Harwell: Village for a thousand years

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  • Harwell Book – Full text of ‘Village for a thousand years’
    • Introduction
      • Contents
    • Beginnings – The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Charters
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    • Middle Ages – The Late Middle Ages
      • Harwell Church
      • The Medieval Manors
      • Cruck Buildings
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    • Tudors – Tudors to Charles II
      • The Tudor period
      • Berkshire Farmers and their Homes
      • The Harwell Mug
      • Harwell: The Family Name
      • Trade Tokens
      • In the Civil War
      • Close
    • Charities – Harwell Charities
      • John Loder
      • Christopher Elderfield
      • Poor’s Orchard
      • William Wells
      • J. King
      • Frances Geering
      • Matthew Eaton
      • Robert Loder
      • Bag(g)’s Tree
      • An Old Harwell Recipe
      • Close
    • 19th C – Harwell in the Nineteenth Century
      • Enclosures
      • The Great Fire of Harwell
      • Fire at Didcot Station
      • Harwell and the Early Posts
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    • People – Some Nineteenth Century Families, Houses and Personalities
      • The Manor of Bishop’s Harwell, or Lower Manor, after the Middle Ages.
      • Bob Lay, Bob Lay, Bob Lay
      • The Bosley Family
      • John Lay of Prince’s Manor 1815 – 1888
      • From a book sold for the Blewbury Village Organ Fund in 1874.
      • Thomas James Pryor
      • The Day Family
      • The Hitchman Family
      • Other Old Harwell Families
      • Pillar House, Harwell
      • A Country Doctor (Dr Richard Rice)
      • Kelly’s Directory reports on the Harwell of 1891
      • The School
      • A Pictorial Miscellany
      • Close
    • 20th C – The Early Twentieth Century
      • Stanley Day
        • The Turn of the Century
        • A Visit to Harwell
      • Tape Recordings
        • A Houseboy at Harwell
        • Eliza Hutchings
        • Harwell Bakeries
        • The Eggs
        • Old Neighbours
        • Fire at King’s Farm (c.1908)
        • Will It Light?
        • Miss Irene Clarke’s memories.
      • Poem by H.S. Baker
      • Close
    • WWII – The Second World War
      • Guinea Pig Club
      • Eric Greenwood
      • Harwell in Wartime
      • School Life in Wartime
      • The Harwell Players
      • Close
    • 1945 -1985 – The Post War Years
      • The Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
      • Harwell Parish Council
      • Water and Sewage
      • Nursing Service
      • School Life after the War
      • The Winterbrook Youth Club
      • The Public Houses
      • The Whit Monday Feast
      • Wild Flowers of Harwell
      • The Bee Orchid
      • Village Footpaths
      • St Matthew’s Church Today
      • Harwell Women’s Institute
      • Harwell Bowls Club
      • Harwell Football Club
      • Close
    • Cherries – Harwell Cherries
      • Robert Loder
      • Cherries (1965)
      • Gordon Bosley
      • John Masefield: The Cherries
      • Close
    • Appendices
      • Appendix I the Harwell Charters
        • Introduction to The Harwell Charters
        • Charter No 1
        • Charter No 2
        • Charter No 3
        • Appendix I Charter References
      • Appendix II Buildings
      • Appendix III Glossary
      • Appendix IV Contributors
      • Appendix V References
      • Close
    • Close
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You are here: Home / WWII

WWII

The Second World War

When Professor Fussell edited Robert Loder’s Farm Accounts in 1936, he wrote in his preface that the village, with the exception of a few modern bungalows, must have looked much the same as in Robert Loder’s time, but that if the proposed aerodrome was built, great changes could be anticipated. The aerodrome was duly built, not in the village but on Horn Down, which before had been farmed, and a new era began for the peaceful rural parish.

Royal Air Force Station, Harwell opened as a bomber station in February 1937, with Hawker Audax and Hawker Hind aircraft, later replaced by Fairey Battles and Bristol Blenheims. As war broke out they departed to France, and a subsequent mauling, to be replaced here by Vickers Wellingtons and Avro Ansons to form No.l5 Operational Training Unit, which remained until March 1944. During this time 7,200 aircrew (1200 Wellington crews) were trained, and most were dispatched via Gibraltar and Malta to Egypt. As part of their training, crews dropped leaflets over occupied France, and took part in the first few thousand bomber raids in 1941. King George VI inspected the station in May 1938 and July 1940. Other visitors in 1940 were the Duke of Kent and King Haakon of Norway.

07-03
Figure 8.1 Harwell aerodrome Memorial Stone.

Seven German attacks were made on Harwell, the first on 16th August 1940, when two airmen were killed and five more injured. Ten days later seven civilians died and a further nine were injured. The last attack was in August 1944 by a V1, known as a doodlebug, causing some damage but no casualties.

April 1944 saw Albermarles and gliders training for the Normandy landings, and at 11 p.m. on 5th June six of these combinations took off to spearhead the operation. A plaque set at the end of the old runway commemorates the event. Airlifting of troops and supplies continued until the bridgehead had been secured. Stirlings replaced the Albermarles for the dropping of troops and supplies to Arnhem on 17th September 1944. For six days Stirlings continued to tow in troop-carrying gliders and supplies, but the enemy was too strong to continue the battle.

The next to arrive were No.13 O.T.U. training Mosquito fighter-bomber crews, and in March they absorbed No. 60 O.T.U. which brought Bostons, Mitchells and a Spitfire flight. They departed in July, and August saw Transport Command Development Flight and the School of Air Efficiency arrive. They moved out in December, and on 1st January 1946, the-site was taken over by the Ministry of Supply.

Comments

  1. Myra J. Harwell Yingst says

    June 17, 2015 at 14:36

    Very interesting!! My father fought in WWII, he was a first LT battlefield upgraded. He drove tanks for General Patton. There is a book where he is recognized by the name of Voo Doo. Think this was the name of their unit.

    Reply
  2. pete mansell says

    June 26, 2016 at 21:31

    My great uncle Flight Engineer Ewart John flew with 295 squadron.Sadly his Stirling, Easy Peter was shot down on September 19th 1944 whilst on operations to supply British Paras at Arnhem.

    Reply
  3. Steve Chalmers says

    May 18, 2018 at 17:59

    Shortly after WWII ended and a swarm of shiny aluminium prefabs were constructed to house the staff of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, I, five years old, and my family moved into 2 Coln. The universal reaction of those coming off the main road and cresting the mild rise was “My God, what a target!” It was thought that a Boy Scout could have disassembled a prefab. I was not allowed to try.

    Reply

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« Poem by H.S. Baker
Guinea Pig Club »

Harwell is a village in south Oxfordshire, England, although until 1974 it was a Berkshire village. Harwell was first mentioned in 985, before the Doomsday Book.
This website presents the full text of the book (ISBN 0 9510668 0 3 ) published in 1985 to celebrate the village millennium.
"Harwell ~ Village for a thousand years"

Additional information about Harwell Village (History Notes, photos and more) can be found at harwellvillage.uk

Website © 2005–2023 maintained and managed by David Marsh on behalf of Harwell Parish Council
Copyright © 1985–2023 in the text of the book is vested in Harwell Parish Council