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150
SQUADRON 1 GROUP moved here from
newton and flew MK1 AND MK111 WELLINGTONS.
51 SQUADRON 4GROUP moved in during october 42 after
returning to BOMBER COMMAND having been on loan to
19 GROUP COASTAL COMMAND. They would remain here until april 45.51
SQUADRON brought with them
WHITLEY MKV AND HALIFAX MK 11,111.At the end of april 45 they where
move to leconfield and the station got a new role hosting No 17 aircrew
which it did until the end of the war.
The station finally closed on april 11 1946.
51 SQUADRON life
No doubt the
young airmen could be seen cycling their way down to the GEORGE AND DRAGON
for a few beers of a saturday night the pub is still very much a 51 sqn
supporter and i have been there for a pint and to look at the "51
wall"dedicated to pictures of all 51 sqn life.
Entertainment was provided at various times by ENSA
every night something awful and sqn members would sometimes provide their
own in the form of concerts and suchlike,one such concert involved an
american named TEX MCQUISTON who was a guitar player but he was lost on a
raid to Aachen(see memorial page).
It was a dangerous time at work around aircraft carrying incenderies and HE
bombs not to mention enough 100 octane petrol to
keep us going for a lifetime,special dugouts near the dispersal points
where provided to hide groundcrew away from enemy attacks
but where often used to jump into when bombs would fall out of the bomb
bay.
The bombs would be prepared by the armourers in the
bomb dump a typicle example would be a 1000lb bomb with a long delay
fuse a 1000lb HE bomb with a tail fuse, incindieries and 500lb HE
bombs too a Halifax bomber could swallow it all up whole
38x 1000lb GP HE , 38X 1000lb MC HE ,114 x 500lb MC HE bombs could
fit inside a Halifax.Thats a lot of work to prepare for the nights raids.
On the day of saturday 19 june 43 there was a serious explosion in the bomb
dump it was felt allover the station.Fire broke out in the incendiary
section and explosions where still occurring upto 12 hours afterwards to
make matters worse some bombs where fused with long delay so they may not
go off for a week or more.10 people where killed .
7 people where killed in a bus crash after a
night out in pontefract after the bus overturned at the knottingley
crossroads,
29 people where injured,the bus was a 31 seater but had 41 passengers on
board 15 standing.
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