Cheshire Steve Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Looking through records of repair and salvage unit operating in the desert in 1943, I often see references to aircraft being delivered by land to B.A.R.U. - which I think is Base Aircraft Repair Unit. So these are planes that the RSU can't repair, as they fly out repaired planes. What I have failed to find is where the B.A.R.U. was located, and whether all planes that were scrap would be sent there as well as repairable ones, possibly for parts recovery. The RSU would change engines, but maybe they weren't able to handle airframe damage? Anyone come across details of the B.A.R.U. operations? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Multiple Aircraft Repair Units covering North Africa & the Middle East. https://www.rafweb.org/Members Pages/Unt Histories/Maintenance Units etc/RSUs.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 Thanks for that link - its the sort of information I was looking for but unable to find. From that I suspect the B.A.R.U. that is referred to is actually the British Airways Repair Unit at Heliopolis or Almaza (which are, as far as I can tell, the same place) - whereas I thought that interpretation of BARU must be a mistake. It still seems rather odd, British Airways Ltd was merged into BOAC in 1940. Civil aviation no doubt came under government control during the war, so were they deploying the in-house civilian expertise of the former British Airways as a Middle East base repair unit? It seems from your link that No 1 BARU became 168MU in 1/3/1944, and No 2 BARU became a BOAC unit at the same time - so maybe that does suggest a mix of military and civilians, later split into military and civilian outfits. I have found a reference to an aircraft scrapyard at Heliopolis, so maybe it was the BARU that ultimately decided what could be saved from a crashed aircraft (or maybe just airframe) and disposed of the rest. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 There were still "Civil" airliners running during the war, under the auspices of BOAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 I think the acronym B.A.R.U. has a third interpretation - BOAC Aircraft Repair Unit. I have found it called that at this link which says it not only handled servicing of aircraft but also their reallocation between units (and from other sources also the retirement of aircraft and had a major scrapyard too) : http://www.adf-serials.com.au/bombay.htm I have also found some detailed BOAC records, that record the creations of a British Airways Repair Unit in Cairo in August 1941, which is strange as minuted in Jan 1941 that BOAC must continue to call themselves BOAC and not British Airways. BOAC seems to have also taken over the ATA, so maybe BARU was also a main transport hub for ferried aircraft. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/AMIL-BOAC-Gen-reports-services.pdf The more I look at the Operational Records of 58RSU the more planes I see transported to B.A.R.U. mainly by road., and all types too. In the attached extract from the Operations Records, Harvard EX129, Tomahawk AK351, Tomahawk AN467, and Kittyhawk ET532. 4 planes in 4 days. It seems to have a pretty central role, handling and servicing huge numbers of aircraft but can't find much info about it at all. Maybe I am still using the wrong search terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted July 8, 2019 Author Share Posted July 8, 2019 Found something in "RAF Middle East - Official Story of Air Operations Feb 1942 - Jan 1943", which has a chapter on the backup operation that kept the planes flying, including RSUs and the dispersal of all sorts of maintenance (engine repair, plating worn parts, etc), and then mentions the following : "In the summer of 1941 a hangar in an existing airfield was handed over to 5 engineers of British Overseas Aircraft Corporation, and they started to scout the back streets of Cairo to buy hammers, pliers, hacksaws, and such elementary tools, with which to found a unit for the repair of damaged airframes (the body of the aircraft as distinct from its engines). Within a year the unit had grown to many hangars, all crowded with aircraft needing repair, ranging in size from the smallest communications machine to the largest Liberator bomber. And more than 1000 aircraft had been rebuilt and sent back into the fight." So I think that is it - the BOAC Aircraft Repair Unit or BARU grew from a few BOAC engineers to a huge unit in the desparate early part of the war in North Africa. It was the location where recovered aircraft are shipped back to by the RSUs where airframe work is needed, or to salvage airframe parts to repair others. They don't name the airfield, but lots of other sources refer to aircraft being deliveredto or from BARU Heliopolis at least to September 1943, and in early 1944 it seems much of this activity came under 168MU. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andywis Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) Hello everybody- new kid on the block! I have a question for @Cheshire Steve: I am trying to identify the serial number of a Hart aircraft which left Heliopolis (BARU?) and was assigned to 162 squadron at Shallufa. The date was 4 February 1942. Long shot!! Tia Andy Wis Edited August 31, 2021 by andywis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Prof Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Hi @andywis Cheshire Steve last visited in February, but if you put an @ in front of his name, he at least gets a notification that he's been mentioned in a post, which might help. @Cheshire Steve Best Regards, Adrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted November 26, 2021 Author Share Posted November 26, 2021 On 8/30/2021 at 1:08 PM, andywis said: Hello everybody- new kid on the block! I have a question for @Cheshire Steve: I am trying to identify the serial number of a Hart aircraft which left Heliopolis (BARU?) and was assigned to 162 squadron at Shallufa. The date was 4 February 1942. Long shot!! Tia Andy Wis Hello - I am back after a long gap... Had a PC crash, but shouldn't have lost any records. The few operational records I was given don't go back that far, and are only for 58RSU. Seems they have them at Kew archive, someone visited there are sent me a few pictures. Feb 42 is a few months before my father arrived. Trying to remember if it was a Hart or a Hind that one of the RAF bigwigs had as a pet aircraft. My father said he used to attack the Germans every now and then for sport, and once had to put it down with a bullet in the radiator, but they fetched it back, The record I have seen are 58RSU base records, so mention movements like Hart K4916 flown to Heliopolis, Hind K6796 flown back (Jul 43). You would want to see the Heliopolis operational records. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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