MAZO,later EGWO
Lat/Long50 49 05N/01 18 53W .
0 feet ASL.
Airfield Ident "CZ"
Opened by the Royal Flying Corps as Calshot Naval Air Station on 29th March 1913 under the command of Lieut. S. D. A. Grey,the original purpose of Calshot was the testing of seaplanes for the RFC Naval wing.The picture postcard below shows Lt Grey's aircraft being beached - presumably at Calshot. Below that Lt Grey in another machine taxying.
With the advent of the Great War(WW1)the station undertook aircrew training duties as well anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols.
With the renaming of the RFC ,the station eventually became RAF Calshot on 5th February 1922.
Between the wars the station continued with training,testing etc.Extra excitement came in the form of the RAF High Speed Flight which visited in 1927, 1929 and 1931 in order to train for the Schneider Trophy Races.
ABOVE: a 1939 photo showing a group of Public Schools Officer Training Corps at Calshot, just off to lunch after a tour of the base.From the gentlemen at Air Britain Information Exchange(ABIX) we have learned that the flying boat at front left is a Short Singapore Mk II or Mk.III,with another of the same behind it .On the right is a Short Stranraer.It has been suggested(and no more than that) that the front Singapore may be K6920 which was in a take-off incident on 6-7-39 and SOC Sept 1939.(Photo from Gordon Thorburn)
During WW2 the station was mainly concerned withe the repair,maintenance and modification of RAF flying boats.In addition the station was responsible for marine craft maintenance as well as training boat crews.With the end of the war Calshot continued to be mainly concerned with repairs an maintenance until it was closed on 1st April 1961.Since that date there have been rare visits by even rarer flying boats,but as the surviving aircraft number less with each passing year,such visits become less likely.
