Today's Ghost WW2 Airfield #GhostWW2Airfields is RAF Silverstone 👻
Now better known as being the the home of British Motor Racing and the F1 Grand Prix 🏁🏎️
Then vs➡️now☑️ shown below...
Now let's take a closer look at Silverstone Airfield / Circuit in wartime...
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RAF Silverstone opened in 1943 as a base for training RAF flying Vickers Wellington bombers.
I don't have a photo of a Wellington at Silverstone, but here's an example...
Aircraft like this once sat on Silverstone Circuit, before thundering down a runway to take off.
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Speaking of which, here's a photo of Silverstone in 1983...
Despite being used for racing in the 1980s, you can still the runways and the sandy coloured aircraft dispersal pans where the bombers would be parked up.
In the 1980s it still looked like a WW2 airfield.
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This wartime history explain the circuit's "Hangar Straight".
Here's a photo of the famous piece of track in 1949, shortly after the first race had been held. It shows the two hangars next to the straight, which was named in their honour.
Photo via Oversteer48.
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These painting by John W. Johnston offer an interesting comparison to how the airfield was in 1945, and then just a few short years later had cars instead of Wellingtons buzzing past the Nissen huts.
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During the war, tragedy struck.
On September 18, 1843, a Wellington left Silverstone on a training exercise.
It crashed on farmland in Devon, killing all 6 crew.
There's a memorial to the men on the roadside near the crash site.
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This is Norman Neville Dunn. He was one of the men who died after taking off from RAF Silverstone.
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If you have enjoyed this tour, please do share and follow...
I tweet ghost airfield threads like this once or twice a week 👻
And if you have any photos of Silverstone from its time as an airfield, or any thing you can add, please do contribute.
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In a previous tweet I wrote:
"On September 18, 1843, a Wellington left Silverstone on a training exercise."
I am sure you all appreciate that should read 1943.
Sorry for the mistake 🙏
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