RAF Chicksands

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RAF Chicksands was a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England (but not an airfield). It is named for Chicksands Priory, a 12th century Gilbertine monastery now located within the perimeter of the camp.

Chicksands is close to the small town of Shefford. The Crown Commissioners acquired the Chicksands estate on 15 April 1936. Later that year it was rented to Gerald Bagshawe, who resided there until it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy. After nine months the RAF took over operations there (the estate became Ministry of Defence property in 1962) and established a signals gathering unit there.

During World War II and throughout the Cold War, Chicksands was an important signals gathering station, part of the NATO's signals intelligence (SIGINT) network. In World War II, Chicksands received German Enigma transmissions that were then passed to the cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park.

From 1950 it was subleased to the United States Air Force 6940th radio squadron. During the early 1960s Chicksands' "Fighting Chicks" base basketball team was renowned throughout England and Europe and had many tremendous battles with Hahn AFB.

During the 1960s, a huge Wullenweber antenna array was constructed at Chicksands, a type known as the FLR-9, but known colloquially to base staff as the "elephant's cage". This massive array was visible for a considerable distance and was a well-known local landmark. This array was part of a world-wide network of installations known collectively as "Iron Horse", a system for eavesdropping on HF communications. Each antenna had a range of up to 5000 km. It was dismantled in the 1990s, when the base reverted to the British Armed Forces.

In October 1978, the 7274th Air Base Group was established at Chickstands to assume the USAF's responsibility for the facility. The 7274th supported the 6950th Electronic Security Group.

Since 1997, Chicksands has been the home of the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre (DISC), the Joint Services School of Intelligence and also a museum of defence intelligence open to the public by prior arrangement. It is the home of the British Army Intelligence Corps. All training for the Int Corps and for RAF Intelligence officers and analysts is carried out at Chicksands. The Royal Navy also has a presence at DISC, HMS Ferret is the home of the Defence Intelligence Staff Branch and the Interrogator Branch.

An Army Cadet Force detachment is also located on the base. It is now badged to the Intelligence Corps. Previous to this it was badged to the Royal Anglian Regiment. It is part of A Company of the Bedfordshire ACF.

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[edit] External links

Friends of Chicksands Priory
RAF Chicksands, England - USAF Message Board
Map sources for RAF Chicksands
Satellite Image of RAF Chicksands From Google Earth

Aerial Photo of RAF Chicksands From Multimap.Com

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