RAF Defford

Near Defford, Worcestershire in England

RAF Defford

Shown within Worcestershire

Coordinates

52°05′49″N 002°08′35″W / 52.09694°N 2.14306°WCoordinates: 52°05′49″N 002°08′35″W / 52.09694°N 2.14306°W

Type

Royal Air Force station

Site information

Owner

Air Ministry

Operator

Royal Air Force

Site history

Built

1941

In use

1941-1957

Airfield information

Elevation

20 metres (66 ft) AMSL

Runways
Direction	Length and surface
02/20	1,850 metres (6,070 ft) Asphalt
09/27	1,275 metres (4,183 ft) Asphalt
15/33	1,340 metres (4,396 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Defford or more simply RAF Defford is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) north west of Defford, Worcestershire, England.

Construction of RAF Defford was completed in 1941, and for a few months the airfield was used as a satellite station by the Vickers Wellington bombers of No. 23 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU), based a few miles away at RAF Pershore.

In May 1942, the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), responsible for radar research and development, and located near Swanage, moved to Malvern College. At the same time the Telecommunications Flying Unit (TFU), later named the Radar Research Flying Unit (RRFU), which operated flight trials on behalf of the TRE, transferred its aircraft to Defford.

So hurried was the move to Defford that many of the personnel had to be accommodated in tents at first. However, at Defford the tempo of work carried out by TFU increased month by month, and by 1945 there were approximately 2,500 personnel and 100 aircraft on the station.

Civilian scientists, flying from Defford with aircrews drawn from the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, tested radar systems which were to revolutionise the operational capability of Allied aircraft. Early successes with Airborne Interception (AI) systems were demonstrated by John "Cats Eyes" Cunningham and other night fighter pilots. While Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radar enabled the German U-boat menace to be effectively countered in 1943, and thus was critical to the success of the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1944, H₂S radar was enabling accurate navigation and target identification to be achieved by Bomber Command crews, taking part in the strategic bombing offensive.

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Wikipedia