Page 6 - Cranwell Photographs
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Cranwell
Far left: Naval ratings and civilian labourers watch as a tree is uprooted as work begins on clearing the site.
Left: These vehicles - including a traction engine, the only form of heavy haulage available - photographed in front of the Lodge Farm labourers' cottages, were among the first vehicles to arrive on the site.
Centre Left: Construction work began on 28th December 1915 and work on the first huts proceeded apace. The wood and corrugated iron structures seen here, provided little comfort for the first Naval trainees to arrive when the station opened on 1st April 1916.
Below: Commodore Godfrey Paine, first Commandant of the RNAS Central Training Establishment, Cranwell, part of the strength of HMS Daedalus, pictured with his staff officers in front of the original wood and corrugated iron headquarters building, in 1916.
