139 Airfield RAF between 17 November 1943 and when the unit became No. They were followed by the North American Mitchell II medium bombers initially of No. The first squadrons based at the aerodrome were 400 from 4 December 1942, 414 from 5 December 1942 and 430 Squadrons RCAF, from 8 January 1943, equipped with Curtiss Tomahawks and North American Mustang Is. As a result the aerodrome was completed in just six months. The Canadians also used pipe-pushing apparatus to place explosives under trees thereby facilitating their rapid removal. The Canadian sappers had access to large-scale earth moving equipment from North America obtained under Lend-Lease arrangements.

Such projects had previously taken up to a year to complete and this site was complicated by the two hundred acres of woodland that first had to be cleared. History Construction and military use Ĭanadian engineers were charged with the construction of the aerodrome. Post-war it was used by Hawker Siddeley and then its successor British Aerospace.įrom 2002 to 2020, it was used as the main site of the BBC show Top Gear. It was commanded by the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1944 and was known as Royal Canadian Air Force Station Dunsfold. It was built by the Canadian Army and civilian contractors as a Class A bomber airfield for Army Co-operation Command.

It extends across land in the villages of Dunsfold and Alfold. Dunsfold Aerodrome (former ICAO code EGTD) is an unlicensed airfield in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh.

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