RAF Bradwell Bay

RAF Bradwell Bay was located near the coast about 10 miles east of Maldon in Essex. It was first used as an Emergency Landing Field with a grass strip, concrete runways and airfield infrastructure was added in 1941 and it became a fully equipped Night Fighter station complete with the FIDO landing system. The base closed in 1946 Today the site is in industrial and agricultural use with some buildings surviving. The control tower has been converted into a private house. A memorial stands at the old entrance on the road which leads to the power station.
Squadrons flying from Bradwell Bay
No. 418 Squadron
No. 23 Squadron
No. 29 Squadron
No. 157 Squadron
No. 247 Squadron
No. 56 Squadron
No. 198 Squadron
No. 488 Squadron
No. 605 Squadron
No. 219 Squadron
No. 278 Squadron
No. 124 Squadron
No. 501 Squadron
No. 151 Squadron
No. 287 Squadron
No. 64 Squadron
No. 126 Squadron
No. 611 Squadron
No.310 (Polish) Squadron
No.312 (Polish) Squadron
No. 313 (Polish) Squadron
No. 287 Army Co-op Squadron
No.11 Group of Fighter Command.

22nd November 1942 Attack on Stuttgart

15th March 1943 Short move

23rd March 1943 Mysterious accident

13th May 1943 Relocated

July 1943 On the move

14th July 1943 Night flying duties

19th August 1943 Airfield closed

23rd August 1943 Relocated again

9th September 1943 Big Show - damp squib

22nd October 1943 Killed by flak

10th December 1943 Training

1st March 1944 Relocated and re-equipped

6th March 1944 In Action

6th March 1944 On the move

23rd April 1944 On the move

28th April 1944 Relocated

13th June 1944 V-1 attacks

9th July 1944 Flying Bombs

26th July 1944 New aircraft

31st July 1944 Moving

31st July 1944 Flying bomb patrols

August 1944 Frustration

30th August 1944 Relocated

30th August 1944 Airfield transferred to USAAF

17th September 1944 Operation Market Garden

2nd October 1944 Battle of The Scheldt

16th Oct 1944 Flying bomb launched from He111

27th October 1944 Relocated

Nov 1944 Re-equipped with Mustangs

8th December 1944 Two Spitfirees of 126 Squadron lost

15th December 1944 Move to Bentwaters

29th December 1944 Escorts

7th January 1945 Last Wellington operation by bomber command

28th January 1945 Scattered bombing sortie

23rd February 1945 Bombing sortie to Essen

1st March 1945 Relocated

6th March 1945 Drowned in an accident

16th March 1945 Night Fighter Wing created

24th March 1945 Crash landing

2nd April 1945 Ranger Raid on Munich

7th April 1945 Killed on exercise

15th April 1945 Mosquito flown home on a single engine

20th April 1945 Enemy aircraft attacked over Airfield

25th April 1945 Forward base in France

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Those known to have served at
RAF Bradwell Bay
during the Second World War 1939-1945.

Caine DFC. John. F/O
Gruub Derrick Waren. Sgt.
Holtrop Hilbrand Gerrit . F/O. (d.10th Jun 1944)
King A. H. E.. Sqd.Ldr.

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 Bradwell Bay?

There are:44 items tagged RAF Bradwell Bay 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.

Sqd.Ldr. A. H. E. King

My late father Squadron Leader A H E King was mentioned in despatches on 1.1.1942 and on 8.6.1944 he was posted to Bradwell Bay on 3.3.1944, I am told as Admin "G" Squadron Leader He was also a veteran of the Royal Flying Corps and was shot down in WW1 on the Somme. Are there any memories of him?