(Image: Simon Iglesias; Panavia Tornado ZA361 in Barcelona, Spain)

Of the three condemned Panavia Tornado GR1 carcasses dumped on a disused ramp at RAF Marham in 2005, ZA361 is the sole survivor. The early production machine, which first flew in February 1981 and was delivered to the RAF two months later, spent much of its service life with the Tri-National Tornado Training (TTTE) at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland. The Cold War strike jet was retired to ground training duties around 1999, and spent the final years of its military career in a hangar at RAF Marham.

Towed to the dump alongside two other scrappers – ZA322 and ZA375 – which were also surplus to requirements, Tornado ZA361 was snapped up by a private buyer who slowly pieced its hollow, empty shell back together on their farm at New York, Lincolnshire.

According to Demobbed.org.uk, the aircraft had left Lincolnshire by mid September last year, reportedly bound for a new home in Spain. We’re not currently sure where that new home may be, but photographer Simon Inglesias witnessed ZA361 passing through the Port of Barcelona on October 21 2015. His photograph can be seen above.

Related – Scrapped: Panavia Tornado GR1s ZA409 & ZA474

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(Image: Gav Troon; abandoned Fairey Gannet XG882 at the former RAF Errol)

They say that cats have nine lives, but there’s no mention of the number afforded to gannets. However, Fairey Gannet T.5 XG882 has surely used up most of hers by now. Forlorn and neglected, the abandoned Royal Navy aircraft was used for fire training duties after being retired from service in 1976. She was saved six years later, but today stands all but derelict.

(Image: Gav Troon)

XG882 was built in 1956 and served with the Fleet Air Arm at RNAS Culdrose from 1959, before passing to No. 849 Naval Air Squadron. Though 882 was a trainer, equipped with three cockpits, her new unit specialised in airborne early warning, operating a fleet of propeller-driven Fairey Gannet AEW.3 aircraft from the now-scrapped Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, Ark Royal, Centaur, Hermes and Victorious.

(Image: Gav Troon)

Several years of service were followed by a major overhaul and a stint at RNAS Lossiemouth, Moray, still on the books of 849. XG882 finally flew her last in 1976. No. 849 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded two years later, though was destined to reform again and today operates a number of Sea King ASaC.7 helicopters in the same early warning role.

(Image: Gav Troon)

For Fairey Gannet XG882, however, the future looked bleak. Many crash rescue training and even battle damage repair (BDR) airframes have been saved over the years. But for those that end up on fire dumps, the chances of survival are small. Surprisingly, though, XG882 did survive, having been rescued from the fire pits and rebuilt with the help of a couple of donor aircraft.

(Image: Gav Troon)

Thunder and Lightnings reports that the Gannet was “brought back from the dead in 1982 by being combined with bits of XA463 and XG889 to produce a complete example.” But the website also writes that: “Sadly the years since have not been kind to her and she now looks to be thoroughly derelict. Missing a prop, the starboard aileron is hanging down, many panels are missing and the cockpits have been smashed and open to the elements for years…”

(Image: Gav Troon)

The corroding hulk of Fairey Gannet XG882 now occupies an overgrown hard standing on the windswept flatland of the former RAF Errol, an abandoned World War Two station in Perth & Kinross. Nearby, the expansive wartime runways lie generally silent, though a small stretch is reportedly used by light aircraft, while the technical site houses local businesses.

(Image: Gav Troon)

Situated on the Firth of Tay between Dundee and Perth, RAF Errol opened in early 1943 as the home of No. 305 Ferry Training Unit, tasked with familiarising Soviet crews with the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle transport plane. Like many short-lived wartime airfields, Errol closed in 1948. Today, many of its wartime buildings – including the control tower – are derelict shells.

(Image: Gav Troon)

Haunting the west side of the abandoned airfield, the rotting Gannet is immediately at one with its surroundings. Both decaying monument to the UK’s many historic airfields and forgotten symbol of the British Royal Navy’s (temporarily) withdrawn fixed-wing aircraft fleet, the empty hulk, its canopies smashed and propeller lying alongside, cuts a sorry form on the landscape.

(Image: Gav Troon)

Related – Rare Two-Seat Hispano Aviación HA-1112-M4L Buchon to be Returned to Flight

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(Image: Stephen Freskos – website; abandoned F-101 Voodoo on the edge of Edwards AFB)

Recently featured in our epic round-up of the world’s most impressive airplane graveyards and abandoned aircraft boneyards, the derelict shell of this McDonnell Douglas F-101 Voodoo stands quietly out on the old photo test range, located on the periphery of the vast Edwards Air Force Base in California.

It’s many years since this heavy ‘century series’ fighter jet went supersonic, and like the abandoned B-52 bombers and other derelict craft that also haunt the vast desert ranges of Edwards AFB, the old Voodoo represents another era in the evolution of military jet aviation.

The early NF-101A carries the US Air Force serial number 53-2422, and is one of the last A-model Voodoos understood to survive around the world. Designed in the 1950s, the retired nuclear-armed fighter bomber has stood derelict to the southeast of Rogers Dry Lake since at least 1979.

The dry climate of the Mojave Desert has helped keep corrosion to a minimum on abandoned airframes in the region, meaning the neglected hulk of Voodoo 53-2422 could survive for many years to come.

Related – Scrapping a Mighty B-52 Bomber in Texas (Video)

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(Image: Google Earth; abandoned F-4 Phantom on the Edwards AFB photo test range)

Last week we featured this abandoned F-101 Voodoo, one of a collection of derelict airframes lying on the old photo test range near Edwards AFB, to the south and east of the massive Rogers Dry Lake. Today, having scoured a vast expanse of California’s Mojave Desert, which the site occupies, we thought we’d feature an anonymous F-4 Phantom, the hulk of which stands at a small crossroads deep within the range.

The abandoned airframe, which, from the shadow cast, appears to be still standing on its undercarriage, is missing its outer wings and radome and looks from a distance to be little more than an empty, gutted shell. Thanks to the Aerial Visuals website, we located the old Phantom carcass at coordinates: 34 52 14.55 N 117 35 22.76 W. You can check it out for yourself here.

(Image: Google Earth; the derelict Phantom jet lies deep in the Mojave Desert)

The anonymous machine adds to a number of decommissioned McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jets featured previously on Urban Ghosts. It’s always a shame to see dead planes lying abandoned and forgotten, but arguably better than the scrapheap. Perhaps, many years from now, thanks to the low humidity of the Mojave, this abandoned Phantom will be dragged off the range for preservation. If anyone knows this particular airframe’s history, please leave us a comment below.

Related – browse more in our Aviation archive here.

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(All images by Urban Ghosts; dismantled Supermarine Spitfire X4590 at the RAF Museum)

Visitors to the RAF Museum, Hendon, might be disappointed to find the wartime treasures of its Battle of Britain Experience dismantled. But the ongoing inspections offer a rare glimpse into the internal workings of historic aircraft that few get to see. Several of the collection’s World War Two aircraft – most notably its Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109 – have been stripped down, and can currently be seen in various stages of completion.

The period aircraft are undergoing a detailed inspection ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force in 2018. The work seeks to ascertain their overall condition and determine what restoration work, if any, may be required. Urban Ghosts paid them a visit last week. The scene was fascinating to behold, set amid an unusually quiet exhibition hall that made us feel as though we had stepped back in time. (The dismantled wartime aircraft also brought to mind the incredible scenes revealed a few years ago within the Texas ranch of retired aviator ‘Connie’ Edwards.) These pictures show the three iconic fighters from the Battle, panels removed and innards on show.

Hawker Hurricane P2617

A highly successful monoplane drawing on proven Hawker biplane designs, the Hawker Hurricane was rugged, cost-effective and, like the famous Spitfire, distinguished itself during the Battle of Britain. Hurricane P2617 was one of 500 fighters ordered by the Air Ministry in 1938. Built by Gloster Aircraft Co Ltd in Gloucestershire, she was delivered to the RAF in January 1940, albeit initially for storage. But her downtime wouldn’t last long. Hurricane P2617 saw action during both the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, and was involved in several accidents throughout her career. After World War Two she made her film debut in Reach for the Skies, followed by a stint in the Battle of Britain movie, where she was seen taxiing though was no longer capable of flight. P2617 has been in the RAF Museum’s collection since the 1970s, coded AF-F and wearing the markings of No. 607 Squadron RAF. (Browse our guide to the world’s last airworthy Hawker Hurricanes.)

Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 4101

A formidable adversary to the aircraft of RAF Fighter Command, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the Germany’s only single engine fighter during the Battle of Britain. What’s more, the aircraft seen here – Bf 109 E-3 4101 – had an especially short service life. Built in September 1940 in Leipzig, she took off from a Luftwaffe air base in the Pas-de-Calais on November 27 with 21-year-old pilot Lieutenant Wolfgang Teumer at the controls. Tasked with a fighter sweep over Kent, Teumer’s 109 was intercepted by a 66 Squadron out of RAF Biggin Hill, flown by Flt Lt George Christie DFC. When Christie’s bullets damaged his adversary’s radiator, forcing him out of the sky, Bf 109 E-3 4101 made a wheels up landing at Kent, and Wolfgang Teumer’s war was over.

The Messerschmitt was repaired, repainted in British markings and extensively test flown to determine the German fighter’s characteristics. She was later stored for museum use. Before finally finding her way to the RAF Museum at Hendon, north London, 4101 became one of the only genuine Messerschmitt Bf 109s to see film use in the Battle of Britain movie (the rest being Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchons, an export version delivered to the Spanish Air Force, which remained in service long after World War Two). Bf 109 E-3 4101 is now displayed in the markings of Black 12.

Supermarine Spitfire X4590

The RAF Museum at Hendon has several historic Spitfires of various marks, but only Spitfire X4590, an early Mk. 1a, is displayed within the Battle of Britain Experience. The aircraft was ordered as part of a military contract on June 9, 1940, immediately before the outbreak of the fight for Britain’s survival in the skies above southern England. Built by Supermarine Aviation in Southampton, X4590 first flew in September 1940 and was delivered to RAF Middle Wallop the following month, coded PR-F.

The aircraft is a genuine Battle of Brtain Spitfire and was credited with a half-share aerial victory over a Junkers Ju-88 on October 21st. By 1944 the tired warbird had been retired to ground duties. She served a variety of roles in the decades following World War Two and came into the RAF Museum’s collection during the 1970s. Seen here in her dismantled state, Spitfire X4590 bares the hallmarks of a hard-working, well-worn machine.

Related – Rare Two-Seat Hispano Aviación HA-1112-M4L Buchon to be Returned to Flight

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(Image: Google Earth; abandoned aircraft in a small boneyard east of Edwards AFB)

A couple of weeks ago, Urban Ghosts published a brief article about an abandoned F-4 Phantom jet standing out in the vast, empty expanses of California’s Mojave Desert. We assumed that the anonymous military aircraft was connected with the old Edwards AFB photo test range, which features the empty hulks of various historic aircraft, from an old F-101 Voodoo fighter (tail number 53-2422) to two abandoned B-52 bombers. Elsewhere on the range lie the forlorn wrecks of a B-47 Stratojet, a modified B-58 Hustler known as Snoopy, and a couple of rare Northrop X-21 test planes, among others.

But far closer to the abandoned Phantom – in its immediate vicinity, in fact – are gathered another gaggle of defunct jets, among them a second F-101 Voodoo that appears, from a distance at least, to be more complete than her much photographed sister on the Edwards range. Thanks to Facebook user Leo Cilantro for bringing these old aircraft to our attention.

(Images: Google Earth; aircraft graveyard or part of the Edwards photo test range?)

What we don’t know, however, is their story. What are they doing there, lined up along a remote, dusty desert road? Is this small airplane graveyard east of Rogers Dry Lake part of the vast Edwards AFB complex, or something else? Have a closer look for yourself here. If you know the story behind these seemingly-abandoned jets, please drop us a comment below.

(Images: the same small Mojave boneyard seen via Bing Maps)

Related – The Submerged F-4 Phantom in Subic Bay, Philippines

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(Image: Dirty Jigsaw; abandoned RAF Upwood’s derelict wartime buildings)

Regular readers of Urban Ghosts will be familiar with the eerie forms of abandoned British airfields, from disused Cold War bases in England and the closed bases of RAF Germany to Britain’s forgotten Fleet Air Arm stations and Coastal Command establishments.

This article documents in pictures the ruins of an expansion period airfield in Cambridgeshire, which closed in 2012 after almost a century of service. Today, the abandoned wartime structures of RAF Upwood have the feel of a military ghost town about them, eerie time capsules evoking the decaying spirit of a turbulent period in our recent history.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

The abandoned airfield is now poised for redevelopment and some areas have already been repurposed. But despite this, much of what remains resembles a post-military wasteland where the lonely, empty shells of old wartime structures endure. This article charts the history of the now abandoned RAF Upwood, alongside a compelling series of photographs which reveal the airfield’s current state of decay.

Origins of RAF Upwood: World War One

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

Situated seven miles north of the Cambridgeshire market town Huntingdon, RAF Upwood has a fascinating and varied history that dates back almost 100 years. The station was opened as a Royal Flying Corps aerodrome in 1917, when 160 acres of farmland was requisitioned outside Upwood village. Despite having no permanent flying units, it wasn’t long before the BE.2 biplanes of No. 75 Squadron were using the grass field as a night-landing ground.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

The station that would become RAF Upwood initially served as a satellite airfield for Elmswell, a nearby RFC aerodrome across the county boundary in Suffolk, and by the summer of 1918 was equipped with five rudimentary hangars and a series of huts. Nos. 190 and 191 (Night) Training Squadrons moved in, but when the First World War came to an end in November 1918, Upwood was returned to the local community and its permanent structures demolished.

The Expansion Period

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw; the ruins of RAF Upwood also house an abandoned tank)

After hostilities ceased in 1918, the land on which the abandoned Royal Flying Corps airfield stood was destined to remain peaceful for more than 15 years. But when a major period of airfield expansion gripped Britain from 1934, the site was earmarked for reactivation. By the time war again broke out, RAF Upwood was a major Royal Air Force base with five large C-type hangars, an array of permanent, brick-built operations and support structures, and a network of grass runways.

RAF Upwood During World War Two

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

In 1939, when the German invasion of Poland ignited the fuse of World War Two, RAF Upwood’s resident unit 90 Squadron was soon joined by No. 35 Squadron, operating a mixture of Bristol Blenheim and Avro Anson aircraft. But by April 1940 both had been incorporated into No. 17 Operational Training Unit (OTU), tasked with the difficult and often dangerous role of preparing fledgling aircrews for the rigours of front-line service.

During this period the station didn’t see much combat, and despite coming under Luftwaffe attack in 1940 and 1942, Upwood’s death toll amounted to just one person. All that was set to change, however, when 17 OTU converted to the heavier Vickers Wellington bomber.

Upwood’s damp grass runways weren’t suitable for the heavier bombers, and when the unit moved to RAF Silverstone (now a major UK racing circuit) in 1943, the opportunity was taken to build three expansive concrete runways on the station.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

With its concrete runways operational, various squadrons and aircraft moved onto the station, including the De Havilland Mosquitoes of 139 Squadron flying pathfinder missions over Nazi Germany, and the heavy Lancaster bombers of No. 156 Squadron. At its height of operations, more than 2,500 people worked at RAF Upwood, with 210 aircrew killed in action while flying from the Cambridgeshire airfield.

However, one of the most notable wartime stories concerning RAF Upwood was that of German spy Josef Jakobs, who was captured by local farmers after parachuting into the area and breaking his leg. Found in possession of a code device, £500 in cash and maps of the RAF base, Jakobs was interrogated by the security services and executed for treachery at the Tower of London in August 1941.

Post-World War Two & the Cold War

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

In the mid-1940s, as peace finally descended on the weary, war-torn continent of Europe, RAF Upwood’s role as a heavy bomber base was destined to continue into the Cold War. The station’s aircraft had played a key role in the repatriation of Allied prisoners of war from overseas at the end of the Second World War. Two decades later, in the 1960s, Upwood came under the control of the newly-former RAF Strike Command, which maintained it for various non-flying duties. But by 1981, the historic expansion period airfield lay all but dormant.

RAF Upwood Under US Air Force Control

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

Since around 1975, many American service personnel working at RAF Alconbury had been living in Upwood’s military houses. From 1981, after the site was vacated by the Royal Air Force, RAF Upwood became a satellite station of Alconbury, administered by the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing.

Contracting services were soon moved to Upwood and the US Department of Defence established a state of the art medical facility at the base, offering out-patient services to American military personnel and their families. Various buildings were repurposed as classrooms for children and plans were put in place for dependents of US service personnel to be evacuated from the airfield should Cold War tensions boil over.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw; decommissioned medical facilities at the abandoned RAF Upwood)

Thankfully that never happened and, in 1995, as operations at RAF Alconbury were gradually wound down following the collapse of the Soviet Union, RAF Upwood was returned to British control. In 1999 much of the site’s former military housing was refurbished for private ownership. By 2012, Upwood’s medical facility had closed its doors for the last time.

The Abandoned RAF Base Today

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

Seen from the air, the abandoned RAF Upwood seems quiet, its vast concrete runways slowly returning to farmland. But thanks to a local gliding club, Air Training Corps branch and a company called Turbine Motor Works, Upwood’s aviation connections have not been severed. The latter is in the process of establishing a cutting-edge maintenance facility for jet engines at the site, and has set up shop in Upwood’s cavernous expansion period hangars.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw; some abandoned areas are used for paintball scenarios)

Similarly, a living history event is held on the abandoned airfield each year, reviving the sights and sounds of the 1940s. But despite these ongoing activities, many of RAF Upwood’s former barracks, operations and support buildings stand eerily abandoned. As this series of urban exploration photographs reveal, vast swaths of the abandoned military base are like a haunting time capsule where the uneasy ghosts of World War Two and the Cold War have not quite faded into history.

(Image: Dirty Jigsaw)

Related – 10 Abandoned International Airports of the World

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(Image: Alan Wilson; Simply Spitfire: Supermarine Spitfire MK.IX reproduction MK805)

Thanks to its enduring popularity as an icon of British aviation, the list of surviving Supermarine Spitfires – including a good number of airworthy examples – is extensive. In addition, many full-scale Spitfire replicas can also be seen across the UK and elsewhere, some of them superb models, others not so convincing. Simply Spitfire, however, raises the bar to a whole new level.

Built by Terry Arlow over the course of 28 years, this static representation of Supermarine Spitfire MK.IX MK805 is truly a labour of love. And unlike most fiberglass models used as gate guardians and memorials, Mr Arlow’s stunning all-metal example is arguably more reproduction than replica.

(Image: David Whitworth; Spitfire MK805 reproduction arriving at Duxford in 2013)

Unusually, the original MK805, the personal mount of wartime pilot Tony Cooper, survived the Second World War and still exists today. It can be seen on display at the Italian Air Force Museum in Bracciano, Rome.

Inspired by the Battle of Britain, Mr Arlow set about piecing together his unique Spitfire MK.IX in 1990, after years of research and efforts to obtain microfilm detailing the original blueprints of Supermarine’s famous ‘thoroughbred’ fighter. Once plans had been secured from the RAF Museum at Hendon, and as many original Spitfire parts as possible had been located across Europe, the Suffolk man began hand-crafting the wings, tail and fuselage from aluminium and other bare materials.

(Image: David Whitworth)

Mr Arlow, who is understood to have had no previous engineering experience, told the Daily Mail: “It was like a jigsaw puzzle. I had to make all the parts from bare materials and then piece them together. It has literally taken tens of thousands of hours to make.”

He added: “It has been non-stop really over the 28 years. My life has revolved around the project. You’re never away from it. Even in my spare time I’d be studying books and doing research to make sure it looked perfect… The wings were the trickiest to build because they are elliptical. Even though it is not a flier I still wanted it all to be spot on so took my time getting everything right.”

(Image: David Whitworth; spot the replica in this Spitfire line-up)

But the end result, as these photographs demonstrate, is an impressive, unique and moving tribute to the wartime personnel of RAF Fighter Command. Now operated by Mr Arlow’s company Simply Spitfire, MK805, which was finally completed in 2010 with the help of his son Stephen and friend James Bowman, is available for hire.

The all-metal reproduction, which was not built to fly but remains virtually indistinguishable from the original wartime fighter, has appeared at events up and down the country over the past few years, and made her film debut in George Clooney’s 2014 war movie The Monuments Men. MK805 also took centre stage last year in the events commemorating the 70th anniversary of VE Day.

(Image: David Whitworth; MK805, wings removed, can be transported on a single trailer)

But for all the attention the unique Spitfire MK.IX has rightfully received, the most welcome praise came from Mr Arlow’s friend Tony Cooper, the World War Two veteran who once called MK805 his personal aircraft. Carring the name Peter John III – denoting the third Spitfire to bear the name of his son, who was born in July 1944 – MK805 was flown by Mr Cooper 71 times from his home base at RAF Harrowbeer in Devon. Thirty-eight of these sorties were operational missions.

Upon seeing Mr Arlow’s magnificent reproduction, the 64 Squadron veteran remarked: “It is absolutely tremendous. It looks just like the real thing. It is wonderful to think Terry spent 28 years of his life building such a perfect replica.”

(Image: Alan Wilson; the original Spitfire MK805 in Italian Air Force markings)

The original MK805 was transferred to the Italian Air Force (serial number MM4084) after the end of World War Two and survived scrapping in the 1950s. It is understood to have spent some time on a gunnery range in Italy before being earmarked for preservation. Mr Arlow’s version of the Spitfire MK.IX, meanwhile, is stored between events near his home in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The last word goes to Ted from Donny, whose comment on the Daily Mail’s article perfectly sums up what can be achieved by those with a vision and the determination to carry it through: “Brilliant, the wonders of the British amateur enthusiast.”

(Image: David Whitworth; Simply Spitfire MK805’s signed cockpit entry hatch)

Related – Edwards Ranch: Forgotten World War Two Fighter Planes Hidden Away for 40 Years

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(All images courtesy of the Falkland Islands Museum; stored cockpit of Phantom XV409)

The surviving cockpit section of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet, which for years had stood guard at the gate of RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands, is currently stored in a hangar pending restoration. The Phantom FGR2, serial number XV409, was scrapped in 2012 due to corrosion that rendered the airframe unsafe and uneconomical to repair. But its cockpit was saved by the Falkland Islands Museum, which hopes to display XV409 alongside other historic vehicles.

The museum is currently raising money for the construction of a new annex building to compliment its existing collection. Once complete, Phantom XV409 will go on public display once again, alongside a Sea King helicopter, landrovers, fire engines and other artifacts relating to the 1982 Falklands War.

The Falkland Islands Museum also plans to display the bow section of the Charles Cooper, a historic 1,000 ton merchant ship launched at Black Rock, Connecticut in 1856, which carried many emigrants to the New World.

XV409 was one of four McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter jets that made up No. 1435 Flight, tasked with protecting the Falkland Islands from foreign threats in the wake of Argentina’s 1982 invasion, which sparked a 10-week war that claimed more than 900 lives.

The aircraft was retired in June 1992 when RAF Phantoms were withdrawn from service and replaced by the Panavia Tornado F3. The latter has in turn now passed to torch to the Eurofighter Typhoon, which carries on the tradition of 1435 Flight in defending the Malvinas into the 21st century.

Unlike her three sister aircraft – which were reportedly bulldozed into an unmarked grave and entombed somewhere within the perimeter of RAF Mount Pleasant – Phantom XV409 was earmarked for preservation and displayed outside the passenger terminal for two decades.

But as the years passed, unchecked corrosion left the neglected warplane in a state of severe decay. By 2012, the rusting shell of the proud combat jet was deemed to be beyond repair. As has been the fate of many ex-RAF Phantoms over the years, XV409 was scrapped without fanfare.

Thankfully, the cockpit section was placed into the care of the Falkland Islands Museum and has been stored ever since, pending the completion of the new museum building.

(All images courtesy of the Falkland Islands Museum)

1435 Flight was formed during World War Two as a night fighter unit for the defence of Malta. The short-lived unit was revived in November 1988, when four F-4 Phantoms were dispatched to the south Atlantic. The aircraft wore the Maltese Cross on their tail fins and sported the names Faith, Hope and Charity, in homage to three Gloster Gladiators that defended Malta during the war.

Now operating the Eurofighter Typhoon, the fourth jet – Desperation – is appropriately kept in reserve as a spare. Phantom XV409 (pictured below while still on display at RAF Mount Pleasant in 2005) was coded H for Hope. The aircraft’s cockpit canopy still bears the name of Flt Lt M. Castle.

(Image: Mark Butler; Phantom XV409 while on display at RAF Mount Pleasant)

Related – 8 Aircraft Wrecks & Crash Sites of the Falkland Islands

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For campers in search of a peaceful escape to the countryside, finding an ex-Royal Navy Sea Harrier parked in the field by their tent might come as something of a surprise. But that’s exactly the case on a small campsite near the village of Wedmore in Somerset, South West England.

Neil Banwell bought retired BAE Harrier jump jet XZ494 on eBay in 2006. The builder paid just £10,000 for the hulk, then set about the task of painstakingly restoring the aircraft back to static display condition. Sea Harrier XZ494 took part in the Falklands War of 1982. It’s now kept in a small prefab hangar at the Banwell’s campsite, and proves popular with visitors.

Mr Banwell told Barcroft Media in 2013: “There’s not many Sea Harriers left now that actually flew in the Falklands War. I bought it because it had Falklands history. It actually led the first attack in the Falklands War.” He added that “later on it saw service in Bosnia.”

The MoD sold decommissioned Sea Harrier XZ494, coded 128, to Everett Aero in 2004. Many other retired UK Harriers have since been controversially shipped to the United States, where their stripped-out hulks now provide a source of cheap spare parts for active AV-8B Harriers of the US Marine Corps.

(Image: Barcroft Media via YouTube/Barcroft TV)

Related – The Sea Harrier Graveyard at Charlwood, Surrey

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(Image: Dan James – Dan James Design; Wisley Airfield’s abandoned runway)

The defunct wartime buildings of Wisley Airfield in south east England have long since been demolished. But this superb photograph by Dan James of Elevate Studio, a Surrey-based aerial film company, reveals the abandoned runway and hard standings that remain firmly in place. Even today, the faded white lines and ‘piano keys’ of runway 10/28 are evident along its 6,200 ft length. That, along with Wisley’s weed-strewn concrete and lack of structures, make the abandoned British airfield somewhat akin to Johnston Atoll – albeit far more accessible.

The land on which Wisley Airfield was built was requisitioned in 1942 and the aerodrome opened two years later. Almost a decade later, in 1952, the grass runways were finally replaced by the concrete strip that endures today, as the site embarked on a 21 year role as a flight testing centre for planes built by Vickers-Armstrong and British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).

By 1973, however, the runway was considered too short for modern jets and too close to London’s Heathrow Airport for flying to continue safely at Wisley. After some wrangling over the condition in which Wisley should be returned to its pre-war use – which progressed as far as a parliamentary debate – the disused airfield was eventually sold to Lord Lytton, owner of the Ockham Park Estate which had contributed most of the land upon which it was built.

(Image: Bing Maps; former Wisley Airfield’s disused runway and hard standings)

The abandoned runway and hard standing have so far survived the old aerodrome’s return to agricultural use, and has over the years offered a solid base for film sets and movie locations. In 1987, John Boorman’s autobiographical war film Hope and Glory saw the construction of a suburban London street Wisley’s expansive concrete. More recently, Steven Spielberg filmed War Horse in the area, where the rolling North Downs stood in for northern France.

Earlier this year, Get Surrey reported that councillors had rejected a proposal by developers to build a new town on the abandoned airfield, including more than 2,000 homes, in a bid to protect the green belt.

Related: 5 Converted Airport Control Towers of the UK

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(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum; full scale Avro Lancaster bomber replica)

Of the 7,377 aircraft built, only around 17 intact Avro Lancaster bombers survive today – most of them in Canada – along with several substantial wrecks and a handful of (forward) fuselage sections. But if Peter Jackson’s long awaited remake of the classic 1955 war film The Dam Busters ever gets off the ground, the public could see another squadron of the iconic British aircraft, considered by many to be the greatest heavy bomber of World War Two.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Jackson’s Lancs are of course full scale steel and fiberglass replicas rather than the real thing. But even so, they’re poised to offer an impressive recreation of the specially modified aircraft of No. 617 Squadron, the secret RAF unit which famously prosecuted Operation Chastise in 1943 against the heavily-defended dams of Germany’s industrial heartland.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

One of the full scale Lancaster replicas was revealed to the public in May 2009 at Hood Aerodrome in New Zealand. The airframe, which is understood to have been created by the Weta Workshop, cut an awesome form against the mountains around Masterton as crews reportedly tested new camera techniques. With its famous bouncing bomb fitted beneath, the replica Lanc looks highly convincing. Whether the other mockups are as detailed as this one remained to be seen.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Last October, however, aviation enthusiasts in Wellington were afforded a closer look at the full scale replicas, as several dismantled Lancaster bombers were trucked into a warehouse, presumably for storage. Rumours had persisted for several years that at least some of the 10 Lancasters built for the eagerly anticipated Dam Busters remake were stored at the site. Thanks to a user of The Wings Over New Zealand Aviation Forum, their presence has been confirmed.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Forum user Sean posted on October 19, 2015: “…the rumors that five Lancaster’s were / are stored next to where I work have now proven to be true, as over the last few days I have seen three truckloads of Lancaster parts being put back into storage. These included wings, and engines and other big parts. The trucks were uncovered, so they were not trying to hide anything. Have no idea where they came from but I am guessing Masterton, as that was where there were seen last.”

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Among the parts photographed was a fuselage section marked with the letters AJ-G, corresponding with the aircraft (G for George) flown by 24-year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the famous Dambusters raid as the officer commanding 617 Squadron.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Operation Chastise, which was carried out on the night of 16–17 May 1943, employed Barnes Wallis’ then-top secret bouncing bomb to breach the Möhne and Edersee Dams in a bid to cripple the German war effort in the industrial Ruhr Valley. A third dam, the Sorpe, was also damaged in the raid, which claimed 1,600 German and Soviet lives. Of the 19 Lancasters that took off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire that night in 1943, eight were lost and 53 aircrew killed.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

None of the specially modified Avro Lancaster Mk.IIIs (designated Type 464 Provisioning) that took part in Operation Chastise survive today. Those machines that did return from the raid went on to a variety of other roles, and the ones that survived the Second World War were broken up without ceremony when the conflict came to a close.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Gibson’s Lancaster (G for George, serial number ED932) was converted back to conventional bombing status after Operation Chastise but the airframe had been so heavily modified for its Dambusters role that the bomb doors could never be refitted. Recoded AJ-V, ED932 became something of a utility aircraft. She filled in on the occasional operation, but was generally used for training duties and some trials work.

(Image: Sean via Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum)

Those interested in learning more about Operation Chastise should check out the Dambusters Blog, written by Charles Foster, the nephew of Dambusters pilot Flt Lt David Maltby. The site offers an incredible inside look at not just the dams raid itself, but the backgrounds of the crews who carried it out and much more.

Related – Simply Spitfire: Terry Arlow’s Supermarine Spitfire MK805 is the Most ‘Perfect’ Reproduction in Existence

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(Image: Benjamin Sadler; Lightning XP745 and Hunter WT555)

For almost two decades, from October 1976, visitors to RAF Boulmer were met with the sight of an English Electric Lightning F3 interceptor, which occupied the entrance to a small complex opposite the main base. Then, in November 1992, it was gone, replaced by a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom FGR.2 (XV415). The site in which the Lightning, serial number XP745, was displayed was later abandoned. Its buildings were demolished and all that remains today is a small network of broken concrete roads.

For some time it was believed that Lightning XP745 had been largely scrapped, with only the cockpit section saved for preservation. In reality, however, the Cold War aircraft wasn’t broken up and may arguably be one of the best surviving examples of its kind.

Unlike most preserved Lightnings, XP745’s wings and fin weren’t hacked off for transport. Instead, RAF Boulmer’s former gate guardian was dismantled properly, in a major engineering feat that required the deconstruction of the fuselage in a bid to remove the wings and tail.

(Image: Matt Brown; Lightning XP745 cockpit section)

The dismantling effort was carried out by Vanguard Engineering of Greenford, London, where Lightning XP745 remains in storage alongside WT555, the oldest surviving Hawker Hunter. Although XP745 has never been reassembled, the aircraft has been cosmetically refurbished since its time at RAF Boulmer and is in excellent condition. Its early model F3 wings, with straight leading edges, are stored in the same building.

Of 70 examples of the Lightning F3 variant produced, only five complete aircraft survive (excluding several definitive F6 jets that were built as F3s and later upgraded). Of those, only XP713 and XR749 remain intact. Two others – XP706 and XR718 – were cut for transport and have never been fully reassembled. Should XP745 be put back together again in the future, she will arguably one of the best preserved examples of English Electric’s iconic fighter, having spent over two decades indoors.

(Image: Matt Brown; Lightning XP745 rear fuselage and ejection seat)

Lightning XP745 first flew in 1964 and was delivered to the RAF the following year. Fitted with twin Avon 301R engines, she was armed with two Red Top missiles during her operational life. Like many Lightning F3s, which had a relatively short service career, XP745 flew for just over 10 years. She was later allocated the maintenance serial 8453M and took on the role of gate guardian at RAF Boulmer in 1976, coded H of 29 Squadron.

After moving to Greenford, she was understood to be undergoing restoration for display outside the ‘Lightning Pub’ (Nuffield Arms) adjacent to Vanguard Self Storage’s premises. But the plan didn’t go ahead and the pub was later demolished. As a result, this rarely-seen Lightning has remained hidden away in storage ever since, a quiet survivor of the breed.

Related – Abandoned Aircraft on the Otterburn Bombing Ranges

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(Image: Theo van Vliet; airplane graveyards: defunct Fulcrum at Zhukovsky Airfield)

During the Cold War it was known as the Soviet Union’s answer to America’s Edwards AFB, the vast and secretive aviation test facility out in the wilds of California’s Mojave Desert. But by the 1990s, financial problems following the fall of the Berlin Wall had led Zhukovsky Airfield to offer tourist flights in Russia’s most high performance warplanes.

Such opportunities are no longer available at the airfield in Moscow Oblast, which boasts one of the longest runways in Europe and is home to one of Russia’s most important test and evaluation facilities: the M. M. Gromov Flight Research Institute (LII). It’s also where the MAKS airshow is staged, not to mention a boneyard of decommissioned Russian jets.

The forlorn MiG-29 Fulcrum above is one of many grounded warplanes that stands engineless and neglected out on Zhukovsky Airfield. It’s also been home to two Tupolev Tu-144s, the Soviet competitor of the Anglo-French Concorde and the first supersonic commercial transport aircraft to enter service. Tragically, it was this aircraft that crashed at the 1973 Paris Air Show, falling to earth on the Paris suburb of Goussainville-Vieux Pays with loss of 14 lives (six crew and eight on the ground).

(Image: Ilya Varlamov/28-300 (Livejournal); Buran orbiter Baikal while dismantled in Moscow)

Additionally, out on the airfields stands the shell of the unfinished Buran space shuttle orbiter Baikal (below), a small 1/3 scale wooden wind tunnel version of which spent also years rotting away at Zhukovsky until it was finally destroyed a few years ago.

Related: 21 Abandoned Airplane Graveyards (Where Aviation History Goes to Die)

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(Image: Vincent Pommeyrol; Hans Fahrenbergers wrecked Messerschmitt Bf 109G)

Resting inverted on the seabed near the tiny Mediterranean island of Planier, southwest of Marseilles, its narrow, splayed undercarriage legs clearly reveal this wrecked World War Two aircraft to be a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The crashed Luftwaffe fighter’s location immediately west of Île du Planier make it one of the region’s most accessible wreck sites, and in 1988 divers invited the 109’s pilot to return to the site for the first time in over four decades.

(Image: Vincent Pommeyrol)

On March 7, 1944 pilot Hans Fahrenberger took off on patrol from a grass airstrip at Avignon in his G-series Messerschmitt Bf 109. His mission was to defend the Axis-occupied port of Marseilles against raids by US Air Force bombers. As Luftwaffe fighters swooped in off the Mediterranean to intercept US aircraft in the skies above the city, a dogfight broke out, and Fahrenberger’s Bf 109 was badly damaged by an American P-38 Lightning, which had been tasked to escort the bombers.

(Image: Vincent Pommeyrol)

The German pilot was able to make an emergency landing in the sea west of Planier Island. According to Getty Images, he “managed to survive by using his parachute as an air bubble that helped him resurface.” Despite the misty conditions, Fahrenberger was rescued by a German Seenotdienst, a Luftwaffe air-sea rescue service (believed to be the first organised service of its kind).

(Image: Vincent Pommeyrol)

Since that day, his Messerschmitt Bf 109G has rested upside-down on the sea floor at a depth of 45 meters. For years it lay anonymous in the clear Mediterranean water. But once rediscovered, it quickly became a popular wreck site for recreational divers who enjoy some 20 meters visibility. In 1988, Mr Fahrenberger returned to the site of his emergency water landing, and set foot on Île du Planier for the first time in 44 years.

Hans Fahrenberger served with the German Luftwaffe’s Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) during World War Two, in a variety of arenas from France and Greece to Russia’s Eastern Front. He died in Munich on October 10, 2009.

Keep Reading : Explore more from our Aviation category

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(Image: Library of Congress; abandoned Messerschmitt Bf 109 in North Africa)

This wartime photograph from the Library of Congress shows a wretched lineup of derelict Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters destroyed during the North Africa Campaign. Once the pride of the German Luftwaffe during World War Two, their ruined hulks like abandoned and thoroughly wrecked on a desolate airfield in Libya.

The German aircraft are believed to have been photographed in 1942 after the end of the 241-day Siege of Tobruk, which culminated in an Allied victory on November 27, 1941. According to the photo caption, the battered Bf 109 fuselage nearest the camera wears the markings of III. Gruppe (Group), and is understood to have been on charge with Jagdgeschwader 27 in support of the German army’s formidable Afrika Korps.

Today, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 is well represented in museums across the world. But considering that almost 34,000 airframes were built, the number of survivors is relatively small. Wrecks like these were commonplace across the battle theaters of the Second World War. But today, they would have collectors scrambling.

(Image: Vincent Pommeyrol; downed Bf 109 in the Mediterranean)

One ex-JG 27 machine that can be visited (so long as you’re an experienced diver), however, lies at the bottom of the Mediterranean. The unit is also represented by preserved machines in Germany, South Africa and the USA.

Related: Remarkably Preserved Messerschmitt Bf 109 was Recovered from a Russian Lake

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(Image: SpiderMonkey’s Photos; Avro Shackleton MR3 WR985)

This Avro Shackleton is one of several ailing aircraft that remained in situ at Long Marston after the small aviation museum had sadly closed its doors. The Shackleton MR3, serial number WR985, was among a group of larger airframes that were not relocated, and is understood to still haunt the abandoned World War Two airfield today. With plans to tear up the old runways (one of which had been latterly used as a dragstrip) and build thousands of new homes on the site, the future prospects of the decommissioned Shackleton seem bleak. WR985 first flew in 1958 and was later relegated to ground training duties under the maintenance serial 8103M. It was disposed of in 1988 and moved to Long Marston airfield in Warwickshire, near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Browse more in our Aviation category here.

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(Image: Ian Gate; abandoned Ponteland ROC Post near Newcastle)

From 1925 until 1996, the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) played a critical role in the air defence of Great Britain. Headquartered at RAF Bentley Priory and staffed largely by civilian volunteers, the civil defence organisation was formed as a Raid Reporting System tasked with monitoring UK skies for hostile aircraft as tensions gripped Europe after World War One. What became the Observer Corps gained the ‘Royal’ title from King George VI in recognition of its service during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. In the decades that followed, amid the icy grip of the Cold War, the Royal Observer Corps continued its role of aircraft recognition and monitoring. But the service also took on the altogether more chilling assignment of detecting and reporting nuclear explosions and fall-out.

(Image: Ian Gate)

As the Cold War warmed up, significant restructuring took place as the 40 original ROC groups were reduced to 31 and later 25. At the same time, in the decade between 1958 and 1968, a nationwide building programme got underway which saw the construction of 1,563 underground monitoring posts. Located roughly eight miles apart, the subterranean facilities were distributed across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Among them was Ponteland ROC Post in Northumberland, now one of many abandoned relics around Newcastle.

(Image: Ian Gate)

Underground monitoring posts like Ponteland cost around £5,000 to build and were excavated to a depth of 25 feet. The waterproofed structure comprised of a reinforced concrete monocoque building buried beneath a compacted mound of earth. A sealed hatch allowed access to the subterranean chamber below via a vertical shaft, fitted with a steel ladder. Inside, there was room enough for three observers and their assorted monitoring equipment. The cramped, chilly space included a toilet. Air was circulated courtesy of a couple of ventilators and power was provided by a 12 volt lead-acid battery.

(Image: Ian Gate)

Ponteland ROC Post was built in February 1962 to the north of Callerton Grange Farm, adjacent to an underground reservoir. The post, nestled on the south side of Ponteland to the west of the industrial city of Newcastle, is identifiable amid the surrounding farmland by its distinctive grass mound and grilled ventilation shafts.

(Images: Ian Gate)

Like many other Royal Observer Corps monitoring posts across the UK, which by then came under the control of RAF Strike Command, Ponteland was decommissioned in September 1991 after the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell. Shuttered and forgotten, its job done, the underground facility was abandoned. When Subterranea Britannica visited in 1999, they found the heavy hatch firmly locked, but subsequent visits revealed it to be open.

(Image: John C. Hughes)

Subbrit reports: “All surface features remain intact with most of the dark green paint gone. the hatch is locked. When visited in 1999 the post was locked, the hasps have now been cut and the post is open. Internally the post is in good condition with many artefacts remaining including: table, shelf, cupboard, two chairs, chemical toilet, battery box, siren box, BPI mount, two mattresses, three pairs of Wellington boots, plastic bucket, clothing, clock, mirror, OS map, visitors log, various papers, rubber gloves. Tommy cooker fuel, rations, kettle teapot, notice board and BT junction box and wiring.”

(Image: Ian Gate)

The website also reported that the abandoned ROC post remained in good condition as of March 2008, despite “pipeline construction work very close to the site.” Sadly, though, more recent years have not been kind, as the elements have taken their toll and vandals have found their way into the historic defence facility.

(Image: John C. Hughes; trashed: the devastated interior of Ponteland ROC Post)

For well over a decade after it closed, Ponteland ROC Post survived as something of a time capsule, a subterranean slice of Cold War history beneath the fields of rural Northumberland. Though it was never preserved, it remained a discrete military reliquary of another time. Unfortunately, though, the wrong people ultimately learned of its existence. And since then, its been thoroughly trashed.

(Image: John C. Hughes)

These photographs from 2015 present an entirely different scene to what Subterranea Britannica encountered. Vandals have infiltrated the abandoned ROC post, covering its walls with graffiti and ransacking its interior. Original files that once sat neatly on the desk have now been destroyed, replaced by crushed lager cans and other assorted detritus. The scene is one of desolation and dereliction that hardly befits a proud organisation that helped defend the country through much of the 20th century, thanks to a small number of serving military personnel and more than 10,500 civilian volunteers.

But its not all bad news. Though most abandoned Royal Observer Corps posts stand empty and unloved, a small number are in great condition. One of those is Skelmorlie ROC Post in North Ayrshire, Scotland, which has been lovingly restored to its former glory and can be visited by appointment.

Related: Unfinished North End Ghost Station Beneath Hampstead Heath – and its Secret Wartime Purpose

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(Image: Naska Photographie – Facebook)

This abandoned MiG-23 Flogger is one of several defunct airframes standing quietly in a small compound on the west side of Bad Oeynhausen. Despite its faded camouflage paintwork, the decommissioned twin-seat warplane still bears the code 20-58 and appears to have avoided the unwanted attention of vandals. Still, its location amid the long grass of what looks like a derelict patch of wasteland doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in its long term preservation.

The MiG was actually an exhibit at the defunct Motor Technica Museum, which closed down in 2007. Since then, the outdoor exhibits have become increasingly overgrown as nature has steadily moved in. The future of this former Eastern Bloc tech, snapped by Naska Photographie, remains uncertain. If the shuttered Motor Technica Museum fails to reopen, perhaps they’ll find a home elsewhere – or slowly corrode where they lie until their scrap metal is finally recycled.

(Image: Naska Photographie – Facebook)

Related: Explore 10 Creepy Abandoned Museums of the World

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(All images by Disco-Dan; uncovering Kent’s Fan Bay Deep Shelter)

In 2012, after purchasing a stretch of southern England’s iconic White Cliffs of Dover, the National Trust found that it had become the unintentional custodian of a subterranean military defence network, abandoned and concealed years earlier. The tunnels of the forgotten Fan Bay Deep Shelter were remarkably well preserved. Over the next 18 months, more than 50 volunteers helped the Trust painstakingly excavate 100 tonnes of spoil by hand, revealing a series of historic tunnels that had been infilled in the 1970s.

The subterranean labyrinth known as Fan Bay Deep Shelter was constructed during the 1940s on the orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Buried 23 metres beneath the White Cliffs, the wartime tunnels formed part of Dover’s coastal offensive and defensive gun batteries, with the aim of preventing German shipping from moving unchallenged through the English Channel.

In an article detailing 12 things you should know about Churchill’s Second World War tunnels under the White Cliffs of Dover, History Extra magazine writes that Fan Bay Deep Shelter could accommodate around 190 officers and men during counter bombardments, despite being carved out of the chalk cliffs in just 100 days between November 1940 and February 1941.

The effort, which was undertaken by Royal Engineers from the 172nd Tunnelling Company, followed a memo sent by Churchill to his chiefs of staff stating that: “We must insist upon maintaining superior artillery positions on the Dover promontory, no matter what form of attack they are exposed to. We have to fight for command of the Straits by artillery, to destroy the enemy batteries, and fortify our own”.

The shelter lay beneath the Fan Bay gun battery, part of Britain’s coastal defence network which, by virtue of its position overlooking Dover Strait, had become the country’s front line after the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk. Manned by the 203rd Coast Battery, Royal Artillery (later the 540th Coast Regiment), the shelter had three entrances and comprised sturdy iron girders and metal sheeting – borrowed from the mining industry – in its construction.

Due to its strategic location less than 22 miles from northern France, the site had also been used during World War One with the installation of sound mirrors in the cliff edge. The National Trust began searching for the abandoned sound mirrors in May 2014, uncovering them four weeks later following the removal of 600 tonnes of spoil.

Returning to World War Two, however, and History Extra reports that “the finished Fan Bay battery boasted some of the most cutting-edge technology and weaponry of the time.” The 3,500 square foot site featured three six-inch guns (with a range of 14 miles), radar, a plotting room, five bomb-proof accommodation chambers and medical facilities. Ventilation came in the form of galvanised ducting and a generator room supplied the necessary power. The latter was thought to have been demolished, but 2014 National Trust excavations revealed its continued existence.

The largest shelter of its kind in the Dover area, Fan Bay Deep Shelter was decommissioned in the 1950s and left to the mercy of vandals. The site lay abandoned for some years before one of the tunnels partially collapsed following an arson attack. As a result, the abandoned military shelter was finally infilled with earth and debris during the 1970s.

For years its remains lay entombed within Dover’s famous White Cliffs, a wartime relic lost to time. But when the National Trust accidentally stumbled across the remains of Fan Bay Deep Shelter during enabling works in 2012, what was revealed was one of the deepest surviving examples of its kind from the period.

Perhaps the most poignant find of all was the remarkably well-preserved wartime graffiti that survived within the tunnels, including one timeless verse discovered near the toilet: “If you come into this hall use the paper not this wall. If no paper can be found then run your arse along the ground”.

Other contemporaneous discoveries included a copy of naval adventure novel Shadow on the Quarter Deck, a Unity Pools football coupon from February 20, 1943, as well as an assortment of American 30 calibre rounds and British .303 cartridges.

(All images by Disco-Dan)

Thanks to the National Trust and its team of volunteers, Fan Bay Deep Shelter is now open to the public, and visitors can descend 125 steps to experience the remarkable slice of subterranean history in all its wartime glory.

Related: 10 Abandoned Gun Emplacements, Artillery Batteries & Flak Towers

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