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 Winkleigh in Devon opened on 1 January 1943 as a paved-runway station built for flexibility in the south-west. During the Second World War it sat under RAF Fighter Command (No. 10 Group) and later within the wider training and support framework, but its most distinctive reputation comes from a very particular kind of flying: the secretive ‘special duties’ work linked to clandestine operations in occupied Europe. In that sense, Winkleigh’s story is not only about runways and units, but about discretion, night flying, and missions that often left few public traces at the time.
Wartime role
Geographically, Winkleigh’s location was useful: far enough from the main Luftwaffe threat axis to operate with a measure of security, yet close enough to the Channel approaches to support operational needs. The airfield was also identified by the USAAF as Station 460, highlighting the Allied habit of assigning station numbers and codes for administration and security. As the war intensified in 1943-44, south-west stations like Winkleigh formed a useful pool for detachments, training, calibration work and specialist sorties.
Squadrons, units and types
Several units are associated with Winkleigh, and the mix tells you a lot about its function. No. 161 Squadron is recorded as a main associated unit, operating Westland Lysanders – the iconic ‘moonlight’ aircraft used for special duties, including dropping and picking up agents and delivering supplies to resistance groups in France and elsewhere. These missions depended on short landing capability, accurate navigation, and the nerve to approach tiny, unlit fields guided only by pre-arranged signals. Winkleigh is also linked with units such as No. 286 Squadron (often tasked with anti-aircraft co-operation and training support) and Canadian units including No. 406 and No. 415 Squadrons, both of which have strong wartime identities in night-fighting roles, associated with aircraft such as the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito in different periods.
Another distinctive feature is the ‘Norwegian Training Base’ association. During the war, Norwegian personnel trained within RAF structures, and Winkleigh’s link to a Norwegian base underlines the international character of wartime RAF stations – even those far from the front line.
- No. 161 Squadron – Westland Lysander (special duties / clandestine work)
- No. 286 Squadron – training / co-operation duties (varied types)
- No. 406 Squadron (RCAF) – night-fighter association (Beaufighter/Mosquito era context)
- No. 415 Squadron (RCAF) – night-fighter association (Beaufighter/Mosquito era context)
- Norwegian Training Base – Norwegian personnel within RAF wartime training framework
Key moments
Winkleigh’s ‘headline’ moments are often inherently hard to document publicly because special duties work was designed to leave minimal trace. But the broader operational logic is clear. Special duties stations supported the war of intelligence and sabotage: inserting agents, extracting personnel, and supplying radios, weapons and funds to resistance networks. Each sortie demanded precise timing and often operated in marginal weather, with the constant risk of navigation error, ground fire or interception. Even training and co-operation units at Winkleigh contributed to operational effectiveness by sharpening anti-aircraft gunnery and improving the realism of home defence exercises.
After the war
Winkleigh remained in use well beyond 1945 (into the late 1950s), and the site later shifted to civilian and industrial uses. Yet its Second World War identity remains anchored in the units most closely tied to secret night work and in the sense that Winkleigh was one of those stations where the war was fought quietly, in small sorties that could have large strategic effects.