RN Unit Hendon

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by popeye1975, Jul 4, 2016.

  1. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    Part of my fathers naval record stated 'HMS Shrapnel - RN Unit Hendon'. On further investigation I find that there was an RN presence at RAF Hendon, but I am unable to get any more info. Can anyone shed any light on what the Navy was doing in land-locked Middlesex in 1943?
     
  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  3. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    1933 No.24 Squadron, which transported VIPs, moved to Hendon from Northolt.
    World War II brought changes at Hendon, with only No.24 Squadron remaining of the pre-war units.
    [​IMG]During the Battle of Britain
    a number of fighter squadrons used the airfield for short periods. The proximity to various headquarters and good access to road and rail links led to the RAF and United States Army Air Forces concentrating transport units at Hendon.
    Runways were built to allow heavier aircraft to use the airfield and large numbers of huts were built to accommodate the increasing numbers of personnel. Accommodation was a constant problem. At different times Aeroville, the Hendon Hall Hotel and houses in Sunningfields Road and Cedars Close were among those requisitioned.
    RAF Hendon was attacked from August 1940 onwards. It suffered less than many RAF stations during the war but one of the three World War One hangars was destroyed by fire. Several of the attacks also caused damage in housing in the local area. By contrast Geraldo and his Orchestra broadcast Workers Playtime from RAF Hendon on 25 May 1944. By then it had become well known to Royalty, Politicians and Military Commanders who were used to flying to or from the airfield.

    http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/about-us/our-history/Hendon-cradle-of-aviation.aspx


    Throughout the Second World War No.24 Squadron served as a communications and transport squadron, operating a wide range of aircraft. When war broke out it had been planned to replace the mixed bag of aircraft then in use with twenty Miles Mentors, but this plan had to be abandoned, and the squadron would not begin to concentrate on a single type until April 1942.
    As the senior transport squadron it often carried V.I.P.s. In March 1943 it was given the task of operating Churchill's personal Avro York, soon named "Ascalon". The first two production Yorks were also given to the squadron, also as V.I.P. transports. The month after the arrival of the first York, the squadron began to standardise on the Douglas Dakota. The smaller aircraft remained with the squadron until August 1943, when they were transferred to No.512 Squadron.
    The scope of the squadron's operations reflects the nature of the war. From 1939 until the summer of 1940 No.24 frequently flew into France. From 1940 until April 1942 the majority of flights were within Britain. In that month the squadron joined Ferry Command and began to operate between Britain and Malta. In the last few years of the war the squadron was used to transport Churchill and other key personnel to the wartime conferences.
    Aircraft
    From 1920 to April 1943 No.24 Squadron used a mix of aircraft in small numbers, amongst them the Hudson I, Hudson V, Percival Proctor I, Ensign, Douglas DC-3, Savoia-Marchetti S-73,Curtiss Cleveland, Blackburn Roc, Hind, Wellington XVI, Reliant and Skymaster I
    April 1943-December 1950: Douglas Dakota I, Dakota III and Dakota IV
    May 1943-November 1951: Avro York C.I
    Location
    8 July 1933-25 February 1946: Hendon
    Squadron Codes: NQ, U
    Duty
    1920-April 1942: Communications
    April 1942 onwards: Ferry Command
    http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/24_wwII.html


    http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/about-us/our-history/Hendon-cradle-of-aviation.aspx





    RAF Hendon

    [​IMG]

    Main units (continued): -
    No 50 Group Communications Flt (1 Feb - 2 Sep 1939)
    No 21 Aircraft Park (11 - 25 Sep 1939)
    No 61 Wing Servicing Unit (23 - 30 Sep 1939)
    No 62 Wing Servicing Unit (17 - 25 Oct 1939)
    Blenheim Conversion Flt (xxx 1939 - 16 Jan 1940)
    248 Sqn (30 Oct 1939 - 24 Feb 1940)
    HQ, No 52 (Army Co-operation) Wing (1 - 12 Nov 1939)
    81 Sqn (5 May - 15 Jun 1940)
    257 Sqn (16 May - 4 Jul 1940)
    No 1 Radio Fitting Unit (Jun 1940 - Mar 1941)
    504 Sqn (6 - 26 Sep 1940)
    No 1 Camouflage Unit (8 Nov 1940 - 1 Jun 1942)
    No 1416 (Reconnaissance) Flt (10 Mar - 5 Sep 1941)
    No 1 Aircraft Delivery Flt (22 Mar 1941 - 23 Jan 1942)
    116 Sqn (24 Apr 1941 - 20 Apr 1942)
    No 151 Wing (Aug 1941)
    No 2722 Sqn RAF Regiment (xxx 1942 - xxx xxxx)
    510 Sqn (15 Oct 1942 - 8 Apr 1944)
    VRU-4, USN (xxx xxxx - xx 1942)
    512 Sqn (18 Jun 1943 - 14 Feb 1944)
    575 Sqn (1 - 14 Feb 1944)
    Metropolitan Communication Sqn (8 Apr 1944 - 19 Jul 1948)
    Transport Command Communication Flt (8 Apr 1944 - May 1946)
    Allied Flt (12 Jun 1944 - xxx 1946)
    No 1316 (Dutch Communication/Transport) Flt (7 Jul 1944 - 4 Mar 1946)
    C-47 Conversion Section (xx 1944 - xxx xxxx)
    No 4024 Servicing Echelon (26 Jul 1944 – 24 Feb 1946)
    HQ, No 116 Wing (23 Jul 1944 - 1 Jan 1945)
    31 Sqn (19 Jul 1948 - 1 Mar 1955)
    RAF Antarctic Flt (25 Apr 1949 - Jan 1951)
    No 1958 Flt, 661 Sqn (1 Jul 1949 - 10 Mar 1957)
    No 142 Gliding School (Aug 1950 - 1 Aug 1953)
    VR-25, USN (xxx - xxxx - Feb 1953)
    FASRON 76, USN (Feb 1953 - xxx 1954)
    32nd AAA Brigade, US Army (Oct 1953 - Apr 1957)
    FASRON 200, USN (xxx 1954 - 1 Oct 1956)
    Metropolitan Communication Sqn (1 Mar 1955 - 4 Nov 1957)
    No 617 Volunteer Gliding School (25 Nov 1958 - xxx xxxx)


    Location
    County: - Middlesex
    Lat/Long: 51:36:00N 00:14:42W
    Grid Ref: TQ215905
    Height above sea level: 160 ft


    Operational Control: -
    Opened - 1910 (as an airfield)
    Closed - 1957


    Notes


    Main units: -
    34 Sqn (8 - 10 Jul 1916)
    18th Wing School of Instruction (22 Sep 1916 - xxx 1918)
    No 2 Aircraft Acceptance Park (xxx 1917 - xxx 1919)
    Communications Sqn (23 - 26 Jul 1918)
    No 1 Communications Sqn (26 Jul 1918 - 13 Apr 1919)
    No 29 Training Sqn (1 - 6 Aug 1918)
    School of Instruction, Hendon (xxx - 12 Oct 1918)
    No 86 Wing (Feb - 13 Apr 1919)
    600 Sqn (18 Jan 1927 - 1 Oct 1938, 4 Oct 1938 - 25 Aug 1939)
    601 Sqn (18 Jan 1927 - 2 Sep 1939, 10 May 1946 - 27 Mar 1949)
    Home Communications Flt (16 Apr 1928 - 10 Jul 1933)
    405 (Fleet Fighter) Flt (13 Jun - 17 Jul 1929)
    604 Sqn (17 Mar 1930 - 2 Sep 1939, 10 May 1946 - 28 Mar 1949)
    Inland Area Practice Flt (xxx 1933 - xx Jul 1936)
    24 Sqn (10 Jul 1933 - 25 Feb 1946)
    No 1 MT Storage Unit (1 Aug 1935 - 27 Nov 1936)
    610 Sqn (10 Feb - 16 Apr 1936)
    611 Sqn (10 Feb - 1 Apr 1936)
    The King's Flt ( 20 Jul 1936 - 15 Sep 1939)
    'A' Equipment Depot (Temporary) (2 Feb 1937 - xxx 1938)
    'A' Temporary Maintenance Unit (xxx 1938 - 28 Jun 1939)HQ, Reserve Command (1 Feb - 4 Sep 1939)


    Detachments**
    19 Training Sqn (Apr - xxx 1916)
    271 Sqn (May 1940, Oct 1940 - Feb 1944)
    59 Sqn (11 Sep - xxx 1940)
    No 91 Forward Staging Post (Jan - Aug 1944)
    No 19 Reserve Sqn (Jan - May 1916)


    Units located in Hendon but not on the station: -
    HQ, No 26 Group (1 Dec 1937 - 1 Feb 1939)
    HQ, No 116 (Transport) Wing (1 Jan - 23 Jul 1944)
    HQ, No 107 (Transport) Wing (16 Oct 1944 - 1 Jan 1945)


    http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-H.htm#Hendon
     
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  4. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    Thanks all. I have contacted the Museum and hopefully they can shed some light. This family history business is hard work at times!
     
  5. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    Update...having contacted the RAF Museum Hendon, the National Maritime Museum, TNA, the IWM and the Royal Navy Museum, nobody knows anything about this unit. I am SO confused and baffled. The dates are interesting though...joined 04 Jun 1944, left 10 Aug 1944. There is a theory in my family that Dad was involved in the Normandy landings in some way and this may have something to do with it...just a thought.
     
  6. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    Latest on this saga...got a very nice email from RAF Museum and more or less said what i already knew. They gave me the same list of units operating out of Hendon that CL1 did, but they recommended that I contacted the FAA museum at Yeovilton to see if they can shed some light. It just gets more and more intriguing by the minute. Was this some kind of bloody covert op or something?
     
  7. Richard Lewis

    Richard Lewis Member

    Have a look at this tread: Shore bases

    It seems that HMS Shrapnel in Southampton was an accounting base, so personnel based somewhere without an "HMS" designation would be administered through here and their service record annotated accordingly.

    Richard
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2016
  8. RCG

    RCG Senior Member, Deceased

    Popeye can you say a 100% it is Hendon Middlesex.

    AS 'HMS Shrapnel - RN Unit Hendon'. Reads to me like it's a unit based in the grounds of HMS Shrapnel.
    The navy is renown for naming buildings and parts of buildings etc after ships.

    HMS Hendon, Rescue tug, launched 1924 Commissioned 21 Mar 1940 End service 3 Jul 1942
    History Displacement: 241 tons

    HMS Shrapnel 2 was also at Southampton as a Stokers Training Base commissioned 5th November 1943.
     
  9. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    The other night (after I had switched off my laptop, unfortunately) I had an epiphany. I can remember my dad once telling me that he had flown in a Miles Messenger, and that the pilot had allowed him to briefly take control. I suggested this to the very helpful researcher at Hendon and he told me that it was perfectly feasible that Dad was part of a liaison team with a communications flight.

    Then another twist. After speaking to my older brother, it appears that Dad worked with RAF crews to improve their speed and accuracy on a flashing morse light in the run-up to D-Day, as there were concerns that pilots would not be able to communicate accurately with ships they were overflying. That would tie in with the length of time at the mysterious 'Shrapnel', and also for the fact that it would be something that not many people would know about. At least I finally have a theory to work with!
     
  10. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    I feel as if this has been going on for ever, but maybe, just maybe, there is daylight. A historian I have spoken to who knows quite a bit about Shrapnel has suggested that the unit might have been based at Hendon Technical Institute/College. The college no longer exists but was absorbed into Middlesex University in the 1950's, and I contacted their archivist who is going to ask around all the people who he thinks may know what was being taught there in June-August 1944. Add to that my brother's vague recollection that Dad's part in the landings involved signalling between sea and air units, and there is a bit of wiggle room at last
     
  11. popeye1975

    popeye1975 Junior Member

    If the tug Hendon ended service July 1942 that would rule it out as my dad was being evacuated from Alexandria about that time
     
  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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