Royal Air Force Grimsby or more simply RAF Grimsby 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 ...

station located near

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

, Lincolnshire, England. The site was operational during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as part of

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 ...

initially as a satellite station for 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 ...

bombers of

RAF Binbrook Royal Air Force Binbrook or RAF Binbrook was a Royal Air Force station, now closed, located near Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England. The old domestic site (married quarters) has been renamed to become the village of Brookenby. RAF Binbrook was pri ...

. By early 1943 the station was equipped with

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

bombers of

No. 100 Squadron RAF Number 100 Squadron is a former Royal Air Force squadron. It last operated the British Aerospace Hawk T1, providing 'aggressor' aircraft for air combat training from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, UK. History First World War No. 100 was est ...

. Although the station was officially called RAF Grimsby, servicemen and locals referred to it as Waltham, the name of the nearby village Waltham.

History

Inter war years

Flying began at Waltham in 1933 when a grassed strip operated as Grimsby's municipal airport and a small aero club was formed at the airfield.

Second World War

In June 1938, the airfield's first military residents were

's 5 Group who set up a

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

training outfit ( No. 25 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF). The

Civil Air Guard The Civil Air Guard (C.A.G.) was established by the UK Government in July 1938 to encourage and subsidise pilot training as the prospect of another war loomed. Subsidised tuition for members of participating civilian flying clubs was offered in ex ...

also operated from the aerodrome. The airfield was requisitioned by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in May 1940. The aerodrome was then constructed through the summer of 1940 with concrete runways (the first in north Lincolnshire) to accommodate bombers of

No. 1 Group RAF No. 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in RAF Air Command. Today, the group is referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK, as well as RAF Sup ...

. It became operational in the summer of 1941 and was initially a satellite airfield for nearby

. The Wellington squadrons based at Binbrook used Waltham as their own airfield initially only had grass runways. Throughout the war the station was under 1 Group Bomber Command. Three squadrons served at RAF Grimsby during its operation: 142 Squadron moved to the airfield in November 1941; 100 Squadron arrived in December 1942; and 550 Squadron (formed from 100 Squadron's C-Flight). The first operational sortie from Waltham for 100 Squadron was on the 4/5 March 1943. The squadron's

bombers were sent on mine-laying sorties along the coasts of occupied Europe. Two Lancasters were lost. The station was closed some weeks prior to the surrender of Germany and the hangars were used by

No. 35 Maintenance Unit RAF The following is a list of Royal Air Force Maintenance Units (MU). The majority of MUs were previously Equipment Depots (ED), Storage Depots (SD) and Aircraft Storage Units (ASU)s. No. 1 MU – No. 100 MU No. 101 MU – No. 200 MU No ...

for storage and the flying field reverted to back to agricultural use.

Post-Second World War

Years later the A16 was being improved and a bypass for the village of

Holton-le-Clay Holton-le-Clay is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, around south of Grimsby. The village is twinned with Sargé-lès-le-Mans, Sarthe, France. History Ditched enclosures and bou ...

cut into a large proportion of the station.

Memorials

Currently a memorial to 100 Squadron stands near the B1

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

, next to the northern entrance to

. There is a memorial for 550 Squadron at the now disused station

RAF North Killingholme Royal Air Force North Killingholme or more simply RAF North Killingholme is a former Royal Air Force station located immediately west of the village of North Killingholme in North Lincolnshire, England. The airfield was extensively used during ...

and 142 Squadron is said to have a memorial in North Africa.

Buildings

Many of the airfield buildings still survive and are currently in use by a haulage firm and mechanics. Much of the original runway arrangement remains and is tarmaced. They have been painted with road markings in areas, for use with learner drivers, and provide a circuit regularly frequented by dog walkers. Out of the thirty plus dispersals built only one remains to this day. It is still possible to see the outlines of some from the air. Notable surviving buildings include the control tower, crew locker and dryer rooms, the pre-war B1 and T2 hangars; however much of the station is in a state of disrepair and is also victim to

fly-tipping Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping ( UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorized method such as curbside collection or using an authorized rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto l ...

. Old unused farm equipment also litters the station, it is overgrown with weeds and strewn with rubble. A golf course, golf driving range and a

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

ing track have been built on the station and a coal merchants stands on what was once the

fuel dump Fuel dumping (or a fuel jettison) is a procedure used by aircraft in certain emergency situations before a return to the airport shortly after takeoff, or before landing short of the intended destination (emergency landing) to reduce the aircra ...

. The

bomb dump A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanic ...

has totally disappeared and various buildings in the village of

Waltham, Lincolnshire Waltham is a large village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is south of Grimsby close to the suburb of Scartho and to the smaller villages of Brigsley, Barnoldby-le-Beck, and Holton le Clay. Less than to the east-no ...

such as accommodation huts no longer exist. The only remaining building in the village is the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF) canteen and kitchen which currently house the Museum of Rural Life and RAF Grimsby Exhibition at the

Waltham Windmill Waltham Windmill is a six-sailed windmill located in the village of Waltham, five miles from Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is renowned in the area for having all six sails still in full working capacity, being one of the very f ...

. This building has been extended.

RAF Grimsby photographs

File:Waltham Entrance Sign.jpg, Notice located at the entrance to RAF Grimsby. File:RAF Grimsby Taxiway northend.jpg, Perimeter track at north end of main runway. File:Waltham Memorial.jpg, The RAF Grimsby memorial to 100 Squadron. File:RAF Waltham HQ 1943.jpg, alt=, RAF Grimsby (Waltham) HQ personnel in 1943

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Official RAF history

195 (GRIMSBY) Squadron ATC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsby Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire Military history of Grimsby Military units and formations established in 1938 Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom