RAF Mepal is a former

RAF 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

Mepal Mepal is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Mepal is part of the East Cambridgeshire district, and is located just north of the A142 road between Ely and Chatteris. History First recorded at the start of the 13th century Mepal's history ha ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

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 ...

and west of Ely. Construction commenced in July 1942 and opened in June 1943.

History

Mepal first hosted No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF flying Short Stirlings and later Avro Lancasters.

Tiger Force

It was used towards the end 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 ...

to prepare Avro Lancaster bombers squadrons such as No. 44 (Rhodesia) squadron for use in

Tiger Force Tiger Force was the name of a long-range reconnaissance patrol unit of the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade (Separate), 101st Airborne Division, which fought in the Vietnam War from November 1965 to November 1967. The unit ...

which was to bomb Japan.

Thor missiles

From 1957

PGM-17 Thor The PGM-17A Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range ballistic ...

missiles were based at the airfield in the north east corner.

Current use

Very little remains of the original site, most of it razed to the ground after the USAF and their Thor missiles left. The site is now the Elean business park and is home to the world's only straw burning power station and a few manufacturing and warehousing operations. A small memorial plaque is in place at the entrance to the site.

References

External links