HMS DAEDALUS Lee On Solent, Hampshire, United Kindom

HMS DAEDALUS

Lee On The Solent,  Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Written by : Jeffrey R Hilton
Feb.20,2012

The HMS Daedalus is a former Royal Navy Air Base, perched on the edge of the Solent in the small town of Lee On The Solent, on England's south coast.   Daedalus got it's start in 1917 as a seaplane base and school was formed there.  It was probably one of the most complete WWI,  airbases of it's time,  complete with 100 acres of hangars and living quarters.  It once came under suspicion of an attack by a large German fleet as they tried to break out of the solent in a bid to head back to Germany.  The defenders did a miraculous job with the minuscule resources available to their disposal at the time to stave off the attack.

WWII Swordfish Were Based At Daedalus

Arrow Points To Scheffenacker Building Where I Worked

Daedalus later became an important main training establishment and administrative center for the Fleet Arm during WWII.  It was attacked again a few times by the German Luftwaffe and about 10 WRENS were killed that were billeted there.  The base was declared surplus in 1996,  no longer needed for defense requirements,  and is now used as a base by The Coast Guard sea air rescue helicopters, the Police aircraft, a glider school and includes the only Hovercraft museum in the world.  There are other companies that occupy space at this base for warehousing and manufacturing.

I lived in Southsea approximately 5 miles from Daedalus and began working there at a warehouse that distributed wing mirror parts to it's assembly factory ( Scheffenacker ) 2006 after moving to England.  I began working there on double day shifts,  and the warehouse itself was originally a huge gymnasium for service personnel,  complete with a genuine Canadian maple floor.  The floor had been stripped out by the time I worked there,  but the stage was still intact,  and the place was somewhat eerie during the night and particularly if you were alone there for any length of time.  A few times,  I thought I saw what I thought was some kind of ghost-like shadows and I was a little freaked out.

Hampshire police manning roadblock at HMS Daedalus 2006

So as my adventures go at times,  it was during 2006 while  working there,  that an eerie and potentially deadly discovery was made during commencement of construction for a new hangar.  As it turns out,  I,  along with many other workers on the former base,  along with the residents of Lee surrounding the base a mile or more each way,  could have been blown sky high !  A 60 ft. long pipe bomb packed with 2400 lbs. of Gelignite explosive was discovered buried in one of the runways.  Further investigation revealed 20 such bombs in total.

The base was quickly evacuated,  roadblocks went up and access was restricted while the bomb removal was continued. 

These bombs were placed there during WWII when the German's threatened the South Coast with a sea borne invasion called Operation "Sea Lion"  The runways were booby trapped with these explosives,  which would be set off by the last man out in the event of an invasion,  rendering the runways useless.  These bombs were then forgotten totally for 60 yrs. and could of self detonated from deterioration or any of the other activities at any time there.  Ironically,  a newly developed,  ground penetrating radar was used to locate all the bombs.

Daedalus Slipway At Hovercraft Museum

At my job,  we had to go on night shift while the Bomb removal experts worked during the day for about 3 weeks.  nearby residents were evacuated from their homes during the removal and a few residents that wouldn't leave,  had to sign waivers saying they understood the possible dangers of remaining. 

Traditional Tow Method Launching

High Tension Cable Glider Launching

Other than little bit of excitement and being connected to a bit of WWII history,  while employed there,   I used to enjoy working at the base, and on tea breaks or lunch,  I would often wander around the base or watch Gliders going up and landing again ,  along with the coast guard helicopters and police planes.  I even saw a few Spitfires land at the base at times.  I reside in Canada again now and don't have to worry about UXBs anymore.

***

Do Have A Good Day And Not An Explosive One.

Share

Comment

Subscribe

Why Not Become A Member Of Good Day/ Bad Day

Jeffrey R Hilton