Royal Air Force Lindley or more simply RAF Lindley is a former
Royal Air Force station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
situated in Leicestershire south east of
Polesworth,
Warwickshire,
England in close proximity to
Watling Street.
The airfield opened in 1943 before closing in 1946.
History
The first unit to use the airfield was
No. 1513 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF
This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the Royal Air Force.
The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being ...
(BAT Flt) flying the
Airspeed Oxford based at
RAF Bramcote,
RAF Bitteswell and Lindley between 31 October 1942 and 13 May 1946.
From 7 February 1943 until 27 March 1943
No. 18 (Polish) Operational Training Unit RAF used the airfield as a satellite from
RAF Bramcote flying
Avro Ansons,
Fairey Battles and
Vickers Wellingtons
but the airfield was transferred to
RAF Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.
...
on 25 June 1943 and was home to
No. 105 Operational Training Unit flying
Vickers Wellingtons and
Douglas Dakotas until 21 November 1945. However the unit was renamed
No. 1381 (Transport) Conversion Unit RAF before moving to
RAF Desborough on 10 August 1943.
United States Army use
The airfield was used by the Air Echelon of 250th Field Artillery,
United States Army, with the
Piper L-4 Cub
The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...
, 'Grasshopper' between March and June 1944 before 30 November 1945 when the airfield was placed on care and maintenance.
Current use
The
Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) started using the airfield from October 1948
two years after it was founded.
References
External links
BBC History -Memories of a Wartime Erk in the RAF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindley
Royal Air Force stations in Leicestershire
Military units and formations established in 1942