RAF Bolt Head
RAF Bolt Head
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| SW of Salcombe, Devon, United Kingdom | |
 RAF Bolt Head
RAF Bolt Head, shown within Devon
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| Coordinates | 50°13′24″N 003°48′21″W / 50.22333°N 3.80583°W |
| Type | Royal Air Force station |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Air Ministry |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941-1945 |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II |
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°
The Ground Control Interceptor Station, (GCI) RAF Hope Cove. was established nearby in 1941 to direct fighter operations in the English Channel.
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.
The following units were here at some point:
During the Second World War, 17 personnel operating from RAF Bolt Head were killed in action or died on active service.
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Wikipedia