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RAF Krendi

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Coordinates: 35°50′24″N 014°27′36″E / 35.84000°N 14.46000°E / 35.84000; 14.46000
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RAF Krendi
Malta
Near Qrendi
RAF Krendi is located in Malta
RAF Krendi
RAF Krendi
Shown within Malta
Coordinates35°50′24″N 014°27′36″E / 35.84000°N 14.46000°E / 35.84000; 14.46000
TypeDiversion airfield then storage base
Site information
OwnerNow Government of Malta
ConditionExtensively developed as mixed use developments one runway now a road
Site history
Built1940 (1940)
In use1943-1945 (1945)
Squadron Leader J J Lynch, Commanding Officer of No. 249 Squadron RAF, sits in the cockpit of his Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vc at RAF Krendi, as an airman chalks "Malta's 1,000th" below his victory tally.

Royal Air Force Krendi was a Royal Air Force base located on the island of Malta[1], which started life in 1941 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as nearby RAF Luqa. Other diversion airstrips similar in function to Krendi were located at RAF Safi and on Malta's second island of Gozo.

History

Second World War

RAF Krendi was constructed at a time when Malta was under intense aerial bombardment and Malta's Air Command needed to have alternative diversion airstrips on Malta, as the RAF's main operating bases were being bombed. The station open on 10 November 1942 and received its first squadron of Spitfires a few months later[2][3].

The base was officially inaugurated by AOC Malta Sir Keith Park in 1941; it would remain operational throughout the War in the Mediterranean[4].

In February 1942 RAF Krendi appears to be acting as a decoy site for RAF Luqa[5].

Weblog entries from RAF veterans based at RAF Krendi quote the following RAF fighter squadrons as being based at the airfield[6]:

  • 185 (Fighter) Squadron RAF was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vc (5 June 1943 til 23 September 1943)
  • 229 (Fighter) Squadron RAF was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vc (10 December 1942 til 25 September 1943)
  • 249 (Fighter) Squadron RAF was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vc and later Mk IX (23 November 1942 til 24 September 1943).

No more Spifires or other RAF fighters were based at RAF Krendi after Autumn 1943.

Post war

After the war, Saifi was reduced in terms of operational functionality. In 1953 it would become a vehicle storage area for British Army units.

The base would also remain a weather radiosonde tracking station in the 1960s[7].

The RAF left in 1979 following a British government decision not to renew the lease on RAF Luqa.

Current use

Whilst RAF Krendi's concrete runways has long gone the outline of the airfield is obvious from the air[8][9].

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stations-K RAF Krendi/Qrendi". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Krendi (Qrendi) RAF Heraldry Trust". www.rafht.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Qrendi". www.forgottenairfields.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ^ Allied, Newspapers (8 March 2017). "An evening of nostalgia for RAF base in Luqa". Times of Malta. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  5. ^ "February 1942". www.rafmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  6. ^ "RAF Krendi (Qrendi)". www.rafcommands.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Krendi (Qrendi) RAF Heraldry Trust". www.rafht.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Qrendi". www.forgottenairfields.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Naval & Military - Runway 13/31 at RAF Krendi © - Tal-Ħandaq Nostalgia". www.talhandaqnostalgia.org. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
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