The Forgotten Frontline/ Mapping Kent

The Forgotten frontline

In 2008, Timescapes and Mapping Kent working in partnership with Kent County Council, English Heritage and the Kent Messenger Group commenced on a programme to digitise the aerial survey of Whitstable undertaken by the RAF in 1946.

Utilising the latest imaging techniques, the team revealed a ‘hidden’ landscape of defensive works and fortifications that were constructed in 1940, in order to repel the expected German invasion.The images were enlarged and developed into a ground-breaking exhibition that provided a unique insight into how one coastal community prepared for war and invasion.

The exhibition, entitled 'The Forgotten Frontline' encouraged residents and members of the civil defence and armed forces to share their memories, through the use of contemporary photographs, documents and personal recollections.

The Forgotten Frontline has now become a major social history project that aims to work with communities in Kent to ensure that the 'Forgotten Frontline' is never forgotten.