Spifires to Skylarks... a quick cycle around the former RAF Drem Airfield, and some of it`s history...

Quick cycle around the Peri (Perimeter) track of the former WW2 RAF Drem Airfield after work before the forecasted  gales and rain arrive, M was out on Jonny, her MRT (Muirfield Riding Therapy)  horse...

RAF Drem; 1939-1946...
The pic above on the track is quiet today, just the noise of skylarks overhead, in 1939 the station was home to two fighter Squadrons and a night fighter training facility and it would have been a busy place,
Spitfires on this very bend in 1939...

A patrol pass over, Gullane hill in the distance...

Planes were blessed with a service before going into action on the base, it`s true...

Pilots on standby...

During The Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 many Squadrons passed through RAF Drem on R&R, flying patrols and scrambles against up here at the odd bomber with no fighter escorts must have been a breeze compared to the hetic relentless air war in the south of Britain, this is a pic of the remaining Ferdinanz Squadron, returning to the main battle down south none of these young men saw the end of 1940...

Crews pass time on standby playing chess...

The Parachute cafe, later dismantled and moved to Canty Bay to be used by the Scouts...

Pilots give notes on recent scramble..

Relaxing outside the cafe...

1939 Xmas menu...

This picture is early 1939, Before the evacuation of Dunkirk, after Dunkirk the planes were not painted half white/half black underneath...

Hurricanes taking off...

Local history...
I have always been interested in WW2 and esp the Battle of Britain and Spitfires and what happened here in East Lothian at the time.
As i grew up my dad would often mention that he used to go fishing with men who once flew Spitfires,
Then as an apprentice green keeper at Gullane Golf Club i would chat daily to elderly members who were Battle of Britain Veteran's,though they wouldn't talk about it unless you asked them. During the war one of them was based here at RAF Drem several times.
They would be very modest when you asked them about the war and would say they were just normal people who "did what they had to do" and "did their bit".
What there friends would then often tell you was of there bravery and medals won.

The Battle of Britain Stats...
If you do the sums, the 8 x .303 calibre machine guns were set to cross at 250 yards to provide the maximum damage, if a Spitfire was diving at approx 400 mph on a bomber at 200 mph then that 250 yards disappears very quickly...that's how close the fighting was...

I am nearly 47 soon and thinking back to my late teens i was a similar age to those young pilots then back in 1989 to what the Battle of Britain pilots would have been in 1940.
But i cant imagine myself doing at the age of 19 what those brave men - then just boys really did ...

What they did was quite an extraordinary feat of bravery, as they actually faced a near impossible task given the odds stacked against them.
They were often quickly trained flying Tiger Moths or Gladiator Bi planes during the summer months of 1940 with a quickening shortage of pilots often it was only 8 hours flying time then they would be posted to a fighter squadron and go on to fly Spitfires and Hurricanes. These fighter planes were capable of over 400 mph, this was in 1940, speeds then hard to believe possible.

They would fly these fighters into battle against armed German bomber crews which had escort fighter pilots high above having gained a height advantage as they crossed the channel and were ready to dive down out of the sun and ambush the RAF planes as they attacked the German bomber force,  and the pilots who were jumping them and shooting them down in worrying numbers were skilled pilots who were already battle hardened and experianced in air combat by there war in the Spainish Revolution where they backed and fought for the Franco uprising...

Not looking good for the RAF...
Out numbered at odds of 4-1, they had to learn very fast and many inexperienced pilots never made it back from there first combat,
1 in every 6 RAF pilots would be dead by the end of the summer of 1940 which is by the way Russian roulette odds.


A recommended read is Geoffrey Wellum`s biopic `First Light`...

Today`s date this blog pos is written, Geoffrey is one of only three remaining Battle of Britain veterans still alive...
The youngest surviving Battle of Britain Pilot, at just 18 years of age, Geoffrey flew in 92 Squadron.
Reading his book it is like sitting in the cockpit, and you imagine the sheer adrenaline, fear, and tragedy that was witnessed by all pilots on all sides...

The BBC made an excellent Documentary Drama of his Book for the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Available on DVD it is a very life like look at life during those dark days.
Here is a clip of his first experience of a scramble, and a very lucky escape...




Here because of them...
Another film...




I made a film a few years ago having found audio of former RAF pilots  being interviewed, mixed with old pictures, Battle of Britain footage and modern music combined  a then and now insight to the Airfield and a small glimpse into how important a part the people and this Airfield contributed to the east coast during those dark years...

Oh, at 6mins 40secs is the only confirmed footage shot at RAF Drem, a couple of seconds as a Hurricane rips up the airfield!...


RAF Drem, 70 Years On, Now & Then.... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


Despite the odds..
Having been up flying in a two seat 1930`s  Spanish Bucker which once trained Luffwaffe pilots during the Spannish Cival war it was a dream come true and the dream of flight anf being up there as a young man must have been the ultimate thrill. I have read so many WW2 pilots accounts about the freedom of flying, and wht they thrived on that thrill, despite the odds...


Turning the tide of battle...
It is written that the Germans biggest blunder was ignoring what they thought was a basic British Radar system which would prove to be a brilliant system when combined with the Observer corps  watching and radioing  enemy numbers and directions to bases of plotters who could notify the needed squadrons to scramble and intercept, saving other squadrons to rest and re arm and repair ready for when needed... and switching bombing of airfields to London...


Drem Airfield Today...
One set of the Dispersal pens still survives, along with 4 of the 5 hangers and personal accommodation (now Fenton Barnes Retail Village) Machine gun defence pill boxes and air raid shelters are dotted around and the connecting perimeter track remains, the 3 grass runways returned to fields when the Airfield closed in 1946 ,The control tower is also gone though the Battle HQ remains in the hill beyond, it is now open for bats so no entry is allowed...

Hangers today...

And Night Fighter training building...

Ammunition stores...

Only remaining Dispersal pen, two spitfires sat here with air raid shelters and pill box defences for ground crew, this was taken 5 years ago, stables on top now but the buildings still remain...

Back in time again...
Ground crews re arm a Spitfire sitting in it`s Dispersal pen...

The base was on the front line for defence of Rosyth Navy base against bomber attacks from occupied Norway, and planes from RAF Drem were scrambled many times and the first enemy plane was shot down by Drem Spifires on October 16th 1939, King George arrived by Royal train to award medals,
The press gathering in this pic for the big day,  the Garleton Hills and monument in the distance...

King George and Dowding, Air Chief Commander of The Battle of Britain...

Today...
Look at the fungi on this old tree...

End of WW2...
1n 1946 German Majors arrived at Drem Airfield in a white painted Junkers plane, escorted in by two Squadrons of Spitfires to be driven to Edinburgh Castle to sign the unconditional surrender of occupied Norway...

Today...
So to today and the airfield is still full of volunteers working for a better cause,
The MRT volunteers help Disabled and disadvantaged young people get something more out of life,
M`s horse Jonny was being filmed for CBBC most of the afternoon before i turned up after work,
so he was feeling a bit tired after a busy day!...

More soon...

Supermarine Spitfire P9374...

The story of Supermarine Spitfire MK1  P9374... The real deal...

A plane that helped save Britain - Spitfire P9374 from Christie's on Vimeo.

Spitfire P9374 - TV presenter Jodie Kidd on her family's connection with this historic plane from Christie's on Vimeo.

Spitfire P9374 -  A Warbird flies again from Christie's on Vimeo.

Tom Kaplan, Spitfire Owner from Christie's on Vimeo.

The plane in flight...

When this plane was rebuilt Channel 4 sent Guy Martin to make a documentary of this build and features family of the pilot that once flew this aircraft...

Guy Martin's Spitfire - 2014 from CeeVisK on Vimeo.

Spitfire P9374

11th July, 75 years ago; Battle of Britain

75 years ago the skies over the UK was a turning point in WW2, Only around 30 of the surviving RAF pilots who  flew and fought in the air battle are still alive today in 2015,
We owe so much to them, and remember all the pilots who took part. esp the 544 who never returned from defending our skies, a great film of these men who then were just kids did an amazing thing, as against the odds they stopped a Nazi regime that had flattened Europe in under 6 weeks,

A great documentary film talks to some of the surviving heroes...




I have already posted  why i find this part of our history so unreal and today i am pretty much in awe at what these kids - some aged only 18 years old did in the summer months of 1940. Their bravery, and for many ultimate sacrifice , and for many who were horrifically burned, and for some survivors, have lived with the horrors of what they witnessed, and have lived with it for the rest of their lives, and they should never be forgotten and  always remembered.
If the RAF had been defeated and Nazi Germany had invaded in the summer of1940, then the USA would have never been able to attempt the D Day landings against Fortress Europe... and the world would be a very different place...
These young pilots were only a part of the Battle of Britain, behind them was the ground crews, radar and Observer Corps and many more. An Island nation brought together.


Think of those young men buried in War Cemeteries around the UK who never got to grow up and live their lives as we all have...

Dirleton, near the former RAF Drem, here in East Lothian was on the fore front of defence against attacks from Norway on Rosyth Docks at Edinburgh...

Click back through the Battle of Britain posts for more...

Spitfires...

The Clear July skies of July, mid summer and these days the skies and country side is peace full...
In July 1940 things were very different as young men of 18-20 years old fought for their lives and our country in RAF single seater fighters for the future of Britain as we know it today....

Never been available to buy as a DVD this series of the Battle of Britain, and those who flew in it can be watched on youtube, a great series of an amazing plane, it`s young pilot`s, some who made it and became known as `The Few` and their experiences and what they achieved in the  Battle of Britain...
1 in 6 of those who flew  in the summer of 1940 would be dead by the end of the 4 month ordeal-which is Russian roulette stats... but they did it, against the odds, but at a terrible price... mass respect to them all...



And this plane has been celebrated ever since...

A stones throw across a WW2  airfield  Peri track from my house sits the lowest flying hours Supermarine Spitfire... reputed to be less than 80 hours on the clock...

An amazing aircraft and iconic symbol of the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940...
They were flying here in the mid summer skies of East Lothian this time in 1940...

They flew from RAF Drem, here in East Lothian in those dark days of WW2...

A wee film i made a few years back about RAF Drem...



And another about Spitfires...



Wonder how long they will remain in flying condition?,  and fly over our county of East Lothian every July at the Airshow filling the sky with the rumble of the Melin engine as a tribute to the few...

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - SPITFIRE

I got a msg on facebook the other evening from a mate that the band
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING  are playing in Edinburgh on 7th May at the Caves.
I love this band and will be heading up for a night in Edinburgh to see them...

Their album `THE WAR ROOM` is ace and worth checking out...

Here is probably their signature tune and video.
I am partial to a bit of Spitfire film on youtube -:)

Footage is from `First of a Few` (1942 )film. The story of R.J Mitchell and his creation.
The Spitfire is probably one of the most impressive feats of British engineering, something that was ahead of its time, helped change the tide of WW2 and must have been the dreams of many young men to fly in one...
We now know today of the fear and adrenaline these you men - some really just boys experienced in air to air combat in a war that will never be experienced again in warfare..
What they did  turned the tide of WW2  as against the odds with the help of the Observer Corps and Radar Stations they stopped an enemy which marched across Europe and the world watched at this unstoppable regime.. until they faced up to a prepared RAF who would defend the skies over Britain and in course change the outcome of WW2...
As popular today in the public hearts when they display at airshows as when they protected the airspace over Britain.

Spitfires over East Lothian
It was here in East Lothian that the Supermarine Spitfire first fired its guns in anger when offshore of Port Seaton on 16th October 1939 when Spitfires of 602 and 603 Squadrons were scrambled from Drem and Turnhouse (Edinburgh) against 12 Junkers 88 bombers attempting to bomb the Royal Navy.
603 got the first kill off of Port Seaton, then 602 10 minutes later, the first enemy planes shot down over Britain since WW1.
There is work in progress to erect a memorial to this event in memory to the Spitfire Pilots, the German crews, and the fishermen from Port Seaton who rescued the downed German airmen...


This music video captures that Spitfire magic pretty well...

How to Steal a Spitfire...

Just follow the instructions...



Some other things to remember;

1. Wait until you see the whites of his eyes. Fire short bursts of one to two seconds only when your sights are definitely "ON".

2. Whilst shooting think of nothing else, brace the whole of your body; have both hands on the stick; concentrate on your ring sight.

3. Always keep a sharp lookout. "Keep your finger out".

4. Height gives you the initiative.

5. Always turn and face the attack.

6 Make decisions promptly. It is better to act quickly even though your tactics are not the best.

7. Never fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds in the combat area.

8. When diving to attack always leave a proportion of your formation above to act as a to guard.

9. INITIATIVE AGGRESSION. AIR DISCIPLINE, and TEAMWORK are words that MEAN something in AIR Fighting.

10. Go in quickly - Punch hard - Get out!

Sailor Malan DSO & BAR, DFC & BAR, No74 Squadron

27 Kills, seven shared destroyed, three probably destroyed and 16 damaged.

If my lottery numbers come up one of the first things i`m doing is this.
£1000 a minute for a ride in a WW2 Spitfire converted to a two seater is a small price to pay compared to those who flew them and for many payed a much greater price...


Fast forward 70 years and 3 TV celebs...  -:)

`Spirit of Kent` Spitfire

One of the best Airshow display films on youtube of  a Supermarine Spitfire.
The Mk IX  `Spirit of Kent`   Supermarine Spitfire which is based at Biggin Hill.
Pilot Dan Griffiths is giving it full bore in this 70 year old icon of WW2. Flying it as it had been designed to do.
The Mk IX is often considered one of the best Spitfires by some of the pilots who flew the many variations and survived those dark days...
And the film shows the spits famous tight turning ability, which made it such a feared weapon to engage.
The supercharger whine and roar of the V12 Rolls Royce Merlin engine on full song is just pure music...

Watch it loop from near ground level, awesome indeed...

The Supermarine Spitfire

Walking around the Military hanger at the Scottish National Museum of Flight here at East Fortune in East Lothian you feel dwarfed as you walk between the military jets which between them through time have played there part in military aviation history,

Amongst the large jets is a Lightning...



A Harrier Jump jet...



A Jaguar...



McDonnal Douglas Phantom...



And a Tornado...





However there is a smaller less obvious plane quietly sitting in a corner that played a very important part during WW2 and remains to this day probably the most famous and loved fighter aircraft to ever fly,

The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire...



This example is TE462, derived from the similar LF.IXe, the main difference being the installation in the Mark XVI of an American Packard built Merlin engine...



TE462 never saw squadron service, being built in 1945. Most of its active life was with maintenance units...



Features not in common with the more familiar Spitfire versions is the bubble canopy...



And clipped wingtips which enabled the aircraft to roll much more quickly...



Post 1940 Battle of Britain Spits had Hispano 20mm cannon as well as 8 USA Browning .303 machine guns, which would later be made under licence at the Vickers Factory...





Our TE462 spent time as a gate guard at RAF Ouston, Northumberland before becoming the first aeroplane the Royal Scottish Museum acquired, in 1971.

The heart of the Spitfire was its clipped ``elliptical` wing, and the Rolls Royce V12 Supercharged engine which was also fitted to the Hawker Hurricane.
The engine spat out 1000 BHP making the Spitfire the fastest fighter of its time in the summer of 1940,.
The Merlin's power would increase to nearly 2000 BHP by the end of WW2 and the engine would also power the legendary Mosquito light bomber, the 4 engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber and the P51 Mustang long distance fighter escort amongst others.

Here is a great film someone made using footage of Merlin V12 engine production from a Rolls Royce Factory...



First flown in 1936 the Spitfire was the RAF's first all-metal fighter.
Its nimble and precise handling and speed made it an instant favourite with every pilot who flew it..



Its legend began with its first combat on October 16th 1939 here off the coast in East Lothian above the Firth of Forth when Spits from RAF Drem in East Lothian and Turnhouse in Edinburgh were scrambled to intercept German aircraft...



After helping win the Battle of Britain they would turn the air war over the Island of Malta.
Spits would also see action  later over the Middle East in both Israeli and Egyptian hands.
Here is a film of some Gun camera footage, and as you see many of the builders of  Spitfires were woman, in nylon stockings too!...




RAF Drem, East Lothian;

Many fighter Squadrons of Spitfires passed through RAF Drem between 1939 and 1946 here in East Lothian... the fighter station was on the front line for protecting the Firth of Forth Estuary from Attacking German bombers flying across the North Sea from Germany and then occupied Norway...




RAF Drem was a satellite airfield for RAF Turnhouse- today's Edinburgh International Airport and once home to 603 Squadron.
Today if you fly to/from Edinburgh Airport you wont miss the (replica) Spitfire at the entrance in honour of the Squadron...



RAF Drem;
A minister blessing new Spitfires and Hurricanes, this was done to all ships and planes when new, behind is the village of Drem and Kilduff woods on the skyline..



A patrol coming in, behind is West Fenton and Gullane Hill...



Spitfires ready to scramble...



There pilots waiting in a nearby dispersal hut for that phone to ring to give the call to scramble...

Ground crews work on a planes guns, behind is Gullane Hill...

This picture of 4 young pilots is iconic, none of these young men saw the end of 1940...

Cycling through the now quiet Airfield Peri (Perimeter) track i often imagine what it would be like to be here 70 years ago to see and hear all these aircraft taking off, it must have been some sight...

Photographers wait for an important visit to RAF Drem in 1939, behind are the Garleton Hills and monument on Byres Hill...




King George at RAF Drem in 1939, accompanied by Sir Hugh Dowding would become Air Marshall of fighter command in 1940 during the Battle of Britain...





Many other Squadrons would pass through RAF Drem Airfield for short periods between 1939 and 1946 but mostly the airfields early WW2 duty was interceptor fighters which patrolled the coastline and North Sea and intercepted bombing attempts on Roysth Dockyard in the Firth of Forth Estuary...

Photo taken from a German Bomber...

A film i made of RAF Drem, using pictures collected, audio interviews of pilots who were stationed there, and historians accounts, the real gun cam footage if from the Battle of Britain, many of the Squadrons would have passed through Drem when on leave from the South coast of England.
As you will see even here there were tragic accidents,  20 young airmen from all around the world lost there lives while stationed at Drem. They are buried nearby at Dirleton..




I have always been interested in WW2 and esp the Battle of Britain and Spitfires and what happened here in East Lothian at the time.
As i grew up my dad would often mention that he used to go fishing with men who once flew Spitfires,
Then as an apprentice green keeper at Gullane Golf Club i would chat daily to elderly members who were Battle of Britain Veteran's,though they wouldn't talk about it unless you asked them. During the war one of them was based here at RAF Drem several times.
They would be very modest when you asked them about the war and would say they were just normal people who "did what they had to do" and "did there bit".
What there friends would then often tell you was of there bravery and medals won.

If you do the sums, the 8 303 calibre machine guns were set to cross at 250 yards to provide the maximum damage, if a Spitfire was diving at approx 400 mph on a bomber at 200 mph then that 250 yards disappears very quickly...that's how close the fighting was...



Some experienced pilots had there guns trimmed in a bit to converge at 150 yards.
Oh and the 8 .303 machine guns had 3 belts of 100 rounds per gun loaded that only lasted 14.3 seconds,
so those young men had to learn fast to shoot carefully to conserve ammunition.

The Hawker Hurricane was produced before the Spitfire and in greater numbers and was regarded by some as a tougher aircraft capable of taking a lot of damage and being more easily repaired.
65-70% of enemy aircraft were shot down by Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. It has also been said the Hurricane turned tighter than the Spitfire.

Hawker Hurricane...



So why then has the Spitfire stole the limelight and become the symbol of the Battle of Britain?, it seems to have developed a very special place in the hearts of those who flew it and also in the public heart who watched them fly then as they do today at Airshows...



Here is film of both fighters...



One thing to the Spitfires design compared to the Hurricane was its ability to be updated as faster ME 109s and the Folke Wulf 190 were introduced.  By 1945 the Spitfire was nearly twice as heavy and fast with nearly twice the engine power as the Mk1 that first entered service.

The question often asked was which fighter was better?, the Spit or the ME 109 or the Folke Wulf 190?,
RAF pilots have often been quoted that to fly a ME 109 well the pilot was very very skilled,
Here is a film of veterans from both sides and there opinions of both planes...



There are not many original surviving Spitfires still flying today. 16 in the Battle of Britain Squadron.
There are only at the time of writing this 11 Hawker Hurricanes flying here in the UK.
While both planes shared the famous V12 Rolls Royce Merlin engine, the Spitfire seems to have a certain charm...

I am nearly 40 and thinking back to my late teens i was a similar age then in 1987 to what the Battle of Britain pilots would have been in 1940.
But i cant imagine myself doing at the age of 19 what those brave men - then just boys really did ...

What they did was quite an extraordinary feat of bravery, as they actually faced a near impossible task given the odds stacked against them.
They were often quickly trained flying Tiger Moths or Gladiator Bi planes during the summer months of 1940 with a quickening shortage of pilots often it was only 8 hours flying time then they would be posted to a fighter squadron and go on to fly Spitfires and Hurricanes. These fighter planes were capable of over 400 mph, this was in 1940, speeds then hard to believe possible.

They would fly these fighters into battle against armed German bomber crews and escort fighter pilots who were already battle hardened by there war against Spain.
Out numbered at odds of 4-1, they had to learn very fast and many inexperienced pilots never made it back from there first combat,
1 in every 6 RAF pilots would be dead by the end of the summer of 1940 which is by the way Russian roulette odds.

A recommended read is Geoffrey Wellum`s biopic `First Light`...

The youngest surviving Battle of Britain Pilot, at just 18 years of age, Geoffrey flew in 92 Squadron.
Reading his book it is like sitting in the cockpit, and you imagine the sheer adrenaline, fear, and tragedy that was witnessed by all pilots on all sides...

The BBC made an excellent Documentary Drama of his Book for the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Available on DVD it is a very life like look at life during those dark days.
Here is a clip of his first experience of a scramble, and a very lucky escape...



Despite being heavily out numbered the RAF bravely didn't fold under the German Luftwaffe onslaught over the summer of 1940 as expected by the axis forces.

In June 1940 only 1000 RAF pilots were ready with approx 600 fighters and they faced the impossible and by September 15th approx 3000 pilots from the Commonwealth would have helped stop the fall of the RAF and Germany withdrew its planned land invasion of Britain...
446 RAF fighter pilots would pay the ultimate price in the summer of 1940, and many more would be horrifically burned and crippled, a terrible sacrifice was paid by young men on both sides.

Watching Battle of Britain news reels on Youtube you see real footage of scrambles during 1940, but it is a realisation that this is not Hollywood...some of those planes were not coming back,
Also remember those gun cameras they fitted not only documented confirmed planes shot down but often the death of someones son, brother or husband...

Real news real footage, it is a bit propaganda with the music and commentary but watch the RAF footage at 3mins 40 secs...



Pilots accounts often talk of the years of nightmares of watching friends shot down, unable to remove the canopy, often due to a enemy bullet damaging the slider rails, seeing there friends being burned alive and there screams on the intercom radio- something the young woman at battle HQs had to deal with too...
How the surviving pilots coped with the loss of life is remarkable...

Fatigue would play its part as the days wore on from August into September, but it has been documented of these young men's amazing fighting spirit- maybe because they were fighting for there own survival and our country, and this was going on in the skies over southern England where daily people would watch these dog fights in a huge outdoor amphitheatre...

That intense struggle to victory of our skies was as Churchill would later quote `There finest Hour`...

The pilots who survived have often been quoted as saying they do not want thanks, or medals for what they did, but just to be remembered, that is all, as then those who did not come back are forever remembered...

Every year here at East Fortune Airshow a Spitfire flys over for a few minutes and dives and rolls.
I find it awe inspiring and quite moving to watch and listen to the roar of its Merlin engine...



I have wanted to make a film on Spitfires for a long time.  There are lots of Spitfire films on Youtube already so i have tried to do one a bit different by using documentary narrative of surviving WW2 pilots and ground crew. They can describe more than myself the charm of the aircraft, also is some narrative of Battle of Britain Historian Dr Stephen Bungay and also female Spitfire owner and pilot Caroline Grace.
It took a few weeks evenings editing the real WW2 fighter film with some of today's airshows then added the narrative and music.
The WW2 flying footage combined with the narrative of those involved with the Spitfire give - i hope some insight into this amazing aircraft and the important part it played so people could live a free life today...

Here is my tribute to "the few" who flew the Spitfires and did there bit during dark days,

massive respect...