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As someone who was born in the mid 1960's I have no knowledge of what it would have been like to live in the midst of a military airfield during wartime. However, I have a fascination with such places and have explored the remains of an increasing number of former airfields. This gallery allows me to share the photos I have taken and also serves as a reminder of the fact that many people lost their lives in such places in order for us to experience the relative freedom we have today. Sadly, many former military airfields are in a derelict, pitiful condition and as a result are vulnerable to developers who only see them for their investment potential and as nothing more than prime building land that can be utilised to make way for the environmental excesses of modern society. One should also consider that by the end of the First World War there were in totality less than one hundred airfields in the United Kingdom, both military and civil. However, by the end of the Second World War there were over 700 military airfields alone. This gives an indication of the scale of the construction project that was undertaken in less than a decade and at a time when materials and manpower were in short supply. In fact the construction of military airfields during the Second World War is probably one of the largest and singularly ambitious achievements of military engineering this country has ever seen or is ever likely to, with an estimated 25% of the United Kingdom's construction workforce engaged in airfield construction in one way or another during the war years. Surely we owe a debt of gratitude to the gallant airmen who lost their lives flying from these airfields and also to those who were responsible for planning, designing and constructing these truly historic places.
© Shaun Churchill |
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The following information may be helpful to visitors to this site.
Non airfield stations are listed in alphabetical order with a suffix such as 'Radar Station' to the name of the site. Where as military airfields are listed in alphabetical order and may have a suffix in brackets, that either indicates the locally given name for the airfield, or a location if situated overseas or not within the UK mainland. |
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I am always pleased to hear from persons willing to share any period photographs of former World War II airfields and radar stations. Due credit will be given to those who supply any images which are subsequently posted on this
website.
ww2airfields@aol.com |
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* One of the Chain Home radar bunkers at former RAF Sennen, Cornwall has been converted into a unique holiday home. The owner / developers, Mike & Lizzie Strutton, have decided to put the converted bunker up for sale, although I was kindly invited to look around the conversion before the filming of a local news feature for ITV West. I was subsequently contacted by Steve Hardy of ITV West and asked for some historical input into the news story prior to its regional screening on 22nd July 2009. For anyone seriously interested in purchasing the converted bunker, the agent's web advert for the property can be found by clicking here. Alternatively, I would be happy to put any interested parties directly in touch with the vendors.
* I recently received some unique images relating to Mullion Airship Station. The photos were originally taken by Richard Edwards, who as a young man, was posted to RNAS Mullion. Sadly no other details are known about Mr. Edwards, other than to say that he passed away in 1988 whilst living at 54 Gibson Street, Kilmarnock. The photo negatives were legally retrieved from a rubbish skip during the clearance of Mr. Edwards home. I am extremely grateful to John Smillie for acknowledging the historical importance of these images and for also taking the time to forward me scanned copies of the original negatives. |
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