Bekesbourne Airfield, in Kent, was a major WW1 fighter airfield.  Originally opened in 1914, main occupant No 50 Squadron remained ready to defend London and south-east England against Zeppelin and later Gotha bombing raids.  Between both World Wars it became a popular civil airfield and was home to the Kent Flying Club.  Interestingly, Britain’s first private civil pilot E.D. Whitehead Reid, a Canterbury doctor, flew from here in the 1920s to attend to patients.  

During May/June 1940 Bekesbourne was briefly revived as a military airfield for Westland Lysander army co-operation aircraft to support the Dunkirk evacuation.  A Great War General Service hangar disappeared in 1998 for new housing but a number of original buildings associated with the airfield still survive as private dwellings, including the Officers’ Mess and combined station chapel/NAAFI.

Airfield Link

Bekesbourne (Canterbury)

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