RAF Hockley Heath 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 south of

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

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 ...

, north-east of

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

, Worcestershire. RAF Hockley Heath was opened in 1941 and was also known as Box Trees.

Station history

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 ...

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

or a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

was parked at the airfield to boost public morale. The airfield closed in 1948.

Based units

A number of different units used the airfield throughout its lifetime, the first unit was No. 14 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (EFTS) which flew

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

s using

RAF Elmdon Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Boroug ...

as the main airfield and Hockley Heath as a satellite between 10 September 1939 and 1 February 1946 providing initial assessment before pupil pilots were sent abroad in the Commonwealth Air Training Scheme which was operated by

Airwork Services Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF ...

. Next was No. 1 Flying Instructors School RAF (FIS) 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 and

Avro Tutor The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer (aircraft), trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design ...

s using

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 ...

as a main airfield and

RAF Warwick RAF Warwick is a former Royal Air Force relief landing ground located south west of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. RAF Warwick was opened on a large grass field called Tournament Field in December 1941 and was closed on 4 February 1946. Histo ...

and Hockley Heath as satellite airfields. The school operated between 13 January 1942 and 27 October 1942 before being disbanded and turned into

No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit was formed on 27 October 1942 at RAF Church Lawford. The unit was previously 2 Central Flying School which was founded on 15 June 1941 which then turned into 1 Flying Instructors School (FIS) on 13 January 1942 ...

((P)AFU). No. 18 ((P)AFU) flew Oxfords and

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

s using RAF Church Lawford as a main base and RAF Snitterfield, RAF Warwick,

RAF Southam RAF Southam is a former Royal Air Force relief landing ground (RLG) located east of Southam, Warwickshire, England and south east of Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. The airfield opened in 1940 and was mainly used by 9 Elementary ...

and Hockley Heath between 27 October 1942 and 29 May 1945 which was a major unit training multi-engine pilots which were mainly returning from overseas in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. A number of smaller units also used the airfield like No. 5 Glider Training School RAF (GTS) using

General Aircraft Hotspur The General Aircraft GAL.48 Hotspur was a military glider designed and built by the British company General Aircraft Limited, General Aircraft Ltd during World War II. When the British airborne forces, airborne establishment was formed in 1940 ...

s operating between 22 May 1944 and 23 November 1944 and No. 20 Flying Training School RAF (FTS) flying

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

s mainly located at RAF Church Lawford with the airfield being used as a satellite between 3 April 1945 and 23 July 1946. The last unit to join the station was No. 21 Flying Training School RAF (FTS) flying Harvards mainly from RAF Snitterfield but the airfield were used as a satellite to disperse the aircraft to release the pressure and activity of the main base. The school operated between 3 April 1945 and 18 September 1946.

Accidents and incidents

RAF Hockley Heath had its fair share of accidents with a number listed between 1940 and 1945. These are just a small number of examples:

Current use

The airfield is disused and is currently open land used for farming.

References

External links

ABCT RAF Hockley Heath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hockley Heath Airports in England Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom