CUMBRIA AIRFIELDS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR including the Isle of Man

As the storm clouds of war were gathering over Europe in 1938, construction work began on two of Cumbria's biggest aircraft maintenance units at Kirkbride and Silloth. Throughout the war, these two airfields would handle thousands of aircraft, preparing new ones for the front line and modifying and repairing others.

Cumbria and the Isle of Man had early on been marked down as suitable places to build flying schools because of their relatively uncluttered skies and generally good weather. The Isle of Man also had an abundance of both bombing and air-to-air firing ranges, which attracted an Air Gunners School (Jurby and Andreas), Ground and Gunnery Schools, Defence Gunners School (Ronaldsway), and various other bombing facilities.

On the mainland, flying schools trained pilots for Coastal Command (Crosby, Longtown, and Silloth) and Fighter Command (Great Orton and Longtown), and there were training units of the Fleet Air Arm throughout Cumbria as well as the Isle of Man. There was also an Elementary Flying Training School at Kingstown and Burnfoot, along with four satellite landing grounds supporting Silloth and Kirkbride at Brayton Park, Hornby Hall, Hutton-in-the-Forest, and Wath Head.

This book describes the history of each airfield and the varied but vital roles they played in Britain's air war between 1939 and 1945. It also records the lives of the people caught up in the titanic struggle—both military and civilian.

Martyn Chorlton has had a lifelong interest in aviation and served in the RAF for nearly 13 years. He is the author of Leicestershire & Rutland Airfields in the Second World War and Airfields of North-East England in the Second World War.

Source : Publisher's summary printed on the cover