DISPERSAL

During the Second World War aircraft on the ground were protected in fighter pens or dispersals around the edges of airfields.

The safest way to protect aircraft on the ground is to disperse them. Here at Coltishall there were ten dispersals around the airfield’s perimeter track. Each one protected two single- or twin-engine fighters. This one was built around 1940 for Spitfires and Hurricanes and is the only one to survive more or less complete. Here aircraft would have been repaired and serviced between missions. The brick shed you are standing in may have been used as a store, garage or air raid shelter.

The pens are built of sandbags filled with sand and concrete. It was wartime and they were built quickly, so little care was taken to check the mix. Some bags had more concrete in than others. Can you see which?

In each pen there are iron rings set into the concrete floor to anchor the aircraft; one for each wing and a third at the tail. Can you find them?

Behind this shed and built into the pen walls is a reinforced concrete chamber. It has a brick entrance at each end and an earth camouflage mound on its roof. This may have been used as a store for spares or ammunition, for maintenance and as an air raid shelter for ground crew and pilots.

There is another air raid shelter under the mound towards the perimeter track.

Flying Officer Geoffrey Bennett, 68 Squadron, in a dispersal.

A Bristol Beaufighter IIF of 255 Squadron and trolley accumulator just outside one of the

dispersals in 1941-2.

The pilots of 118 Squadron and a Spitfire Vb in one of the dispersals in July 1943.

THE SHEDThis shed might have been used as a store, as a garage for a trolley accumulator or small tractor, or as an air raid shelter.

This brick shed is a fairly standard and common type of temporary building on wartime airfields. What makes this one special is its relationship to the dispersal. For some reason these are only found at Coltishall and this is the only one to survive.

Small tractors were used to tow aircraft from the hangars to dispersals and to move equipment and people around airfields. The shed would have been a handy garage and store in the absence of a nearby hangar.

Trolley accumulators were used to start aircraft engines on the ground for testing or take-off. There would have been at least one for each pen. After use they would have been wheeled under cover to protect them from the weather. Some had small generators fitted on top to recharge the batteries. The shed’s wide door would have helped exhaust fumes to escape.

Apart from a few small nails and screws in the brickwork there is no evidence of any internal fittings and fixtures. Originally it probably had double doors, a flat felt roof and camouflage. Look at the wide concrete lintel above the door and the changes in the brickwork.

The shed might also have served as a refuge in the event of an attack, although the thin walls, roof and window would have provided little protection.

Three Hawker Hurricanes of 257 Squadron fly over as another of their fighters is prepared for take-off.

A trolley accumulator starting a Defiant I of 151 Squadron at Coltishall in 1941-2.

Pilots of 601 Squadron use a tractor to negotiate muddy conditions at Exeter in November 1940.

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UNSUNG HEROESThe ground crew who worked here were unsung heroes of the war. Without them the RAF could not have operated.

While it is the pilots that often receive the most acclaim, thousands of men and women serving on the ground performed vital support roles. Aircraftmen and women or “erks” were the lowest in rank, but they were highly trained, intelligent, resourceful and devoted members of a team.

At the end of each day the question was “How many of our fighters will be ready at first light tomorrow?” Every aircraft had to be repaired and serviced. It had to be examined for damage to the fuselage or the wings, to the instruments, electrics, machine guns and coolant system. Each area required particular skills, rather like a team working on a Formula One racing car.

Here at the dispersal the ground crew started the engines using trolley accumulators, helped pilots into their cockpits and gave the canopy a final clean. After take-off they waited anxiously to see if “their” aircraft and pilot returned safely.

Work often took place at night and in the open, in all weathers and miserable conditions. It was a time of constant work, snatched meals, poor accommodation, fatigue and exhaustion. Without the efforts of ground crew the outcome of the Battle of Britain and probably the war would have been very different.

Squadron Leader Robert Stanford Tuck’s Hurricane Mk I, 257 Squadron, refuelling in January 1941.

Atrocious weather in the winter of 1944 turned airfields into quagmires. This 27

Squadron Spitfire has its daily inspection in a sea of mud. Even the trolley accumulator in the

foreground is receiving attention.

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Wherever you walk, you will hear people talk,of the men who go up in the air,of the daredevil way, they go into the fray;Facing death without turning a hair.

They’ll raise a big cheer and buy lots of beer,for the pilot who’s come home on leave,but they don’t give a jigger, for a flight mech or rigger,with nothing but “props” on his sleeve.

They just say “Nice day” - and then turn away,with never a mention of praise,for the poor bloody erk, who does all the work,and just orders his own beer - and pays!

They’ve never been told, of the hours in the cold,that he spends sealing Germany’s fate,how he works on a kite, till all hours of the night,and then turns up next morning at eight.

He gets no rake-off, for working ‘til take-off,or helping the aircrew prepare,but whenever there’s trouble - it’s “Quick at the double”,the man on the ground must be there.

Each flying crew, could confirm it as true,that they know what this man’s really worth,they know that he’s part of the RAF’s heart,even though he stays close to the earth.

He doesn’t want glory, but please tell his story, spread a little of his fame around,He’s just one of a few - so give him his due, and “Three Cheers for the man on the ground”

Three Cheers For The Man On The Ground

This poem was written by Flight Mechanic Eric Sykes in 1942 as a tribute to the work of ground crew. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1941 just four days before his 18th birthday and served as a wireless operator with the rank of Leading Aircraftman. After the war he became a popular and successful radio, television and film writer, actor and director and his career spanned more than 50 years. He appeared in The Goon Show, in Sykes with Hattie Jacques and in the film The Plank.

ErkOriginally in the 1920s “Erk” was Royal Navy slang for any

rank other than officers. In the Second World War it became RAF slang for the lowest rank

of Aircraftman (2nd Class) or air mechanic.

SALVAGEAfter the war this area became a salvage compound and the dispersal’s wartime history was largely forgotten.

Once the dispersal was no longer used to protect aircraft it seems to have disappeared behind heaps of scrap and disused equipment. People working nearby had no idea it was there and very few people ventured into this part of the site. Perhaps the post-war use of this dispersal as a makeshift salvage compound helped it to survive when others were swept away.

If you look at the wooden lintel above the door of the shed you can see the remains of letters for the word “SALVAGE”.

RAF Salvage and Recycling Today

Today at RAF Marham parts are serviced, repaired or refurbished and recycled whenever possible so that they can be put back into the supply chain and re-used to reduce costs and supply times.

In the Waste and Re-cycling Compound metals are separated into ferrous (iron) and non-ferrous prior to collection for recycling to maximise the monetary return on this valuable resource. Wood and glass skips are available, and pallets are collected and sold to a contractor. Waste electrical equipment is recycled by contractors. Tyres are re-used or incinerated with energy reclamation. Paper, card and plastics and cans are all recycled and 110 litre Eurobins are available outside buildings to encourage staff to recycle.

In one six-month period in 2015 the Waste and Recycling Compound at RAF Marham processed 317 tonnes of material of which over 50% was recycled and diverted from landfill.

A Hawker Typhoon of 247 Squadron being overhauled

by a Repair and Salvage Unit in a dispersal wrecked by the

retreating Luftwaffe in Holland in 1944-5.

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Acknowledgments

The Spirit of Coltishall Association. Mick Jennings MBE. Dr Ken Hamilton. Dennis Morris. HMP Bure. RAF Marham. Historic England. The Imperial War Museum. Holmes Building Contractors Ltd. Norfolk Museums Conservation & Design Services. Professor Rob Liddiard, UEA. Virtual Past.

The restoration of this shed and its interpretation by Norfolk County Council’s Historic Environment Service were funded by the Ministry of Defence’s Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

A reconstruction of the scene at the fighter pen in 1940, with Hawker Hurricane DT-A V6864 taxiing into the dispersal after a mission. This plane was flown by Squadron Leader Robert Stanford Tuck of 257 Squadron at RAF Coltishall in 1940-41.

A reconstruction of Hawker Hurricane DT-B P3705 being refuelled. This plane was flown by the Czechoslovakian pilot Sgt Vaclav Brejcha of 257 Squadron, who is buried in Scottow Cemetery.