Memories of childhood at Ellingham farm and the building of Ibsley aerodrome

Cynthia E Carter

An oral history interview with Cynthia E Carter. Interview Date 21/06/13

Cynthia Carter was 11 years of age in 1939 and was living on a farm at Ellingham. The family had to evacuate the farm during the harvest in 1940 when much of the land was used to construct Ibsley aerodrome. The family moved to Dorset and she then went to school in Bournemouth. She remembers the buses towing a gas generator behind them and how underpowered they were.

She describes the construction of Ibsley aerodrome, the constant noise of aircraft coming and going and some of the incidents that took place there. Cynthia describes what it was like to work on a farm during the war and the effect of food rationing. She also observed military activities during the build-up to D-Day, was horrified by the piles of rubble on a visit to London, and saw the bombing damage in Bournemouth. After the aerodrome was demolished and the concrete runways removed, her father found a Stone Age axe head whilst deep ploughing the land.

You can find out more about Ibsley Airfield in this overview article, which has links to other articles relating to Ibsley Airfield.