RAF Warwick

RAF Warwick
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner Air Ministry
Operator Royal Air Force
Location Warwick, Warwickshire
Built 1940 (1940)
In use 1941-1946 (1946)
Elevation AMSL 164 ft / 50 m
Coordinates 52°15′43″N 001°36′27″W / 52.26194°N 1.60750°W / 52.26194; -1.60750Coordinates: 52°15′43″N 001°36′27″W / 52.26194°N 1.60750°W / 52.26194; -1.60750
Map
RAF Warwick

Location in Warwickshire

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
02/20 3,283 1,000 Grass
Operating dates.[1]

RAF Warwick is a former Royal Air Force relief landing ground located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south west of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. RAF Warwick was opened on a large grass field called Tournament field[2] in December 1941 and was closed on 4 February 1946.[1]

History

The first unit to use the station was No. 1 Flying Instructors School (FIS) operating Airspeed Oxfords and Avro Tutors which taught flying instructors. The main base was RAF Church Lawford but Warwick and RAF Hockley Heath 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 ((P)AFU).[3]

No. 18 (P)AFU flew Oxfords and Boulton Paul Defiants 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.[3]

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:

Date Incident Reference
2 January 1942 Avro Tutor K3246 of No. 2 Central Flying School RAF hit a tree during a forced landing. [4]
12 July 1942 Airspeed Oxford N4768 of No. 1 Central Flying School RAF crashed on overshoot. [4]
29 December 1943 Bristol Beaufighter T3366 of No. 63 Operational Training Unit RAF swung on take off. [5]
20 January 1944 Airspeed Oxford NM234 of No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit stalled after take off. [6]
5 April 1945 Airspeed Oxford AT728 of No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit suffered a collapsed undercarriage when landing. [7]

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,[2] this includes the building of Aylesford School and Sixth Form College[1] and the creation of a business park called Tournament Fields.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Warwick". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 "RAF Warwick RLG, Warwickshire". Atlantik Wall. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Military flying units in the south west Midlands". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1942". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1943". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1944". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1945". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "Tournament Fields". Sackville Properties. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/24/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.