RAF Bolt Head

Royal Air Force Bolt Head or more simply RAF Bolt Head is a former Royal Air Force grass airfield 1 mile (1.6 km) south west of Salcombe on the south Devon coast, England from 1941 to 1945. During the Second World War it was used as a satellite for RAF Exeter. There were two runways, of 3,680 ft at 45° and 4,200 ft at 120°[1]

RAF Bolt Head
SW of Salcombe, Devon, United Kingdom
RAF Bolt Head
RAF Bolt Head, shown within Devon
Coordinates50°13′24″N 003°48′21″W
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
Controlled byRoyal Air Force
Site history
Built1941
In use1941-1945
Battles/warsEuropean Theatre of World War II

The Ground Control Interceptor Station (GCI) RAF Hope Cove was established on the northeast side of the field in 1941 to direct fighter operations in the English Channel. Unlike the airfield, Hope Cove remained in use into the 1990s.

Today the World War II buildings are almost all gone but a memorial to the airfield's war-time history exists in the centre of the site, two notable post-war buildings survive including a large R6 Rotor bunker (used until 1994 as a Regional Seat of Government) and a grass airstrip is still used occasionally by light aircraft. The landowners also hosted an air display there in 2009 which saw a Hurricane and Spitfire visit the airfield for the first time since the war.

RAF units and aircraft
Unit Dates Aircraft Variant Notes
No. 16 Squadron RAF 1940–1941 Westland Lysander III Detachments from RAF Weston Zoyland.[2]
No. 41 Squadron RAF 29 April-16 May 1944 & 24 May-19 June 1944 Supermarine Spitfire XII Attended APC Fairwood Common, 17–23 May 1944.[3]
No. 234 Squadron RAF 1944 Supermarine Spitfire VI [4]
No. 257 Squadron RAF 1942 Hawker Typhoon IA and IB Detachments from RAF Exeter.[5]
No. 263 Squadron RAF 1943 Westland Whirlwind I Detachments from RAF Warmwell.[6]
1944 Hawker Typhoon IB [6]
No. 266 Squadron RAF 1944 Hawker Typhoon IB [7]
No. 275 Squadron RAF 1944 Supermarine Spitfire VC Later moved to RAF Exeter with detachments back to Bolt Head.[8]
No. 276 Squadron RAF 1944 Various Detachment from RAF Portreath.[8]
No. 310 Squadron RAF 1942 Supermarine Spitfire VB and VC Detachments from RAF Exeter.[9]
No. 421 Squadron RCAF 1942 Supermarine Spitfire VB Detachments from RAF Exeter.[10]
No. 610 Squadron RAF 1943 Supermarine Spitfire VC [11]
No. 611 Squadron RAF 1944 Supermarine Spitfire IX [12]

The following units were here at some point:[13]

  • No. 10 Group Communication Flight
  • No. 2704 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2715 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2738 Squadron RAF Regiment

During the Second World War, 17 personnel operating from RAF Bolt Head were killed in action or died on active service.[14]

References

Citations
  1. Arthur L. Clamp (1992). The Hope Cove Area during The Second World War 1939–1945.
  2. Jefford 1988, p. 29.
  3. Jefford 1988, p. 38.
  4. Jefford 1988, p. 75.
  5. Jefford 1988, p. 79.
  6. Jefford 1988, p. 80.
  7. Jefford 1988, p. 81.
  8. Jefford 1988, p. 82.
  9. Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  10. Jefford 1988, p. 91.
  11. Jefford 1988, p. 99.
  12. Jefford 1988, p. 100.
  13. "Bolt Head". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  14. http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Malborough/AMemorialtotheFew-RAFBoltHead.htm

Bibliography
  • Howell, Christopher (2009) RAF Bolt Head (privately published, no ISBN)
  • 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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.