RAF Tarrant Rushton
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Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton or more simply RAF Tarrant Rushton is a former station of the
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 ...
near the village of Tarrant Rushton east of
Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...
in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947. It was used for glider operations during the Second World War and later revived for civilian operations. It is currently disused, though some buildings survive. Today it serves as a visual reference point (VRP) for VFR flights, in particular NW departures from
Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an international airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil con ...
.


History

Building of the airfield commenced in May 1942, the airfield being intended for the use of airborne forces of 38 Wing RAF. On 17 May 1943 the base was handed over while still unfinished. Glider operations started in October 1943 and continued until 1945. Airspeed Horsa gliders from Tarrant Rushton left for France on the eve of
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
, to begin
Operation Tonga Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings during the Second World War. The paratro ...
with an action that would later become known as
Pegasus Bridge Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the c ...
. Among the glider pilots was Jim Wallwork, on a Horsa nicknamed Lady Irene. The Tarrant Rushton gliders landed in occupied
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
shortly after midnight. Wallwork's aircraft was the first to touch down, but it landed heavily: the force of the impact catapulted both Wallwork and his co-pilot John Ainsworth through the front of the cockpit. Although stunned, this made them the first Allied troops to touch French soil on
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. As part of Operation Tonga, a few Tetrarch tanks of 6th Airborne's Reconnaissance Regiment were also flown from Tarrant Rushton in General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders, towed by Handley Page Halifax bombers, to land on the French coast near the mouth of the Orne river. Other gliders were later flown from the airfield to
Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...
to take part in Operation Market Garden. During the closing stages of the Second World War, aircraft were used for SOE operations. In September 1946 the airfield was placed on Care and Maintenance status until abandoned in December 1947. However, 6 months later, in June 1948, Flight Refuelling Ltd arrived to begin 30 years of occupancy. Almost immediately Flight Refuelling became involved in the
Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...
and, between July 1948 and August 1949, carried out nearly 4500 sorties using Avro Lancastrians and
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...
s. In the following 30 years most activity was centred on conversion of aircraft for in-flight refuelling and drone aircraft development, with FR Aviation refining their "Universal Drone Pack" on aircraft flown from the air field. The system allowed the test pilot to fly the aircraft from take-off to touch-down using only the push-buttons on a console identical to that of the ground operator of the drone, turning the button pushes into control surface and throttle movements. During this time, Tarrant Rushton was the home of 8 de Havilland Sea Vixens, among them XP924, (now G-CVIX), a Sea Vixen that remained in flying condition for some time. In the 70s Flight Refuelling left the airfield and flying operations moved to Hurn. After that, it was only used by gliders and occasionally by light aircraft until it was officially closed on 30 September 1980. A memorial to those who served at the airfield is located by the roadside next to one of the surviving hangars.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarrant Rushton Royal Air Force stations in Dorset Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom