The Lindbergh Connection

From the archives …

We've recently unearthed a copy of a letter dated 6th June 1938 from Colonel Charles Lindbergh, the famous American aviator, who flew the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight in 1927, together with the Hilden Oaks entrance form, for his son, Jon.

Charles Lindbergh, his wife and second son Jon, had secretly fled to the UK in 1937 to escape the manic paparazzi attention they had attracted following the tragic kidnapping and murder of their eldest son. They settled at ‘Long Barn’ in Weald village; renting the house from Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West. They approached Hilden Oaks about educating their five year old son Jon, but only on the condition that his identity would not be divulged. In order to meet Colonel Lindbergh’s conditions, the School discontinued using last names for the year that Jon was a pupil. Although no-one knew his identity, there were reports at the time of armed bodyguards around their house in Weald and a suggestion of them being ‘behind every bush’ whilst Jon attended Hilden Oaks!

In June 1938 the Lindbergh’s left the UK and moved to France for a while before returning to the USA in early 1939, when the threat of war became imminent. Jon Lindbergh went on to become a deep-sea diver and was one of the world's first aquanauts in the 1960s. He died on 29th July 2021 aged 88.