RAF Carew Cheriton

RAF Carew Cheriton stood near the village of Carew in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, a few miles north-west of Tenby. The site had a longer aviation pedigree than most: it overlay the larger footprint of a First World War airship station, RNAS Pembroke (Milton), which had flown anti-submarine patrols over the Western Approaches before being closed and sold off between the wars. The new RAF aerodrome opened in 1939 and took the name Carew Cheriton to avoid confusion with the nearby flying-boat base at Pembroke Dock.

For its first years the station served Coastal Command, supporting maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine work along the Welsh and Irish Sea approaches. A succession of units passed through or kept detachments here, flying types such as the Avro Anson, Bristol Beaufort, Bristol Blenheim and Bristol Beaufighter, and the airfield also hosted Dutch-manned squadrons and fighter detachments.

The station’s exposed western position drew Luftwaffe attention, and it was bombed five times between July 1940 and April 1941. The most serious raid, on 15 April 1941, saw Heinkel He 111s destroy the sick bay and kill twelve airmen. In 1942 the airfield was transferred to Technical Training Command, and it closed in 1945. Its wartime control tower survives, restored to its 1940s appearance and run as a museum open to the public.