Southend-on-Sea were regular visitors to the show. The last show was held in 2012; an attempt to revive the show for September 2015, as the Southend Airshow and Military Festival, failed. Southend-on-Sea was formed as a municipal borough in 1892 with the functions of local government shared with Essex County Council. In 1913 the borough was enlarged by the former area of Leigh on Sea Urban District. In 1914 the enlarged Southend gained the status of county borough, exempt from county council control and a single-tier of local government. The county borough was enlarged in 1933 by the former area of
Clacton-on-Sea 1914 and 20,000 by 1939. For well over a century Clacton Pier has been an RNLI lifeboat station. Just before the Second World War the building of Butlin's Holiday Camp boosted its economy, though the Army took it over between then and 1945 for use as an internment, engineer, pioneer and light anti-aircraft artillery training camp The 3 most dramatic incidents during the war were: 1)The crash of a German He 111 aircraft on 30 April 1940, the explosion of one of the magnetic mines on board (killing the crew and 2 civilians, and the defusal of the other mine