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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 1263.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 21, 1933 This week we strike a new note in our series of articles on R.A.F. stations. Armament training camps are peculiar, and are seldom seen by the ordinary tourist, as, for reasons of safety, they are mostly situated in sparsely- inhabited parts of the country. However, representatives of FLIGHT have penetrated to one of these camps, and the following article tells of what they saw there THE DROGUE TARGET : This target is of the same size as the fuselage of a " Bulldog," and is towed be'iind a " Gordon.*' (FLIGHT Photo.) North Coettes Pitties No. 2 Armament Camp By MAJOR F. A. de V. ROBERTSON, V.D. MORTH COATES FITTIES! Is it not an intriguing name! It makes one want to get out histories and find out why the place was so called, what its origin is, and what may be its meaning. It smacks of Anglo-Saxon, but we can go no further than that. Perhaps some reader who is learned on the subject of Lincolnshire place-names will be able to enlighten us. And to think that but for the Royal Air Force this name of names might have remained buried in the obscurity of the Lincolnshire fens! The Royal Air Force was driven to dive ..,,„ into the obscure, not from a natural love of the picturesque and mysterious, but from the need to find spots where bombs could be dropped and machine guns fired without risk to the persons of the King's lieges. It was the desolate which attracted the rulers of the R.A.F., and so they naturally explored the coast south of the Humber's mouth. There they found many places with delightful names unknown to the great British public. North Somer- cotes and South Somercotes suggest the same origin as North Coates Fifties. Near THE FLAG TARGET : The flag is taken U P packed in a case in the " Gordon," and >s released in the air. The top picture shows the flag unfolding, with clots of sand which had got inside the case flying round '*• The lower picture shows the flag in vertical position for gun practice. It can also be towed in horizontal position. (FLIGHT Photos.) by, on the coast, is Donna Nook—can that have any con nection with the Spanish Armada ? At any rate, Donna Nook has an intimate business connection with North Coates Fifties, which seems most appropriate. In all, three places were chosen for bombing and firing, the other two being Catfoss in the East Riding of York shire, and Sutton Bridge, near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. At each of these places there is an Armament Training Camp. Camp is the right name for what one finds at 1279 ii
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