main content RAF Biggin Hill (1917-1992)

RAF Biggin Hill, St George`s RAF Chapel, Biggin Hill

The story of Biggin Hill goes back to summer 1916 when a 75 acre flat field between Westerham and Bromley, being one of the highest points in Kent, was chosen as a site for a wireless testing station. The first hanger (made of canvas) was erected by the Royal Flying Corps on 13th February 1917, though the first airmen had arrived in deep snow in the January. Biggin Hill was one of the first locations where communications from the ground to the air was achieved in 1917. Though distorted it was considered a success.

The first operational squadron was located at Biggin Hill on 8th February 1918, to defend London. Two months later the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service was merged into the Royal Air Force. Biggin Hill's first "kill" as a fighter station came on 19th May 1918. This also turned out to be the last air attack of the 1914-18 war, as the defences, both air and land, had shown they had mastered the bomber. Thus Biggin Hill played a vital role in the outcome of the war.

Biggin Hill became a household name during the 1939-45 war. The well known Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 saw Biggin Hill pilots claim some 400 enemy aircraft shot down. These statistics did not come without a price and many young British pilots gave their lives in the battle that saved England from invasion and saw the first British victory after Dunkirk. In the spring of 1943 the Biggin Hill Sector claimed it's 1,000th "kill" of the war. The death toll of aircrew alone at Biggin Hill was 453 plus those who died on the ground during air attacks.

The original Memorial Chapel, a disused Army hut, was dedicated in September 1943. This was destroyed by fire in 1946. A new Memorial Chapel was dedicated in November 1951.It is open to visitors' daily for more details please select the link below.

St George`s RAF Chapel of Remembrance

Biggin Hill closed to RAF flying in 1958 and the site, except for the Memorial Chapel and the Aircrew Selection Centre, was sold to the Council in 1973. The Aircrew Selection Centre was closed at a later date.
RAF Biggin Hill was granted the Freedom on the Borough in 1980.