RAF Dale

RAF Dale stood on the Dale peninsula in south-west Pembrokeshire, Wales, beside the Milford Haven waterway and a few miles from St Ann’s Head. Built during 1941 and 1942, it opened on 1 June 1942 as a Coastal Command station, laid out with three concrete runways in the usual triangular pattern. Its commanding feature was the sea: this was a maritime airfield, tasked with patrolling the south-western approaches.

During its Coastal Command year the station hosted No. 304 (Polish) Squadron, flying Vickers Wellingtons on anti-submarine and anti-shipping sorties over the Atlantic and Bay of Biscay. The Coastal Command Development Unit also worked from Dale, trialling radar and other equipment, while a ferry training unit prepared aircraft for overseas service.

In September 1943 the airfield passed to the Royal Navy and was commissioned as the Fleet Air Arm station HMS Goldcrest. It became a busy training base, home over the following years to numerous Naval Air Squadrons engaged in conversion, fighter, night-fighter and fighter-direction training, flying types such as the Corsair, Hellcat, Seafire, Firefly and Wildcat. One Dutch-manned squadron also served there in the post-war period.

Flying ceased in late 1947 and the station was finally paid off in 1948. The site has since reverted largely to farmland, though the runways, hardstandings and some wartime buildings remain visible.