Editing Richmond Park (section)

=== World War II and its aftermath===
An army camp was established in 1938. It covered {{convert|45|acres|ha}} to the south and east of Thatched House Lodge, extending to the area south of Dann's Pond.<ref name="FRP Guide91">{{cite book | title=''"History" in'' Guide to Richmond Park | author=Max Lankester|publisher=[[Friends of Richmond Park]] | year=2011 | page=91|isbn= 978-0-9567469-0-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=Kingston Gate Camp|url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.899706808074292&lat=51.42620&lon=-0.28030&layers=170&b=1|date=1959|scale=1:1,250–1:2,500|series=National Grid maps, 1940s-1960s|publisher=[[Ordnance Survey]]|location=Richmond Park|access-date =28 October 2020}}</ref> It became known as Kingston Gate Camp and expanded the capacity of the [[East Surrey Regiment]]'s [[The Barracks, Kingston upon Thames|regimental depot]] Infantry Training Centre (ITC). As a result, the ITC was better able to meet the demands of training new recruits and called-up militia between early 1940 and August 1941 when the ITC transferred to a facility in [[Canterbury]] shared with [[Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|the Buffs]].<ref>{{cite book|author=David Scott Daniell|year=1957|title=The History of the East Surrey Regiment|volume=IV 1920–1952|location=London|publisher=[[Ernest Benn Limited]]|pages=115–116|oclc=492800784}}</ref> The camp was subsequently used as a military convalescent depot for up to 2,500 persons after which it continued as a base for the [[Auxiliary Territorial Service]] (ATS) until after the war.<ref name="Rabbitts 145">{{harvnb|Rabbitts|2014|p=145}}</ref>

During World War II Pembroke Lodge was used as the base for "Phantom" (the [[GHQ Liaison Regiment]]).<ref name="FRP Guide91"/> The Pen Ponds were drained, in order to disguise them as a landmark,<ref>McDowall, p. 91</ref> and an experimental bomb disposal centre was set up at Killcat Corner, which is between Robin Hood Gate and Roehampton Gate.<ref name="Osborne">{{cite book | title=Defending London: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War | publisher=[[The History Press]] | author=Mike Osborne | year=2012 | location=[[Stroud, Gloucestershire]] | isbn=978-07524-7930-9}}</ref>

An [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft gun]] site was inside Sheen Gate for the duration of the war. The Prime Minister, [[Winston Churchill]], visited it on 10 November 1940<ref>{{Cite web |author=Simon Fowler |author-link = Simon Fowler |date=October 2020 |title=Winston Churchill in Richmond  |url=https://www.richmondhistory.org.uk/wordpress/history-of-richmond/richmond-at-war/winston-churchill-in-richmond/ |access-date=24 April 2021|website=Richmond Local History Society}}</ref> and it was featured in a photograph published in ''[[Picture Post]]'' on 13 December 1941.<ref name= "Photographs151">{{cite book | title=Richmond in Old Photographs | publisher=[[Alan Sutton|Alan Sutton Publishing]] |editor=[[John Cloake]] |author=Compiled by members of the [[Richmond, London#Societies|Richmond Local History Society]] | year=1990 | page=151 | isbn=978-0-86299-855-4}}</ref>

Associated with the gun site was the research site of the [[Army Operational Research Group]] (AORG), located on the [[polo]] field beside Sheen Cross, where [[James Stanley Hey|Stanley Hey]] researched improvements to the operation of anti-aircraft gun-laying radar. During the war, Hey discovered that the [[Sun]] is a radio source<ref name = "Baker">{{Cite journal |last=Timothy M M Baker |publisher= [[Richmond Local History Society]]|date=October 2021 |title=Richmond Park, radio astronomy's birthplace |journal=Richmond History |volume=42 |pages=22–27 |issn=0263-0958}}</ref> and he investigated radio reflections from [[Meteor shower|meteor]] trails, and radio noise from cosmic sources. In 1946 Hey's group discovered [[Cygnus A]], later shown to be the first [[radio galaxy]]. The Richmond Park installation thus became the first radio observatory in Britain.<ref name = "Baker"/>

In addition to use of the park for military purposes, approximately {{convert|500|acres|ha}} of the park was converted to agricultural use during the war.<ref name="Hansard_19500703">{{hansard |url=1950/jul/03/richmond-park-closed-area|title=Richmond Park (Closed Area) |access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref>

The Russell School (then located within the park's boundary) was destroyed by enemy action in 1943<ref>McDowall, p. 97</ref> and Sheen Cottage a year later.<ref>McDowall, p. 95</ref><ref name = "WoodSC">{{Cite journal |last=Robert Wood|publisher= [[Richmond Local History Society]]|date=June 2019 |title=A house through time |journal=Richmond History |volume=40 |pages=34–42 |issn=0263-0958}}</ref>

[[John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter|John Boyd-Carpenter]], MP for [[Kingston-upon-Thames (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston-upon-Thames]], proposed using the Kingston Gate Camp to help alleviate the local post-war housing shortage but the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Minister of Works]], [[Charles Key]], was opposed, preferring that the site be eventually returned to its former parkland use.<ref>{{Hansard|url=1947/nov/06/richmond-park-camp-use |title=Richmond Park Camp (Use)|access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref> Key's department refurbished and repurposed the camp as an [[Olympic Village]] for the [[1948 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="Cloake 201">Cloake, p. 201</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/news--olympic-town-at-richmond-park/z74y2sg |title= Olympic Town at Richmond Park|date= 4 June 1948|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001861/19480731/022/0018|title=The XIVth Olympiad| newspaper=[[The Sphere (newspaper)|The Sphere]]|date=31 July 1948|publisher=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=limited}}</ref> The [[Olympic Village]] was opened by [[Olympic gold medalist|Olympic gold medallist]] [[David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter|Lord Burghley]], with Key making the announcement, in July 1948.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA354L6FHKU412LLQ9JN7WB90IO-OPENING-OF-OLYMPIC-CENTRE-IN-LONDON|title=Opening Of Olympic Centre In London 1948|date=5 July 1948|publisher=[[Reuters]]|series=Gaumont British Newsreel|type=Motion picture, black and white|id=film id:VLVA354L6FHKU412LLQ9JN7WB90IO|access-date = 20 May 2021}}</ref> After the Olympics, the camp was used by units of the [[Royal Corps of Signals]] and then by the [[Women's Royal Army Corps]] following their formation in 1949 as successor to the wartime ATS. Although it had been hoped to clear the camp during the 1950s, it remained in military use and was used to house service families repatriated following the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956. It was not until 1965 that the camp was eventually demolished; it was reintegrated into the park during the following year.<ref name="Rabbitts 145" /><ref name="Hansard_19500703" /><ref>{{cite web |author= Michael Davison |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12756326|title=When the Olympics Came to Richmond Park|publisher= [[The National Archives (UK)]]|date=July 2005 |pages=11–12|access-date = 12 May 2023}}</ref>