Flying Boat Haven, by John Evans
Flying Boat Haven, by John Evans
Booklet published by Paterchurch in 2009, 34 pages. A4 size rectangular booklet, signed by author on title page (N5684)
Booklet published by Paterchurch in 2009, 34 pages. A4 size rectangular booklet, signed by author on title page (N5684)
This short booklet traces the history of RAF Pembroke Dock (1930-59), once the world’s largest flying boat station, from its early pioneering days in the biplane era, through the arrival of the Sunderland and ‘PD’ at war, to the end of the flying boat era and the return of Sunderland ML824 for preservation in 1961. This book is not a history of RAF Pembroke Dock but represents a collection of photographs reflecting something of the periods of history of this remarkable town and its air station...
From the introduction: On 31st March 1930 the former Royal Dockyard was transferred from the Admiralty to the Air Ministry, ushering in Pembroke Dock's all too brief aviation era. Exactly 29 years later, on 31st March 1959, the RAF Standard was ceremonially lowered for the last time in the air station, bringing to a close a remarkable chapter in the history of this military town.
There was to be a short postscript when a Sunderland - the most famous of all the flying boats - returned to Pembroke Dock in March 1961 for preservation. Ten years later this same Sunderland, ML824, left Pembroke Dock for the RAF Museum at Hendon, and a major link with the past was severed, seemingly forever.
In the three decades starting in 1930 the town of Pembroke Dock and its RAF station were perfect partners. Begun as a Dockyard town, Pembroke Dock had good reason to respect its Air Force residents and the townspeople celebrated the good times and mourned the sad times along with the RAF. Known simply as 'PD' throughout the RAF, Pembroke Dock was a happy and popular station, and its flying boat days covered some of the most turbulent years of the 20th century.
There were several phases: The early years when the RAF worked effectively to establish Pembroke Dock as a major air station, The expansion period from the mid 1930s when RAF Pembroke Dock grew in stature as war clouds loomed over Europe, The long hard years of the Second World War; six years in the forefront of the bitterest war in history, The post-war era when flying boats still graced the skies and the water, making a unique contrIbution to the peacetime role of the RAF, and almost as an afterthought, the preservation of Sunderland ML824 and its display at Pembroke Dock for ten years.
Condition of the booklet is generally excellent. The covers are clean and bright, the staple spine is intact and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound. There is a small price sticker on the rear side cover
| Condition | New |