RAF Hell's Mouth | |||||||
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Near Abersoch, Gwynedd in Wales | |||||||
Shown within Gwynedd
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Coordinates | 52°48′25″N 004°32′14″W / 52.80694°N 4.53722°WCoordinates: 52°48′25″N 004°32′14″W / 52.80694°N 4.53722°W | ||||||
Type | Emergency Landing Ground Air gunnery and bombing range |
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Site information | |||||||
Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1940 | ||||||
In use | 1940-1946 | ||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Elevation | 18 metres (59 ft) AMSL | ||||||
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RAF Hell's Mouth is a former Royal Air Force Emergency Landing Ground at Hell's Mouth, (Porth Neigwl) on the Llŷn Peninsula near Abersoch, Gwynedd, Wales.
RAF Hell's Mouth was commissioned in February 1937 as a Relief Landing Ground, later an Emergency Landing Ground for RAF Penrhos. It was also an air gunnery and bombing range, with targets on the land, floated 1 mile offshore and towed drogues in the air. A small range railway was in use to provide moving targets.
Typical aircraft using the airfield were Bristol Blenheim and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. In August 1944 a Vickers Wellington was successfully landed by a Polish pilot following an engine failure. Despite the mismatch in size, the aircraft also was able to subsequently take off.
No. 9 (Observers) Advanced Flying Unit RAF was posted here at some point.
The site was decommissioned in 1945 and returned to agriculture.