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AUDIO: Hatfield's Aviation History Marked With Memorial
A memorial celebrating the history of Hatfield's former RAF airfield is being unveiled today...
The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust has erected the monument commemorating the facility which opened in the 1930's.
Aircraft production by de Havilland was in full swing by the mid-1930s and many of the company's extremely well known types were built and first flown from the site: the Tiger Moth and Dominie trainers, Rapide transport, Mosquito fighter-bomber, Vampire and Venom jet fighters and the Comet, the world's first jet airliner.
Eventually two-thirds of the legendary Mosquito produced were built at Hatfield. The Geman air force recognised the value of the airfield as a bombing target that suffered heavy loss of life in 1940.
Since then much of the airfield has disappeared to make way for industry, housing and education, while parkland now exists on the former landing area.
A main hangar and the control tower do survive, and Hatfield is still used in various ways as a heritage trail and, in the recent past, occasionally for television and film productions, such as 'Saving Private Ryan.'
Kenneth Bannerman, Founder of the "Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust" told JACK fm: "Former wartime airfields are every bit as part of our heritage as castles and stately homes.
The airmen and women stationed there were crucial in securing the freedom we have today.
We are delighted, therefore, to be providing a lasting tribute to Hatfield for present and future generations."
AUDIO: Hear more from Kenneth Bannerman speaking to JACK fm...
Discover more about the Trust on their official website by clicking here.
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