RAF Tempsford

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RAF Tempsford
Near Tempsford, Bedfordshire in England
The Control Tower at Tempsford during the Second World War
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	TE/TQ
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command
Location
RAF Tempsford Shown within Bedfordshire Show map of Bedfordshire RAF Tempsford RAF Tempsford (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	52°09′31″N 000°15′49″W / 52.15861°N 0.26361°W / 52.15861; -0.26361
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)
Built by	John Laing & Son Ltd Balfour Beatty
In use	1941 - February 1963 (1963)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	19 metres (62 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 03/21 1,420 metres (4,659 ft) Concrete 06/24 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) Concrete 12/30 1,215 metres (3,986 ft) Concrete

Royal Air Force Tempsford or more simply RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England.

The airfield was home to 138 (Special Duty) Squadron and 161 (Special Duty) Squadron, which dropped supplies and agents into occupied Europe for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). 138 (SD) Squadron handled most of the supply and agent drops, while 161 (SD) Squadron had the Lysander flight, and did the insertion and pick-up operations in occupied Europe.

RAF Tempsford is very close to Little Gransden Airfield and can be clearly seen from flights climbing out from the westerly runway 28. Other active airfields nearby include the former RAF bases at Gransden Lodge and Bourn.

Units

Tempsford now

By 2002 part of the former Tempsford airfield was a concrete-making facility and some of the main airfield buildings had been turned into various commercial workshops. A nearby public footpath led to the end of a substantially intact runway and then on to Gibraltar Farm, the agents' final dispatch point.

This barn contains several plaques and memorials to the agents, both men and women, who were flown from the airfield, many of whom were later killed after being captured and tortured. A memorial is also to be found in St Peter's Church, in the nearby village of Tempsford, and the Tempsford Memorial is outside the church, commemorating the men and women who served as secret agents in occupied Europe during the Second World War and the RAF aircrew who transported them.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Tempsford.

• MOD site for Tempsford - Details about Tempsford on the Bomber Command section of the MOD website.
• RAF Tempsford Special Duties Squadrons RAF Tempsford Special Duties Squadrons.
• Tempsford Airfield Archived 19 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine - The secret wartime activities of this airfield
• Final Flight of Hudson FK790 - In memory of F/Lt J W Menzies DFC, his crew and agents.
• Wartime Memories Project - Recollections from the war years.
• A History of RAF Tempsford - A chronology of some of the main events at RAF Tempsford.
• RAF Tempsford Roll of Honour
• RAF history of 138 Squadron
• RAF history of 161 Squadron
• A walking tour of the Airfield and Gibraltar Farm in 2002
• A look at the memorials in Tempsford Church