Saunders Row of Addlestone set up a building and a circular concrete installation on Chertsey Meads to in order to water-test the small slow 3 seat ‘Walrus’ amphibian aircraft. This rugged little single engine biplane designed by R.J.Mitchell of Schneider Trophy and ‘Spitfire’ fame, and was used for reconnaissance and S.A.R (search and rescue) and could be catapulted from ships at sea if required. Many ditched airmen owe their lives to these rather antiquated looking biplanes. Not much remains apart from several bunkers and a pillbox. Most of the underground workings have now been infilled. On Sunday the 11th of February 1945 at 2am in the morning, a V2 rocket, the product of the cutting edge of Nazi technology, fell on Chertsey Meads creating the loudest (double) bang ever heard in the district. This particular V2 rocket had been launched from Holland just 6 minutes before. The evidence of the forty foot wide crater can still be seen, although it is filled in and covered with weeds.
