RAF St Eval


Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a strategic Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south west coast. Aircraft from the airfield were also used for photographic reconnaissance missions, meteorological flights, convoy patrols, air-sea rescue missions and protection of the airfield from the Luftwaffe.

History

The construction of the station

The RAF's 1930s expansion plan included a requirement for a station to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the South-west coast of England. The site at St Eval was chosen as a Coastal Command airfield and work started in 1938. Five widely dispersed cottages, two houses and portions of two farms were acquired by compulsory purchase; the village of St Eval was completely demolished in order to build the airfield. Levelling of the site by G Wallace Ltd involved the removal by bulldozers of many Cornish dry stone walls and three ancient tumuli. One householder tried to hold out against the authorities and refused to leave his cottage for several days. Only the church survived which the RAF adopted as their station church and it still stands today. The work progressed well and RAF St Eval opened on 2 October 1939.

Battle of Britain

In June 1940 St Eval became a Fighter Command sector headquarters during the Battle of Britain. and Supermarine Spitfires were stationed there. These were joined by Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim fighters. The station's aircraft took an active part in the conflict.

Meteorological flights

The formation in December 1940 of No 404 Meteorological Flight was significant. The flight was tasked with providing basic weather data on which the Command meteorologists could base their forecasts. It was a role which St Eval performed throughout the war.

Attacks on St Eval

The presence of the Spitfires was not a great success as the Luftwaffe's change in tactics led to an increase in night raids for which the Spitfires were not suited. Therefore, 238 Squadron were posted in with Hurricanes. The airfield was unfortunately hit a number of times in the summer of 1940 and early 1941. This caused considerable damage and casualties with the Germans carrying out further raids in May 1942, causing damage to buildings and the destruction of aircraft. St Eval was equipped with a green box barrage rocket device which sent a steel wire curtain into the air to descend on parachutes. This was intended to enmesh enemy aircraft and cause them to crash, but the device was unsuccessful.
DateIncident
12 July 1940During the afternoon a single Ju 88 dropped eight bombs, causing minor damage and it was chased off by two Spitfires.
21 August 1940Three Ju 88s bombed St Eval, causing damage to two hangars and destroying three Blenheims. Hurricanes managed to shoot down two of the German aircraft.
22 August 194014 high explosive bombs and 200 incendiaries were dropped without causing much damage.
23 August 1940A direct hit on a pyrotechnics store caused a large explosion.
26 August 1940St Eval was bombed at 2130 and 2158 hours.
30 September 1940At about 2300 hours, five high explosive bombs were dropped, two landing on the aerodrome and three outside. No damage was reported.
3 October 1940St Eval was attacked between 0655 and 0710 hours two Spitfires, one Avro Anson were completely destroyed and two hangars were also hit.
14 October 1940At 2111 hours, six high explosive bombs and 20 incendiaries were dropped on the Station.

Attack on the German battleship Gneisenau

On 6 April 1941 a small force of Beauforts from 22 Squadron, operating on detachment from St Eval, launched an attack on the German battleship Gneisenau in Brest harbour. A Beaufort was able to launch a torpedo at point blank range but was shot down. However, the ship was severely damaged below the water line, so was obliged to return to the dock for repair. The pilot of the Beaufort, Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell RAF, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

No 61 Squadron

In the summer of 1942 No. 61 Squadron was twice loaned to Coastal Command for anti-submarine operations in the Bay of Biscay. It was detached from its station in Rutland to St Eval and on the very first occasion that it operated from there - on 17 July 1942 - a crew became the first in RAF Bomber Command to bring back irrefutable evidence that they had destroyed a U-boat at sea - a photograph showing the U-boat crew in the water swimming away from their sinking vessel.

American use of the airfield

To boost the anti-submarine forces and to gain experience in the role, the Americans began to use the airfield with Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the 409th Bombardment Squadron, being deployed from RAF Alconbury in Huntingdonshire in October 1942.
The following month they were replaced by the 1st Antisubmarine Squadron being deployed from Langley Field, Virginia with the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron arriving in January 1943 forming the 1st Antisubmarine Group with specialized long-range Liberator bombers equipped with RADAR and other submarine detection equipment. From St. Eval, the squadrons flew killer hunts against German U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay. Both of these squadrons were reassigned to Port Lyautey in French Morocco in March 1943 to shore up scanty Allied anti-submarine defences in the Atlantic approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar. German U-boats had very recently sunk four ships in an Allied convoy about a hundred miles off the coast of Portugal. Also, over the long term, the Allies wanted to increase air anti-submarine patrols and convoy coverage to secure their preparations for the impending Tunisian offensive and the subsequent invasion of Sicily.
The Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command formed the 479th Antisubmarine Group at St Eval in July with four squadrons of Liberators to continue the antisubmarine campaign. The 479th's most effective antisubmarine patrols were conducted from 18 July to 2 August 1943, the period in which the group made nearly all of its attacks on the U-boats. After that time the Germans avoided surfacing during daylight and adopted a policy of evasion, but the group continued its patrols, often engaging Luftwaffe fighter interceptor aircraft.
This was once again a short-lived arrangement and the group took its Liberators to RAF Dunkeswell on 6 August, ending the American use of the station.

Loss of Whitley in submarine attack

On June 20, 1943, in the Bay of Biscay, one of a pair of Whitleys operated by 10 OTU from St. Eval was shot down while attacking a submarine believed to be the Barbarigo, of the Italian navy. All of the Whitley's crew were killed.

Accident at St Eval

In August 1943 a Whitley and Liberator collided on the runway. The Whitley caught fire which cooked the depth charges and caused a massive explosion and the loss of both the aircraft and crews. The collision was in part due to the poor runway layout, with a blind spot that hid one aircraft from the other.

1944 - The end of the war

The importance of St Eval was such that it was given a FIDO installation in early 1944 for dispersal of fog around the runway so that aircraft could land safely. St Eval was destined to have a busy time during the allied invasion of Europe.
It was home to three RAF Liberator squadrons. Many of these were equipped with the highly successful Leigh Light. In April, a fourth squadron arrived, giving the station one of the most powerful anti-submarine forces in the RAF. This force flew thousands of hours of patrols each month and was rewarded with a number of sightings, many of which were converted into attacks, with at least three confirmed U-boat kills in June alone.
The Allied capture of French ports meant that the U-boat threat was drastically reduced. This meant that the units posted to St Eval could be better used elsewhere and by the autumn of 1944 the airfield was a shadow of its former self.

Post World War II

The station continued to be used for maritime patrols and search and rescue duties. It was also a site for diversions with a number of military and commercial aircraft making use of St Eval due to bad weather at their destination airfield. The Station closed on 6 March 1959, with the existing squadrons moving to nearby RAF St. Mawgan.
The airfield became home to the transmitters and aerial farm used for the low frequency communications used by the maritime Nimrods flying from RAF St Mawgan with the receiver site located near RAF Mountbatten, Plymouth.

Current use

The site is home to a high frequency transmitter station forming part of the Defence High Frequency Communications Service. The station is operated by Babcock International Group on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
Much of the basic airfield structure still exists but many of the buildings have gone. A new village has been built on the east side of the station, providing married accommodation for the RAF. The station is now ex RAF housing and when this was revealed people queued for 24 – 78 hours in tents to buy their own houses.

Memorials

There are various memorials in the St Ulvelus church, including a Book of Remembrance, a memorial window and a memorial to the crew of Shackleton VP254, who were killed in a crash off the Borneo coast on 9 December 1958.
A memorial tablet to the two crews of Shackletons WG531 and WL743 of No.42 Squadron that probably collided whilst on an exercise off Fastnet Rock on 11 January 1955, is displayed in St Columba's church, St Columb Major.

Units stationed at RAF St Eval

1939 - 1945

SquadronDates StationedPlanes UsedDuties
22 Squadron detearly 1941 – June 1941Bristol Beaufort
22 Squadron28 October 1941 – 1 February 1942Bristol Beaufort
42 Squadron det1941Bristol BeaufortAnti-shipping and mine laying along the coasts of northern Europe
48 Squadron det3 September – 17 July 1940Bristol Beaufort
53 Squadron20 March 1941 – 17 December 1941Bristol BlenheimAnti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the coast of France
53 Squadron16 May 1942 – 3 July 1942Lockheed HudsonAnti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the coast of France
53 Squadron3 January 1944 – 13 September 1944Consolidated B-24 Liberator
58 Squadron8 April 1942 – 30 August 1942Armstrong Whitworth WhitleyGeneral reconnaissance unit
58 Squadron31 March 1943 – 29 June 1943Handley Page HalifaxGeneral reconnaissance unit
59 Squadron det1942–1943B-24 Liberator
61 Squadron det1942Avro LancasterAnti-submarine operations in the Bay of Biscay
86 Squadron10 January 1942 – 5 March 1942Bristol Beaufort
140 Squadron det1942various
143 Squadron28 August 1943 – 16 September 1943Bristol BeaufighterProvide fighter support for anti-submarine aircraft operating over the Bay of Biscay
161 Squadron det1942 - ?various
179 Squadron1 November 1944 – 30 September 1946Vickers Wellington
Vickers Warwick		Anti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay and the Western approaches
206 Squadron30 May 1941 – 12 August 1941Lockheed HudsonPatrol the south-west approaches
206 Squadron12 April 1942 – 11 July 1944Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
217 Squadron2 October 1939 – Mar 1942Avro Anson
Bristol Beaufort		Attacks on enemy shipping and minelaying
220 Squadron detNovember 1940 – April 1941Lockheed Hudson
221 Squadron detNovember 1940 – Sept 1941Vickers WellingtonConvoy escort patrols
224 Squadron20 December 1941 – 19 February 1942Lockheed HudsonPatrols off Brest and attack shipping off the coast of Brittany
224 Squadron23 April 1943 – 11 September 1944B-24 LiberatorAnti-submarine operations over the Bay of Biscay and attacks on shipping over the French Coast
233 Squadron16 August 1941 – July 1942Lockheed HudsonPatrols over the Bay of Biscay
234 Squadron18 June 1940 – 24 February 1941Supermarine SpitfireConvoy patrols in the South West approaches and the English Channel with a secondary role of defending the airfield and surrounding area
235 Squadron detearly 1943Bristol Beaufighter
236 SquadronJuly 1940 - late 1941Bristol BlenheimFighter and reconnaissance
238 Squadron14 August 1940 – 10 September 1940Hawker HurricaneDefending the airfield
247 Squadron detsummer 1940 - summer 1941Gloster Gladiator
Hawker Hurricane
248 SquadronSummer 1941Bristol Blenheim
254 Squadron detlate 1940Bristol Blenheim
263 Squadron24 February 1941 – 18 March 1941Westland Whirlwind
280 Squadron detautumn 1944 - autumn 1945Vickers Warwick
282 Squadron19 September 1944 – 9 July 1945variousAir Sea Rescue
304 Squadron6 March 1945 – 9 July 1945Vickers Wellington
407 Squadron RCAF1 October 1942 – 10 November 1942Lockheed Hudson
407 Squadron RCAF3 November 1943 – 2 December 1943Vickers Wellington
415 Squadron RCAF11 April 1942 - late 1942Handley Page Hampden
489 Squadron RNZAF detMay 1942 – June 1942Bristol Blenheim
500 Squadron30 August 1942 – 5 November 1942Lockheed Hudson
502 SquadronFebruary 1942 – June 1943Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
Handley Page Halifax
517 Squadron7 August 1943 – 25 November 1943Handley Page Hampden
Lockheed Hudson		Meteorological flights over the Western Approaches
541 Squadron det1943Supermarine SpitfirePhotographic reconnaissance missions
543 Squadron detlate 1942–1943Supermarine SpitfirePhotographic reconnaissance missions over France
547 Squadron14 January 1944 – 1 October 1944B-24 LiberatorAnti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay
612 Squadron1 November 1943 – 3 December 1943Vickers WellingtonAnti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay
796 Naval Air Squadron detAugust – September 1948
801 Naval Air Squadron31 January 1941 – 6 February 1941Blackburn Skua
807 Naval Air Squadron20 – 23 August 1949Hawker Sea Fury
812 Naval Air Squadron detNovember 1940 – December 1940Fairey Swordfish
816 Naval Air Squadron detApril 1941 – May 1941Fairey Swordfish
820 Naval Air Squadron11 – 18 November 1944Grumman TBF Avenger
827 Naval Air Squadron11 May 1941 – 4 June 1941Fairey Albacore
829 Naval Air Squadron7 October 1940 – 3 November 1940Fairey Albacore
833 Naval Air Squadron11 March 1943 – 15 April 1943Fairey Swordfish
849 Naval Air Squadron9–26 August 1944TBF Avenger
No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF? - April 1940various
No. 6 Coastal Patrol Flight RAF15 January 1940 – 27 May 1940de Havilland Tiger Moth
No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF 1 July 1940 – October 1942variousRecces of targets in Western France, particularly naval bases
404 Flight/1404 Flight
24 December 1940 – 11 August 1943Handley Page Hampden
Bristol Blenheim
Lockheed Hudson
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle		Meteorological unit
No. 8 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAFMarch 1941 – June 1941various
No. 10 Operational Training Unit RAF det1942 – 23 July 1943Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

1945 - 1959

The following units were also here at some point: