Zeals
ZEALS: Military aerodrome
Note: Both the first two pictures by the author and in the second picture there appears to be the WW2 control or watch tower? Is this correct? The third picture was obtained from Google Earth ©
Military users: RAF Fighter Command (Group?)
66 & 421 (RCAF) & 611 (West Lancashire) Sqdns (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
488 (RNZAF) & 604 Sqdns (DH Mosquitos)
No.3 GTS (Glider Training School) (General Aircraft Hotspurs)
RAF Balloon Command 32 Group (Storage)
US Army Air Corps use also?
Location: W of B3092, N of A303 and NNW of Zeals village, 5nm ENE of Wincanton
Period of operation: 1942 to 1946
Runways: N/S 1463 grass E/W 1296 grass SE/NW 1296 grass
NOTES: As mentioned elsewhere I remain utterly perplexed by the mania the RAF top brass had for constantly moving squadrons around. Obviously, over a period of time, moving squadrons is necessary for all sorts of reasons but the often frenetic movements during WW2 must surely have mostly been counter-productive to the war effort? As a general rule when a squadron moved it wasn’t just the aircraft and crews that moved. It appears that the whole ‘shooting match’ including administration, repair and maintenance, cooks etc were moved too.
I have no idea if this applied to 604 Squadron arriving here from COLERNE on the 25th July 1944, only to depart back to COLERNE on the 28th but suspect it couldn’t possibly have been? Just aircraft and crews only? But why did the move take place anyway? This was after all, with the D-Day invasion having just taken place on the 6th June, a period when the maximum effort to support the establishment of Allied Forces was needed most?
I have picked on 604 Sqdn to illustrate my point, although it is a pretty extreme example in the run up to and follow through of that immensely critical period. On the 25th April 1944 the squadron moved the short distance from SCORTON to CHURCH FENTON, both in YORKSHIRE of course. They then flew south to HURN (HAMPSHIRE) on the 3rd of May - so why not directly from SCORTON to HURN which surely makes more sense?
604 stayed at HURN during the height of the invasion, but only until the 13th July when they moved to COLERNE (WILTSHIRE) until the 6th August, (which included the three day posting to ZEALS mentioned above), when they were moved once again to ODIHAM(HAMPSHIRE). It takes time for a squadron to settle down and speaking as a pilot I fully appreciate how very much easier it is to fly from a familiar location. Navigation skills are often barely needed once familiar with the territory and knowing the likely effects of local weather and wind, familiarity with ground operations, ATC methods etc, etc all reduce stress levels and increase safety.
Tales are told of most main roads in England during this period being full of trucks barely crawling along bringing up supplies to support the invasion, so why add to this problem by moving any squadron around, (let alone so many), whilst in the thick of it? In Hampshire and Wiltshire especially, before the by-pass had been invented, the so-called ‘main’ roads were mostly narrow twisty affairs, going through endless villages and through town centres.
It is an aspect of RAF operations I have never seen, heard or read about until researching this ‘Guide’ but common sense would seem to dictate these exercises were disruptive, unsettling and wasteful. And, as mentioned before, surely counter-productive to the war effort? Could it simply be that the Top Brass were simply unaware of such mundane matters as logistics? That they made the orders and through a combination of arrogance and ignorance just expected them to be complied with? Answers on a postcard please, to: 'The Home For The Bewildered', Ealing, London.
Paul Doyle
This comment was written on: 2020-03-02 17:32:38Another user was 263 Squadron who, with their Westland Whirlwind fighter-bombers, stayed in June/July 1943 before returning to Warmwell, Dorset.
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