Sleap Airfield (pronounced "Slape") is located north of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

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 ...

. Sleap Aerodrome has a

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

Ordinary Licence (Number P641) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Shropshire Aero Club Limited).

RAF Sleap

Sleap (pronounced "Slape") is an ex-

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 ...

airfield, which was opened in April 1943, and used by RAF advanced flying training units. Initially it was the base for No. 81 Operational Training Unit RAF (81 OTU) within

No. 93 Group RAF No. 93 Group RAF is a former Royal Air Force Group (military unit), group. The group was formed on 15 June 1942 at Lichfield under RAF Bomber Command as No. 93 (Operational Training) Group. It moved to Eggington Hall, Egginton, Derby on 7 July 194 ...

(93 Gp) of

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

equipped with

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

bomber aircraft. From 1 January 1944 Sleap was assigned to No.38 Group RAF (38 Gp). 81 OTU's

Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

s towed

Airspeed Horsa The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War. It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited, alongside various subcontractors; the type was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century c ...

heavy troop-carrying gliders on training missions; the Horsas making practice formation landings at RAF Sleap to simulate attacks in enemy territory.

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 ...

s replaced the Whitleys from November 1944 and by January 1945 the strength was 51 Wellington T.Xs, used to train

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. ...

air-crew. The RAF finally released Sleap in 1964, but the location is still used as a relief airfield by nearby

RAF Shawbury Royal Air Force Shawbury, otherwise known as RAF Shawbury, is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Shawbury in Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. History The First World War The station at Shawbury was first used for military ...

for

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

aircraft from the DHFS as part of the UKMFTS. The Shropshire Aero Club members' bar (also a cafe open to the public) at Sleap is named Eric Lock Lounge after

Bayston Hill Bayston Hill is a large village and civil parish in central Shropshire, England. It is south of the county town Shrewsbury and located on the main A49 road, the Shrewsbury to Hereford road. Occupied continuously since before the Middle Ages, ...

born

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Eric Lock Eric Stanley Lock, (19 April 1919 – 3 August 1941) was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. Born in Shrewsbury in 1919, Lock had his first experience of flying as a teenager. In the late 1930 ...

the

World War II 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 ...

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

pilot who was the highest scoring British-born pilot with sixteen and a half victories during the epic battle. There is also the Wartime Aircraft Recovery Group museu
open at weekends

References

External links

Shropshire Aero ClubExploring RAF SleapSleap by helicopter
{{authority control Airports in England Transport in Shropshire Airports in the West Midlands (region)