Royal Air Force Poulton or more simply RAF Poulton (X4PL) 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 ...

satellite station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

located near

Poulton, Cheshire Poulton is a settlement in Cheshire West and Chester. The area, which was a former civil parish until being merged into the combined parish of Poulton and Pulford in 2015, is in the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 census it ...

and was operational from 1 March 1943 until 1945. It was used as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) and Tactical Exercise Unit (TEU) for

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

History

It was part of 12 Group and was used as a satellite of

RAF Hawarden 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 ...

. It had 8

Blister A blister is a small pocket of body fluid (lymph, serum, plasma, blood, or pus) within the upper layers of the skin, usually caused by forceful rubbing (friction), burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled wi ...

and 1

Bessonneau hangar The Bessonneau hangar was a portable timber and canvas aircraft hangar used by the French ''Aéronautique Militaire'' and subsequently adopted by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War. M ...

Based units and aircraft

* No. 3 Tactical Exercise Unit RAF (TEU), using the

. Arrived Nov 43. Possibly moved to Aston Down on 18 Dec 44 and re-designated as No 55 OTU. *

No. 12 (Pilots) Advanced Flying 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 ...

((P) AFU), using the

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

. * No. 1515 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF, almost certainly using the

. *

No. 41 Operational Training Unit RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

(OTU) (Day Fighter Wing), possibly using the

. Moved to Poulton from Hawarden 1 Feb 45, and was re-designated as... * No. 58 OTU on 15 Mar 45, using the

Supermarine Spitfire 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 Grif ...

. Disbanded 20 Jul 45. * Detachment from No. 595 Squadron RAF

Current use

Part of the site remains in use as a private airfield.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

RAF Poulton (at Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulton Royal Air Force stations in Cheshire