Peter Sydenham who has long provided us with history of our site as his father was stationed here during the war has sent us an update about a memorial plaque and an account of a raid 75 years ago.

The 18th June 1944 incident at No 1 Balloon Command

On 6 June 1944 the D-Day invasion successfully landed in France. The German Air Force was no longer able to carry out the heavy bombing of Britain. People in London started to feel safe again. They could relax. However, Germany was able to start sending his first ‘V’engeance weapon, the V1 bomb or ‘doodlebug’, from launching ramps still out of reach of the advancing Allies. The first, of tens of thousands, of V1s landed in Britain on the 13 June. They targeted the London region. At its peak over 100 per day were sent. At 04:10 am 18 June, the Head Quarters hut of 901 Squadron took a near-direct hit by a V1 bomb. It was blown to smithereens leaving a large crater in its place. At that time its occupants were on duty or sleeping in bunks. These 2-tonne bombs had a blast radius of 400-600 yards. People and property close to it had no chance of survival, dying or being seriously injured by the blast or flying shrapnel. In this incident, it seems to be from official RAF records, that 10 persons were in that 20-foot long hut. My father, Corporal Henry Sydenham, told me later in life that of those people he was the only person to not be killed outright or to die in hospital on the days just ahead. He sustained a right leg injury when a 50mm round flat piece of shrapnel flew into his ankle, travelling half-way up the side of his femur bone. He said if he had not started to get out of his bunk he would have not been injured at all. It took years to heal satisfactorily. One person who was killed outright was not listed on Squadron’s Operations Record, his remains were eventually identified. Aerial photos taken of the site at the end of the war show a crater in the narrow road at a spot that is now in the Kidbrooke Park Allotments.A memorial to the No 1 Balloon Centre, and the 40 servicemen and women who gave their lives in service there, is being set up by the 75-year-old Barrage Balloon Reunion Club, in the Royal Aeronautical Society Heritage (RAeS) Award scheme. It is planned to be placed near the front gate of the Thomas Tallis School that is now built on that RAF Kidbrooke base.

They should not, and shall not, be forgotten.

The KPAA site has a rich history. It was part of the original land that comprised RAF Kidbrooke which operated in the area close to Kidbrooke Station from 1917 to 1965.

A large site RAF Kibdrooke had a diverse and distinguished history operating primarily as an RAF support base rather than an airfield. At various times in its history it functioned as a Stores Depot, Installation Unit for Chain Home Radar masts, Gliding School and Joint Services School for Linguists. During he Second World War Sqn. 901, 902 and 903 No. 1 Balloon Command of the Auxiliary Airforce operated from RAF Kidbrooke.

Balloon Command were established in 1938 to provide a ‘ring of steel’ to keep German bombers and fighters high up over London by flying barrage balloons. This remit extended during the war to cover all of the UK. By 1944 there were 3000 balloons in operation under Balloon Command. In that same year in order to combat the assault of V1 rockets being directed on London balloons were moved to form a defensive ring around south London. Up to 100 V1’s were snagged and stopped this way.

Serving in Balloon Command came with considerable risks for all personnel involved. Peter Sydenham whose father served at RAF Kidbrooke has researched and written extensively about the history of Barrage Ballooners and the site. This sadly includes a roll call of the those from Sqn 901, 902 and 903 who lost their lives in active service. He has written the following in remembrance of lives lost:

At 0410 hours, 18 June 1944, a V1 bomb landed on the HQ hut of Sqn 901 in the allotments.

At 0810 hours, 23 June 1944, at a spot likely to be the south of the railway line, a V1 made a direct hit on the HQ of ‘E’ Flight Sqn 901.

11 serving RAF personnel from Sqn. 901 lost their lives in these two incidents:

Frank Alfred Edwin Bartlett, age 43
Joy Burton, age 21
Percy Dodds, age 32
Ernest Robert Eldridge, age 45
Ernest Sidney Barrup Gent, age 32
John Phillip Hale Jacobs, age 40
Graham Christopher Maynard, age 47
John Constantine Peddrazzini, age 37
Walter Clark Robertson, age 34
R. Smalley, age 26
Frederick Thomas Waterman, age 40

More about Balloon Command can be found courtesy of The Barrage Balloon Reunion Club. This site also includes the fascinating and comprehensive work of Peter Sydenham on No. 1 Balloon Command at RAF Kidbrooke.

During the development of Kidbrooke Village, replacing the former Ferrier Estate roads were named to reflect the sites history. The Depot also acknowledges this history too.

If rain and wind keep me away from planting, weeding and harvesting I’ll write a post on The Sky Rockets. The illustrious dance band of No. 1 Balloon Command!