Royal Air Force Leicester East, more commonly known as RAF Leicester East , 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, near the village of
Stoughton, east southeast of
Leicester,
, England.
It was constructed in 1942 and formally opened in October 1943. The airfield is now
Leicester Airport
Leicester Airport is an aerodrome located to the east of Stoughton, Leicestershire, England, about east of Leicester City Centre by road. The Leicestershire Aero Club Limited, the airport operator, provide elementary flight training, experie ...
.
History
The following units were posted to the airfield at some point:
*
No. 190 Squadron RAF (1944), flying
Short Stirling IV
*
No. 196 Squadron RAF
No. 196 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron originally formed as a training unit during World War I. It was active during World War II in Nos. 3, 4 and 38 Group RAF. It served first as a bomber squadron and later as an airborne support an ...
(1943–44), flying Short Stirling III & IV
*
No. 620 Squadron RAF (1943–44), flying Short Stirling III
* No. 93 Group Screened Pilots School
*
No. 107 (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 ...
*
No. 216 Maintenance Unit RAF (MU)
*
No. 255 MU
*
No. 1333 (Transport Support) Conversion Unit RAF
On 10 August 1944, at the formation of the First Allied Airborne Army,
General Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
visited RAF Leicester East to review 12,000 troops of the
82nd Airborne Division who were camped nearby and at other locations around Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. He was accompanied by Brigadier General
James M. Gavin, who had recently taken Command of the Division, Major General
Matthew Ridgeway, who had recently taken Command of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps and Lieutenant General
Lewis H. Brereton who would take Command of the First Allied Airborne Army, having previously Commanded the US 9th Army Air Force. Also present were small contingents of the five Groups that made up the US 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, the Wing mostly responsible for delivering the 82nd Airborne Division to combat in WWII.
On 19 February 1945, a Dakota of
No. 107 OTU returning to Leicester East with personnel who had attended training at
RAF Zeals
Royal Air Force Zeals or more simply RAF Zeals is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, sited to the north of the village of Zeals, next to the village of Stourton and the Stourhead estate.
History
The station was in operation fro ...
, Wiltshire, crashed soon after taking off with the loss of 21 RAF, RAAF and RCAF lives.
In March 1945 all operational military aircraft left Leicester East, and the airfield was placed on Care and Maintenance until its closure on 31 December 1947.
Current use
Today, the former RAF Leicester East is now known as
Leicester Airport
Leicester Airport is an aerodrome located to the east of Stoughton, Leicestershire, England, about east of Leicester City Centre by road. The Leicestershire Aero Club Limited, the airport operator, provide elementary flight training, experie ...
, and was previously known as Stoughton Aerodrome.
The
airfield
An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...
,
control tower
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
, and other smaller buildings are now used by the Leicestershire Aero Club.
See also
*
List of former Royal Air Force stations
This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force.
The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
{{authority control
Military units and formations established in 1943
Leicester East
Leicester East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was ele ...
Military units and formations disestablished in 1947
Leicester E