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RAF Tarrant Rushton
Blandford Forum,Dorset in England
1944 Oblique air photo of RAF Tarrant Rushton, looking Northeast to Southwest
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	TK
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command 1943-
Location
RAF Tarrant Rushton Shown within Dorset
Coordinates	50°51′00″N002°04′30″W / 50.85000°N 2.07500°W /50.85000; -2.07500
Site history
Built	1943 (1943)
In use	October 1943 - September 1980 (1980)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II Cold War
Airfield information
Elevation	78 metres (256 ft)[1]AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete

Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton or more simplyRAF Tarrant Rushton is a formerRoyal Air Force station near the village ofTarrant Rushton east ofBlandford Forum in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947.It was used for glider operations during the Second World War and later revived for civilian operations. It is currently disused, though some buildings survive. Today it serves as a visual reference point (VRP) forVFR flights,^[2][3] in particular NW departures fromBournemouth Airport.^[4]

Building of the airfield commenced in May 1942, the airfield being intended for the use of airborne forces of38 Wing RAF. On 17 May 1943 the base was handed over while still unfinished. Glider operations started in October 1943 and continued until 1945.

Airspeed Horsa gliders from Tarrant Rushton left for France on the eve ofD-Day, to beginOperation Tonga with an action that would later become known asPegasus Bridge. Among the glider pilots wasJim Wallwork, on a Horsa nicknamed Lady Irene. The Tarrant Rushton gliders landed in occupiedFrance shortly after midnight. Wallwork's aircraft was the first to touch down, but it landed heavily: the force of the impact catapulted both Wallwork and his co-pilot John Ainsworth through the front of thecockpit. Although stunned, this made them the first Allied troops to touch French soil onD-Day.^[5]

As part of Operation Tonga, a fewTetrarch tanks of6th Airborne's Reconnaissance Regiment were also flown from Tarrant Rushton inGeneral Aircraft Hamilcar gliders, towed byHandley Page Halifax bombers, to land on the French coast near the mouth of theOrne river.^[6]

Other gliders were later flown from the airfield toArnhem to take part inOperation Market Garden.During the closing stages of the Second World War, aircraft were used forSOE operations.

In September 1946 the airfield was placed on Care and Maintenance status until abandoned in December 1947. However, 6 months later, in June 1948,Flight Refuelling Ltd arrived to begin 30 years of occupancy. Almost immediately Flight Refuelling became involved in theBerlin Airlift and, between July 1948 and August 1949, carried out nearly 4500 sorties usingAvro Lancastrians andAvro Lancasters.

In the following 30 years most activity was centred on conversion of aircraft for in-flight refuelling and drone aircraft development, with FR Aviation refining their "Universal Drone Pack" on aircraft flown from the air field. The system allowed the test pilot to fly the aircraft from take-off to touch-down using only the push-buttons on a console identical to that of the ground operator of the drone, turning the button pushes into control surface and throttle movements.During this time, Tarrant Rushton was the home of 8de Havilland Sea Vixens, among them XP924, (now G-CVIX), a Sea Vixen that remained in flying condition for some time.^[7][8]

In the 70s Flight Refuelling left the airfield and flying operations moved toHurn. After that, it was only used by gliders and occasionally by light aircraft until it was officially closed on 30 September 1980.

A memorial to those who served at the airfield is located by the roadside next to one of the surviving hangars.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRAF Tarrant Rushton.

• Falconer, J (1998).RAF Fighter Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing.ISBN 0-7110-2175-9.
• Jefford, C.G. (1988).RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912.Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

• Royal Air Force stations in Dorset
• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Military airbases established in 1943
• Military airbases closed in 1947

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