FEATURES
Mess until early 1916 when the Mess building was completed. Cranwell’s acreage increased in the early years. The first of numerous purchases was 0.131 acres from the University of Cambridge for £10, on 26th April 1917. On 5th June 1920 RAF Cranwell stood on 2520 acres, having cost a total of £54,485. Various small sales over the years had reduced this to 1828 acres in 1998.
1916 saw the laying of the first track of the Cranwell to Sleaford railway (the “Cranwell Express”) via Rauceby and Holdingham. It was temporary at this time and undulated with the ground! The railway was necessary to improve reliability of bringing in bulk supplies and heavy equipment. Boy Apprentices were not allowed to use the train, and were often thrown off when discovered on the journey! The carriages were elderly and dilapidated, with upholstery and netting beyond repair. The suspension springs were wrecked and the locomotive itself was overworked. Often overloaded, it had to stop frequently to rest!
The railway was also the “Liberty Ship” that took RNAS personnel into Sleaford for R&R. The Station infrastructure also included the post office which was run by Mr John William Robinson.
RNAS Cranwell was not without wartime incident. The first air raid was by a German
Zeppelin in about January 1916. Mrs Gant (a child living in Cranwell Village at the time) comments:
“One moonlit night, my parents heard a funny noise. When they went out to look they saw a German Zeppelin flying over. Evidently the Germans had heard about Cranwell and had come over to look. No bombs were dropped.”
January 1916 also saw the arrival of the station canteen, run by Messrs Cox & Co. The Piloteer records that the canteen consisted of “a manager, server and a few dozen oranges, a bar or two of chocolate, two or three pairs of bootlaces, and a kipper or two”.
Flt Sub Lt Maynard was detailed to collect the first aircraft (a BE2c No 3999) from Chingford in February 1916. This did not go entirely to plan as Maynard had to land in a field to refuel at Bourne… with a “sticky” take off over a railway embankment to get out! (Still, he didn’t have to worry about CAA take off safety ratios then!) This aircraft was housed in a canvas hangar.
As the Admiralty’s direction was that 500 pilots would be trained in a year, facilities were built to house and support a population of 100 pilots at any one time. Initially, Cranwell’s training aircraft comprised: • 5 Maurice Farmans • 25 Avros
• 20 BE2cs • 10 1 ½ Strutters • 10 Bristol Scouts • 10 Nieuports • 10 others such as RE8s and FE2bs
With the infrastructure complete, the RNAS Central Training Establishment formed on 1st April 1916, a year after the first naval personnel had arrived. RNAS Cranwell was fully established and equipped by late 1916; East (ground training unit and Boy Apprentices Wing) and West (the RAF Cadet
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Envoy Autumn 2014
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