Qualla: RAF Pembroke Dock https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: RAF Pembroke Dock https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock RAF Pembroke Dock: Introduction https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ The crews called them Mighty Sundies. Short Sunderland flying boats - four engines, 112-foot wingspan, gun turrets in nose and tail, a fuselage shaped like the hull of a small ship. They would taxi down the spillway at Pembroke Dock, hit the haven's water in a white wall of spray, and lift off to spend the next twelve hours over the Atlantic looking for U-boats. At its peak in 1943, RAF Pembroke Dock was home to ninety-nine aircraft and was the largest flying boat station in the world. The motto on the station badge, in Welsh, read Gwylio'r gorllewin o'r awyr - 'To watch the west from the air.' That is exactly what they did.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full RAF Pembroke Dock: From Ship Slips to Spillways https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ When the Royal Navy abandoned Pembroke Dock in 1926, the RAF saw an opportunity. The same deep water that had launched warships could launch flying boats. On 1 January 1930 the air force occupied the former dockyard, and in June 1931 No. 210 Squadron arrived with Supermarine Sout...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-from-ship-slips-to-spillways.mp3 0:06 2 full RAF Pembroke Dock: Bomber Harris on the Haven https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ In the mid-1930s the Officer Commanding RAF Pembroke Dock was a Wing Commander named Arthur Travers Harris. The world would come to know him as Bomber Harris - the architect of RAF Bomber Command's area bombing campaign against Germany, one of the most controversial commanders of...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-bomber-harris-on-the-haven.mp3 0:06 3 full RAF Pembroke Dock: Eight Junkers and One Sunderland https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ On 1 June 1940, as the Netherlands fell, several flying boats of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service flew west across the North Sea and put down at Pembroke Dock. They became No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF, eventually moving to nearby RAF Carew Cheriton. Australian, Canad...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-eight-junkers-and-one-sunderland.mp3 0:06 4 full RAF Pembroke Dock: Convoy Escorts and a Husky Mascot https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ In 1944 No. 201 Squadron transferred down from RAF Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland to help blockade the western approaches ahead of D-Day, denying U-boats access to the invasion area. The work continued long after the war ended. Three Sunderlands from No. 230 Squadron flew in...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-convoy-escorts-and-a-husky-mascot.mp3 0:06 5 full RAF Pembroke Dock: What the Water Still Holds https://qualla.com/raf-pembroke-dock/ In 1963 the French Navy gave a former No. 201 Squadron Sunderland to the town. She sat on the dockside, weathering, until 1971, when she was moved to the RAF Museum at Hendon. The town never quite stopped looking for the others. In 2006 a local fisherman found his lobster pot cau...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/h/q/raf-pembroke-dock-wp/gchq-raf-pembroke-dock-what-the-water-still-holds.mp3 0:06 6 full