Page 22 • The HERALD • 18th April 2024 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v PVCu FASCIAS & GUTTERING CLEANING SERVICE Gutters checked for leaks and repaired Also new installations Driveway, Patio and Decking Cleaning and Restoration Service Very reliable and fully insured Good Rates and Professional Service Special Rates for OAP’s Call us now for a free quote Holbury 07884 112416 New Forest Scaffolding All aspects of scaffolding undertaken • Extensions • Chimneys • Re-Roofing • New Builds etc For a friendly, local, reliable service and a free quotation Telephone: 07734 476855 www.newforestscaffolding.co.uk Full Liability Insurance Lychette Cottage, Roughdown, Blackfield SO45 1XG Internal & External Decorating Wallpapering & Dustless Sanding FULLY INSURED PROFESSIONAL PAINTER & DECORATOR MARK 1 PROPERTY MAINTENANCE HANNAH’S ELECTRICS Your Local Female Electrician NEED AN ELECTRICIAN? From simple upgrades to complete house re-wiring - and everything in-between, Hannah’s Electrics is the perfect choice. A trusted tradeswoman with sensible rates covering Southampton, New Forest & Waterside areas CONTACT HANNAH 07585 778136 W: www.hannahs-electrics.co.uk • E: hannahelectrics@gmail.com Like us on Facebook The next Herald is out on 9th May RAF Fawley: The Airfield That Never Was by Marc Heighway Marc hosts monthly local history talks, visit: nfhwa.org/events for details. I’ve been researching the history of the New Forest’s wartime air elds for several years, and my research occasionally turns up something unexpected. One of the more interesting documents I’ve seen in archives is a plan for an air eld being built during the Second World War, positioned just south of Fawley and Black eld, near the Langley area. When war broke out in 1939, only nine air elds in Britain had hard concrete runways. Most air elds available to the RAF had grass runways, which meant they were totally unsuitable for heavy and medium range bombers that would soon be called into action. To overcome this, the Air Ministry started to look for sites across the south coast where new air elds could be constructed to support the war e ort. Many air elds were subsequently built in the New Forest area to help with WW2, some had concrete runways, and some had temporary steel mesh laid over grass. e larger air elds with the concrete runways had familiar names such as Beaulieu, Holmsley South, Hurn, Ibsley, and Stoney Cross. In 1940, representatives from the Air Ministry came to the Waterside to survey the area. At the top of the article, you can see where I’ve drawn over a Google map to help orientate you as to where it would have been. Had it been constructed, there would have been two runways, intersecting as a cross shape. Dependent on the wind, aircra would have used one or the other. Given that the proposed air eld Fawley airfield 1940 country by the end of the war, all of varying types and sizes. ey have le a lasting legacy on the Forest, with RAF Beaulieu being the biggest one nearest to the Waterside area. It appears that the local area was still in the minds of the Air Ministry a er the war. I have a copy of a 1955 Air Ministry data sheet that shows a spot labelled as Fawley air eld. But this time, it’s in a di erent place, just west of Hardley and Holbury, on Beaulieu Heath south of Dibden Purlieu and near Hill Top. e 1955 document has more information than the 1940 proposal and shows how it was to be a landing ground without concrete runways. at means it could have been either grass, or an area with steel mesh laid down. It also says, “POT”, could that mean “potential”? I don’t know for sure, but we know that Fawley air eld was never built, whether in wartime or 1955. Whilst it’s early days going down this rabbit hole of research I’ve uncovered, it appears that the area that stretches from Langley up to the Waterside area of the New Forest, was earmarked as a possible location for an air eld, both during the war, and in the post-war period. And that air eld, if built, possibly would have been called RAF Fawley… and the Waterside would have been very di erent in wartime! was never constructed, I have to assume that the site was deemed unsuitable or other sites were considered as better options. If the airfield near Fawley had been built, it might have been called RAF Fawley as that was the largest nearby area. Or perhaps it could have been named RAF Black eld or RAF Langley. I don’t know at this point and will continue to see if more documents come to light. Come the end of 1942, ten air elds were being built a week in the UK, resulting in more than 600 airfields in the The Red Arrows Totton South u3a will receive a presentation by Colin Van Ge en on ‘ e Red Arrows’ – selection and training at Colbury Memorial Hall on 19th April at 2pm. Anyone interested in joining TSu3a can go along to a general meeting at Colbury Memorial Hall on the 3rd Friday of the month at 1.30pm as a visitor or to the Co ee and Quiz mornings on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday morning of the month commencing 10am at Hanger Farm Arts Centre. For more information please visit: https://u3asites.org.uk/totton-south/home or text the TSu3a mobile: 07305 178402.
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