Founding In February 1940 the
Air Ministry constructed an aerodrome on the site of Chivenor farm near a civilian airfield. RAF Chivenor opened on 25 October 1940 within No. 17 Group,
Coastal Command. There were two units based there initially,
No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF and
No. 252 Squadron RAF, both operating
Bristol Beaufighters,
Bristol Blenheims and
Bristol Beauforts.
1942–1945 From 1942 onward the role of Chivenor was changed from training to anti-submarine patrolling. From 1942 to 1943 the squadron flew the
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, then in 1943 the Chivenor squadron converted to the
Vickers Wellington equipped with the
ASV radar and
Leigh lights. ; November 1941 to September 1943 :
No. 51 Squadron RAF: (51 Sqn) Whitleys :
No. 77 Squadron RAF: (77 Sqn) Whitleys / Wellingtons :
No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron AAF: (502 Sqn) Whitleys / Wellingtons :
No. 1417 (Leigh Light Trials) Flight: (1417 Flt) Wellington Leigh light training and development unit ; July 1942 to September 1943 :
No. 235 Squadron RAF: (235 Sqn) Beaufighters :
No. 236 Squadron RAF: (236 Sqn) Beaufighters :
No. 248 Squadron RAF: (248 Sqn) Beaufighters ; September 1943 to the end of the war :
No. 172 Squadron RAF: (172 Sqn) Wellingtons :
No. 612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron AAF: (612 Sqn) Wellingtons :
No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron: (304 Sqn) Wellingtons ; Plan for post war 1945 :
No. 14 Squadron RAF (14 Sqn) :
No. 36 Squadron RAF (36 Sqn) In November 1941 the structure of the base changed with three new squadrons 51, 77 and 502 flying a mixture of Whitleys and Wellingtons, and one new flight, 1417, that was used to training crews on the Leigh light and radar Wellingtons. In July 1942 three squadrons of Beaufighter were located at Chivenor to offer long range protection in the
Bay of Biscay. By September 1943 all of the Whitleys had been taken out of active service at Chivenor, and four squadrons of Wellingtons, 172, 407, 612 and 304, were located at the base. No 172 was the Wellington Training Squadron, taking over from 1417 Flight. The base had personnel from Canada, Poland and the UK. The Plan for the post war, was for Chivenor to become a full-time anti-submarine wing with two squadron's 14 and 36 Squadron. This lasted until July 1949 when the station was transferred to 5 and 7 Squadrons, Army Air Corps and No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit. This latter unit had the duties to ferry
Gloster Meteors,
de Havilland Vampires and Mosquitoes to the Middle East and the Far East.
1950—1974 In February 1950 the Chivenor station flight was formed with
de Havilland Tiger Moths. It was at this time that post-war civilian flying restarted, with Wrafton flying club later changing its name to the Puffin flying club. At this time the RAF was operating as No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit which flew Vampires and Meteors. Then in mid 1955 the first of the
Hawker Hunter operational conversion courses was started: flying was still mainly on the Vampire FB5 with approximately 20 hrs on the Hunter F1 before pilots were sent to their operational squadrons. During the next two years the Vampires were phased out and the course became all Hunter once the Hunter T7, a two-seater trainer version, became available. There were 2 squadrons called simply 1 and 2, each capable of training a student from conversion to operational and weaponry training. Operational Units were 229 OCU, consisting of 2 squadrons and Chivenor Station Flight. In May 1957 the RAF exercise 'Vigilant' changed Chivenor's Squadrons' status. They assumed a wartime reserve role and were renumbered as Nos 145 and 234 Squadrons. The squadrons were now flying the Hunter F4 and T7 until the F4 was replaced by the F6. The two squadrons were numbered and then renumbered until they became 63 (Reserve) and 79 (Reserve) Squadrons, tasked with training RAF fighter pilots. Hunter FR.10 fighter reconnaissance aircraft were also flown by 229 OCU in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In March 1967 the
oil tanker ran aground on
Seven Stones Reef near
Lands End,
spilling oil. For three days, Hunters from Chivenor and other bases fired training rockets at the ship to hole it below the
waterline, before bombing it with high explosives and
napalm in an unsuccessful effort to burn off the oil. The final Hunter unit based at Chivenor was the Singapore Operational Training Flight. In 1974, 229 OCU was transferred to
RAF Brawdy and the station was put into a rebuilding programme. It was in June 1957 that a new chapter in Chivenor's story started with the arrival of 'E' Flight 275 Squadron with their
Bristol Sycamore HR14s on search and rescue duties. In 1958 'E' Flight changed to 'A' Flight 22 Squadron, which has over 50 years of twenty-four-hour search and rescue experience operating from Chivenor.
Hawks at RAF Chivenor In 1979 the RAF rebuilding programme ended and the station was reactivated, hosting 2 TWU, flying
British Aerospace Hawk T1's with
No. 63 Squadron RAF (63(R)) and
No. 151 Squadron RAF (151(R)) squadrons, training fast jet pilots and navigators. In 1992, the government's options for change defence review resulted in the structure of the station changing with 2 TWU being re-designated as
No. 7 Flying Training School RAF (7 FTS), the squadrons changing identities from 63(R) and 151(R) to
No. 19 Squadron RAF (19(R)) and
No. 92 Squadron RAF (92(R)). 7 FTS operated in conjunction with
No. 4 Flying Training School RAF (4 FTS) at
RAF Valley, as the so-called Mirror Image Training Course which lasted for three years until 1995. when the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that RAF Chivenor would close, which it did on 1 October 1995. == Operational Units ==