From Aerodrome to Aerials: The History of Anthorn Airfield

By Graeme Rendall

From humble origins as a First World War Landing Ground to its modern-day function as a Very Low Frequency Transmitter Station, Anthorn, located in the far north of Cumbria, has served Britain's armed forces on and off for over one hundred years. However, the land the airfield occupies was first used for military purposes nearly 2000 years ago.

Anthorn is best known for being the site of a naval air station called HMS Nuthatch. Completed in 1944, few realise that this was also the last military airfield to be built in Britain during the Second World War. Despite suggestions that it would close in the immediate post-war years, the station remained open for at least another decade.

The naval air station was a hive of activity, being a place where Fleet Air Arm aircraft came to be examined, modified, tested and stored pending delivery to front-line units, or in some cases, sent off to Australia or Canada. Once certain types had become obsolete, surplus airframes were broken up at Anthorn for parts or scrap metal, with only a few examples of the aircraft that were processed at the station remaining today.

This book tells the story of Anthorn in all of its different roles, from landing ground to naval air station, mothballed airfield to secret radio facility. It is also told in the voices of those who worked at these sites or lived in the vicinity. Source documents have been examined to provide further information. Details of the various Naval Air Days held during the late 1940s and 1950s are also included, together with a chapter on the other units that called this part of Britain "home", if only for a short period of time.

Fully illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams, this history of Anthorn also describes what impact the establishment of a huge naval air station and its associated facilities had on the local population.

From aerodrome to aerials, this is the history of Anthorn Airfield.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BR282BQS
• ISBN13: 9798371191519
• Release Date: December 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"