Everything about Royal Marines Base Chivenor totally explained
Royal Marines Base Chivenor is a
British military base used primarily by the
Royal Marines. It is situated on the northern shore of the
Taw estuary, adjacent to the
South West Coast Path, on the North coast of
Devon,
England.
Originally a civil airfield opened in the
1930s, the
Royal Air Force took over the site in May of
1940 for use as a
Coastal Command Station, calling it
RAF Chivenor. After
World War II, the station was largely used for training, particularly weapons training. During the
1960s, one of the RAF's Tactical Weapons Units (TWU) used
Hawker Hunter aircraft for training. In
1974, the station was left on "care and maintenance", though No. 624 Volunteer Gliding Squadron continued to fly from there. The TWU returned flying
BAE Hawks in
1979 and
1981. In
1994, the TWU left Chivenor, merging with No. 4 Flying Training School at
RAF Valley, with the RAF handing the airfield over to the Royal Marines. The Marines have an existing equipment testing base at Arromanches Camp, in
Instow, located across the Taw Estuary and approximately two miles from Chivenor.
The RAF still has the "A" flight of
22 Squadron, with two search and rescue
Sea King helicopters stationed there, and No. 624 Volunteer Gliding Squadron operating Vigilant T1 motor gliders.
In a spending review that was announced over the summer of 2004, the presence of 22 Squadron at Chivenor was under review. After the flooding at
Boscastle, this threat was rescinded. However, future defence spending cuts may still see the withdrawal of the Royal Marines and the closure of the fixed-wing airbase.
Operational units
Trivia
When Peter Carter is washed ashore in
A Matter of Life and Death, the filming location was
Saunton Sands, the seaward (westward) portion of
Braunton Burrows dune system. As he talks to the shepherd boy, the
De Havilland Mosquito that flies over him almost certainly has just taken off from RAF Chivenor, which borders the dune system to the east.
Further Information
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