Airfields of 11 Group by Peter Jacobs

Author:Peter Jacobs
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783460311
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

Behind some suviving buildings, the Lympne Industrial Park nwow marks the site f the former airfield.

CHAPTER SIX

HORNCHURCH SECTOR SECTOR D

The far south-east of England was protected by the Hornchurch Sector, or Sector D, which included the area from the boundary with the Biggin Hill Sector and northwards to cover the Thames estuary. The shortest route across the Channel from northern France took the Luftwaffe across from Calais to Dover and many of the attacks on London passed through the Hornchurch Sector. Unsurprisingly, the airspace was often one of the busiest during the Battle of Britain. Geographically, there were five of No. 11 Group’s airfields within this sector, the most in any one sector. Hornchurch was the sector airfield and there were two forward operating airfields at Hawkinge and Manston.

Although the two other No. 11 Group airfields were geographically located in the Hornchurch Sector, Gravesend was used as a satellite airfield for Biggin Hill and Rochford as a satellite for both Hornchurch and North Weald during the Battle of Britain. In addition to the five No. 11 Group airfields, there were two Coastal Command airfields, Detling and Eastchurch. Their prime purpose was to provide operational airfields to help protect shipping in the Channel and to locate and counter any German raids from the sea. However, the location of both airfields south-east of London meant that both were occasionally used by No. 11 Group during the Battle of Britain and brief details are included for completeness.

Apart from the airfields, other targets of interest to the Luftwaffe within the sector were the radar sites at Dover, Foreness and Dunkirk. There were large anti-aircraft batteries near Dover and Margate, as well as on either side of the Thames estuary covering the eastern approach to London. There was also an Observer Corps centre near Detling.

No visit to this sector would be complete without calling at the National Memorial to the Battle of Britain at Capel-le-Ferne. It is situated just to the north of Folkestone, close to the former Battle of Britain airfield at Hawkinge, and details of that are also included in this chapter.

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