RAF Zeals
Royal Air Force Zeals or more simply RAF Zeals is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, sited to the north of the village of Zeals, next to the village of Stourton and the Stourhead estate.
RAF Zeals | |||||||||
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| Zeals, Wiltshire in England | |||||||||
 Aerial photograph of Zeals airfield: control tower, technical site and blister hangars at the bottom (south), 24 March 1944. | |||||||||
  RAF Zeals Shown within Wiltshire | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 51.093°N 2.320°W | ||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||
| Code | ZL | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry Admiralty | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces 1943-44 Royal Navy | ||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Fighter Command 1942-43 & 1944-45 RAF Transport Command Fleet Air Arm 1945- | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1942 | ||||||||
| In use | 1942-1946 | ||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Elevation | 168 metres (551 ft)[1] AMSL | ||||||||
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History
The station was in operation from 1942 to 1946, and was successively occupied by the Royal Air Force, the United States Army Air Force and the Royal Navy.
From opening until August 1943 the site was used by the RAF as an airfield for Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters.
In August 1943 it was transferred to the United States Army Air Force with the intention of using the airfield for maintenance of Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. However, the damp conditions prevented the operation of heavy aircraft, so Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were flown from Zeals instead.
From March 1944, it returned to the RAF who used it as a fighter airfield for de Havilland Mosquito fighters against German bombers.
Following D-Day, the RAF used the airfield for military glider training in preparation for action against Japan. In April 1945 the station was taken over by the Royal Navy (as HMS Hummingbird or RNAS Zeals) who used the airfield for aircraft carrier training.
The airfield was closed down from January 1946 and in June it was returned to farmland. The control tower, now a private house, remains on Bells Lane in Zeals.
Dakota crash – 19 February 1945
A Douglas Dakota III crashed on 19 February 1945, killing more than twenty people.[2] The aircraft had taken off from Zeals airfield to return to Lincolnshire after two weeks of glider training and flew into some cloud-covered beech trees on a knoll.
The site of the crash is marked by a memorial which was erected by the Wiltshire Historical Military Society.[3]
Units
- No. 66 Squadron RAF (1942)[4]
- No. 118 Squadron RAF (1942)[5]
- No. 132 Squadron RAF (1943)[6]
- No. 174 Squadron RAF (1943)[7]
- No. 184 Squadron RAF (1943)[8]
- No. 263 Squadron RAF (1943)[9]
- No. 286 Squadron RAF (1942 & 1944)[10]
- No. 410 Squadron RAF (1944)[11]
- No. 421 Squadron RCAF (1942)[12]
- No. 488 Squadron RNZAF (1944)[13]
- No. 604 Squadron RAF (1944)[14]
- 771 Naval Air Squadron[15]
- 704 Naval Air Squadron[15]
- 759 Naval Air Squadron[15]
- 760 Naval Air Squadron[15]
- 790 Naval Air Squadron[15]
- No. 925/926 (Balloon) Squadron[15]
- No. 949 (Balloon) Squadron[15]
- No. 966 (Balloon) Squadron[15]
- Units
- No. 3 Glider Training School RAF[15]
- No. 122 Airfield RAF[15]
- No. 147 Airfield became No. 147 (Night Fighter) Wing RAF[15]
- No. 149 (Long Range Fighter) Wing RAF[15]
- No. 2750 Squadron RAF Regiment[15]
- No. 2835 Squadron RAF Regiment[15]
- No. 2885 Squadron RAF Regiment[15]
- No. 3205 Servicing Commando[15]
- No. 3207 Servicing Commando[15]
- No. 3209 Servicing Commando[15]
- No. 3210 Servicing Commando[15]
- No. 4018 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment[15]
- Glider Pick-up Training Flight RAF (1945)[15][16]
References
Citations
- Falconer 1998, p. 94.
- "Crash of a Douglas DC-3 Dakota III in RAF Zeals: 20 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- "Memorial: Crew of Dakota TS436". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Jefford 1988, p. 45.
- Jefford 1988, p. 57.
- Jefford 1988, p. 59.
- Jefford 1988, p. 65.
- Jefford 1988, p. 66.
- Jefford 1988, p. 80.
- Jefford 1988, p. 83.
- Jefford 1988, p. 90.
- Jefford 1988, p. 91.
- Jefford 1988, p. 94.
- Jefford 1988, p. 99.
- "Zeals". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- Lake 1999, p. 110.
Bibliography
- Falconer, J (1998). RAF Fighter Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2175-9.
- Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
- Lake, A (1999). Flying units of the RAF. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
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