Russells Estate in the Second World War
According to available information, during the war Russells played a crucial role in Britain’s air defence – serving as the base for a Home Guard searchlight unit that helped anti-aircraft batteries and fighter squadrons repel night time bombing raids by the Luftwaffe. The estate was regularly used for Home Guard exercises.
“The unique vantage point of the estate’s main house, being on top of a hill and overlooking the newly constructed Leavesden Aerodrome, helped it to play a crucial role in the war effort when it was used by the Home Guard searchlight unit to assist pilots in finding the airfield during night manoeuvres. This use of the estate by the local Home Guard may have also been the basis for the creation of the television series “Dad’s Army” as Jimmy Perry, a member of the Watford Home Guard, went on to co-write the series after possibly visiting the site.” (Upcoming book inspired by Watford’s more hidden history, 2021)
Russells House was chosen for the role because of its proximity to RAF Leavesden, an airfield and military plane factory near Watford in Hertfordshire. And it’s just about possible that the property even played some small role in the creation of the classic TV series Dad’s Army – about the antics of a Home Guard unit.
July 1944: A German bomb damaged houses in Rosecroft Drive. The bomb seems to have landed on the opposite side of the street, which fortunately had not been built on yet.
“My neighbour also told me that the house belonging to a colleague working alongside me had been badly damaged. The house at the end of Rosecroft Drive was one of the nearest to the explosion, and had caught the full blast side on.”
