Tag: Stanley Booker

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New Forest Airfields

How have I come up with blog topics every two weeks for more than ten years? They originate from very diverse origins, but my favorite source is you. Many of our readers communicate with us and either provide specific topics or in the course of discussions, give me the idea for a future topic. Our topic today was inspired by Pat Vinycomb. Pat let us know her father, Stan Booker (click here to read the blog, Last Train Out of Paris), recently donated his World War II RAF uniform to the “Friends of the New Forest Airfields” (more on that later).

We’ve previously written about RAF (Royal Air Force) stations used by Allied fighters and bombers (click here to read, Rendezvous with the Gestapo and here to read Biggin Hill). But it wasn’t until Pat introduced me to the new non -profit organization that I began to research the twelve New Forest airfields and learn about the English air bases and how they were used during World War II (both in England and Europe).

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Did You Know?

Did you know Robert Fripp (a founding member of the King Crimson progressive rock band) is the nephew of Alfred “Alfie” Fripp, the longest surviving British POW of World War II? Alfred Fripp (1914−2013) joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1930 after the navy rejected him due to his height. After various assignments, Alfie became a flight sergeant in No 57 Squadron RAF and was a reconnaissance observer over Germany on a Bristol Blenheim aircraft. His aircraft was shot down on 13 October 1939 (England had declared war on Germany six weeks earlier on 3 September 1939). Alfie and his pilot, Mike Casey, were quickly captured and Alfie was sent to the first of his twelve POW camps over the next four and a half years before his liberation in 1945.

Alfie Fripp and his parents.
Alfie Fripp and his parents. Photo by anonymous (c. 1917). PD-Author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.

During his imprisonment at Stalag Luft III, Alfie became involved in the “Great Escape” in March 1944. He collected maps from Red Cross parcels as well as scrounging up digging tools. He was transferred to another POW camp about two months before the big escape. Only three POWs successfully escaped while fifty men, including Mike Casey, were captured, and murdered by the Gestapo.

RCAF Bristol Blenheim Mk I in flight. This is a similar type aircraft that Alfie Fripp was flying in when the plane went down, and Alfie was captured.
RCAF Bristol Blenheim Mk I in flight. This is a similar type aircraft that Alfie Fripp was flying in when the plane went down, and Alfie was captured. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Alfie retired from the RAF in 1969 as a Squadron Leader. When he passed away at the age of 98, Alfie was the last of the “39ers,” or those men taken prisoner in 1939. After his uncle died, Robert Fripp performed a musical tribute to Alfie on the BBC.

New Forest

The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of forest, pasture, and heathland (i.e., peat used for fuel) in southern England. Today, about ninety percent of the land belongs to the monarchy. It has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, but the soil quality is poor (very acidic) and not very suitable for agricultural purposes. The area was proclaimed a “Royal Forest” by William the Conqueror, and it was the only forest described in detail in the Domesday Book. Read More New Forest Airfields

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The Beautiful Enigma

One of our readers wrote to us about his research on a woman who was a German spy during World War II. Lionel points out that Vera von Schalburg’s story is long and quite complicated. However, it is shrouded in mystery based on circumstantial evidence, assumptions, theories, conflicting information, speculation, and a general lack of factual historical documentation to support her life before, during and especially after the war. The two overriding questions are why did the British release Vera (with no trial) after capturing her along with two other spies and what happened to Vera after the war (i.e., where did she live, did she have a family in the UK, was she given a new identity by MI5, did she return to Germany, when did she die, and where is she buried?).

Sorry Lionel, I hate to disappoint you, but we won’t be able to answer those two questions in this blog. As you pointed out, no one has yet solved those mysteries. While some documents have been declassified, many others are buried in the archives of MI5. Until those classified documents are released, I’m afraid many components of Vera’s story will remain a mystery. I will try and give an overview of Vera’s story and point out some of the inconsistencies (beginning with her date of birth) and unknowns (e.g., marriages and offspring).

Did You Know? 

Did you know that the Titanic was a very small ship? So, you ask, “What do you mean by ‘small’?” Yes, it’s a relative term as we shall see. Today, the world’s largest cruise ship is Royal Caribbean’s (RCCL) “Wonder of the Seas,” and I thought it might be interesting to compare the doomed ocean liner to this modern day RCCL cruise ship. (Some say a city.) I know this comparison is like putting a Ford Model-T next to a Rolls-Royce, but I think all you cruise fanatics, and Titanic students might like to see this.

Visual comparison between Titanic (right) and the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas, an “Oasis”-class ship (left). Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Visual comparison between Titanic (right) and the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas, an “Oasis”-class ship (left). Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
  TITANIC WONDER OF THE SEAS
Maiden Voyage 1912 2022
Construction Time 4 years 6 years
Construction Cost $ 243 million4 $ 1.35 billion
Length 882 feet 1,188 feet
Width/Beam 92 feet 210 feet (maximum)
Height 9 decks 18 decks
Volume 46,328 g.r.t.1 228,081 g.t.2
Passengers 2,435 6,9883
Crew 892 2300
Lifeboats 20 (1,166) 18 (6,660)
Elevators 4 24
Cheapest Ticket $ 1,0754 $ 423
  1. Gross register tonnage is a historic measure of volume.
  2. Gross tonnage replaced g.r.t. in July 1982.
  3. Maximum number of passengers.
  4. Today’s dollars.

Essentially, the Wonder of the Seas is three-times as large as the Titanic and about five-times heavier. There’s another interesting statistic that I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to do some basic arithmetic, but I will give you a clue. This statistic seems to be shared by both ships.

Statistical comparison of the Titanic to a modern cruise ship (Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas). Illustration by Visual Capitalist (date unknown).
Statistical comparison of the Titanic to a modern cruise ship (Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas). Illustration by Visual Capitalist (date unknown).

Vera Von Schalburg 

Vera von Schalburg (1907?−unknown) was born in Siberia, Russia to August Theodor Schalburg, a Dane and Jelena (Helene) von Siemanovska, a Polish-Ukrainian citizen. (Vera’s birthdate has been quoted as either November 1907 or December 1912). She had two other siblings of whom, Christian Frederik, would become a well-known Danish traitor during World War II (more on that later). Read More The Beautiful Enigma