Pete in Lincs Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I was speaking to a pub landlord on Friday. He mentioned that his Dad was on Lancasters somewhere near Wigan from about late 1943. Does anyone have any idea what Squadron(s) that might be? He also mentioned that his Dad was made ready to go to India, as part of Tiger force, so that may narrow it down. Thanks for looking. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Wigan being on the west side of England indicates that it wasnt an operation squadron flying Ops. I suspect he may have been at one of the factories either test flying or repair unit ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Wigan is about an hour from Woodford and Chadderton where most of the Lancs were built. Burtonwood is also nearish although in the latter part of the war it was a USAAF base. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Thank you. Pretty much what I thought. He has the log books but not the knowledge to interpret them, I'll have to get back to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-21 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I have a feeling it is Wigsley ,near Lincoln 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I have a feeling it is Wigsley ,near Lincoln 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit ? I was thinking along the same lines,..... my first instinct was to Google `Wigan, Lincolnshire' and then `Wigan, Nottinghamshire' followed by `Wig, Lincolnshire',...etc,.....the best I came up with was Wigsley too. I also thought about RAF Wigtown (sometimes referred to as Wigton) in Scotland but unlikely to have Lancs up there, although it was a training base so trainee aircrew did serve there. Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 It was definitely Wigan, Lancs. I wonder, could it be Coastal Command? Irish sea/Atlantic? Or maybe he was attached to the factories? I got the impression he was on Ops though. I'll have to see if I can get a look at his logbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 The only airfield I know of anywhere in the area with bombers was Caernarfon in North Wales and they were Wellingtons, so it's not that. What you really need is access to the relevant volume of 'Action Stations'. Long out of print but maybe someone here has access to one for investigation? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Hi Pete. I was born in Wigan in 1939 and lived there until 1960, when I left to join the RAF. I think that I can honestly say that I have never heard of RAF Wigan, or of an airfield near there. As others have said, there was Burtonwood, Woodford, Warton and Woodvale. Back to the logbook. Robin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Also RNAS Burscough (HMS Ringtail), but that was used for carrier landing training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Hmm, I'll get back to you all once I've spoken to him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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