Austin 7 Gordon England Cup seen at RAF Great Dunmow.
From my own collection is this interesting little photograph, of an Austin 7 Gordon England Cup. The caption on the rear simply says "RAF Dunmow". Having had a look online, I can only find reference to an RAF Great Dunmow, so perhaps it is one and the same place? If so, it was located a few miles east of Bishops Stortford in England. A look at the excellent Control Towers website gives some more info on this wartime airfield - it was originally built in 1942 and 1943 to be a US bomber base, with B26 Marauders operating from there. In 1944 the RAF took over, flying Stirlings out of RAF Great Dunmow and, after WW2, switching to Halifax bombers. The airfield spent its final operational years as an Army storage base, being wound up for good in 1948. The site remains, now used for agricultural purposes, with few reminders remaining of its military past.
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The gents in the photograph, all clutching proper pint jugs note, look to be members of the RAF, probably aircrew. Whether the building in the background was on the Great Dunmow site I'm not sure.
I recognised the car as being Austin-7 based, and Michael dropped me a line to confirm that it is a rare Austin 7 Gordon England Cup version. On the Austin's bonnet is a logo of some kind, perhaps for a motor club or clubman's racing outfit? I'm not sure, perhaps someone recognises it?
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Side-on view of another Austin 7 Gordon England Cup model.
Phil has sent over a number of early photographs featuring cars in them, here is a side-on view of another Gordon England Cup model. A young chap is shown behind the wheel, while a young lady sits alongside him in the Austin 7's decidedly compact interior. The rear tyre could do with a top-up of air, and the vehicle as a whole suggests that it wasn't in its first flush of youth at the time. Who the people are, isn't known. Thanks for the photo Phil.
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