RAF Babdown Farm
Encyclopedia
RAF Babdown Farm was a Royal Air Force
station near Beverston
, Tetbury
, Gloucestershire
during World War II
.
Babdown was built in 1939-40 as a Relief Landing Ground for 9 FTS RAF Hullavington
and was used for night flying, but by 1942 it was redeveloped to full RLG standard by laying three Sommerfeld Tracking
runways.
It was an RAF Flying Training Command
Advanced Flying Unit part of 23 Group RAF (HQ RAF South Cerney
).
At its peak there were 571 RAF Personnel (68 Officers 153 SNCOs and 350 ORs) and 223 WAAF personnel (4 Officers, 7 SNCOs and 212 ORs).
In 1944 it was occupied by No. 15 (Pilot) Training Unit and No. 1532 Blind Approach Training (BAT) Flight.
The last aircraft left on 20th June 1945. It was used for storage until January 1948. The site is now partially occupied by an industrial estate and the remainder has been returned to agriculture.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
station near Beverston
Beverston
Beverston is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 132. The village is about two miles west of Tetbury. Beverston is an example of a typical unaltered Gloucestershire Cotswold village...
, Tetbury
Tetbury
Tetbury is a town and civil parish within the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census.In the Middle Ages,...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Babdown was built in 1939-40 as a Relief Landing Ground for 9 FTS RAF Hullavington
RAF Hullavington
RAF Hullavington was a Royal Air Force station in Hullavington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire.RAF Hullavington has switched regiments. At the current time it is RLC-Royal Logistic Corps.-History:Opened on 9 July 1937 as a Flying Training School....
and was used for night flying, but by 1942 it was redeveloped to full RLG standard by laying three Sommerfeld Tracking
Sommerfeld Tracking
Sommerfeld Tracking, named after German expatriate engineer, Kurt Joachim Sommerfeld, then living in England, was a lightweight wire mesh type of prefabricated airfield surface. First put into use by the British in 1941, it was a wire netting stiffened laterally by steel rods...
runways.
It was an RAF Flying Training Command
RAF Flying Training Command
Flying Training Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force which controlled units responsible for delivering flying training. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire.-History:...
Advanced Flying Unit part of 23 Group RAF (HQ RAF South Cerney
RAF South Cerney
RAF South Cerney is an airfield which is now the home of the Joint Air Mounting Centre. It is located in the village of South Cerney near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England....
).
At its peak there were 571 RAF Personnel (68 Officers 153 SNCOs and 350 ORs) and 223 WAAF personnel (4 Officers, 7 SNCOs and 212 ORs).
In 1944 it was occupied by No. 15 (Pilot) Training Unit and No. 1532 Blind Approach Training (BAT) Flight.
The last aircraft left on 20th June 1945. It was used for storage until January 1948. The site is now partially occupied by an industrial estate and the remainder has been returned to agriculture.