Lippitts Hill
 

I’m reaching out to ask for help in gathering information, stories, and photos about the history ofLippitts Hill. Whether you have personal memories, old photographs, or know of historical events connected to this unique location, Would love to hear from you! From its past as a police site to any lesser-known tales about the area, every bit of detail helps to piece together a more vivid picture of its history. Please feel free to share anything you know, looking preserve the rich heritage of Lippitts Hill for everyone to appreciate. Thank you in advance for your contributions!

Looking forward to your insights!

Redland, do you live in a caravan?

Not currently, the other half may turf me out in to one someday though...

I am asking on behalf of one of the TFOs who is putting together a history of the site and Helicopters here.

First port of call is to ask PANews

cheers

No real personal stories, but I do remember looking around G-META, in the Bristow Main Hangar in Redhill for repairs, after this incident: https://assets.digital.cabinet-offic...988_G-META.pdf

The report is quite understated in its description of the damage. The whole fuselage was full of holes where the turbine debris had exited. I believe it was only a matter of inches behind the rear seated police officers!

I asked because at one time I worked at an airport which had a Police ASU based there and the aircraft was subject to being targeted and 'vandalised' by certain persons living in caravans nearby. (Caravans not mobile homes)

Surprised the caravan dwellers didn’t steal the batteries to sell for scrap that’s their typical MO.

In this case they targeted the perspex of the helicopter and the IR and NVG sensors using sledgehammers.

I was an ASU pilot for 17 years and don't remember that. Where and when?

I can assure you it happened not once but twice at different locations in about 2010 or maybe slightly later. I'm loathe to give details on here in case it was covered by a 'D' notice or equivalent (if you were an ASU pilot it must have been well hushed up) but certainly those of us working at one of the locations were fully aware (I was on duty to open the airfield that morning although it happened in the early hours) and the ASU changed its base shortly afterwards.

BBC News

Is this the event you refer to?

A quick search reveals a few incidents:-

• On 30 April 2009, a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter G-SURY operated by Surrey Police Air Support Unit was damaged by vandals. An axe was used to smash five windows.[21]
• On 8 June 2009, a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter G-WMAO operated by the West Midlands Police Air Operations Unit was destroyed by arsonists.[22]West Midlands Police took delivery of a new Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter G-POLAat the 2010 Farnborough Airshow.[23]
• On 10 October 2009, a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter operated by Merseyside Police Air Support Groupwas damaged on the ground at its base of RAF Woodvale. It was believed the purpose of the attack was to disable the police helicopter whilst a serious crime was carried out elsewhere. One police vehicle was destroyed in the pursuit and three people were arrested in connection with the attack.[24][25] The aircraft was targeted for a second time on 17 May 2010, when masked intruders broke into RAF Woodvale and attempted to set the aircraft alight, the intruders were stopped due to the security improvements put in place after the first incident but some minor damage occurred to the helicopter. It was again believed that this was an attempt to disable the aircraft whilst a serious crime was carried out elsewhere.[26]

It was the Fairoaks one I was involved with. I'd heard about the Woodvale occurence too.

Redland

Someone suggested 'call PAN' and no-one did so the reason why I am here is to point you in the right direction..... Its a resource that has been ticking over for the last 44 years.

There are three websites where the story of Lippitts Hill [and a chunk of police aviation history] can be found. Some of it is duplication ....
The sites are Want the latest:- Police Aviation News, Welcome To Police Aviation News and Welcome to Bryn Elliott Historian

The first two have Lippitts Hill as a separate story and as part of the history of police aviation [up to the point where Police Aviation News was publishing 'the story' on a monthly basis - 1996]. They are under the 'resources' or "stories & related" tabs on the different sites. The third site includes 01.IL as a chapter on local Waltham Abbey policing in general [1800-2000] under the title Peelers Progress [see Police Stories]. It is all the same words just some of them ae in a slightly different order!

Not many photographs of Lippitts Hill on those sites I may add but I have plenty if there is something specific you are seeking.

Hope this helps.

On the subject of the attacks on police aircraft, I was never aware of a D Notice [or equivalent] for those attacks, it was a full news event but I think the Fairoaks one in particular caused some gulps in high places because of the people that did it.

And that is not to forget that there were earlier attacks.

In October 1976 an Enstrom F28 G-BDKD on lease to the Met was attacked whilst parked in the open at Elstree. The screen was broken and that is the point where air operations retreated to the safety of Lippitts Hill ..... so the comment is wholly relevant!

The Merseyside AS355F1 G-BOOV was damaged at Speke when on trials from McAlpines. The locals did not iike it interfering with their high speed driving between Liverpool and Manchester The screen was damaged and a fire set but although it was taken out of service it was not severely damaged. Certainly the screen was still in use years later. I think that was 4/1/89 , 36 years ago.

Hi PAN, very much appreciated, I am asking on behalf of a TFO who I will see on shift in a couple of days and will pass everything on. I was sure you would have a wealth of knowledge.

Very much appreciated for peoples help.

I only mentioned a possible 'D' notice because Mighty Gem said he had not heard of the incident.
There were two instances at Fairoaks; I wasn't on duty for the frst one and I'm not sure if any damage was caused but certainly there was damage on the second occasion when the ground crew man came upstairs and told me as I was opening up the tower.

That was ours.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Merseyside | Police pursue helicopter vandals

Not enough evidence for a prosecution, apparently. :mad:​​​​​​​

That rings a bell. now that you mention it.

I have pulled up the archive No 158 June 2009 PAN and it says.
...
SURREY: After their Eurocopter EC135T2 G-SURY was vandalised last month the resultant reticence to announce the story led the International media to publish a range of spurious storylines as rumours and speculation ran rife.
After the attack during the evening of April 30 Surrey remained silent about the absence of their aircraft so as not to draw attention to the significant reduction in local air support capability.
After the single aircraft operation had been out of service for a week sections of the media picked up on rumours and this led to a variety of not totally inaccurate storylines reciting a war between the police unit and local caravan dwellers **. There was talk of an axe attack on the windows of the helicopter and of a stand-off between unarmed crewmen and the axe wielding interlopers said to dislike the police heli-copter watching over them..
Finally, and very reluctantly, the police released a version of the story.
‘Damage was caused to the Surrey Police helicopter during an incident at its base at Fai-roaks Airport, Chobham just before 10pm on Thursday 30 April. Five windows were smashed by unknown offenders and the value of the damage is being determined. The inci-dent is part of an ongoing investigation and security measures are being reviewed as part of this. Surrey Police is working with the maintenance contractor to ensure the aircraft is back on line as soon as possible. We continue to have access to air support through agreements with surrounding Forces.’
The meagre release led to even more speculation.
Sufficient to say that the attack led to thousands of pounds worth of unscheduled cost and effectively burst the bubble that it was safe this unit to park the EC135 out in the open at night. The grounding exceeded two weeks because of the extent of the work required to repair the damage. The aircraft returned to service 20 days later.
What made the attack worse was that this had been the second similar event in less than 7 months. In the first attack the damage had followed a similar pattern but was not quite so serious.
Surrey Air Support has been at Fairoaks for over a decade with little or no security in place and little reason to set it up. The police helicopter is kept on a concrete pad in front of the combined hangar and control room located on the edge of a public airport but is across an active perimeter taxi-way and easily far enough away to be totally immersed in the dark-ness. There are no additional physical security barriers – fences or blockades – to stop any-one on the airfield approaching the aircraft pad. It could not be secured without massive cost.
That long standing bubble of security is now burst for all time and something will have to be done.
Taking a purely financial viewpoint it is probable that the cost of setting up physical defensive measures at Fairoaks over the last decade would far outweigh the actual cost of the damage now suffered.
etc etc

It all seems to back up the general understanding that Surrey Police were simply reticent about announcing the incident t the time.

**I had to pull a few descriptive words from the original text in the fifth line as they might be deemed 'impolite' these days....;)