I am not sure whether this is an appropriate place to post this but anyway here goes.
Did your parents or grandparents work at de Havilland's at Witney during the war years???
My parents and I (age about 12 months) moved from Hatfield to Witney in late 1939.
de Havilland's had set up a repair facility at the old first World War RAF Base there in order to do major repair work for the Royal Air Force on Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft. They also did occasional work on Mosquitoes as well as servicing some of the few civilian DH aircraft that were still permitted to fly during those war years. My parents both worked there during this period.
In the last 3-4 years before it closed, they converted military aircraft for civilian use and also re configured Mosquitoes for foreign governments. The factory was closed in late 1949 and the few workers who were retained were moved back to the company’s head quarters at Hatfield.
During its period of operation around 1,000 personnel, both men and women were manpowered by the Ministry of Supply from all over the country to Witney, many were retrained and after the war they were allowed to return to their homes and there pre-war occupations.
The workforce during those war years were a very close knit group, they worked hard over long hours and it was decided because of this, many wished to stay in touch with their co-workers. To that end the DH Witney 1939-1949 was formed, some 700 ex workers joined and annual re unions were held from 1949 until the late 1980s when the Association was wound up, the funds donated to the Witney Hospital and a brief history of the operations during the war given to the DH Hatfield Museum.
My father, who was secretary of the Association kept all the records from that period, I copied most of them on his death and passed them on to the Witney Library were they are still held. I have a complete list of the names of all those who were members. Over the last few years I have been developing a web site to honour those who worked there during that time, we remember those who flew sailed and soldiered around the world but tend to forget that there were many more who laboured long and hard to support them in the efforts.
I am anxious to get in touch with sons/daughters of those men and women or anyone who has information of the company during those years. If you have any information feel free to post here or if you prefer, PM me.
Alan NZ
