Appledram ALG

[PETERTHEEATER]

Camouflaged Mobile Control Tower in use at Appledram, Sussex. The Flying Control Officer, training his binoculars over the airfield, is Pilot Officer Harry James, a well-known dance band leader before the war.

(so well camouflaged they can't see out through the windows!)

Courtesy of Imperial War Museum © IWM (CH 18721)

[PETERTHEEATER]

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mark IXBs of Nos. 312 and 313 (Czech) Squadrons RAF undergoing engine repair and maintenance at Appledram, Sussex, viewed through the entrance of a Butler combat hangar covered with camouflage netting.



Courtesy of Imperial War Museum © IWM (CH 18720)

[MikeO]

That's a great picture. The Butler hangars were normally associated with USAAF locations and might those Spitfires have been pictured at Mendlesham, just before the move to Appledram? Obviously taken pre D Day.

[PETERTHEEATER]

The IWM captions are often incorrect for various reasons. But, without positive landmarks, yes, it could be Mendlesham.

There are many excellent WW2 contemporary photographs in the IWM collection attributed to airfields and I have posted a number on AiX but I do try to select only those which show some background features and landmarks.

[MikeO]

We shall probably never know! I also enjoyed the picture of the mobile control tower. Under all that camouflage was probably a typical RAF mobile control tender of the sort one used to see near the end of the active runway