Aviation Landmarks - Norfolk and Suffolk (eBook)

Peter B. Gunn (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
304 Seiten
The History Press (Verlag)
978-0-7509-8655-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Norfolk and Suffolk are bursting with aviation heritage, having played key roles in military aviation through the two world wars and beyond. This new edition of Aviation Landmarks- Norfolk and Suffolk presents an updated and revised account of aviation heritage and history through the two world wars right up to the present day. Nearly 70 airfields are covered, along with many lesser-known landmarks including decoy airfields, former radar stations, country houses, buildings, local heritage collections, pubs, village signs and much else. With illustrations, OS grid references and an index this reference guide to the two counties, both in the air and on the ground, will delight interested locals and aviation enthusiasts alike.

PETER B. GUNN has been a lifelong aviation enthusiast and historian. He has written several books on aviation history and local airfields including Sculthorpe: Secrecy and Stealth (2014) and the first edition of Aviation Landmarks in Norfolk and Suffolk (2017). This new edition, his eighth book, is the outcome of many years of research and travels around his home county of Norfolk and neighbouring Suffolk together with his wife Janet. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

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Norfolk and Suffolk are bursting with aviation heritage, having played key roles in military aviation through the two world wars and beyond. Notable landmarks include airfields past and present, traces of former radar stations, decoy airfields and other sites which were once highly secretive. Churches, memorials and museums provide abundant evidence, but less obvious connections are to be found in country houses, local pubs, streets and even village signs. All are explored in unprecedented detail by this knowledgeable local author. With illustrations, OS grid references and a full index, this definitive reference guide to the two counties, both in the air and on the ground, will delight interested locals and aviation enthusiasts alike.

Textauszug

GLOSSARY

2/Lt	Second Lieutenant

A&AEE

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment

AAP	Aircraft Acceptance Park – Airfield designated to receive aircraft from contractors for inspection and acceptance.

AAR	Air-to-air refuelling

ABCT	Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust

ACM	Air Chief Marshal

AFC	Air Force Cross

AG	Air Gunner

Air Cdre

Air Commodore

AOC	Air Officer Commanding

ASR	Air-sea rescue

AVM	Air Vice-Marshal

Bde

Brigade

B1 hangar

Large aircraft repair hangar built mainly on bomber airfields. Steel construction with corrugated iron cladding.

BG	Bomb (Bombardment) Group (USAAF)

Blister hangar

Small arched shed suitable for the storage of smaller aircraft such as fighters.

BS	Bomb (Bombardment) Squadron (USAAF)

BW	Bomb (Bombardment) Wing (USAAF)

C-type hangar

Standard hangar designed for permanent stations of the RAF expansion scheme, suitable for heavy bomber aircraft.

CAA	Civil Aviation Authority (the late Wg Cdr Ken Wallis mischievously termed this ‘the Campaign Against Aviation’).

Cdr

Commander

C-in-C

Commander-in-Chief

CFE	Central Fighter Establishment

CH/CHL/CHEL

Chain Home radar stations developed from the original station at Bawdsey, as early warning to detect enemy aircraft (official name was AMES but this was rarely used). There were also CHL (Chain Home Low) stations to detect low-flying enemy aircraft. CHEL (Chain Home Extra Low) stations provided low-level cover but with upgraded equipment.

Circus operation

Operation consisting of bombers escorted by fighters and designed to draw enemy fighters into combat.

CO	Commanding Officer

CWGC	Commonwealth War Graves Commission

DFC	Distinguished Flying Cross (there was also an American DFC).

DFC*	Distinguished Flying Cross (asterisk signifies Bar to decoration)

Diver Battery

Heavy anti-aircraft battery used from June 1944 to combat V-bomb threat. Laid out in V-shape.

DSC	(American) Distinguished Service Cross – the second highest US decoration.

DSO	Distinguished Service Order

EDP	Eastern Daily Press

ELG	Emergency Landing Ground

FG	Fighter Group (USAAF)

Fg Off.

Flying Officer

FIDO	Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation

Flak	RAF term for anti-aircraft fire. Derived from the German ‘Fliegerabwehrkanone’.

Flt Lt

Flight Lieutenant

FS	Fighter Squadron (USAAF)

GCI

Ground Controlled Interception radar was an advance on the CH stations, which were limited in coverage to coastal areas. GCI enabled night fighters to be directed towards attacking bombers. Ground stations went through various stages of development during the war from ‘early’ (mobile), ‘intermediate’ and ‘final’ (from 1942 onwards).

GEE	First navigational aid introduced in 1942 by which a bomber navigator could calculate the position of the aircraft by observing the time taken to receive pulse signals from three different ground stations. Its main drawback was the limited range of 400 miles. See also OBOE.

GLCM	Ground-launched cruise missile

Gp

Group

Gp Capt.

Group Captain

HAS	Hardened Aircraft Shelter

HCU	Heavy Conversion Unit

HD	Home Defence

ICBM	Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

IRBM	Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

K site

Dummy airfield for day use, with dummy aircraft and mock buildings (See also QL and Q site).

LG	Landing Ground

Met.	RAF abbreviation for meteorological

MRAF	Marshal of the Royal Air Force

NATO	North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NHER	Norfolk Historic Environment Record

NLG	Night Landing Ground

NWT	Norfolk Wildlife Trust

OBOE

Aerial blind bombing targeting system introduced in December 1942. This consisted of a pair of radio transmitting stations on the ground (a ‘mouse’ and a ‘cat’) that sent a radar pulse to an aircraft to be re-transmitted. The bombs or markers were released at the point of intersection with another beam from a second ground station. For example, the station at Winterton-on-Sea represented the ‘cat’, with Kingsdown in Kent the ‘mouse’. As with GEE, the main weakness of Oboe was its limited range due to the earth’s curvature.

OCU	Operational Conversion Unit

Orlit post

Royal Observer Corps post in the Cold War named after the manufacturer. A concrete and rectangular structure designed for early warning observation of enemy aircraft. Type A stood at ground level and Type B was raised on 4ft 6in concrete legs with a wide metal ladder for access.

OS	Ordnance Survey

PFF	Pathfinder Force

Plt Off.

Pilot Officer

PRU	Photographic Reconnaissance Unit

Q site

Dummy airfield for night use with lights to resemble flarepaths and other features of an active airfield.

QL site

Decoy site electrically powered and often associated with Starfish sites as urban decoys. (See also K site).

RAAF	Royal Australian Air Force

RCAF	Royal Canadian Air Force

RCM	Radio countermeasures

RDF	Radio Direction Finding (later radar) see also CH; CHL; GCI

RFC	Royal Flying Corps

Rhubarb

Fighter or fighter-bomber sweep at low level over the English Channel to enemy territory to seek out targets of opportunity on the ground.

RNAS	Royal Naval Air Service

RNZAF

Royal New Zealand Air Force

ROC	Royal Observer Corps. See also Orlit post.

Rotor

Term used to describe the upgrading of the UK radar coverage in the early 1950s in response to the threat from Soviet bombers. It was to enhance the reporting (early warning) element of...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.11.2017
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Luftfahrt / Raumfahrt
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Luft- / Raumfahrttechnik
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft
• Schlagworte: Aircraft • airfields • aviation heritage • aviation history|Norfolk & Suffolk • Churches • Country Houses • decoy airfields • former radar stations • highly secretive sites • In the air • local pubs • Memorials • military aviation • Museums • norfolk airfields • Norfolk & Suffolk, Norfolk and Suffolk, military aviation, notable landmarks, airfields, former radar stations, decoy airfields, highly secretive sites, top secret sites, churches, memorials, museums, country houses, local pubs, streets, village signs, OS grid references, reference guide, in the air • Norfolk and Suffolk • norfolk churches • norfolk country houses • norfolk pubs • norfolk war graves • notable landmarks • on the ground • on the ground, suffolk airfields, norfolk airfields, suffolk war graves, norfolk war graves, suffolk churches, suffolk pubs, suffolk country houses, norfolk churches, norfolk pubs, norfolk country houses, aviation heritage, aircraft • on the ground, suffolk airfields, norfolk airfields, suffolk war graves, norfolk war graves, suffolk churches, suffolk pubs, suffolk country houses, norfolk churches, norfolk pubs, norfolk country houses, aviation heritage, aircraft, aviation history • OS grid references • reference guide • Streets • suffolk airfields • suffolk churches • suffolk country houses • suffolk pubs • suffolk war graves • top secret sites • village signs
• ISBN-10: 0-7509-8655-7 / 0750986557
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7509-8655-7 / 9780750986557