RAF Tarrant Rushton

Royal Air Force Station Tarrant Rushton
East of Blandford Forum, Dorset, United Kingdom
1944 Oblique air photo of RAF Tarrant Rushton, looking Northeast to Southwest
Royal Air Force Station Tarrant Rushton RAF Tarrant Rushton, shown within Dorset
Coordinates	50°51′00″N 002°04′30″W / 50.85000°N 2.07500°W / 50.85000; -2.07500
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	Royal Air Force
Condition	Abandoned, returned to farmland, some hangars and Nissen huts surviving
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1943-1980
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945

RAF Tarrant Rushton was a Royal Air Force station near the village of Tarrant Rushton east of Blandford Forum in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947. It was used for glider operations during World War II and later revived for civilian operations. It is currently disused, though some buildings survive.

Building of the airfield commenced in May 1942, the airfield being intended for the use of airborne forces of 38 Wing. On 17 May 1943 the base was handed over while still unfinished. Glider operations finally started in October 1943 and continued until 1945.

Horsa gliders from Tarrant Rushton left for France on the eve of D-Day, to begin Operation Tonga with an action that would later become known as Pegasus Bridge. Among the glider pilots was Jim Wallwork, on a Horsa nicknamed Lady Irene. The Tarrant Rushton gliders landed in occupied France shortly after midnight. Wallwork's aircraft was the first to touch down, but it landed heavily: the force of the impact catapulted both Wallwork and his co-pilot John Ainsworth through the front of the cockpit. Although stunned, this made them the first Allied troops to touch French soil on D-Day.

As part of Operation Tonga, a few Tetrarch tanks of 6th Airborne's Reconnaissance Regiment were also flown from Tarrant Rushton in Hamilcar gliders, towed by Halifax bombers, to land on the French coast near the mouth of the Orne river.

Other gliders were later flown from the airfield to Arnhem to take part in Operation Market Garden. During the closing stages of World War II, aircraft were used for SOE operations.