The Avro Heritage Museum in Woodford held a celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd creating its world-famous airfield and production facilities at the Stockport site
A plaque commemorating the men and women who worked at Woodford between 1924 and 2011 was unveiled, there were flypasts and the opening of an exhibition celebrating the worldwide legacy of Avro and the region’s aviation heritage.
AV Roe & Co acquired the Woodford site in 1924, producing iconic aircraft such as the Avro Lancaster and Avro Vulcan.
Guests included relatives of Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe, pioneer English pilot, aircraft manufacturer, and founder in 1910 of the Avro company, dignitaries, and former employees, including 99-year-old Jeff Brown.
Once qualified as a gunner, Jeff Brown was assigned to 576 Squadron based at RAF Fiskerton, and began flying in Avro Lancasters, mainly as part of Operation Manna.
Jeff, who lives near Hyde, explained: ‘This was where food was dropped at a very low level to starving people in Holland. Thousands were losing their lives due to lack of food. A rather dodgy truce was organised with the Germans who still occupied Holland, which was if you don’t shoot at us we won’t shoot at you. Luckily our crew were not shot at, but others were.’
His last Operation Manna flight was on VE Day (May 8, 1945) and he continued to fly in the Avro Lancaster bringing home prisoners of war from Brussels and Naples.
Jeff remained in the RAF and was posted to Germany on a radar station in the British and then the American zones, where he met a German interpreter called Dorothy who would become his wife. The couple had one daughter, Yvonne.
After returning to England, he became a gunner on the American B29 Superfortress Bombers before training as a pilot in Canada.
In the mid-1950s Jeff joined Avro in the armaments design office, working on the Vulcan, Shackleton and Nimrod designs for 10 years before moving into the technical publications section.
Jeff said: ‘I was very proud to attend an event in 2019, along with several other veterans, where the Lancaster fuselage was driven through Manchester from Avro Chadderton to be displayed at Avro Woodford.’ Last year he met King Charles at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
