Monument record MBC47809 - Radar Beacon for RAF Halton, Buckland

A probable radio beacon of World War II date is visible on historic aerial photographs as structures and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in the parish of Buckland, approximately 300m west of St Mary’s Church, Drayton Beauchamp, and centred at SP 89943 11869. This beacon is visible as a tall structure, with a long shadow, on aerial photographs from 1944. It appears to be in an enclosure of paler ground and a further structure in a similar enclosure is visible to the north. These structures are approximately 3.2km from the end of one of the runways at RAF Halton (MBC23767); it is also on a very similar alignment to the modern day grass runway. The runway at RAF Halton in 1945 was not clear enough to be mapped. A trackway is also visible on aerial photographs, leading across the fields towards the structures. A photograph dating from August 1945 shows no sign of the structures making it probable that they were temporary and had been dismantled at the end of the war in June 1945. It is likely that this beacon worked with another to the north west (MBC47810) to make landing at RAF Halton easier in poor light. (1-2)