103 MU at Aboukir

[Graham Boak]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

Sounds strange to me though, since their foremost task after all was to maintain the aeroplanes in an as fit shape as possible, that is to overhaul them and send them back to operational units. I can fully understand that they were capable of minor modifications as might be needed, but somehow my feeling is that the British didn't do a lot of major modifications in the field.
Stig

In this case, you must add the receipt of aircraft into the theatre, and adoption of specific modifications (including paint schemes) that had been found desirable on local operations but had not (yet?) worked their way onto production lines in the UK. Given that production lines were under pressure to standardise production to maximise numbers, such a unit would (and did) prove particularly valuable.

One American equivalent would be the 8th AF Base Aerial Depots at Burtonwood and Warton.

Your feeling certainly reflects what I've encountered, with some notable exceptions, but I think you have to distinguish "in the field" from "in theatre".