RAF Blakehill Farm
RAF Blakehill Farm
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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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| Summary | |
| Airport type | Military |
| Location | Cricklade, Wiltshire |
| In use | 1944–1952 |
| Occupants | Royal Air Force |
| Coordinates | 51°37′19″N 1°53′17″W / 51.622°N 1.888°WCoordinates: 51°37′19″N 1°53′17″W / 51.622°N 1.888°W |
| Map | |
 RAF Blakehill Farm
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RAF Blakehill Farm was an RAF airfield southwest of Cricklade in Wiltshire, England, operational between 1944 and 1952.
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 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.
The following units were here at some point:
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.
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Wikipedia