Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Bunded fuel tanks and pumphouses forming part of the RAF Manston FIDO system of Second World War date were seen as structure and earthworks in RAF/106G/UK/1378 FV 7101 04-APR-1946.

Monument Types

• BLAST WALL (Modern - 1943 AD to 1945 AD)
• FOG DISPERSAL PLANT (Modern - 1943 AD to 1945 AD)
• FUEL TANK (Modern - 1943 AD to 1945 AD)
• PERIMETER TRACK (Modern - 1943 AD to 1945 AD)
• PUMP HOUSE (Modern - 1943 AD to 1945 AD)

Full description

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Site of Fido supply tank destroyed in 2003. Substructures may exist.

Extant Garage-building of unknown date could correspond to structure built in connection with Fido tanks formerly recorded as MKE104135/TR 36 NW 1334. (1)

RAF Manston was selected for the installation of a Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation system (FIDO) having become a designated emergency airfield (Petroleum Warfare Department Station XII). Construction work began in late-1943. Nearly 200 Mark IV Hagill burners were installed in double rows lining the edges of the airfield's new crash runway, supplied by four fuel tanks. The aim was to burn off fog so that the crash runway could be used for landings by aircraft in distress.

The crash runway became operational in April 1944. The deployment of the Hagill burner system was delayed by its conversion to a new HADES system including 17 entrenched burners with an eastern approach box enclosed by rows of burners. The fuel tanks were supplied by a pipeline from railway sidings near Abbey Farm, Minster. The conversion to HADES was finished in May 1945. Some 76,000 feet of pipework had been installed. Thereafter the FIDO system was only used under trial conditions and it moved into 'care and maintenance' conditions in 1958. (2)

Bunded fuel tanks and pumphouses forming part of the RAF Manston FIDO system of Second World War date were seen as structures and earthworks in RAF/106G/UK/1378 FV 7101 04-APR-1946. The site was located at the south-east corner of the airfield's crash runway. Four fuel tanks and two pumphouses were enclosed by earthwork bunding. The site was linked to RAF Manston's perimeter tracks. The features were recorded as demolished/levelled in Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 07-APR-2021 and were mapped as part of the Historic England Isle of Thanet project in 2024. (3-4)

Evidence for the system's construction can be seen in aerial photographs including US/7PH/GP/LOC286 V 5010 19-APR-1944. Evidence for its use is visible in for example RAF/106G/UK/1378 FV 7101 04-APR-1946, including scorch marks either side of entrenched burners in the refuges to the south side of the crash runway, and above-ground burners. (5)

<2> Geoffrey Williams, 1995, Flying Through Fire. FIDO - the Fogbuster of World War Two (Bibliographic reference). SKE57329.

<3> Historic England Archive, 1941-1960, Historic England Archive RAF vertical aerial photographs, RAF/106G/UK/1378 FV 7101 04-APR-1946 (Archive). SKE57101.

<4> Next Perspectives, 2003-2021, Next Perspectives APGB orthophotography, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 07-APR-2021 (Archive). SKE57110.

<5> Historic England Archive, 1944, Historic England Archive USAF vertical aerial photographs, US/7PH/GP/LOC286 V 5010 19-APR-1944 (Archive). SKE57114.

Sources and further reading

Related records