Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
Overview
RAF Tarrant Rushton was a wartime airfield at near Blandford Forum in Dorset. During the Second World War it served as a specialist airborne forces base for glider operations, towing, and parachute/airlanding training. built in 1940-41 and developed into a centre for glider training and large-scale airborne preparation for 1944-45.
Like most British wartime stations, RAF Tarrant Rushton functioned as a small, self-contained town. Beyond the runways were technical areas for maintenance and armament, dispersed hardstandings to reduce losses during raids, and domestic sites where airmen, WAAFs or naval personnel lived, trained, and waited for the next tasking. On operational nights or intensive training days the routine revolved around briefings, meteorology, aircraft servicing, and a tight rhythm of take-off and recovery windows.
Units and aircraft
Aircraft commonly associated with wartime flying here: Halifax, Short Stirling, Airspeed Horsa glider, General Aircraft Hamilcar glider, Dakota (liaison/transport, as used across airborne establishments).
Records for RAF Tarrant Rushton show a mix of operational and support activity. Some units were long-term residents with a stable identity, while others arrived as detachments – often for conversion training, gunnery work-ups, dispersal, or to cover a specific operational requirement. That pattern is typical of the RAF’s wartime system: stations were constantly re-tasked as the air war shifted from defence to offence, from the Battle of the Atlantic to the bomber offensive, and later to preparations for the invasion of Northwest Europe.
- No. 297 Squadron (Stirling/Halifax glider tugs)
- No. 298 Squadron (Stirling/Halifax glider tugs)
- No. 644 Squadron (Halifax glider tugs)
- Units supporting airborne training and assembly of Horsa and Hamilcar gliders
- Associated with RAF/Army Air Corps glider pilot training organisations and airlanding forces preparations
Key moments
Played a major part in preparations for D-Day airborne landings, including glider-tug training and mass rehearsals.
Continued as an airborne hub for later operations such as Market Garden and the Rhine crossing (Varsity) preparation work.
Research tip: if you’re tracing people connected to the airfield, look for unit Operational Record Books (ORBs), station diaries, and local newspaper reports. Squadron codes, aircraft serials and incident cards can often tie a single photograph to a precise date, aircraft and crew – turning a generic image into a documented historical moment.
What’s left today
The airfield is widely remembered for its glider heritage; dispersal patterns and perimeter tracks still read in the landscape in places.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Tarrant Rushton’s geography influenced operations. Prevailing winds dictated runway selection, while local terrain and weather shaped training and safety. In winter, short daylight and low cloud increased the workload; in summer, longer hours enabled intensive training programmes and high sortie rates. These practical factors are often reflected in accident reports and ORBs, which mention crosswinds, icing, fog, and diversion landings.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Tarrant Rushton’s geography influenced operations. Prevailing winds dictated runway selection, while local terrain and weather shaped training and safety. In winter, short daylight and low cloud increased the workload; in summer, longer hours enabled intensive training programmes and high sortie rates. These practical factors are often reflected in accident reports and ORBs, which mention crosswinds, icing, fog, and diversion landings.