Amazing finds in a back garden near Southampton

The Assault Glider Trust is a charitable organisation that relies upon the generosity of members of the public to help financially support the restoration and construction of its aircraft collection but the Trust is also reliant upon aviation archaeology and the information that artefacts can present in reference to aircraft composition and assemblage.  It is a misinterpretation to think that aviation archaeology is an obsolete practice in relation to wooden aircraft because, despite the biodegradable nature of wood, many artefacts relating to the Horsa glider still exist today.

The Horsa was primarily constructed out of birch and spruce alongside fabric-covered plywood forming the skin of the glider and despite the intention for the glider to only be used once operationally a surprisingly large amount of Horsa material survives within the British Isles and Europe.  Such material was recently recovered by the Trust from a back garden near Southampton.  The Horsa items belonged to a gentleman called Charles Richards who had purchased a Horsa fuselage after World War II. Charles joined the RAF prior to the War as an instrument fitter and served in Iraq at Habbaniyah before returning to join 7 Squadron at Oakhampton in 1943. During the War many Horsa’s entered into retirement as potting sheds, chicken coops and even remodelled accommodation. Charles recycled parts of the Horsa fuselage to meet his own needs and essentially refurbished his workshop and garden shed using alternative interior fittings!

The Trust is currently researching each of the items recovered from Southampton in order to determine where they originate from and hopefully identify the glider that the items belonged to. The Horsa seats that were found in the garden shed are some of the items that have aroused a large amount of interest. The seats are in excellent condition considering the delicate nature of the materials used in their construction which was predominately 3mm plywood with a fabric (Madaplin) covering. The seats good survival is due to their function as shelving in the shed which aired the seats and ensured that damp and wildlife didn’t destroy the wood. The seats are an ideal example of why aviation archaeology is so important to analyse in order to determine what the original aviation material was constructed out of, its dimensions and its appearance.

Observation of the seats has revealed that the plywood was covered in fabric and painted in camouflage green which is in contrast to what the Trust currently has in place inside the Horsa glider at Shawbury but now that this difference has been identified steps will now be taken to revise the seat design. Another item of interest is an axe which was originally kept inside the Horsa cockpit and was used by the troops as a method of exiting the glider by breaking through the wooden exterior once they had landed at their destination.

Another rare discovery was a complete set of Horsa seat belts from the cockpit of the glider and two identification plates which would have originally been attached to Horsa parts during the manufacturing stages. A substantial amount of rubber blocks were also recovered, which were originally part of the skid shock absorber and will now be used to replace the current absorbers which are a revised copy of the originals.

 The Trust hopes to compile a detailed document containing all of the items recovered from Southampton including manufacturing details, origin and purpose of items and hopes to display the materials in a new temporary exhibition based at RAF Shawbury.

The Trust would like to thank Graham Walters who contacted the charity about the Horsa parts and helped with the recovery process.