Overview

Having been classified by the Air Ministry as a 'Master Diversion' airfield, RAF Manston was for many years open twenty-four hours a day and available to both civil and military aircraft 365 days a year. It was also later equipped with the Pyrene foam system, which both civil and military aircraft could use when they had problems with their undercarriage: there is no doubt that the foam carpet saved many lives. The most spectacular occasion that it was used was on 20 April 1967 when a British Eagle Britannia made a complete wheels-up landing. It is claimed that Manston was the only station to serve in every command of the RAF and until its closure in 1999; it probably dealt with more diverse types of aircraft than any other station. During its eighty-three years as a Royal Naval/ RAF airfield, it played host to the Sopwith Camel, Spitfire, Bf 109, He 111, B-29, B-47, Tu-104, F-84 and Concorde, plus many other types that are too numerous to mention.

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9781781557648

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Having served in the RAF working in Air Traffic Control Joe Bamford has always had a keen interest in aviation but particularly in the history of the RAF. His first posting was to RAF Manston, one of the oldest airfields in the country and which had been heavily attacked during the Second World War. Over the years he met a number of former servicemen who had served on the station and they encouraged him to research and write an account of its history. Subsequently he spent ten years studying the records of Manston to create a four volume set of its history.

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