Royal Air Force Penrhos, or more simply RAF Penrhos, 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 ...

airfield located near Penrhos,

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

and west of

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

, Gwynedd,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, in the community of

Llanbedrog Llanbedrog is a village and community on the Llŷn peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales. It is situated on the south side of the peninsula on the A499 between Pwllheli and Abersoch. Formerly in the county of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of ...

. It was operational from 1 February 1937 to 21 October 1946 for

armament A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law e ...

training,

air observer An air observer or aerial observer is an aircrew member whose duties are predominantly reconnaissance. The term originated in the First World War in the British Royal Flying Corps, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force. An a ...

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

and gunnery schools.

History

In 1936 a decision was taken to establish an RAF bombing school at

Penyberth Penyberth () was a farmhouse at Penrhos, on the Llŷn Peninsula near Pwllheli, Gwynedd, which had been the home to generations of patrons of poets, and also a way-station for pilgrims to Bardsey Island, but destroyed in 1936 in order to bui ...

, a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

of about for RAF Penrhos which was purchased by 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 and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

, including the area of the low plateau in the bend of the river where the Afon Penrhos joins the Afon Geirch. Opposition was strongly felt, particularly as it was perceived that the sixteenth century house, Penyberth was, in

Saunders Lewis Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis; 15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. Born into a Welsh-speaking ministerial family in Greater Liverpool, Lewis studied in a p ...

’ words, 'one of the essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom and literature'. As work proceeded, an

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

attack was carried out on 8 September 1936 after which the arsonists gave themselves up at

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

Police Station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

. Despite this the base came into operation in February 1937. In December 1940 a detachment from No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron was moved to protect Penrhos from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

attack. with photographs of RAF Pernhos on pages 105-106 This association led in later years to the

Polish Resettlement Corps The Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC; ) was an organisation formed by the British Government in 1946 as a holding unit for members of the Polish Armed Forces who had been serving with the British Armed Forces and did not wish to return to a Communist ...

using the site to house

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

soldiers,

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and

airmen An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

who chose not to return to

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. To this day, part of RAF Penrhos is in use as an old people's home for elderly

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

. RAF Hell's Mouth, to the south west, was commissioned in February 1937 as a Relief Landing Ground, later an Emergency landing Ground, for RAF Penrhos.

Units

During the course of the operation of the station, the following units were at sometime based at RAF Penrhos: * 'C' Flight of

No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF This is a List of Anti-aircraft co-operation units of the Royal Air Force. Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight RAF (1931–36) became Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Flight, ...

(1 AACU) * 'J' Flight of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1 AACU) * No. 1 Air Observers School RAF * No. 2 Air Crew Holding Unit RAF *

No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAF 02 may refer to: * The year 2002, or any year ending with 02 * The month of February * 2 (number) * ''02'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2012 * The number of the French department Aisne * 02, the secret final boss of '' Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'' (20 ...

. * No. 5 Armament Training Camp RAF with

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 ...

s * No. 5 Armament Training Station RAF * No. 5 Flying Training School RAF * No. 5 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 6 Flying Training School RAF * No. 6 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 9 Air Observers School RAF with Handley Page Harrows and

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Ha ...

s the unit was renamed No. 9 Bombing & Gunnery School two months later * No. 9 (Observers) Advanced Flying Unit RAF * No. 9 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 10 Flying Training School RAF * No. 10 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 11 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 12 Flying Training School RAF * No. 12 Operational Training Unit RAF * No. 12 Service Flying Training School RAF * No. 63 Squadron RAF *

No. 258 Squadron RAF No. 258 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron during the First and Second World Wars. History First World War No. 258 Squadron was first formed 25 July 1918 from 523, 525 and 529 Special Duties Flights at Luce Bay near Stranraer, Scotland un ...

* A detachment of

No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF No. 312 Squadron RAF was a Czechoslovak-manned fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. History The squadron was formed at Duxford on 29 August 1940. It was crewed mostly by escaped Czechoslovak pilots, but its first ...

with

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 by ...

s until April 1941 * No. 2780 Squadron RAF Regiment * Signals Instructor School RAF During the late 1980s privately owned aircraft used to land here during the summer on a 400-yard tarmac strip.

Current use

Part of the site is no
Pen-y-berth caravan park

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Annand, David. ''RAF Penrhos near Pwllheli 1937–45 and RAF Llandwrog near Caernarvon 1940–45.'' Tywyn: David Annand, 1986. * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penrhos Royal Air Force stations in Wales Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom