Perranporth Airfield

At Trevellas, the history of aviation is still visible on the ground. An aircraft dispersal, a shelter or a stretch of perimeter track can connect today’s visitor with the people who worked here during the Second World War.

This booklet brings together published historical research, archival photograph descriptions, company records and the modern airfield story supplied by Andy Whitaker. The wartime and civilian narratives are followed by a working squadron directory and a remembrance section.

Inside: timeline (3); early flying and construction (4-6); Allied crews (7-10); naval service and closure (11-12); surviving structures (13); civilian development (14-16); unit directory (17-18); remembrance (19); sources (20-21).

The airfield’s own archived history places the beginnings of flying here in March 1924. It records Captain J. V. Holmes operating an Avro 504K, a surplus First World War training aircraft, carrying residents and holidaymakers on pleasure flights. [3]

That is a very different beginning from the later fighter station: people taking their first look at Cornwall from the air, rather than crews preparing for war.

There is scope to enrich this early chapter with local newspaper advertisements, photographs and records identifying the aircraft. Until those are located, the named pilot and aircraft should remain attributed to the archived airfield account.

RAF Perranporth officially opened on 28 April 1941 as a satellite of RAF Portreath. Its initial intended capacity was a squadron of 12 Spitfires. [1]

The archived aerodrome history identifies No. 66 Squadron arriving from Exeter with Spitfire IIs. Accommodation was makeshift: marquees served for living and eating, and the exposed site made Cornish gales a practical problem. [3]

Opening dates and arrival dates need not be identical. Published station lists place No. 66 Squadron at Perranporth from 27 April, a day before the official opening. [4, 5]

Aircraft type alone tells only part of this story. Keeping a squadron flying required maintenance, fuel, ammunition, communications and coordination. A history centred on pilots also needs to recognise the personnel who prepared the aircraft and supported each departure.

The station’s early role included defending the south-west and protecting coastal shipping. Its work would broaden as the war developed. [3]

The published unit directory identifies British, Polish, Czechoslovak, Free French, Canadian and Australian squadrons at Perranporth. These were distinct units, often staying for relatively short periods or returning after service elsewhere. [4]

The station should therefore be understood as part of a moving network of airfields. A squadron’s full wartime record cannot automatically be credited to Perranporth: operations belong to the station from which the aircraft actually flew.

The runways also served aircraft other than Spitfires. No. 183 Squadron is recorded with Hawker Typhoons, while rescue and anti-aircraft cooperation units appear in the station’s broader history. [4]

Members of No. 453 Squadron with their mascot, Sprog, at Perranporth on 14 October 1943. The Australian War Memorial identifies the scene as a farewell before the unit moved to the Orkneys. [15]

The group includes Clarence Alfred Seeney, engineer officer R. Bush, pilots K. C. Kinross, H. F. Watts and R. Lyall, together with radio, intelligence and medical personnel. It is a reminder of the range of work contained within a flying squadron. [15]

Historic England records care and maintenance from 1 September 1944, interrupted by reuse from 23 November until 1 May 1945 for RAF units awaiting transfer to former enemy airfields. [1]

The 2002 archaeological survey places decommissioning later in 1945 and states that most buildings, including hangars, had been dismantled by the end of 1946. It also records late-war alterations, including a new operations room and control building by the end of 1943 and a bomb store in the underground mine workings in 1944. [2]

These sources describe different stages of use and physical change. Air of Authority, in contrast, carries an administrative Transport Command period to April 1947. That does not by itself prove continuous operational flying throughout that period. [5]

For a visitor history, the most defensible wording is that the wartime operational role ended in 1945, followed by rundown and dismantling. A single unqualified “closure date” would conceal the differences in the records.

The UK Airfield Guide records a brief period of commercial services in 1950-51, associating Murray Chown Aviation with a Staverton-Perranporth-Guernsey route and Fingland with Manchester-Perranporth. Perranporth served as the “Newquay” destination in these accounts. [6]

From 1957 the Cornish Gliding Club gave the site another aviation chapter. The cliff setting offered opportunities for soaring, and gliding became an important part of the airfield’s civilian identity. [6, 7]

A 2010 General Aviation profile records recollections from Ernie Hayman and Noel Ellis, instructors during the club’s busy years. It describes a later revival under pilots Brian Sperring and Peter Channon, with Mike and Tina Lomax providing instruction. [7]

Tony Arthur and Richard Seth-Smith, with their wives, subsequently bought the airfield and rebuilt its licensed flying-school activity. By the time of the 2007 sale, retaining a working general aviation airfield was an explicit priority in their account. [7]

The post-war history is therefore a sequence of changes in ownership and activity, rather than a single uninterrupted business.

The modern airfield story supplied by management includes light aviation, microlights, parachuting, driver experiences, camping, food and drink, motorsport and community events. Each gives people a different reason to encounter the former RAF station. [10]

Perranporth Driving Centre offers a private training environment with road features intended to build driving experience. Its website places the centre at Perranporth Airfield and includes links to under-17 driving, skid-car experiences and Spitfire Raceway. [9]

The same account describes Spitfire Radio CIC’s work from the former control tower, linking broadcasting, veterans, education and heritage. It offers another way to keep people’s stories associated with the site. [10]

A living airfield can preserve a connection with history through both its surviving structures and the stories told about them.

Sources: [4, 5]. No. 615 also appears as a 1941-42 detachment in [5]; it is not counted here as a verified Spitfire unit. The 17 Spitfire entries across pages 17-18 do not resolve Historic England’s total of 21. [1]