RAF Barkway

RAF Barkway
Near Royston, Hertfordshire in England
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station - Non Flying Military Communications
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force United States Air Force
Condition	Intact
Location
RAF Barkway Shown within Hertfordshire
Coordinates	52°00′30″N000°00′37″E / 52.00833°N 0.01028°E / 52.00833; 0.01028
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)
In use	1942-2011 (2011)

Royal Air Force Barkway or more simply RAF Barkway was one of the smallest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It was a communications station and was a small collection of buildings and a large radio mast. ^{[1] [2]}

History

Main article: Gee (navigation)

It was originally opened as a monitor station on 22 June 1942 for the Gee (navigation) network in the Eastern area.

The site was used by the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). ^[3] It was part of communications network linking:

• RAF Chicksands
• RAF Mildenhall
• RAF Lakenheath
• RAF Feltwell
• RAF Molesworth (via RAF Chelveston)
• RAF Alconbury
• RAF Croughton

In September 2008, the station was broken into by a BASE jumper who climbed the mast and then jumped off and deployed his parachute. ^[4]

Current use

The site was sold in early 2011 as surplus to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) requirements.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

1. Military Bases in Europe
2. UK Parliament Publications
3. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 Jul 1995". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
4. "News".

External links

• Photo of RAF Barkway accessed 2008-10-02