Sangatte

Sister cities

• Sandgate

History

Sangatte was the landing point of the world's first operational underwater telegraph cable, laid across the Channel by the Submarine Telegraph Company in 1851 between South Foreland and Sangatte. 'Blériot-Plage' is named to commemorate Louis Blériot who, on 25 July 1909, was the first person to fly across the English Channel. He flew from the beach at Sangatte to the White Cliffs of Dover, to claim the prize offered by the Daily Mail. The crossing took 37 minutes in his aeroplane, Blériot XI, built in collaboration with Raymond Saulnier. It was powered by a 3-cylinder engine. At the western end of the beach, a statue of the French aviator Hubert Latham overlooks the sea. Latham was another pioneering cross-channel pilot whose earlier attempt on 19 July had failed. Sangatte is also the landing location of Supermarine Spitfire Mark 1a N3200 of No. 19 Squadron RAF, which was forced to land at the beach after receiving damage to its radiator from shots fired by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of JG 2 during Operation Dynamo on 26 May 1940, having shot down a Junkers Ju 87 shortly beforehand to protect the evacuating soldiers at Dunkirk. The plane was recovered from the sand at Sangatte in 1986, and restoration work commenced in 2000, which continued until 2014 when works completed, the aircraft having been repaired to a fully airworthy state.