RAF Durrington West Sussex

INFO on RAF Durrinton

Hi , all hope i can shed some light on this , i was one of the original youngsters that used to regularly play in the tunnels and once delved into the main ops room , even then it was dark damp and scary and as all kids once inside the imagination ran riot so you soon scarpered

Obviously i know the site very well and have dug there several times in recent years with local permission i might add all to no avail , i even used to have some plans of the layout and believe me it is far bigger than you would imagine its huge under there ,

My early recollections are of 4 metal vents sticking out of what is now the putting green , this is how we gained access by lifting off the vents , they were rusty and heavy and it took 4 of us , inside the vents were rusty metal ladders that you could easily cut your hands on which i did once or twice .

There were several entrances , one was inside from the main house and i believe it was covered up now and concreted over and you would never know it had been there, another was around 10 ft from the rear gardens of Kelso close my mate Andrew Perrot lived there and we used to bunk over his garden fence to play around there ,

There used to be a set of concrete steps down into the facility roughly to the right hand side of the Barn entrance by what was a water fountain a few years back , the metal door at the bottom was rusted shut with a padlock and was stuck fast may well have been welded , its all now covered over and part of the putting green access.

Back in the 90’s when my kids were young , I started on a quest to discover exactly what part it had portrayed during the war , over several years i gathered various plans and loads of history on the place, It is cloaked in a degree of secrecy , especially the purchaser shortly before the war started, after extensive research it appeared the name was fictitious and then the vast earth works started .

My plans and research have since been lost , but i know there are 6 miles of tunnels radiating out from Field place Putting green

One tunnel goes from the ops room to the entrance of field place Bolsover rd where there was a sentry box and then east all the way underneath the Boulevard to the above ground radar station at Palatine school Palatine road, you will often see the subsidence along the route, there even used to be another Air vent slap bang in the middle of palatine rd round about.

Another tunnel went from the Bolsover Rd sentry box underneath the railway line where it 3 way forked one way led to what is the inland revenue old buildings off Shaftebury Avenue which were under Raf control and i believe used as a hospital amongst other things , the other forked tunnel led across what is now the sports centre and came out to another senrty box come air raid shelter on the south east most part of the centre near what is now the kids play area

The other tunnel led along the railway line right up to West Worthing station with various air raid shelter openings along that route , they were still there in the late eighties but i believe the council have covered them over now

As you can see, this was no low key operation it was huge for its time, and I always found it uncanny how difficult it was to gain info from people who lived in that area at the time , but the few i spoke to who were well into their nineties said it was so hush hush and sentries posted everywhere with no go area’s , and all from a Private Buyer i dont think so !

A Huge sloping runway about a hundred yards long used for the approach to the underground storage rooms ran north west from the north side of the barn , Lorries used to run in and out of there , and this is where the two 20ft high metal doors were that were welded shut, and believed to be the entrance to huge underground storage which is now under the tennis courts.

it was well documented that towards the end of the war , as the build up to D Day was approaching the roads of Sussex were choked full of Tanks armoured carriers jeeps and troops , part of Field place (its main purpose now over) was used as a storage depot for equipment to be used in the D Day landings and there after support , and rumour has it that Around 500 US army Harley Davisons all crated were part of the remaining equipment that was left after the war had ended , the site abandoned and those huge doors welded up shut forever .

When i first came across that information, i laughed and dismissed it , but over the coming months and years of further research i realized that in fact it had been common practice in those days , many an Army or Airforce base had just dug huge holes in the ground and buried perfectly good equipment, in fact my Uncle Fred Brown who fought in several of the big campaigns North Africa D day with the yanks on the first wave of Omaha beach, and then right through France never de mobbed when most did but stayed in for 2 years after, he was sent back to North Africa for the big clear up
and he told me many a story of all the tanks guns and equipment loaded on to ships and taken out to sea and either shoved over the side or some ships were scuttled fully laden. So there could well be some truth about the Harley Davisons, what a find eh if you happened to get down there

Any one needs any more in depth info feel free to give me a pm

regards LCB

Laurence I work at what was called RAF Durrington, now Palatine School, I have some pictures of it including one from the war when the building was erected without windows which they thought made it bomb prove so no air raid shelters where ever built. Probably with me being an IT phobic if I can help further please contact me on [email]bchambers1@wsgfl.org.uk[/email]

the runway at raf durrington

Did the runway at RAF Durrington run north/south as visible as a dark green strip in the top left of this picture of West Worthing?

There was no runway at raf durrington the air field was at Ford West sussex where the runways do still exist although they are gradually building on it.

Hi,

Does anyone have any information regarding RAF Durrington and the satelite station at Field Place, which is a Country House during WWII. I beleive it may have been a mobile unit, but not sure and had connections with Poling RADAR.

Thanks.

Hi , all hope i can shed some light on this , i was one of the original youngsters that used to regularly play in the tunnels and once delved into the main ops room , even then it was dark damp and scary and as all kids once inside the imagination ran riot so you soon scarpered

Obviously i know the site very well and have dug there several times in recent years with local permission i might add all to no avail , i even used to have some plans of the layout and believe me it is far bigger than you would imagine its huge under there ,

My early recollections are of 4 metal vents sticking out of what is now the putting green , this is how we gained access by lifting off the vents , they were rusty and heavy and it took 4 of us , inside the vents were rusty metal ladders that you could easily cut your hands on which i did once or twice .

There were several entrances , one was inside from the main house and i believe it was covered up now and concreted over and you would never know it had been there, another was around 10 ft from the rear gardens of Kelso close my mate Andrew Perrot lived there and we used to bunk over his garden fence to play around there ,

There used to be a set of concrete steps down into the facility roughly to the right hand side of the Barn entrance by what was a water fountain a few years back , the metal door at the bottom was rusted shut with a padlock and was stuck fast may well have been welded , its all now covered over and part of the putting green access.

Back in the 90’s when my kids were young , I started on a quest to discover exactly what part it had portrayed during the war , over several years i gathered various plans and loads of history on the place, It is cloaked in a degree of secrecy , especially the purchaser shortly before the war started, after extensive research it appeared the name was fictitious and then the vast earth works started .

My plans and research have since been lost , but i know there are 6 miles of tunnels radiating out from Field place Putting green

One tunnel goes from the ops room to the entrance of field place Bolsover rd where there was a sentry box and then east all the way underneath the Boulevard to the above ground radar station at Palatine school Palatine road, you will often see the subsidence along the route, there even used to be another Air vent slap bang in the middle of palatine rd round about.

Another tunnel went from the Bolsover Rd sentry box underneath the railway line where it 3 way forked one way led to what is the inland revenue old buildings off Shaftebury Avenue which were under Raf control and i believe used as a hospital amongst other things , the other forked tunnel led across what is now the sports centre and came out to another senrty box come air raid shelter on the south east most part of the centre near what is now the kids play area

The other tunnel led along the railway line right up to West Worthing station with various air raid shelter openings along that route , they were still there in the late eighties but i believe the council have covered them over now

As you can see, this was no low key operation it was huge for its time, and I always found it uncanny how difficult it was to gain info from people who lived in that area at the time , but the few i spoke to who were well into their nineties said it was so hush hush and sentries posted everywhere with no go area’s , and all from a Private Buyer i dont think so !

A Huge sloping runway about a hundred yards long used for the approach to the underground storage rooms ran north west from the north side of the barn , Lorries used to run in and out of there , and this is where the two 20ft high metal doors were that were welded shut, and believed to be the entrance to huge underground storage which is now under the tennis courts.

it was well documented that towards the end of the war , as the build up to D Day was approaching the roads of Sussex were choked full of Tanks armoured carriers jeeps and troops , part of Field place (its main purpose now over) was used as a storage depot for equipment to be used in the D Day landings and there after support , and rumour has it that Around 500 US army Harley Davisons all crated were part of the remaining equipment that was left after the war had ended , the site abandoned and those huge doors welded up shut forever .

When i first came across that information, i laughed and dismissed it , but over the coming months and years of further research i realized that in fact it had been common practice in those days , many an Army or Airforce base had just dug huge holes in the ground and buried perfectly good equipment, in fact my Uncle Fred Brown who fought in several of the big campaigns North Africa D day with the yanks on the first wave of Omaha beach, and then right through France never de mobbed when most did but stayed in for 2 years after, he was sent back to North Africa for the big clear up
and he told me many a story of all the tanks guns and equipment loaded on to ships and taken out to sea and either shoved over the side or some ships were scuttled fully laden. So there could well be some truth about the Harley Davisons, what a find eh if you happened to get down there

Any one needs any more in depth info feel free to give me a pm

regards LCB

RAF Durrington was the first of six GCI stations covering England & controlled the night-fighter squadrons based at nearby RAF Tangmere. RAF Sopley controlled the night-fighter squadrons based at Middle Wallop & further west. http://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/gci/gcimap.htm

I had a look at Tangmere of Google Earth and although no longer used as an airfield you can clearly see the lines of the two runways there. What are the three hangers used for now?

Hi Tangmere1940,

Any luck with the photo yet?

Hello everyone. This is my first post in this forum. I stumbled across this topic during a search for RAF Durrington & registered to join the discussion. I live near Durrington & have often wondered about the exact whereabouts of the GCI station.

Unfortunately there’s not much information on the Internet but here’s what I’ve discovered so far. As pebblebeach has stated, the site is where the school is in Palatine Road. I believe this was formerly the site of the Selden county junior mixed and infant school which opened in a converted radar station in Palatine Road in 1951. This is now the Palatine Infants School. If this link works the red circle marks the spot. http://www.multimap.com/s/Ac9G6dW4
The built-up area between the school & Palatine Park was an undeveloped site during WWII. Note that Field Place is a short distance south, where the large word WEST is on the map. There are rumours that this was connected to the GCI site by a tunnel. I think it’s possible that the control room was located there.

I can’t find any photos of the GCI station at Durrington but there was a similar installation at RAF Sopley near Bournemouth in Hampshire. This page gives the history of CGI systems with lots of illustrations & photos of RAF Sopley. http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/s/sopley/index.html

RAF Durrington was the first of six GCI stations covering England & controlled the night-fighter squadrons based at nearby RAF Tangmere. RAF Sopley controlled the night-fighter squadrons based at Middle Wallop & further west. http://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/gci/gcimap.htm

Wing Commander Tom Pike (later Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas) was CO of 219 Squadron at RAF Tangmere from February to September 1941. His biography “Beaufighter Ace” refers to circling over the Worthing Beacon & being directed onto the target by Durrington control (call sign Flintlock) for his six victories during this time.

I’ll be interested if anyone can verify what I have so far or come up with more.

It wasn’t a flying field.

Did the runway at RAF Durrington run north/south as visible as a dark green strip in the top left of this picture of West Worthing?

Hi,

Sorry, but I made a mistake I have now been told that RAF Durrington was where the school is now in Palintine road, some of the school buildings are still the old ones from the war. There were no house’s just fields, although the road had been built. One tunnel was said to go from Field Place under the railway to where the Inland Rev is now. That site used to be lots of huts, poss a field hospital.

Hope it is clearer now.

He has an interesting story about walking along the seafront when a Ju88 is bounced by three Hurris’ after that. And apologies for getting his name wrong!

I found a page on the urban exploration site 28 Days Later on a trip to Durrington but damned if I can find it now, it had photos of what it looks like now. If I dig it up (see what I…) I’ll post a link.

[EDIT] I have my stupid head on today, it’s actually for Truleigh’s nuclear bunker

Hi All,

This is what PaulR refers to just the section that mentions RAF Durrington.
RAF 113 SQUADRON

F/Sgt Alan Baites
Instead we were posted to RAF Durrington, West Worthing, a top secret establishment which became the first mobile radar station in the world located on a road of a housing estate as yet unbuilt and surrounded by festoons of barbed wire were a group of camouflaged caravans: generator, A.I transmitter and receiver, operations room, VHF crystal controlled R/T van and Admin’ guarded by the Black Watch. The unit was not yet operational; our job was to operate the VHF.R/T, our call sign was boffin.

I think RAF Durrington was on the site that is now the Inland Revenue by the station at Durrington. The mobile unit may have been in the grounds of Field Place just across the road. Although there has always been talk about a secret bunker that was the communication centre beneath the ground which is now a putting green, with tunnels leading to Poling, the secret establishment and beyond.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/3611822.Author_convinced_Worthing_WW2_bunker_exists/

Any ideas?

Flight Sergeant Bates begs to differ. Not much info and no photos but some details of what went on their early in the war.

There was certainly a GCI site (mobile) at Durrington, but I don’t think it was ever “RAF Durrington”.

Any link to RAF Truleigh?

Hi,

Was the station at Durrington linked to RAF Truleigh – the Chain Home/Low site erected on the downs above Devil’s Dyke – where the TV repeater masts are these days?

I went to a talk on RAF Truleigh a few weeks ago, and no mention was made of any RAF site at Durrington, though the guy did mention links with the Radar station at Poling.

Paul F

Please, that would be brilliant.

Thank you.

I have somewhere a photo of Durrington mobile GCH Station if that helps?