Alton BARNES
In 1935, the Central Flying School at Upavon identified an area of land near to Alton Barnes as a suitable site for practising forced landings. The site eventually encompassed 200.282 acres of gently undulating downland. Following an initial trial in August of that year, the site was put into use and soon became a second home to the Avro 504N biplanes of the CFS. At this early stage it had no infrastructure aside from a windsock. The airfield was situated to the south of the Devizes Road, and in between the villages of Stanton St Bernard on its west, with Alton Barnes to the east, just outside of the boundary. On its southern edge the airfield was enclosed by the Kennet and Avon canal, while just to the north rose 294-ft Milk Hill with its well-known 19th century white horse cut into the chalk downland on its south-facing slope. The latter made an ideal homing point for pupils who had lost their way.
(Left) - A wartime overhead of the Alton Barnes RLG, with the Kennet & Avon canal snaking its way along the southern edge of the aerodrome. The landing strip was bounded by the canal on one side; the road leading through Honey Street and Alton Barnes villages on the east; that through Stanton St Bernard on the west; and the main Alton Barnes - Devizes road at its northern edge. In this photograph the array of Over and Extra-Over blister hangars can be seen, located around the edges of the RLG. The main technical site was built in the south-eastern corner of the site, near to the village of Honey Street.
Inevitably there were accidents, and one of the first occurred on 17th March 1936, when CFS Avro 504N K2350 landed short and overturned. The Wiltshire Gazette of 19th March, beneath the headline “Aeroplane Down at Alton” described the events in lurid prose,
Two Royal Air Force sergeants had a narrow escape when an aeroplane in which they were [travelling] struck a small tree and turned turtle in landing at Alton Barnes on Tuesday afternoon. Happily, both men – Sergeants Francis and Upton, of the Central Flying School, Upavon – came through the mishap without a scratch.
The ‘plane was landing in a field frequently used by RAF pilots to practise emergency descent, and the villagers, accustomed to the coming and going of the machines, took no particular notice of it until they heard the crash as it landed. It was the lower wing of the machine which struck a tree, about six feet high, and caused the plane to swing round and tip over. It came to rest upside down, on the top wing and tail, with its wheels in the air.
Fortunately the occupants were strapped in, otherwise they would have been thrown out and probably severely injured. As it was, their straps held them, with about a foot clearance between their heads and the ground, when the machine came to rest, and they were able to release themselves and scramble out. Fortunately there was no leakage of petrol.
Villagers hurried to the scene upon hearing the crash, but found the men had extricated themselves from the ‘plane only a little shaken by their experience. A relief party was sent from Upavon, and was quickly on the spot. A good deal of amusement was caused when the lorry and trailer bringing the party became ‘bogged’ in an adjacent field, but it was quickly hauled from the mud.
The machine was an Avro instructional ‘plane of an old type. The propeller was smashed and the undercarriage damaged. It is unlikely to take the air again.”
The CFS replaced its Avro 504s with Avro Tutors during 1937 and these then became the staple of the Alton Barnes circuit until 1940. With war looking inevitable, in August of 1939 the site was requisitioned by the Air Ministry for use as a fully equipped Relief Landing Ground for Upavon - previously it had remained the property of the landowner, who had been paid rent to keep it clear of livestock during daylight hours. Concurrent with the outbreak of war, the white horse on Milk Hill was concealed to remove what would have been a useful sighting point for Luftwaffe bombers. Sadly, the white horse would also have been a useful homing point for young flying trainees.
During the night of 14th September 1940 a German bomber dropped three bombs on the RLG, but no damage appears to have been done.
Despite a number of accidents at the Alton Barnes RLG from 1936 onwards, none had been fatal until 18th June 1941, when Miles Master III W8477 of the CFS collided with Oxford N6365 whilst landing. The pupil in the Master, P Off Kenneth James Holmes (26) was killed, his instructor, Fg Off Phillip C Price, being rescued and taken to the hospital at RAF Yatesbury with injuries. The instructor in the Oxford, P Off Arthur Gibbons (24) and his pupil, Sgt Kenneth Oswald Bate (20) were also killed.
(Above) - A photo taken at the wedding of Kenneth James Holmes and his bride Mary at St Andrew's in Chippenham. L-R: Philip Price (best man and only survivor of the crash of Master III W8477 of the CFS); Kenneth James Holmes; Mary Holmes; Mary’s mother and father (who owned The George Hotel in Chippenham and look less happy than the couple). Today Kenneth Holmes is remembered on the war memorial which stands opposite from where this photo was taken. (John Bulmer)
Another fatal accident occurred less than three months later, on 4th September 1941 when CFS
Miles Master W8472 stalled during a turn onto approach to the RLG and dived into the ground.
The crash took the lives of Sqn Ldr Wilfred Bennett Beale (53) and P Off George Henry Brown, his
pupil. Born in Leicester on 8th June 1898, Wilfred Beale had flown with the RFC in World War I and
joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with 605 Squadron in the 1930s. Sqn Ldr Beale was gazetted
for an Air Force Cross three weeks after his death.
The CFS ceased using Alton Barnes on 8th September 1941.
It has been reported that the Thruxton-based Glider Pilot Exercise Unit (GPEU) had a light glider
flight based at Alton Barnes in late 1943, but the unit’s records do not support this: GPEU only
had one Landing Ground – Shrewton – in use during this period, as did its successor, the Operational & Refresher Training Unit. It is however likely that both units’ Miles Master tugs were visitors to Alton Barnes.
At the end of 1941 Alton Barnes was transferred to 29 EFTS at Clyffe Pypard, and work commenced to upgrade it to full RLG standard. Construction of buildings then began, with these situated in the south-eastern corner of the airfield and including a Sergeants and Officers Mess building, watch tower, Link trainer building and flight offices. Wooden huts were also constructed, to house up to 130 personnel.
There were nominally three runways, running north-south (820 yards), east-west (870 yards) and northeast-southwest (1100 yards maximum). In addition, four Extra-Over blister hangars were sited around the camp, along with six standard Over blister hangars. The Over blister hangar was 65 ft wide at its base, and 45 ft long, while Extra Over was 69 ft wide but the same length. A number of brick-built pillboxes were also constructed, three along the Devizes road and three facing the canal to the south. Defences were subsequently strengthened with gun positions around the perimeter of the airfield. There were 24 aircraft dispersals, laid with Somerfield matting and these were on the south and south-western sides of the RLG. The site reopened for flying on 3rd June 1942 when 29 EFTS upgraded to six Flights, with two Flights operating from Alton Barnes.
(Left) - An unidentified 29 EFTS Tiger Moth at Alton Barnes, circa 1944. This view is looking toward the northwest, with Milk Hill in the background.
With the site becoming more permanent in nature, a series of purchases were made of the land from those holding tenure. In 1942, 115.6 acres belonging to Manor Farm at Stanton St Bernard were bought from Mrs Nosworthy, plus 72.457 acres at Alton Priors Farm previously owned by New College, Oxford. Later, in December 1944, 12.05 acres were purchased from Mrs Margaret Lane and the following year a
further 0.075 acres from New College. The RLG was then wholly-owned by the Air Ministry.
Night flying was also now possible, and manned gooseneck flares were positioned atop Milk Hill for this purpose. On the night of 16th/17th April 1942 these drew unwanted attention when aircraft (thought to be ‘friendlies’ from an RAF OTU) dropped a number of small flash bombs, which narrowly missed the personnel guarding the flares. During the winter of 1943/44, to counter waterlogging on the RLG, Somerfield matting was laid to form a perimeter track, and linking the aircraft dispersals.
Another accident near to Alton Barnes occurred in the afternoon of 29th September 1943, when a Wellington from No.11 OTU at Westcott caught fire and crashed during a forced landing at Allington, 3 miles to the west of Alton Barnes. The ambulance from the RLG attended the scene and transferred the injured to the RAF Station Hospital at Yatesbury, but three of the crew (the Wireless Operator Sgt WJ Southern, Bomb Aimer Sgt JM Underwood and Gunner Sgt WH Evans, were killed). The pilot, FS Hall, suffered multiple injuries, Sgt Glover the 1st Navigator was severely burnt about the hands and the 2nd Navigator, Sgt Scott escaped with minor bruises.
(Above) - These rare post-war views of the Alton Barnes RLG show at left a re-purposed Extra-Over hangar and at right, the technical site buildings which skirted the road towards Honey Street.
Early in 1944, an event occurred at Alton Barnes, which has since passed into Air Force folklore with an almost mythical status. In a November 1957 letter to Flight magazine, ex- 29 EFTS instructor Douglas R Bevis described it thus,
“I saw a Tiger flown through a blister hangar without touching the sides, at Alton Barnes early in 1944. The curtains were open, of course, but there was very little room to spare. The pilot, who was instructing there at the time, had just been told that he was posted!”
Sadly, this brave (foolish?) pilot has thus far evaded identification. Around the time of this incident, during April 1944, Flt Lt William Arnott, AFC arrived from 10 FIS at Woodley to become Alton Barnes’ first official CO.
On 25th October 1944, Armstrong-Whitworth Albemarle glider tug V1755 from 22 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit departed at RAF Keevil, heading eastwards with a Horsa glider in tow. As the two aircraft approached Alton Barnes, the glider pilot lost sight of the Albemarle and unintentionally began to pass above the tow plane. This then caused the tow cable to pull the tail of the Albemarle upwards, forcing it into a dive at low level, from which its pilot was unable to recover. The Albemarle dived into the ground 300 yards southeast of the Alton Barnes RLG, killing both its crew, pilot FS Thomas Christopher Newton (23) and Sgt John Albert Cotton Wilson (20), whose bodies were recovered from the canal. The Horsa had meanwhile broken away and landed safely at Alton Barnes. It was eventually towed out of the airfield by a Whitley. No.22 HGCU had only been in existence for ten days at the time of the accident.
Following the end of the war, 29 EFTS was reduced in size and the need for the Alton Barnes RLG no longer existed. On 7th July 1945 the Tiger Moths were flown back to Clyffe Pypard and two days later the RLG was closed. It was placed under Care and Maintenance, with a small on-site party remaining until 18th October 1945 when this group was withdrawn and thereafter the airfield was subject to inspection twice per week.
(Above) - This annotated 1944 airfield map shows the siting of 'Over' blister hangars (coloured green) and Extra-Over (coloured orange) around the site. Surviving (as of 2016) structures include three gun posts at the northern extremity of the site (one is incorrectly depicted on the map, being north of the Devizes road); and the Link Trainer building. The site of a memorial tablet is also shown, It is mounted above the doorway to the only other surviving structure, an air raid shelter.
By October 1945, the Air Ministry had divided up the Alton Barnes Landing Ground to local farmers, with John Wilford Nosworthy leasing 125 acres of the western and southern part of the site that had previously been owned as part of his family’s Manor Farm. Arthur Guy Stratton gained the north-eastern part of the Landing Ground, previously owned by New College, and which comprised most of the remaining buildings. This part totalled an area of 68 acres. Until 1947 overall ownership was with the Air Ministry, still as a forced landing ground, though seemingly unused. The hutted camp on the east side of the airfield, along with four remaining blister hangars, was placed on loan to the Ministry of Supply at an initial rent of £466, 10 shillings a year.
Sometime around October of 1947 the area was made available for unrestricted agriculture. On 19th April 1949 the whole airfield area was placed under the control of the Agricultural Land Commission, but still let to the original tenants. It would seem that circa 1955 the airfield, with the exception of a 4.9-acre area in the hutted camp, was sold to the farmers who were at that time letting the site.
The hutted camp remained in Government ownership (and used as accommodation by the Proof and Experimental Establishment) until 1961. The following year plans were made to return this part also. It was recommended that the land be offered first to its original owners (Mrs Lane and New College), with a total value at that time of £4100. Neither party eventually proceeded with a purchase and so the land was sold in two lots at auction by Ferris & Culverwell of Devizes. Lot 1, the northern part of the site, comprised two hangars, four nissen huts, four rendered and asbestos huts, plus other items of infrastructure. Lot 2 to the south comprised seven large huts, four smaller huts, a pump house and garage.
Nowadays, only one building remains on site – the old Link Trainer hut. A few pillboxes and one air raid shelter also survive.
(Above) - Alton Barnes 2015: at left is the surviving Link Trainer building, with the Alton Barnes white horse visible on the hillside at right. The right-hand image is of the memorial tablet, erected by the Wiltshire Heritage Museum Society to remember the landing ground and those who died there.
Aside from the accidents mentioned above, the following aircraft were lost at Alton Barnes in non-fatal crashes:
Avro 504N? struck hedge circa January 1936 and wrecked
Tutor K3238 of CFS crashed on take-off 28th April 1939
Tutor K3240 of CFS crashed on overshoot 28th April 1939
Tutor K3406 of CFS hit pillbox on approach 25th September 1940
Oxford P1081 of CFS crashed on approach 4th February 1941
Tutor K3236 of CFS hit wires on approach and crashed 23rd May 1941
Master W8438 of CFS bounced on landing, stalled and hit ground 21st June 1941
Tutor K4828 of CFS crashed on landing 28th June 1941
Tiger Moth BB734 of 29 EFTS crashed 4th June 1942 (repaired)
Proctor of 2 Radio School collided (on ground?) with 29 EFTS Tiger Moth
Tiger Moth T6021 of 29 EFTS hit hangar on landing Alton Barnes 14th September 1944
A brief mention should also be made of the site at Manningford, which was another airstrip used by 29 EFTS.
Situated on Manningford Bohune Common, the Manningford Relief Landing Ground was 3½ miles southeast of Alton Barnes and 8 miles south-southwest of Marlborough in Wiltshire. The site was very basic in nature, encompassing an area of farmland that was part of Mullen’s Farm. As such, it had no buildings and just a single windsock, with a white cross marked on the grass landing area.
The Manningford RLG came into use in September 1939, when the Central Flying School at nearby Upavon began flying its Avro Tutors there. With the disbandment of the CFS on 1st April 1942, its replacement at Upavon, No.1 Flying Instructors School took over use of the RLG, initially operating Miles Master trainers, but from August of that year these were replaced with Magisters, which also became a common sight at Manningford. From 7th December 1943, 7 FIS ceased using the site.
Apparently at some point during the war, a Douglas Boston landed on the RLG following technical problems. It was damaged on landing but was repaired and later departed safely by air.
In the meantime, from 21st November 1942, 29 EFTS at Clyffe Pypard began using the airfield, at the time being equipped with Tiger Moths and Magisters. It is not known when the unit ceased to use the site, though it is possible that it was still in use until the end of operations by 29 EFTS in 1947.
From May 1946, Tiger Moth-equipped 2 EFTS at Yatesbury started operating its aircraft from Manningford, and continued to do so until April 1947, at which time the land reverted to agricultural use.
The Manningford RLG saw more than its fair share of accidents, of which the following are just a few:
Tutor K3411 of CFS crashed on take-off 6th October 1939
Tutor K3290 of CFS crashed on approach, 11th September 1940
Tutor K3254 of CFS crashed on landing 6th August 1941
Tutor K3239 of CFS crashed on 27th August 1941
Tutor K3297 of CFS crashed on landing 7th February 1942
Magister T9811 of 7 FIS crashed on approach to Manningford on 7th December 1943
Tiger Moth DE627 (Sgt Peaker) of 29 EFTS struck a hedge on forced landing practice on 6th September 1945
Tiger Moth DE531 of 2 EFTS hit a hedge on approach and turned over 28th May 1946
