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Preserving the heritage of Banff Airfield, Scotland

 
  
 
 
 
 

 
 
RAF Banff Strike Wing DVD

The hour-long DVD, titled 'RAF Banff Strike Wing', includes unique film footage, some in colour, never before seen. Star of the DVD is the famous World War 2 RAF fighter bomber, the De Havilland Mosquito.

The DVD is in part a re-issue of a long-unavailable video tape, produced 20 years ago by the RAF Strike Wing Memorial Trust. The disc includes the 20-minute cinema newsreel 'Ship-Busters', completed just after the war by the RAF Film Production Unit. TV footage of the dedication of the Strike Wing Memorial in 1989 is used, complete with low-level flypasts by a Mosquito, and a modern RAF Nimrod. As well as the original tape, four new chapters have been added to the history.

The story is told of the setting-up of the Banff Flying Club, and includes footage of its opening day, shot by local GP William Hossack, an RAF Banff Association member. As well as Dr Hossack's film of the last flying Mosquito, which landed at Banff that day, there is an audio tape he recorded of former Banff Strike Wing commanding officer Sir Max Aitken, speaking at the opening.

The DVD also recalls the amazing survival of the Mosquito which flew into the top of a ship's mast during an attack, and lived to tell the tale. The crippled plane arrived safely back at Banff with four feet of mast embedded in the plane complete with the German pennant. At the time, the pennant was split as a souvenir between the plane's pilot and navigator, but the two halves were recently reunited, and displayed at Banff. Another remarkable piece of film footage is some short clips taken from a Banff Mosquito's gun cameras as it practices dog-fighting with another Mosquito.

The DVD has been created by the RAF Banff Association. It is written and narrated by trust member David Morgan, originally from Banff, who is a noted aviation journalist and was editor of the Banffshire Journal for a brief period in the early 1980s. Mr Morgan has also played a part in the history of the drome, as one of the founding pilots of the Banff Flying Club. Association member Colin Jeffrey explained that the idea to update the old VHS tape was taken quite a few years ago, on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2. He said: "It is a very poignant piece of wartime history. "We have been gathering photos, film footage, and oral testimony. "You can never return RAF Banff to its former glories, but it has lived on with the Banff Flying Club, and now the kart track, and wind farm."

Mr Jeffrey paid tribute to the assistance received from Falck wind farms, the National Lottery, Whitehills and District Community Council, and Duncan Leece, manager of the Boyndie Centre, where there is a display about the drome, including RAF memorabilia from the base. The Royal Norwegian Air Force have supported the venture, as 333 Squadron of the Banff Strike Wing was an official Norwegian Air Force unit, and they have ordered 50 copies to go to Norway. Involved in fund-raising have been RAF Banff Association members Ann Ferguson, Ola Nyggard and Colin Jeffrey.

All profits from the DVD will be used to create new displays and literature about the base.

The DVD is currently available from the Boyndie Centre, and via email to : opsblock68@gmail.com

Price £10 plus £2 post and packing to UK addresses, please email for overseas postage costs.

Please address any general queries to: contact@rafbanfftrust.org

 

 

 
 
 
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