Elsham Wolds – WW1
by Sid Finn
33 Squadron Bristol Fighter over Elsham church
The slight wind rippled through the near ripe barley in the light of the afternoon sun. A curlew startled at my approach along the hedge-side gave a plaintiff cry and winged away over the hawthorn hedge in the sugar-been field.
Paused in my stride and gazed at the large expanse of a 100 acre barley field. Across the field stood a grey walled farm among clumps of small trees and in my imagination the shapes of the buildings changed to that of hangers and tents. A tractor returning to the farm, its exhaust crackling, sounded like a Bristol Fighter on a landing approach.
The scene in my imagination was in the year 1917 when this field served as a searchlight and fighter station of the Royal Flying Corps. The Zeppelin menace which had been very real in this part of Lincolnshire had died down but not before the inhabitants of Elsham, Wootton, Ulceby and district had suffered at the hands of the Germans.
Cruising north from Lincoln ( the tall towers of the Cathedral made an ideal landmark ) the slim enemy airships cruised up the Humber crossing the wide river to bomb the docks and shipping at Hull and also the railway station at Habrough and the farms in the vicinity
Basket Airborne
One story, about Zeppelins, was told to me by a resident of Wootton. An old lady, who lived on the out-skirts of Wootton, heard the drone of a Zeppelin, and hurried outside to call her cat in. The moon was hidden by a low-lying bank of cloud, but visibility was good as the Germans approached. As the old woman looked up she clearly saw a square object travelling along under the cloud and keeping pace with the airship. At the sight of this, she grabbed her cat and hurried inside, locking the door. The following day she told her neighbours what she had seen, but they thought she had imagined it. She had not, however, as it was the practise of the Germans to lower an observation basket when cloudy conditions prevailed. In the basket was an observer who was equipped with a telephone, and on his directions the Zeppelin, unseen above, was manoeuvred. A very early method of blind-bombing, one imagines.
I had now reached the north-east corner of the barley field. Here was a large pit, largely overgrown with grass and weeds. It was about fifteen-feet deep at the hedge side, rising in a gentle slope to ground level, and measuring about fifty feet wide and eighty feet long. Material from this pit was used in World War I to fill in the many holes in the construction of the flying-field. Conscientious objectors were employed in this task, and they dug chalk and rubble from the pit, and transported it to the levelling area by means of a Jubilee railway. This was a small gauge track with manually-operated trucks. Many stories have been told about these objectors who were billeted on the aerodrome, but one worth telling is, that one evening a party of these people decided to stroll down to Wootton for a pint of ale. Unfortunately, this landlord had no time for them, probably because he had sons of his own away at the War, and he quickly cleared them off the premises. They returned to Elsham aerodrome still thirsty. Now regulations forbid anyone but members of the Royal Flying Corps to wear the Corps cap badge, but some of the more enterprising objectors scrounged cap badges and set off once more to try their luck down at the inn in Wootton. Needless to say, they were again thwarted, the landlord still recognising them even with their cap badges.
Leefe Robinson VC
Of the many pilots stationed at Elsham during its operations, the most famous was Lieutenant Leefe Robinson. He was the first pilot to shoot down an air-ship, in September, 1916, the SL11, at Potters Bar, London. After being feted all over the country he was stationed for a time at Elsham. He was a regular visitor to the Manor House, and a very popular figure with the local people. They missed him when he was eventually posted to France. By that time he had been promoted to Captain. Flying a Bristol Fighter, and leading an offensive patrol, he clashed with some of Richthofen's men. Robinson was shot down and taken prisoner. When he returned home in December, 1918, he was a sick man, and died on the 31st December, 1918. He was buried at Harrow Weald, only ten miles from where the sixteen bodies of the crew of the SL11 were buried.
The Vickers "Gunbus", the F.E.2b, the Sopwith Strutter, the Sopwith Pup and Snipe, all flew from the field at Elsham. They were all bi-planes, with speeds ranging from 70 to 121 m.p.h. Their blipping engines echoed round Melton Wood and Elsham Carrs. In doing research for this article, I was informed by the Elsham village Postmaster, that as a boy he used to "tent" sheep up at the 'drome, and when flying was about to commence, an officer would come and tell him to move the animals to a safer area. Mr. J. Hill of Wootton, informed me that as a boy, he used to wait until the aircraft had finished their practise bombing on the field, when he would scramble out from the hedge and pick up the fragments of bomb casings from the target area, which consisted of a circle of bricks in a remote corner of the field. These fragments were highly prized souvenirs for the boys of Wootton, and no doubt had a high "swopping" power.
Asking the Way
Mr. Hill also told me of an incident that occurred one misty morning while he was working in a field, hoeing sugar beet. He had previously heard a plane circling in the mist, and suddenly it swooped overhead and landed nearby. The plane was a pusher type, that is with the engine mounted at the rear and with booms connecting the tailplane assembly to the wings, The pilot, having stopped the engine, shouted across to Mr. Hill for directions to Elsham. This was surprising, as the flying field lay close by, to the west. Upon being told the position of the 'drome, the pilot asked Mr. Hill to put his hand inside the cockpit while he started the plane by swinging the propeller. Some-what reluctantly, he agreed. It must be remembered that in those days aircraft were strange machines, and were to be wondered at. However, by pulling this lever, plus the efforts of the pilot with the "prop", the aircraft started, and the pilot scrambled into the cockpit, revved the engine, and took off. As he banked overhead, the mist having lifted, he waved cheerfully to Mr. Hill, and flew across the intervening fields to land at the 'drome.
I had now skirted the north side of the old flying-field, and immediately ahead of me could see the round shape of the hanger of the last World War. Close by was the square shape of the control tower, now serving as a habitation for farm workers. Instead of a wind-sock there hung a line of washing, and the V.H.F. aerial had been replaced with a television aerial. As I walked up the grey tarmac I had to divert round holes which have appeared over the years due to the elements. The once green expanse of the drome was now under cultivation, returning to playing its part in agriculture.
Nostalgia
All this was in direct contrast to the days in 1941-42, when I served on the station in the R.A.F. The memories flooded back as I stood and reflected on those days, now lost in the mist of time, and wondering where all the hundreds of men and women now were, who served on the station, at the time when -it was playing its part in hitting Germany with all its strength. But back to reality, moss now fills the cracks on the long runway, taking away the smooth efficient look of the tarmac. The dispersal areas were being taken up by yellow machines so piece by piece the old aerodrome gives up its past to progress.
Beyond the runway, once so busy with Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster bombers, stands a tall steel warning tower, a symbol of the nuclear age in 1967, but its presence in 1942 would have proved an embarrassment to flying-control. I noticed too the tall poplar trees, the silver birch and beech, near the Officers' Mess, and which are now well advanced in growth, adding to the rural aspect of the scene. My walk had now taken me to the five cross-roads and on the left was Elsham Quarry which had made inroads into the perimeter track. It was in this quarry that rifle and machine gun practise and occasionally grenade throwing was carried out.
Elsham 'drome does occasionally have an aeronautical air when the crop-spraying Pawnee aircraft use it as a base during spraying operations in the area. One or two of the runways remain in good condition for this purpose. Directly overhead at Elsham is Airway Blue One, the main east-west air traffic lane. As I watched, a D.C.8 of Lufthansa Airlines tracked overhead on an easterly course, leaving a clear trail of vapour behind it. Shortly it would alter course south-easterly over Spurn Point, and head for Germany. As the jet-liner's contrails hung in the thinner air of higher altitudes, I reflected that it was not so very long ago that the same area of sky was filled by hundreds of four-engined bombers of the R.A.F. forming up, before crossing the North Sea to Germany. As I walked down the road to Elsham village, a Victor bomber banked low over the wold edge, the Blue Steel missile slung underneath the aircraft clearly visible as it headed south towards Pelham's Pillar. The roar of the jet engines seemed to emphasise the deterrent power of the Royal Air Force.
By now I had descended the hill into Elsham, where the church, with its small tower, stands witness to many years of village life, in the quietness of its churchyard. Life went on at a measured tread until the great conflict of the 1914-18 War took many of the village boys into the battle, many never to return. The arrival of the R.F.C. in 1917, brought many strange faces into the village. This was ably reported in the booklet "Elsham During the Great War 1914-18" (author unknown) as follows : "Large hangars, numerous huts were quickly assembled in a turnip field. Cottage homes soon filled up with lodgers, and the social life of the village was accelerated. One clever young officer from America, raided the Manor House and is to be congratulated on his capture. For nearly three years some wonderful flights were made, and at night and day the whirr of the aeroplane was incessant. But two accidents with fatal results, by the Vicarage Plantation, marred the whole of three years training."
There is also mention in the booklet of special constables appointed—"Messrs. Dunn, Etty, Dodds, Tomlinson, and others. Throughout those distressing nights when Zeppelins hovered over the district, these good gentlemen proved themselves, in no small manner, as useful citizens. Woe betide anyone who had any light radiating from a cottage window." The writer of the booklet could not have realised that years later, history would repeat itself, and a much larger aerodrome would again appear up on the hill. At the end of the 1914-18 hostilities, a flag-bedecked Elsham village gave a fete and carnival for the returning sons of the village, and to the members of the R.F.C. station. Twenty years later the villagers again saw the boys in blue, this time the Royal Air Force. They became used to heavily laden bombers roaring overhead on their take-off runs and were sadly aware of several crashes which occurred during the station's service.
Now this pretty Wold village, nestling in the fold of the chalk land has returned to its peaceful rural charm, but no doubt retaining many memories of the men and their flying machines.
Item written by the late Sid Finn. This appeared in the Lincolnshire Life magazine many years ago. Sid also produced the fine drawing.
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