Royal Air Force Worcester, or more simply RAF Worcester, 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) an ...
relief landing ground (RLG) which was located north east of
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
city centre,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
,
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 ...
and south west of
Droitwich Spa
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
The ...
, Worcestershire.
Posted units
The following units were here at some point:
*
No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (2 EFTS)
became
No. 6 (Supplementary) Flying Instructors School RAF became
No. 6 Flying Instructors School RAF became
No. 6 Flying Instructors School (Elementary) RAF became 2 EFTS
*
No. 24 Group Communication Flight RAF
*
No. 81 Group Communication Flight RAF
*
No. 2790 Squadron RAF Regiment
Accidents and incidents
5 June 1940
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...
L1232 of
No. 5 Operational Training Unit overshot at night and hit a house.
17 October 1941
de Havilland Tiger Moth T5856 of No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) crashed when landing.
15 July 1942
Miles Magister
The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics.
The Magister ...
R1956 of No. 6 Flying Instructors School (FIS) hit a gunpost on take-off.
September 1942
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 ...
en route from Pershore with a film crew crashed blocking the Bilford Road. The co-pilot was the American film actor
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
who was involved with a planned gunnery training film.
16 May 1943
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 ...
R9983 of
No. 15 (Pilots) Advanced Flying 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 ...
crashed on takeoff.
Aviation Archaeology – crashes in the south west midlands during 1943
/ref>
Postwar
Between 1954 and 1968 a 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 ...
was used as a gate guard
A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main ...
at the site.Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...
in Glasgow.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
BBC History – A Memory of Worcester During the War
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worcester
Royal Air Force stations in Worcestershire
Military units and formations established in 1940
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom