RAF Warwick 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 located south west of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

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 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 ...

. RAF Warwick was opened on a large grass field called Tournament Field in December 1941 and was closed on 4 February 1946.

History

The first unit to use the station was No. 1 Flying Instructors School (FIS) operating

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

Avro Tutor The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer (aircraft), trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design ...

s which taught flying instructors. The main base was

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 Warwick and

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 ...

were satellites where aircraft were dispersed. 1FIS was previously No. 2 Central Flying School RAF but changed to the current name on 13 January 1941. On 27 October 1942 1FIS was disbanded and turned into

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 ...

((P)AFU). No. 18 (P)AFU flew Oxfords 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 mainly from RAF Church Lawford but Warwick and other stations were used as satellites. The unit operated between 27 October 1942 and 29 May 1945.

Accidents and incidents

RAF Warwick had its fair share of accidents with a number listed between 1942 and 1945. These are just a small number of examples:

Current use

The relief landing ground has been changed since the closure of the station with most of the hangars and all of the buildings demolished, this includes the building of Aylesford School and Sixth Form College and the creation of a business park called Tournament Fields.

References

External links

Aviation Archaeology – Flying units within the south-west Midlands
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warwick Airports in England Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom