York Stories

Crumbling concrete to Portland Stone

Lisa @YorkStories — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:40:45 +0000

Today saw the unveiling of a memorial to Bomber Command, to men who lost their lives around 70 years ago, during the Second World War. Some readers will be fully aware why it’s taken so long to erect this memorial, and why Bomber Command’s wartime role was, still is, controversial. The controversy, and the suffering – on both sides – is clearly and thoughtfully presented on the BBC website: Bomber Command fliers in their own words.

The memorial is in London, so its unveiling today isn’t in an obvious way a York story. Though the York Press brought to our attention the case of a veteran of Bomber Command, from nearby Tadcaster, who had been unable to get tickets for the event.

The comments under the story illustrated that the debate continues.

Some refer to them as ‘the heroes of Bomber Command’. Others argue that there’s nothing heroic in bombing civilians. It has to be said that I’ve never heard these men refer to themselves as heroes. They were just doing their job.

They were young, shockingly young in many cases. They saw horrific things. Around half of Bomber Command lost their lives – those who survived lost many friends. The memorial at last acknowledges them and the colleagues they lost.

I’ve wondered if the discomfort and controversy over the role of Bomber Command is why it wasn’t thought appropriate to preserve the former hostel buildings behind the Art Gallery (pictured left), where many of the men who flew the bombers lodged. Perhaps if Spitfire pilots had stayed there it would have been different.

There were many airfields around York, making this a local issue. Elvington (home of the Yorkshire Air Museum) is well-known. Other airfields are forgotten now.

Elvington’s air museum may be a little too militaristic for some. At East Moor and Tholthorpe and many other locations throughout our county there are bits of old runway and peripheral concrete and old airfield buildings crumbling away, poignant and quiet. I’ve visited many of them, cycled to them and walked around them.

Even if we remain ambivalent, and don’t want to call those men heroes, we can recognise the suffering they endured, as well as the suffering they inflicted. There is, after all, no ‘morality’ in war.

‘Most people accept these men were asked to do terrible things and endure terrible things’
– Patrick Bishop

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Bomber crew memorial, Fulford

Lisa @YorkStories — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:55 +0000

2011

During the years of the Second World War, when York was surrounded by airfields, aircraft crashes were common, as the many memorials testify.

A memorial on Fulford golf course, not far from the university buildings at Heslington, remembers the crew who were killed in one of the many crashes of the Second World War. The crash involved a Halifax bomber from Elvington, heading for Le Cruesot in France, and took place just after take-off, at 10.06pm on 19 June 1943.

The yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk website has in-depth background on this crash, and includes the list of names on the memorial.

Beyond the outer ring road, Yorkshire has many more memorials close to the sites of the airfields constructed during the war years, or in villages where bombers came down during take-off or on return.

You may also be interested in …

Chocolate and Chicory — Buy now, immediate download from gumroad.com

Chocolate and Chicory: York and beyond, by bicycle. My ebook includes further information on the airfields around York, and mapped cycle routes from York visiting some of them. Chocolate and Chicory is an exploration of the local landscape, its stories and histories, via themed journeys along the cycle tracks outside the city walls and the country lanes beyond the ring road. Can also be enjoyed from the comfort of your sofa. Read more …

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The women of the WAAF, Yorkshire memorial

Lisa @YorkStories — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:55 +0000

2011

This memorial at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington is dedicated to ‘Members of the Women’s Auxilliary Air Force who died in service in Yorkshire during WWII.’ It lists the names of 24 women, based at airfields including nearby Marston Moor, Acaster Malbis and Riccall. (Larger image)

Included in the list are:

ACW2 Marguerite H Hudson was killed in the air raid on Driffield on 15 August 1940. She was 19 years old, and the first WAAF to be killed in the war.

ACW2 Jean Scargill was working as a driver and was killed when her truck was hit by a Halifax bomber at Marston Moor, on 8 July 1943. She was 20 years old.

LACW Nellie Griffiths, aged 35, was killed in the crash of Albermarle V1762 near Sherburn in Elmet on 21 Oct 1944.

Thanks to Rich Allenby for the additional information.

(Note on acronyms: ACW2 = Aircraftwoman 2nd Class, LACW = Leading Aircraftwoman)

Memories of a member of the WAAF, at Marston Moor

Catherine Horne served with the WAAF from 1942 to 1946. Her memories are worth reading in full via the link below, as are the many memories recorded in this BBC archive. But the following lines need quoting, in particular.

I was posted to the Sergeants Mess [I had opted to be a cook] at a place called Marston Moor. I wasn’t there long when the first 1000 bomber raid took place. I can remember being recalled to help cook the meals for the returning air crew. This was the first time I saw men cry.

Catherine Horne, WW2 People’s War, BBC archive

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East Moor airfield

Lisa @YorkStories — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:00:56 +0000

2010

After I included a page with a photo of the Aldborough memorial I had an email from a lady in Canada whose brother had been one of the crew who died on that training flight. She was only ten when he died. Like so many other Canadian airmen who came to this country during the war, he was based at one of our Yorkshire airfields, here at East Moor, close to Sutton on the Forest.

The control tower is usually the most obvious building on these old airfields, but East Moor’s has been demolished. Peripheral airfield buildings remain, some hidden in the trees, some maintained and still used by local farmers and businesses. Many of the runways have been removed, but from the road skirting the southern part of the airfield this round area of hardstanding is still obvious, with an old piece of farm machinery left where the bombers once stood.

Lumps of concrete with iron attachments are also obvious – old aircraft tie-downs.

In the weeds nearby, more recent debris – takeaway wrappers bearing a familiar logo. In the war years, young men who had already travelled miles from their homeland assembled here, night after night, to climb into those massive heavy bombers, not knowing if they’d make it back.

In our more carefree age, we drive by on our own smaller journeys, tucking into a burger, chucking the wrapper out of the car window. Still brightly bearing the slogan ‘Going that extra mile’, it settles in the weeds at the edge of this forgotten runway.

During the Second World War, Yorkshire was home to around 40 airfields, many in the flat areas of the Vale of York. Thousands of airmen died flying from the Yorkshire airfields, many lost on training flights, because of weather conditions or aircraft malfunction. In recent decades memorials have been placed at some of these crash sites, and also close to former airfields (including this one, see East Moor airfield memorial).

You may also be interested in …

Chocolate and Chicory — Buy now, immediate download from gumroad.com

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Riccall airfield memorial, Skipwith Common

Lisa @YorkStories — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:00:44 +0000

September 2010

This memorial is a recent addition, dedicated in May 2010. Like the earlier memorials at Tholthorpe, East Moor, Wombleton and other locations in Yorkshire and across the country, it stands as a reminder of a former airfield, constructed in the 1940s as part of a massive war effort. The propellor used in the memorial sculpture was donated by the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington.

More information

Spitfire marks opening on National Nature Reserve (NNR) at Skipwith Common – York Press

England’s newest nature reserve cleared for take-off – Natural England website

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Wombleton airfield memorial

Lisa @YorkStories — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:00:37 +0000

September 2010

Taking the road north from the village of Nunnington, you might notice an old control tower in the flat lands on your left as you get close to Wombleton. Sections of old runway are also visible. Turn left again and head for Harome and you’re on the other side of the airfield built here in the 1940s.

On the verge is a memorial dedicated to the Canadian air force (RCAF) who formed No.6 Group, and to ‘the men and women of the RAF and WAAF who served at Wombleton’. The carving on the stone reflects the airfield’s role as a base for Heavy Conversion Units (HCU) 1666 and 1679, which used the airfield to train crews to fly heavy bombers.

The memorial was dedicated in May 2001. The plaque records that ‘the people of Ryedale express their sincere thanks’ to those who served, ‘giving their youth, and time, and in many instances, their lives’.

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