I've been trying to track down all the disused RAF airfields that are relatively close to me, and these two are very close together, so going to cover them in one report. This is mainly because there's very little at Upottery except for the runway and control tower, but it's still interesting enough to throw in due to its role in the D-day landings and its Band of Brothers link.
The History
From the summer of 1940, during the Battle of Britain, RAF Fighter Command was under immense pressure, so much so that towards the end of the battle, only three squadrons of day fighters were available for the defence of Devon and Cornwall. This was despite these counties being the location of vital strategic targets such as HMNB Devonport in Plymouth.
In addition the area also lay right in the path of enemy raiders flying from northern France and heading for targets in South Wales, the Midlands and the North West. Even if more fighters were available however, the airfields to house them were not, and it was essential to find new sites as a matter of urgency.
Since so much of the West Country was unsuitable being either the Somerset Levels or steep wooded valleys, the location for a new airfield was not easy. An early choice was a fairly level area of high ground at the eastern end of the Blackdown Hills, lying in Somerset but close to the Devon border. RAF Culmhead was sited here, with RAF Upottery being built over the border to the South West later as a Class A Bomber Base.
RAF Upottery
Significant construction on Upottery didn't begin until early 1943 due to higher priorities elsewhere. As such, it was built to the standardised layout that had been adopted by this stage in the war, which used the typical RAF 'A' Layout for the runways, with Spectacle style dispersal points, rather than the Frying Pan type used on earlier airfields.
Its main runway was 2,000 yards x 50 yards, and the auxiliary runways were 1,400 yards x 50 yards, and they all had 100 yards either end in case of overshoot. The Perimeter Track was the standard 50 feet wide, with 50 hardstandings. The late construction meant that various buildings such as Turret Instructional Building, air-raid shelters on the Domestic Sites, and some blast shelters on the airfield, and a Battle Headquarters were not built. This was mainly because the threat of an invasion had ceased by this time.
The site was identified in the autumn of 1942 as being suitable for use under the Bolero Scheme, which charged the British government with building 50 airfields for use by the Americans, 38 of which ended up built by the Air Ministry, and 12 by American Engineering Battalions.
Upon completion the site was placed in No. 70 Group Army Cooperation Command, for development to house USAAF medium bomber units as plans were already being prepared by the Americans for the assembly of a huge fleet of transport aircraft in England for the eventual invasion of Europe.
On April 26th 1944 the first operational unit of the 439th Troop Carrier Group arrived with four Squadrons, equipped in total with 81 C-47 (Dakota) transport planes plus a similar number of gliders. Some of the construction work of the airfields services was still to be completed when the Americans arrived. They would fly the US 101st Airborne Division into Normandy as part of Operation Albany, with their objectives being to secure sites to the rear of the landing beaches to support the invasion.
The site was left vacant for a while after D-day, with it later seeing use by the US Navy flying anti submarine patrols. This continued until Mid May 1945 in order to catch fleeing U-boats in case they were carrying members of the Nazi leadership. The site was then returned to the RAF and maintained by a maintenance unit, although it only ever saw use as storage for military surplus.
The site closed in November 1948, although it wasn't deemed surplus to requirements until 1957, with the hangars not being removed until 1st December 1960. It was returned to agriculture, although the airfield is intact, used by the farmer, and there is a small racing venue operating on the western end of the main runway today. It was also used during filming of the first Band of Brothers episode, which was very fitting, as it's the actual airfield that Easy Company flew out from for the D-day landings.
Further information is available (Here)
RAF Culm Head
RAF Culmhead was originally known as RAF Church Stanton after the nearby village but the name was changed in December 1943 to avoid confusion with RAF Church Fenton and RAF Church Broughton. The contract for construction was awarded to LJ Speight and Partners Ltd in November 1940, with work starting immediately. It was built with the standard three runways in the RAF A configuration, and was designated for use as a fighter airfield. The main runway was 1,444 yards long, with the other two being 1,311 yards and 1,121 yards respectively. It also had ten blister hangars.
It is unknown who was first to use the airfield and why, as a plane landed whilst it was still under construction. A quote from David Berryman in 2008 states "The first aircraft to land at the new airfield did so when it was unfinished, arriving early one morning. Its pilot approached Mr Long, a roller driver, who was just getting up steam, but neither could understand one another, and when the pilot sprinted back to his aircraft and took off. Long realised that it was probably a German bomber that had landed in error". Crazy that!
It was in use by fighters from RAF Exeter from June 1941, although it didn't officially open until August 1941. The first units to be stationed there were part of the No.2 Polish Wing of the Polish Air Force. The units stationed there initially (No.316 (Warsaw) and No.302 (Poznan)) both flew Hawker Hurricanes, although No.302 were rotated out and replaced with the No.306 (Torun) squadron who operated Spitfires. In the summer of 1942, the polish units were replaced with the Czechoslovak manned No.312 and No.313 squadrons. In 1943, the Czech units were replaced by the No.66 and No.504 (City of Nottingham) squadrons, and the airfield remained manned by various English squadrons until after the war.
The 02 Detachment of RAE Farnborough
The site was used in 1942 for the testing of various methods to defeat the threat of Barrage Balloons by the 02 Detachment of the Royal Aircraft Establishment from Farnborough.
The unit was detached from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough at the outbreak of war to carry out secret trials in the West Country. This was done in association with the Washington Singer Laboratories in Exeter. By March, the flight had made its home at Churchstanton and brought about half a dozen aircraft with it - at least one Wellington, two Hurricanes (including AF979), some Fairy Battles and it is believed, a Bristol Blenheim.
One of the flight’s principal tasks when flying their variety of types of aircraft was to carry out “impact flights” flying into cables suspended from barrage balloons. Experiments were first conducted on cables with a strength of 3.25 tons as used by British barrage balloons and it was assumed that the German cables would of a similar strength.
On the discovery that the Germans used a 1-ton cable, the experiments had to repeated using this cable. Countermeasures to barrage balloon cables were developed, including various types of strengthened wing leading edge and, of course, cable cutters. These extremely hazardous trials took place on an area of marshy meadowland at Pawlett Hams, north of Bridgwater.
This area had the advantage of being surrounded on three sides by the meandering River Parrett, just before it enters the Bristol Channel. (This is local to me, I've always wondered why there was a barrage balloon shed in Pawlett, this is why!) Turns out it's the last one in the country too, there were also some at Sutton Coldfield, which have long since been demolished.
The aircraft were frequently damaged, and some were even destroyed, on 23 March 1942 for example, after hitting the cables at Pawlett, Wellington P9210 broke up in the air, the pilot did however escape by parachute. On 18 September, a Hurricane’s radiator was holed in the impact, with the result that the engine seized and a crash landing had to be made.
The Gloster Meteor
After D-day, it was used as a training base for the Gloster Meteor, with the No.616 squadron having two test aircraft (tail numbers EE213 and EE214) which arrived at Culmhead for training purposes on the 12th July 1944. The Meteor would fly its first operational sortie from RAF Manston on 27 July 1944. This made RAF Culmhead the first operational airfield in the world to fly jet fighters, as the ME262 did not enter service until October 1944.
Whether or not any fully operational Meteors flew out of Culmhead is open to interpretation. Some accounts say that multiple planes arrived within a few days of each other (tail numbers EE215, EE216 and EE217) whilst the 616 squadrons own records suggest these particular planes only flew out of RAF Manston.
In the autumn of 1944, all the remaining squadrons were transferred to other sites, and the airfield was wound down, being used for glider training and as a maintenance unit until final closure in August 1946. This wasn't the end of the site for military use however.
From the 1950s, the site was used as CSOS Culmhead (Composite Signals Organisation Station), operating under direction from the GCHQ, with it remaining open in this role until 1999. The station was built in the centre of the runways, and was demolished and replaced with an industrial estate that remains today after closure.
Further information can be found here, including more squadron info, and various sorties etc (Here)
The Explore
Drove up to cover these two after work one morning... It would appear luck was on my side, as it started to snow as I arrived. Made for some decent drone shots! Good thing it didn't start any earlier though as there would have been no chance of my car making it up to the top of the hills 😂
RAF Culm Head
Couldn't park as near as I was aiming for this, as the 'road' was little more than a footpath, so abandoned the car near a pump house and took a public footpath towards the airfield. This one appeared to be more geared towards public viewing, as I stumbled across an information board on the path.
Didn't stick to the path for long though, as that's no fun 😂 came across a Blister Hangar remaining in situ, which was sealed up as it's being used for storage.
There was an ammunition case outside the door though, absolutely no idea if it's original, but it has been filled with concrete to prevent it from being nicked.
Continued past the remains of a Type B Fighter Pen with an easily accessed shelter with what looks like a defensive trench on the other opposite side.
As it turns out, this was the most South Western pen, which was relatively unique, with much more significant fortifications than a standard fighter pen due to Culmhead being in an undefended area, whilst also being on the wrong side of the Taunton Stop Line. Found a plan of it as well.
There was a pilot ready room near to this as well, although it was in a pretty poor condition, and looks to have been used as animal pens in more recent times.
I came across some rails in situ, but I'm not sure what these were for. Apparently a vehicle testing track was installed in this area prior to it becoming a Scheduled Monument, which included potholes and other obstacles being installed, so I would presume they're somehow related to that.
I continued to follow the peri track, and spotted the control tower in the distance, but there's a new complex of buildings in the centre of the runway, so I followed the peri track around instead of walking straight across.
Found another building on the way, not sure if it was a ready room or some sort of briefing building, as it was larger than the previous example. Also a saw a couple of pillboxes, and there was a couple of other buildings that weren't readily accessible. They are rare survivors though, as the majority of buildings at the northern end of the site have been demolished.
Possibly the remains of an old bed? -
Having reached the Control Tower, I was very surprised to find the remains of a rather large boat rotting away beside it.
It's your typical control tower, although there was actually partial remains of the steps to the rooftop, which I've found to be a rarity from the airfields I've explored.
Took the opportunity to send the drone up here, the other buildings I spotted were in a dire state so I didn't bother with them. For example -
Started heading back, continuing to follow the peri track, and put the drone up again around the area with the fighter pen.
RAF Upottery
Parked on part of the peri track near to the racing venue that's tacked onto the end of the main runway. Went for a walk to find a subtle access point, as I was wary of the local farmer who has some storage at this end of the runway (this would turn out to be a very good idea, as he tearing about doing some work with his telehandler).
Found a hole in the fence near some of the old dispersal pads, and immediately made a beeline for the Control Tower. Typical run of the mill control tower, completely gutted, covered in Graff with rubbish everywhere.
Made a good spot to Shelter from the now heavy (for the South West) snow, had to wait for it to stop to launch the drone. Was also a decent vantage point to keep an eye on the farmer. He ended up sodding off via the runway, so I had to duck out of sight as he drove straight past me.
The snow eased up, so I sent up the drone, the snowy backdrop made for some nice shots tbf. Couldn't get a high one of all three runways like I did at Davidstow Moor though, couldn't see anything below when I went above around 80m. Finished up and headed towards a complex of buildings, found a couple of airfield remains, but most of the buildings appear to be something to do with the farmer, so I turned round and scarpered.
All in all, it's a nice area for a mooch if you have a few hours to kill.
Thanks for looking!
The History
From the summer of 1940, during the Battle of Britain, RAF Fighter Command was under immense pressure, so much so that towards the end of the battle, only three squadrons of day fighters were available for the defence of Devon and Cornwall. This was despite these counties being the location of vital strategic targets such as HMNB Devonport in Plymouth.
In addition the area also lay right in the path of enemy raiders flying from northern France and heading for targets in South Wales, the Midlands and the North West. Even if more fighters were available however, the airfields to house them were not, and it was essential to find new sites as a matter of urgency.
Since so much of the West Country was unsuitable being either the Somerset Levels or steep wooded valleys, the location for a new airfield was not easy. An early choice was a fairly level area of high ground at the eastern end of the Blackdown Hills, lying in Somerset but close to the Devon border. RAF Culmhead was sited here, with RAF Upottery being built over the border to the South West later as a Class A Bomber Base.
RAF Upottery
Significant construction on Upottery didn't begin until early 1943 due to higher priorities elsewhere. As such, it was built to the standardised layout that had been adopted by this stage in the war, which used the typical RAF 'A' Layout for the runways, with Spectacle style dispersal points, rather than the Frying Pan type used on earlier airfields.
Its main runway was 2,000 yards x 50 yards, and the auxiliary runways were 1,400 yards x 50 yards, and they all had 100 yards either end in case of overshoot. The Perimeter Track was the standard 50 feet wide, with 50 hardstandings. The late construction meant that various buildings such as Turret Instructional Building, air-raid shelters on the Domestic Sites, and some blast shelters on the airfield, and a Battle Headquarters were not built. This was mainly because the threat of an invasion had ceased by this time.
The site was identified in the autumn of 1942 as being suitable for use under the Bolero Scheme, which charged the British government with building 50 airfields for use by the Americans, 38 of which ended up built by the Air Ministry, and 12 by American Engineering Battalions.
Upon completion the site was placed in No. 70 Group Army Cooperation Command, for development to house USAAF medium bomber units as plans were already being prepared by the Americans for the assembly of a huge fleet of transport aircraft in England for the eventual invasion of Europe.
On April 26th 1944 the first operational unit of the 439th Troop Carrier Group arrived with four Squadrons, equipped in total with 81 C-47 (Dakota) transport planes plus a similar number of gliders. Some of the construction work of the airfields services was still to be completed when the Americans arrived. They would fly the US 101st Airborne Division into Normandy as part of Operation Albany, with their objectives being to secure sites to the rear of the landing beaches to support the invasion.
The site was left vacant for a while after D-day, with it later seeing use by the US Navy flying anti submarine patrols. This continued until Mid May 1945 in order to catch fleeing U-boats in case they were carrying members of the Nazi leadership. The site was then returned to the RAF and maintained by a maintenance unit, although it only ever saw use as storage for military surplus.
The site closed in November 1948, although it wasn't deemed surplus to requirements until 1957, with the hangars not being removed until 1st December 1960. It was returned to agriculture, although the airfield is intact, used by the farmer, and there is a small racing venue operating on the western end of the main runway today. It was also used during filming of the first Band of Brothers episode, which was very fitting, as it's the actual airfield that Easy Company flew out from for the D-day landings.
Further information is available (Here)
RAF Culm Head
RAF Culmhead was originally known as RAF Church Stanton after the nearby village but the name was changed in December 1943 to avoid confusion with RAF Church Fenton and RAF Church Broughton. The contract for construction was awarded to LJ Speight and Partners Ltd in November 1940, with work starting immediately. It was built with the standard three runways in the RAF A configuration, and was designated for use as a fighter airfield. The main runway was 1,444 yards long, with the other two being 1,311 yards and 1,121 yards respectively. It also had ten blister hangars.
It is unknown who was first to use the airfield and why, as a plane landed whilst it was still under construction. A quote from David Berryman in 2008 states "The first aircraft to land at the new airfield did so when it was unfinished, arriving early one morning. Its pilot approached Mr Long, a roller driver, who was just getting up steam, but neither could understand one another, and when the pilot sprinted back to his aircraft and took off. Long realised that it was probably a German bomber that had landed in error". Crazy that!
It was in use by fighters from RAF Exeter from June 1941, although it didn't officially open until August 1941. The first units to be stationed there were part of the No.2 Polish Wing of the Polish Air Force. The units stationed there initially (No.316 (Warsaw) and No.302 (Poznan)) both flew Hawker Hurricanes, although No.302 were rotated out and replaced with the No.306 (Torun) squadron who operated Spitfires. In the summer of 1942, the polish units were replaced with the Czechoslovak manned No.312 and No.313 squadrons. In 1943, the Czech units were replaced by the No.66 and No.504 (City of Nottingham) squadrons, and the airfield remained manned by various English squadrons until after the war.
The 02 Detachment of RAE Farnborough
The site was used in 1942 for the testing of various methods to defeat the threat of Barrage Balloons by the 02 Detachment of the Royal Aircraft Establishment from Farnborough.
The unit was detached from the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough at the outbreak of war to carry out secret trials in the West Country. This was done in association with the Washington Singer Laboratories in Exeter. By March, the flight had made its home at Churchstanton and brought about half a dozen aircraft with it - at least one Wellington, two Hurricanes (including AF979), some Fairy Battles and it is believed, a Bristol Blenheim.
One of the flight’s principal tasks when flying their variety of types of aircraft was to carry out “impact flights” flying into cables suspended from barrage balloons. Experiments were first conducted on cables with a strength of 3.25 tons as used by British barrage balloons and it was assumed that the German cables would of a similar strength.
On the discovery that the Germans used a 1-ton cable, the experiments had to repeated using this cable. Countermeasures to barrage balloon cables were developed, including various types of strengthened wing leading edge and, of course, cable cutters. These extremely hazardous trials took place on an area of marshy meadowland at Pawlett Hams, north of Bridgwater.
This area had the advantage of being surrounded on three sides by the meandering River Parrett, just before it enters the Bristol Channel. (This is local to me, I've always wondered why there was a barrage balloon shed in Pawlett, this is why!) Turns out it's the last one in the country too, there were also some at Sutton Coldfield, which have long since been demolished.
The aircraft were frequently damaged, and some were even destroyed, on 23 March 1942 for example, after hitting the cables at Pawlett, Wellington P9210 broke up in the air, the pilot did however escape by parachute. On 18 September, a Hurricane’s radiator was holed in the impact, with the result that the engine seized and a crash landing had to be made.
The Gloster Meteor
After D-day, it was used as a training base for the Gloster Meteor, with the No.616 squadron having two test aircraft (tail numbers EE213 and EE214) which arrived at Culmhead for training purposes on the 12th July 1944. The Meteor would fly its first operational sortie from RAF Manston on 27 July 1944. This made RAF Culmhead the first operational airfield in the world to fly jet fighters, as the ME262 did not enter service until October 1944.
Whether or not any fully operational Meteors flew out of Culmhead is open to interpretation. Some accounts say that multiple planes arrived within a few days of each other (tail numbers EE215, EE216 and EE217) whilst the 616 squadrons own records suggest these particular planes only flew out of RAF Manston.
In the autumn of 1944, all the remaining squadrons were transferred to other sites, and the airfield was wound down, being used for glider training and as a maintenance unit until final closure in August 1946. This wasn't the end of the site for military use however.
From the 1950s, the site was used as CSOS Culmhead (Composite Signals Organisation Station), operating under direction from the GCHQ, with it remaining open in this role until 1999. The station was built in the centre of the runways, and was demolished and replaced with an industrial estate that remains today after closure.
Further information can be found here, including more squadron info, and various sorties etc (Here)
The Explore
Drove up to cover these two after work one morning... It would appear luck was on my side, as it started to snow as I arrived. Made for some decent drone shots! Good thing it didn't start any earlier though as there would have been no chance of my car making it up to the top of the hills 😂
RAF Culm Head
Couldn't park as near as I was aiming for this, as the 'road' was little more than a footpath, so abandoned the car near a pump house and took a public footpath towards the airfield. This one appeared to be more geared towards public viewing, as I stumbled across an information board on the path.
Didn't stick to the path for long though, as that's no fun 😂 came across a Blister Hangar remaining in situ, which was sealed up as it's being used for storage.
There was an ammunition case outside the door though, absolutely no idea if it's original, but it has been filled with concrete to prevent it from being nicked.
Continued past the remains of a Type B Fighter Pen with an easily accessed shelter with what looks like a defensive trench on the other opposite side.
As it turns out, this was the most South Western pen, which was relatively unique, with much more significant fortifications than a standard fighter pen due to Culmhead being in an undefended area, whilst also being on the wrong side of the Taunton Stop Line. Found a plan of it as well.
There was a pilot ready room near to this as well, although it was in a pretty poor condition, and looks to have been used as animal pens in more recent times.
I came across some rails in situ, but I'm not sure what these were for. Apparently a vehicle testing track was installed in this area prior to it becoming a Scheduled Monument, which included potholes and other obstacles being installed, so I would presume they're somehow related to that.
I continued to follow the peri track, and spotted the control tower in the distance, but there's a new complex of buildings in the centre of the runway, so I followed the peri track around instead of walking straight across.
Found another building on the way, not sure if it was a ready room or some sort of briefing building, as it was larger than the previous example. Also a saw a couple of pillboxes, and there was a couple of other buildings that weren't readily accessible. They are rare survivors though, as the majority of buildings at the northern end of the site have been demolished.
Possibly the remains of an old bed? -
Having reached the Control Tower, I was very surprised to find the remains of a rather large boat rotting away beside it.
It's your typical control tower, although there was actually partial remains of the steps to the rooftop, which I've found to be a rarity from the airfields I've explored.
Took the opportunity to send the drone up here, the other buildings I spotted were in a dire state so I didn't bother with them. For example -
Started heading back, continuing to follow the peri track, and put the drone up again around the area with the fighter pen.
RAF Upottery
Parked on part of the peri track near to the racing venue that's tacked onto the end of the main runway. Went for a walk to find a subtle access point, as I was wary of the local farmer who has some storage at this end of the runway (this would turn out to be a very good idea, as he tearing about doing some work with his telehandler).
Found a hole in the fence near some of the old dispersal pads, and immediately made a beeline for the Control Tower. Typical run of the mill control tower, completely gutted, covered in Graff with rubbish everywhere.
Made a good spot to Shelter from the now heavy (for the South West) snow, had to wait for it to stop to launch the drone. Was also a decent vantage point to keep an eye on the farmer. He ended up sodding off via the runway, so I had to duck out of sight as he drove straight past me.
The snow eased up, so I sent up the drone, the snowy backdrop made for some nice shots tbf. Couldn't get a high one of all three runways like I did at Davidstow Moor though, couldn't see anything below when I went above around 80m. Finished up and headed towards a complex of buildings, found a couple of airfield remains, but most of the buildings appear to be something to do with the farmer, so I turned round and scarpered.
All in all, it's a nice area for a mooch if you have a few hours to kill.
Thanks for looking!
