Hi everyone,
Ive not seen anything about Pulham so i thought i would share a bit of history.
Also please excuse the photography its the first camera i have owned
Pulham was one of the main UK airship stations, with more than 3,000 men on the base, until the demise of the R101 in 1930 when the station was moved on
to a care and maintenance basis only. Pulham Air Station was also the location for pioneering investigations into parachuting,
as by 1917 it was the headquarters of the Parachute Experimental Staff.
During and after the Second World War the base was used as a storage depot for crashed aircraft from throughout Eastern England.
The site was also the munitions store for the East of England and the RAF had a test firing range here.
In its heyday Pulham had its own hydrogen plant, one small and two large airship sheds (one was later moved to Cardington base in 1930, the other was scrapped in 1948) and a permanent mooring mast.http://[url=http://s446.photobucket.com/user/nebula1/media/R-33_at_mast_1921_zpsishcuaer.jpg.html]
During World War II, Pulham Air Station was used as an aircraft salvage yard. The RAF used Pulham for storage and Maintenance Unit work until closure in 1958.
In 1912 a Royal Naval Air Station was established on land acquired from 3 farms, including Upper Vaunces farm, on the south of Pulham St Mary.
Small non-rigid airships flew from here to engage in patrols over the North Sea.
These early airships were given the name ‘Pulham Pigs’ after a local man, on seeing an aircraft overhead, remarked ‘Thet luk loike a gret ol’ pig’.
Pulham’s first rigid airship arrived in April 1917 and was employed in experimental work.
The first permanent airship mooring mast was built at Pulham and its base can still be seen on the site today.
It was 120ft high with a ladder on the outside to give access to the ship.
In the 1920’s the station became a base for the R33, which was blown across the North Sea after being torn from her mooring by a gale.
Another notable airship based here was the R34 which made the first east-west air crossing of the Atlantic in 1919.
Heres whats left,
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
View attachment 674960 [/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]n
thanks for looking,
Nebula
Ive not seen anything about Pulham so i thought i would share a bit of history.
Also please excuse the photography its the first camera i have owned
Pulham was one of the main UK airship stations, with more than 3,000 men on the base, until the demise of the R101 in 1930 when the station was moved on
to a care and maintenance basis only. Pulham Air Station was also the location for pioneering investigations into parachuting,
as by 1917 it was the headquarters of the Parachute Experimental Staff.
During and after the Second World War the base was used as a storage depot for crashed aircraft from throughout Eastern England.
The site was also the munitions store for the East of England and the RAF had a test firing range here.
In its heyday Pulham had its own hydrogen plant, one small and two large airship sheds (one was later moved to Cardington base in 1930, the other was scrapped in 1948) and a permanent mooring mast.http://[url=http://s446.photobucket.com/user/nebula1/media/R-33_at_mast_1921_zpsishcuaer.jpg.html]
During World War II, Pulham Air Station was used as an aircraft salvage yard. The RAF used Pulham for storage and Maintenance Unit work until closure in 1958.
In 1912 a Royal Naval Air Station was established on land acquired from 3 farms, including Upper Vaunces farm, on the south of Pulham St Mary.
Small non-rigid airships flew from here to engage in patrols over the North Sea.
These early airships were given the name ‘Pulham Pigs’ after a local man, on seeing an aircraft overhead, remarked ‘Thet luk loike a gret ol’ pig’.
Pulham’s first rigid airship arrived in April 1917 and was employed in experimental work.
The first permanent airship mooring mast was built at Pulham and its base can still be seen on the site today.
It was 120ft high with a ladder on the outside to give access to the ship.
In the 1920’s the station became a base for the R33, which was blown across the North Sea after being torn from her mooring by a gale.
Another notable airship based here was the R34 which made the first east-west air crossing of the Atlantic in 1919.
Heres whats left,
View attachment 674960 [/URL]
thanks for looking,
Nebula
Last edited by a moderator:
