I recently came across a very large crop mark on the site of Swingate Down airfield, Dover and beside the later radar station compound. Kent HER have spoken to someone who identified it as "a big identification ‘badge’ with the name of a nearby airfield on it that probably dates to the 1920s". The circle is 460ft (140m) across and there seem to be rings of dark dots both inside and outside of the circle. Does anybody have any evidence that such a thing existed? It seems rather large and I feel that it may be something much older.
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I am not sure it is in the correct place for the WWI aerodrome, which I think was further east and north of the old military prison, the eastern boundary being the the long-disused railway. Had it been associated with the aerodrome then I would expect it to be roughly in the centre of the field. The AIR 1 plan does not show it at all which includes the golf course to the west and beyond that, the Dover-Deal Road and Fort Burgoyne.
You can tell a builder from an archaeologist by the size of his trowel. Mine is a small one!
Last edit: 30 Sep 2019 19:35 by Paul Francis.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Bunkertastic
Many thanks for the information. I had just decided that the mark probably showed something prehistoric when I came across this 1940 image of Manston which shows concentric circles of the same size. To add to the confusion this one IS recorded on Kent HER as a ring ditch at TR 3360 6610 (monument number TR 36 NW 245). Could they both possibly be connected with very early bombing practice, where the target itself was actually on the airfield? I have no idea what a target of this period might look like. If not then it could just be a coincidence that flat hilltop sites suit both uses.
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Airfield bombing targets tended to be much smaller with the late 1930s design being 40ft diameter. Earlier ones varied in design and size but were not as large as that to my knowledge. Having looked at that many times I suspect it was something to do with Manston's parachute school in the pre-war period.
Below is the pre war target at Scampton
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
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Last edit: 04 Oct 2019 08:53 by Peter Kirk.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Bunkertastic
I knew I'd seen an aerial photo of St Margaret's aerodrome. This shows the aerodrome marking which probably doubled as a target but is definitely much smaller than the crop mark.
I knew I'd seen an aerial photo of St Margaret's aerodrome. This shows the aerodrome marking which probably doubled as a target but is definitely much smaller than the crop mark.
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