Royal Naval Air Station Dale or more simply as RNAS Dale is a former

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

base located west of

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that ha ...

, Pembrokeshire,

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

History

RAF Dale Construction of the airfield began between the villages of Dale and

Marloes Marloes is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the Marloes Peninsula west of Milford Haven and forms the western tip of the southern shore of St Brides Bay. It is within part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The parish h ...

in 1941. It became operational in June 1942. Initially it was to be named RAF Marloes, planned as a satellite to nearby

RAF Talbenny Royal Air Force Talbenny or more simply RAF Talbenny is a former Royal Air Force station located north west of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire and south west of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales It was operational between May 1942 to December ...

, but the name was changed to RAF Dale instead. The only RAF unit to use RAF Dale was

No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron No. 304 (Land of Silesia) Polish Bomber Squadron ( pl, 304 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Śląskiej im. Ks. Józefa Poniatowskiego") was a Polish World War II bomber unit. It fought alongside the Royal Air Force under their operational Command and oper ...

between 30 December 1942 and 2 April 1943 using the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is it ...

IC. RNAS Dale Following cessation of activities in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, RAF Dale was decommissioned, and the site became occupied by the

as RNAS Dale (HMS Goldcrest), a satellite of

HMS Goldcrest Cawdor Barracks is a British Army installation located east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was an operational airfield between 1944 and 1992, being used by both the Royal Air Force (when it ...

at RNAS Brawdy. The following squadrons were posted to RNAS Dale at some point: *

748 Naval Air Squadron 748 Naval Air Squadron (748 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed, at RNAS St Merryn, as a Fighter Pool Squadron, before becoming No. 10 Naval Operational Training Unit. The squadron moved to R ...

762 Naval Air Squadron 762 Naval Air Squadron (762 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed at RNAS Yeovilton in March 1942 as an Advanced Flying Training School. Almost immediately the squad ...

784 Naval Air Squadron 784 Naval Air Squadron (784 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

* 790 Naval Air Squadron *

794 Naval Air Squadron 794 Naval Air Squadron (794 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Notable people *Ronald Scott (aviator) Sub-Lieutenant Ronald David Scott (born 17 October 1917) is an Argentine Naval aviator who flew for the Roy ...

809 Naval Air Squadron 809 Naval Air Squadron (809 NAS) is a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom. It was first formed in 1941 and flew in the Soviet Union, the Mediterranean and the Far East during the Second World War. After active service during the Su ...

861 Naval Air Squadron 861 Naval Air Squadron (861 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

897 Naval Air Squadron 897 Naval Air Squadron (897 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

1770 Naval Air Squadron 1770 Naval Air Squadron (1770 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It formed at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) on 10 September 1943 as a two-seat fighter squadron and embarked on H ...

* Coastal Command Development Unit RAF

Current use

Now owned privately by a local farmer, in May 2010, an illegal rave was held on the site, attracting 2,500 people. Dyfed-Powys Police were forced eventually to create road blocks to stop further attendees joining, and release an announcement on local media. After the rave ended on Monday 31 May, six men aged between 23 and 52 were charged with offences under Section 136 of the

Licensing Act Licensing Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to licensing. List * Licensing Order of 1643, an Act imposing pre-publication censorship and prompting Milton to write '' Areopagitica' ...

History

Current use

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography