Royal Air Force Brawdy, or more simply RAF Brawdy, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

[2] The Pembrokeshire base was officially opened on 2 February 1944, as a satellite station for the nearby RAF St Davids, under No.

Airwork was contracted by the Fleet Air Arm to exercise the Aircraft Direction School at nearby HMS Harrier.

[12] RNAS Brawdy was commissioned as HMS Goldcrest on 4 September 1952,[2] with a ceremony outside the headquarters which featured over 300 officers and ratings.

[9] These included new lighting and radio for airfield Homing and Approach, new Ground Radar,[2] extra workshops and buildings, refurbished Control Tower, resurfacing of the runways and additional hardstanding.

[14] 767 Fighter Pilot Pool Squadron arrived from RNAS Ford in August 1956,[15] to provide an armament work-up course,[16] however, departing the following month.

[15] The Air Direction Training Unit (ADTU) returned from RAF St Davids in October 1958, but in January 1961 it left for RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron)[12] The main runway was extended in 1960, and three interconnecting hangars were added, along with a new technical block.

[20] In 1967 RNAS Brawdy was used by 736 NAS and 800 NAS, operating Blackburn Buccaneer, as a base to attack and bomb the oil tanker SS Torrey Canyon from,[21] which had struck Pollard's Rock on West end of the Seven Stones between the Cornish mainland and the Isles of Scilly on 18 March, in an attempt to release and burn off its residual cargo of oil.

[22] Morton Air Services started to operate weekly Croydon Airport to Brawdy flights in April 1958.

The Meteor aircraft were used for target towing, while the Hunter FGA.9 and FR.10 were used to train in Air-to-ground weaponry, including bombs, machine guns, autocannons, air-to-surface missiles and rockets, as well as tactical low level flying.

Pilots would graduate from the Flying School at RAF Valley to the Tactical Weapons Unit at Brawdy and upon graduating from the TWU classes, the pilots would be posted to an operational conversion unit (OCU) for either Blackburn Buccaneer, Hawker Siddeley Harrier, McDonnell Douglas Phantom or Panavia Tornado aircraft.

The squadron also operated Handley Page Hampden, Lockheed Hudson, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Short Stirling Met 4s for meteorological training.

22 Squadron RAF arrived in February 1974, as the Royal Air Force returned to Brawdy, to undertake search and rescue operations.

[46] The Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standards Unit (JFACTSU) operated out of RAF Brawdy, made up of No.

It trained aircrew on a wide range of photo-reconnaissance aircraft, including the Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito.

Composed of three Miles Martinet and two Supermarine Spitfire Mk XII aircraft, the unit undertook target towing for the anti-aircraft school at RAF Manorbier.

In 1958 the squadron operated from HMS Ark Royal when not at RNAS Brawdy, solely using FGA.6, but finally disbanded at the air station on the 3 March 1959.

[62] In 1965, 759 NAS received the Boyd Trophy, which is awarded annually to the naval pilot(s) or aircrew who, in the opinion of the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command, has achieved the finest feat of aviation during the previous year, for its outstanding work in converting Jet Provost-trained pilots to the Hunter aircraft.

[17] 738 Naval Air Squadron reloacted, on 6 January 1964, to RNAS Brawdy, from RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar),[18] where it operated as Part 2 of the Fleet Air Arm's Advance Flying Training course, giving tuition on fighter tactics and weapons release to pupils from 759 NAS, also based at Brawdy.

[66] The Flights relevant to operations at RNAS Brawdy: Each Flight operated four Fairey Gannet AEW.3 aircraft, to provide airborne early warning, essentially extending the carrier's radar range, but could also be used for Strike Direction, Anti-Submarine Warfare and Surface Search and Shadowing,[67] plus a Fairey Gannet COD.4 aircraft, for ship-to-shore communications.

[68] 849C Flight was disbanded in October 1966, following the reduction of the carrier fleet to four ships, however, it was awarded the Boyd Trophy that year for Outstanding Performance in HMS Ark Royal during Mozambique patrol.

[70] The Fleet Air Arm operated a Search and Rescue Flight while there was a Royal Navy presence at Brawdy.

It disbanded on the 10 September 1946,[75] becoming 'B' flight of the existing Fighter Direction Training Unit at RNAS Dale, 790 Naval Air Squadron.

The rest of the squadron arrived at RNAS Brawdy on the 20 March, also equipped with Westland Wyvern S.4 aircraft[79] and worked-up before deploying to HMS Eagle on the 5 August 1957.

Both flights operated out of RNAS Brawdy between the 16 to 19 November 1964,[82] and Percival Sea Prince aircraft were also used to support training and familiarisation activities.

The squadron next operated from the air station four months later between the 11 and 19 September, this time equipped with de Havilland Sea Venom aircraft.

Airwork was contracted by the Fleet Air Arm to exercise the Aircraft Direction School at RNADC Kete (HMS Harrier).

The unit moved to RAF St Davids in September 1951, where it also provided a jet conversion course, using Gloster Meteor T.7 aircraft.

ADTU returned from RAF St Davids in October 1958, but in January 1961, it left for RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron).

The squadron operated as a trials unit and at the time, flew Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 and de Havilland Vampire FB.5.