Writtle Lancaster
Terence Pegram, formerly at GEC-Marconi Research Centre
In the 2009 Newsletter, no 9, on page 5 Eric Walker made mention of the Lancaster aircraft at Writtle. Here is a photo of the Lancaster which was sent to me by Terence Pegram, together with some information about its arrival at Writtle. Ed.
Many Veterans from the Chelmsford area will remember the Avro Lancaster bomber that was located for some years after the war on the Marconi Writtle site.
I recently came across a photograph of it whilst it was being erected by an RAF team of riggers. The photo is the property of Colin Dadd, who was part of this team, and in the picture he is standing on the right, next to the starboard main wheel.
Colin cannot remember its date. His best guess is 1948, but he remembers that the team were billeted at North Weald airfield and used to lunch at the British Restaurant in Writtle.
My recollection of the Lancaster is seeing it across the river whilst walking from Chelmsford towards Writtle, and it was a very impressive and unexpected sight. I remember that a central tail fin was added to it, for the purposes of research, making it look very much like its predecessor, the Manchester.
I wonder if this is the only existing photograph of this aeroplane? Some comments from other Veterans would be welcome.