raf hornchurch

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by griffon65, May 31, 2010.

  1. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    have you any stories,big or small about raf hornchurch ?
    or any information on whats left of the airfield ?thanks
     
  2. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

  3. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

    They built a new housing development on the old site. (My ex wife had a house there just off Squadron's Approach) and lots of the roads close by are named after WW2 pilots. At the time, I was not really into WW2, so did not get too interested. There is a country park right next to the development and if you are able to get there, you may see some small reminders of it's past.

    Might go there in the Summer to get Headstone pics from local cemeteries and take a look myself.
     
  4. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

  5. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Stations-H

    A book here
    Amazon.co.uk: airfields of the northern home

    " Hornchurch finally closed on 1/7/62 and was soon sold ,part going for gravel extraction and part (the technical area) for redevelopment.including housing.There is now no trace of an airfield that played a key role in defending London in Two World Wars,although a number of roads carry names associated with the old airfield.
    Memorial Stone is in the grounds of R.J.Mitchell School the school is situated close to the station HQ building and is named after the Spitfire designer.

    a few links below

    Home

    UTM/Grid OS Map 177 TQ530845

    The Officers Mess, RAF Hornchurch:: OS grid TQ5284 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!

    RAF Hornchurch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  7. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    thanks everyone,i should of said,i lived in hornchurch till i was 23 ,i played in the trenches and tunnels and sketched pillboxes as a child(i havnt really grown up yet)
    i have all the r.c.smith books,which are excellent,he has answered a lot of questions for me,and one is signed by a 603 squadron pilot
     
  8. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    They built a new housing development on the old site. (My ex wife had a house there just off Squadron's Approach) and lots of the roads close by are named after WW2 pilots. At the time, I was not really into WW2, so did not get too interested. There is a country park right next to the development and if you are able to get there, you may see some small reminders of it's past.

    Might go there in the Summer to get Headstone pics from local cemeteries and take a look myself.

    st andrews church is the place to go
     
  9. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Hi Griffon65. The links in Ramacal and CL1's posts show pretty well what exists now. There are a few other buildings still standing, mostly former married quarters around the Southend Road/Wood Lane junction and of course the former Officers Mess on what is now Astra Close. The car park on the Country Park is one of the E-pans.
    I have a CAD plan of the airfield that I was doing for Richard C. Smith and if I can get my other computer sorted out I might be able to figure out how to post it!

    Ramacal - if you get a date sorted out to visit PM me and we'll meet up.

    Mike
     
  10. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    Hi Griffon65. The links in Ramacal and CL1's posts show pretty well what exists now. There are a few other buildings still standing, mostly former married quarters around the Southend Road/Wood Lane junction and of course the former Officers Mess on what is now Astra Close. The car park on the Country Park is one of the E-pans.
    I have a CAD plan of the airfield that I was doing for Richard C. Smith and if I can get my other computer sorted out I might be able to figure out how to post it!

    Mike

    hello,mike,i downloaded capt sensible's lidar report,which i have been going through,the tett turrets had interconnecting tunnels,we used to dare each other to go as far as our rear's would let us,behind the car park(blenheim e pen)is rubble of womens quarters,trench at the back(i can remember more defence structures there)the gun emplacement(in photos near,e pen) was a ex naval gun for defence against enemy tanks,where the swamp is,i used to look up and there was a gun emplacement dug into the cliff(more of a hill really)but when i go there now it all looks so diferent, natures winning that battle
     
  11. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    A visit to the Purfleet Heritage centre is worthwhile as they display several things from RAF Hornchurch including one pilots log book and the Stations operations room clock - an interesting story with the clock. It was thrown in a skip in the 1960's when work was being carried out. One worker retrieved it from the skip and took it home where it remained in his loft for many years until he died. When the loft was cleared by his son he discovered it and eventually sold to the Heritage Centre (for a considerable sum of money).
     
  12. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Stan50, thanks for that, hadn't heard that before.
    Griffon65, somehow I missed Capt Sensible's LIDAR pdfs, strange as we were in the middle of an exchange at the time. Probably didn't visit the forum for a day or two and it dropped off the front page. Got them now, very interesting (if perhaps a little disappointing in coverage/definition). Wish the LIDAR had been maybe 10 points/metre rather than 2 points/metre.
    Might try to meet Rob (ramacal) some time towards end of June (prob a Sat or Sun) to have a wander round the Country Park and surrounding area, also perhaps to see the cemetary at St Andrews. Fancy joining in? Will see if I can retrieve my CAD file by then.

    Mike
     
  13. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    A visit to the Purfleet Heritage centre is worthwhile as they display several things from RAF Hornchurch including one pilots log book and the Stations operations room clock - an interesting story with the clock. It was thrown in a skip in the 1960's when work was being carried out. One worker retrieved it from the skip and took it home where it remained in his loft for many years until he died. When the loft was cleared by his son he discovered it and eventually sold to the Heritage Centre (for a considerable sum of money).

    yes,purfleet is well worth a visit,if you go on the right day, you can meet ww2 raf hornchurch personel,one was kind enough to sign my hornchurch offensive book

    sounds about right,pulling the sector clock out of a skip,the treatment of raf hornchurch,after it closed wasnt very well thought out,
    i swear 40% of the local population,are not aware of its importance through two world wars,
    i would gladly be up to my knees in mud ,with a shovel ,finding items for purfleet,and i want a mental picture of what was where and if there are any secrets to uncover,because of the way the airfield was treated after it closed,im sure theres some forgotton gems .
     
  14. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    Stan50, thanks for that, hadn't heard that before.
    Griffon65, somehow I missed Capt Sensible's LIDAR pdfs, strange as we were in the middle of an exchange at the time. Probably didn't visit the forum for a day or two and it dropped off the front page. Got them now, very interesting (if perhaps a little disappointing in coverage/definition). Wish the LIDAR had been maybe 10 points/metre rather than 2 points/metre.
    Might try to meet Rob (ramacal) some time towards end of June (prob a Sat or Sun) to have a wander round the Country Park and surrounding area, also perhaps to see the cemetary at St Andrews. Fancy joining in? Will see if I can retrieve my CAD file by then.

    Mike

    i dont see why not mike,remind me nearer the time,
    have you chaps seen the 8 gun heavy aa gun site,chadwell heath?

    i like to know anything about ww2 defences essex in 1940,stop lines,etc ,to build that mental picture,it wasnt all dads army.
     
  15. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Griffon, I will keep you posted.
    Not seen the site in Chadwell Heath but there are apparently some quite good AA battery remains close to Coalhouse Fort, East Tilbury (but on private land I believe). Also in East Tilbury very good remains of a Quick Firing battery (again on private land) apart from the main fort itself. Couple of spigot mortar posts outside the fort and just along the river front a few other WW1/2 structures.
    Found (half of!) a spigot mortar post on Stataion Lane Hornchurch, appears to have been RAF Regt/Home Guard airfield defence. Would like to hear about any other fairly local sites. Sounds like a new thread coming on!

    Mike
     
  16. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    Griffon, I will keep you posted.
    Not seen the site in Chadwell Heath but there are apparently some quite good AA battery remains close to Coalhouse Fort, East Tilbury (but on private land I believe). Also in East Tilbury very good remains of a Quick Firing battery (again on private land) apart from the main fort itself. Couple of spigot mortar posts outside the fort and just along the river front a few other WW1/2 structures.
    Found (half of!) a spigot mortar post on Stataion Lane Hornchurch, appears to have been RAF Regt/Home Guard airfield defence. Would like to hear about any other fairly local sites. Sounds like a new thread coming on!

    Mike

    see this is exactly why i joined this fine forum,i lived in devonshire rd for years,what m/spigot?near station?
    the chadwell heath site is special,its an 8 gun site not 4,its fenced off and on gravel pit land(domestic area is gone,they got a german 1000 kg bomb aswell as gravel)the gravel pit chaps will let you have a lookt,they have open days
    .there are mountings for different guns,the biggest gun was known to the locals as whalebone winnie,the wooden racking for ammunition exists in places,it was also used as a pow camp late in the war,
    its 200 yards towards hainault from the a12 at moby dick ,whalebone lane,on the right.look on google earth,youll go wow,i did
    heres a photo i took ,it doesnt do it justice,google earth does
     

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  17. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Wow - I must get along and take a shufti at those, thanks.
    Re the Station Lane spigot it's very difficult to spot unless you know it's there. It's half gone, the other half built into a retaining wall where the old tennis courts used to be at 'White Hart' end of Station Lane, opposite the end of The Avenue (if that makes sense).
    I have walked past it hundreds of times but only noticed the remains and a small plaque in the wall after talking to someone from Havering Council (she didn't know what a spigot mortar was so I gave her some info).
    And yes - this is why I joined WW2talk as well!
    Have you seen the 'Mystery plaque' thread? Put that and Hornchurch in the search function.

    Mike
     
  18. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    Wow - I must get along and take a shufti at those, thanks.
    Re the Station Lane spigot it's very difficult to spot unless you know it's there. It's half gone, the other half built into a retaining wall where the old tennis courts used to be at 'White Hart' end of Station Lane, opposite the end of The Avenue (if that makes sense).
    I have walked past it hundreds of times but only noticed the remains and a small plaque in the wall after talking to someone from Havering Council (she didn't know what a spigot mortar was so I gave her some info).
    And yes - this is why I joined WW2talk as well!
    Have you seen the 'Mystery plaque' thread? Put that and Hornchurch in the search function.

    Mike

    i looked at mystery plaque thread,reads like a good detective story,some great work by many minds
    so what is the plaque about at station lane,there are mortar spigots at romford golf club,i think it was a regiment hq during ww2
     
  19. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Another site for investigation eh?
    If you can make it for the Airfield visit we can take in the spigot site - it's not much to see to be honest but it's a bit of local history.
    I have a project in mind re local HG etc. Found a few things but as usual too little time. I am involved with a couple of other areas of research at the moment.

    Mike
     
  20. griffon65

    griffon65 Junior Member

    regarding chadwell heath aa site ,i found this on bbc people's war,i it seems rockets were fired from this site
     

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