World War Two. Liverpool City and Airport Images 1939-1945.

[viscount]

Over the years I have been fascinated whenever authors have discovered and illustrated their books or articles with photos of Liverpool City and Speke Airport during the 1939-1945 period. Sometimes I wish I had kept a reference list of where to find such images, however I find in Don Stephens's life-time of taking and collecting that the historian in him has acquired either by photographing printed material or being sent images by authors/researchers a considerable 'magpie' collection of images, both as paper prints and digital. Unfortunately, most have no acknowledgement of either the original source or the person who supplied the images. I am sure the likes of Phil Butler, Aldon Ferguson, Dave Smith, Graham Ward and Michael Lewis are amongst the suppliers of these images. The originals are held by the likes of the Imperial War Museum, Royal Air Force Museum, Mersey Docks & Harbour Board, Rootes Securities and even some United States archives too.

Undoubtedly the majority of these images, there are over 70 of them, have been copyrighted at some stage. Being around 80 years old, I'm not sure how, or indeed if, copyright and/or intellectual property laws still apply. Certainly, the degree of 'copy and paste' by individuals using the work of others on the internet and social media make a mockery of copyright law, the detail of which is complex and understood by very few (including myself). Having said that, it would be a shame not to share these images of times from which very few are still alive to have living memory of the events. Some of these images are well known having appeared numerous times in books, magazines and newspapers, others were new to me.

The best paper accounts of activity at Speke during the years of World War Two are to be found in any of the three editions of Phil Butler's books on the subject. The most recent being 'Liverpool John Lennon Airport - an illustrated history', Tempus Publishing 2008. ISBN 978 0 7524 4511 3.

I'll commence with a few fairly well-known illustrations of bomb damage to Central Liverpool used in books, museum exhibitions, newspaper and magazine articles over the years.

LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE, 1939-1945

Blitzed Liverpool, Victoria Monument, May 1941. This is credited as a Stewart Bale Photo.

Liverpool blitz. Victoria Monument



Blitz damage, Lord Street



Blitz damage, Paradise Street



Aerial view, dated May 1941, showing a lack of major damage to the Albert Dock and Pier Head 'Three Graces', but much damage to industrial sites around Lower Parliament Street and inner city residential areas.

I'm assuming that these two photos are of the same fund-raising event on a bomb site in Central Liverpool, with the display of Rootes Securities, Speke built HP Halifax EB148. Images I find fascinating, not just for the aircraft, but also the advertising and the way business is still trading from the intact property.

[viscount]

RIVER MERSEY, DOCK SIDE, PIER HEAD, STRAND ROAD AND INTO THE SUBURBS

Fascinating shots of the movement of aircraft, many protected from a salt-water environment being moved from arrival in the docks either as deck cargo on merchant ships or loaded at high capacity on aircraft carriers. Grouped roughly in sequence although the exact location is not always obvious 80 years on.

Unloading P-51 Mustangs in Liverpool 4487604 RAF Museum watermarked image that resists enlargement.



P-51s unloaded by converted Mersey goods-ferry steamer 'Oxton'. MDHB Photo. There are two images of this in the collection, on the poorer one visually, the vessel's name 'Oxton' can be made out toward the bows.



P-47 unloading, 19th November 1943.



P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs arriving as deck cargo on an aircraft carrier.



P-51 Mustangs arriving on the flight deck of a carrier. There are two copies of this image, one credited as being HMS Nabob, the other to HMS Premier, 1944.



P-51s in a protective cocoon destined for Speke arriving on a carrier in the dock. Note a different arrangement of the aircraft on the flat deck for transportation. MDHB Photo.

51s-from-Ellesmere-Pt-to-Speke

P-51s being moved through the Mersey Tunnel from Ellesmere Port to Speke. RAF Museum watermarked image.

Mustangs-at-Mersey-Tunnel

P-51s emerging at the Liverpool end of the Mersey Tunnel. RAF Museum watermarked image.

All very well getting the aircraft delivered by ships sailing in Atlantic Convoys through the U-boat screen, but Speke Airport is five plus miles away. It took some ingenuity, organisation and manpower to get the aircraft to Lockheed's at Speke to be prepared for flight.



Grumman Avengers and F4U Corsairs leaving the dock for Speke. IWM Photo, Ref: MH679.



Titled by someone 'docker's umbrella' - the nickname for an overhead railway that ran alongside Strand Road between the dock-side warehouses and Liverpool buildings, I'm fairly certain that this shot was taken from the stern of a ship or carrier; the overhead railway being the inland side of the dock road, above the dockside level railway sidings. The aircraft is an early P-51B Mustang I, the later and more numerous P-51D having a 'tear-drop' canopy.



P-51D Mustangs being towed to Speke from the docks. A Flight Photograph.



P-47 Thunderbolts on the landing stage at the Pier Head destined for Speke. MD&HB Photo.





Two photos of Thunderbolts being towed up the floating roadway from the floating landing stage to street level. Not a great deal of leeway between aircraft and the seawall.

P-61 'Black Widows' passing the Pier Head church at the end of Chapel Street, clearly badly damaged by fire.

P-61 'Black Widows' passing the Pier Head station of the overhead railway.



From a very similar position, this time P-47s passing the Pier Head station. Note on both photos the tram having to wait for the convoy to pass, routes 43 and 44.



Transporting Thunderbolts on trucks clearly caused some head-scratching. I'm assuming that a simple girder across the flat-bed for the wide undercarriage did not work. Likely the wingspan was too wide for the road width, with the tail-less fuselage shorter the load bed was widened and the aircraft carried sideways. However to distribute the weight evenly the tail projected further beyond the load-bed than the heavier aircraft nose.



The 'classic' shot, featuring a Thunderbolt with the unmistakable Liver Buildings in the background.



Mustangs passing along Strand Street, looking directly up Water Street to the façade of the Town Hall.

Possibly going up Parliament Street, more P.51 Mustangs.

Another shot of a convoy of Mustangs heading for Speke, likely to be Parliament Street or Upper Parliament Street.

P-38 Lightnings at a road junction that has clearly been changed when the tram tracks were torn up.

This time Grumman Avengers, again the cross-road location has clearly changed with time.



Someone has already identified this as in Princess Park Gates area. This time more P.47 Thunderbolts. An IWM Photos, Ref. MH688.



Mustangs passing the Plaza Cinema (rebuilt in the '60s a little further back), Allerton Road (shortly before the also rebuilt library).

I can recall that when Graham Ward used this photo in FoLA's '09/27' he went out, photo in hand and located the exact position along Mather Avenue. A quick look through my '09/27' has failed (so far) to locate that particular issue. The precise location is provided in posts on page 2 of this thread.

[viscount]

ROOTES SECURITIES (AIRCRAFT DIVISION) PRODUCTION AT SPEKE 1938-1945.

An aircraft factory was established on land close to Speke Hall just prior to the outbreak war. This 'shadow' factory was intended to duplicate production lines of standard aircraft types developed by existing aircraft manufacturers and was managed by a motor engineering firm. Construction on the site commenced in February 1937, with the first Bristol Blenheim flown from Speke in October 1938. 250 Blenheim Mk.1 were built at Speke plus 2,230 Mk.IVs pooled between Blythe Bridge (in Staffordshire) and Speke. Production ran for 4 years, with the final Speke constructed Blenheim departing on 11th November 1941.



I love this photo, not just for the scene of completed Blenheims outside the flight sheds, but for the censor's instruction to remove Speke Church from the top left corner - presumably as it could be used to locate the photo. However, there is proof later in this post that Hitler's Luftwaffe was well aware of aircraft production at Speke in the early years of the war.

With the departure of the final Blenheim, the factory was prepared for the construction of Handley Page Halifax 4-engine bombers. In September 1941 a Radlett built Mk.1 arrived as a 'pattern' aircraft to calibrate jigs. In all 1,070 Halifaxes are constructed at Speke, with production running from April 1942 to July 1945 - an average of just over 26 units per month. Initially 12 Mk.II aircraft, then 658 Mk.V; 279 Mk.IIIs and 121 Mk.VII airbourne forces transports (a development of the Mk.III). The Halifax II had Merlin X engines, the Mk.V Merlin XX or 22s while the Mk.III had Bristol Hercules radials and the Mk.VII Bristol Hercules XVI radials.

After the War, the plant was taken over by the belting division of Dunlops. Their use of the site was gradually run-down during the '70s decade. The Western Bay of the main construction hall was demolished in 1981. The site now being the foundation of the Speke Industrial Park.

More details of Rootes production and photos in Phil Butler's 'Liverpool John Lennon Airport - An Illustrated History', Tempus 2008.



Halifax production at Speke







Three shots which would all appear to be of DG235 the 16th aircraft produced by Rootes at Speke, a Halifax B.V with Merlin XX engines. The inline engines housed in a different shape cowling than the radial Bristol Hercules engines. The top two shots are clearly taken at the same time, the middle shot registration appears to end in ···35, while the background in the lower shot has clearly been altered by the censor. Doubt has been cast in the past that these are at Speke or not.



Apparently, this shows a crew from Morris Radiators Speke facility working on a Halifax B.V. Doubtful this shot was at Speke though and as most of those working on the aircraft are in RAF full uniform, suggest it was 'posed'. I've always associated the faired-over nose with the B.II, but there is little on Wikipedia other than a photo. The large perspex nose on many of the B.IIIs and B.Vs is quite different in shape to the gun turret and bomb-aimer's position of the B.II.





A German map, dated 1938 highlighting the Rootes aircraft factory and an early wartime Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance photo with the Rootes site outlined. One notable difference between map and photo is that No.2 hangar has been constructed (to the right of the terminal as seen on the photo.



Another vertical photo of the Rootes site, likely around 1947/48. Of note is that much of Speke Town is just roadways marked out on the ground, while in the top left corner the white buildings are presumed to be 'prefabs', factory constructed housing quickly erected to help solve a critical post-War housing shortage.

Finally an English Heritage sourced photo used by Graham Ward in FoLA's '09/27' (issue 130, 2014) which clearly shows the Roote's site some years later. The remains of camouflage can still be seen, as can the dispersals leading towards the airfield (which is under the photographer). The four hangars tucked into Stockton's Wood on the Speke Hall Estate (lower right) were taken over by Lockheeds during the wartime years (see next post) and outlasted the Rootes factory building.

NOTE, there are many more images beyond several comment posts, SO CARRY ON SCROLLING:

[ronturner]

Thanks Brian. A truly remarkable collection of photos which deserve a much wider audience.

For my own part I do not have recollections like that although I do well remember our Saturday shopping trips to the City from Lyme Cross where we lived (No. 10 tram). There were lots of bomb sites everywhere in various states of cleaning up and in particular I remember the damage to Lewis's store and Blacklers store.

[Deleted]

Wot Ron said. Some fascinating photographs there, many of which I had never seen before. As a general observation, looking at the photos of the city centre, they show just how badly Liverpool was bombed during the war. We hear so much about the destruction of London, but Liverpool is usually overlooked. Because my senior school was in the centre of the city, the journey took me past so many bombed-out areas, even 12 years after the end of the war. The area around the airport got off very lightly, thankfully.

From my own perspective, a few points:

I gather that the prefabs were a temporary measure, but lasted far longer than they were intended. A friend of my mother's used to live in one and longed for the days when she could live in a 'brick house'. Dobbie's Garden Centre now occupies that site. She was eventually offered one not far away from there. Of course, they were right under the 26 approach, so conventional houses couldn't be built there.

I am young enough(!) to remember the Rootes shadow factory as only ever being Dunlops. they made wellingtons (boots that is) there as well.

I can well remember that the tracks between Rootes and the airport itself had been made from concrete, as seen in the last photograph. but they showed up all too easily and were coated with a layer of bitumen, which could still be seen until at least 20 years after the end of WWII, although they were breaking up by then.

There have often been comments about the street lights on Speke Hall Road. They were small sodium lights about 2m high, which were fitted with diffusers so that the road was lit, but only just. This was attributed to the fact that the approach to 26 came over Speke Hall Avenue, which was, no doubt a factor that was considered when installing them, but in fact, the main reason was so that the area around Rootes was kept as dark as possible. These were eventually replaced after the new runway 09/27 was opened in 1966.

I remember the four hangars, but not what became of them. Perhaps they were pulled down, or just used by Dunlops for storage. Frankly, the whole area has now changed so much, that whenever I have been down there in more recent years, I can barely recognise any of it.

[viscount]

I can remember the Lockheed Hangars beside the Rootes site. By the 1990s they had been reclad, but on a similar footprint and outline - at one time I took to walking the dogs in Stockton Wood (beside the NT Speke Hall approach road) and hangars/factory units back-up to the Speke Hall grounds fence.

Looking at Google Map 'satellite' photos there is a similar shaped building (but with a modern looking roof) on that same 'footprint' today. What is interesting is that there are roadways (mostly marked for car parking) that are quite clearly still in place within the industrial park, even though the Rootes/Dunlop factory is long gone. I access google maps vertical images via FR24, using 'settings' for satellite image and zooming right in.

Ron, without knowing it you have reminded me that I never organised and posted the final post(s) on this thread. I must return to do so shortly.

Street lamps. I'm fairly certain that in the early 60's that the 'stumpy' street lighting, with downward slanting slits were not just on Speke Hall Ave under very late finals for 26, but also on the stretch of Speke Road under the former 22 late finals too. That stretch became tall lights long before Speke Hall Ave did. Seem to recall the 'stumpy' lights had the same 'aeroplane motif' cast into them as the 'gutter boxes' on the terminal building (1938) itself. In which case they predate the hard runways and airport lighting. I was only a school kid in the '60s so memories may be distorted.



The only photo I can think of with one the 7ft tall street lamps is this one. As 'off topic' I'm posting as a 'thumb print' - click over to enlarge. The lamp box is between the photographer and the F.86 jet-pipe. The pre-fabs can also be made out beyond the two figures - as I recall it there were some prefabs directly under the 26 approach and others up where the new housing is and the ambulance station. Although by the '60s it was a case 'had been' rather than 'were'.

[Deleted]

Nov 24, 2022 17:45:25 GMT 1 viscount said:

Street lamps. I'm fairly certain that in the early 60's that the 'stumpy' street lighting, with downward slanting slits were not just on Speke Hall Ave under very late finals for 26, but also on the stretch of Speke Road under the former 22 late finals too. That stretch became tall lights long before Speke Hall Ave did. Seem to recall the 'stumpy' lights had the same 'aeroplane motif' cast into them as the 'gutter boxes' on the terminal building (1938) itself. In which case they predate the hard runways and airport lighting. I was only a school kid in the '60s so memories may be distorted.

You are right about that, Viscount. If memory serves well, the stumpy lamps began approximately opposite the original Starways hangar, and yes they did install 'proper' lights there earlier. I remember it well, because I used to walk the dogs along there regularly. Yes, they did have the 'plane' motif on them and were presumably produced at the same time and by the same company that did the gutter boxes.

[davel]

Yes, that stretch did have small lights and at that time I worked for Post Office Telephones during the sixties and we were not permitted to erect telephone poles on that area due to the 22 runway still being active, although very rarely.

[viscount]

Which certainly to me points to what I have always understood to be the case, that the 'stumpy' street lamps were erected so short as they were underneath (or close to) the threshold of active runways. An operational safety issue, rather than to keep the aircraft factory area 'dark'. In wartime all street lighting was off anyhow and the windows in Hangar 1 and 2 covered over (as is evident in photos I must get posted to complete this thread). Certainly, I remember the 26 end also had low orange traffic lights to close the road for aircraft movements. Presumably the 22 end also, but my spotting days started shortly after that runway was closed during 1958.

[ronturner]

Absolutely for sure, those low-level lamps were on the road which passed the threshold of 22 and which passed the Starways hangar. (Was this a duel carriageway?) I remember once witnessing a landing on 22. A Bristol Freighter. I was on my bike at the time. I never saw a departure on 22.

[vanguard]

Yes Ron, Speke Rd.was and is a dual carriageway also very busy 😎

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2022 7:30:03 GMT 1 ronturner said:

Absolutely for sure, those low-level lamps were on the road which passed the threshold of 22 and which passed the Starways hangar. (Was this a duel carriageway?) I remember once witnessing a landing on 22. A Bristol Freighter. I was on my bike at the time. I never saw a departure on 22.

Yes, it was built as a dual carriageway all the way from Horrocks Avenue to Western Avenue. My father told me that the original idea was to run trams along the middle of the road, but whether they ran out of money, or decided it was just easier to run buses, I don't know. I saw the occasional landing on 22, but I believe it was only used when the wind was particularly strong, because aircraft of the era were less able to cope with crosswind landings. The railings at that point were painted white and had large red discs on the at regular intervals, but this was the only 'landing aid'. I stand to be corrected, but I don't think this runway was lit.

[viscount]

LOCKHEEDS AT WAR-TIME SPEKE

These images have been gathered by Don Stephens over many years from friends (likely including authors/researchers Phil Butler, David Smith, Aldon Ferguson at least) with the result any reference to original library source (and therefore the possible copyright holder) has been lost. All being 75 years old or more, I feel they are too good to hide away and deserve public viewing.



Probably in the months before War was declared, the first of the Lockheed Hudson aircraft to arrive for the R.A.F. The aircraft was delivered with a mock-up gun-turret, as the British manufactured gun-turret had yet to be fitted.



Lockheed activity up around No.34/39 hangars, with Lockheed Hudsons, P-47 Thunderbolts and what appears to be a RAF Brewster Bermuda in the background. Hudson FK707 is identifiable.

Continuing on from an earlier post with multiple images of aircraft, having arrived as deck cargo, being transferred by road to Lockheed's at Speke to be cleaned, parts (such as the tail 'feathers' to be attached, inspected, test flown and delivered ready for service.





De-greasing the protective coating was a foul job. Note the 'No Smoking' on the hangar wall is mirror (back-to-front).



Further shot of the foul de-greasing process



Clearly a posed photo of a pilot getting ready to test-fly. More on that stage later on this thread.

All the above may have been photographed at the same time, likely during December 1943 (There is a USA processing date January 1944 on some). All appear to be prints (as they included the frame) taken of black & wite positive transparencies. Some are stated to be at Renfrew (Glasgow) but researchers have questioned this, placing the hangar types as being at Speke. Close observation will show that at least one has been re-photographed on the wrong side of the transparency (so are back-to-front!).



A P-51D Mustang, 44-15003 with transit damage.



A Curtiss Bermuda FF-560 (odd presentation of serial) for the Royal Navy being mated with its wing section. The original is a positive transparency, so likely also December 1942.



Just how many P-51 Mustangs and P.47 Thunderbolts can you get together in a hangar? Clearly at a time once the fear of night bombing had receded.



Douglas A-20 Havocs, P-51B Mustang 1s and P-47 Thunderbolts in protective cocoons. Stated to be Speke, I have some doubts.



The hangar is unmistakeably No.1 at Speke, with lines of cocooned P.47s awaiting their turn to be processed





Lines of P-38 Lightnings awaiting de-gausing. The upper pair was captioned as at Speke. The lower pair as 4255536 & 425510, both P-38Ls.



Lines of P-47 Thunderbolts in the snow. Another shot that may, or may not, be Speke.



How you kept a record of what was where in the production process in an era well before computers.



No idea of the date, but a vertical photo of Lockheeds with no.1 hangar prominent.

x x x x x

In 1945 the flow of aircraft reversed, with aircraft arriving from operational units to be returned to the U.S.A. for possible re-deployment in the Pacific theatre.





The location of this pair of P-47 Thunderbolts took a little working out. While the building is clearly No.1 Hangar at Speke, the location is on the landward side of the hangar - effectively the wrong side for the airfield. The upper photo even has the end of the west wing of the terminal, complete with gate 1 and seperate external doorway to the Airport Management offices.



424·44 (where the · is either an 8 or 9) one of a pair of F-5E or F-5G Lightnings (reconnaissance version converted from a P-38L) is clearly on the Western Apron with Bryant May's premisies the other side of Bank's Road. Not too clear if these are being prepared for service in Europe, or being prepared for delivery back to the USA in 1945.



Probably the most published Speke wartime photo - and the most frequently miss-captioned one! North American P-51D Mustang 412527/DL-L is not a P-51D at all, but an F-6K, the photo-reconnaissance version of the Mustang. The code QL-L shows the aircraft came from the 55th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force.



P-51D Mustang 412527/E9-Z "Mary Mine" with 9 kills displayed





463869/YF-U "Slionne Fassion's Playground" with 5 kills displayed

Possibly some of the best-known war-time Speke photos, P-51 Mustangs, ex-front line-line service waiting their turn to be returned to the USA or reduced to produce. Taken by a photographer with an eye for the background - he even managed to time his photo-shot to catch picturesque cloud formations.

[viscount]

MORE OF LOCKHEEDS, PLUS THE R.A.F. AT WARTIME SPEKE

Same problem with unidentified sources for the images, plus some are just educated guesses that the location is Speke. The temporary hangers over by the trees on the Speke Hall boundary are fairly distinctive, but not unique to Speke.







Three views (for aircraft identification purposes?) of a Fairchild Argus at Speke 1943.



335779 Beech UC-45, perhaps at Speke?

x x x x x



Lockheed 12A in RAF scheme - this one tells us that it is an Imperial War Museum image.

Aircraft, thought to be at Speke. The P-51B Mustang I (foreground) is AG349, with a P-40 Kittyhawk beyond. Also, two Hudsons and what appears to be a Boston with a rather square tail. Would appear to be an event laid on for civic dignitaries?



P-40 Kittyhawk AK575 infront of Hangar 1, with the art-deco inspired 180 degree curved office beyond (used by the Airport Police in the 1960/1970s).



Mustang I for the RAF.

Fortress I at Speke - well maybe at Speke? The building just infront of the tail could well be No.1 hangar, with the terminal behind the fin and No.4 & 5 Hangers hidden behind the rising fuselage. The RAF operated very few Boeing B-17 Fortress aircraft.



Stinson V-77 Reliant 1, FK818 for the Royal Navy, June 1943 - thought to be at Speke.





What may or may not be the same aircraft, Royal Navy Corsair JS491. THe shot with the serial visiable is dated 1944.



A Grumman Avenger destined for the Royal Navy.

x x x x x

While R.A.F. Station Speke never had many based units, it did host several Hurricane or Spitfire equipped units for short periods. The exploits of one Hurricane Unit are detailed on a page post of this thread. There are more details of RAF activity at Speke in Phil Butler's book (plugged in the opening post of this thread). The next few images intriguingly capture the 1938/39 constructed terminal building as backdrop. The event is related in the caption following the images. I've subsequently discovered that the research and discovery of these photos is the work of author and aviation historian Dave Smith, to whom all credit is now attributed.







An interesting set of images showing a march-past by the members of No.312 (Czech) Squadron, who briefly flew Hurricanes from Speke in an air defence role during the blitz bombing. The date (as written on the flag) is 28th October 1940. In one photo note a Douglas Havoc beyond No.2 Hangar and in another Dragon Rapide G-AEAL on Irish Sea passenger services and just why are so many of the windows in the terminal open on a late October day? I suspect the answer might be that many of the windows were 'blacked out', so to let light in, even on a cool day, they are all thrown wide open. Taking the salute at the parade is Edvard Benes, the in-exile President of Czechoslovakia. Amazing the detail that can be passed on when the original prints are well annotated.



Not at Speke, but this photo of V2936 is annotated as being a former 312 Sqdn aircraft, although without the unit's 'DU-·' sequence codes I'm not sure why that detail is known.





This linked pair of images show 303 (Polish) Squadron P3932/RF-C, Hurricane I crash at Speke on 19th September 1941, with side-on art-work based on that photo, both copied from a Polish magazine article.



Possibly the best known of the Speke Hurricane units was the MSFU (Merchant Ship Fighter Unit) with their Sea Hurricane aircraft, which could be catapult launched from a merchant ship.

x x x x x

Finally two 'odd ball' images, which show wartime installations, now long removed.

Warrington Balloon Centre, circa 1946.



Fazakerly Balloon Depot, circa 1946. I know nothing further beyond the image caption, as I don't have the local knowledge needed to spot clues. Included as they may be of interest to viewers familiar with locations today.

[viscount]

Well, that is the end of what, even for me, has been posting marathon. This is not my thread though, it is a testimony to the interests of founder MGAE member, aviation enthusiast and historian, Don Stephens and to his family for passing on his photo collection. Plenty of interest in these images and I am sure many Forumites will visit and re-visit this thread whenever they have time to scroll through and find new facets of interest.

However, unless I ever find (or am sent) more WWII Liverpool and Speke images, I'll end the images on this thread with a couple of pages transcribed from a Lockheed pilot's log book. There is no record of his name, just photos of pages from his log book for a single week in November 1943. I am impressed by the speed at which he jumped from aircraft type to another and the mental dexterity to constantly move between communication aircraft to high performance fighters and between singles to twins. Each type with its own cockpit layouts, engine power and operating speeds. I've added information to his 'bare bones' log entries with the day of the week and expanded aircraft type.



STARTED AT LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION AT SPEKE 1st NOVEMBER 1943. Total time 3,607 hours and 5 minutes.

 
Day/date       time  registration  type                 engine & power   Flight   Flight time

Tue 02.11.43   1150  FK951     Stinson V-77 Reliant I   Lycoming 295HP   local    20 
Wed 03.11.43   0915  FK939     Stinson V-77 Reliant I   Lycoming 295HP   local    15                                                                                                            
               0935  FK960     Stinson V-77 Reliant I   Lycoming 295HP   local    15
               0955  FK957     Stinson V-77 Reliant I   Lycoming 295HP   local    15 
               1015  FK940     Stinson V-77 Reliant I   Lycoming 295HP   local    15
               1035  FX872     P-51 Mustang III                          local    20
               1100  43-12481  P-51B Mustang                             local    20
               1430  FX902     P-51 Mustang III                          local    20
               1500  43-12488  P-51B Mustang                             local    20
               1600  43-4680   Fairchild                Warner   145HP   local    20
               1740  42-75412  P-47 Thunderbolt         P&W 2000         local    20
Thu 04.11.43   1045  FX868     P-51 Mustang III                          local    20
               1525  43-7478   Cessna                   Jacobs 350       local    20
               1550  42-67471  P-38 Lightning           Alison 1325      local    25
               1615  FK945     Stinson V-77 Reliant I                    local    15
               1700  42-75423  P-47 Thunderbolt                          local    20
Fri 05.11.43   0915  FK966     Stinson V-77 Reliant I                    local    15
               0935  FK956     Stinson V-77 Reliant I                    local    15
               1005  FX903     P-51 Mustang III                          local    20
               1035  FX904     P-51 Mustang III                          local    20
               1105  43-12193  P-51B Mustang                             local    20
               1120  43-12482  P-51B Mustang                             local    20
               1145  43-12211  P-51B Mustang                             local    20
Sat 06.11.43   0930  42-22781  P-47 Thunderbolt         P&W 2000         local    30
               1010  43-9488   Piper Cub                                 local    15  (likely 43-29488)
               1100  42-75397  P-47 Thunderbolt                          local    25
               1400  JZ318     Tarpon (Grumman Avenger II)               local    25
               1500  AX861     Boston I                                  local    40  (could be AX851?)
               1545  AX851     Boston I                        Hooton & return    30
Sun 07.11.43   1330  42-75405  P-47 Thunderbolt                          local    20
               1400  43-29485  Piper Cub                                 local    10
               1415  43-29481  Piper Cub                                 local    10
The following 8 entries, with a total flight time of 2 hours 20 min, are on a page that I don't have a scan for. Final Speke flight entry was top of a new page:
Mon 08.11.43   1700  JW631     Curtiss Seamew (an SO3C-2C)               local    20

STARTED AT LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, RENFREW 10th November 1943. Total time now 3620 hours, 30 minutes.

In his log book he noted that total flying during his week at Speke amounted to 13 hours and 45 minutes on 41 aircraft. I've not cross-checked his Math.

The Boston aircraft were an order originally placed by France. This could explain why the registrations are so much earlier than the other RAF aircraft being test flown. As for a Curtiss Seamew, let Google be your friend. Most of the batch ordered were cancelled which speak volumes about why the type is little known.

THE MERSEYSIDE DURING WWII THEME CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE: