RAF Zeals

Royal Air Force Zeals, or more simply RAF Zeals, is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, sited to the north of the village of Zeals, next to the village of Stourton and the Stourhead estate.

RAF Zeals
USAAF Station AAF-450
RNAS Zeals (HMS Hummingbird)
Zeals, Wiltshire in England
Aerial photograph of Zeals airfield: control tower, technical site and blister hangars at the bottom (south), 24 March 1944.
RAF Zeals is located in Wiltshire
RAF Zeals
RAF Zeals
Shown within Wiltshire
Coordinates51.093°N 2.320°W / 51.093; -2.320
TypeRoyal Air Force station
CodeZL[1]
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
Admiralty
OperatorRoyal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces 1943-44
Royal Navy
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command
* No. 10 Group RAF
1942-43 & 1944-45
Ninth Air Force 1943-44
Fleet Air Arm 1945-
Site history
Built1941 (1941)/42
In useMay 1942 - January 1946 (1946)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation168 metres (551 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
00/00  Grass
00/00  Grass
00/00  Grass

History

The station was in operation from 1942 to 1946, and was successively occupied by the Royal Air Force, the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Navy.

From opening until August 1943 the site was used by the RAF as an airfield for Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters.

Units:

In August 1943 it was transferred to the United States Army Air Force with the intention of using the airfield for maintenance of Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. However, the damp conditions prevented the operation of heavy aircraft, so Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were flown from Zeals instead.

From March 1944, it returned to the RAF who used it as a fighter airfield for de Havilland Mosquito fighters against German bombers.

Units:

Following D-Day, the RAF used the airfield for military glider training in preparation for action against Japan. In April 1945 the station was taken over by the Royal Navy (as HMS Hummingbird or RNAS Zeals) who used the airfield for aircraft carrier training.

Units:

The airfield was closed down from January 1946 and in June it was returned to farmland. The control tower, now a private house, remains on Bells Lane in Zeals.

Dakota crash – 19 February 1945

Memorial at the crash site of Dakota III TS436, crashed 19 February 1945

A Douglas Dakota III crashed on 19 February 1945, killing more than twenty people.[20] The aircraft had taken off from Zeals airfield to return to Lincolnshire after two weeks of glider training and flew into some cloud-covered beech trees on a knoll.

The site of the crash is marked by a memorial which was erected by the Wiltshire Historical Military Society.[21]

Units

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • 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.; Ballance, T. (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
  • Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J. (2007). Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.
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