Royal Air Force Tempsford or more simply RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located 2.3 mi north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and 4.4 mi south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield was home to 138 (Special Duty) Squadron and 161 (Special Duty) Squadron, which dropped supplies and agents into occupied Europe for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). 138 (SD) Squadron handled most of the supply and agent drops, while 161 (SD) Squadron had the Lysander flight, and did the insertion and pick-up operations in occupied Europe. RAF Tempsford is very close to Little Gransden Airfield and can be clearly seen from flights climbing out from the westerly runway 28. Other active airfields nearby include the former RAF bases at Gransden Lodge and Bourn.

Units

• No. 53 Squadron RAF detachment (1946) - Consolidated Liberator VI and VIII • No. 109 Squadron RAF (1942) - Vickers Wellington I • No. 138 Squadron RAF (1942-1944) - Handley Page Halifax II and V • No. 149 Squadron RAF (1943-1944) - Short Stirling III • No. 161 Squadron RAF (1942-1945) - Westland Lysander IIIA and other types • No. 426 Squadron RCAF (1945) - Consolidated Liberator VIII • No. 617 Squadron RAF detachment (1945) - Avro Lancaster I & III • No. 1 Transport Aircraft Modification Unit • No. 11 Operational Training Unit RAF • No. 48 Group Communication Flight RAF • No. 107 (Special Duties) Wing RAF • No. 273 Maintenance Unit RAF • No. 1418 Flight RAF • No. 1575 (Special Duties) Flight RAF • No. 1586 (Polish Special Duties) Flight • No. 2722 Squadron RAF Regiment

Tempsford now

By 2002 part of the former Tempsford airfield was a concrete-making facility and some of the main airfield buildings had been turned into various commercial workshops. A nearby public footpath led to the end of a substantially intact runway and then on to Gibraltar Farm, the agents' final dispatch point. This barn contains several plaques and memorials to the agents, both men and women, who were flown from the airfield, many of whom were later killed after being captured and tortured. A memorial is also to be found in St Peter's Church, in the nearby village of Tempsford, and the Tempsford Memorial is outside the church, commemorating the men and women who served as secret agents in occupied Europe during the Second World War and the RAF aircrew who transported them. Tempsford Museum & Archives in the village of Tempsford houses a vast collection of photographs, papers, maps, uniforms and aircraft parts associated with RAF Tempsford.

People

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