Claremont remembers
75th anniversary of the D-Day landings
Hawker Aircraft at Claremont mansion 1940-1946
Today is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, also known as the Normandy landings.
D-Day involved the simultaneous landing of more than 130,000 troops on beaches in Normandy on 6 June 1944. Troops from UK, USA, Canada and France landed on five stretches of the Normandy coastline. Of those 4,400 troops died from the combined allied forces and more than 9,000 were wounded or missing.
The allied troops were supported by 7,000 ships, 10,000 vehicles and 12,000 aircrafts, including the Hawker Hurricane Mk IIb, Hawker Tempest Mk V and Hawker Typhoon. Designed by Hawker Aircraft Ltd whose design offices occupied the Claremont mansion from 1940-1946 and were led by chief designer, Sir Sydney Camm. Hurricanes were second only to the Spitfire and are one of the classic fighters of all time, experiencing action in every stage of the Second World War, including D-Day.
77 days after the initial attack the allies gained control of Normandy, before liberating Paris in August 1944.
As a school we are extremely proud to have played our part in the war, providing a safe place for Sir Sydney Camm’s team to carry out work crucial to the war effort. Our newest building is named, the Sir Sydney Camm science and technology building in his honour.
This year’s alumni exhibition tent at summer meeting on Saturday 29 June, will take a look back at Hawker Aircraft’s time at Claremont and is supported by Kingston Aviation. We will also be displaying entries from the prep-school’s humanities competition. Pupils were asked to create a model based on any part of Claremont's history, with a number of pupils choosing this incredible piece of British history.
