Nicolson's diary entry for 26 September 1938 records the tense European atmosphere at the time of the Munich Crisis. "They are making the big room at Sissinghurst gas-proof. I know one who will not be there. He will be in his bed minus gas-mask and with all the windows open." He drove down to Sissinghurst on the day war was declared, encountering an angry woman who shook her fist at him while declaring that the war was the fault of the rich. He found on his arrival at the castle that the Sackville flag had been lowered from the tower. During the Second World War, Sissinghurst saw much of the Battle of Britain, which was mainly fought over the Weald and the English Channel. Nicolson's diary entry for 2 September 1940 reads: "a tremendous raid in the morning and the whole upper air buzzes and zooms with the noise of aeroplanes. There are many fights over our sunlight fields".