RAF aircraft salvage unit pass

[Jerry B]

Picked this up today for £2 as it seemed interesting.

Found this about No. 50 Maintenance unit, they were based at Cowley and worked on Tiger Moths and their duties involved transporting damaged aircraft and parts to the CRU and to firms participating in the Civilian Repair Organisation, and also to collect non-repairable parts and scrap for materials reclamation at MPRD.

[Adrian Stevenson]

One of those obscure but interesting items.


Cheers, Ade.

[hangarman]

interesting pass, probably worth its weight in gold during the war when food was rationed.
Hangarman

[big ned]

Cowley Aerodrome was built in Church Cowley, and completed in the Spring of 1940. As well handling aircraft from No.1 CRU, it also served the needs of No.50 Maintenance Unit. Some of the buildings were later incorporated into the nearby car factory. No.1 Metal & Produce Recovery Unit formed an important part of the wartime Cowley complex. It employed about 1,500 people, and covered around 100 acres. The materials handled here included both domestic items (pots, pans, railings etc.) and crashed aircraft from the nearby Maintenance Unit.

The Morris factory at Cowley was a vital production unit during WW2 producing various steels and alloys as well as armaments such as land mines, over 3,500,000 helmets, 3,000 odd Tiger Moths and the tail units for Horsa gliders too. Bren gun carriers were also produced there by John Allen & Co. on the site next door.

Regards, Ned.

[Jan]

Nice one . I really like the odd bits and pieces!

Best,

Jan

[Jerry B]

As was mentioned by Hangarman, it probably was worth its weight in gold with access to the NAAFI and the mess and free lodging if needed.

As always, Ned can be relied upon to dig out some more information.

It was in a box of postcards, nothing else that I wanted amongst them, so a lucky find and not something I had seen before so a welcome addition to my collection of period paperwork.