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
RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset – commissioned as HMS Heron – became one of the Fleet Air Arm’s most important wartime bases. Opened in 1942, it was designed to support naval aviation in a period when carriers, convoy protection and amphibious operations demanded a constant supply of trained pilots and serviceable aircraft. Yeovilton’s identity in the Second World War is therefore a blend of operational readiness and training: a station where squadrons worked up for sea service, practised deck-landing procedures, and prepared for combat in multiple theatres.
Wartime role
Naval air stations had distinctive routines compared with RAF fighter or bomber bases. At Yeovilton, training emphasised carrier operations: take-off and landing techniques, formation work, navigation over water, and the disciplined procedures needed to operate safely around ships. The station also acted as a staging and holding base where squadrons could assemble before embarking, where aircraft could be modified for naval requirements, and where maintenance and storage systems supported a fast-moving naval air war. Yeovilton’s location – close to major aircraft manufacturing and repair capacity in the south-west – also made it a practical hub for fleet air logistics.
Squadrons, units and aircraft
During the war, Yeovilton hosted a wide range of Fleet Air Arm squadrons and training flights, which could include fighter, strike and anti-submarine elements. Aircraft types associated with Yeovilton’s wartime activity included the Fairey Swordfish (for training and maritime work), the Hawker Sea Hurricane and Supermarine Seafire (fighters), the Fairey Barracuda (strike/torpedo bomber), and later types such as the Grumman Wildcat/Martlet, Hellcat, the Fairey Firefly and the Grumman Avenger for broader naval tasks. The diversity reflects the Navy’s needs: convoy protection, anti-submarine patrol, strike capability, and fighter cover for amphibious operations.
- Fleet Air Arm ‘work-up’ and training squadrons rotating through before embarkation
- Carrier deck-landing and formation training flights
- Aircraft types commonly associated with wartime Yeovilton: Swordfish, Sea Hurricane, Seafire, Barracuda, Martlet/Wildcat, Hellcat, Firefly, Avenger
Operations and highlights
Yeovilton’s wartime influence was often indirect but decisive. A squadron that completed a work-up period here could embark with confidence, reducing accident rates and improving combat effectiveness at sea. Training sorties included simulated deck landings (often using marked runways and ‘bat’ signals), gunnery and bombing practice, and navigation flights over the Bristol Channel and surrounding coast. In the later war years, as Allied operations became increasingly expeditionary, stations like Yeovilton also played a staging role – moving aircraft and personnel through Britain’s naval air network towards ports of embarkation and forward bases.
Legacy
RNAS Yeovilton’s WW2 story is the story of naval air power becoming a mature system. It was a place where pilots learned that carrier aviation demanded precision and discipline, where squadrons were formed and re-formed for specific ships and operations, and where the Fleet Air Arm’s varied aircraft types passed through on the way to action. For visitors today, Yeovilton is one of the best places to understand the Fleet Air Arm’s wartime scale: not just heroic moments at sea, but the training and logistics that made those moments possible.