October 12, 2017

IWM Duxford Workshop

Home Front Legacy 1914-18 and Living Legacies 1914-18 held the first joint training workshop of 2017 at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

IWM Duxford provided a perfect venue for the workshop as the site was established during the First World War and retains many surviving structures and features from the Great War.

First World War Duxford

An aerial view of Duxford under construction in September 1918 © IWM (Q 96065)

Duxford airfield was officially opened as No. 35 Training Depot Station (TDS) in September 1918 to train pilots for operational duty. Construction of the airfield started as early as October 1917 and German Prisoners of War were used to construct the airfield’s many buildings.

The TDS employed over 850 men and women during the First World War, employed to not only train the pilots but also run the airfield and maintain the aircraft.

Although only active for the final months of the war Duxford TDS trained 126 new pilots, making a valuable contribution to the war effort. 13 airmen died in training accidents on the airfield during this period.

Highlights from the workshop

The workshop provided participants with an introduction to the Home Front Legacy 1914-18 and Living Legacies 1914-18 projects, as well as providing full training to enable them to record sites with the Home Front Legacy recording app.

The day started with an introduction to the Home Front Legacy 1914-18 and Living Legacies 1914-18 projects, as well as an introduction from Historic England’s Wayne Cocroft to the myriad of First World War Home Front sites that survive and remain to be re-discovered.

Taking a closer look at a First World War workshop at Duxford

A tour of Duxford’s surviving First World War buildings, led by Home Front Legacy Officer Chris Kolonko introduced our attendees to photographing standing buildings as well as architectural features commonly associated with airfield sites of the period. The group took a closer look at Duxford’s impressive double-span Belfast Truss hangars, including their innovative wartime roof trusses and learned about the air war over the UK.

Belfast roof trusses within Hangar 4

A number of the displays within the museum had strong home front connections, especially a 1-pdr ‘Pom-Pom’ anti-aircraft gun. The gun was first deployed on 7 August 1914 at Gresham College to protect the skies of London at the outbreak of war and later moved to Ipswich. The gun actually fired upon two separate Zeppelin airships during its deployments in London and Ipswich.

1-pdr ‘Pom-Pom’ Gun

After lunch, Sally Page of the Heritage Lottery Fund outlined currently available funding for First World War centenary projects, no matter how big or small the project.

Peter and Graham of Elmswell History Group

We were also treated to a wonderful presentations by the Elsmwell History Group and Geograph. Pete McGee and Graham Mack of the Elmswell History Group focussed on the ‘The Lost Aerodrome of Elmswell’. Elmswell History Group have been investigating, excavating and recording the airfield’s surviving archaeological features, building up a detailed record of this forgotten Home Defence Squadron airfield. The presentation also covered the post-war re-use of the airfield’s hangars and the findings of their excavation of the site.

John Maddan of Geograph

John Maddan, Home Front Legacy champion and long time supporter of the project, introduced the wonderful work of Geograph. The Geograph project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland. Geograph is also a great resource for local historians and archaeologists looking to find out more about their local area. John highlighted some of the fascinating First World War sites Geograph has recorded throughout the UK with the Home Front Legacy recording app, and introduced participants to a wide range of sites they may find in their local area.

The day was rounded of with our Young Person’s learning resources where our delegates were given the opportunity to investigate and explore the First World War Home Front, using the resources to guide their journey of discovery.

Exploring with the Home Front Legacy Young Persons’ resources

The Home Front Legacy 1914-18 and Living Legacy 1914-18 teams would like to thank all speakers and delegates for attending our workshop and making the event fun and successful.

Presentations from the day will be available within our Case Study section shortly.