RAF Blakehill Farm

RAF Blakehill Farm was a Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, lying to the south-west of Cricklade. It opened early in 1944 and served as a transport airfield under No. 46 Group, RAF Transport Command. Unlike the bomber stations of eastern England, its purpose was the airborne-forces effort: carrying paratroops, towing gliders and flying supply and casualty-evacuation sorties in support of the Army.

The station’s resident units flew the Douglas Dakota, the workhorse of Allied air transport. No. 271 and No. 233 Squadrons arrived in February and March 1944, and No. 437 Squadron RCAF was formed at the airfield in September that year. These squadrons took part in the major airborne undertakings of the campaign in north-west Europe, beginning with the Normandy landings in June 1944. Glider-conversion and transport training also took place at the field, reflecting its dual operational and instructional role.

The flying squadrons dispersed in 1945 and 1946, and the station was retained in a reduced capacity, at one point serving as a satellite of nearby RAF South Cerney before final closure in the post-war years. The site later passed to other government use, and today much of the former airfield is managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve.