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.
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