THE DERELICT MISCELLANY

Construction of the Royal Canadian Airforce Station, Dunsfold was begun on the 11th May 1942 by the the 2^nd Battalion Royal Canadian Engineers using explosives and heavy-duty earth-movers to clear the land. Completed in just twenty weeks, Dunsfold entered service as a 'Class A' bomber airfield, home to 3 RCAF Squadrons: the 400, the 414 and the 430. In 1943, the base was transfered to RAF control and the Canadian Mustangs and Tomahawks were replaced by the Mitchell MkII medium bombers of the 98, 180 and 320 (Netherlands) Squadrons. After D-Day, the bomber squadrons moved to the Continent and were the base was used by 83 Group Support Unit RAF to train new pilots and supply replacement aircraft to squadrons now based in Europe.

In April 1945, Dunsfold became a repatriation centre for 47,529 liberated Allied Prisoners of War returning from camps across Europe and shortly afterwards was re-designated 83 Group Disbandment Centre, receiving returning squadrons and their equipment. In September 1946, following the disbandment of all 83 Group units, the Aerodrome was declared inactive.

Still under RAF ownership, the airfield and barracks (apart from a few huts which were converted to house sixteen resettled Polish families) were leased to airline Skyways L^td as a maintenance base. Skyways found early success carrying oil industry personnel to Iran and supporting the Berlin Airlift, growing to become Europe's biggest charter airline, but the post-war boom was short lived and the company ceased trading in 1952. The aerodrome was subsequently leased to the Hawker Aircraft Company, which developed it at a factory and test facility.

In October 1960, Dunsfold saw the first air test of the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 'Kestrel' VTOL prototype, followed shortly by the start of testing and assembly line work on aircraft such as the Harrier, Hawk and Folland Gnat aircraft which continued here until 1998 under British Aerospace (which took over in 1977). The aerodrome was sold in 2002 to a private consortium which converted the factory buildings for use as a business park. The airfeld is still used for occasional flights but is most famous as a motor circuit and the filming location for the BBC's Top Gear series.

This page is respectfully dedicated to the memory of the airmen and ground crew who lost their lives in the course of duty while serving at RCAF/RAF Dunsfold 1942-6 and all those who died as a result of accidents during airtests for Hawker and BAe aircraft, 1952-98.