RAF Blakehill Farm facts for kids
Quick facts for kids RAF Blakehill Farm
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| Cricklade, Wiltshire in England | |||||||||||
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
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 RAF Blakehill Farm
Shown within Wiltshire
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| 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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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.
History
The station was originally allocated to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force but not used. 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.
Units and aircraft
| Unit | From | To | Aircraft | Variant | Notes |
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| No. 233 Squadron RAF | 5 March 194 | 8 June 1945 | Douglas Dakota | ||
| No. 271 Squadron RAF | 26 February 1944 | 10 August 1945 | Douglas Dakota Harrow |
Detachment from RAF Down Ampney | |
| No. 437 Squadron RCAF | 1 September 1944 | 7 May 1945 | Douglas Dakota | Formed here | |
| No. 575 Squadron RAF | 24 November 1945 | 31 January 1946 | Douglas Dakota | ||
| No. 22 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit RAF | 1945 | 1945 | Waco Hadrian | I | |
| No. 2 Flying Training School RAF | |||||
| No. 109 (Transport) OTU RAF | |||||
| No. 1528 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF | Became No. 1555 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF | ||||
| No. 1555 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF |
The following units were also here at some point:
- No. 18 Terminal Staging Post
- No. 19 Terminal Staging Post
- No. 92 (Forward) Staging Post
- No. 93 (Forward) Staging Post
- No. 123 (Major) Staging Post
- 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.
