Royal Naval Air Station Charlton Horethorne, (RNAS Charlton Horethorne; or HMS ''Heron'' II) is a former

Royal Naval Air Station Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Ro ...

in the hamlet of Sigwells in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It opened in 1942, as a flying training base under the administrative care of HMS ''Heron''. It closed in 1948 and has since been returned to agricultural use.

History

The site was originally planned as a satellite station for

RAF Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

for No. 10 Group of

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

. Construction started in the summer of 1941. The landing strip was grass rather than tarmac and few permanent buildings apart from the

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...

and two blister hangars, with aircraft being protected by

blast pen A revetment, in military aviation, is a parking area for one or more aircraft that is surrounded by blast walls on three sides. These walls are as much about protecting neighbouring aircraft as it is to protect the aircraft within the revetment; ...

s. Ground defence was provided by the

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

. It opened as an RAF station on 10 July 1942 and was made available for use by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and

886 __NOTOC__ Year 886 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March – A wide-ranging conspiracy against Emperor Basil I, led by John Kourkouas (9t ...

and

887 __NOTOC__ Year 887 ( DCCCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 17 – East Frankish magnates revolt against the inept emperor Charles III (the Fat) in an assembly ...

Squadrons, who flew

Fairey Fulmar The Fairey Fulmar is a British carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft/fighter aircraft which was developed and manufactured by aircraft company Fairey Aviation. It was named after the northern fulmar, a seabird native to the British Isles. The ...

s were the first to occupy the site, soon to be replaced by 790 Naval Air Squadron. Various squadrons subsequently used the station either while undergoing training and preparation for service or for fighter interception training for Air Direction Radar operators or flight controllers who were trained at

RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, commonly referred to as WAFU central, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airbase of the Royal Navy, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases, the ot ...

. In August 1942 891 Naval Air Squadron transferred from

RNAS Lee-on-Solent Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, (RNAS Lee-on-Solent; or HMS ''Daedalus'' 1939–1959 & 1965–1996 and HMS ''Ariel'' 1959–1965), is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately west of P ...

where it had been formed to Charlton Horethorne with six Sea Hurricanes to prepare for carrier operations, later transferring to

RNAS St Merryn Royal Naval Air Station St Merryn, commonly referred to as RNAS St Merryn, (HMS ''Vulture'', later HMS ''Curlew'') is a former military airbase of the Royal Navy located northeast of Newquay, Cornwall and northwest of Bodmin, Cornwall, Englan ...

and then embarking on HMS Dasher to take part in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

. Other squadrons posted to the base during 1942 included: 782, 879 and

809 Naval Air Squadron 809 Squadron (809 NAS), sometimes referred to as 809 Squadron, nicknamed ''Immortal'', is a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It currently operates the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning aircraft fro ...

s. On 1 December 1942 Charlton Horethorne was formally transferred from the RAF to the Admiralty and designated as HMS Heron II, which had previously been at RNAS Haldon. In 1943 a new watch tower was built, more runways laid out in the grass and further hangars built. Further squadrons were temporarily stationed at the base with 780 Squadron staying the longest. In 1945 the base was taken over by RAF Maintenance Command who used it for storage until the end of 1947. It then became a satelitte training field for

RAF Old Sarum Old Sarum Airfield is a grass strip airfield north-north-east of Salisbury, in Laverstock parish, Wiltshire, England. The adjacent areas are a mix of vacant land, residential and industrial sites. Residential areas lie to the south and east ...

and kept on a Care and Maintenance basis until it was de-requisitioned and returned to farmland. A number of units were here at some point:

Post closure

The control tower was converted by Norman Clothier a local builder in Charlton Horethorne in the sixties. The old control tower still stands and has been converted into a domestic dwelling.

References

{{Royal Naval Air Stations

History

Post closure

See also

References