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In July 1942, a party of twelve RAF servicemen from No. 73 Operational Training Unit (Aden), arrived to form a permanent detachment. Initially commanded by a sergeant, they had only one [[Lee–Enfield|Lee Enfield rifle]] between them in case of enemy action. Their rations in the early days were meagre, and supplemented by supplies brought across the sea by [[dhow]]s. They had no vegetables, but did live partially on turtle eggs.{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=102}}
Access to the island was not possible for six months of the year other than by air due to the monsoon season, so efforts were made to supply the site by ship six months per year. Unfortunately, there was no harbour, so ships would moor offshore and unload from there, making them susceptible to enemy action. To speed up the offloading process, and also because the engineering team lacked the right materials to make a road, a section of [[Decauville]] track was laid from the shore onloading point to the RAF base.{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=119}} This was eventually replaced by a narrow-gauge railway, or nicknamed the ''Ras Hilf State railway''. Work on the base was undertaken by No. 5153 (M&E) Squadron, who were allocated to Aden.{{sfn|TRAFBFW|1997|p=683}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Browne |first1=John |title=Airfield construction by the Royal Air Force 1939 to 1966 |journal=Journal of the Royal Air Force Historical Society |date=2011 |issue=51 |page=12 |publisher=RAFHS |location=London |issn=1361-4231}}</ref> They arrived on Masirah in 1942 to build an aerodrome, for which they initially used discarded petrol and oil tins filled with sand for the building walls. This led to the island being nicknamed the ''Tin-Can Island'' or ''Petrol Tin Island''.{{sfn|TRAFBFW|1997|p=387}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Bill |editor1-last=Panton Bacon |editor1-first=Victoria |title=Remarkable Journeys of the Second W: A Collection of Untold Stories |date=2020 |publisher=The History Press |location=Cheltenham |isbn=978-0750994866 |pages=
Initially, it was known as ''No. 33 Staging Post'', but it was given full base status in 1943.{{sfn|Fairbairn|1991|pp=127–128}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Oman and the Second World War |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/an-enduring-relationship-a-history/oman-and-the-second-world-war/ |website=rafmuseum.org.uk |access-date=14 May 2023}}</ref> [[No. 244 Squadron RAF|No. 244 Squadron]] was moved from [[RAF Sharjah]] to Masirah to continue with anti-submarine patrols (ASW - [[anti-submarine warfare]]) and to allow Sharjah to be redeveloped as a staging post.{{sfn|TRAFBFW|1997|p=386}} When the detachment at Masirah became an official posting for the squadron, the commanding officer of 244 Sqn became the de facto commanding officer of the base and the first operations room (actually a tent) was installed for the base.{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=108}} A second runway was built in 1943, measuring {{convert|1,720|yard}} long, it was designated as 25/07 and was roughly east/west in its orientation.{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=109}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masirah, RAF}}
[[Category:Royal Air Force stations in the Middle East|Masirah]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the Middle East|Masirah]]
[[Category:Airports in Oman]]
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