fascinating thread. I live just out of Chichester and as a child remember activity at Thorney and Tangmere although I am too young to remember activity at Ford! The last activity at Tangmere I remember were sleds being dropped ut the back of hercs.
Couple of things, I was told that the wreck in the sand to the S/E of the Island was a wellington and local stories say is there are still bits around. A few years ago a local team found a Stuka and as they were digging through the silt they found the bomb in the cradle armed!
The question was asked why they closed Thorney, I was told that the restrictions in airspace and the anticipated growth in Gatwick traffic at the time were factors although the base was offered to and rejected by the FAA. A plan for a joint Chichester/Portsmouth airport was also discussed but rejected.
The approach lights are still there at both ends and looking very sorry for themselves. the army built along side the rwy and I can not for the life of me understand why the rwy was not left clear. After all when the resident air defence battery deploys would it not make more sense to fly the transports in, pick them up and deploy them rather than take them by road to BZZ?
Local stories folks so the provenance of some is not tested
P