Burnham's long lost Airfield II first took off 90 years ago

Installed by the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, it reads: “Burnham on Crouch II Airfield. Opened 28/07/1934. Closed 09/1939.”

I already knew about the Great War aerodrome, designated 'Burnham on Crouch Airfield I' by the trust, but very little about 'Airfield II'.

The former was opened on land adjoining Wick Farm under the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914 and then used by 37 (Home Defence) Squadron RFC/RAF, until its eventual closure in 1919.

After a bit of research, I discovered that the latter site was sandwiched between that earlier airfield (by then returned to agriculture) and the River Crouch, adjacent to the iconic Royal Corinthian ‘Modernist’ clubhouse (hence the location of the plaque).

It was a simple, grass landing ground, more or less square in shape and comprising some 29 acres.

References differ, but the maximum landing run was somewhere between 366 and 400 yards.

It was officially registered for operations in the name of 'Douglas B Smith, JP, Esq, of Wickham Hall, Witham'.

That would have been Douglas Bevington Smith (1877-1977), who, as well as being a JP, was one time chairman of Maldon Rural District Council, clerk of Essex and Suffolk QM (quarterly meetings of the Quakers), Essex county councillor, chairman of the Essex Rivers Catchment Board and holder of a CBE. He farmed lands in both Wickham Bishops and at Burnham.

There is some dispute about when the first aircraft landed at Burnham.

Noel Pemberton-Billing (1881-1948) was flying out of nearby South Fambridge as early as 1908 and, during an interview in 1975, local man Herbert Hawes recalled a landing at Wick Farm in 1911.

The memorial plaque at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club (Image: Stephen Nunn)

We know what was happening during the Great War years and then Paul A Doyle, in his Airfields of the First (FARP 1997), suggests that civil flying from site 'II' commenced in 1932.

However, the official date (as per the plaque) is August 27, 1934.

The opening ceremony was performed by Mary Du Caurroy, Duchess of Bedford (1865-1937).

As well as being recognised for her services to nursing in the Great War, the Duchess was a noted ornithologist, a yachtswoman and an accomplished aviator.

She came to flying comparatively late in life, aged 63, and 'cut her teeth' learning to fly between the family estates of Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, and Wispers, near Midhurst, West Sussex.

Her first solo was on April 8, 1930, in a DH60G Moth and she took part in various record-breaking flights to Karachi, Cape Town, to the western Sahara and northern Nigeria.

She arrived at Burnham that summer’s day in 1934 in her own aircraft and declared the airfield open for business.

The intention (of which she, no doubt, strongly approved) was that the facility would assist members of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. They could fly in for sailing at a charge of five shillings per landing.

With growing interest in private flying, members of the Automobile Association formed an Aviation Section with the object of surveying landing grounds, providing information about facilities and producing air-route maps.

Their national scheme involved inspecting and approving aerodromes, Burnham included.

The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club (Image: permission Kevin Fuller)

Registered at location TL 95 95, they stated that there was no fuel on site, but it could be ordered in advance from P Newall Pettecrow (the yacht outfitters), of Belvedere Road, or from Crouch Engineering.

Onward road transport could be organised by a Mr Bridge, of Lilian Road, there was a telephone at the “new” Royal Corinthian building (opened in 1931 and just 250 yards away) and those wanting to stay were directed to the White Hart Hotel.

The airstrip continued in regular use until the eve of the Second World War when, in common with most British civil aerodromes, it was closed.

Flying officially ceased there on September 3, 1939, and on May 26, 1940, the Air Ministry decreed that it should be obstructed to prevent landings by airborne enemy forces.

The site was later surveyed for potential use as an American bomber base, but the scheme was never progressed.

As Paul Doyle stated in his book in 1997, “no trace of aerial activities remain” and the southern part “now plays host to a holiday caravan park”.

However, he concludes with an intriguing reference to the airfield’s old windsock…which (at that time had) ended up in a barn at Burnham Wick farm”.

Since then, of course, the plaque has appeared, reminding us that, as well as a place that flourishes on boating, this was also once an active centre for aviation.