RAF St Eval

England

50.4782, -4.9996 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF St Eval, near Padstow on the north Cornish coast, opened in 1939 and became one of the most important Coastal Command stations. Its squadrons flew Bristol Beauforts, Lockheed Hudsons and Consolidated Liberators on anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols over the south-western approaches throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. The station closed in 1959 and is now a defence high-frequency transmitter site; the surviving parish church of St Uvelus serves as a memorial to the airmen lost from the field.

Photographs

Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command Fitters working on the 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines of a [No. 224 Squadron](/squadrons/341/) [Liberator](/aircraft/16/) at [St Eval](/airfields/6341/), 26 February 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditMiller (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH12371.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command Wing Commander R. T. F. Gates (far left), CO of [No. 53 Squadron](/squadrons/235/), chats to the 10-man crew of [Liberator](/aircraft/16/) Mk V 'H for Harry', about to set off on an anti-submarine patrol from [St Eval](/airfields/6341/), 26 February 1944. Note the Boulton Paul rear turret, fitted to most Liberators in RAF service.
ⓘ licence & creditMiller (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH12366.jpgView source & full licence →
Crewmen of [Consolidated Liberator](/aircraft/16/) GR Mark VA, BZ818 'C', of [No. 53 Squadron](/squadrons/235/) RAF handling carriers containing homing pigeons at [St Eval](/airfields/6341/), Cornwall, after a patrol over the Bay of Biscay. Sergeant J Knapp of Toronto, Canada, (in the hatchway) hands a carrier to Sergeant W Tatum of London, while Warrant Officer A Mackinnon of Auckland, New Zealand, holds a second carrier.
ⓘ licence & creditMiller (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Liberator_pigeons_WWII_IWM_CH_12364.jpgView source & full licence →
Flying Officer Kenneth Owen 'Kayo' Moore of [No 224 Squadron](/squadrons/341/) and his crew in front of their [Liberator](/aircraft/16/) V at [St Eval](/airfields/6341/), June 1944, after becoming the only crew in Coastal Command to sink two U-boats in one sortie. They achieved this feat on the night of 7/8 June 1944, when flying a 'Cork' patrol over the western end of the Channel. From left are : * Flying Officer A. P. Gibb (navigator) * Flying Officer J. M. Ketcheson (2nd Pilot) * Warrant Officers E. E. Davison * W. P. Foster * D. H. Greise * W. N. Werbeski (all WOp/AGs) WO Davison is holding the most important member of the crew, a toy panda by the name of Warrant Officer 'Dinty' DFM!
ⓘ licence & creditHQ Coastal Command, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_224_Squadron_Liberator_crew_RAF_St_Eval_1944_IWM_CH_13725.jpgView source & full licence →
Former bomb store at [St Eval](/airfields/6341/). This is on the edge of the former St Eval airfield. On the gate was notice of a planning application to convert five to holiday cottages and five to stables.
ⓘ licence & creditDavid Hawgood / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_bomb_store_at_St_Eval_-_geograph.org.uk_-_50489.jpgView source & full licence →
Two Royal Air Force [Bristol Beauforts](/aircraft/35/) (N1173/MW-E and AW242/MW-B) of [217 Squadron](/squadrons/338/), Royal Air Force, patrolling the British coast near St. Eval, Cornwall (UK)
ⓘ licence & creditRAF official / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Beauforts_217_Squadron_in_flight2.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command [Beaufort](/aircraft/35/) I W6537/OA-F of [No 22 Squadron](/squadrons/127/) starting up at [St Eval](/airfields/6341/), December 1941. The accumulator trolley in the foreground supplied the necessary electrical power to the aircraft and was disconnected once the engines were running. Unlike other Beaufort squadrons, No 22 fitted a Vickers 'K' gun in the nose compartment of its aircraft, to be used for flak-suppression during low-level attacks.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Woodbine G (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Beaufort_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH17131.jpgView source & full licence →
B-50 of the 93d BG at [RAF St Eval](/airfields/6341/), 1950.
ⓘ licence & creditPhoto source in book given as United States Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B-50-93dbg-1950.jpgView source & full licence →
Aerial view of the RAF Coastal Command airfield [RAF St Eval](/airfields/6341/) in Cornwall, UK.
ⓘ licence & creditNo 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_St_Eval_aerial_photograph_WWII_IWM_HU_92963.jpgView source & full licence →

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