Royal Air Force Langham or more simply RAF Langham 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) an ...

station, located at Langham, northwest of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. It operated between 1940 and 1961. The airfield was the most northerly of the wartime RAF airfields in Norfolk and its position, just from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

at Blakeney, made it a suitable site for

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

aircraft. The airfield was built during the first few months of 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 opposi ...

as a dispersal and satellite station to

RAF Bircham Newton Royal Air Force Bircham Newton or more simply RAF Bircham Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of Docking, Norfolk and north east of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. History The site was first used during the First Wo ...

. It became operational in the summer of 1940.

History

The airfield was originally laid out with three grass runways. The station became fully self-supporting in 1942, when it was upgraded with three concrete runways (tar-covered), three T2 type and four Blister hangars, an encircling perimeter track and 36 spectacle-shape hardstandings, plus a Type 12779/41 control tower and normal Mk 2 approach lighting for night operations. Primarily used by RAF Coastal Command throughout the war, it was placed on Care and Maintenance in 1947, but reactivated during the Korean War. It was later used as an emergency landing strip for

RAF Sculthorpe 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 ...

, before final closure in 1961.

Based units

The following units were based at Langham:

Notable operations and events

On 2 October 1944 six Bristol Beaufighter of Coastal Command took off from Langham to carry out a night patrol along the

Frisian Islands The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands or the Wadden Sea Islands, form an archipelago at the eastern edge of the North Sea in northwestern Europe, stretching from the northwest of the Netherlands through Germany to the west of Denma ...

off the coast of the Netherlands. Their task was to randomly attack any enemy shipping encountered there. One of the aircraft (NT 909) was piloted by New Zealander

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

Douglas Mann with English navigator Flight Sergeant Donald Kennedy. Close to the island of Borkum the plane attacked a convoy, but in poor visibility struck an unknown obstacle causing Mann to lose control. The convoy's escort opened fire on the stricken plane shooting it down and, after some difficulty, Mann and Kennedy took to their rescue dinghy. After several abortive rescue attempts the airmen were finally rescued by High Speed Launch 2679, stationed at

Gorleston-on-Sea Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Book. ...

, on 10 October after being in the sea for eight days. Both men suffered from acute

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

and immersion foot. They were taken to Great Yarmouth Naval Hospital, eventually making a full recovery. Mann returned to 489 Squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Current use

The station was purchased by

Bernard Matthews Ltd Bernard Matthews Holdings Ltd., trading as Bernard Matthews Foods Ltd, is a British farming and food products business with its headquarters in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, England, which specialises in turkey products. Founded by Bernard Mat ...

, who constructed turkey sheds on the runways. This has preserved large sections of the runways. A small aircraft repair and maintenance facility is based in buildings to the south side of the airfield, and uses the southern perimeter track and adjacent grass area for flying operations. Surviving buildings on the site include the control tower and a dome trainer building used for the instruction of ground-to-air anti-aircraft gunnery. Langham Dome, which sits on the edge of the former base, is one of only six remaining training domes in the United Kingdom and was built in 1942. Film of enemy planes was projected onto its walls for target practice. The structure has been restored and a museum installed following grants from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. On 17 May 2015 a documentary about the dome, entitled ''The Dome: A Secret of World War II'', narrated by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

, was broadcast by

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Bircham Newton Memorial ProjectLangham Dome website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langham Royal Air Force stations in Norfolk Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom