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Carpetbagger
Aviation Museum
Harrington,
Northamptonshire
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LINKS Museum Leaflet (pdf)
801st/492nd BG Association newsletter Harrington Aviation Museum newsletter Contact us: Cbaggermuseum@aol.com |
The Beginning of Sunnyvale Farm
& The Carpetbagger Museum
by
Bernard Tebbutt
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Bud Brooks and myself had worked for a
firm called Pest Control Ltd of Cambridge carrying out weed and insect
control on farms since 1945. However when the firm decided to close down its
local operation in the early 1950's we formed a partnership, Tebbutt &
Brooks, and took over the job of crop spraying for this area. Needing a depot
we decided to rent some buildings at the RAF Harrington airfield.
Buildings on the Airfield Technical Site |
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We took over part of the Technical Site
sometime about 1954 and operated from there crop spraying and general
agricultural contracting, we also kept some pigs in the former armoury nissen
hut. Then in the middle of 1958 the RAF notified us that we would have to
vacate as the airfield was being handed back to its original owners Merton
College of Oxford and that all buildings etc were to be sold by auction in
October 1958.
This was very unexpected as we had quite a
lot of machinery, pigs etc and asked the RAF if the admin site below us was
also being handed back. We were advised by them that this had already been
handed back to a Colonel Paine, they gave me his address and my partner and I
decided to look this site over as we passed by it each day to our site.
On looking over the site, which was in two
sections, the east side had a large brick building with 1 large and 1 small
Nissen hut with a small paddock on the east boundary. On the west side a number
of Nissen huts joined together with 2 independent Nissen huts and a toilet
block. Appeared that this was a hospital site and it also had one below ground
air raid shelter.
Station 179 layout
On going round the brick building, which had
no windows in it and with large fans and two large boilers to the rear, my
partner and I got separated when I suddenly heard him shouting. I found him
coming out of one of the doors of the main building. He said there are ghosts
in there and I am having nothing to do with this site. I went in but could see
nothing except that I could hear noises sounding like footsteps. I came out and
told him that I thought that it was water dropping but he was adamant that he would
have nothing to do with it. I said that Awe have got to have somewhere and this
is not too far to move to, if we purchase the large Nissen hut and the brick
building we should be able to keep going. He replied that if you buy this I no
longer wish to be a partner. We had had one or two problems before as the depot
was about 14 miles from his home and 7 miles from mine so I said that I would
see what the ground and buildings would cost and then we would talk again.
I got my agent to see if we could purchase
the ground how much it would cost. He came back with a very reasonable answer
as the 14.5 acre site was very rough after 12 years of neglect. I mentioned to
Bud my partner that I was seriously thinking of buying it, after having asked
the tenant of the Home Farm, to which it belonged, if he wanted it. He had
replied No - look at the state its in. To this Bud replied Well I think I will
leave the firm. We agreed that if I paid all bills etc he would leave and this
happened.
I then spoke to the RAF and said that if I
bought some of the buildings on the Admin site, as I was thinking of buying the
site, could they remain standing. The condition of the sale was that everything
was to be removed and levelled. To this they agreed that the buildings I
purchased on the Admin site could be left standing.
Administrative Headquarters Site
I managed to buy the site and the brick and
large Nissen hut at the sale but could not afford any more buildings. After the
sale I removed all our equipment from the airfield to the admin site, at that
time I still had some employees although Bud had left. My father-in-law had
purchased the buildings we had rented so that gave me a little more time to
move, we sold all the pigs so that they were not a problem. Vera and I were
still living at Clipston with our two boys, Roy and Eric, and she was helping
out.
It took us nearly 3 years to clear the site
as it was very overgrown and put up fences etc. As the site was being visited
by thieves and other undesirables we decided we had better see if we could
build a house or two on it. We already had a Agriculture Holding Number given
to us so we had to do market gardening, growing strawberries, potatoes etc. We
applied to Kettering Rural District Council for two houses so that we could
have close neighbours but this was turned down and they would only give consent
for one but with no restriction on size. So I decided to build a large
bungalow. This we started in 1960 and it took Vera and I five years to build it
at weekends. We called the farm Sunnyvale and this was put on the map by the
Ordnance Survey.
In 1986 Doug Walker came over from the USA
as Vice-President of the Carpetbagger Association. This was the name of the
American group that had flown from here during World War 2.
Doug Walker in Group Ops Building 1987
Doug was brought down to me by John Hunt, a
local farmer who had found him on the airfield. Doug then explained to me that
he had flown from Harrington as a dispatcher during the war and he had come to
see if it was possible to put up a memorial to those who had not made it back
home and he would like to put it near the original flag post in our garden. I
explained to Doug that this was not possible as this was a busy farm and
contracting business, to which he replied Then where can we put it?. I
suggested that a suitable place would be on the airfield beside the road where
Bill Dillon, a friend who flew from here and who, amongst others, called in on
us from time to time. Doug then mentioned to me that Bill had been one of the
pilots that he had flown with on missions. At this I enquired whether he knew
where his aircraft had been parked but he said everywhere looked so different
now.
So we went up to where the aircraft used to
be parked and he asked me who owned the ground. I told him that Major Glover at
Pytchley was the owner and explained where his house was. He went and contacted
Major Glover, who had been in the SOE during the war, and an agreement was
reached whereby the Carpetbagger Association could have a 99 year lease for the
memorial site.
Station 179 Memorial on site of Dispersal at side of the Harrington to Lamport Road
Doug with his wife Jacqueline and Ron
Clarke, who had taken over as the UK Carpetbagger Rep, designed the memorial and
it was erected in 1987 and dedicated one very wet Saturday in September. Prior
to the dedication ceremony members of the Association had a reunion at
Sunnyvale in the old administration building, which was not in the best of
condition as I had used it as a winter store for cattle and other things.
However we managed to cover up the mangers and hay racks with carpets etc and
Northants Aviation Society made a centre piece of the airfield with models etc.
After the reunion a banquet was held at the Royal Hotel in Kettering to which
Vera, Roy and myself attended.
1993 Reunion party on the lawn at Sunnyvale Farm
After the banquet I was asked if they could
have their 50 year reunion here at Sunnyvale. I asked for time to think about
it as this would be an important reunion. Anyway I agreed and in 1992 a small
group of us renovated the Admin building, refelting the roof etc. as there had
been several large water leaks through the roof. We repainted the walls and
ceiling of the large operations room and three smaller office rooms and also
one for the NAAFI and alleyways, replastering where necessary. Taking down
unreliable air ducting, finding tables to lay out memorabilia, covered with
white linen to hide the tables, and put up as many relevant photographs as
possible. Fit sinks and units for a canteen and rewire all the electrics. We
managed to get this done for the reunion with people loaning us many exhibits.
When they arrived for the reunion they were quite impressed and spent quite
some time before going to France for two weeks. After they had gone I did some
reflecting and decided to ask for planning permission for a permanent museum
from Kettering Borough Council, these being granted. We formed the Harrington
Aviation Museum Society to administer the museum, this being granted Charitable
status in 1997. From those early days the museum has grown and has become more
professional and is now quite well known.
The main hall of the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum in the Group Operation Building 1995
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