Munitions factory Reading WW2

[dolly1918]

Thankyou SO much for all this information! I'm sure this will all help, as her best memories are from the war years.  I will see her in 3 weeks for her birthday and can't wait to try out your ideas 

Thankyou!
V

[elmpark32]

Hi,

There was an ammunition factory at Burfield.  My mother was a leading charge hand there during the WW2.

She is 90 now but has a good memory of how the ammunition was made, the compounds used and of several accident that unfortunately happened.

I have often asked her to write down as much of the memory as possible as it will be lost one day.

[IMBER]

Burghfield is still active but nowadays it assembles nuclear weapons.

[esdel]

Hi there was a munitions factory at Henley on Thames,Oxfordshire which is about 8 - 9 miles from Reading, people would be transported there from
various places. My mother worked there. It was built on the berkshire side of the Wargrave to Henley road and was surrounded by trees, so knowbody knew it was there.

Sheila

Are you meaning the underground aircraft components factory at Warren Row?

There was also one on the Wargrave - Henley Road about a mile from Henley - built into the side of the hill and invisible from the road.   In the 70s it was (I think) called Sir George Godfrey and Partners.

Harry

Back in the 1950s I bought a Roots supercharger (ex Vampire jet cabin pressuriser pump) from a chap (Mr Parkes) in Monmouth Wales.
I used it to supercharge my dear Mum's Hilman Minx

I was just a student at Oxford and so naive I rang up on a Saturday to ask questions about it (it had manfacturer's name plate on it)
Spoke to a most refined and knowledgable gentleman (who must have been Sir Godfrey himself, I now realise!) who was so interested in what I was doing he almost volunteered to come and help me!

[Abiam2]

I have tried to find this information before on RC but with no real luck.  There seem to be new people on this thread who may be able to help.

Lawrence Dobson (aka Laurence), my father, was noted as an Aircraft fitter on my birth certificate in 1942.

He lived in Maidenhead and his only transport would have been his bke.

Previously he was in the Royal navy  but not as anything like a mechanic.  Although he did work for Holdens in Adelaide Australia for a while.

After leaving the navy he was employed as a Chauffeur/gardener .  So I can't really see where any training came in.

Any thoughts much appreciated,

Abiam2

[HeatherLynne]

Hi Abiam2

I should think the most likely place your father worked would be White Waltham Airfield - see link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Waltham_Airfield

It's about three miles from the centre of Maidenhead.  Also see this link

http://www.wlac.co.uk/files/Pilot_Article_2007.pdf

which includes

"The government took over the
airfield in 1938. Waltham was home to Fairey
Aviation, constructor of the Fairey and Gannet
– and Rotodyne, the world’s first VTOL airliner.
Nothing remains of that factory or the 1930s
airport terminal, except the art deco Fairey
signs which adorned the gates – they now hang
over the fireplaces in the club bar."

Heather

[esdel]

According to Google (Naval Aircraft near Maidenhead) we have:

Fairey Aviation Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Aviation_Company
The aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960. ... Postwar, Firefly and Gannet naval aircraft were supplemented by sub-contracts from ... Maidenhead, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping;; Fairey Surveys ...

West London Aero Club - Home
www.wlac.co.uk/
Set in 200 acres on the edge of a picturesque estate in the beautiful Berkshire countryside, ... Windsor, Ascot, Henley, Reading and Maidenhead are all within easy reach
BUT ASSUMING YOU HAVE PETROL FOR A CAR - which NOBODY had unless their travel was vital for the war effort

History of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) from the ATA Museum ...
www.atamuseum.org/about-the-ata.html
Often they were presented with a type of plane they had never seen before. ... headquarters was at White Waltham airfield near Maidenhead from February 1940 ...

Aichi D3A - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(This Google included because the info authour was from Maidenhead!)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_D3A
It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all ... In December 1939, the Navy ordered the aircraft as the Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Model 11 (kanjō .... Maidenhead, UK: Sampson Low, 1978. ...

[Abiam2]

Thank you both.  White Waltham does seem the most likely.  I may try contacting the Maidenhead Heritage site again - I didn't get  much help from them last time.  New year, new luck, perhaps?
  Abiam2

[Little Nell]

Closed for refurb at the moment until 1 March.

But the office is open for e-mail/post enquiries.

http://www.maidenheadheritage.org.uk/

Nell