Royal Air Force Little Snoring or more simply RAF Little Snoring 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 north of the
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 ...
village of
Little Snoring. The airfield remains open for
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
use as Little Snoring Airfield.
[Moyes 1976, p. 162.]
History
The station opened in July 1943
and was built to be a satellite station and dispersal for
RAF Foulsham
Royal Air Force Foulsham, more commonly known as RAF Foulsham is a former Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located 15 miles North-West of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1942 to 1945.
History
RAF Fouls ...
which is south-east of
Little Snoring. Just a month after the station became operational, the stations status changed when
No 3 Bomber Group gave the station full status.
After this the airfield was retained on a care and maintenance until an
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
co-operation unit on civilian contract operated from Little Snoring for several years during the 1950s.
Spitfires
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 Griff ...
were the main type used, but were replaced by
Vampires
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...
before the unit was disbanded in 1958.
;Additional units
* No. 2 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit
* No. 15 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section
*
No. 274 Maintenance Unit RAF
Current use
The site is currently used as Little Snoring Airfield, operated by the McAully Flying Group, formerly the Fakenham Flying Group. Airfield facilities include a private hangar and a clubhouse with pre-flight briefing facilities, kitchen and toilets. The eastern and southern parts of all three runways have been removed but the remainder are retained for flying.
The airfield is also used for aircraft manufacturing,
The Light Aircraft Company has an aircraft maintenance facility which produces the Sherwood Ranger
microlight
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...
.
[http://www.the-snorings.co.uk/places/airfield/airfield.html The Snorings website]
The former mortuary is now a toilet and shower block at the villages' camp site. The site also features an air raid shelter and concrete pads for vehicles and temporary buildings.
File:RAF_Little_Snoring_mortuary_2014.jpg,
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Collins, Dick and Jim Halladay. ''Despite the Elements: The History of Number 115 Squadron, 1917-1982''. Brize Norton, UK: Nettlebed Press, 1983.
* Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 2nd edition 1976. .
*
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Royal Air Force stations in Norfolk
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
Airports in England