RAF Pucklechurch was a

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 ...

site in

Pucklechurch Pucklechurch is a large village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It has a current population of about 3000. The village dates back over a thousand years and was once the site of a royal hunting lodge, as it adjoined a large fo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

from 9 August 1939 until 31 December 1959. It became known as RAF Pucklechurch on 16 June 1952. It was transferred to

HM Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

in September 1962 and became Pucklechurch Remand Centre.

History

During the war

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...

s were an important defence to the industry and transport sites in the Bristol region. There were large hangars and fuel storage facilities. Pucklechurch was under the command of the

RAF Filton Royal Air Force Filton or more simply RAF Filton is a former Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) station located north of the city centre of Bristol, England. Throughout its existence, RAF Filton shared the airfield with the Br ...

station commander. From April 1957 to September 1959 it housed the Joint Services School for Applied Linguistics and the RAF Chinese Language School.

Operational commands

*Opened - 9 August 1939 (as No. 11 Balloon Centre) *

RAF Balloon Command Balloon Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling all the United Kingdom-based barrage balloon units during the Second World War. History Prior to the establishment of Balloon Command, a balloon group was b ...

(9 August 1939 – 22 April 1945) *

RAF Maintenance Command RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973. History ...

(22 April 1945 – 25 February 1947) * No. 62 Group RAF (25 February 1947 – 14 January 1957) * No. 61 Group RAF (14 January 1957 – 31 December 1959) *Closed - 31 December 1959

Current use

Since September 1962 it became Pucklechurch Remand Centre and later Ashfield Young Offender Institution.

References

Citations

External links