A LITTLE MORE ON THE ROLLESTON'S

A small collection of items, images, Watnall Hall stationary which turn up in auction in recent years. Sadly, I was not the winner. Find it interesting that the phone number of the Hall in 1916 was "80 BULWELL" !






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Watnall and the Battle of Britain myth

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Many people still believe that the RAF base at Watnall, the underground Control Room, and Headquarters of Fighter Command 12 Group took part in the most important air battle in history, the Battle of Britain 1940, where the German Luftwaffe attempted to defeat the RAF and then be in a position to force the UK to surrender or leave it open to invasion. Some of the most highly respected books on the subject of the Battle of Britain name Watnall as being the location of 12 Group Headquarters during the battle. In the modern world of online research, several historical research websites list Watnall as the location of the control room for the battle, as do some local historians. So why is this? RAF Hucknall had been in operation since the First World War. Over time, its role with the RAF changed. It was to become a training centre for flight crews and involved in aircraft repair and research in collaboration with Rolls-Royce, and by 1939, it was the location of the ...
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RAF STATION WATNALL

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  It may come as a surprise to some just how much of Watnall was covered by the RAF station in the 1940's, and equally surprising how little of it remains today. From Trough Road to the end of Common Lane was taken over by the RAF. All that remains above ground today - as far as I know, and please correct me if I am wrong, are, the covered Stanton Air-raid shelter in Watnall Spinney, "the Hut" at the back of the Royal Oak, the entrance to the underground operations block in the grounds of the HGV testing station facing the Royal Oak, and the Filter room aside Common Lane, below ground level and recently renovated and shown in the TV programme, "Restoration Man". Please examine the map of RAF Watnall dated 1949, image-2. It may be an idea to save the image to your pictures to enable you to zoom in. It is scanned from a book I have, if the details are too poor, p/m me your email address and I will send you the image in a higher resolution. It is not a brilliant ...
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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE YEOMANRY MARKED I.C.1. MARTINI-HENRY CAVALRY CARBINE

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  Another Martini-Henry Cavalry carbine has come to light recently marked to the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry. The butt stamped, Y over NTT.S over 236. Previously recorded was an identical carbine with identical marking, but with the individual number of 166. It is still unclear as to whether the "S" refers to Sherwood, or South for either of the two respective  Yeomanry regiments of Nottinghamshire. Some swords with similar markings with the "Y", and "NTT" have also had "SN", and presumably, swords issued to the Sherwood Rangers would be marked "SR", but the observed carbines only carry "S". It may be that both units were supplied with firearms from the same armoury somewhere in Nottinghamshire, and therefore firearms were only marked as belonging to the Notts Yeomanry, rather than one, or the other of the two regiments.  Both carbines carry a store's date in the 1880's, one clearly marked 1886, the last digit on the othe...
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