RAF Detling

Royal Air Force Detling, or more simply RAF Detling, is a former Royal Air Force station situated 600 feet (180 m) above sea level, located near Detling, a village about 4 miles (6.4 km) miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent.

RAF Detling
Detling, Kent in England
RAF Detling station badge, with motto: Dare to be wise
RAF Detling Shown within Kent Show map of Kent RAF Detling RAF Detling (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°18′18″N 000°35′36″E
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	DQ[1]
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command 1938 * No. 6 Group RAF RAF Coastal Command 1938–43 * No. 16 Group RAF RAF Army Cooperation Command 1943 RAF Fighter Command 1943 * No. 11 Group RAF RAF Second Tactical Air Force * No. 83 Group RAF Air Defence of Great Britain
Site history
Built	1937 (1937)/38
In use	September 1938 – October 1959
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II Cold War
Airfield information
Elevation	161 metres (528 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Grass 00/00  Grass 00/00  Grass

It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in the First World War and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The airfield suffered several raids by the Luftwaffe, especially during the period of the Battle of Britain.

History

RNAS Detling airfield was 4 miles (6.4 km) north east of Maidstone,^[2] and was used jointly by the Navy and Air Force between 1916 and 1919. The Fleet Air Arm aircraft also shared some facilities during the second World War. The site was developed in April 1915, covering some 95 acres (38 ha), although it was April 1917 before the first occupants, No. 50 Squadron arrived from Dover.^[3] The airfield closed in December 1919 to military flying, and after the war it was used by the Short factory at Rochester to test aircraft, and civilian gliding also started in 1930.^[2][4]

RAF Detling opened in September 1938 and was assigned to No. 16 Group RAF (headquartered in Chatham) in Coastal Command, for patrols protecting coastal shipping.^[5] Although the site was prone to fog, it was re-activated as it had an excellent view over the Medway towns.^[6] The airfield consisted of grassed fields, with the longest runway being 4,200 feet (1,300 m) long orientated in a north east/south west direction.^[7][8] No. 500 Sqn were the first squadron to move in from RAF Manston.^[9] During the Battle of Britain, the base was subject to several raids by enemy aircraft, but also provided a useful stopover location for aircraft from No. 11 Group who could return to their home bases later.^[10] On 13 August 1940, a day the Luftwaffe codenamed Adlertag (Eagle Day), at least 50 bombers set out to bomb Detling and RAF Rochford. This resulted in several casualties at Detling, but had little effect on Fighter Command, as the base was an asset of Coastal Command.^[11] Twenty-two aircraft were destroyed on the ground, the hangars were set alight and a direct hit on the operations room killed the commanding officer.^[12] In total, 67 service and civilian personnel were killed in the raid.^[13] The base suffered several attacks during August and September 1940.^[14]

In 1943, it was transferred first to RAF Army Cooperation Command, then to Fighter Command, ahead of the D Day landings.^[15][8] By December 1944, all flying had ceased, and being a grassed airfield, which were surplus to requirements, Detling was placed on a care and maintenance basis from 1 January 1945. Fears of Nazi fanatics not abiding by a surrender, led to the RAF Regiment setting up a disarmament school, teaching students about booby-trapped buildings and dealing with German prisoners.^[16] RAF gliding schools used the site after the war, with the Air Training Corps gliders using the airfield alongside civilian gliding clubs. However, these all had to leave when the RAF disposed of the site back to its original owners who were not interested in running it as a gliding site, eventually closing in 1959.^[17][18][19]

The site of the airfield is now home to the annual Kent County Show, which takes place for three days every July, and a number of other shows and events.^[20]

This memorial commemorates the units and squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Naval Air Service, the Fleet Air Arm, the army and civilian personnel who served at Detling Air Field.

Notable personnel

Corporal J. D. M. Pearson, GC, WAAF by Laura Knight (1940)

• Ronald Cuthbert Hay – Served with No. 801 Squadron NAS in 1940 at the base.^[21]
• Daphne Pearson – Pearson was billeted at Detling in 1940 when she was awarded a George Cross for an act of bravery in rescuing a pilot from a burning aircraft which had crashed on the airfield. Pearson had just got him to safety when the bombs on board exploded. Initially awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal, this was changed to the George Cross later.^[22]

Operational units and aircraft

First World War

• No. 50 Squadron RFC Detachment (1916) – Vickers ES 1^[23]
• No. 112 Squadron RFC (1917) – Vickers ES 1^[23]
• No. 143 Squadron RFC/RAF (1918–1919) – Armstrong Whitworth FK.8, Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A, Sopwith Camel & Sopwith Snipe^[23]

Inter war period and Second World War

• No. 500 Squadron RAF (1938–1939) – Hawker Hind, Avro Anson I^[24]
• No. 48 Squadron RAF Detachment (1939) – Avro Anson I – provided support to 500 Squadron^[7][25]
• No. 4 Squadron RAF Detachment (1940) – Westland Lysander II^[26]
• No. 53 Squadron RAF (1940) – Bristol Blenheim IV^[24]
• No. 235 Squadron RAF (1940) – Bristol Blenheim 1F^[27]
• 806 Naval Air Squadron's Detachment No. 9 between 7 and 31 May 1940 with the Skua II^[28]
• 825 Naval Air Squadron initially between 18 and 28 May 1940 then again between 1 and 5 July 1940 with the Swordfish I^[29]
• 819 Naval Air Squadron's Detachment No. 6 between 21 and 23 May 1940 with the Swordfish I^[30]
• 815 Naval Air Squadron between 27 May and 2 June 1940 with the Swordfish I^[31]
• 826 Naval Air Squadron between 31 May and 1 June 1940 with the Albacore I^[32]
• 801 Naval Air Squadron between 31 May and 23 June 1940 with the Skua II^[33]
• 812 Naval Air Squadron's Detachment No. 7 between 27 and 28 August 1940 with the Swordfish I^[34]
• 812 Naval Air Squadron's Detachment No. 2 between 27 December 1940 and 12 March 1941 with the Swordfish^[34]
• No. 13 Squadron RAF Detachment (1941) – Bristol Blenheim IV^[35]
• No. 26 Squadron RAF (1941) – Curtiss Tomahawk II^[36]
• No. 59 Squadron RAF (1941) – Bristol Blenheim IV^[37]
• 816 Naval Air Squadron's Detachment No. 2 initially between 12 March and 4 April 1941 and then between 11 and 16 April 1941. 'X' Flight joined on 23 April 1941 until being redesignated as 821 NAS on 1 July 1941^[38]
• 821 Naval Air Squadron between 1 July and 14 July 1941 with the Swordfish I^[39]
• No. 239 Squadron RAF (1942) – North American Mustang I^[27]
• No. 280 Squadron RAF (1942) – Avro Anson I^[40]
• No. 26 Squadron RAF (1943) – North American Mustang II^[36]
• No. 318 Squadron RAF (1943) – Hawker Hurricane I^[41]
• No. 567 Squadron RAF (1943–1944) – Fairey Barracuda, Miles Martinet, Hawker Hurricane IV & Airspeed Oxford^[42]
• No. 655 Squadron RAF (1943) – Auster III^[43]
• No. 125 Airfield RAF (October 1943 – May 1944)^[44]
  • No. 132 Squadron RAF (1943) – Supermarine Spitfire IXB^[45]
  • No. 184 Squadron RAF (1943) – Hawker Hurricane IV^[46]
  • No. 602 Squadron RAF (1943) – Supermarine Spitfire IXB^[47]
• No. 1 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IXB^[48]
• No. 118 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IX^[49]
• No. 124 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire VII & HF.IXE^[50]
• No. 165 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IXB^[51]
• No. 453 Squadron RAAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IXB^[52]
• No. 504 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IXE^[53]
• Unknown Fighter Wing^[15]
  • No. 80 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IX^[54]
  • No. 229 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IX^[55]
  • No. 274 Squadron RAF (1944) – Supermarine Spitfire IX^[56]
• No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1903 Flight) (1951–1955) – Bristol Sycamore HC11
• No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1902 Flight) (1955–1957) – Auster AOP6^[43]

The following units were also here at some point:^[57]

• No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Unit RAF^[58] (September 1939 – May 1940) became No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Flight (May 1940 – April 1941)^[59]
• 'K' Flight of No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF (January – August 1942)^[60]
• 'D' Flight of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (June 1941 – February 1943)^[61] became No. 1624 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (February – December 1943)^[62]
• No. 3 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF (July – September 1943)^[63]
• No. 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF (September – October 1943)^[63]
• No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (September – November 1943)^[64]
• No. 16 Group Communication Flight RAF (June 1941 – January 1945)^[65]
• No. 75 (Signals) Wing RAF (December 1945 – November 1946)^[66]
• No. 141 Gliding School RAF (October 1951 – September 1955)^[67]
• No. 168 Gliding School RAF (June 1949 – September 1955)^[67]
• No. 403 Repair & Salvage Unit (September – October 1943)^[68]
• No. 405 Repair & Salvage Unit (January – March 1944)^[68]
• No. 410 Repair & Salvage Unit (November 1943 – January 1944)^[68]
• No. 615 Gliding School RAF (? – June 1962)^[69]
• No. 1338 Wing RAF Regiment^[70]
• No. 1493 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF (July – October 1943)^[71]
• No. 1903 Air Observation Post Flight RAF (February 1955 – January 1956)^[72]
• No. 2709 Squadron RAF Regiment^[58]
• No. 2733 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2746 Squadron RAF Regiment^[58]
• No. 2751 Squadron RAF Regiment^[73]
• No. 2753 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2768 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2769 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2773 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2793 Squadron RAF Regiment^[58]
• No. 2822 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2828 Squadron RAF Regiment^[58]
• No. 2877 Squadron RAF Regiment^[74]
• No. 4018 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
• No. 4138 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
• Reserve Command Gliding Instructors School RAF (1949–50)^[75] became Home Command Gliding Instructors School RAF (1950–55)^[76] became Home Command Gliding Centre RAF (1955)^[76]
• No. 1336 Wing RAF Regiment^[15]
  • No. 2814 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2878 Squadron RAF Regiment
  • No. 2749 Squadron RAF Regiment

References

1. Falconer 2012, p. 79.
2. Delve 2005, p. 74.
3. Chorlton 2014, p. 88.
4. Moor 2011, p. 43.
5. Collier 1957, p. 438.
6. Moor 2011, p. 52.
7. Ashworth 1985, p. 72.
8. Delve 2005, p. 75.
9. "Detling station opened". The Times. No. 48105. London. 21 September 1938. p. 16. ISSN 0140-0460.
10. "Detling Airfield". heritagegateway.org.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
11. Collier 1957, pp. 187–188.
12. Moor 2011, p. 90.
13. Moor 2011, p. 92.
14. Collier 1957, pp. 460–461.
15. Ashworth 1985, p. 75.
16. Ashworth 1985, p. 76.
17. "ATC Gliding Training". The Times. No. 51524. London. 28 October 1949. p. 16. ISSN 0140-0460.
18. "RAF glider training". The Times. No. 51569. London. 20 December 1949. p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
19. "Clubs' difficulties in obtaining sites". The Times. No. 51524. London. 16 March 1959. p. 14. ISSN 0140-0460.
20. Moor 2011, p. 237.
21. Stothard, Peter, ed. (5 December 2001). "Commander Ronnie Hay". The Times. No. 67314. London. p. 19. ISSN 0140-0460.
22. Stothard, Peter, ed. (26 July 2000). "Daphne Pearson obituary". The Times. No. 66889. London. p. 19. ISSN 0140-0460.
23. Chorlton 2014, p. 89.
24. Collier 1957, p. 468.
25. Jefford 2001, p. 44.
26. Jefford 2001, p. 27.
27. Jefford 2001, p. 78.
28. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 149.
29. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 219.
30. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 194.
31. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 182.
32. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 223.
33. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 131.
34. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 168.
35. Jefford 2001, p. 31.
36. Jefford 2001, p. 36.
37. Jefford 2001, p. 47.
38. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 187.
39. Sturtivant & Ballance 1994, p. 204.
40. Jefford 2001, p. 85.
41. Jefford 2001, p. 88.
42. Lake 1999, p. 268.
43. Jefford 2001, p. 103.
44. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 54.
45. Jefford 2001, p. 62.
46. Jefford 2001, p. 68.
47. Jefford 2001, p. 99.
48. Jefford 2001, p. 26.
49. Jefford 2001, p. 60.
50. Jefford 2001, p. 61.
51. Jefford 2001, p. 67.
52. Jefford 2001, p. 94.
53. Jefford 2001, p. 96.
54. Jefford 2001, p. 52.
55. Jefford 2001, p. 76.
56. Jefford 2001, p. 84.
57. "Detling". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
58. Moor 2011, p. 240.
59. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 94.
60. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 249.
61. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 70.
62. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 144.
63. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 49.
64. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 71.
65. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 182.
66. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 318.
67. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 166.
68. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 261.
69. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 168.
70. Oliver 1997, p. 317.
71. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 136.
72. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 146.
73. Oliver 1997, p. 289.
74. Oliver 1997, p. 298.
75. Lake 1999, p. 171.
76. Moor 2011, p. 10.

Sources

• Ashworth, Chris (1985). Military airfields of the Central South and South-East. Wellingborough: P. Stephens. ISBN 0-85059-608-4.
• Chorlton, Martyn (2014). Forgotten airfields of World War I. Manchester: Crécy. ISBN 9780859791816.
• Collier, Basil (1957). The defence of the United Kingdom by Basil Collier. London: Imperial War Museum in association with The Battery Press.
• Delve, Ken (2005). Southern England : Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex. Ramsbury: Crowood Press. ISBN 1861267290.
• Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
• Jefford, C. G. (2001). RAF squadrons : a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 (2 ed.). Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Lake, Alan (1999). Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
• Moor, Anthony John (2011). Detling Airfield : a history, 1915–1959. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445603469.
• Oliver, Kingsley M. (1997). Through adversity : the history of the Royal Air Force Regiment, 1942–1992. Rushden: Forces & Corporate. ISBN 0-9529597-0-4.
• Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
• Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J.; Halley, J. (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.

External links

• RAF Detling in World War II