RAF Barford St John

Last updated

RAF Barford St John
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
Near Bloxham, Oxfordshire in England
RAF Barford St John from the air - geograph.org.uk - 2355944.jpg
Aerial view of RAF Barford St John during 2011
United States Air Forces in Europe.svg
Site information
Type Royal Air Force station (US Visiting Forces)
CodeBJ [1]
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator United States Air Force
Controlled by US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa
formerly
RAF Flying Training Command (1941-42)
RAF Bomber Command
* No. 92 (OTU) Group RAF
ConditionOperational
Location
Oxfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
RAF Barford St John
Shown within Oxfordshire
Coordinates 52°00′13″N001°21′36″W / 52.00361°N 1.36000°W / 52.00361; -1.36000
Site history
Built1941 (1941)
In use1941 – 1946 (Royal Air Force)
1951 – present (US Air Force)
Airfield information
Elevation116 metres (381 ft) [1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
09/271,670 metres (5,479 ft)  Asphalt
16/341,215 metres (3,986 ft) Asphalt
02/201,210 metres (3,970 ft) Asphalt
Notes: Flying ceased in 1946

Royal Air Force Barford St John or more simply RAF Barford St John is a Royal Air Force station just north of the village of Barford St. John, Oxfordshire, England. It is now a non-flying facility, operated by the United States Air Force as a communications centre with many large communications aerials, and is a satellite of RAF Croughton.

Contents

History

RAF use

RAF Barford St John was opened on 30 July 1941 as a training facility for RAF Flying Training Command. It had three grass runways, used primarily by Airspeed Oxfords of No. 15 Service Flying Training School RAF from RAF Kidlington. [2] The airfield was rebuilt as an RAF Bomber Command airfield with paved runways and night operations equipment and reopened as a satellite for RAF Upper Heyford in December 1942. [2] In 1943 the station served as flight test centre for its Gloster E.28/39 and Gloster Meteor jet aircraft. [3] Bomber Command and No. 16 Operational Training Unit was stationed there with Vickers Wellingtons until December 1944. [2] No. 1655 Mosquito Training Unit RAF replaced the Wellingtons at that time. [2] After the war the airfield was closed in 1946 and placed into care and maintenance. [2]

The site was used for some background filming for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High . [4] [5] [6]

The following units were also there at some point: [7]

USAF use

In 1951 the United States Air Force opened a communications (transmitter) centre on the airfield. [3] The site has a Scope Signal III installation which was used to modernize "Giant Talk", Strategic Air Command's world-wide command and controls network, which operates from RAF Croughton. [12]

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Falconer 2012, p. 46.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Barford St John Airfield". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 Crossley, William (20 September 2011). "Base's special place in aviation history". Oxford Mail . Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Twelve O'Clock High". Movie Locations. 1949. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  5. ↑ CQ: The Radio Amateurs' Journal - Volume 22, p. 42. 1966.
  6. ↑ "Archbury / 12 O'clock High". Airfield Research Group. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Barford St John". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust . Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 24.
  9. ↑ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 190.
  10. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 169.
  11. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 65.
  12. ↑ Duke 1989, p. 314.

Bibliography

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