1940s Weekend by The Villager Series

1940 Weekend

HALFPENNY GREEN AIRPORT 24 & 25 MAY 2014

OFFICIAL 2014 PROGRAMME SPONSORED BY THE VILLAGER MAGAZINE

HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

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WELCOME TO HALFPENNY GREEN CONTENTS Dickie Lines & Dolly

Air Scouts

Halfpenny Green Airport

North Mercia Vehicle Society 10 Site Map

1940s Beauty

From Planes to Property

History of Blakelands

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Welcome to Halfpenny Green Airport 1940s Weekend. Here you will find various areas to explore including: Entertaniment, Re-enacments and Living History, Traders Village, Military Vehicles and various catering outlets including the Control Tower Cafe. PLEASE BE AWARE This is an active airfield and you should be aware that PROPELLERS AND ROTORS CAN KILL! Please keep inside the fenced area and keep children with you at all times. When following the blue line to the control tower you will be crossing an active taxiway. Obey the directions of the stewards sited there. LITTER Aircraft can be damaged by debris. Please dispose of litter carefully in the bins provided, or take it home. WILDLIFE Aerodromes are homes to a wide variety of wildlife which can flourish undisturbed. Please beware of rabbit holes! SMOKING No smoking is permitted anywhere on the airfield except the fenced area in the immediate vicinity of the control tower. Please use the ashtray provided. FOR YOUR SAFETY Please follow all instructions given by the Stewards, Air Cadets and Air Scouts, and keep dogs on leads at all times.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY! 3

HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

Entertaining you at Halfpenny Green 1940s Weekend

DICKIE AND DOLLY Dickie and Dolly are delighted to be invited to play at Halfpenny Green Airport 1940s weekend.

Dickie & Dolly tour the UK providing entertainment for 1940's events, party nights, weddings and more! With a mix of character impersonations of stars of the day, Dickie singing the songs of the era, and with a wealth of recorded material, their show can more than fill your evening, full day or weekend, their show is one not to be missed!

Dickies Characters currently include Noel Coward, George Formby (with uke!), Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante, Arthur Askey - and a certain German gentleman - AND another certain German gentleman (but only for special occasions) and Dickie has even more characters in the pipeline. You will even get to meet Miss Dolly Bagg who winds up the gramophone!

And when Dickie leaves a 1940s Weekend like Mr. Wu, he becomes an air raid warden, working with Dolly at the Stockport Air Raid Shelters.

Stockport's Air Raid Shelters are on Chestergate in the town centre and are currently open most days except Mondays, for more info visit www.airraidshelters.org.uk Find out more about Dickie & Dolly at dickielines.com

Battle tours

D-Day 6 June 1944 Arromanches, Normandy

Individually planned guided tours to Northern European battlefields of both World Wars Car/ Mini-coach / Coach par es from 2 - 42 persons. Self-drive guided tours up to 10 cars.

All our tours are guided by experienced and knowledgable military historians.

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HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

HALFPENNY GREEN AIR SCOUTS REMEMBER THE LOST Halfpenny Green Air Scout group remembers those who lost their lives with a 100th anniversary memorial.

Scouting in general is widespread; however, Air Scouting is not, Halfpenny Green Air Scouts are the only ‘Air Group’ in the West Mercia and Staﬀordshire counties. For 50 years children aged 10-14 have been Air Scouts at Halfpenny Green and with the introduction of Air Beaver and Air Cub groups children from age 5 can now become involved in aviation themed activities, events and attend RAF Bases.

The Air Scouts and leaders made the decision in the New Year that they should commemorate the centenary of the Great War by fundraising for a new memorial. Scout Leader Karl Owen approached local company Wombourne Memorials who were only too pleased to accommodate their request.

Wombourne Memorials kindly erected the memorial in pride of place in the entrance to Halfpenny Green Airport on 30th April 2014.

The Air Scouts and leaders would all like to extend their gratitude to both Winifred at Wombourne Memorials for such a beautiful and ﬁtting tribute and Airport Operations Manager Alastair for allowing the Group to erect the memorial in the Airport Entrance.

The Memorial will take pride of place at the Air Scouts Battle of Britain Memorial Service on September 14th at 10.30am. Everyone is welcome to attend this event.

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HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

HALFPENNY G R E E N a brief history

The Air Ministry requisitioned land in 1939 to build RAF Bobbington which was completed in early 1941. To avoid confusion with RAF Bovingdon the name was changed to Halfpenny Green, after the hamlet north of the aerodrome which lies on an ancient drover’s route along which animals were driven from grazing land to London markets. Animals could be rested overnight for a half-penny… Number 3 Air Observers’ Navigation School began operations in May 1941 flying Blackburn Botha aircraft. Designed to drop torpedoes the Botha served with only one operational squadron before re-assignment as a trainer due to poor performance and unpleasant flying characteristics. Before take-off crews were known to man-handle the Botha to the boundary fence for the maximum take-off run. The Botha was said to have no single-engine performance - if an engine failed the second engine gave the pilot an improved choice of crash site. Of 473 used for training 169 crashed, two from Halfpenny Green crashing on successive days in June 1941. The first day of operations here began with thirty five Bothas but by evening only seven were serviceable.

Avro Ansons replaced the Botha and sixty six were on station when the School disbanded in November 1945. Halfpenny Green was also home to target-towing Westland Lysanders and modified Boulton & Paul Defiants and the Airspeed Oxfords of No.1545 Beam Approach Training Flight. Many other types landed here as this extract from MEN OF AIR by Kevin Wilson testifies:

Most aircraft at *OTUs and *HCUs were clapped out and this was the case with a Halifax V we took off on a night cross country from Sandfoft. En route we had to feather two engines. We were descending all the time and decided to go into Halfpenny Green and they told us we could land a four-engined bomber. As soon as we got onto final approach they gave us a red, the flight engineer opened up to overshoot, as we climbed we hit a tree tearing a hole in the main-plane. It took us 20 minutes to get to circuit height which we staggered round only to get a red again. We thought “Sod this!” and landed. At the side of the strip, a crashed aircraft was on the runway. I landed with brakes on. I could see the control tower getting ever closer. We stopped ten feet short of it. *(OTU - Operational Training Unit: HCU - Heavy Conversion Unit)

No. 1545 Beam Approach Training Flight flew approaches in appalling weather. On 13th December 1944 a BATF Oxford swung on take-off, running into five parked Ansons. Visibility was reported as “ten to fifteen yards” prompting a station order that approaches were not to be conducted when visibility was less than 300 yards or cloud base below 50 feet. No one was hurt in the incident.

The original Watch Office is now occupied by Flightpath flying school and the outline of the signal square is still visible. Later a standard Air Ministry building type 12779 Control Tower was built. Defensive pill boxes remain intact on the north, west and eastern boundaries and the building with the high roof to the south of Hangar 3 was a parachute packing shed. Remains of the theatre/cinema exist on the southern boundary but it is in poor condition. Three of the original seven Bellman hangars are in use and the parade ground can be seen outside the aerodrome to the south of Crab Lane. Parachuting was a major activity at Halfpenny Green during the 1960s & ‘70s. On 15th July 1972 fourteen skydivers attempted a European link-up record. Mike Boulton and Mike Taylor jumped from a BN Islander at 10,000’ and seconds later hit the tail of DH89 Rapide G-AHAG. Mr Taylor deployed his parachute and landed two miles from Halfpenny Green with a broken leg but Mr.Boulton crashed through the roof of the Rapide breaking both wrists and became one of very few people to have taken off in one aircraft and land in another. In recent years Halfpenny Green has been the base for airships, an air ambulance, police air operations unit, and been used as a film location (1972 TV series “Fly into Danger” and 2009 BBC series “Survivors”) and is today home to four fixed wing, one microlight and one helicopter training school, fifty privately owned aircraft and both fixed-wing and helicopter maintenance companies.

HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

Halfpenny Green 1940s Weekend

WHAT’S HERE TODAY

NORTH MERCIA MILITARY VEHICLE SOCIETY

North Mercia Military Vehicle Society is a newly formed group of military vehicle enthusiasts. The majority of members are also members of the Birmingham & West Midlands Area of the Military Vehicle Trust who were involved with the Wartime event here in 2013. Only the name has changed it’s the same organisers as in 2013.

The North Mercia Military Vehicle Society was formed specifically to organise military vehicles and owners to work in conjunction with re-enactment groups to put on co-ordinated events such as Halfpenny Green 1940sWeekend. All the NMMVS members know most of the re-enactment groups and are therefore able to put on integrated displays of most periods.

Today you will be able to see British, American and German vehicles from World War 2 with re-enactors dressed in uniforms of the period. Plus Post War vehicles from the British Army and Eastern Block countries. On the exhibitors vehicle entrance is ‘Check Point Charlie’ with appropriate vehicles and uniformed personnel. They are only acting the part so they are quiet approachable............I think! Please enjoy the show. Speak to the vehicle owners, they are very friendly and will answer any questions you may have. Please don’t climb on or enter vehicles as they are all privately owned and maintained.

The North Mercia Military Vehicle Society would like to thank Alastair Mackinnon and Tony Rowlands for their invitation to be a part of the Halfpenny Green 1940s Weekend.

The NMMVS or B&WMA MVT have no connection with any pre 2013 Wartime Weekends at Halfpenny Green Airport.

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Static Aircraft

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1940S Weekend 24-25 May 2014

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1940S BEAUTY

Wartime Workarounds

Beauty in the 1940s was dominated by wartime shortages and rationing. Clothing rationing didn’t end until 1949 and soap rationing until 1950.

Lipstick was a main beauty staple of the 1940s it was sold in patriotic shades of red, including ‘victory’ and ‘auxiliary’. Beauty products became harder and harder to come by and by 1943 there were hardly any cosmetics in the shops; so beetroot juice sealed with Vaseline was often used as lipstick and a burnt out match was used to draw on eyebrows.

Soap was rationed in Britain from 1942 onwards; this included shampoo, so blondes would rinse their hair in lemon juice and brunettes in beer or vinegar to try to add shine. The gas-mask curl was a hair style designed to withstand the gas mask strap and women would use rags to get movie-star curls. Head scarves were popular amongst factory workers and often used to cover curlers, patriotic up-do’s like Victory Rolls were great for ladies trying to hide greasy roots.

Stockings were in very short supply. Often Women used leg makeup in the form of gravy browning or tea to ‘tan’ their legs; they would then draw a line in eyebrow pencil to look like a stocking seam.

Make Do and Mend was the order of the day as clothing became precious. Clothes rationing came into effect in Britain from 1 June 1941. It lasted, albeit in a gradually reduced format, until March 1949. The fabrics used and the styles of the 40’s were a result of restrictions on materials which were place to help the war effort. Men, who no longer required suits because they were at war, often returned home to find their best suit, had been made into a skirt and jacket by their wife!

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Executive style detached ‘David Payne’ residence, set in a cul-de-sac location within walking distance of excellent schooling and the village centre.

The property briefly comprises; Lounge, separate dining room, refitted breakfast kitchen, utility, garden room and good size study / second sitting room. The master bedroom offers built in wardrobes and refitted en-suite shower room. There are three further bedrooms and a refitted family bathroom. The property boasts a mature and well stocked green garden with patio area to sit, relax and entertain guests. Backing onto trees the property has a semi rural ambiance. To view call 01384 671 600

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FROM PLANES TO PROPERTY

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With this in mind, Kat’s 20 years’ experience in estate agency prompted her to rethink and realised there was a gap in the market for a new style of estate agent. Kat identified there was no longer the need for the high street shop front when the majority of business is done online and by telephone. Orchard Estates and Lettings offer clients an alternative option by offering all the components of a High Street agent such as, Advertising on Property Portals, Personal 1-2-1 service, FREE Market Appraisals, Late Night and Weekend Accompanied Viewings, Marketing Plans and Regular Sales Progression Updates with a much lower fee all as standard, without having the shop front.

The beneﬁts of not having a high street shop enables us to pass on the savings of low overheads directly to the customer. We are open longer hours, 9am – 9pm 7 days a week to give ﬂexibility to clients and to keep up with the demanding lifestyles of today.

Kat and her partner Mark, created Orchard Estates and Lettings after Mark left his 27 year career with the RAF. They would like to oﬀer all serving and veteran military services and emergency personnel (Police, Ambulance, Fire) a ‘FREE Floor Plan’ with this programme. www.orchardestatesandlettings.co.uk or call 01384 671 600.

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HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

BLAKELANDS AND HALFPENNY GREEN AIRPORT

The origins of Blakelands House date back to the Tudor period, timbers in the oldest part of the house have been dated to this age, though the House that now stands here was completed in 1722.

Recorded as belonging to the Corbett Family since 1638, Blakelands history is very much entwined with that of the Airport & Bobbington village. Much of the land now forming Halfpenny Green Airport was formally farm land, and was part of the Blakelands Estate. The estate stretched past Blacklands farm as far as white cross where the wooded area is still shown on various maps as either Blacklands or Blakelands Plantation.

Also forming part of the estate was the Royal Oak Public House, the nearby cottages & opposite the original Blacksmiths shop. The small parcel of land there known as Halfpenny Green was also part of the Estate & was gifted to the public by the Corbett Family.

The village school of Bobbington was also founded by the Corbett Family & the Corbett Trust still owns & funds the school today. It was in 1939 that the Air Ministry acquired lands from the Estate and neighbouring estates to form the Bobbington Airfield, this was later renamed as Halfpenny Green Airfield.

Through the years & several owners, Blakelands House has, for 290 years, stood as a familiar landmark between Halfpenny Green & Bobbington villages. Its history has changed thru farming, to brewing with the Bowen Family, twice as a Doctors country residence, and a short period as a guest house before being acquired by the Morgan Family in 1981; the various outbuildings have since been developed and now form the popular Lodge Restaurant and Blakelands banqueting venue. Find out more at www.blakelands.co.uk

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HALFPENNY GREEN 1940S WEEKEND

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