Dates: 1940 - 1946
Squadrons:
595 Sqn (1943 - 1946) - Formed from No’s 1607, 1608 & 1609 Flights at Aberporth on 1 December 1943. It operated on anti-aircraft duties flying a variety of types including Henleys, Hurricanes, Martinets and Spitfires. It remained in existence after the war, moving to Fairwood Common in April 1946.
Other Formations:
’X’ Flt, No 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (3 Sep 1940 - 1 Nov 1942)
’Q’ Flt, No 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (30 Jun 1941- 1 Nov 1942)
’L’ Flt, No 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (1940 - 1942)
’B’ Flt, No 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (1941 - 1942)
Sub-site, No 7 Maintenance Unit (1940)
No 1608 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flt (1942 - 1943)
No 1609 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flt (1942 - 1943)
No 1621 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flt (1942 - 1943)
Combined Services Projectile Development Establishment (1943 - 1945)
The RAF airfield was formally closed and handed over to care and maintenance in 1946 and was not used for some 5 years thereafter. It was reopened in 1951 as the RAE Aberporth airfield site and equipped with a hard surface in 1956.
RAF Unit (MoS) Aberporth (1953 - 1958)
Guided Weapons Range Unit (1958 - 1965)
Bloodhound (Mk 2) Firing Unit (1964 - 1975)
Aer Lingus flight 712 - a Vickers Viscount 803 airliner named the St Phelim - disappeared into the Irish Sea on 24 March 1968 and 61 people died, 57 passengers and 4 crew. There were allegations that it was accidentally hit by a missile launched from RAF Aberporth. An Irish government inquiry subsequently determined there was nothing that incriminated the Ministry of Defence as the range was closed on Sundays.
No 23 Joint Services trials Unit (1971 - 1973)
No 29 Joint Services trials Unit (1980 - 1982)
The range continued to be an MoD asset as a range as part of the Defence Test and Evaluation Organisation and subsequently the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.
Mann Air Services Ltd. took over the disused airfield in 2001 and has re-developed the site
into Aberporth West Wales Airport.
