| So is there anything left of Hornchurch, Hornchurch?
uh oh, off topic... I'm gonna get busted.. |
Love your quote above (highlighted), love it; BUT ya shouldn't get busted, oh no,no,no.......
Hornchurch is to Defiant, what Yorktown is to Midway..
(How much closer on topic can ya get ?).
R.A.F. Hornchurch closed in 1962 - In the late 1970's & early '80's, a massive housing estate was built over some of the North-Western edge of the base - Luckily, much of what's left, was turned into a 'Country Park', to enable locals (like me & my kids, at that time), to ride bikes, take dogs for a walk etc.
Many of the airfields defences are still there (ravaged by time),including at least FOUR concrete pillboxes for airfield defence,
& a large dispersal, where Blenhiems, Spitfires &
Defiants once stood, is used as the main car-park (just past the local supermarket, which stands on the EXACT spot of the 3 x Main Hangars).
The local Pub (next to the old main gate) called 'The Good Intent', has a 41 Sqdn Spitfire, as it's main sign (the painter cocked up the codes!!!).
Many Defiant aircrew drank in here, before meeting their cruel fate, further along the River Thames Estuary, against overwhelming odds.
It's good to see a die-cast replica of the B.P.Defiant available, (albeit as 151 Sqdn).