Major General James G. Blunt

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Royal Air Force Barford St John or more simply RAF Barford St John is a Royal Air Force station just north of the village of Barford St. John, Oxfordshire, England. It is now a non-flying facility, operated by the United States Air Force as a communications centre with many large communications aerials, and is a satellite of RAF Croughton.

History

RAF use

RAF Barford St John was opened on 30 July 1941 as a training facility for RAF Flying Training Command. It had three grass runways, used primarily by Airspeed Oxfords of No. 15 Service Flying Training School RAF from RAF Kidlington.[2] The airfield was rebuilt as an RAF Bomber Command airfield with paved runways and night operations equipment and reopened as a satellite for RAF Upper Heyford in December 1942.[2] In 1943 the station served as flight test centre for its Gloster E.28/39 and Gloster Meteor jet aircraft.[3] Bomber Command and No. 16 Operational Training Unit was stationed there with Vickers Wellingtons until December 1944.[2] No. 1655 Mosquito Training Unit RAF replaced the Wellingtons at that time.[2] After the war the airfield was closed in 1946 and placed into care and maintenance.[2]

The site was used for some background filming for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High.[4][5][6]

The following units were also there at some point:[7]

USAF use

In 1951 the United States Air Force opened a communications (transmitter) centre on the airfield.[3] The site has a Scope Signal III installation which was used to modernize "Giant Talk", Strategic Air Command's world-wide command and controls network, which operates from RAF Croughton.[12]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Falconer 2012, p. 46.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Barford St John Airfield". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Crossley, William (20 September 2011). "Base's special place in aviation history". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Twelve O'Clock High". Movie Locations. 1949. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  5. ^ CQ: The Radio Amateurs' Journal - Volume 22, p. 42. 1966.
  6. ^ "Archbury / 12 O'clock High". Airfield Research Group. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Barford St John". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  8. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 24.
  9. ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 190.
  10. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 169.
  11. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 65.
  12. ^ Duke 1989, p. 314.

Bibliography

  • Duke, Simon (1989). U.S. Military Forces and Installations in Europe (SIPRI Monographs). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198291329.
  • Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
  • Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
  • Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barford_St_John