The 'Introduce yourself' Thread

Greetings. During my career I worked on theoretical aspects of UKADGE, and NATO ACCS, as well as point defence systems such as SEAWOLF/GWS25.

I am a mathematician by profession, and now that I am retired, I am attempting to discover the purpose of a large structure which was at the peak of Hambro Hill, Rayleigh, Essex.

It was a circular structure of diameter about 30 to 50 feet, made of corrugated iron, and was about 8 feet high, with a narrow, canted in fringe around the top. It had some kind of mirror arrangement within, but when I saw the site in about 1948/9 the mirrors had been smashed and all that remained were large shards laying all around - a few years later the iron-work was removed and the concrete base destroyed.

There appear to have been several of these sites in the vicinity, and I am now aware of seven: Chelmsford, Danbury, North Woodham Ferrars, Rayleigh, North Benfleet, and two near Wickford. Together they form a rough horseshoe shape with the open end directed to the West. They may have been associated with Southend airfield with the closed end of the horseshoe roughly "pointing" towards the airfield, or possibly others on the Dengie Penninsular.

Also, I believe, there was a decoy airfield on the penninsular, and of course dummy invasion barges were moored in the River Crouch. Any ideas, or answers as to what they were for?

Welcome to AiX Neumann and can I say I'm always impressed by mathematicians !

There are some references on the web to Hambro Hill being a conventional WWII searchlight site, but from your description it sounds more like this:

/community/showthread.php?12234-ESSEX-Kit-s-Hill-Experimental-Searchlight-Site .

One day someone will produce the definitive history of these.

PETERTHEEATER;141885 wrote:

Mmmm.....tricky. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and US Army (military) were at Merryfield and Upottery in 1944 lining up for the invasion. The US Navy (aircraft) were at Dunkeswell but they usually had their own enlisted catering staff and, I suspect, the person that you are seeking would have been a civilian?

Hi Peter, he said he was a Sergeant in the Free French Army when he married in Fulham in 1945 (that was after the registration of the daughter in Norton Radstock), so I assume he was still in the military but working in the area, hence the hunt for something military in the area.

Ex RAF worked mainly in GEF (General Engineering Flight) now living and working in Belgium.

The whole area was infested with military sites on the run up to D-Day most of them temporary encampments with Allied troops. I should think that FFA members would have been grouped together since they wanted to be in the vanguard but where I do not know.

Welcome to AiX Neumann.

I have posted a comment on the thread that Carnaby has indicated since I too would like to know the function and operation of these sites. Interesting that there was a group of them around Essex.

I often wondered if the profession of mathematician was eroded as electronic computers advanced.

I enjoy visiting wartime airfields and soaking up the atmosphere that goes with them, and following this up with reading up on their history and personal stories associated with them. I now have the time to take it a little bit more seriously, and visit a few more places. I follow the reports here on Gloucestershire and Worcestershire in particular, and am very impressed by the depth of knowledge of the regulars on the site. Keep it up!
Dave

Welcome aboard!

I hail from Northleach myself (though I moved abroad some years ago) so you'll find a fair few posts from me in the Gloucestershire section.

I do try to get back fairly often for a look around but I'm currently more involved at the Jet Age Musuem at Staverton these days.

Hello Antony, welcome to the ARG forum

Hi , Im new to the forum and looking to find any information I can about the use of Church Towers in Norfolk as Navigation aids for USAF . Lots of air fields near my local church , closest being Hethel . I wonder if this is a new topic and if any Veterans might remember this ? Thanks Carol