RAF Predannack was built on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall and opened in 1941. It served as a night-fighter, anti-shipping and emergency-landing station, its squadrons flying Hawker Hurricanes, Bristol Beaufighters, de Havilland Mosquitoes and Westland Whirlwinds, and it supported the D-Day operations with Spitfires. Passed to the Royal Navy in 1958, it is now an active satellite of nearby RNAS Culdrose, used for helicopter and flight-deck training.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including
Predannack — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust and RAF Predannack — Wikipedia.
The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.
Photographs
Royal Air Force- Air Defence of Great Britain (adgb), 1943-1944. Firemen spray foam over the wreckage of a burning De Havilland Mosquito at Predannack, Cornwall, after it caught fire over the airfield and crashed from 200 feet following a practice flight. While firemen covered the aircraft with foam an attempt to release the trapped fliers was made, but it was found that, in the crash, the observer had been thrown across the pilot and it was difficult to get at their harnesses in the excessive heat, (see CH 18732). They were eventually cut free by a medical officer. The observer, Flying Officer Scobie, survived though badly injured, but the pilot, Flying Officer J L Clifton, was killed. ⓘ licence & creditRAF Predannack, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_Air_Defence_of_Great_Britain_(adgb),_1943-1944._CH18730.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force- Air Defence of Great Britain (adgb), 1943-1944. Two Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs of No. 165 Squadron RAF on standby, plugged into trolley-accumulators, at Predannack, Cornwall. During the Normandy invasion the Squadron flew 'Instep' fighter patrols over the western approaches to the English Channel. ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_Air_Defence_of_Great_Britain_(adgb),_1943-1944._CH13356.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command The shattered remains of Liberator III FL910/H of No 224 Squadron, wrecked while attempting to land at Predannack in Cornwall, 20 October 1942. The aircraft, captained by Flying Officer David Sleep, was crippled by one of its own depth charges during an attack on a U-boat southwest of Ireland. One of six DCs released exploded on contact with the submarine's casing, the blast ripping into the Liberator's tail. Sleep and his crew battled with the badly damaged flight controls for the rest of the trip back to base but lost control on the final approach. ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH7710.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command The shattered remains of Liberator III FL910/H of No 224 Squadron, wrecked while attempting to land at Predannack in Cornwall, 20 October 1942. The aircraft, captained by Flying Officer David Sleep, was crippled by one of its own depth charges during an attack on a U-boat southwest of Ireland. One of six DCs released exploded on contact with the submarine's casing, the blast ripping into the Liberator's tail. Sleep and his crew battled with the badly damaged flight controls for the rest of the trip back to base but lost control on the final approach. ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH7709.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command The crew of Liberator III FL910 of No 224 Squadron which crashed attempting to land at Predannack in Cornwall after an anti-submarine patrol, 20 October 1942. Flying Officer Sleep (left) poses with three members of his crew, grim-faced but relieved after surviving their ordeal. Their aircraft was crippled by one its depth chargers during an attack on a U-boat southwest of Ireland. Sleep and his crew battled with the badly damaged plane but lost control on the final approach. The crew are (from left): Flight Sergeant Ron Johnson (air gunner), Sergeant Sam Patterson (second pilot) and Sergeant George Lenson (flight engineer). The target of their attack had been U-216, sunk with all hands. ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH7708.jpgView source & full licence →
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