RAF West Malling over the Channel. The three surviving aircraft were rescued only when the fight was joined by Hurricanes from No. 111 Squadron. The remainder of the unit returned north to RAF Prestwick on 25 July due to the ineffectiveness of the Defiant against single-seat fighters. No. 29 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters arrived for its first tour of duty on 27 April 1941. One of the Squadron's pilots, Guy Gibson VC, later officer commanding 617 Squadron on the Dambusters Raid, said of the station "Of all the airfields in Great Britain ... we have the most pleasant". A regular and long-standing inhabitant,
RAF Yatesbury Yatesbury village. There were two airfields, East Camp and West Camp, each with buildings and hangars; two target areas were marked out. Training continued until 1919, then squadrons were sent to Yatesbury to be disbanded. The station closed in 1920 and returned to farmland. Part of the west site was operated from 1936 by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a civilian flying school (No. 10 Elementary Reserve & Flying Training School) where trainees were prepared for service in the RAF or the Reserve, using Tiger Moth aircraft. Guy Gibson, leader of the famous "Dambusters" raid (Operation Chastise) of 1943, took