RAF Blakehill Farm

RAF Blakehill Farm
Dakotas of No. 233 Squadron RAF lined up on the perimeter track at RAF Blakehill Farm, for an exercise with the 6th Airborne Division, 20 April 1944
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Location	Cricklade, Wiltshire
In use	1944–1952
Occupants	Royal Air Force
Coordinates	51°37′19″N 1°53′17″W / 51.622°N 1.888°WCoordinates: 51°37′19″N 1°53′17″W / 51.622°N 1.888°W
Map
RAF Blakehill Farm Location within Wiltshire

Aerial photograph of RAF Blakehill Farm, 17 July 1943. The technical and barrack sites are to the right (east) of the airfield.

RAF Blakehill Farm was an RAF airfield southwest of Cricklade in Wiltshire, England, operational between 1944 and 1952.

History

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 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]

Units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 233 Squadron RAF	1944-1945	Douglas Dakota
No. 271 Squadron RAF	1944-1945	Douglas Dakota		Detachment from RAF Down Ampney
No. 437 Squadron RCAF	1944-1945	Douglas Dakota
No. 575 Squadron RAF	1945-1946	Douglas Dakota
No.22 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit RAF	1945	Waco Hadrian

The following units were here at some point:^[3]

• No. 2 Flying Training School RAF
• No. 18 Terminal Staging Post
• No. 19 Terminal Staging Post
• No. 92 (Forward) Staging Post
• No. 93 (Forward) Staging Post
• No. 109 (Transport) OTU RAF
• No. 123 (Major) Staging Post
• No. 1528 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF
• No. 1555 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF
• No. 2748 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2835 Squadron RAF Regiment

Post-war intelligence role

After the Second World War, GCHQ set up an "experimental radio station", a top secret research facility, on the site. It consisted of huge communications masts arranged in mysterious patterns in the middle of the old airfield. The site was still active in some capacity until the mid-1990s and traces of the former aerial mast bases can still be seen on satellite photographs. ^[4]

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Notes

1. American Museum in Britain - Blakehill Farm
2. "Blakehill Farm including Stoke Common Meadow, Cricklade". Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
3. "Blakehill Farm (Cricklade)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
4. http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlfile27075/GCHQ-Blakehill-Farm.htm

Bibliography

• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE, BA, RAF (Retd) (1988). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin (2007). RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.

External links

• "RAF Blakehill: Cricklade airfield which played a crucial role in D-Day". SwindonWeb. 2013.
• Dyer, Steve (2010). "Control towers: RAF Blakehill Farm airfield". controltowers.co.uk.
• "Blakehill Farm Reserve". Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. 2013.