RAF Bempton

---

title: "RAF Bempton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["royal-air-force-stations-in-yorkshire", "military-history-of-yorkshire", "military-history-of-the-east-riding-of-yorkshire", "military-installations-established-in-1940", "military-installations-closed-in-1972"] description: "Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bempton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]

Field	Value
name	RAF Bempton[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
location	Bempton, East Riding of Yorkshire,
country	England
image	RAF Bempton - geograph.org.uk - 499586.jpg
coordinates
pushpin_map	East Riding of Yorkshire#England
pushpin_map_caption	Shown within the East Riding of Yorkshire
pushpin_label_position	left
pushpin_label	RAF Bempton
built
used	1940–1972
ownership	Air Ministry
operator	Royal Air Force
controlledby	RAF Fighter Command
::

|name = RAF Bempton[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|90px]] |native_name = |partof = |location = Bempton, East Riding of Yorkshire, |country = England |image = RAF Bempton - geograph.org.uk - 499586.jpg |caption = |coordinates = |pushpin_map = East Riding of Yorkshire#England |pushpin_map_caption = Shown within the East Riding of Yorkshire |pushpin_label_position =left |pushpin_label = RAF Bempton |map_size = |map_alt = |type = |code = |built = |builder = |materials = |height = |used = 1940–1972 |demolished = |condition = |ownership = Air Ministry |operator = Royal Air Force |open_to_public = |controlledby = RAF Fighter Command |garrison = |current_commander = |commanders = |occupants = |battles = |events = |image2 = |caption2 = Royal Air Force Bempton or more simply RAF Bempton is a former Royal Air Force station situated at Bempton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 6 mi north of Bridlington. During the Second World War it was established as a radar station, becoming part of the Chain Home Low (CHL) network.

Operational history

• 1940 The first CHL radar station was installed in early 1940 a few hundred feet from the lighthouse at Flamborough Head. This was at an elevation of 130 ft; at this height performance proved to be very unsatisfactory. A new higher site was found four miles up the coast on the 350 ft cliffs at Bempton.
• The new site was opened in July 1940 as RAF Bempton. It was a CHL station.
• 1941 became a CHL/Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) radar station.
• It disbanded on 1 August 1945.
• 1945 – Air Ministry Experimental Station Type 31
• 1 June 1949, re-established as a CHL/CHEL radar station.
• 17 February 1950 – transferred to RAF Fighter Command.
• On 1 November 1951 it was renamed as 146 Signals Unit Bempton rebuilt as a Centimetric Early Warning (CEW) radar station, part of the ROTOR Programme.
• The 146 Signals Unit was disbanded on 1 December 1961
• Bempton became a satellite station of RAF Patrington until its final closure in April 1972.

The site was also used for a secret High Speed Passive Array RADAR codenamed 'Winkle'. The distinctive Y-shaped concrete stanchions on the cliff edge are indicative of Winkle.

Current use

The site was sold in 1980/81. The stairs down to the bunker were removed and other entrances were sealed over with concrete.

In 2010, a teenager from Hull went missing after his car was found abandoned by Bempton Cliffs. Police conducted a search for a missing person around the cliff area and inside the former bunker as the teenager had been given a memory stick detailing the pornographic artwork that a cult had painted on the walls of the bunker.

Despite the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service later searching the area again for a body, no trace of Russell Bohling has been found.

References

References

1. "Airfields".
2. "British Air Defence System".
3. {{PastScape
4. (30 August 2012). "RAF Bempton, ‘RMF’ CEW R1 Rotor Radar Station, Yorkshire".
5. (1988). "Forty Years of Marconi Radar from 1946 to 1986". GEC review.
6. (January 2011). "RAPID COASTAL ZONE ASSESSMENT YORKSHIRE AND LINCOLNSHIRE Bempton to Donna Nook English Heritage Project 3729 PHASE 2".
7. (1 March 2011). "Student may have been lured to 'occult' bunker, father fears". Yorkshire Post.
8. (6 March 2015). "Family of missing Russell Bohling 'still clinging to hope' five years on". Hull Daily Mail.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::