THE HAVENS COMMUNITY
A Maritime Defence
Pembrokeshire was strategically well placed for the maritime air defence of the vital south west sea approaches to the British Isles. Well before the Second World War R.A.F Coastal Command established a flying boat station at Pembroke Dock precisely for this reason. Soon after the war started it was realised that land planes would also be involved in defending the vital convoys heading from across the Atlantic, so a search was made for suitable sites for establishing airfields in Pembrokeshire.
Although most of the county was rather undulated several sites were located, one of them being at 230 feet above the sea level a mile or so inland near the small village of Talbenny. Work on the airfield construction started in early 1941, when after clearing the area three concrete runways were laid, encircled by a perimeter track and its 36 dispersal points. Two steel 'T2' type hangars were erected, together with a technical and administration site at the east side of the airfield. Alongside the B4327 road several dispersed communal and domestic sites were provided with accommodation for around 2800 personnel. The station opened on the 7th of May 1942 under the control of No.19 Group of Coastal Command. Initially it acted as a satellite to the neighbouring airfield of Dale for the housing of general recce squadrons engaged in the anti U-Boat war.
On June the 12th 1942, No.311 Squadron moved in from Aldergrove with their twenty or so Vickers Wellington aircraft. This squadron was manned by Czechs who had escaped to Britain by one means or another in early 1940. Because they had been engaged in maritime operations for some time they soon mounted their first anti sub patrols from Talbenny, but it was early August before they attacked the first U Boat.
For most of November 1942, No.304 Squadron came over from Dale to operateits Wellingtons alongside the Czechs. With this squadron being manned by Poles, one can only imagine the difficulties posed by the different languages, not to mention the few struggling Britisher's who manned the control tower!.
At one point in time German JU88 fighters were interfering with operations over the Bay of Biscay, to where much of the squadrons energy was directed, so from the 13th of September to the 2nd of November 1942, No.248 Squadron was based here with its Beaufighters which provided escorts for the Wellingtons.
On the 5th of March 1943 an additional role evolved at Talbenny with the arrival of No.303 Ferry Training Unit with its 24 aircraft from Stornoway. They had the task of training Coastal Command crews to ferry new Wellington aircraft out to overseas RAF stations.
On the 26th of May 1943, No.311 Squadron transferred to Beaulieu on the south coast to be nearer to the Bay of Biscay where all their operations then centred. This only left the ferry training unit in residence but their task had increased where they were ferrying nearly 100 Wellingtons to the Middle East every month.
Another small unit that reformed here on the 16th of April 1943 was No.4 Armament Practice Camp who operated Martinets target towing aircraft which were employed for giving Coastal Command crews experience at air to air firing. Exactly how long they remained at Talbenny can not be traced but they were certainly here up to the 31st of October 1944.
In October 1943 the station was transferred to the control of No.44 Group of Transport Command, who were then responsible for the ferrying of aircraft overseas. They took over the resident ferry training unit, together with several others that were then in existence at other airfields. This new command had 22 concrete aprons constructed on this airfield to enable the open storage of numerous aircraft being prepared for overseas.
On the 25th of July 1944, No.3 Overseas Aircraft Dispatch Unit arrived from Hurn to prepare these aircraft, and this soon heralded a change of title when the combined units became No.11 Ferry Unit in September. Many different aircraft were thereafter handled including Wellingtons, Spitfires, Warwicks, and Ventura's. They also used several Avro Ansons as hacks to ferry the pilots back and forth.
The above task continued right through to 9th of August 1945 when they departed for Dunkeswell in South Devon in order to be as far south as possible. No further takers for Talbenny were forthcoming but for the following year a small holding party remained, this time under the control of Pembroke Dock, until the station was totally abandoned in December 1946.
Like most disused airfields it remained Government property until being sold off to local farmers in the mid 1950s. It quickly reverted to arable and grassland and the two hangars were soon dismantled.
Not much was done in the way of removing the concrete and this has slowly crumbled and covered in vegetation over the years. With being on elevated ground the rusting water tower could be seen for miles around when visited in 1980, and the few remaining derelict buildings stand out too.
Talbenny Church Dedicated to St Mary The Virgin
The nave windows and chancel are from 1893. The nave walls and plain
pointed chancel
arch are C13th. The double bellcote on the thick west
wall is C15th.
