RAF Cleave 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 ...

station located north of

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which was operational from

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

until

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

. Despite a few periods of intense activity, it was one of Fighter Command's lesser used airfields.

History

RAF Cleave was conceived as housing

target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

and target support aircraft for

firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military ...

s along the north Cornwall coast, and land was acquired from Cleave Manor. In May 1939, two

flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...

No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF This is a List of Anti-aircraft co-operation units of the Royal Air Force. Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight RAF (1931–36) became Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight, ...

(1 AACU) with the

Westland Wallace The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland as a follow-on to their successful Wapiti. As the last of the interwar general purpose biplanes, it was used by a number of frontl ...

, and a naval

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...

was soon erected near the cliffs for the pilotless

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

aircraft due to be stationed there. Aircraft were initially housed in temporary

Bessonneau hangar The Bessonneau hangar was a portable timber and canvas aircraft hangar used by the French ''Aéronautique Militaire'' and subsequently adopted by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War. M ...

s (type H of World War I vintage), and later replaced by more permanent structures. In December

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

, the four flights were amalgamated into 639 Squadron, which served at Cleave for the remainder of the war. The

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

was placed under care and maintenance in April 1945, and later became a government signals station.

Posted squadrons

Current use

Cleave Camp, old gun emplacement and dish, December 2013

Apart from an undisturbed piece of the grass

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

to the north, a very short section of concrete

perimeter track A perimeter is a closed path that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two dimensional shape or a one-dimensional length. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimeter has several pra ...

, and a few of the

married quarter Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

s accommodation on Cleave Crescent, the site has been almost completely re-modelled as

GCHQ Bude GCHQ Bude, also known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station Morwenstow, abbreviated to GCHQ CSO Morwenstow, is a UK Government satellite ground station and eavesdropping centre located on the north Cornwall coast at Cleave Camp, betwee ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *Lake, A (1999) ''Flying units of the RAF'', Airlife Publishing,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, 316pp & 16 App, . *Smith, G (2000) ''Devon and Cornwall Airfields in the Second World War'', Countryside Books, Newbury, 288pp, . *Willis, S and Holliss, B R (1987), ''Military airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945 (Omnibus Edition)'', Enthusiasts Publications,

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. It is separated from the rest of the urban ...

, 283pp, .

External links

RAF Cleave
— web page with extensive descriptive photo gallery, at AtlantikWall.co.uk
web page showing many photos of the remaining RAF Cleave implacements around the Morwenstow site
— at DerelictPlaces.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleave, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Cornwall Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Military history of Cornwall Morwenstow