Hildenborough, Kent - Parish Church - RP postcard 1966 pmk

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Parish Church, Hildenborough [Kent] - Parish Church
• Publisher: Shoesmith & Etheridge ('Norman')
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  3d Purple Wilding
• Postmark(s): 1966 
• Sent to:  Mr & mrs Ellison, 28 Fulwell Avenue, South Shields, Durham
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Medway valley, near the North Downs, in an area known as The Weald.

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 Hildenborough was considered a quiet safe location, and children from London schools were evacuated to the Village School. In October 1939 there were 250 evacuees on the school roll.^[3] In the absence of air raids on London during this period of the "phoney war" many of these children returned home. The quiet was not to last.

In July 1940, the Battle of Britain got underway in the skies above Kent and the village became anything but quiet. Hildenborough is only ten miles from RAF Biggin Hill, an important airfield and a Sector headquarters co-ordinating airfields in Kent. Other airfields under Biggin Hill were at Gravesend some fifteen miles away and night fighters were at West Malling ten miles away. There were emergency landing strips in Stocks Green Road, Hildenborough less than a mile from the village centre and at Penshurst Airfield, Charcotte only 3 miles away. Most of the evacuees had left the village before the bombs started to fall.^{[citation needed]}

On 6 September a Hurricane piloted by Flying Officer Bowring attacked a Junkers 88 Bomber and the pilot of the crippled plane ordered his radio operator to bail out. This was Corporal Heinrich Agel and he landed on the roof of the "Boiling Kettle" tea rooms. He was taken in by the owners and given tea and cakes while they waited for the Police to arrive. The plane went on to crash-land at Tanyard Farm in Hadlow Road, Tonbridge. The crew of five were reunited at Tonbridge Police station before being taken to a POW camp for the duration of the war.^[4]

On 11 September a twin-engine Heinkel 111 bomber was shot down by two Hurricanes and crash-landed on the airstrip behind the Old Barn in Stocks Green Road. The Hurricanes circled to watch as the crew of five walked away from the wreckage and were captured by a group of soldiers.^{[citation needed]}

27 October, a Sunday, started with a Mk11 Spitfire (P7539) diving to earth behind the Half Moon pub killing the Pilot John R.Mather. (Investigations of the crash site in the 1972 did not reveal any battle damage. The cause of the crash was probably mechanical failure).^[5] Later that same day a Messerschmitt 109 was shot and forced to land on Penshurst airfield, a temporary air-strip near Penshurst. The pilot of the Spitfire was flying officer Peter Chesters.^[6]

After this busy spell the village did not suffer from the war until one day in 1942 bombs fell on the "Grenadier Pub" in Riding Lane. There were no injuries; the landlord was safe in his cellar tapping a new barrel.^[7]

The village and surrounding area played host to American troops who all left the area in the follow-up from D-Day. The war returned in June 1944 with the first of the flying bombs. On 29 June a flying bomb damaged School House and there are numerous records of the disturbance caused by the flying bombs.(^[3]) The window in the north transept of St John's Church was blown out at this time. It became so dangerous in the village that in July children were evacuated in what was now called "Buzz Bomb Alley".^[3] There were other V1 and V2 events in the village but these are not well documented as many of these fell in fields. Ref.1 Hildenborough School Log book. Ref.2 Blazing Bomber to Boiling Kettle by Gordon Church. Bygone Kent Vol. II No. 5. Ref.3 Courier Newspaper 1972 Ref.4 "The Airmen's Stories – P/O P Chesters". Battle of Britain Museum. Retrieved 14 January 2010. Ref. 5 Courier Newspaper.

Hildenborough stood on the first road in Kent to be turnpiked in 1710: the highway from Sevenoaks through Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells; carrying much traffic en routeto "the Wells". A number of inns sprang up to service this traffic, including the Hilden Manor and the Half Moon.

Today the village, along with Tonbridge and Sevenoaks, is by-passed by the modern A21 road.

The railway was late coming to Hildenborough: the South Eastern Railway did not open its direct line from London until 1 May 1868. The six-mile (ten-kilometre) gradient up to Sevenoaks takes its name from the village. The railway station was situated close to the existing houses at the time, which is now about one mile (one and a half kilometres) from the village centre.