Decoy Airfield or Q Site

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Around 1940, before RAF Blakehill was built, a dummy aerodrome was built on the outskirts of the nearby village of Ashon Keynes.

 

This was originally built as a decoy for RAF South Cerney near Cirencester,during 1940 and was manned by personnel from RAF South Cerney. but it is understood that this decoy or "Q" site was in use throughout the war, acting as a decoy for Blakehill and Down Ampney, in addition to search light batteries being erected in Minety Park

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The Q site consisted of a dummy site with x2 runways - lighting could be controlled from a bunker nearby.   The decoy was bombed during 1941 and Ashton Keynes itself was hit earlier in 1940, when on the 16th September a local retired groom, Sam Telling, was killed when his cottage in Rixon Gate was demolished.   He is buried in Ashton Keynes churchyard. (source Cirencester at War - Peter Grace)

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I am very grateful to the family of the late Richard G Meakin by being granted permission to use copyright material from his excellent publication 'MINETY AT WAR' in connection with my work at RAF Blakehill Farm.   Here I have overlaid Mr Meakin's sketch map of the temporary Q site over moden Google images and also included his record of the bomb sites.

 

I have redrawn Mr Meakin's image of his surveys carried out on the control bunker in 1998 - I must stress that the bunker is now sealed and all these features are on PRIVATE LAND​