renamed the Carlton Cinema. On 1 August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, a Royal Navy seaplane base was opened by the coast to defend the Thames Estuary naval towns against attack. It was at first used for both seaplanes and landplanes, but due to landing problems, a separate landplane base was opened in Manston in 1916. After the war, the seaplane base was decommissioned, and the landplane base in Manston eventually became Kent International Airport. During the war, the Coronation Bandstand was converted into sleeping quarters for use by the Royal West Kent Regiment. In 1925, the bandstand was refurbished and reopened as the 600-seat Westgate Pavilion theatre. By 1931, the town's population had reached 4,554. During World War II, several schools were evacuated to inland areas, with some, such as Streete Court School, leaving the town permanently. On 24 August 1942, a German fighter pilot, Herbert Bischoff, was captured after being shot down and crash landing in a field adjacent to Linksfield Rd, just south of the town. On 27 April 1944 a Liberator aircraft from the 392nd USAAF bombing group based in East Anglia near Wendling, Norfolk, crashed off the beach, adjacent to the Westgate Pavilion, with five of the crew killed and four injured in the crash. A special memorial service was held for the crew by the Mayor of Margate and veterans' organisations on 27 April 2009 at the war memorial overlooking the crash site. Near the end of the war a shmit was seen to crash land in the fields along Minster Road out side closes Cottages, the anti aircraft poles can be seen in the concrete tracks today. In 1975, five historic church bells were transferred to St Saviour's Church from the Holy Cross Church in Canterbury, which had closed in 1972. Three of the bells date back to the early 17th century and one was cast in the 14th century. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Westgate Pavilion was a bingo hall, after which it closed and became derelict. In 2001, a group of volunteers formed a charitable trust to repair the pavilion and it was eventually reopened as a theatre. Geography Westgate-on-Sea is located in northeast Kent, on the coast of the Thames Estuary. It is bordered by the town of Margate to the east and the village of Birchington-on-Sea to the west. The town is built beside