RAF Brawdy is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

satellite station located east of

St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

and south west of

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

, Pembrokeshire,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It was operational between 1944 and 1992 being used by both the

and 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 ...

before the site was turned over to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and renamed

Cawdor Barracks Cawdor Barracks is a British Army installation located east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was an operational airfield between 1944 and 1992, being used by both the Royal Air Force (when it ...

History

The Pembrokeshire base was officially opened on 2 February 1944 as a satellite station for the nearby

RAF St Davids Royal Air Force St Davids or more simply RAF St Davids is a former Royal Air Force station, near the city of St Davids, Wales, in the community of Solva. History The station was built in 1942/3 during the Second World War and was used by RAF ...

with

No. 517 Squadron RAF No. 517 Squadron RAF was a meteorological squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. History No. 517 Squadron was formed on 11 August 1943 at RAF St Eval, Cornwall, when No. 1404 (Meteorological) Flight RAF was re-numbered. It ...

moving in a day before with the

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

Mk V before changing to the Mk III in March 1945. The squadron moved to

RAF Chivenor Royal Air Force Chivenor or RAF Chivenor was a Royal Air Force station located on the northern shore of the River Taw estuary, on the north coast of Devon, England. The nearest towns are Barnstaple and Braunton. Originally a civil airfield opene ...

on 30 November 1945. The next squadron to move in was 521 Squadron from December 1944 until May 1945 as a detachment operating the Boeing Fortress II (B-17F). Between 2 February 1944 and 27 April 1946 595 Squadron aircraft may have been based here with a variety of aircraft as a detachment.

Fleet Air Arm use

On 1 January 1946 the station was handed over to the

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 and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

of the

and became Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Brawdy or HMS ''Goldcrest II''. It was initially used as a Relief Landing Ground for

RNAS Dale Royal Naval Air Station Dale or more simply as RNAS Dale is a former Fleet Air Arm base located west of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales. History RAF Dale Construction of the airfield began between the villages of Dale and Marloes in 1 ...

. After the closure of Dale, it was commissioned as HMS ''Goldcrest'' on 4 September 1952 and in March 1953 the first

Hawker Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design origina ...

entered service with

806 Naval Air Squadron 806 Naval Air Squadron (806 NAS) was a fighter squadron in the Fleet Air Arm that existed from February 1940 to December 1960 and saw active service in the Norwegian campaign, the Dunkirk evacuation and the Malta Convoys. History Formation A ...

at RNAS Brawdy. From 1963 till 1971

Fairey Gannet The Fairey Gannet is a carrier-borne aircraft that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed for the Royal Navy, being the first fixed-wing aircraft to combine both the search an ...

s and

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

s were based at Brawdy in 849 NAS and

738 __NOTOC__ Year 738 ( DCCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 738 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini cale ...

759 __NOTOC__ Year 759 ( DCCLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 759 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

respectively. The Gannets were primarily used in Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and the Hunters for advanced flying training including low-level Navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training. The Royal Navy left in 1971 and the base was allocated to the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

. The following squadrons were stationed here at various points during this period: *

727 Naval Air Squadron 727 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It was formed in 1943 as a Fleet Requirements Unit, being disbanded in December 1944. It was reformed twice in the 1940s and 1950s to provide flying experience for naval offi ...

736 Naval Air Squadron 736 Naval Air Squadron (736 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy. It was most recently recommissioned at RNAS Culdrose on 6 June 2013 to fly the BAE Systems Hawk T1, following the disbandment of the Fleet Requirements and Aircraft Di ...

738 Naval Air Squadron 738 Naval Air Squadron (738 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active from 1943 to 1945 as a training squadron for USA aircraft types used by the Fleet Air Arm. Reformed in 1950, it continued to for ...

751 Naval Air Squadron 751 Naval Air Squadron (751 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 a ...

767 Naval Air Squadron 767 Naval Air Squadron (767 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 a ...

773 Naval Air Squadron 773 Naval Air Squadron (773 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. As the waters around the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda (the main base and Royal Naval Dockyard of the America and West Indies Station) became a w ...

784 Naval Air Squadron 784 Naval Air Squadron (784 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 a ...

800 Naval Air Squadron () , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , battles_label = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , website = , cur ...

801 Naval Air Squadron 801 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War. Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force The squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 as part ...

802 Naval Air Squadron 802 Naval Air Squadron (802 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Early history 802 Squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 aboard by the merger of two independent Royal Air Force naval units, 408 (Fleet Fighter) Flight ...

804 Naval Air Squadron 804 Naval Air Squadron (804 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy, formed in November 1939 from part of 769 NAS Sea Gladiators which had been detached to RNAS Hatston. The squadron was merged into 800 NAS in June 1944 and subsequent ...

807 Naval Air Squadron 807 Naval Air Squadron (807 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy. Second World War 807 Squadron was formed at RNAS Worthy Down in September 1940, equipped with Fairey Fulmar Is. Three were embarked on HMS ''Pegasus'', where they rem ...

811 Naval Air Squadron 811 Naval Air Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was first founded in 1933, and served during World War II, seeing action in the battle of the Atlantic and on Russian convoys, and was eventually disbanded in 1956. S ...

813 Naval Air Squadron 813 Naval Air Squadron was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II and again post-war. It initially operated Swordfish Mk Is from the aircraft carrier '' Illustrious'' and took part in the successful raid on Ta ...

824 Naval Air Squadron 824 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron based at RNAS Culdrose and currently operating the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 Operational Conversion Unit. It trains aircrew in Anti-Submarine warfare and Airborne Surveillance and Con ...

831 Naval Air Squadron 831 Naval Air Squadron (831 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. The squadron was reformed twice: firstly from 21 November 1955 - 10 December 1957 and then from 1 May 1958 - 26 ...

891 Naval Air Squadron 891 Naval Air Squadron was a fighter squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II. In August 1942 the squadron transferred from RNAS Lee-on-Solent where it had been formed in July to RNAS Charlton Horethorne with six Sea Hurri ...

892 Naval Air Squadron 892 Naval Air Squadron (892 NAS) was a carrier-based fighter squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed in 1943, flying Grumman Martlets, and was the only operational Fleet Air Arm squadron to fly the McDonnell Douglas Ph ...

893 Naval Air Squadron 893 Naval Air Squadron (893 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. References

800 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1942 Milita ...

895 Naval Air Squadron 895 Naval Air Squadron (895 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 a ...

897 Naval Air Squadron 897 Naval Air Squadron (897 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 a ...

898 Naval Air Squadron 898 Naval Air Squadron (898 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 a ...

1831 Naval Air Squadron 1831 Naval Air Squadron (1831 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. The squadron was formed in 1943 in Rhode Island as a fighter squadron, before being disbanded, reformed and disbanded again after its return to Britai ...

Back to Royal Air Force control

In February 1974 the Royal Air Force returned with D Flight of 22 Squadron taking up residence with their Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 search and rescue helicopters. In September of the same year

No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit RAF Conversion units and operational conversion units (OCUs) were training units of the Royal Air Force (RAF). History With the introduction of new heavy bombers, the four-engined Short Stirling, Avro Lancaster, and Handley Page Halifax, the Roya ...

(later the Tactical Weapons Unit) joined D Flight having been forced to relocate after the closure of

. The station was home to

aircraft of the TWU, and the

gate guardian A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main ...

at the base was initially a

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

, this was replaced in the early 80s by Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XE624). This airframe was subsequently sold to Steve Petch, a private collector. Between 1 September 1976 and July 1978 a detachment of 202 Squadron flying

Westland Whirlwind Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, ...

HAR.10s used the airfield. By the late 1970s it operated

BAe Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

T.1A (

234 __NOTOC__ Year 234 ( CCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pupienus and Sulla (or, less frequently, year 987 '' ...

and 79 Squadron).

Closure of RAF station

As part of the rationalisation of advanced and tactical weapons training, flying ceased at Brawdy on 31 August 1992. A small number of RAF personnel remained including No. 202 Squadron and their

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

s, which eventually left in July 1994.

Naval Facility Brawdy

In 1974 Naval Facility Brawdy was established adjacent to Royal Air Force Station Brawdy as the terminus of new Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) arrays covering the eastern Atlantic. After commissioning on 5 April 1974 NAVFAC Brawdy became the first "super NAVFAC" with some four hundred U.S. and United Kingdom military and civilian personnel assigned. In 1985 a new type of fixed surveillance system, the Fixed Distributed System (FDS), test array was terminated at the facility. The facility was decommissioned 1 October 1995 after its arrays had been "remoted" and its equipment moved to the Joint Maritime Facility, St Mawgan, Cornwall.

Cawdor Barracks

Brawdy was transferred to the

in 1995 and became Cawdor Barracks, the army's main

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

base. The name originated from the local Earls of

Cawdor Cawdor ( gd, Caladair) is a village and parish in the Highland council area, Scotland. The village is south-southwest of Nairn and east of Inverness. The village is in the Historic County of Nairnshire. History The village is the location of ...

(who owned the

Stackpole Estate The Stackpole Estate ( cy, Ystad Ystagbwll) is located between the villages of Stackpole ( cy, Ystagbwll) and Bosherston ( cy, Llanfihangel-clogwyn-gofan) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It is situated with ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Airliners.net Photo Gallery of Aircraft at RAF Brawdy

Air Britain Photo Gallery of Aircraft at RAF Brawdy

Ivor "Taff" Davies Photo Gallery of Aircraft at RAF Brawdy

Jet Photos.net Photo Gallery of Aircraft at RAF Brawdy

XE624.org - Home of the ex-RAF Brawdy Gate Guard Hunter FGA.9

{{Authority control

Brawdy Brawdy ( cy, Breudeth) is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Etymology The Welsh language name appears to be an archaic form of "Bridget" and the parish may originally have been Llanfreudeth. The English name is a corruption of the ...