page_title: RAF St Eval
section_title: 1944 - The end of the war
hierarchical_section_title: RAF St Eval / History / 1944 - The end of the war
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial to RAF and WAAF personnel based at RAF St Eval killed in service during World War II.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a strategic Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south west coast. Aircraft from the airfield were also used for photographic reconnaissance missions, meteorological flights, convoy patrols, air-sea rescue missions and protection of the airfield from the Luftwaffe.
context_section_description: The importance of St Eval was such that it was given a FIDO installation in early 1944 for dispersal of fog around the runway so that aircraft could land safely. St Eval was destined to have a busy time during the allied invasion of Europe.
  It was home to three RAF Liberator squadrons (53, 224, 547). Many of these were equipped with the highly successful Leigh Light. In April, a fourth squadron arrived, giving the station one of the most powerful anti-submarine forces in the RAF. This force flew thousands of hours of patrols each month and was rewarded with a number of sightings, many of which were converted into attacks, with at least three confirmed U-boat kills in June alone.
  The Allied capture of French ports meant that the U-boat threat was drastically reduced. This meant that the units posted to St Eval could be better used elsewhere and by the autumn of 1944 the airfield was a shadow of its former self.
caption: RAF St Eval memorial
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