Royal Air Force Station Middleton St. George, Aircraft Fuel Point
Introduction:
Decided to have a drive out to the site of RAF Middleton St. George (Now Durham Tees Valley Airport) after @BoroLad spotted some potential derpage there. We were hoping to be able to do the water tower and boiler house but alas, we where too late sadly... The water tower had been demolished and the boiler house converted into a workshop. We thought our luck was out when I spotted what looked like fuel tanks in the foliage, a gen set perhaps? I had my fingers crossed but sadly it wasn't to be! Turned out what we'd found was still pretty interesting though, a fully intact and untouched aircraft re fuelling point. Scary thing is that the tanks are still full to the top with aviation fuel... Madness! A fair bit of moneys worth too I reckon. Anyway although this is far from epic, it's worth a share in our humble opinion! At the end of the day, it's another WW2/Coldwar airfield ticked off of our inspection list!
History:
The airfield began life as RAF Goosepool before a name change in 1941 to RAF Middleton St. George, it was then when the airbase was also handed over to RAF Bomber Command. The airbase was home to 76 squadron (Handley Page Halifaxes) and 78 Squadron (Armstrong Whitworth Whitley's) respectively until 1943 when the base was handed over to the No.6 Group Royal Canadian Air Force. The RCAF operated 419 & 428 Squadron Halifax's and 420 squadron Vickers Wellingtons until the end of the war in 1945. 419 & 428 Squadrons where upgraded to Avro Lancaster in 1944. In the late 1940's the airfield was handed back to the RAF, who went on to operate 264 Sqdn Gloster Meteors, 92 Sqdn Hawker Hunters and 33 Sqdn Gloster Javelins and 92 Sqdn De Haviland Mosquitos.
In 1964 the Royal Air Force left Middleton St. George for good, and the station became Teeside International Airport just two years later in 1966. In 2004 the Airport was rebranded as Durham Tees Valley Airport.
A little bit of additional history for the RAF or in this case RCAF buff like myself. This is of the airfield which Andrew Mynarski VC was based at. Andrew was a member of No.419 Squadron RCAF, Lancaster's and was killed during a valiant attempt to rescue fellow crew member Pilot Officer Pat Brophy. Pat was trapped inside the Lanc's rear turret when they came under fire over France on the night of the 13th of June 1944. KB726 VR - A (Able) had been hit by fire from a German JU 88 Night Fighter. The crew all survived barring Andrew, his valiant attempts to save Pat where in vain, Andrew tried to recover him from the turret first using a fire axe before resorting to his knuckles, sadly he got caught up in hydraulic liquid and although managing to bail out later died from his burns. The rest of the crew managed to escape safely barring Pat, who went down with the aircraft trapped in the rear turret, somehow, miraculously surviving the ordeal! Andrew was awarded the VC posthumously when the crew spoke out about his bravery after the war in 1946. Today Avro Lancaster FM213 has been renumbered to KB726 and named the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster in honour of Andy's bravery. Last year the old girl visited Middleton St. George in his memory and is pictured below. RIP Pilot Officer Mynarski, VC.
KB726 Avro Lancaster MK.X 'The Mynarski Memorial Flight' at RAF Middleton St. George 2014
Pictures:
Exterior:
Standard RAF Structure, with typical MOD Fencing...
Fuel Filter still full to the mark... Madness.
Interior:
Inside are three Stothert & Pitt Fuel Pumps and the associated Allen West Electrical Gear.
Was interesting to see some of the bottles still containing fuel samples, and yes it was fuel not piss, I did have a sniff...
And that's all from here, another little time capsule to check out if you're in the area,
Cheers for reading,
TAW
Introduction:
Decided to have a drive out to the site of RAF Middleton St. George (Now Durham Tees Valley Airport) after @BoroLad spotted some potential derpage there. We were hoping to be able to do the water tower and boiler house but alas, we where too late sadly... The water tower had been demolished and the boiler house converted into a workshop. We thought our luck was out when I spotted what looked like fuel tanks in the foliage, a gen set perhaps? I had my fingers crossed but sadly it wasn't to be! Turned out what we'd found was still pretty interesting though, a fully intact and untouched aircraft re fuelling point. Scary thing is that the tanks are still full to the top with aviation fuel... Madness! A fair bit of moneys worth too I reckon. Anyway although this is far from epic, it's worth a share in our humble opinion! At the end of the day, it's another WW2/Coldwar airfield ticked off of our inspection list!
History:
The airfield began life as RAF Goosepool before a name change in 1941 to RAF Middleton St. George, it was then when the airbase was also handed over to RAF Bomber Command. The airbase was home to 76 squadron (Handley Page Halifaxes) and 78 Squadron (Armstrong Whitworth Whitley's) respectively until 1943 when the base was handed over to the No.6 Group Royal Canadian Air Force. The RCAF operated 419 & 428 Squadron Halifax's and 420 squadron Vickers Wellingtons until the end of the war in 1945. 419 & 428 Squadrons where upgraded to Avro Lancaster in 1944. In the late 1940's the airfield was handed back to the RAF, who went on to operate 264 Sqdn Gloster Meteors, 92 Sqdn Hawker Hunters and 33 Sqdn Gloster Javelins and 92 Sqdn De Haviland Mosquitos.
In 1964 the Royal Air Force left Middleton St. George for good, and the station became Teeside International Airport just two years later in 1966. In 2004 the Airport was rebranded as Durham Tees Valley Airport.
A little bit of additional history for the RAF or in this case RCAF buff like myself. This is of the airfield which Andrew Mynarski VC was based at. Andrew was a member of No.419 Squadron RCAF, Lancaster's and was killed during a valiant attempt to rescue fellow crew member Pilot Officer Pat Brophy. Pat was trapped inside the Lanc's rear turret when they came under fire over France on the night of the 13th of June 1944. KB726 VR - A (Able) had been hit by fire from a German JU 88 Night Fighter. The crew all survived barring Andrew, his valiant attempts to save Pat where in vain, Andrew tried to recover him from the turret first using a fire axe before resorting to his knuckles, sadly he got caught up in hydraulic liquid and although managing to bail out later died from his burns. The rest of the crew managed to escape safely barring Pat, who went down with the aircraft trapped in the rear turret, somehow, miraculously surviving the ordeal! Andrew was awarded the VC posthumously when the crew spoke out about his bravery after the war in 1946. Today Avro Lancaster FM213 has been renumbered to KB726 and named the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster in honour of Andy's bravery. Last year the old girl visited Middleton St. George in his memory and is pictured below. RIP Pilot Officer Mynarski, VC.
KB726 Avro Lancaster MK.X 'The Mynarski Memorial Flight' at RAF Middleton St. George 2014
Pictures:
Exterior:
Standard RAF Structure, with typical MOD Fencing...
Fuel Filter still full to the mark... Madness.
Interior:
Inside are three Stothert & Pitt Fuel Pumps and the associated Allen West Electrical Gear.
Was interesting to see some of the bottles still containing fuel samples, and yes it was fuel not piss, I did have a sniff...
And that's all from here, another little time capsule to check out if you're in the area,
Cheers for reading,
TAW
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Interesting history & at least there was some stuff for looking at.
