PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

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WYMESWOLD AIRFIELD:
This was opened in May of 1942 and occupied land in HOTON and BURTON ON THE WOODS as well as WYMESWOLD itself. Until 1944, the airfield was used for training air crews of Bomber Command who would go on to fly Lancasters, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Wellingtons. After 1944, it passed under the control of No 44 Group Transport Command to train aircrew for Dakotas to transport forces overseas.

After the war, the airfield closed until 1949, when it housed auxiliary and reserve units until it closed down in 1957. However, runways were still used by the RAF until 1970 for some training exercises. The buildings were taken over by commercial aircraft repair firm Field Aircraft Services until they transferred to Castle Donington in the late 1960s.

Some of the land has since returned to agricultural use and the buildings became a small scale industrial park. A major row broke out in 1986 when Costain Homes sought permission to use the site for a new village of some 2,500 houses. This was fiercely opposed by many loical residents who started a vociferous "Stop the Blot on the Wolds" campaign. Planning permission was finally refused in April 1990.

THE MYSTERY OF THE GERMAN DORNIER:
A huge German bombing raid known as OPERATION MOONLIGHT took place over England on November 14th, 1940, involving 450 bombers. Coventry was heavily hit and a total of 568 people were killed and over 1,000 injured. But in all of this, the only bomber to be brought down was a Dornier 17Z which crashed in a field near BURTON ON THE WOLDS. This was from the KG3 unit, flying out of Antwerp and all four of the Luftwaffe crew were killed. But this event sparked a controversy which continues to the present day. Contemporary eye witnesses maintained that the badly damaged bomber circled LOUGHBOROUGH for some time and seemed to deliberately aim for the open field. Unusually, the plane also did not unload the remainder of it's bombs. This was unprecedented in that German standing orders at the time instructed crews that, when crashing was inevitable, bombs should be released and the crash sight chosen, if possible, in order to inflict maximum damage.

Conflicting reasons were put forward as to why this did not happen. Some maintained that the crew must have been dead before the crash and that LOUGHBOROUGH was just lucky. Other eye witnesses insisted that the crew was definitely alive and seemed to deliberately steer away from the town in order to save civilian lives. This was the version of events that was accepted and the four strong crew - KARL DITHEY (aged 32); OSWALD PREISS (aged 22); WILHELM WELLENBROCK (aged 21) and GUNTER KUHNE (also aged 21) - were buried in LOUGHBOROUGH cemetery with full military honours. Contemporary press stories report that a large crowd attended the ceremony, all of them quiet and respectful. The last post was played and rifle volleys were shot over the graves in salute.

Another possibility is that the aircraft was making for the airfield at WYMESWOLD, the existence of which the crew would certainly have known about. Perhaps they were following orders, saving their payload of bombs to release over this legitimate military target. Such action would certainly have inflicted more military damage than the bombing of civilians.

Although the accepted explanation is preferable, the truth of the matter will probably never be knownThe mystery is heightened by the mysterious final entries in the plane's logbook, which was recovered intact. These have been translated by several German speakers but none of them have been able to make any sense out of it.

A permanent reminder of this mysterious event is found on the Prestwold estate, where part of the Dornier's propellor still hangs on the wall of an outbuilding.

REARSBY AERODROME:
This began in the 1930s when the County Flying Club became established on Gaddesby Lane. The runway was located outside the village, cut into the grass.

Some years later, a firm called Taylorcraft began to manufacture small aircraft on the site and in 1938, REARSBY AERODROME was opened and the Taylorcraft factory taken over by BEAGLE-AUSTELL AIRCRAFT. The firm employed many local people and diversified during WW2 to supply parts and materials for fighting aircraft. The aerodrome was acquired by a gliding club in 1960 and very soon moved to another site, after which the land was returned to agricultural use. The factory site was taken over by REARSBY AUTOMOTIVE, making car parts.

RATCLIFFE COLLEGE:
During the Second World War, the fields of RATCLIFFE COLLEGE were used as an airfield by the RAF.