{"id":1195,"date":"2024-09-09T19:24:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T19:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghosts-of-war.com\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2024-10-18T06:12:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T06:12:48","slug":"searching-for-the-few-part-iii-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ghosts-of-war.com\/?p=1195","title":{"rendered":"Searching for The few Part III, England"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RAF Hawkinge and the Kent Battle of Britain Museum <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"Hurricanes<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It was a short train ride from Ashford to my new base at Folkestone, and with a few hours to kill before I could check in to my accommodation, I headed to the town\u2019s clifftop promenade. The weekend\u2019s rainy weather had finally cleared, and a wan sun shone over the town. I sat on a bench munching a sandwich as a steady flow of walkers passed by. I overheard one lady say to another \u2018Ooh I\u2019m thirsty today. You have to keep hydrated in this weather<\/em>\u2019. I checked the current temperature on the phone and smiled to myself: 17 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking out from the cliffs at Folkestone, I could make out the coast of France. Seeing for myself how narrow the Channel is at this point, it was easy to understand why this part of England was the ‘front line’ during the Battle of Britain. In 1940, No. 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command, was responsible for the south-east coast of England, and one of its airfields was RAF Hawkinge, less than five kilometres north of Folkestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of days after arriving at Folkestone I caught the bus to what was once RAF Hawkinge. Walking from the bus stop to the site, I wondered if had the address wrong. I was in the middle of neat and tidy suburbia, with red brick semi-detached houses lining the streets. I knew that most of Hawkinge Aerodrome had been developed since the land was sold by the RAF in 19641<\/sup>, but I still couldn\u2019t reconcile the area around me with a World War II airfield. But sure enough, turning a corner I saw the entry to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum. Walking through the gates, it occurred to me that it was the 10th<\/sup> of July, 84 years to the day since the Battle of Britain had begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was welcomed by a couple of staff members at the small ticket office and gift shop. As I paid my entrance fee, one of the volunteers explained that photography was not permitted inside the Museum. This was due to both security reasons (other aviation Museums had been broken into and had items stolen, and staff had reason to believe that the Kent Battle of Britain Museum may have been \u2018cased\u2019), and the wishes of those who had donated items to the collection. Having read about the photography ban on the Museum\u2019s website, I had brought a pad and pen to make some notes, something that is encouraged by the management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Paddy<\/figure>
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Making my way through the gift shop I stepped out into the Museum grounds. To my left, three replica Hurricanes stood on the lush green lawn in the bright sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing by the path on the way to the first exhibit hall, the \u2018Stuart-Buttle Hangar\u2019, was a brass statue of an airman. His hands tucked inside his life jacket, he leans back, eyes up to the sky. The pilot is Group Captain John Hemingway DFC AE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(At the end of my visit, I was permitted to take photographs in the Museum grounds)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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John Allman Hemingway was born in Dublin, and joined the RAF before the outbreak of WWII. Group Captain Hemingway flew Hurricanes with No. 85 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. Accredited with two aerial victories in May 1940, he was himself shot down twice during the Battle. Gp Cpt Hemingway remained with the RAF after the war, retiring in 1969.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘I don’t think we ever assumed greatness of any form…We were doing a job we were employed to do. We just went up and did the best we could…Every day, off you went. When you took off you knew some of you would come back – and some of you wouldn’t…I was shot down many times but I’m still here. So many others were shot down first time and that was the end of them. I was lucky. And I’m still lucky<\/em>‘. Grp Cpt John Hemingway3<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Paddy\u2019 Hemingway is the last known surviving airman from the Battle of Britain; the \u2018Last Of The Few\u2019. He lives in Dublin, Ireland, and will turn 105 this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the Hangar, a small sign had been posted just inside the door, listing some facts and statistics regarding the Battle of Britain. The sign may have been a simple black and white laminated sheet, but its contents were striking.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Paddy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From the 10th<\/sup> July to the 31st<\/sup> of October, 2938 Allied airman had flown at least one sortie during the Battle of Britain, 544 of which were killed or died of wounds: nearly 20 percent, or one in every 5, of those who flew. (A further 422 were wounded, meaning one in three airmen became casualties4<\/sup>). The Museum information also stated that 2698 members of the Luftwaffe were killed over the course of the Battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stuart-Buttle Hangar was crammed full of aircraft, vehicles, artefacts, and a series of engines recovered from crash sites. The complete aircraft on display were replicas, many of which had been used in the 1969 movie The Battle of Britain. <\/em>One of the staff members later told me that some of the \u2018aerodrome\u2019 scenes in the movie had been filmed at Hawkinge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the many engines on display had been recovered from a Spitfire crash site in 1971. The force of the crash had twisted the Rolls Royce Merlin Mk III\u2019s V12 along its longitudinal axis, squashing its exhaust ports like empty plastic milk bottles. The engine had belonged to Mk I Spitfire R6713 of No. 65 Squadron RAF. Flying Officer Franciszek Gruszka was flying R6713 on the 18th<\/sup> of August, 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow No. 65 Squadron pilot Flying Officer Jeffrey Quill stated \u2018The 18<\/em>th<\/em><\/sup> August was a hectic day, and once combat was joined, our two Poles were inclined to go chasing off on their own, so determined were they to get at the enemy. Gruszka sadly failed to return from our lunchtime engagement over Kent, and as we received no reports of any Spitfires having crashed inland, assumed that he must have crashed into the sea<\/em>\u2019.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flying Officer Franciszek Gruszka was born in Lwow, Poland, and graduated from the Polish Air Force ‘School of Eagles’ in 1934. After flying against the Luftwaffe during the invasion of Poland F\/O Gruszka escaped to England, arriving in December 1939. He was assigned to No. 65 Squadron RAF flying Spitfires. He was 30 years old when he was killed on 18th<\/sup> August 1940, his remains being recovered during the excavation of his aircraft in 1971. F\/O Gruszka is buried at Northwood Cemetery in Middlesex.6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘To die here is very easy and sooner or later the same thing is waiting for me…tell my family…that I fought for freedom of our Homeland and fulfilled my obligation. I loved it the best I could, and if I gave my life, I gave it for your life and the whole generations…<\/em>‘ F\/O Franciszek Gruska, letter to a friend, August 19407<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Walking along the rows of exhibits, I stopped at a photo that was taken outside the Officer\u2019s Mess at Tangmere Aerodrome (located on the outskirts of Chichester, West Sussex) on the 7th<\/sup> of September, 1940. Five pilots of No. 43 Squadron are in deck chairs, with a further three airmen standing behind leaning on the seat frames. It\u2019s a sunny day, and the pilots look relaxed as they smile at the camera. The Museum information accompanying the photo stated that two of the pilots, Flight Lieutenant Dick Reynell and Squadron Leader Caesar Hull, were killed \u2018…within three hours of this photograph being taken<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Squadron Leader Caesar Barrand Hull was born in Southern Rhodesia, and moved to England to join the RAF in 1935. During the Battle of Britain, he took command of No. 43 Squadron RAF on 31st August 1940. Flying a Hurricane, Sqn Ldr Hull destroyed three enemy aircraft within a week. He died after being shot down over south London on September the 7th. 8<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lieutenant Richard Carew Reynell was born in Reynella, South Australia. He travelled to England to attend Oxford University, where he joined the University Air Squadron before transferring to the RAF in 1931. He later left the RAF for a stint as a test pilot (during which he remained a RAF reservist), before re-joining at the outbreak of the war. Lt Reynell was assigned to No. 42 Squadron RAF, flying Hurricanes, in late August 1940. During the Battle of Britain he was credited with one aerial victory and several ‘probables’. He was killed on the 7th of September during combat over south London.9<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Turning from the photo, I looked at the line of engines in the display hall. Taking a couple of steps, I glanced into the adjoining hangar, to see more engines, and rows of cabinets filled with artefacts from crash sites. Most museums aim to educate and inform visitors with a representative sample of items pertaining to a particular theme. It appeared that the Kent Battle of Britain Museum had, conversely, committed to presenting information about, and artefacts from, as many Battle of Britain airmen and aircraft as they had space to display. Despite having just arrived, I already knew I was going to run out of time before I could see all the exhibits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the Museum\u2019s second display hall, the Lord Dowding Memorial Hangar, a series of large photographic portraits of older gentlemen overlooked the relatively intact remains of a crash-landed Messerschmitt Bf-109. In his photograph, Squadron Leader Tony Pickering is wearing overalls and standing in a large vegetable garden, whilst Flying Officer Kenneth Wilkinson is leaning on a putter on a practice green. Flight Lieutenant Albert Gregory has his hands in his pockets, standing outside a red brick unit with a tidy garden. Air Commodore Peter Brothers is standing on a neatly mowed lawn smoking a cigar. Flight Lieutenant Keith Lawrence sits with his hands out flat on a desk next to a small model of a Spitfire. He has long fingers which remind me of my father\u2019s. The photographs are candid and compelling. As I looked up at the faces of these men, I couldn’t help but wonder how their wartime service affected them over the course of their long lives. Being part of the Battle of Britain legend, I also wondered how much attention they received from the public, and how they felt about it, particularly as the years passed and the survivors were increasingly lionised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mounted in one of the Museum\u2019s display cases was a gramophone record. On the fourth day of the Battle of Britain, BBC journalist Charles Gardener had made a live recording from the White Cliffs of Dover. Gardner reported the action in real time as a German raid on Channel shipping developed into a \u2018dogfight\u2019 with the RAF overhead. Later, I found the same recording online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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