RM Chivenor

Royal Marines Base Chivenor is a British military base used primarily by 3 Commando Brigade. It is situated on the northern shore of the River Taw estuary, adjacent to the South West Coast Path, on the north coast of Devon, England. The nearest towns are Barnstaple and Braunton.Originally a civil airfield opened in the 1930s, the site was taken over by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in May 1940 for use as a Coastal Command Station, and was known as RAF Chivenor. After World War II, the station was largely used for training, particularly weapons training. During the 1950s and 1960s, No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit (229 OCU) used Hawker Hunter aircraft for training. In 1974 the station was left on "care and maintenance", though No. 624 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (624 VGS) continued to fly from there. The RAF returned, forming 2 Tactical Weapons Unit (2 TWU), flying BAE Hawks, from 1979. In 1994, 2 TWU left Chivenor, merging with No. 4 Flying Training School RAF (4 FTS) at RAF Valley, and the airfield was handed over to the RM. The Marines have an existing equipment testing base at Arromanches Camp, in Instow, located across the Taw Estuary and approximately two miles from Chivenor.