Conflict at Croome
A Georgian estate in Worcestershire housed the exiled Dutch queen during WWII, as well as an RAF aerodrome that specialised in radar research
Croome Court is a mid-18th century mansion near Upton-upon-severn in Worcestershire that’s surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland designed by Capability Brown. Built for the earls of Coventry, it was never designed for a military purpose but it was acquired by the
Ministry of Works during WWII. It was leased to the Dutch governmentin-exile and provided a brief refuge for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. An aerodrome, RAF Defford, was constructed on the estate in 1941 and became the home of the top-secret Radar Research Flying Unit. The radar experiments and developments carried out at Defford were of great importance to the Allied war effort and paved the way for many modern electronic applications.
Croome is now managed by the National Trust and some of RAF Defford’s remaining buildings, including the Station Sick Quarters, have been restored and turned into a museum. This contains wartime artefacts, emotive personal possessions, videos and costume displays. There is also a carefully restored Gloster Meteor night fighter, which was actually the last aircraft to fly out of the airfield before it closed. The twin-engine jet is exhibited in its original green and grey camouflage scheme. The site is run by the volunteer Defford Airfield Heritage Group (DAHG), which works closely with the National Trust team at Croome on many projects.