RAF Bolt Head & the Kingsbridge estuary
1940 to 1944 · Salcombe, Devon
View this record on the map →- Date
- 1940 to 1944
- Record type
- Reported target area
- Bomb type
- target-area
- Location
- Salcombe, Devon
- Position accuracy
- Strategic target area
What happened
Whitehall classed Salcombe a safe reception area and sent evacuees. The Luftwaffe read the same map differently: low-level reconnaissance spotted the RAF airfield under construction at Bolt Head in 1940, and from then on the base, the harbour and the estuary drew regular attacks — on the aircraft using it, and on the towns as a deterrent to the civilian population.
Also worth knowing
Recorded raids in the area cover Kingsbridge (Oct 1940, Jan and Feb 1943), Salcombe, Bolt Head and Malborough. The published list is explicitly not exhaustive. Two requisitioned landing barges being trialled for the planned Sledgehammer landings were bombed and sunk here on 19 September 1942.