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RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 2:06 pm
by Pilotdreamer
Does anybody know if Stirlings were broken up at Woburn or is it just a myth.

Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:33 pm
by halifax1
It seems so - in Stirling in Combat (Falconer) he says ......"towards the Wars end Woburn Park was scheduled to receive some 174 Stirings. The breaking up and scrapping of these began with the return to peace until May 11947 when the RAF finally left Woburn Park".

Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:15 am
by Pilotdreamer
It is interesting to see on google earth,s time line which is supposed to go back to 1945 there is no sighn of any landing strips or aircraft in the Woburn Park area,could it be that this is a later photo?, but if scrapping was going on on a large scale there,there must have been some trace of it years later.It makes me sad to think of it,but to scrap nearly 200 Stirlings could not have been the work of five minutes.

Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:31 am
by K4KittyCrew
These details come from ...............http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&sourc ... bznRD6pO0w

John

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Woburn Park Bedfordshire
1930's

Originally built for the use of Mary, the (Flying) Duchess of Bedford, in the 1930's. Commandeered by the RAF as No. 34 Satellite Landing Ground it was the largest ground of all. The landing strip ran uphill to the west of the Abbey from the lake at the south end of the Park. In 1941 Spitfires were housed here later followed by Halifaxes, Stirlings and the occasional Lancaster.
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Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 2:38 pm
by Pilotdreamer
Is there some one still alive who can actually say they scrapped a Stirling?

Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Tue May 04, 2021 8:38 pm
by Flying Blunty
Pilotdreamer wrote: Tue Dec 28, 2010 2:38 pm Is there some one still alive who can actually say they scrapped a Stirling?
It may be long overdue and the original poster of the question may not even be still on the forum to read the answer, however, having read this thread following a search on Woburn Park, I can tell you that my uncle, Rex, was indeed posted there, scrapping Stirlings. Now 93 years old he is still alive and very much kicking having completed many further tours and retired as a WO.
Fresh out of training in 1946 on his first posting he initially reported to Brize Norton, where he was offered Chipping Warden or Woburn Sands and chose the latter, because he thought that he would be near the sea!! On arrival at Woburn Sands train station he asked how far away was the beach, to be told over 60 miles! He says there were about 30 RAF personnel based there in a Nissan hut and the airman's mess was a converted very large wooden packing case. One of the hangars previously used for the Duchess of Bedford's aircraft was set up as their workshop and their primary role was to remove all the military equipment from the scrapped aircraft before the fuselage was dismantled by Austin car workers and loaded onto Queen Mary low loaders for transport to be recycled. He also remembers at weekends they would all pile into the only vehicle, an ambulance and head down to the pub at Toddington, where the Land Army girls were stationed!
Flying continued at Woburn after the war as the venue for the annual de Havilland Moth club air rally and the most recent vintage flying rally was held there in 2018. Hope that ties up a loose end that has been open on here for the last ten years. :)

Re: RAF Woburn Park

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 5:00 pm
by jamesinnewcastle
Hi

Have a look at a Google Map view of Woburn. You'll spot the runway soon enough. Interestingly there are huge trees along each side of it and it crosses a public road. I understand the road had to be closed when the Stirlings arrived. The trees are not that far apart and it must have been quite tricky to land.


James