RAF Bempton explained
Royal Air Force Bempton or more simply RAF Bempton is a former Royal Air Force station situated at Bempton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 6miles north of Bridlington. During the Second World War it was established as a radar station, becoming part of the Chain Home Low (CHL) network.
Operational history
- 1940 The first CHL radar station was installed in early 1940 a few hundred feet from the lighthouse at Flamborough Head. This was at an elevation of ; at this height performance proved to be very unsatisfactory. A new higher site was found four miles up the coast on the cliffs at Bempton.[1]
- The new site was opened in July 1940 as RAF Bempton. It was a CHL station.[2]
- 1941 became a CHL/Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) radar station.
- It disbanded on 1 August 1945.
- 1945 – Air Ministry Experimental Station Type 31
- 1 June 1949, re-established as a CHL/CHEL radar station.
- 17 February 1950 – transferred to RAF Fighter Command.
- On 1 November 1951 it was renamed as 146 Signals Unit Bempton rebuilt as a Centimetric Early Warning (CEW) radar station, part of the ROTOR Programme.
- The 146 Signals Unit was disbanded on 1 December 1961
- Bempton became a satellite station of RAF Patrington until its final closure in April 1972.
The site was also used for a secret High Speed Passive Array RADAR codenamed 'Winkle'.[3] [4] The distinctive Y-shaped concrete stanchions on the cliff edge are indicative of Winkle.[5]
Current use
The site was sold in 1980/81. The stairs down to the bunker were removed and other entrances were sealed over with concrete.
In 2010, a teenager from Hull went missing after his car was found abandoned by Bempton Cliffs. Police conducted a search for a missing person around the cliff area and inside the former bunker as the teenager had been given a memory stick detailing the pornographic artwork that a cult had painted on the walls of the bunker.[6]
Despite the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service later searching the area again for a body, no trace of Russell Bohling has been found.[7]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Airfields. Hull & East Riding at war. 15 February 2016.
- Web site: British Air Defence System. Bomber History. 15 February 2016.
- Web site: RAF Bempton, ‘RMF’ CEW R1 Rotor Radar Station, Yorkshire. Timechamber. 30 August 2012 . 15 February 2016.
- Web site: Simons. R. W.. Sutherland. J. W.. Forty Years of Marconi Radar from 1946 to 1986. Radar Pages. GEC review. 15 February 2016. 15. 1988.
- Web site: Brigham. T.. Jobling. D.. RAPID COASTAL ZONE ASSESSMENT YORKSHIRE AND LINCOLNSHIRE Bempton to Donna Nook English Heritage Project 3729 PHASE 2. Historic England. 15 February 2016. 34. January 2011.
- News: Student may have been lured to 'occult' bunker, father fears. 15 February 2016. Yorkshire Post. 1 March 2011.
- News: Campbell. James. Family of missing Russell Bohling 'still clinging to hope' five years on. 15 February 2016. Hull Daily Mail. 6 March 2015.
