THAMESIDE AVIATION MUSEUM

NEWS

Keeping you in touch with events and news at the museum

12th January 2007

After a short illness Ron Wingrave passed away on the 27th December 2006, Ron was a founder member of the Thameside Aviation Museum.

RON WINGRAVE

2nd May 2006

Saturday 6th may 2006 a dedication ceremony is to be held at Coalhouse fort for the opening of the new memorial garden that includes parts of the original World war 1 memorial that stood outside the fort, to military and civilian persons that served at Coalhouse Fort from 1861 until its
military personnel departed in 1962.
A further memorial in the form of a lady watching the gliders pass over on their way to Arnhem
has been made and presented by a member of The Dutch resistance who rescued Sgt. Eric Atkinson of the 1st Air Landing anti tank battery R.A. No.1 gun 'A' troop attached to 1st Parachute Battalion and the crew of the Horsa Glider.
The Horsa glider carried a 6 pound anti tank gun, a jeep plus ammunition total wt. 6000lbs approx. The 3 gunners and two pilots. It crash landed after having to separate from the towing Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle which developed engine trouble and returned safely to the U.K. The glider crash landed at Megen near the river Maas some 10 miles from Arnhem. The aircraft had taken off from Manston, Kent on Sunday 17th September 1944. The pilots and the other gunners were taken by the Dutch resistance members on their bicycles taking their arms and as much ammunition as possible, but Eric refused to leave until he had put a timed fuse in the petrol tank and witnessed the subsequent destruction of the glider. He was then taken by bicycle to a safe place and passed on over the next few days finally reaching the 8th army and the Americans at Nimegan.



If you would like to join us at Coalhouse Fort for this memorial dedication please be at the fort no later than 10.45am, there is no admission charge for this day the fort will not be giving guided tours and only limited access will be given.

 

19th July 2005

On Sunday 31st We have our "Classic Vehicle Day" at the museum, we look forward to another great day, all types of classic vintage and rare vehicles are welcome.

14th July 2005

We have picked up the remains of Meteor "VT247" F4 222 Sqdn. The aircraft was engaged in an aerobatic practice for a Battle of Britain display 2 September 1949. The pilot rolled the aircraft inverted over the airfield with its dive brakes extended and at low height and airspeed. The aircraft crashed to the ground from a height of about 100 feet. Flight Lieutenant Arthur John Mutton Morgan [age not given]'. Parts of this wreckage are now on display at the museum. Thank you to Tony Dyer for his help in securing this aircraft for the museum.
 

9th July 2005

The Thameside Aviation Museum along with the Purfleet Heritage Centre put on a VE/VJ display at Lakeside Shopping Centre Thurrock  today, We had a fantastic response from the shoppers and look forward to seeing some of them at the museum over the coming months.

Thameside Aviation Museum                                        Purfleet Heritage Centre

19th June 2005

For pictures from our visit to Great Ashfield CLICK HERE

17th June 2005

On Saturday 18th June we will be visiting the home of the 385thBG at Great Ashfield, Suffolk England. This is the airbase that our B17 flew from  before the midair collision  over West Horndon Essex on 26th September 1943. Fred Dunn will be taking his immaculate Willys Jeep which is in the markings of SLEEPY TIME GAL a B.17 of the 385th BG

Fred's Jeep Click here

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31st March 2005

We opened room 3 for the first time over the Easter weekend, you will see from the pictures below how the store room has changed into a display room. works will be on going in this room with displays being alternated over the year but will mostly be used for post WWII and the Jet Age

From this                                                       To this

27th March 2005

Today was the first open day of 2005 at Coalhouse Fort, Luke Halladay and his group of WWII  Re-enactors put on a fantastic day for us and we thank him and all of the group for their time. more about this group on the Enactment page in the main Index

 Military Vehicle owner Stuart put on a great display with his Saracen Armoured Car.

Click the picture for a larger view

The fort is open Monday 28th  March from 11am to 5pm

25th February 2005

Sunday 27th and Monday 28th March will see our first two open days of  2005, the Museum has a new room open for the 05 season which will display lots of the artefacts from our collection which have never been on display before including Propellers, Canopy's, Wheels and much more. Throught the season items will be rotated in this room so you should see a change at every visit this year.

Thameside Aviation Museum in conjunction with The Essex Military Vehicle Trust will running the first Military Vehicle Weekend at Coalhouse Fort on  Saturday 20th and  Sunday 21st August 2005

News, updates and how to enter this event please click E.M.V.T link above

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6th February 2005

In the March 2005 issue of "FLYPAST" magazine is a five page article by Robin Hill on Flt. Lt. Denis Parnall, The remains of Flt. Lt. Parnall's Hurricane V6685 were excavated in 1974 by the "Essex Historical Aircraft Society"  and are on display in the museum.

11th January 2005

We have again been working on clearing storeroom 2, this will make way for the new display room which will be open in March 2005, The new room will allow us to display many artefacts that have never been on show to the general public before. Storeroom 2

10th January 2005

Over the last few days we have been cleaning up in one of our store rooms to make way for a large amount of aircraft parts which need moving from other store rooms, this is to allow for the third display room to be open for March 2005. I have added a new page for you to be able to see just a few of the bits n pieces for yourselves not many people get a chance to see them. I will ad more pictures as we move more things into this store area CLICK HERE to view

23rd April 2004

We would like to thank Ken Strong who has donated two aircraft wheels to the museum, the wheels were found in the garden of a house in Horndon-on-the-Hill, Essex.

 We would also like to thank David Collins for his help in identifying  one as from a Gloster Meteor and the other as a possible  Hawker Tempest main wheel. Ron Wingrave has taken the task of cleaning and preserving the two wheels.

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12th April 2004

The two open days over Easter were a great success with over 550 visitors,

The fort is looking very tidy now after Warner Bros completed  filming after being at the fort for over three weeks.

29th February 2004

The Memorial Service and dedication of a Plaque to Wing Commander RJC Grant RNZAF. has taken place on 28th February 2004 at Orsett Fire Station Essex, over 100 people attended the Service including relatives of Reg Grant. A full story will be added to the memorial page of Roger Picketts visit to New Zealand to present Reg Grants sister with a plaque and one to the Royal New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum at Wanaka.

3rd February 2004

We will have a lot of news next week on the memorial to Reg Grant which will be held on 28th February 2004

1st February 2004

Due to circumstances beyond our control we are unable to open on the March open day, all will be explained at a later date.

January 21st 2004

we gave a talk to the members of the Squadron North Weald, as far as we know a good time was had by all.

December 18th 2004

The Thameside Aviation museum will be giving a talk to the memebers of THE SQUADRON North Weald on 21st January 2004 from 7.30. this will include a slide a film show of some of our digs carried out over the last 30 years

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November 3rd 2003

The museum is now closed for the winter, we will be building new displays for 2004 over the next three months.

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September 2003

Vintage tractor Day

A fantastic event, This was a new event at the fort for 2003 and we have decided that we will hold this as an annual event and the second will be held on 26th September 2004, We would like to thank all attendies. Pictures of this years event can be found on the index page

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September 6th-7th our Aviation Weekend, we all had a great time and when Mr Randle turned up with a 12th scale Lancaster for the museum, pictures which can be found click HERE and HERE

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Coalhouse Fort on BBC 2 this summer

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We need your support, Please vote for Coalhouse Fort which is the home to Thameside Aviation Museum,

Thank you for your support

Coalhouse Fort featured in UK Radio Times, week begin 2nd August 2003

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CLASSIC VEHICLE DAY 2003

Todays Classic Vehicle day was fantastic, we would like to thank all who attended this event and made it such a great day.

The only hick up was late in the afternoon when two children who got stuck in the mud of the Thames and had to be rescued by the emergency sevices, 3 fire engines, 1 Ambulance and the coast guard.

Views of the event

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Open day 29th June 2003 FORTIES DAY

Dodge weapons carrier---------------------------------------The Garrison Display

1947 Morrisons Milk Float-------------------The Spiv and his wife selling ill got n gains

Upkeep completed

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May 8th 2003

First we would like to say a big thank you to Keith A Jones, for all his help in details of the Dambuster UPKEEP mine and crew members who flew on the raid.

Darren working on his ½ scale UPKEEP Mine (bouncing Bomb)

We have now completed the ½ scale model of the mine which was the brain child of Sir Barns Wallis. The Dams Raid took place over the 16/17 May 1943 and a display will be on view including the UPKEEP mine for the rest of the season.

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Dates to keep for this season will be our new event which is the 'VINTAGE TRACTOR & FARM MACHINERY DAY' will be held at the museum on 28th September and our aviation weekend is on 6/7 September 03.

Classic cars Show is on July 27th we are hoping for a really good turn out for this event.

April 6th 2003

Today we had a club visit from the Southend and District Classic Car Club to the fort around twenty vehicles and occupants had a guided tour of the fort and the museum, We thank you all for coming .

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We are just in the process of making a half scale replica "UPKEEP" mine for the 60th anniversary of the DAMBUSTERS raid carried out on 16/17th May 1943 by 617 Squadron, this will go on display out side the museum for the rest of this year.

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March 30th 2003

Today was the first open day of 2003, the new B.26 display was getting a lot of attention even thought we did not get it fully finnished in time but we hope to get this done over the next couple of weeks

Above; Darren Wingrave with the recentley restored HE111 model from the Battle of Britain film

Information needed

Flt/Sgt Leonard (Jack) Lenox DFM

97 Sqn Conningsby,

Buried in the Bayeux War Cemetry. France.

Grave, Row 27, Road No D572 off N13

KIA 30th July 1944, the aircraft crashed near Culey-le-Patry. France

Any information you have on F/S Lenox could you please Email us on Museum@aviationmuseum.co.uk

we will forward this information to the family, also we will be putting a disply in the museum of F/s Lenox,s paperwork, pictures, Leonard grew up in the Village of Stanford-le-Hope Essex.

Thank you.

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1st March 2003

Work continues on new displays for this season, Roger has done a fantastic job on the B.26 display of which I will post a picture in the next couple of weeks.

January 28th 2003

Last night we gave a talk to the members of the 'WHITEWEBBS MUSEUM' Enfield, Middlesex, London. We had a great time and would like to thank all the members for the very warm welcome we recieved. I would also like to Thank John for the tour of the museum he gave to us.

it was nice to meet the members after the talk, one of which had brought along some Me109 parts for identification, which we managed to confirm for him.

The Museum is well worth the visit no matter how far you travel from,The dedication of its members is outstanding

News 21st January 2003.

The next open days dates and events are now posted in the opendays page. Work is now underway for 2003 which include the new B-26 display which is getting its long awaited re build., other movements will also be on going with some new lighting and effects.

On Thursday 16th January we gave a talk on the museum to the Southend and District classic car club, this went very well and we thank the members for attending and asking some very good questions.

Monday 27th January, we will be giving a talk to members of the White Webbs museum in Enfield London.

News 28th October 2002.

The next open days at the fort will be the Christmas Specials 7-8th December, The Museum will be open but work will have already started for new displays for next year so some areas may not be available to view.

NEW EVENT

We would also like to let you know that on 28th September 2003 we will be hosting a new event which we hope to have on display old tractors, stationary engines and old farm implayments. This is in the early stages now so further news on this in the new year. Thanks to Dave and Peter for the help in setting up this event..

SEPTEMBER 1st & 2nd 2001

The Blitz weekend was a complete success, we had many visitors over the two days and our thanks go out to the people who brought along their Jeeps.

The Thamesmead Model Club put on a fantastic display of flying the day was topped by Tony James fantastic landing of the Spitfire, Tony decided to fly the model at the last moment only to completely wreck the aircraft. Tony has decided to repair the spitfire and display it in the museum

25 th SEPTEMBER 2000

OPEN DAY SUNDAY WAS A PRETTY POOR SHOW, NOT MANY PUBLIC ATTENDED THIS EVENT.

NEW ADDITION TO THE FLEET OF COCKPITS WAS THE ARRIVAL OF CHIPMUNK "WG471", IT HAS GOT A LONG HISTORY, AND IF ANYONY HAS FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE COULD YOU FORWARD IT TO US

WG471

  4 BFTS -Sywell, 16 RFS -Burnaston,

3 BFTS- Burnaston, 24RFS - Rocester,

19RFS - Hooton Park, Leeds UAS,

Nott UAS, 4 SoTT MCCS ?,

Aston Down, CF 220 OCU,

6 FTS, 1 FTS, Aberdeen UAS.  

ANY FUTHER INFORMATION GREATLY RECIEVED

First a big thank you to all who turned up for the event. Saturday was a very quiet day in the museum and for the exibitors who said they would attend, but Sunday proved to be a fantastic day.

Over the weekend we had over 700 people through th museum and had a good feedback from the public, apart from one moan that we did not have a Me109 attack the fort, BUT we had not arranged for this anyway.

Ernie Burton, Alan Putland, and Dave Clark of the Battle of Britain Historical Society visted us Sunday, they were only going to be here for a couple of hours, and ended up spending the day with us, this icluded a talk about the digs from Roger Pickett , a slide and film show from Ron Wingrave, and my old counter part Robin Hill did a fantastic talk on Flight Lt Denis Parnall, who was killed on the 18th September 1940, the wreckage of his Hurricane is in the museum and you can read about that in our digs page.

Tony Dyer from the "AIR DEFENCE COLLECTION" came all the way from Wiltshire with a fantastic display.

The "THAMESMEAD MODEL CLUB" came along with around 30 scale models of Spitfires Mustangs and plenty of fun flyers, Tony and the rest of the members put on a great days flying out in the park much to the delight of the visitors.

1582 Stanford-le- hope ATC Squadron came along all weekend and helped out with security on the event. a big thank you to you all.

Thank you to all the military vehicle owners.

A big thank you to all the people dressed in the unifoms of the day, we had the Luftwaffe and the R.A.F. with the latter sitting out side the bell tent playing cards awaiting the next scramble.

Next year we will be holding an aviation weekend, no date has been fixed for this yet but it will include aerojumble for sale and a fly past of world war two vintage aircraft.

The raffle which was held for the oil painting of three Spitfires, was won by a family in South Benfleet and was duly presented to them on Sunday night , by our Member Dave Thorndike, who was also the artist of the painting.

Thanks again to you all

Two open days Sunday and Monday, very good days with over 400 visitors

A new acquistion has been made by Darren Wingrave. The cockpit section of a Folland Gnat "XM692".

It will be restored and repainted over the autumn and winter of 2000, and will form part of our mobile display, it will also be on display at the museum from March 2001. we may paint it in a ½ and ½ scheme of the Red Arrows and Yellow Jacks.

if you have any detais of the Gnats history Darren would love to hear from you museum@aviationmuseum.co.uk

Aircraft remains found all over the area laying on the surface and the metal detector giving very good readings over both aircraft. Among the finds included, Perspex, skinning, and an earphone from a head set. Full excavation of both aircraft will be carried out in August 2000.

LEFT: Darren and Ryan Wingrave at the crash site of the two American Bomber's, with a few small items found on the surface, 7/8/99.

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