| RAF Barford St John | |
| Nearest Town: | Bloxham, Oxfordshire |
| Country: | England |
| Pushpin Map: | Oxfordshire |
| Pushpin Label: | RAF Barford St John |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Shown within Oxfordshire |
| Type: | Royal Air Force station (US Visiting Forces) |
| Code: | BJ |
| Ownership: | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator: | United States Air Force |
| Controlledby: | US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa Formerly RAF Flying Training Command RAF Bomber Command * No. 92 (OTU) Group RAF |
| Condition: | Operational |
| Used: | 1941 – 1946 (Royal Air Force) 1951 – present (US Air Force) |
| Footnotes: | Notes: Flying ceased in 1946 |
| Elevation: | 120m (390feet) |
| R1-Number: | 09/27 |
| R1-Length: | 1670m (5,480feet) |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 16/34 |
| R2-Length: | 1215m (3,986feet) |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R3-Number: | 02/20 |
| R3-Length: | 1210m (3,970feet) |
| R3-Surface: | Asphalt |
Royal Air Force Barford St John or more simply RAF Barford St John is a Royal Air Force station just north of the village of Barford St. John, Oxfordshire, England. It is now a non-flying facility, operated by the United States Air Force as a communications centre with many large communications aerials, and is a satellite of RAF Croughton.
RAF Barford St John was opened on 30 July 1941 as a training facility for RAF Flying Training Command. It had three grass runways, used primarily by Airspeed Oxfords of No. 15 Service Flying Training School RAF from RAF Kidlington.[1] The airfield was rebuilt as an RAF Bomber Command airfield with paved runways and night operations equipment and reopened as a satellite for RAF Upper Heyford in December 1942.[1] In 1943 the station served as flight test centre for its Gloster E.28/39 and Gloster Meteor jet aircraft.[2] Bomber Command and No. 16 Operational Training Unit was stationed there with Vickers Wellingtons until December 1944.[1] No. 1655 Mosquito Training Unit RAF replaced the Wellingtons at that time.[1] After the war the airfield was closed in 1946 and placed into care and maintenance.[1]
The site was used for some background filming for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High.[3] [4] [5]
The following units were also there at some point:[6]
In 1951 the United States Air Force opened a communications (transmitter) centre on the airfield.[2] The site has a Scope Signal III installation which was used to modernize "Giant Talk", Strategic Air Command's world-wide command and controls network, which operates from RAF Croughton.