RAF Lympne

RAF Lympne /ˈlɪm/ was a Royal Air Force station used during the First and Second World Wars. It opened in 1916 by the Royal Flying Corps as an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returned from, France. It was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground. In 1919, the airfield was turned over to civil use as Lympne Airport, serving until 1939 when it was requisitioned by the Fleet Air Arm as HMS Buzzard, later being renamed HMS Daedalus II.

In 1940, it was taken over by the Royal Air Force, becoming RAF Lympne once again. Lympne was heavily bombed during the Battle of Britain, putting the base out of action for a number of weeks. It was to have been the landing point for a German aircraft in a plot to kidnap Adolf Hitler involving the defection of pilot Hans Baur. Preparations were made by the Royal Air Force for his arrival. Later in the war, Lympne was used as an Emergency Landing Ground for bombers returning from raids in Europe. In 1946, RAF Lympne closed, returning to use as a civil airport which continued until 1984.

Lympne

Coordinates: 51°04′36″N 1°01′44″E / 51.0767°N 1.0289°E / 51.0767; 1.0289

Lympne /lɪm/ is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Place facing Lympne Industrial Park then via the main settlement to Newingreen in the north, centred 11 km (7 mi) west of Folkestone, 2.3 mi (3.7 km) west of Hythe and 13 km (8.1 mi) ESE of Ashford.

History

In Roman times Lympne was known as Portus Lemanis, from which (or from the British eponym of which) the English name is derived in identical written form to one of its Middle English written recorded forms. It lay at the end of the Roman road from Canterbury, known today as Stone Street. It had a Saxon Shore fort, and, according to a fifth-century source was garrisoned by a regiment originally raised in Tournai in northern Gaul. Its remains are at the bottom of the south-facing cliffs; they lie in private land and cannot be visited, though a reasonable view may be obtained from a public footpath above. In Anglo-Saxon times the fort was given the name "Stutfall", meaning "fold in which a stud, or herd, is kept". One of the oldest houses in the village is The Sanctuary; parts of the building date back to 1774.