HISTORY OF BUSHY PARK AND WORLD WAR TWO TO MARK VE DAY
NEWS SPECIAL
(Extracts reproduced with the kind permission of the Friends of Bushy and Home Parks and compiled by David and Claire Ivison)
This amazing information-filled booklet detailing the vital role of Bushy and Home Parks in the Second World War has been published to mark VE Day next Thursday and will be on sale (£3) in The Visitor’s Centre near The Pheasantry Cafe and a special stall at the Chestnut Sunday celebrations next Sunday (May 11th)
The booklet, supported by The Friends of Bushy and Home Parks and compiled by David and Claire Ivison details jhow Bushy and Home Parks played a key role in the Second World War, including housing troops, growing food and the planning of D-Day.
As early as 1938, secret plans were being drawn up to plough parts of the Royal Parks in the event of hostilities and soon after war was declared in September 1939, cultivation started and the first crop was planted.
As the blitz began to devastate areas of London, many open spaces around the capital, including parts of Bushy Park, were requisitioned by the government for the construction of temporary office buildings.
After the United States entered the war in 1941, the office buildings being constructed in the park were transformed into the nucleus of a major United States Army Air Force (USAAF) headquarters complex. Later, as the allies grew in strength, an organisation was set up, under General Eisenhower, to organise one of the greatest military forces ever assembled to carry out the invasion of Europe. The location of his headquarters was Bushy Park.
With the agreement of the Ministry of Agriculture, Bushy Park was chosen to be the first Royal Park to be ploughed for the war effort.
Arrangements were made for the supply of a Ford tractor, a Ransome plough and sufficient gasolene from the Petroleum Board for the job.
Work commenced on 17 October 1939, by planting eight acres of an area called “the Wilderness” as part of Britain’s “plough-up” campaign. Being a high-profile task, it was decided that the event should be publicised, through the Ministry of Information, by inviting five news reel companies, the press and two land girls from the Women’s Land Army.
The initial trials in the park were very successful, with the Ministry of Agriculture being more than satisfied with the results. Following this success, in the spring of 1940, 80 acres (approximately 32 hectares) of land in Bushy Park and 120 acres in Home Park (at that time managed by the Royal Parks) were put over to cereal and root crop production.
During 1942 over 60 tons of cereal, 70 tons of root vegetables and 130 tons of hay and straw were grown in Bushy and Home Parks. The same acreage under cultivation remained constant for both parks for the duration of the war.
The Royal Warrant authorising free distribution of venison from the deer in the park to certain persons and organisations with connections to the monarchy was suspended for the period of the war.
This decision was made following the start of national food rationing in early 1940. The contract to buy venison from the Royal Parks in early 1941 was with Mac Fisheries, a major supermarket of the time. They bought the meat at eight pence per pound weight, and they were prepared to take as much as was available. During 1942, 32,638 pounds weight (14,804 kg) of venison from the Royal Parks was sold into the food chain.
The Ministry of Health was in the process of identifying and collecting as many UK-based medical resources as possible. In September 1941 an appeal was launched for the nationwide collection of conkers from horse chestnut trees. It was reported in the press that they were to be collected by Hampton (Middlesex) Scouts from Bushy Park. The conkers were then sent to Macleans, the toothpaste manufacturers on the Great West Road in Brentford. Here they were processed to extract a natural product called glucoside, a compound that, due to its chemical structure, had unique properties which made it a key element in the identification of bacteria in medical applications.
The heaviest bombing of Teddington took place on the night of 29 November 1940 when 12 bombs fell in Bushy Park. One of these landed to the south west of Diana Fountain and south of Lime Avenue, but did not explode on impact.
A squad from 725 Section, 2 Bomb Disposal Company, Royal Engineers, from Balham was tasked with disarming the device.
Probably due to their high workload, disposal did not start until 10 December. Following excavation to expose the bomb, defusing it was left to the officer in charge, Lieutenant Hope, and five men.
It was during this operation that the bomb exploded and killed Lieutenant Hope, Lance Corporal Lebbon, Sapper Darsley, Driver Horton and Driver Hartland. The fifth man, Sapper Hulme, had been sent to brew tea for the squad and, as he was walking away, the bomb detonated. He was knocked over by the blast and injured when a piece of shrapnel hit his back.
Lance Corporal Lebbon and Driver Hartland are buried at Teddington Cemetery in Shacklegate Lane. Their plots are identified by headstones provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Borough of Twickenham bomb census shows 60 reports of high explosive, incendiary and oil bombs landing in Bushy and Home Parks during the war, including three V1 “Doodlebugs” landing in Bushy Park and two in Home Park.
With the arrival of the USAAF forces in the UK, the camp set up in Bushy Park was given the title Site AF-586, with the code name “Widewing”, so called because of the wide wingspan of their main bomber, the B17 Flying Fortress. On 18 June 1942, Spaatz set up his command of the 8th Air Force USAAF in the park. This force controlled all United States strategic bombing offensives in the northern European theatre of war until the beginning of 1944.
On 10 June 1942, the UK Air Ministry officially requisitioned the area of Bushy Park south of Sandy Lane, Teddington and passed it on to the United States Army Air Force. Unfortunately, the construction of the temporary office buildings for civilian use had been delayed due to a severe shortage of materials and labour. Only Block A had been finished with Block B nearing completion. The King’s Canadian School, based at Upper Lodge, was also requisitioned as a site to accommodate US servicemen.
During July the main body of troops started to arrive in Bushy Park. At this stage the various elements of the camp were given site numbers. Site 1 was the main camp housing the headquarter buildings. Site 2 (Warren Plantation) was taken over in August and Sites 3 and 4 (under the lime trees at the northern end and each side of Chestnut Avenue) were requisitioned in July. At this time the Ministry of Works was asked to design and build accommodation for 1,650 service personnel.
With Blocks A, B and C completed, and Block D almost ready, the Royal Air Force officially handed over Site AF-586, Widewing, now to be known as Camp Griffiss, to USAAF control. The ceremony was performed on 22 February 1943, the 170th anniversary of the birth of General George Washington.
Colonel Townsend Griffiss, a 41-year-old USAAF officer, had been sent on a secret, diplomatic mission to the Soviet Union and was travelling to the UK via Tehran and Cairo.
Bad weather repeatedly delayed his flight from Cairo and it was not until late on 14 February 1942 that he boarded an unarmed B24 Liberator operated by the British Overseas Airways Company (BOAC). Predicted strong headwinds on the planned route, which avoided occupied Europe, meant that the plane would have run out of fuel before reaching the UK.
The pilot opted for a direct, shorter, flight across France at night. The next morning, as they reached the coast of northern France, the aircraft appeared on British radar screens.
Due to the delays and confusion over the filing of flight plans by BOAC, the aircraft registered as hostile. Two Spitfires from a Polish Air Force squadron in Exeter were sent to investigate. Both opened fire, the Liberator was hit, and then disappeared from view.
Shortly afterwards, emerging beneath the clouds, the pilots saw a large patch of oil and disturbed water. Colonel Griffiss was the first US airman to be killed in Europe during the Second World War. The camp in Bushy Park was named in his honour.
The water features of the parks were recognised as having the potential to aid an aerial attack by enemy aircraft. Moonlight reflected from surface water could assist identification of known features and indicate Bushy Park’s location. To counter this, all ponds (including the Diana Fountain) and waterways around Camp Griffiss were drained and covered with camouflage netting However, after a short while the ponds were filled again so they could act as an emergency water supply for the camp in the event of fires started by air raids. When Blocks C and D were occupied in 1944 measures were taken to cover these buildings with netting.
The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was set up at Bushy Park to meet General Eisenhower’s insistence that his headquarters would not be set up in a large city where nightlife could be a distraction. Extra huts were built and tents erected within the park between 10 January and 1 March 1944 to meet the SHAEF request for 130,000 square feet (1.2 hectares) of floor space and accommodation for 688 officers and 2,156 enlisted troops. New units continued to be attached to, or located near to, Supreme Headquarters. By the time of the invasion of Europe (code named Overlord), nearly 5,000 personnel were employed in SHAEF.
With SHAEF established in Camp Griffiss, work on the initial plan for Overlord was intensified. The original date was set for May 1944 (D-Day). It became apparent that the required force and materials could not be assembled in time and the date was put back to June. Experts in weather forecasting, logistics, signals, engineering, propaganda, intelligence gathering and media relations were all brought together to finalise the invasion plans and inform Eisenhower of their progress.
Camp Griffiss was not confined to one area of Bushy Park. The USAAF also used many requisitioned buildings located in south west London. These places included:
69 & 71 Clarence Road, Teddington – Laboratory and lodgings for an aerial photography unit
P&S Garage, Waldegrave Road, Teddington – 8th Service Command transportation unit
Russell’s Motors, Waldegrave Road, Teddington – 8th Service Command transportation unit
21 & 28 Church Road, Teddington – Accommodation and storage for enlisted personnel working at Russell’s Motors
8 & 11 Hampton Road, Twickenham – Storage and ration breakdown
Hurst Park – Motor pool and storage
Heathrow Aerodrome – Temporary landing strip and offices
Records Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew – Storage facilities
Tower Garage, Kew – Motor pool for those based at Ruskin Avenue
Stinson L5 Sentinel aircraft parked behind the runway built near the cricket ground in Hampton Wick
At the beginning of May 1944 SHAEF made an urgent request to the Ministry of Works for an airstrip to be provided in Bushy Park for communication purposes. Football pitches near the cricket ground in Hampton Wick were cleared away and a runway was constructed along the line of the southern park boundary. Following the invasion of Europe, four return flights a day, using Stinson L5 Sentinel communications aircraft, were used to ferry SHAEF personnel to their forward headquarters in France. The pilots used the spire of St John’s Church in Hampton Wick as a navigation aid for take-off and landing.
The contribution of Bushy and Home Parks to the Second World War and subsequent national defence lasted more than 20 years. Not many artifacts remain visible – only memories survive.