The BMW was given a quick canter yesterday evening to check it over before it goes to Chimay this coming weekend. The route took me past Tarrant Rushton Airfield and I stopped for a quick snoop around (there's a bridleway runs nearby).
Work on the airfield began in 1942 and it came in to service in May 1943, slightly before it was actually finished. Gliders from Tarrant Rushton took part in both the Arnhem and D-Day operations. The airfield was taken out of service in 1946, but in 1948 Flight Refuelling moved in. Flight Refuelling became involved in the Berlin Airlift although it's not clear if sorties took off from Tarrant Rushton.
Right through until the 1970s Tarrant Ruston was the home of Flight Refuelling; development work was carried out on new aircraft and conversions to existing RAF fleet were undertaken to make them suitable for in-flight fuelling. In the seventies Flight Refuelling moved to Hurn Airport, Tarrant Rushton was officially closed in 1980 and many of the buildings demolished immediately thereafter.
Some of the runway still remains as does a hangar. It's easy enough to get up close to have a nose around as a road runs close by and a bridlepath goes through the farm that now occupies the airfield.
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| Memorial at Tarrant Rushton Aifield. |
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| The remaining hangar at Tarrant Rushton. |
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| Tarrant Rushton airstrip on a summers evening. |
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