A Brief History of the Aviation Industry in Leeds
Companies
All |
Robert Blackburn |
Arrow Aircraft (Leeds) Ltd |
Marsh, Jones & Cribb |
AVRO (Yeadon)
Other Contents
Internal Links |
External Links |
Bibliography
Avro Aircraft Factory Leeds
Today there in an anonymous looking industrial estate alongside Leeds-Bradford Airport which was the factory built for Avro. During the second World war it was an industrial production centre contributing to the effort on a gargantuan scale.
Yeadon Aerodrome had opened in October 1931 and regular flights linking it with London and Newcastle were established. Avro built a 'shadow factory' alongside the aerodrome in 1939 to contribute to the aircraft production needed for the war effort.
The factory, which covered 1,500,000 feet2 in area purporting to be the largest single factory unit in Europe at that time. Shadow factories were built around the country, to distribute the military production around Brittain, just in case one factory was taken out of use by enemy action. It was considered to be at high risk of being a target for enemy bombers due to it's large size. The factory was elaborately camouflaged, masterminded by film set designers. Grass was planted covering the roof of the factory, replicating the original and nearby field patterns, imitation farm buildings, stone walls and a duck pond disguised it as an agricultural area. (Many modern buildings feature grass roofs as a way to reduce the carbon footprint rather than for camoflage). Artificial hedges and bushes were changed to match the changing colours of the seasons. Dummy animals were moved around daily like props in a film or theatre set.. It was never detected by enemy bombers and remained untouched throughout the duration of the conflict.
More than 17,500 people, mostly conscripts, worked there on the production lines 24 hours a day assembling planes. Employees from all over West Yorkshire, worked 69 hours a week doing three days, followed by three nights. A famous visitor was Gracie Fields for morale boost she entertained the workers.
Avro Yeadon produced approximately 700 of the 7377 Lancaster bombers. The Lancasters are one of the most famous aircraft of World War 2 having been involved in key missions such as the sinking of the Tirpitz and the Dambusters raids, for which 19 of the aircraft were modified to carry Barnes Wallis' bouncing bombs. Producing Lancaster Bombers way beyond their capacity Avro subcontracted a lot of the work. Here in Leeds Hudswell Clarke are noted as having made a number of tail sections.
After the war Bomber Harris records: "The finest bomber of the war! Its efficiency was almost incredible, both in performance
and in the way it could be saddled with ever-increasing loads without breaking the camel's back.
The Lancaster far surpassed all the other types of heavy bombers.
Not only could it take heavier bomb loads, not only was it easier to handle,
and not only were there fewer accidents than with other types,
the casualty rate was also consistently below those of other types."
"The Lancaster took the major part in winning the war with its attacks on Germany.
On land it forced the Germans to retrieve from their armies half their sorely needed
anti-tank guns for use by over a million soldiers who would otherwise have been serving in the field.
The Lancaster won the naval war by destroying over one-third of the German submarines in their ports,
together with hundreds of small naval craft and six of their largest warships.
Above all, the Lancaster won the air war by taking the major part in forcing Germany to concentrate
on building and using fighters to defend the Fatherland, thereby depriving their armies of
essential air and particularly bomber support."[4]
Not so much in the spotlight as the Lancaster was the much smaller Avro Anson, of which Yeadon built 4,500. One of the key roles of these craft was training pilots who would crew the Lancasters.[5] Avro also produced several other types of aircraft at Yeadon during the war. Delivery to the aerodrome was along a taxiway, which could also be used as a test centre for military flights.
Civilian flights resumed at Yeadon in 1947 and subsequently developed into Leeds-Bradford International Airport. After the war in 1946 the Avro factory closed and the site is now part of the Leeds-Bradford Airport Industrial Estate. The camouflage has been removed from the main building that housed the aircraft factory during the war. Traces of the taxiway remain visible today. A plaque commemorating the role of Avro Yeadon is displayed inside the airport's terminal building.
Above - The Blackburn blue plaque at Leeds Bradford Airport (Image from Wikimedia Commons)
Internal Website Links
Picture gallery
External Website Links
Graces Guide page about Blackburns
Graces Guide page about Avro
Bomber Command Museum (Canada) page about the Lancaster Bomber[4]
Wikipedia page about the Avro Anson[5]
Wikipedia page about the first Blackburn monoplane[8]
Bibliography
The Basic Industries of Great Britain, Lord Aberconway, 1927[1]
The Railway Foundry Leeds, Ron Redman, Goose & Son, 1968[2]Look for this book on Amazon*
Auto Review 99: Blackburn Album, Aircraft built in Yorkshire, Rod Ward, Zeteo Publishing 2014[6]Look for this book at the publishers*
The History of Thomas Green & Son Ltd, John Pease, ISBN: 9781899889 81 5 [7]Look for this book at the publishers*
Aircraft of the fighting powers (vols 1 to 7), OG Thetford, Harborough Publishing Co, 1940's
Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I, Jane's Publishing Co, 1919
Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Jane's Publishing Co, 1940
* These links are provided to help readers search for often rare books on the subject and to promote any books available, we are under no commercial incentives for this