RAF Bradwell Bay

Royal Air Force Bradwell Bay or more simply RAF Bradwell Bay is a former Royal Air Force station located 9.5 miles (15.3 km) east of Maldon, Essex, England and 3.1 miles (5 km) south west of West Mersea, Essex.

The central area of the current airfield was first laid down before WW2 as a grass-surfaced landing ground for the nearby Dengie firing ranges off the coast before being rebuilt from 1940 onwards as an enlarged RAF station with concrete runways, hangars and ancillary buildings.

[4] An area of the northern part of the site is occupied by the remains of the Bradwell nuclear power station, the Magnox element of which is currently being decommissioned.

Several of the hangars are still used as storage by the local farmers and the control tower is now a private house.

They are a not for profit organisation run by local history enthusiasts, and are fundraising to build a museum near the current memorial.

Douglas Boston Mk III aircraft of No. 418 Squadron RCAF taxiing at Bradwell Bay, Essex, prior to a night intruder raid over France, September 1942 CH7210
The memorial to aircrews from the airfield who were lost during World War 2. The reason for the Mosquito aeroplane is that many squadrons based at the airfield during WW2 had re-equipped with the type.