On Sunday 4th August we had a local group of military vehicle owners visit us at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation, at Woodley, near Reading. There were a few Land Rovers, along with about half a dozen Jeeps, one of which was a rare 1941 Willys, which the owner has done his best to maintain with original parts, rather than use modern reproductions. Other visitors included a Dodge Weapons Carrier, a Dodge Ambulance and a US NAvy Buick Eight, with a straight 8 engine. The first I’ve seen of those, and it was huge,
The Museum of Berkshire Aviation, where I volunteer, is one the edge of what was once Woodley Aerodrome, home to the Miles Aircraft Company, who built thousands of aircraft there in the 1930s and ’40s. We have a collection of aircraft and exhibits, built in Berkshire. These include the only examples of the Miles Martinet, the Miles Student prototype and the Fairey Jet Girodyne, the prototype of the Fairey Rotadyne. Add a Westland Scout, a Fairey Gannet and the first production example of the Handley Page Dart Herald, an airliner flown on a tour of South America by the late Prince Phillip. Woodley is also memorable for being the place where in December 1931, pilot Douglas Bader crashed in a Bristol Bulldog, and had to be taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, where he had to have both legs amputated. The museum is open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Robin Buckland – Tankette Editor
