Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom Wales Pembrey Former RAF Pembrey Airfield

Former RAF Pembrey Airfield

This former military airfield's claim to fame came from a lucky accident during the Second World War.

Pembrey, Wales

Added By
Alan Newman
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Former RAF Pembrey Battle HQ   Dave Farmer/CC BY-SA 2.0
FW 190 which landed at Pembrey by accident in 1942   Royal Air Force/Public Domain
Pembrey “International Airport”   Wintom01/Public Domain
Gunnery training dome-the aircraft is a Spitfire of the RAF memorial flight   Hywel Williams/CC BY-SA 2.0
WW2 tunnel, approximately 4’ in height.   toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
Still visible rails that (presumably) the muntions were moved around the site on.   toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
WW2 Pillbox   toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
More muntions tunnels.   toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
  toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
Another muntitons tunnel   toptaff / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Pembrey airfield operated between 1937 and 1957 as a base for RAF Flying Training Command as well as Polish Hurricanes and Spitfires during World War II. But its greatest claim to fame came in 1942 when the airfield played an important role in maintaining the RAF's air superiority over the German Luftwaffe, when a enemy Focke-Wulfe 190 aircraft landed there in error after action over the Bristol Channel.  

The pilot, Oberleutnant Armin Faber had been forced north beyond Exeter, and mistook the Bristol Channel for the English Channel. Short on fuel, he landed at Pembrey believing it to be a Luftwaffe airfield in France. The Pembrey Duty Pilot grabbed the only available weapon, a flare pistol, and ran from the control tower and jumped onto the wing of the aircraft as it taxied in, capturing the aircraft and pilot.  

Faber was flying the latest enemy fighter, the Focke-Wulf 190A-3, a type the RAF had only ever seen flying over France and were finding it superior to the Mk V Spitfire in use at the time. Fighter Command dispatched pilots to photograph and return the aircraft to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, where they were able to compare with it against the Hawker Typhoon which had been under development for some time and, importantly, against the Spitfire Mk IX.

The Mk IX aircraft had been hurriedly developed by Rolls Royce from the Mk V in response to the F-W 190 appearing in France and was rushed into service four months before the the Mk VIII (which actually outperformed the Mk IX ) which required extensive airframe development. So good was the Mk IX that it remained in service until the end of the war. 

Today part of RAF Pembrey has been converted to a so-called “International Airport,” but remarkably it can only be used at weekends except with permission from the RAF who use parts of the old air station to control aircraft using the Pembrey Sands Air Weapons Range in the estuary. Another part of the airfield has been converted in a motor racing circuit. The airfield is also the site of one of only five Dome Training Facilities (for training gunners) left in the UK.

Related Tags

Aircraft War History World War Ii Military

Community Contributors

Added By

Dr Alan P Newman

Edited By

toptaff

  • toptaff

Published

November 4, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Pembrey
  • http://www.pembreyairport.com/pages/History.html
  • http://www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk/Industry/RAF.htm
  • http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/316/316Squadron.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Pembrey
  • http://www.pembreyairport.com/pages/History.html
Former RAF Pembrey Airfield
Unnamed Road
Pembrey, Wales
United Kingdom
51.713038, -4.311179
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Great Welsh Amelia Earhart Controversy

Carmarthenshire, Wales

miles away

Whiteford Lighthouse

Wales

miles away

Maen Ceti (Arthur's Stone)

Reynoldston, Wales

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Wales

Wales

United Kingdom

Places 136
Stories 21

Nearby Places

The Great Welsh Amelia Earhart Controversy

Carmarthenshire, Wales

miles away

Whiteford Lighthouse

Wales

miles away

Maen Ceti (Arthur's Stone)

Reynoldston, Wales

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Wales

Wales

United Kingdom

Places 136
Stories 21

Related Places

  • Schorfheide, Germany

    Finowfurt Aviation Museum

    This former Soviet military base has over 10 original aircraft and an enormous amount of memorabilia on display.

  • Glasgow, Scotland

    Spitfire LA198

    An icon of the Battle of Britain is frozen in flight in a grand Victorian museum.

  • Glenn Miller Memorial

    Northamptonshire, England

    Glenn Miller Memorial at King's Cliffe

    This World War II airfield is the last place the bandleader performed before he disappeared.

  • The debris of the 1943 crash.

    Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Québec

    Liberator III Crash Site

    The remains of the worst military aviation accident in Canada's history.

  • The WWII planes lie within the jungle around the abandoned runway.

    Talasea, Papua New Guinea

    Talasea Airstrip

    Two World War II aircraft lie within the jungle around this abandoned runway.

  • The H-4 Hercules, aka “Spruce Goose.”

    McMinnville, Oregon

    The Spruce Goose

    The wooden airship was the largest flying boat ever built.

  • Vintage aircraft from the Erickson Collection

    Madras, Oregon

    Erickson Aircraft Collection

    An old World War II hangar holds 20 vintage aircraft and the rare opportunity to take a ride in a 1940s warbird.

  • Luftbrückendenkmal and C-47 Rosinenbomber, Rhein-Main Airbase in Frankfurt.

    Frankfurt, Germany

    Luftbrückendenkmal: Monument to the Berlin Airlift

    The sweet story of how American cargo planes became known as "Candy Bombers" during the Berlin Blockade.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.