 35,000ft, WB492’s live bombing accuracy was assessed using five cameras situated around

Luce Bay.

In May 1953 the Ashton was damaged while work was being carried out in the hangar. Removal and

refitting of the ventral radome was being achieved by supporting the aircraft with an airbag. But on this

occasion the compressor was left unattended as the bag was being inflated. The engineers returned from

their tea break to find the rear fuselage had been lifted off the hangar floor and the radome and scanner

crushed (see photographs).

Further but less obvious damage occurred when the cabin was over-pressurised during a ground test,

because vent plugs that should have been removed before flight or ground testing had been left in place.

An inspection by Avro engineers concluded that the structure had been overloaded, and the aircraft could

no longer be cleared for pressurisation in flight, so all subsequent trials had to be carried out with the crew

using oxygen masks.

Simulated and live bombing trials continued at Rhosneigr and Luce Bay throughout 1954, and by the spring

of 1955 the Ashton was joined by Vickers Valiant WP200 on the NBS project, although the Radar Research

Establishment (TRE’s successor) had to operate the latter aircraft from RAF Gaydon until Pershore was

ready to replace Defford as the RRE Air Station in 1957. Whereas the Ashton bombed at airspeeds up to

300kts, the Valiant could drop from 45,000ft at 440kts.

Ashton WB492’s final recorded flight was on 27 July 1955, carrying out offset bombing runs at 26,000ft,

captained by Flt Lt Mitchell with Mr Roy Hodges as Flight Test Observer. On 4 August 1955 the Ashton was

taxying at Defford when a fire broke out in the starboard wheel well as a result of a burst hydraulic pipe.

Alerted by the crew of a nearby Bristol Wayfarer, Flt Lt Appleton and his crew evacuated the aircraft and

the fire was extinguished. However, serious damage to the main spar was assessed as Category 5 and the

airframe was scrapped on the west side of the airfield. In 2011 members of DAHG visited this part of the

airfield with the permission of the land owner. The fragile remains of two bag-type fuel tanks were

discovered and recorded in situ. It is possible that these are the last remains of Ashton WB492.

5.

Avro Ashton (cont.)

ABOVE: This photograph shows the Ashton ground crew at Defford. Harry Badger is on the engine nacelle,

centre (photo: H J Badger).

ABOVE: H2S Mk 9 radome and scanner of Ashton WB492, damaged in hangar accident.

6.

Avro Ashton (cont.)

6.

ABOVE: In 2011, a team from DAHG (Graham Evans, Antony Whitehead, Dennis Williams, Bob Shaw), part-

excavated and recorded what are believed to be the wing fuel bag tanks of Ashton WB492, in an overgrown

area on the west side of the airfield (photo: Defford Airfield Heritage Group).

ABOVE: Mystery photo – understood to depict interior of Ashton at Defford, but can anyone tell us what the

picture shows?

7.

Restoration and display of complete Meteor NF11 WD686

WD686 was the last aircraft officially to fly out of Defford in 1958 after which the airfield closed for flying.

So the Meteor is of unique value and interest to DAHG and to Croome. DAHG was responsible for saving

the aircraft from dereliction and partial or complete scrapping. We secured funding as a generous private

donation from Mr Vernon Hill, chairman of Metro Bank (to whom I was introduced by Lord Flight), to cover

the cost of restoration to a suitable standard for an extended period of outdoor display, and delivery to

Croome for display. Dennis Williams, who had first made us aware of the plight and significance of this

aircraft, advised on the possibility of asking Boscombe Down Aviation Collection (BDAC) at Old Sarum, to

carry out the work to restore and preserve this priceless exhibit. Work on the project is near complete at

BDAC, and the aircraft will be available for display at Croome at some time in 2019. Members have been

briefed by regular progress reports ‘Contact!’. The work is being carried out to a very high standard.

Our very good friend Ron Fulton, who is Technical Director of BDAC at Old Sarum, wrote on June 7th:

To Bob Shaw and David Vernon:

It’s been a while since we have been in touch. Just thought I would send you a couple of images to show we are making progress. We have to get the wings down horizontally and then do a couple of repairs on them,

so we are only a couple of weeks from moving WD686 outside to put the wings on.

Once the wings are on, the aircraft is essentially finished, there might be a few tidying up jobs but hopefully not much. That will leave only the belly tank and some sort of safe access platform to make. We have not given either of these any sort of serious attention. The tank will probably take a month or so and the access platform maybe up to 3 months, but we do not plan to make these ourselves. We have a local metal working company and will probably get

them to design and manufacture them. They made the cradle for the Comet and did a good job on it.

ABOVE and LEFT: Meteor WD686 in the workshops of the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum, early June 2019. Restoration is nearly complete, with the restored wings stacked against the wall and the nose radome ready to be fitted. Assembly will be completed and these items were to be fitted later in June when WD686, which is standing on its wheels, is rolled out of the historic ‘Belfast Truss’ WW1 hangar at Old Sarum, to be finally assembled.

8.

CURATOR’S REPORT MAY 2019

From a curatorial point of view, the highlight of the past year was the loan and display of the forward

fuselage of ‘Defford’s Last Aircraft’, Armstrong Whitworth Meteor WD686, at the RAF Defford Museum

during the autumn, with interpretation panels to tell its story. WD686 is undergoing a painstaking

restoration by the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection (BDAC) at Old Sarum and we look forward to the

return of the complete aircraft to Croome later this year, under the guiding hand of David Vernon. We

have been able to provide practical support to the restoration process by supplying a Meteor radome

which was in store at Croome, as well as photographic and other archive material to illustrate WD686’s

history.

Further good news from BDAC concerned the acquisition of the forward fuselage of another Meteor Mk NF

11, WD790. This aircraft is very significant in the history of radar flight trials, having seen 28 years’ service

with TRE, Ferranti, RRE, RSRE and RAE, at Defford, Edinburgh, Pershore and Bedford. The story of WD790

was featured in the in December 2018 edition of the DAHG Newsletter ‘Contact’ and photographs have

been supplied to BDAC to assist with its conservation.

On the subject of ‘Contact’, we are indebted to Dr Bob Shaw for all the knowledge and enthusiasm he

devotes to its production, now every month. His detailed articles about planes and people at Defford and

Pershore not only entertain and inform DAHG members, but also prompt many helpful responses which

bring further history to light. We are all sad that Bob will not be seeking re-election to the Committee this

year, but delighted that he will continue to enjoy writing ‘Contact’ and keeping the Curator on his toes, in

meeting the monthly requirements for research material.

Bob also monitors the DAHG website and passes requests for information to the Curator. Many of these

involve family history research; we do not hold any personnel records as such, but in some instances we

are able to obtain relevant information from the Malvern Radar and Technology History Society (MRATHS)

archive. The close working relationship between DAHG and MRATHS is mutually beneficial, with the DAHG

Curator representing Defford and Pershore interests as a committee member and Trustee of MRATHS,

which achieved its status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in April 2019, with the eventual aim of

creating its own museum in Malvern.

The RAF Defford Museum is receiving a steady number of visitors, and continues to attract comments in

the visitors’ book and on TripAdvisor which are most appreciative of the knowledge and enthusiasm of our

museum volunteers, led by John and Ann Sterry, and Rob Amatt. As Curator, I am only too well aware that

lack of space limits what we can do in the museum, but with no prospect of improving this situation we

must make the best of what we have. It is acknowledged that the acoustics of the cinema area present a

particular problem, and in order to address this, some changes are afoot. The introductory video is an

essential part of the visitor experience, but access to the large airfield map is also very important during

the ‘meet and greet’ provided by the museum volunteers, so this will be moving shortly to the entrance

area, enabling a quiet background to be maintained in the display area adjacent to the video presentation.

It has long been my intention to provide a display to illustrate the wide variety of aircraft types flown from

Defford, and design work is well under way on this, to replace the airfield map in the cinema area. There

will also be more work to concentrate on the wartime story of Defford in the main part of the museum,

and of the Cold War years in the ambulance garage, with rearrangement of artefacts as necessary.

9.

Curator’s report 2019 (cont.)

The lack of space, for both display and storage, means that we do have to apply the DAHG Acquisition and

Disposal Policy rigorously, i.e. accepting gifts of artefacts or documents only if they meet the condition that:

‘The scope of the Group’s collection will normally be restricted to objects and archives related directly to

Defford Airfield and the associated history of radar research flying as carried out at other government

research and development airfields’. However, this year we have obtained some very valuable additions to

the archive, including flying log books that have considerably increased our knowledge of flight trials carried

out at Defford during the 1950s. As ever, we are grateful to our Collections Secretary, Tony Bates, for dealing

with all the paperwork that accompanies acquisitions and loans.

The booklet ‘Defford Airfield 1942-57’ has been a great commercial success and a further print run has

afforded an opportunity to make minor corrections (including the identification of our ‘last aircraft’ Meteor

WD686 in one of the photos). With the permission of the Heritage Lottery Fund, which funded its creation,

we have also produced some copies of the introductory video which John Sterry has available for sale, and

will order more if there is sufficient demand.

Dennis Williams

A RETIRING REPORT ON PROJECT ACTIVITIES – MAY 2019

Restoration of Sergeant’s & Orderlies’ Quarters and Latrines

My part in this project as Joint Project Leader, is complete, so this is a retirement report.

Completion of the project by fitting out the buildings with equipment needed for its intended use as a

Learning Centre, is in the hands of a Steering Group, on which the Chairman of DAHG (Nick Hubble) is a

member. At the AGM, Members were able to see for themselves work completed to date. Clive Haywood,

retained by the National Trust at Croome as the Consultant Surveyor in charge, reports that the flooring is

all down, and the partitions are being installed in the latrines. Therefore in the first two weeks of June, the

plumbing should have been complete as the drainage and water supply are currently being installed.

The increased site electricity supply has been ordered from Western Power and this should be installed in mid-June. After this, the final electrical works can be completed to the Sergeant’s & Orderlies’ Quarters and Latrines. In the short term the National Trust will take possession of the Sergeant’s & Orderlies’ Quarters building only, as is being used for various meetings. Once the electrical supply is installed, the building contractors Croft will return to finish their final items. Restoration and display of complete Meteor NF11 WD686

WD686 was the last aircraft officially to fly out of Defford in 1958 after which the airfield closed. So it is of

unique value and interest to DAHG and Croome. DAHG was responsible for saving the aircraft from

dereliction and partial or complete scrapping display. Dennis Williams, who had first made us aware of the

plight of this Meteor, advised on possibility of asking Boscombe Down Aviation Collection (BDAC) at Old

Sarum, to carry out the work to restore and preserve this priceless exhibit. Work on the project is near

complete at BDAC, and the aircraft will be available for display at Croome at some time in 2019. Members

have been briefed by regular progress reports in the DAHG newsletter ‘Contact!’. The work is being carried

to a very high standard.

10.

I am now retiring on health grounds from the DAHG committee by not seeking re-election at this AGM. I

have handed over my part in this project to David Vernon, who has accepted the project with relish, and is

busy devising and planning arrangements for the display of WD686 at Croome.

DAHG newsletter ‘Contact!’

When DAHG, which had been established in 2010, merged with the RAF Defford Reunion Association, we

agreed to maintain all the responsibilities of the Reunion Association, which was formally founded in 1981

but has roots going back to 1946.

This included responsibility for ‘Contact!’ which became “The Official Newsletter of the former RAF Defford

Reunion Association, now merged with the Defford Airfield Heritage Group”. All members of the Reunion

Association became members of DAHG and of the combined body.

I am being encouraged to continue as Editor of ‘Contact!’ and this I am happy to do.

‘Contact!’ has now settled down as a monthly, and appears to be well received by Members.

The duties of Editor include the DAHG web-site, which I hope to up-date and refresh this year, and in the

longer term seek a radical change in format and style. In the meantime the web-site which was set up in a

hurry in 2010 as a Blog, to put DAHG ‘on the map’, continues to serve a useful role in providing information

especially to potential members and Museum visitors.

Finance - I have been largely responsible for obtaining and securing finance for restoration of the

Decontamination Block (Museum), Ambulance Garage & Mortuary and the Sergeant’s & Orderlies’

Quarters and Latrine (£80K for Phase One) with grateful thanks to continuing support of Severn Waste (Jim

Haywood). With restoration of the surviving former RAF buildings now complete, and with my retirement

from DAHG, this activity now ceases – unless someone else can pick up the baton of fund-sourcing!

Bob Shaw, May 2019

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

AVM Ronald Bain Thomson

From Andrew Ferrier - Reading Bob's introduction to the article in May's newsletter about my uncle Ronnie Thomson, he mentioned that he flew with Frank Griffiths to Hilbre Island off the Dee estuary. Looking again at his log book, it seems that he also flew there on the 12th and 23rd June with other crew members and a Mr Cadelli. Returning to where I wrote about him having to land out on Worcester racecourse because of poor visibility and what I said about him flying up the Severn estuary returning from an ASV test in the Bristol Channel. It wasn't exactly what he said to me all those years ago. He actually said that he was flying down the Severn, which later didn't seem to make sense to me. How could I have imagined he was the sort of man that would get such a recollection wrong? Clearly he was returning from Hilbre island. He was unlikely to have taken such a route returning from other trips from the north? If they had been coming up the Severn estuary he would have followed the Avon direct to Defford. Considering the lie of Worcester racecourse it would have been extremely hazardous approaching from the south. Does this pin down the possible dates and type of aircraft he was flying! It is too late now to add a correction, but perhaps one day you might get hold of a log book of one of the other crew members where the event is mentioned. Best wishes, Andrew

11. Lt Cdr. P. Hudson DSC

From Robina Rand - reference the account of the Spearfish in ‘Contact!’ no. 128: … I was very interested to read the article about Henry Hudson. (The 'P' was for 'Palliser') He was a good friend of my father, Arthur Milnes, and to me, as a small child, was Uncle Henry. My parents went to his wedding in Dorset and he often came to our house in Hanley Castle. After the war, when he left the Navy, they went to live on the Isle of Mull, where he organised the local cinema and became the Island's clock-mender. Not having much money when I finished University I went to stay on Mull with Henry and Deirdre. My first task was to help with the hay-making but I even went on an Islanders’ visit to Staffa and Iona and it was quite idyllic. Deirdre found it isolated and rather cold on Mull, so they moved to Sark, where my husband and I visited them. They both had to return to the mainland when their health deteriorated and Henry died in 2013. I had a very nice letter from his son, Ralph, and his daughter, Mandie, who lives near Cirencester. Robina Rand

DEFFORD AIRFIELD: VIEW FROM THE MAIN RUNWAY

The article on the Spearfish in ‘Contact!’ no.128, provided a rare opportunity to record the photographic view of the buildings of the airfield as seen from the main runway. Dennis Williams writes: ‘Please find attached a cropped version of the Spearfish photo with buildings in the background. Ones I can identify are as follows: 1 Control Tower 2 No.2 Hangar (Installations) 3 Blister hangar 4 Link Trainer building 5 Squadron Office 6 Flight Office I worked at Malvern with a chap who had been an Air Traffic Assistant at Defford and Pershore. He said bits of the Rotol 'Jablo' prop blades were being found on the grass for a very long time after the Spearfish accident! Dennis Williams

12.

The sole TYPHOON NF IB

.

In ‘Contact!’ no, 90 (December 2013), Phil Butler provided this splendid photo of Typhoon R7881, which he thinks was taken at Langley. This is an early Typhoon from the first production batch of 250 built by Gloster, and delivered from mid-1941 onwards. R7881 was modified to become the only Typhoon NF Mk IB built, fitted with AI Mk VI radar, a fully automatic or ‘wandering strobe’ AI for use in single-seat fighters. The sole NF.IB had the port wing main fuel tank removed to allow for the fitting of AI Mk VI with aerials installed on both wings. The idea was not adopted for service. R7881 was first flown in this form at Langley on March 23rd 1943, before going on to FIU at Ford for trials which lasted well into 1944. There is some belief that R7881 was at Defford at some point, but Phil reports this is not shown on AM Form 78 for this aircraft. The work on AI Mk VIA was covered by Item 55, which mainly covers the installation and testing of AI Mk VIA in Hurricane BN288. Can anyone tell us more, was R7881 ever at Defford?

LEFT: Another view of R7881 from a slightly

different angle, showing the wing-mounted

aerials and under-wing installation of AI Mk

VIA radar