RNAS Culham (HMS Hornbill) was a Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) near Culham,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. It opened in 1944 as an Aircraft Receipt and Despatch Unit for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. The ground layout was typical of many bomber stations, with three runways. However it had many

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s, mostly sited around the field's perimeter. Initially HMS Hornbill was used to train reservists based in the Thames Valley area using several different types of aircraft including

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurri ...

s, Hawker Sea Furys and North American Harvards. In May 1947 the Photographic Trials and Development Unit was based at HMS Hornbill, and in 1951

1840 Naval Air Squadron 1840 Naval Air Squadron (1840 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. During World War II over 80% of the pilots were from the Royal Netherlands Naval Aviation Service The Netherlands Naval Aviation Service ( nl, Marine ...

operated from the airfield for a short time. Ab initio flight training of cadets from Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, flying primary gliders, was also undertaken here in the early 1950s. The following units were here at some point: * No. 1 Ferry Flight *

739 Naval Air Squadron 739 Naval Air Squadron (739 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed as the Blind Approach Development Unit for the Fleet Air Arm, operating with Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft, at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Dae ...

812 Naval Air Squadron 812 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1933 and 1956, and saw service in both World War II and the Korean War. Service history First formation The squadron was first form ...

* 1830 Naval Air Squadron *

1832 Naval Air Squadron 1832 Naval Air Squadron (1832 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

* 1832A Naval Air Squadron * 1832B Naval Air Squadron *

1835 Naval Air Squadron 1835 Naval Air Squadron (1835 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land ...

* 1836 Naval Air Squadron *

The airfield closed on 30 September 1953 and the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

subsequently used it as a storage facility. In 1960 the airfield was transferred to the

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

for use in nuclear and atomic research. The Joint European Torus (JET) nuclear fusion project is now based at the site.

RAF Beccles Beccles Airfield, also known as Beccles Airport or Beccles Aerodrome , is located in Ellough, southeast of Beccles in the English county of Suffolk. Built during the second world war, it has operated as a heliport servicing the North Sea oil a ...

was a temporary lodging area under Culham's administration, and as such was called HMS Hornbill II.

References

External links

RN Culham Airfield

{{Defunct airports in the United Kingdom Culham Organisations based in Oxfordshire