RAF Sopley | |
|---|---|
| Located near Sopley in Hampshire | |
  RAF Sopley | |
| Coordinates | 50°46′44″N 1°46′16″W / 50.779°N 1.771°W |
| Type | Radar Centre |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1943-1974 |
RAF Sopley was a World War II station, codenamed Starlight, near the village of Sopley in Hampshire. The Radar Station was opened in December 1940. In 1959 it became an air traffic control radar station, and finally closed on 27 September 1974. Nearby Sopley Camp was built in the early 1950s as a domestic site for the radar station and is probably best known as the initial home of the Vietnamese boat people, in 1979. The camp was sold in 1993 to a local partnership under the name Merryfield Park. Most of the old barracks site had been redeveloped as housing, but the 2-storey building at the Sopley end has been converted into a museum/education centre by Friends Of New Forest Airfields (FONFA). The museum opened in May 2016.