Gatwick Airport E-Book

Charles Woodley

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 201

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The Gatwick story really began when two young men purchased a plot of land near Gatwick Racecourse to develop as a flying field. From these humble beginnings in the 1930s, it has become Britain's second airport, with 34 million passengers a year passing through the terminals – and this despite it having only a single runway! This lavishly illustrated volume traces its extraordinary early history, including its varied and valuable wartime service under the auspices of the RAF, its subsequent redevelopment in the 1950s and its emergence in the 1960s and beyond – after considerable struggles – as the bustling, modern airport familiar to so many travellers today. It is an unashamedly nostalgic look at this historic airport, its hardworking staff and the iconic planes that have passed through it.

Leseprobe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the many people who have helped in the preparation of this book:

Harry Hawkins and the Gatwick Aviation Society, for permission to reproduce written material and images from their website and their Hawkeye magazine.

Ian Anderson, for permission to reproduce material and images from his article ‘Gatwick Hangar History’ in the September 2008 issue of Airfield Review magazine.

Andrea Hopkins, Media Relations Manager, Gatwick Airport Ltd, for permission to use images from their official website.

Bill Teasdale, for permission to reproduce Peter Fitzmaurice’s images.

David Whitworth, for permission to reproduce images from the Tony Clarke collection.

Howard Smith, for supplying aerial photographs and plans.

And the following, for supplying and giving permission to use their images:

Chris England, Mick West, Simon Shearburn, Ken Honey, Brian G. Nichols, Dave Welch, Tom Singfield, Hans de Ridder, John Hamlin. If there is anyone I have omitted, please accept my sincere apologies and thanks.

CONTENTS

Title

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1

Pre-War Gatwick

2

The First Scheduled Flight

3

Wartime Activity

4

Wartime Proposals for Post-War Development

5

The Immediate Post-War Years

6

A New Start

7

Moving Into the Big Time

Postscript

Appendix 1:

British Independent Airlines at Gatwick from 1946–1980

Appendix 2:

Squadrons at Gatwick During the Second World War

Appendix 3:

The Hangars at Gatwick 1958–1980

Appendix 4:

Fleet Lists of Gatwick-Based Airlines in May 1973

Appendix 5:

Air Transport Movements at Gatwick in August 1963

Appendix 6:

Air Transport Movements at Gatwick in July 1966

Appendix 7:

Table of Passengers and Freight Handled and Aircraft Movements, from the Reopening in 1958 Until 1977

Bibliography

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

The story of London’s second airport really began in 1930, when two young men who had met whilst learning to fly at Croydon Airport purchased a plot of land near Gatwick Racecourse to develop as a flying field. In August 1930 an aerodrome licence was issued, but only on a very restricted basis and only for an initial period of six months. Despite local objections the Surrey Aero Club held their opening meeting at Gatwick on 4 October of that year with a fly-in and flying display. In 1933 the airfield was purchased by Mr A. Jackaman, whose ambitions also led him to acquire a controlling interest in Gravesend Aerodrome in 1934 and to set up a new company called Airports Ltd to run both airfields. After its take-off and landing areas had been upgraded, Gatwick was re-licenced in the ‘public’ category in 1934, and its first regular passenger services, to Belfast and Paris, were inaugurated by Hillman Airways. Plans were drawn up for the construction of a new terminal building and apron areas of the latest design, and in July 1935 the airport was closed to aircraft movements to enable work to commence on the redevelopment.

On 6 June 1936 the new airport, which featured an innovative ‘Martello’-type terminal building with its own railway station, was officially opened. The opening ceremony was followed by an extensive flying display, and pleasure flights were on offer. Scheduled services to Hamburg, Paris and Scandinavia were introduced by the original British Airways, but waterlogging problems with the grass runways caused this airline to withdraw from Gatwick altogether in 1937. However, the increasing likelihood of another war in Europe within a few years led to an expansion of the armed forces, and in September 1937 Airports Ltd was awarded contracts to run Elementary and Reserve Flying Training Schools at Gatwick and Gravesend. From the following month Tiger Moth and Hawker Hart biplanes were stationed at Gatwick on this work, and from 1938 Airwork Ltd was engaged on sub-contract work for British aircraft manufacturers there as part of the build-up of Britain’s forces. On 3 September 1939 Great Britain declared war on Germany. All civilian flying in Britain ceased, and Gatwick’s resources were then devoted to the war effort.

During the Second World War Gatwick was used for a variety of activities. The airfield was situated within the Kenley sector of No. 11 Group RAF Fighter Command, but initially housed RAF light bomber squadrons which had been hastily evacuated from France as the Germans advanced. Later in the war it was used by Lysander and Mustang aircraft in the army co-operation role, and was the launching point for offensive ‘Rhubarb’ sorties across the Channel into occupied France. It also provided a haven for many damaged heavy bombers on their way back from raids. In 1945 Gatwick was home to various RAF communications squadrons providing transportation for VIPs, and was also used for the repair and servicing of Wellington and Liberator bombers.

The end of hostilities placed Gatwick’s future in doubt, but the authorities were persuaded to allow it to remain open as a base for the many charter and air taxi operators that sprang up post-war. In 1946 these were joined by the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s fleet of aircraft that were used for testing applicants for commercial pilot licences and for calibrating airfield landing aids. Many war-surplus Dakota transports also arrived, destined for conversion to airline standards by Airwork Ltd. Major air displays staged by the Daily Express newspaper in 1948 and 1949 helped to raise public awareness of the airport’s existence, and the state airline British European Airways opened its first scheduled services from Gatwick in 1950. In 1952 it was announced that Gatwick had been selected for development as London’s second airport and the principal diversion airfield for London Airport at Heathrow. Plans were drawn up for a new terminal building and concrete runway on a site adjacent to the existing airfield, and on 31 March 1956 Gatwick was again closed to all air traffic except the helicopters of BEA so that redevelopment work could proceed.

In June 1958 the new Gatwick Airport was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but airline operators were at first reluctant to transfer their operations to what they perceived as a remote location, despite its brand-new facilities and excellent road and rail links to central London. Things began to look up in 1960 when the closure of nearby Blackbushe Airport forced a number of charter operators to relocate, and several independent airlines amalgamated to form British United Airways, based at Gatwick. One of the airlines moving in from Blackbushe was Dan-Air Services, and Dan-Air and British United Airways were to be responsible for much of Gatwick’s growth in subsequent years, including the introduction of scheduled jet services. They were later to be joined at Gatwick by Caledonian Airways, one of the pioneers of North Atlantic charter flights from the airport.

On 1 April 1966 the state-run British Airports Authority came into being and took over the running of Heathrow and Gatwick airports as well as Stansted and some regional airfields, providing some security for the future of Gatwick. New inclusive-tour airlines such as Laker Airways and British European Airways Airtours set up bases there, and British United Airways established a network of scheduled services to Europe, Africa and South America before merging with Caledonian Airways to form what became British Caledonian Airways. In September 1977 Laker Airways inaugurated the revolutionary ‘Skytrain’ low-fare service to the USA, and other transatlantic scheduled services were soon introduced by British Caledonian and US carriers such as Delta Airlines and Braniff International Airways. In 1978 the BAA-subsidised Gatwick-Heathrow Airlink was set up to address the problem of providing a speedy link between the two airports for connecting passengers. Sikorsky S-61N helicopters made the fifteen-minute trip at frequent intervals until the completion of motorway links to Gatwick made the service redundant. The fifty-year timescale covered by this book brings us to the beginning of the 1980s. By this time the BAA’s plans for the expansion of Gatwick included a ‘satellite’ building to replace the north pier, and a second terminal linked to the original one by a driverless monorail link. These developments and more were to come about in the later part of Gatwick’s history, but that is perhaps for another book.

1

PRE-WAR GATWICK

The name ‘Gatwick’ can be dated back to 1241 and is derived from Anglo-Saxon words meaning ‘goat farm’. In that year Richard de Warwick assigned his rights to some land – 4 acres of meadow and 18 acres of other land in the Manor of Charlwood – to John de Gatewyk and his heirs. This land became part of the Manor of Gatwick and was owned by the de Gatewyks until the fourteenth century, when the land was divided up between various families. In 1890 the land that the present day airport lies on was purchased by the Gatwick Race Course Company. A year later Gatwick Racecourse opened, complete with its own railway station named simply Gatwick, which included sidings for horse boxes and was only open on race days.

For three years during the First World War the Aintree Grand National was relocated to Gatwick Racecourse and run over the same distance. A special course of the same length and incorporating twenty-nine fences was laid out, and the event was held at Gatwick in 1915, 1916 and 1917, although it went under another name for its first year there. After 1917 the Grand National returned to Aintree, but racing at Gatwick was to continue until 1940. In the late 1920s a chance meeting between Ronald Waters and John Mockford whilst they were both taking flying lessons at Croydon Airport led to them deciding to go into the aviation business together. Mr Mockford was tied up with his university studies at the time, so Mr Waters went ahead on his own initially and set up a business named Home Counties Aircraft Services Ltd at Penshurst Aerodrome in Kent, which was a designated emergency landing ground for aircraft bound for Croydon, then the country’s principal airport. He purchased a small number of light aircraft and gave flying lessons from Penshurst but did not find it particularly attractive. He became aware that an area of farmland of around 90 acres between Gatwick Racecourse and Lowfield Heath was for sale and believed that it would be ideal as a diversion airfield for Croydon in the event of bad weather, so in March 1930 he opened negotiations for the purchase of the land and wrote to the Air Ministry’s Civil Aviation Department to sound out their interest.

Before receiving a reply he completed the purchase of the land and on 25 June 1930 submitted an application for an airfield licence and the requisite fee of £1.05. In due course the Air Ministry wrote back stating that they were not interested in taking over the site as an emergency landing ground as it was too far south of Croydon. They did, however, still issue an aerodrome licence effective from 1 August 1930. The licence was restricted to private flying only and was only valid for aircraft in the size category of the Avro 504 trainer biplane.

Furthermore, the licence was only valid for 6 months’ duration. The site of the airfield was on low-lying grassland to the east of the threshold of the present Runway 26, extending south through the current southern maintenance area to the site of the future ‘Beehive’ terminal. The Air Ministry advised that they would not issue a less restrictive licence until more airfield obstructions had been removed, hedges cut down, and an unobstructed take-off and landing run of 500yd was provided in an east-west direction. As soon as the temporary licence was received Mr Waters transferred his activities from Penshurst and that August Bank Holiday weekend he offered pleasure flights from 25p and stunt flying from £1.05. A small hangar was erected for three or four light aircraft, and before the end of August the Surrey Aero Club had been formed, with its clubhouse initially located in a wooden shed attached to the hangar.

There were still some local objections, but these were overcome and on 4 October 1930 the Surrey Aero Club was officially opened with a fly-in attended by twenty-eight visiting aircraft. The programme of events started with a parade and flypast led by Captain Stack in his Moth aircraft. There followed displays of aerobatics, aerial balloon bursting, the ‘bombing’ of a tractor, and crazy flying. The finale was a parachute descent from a Spartan three-seater aircraft flying at around 2,000ft. The public was officially confined to an enclosure at a charge of 1s 3d (6p), but most of the large crowd of local inhabitants watched for free from the surrounding hedgerows.

In the evening there was a dance at the Timberham Hotel. The airfield was some 90 acres in extent and included a small hangar and two fuel pumps supplying Redline petrol. Flying instruction was available from a Mr Watts of the Home Counties Aircraft Co. On 25 January 1931 tragedy struck. An Avro 504 was aloft from Gatwick and was carrying out aerobatics when it suddenly went into a spin and crashed into a field, killing all three occupants including the ground engineer at Gatwick. The incident made the press, bringing Gatwick some needed publicity, albeit of the wrong kind. At the end of March 1931 the Surrey Aero Club clubhouse was transferred to newly acquired premises at Hunts Green Farm, adjacent to the aerodrome.

Among the improved facilities were sleeping accommodation and tennis courts for non-flying club members. A promotional booklet issued at the time described the new premises as ‘probably the finest clubhouse of its kind anywhere’. During 1931 the airfield was increasingly used by jockeys and race-goers flying in for meetings at Gatwick Racecourse and also for (unlicensed and unofficial) weather diversions from Croydon. In May 1932 Mr Walters and Mr Mockford sold the aerodrome to the Redwing Co. Ltd, which, under the name of Redwing Aircraft Ltd, manufactured a two-seater light aircraft at Colchester. The original plan was to move the factory to Gatwick, but in fact the aircraft construction activity remained at Colchester.

However, Redwing Aircraft Ltd did transfer its registered office and sales office to Gatwick and also operated the Redwing Flying School and the Surrey Aero Club from there. Discussions also continued with Imperial Airways and the Air Ministry regarding the possible use as the official bad weather diversion airfield for Croydon, and by the end of 1932 the Air Ministry committed a limited amount of expenditure to this purpose. The official opening under Redwing ownership took place on 1 July 1932 with a brass band performance and guests including the Duchess of Bedford. Another flying display occurred on 19 April 1933, this time organised by Sir Alan Cobham’s National Aviation Day Campaign, and during 1932 and 1933 Redwing carried out some airfield improvements with the aim of qualifying for a public licence. But in September 1933 the aerodrome was sold again, this time for a reported £13,500 to Mr Morris Jackaman, who had formed The Horley Syndicate Ltd to acquire the rights and liabilities. In January 1934 Mr Jackaman also acquired a controlling interest in the company which owned Gravesend Aerodrome in Kent. In February 1934 Gatwick’s licence was renewed, this time as a ‘public’ aerodrome, so permitting its use by commercial aircraft. Mr Jackaman renamed his company Airports Ltd and redesignated Gatwick as London South Aerodrome, while Gravesend became London East Aerodrome. At around this time he secured the services of Mr Marcel Desoutter as his business manager, and by the end of February 1934 Mr Desoutter had been appointed a director of the company. In January 1934 British Air Transport Ltd moved into Gatwick from Adlington, near Croydon. Despite its name this company was not an airline but in fact a flying school, and the move was only ever intended to be on a temporary basis, until its new aerodrome at Redhill was ready. The first airline to operate regular services from Gatwick was Hillman Airways, which moved in from Abridge in Essex in 1934 and operated schedules to Belfast and Paris. Hillman later merged with United Airways and Spartan Airways in 1935 to form Allied British Airways (later shortened to British Airways). For some time Mr Jackaman had been interested in the possibility of starting a high-speed hourly air link between Gatwick and Paris, and in January 1935 a Fokker-owned Douglas DC-2 demonstration aircraft was brought over from Amsterdam for trials. After clearing customs at Gravesend it was positioned to Gatwick and was then flown to a point overhead Brighton and back with passengers on board who included representatives from the Southern Railway and the General Post Office. On the outward leg Brighton was reached in eight minutes.

On 16 February 1934, at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Airports Ltd, the company’s nominal capital was increased from £200 to £20,000, in units of £1. Later that year the Air Ministry and Airports Ltd arrived at an agreement which provided a firm foundation for the necessary redevelopment of Gatwick. The agreement provided for an annual subsidy to be paid to Airports Ltd over a period of fifteen years, at the end of which time the Air Ministry could purchase the airport. Further development of Gatwick would be under the general supervision of the Air Ministry. Airports Ltd would install night-flying equipment at both Gatwick and Gravesend. The contract stipulated that a terminal building at Gatwick would be completed by the end of October 1935, and that the airport would be ready for night flying by 1 November.

On 8 October 1934 Morris Jackaman submitted a provisional specification to the Patent Office entitled ‘Improvement relating to buildings, particularly for Air Ports’. This invention sought ‘to provide a building adapted to the particular requirements of traffic at airports with an enhanced efficiency in operation at the airport, and in which constructional economies are afforded’. Various advantages of a circular terminal were detailed, including: 1. Certain risks to the movement of aircraft at airports would be obviated. 2. More aircraft, and of different sizes, could be positioned near the terminal at a given time. 3. A large frontage for the arrival and departure of aircraft would be obtained without the wastage of space on conventional buildings.

The application described the terminal: functioning as the terminus (or station building), administrative offices and base of operations, for passenger or freight traffic, it would be ‘arranged as an island site on an aerodrome’. The building itself would be polygonal or circular in form, ‘each side or length of frontage being sufficiently long so that space on which it immediately fronts is sufficient for the aircraft to be dealt with’.

The building thus has what may be termed a continuous frontage and the ground appertaining to each side of it may be provided with appliances such as gangways, preferably of the telescopic sort, to extend radially for sheltered access to aircraft. It will be observed that by this arrangement the aircraft can come and go without being substantially impeded by other aircraft which may be parked opposite other sides of the building, and this not only ensures efficiency of operations with minimum delay, but also ensures to some extent at any rate that the aircraft will not for example, in running up their engines, disturb other aircraft in the rear, or annoy the passengers or personnel thereof.

Passengers board British Airways de Havilland D.H.86B G-ADYE for Paris in 1936, using one of the telescopic ‘fingers’ at the ‘Beehive’ terminal building. (via author)

In the concluding paragraph it noted that flood-lighting could be arranged ‘so that at choice any particular parking space may be lit up with fairly sharp definition, so that passengers will not have any tendency to go to the wrong aircraft, and need not even know of its presence at night’.

In order to finance airport improvements such as night-flying equipment, and to attract more airlines, the original, privately owned Airports Ltd was wound up on 24 May 1935, with a declaration that its debts of some £14,000 would be paid off within twelve months. In its place, a new public company, also called Airports Ltd, was incorporated. The new company had four non-executive directors, and two joint managing directors, Morris Jackaman and Marcel Desoutter. Their appointments were to be of five years duration, at salaries of £1,250 per annum each. On 6 June 1935, 840,000 Ordinary Shares in the new Airports Ltd were made available at a price of 5s (25p) each. The prospectus showed that the company would:

a. Acquire Gatwick (London, South) and Gravesend (London, East) Airports, together with the equipment and buildings erected thereon.

b. Acquire the benefits of the payments to be made by the Air Ministry for the period of fifteen years, in consideration of the installation of night-flying equipment at the company’s airports.

c. Acquire the benefit of the agreement made with the Southern Railway Company to build a railway station at Gatwick Airport.

d. Erect a ‘Martello’-type terminal air station at Gatwick.

On 1 February 1935 the Air Ministry had renewed the airport licence for a further twelve months, but on 6 July 1935 Gatwick was closed to all air traffic to allow the development work to proceed. This included the installation of airfield drainage and the straightening of the River Mole. A contract was signed between Airports Ltd and the Air Ministry which provided annual subsidy payments to the company over fifteen years. Completion of a new terminal building was specified for the end of October 1935 but problems with mud caused this to overrun.

Despite the airfield being officially closed, the pilots of light aircraft continued to land there quite often, giving Morris Jackaman cause to write to the Air Ministry to complain about this and to pint out that it was causing a hazard to the men engaged on the redevelopment of the site. Negotiations with the Southern Railway over the provision of a new station for the airport had continued, and agreement for this was finally reached in a contract signed on 16 March 1935, with Airports Ltd agreeing to contribute £3,000 towards the cost of a new railway platform on the fast line. The contract also stipulated that Airports Ltd would pay 50 per cent of the cost of making up the roads and footpaths to the station, plus the fences, and 50 per cent of the maintenance costs of these items.

Work commenced at the beginning of April. On 30 September 1935 Tinsley Green (for Gatwick Airport) Station was opened, situated between Horley and Three Bridges and approximately 0.85m south of today’s Gatwick Station. Trains running on the electrified line between London and Brighton stopped at the new station almost thirty times daily on the way to Brighton and thirty-six times daily in the reverse direction. The average journey time to or from London was between fifty-one minutes and fifty-five minutes.

The Southern Railway offered cheap day return tickets from London (London Bridge, Victoria or Waterloo) at a cost of 5s 9d (29p) in First Class and 3s 9d (19p) in third class, and there were also special workmen’s tickets from Redhill, Earlswood and Horley in third class only (presumably for the use of workers engaged on the construction of the new airport). Tinsley Green Station was renamed Gatwick Airport Station on 1 June 1936.

By the middle of February 1936 the basic framework of the terminal building was complete, and workmen were laying the parquet flooring and beginning the interior decoration. On 15 May 1936, following an inspection, the Air Ministry sent a telegram to Airports Ltd stating that the airport licence would be restored from 17 May, initially until 31 January 1937. A copy of the telegram was sent to the chief constable of the Surrey Police at Guildford, and Airports Ltd approached the Horley and District Cottage Hospital to enquire if ‘it would agree to be responsible for accidents in connection with the aerodrome’. Although the hospital had only sixteen beds the request was agreed to at a meeting of its management committee on 21 May.

1938 plans of Gatwick Aerodrome and its location (including Gatwick Racecourse), with details of the facilities available to aviators. (Author’s collection)

Work on the airport complex was completed in 1936. The circular terminal building, which soon became popularly known as the ‘Beehive’, was a white ‘Martello’-style edifice which was designed by architects Hoar, Marlow and Lovett. The descriptive name ‘Martello’ was derived from the Martello towers, which were small circular defensive forts built in several countries from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards.