Bratton
BRATTON: Military Relief Landing Ground
Military user: RAF Training Command 25 Group
AFU [Advanced Flying Unit]
11 SFTS
Location: 2nm NNE of Wellington
Period of operation: 1940 to 1945
Runways: All-over grass airfield. Max landing run: NW-SE 822
NOTES: RLG for SHAWBURY in 1941/42. One unexpected ‘visitor’ was Spitfire P9446 from 57 OTU HAWARDEN caught out flying when a blizzard occurred in the afternoon of the 7th December 1941. Just how the pilot found BRATTON seems a minor miracle but typically it sank in on landing and tipped on its nose. The pilot escaped uninjured but this story is so typical of masses of similar occurrences both here and elsewhere where A) pilots had to divert and B) so many grass airfields where rendered almost useless during winter months.
It was often maintained that the British weather was Germany’s most successful secret weapon!
MAKE DO AND MEND
To illustrate the ‘make-do’ attitude, and often considerable ingenuity so prevalent, especially during the early war years, BRATTON must surely rank unique in that two ex-circus elephants from an adjacent farm were employed to grub up Bratton Coppice and haul sledges of soil and kiln waste for infill when the airfield was being constructed!
An ex Shropshire County Council steam roller was retrieved from Bayston Hill scrap heap to assist as well. Considering this was pretty much front line military activity in that it involved training aircrews, by comparison it appears the writers of the ‘Dad’s Army’ TV series were actually making a well researched documentary. Except - who could possibly make this up?
theo barten
This comment was written on: 2018-07-09 18:38:26hi, Do you happen to know if the wartime control tower on the airfield still exists? For volume 4 of our series 'All along the Control Tower' we would like to know. Thanks in advance for Bratton that is.. www.controltowers.eu
Peter Steggle
This comment was written on: 2019-08-26 10:19:34My Father was in the Home Guard during the war, and always maintained that Dads Army was a documentary, not a comedy.
Brian Pearson
This comment was written on: 2021-03-06 13:40:53Do you know if training of naval personell for aircraft carrier duties was carried out at Bratton. If not, do you know where in Shropshire this was done? (My father was posted to a site in Shropshire to be trained for aircraft handling on aircraft carriers either immediately pre WW2 or in the early years)
We'd love to hear from you, so please scroll down to leave a comment!
Leave a comment ...
Copyright (c) UK Airfield Guide
