Keeping alive the memory of all who served at Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton
ARNHEM 80 We had a wonderful day and evening for our latest event on September 17th
The memorial at the former Royal Air Force station of Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, created in 1982 whilst the airfield was being dismantled.
Our community group is now established and we can take on members in the Autumn 2024. Our event on June 1st marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day operations that took place from Tarrant Rushton. Today all is again quiet at the memorial, the tributes and wreaths remain to remind us just how important this airfield was.
Welcome to the story of Tarrant Rushton airfield.
Our mission is to maintain the memorial and keep alive the memory of all the brave men and women who served here during the second world war or with Flight Refuelling.
Many of the photographs used on this site are from the following collections and archives;
Andrew PM Wright
Wing Commander GH ‘Buster’ Briggs Wing Commander R A Seymour
The second world war airfield at Tarrant Rushton.
Built in just nine months and opening in July 1943 Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton was the starting point for glider operations and top secret supply missions to the resistance groups across occupied Europe.
The Royal Air Force years
Flight Sergeant R Seymour, pictured here in 1943, served as a navigator at Tarrant Rushton in 1944.
The squadron badge and potted history of 298 squadron as drawn by LAC Pickett, the official photographer at RAF Tarrant Rushton in 1944/45.
From its opening in May 1943 until its first closure in 1946 Tarrant Rushton was home to two squadrons of large Halifax bombers used for towing gliders and transport.
298 squadron formed here in September 1943, this squadron crest was drawn by one of the airmen based here, while 644 squadron formed in early 1944 as the base prepared for the operations to recapture Europe.
After the war there was a short lived jet training school based here. The last active RAF service here saw Valiant jets use the base on dispersal training, the last flights in 1964.
The Glider Pilot Regiment at Tarrant Rushton
Formed in February 1942 the Glider Pilot Regiment of the British army flew their weapons of stealth into the invasion battlefields of Sicily Normandy Arnhem and finally into Germany. Some of the most daring operations started from Tarrant Rushton.
After the Royal Air Force left the airfield fell empty, but not for long. Sir Alan Cobham’s pioneering aviation engineering company Flight Refuelling moved in creating hundreds of jobs as they revolutionised long distance flying for the Royal Air Force..
“it was one of the most outstanding flying achievements of the war.”
Air marshal Trafford Leigh Mallory describes Operation Coup de Main,
Pegasus bridge operation
Would you like to help us look after this memorial site and keep its memory alive for future generations?
Join our association, donate towards the upkeep or just remain in touch with us to be the first to know about our events.