Forgotten RAF Balloon Barrage Unit after WW2

[LarryH57]

The yarn about the live Grand Slam, has reminded me to ask if anyone has heard the one about the RAF Barrage Balloon unit that was sent to Wales or the Borders in WW2 and was lost from RAF records? So the story goes a winch vehicle, barrage balloon and crew were sent to protect a location early in the war and as no facilities were available on site the crew were billeted out with the local population. Although they sent in reports and received supplies for some years they never received any orders, or requests to move despite the reduced threat to their part of the country in the last years of the war. After a while they received no more supplies or heard from the RAF but 'hey' by this time some or all of the crew had married local girls so they were in no hurry to remind RAF Barrage Balloon Command or who ever of their 'predicament' especially as the RAF pay came in handy in addition to the money from civi jobs they had taken on. And so it continued for many years after the war until someone discovered the situation and went looking in 1960's.

 

I first read this story over 35 years ago so forgive me if there are differences to what you have heard. I never quite believed it though and at the time I thought, surely the RAF winch vehicle must have survived and if so why no pictures of it! It reminds me of the Laurel & Hardy film where Laurel is still guarding the trench after WW1 next to an massive pile of bully beef tins! On the other hand who would have thought Japanese soldiers would come out of the jungle in 1970's not knowing that the war had ended!

[Rlangham]

Wow, great story! Be fascinating if it was true. A Japanese soldier came out of the jungle in the past decade too, IIRC

[Sylvester]

Hi,

This little story is of interest to me personally, as I tried to research my late mothers war years some time ago, she was a WRAF barrage balloon operater, but when I tried to find out any details even though I have photo's of her and of her friends at various sites, including the site numbers..... the RAF could find no records pertaining to these sites, even drew a blank with the Barrage Balloon Association!

So, could be true eh!

I would not put it past the military of the time.

One of my fathers comments always makes you wonderat the logic, he worked for the Railways up to call up, he said that a whole group of them joined at the same time and were all put to work driving lorry's, where as the lorry drivers that signed up together..... were put to work on operating the captured trains!!!

Makes you wonder really eh?

Things were not much improved in the area of logic when I was in either!!

 

Fred

[andreadavide]

There has never been (and never will be) any sense of logic in an Army, when cheap labour (i.e. conscription) i available.

Here in Italy until the end of National service all the barracks had impressive surveillance services with sentries doing 24/7 armed surveillance. It has been calculated that at any given moment there were at leas 10,000 soldiers with a rifle in their hands defending the barracks.

Now we are more or les ata war, but since a few years thare are only professional soldiers... barracks have CCTV surveillance.

Using soldiers for their skills was another funny issues. Usually cooks were sent to the vehicle repair dept and mechanics to the kitchen...

Andrea

[Nissedasapewt]

The yarn about the live Grand Slam,

 

Can you elaborate on this one at all? I've not heard it.

[No Signals]

Can you elaborate on this one at all? I've not heard it.

 

Next thread down in this section.

[REME 245]

I read a story in a book many years ago of how in the early days of WW2 a Royal Artillery Officer was sent down to the South Coast to identify suitable locations for Railway Guns.

 

During this work he identified a short spur line on a map which he thought would be ideal to locate such a gun. When he arrived at the site he found an overgrown building which upon breaking into found a First World War railway gun in perfect preservation. The caretaker subsequently turned up who confirmed he had been receiving a small payment each week since the 1920's to look after this gun.

 

Can anyone confirm this story?

[Tony B]

One genuinly silly tale is that Fort Halstead was sold off during the 1920's and became a Scout Camp. It was re-purchsed at the beginning of WW2 to move staff and equipment from Woolwich Arsenal.