World War II
In June, 1940, formal announcement was made that the de Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., had completed negotiations for the purchase from Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., of that firm's holding of Airspeed ordinary shares. Airspeed, retained its identity as a separate company though as a wholly owned subsidiary of de Havilland.
Around 1943, presumably to reduce the risk of Luftwaffe bombing, a new dispersed design office was opened at Fairmile Manor in Cobham, Surrey; little is known of this establishment and nothing survives there today.
Airspeed's most productive period was during World War II. A graceful, twin-engined trainer-cum-light transport aircraft known as the AS10 Oxford which had a production run exceeding 8,500.
Almost 3,800 AS51 and AS58 Horsa military gliders were built for the Royal Air Force and its allies. Many of these made one-way journeys into occupied France as part of the D-Day landings, and later Holland for the Arnhem landing, towed from England behind aircraft such as the Douglas Dakota and Handley Page Halifax.
Read more about this topic: Airspeed Ltd.
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“The world is not black and white. More like black and grey.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)
“Our young people have come to look upon war as a kind of beneficent deity, which not only adds to the national honor but uplifts a nation and develops patriotism and courage. That is all true. But it is only fair, too, to let them know that the garments of the deity are filthy and that some of her influences debase and befoul a people.”
—Rebecca Harding Davis (1831–1910)