Walmer / Hawksdown

[CJH]

1917
Following an incident, when 2 German seaplanes carrying torpedoes had hit a ship at the north of the Downs, a telephone message from the Admiralty saying that a new aerodrome was needed in close proximity to the Channel as a protection against attacks by German aeroplanes on shipping in the Downs.

A suitable site was quickly found and established in May on fifty-seven acres of Hawkshill Down, between Kingsdown and Walmer and just to the south of Walmer Castle. Six of the best pilots who had been serving in France, were transferred to form the Walmer Defence Flight equipped with a mix of the current aircraft types to protecting shipping but was also engaged in Home Defence.

The airfield was at first provided with Bessonneau hangars, but these were replaced by 3 wooden aeroplane-sheds. Wooden huts and a number of requisitioned buildings were used for accommodation and other airfield needs. In November No 3 Naval Squadron arrived

1918
In January No 3 Squadron departed and the Walmer Flight became a part of the newly formed No 6 Naval Squadron, with it’s HQ located at Dover. March saw the departure of No 4 Naval Squadron and the arrival of No 8 Naval Squadron with it’s Camels. On 1 April the Naval airfields in Dover and Walmer were turned over to the RAF and the Naval Squadrons departed.

On 14 June No 471 Flight formed at Walmer in No 5 Group equipped with Sopwith Camels to fly coastal patrols, a role which continued to the end of the war. On 31 August 1918 Nos 407 (seaplane) & 491 (Light Bomber) Flights at Dover and No 471 (Fighter) Flight at Walmer were amalgamated to form No 233 Squadron.

From September No.2 Observer School, based at Manston, had a detachment at Walmer.

1919
On 1 March No 491 Flight disbanded, on 17 March No 471 Flight disbanded and on
31 March No 407 Flight disbanded at Walmer.
During the summer the No 2 Observers School detachment was withdrawn and Walmer was abandoned, and with the area returned to agriculture it’s existence was soon forgotten, although the area was used during the second World War as an RAF MT location.

A memorial was erected in 1920, one of the first such tributes, to those who had served at Walmer during World War One.

The airmen commemorated by the memorial are:
Flt Cmdr. F C Armstrong, DSC - Missing (believed killed) 25/3/18.
Flt Sub Lt. F E Bayley, DFC - Killed 23/10/18.
Flt Sub Lt. E J K Buckley, Two Foreign - Killed in action 28/9/17.
Flt Comdr. S T Edwards, DSC and bar - Died (Aero accident) 22/11/18.
Lieut. J E Green - Killed 5/11/18.
Flt Lt. E T Hayne, DSC - Killed (Aero accident) 24/4/19.
Lieut. C R R Hickey - Accidentally killed.
Flt Lt. R A S Hill - Missing 12/8/19.
Flt Comdr. R A Little, DSO and bar, USC and bar - Killed in action 27/5/18.
Flt Lt. J G Manuel, DSC - Dead 10/6/18.
A/FIt Comdr. R McDonald - Died 8/5/18.
Flt Lt. L A Sands - Missing 23/3/18.
Flt Lt. A J B Tonks, DFC and bar - Died 14/7/19.
Sqd Comdr. T C Vernon - Died of wounds 15/9/17.
Flt Comdr. R R Winter - Killed in action 3/2/18.
Flt Sub Lt. D R C Wright - Killed 23/12/17.

When unveiled in 1920, the memorial stood in a railed enclosure planted with flowers, resting on two stone steps. It was described

"... as of English oak, with thatched roof. Between the two uprights is a glazed panel, on which are inscribed the names of the officers commemorated together with appropriately selected verses and prayers. Above is a red lantern, which Lady Beauchamp has kindly arranged to have lighted on the birthday, where known, and on the anniversary of the death, of each of the officers whose names appear on the memorial. Trees form a leafy background to the memorial enclosure. A coloured figure is painted on each upright of the memorial, on either side of the inscribed panel, one figure representing 'Waiting' and the other 'Watching'."

On the side of the panel facing the sea is an inscription, surmounted by the crest of the R.N.A.S.: "We pray you remember in the Lord these gallant airmen, who gave their lives in France, and who were stationed at this aerodrome - April 1917-October 1918".

In November 2005 members of the South Foreland Rotary Club helped Walmer Parish Council to clean up, replant and repaint the dilapidated Memorial and restore it to a more fitting state.


I'm going down to Kingsdown in a week or so - will get some images.

Chris

[CJH]

Taken from http://www.walmerweb.co.uk/history/h...-memories.html

The RAF presence at Hawksdown was re-established in 1943 when a Radar establishment was constructed near the site of the WW1 Airfield.

Cyril Highman of Newport, Gwent, South Wales recalls how a radar facility at Walmer's Hawkshill Down ensured precision bombing. He writes:

"I can find very little about the history of Walmer during the war, a period when many of its residents were evacuated because of its close proximity to the French coast and the threat of German activity. Shelling from Cap Griz Nez was a persistent danger in this part of 'Hellfire Corner' of Kent extending from Sandwich almost to Folkestone.

"As a radar mechanic in the RAF, I was posted in early 1943 to a newly built radar station sited at Hawkshill Down. The South Forelands strip of the Kent coast provided the nearest point as the crow flies to the heavily industrialised Ruhr area of Germany. Attempts to bomb this prime target in the early part of the war had been mainly a failure using the navigational systems available to the RAF up to that time. The radar research establishment, having moved to Malvern College from Dorset, contrived a radio navigational system known under the cover name of 'Oboe'. This enabled mosquito aircraft to mark targets with a 90-yard accuracy at 250-mile range. These would be the pathfinders for the masses of heavy bombers now guided by coloured flares dropped by the pathfinders.

"Hawkshill laid down radio navigational beams, working with a sister station in Norfolk, and together they revolutionised the RAF bombing success in attacking German industrial and military targets. The part played by this site in helping to win the war was immense."

Cyril later added a footnote:
"As 'Oboe' developed and enlarged, new units were set up in Kingsdown using magnetron transmitters, not easily jammed by the Germans. From the original small complement of RAF types installed in private houses (I found myself with a nice family in Walmer Castle Road near the Drum public house), the station expanded its WAAF complement taking over some of the many large empty houses in the area."