Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 VX730 aboard HMAS Sydney off Korea

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Hawker Fury / Sea Fury - ВеликобританияUnited Kingdom - 1944

On the pebbly wastes of Dungeness near Lydd there is still an army camp with numerous gunnery ranges and back in World War One this was a local growth industry. We had not associated Lydd then with an airfield. RFC and RAF gunnery establishments were at Hythe, New Romney and Dymchurch further east along the coast. Recently the following photograph arrived from Mr.W.Smith showing a group of B Flight and captioned 'Lydd 1918'. The R.E.8 in the background appears to be in a canvas hangar. Admittedly any reasonably flat piece of ground a few hundred yards long could be used by an R.E.8 at the drop of a mag but the presence of a hangar suggest some more permanent establishment of the RFC or RAF at Lydd. No relation, incidentally, with Lydd in World War Two which was a different location.

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: RAF R.E.8 - ВеликобританияUnited Kingdom - 1916

Kindly loaned by Charles W.Cain, the photograph shows a trio of Supermarine Scapas of No.204 Squadron over the crowded harbour at Alexandria. No.204 was deployed to Egypt during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia when the League of Nations was considering sanctions against Italy. Despite the 'crisis', none of the nine gun positions has a weapon mounted!
For the naval buff, HMS Barham is poking into the photo from the bottom, with two fleet minesweepers alongside. Two three-funnelled County-class heavy cruisers flank the furthermost Scapa and eight V-class destroyers are moored in pairs.

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Supermarine Scapa - ВеликобританияUnited Kingdom - 1932