Location
Situated closer to London than the Farnborough aircraft establishment, and after the purchase of the Clement Bayard II airship from its French Designer, it was decided that a new base would be needed.
The site of land located at Wormwood Scrubs, situated east of East Acton, North of White City, and West of Ladbrook Grove on the western side of Central London, was a perfect spot.
Construction of the shed began on 15th July 1909, supported and funded by the Newspaper, the Daily Mail, which had assisted in the purchase of the Clement Bayard ship, the site became known locally as the Daily Mail Airship “Garage”.
Operational Life
The Clement Bayard ship was completed in August of 1909; however, the ship did not arrive in London until nearly a year after the shed had been completed due to steering difficulties and underperformance of the engines.
The ship arrived in October 1910; however was not long afterwards dismantled and deflated, having never made a single flight from its new London home.
The shed itself, over the next few year,s had little use as an airship hangar but was put to use as an army storage facility. I
In the pre-war years, it only saw the visit of the army airship “Gama”, from the Farnborough airship shed in 1912.
During the First World War, the site and shed were handed to the Admiralty and renamed RNAS Wormwood Scrubs.
At this time, the shed was mainly used as a constructional shed for the new Submarine Scout class airship, where they would be assembled, tested, but not flown, and often shipped out to other RNAS stations by rail.
Final Life and Today
The site was later closed in 1919 after the armistice, but was retained in the 1930s as a site for an emergency landing ground close to central London for any aircraft.
Today, the site is occupied by the Linford Christie Athletic Stadium.