RAF Roborough 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) an ...

station in Roborough located north of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

which used

Plymouth City Airport Plymouth City Airport is a 'mothballed' airport located within the Plymouth, City of Plymouth north northeast of the city centre in Devon, England at Derriford (formerly Roborough, South Hams, Roborough). The airport opened on this site in 1 ...

as their base.

History

RAF Roborough began when the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...

started to use

for exercises between the RAF,

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 Fr ...

and 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 Gurkha ...

. The Royal Navy started to use the airport in the late 1930s and was renamed RNAS Roborough however on 1 May 1942 the site was taken over by the

for Royal Air Force use primarily for

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

RNAS Roborough

The Admiralty used the airfield for various duties also the airfield played an important role during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

coming under partial control of the No. 10 Group RAF headquarters at RAF Box and had RAF Middle Wallop as their sector station. The first squadron to use the airfield was

No. 247 Squadron RAF No. 247 Squadron was formerly a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was also known as No. 247 (China British) Squadron in recognition of the donations made by the British communities of the foreign concessions established on the Chinese coast. ...

between 1 August 1940 and 10 February 1941 flying the

Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...

II before moving to RAF St Eval on 10 February 1941 however after seven days the squadron moved back to Roborough flying the

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 b ...

I before moving out for the last time on 10 May 1941 when the squadron went to RAF Portreath. * Air Sea Rescue Flight RAF, Roborough (1941)

RAF Roborough

In 1942 the site was taken over by the Royal Air Force for Coastal Command Duties with

No. 691 Squadron RAF No. 691 Squadron RAF was an Anti-aircraft cooperation squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1949. History The squadron was formed on 1 December 1943 at RNAS Roborough from 1623 (anti-aircraft co-operation) Flight. It was tasked with anti ...

forming at the airfield on 1 December 1943 flying Hurricane I's,

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

I's,

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

I's and

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...

II's before leaving on 21 February 1945 moving to

RAF Harrowbeer Royal Air Force Harrowbeer or more simply RAF Harrowbeer is a former Royal Air Force station situated next to Yelverton in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, Devon, England Location RAF Harrowbeer was located approximately NNE of the city o ...

Units

The following units were also here at some point: * 'C' Flight of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * No. 15 Group Communication Flight RAF * No. 16 Squadron RAF * No. 19 Group Communication Flight RAF * No. 46 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF * No. 82 Gliding School RAF * No. 225 Squadron RAF * No. 276 Squadron RAF *

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 ...

* 810 Naval Air Squadron *

814 Naval Air Squadron 814 Naval Air Squadron or 814 NAS, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It is currently equipped with the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopter and is based at Royal Naval Air Stati ...

815 Naval Air Squadron 815 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron flying the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA.2 helicopter and is the Navy's front line Wildcat Naval Air Squadron. The squadron is based at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) in Somerset. The squadr ...

819 Naval Air Squadron 819 Naval Air Squadron (819 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. History Along with No. 815 Squadron, it performed the successful night attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto on 11 November 1940. The attack was per ...

* No. 1623 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF

Later use

In the 1950s the Royal Air Force left and the site became Plymouth City Airport.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Information on the Battle of Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roborough Royal Air Force stations in Devon