RAF Thorney Island

England

50.8139, -0.9231 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗
Photograph of RAF Thorney Island
ⓘ licence & creditStephen Williams / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thorney_Island_airfield_from_the_air,_May_1976_-_geograph.org.uk_-_345384.jpg

About

RAF Thorney Island occupied a low peninsula on the Sussex–Hampshire border and opened in 1938. As a Coastal Command station its Bristol Beauforts and Beaufighters flew anti-shipping strikes over the Channel — and the airfield was bombed in the Battle of Britain — before it became a fighter base of the Second Tactical Air Force, flying Hawker Typhoons and de Havilland Mosquitoes around D-Day, and later an air-sea rescue station. The RAF left in 1976, and the site is now Baker Barracks, home to the Royal Artillery.

Photographs

Royal Air Force- 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945. [Hawker Typhoon](/aircraft/22/) Mark IBs of [No. 609 Squadron](/squadrons/111/) RAF start their take off run at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire, at the start of a sortie by No. 123 Wing to attack enemy radar sites on the Normandy coast. Typhoons of [No. 198 Squadron](/squadrons/326/) RAF wait their turn including, on the right, their new Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader I J Davies, who replaced Squadron Leader J Niblett, killed on a similar sortie the previous day.
ⓘ licence & creditBridge B (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_2nd_Tactical_Air_Force,_1943-1945._CH20542.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945. A [Hawker Typhoon](/aircraft/22/) half-rolls over [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire, after taking off to attack enemy communications targets on the French coast, watched by ground crew working on Typhoons in a dispersal on the airfield.
ⓘ licence & creditBridge B (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_2nd_Tactical_Air_Force,_1943-1945._CH13346.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A 250-lb GP bomb fitted to the port wing pylon of [De Havilland Mosquito](/aircraft/9/) FB Mark VI, LR356 'YH-Y', of [No. 21 Squadron](/squadrons/195/) RAF at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._HU1632.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945. Groundcrew scraping snow from a [Lockheed Hudson](/aircraft/13/) of [No. 233 Squadron](/squadrons/346/) RAF at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Watkins J R (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_Hudson_-_Thorney_Island_-_Royal_Air_Force_Coastal_Command,_1939-1945._CH4774.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command Ground staff prepare a [No. 233 Squadron](/squadrons/346/) Hudson for flight in freezing conditions at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), 19 January 1942. The 'hot air van' has been brought in to warm up the engines and de-ice the cockpit windscreen.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Watkins (F/O) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_Hudson_-_Thorney_Island_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Coastal_Command_CH4772.jpgView source & full licence →
[De Havilland Mosquito](/aircraft/9/) having another bombing mission recorded on the fuselage at [RAF Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/): Image from the T. W. White personal album collection. Ground
ⓘ licence & creditT. W. White / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DeHavilland_Mosquito_1944-45.JPGView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- [Hawker Typhoon](/aircraft/22/). Typhoon Mark IB, MN304 ‘FJ-N’, of [No. 164 Squadron](/squadrons/298/) RAF, begins its take-off run at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire, for a sortie over France.
ⓘ licence & creditBridge B (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Hawker_Typhoon._CH13344.jpgView source & full licence →
Hampden TB Mark I, AN127 ‘XA-Y’ of [No. 489 Squadron](/squadrons/434/) RNZAF, on the ground at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire.
ⓘ licence & creditMinistry of Aircraft Production (MAP) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:489_Squadron_RAF_Hampden_Jul_1942_IWM_ATP_10928B.jpgView source & full licence →
An Intelligence Officer, Flight Lieutenant E C Rideal (right), interrogates the crew of a [De Havilland Mosquito](/aircraft/9/) FB Mark VI of [No. 487 Squadron](/squadrons/147/) RNZAF in a tent at [Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/), Hampshire, on their return from a night-intruder sortie over North-west Europe.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated. Assumed Royal Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:487_Squadron_RNZAF_Mosquito_aircrew_debriefing_IWM_HU_81289.jpgView source & full licence →
Aerial photograph showing partially camouflaged [RAF Thorney Island](/airfields/6366/) airfield.
ⓘ licence & creditNo 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Thorney_Island_aerial_photograph_WWII_IWM_HU_92962.jpgView source & full licence →

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People connected to this base

1 person cross-referenced to this airfield — through a posting here, a squadron based here, or aircrew who flew from it.

NameRankConnectionDates
Schaefer, Bruce Astor Pilot Officer Aircrew (squadron based here) —