RESEARCH material used to produce a new book on RAF Millom has been added to the public collection held by Barrow Archive and Local Studies Library by author John Nixon.

The material has been gathered together from 25 years of study and also includes items collected for Mr Nixon’s previous books about Second World War air training courses held at Cark and Walney.

Some of the historic items will be on show this Saturday, September 24, to coincide with a book-signing session held by Mr Nixon at Barrow Library, in Ramsden Square, from 10am to 1pm.

The new book is called The History of RAF Millom and the Genesis of RAF Mountain Rescue.

Mr Nixon said: “I have deposited all the operational record book pages I used for my books on Cark, Walney and Millom in the Barrow Library archives.

“They contain all the interesting material from the three airfields and can be copied.

“This means that anyone who wants to can access them without a trip to London.

“Very shortly I will be taking my RAF training course group photographs from Cark and Walney to them and they will be available to researchers too.”

His latest RAF Millom book has more than 260 pictures and contains the experiences of 50 veterans.

The airfield, on the outskirts of Haverigg, taught the skills of bombing, gunnery and navigation from January 1941, starting life as No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School.

The aircraft used there included the Boulton Paul Defiant, Hawker Henley, Avro Anson, Airspeed Oxford and Blackburn Botha. Among the veterans featured in the book is John Russell who trained as an air observer from November 1941.

He recalls a bored Anson pilot performing a loop-the-loop with no warning to his colleagues.

Mr Russell said: “Every item of gear which was not stowed away, floated around the aircraft and we were surrounded by maps, instruments and all manner of items.”

RAF Millom also played a key role in the development of mountain rescue techniques as young men were called out to find crashed aircraft and their crews after flying accidents – often in terrible weather conditions.

The Haverigg site later trained young army officers and taught Civil Defence techniques before part of the site became Haverigg Prison.

Mr Nixon is a former prison officer at Haverigg and set up the RAF Millom Collection in 1993 and was the museum’s curator until 2006.