Royal Air Force Cleave or more simply RAF Cleave is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

station located north of

Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which was operational from

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

until

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. Despite a few periods of intense activity, it was one 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 ...

's lesser used airfields.

History

RAF Cleave was conceived as a housing

target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and target support aircraft for

firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue, or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or shooting sport, competitions. ...

s along the north Cornwall coast, and land was acquired from Cleave Manor. In May 1939, two

flights Flight is the process by which an object moves without direct support from a surface. Flight may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Flight'' (1929 film), an American adventure film * ''Flight'' (2009 film), a South Korean d ...

of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1 AACU) with the

Westland Wallace The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland Aircraft, Westland as a follow-on to their successful Westland Wapiti, Wapiti.Philpott, pp. 431-432. As the last of the interwar ...

, and a naval

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to help fixed-wing aircraft gain enough airspeed and lift for takeoff from a limited distance, typically from the deck of a ship. They are usually used on aircraft carrier flight decks as a form of assist ...

were soon erected near the cliffs for the pilotless

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...

aircraft due to be stationed there. Aircraft were initially housed in temporary

Bessonneau hangar The Bessonneau hangar was a portable timber and canvas aircraft hangar used by the France, French History of the Armée de l'Air (1909-1942), ''Aéronautique Militaire'' and subsequently adopted by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal ...

s (type H of World War I vintage), and later replaced by more permanent structures. In December

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

, the four flights were amalgamated into 639 Squadron, which served at Cleave for the remainder of the war. The

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

was placed under care and maintenance in April 1945, and later became a government signals station.

Posted squadrons

Current use

Apart from an undisturbed piece of the grass

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

to the north, a very short section of concrete perimeter track, and a few of the married quarters accommodation on Cleave Crescent, the site has been almost completely re-modelled as GCHQ Bude.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *Lake, A (1999) ''Flying units of the RAF'', Airlife Publishing,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, 316pp & 16 App, . *Smith, G (2000) ''Devon and Cornwall Airfields in the Second World War'', Countryside Books, Newbury, 288pp, . *Willis, S and Holliss, B R (1987), ''Military airfields in the British Isles 1939-1945 (Omnibus Edition)'', Enthusiasts Publications,

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The town is separated from the rest of the u ...

, 283pp, .

External links

RAF Cleave
– web page with extensive descriptive photo gallery, at AtlantikWall.co.uk
web page showing many photos of the remaining RAF Cleave implacements around the Morwenstow site
– at DerelictPlaces.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleave, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Cornwall Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Military history of Cornwall Morwenstow