1 Flowerdown Military Base 1912 – 2021 British Army 1912 – 1919 1967 – 1976 1983 – 2021 Royal Navy HMS Flowerdown 1930 – 1977 Royal Air Force 1919 – 1929 Mr Churchill in March 1921….. “At Flowerdown, there is an electrical and wireless school. I need scarcely say that it is the head of an extremely elaborate, complicated, and mentally dominating study and art, which has its relation to the general purpose we have in hand”. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard in 1925 …. “I consider Flowerdown as the backbone of the Royal Air Force”. During the second world war, HMS Flowerdown was a vital listening post (Y station) passing top- secret Enigma coded messages to Bletchley Park for de-cyphering. Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 2 Contents Flowerdown Military Base ................................................................................................................................... 1 Preface ................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Why these notes? ........................................................................................................................ 8 Sources ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Where is Flowerdown? ............................................................................................................. 15 Land ownership of Flowerdown ................................................................................................ 18 Flowerdown, Morse code, Enigma and GCHQ .......................................................................... 25 An timeline overview of Flowerdown during the 20th Century ................................................. 30 An incomplete chronological account 1912 – 2020 .................................................................. 43 Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 3 Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 4 Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 5 Personal memories and accounts ........................................................................................... 129 British Pathé & Reuters silent film records of Flowerdown in the 1920s. .............................. 169 Photographs HMS Flowerdown ............................................................................................... 170 Bletchley Park - Neptune Project............................................................................................. 178 An incomplete list of those who served at Flowerdown during WW2. .................................. 181 Some aspects of the technical operations at H.M.S Flowerdown ........................................... 186 Nearby military sites associated with Flowerdown ................................................................ 203 National Archive Flowerdown references .............................................................................. 207 Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 6 Preface After many years collecting information about the Flowerdown Military base at Littleton in Hampshire, these are my edited notes. The web has proved to be an invaluable source for stories of important events and of the men and women who served there but, alas, over time many of these links are now broken but their voices can still be heard through these pages. A printed copy of the document has been deposited with the Hampshire County Council Record Office (Accession Number 11A20dl 30 January 2020) and is available on request to local history researchers. The books and publications that I have read are listed. The Littleton Local History Group (LLHG) maintain an archive of Flowerdown related material and I acknowledge the use of that source. Some of my material was edited and used in an LLHG publication called ‘Littleton 1900 – 2000 The Growth of the Village’ and that is included. The chapter dealing with personal recollections comprises some of the correspondence between the late Mr. Dennis Holman (past Chairman of the Littleton Local History Group) and those who served at Flowerdown during WW2 and I gratefully acknowledge the use of their recollections. Mr Stephen Buster Johnson told me about his Grandfather’s job as a Wireless Mechanic at the RAF Wireless School. The BBC People’s War series provided some interesting stories and, among these, the son of Mr Dermod J. Kirwan contacted me to provide information about his father’s life at the Flowerdown Y Station during WW2. Major (Retd) Dennis Williams MBE gave me a detailed account about the construction of Sir John Moore Barracks (see 7.33.1) My lay understanding is that these notes should be judged as ‘fair use’ of the extracts or quotations that I found. It is a ‘not for profit’ research paper, its sole purpose is to tell the story of Flowerdown before it closes for good in 2024. My hope is that others will be able to add to or correct the account. I am certainly no expert on military matters and it is likely that some dates and events are incorrect. These are “not for profit” notes and were created solely for educational and historical purposes. I do not claim copyright or ownership of any of the photographic images or text contained herein. As for the photographs and other images, I believe all of them to be taken more than 70 years ago (1951). The images are reproduced in low or medium resolution and consist principally of unclaimed or "orphan" images where the copyright owner is presumed deceased, untraceable or unknown. If you believe you own any copyrights for materials in this paper and do not wish them to be viewed, then please ask for them to be removed. The National Portrait Gallery kindly gave me permission to use the studio photograph of Lady Warmington. The copyright holder of ‘The Flowerdown Link’ gave permission for me to freely use text from the book. I read extensively about Flowerdown and the books that I used are acknowledged and recommended but I include very few extracts from them. If you have any material that could be added or find mistakes then please send them to [email protected] Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 7 A post-WW2 view of H.M.S Flowerdown Y station showing the giant aerial masts. Last updated - 19/05/2021 11:40:21 Flowerdown Military Base Version 3.0 Full revision .docx 8 Why these notes? Flowerdown military base is to be closed after 105 years of use by the military. Thousands of men and women from many nations passed through its gates to serve our country. In 2018, the then Defence Secretary, Tobias Ellwood, announced in Parliament that the Sir John Moore Barracks (Flowerdown) would close by 2021. Plans to close many bases in the Ministry of Defence’s estate were revealed in MoD 2016 publication "A Better Defence Estate". This proposed disposing of 91 military sites across the UK. Later, the MoD confirmed that the date for the closure of Sir John Moore Barracks Flowerdown is now to be 2024. The MoD propose to sell the site for development. I believe that the northern part of Flowerdown should remain in public ownership and be dedicated (The Flowerdown Heritage and Country Park) to the countless thousands of people who served there. For further information please see https://lhpc.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2021/05/Flowerdown-Heritage-and-Country-Park-Land-Ownership-Usage-and-a- Flowerdown-Park-land-proposal.pdf and related documents. As far as I know, there has not been a written account of the history of the Flowerdown military base and there are now very few people left who served there during its heyday. The story of Flowerdown needs to be told and a permanent memorial (see above link) set up on the site when it closes. The following chapters are an attempt to record the story of Flowerdown between 1912 to the present day. There are many gaps that, hopefully, others may fill. The only resources used were the web, the National Archives (in part) and a few books but the general flow of its story is here with tantalising gaps. Further research will no doubt yield even more stories. Hopefully, others may feel inspired by this account and add further material or correct any mistakes or misinterpretations. There are references to the relationship between nearby Worthy Down and Flowerdown and a chapter showing their proximity to each other. Flowerdown military base has a distinguished story spanning the two world wars and beyond. In WW1 it was used by British and American troops (Air service) and between the war years, in collaboration with the nearby RAF Worthy Down air station, it trained RAF radio staff. During WW2 it played a pivotal role picking up coded signals from the German Army and Naval Enigma machines immediately passing them on to Bletchley Park for decoding. These notes attempt to record part of this distinguished and honourable story together with the memories of some of those who worked there. In 1964, the tall radio masts of Flowerdown were standing clear and visible from the roads around the site. An RN rating on stood on guard duty at a sentry box whilst a White Ensign flew from a flagpole inside the camp entrance at the end of Chestnut Avenue. This entrance