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RAF Detling

{{Short description|Former Royal Air Force station in Kent, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}

{{Infobox military installation

| name = RAF Detling

| ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg

| ensign_size = 90px

| native_name =

| partof =

| location = Detling, Kent

| nearest_town =

| country = England

| image = 150px

| alt =

| caption = RAF Detling station badge, with motto: Dare to be wise

| image2 =

| alt2 =

| caption2 =

| type = Royal Air Force station

| coordinates = {{coord|51|18|18|N|000|35|36|E|region:GB_type:airport|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map = Kent#UK

| pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Kent

| pushpin_label = RAF Detling

| pushpin_label_position =

| ownership = Air Ministry

| operator = Royal Air Force

| controlledby = 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

| open_to_public =

| site_other_label =

| site_other =

| site_area =

| code = DQ{{sfn|Falconer|2012|p=79}}

| built = {{Start date|1937}}/38

| used = September 1938 – October 1959

| builder =

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| battles = European theatre of World War II
Cold War

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| elevation = {{Convert|161|m|0}}{{sfn|Falconer|2012|p=79}}

| r1-number = 04/22

| r1-length = {{Convert|1280|m|0}}

| r1-surface = Grass

| r2-number = 00/00

| r2-length =

| r2-surface = Grass

| r3-number = 00/00

| r3-length =

| r3-surface = Grass

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}}

Royal Air Force Detling, or more simply RAF Detling, is a former Royal Air Force station situated {{convert|600|ft}} above sea level, located near Detling, a village about {{convert|4|mi}} miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent.

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 {{convert|4|mi}} north east of Maidstone,{{sfn|Delve|2005|p=74}} 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 {{convert|95|acre}}, although it was April 1917 before the first occupants, No. 50 Squadron arrived from Dover.{{sfn|Chorlton|2014|p=88}} 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.{{sfn|Delve|2005|p=74}}{{sfn|Moor|2011|p=43}}

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.{{sfn|Collier|1957|p=438}} Although the site was prone to fog, it was re-activated as it had an excellent view over the Medway towns.{{sfn|Moor|2011|p=52}} The airfield consisted of grassed fields, with the longest runway being {{convert|4200|ft}} long orientated in a north east/south west direction.{{sfn|Ashworth|1985|p=72}}{{sfn|Delve|2005|p=75}} No. 500 Sqn were the first squadron to move in from RAF Manston.{{cite news |title=Detling station opened |work=The Times|location=London|issue=48105 |date=21 September 1938 |page=16|issn=0140-0460}} 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.{{cite web |title=Detling Airfield |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1393647&resourceID=19191 |website=heritagegateway.org.uk |access-date=4 April 2022}} 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.{{sfn |Collier|1957|pages=187–188}} 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.{{sfn|Moor|2011|p=90}} In total, 67 service and civilian personnel were killed in the raid.{{sfn|Moor|2011|p=92}} The base suffered several attacks during August and September 1940.{{sfn |Collier|1957|pages=460–461}}

In 1943, it was transferred first to RAF Army Cooperation Command, then to Fighter Command, ahead of the D Day landings.{{sfn|Ashworth|1985|p=75}}{{sfn|Delve|2005|p=75}} 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.{{sfn|Ashworth|1985|p=76}} 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.{{cite news |title=ATC Gliding Training |work=The Times|location=London|issue=51524 |date=28 October 1949 |page=16|issn=0140-0460}}{{cite news |title=RAF glider training |work=The Times|location=London|issue=51569 |date=20 December 1949 |page=2|issn=0140-0460}}{{cite news |title=Clubs' difficulties in obtaining sites|work=The Times|location=London|issue=51524 |date=16 March 1959 |page=14|issn=0140-0460}}

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.{{sfn|Moor|2011|p=237}}

File:Detling War Memorial (01).jpg

Notable personnel

File:Corporal J.D.M Pearson, GC, WAAF (1940) (Art. IWM ART LD 626).jpg by Laura Knight (1940)]]

  • Ronald Cuthbert Hay – Served with No. 801 Squadron NAS in 1940 at the base.{{cite news |editor-last1=Stothard |editor-first1=Peter |editor-link=Peter Stothard|title=Commander Ronnie Hay |work=The Times|location=London|issue=67314 |date=5 December 2001|page=19|issn=0140-0460}}
  • 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.{{cite news |editor-last1=Stothard |editor-first1=Peter |editor-link=Peter Stothard|title=Daphne Pearson obituary |work=The Times|location=London|issue=66889 |date=26 July 2000 |page=19|issn=0140-0460}}

Operational units and aircraft

;First World War

;Inter war period and Second World War

The following units were also here at some point:{{cite web|url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/detling/ |title=Detling |publisher=Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust|access-date=14 June 2020}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=40em|

}}

References

{{Reflist}}

=Sources=

  • {{cite book |last1=Ashworth |first1=Chris |title=Military airfields of the Central South and South-East |date=1985 |publisher=P. Stephens |location=Wellingborough |isbn=0-85059-608-4}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Chorlton |first1=Martyn |title=Forgotten airfields of World War I |date=2014 |publisher=Crécy |location=Manchester |isbn=9780859791816}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Collier |first1=Basil |title=The defence of the United Kingdom by Basil Collier |date=1957 |publisher=Imperial War Museum in association with The Battery Press |location=London}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Delve |first1=Ken |title=Southern England : Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex |date=2005 |publisher=Crowood Press |location=Ramsbury |isbn=1861267290}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Falconer|first1=J.|title=RAF Airfields of World War 2 |year=2012 |publisher= Ian Allan Publishing|location= UK|isbn=978-1-85780-349-5}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Jefford |first1=C. G. |title=RAF squadrons : a comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 |date=2001 |publisher=Airlife |location=Shrewsbury |isbn=1-84037-141-2 |edition=2}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Lake |first1=Alan |title=Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912 |date=1999 |publisher=Airlife |location=Shrewsbury |isbn=1-84037-086-6}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Moor |first1=Anthony John |title=Detling Airfield : a history, 1915–1959 |date=2011 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire |isbn=9781445603469}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Oliver |first1=Kingsley M. |title=Through adversity : the history of the Royal Air Force Regiment, 1942–1992 |date=1997 |publisher=Forces & Corporate |location=Rushden |isbn=0-9529597-0-4}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Sturtivant |first1=R |last2=Ballance |first2=T |title=The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm |year=1994 |publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd |location=Tonbridge, Kent, UK |isbn=0-85130-223-8 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Sturtivant|first1=R.|last2=Hamlin|first2=J.|last3=Halley|first3=J.|title=Royal Air Force flying training and support units |year=1997 |publisher= Air-Britain (Historians)|location= UK|isbn=0-85130-252-1}}

External links

  • [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/raf_detling_world-war_two.htm RAF Detling in World War II]

{{Royal Air Force}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Detling}}

Category:Royal Air Force stations in Kent

Category:Royal Naval Air Stations in Kent

Category:Military airbases established in 1939

Category:Military installations closed in 1959