HMS Goldcrest
| Cawdor Barracks RNAS Brawdy HMS Goldcrest  |
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| Near Brawdy, Pembrokeshire in Wales | |||||||||
Cawdor Barracks
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 Cawdor Barracks
Shown within Pembrokeshire
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| Coordinates | 51°53′01″N 005°07′26″W / 51.88361°N 5.12389°WCoordinates: 51°53′01″N 005°07′26″W / 51.88361°N 5.12389°W | ||||||||
| Type | Barracks | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator | British Army | ||||||||
| Controlled by | 14th Signal Regiment | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1944 | ||||||||
| In use | 1944-1992 1992-present |
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| Battles/wars |
Second World War Cold War |
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| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Elevation | 111 metres (364 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
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Cawdor Barracks is a military installation located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
It was an operational airbase between 1944 and 1992 being used by both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy before the site was turned over to the British Army and renamed Cawdor Barracks.
The Pembrokeshire base was officially opened on 2 February 1944 as a satellite station for the nearby RAF St Davids with No. 517 Squadron RAF moving in a day before with the Handley Page Halifax Mk V before changing to the Mk III in March 1945. The squadron moved to RAF Chivenor on 30 November 1945. The next squadron to move in was 521 Squadron from December 1944 until May 1945 as a detachment operating the Boeing Fortress II. Between 2 February 1944 and 27 April 1946 595 Squadron aircraft may have been based here with a variety of aircraft as a detachment.
On 1 January 1946 the station was handed over to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and was initially used as a Relief Landing Ground for RNAS Dale. It was commissioned as HMS Goldcrest on 4 September 1952 and in March 1953 the first Hawker Sea Hawk entered service with 806 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Brawdy. From 1963 till 1971 Fairey Gannets and Hawker Hunters were based at Brawdy in 849 NAS and 738/759 NAS respectively. The Gannets were primarily used in Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and the Hunters for advanced flying training including low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training. The Royal Navy left in 1971 and the base was allocated to the Department of the Environment.
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Wikipedia