www.gravesendreporter.co.uk/content/kent/columnists/story.aspx?brand=GVSROnline&category=colbobogley&tBrand=gvsronline&tCategory=columnists&itemid=WeED23%20Jan%202008%2016%3A01%3A23%3A560 American hero who found refuge in village
23 January 2008
INSPIRING: Charles Lindbergh.
I know many readers are interested in the history of aviation. The proximity of the Vickers factory at Crayford, the first attempt at a powered flight from the grounds of Bexley Hospital by Hiram Maxim, the airfields at Joyce Green and Biggin Hill and the deeds of our airmen during the Battle of Britain have given north-west Kent an almost matchless reputation.
One of the greatest aviation heroes of all time was Charles Lindbergh, who was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. It was on May 21, 1927, that his single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St Louis, touched down in front of a crowd of 100,000 people at Le Bourget in Paris.
His 3,600-mile flight was accomplished in 33 hours 39 minutes and during the journey he often dipped to within 10 feet of the waves. He stayed awake by eating home-made sandwiches.
Captain Lindbergh was American. But he also had a connection with Kent and, on Tuesday, listeners to BBC Radio 4 had the opportunity to discover why. The great aviator, or Lone Eagle, as he was known, lived almost secretly in a 14th century house in Sevenoaks Weald.
At the time of the historic flight, and for a few years afterwards, Lindbergh lived with his wife Anne and baby son Charles in Princetown, New Jersey.
On March 2, 1932, as the couple dined with friends, a kidnapper climbed into Charles Junior's nursery, took the 20-month-old child and left a note demanding a ransom of $50,000.
The ransom was paid but a few weeks later the child was found bludgeoned to death in a wood five miles from the American hero's home. A new hunt began - to find the serial numbers of the ransom notes, hoping they would lead police to the killer.
Three months after Charles was discovered, Anne Lindbergh gave birth to another son, Jon, and, as the eyes of the world focused on the new baby and the continuing hunt for the killer of his older brother, came the news that a 33-year-old carpenter and illegal immigrant, Bruno Hauptmann, had been arrested.
The Lindberghs escaped to England to avoid the never-ending attention of the American press and leased Long Barn, in Sevenoaks Weald, owned by Harold Nicolson and his wife, Vita Sackville-West, the novelist. They had only recently moved to Sissinghurst, where they hoped to turn a ruined castle in the middle of a derelict field into habitable accommodation.
The BBC Radio 4 programme, Random Edition, told the story of the Lindberghs' escape to England, how they accepted the lease on Long Barn and how they attempted to live in anonymity in a small English village. Among those interviewed were the present owner of the house and a lady in America who knew the couple well. I gave the historic perspective from the village point of view.
The couple lived in the village for almost three years. They regularly walked to the post office and Charles bought daily newspapers from the village store. They often chatted to the proprietor of a garage and they allowed young Jon to play in the garden without fear that he might be kidnapped. No such crime had then been known in England.
The American press, however, did not leave them alone. In fact, stories appeared regularly in daily papers across the States.
On March 30, 1936, under the headline "Goodwill in an English Village", this story appeared: "Sevenoaks, England: Colonel Charles Lindbergh and his family, living entirely unguarded in their rambling country home here, apparently are trying to forget that Bruno Richard Hauptmann is to be electrocuted at 8.20pm Tuesday for the kidnap-murder of their son, Charles, Jr.
"Lindbergh is intent on becoming a country 'squire', beloved by his 350 village neighbors (sic). He won immediate popularity by announcing he intended to purchase his supplies 'right in the village, from local tradesmen'. The reserve of the villagers, most of whom had decided in advance he would be a blustering, boastful young American, is melting."
Another story read: "Sevenoaks Weald village, England: The presence of the Lindberghs is hardly felt, except that word spread like lightning that he instructed his five servants, including two gardeners, to purchase in the village rather than from London firms. This information came from L Marriott, village electrician and garage owner, called to the Lindbergh home, Long Barn, to make repairs. 'Lindbergh always calls at my garage to take British gasoline for his small American car,' Marriott said proudly.
On April 4, a headline stated: "Constables Surround Their Home and No One Is Allowed to Break It". It continued: "SEVENOAKS, England. Stolid Kentish police constables made almost a no man's land of the country round Col Charles A Lindbergh's home today in their determination to assure him, his wife and their son, Jon, the seclusion they came to England to find. They had orders to regard as suspects anyone except residents who approached within a mile of the home during the climactic days of the fight of Bruno Richard Hauptmann.
"Searchlights played in the sky as the local Royal Air Force flew overhead... For a mile around Long Barn there were police guards of the county constabulary. A special guard was at the entrance to the house. Lights in the servants' quarters went out at 9.30pm. while those in the living quarters were ablaze.
"All the lights were put out just before midnight, which was an hour before Hauptmann was to die in New Jersey. The Lindberghs spent yesterday quietly at home. Col Lindbergh's chief activity was to watch the local coal dealer unload two tons of coal for his house. He lent the butler his little American automobile to take out."
Many years later, Lindbergh's biographer, Kenneth Davis, said the colonel's achievements came at a time of unparalleled lawlessness, sensationalism and political corruption in America. His famous flight lifted the spirits of a nation.
No man, however, had a greater passion for privacy. During those three years at Long Barn which Lindbergh later described as "among the happiest days of my life", the villagers of Sevenoaks Weald respected his desire.
A few years ago, Jon Lindbergh, then 64, returned to England with his partner Karen for the first time since he was a child. I had the privilege of taking him to Sevenoaks Weald and Long Barn and then on to Sissinghurst Castle to meet Nigel Nicolson, son of Harold and Vita.
bobogley@frogletspublications.co.uk