THIS IS FINDON
— these Chronicles are created
by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex,
U.K.
THE HINDENBURG FROM CISSBURY RING
Copyright Valerie Martin 2009.
Published in Sussex Local in January 2009
The view from West Hill across to Cissbury Ring...... a
long time ago....... exact date unsure. |
If you climb Chanctonbury Ring and Cissbury Ring
(and walk
between them), you will have a picture of Sussex that will not leave you.
Nearly all of Sussex can be viewed with parts of Kent, Surrey and Hampshire too.
Cissbury Ring with Worthing and the English Channel beyond
in July 2004. |
Northward lies the Weald, its green fields sprinkled with
picturesque villages such as Findon —
and woods surviving from an ancient forest of centuries ago. Beyond on the
horizon rise the North Downs, their slopes dressed with extensive
woodland. The eye, sweeping round, is caught by Leith Hill, Box Hill
and the Hog's Back.
Westward rises Hindhead Beacon; then comes Blackdown, the
range continuing to Goodwood and beyond into our neighbouring county .... Hampshire.
To the south lie the blue waters of the English Channel.
To the east we can see Steep Down, Steyning's Round Hill and
the Devil's Dyke complex. Across the Weald gap between the South
Downs and Crowborough Beacon, Kent's far hills can be glimpsed beyond.
|
Photograph of the Western Western Escarpment of
the Iron Age Fort of Cissbury Ring taken pre 1936.
|
The giant German airship Hindenburg LZ 129 took
to the sky on 4th March 1936 and on 26th March commenced a propaganda tour as
one of Nazi Germany's finest airships. She was intended to reflect
the might of the German Reich and its leader, Adolf Hitler.
The propaganda tour brought it to West Sussex
four months later.
It was approaching 8 p.m. on Sunday evening 5th July 1936 that from vantage points in Findon a spectacular sight was witnessed.
There was a good view of the Hindenburg from our local downland and Cissbury
Ring as she proceeded on her
course slowly along the coastline to the south of
Findon, from west to east.
At this distance, the watchers could not hear the
gentle purr of its mighty 1,300 h.p. Diesel engines, nor make out the Nazi
Swastika emblazoned on its vertical fins or the red letters on the bow saying "Hindenburg". Everyone
was nevertheless in awe at her 135 feet diameter silver bulk as
she gleamed in the evening sunlight. The mighty zeppelin was almost
as big as the Titanic. She was the largest man-made object to ever to fly
and still holds that record. The late Tony Hammond recalled —
18th March 2003.
Valerie -
I well remember the Hindenburg passing over Worthing
in 1936.
Somehow the word got around that it was on its way and
it seemed that the whole town turned out to see it.
It passed very low over the sea just off shore, it was
so large that it virtually blacked out the sky. All the markings could
be clearly seen, and to this day I can easily visualise that gigantic
swastika on the tail and it still gives me the creeps......
Tony
Tony Hammond, East Preston, West Sussex.
|
Photograph of the Zeppelin Hindenburg over Worthing at 8.30
p.m. on Sunday 5th July 1936. |
Another local resident of
Worthing wrote to me in January 2009......"Dear
Valerie, I was on the Prom, near the pier with the Salvation Army junior band
under Tom Yates, when the Hindenburg floated low and slow along the coast.
It was being buzzed by small
aeroplanes who seemed to be edging it out from the coastline where it was
assumed to be taking photographs of our costal defences (my father's view).
I was 13 at the time, the
Great War being still in people's minds, as was Hitler and Moseley with his
Blackshirts. The Zepperlin was not at all a welcome visitor.
Yours sincerely, W. Knibbs."
click
to enlarge
An atmospheric sunset on Cissbury
Ring summit in the August of 2011
Peter Trounce in Toronto emailed...."Hello
Valerie.... Airshaps....I well remember the Zeppelin going along the coast
eastwards off Worthing.
It was certainly assumed it was taking photos.
There was to be another airship the "Adolph Hitler" but the war happened first.
The "Graf Zeppelin" was an extremely successful machine, running a regular
passenger service from Germany to South America, and once going round the world
over Russia and Japan. There's a book about that trip.
Cheers, Peter Trounce,Toronto."
The late Roger Moulds, ex-Findonian, from Llandrindod Wells in Wales emailed...."I
don't remember seeing the Hindenberg. I was probably lying in my pram at the
time, as I was only 59 days old."
Alan G. Maundrell of High
Salvington emailed...."That Sunday
evening in the summer of 1936 my brother Leslie, seven years my senior, and I
(aged six at the time) were in the Bandstand (now known as the Lido) listening
to the band of one of the Scottish regiments with our parents. It was probably
the Black Watch and I remember the wooden platform (erected as a temporary
extension at the front of the musicians' stage whenever there were pipers with
visiting military bands) for four band members to perform Highland dances over
crossed swords laid on the floor accompanied by a bagpiper.
The Bandstand was full, and it had a seating capacity of 2,000 with rows of
deckchairs in the open central part and director's chairs in the perimeter
covered area. The Hindenburg flew slowly passing directly overhead coming along
the coast from the West and the entire audience stood up to watch. Initially the
Bandmaster kept the band playing, probably wondering why the audience had risen
to its feet as he would not have seen the airship from under the canopy of the
musicians' stage. But then he stepped back, saw the spectacle, then the band
stopped playing and joined the audience in gaping at this unique sight."
The 803 ft. long passenger airship progressed over
Worthing and on to Shoreham Airport where a bevy of planes were awaiting the
awe-inspiring sight. They left the ground and buzzed around her like
attendant gnats paying homage. The biggest aircraft in the world
ignored the small fry and continued along the coast.
Here is Cissbury Ring pre 1946.
|
The Hindenburg was too large and ponderous to be affected by any weather conditions and brushed aside the blustering
wind that evening. Finally, her tail was silhouetted against the
gathering bank of clouds and she could be seen to be swaying and rising slightly
as she rode out the strengthenly sou' westerly.
Within minutes she had totally disappeared into the cloud formation over Brighton and the
Hindenburg show was over.
Les Packham from Gunnislake in
Cornwall emailed in September 2010 to say..."Valerie....My
memory was stirred this weekend with article in our local news paper The Western
Morning News Friday 16th Sept the head line was Seaside postcards the Nazis
secret weapon is revealed these were post card size air maps of the coast line
Cornwall to Dover to help his troops with the landings operation sealion.
On Sunday evening 5thJuly I was five years old walking home to Rowlands Road
Worthing with my parents when we heard the Hindenburg heading east along the
coast
Walking towards us was the Heene Church Deaconess who told mother to cover my
eyes as that thing is evil do you have any information if in fact the airship
was photographing our coast line. Les Packham, Gunnislake,
Cornwall".
This great zeppelin pioneered the first
transatlantic air service. One year after passing within four miles south
of Findon, the Hindenburg was destroyed on 3rd May 1937 in a fiery disaster to go down
in aviation history.
As the Hindenburg approached a mooring tower at
the American end of the first of eighteen scheduled trips, she exploded and most
of the occupants died in one of the most dramatic air tragedies of all time.
In
November 2009 I heard from Rick Shaw in Brighton with some pictorial
evidence......"Hi there Valerie, I was
reading your article on the Hindenburg. Really interesting !
I did a little research and actually managed to find a colour photo of the
Hindenburg Dining Room. Amazing ! All of the passenger accommodation was
actually inside the superstructure. the gondola underneath the ship was the
flight control car.
Everyone remembers the Hindenburg for crashing in flames but prior to the the
accident it was very successful.
click on Rick's pics to enlarge
The Hindenburg actually made 34 transatlantic crossings involving 3500
passengers.
What a shame airships died out. It must have been truly majestic!
Rick."
Continue if you would like to read about
The Scar on the Cissbury
Landscape
This is Findon
Village —
www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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