Royal Air Force Bitteswell or more simply RAF Bitteswell is a former
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
satellite station located west of
Lutterworth
Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, ...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
and north of
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Construction of the grass airfield at RAF Bitteswell was started in March 1940 and it opened in June 1941.
[ ] The original grass runways were replaced between February and June 1943 with concrete and asphalt.
During WW2 it was used by the RAF for bomber operations and training. During and after WW2 it was also used for aircraft assembly, maintenance, and jet engine development.
History
Second World War
RAF Bitteswell was home to many different units and aircraft, such as
No. 1513 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (BAT Flt) flying
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
s from
RAF Bramcote
Royal Air Force Bramcote or more simply RAF Bramcote is a former Royal Air Force station located south-east of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England used during the Second World War. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks.
Royal A ...
,
RAF Lindley
Royal Air Force Lindley or more simply RAF Lindley is a former Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first ...
and Bitteswell between 23 October 1942 and 13 May 1946.
A large number of operational training units (OTU) were based at the airfield. OTU were units which taught flying, navigation and basic Morse code. The difference between OTUs and other training units were that the OTUs performed live missions such as bombing (like the 1,000 Bomber raids), air sea rescue and occasionally mine laying.
No.18 Operational Training Unit (OTU) flying the
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...
,
Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...
and the
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...
again flying from the main base of
RAF Bramcote
Royal Air Force Bramcote or more simply RAF Bramcote is a former Royal Air Force station located south-east of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England used during the Second World War. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks.
Royal A ...
with Nuneaton (Lindley) and Bitteswell as satellites. The unit was operational from 14 November 1940 and 25 January 1943 and was
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
s Polish training unit.
*
No. 29 Operational Training Unit RAF (29 OTU), utilising the
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...
, used Bitteswell as a satellite from their main base at
RAF Bruntingthorpe, from 1 June 1943 to 1 November 1944.
*
No. 105 (Transport) Operational Training Unit RAF
The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...
flying the Wellington and the
Douglas Dakota
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
from their main base at Bramcote and using Bitteswell as a satellite, between 5 April 1943 and 19 November 1945.
The unit became
No. 1381 (Transport) Conversion Unit RAF still its main base at Bramcote and using Bitteswell between August and November 1945.
*
No. 2735 Squadron RAF Regiment
Post war units
A number of units used the airfield as a satellite to disperse aircraft and for maintenance such as
Transport Command Air Crew Examining Unit RAF from
RAF Bramcote
Royal Air Force Bramcote or more simply RAF Bramcote is a former Royal Air Force station located south-east of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England used during the Second World War. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks.
Royal A ...
from December 1945 until August 1946,
No. 266 Maintenance Unit RAF between January 1946 and 1947 and
No. 20 Service Flying Training School RAF from
RAF Church Lawford
Royal Air Force Church Lawford or more simply RAF Church Lawford is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Church Lawford, Warwickshire, England, south-west of Rugby, Warwickshire.
The airfield opened in April 1941 and was used by ...
used Bitteswell as a relief landing ground between July 1946 and May 1947.
Aircraft manufacture
In 1943 a factory was built next to the airfield where
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft
Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer.
History
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company e ...
assembled aircraft manufactured at Baginton, Coventry. This continued to assemble, test, and maintain aircraft until 1983. In 1947
Armstrong Siddeley
Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines.
The company was created following t ...
established an Experimental Flight Section at Bitteswell for the flight development of jet engines installed in flying test beds. In 1956 the airfield was purchased outright from the Air Ministry.
Aircraft operated
Accidents and incidents
;Death of Sidney Cook
Sidney Cook was an aeronautical engineer employed by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. On 5 January 1949 he was working on a Meteor which was undergoing ground tests when he was drawn into the port engine. The engine was shut down immediately and he was taken to hospital, but he died the same day.
;Death of Hugh Reeves
Hugh Reeves was a British inventor and engineer. He was involved in a project to reduce noise in jet engines. On 25 October 1955 he was carrying out tests at RAF Bitteswell on a Hawker Hunter Mark V fitted with a Sapphire engine, when he was suddenly drawn into the intake of the silencer and was killed.
Current use
In 1984 the airfield was sold to Doug Arnold to store some of his collection of "Warbirds of Great Britain" classic aircraft, including several Spitfires, a P-51D Mustang, a B-17G Flying Fortress and a Lancaster.
It was also used for two Drag Racing meets in 1985. In 1987 it was sold for development as a Distribution Park.
The airfield is now a large business park called
Magna Park in which many roads have names relating to aircraft e.g. Wellington Parkway, Buccaneer Way, Hunter Boulevard and Vulcan Way.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Leicestershire Churches - Bitteswell Church St Mary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitteswell
Aircraft assembly plants in England
Armstrong Whitworth
Economy of Leicestershire
Harborough District
Hawker Siddeley
Military units and formations established in 1940
Royal Air Force stations in Leicestershire
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom