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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 16 NE 1074 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Name: | Second World War Army headquarters at Herne Bay College, Herne Bay |
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Summary
A succession of military units had their headquarters at Herne Bay College. In early summer 1944 the College was used for the waterproofing of military vehicles.
| Grid Reference: | TR 1823 6720 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR16NE |
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| Parish: | HERNE BAY, CANTERBURY, KENT |
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Monument Types
Full description
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A succession of military units had their headquarters at Herne Bay College (now Herne Bay Court) on Canterbury Road, north of the Thanet Way. The Battalion headquarters of the 8 Royal Fusiliers moved here at the end of August 1940 – doubtless digging slit trenches and other defensive works – and probably stayed until November, when they moved out of the district replaced by the 9 Royal Fusiliers. (Did the latter have their headquarters here as well?). In December, the 7 King’s Shropshire Light Infantry occupied the College, and in late July the following year the 7 Hampshire Battalion had their headquarters here. In early summer 1944, as troops concentrated in the area ahead of D-Day the College was used, along with a huge impromptu car park on ‘The Downs, Beacon Hill’, for the waterproofing of military vehicles. ‘This was done by mixing a form of putty, white and red, into a pliable mix like plasticine’, which the soldiers applied to protect ‘the engines and vulnerable parts.’
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : unknown
Date of visit :
Anthony Larkins, ‘Wartime Memoirs of a Lark’ (Digital archive). SKE15048.
Anthony Larkins, ‘Wartime Memoirs of a Lark’ (Digital archive). Ske15048.
43 Division General Staff, 01/01/40, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). SKE15045.
43 Division General Staff, 01/01/40, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). Ske15045.
8 Royal Fusiliers 1940, 01/01/40, War Diary 8 Royal Fusiliers 1940 (Unpublished document). SKE15044.
8 Royal Fusiliers 1940, 01/01/40, War Diary 8 Royal Fusiliers 1940 (Unpublished document). Ske15044.
43 Division General Staff, 01/01/41, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). SKE15046.
43 Division General Staff, 01/01/41, War Diary 43 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). Ske15046.
44 Division General Staff, 01/01/41, War Diary 44 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). SKE15047.
44 Division General Staff, 01/01/41, War Diary 44 Division General Staff (Unpublished document). Ske15047.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | --- | Unpublished document: 8 Royal Fusiliers 1940. 01/01/40. War Diary 8 Royal Fusiliers 1940. |
| --- | Unpublished document: 43 Division General Staff. 01/01/40. War Diary 43 Division General Staff. |
| --- | Unpublished document: 43 Division General Staff. 01/01/41. War Diary 43 Division General Staff. |
| --- | Unpublished document: 44 Division General Staff. 01/01/41. War Diary 44 Division General Staff. |
| --- | Digital archive: Anthony Larkins. ‘Wartime Memoirs of a Lark’. |
