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Royal Air Force Cleave or more simply RAF Cleave is a former Royal Air Force station located 4.2 miles (7 kilometres) north of Bude in Cornwall, England, which was operational from 1939 until 1945.[2] Despite a few periods of intense activity, it was one of RAF Fighter Command's lesser used airfields.
RAF Cleave | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilkhampton, Cornwall in England | |||||||||
 RAF Cleave on a target dossier of the German Luftwaffe, 1940 | |||||||||
  RAF Cleave Shown within Cornwall  RAF Cleave RAF Cleave (the United Kingdom) | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 50°53′08″N 04°33′00″W / 50.88556°N 4.55000°W | ||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Fighter Command * No. 10 Group RAF[1] | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1938/39 | ||||||||
| In use | May 1939 – November 1945 | ||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Elevation | 122 metres (400 ft)[1] AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
editRAF Cleave was conceived as housing target and target support aircraft for firing ranges along the north Cornwall coast, and land was acquired from Cleave Manor.
In May 1939, two flights of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1 AACU) with the Westland Wallace, and a naval steam catapult was soon erected near the cliffs for the pilotless Queen Bee aircraft due to be stationed there. Aircraft were initially housed in temporary Bessonneau hangars (type H of World War I vintage), and later replaced by more permanent structures.
In December 1943, the four flights were amalgamated into 639 Squadron, which served at Cleave for the remainder of the war.
The airfield was placed under care and maintenance in April 1945, and later became a government signals station.
Posted squadrons
edit| unit | dates stationed | aircraft used | duties |
| 1 AACU (A, D, G, K, O & V Flights) | – 31 October 1942 | Hawker Henley, Westland Wallace | target towing |
| 1602 (AAC) Flt | 1 November 1942 – 1 December 1943 | Hawker Henley | formed from D Flight 1AACU, target towing |
| 1603 (AAC) Flt | 1 November 1942 – 1 December 1943 | Hawker Henley, Fairey Battle | formed from G Flight 1AACU, target towing |
| 1604 (AAC) Flt | 1 November 1942 – 1 December 1943 | Hawker Henley, de Havilland Tiger Moth | formed from O Flight 1AACU, target towing |
| 1618 (AAC) Flt | 1 November 1942 – 1 December 1943 | de Havilland Tiger Moth, de Havilland Queen Bee | target towing & pilotless targets |
| 639 Sqn | 1 December 1943 – 30 April 1945 | Hawker Henley, Hawker Hurricane | formed from 1602, 1603, & 1604 Flts[3] |
Current use
editApart from an undisturbed piece of the grass runway to the north, a very short section of concrete perimeter track, and a few of the married quarters accommodation on Cleave Crescent, the site has been almost completely re-modelled as GCHQ Bude.
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b Falconer 2012, p. 66.
- ^ "RAF Cleave". RAFweb.org. RAFweb – Air of Authority. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 101.
Bibliography
edit- Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
- Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
- Lake, A (1999) Flying units of the RAF, Airlife Publishing, Shrewsbury, 316pp & 16 App, ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
- Smith, G (2000) Devon and Cornwall Airfields in the Second World War, Countryside Books, Newbury, 288pp, ISBN 1-85306-632-X.
- Willis, S and Holliss, B R (1987), Military airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945 (Omnibus Edition), Enthusiasts Publications, Newport Pagnell, 283pp, ISBN 0-907700-12-8.
External links
edit- RAF Cleave – web page with extensive descriptive photo gallery, at AtlantikWall.co.uk
- web page showing many photos of the remaining RAF Cleave implacements around the Morwenstow site – at DerelictPlaces.co.uk