"Memorial Barn at Gibraltar Farm, Tempsford to all SOE agents & aircrew that flew from thid Bedfordshire Airfield in WW2" DSC_1567
"gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon.."
SHAKESPEARE - Henry IV
In the late 1930's, if you had taken the road east to Everton from Church Street, Tempsford, at the south corner of the present day Millennium Garden Sanctuary - the site of the proposed Tempsford Memorial monument- it would have led you directly past Tempsford Hall and across the main LNER (London North Eastern Railway) railway line on the Tempsford Flats to the Greensands Ridge at Everton. It was here, between the old Roman Road, now a public highway running north-south along the ridge, and the railway line in the east, that the Air Ministry, in the summer of 1940, started work on setting up the most important secret airfield, known simply as Gibraltar Farm, that would take on the clandestine operations to aid resistance activities across the Channel during World War II - answering Churchill's call to "set Europe ablaze".
This became RAF Tempsford, designed to look like an ordinary working farm, Gibraltar Farm, the base for the two Special Duties 'Moon Squadrons 138 and 161 (nicknamed the 'Tempsford Taxis') operating between 1942 and 1945, ferrying secret agents ('Joes'), arms and supplies to resistance networks in Occupied Europe - and bring back resistance agents, downed airmen and VIPs - all coordinated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Churchill in 1940.
The range of operations reached from Norway to the South of France and across Europe, taking in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Missions were concentrated around the nights of the full moon each month, allowing best vision for the pilots. 138 Squadron was a transport organisation for the SOE, flying the heavier aircraft - Whitley, Halifax and Short Stirling bombers- dropping containers of supplies and parachuting down secret agents to locations on the Continent, pre-arranged and coordinated with the resistance organisations. 161 Squadron, formed on Valentines Day 1942, specialised in landing and pick up operation, flying the lighter aircraft t - the high-winged Westland Lysander and Lockhead Hudson monoplanes. The Lysander (known affectionately as 'Lizzie' by it's pilots) had a strong under carriage, able to withstand impact on landing and usually a fixed outside ladder to the rear cockpit, allowing speedy boarding and exit. It was highly manoeuvrable, with a low stalling speed and could land in a football field, turn and take off again in minutes.
"Memorial Barn at Gibraltar Farm, Tempsford to all SOE agents & aircrew that flew from thid Bedfordshire Airfield in WW2" DSC_1567
"gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon.."
SHAKESPEARE - Henry IV
In the late 1930's, if you had taken the road east to Everton from Church Street, Tempsford, at the south corner of the present day Millennium Garden Sanctuary - the site of the proposed Tempsford Memorial monument- it would have led you directly past Tempsford Hall and across the main LNER (London North Eastern Railway) railway line on the Tempsford Flats to the Greensands Ridge at Everton. It was here, between the old Roman Road, now a public highway running north-south along the ridge, and the railway line in the east, that the Air Ministry, in the summer of 1940, started work on setting up the most important secret airfield, known simply as Gibraltar Farm, that would take on the clandestine operations to aid resistance activities across the Channel during World War II - answering Churchill's call to "set Europe ablaze".
This became RAF Tempsford, designed to look like an ordinary working farm, Gibraltar Farm, the base for the two Special Duties 'Moon Squadrons 138 and 161 (nicknamed the 'Tempsford Taxis') operating between 1942 and 1945, ferrying secret agents ('Joes'), arms and supplies to resistance networks in Occupied Europe - and bring back resistance agents, downed airmen and VIPs - all coordinated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Churchill in 1940.
The range of operations reached from Norway to the South of France and across Europe, taking in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Missions were concentrated around the nights of the full moon each month, allowing best vision for the pilots. 138 Squadron was a transport organisation for the SOE, flying the heavier aircraft - Whitley, Halifax and Short Stirling bombers- dropping containers of supplies and parachuting down secret agents to locations on the Continent, pre-arranged and coordinated with the resistance organisations. 161 Squadron, formed on Valentines Day 1942, specialised in landing and pick up operation, flying the lighter aircraft t - the high-winged Westland Lysander and Lockhead Hudson monoplanes. The Lysander (known affectionately as 'Lizzie' by it's pilots) had a strong under carriage, able to withstand impact on landing and usually a fixed outside ladder to the rear cockpit, allowing speedy boarding and exit. It was highly manoeuvrable, with a low stalling speed and could land in a football field, turn and take off again in minutes.