RAF Southam 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 ...

relief landing ground (RLG) located east of

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's R ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England and south east of

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, Warwickshire, England. The airfield opened in 1940 and was mainly used by 9 Elementary Flying Training School training pilots. The airfield closed 18 December 1944.

Based units

No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School (9 EFTS) using

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

s. The School was mainly based at

RAF Ansty Royal Air Force Ansty or RAF Ansty is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Coventry city centre, Warwickshire, England, north-west of Rugby, Warwickshire. The airfield was opened in 1936 and after training many pupils closed in 19 ...

but Southam was used as a satellite station and operated from 3 September 1939 until 31 March 1944.

No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit was formed on 27 October 1942 at RAF Church Lawford. The unit was previously 2 Central Flying School which was founded on 15 June 1941 which then turned into 1 Flying Instructors School (FIS) on 13 January 1942 ...

(18(P)AFU) flew

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 ...

s and

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

s mostly from

RAF Church Lawford Royal Air Force Church Lawford or more simply RAF Church Lawford is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Church Lawford, Warwickshire, England, south-west of Rugby, Warwickshire. The airfield opened in April 1941 and was used by ...

but also from other sites including

RAF Hockley Heath RAF Hockley Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located south of Solihull, Warwickshire, England, north-east of Redditch, Worcestershire. RAF Hockley Heath was opened in 1941 and was also known as Box Trees. Station history During the ...

and Southam. The unit operated from 27 October 1942 until 29 May 1945.

Accidents and incidents

Current use

There is now a housing estate on the site of the airfield, known as Flying Fields.

References

External links

Wartime Memories Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southam Airports in England Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom

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 ...