TROOPS FROM the British Army’s
Yorkshire Regiment have conducted
training with the RAF in an exercise
held in the northwest of England
from July 1 to July 5. The RAF
contingent comprised two Puma
helicopters from 33 Squadron
based at Benson in Oxfordshire.
The task centred on pre-deployment
training before undertaking
operations in Afghanistan.
The Puma Force was temporarily
based at RAF Woodvale in
Merseyside, and flew during the
day and night using a variety of
authorised helicopter landing
sites in the Manchester, Liverpool
and Newcastle areas. Operating
in urban locations is a key skill
required by the Puma crews and thetraining is invaluable as they are
unfamiliar operating environments
for many of the personnel. The
Puma Force is currently supporting
the ongoing NATO training mission
in Afghanistan, with its role being
part of Operation Toral. They provide
air transport to NATO troops and
visiting dignitaries around Kabul.
The Yorkshire Regiment(14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th
Foot), part of which will shortly
be deployed to Afghanistan, was
created by amalgamating three
historic regiments in 2006. It’s
currently the only line infantry or
rifles unit to represent a single
geographical county in the new
infantry structure, serving as the
county regiment of Yorkshire. ∎New Wartime ‘Hidden London’
Exhibition Revealed
http://www.britainatwar.com^7News^ •^ Restoration^ •^ Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK^ |^ BRIEFING ROOM
A NEW exhibition that will give visitors
the chance to experience part of an
‘abandoned’ London tube station is
set to open at the London Transport
Museum, Covent Garden, on October
- In addition to the recreated
sections of disused tube stations,
Hidden London will feature displays,
archive photos, films and artefacts.
These will tell of such places as the
Plessey aircraft underground factory
which had 2,000 members of staff,
mostly women, working in 5 miles
(8km) of long tunnels on the eastern
section of the Central line during the
Second World War.
The new display will also show how
Winston Churchill took refuge in the
Railway Executive Committee’s
bomb-proof headquarters 73ft
(22m) underground at Down
Street station in Mayfair. The
museum has recreated the dining
room used by Britain’s wartime
leader with tables, chairs, wine
bottles, menu cards and ashtrays
similar to those Winston Churchill
would have used.
Some objects will be on public
display for the first time, such as
a 1939 architectural drawing of
Down Street station before it was
converted into a secret bunker.
Hidden London. The exhibition
opens on October 11 and runs
to January 2021. ∎An image of the wartime Plessey aircraft underground factory on the Central line in 1941.
(VIA LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM)Impressive Hawker Typhoon Sculpture
A FULL-SIZE model of a Hawker
Typhoon Ib built by QinetiQ’s
apprentices was unveiled at the
Chalke Valley History Festival near
Salisbury, Wiltshire, on June 24.
The project is part of QinetiQ’s
approach to building its future
capability, supporting apprentices to
develop new skills and experiences,
while helping to celebrate a
ground-breaking aircraft at a world-
renowned historical festival.
The model was built from a range
of recyclable materials, including
machined polystyrene, steel and
modern building components, and
has been painted to representTyphoon Ib RB396. The real
RB396 is currently being
restored to flying condition.
The project began last October
with a presentation to the
apprentices by historian, James
Holland, and Sam Worthington-
Leese who is the future pilot
of RB396. The design and
build phase took approximately
eight months and the model
was constructed in sections by
apprentices with a range of local
schools and cadets contributing
to the project as a STEM
(science, technology, engineering
and maths) activity. ∎The Hawker Typhoon Ib model built by apprentices at the Chalke Valley History Festival,
near Salisbury, Wiltshire. (VIA QINETIQ)Pre-Afghanistan deployment
training for British Forces