RAF St Eval

The closure was a result of post-World War II military restructuring and a shift in strategic defence priorities. With the advent of longer-range maritime patrol aircraft and changes in naval threats during the early Cold War, the need for a large number of coastal airfields diminished. The Royal Air Force consolidated its operations into fewer, more modern bases, leading to the closure of many wartime stations like St Eval as a cost-saving and efficiency measure.

The site is no longer an airfield and most of its aviation infrastructure, including the runways and many hangars, has been removed. The land has been repurposed for several uses:

- **Military Communications:** The primary use of the site today is as a major high-frequency (HF) transmitter station. Known as Defence High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS) St Eval, it is a key communications node for the UK's Ministry of Defence and armed forces, identifiable by its large array of radio masts and antennas.
- **Agriculture:** Much of the surrounding land where the runways and taxiways once lay has been returned to agricultural use.
- **Housing:** The former married quarters for the station now form a part of the civilian village of St Eval.
- **Memorials:** The original parish church, St Uvelus, which was uniquely situated within the perimeter of the wartime airfield, still stands. It serves as a memorial, containing a book of remembrance and a stained-glass window dedicated to the personnel of RAF St Eval who lost their lives.

RAF St Eval was one of the most important front-line airfields in the United Kingdom during World War II. Opened on 2 October 1939, its strategic location in Cornwall made it a crucial base for RAF Coastal Command. Its primary roles included:

- **Anti-Submarine Warfare:** The station was a major hub for aircraft hunting German U-boats in the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay, playing a vital part in the Battle of the Atlantic.
- **Anti-Shipping Strikes:** Squadrons from St Eval conducted numerous attacks against enemy naval and merchant vessels along the German-occupied French coast.
- **Air-Sea Rescue:** It was a key base for coordinating and launching air-sea rescue missions to save downed Allied aircrew.
- **Meteorological Reconnaissance:** St Eval was home to meteorological flights that flew deep into the Atlantic. The weather data they gathered was critical for planning major Allied operations, most famously providing the crucial forecast that allowed General Eisenhower to give the final 'go' for the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944.
- **Special Operations:** The station also supported clandestine operations, including dropping agents and supplies for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) into occupied France.

Throughout the war, it hosted a wide variety of aircraft, including Vickers Wellingtons, Handley Page Halifaxes, Bristol Beaufighters, and Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Due to its importance, the airfield was a frequent target for Luftwaffe bombing raids.

There are no known or credible plans to reopen RAF St Eval as an airport. The site's critical role as a military communications facility, combined with the removal of all essential aviation infrastructure (runways, taxiways, hangars), makes its conversion back to an airfield highly improbable and economically unviable. Its aviation role in the region is now served by Cornwall Airport Newquay (formerly RAF St Mawgan), located a few miles to the east.