Watnall Troop S.N.Y.C. local history

  A rare pad cheek horse bit. In steel with cast brass bosses to either side. Garter edging with the script "SOUTH NOTTINGHAMSHIRE YEOMANRY CAVALRY" and a Victorian crown in the centre. Dating from the mid-Victorian period. Although the name for the regiment started to appear as being the shorter version, the South Notts Hussars, from the mid-1870s, it was not officially named as such until 1903. It may well be the case that equipment such as this horse bit was still marked with the official name of the South Notts Yeomanry Cavalry right up until the end of the 19th century; as such, the exact date of this horse bit is hard to pin down. That said, the construction of the steel scrollwork can be seen on examples attributed to dating from around the 1870s; as such, this piece was most probably made in that period.  Along with two charger throat plumes, one with black horsehair, the other with red and white horsehair. Before 1897, the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry used ...

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 ...