RAF West Kingsdown aka RAF Kingsdown

I am looking for any information on RAF West Kingsdown/ Kingsdown. It was a RAF Y Station during World War 2. The village of West Kingsdown is located in North Kent about 20 miles south of London and next door to Brands Hatch race circuit. The station was in two locations the first was on Fawkham Road in an old toy factory map ref TQ628581 and the second was in Hollywood Manor map ref TQ613578.

The CO for most of the stations life was a Wing Commander R K Budge and the Admin Officer was jean Conan Doyle. I am also told that and this has been confirmed by various articles that the station was also the Headquarters for the Y Service.

If anyone has any information on this station I would be grateful as many in the village of West Kingsdown are unaware of this important wartime site and I am going o try and keep the memory of the station and those who served there alive

Robyn wrote:

... TQ628581 TQ613578.

Hi Robyn - welcome to AiX. The NGRs above are useful - (though the northings and eastings need reversing to TQ581628 TQ578613)

There is some information from TNA file HW41/401 (Lists and locations of Y stations)

Kingsdown is listed as a single entity - a Main Intercept Station (though there are often two or more locations) It was in the War Office South Eastern Command, and was part of RAF No. 63 WI Unit. There is a pencilled note on at least two pages that it had 'moved to Canterbury', and the typed entry is crossed out in the November 1944 list, suggesting that it was no longer operational.

It's address was given as: 'Air Ministry W/T Station, Hollywood Manor, West Kingsdown, nr Sevenoaks Kent'. Two Cassini grid refs are provided. One is complete rubbish (there are many 'correction' memos issued in this document - especially for grid refs. The other one corresponds with Hollywood Manor.

I'm a little surprised that Kingsdown was the HQ for the 'Y' service since there were a large number of Naval, War Ofice and other bodies involved. I suspect it may have been HQ for No.63 Unit. I may be completely wrong.

There are a number of useful looking documents gaving browsed through the Kew catalogue:
Good luck with your research - look forward to finding out more as so little has been published on these vital units.

The station was in two locations as I mentioned. It moved from Fawkham Road (until October last year I live two doors away from the Fawkham Road location and didn't know that such an important site was only two doors away) sometime in late 1940/early 41 to Hollywood Manor. The references I have found refering West Kingsdown as the Y Service HQ come from the writings of people who served there. This is one of the links www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/user/80/u651280.shtml

/community/showthread.php?5200-RAF-and-other-Y-Stations-WWII .

Hi Robyn, have a look at the link There are 2 threads on Y stations that might help. It seems it was known as RAF Kingsdown. Whilst I have total respect for veterans stories- blimey nearly forgot I am one - they often contain some very misleading errors. No surprising after such a passage of time. The link you provide has several glaring errors so whilst it may well have been an HQ It wasn't necessarily THE HQ. I always though THE HQ was BP ?? Welcome to the forum
regards TED

The link I provided is not the only one referring to Kingsdown as being the RAF Y Service HQ. This is another link referring to the site being the RAF Y Service HQ www.awm.gov.au/events/conference/2003/west.asp The information is given by Peggy West who served at RAF Kingsdown. I have also been told the same by the RAF Signals museum as well as a couple of photographs. Zena Bamping also infers about the status of the station in her book on West Kingsdown

I know the first location hasn't changed all that much since WW2 I'm not sure about Hollywood Manor as I can't get in there to investigate the site as it is now separate flats. I have purchased a 1939 1:10560 OS map of the area. I have also put an appeal for information in the Parish newsletter and bought a copy of 'The Enemy is Listening' by Alieen Clayton which apparently has many references to the station as again she served there.

From GCHQ by Nigel West:

Under No.80 Wing Air Cdre Lyster Fettiplace Blandy started an embronic intercept organisation known as A11(e) at Hawkinge. He then acquired a disused toy factory at West Kingsdown and eventually after expansion there were ten Home Defence Units. These were (north to south) Scarborough, Ingoldmells, Gorleston, Kingsdown, Sutton Valence, Hawkings, Capel-le-Ferne, Shaftesbury, Beachy Head, Streete.
I suspect Kingsdown was HQ for these units.

From other sources Main Intercept station Cheadle was in charge of the 'Y' stations of No.61 WI Unit, and Chicksands for No.62.

Thank you for the information so far. It gives me some other avenues of investigation. I have a couple of letters/emails out to Bletchley Park and to a noted Kent historian. I have also obtained a copy of the 1939 map of the village to see how the locations fitted in to village back then. I have also spken to a village who remembers the station ad wll be interviewing her in the nx few weeks

I though I give an update of my investigations of RAF West Kingsdown. The station was set up in August 1940 and moved to Hollywood Manor in early 1941. I have had it confirmed by the RAF Museum, Bletchley Park and the book The Secrets of Station X by Michael Smith that RAF West Kingsdown was the headquarters of the RAF Y Service. There was a secondary site at near by Wrotham that had a 240 foot mast. Today there is a BBC transmitter there. At Hollywood Manor there were 3 90 foot masts. I have managed to obtain copies of the plans for the Hollywood Manor and Wrotham sites. West Kingsdown also started Operation Corona which was the operation that used German speaking controllers to countermand German controllers orders and therefore confusing the enemy aircrews.

According to the Air Historical branch the station closed in May 1944 but there is multiple veteran accounts of the station being hit by a V1 with an airmans hut being destroyed and a WAAFs hut being severely damaged. This couldn't have happened before June 1944. I'm trying locate the ARP records for the area to see if I can pin down the date of this incident. So there is strong evidence that RAF West Kingsdown was operational until at least June 1944 maybe a few months later.

I have read with interest the exchanges regarding the Y station at RAF Kingsdown. However, one question remains for me. The windmill at St Margarets at Cliffe near the South Foreland Lighthouse was used by a special section of WRNS. From my limited research it appears that they may have been there to listen to German radio transmissions, but I cannot find anywhere that shows this to be true and whether it was also a Y station or part of the West Kingsdown Y station.
Can anyone enighten me or advise where I should be looking.
Thanks

Hi. May I suggest that the H D Us listed, used Kingsdown as a collating station (in addition to its intercepting) in order to feed results to Cheadle Staffs. My reference is the simplified Ultra network layout diagram at the end of 'The Enigma Symposium - 1995' by Major Hugh Skillen. I believe that Strete, S Devon was moved to Shaftesbury for security; (in the same way that radar research work was moved from Harmon's Cross to Malvern). Cheadle would certainly respond positively to 'requests' from Bletchley Park, even to the extent of arranging triple diversity rhombics. H T H, J