Military Use

World War 1

The Harbour Station’s finest hour was arguably in the Great War when millions of men passed through. It can be argued that the Western Front really began at the English side of the Channel given that the Dover Patrol fought a constant battle to keep the sea lanes clear.

It was the last building of Blighty many men and nurses would have seen when they left for the Western Front, and the first they would have seen when coming home on leave. Boulogne-Folkestone was the usual route of the leave boat for most of the war.

Many wounded were loaded onto hospital trains here, and this commenced shortly after the Battle of Mons. On the 27 August 1914 the afternoon boat from Boulogne to Folkestone brought over the first of the British wounded to return to this country. There were about 30 men, nearly all of different regiments and most of them only comparatively slightly wounded in the legs, but not too seriously to prevent them from limping along without assistance. A few had to be carried to motor ambulances waiting to take them to Shorncliffe Camp.

The Station was also very important in the evacuation of Belgian soldiers. ‘The first contingent of wounded Belgian soldiers arrived (at Folkestone) on Saturday [10^th October 1914] and were conveyed in sixteen motor cars to the Voluntary Aid Hospital, Ramsgate. On Thursday [15^th October] 120 arrived on the ‘Invicta’ and were taken to Shorncliffe MH in three of the red motor buses and several RAMC ambulance cars, being conveyed thence to the Bevan Home Sandgate. In the evening 1,000 arrived unexpectedly and the task of distributing them all was no light one. Several hundred were dispatched by train to Ramsgate, Margate, Canterbury, Bromley and Bickley. One hundred and seventy were sent to the Royal Victoria Hospital and as the ordinary patients could not be disturbed some beds had to be made up in corridors for some of the wounded.’

The total number of arrivals at Folkestone harbour in the week ending 1 January 1915 was 8,318. These mostly came from Flushing and were probably Belgian refugees or soldiers.

A number of formed units passed through the port on their way to the Western Front. A complete list of departures is still to be established. However, the list includes the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions who were based at Shorncliffe.

People passing through the Harbour Station included men and women came from all over the British Empire (particularly Canada) and represented every race, creed and social class from King George V and Sir Douglas Haig to the humblest private soldier. Evidence of this is borne out in the visitors’ books for the tea room/canteen which have recently come to light in the local archives. We have identified the precise location of this tea room/canteen on the Outer Pier and believe that this structure is of international importance.

The Station also has some important literary connections which are worth commemorating. The town has recently been emphasising its literary heritage, through an annual Literary Festival, which brings visitors into the area. Another example is Henry Williamson, author of The Chronicles of Ancient Sunlight and most famously Tarka the Otter. Williamson spent several months based in Folkestone in 1919 as Adjutant of a unit for soldiers returning from the Western Front and was responsible for demobbing those who had finished their service. He would have been on the Station/Pier complex on a daily basis. One passage in his novel The Patriot’s Progress is believed to be a description of the Outer Pier. It is quite possible that Owen and/or Williamson might have signed one of the visitors’ books. Britain’s greatest war poet, Wilfred Owen, passed through the Station on at least two occasions. He wrote a letter on 28 December 1916 from the Metropole Hotel before crossing the Channel the next day. He also went through the Station on the last occasion he left England on 31 August 1918.

A column of troops approaches the Harbour Station in August 1918. The signal box, the Harbour Station (now the Harbour Master’s House) and canopies are clearly visible.
Photo courtesy of Folkestone Library

In November 1914 the eminent Victorian soldier Field Marshal Lord Roberts visited the front to see the recently arrived Indian troops. He sadly died at St. Omer and ‘his remains were brought to Folkestone where they were placed for one night in a room, on the Harbour, converted into a Chapelle Ardente. Troops mounted guard throughout the night and acted as an escort on the journey to London.’

The Station also played its part in the Second World War, with some of the BEF of 1940 passing through the port from Dunkirk and Boulogne. In 1940-44 Folkestone Harbour was on the front line: there are some superb photos in the local archives of the damage inflicted on the Station by the cross-channel guns at Cap Griz Nez.

How many people passed through Folkestone?

World War I gave some staggering statistics of traffic handled at the port: -

Passengers			Freight (tons)
9,253,652	British officers & men		192,468	SE&CR traffic
537,523	Allied officers & men		91,000	Government stores
846,919	Red Cross and other workers		11,641	Red Cross stores
3,592	German Prisoners of War		383,098	Mails & parcel post
10,641,592	Total Passengers		63,985	Expeditionary Force Canteens
plus			402,968	tones of coal (shipping fuel)
3,416	Motor cars (for ships’ holds)		1,145,160	Total Tons of Freight

Ships turned around (aproximate)			Trains turned around (approximate)
10,500		Military Services	7,000		Military Services
8,000		SE&CR Services	8,500		SE&CR Services

World War II

Again Folkestone was on the front line but times had changed and the mechanisms of war had also moved on. By the time war was declared in September 1939 Folkestone had its ARP system in place and everyone had been fitted with gas-masks. There had been black-out tests in the July and people had received leaflets of instructions.

A minefield, known as the Dover Barrage, of 9,897 mines was established over time. During the very cold winter of 1939-40 several of these broke loose and were washed up onto beaches. Drifting mines were constant problems for shipping, often braking loose during heavy seas. This also made fishing a very dangerous task for the fleet berthed in the inner harbour, the FE61 “Young Harry” being lost on 4^th January 1940 when they either hit or trawled a mine.

Ironically Folkestone was initially considered a place of safety and refugees arrived from the continent via the harbour and children from London.

The town with its harbour was eventually declared a “Garrison Town” and everyone carried identity cards. The foreshore and harbour became restricted areas for use by the military.

As with World War I the harbour became a transport interchange for troops, particularly during the evacuation of Dunkerque in May 1940. Every Folkestone boat that was capable went to bring troops back to waiting trains at the harbour station. Thousands were landed and train after train climbed the bank out of the harbour station carrying exhausted troops to inland camps. Many soldiers threw letters out of the windows asking for them to be posted to their families.

Folkestone was not only bombed but because of its position within sight of France gunfire across the Channel commenced in late 1942 and many of the towns buildings were destroyed..

One occurrence of fete occurred when a number of commandos crossed from the harbour to France and attacked Germans on the very day that the German-French armistice was signed. Returning they were almost prevented from landing because they carried no identification. One boat load was delayed at Folkestone Harbour for several hours.

Will the harbour return to its great importance during times of conflict? Will the branch railway once again move huge numbers of troops to and refugees away from danger? Probably not but its new value for connection with ferries for France may be recognised as being one of new value and those ferries will, one hopes, bring new trade to the town in which so much national heritage was created and can be found.