The Swinging Sixties, or was it?
David Ibberson
April 2014
It's hard to believe that the years have passed so quickly
until you look at the old photos and find the person in them
bears no relationship to you.
Left: David and Margaret posing as 1960s fashion icons
David Ibberson
April 2014
It's hard to believe that the years have passed so quickly
until you look at the old photos and find the person in them
bears no relationship to you.
Left: David and Margaret posing as 1960s fashion icons
[Most of us have read one of David's books about Box: The Vicars of Box, Lambert's Way (about Box's Scout troop) or his collections of wonderful postcards. We might have seen him in the Box Gang Show or at the Revels; or experienced his Scouting or Youth Club activities. You might have read some of his articles published on this website.
But who is the man behind all this hard work? David offers an insight into his early years in Box in the 1960s as a way of encouraging others to record their memories of the village now disappeared from view over the last 50 years.]
But who is the man behind all this hard work? David offers an insight into his early years in Box in the 1960s as a way of encouraging others to record their memories of the village now disappeared from view over the last 50 years.]
Arriving in Wiltshire
On the 31st December 1959 I arrived at Bath Green Park Station on the Pines Express as a 16 year old Airman having joined the RAF as a Boy Entrant 18 months earlier. I was heading for RAF Colerne, at the time an RAF Transport Command Airfield.
This was one of the many military units in the area and one of the two operational (flying units) in Wiltshire, the other being RAF Lyneham.
Lyneham, also a Transport Command airfield, was home to the Bristol Britannia and Comet whilst Colerne was home to the Handley Page Hasting, affectionately known as Hasty-bird, a lumbering noisy four engine piston aircraft that was largely used for troop transport and the deployment of airborne troops although it was also used for cargo. During the Berlin airlift it was used to transport coal and was the last aircraft to fly the Berlin Corridor.
On the 31st December 1959 I arrived at Bath Green Park Station on the Pines Express as a 16 year old Airman having joined the RAF as a Boy Entrant 18 months earlier. I was heading for RAF Colerne, at the time an RAF Transport Command Airfield.
This was one of the many military units in the area and one of the two operational (flying units) in Wiltshire, the other being RAF Lyneham.
Lyneham, also a Transport Command airfield, was home to the Bristol Britannia and Comet whilst Colerne was home to the Handley Page Hasting, affectionately known as Hasty-bird, a lumbering noisy four engine piston aircraft that was largely used for troop transport and the deployment of airborne troops although it was also used for cargo. During the Berlin airlift it was used to transport coal and was the last aircraft to fly the Berlin Corridor.
The Skies were Full
Compared to the Britannias (Whispering Giants) and Comets, the Hastings was very noisy, particularly when mass start ups were being made. Indeed the whole of North Wiltshire knew it, the minutes of Corsham Council Meeting’s are testament to this, recording the many complaints from residents.
The skies around Box and District were seldom free of these lumbering low flying military aircraft for these were dangerous times, being at the height of the Cold War and along with activity at the Burlington Bunker, RAF Colerne was playing its part in preparation for a nuclear strike.
Aircraft from Colerne flew all over the world and in the late fifties and early sixties, included ferrying troops and supplies to the nuclear test sites on the Christmas Islands and in Australia. Nearer home the RAF Bomber Command Stations on which were based the now famous ‘V’ bombers, Victors, Valiants and Vulcans were at readiness 24/7 to respond to imminent nuclear strike.
Of course, our potential enemies knew where these aircraft were based and no doubt would have plans to destroy them so a dispersal policy ensured that as tensions mounted the ‘V’ bombers would disperse to secret destinations. This is where Colerne came in, duty crews, aircrew and ground-crew were on standby to ferry ‘V’ bomber ground-crews and spares to their new locations wherever that might be.
In its day, Colerne had an important strategic role but it also, along with the Navy at HMS Royal Arthur, the Army at Basil Hill Barracks, the RAF at Rudloe Manor and of course the Naval Stores Depots provided employment for many Box residents whose forebears would have worked in the stone industries or in agriculture.
Compared to the Britannias (Whispering Giants) and Comets, the Hastings was very noisy, particularly when mass start ups were being made. Indeed the whole of North Wiltshire knew it, the minutes of Corsham Council Meeting’s are testament to this, recording the many complaints from residents.
The skies around Box and District were seldom free of these lumbering low flying military aircraft for these were dangerous times, being at the height of the Cold War and along with activity at the Burlington Bunker, RAF Colerne was playing its part in preparation for a nuclear strike.
Aircraft from Colerne flew all over the world and in the late fifties and early sixties, included ferrying troops and supplies to the nuclear test sites on the Christmas Islands and in Australia. Nearer home the RAF Bomber Command Stations on which were based the now famous ‘V’ bombers, Victors, Valiants and Vulcans were at readiness 24/7 to respond to imminent nuclear strike.
Of course, our potential enemies knew where these aircraft were based and no doubt would have plans to destroy them so a dispersal policy ensured that as tensions mounted the ‘V’ bombers would disperse to secret destinations. This is where Colerne came in, duty crews, aircrew and ground-crew were on standby to ferry ‘V’ bomber ground-crews and spares to their new locations wherever that might be.
In its day, Colerne had an important strategic role but it also, along with the Navy at HMS Royal Arthur, the Army at Basil Hill Barracks, the RAF at Rudloe Manor and of course the Naval Stores Depots provided employment for many Box residents whose forebears would have worked in the stone industries or in agriculture.
The Hastings
In the early sixties the Nation was also planning for the death of Sir Winston Churchill and it was rumoured at the time that a VIP Hastings, different from all others in the sense that it was always gleaming was on standby to bring him home should he have died on one of his frequent painting trips on the Continent. Well there was a VIP aircraft at Colerne and I don’t doubt that the rumour was true.
The Hastings, by the mid sixties was nearing the end of its life, once the largest and fastest aircraft in the RAF’s transport fleet it was being replaced by the Britannia and most importantly the Hercules (C130) which dominated the airspace around Box and District until 2012.
Late on 5th July 1965 a Hastings with its crew of five took off from Colerne for Abingdon to take on board Air Force and Army paratroopers on training jumps over Salisbury Plain which were scheduled for the next day. At 16.00hrs on the 6th July just after take-off from Abingdon the plane crashed, all 41 souls on board perished. In its nearly thirty years of service this was by far the worst accident the Hastings had experienced, caused as it happens, by mechanical failure as a result of metal fatigue.
In the early sixties the Nation was also planning for the death of Sir Winston Churchill and it was rumoured at the time that a VIP Hastings, different from all others in the sense that it was always gleaming was on standby to bring him home should he have died on one of his frequent painting trips on the Continent. Well there was a VIP aircraft at Colerne and I don’t doubt that the rumour was true.
The Hastings, by the mid sixties was nearing the end of its life, once the largest and fastest aircraft in the RAF’s transport fleet it was being replaced by the Britannia and most importantly the Hercules (C130) which dominated the airspace around Box and District until 2012.
Late on 5th July 1965 a Hastings with its crew of five took off from Colerne for Abingdon to take on board Air Force and Army paratroopers on training jumps over Salisbury Plain which were scheduled for the next day. At 16.00hrs on the 6th July just after take-off from Abingdon the plane crashed, all 41 souls on board perished. In its nearly thirty years of service this was by far the worst accident the Hastings had experienced, caused as it happens, by mechanical failure as a result of metal fatigue.
David aged 15 years
We All Grew Up
So, as the sixties faded so did the gallant old lady of the skies too become yet another aviation museum piece.
But hey, this was the Swinging Sixties and as teenagers we had far more important things on our mind. These things (young ladies, of course, but hopefully not too much the lady) were to be found in the many Milk Bars and Dance Halls in Bath, most notably The Regency.
There was also a far more frightening threat than a nuclear bomb and this was to be found in the barbers shop at RAF Colerne. Butcher Bawtree of Box was one. He could, in one stroke of his shears, destroy our Tony Curtis and DA hairstyles and replace them with the regulation short back and sides. In the process, any street cred we might have had was gone.
So, as the sixties faded so did the gallant old lady of the skies too become yet another aviation museum piece.
But hey, this was the Swinging Sixties and as teenagers we had far more important things on our mind. These things (young ladies, of course, but hopefully not too much the lady) were to be found in the many Milk Bars and Dance Halls in Bath, most notably The Regency.
There was also a far more frightening threat than a nuclear bomb and this was to be found in the barbers shop at RAF Colerne. Butcher Bawtree of Box was one. He could, in one stroke of his shears, destroy our Tony Curtis and DA hairstyles and replace them with the regulation short back and sides. In the process, any street cred we might have had was gone.
Dennis Richman records, in his memories of Box, seeing an aircraft for the first time in about 1913 as it flew over the Valley. During World War 2, all manner of allied aircraft skirted Box Valley as did German bombers heading for raids on Bristol and Bath, and at least one jettisoned bombs in the valley when he encountered technical problems.
Colerne closed as an RAF Station in 1976 but Lyneham, flying Hercules, remained operational until 2012. Look toward the sky today we see only the occasional military flight but each day, vapour trails record the passing of the countless civil flights that pass overhead.
Reference
Abingdon Air Disaster http://www.aaahs.org.uk/crash1965.html
Colerne closed as an RAF Station in 1976 but Lyneham, flying Hercules, remained operational until 2012. Look toward the sky today we see only the occasional military flight but each day, vapour trails record the passing of the countless civil flights that pass overhead.
Reference
Abingdon Air Disaster http://www.aaahs.org.uk/crash1965.html
