WWI East Boldre airfield photos go on display

  • Published
East Boldre Post OfficeImage source, Unknown
Image caption,

A plane landed on the roof of the East Boldre post office with suspected engine failure

More than 150 previously unseen photographs of life at a World War One airfield have gone on display.

Servicemen stationed at East Boldre Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force training station in Hampshire, known as RFC Beaulieu, captured aircraft, crashes and comrades on camera.

Squaddie by his stoveImage source, Unknown
Image caption,

An unknown serviceman poses by his stove at the airfield

One photo shows an aircraft that made a soft landing on the roof of the local post office.

Airfield chairman Mike Husband said of the exhibition: "We're just delighted".

CrashImage source, unknown
Image caption,

In total 33 servicemen and civilian flying instructors are known to have lost their lives in flying accidents at the airfield

He added: "[The photos] paint a much better picture of what life was like 100 years ago."

The airfield, near the New Forest, became a flying school in 1915 and was home to a number of men training to become pilots, some of whom had already served as soldiers on the Western front.

Most of the photographs come from private family albums or have been "gathering dust" in attics.

In total 33 servicemen and civilian flying instructors are known to have lost their lives in flying accidents at the airfield.

AVRO 504kImage source, Unknown
Image caption,

Men posing by an Avro 504K biplane aircraft, which is on a trailer

A crashed Maurice Farman aircraftImage source, Unknown
Image caption,

The photographs captured a number of aircraft crashes, such as one in this Maurice Farman aircraft

Many of the photographs on display at this exhibition were taken by Russel Lang and Brian Tomlinson who were stationed at East Boldre during World War One.

The original photos were tiny and many were in poor condition, but East Boldre resident Robin Street spent "hundreds of hours" at his computer, enhancing, repairing and enlarging them for the exhibition.

Aerial view of Beaulieu Airfield, East Boldre around 1917Image source, unknown
Image caption,

Aerial view of Beaulieu Airfield, East Boldre around 1917

The exhibition, which commemorates the centenary of World War One, can be viewed at East Boldre village hall, formerly the airfield's mess hall.

More on this story