Former RAF base on the Cambridgeshire border used for special operations in WW2

In a sleepy part of the Bedfordshire countryside, near the Cambridgeshire border, an RAF base that no longer exists played an important and largely unknown role in WW2. Secrets about wartime activity at RAF Tempsford remained as such until 1998, when people were finally able to learn about the role it played.

RAF Tempsford was built on a site near the A1 as a satellite for the base at Bassingbourn, with construction starting in 1940 and using parts of the existing farm on the land. Vickers Wellington bombers flew out of Tempsford from 1941, according to an archived page from the RAF website.

Tempsford had been selected for special duty units, who arrived at the base for experiments with new radio equipment in 1942. Two squadrons tasked with air support of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) also arrived in 1942, with a top-secret mission to drop agents and material aid into occupied countries to battle against the Germans, while also retrieving people from occupied territory to return to England.

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The first covert supply mission was carried out in the March 'moon period' to a French drop zone, according to Harrington Aviation Museum, which has an extensive timeline of operations at Tempsford. The missions were carried out during the eight days around the full moon, when operatives had the best natural lighting to be able to carry out their tasks.

Operations peaked in spring 1943, with operatives being dropped into occupied territory for supply missions. During dark periods of the moon, planes from Tempsford were used for rescue operations – a total of 138 in spring 1943.

RAF Tempsford was "perhaps the most secret airfield of the Second World War", according to Tempsford Museum. Tempsford supported SOE activities for just over three years, losing at least 80 aircraft in crashes during operations.

Among the operatives who flew from Tempsford was Violette Szabo, a British-French spy who was captured by the German army on her second mission into occupied France, before being interrogated, tortured, and executed. She was awarded the George Cross after her death.

At one point, the camp was home to around 2,000 people, with 240 of those being women from the WAAF. Accommodation and sick quarters were dispersed around the RAF base in fields mostly to the south.

The RAF left the site by the 1950s, with the hangars and land being sold in the 1960s. The airfields were dismantled and the site has since returned to agricultural use.

A barn on the former base contains several plaques and memorials to the agents who were flown from the airfield. There is also a memorial in nearby St Peter's Church, commemorating the men and women of the 'moonlight squadrons' that played a key role in the war.