Fairey Aviation at Hamble

1940

Fairey Aviation was one of several aircraft companies that operated at Hamble during and after the Second World War. The Hamble airfield, situated on the flat land of the peninsula, provided the runway and workshop facilities needed for aircraft manufacturing, assembly, and testing. Fairey Aviation used the site for the production and testing of various aircraft types, contributing to the war effort and later to post-war aviation development. The company was known for the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber and the Fairey Firefly, among other types. The Hamble facility provided employment for hundreds of local workers and brought a significant industrial presence to what had been a quiet riverside village. The aviation industry transformed Hamble during the mid-twentieth century, bringing new workers, new housing, and a new economic base that supplemented and eventually overshadowed the traditional maritime trades. After the war, the aviation industry at Hamble continued in various forms, with different companies operating from the airfield site. The Hamble College of Air Training (later the Air Service Training college) operated from the site, training pilots and aviation engineers. The airfield eventually closed and was developed for housing, but the aviation heritage is remembered as a defining period in the village's twentieth-century history.