RAF Detling
Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated 600 feet above sea level, located near Detling, a village about three miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent.
RAF Detling  | |||||||||||||||||||
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 RAF Detling Station Crest, with motto: DARE TO BE WISE | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Detling, Kent | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1938 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1939-1959 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 601 ft / 183 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°18′18″N 000°35′36″E | ||||||||||||||||||
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  RAF Detling Location in Kent | |||||||||||||||||||
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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.
RNAS Detling was used jointly by the Navy and Air Force between 1916 and 1919, and Fleet Air Arm aircraft also shared some facilities during the second World War. RAF Detling opened in 1939 and assigned to No. 16 Group RAF in Coastal Command for patrols protecting costal shipping. In 1943, it was transferred to Fighter Command, ahead of the D Day landings, eventually closed in 1959.
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.
Operational units and aircraft
- No. 1 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
- No. 4 Squadron RAF Detachment (1940) - Westland Lysander II
- No. 13 Squadron RAF Detachment (1941) - Bristol Blenheim IV
- No. 26 Squadron RAF (1941) - Curtiss Tomahawk II
- No. 26 Squadron RAF (1943) - North American Mustang II
- No. 48 Squadron RAF Detachment (1939) - Avro Anson I
- No. 50 Squadron RFC Detachment (1916) - Vickers ES 1
- No. 53 Squadron RAF (1940) - Bristol Blenheim IV
- No. 59 Squadron RAF (1941) - Bristol Blenheim IV
- No. 80 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
- No. 112 Squadron RFC (1917) - Vickers ES 1
- No. 118 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
- No. 124 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire VII & HF.IXE
- No. 132 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
- No. 143 Squadron RFC/RAF (1918-1919) Armstrong Whitworth FK.8, Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5A, Sopwith Camel & Sopwith Snipe
- No. 165 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
- No. 184 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire VB
- No. 229 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
- No. 235 Squadron RAF (1940) - Bristol Blenheim 1F
- No. 239 Squadron RAF (1942) - North American Mustang I
- No. 274 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IX
- No. 280 Squadron RAF (1942) - Avro Anson I
- No. 318 Squadron RAF (1943) - Hawker Hurricane I
- No. 453 Squadron RAAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
- No. 500 Squadron RAF (1938-1939) - Hawker Hind, Avro Anson I
- No. 504 Squadron RAF (1944) - Supermarine Spitfire IXE
- No. 567 Squadron RAF (1943-1944) - Fairey Barracuda, Miles Martinet, Hawker Hurricane IV & Airspeed Oxford
- No. 602 Squadron RAF (1943) - Supermarine Spitfire IXB
- No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1902 Flight) (1955-1957) - Auster AOP6
- No. 655 Squadron RAF (1943) - Auster III
- No. 651 Squadron RAF (No. 1903 Flight) (1951-1955) - Bristol Sycamore HC11
The following units were also here at some point:[1]
- No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Flight
- No. 1 Coast Artillery Co-operation Unit
- 'K' Flight of No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF
- 'D' Flight of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
- No. 3 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF
- No. 4 Aircraft Delivery Flight RAF
- No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
- No. 15 (Fighter) Wing RAF
- No. 16 Group Communication Flight RAF
- No. 75 (Signals) Wing RAF
- No. 125 Airfield
- No. 141 Gliding School RAF
- No. 168 Gliding School RAF
- No. 403 Repair & Salvage Unit
- No. 405 Repair & Salvage Unit
- No. 410 Repair & Salvage Unit
- No. 615 Gliding School RAF
- No. 1336 Wing RAF Regiment
- No. 1338 Wing RAF Regiment
- No. 1493 (Fighter) Gunnery Flight RAF
- No. 1624 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
- No. 1903 Air Observation Post Flight RAF
- No. 2709 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2733 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2746 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2749 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2751 Squadron RAF Regiment
- 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
- No. 2822 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2828 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2878 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 4018 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
- No. 4138 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
- Home Command Gliding Centre RAF
- Home Command Gliding Instructors School RAF
- Reserve Command Gliding Instructors School RAF
References
- "Detling". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
External links
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