RAF Bradwell Bay

RAF Bradwell Bay stood on the Dengie peninsula in Essex, on the north shore of the Blackwater estuary near Maldon. Construction work on the site began before the war, but the airfield became operational as a fighter station in November 1941. It came under RAF Fighter Command and No. 11 Group, and later supported the Second Tactical Air Force as the Allied air effort shifted across the Channel.

Throughout the war the station was home to a succession of day- and night-fighter squadrons flying the de Havilland Mosquito, Supermarine Spitfire and other types, alongside units drawn from Commonwealth and Allied air forces, including Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Polish and Czechoslovak personnel. From this coastal position the squadrons mounted night patrols, bomber-support sorties and intruder raids against targets in occupied France and the Low Countries, as well as air-sea rescue and anti-aircraft co-operation work.

Bradwell Bay holds a distinction as the only fighter airfield fitted with FIDO, the petrol-burning fog-dispersal system that allowed aircraft to land in poor visibility. The station closed in 1946. Much of the ground was later taken for the Bradwell nuclear power station, while surviving structures included a control tower converted to a private house, and a memorial marks the airfield’s wartime service.