Please, can anyone tell me:
* was Wilmington put to any use during WW2?
* it it was, what use was this?
* if it was not, why was this?
* am I correct in my understanding that it did not re-open after WW2?
* if my understanding is erroneous, in what year did flying activity there cease?
* if my understanding is correct, why did it not re-open?
* when was the infrastructure removed from the aerodrome site?
In the hope of response, my thanks are offered in anticipation.
By: avion ancien - 11th March 2010 at 23:06
Having visited the site on a wet February afternoon, I am left wondering why it might have appealed to the Tiger Club. But if I go back there on a summer day, probably I’ll realise why it appealed to the Tiger Club in the late 1980s and the Sussex Aero Club and the Eastbourne Flying Club in the 1930s.
By: avion ancien - 3rd June 2009 at 11:06
As it seems that no-one out there can shed light in my gloom (darkness would be too pessimistic a word!), I’ll wrap up this thread by saying that an octogenarian local, to whom I spoke this morning, confirmed to me that the Tiger Club’s abortive airfield planning application did relate to exactly the same site as that which had been Wilmington Aerodrome before WW2.
By: avion ancien - 31st May 2009 at 22:53
Yes, Wilmington was considered as a base for the Tiger Club after its departure from Redhill. The application for planning permission, to establish a runway and convert a farm building to a hangar, was rejected by Wealden District Council and the rejection was upheld on appeal in 1989. AONB and noise problems were, I believe, the reasons. However I think – but I am not yet sure – that this application related to a different site from that on which the pre WW2 Wilmington Aerodrome was situated. The appeal site is described as Milton Street Farm, Milton Street, Wilmington. The postal address for the farm is further south than the pre WW2 aerodrome site, which was closer to the A27 at Milton Gate. However as the two locations are sufficiently close together, and the land comprising the farm may be significant, the actual appeal site and the pre WW2 aerodrome site may be one and the same. Unfortunately I have not yet accessed any of the planning application/appeal documents and I am waiting for a pre-war map and a post-war aerial photograph of the aerodrome site.
Can anyone involved with the Tiger Club shed more light here?
By: avion ancien - 29th May 2009 at 11:37
Yes, Wilmington was considered as a base for the Tiger Club after its departure from Redhill. The application for planning permission, to establish a runway and convert a farm building to a hangar, was rejected by Wealden District Council and the rejection was upheld on appeal in 1989. AONB and noise problems were, I believe, the reasons. However I think – but I am not yet sure – that this application related to a different site from that on which the pre WW2 Wilmington Aerodrome was situated. The appeal site is described as Milton Street Farm, Milton Street, Wilmington. The postal address for the farm is further south than the pre WW2 aerodrome site, which was closer to the A27 at Milton Gate. However as the two locations are sufficiently close together, and the land comprising the farm may be significant, the actual appeal site and the pre WW2 aerodrome site may be one and the same. Unfortunately I have not yet accessed any of the planning application/appeal documents and I am waiting for a pre-war map and a post-war aerial photograph of the aerodrome site.
By: Willip26 - 25th May 2009 at 13:55
Wasn’t it Wilmington that was explored as a proposed new base for the Tiger Club after they had to move out of Redhill?
IIRC there were problems with local objectors, which knocked the idea on the head, but a lot of time and effort was spent investigating the possibility and an exploratory landing made by Michael Jones in a Super Cub before they settled on Headcorn as their new home instead.
Wicked Willip :diablo:
By: bazv - 16th May 2009 at 21:08
little bit about a pill box here…
By: mike currill - 16th May 2009 at 20:45
REME stands for Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. They are basically the Army’s vehicle mechanics so this could have been used by them as a workshop. If they only used the one building the chances are that it was a Regimental LAD (Light Aid Detachment) size unit of about 50-60 military personnel plus probably the same in civilian staff.
By: avion ancien - 16th May 2009 at 18:13
Subsequent to my original post, it seems that some of my questions have been answered (thank you, Eastbourne Library!). Apparently the aerodrome was considered too small for use by the RAF for flying but the site was utilised by the REME (for what purpose?) with the clubhouse being used as the Officers’ Mess. It does appear that I am correct in my understanding that the aerodrome did not re-open after WW2 but I still don’t know why or when the infrastructure was removed.
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May 16, 2009 at 4:11 pm