With the prospect of war with Germany becoming certain rather than possible, the British government began to make military preparations.
Early in 1938 the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain appointed Sir Kingsley Wood as Secretary of State for Air. Before his appointment the output of planes for military use was 80 a month. Under Kingsley Wood the output rose to 546 a month and by the outbreak of war Britain’s aircraft production was on a par with that of Germany.
Second World War
One of the most technically advanced designs of the time was the Spitfire fighter. It had been ordered as early as 1936 but two years later not one plane had been produced. So Wood approached Lord Nuffield, the owner of Morris Motors, to set up a new purpose-built factory at Castle Bromwich to produce the plane for the RAF.
Apparently Nuffield had boasted that he could produce fifty Spitfires a week, but by 1940 during the Battle of Britain all Spitfires involved had been built at Southampton; not a single Spitfire had yet left the Castle Bromwich factory. That month Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed Lord Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production and he gave control of the factory to Vickers, who were manufacturing Spitfires in Southampton.
The Castle Bromwich factory was the largest of its kind in the country covering some 140 hectares and employing over 12,000 people. Once production was under way the target of 50 a week was often achieved and by the end of the war almost 12 000 Spitfires were made here, more than half of the total number produced. From 1941 the factory also manufactued over 300 Lancaster bombers.
The factory was naturally a target for the German air force. Indeed the first raid on Birmingham took place in August 1940, when a single bomber, unable to find the Castle Bromwich plant, dropped its bombs over Erdington. This was followed by three weeks of attacks on the east side of the Birmingham. The factory was badlyat this time damaged with 7 killed and 41 injured. The Nuffield factory at Witton was also bombed and 187 houses were damaged. By the war’s end the factory had been hit by over 200 bombs causing eleven fatalities.
The site of the factory had been chosen because of its proximity to the Castle Bromwich airfield. Finished aircraft were towed across the Chester Road to be flight tested before being delivered to their squadrons. The airfield and factory received a number of distinguished visitors including Winston Churchill Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, the first lady of the USA and the King of Norway.
The Airfield in Peacetime
After the war the airfield was again in use as an RAF training station. By now there were two tarmac runways, although grass runways were still in use, and a number of hangars on the site notably at the Minworth end. After the war open days and air displays were held at Castle Bromwich airfield to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the last of which took place in 1957.
The airfield was again also used for civilian flights, including the world’s first scheduled helicopter service for passengers which flew passengers from Harrods’ sports grounds at Barnes near London to the British Industries Fair at Castle Bromwich in 1950.
The Castle Bromwich aeroplane factory closed at the end of the war to become a car factory.
Closure of the Airfield
In 1958 the airfield was closed and in 1960 the site and that of the British Industries Fair was sold to Birmingham City Council for housing. The building of Castle Vale estate started in 1964 and was complete by 1969.
The roads on the new estate were almost all given the names of World War 2 airfields or names associated with aircraft. Some of the remaining aircraft hangars continued to be used for industrial purposes, though these have all now been replaced. Some late RAF houses still stand along the Chester Road opposite the former aircraft factory. St Cuthbert’s church has a memorial to the 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, which was based here. Original buildings from the Spitfire factory are still in use by Jaguar and a Birmingham Civic Society blue plaque commemorates the factory’s role in Spitfire production.
However, the most obvious memorial is Sentinel, a large steel sculpture by Tim Tolkien made in the year 2000 which stands on the roundabout at the junction of the Chester Road and Tangmere Drive. The roundabout is now known as Spitfire Island.
A Spitfire, known as a gate guardian, stood at the entrance of the airfield from 1954 to 1958. Made at the aircraft factory in 1944 the Spirfire had seen active service with the RAF. When the airfield closed it was transferred to the Birmingham Museum of Science & Industry and then to the Thinktank in 2000 where it is still on display.
There are over 50 Spitfires around the world still in airworthy condition. Of the aircraft operated by the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire P7350 is the only one surviving from the Battle of Britain in 1940 still to be flying. It was one of the first to be built at Castle Bromwich.
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