RAF Wymeswold 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-east of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

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 ...

. The airfield is situated between

Hoton Hoton is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England, on the A60 north-east of Loughborough, just south of the border with Nottinghamshire. Nearby places are Prestwold (to the south), Wymeswold (to the ea ...

, Wymeswold and

Burton on the Wolds Burton on the Wolds is a village in Leicestershire, England situated on the B676 road west of the A46 and about the same distance to the east of Loughborough, close to the county border with Nottinghamshire. In the 2011 census, the populatio ...

, lying in the current district of Charnwood.

History

It was opened on 16 May 1942 during 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 opposin ...

and was home to

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

bombers amongst others. Its Wellingtons were occasionally used for operations over Germany, dropping 'Nickel' (leaflets) but the main role was training: bomber pilots until 1944, then, with RAF Transport Command,

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

pilots. It also operated Hampdens in the training role to tow Horsa gliders prior to the D-Day landings and various other aircraft including Hurricanes in air gunnery training. Visits from other aircraft took place with a large contingent of USAAF C47s on at least one occasion in 1944 prior to the D-Day landings.

RAF Castle Donington 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 ...

was used as a satellite airfield which post-war has turned into

East Midlands Airport East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...

Post-war

From 1949 it was part of Fighter Command, with 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron, RAuxAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) moving from RAF Hucknall. The RAuxAF volunteer pilots flew every weekend, sometimes in the week and the squadron included several full-time regular RAF pilots. The ground staff were a similar mix with the volunteer majority being drawn from the local area. The first of 504's Spitfire Mk.22s arrived on April 2 and the full squadron, with two Harvard trainers was in residence by the end of May. 504 Sqn had the honour of being the first RAuxAF squadron to be equipped with the jet-engined

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

and on Oct 17th two Meteor T7 trainers arrived followed on the 19th by the first F.4 single seat fighter. All the Spitfire Mk.22s were replaced by early Spring 1950 although the Harvard trainers were retained for some time. In turn the Meteor F.4s were replaced in January 1952 by the more powerful Meteor F.4 which 504 Sqn flew from Wymeswold until 1957 when the RAuxAF was disbanded. This led to the closure of the airfield for frontline RAF flying but it continued to be used as a satellite to RAF Syerston (near Newark) and No 2 Flying Training School, flying Hunting Provost and (after 1959) Jet Provost initial training aircraft.

Closure

It was closed as an RAF station in early 1957, although it continued to be used for aircraft maintenance by various private organisations until 1968. It did not close as an RAF Base in 1957 as RAF Syerston still used it as a satellite airfield in 1963.

Units

During the Second World War the airfield was home to Operational Training Units, however post war the airfield was used by squadrons flying new jets like the

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

. * No. 28 Operational Training Unit (OTU) (part of 93 Group, Bomber Command) from May 1942 until October 1944 using the

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

and the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

. *

No. 108 OTU Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles. OTUs ;No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 OTU): The Unit was formed in 1 ...

(44 Group,

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. ...

) from 15 October 1944 until August 1945 before being turned into No. 1382 Operational Conversion Unit RAF ( 4 Group) operating until December 1947 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 ...

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics ...

and the Dakota. * 504 Sqn ( 12 Group,

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

) from 3 May 1949 until 12 February 1957 flying the Gloster Meteor Mk.8 * 664 Sqn (1969 Flight) from July 1954 until 10 March 1956. * 56 Sqn from August 1955 until 1957 with the Hawker Hunter. * 257 Sqn and 263 Sqn (temporary base from

RAF Wattisham Royal Air Force Station Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham is a former Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front ...

) using the Hawker Hunter.

Current use

The airfield is now disused although many of the original buildings remain and there is currently an industrial estate on the site; the runway still exists and is used for

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

. The airfield is home to the UK's largest solar farm. The airfield and associated buildings lie outside the civil parish of Wymeswold, with the north half being in Hoton, and the southern half in

Prestwold Prestwold is a hamlet and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. The parish has a population of around 60. The population at the 2011 census remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish In En ...

. On the eastern fringe of the airfield is the Wymeswold Industrial Estate, where there is a go-karting facility. The Hoton-Wymeswold road runs alongside the airfield. The airfield has also been host for regattas of

land sailing Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, is the act of moving across land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with (water) sailing. Historically, land saili ...

. In the early 1990s, there were plans for a 6,000 population new town to be built on the airfield.

Accidents and incidents

* On 14 April 1944 at around 16.30,

LB415 from 1521 Flight from the airfield collided with

W4103 RC-E, from the 5 Lancaster Finishing School at

RAF Syerston Royal Air Force Station Syerston, commonly known as merely RAF Syerston , is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during t ...

, over the

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

village of

Screveton Screveton (pronounced locally "Screveeton" or "Screeton") is an English parish and village in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, with about 100 inhabitants, increasing (including Kneeton) to 191 at the 2011 Census. It was formerly in Bi ...

. * On Saturday 7 July 1951, a Meteor from 504 squadron at Wymeswold, piloted by Pilot Officer H Elliot (RAuxAF), ran out of fuel.Meteor Eject, Nick Carter, , p.232 The pilot was killed.

References

External links

A Brief History of the RAF Station at Wymeswold, 1942–78 (Wolds Historical Organisation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wymeswold Royal Air Force stations in Leicestershire Sport in Leicestershire Military installations established in 1942 Military installations closed in 1963 1942 establishments in England Motorsport venues in England Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom