| Bradwell on Sea | |
St. Thomas' church, Bradwell on Sea |
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Bradwell on Sea
Bradwell on Sea shown within Essex |
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| Population | 877 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | TM000067 |
| Parish | Bradwell on Sea |
| District | Maldon |
| Shire county | Essex |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOUTHMINSTER |
| Postcode district | CM0 |
| Dialling code | 01621 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Maldon and East Chelmsford |
| List of places: UK • England • Essex | |
Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located about 9 km (5.6 mi) north-northeast of Southminster and is 30 km (19 mi) east from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Maldon in the parliamentary constituency of Maldon whose boundaries were last varied at the United Kingdom General Election, 2010. It has a population of 877.[1]
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Bradwell-on-Sea was a Saxon Shore fort in Roman times known as Othona. The Anglo-Saxons originally called it Ithancester. Saint Cedd founded a monastery within the old walls in 653, which survives as the restored chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, one of the oldest churches in Britain. From there, he continued the evangelisation of Essex. In the 20th century, the village became more well known as the site for the Bradwell nuclear power station. It also has a very good sailing club and outdoor leisure facilities. There is a school - St. Cedd's C. of E. Primary School.
The village has been called Bradwell juxta Mare, Bradwell-next-the-Sea and Bradwell near the Sea.
Celebrated Residents include Thomas Abel, Sir Henry Bate Dudley and Tom Driberg
During World War Two, Bradwell Bay airfield was a front line air base, named RAF Bradwell Bay at the time. It had been a grass runway airfield suitable as a temporary base, for refuelling and for training, especially for pilots practising targeting, shooting and bombing on nearby Foulness, Maplin Sands and the Dengie Marshes.
In 1940, it was expanded and developed. It became a forward early air defence fighter base with Spitrfires and Hurricanes. Three new concrete runways and hangars and the unique FIDO fog dispersal system were constructed. FIDO used pipes along both sides of the main runway to pump petrol in a fine spray which was ignited to create lines of flames to disperse fog and to aid landing. RAF Bradwell Bay was the only airfield in Britain with this FIDO fog dispersal system. The airfield's location and FIDO were vital in helping many quite large aircraft, bombers, etc. reaching safety early by landing there.
Midway through the war it mostly served as a base for long range fighters to escort bombers with Mustangs. Later in the war, especially around D-Day, Bradwell Bay’s role was no longer "first line of defence" of Great Britain but it changed to "front line attack" due to its proximity with the land war fronts in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. It was a forward attack base using light bombers and Spitfires, Tempests, Mustangs and Mosquitos as ground attack aircraft with cannons, bombs and rockets. It was also a base for the high speed Tempests which were used to intercept V1 flying bombs. Coincidentally, the airfield memorial displays the fuselage and tail of a Mosquito.
RAF Bradwell Bay was an important base for three “D Day” squadrons during the preparations for “Operation Overlord” - the “D Day” Allied Invasion of Normandy. They operated from there for the day of the invasion on 6 June 1944 and during the following offensive campaign across Normandy and France. They were :
During the Second World War, RAF Bradwell Bay was a front line airfield on the east coast and its position by the sea put it close to the points of entry into Southern England by enemy aircraft and ships. It had a similar forward role to RAF Hawkinge, RAF Lympne, RAF Manston and RAF Rochford.
Many RAF squadrons operated from and used Bradwell Bay. Amongst the 28 squadrons based there were: The Canadian squadron - 418 "City of Edmonton" Squadron, RCAF which was the first on the airfield. The Canadian squadron arrived when the airfield opened in 1941; The New Zealand squadron - 488 Squadron, RNZAF was there from September 1943 until May 1944. Bradwell Bay also housed three Czech RAF squadrons, One Polish RAF squadron (Polish Air Force) and one Australian squadron at one time.
The Czech Squadrons were 310, 312 and 313 Squadron - all fighter squadrons, they were 3 of the 5 Czech Squadrons in the RAF. Those three squadrons were there to serve as "The Bradwell Fighter Wing", also known as 134 Wing, and they were all flying Spitfires. The Czech squadrons were there from December 1944 to February 1945.
The Polish squadron was 307 "City of Lwow" Squadron. It was 1 of the 18 famous and effective Polish RAF Squadrons, of which, 11 were fighter squadrons. 307 Squadron was a night fighter squadron in 11 Fighter Group. Their slogan was "The Eagle Owls" indicating their hunting skills at night. Later, they flew the very high speed, twin engined de Havilland DH98 Mosquito which they flew from Bradwell Bay. They arrived in February 1945.
The Australian squadron was 456 Squadron, RAAF.
The previous squadrons in The Bradwell Fighter Wing, also known as 134 Wing, were 64 Sqdn, RAF, 126 Sqdn, RAF and 611 Sqdn, RAuxAF, all three flying Spitfire Mk.IXs. The Wing were at Bradwell Bay from August 1944 to December 1944, although 611 was redeployed in October.