THE FONFA STORY

The charity, Friends of the New Forest Airfields, was established by a group of aviation enthusiasts, veterans, authors and historians who lived in the New Forest area, which is located in south west Hampshire on the south coast of England. Their primary objective was to provide a memorial to the twelve airfields of the New Forest and all those, civilian as well as military, who participated in their activities. The memorial would contain a time capsule containing of memorabilia books and documents relevant both to the operations of the airfields but also the lives of the people involved at the airfields and in the wider community. Secondly, the Friends wished to develop an educational programme to help students of all ages and backgrounds understand the activities and impact of the twelve airfields. Finally a third objective was to provide some form of interpretation centre for visitors and to display in that centre the Friends’ collection of models, pictures and artefacts.

Much of the initial work of the Friends was to raise funds for the memorial through membership subscriptions, and donations. Donations large and small were received for all over the world, from organisations and individuals. Over a number of years steady progress enabled the construction of the memorial, to a design by Basil White of Sopley.

Building the memorial
and still the Work goes on
The recently renovated memorial notice board

"Ready to welcome you to the Memorial" Trustees will often spend time at the Memorial on Summer Weekends and Bank Holidays

On August 16^th 2002 a formal dedication of the memorial took place. Since then the grounds of the memorial, including two garden areas, which flank the memorial’s enclosure, have been landscaped and planted.

The time capsule contents have been collated and catalogued and the capsule was interred during 2005, to be opened in 2045.

The educational programme is now underway. The first evidence of it was this web site, which is intended to act as an archive of past events, a source of news of future events and eventually a reference for students. Work continues  on gathering information to be included on a CD Rom to be sent to all primary schools in the New Forest area. The information will be referenced to the History syllabus for Key Stage 2 pupils. A list of projects for students can be found here.

The determination of a suitable location and the subsequent fitting out of a permanent interpretation centre is still some way off but options in the Bransgore and Holmsley South areas are being studied.