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FOREWORD by Captain Derek Oakley, MBE, RM.

I am delighted that Pat Ross has taken up the challenge of bringing the history of Hayling Island up to date to mark the close of the twentieth century. It is nearly forty years since F.G.S. Thomas penned The King Holds Hayling, long out of print but reissued in a concise form in 1978, and much has changed on the Island itself.

I first came to Hayling Island on a landing craft during World War II, never expecting to live here permanently some twenty years later. I have seen at first hand the whole social structure change, the population grow and the housing increase alarmingly. These matters are touched on in this book, as the author has gone to infinite pains in her extensive research.

The part played by Hayling in the Second World War is largely compiled from interviews and letters recalling the memories of those who took part. This is an important way of recording history before it fades into oblivion. The war-time memories are of particular interest to me, for the war had a profound effect on the Island in the years following, economically, industrially and socially. There is romance, humour and pathos in the recollections and much that can be read “between the lines”.

Derek Oakley

June 1999

Abandoned WWII pillbox near The Kench, Hayling Island