Royal Air Force Use
Towards the end of World War I, on 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps amalgamated. The station at Eastchurch was transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force and was re-designated Royal Air Force Station Eastchurch, or RAF Eastchurch for short. During the last few months of the War, No. 204 Training Depot Station, the 64th (Naval) Wing and the 58th (Training) Wing were based at Eastchurch.
RAF Eastchurch remained active during the inter-war years and it was home to No. 266 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. During World War II, Eastchurch was part of Coastal Command. A siding was laid to connect RAF Eastchurch with Eastchurch railway station on the Sheppey Light Railway. RAF Eastchurch closed in 1946.
The site is currently used as HM Prison Standford Hill. While there are a number of new buildings some of the original buildings survive including a number of pillboxes. The main roads in the prison reflect the aviation links; Rolls Avenue and Airfield View, Short's Prospect and Wright's Way. In the entrance to HMP Swaleside are two brass plaques; one records that the prison is built on what was the airstrip of RAF Eastchurch and the other lists the owners of the airstrip from 1909 to the end of the RAF use.
Read more about this topic: RAF Eastchurch
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