I'm currently reading Max Hasting's recent publication 'All Hell Let Loose. The World at War 1939 - 1945'. Full of plenty of fascinating insights and less commonly known facts and figures. So far, so good. However, in the chapter 'War in the Sky' when discussing the allied bomber offensive, he states - '..There were 110 USAAF and RAF bases in Norfolk alone...'. :oNow having begun my airfield interest in the fair county of Norfolk some years ago, I can only account for less than forty airfields. Even bringing Suffolk into the equation, the total is, give or take, about seventy.
So, can anyone explain Mr. Hastings' 110 - ?:confused:
Of course, if this figure is so inaccurate, does this bring the many other facts and figures he quotes into doubt - ?
Interesting point PNK, although I infer from the nature of the narrative that Hastings is refering to the actual airfields, as he is writing about the actual bombing offfensive. Maybe I'll drop him a line via his publisher and ask where he obtained his figures. Good to see REF that my numbers for Norfolk & Suffolk match yours - !
It is extremely difficult to allocate 'numbers' to airfields as we discovered when compiling the documents referred to in post #2. English Heritage were specifically interested in WWII temporary sites, and the actual number we produced for Norfolk was 33. In addition a further 6 stations were already in use at the beginning of hostilities.
The figure of '33 + 6' includes a number of airfields which were not part of the bombing offensive, but it doesn't contain every known WWII site. For example at what point does a grass field which was used a few times as an emergency landing ground constitute an 'airfield'?
Peter's post (#3) makes a lot of sense to me.
Plan A is always more effective when the problem you are working on understands that Plan B will involve the use of dynamite
Looks like Christian Wolmar, author and expert in railway history has jumped on the bandwagon and goes several better than Max Hastings' number of 110 - ! In his 2007 book ' Fire & Steam. A new history of the railways in Britain', he tells us that during WW2, '...various outposts of the network became frantically busy. This time it was not Scotland, but Norfolk, where the construction of 150 ( yes, 150 ) bomber airfields required vast quantities of material to be transported...'. Unlike Mr. Hastings, he specifically states 'bomber airfields' and 'Norfolk'. Where does this guy get his information from - ? Suggestions please - !
Looks like Christian Wolmar, author and expert in railway history has jumped on the bandwagon and goes several better than Max Hastings' number of 110 - ! In his 2007 book ' Fire & Steam. A new history of the railways in Britain', he tells us that during WW2, '...various outposts of the network became frantically busy. This time it was not Scotland, but Norfolk, where the construction of 150 ( yes, 150 ) bomber airfields required vast quantities of material to be transported...'. Unlike Mr. Hastings, he specifically states 'bomber airfields' and 'Norfolk'. Where does this guy get his information from - ? Suggestions please - !
Going off topic slightly, the reference to Scotland in WWI is of course related to the huge amounts of supplies moved North to Scapa Flow and the other Royal Navy anchorages around the North of Scotland.
There is a lot of information on this in these two volumes which are available on ARCHIVE.ORG
Peter's post #3 on definitions is key in attempting to understand how these numbers were compiled. ( I'm sure there is another thread on this subject ? )
I once had a relative who claimed that he worked for the Air Ministry from the mid 1930's to 1945 and was involved with the identification of suitable sites plus the compulsory purchase processes.
Every one involved in these conversations doubted his numbers and I've spent the last thirty years trying to unpicked his quoted numbers.
The first thing I discovered was that there had been at least three individual sections within the Air Ministry involved and that no one to date has been able to consolidate or reconcile the actual numbers. ( Don't know why ~ maybe records incomplete or some parts missing )
I've discovered that you need to start with WW1 military air fields because the first number he gave was less than 10% of the original 300 military ones available for use in 1918 had been reduced to 27 by the mid to late 1920's.
Apparently he must have worked for an organization known as AMLB who either reported to or worked for another one known as AMAB and they may have reported to yet another one known as AMWD ?
He claimed that there were approximately 100 that were operational when war broke out and by VE day they had completed just under another 100.
However when he left in 1945 following the issues at West London the total number of air strips available for military use in the four nations were over 830 but this included everything from built and not used, or used very little to flying boat bases. It also included grass landing strips near requisitioned houses etc.
I've been told that an aviation magazine issued a decade or so back produced a pull out map that listed over 800 air fields but I don't remember seeing it ~ If it exists then some one on the forum must have a copy ?
I've been told by people who have forgotten more than I know that the total operational airfields in 1945 ranged between 150 to 180 ~ so its possible that their Norfolk number is a misunderstanding of the four nations total. ( Just an idea )
But as Peter stated you need to be clear on the definitions and time periods in the quoted total numbers.
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In his 2007 book ' Fire & Steam. A new history of the railways in Britain', he tells us that during WW2, '...various outposts of the network became frantically busy. This time it was not Scotland, but Norfolk, where the construction of 150 ( yes, 150 ) bomber airfields required vast quantities of material to be transported...'. Unlike Mr. Hastings, he specifically states 'bomber airfields' and 'Norfolk'. Where does this guy get his information from - ? Suggestions please - !
