102 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE JULY 2018Reviews
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★★★★★ Outstanding
★★★★ ★ Excellent
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★★ ★★★ Flawed
★★★★★ Mediocre
Enough saidLife & Death in the
Battle of Britain
published by IWMGuy Mayfi eld, who was station chaplain
at RAF Duxford from February 1940 to
December 1941, kept a diary. In 1964, he
started typing up his handwritten notes
with the idea of submitting the resulting
document to the Imperial War Museum. As
a result, we have a record of the Battle of
Britain from an entirely new and different
viewpoint. The author was there, with full
access not only to Duxford the front-line
station but to the innermost thoughts of
those pilots who took part. The lot of the
service chaplain in wartime was never aneasy one. Men who
claimed all their
lives to be atheists
often found religion
just before they
went into battle.
The chaplain thus
got to hear and to
share their fears;
his task was to give
them support and
solace and, in many
cases, the courage
to go on.
Mayfi eld’s diary is down-to-earth — as,
indeed, he was himself — as well as matter-
of-fact and sometimes harrowing. He took
whatever opportunities there were to fl y. Attimes his humour was black, but that was
probably necessary for the job. Some of
the detail is fascinating: “28th May 1940.
Terrifi c explosion in the night shook the
windows and house. Bassingbourn was
being bombed. It turns out the bomber
was one of ours from Ripon. He thought he
was bombing Flushing”. Recommended
without reservation as a genuinely good —
and thought-provoking — read.
Denis J. CalvertISBN 978-1-904897-31-6; 7.8 x 5.1in soft-
back; 176 pages, illustrated; £9.99
★★★★Station of Nations
by Colin Savill
published by Newark Air MuseumThis volume
concerns itself
with the history of
RAF Balderton, a
relatively short-lived
(1941-54) airfi eld
two miles south of
Newark, and has
been produced
and published by
the Newark Air
Museum, “the
friendly aviation museum”. The catchy
title stems from the fact that the station’s
World War Two users included the RAF
(No 25 OTU and, later, No 227 Squadron
Lancasters), RCAF (No 408 Squadron
Hampdens) and USAAF (435th TCG
C-47s). Rolls-Royce also used Balderton
to test-fl y the Meteor and a Wellington
with a Rover W2B turbojet in the rear
fuselage. All these activities are well
described with good balance between
technical and historical details and personal
reminiscences. The fi nal 20 pages are given
over to comprehensive appendixes and a
bibliography.
Pick up this volume and you’ll surely
be impressed by its layout, its design
and the standard of presentation. The
cover artwork by Des Knock featuring a
Lancaster of No 227 Squadron coming in
to land is striking and photo reproduction
throughout rates ‘good’. In an era where
the cover price of (printed) books is
increasing at a self-defeating rate, this isBlackbushe: London’s
Lost Airport 1942-1960
by Robert Belcher
published by AJAviation
PublishingIt is often true that
offerings from
smaller publishers
— even self-
published books
— can be just as
good as, if not
better than, those
brought out by the
‘big boys’. What
they may lack in
the fi nal degree of
polish can be redeemed by the subject
matter, which often covers ground that
might be deemed of lesser interest in
purely commercial terms, but scores
highly when it comes to rarity value. So
it is here with this history of RAF Hartford
Bridge as was, Blackbushe Airport as
it became. The time period chosen
is pleasingly focused, and the topic
absolutely fascinating, for this airfi eld in
Hampshire saw some extremely notable
activity during the era in question.
We should get the criticisms out of
the way fi rst: the book’s design leaves
something to be desired, and the text
could have done with a much better sub-
edit in order to fl ush out grammatical
errors and typos. But these points canlargely be overlooked, for the
content is otherwise fi rst-rate.
The author’s research has
taken in numerous archives
and interviews with those who
have memories of Blackbushe,
and the result is both insightful
and readable. Of course there are
recollections from people associated
with the airport’s many civilian operators,
not least British Eagle’s legendary boss
Harold Bamberg. However, perhaps best
of all is the section about the post-war
US Navy presence, which took in such
unusual types as electronic intelligence-
gathering Martin P4M Mercators and
airborne early warning Lockheed WV-2/
WV-3 Constellation variants. And did a
CIA-operated U-2 make a nocturnal visit
in late August 1959? The story is put
forward, though, as Belcher writes, “this
one may remain unconfi rmed for a long
time.”
Just as good is the selection of
images, which is wide, truly fascinating
and, best of all, generally well-
reproduced. The heyday of Blackbushe
deserves to be chronicled in depth, and
this look at its heyday — which ends in
1960, when the original airport closed —
does so very admirably indeed.
Ben DunnellNo ISBN; 11.75 x 8.25in softback; 130
pages, illustrated; £14.99
★★★★largely be overlooked, for the
content is otherwise fi rst-rate.
The author’s research has
taken in numerous archives
and interviews with those who
have memories of Blackbushe,Book
of the
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