Battle of Britain 1940: RAF Airfields from Dover to Uxbridge

Dover Castle stands in Dover, on the Channel coast that the Battle of Britain was fought over. In May 1940 Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay directed the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels. The battle itself is dated by the British from 10 July to 31 October 1940, and the Luftwaffe's attacks on Channel shipping, the Kanalkampf, had already begun on 4 July. A statue of Ramsay stands outside the tunnels in honour of his work.

訪問のヒント: The Ramsay statue stands outside the cliff tunnels.

Hawkinge sits about seven miles west of Dover. It was so severely damaged by bombing and machine-gun attacks during the Battle of Britain that it had to be abandoned temporarily. Hawkinge Cemetery lies near the airfield, and its war graves include 59 German graves. The site is now largely a housing estate, and the Kent Battle of Britain Museum stands on part of it.

訪問のヒント: The Kent Battle of Britain Museum is on the former airfield.

Manston, on the Kent coast, took the worst of it in August 1940: diary entries recorded a steady stream of damage to aircraft and buildings. Unexploded bombs littered the station, and many staff moved to nearby woods for at least a week. Two museums now stand on the former airfield, the RAF Manston History Museum and the Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum.

訪問のヒント: The two museums sit in a cluster on the north side of the former airfield.

On 16 August 1940 hundreds of Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers and fighters crossed the English coast and attacked Tangmere: the first and worst raid on the station. Fourteen ground staff and six civilians were killed, but the station was kept in service and brought back to full operation. Today the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum stands on the old airfield, with a replica Spitfire and Hurricane alongside many original aircraft.

訪問のヒント: Tangmere Military Aviation Museum is on the former airfield.

Kenley was one of three main fighter stations, with Croydon and Biggin Hill, defending London. The attack of 18 August 1940 is often cited as the hardest day of the battle: the British lost 68 aircraft and the Germans 69. At Kenley, hangars, other buildings and ten aircraft were destroyed, and the Sector Operations Room had to be moved to an emergency location. The airfield is still in use by the Ministry of Defence and a gliding club.

訪問のヒント: The airfield is active, used for gliding; check access before going.

Biggin Hill's squadrons claimed 1,400 enemy aircraft at the cost of 453 aircrew. Because it defended London, the airfield itself became a target: it was attacked twelve times between August 1940 and January 1941, the worst raid killing 39 people on the ground. Today the airport is civilian, and beside the small RAF enclave stands St George's Chapel of Remembrance, a brick chapel built in 1951.

訪問のヒント: St George's Chapel of Remembrance stands in the RAF enclave on the airport's western edge.

Hornchurch was a sector airfield of 11 Group and was raided on no less than twenty occasions. Richard Hillary, author of The Last Enemy, was based here from 27 August 1940, claimed five kills in a week, then was shot down on 3 September; he survived. The airfield is now Hornchurch Country Park, where the largest number of surviving Tett Turrets in England, along with pillboxes and gun positions, still stand within the former boundaries.

訪問のヒント: Defences can be seen on the eastern edge of Hornchurch Country Park.

The 11 Group Operations Room was built 60 feet underground, reached by 76 steps. On 15 September 1940, the fiercest day of the battle, Churchill watched here. As the last squadrons went up he asked Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, "How many reserves have we?" Park answered, "There are none." The visitor centre above ground opened in March 2018.

訪問のヒント: The Battle of Britain Bunker is open to visitors; its visitor centre opened in 2018.