Interesting BoB photo
 

Hi All

Found this photo whilst searching the net.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~no...2-603-spit.jpg

(from http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~no...l/spitfire.htm).

The interesting point is the steam (traction?) engine in the background.

I assume it was used as a road roller to flatten any filled in damage on the airfields or tarmac? Did they roll the ground to keep it flat as possible as Hornchurch was only a grass airfield?

The thought that came to mind was that it would have been very interesting trundling along in a steam roller at 8 mph when an air raid was on! :shock:

Cheers

Andrew

Good story mate, thank you.

Cool Story Bro!

a great shot,i lived in hornchurch for my first 24 years ,the part of the airfield pictured is still there,but looks a lot different,never really thought about that but reckon the two runways were rolled,but it did recieve bomb damage so could be for that too

the cogs in my head are turning now,your name,its motto,are you from hornchurch ?

@Davedog74

Bingo! Indeed I am.

The "airfield" (what was left of it) was my playground in my younger years.

The country park is great for unwinding.

Hornchurch was the second most bombed airfield in fighter command during the battle (behind Biggin Hill) so I am sure there were a lot of holes to fill!

Cheers

Andrew

i thought so,yep used to camp out,airgun fights etc,over there,ii went to abbs cross,lived in warren drive,devonshire rd,still got pals there,have you been to the aa gun site near moby dick,chadwell heath ?if you havnt,take a look,and purfleet museum,go on the right day and you can meet pilots and ground crew.

Sanders for me.

Never knew about the aa gun site (fascinating link on the Barking & Dagenham website about it and its' listing). Thanks! Looks like an island on Google maps with all the gravel extraction around it!

Been to Purfleet many times and met many of the veterans. Strangely, a man that used to sell insurance to my parents was a fitter for 54 sqn. and we never knew until we saw him on an open day!

Duxford Flying Legends has been great for meeting the veterans. Nice to have met some of the "other side" such as Gunther Rall as well.

Cheers

Andrew

purfleet is a good little place,v,interesting yes,the barracks has been excavated(found 1000kg bomb) its all fenced off now but have a chat with the guys there and they might let u have a butchers,i think they have open days,i took shots but doesnt do it justice.

have you got the richard smith hornchurch books?

Yes, the vehicle shown is indeed a steam-roller, as opposed to a steam traction-engine which is a different beast altogether. Traction is the key word, as the smooth-wheeled 'roller' couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding :) It was very effective at compacting infilled bomb-craters though.

Steam-powered vehicles were still common in this era. Steam traction engines were used to power threshing machines at harvest times - and usually towed these threshers from farm to farm. When I was young it was still possible to find signs where road-bridges crossed railways, warning of the maximum speed for 'locomotives' crossing the bridge. I think they were limited to 4 miles per hour.

@Davedog74

Thanks for the picture. Shame it is in such disrepair. It needs some replica guns to show the context and hopefully it will get some support as it seems there is a "ZE1" support group in the area (according to the council website).

The google maps satellite image shows it in much better shape undergrowth wise - looks like green grass not brambles!

@brando

Thanks for the clarification - was surprised that steam was still in use on a modern airfield - would have expected a roller pulled by a truck or similar.

I will not go down the route of asking for steam rollers in SoW - can you imagine the flame wars about the wrong type of steam or Arkwrights grundle whatsit :grin:

When I was a kid in London there were still plenty of steam-rollers in evidence, and there were even a few used on the construction of the M1 in the early 60's. The most common type was built by a firm called Aveling & Porter.

Steam propulsion was perhaps more universal than you think. As well as rollers and traction engines there were many hundreds of steam lorries on the roads in the Thirties and Forties. Google "steam lorries" to see just how widespread the network was.

It was in fact the post-war availibility of secondhand army transport that ended the reign of steam on Britain's roads. While the "wrong kind of steam" might be a nit-picker's factor, the presence of Sentinel or Foden steam lorries on the London streets would be entirely correct. All the major railway companies had fleets of them at their London goods termini. They were certainly much more widespread and numerous than petrol or diesel-driven goods vehicles.

google photo was taken close to an open day i reckon,and the fact its fenced off is a good sign. so your pic,do u you know what part of hornchurch were looking at?

@brando

Thanks again for the insights. No one better than a first hand witness.

Once again war brings the new technology - good or bad.

@Davedog74

You sound like me - trying to fit the pictures into the current views - always seem to be looking for St. Georges smoke stack!

We are in luck! The source photo which led me to the internet search is from Flypast's current issue Bob supplement (p74 & p75).

The picture is shown in full (the image I linked to is cropped - the left of the image is only shown). To the right is a perimeter track, firing butts and the all important smoke stack. I would guess it was taken around where the lake is now next to the Ingrebourne.

BTW - I do have the Richard Smith books - a definite labour of love. John Gill is the fitter I mentioned earlier.

the same photo is in second to none p80,with a present day comparison p156 walk from e pen car park round to the left follow past where trim mile was for about 200 yards,turn round towards car park and thats the shot,looking from spit dispersal over to blenheim dispersal,there is a bit of original peri track parallel to current path,i thought firing butts were on the other side ,where the landfill is,past tit lake.those books answered a lot of questions from when i was a kid,i had hornchurch offensive signed by a 603 squadron pilot who has sadly passed away.isnt mr gill something to do with the hornchurch wing,the country park ranger is john,hes good for a chat,told me every now and then a tractor would go over a bit of grass and the ground would sink revealing a dome shaped deppression,a lot of locals say hornchurch was an underground base he wont let me over there with a metal detector though(not that i have ever used one)would be nice to get some bits for purfleet .

We must have been at the same signings.

I have assumed that the firing butts were the brick walls with the supports. I have seen pictures of a similar structure near to one of the hangars (probably the tit lake one you mentioned).

Not sure what people meant by an underground base? There are some underground control rooms near to where the guard house was - all filled in with bits of concrete when we were kids.

i think the structure in question is a blast wall,for the building behind it,t.v program, two men in a trench did a show there,as you probably know,they found 303 shells from firing butt area ,but speaking to john,he said they had to go through 2 metres of 70s landfill to get to them,and the local kids terrorised the security for the set overnight.