Royal Air Force Blakehill Farm or more simply RAF Blakehill Farm is a former Royal Air Force station southwest of Cricklade in Wiltshire, England, operational between 1944 and 1952.
RAF Blakehill Farm | |||||||||||
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Cricklade, Wiltshire in England | |||||||||||
RAF Blakehill Farm Shown within Wiltshire | |||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°37′20″N 1°53′20″W / 51.62222°N 1.88889°W | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
Controlled by | RAF Transport Command | ||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1943 | ||||||||||
In use | 1944–1952 | ||||||||||
Battles/wars | Second World War | ||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||
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The station was originally allocated to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force but not used.[1] It opened in 1944 and was home for transport aircraft of No. 46 Group RAF Transport Command. In 1948 the airfield was a satellite of RAF South Cerney, and was used by training aircraft until the airfield closed in 1952 and was returned to agricultural use. The site is now a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve.[2]
Unit | From | To | Aircraft | Variant | Notes |
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No. 233 Squadron RAF | 5 March 194 | 8 June 1945 | Douglas Dakota | [3] | |
No. 271 Squadron RAF | 26 February 1944 | 10 August 1945 | Douglas Dakota Harrow |
Detachment from RAF Down Ampney[4] | |
No. 437 Squadron RCAF | 1 September 1944 | 7 May 1945 | Douglas Dakota | Formed here[5] | |
No. 575 Squadron RAF | 24 November 1945 | 31 January 1946 | Douglas Dakota | [6] | |
No. 22 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit RAF | 1945 | 1945 | Waco Hadrian | I | [7] |
No. 2 Flying Training School RAF | [8] | ||||
No. 109 (Transport) OTU RAF | [8] | ||||
No. 1528 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF | [8] Became No. 1555 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF | ||||
No. 1555 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF | [8] |
The following units were also here at some point:[8]
In 1967, GCHQ set up an "experimental radio station", a secret research facility, on the site. The site was still active in some capacity until the mid-1990s,[9] and traces of the former communications mast bases can still be seen on aerial photographs.[10] The most remarkable object of the facility was a 240-foot (73 m) tall wooden lattice tower, which was one of the tallest objects in the United Kingdom built of wood. It is possible that this tower was a relic of the wartime Chain Home network, although its lattice pattern is of another type.[10] The tower was demolished on 26 January 2000.[11]
Citations
Bibliography
Media related to RAF Blakehill Farm at Wikimedia Commons