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.
RAF Bradwell Bay occupied a remote, exposed position on the Dengie Peninsula near Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex – marshland country looking out toward the Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Before the war the area already had aviation links as a grass landing ground connected to nearby firing ranges, but from 1940 onward it was rebuilt as a full RAF station with hard runways, hangars and a defended technical site. Opened as an operational base in late 1941, Bradwell Bay served under Fighter Command’s No. 11 Group and later supported Second Tactical Air Force activity, making it a front-line station in the air defence and offensive operations that flowed across the southern North Sea.
One feature makes Bradwell Bay stand out in RAF infrastructure history: it was the only fighter station to be fitted with FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation). FIDO used lines of burners along the runway edges to generate intense heat and clear fog so aircraft could land in otherwise impossible conditions. The system consumed vast amounts of fuel, so it was reserved for situations where the value of recovered aircraft and aircrew justified the cost. Bradwell’s isolated coastal setting and fast-changing weather made the capability particularly valuable, and the presence of FIDO hints at how seriously the RAF regarded the station’s operational need for reliable recovery.
Bradwell Bay hosted a striking variety of squadrons. At different points it served day fighter units and night fighter or intruder squadrons, reflecting the evolving Luftwaffe threat: raids and reconnaissance along the east coast, attacks on shipping and coastal targets, and the night war over Britain. Units associated with the station include RAF squadrons such as Nos. 23, 29, 56, 64, 68, 85, 125 and others, alongside Commonwealth and Allied-in-exile formations. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand personnel served here, and the airfield also hosted European allies fighting from Britain, including Polish and Czechoslovak squadrons. This international mix is not a footnote – it shaped the station’s culture, languages on the dispersals, and the memorial story of those who served and died.
In 1944-45 Bradwell Bay’s role broadened as the Allies pushed toward northwest Europe. It was used by supporting units such as servicing and transport elements, and it became linked to major named formations. In late 1944 the Czechoslovak No. 134 (Czech) Fighter Wing moved to Bradwell Bay, bringing together Czechoslovak Spitfire squadrons as part of the RAF’s operational structure. Around the same period Bradwell’s fighters also contributed to the practical, unglamorous work that made operations possible: escorts for bombers on daylight tasks, and fighter cover associated with major airborne activity. Accounts of the ‘Bradwell Fighter Wing’ in 1944 emphasise escort and support duties during the campaign in northwest Europe, including protective work connected with the Arnhem airborne operation in September.
The station closed in 1946, but its wartime layout remained partially legible for years, even as the surrounding area changed dramatically with post-war industry and the later development of the Bradwell nuclear power station nearby. For visitors today, Bradwell Bay’s significance rests on three pillars: its coastal fighter-station duty in the shifting air war over the estuary, its unusually broad mix of RAF, Commonwealth and Allied-in-exile squadrons, and its unique place in RAF engineering history as a fighter airfield equipped with FIDO.