YEOVIL NEWS: A Quiet Country Town – 100 Years of Westland

A NEW book has been written looking back at the first 100 years of aircraft being designed, manufactured and tested at Yeovil.

Many famous aircraft have been built by Westland since 1915 – including the Lysander which was used to transport British agents to Europe during the Second World War.

PHOTO – TOP: The Westland factory in 1947. How times have changed.

PHOTO – RIGHT: The book cover.

Since 1948 the company has been concerned solely with helicopters to become the UK’s only helicopter manufacturer and Westland is by the far the largest employer in what is otherwise very much a rural area.

To celebrate the centenary, the Westland Company historian David Gibbings has collated an anthology of writings re-telling events of the past 100 years.

These will tell the story of a high-tech industry and the company’s relationship with Yeovil – which has rarely been quiet since the first aircraft took off from the airfield that now lies at its heart.

The book, published by The History Press, is illustrated with photographs and line-drawings.

A Quiet Country Town: 100 Years of Westland at Yeovil is priced £16.99.

PHOTO – ABOVE: The first flight over Everest team with Arthur Davenport, Harold Penrose and Robert Bruce.

PHOTO – ABOVE: The awesome Apache carries missiles, rockets and a 37mm cannon, plus radar and video detection systems.

PHOTO – ABOVE: The Lysander production beginning to ramp up for the war – but the Lysander fared badly when up against the German Luftwaffe.

PHOTO – ABOVE: The Westland 30 was at the heart of the “Westland Affair.”

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