RAF Detling

RAF Detling
RAF Detling;
	RAF Detling Station Crest, with motto: DARE TO BE WISE
	IATA: none; ICAO: none;
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Location	Detling, Kent
Built	1938
In use	1939-1959
Elevation AMSL	601 ft / 183 m
Coordinates	51°18′18″N 000°35′36″E
Map
	RAF Detling Location in Kent
Runways

Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated 600 feet above sea level, located near Detling, a village about three miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent.

It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in the First World War and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War.

RNAS Detling was used jointly by the Navy and Air Force between 1916 and 1919, and Fleet Air Arm aircraft also shared some facilities during the second World War. RAF Detling opened in 1939 and assigned to No 16 Group in Coastal Command for patrols protecting costal shipping. In 1943, it was transferred to Fighter Command, ahead of the D Day landings, eventually closed in 1959.

The site of the airfield is now home to the annual Kent County Show, which takes place for three days every July, and a number of other shows and events.

Operational units and aircraft

No. 1 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
No. 4 Squadron RAF Detachment (1940) - Westland Lysander II
No. 13 Squadron RAF Detachment (1941) - Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 26 Squadron RAF (1941) - Curtiss Tomahawk II
No. 26 Squadron RAF (1943) - North American Mustang II
No. 48 Squadron RAF Detachment (1939) - Avro Anson I
No. 50 Squadron RFC Detachment (1916) - Vickers ES 1
No. 53 Squadron RAF (1940) - Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 59 Squadron RAF (1941) - Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 80 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 112 Squadron RFC (1917) - Vickers ES 1
No. 118 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 124 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire VII & HF.IXE
No. 132 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
No. 143 Squadron RFC/RAF (1918-1919) Armstrong Whitworth FK.8, Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A, Sopwith Camel & Sopwith Snipe
No. 165 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
No. 184 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire VB
No. 229 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 235 Squadron RAF (1940) - Bristol Blenheim 1F
No. 239 Squadron RAF (1942) - North American Mustang I
No. 274 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 280 Squadron RAF (1942) - Avro Anson I
No. 318 Squadron RAF (1943) - Hawker Hurricane I
No. 453 Squadron RAAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
No. 500 Squadron RAF (1938-1939) - Hawker Hind, Avro Anson I
No. 504 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXE
No. 567 Squadron RAF (1943-1944) - Fairey Barracuda, Miles Martinet, Hawker Hurricane IV & Airspeed Oxford
No. 602 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1902 Flight) (1955-1957) - Auster AOP6
No. 655 Squadron RAF (1943) - Auster III
No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1903 Flight) (1951-1955) - Bristol Sycamore HC11

The following units were also here at some point:[1]

No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Flight
No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Unit
'K' Flight of No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF
'D' Flight of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
No. 3 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF
No. 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF
No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
No. 15 (Fighter) Wing RAF
No. 16 Group Communication Flight RAF
No. 75 (Signals) Wing RAF
No. 125 Airfield
No. 141 Gliding School RAF
No. 168 Gliding School RAF
No. 403 Repair & Salvage Unit
No. 405 Repair & Salvage Unit
No. 410 Repair & Salvage Unit
No. 615 Gliding School RAF
No. 1336 Wing RAF Regiment
No. 1338 Wing RAF Regiment
No. 1493 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF
No. 1624 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
No. 1903 Air Observation Post Flight RAF
No. 2709 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2733 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2746 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2749 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2751 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2753 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2768 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2769 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2773 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2793 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2822 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2828 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 2878 Squadron RAF Regiment
No. 4018 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
No. 4138 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
Home Command Gliding Centre RAF
Home Command Gliding Instructors School RAF
Reserve Command Gliding Instructors School RAF

References

"Detling". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

External links

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/raf_detling_world-war_two.htm

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[ABCT-1] "Detling". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 14 June 2020.