RAF Jui was a military

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

station operated from 1941 to 1945 by the

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

at Jui, a promontory of land between creeks running south from the

Sierra Leone River The Sierra Leone River is a river estuary on the Atlantic Ocean in Western Sierra Leone. It is formed by the Bankasoka River and Rokel River and is between 4 and 10 miles wide (6–16 km) and 25 miles (40 km) long. It holds the major port ...

, about 20 km east of

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. It was the base for two squadrons of

Consolidated Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...

seaplanes: one operated by No. 270 Squadron of the Royal Air Force and another by No. 490 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. No. 270 Squadron was reformed at Jui on 12th November 1942 and operated there until July 1943, when it moved to RAF Apapa near

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

in Nigeria. No. 490 Squadron RNZAF was formed at Jui on 28th March 1943 and, like No. 270 Squadron, flew operational sorties over the Atlantic searching for German

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

and shipping until the end of World War II. No. 204 Squadron of the RAF was based at RAF Jui from 28 January to 1 April 1944 flying

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

seaplanes. Several other squadrons had detachments at RAF Jui including No. 95 Squadron, No. 230 Squadron, No. 265 Squadron and No. 270 Squadron. The Commanding Officer from 1941 until September 1944 was Group Captain Theodore Quintus Studd, DFC.''The Jui Star'', issue 7, 25 September 1944, p. 1 RAF Jui closed on 1st August 1945 when No. 490 Squadron was disbanded.

References

{{Reflist Royal Air Force stations in Africa Royal Air Force stations of World War II in Africa