Airfields Index

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RAF Chivenor    RAF Chivenor was near Barnstaple in North Devon, originally a civil airfield it was taken over by the RAF in May 1940 for use as a Coastal Command Station. It remained in RAF use until in 1995. Squadrons stationed at RAF Chivenor during WW2 No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit No. 252 Squadron No. 51 Squadron No. 77 Squadron No. 502 Squadron No. 1417 (Leigh Light Trials) Flight No. 235 Squadron No. 236 Squadron No. 248 Squadron No. 172 Squadron No. 407 (Demon) Squadron No. 612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron No. 304 (Polish) Squadron   29th May 1941 Exercise 29th May 1941 Alert 26th Nov 1941 Exercise 26th January 1942 New flight formed to hunt U-Boats by night 4th April 1942 Anti-U-Boat Squadron formed 13th April 1942 Wellington crashed into cliffs 6th May 1942 Coastal Command 3rd June 1942 Italian submarines attacked by night patrol 20th June 1942 Wellington crew rescued from the Atlantic 5th July 1942 U-Boat sunk with all hands 15th July 1942 Two killed in crash-landing 1st August 1942 Detachments 12th August 1942 Aircrew ditched; rescued with heavy losses 19th August 1942 Friendly fire incident 3rd September 1942 U-boat sunk 5th October 1942 Bomber Command again 8th Oct 1942 Aircraft Lost 27th Oct 1942 Back to Bomber Command with New aircraft 27th December 1942 Wellington lost without trace 11th Jan 1943 Cycling Accident 21st Jan 1943 Patrols Resume 5th February 1943 U-Boat sunk and Wellington missing 6th February 1943 On the Move 19th February 1943 U-Boat sunk 4th March 1943 Wellington shot down by U-Boat 20th March 1943 Operation Enclose 23rd March 1943 Aircraft Lost 27th March 1943 Conversion back to the Liberator 28th March 1943 Wellington lost on U-Boat patrol April 1943 Detachment to Malta 7th April 1943 Wellington lost 10th April 1943 U-Boats sunk and damaged 13th April 1943 Accident in training 26th April 1943 U-Boat damaged May 1943 New anti-sub patrol line 7th May 1943 Special Wireless Investigations 5th Jun 1943 Whitley Lost: Squadron C/O killed 19th Jun 1943 Drowned 24th June 1943 U-Boat sunk 25th June 1943 Detachment to Coastal Command 3rd July 1943 U-Boat sunk by Wellington 24th July 1943 Aircraft shot down: U-Boat sunk 27th July 1943 Return from detachment 29th July 1943 Submarine Sunk 7th August 1943 Wellington lost in the Bay of Biscay 11th August 1943 Mosquito missing over Bay of Biscay 13th August 1943 Pilot error causes explosion 15th August 1943 Ditched in the Bay of Biscay 24th August 1943 Squadron c/o killed in crash 5th September 1943 Detachment to Lossiemouth 7th September 1943 Wellingtons attack U-Boat and one shot down 19th September 1943 Wellington lost 29th September 1943 Failed to return 29th October 1943 Detachment 3rd November 1943 Transit to Gibraltar 5th December 1943 Wellington missing on operations 10th December 1943 Wellington failed to return 2nd January 1944 Change of command 7th January 1944 U-Boat attacked and lost 28th January 1944 Survived attack 30th January 1944 Failed to Return 31st January 1944 U-Boat sunk 8th February 1944 Detachment Reinforced 19th February 1944 Lost on navigation exercise 29th February 1944 No U-Boats 15th March 1944 E-Boats attacked 17th April 1944 U-Boat attacked 20th April 1944 Detachment withdrawn 24th May 1944 Wellington lost on anti-submarine patrol 6th June 1944 Normandy beaches protected 13th June 1944 U-Boat damaged 15th June 1944 Commanding Officer Missing 23rd June 1944 Lancaster located 27th June 1944 Failed to return 11th July 1944 U-boat attacked 15th July 1944 Crash in Training 30th July 1944 Aircraft shot down 12th August 1944 U-Boat attacked 15th August 1944 Wellington shot down 17th Aug 1944 Aircraft Lost 28th August 1944 Rescue 1st September 1944 Detachment to Northern Ireland September 1944 Move 2nd September 1944 Ground crew moves 11th September 1944 Squadron relocated to Northern Ireland 30th September 1944 Short stay on the Western Isles 1st November 1944 New aircraft for U-Boat hunting 2nd Feb 1945 On the Move If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Those known to have served at RAF Chivenor during the Second World War 1939-1945. Arner J/13745. Lawrence Andrew. F/O. (d.6th Feb 1944) Clancy James Harold. WO1. (d.20th August 1943) Shaw Lawrence. F/Lt. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about RAF Chivenor? There are:88 items tagged RAF Chivenor available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. F/Lt. Lawrence Shaw 612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron Lawrence Shaw served in 612 Squadron from 15th Feb 1942 to 9th Aug. 1942 in Reykjavik, 11th Aug. 1942 to 15th Sept. 1942 in Thorney Island, 16th Sept 1942 to 7th Dec. 1942 in Wick & again 4th Feb 1943 to 17th Apr. 1943 in Wick. 18th Apr. 1943 to 27th May 1943 in Davidstow Moor, 11th June 1943 and finally 1st Jul 1943 in Chivenor. In among the above dates, flights are also recorded with 144 Squadron 8th Dec. 1942 to 21st Jan. 1943 from Leuchars. Philip Shaw Add to this record. WO1. James Harold Clancy 407 (Demon) Squadron (d.20th August 1943) James Clancy served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in WW2. He flew with 407 Squadron. He died 20th of August 1943 age 25 years and is buried in Heanton Punchardon (St Augustine) Churchyard in the United Kingdom. Son of Frederick J. Clancy and Lillie May Clancy of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Keith Edward Mixer Add to this record. F/O. Lawrence Andrew "Lou" Arner J/13745 407 Squadron (d.6th Feb 1944) According to his official RCAF service records, Lawrence Arner voluntarily enlisted in 1941, straight from school. He was ultimately stationed in England, assigned to the 407 Demon squadron in February 1943, based at Chivenor in Devon from March 1943. During a training exercise with the 6 (C) OTU on 6th of February 1944, the plane in which he was flying Wellington XII MP575, went missing. He and the crew were all presumed dead. Tracey Booth Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices. Links

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