When the First World War began in 1914, powered flight was still remarkably new.
The Wright brothers had made their first successful powered flight only eleven years earlier. Aircraft were fragile, their range was limited and nobody yet fully understood what role they might play in a major war.
Four years later, everything had changed.
Along the East Sussex coast, airships were hunting submarines over the Channel, seaplanes were protecting shipping, primitive land-based aircraft were flying coastal patrols, pilots were being trained and a network of small military landing grounds had appeared across the countryside.
Most of that first air war has now disappeared from the landscape.
But if you know where to look, a surprising number of traces remain.
The Airships of Willingdon
One of the most unusual survivors lies hidden at the foot of the South Downs near Willingdon.
Among the trees is a large concrete block with a heavy iron ring embedded in its surface.
It does not look particularly remarkable today, but more than a century ago Royal Naval Air Service airships were secured here.
The nearby RNAS Polegate airship station opened during the First World War. Despite the name, the station actually occupied land around Willingdon, with Polegate providing the nearest railway connection.
From here, non-rigid airships headed out over the English Channel on long patrols looking for German U-boats and helping to protect vital shipping.
Their great advantage was endurance. Early aeroplanes could remain airborne for only a relatively short time, while airships could stay over the sea for many hours.
The surviving mooring block is therefore a small physical reminder of a very different period of aviation.
Finding it was another matter.
The remains are hidden in difficult terrain and several published locations proved inaccurate. After hours of searching, I eventually found an intact mooring ring along with another damaged block nearby.
Standing beside something that once held a First World War airship in place made the effort worthwhile.
Seaplanes at Tide Mills
A few miles along the coast, another new form of military aviation was taking shape.
At Tide Mills, between Newhaven and Seaford, the Royal Naval Air Service established a seaplane station during the war.
Newhaven was an extremely important port for traffic crossing the Channel to France, making the surrounding coastline strategically important.
Seaplanes based here could patrol the Channel, escort shipping and search for submarines.
The station itself disappeared after the war, but fragments of the site can still be identified around Tide Mills, including concrete remains associated with the former seaplane facilities.
Today it is a peaceful stretch of Sussex coastline.
A century ago, aircraft were operating from here as part of a rapidly developing system designed to protect Britain’s maritime lifeline.
Telscombe Cliffs – Aircraft Over the Channel
The next stage of the story takes us onto the cliffs above Peacehaven.
A First World War military airfield once occupied the high ground around Telscombe Cliffs.
Little remains of it today. Housing and modern development cover much of the former landing ground, but a memorial plaque records the airfield and the units that operated from it.
Among them was No. 514 Special Duty Flight.
Its Airco DH6 aircraft were used for coastal and anti-submarine patrols over the Channel.
They were primitive machines by later standards. Originally designed as trainers, their performance was modest and their endurance was far shorter than that of the enormous airships operating from Willingdon.
Yet both were attempting to solve the same problem: watching the Channel and protecting shipping from an enemy that could strike from beneath the sea.
Looking out from Telscombe Cliffs today, the reason for the location is obvious. The Channel stretches directly below the former airfield.
Eastbourne – Training for a New Kind of War
Aircraft were becoming increasingly important, but Britain needed somewhere to train the pilots who would fly them.
Eastbourne became another part of this rapidly expanding aviation network.
The aerodrome at St Anthony’s was used by the Royal Naval Air Service and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War.
Most of the site has vanished beneath modern Eastbourne, but a few physical clues survive.
At the edge of Leeds Avenue stands a bungalow believed to incorporate the former aerodrome guardhouse.
Nearby, a large abandoned concrete base survives from one of the airfield’s hangars.
It looks strangely out of place today — a broad slab of concrete sitting beside modern housing and open ground.
Without knowing the history, there would be little reason to give it a second glance.
But it is another fragment of the infrastructure that had appeared across Sussex as aviation moved from experiment to an organised military force.
Hooe – An Airfield in an Ordinary Sussex Field
Not every First World War airfield became a large permanent establishment.
Some were little more than suitable fields adapted for military flying.
One such location survives in the landscape near Hooe.
The airfield itself has returned to farmland, but a small memorial beside the field entrance records its wartime role.
It is difficult to imagine aircraft operating here now.
There are no runways, hangars or control towers — simply a Sussex field.
That simplicity tells an important part of the story.
As the air war developed, military aviation spread rapidly across the landscape. Fields that had previously been used for agriculture suddenly became part of Britain’s aerial defence network.
Rye – Defending Britain From the Air
The same thing happened farther east at Rye.
Rye Landing Ground opened during the First World War and was used by Home Defence units.
Aircraft operating from sites such as this formed part of Britain’s response to the growing threat from enemy aircraft as well as the wider need to protect the south-east coast.
The landing ground disappeared after the war and the landscape returned to agriculture.
Today, a memorial beside Camber Road marks the site.
Standing there now, surrounded by flat fields, it is difficult to imagine military aircraft operating from this quiet corner of East Sussex.
But by the final years of the war, places like Rye formed part of an increasingly organised network of military aviation sites stretching across Britain.
The Beginning of Air Warfare
In 1914, military aviation was still in its infancy.
Only four years later, East Sussex had airships, seaplanes, patrol aircraft, training aerodromes and a network of smaller landing grounds.
Aircraft had gone from experimental machines to an essential part of modern warfare.
Most of those airfields disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared.
Hangars were demolished, grass landing grounds returned to farmland and towns expanded across former aerodromes.
Yet fragments remain.
A rusty iron ring hidden beneath the Downs.
Concrete foundations beside modern houses.
Fragments of a seaplane station on the coast.
And memorials beside ordinary Sussex fields.
Together they mark the places where, more than a century ago, Britain was learning how to fight an entirely new kind of war.
Watch the Film
I have also made a short film exploring these surviving First World War aviation sites across East Sussex, including archive material showing some of the aircraft and airships that once operated here.
Explore More Sussex Locations
You can find more of the historic sites, landscapes and locations featured in my films on my Sussex Photography map.
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