The airfield remains a busy place with the familiar thumping rhythm of the chinooks being heard both day and night. A extraordinary collection of historic photos and maps of raf odiham, the odiham area and hampshire. If you have a driving licence and shooting experience and are not afraid of lone working and shift work, this may be the role for you. Made in odiham airfield stylised chunky ceramic mug. In june 1943 raf odiham came under the control of fighter command and later the 2 nd tactical air force and it played a central role in the preparations for the dday landings a year later. Ironically this was done by general erhard milch, chief of air staff of the luftwaffe. The above photo kindly provided by brian james funnell shows the result an incident involving atlas 1 j8782, at odiham sometime in 1929. Aircraft at raf odiham airfield this website is run entirely as a hobby and in my spare time, it is paid for out of my own pocket. Uk airfield guide a guide to the history of british flying. All visitors are to be hosted by a member of the station. To go to a particular page,just click on the airfield name in the lists on left or right of this panel.
The site at odiham was first used by the raf,from 1926,as a summer camp landing ground. The society seeks to record, protect and enhance the heritage, character and environment of the parish of odiham and north warnborough. Before we describe the tragic events of this flight we feel it very worthy that the history of the pilot is described. History airfields near to odiham other items articles events links news surveys tips other users feedback ukga membership about ukga. Before raf odiham became an official military airfield, an area known as down farm was acquired for use as a summer camp in the 1920s. Raf odiham is located in united kingdom, using iata code odh, and icao code egvo. The odiham societys original hand written minute book covering the period 17831796 164941001. Airfield wildlife hazard management operator odiham. Sep 17, 2014 royal air force odiham is situated in north hampshire, 46 miles south west of london. The secretary of state for defence, the right honorable philip hammond mp visited royal air force odiham today to view the newlyintoservice chinook mk 4 helicopter. Should you wish to leave a small donation towards the upkeep and ongoing running of the website, it is really appreciated. Born on the 26th april 1917 joining the raf as a pupil pilot on the 5th april 1937. Apr 10, 2017 the aim of the dunsfold airfield history society dahs is to preserve those features of dunsfold airfield that have significant historic or architectural interest, in order to retain for posterity the unique contribution of the airfield to our national aerospace heritage.
The series includes at least one cartographically drawn map and a datafile that describes all known units, including their codes, that used a particular airfield. Eguw is the biggest centralised operational army airfield in the uk, located next to the small village of wattisham in suffolk, england. Odiham, hampshire click on the map for other historical maps of this place. It is the home of the royal air forces heavy lift helicopter, the chinook. Odiham professional family history, family trees, genealogy, house and ancestry research service by professional genealogist uk and local history research. History of odiham and north warnborough odiham parish. With straights in which most cars can nearly reach their top speed, all in a safe environment on this active airfield. Visitors arriving at raf odiham should enter via the main gate and report to the main guard room to book in and collect a visitors security pass. Wyvern is the largest gliding club within the army gliding association and provides gliding as a recognized sport and approved adventurous training activity to all servicemen, retired servicemen and mod civilians and by exception other civilians can be invited to join. If you would like to send us a present, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
They represent a class of military airfield that is poorly protected and one with many conservation challenges. At least two churches are recorded suggesting odiham was a former minster serving a large area. This remarkable work pulls the lid off one of the legendary air forces in history at the very peak of its. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside. Odiham, united kingdom gb icao, iata codes, location of. This site just touches on a few of the things odiham is famous for. The 1st of september 2019 is the wartime memories projects 20th birthday. It is intended to bring together the various sources of information at events, squadrons, aircraft and personnel that have been involved in the site. Royal air force odiham or more simply raf odiham iata. Raf odiham in the second world war, the wartime memories project.
Ludford magna airfield focus pamphlet includes 41 photos and 2 maps. The core of the settlement would have been the bury. Celtic remains have been found locally as well as the remains of a roman villa at lodge farm but the roots of odihams history are in saxon wessex. It will also provide air experience flights for all those interested in finding out. Fairoaks airport book reveals history of airfield earmarked. In 1951 field marshal montgomery was stationed with the boar in germany. He became a test pilot for the hawker aircraft corporation in 1948. It is a pearl of the europe, where merged together history and modernity, culture and science. Royal air force odiham is situated in north hampshire, 46 miles south west of london.
The minute book, which was acquired by the rcvs registrar mr wgr oates in 1956, allows us to trace the beginnings of the veterinary profession in great britain. Robert mays school is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in the village of odiham, hampshire, england. It is twinned with sourdeval in the manche department of france. Its important role was recognised by establishing 240 ocu in dec 1971 to. The airfield areas were examined for any evidence of artifacts. Odiham motorcycle club odiham, raf odiham we wear helite love life and ride ltd gpz 500 on track airfield riding day at raf odiham youtube. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. This site is dedicated to the history of manston airfield, in kent from its first official usage back in 1916. Witness the daring exploits and dangerous challenges that form the story of flight in this beautifully illustrated book, filled with rare photographs and historical documents. Odiham, united kingdom gb icao, iata codes, location. The station provides critical, rapid support for uk military operations throughout the world. Not included in the listings are heliportshelipads, private airstrips,museums etc for these visit the aviation in hampshire uk 1900 to 2000 pages where you will also find downloadable production lists for all hampshire aircraft production. In 1887, john bartholomews gazetteer of the british isles described odiham like this. The articles ive written for the gliding heritage centre website todate have been intended to fulfil the educational remit that the ghc has through being a registered charity.
Raf odiham is situated in hampshire, 7 miles to the east of basingstoke and is home to the rafs fleet of chinook helicopters. This website is run entirely as a hobby and in my spare time, it is paid for out of my own pocket. History of odiham, in hart and hampshire map and description. The name comes from anglo saxon wudiham or settlement on the edge of wooded land. In the domesday book of 1086 odiham, as a large royal manor, was the first entry in the hampshire folio. They include raf fairford, raf coningsby, raf cranwell, raf marham, raf mildenhall, raf waddington, raf wattisham, raf cottesmore, raf lakenheath and raf lakenheath visual patterns and matz, raf leuchars, raf lossiemouth, raf brize norton, raf benson, raf. Raf odiham in the second world war 19391945 the wartime. These unique maps have been designed to be printed at a3 size.
In may 1971, puma training began with the formation of a joint puma wessex unit, the air training squadron. Celtic remains have been found locally as well as the remains of a roman villa at lodge farm but the roots of odiham s history are in saxon wessex. It is home to 3 regiment army air corps and 4 regiment army air corps. Aircraft operations began from the site in 1925 but it was not until october 1937 that it was opened as a permanent airfield, ironically by the chief of staff for the luftwaffe. Its important role was recognised by establishing 240 ocu in dec 1971 to convert crews for the puma and wessex squadrons.
All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. A deciding factor for selecting the location was its close proximity to aldershot and salisbury plain, which the army, for many years have used for training. This page contains links to all the free aip available on the internet. Past discoveries is a genealogical and family history research company offering a friendly and efficient service to those who wish to find out more about their family history. Buy made in odiham airfield stylised chunky ceramic mug at amazon uk. We publish two journals each year and run speaker evenings on local and interesting topics. Uk airfield guide is one of the most comprehensive databases for british airports, airfields and flying sites that exists on the internet today. Odiham photos, maps, books, memories francis frith. The odiham society chronicling and protecting the heritage. They are part of the attack helicopter force ahf within the joi. Egvo is a royal air force station situated a little to the south of the historic village of odiham in hampshire, england. In this photo the tower had not long had the crdf screen fitted, replacing the rdf system. The wartime memories project is run by volunteers and this website is funded by donations from our visitors. The nearest railway station is at hook, on the london and south western railway.
The airfield at odiham originated in 1924 as a summer camp for army cooperation aircraft using a grass runway. Raf odiham is located east of basingstoke in hampshire, and is a front line support helicopter base working within the joint helicopter command. He lived near alton, to the south of raf odiham, and had at his disposal a highly polished dakota and flew home most weekends. Celtic remains have been found locally as well as the remains of a roman villa, but the roots of odihams history are in saxon wessex. It is important for people and goverment of united kingdom. Raf odiham was granted the freedom of the borough of basingstoke in jul 1968. A pictorial history is available for purchase in the raf museum and at the national trust shop. The aim of the dunsfold airfield history society dahs is to preserve those features of dunsfold airfield that have significant historic or architectural interest, in order to retain for posterity the unique contribution of the airfield to our national aerospace heritage. He is later said to have ordered his pilots not to attack his future headquarters and odiham was never bombed. Since passing his gft for a private pilots license on the 30th june 1989 in the cessna 152 gwacb at wycombe air park the gates of opportunity opened and he has, for example, flown an aircraft in every country in western europe registered in each country.
May 04, 2017 michael jones book, fairoaks airport, an illustrated history, was a real labour of love and he continues to share his passion about the chobham airfield, currently under threat of closure to. Francis frith the uks leading publisher of local photographs since 1860. From june 1945 raf odiham became part of transport command and was home to dakota aircraft of nos. Odiham, united kingdom gb odiham is a beautiful city in united kingdom. Military history, now retired in the centers comprehensive history of the u. During world war two p51 mustangs and hawker typhoons were flown by the base.
At the reformation the inhabitants of odiham stated that in the town of odiham were above 1,000 houseling people, and that the town extended into divers tithings or hamlets, being distant some 2 and some 3 miles, being very yvele wayes in the winter season for the people to come to the parish church of odiam, and the vicar kept a priest in. For mail order please get in touch using our contact dahg form. Home of the uk chinook force, raf odiham operates three chinook squadrons. Wattisham airfield wikimili, the best wikipedia reader.
Before redevelopment its important to understand the history and inherited character of these places. Army gliding club wyvern wyvern is the largest gliding. History of odiham and north warnborough odiham parish council. The airfield guide maps are produced using adobe freehand mx and the adobe creative cloud software. Since childhood he has been fascinated by all aspects of aviation history. Raf odiham maps, postcode, frequencies, flight tracker uk. They are published in adobe pdf format and are free to print out from this site. The first written record of odihams existence is in the domesday book 1086, where it appears with its current spelling, although the spellings odiam and wudiham have sometimes been used since. The aip is the publication which contains all published airport data, and also all.
Raf odiham accepts genuine emergency and precautionary diversions without charge per caa cap 667 9. Raf odiham airfield circuit for car and bike track days. Raf odiham in hampshire is a front line support helicopter base working within the joint helicopter command. Photos, maps, personal memories and local books of odiham.
E of a32, 1nm s of odiham, 6nm ese of basingstoke, 8nm sw of aldershot. Fairoaks airport book reveals history of airfield earmarked for 1,500home garden village author michael jones carefully planned and researched the book, which is filled with more than 600 black. Odiham is a picturesque, rural historic village in the hart district of hampshire, dating from saxon times and is the first hampshire entry in the domesday book of 1087 because it had become william the conquerors largest holding in hampshire. Although flying began at the airfield in 1925, it was not until 18 october 1937 that odiham was officially opened as a permanent airfield. Raf odiham is home to the uk chinook force and operates three chinook squadrons. One of the most important items in the rcvs archives is the original minute book of the odiham society. Airfield history ashley walk bombing range raf bardney and bomber command over europe raf binbrook raf binbrook qra shed chattis hill raf chilbolton raf.
The parish in 1851 had an area of 7,354 acres with 50 acres covered by water. An archaeology and history study completed in 1994 simply identifies the area as waieli runway. England is considered the bestdocumented ufo incident in world history. Other states publish aeronautical information but charge for access. It is the home of the royal air forces heavy lift helicopter, the chinook hc. After the allied invasion of europe the site became a prisoner of. Raf odiham photos, maps, books, memories of odiham and. Raf odiham maps, postcode, frequencies, flight tracker. Its current station commander is group captain nicholas knight obe raf. This page was last edited on 8 february 2019, at 16. The book tells the fascinating history of raf defford from when part of the croome estate was first requisitioned in 1941 through the. We are looking for a part time airfield wildlife hazard management operator to work 16 hours a week at our odiham site. The nearest large town is basingstoke 7 miles to the west.
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