"Firing into the Brown" #96 - RAF Appledram, Dickens and stuff

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Been saving this one for a while .. while I was out cycling this summer I came across this site quite out of the blue..  I had no idea it was there (though I was aware of other airfields in the area) ..

Not surprising given where I live (on the extreme south coast) there were a lot of RAF stations - the most famous one local to me is probably Tangmere, but I'm also aware of stations at Funtington, Thorney Island and Westhampnett. 

RAF Appledram (alternative spelling Apuldram), was one of 23 Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG's) which were built in the South and South-East of England in 1943–1944 to provide the temporary extra capacity that was expected to be required for Overlord and the preparations before (in fact Funtington was as well)..

The ALG's used a surface material called Sommerfield Tracking for the runways - link will give you the detail but in summary, think a heavy duty chain link fence with iron rods threaded through..  at Appledram they used to graze sheep on the runway to keep the grass down, which would grow through the tracking if let alone

As a result of not using concrete though, there's not a lot to see now - a few gateposts - some iron railings deep in the brambles, and to be fair the airfield was only in commission for a year and a half (from May 1943 to November 1944), and wasn't even actually active for a lot of that time: 

• 175, 181 and 182 Squadrons moved in on 2nd June 1943 flying Typhoons on ground attack missions against airfields, communications centres and radar stations - they moved to Kent early in July 1943.
• 310, 312 and 313 Squadrons moved in on 3rd April 1944 these were Czechoslovakian squadrons flying Spitfire Mk IX's (which had the extra tanks to increase range hugely) on a mixture of fighter sweeps, bomber escort (the Mk. IX with drop tanks allowed it to reach Germany), and attacks against V-weapon launch sites. On D-Day they provided fighter cover over the beaches. They moved to RAF Tangmere on 22nd June.
• 302, 308 and 317 Squadrons moved in on 28th June these were Polish squadrons also flying the Mk. IX Spitfire on ground attack operations in support of allied ground troops. They left for RAF Ford on 16 July before transferring to airfields in France.

..so a little more than 3 months (or 14 weeks) of action, but it fulfilled a vital need, and once the Polish boys left it was returned to farm use and was decommissioned completely that November.

Given the accommodation was largely tented (though I understand some of the local cottages and farm buildings were eventually re-purposed), you can see why it wouldn't have been used for that period between July '43 and the following April - even April would have been pretty desperate for a life under canvas. Speaking of canvas - I found this picture of some of the accommodation...

..from the excellent website link below on the Czech Squadrons..

Fantastic...  that history..  it's all around us, eh?

Further Reading:

• RAF Appledram - Wikipedia
• The Czech Fighter Squadrons in West Sussex – Free Czechoslovak Air Force Associates ltd

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The Christmas Dickens for 2025 has been completed, and what an absolute, complete, and unexpected pleasure... 🙂 

Not as well known as some of the more 'headline' novels (eg. Twist/Copperfield/Nickleby) but that's a shame because I think the story (or rather stories plural) is as good as any of them, and holds up well..  

In this book then, we meet the totally scurrilous, Pecksniff, a complete Iago character if ever there was one. Then his two misnamed daughters Mercy and Charity (though one of them comes good), but most of all (clearly) it is about the Chuzzlewit's. 

Think it's fair to say the Chuzzlewit family is rich, but all of them are also a bit damaged in the emotional/psychological department. Clearly the book is mostly about Martin, who is the elder of two surviving brothers, but it's also about his grandson who's also called Martin. Along the way we also meet Martin seniors nephew, Jonas Chuzzlewit, a nasty piece of work, and the "Bill Sykes" of the book...  

Along the way we also meet  a huge cast of other characters; John Westlock and Tom and Ruth Pinch are the good guys; a favourite of mine, Mrs Gamp (glorious), and the innkeeper Mark Tapley (also a good guy). There's financial chicanery orchestrated by the fantastically bewhiskered Montague Tigg, and an American interlude (and Dickens didn't paint the country in a particularly good light!) when young Martin and Mark go to seek their fortune..  

Very much recommended..  9/10

Barnard's realisation of the scene prior to Jonas Chuzzlewit's visit, when a confidential report on Jonas, identifying him as a poisoner, is delivered to his employer, Montague Tigg. "Mr. Nadgett produces the result of his private inquiries" ​(1872).

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...