WW2 Souvenir Letter Opener from R.A.F. STATION YATESBURY 1946

Here on offer is a genuine WW2 souvenir letter opener from RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire, England.

This very well-made wooden dagger shaped letter opener, depicts a paper image of the RAF crest at the top and an inscription on the blade, that reads:

R.A.F. STATION YATESBURY 1946

It is in excellent condition with no damage to the blade edges, just some slight loss of the paper crest at the top, on both sides.

It measures 10.5” (26.7cm) long and weighs 36g.

Some history relating to RAF YATESBURY:

RAF Yatesbury is a former Royal Air Force airfield near the village of Yatesbury, Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east of the town of Calne.

It was an important training establishment in the WW1 and WW2 and until its closure in 1965. For a time in the 1950s, part of the site became RAF Cherhill.

From 1936 the Bristol Aeroplane Company operated part of the west site as a civilian flying school where trainees were prepared for service in the RAF or the Reserve, using de Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft.

Gut Gibson, leader of the famous "Dambusters" raid (Operation Chastie) of 1943, took his ab initio training here from November 1936 to January 1937.

In 1939 the Air Ministry took over the whole site and pilot training was transferred elsewhere so that the station could be used (together with nearby Raf Compton Bassett) to train many airborne wireless operators.

In 1940 it was placed under No. 60 Group RAF. From 1942, radar operators were trained there.

East Camp housed the No. 2 Electrical and Wireless School RAF, later renamed No. 2 Radio School RAF, where among the instructors was Arthur Clarke, later a science fiction author and inventor. Radar training was at No. 9 Radio School RAF.

An estimated 70 died flying from Yatesbury, including aircrew from Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. 21 are buried in the All-Saints’ parish churchyard in Yatesbury.

After the war, flying training resumed from 1945 to 1947.

Please see my pictures for the details of the condition, which complement this description.

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Many thanks for taking the time to look.

Code: 51230