Royal Air Force Westhampnett or more simply RAF Westhampnett 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 A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

, located in the village of

Westhampnett Westhampnett (or West Hampnett) is a village and civil parish in the district of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located northeast of Chichester on the former A27 road, now by-passed. The village is pre-Norman and is home to many listed bui ...

near

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. It was built as an emergency landing airfield for

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, as a satellite station to

RAF Tangmere RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...

. Built on land belonging to the

Goodwood Estate Goodwood may refer to: Events * Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorsport event in the United Kingdom * Glorious Goodwood, a horseracing event in the United Kingdom * Goodwood Revival, a historical motorsport event in the United Kingdom Places a ...

, the then landowner, the Duke of Richmond, Frederick Gordon-Lennox retained the Title Deed to the land.

History

Royal Air Force use

Squadrons

No. 41 Squadron RAF No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...

., from RAF Merston 16 December 1941, to RAF Merston 1 April 1942; operating

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 ...

Vb *

No. 43 Squadron RAF ("Glory is the end") , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= *Western Front (1917–1918) *Arras (1917) * Ypres (1917)* * Cambrai (1917) *Somme (1918)* *Lys *Amiens (1918) *Dunk ...

. * No. 65 Squadron RAF. * No. 91 Squadron RAF. *

No. 118 Squadron RAF No. 118 Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Air Force. Originally formed in 1918, it served as a fighter squadron in the Second World War, flying Spitfires and Mustangs. It flew jet fighters as part of RAF Germany in the 1950s, and Bristol ...

. *

No. 124 Squadron RAF No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a light bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 124 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on ...

. *

No. 129 Squadron RAF No. 129 (Mysore) Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron active in World War II. World War I Like a number of others, No. 129 was first created in the latter months of the First World War as a day bomber unit based at RAF Duxford. It never be ...

. * No. 130 Squadron RAF. *

No. 131 Squadron RAF No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 131 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 ...

. * No. 145 Squadron RAF - operating

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

. *

No. 167 Squadron RAF No. 167 Squadron RAF is a former Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons, squadron. History Inter-war years 167 Squadron was formed on 18 November 1918 just after the Armistice of the World War I, First World War at RAF Birc ...

. *

No. 174 Squadron RAF No. 174 (Mauritius) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a fighter-bomber unit in World War II. History Formation in World War II The squadron formed on 2 March 1942 at RAF Manston and equipped with Hawker Hurricane, Hurricanes ...

. *

No. 175 Squadron RAF No. 175 Squadron RAF was a part of 121 Wing; 83 Group; 2nd Tactical Airforce; RAF in support of World War II Normandy landings, and supported the allied advance through France Holland and Belgium on into Germany. The squadron was active from un ...

. *

No. 184 Squadron RAF No. 184 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron during the second world war. History No.184 Squadron was formed at RAF Colerne on 1 December 1942, as a fighter bomber unit equipped with the Hawker Hurricane. Initially, Mark IIDs with 40mm anti-ta ...

. *

No. 245 Squadron RAF No. 245 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It flew as an anti-submarine squadron during World War I and as a fighter squadron during World War II. After the war it was first a jet-fighter squadron and its last role was as a radar-cal ...

. * No. 302 Polish Fighter Squadron. *

No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons in the Royal Air ...

. * No. 340 Squadron RAF. * No. 350 (Belgian) Squadron. *

No. 402 Squadron RCAF 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron (french: links=no, 402e Escadron) is a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Pre-war history 402 Squadron began on 5 October 1932 as Number 12 Army Co-operation Squadron, a unit of ...

. *

No. 416 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

. *

No. 441 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

. *

No. 442 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

. * No. 443 Squadron RCAF. * No. 485 (NZ) Squadron RAF. *

No. 501 Squadron RAF ("Fear nothing") , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = France & Low Countries, 1940 Battle of Britain, 1940 Home Defen ...

. * No. 602 Squadron RAF - operating

. *

No. 610 Squadron RAF No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force. Comprising very high quality pilots, often ex- RAF officers and occasionally locally based company Test pilots from companies such as de Havil ...

- operating

. *

No. 614 Squadron RAF No. 614 Squadron was originally formed on 1 June 1937 as an army co-operation squadron unit of the Auxiliary Air Force. It served during the Second World War first in this role and later as a bomber squadron. Upon reformation it served as a fight ...

. * No. 616 Squadron RAF. * 787 Naval Air Squadron.

Units

* No. 83 Group Support Unit (1944-45) *

No. 121 Airfield RAF No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing is a deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England. The current wing was established on 1 April 2006 the wing has history dating back to May 1944: Second Worl ...

No. 144 (RCAF) Airfield RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

* No. 402 Air Stores Park * No. 1493 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight * Air Sea Rescue Flight RAF, Merston/Westhampnett (1941)

United States Army Air Forces

* 31st Fighter Group between 1 August 1942 and 8 November 1942.

Current use

Upon its closure by the RAF, Westhampnett airfield subsequently became the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit and

Chichester/Goodwood Airport Chichester/Goodwood Airport , normally referred to as Goodwood Airfield or Goodwood Aerodrome is located north northeast of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Chichester (Goodwood) Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P781) that allow ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Royal Air Force - Battle of Britain 11 Group page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westhampnett Military units and formations established in 1940 Royal Air Force stations in West Sussex Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom